Why Women Smile

In our culture, friendliness is conveyed through a smile and it is agreed in the discipline of Anthropology that the smile is something that carries across all cultures. In every human society, smiles convey the same emotions: happiness, pleasure, excitement and other positive feelings. However, smiles seem to mean different things between the men and women, of our culture, who exchange them. As my step father said, a woman who smiles is seen as friendly, but also more likely single. Simply put, smiling is an attractive quality and most people flock to a warm smile like moths to a flame.For women, smiling could mean many things. I, among others, have often feigned a smile in nervousness, irritation, awkwardness and sometimes false happiness. In intimate settings, a natural smile shows a person is enjoying her or himself and the other people present. In professional settings, especially that of customer service, a smile, feigned or not, is a requirement. It makes the business seem war m and open to all but smiling on the job and even in less formal environments can lead to problems for women. Unwanted attention is often gained through a broad, seemingly genuine smile.In Amy Cunningham’s essay, Why Women Smile, she mentions, â€Å" We smile so often and so promiscuously†¦ that the Smiling Woman has become a peculiarly American archetype† (325). On many occasions, I’ve heard of a man who yells at a woman on the street to â€Å"Smile baby! It ain’t that bad†. Smiling seems to have become something of a social requirement. To the observer, the smile-less supposed curmudgeon might be falsely interpreted. She must not be happy because she is not smiling. This particular individual could have trouble with smiling due to nerve damage, being in deep thought or maybe she has just suffered a death of a family member.Whatever the circumstances, the stranger has decided that he does not like her frown, for it must be so intolerably unat tractive that he has taken it upon himself to make a statement. On a daily basis, the public is reminded by the media that being attractive is important and a beaming smile is attractive. To be plain, humorless and rejected by men was a stereotype given to suffragettes in the early twentieth century, as the book Women’s Rights: Changing attitudes 1900-2000 (11) mentions. Smiling has been labeled as an essential quality for women in our country.Smiling is a social grace that could easily be sexualized because it opens the door for interaction and a lot of female to male interaction ends up involving sex. After all, women and men are made by nature to reproduce with each other, therefore sexuality between the two is biologically inherent. Even though this is the case, the act of smiling itself is not the root issue, it is merely the outer skin of the conflict. In the book, Female Chauvinist Pigs, Ariel Levy spoke about the episode of the Tonight Show, in May 2003, which Katie C ouric guest hosted.Couric later commented that she wanted to show America her â€Å"fun† side on the Tonight Show, but in truth she was exposing more than being fun, or even being sexual. Really what she was showing was that she was open to a certain sort of attention- which is something that we specifically require if we are going to think of a woman as hot. Hotness doesn’t just yield approval. Proof that a woman actively seeks approval is a crucial criterion for hotness in the first place. (32) A smile can convey openness, submission, a willingness to socialize, playfulness and that a person is seeking not only attention, but approval.When smiling and nodding at what a customer or someone we have interest in has to say, the speaker may feel good about themselves and may gain a sparked interest in the listener. To be engaged in socialization likely means openness to more socialization. This is the point where the message of a smile can become tangled in a web of misco mmunication. Again, Ariel Levy mentions, â€Å"For women, and only for women, hotness requires projecting a kind of eagerness, offering a promise that any attention you receive for your physicality is welcome. (33), and smiling is the first step down a road to attention gained through behaviorism, a philosophy of psychology that deals with learning through experience. In a man’s world, a woman who smiles is a predictable woman. Through a set of past experiences of women smiling or not smiling, a man can asses what these facial expressions mean. To men, a smiling woman is a friendly woman and a friendly woman is a potential mate. It is a simple, easy to understand, thought process. To the contrary from a woman’s eye, smiling could mean many an emotion or thought.A female passerby could have multiple reasons to willfully smile other than a males sexually attractive qualities. She could be thinking about how she has been promoted at work, is happy about the weather, her new pet fish is on her mind or she may have simply remembered a good memory that took place nearby, all while happening to make eye contact with this stranger. The stranger does not know she is very pleased about her new pet fish and therefore jumps to the assumption that her smile was directed blatantly toward him.She does not know him, therefore he must be attractive or she would not have thrown him that suggestive facial expression. As well, women are taught from a young age to smile eagerly because women are supposed to be nice. Girls play with baby dolls and domestic utensils like miniature ovens when boys are playing with miniature military equipment and G. I. Joes. Women are to be the kind and maternal sex while the men are to be the aggressors. Smiling at a passersby is the polite thing to do, the lady like thing to do. For women, it is a reflex.In her article in the online magazine XOJane, S. E. Smith wrote and article about the issue of not constantly smiling in public and the response of the â€Å"smile baby guyâ€Å", a male stranger who tells women that they should smile in public situations. It's always smile baby guy talking to a woman or someone he reads as a woman. This is about the fact that ladies need to look pretty, and furthermore, that ladies need to be in good moods all the time. Telling people to smile is about telling them that you think they're in an unacceptable mood†¦It's yet another reminder of the ways in which women are expected to perform for the public, to put up a â€Å"good face† at all times or face the consequences. (1) These consequences that a women could face can range from social labeling to ostracization to violence. If women, the gentler sex, are not smiling like they are expected to be, something must be wrong and men, being the aggressors must do something to fix or stop it. A woman such as my mother, who takes her job seriously and is stoic when necessary gains labels such as cold and unapproachable. This is not the case, but she happens to lack that veneer smile that should be plastered across her face at all times. She is at work to get her job done and this means that smiling is not always appropriate. A friendly, non-threatening smile has become the appropriate archetype for women. Women have allowed a perpetuated image of femininity, of predictability and kind nature, to exist, mainly through our smiles. It has become an expectation for us. Amy Cunningham states, To limit a woman to one expression is like editing down and orchestra to one instrument.And the search for more authentic means of expression isn’t easy in a culture in which women are still expected to be magnanimous smilers, helpmates in crisis, and curators of everybody else’s morale. (330) Women in America have become beacons of eagerness to the outside world. According to Cunningham, in the 1800s, attractive women began to appear in many types of advertisements. Society got the idea that smiling was a natural trait for women and the women of the time caught on and began to emulate the pictures they saw. 328) This confuses people of other cultures when they encounter American citizens. We have much less formality when addressing strangers and authority figures, and we tend to flash our smiles automatically. When the McDonald’s chain restaurant was introduced in Moscow in 1992, the American’s who ran the businesses were extremely discouraged when the employees wouldn’t crack smiles when greeting customers, who I presume, also did not smile. (329) As a society, it seems that we do not consciously recognize our tendency to over use our smiles for any old occasion.Our teeth are used when anxious, in happiness and in an attempt to be socially pleasing. Along with our unrealistic images of smiles come unrealistic expectations of reality. Our faces are lying to us. Gaining respect is also a plight that the smile has caused personally and professionally for the female gender as a whole. If women are treated as sweet and domestic, expected only to fulfill the stereotype of the kind, listening role, we can not state our opinions thoroughly. It is time that the gentle sex make a new image.Levy explains, It no longer makes sense to blame men. Mia Leist and plenty of other women are behind the scenes, not just in front of the cameras, making decisions, making money, and hollering â€Å"We want boobs. † Playboy is a case in point. Playboy’s image has everything to do with its pajama-clad, septuagenarian, babe-magnet founder, Hugh Hefner†¦ But in actuality, Playboy is a company largely run by women. Hefner’s daughter Christie is the chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises.The CFO is a middle-aged mother named Linda Havard. The Playboy Foundation†¦ is run by Cleo Wilson, and African-American former civil rights activist. A woman named Marilyn Grabowski produces more than half the magazine’s photo features. (35 ) At this point, not only do we fill the roles of the smiling, sexy woman, but women everywhere are working in jobs that continue to further the attitude that we have a specific purpose. That purpose being a thing to look at. A thing that looks good, a thing that smiles.It is hypocritical for women to take part in these careers, however as later mentioned by Ariel Levy, in her interview with Christie Hefner, she asked her how she (Christie) felt about young women aspiring to be in Playboy magazine. Her response was, â€Å"The reason why I think it’s perfectly okay is because the way women see being in the magazine is not as a career bust as a statement. † (40) Levy goes on to explain, An actress or a mother sure, but a lawyer or an executive not necessarily. Putting your tush on display is still not the best way to make partner or impress the board.The only career for which appearing in Playboy is a truly strategic move is a career in the sex industry. (43) Smiling doe s not prove that we are intellectuals or have intense work ethics. Smiling does not show all of the hard physical labor we have done or the hours we have put into studying to earn our bachelors, masters and PHDs. Smiling does not show that we wish to better ourselves more than our grandmothers dreamed was possible. Mostly, smiling shows the world that we believe we are content with the status quo.We must fight back against the stigmas we are furthering in our culture. Smiling is the start. If we can cut back on smiling and only use our grins for genuine happiness, in spontaneous joy, we can begin to move onward. If we can show that smiling has a certain meaning, that the connotation it currently possesses is an inaccurate portrayal of our intelligence, wants and needs, we can gain more respect. The wish for a better future must be fulfilled through showing our own society and eventually the world that we do not meet the standards of a smile, but that we exceed those standards.

