War Of 1812 Essays - War, American Revolution,

War Of 1812 The War of 1812 was a conflict between the nations of Great Britain and The United States. This was a war fought over the rights of non-combatant, neutral nations. Issues of this conflict included impressment, rights to limit the navigation of soverign nations, and how a nation could cope if these rights were violated. In the late 1700's and early 1800's there were a series of conflicts between Great Britain and France. Both of these countries trampled the rights of non-combatants during the conflict. For example, Britain forbade any American ship to sail to a port in the Napolianic Empire. Likewise, the French government reciprocated with similar laws against ports within the British Empire. Due to very harsh conditions on those serving in the British Naval Service, many men deserted. This forced the British to turn to the practice of impressment. This is a process by which the British effectively abducted servicemen to fill their ranks. The British argument was that many of their men deserted and began serving in the American Merchant Marine. This, in their opinion, justified them in boarding American ships, and abducting their crew. At one point, British impressment led to the Chesepeak Incident. During this incident, when the American frigate refused to be boarded, it was fired apon. In order to deal with these maters, the American authorities tried several peaceful interventions. In order to prevent confrontations, the Embargo and Non-Intercourse Acts were passed. These acts were in accordence with both British and French wishes. However through all of these steps, the disrespect of American soverignty continued. After exhusting all peacful options, the Americans entered the War of 1812 with great hopes for a successful outcome.

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buy custom Cooperative Wireless Communication essay The mobile wireless channel suffers from fading, in other words, the signal attenuation can vary significantly over the course of a given transmission. When transmitting independent copies of the signal, it generates diversity and can eff3ectively combat the deleterious effects of fading. In particular, spatial diversity is generated by transmitting signals from different locations, thus allowing independently faded versions of the signal at the receiver. Cooperative communication generates this diversity in a new and interesting way. Consider two mobile agents communicating with the same destination. Each mobile has one antenna and cannot individually generate spatial diversity. However, it may be possible for one mobile to receive the other, in which case it can forward some version of overheard information along with its own data. Because the fading paths from two mobiles are statistically independent, this generates spatial diversity. Cooperative communications exploit the spatial diversity inherent in multiuser systems by allowing users with diverse channel qualities to cooperate and relay each others information to the destination. Each transmitted message is passed through multiple independent relay paths and thus, the probability that the message fails to reach the destination is significantly reduced. Without having the knowledge of the channel conditions or even the amount of resources available, each user is given a fair opportunity of utilizing the cooperative relaying channel. However, if the channel state information is available to the users, one can redistribute the resources usage or traffic load to improve the communication efficiency. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The basic ideas behind cooperative communication can be traced back to the ground breaking work of cover and EL Gamal on the information theoretic properties of the relay channel. This work analysed the capacity of the three-node network consisting of a source, a destination, and a relay. It was assumed that all nodes operate in the same band, so the system can be decomposed into a broadcast channel from the view point of the source and a multiple access channel from the view point of the destination. Many ideas that appeared later in the cooperation literature was first exposited in. However, in many respects the cooperative communication that we consider is different from the relay channel. First, recent developments are motivated by the concept of diversity in a fading channel, while cover and EL Gamal mostly analyse capacity in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Second, in the relay channel, the relays sole purpose is to help the main channel, whereas in cooperative communication the total system resources are fixed, and users act both as information sources as well as relays. Therefore, although the historical importance is indisputable, recent work in cooperative has taken a somewhat different emphasis. BASIC CONCEPTS OF COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATIONS Cooperative communication typically refers to a system where the user share and coordinate their resources to enhance the transmission quality. This idea is particularly attractive in wireless environment due to the diverse channel quality and the limited energy and bandwidth resources. With cooperation, users that experience a deep fade in their link towards the destination can utilize quality channels provided by their partners to achieve the desired quality of services. This is also known as the spatial diversity gain, which is similarly achieved in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems. In cooperative wireless communication, people are concerned with a wireless system for the cellular or ad hoc variety, where the wireless agents, who are identified as call users, can enhance their effectual quality of service- which can be calculated at the physical layer through rates of bit error, rates of block error, or outage possibility-through cooperation. In the system of cooperative communication, every wireless user is supposed to shift informtion with the act as a cooperative agent for different user Cooperative methods apply the broadcast style for wireless signals through assessing that a source signal aimed for an important place can be overheard at neighbouring areas node. These nodes, known as partners, relays, or supporters, process the signals they hear and shift towards the place. There are two features that differentiate cooperative transmission schemes from conventional non-cooperative schemes: The use of multiple users resource to transmit data of a single source. A proper combination of signals from multiple cooperating users at the destination. This is evidenced where we have two users transmitting their local messages to the destination over independent fading channels. Suppose that the transmission fails when it enters a deep fade, this is to mean when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the received signal falls below a certain threshold. If the two users cooperate by relaying each others messages and the inter user channel is sufficiently reliable, the communication outage only occurs when both the users experience poor channels at the same time. The main advantages of the cooperative communications are: Higher spatial diversity Higher throughput/lower delay Reduced interference/lower transmitted power Adaptability to network conditions Detect and Forward Method This method is close to the idea of a traditional relay. In this method a user attempts to detect the partners bits and then retransmits the detected bits. The partners may be assigned mutually by the base station, or via some other technique. The most important factor is that each user has a partner that provides a second data path. The easiest way to visualize this is via pairs, but it is also possible to achieve the same effect via other partnership topologies that remove the strict constraints of pairing. This method of signal has the advantage of simplicity and adaptability to channel conditions. This method has the limitation that the base station needs to know the error characteristics of the inter user channel for optimal decoding. In order to avoid the error of propagation, Lanemanet al proposed a hybrid decode and forward method where at times when the fading channel has high instantaneous signal to noise ration, users detect and forward their partners data, but in case the channel has low SNR, users revert to a non cooperative mode. Amplify and Forward Method Another simple cooperative signal method is the amplify-and-forward method. In this method, receives a noisy version of the signal transmitted by its partner. The user then amplifies and retransmits this noisy version. The base station combines the information sent by the user and the partner, and makes a final decision on the transmitted bit. In amplify and forward method, it is assumed that the base station knows the inter user channel coefficients to do optimal decoding, so some mechanism of exchanging or estimating this information must be incorporated into any implementation. Another potential challenge is that sampling, amplifying, and retransmitting analogue values is technologically nontrivial. Coded Cooperation Method Coded cooperation is a method that integrates cooperation into channel coding. Coded cooperation works by sending different portions of each users code word via two independent fading paths. The basic idea is that each user tries to transmit incremental redundancy to its partner. Whenever that is not possible, the users automatically revert to a non cooperative mode. The key to the efficiency of coded cooperation is that all this is managed automatically through code design with no feedback between the users. The users divide their source data into bblocks that are augmented with cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code. In coded cooperation, each of the users data is encoded into a codeword that is partitioned into two segments, containing N1 bits and N2 bits, respectively In general, various channel coding methods can be used within this coded cooperation framework. For example, the overall code may be a block or convolution code, or a combination of both. The code bits for the two frames may be selected through puncturing, product codes, or other forms of concatenation. The users act independently in the second frame, with no knowledge of whether their own first frame was correctly decoded. As a result, there are four possible cooperative cases for the transmission of the second frame: neither user cooperates. Analysis of the effects of these four cases is beyond the scope of this article, and we refer the reader to the literature for more comprehensive treatment. We only note that the performance curves shown in this article include all the effects of the inter user channel. Performance evaluation The figure above give some examples of the performance of cooperative communication using the three classes of signalling described in the previous section. For comparisons one must take note that, unlike amplify-and-forward and detect-and-forward methods, coded cooperation is inherently integrated into channel coding. In order to present equitable comparisons, we consider a coded baseline system with the same overall rate of for all cases: non cooperative, amplify-and-forward, detect-and-forward, and coded cooperation. For both hybrid decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward, the users initially transmit a RCPC code word punctured to rate 1/2. This code word is subsequently repeated by the relay, resulting in an overall rate of . For coded cooperation, a cooperation level of 25 percent is used. The two users transmit a code word punctured to rate 1/3 in the first frame. In the second frame, the relay transmits the bits punctured from the first frame such that the total bits received for each user form a rate 1/4 code word. The plot above illustrates a case in which the mean uplink SNR for user 1 is 10 dB higher than that of user 2, while the inter user mean SNR is equal to that of the uplink channel for user 2. Two significant results of cooperation can be noted. First, user 2, as one might expect, improves significantly by cooperating with a user that has a better quality uplink channel. More interestingly, however, user 1 also improves significantly, despite cooperating with a user having a poorer quality uplink channel. This result illustrates that even a user with a good uplink channel has strong motivation to cooperate. Second, we note that the difference in performance between users 1 and 2 is significantly reduced by the cooperation methods. This shows that cooperation inherently reallocates the system resources in a more effective manner. In comparing the three cooperative transmission schemes, we see that both amplify-and-forward and hybrid decode-and-forward are not very effective at low SNR. This is due to the fact that their signalling is equivalent to repetition coding, which is relatively inefficient at low SNR. Coded cooperation, however, has graceful degradation and performs better than or as well as a comparative non cooperative system at all SNRs. In addition, coded cooperation generally performs better than other cooperative methods for moderate to high SNR. This tutorial describes wireless cooperative communication, a technique that allows single antenna mobiles to share their antennas and thus enjoy some of the benefits of multiple antenna systems. Several signalling schemes for cooperative communication are presented. Practical implications and requirements on system design are discussed, as well as extensions to the basic idea. Results to date are indicative of a promising future for cooperative communication. Buy custom Cooperative Wireless Communication essay

