Introduction

Despite years of apartheid, South Africa has historically remained an ‘open economy’ in terms of its foreign trade, with a relatively high percentage of GDP of 50% to 60%. As a developing country, South Africa is dependent on industrial imports, and therefore this is one aspect that businesses have to keep in mind, as any upsurge in domestic activity will have an adverse effect on balance of payments. Quite risky, but generally the market in South Africa is stable at present.

South Africa’s main exports are from its mines, and, to a lesser extent, its agricultural products, and from industries that benefit from low-cost electricity. Gold is South Africa’s largest single foreign exchange earner, although its contribution to physical exports has dropped from over 50% in the 1980s to just over 25% now. Other exports include platinum, diamonds, coal, chrome, manganese and iron ore, which combined accounts for a further 24% of export earnings. Exports of iron and steel and ferro-alloys account for a further 15% of South Africa’s export market.

Capital and industrial goods make up some 80% of South Africa’s imports. While the country is rich in mineral wealth and is a significant producer of base metals and metal products, there are certain special minerals and metals that are not found locally and have to be imported. In addition to machinery and transport equipment, chemicals are an important import sector. Considering the market potential for automated products import into South Africa, the marketing of laptop computers has tremendous potential (MBendi, 2000).

Executive Summary

There are a number of ways to tap the market in South Africa, and one must be able to identify the best possible method to enter it. The possible options are the direct and indirect export methods, licensing or contracting, joint ventures or wholly owned subsidiaries, in the case of manufacturing. The choice will obviously be based on the product which is to be marketed there; laptop computers. Since this will be the first-time entry into an unknown market, a lot of research is mandated. Market analysis becomes imperative, as the South African market remains practically unknown territory.

One of the most important decisions an exporter has to make when entering a new market directly is the selection of a reliable and strong distribution channel. The distribution channel is determined to a large extent by the product itself, and since we plan to market laptop computers, the distribution channel partner can be both, directly to end-users, and through representation.

Government procurement is important to the South African economy as it provides job opportunities to its citizens. Because of this, the government favors its domestic purchases from local companies in general and companies owned by persons belonging to the disadvantaged communities. The Government has a specific policy with regard to affirmative procurement on state tenders. The basis of the policy is embedded in section 217 of the Constitution that states that the provision of goods and services needs to be fair and equitable and that preference will be given to those belonging to the previously disadvantaged communities. The state Tender Board and large parastatals have established strategies and procedures that favor procurement from small and medium enterprises owned by these disadvantaged people. In addition to this, there are also the procedures to include price preferences and waiver of sureties to these companies when tendering on government contracts.

However, there is always the possibility foreign companies like ours for example, to partake in government tenders provided they have an agent or partner in South Africa acting on their behalf. Most of the purchasing is done through competitive bidding on invitations for tenders. The bids must be on a c.i.f. basis and should include local transportation charges within South Africa to the point of delivery.

Literature Review

As an exporter, the study of the local market and natives laws must be undertaken. Considering that the government tenders are normally allotted to the disadvantaged group, it becomes difficult to engage in government tenders without having a local representative. In such a situation it is advisable to appoint an agent or distributor who belongs to this minority or majority group. And if there are no specialist importers or distributors for our products, we may have to sell directly to a wholesaler who services our product market. A wholesaler, who doesn’t have exclusive selling rights in South Africa, will have to appoint independent retailers and informal operators. A certain number of large-scale wholesalers in South Africa are utilised by retailers in neighboring states.

Retail chain

Large retail stores may buy products directly from an overseas supplier as in the case of a particular range of linen, clothing or kitchenware. A feature of the South African retail sector is that it operates within a very competitive marketing environment, and because of this, very few large groups dominate the retail sector.

Representatives

There are two types of representatives:

Agents

Distributors

Agents

The term ‘agent” is used strictly, in legal sense, to refer to a person who, for and on behalf of a principal, either introduces a third party to the principal by soliciting orders from the third party, or concludes contracts on behalf of the principal with the third party. The normal reward for an agent is a commission, which is received from the principal.

The key considerations in appointing an agent in South Africa are:

Appoint an agent who knows his and your market well. The South African business sector is relatively small and companies have established methods of procurement that differ from sector to sector. One tends to find that there are relatively few agents who serve a particular sector, but, because they are well established within the sector, they have the support of their customers.

Consider the aspect of national distribution. South Africa is a large country with nine provinces. The smaller agents will tend to operate provincially, as they do not have the infrastructure to support operations in other provinces. If we decide to go this route we need to appoint an agent in cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban to cover each province. The larger companies who appoint agencies often have an office in each of the major centers.

For certain product South Africa acts as a trading hub for other southern African countries, and the agent that we like to appoint should be able to handle our business interests in these countries as well.

Distributors

A distributor buys and holds stocks. In return, he is granted exclusive right to sell the product in a particular area or to a particular type of customer. The agreement with a distributor will be similar to an agreement with an agent except that price and delivery terms will be different. When appointing a distributor in South Africa, the same considerations apply as to appointing an agent.

Licensing, Franchising and Contracting Agreements

Licensing

A licensing agreement is an agreement whereby the licensor gives something of value to the licensee in exchange for certain performances and payments. Usually what is transferred is some sort of industrial or commercial expertise such as a patent on a product or process; the right to the use of a trade mark or brand name; copyright; manufacturing know-how or technical or marketing advice and assistance. The benefits of a licensing agreement are that you can gain access to the South African market and your licensee’s local marketing and distribution infrastructure and customer base without the risk of direct involvement.

Relationship between inappropriate behavior and TAKS scores among low socio-economic middle school students

Introduction

The TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) test was introduced in 2003 to replace the earlier time-tested TAAS test as a means to evaluate classroom experience of students in the middle schools in Texas. TAKS included more of TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) to determine what students should know to be academically successful. Standards vary with grade, and students received up to 5 chances to meet the standard, to graduate from high school with a pass grade (UTTC, 2007).

An important aspect of knowledge management was the adoption of adaptive learning, and generative learning. In adaptive learning, one is inclined to use a successful technology over a period of time, hoping against hope that the product is accepted and in demand over a long period of time. TAAS was successfully implemented for 11 years and accepted as the standard for students in middle schools. However, adoption is also analogical to changes for the better. This brought about the change to introduce TAKS in 2003, and is now the standard followed to scale grades, in other words, generative learning (Dr Sallis and Jones, 2002).

Statement of the Problem

The Federal government wanted to make a change in the evaluation system of student grades across the country and devised the Texas system to be most appropriate to address this issue. The initiative was undertaken to address the issue of under-performance of students under the low socio-economic middle schools, and bring education under a single umbrella. This would eliminate any form of bias and help deserving students in pursuing higher education. However, researchers and policymakers debated the effects of the Texas system on students and teachers with conflicting views. On one hand, supporters argued that the system had increased student achievement, decreased dropout rates, and decreased the achievement gap between non- White and White students as well as between poor and affluent students, leading to the decline of inappropriate behavior among the low socio-economic middle-school students. This led to enhanced performance and better output through this system (Fuller, 2006, p.3).

