Position paper on General “Billy” Mitchell Essay

1.This paper addresses the demonstration of General â€Å"Billy† Mitchell’s USAF core values of service before self and integrity. General Mitchell displayed these core values in the face of adversity. He was one of the few airmen who knew the potential of the airplane and fought for his beliefs, even at the cost of his own career. 2.General Mitchell exhibited great courage and placed his service before himself during interservice rivalries following World War I. Even though he knew that his views would be greatly opposed, views that the Navy was obsolete, the Army was not fully effective without an â€Å"air force†, and that the air service was an offensive force equal to the other services, he presented his opinions to congress. He challenged the Navy and proved the effectiveness of air power by sinking Navy battleships. The General’s defiance and outspoken beliefs infuriated many leaders of the Navy and Army. In 1925, his insistent attempts for a separate air force resulted in a demotion to Colonel. Later that year, the dirigible Shenandoah crashed. General Mitchell blamed military leaders for â€Å"incompetence and criminal negligence†. This outcome of his accusations was his own court martial on October 25, 1925. 3.General Mitchell represented integrity and perseverance by continuing his crusade for a separate air force, despite the setbacks he had endured. He met with public leaders and tried to gain support for his campaign. He improved his doctrine of air power, concepts and strategy, and he published material supporting strategic bombing. 4.General Mitchell is a hero in USAF history. He manifested the core values of the USAF to the highest degree, reflecting great credit upon himself. His work opened the eyes of many that were blind to the impending importance of airpower and ultimately paved the way for a separate, independent, United States Air Force.

Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything

Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. After the Chernobyl disaster of April 26th, 1986, it was often said that the nuclear industry no longer had the resilience to survive another major nuclear accident. The industry hoped that the sentiment behind the Chernobyl accident could be eased on the basis that it was the consequence of a flaw in design that was unique to the Soviet Union’s reactors and that they had been operated in such a way that would not have been acceptable in the West.Then, Fukushima changed everything. That, at least, was the popular view adopted in the aftermath of March 11, 2011, by the press, media and across the Internet blogging community. A nuclear accident in such a densely populated and well-developed country would transform the way nuclear energy is perceived, as well as, determine the way it would be used, or not used, in the years to come. This analysis attempts to overview its causes, evaluate its impact, and understand its consequences on future nuclear development. CausesOn October 30th, 2011, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) was enacted, creating an independent commission whose sole purpose was to investigate the Fukushima accident with the authority to request documentation and evidence required from whomever they saw fit. This independent commission was the first in the history of Japan’s constitutional government. Their main mandate was to investigate the direct and indirect causes of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima nuclear power plant accident that occurred on March 11, 2011 in conjunction with the Great East Japan Earthquake.This event triggered an extremely severe nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daichii Nuclear Power Plant, owned and operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). It was declared Level 7 (â€Å"Severe Accident†) by the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). At the moment the earthquake struck, nuclear reactor u nits 1 to 3 were functioning under normal operating parameters and units 4 to 6 were undergoing periodic inspection. Emergency shutdown occurred right after seismic activity was identified. The seismic tremors damaged the electricity transmission facilities between the TEPCO Shinfukushima Transformer SubstationsNuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 2 and the Fukushima Daichii Nuclear Power Plant. This resulted in a total loss of off-site electricity. The back-up transmission line that was hooked up to nearby Tohoku Electric Power Company failed to feed reactor 1 due to mismatched sockets. The first of 3 tsunami waves was more than twice the height of the seawall which TEPCO had failed to replace after recommendations had been made by a group of government scientists back in 2009. TEPCO later stated that this recommendation was in the process of review at the time the tsunami hit.The seawater began flooding the building floor breaking walls and scattering debris. As the w ater rose, emergency diesel generators broke down, along with the seawater cooling pumps, electric wiring system and DC power supply for units 1, 2, 3 and 4. This resulted in a complete loss of power. Unit 5 lost all AC power and unit 6 stayed online due to a working air cooled emergency diesel generator. The loss of electricity resulted in the shutdown of monitoring equipment, lighting and communication devices. Decisions had to be made on the spot without the proper tools or manuals, making it difficult to cool down the reactors in an efficient way.The cooling reactors which were dependent on electricity for high-pressure water injection, depressurizing the reactors low pressure water injection cooling, depressurizing the reactor containers, and removal of decay, failed. Lack of access to these key locations due to debris pile up led to the inability of the personnel to react appropriately. In June, 2011, four months after the accident, the country’s Nuclear Emergency Respo nse Headquarters confirmed the complete meltdown of reactors 1, 2, 3, and spent fuel pond of reactor 4.The conclusions held by the NAIIC stated that the direct causes of the accident were all foreseeable prior to March 11, 2011. The plants design was incapable of withstanding an earthquake and tsunami of that magnitude. In addition, operators (TEPCO), regulatory bodies (NISA and NSC) and the government body promoting the nuclear power industry (METI) all failed to ensure basic safety requirements, such as assessing the probability of damage, preparation for containing collateral damage and developing evacuation plans for the public in the case of a serious radiation release. Dr.Kurokawa of the Nuclear Safety Commission reserved his most damning language for his criticism of a culture in Japan that suppresses dissent and outside opinion, which he said might have prompted changes to the country’s lax nuclear controls. Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 3 Impacts on Health & Environment The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident resulted in the release of fission products to the environment, including the contamination of air, water, soil, animals, fish, milk and crops. In addition, it generated radiation levels that caused the necessary evacuation of people within a 20 to 30 km range of the facility.A study on the effects of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown on the environment and public safety by Dr. med. Alex Rosen of the University of Dusseldorf came up with a series findings. The atmospheric emissions of more than 30 radioactive isotopes occurred through the explosions in reactors 1 to 3, the spent fuel pond of reactor 4 and the venting of reactors to relieve pressure and enable cool down. The total emission of iodine 131 was estimated to be 20% of the quantity emitted in the Chernobyl accident and 40% to 60% of cesium-137 emissions.Although, these are both naturally occurring elements, both of these radioactive isotopes are found to have dang erous impacts to human health under high doses. A dozen other radioactive substances including strontium-90, xenon-133 and plutonium-139 were spread throughout the region as radioactive fallout following the incident. Geography Radioactive fallout occurred mainly in the Northern Pacific (79%) and about 19% of the fallout contaminated the Honshu island, which includes the densely populated Tokyo metropolitan area. Overall, it was determined hat 1000 km2 were highly contaminated with radioactive isotopes. This led to the evacuation of an estimated 200,000 people in the immediately impacted zone in a radius of 20 km2 to 30 km2. Furthermore, an estimated 70,000 people are said to have stayed within 870 km2 radius of the plant’s highly contaminated land outside of the evacuation zone. These people were exposed to 100 times the natural background radiation expected within a year following the accident. Health Risks The risk of developing cancer and other radiation-induced diseases increased proportionally to the amount of radioactive exposure.According to Dr. Rosen, even the smallest amounts of Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 4 radioactivity can cause tissue damage and genetic mutations. Children have been found to be the demographic class with the highest risk in relation to radioactive exposure due to a greater level of sensitivity. Soil Contamination Following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 25 years ago, the Soviet government chose long-term evacuation over extensive decontamination. As a result, the area is non habitable and remains severely contaminated by radioactive fallout.In Japan, large areas of farmland and forests were contaminated following the accident. Lacking land for resettlement and facing public outrage, the Japanese government chose to embark on a decontamination effort of unprecedented scale. Japanese workers, power-sprayed buildings, scraped soil off fields, and removed fallen leaves and undergrowth from the woods ne ar houses, in an attempt to make Fukushima livable again. The Japanese Ministry of Environment estimated that Fukushima would have to dispose of 15 to 31 million cubic meters of contaminated soil and debris by the end of the econtamination process, with costs exceeding one trillion yen. The decontamination efforts were focused mostly on the radionuclides caesium-134 and caesium-137, with half-lives of 2 and 30 years, respectively. Although other radionuclides have been found in Japan, these two pose the greatest long term threat to human health through ingestion and external exposure. Radiocaesium has been found in all of Japan’s prefectures, but most highly concentrated within a 50 kilometer area northwest of the plant, and to a lesser extent throughout eastern and central Fukushima Prefecture.Marine & Groundwater Back flow and deliberate discharge of radioactive wastewater were released from the plant. Approximately 15 to 27 PBq (petabecquerel) of radioactive marine dischar ge resulted in the worst radioactive contamination of the Japanese coast in recorded history. The effect of dilution of the radioactive marine discharge may substantially reduce the impact radioactive fallout, but will inevitably to a greater area being contaminated at a lower concentration. Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences of the U. S. A. ublished major findings on the detection of Fukushima-derived cesium-134 and cesium-137 throughout waters 30–600 km offshore, with Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 5 the highest radioactivity associated with near-shore eddies and the Kuroshio Current acting as a southern boundary for radioactive transport. Researchers concluded that even though cesium isotopes are elevated 10 to 1000 times over prior levels in waters off Japan, radiation risks due to these radionuclides are below those generally considered harmful to marine animals and human consumers, and even below those from naturally occurring radionucl ides.Food & Vegetation Radioactive contamination was found in fruits and vegetables grown in the affected region. Meat products originating from animals grazing on contaminated soil and destined to human consumption was found to be contaminated. Contamination was also detected in milk and tea, as well as, tap water in the Tokyo metropolitan area (the world’s largest city in terms of population). It has been determined that eating 500g of contaminated vegetables can cause internal exposure of 100 times the normal amount of radioactive food content for adults and more than 200 times for children.Fish and seafood caught in the North Pacific region was contaminated and showed clear accumulation of radioactivity in sea life higher up in the food chain within the months following the accident. Washout and bioaccumulation will continue to cause the radioactive contamination of marine animals for years to come due to the extended half life of certain radioactive elements. Although it is quite clear that this accident has had significant impacts on human health, soil, food, animal and marine life, it is still too early to accurately determine the full extent of the accident’s environmental impacts and the proper approach to remediation.Impacts on Nuclear Energy Development Nuclear power provides global carbon-free dispatchable base load generation and its continued growth is a major component in many forecasts for future greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reductions. Nuclear energy accounts for 13. 5% of global electricity production as of 2012. This GHG reduction potential is one of the reasons for the much discussed â€Å"renaissance of Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 6 nuclear power†.It has been acknowledged that nuclear power represents a potential source for large quantities of carbon-free electricity production from plants that do not share the intermittency issues of solar and wind energy production. Two potential forces could adversely affect nuclear production projections postFukushima accident. Foremost, the accident may affect safety criteria and procedures for existing and new nuclear generating units. These changes could lead to increased associated costs. Second, the accident may have adverse affects on public opinion and potential political support for nuclear power.Hence, some countries could ultimately move away from nuclear energy on a political basis, making relicensing of new plants more difficult, leading to tighter safety criteria and delays in regulatory decisions. Determining what the long run responses will be globally and how they will affect the economics of nuclear power generation, as well as the politics associated with acceptance of nuclear power in different countries will remain uncertain for years to come. Prior to the Fukushima accident, it appeared that there was growing political acceptance of nuclear energy.In the world’s 3 largest nuclear economies (U. S. , France, J apan), extensions to licensing were in progress and associated operating lines of most existing plants were proceeding without much political opposition. In particular, Unit #1 of the Fukushima Daichii plant had just received a 10 year extension on its operating license months before the incident. As for new construction, major nuclear vendors were heavily promoting the latest generation 3 design as being safer and more economical than previous generations.Construction was beginning on new nuclear units in Finland and France, and commitments were being made to build new units in the U. K. China had also just made a major commitment to increase its production from 1% to 6% by 2020. India was also in the midst of piercing into the nuclear market, with the help of the U. S. , France and Russia. Additional construction was anticipated in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. A number of developing countries were also beginning to show interest in integrating nuclear energy as a part of their e nergy portfolios.These countries included Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Chile, Venezuela and Vietnam amongst others. A number of considerations were driving this interest. Policies to promote low to zero carbon emitting energy sources and the intent of reaching C02 emissions reduction targets by Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 7 2020 and 2050 were having a positive effect on political decision making. In addition, significant improvements in the performance of nuclear plants in were enabling countries such as the U. S. to reach up to 90% capacity factors.Furthermore, the rise in fossil fuels and new generation reactors were promising higher safety ratings and lower construction costs. The reconsideration of Italy, Spain and Sweden on the use of nuclear power use and the growing interest in emerging countries to rapidly respond to increase in demand for electricity were also leading factors. All these reasons led experts into the optimistic belief that the world was on the verge of a new wave of investment in the nuclear energy sector. Since the Fukushima accident, detrimental impacts on expert optimism have been observed.Japan has permanently closed units 1-4 of the Fukushima Daichii plant and the status of units 5-6 remain uncertain. In addition, only 10 out of Japan’s 50 previously operational units are now operating, and there has been significant local opposition to returning them to service. Public support for Japan’s current nuclear power program is under considerable stress. Following the accident, most countries with major nuclear programs have moved quickly to perform short-term safety assessments of existing plants and have opted to launch longer term assessments of regulatory procedures and safety criteria.The situation in Japan remains uncertain. As the third largest nuclear program worldwide, a decision to move away from nuclear energy with Germany would have a definite material effect on f uture development trends. Any tightening of safety requirements resulting from the accident will only make the economic status of nuclear power less attractive. However, it has been observed that the Fukushima accident has had little effect on plans for unit construction in countries where significant nuclear programs were being planned prior to Fukushima.Some countries such as Taiwan, Chile, Israel and Venezuela have decided to not enter or re-enter the nuclear expansion business. On the other hand, current non-nuclear countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Abu Dhabi have recommitted to start building nuclear power plants. As for China, it is believed that its willingness to sacrifice on economics to meet energy security and environmental goals is still present. The setback is that China can not fail to meet safety requirements and this may constrain the rate at which its nuclear program can proceed. Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. The Fukushima Daich ii nuclear accident will contribute to a reduction in future trends on the expansion of nuclear energy, but at this time these effects appear to be quite modest at the global level. For countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Japan, the effects are significant, but for most other countries, changes have not been currently made in their support for nuclear power. Due to significant loss of trust in reactor safety, the International Atomic Energy Agency reduced, in Juin 2011, the 2030 projection on the worldwide contribution of nuclear power by about 10%.Nuclear power has been the source of fear and excitement for decades, and what the Fukushima Daichii nuclear accident caused, first and foremost, was irreparable damage to the local communities of Japan and their surrounding environment. It is now clear that the international community may have dodged the bullet once again, however it seems as though they might not be getting a second chance. The potential for clean energy producti on with nuclear energy is undeniable, perhaps advancements in technology such as the development of Generation IV reactors will put nuclear energy back on the forefront of global energy production.Whether or not potential energy output outweighs the risks associated with future accidents differs based on personal perspective. The Gen IV International Forum will evaluate lessons learnt and integrate them in the design and safety criteria of the reactors under development, which are expected to be ready by mid-century. Inherent reactor safety features will become far more important as a result of the Fukushima accident. Furthermore, modular and smaller reactors, due to their lower in-core energy density, will probably gain in popularity.As we move forward, a dedicated and permanent effort is needed to regain trust by open, transparent and honest dialogue with the public on the risks and benefits of nuclear energy. Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 9 References Lincoln L. Davies. â€Å"Beyond Fukushima: Disasters, Nuclear Energy, and Energy Law. † Brigham Young University Law Review. (2011): 1937-1990. The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission. â€Å"The National Diet of Japan. † (2012): 1-15. Dr. med. Alex Rosen. â€Å"Effects of the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns on environment and health. † (2012): 1-18. Paul L. Joskow & John E. Parsons. The Future of Nuclear Power After Fukushima†. MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. (2012): 1-30. Roland Schenkel. â€Å"Nuclear Energy Acceptance and Potential Role to Meet Future Energy Demand. Which Technical/Scientific Achievements Are Needed? †. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements. (2012): 356-364. Winifred Bird. â€Å"As Fukushima Cleanup Begins, Long-term Impacts are Weighed†. Yale Environment 360. (2012): 1. Karl K. Turekian et al. â€Å" Fukushima-derived radionuclides in the ocean and biota off Japan†. PNAS. (2012): 1-5. Nuclear Energy: How Fukushima Changed Everything. 10