Discrimination Worksheet Essay

†¢ What is discrimination? How is discrimination different from prejudice and stereotyping? Discrimination is the denial of oppurtunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons (Schaefer, 2012). Discrimination is different from prejudice and stereotyping because discrimination is an action whereas prejudice is a belief or attitude and stereotyping is a generalization about a group of individuals (Schaefer, 2012). Both prejudice and stereotyping are ways of thinking about and classifying people into groups based on a belief or dislike of those individuals. Discrimination takes it a step further and puts those beliefs and attitudes into action by denying these groups of certain oppurtunities because of the prejudice and stereotyping. †¢ What are the causes of discrimination? Discrimination comes in many forms such as race, gender, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, and even disabilities. Discrimination is a learned behavior in which I believe children hear negative remarks about a group of people or individual from their parents or other influential persons and then make those judgements based upon what they grew up hearing about these individuals (Schaefer, 2012). Discrimination can also be caused from possible bad experiences with one individual that may cause another individual to now have negative feelings about this particular person because of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, or disability. Another cause of discrimination is institutional discrimination, which is the denial of oppurtunites and equal rights to individuals and groups that results from the normal operations of a society (Schaefer, 2012). †¢ How is discrimination faced by one identity group (race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability) the same as discrimination faced by another? How are they different? Facing discrimination is never an easy task to do. Having to face discrimination is difficult and usually the minority gets the brut force of the discrimination. The only way facing discrimination could be the same is that either group has to endure the prejudice for the actions and beliefs in which they are being discriminated about. The difference is that one identity group may receive harsher discrimination for their identity group. Race, gender, and disability may get hit harder when it comes to jobs and other oppurtunities than would ethnicity, religious groups, and sexual orientation. Certain groups have been discriminated even harsher than others and this can lead to hate crimes, such as race. Either way discrimination is a negative action and the more we can do to prevent it, the better it will be for our future.

Rating Sites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rating Sites - Essay Example So the reader has to use his own intelligence and judge for himself if the posting is genuine or false. Pfeiffer concludes that as the traffic to these rating cites increase, we will be forced to think of closing the anonymous rating sites. Although the rating sites can be abused, they can also give us useful information. Instead of trying to close the rating sites, we should do something to make the rating sites more responsible and truthful. According to Pfeiffer, the phenomenal success of sites like RateMyProfessor.com and RateMyTeacher .com, other rating sites sprang up, which rate different things. There is now a huge network of online forums which rate professionals like doctors and lawyers, and services like car repair, plumber service and childcare centers. Even entertainment centers like nightclubs are rated. All the rating can be done anonymously. The public gets enormous amount of information about any service they want. This helps them to choose a lawyer or doctor, or a service provider, which suit them. The sites may be giving genuine information, or just be misleading the users. The critics of the system say that clients who are angry or dissatisfied can post a malicious comment about any person or service. Similarly, bad tempered students can post an ugly comment on the teacher. Envious colleagues and estranged friends or relatives can post malicious comments. Malicious persons might post comments suggesting malpractice, about a lawyer or doctor. According to Professor Michael Rustad of Suffolk University Law School, who specializes in Internet Law, many of the rating sites are just platforms for getting rid of their strong emotions, for some persons. Rustad further states that "they are not random samples of how this professor or lawyer or doctor is doing." On the other hand, the person concerned can post excellent comments on himself. Since the sites are anonymous, there is no accountability. Fraud can be detected and removed Internet entrepreneur Bob Nicholson recognizes the problem of abuse of the sites. Calling the rating cites "magnets of abuse", he says that internet users should take the information they get from these sites "for what it's worth." If there are many comments coming from the same Internet address, it points to fraud, where a doctor or lawyer might be generating the comments himself. Similarly, if there are many comments which use similar sentences or phrases, it would mean that the same person is writing the comments in different names. The sites screen such multiple ratings. Online service providers are protected from being dragged into lawsuits over materials posted by third parties, by the Federal Communications Decency Act. Most of the rating sites bar only obscene and racist comments, and allow everything else. The online users are sure of anonymity on the Internet. It is only because of the anonymity that we have useful sites such as Craig's List and Amazon's user feedback. If there is no anonymity for the user, the nature of Internet itself would change. Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit San Francisco digital rights group, argues that if some people think that they have been misrepresented, they can

Peer to Peer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Peer to Peer - Research Paper Example Moreover, this is usually implemented in P2P systems. The significant solutions are provided for the present problems that are mentioned in P2P systems (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010): Application state maintenance Application-level node coordination Content distribution In this paper, interesting techniques along with related example are discussed. II. degree of centraliztion In the stem design, the architecture of P2P system is characterized according to the presence or absence of centralized elements (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010). The centralized P2P system may include a committed node controller that helps to manage a set of contributing nodes and control the whole system. For example, the membership as, well as the content index is maintained by the website posse by Napster. Moreover, the initial version includes Bit Torrent ‘tracker’ that helps to keep track of all the uploading and downloading content. Thus provides a set of nodes if connected by peer. The BOINC platform consist a website that help to maintain the membership and allocate other computer related task. The log in system, account management and payment is managed by the Skype that contains a centralized website. In order to transmit content or other computer applications, resource-intensive is utilized. In fact, centralized P2P system can give organic growth and plentiful resources. ... III. decentralization of p2p networks There is no devoted nodes are present that are critical for the operating systems in the decentralized P2P system. In addition, the decentralized P2P system comprise no inherent bottlenecks are present. Moreover, this shortage of devoted nodes prevents the system from potential attacks, failure and legal challenges from the hackers. The nodes contain abundance of resources, high availability and publicly routable IP known as super nodes in several decentralized P2P systems. The rendez-vous point for nodes is considered as extra responsibilities of super nodes. These nodes are present behind firewalls, storing state or keeping an index of available content. In the P2P system, the super nodes can enhance the effectiveness but also it is involve in failure of nodes. IV. Distributed coordination Repeatedly, a number of nodes within the P2P application need to synchronize their activities without having a centralized administration or control. For exa mple, the group of nodes that duplicates a specific object needs to be synchronized for the updates associated with the object. (Sianati, Abbaspour et al. 2011) One more example of a node that is seeking for a specific streaming content segment will be curious to identify the node that is received by that channel i.e. the channel that is within reach and that has adequate upstream bandwidth. In this study we will incorporate two different methods for this issue; the first techniques will be epidemic techniques in which information is scattered virally from the workstation. The second technique will be a tree based method in which distribution trees are constructed for dispersing the information (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010). Our primary focus will be on the decentralized

Operations management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Operations management - Case Study Example Large production minimizes production cost. CCI has new ways of achieving objectives in Scunthorpe through the application of the Continuous Improvement (CI). CI entails the laid down resources and processes aimed at improving business efficiency.CI incorporates everybody ranging from managerial level to the employees down the structure. Reduction of waste is one of the avenues employed to improve efficiency. The main areas of waste reduction have been identified by the channels already in place. Besides there is a CI culture that is embedded in the CI strategies. The next strategy is the process mapping facilitated by the CI coaches. Maps are made to allow employees to view the requirements of production so as to understand expectation. Everybody at CCI has a target set that has to be met. The final strategy is the use of key performance indicators to not only evaluate production quantitatively but also to determine if the customers’ expectations are met and they are satisfied. Despite the cost involved in the CI process, the benefits are reduction of wastes, improved product quality, minimized rework time, and regaining of custom ers among others. The main points of the article are the overview of the company; the product offered by the company; the stages of producing the product; reasons for production in large scale; and the laid down strategies in place to increase production as well as customer satisfaction. As illuminated from the article, Corus group is company that deals with the production of steal worldwide. It produces steel at large scale since large scale production minimizes costs involved. However, while reading between the line using high definition quality spectacles, the article does not clearly bring out how the strategies through the Continuous Improvement (CI) platform has helped to ensure that customers satisfaction as prioritized. Prioritizing customers’ needs is

Obsessive-Complusive PD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Obsessive-Complusive PD - Essay Example Most of their waking hours are spent in worrying about unwanted thoughts and mental images (Hyman & Pedrick, 2009, p.7). People suffering from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are incapable of leading a normal life as their obsession draws most of their energy, and most of their actions are influenced by their obsessions. Hence, the only way to cure the Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is to manage the obsessive thoughts through different psychological therapies, as only by managing and understanding the nature of obsessive and compulsive thoughts can one manage the obsessive-compulsive behavior. Definition To understand OCD, it is important to define the words ‘obsession’ and ‘compulsion’. DSM-IV (1994) defines obsession as â€Å"persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress† (Jakes, 1996, p.6). DSM-IV (1994) defines compulsions as â€Å"the r epetitive behavior and mental acts† which are intended â€Å"to remove anxiety or distress and not to provide pleasure or gratification† (Jakes, 1996, p.6). Hence, according to DSM-IV (1994), OCD can be diagnosed when the excessiveness and the unreasonable nature of the obsessive and compulsive behavior and thoughts is realized by the people suffering from it (Jakes, 1996, p.6). ... To cure OCD, it is necessary to understand the cause of it. Nature Of OCD Researches in past 60 years have found that OCD is a disorder that depends on different factors (Pauls, Alsobrook, Goodman, Rasmussen & Leckman, 1995, p.76), and hence, it is not easy to reach the conclusion regarding its nature. Familial history was found to be factor in some cases of OCD, while in other cases, there was no evidence of familial history (Pauls et al., 1995, p.76). This shows that the basis of OCD is still controversial. It was widely believed that the genes are responsible for the OCD in human beings (Arnold & Richter, 2001, p. 1353). However, no specific genetic factor has been identified as responsible for OCD (Arnold & Richter, 2001, p. 1353). This led the researchers to believe that when the â€Å"underlying genetic susceptibility† interacts with the environmental risk factors, then it results in obsessive-compulsive behavior pattern and leads to development of OCD in that person (Ar nold & Richter, 2001, p. 1353). Hence, it is very necessary to detect the OCD as soon as the symptoms start appearing in a person. However, it has been found that most of the times, OCD goes undetected. OCD is not common in young children (Heyman, Fombonne, Simmons, Ford, Meltzer & Goodman, 2001, p.324). However, the rate of OCD in young adults in their puberty has been found to be increasing (Heyman et al., 2001, p.324). Hence, it is important to detect OCD early to manage it in behavior. Researches in many countries have revealed that one out of every forty people suffer from OCD (Hyman & Pedrick, 2009, p.17). OCD develops gradually in personality (Hyman & Pedrick, 2009, p.19). However, an unexpected distressing event in

