Competition in Energy Drinks Essay

Porter’s five-forces model reveals that the overall alternative beverage industry attractiveness is high. Some beverage companies, such as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, have mastered the art of brand building in the alternative beverage market and have been rewarded with rapid growth rates. The rising population of health conscious consumers is increasingly leaning towards alternative beverages that are believed to offer greater health benefits. The strongest competitive force, or most important to strategy formulation, is the threat of entry of new competitors. Competitive pressure from rival sellers is high in the alternative beverage industry. The number of brands competing in sports drinks, energy drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverage segments of the alternative beverage industry continue to grow each year. Both large and small vendors are launching new products and fighting for minimal retail shelf space. More and more consumers are moving away from traditional soft drinks to healthier alternative drinks. Demand is expected to grow worldwide as consumer purchasing power increases. Another strong competitive force is buyer bargaining power. Convenience stores and grocery stores have substantial leverage in negotiating pricing and slotting fees with alternative beverage producers due to the large quantity of their purchase. Newer brands are very vulnerable to buyer power because of limited space on store shelves. Top brands like Red Bull are almost always guaranteed space. This competitive force does not affect Coca-Cola or PepsiCo as much due to the variety of beverages the stores want to offer to the customer. As a result of this certain appeal, the two companies’ alternative beverage brands can almost always be found shelf space in grocery/convenience stores. Distributors, like restaurants, have less ability to negotiate for deep pricing discounts because of quantity limitations. The weakest competitive force is the bargaining power and leverage of suppliers. Most of the raw materials desirable to manufacture alternative beverages are basic merchandise such as flavor, color, packaging, etc. The suppliers of these commodities have no bargaining power over the pricing due to which the suppliers in the industry are relatively weak. Raw materials for these drinks are basic commodities which are easily available to every producer and have low cost which makes no difference for any supplier. Low switching costs limit supplier bargaining power by enabling industry members to change suppliers if any one supplier attempts to raise prices by more than the cost of switching.