A Single Needle; Single Handily Changing the Game Essay Example for Free

A Single Needle; Single Handily Changing the Game Essay ? America’s Pastime has been the true root of sports in the United States of America. Baseball blew up in the late 19th century towards the end of the American Civil War. Before there were TV’s, internet, or DVD’s, baseball is what kids did for fun. It became the thing to do if you were a white male going into the 20th century, and that was just the beginning of a long bittersweet road of the game of baseball. Up until the 1990’s many greats had walked in between the lines showing off their pure god given talent, then an era came along that makes every baseball fan cringe, the â€Å"Steroids Era.† Steroids started to spread throughout the league like wildfire, and sadly no one was doing anything about it. The only thing administration, owners, authorities, and fans had were suspicion no one knew for sure if these record breaking seasons were real or all just a fluke. The greats like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, and Ted Williams all have been being surpassed in the record books by Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGuire, and plenty more players due to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs. The use of illegal Steroids in baseball has single handily degraded and disgraced the great game that once was proud to be known as America’s Pastime. The man who started it all and really brought Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s) to the baseball scene in the late 1980’s was Oakland Athletics outfielder, Jose Canseco. Once Canseco starting showing his teammates how influential these drugs were to their performance through his own personal achievements it wasn’t long before a large amount of players were using PEDs. Canseco states in his book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big that, â€Å"About 85% of Major Leaguers have used it† (Canseco). The MLB rarely, if at all tested for steroids during this time of the â€Å"Steroids Era† and if they did there was no penalty for testing positive. At the time it was virtually a win win for the players, they could juice up, exceed the stats they could only dream about, and never get in trouble during the process. Performance Enhancing Drugs became an epidemic in the world of baseball, but not only was it enhancing players performance, it was enhancing every aspect of revenue a ball club could ever imagine. The Record books were once again open and ready for business. Athletes such as Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Mark McGuire, and so forth were smashing homeruns and going up on the charts little by little for the all time homerun record holder, Hank Aaron. This excitement on the field attracted more fans through these steroid years than baseball had ever seen, and when there are fans there is money, and when there is money there is no concern. The Major League of Baseball had been oblivious to the illegal use of Steroids over the years. Until 2002 there were no penalties for testing positive for PEDs. The new rules stated, â€Å"A first time offense would only result in treatment for the player† (Baseball-Almanac). Not one player was sentenced to any suspensions for this crime, until the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) steroid scandal came to light, and brought out many of the All-Stars of the MLB to the top of the list. Victor Cante the founder of BALCO was a god to the sports world. He was the guy that not only supplied athletes wit h their steroids, but also had ways to cheat the tests so they could come up clean. Testing companies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the U.S Anti Doping-Agency (USADA) are always trying to improve the efficiency of the tests to make cheating near impossible if not totally full proof, but as those agencies are working to stop the cheaters workers at BALCO labs are finding ways once again come up with a new way to slide by the new and improved tests on the market (Quinn). So in 2005 The MLB created a new testing policy that was accepted by the players and owners that said, â€Å"The first positive test will result in a suspension of up to ten days. The second positive test will result in a suspension of thirty days. The third positive test will result in a suspension of sixty days. The fourth positive test will result in a suspension of one full year. Finally, the fifth positive test will result in a penalty at the discretion of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Players will be tested at least once per year, with a chance that several players can be tested numerous times per year† (Baseball-Almanac). That wasn’t the last adjustment Bud Selig, the Commissioner of the Major League of Baseball, was going to make to the steroid testing policy. On December 13, 2007, Greg Mitchell, an investigator who was appointed by Bud Selig in 2006 to investigate the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the MLB, presented a 409 page report to Selig showing his investigation and revealing 89 alleged players who used steroids during their career (Healey). Once Bud Selig had been shown the report, his 3rd written drug testing policy came in to play which was known as the â€Å"Three strikes and you’re out approach† (Verhaeghe). This final policy stated that, â€Å"The first positive test would result in a fifty game suspension. The second positive test would result in a one-hundred game suspension. Finally, the third positive test would result in a lifetime suspension from Major League Baseball† (Baseball Almanac). Bud Selig and the rest of the administration inside of the Major League of Baseball had finally seen the light, and properly taken action on how to cut down the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs throughout the MLB. Once the â€Å"Mitchell Report† was released many super stars and role models for fans all around the world were printed in black under the category of the illegal use of steroids throughout their career. The most popular player named in the Mitchell Report due to his court and trial issues would have to be 7 time Cy Young winner, Roger Clemens. Once he saw that his name had been brought to light in the report he went to Capitol Hill to clear his name off the list that he felt he didn’t need to be on. Little did he know that when made the statement, â€Å"I appreciate the opportunity to tell this Committee and the public-under oath-what I have been saying all along: I have never used steroids, human growth hormone [HGH], or any other type of illegal performance enhancing drugs. I think these types of drugs should play no role in athletics at any level, and I fully support Senator Mitchell’s conclusions that steroids have no place in baseball. However, I take great issue with the report’s allegation that I used these substances. Let me be clear again: I did not.† (Healey) That he was entering a world of charges when committing perjury in a court of law. Many of the players claimed their innocence like Clemens did, but in the end they all served the types of charges. The original group of all time Baseball greats like Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Cy young, etc. set a high standard for the Players after them to strive for and gave them something to achieve. Never in their minds would they of thought that the game of baseball would have turned out the way it is today. These modern day All-stars who cheated and used Performance Enhancing Drugs for a shortcut just to go ahead of someone’s hard work and love for the game as well to achieve their personal and selfish desires should be punished and have their awards and accolades stripped from them and taken out of the record books as if they were never there to begin with. The use of Performance Enhancing Drugs has put a permanent stain on the name of Baseball and what it is truly about. Bud Selig and the Major league of Baseball has come a long way regarding minimizing the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs by enforcing harsher penalties and consequences for testing Positive for steroids. As the years have gone by thanks to the leagues stricter policies on testing positive for PEDs the amount of players getting suspended for steroid use has decreased on a year to year basis. The Major League of Baseball will never be able to completely take Performance Enhancing Drugs out of the game, but with the right consequences, and appropriate policies they will be able continue to keep the use of Steroids at a very low rate and never re-enter the once dreaded time known as the â€Å"Steroids Era† ever again. Healey, Daniel. â€Å"FALL OF THE ROCKET: STEROIDS IN BASEBALL AND THE CASE AGAINEST ROGER CLEMENS.† Marquette Sports Law Review 19.1 (September 2008): SPORTDiscus. Web. 8 November 2011. Roger â€Å"The Rocket† Clemens is known to be one of the best of all-time to step on the rubber in the game of Major League Baseball. The Seven-time Cy Young winner was ultimately unstoppable in the last half of his career. He was just another great phenom in the baseball world until December 13, 2007 when the â€Å"Mitchell Report† was released, revealing a 409-page report that was sent to the commissioner of baseball (Bud Selig) that investigated the illegal use of steroids and Performance Enhancing Drugs used by players in Major League Baseball. There were over 80 players put on this report, but the one who stood out the most was Roger Clemens himself. On February 13th 2008 he went to Capitol Hill to argue the allegations against him saying, â€Å"I appreciate the opportunity to tell this Committee and the public-under oath-what I have been saying all along: I have never used steroids, human growth hormone [HGH], or any other type of illegal performance enhancing drugs. I think these types of drugs should play no role in athletics at any level, and I fully support Senator Mitchell’s conclusions that Steroids have no place in baseball. However, I take great issue with the report’s allegation that I used these substances. Let me be clear again: I did not.† Once Clemens had stated that it put a rather large target on his back not only by investigators but also the judicial system. They were trying to get him to admit using illegal steroids, but now as well they were going after him on counts of perjury. After 2 years of gathering enough evidence and testimonies on August 19, 2010 a Federal Grand Jury Indicted Roger Clemens on six counts, one count of obstruction of congress, three counts of false statements, and two counts of perjury. On July 13, 2011 Clemens’ first trial began, but on the second day the judge ruled a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct. For now Roger Clemens is a free man, but legal sources say that he will be retried. I will be using the â€Å"Mitchell Report† and the Roger Clemens trial to portray that not only is the use of steroids extremely risky and unhealthy but also that it’s against the law and you will get caught one way or another. 1991 to 2002 was known as the â€Å"Steroid Era† in professional baseball. Over those years particularly in 1995 after the cancellation of the 1994 playoffs and World Series the statistics of a majority of the players skyrocketed, which in retrospect played a huge role in filling the empty seats back up after the 1994 strike. I’ll be explaining that up until to this point in time the MLB did not have strict regulations on testing for the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) Kuenster, John. â€Å"Major League Player Records Dishonored by Steroid Users.† Baseball Digest. 