Internet applications for marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internet applications for marketing - Essay Example The results were predicted and not challenged which is the hallmark of a proper and standard research paper. This journal article focuses on how to create a successful brand presence on the internet. The authors believe that a strong brand can create positive consumer perceptions of the existing products and for new products. It has tried to focus on new design tools that could help marketers obtain more usage of the website and generate better sales. The authors have tried to impress that new media like vividness and interactivity can fetch better response than traditional media. In other words, new media produces realism. They have also explored the possibility of advertisements on the website to attract users. Consumer good companies have not been keen to adopt animation and sound because it causes distraction from the actual products or message on the website. Thus this article has tried to explore how varying levels of realism affects attitudes, behavioural intentions and the level of consistency between these attitudes and intentions. The article compares the impact of direct and ind irect experience and studied the impact of realism in marketing. They have studied the impact of telepresence, vividness and interactivity on several versions of four different websites. It is difficult to generalize the attitudes and reactions of consumers as there are so many variables involved. Vividness has been found to generate stronger attitudes towards the site but it does not necessarily means higher sales. Thus the article has tried to identify and analyze factors that influence online consumer behavior. The article cites theory from other articles that were written as many as twenty years before the article under review. Consumer behavior changes to a large extent in 20 years and so would the principles of marketing. The article has studied the impact of direct and indirect experience where direct experience

Write responses for discussions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write responses for discussions - Assignment Example synchronizing limb movements to facilitate walking or effecting steps that enable the patient to carry out more intricate activities. Early mobilization of the patient also equips the patients with alternatives to actions they could do initially with ease such as bathing, dressing, driving etc. Recuperative treatment begins in the acute-care hospital unit, within 24-48 hours after the stroke, well after the patient’s condition has stabilized. Firstly, we the therapy involves inducing and promoting autonomous movements because stroke patients are often paralyzed and destabilized. Patients are encouraged to shift their position regularly and indulge reflexive and dynamic array of activity exercises to bolster the action of their TIA-impaired limbs. With reference to the extent of injury to the brain, the patient’s condition may improve gradually and steadily from sitting up, aided movement between the bed and a chair to standing, bearing their own weight, and walking independently or aided. Staffs at the mobilization unit, nurses and therapists, help recovering patients to perform more complex and demanding tasks, such as bathing, dressing, and using a toilet, and motivate patients to use their TIA affected limbs. Cumming, T. B., Thrift, A. G., Collier, J. M., Churilov, L., Dewey, H. M., Donnan, G. A., & Bernhardt, J. (2011). Very Early Mobilization After Stroke Fast-Tracks Return to Walking Further Results From the Phase II AVERT Randomized Controlled Trial.  Stroke,  42(1),

Identity the ftre written Essay Example for Free

Identity the ftre written Essay Introduction Identity Theft is considered to be major problem which has affected thousands, more than 9 million victims of credit identity theft were reported in 2003, it was estimated that the victims were deprived of more than 52 billion dollars through identity theft; the victims included established businesses and individuals. It has been learnt that sophisticated organized criminals (Richard, 2003) were involved in identity theft. Identity theft is considered as an intimate abuse that is mainly responsible for the financial losses of the grieved victims. Identity Theft is appropriation of anothers personal information (Whilk, 2003), the purpose of the exercise is to practice fraud, and the victim is impersonated by the culprits in this practice. Identity theft is mainly linked with the leakage of confidential information that is later misused by the culprits to achieve benefit. It has been observed through past cases of Identity theft that most of the culprits have enjoyed access to the victim directly, or the information related to the victim through different dealings. The nature of the dealing is not particular, in some of the cases associates and acquaintances have been involved have been found guilty of Identity Theft. According to studies, Identity theft involves three parties that include the victim, the perpetrator and the creditor. Victim is the person who fells prey of the criminal activities without any knowledge of it; the perpetrator is the individual who impersonates the victim, and executes identity theft, the perpetrator in many of the cases have the access to the information of the victim. The creditor is the personal who is familiar to both the perpetrator and the victim, the creditor support and develop the perpetrator plan. In some of the cases the fourth party is the source of the personal information that is being abused (Whilk, 2003). Types of identity theft Pretexting Pretexting is considered to be one of the forms of Identity Theft; in this exercise one culprit impersonates the victim, such that one calls under the pretext being that person (Richard, 2003). The exercise is normally performed to secure personal information that includes telephone records, and details of bank accounts. According to studies it has been observed that in many of the cases the4 victims are unable to detect their identity theft through pretexting. Credit Card fraud The evolution of internet has made it easier for the interested customers to avail deals through internet. Credit card facilities launched by several banks have tried to facilitate the customers, and have provided them with an easy opportunity to avail deals through electronic transaction via credit card. Unfortunately the sharing of information has often been leaked, and many of the cases of identity theft have been reported. According to study, running up charges on anothers credit card, or passing checks of another, is a form of identity theft. Identity theft is this case is practiced through appropriation of the signature, account number, and other aspects of anothers identity, the purpose of the entire exercise is to secure financial benefits on other expenses through unethical and illegal practice. New account fraud Identity theft has been reported through malpractices related to the opening of new accounts. In such case, the criminal uses the identity of the victim, and then after fulfilling the formalities of credit card companies borrow the money. Criminal identity theft In some of the cases it has been reported that criminals impersonate innocent people after their arrest, and have managed to escape successfully. In such cases, the innocent individual then has criminal record, and in some of the cases arrest warrants have also been issued. It has been researched that it is easier for the criminal to link their personality with the victim, and later manage to escape, however in the police records many such individuals are blacklisted who have reported their ignorance about the incident, and have proved their presence in foreign country at the time of criminal activity. Identity Theft as Abuse In the survey which was conducted in 2004, it was observed that domestic abuse has direct relationship with Identity Theft; it was observed that more than 15 percent reported that they were also victims of domestic harassment and abuse from the perpetrator. Identity theft is also conducted by the strangers, and in some of the cases organized criminal networks are involved in such practices. The identity theft is solely conducted to achieve economic gains through false identity, there it is expected that an authority with financial stability is likely to be the victim, domestic violence is sometimes accompanied by economic abuse, such as controlling access to wealth or destruction of property (John, 2002). Much because it is difficult to trace the culprit involve in the identity theft, the practice is considered to be extremely lucrative for the abuser, where as the malpractice has long lasting and debilitating (Robert, 2003) impact on the status, repute and character of the victim. The survey revealed that, identity theft victims spend a median of one hundred hours rectifying the damage, and lose thousands of dollars in lost wages and other expenses (John, 2002), more than 50 percent of the victim have complained that they are subjected to repeated interrogations and false implications by the law agencies even after 2 years after the revelation of their identity theft, whereas as some reported that they are subjected to false implications for more than decade. According to the Stalking Resource Center at the National Center for the Victims of Crime, explained that stalking as a course of conduct directed at a specific person when one knows or should know that the course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third person; or suffer other emotional distress (Kristin, 2004), therefore stalking can be considered as a derivative of the stalking. The discussed surveillance, pretexting, and credit identity theft are directly related to stalking. Pretexting is not considered as an offence of extreme tribulation for the victim, the pretexter can only secure the right to access the accounts, and telephone record. Therefore the expected threats and damages through pretexter include the cancellation of the victim’s account, electric, gas and credit car accounts. However the cases of identity theft related to credit cards have subjected the victim under serious consequences. The survey report found that, distress caused by credit identity theft is real, the victims report rage and anger; personal financial fears; fears for family financial safety; a sense of powerlessness and of feeling defiled (Kristin, 2004). Preventive Measures The measures to be necessarily adopted by the public to avoid any incident of victimization through identity theft include issuance of the credit report periodically. The public should also ensure that their credit limit is not too high, so that even in case of any manipulation the financial loss can be adjusted. The public should avail the scheme for the monitoring of their credit, through which unexpected financial dealings can be tracked. It has been learnt that Fair Credit Reporting Act has provided the public with an opportunity to place a fraud alert on their credit report, through such scheme the creditors have the right to access to verify their credit. References 1. Kristin Loberg. Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Name, Your Credit and Your Vital Information. Silver Lake Publishing. 2004. 2. Robert J. Hammond, Robert J. Hammond, Jr. Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Most Valuable Asset. Career Press. 2003. 3. John R. Vacca. Identity Theft. Career Press. 2002. 4. Whilk, Nathanael. Identity Theft: Preventing Consumer Terrorism: An Attitudinal Approach. Silver Lake Publishing 2003. 5. Richard M. Stana. Identity Theft: Prevalence Cost Appear to Be Growing. Prentice Hall. 2003.