Gambling on college sports Essay

I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last decade and also how students and athletes looked upon the Columbia gambling scandal with lesser importance because of the lack of athletic excellence. â€Å" The presence of a gambling operation with connections to organized crime at a school whose football team is best known for a 44-game losing streak in the 1980’s seemed incongruous† (Curry and Gershenson). An athlete was also quoted saying, â€Å"It’s not like this is Arkansas or something. This is Columbia. † Curry and Gershenson conclude their article by including a nationwide 1996 survey of college Division one athletes that reveals 25 percent gambled on other college sports and four percent admitted to gambling on games they had played in. I believe this is an article with good overall quality, even though it was written about 14 years ago in 1998. The time period constraint may lead to questions of relevance to readers in 2012. However, I think if you take all the dates and years out of the article, the purpose is still fulfilled and relays the same messages. The intent of the article was to inform about the events of the Columbia gambling ring, the reaction around campus, and the nationwide relevance. The authors Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson, are fairly unknown writers as far as I am concerned but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the article because it was included in The New York Times, which only adds credibility. For this reason, there would be a nationwide audience because of the shear number of readers. Specifically, the audience would probably be more of the businessman or woman, who are the stereotypical readers of The New York Times. The exigence of this piece was the arrest of gambling ring participants at Columbia but also the fact that these types of gambling scandals had been becoming more and more common in that time period. This was a very eye-opening article for me to read and by far the longest and most in depth. Since it was written 14 years ago, it is a story that I was previously unaware of. It made me even more aware then I already was, of how long this problem has lingered in college sports. It mentioned, more then once, that there are bookies on every campus in America. This really made me think about how unbelievable the number of illegal bets being placed by college students and athletes must be. However, even though this article is depicting the illegal gambling as a bad thing, I think it unintentionally makes arguments for both sides of the issue. If gambling on college sports were acceptable, this would have been a legal act. Hypothetically if it were legal, it would cut down on crime like this, which is usually linked to people with other criminal activity going on. Disconnecting the link to other criminal activity would make it all around safer for bookies and bet placers and athletes, because frankly, I think that people will never stop gambling on sporting events. I had always just assumed that gambling on college sports should be illegal, but this article made me reconsider whether that would really be the smartest and safest resolution. In the article â€Å"NCAA threatens to move events out of New Jersey† from SportsIllustrated. com, the unnamed author introduces the proposed plan to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey as well as reaction from sports organizations nationwide. The writer kicks off the article by stating background information about New Jersey’s push to legalize sports wagering. The article then goes on to describe the reaction from sports organizations, and goes in depth on the quotes from NCAA officials as well as their threats to move all playoff games out of New Jersey. It is also mentioned that The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have â€Å"collectively sued to block New Jersey’s sports betting law from taking effect. † However, there is also information and quotes from parties that are for the sports betting law. Quotes from State senator Raymond Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie demonstrate their support for the new law. The article is concluded with talk of â€Å"several new gambling options New Jersey is seeking to offer† (â€Å"NCAA Threatens†). The author writes that these other options include in-state Internet gambling and the use of hand-held mobile gambling devices at the casinos as well as at horse tracks. I thought this article was fairly credible and factual as well. It did not have an author to add to credibility but being a Sports Illustrated article maintained its effectiveness. I believe this piece was intended to inform the audience of residents of New Jersey as well as pretty involved sports fans. People who would read Sports Illustrated would obviously just be in it for the sports because that is the only information it obtains. This also acts as a constraint. The article cannot reach as much of the population because not everyone is a sports fan. The event that triggered this response was the attempt to make sports gambling legal in the state of New Jersey. My understanding of gambling in college sports was drastically upgraded by reading this article. It was an informative piece, so there was very little, if any, bias in the writing. The inclusion of statistics and legality of the topic really helped me understand why the sports organizations are hoping that the law will not pass. The shear amounts of money changing hands can lead to a lot of trouble, however for the same reason, legalizing that money could really boost economic growth. These types of pros and cons exist on both sides, making it an even tougher issue to sort out. My next source comes from a script from the testimony of Danny Sheridan before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 26, 2001. The testimony was for a hearing for the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 718), which would determine the legality of gambling on college athletics. The first part of the testimony consists of Sheridan validating why his testimony should be considered by sharing his credibility and involvement in athletics. â€Å"My name is Danny Sheridan, and I have been involved with sports and the sports? promotion business for more than 25 years. I have published college and pro football? magazines, written about sports in a variety of national publications, and have been the? host of a number of sports TV and radio shows† Sheridan proclaims. Sheridan goes on to explain how he is also a friend of many high profile athletes and he knows first hand the dangers that athletic gambling has on athletes. Sheridan also includes many statistics in his argument. â€Å"An estimated 40 million Americans currently wager $6 billion illegally every weekend during the entire 20-week college and pro football season alone† (Sheridan). The testimony is concluded by Sheridan stating that he appreciates the good intentions of trying to legalize gambling, but it would instead, result in negative effects. The rhetor, Danny Sheridan, is a very well known sports industrial component, which gives his testimony (and therefore my source) credibility. He presented this to the Senate Commerce Committee in hopes to persuade them to vote against legalization of gambling on sports. The fact that this is a testimony, instead of a highly publicized article restricts the extent his message. I found the script on his website, however it isn’t an often visited site by the common Internet user, so the audience is a big constraint for this text. I found this testimony to be a great source for this project. It was interesting to read a text that wasn’t just a traditional article. My understanding for the anti gambling side grew significantly, because it was so biased. The speaker does a great job making his argument come full circle. For that reason, I came away from reading it with a slight lean towards supporting keeping gambling on sports illegal. Another interesting aspect is that this testimony was given in 2001. My previous source, about the gambling law in New Jersey, is a current issue, and the arguments made by Sheridan could simply be restated now with the same effects. It is astounding to see how such little progress has been made through the years. In the article â€Å"Study Provides New Data on the Extent of Gambling by College Athletes†, from netfiles.edu, Welch Suggs dissects a study done to determine the facts about college athletes that gamble on sports. Suggs begins by introducing the parameters of the University of Michigan study that was released by the athletic department. â€Å"The study, based on a survey of 758 football and basketball players, found that 72 percent of college football and basketball players had bet money at least once since entering college† (Suggs). The author goes on to give further statistics that the survey revealed. Welch Suggs concludes the article with opposing viewpoint quotes from NCAA employee William Saum, and former NFL player Lynn Swann. Suggs’ last statement included next shifting attention to basketball referees to gain information about their gambling experiences. This was a questionable source to say the least. It had some solid content but the article opened as a PDF and my research failed to try and find the original homepage of the website. Likewise, the author was a mystery man as well. This text was very brief, but I believe the purpose was to inform about the findings of the survey revealed by the University of Michigan athletic department. However, the audience is hard to determine because of the unknown author and questionable website. If I were to pick an audience though, I would say it was intended for the adult college sports athlete because of the language and the inclusion of quotes from Lynn Swann. This text also has massive constraints, mainly for the same reasons as stated before. The website is random and in an odd format, therefore finding Suggs’ piece would be difficult to come across. The audience is extremely limited because of this, and the credibility suffers as well. Also, it did not include dates it the article, so the exigence of the piece suffers because the provoking event of the writing cannot be identified. The facts that are stated in this article hold strong relevance for this topic. It is more of an anti gambling article based on the information it presents, but it also gives a quote of the opposite viewpoint. Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers from the study are very eye opening and convincing. It makes me think about how much gambling affects the games we love, without us even knowing. Since all the surveys were anonymous, nothing will develop in terms of punishment or solutions to the problem. In this sense, the article does a great job persuading the reader. However, nowhere in the article did it give a date of the information or of when the article was written, so it is hard to put it in context and determine the importance. This, along with the briefness of the article, made it more difficult to shape my thinking about the topic. After analyzing the four sources included in this essay, I have yet to come to a concrete conclusion. I began researching the topic with the idea that gambling on college sports should be illegal and that all the effects of illegal gambling are bad. However, my research has muddied my view a little bit, which is actually a good thing because now I am informed more then I even have been. Being informed in such a way makes me understand how this predicament has been able to linger around in our society and in our legal system for so long. There seems to be no perfect solution and neither side of the argument wants to budge. I think both sides would agree that the illegal activity that surrounds gambling is a bad thing, but the argument remains; would legalizing sports gambling have a more positive effect on unlawful activity then keeping gambling illegal? The next step for me would simply be gaining more knowledge and weighing the pros and cons of each side and coming to decision of which side to take. Until then, ill be sitting on the fence of the topic, along with most of America. What Are the Effects of Legal vs. Illegal Gambling on College Sports? I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last decade and also how students and athletes looked upon the Columbia gambling scandal with lesser importance because of the lack of athletic excellence. â€Å" The presence of a gambling operation with connections to organized crime at a school whose football team is best known for a 44-game losing streak in the 1980’s seemed incongruous† (Curry and Gershenson). An athlete was also quoted saying, â€Å"It’s not like this is Arkansas or something. This is Columbia. † Curry and Gershenson conclude their article by including a nationwide 1996 survey of college Division one athletes that reveals 25 percent gambled on other college sports and four percent admitted to gambling on games they had played in. I believe this is an article with good overall quality, even though it was written about 14 years ago in 1998. The time period constraint may lead to questions of relevance to readers in 2012. However, I think if you take all the dates and years out of the article, the purpose is still fulfilled and relays the same messages. The intent of the article was to inform about the events of the Columbia gambling ring, the reaction around campus, and the nationwide relevance. The authors Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson, are fairly unknown writers as far as I am concerned but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the article because it was included in The New York Times, which only adds credibility. For this reason, there would be a nationwide audience because of the shear number of readers. Specifically, the audience would probably be more of the businessman or woman, who are the stereotypical readers of The New York Times. The exigence of this piece was the arrest of gambling ring participants at Columbia but also the fact that these types of gambling scandals had been becoming more and more common in that time period. This was a very eye-opening article for me to read and by far the longest and most in depth. Since it was written 14 years ago, it is a story that I was previously unaware of. It made me even more aware then I already was, of how long this problem has lingered in college sports. It mentioned, more then once, that there are bookies on every campus in America. This really made me think about how unbelievable the number of illegal bets being placed by college students and athletes must be. However, even though this article is depicting the illegal gambling as a bad thing, I think it unintentionally makes arguments for both sides of the issue. If gambling on college sports were acceptable, this would have been a legal act. Hypothetically if it were legal, it would cut down on crime like this, which is usually linked to people with other criminal activity going on. Disconnecting the link to other criminal activity would make it all around safer for bookies and bet placers and athletes, because frankly, I think that people will never stop gambling on sporting events. I had always just assumed that gambling on college sports should be illegal, but this article made me reconsider whether that would really be the smartest and safest resolution. In the article â€Å"NCAA threatens to move events out of New Jersey† from SportsIllustrated. com, the unnamed author introduces the proposed plan to legalize sports gambling in New Jersey as well as reaction from sports organizations nationwide. The writer kicks off the article by stating background information about New Jersey’s push to legalize sports wagering. The article then goes on to describe the reaction from sports organizations, and goes in depth on the quotes from NCAA officials as well as their threats to move all playoff games out of New Jersey. It is also mentioned that The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have â€Å"collectively sued to block New Jersey’s sports betting law from taking effect. † However, there is also information and quotes from parties that are for the sports betting law. Quotes from State senator Raymond Lesniak and Governor Chris Christie demonstrate their support for the new law. The article is concluded with talk of â€Å"several new gambling options New Jersey is seeking to offer† (â€Å"NCAA Threatens†). The author writes that these other options include in-state Internet gambling and the use of hand-held mobile gambling devices at the casinos as well as at horse tracks. I thought this article was fairly credible and factual as well. It did not have an author to add to credibility but being a Sports Illustrated article maintained its effectiveness. I believe this piece was intended to inform the audience of residents of New Jersey as well as pretty involved sports fans. People who would read Sports Illustrated would obviously just be in it for the sports because that is the only information it obtains. This also acts as a constraint. The article cannot reach as much of the population because not everyone is a sports fan. The event that triggered this response was the attempt to make sports gambling legal in the state of New Jersey. My understanding of gambling in college sports was drastically upgraded by reading this article. It was an informative piece, so there was very little, if any, bias in the writing. The inclusion of statistics and legality of the topic really helped me understand why the sports organizations are hoping that the law will not pass. The shear amounts of money changing hands can lead to a lot of trouble, however for the same reason, legalizing that money could really boost economic growth. These types of pros and cons exist on both sides, making it an even tougher issue to sort out. My next source comes from a script from the testimony of Danny Sheridan before the Senate Commerce Committee on April 26, 2001. The testimony was for a hearing for the Amateur Sports Integrity Act (S. 718), which would determine the legality of gambling on college athletics. The first part of the testimony consists of Sheridan validating why his testimony should be considered by sharing his credibility and involvement in athletics. â€Å"My name is Danny Sheridan, and I have been involved with sports and the sports? promotion business for more than 25 years. I have published college and pro football? magazines, written about sports in a variety of national publications, and have been the?host of a number of sports TV and radio shows† Sheridan proclaims. Sheridan goes on to explain how he is also a friend of many high profile athletes and he knows first hand the dangers that athletic gambling has on athletes. Sheridan also includes many statistics in his argument. â€Å"An estimated 40 million Americans currently wager $6 billion illegally every weekend during the entire 20-week college and pro football season alone† (Sheridan). The testimony is concluded by Sheridan stating that he appreciates the good intentions of trying to legalize gambling, but it would instead, result in negative effects. The rhetor, Danny Sheridan, is a very well known sports industrial component, which gives his testimony (and therefore my source) credibility. He presented this to the Senate Commerce Committee in hopes to persuade them to vote against legalization of gambling on sports. The fact that this is a testimony, instead of a highly publicized article restricts the extent his message. I found the script on his website, however it isn’t an often visited site by the common Internet user, so the audience is a big constraint for this text. I found this testimony to be a great source for this project. It was interesting to read a text that wasn’t just a traditional article. My understanding for the anti gambling side grew significantly, because it was so biased. The speaker does a great job making his argument come full circle. For that reason, I came away from reading it with a slight lean towards supporting keeping gambling on sports illegal. Another interesting aspect is that this testimony was given in 2001. My previous source, about the gambling law in New Jersey, is a current issue, and the arguments made by Sheridan could simply be restated now with the same effects. It is astounding to see how such little progress has been made through the years. In the article â€Å"Study Provides New Data on the Extent of Gambling by College Athletes†, from netfiles. edu, Welch Suggs dissects a study done to determine the facts about college athletes that gamble on sports. Suggs begins by introducing the parameters of the University of Michigan study that was released by the athletic department. â€Å"The study, based on a survey of 758 football and basketball players, found that 72 percent of college football and basketball players had bet money at least once since entering college† (Suggs). The author goes on to give further statistics that the survey revealed. Welch Suggs concludes the article with opposing viewpoint quotes from NCAA employee William Saum, and former NFL player Lynn Swann. Suggs’ last statement included next shifting attention to basketball referees to gain information about their gambling experiences. This was a questionable source to say the least. It had some solid content but the article opened as a PDF and my research failed to try and find the original homepage of the website. Likewise, the author was a mystery man as well. This text was very brief, but I believe the purpose was to inform about the findings of the survey revealed by the University of Michigan athletic department. However, the audience is hard to determine because of the unknown author and questionable website. If I were to pick an audience though, I would say it was intended for the adult college sports athlete because of the language and the inclusion of quotes from Lynn Swann. This text also has massive constraints, mainly for the same reasons as stated before. The website is random and in an odd format, therefore finding Suggs’ piece would be difficult to come across. The audience is extremely limited because of this, and the credibility suffers as well. Also, it did not include dates it the article, so the exigence of the piece suffers because the provoking event of the writing cannot be identified. The facts that are stated in this article hold strong relevance for this topic. It is more of an anti gambling article based on the information it presents, but it also gives a quote of the opposite viewpoint. Numbers don’t lie, and the numbers from the study are very eye opening and convincing. It makes me think about how much gambling affects the games we love, without us even knowing. Since all the surveys were anonymous, nothing will develop in terms of punishment or solutions to the problem. In this sense, the article does a great job persuading the reader. However, nowhere in the article did it give a date of the information or of when the article was written, so it is hard to put it in context and determine the importance. This, along with the briefness of the article, made it more difficult to shape my thinking about the topic. After analyzing the four sources included in this essay, I have yet to come to a concrete conclusion. I began researching the topic with the idea that gambling on college sports should be illegal and that all the effects of illegal gambling are bad. However, my research has muddied my view a little bit, which is actually a good thing because now I am informed more then I even have been. Being informed in such a way makes me understand how this predicament has been able to linger around in our society and in our legal system for so long. There seems to be no perfect solution and neither side of the argument wants to budge. I think both sides would agree that the illegal activity that surrounds gambling is a bad thing, but the argument remains; would legalizing sports gambling have a more positive effect on unlawful activity then keeping gambling illegal? The next step for me would simply be gaining more knowledge and weighing the pros and cons of each side and coming to decision of which side to take. Until then, ill be sitting on the fence of the topic, along with most of America. What Are the Effects of Legal vs. Illegal Gambling on College Sports? I’ve been a sports fanatic since the day I was born. It didn’t matter if I was playing or watching or cheering, I just loved being around the game. I have always been very knowledgeable about it too, as I was well known and titled by extended family as â€Å"the stat man. † This of course referred to the often times erroneous and useless facts rattling around in my brain that I couldn’t help but show off. Needless to say, this topic means a lot to me, especially being a college football player myself. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to dig deeper into a topic that has lingered in our country for years. The issues that pertain to gambling on college athletics have a vast range of opinions that stem from the questions; should gambling on college athletics be legal? What are the effects it has on the college athletes? Some argue that it will be detrimental to the game and some argue it has little to no effect, however most land somewhere in the middle. A common justification against gambling brings up the numerous scandals of players taking illegal benefits or point shaving and in extreme cases these events leading to jail or death. This side also argues that it allows players to get mixed up with the wrong crowd and put themselves in danger. Arguments for gambling site the economic reach it has in our country and the illegality will shrink the economy as well as not protect the players any more. Many people on this side think it will not be stopped so if gambling on college sports is illegalized, then every form of it will be illegal causing more trouble. My goal is to reveal those opinions and create a more complex understanding from various viewpoints, and hopefully bring a small degree of clarification to others and myself. In the article, â€Å"Even at Columbia, Gambling And College Athletics Collide† found in the New York Times, Jack Curry and Adam Gershenson enlighten the readers about the gambling infractions that occurred in a Columbia University fraternity house. The authors begin by describing the situation and basic details of the gambling process. â€Å" (They) would accept bets on sporting events from dozens of other students and then phone in the wagers — typically from $40 to $200 each — to a gambling ring based in Queens and operated by people with links to organized crime† (Curry and Gershenson). They go on to unravel the situation further by stating that there were not only college athletes betting on the games, but even current and former players living in the house that was tirelessly on the phone collecting wagers. Curry and Gershenson then discuss the further investigations done by Columbia and the NCAA and the possible disciplinary action that the offenders can face. The authors then write about the numerous amounts of sports gambling incidents in the last deca.