Female Education

The history of progress of the human race is the history of education. Hence it is necessary or every person, man or woman, to be educated. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Women should be educated like men; otherwise there can be no peace or no progress. If you yoke an unbroken (untrained) horse with a highly trained one, the carriage will be dashed to pieces and the occupants’ lives will be destroyed. The family peace cannot be preserved with such ill-matched life-long companions.Napoleon was once asked what the greatest need of France was. He answered, â€Å"Motherland’s National progress is impossible without trained and educated mothers†. If the women in any country are not educated, about half . he people in that country will be Ignorant. The result is that such a country will not be able to go along with other nations in development and progress. I’ll There is a greet controversy going on in Pakistan their women should receive her edu cation or not.Orthodox people are in favor of female education, but they us opposed to giving them higher education but this view does not sound welt. If women are mentally fit to receive higher education, there seems to be no reason why they should not be allowed to develop their mental faculties. There is other group of liberal people which Ii In favor of the female education. To give them only the rudiments of knowledge, while they are eager for advanced studies, is to condemn them to a place of inferiority.A woman has to play three distinct pests in the course of her life in each of which certain duties are expected of her. If she is able to do these well, she is worthy of being called perfect woman. It is only by the help of education that she can hope to be able to do them satisfactorily. The first duty of a woman is to be a good daughter. Th. second is to be a good wife and the third is to be a good mother. Education Leeches a woman what she should be. It also teaches her how she should do it to be a good daughter, a good wife and a good mother.Many men spend their evening time at clubs and societies. But a gentleman with an educated wife will not feel the need of clubs and societies. He can share his thoughts with her and seek her advice in trouble. Ho can spend his leisure Lime in her company. An educated lady will be a good Mend, a clever nurse and a useful adviser to her husband. She will be a true helpmate. She can retain her husband’s affection and regard. An uneducated lady is always unable to share in his interests. There is a saying in English. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world†. The meaning is this that the mother exercises a very great influence over the lives of her children and is able to mould their thoughts and characters. If she is educated, she will make such an impression on the mind of her child, that it will enable him in later life to grow into a good and great man. Thus education will enable women to make their parents, husbands and children truly happy. Consequently it is very important that women should be educated.