Literature Review

Of the approximately 79,000 students in Austin Independent School District (AISD), a number of students, for various reasons, did not study well in a regular classroom. The ‘Fact and Issues’ of this study in 2005 addressed accountability, testing, drop-outs, completion rates, and high school restructuring in the Austin Independent School District (LWVAA Local Public Education Study, 2005). Accountability system reforms had a better chance of success and acceptance if implemented properly. These changes had to be implemented based on input from stakeholders, parents and teachers. Most school administrators have bought into the testing philosophy. Last year in Texas a school was giving the TAKS. The TAKS test determined the way a school is judged in the state of Texas. Unfortunately, this test was also the parameter to measure a teacher’s credibility, and tragically, it also became the way kids were measured (A Teacher’s Viewpoint, 2006).

To understand the hypothesis of the relationship between inappropriate behavior and TAKS scores among low socio-economic middle school students, an academic self-efficacy and performance on a high stakes mathematics test was undertaken. Researchers recognized that both cognitive and affective aspects of learning were present when students constructed mathematical understandings. Affective influences were clearly visible in a students’ participation in mathematics study and careers. There was indication of self-efficacy influencing academic motivation (Pajares 1996; Schunk 1995). Mathematics required personal capabilities to initiate and successfully perform specified tasks at designated levels and expend greater effort and persevere in the face of adversity said Bandura (1988, 1986) (Blake and Lesser, 2007).

TAKS Practice is designed to provide test-taking experience and serve as both a diagnostic and a teaching tool. According to NCTM (2000), a student’s assessment is crucial for mathematics achievement. The ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ mandated that all states give mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and at least once in grades 10 through 12. This has led to pressure to improve test scores, and nothing appears to capture public attention like the test scores of schools. (Mentoring Minds, 2007).

Students at Liverpool High used their school-issued laptops to exchange answers on tests, download pornography and hack into local businesses, an abuse on technology that was meant to prepare students better for tests. School officials complained that laptops were abused by students and did not fit into lesson plans, and showed little, if any, measurable effect on grades and test scores at a time of increased pressure to meet state standards. In April this year, the United States Department of Education released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used educational software programs for math and reading and those who did not. The schools include large and small school districts, urban and rural communities, affluent schools and those serving mostly low-income, minority students, who as a group have tended to under-perform academically (Hu, 2007).

Researchers at Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley studied 44,709 sixth-graders in 243 schools in 99 districts in elementary and middle school models. It turned out those sixth-graders in elementary showed stronger gains on end-of-course reading and math exams than their middle school counterparts. This was because; sixth-graders in middle school were more likely to be involved in drug-related incidents than studies. According to Philip Cook, Duke Professor of public policy and economics, this is because of the nationwide shift to the grades 6-8 middle school format. The school configuration affects student behavior and performance, mostly due to the bad influences from older students (Cook, 2007). In schools that have low socio-economic students in them, districts have found that the test scores are below their expectations for various reasons. Behavior, drop-outs, poverty have been identified as the main causes. Teachers here find themselves evaluated, and their jobs hanging in relation to the test scores of their students. Students are taught out of context with the view that by following these instructions, success can be achieved. When scores are low, teachers are faulted and their contracts cancelled. Such schools dump their older, more experienced teachers for cheaper young, inexperienced teachers. This has also led to poor marks at the TAKS tests in these schools (A Teacher’s Viewpoint, 2006).

A strong reason for school dropouts has been the fear of TAKS test. Foundations established by computer magnates Bill Gates and Michael Dell have given consent to help fund a new dropout prevention program under a $130 million public-private statewide initiative in Dallas. Grants will be set aside for high school classes that failed TAKS. The grants are to be used to pay for special programs for students deemed at risk of dropping out. This goes to show that low socio-economic middle school students have found the state-sponsored TAKS difficult to clear due to their social status (Robison, 2006).

In 2006, TEA released the results of TAKS tests that determined the number of students who graduated or advanced a grade, and calculated the basis of school ratings under the federal “No Child Left Behind” scheme. Scores showed both growth and decline. The achievement gap between African-American and Hispanic students, to white and Asian peers narrowed. However, the pass rate as a whole remained far from exemplary, with only 50% of eighth-graders passing all their tests, the lowest for any grade; among third-graders, one in five failed at least one test. Sadly, grades in areas of decline outnumbered areas of growth. In 11th grade, where math and science scores declined, language arts stayed flat. In 2005, about 100 students were held back because of TAKS scores, and about 1,300 juniors had chances to retake the test in order to graduate in May. These students were from the disproportionately low-income and minority group (May, 2006).

According to TEA, from 13 % last year to 16% this year, students failed TAKS test, mandatory for a high school diploma. Though data was non-descriptive, facts on the historically high dropout rates among Latinos and blacks and low SAT scores did not discount the theory that the majority of those failed students belonged to the low socio-economic category (Gonzales, 2007).

The following was picked up from ‘TAKS Boycott’, written by an anonymous student on the role of schools and teachers in preparing students for that special test. “I am a high school student and feel that the TAKS is a waste of time. The entire school year is preparing us for a test, when the school should be preparing us students for college, the outside world, and majors. There should have been more motivation to try harder and avoid dropping out.” This comment illustrates the role of teachers today, who under pressure to perform spent time preparing students for tests, not particularly enjoyed by students from the low socio-economic status (Anonymous, 2006).

Wagner et al (2005, p.137-138) in, ‘Educational Reform in Texas through Alternative Education: A Successful Case Study,’ described that students from the low socio-economic and behavioral problems scored low marks in TAKS. They suggested that Alternative Education programs could serve those homeless or runaways, dropouts, low achievers, or those with medical, family, or drug abuse, existing pregnancy or parenthood. Conrath (2001) stated that alternative educators, to help children of poverty develop personally and obtain a high-quality education, must show other educators what to do, consistent with the ideology of public education. This just goes to show that behavior and socio-economic conditions affected the performance of students taking the TAKS test (Pevoto and Brown, 2007).

On behavior outcomes, the students who participated in 2004 and 2005 and the other group of students who participated in 2005-2006 actually did not do well in aggressive, verbal or physical aggression. Students who underwent a program stated that they behaved better in school and it helped them work better with other students. Their attitudes towards school improved, it soared from 60% at the beginning of the year to 90%. Thus, behavior affected their concentration and performance in school (Travis County, 2006).

Statement of the hypothesis

The introduction of TAKS tests in middle schools had a telling effect on students from the low socio-economic strata. Teachers and schools were pressed to perform to be graded by TEA. This meant that teachers had to spend more than usual time in preparing students for their tests, rather than on academic papers. Students who failed in the first or second attempt were tempted to drop-out, leading to declining standards and teacher motivation. Students with behavioral problems and those from the low socio-economic strata of society were the most affected on their TAKS scores. There has been a steady decline in the curriculum, leading to specific target objective. Forced teaching, and uninventive jargon led to lesser interest and more drop-outs.

Methodology and Conclusion

In order to understand the reason for certain sections of students non-performing well in the TAKS tests, this paper studied a number of write-ups, reports and research papers that identified this problem in students. There was no mistaking the cause for low grades in students who had behavioral problems or belonged to the low socio-economic strata of society. The large number of surveys identified more negatives than positives. Quantitative Research method was found to be more appropriate, as there were enough research papers, reports and feedbacks from various sources. Website references proved to be very useful in tracking the source for this problem on TAKS tests.

