Net Zero Buildings Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Net Zero Buildings - Research Paper Example These sort of structures or structures are alluded to as net zero vitality structures. Ordinarily, these structures produce vitality which is equivalent to the measure of vitality utilized for consistently. Despite the fact that this innovation is new, it is picking up fame as individuals understand the need to move from vitality dependence to green economy. Net zero vitality structures are productive in that they are vitality proficient, yet in addition financially savvy over the long haul. Net zero vitality is another term that comes up short on an unequivocal definition. In any case, the essential idea is that all definitions suggest that this innovation is vitality productive. It is essential to see a portion of the fundamental meanings of zero net vitality working to fathom how they work as far as vitality use. Normally, net zero vitality can be depicted from various perspectives. Net vitality is the vitality expended or created at a specific site regardless of the sources of th e vitality. In a net zero site fabricating, the vitality expended in one year is equivalent to the vitality created in a given year. Then again, source vitality is the vitality required to remove and convey vitality to the source, which must be represented while figuring the zero vitality net structures (Architecture and Sustainable Development, 44). Net zero vitality costs alludes to the sum paid by the utility which is equivalent to the measure of cash that the proprietor pays for the vitality benefits just as vitality utilized consistently. The other significant idea that is vital in characterizing zero vitality structures is the net zero vitality discharges. Here, the structures produce free sustainable power source outflows that is equivalent to discharges created in vitality sources. Effective zero vitality guarantees that all advances that guarantee vitality productivity are introduced. The structure is made so that vitality prerequisites decline space for warming and cooling of water. In like manner, the structure expands the proficiency of the heater and forced air system with the end goal that they utilize less vitality. Likewise, a nearby planetary group for high temp water, which goes about as a reinforcement for water radiator, is guaranteed in such structures. Effective lighting installations and vitality preserving efficiencies like photovoltaic are likewise used to improve the productivity further (Papadopoulou, 87). Anything that utilizes less vitality utilization while utilizing the inexhaustible sources simultaneously is helpful for this structure. A careful examination on the structure of the structure is finished by specialists to guarantee that all materials spent for the structure devour less vitality no matter what. Regularly, execution of the plan requires particular aptitudes and mastery to guarantee that all prospects of saving money on nonrenewable vitality are limited however much as could be expected while wellsprings of sustainab le sources are boosted. All the talked about structure is extremely effective as far as vitality utilization later on. It is significant that zero vitality structures have improved solace through temperature guideline forms. This is accomplished by the procedure of invasion and protection through an assortment of procedures. Protection encases structures and improves the protection from heat all through the structure. This permits the structure to stay cool in summer seasons and caution throughout the winter season. The R esteem quantifies in structures connote a superior protection framework. Similarly, these structures are solid on the grounds that

Hospice Programs Essay -- Papers

Hospice Programs Hospice Programs; A Dignified Death In the Middle Ages, hospice was where wiped out or exhausted explorers would remain while a long excursion. Today hospice administrations are accessible to individuals who can not, at this point profit by healing medications. As the medicinal services condition is changing at pace that couple of could have anticipated, hospice is a lot of part of that change (Stair, 1998). For a long time our general public and the media has set a picture of death in our minds, of an excruciating encounter, one that is dreaded by everybody. In spite of the fact that demise can be sincerely depleting, likewise can be an elevating experience. Giving solace and love and the affirmation that life will proceed, is genuinely the greatest blessing. Hospices are assigned to offer touchy help for individuals in the last period of terminal ailment. ). The average hospice quiet has a future of a half year or less. Hospice care attempts to support the patient and relatives to carry on a modify, torment free life to oversee different manifestations so their last days might be gone through with pride and quality at home or in a home-like setting (http:/www.cmcric.org/homecare.html, 2000) Hospice ought to be seen as forte and is centered around palliative consideration standards. Clinical consideration is outfitted towards side effects the board, not healing treatment (Homecare and Hospices Resources, 2000). It is center around living as opposed to passing on, and an approach to make the finish of life as agreeable and important as could be expected under the circumstances. The reason for hospice isn't to constrain what social insurance is accessible to the patient, yet improve their life by controlling indications and offering help for everybody included. Hospice programs offer patients various degrees of care and expert administrations that incorporate; Nursin... ...ir families. This program causes numerous patients to be alert, agreeable, and most significant liberated from torment as they live their last days in a natural spot encompassed by individuals they know and love. In this way, giving them a stately demise. References Step, J. (1998). Understanding the Challenges for Hospice: Fundamental for the Future. Oncology Issues [Online]. 13(2): pages 22-25. *http://ehostweb6.Epnet.com: (2000, October 13). Home Health Care Hospice Services. *http://www.cmcric.org/homecare.html. (2000, October 13) National Hospice Organization. Activities Manual. (1999). [Online]. *http://oncology.mescape.com (2000, October 13). Byrock, I. (1995) The Changing Face of Hospice [Online] 14, pages 7-11. *http://oncology.medscape.com (2000, October 13) Homecare and Hospice Resources (2000). [Online]. http://envoy journal.com (2000, October 14).