Management - Conflict Resolution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management - Conflict Resolution - Assignment Example More employees were hired in the weeks and months that followed. The basic salary that all floor employees earned was $7 hour. At the time the federal minimum was $5.85 an hour. The company offered the employees through a verbal offering a $5 production bonus per hour if the employees’ production exceeded a specified quota. The production incentive the company offered led to a major conflict between the administration of the company and the employees due to the fact that the company failed to pay the production incentive it promised. The conflict escalated as time passed on. The employees of the company became extremely agitated at the company because they felt the firm lied and stole from them. They were offered a financial incentive that increased the productivity of the company, but the company did not honor the verbal agreement. The morale of the employees became completely deteriorated as a direct consequence of the conflict. Other negative aspects of the conflict include d a breakdown of communications between the employees and the administration, demise in the productivity of the company, and a lack of trust in the managerial staff of the firm. Things started to worst at this firm instead of better as the conflict continued. The company began to implement other abusive labor practices such as missing hours worked from the employee checks, late payment of payroll, and bounced checks. Sometimes the employees had to wait two to three weeks after the payroll was due to get paid. As things got worse the employees began to rely on each more for financial and emotional support. On many instances the workers helped each other out by giving rides to work to employees that ran out of gasoline money due to the delays in payment. The employees also united their efforts to find a resolution to the problem. The labor movement led to the formation of an employee union. I was right in the middle of things when the union was formed. I joined the union because I tho ught that this was the best way to take a collective stand against the oppressor. My employer was wrong because its actions violated U.S. labor laws. People that work are entitled to a monetary compensation to be paid on time every payment cycle. After the union was formed the president of the union requested a meeting with the general manager in order to find a peaceful resolution to the labor conflict. The manager denied the meeting and the employees decided to go on strike. The history of U.S. labor strikes dates back to the 19th century (Washington, 2012). In search of greater protection the unionization of employees increased after the Great Depression. The strike led to a labor stoppage that lasted three weeks. The administration finally gave in and decided to have a meeting with the union leaders to resolve the conflict. After this meeting the company decided to honor the previously negotiated incentive of $5 an hour for employees that exceed a specified production quota. Iro nically this negotiation did not lead to the greatest result in the long run since the company lost the faith of its top corporate clients. The firm lost some of its biggest clients and was forced to close down operation less than three months after the labor strike ended. Upon reflection of the conflict I faced at my former employer I would have handled the situation much differently. I was part of the founding team of this company. The labor conflict

The difference between the economy in Qatar and Germany ( personal Research Paper

The difference between the economy in Qatar and Germany ( personal opinion ) - Research Paper Example Qatar has a huge natural reserve of gas unlike Germany which depends on other centuries. Oil and gas has diversified the economy of Qatar which gave development in area like chemicals, cement, steel, fertilizer industries and banking. The country largely depends on oil and gas reserve whereas Germany depends on service industry. The 70% of GDP depends upon the service sector. Qatar is a Muslim country and the official language is Arabic whereas the Germany has German as German as official language with no specific religious concentration. Germany is a highly developed nation and has been a world power since centuries. In comparison, Qatar is a country which has developed in recent years and has no historical value. Qatar is now the riches country in Islamic world and has been a pearl fishing country before its concentration on oil and gas. The country Germany specializes in engineering and specializes in fields like automobiles, metals, chemical goods and machinery. Germany is the le ading producer of solar power technology and wind turbines in the world. The country also holds large international trade fairs and congresses in many of cities like Berlin, Frankfurt and Hanover. In this area, Qatar lacks behind as it is not into engineering sector. In case of production of goods and services the country lags behind. Germany is a leader in manufacturing, educational and service sector while Qatar is only leading in gas and oil supply. Qatar is back in educational system with a very few universities and academies and the population of the country is low in educational standards. Germany is a renowned car producer with famous brands like Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz and BMW whereas Qatar is a consumer of these classy cars. Germany is a country which huge corporate like Adidas, PUMA, Siemens, Allianz, Daimler whereas Qatar has no huge corporate. Germany is a permanent member of United Nations Security Council while Qatar is not. Germany is the founding member of the EU a nd also is a part of all international organizations. As per ( Thomas White) â€Å"While rooted in its past, Germany is also a cosmopolitan and dynamic country offering something for everyone†. Qatar is a recently developed country and it is still developing. The country is currently is under â€Å"Qatarization† and in which the Qatari nationals are given priority in positions of authority in all large companies. Since more and more Qatari nationals who are educated in foreign countries are returning home they are given preference in occupation. Qatar has a market economy and has much freedom score and is rated 27th freest in 2013 index. It has much improvement in government spending and monetary freedom comparing to other 15 countries in Middle East region and is ranked at 2nd among them. Qatar’s economy is â€Å"mostly free† with stable economic freedom. As per (Heritage) â€Å"As reflected in the country’s steady improvement in economic freedom since 2008, the Qatari government has pursued reforms to improve the entrepreneurial environment and broaden the economic base beyond oil and gas†. Although, the country is rich, it has a lack of educated work force in economy. Most of the working population is expatriates from India, Philippines and other South Asian countries. However, Germany as a developed nation has a social market economy. It is competitive economy which oppresses socialism. In it

Job Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Job Application - Essay Example Since the job does not entail decision making, the resume instead exude enthusiasm in addition to education and skills that the job could provide practical experience to what I learn in school. The application for a Sales and Marketing Manager is different. The approach is more centered on my experience on how I exceeded my career objectives in addition to my initiative to think of ways that could contribute more to the employer’s bottom line. My educational background is deferred last because this is already given in this kind of position. What is highlighted instead is my capacity to produce result because this is what is important to employers. The language of the two resume also differs. In the application for a Sales and Marketing Manager, the tone is more self-assured to inspire confidence in the prospective employer that indeed I can meet marketing objectives. The application for Administrative Assistant is more enthusiastic and exudes willingness to learn for the prospective employer to have an impression that I am a good employee. This is to my express intention to apply for the post of an Administrative Staff of which you advertised Last Sunday in the newspaper. After going through the qualifications indicated in your advertisement, I believe I am more than qualified to assume the post. I have two years of college at Acme University taking up Business Administration. I have taken up subjects in Accounting and Human Resource making me familiar with costing and dealing employee relations. I am also proficient in preparing reports and is literate in Microsoft productivity tools such as MS Office, Excel, Powerpoint and MS Project. Should you find interest to discuss the details of my qualifications, I would be more than happy to come for an interview at your convenient time. My telephone number is 124-567-8900 and I can be reached between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. This is to express

Sierra LeoneWrite about literacy rates, primary school completion rate Essay

Sierra LeoneWrite about literacy rates, primary school completion rate among females, secondary school attendance, and how girls are interested in attending school further - Essay Example From 2008 to 2012, the literacy level for female aged between 15 -24 years stood at 52% while that of the male stood at 70.5% (UNICEF, 2014). In the period between 2008 and 2012, primary education gross enrollment ratio for male was 129% while that of the females stood at 120%. In the secondary education, gender disparity was still evident. During the period, the net attendance ratio for the boy’s student was 39.9% while that of the girls stood at 33%. The statistics from the primary school indicates that there is a notable disparity in terms of girls and boys education in Sierra Leone. Key challenges facing school going girls during their adolescent stage in Sierra Leone include Another notable aspect that makes the rate of school absenteeism to be high among the 9-14 years old is lack of latrines that are separated based on the gender. According to UNICEF, Majority of schools also lack latrines as well as private areas where girls can wash themselves (Marni et al, 2012). Additionally, due to lack of sanitary cloths available for use by the girls during emergencies, girls do not feel motivated to attend the schools. UNICEF has embarked on addressing problems faced by girls in ways such

'The problem with the global monetary regime is that there are too Essay

'The problem with the global monetary regime is that there are too many institutions involved in its management.' Discuss - Essay Example One main argument against the global monetary regime is the complexity of managing too many institutions with multiple interests, issues, rules and hierarchies that have been quite unstable, which are involved in the global monetary regime(Obrien etal,2002,p3). At the same time it is argued that in spite of the differences, there are many similarities existing among these institutions involved which help in the decision making process(Karns and Mingst,2004,p27) . In this report, this issue of managing too many institutions involved in global monetary regime is discussed in detail. In section 2, an overview of the global monetary regime is shown with reference to evolution of global monetary regime and the various actors involved in the regime. The argument of the complexity of managing too many institutions involved in the global monetary regime is discussed with the help of examples in section3. At the same time, the similarities which have facilitated the decision making process ar e also discussed in section4. .Section 5 concludes the report. Three periods can be distinguished in the evolution of global monetary regime. First is the Bretton Woods Period from 1945 to 1971, seconds is the interdependence period from 1971 to 1989 and the third is the globalization period from 1989 to the present (Hart, 2008,p5). The first period is characterized by fixed exchange rate regime together with currency convertibility, financing, exchange controls, exchange rate changes and adaptation of national policies to form a new international monetary order. This period saw the emergence of international organizations like IMF and World Bank (Hart, 2008,p8). In the second period, monetary system is characterized by floating exchange rates with central bank interventions, debt crises, petrodollar recycling etc. In the third period, global monetary system has been characterized by rising financial flows,

The Relevance of Universal Healthcare Policy in the US Research Paper

The Relevance of Universal Healthcare Policy in the US - Research Paper Example Universal healthcare system will help all the Americans irrespective of their financial status to get access medical care, which will result in decreasing illnesses and increasing health, which is an advantage for the citizens in USA. The US Senate should pass a bill to provide free and universal healthcare system for the Americans so that they get access to a good system of health care regardless of their financial status. In his article, â€Å"The Pros and Cons of Universal Health Care in The United States,† T W Philip makes clear the term ‘universal health care’. He says that it is the system of providing health coverage â€Å"for any and all willing participants† (The Pros And Cons Of Universal Health Care In The United States para.1). Universal healthcare is a government program funded by taxes. The United States is the only nation that does not have a universal health care system at present. The author of the aforesaid article says that Universal health care system is necessary and the citizens are claiming it as it is their birthright and everyone can get access to it. He makes a distinction between the universal health care and the socialized health care. He contends that under universal health care hospitals, doctors, drugs etc remain independent which function for profit or non profit. Socialized medicine is the industry controlled by the government. So, if a person wants his medical insurance he should work under the government. If he loses his job, his medical insurance is also withdrawn. ... If he loses his job, his medical insurance is also withdrawn. Many of the citizens suggest that America’s health care solution is to have a â€Å"nationalized health plan† ( Longley 4), under which medical care for the citizens will be the responsibility of the federal government and the doctors and the hospitals will be under their control. All Americans should have the right to enjoy free health care system like citizens of the other nations. The parliament needs to pass the bill for universal healthcare for American people because the Preamble of the US Constitution includes in its purpose an aim to â€Å"promote the general welfare† (Should all Americans have the right (be entitled) to health care point. 2) of the citizens of the nation. The United States of America is one of the developed nations in the world and it could be recognized as the only country which does not ensure health care for its citizens. For a better health care system, US should stop the medical bankruptcies, and try to improve the public health by reducing the overall healthcare spending. It is the lack of guaranteed healthcare system which has resulted in the poor health of the Americans as compared to citizens of other developed nations of the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has ranked the US health care system â€Å"37th of 190 countries† (Gelder & Pibel), which is far below most of the European countries. Life expectancy in US is also shorter than 27 other countries. These factors indicate that there is an urgent need to revamp the present healthcare system in the country so that its status can be uplifted at par with other developed nations. Due to high cost of health care system, both the large and small firms are pulling back from offering health