62.2 (March 2008): SPORTDiscus. Web. 8 November 2011. John Kuenster touches on a very valuable subject when it comes to records, and honors given in the MLB. Back in early in mid 1900’s the greats of the game like, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, and Ernie Banks. They all set legitimate records that should never be shadowed by the players who eventually broke them. These few players all had something in common. That was hard work and love for the game. They didn’t use PEDs to up there stats or to get to a higher number in a certain category. These historic greats earned their records off pure talent that was god given and worked hard to mature. The greats of our time such as, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, or Mark McGwire also hold records like men mentioned earlier. The only difference between the past greats and the current greats is that these new all-stars were accused of using Steroids to achieve their records. Not only are the players the ones to blame for the whole â€Å"Steroid Era.† Stricter steps should have been taken from the get go through the league to enforce steroid testing to ensure the safety and fair play in professional play of baseball before the use of steroids spread like wildfire through the MLB. Will records and awards be stripped from players who’ve been tested positive for performing enhancing drugs? We don’t know for now, but who knows what the future holds. This article about dishonoring the awards given to players who have achieved them unfairly will allow me to voice my opinion on the topic of record breakers involving steroids. I personally am against the use of steroids solely because all it does it degrade the great game of baseball. Even though these cheaters didn’t use PEDs their whole career and achieved some of their record off pure talent doesn’t change the fact they broke the rules that is stated in the contract that’s signed by every professional player. It’s not fair that history’s greatest baseball players prior to the steroid era should be passed up in the record books by players that made themselves better by an illegal drug. Not only is it a disgrace to the violators name, but more importantly it’s a disgrace to the game of baseball. Rutecki, Jared. â€Å"A Study of Media Impact on Public Opinion Regarding Performance Enhancement in Major League Baseball.† Open Sports Sciences Journal 3 (2010): SPORTSDiscus. Web. 8 November 2011. A chart in the article, A study of Media Impact on Public Opinion Regarding Performance Enhancement in Major League Baseball shows the percent of the coverage on specific sports and PEDs through 1968 to 2006 in Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and Time. Baseball ranks number one in all 3 magazines with 43 percent, 39 percent, and 39 percent. Coming in second was football with a significant lower percent of 19, 14, and 15. Over the year’s magazine articles about PEDs have increased by a huge amount due to the popularity in steroid use among professional athletes. With the widespread use of steroids in sports particularly baseball, it’s apparent that the talk of it in magazines and media in general has shot up too. When something isn’t a public issue the media obviously isn’t interested in it which is why steroids in the earlier years weren’t written and talked about much. When the â€Å"Steroid Era† came into play that’s when the number of articles in magazines skyrocketed year by year and it all of sudden became a huge topic in our society. I will also be touching on the fact that even when people knew that steroids were an issue media didn’t start writing about it like crazy until the 104 MLB players tested positive for PEDs in 2003. From that year on the number of articles per year were above 49. The media writes what sells and in this day and age information and insider news about the world of baseball and steroids will always sell. Solberg, Joe. â€Å"Performance-Enhancing Drug Use in Baseball: The Impact of Culture.† Ethics and Behavior 21 (April 2011): 91-102. Philosopher’s Index. Web. 8 November 2011. Joe Solberg explains that once the steroid era of baseball blew up and became steady that it wasn’t out of the norm anymore, it became part of the culture. Once everyone was doing it the person below them had to use PEDs in order to get to the next level. The use of Steroids is a ladder that started in the pro’s and worked its way down to the minors. Major League Contracts are more than less based off offensive performance rather than defensive performance. To be more specific on offensive performance homeruns are what really can land you a big money contract. Over the years the biggest category that PEDs have helped is homeruns. Of course players want a lot of money, and in order to get that money is to hit homeruns, and in order to increase the amount of homeruns is to take performance enhancing drugs. Players will do what they have to do in order to make the money that they are satisfied with, and as a result for most players it is to partake in using steroids to increase their status as an all-star. The information I gathered in this article will help me explain the player’s motives for wanting to use PEDs. It’s not only used just to break records and be known as an all-star even though that is a plus that comes with it, but it’s the fact that if the person above you is using these substances then in order for you to excel above him and potentially take his spot you almost feel obligated to take PEDs as well. It was once a bad thing to be associated with the group known to take steroids back when it was a rare thing to do. Now days it’s such a common thing to partake in its part of the culture, it’s fairly normal in the MLB now to use PEDs. Sommers, Paul. â€Å"The Changing Hitting Performance Profile in Major League Baseball, 1966-2006.† Journal of Sports Economics 9.4 (August 2008) SPORTSDiscus. Web. 8 November 2011. Paul Sommers showed charts over the decades of average years played by an average starter in the pros. It went from 5.2 years in the 60’s to 6 in a half years in 2006. That shows that the use of steroids in the MLB increased a player’s career by almost 2 years. He also explains that the use of PEDs in baseball lets you peak at a higher level of skill. A persons overall skill level will increase by a big number while using steroids. Someone hitting .267 without the use of steroids could jump anywhere from a .324 to .378 average depending on the person. With all the statistics shown throughout the article it’s proven that Performance enhancing drugs increase a player’s batting average, peak, years played, MPH, and overall skill level. Before the 1960’s after a player’s peak their batting average tended to decline steadily due to falling off from their prime, but after the 1960’s a large amount of players started to excel past their peak year and raise their batting averages past their prime which was unusual. As we know now the reason for that was the use of PEDs. After 2004 the statistics seemed to start trending again like the 1960’s due to the random and mandatory drug tests which disabled the players to partake in using Anabolic Steroids of HGH. I will be using this information to show how all PEDs have been proven in many to not only better athletes, but make them more durable and tack on extra years of successful productivity past their prime. PEDs aren’t physically making them younger, but they sure are making them produce younger aged stats in a past prime aged body. Stone, Brad. â€Å"Another Poison Pill† Newsweek 146.7 (August 15 2005): Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 November 2011. The MLB is by far the top sport when it comes to the abuse of Performance Enhancing Drugs, but yet it holds the weakest punishment in the sports world for testing positive. Rafael Palmeiro in 2008 tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs in early August of 2008 just months after he testified before a U.S congressional committee stating that he had never used PEDs in his life. Not only did he test positive for steroids, he failed the test after lying under oath in a court of law, and all he was punished with through the MLB was a 10-day suspension and a $164,000 fine. Due to the particular steroid Palmeiro took, Stanozonol, which travels through your digestive system within 2 weeks, makes it hard for the court to prove that Palmeiro was lying when he testified. Baseball wants to stop the abuse of Steroids, but at the same time it seems like all these players that test positive these substances just get slaps on the wrist and are told not to do it again. If you want a problem to come to a halt you have to go the extra distance in order to get the results you’re looking for. PEDs have been persistent in the MLB for decades now; telling a player to stop will ultimately not stop them. There needs to be an ultimatum put into action to make the abusers consider that these PEDs aren’t worth the loss of their career. Every other sport that has extremely harsh penalties if tested positive for PEDs don’t have a very high percent of positive tests because the players don’t want to take the risk to put their career on the line. In the MLBs case they aren’t putting a severe enough consequence for the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs. My main point I’ll be using from this article is that if you want the use of PEDs to lower then you have to put consequences that the players don’t want to deal with out there in order to produce more negative resulting drug tests. Quinn, Tom â€Å"BASEBALL’S STEROID ERA.† Men’s Fitness 23. (August 2007): SPORTSDiscus. Web. 8 November 2011 Throughout the history of baseball testing for either steroids or street drugs really hasn’t been a big part of the games policy. Player’s played the game and what they did off the field was their own business. Once the early 80’s hit, and PEDs came on the scene the use of them among players got out of hand. It became an almost regular regime for a majority of the MLB. Tests were eventually being given, but that didn’t stop the players. When there’s motive to do illegal substances there’s always the backup plan to keep these athletes out of trouble. There were plenty of ways to come up clean on a test, and when the testers would find a way to stop it, Victor Cante and his crew at BALCO labs would just simply find another way to cheat. Even when the few unlucky players’ get caught all they have to do is admit it and simply explain they were told it was something else. For Example, Barry Bonds, when he spoke in front of the BALCO grand jury he came clean about all the PEDs he had taken, but the catch was he stated that he was oblivious to what he was actually using. People of this stature will make their illegal decisions, but don’t think they don’t have all the answers for when the going gets tough. I’ll be using Quinn’s article â€Å"BASEBALL STEROIDS ERA† to inform how little baseball can really do to not only catch these users, but to actually put a stop to the Performance Enhancing Drugs. If not cheating tests to save their own ass’ these professional athletes will just find a perfect window of time to where they know they won’t be tested in the offseason to fit in a couple cycles here and there to maintain the gains through using PEDs. Testing companies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the U.S Anti Doping-Agency (USADA) will never stop trying to improve the efficiency of the tests to make cheating near impossible if not totally full proof, but as those agencies are working to stop the cheaters don’t think the cheaters at BALCO labs aren’t finding ways to break through and find loop holes in their tests. Verhaeghe, Dan. â€Å"Bud Selig Lays Down the Hammer on Performance Enhancing Drugs†. Bleacher Report. (January 2008): Web. 30 November 2011 A Single Needle; Single Handily Changing the Game. (2017, Aug 13).

