Mountain Man Brewing Company Essay

Problem Definition Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) has enjoyed being in top position in premium beer segment for the past fifty years and are now facing a 2% decline in revenue whilst a change in leadership infuses new energy to bring a change in their product line. Chris Prangel, son of the retired president and owner of MMBC faces the challenge of successfully implementing a marketing strategy to introduce a ‘light’ beer; in a growing beer segment, as maintaining status-quo would no more be an option to sustain their existing position in marketplace in the next five years. Analysis Strengths Mountain Man Brewing Company was known as the â€Å"Best Beer in West Virginia† because of its flavor and distinctive bitter taste; additionally, it was selected as â€Å"America’s Championship Lager† at the American Beer Championship in 2005. Also, it had held the top market position in the lager market in West Virginia for almost 50 years. As a result, Mountain Man succeeded at the beer market by earning over $50 million and selling over 520,000 barrels of Mountain Man Lager beer within the West Central region. Mountain Man had high brand awareness, and it was especially recognizable among working-class males in the East Central region because of its product quality, positioning, and brand equity. In order to keep favorable relationship with its customers, Mountain Man had many branding activities. Hence, Mountain Man Brewing Company remained strongly in the beer market due to its strong brand loyalty as they capitalised on the ‘local’ factor. Weaknesses Mountain Man Brewing Company produced only one product, Mountain Man Lager, and distributed to only the West Central region with limited distributions. Moreover, Mountain Man targeted on only one segment, the blue-collar men who are mid-age and above. Although its core consumers love Mountain Man Lager, the market product preference had changed to light beer instead of traditional beer; therefore, Mountain Man Lager was rated very low as a purchasing preference. Unlike many other major beer producers, Mountain Man did not have any advertisement; in fact, it relied only on word of mouth. Mountain Man might not have enough money to launch Mountain Man Light that follows the modern trend. Opportunity Mountain Man can consider three possible opportunities, which increases potential consumers and gain revenues. Firstly, number of younger beer drinkers has been consistently increased and expected to positively influence the growth of the profits. Secondly, If Mountain Man launches light beer category, it may reach younger drinkers who both show positive attitudes towards light beer and brand awareness of Mountain Man itself. The likability of younger drinkers toward the light beer will optimistically affect the MMBC’s revenue ( Exhibit 1). Lastly, by expending product lines, product and distributors may build stronger beneficial relationship with brewers. Threats One of the threats Mountain Man Brewing Company faced was the declining overall beer consumption per capita by 2.3% since 2001 in United States of America. According to the case, the declining consumption is attributed to the competition from wine and spirit-based drinks, an increase in federal excise tax, initiatives encouraging moderation and personal responsibility, and increasing health concerns. Furthermore, categorising Distributors might also be a threat to this company because they became more cautious as they could refuse to work with small brands that have low margins and turnover. The increasing number of large breweries is also a challenge the company in the market to remain profitable; smaller companies are put on pressure to stay in the beer market. Alternatives 1. Introducing Mountain Man ‘Light’: If Chris goes ahead and launches a beer less strong than the premium lager beer using Mountain Man’s brand name as ‘Mountain Man Light’, it would result in increase in revenues as they would be entering into a growing light beer market segment and the existing brand image might help them reduce advertising costs. However, this move will make them lose their existing customer’s loyalty, along with product cannibalization, brand erosion and might not be perceived well by the existing customers as well their target customers. 2. Introducing Light Beer by some other name: Choosing a new brand name for the light beer has a slight edge over choosing Mountain Man Light. As discussed in the case, there is a chance of the company losing its identity when they are in midst of other light beers such as Coors Light. Creating a brand identity would be difficult as customers might not find it easy to recognize yet another beer which ends with ‘Light’. In addition to the benefits in the first alternative, creating a new brand name for the light beer would make sure there is no brand dilution or cannibalization. However there could be additional advertising costs and they cannot leverage the existing strong brand name. Recommendations I would recommend to go ahead with the second alternative of not naming the light beer as Mountain Man Light and to give a different name as it targets a younger population who look for healthier beer drinking by consuming fewer calories while maintaining the same level of alcohol intake. Brand Identity: Creating a brand identity for a new product would be challenging. However, a growing market segment would always be on the lookout of new products and this might work in favor to MMBC. To distinguish the light beer from other competitors they will have to come up with a creative tag line for their beer. Target Market: Based on the given statistics it appears that customers of the age group between 21 and 27 are the highest percentage of people who would favor light beer. They should amend their marketing campaigns to suit this new target market. Promotion: MMBC should concentrate on making their promotion campaigns more effective. They must promote light beer in pubs, discos and night clubs. The light beer segment is in growth stage of the product life cycle which indicates soaring sales, increasing revenues, and growing consumers. To make full use of it an effective marketing campaign spanning across different media must be undertaken.

Bose Marketing Structure

A History of Bose Bose Corporation was founded in 1964 by Dr. Amar G. Bose, then professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an MIT grad student in the 1950s, Dr. Bose decided to purchase a new stereo system. He was disappointed to find that speakers with impressive technical specifications failed to reproduce the realism of a live performance. The quest for better sound was on. Extensive research in the fields of speaker design and psychoacoustics—the human perception of sound—led to the groundbreaking 901 ® Direct/Reflecting ® speaker system in 1968.Its unprecedented approach to sound reproduction came much closer to the essence and emotional impact of live music, and won immediate acclaim. The list of major Bose innovations continues to grow. Fourteen years of research led to the development of acoustic waveguide speaker technology, found in our award-winning Wave ® radio, Wave ® music system and Acoustic Wave ® musi c systems. Acoustimass ® speaker technology reshaped conventional thinking about the relationship between speaker size and sound, enabling palm-sized speakers to produce audio quality previously thought impossible from speakers so small.Auditioner ® audio demonstrator technology removed the guesswork from sound system design for arenas and other large venues. It allows builders, architects and facility managers to hear precisely what a Bose ® system will sound like in their building, before any equipment is installed, even if the building only exists as a blueprint. Bose Lifestyle ® systems provided a welcome alternative to conventional component-based systems by offering fully integrated home entertainment solutions. Lifestyle ® systems deliver award-winning performance and elegance from elements specifically engineered to work together.The systems approach has paved the way for numerous Bose solutions, audio and beyond. Integrated systems account for the acclaimed perfor mance of Bose automotive sound systems and Acoustic Noise Cancelling ® headsets. The revolutionary Bose suspension system and ElectroForce ® linear motion system rely on proprietary Bose software and hardware working together in harmony. All feature technologies available only from Bose. Today, you can find Bose wherever quality sound is important. From the Olympic games to the Sistine Chapel. From NASA space shuttles to the Japan National Theatre.In the home and on the road, from large outdoor arenas to intimate neighborhood stores, restaurants and clubs, you can hear the realism of the most respected name in sound—Bose. | Organisational Structure of Bose Corporation – February 2nd, 2011 Bose Corporation (pronounced /? bo? z/) is a privately held organization, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, that specializes in audio equipment. [2] Founded in 1964 by Amar G. Bose, the company operates 5 plants, 151 retail stores (as of October 20, 2006) and an automotive subsi diary at Stow, Massachusetts. With respect to sales in the U. S. or home audio retail and portable audio retail sales, Bose was ranked third for the period of November 2008 to April 2009. [3] Bose is known for the 901 speaker series. CEO Amar Bose CFO Daniel Grady * Forming – during this stage of group development, the members get acquainted with each other. During this stage, the group establishes ground rules. * Storming – this stage is characterized by a high degree of conflict within the group. I consider the storming stage as the most crucial stage. In this stage, the group members and the leader have to resolve the issues that may affect the group in the future.If the group is unable to resolve the issues, it may be disbanded. If the issues are resolved the group will become cohesive. * Norming – during this stage, the group becomes more cohesive and identification as a member becomes greater. During this stage, the group members start to develop relations hips. * Performing – during this stage, questions about group relationships and leadership have been resolved and the group is ready to work. Each member devotes his/herself to getting the job done. * Adjourning – during this stage, the group will cease to exist. This is because it has met its goals and is no longer needed.Another interesting topic is group structure. Group structure refers to the characteristics of the stable social organization of the group, the way the group is ‘put together’. I learned that the way the group is structured affects its performance and ability to function. Through class discussions, I learned about the factors that affect group performance. * Size – the size of the group affects its ability to function. I learned that is best to maintain a small group with 10 members. In a small group, everyone feels needed and everyone is given responsibility. Nature of the task – the nature of the task affects the groupâ⠂¬â„¢s ability to function. The task should contain the right amount of challenge that will excite and push members to perform better. * Resources and support – adequate resources also affect group performance. * External recognition – rewards and recognitions are linked motivation.The members must feel that their work and efforts are valued. * Group composition – it is important to maintain a small group with diverse talents and skills. * N. B: Bose products are found in homes, theaters and large sports arenas. The U. S. ilitary and NASA have contracts with the company Bose Mission Statement The challenge of accurate music reproduction The ability to differentiate live music from all others is what makes its reproduction so challenging. The singular mission at the heart of Bose ® is to reproduce music as true to the original performance as possible. And that involves research, technology and a strong commitment to excellence. Bose Company Objectives Bose main tains an exceptionally strong commitment to research, for it is within the discipline of research that yesterday's fiction becomes tomorrow's reality.We strive to identify things which, when made better, improve people's lives. But it's more than just research. We aim for excellence in everything we do. From the way we run our business to our customer service. From the products to the owner's manuals you'll use to set them up. In everything we do, we truly believe that â€Å"good enough† is merely a starting point. We've taken our commitment and our passion for innovation and applied them to developing unique sound solutions to meet virtually any audio challenge in any application, even the space program.While many of our products are designed for entertainment and home audio solutions, you'll find Bose sound is prevalent in both the aviation and automotive industries, too. We've also designed professional sound systems for many applications, including stadiums and auditorium s, houses of worship, retail businesses, department stores and restaurants. Our commitment has served us well. Today, Bose has operations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The Bose ® Commitment to Customer SatisfactionAt Bose, an overriding goal is to create value for our customers by offering products and services that meet their needs. Our experienced sales and applications specialists strive to understand your specific testing needs, and then provide a solution for you. We put customers at the center of a dedicated focus on quality and service, and we measure success by the satisfaction of our customers. We are dedicated to bringing you products of superior quality and performance, and exceptional service so you can achieve your goals.