The Ins and Outs of Assessment Essay Example for Free

The Ins and Outs of Assessment Essay What is an Assessment? As I ask myself this question, memories from my educational experience pass through my mind. I am forced to recall many tests, quizzes and fear that have embedded my mind with a horrific sense of anxiety. The fear, I believe, is the cause of the thought that I may not excel in the lesson that I had been taught. Then I ask myself, is that what an assessment was meant to accomplish? Through my readings, I have learned that an assessment is an educational process that requires documentation of knowledge that a student has received from a lesson. The documentation of the assessment can be based on the individual student or the class as a whole. Assessments are a collection of data in order to improve upon the educational development of a learner. Assessments also help improve the learning standards and benchmarks within the classroom. This practice will allow me, as a teacher, to improve my teaching ability and evolve as a better educator. I have also learned, through my readings, what an assessment is not. An assessment is not an end goal that determines a student’s educational worth in a subject area. Assessments are not the only data that is used in evaluating the progress of a student in a particular program of study. The process of assessing students’ progress is only useless when the evaluation is done poorly. If this practice does not reflect goals and values of particular disciplines, the assessment should be reevaluated. There are two main categories of assessment: summative and formative. Summative assessments are used to evaluate how effective an instructional program has been to student. This assessment is typically given at the end of a particular lesson, unit or academic year. Summative assessments are used to make a judgment of the competency of a student after a particular lesson has been completed. This evaluation is issued to determine if a learner has mastered a specific standard or benchmark. It is also administered in order to identify areas of instruction that may need additional attention or modification. Such assessments are given in the form of standardized test that typically have a single score. Summative assessments are typically a good evaluation for educators and school systems, however; such data does not individually reflect the misunderstandings that may hinder a learner’s potential  evolvement. Formative assessment is used to improve instructional methods and student feedback throughout the teaching and learning process. Formative evaluations are performed in a gradual, step-by-step procedure in order to observe a student’s grasp of a concept. This process is demonstrated by on-going assessments, as well as, reviews and observations in the classroom setting. Through an educators observations, the teacher can reconstruct the instructional strategy sooner rather than later, in order to insure the validation on the lesson. Formative assessments may be administered in the form of quizzes or performance tasks in the classroom. Assessing a learner formatively allows for more retention of the instructional material, and a better grasp on building upon that material. Assessment expectations desired by instructors are the effectiveness of the outcome. I think that a teacher should strive for every student’s ability. In reaching this goal, instructors must set realistic expectations for the students that one may teach. In setting goals for the students, students must have a clear understanding of what is expected of the instruction and lessons. I believe that each expectation that is set for a student should resemble that particular child’s ability and need. Each expectation should be a reflection of a student’s prior knowledge and the instructional connection between concept and practice. Exercising realistic expectations within the classroom can be easily established through the purposes of assessments. Instructors give assessments to students to identify areas of weakness which can result in the determination to give better teaching instruction. There are four purposes for assessment of students: Monitoring student progress, making instructional decisions, evaluating student achievement and evaluating progress. The first purpose of assessment is monitoring student progress. After setting realistic expectations, data should be compiled to give the student and instructor feedback about the progression of the expectations that were set. This assessment purpose is a continual process that may result in formal or informal data. This data, however; can lead to the individual progression of each student. The second purpose for assessment is making instructional decisions. Instructors will use collected data of students’ understanding to modify teaching processes in order to give better instruction to the student. In order for the teacher to modify the instructional tasks for a student, the teacher will observe the student. This observation will allow the instructor to understand the way the particular student thinks and applies instruction; therefore, making the instruction fit the child, rather than fitting the child to the instruction. The third purpose for assessment is evaluating student achievement. In evaluating a student’s achievement, an instructor will examine the student and make an informed judgment on the progress the student is obtaining. The judgment is based on the abilities of that certain student rather than in comparison to other students in the class. This allows the student to receive a more individualized evaluation that reflects on the goals that are set for him or her. The fourth purpose for assessment is evaluating programs. This assessment is a compiled evaluation of the class, as a whole, in order to make modifications to the instruction given to the students. These modifications will allow students to, not only set high expectations, but meet high expectations as well. It is my opinion that changes in assessments need to develop in order to keep such evaluations in line with reform efforts. Some of the assessments that are used today seem dated and may not give correct validation of a student’s understanding. Assessing a student’s educational potential is a group effort for all that are involved in the education of a child. Assessments for observing students’ education, making instructional judgments, and evaluating a student’s achievements have been in the hands of classroom teachers, whereas assessments for gaging programs have been supported by agencies outside the classroom. I believe that assessments for all purposes need to be more vulnerable and mutual; meaning, instructors should be involved in the assessment process for all purposes. The primary responsibility for assessment must be a shared effort if it is to meet the needs of today’s students.

Forecasting Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition

Forecasting Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition Introduction This chapter introduces the background of time series and the importance of forecasting. The  motivation behind the project is elaborated and finally the aims and objectives are given. 1.1 Background Time series can be defined as a sequence of observations or measurements that are taken  at equally spaced timed interval (Xu, 2012). Hence, it is a stochastic process and can be  expressed as (Xu, 2012): x(t) = xi; i = 1; 2; :::;N: (1.1) Some examples of time series data include yearly profit, monthly recorded temperature,  hourly electrical consumption. Time series are classified into two categories mainly the stationary time series and  non stationary time series. Stationary time series consist of data which remain fixed irrespective  of the whereabouts. A stationary process is one where the mean, variance  and autocorrelation do not vary with time (Nau, 2014). For example, the financial stock  change of Mauritius remains constant in Mauritius as well as in any other place in the  world. Non stationary time series on the contrary involve data that keeps changing over  time. For instance, if we consider meteorological data of Mauritius, the data collected are  varied considerably from region to region as well as accordingly throughout the year. For  example, we have more rainfall over regions on the Central Plateau compared with the  coastal regions as demonstrated by Figure (1.1) which illustrates the variation of rainfall  collected for Mauritius over distinct regions from 1960 1990.while figure 1.2 shows theà ‚  difference in signal data between the two classes of time series. All meteorological data  including temperature, wind speed, solar irradiance irradiance, sea pressure and many  more weather parameters similar to rainfall have variations both in time and location. Hence, we can conclude that meteorological data are non stationary in nature. Figure 1.1: Distribution of rainfall for Mauritius for the year 1961-1990 Source:http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/maunc1/chap1/chapter1.htm Figure 1.2: Difference between stationary and non stationary series , Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stationaryprocess Time series modeling is a vast field of research. The analysis of time series signals can  be extrapolated to meet demands of analytical results and predicting results in various  fields, such as : Economical Climatological Biological   Financial and others Due to its implementation in various fields, continuous research are been done in order to  design model for forecasting with better accuracy and efficiency. The behaviour of time  series is governed by four main aspects namely trend, seasonal variation, cyclic variation  and random variation (Xu, 2012). Trend of time series can be pictured as the evolution of  the series over time and hence gives the forthcoming pathway of the data. Hence, trend  analysis is very efficient in predicting extensive behaviour of data. Phonetically, a general  assumption in most time series techniques is that the data are stationary. Transformation  of non stationary to stationary is often done to manipulate the data for analysis. Forecasting is of high precedence in application of time series as it can predict future  events based on past events, specially when using in the field of limited resources. Forecasting  may be classified as a prediction, a projection or estimate of a future activity. In  fact, we have two types of forecasting methods namely qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative methods are non mathematical computations whereas quantitative methods  are rather objective methods based on mathematical computations. 1.2 Motivation We belong to a world of success in which one of the leading factor to success is our ability  to predict the result of our choices making all of us in a way or another forecasters. Climate consists of one of the major applications of forecasting. Over years, newer and  better models are been investigated so as to improve forecasting accuracy as much as  possible. Investigating weather parameters is highly necessary so as to be able to predict  weather situations which are required in various fields such as aviation, shipping,  oceanography and agriculture. Moreover, it is helps to evade weather hazards. Mauritius  has being confronted to drastic changes in weather conditions recently. We have  already a weather station which is deploying its best methods for weather forecasting  but is unable to predict accurately unexpected changes in weather, for example the recent  flash flood in March 2013 or one of the most worst drought that stroke Mauritius  in 2002. Therefore, in order to prevent further incidents or life taking calamities, it is of  high importance to have accurate and early predictive models in order to take preventive  measures to make sure that the population is safe well before such events occur. This  project comprises of investigating a different method for forecasting meteorological data. Throughout this project we will be dealing with time series models based of data which  has been collected over years and try to foresee future events based on the fundamentals  patterns confined within those data. The most commonly used forecasting model for time series was the Box Jenkins  models (ARIMA and ARMA models) (Peel et al., 2014). They are non-static models that  are beneficial in forecasting changes in a process. Many models have further been developed  among which is listed the Hilbert Huang Transform (Huang and Shen, 2005). Since climate data are of nonlinear and non-stationary nature, Hilbert Huang Transform  is capable of improving accuracy of forecast since most previous traditional methods  are designed for stationary data while this method is efficient in both cases. On the other  hand, recognizing all the advantages of Artificial Neural Network, it is of no surprise that  this methodology has gained so much interest in the this field of application. ANN have  proven to be more effective, compared to other traditional methods such as Box-Jenkins,  regression models or any other models (Khashei and Bijari, 2009) as a tool for forecasting. Both successful models mentioned however carries their own associated percentage  error. As a means to minimize error, both models can be combined to give rise to a new  hybrid model with better performance capabilities. 1.3 Aims And Objectives 1. In this project, the aim is to develop a combined model from two completely different  computational models for forecasting namely Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition  and Artificial Neural Network so as to improve accuracy of future  predictions of time series data. 2. EEMD will be adopted as the decomposition technique to obtain a set of Intrinsic  Mode Functions (IMF) and residual for meteorological time series data for Mauritius  signal while ANN will be the forecasting tool which will take as input parameters  the non obsolete IMFs. The results obtained will be compared with real data in  order evaluate the performance of the model. The idea is to reduce error associated  with each model when employed separately as both models possess their own skill  in determining trend in complex data. 3. Eventually, the model will be applied to forecast meteorological data mainly rainfall  from MMS and wind speed from studies conducted by fellow colleagues. 1.4 Structure of Report   1. Chapter 2 consists of a literature review on the models and their applications 2. Chapter 3 introduces Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and validate the  EMD model. 3. Chapter 4 introduces the Artificial Neural Network and validate the network. 4. Chapter 5 present the results from application of EEMD to meteorological data. The  EEMD-ANN hybrid model is also introduced and validate. Finally the following is  applied to rainfall and wind speed data. 5. Chapter 6 presents the conclusion and the future work.