The relation between assessment practices and outcomes of students in Essay

The relation between assessment practices and outcomes of students in foreign language learning - Essay Example The importance of assessment in the process of education cannot be overemphasized (CERI, 2008). Although prior knowledge affects students’ performance positively, yet the effects primarily depend upon the way they have been assessed (Dochy, Segers, and Buehl, 2010). Ensuring equity in the assessment of students’ performance and its interpretation is fundamental to getting the students motivated to achieve high standards in education (ncrel.org, 1997). To identify the performance assessment methods commonly used by teachers for foreign language learning, first a thorough review of literature would be done. Students would be required to mark the importance of the identified performance assessment methods in determining best learning outcome on a scale of 1 to 5 where the values represent â€Å"not important†, â€Å"less important†, â€Å"important†, â€Å"very important† and â€Å"most important† respectively. The performance assessment methods would be classified using the relative importance index. This research would produce useful results both for the teachers and the students. The teachers would be able to identify and implement the best performance assessment method according to the students’ perception whereas the students would be able to optimize on their academic performance. between Classroom Activities, Motivation, and Outcomes in a University Language-Learning Environment. Carnegie Mellon University. Dietrich College Honors Theses. Paper 74. Retrieved from

Strategic Analysis of Acer Incorporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Strategic Analysis of Acer Incorporation - Essay Example Acer Inc. is the third largest manufacturer of PC in the world that uses transnational strategy in procuring it components for the purpose of maintaining cost leadership. In this respect, we have used PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces model, and SWOT analysis for a comprehensive analysis of the external and internal Acer environment. From this, we have made a series of recommendation to Acer in order to retain its ranking. It is however recommended that Acer adopts Blue Ocean against its competitors by using product premium branding regardless of whether its with Ferrari or any other luxury brand. It is also recommended that Acer uses balance scorecard together with its alliances to drive innovation so as to increase the market share of Acer. Introduction This paper seeks to review in general terms the growth and performance of Acer over the past decade. The paper will analyze the environment in which Acer functions and identify the opportunities and threats to which it might expect to have to respond, and how are these factors likely to impact on the company in the near future. This will be done through environmental analysis (PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces, and SWOT). The report will also make analyses of the resources and key capabilities of the company plus the factors that give the company its competitive advantage. This will be done through assessing the Industry Critical Success Factors, analyzing resources and capabilities and link the generic strategy. Background of the company Acer Incorporated is a multinational electronics manufacturer based in Taiwan. Its product includes desktops, laptops, servers and storage, peripherals, personal digital assistance (PDA), peripherals and e-business services for business, governmen t, education, and home users. Acer Inc is the third largest computer manufacturer in the world after HP and Dell (Shaw & Kotler, 2009). Acer Company owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taiwan, Taipei. The company was founded by Stan Shih, Carolyn Yeh his wife, and a group of five others in 1976 as a Multitech. Acer has since been the third largest computer manufacturing company in the world holding 9.5% of the market share, with its growth being experienced outside USA mature market, largely in emerging nations. The peripherals and PC industry is very competitive and Acer has maintained growth since 1999 with significant growth in revenues. The key competitors in the market include Dell, HP and Lenovo; however there is a fragmentation of the market with 46% of it owned by brands which have market share of less than 4% each. Acer seeks to increase its market share through release of premium PCs under Ferrari brand and expansion in LCD TVs with BenQ brand (Unruh & Ett enson, 2010). Growth and performance over the past decade Acer has adopted various strategies to ensure that it remains competitive and retains its ranking at number 3. Acer strives to find a Blue Ocean against its competitors by using premium branding of its product from Ferrari or any other premium luxury brand and make determinations if

Economy Oil and gas Essay Example for Free

Economy Oil and gas Essay Qatar occupies a small peninsula that extends in to the gulf from the east side of the Arabian Penisula countries bordering it are Saudi Arabia to the west and the United Arab Emirates to the south it’s located in the Middle East and borders Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Its population is approximately 907,229 with a population growth of 2. 4 %. The birth rate is 15. 6/1000 and has an infant mortality of 17. 5/1000. The life expectancy is 74. 1 and the population density per square meter is 214. Males from 0-14 years and 15-64 years are more than females and generally males are more than females. The death rate is currently 4. 82/1000. The total fertility rate is 2. 75 children per woman. Life expectancy is 76 years for women and 71 years for men. The population is under threat as women are marrying later in life and the abortion rates are increasing The official language in Qatar is Arabic and English is the second common language. The highest percentage of its population is Arab that forms approximately 40% the Pakistan and Indians constitute each 18% of the total population while Iranian and other races form 24%. 95% of its citizens are Muslim. Qatar’s total area is 11,437 km2 all of which is on land. The climate is arid mild and has pleasant winters but very hot and humid summers. The terrain is mostly flat and barren desert that is covered with loose Island and gravel. The natural resources in this state are petroleum and natural gas. Qatar territories include a number of islands and the most renowned Island is Hawar Island. Halul is the export terminal for the offshore oil fields. (http://www. infoplease. com/ce6/world/A0840678. html) It consists of flat rocky surfaces but has some hills and sand dunes, which reach an altitude of 40m above the sea level, in the western and northern parts. It has a rainwater-draining basis in the North and Central areas. The climate is a desert one with hot summers and mild winter. Coral reefs along the ports and shallow waters make navigation difficult especially on those areas where channels have not been dredged. Long summers from June through September have intense heat and alternating dryness and humidity with temperatures exceeding 55 degrees centigrade. From November through May there are moderate temperatures. Winter temperatures can fall to 17 degrees centigrade. The country receives very little rainfall that fills small ravines and the dry wadis. Water is saline and hence unsuitable for drinking or for irrigation purposes due to the high mineral content. Desalination of seawater is a common practice in Qatar. Through desalination In the North West there are jagged limestone outcroppings that rise over 40 meters high. To the South, impressive sand dunes rise up to 60 meters. Other notable features include coastal salt pans that are elevated by limestone formations along the west coast where Durkhan Oil fields and massive sand dunes surrounding Khor al Udaid which is an inlet of the gulf in the South East known as inland sea. Halul, the most important island, lies about 90 kilometers east of Doha and it serves as a storage area and as a loading terminal for oil from surrounding offshore fields. Qatar is limestone and dolomite peninsula of both flat and rocky surfaces and extreme desert conditions. The coasts are generally low with marine terraces and Sabkhas in several places. The sand dunes have moved progressively southwards due to the effect of the prevailing winds. Major Sand dunes are situated in the south eastern parts while limestones are to the western and northern parts of the country. Most land is quiet, uncultivated and scenically beautiful. It contains geographical features that are peculiar to the western side of the Arabian Gulf. There are the rainwater draining basin to the north and central parts which are considered the most fertile and attract heavy agricultural investment. Khor al-Udaid is a deep inlet from the sea on the south east coast. It is a ‘water sanctuary’ and fishing for commercial purposes is banned. It is a sea bay that harbors sea animals like sea turtles, water fowls, and sea birds. It is also an important breeding ground for dolphins. Flamingos also gather there during winter. It also has ponds like the Umm-Said sewage pond and Salwa road ponds. Al-Aliyah Island is also an important feature. It is located 13kilometers to the north east of the capital, Doha. It consist weathered limestone rocks and has uneven patches of salt tolerant bushes. It is an abode of shore birds, gulls, and* Al-Dhakita mangrove located 7 km north Al Khor consist of a group salt water bays. With dense mangrove growth with broad mud flats and salt marshy vegetation. It has valuable fish and shrimp stocks and is important destination for wintering birds and water ducks and flamingoes. Sabkha refers to flat saline areas of sand or silt lying above the water table and often containing soft nodules and veins of gypsum and a hydrite that was deposited over a long time by the action of wind blown sand. They have a crust of halite and gypsum. Caves or dulus are also widespread in Qatar. Ground water and rainwater reaction with soft surface and subsurface dissolves in limestone and gypsum creating cavities and the ceilings may collapse exposing the interior. It contains ten substantial caves although most have collapsed to form depressions and dolines of the northern Qatar. Sand dunes are also prominent features in Qatar. They have a crescent shape as the wind ward face is ripped off by the wind action. The leeward side collapses under the driving wind. Qatar has an interesting plateau of tertiary limestone standing out in the desert about 20meters high. This is between Dukhan through Umm Bab towards the Saudi Arabian border. Low hills are mushroom shaped due to erosion of underlying softer rocks. Gypsum crystals are also common. They are found south of Umm Said and are formed when high tides bring sea water into Sabkha. As the water evaporates, it forms gypsum crystals that appear as low crystalline forms. To the western side Geodes are found. Natural hazards that are dominant here are haze dust storms and the common sand storms. Most of its population is literate and the illiteracy levels are very minimal. Political system The government type of Qatar is emirate. The capital city is Doha. There are 10 municipalities that include. Al Dawhah, Al Ghuwayriyah, Al Jumaliyah, Al Khawr, Al Wakrah, Ar Rayyan, Jarayan, Al Batinah, Madinat ash Shamal, Umm Said and Umm Salal. The 3rdSeptember is the national holiday when people commemorate their independence. The capita city Doha is located on the central East Coast and it’s major functions are administrative, commercial and it is a population center. It is located on a harbour. Other ports include Umm Said Al Khor and Al Wakrah, Umm Said and Doha handle commercial shipping . The legal system is based on Islamic and civil law codes and the Amir controls the discretionary system of law. However civil codes are being implemented. The Islamic law dominates family and personal matters. Amir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has been the chief of the state since 27th June 1995 after a bloodless coup. His father was not able to handle the country’s economic reforms. Since it is a monarchial government the father did not lose his title as much power was already in his sons. Crown prince Jassim did not want to be king and he abdicated in favor of his younger brother. He rose to power after outdoing his father Amir Khalifa. The government is constitutional monarchy and the president’s fourth son Tamin bin Hamad is the selected heir. Amir Hamad was the Armed forces commander and defense minister when he seized power from his father who was out of the country. He retains that title to date. He survived an attempted coup in 1996. He had also taken his father t court on alleged state fund misappropriation. However this matter was solved outside the court. Amir Hamad Khalifa father had deposed his cousin Emir Al-Thani family continued to hold power after independence in 1971. Government departments are responsible for ensuring economic and social progress. The emir’s leadership is influenced by consultation’s consensus and personal appeal. He is not accountable to anyone and he cannot violate the Islamic laws sharia. In per taking his functions he must seek the opinion of the leading notable and religious leaders. Expatriate and residents are excluded from elections. The role of municipal council is not executive but offering advice to the minister. . The prime minister is Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir al-Thani since April 3rd 2007. His deputy is Abdullah bin Hamad al-Atiyah. He replaced Abdullah bin Khalifa who resigned April 2007. The cabinet comprises of council of ministers all of which are appointed by the monarchy. Elections are rarely done since the system of ruling is monarchial. However in April 2003 it held nationwide election for a 29-member central municipal council (CMC). The CMC has consultative powers geared to improving the efficiency in provision of municipal service. The advisory council or Maljis al-shura has 35 members who are appointed by the monarchy. Council members have their terms extended after every four years. However since the establishment of a new constitution in 2005, 10 more positions were to be introduced and the public had a chance to elect 2/3 of the seats while Amir the president appoints the other 1/3. Introduction of the first constitution would guarantee freedom expression assembly and religion and increment of parliament seats. Elections are to be conducted late this year. Amir appoints all judges based on recommendations of supreme judiciary council. The branches of the judiciary are courts of first instance appeal and cassation. Since it’s a monarchial government there are no political leaders or parties and political pressure groups. Women were allowed to vote for the first time in 1999 and municipal consisted of 29 members. Democracy is being incorporated ever since Amir brought liberal changes in to the economy. Economy Oil and gas are the dominant trade goods. They both account for more than 60% of the countries GDP. They also contribute to a tune of 85% of the country’s export earnings and 70% of the government’s revenue. They are the reasons the country is one of the world fastest growing countries. They have seen it’s per capital rise to equal that of European Union. Due to sustained high oil prices the country is able to build its budget trade surpluses and foreign reserves. The oil reserves in this country are more than 15 billion barrels and they can sustain continued surplus for more than 20 years. Natural gas reserves are also abundant. They exceed 25 trillion cubic meters, which is more than 5% of the word total and 3rd largest in the world. The country is undertaking measures to develop its gas field in ensuring that the country becomes the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. Foreign investment is also being encouraged so that non- energy projects can be improved by liberalizing the economy further. The country’s GDP real growth rate in 2006 was 7. 1% and the per capita GDP was $29,800. Composition of the GDP is mainly industry, which is 75. 8%, and service sector, which is 24. 1%. The unemployment rate was 3. 2% in 2006 and the inflation rate was 11. 8%. The major trading partners with Qatar are Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, France, U. S, Saudi Arabia, united Arabs emirates, Germany and UK. Major imports are machinery and transport equipments manufactured goods, food and live animals. Japan receives the largest proportion of Qatar exports. Other important trading partners include South Korea and France. The service sector accounts for approximately a ? of the total GDP and creates employment for the Qatar people. The government is promoting the tourism sector in an effort to trying to make it match other industries in the economy. Qatar is the richest country in the Islam-dominated countries rising global demand for oil ensure increase prices of oil and this leads to increase economic growth. The economy of this country is not diversified it depends so much on oil and gas. Qatar’s industrial plants are located in Umm Said. There is a fertilizer plant for urea and ammonia a steel plant and a petrochemical plant. These industries use gas as their source of energy ands they are owned by state or European and Japanese firms. http://www. nationsencyclopedia. com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Qatar. html To control the influx of expatriate workers Qatar is tightening the administration of its foreign manpower programs. Foreign educated Qatar’s are returning back home to develop their home country. Development of other industries will enable the economy to withstand future possible negative oil shocks. Real economic growth had slowed down in 2002 after OPEC enforced oil output cuts. The gas industry was however not affected. Private investment is encouraged to ensure that the country’s economic growth does not decline with changes in the market. Steel industries have been making profits for the past 10 years, non-oil sectors in Qatar are building and construction, real estate communication, agriculture, fishing water and electricity and banking. The state provides incentives to foreign investors, which include security loans from Qatar Industrial bank QIB eliminates quantitative quotas on imports no income tax on salaries of expatriates no export duties and no taxes on corporate profit for pre determined periods. The country has a comparatively high public sector external debt. Debt has been incurred to finance LNG and other industrial products. The GDP is raising and thus the ratio of public external debt to GDP is declining. http://www. nationsencyclopedia. com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Qatar. html The economic challenge that the country faces is to maintain global competitiveness. There is need to improve on the macro-economic management and the public sector institutions. Absorption of new technologies ought to be done at a faster rate. This translates to more revenues being redirected in imports over reliance on one industry is an issue that needs to be addressed. Diversifying the economy is a safe approach of ensuring toast hock ups in oil industry will not adversely affect the countries economy. Investment in quality education will also be a wise approach of addressing the country’s issue. It will reduce the number of foreign employees in the country by substituting them with the locals. Leadership or quality of government also ought to be changed. Democracy will go along way in maintaining economic stability in the long run. The monarchial system needs to be reformed. Levels of unemployment ought to be completely eradicated investing heavily in human capita and education city project sponsored by the Qatar foundation has seen worlds top universities and research centers to the country. Qatar joined other emirates of the Tricia coast in forming the United Arab Emirates but together with Bahrain they disagreed about the merger but instead formed independent nations. (Crystal Jill,1995) A border dispute with Saudi Arabia was settled in 1992 although the dispute with Bahrain remains unsolved. It signed a defense pact with the US and it became the third country in the Gulf to do so. It is home of the immensely popular but controversial Arabic Satellite Television Network Al Jazeera. Contraversial because it is accused of not being free and fair in its broadcasts. Al Jazeera is not only popular in the Arab world but also globally. It was the only channel allowed to operate from Afghanistan and the first to air Osama bin Laden’s statement in October 2001. It favors those who are its allies and does not criticize or air anything negative about its own Government. (El-Nawawy et al, 2002) Pollution from oil and gas industries has negative impact on the diversity of species. It is an issue that ought to be addressed. Qatar is surrounded by sea on three sides and its territorial waters encompass 35,000 square kilometers. Marine life has to adapt to the harsh conditions of salty water and soaring temperatures.