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Essay

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Essay Example The old woman is crazy, deaf, sick, greedy, and evil. She charges scandalous rates of interest, devours the well-being of others, and, having reduced her younger sister to the state of a servant, oppresses her with work. She is good for nothing. "Why does she live" "Is she useful to anyone at all" These and other questions carry the young man's mind astray. He decides to kill and rob her so as to make his mother, who is living in the provinces, happy; to save his sister from the libidinous importunities of the head of the estate where she is serving as a lady's companion; and then to finish his studies, go abroad and be for the rest of his life honest, firm, and unflinching in fulfilling his humanitarian duty toward mankind. This would, according to him, "make up for the crime," if one can call this act a crime, which is committed against an old, deaf, crazy, evil, sick woman, who does not know why she is living and who would perhaps die in a month anyway. (Notes 2007) The story is basically the struggle between Raskolnikov's Napoleon-bermensch theory and his conscience which make him confess to his crime. According to Tanguay (1997), the novel is an expos of the evil system which forced upon Raskolnikov the choice between crime and death by starvation. However, as the epilogue goes, the novel suggests the brighter side of man's connection to his creator as its more important theme. A repentant man can still hope for his benevolent creator waiting to hear him confess. This paper discusses how Fyodor Dostoevsky tries to present his message through many techniques. Basically, he tackles the issue of poverty and tries to show how an intelligent university student goes about in solving his financial problems. With it is the bermensch theory which he puts in the mind of Raskolnikov, thinking an ordinary man can become extraordinary - jumping from one level to another. The problem is that it has to be done with a crime and to come off it clean. The novel shows that the thinking of the protagonist, Raskolnikov, comes from great men like Napoleon who made history. From here, he uses dreams to foreshadow what is to come or make flashbacks on the past to register well a point. The novel throughout speaks of poverty as a theme as the different characters portray how they each respond to their problem of making both ends meet. As the characters go about their business, especially with Raskolnikov, Dostoevsky tries to go deep into the workings of the mind and present the progression of the psychological struggles. Dostoevsky also utilizes character contrasts to magnify other characters, such as the employ of the oversexed Svidrigalov trying to express regret for his dastardly acts by expressing charity after every wild act. He is contrasted against Raskolnikov who looks up to him as the extraordinary man who can commit crime without any pangs of regret. Dostoevsky finally ends his novel with a meaningful epilogue about man's redemption and his final association with his creator. The discussions that follow deal deeper with these elements to show how Dostoevsky tries to communicate his message. Communicating the message The social issue of poverty. Dostoevsky portrayed the contemporary social reality. Raskolnikov's murdering of the old moneylender resulted apparently from his dire poverty. He had no alternative but murder and robbery if he were to survive. From a thesis

The Google Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Google Company - Case Study Example This amounts to employees hating their jobs hence low productivity. This case study explores how best performing companies and for this case Google motivate their employees to work to the extent of making these companies the top-producing organizations in the world. Top companies like Google have restructured their management model to provide leadership and an enabling environment that would motivate their employees to work hard and produce the highest output. Google didn’t become a household name just by chance, it is because it has a culture that values their employees and motivates them. It’s quite clear that any company that wants to proceed to the next level and become a household name has to find new ways of rewarding and motivating their employees for their good work. They therefore need to embrace a culture that promote free thinking, motivating employees to work together and provide a working environment that is comfortable, promotes humanity, individualism and personal freedom. Having a chance to work for Google is a dream for many and it’s not just because of what the company has achieved since its inception, it is because of its good working environment. ... (Think leader 2013) About a decade ago when the company was just a start up, the co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had this dream of making Google where the worlds’ best talent will work. And they had an idea on how to achieve this i.e. by creating a working environment and culture that will keep every employee happy and also keep them motivated. This will ensure that they do their best and be loyal to the company. (Brain Mass 2012) Google also motivates its employees by ensuring that the managers assign tasks that are inspiring and challenging to the junior employees. This makes these employees feel the aspect of career progression and learning something new every day. It is a tradition that each employee is given an opportunity to dedicate 20 percent of their time on a project they choose. Employees will be actually be paid by indulging in these projects so long as they are within companies’ legal and business scope. This is how products like AdSense and Google S uggest came about. This makes them motivated as they feel that aspect of being managers. It also promotes innovation and this is no doubt why Google is one of the most innovative companies in the word. This kind of freedom to concentrates on a project they love make them move away for their routine jobs hence drawing an inspiration about their job. Therefore employees just don’t join Google because of the outward perks and rewards, they do it for freedom! (Gary 2007). Besides the compensation and other benefits alike free health and dental check-ups, insurance, tuition reimbursement and paid vacations, Google employees also enjoy other unique benefits. This includes a 100% paid maternity benefit of up to 18 weeks. Also new mothers and fathers enjoy help to make things

Joseph Stalin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Joseph Stalin - Research Paper Example For instance, according to statistical estimates provided by Haynes and Husan in their book A Century of State Murder? Death and Policy in Twentieth-Century Russia, if the 1920s mortality rates are to be extrapolated to the 1930s, one has to reach a conclusion that there were about 8.5 million excessive deaths for 1928-1936, and additional 1.5 million for the second part of the decade of the 1930s, making total number of casualties of Stalinism in the 1930s close to 10 million people (Haynes and Husan 65). If one compares the population predictions for the year of 1937 compiled by Soviet Gosplan in the late 1920s (about 181 million people) with the 1937 census’s actual results (i.e. 168.5 million people, further reduced to 167 million by the new 1939 census), it is clear that Soviet population fell by considerable number in the 1930s, as even Stalin’s government was forced to concede (Haynes and Husan 64). This tremendous number of excessive unnatural deaths should be f urther extended by taking into account the number of deaths of Soviet soldiers and citizens in the course of WW II, which, while not entirely caused by Stalin’s military ineptness, were significantly increased by it. In addition, the death rate in Soviet forced labor camps rose to its highest level in the 1940s, with 1.01 million of dead prisoners in 1941-1945 (Haynes and Husan 83). Finally, the 1940s deportations of national groups deemed not loyal to the Soviet regime cost their own share of deaths: almost 300-400.000 are likely to have perished, as the data provided by Pohl testify (2). This means that in all certainty, Stalinism led to deaths of about 20 million people, if the part of wartime deaths is included in overall estimate. Nonetheless, despite the natural aversion that may arise towards Stalin and his system of government when exposed to such information, it is known that memories of Stalinist era are often fondly invoked in modern Russia and, to a lesser extent, in other post-Soviet states. In particular, Putin’s government often uses memories of Stalin’s rule to support its own actions, especially un the field of foreign policy, and the new history textbooks used in Russian schools often include statements of the like that â€Å"Stalin acted ‘entirely rationally’ in executing and imprisoning millions of people in the Gulags† (Stewart). The nature of such fondness for Stalin on the part of Russian authorities is understandable, as the Russian government, while pursuing harsh neo-liberal economic policies, widely employs appeals to ‘Soviet nostalgia’ in its symbolism and external policies. At the same time, a characteristically different kind of ‘popular Stalinism’ exists among the wide strata of Russian society. Exemplified by the policies of ‘red-brown’ Communist Party of Russian Federation, which for all purposes dropped its former Marxist tenets in favor of more op en Russian imperial patriotism and of other, smaller but ideologically similar parties and groupings, this type of ‘Stalinist’ feelings mix nostalgia for the ‘orderly’ society unaffected by market turbulence with strong cultural conservatism and xenophobia. Therefore, despite strong condemnation levied upon Stalinism by Russia’s liberal intelligentsia, Stalinist sentiment, or,

Business Law and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Law and Ethics - Essay Example The next question will be what should be the ideal state with respect to working condition, and quality assurance. The next question involves what is the minimally accepted state with respect to working condition and quality assurance. The Next question I will ask is what steps and procedures should we put in place to ensure that we significantly improve our present situation to the minimally accepted state. The last question is what procedures we should use to raise from the minimally accepted state to the ideal state. I will use utilitarian theory of business ethics. I prefer utilitarian theory because it lays high emphasis on ethical decisions that advance the most value to all the stakeholders while at the same time limiting amount of damages to the minimal number of participants as possible. Because I want well for the majority, my ethical decision should cause less harm to the stakeholders of Delectables Corp. while at the same time increasing value for everyone. The decision o f whether to blow the whistle or not is one of the most challenging because it involves a lot of thinking. I will first thinking about the impact of blowing the whistle on the future performance of the company. ... The stakeholders’ model recognizes the role and contribution of different individuals towards success of the organization especially the customers, employees, suppliers, government, and creditors. It is undoubtedly that a wide range of risks is associated with blowing the whistle. The first risk associated with whistle blowing is loss of employment (Trimborn). I will not only put my job at risk but also of other employees. This claim can be justified by the fact that boycott of company products- peanut butter in the market will force the company to reduce its production, which in turn translates to job cuts to allow the company from insolvency owing to large salary and wages payout. The next major risk associated with whistle blowing is dissolution of the company. A company can lose its competitive edge owing to unethical and illegal practices, which can consequently lead to closing down of the company. Whistle blowing also put the company at the risk of losing its revenue. Th is can happen when the company is charged hefty fines for illegal practices or when the company loses its market share owing to unethical practices in manufacturing of peanut butter. Customers tend to shy away from companies that do not observe stipulated ethical and legal standard by industry the regulators, bylaws, or laws. Whistle blowing is not only risk as it also comes with a wide range of benefits. The first benefit of whistle blowing is the fact that it brings sanity in the operations of Delectables Corp. by ending wrongdoings such selling of peanut butter with questionable quality. Whistle blowing also protects the interest of key stakeholders especially customers especially if consumption of the service or product can lead to bodily harm or chronic

Artices summary Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Artices summary - Article Example The chosen article consists of a study conducted on women in order to identify their underlying causes for major depression. The personalities of over 2000 women were studied by doctors at the Medical College of Virginia where they tried to unearth the kind of feelings women were going through. The main aim for the purpose of this test was to figure out the levels of depression as well as neuroticism that most women felt. According to the background of the study conducted, it was stated that these two factors are the most common aspects of a person’s inner thinking and mind which helps to depict whether or not a person is going through feelings of depression or is facing a period of depression. After a proper analysis of the results, it was noted that neuroticism coupled with depression were mostly caused due to genetic factors first. It was comprehended from the test results that in order to find out a woman’s level of depression, it is easier to understand the same by doing a search of the feelings of anxiety and stress levels in a woman rather than looking at her self esteem. (Seth B. Roberts and Kenneth S. Kendler, 1999) The article chosen for the purpose of explanation of substance dependency is based on young boys in their early-late teenage years. A number of noted psychologists have stated that this age has been witnessing an increase in terms of substance users and abusers around the world. Dependence on alcohol or drugs takes place in the subconscious of an individual at first and therefore, it is a very psychological reaction faced by the person as he continues or increases his usage of substances to carry on with his lifestyle. The article notes that there are a number of offspring of substance users that fall into the trap as well, and due to such usage of drugs, narcotics and alcohol to lead a wayward life, they lose their ability to control emotions and fair very poorly thus, in ECF tests conducted. Such users have been said