Dress Code Implementation Into the NBA Essay -- Papers

Dress Code Implementation Into the NBA The controversial issue as of late is whether or not a dress code should be implemented into the NBA. These athletes are being paid millions of dollars a year and serve as role models to children all over the world. For these reasons it is essential that a dress code be implemented into the NBA. Last year during the Olympics, at one of Belgrade’s finest restaurants, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and many other U.S. players attended a dinner in their honor. The guest list included many respectable people including the Serbian national team, who were all wearing matching sport coats. Iverson and some of his fellow NBA professionals arrived wearing an array of sweat suits, oversize jeans, shimmering diamond earrings and platinum chains, according to NBA officials at the dinner. Larry Brown, the Hall of Fame coach of the U.S. team, was shocked and humiliated. He told an NBA official that he thought about sending some of the worst dressed players back to the hotel (Washington Post). The story of this incident eventually made its way back to the office of David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA. There was already a rising concern about how some of the players were dressing and how the overall appeal of the game was being destroyed. The NBA had tried to fuse its product with the hip hop culture, trying to connect with a new generation of fans and their street fashion. This plan of attack was very unsuccessful (Washington Post). Looking at the statistics, not only were they unsuccessful, ... ... from. Like I said before, the NBA is a business, and the main objective of a business is to make money. They have to realize that the big money in sports comes from corporate dollars: Sponsorships, Commercials, and Luxury Suites. The NBA can afford to risk alienating a few kids or slow sales of throwback jerseys, because portraying their players as professionals earns $350,000 more corporate dollars from another sold commercial spot. And this is the money that they want (Not Exactly Rocket Science). In conclusion, the players of the NBA have the abilities of a professional, are paid like professionals, and are powerful role models among the youth of society. With great power comes great responsibility, and these players must be men and own up to their responsibilities of dressing like professionals.

Scoliosis :: Health, Informative, Medicine

Scoliosis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Everyone's spine has curves. These curves produce the normal rounding of the shoulder and the sway of the lower back. A spine with scoliosis has abnormal curves with a rotational deformity. This means that the spine turns on its axis like a corkscrew.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine which may have its onset in infancy but is most frequently discovered in adolescence. It is more common in females by a 2:1 ratio. However, when curves in excess of 30 degrees are evaluated, females are more frequently affected by a ration of approximately10:1. The cause of the most common form of scoliosis; idiopathic scoliosis. is unknown, but there have been hereditary factors discovered that are present.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scoliosis causes shoulder, trunk and waistline â€Å"asymmetry†. In mild forms, the condition may be barely noticed; however, in severe forms there is significant disfigurement, back pain and postural fatigue, and it may be associated with heart failure. Fortunately the majority of scoliosis cases need only close follow-up to watch for worsening of the curve. Some cases require more aggressive treatment which could include surgery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The non-operative treatment of scoliosis involves observing the deformity with examinations and repeated x-rays. Under certain circumstances, when spinal growth remains, a brace may be used in combination with follow-up x- rays. Physical therapy exercises have not been shown to be effective treatment for scoliosis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most common surgical treatment for scoliosis is a spine fusion using special stainless steel rods, hooks, and a bone graft. The rods are attached to the spine with hooks and the curved portion of the spine is carefully

Teacher Cadet Essay

Often times we do not consider how a teacher has influenced us. Teachers influence whether we realize it or not can alter a student’s perspective on life. A great many of my previous teachers have left a lasting impression on me that will never be forgotten. I do admit there were much contentment, anguish and memorable things that directly connects me to them. Without my teachers, it is highly impossible for me to stand and be here today. One name in particular stands firm among others and that is Mr. Jesse L. Barrett. Mr. Barrett was my English II Honors teacher my sophomore year in high school. Sadly, he was only my English teacher for one year. I honestly could not have asked for a better teacher. At the same time as making me smile and laugh, he ultimately helped me to be successful in life. Initially, I did not enjoy English as much anymore due to a bad string of teachers who lectured endlessly on random topics other than English. He changed my outlook on life and helped me regain my passion for English. Mr. Barrett motivated me to not settle for mediocre work and to do my absolute best in anything I strived for. I never imagined that I would encounter a teacher that was as meticulous as Mr. Barrett. Everything he did had a specific place and order. He never accepted late work because we were in an honors class that required you to be punctual. This taught me how to be prompt, a skill that will help when I attend college next fall. Mr. Barrett honestly loved teaching and you could hear it in his voice; the way he would sound so excited when we read the Great Gatsby. He creates this atmosphere that causes students to feel comfortable and at ease. Everyone anticipated going to class and were quick to engage in current book discussions. Conveying information to students so they will fully comprehend the standard is his specialty. Although he was very kind and helpful when any issue developed, he was a very strict and concerned educator. Discipline was highly enforced in his classroom which influenced me to be the best student I could possibly be. Mr. Barrett has this method where he asks for input and invites the student to participate in class activities. For example, He would divide the class into groups according to our grade averages. Using this method, I quickly discovered that students in the group are in fact helping one another in answering the questions. It is a very exceptional way in learning English. During the activity, students can consult him and ask questions as well. Before the class ends, he would take out 10 to 20 minutes to summarize his teaching and sometimes even motivate us with stories that he encounters during his days outside of school. Whether he knows it or not, Mr. Barrett has influenced me tremendously. It is amazing how one individual can have such an impact on students. He simply guided me to success and I am honored to have been in such a rigorous and competitive class. Challenging me was really the driving force that connected me to him because I never felt as if the work was too easy or vague. Today, I honestly still believe he has helped me in such a way that it will follow me into my post-secondary career.

What I Did Last School Holiday

In the last school holidays, my family and I return village to celebrate the up coming days with relatives. My village is located in Penang. I think this year’s election is more fun than the previous years because of this feast, there will be a meaningful day for my aunt, the marriage ceremony. Men who successfully captured the hearts of my aunt come from Alor Gajah, Perak. Me, my family and relatives happy because my aunt already a men’s wife. Because of the wedding, I and relatives can gather together in the village.When the feast ahead of the first day, me and my relatives went to the mosque as usual to perform the Eid prayers and listen to a sermon by the preacher. There are many important and meaningful knowledge can I get in sermon. I was touched and happy as many fellows Muslim went to mosque. After that, I, my family and relatives went to visit the grave of grandfather, uncle and relatives who had died. The tomb is near the mosque. In this area was clean, quiet and have green plants.For the area are responsible maintaining guardians in the tomb. When we visited the grave will create awareness of ourselves and always remember the dead. We also visited the neighbour house. Due to the feast of the forth day, my aunt’s wedding, so on the second and third election, I and other relatives who are busy doing weddings preparation to ensure the event runs smoothly. We work together to do a job. Thank God, they are so sporting, cool, not resolved and selfless. They are also helpful to one another.Some of the work we all do is updating and decorating the house, cooking, boiled eggs, and packing goodies together. I’m happy with them as in busy condition, they are my relatives still managed to make me and my relatives laugh with their joke. In the forth feast, a historic day for my aunt my new uncle’s recently has come to say, their wedding. The mother of my aunt and also my grandmother definitely felt happy to get law and felt sad too because her youngest daughter become my new uncle owned.On that day, everyone without exception had been given the task to be performed for the success of the event so smoothly and orderly. I and one of the relatives are asks to give goodies to the guest that present at the ceremony. There are many guests present at the event and surrounding quite lively. Thank God, during the event, everything smoothly with what is planned. The feast of the fifth and sixth, I, my family and relatives carry life like a normal person. Sometimes, we also managed to visit interest places in Penang. At least, hat we spend time with seeking knowledge and get new experiences. In the seventh feast, we make trip go to Alor Gajah, Perak to attend a wedding in the house of my new uncle. When all business was completed, I and my relatives back to our own house. My family and I travel to our house at Kompleks Penjara Sg. Buloh. The travel takes in four to five hours. Thank God, our travel smooth and does no t happen something undesirable. I’m happy can spend holiday times with family and relatives. Hopefully, we can go to village and with my relatives again.