The Hidden Face Of Ewaste Environmental Sciences Essay

In the epoch of the laptop, have you of all time wondered about what happened to all these good old desktop computing machines? The world is that the industry is invariably scoring us with new appliances that are supposed to give us a more convenient and hearty life. And we buy it! Electronic devices have become such an of import portion of our mundane life that we do non look to be able to populate without it. The downside is that they tend to age truly rapidly. As a affair of fact, the newest digital equipment are intentionally made to last merely a short period of clip, runing from a few old ages to every bit small as a few months. This phenomenon consequences in a turning demand that is increasing both the production and the ingestion of electrical and electronic equipment. However, really few are witting of what truly happens to their old equipment. Let us unveil the enigma for you. What is E-waste? First of all, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ( WEEE ) consists of old electronic contraptions which their former users have disposed of: iceboxs, two-channel systems, telecastings, cellular telephones, computing machines, pressmans, DVD participants, MP3 participants and a assortment of other similar devices. These devices are produced at an highly high rate and that rate is sing an on-going planetary The concealed face of E-waste 3 growing. Harmonizing to Bily ( 2010 ) , the production of WEEE sums to about 50 million dozenss a twelvemonth worldwide. This measure is really alarming, sing the composing of these electronics. Indeed, lead, quicksilver and Cd are a few of the tonss of pollutants that can be found in electronic waste and these elements classify WEEE in the class of risky waste ( Pinto, 2008 ) . The resources required for their production are huge and their effects on the environment is higher than those of other merchandises. The disposal job So what precisely happens to all that waste? First, WEEE are non portion of the conventional waste intervention circuit. The reply is that most merchandises merely go debris. North Americans store on mean two to three disused computing machines in their garage or their cupboard. Harmonizing to Environment Canada, each twelvemonth, 140,000 dozenss of electronic waste go into landfills all around Canada ( RCBC, 2008 ) . Furthermore, the Agency for Environmental Protection calculated that about 70 % of screens and 80 % of telecastings are located in landfills. Today, WEEE are more than 5 % of municipal waste, a figure invariably increasing. Science Daily ( 2010 ) estimates that, relative to 2007 degrees, by 2020, the sum of electronic waste associated with computing machines entirely will most likely leap to 500 % in India, 200 % in South Africa and 400 % in China. The big bulk of WEEE end up in landfills, incinerators, even make fulling in sites. It is well-known that many of these lan dfills emit outflowing discharges, and even the best constructed and controlled leak chemicals and metals. The state of affairs can decline depending on how old the landfill is. Vaporization of metallic quicksilver and dimethyl quicksilver is besides unsafe and can take to puting fires in the landfills that pose a hazard to wellness and the environment. Furthermore, Jeffries ( 2006 ) explains that because it is less expensive to direct it abroad than to cover with it The concealed face of E-waste 4 ourselves, a big measure of rubbish is on a regular basis shipped to landfills in developing states like India, China, and Africa. These states all receive big sums of imported computing machines, cellular telephones, and other electronic waste, some of which is reused but most of which is dumped into a heap. The export of WEEE to developing states is a hazardous method of direction, sometimes illegal, but profitable for companies from industrialised states. The illegal export sometimes takes the visual aspect of giving. This is possible given the ordinances are frequently missing in asperity in developing states and the costs of the work force are really low. Are at that place other solutions? There are three options available to handle electronics before they end up as waste. These options are storage, reuse and recycling. However, in Canada, electronic waste is normally stored in landfills. There is another manner of covering with WEEE and that is through reuse. An illustration of reuse can be observed in India. In this state, out of the five million Personal computers, 27 % of theoretical accounts are 8 old ages of age or older. The reuse can so be a good manner to widen the life of a merchandise. However, the sad world is that most of e-waste is non properly dealt with. It is really common for developed states to direct their old contraptions to developing states, either lawfully or illicitly. This action constitutes a temporal solution to their disposal job. Another manner of disposing of your refuse is through recycling. Nevertheless, frequently regarded as a positive procedure, in this context, the â€Å" recycling † is a somewhat different proccess. It inclu des dismantlement, tear uping, incineration, and frequently exportation. It is seldom regulated and involves many hazards like the irremediable taint of the H2O, the dirt and the ambiance ( UNEP, 2005 ) . Merely 20 % of e-waste really go through the recycling procedure. Although the measures of waste are increasing, the industry is slow to develop systems of modern recycling. The concealed face of E-waste 5 What are the impacts? The disposal of e-waste has a major negative impacts on the environment, which consequences in impacting people ‘s wellness. The recycling procedure of these merchandises in developing states is really distressing, particularly as methods are crude and people are frequently faced with fundamental and unsafe working conditions working without protection for the custodies or for the face. Gass, acidic solutions, toxic exhausts and contaminated ash from these centres pose serious jobs for wellness and environment. And it is precisely due to the hapless quality of the H2O and the contaminated dirt that we find serious unwellnesss. It has been found that the e-waste recycling activities were responsible for promoting blood lead degrees in Chinese kids from Guiyu, a little recycling town on the South China seashore. It has been found that its pollution rate is 180 times superior than the bounds fixed by the World Health Organization. ( Monika, 2010 ) . The e-waste industry is using a bout 150,000 people in Guiyu and 25,000 more work in the junkyards of New Delhi, in India. In malice of the backbreaking and unsafe conditions, workers will merely gain between 1 and 4 dollars a twenty-four hours ( Kielburger, 2008 ) . What can we make? To cut down pollution, assorted policies are being evaluated, developed and implemented. Canada joined the Basel Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in 1992. This was created to halt economically profitable methods of cargos of unsafe waste to states that refuse e-waste import. But why would anyone accept to go the rubbish bin of the indutrialised universe ‘s e-waste? Robbins ( 2007 ) clarifies the grounds for the start of this commercialism in the undermentioned words: The concealed face of E-waste 6 Poorer states were likely to accept exported wastes because their high international debt tonss and weak economic systems positioned them ill to reject any income-generating activities. As the debatable and unfair nature of the international toxins trade became better recognized, concern led to developing and implementing international controls. ( p. 101-102 ) Some states are implementing plans pollution bar and minimisation waste. Among these attacks, â€Å" Producer Responsibility â€Å" ( EPR ) is important. The nonsubjective: doing importers of electrical and electronic devices responsible for the life rhythm of their merchandises. The rule is that makers have an involvement to ease recycling and dismantlement, to restrict the usage of resources, pollution and waste. This can merely be done through a design and through recommending ecological reuse and effectual recycling. In decision, based on the dismaying menace that e-waste represents, it is indispensable to allow the general public be cognizant of the serious effects that e-waste has on our environment and our wellness. Our local authoritiess should besides be informed of this so that they can set up an substructure for safe direction of WEEE. Even though pull offing e-waste is an expensive procedure, we are called to get down sing what schemes could be undertaken to make a responsible e-waste direction, minimise its production and do its constituents easy to recycle and recycle. The concealed face of E-waste 7

The novel Passing by Stella Larsen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The novel Passing by Stella Larsen - Essay Example The fall of Clare is in haziness. The readers are forced t think about the major part played Irene in the fall of Clare Redfeild . Clare consciously accompanies Irene’s husband Brain in tea parties. During these outings Irene notices her ability with men. She has such a magnetic ability to charm and enthrall them with her beauty, pull them through her skilful speech. Irene is sure that Clare would go after anything that she desired with disregard to the feeling of others . â€Å"Why to get the thing I want badly enough, I would do anything, hurt anybody, throw anything away, I am not safe† p(81). The real Irene is one who wishes to enjoy the liberal life of Clare .But she now blames herself for hiding the fact of being Black. John Bellow is also unknown about her identity. But in the curse of the time Irene notices the influence of Clare even on her own husband. To Irene, security was the most important and desired thing in life .It was clear that Irene at a moment subconsciously wished for an end to Clare. When Clare confesses about the breaking of the china tea cup to Hugwentworth that it was a mindful effort, she reveals her mind. The white tea cup is really Clare herself who has the same white ancestors and live in the world through deception. Clearly the shattering of the tea cup with its white fragments is the shadows of the impending death of Clare

You are required to evaluate the role of finance director in an Essay

You are required to evaluate the role of finance director in an organisation of your choice - Essay Example ere are specific roles of finance directors such as strategic planning of financial future of organizations, overseeing and ensuring proper controls within the organization and making sound financial decisions such as investment decisions. This essay explains and evaluates a detail official description of the role of finance director in McDonald and comparison of the description to that found in at least three different job adverts. According to Sawers (2009), Finance director at McDonald provides insight across all business functions and works closely with other finance related departments especially marketing and supply chain and further supports the company’s franchisees by building projection tools. Finance director advices on financing options, optimizes business plans, sets, and monitors financial and other targets (Sawers, 2014). Finance directors ensures rigorous project management discipline and works closely with product and marketing teams to finance the launch of activities and further evaluates, measures and monitors performance against financial and other targets. Finance department is at the heart of McDonald Company, incorporating many functions that go beyond its traditional financial reporting role. McDonald’s Finance director ensures that the organization maximizes its strategic abilities by shifting the emphasis of their accounting and finance functions to integrate evaluation of past performance and appraisal of future opportunities (Ionescu, 2010). McDonald uses integrated accounting and finance function that extends from the restaurant floor up to the board of directors and every individual subsidiary restaurant is structured as an independent business responsible for its financial performance (Sawers, 2009). Finance director therefore oversees financial performance of individual McDonald restaurants across the world and further ensures that centralized Accounting and Finance functions are undertaken. Moreover, McDonald’s Finance