Descartes and skepticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Descartes and skepticism - Essay Example The principle of certainty, which Descartes refers to as cogito is also explained. The researcher has also given a detailed explanation on why the project was very important for Rene Descartes to accomplish. Although it seems that the method of doubt has achieved a lot, it seems to raise doubts about everything that could possibly be doubted and this is not the case. Cartesian doubt remains a strong form of skepticism and the only thing Descartes did, was doubting what was possible for him to doubt. Keywords. Cogito, Cartesian Doubting, Skepticism, Descartes Introduction Descartes was born in La Haya, Touraine on the 31st of March 1596 (Wilson, 1983). His parents were Joachim Descartes and Jeanne Broachard. His Father worked in the army and was a noble man. His mother died when he was one year old. Descartes had a brother, Pierre and a sister known as Jeanne. Having been born into a clan of bourgeois, he was educated primarily at the leading Jesuit academy, where he received a ground ing foundation in traditional Aristotelian-scholastic philosophy. He later studied law at the University of Poitiers (Wilson, 1983). The chronology of his major works is as follows: 1628-1629: rules for the direction of the mind. 1634: the world scientific system. 1637: discourse on method, optics, geometry and meteorology (samples of which method would accomplish). 1641: meditations concerning first philosophy and objections and replies. 1644: principles of philosophy (concerned with explaining on all phenomena of nature). 1649: the passions of the soul. Concerned with the physiology of emotion and possibility of rational control of the passions (Wilson, 1983). Most the works of Rene Descartes were written in Holland and were philosophical and scientific. He conceived his scientific system as the successor and replacement of the great Aristotelian-scholastic philosophy that had dominated European thoughts for centuries. In his career, he strived to win approval and acceptance for h is views, especially among theological authorities. He dedicated the meditations to the theological faculty of the Sorbonne. Descartes died in February 1650 in Stockholm after Queen Christina of Sweden had persuaded him to go and grace her court. Rene Descartes is famously remembered for his Cartesian method that he used to refute skepticism (Wilson, 1983). Cartesian Doubting on Skepticism Skepticism is a doctrine in philosophy that holds that true and absolute knowledge or knowledge of a particular object is uncertain. In other words, that being certain in general or towards a particular object is not possible. The method that he uses to oppose skeptics is the background of his philosophy, which is known as the Cartesian doubting (Wilson, 1983). Descartes method of doubting used syllogism. A syllogism comprises of a major premise, particular premise, which is also known as minor premise and the conclusion. The rules of syllogism hold that if the premises are true the conclusion mus t be true, and when the premises are false the conclusion is definitely false. For example, Any thinking thing must exist. (Major premise). I think. (Minor premise). I therefore exist. (Conclusion). Before he could begin to construct the stage of his work, Descartes believed that he needed, once in his lifetime to get rid of all his former beliefs, since he was aware that any of them were false. He uses an analogy to explain this argument while at the same time introducing his method. The

Supply and Demand of Online Music Streaming Essay

Supply and Demand of Online Music Streaming - Essay Example Now, people can access their favorite music through internet by paying no or comparatively low prices to the suppliers. (Amberg, and Schrà ¶der. 2007). The online music industry is experiencing another revolution phase due to the development of technology and invention of Smartphones with a capacity to run online streaming any where through 4G connection. Initially, online paid music downloading facility was provided by the Apple’s iTunes in 2003, but it was a cumbersome task to download the music and then run it, therefore the online music industry players had started to develop such applications and platforms, where people can directly stream their favorite music without keeping them in their PCs or Mobile phones storage. For this purpose, online radio platforms, i.e. Pandora and Spotify have been developed to provide an online streaming facility to the music lovers over their computers and Smartphones. Streaming services are providing almost all sorts of music to their customers and people can access more than million of songs through a single click. Online radios, like Pandora and iTunes Radio, have chosen what the custo mers want to hear and these firms generate their revenues through advertisements. Whereas, other firms like Deezer and Spotify, offer a collection of 20 to 30 million songs on annual or monthly subscription basis and charge premium prices to their customers. Due to these changes the sales of record labels have decreased by 4% as compared to the last year, where on the other hand online streaming firms like Spotify has earned more than $1 billion in revenues. (Bhattacharjee, Gopal, Lertwachara, and Marsden. 2007). However, the overall online streaming industry was accounted for 21% of the total music industry revenues in 2013, which showed a very rapid growth in last 5 years. ( Hodgkins, 2014) Due to the high trend of Smartphones and development in the mobile phone services sector, i.e. the

Architecture in the Machine Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Architecture in the Machine Age - Essay Example Three new materials were generated in the field of architecture in the industrial revolution during the 20th century: steel glass and reinforced concrete (Giedion, 1954). These new materials were flexible to use, mass produced and inexpensive. These impacted American cities in a big way by allowing better density through taller buildings. During 1850-1900, the Crafts and Art Movement was a response to industrial revolution. In 1765, James Watt invented steam engine and it propelled the mechanization of transportation, industry, and agriculture. In Britain, that altered the lives of working people. The towns and cities developed to accommodate the expansion of industries and the introduction of new workers who came from the countryside for employment. However, the standard of living deteriorated slowly and people felt that the life had changed but for the worst.‘In England’, many had given up the rural lifestyle. From the green and ‘pleasant land’ they came a nd joined the industrial revolution, - 'dark Satanic mills' for the purpose of an employment. As a result, the workers lost the feel of belongingness and security, which generally comes from staying in a smaller community.The members of the movement of Arts and Crafts included architects, designers, artists, writers and craftsmen Guillà ¢en, They were afraid the industrialization was demolishing the traditional crafts and skills. The credit went to machines for producing the quality goods with high skill and design.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling Essay Example for Free

Joseph Rudyard Kipling Essay The study room was surprisingly empty. The door was crying out for some one to come open it. The papers lying on the table were rustling out loud, almost as if giving a signal to use them. Beside were pens lying and whispering for someone to pick them up. The chair was looming for someone to come and use it for comfort. Slowly the door opens with a crack. There, enters a man: always with a look of confidence and pride showing away to everyone. A man loved by everyone for his work which was presented to the public. This person was none other then Kipling: a poet, novelist and not to forget an imperialist. The time period was around the 18th century when British established their rule over India. Another term for taking over was known as IMPERIALSIM: when a strong nation like British takes over a weaker region like India. Once they take over, they dominate the regions politically, economically and culturally (Imperialism 8). As every country wants to keep their own culture and have their own rule, India was against British rule. The only people who supported them were the Sikhs. When countries took over foreign lands, they expected the natives to practice their culture inferior to their own (Imperialism 9). This was called the white mans burden. Later on there was a popular poem named the same written by Kipling. Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a blessed child born to be an English writer and a Nobel Prize winner to John Lockwood Kipling: an artist, a scholar and a capable writer, and to Alice Macdonald. Kipling was a man who wrote novels, poems, and short stories, mostly set in India and Burma (now known as Myanmar) during the time of British rule. He was born on December 30, 1865 in Mumbai, India. His first name Joseph which was never used as it was his fathers father name, except for his baptism in the cathedral. His second name Rudyard was named after the place, Rudyard River where his father and mother first met. As a child of a rich family, he never got the tender love and playing time with mother like most middle or low class children would. Instead he was bought up by an ayah. As being raised by native servants meant affection and intimacy, and that intimacy meant, above all, that he learned their language, Hindustani (Rudyard Kipling 19). He was sent to England for better education at the age of six to a foster home. There he received unkind treatment which he later expressed in the short story Baa Baa Black Sheep in the novel The Light That Failed. At the age of 13, Kipling entered Services College: an institution specialized in training for entry into military academies. Unfortunately his poor eyesight and other factors shredded his hopes for a military career. He returned to India at the age of sixteen. In 1882 he started working as a journalist in Lahore for the Civil and Military Gazette: a local newspaper where he wrote and edited short stories. Gazette was an excellent way of building up the knowledge of India that was going to make him as a writer (Rudyard Kipling 42). In 1887 he was promoted to the staff of the Allahabad paper, Pioneer: a sister paper with much higher standard then the Gazette as an assistant editor. India and Kipling had been made for each other. She gave him what no other English writer was ever to experience in comparable fullness and intensity; .. As her mark was set on him for life: with the exception of some travel pieces, seven or eight stories and a few dozen poems all his best work reflects or remembers India (Rudyard Kipling 52). This statement shows us that he had a passion for India: all the colors and sounds and smells made an impression on him that was distinctive as well as deep (Rudyard Kipling 20). Almost every novel he wrote, short stories or poems were all connected to the life he spent in India. He loved his child hood days he spent in India give me the first six years of a childs life and you can have the rest (Something of myself). His novels described the setting (India) very well especially, its beauty as a country, the culture and the distinct features it has as a diverse country. Kipling was an imperialist. He believed it was right and proper for Britain to own India and rule the people (www. english-literature. com). He accepted the Empire as it stood and he approved the annexation of Upper Burma (Rudyard Kipling 52). He was one of the few people who approved the right of British to rule India. He wrote books and poem supporting the fact that British has the right to rule. Famous poem was the white mans burden and a popular novel named KIM. It is a novel that embodies his attitude towards British rule in India which these days are wholly unacceptable and unpalatable (www. english-literature. com). Even though he resided in India and was an Anglo-Indian he still supported British. Though he considerable colonial experience in India as well as sympathy for Asians, his writing clearly reflects the British and imperial attitude (Rudyard Kipling 67). Enough comments were made about the novel KIM such as a master work of imperialism .. Rich and absolutely fascinating. But nevertheless profoundly embarrassing novel (Edward, www. english-literature. com). Kipling is the man who is remembered for his celebration of British imperialism and heroism in India and Burma (Rudyard Kipling, 53). He is the man who is still remembered by everyone including kids by reading his wonderful work of writings written for us. Common examples are Jungle book, KIM, famous short stories such as Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the Naulahka are to name a few. His love for India was incomparable to any Anglo-Indian, it shown in almost every novel which had a setting of India. Kipling should be as thankful to India as India should be thankful for him. Kipling introduced a new type of story and brought out the knowledge of India more to other people around the world by having it included in his stories. He made a difference in the world of writing by producing great novels such as Barrack-Room Ballads, etc. Kiplings life and work are extraordinary unlike those of any other English writer (Rudyard Kipling 1). He was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. Kipling is man who left marks in the world of today by using his ability to remind about him and his works constantly. BIBLIOGRAPHY Book Amis, Kingsley Rudyard Kipling and his world. Great Britain, 1975 Handout given my Mr. Quan for Imperialism. Websites  http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5316798