Satire Comparing Mosquitos to Telemarketers Essay -- Mosquito Telemark

Just Like Mosquitoes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mosquitoes have three purposes in the world. The first is to suck blood from multiple diseased animals and spread various infections to humans. The second is to bug, annoy, and make as many people mad as possible. The third is to reproduce and make as many babies as they can to carry on the family tradition. To make a parallel to this topic would like discussing telemarketers. Nearly every aspect of a mosquito has a direct connection to telemarketers such as their nearly countless numbers and their drive to topple the American will. Both of these entities still baffle scholars and researchers to how they happen to be so similar.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Certain things in this world tend to bug us more than others. The worst of these are mosquitoes and telemarketers. Some of the worst ways mosquitoes annoy the American Public are the millions of bug bites we are covered with every year and the downright angering noise that they make. This drives us to exterminate this annoyance by doing the only logical, and smartest, thing we can come up with: Kill Them. Now, with telemarketers it is different, yet practically the same. These bloodsucking fiends keep calling and calling till we have no more energy to answer the phone. They bombard us with stupid products and pointless advertisements that drive us to the limit. Since we can’t kill telemarketers without severe punishment, we are forced to do nothing. The result, tactic, and drive of the telemarketers go hand in hand...

Revlon Case Study

Revlon is known as one of the best cosmetic companies of all time and is considered to be one of the worlds largest. The primary core products of Revlon are specialty skin products, salon-quality beauty and hair products to include its drugstore line of makeup. Revlon is based in New York and traded publicly. Their goal and vision has been to consistently provide quality beauty aids and products at a reasonable price. In the last few years Revlon has been struggling. With a debt almost at $2. 3 billion it has required the cosmetic giant to try and figure ways to reduce this debt.The research and development of Vital Radiance, a line of cosmetics for older women was announced on January 2006, this roll out was suppose to help revitalize sales and profit. The roll out of this product did not fare well and was not received by the market. The already existing competition had lower prices for their cosmetic products. These were being sold by major retailers like Wal-greens and Wal-mart, w hom already had other Revlon products on its shelves. This being the case the product line was suspended nine months after being introduced. It is projected that this set back is going to cost the company in the $100 millions.In addition to the Vital Radiance launch, there had been plans to release a new fragrance in 2006 also. This was delayed until the debt that was incurred from their cosmetic introduction could be restructured. After issuing a $185 million in stock to attempt to raise money to lessen the debt, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings agreed to purchase stock and also agreed to purchase any stock not bought by current stakeholders. The following paragraphs below we will discuss how the future of Revlon is going to be determined by changes in demographic changes, social trends and how the competition adjust to the urrent economy and the response of internal factors that contribute to the success of the company. The demographic composition of the United States has impacted the cosmetic and personal care industry. A couple of major changes which have occurred that need to be considered, are the aging population and ethnic and racial population changes which are responsible for a major shift change. The period between 1946 and 1964 approximately 75 million Americans were born in the U. S. this number is extremely symbolic for the cosmetic industry.These Americans are referred to as the baby boomers and the major dilemma with the baby boomers they do not like to spend money. Research has determined that the baby boomer generation have not changed how they spend money and the women from this era are working longer than in past years. A couple of other factors to consider is the U. S. teen market along with the ethnic and racial make-up. According to data collected the teen market is expected to be at around 20 million by 2010, this teen market consist of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19.Along with this growth is the African Americans which is the larg est of the ethnic groups is quickly being surpassed by the Hispanic population and this ethnic group is expected to be the largest by 2010 and should surpass 40. 5 million individuals. In addition to this multi-cultural growth being experienced throughout the United States, the non-hispanic is expected to shrink 68% by 2010. If Revlon can take advantage of this growth and expand to the foreign markets where analysis has shown that there will be a lot of opportunities for potential sales of cosmetic and personal care products throughout the world.Obviously with when there are positive aspects in business, there is always some type of negative influence that could potentially affect the overall business climate and growth of a company. In regards to Revlon, people are more socially, morally and fiscal conscious more than ever before. Older people unfortunately are a negative affect because they typically have limited less disposable income and have a less desire for look good items, t hey are set in their ways. Gas prices affect how people spend also and lastly the industry has always been under scrutiny for the abuse of animals that are used in cosmetic testing.So companies like Revlon have to always be very aware that consumer watch groups are constantly monitoring what companies like Revlon are doing. Knowing this and maintaining social responsibility, will prevent companies like Revlon from being run through the courts thereby ruining their reputation and any potential growth to get out debt. Considering all these factors it behooves Revlon to really push the world markets so as not to limit themselves to U. S. sales, which currently is experiencing a recession which has decreased the dollar value throughout the world, so by taking advantage or global business and maintaining U.S. sales Revlon should be able to show a positive net income in the near future. Revlon like many other cosmetic and skin care firms face competition in this industry that is out of th is world. So many companies want a piece of this market, that it appear to be saturated with all types of cosmetic companies. Women, obviously the largest consumer in the industry with men now desiring to maintain their youth prefer to shop at local drugstores, super values stores like Wal-mart and Kmart.Additional companies like Avon and the internet have made it easier for the consumer to save time and money by using these types of sales. For Revlon, not only do companies, home shopping and door to door type cosmetic firms, represent competition, but the major competitors such Procter and Gamble, Avon, Estee Lauder and L’Oreal are significant, that capture U. S. sales and foreign market sales. Others like specialty stores Sephora and Body Shop to include Victoria Secret’s and the Gap to name a few represent additional challenges.To add to the challenges currently facing Revlon, there is competition for the African market. Famous models and singers alike have develope d their own brands and capturing portions of the African market and advertise to the African American community. By studying and analyzing the cosmetic market it is essential for Revlon to look to other avenues to make themselves more attractive to the consumer. By investing into the company increasing their visibility in the social realm will be significant in attracting a larger consumer base.Revlon invested a great deal of money on research and how to provide better services to women. More than $25 million dollars has been spent thus far. Additionally by using familiar faces to assist in amplifying Revlon’s commitment to social responsibility they are attracting more people. Singers like Sheryl Crow, who actively participates on a board for Revlon that is responsible for research cures for cancer in addition Ms Crow being associated with the National Breast Cancer Coalition, which is also supported by Revlon truly magnifies the maturity of the firm to help the ommunity. Re vlon is committed to events that sponsor fund raising opportunities to find cures in addition to supporting agencies like the National Council of Negro Women, and New York Women in film is indicative to the commitment to social responsibility. The reorganization of management to save money annually has been implemented by David Kennedy who is the CEO and was selected in 2006. His previous experience as Coca-Cola executive and the previous CFO for Revlon made him a perfect fit for a company under stress.His plan to cut 8% of the Revlon workforce, which equates to about 250 positions, which is intended to save the company approximately $34 million dollars a year. By consolidating different functions throughout the company and reducing middle management allows for eht reduction in personnel. However, without a doubt when a company plans to save money, they have to spend money to get there. It is estimated that it will cost about $29 million dollars to restructure but as previously stat ed it is intended to save the company $34 million dollars annually thereafter.Once implemented it is essential to go after the market by changing or reorganizing marketing techniques. Marketing and advertising are key to the survival of Revlon. Revlon primary customers are the large merchandisers and chain drug stores. Although the debt is high Revlon has still maintained the development side of its organization and is still is main objective. Without changing, developing and designing they would fall behind the major competitors. In 2006 Revlon spent a little over $24 million dollars on research and development, but most importantly hired 170 people to accomplish this.Even through trying times, advertising continues to be the way to go and promote the company. Investing in popular faces to be spokespersons such as Halle Berry, Julianne Moore and Eva Mendez, etc. , is attractive to the consumer and by using a variety of women of different ages markets their products to young and mid dle aged alike. The current manufacturing and distribution of Revlon has allowed the company to pull their resources and consolidate facilities.By reducing the amount of distribution facilities has allowed for spoke and hub operations, which allows a company to cover more locations from a single vantage point. With its current locations Revlon is well suited to manage its distribution points. The financial outlook during the restructuring period did not fare well with a net loss of $50 million dollars due to this the restructuring program is ongoing. Revlon’s commitment to build a solid brand and improve their organizational commitment abilities is their life line.