My Favourite Book Essay

Lots of people read tabloid newspapers. Tabloid nespapers are read by lots of people. 2. Sue Green reads the news on television. The news on television is read by Sue. 3. The witness is helping the police. The police is being helped by the witness. 4. The newspapers aren’t publishing the photographs. The photographs aren’t published by the newspapers. 5. The police have arrested the driver. The driver has been arrested by the police. 6. The thief had taken the painting before the gard woke up. The paintinghad been taken before the guard woke up. 7. The company will deliver the flowers the next day. The flowers will be delivered the next day. 8. The government is going to give every school student a computer. A computer is going to be given to the every school student by the government. 9. You can buy a magazine on the train. A Magazinecan be boughton the train. (by you) 10. My sister made a pop video. The pop videowas made by my sister. Complete this radio news report using a passive form on the verbs in the brackets ! Good afternon . The lunch time news today will be read(read) by John Houard. The prime minister has visited a primary school in Ipswich where she (meet)has been metby the children and their teachers. She opened a new sports centre that (build)was built with money raised by the parents and teachers. Another $20 000 (need)are needed to finish the swimming pool so more money raising activities ( organise)will be organised for the summer months. Earlier today a group of pensioners was in accident when their coach (hit)was hit by lorry. The pensioners (help )were helped by local people until ambulances arrived. Most the passanger (alow)wasn’t alowed to go home immediately, but thoose with more serious injuries (take)have been taken to Norwich central hospital later today. Witnesses say that the lorry (drive)was being drivingtoo fast. Rewrite the sentences using have/get something done ! 1. I will ask someone to repair my school bag. I will have my school bag repaired . 2. My sisters car is being seviced. My sister is getting her car serviced . 3. Someone is testing my father’s eyes. My father is getting his eyes tasted . 4. The grass is too long – I will pay someone to cut it. I will get the grass cut. . 5. I have taken my trousers to the cleaners. I have had my trousers cleaned. Rewrite the descriptions using compound adjectives ! 1. A skiing holiday that is two weeks long. Two-week skiing holiday is too long for me. 2. A baby who is six months old. Six month-old baby is very healthy. 3. A men with white hair. White-haired man is old and lovely. 4. A flight of six hours. Six-hour flight is boring. 5. A carpet made by hand. Handmade carpet is beautiful. Circle the correct preposition to form multipart verbs ! 1. When we have visiters we turn off/over the television. 2. My father always goes to sleep with television turned on/over. . My sister turns on/overthe channel to annoy me. 4. I turn down/to volume during the advertisements. 5. When I want to watch football I turn to/upmy mom for support. Circle the correct words in the latter ! Dear Colleague, On the 14th of june we will be holding a party to celebrate/celebration to success of our latest game show/opera. As you know, Win a Car! Is very popular/popularity and it will be good publish/publicityto hold a big thank-you party for stuff and successful players. The organise/organisation of the party is being done by my assistent. Yours faithfully.

Nordstrom Incâ€analyzing Financial Performance

NORDSTROM INC—ANALYZING FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE RETURN ON OPOERATING ASSETS ADDITIVE DUPONT MODEL Summary Nordstrom is one of the oldest retail companies in the United States. It started from 1901 in Seattle and has been grown to a powerful retailer in national area. Selling high quality products is the most important method for Nordstrom to collect its revenue. At the same time, Nordstrom also offers credits and debts to customers by his banks. In this case, we are trying to analysis Nordstrom’s financial statements and calculate few simple ratios to approach the performance of this company.The main point in our analysis is to figure out how Nordstrom is using its operating assets to get returning. a). ROE is used to measure the net profit in a period as a percentage of shareholder’s equity. In other word, ROE means how much net income we can get by using shareholders’ investment. ROE is more important than net income in dollar terms because ROE is a ratio. Ratio allowed analysts to compare companies’ performance over the period. In fact, the ratio can also help us compare companies in a different size or different industry.Net income in dollar terms is not widely used because this method is limited by companies’ different situations. b). ROE and RONA are both useful methods to determine a company’s performance. However, ROE and RONA measure a company’s performance in a different way. ROE considers entire company’s income, expenses and gain/loss of a company’s profit; RONA only consider a company’s net profit from operating activities. On the other hand, ROE calculates all returns which come from shareholder’s building of equity; RONA only calculates the operating assets and liabilities which don’t include the financing activities.The non-operating portion of ROE represents is that a company captures profit from financing activities and investing activities (both of them a re not operating activities). c). Marginal tax rate means a rate of tax that one company needs to pay on its next dollar of taxable income. Marginal tax rate will affect company’s future economic decisions because this tax rate is related to the economic situation. So, companies not only need to consider federal income tax but also need to consider state income tax. Tax shield is the tax reduction, which is created by items that are allowed to take deduction from tax income.For instance, interest on debt is tax-deductible, taking on debt makes tax shield. Tax shield is an important method to saving cash flow and it is a significant part of companies’ business valuation (Wikipedia, 2012). d. (in millions)| Fiscal 2009| Fiscal 2008| Fiscal 2007| Operating assets| 6,579| 5,661| 5,600| Operating liabilities| 2,394| 1,938| 1,988| Net operating assets| 4,185| 3,723| 3,612| e. 2009 NOPAT= 441 + [(138? (1- 38. 5%)] = 526 2008 NOPAT= 401 + [(131? (1-38. 5%)] =482 The dollar amo unt of Nordstrom’s tax shield from nonoperation activities in fiscal 2009 is $53 ( $ 138 x 38. 5 % ). f. 009 RNOA = $526 /[($4,185 + $3,723)/2] = $526 / $3,954 = 13. 3% 2008 RNOA = $482 /[($3,723 + $3,612)/2] = $482 / $3,668 = 13. 1% g. RNOA is improved over the two years. In order to understand the increase, we can examine NOPM and NOAT. NOPM is 6. 1 % ( $ 526 / $ 8, 627) in 2009 and 5. 6 % ( $ 482 / 8, 573) in 2008. NOPM analyzes the amount of net operating profit after tax for each dollar that is been earned by sales. The increase in NOPM may be seen a small increase but if the volume of the sales is considered, the increase would have huge impact on a increase in net income. NOAT is 2. 18 % ($ 8, 627 / 3,954) in 2009 and 2. 4 % ($ 8, 573 / 3, 688) in 2008. The decrease in NOAT shows that the company is less efficient and effective in terms of generating sales by use of assets. To conclude, it could be said that the company achieved better probability by a worse use of ope rating assets. However, the stance of the company is good and becoming better if we emphasize the increase in RNOA over the two years. h. 2009 ROE = $441 /[($1,572+ $1,210)/2] = 31. 7 % Non operating return: ROE – RNOA = 31. 7 % – 13. 3 % = 18. 4 % 2008 ROE = $401 /[($1, 210 + $ 1,115)/2] = 34. 5 % Non operating return: ROE – RNOA = 34. 5 % – 13. 1 % = 21. 4 % The ROE is decreased from 34. % to 31. 7 % over the two years. The difference between ROE and RNOA shows that there is non-operating return. Non-operating returns shows the effect of debt to finance operating assets. Moreover, it shows that Nordstrom uses liabilities or debt to increase operating assets and earnings. Nordstrom uses debt and the cost of the debt is less than the earnings, therefore it is beneficial for the company. i. Net non-operating obligations 2007: $261+ $2,236 = $2,497 2008: $275+$24+$$2,214 = $2,513 2009: $356+2,257= $2,613 FLEV 2009: [($2,613+$2,513)/2]/$1,390 = 1. 84 2008: [ $2,523+$2,497)/2]/$1,163 = 2. 15 It shows that Nordstrom has $1. 4 of non-operating liabilities for every dollar of shareholder’s equity. The company has less financial leverage compare to year 2008. Additionally, the company does not have non-operating assets; FLEV measure can be used as company’s debt-to-equity ratio too. Spread 2009: 13. 3% – ($85/$2,563) = 10. 0% 2008: 13. 1% – ($81/$2,505) = 9. 9% Nordstrom’s RNOA earned 13. 3% and 13. 1% in 2008 and 2009, while the company paying only 3. 3% and 3. 2% for its debt. Therefore, it means that the company operating return exceeds the cost of borrowing. Non-operating return 2009: 1. 84 x 10. 0% = 18. 4% 2008: 2. 15 x 9. 9% 21. 3% j. Nordstrom| TJX| Return on equity| 31. 7%| 48. 3%| RNOA| 13. 3%| 38. 3%| NOPM| 6. 1%| 6. 1%| NOAT| 2. 1%| 6. 28%| Non operating return| 18. 4%| 10. 1%| FLEV| 1. 84| 0. 29| Spread| 10. 0%| 34. 9%| The ROE of Nordstrom is 31. 7% and TJX 48. 3% show that both of the compani es are very profitable. The companies are very different than each other in terms of strategies. Nordstrom mostly uses leverage in order to increase the returns; on the other hand, TJX uses mostly stockholders equity and less leverage. Both of the companies have the same NOPM at 6. 1% that states that both companies make 6. 1 cents after tax for every dollar of sale.Furthermore, TJX has better operating asset turnover (NOAT) than Nordstrom, which shows that TJX is converting its operating assets to cash three times faster than Nordstrom. RNOA is calculated by multiplying NOAT and NOPM that is 13. 3 % for Nordstrom and 38. 4 % for TJX. The non-operating return is different for companies. The numbers are 18. 4 % for Nordstrom and 10. 1 % for TJX. The numbers show that Nordstrom has more leverage than TJX. Nordstrom’s FLEV is much higher than TJX which shows that TJX has less obligations and leverage than Nordstrom with regarding to equity. TJX’s spread is 3 times higher than Nordstrom.Although both companies have relatively close non-operating expenses to non-operating obligations number ( cost of debt ), the difference in Spread is related to RNOA numbers. Additionally, TJX does not have many obligations, which lead to low non-operating return. k. In order to improve RNOA in 2010, the company can improve its NOPM or its NOAT. Nordstrom managements have to improve their sales and reduce the expenses so as to improve NOPM. Decreasing the amount of operating assets such as long-term fixed assets can increase NOAT. Additionally, they can try some ways to collect account receivable quickly, sell inventories quickly nd sell some property or equipment. In terms of liabilities, Nordstrom managements can defer to pay bill in account payable and income tax liabilities. These methods may improve Nordstrom’s RNOA. Conclusion Nordstrom Inc. ’s RNOA ratio shows that the company’s financial performance in 2009 is slightly better than in 2008 . More specifically, the RNOA is increased from 13. 3% to 13. 1 % over the two years but its ROE is decreased. The difference between ROE and RNOA shows that there is non-operating return. Non-operating returns shows the effect of debt to finance operating assets.Moreover, it shows that Nordstrom uses liabilities or debt to increase operating assets and earnings. Nordstrom uses debt and the cost of the debt is less than the earnings, therefore it is beneficial for the company. Based on the data from balance sheet, on the other hand, the managements utilized more liabilities in 2009 than 2008 to increase the returns.. That means Nordstrom’s managers did good jobs in financial performance in 2009. However, compared with others more successful companies in the same industry, such as TJX, Nordstrom managements should try others effective methods to improve their returns.