Introduction to Underwriting

Introduction to Underwriting INTRODUCTION TO UNDERWRITING Underwriting is an agreement, entered into by a company with a financial agency, in order to ensure that the public will subscribe for the entire issue of shares or debentures made by the company. The financial agency is known as the underwriter and it agrees to buy that part of the company issues which are not subscribed to by the public in consideration of a specified underwriting commission. The underwriting agreement, among others, must provide for the period during which the agreement is in force, the amount of underwriting obligations, the period within which the underwriter has to subscribe to the issue after being intimated by the issuer, the amount of commission and details of arrangements, if any, made by the underwriter for fulfilling the underwriting obligations. The underwriting commission may not exceed 5 percent on shares and 2.5 percent in case of debentures. Underwriting has become very important in recent years with the growth of the corporate sector. It provides several BENEFITS to a company:- It relieves the company of the risk and uncertainty of marketing the securities. Underwriters have an intimate and specialized knowledge of the capital market. They offer valuable advice to the issuing company in the preparation of the prospectus, time of floatation and the price of securities, etc. They also provide publicity service to the companies which have entered into underwriting agreements with them. It helps in financing of new enterprises and in the expansion of the existing projects. It builds up investors confidence in the issue of securities. The issuing company is assured of the availability of funds. Important projects are not delayed for want of funds. It facilitates the geographical dispersal of securities because generally, the underwriters maintain contacts with investors throughout the country. TYPES OF UNDERWRITING Syndicate Underwriting: is one in which, two or more agencies or underwriters jointly underwrite an issue of securities. Such an arrangement is entered into when the total issue is beyond the resources of one underwriter or when he does not want to block up large amount of funds in one issue. Sub-Underwriting:- is one in which an underwriter gets a part of the issue further underwritten by another agency. This is done to diffuse the risk involved in underwriting. Firm Underwriting: is one in which the underwriters applyfor a block of securities. Under it, the underwriters agree to take up and pay for this block of securities as ordinary subscribers in addition to their commitment as underwriters. UNDERWRITERS To act as an underwriter, a certificate of registration must be obtained fromSecurities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The certificate is granted by SEBI under the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Underwriters) Regulations, 1993. These regulations deal primarily with issues such as registration, capital adequacy, obligation and responsibilities of the underwriters. Under it, an underwriter is required to enter into a valid agreement with the issuer entity and the said agreement among other things should define the allocation of duties and responsibilities between him and the issuer entity. These regulations have been further amended by theSecurities and Exchange Board of India (Underwriters) (Amendment) Regulations, 2006. ROLE OF UNDERWRITERS The primary role of the underwriter is to purchase securities from the issuer and resell them to investors. Underwriters act as intermediaries between issuers and investors, providing for an efficient of capital. The underwriters take the risk that it will be able to resell the securities at a profit. Perhaps the most visible and familiar element of the initial public offering process is the underwriter. The underwriter is the organization that is actually responsible for pricing, selling, and organizing the issue, and it may or may not provide additional services. With direct public offerings, there is no need for an underwriter. Selection of a good underwriter is of the utmost importance, but its important to understand that many underwriters are equally selective of their clients. Because an underwriters reputation depends on successful issues, few firms will be willing to stake their reputation on questionable companies. When selecting an underwriter, its important to seek out an established company with a good reputation and quality research coverage in your field. The decision may also depend on the kind of agreement the underwriter is willing to make regarding the sale of shares. For profitable and established private companies, it shouldnt be difficult to locate an underwriter willing to make a firm commitment arrangement. Under such an agreement, the underwriter agrees to buy all issues shares, regardless of ability to sell them at a particular price. For riskier or less established companies, an underwriter may offer best efforts arrangement for the initial public offering. A best efforts contract requires the underwriter to buy only enough shares to fill investor demand. Under this arrangement, the underwriter accepts no responsibility for unsold shares. Aside from fees and sales arrangements, most underwriters are fairly similar in their roles. An underwriter will assist in the preparation and submission of all appropriate SEC filings, helping potential investors make informed decisions about your offering. All underwriters are required to exercise due diligence in verifying the information they submit, so a certain amount of investigation should be expected from any responsible underwriter. In addition to SEC registration filings, the underwriter will create a preliminary prospectus that will become a major part of the issues marketing campaign. This document is also referred to as the red herring, after a small red passage in the document that states that the company is not attempting to sell shares prior to SEC approval. Once SEC approval is obtained, the underwriter and the corporation will embark on a road show to gauge and attract interest from investors. While the road show does not involve getting binding commitments from investors, it helps the underwriter determine the best strategies for pricing and issuance. After the initial public offering, the underwriter continues to provide services for the newly public corporation. For months or even years after the offering, the underwriter may continue to make a market for the stock, ensuring liquidity for investors and making the shares more desirable. Twenty-five days after the issue, the underwriter is also permitted to make statements or projections regarding the company and its prospects. ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH ARTICLES ARTICLE 1 ROLE OF UNDERWRITER IN INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING (IPO) When a company wants to raise funds throughinitial public offering (IPO)it appoints aninvestment bank for underwritingthe issue. AnInvestment bankis also called asmerchant bank. There is no regulatory restriction to use the services of amerchant bankfor IPO. Since in an IPO a company participates for the first time, it doesnt have complete understanding of the rules and documentation, required to be submitted, to get a clearance from the regulator. Famous merchant bankers world over are Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Banks like Deutsche, Citi, UBS etc have investment banking wings. Underwriters assess and analyze firms current performance, firms future earnings potential, industry scenario, competition in the same sector, current local and global market situations etc. to decidethe issueprice/price band. They also work on the activities like completion of the mandatory documentation as required by the regulatory body. Underwriters charge a fee for this activity, which is generally a percentage ofthe issuesize. If the issue size is very large a syndicate of merchant banks takes up the task of underwritingthe issue. However onemerchant bankleads the other. MERCHANT BANKERS The merchant bankers are those financial intermediaries involved with the activity of transferring capital funds to those borrowers who interested in borrowing. They guarantee the success of issues by underwriting them. Merchant banks are popularly known as issuing and accepting houses. Unlike in the past, their activities are now primarily non-fund based (fee based). They offer a package of financial services. The basic function of merchant banks is marketing corporate and other services that are guaranteeing sales and distribution of securities and also other activities such as management of customer services, portfolio management of customer services, portfolio management, credit syndication, acceptance credit, counseling, insurance, etc. As per SEBI (Merchant bankers) Rules, 1992: Merchant bankers means any person who is engaged in the business of issue management either by making arrangements regarding selling, buying or subscribing to securities or acting as manager, consultant, advise or rendering corporate advisory service in relation to such issue management. MERCHANT BANKING Merchant banking activity was formally initiated into the Indian capital markets when grind lays bank received the license from reserve bank in 1967.grindlays started with management of capital issues ,recognized the needs of emerging class of entrepreneurs for diverse financial services ranging from production planning and system design to market research .even it provides management consulting services to meet the requirements of small and medium sector rather than large sector. Citibank setup its merchant banking division in1970.the various tasks performed by this divisions namely assisting new entrepreneur ,evaluating new projects ,raising funds through borrowing and issuing equity. Indians banks started banking services as a part multiple services they offer to their clients from 1972.state bank of India started the merchant banking division in 1972.in the initial years the SBIS objective was to render corporate advice and assistance to small and medium entrepreneurs. REGISTRATION OF MERCHANT BANKERS WITH SEBI It is mandatory for a merchant banker to register with the sebi. Without holding a certificate of registration granted by the securities and exchange board of India, no person can act as a merchant banker in India. Only a body corporate other then a non-banking financial company shall be eligible to get registration as merchant banker. The applicant should not carry on any business other than those connected with the securities market. All applicants for merchant bankers should have qualifications in finance, law or business management. The applicant should have infrastructure like office space, equipment, manpower etc. The applicant must have at least two employees with prior experience in merchant banking. MERCHANT BANKERS IN INDIA There are 135 merchant bankers who are registered with sebi now in India. There are public sector, private sector and foreign players registered with sebi. The below are the examples of few of the merchant bankers in each of the public, private and foreign players. PUBLIC SECTOR MERCHANT BANKERS SEBI CAPITAL MERKETS LTD. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK. IFCI FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD. KARUR VYSYA BANK LTD. STATE BANK OF BIKANER AND JAIPUR. PRIVATE SECTORS MERCHANT BANKERS: ICICI SECURITIES LTD. AXIS BANK LTD(FORMERLY UTI BANK LTD.) BAJAJ CAPITAL MARKETS LTD TATA CAPITAL MARKETS LTD. ICICI BANK LTD. RELIANCE SECURITIES LIMITED. KOTA MAHINDRA CAPITAL COMPANY LTD. YES BANK LTD. FOREGN PLAYERS IN MERCHNT BANKING. GOLDMAN SACHS(INDIA)SECURITIES PVT.LTD. BARCLAYS SECURITIES(INDIA)PVT.LTD. BANK OF AMERICA.N.A. DEUTSCHE BANK. DEUTCHE EQUITIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED. SERVICES OF MERCHANT BANKS PROJECT COUNSELLING: Project counseling includes preparation of project reports,deciding upon the financing pattern to finance the cost of the project and appraising the project report with the financial institutions or banks.it also includes filling up of application forms with relevant information for obtaining funds from financial institutions and obtaining government approval. MANAGEMENT OF DEBT AND EQUITY OFFERINGS This forms the main function of the merchant banker.he assists the companies in raising funds from the market.the main areas of work in this regard include: instrument designing, pricing the issue, registration of the offer document, underwriting support and marketing of the issue, allotment and refund, listing on stock exchanges. ISSUE MANAGEMENT Management of issue involves marketing of corporate securities viz. equity shares, preference shares and debentures or bonds by offering them to public. Merchant banks act as per SEBI guidelines, the merchant banker arranges a meeting with company representatives and advertising agents to finalize arrangements relating to date of opening and closing of issue, registration of prospectus, launching publicity campaign and fixing date of board meeting to approve and sign prospectus and pass the necessary resolutions. Pricing of issues is done by the companies in consultant with the merchant bankers. MANAGERS, CONSULTANATS AND ADVISERS OF THE ISSUE: The managers of the issue assist in the drafting of prospectus, application forms and completion of formalities under the companies act, appointment of registrar for dealing with share applications and transfer and listing of shares of the company on the stock exchange. Companies can appoint one or more agencies as managers to the issue. UNDERWRITING OF PUBLIC ISSUE: Underwriting is a guarantee given by the underwriter that in the event of under subscription, the amount underwritten would be subscribed by him. Merchant banking subsidiaries cannot underwrite more than 15% of any issue. PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT: Portfolio refers to investment in different kinds of securities such as shares, debentures or bonds issued by different companies and government securities. Portfolio management refers to maintaining proper combinations of securities in a manner that they give maximum return with minimum risk. RESTRUCTURING STRATEGIES: AA merger is a combination of two companies into a single company where one survives and other losses its corporate existence. A takeover is the purchase by one company acquiring controlling interest in the share capital of another existing company. Merchant bankers are the middlemen in setting negotiation between the companies. Merchant bankers assist the management of the client company to successfully restructure various activities, which include mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts, joint ventures among others. OFFSHORE FINANCE: The merchant bankers help their clients in the following areas involving foreign currency: Long term foreign currency loans Joint ventures abroad Financing exports and imports Foreign collaboration arrangements ROLE OF MERCHANT BANKER IN A PRIMARY MARKET ISSUE MANAGEMENT: Merchant banker is the intermediary appointed by companies in the primary market issue. It has to look at the entire issue management and work as the manager to the public issue. References: http://lastbull.com/iporole-of-underwriter/