References

A Teacher’s Viewpoint, 2006, http://teachersviewpoint.blogspot.com

Anonymous, TAKS Boycott, Low-income urban schools, 2006, http://taksboycott.blogspot.com/2006/06/low-income-urban-schools.html

Blake, S and Lesser, L, 2006, Exploring the Relationship between Academic Self-Efficiency and Middle School Students Performance on a High-Stakes Mathematics Test, Teacher education – In-service/Professional Development, http://www.pmena.org/2006/cd/TEACHER%20EDUCATION%20-INSERVICE/TEACHER%20EDUCATION%20-INSERVICE-0010.pdf

Cook, P, 2007, Chron.com, Houston Chronicle, School Zone, Middle-school slump, http://blogs.chron.com/schoolzone/2007/02/middleschool_slump.html

County, T, 2006, Travis County Commissioners Court, http://www.co.travis.tx.us/commissioners_court/agendas/2006/08/text/vs060808_05.asp

Fuller, E, 2006, Teacher and Parent Perceptions of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, ATPE, http://www.atpe.org/Advocacy/Issues/TAKSStudy.pdf

Gonzales, R. J, 2007, ‘E’ for Effort, Mike Falick’s Blog, http://mikefalick.blogs.com/my_blog/2007/06/another_big_pro.html

Hu, W, 2007, The New York Times, Education, Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/education/04laptop.html?ei=5124&en=0da7ad13de3693ef&ex=1336017600&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&pagewanted=all

LWVAA Local Public Education Study, 2005, Facts and Issues, Part II, March 2005 (Revised August 2005), http://lwvaustin.org/publications/publicedfactsandissuespart2.pdf

May, R. P, 2005, The Austin Chronicle, Shrinking Schools: While the suburbs sprawl, central city schools counter their children-and their blessings, http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A271765

May, R. P, 2006, The Austin Chronicle, TAKS Scores Show Both Improvement and Trouble for AISD, http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A368480

Mentoring Minds: The Critical Thinking Source, Research: TAKS Practice, 2007, http://www.mentoringminds.com/mm/research/researchTAKSPractice.html

Pevoto, B and Brown, E. Y, 2007, Educational Reform in Texas through Alternative Education: A Successful Case Study, Essays in Education, Volume 19 Winter 2007, http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol192007/pevoto%5B1%5D.pdf

Robison, C, 2003, NEW $130 MILLION TEXAS PROGRAM TO HALT DROPOUTS, State, magnates begin program to halt dropouts, Dell, Gates give $130 million to Texas schools, Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/education/2216570

Sallis, Dr E and Jones, G, 2002, Knowledge Management in Education: Enhancing Learning and Education, Routledge, ISBN 0749434953

Track, UTTC, http://www.track.uttelecampus.org/taks.aspx

“Fahrenheit 451″ is a fiction written by Ray Bradbury in 1953. The novel is set in a futuristic American city of the 24th century where all the houses are fireproof and firemen are expected to create fires rather than to extinguish. In that specific futuristic society, there is a ban on reading and any reading material if found is to be burnt as per law.  The people lives in isolation and do not socialize or have any other natural feelings such as enjoying nature. They are fond of over speeding and spend most of their time in watching TV and listening to radio.

The main thesis in the novel is the indifferent human behavior towards the pleasures of reading, which prevails in that futuristic society ultimately leading to internal frustration amongst the people. However, bound by the norms, no one intends to accept the reality.

Guy Montag, a firefighter, is the main character from “Fahrenheit 451″. During his life as described in the novel, he passes through certain emotional stages and experiences major transformations throughout the years.

The very first phase in his life is shown in the beginning of the novel, where he is depicted as cold-blooded firefighter who does not have any regards for the sentiments of people whose books are burnt by him. He gets comfort, pleasure and satisfaction while burning books to ashes as the book describes, “It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed” (3)

His mind and body enters another phase of his journey after meeting a seventeen years old girl Clarisse McClellan. This rendezvous brings a stir in Montag’s life. Being a highly sensitive lady, Clarisse is a great admirer of nature and possess great love for all the living creatures, man or animals. She draws his attention to his empty and stagnant life by continuously drawing his thoughts to feel and recognize the natural beauty around him. Gradually Montag experiences an emotional change that intensifies with certain consecutive events in the coming days. In the first place he witnesses the scene of an elderly woman who burns herself while the firefighters attempt to ablaze the collection of books she possesses and is stunned by her last words, “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out!” (Bradbury 40). Soon after that he is shocked by Clarisse death who is hit by an over speeding car. This is the turning point in Montag’s life that makes him to seek a refuge in reading.

He starts reading the books he had managed to steal from the collection he had burnt so far and dumped in a secret place inside his house. His reading in poetry helps change his attitude towards life and is compelled to initiate a movement of revival of publishing book. With the aid of a professor named Faber, he aims to bring down the status quo. As soon as his intentions exposed, his firefighting team reaches to burn his house. He succeeds to escape after injuring his fellows and seek refuge with Faber. Ultimately Montag leaves the city and meets a team of book lovers who hope to revive the tradition of writing and reading. By the time the war starts and the futuristic city is bombed to ashes. Montag and fellows moves forward to find out the survivors and to recreate a new culture.

Conclusions

Montag’s mental journey leads him to arrive at a final conclusion where he realizes the importance of reading and writing. He ultimately explores the truth and a path towards internal satisfaction that is regarded as a sole objective for all the thinking people.

Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Harper Voyager; 50Anniversary Ed edition. (August 2, 2004)

Thesis – Poe mainly based his poems on his personal misfortune and was overly discriptive to reflect his own plight.

Throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s life, he watched many people close to him suffer deathly illnesses, and he watched many of them die. The death of Edgar’s mother when he was young was very influential to his life, for it dictated the rest of his life as an orphan and a man alone in the world. The death of Edgar’s foster father was also very influential in his life. Although he did not mourn his foster father much, he was left nothing at all in his will, even though his foster father had more than enough money to support his family. It is because of this that Edgar would live the rest of his life impoverished until the day he died. When Poe’s wife, Virginia, died also of tuberculosis, Poe had an incredibly difficult time. (Hough, 1965, pg 32)

Poe had significant relationships with women throughout his life that in many ways influenced his prose and poetry. Edgar’s loss of his mother, his wife, and his failures at remarriages influenced his writing a great deal. Poe seemed to search for a maternal figure all of his life, and it is shone through many of his romantic poems. His suspense stories were rather based on his personal misfortune. One of the most significant and prevailing themes in Poe’s writing is his outcry for his mother, or some sort of female figure in his life ( Davidson 47).

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart” is a very well devised story. It is an odd story where the narrator becomes more and more insane throughout the story. He is attempting to prove that he is still sane, though. He even says, I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! And observe how healthily… how calmly I can tell you the whole story. (Poe 131)

Poe starts off the story by having the narrator say that he had killed the old man. The reader immediately knows that the narrator is either crazy or has some mental defect within him. The reader later finds that the narrator just killed him because he had a pale blue eye that bothered him. Later in the story, the police come and question the narrator. They do not have to say anything really. The narrator can not hold the guilt on himself. He hears the old man’s heart beating. He then admits to the crime and tells the officers to pull up the floorboards. The police end up finding the old man underneath the floor. “The Tell Tale Heart” is a rather odd story. The reader really wonders what kind of state of mind Poe was in when he wrote this.

This work of Poe’s is chilling and eerie. (Poe 129)

The narrator describes many conflicts in the play with very shrew precision. He is a so called madman and creates conflicts.