Background on Stress

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF STUDY Work Related stress is a major cause of employee’s low productivity in an organisation. Encarta dictionary defines stress as strain felt by somebody mentally, physically, emotionally which may cause symptoms as raised blood pressure and depression. It is important to recognise and address properly job-related stress because it badly affects the employee’s mental and physiological health. As there is so many resources for employees to perform excellent in their jobs but there are also some factors that hinder their performance. These factors lead to their performance negatively.Newman and Behr (1979) defined job stress as ‘a situation wherein job-related factors interact with the worker to change his or her psychological and or psychological condition such that the person is forced to deviate from normal functioning. Some reasons for stress at the workplace could be; inability to meet the demand of the job, building and maintaining an amiable relationship with colleagues, management of subordinate staff, imparting knowledge to others and taking works from them, excessive work pressure to meet deadlines, inability to be creative, change of job, sexual harassment.These kind of work related stress results in poor performance by members of the organization. Attison (2002) says stress is a major factor in up to 80% of all work-related injuries and 40% of workplace turnovers. Despite tremendous advancement in science and technology and availability of various sources of luxury, majority of the workers in Ghana seem to be experiencing moderate to high degree of psychological stress in various spheres of their lives.Job related-stress is also a serious cause of mental health and health-related injuries. David and Cooper (1981) discovered that workplace stress has been increasingly quoted as the main cause of accidents, job dissatisfaction and other psychological illnesses like heart attack, alcoholism and hypertension . WORK RELATED STRESS Well-designed, organised and managed work is good for us but when insufficient attention to job design, work organisation and management has taken place, it can result in Work related stress.Work related stress develops because a person is unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. Stress, including work related stress, can be a significant cause of illness and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues such as more errors. Stress can hit anyone at any level of the business and recent research shows that work related stress is widespread and is not confined to particular sectors, jobs or industries.

The Founding Fathers Suspicion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Founding Fathers Suspicion - Essay Example During the 1700’s and 1800’s, people’s revolution was inherent and countries like the United States and France achieved their country’s liberties through these revolutions. But the transition of a revolutionary government to a more stable type of government also created certain fears to its founding leaders. Madison then feared at that time that since most of the masses were uneducated, a rule of the majority would turn into a â€Å"mob† rule with the majority abusing the rights of minority groups (Bardes et al., 2008, p. 7). Hence, the framers chose a democratic republic type of government, where sovereignty in the people as a whole as represented by their delegates. The greatest fear of every country is the abuse of authority and the corruption that their government may do to their people. One of the founding fathers Alexander Milton feared the elitist theory of choosing a few or small number of people â€Å"who exercise power to further their se lf interest (Bardes et al., 2008 p. 9). ... Madison [1803]) and prevent them from any form of abuse in their power and discretion. Framers of the Constitution have been aware of this possible abuse of authority that the government may have, and even if not specifically provided in the U.S. Constitution, debates at the Constitutional Convention justifies further this power, with Madison strengthening the judiciary saying that "A law violating a constitution established by the people themselves, would be considered by the Judges as null & void." (as cited in Ferrand,1911, p. 93). The framers where well aware of the possible corruption that even a democratic type of government may experience and even in our modern times, the same issue is relevant. La Porta et al. said that â€Å"the executive and the legislature may enact policies and pass laws that benefit themselves, democratic majorities, or allied interest groups † (as cited in Cordis, 2008, p. 380) Through this power of judicial review, the judiciary that is consider ed as apolitical is removed with doubts of possible â€Å"majotarian politics† influence that would restrict them to adopt measures that infringe on the basic rights of some, in order to follow the initial agreements that legislator or other elected official may have taken from their constituent in exchange for their votes (Hirschl, 2004, p. 4) Another important aspect that may be noticed in the United States Constitution is how the framers provided and made sure that each state had their own rights protected and independent from the federal government. The Tenth Amendment provides independence and power to the states for all other powers not specifically granted to the federal government. Through this, states may provide for

Cultural diversity in Modern China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural diversity in Modern China - Essay Example Communism is a political system where, property is owned communally and where economic, political, social systems are aimed at creating social order. Chinas Communist government views the introduction of new practices and cultures as a threat to this social order. Change is part of life, and human beings are supposed to adapt to change. It is necessary for the people of china to adapt to the new world. For example, there is no political tolerance. The people political views are not considered by the government, and any sign of a political struggle is met with a lot of hostility. In the 21st century, this should not be happening. If not changed, this grip of the nation by the communist government will result in the separation of the people of china behind. However, various factors are exposing the Chinese people to the entire world thus diversifying their life and cultural practices (Tienery 15). 1) The Olympics Participation of China in international sports has been a major factor in exposing Chinese people to different cultures. The fact that the government wants to ensure that the Republic of China is viewed as a leading power in every aspect of life, it allows the country to participate in almost all international sports events. These events include the Olympics, world cups and athletics competitions. According to the United Nations Office for Sport Development and Peace (UNOSDP), sports activities promote cultural diversity since they incorporate fair play, teamwork, respecting opponents, and self discipline as values of good sportsmanship (Nauright & Parrish 11). Through international sport events like the Olympics, the Chinese people have been exposed to different cultures. This is through interactions directly in the games by the players with other participants from the other countries. The players interact with other participants in the Olympics where they learn about new things, which they take back home introducing them to other people. For example, p layers take back home eating habits that they have learnt from the country where the Olympic Games are being held. Another way that sports activities promote cultural diversity in China is through the interaction of fans from china and those from other countries. While supporting their country in the Olympic Games, Chinese people get to know about different cultures as they talk with fans from other countries. Here, they form strong friendships and bonds where they teach each other about their cultures. On learning these cultures, Chinese fans go back home and spread the new cultures where people assimilate them. For example, the mode of dressing among Chinese people has changed through interaction with others during Olympic Games and other Spots events 2) The Tibet Movement This is a movement that struggles to fight for the political and economic independence of Tibet. Tibet is a region which is included as a territory of the Republic of China. The movement strives at achieving tot al separation from the Republic of China. The movement is supported internationally mainly the United States of America (USA), India, and a number f countries in Europe. For example, the International Tibet Independence movement is an organization that supports this movement. It was formed in March 18th 1995 in the United States

Exhibition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exhibition - Essay Example The famous Bottari, who catapulted her works to the international scene and limelight, uses fabric as the main material for her work. The organization of the exhibition includes the exhibition of the retrospective works and highlights of works of Kimsooja. All the works of Kimsooja revolve around, photography installation, performance, video and object based sculpture. In all these modes of presenting her art, Kimsooja targets to address several issues that affect and pose as a challenge to the society. Her works normally question gender issues, issues affecting culture, issues concerning poverty and issues targeting global migration. The organization of the Vancouver Arts Gallery aims at giving people the chance to digest the art being displayed by Kimsooja on their own. It also opens the viewer’s minds to observe everyday activities from a three-dimension perspective. The everyday activities such as doing laundry and sewing are what she uses to create performance pieces. Her art also seeks to expose the viewers to a much deeper reflection of the human condition. The human condition involves maters to do with relationships, companionships not excluding mortality and birth. At the organization of the Kimsooja unfolding, all categories of the works of Kimsooja were put in perspective. In the use of portraits and photographs to depict messages, Kimsooja selects specific environments and places herself strategically in the photos. ‘A Needle Woman’ portrays a perfect example of her motion-photographic work. A needle is perceived as an instrument that brings pain when it encounters the body and skin through piercing. However, the needle is also used as a symbol of continuity. It enables the continuity of the fabric by joining the fabric together using a thread as the intermediary. The fabric, the needle and the thread can all be used symbolically to depict the day-to-day occurrence in a meaningful way. The work of art depicted by Kimsooja in these pieces