Factors contributing to child abuse

Factors contributing to child abuse According to the US Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, about 4,000,000 children die each year as a result of child abuse and neglect (Bob 12). Child abuse refers to nonaccidental harm that is inflicted on children by their parents or other adults (Magill 218). Many people do not take child abuse seriously because they either believe that harsh discipline is necessary, or they do not realize how bad it really is. Both child abuse and neglect are serious social problems that often have a lasting negative impact on the development of minors (Magill 218). Due to the incredibly violent and graphic nature of A Child Called It, readers may not believe the encounters are factual. However, they most regrettably are true. The abusive actions in A Child Called It parallel those of real-life child abuse cases. Abuse mostly occurs in families who are young, poor, and single (Palmisano 228). When families are going through hard times, there is a lot of stress that comes along with it. With all of this stress, the parents take it out on their children. Having a crisis in the home heightens the chances that a child will be abused (Bob 15). A familys relationship is a very important part of the system in the household. Domestic violence and parental issues are also contributing problems in reoccurring child abuse cases. Parents who abuse each other are more likely to abuse their child as well, because violence in one aspect of family life often flows into other aspects (Rein 54). Families in which the wife hits the husband, the child abuse rate was considerably higher, resulting in 22.9 children per one hundred children (Rein 54). There has also been found a correlation between family income and child abuse and neglect, (Rein 52). Child abuse cases are more likely to occur in households where money is in short supply, especially if the caregivers are unemployed (Bob 15). Difficulty in the family structure can also trigger child abuse. Children in single-family households were at higher risk of physical abuse and all types of neglect than were children in other family structures (Rein 51). In A Child Called It Dave Pelzer suffers child abuse at the hands of his alcoholic mother. It was not like this all the time. At first she was a loving and caring mother, and then she changed dramatically. Together they used to have good times. They would always spend all their time together, going to the zoo and the park, until the family slowly started to split apart. Pelzers father was a firefighter, so he worked many twenty-four hour shifts, which caused problems between him and his wife. If parents are having problems in their relationship, then they take out their anger on others. In Pelzers situation, his mother took care of all her feelings by drinking and abusing her son. Most people believe that the fathers are abusers because they are bigger and stronger, but it is mostly the women. In fact, there are many households where the woman of the family beats the man: 80% of fatal maltreatment cases were attributed to women, that is for both child abuse, and spouse abuse (Carey 23). Many people believe that women are not capable of child abuse because of their maternal instinct, but woman are the abusive ones. According to Carey, 58% of child abuse is by the mother. Many abusers inflict abuse onto their kids because that is how they grew up. The severity of child abuse, and the manner in which children are abused, bears a strong resemblance to the type of maltreatment experienced by their mothers (Kim 54). Another big contributing factor to child abuse is substance abuse. There are some cases where there is drug abuse, but the most common substance is alcohol. According to the Children of Alcoholics Foundation, 40 percent of confirmed child abuse cases involve the use of alcohol or other drugs (Kim 54). In most cases, with or without depression as a factor, studies indicate that a major contributing factor to child abuse is alcohol or drug addiction (Kim 54). In A Child Called It, the abuse is done by Pelzers alcoholic mother. With the father gone, the mother made herself useless and drunk. At times while Father was away at work, she would spend the entire day lying on the couch, dressed only in her bathrobe, watching television. Mom got up only to go to the bathroom, get another drink or heat leftover food (Pelzer 30). Shortly after this phase of being lazy, she started to abuse her son, with alcohol at her side. Whenever child abuse is suspected, the most important thing to do is to report it. Many people do not report child abuse, which may result in the child dying. There are so many reasons that people do not report child abuse, and it becomes a big mistake: 60% failed to report child maltreatment because they did not have enough evidence that the child had been maltreated (Rein 23). Whether there is a lot of evidence or not, all child abuse suspicions should be reported because it could save a childs life. Also, around 16% failed to report because they did not think CPS would do a good job (Rein 23). Whether it is believed that they would do a good job or not, letting someone know what is going on can make the smallest difference in a childs life. One-third of the mandated reporters thought the abuse was not serious enough to warrant reporting (Rein 23). There are many organizations today that will help if there is suspected child abuse, without putting the victim in any further danger. For example, there are the Societies for the Cruelty to Children, American Human Association, Child Welfare League, National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence, and much more (Dolan 60-68). In A Child Called It all of the teachers knew about Pelzers abuse but did not say anything. According to Pelzer, every day when he walked into school he went to the nurse for their daily routine. She would ask him to remove his clothes and check all over his body for new marks. All of the teachers knew but were afraid to say something. Mr. Hansen, one of the teachers that knew about this, even called home one night to talk to his mother. When Pelzer got home that night he got a beating because of it. Child abuse is a serious crime. Many people are afraid to intervene, but they should. Many people do not really believe that child abuse is as bad as they hear from different stories, but it really is. In A Child Called It, most things that happen in real life child abuse cases, was present in the book. In both real life and in Pelzers story, the family was experiencing trouble in the structure and relationships. Also, the abuser was the mother figure. And the worse thing of all is the community negligence. Many people do not say anything, whether what they suspect is really happening or not. Child abuse is real and Dave Pelzer experienced it first hand.

Child Labor and England’s Industrial Revolution Essay -- Exploratory E

Child Labor and England’s Industrial Revolution    The Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century England brought about many changes in British society. It was the advent of faster means of production, growing wealth for the Nation and a surplus of new jobs for thousands of people living in poverty. Cities were growing too fast to adequately house the numerous people pouring in, thus leading to squalid living conditions, increased filth and disease, and the families reliance upon their children to survive. The exploitation of children hit an all time peak in Britain when generations of its youth were sacrificed to child labor and the â€Å"Coffers† of England. From the late 18th century to the mid 19th century, the economy in England was transformed from an agricultural to a manufacturing –based economy. In 1801, agriculture provided employment for 36% of the British population. By 1851, only 10% of the British population was employed in agriculture, while over 40% was employed in industry (Hopkins, 36). As a direct result of this transformation, a surplus of jobs were created and displaced farming families moved in to fill them. Factory and Mine owners exploited the situation by offering families a means to make more money, by putting their children to work. Industry profited from this arrangement by saving money, since child labor was more â€Å"cost effective†. According to one historian, Clark Nardinelli, â€Å"in 1835 56,000 children under the age of thirteen were working in textile factories alone. By 1874, the number of child laborers in the market hit its peak with over 122,000 children between the ages of 10 and thirteen working in textile factories (4).† ... ...om Cruickshank, Marjorie. (1981). Children and Industry. Oxford, Manchester: Manchester University Press.    Dreary, T. (1994). The Vile Victorians. London, United Kingdom: Scholastic Publications Ltd.    Evans, R. M.(1979). Children Working Underground. Cardiff, Wales: McLays.    Horn, Pamela. (1994). Children’s Work and Welfare, 1780-1880’s. Houndsmills, Basingshtoke, Hampshire, London: The MacMillion Press.    Hopkins, E. (1994). Childhood transformed. Manchester: Manchester University Press.    Jordan, T. (1987). Victorian Childhood. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.    Nardinelli, C. (1990). Child Labor and The Industrial Revolution. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.    Spartacus Encyclopedia. (1997). Home page. British History 1700-1950. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk./IRchild.main.htm.

Modernism and New Criticism Essay -- Modernism New Criticism Literatur

Modernism and New Criticism The ways in which we define the importance of texts is constantly changing. We can look back and see critical theories used, such as Historical Criticism, Reader-Response Criticism and Psychoanalytic Criticism. Each of these theories offers a different way to interpret a text. However, when looking back over the texts of a specific era, shouldn’t the type of criticism we used for a book be based on that time period? Defining the Modernist Era of literature seems almost impossible, since the definition of modernism often seems to constitute anything from being â€Å"new and common† to â€Å"new and uncommon† (Barzun). This term seems to be able to stretch from the 1500’s to present; but for the sake of this essay the Modernist Era in question is that from the early twentieth century (circa 1910-1940’s). Out of, and during, this era the critical theory named New Criticism came into play. Although, nowadays, the use of New Criticism is unpopular, it is essential to use when defining the Modernist Era. Even though New Criticism isn’t used anymore, many of its basic constructs are. For example, the idea of close reading and using textual evidence (as will be done in this essay) are characteristics that were important to New Criticism. Now it is practically impossible to be in an English class, be it high school or college, and not have to use these skills when talking about a text. New Criticism basically theorized that the text itself was the most important aspect of writing; therefore, to understand the meaning of a piece of literature one must look to, and in, the text, rather than trying to define it by outside components, such as those used in Historical and Biographical Criti... ...120). The text itself is one we can always count on and find meaning in, since it always there, unchanging. Work Cited Barzun, Jacques. â€Å"The Artist as Prophet and Jester†. The American Scholar. 69.1 (Winter 2000): 15-33. Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2003. Eliot, TS. â€Å"The Waste Land†. The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry. Ed. Jahan Ramazani. New York: Norton, 2003. 472-487. Eliot, TS. â€Å"Tradition and the Individual Talent†. The Sacred Wood. London: Methune, 1920. http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw4.html Faulkner, William. Light in August. New York: Vintage Books, 1932. Thody, Philip. Twentieth-Century Literature: Critical Issues and Themes. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1999. 117-152.