Investigating circuit city comany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investigating circuit city comany - Essay Example This article basically illustrates the mistakes that Circuit City undertook before its eventual demise and how its archrival, Best Buy, continued to thrive on the contrary. Circuit City’s failure was not as a result of the downturn in the economy only; its principal failure was in its bad management over the course of the years. The article is well written as it gives us an idea of where Circuit City once was at the peak of the industry and how it slowly succumbed to the changing market, eventually giving up its position as the market leader to Best Buy. The writer also shows the differences in Best Buy and Circuit City; two companies which took entirely different approaches leading to one prospering to be the market leader and the other having to liquidate. The author also used simple and easy to understand writing style and vocabulary that is easy to comprehend. In this article, the writer seems to have one goal in mind and that is to give a clear explanation of Circuit City ’s failure. ... However, this article clearly illustrates this by providing the reader with an insight into what really happened to the second best electronic merchandise store. Circuit City to Shut Down By Parija B. Kavilanz This article also gives a detailed account of Circuit City’s filing for bankruptcy, the approval of the motion to liquidate its remaining stores and all the events that followed the decision to liquidate all the company’s assets. This article outlines how the company had been forced to close shop following its inability to pay up its debts, which shows that the values the company had adopted prior to this had all failed in achieving the company’s future objectives. What led to the unfolding of these events is also a question that is well documented in this article. Therefore, this article offers a reader the ending to the sad story of the now defunct Circuit City. The writer of this article had the intention of telling his readers how the company’s m ismanagement run the company down until it closed business. The whole process of how the company started by closing a number of shops and laying off workers is also illustrated in this article. This article shows the outcome of the stalled negotiations of Circuit City with its creditors and lenders; liquidation. The article gives a picture of the events that unfolded following the decision to liquidate all Circuit City’s assets. All the efforts that the company had undertook to save it from going under had all been in vain as Circuit City was forced to close shop. The liquidation process was from then on, all systems go! The author also uses a brilliant technique of leaving the reader in suspense by informing us that despite all the miscues that Circuit City took there was still hope that the company

Technological device Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technological device - Essay Example After staying in college for three months, my parents sent me money to buy a cell phone. Unlike Gathman (42) who preferred a bilingual phone, I preferred a phone with internet access. I acquired a Nokia 2330 Classic model. This device increased my urge to use the internet. I deviated from searching for academic material to searching for famous quotes and biographies of famous people. From famous philosophers like Aristotle, Socrates to the greatest mafia such as Al-Capone I passed through their lives. This information was not much related to my field of study but I fancied searching for it. The quotes and biographies, I downloaded them, printed, and documented them. This was not only outside the lecture room; I could search for this information even during lectures if I found the lecturer to be boring. My colleagues found my character weird because at that time we were overburdened by assignments and less time was available for leisure. I had heard about Facebook several times even b efore I joined college and when I came to college I found it was very popular among the students. We were raised in a Christian family and my parents instilled in me strict Christian values. They had warned me against sites like Facebook over and over again. They told me that Facebook was a dating site that enhances moral degradation in the society. I heed to their advice and no matter how much my friends convinced me to join the network, I resisted the temptation. In fact, I commenced a campaign to discourage my friends from being on Facebook. I usually used to search for my friends on the internet and sent them messages requesting them to delete their Facebook accounts because it was an â€Å"immoral† site. One time a lecturer gave to one of our colleagues an assignment, we did not have a lecture that day so reaching all students in our class was an uphill task. The student decided to post the assignment on Facebook because making phone calls would have been costly for her. Information went round but I could not get it because I was not part of the â€Å"Facebook community†. The next day the assignment was due for submission yet I heard not heard about it. My friends blamed me for being rigid towards embracing the new technological paradigm. Since that day my thinking was transformed; was it for better or for worse? During the lunch hour, I disregarded my parents’ advice and went and opened a Facebook account. Even though I had opened the account, I was very cautious. I researched about social networking sites in depth. It was then that I came to learn that Facebook unlike dating sites offered a platform for people to make friends and share views and thoughts (Jain, Anand and Gupta 2). My whole attitude towards Facebook changed. I sent friend requests to my colleagues and friends. My friendship search did not stop at home; I crossed the borders and even searched for friends in other continents like Africa, Australia, and Europe. Sometime s I sent them messages in their in box and commented on their status. This site now provided me with information about lecture schedules, assignments, and meetings. I became so used to Facebook that most of my time was spent on Facebook. My passion for searching for quotes and biographies faced and was replaced with Facebook networking. The reason as to why I had resisted Facebook was now contradicted. I commenced

Free

Freedom Short Story from Tkam After Tom Robinsons Trial Essay As I sat outside watching the other inmates, a gentle breeze caressed my face, providing relief from the sun’s hot rays. I was used to the heat, but maybe it was the circumstances that I was in that made it unbearable. I could see that my fellow inmates felt the same as they lazed about, their skin glistening with sweat, their shirts clinging to their backs. ‘Guilty until proven innocent’ rang angrily in my mind when I saw the number of Negroes compared to white people incarcerated. The amount of court cases, as well as families, jobs and lives, lost due to our colour was innumerable. Half of us didn’t even commit a crime worth being sent to jail for, but here we are! I wiped my forehead with an already sticky hand and surveyed my surroundings in an effort to shake off the contemptuous thought. The dirt oval consisted of some simple worn out exercising equipment, their hinges squeaking in protest with very movement; a few withering trees dying in the midday heat, two lookouts sitting on the inside of the perimeter where the prison guards patrolled the prisoners and a barbed wire fence which enclosed the space in an ominous hug. I thought pensively about my situation as I kicked the dusty ground vehemently, scuffing my already torn prison boots in the process. The rising hopelessness that I had kept bottled up throughout the court case, believing that with Mr Finch on my side I would definitely be acquitted, quickly vanished, much like the specks of dirt that I had kicked up had disappeared, carried away with the breeze of reality. I observed the bluejays on the nearby trees, warbling their little hearts out with not a care in the world, unaware of the injustice that had occurred. I was being punished for a crime that I had not committed, accused by a woman whom I have assisted for nigh a year! The court case didn’t just affect me it affected my family as well and I don’t want them to suffer because of it. What will they do? How will Helen watch the chillun’ and work? They don’t deserve this! My family needs me. It was already a struggle to bring food to the table everyday, and now with most of our income ripped away, I can’t bring myself to fantasise what my family would have to suffer. Would Helen have to starve to keep the chillun’ physically satisfied? I’ve prayed for them every night confined in the dungeon, praying that God would help them through this adversity. Ms Mayella obviously doesn’t realise that her decision to accuse me affects my family just as much as it affects me. She used the only ticket that would guarantee her victory over the court case, which would prove her innocent from the despicable crime that she had committed – her race. The inequity displayed towards Negroes always perplexed me. We came from the same ancestors, Adam and Eve, but somehow, white people were born having more rights than others, perceived as superior to others, more moral than others. I should’ve conceded that I was a black man living in a white man’s world, and no matter what I did to prove myself innocent, there would be no justice for me. I hate how all white people acrimoniously conclude that all Negroes lie, all Negroes are basically immoral beings and all Negroes aren’t to be trusted around women, as Mr Finch mentioned. How can people be so shallow, so malevolent and so blind? They’re living a lie! How dare America call themselves a democracy when they can’t even treat their own people equally, lowering our rights, our standards and our lives! The act of incarcerating all black people for almost everything that we do is a paradox to their self-proclaimed government. It is overdue to set things straight, but there is no better time than now to change the way Negroes are treated. I am not going to wait for someone else to take justice, as God knows when that is going to come. Justice is in my hands. The only possible way that I can achieve this is to run. They’re going to kill me nonetheless so I’m already a dead man walking, but I’m not dying knowing that I just sat there letting them persecute me while knowing that I did nothing to prevent this precedent from occurring again to other Negro families. I must run. I quickly rose from the bench which I was seated on and began jogging the perimeter of the oval, keen to find an escape route to freedom. I took a quick glance at the patrollers- they were watching us inattentively, their faces impassive and eyes glazed over, contenting themselves in their current daydreams. I scrutinized the fence for any weakness. There were several places where the fence sagged, but all seemed intact. I searched for other possible escape routes, my eyes slowly taking in every detail of the oval, but when failing to find any, I approached an oak tree to ponder over my next move, when flashbacks of my family and previous life overwhelmed me. There were many oak trees in my life – in my backyard, on the sidewalk, at work but I never knew until now that they were so prominent in my life. There were oak trees that my children loved to climb on, loved to hide in, loved to have mini adventures in. There were oak trees that I watched from my kitchen window as their branches were softly tickled by the wind, which Helen used to sit under and pensively think about life’s uncertainties, which grew and thrived with my family. There were oak trees which provided me a job, which I spent countless hours climbing up and down laboriously picking acorns, which earned me money to support my family. My heart ached with sadness when I thought back to those wonderful memories, making me miss my family even more than I originally did. Helen would probably be working strenuously to support the children now without my help. What this event has put my family through is unthinkable. I can’t prevent what I am currently putting them through, but they must understand that if I do no try to get free I will be killed nonetheless. Everyone deserves to have equal rights, and I am going to be the person bringing justice. I am not going home after my jail sentence knowing that I did nothing to prevent further injustice from occurring to thousands of other Negroes. I want to be able to tell my chillun’ that I didn’t just sit there being persecuted, allowing other Negroes to be persecuted as well, as the pain that discrimination puts us through throughout our lives is unbearable. I want to be a role model for them; to be an example for fighting for what is right. Even though doing so may be dangerous and may lead to death, bringing justice to every race is worth losing a life for. In a sudden burst of adrenaline and surprising confidence I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me to the barbed wire fence and began climbing. I almost leaped backwards in surprise as my bare skin came into contact with the burning metal that had been basking in the sun all day, but my mind was set on my goal, and so I ignored the acrid pain and scaled the fence. Consecutively, shouts of surprise and disbelief spread through the prisoners, and, as if my actions brought them back to life, the angry voices of the prison guards soon followed. Hollering warnings and portentous threats, the patrollers showed no evidence that a few seconds ago they were practically lifeless, but their efforts were wasted as it proved completely futile. With my prior experience climbing trees for Mr Deas, I quickly adapted to my situation and climbed, my hand and feet working simultaneously to make up for my deprivation. My eyes darted to elusive spaces between the barbs and my hand quickly followed suit, with my legs climbing after them. The barbs clung and sliced at my arms and clothes as the patrollers’ threats became more ominous, their cries climbing to a climatic forte, ineffective at impeding my pilgrimage. The word justice was repeated over and over in my mind, instilling a new hope in me, encouraging me to continue climbing. This failed when a gunshot shattered my tranquillity. A bolt of pure panic shot through me, causing my heart to thrash against my ribs as I realised the severity of my situation. I lost my footing, dangling in mid-air for a second, but immediately found another foothold and scaled the fence even faster than before. Seeing that the gunshot failed to stop me, several more shots were fired into the air, counterproductive as it only made me move twice as fast. ‘Quicker! Quicker! ’ my body seemed to holler at me, dissatisfied with the speed that I was travelling. My stomach started to twist with despair, my newfound hope abandoning me, slowly overtaken by doubt then a bullet whistled past my ear inches from my face. My hand began shaking uncontrollably from pure fear. My lungs were screaming for air, the spikes were screaming for blood, but my scream for justice overpowered them all. More deathly bullets whistled past, when one successfully tore through my leg. An explosion of pain raked my leg, and immediately I felt warm blood gush out of my pulsing wound. I was almost over the fence though! Clenching my teeth, I reached between the razor wire. The screams and hollering of the prisoners were vociferous, but nothing mattered as the second bullet hit my crippled shoulder. It immediately burst into flames as I started sweating uncontrollably, the back of my shirt soaked with blood, clinging to me. In a last ditch effort, I hauled myself between the razor wire to the other side of the fence leading to freedom. A third bullet tore through my thigh, sending me rolling to the ground in a bloodied heap while other bullets whizzed past and wounded me. The shrill roar in my ears gradually ceased to a dull hum, and dizzying black splotches began crowding my vision. The last thought that left my mind was: Freedom.