Close Reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Close Reading - Essay Example r breath at the ‘avant-garde style†¦ snazzy visuals†¦ snappy stories to the enthusiastic, upbeat score.†(Tasha Robinson) Anime, made in Japan is well-suited to global audiences because of its adherence to using traditional storylines but with a western flavor, and it makes it even more adaptable for â€Å"Global Web-based communities.†(Nicholas, Kyle) Western audiences are lured to the world of anime because of its unique identifying feature which is according to Horn â€Å"colorful, exciting, strange and Japanese.† (Horn 1999, p.13-31) Dating back to the 1920’s musical and film- noir style, Cowboy Bebop, O.S.T draws heavily from its musical themes. The majority of the soundtrack that was created mostly by the ‘Seatbelts’ contained a variety of elements such as pulsating techno beats, morose jazz, ofjump blues and yes, Bebop indeed without a doubt. The majority of the tracks on O.S.T 1 was a mixture of Jazz and blues. Songs such as ‘Digging My Potato’ and â€Å"Spokey Dokey† which is perhaps the most vivid song, though sounding seemingly ridiculous actually had maturity of the use of pause and space between the lyrics that is rarely found in the recordings of modern or contemporary jazz. (Sean McCarthy, 1998) Speaking of the band â€Å"Seatbelts† who were the primary musicians for almost the whole of the Bebop series are greatly hyped as one of the most progressive and futuristic bands who had gained wide popularity during 2048. The Seatbelts prided themselves in taking a whole lot of creative liberties in making use of contradictory themes such as ‘hard and soft’ and ‘peace and anarchy.’ The soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop also has two other discs titled ‘No Disc’ and the other called ‘Blue O.S.T-1 which is considered to be the prime of the lot that helped a great deal in introducing both Blues and Jazz to its audience who otherwise would not have been attracted to this particular genre. The sound created by the ‘Seatbelts’ are as

Citizens and globalization Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Citizens and globalization - Term Paper Example Globalization can also be said to be as the intensification of the worldwide social activities which has been linked to economic and social activities of the economies (MacGillivray, 2006). The goal of globalization is to provide business world an utmost competitive advantage while having low operating cost to gain worldwide consumers, goods and services. Globalisation uses the diversification phenomenon for the use of resources. It is a strategy that provides a long range of products and services. It enables businesses to compete worldwide by diversification because it includes risk reduction in international trade. It promotes economic growth and performance for a nation. Looking at these factors it can be said that the people around the world do not resist globalisation. It is not a new factor even it has an economic roots i.e. international trade, finance, migration and ideology. The people as the members of the society as the consumers should behave positively with respect to globalization as this gives them the advantage to have a varity of goods and services from around the world (Ilmberger & Robinson, 2002). Globalization also involves innovation due to the commercialization of national technology across international boundaries that is high tech products (includes all electronic, electrical products etc.), all this helps consumers to have better goods and services and take the advantage of technology which is not available locally. Globalisation boosts international travel and tourism indirectly due to the international business. Immigration between countries, formation of free trade zones, growth of cross cultural contacts, enhancement in worldwide culture etc. is increasing due to the globalisation. This is leading to the improvement in the cultural and business practices of the nations and developing people and their business. As the consumer the people are getting advantage of getting different products and services which they have

The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life Research Paper

The Possibility of Extra-Terrestrial Life - Research Paper Example Cox and Rees begin to contemplate the possibility, the arguments in favor of life beyond the blue planet tend to gain more credibility. However, the question is not about which side of the argument has greater credibility or even about getting the majority to agree with or refute the theory. When the issue in question has to be proved or disproved, only conclusive evidence should be included. Speculations, whether educated or misinformed, are still speculations only. In the absence of verifiable, conclusive proof, the status quo remains unchanged. Extra-terrestrial life cannot be assumed to exist till such irrefutable evidence is presented. This paper seeks to substantiate this claim by first discussing expert opinions on the issue, and how despite their scholarly backing the opinions remain speculative; then, by exploring how alleged encounters with aliens are possibly nothing more than psychological condition; and finally by looking at the implications of this kind of unrestrained speculation. Apart from the opinions of the scientists mentioned in the introduction, experiences of other experts who have dedicated their careers to researching this possibility are well-documented. Jacques F. Vallee in his paper â€Å"Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects†, advances alternatives to the two conclusions that either Ufo does not exist or if they do, they must necessarily be from outer space. In the summarization of his arguments, Vallee declares: (1) unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth; (2) the humanoid body structure of the alleged "aliens" is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel; (3) the reported behaviour in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race; (4) the extension of the phenomenon.

Financial Reporting and Analysis Final Group Paper UnitedHealthcare Assignment

Financial Reporting and Analysis Final Group Paper UnitedHealthcare Group - Assignment Example Moreover, a strong analysis of SWOT approach have been performed on the various internal and external dynamics and key drivers of Company to highlights its current performance and probable future position. Further, a brief content pertaining to the values, a company forwards towards its key personnel have been incorporated under the paper, along with various societal expectations & corporate cultural aspects, the entity is strictly following as its regular ethical, corporate responsibility and business conduct circle. Finally, a paper is concluded with a formal and analytic discussion over the comparative accounting performance of a company over various years of its operations, along with a brief and sustainable highlight of company’s current accounting policies incorporated under its financial statements. UnitedHealth Group, a parent company of United Healthcare,  is considered as one of the diversified and enormous company, in health care and health protection industry. The Company is situated in USA, and is currently regarded as a worldwide leader in providing various health facilitations services and plans to needful peoples, and thus, enabling them to live more healthier lives, and in addition, it also aims for the development and improvement of overall health structure and system that works more efficiently for every deserving individuals1. As the company mission statement says, helping people live healthier lives. The Group headquarter is situated in Minnetonka at Minnesota in the region of USA. It is also ranked at 14th place on  Fortune magazines, under the area of top 500 companies operating in United States on current basis. Moreover, UnitedHealth Group offers a wide spectrum of health related products and services to its customer, scattered all over different states of USA, through its two distinct functional business sectors, which includes United Healthcare and Optum2; United Healthcare is an operating segment of the group which offers

Anishinabe people and our homeland Research Paper

Anishinabe people and our homeland - Research Paper Example The truth is emphasized on ensuring that young people get well prepared to face new phase of their journey in all the steps of life. The basic learning experiences through the term involve several aspects. One of the aspects is enabling students to have a critical way of thinking. The teaching and learning goals may be very different (Audlin, 55). The learning experiences within this term ensure that an individual is capable of monitoring his or her own mind habits. The individual is also facilitated with basic intellectual capabilities as well as personal qualities. Learning through the term was fostered towards helping the students develop analysis capabilities where they can explain problems and develop an argument about same problem X using concept Y as depicted through the clan system of learning. Comprehension of concepts by students is evidenced by their position to analyze situation X and the ability to distinguish the concepts from common misconception (Trudeau, 34). The clan system insists on different outcomes at the end of a given term. For instance, by the end of this term, the clans system insists that all the students should have acquired basic analysis and be able to explain human behavior in terms of relationships among multiple factors (John, DeWitt, and Erwin 139). In a wider range, students should be able to understand how marginality is the broader learning category, linked to the understanding of nature (Trudeau, 54). The learning experiences are characterized by engaging activities that optimized every learner’s learning both in time and effectiveness. The term was also characterized by both hybrid learning and blended learning. Per se, the two terms mean a mix of online learning activities and quizzes with instructors-led teaching. Most of the instructors maintained a ‘coach on the side’ ways of teaching other than ‘sage on the stage’ methods. The learning activities were flexible

Three Values to a Better Country Essay Example for Free

Three Values to a Better Country Essay It is so outstanding because it is the only developed country in the Asia. It has many strongpoints which other countries should learn from it. However, just like an old English proverb saying-there is no perfect thing in the world. Even though Japan is a very strong country, it still has many aspects which should be improved. In my opinion, there are three values which would help make Japan a better country. They are open-minded, responsibility and humor. First is open-minded. Although Japan has been influenced a lot by western culture, most people still stick to the conservative concept-female should stay at home, not go outside to work. In 2007, Japans GEM(United Nations Development Programs Gender Empowerment Measure, which gauges equality by tracking womans participation in politics and business) was ranked 54th out of 93 countries. Japanese should be open-minded and encourage female to work. If female work, their talent and education can be best made use of. What is more, since males and females are complementary in many aspects, their cooperations with males can propel economic development more effectively. Second is responsibility. According to a survey conducted by Japanese Youth Institute, about 59. 7% American teenagers and 46. 9% Chinese teenagers can be responsible for themselves, but for Japanese teenagers, only 25. %. Because of the lack of responsibility, they do not care about anything, no matter their families or their country; when they meet problems, what they think is not how to solve them, but how to put off their liabilities. We can imagine what awful situation Japan will be if one day this generation takes over it. How can the people without responsibilities be able to develop a country? Therefore responsibility is a very important value if Japan wants to improve. The third one is humor. As we all know, Japan is a country with the highest suicide rate. There are very severe competitions in Japan and Japanese live in a fast-tempo lifestyle. Theyre under much pressure everyday and these pressure lead to suicide. So how to relieve pressure is very crucial. According to scientific research, humor can help people relax themselves, relieve their life pressures and keep their mental healthy. In short, humor can make people have a positive life attitude. Only when people are happy, can they contribute to countrys development. So humor is another value which would help make Japan a better country. When Japanese are more open-minded, they can improve themselves and develop their country; when more Japanese have responsibilities, their society can be more harmonious; when Japanese have more humor, their lives can be more interesting. All in all, if Japan wants to become a better country, open-minded, responsibility and humor would help make it.