The Blogs Turn 10 Looking Back, Looking Ahead

The Blogs Turn 10 Looking Back, Looking Ahead Cruftblogging 2014 Last week the blogs turned ten. We celebrated by asking a bunch of former bloggers to come back and blog for us. In case you missed it, heres an index of their entries: 50 Reflections by Ben Jones Right back where we started from by Mollie B. 06 Cue the montage music by Melis A. 08 I Remember by Anthony R. 09 Reflecting on 10 Years  by Kim D. 09 Fake it til you make it  by Laura N. 09 How To Fumble Your Way Through MIT and Still Turn Out Pretty Okay by Keri G. 10 Thank you for reading by Jess K. 10 ADMIT ME PLZ? by Chris S. 11 Life slows down a bit if you let it  by Snively 11 MIT: Round 2 by Becca H. 12 Imbibing the Nostalgia Punch by Rachel F. 12 Do I have a story for you by Chris M. 12 The Re-Froshening by Piper 13 Alum FAQs by Elizabeth C. 13 Not Farewell After All  by Hamsika C. 13 Blogging My Way to a Passionate Life by Jenny X. 13 Leaving a Mark by Kate R. 14 Perspectives from Deutschland by Anna H. 14 Flux and Flow by Emad T. 14 Bumps, slumps, trips, and by Cam T. 13 There and Back by Mitra L. 07, Sam M. 07, and Bryan O. 07 These are, in my opinion, some of the best blogs that have ever been written for MITAdmissions. If I could assign reading to prospective students like I can assign it to my students, I would have any serious applicant read all of these. I feel like I have learned so much about MIT, about myself by doing so. The whole idea behind the blogs is to open a window into the lives of MIT students: what they do, think, and feel. These blog posts do a spectacular job at telling the many different stories of MIT as experienced by some of its most thoughtful students. I couldnt be prouder. When Ben and Matt founded the blogs, it was not clear what would happen, or what they would be. Certainly it wasnt clear that the blogs would keep going strong for more than a decade, that they would one day be featured on the front page the New York Times, or that dozens (hundreds?) of colleges would start their own blogs based on the MITAdmissions model. Theyve had a tremendous impact. In advance of this anniversary, I decided to write some code that would help me grok the scope and impact of the blogs quantitatively and computationally. Put simply: I scraped a lot of data from the blogs so that I could begin to wrap my arms around what weve done. You can download it here. Its not perfectly accurate and you should keep that in mind while reading the following findings but it is fascinating! 10 Years Of Blogdata In ten years, our bloggers published 4640 posts, totaling approximately 3.2 million words. If the blogs were printed out and bound together as a book (which we wont do, because: trees), it would be longer than all of these legendarily long books, combined: Crime and Punishment: 211,591 words + War and Peace: ~587,287 words + The King James Bible: ~788,280 words + The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: ~455,125 words + All 7 Harry Potter Books: ~1,085,000 words Since August 2009, these 4640 posts have been viewed approximately 7.2 million unique times, but these pageviews are not evenly distributed. The five most viewed blog posts over the last five years are: Summer by Snively at ~424k views 50 Things by Ben at ~352k views Selection? by Anthony at ~329k views Meeting Neil DeGrasse Tyson by Anna at ~189k views How To Do Everything Wrong And Still Get Into MIT by Mollie at ~98k views Bens post is almost certainly the most read in our history once you factor in the late start date of the blogs. I am not surprised by Anna or Mollies posts being this high up, as they are famous and often referenced by applicants. I *am* surprised by Snivelys and Anthonys, and so are they; we dont know what to attribute this to other than weird Google stuff. Of course, these are outliers: of the 4640 blog posts, only a dozen or so have exceeded 50,000 unique pageviews since August 2009. These posts dominate any a simple time-series of blog traffic: If you exclude these outliers, then there appears to be a very slight upward trend in unique blog pageviews, albeit somewhat confounded by the fact that a) anything before Aug 2009 was visited long after it was posted and b) when we redesigned the site in 2011 we changed the URL path. And by somewhat confounded I mean completely confounded and we honestly probably cant say anything of any real consistent meaning with the data we have but I will anyway because thats what blogs are for: Over the last decade, more than 19,000 different users have left more than 108,000 comments. Our most commented entries are consistently the open threads we post during Early Action and Regular Action decision time, and these can receive hundreds of comments. The 95 percentile, however, is 71 comments, and if you exclude the top 5%, then both the chart and the trendline suggest decreasing comment activity over time: In 2012, we switched our comment system to Disqus. The hope was to facilitate contemporary comment practices (threaded conversations, @replies, and so on) while retaining our characteristic freedom to comment (including anonymously if desired). The upshot is that, since we switched, the average number of comments left on any given blog entry has dropped from 25 per entry under the legacy system to 19  per entry under Disqus. Its really, really hard to separate correlation from causation here: did comment activity drop over the last two years (partially) because of Disqus, or did our introduction of Disqus coincide with other factors? Someone better at stats than I might be able to build a model with the data Ive gathered, but I am not that person. Part of the decrease in comment activity, I suspect, is because at least some of the commentary is moving to Facebook and other spaces where links are shared and discussed. The blogs have received more than 51,000 engagements (== sum of total shares + total comments upon shared links) on Facebook since it started keeping records. The blogs with the most Facebook engagement are: 50 Things by Ben at ~21k Meltdown by Lydia at ~4400 Stephen, Im Putting You On Notice! by Stu at ~1900 Its More Than A Job by Ben at ~1200 Invasion MIT! by me at ~1200 So theres a tremendous dropoff with Facebook engagement as well; Bens 50 Things post accounts for almost half of all Facebook engagement, ever! Heres how much of an outlier it is: although the mean Facebook engagement for any blog post is 11, the 90th percentile is only 8, and the median is 0. In fact, 3433 (~74%) of blog posts have never been engaged with on Facebook. There is a slight but evident uptick in Facebook engagement over time, but probably not enough to account by itself for the drop in comments: So what have we been talking about with all of these words, that all of these readers have been viewing and commenting upon and sharing? Lots of stuff! Too much, in fact, to do anything more than a distant reading of the blogs (at least, for this particular post), powered by the CLIFF entity extraction and geoparsing engine. According to CLIFF, the blogs have talked about ~4500 distinct organizations and ~8200 distinct people. The five most discussed organizational entities were: MIT at ~3100 mentions IAP at 290 mentions Harvard at 244 mentions Google at 152 mentions ECs at 137 mentions (keep in mind that these are specific formulations of an entity: i.e., it does not recognize that IAP and Independent Activities Period are the same thing) As for people, well, were a navel-gazing bunch: of the 10 most talked about people on the blogs, 9 of them are bloggers, and one of them is a bloggers husband (the only thing Mollie loves talking about more than MIT is Adam, apparently!). Of somewhat more interest (to me, anyway) are the geoparsing results, which allow us to plot which bloggers (and blog entries) mentioned which places in the world in their entries: As you can see, were a cosmopolitan bunch! If you simplify this map to color in countries that weve blogged about, you can see weve mentioned almost all of them! The Next 10 Years Weve spent the last week celebrating where the blogs came from and where the blogs have been over the last ten years. But theres another question thats just as if not even more important: where are the blogs going? The straightforward, initial answer is nowhere. We love the blogs, and so do our applicants; we have tremendous support for the blogs within and without MIT, and we could easily keep on as weve been keeping on for the last ten years into the indefinite future. But I would be lying if I werent concerned about the next ten years of the blogs or, more specifically, how we help current MIT students tell their stories to prospective MIT students. The problem, as I see it, isnt whether we can continue running the blogs (we can) or continue finding bloggers (we will). The problem is whether or not the audience will continue to be there, and whether that audience will just be the people who already know and love MIT, or whether we can continue to help reach out and introduce well-matched students to MIT. As Ben noted, the web has changed so, so, so much since the blogs were founded. Anyone reading this post I suspect is familiar with the fundamental dynamics Im describing so I wont belabor them here. Suffice to say that, in 2004, there were barely any social network sites as we know them today, and so a college admissions site with a) student-written blogs and b) open comments was a kind of godsend for those who might want to get a sense of what life was like at that particular campus. In 2014, those conversations and connections are overwhelmingly occuring through a few social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, etc); instead of being centralized around and faciliated by a given institution, they are facilited by those channels and decentralized to friends and peers. And, frankly, our bloggers post a lot more to Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and so on than they do to the blogs, because thats where their friends are. College admissions officers are often described using the metaphor of gatekeepers. For almost ten years, we ran a little social club out in front of our gate, where people could gather and talk and hear stories and learn about what was behind the gate. Every year a few of them would try to pass through the gate; only some of them would make it, but even if they didnt, they could still (and often did) keep chatting with the folks hanging out in front of the gate. Now, were still keeping the gate, and still hosting a little club in front of it, but the conversations are mostly happening elsewhere. Now, when people come to the gate, it is often headlong as an applicant, and perhaps without even the knowledge that there is the opportunity to learn about MIT ahead of time. Ill be dead honest: I dont know what to do. I have some ideas. Weve talked about redesigning the homepage so that, in addition to the blogs, you also get a firehose of blogger Instagram pictures, tweets, and tumblr posts. Weve even talked about transitioning the blogs entirely over to tumblr (or whatever) and just using the homepage to link out to completely decentralized blogger tumblrs. Were not going to do either of these in the immediate term (or maybe ever). But I have come to the conclusion that, for a variety of (mostly exogenous) reasons, the blogs need to adapt to the changing digital ecosystem in which they are embedded. What form that adaptation should or could or needs to take, Im not sure. And I want to emphasize that our strategy/values (open, student-led communication to and with prospective students) remain the same theyve always been. The question is how we tactically implement that strategy to make sure that a someone of the Class of 2019 finds whatever is at MITAdmissions.org as useful and meaningful and relevant as someone from the Class of 2009 did. And if you have suggestions about how to do that then please let me know. Mostly, though, Im just incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to help lead the blogs through almost half their life, to work with the students and staff who make it possible, to speak with the applicants for whom it was built, and generally to be a part of this ongoing whatever-it-is. Even though (because?) the next five, or ten, or twenty are uncertain, I cant wait to see what they bring.

In Defense of Politicians Stephen Medvic - 1672 Words

Stephen Medvic, In Defense of Politicians, discusses why Americans feel that politicians are dishonest. In 2007, a Gallup poll about honesty and ethical standards for occupations, showed that only 12 and 9 percent of people felt that Congressmen and State office holders held high standards, (Medvic p. 2). In addition, Americans tend to like their representatives more than the members of Congress because they view them as actual people. Americans view Congress as a group of politicians who are greedy and not representing their interests, (Medvic p. 4). Popular culture also plays a role in why Americans do not trust politicians. Late-night television shows use politicians in their comedy skits, where their mistakes are punch lines for†¦show more content†¦They wanted two parties to be ideologically distinct, but polarity is just the result of the distinctness. Medvic also defends politicians on the public’s charges about how they are liars and cheats. Medvic contends th at we do not know how many liars and cheaters there are in politics. However, politicians are under more scrutiny and would more than likely be caught. In addition, politicians are consistent in what they say and attempt to keep their promises, as supported by Tracy Sulkin study, (Medvic p. 112). J. Patrick Dobel, in Public Integrity, argues that political prudence provides a basic ethical resource for public officials. Prudence means to see ahead and the ability to think clearly before one acts. An individual needs to think about the short and long-term consequences of their actions. Political prudence is attached to excellent achievement in politics, which consists of outcomes that â€Å"gain legitimacy, endure over time, strengthen the political community, unleash minimum unforeseen consequences, require reasonable use of power resources and do not require great violence or coercion to enforce the outcome,† (Dobel p. 199). In addition, a prudent leader needs to be open to experience and knowledge, (Dobel p. 211). An example of someone who is politically prudent is William D. Ruckelshaus. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed Ruckelshaus the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The reason Nixon appointed him wasShow MoreRelatedStephen Medvic s Defense Of Politicians Essay1565 Words   |  7 PagesStephen Medvic in his book, â€Å"In Defense of Politicians: The Expectations Trap and Its Threat to Democracy† reflects the problems of policies that affect the majority of society’s democratic contemporary: the discrediting of the class policy. As a reaction to the continuous vilification of the politicians, the author defends the hypothesis that much of the arguments condemning the policy professionals are unfair and undeserved. Although there are example of politicians corrupt or lacking in ethics