Problems And Prospects Of Venture Capital

Problems And Prospects Of Venture Capital Venture capital is a type of private equity which provides funding for businesses which are newly started with high potential growth. Venture capital is very important to countries; this is because it creates job opportunities, advance technology, which in turn increases economic growth of the country. (Mason, C. Pierrakis, Y. 2009) What distinguishes between venture capital and private equity is that private equity is usually involved in investing in large company where as venture capital invest in small start up companies. These small and young businesses generally have high level of uncertainty, thus making them more risky. In additional, these businesses generally dont have many tangible assets making it extremely difficult for them to secure bank loans, therefore making venture capital a very good option for them. VC firms are not interested in companies that are trying to create a market, or companies that are in a mature market, instead they look for markets that have a large number of potential users. (Mason, C. Pierrakis, Y. 2009) A typical venture capital investment usually lasts from 3 to 7 years, and the standard sequences of venture capital investment are the following: The founder of an idea or product will try and persuade the venture capital firm that their idea/ product is sensible and profitable. If the venture capital firm is happy with the founders proposal, it will provide funding for the founder to set-up; this includes management team, development of a fully functional prototype, marketing research. In return the VC firm will get an equity stake of the invested company. Once the setting-up is finished, the VC firm will provide funding and support on promoting and selling the product. If the product is successful, reaching the targeted market shares, the VC firm will exit cashing in its investment. (The Smart Set-Up 2008) The first VC firm was found in 1946 by MIT President Karl Compton and General Georges F. Doriot named American Research and Development (ARD) which was structured as a close ended fund. ARD was extremely successful since it turned an investment of $70,000 in Digital Equipment Corporation to a value of $355 million after the companys initial public offering. A number of VC firms which was structured as close ended fund was established after ARD, but it wasnt until 1958 the first VC limited partnership was established by Draper, Gaither and Anderson. Limited partnership became more common in the 1960s and 1970s; however the majority of VC firms are still structured as close ended fund. (Gompers, P. Lerner, J. 2001) Today, Venture Capital has been affected by the recession. Not as much money is being invested as 5 years ago during the height of the technology bubble. Currently Venture Capitalists are decreasing there overall amounts invested but are moving towards allocating more to later-stage investments. Currently there are fewer young entrepreneurs with great new ideas who are willing to risk building and sustaining a business. However this downturn is not expected to continue forever and it is China that will lead the way as the new most exciting venture market with 1.3 billion potential consumers. Yet, it is not only China who will rise from this downturn, UK along with other traditionally strong venture markets will re-emerge, but the question remains whether or not it will attract as much venture capital as it once demanded. Although China is set to become the biggest venture capital market, it can without a doubt learn an awful lot from past experiences of the UK market to assist its de velopment. (Deloitte. 2009) UK Venture Capital Industry Overview Introduction: importance of the UK venture capital industry Although the private equity industry in the UK founded its roots back in 1940s, it started to take off and grow rapidly from the mid 1980s, and now is second only in importance globally to the USA. In Europe the UK private equity market is regarded as the most mature (Tannon et al. 2005 cited in Soderblom 2005). 40% of the European PE industry is shared by the UK funds. As of % of GDP, the UK is the most significant private equity investor in Europe at a level of 1.10% (Figure 1), but out of this only 0.21% goes into venture capital financing while the rest is invested in the buyout sector (EVCA, 2005b cited in Soderblom 2005). It is important to note that in Europe the terms venture capital and private equity or risk capital are often used interchangeably, as European private equity funds typically include three main sub-categories: venture capital for start-up businesses and early stage companies; later stage expansion capital; and management buy-outs and management buy-ins. This t erminology differs from the one in the US, where private equity funds are considered as separate institutions from those managing venture funds (European commission 2006). That is why in UK venture capital is regarded as an integral part of private equity, but as the riskier part of the whole portfolio of PE funds. The UK VC Industry has been always compared to the US VC Industry in its performance and main development drivers. However, Richard, chairman of Library House (2007), argued that instead of benchmarking each European country against the whole US, it is more reasonable to explore the difference in VC performance between separate states, and then compare them with countries in Europe. Thus, Library House has produced a league table, which put the UK a third in this ranking in 2006 with 515 minority stakes worth à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.78bn. California was first with 1,367 deals worth à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬9.1bn, followed by Massachusetts with 338 deals worth à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2.1bn. Development of Venture Capital Industry in UK and recent trends VC Industry in the UK started from 1945, when Industrial and Commercial Financial Corporation (ICFC) was created (Clarysse et.al. 2009) to provide capital to growing independent businesses, which later became a global private equity firm, with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8bn of assets under management (3i 2009). However, in 1970s availability of experienced VC managers proved to play an important role in taking-off the industry and developing it to the most successful in Europe. From early times of the development, the UK VCs were concentrated on leveraged buyouts and expansion type deals, as start-up opportunities were weak and not promising (Clarysse et.al. 2009). This is still the case in a current VC industry in UK making investments in established companies traditionally more attractive. Nevertheless, the UK VC Industry has shown a radical increase from  £26m invested in 1983 to  £1,048 in 2008. High-technology companies made more than 50% of those investments (Clarysse et.al. 2009). Over the last decade, the UK has been maintaining the average level of VC investment in early stage development of new ventures between 20% and 30% of total VC (BVCA 2009). VC Industry in recession Business XL (2009) reports that investments in ventures have decreased since 2006: 2 billion compared to estimated 750 million in this year. This suggests that venture capital industry was affected by the financial crisis. In the face of the recession that has challenged their existing portfolio companies, VCs are trying to secure more money to support those companies. Thus, most of the emerging opportunities are passing by without being considered by venture capitalists. Even though lower valuations of ventures seem to be a good deal for opportunistic VCs, according to Deloitte Research (2009), global trends indicate that large VC firms ($ 500million or more) have cut their investments more than small investment firms ($99 million or less). As the figure shows after the â€Å"dot-com† bubble in early 2000s the value of VC investments was falling gradually. But then, according to BVCA (cited by Mason et al. 2009) private equity and venture capital investments tripled in value between 2003 and 2007 from  £4bn to almost  £12bn. However, the value of investments fell by 28% in 2008 as the financial crisis took place. These trends indicate thatinvestment activities in Venture Capital Industry are very cyclical and fairly dependent on the general state of the economy. Source: BVCA Report on Investment Activity (various years) Importance of VC industry for growth of the UK economy According to BVCA (2009), companies backed by venture capital are more efficient and grow faster: VC-backed firms compared to those that do not receive venture capital backing are more innovative and produce more patents (Kortum et al. 2000), they develop and launch their products to the market faster (Hellmann et al. 2000), and have faster managerial professionalization (Bruton et al. 2005). In the UK during the time 2002-2007, the annual growth in number of people employed in VC-backed companies was 6%, sales growth was 12% annually, and exports were 14% annually (BVCA, 2009). Research undertaken by IE Consulting (2008) implies that venture capital funding plays a crucial role in making the whole UK economy more productive and competitive. VCs provide seed capital for new businesses helping them to develop the new high-tech products, market them, and to grow further to set-up their manufacturing and sales operations. Even though VCs contribution to growth of national economy is indirect, through funding new venture companies, this role is indeed the cornerstone of increasing innovation activities and development of advanced high-technology based firms in the country. The survey among 1013 VC-backed businesses (IE Consulting 2008) in UK identified that 86% of respondents have grown their businesses â€Å"organically† since receiving venture capital funding. 91% of the surveyed venture companies confirm that â€Å"venture capital was responsible for the existence/survival of their businesses and allowed them to grow more rapidly† (IE Consulting 2008). Moreover, there are also tax implications from the growth of VC-backed firms: public revenues increase as a result of growth in sales of those firms, and consequently more taxes are received by the government (including not only corporate taxes, but some other taxes resulting from growing venture firms operations). All these facts underlie the positive impact of venture capital industry on the overall economically important factors of the country such as job creation, growth of small and medium-sized businesses, investments in innovation and high-technology firms. Problems of Venture Capital industry in the UK Although UK is considered to be a world leader in Private Equity and Venture capital sector, second only to the US (IE Consulting 2008), still there are problems to be resolved as there are concerns that UK lags behind in the growing of ‘new high-tech based economy and innovation activities. The figure below taken from the report by Think Play Do Group (2009) prepared for BVCA, comparing VC industry development to US and Israel, the world-leaders in VC, shows that VC investments in the UK as a % of GDP are much lower than those in the US and Israel (Figure 3). This confirms the concerns that underinvestment in VC industry should be resolved and underlying problems identified and treated appropriately. Supply and Demand drivers for Venture Capital in the UK Since Venture Capital is so important for the economic development of the country, it is necessary to gain insight into how VC Industry is driven by supply and demand determinants. Moreover, the problems in the development of this industry can be identified through the closer look into both sides of it. Main demand side determinants of VC performance in the UK The demand for venture capital is drawn by the quantity and quality of innovative companies looking for funding and that are able to produce particular rates of return on those investments (Clarysse et.al. 2009). So, first of all, demand for VC is highly driven by early-stage entrepreneurial activities in the country. According to GEM Global report (2008), which explores the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic development, and particularly investigates â€Å"Entrepreneurial Attitudes, Activities and Aspirations† across 43 countries worldwide, in the UK 41% of adult population agreed that there are good opportunities to start a business in the next half of the year, and 52% considered entrepreneurship as a desirable career choice. However, only 5% expected to start a business in the next three years. All of these resulted in a very low rate of entrepreneurial activity, especially at the early stage which is just 5.9% of the whole population. Compared to the US (10.8%), this entrepreneurial activity is quite low, and might be a result of high percentage of respondents (38%), who believe that fear of failure would prevent starting a business. Clarysse et.al. (2009) explain that with bankruptcy laws that are more entrepreneur-friendly in the US compared to the UK, where there is high correlation between company and personal bankruptcies. One of the most important factors affecting the demand of VC is a stock of knowledge, which can be gathered through universities or national laboratories. Strong RD culture and easier spin-outs from those universities proved to have very positive effect on formation of new companies. It is also commonly considered that due to the lack of a culture of commercialising research in most of the European Universities (including the UK), these conditions are less effective in facilitating the commercialization of business ideas compared to countries where universities are normally private and dependent on commercialising research in order to increase revenues. Thus, indications of technological opportunities, such as growth rate of RD investments, availability of patents and access to university spin-outs seem to have a great impact on the demand for venture capital funding mainly through increasing number of new start-up firms exploiting those available opportunities. Statistical data (Worldbank 2008) indicate that between 1996 and 2006 RD expenditure in the UK as a percentage of GDP was stable between 1.5% and 2%. Fairly low capital gains taxes in the UK have had favourable effect on demand for VC in the UK, as it makes more people willing to start their own company. CGT rate has been reduced since 1988 from 40% to 10% for higher-rate tax payers for long-term investments. Though in 2008 this rate increased again from 10% to 18% in 2008, it is still low enough to encourage new business start-ups. (Clarysse et.al. 2009) According to statistical analysis conducted by Clarysse et.al. (2009) entrepreneurial activity is an important determinant of VC investments in the UK, so in order to enhance VC activities in thecountry policy makers should work on increasing entrepreneurial activity. Main Supply side determinants of VC performance in the UK There are different factors identifying the level of supply of VC, such as the situation on the exit markets, regulation policies, the fiscal environment and wider economic situation. The main problem is that the amount invested in early stage company is still low in the UK. The investors in the country are more interested in established businesses rather than in new innovative small companies, which is evidenced by the dominating buyout sector. According to Martin et al. (2003) and EVCA (2005) cited by Soderblom (2006), over 70% of all private equity goes into buyouts. For the last few years the early stage investments have substantially decreased in the UK, where VC allocations to seed and start-up phases account for only around 5% out of total PE investments (EVCA, 2005b cited by Soderblom 2006 ). Even with the fact that between the early 1990s and 2001 the volume