These very conflicts effect the narrator in a psychological and emotional way during various stages of the murder. The antagonism alters the narrator in in how he does things. (Kennedy, 2005, pg13)

The preliminary conflict occurs during the inception of the murder when the author is being angered by the old man’s eye. For a whole week he is constantly staring at him and shining the light into his eye. This is what makes the narrator go mad. His emotions make him crazy. All of this is making him want to commit the murder even more. He also keeps thinking in his mind how the murder is going to work and turn out. His madness drives him toward his ultimate goal of ridding of the old man and his “vulture” eye. (Poe, 2004)

The second conflict that arises is during the murder when the narrator is trying to commit the actual murder of the old man. He is overhwhelmed with happiness and excitement. Once again, he continues to think how the eye is going to be gone and he will not have to see it ever again. The author’s planning has been meticulous as he has been successful. He is working out his hard thought out plan that he has created. He sticks the old man under the floorboards of the home. He is finished. His emotions are very happy and gleeful ones. The work is done. (Kennedy, 2005, pg21)

The third and final conflict the narrator experiences arises after the murder when the narrator is talking to the police about the shriek that was reported at the house. While the two police men are talking together, he hears the old mans heart beating from under the floor boards of the old mans house. He keeps hearing the beating in his mind and he is going crazy. He is covering his ears but he continues to hear the beating of the heart in his head. He starts to get very angry and very mad. The police do not hear it because the narrator is imagining it. The narrator is a madman who imagines things. His emotions get the best of him and eventually he cannot take the beating anymore and he tells the police about him murdering the old man. (Kennedy, 2005, pg24)

All of the conflicts in the story made and caused certain things to happen with the narrator of the story. His emotions also had a affect because his madness make him crazy and angry but also happy and joyous throughout the short story. Before, during, and after the murder, these conflicts arose and changed the narrator’s actions as well as his thoughts. (Kennedy, 2005. pg29)

Moving onto the issue of suspense, the two suspects in the story confess to the crimes in different way. In the play, the police turn up and quiz the narrator about what was going on. The police believe the narrator even though he lied about where the old man was. When the conversation dragged on, the narrator became very nervous and he was hallucinating that he heard the beating heart of the old man that he had killed. The narrator, overwhelmed with guilt of the atrocious crime he had committed, confessed to the police what he had done Poe is eloquent in the ways in which he describes the killers who committed the murders. In the story, the narrator snuck into the elderly mans room at night for seven nights shining a beam of light on the elderly mans weird eye. On the seventh night, the narrator was not as wary as he was on preceding nights, because he made a sound to make the elderly man wake and the narrator just stood there in the doorway as the elderly man gazed upon him, and once the elderly man shrieked out of horror, the narrator killed the old man by suffocating him with a pillow.

Edgar Allen Poe uses a great deal of symbolism throughout the story. “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture – a pale blue eye, with a film over it” (Poe pg 266) Due to the face that the eye resembles that of a vulture; one associates the eye with an ominous bird. Vultures prey on the weak, as does the madman in Edgar Allen Poe’s short story.

According to Hough (1965 pg 44) imagery is found several times throughout this short story. “But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst.” (Poe, Pg 270) and “the sound would be heard by a neighbor!” (Poe, Pg 270) Edgar Allen Poe uses these to bring extreme suspense to the reader. The reader begins to hear the heart beat within his own head.

You almost become one with the narrator feeling what he feels and it makes it even more scary.

Another form of symbolism in “The Tell Tale Heart” is the heart beat of the murdered victim. In the short story the man places chairs within the same room as the buried old man. While talking to the police calmly, the madman starts to hear a ringing in his ears. It grew stronger and stronger and it was driving him madder still. “Here, here–is the beating of his hideous heart!” (Poe, Pg 272) The heart is symbolic of the madman’s guilty conscience. Nobody can truly hear it but because conscience is not only of the mind but also of the heart, it drove the madman to a new extreme, insanity.

Edgar Allen Poe’s literary technique in these two works of literature truly show how one may use literary terms to truly work the reader into the story. It shows the reader in their mind what is going on. It makes the reader feel as if they are in the story.

Edgar Allen Poe used symbolism, metaphors and imagery to create works of literature such as “The Tell Tale Heart” to bring fear into the hearts of many people for generations. The research has shown that was not overly discriptive about suspense and conflict as much of the story was kept in shape and the right balance of suspense and conflict made the story compelling. His personal misfortune though was a factor in his writing, he kept his professional life seperated from his personal one.

WORKS CITED

The Tell-tale Heart, an Amazon Short by Edgar Allen Poe BookSurge Classics February 2, 2004, Pages, 129 – 131

Davidson, Edward H. POE: A Critical Study. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1957.

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Inc. “Poe Chronology.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. 1997. 28 Nov. 2004 www.eapoe.org,  pages 270 – 272

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, Inc. “Poe, Drugs and Alcohol.” Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. 1997. 28 Nov. 2004 www.eapoe.org.

Hough, Robert L, ed. Literary Criticism of Edgar Allan Poe. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1965. pages 32-44

Kennedy, X.J., and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. San Francisco: PEARSON Longman, 2005. pages 13-29

“We Have Put Her Living in the Tomb!” Edgar Allan Poe’s Relationships With Women.” 2003. Talulah Whisker. 7 Dec. 2004 http://www.helpfulresearch.com/.

The bond’s price can be determined by discounting the contractual cash flows of the bond coupon at the stated interest rate, (Revsine, Collins, “Financial Reporting and Analysis 3rd Edition”, 2004). The selling price of the bond can be calculated from the interest rate and the principal amount that it is offering to the investors. If it wants to offer a premium for its bond then it will increase the selling price slightly higher than its face value since the investors are willing to accept the bonds interest rate at a lower value than what was written in its contract. If the investors on the other hand are not satisfied with the interest rate of the bond’s contract and the company is desperate to sell its bonds, then it can choose to sell its bonds at a discount in order to increase the effective interest rate of the bond that the investors are receiving.

On the debit side of the balance statement, the bond’s discounted value should show up in the Cash item. The bonds discount would also show up in the debit side and finally the total value of the bond which is the value printed in the coupon will show up in the credit side of the balance statement under the name of Bonds payable.

The item related to the issuance of the bond that would show up as part of the income statement for year 2008 is the interest that the bond is paying semi annually. This will show up as an interest earned in the income statement. There is also the Accrued interest payable that would show up on the credit side of the balance sheet statement. There is also the bond discount that would show up in the credit side of the balance statement.

The bond discount amortization using the effective interest amortization is going to be increasing as time progresses because the formula for computing it is dependent on the ever increasing bond net carrying amount at the start of each succeeding years. First of all, the bond net carrying amount at the start of the year is already computed as the basis for the rest of the computation, (Revsine, Collins, “Financial Reporting and Analysis 3rd Edition”, 2004). This value is multiplied by the interest rate and then subtracted by the face value of the bond printed on the coupons when it was first sold to the public. Then the bond discount balance is determined at the end of the year by subtracting the value at the end of the year with the previously determined bond discount amortized. You can check the accuracy of the figures when you try to add the values for the bond net carrying amount at the start of the year in its discounted value and then you add that to the bond discount amortized that was pre-calculated already as described here. The resulting amount should total the bond value that is printed in its coupon. So, basically, the resulting figure will be increasing since the bond net carrying amount is also ever increasing at the start of each year.