War in Iraq: There Was Another Option Essay -- Politics Political

War in Iraq: There Was Another Option 1. As our brave men and women in uniform find themselves embroiled again in a conflict in the Middle East, debate surrounding the timeliness and necessity of this second Gulf conflict has ceased in most professional circles. However, before the current conflict began, controversy raged over when and how to best prosecute this situation. Many argued that the United States should have worked through the United Nations to pursue a resolution that had the consensus of the world behind it. That endeavor, however, was doomed to failure from the start. The United States sought to solve this dilemma using military force. France and Germany desired to diffuse it using anything but force. In order to properly evaluate all options in this case, one must ask themselves how immediate a threat did Saddam Hussein pose to the United States and what is the best way to counter that threat? In my estimation, Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat to the United States. Thus, the US government had the time to cultivate a plan to remove him from power that was agreeable to all involved. 2. One must examine the fine points of each argument that the administration had proposed for the immediacy of war in order to best refute them. The first and often most repeated argument that Saddam Hussein posed a direct threat to the United States is that he possessed weapons of mass destruction. I am willing to concede that the Iraqi military possessed both chemical and biological agents. Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of them that were never accounted for after the first Gulf War. He has even used them on several occasions on Kurdish minorities in Northern Iraq. However, no proof was ever offered that he possessed nu... ...o.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ ap/20030411/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_us_military_623> McDowell, Patrick. Crowd Kills 2 Clerics at Shiite Shrine . Middle East AP. April 11 th 2003. < http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ ap/20030411/ap_on_re_mi_ea/war_clerics_killed&cid=540&ncid=716> Mearsheimer, John J. and Stephen M. Walt. An Unnecessary War . Foreign Policy. January/February 2003. 45-48 Pollack, Kenneth M. The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq . Random House Publishing. First Edition 2002. 64, 144 Rai, Milan. No Justification For War . Znet. March 6 2002. Community for Social Change. April 13 2003. Rice, Condoleezza. Campaign 2000: Promoting the National Interest . Foreign Affairs. January/February 2000. 86 Tenet, George. Letter to Congress . October 2002