of investments in high-technology companies in the UK increased tenfold (Martin et al., 2003) the VC investments in high- tech firms as a percentage of GDP was only 0.21% in 2005 (EVCA, 2005b cited by Soderblom 2006). The Figure 4 below illustrates these trends during the last decade. These low investments in early stage firms can be explained by the notion of â€Å"short terminism† which is the prevalent attitude towards returns on investments in the Capital market in the UK (Oakey 1995). It is evident that new high-tech based firms (NTBFs) have had a bad reputation among investors for being unreliable due to their inability to meet â€Å"fast return† demand and other â€Å"milestones† predicted in their business plans (Oakey 1995). Even more recent studies (Lockett et al. 2001) on â€Å"whether or not the UK VC industry has become less biased against investment in new technology-based firms† conclude that, although, investment in new high-tech based firms have increased by 2000s, the investors do not appear to be lowering their target rates of return for technology-based investments compared to non-technology-based investments at the same stage. So, even with higher acceptance rates for NTBFs, technology still proves to be a more important risk factor than stage of investment. Especially, the survey by Lockett et al. (2001) indicates that venture capitalists believe that many of NTBF proposals continue to be riskier than non-technology projects due to issues in management quality, intellectual property protection and potential market size. So there comes the problem of equity gap for the NTBFs. These firms are unable to get investments from either business angels or venture capitalists. The reason is that the small private Investors have limited financial resources and generally invest relatively small amounts of equity that is not enough for the new ventures and at the same time venture capitalists invest in bigger projects and the minimum sum they provide is higher than that the company asks for. According to the 2004 Bridging the Finance Gap report, the equity gap affects businesses seeking to raise between approximately  £250,000 and  £2 million of equity finance, and that this gap is most severe for sub- £1 million investments and for innovative businesses at an early stage of their development. Exit strategy for investor. On the supply side, stock market activity and the availability of trade sale opportunities were found to be important elements. VCs think in milestones but dream of exits. Visible exits such as stock market introductions are important for VCs to raise funds. It does not really matter whether these companies are introduced on local or international public markets as long as the stock market is liquid.(source) Ideally, investments are realised through an IPO, an industrial trade sale, or a secondary sale (Sà ¶derblom 2006). However, deep and liquid stock markets and favourable conditions to realize trade sales tend to be the most important factors for VC industry to flourish. Bringing a company to IPO indicates the quality of the VC and is important for investors in considering subsequent funding rounds, even though IPOs only account for less than 5% of total exits. A secondary market in for stock exchanges in the UK was created with AIM (Alternative Investment Market founded in 1995, and has grown significantly, from having a capitalisation of  £82.2 million in 1995 to nearly  £40 billion at the time in 2008. Furthermore, the London Stock Exchange launched techMARK to help promote existing quoted technology stocks and attract new ones to the exchange. However, according to BVCA there is a slow development of early stage VC in Britain and the whole Europe because of the absence of a f unctioning pan-European stock exchange for early stage ventures. The problem is that the European second-tier markets are fragmented (as several second-tier markets were launched) which resulted in limited capitalisation and liquidity of individual markets. Thus, reforms in capital market regulations may be needed to allow the creation of a single stock market for growth companies (including the UK markets) promoting economies of scale (Clarysse et.al. 2009). The sizes of public funds in the UK have not enabled the industry to reach a sufficient critical mass and the limited availability of follow-on financing has resulted in a â€Å"second equity gap†. To address this, the government could cornerstone an investment into a fund-of-funds that would attract private capital from institutional investors which would invest in venture capital funds able to demonstrate a track record of strong performance. (source) The Importance of balance between private sector and public sector investors in VC industry Since the early development of venture capital industry till late 1990s venture funds were primarily publicly-funded and supported by Business Expansion Scheme, which was replaced in 1994 by the Enterprise Investment Scheme (Mason et al. 2009). At the beginning of 20th century Many of these funds became ‘hybrids, involving a combination of public money and private investors, with incentives which enhance the risk-reward profile to attract private investors. Although free-standing private sector investments increased in numerical terms from 2002 until 2006, they have declined as a proportion of total investment activity from 81% in 2001 to 56% in 2008. In the UK the increased involvement of the public sector is even more apparent in the early stage venture capital market (Mason et al. 2009) accounting for the majority of such investments. In 2001 public sector funds were involved in 36% of investments. By 2003, as the various funds established by the Labour Government came on st ream, this had risen to 51% and by 2008 accounted for 68% of all investments. The proportion of public sector investments in the form of co-investment schemes has grown from 28% in 2001 to peak at 56% in 2007, falling back to 45% in 2008. (source) Nonetheless, emerging evidence from a NESTA/BVCA study (Nightingale et al, 2009 cited by Mason et al. 2009) indicates that companies that have received funding from public sector venture capital funds have not performed significantly better than those firms that did not receive funding from such sources. One interpretation is that public sector venture capital funds may not be able to add value to the companies they manage, because there is a â€Å"necessity to attract, reward and hold together experienced and committed venture capital executives to manage public funds.† In other words, the individuals running public sector funds are highly rewarded and incentivised to make the best possible returns. On the other hand, public sector venture capital funds may not be able to attract capable investment managers, and consequently they are unable to make good investments (quality of deal flow, domain knowledge, effectiveness of their due diligence). Thus, dominating position of pub licly funded VC funds especially in economically lagging regions resulted in inefficient performance of regionally based funds in the Midlands and north of England, along with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland due to lack of entrepreneurial eco-system and necessary networks with expert VC managers and external investors, and this in turn resulted in the VC industry in UK being concentrated and limited in traditionally active centres as London and Cambridge. Analysis Such a market would have two crucial benefits; first, it would greatly improve the ability VC-backed companies to raise large sums of capital required for global expansion and secondly, it would help to increase the average valuations of MA transactions. Further research should be conducted to fill the gaps and update the existing literature on the feasibility of a Pan-European stock exchange. A briefly description of development of VC industry in China How it originated and developed? Chinas venture capital business started from the middle of 1980s. For about twenty five years development, Chinas venture capital has made a great improvement, especially in the recent four or five years. However, there are still a lot of difficulties and problems facing China venture capital. For example, lack of appropriate regulations and policies, inflexible venture capital investment mechanism, lack of diversity of funding sources or lack of effective exit mechanism and so on. In 1983, the State Science Technology Commission (SSTC) (now the Ministry of Science Technology or MOST) set up a Research Group of Countermeasures to the Influence of the New Technology Revolution in order to carefully study the international technology situation. (This was the first time for China to truly face the implications that were taking place in the development of the global economy. After that from 1985 to 1995, the Central Government and some local governments financed and set-up investment institutions that intended to pursue the venture capital business. (Jack C. Fensterstock, Aimin Li 2001) In the year 1999, lots of government funding were lost, because of not deeply and really understand VC. After that both government and private started to change, for example, make some polices and gave better conditions for those who is good at VC. Since 2006, VC is on its boom in china, with the government supplying majority of it, however the amount of both private funding and the funding from abroad has developed significantly, More, VC in china is paying more and more attentions on new technologies. (Jack C. Fensterstock, Aimin Li 2001) Policy support in China Venture capital as a risk investment, it is highly risky but also highly profitable. More integrated laws or regulations are needed for Chinas venture capital development. In China, to protect and regulate the VC markets, Chinese government had made some National laws and some local laws duo to its own background. (As the graph shows below) In China, there are several different business activities of Venture capital. However, it is not permitted for VC enterprises to invest in guarantee services or real property business activities. Venture capital investment business; Venture capital investment business carried out on behalf of other organizations such as VC enterprises or individuals; Venture capital investment consulting business; Venture capital investment management services provided to VC enterprises; Participations in VC enterprises and venture capital management consultancies. (China: Venture Capital Regulations Published January 6, 2006 Hong Kong) With the development of policy, technological and understanding of VC, both organizational and institutional elements in China are becoming more and more complex. The system that has emerged so far is highly complex in terms of variety and number of organizational actors. Although the result has been dramatic, the series of changes are best seen as evolutionary and primarily driven by Chinas larger objective of national technological and economic development. As such, key changes in Chinas science and technology policy and business system structure during the transition era can be linked to the emergence and nature of Chinas venture capital industry. In this context, venture capital is simultaneously an extension of prior policy trajectories, as well as a potential answer to problems that other policy initiatives have not been able to solve. Balance between private and public For the venture capital industry in China, unlike other countries, it has been promoted not as a means to private gain; it is a critical mechanism to connect among scientific, technological capabilities and output. one hand, with national and regional economic and social development on the other which includes the total set of related actors and institutions, has undergone a dramatic transformation over the last two decades. The source for fund is very single, most of them are from government, or mixed by both private and government. Also, for Chinese government, it is always believed that both science and technology are the most significant parts of its search for economic development. (Steven WHITE, 2008) Most venture capital funds have a fixed life of 10 years, with the possibility of a few years of extensions to allow for private companies still seeking liquidity. The source for fund is very single, most of them are from government, or fixed by both private and government, and government takes the risky, compared with others, this kinds of fund do not want to take high risk investment. The national and local governments may establish venture capital investment guidance funds. The funds are to support the establishment and development of VC enterprises by taking equity participations and providing financial guarantees, etc. The state shall use beneficial tax policies to support the development of VC enterprises and to encourage them to invest in small and medium size enterprises, in particular in the high tech sector. The foregoing preferential policies shall be set forth in regulations to be drafted by the relevant authorities. Exit mechanism of Venture capital in China Chinas venture capital business started from the middle of 1980s (2). For about twenty five years development, Chinas venture capital has made a great improvement, especially in the recent years. Yet there are still a lot of difficulties and problems facing China venture capital. Compare to developed countries, China venture capital still lagging far behind. Exit mechanism as the major process of making profit from investment, it is very important to Venture capital. However, Because of the lack of appropriate laws, regulations or market structures and so on, exit become extremely difficult for China venture capital industry. Exit mechanism of venture capital mainly including four methods, initial public offering (IPO), mergers and acquisitions ¼Ã…’repurchase ¼Ã…’write- off (10). In China, about 15% of venture capital exit mechanism is by IPO in recent years, this is higher than in developed countries, this is not good because over half of listed companies are overseas-listed; over 37% of venture capital exit from mergers and acquisitions which is the highest compare to the other exit mechanisms (Qisong Wang, 2004), and this is still increasing. Both numbers are proving that chinas venture capital exit mechanism lacks of flexibility, the reasons lead to exit inflexibility can be described as follow: lack of appropriate laws, policies or regulations; inadequacy of a well organized market structure; absence of a efficient intermediate service system; limitation on enterprise ownership structure, and so on. One big very important element should be taken into consideration is that the Chinese government involvement. Most domestic venture capital institutions in China carry a government background or were once state owned enterprises, this deprive them of the capability of adapting to the high marketization, ardent competition, high intelligence, and high-responsiveness of the venture capital industry (Gongmeng Chen, 2005). The inflexibility of venture capital investment mechanism and lack of competitiveness is another problem to China venture capital development. If they do not thoroughly press forward with the marketization and globalization reform, even though they can have some development it will not be a long-term intrinsic development. No matter the market or policy environment in China, both have limited the adjustment of venture capital development. What the government can do is to build a more specific regulation system to rule the whole venture capital market. The Chinese marke t is attractive to foreign venture capitalists because of large domestic demand, rapid economic development (Chang Sun, 2006). Government itself can do investing but the more important thing is to encourage private equity and other forms of capital to involve into venture