If the company is to retire the bonds later at 2009, then the company should simply put in the amount in cash and also the gain on the debt extinguishment. However, since the debt has been called in before its maturity, there might be instances where the extinguishment has created an accounting gain or loss depending on the current market interest rates. If the interest rates rise then the market price of the debt falls and if the interest rates fall, the market price of the debt rises and this is what creates the gains and losses for the company, (Revsine, Collins, “Financial Reporting and Analysis 3rd Edition”, 2004). Previously, the gains and losses are recorded in the extraordinary items but because of recent developments, the gains and losses are now subject to the rules of why they should be treated as extraordinary items to be listed in the income statement.

Bibliography:

Principles of Accounting, (2007)

http://www.principles-of-accounting.com/g.php?C=4801969&D=898970&domain=principles-of-accounting.com&K=principles+of+accounting&V=5168&K=principles+of+accounting

Revsine, Collins, “Financial Reporting and Analysis 3^rd Edition”, (2004)

In probability theory and statistics, correlation, (often measured as a correlation coefficient), indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables. In correlation research we do not (or at least try not to) influence any variables but only measure them and look for relations (correlations) between some set of variables, such as blood pressure and cholesterol level.

In the scientific method, an experiment is a set of observations performed in the context of solving a particular problem or question, to retain or falsify a hypothesis or research concerning phenomena. The experiment is a cornerstone in the empirical approach to acquiring deeper knowledge about the physical world. Experimental research is also called randomized controlled research or randomized controlled trials. In experimental research, we manipulate some variables and then measure the effects of this manipulation on other variables; for example, a researcher might artificially increase blood pressure and then record cholesterol level. Data analysis in experimental research also comes down to calculating “correlations” between variables, specifically, those manipulated and those affected by the manipulation. However, experimental data may potentially provide qualitatively better information: Only experimental data can conclusively demonstrate causal relations between variables. For example, if we found that whenever we change variable A then variable B changes, then we can conclude that “A influences B.” Data from correlation research can only be “interpreted” in causal terms based on some theories that we have, but correlation data cannot conclusively prove causality. Source: http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html

A correlation or correlational coefficient is used to represent the relationship between two variables and  is often abbreviated with the letter ‘r.’  A correlational coefficient typically ranges between -1.0 and +1.0 and provides two important pieces of information regarding the relationship: Intensity and Direction. ‘r’ scores range from -1 to +1

r= -1, perfect negative relation
example of a negative r:  drinking in college and GPA

r= 0, no relation
example of a near zero r:   hair length and GPA

r= +1, perfect positive relation
example of a positive r: GPA and scores on SAT

This in not done by behavioural surveys but based on physical experiments. Whereas, correlation research is performed in behavioural issues for which every thing cannot be measured in exact figures.

Suitability of correlation method:

The correlation is suitable when researchers want to know a way to measure how associated or related two variables are. The researcher looks at things that already exist and determines if and in what way those things are related to each other. Things may be related positively or negatively. The purpose of doing correlations is to allow us to make a prediction about one variable based on what we know about another variable.   Correlation is not causation. It doesn’t define cause and effect of the relation between two variables. Such type of research are used in education, employment etc.

For example, there is a correlation between income and education. We find that people with higher income have more years of education. (You can also phrase it that people with more years of education have higher income.) When we know there is a correlation between two variables, we can make a prediction. If we know a group’s income, we can predict their years

Suitability of experimental method:

The experiment is appropriate as the method to use to demonstrate a cause and effect relationship between two variables. When researchers want to know about the cause of a behaviour or mental process, they should do an experiment. In an experiment, the researcher manipulates or changes the environment in a controlled way, then measures the effect of that manipulation.

For example, it is through experiments that we know that drinking alcohol causes slower reaction times. The experimenter can give a set amount of alcohol to a group of participants, and then measure their reaction times. If their time slows down after drinking the alcohol, we know the alcohol caused that effect.

Accuracy, Validity and significance of correlation method:

As mentioned before, the correlation coefficient (r) represents the linear relationship between two variables. If the correlation coefficient is squared, then the resulting value (r2, the coefficient of determination) will represent the proportion of common variation in the two variables (i.e., the “strength” or “magnitude” of the relationship). In order to evaluate the correlation between variables, it is important to know this “magnitude” or “strength” as well as the significance of the correlation.

“Correlations” Significance of Correlations. The significance level calculated for each correlation is a primary source of information about the reliability of the correlation. As explained before (see Elementary Concepts), the significance of a correlation coefficient of a particular magnitude will change depending on the size of the sample from which it was computed. The test of significance is based on the assumption that the distribution of the residual values (i.e., the deviations from the regression line) for the dependent variable y follows the normal distribution, and that the variability of the residual values is the same for all values of the independent variable x. However, Monte Carlo studies suggest that meeting those assumptions closely is not absolutely crucial if your sample size is not very small and when the departure from normality is not very large. It is impossible to formulate precise recommendations based on those Monte- Carlo results, but many researchers follow a rule of thumb that if your sample size is 50 or more then serious biases are unlikely, and if your sample size is over 100 then you should not be concerned at all with the normality assumptions. There are, however, much more common and serious threats to the validity of information that a correlation coefficient can provide; they are briefly discussed in the following paragraphs

Outliers are atypical (by definition), infrequent observations. Because of the way in which the regression line is determined (especially the fact that it is based on minimizing not the sum of simple distances but the sum of squares of distances of data points from the line), outliers have a profound influence on the slope of the regression line and consequently on the value of the correlation coefficient. A single outlier is capable of considerably changing the slope of the regression line and, consequently, the value of the correlation, as demonstrated in the following example. Note, that as shown on that illustration, just one outlier can be entirely responsible for a high value of the correlation that otherwise (without the outlier) would be close to zero. Needless to say, one should never base important conclusions on the value of the correlation coefficient alone (i.e., examining the respective scatterplot is always recommended).

Note that if the sample size is relatively small, then including or excluding specific data points that are not as clearly “outliers” as the one shown in the previous example may have a profound influence on the regression line (and the correlation coefficient). This is illustrated in the following example where we call the points being excluded “outliers;” one may argue, however, that they are not outliers but rather extreme values.

Typically, we believe that outliers represent a random error that we would like to be able to control. Unfortunately, there is no widely accepted method to remove outliers automatically (however, see the next paragraph), thus what we are left with is to identify any outliers by examining a scatterplot of each important correlation. Needless to say, outliers may not only artificially increase the value of a correlation coefficient, but they can also decrease the value of a “legitimate” correlation.

See also Confidence Ellipse.

“Correlations” Quantitative Approach to Outliers. Some researchers use quantitative methods to exclude outliers. For example, they exclude observations that are outside the range of ±2 standard deviations (or even ±1.5 sd’s) around the group or design cell mean. In some areas of research, such “cleaning” of the data is absolutely necessary. For example, in cognitive psychology research on reaction times, even if almost all scores in an experiment are in the range of 300-700 milliseconds, just a few “distracted reactions” of 10-15 seconds will completely change the overall picture. Unfortunately, defining an outlier is subjective (as it should be), and the decisions concerning how to identify them must be made on an individual basis (taking into account specific experimental paradigms and/or “accepted practice” and general research experience in the respective area). It should also be noted that in some rare cases, the relative frequency of outliers across a number of groups or cells of a design can be subjected to analysis and provide interpretable results. For example, outliers could be indicative of the occurrence of a phenomenon that is qualitatively different than the typical pattern observed or expected in the sample, thus the relative frequency of outliers could provide evidence of a relative frequency of departure from the process or phenomenon that is typical for the majority of cases in a group. See also Confidence Ellipse.