Last Sacrifice Chapter Eight Free Essays

string(71) " words out loud made them real in a way they hadn’t been before\." IT TURNED OUT I WAS wrong about the local police department comprising of one guy and a dog. When Dimitri and I walked back to the motel, we saw flashing red and blue lights in the parking lot and a few bystanders trying to see what was happening. â€Å"The whole town turned out,’ I said. We will write a custom essay sample on Last Sacrifice Chapter Eight or any similar topic only for you Order Now Dimitri sighed. â€Å"You just had to say something to the desk clerk, didn’t you?’ We’d stopped some distance away, hidden in the shadow of a run-down building. â€Å"I thought it would slow you down.’ â€Å"It’s going to slow us down now.’ His eyes did a sweep of the scene, taking in all the details in the flickering light. â€Å"Sydney’s car is gone. That’s something, at least.’ My earlier cockiness faded. â€Å"Is it? We just lost our ride!’ â€Å"She wouldn’t leave us, but she was smart enough to get out before the police came knocking on her door.’ He turned and surveyed the town’s one main road. â€Å"Come on. She has to be close, and there’s a good chance the police might actually start searching around if they thought some defenseless girl was being chased down.’ The tone he used for â€Å"defenseless’ spoke legions. Dimitri made an executive decision to walk back toward the road that had led us into town, assuming Sydney would want to get out of there now that I’d blown our cover. Getting the police involved had created complications, but I felt little regret over what I’d done. I was excited about the plan that had occurred to me in the woods and wanted, as usual, to get moving on it right away. If I’d helped get us out of this hole of a town, so much the better. Dimitri’s instincts about Sydney were right. About a half-mile outside of town, we spotted a CR-V pulled off on the road’s shoulder. The engine was off, the lights dark, but I could see well enough to identify the Louisiana plates. I walked over to the driver side window and knocked on the glass. Inside, Sydney flinched. She rolled down the window, face incredulous. â€Å"What did you do? Never mind. Don’t bother. Just get in.’ Dimitri and I complied. I felt like a naughty child under her disapproving glare. She started the car without a word and began driving in the direction we’d originally come from, eventually merging with the small state highway that led back to the interstate. That was promising. Only, once we’d driven a few miles, she pulled off again, this time at a dark exit that didn’t seem to have anything at it. She turned off the car and turned to peer at me in the backseat. â€Å"You ran, didn’t you?’ â€Å"Yeah, but I got this–‘ Sydney held up a hand to silence me. â€Å"No, don’t. Not yet. I wish you could have pulled off your daring escape without attracting the authorities.’ â€Å"Me too,’ said Dimitri. I scowled at them both. â€Å"Hey, I came back, didn’t I?’ Dimitri arched an eyebrow at that, apparently questioning just how voluntary that had been. â€Å"And now I know what we have to do to help Lissa.’ â€Å"What we have to do,’ said Sydney, â€Å"is find a safe place to stay.’ â€Å"Just go back to civilization and pick a hotel. One with room service. We can make that our base of operation while we work on the next plan.’ â€Å"We researched that town specifically!’ she said. â€Å"We can’t go to some random place–at least not nearby. I doubt they took down my plates, but they could put out a call to look for this kind of car. If they’ve got that and our descriptions, and it gets to the state police, it’ll get to the Alchemists and then it’ll–‘ â€Å"Calm down,’ said Dimitri, touching her arm. There was nothing intimate about that, but I still felt a spark of envy, particularly after the tough love I’d just had being nearly dragged through the woods. â€Å"We don’t know that any of that’s going to happen. Why don’t you just call Abe?’ â€Å"Yeah,’ she said glumly. â€Å"That’s exactly what I want. To tell him I messed up the plan in less than twenty-four hours.’ â€Å"Well,’ I said, â€Å"if it makes you feel better, the plan’s about to change anyway–‘ â€Å"Be quiet,’ she snapped. â€Å"Both of you. I need to think.’ Dimitri and I exchanged glances, but stayed silent. When I’d told him I knew a way to seriously help Lissa, he’d been intrigued. I knew he wanted details now, but we both had to wait for Sydney. She flipped on the dome light and produced a paper map of the state. After studying it for a minute, she folded it back up and simply stared ahead. I couldn’t see her face but suspected she was frowning. Finally, she sighed in that woeful way of hers, turned off the light, and started the car. I watched as she punched in Altswood, West Virginia into her GPS. â€Å"What’s in Altswood?’ I asked, disappointed she hadn’t entered something like Atlantic City. â€Å"Nothing,’ she said, pulling back onto the road. â€Å"But it’s the closest place to where we’re going that the GPS can find.’ A passing car’s headlights briefly illuminated Dimitri’s profile, and I saw curiosity on his face too. So. I wasn’t the only one out of the loop anymore. The GPS read almost an hour and a half to our destination. He didn’t question her choice, though, and turned back to me. â€Å"So what’s going on with Lissa? What’s this great plan of yours?’ He glanced at Sydney. â€Å"Rose says there’s something important we have to do.’ â€Å"So I gathered,’ said Sydney dryly. Dimitri looked back at me expectantly. I took a deep breath. It was time to reveal the secret I’d been holding since my hearing. â€Å"So, it, um, turns out Lissa has a brother or sister. And I think we should find them.’ I managed to sound cool and casual as I spoke. Inside me, my heart lurched. Even though I’d had plenty of time to process Tatiana’s note, saying the words out loud made them real in a way they hadn’t been before. You read "Last Sacrifice Chapter Eight" in category "Essay examples" It shocked me, hitting me with the full impact of what this information truly meant and how it changed everything we’d all come to believe. Of course, my shock was nothing compared to the others’. Score one for Rose and the element of surprise. Sydney made no attempt to hide her astonishment and gasped. Even Dimitri seemed a little taken aback. Once they recovered, I could see them preparing their protests. They would either demand evidence or simply dismiss the idea as ridiculous. I immediately jumped into action before the arguments could start. I produced Tatiana’s note, reading it aloud and then letting Dimitri look at it. I told them about my ghostly encounter, where the queen’s troubled spirit made me believe there was truth to this. Nonetheless, my companions were skeptical. â€Å"You have no proof Tatiana wrote the note,’ said Dimitri. â€Å"The Alchemists have no records of another Dragomir,’ said Sydney. They each said exactly what I thought they would. Dimitri was the kind of guy always ready for a trick or trap. He suspected anything without hard proof. Sydney lived in a world of facts and data and had total faith in the Alchemists and their information. If the Alchemists didn’t believe it, neither did she. Ghostly evidence didn’t convince either of them. â€Å"I don’t really see why Tatiana’s spirit would want to deceive me,’ I argued. â€Å"And the Alchemists aren’t all-knowing. The note says this is a pretty heavily guarded secret from Moroi–it makes sense it would be secret from the Alchemists too.’ Sydney scoffed, not liking my â€Å"all-knowing’ comment, but otherwise remained silent. It was Dimitri who pushed forward, refusing to take anything on faith without more evidence. â€Å"You’ve said before that it’s not always clear what the ghosts are trying to say,’ he pointed out. â€Å"Maybe you misread her.’ â€Å"I don’t know †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ I thought again about her solemn, translucent face. â€Å"I think she did write this note. My gut says she did.’ I narrowed my eyes. â€Å"You know it’s been right before. Can you trust me on this?’ He stared at me for several moments, and I held that gaze steadily. In that uncanny way of ours, I could guess what was going on. The whole situation was far-fetched, but he knew I was right about my instincts. They’d proven true in the past. No matter what he’d been through, no matter the current antagonism between us, he still knew me enough to trust in this. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he nodded. â€Å"But if we decided to search for this alleged sibling, we’d be going against Lissa’s instructions to stay put.’ â€Å"You believe that note?’ exclaimed Sydney. â€Å"You’re considering listening to it?’ A flash of anger lit up within me, one I worked to hide. Of course. Of course this would be the next obstacle: Dimitri’s inability to disobey Lissa. Sydney feared Abe, which I could kind of understand, but Dimitri’s concern was still the lofty vow of chivalry he’d made to Lissa. I took a deep breath. Telling him how ridiculous I thought he was behaving wouldn’t accomplish what I needed. â€Å"Technically, yes. But if we could actually prove she wasn’t the last in her family, it would help her a lot. We can’t ignore the chance, and if you manage to keep me out of trouble while we do it’–I tried not to grimace at that–‘then there shouldn’t be a problem.’ Dimitri considered this. He knew me. He also knew I would use roundabout logic if need be to get my way. â€Å"Okay,’ he said at last. I saw the shift in his features. The decision was made, and he’d stick to it now. â€Å"But where do we start? You have no other clues, aside from a mysterious note.’ It was deja vu and reminded me of Lissa and Christian’s earlier conversation with Abe when they were figuring out where to start their investigation. She and I lived parallel lives, it seemed, both pursuing an impossible puzzle with a sketchy trail. As I replayed their discussion, I attempted the same reasoning Abe had used: without clues, start working through obvious conclusions. â€Å"Obviously, this is a secret,’ I said. â€Å"A big one. One people have apparently wanted to cover up–enough that they’d try to steal records about it and keep the Dragomirs out of power.’ Someone had broken into an Alchemist building and taken papers indicating Eric Dragomir had indeed been funding a mystery woman. I pointed out to my companions that it seemed very likely to me this woman was the mother of his love child. â€Å"You could look into that case some more.’ Those last words were spoken toward Sydney. Maybe she didn’t care about another Dragomir, but the Alchemists still wanted to know who had stolen from them. â€Å"Whoa, hey. How was I not even part of this decision process? † She still hadn’t recovered from our conversation suddenly running away without her. After the way our night had gone so far, she didn’t look too pleased about being sucked into another of my rogue schemes. â€Å"Maybe breaking Lissa’s orders is no big deal for you two, but I’d be going against Abe. He might not be so lenient.’ It was a fair point. â€Å"I’ll pull in a daughterly favor,’ I assured her. â€Å"Besides, the old man loves secrets. He’d be into this, believe me. And you’ve already found the biggest clue of all. I mean, if Eric was giving money to some anonymous woman, then why wouldn’t it be for his secret mistress and child?’ â€Å"Anonymous is the key word,’ Sydney said, still clearly skeptical of Zmey’s â€Å"leniency.’ â€Å"If your theory’s right–and it’s kind of a leap–we still have no idea who this mistress is. The stolen documents didn’t say.’ â€Å"Are there other records that tie into the stolen ones? Or could you investigate the bank he was sending money to?’ The Alchemists’ initial concern had simply been that someone had stolen hard copies of their records. Her colleagues had discovered which items were taken but hadn’t given much thought to the content. I was willing to bet they hadn’t searched for any other documents related to the same topic. She affirmed as much. â€Å"You really have no idea how â€Å"researching records’ works, do you? It’s not that easy,’ she said. â€Å"It could take a while.’ â€Å"Well †¦ I guess that’s why it’s good we’re going somewhere, um, secure, right?’ I asked. Struck with the realization that we might need time to put our next step together, I could kind of see the disadvantage of having lost our out-of-the-way hideout. â€Å"Secure †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ She shook her head. â€Å"Well, we’ll see. I hope I’m not doing something stupid.’ With those ominous words, silence fell. I wanted to know more about where we were going but felt I shouldn’t push the small victory I’d made. The victory I thought I’d made, at least. I wasn’t entirely sure Sydney was 100 percent on board but felt certain Dimitri had been convinced. Best not to agitate her right now. I looked at the GPS. Almost an hour. Enough time to check back on Lissa. It took me a minute to recognize where Lissa was, probably because I’d been expecting her to return to her room. But no, she was in a location I’d only been once: Adrian’s parents’ home. Surprising. In a few moments, though, I read the reasoning from her mind. Her current suite was in guest housing, and in the ensuing panic over my escape, her building was swarming with visitors now trying to leave. The Ivashkov townhouse, situated in a permanent residential area, was a bit quieter–not that there weren’t a few fleeing neighbors there too. Adrian sat back in an armchair, feet carelessly resting on an expensive coffee table that some interior designer had probably helped his mother choose. Lissa and Christian had just arrived, and she caught a whiff of smoke in the air that made her think Adrian had been sneaking in some bad behavior beforehand. â€Å"If we’re lucky,’ he was telling Lissa and Christian, â€Å"the parental units will be tied up for a while and give us some peace and quiet. How rough was your questioning?’ Lissa and Christian sat on a couch that was prettier than it was comfortable. She leaned into him and sighed. â€Å"Not so bad. I don’t know if they’re fully convinced we had nothing to do with Rose’s escape †¦ but they definitely don’t have any proof.’ â€Å"I think we got in more trouble with Aunt Tasha,’ said Christian. â€Å"She was kind of pissed off that we didn’t tell her what was going on. I think she probably wanted to blow up the statues herself.’IT â€Å"I think she’s more upset that we got Dimitri involved’ pointed out Lissa. â€Å"She thinks we screwed up his chances of ever being accepted again.’ â€Å"Shes right,’ said Adrian. He picked up a remote control and turned on a large, plasma screen TV. He muted the sound and flipped randomly through channels. â€Å"But no one forced him.’ Lissa nodded but secretly wondered if she had forced Dimitri inadvertently. His dedicated vow to protect her was no secret. Christian seemed to pick up on her worry. â€Å"Hey, for all we know, he never would have–‘ A knock interrupted him. â€Å"Damn,’ said Adrian, standing up. â€Å"So much for peace and quiet.’ â€Å"Your parents wouldn’t knock,’ said Christian. â€Å"True, but it’s probably one of their friends wanting to sip port and gossip about the terrible state of today’s murderous youth,’ Adrian called back. Lissa heard the door open and a muffled conversation. A few moments later, Adrian returned with a young Moroi guy that Lissa didn’t recognize. â€Å"Look,’ the guy was saying, glancing around uneasily, â€Å"I can come back.’ He caught sight of Lissa and Christian and froze. â€Å"No, no,’ said Adrian. His transformation from grumpy to cordial had happened as quickly as a light switch being flipped. â€Å"I’m sure she’ll be back any minute. Do you guys all know each other?’ The guy nodded, eyes darting from face to face. â€Å"Of course.’ Lissa frowned. â€Å"I don’t know you.’ The smile never left Adrian’s face, but Lissa picked up quickly that something important was going on. â€Å"This is Joe. Joe’s the janitor who helped me out by testifying that I wasn’t with Rose when Aunt Tatiana was murdered. The one who was working in Rose’s building.’ Both Lissa and Christian straightened up. â€Å"It was a lucky thing you turned up before the hearing,’ said Christian carefully. For a while, there’d been panic that Adrian might be implicated with me, but Joe had come forward just in time to testify about when he’d seen both me and Adrian in my building. Joe took a few steps back toward the foyer. â€Å"I really should go. Just tell Lady Ivashkov that I came by–and that I’m leaving Court. But that everything’s set.’ â€Å"What’s set?’ asked Lissa, slowly standing up. â€Å"She–she’ll know.’ Lissa, I knew, didn’t look intimidating. She was cute and slim and pretty, but from the fear on Joe’s face–well. She must have been giving him a scary look. It reminded me of the earlier encounter with Abe. â€Å"Really,’ he added. â€Å"I need to go.’ He started to move again, but suddenly, I felt a surge of spirit burn through Lissa. Joe came to a halt, and she strode toward him. â€Å"What did you need to talk to Lady Ivashkov about?’ demanded Lissa. â€Å"Easy, cousin,’ murmured Adrian. â€Å"You don’t need that much spirit to get answers.’ Lissa was using compulsion on Joe, so much that he might as well have been a puppet on strings. â€Å"The money,’ Joe gasped, eyes wide. â€Å"The money’s set.’ â€Å"What money?’ she asked. Joe hesitated, as though he might resist, but soon gave in. He couldn’t fight that much compulsion, not from a spirit user. â€Å"The money †¦ the money to testify †¦ about where he was.’ Joe jerked his head toward Adrian. Adrian’s cool expression faltered a little. â€Å"What do you mean where I was? The night my aunt died? Are you saying †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Christian picked up where Adrian couldn’t. â€Å"Is Lady Ivashkov paying you off to say you saw Adrian?’ â€Å"I did see him,’ cried Joe. He was visibly sweating. Adrian had been right: Lissa was using too much spirit. It was physically hurting Joe. â€Å"I just †¦ I just †¦ I don’t remember the time †¦ I don’t remember any of the times. That’s what I told the other guy, too. She paid me to put a time on when you were there.’ Adrian didn’t like that, not at all. To his credit, he remained calm. â€Å"What do you mean you told â€Å"the other guy’?’ â€Å"Who else?’ repeated Lissa. â€Å"Who else was with her?’ â€Å"No one! Lady Ivashkov just wanted to make sure her son was clear. I fudged the details for her. It was the guy †¦ the other guy who came later †¦ who wanted to know when Hathaway was around.’ There was a click from the foyer, the sound of the front door opening. Lissa leaned forward, cranking up the compulsion. â€Å"Who? Who was he? What did he want?’ Joe looked like he was in serious pain now. He swallowed. â€Å"I don’t know who he was! No one I’d seen. Some Moroi. Just wanted me to testify about when I’d seen Hathaway. Paid me more than Lady Ivashkov. No harm †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He looked at Lissa desperately. â€Å"No harm in helping them both †¦ especially since Hathaway did it †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ â€Å"Adrian?’ Daniella’s voice rang down the hall. â€Å"Are you here?’ â€Å"Back off,’ Adrian warned Lissa in a low voice. There was no joking in it. Her voice was just as soft, her attention still on Joe. â€Å"What did he look like? The Moroi? Describe him.’ The sound of high heels clicked on the hall’s wooden floor. â€Å"Like no one!’ said Joe. â€Å"I swear! Plain. Ordinary. Except the hand †¦ please let me go †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Adrian shoved Lissa aside, breaking the contact between her and Joe. Joe nearly sagged to the ground and then went rigid as he locked gazes with Adrian. More compulsion–but much less than Lissa had used. â€Å"Forget this,’ hissed Adrian. â€Å"We never had this conversation.’ â€Å"Adrian, what are you–‘ Daniella stopped in the living room’s doorway, taking in the strange sights. Christian was still on the couch, but Adrian and Lissa were inches from Joe, whose shirt was soaked with sweat. â€Å"What’s going on?’ Daniella exclaimed. Adrian stepped back and gave his mother one of those charming smiles that captivated so many women. â€Å"This guy came by to see you, Mom. We told him we’d wait until you got back. We’re going to head out now.’ Daniella glanced between her son and Joe. She was clearly uneasy about the scenario and also confused. Lissa was surprised at the â€Å"heading out’ comment but followed Adrian’s lead. Christian did too. â€Å"It was nice seeing you,’ said Lissa, attempting a smile to match Adrian’s. Joe looked totally dazed. After Adrian’s last command, the poor janitor had also probably forgotten how he’d ended up at the Ivashkov home. Lissa and Christian hastily followed Adrian out before Daniella could say much more. â€Å"What the hell was that?’ asked Christian, once they were outside. I wasn’t sure if he meant Lissa’s scary compulsion or what Joe had revealed. â€Å"Not sure,’ said Adrian, expression dark. No more cheery smile. â€Å"But we should talk to Mikhail.’ â€Å"Rose.’ Dimitri’s voice was gentle, bringing me back to him, Sydney, and the car. He’d undoubtedly recognized the expression on my face and knew where I’d been. â€Å"Everything okay back there?’ he asked. I knew â€Å"back there’ meant Court and not the backseat. I nodded, though â€Å"okay’ wasn’t quite the right word for what I’d just witnessed. What had I just witnessed? An admission of false testimony. An admission that contradicted some of the evidence against me. I didn’t care so much that Joe had lied to keep Adrian safe. Adrian hadn’t been involved with Tatiana’s murder. I wanted him free and clear. But what about the other part? Some â€Å"ordinary’ Moroi who’d paid Joe to lie about when I’d been around, leaving me without an alibi during the murder window? Before I could fully process the implications, I noticed the car had stopped. Forcing the Joe-info to the back of my mind, I tried to take stock of our new situation. Sydney’s laptop glowed in the front seat as she scrolled through something. â€Å"Where are we?’ I peered out the window. In the headlights, I saw a sad, closed gas station. â€Å"Altswood,’ said Dimitri. By my estimation, there was nothing else but the gas station. â€Å"Makes our last town look like New York.’ Sydney shut her laptop. She handed it back, and I set it on the seat beside me, near the backpacks she’d miraculously grabbed when leaving the motel. She shifted the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. Not too far away, I could see the highway and expected her to turn toward it. Instead, she drove past the gas station, deeper into darkness. Like the last place, we were surrounded by mountains and forests. We crept along at a snail’s pace until Sydney spotted a tiny gravel road disappearing into the woods. It was only big enough for one car to go down, but somehow, I didn’t expect we’d run into much traffic out here. A similar road took us in deeper and deeper, and although I couldn’t see her face, Sydney’s anxiety was palpable in the car. Minutes felt like hours until our narrow path opened up into a large, dirt-packed clearing. Other vehicles–pretty oldlooking–were parked there. It was a strange place for a parking lot, considering all I could see around us was dark forest. Sydney shut off the car. â€Å"Are we at a campground?’ I asked. She didn’t answer. Instead, she looked at Dimitri. â€Å"Are you as good as they say you are?’ â€Å"What?’ he asked, startled. â€Å"Fighting. Everyone keeps talking about how dangerous you are. Is it true? Are you that good?’ Dimitri considered. â€Å"Pretty good.’ I scoffed. â€Å"Very good.’ â€Å"I hope it’s enough,’ said Sydney, reaching for the door’s handle. I opened my door as well. â€Å"Aren’t you going to ask about me?’ â€Å"I already know you’re dangerous,’ she said. â€Å"I’ve seen it.’ Her compliment offered little comfort as we walked out across the rural parking lot. â€Å"Why’d we stop?’ â€Å"Because we have to go on foot now.’ She turned on a flashlight and shone it along the lot’s perimeter. At last, it flickered across a footpath snaking through the trees. The path was small and easy to miss because weeds and other plants were encroaching on it. â€Å"There.’ She began to move toward it. â€Å"Wait,’ said Dimitri. He moved in front of her, leading the way, and I immediately took up the back position in our group. It was a standard guardian formation. We were flanking her the way we would a Moroi. All earlier thoughts of Lissa flitted from my mind. My attention was totally on the situation at hand, all my senses alert to the potential danger. I could see Dimitri was in the same mode, both of us holding our stakes. â€Å"Where are we going?’ I asked as we carefully avoided roots and holes along the path. Branches scraped along my arms. â€Å"To people I guarantee won’t turn you in,’ she said, voice grim. More questions were on my lips when brilliant light suddenly blinded me. My eyes had grown attuned to the darkness, and the unexpected brightness was too abrupt a change. There was a rustling in the trees, a sense of many bodies around us, and as my vision returned, I saw vampire faces everywhere. How to cite Last Sacrifice Chapter Eight, Essay examples