The Varied Value of Land Essay Example for Free

The Varied Value of Land Essay Land represents a quintessential issue between Native Americans and Europeans. This has been true since Columbus’ discovery and the era of Spanish exploration, invasion, and settlement. During the latter periods of Native American history we observe how English colonization and then the birth and growth of the United States affects the Indian Nations. During this period we mark how two divergent societies value land differently and the disparities resulting in conflict and Indian subjugation. The English Colonial Settlements initially viewed the land similarly as the aboriginal Indian inhabitants in a particular way. The land was the provider of sustenance to both. The early English Colonies sought refuge in the land, which was unlike the early Spanish whose North American invasions sought to pillage riches through lands traversed in the name of religious virtue. The original English Colonies had fled their own religious persecution and instead settle lands to build their society within its borders. The initial contention between Indians and the English Colonies grew from the fundamental differences in each civilization’s ideal of a settlement and territory. Whether an Indian Nations included permanent towns or not the Tribe’s Bands where predominately hunter-gatherers throughout its territory. Furthermore and unlike Europeans these Indian People shared cosmology that identified them as being one with the land. The European view of land was that of property and possession. As English Colonies and the later Americans further coveted Indian land to satisfy expansionism and economic enterprise we observe an unending encroachment on Indian resources. At first there was an aggressive unfettered Indian land grab and then ongoing assaults on natural resources residing on the ever-dwindling Indian lands. The stereotypes of American Indians as inferior beings with limited intellect, or bloodthirsty warriors, or lacking acceptable morals initially justified Colonial expansionism under pretense of ordained religiosity. Indian resistance to relentless encroachment was often confronted with rebellion and the question of sovereignty was debated. The establishment of the United States and the subsequent 1823 Supreme Court ruling of Johnson v.  McIntosh made clear the government accepted that early Europeans had rights to all Indian lands by having discovered the lands. Having previously defeated the British and securing American independence allowed the victor’s title be transferred to the United States. It is from this point that â€Å"Conquest by Law† guides the history of land possession between Native Americans and Americans. This conquest gained popular social acceptance by the mid 19th Century as American society adopted the political decree that it was Manifest Destiny to encompass the continent. The national conquest gained a legal endorsement to empower government separate Indian Nations from their land as assured in 1831 by the Supreme Court’s Cherokee Nation v. Georgia ruling that minimized Indian sovereignty to that of being a dominated people at best classified as dependents of their United States government guardian. In 1832 the Worcester v. Georgia ruling held that the aforementioned Cherokee treaties and the Trade and Intercourse Acts passed since 1790 did recognize Indian Nations as political entities with authority within its borders. It now excluded States from having any jurisdictional power over Indian Nations. Though this ruling established Indians as autonomous from States it put in motion what would later become Congressional plenary power and it marks the beginning of federally exercised relocation to feed American land hunger and later efforts to manage â€Å"the Indian problem†. The vastly different views regarding land combined with systematic efforts to dismantle Indian culture and pushed towards Indian eradication. Second to the impact of European introduced disease it would be habitat destruction and alteration to natural Indian environments that battled Indian Nations and drove them close to extinction. More so than overuse of natural resources it was the onset of the land being fenced and parceled which relegated Indian Nations to immobile and economically poor and spiritually bankrupt people faced with generational social disintegration. The series of governmental polices both purposefully and seemingly inadvertently legalized this conquest. Some of the most damaging and consequential actions include the movement to reservations through the late 1800s. The reservation policy reversal known as the Allotment Act of 1887 pushed to assimilate Indians using land as the vehicle by requiring such parcels provide for the Indians as it did homesteaders without any regard to the traditional Indian land relationship. From the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 through the Termination policy and Relocation programs of the mid 20th Century the importance of Indian land affinity was never validated and to do so would have required literal enforcement and complete adherence to treaties. The current era of Tribal Self-Determination beginning when the Indian Civil Rights Act enacted in 1968 does acknowledge Euro-American infringement on Indian lands. Government interventions and enforcement, whether or not serving in the best interest of sovereign Indian Nations, has not sought to return these Indian Nations to a state of a being a harmonious civilization that can be described as a confederacy of tribes, bands, and familial clans pursuing their life cycle throughout a vast ecosystem. The Euro-American value of property and possession has prevailed.