“Correlations”Correlations in Non-homogeneous Groups. A lack of homogeneity in the sample from which a correlation was calculated can be another factor that biases the value of the correlation. Imagine a case where a correlation coefficient is calculated from data points which came from two different experimental groups but this fact is ignored when the correlation is calculated. Let us assume that the experimental manipulation in one of the groups increased the values of both correlated variables and thus the data from each group form a distinctive “cloud” in the scatterplot (as shown in the graph below).

In such cases, a high correlation may result that is entirely due to the arrangement of the two groups, but which does not represent the “true” relation between the two variables, which may practically be equal to 0 (as could be seen if we looked at each group separately, see the following graph).
If you suspect the influence of such a phenomenon on your correlations and know how to identify such “subsets” of data, try to run the correlations separately in each subset of observations. If you do not know how to identify the hypothetical subsets, try to examine the data with some exploratory multivariate techniques (e.g., Cluster Analysis).

“Correlations” Nonlinear Relations between Variables. Another potential source of problems with the linear (Pearson r) correlation is the shape of the relation. As mentioned before, Pearson r measures a relation between two variables only to the extent to which it is linear; deviations from linearity will increase the total sum of squared distances from the regression line even if they represent a “true” and very close relationship between two variables. The possibility of such non-linear relationships is another reason why examining scatterplots is a necessary step in evaluating every correlation. For example, the following graph demonstrates an extremely strong correlation between the two variables which is not well described by the linear function.

“Correlations” Measuring Nonlinear Relations. What do you do if a correlation is strong but clearly nonlinear (as concluded from examining scatterplots)? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this question, because there is no easy-to-use equivalent of Pearson r that is capable of handling nonlinear relations. If the curve is monotonous (continuously decreasing or increasing) you could try to transform one or both of the variables to remove the curvilinearity and then recalculate the correlation. For example, a typical transformation used in such cases is the logarithmic function which will “squeeze” together the values at one end of the range. Another option available if the relation is monotonous is to try a nonparametric correlation (e.g., Spearman R, see Nonparametrics and Distribution Fitting) which is sensitive only to the ordinal arrangement of values, thus, by definition, it ignores monotonous curvilinearity. However, nonparametric correlations are generally less sensitive and sometimes this method will not produce any gains. Unfortunately, the two most precise methods are not easy to use and require a good deal of “experimentation” with the data. Therefore you could:

Try to identify the specific function that best describes the curve. After a function has been found, you can test its “goodness-of-fit” to your data.

Alternatively, you could experiment with dividing one of the variables into a number of segments (e.g., 4 or 5) of an equal width, treat this new variable as a grouping variable and run an analysis of variance on the data.

“Correlations” Exploratory Examination of Correlation Matrices. A common first step of many data analyses that involve more than a very few variables is to run a correlation matrix of all variables and then examine it for expected (and unexpected) significant relations. When this is done, you need to be aware of the general nature of statistical significance (see Elementary Concepts); specifically, if you run many tests (in this case, many correlations), then significant results will be found “surprisingly often” due to pure chance. For example, by definition, a coefficient significant at the .05 level will occur by chance once in every 20 coefficients. There is no “automatic” way to weed out the “true” correlations. Thus, you should treat all results that were not predicted or planned with particular caution and look for their consistency with other results; ultimately, though, the most conclusive (although costly) control for such a randomness factor is to replicate the study. This issue is general and it pertains to all analyses that involve “multiple comparisons and statistical significance.” This problem is also briefly discussed in the context of post-hoc comparisons of means and the Breakdowns option.

“Correlations” Casewise vs. Pairwise Deletion of Missing Data. The default way of deleting missing data while calculating a correlation matrix is to exclude all cases that have missing data in at least one of the selected variables; that is, by casewise deletion of missing data. Only this way will you get a “true” correlation matrix, where all correlations are obtained from the same set of observations. However, if missing data are randomly distributed across cases, you could easily end up with no “valid” cases in the data set, because each of them will have at least one missing data in some variable. The most common solution used in such instances is to use so-called pairwise deletion of missing data in correlation matrices, where a correlation between each pair of variables is calculated from all cases that have valid data on those two variables. In many instances there is nothing wrong with that method, especially when the total percentage of missing data is low, say 10%, and they are relatively randomly distributed between cases and variables. However, it may sometimes lead to serious problems.

For example, a systematic bias may result from a “hidden” systematic distribution of missing data, causing different correlation coefficients in the same correlation matrix to be based on different subsets of subjects. In addition to the possibly biased conclusions that you could derive from such “pairwise calculated” correlation matrices, real problems may occur when you subject such matrices to another analysis (e.g., multiple regression, factor analysis, or cluster analysis) that expects a “true correlation matrix,” with a certain level of consistency and “transitivity” between different coefficients. Thus, if you are using the pairwise method of deleting the missing data, be sure to examine the distribution of missing data across the cells of the matrix for possible systematic “patterns.”

“Correlations” How to Identify Biases Caused by the Bias due to Pairwise Deletion of Missing Data. If the pairwise deletion of missing data does not introduce any systematic bias to the correlation matrix, then all those pairwise descriptive statistics for one variable should be very similar. However, if they differ, then there are good reasons to suspect a bias. For example, if the mean (or standard deviation) of the values of variable A that were taken into account in calculating its correlation with variable B is much lower than the mean (or standard deviation) of those values of variable A that were used in calculating its correlation with variable C, then we would have good reason to suspect that those two correlations (A-B and A-C) are based on different subsets of data, and thus, that there is a bias in the correlation matrix caused by a non-random distribution of missing data.

“Correlations” Pairwise Deletion of Missing Data vs. Mean Substitution. Another common method to avoid loosing data due to casewise deletion is the so-called mean substitution of missing data (replacing all missing data in a variable by the mean of that variable). Mean substitution offers some advantages and some disadvantages as compared to pairwise deletion. Its main advantage is that it produces “internally consistent” sets of results (“true” correlation matrices). The main disadvantages are:

Mean substitution artificially decreases the variation of scores, and this decrease in individual variables is proportional to the number of missing data (i.e., the more missing data, the more “perfectly average scores” will be artificially added to the data set).

Because it substitutes missing data with artificially created “average” data points, mean substitution may considerably change the values of correlations.

“Correlations” Spurious Correlations. Although you cannot prove causal relations based on correlation coefficients (see Elementary Concepts), you can still identify so-called spurious correlations; that is, correlations that are due mostly to the influences of “other” variables. For example, there is a correlation between the total amount of losses in a fire and the number of firemen that were putting out the fire; however, what this correlation does not indicate is that if you call fewer firemen then you would lower the losses. There is a third variable (the initial size of the fire) that influences both the amount of losses and the number of firemen. If you “control” for this variable (e.g., consider only fires of a fixed size), then the correlation will either disappear or perhaps even change its sign. The main problem with spurious correlations is that we typically do not know what the “hidden” agent is. However, in cases when we know where to look, we can use partial correlations that control for (partial out) the influence of specified variables.

“Correlations” Are correlation coefficients “additive?” No, they are not. For example, an average of correlation coefficients in a number of samples does not represent an “average correlation” in all those samples. Because the value of the correlation coefficient is not a linear function of the magnitude of the relation between the variables, correlation coefficients cannot simply be averaged. In cases when you need to average correlations, they first have to be converted into additive measures. For example, before averaging, you can square them to obtain coefficients of determination which are additive (as explained before in this section), or convert them into so-called Fisher z values, which are also additive.