Descartes philosophy Essay -- essays research papers

Descartes’ â€Å"evil genius scenario† provides the possibility for the existence of an evil genius that is in control of our world in place on an omnipotent god. By in control, I mean that he would in some magical way compose our lives by his own will, thus making any certain knowledge about material objects impossible. This scenario presents some real questions with Descartes’ argument because it basically completely rules out the possibility of any god.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We are imagining that Dr. Spiritus has invaded a small rural hospital and has stolen the brains of several babies. He places the brains in a large vat, provides them with the essential nutrients as well as hooking them up to electrodes that feed the false images into their minds. These impulses that the doctor would distribute at his own will would make the babies brains think that they are actually in their bodies living their lives as normal people. The doctor would provide all the necessary experiences such as childhood, school, first love and etc. However since Dr. Spiritus is an evil genius, he feels it necessary to feed these minds the stimuli of pain, suffering, and disaster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first question that arises is if it is possible to determine if one is not among Dr. Spiritus’ victims. According to Descartes, the answer is yes. Descartes states that God is an infinite, omnipotent, omniscient substance. He also says that humans are not capable of causing this thoug...

Contact Essay -- essays research papers

b) Why are astronomers using radio telescopes looking for far stars instead of a telescope? First of all, what is a radio telescope? The first non-visual spectral region that was used extensively for astronomical observations was the radio frequency band. Telescopes observing at these wavelengths are commonly called radio telescopes. Radio telescopes may be made much larger than optical/infrared telescopes because the wavelengths of radio waves are much longer than wavelengths of optical light. A rule of thumb is that the reflecting surface must not have irregularities larger than about 1/5 the wavelength of light that is being focused. By that criterion a radio telescope is several hundred thousand times easier to figure than an optical telescope of the same size In the movie "Contact," astronomer Ellie Arroway, played by actress Jodie Foster, searches for signs of extraterrestrial life using massive, Earth-bound radio telescopes. Much of Contact's scientific intrigue, based on Carl Sagan's 1985 bestseller, unfolds at two National Science Foundation-supported radio astronomy facilities where real-life astronomical mysteries continue to be probed. Scientists use the government-supported telescopes to detect radio waves not from distant civilizations but from planets, stars, galaxies and other objects in space. Radio observations extend astronomers' reach into space and time, letting them "see" through gas and dust in space to detect celestial objects whose visible light cannot be seen from Earth. In "Contact," Foster hears the first guttural, throbbing message transmitted by other-worldly life using the world's most powerful radio telescope, the Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico, a collection of 27 antennas spread in a three-armed configuration across the desert. NSF’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory runs the huge dishes, which Foster manipulates in the film from her laptop computer like a high-tech, movable Stonehenge, in reality. Electronically linked to simulate a single radio telescope up to 20 miles in diameter, the antennas can be bunched together or moved apart along railroad tracks into different configurations. About 700 astronomers visit the VLA each year to observe the universe. In "Contact," Foster gets her scientific start at another NSF-supported facility, the... ... fastest moving man made objects in the process. If those same probes were to be launched to the stars, however, they would take thousands of years to reach them! The distances to the stars are huge So huge, in fact, that the light from the nearest star to the Sun, a triple star system known as Alpha, Beta and Proxima Centauri, takes over four and a quarter years to get here. Since, according to special relativity, nothing in the universe can travel faster than the speed of light, it would seem that travel times with even the most advanced starships are going to be extremely long indeed. There are also highly exotic ideas, which lie on the tantalizing fringes of modern theoretical physics. If the universe is a multidimensional place with human beings only able to perceive three dimensions, perhaps a way can be found to shortcut through the 'higher' dimensions. These so-called wormholes are currently having their mathematics calculated by the theorists but if they can be utilized for travel then perhaps the entire universe will become accessible to us. Traveling to different planets may take no more time than traveling to different countries does now!

Civilisation And Savagery :: essays research papers

When the boys first arrived on the island they automatically seeked for some kind of law and order since there are not any grown-ups. They want to belong to a group, with someone in charge to lead them, and make them feel safe. After being chosen in a democratic election, Ralph becomes this leader. Ralph's society becomes a symbol of the democratic society, where everyone has their rights and an equal say. He assigned the choir as hunters and Jack the position of being the leader of them. The conch becomes an important symbol for authority and civilisation, anyone who holds it has the right to be heard. In Ralph's society everyone works for the benefit of the whole group. Building shelters, looking for food and keeping the fire alive are the three most important issues. After a period of time this society starts to brake up. With the fear of the 'beastie', the boys have become terrified of this 'creature' which lead up to the death of Simon and then Piggy. But there is a difference between these two deaths, as Simon's death was accidental and Piggy's death was deliberate. This shows the darkness inside man's heart, which is released when mankind becomes savages. Fear is what provokes savagery, as Roger lost control of his actions because of fear. With the destruction of the conch along with the death of Piggy, it also shows the destruction of authority and civilisation. Jack and the hunters show that mankind are inheritantly evil, if left alone to take care of themselves, fear will turn tem into the savage roots of the ancestors. This is shown near the end of the novel with the killing of piggy and the hunting of Ralph. Though at first Jack felt guilty for killing Simon, because he was still civilised, however as time goes on it turns into a thirst for blood, to kill anything that stands in his way to become the leader of the island. Ralph represents fairness and morality while Jack represents evil and the decay of civilisation. Piggy symbolizes the law and order of the world they left behind.

Islam †a Diverse Religion in a Diverse World Essay

On September 11th 2001 at 8:45 am an American Airlines Jet Flight 11, hit the north tower of the World Trade Center; several minutes later at 9:06 United Airlines flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. Most of the citizens of the United States watched their televisions in horror as this terrible tragedy unfolded. This single terrorist attack on U. S. soil brought to the attention of the average American citizen, the capability of the extreme Islamic sect of the Muslim religion, to mastermind and carry out a massive destructive attack. This ill view of the Islamic faith remains years after 9/11. A more comprehensive knowledge of their faith and its good attributes will help in our perceptions and how we treat members of this religious order. There are certain sects of the Islamic faith that are terrorists; this has been proven in more than one instance. For example the recent bombing during the Boston marathon, the suspect Tamerian Tsarnaev according to the FBI state, â€Å"he was a follower of radical Islam†. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013) These are the radicals of the faith. There are many more Muslims that are good people who have no intention of hurting anyone. There has been a backlash against Muslims for several years in many countries including the United States. This has made it very difficult for people of the Muslim faith to carry on regular day-to-day interactions and dealings with people that are not of their faith. We will explore the Muslim population in the United States, Great Britain, Pakistan, the Middle East, India and other Asian countries. We will examine the number of Muslims in these countries, how Islam is perceived in these countries and how the Muslim population interacts with people of Jewish and Christian faiths. According to Malloy, Islam whose followers are known as Muslim, is a monotheistic faith. They believe in God/Allah, that Muhammad is their prophet and the Qur’an is the written record of revelation to mankind. The Qur’an uses the term People of the Book to include all monotheists, including Jews, Christians and Muslims. According to Islam, all nations were given a Messenger and guidance from Allah. Islam teaches that Judaism worships one god but the idea that any one people being the chosen people is considered racist. Islam teaches that Christianity also worships one god but rejects the notion of the trinity as polytheistic. There are 4 major sects within the Islamic faith. The first sect is named Shi’a. The Second Sect is named Sunni. The third group is called Sufis. The fourth major sect is the Ahmaddiya. (Malloy, 2010) In the United States the three main practiced religions are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. There have been interfaith initiatives to find harmony among these three faiths. One thing that has been observed is that Muslim Imams have been included in many more public and governmental ceremonies in recent years. The Distribution of the Muslim Population in the World It is thought, by the general population in the United States, that the majority of the Muslim world population is located in the Middle East. The fact is, that of the target areas this paper is exploring, only four countries fall into the top ten populations of Muslims. The nations with the largest percentage of Muslims are Somalia in Africa 99. %, Afghanistan in the Middle East 99. 7%, Tunisia in Africa 99. 5%, Western Sahara in Africa 99. 4%, Mauritania in Africa 99. 1%, Yemen in the Middle East 99. 1%, Morocco in Africa 98. 9%, Iran in the Middle East 98. 6%, Maldives in Asia 98. 4% and Comoros in Africa 98. 3%. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) As you can see, six of the top ten Muslim nations as a percentage of population are in Asia. These demographics are quite different than what most Americans perceive. Islam is perceived differently in different cultures United States The United States has in its constitution, Amendment I enacted in 1791, which states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof†. (Congress, 1791) This requires that the government must abstain from interfering with any religious organization. According to Bell (2007), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers of 15 people or more from discrimination against employees or applicants in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment because of their religious beliefs or practices. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for the practice of one’s religion. The three most practiced religions in the United States are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Even though the government is not a problem for the Muslim population in the United States, the radicals of the Islamic faith, with their extremely destructive, disruptive actions have made the general population wary of anyone associated with Islam, this has lead to the development of many problems as well as discriminatory, prejudiced attitudes and actions toward people of the Muslim faith. There have been interfaith initiatives to find harmony among the three faiths. Such as Initiatives of Change who are an international group who’s goals are â€Å"committed to the transformation of society through change in human motives and behavior. † (Initiatives of Change, 2013) It has also been observed that Muslim Imams have been included in many more public and governmental ceremonies in recent years. Great Britain Next to Christianity, â€Å"the second largest religion in Great Britain is Islam. There are a number of variants of Islam practiced in the UK, due largely to the number of immigrants stemming from numerous former colonies in South Asia. Estimates also put the number of white converts to Islam at up to 100,000. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) The Muslim population in Great Britain is 1,640,725 which is 2. 7% of the population and places them as the one hundred third (103) place as a percentage of population to the total population. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) According to Islamic Culture in Europe (2013) in Great Britain the majority of Muslims practice Sunni Islam. There is also a large presence of Iranian-Shia which are the minority. With this noticeable existence of followers of the Islamic faith many groups have been showing increased concern. â€Å"A startling 75% of the British population believes that Islam has a negative impact on British society and tensions remain following the 7/7 bombings in London. The press has also been largely negative, publishing articles on extremism in schools and mosques. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) â€Å"Despite these problems and difficulties, religious freedom laws in the UK make it one of the most accepting in Europe. There is no law restricting Islamic dress, acceptance of prayer schedules in most workplaces, and heavily protected freedom of speech laws. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) India The Muslim population in India is 166,097,980 which is 13. 7% of the general population. (CIA World Factbook, 2013) Though the number of people seems like quite a few, we have to remember that India has a lot of people. They have the second largest population in the world. We also have to remember that Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the original India and broke off from India over religion. They have the seventieth (70) largest population of Muslims in the world. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) Hinduism is the most practiced religion in India and Islam is the second most practiced religion. Thru the years since Islam was introduced to India, there has been an integration of the Hindu and Muslim cultures. Civil Matters for Muslims such as marriage, inheritance and property are governed since 1937 by the Muslim Personal Law. There is much that the Hindu and Muslim cultures have contributed to each other. Art and architecture are the two most prominent items of melding of styles. The Muslims adopted the cast system into their religion in this region of the world. There are two divisions. There are the Muslims which are of Arabic decent and Muslims who are not of Arabic decent. The Arabic decent Muslims are considered superior to the non-Arab Muslims. Over the years, there has been much bloodshed and suffering because of fighting between the Muslims and the Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. There still to this day is conflict and an even greater conflict between India and Pakistan.