Future Of Globalisation And Its Impact Economics Essay

Future Of Globalisation And Its Impact Economics Essay It is a known fact in the modern world that globalisation has become the main ingredient for the success of developing countries and their businesses. Globalization became a major worldwide force to reckon with since the end of the cold war in the 90s and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Countries opened their boundaries to marketplace financial system making business increasingly international. A procedure of structural modification urged through the affects and studies of the World Bank and other global firms was born in numerous developing nations. Moreover, globalisation has opened up fresh chances for growing countries. It has provided better entrance to urbanized state marketplaces and technology which in turn guarantees enhanced efficiency and advanced living status (Lim and Lim, 2007). On the other hand, there are arguments that state globalisation has given unwanted confronts such as rising imbalance all over the world, instability in the monetary market and ecologica l worsening. A different unenthusiastic feature of globalisation is that an immense mainstream of growing nations stay separated from the procedure. Till the 90s, countries like India were quite opposed to the idea of globalisation. The phenomenon of globalisation was opened to the Indian economy through the introduction of the New Economic policy in 1991. It was the initiation of this policy that resulted in the transformation of the Indian economy to open up to liberalisation of business and broadening of investment opportunities. Since then the world has seen gradual decrease to the obstacles and acceleration in the rise of globalisation. In this particular topic review, we try and concentrate on the impact of globalization on countries, businesses and public sector. On the basis of my findings from relevant literature, I will try to comprehend the concept of globalization and its future. Globalization: Globalization can be explained as a continuing procedure through which local economies, cultures, and traditions have been incorporated by a world-spanning system of interaction and implementation. The word is many a time employed to purposely refer to the internalisation of economy. It can also signify the incorporation of nationwide economies into the worldwide financial system by business flows of capital, FDI, immigration, and extend of skill. Though, globalization is typically documented as being forced through an amalgamation of economic, political, sociocultural, technical, and organic issues. The word may furthermore submit to the intercontinental movement of thoughts, tongues, and otherwise famous culture by acculturation (Lim and Lim, 2007). Though the exact meaning of globalisation remains elusive, some interpretations are universally acceptable. Lim and Lim (2007): say that the procedure of globalisation not just comprises beginning of business world widely, growth of higher sense of interaction, internationalization of fiscal marketplaces, increasing significance of multinational corporations, population relocations and further normally amplified mobility of people, capital, products, information and concepts other than moreover pollution, illnesses and infections. Globalization Impact across Countries: Significantly, the growth of India and China is a just element of a bigger picture which exposes extremely rough allocation of the advantages of internationalization between nations. The developed nations, with their powerful primary economic stand, profusion of ability and capital, and technical guidance, were comfortably situated to increase considerable advantages from rising internationalization of the world economy. Growing worldwide marketplaces for products and facilities offer fresh stores for their exports. Whereas, the appearance of worldwide manufacturing methods and liberalized investment regulations produced fresh chances for their multinational enterprises, rising their worldwide operations and authority of marketplace (Cetinic and Goran, 2008),. Likewise, the development of worldwide fiscal marketplaces offered developed nations chances for speculations with advanced incomes in rising marketplaces. As well as, their technical control, jointly with the intensification o f global regulations on IPRs by the World Trade Organization, raised their incomes from licensing fees and royalties. Though, these advantages were partially counteracted through internal issues of alteration that generated fatalities for several employees. But one cannot deny the fact that another cluster that gathered important advantages was the alternative rising nations that have been extremely victorious in mounting their exports and in magnetizing great inflows of foreign direct investment. Chiefly, among the benefactors have been the unique NIEs of North Asia that have currently congregated on developed state revenue heights and financial systems. Several further Asian middle-income states, the Europe succession nations, and Latin American nations for example Chile and Mexico moreover seem to be on path to accomplish this (Daianu and Daniel, 2008). Globalization Impact on Indian Economy: There are several insinuations of globalization for a state economy. Globalization has strengthened interdependence and rivalry among countries in the globe marketplace. These financial reorganizations have received the subsequent important advantages: India had received positive impact through globalization on the whole development rate of the market. This is a chief development considering that the development rate of India in the 1980s was extremely little at 4 per cent and Gross Domestic Product raise in nations such as Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia was in excess of double of that of India. However Indias standard yearly increase rate was approximately twice in the 80s to 6.3 per cent, still it was inferior to the development rate in Indonesia, Korea and China. The lift up in Gross Domestic Product development has resulted in a respectable transformation in the worldwide position of India (Daianu and Daniel, 2008). Therefore, the place of India in the worldwide economy had enhanced from the ninth position in 1992 to fifth position in 2002; when Gross Domestic Product was estimated on a buying power equality foundation. Throughout 1990-91, due to Raos( then Prime Minister of India) modifications plan, the Indian market developed through 0.11 per cent simply, although the Gross Domestic Product boosted up to 6.2 per cent in 1993-94, and 7.1 per cent 1994-95. A development rate of over 9 per cent was an accomplishment for the Indian economy by the year 2006-07. Increase in the Gross Domestic Product development rate may be perceived as sign of good things to come in the future (Cetinic and Goran, 2008). Uncertainty in Europe due to Rising Phenomena of Globalization: Globalization is a happening; you cannot fight it or stop it. It is a predictable procedure which can be regulated and adapted. Due to globalisation local skilled labour employment rate was decreasing in almost all over the globe. This resulted in amalgamation of societies that had earlier been totally divided from one another. It was as if they were fighting a common enemy. The EU sceptics were of the view that globalisation would lead to labour exploitation and local unemployment rather than growth for the respective nations. Most of Western Europe believed that availability of jobs would result in mass immigration of foreign workers. The fact that they would be available on the cheap would threaten local citizens. Those that opposed internationalization were unified in their belief. Several were opposing it because they were convinced that MNCs were basically evil. These countries formed the basis of the worldwide anti-capitalist faction. The primary concern was to defend home job s in the western region, although this myopic hypothesis left local employees unable to compete and advance themselves. Basically, this crippled the globe with dishonest jobs, with no honest earnings and with no honest chances (Bartlett and William, 2007). As a result Central banks were at a failure. As assets soared all over the globe at a continuous pace, nations would locate themselves with a huge equilibrium of extra expenses and shortages. Policy makers found themselves in a position where imaginative resource flows were in risk of turning into a chief source of unsteadiness. The equity fizz that was considered ingenuity at the start of the innovative millennium was nearing boiling point, as plan makers were scratching their heads in the delusion that economies might carry on to develop no issue how lofty the stage of debt of private sector (Bartlett and William, 2007). Globalization Impact on Australian Economy: Business plans of Australia, since the mid 1990s, have been rapidly increased to start home businesses to cater to the worldwide marketplace. The main area of concentration of structural reform has been to focus the private region in Australia to further rivalry from equally local and worldwide resources (Gligorov and Vladimir, 2007). Australia has usually had elevated stages of security in the 1960s in regions like fabrics, footwear and clothing and vehicle. By the beginning of 80s the successful fading of security in the TCF businesses was in surplus of 190 per cent and 56.2 per cent for traveller motor cars. Although, several people would argue that cutting security will decrease service. It is a proven fact that several businesses that were greatly defended throughout the 1980s and 1990s still face reduction of service and were unable to establish themselves in export marketplaces. Yearly Growth in Exports, Each Sector, 1998-99 to 2008-09. Sector % Manufacturing 15.6 Services 9.9 Minerals and Fuels 6.8 Rural 4.8 (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2008), Australian National Accounts, 5206.0.) Globalisation Impact on Financial Markets: Over 52 per cent of the every day foreign exchange income experiences changes and alternatives. This enlargement in temporary fund shifts and hedging has augmented instability of exchange rate. The changes in the dollar of Australia in February 2002 appropriately reveal this. The declaration of a 1.1 per cent decrease in interest rate through the United States Federal Reserve direct to a plunge in the dollar of Australia through approximately 2.30 per cent within 22 hours (Kim and Kim, 2008). Usually, a decrease in interest rates must have raised the dollar of Australia other than foreign exchange dealers think that the decrease in rates of interest would raise returns in the United States, in the near prospect, therefore would raise the value of dollar in United States. But instantly after the next 48 hours the dollar of Australia had increased 4%. At this point dealers decided that the 1.2% rate decline could not be ample to stop a slump in the financial system of United States. Th ese indecisions and conjectures have raised the instability in the prices and therefore the proper forecasting of these variations is essential (Kim and Kim, 2008). FDI Inflows distribution among developing countries, Total for 2000s (in per cent) (Source: Kovac, Oskar (2008), FDI flows among developing countries and opportunities with Globalization, Paper prepared for the AAASS Conference in Boca Raton, Florida, November) A Brief Comparison among Developing Countries: In the case of global trade The share of India of exports of merchandise to world raised from .06 per cent to .08 per cent in the previous 2 years. In comparison, in the same period of time Chinas share has tripled to approximately 3.9 per cent The share of India in the worldwide business is same to that of the Philippines but the market is 5 times lesser according to International Monetary Fund approximations. In the past periods foreign direct investment streams into India have a standard of approximately 0.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product against 4 per cent of Brazil and 6.1 per cent for China. Foreign direct investment flows to China currently surpasses United States USD 55 billion per annum. In Indias case it is USD 5bn. (Hunter, 2008) Reasons behind fast growth of global trade: Development in worldwide interactions Fast development of the Asian Giants and emerging economies like India and China Improved status of living Control to market systems in Eastern Europe liberalization and Personalization of nationwide economies Deregulation of international resources economies Liberalization of business assisted through WTO, development and extension of the European Union Dip in transportation rates (Ronkainen, 2008) Businesses affected by the Globalization: Cross continent or border trades in the age of globalization is not considered risky or expensive work as earlier. In modern times, to stay in the market; aggression and assertiveness is the sure shot to success. Initiation of international trade would expose the entrepreneur to global dimensions and an understanding of the macro nature of todays market place. In contrast, if a company does not intend to be global and does not expose itself to global marketplace, it is unknowingly harming itself through lack of consumer demands which are so essential in modern business. It is devoid of important feedback which would have provided by the international customer. The business world today is a consumer driven market and competition is fierce. In these times time of globalization whoever caters first to the consumers survives and improves its long term prospects. With raise in customers insists and destruction of worldwide marketplace the global trade is anticipated to help numerous marke tplaces in a satisfactory mode (Kretschmer and Hansjorg, 2008). Unseen and gradual shifting of financial changes in the current business scenario of the world might eventually damage trade. Investigations might cite that internationalization of globe trade has led to petroleum price problems, dip in share marketplaces, housing catastrophes, limited availability of assets, and on the whole a sense of constant survival like never before. With some unwanted characteristics in world market due to internalisation, traditional financial theory suggests that the interest rate these days bear resemblance to that of 1990. But these are just apprehension rather than facts with no proper evidence to back it up. The modern marketplace is the result of a international financial system which is performing the job of an easing aspect is a proven fact with all the data of developed and developing countries. It has been projected that by 2014 the mounting markets will report for 52 per cent of world Gross Domestic Product (Lopandic and Dusko, 2008). Globalization Modern success stories Starting of closed market systems: Several successful increasing markets have been engaged in systematic reform of essential society standards which have gone unnoticed in the urbanized countries. The aspects which cause development and financial combination integrate possessions freedoms, legal process, published principle, personalization of state owned organizations, elimination of assets administration, and liberalization of standards connected FDI (Simic and Predrag, 2008). Business need: All multinationals are aware of the ethic that development in the fiscal position for the continuation of international organizations is dependent upon the services provided to the employees. Nowadays institutions are concentrating on better communications growth utilities, Interactions, and well-provided transport facility. These initiations has progressively enhanced in comparison to what was a few years ago as a result of international standards. Increasing economies: Over the last decades India and China has observed a 10 per cent and 8 per cent of yearly development correspondingly. Markets currently typify younger society, growing number of educated and skilled people, rising middle income group populations, inspiring profits and development (Simic and Predrag, 2008). Measures responsible for the development of multinational corporations: Increases the life cycles of product Economic growth through globalization Initiatives are taken for lessening manufacturing costs Maintains a controlled production by cheap employment Deregulation of assets marketplaces Reduction in transport costs Exploration of rising marketplaces Prevention of excise and non excise obstructions Endorses vertical merger (Schott, 2008) Globalization is extremely significant to every executive nowadays, particularly those leading Information Systems plan in a business. This idea is particularly significant nowadays where they discover their selves challenging with industries or doing trade within the globe. According to Kretschmer and Hansjorg (2008), though several big corporations have internationalized for many past years, the Web, in excess of several further incident, has facilitated the smallest corporation to have a worldwide existence. The supports of the mobile devices and internet have raised the bar of internationalisation to new height irrespective of the fact that it is controlled by a man or machine. Worldwide delivery systems and Outsourcing, receive the benefits of the technology that is accessible to overcome the gaps among industries, their customers, providers, consumers and workers. Globalization gives new opportunities: Globalization is an event that has hastened in current periods, calling for further speedy response from undersized nations, several of which have restricted sources and capability to take action. Therefore, globalization carries chances in addition to challenges for small nations. So as to obtain benefits of such a process, these nations will have to assume what many have explained as a planned worldwide relocation of their economies (Watts, 2008). Policy Development by Public and Private Sector for Exploring New Opportunities: Measures on top of plan fronts and the skill to distinguish transforms, to take on and acclimatize to fresh technology, and to restructure quickly will decide the capability of the industrious segment in small nations to take action to the latest chances. Governments, organizations, and human beings should obtain familiar to a need of durability. Cash facilities and employ of IT and electronic commerce show two instances of the type of innovative chances on offer to small nations in the latest worldwide market. Previous parts of the mission team account, on the changeover to a novel worldwide business atmosphere and making capability, embark the type of home plans and outside help that will place small nations to receive benefits of these chances. The chances of manufacture of products and services in developed countries are based on their organizations capability to look for planned business unions. Corporations have to be supple, receptive, aggressive, pioneering, competent, and consumer-focused. The disintegration of global production procedures into divided phases in dissimilar nations and planned business unions has made it promising for systems of small organizations to defeat the restrictions of dimension and fight successfully against big companies. (Lopandic and Dusko, 2008) Conclusion: Globalization as a phenomenon is a very complex one. We have seen instances where developed nations might face a situation of stagnation, whereas some nations had have undergone financial catastrophe and practiced economic retrogression due to internalisation (Schott, 2008). Furthermore, we cannot deny the surprising emergence of upcoming powerhouses like China and India. They are proofs that global liberalization and competition enhances consumer price. It is safe to state that globalization has its benefits and ill effects. It impacts distinctive sectors, countries, businesses and sections in a dissimilar way. Even though developing countries might reap great rewards from it, uncontrolled and unregulated globalization may lead to economic turmoil. What we all agree upon is the fact that market economy in the hands of private enterprises and capitalists without proper supervision might lead to difficult situations reminiscent of neocolonialism. Essential steps should be taken at a n ational and international level to neutralize the harmful effects and to achieve the accolades of globalisation. Love it, hate it, the fact remain that globalization is here to stay. (2008, Cherunilam) The future of globalisation lies in these very handsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the future of globalisation lies with us. It is people who are the objects of globalization and at the same time its subjects. What also follows logically from this is that globalization is not a law of nature, but rather a process set in train by people.

Custom Term Papers: Hamlet’s Heroine, Ophelia -- GCSE English Literatu

Hamlet’s Heroine, Ophelia In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet there is, technically, no heroine. But the female character who comes closest to qualifying for the role is not Gertrude, whose sinful past precludes this, but rather Ophelia, the â€Å"universal victim† of the drama. She is truly a good, upright person although she is victimized by her father, brother and boyfriend. Harry Levin, in the General Introduction to The Riverside Shakespeare, elaborates on the special kind of prose which the dramatist uses with Ophelia when she suffers her madness: Though there is no invariable rule, the comic scenes are frequently in prose, whereas the tragic scenes are usually in verse. Yet some of the most tragic, notably Ophelia’s made scenes and the sleep-walking scene of Lady Macbeth, are in that special kind of distracted prose which Shakespeare reserved for moments of mental distraction, when the fragments of suppressed emotion well up from the unconscious. (11) Shakespeare’s use of distinctive language is one consideration concerning Ophelia. Another is her victimization. Gunnar Boklund in â€Å"Hamlet† performs a partial-analysis on the character of Ophelia in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet: The only character who is presented almost entirely as a victim is Ophelia, a victim of the King’s fear and curiosity, her father’s servility and fundamental indifference to her, Hamlet’s misunderstanding of the situation and brutal treatment of her, and finally his fatal thrust through the arras in the closet scene. Her madness is, as I see it, a purely pathetic element in the play. In the world where Hamlet has been forced to act, there appears to be no room for passive and obedient innocence. It is crushed, and perishes. (123) The p... ...: Madness Her Only Safe Haven.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from â€Å"Hamlet†: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Excerpted from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.