Feasibility Study Essay

* 1. A Feasibility Study on the Establishment of a Semi-Commercial Hogs Farm in Alfonso, Cavite The LGD Farms * 2. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION * 3. In the Philippines, pork is one of the basic foods which Filipinos eat. It is one of the best sources of protein needed by the body to be strong and healthy. That is why a need for a farm arises. Introduction * 4. Hog raising business has been a very popular and dependable business in the Philippines. In fact, Hog raising business had dominated the swine industry as a healthy and viable commercial sector.Even in our traditional Filipino Festival/Occasion, Filipinos always crave for cuisine with â€Å"PORK†. â€Å"Di kompleto ang Okasyon kung walang handang baboy†. * 5. This statement had marked our traditional way of celebrating special occasions in our lives, and it proved our undying taste for pork. The Philippine Department of Agriculture’s vision is to modernized smallholder agriculture and fisheries to a diversified rural economy which would be dynamic, technologically advanced and internationally competitive. * 6. As of July 2008, it was recoded at 35.6% of the labor force, roughly around 12 million people, are employed in the agriculture industry, which includes the hunting and forestry sectors. The situation being such, the agriculture sector aims for security, sustainability of the natural resource base, social equity and global competitiveness. * 7. The Philippines takes specific measures to achieve these goals through the protection and development of watersheds; proper management of agricultural land and water resources; establishment of biogas facilities; providing marginalized sectors preferential access to productive assets and providing essential measures and support services. * 8. Vision The LGD Farms envisions itself as a hog raising farm promoting and maintaining environmental friendly identity to its employees, customers and to to the community. LGD Farms also envisions itself to be a naturally independent source of BioGas which can be used as a substitute for LPG to be used in the farm. The LGD Farms also envisions for the expansion of hog operation.The LGD’s Vision/Mission Statement * 9. Mission The LGD Farms will create an environmentally friendly identity through undertaking the proper and efficient way of waste disposals to avoid harming and distorting others. The LGD Farms will introduce its environmental friendly BioGas facility through using the hogs’ waste, by converting these waste into useful mathaine gas. * 10. The LGD Farms will undergo expansion after  five years through constructing additional building and adding parent stocks for the purpose of increasing their productiion to supply larger amount in the demand supply gap * 11. CHAPTER III PROJECT BACKGROUND * 12. Name of the Proposed Business: LGD FarmsNature of the business: Hogs ProductionType of business organization: Sole ProprietorshipLocation of the project: Kaysuyo, Alfonso, CaviteProject Background * 13. Source of Capital Funding of LGD Farms’ general operation and other financial demands will be sourced from the savings of the proprietor. Mr. Jandel A. Gimeno will invest P 4,600,000 in the business. * 14. Proposed Name of the Business â€Å"LGD Farms† will be the name of the business as agreed upon by the proponents. The proponents adopted the letters E and J from the name of the proprietor’s parents, Efren and Jovita Gimeno. * 15. The project will adopt a sole proprietorship type of business organization. Sole proprietorship type of business organization is one which is owned and run by an individual and where there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business. Type of Business Organization * 16. All assets of the business are owned by the pr oprietor and all the debts of the business are proprietor’s debts and he/she must pay it from his/her personal resources which will result to unlimited liability. * 17. The proponents opt to form the business under sole proprietorship type of business organization as they see it fit considering the nature and capital requirements of the project. Moreover, it is subject to fewer regulations unlike the other type of business organization, the owner has full autonomy with regard to business decisions. * 18. The proposed location had been chosen by the prponents considering such factors as the availability of resources, accesibility to the potential customers, location cost and the environment of the business which fall under agro – industrial land type as being classified by the DENR which is the only approved land type and location for the establishment of a Hog Farm. Location of the Firm * 19. According to the very nature of the proposed project, which is in line with the livestock type of business, a none-residential area has been the prime consideration of the proponents in choosing the site of the business. The LGD Farms will be situated at Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite. * 20. Management and Personnel Feasibility Summary LGD Farms will implement a democratic style of  management. This means that all employees will have the privilege and will be allowed to participate in the decision-making concerning the farm. The employees as well as the general manager will peform multi-tasking jobs for easy flow of operation. * 21. CHAPTER IVORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT FEASIBILITY * 22. With regard to the business operations, the proposed business will have a total of four (4) persons including the General Manager, Technical Operations Manager and two (2) Farmhands. Each of them must have knowledge about the production processes of hogs. They will be trained and oriented properly and will be given some seminars regarding hog farming.Administration and Management Feasibility * 23. Management Proposals The General Manager will be the one to plan and will be in charge of the overall supervision of the farm. He will be the one to screen the applicants to be recruited and hired. The Technical Operations Manager will oversee the efficiency and effectiveness of the farmhands. He will also be responsible for the general care of the pigs, maintaining the herd health and environment of the pigs. * 24. Organizational Chart * 25. In an organization, policies and principles play an important role because these help organization to become more efficient and effective. These will guide the whole business and help to achieve the company’s goals.Company Policies * 26. The proprietor will be the general manager of the firm. His compensation will be through withdrawals from the business. 20% of the Net income will be drawn from the farm.Policies on Drawings * 27. Policies on Hiring LGD Farms will announce job vacancies. The proposed business will recruit and employ workers on the basis of their qualifications of work. Referrals from trusted people will also be entertained. Qualified applicants will then pass the necessary requirements to the management such as:Barangay, Police and NBI ClearanceCopy of Birth CertificateHigh School/College Diploma/Form 137Medical CertificateDriver’s License * 28. Security Measures The E&J Farm will construct fence around the farm to prevent the entrance of unauthorized person despite the safety of the location against possible threats. * 29. Policies on Days of Work Employees will work six (6) days a week The compensation will be on  a daily basis. The employees are entitled to one (1) rest day a week. * 30. Work Schedule All employees are entitled to one (1) rest day. The Farmhand 1 will take his rest day on Saturday and the Farmhand 2 will take his rest day on Sunday. The Technical Operations Manager will take his rest day every Friday. * 31. PhilHealth, PAG-IBIG, SSS and 13th month pay will be provided for all employees.Seminars/ Trainings Seminars and trainings will be conducted for the farmhands to gain additional knowledge that will enhance their abilities and skills to become more productive and more efficient.Employee Benefits * 32. CHAPTER VMARKETING FEASIBILITY * 33. This chapter will discuss all the marketing aspects of a Hog Farm. The discussion will include the general market description, the target markets, the general marketing practices, demand, supply, the demand supply analysis, the propose marketing program and the marketing strategy. The data and other figures were gathered through research using both primary and secondary data. MARKETING FEASIBILITY * 34. The primary data came from the results of the conducted survey by the proponents and the secondary data were gathered from several government agencies and offices such as Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Agricultural Staistics (BAS), Department Of Agriculture (DA), and Alfonso Municipal Office. * 35. The use of marketing strategies and promotional activities such as word-of-mouth advertising, referrals and transit advertisement are highly sufficient to increase the number of customers and to increase the level of revenue. * 36. Alfonso, Cavite is an upland town situated at Southwest portion of the province. It is one of the highly recommended place for the establishment of Hog Farms as approved by the Provincial Veterinary Office. According to Alfonso Zoning Map, the said town provides preferable locations for the possibility of opening business operations in line with agriculture. MARKET DESCRIPTION * 37. According to the Provincial Veterinary Office, there were about 20 commercial farms and 70 backyard farms operating in areas of Alfonso, Indang, Mendez, Tagaytay, and Silang, Cavite as of 2009 Provincial Veterinary Office official count. In Alfonso, there are about 3 commercial farms and 20 backyard farms. * 38. The proposed business will be established at Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite. The target market will be the  public markets of Alfonso, Tagaytay City, Mendez, Indang and Silang, Cavite. The selected five towns of Cavite has a total of 130 meat vendors operating in their respective public markets. TARGET MARKET * 39. Table 1. Freaquency of Selling operation in Silang, Tagaytay City, Indang, Alfonso and Mendez, Cavite * 40. Table 2. Quantity of meats sold per selling operation * 41. Table 3. Source of Pork Supplies of Vendors * 42. Table 4. Availability of meat supplies * 43. Table 5. Vendor’s willingness to buy * 44. GENERAL MARKETING PRACTICES The LGD Farm will seek accreditation from Cavite Livestock Poultry Farming Association Incorporated (CALIFPAI), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Provincial Veterenary Office (PVO). The farm will follow all the rules and regulations and will comply with the standards set by these organizations and agencies to ensure the proper operations of the farm. * 45. The farm will also get updates and reviews and other useful information for better hog farm operation. As to operation security, The LGD Farms will secure its necessary requirements such as the Certificate of Non-Coverage (CNC)/ Environmental Compliance Certificate, Licenses and business permits. * 46. The farm will also actively participate on some different livelihood programs such as Hog Raising Seminars, Civic Welfare Programs and other Community Development related activities to gain market awareness. By these practices, the farm is expecting to establish a good public relations with different haulers and meat vendor to whom the farm will transact with. * 47. DEMANDHistorical Demand for pork in Selected Five Towns in Cavite (in kilograms) * 48. Projected Demand for Pork in Selected Five Towns in Cavite (in kilograms) * 49. Historical Supply for Pork in Selected Five Towns in Cavite (in kilograms)SUPPLY * 50. Projected Supply for Pork in Selected Five Towns in Cavite (in kilograms * 51. DEMAND – SUPPLY ANALYSIS * 52. CAPACITY TO SELL * 53. The farm will be advertised through word-of-mouth promotion, referrals and transit advertising. It will also join CALIFPAI (Cavite Livestock Farming Poultry Association Incorporated) to meet representatives of various sectors including Department of Agriculture. Proposed Marketing  Program * 54. The local government officials of Alfonso will also be a great help since the proposed business will contribute for the betterment of the community. LGD will also engage itself in organizing seminars/workshop for other hog raisers and for those who aspire to put up their own hog farms. This will also serve as a promotion of the farm. * 55. Growing Period and Feed Consumption Average Daily Gain- This Refers to the average gain in weight of pigs in kilograms per day. Weaners should have an ADG of at least .350 kg. And fatteners should have an ADG of .800-.825 kg. The higher the ADG the better because it means faster growth of pig and lower fattening period. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE * 56. Feed Conversion Ratio- This refers to the amount of feeds consumed by the pig per kilogram gain in weight. The lower the FCR the better. It means lesser feeds per gain. Weaners should have an FCR of 1.5 and fatteners should have an FCR of 3.0. * 57. The LGD Farms will use tarpaulin in its introductory stage as well as Transit advertising, which means the use of vehicles to carry the advertising material for the clients to be aware of the existence of the proposed business. Deliveries to clients will be available everyday.MARKETING STRATEGY * 58. The LGD Farms will also reach out to different charitable institutions such as orphanage, churches and government hospitals, charity and organizations. Help will be extended to those chosen charity by means of goods and financial help. * 59. CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION The products will undergo channels of distribution. These will be done by the E&J Farms through selling of hogs to slaughter houses and haulers which will serve as the middlemen or resellers. Next, the slaughter houses will deliver the meats to different public markets in selected towns and city for retailing purposes. * 60. These group of meat vendors wiil sell the meats to household who are considered as the consumers /end-users of meats for final consumption purposes. * 61. CHAPTER VIPRODUCTION/TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY * 62. The proposed business LGD Farms falls under a production type of business providing the resellers quality pigs for their reselling purposes, particularly those meat vendors and even haulers in different market in Cavite, especially in Alfonso and near-by towns. LGD will establish 50 sow level hogs farm, producing 100 heads of hog a month. PRODUCTS * 63. A  variety of Landrace strains originated from famous Danish Landrace hogs which were developed in Denmark in 1895. The Landrace is characterized by its long body length, short legs, and medium to large drooping ears. Landrace swine is meaty on the food especially on the rail. Their hams are plump but trim. Their sides are long and uniform in depth. BREEDER STOCKS * 64. Landrace sows are prolific and are known to be excellent mothers and having a good litter size. This breed’s sows have been known for their milk producing abilities, reaching their top milk after five weeks of lactation which is much latter when compared to other breeds. * 65. Large White is a white-colored meat type of pig with medium, erect ears, curved back and body in dining forward. The face is slightly dished. It is fast –growing, a good feed converter, highly prolific and excellent milkers with superior mothering ability. Its carcass is also suited for bacon production. It can adapt well in confinement but not in rugged condition. * 66. Breed the sows.FarrowingWeaning of pigletsPiglets in the NurseryTransfer to fattening sectionHogs at market weightPRODUCTION PROCESS * 67. Purchase of Piglets.Disinfection and Quarantine. Transfer of Purchased piglets to the nursery pen.Transfer to the Fattening Section. Hogs at market weight.ALTERNATIVE PROCESS (1) * 68. Breed the sows.Farrowing.Weaning of piglets.Piglets in the nursery.Piglets at market weight. ALTERNATIVE PROCESS (2) * 69. PROJECT SITE * 70. The first factor that must be considered is the availability of resources or location where the project will be situated. Other considerations also include; the location cost and other legal requisites and also for all of this to be possible, a non-residencial area must be chosen as the location of the business for it to operate. * 71. PROJECT SITE DESCRIPTIONThe proposed project, LGD Farms will be located at Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite. * 72. Building The E&J Farms will construct three major buildings which would be essential for the operation of the farm, the Dry pen building, Farrowing pen and nursery pen building and the Fattener pen building.BUILDING AND FACILITIES * 73. Dry Pen BuildingFarrowing and Nursery Pen BuildingFattener Pen BuildingHolding PenStorage RoomArtificial Insemenation LaboratoryFarm House * 74. LGD Farms has a biogas facility that treats pig wastes and generate enough methaine gas that is used for  cooking at the farm house. This facility has made the commercial farm environmentally friendly as it minimizes pig odors from farm wastes. Also, after biogas processing of effluent wastes, wastewater is discharged to irrigate the grass paddocks within the farm premises.BIOGAS FACILITIES * 75. The farm will create no waste but pieces of plastic packaging of medicines for hogs, that will be placed properly on a trash bin. The pig waste will undergo the biogas facility that treats pig waste and generate enough methaine gas that is used for cooking at the farm house. WASTE AND WASTE DISPOSAL * 76. This facility has made the commercial farm environmentally friendly as it minimizes pig odors from farm wastes. Also, after biogas processing of effluent wastes, wastewater is discharge to irrigate the grass paddocks within the farm premises. * 77. The quality of each pig will be maintained through proper care and treatment. Control of virus should be taken into consideration as to avoid diseases. The farm will have a record of every pig for monitoring and evaluation purposes. This will be done from the dry period to the farrowing day for the sows and from the day 1 of the piglets to market weight for fatteners.QUALITY CONTROL * 78. There will be a technician for the sows from the supplier of the parent stocks and a feed technician from the supplier of the feeds. Both of them will serve as farm consultant on an on-call basis. * 79. CHAPTER VIIFINANCIAL FEASIBILITY * 80. CAPITAL REQUIREMENTSCASH P 154,178.50PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT Farming Tools And Equipment 50,080.00Delivery Equipment 270,000.00Office Equipment 18,200.00Furniture And Fixtures 18,720.00INVENTORIESFarm Supplies P2,401,136.50Office Supplies 485.00Land 450,000.00Pre-Operating Expense 17,200,00TOTAL CAPITAL REQUIMENTS P4,600,000.00 * 81. Selling price is computed using statistical parabolic projection method.Sales are 100% of the yearly production.Gas and oil expense, promotion and advertisement, repair and maintenance are assumed to increase by 5% annually.Contingencies are 3% of net sales.Drawing is 20% of net income.OTHER FINANCIAL ASSUMPTIONS * 82. Other benefits like seminars and trainings are assumed to increase by 5% annually.Audit fees, permits and licenses are assumed to increase by 5% annually.The initial capital requirement is good for 3 months consumption.Production will be maintained at 100 heads per month for the  next 5 years. * 83. Pre-Operating Cash FlowCash Inflow Capital Contribution P4,600,000.00Cash Outflow Farm Tools And Equipment 50,080.00 Delivery Equipment 270,000.00 Office Equipment 18,200.00 Furniture And Fixtures 18,720.00 Farm Supplies 2,401,136.50 Office Supplies 485.00 Land 450,000.00 Building And Facilities 1,222,000.00 Pre-Operating Expense 17,200.00Net Cash Flow 154,178.50 * 84. The E&J FARMS Pre Operating Statement Of Financial PositionASSETSCURRENT ASSETS Cash And Cash Equivalent 154,178.50Inventories 2,401,621.50NON CURRENT ASSETSPROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT 357,000.00BUILDING AND FACILITIES 1,222,000.00LAND 450,000.00OTHER ASSETSPre Operating Expense 17,200.00TOTAL ASSETS P4,600,00.00LIABILITIES AND OWNER EQUITYOWNER’S EQUITY P4,600,000.00TOTAL LIABILITIES AND OWNER’S EQUITY P4,600,000.00 * 97. CHAPTER VIIISOCIO ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY * 98. This chapter will discuss the different sectors that would benefit from the proposed business. The purpose of putting up a business is not just to generate profit but to give importance to social and economic benefit that it can provide.SOCIAL DESIRABILITY * 99. The proposed business will be located at Kaysuyo, Alfonso, Cavite. 72% of its residents are engaged in agriculture, taking advantage of its good location which best suits the proposed business. The said business will increase rate of employment through providing job opportunities to those people who were unable to attain higher education. * 100. In putting up a business, registration of business is necessary to have permits and license from the government office. These, along with taxes are then paid as the business operates. Taxes form part of the government revenues that help to support the needs of the public. INCREASE IN GOVERNMENT REVENUE * 101. The proposed business will employ people who have knowledge about agriculture preferably those who are living within the adjacent area of the location of the proposed business. These employees will receive fair compensation according to their qualifications and performance. Salaries are based on the minimum wage set by the government.GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT * 102. Increase in population will result in increase in demand for food, which also means an increase in demand for pork in the area. With the continuous operation of the business, the employees will be helped to uplift the standard of their living.DEVELOPMENT OF RELATED STUDY * 103. In order for the business to  operate legally, it must comply with the government requirements as follows:Mayor’s Permit, Business Permit, Certificate of Non-Coverage and other Municipal Licenses.Environmental Compliance CertificateRegistration with the SSS, Philhealth and PAG-IBIG.Registration with Bureau of Internal Revenue.LEGAL ASPECTS * 104. It will satisfy the customers’ need.It will ensure the customers the of the Farm’s product.OTHER BENEFITS * 105. CHAPTER IX CONCLUSION * 106. After studying the different aspects in establishing a Semi-commercial Hogs Farm, proponets concluded that the study is feasible and viable. The study shows the initial investment of the proposed business will be P4,600,000 with a minimum payback period of 2.54 years. * 107. The increase in the demand for pork in Alfonso, Mendez, Indang, Silang and Tagaytay City Cavite shows thatt there is still a need for the proposed business. Thus, the business is profitable.