Diplomacy Gameplay Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diplomacy Gameplay - Article Example eos, Cineplexes, and TV ads, where pluralistic worlds and multiple realisms are captured to the furthest in digital mocks and metaphors (Potter 2002, pg. 34). Young people today are fully relaxed with the initiative of such created worlds, produced veracities, and de-centered selves, since their relative experience is mostly through the de-centered, hyper-real surroundings of digital computer systems. Diplomacy is a seven-player board game that is derived from the great efforts of the major European influences during World War I. The nations play in this game are: England, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey (Jonathan et al. 2004, pg. 44). Game Board: The board contains seventy-three bordering regions and every player begins with pieces in lieu of armed forces units in their native lands. Thirty-five of the seventy provinces on the board are described as â€Å"supply countries†. The objective of the game is to manage eighteen of the thirty-five supply hubs. A player will then have lots of pieces on the board as he/she possesses supply centers. Pieces: They are signified as one of two major types of armed forces units: militias and fleets. Fleets are permitted to go across bodies of water and coastline regions, at the same time as armed forces can shift onto any neighboring region. Both of these units have equivalent power in the game. Actions and Orders: On every spring or fall turn, a piece can be controlled to carry out the following actions: move, hold or support. A move order will transport a piece from one province to an adjacent province. A hold order will keep the piece in it current location. A support order will help another piece that is moving from one region to another beside the piece carrying out the support order. This aid allows the moving piece to occupy a region during circumstances of conflict. GamePlay: A head-to-head â€Å"game of Diplomacy† engages a talk time during each twist of about thirty minutes where players

Week 5 chapter 13-15 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 5 chapter 13-15 questions - Assignment Example The origins of this concept is traced by to 1845 when journalist John OSullivan first used the United States Magazine, and Democratic Review, where he expressed the need to annex Texas to ensure the expansion of the American territorial boundaries. At the time, the journalist was reportedly protesting that England and France were meddling too much in the American affairs, something that he did not like. The term then grew in popularity and became a political word after that (Brands et al., 2012). The 1850s Compromise was the legislations that were proposed to help resolve the dispute that arose regarding slavery and the territorial boundaries just after the Mexican-American war. Some of the key provisions of the Compromise include the proposal that California be admitted as a free state to the Union. The second provision was that the part of Mexican that had not seceded be subdivided into two territories namely Utah and New Mexico and that these territories be free of slavery. Thirdly, the Compromise proposed complete abolition of the slave trade in the District of Colombia. Fourthly, the Compromise contained the Fugitive Slave Act, which required all Americans to assist the slaves that had returned. Lastly, the Compromise had a provision requiring Texas to give up parts of the western land which it had earlier claimed and received approximately $10 billion to help settle the national debt (Brands et al., 2012). Following the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford in which Scott sued for his freedom after the Missouri Compromise had prohibited slavery, Justice Taney ruled against Scott arguing that not American regardless of whether slave or free could be an American citizen. In fact, the judge continued to argue that Scott could still not have won even if he were to be a legal plaintiff. This ruling favored the sectionalism in the sense that it meant that slavery would still be practices in Missouri despite having been outlawed by the Compromise (Brands et al.,

Accounting II Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Accounting II - Article Example Such an individual promotes mediocrity in what they achieve as well as mediocrity in other individuals’ ability to achieve. A low EQ actually causes one to feel belittled, unworthy and inefficient. One example of a high EQ individual is my lecturer who is able to make every student’s response seem like gold or of Albert Einstein’s quality. On the other hand, an example of a low EQ individual would be my boss who constantly derides my every action and attempts to be excellent. I am left with the notion that it is impossible to achieve anything of substance. I believe that a high EQ can certainly help one’s personal and professional work. Likewise a low EQ can hinder one’s ability to progress. Firstly, a high EQ will cause one to relate at an optimum level with oneself as well as with others. Thus, one’s perception of self will improve to such an extent that others will want to be in the presence of such an individual. Similarly, a low EQ would cloud one’s ability to clearly accept oneself. Consequently, inability to objectively accept self will interfere with one’s ability to understand and relate to others. EQ therefore will affect both personal and professional life because one does not live in a vacuum. What affects one area of life will disperse to the other

Purification Planning for Sole Proprietor Case Study

Purification Planning for Sole Proprietor - Case Study Example This way a company or a sole proprietor can reduce Paid-up Capital through a payment and the qualifying shares are subsequently sold to arm's length party. This paper tries to answer the question as to whether Mr. Edward Lau, a Canadian Resident, who is the sole shareholder of Cell City is qualified to avail the CGD when he sells his shares. Mr. Edward wants to sell his shares and thus the tax implications have been examined. An analysis of all the possible tax issues that will be raised, and how to overcome it is being discussed in this paper. It is vital to do this kind of planning by Cell City sooner rather than later. The planning becomes more complicated and risky, and probably, more expensive, if such planning is contemplated on the eve of a sale. Mr. Edward Lau, a Canadian Resident, is the sole shareholder of Cell City and has been since its inception. Cell City owns 100% of common shares of Space, which consist of 100 shares with a Paid up Capital (PUC) and an Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) of $50,000. Edward has never claims a Capital Gain Deduction (CGD). Edward has received an offer for his shares in Cell City. Before making his decision, he requests our advice on all the tax consequences resulting from such a decision. He informs us that Cell City has exited since 1989 and that the balance sheet for both corporations has remained substantially the same for the last three years. The balance sheets as at August 31, 2009, are presented below: Cell City: FMV Cost Treasury Bills 150,000 150,000 Shares of public corporations 100,000 75,000 Shares-Space 1,000,000 50,000 1,250,000 275,000 Share Capital 100 Retained Earnings 1,249,900 1,250,000 Space: FMV Cost Loan to Broke Ltd. 300,000 300,000 Land 100,000 75,000 Building 700,000 425,000 Equipment 400,000 600,000 Goodwill 150,000 0 1,650,000 1,400,000 Liabilities 50,000 Mortgage 600,000 Share Capital 50,000 Retained Earnings 950,000 1,650,000 The value of goodwill is reflected in the Fair Market Value (FMV) of retained earnings. Broke Ltd. is not related to Space and the loan does not bear interest it is controlled by a friend of Edward Lau. Edward Lau has asked us to explore the rules applicable to purification planning, identify situations that may come under the provisions of the rules, and determine the tax consequences. Then the provisions of the ITA that allow the Capital Gains Deduction (CGD) to be claimed on disposal of shares in a Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation (CCPC) and qualified assets are also analyzed. This is a significant benefit, since using the CGD serves to reduce Edward Lau's tax bill. This paper will determine taxpayers' tax liability and regulatory requirements and exposure. Tax implications of proposed and completed transactions are evaluated and analyzed and tax-planning issues are discussed. Business decisions in their legal context, along with preparing and advising on contract structure and enforcement is discussed. The first section of this paper looks at the background of Cell City.

Recommendation - conclusion Essay Example for Free

Recommendation conclusion Essay The factors and stimulants to the fast food industry discussed in the paper have highlighted certain aspects in the company policies that need to be revised for better and effective brand positioning of Back Yard Burgers. The strategic changes recommended in the paper are summarized below: †¢ Brand awareness and brand recognition campaign using â€Å"Fun logo† that spells great time to the consumer segment. †¢ Aggressive market campaign to promote consumer traffic using catchy slogans that appeals to the youngsters and children. †¢ Bright color scheme for the restaurant interiors, uniform in pattern and layout across all outlets to ensure visibility and consumer retention. †¢ Spearheading changes in the restaurant operations integrating fast food service features with menu offerings of a full serviced restaurant. †¢ Event catering and home delivery concepts can be introduce to popularize the company products and services. †¢ Flexible offerings in price to suit all levels of consumer segment. †¢ Regular adaptations to the menu card to retain consumer interest. †¢ Introduction of healthier options in the menu card to cater to the health conscious consumers. Conclusion The rapid changes in the consumer behavior drive the fast food industry business. Rising incomes, and changes in the lifestyles of the people are the stimulants to this change in food culture. From traditional home cooked meals to ready to eat over the counter burgers and sandwiches – the eating habits of the Americans have changed drastically. Back Yard Burgers started with one outlet in the year 1987 and moved on to 183 outlets by the year 2007 – the expansion is quite dramatic. But the success story could have been even more dramatic if the company had followed a different operational strategy. The loopholes in their existing strategy is quite evident at this stage when the management realizes the potential that the company had to expand and conquer the fast food industry segment. But its not too late to make the amends and bring out the true potential that the company has to overcome the stiff competition from market giants like McDonalds, Wendy’s and Burger King. All that is required is a little foresightedness and a flexibility to adapt to the changing market trends. References: 1. Company website – www. backyardburgers. com accessed on 11th Dec 2007 2.Eric Schlosser – Rolling stone magazine (Sept 1998) – Fast-food Nation: The true cost of America’s Diet http://www. mcspotlight. org/media/press/rollingstone1. html accessed on 11th Dec 2007 3. Back Yard Burgers Inc. http://www. fundinguniverse. com/company-histories/Back-Yard-Burgers-Inc-Company-History. html accessed on 11th Dec 2007 4. Hayden Stewart, Noel Blisard, Sanjib Bhuyan, Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr. – USDA – The Demand For Food Away From Home Full Service or Fast Food? http://www. ers. usda. gov/publications/aer829/aer829. pdf accessed on 12th Dec 2007 5. http://finance. google. com/finance? q=NASDAQ:BYBI accessed on 12th Dec 2007 6. SEC reports from the company website 7. http://www. franchize. biz/franchise-information-whats-new. htm accessed on 11th Dec 2007 8. http://www. hoovers. com/fast-food-and-quickservice-restaurants/ID__269/free-ind-fr-profile-basic. xhtml accessed on 11th Dec 2007 9. http://www. nytimes. com/2006/04/19/business/19mcdonalds. html? _r=2pagewanted=2oref=sloginoref=slogin accessed on 12th Dec 2007 10. http://content. healthaffairs. org/cgi/content/full/22/6/207 accessed on 12th Dec 2007.