Character Development in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay -- Franken

Character Development in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein   Ã‚  Ã‚   In any novel the author is free to create and shape their characters in whatever way they see fit. In Frankenstein, Shelley does an excellent job of shaping her characters, be it however minute their part in the story, so that the reader gets a clear picture of Shelley's creations. It seems that each character in Shelley's Frankenstein is created by Shelley to give the reader a certain impression of the character. By doing this Shelley creates the characters the way she wants us to see them. She tells us certain things about them and gives them certain traits so that they will fit into the story the way she wants them to. In particular I will examine the characters of the monster, Elizabeth, and old man De Lacey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the more minor characters but still an intricate part of the story is the old man, De Lacy. He is the father of the family whom the monster watches after he has left his place of creation in Ingolstadt. The monster learns from the family and feels a closeness to them that is new to him. The fact that the old man is blind is no coincidence at all. Shelly purposely made him blind so he could not be influenced by the monster?s hideous appearance. When the monster finally works up the courage and the old man is finally alone in the cottage, the monster makes his move. He enters claiming he is a wanderer looking for a place of shelter and rest. As he tells of his predicament he seems to befriend the old man, appears to be fluent in the English language, and for all intensive purposes appears a normal person. It is not until the old man?s children arrive home and he is alarmed by the screams of Felix and Agatha, that the monster is seen a s any... ...are more complex such as the monster, some such as the old man are put in to make a point, and some such as Elizabeth are created in a way that augments the imperfections of others.   Each of the characters in Frankenstein has a role or purpose in the story and is created in a way that adds to the story line and the novel in general. By creating each character and shaping them to a specific likeness, Shelley has creates a complex story and one of English literature's greatest classics. Work Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein: A Norton Critical Edition. ed. J. Paul Hunter. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996. Works Consulted Levine, George. The Endurance of Frankenstein. Los Angeles: Moers, 1974. Patterson, Arthur Paul. A Frankenstein Study. http://www.watershed.winnipeg.mb.ca/Frankenstein.html Spark, Muriel. Mary Shelly. New York: Dutton, 1987.   

friendship in a separate peace by John Knowles :: essays papers

friendship in a separate peace by John Knowles Finding out who someone really is can be a very difficult thing to do. Knowing who some one is inside and out takes time and dedication. I learned that there are a few key factors when getting to know who some one really is. Character determination of a friend can be based on three things, honesty, trust, conflicts, and how they are resolved . The book a separate peace by John Knowles deals with all of these issues in the case of friendship. You can use these three factors to see how good of a friend a person can be, and determine there true character. All through the fifteen years I’ve lived this life there has always been one redundant term told over and over. Honesty is key, and if your talking about a friendship that ‘s true. If you don’t have honesty you don’t have anything to base your relationship on. Being honest to a good friend should be subconscious, and if it’s not then I wouldn’t consider them a good friend. You shouldn’t have to struggle with a friend to be honest. In a Separate peace Finny is always honest and speaks his mind. Gene on the other hand comes across honest, but you can never really tell. He should not have told Finny that he jostled the limb on purpose if he wasn’t even sure himself. In the movie Dead Poet Society each and every group member was honest to each other, and that’s why they were the best of friends. Also, they learned to think honestly by themselves from their teacher through ways of poetry. Much like how Finny learned hones ty through sportsmanship. Without knowing if Gene is honest or not, Finny and the members of the Dead Poet Society would have made much better friends. These friends where honest, and therefore could trust each other. Trust each other to resolve conflicts and become stronger friends. Conflicts are another way to determine someones true character. When a conflict occurs you can see what they do and how they react to the situation. Like when someone is cornered, and in danger of losing their life. Those animal instincts are a great way to see who some one really is. In a separate peace Gene deals with his conflicts by not talking about them and pushing his feeling down till they are gone.

Salem Witch Trials and Account

Salem Witch Trial: Hangings Michelle Woodring Mr. Yates American Literature 1 May 2010 Salem Witch Trial: Hangings Theses— There were many casualties of the Salem Witch Trials and there are still many mysteries today. * Salem History and Background * Witch Craft Starting * Symptoms of Witch Craft * People Accused of Witch Craft * Trials * Hangings * End of the Witch Hunt Michelle Woodring Mr. Yates American Literature 1 May 2010 Salem Witch Trials: Hanging’s In1688, John Putnam invited Samuel Parris to preach in the Village church (â€Å"An Account of. . †). A year later inflation adjustments, and free firewood, Parris accepted the job as Village minister r(â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). He moved to Salem Village with his wife Elizabeth, his six year old daughter Betty, niece Abagail Williams, and his Indian slave Tituba (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Sometime during February of 1692 young Betty Parris became strangely ill (â€Å"Salem Witch Trialsà ¢â‚¬ ). The cause of her symptoms seemed to match those of Ergot (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Betty’s behavior in some ways mirrored that of witch craft (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†).It was easy to believe with an Indian war raging less than several miles away that the devil was close in hand (An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Talk of witch craft increased when other playmates of Betty’s began to exhibit similar unusual behavior (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). William Griggs, a doctor, was called in to examine the girls he suggested that the girl’s problems might have a supernatural origin (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The number of girls afflicted continued to grow rising to seven (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The girls contorted into poses, fell down into frozen postures, and complained of biting and pinching sensations (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ).Sometime after February 25 and 29 the first three accused of witch craft w ere Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborn (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Tituba was an obvious choice (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Sarah Good was a beggar (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Sarah Osborn was old and had not attended a church for over a year (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Tituba was the first witch to admit to doing witch craft (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Soon the spectral forms of other women attacking the afflicted girls came into the court rooms (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ).Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, and Mary Easty were accused of witch craft during a March 20 church service (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Dorcas Good, four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, became the first child to be accused of witch craft when three of the girls complained that they were bitten by the specter of Dorcas (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Deliverance Hobbs became the second witch to confess for doing witch craft (â€Å"An A ccount of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The first accused witch to be brought to trial at the local church was Bridget Bishop (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ).At Bishop’s trial on June 2 a field hand testified that he saw Bishop’s image stealing eggs and then saw her transform herself into a cat (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Bishop’s jury returned a verdict of guilty on June 10 (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Bishop was carted to Gallows Hill and hanged (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). As the summer of 1692 warmed, the pace of trials picked up (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). John Proctor was openly critical of the trial and paid for his skepticism with his life (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). No execution caused more unease in Salem than that of the village’s ex minister, George Burroughs (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ).Burroughs was identified by several of his accusers as the ringleader of the witches (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢ € ). Among the thirty accusers of Burroughs was nineteen-year-old Mercy Lewis that offered unusually vivid testimony against Burroughs saying that he had came to her in the middle of the night and made her sign the Devils book (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Burroughs became guilty and took to Gallows hill to be hanged he recited the Lord’s Prayer perfectly which greatly moved people (â€Å"An Account of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). The Lord’s Prayer: Our father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, As in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we Also have forgiven our debtors And lead us not into temptation, but Deliver us from evil: for thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory Forever. Amen. One victim of Salem witch-hunt was not hung his name was Giles Corey (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). He died from being pressed to death by stones (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). T hree days after Giles Corey’s death on September 22 eight more convicted witches were hung (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†).They were the last victims of the witch-hunt (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). With spectral evidence not admitted, twenty-eight of the last thirty-three witchcraft trials ended in acquittals (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). In May of 1693, all remaining accused or convicted witches were released from prison (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). By the time witch-hunt ended nineteen convicted witches were executed (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). And at least four accused witches had died in prison (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Then one man was pressed to death by stones (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†).About one or two hundred other persons were arrested and imprisoned on witch craft charges and two dogs were executed as suspected accomplices of witches (â€Å"Salem Witch Trials†). Works Cited Linder, Douglas O. â€Å"An Account of Events in Salem,† Famous American Trials: Salem Witch Craft Trials of 1692. Sep 2009. Web. 15 Apr 2010. â€Å"Salem Witch Trials. † Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. Inc. 12 Apr 2010. Web. 15 Apr 2010. â€Å"Matthew 6:9-13, The Lord’s Prayer. † Holy Bible: King James Version. Holman Bible Publishers. 1973. 26 Apr 2010.

Aspiring Education Essay

Education is a must on every people’s lives, a requirement for a person to be successful in life. We can all remember how our parents scold as, as we disobeyed on what they are telling us to do. My parents inspire me about education. Both of them finished high school and graduated in college; my father graduate with a Master’s Degree while my mother has a Bachelor’s Degree. They struggled so hard to be successful, so my siblings and I will have a healthier life, a better house, family and a brighter education. In this quote Chanakya said, â€Å"Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.† Chanakya interprets that it is the most powerful and the best treasure in all things that you will achieve in life. Education is intensely vital; it can strongly provide one with priceless life opportunities, ultimately save one from a life of agony, and powerfully free those who are understated. In â€Å"Straw into Gold,† Sandra Cisneros emphasizes sharply that education opens doors, gives one perspective, and provides one with valuable life opportunities. For instance, she openly explains, â€Å"I had the same sick feeling when I was required to write my critical essay for the MFA exam – the only piece of noncreative writing necessary in order to get my graduate degree.† Sandra conveys the idea that she still continue to pursue her education even though she knows that she can fail anytime. The author suggests that you have to keep going even though you know that you will fail. Further, she later explains, â€Å"Along the way there has been straw for the taking. With a little imagination, it can be spun into gold.† Sandra articulates the idea that we can create a better person in ourselves if we allow education to permit to take a hold of us. The author suggests that even with a little imagination you can achieve your dream. Therefore, in her narr ative, Cisneros ultimately reveals that we just need to turn our dreams  into reality. In â€Å"Learning to Read and Write,† Frederick Douglass emphasizes that education is the key to freedom. For example, he explains, â€Å"Under its influences, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to a tiger-like fierceness.† Douglass conveys the idea that his once gentle mistress transformed into a cruel woman who did not want him to get educated. The author suggests that his mistress became gullible to the ignorant ideas about slavery. Further, he later explains, â€Å"The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness.† Douglass implies the idea that he found a new hope of freedom to slavery that makes his soul to eternal wakefulness. The author suggests that if he has the determination and work-hard he will become a free person and not a slave. Thus, in his slave narrative, Douglass ultimately reinforces the concept that only education will provide one with liberty and self-determination. In â€Å"Superman and Me,† Sherman Alexie emphasizes that education can save one’s life. For example, he explains, â€Å"We were poor by most standards, but one of my parents usually managed to find some minimum wage job or another, which made us middle class by reservation standards. I had a brother and three sisters. We lived on a combination of irregular paychecks, hope, fear, and government surplus food.† Alexie express the idea that they’re living in poverty and they survived because of his parent’s minimum wage job. The author suggests that they still persist to live on a world of hope, fear, irregular paychecks, and government surplus food. Further, Alexie interprets, â€Å"I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky. I am trying to save our lives.† Alexie conveys the idea that he struggled, studied hard, and stood up just to save the other Indians and escape from the reservation. The author suggests that if you study hard you can get out, f rom the reservation, and be a free Indian. Thus, in his narrative, Alexie ultimately reinforces the concept that only education will provide one with valuable life opportunities. The three authors showed the different essential sides of education. Education is intensely vital; it can robustly provide one with  opportunities, ultimately save one from a life of misery, and mightily free those who are discreet. In this quote, Carl Rogers said, â€Å"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn.† Carl conveys that if you know how to listen, speak, read, and learned how to learn it means that you are an educated person. He also interprets that you will not be educated if you don’t know how to learn. Therefore, we should take advantage of education while it last.