Juveniles In Prison Essays - Criminology, Penology,

Juveniles In Prison Juveniles in Adult Prisons Term Project Abstract A deep look into juveniles in adult prisons. Touch bases on several smaller issues that contribute to juveniles being in and effects of adult prisons. The United States Bureau of Prisons handles two hundred and thirty-nine juveniles and their average age is seventeen. Execution of juveniles, The United States is one of only six countries to execute juveniles. There are sixty-eight juveniles sitting on death row for crimes committed as juveniles. Forty-three of those inmates are minorities. People, who are too young to vote, drink alcohol, or drive are held to the same standard of responsibility as adults. In prisons, they argue that the juveniles become targets of older, more hardened criminals. Brian Stevenson, Director of the Alabama Capital Resource Center said, ?We have totally given up in the idea of reform of rehabilitation for the very young. We are basically saying we will throw those kids away. Leading To Prison Juvenile Justi ce Bulletin Report shows that two-thirds of juveniles apprehended for violent offenses were released or put on probation. Only slightly more than one-third of youths charged with homicide was transferred to adult criminal court. Little more than one out of every one hundred New York youths arrested for muggings, beatings, rape and murder ended up in a correctional institution. Another report showed a delinquent boy has to be arrested on average thirteen times before the court will act more restrictive than probation. Laws began changing as early as 1978 in New York to try juveniles over 12 who commit violent crimes as adults did. However, even since the laws changed only twenty percent of serious offenders served any time. The decision of whether to waive a juvenile to the adult or criminal court is made in a transfer hearing. The two major criteria for waiver are the age of the child and type of offense alleged in the petition. Some jurisdictions require the child to be over a cert ain age and charged with a felony, while others permit waiver if the child is over a certain age regardless of offense. Still yet, others have no conditions. Juveniles can be tried in all stated in one of three ways: 1. Concurrent Jurisdiction: the prosecutor has the discretion of filing charge offenses in either juvenile or criminal court. 2. Excluded offenses: the legislature excludes from juvenile court jurisdiction certain offenses that are either very minor, such as traffic or fishing violations, or very serious, such as murder or rape. 3. Judicial waiver: the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction and transfers the case to criminal court. Barry Feld, Juvenile Law Scholar, suggests that waivers to adult court be mandatory for serious crimes. Those espousing the crime control model believe that the overriding purpose is protection of the public, deterrence or violent juvenile behavior, and the incarceration of serious youthful offenders in the adult criminal justice system. The rehabilitative justice model view this as an attack on the juvenile justice system, but crime control advocates consider such steps a necessary response to a rising juvenile violence rate. Life in Adult Prison The Southwest Multi County Corrections Center, a two-story adult jail is the largest maximum-security program for juveniles under federal authority. The BOP pays $99.80 a day for each juvenile. About half of the juveniles are over two hundred and fifty miles from home. Distance is on the main criticisms of putting juveniles in the BOP system. Most experts agree that for rehabilitation to succeed, families of jailed youths should be involved in their therapy and lives. Larry Beredtro, President of Reclaiming Youth International, address ?Obviously, the government needs to cease using nonregional placement for kids. My concern has been with the issue of the federal government placing kids hundreds or thousands of miles away from home. The facility Director Norbert Sickler says ? the facility helps pay travel expenses for some families and offers free accommodations in the area. We do encourage the kids to keep family connections both by writing and telephone also.? The BOP does plan to house all federal juveniles within two hundred and fifty miles of their homes by fiscal year 2000. Staff attorney for the Youth Law Center says

Polonium Facts - Elements Are Interesting

Polonium Facts - Elements Are Interesting Polonium is a rare radioactive semi-metal or metalloid. The toxic element is believed to have caused the death of former intelligence agent, Alexander Litvinenko, in November 2006. Polonium is a radioactive element that occurs naturally in the environment at very low levels or can be produced in a nuclear reactor. PhysicalProperties of Polonium Polonium-210 emits alpha particles, which can damage or destroy genetic material inside of cells. Isotopes that emit alpha particles are toxic if they are ingested or inhaled because the alpha particles are very reactive, but polonium isnt absorbed through the skin, nor does the alpha radiation penetrate deeply. Polonium generally is considered toxic only if taken internally (breathing, eating, through an open wound). Marie and Pierre Curie discovered polonium in 1897.  Marie Curie  named polonium for her homeland, Poland. Polonium dissolves readily in dilute acids. Po-210 readily becomes airborne and is soluble enough to circulate through body tissues.  Polonium is the only component of cigarette smoke to produce cancer in laboratory animals. The polonium in tobacco is absorbed from phosphate fertilizers. A lethal amount of ingested polonium is 0.03 microcuries, which is a particle weighing 6.8 x 10-12 g (very small). Pure polonium is a silvery-colored solid. Mixed or alloyed with beryllium, polonium can be used as a portable neutron source. Polonium is used as a neutron trigger for nuclear weapons, in making photographic plates, and to reduce static charges in industrial applications such as textile mills.

How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing

How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing By Mark Nichol Some people consider italics and boldface type and quotation marks, when they’re used other than as dialogue markers to be just so many noisy bells and whistles. They often are, when they’re misused, but when they’re employed correctly and strategically, they send strong signals. The following rules apply primarily for books and magazines. 1. Italics Italics, based on handwriting script, serve several functions. They identify the titles of stand-alone creative works like books, films and television series, and paintings. But parts of compositions chapters, episodes of TV shows, short poems collected into anthologies, and the like are enclosed in quotation marks. They denote a word that would be stressed if spoken: â€Å"Stop the car I really have to go to the bathroom.† They indicate a word being introduced as itself, not as an idea: â€Å"Write, right, and rite are all pronounced identically.† Terms of more than one word are often enclosed in quotation marks, but this format may look awkward when used inconsistently alongside single italicized words, so self-referring phrases are often italicized as well (â€Å"it’s rank and file, not rank in file†). They also identify letters used as such: â€Å"The letter n on that sign is backward.† But letters compared to shapes (â€Å"turn right at the Y in the road†; â€Å"I watched a graceful V of geese fly overhead†) are set in roman type. (The lowercase term roman refers to the default type style.) The same is true for names of letters used in expressions (â€Å"dot your i’s and cross your t’s†). They signal the use of an unfamiliar foreign term: â€Å"The Roman legatus was the equivalent of a general in a modern army.† Note, however, that many words you might think are foreign have been adopted into English, that most welcoming of languages. Check your dictionary’s main section (not the foreign-words appendix); if a foreign term appears there, no italics are necessary. Also, foreign proper nouns need no emphasis. The rule of thumb for repetition of foreign terms is to italicize on first reference only, and leave them in roman type when they recur. Use your judgment, though, depending on the frequency and interval of recurrence. 2. Boldface Boldface lettering is best reserved for display type (chapter and section titles and the like). But they’re often used in textbooks and other learning materials to emphasize newly introduced terms, such as those that would appear in a glossary or be on a vocabulary quiz. Otherwise, this type style is the printed or posted equivalent of shouting. 3. Quotation Marks Quotation marks are often used as what are called scare quotes - emphasis markers that communicate novelty, irony, or a nontraditional use of a word or phrase. Writers overuse scare quotes. Except in special cases, they should trust readers to understand the unusual use of a word or phrase. The context in â€Å"I played dumb,† for example, precludes the need for a visual hint to the reader that the writer’s stupidity was an act, but â€Å"I had a ‘fit’ so she’d go away† may need a subtle clue that the tantrum was feigned. (Fit appears in single, not double, quotation marks here because they’re used within double quotes.) Newspapers traditionally omit emphasis because formatting it is time consuming, and many web sites have the same policy, but the many exceptions in both cases or using quotation marks in place of italics, as often seen on this site acknowledge that italics and judicious use of boldface and scare quotes aid comprehension. Just don’t have a fit and go â€Å"overboard.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsList of Greek Words in the English LanguageNominalized Verbs