Which May Influence the Health and Development of Babies

3500 Unit 18 Task 1: (E1) Summarise the factors which may influence the health and development of babies in the first year of their lives. There are many factors that can influence the heath and development of babies in the first year of there life some factors can occur in the antenatal period before the child is born, some perinatal during the birth and some postnatal after the birth. An example of an antenatal factor is smoking. If the mother smokes during pregnancy the baby is more likely to be born premature with a low birth weight.They also can have poorer lung function and have organs that are smaller than a baby that is born to a mother that does not smoke. Another example of an antenatal factor is stress and worry. ‘Stress experienced by a woman during pregnancy may affect her unborn baby as early as 17 weeks after conception, with potentially harmful effects on brain and development, according to new research. ’ The cord being wrapped around the babies’ neck is a factor that can affect the perinatal period. If this does occur sometimes the cord will be cut before the birth of the baby can precede, other to this an emergency caesarean will be performed. When the cord compression is severe or long standing, the baby may have low Apgars and suffer brain damage, which could result in a degree of mental retardation or cerebral palsy. If the compression is severe enough and labor has not yet begun, the baby can die in uterus and be stillborn. Being born premature is a factor that can affect a baby during the birth. Premature birth is refers to a baby that is born less than 37 weeks of the pregnancy. Babies that are born premature are at greater risk for short and long term complications, including disabilities and impediments in growth and development.If the child’s mother suffers with postnatal depression this can be a factor that can affect the baby. As a result of this factor the child’s mother might not be able to bond with the child therefore the child will not feel safe and secure and also they may not be able to care for their child to their full potential. Also, although postnatal depression is more common in women, men can be affected too. The birth of a new baby can be stressful for both parents and some fathers feel unable to cope, or feel they are not giving their partner the support she needs.Abuse is a factor that can affect the baby in the antenatal period. It can leave the baby with lifelong affects such as confidence issues, depression and enabling them to make positive relationships. The baby may also fall behind in their expected stage of development. ‘Emotional problems such as anger, hostility, fear, anxiety, humiliation, lowered self-esteem and inability to express feelings. ’ Are also other affects of abuse towards a baby? E2: describe how indoor and outdoor environments for babies can be made safe, reassuring and stimulating.Write about what needs to be considered and provided in the setting so babies are safe, stimulated and feel reassured in their environment. This may include: relevant policies and procedures, attractive, reflects those that use it, indoors/ outdoors provision, age/stage equipment/resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Whilst children are playing indoors and outdoors there has to be many things that the practitioner has to consider and put in place. Although both environments have to be enjoyable, fun and stimulating they also have to be safe and secure for the babies.A policy is one thing that has to be put in place and used correctly in order for the environments to be safe and secure. An example of one current policy that is put in place in settings is the Health and Safety policy. The Health and Safety policy gives guidelines on how to keep children, staff, visitors and parents safe whilst attending the setting. An example of a procedure that will be stated under this policy is the signing in and out procedure. This procedure is put in place to make sure that no persons can enter the setting without reason or permission to be there.Equipment and resources in the setting needs to be appropriate for the age of the babies. An example of this which I have seen in the setting is paint. The paint that had been purchased for the setting was not age stage appropriate for the babies to do finger painting with which is what the paint was intended for therefore the paint could not be used. Staff ratio is important whilst keeping the children safe indoors and outdoors. In order to be able to meet all the children’s care needs and give the correct supervision then there needs to be the correct number of staff to the number of children that are in the setting.E3: State the choosen age group. Give information about the expected stage of overall development and identify changes which can be usually expected in the next two months. All babies are individual and will develop at different rates all babies will not develop to the same stage at the same age. A baby at the age of 3 months will be expected to be able to hold a rattle for a few seconds but they usually can not look at the rattle at the same time. By being able to do this the baby has developed on their physical skills. Within the next two months of their lives the baby will be expected to develop to the next expected milestones.At the end of four months the baby can now roll from their back to front. By being able to do this the infant has developed on their motor skills. Also the baby can now push up on his forearms and lift their head and chest 90 degrees when lying on their stomach this position only requires a slight lean to either side to become a roll. These two skills will help the infant to develop and slowly begin to crawl. An infant at the age of 5 months is now beginning to gain some balance and if the infant is sat on their parents lap or on the floor they might be able to sit for a few second unaided.If the parent places the child’s legs in a v shape and gives the baby a toy as distraction then they may be able to sit for a little bit longer each time. By doing this the parent is helping them to develop on their balance. E4: Explain how two different play activities/experiences can support the overall development of the baby described in E3. Write about two play opportunities which are developmentally appropriate for The baby described in E3. These may include everyday experiences such as Bath time or play activities. Identify how the overall development of the baby is helped by each experience/activity.A play activity such as laying the child under a play gym would help to support all developmental skills of a baby age 3 months. One example of the skills that are being built is physical development as they will be improving upon their fine motor skills such as their grasping reflects. Social and emotional skills are another area of development that the baby will be building upon. The practition er will be sat with the baby whilst they are under the play gym talking and communicating with to them, this will help to form an attachment between the practitioner and the baby. This activity is also supporting Bowlby’s attachment theory.At 5 months an activity that will help developmental skills is sitting the baby on the floor and providing them with a distraction such as toys to help them to be able to sit up unaided. A developmental skill that is going to be developed from this activity is the babies’ physical development. Intellectual development is another skill that is going to be built upon because the child will be exploring the different objects that the practitioner has provided them to play with this also links to the physical development as the child will be grasping the different objects while sat upright.E5: Describe the role of the practitioner in meeting the particular needs of babies in the chosen type of setting (group childcare) Give information a bout the responsibilities of the practitioner in EITHER group care OR home-based care. Responsibilities should relate to the chosen care setting and could include: establishing relationships with baby and parents, identifying and planning to meet baby's holistic needs, observation and recording of development, supervision, resources/equipment, routines, other children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Meeting the care needs of the babies that are attending the setting is the main role of the practitioner. To be able to do this the practitioner has to establish positive professional relationships with the babies and their parents. The practitioner needs to establish this relationship to be able to meet the babies’ needs this will help this happen because the practitioner will be able to learn the babies’ routine and get to know the baby holistically. Good communication skills will aid this to happen.By getting to know the baby the practitioner will be able to plan to meet the baby’s needs. The practitioner can get to know the child holistically. Observations can be used to plan and also to support the practitioners planning. By doing regular observations the practitioner can observe the child and from the observation can gather an understanding of where the child is at in there development and use this information to meet the particular needs of children in the setting. They can then use the findings from there observation to plan for lessons, activities and the future. To monitor on-going development and plan for the next stage it is important to check that development is progressing steadily. With a good understanding of development patterns you can plan for the next stage. ’ The role of the practitioner is to also to provide the correct resources and equipment to meet the child’s needs and that provide stimulation. E6: Show how the child protection policies and procedures in the setting protect and safeguard the babies. Information about how c hild protection policies and procedures of the setting protect babies.This may include: observation/recording/reporting, recognising signs of abuse, confidentiality, rights of child, welfare of child, work with parents, teamwork†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Having implemented child protection policies and procedures in the setting will ensure that babies are always safeguarded whilst being in the setting. Child protection policies and procedures are put in place to protect the rights of the child, ensure the welfare of the child is being kept up to standards and also making sure that there needs are being met appropriately.It is also important that all practitioners in the setting understand their role regarding child protection. It is also vital that everyone is aware and follows the policies and procedures that are put in place to protect the baby’s. There are many forms of abuse that a child can be subjected to and that are subjected to. As a practitioner safeguarding children you need to be aware of these signs and be able to pick on them to be able to keep the child safe. All children, whatever their ages, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin religious beliefs and/or sexual identity have the right to protection from abuse’. ‘All staff (paid/unpaid) working in sport have a responsibility to report concerns to the appropriate officer’. An example of a form of abuse that a child may be experiencing could be is physical abuse. A sign of this abuse that could help the practitioner to pick on the abuse that the child is experiencing is ‘Has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones, or black eyes’.Although one single sign does not prove child abuse is occurring in a family, but a closer look at the situation may be necessary if these signs appear repeatedly. Confidentiality needs to be abided by all the time during child protection. Not only will it help to keep the child safe confidentiality will help to keep the practitioner safe and cover themselves. Although if the practitioner thinks that a child is at harm then they need to approach the settings safeguarding officer and let them know what they think could be happening.Teamwork and working alongside parents are also essential to make sure that the child protection policies and procedures are successfully implemented in the setting. Whilst working with babies and keeping them safe the practitioner might have to work with other professionals such as social workers. Therefore the practitioner will have to make sure that they have good communication skills and that they are taking regular observations so that they are able to pass on information regarding the child to be able to keep them safe.E7: Explain the importance of the key worker system. Give reasons why well planned care routines and the key worker system benefit babies in early year's settings. This may include: links with home, individual needs identified/met, security and consis tency, babies learn to predict what is to happen, overall development and learning, relationships with parents, shared information, confidence and trust†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. A baby needs routine, stability, safety and life’s basic essential to be able to develop and thrive therefore a well planned care routine is vital.During the time the baby spends in day care their home routine needs to be brought into the setting as this will help the child to make a clear link to the routine that they follow at home this will help the baby to be settled and feel safe. Having a well planned care routine will help the practitioner to meet the babies’ individual needs. The baby will be having nap time when necessary, having feeds at the correct time and also be receiving any medication that is needed to be administrated. As a result of all these things the child will be helped to feel security and consistency.Having a key worker system in the setting will allow all the needs of the baby to be met and will also give the baby the security, consistency and routine the need. ‘This means that each member of staff has a group of children for whom she/he is particularly responsible. Your child’s key person will be the person who works with you to make sure that what we provide is right for your child’s particular needs and interests. When your child first starts at the pre-school, she/he will help your child to settle and throughout your child’s time at pre-school, she/he will help your child to benefit from the pre-school’s activities. Having the key worker system in place will help ensure that a close professional relationship is developed between the staff and the baby’s parents so that the needs of the baby are made paramount and that the baby’s needs are met to the parents’ wishes. Confidence and trust will be built through the key worker system and well planned care routines because the baby’s needs are bei ng met and there is a good relationship developing then confidence and trust will come as a result of this which will help the well planned care routine to be affective.The practitioner must also abide by the Care Standards Act 2000. This act sets national standards that the setting has to meet whilst caring for the children in their setting. 219 227 235 531 595 D: Consider how the care routines can enhance the overall development of babies from birth to 12 months. A development of E7. Give examples of how the overall development of babies can be supported during care routines, eg as well as giving babies food and drink, meal times can be very enjoyable and stimulate the social and emotional development of babies because†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.Well planned care routines can not only meet the individual needs of babies from birth to 12 months they also enhance their overall development. Nappy changing is made to be a part of a well planned care routine and is a part of the child’s care routine that not only has to be done to meet the baby’s individual needs but that can also help to enhance development in other areas. During nappy change the practitioner can communicate with the baby through singing and talking. As a result of doing this the practitioner is helping to develop on the baby’s language and social and emotional development.As the practitioner is talking and singing to the child they are also helping to build a bond between themselves and the child therefore if it was the baby’s key worker that was always changing the baby then this will help then bond to become stronger. Nappy changing can also be very enjoyable and stimulating for the baby and this will also result in helping to develop on the baby’s language development further. Another example pf how an event of a well planned care routine can also help to enhance the overall development of a baby is meal times.As well as meeting the baby’s individual care need an d helping the baby to understand routine it is also helping the baby to develop in other areas of development such as language development and can also help the children to form bonds with social and emotional attachments. At meal times in my current baby placement all the baby’s sit around the table together and all are eating or fed at the same time. Meal times are made fun with the practitioners communicating with the baby’s either through song or talking.By doing this the practitioners are helping the baby’s to become familiar with words which will help them to develop on their language development and they are also helping the baby’s to form bonds with the members of staff in the setting. As a result of this the children are going to be stimulated and experience enjoyment which will help when carrying out future meals times. Therefore as a result of this the baby’s will begin to enjoy nappy changes and meal times and the practitioner will be a ble to use these events of the care routine as times when the child can also be learning and developing.C: Discuss the importance of an environment that is safe, reassuring and stimulating. A development of E2. Consider why babies need a safe, reassuring and stimulating environment. This may include: the rights of the child and parents, encourages exploration, mental, emotional and physical benefits etc. Having a safe, reassuring and stimulating environment for babies that are attending the setting is essential in helping the baby to feel safe, secure and settled. The environment that a baby is developing in affects the way they grow and develop.As a result this environment will allow the baby to grow and develop their skills. Babies need plenty of opportunities to explore and move but they also need to be talked to and played with. Babies that have no or little stimulation will not or will slowly develop show signs of development. They will lack development in areas such as languag e and cognitive development. Offering babies lots of stimulation also encourages the children and helps them to develop on certain skills. By giving babies a safe, reassuring and stimulating environment then the practitioner is respecting the rights of the child.Every child has the right to be safe, feel reassured and have stimulation. To create this type of environment the practitioner has to enforce and used certain policies and procedures. An example of one of these policies is the child protection policy and a procedure that comes under this policy is that all staff has to be crb checked before entering the setting. As a result of this no one with a criminal conviction can enter the setting and it ensures that no one of any danger can work with the babies. Reference could be made to appropriate curriculum frameworks.B: Evaluate the role of the practitioner in promoting an inclusive approach when working with babies and their families 8 980 496 510 515 A practitioner should alway s have and promote an inclusive approach when working with babies. The practitioner should ensure that all babies are included and are care for with their individual needs being met at all times. As all the babies are different then within the setting there is going to many diverse needs that need to be met and the babies also have different family background and cultures that need to be considered in order for the practitioner to be inclusive.One role of the practitioner in promoting an inclusive approach is to put systems in place that can help to meet the children’s individual needs such as if one baby in the setting is allergic to peanuts then the practitioner will put a system in place so that the particular child is not going to come into any contact with nuts. An example of this would be that the baby’s feed or food would be kept in a separate place to the other baby’s food or snack so that the food is not coming in contact with any peanuts. A positive at titude in the setting is another way that the practitioner can promote an inclusive approach.If all the practitioners in the setting have a positive attitude towards the setting, children, parents and each other then it will help everyone to feel welcomed and included in the setting. Respecting the baby’s family’s beliefs and wishes is a way that the practitioner can demonstrate that they are promoting an inclusive approach. If the baby’s parents request that the baby cannot participate in a certain task or if they insist that the baby must do or receive something at a certain time then the practitioner must carry this out to the correct procedure that the family have requested in order to show respect for the families’ wishes.The settings environment must be welcoming and diverse to ensure that everybody feels comfortable, safe and secure whilst using it. An example of this would be the displays and facilities in the setting. The displays in the setting must show a diverse range of information and pictures by doing this the setting is sending a message out to them that visit that they are diverse and that they do embrace individuality. Working with parents to achieve the best for the baby is helps to make the setting welcoming.If the parents are made to feel that they can come into the setting any time and approach the practitioner with any issues then this will help the parent to feel that they are welcomed into the setting. Also keeping the parents involved with decision making is a way that the practitioner can make the setting welcoming by doing this the practitioner is making the parent feel valued and that there opinion matters. A detailed consideration of how the practitioner ensures the setting welcomes and provides for all babies and their families.Evaluation may include: systems in place to support individual needs, the environment reflects those that use it, positive attitudes, value diversity and respect beliefs/ values , staff and parents involved in decision making, writing and reviewing of policies, partnership with parents, reflective practice, challenging poor practice†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. A: Reflect on the influences of theoretical perspectives of development and attachment on current practice in settings working with babies under 1 year of age. A detailed consideration of theories relating to development and to attachment.Make links to show how these have influenced current practice in settings that care for babies. This could include: Current research/theory into the effects of day care on babies, quality care standards, national initiatives, Curriculum frameworks, provision, key workers †¦ Bowlby’s attachment theory is a theory that influences current practice in settings working with babies under 1 year of age. ‘John Bowlby was one of the first people to recognise the need of babies and young children for a strong stable relationship with their primary carers. Bowlby believed that mental health and behavioural problems could be linked back to a child’s early childhood. ‘Bowlby’s evolutionary theory of attachment suggests that children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive. ’ Bowlby believe that attachment behaviours are natural and will be activated by any situation that is seen to be a threat to the achievement of closeness to the adult, such as fear, insecurity and separation. ‘Attachment is an instinct in babies.They must form an attachment by the time they are 12 months old as otherwise they may find it hard to develop strong relationships in the future. ’ Bowlby’s theory influences settings now to have the key worker system in place. The key worker system allows the baby to form an attachment with their key worker as the key worker will be the one that is providing the baby with are the basic essentials to be able to survi ve therefore the child will form an attachment with the practitioner as they are the child’s only form of comfort and survival.The key worker will also be providing the baby with a routine that is the same to the one that they are following at home therefore this will also help the attachment to form as the child will feel the similarities between the key worker and home. A current theorist that influences on current practice and on the way practitioners meet the learning needs of babies is Lev Vygotsky. He believed that children are active in their learning and thinking. He also believed that children’s social environment and experiences are very important.Vygotsky influences the practitioners to provide the right resources for the baby to be active in their own learning. For example providing the baby with rattles, when the baby is provided with and shown the rattle then they will reach out for the object by doing this the practitioner is enabling the child to build upon their physical skills and also be active in their learning. Vygotsky, Piaget, developmental 284 70 Bowlby, attachment 80 82 576 Task 1: E1 Task 2: E2+C Task 3: E3 + E4 Task 4: E5 Task 5: E6 Task 6: E7, D, B Task 7: ABibliography http://www. needingworthcommunitypreschool. org. uk/introduction/keyworker. htm ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. guardian. co. uk/science/2007/may/31/childrensservices. medicineandhealth [ 2 ]. http://www. ivillage. com/what-if-cord-wrapped-around-babys-neck/6-n-145567 [ 3 ]. http://www. nhs. uk/Conditions/Postnataldepression/Pages/Introduction. aspx [ 4 ]. http://www. secasa. com. au/index. php/family/11/95/5 [ 5 ]. Thornes N, Childcare and education, 2008, Cheltenham,Page62 [ 6 ]. ttp://www. nspcc. org. uk/Inform/cpsu/helpandadvice/organisations/childprotection/ChildProtectionPolicy_wda60690. html#Introduction [ 7 ]. http://www. nspcc. org. uk/In form/cpsu/helpandadvice/organisations/childprotection/ChildProtectionPolicy_wda60690. html#Introduction [ 8 ]. http://www. childwelfare. gov/pubs/factsheets/signs. cfm [ 9 ]. http://www. needingworthcommunitypreschool. org. uk/introduction/keyworker. htm [ 10 ]. Page 80 [ 11 ]. http://www. simplypsychology. org/bowlby. html [ 12 ]. Page 80