Persuasive Speech on Social Networking Essay

Since the Internet has rapidly propagated, social media has progressed rapidly. The widespread use of mobile devices to access the internet gradually transformed the nature of our social interactions. Most people use smart phones, iPhone or mobile internet devices to easily access social network. Since the function that people can interact online through social media, chat or share information with each other. It helps us contact friends, family, and other people even if they live far away. The service they can receive by using it are very impressive, most of people have their own account for participating. Although social media leads people to have more interaction and promotes long-distance relationships, it has a lot of bad things that make us out of control. see more:social networks and our young generation. Many of social media users are addicted and they became more isolated by using social media. Social media has many advantages; nevertheless, it can be abused in moments by young children if we are not careful, because they can easily access social media. We need to understand and regulate the use of social media by young children. My own view is that we should understand and regulating the use of social media by young children, because overusing social media can create strong addictions, develop mental or physical disorders, and waste our time. First of all, social media, such as Facebook, are very addictive. Especially, people who are lonely can become easily addicts. Human is social animal, so they want to make relationship with others. People would say drug or alcohol is more addictive and harmful for children than social media; social media addiction is not a big problem. Unfortunately, it is not true. Social media can lead to compulsive behavior. A report of the social media addiction by University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business says: â€Å"There is evidence to show as well that social behaviors like hugs and smiles are associated with dopamine release †¦ it’s possible that social media is pleasurable and becomes addictive via the dopamine mechanism just as drugs or alcohol can.† In the light of these facts, surely social media can make addicts, and it is hard to escape. The problem is most people who have an addiction to social media and do not even realize it. Children, also, can easily get mental and physical disorders through using social media. People might think social media does not contribute to disorders. They argue that social media is good for mental diseases because it help them express their  feelings or thought easily. Also, through social media, they can be more connected with each other. However, as stated above, if children become addicts, naturally we could think they have emotional instability. Social media offers limited real interaction, through online contact. On the Mental Health Blog, psychologist, Aric Sigman claimed â€Å"Spending too much time online could lead to social isolation, loneliness and a negative outlook. These types of psychological symptoms could eventually lead to more serious health concerns, such as heart disease, cancer and dementia. (Sigman)† Using social media disturbs make deep relationship with others. When they are using social media they do not need to move or be active. As a result, it leads to mental and physical disorders. Social media can become handicap in our life. In this sense, social media can hinder people to improve their talents. People think social media is good place to show their talents or works what they did. For example, they argue people can share video clip what they playing the instruments or dancing or singing. However, if you are not good at those things and if you spend time to do social media, it would be hard to improve your talents. Using social media steals your time what really want to do. If you do not pay attention, your time would go very fast, and it could not be returned. If you read books, or study, exercise, or practice something that you want to do instead of using social media, it would be much better for you and your future life. I conducted surveys about relationships between using social media and studying last semester. Most students answered using social media is not helpful for studying. Also, students who got good grades spent just a little time to use social media. These results can be adjusted to young children because they are more easily influenced by social media. Especially, the young generation and children are easy to be exposed to environments which using social media. Social media are favorite not only along with teens or youngsters; it is growing among working people and also adults. Social media is regarded as an addiction and many people are becoming addicts every day. It can occur mentally and physically and make  you waste time. As you can see, we need to understand and regulate the use of social media by young children. The most famous social networks, YouTube, Facebook and Skype are included. It is important to know why people have to use social media carefully and need some restrictions when using it. Many people love social media because of its wide connectivity and functions that people can receive it for free; it does not require money to make an account and use it. Facebook is the most visible among various social media. First thing that people get impressed is, Facebook makes possible to create a deep networking between users. Since each user has a right to accept or refuse the friend request, the interest by people is high enough. Moreover people tend to allow the other’s friend request who have same thoughts and characteristics, by this reason it is able to maintain an intimate relationship. Not only users can leave comment on other’s post and the other user reply to that comment, by doing this continuing communication can be accomplished. So, it is a same response of users that deep networking can be made naturally. The second benefit is, it is good in long distance relationship. The survey from the â€Å"Telegraph† which is a famous newspaper in United Kingdom, tells that Social networks such as Facebook are helping to inspire a boom in long distance relationships. The number of people who have a partner that lives mor e than two hours away increased about twice in the last 10years. Three quarters of them say that by using social network such as Facebook and MySpace where everything can be shared, they were able to maintain their long-distance relationship. In my case, I am not living with my family. I live in Utah and my family live in Korea. It is hard to contact each other and I cannot know what my family is doing their country and also they do not know what I am doing in this country. But after we started to use Skype, we can check each other what we daily do. If I want to see my family’s face, I can see by using videophone. Even though I and my family live far away about 5500miles, we can check each other’ status whenever we want because of development of social media. Even if Facebook and MySpace, those kinds of social media have various advantages, it receives less attention than the bad effects of social media. The most serious problem of social media is addiction. One reporter described that â€Å"Text messaging is no longer the biggest t eenage obsession, and long gone are the days where the biggest worries for parents were celebrity crushes, massive phone bills from  ridiculously long phone calls and chocolate overloads. These teenage obsessions still exist, but in today’s day and age, and in comparison to the Facebook craze, they seem rather insignificant This huge issue also applied to me and my friends. When I came to Utah first, I had a hard time conversing with the people in this country. For learning English I decided to do Facebook rather than reading books or watching television, which is effective but not fun method. Because of Facebook’s worldwide connection, I was able to have more time and chance to communicate with my school friends. Soon, I could talk with Utah friends about private things and school work. As my relationship gets stronger, the time I spent doing Facebook extended, chat on-line and do applications already took a place in my life. I felt logging on Facebook was the best time ever in Utah since it helps me to learn language, to make friends, and to escape from boring life on abroad. But, the problem began with doing Facebook actively. My primary work of the d ay was doing Facebook. I preferred doing Facebook more than any other important work, including doing homework, exercising, sleeping, and even going to school. When I realized there was a problem, it was after I was addicted to Facebook. With my cousin’s help I could get away from Facebook, the dangerous social network. But some of my friends are still suffering from a Facebook with addiction. Another thing is that some person becomes lonelier after using social media. Most people might think that because social media have a benefit that give more opportunity to people to have more interactions through social network, people can strengthen relationship with their friends by chatting and leaving comments on each other’s wall and even people could make new friends by online meeting. Opposed to their thoughts, it is not. According to interview with Dr. John Cacioppo, who is a professor in neuroscience at the University of Chicago, tells that â€Å"â€Å"You can end up online so much that you end up sacrificing face-to-face contact. Having 4000 friends on Facebook might make you feel that you have lots of friends, but you have no face-to-face contact. In that case, loneliness INCREASES (Johnson).† It is not possible to make real relationship if people do not meet face to face. The people who were not talkative and social would be worse. One of my friends could example of this. He was poor at interacting with friends, he could not participate in our conversation and if we initiated a conversation, he stepped behind and went to his place. After he started using social media, the number of interaction with friends decreased. And he even did not make new friends through social media and he became less social. It led him to feel more loneness and seriously he tried to suicide once. It was one of happening events around me result of using social media. It is a really serious problem in this society. It is related to human’s life. This big problem is not facing to us. In conclusion, although social media has lots of benefits that are attractive and helpful to us, it usually gives more harmful influences than good effects. Like an addiction and fraud advertising, it is not anymore a small problem that can be ignored. To make better future, it is really important to use social media carefully. All things are depended on you.

Are We Living in a Surveillance Society?

We might think no one else either knows or cares what we get up to, as long as we compliance the law, unless we are a celebrity. But with massive development of technology, that is no longer the case and I totally agreed with the statement that we are living in a surveillance society. Moreover, I strongly believed that the level of surveillance will grow even further in the future. If we use loyalty cards or credit cards we can earn points and receive money off vouchers, but we also allow retailers keep data on what we've bought and where we've bought it. The money we spend on credit cards is also monitored to check for any unusual spending patterns, which could indicate the card has been stolen. With the increasingly sophisticated technology, using internet becomes a daily activities of most of the people especially those who live in town. However, when we use the internet, records are kept about what we've been searching for, that can help if we want to log back on and do a similar search, but sad to say, it also means the provider keeps detailed information about our surfing habits. The same thing happen when we use the Global Positioning System (GPS). It not only will guides us any destination that we want to go, but also alerts us to speed and traffic light cameras on the way  ¬ which record our progress. Besides, when we use our mobile to call anyone, this will be logged by the telephone company and could be used by police to locate where the phone was at the time. In short, if this issue continues to develope, we would not have any freedom again as our daily life will be monitored. Thus, I hope that appropiate steps should be taken to solve this problem before our life become no privacy at all.