Managing Human resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Human resources - Essay Example ts are losing ground to a new generation of value-added core HR functions that include career planning, executive development, training, succession planning and organization development’ (Rowden, 1999, 22). In any case, the importance of human resource management (HRM) for the development of business activities cannot be denied; in fact, HR can help a firm to improve its position in its industry; in order for this target to be achieved it is necessary that the knowledge available in all organizational departments is appropriately evaluated and processed (Lawler et al., 2003). On the other hand, the cost involved in the development of various HR policies could be a reason for the limitation of relevant business initiatives; the specific issue is highlighted in the study of Haines (1997) where it is noticed that most firms worldwide ‘view their human resources as an expense rather than an asset -- an element that is expendable and perhaps discarded when the skills possesse d becomes obsolete’ (Haines, 1997, 95). Indeed, in a survey conducted by the National Statistics of UK – the most recent available data on this issue – it was proved that ‘‘nine out of ten employers (90 per cent) had provided any job-related training (either off- or on-the-job training) to their employees in the 12 months prior to the interview’ (National Statistics Online, UK, 2002). In the above report it is noticed that for previous years, the indications regarding the behaviour of employers towards their employees are similar. Current paper focuses on the examination of the various aspects of rewarding in a specific firm: JINNIKINS JEANS. The practices of the firm regarding the specific issue are presented and explained trying to identify the potential effects of these practices on the firm’s objectives – either in the short and the long term. In the firm under examination, the reward system is based on specific actions – in hierarchical order; the benefits for the

How, and in how far does the current United Kingdom constitutional Essay

How, and in how far does the current United Kingdom constitutional system demonstrate the operation of the doctrine of the Separation of Powers - Essay Example With regard to the UK position, the doctrine of the separation of powers has traditionally been limited and criticised for being somewhat unclear in comparison to other democracies3. Nevertheless, it has been commented that the doctrine does in fact influence everyday operations of the executive, legislature and judiciary4 and Barnett argues that â€Å"Separation of powers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ runs like a thread throughout the constitution of the United Kingdom5.† Nevertheless, in the UK there has not been a clear separation of the branches of the state6, but rather a fusion. For example, the executive clearly carries out legislative functions and a prime example is the Law Commission. Although the Law Commission Act 1965 clearly requires the Commission to be â€Å"independent7† in reviewing law reform, its committee members are appointed by the Lord Chancellor who also grants prior approval to projects that the Law Commission will review. Additionally, the judiciary obtain their power from the Crown and there is a distinct overlap of functions between the powers, which should be separated for the effective application of the separation of powers8. This obfuscation of the theoretical separation of powers has ramifications for the procedure of passing Acts of Parliament. Parliament is essentially the legislative section of the British political system. As such, through the executive Prime Minister and the Cabinet, Parliament sanctions executive sovereignty in a party governmental system. Theoretically Parliament is a policy influencing body, relying on the executive to formulate policy and reacts to it and therefore the party machine reinforces power of the executive to initiate policy. Parliament is not therefore involved in the policy making process and has minor powers of initiation. Whilst government controls Parliament the passing of an Act of Parliament ultimately depends on control, possession of

Unconventional Beauty Treatments by Celebrities

Unconventional Beauty Treatments by Celebrities In today’s world, in order to achieve recognition in a particular field that you are pertaining to, the first and the foremost thing that counts is ‘the persona’ with which you carry yourself! Be it Multi National Companies or small scale companies, one of the most crucial things that can get you one step closer towards achieving your goals is having a good and magnificent personality. You ought to look presentable in any case whatsoever! And with regard to the celebrities in the Hollywood and Bollywood fraternity, it goes without saying as they have no other choice but to look beautiful and handsome in order to make a living! These celebs come up with the most queer beauty treatments ever! Recently, there was an article published in one of the most well known newspapers about these most bizarre of the beautifying treatments undergone by celebs. What we need to understand and assess is that, how beneficial are these so called beauty treatments from a scientific and a medical point of view! Let’s have a look on these various ‘freakish beautifying treatments’. Liquid Gold Facial: The heart of Liquid Gold, Seabuckthorn, was known for many years in northern states, as a skin care remedy and nutritional supplement. The berries of this shrub are always been associated with regeneration as they are rich in vitamins and nutrients. The oil of these berries assist in combating dry skin, visible fine lines, wrinkles and various signs of early ageing. These yellow-orange berries comprise of more than 100 nutrients, bioactive substances like phytosterols, water soluble vitamins (B1, B2, C, P, Folic acid, K) and fat soluble ones such as A, E and EFA (80-95% essential fatty acids), free amino acids, alpha and beta carotenes etc. The Hollywood supermodel Bar Refaeli lately got a Liquid Gold Facial done which is also favored by Ayurveda since it is said to possess anti-aging properties. When we look at this from a medical point of view, Liquid Gold is a strong resurfacing and firming treatment in order to reduce wrinkles, pigmentation and sun damage. This formulation is fortified with silk proteins, licorice extract and Glycolic Acid. It increases the skin’s metabolism, thereby adding on to tightening the enlarged pores and makes the complexion brighter and clearer. Also, this formulation is immediately absorbed by cell membranes, reinstalling a golden glow to even the most lack-luster skin. It helps to fight hyperpigmentation, acne, wrinkles, fine lines and large pores thereby making you look young and evergreen. There are no evidences available in form of articles or papers to prove the authenticity of this liquid gold facial. Facelift tape: Lady Gaga uses facelift tape in order to pull the skin around the cheekbones and neck to look younger. As per the experts, medically it is just not advisable to do daily face taping since it could lead to internal scarring, which may give rise to poor absorption of nutrients to the skin and early ageing. Moreover, doing face-taping everyday may cause the facial muscles to loosen, causing wrinkles and fine lines to appear earlier than usual. There are some benefits of using a facelift tape as well. Like for example, if applied correctly, it can make a drastic change in the way you appear, only till the tape is in place! Also, it’s much reasonable as compared to surgeries and even some wrinkle creams. It can also prove to be beneficial to those celebs who are willing to go for a facelift surgery as it will give them an idea of what they will look after they have undergone the surgery and hence assist them in making a better decision in such a case. Japanese nightingale droppings facial: This does sound nasty. But Tom Cruise vouches for this ‘bird poop facial’. Making a preparation of nightingale droppings, rice bran and water and rubbing it on the face, makes his face look shiny which contributes in making him look good as ever! This ‘nightingale poop facial’ which is also referred to as â€Å"Geisha facial† originates from Japan. Hence the name, â€Å"Japanese Nightingale Droppings Facial†. It is said to carry out exfoliation of the dirt from the skin causing it to appear shining bright and squeaky clean. There are proclamations that the powder made from the excreta/faeces of Uguisu bird (which is used in Geisha Facial) has properties which provide multiple skin benefits. It may be useful for cleansing skin pores, whitening skin pigment of dark spots and discolorations from scars and sun spots, balancing and evening out and thus making the skin tone brighter. It also helps in healing and re-energizing of the skin which has been hampered because of the exposure to sun and aging. This powder is fit for oily skin, rough and aging skin, although it might not be suited to a skin type that is sensitive and prone to allergies. There are no evidences to prove that it works or vice versa. All the so called â€Å"skin-gains† are obtainable in a variety of other skin products. We might hear of people using human faeces in future for skin treatment! That’s so sickening! Mayonnaise as a moisturizer! Past years’ legend, Joan Crawford was said to make use of Mayonnaise to moisturize her skin and hair. This is really like taking your breakfast â€Å"spread tad bit seriously! Taking into consideration the medical background, the chief ingredients in Mayonnaise are soya bean oil and eggs, which make it a potent treatment for dry facial skin. Mayo also comprises of vinegar, which helps in encouraging the turnover of skin cells, leaving the face feeling as if it has been exfoliated. Experts say that doing a gentle mayo massage on skin daily may help boosting up skin’s moisture. Mayonnaise is said to be the possessor of moisturizing properties that extend beyond your skin. It is also observed to be a good hair conditioner as it gives a healthy shine to the hair. But it would be much preferable to limit the mayonnaise to just your bread and instead make use of so many easily available wonderful hair cosmetics for giving that shine to your hair! Snake Venom as a replacement for Botox! Snake Venom is the first choice for Katy Holmes as a replacement for Botox injections. It seems that, she believes that this synthetic venom product has some kind of ‘muscle-shocking’ effect. It smoothens out the wrinkles and relaxes the muscles of the face. When we look at this from a medical point of view, we can see that Scientists firstdiscovered a link betweenanti-agingand the paralysis-inducing properties ofviper venom,a few years ago. If thevipercould send its victims into a permanent stupor with itsvenom, they hypothesised thatperhaps the same science could be used to tamecrow’s feetandforehead furrows. The synthetic venom like counterpartSYN-AKEisatopical synthetic tripeptidewhichwhen applied to the skin, relaxes the â€Å"frowning and grimacing† muscles that lead todeep wrinkles. Clients of the Sonya Dakar clinic in Beverly Hills line up for thesesnake-venom facials, whileHollywood gossip sitesproclaimGwyneth Paltrow’s love beliefforDakar’s UltraLuxe-9 Age Control Complex($190), aSYN-AKE-infused skin cream. But there is absolutely no evidence or any independent medical research to prove the authenticity of the same. Bee venoms have been used as a replacement for Botox treatment. The research has shown that this product contributes in producing natural collagen, a special kind of protein that provides elasticity to the skin cells and keeps the skin young. To add on to it, increases the number of keratinocytes – special cells, protecting them from getting influenced by certain harmful extrinsic factors like dehydration, agents of infectious diseases, ultraviolet (UV) radiation. De-puff with Piles cream! Sandra Bullock believes that haemorrhoid tube works wonders to tighten up facial skin. These haemorrhoid creams comprise of vasoconstrictors – which are responsible for shrinking the blood vessels. This is helpful when it’s about haemorrhoids, since there are swollen veins, but not so helpful when it concerns sensitive area below the eyes. As a matter of fact, certain ingredients in these creams may cause irritation in the eyes and worsen the situation. Also, there’s never been any convincing or high quality medical study to prove the effectiveness of the same. Hence, not being enthusiastic about this choice will be the best thing to do. Shine with red wine! Actress Teri Hatcher pours Red Wine in her bath which helps softening her skin. Studies have proved that there are certain ingredients present in red wine such as the tartaric acid, an alpha hydroxyl agent helps in exfoliation of the skin, thereby making it softer. Drinking red wine is also beneficial as because of the antioxidants present in red wine, the skin is prevented from ageing. What we can gather from all this is that, when it comes to your skin particularly your face, dare not take chances! Some of these bizarre treatments by celebrities do have a scientific base and some kind of possible reasoning but not all. Hence, consulting the expert Dermatologist and/or Facial Plastic Surgeon for such skin treatments is always advisable. References: http://debrajshome.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/bollywood-hollywood-celebrity-beauty-tips/ http://www.theestheticclinic.com/dr-debraj-shome.html