History of ballet in canada essays

History of ballet in canada essays "Magnificence, extravagance, artificiality, a tiny society in which everyone knew every detail of everyones life." The preceding sentence best described the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and it was into that world that professional ballet was born. Louis was an accomplished dancer and appeared in many court ballets from the age of twelve until he was thirty-two. Though he continued to perform his favorite ballroom dances, various affairs, such as his sense of royal dignity forced Louis to give up court ballets. At the age of fourteen, Louis delivered the performance, which identified him and gave him his popular image. It occurred towards the very end of a thirteen-hour performance when he entered as the "Rising Sun". Many depicted his performance as mere coincidence for he was indeed as brilliant and powerful as the sun, yet at such a young and rising age. He lived to the age of seventy-two, rarely experiencing an illness in his life. Two definitions of dance exist. One written fifty years before Louis was born and the other shortly after his death show his influence helped to make order out of confusion. In 1588 Thoinot Arbeau, a dancing master defined dance as the following: "Dancing, so to speak, is to jump, to hop, to prance, to sway, to tread, to tiptoe, and to move the feet, hands, and body in certain rhythms, measures, and movements consisting of jumps, bendings of the body, straddlings, limpings, bendings of the knees, risings on the tiptoes, throwings-forward of the feet, changes and other movements." The change is shown by John Weaver defining dance as the following in 1721: " Dancing is an elegant and regular movement, harmonically composed of beautiful attitudes and contrasted graceful postures of the body, and parts thereof." For the first hundred years of professional ballet, its centre of development remained firmly in Paris, where Louis had placed it. Many changes continued to evolve to ...

Analysis and Evaluation of Aspects of Pastoral Care and Mentoring in Essay

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Latin American civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Latin American civilizations - Essay Example United States of America. It comprises twenty independent states, six European (France & Netherlands) dependences and two US dependences. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary (3rd edition) the word â€Å"Latin† is derived from the word â€Å"Latium† which refers to an ancient country of west-central Italy bordering on the Tyrrhenian sea dominated by Roman Empire after the 3rd century B. C. As the region is defined with its European ancestry so the people of Latin America do not necessarily feel identify with the region. They tend to identify them with their national identities rather than with a Latin American regional identity.The population of Latin America is an amalgam of ethnic groups with varying composition of European, Amerindian or African origin.The Latin America has remained the home of many indigenous peoples and civilizations, including the notable Maya, Aztecs and Inca, before the colonialism in late15th century. They followed diverse religious thoughts and practices. Following is an account of some important civilization religious thoughts and practices.Mayan Religious Practices.The Maya civilization emerged in Mesoamerica – a region extending south and east central Mexico to include parts of Guatemala, Nicaragua , Honduras and Belize in early 1800 AD and flourished around 300-900 AD. Quiche was the mother tongue of all Mesoamerican and it is still spoken by a large number of Guatemalan indigenous people . The Mayan people had spectacular art and architectural skills with sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. The Mayan religious school of thought was based on the cyclical nature of time. Popol Vuh was their sacred book and Mexico and Guatemala was their main religious Centers. Like many ancient civilizations three aspects of cosmos i. e; the underworld, the sky and the earth, were the key features of Mayan religious belief. The caves, mountains and natural wells were considered extremely important geographical features as they were seen connecting the upper and the nether worlds. The influence of Cosmo vision was obvious even in their city planning and architecture. Mayan underworld was dominated by the aged Maya gods of death and putrefaction. The sun god dominated the Mayan idea of the sky. The night sky was considered to be a window showing all supernatural doings. They believed that world had infinite space and it had flat and square shape. They also worshiped the circle, which symbolized perfection or the balancing of forces. The maize god was considered to be the central figure of Mayan religious philosophy and maize life - cycle lay at the heart of Maya people. According to Mayan belief all gods were unbounded and associated with each others. The qualities of these gods and their attributes changed with the passage of time and with cultural influences from other Mesoamerican groups. An important characteristic of Mesoamerican religion was the dualism among the divine entities. The gods symbolized the confrontation between opposite poles: the positive, exemplified by light, the masculine, force, war, the sun, etc.; and the negative, exemplified by darkness, the feminine, repose, peace, etc. Good and bad features were not permanents traits of gods (Maya civilization, 1) . Philosophically, the Maya believed that knowing the past meant knowing the cyclical influences that create the present, and by knowing the influences of the present one can see the cyclical influences of the future. Aztec Religious Thoughts and Practices The Aztecs civilization refers to the Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people under the control of the Mexico. The Aztec Empire was founded in postclassical era in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries in central Mexico with Tenochtitlan as its capital. The basic theme of Aztec belief was Ometecuhtli - a Supreme Creator, who, according to