Attributes of a Organized Crime Group Essay

While many Americans are familiar with groups such as Al-Qaida, they are less knowledgeable about a group spreading terror within the United States inner cites. This group is the Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. This essay will focus on the history, structure, operation, activities and participants of the group known as MS-13. The focus will also include the group’s involvement in the drug trade and law enforcement efforts to thwart the group’s activities. As the group gains strength in numbers and with knowledge, it becomes increasingly more dangerous for anyone to encounter them. During the early 1980’s, a civil war took place in El Salvador. The war lasted over 12 years and resulted in approximately 100,000 casualties (Valdez, 2000). The war caused fear among the citizens in El Salvador and as a result, over one million people fled to the United States. El Salvador refuges began to settle in Southern California and Washington D.C., with the largest initial group settling in Los Angeles. When the first group of El Salvadorians refuges settled in the Rampart area of Los Angeles, they were met with opposition. The Mexican residents did not welcome them and they became targets of local gang violence (known Gangs, n.d.). As a result, a group of refugees created a new gang to protect themselves. This gang became known as Mara Salvatrucha. The name is believed to have been derived from combining the word â€Å"Mara,† which is the Spanish word for â€Å"army ant,† with the word â€Å"Salvatrucha,† which is slang for Salvadorian (Wikipedia, n.d.) When Mara Salvatrucha initially formed, their goal was to protect themselves from other Los Angeles gangs. Many initial members of Mara Salvatrucha had connections with a violent street gang from El Salvador, called La Mara. Several others previously belonged to paramilitary groups. One such group, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL), was comprised of Salvadorians trained in guerilla warfare. Many in this group were knowledgeable in the use of explosives, booby traps and other firearms (Valdez, 2000). Soon after organizing, Mara Salvatrucha gained a reputation for being greatly organized and became known for extreme violence and criminal activity (Valdez, 2000). Today, this gang is known as one of the most violent gangs in existence. This group adopted the letter â€Å"M† as their symbol or gang sign. Members display this symbol by pointing three fingers downward. Mara Salvatrucha also identifies with the number 13, which is their way of paying homage to the prison gang, the Mexican Mafia (Know Gangs, n.d.). In addition, Mara Salvatrucha members also use the term â€Å"sureno† as a form of identification. The term â€Å"sureno† means â€Å"southerner† and is often abbreviated as â€Å"SUR† (Valdez, 2000). Mara Salvatrucha members are usually heavily tattooed with these symbols. Since there are other gangs using some of these symbols, Mara Salvatrucha members may be hard to identify. This gang will use ‘M† or â€Å"MS† in addition to the number 13 or â€Å"Sureno† (Valdez, 2000). Today, Mara Salvatrucha has many associate gangs, or cliques. At times, other tattoos may include the name of an associate gang or clique (Valdez, 2000). Upon initial organization of the gang, many members were arrested and deported. Initially, the deportees were sent to the Guezaltepeque Prison in El  Salvador. While in prison, deportees recruited members, which extended Mara Salvatrucha into prison gangs. As a result, this gang began to grow in the streets of El Salvador as well as the United States (Know Gangs, n.d.). When Mara Salvatrucha was first organized the members were of El Salvadorian descent. Today, the group participates in many criminal activities which include other gangs. Therefore, Mara Salvatrucha has now allowed other racial groups to join their organization. Today, Mara Salvatrucha includes members from Guatemal4 Honduras and Mexico. Mara Salvatrucha also has a small number of Black members (Valdez, 2000). Mara Salvatrucha is becoming a big problem for law enforcement. They are involved in many criminal activities and a number of high level criminal enterprises (Valdez, 2000). Some of their criminal activities include car theft, carjacking, sexual assaults, robbery, home invasion, weapons smuggling, car jacking, murder, illegal firearm sales and drug trafficking. Mara Salvatrucha commonly traffic cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine. Additionally, Mara Salvatrucha members initiated a tax payment for all non-member drug dealers and prostitutes who â€Å"work† on their turf. These non-members must pay the tax or face consequences of guaranteed violence (Valdez, 2000). Structure â€Å"Mara Salvatrucha is a loosely structured street gang. There is no single leader of governing authority directing the daily activity of all Mara Salvatrucha cliques† (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002). The Los Angeles-based clique is the most prominent clique of this gang throughout  the country. The cliques’ throughout the country usually follow the Los Angeles clique. For example, when the Los Angeles-based clique designates another street gang as an enemy (The 18ft street Gang) or forms an alliance with another street gang (The Mexican Mafia) the other cliques throughout the country often follow suit. â€Å"The members of Mara Salvatrucha in Los Angeles, New York city and Washington D.C./Northern Virginia maintain strong ties with one another. This is often done through family relationships and friendships, and increasingly are meeting to coordinate and conduct criminal activity† (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002). â€Å"Mara Salvatrucha cliques in Los Angeles often have established internal organizations with designated leaders. Several Los Angeles cliques have adopted a military-type organizational structure, appointing captains, lieutenants, and soldiers† (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002). The cliques that are based outside of Los Angeles tend to not appoint official leaders. There are few assigned roles for the members of these cliques. The senior members of such cliques lead meetings and plan the criminal activities of the cliques. The senior members are usually entrusted with the treasury aspects of the cliques as well. â€Å"Despite all its acts of violence, what may be most alarming about the MS-13 gang is its increasing organization and structure that many leading experts are comparing to criminal factions of the 1950s such as the Mafia and Hell’s Angels,’ (Logan and Morse, 2007). In 2004 the National Drug Intelligence Center stated that the gang â€Å"may be increasing its coordination with MS-13 chapters in Los Angeles, Washington D.C./Northern Virginia and New York City, possibly signaling an attempt to build a national command structure† (Logan and Morse, 2002). Law enforcement has questioned the organized, national leadership structure of the MS-13. There is thought by law enforcement that MS-13 members of various cliques might â€Å"simply engage in networking.† Operation In order to join or to be introduced into the gang, one must under go a ceremony of being â€Å"jumped in.† In Washington D.C. a young boy of the tender age of 1l sought after membership because some kids from a local school kept beating him up, in order for those beatings to come to a stop he would have to undergo one more beating and that would be from his â€Å"friends† in the gang- As the 11 year old child was placed in the circle of gang members, the five strongest of the group entered the arena made up of humans. And as the members proceeded to count slowly to 13, the child was kicked and beaten over and over until he finally lay motionless on the ground. If this had been a girl, the ceremony would have not only included her being beaten, but also being gang raped by six members of this group. (et, al 1998) This of course is to prove your worth and loyalty and of course this is only the beginning of the process of initiation into this gang. In regards to MS- I 3 you must also prove yourself, by committing a violent act against someone else, and according to what they have written you can accomplish this act in three different ways; beating, raping, or murdering someone. (et, al 1998) Once in Mara Salvatrucha you are in for life. There have been numerous occasions where a member of the gang has wanted to leave and when this happens the gang members have permission to kill, maim or commit whatever act they choose on that member whose intentions are to leave the gang. Another defining characteristic attribute ofMS-l3 is their absolute intolerance for any person who has the inclination of going to the police and informing them of any activity that the gang is in or has been involved in. One unfortunate individual had his hands completely removed and then was shot in the head. (et, al 1998) One, tell tell sign that an individual is in the lustrous gang is the  numerous tattoos that are all over the body, even on the face. Most common are the numbers 1 and 3, or text MS, and even l8 tattooed on any part of their body. Symbols also represent the gang and those consists of crossbones’, daggers, and dice. Most importantly the symbol will represent what that particular individual brings to the cell or group; i.e. if a individual has a grenade on part of his body he/she is known for weapons or explosives in some fashion or form. (et, al 1998), (Valdez 2000) Activities and Participants The Mara, or MS-l3 gang members, are large in number. Like al-Qaid4 they operate loose, autonomous cells that form a broad transnational network (cells are groups of at least 20 members). The individual cells are very sophisticated. Some are devoted to intelligence gathering, propaganda, recruitment and logistics as well as their more common activities of drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder (Elkus, 2007). Specifically, MS members are engaged in retail drug trafficking, primarily trafficking in powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, and marijuana, and to a lesser extent, in methamphetamine and heroin. The drug proceeds are then laundered through seemingly legitimate businesses in the communities (FBI, 2005). ln the cities or other areas under MS control, members have managed to create zones of autonomy where they provide a system of patronage and protection to the people in exchange for allegiance and tribute. Mara Salvatrucha is considered the fastest growing, most violent and least understood of the nation’s street gangs. There are believed to be an estimated 10,000 members across 33 states in the United States (Campo-Flores, 2007). This is possibly due in part to the nation’s focus on the war against terrorism post 9/11. Focus on gang and gang activity was reduced and resources were aimed elsewhere in most law enforcement agencies, specifically at the federal level. That has since changed. In December of2004 a multi-agency MS-13 National Gang Task Force was created with focus on the dismantling of MS- I 3 (FBI, 2005). This was done because of the violence exhibited by MS-13 and based on the historical precedent of other similar gangs and organized criminal organizations. According to  intelligence gathered by the FBI, MS-13 still appears to be a loosely structured street gang; however, its threat is based on its violence and its potential to grow, not only geographically, but in its organization and sophistication. As mentioned earlier, these gang members affiliate themselves into groups known as cliques. Each clique will have a local leader called the â€Å"shot caller† and according to the FBI, there is no evidence to support the existence of a single leader or governing authority which is directing the daily activity of all MS-13 cliques. There is some evidence, however, of an increased level of sophistication and some indications of a hierarchy of leadership (FBI, 2005). The National Gang Task Force continues to gather information make arrests of known MS-13 members and continues to develop strategies to control this group. Law Enforcement Efforts According to Valdez, MS gang members have no trepidation towards law enforcement. They act mostly defiant and are not easily persuaded once they have a goal in mind. The Mara Salvatrucha group is responsible for the deaths of three federal agents and of many more shootings of police officers across the country. (Valdez, 2000) What the police and the courts have used to deter criminal activity from this particular group is arrest/incarceration and deportation. â€Å"From April 1994 thru August 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detained and deported over 100 MS members to El Salvador.† (Valdez, 2000) A good number of the Mara Salvatrucha group are here in the United States illegally, and are apprehensive in regards to this particular matter. In the event they do get deported their families will be unprotected and by transporting the gang members back to El Salvador they are at risk for losing their lives by the Sombra Negra (Black Shadow) death squad. The Sombra Negra is a group made up of miscreant police and military personnel whose intention is to do away with unwanted criminals’ and gang members for vigilante ‘Justice.† (Valdez, 2000) References Campo-Flores, A. (2007). The Most Dangerous Gang in America: Inside the battle to police Mara Salvatrucha. _Newsweek_ March 28, 2007. Elkus, A. (2007). _Foreign Policy in Focus: Gangs, Terrorists, and Trade._ April12, 2007 Retrieved February 2, 2008 from http://www.fuif.ore/fpiftxt/4144 FBI. (2005). Federal Bureau of Investigation-Press Room-Headline Archives. Retrieved January 28, 2008 from http://www.fbi.gov/paee2ljuly05/ms/07 1 305.htm Know Gangs.Com. (n.d.). Mara Salvatrucha MS-13. Retrieved January 28, 2008 from www.knowganes.con/eang resources/profiles/ms13 MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha 13). Retrieved January 28, 2008, from Altered Dimisions Web site: http://www.altereddimensions.net/crime/MS13Gang.htm Valdez, Al. (2000). Mara Salvatrucha Street Gang (Al Queda’s Friends). Retrieved January 28, 2008 from: www.freereoublic.com/focus/f-news Valdez, Al. (2000). Mara Salvatrucha ‘A South American Import’. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from: National Alliance of Gang Investigators’ Associations Web site: http://www.nagia.ore/Gang-Related%2OAfiicles.htm Wikipedia (n.d.). Mara Salvatrucha. Retrieved January 28, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mara_Salvatrucha