Marketing Plan for Maggie Essay

Promotions showcases which mode of promotion is most effective and how do consumers respond to various celebrity endorsements. Place focuses on efficiency of distribution network of Maggi Tomato Ketchup. We have also drawn out some inferences by applying various statistical tools like ‘SIGN TEST’. Towards the end we have suggested some recommendations as a group on how can we improve the marketing mix of the product. Nestle, which world knows as cautious and conservatory company is a Swiss originated 140 years old Multinational. The man at the helm is Swiss national Carlo Donati, an all inspiration and image of the company. His philosophy is ‘bottom line dictating top line’ based on delegation and decentralization. It resulted from a merger in 1905 between the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company for milk products established in 1866 by the Page Brothers in Cham, Switzerland and the Farine Lactee Henri Nestle Company set up in 1867 by Henri Nestle to provide an infant food product. The first Nestle factory to begin production in the United States was opened in Fulton, Oswego County, New York. Nestle India Ltd. (NIL), the Indian subsidiary of the global FMCG major, Nestle SA, introduced the Maggi brand in India in 1982, with its launch of Maggi 2 Minute Noodles, an instant noodles product. Nestle India’s business objective and that of its management and employees is to manufacture and market the Company’s products in such a way as to create value that can be sustained over the long term for consumers, shareholders, employees, business partners and the national economy. The product mix of Nestle India consists of milk products and baby products (42. %), beverages (29. 3 %), processed foods (14. 4 %), chocolate and confectionary (13. 8 %).

Essay on Lawrence Lessig - 2664 Words

In 2012, copyright laws and the creative industries they protect, have come face to face with the Internet in an unprecedented struggle for power. According to some, this is having a dramatic effect on our culture (Lessig 2001; Lessig 2004). Whilst most of the attention has been focused towards the United States and the two controlling industry bodies, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the consequences for stricter copyright laws, or new measures to protect them will have international effects (Barrett 2012; Horten 2012; Lessig 2001; Lessig 2004). This essay seeks to discuss the concepts raised in the accompanying poster whilst also examining both the past and present†¦show more content†¦ACTA represents an international framework for legislating Internet users and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in order to protect against copyright infringements (Barrett 2012; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2012; Horten 2012). SOPA and PIPA were United States specific acts aimed at providing unprecedented powers to copyright holders to shut down both domestic and foreign websites, financial services and advertising services which may be connected to copyright infringements (Barrett 2012; Horten 2012). On the surface these measures pose as an attempt to stop copyright infringements, however their influence runs far beyond that of just copyright. These measures threatened the very fabric of the Internet that Lessig (2001; 2004) sees as vital to the cultural commons; it is an attempt to â€Å"reintroduce the barriers that the internet originally removed†(Lessig 2001: 16) SOPA and PIPA would have substantially impacted the rights of allegedly infringing international corporations, individuals or ISPs by enacting laws that could shut them down before being proven guilty (Barrett 2012). These measures could have also impacted claims of fair use, criminalized many innocent people and may have also influenced free speech. With these effects considered, the cultural commons of the Internet could be left closedShow MoreRelated`` For The Love Of Culture `` By Lawrence Lessig1740 Words   |  7 Pagescrime by using information and be subjected to lawsuits, despite good intentions. Lawrence Lessig’s three proposals for copyright changes are key concepts facing issues like this. It is crucial we pay attention because our cultural future is in jeopardy. In Lawrence Lessig’s article â€Å"For the Love of Culture†, he explains his concern that our copyright laws are hampering our opportunity to learn about our past. Lessig gives us a good example in the beginning about a daughter of a late great AmericanRead MoreAnalysis Of Lawrence Lessig s Remix : Making Art And Commerce Thrive1448 Words   |  6 Pages‘remix culture’ that redefine the way the world is perceived through the reproduction and recyclability of their works and the works of others. Remix culture, or ‘read-write culture’ , lets people generate â€Å"art as readily as they consume it† . In Lawrence Lessig’s book Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, he argues that the contemporary generation’s form of ‘literacy’ is technologically-based . 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(Plotkin) In the UnitedRead MoreE Phishing Software And The Privacy Of Consumers Online By Warning And Preventing Them From Phishing Websites1574 Words   |  7 Pagestransformation to or copy/cut and paste from works is a crime (Lessig, 2012, p ) In addition, copyrights go to ridiculous measures to supposedly protect works, which only yields inconveniences to most legal consumers. Lessig points out that in his Adobe E-Book some e-books restrict how many passages can be copied, how times he is allowed to read the novel, and decide whether the software is permitted to read aloud or not. (Lessig, 2012, ) DRMs do little to stop piracy and hurt consumers inRead MoreAnalysis Of Disney Company s Recreation Of Public Domain Fairy Tales2060 Words   |  9 Pagesas regulates the capabilities of younger generations to apply their artiscic and imaginative creativity. The regulation of culture is present now within America in regards to creativity as well as the control is so great creativity suffers. Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Harvard and is an avoid advocate to reduced copyright laws. He writes a chapter in Helle Posdam’s book called Copyright and Other Fairy Tales about the dangers of copyright laws in such a technological world: It’s a world whereRead MoreWhen Does Fair Use Become Theft and Viceversa680 Words   |  3 Pagesespecially those passed in the US over the last 15 years, are draconian and destroy the very creativity that they claim to nurture. By combining documentary footage with interviews with Girl Talk, Creative Commons founder and Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, BoingBoing founder Cory Doctorow and Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil, Gaylor proclaims sampling and remixing as a natural extension of human creativity. In his film, he identifies 2 major groups: the Copy Right (those who feel that ideas areRead MoreEssay Filesharing1193 Words   |  5 Pagesinformation. Perhaps the most useful article I found was an article written by Lawrence Lessig, A Stanford professor and author of â€Å"Free Culture†. In his article Lessig pointed out that the battle against online piracy is hopeless the way it is currently being fought. He noted that prosecuting these so-called â€Å"pirates† has not led to an increase of profits for the artists nor a decrease in the amount if illegal filesharing.(2) Lessig also wrote about a consequence of P2P network piracy that I had not beforeRead MoreInternet Regulation S hould Not Be Regulated Essay1297 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction In this paper, I will be arguing against the text by Lawrence Lessig by providing evidence and reasoning that proves that complete internet regulation would never be implemented on a global scale due to the privacy concerns that the United States would face while minimal internet regulation, like what Lessig suggests, would be unable to coexist with countries like China and Saudi Arabia who morally conflict with a global majority. 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His big break came in 1980 when IBM asked him to provide the operating system for IBM’s computer (â€Å"Bill Gates†). Instead of creating a new program Microsoft purchased QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) and modified it for IBM’s PC. Gates