“Correlations” How to Determine Whether Two Correlation Coefficients are Significant. A test is available that will evaluate the significance of differences between two correlation coefficients in two samples. The outcome of this test depends not only on the size of the raw difference between the two coefficients but also on the size of the samples and on the size of the coefficients themselves. Consistent with the previously discussed principle, the larger the sample size, the smaller the effect that can be proven significant in that sample. In general, due to the fact that the reliability of the correlation coefficient increases with its absolute value, relatively small differences between large correlation coefficients can be significant. For example, a difference of .10 between two correlations may not be significant if the two coefficients are .15 and .25, although in the same sample, the same difference of .10 can be highly significant if the two coefficients are .80 and .90.

“Positive_correlation”>Positive correlation

In a positive correlation, as the values of one of the variables increase, the values of the second variable also increase. Likewise, as the value of one of the variables decreases, the value of the other variable also decreases. The example above of income and education is a positive correlation. People with higher incomes also tend to have more years of education. People with fewer years of education tend to have lower income.

Advantage

1. An advantage of the correlation method is that we can make predictions about things when we know about correlations. If two variables are correlated, we can predict one based on the other. For example, we know that SAT scores and college achievement are positively correlated. So when college admission officials want to predict who is likely to succeed at their schools, they will choose students with high SAT scores.

We know that years of education and years of jail time are negatively correlated. Prison officials can predict that people who have spent more years in jail will need remedial education, not college classes.

Disadvantage

1. The problem that most students have with the correlation method is remembering that correlation does not measure cause. Take a minute and chant to yourself: Correlation is not Causation! Correlation is not Causation! I always have my in-class students chant this, yet some still forget this very crucial principle.

We know that education and income are positively correlated. We do not know if one caused the other. It might be that having more education causes a person to earn a higher income. It might be that having a higher income allows a person to go to school more. It might also be some third variable.

A correlation tells us that the two variables are related, but we cannot say anything about whether one caused the other. This method does not allow us to come to any conclusions about cause and effect.

The Upper Silesia Tower in Posen that was built at around 1911 is a structure that made use of steel and cement as its main structural load bearer while using the brick in order to compensate for the other properties that can’t be found in steel. Foremost amongst this is the corrosion resistance of brick since it is not made of metal in the first place. It also has the very desirable properties of thermal insulation and it is also impervious to water and air infiltration. This makes it a very desirable structure to live in cold weather like Europe’s winter while at the same time retaining the structural integrity because it does not depend on the load bearing capacity of the bricks to hold the entire weight of the structure upon itself, (R. Stephen Sennott, 2003).

The other modern house that was built within the last ten years on the other hand is also using steel as part of the reinforcement to hold up the building but the essential part that is different from that of the building in Posen is that the steel bars are longer encased in the cement and then just plain covered up with the bricks on the outer layer as part of the aesthetic goal and thermal needs but rather the steel bars are now encased within the hollow bricks to provide the support needed for the entire structure, (Walter Laska,1988). The technological change that was primarily evident in this kind of difference in the two houses was the incorporation of the steel bars within the hollowed brick bars because it was not previously clearly studied up to what extent the bricks could possibly hold up a load when they are hollowed and then later filled up with a steel rod to aid in the structural requirements of the times. There is also an increase in the performance required of the bricks as of modern times because the buildings are getting higher and higher, thus the need for more tensile strength and elasticity to withstand the slight distortion in the physical structure that might occur should the load the brick is supporting prove to be substantial.

Also, there are anchor bolts in the load bearing brick walls on the modern house for every 12 inches of length as compared to the Posen structure where it simply relies on the cement and steel structure that is the basis of the whole structure when load bearing capability comes to mind. The bricks on the Posen structure are simply part of the appearance and thermal insulation but there is no focus on the structural capacity itself.

As for the wall openings of the two structures, the main difference was the extra capacity of the brick itself to handle the weight of the rest of the structure that wasn’t supported by the bricks from the ground up. The steel angle lintels that was used on this project was the only different detail as compared with that of the Posen house because the Posen building was not particularly using the same type and standard of steel as it was in the modern building in comparison. The Posen house was using wooden lintels in order to support the cavities in the structure created by the need to make a door in the wall. This was made possible already because of the advancements in the building structural material standard as evidenced by the presence of the ASTM standards imposed on the structural material. The change in the technology this time is mainly evidenced by the uniform and quality of the structural material that has to undergo a series of test since there is the standardization of the physical specification and capabilities of the materials mentioned above.

The materials used in the construction of the two buildings are essentially the same type of material which is a blend of clays that all came from underground mines or the open pits that are being excavated by the miners. The properties of the clay can be pre-determined beforehand since the clays with different properties are mixed together in order to form the desired properties of the clay when it is to be made into bricks later.

The method of the standardization is the more important difference in the two materials use in the Posen building and that of the modern house. This came about because of the developments in the science of measurement that allows for precision that was not available before at the time the Posen building was constructed. With the precision of the measuring instruments of physical capacities like tensile strength and even the exact percentage of the molecular components by use of spectral analysis, the homogeneity of the bricks physical quality can be standardized to the highest degree. This means that there is virtually a constant quality in all the bricks used in the modern building as compared with that of the Posen building.

Also, there is the development of the pre-fabricated parts of the building found in the modern example that was not present in the Posen building. The only difference aside from the obvious appearance details are the ease of use by which the parts of the building can be put together. Whereas, in the Posen building one has to build a solid structure first solidly supported by the steel inside its joints and overhanging floors, the modern example has the speed of attaching their other structural parts from pre-fabricated walls that are attached at their joints to accommodate the joints necessary to connect the separate planks of walls with each other to form the rest of the structure.

Bibliography:

Walter Laska, “Reinforced Brick Makes Brick Homes More Economical”, (1988)

http://www.masonryconstruction.com/industry-news.asp?articleID=244938&sectionID=0

Bill Leonard, ” Parge the Ugly out of your concrete wall”, (2006)

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/leonard57.html

R. Stephen Sennott, “Upper Silesia Tower in Posen”, (2003)

http://books.google.com/books?id=opvy1zGI2EcC&pg=PA171&lpg=PA171&dq=upper+silesia+tower+in+posen+architectural+details&source=web&ots=PMNRscXXqy&sig=3zAOAoAwj0DHBD_gB1LTDKVfNBE

Standard Ancon Lintels, (2007)

http://www.ancon.co.uk/main.asp?pageID=100

Introduction

‘Never Cry Wolf’ is primarily the conflict that man has and encounters with nature and the wild. Tyler, the protagonist, sets out on an expedition to the Arctic to conduct a scientific study there. There, he comes into contact with the wolves, and begins to explore the unknown traits of these canines, whom he had dreaded earlier. He used to get up in the middle of the night, seemingly intimidated by them. However, on closer study of these wolves, Tyler was about to learn something more bizarre than what he had heard. Never Cry Wolf is based upon the true story of Farley Mowat (The author) who spent two years as a biologist studying a family of wolves in northern Canada during the mid nineteen fifties. After arriving there, Mowat finds a group of wolves and begins his research. He discovers that the behavior of the wolves was contrary to his expectations; for they were very efficient and resourceful and had their own distinctive culture (123helpme.com).