Introduction To EasyJet Plc - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1677 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? EasyJet is a low-fare airline which was established in 1995 by a Greek businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The company has a big growth from its original bases in Lutton, from where easyjet operated only two routes to Edinburgh, and Glasgow. Nowadays it is giving its services by 171 airplanes on more over 100 destinations through all over the world including Europe, North Africa and even the Middle East. Its official company name is easyJet Airline Company Limited. Only in the last year easyJet has carried about 44.6 millions of passengers, which was a 2nd result just behind the Ryanair. It seems for the company, that its revenue growth considerably increased over a past few years. It employs 4,859 thousands of people, from which many of them are taking care of a companys 165 airplanes. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Introduction To EasyJet Plc" essay for you Create order Easyjets major markets which are really strong are held in London, Milan, Malpensa, Geneva and Paris from where they have leaded the company to successful conquer in European transporting industry. In June of 2007 the company has introduced plans for building their own airliner Ecojet. Unfortunately, from that period of time company didnt release any new information yet. As easyjets products are only services, there are only three of them. The first one is of course booking which a customer can do by a phone or internet where the 2nd option is much cheaper to reduce call centre costs. The second service is cabin and onboard services, which have environmental background (some flights provide a film), and either hospitality where the customer has an option to buy a meal for himself. On December 14th 2004, Easyjet and Holitopia together opened EasyJetHotels which are online booking accommodation through the whole world. 2. Key Financial Results Current Year (2008) Previous Year (2007) % Movement Revenue pound; million 2,362.8 1,797.2 +31,5 Operating profit / loss pound; million 91 172 -47 Capital employed pound; million 2,186.0 1,895.1 +15,3 Total assets pound; million 3,095.8 2,516.4 +23 Net cash generated / used in operating activities pound; million 296,2 270,8 +10,9 Number of employees pound; thousands 6,375 5,493 +16 Earnings per share pound; pence 19,8 36,6 -45,9 Final proposed dividend per share 0 0 0 Year end share price 3,15 6,10 -48 Year end market capitalization pound; million 332,955 639,280 -47,9 Current Year (2008) Previous Year (2007) % Movement Gross profit margin (%) 5 11 -54 Operating expenses (%) 89 83 +7,22 Current ratio pound; million 700,2 740,7 -5,5 Gearing ratio (%) 28,7 20,4 +40,7 Debt ratio (%) 59 54 +8,72 3. Financial Ratios 4. Price / Earnings Share ratio (Current and Sector Average) P/E Ratio: Share Price Æ’ÂÂ   pound; 3,99 = 21 times EPS pound; 0,19 Share Price: P/E Ratio x Earnings Per Share Current Share Price: 21 x 19 p = 399 pence Share Price if sector average were applied: 11.45 x 19 p = 217,55 pence As we can see from the above, the current P/E Ratio is 21 times, while the sectors average is 11,45 what makes the sectors average much smaller ratio. We can see that if we would inject the sectors average P/E Ratio share price of the EasyJet company would have cost less. 5. Easyjets share price over the last year From the EasyJets share price graph which shows any core movements, we can actually outline three of them. The first noticeable movement was a fall down by 4,1 % of EasyJets share prices on May 14th 2009, and its big gain on the next day by 3,4 %. On that day all of the big European air carriers like Ryanair, British Airways, Air France-KLM and either Lufthansa has suffered big losses. EasyJets share price has fallen down to 270,25 pence per share from 283,75 pence. The main reason which caused this movement were the oil prices that remained stubbornly high. Source: https://www.centreforaviation.com/news/share-market/2009/05/14/ryanair-easyjet-british-airways-air-france-klm-and-lufthansa-fall-heavilyshare-wrap/page1 The second movement is the one which has caused a fall down from 335 pence for share on 29th of January 2009 to 312,75 and over the whole period to 5th of February to 294 pence. The main reason of this fall was caused by Andy Harrison EasyJets Chief of Executive Officer who had offloaded half his stake in the carrier, raising approximately GBP1.3 million. The company itself said that the sale was made of because of their CEOs divorce. Source: https://www.centreforaviation.com/news/share-market/2009/02/02/british-airways-catches-a-case-of-stelioses-easyjet-share-fallout-continues/page1 The third and the biggest movement which was a raise in EasyJets share price was on 21st of November 2008 from its fall, a week earlier when founder of the company Sir Stelios Haji-loannou upgraded his public attack on the carriers expansion planning. The raise was by 10,7 %, mainly because of the investors who were optimistic that the company should do well now. Source: https://www.centreforaviation.com/news/share-market/2008/11/24/easyjet-surges-and-vueling-suffers-europe-airline-share-prices/page1 6. The companys analysis performance This report will describe EasyJets overall performance over the last trading period during the year ending 30th of September 2008. The aim of this report is also to show a prospects of the company, and advise whenever is good or bad choice to invest in it. We will have to calculate the financial ratios which measure the financial structure of the company and show how it relates to the trading activities(Holmes;2005:page no. 216). EasyJet at a glance Revenue up to 2,363 million (+31%) Cash flow from operations to 292 million (+12%) Gearing up to 28,7 % (+8.3 pp) Seats flown to 51.9 million (+17%) Europes No. 1 in air network (www.easyjet.com) Over 100 airports served Financial Ratio analysis Stock Market Indicators: Stock market indicators are very significant to make a decision to either buy or sell a shares of the specific company. In the UK the market place for all companies is London Stock Exchange. EasyJet company is based in FTSE 250 index which is a complex of the companies ranked from 101 to 350. Above ranking is based on a companys market capitalization calculated by multiplying amount of the ordinary shares by the share price: Market capitalization: 105,7 x 3,15 = 332,955 million pounds EPS Ratio Basic earnings per share ratio is the one of investment ratios. Although EPS has decreased by 45,9 % we need to understand that this is mainly because of the shares price change. The Price/Earnings ratio of the EasyJet indicates is a pretty good investment choice. Price/Earnings Ratio: Market Price per share Æ’ÂÂ   302,302 = 15,22 times EPS 19,8 The ratio of 15.22 means that if we buy the shares for pound;100, then 15.22 years of current earnings of 6.57 pence per share are being bought. This also confirms that stock exchange have a trust in the company. The other two investment ratios which are dividend yield, and dividend payout are both equal to zero since the company has never declared to pay, or never paid out cash dividends for their ordinary shares. They also admit in their annual report that they do not plan to do so. Profitability Profitability ratios will help to highlight EasyJets ability to generate earnings compared with its expenses. The first ratio that is essential is Gross profit margin which has decreased in 2008 to 5 % from 11 % in 2007. As we can see EasyJet has increased its revenue, but the gross profit margin decreased. That situation can only means that the company has aroused the fares, which can be the reason of the companys many competitors. Operating expenses have increased from 83 % to 89 %. This indicator shows that the investors have less opportunity to have a bigger profit this year compared to the previous one. ROCE: Profit before interest and tax Æ’ÂÂ   123 = 5,6 % Capital employed 2,186 The ROCE ratio (return on capital employed) has decreased by 44 % from 10 % to 5,6 %. It is not a really significant ratio, but a noticeable decrease in it confirms that the company uses more assets to generate more sales. Short-Term Solvency The main two indicators for short-term solvency are two ratios which are acid test ratio and current ratio. Acid test ratio is really helpful to provide information if the company has a proper amount of short-time assets to cover short-time liabilities without selling any goods, or inventory. Acid test ratio: Cash + accounts receivable + Short time investments Æ’ÂÂ   1,569,3 = 1,72 times Current liabilities 909,8 Above equations confirm that EasyJet is a safe company, that could manage their business in extreme situations. Current ratio is used to give an idea if the company could pay its short-time liabilities with its short-time assets. It can also show the results of companys operating cycle or faculty to turn its product into cash. Current ratio: Current assets Æ’ÂÂ   1,415 = 1,55 times Current liabilities 909,8 Current ratio is similar to the acid test ratio but it doesnt include any inventory in it. For EasyJet the result of 1,55 times are good news, for every pound in current liabilities there is pound;1,55 in current assets. Long-Term Solvency Long-Term solvency ratios helps to measure a companys capacity to get a long-term obligations. These ratios are gearing ratio, interest cover and debt ratio. Gearing has increased to 28,7 % from 20,4 % which means the company is considered to be more risky according to previous year. By Debt ratio we can see our businesss long-term solvency. It shows how much your leverage your company posses. Debt ratio: Total liabilities Æ’ÂÂ   1817,6 = 0,58 Total Assets 3095,8 The Debt ratio of 0,58 confirms that a company has more assets than liabilities. EasyJets gearing ratio is average. There is a debt capacity that remains unused. If the Debt ratio is less than one, it means that company could have some more borrowings. In EasyJets case, that could be either some new aircrafts or opening new lines. Conclusion EasyJet is a company, with a great financial strength like low gearing and big cash holdings that equals pound;863 million. Their total revenue went up by 31,5 % which means that the company has a constant growth. The passenger numbers has increased by 17.3 % to 43.7 million. That means that more people choose these airlines. The gearing ratio which is low, confirms that the company still wants to expand, which leads to opening new routes and growing their fleet. Long-term solvency ratios showed that EasyJet has more assets than liabilities. This leads the managers to utilize the total debt capacity. On the other hand short-term solvency ratios, shows that the company has enough of current assets to fully cover their obligations to creditors. Although Gross profit margin and ROCE of profitability ratios have decreased, they show that the company tried to generate more sales from its assets. I think that EasyJet has a lot of indicators that show a positive prospects of the company. After reviewing the companys annual report I would definitely try to invest some money in above company and buy some shares.