Literature Review

‘Never Cry Wolf,’ is the story of a man, Tyler, and his interaction with nature to unearth the mystery surrounding the life and behavior of the wolves in the Arctic region. Tyler who till that point had heard and read about the savage nature of wolves was apprehensive and not ready to face these beasts head-on.

He had dreamt of being attacked and killed by wolves and this was something that he was not ready for. When he was selected to go on the expedition, I rather frightened Tyler quipped: “Why me? Maybe it was all a mistake”

Tyler wasn’t sure he wanted to be a part of the expedition, but had volunteered rather unconsciously. When Tyler arrives, he has doubts about his presence in the north, and whether or not he made the right decision to volunteer to conduct the study. He looses his confidence, afraid that nature would defeat him. In volunteering to come on the expedition, Tyler had taken the first step in understanding the inner conflict within him on the life and habits of wolves. But was the decision justified? He knew that at some point of time, he would come in contact with these wild beasts that might turn on him and kill him, for they were wild animals after all.

However, on being left alone, and destined to fight for survival on his own, Tyler befriends a native of the land, Ootak, with whom he decides to settle down in a cave and proceed with his exploration. He remains close to the wolves’ habitat to understand and know their behavior better. Wolves are pretty shy and can smell trouble to a long distance. The move into a cave near their habitat had made them obscure, which prompted Tyler to muse: “I am in pursuit of the phantoms.”
He still had the fear for his life, knowing pretty well that should these wild animals get any closer to him, they would attack him fatally. He was however never attacked by the pack of wolves that he got to see after his long, endurance with Ootak. So long was he with Ootak in the cave that he lost count of how long he was there in the wild with the wolves and Ootak. With time, he learned how to relate to the wolves, and eventually became friendly with two wolves, George and Angeline. The inner conflict within him, was now giving way to one of admiration and respect for the wolves. George and Angeline display characteristics quite contrary to Tyler’s expectation, and when Ootak tells him that it was wolves that had protected him from certain death, Tyler’s admiration for these beasts grow strong and he becomes so possessed by these fascinating animals that he even starts to behave and eat like them. From a man obsessed with fright, Tyler was a changed man. The contact between the man and beast had driven the devil out of him. The inner conflict had gone and was replaced by an understanding of respect and pious. In the death of Angeline and George, brutally killed by Rosy, Tyler was shattered, for through them, Tyler had made a pact with nature; his irreversible love for nature. A pale of gloom descends the wilderness, as the loss of his two accomplices is too hard for him to bear. Despite adversities and pain, Tyler, who came, a scared isolated man, overcame many obstacles with the help of his friends, George and Angeline, and returned successfully after completing his research on the behaviour of his beloved wolves.

For Tyler in the end, it was not the wolves that were the beasts, it was humans themselves. The greed of Rosy to make money by selling fur, took the life of George and Angeline. The wolves played the role of balancing nature; the termination of the weak and old, leaving the young and strong to grow to strength. For nature required them too. It is man who is destroying nature and the wild.

The final exclamation by Tyler speaks of reality: “In the end, there are no heroes, no villains, only silence.”

Tyler for all his interaction with civilization and the wild just couldn’t save the wolves from the hungry pack of human beings, for they hunted the wolves for their fur. It was not the wolves that were decimating caribou, but people like Rosy.

Tyler envied the life of the wolves, their interaction with each other, their territorial divisions, and their social organization. They were very organized and respected the territorial rights of the others. When George and Angeline knew of Tyler, they never intruded into his privacy and expected him to do the same. Unfortunately, in the eyes of man, these wolves were mere animals that represented money. In nature, wolves are part of the cycle of life just like man, and they have every right to live their life just like us. It’s not within our prerogative to extinct them from the face of the earth. In general, wolves symbolize nature and wilderness (Meister, 2008).

Conclusion

Farley Mowat wrote his actual real life experience through his much acclaimed book, ‘Never Cry Wolf,’ after returning from the army and became a biologist. Mowat is assigned by the Canadian government to study the wolf population and their behaviour. The government assumption that it was the wolves’ merciless killing of caribou herd that was leading to their extinction was put to rest by Mowat, who had earlier supported this theory. After months of observing and living amongst a male wolf and his mate, Mowat found wolves to be graceful and intelligent creatures that ate only when they needed to, on field mice, and specific sick, old and weak caribou. By killing the weakest of the caribou, Mowat asserted that wolves actually helped strengthen the caribou herd. The false representation of the wolf species was because of the minimal one actually knew about wolves, and highlights why the government should not eliminate the wolf species purely based on false propaganda. Conservation of the natural wildlife is of great concern.

References

Essay, Research Paper: Never Cry Wolf, Meister Custom Essay, http://www.customessaymeister.com/customessays/Literature/1784.htm

123helpme.com, Never Cry Wolf, http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=78933

It is no doubt that both of these processes pull each other and business is the fluctuating transition between the two. Combating inflation would be counterproductive as it will bring down the growth. Soaring prices of commodities globally, will only result degrading the monetary value of a country. But this cannot be related with just particular country, as this process is globally, that means growth is taking over inflation. The best example is people now enjoy privileges of hiked incomes and incentives, will only push the prices high. Value of anything states that it could not be of any worth, if everyone possesses it. On contrary, prices are rising due to shortage of services, lack of available raw material and expensive processing charges.

For example: The crude prices are shooting exorbitantly, is the recent global turmoil. Every possible effort is being done to keep the Oil prices under control, but reason is very clear. Costly drilling rigs, shortages of operating tools, unavailability of required service, etc have pushed up the prices. Moreover, persons working there, to explore for oil are facing hardships, risk to lives and staying away from their families, will not only lured by fixed salary, but in addition to that incentives are paid from time to time to achieve the estimated target within time limit. Thus until this stage, when the crude is about to sold in the market, all the expenditure will become burden on consumer. This way the prices kept increasing for public, day by day.

Contrary to this, there was a period of 3 years in 1990′s when oil business was on its low and struggled to mark their presence in market. The reason was, crude prices went down tremendously this led all operators and Oil companies not to take out oil as the rates in which they have to market the Oil is lower than their expenditure, that would have made business losses, result was they avoided exploring oil. The outcome of this is that inflation does not mean bad for growth, but it fluctuates under the effect of demand and supply statistics of the market.

Now-a-days in US, there is spurt in demand for meat, eggs, milk that is basic commodities. It can be straight away be termed as Inflation, but as this is a global phenomena, this is that we all are heading towards growth. For countries, that are incapable to match the pace of rapidly developing nations in terms of economy, will definitely face price rise and will be the sole effect of Inflation. Supply demand mismatch arise due to structural shift in demand that is induced by fast growing sectors.

Recent market scenario is analyzed as a result of inflation, on other side that whether it may or may not be, national governments are taking concrete steps to control price rise by making it subsidized, putting ban on exports and eliminating duties on basic products.

After all there is a strong cooperation between World Bank, IMF and UN Food & Agricultural Organization, even that has failed to make any positive efforts and that threatens the macroeconomic stability. Many big companies in US are outsourcing their manpower, in order to cut cost to gain net profit. It cannot be just of inflation, but a reason of cheap resources and opportunities outside US.

Thus one can say that growth is answer to the current bout of high inflation. Inflation is not neutral and in no case if favors rapid economic growth. Also higher inflation never leads to higher income levels in medium and long runs. Inflation reduces the business investments and also reduces productivity. Control on inflation regularly will pay off sooner or latter, resulting in higher per-capita income and thereby pushing national on economic terms.

The War in Iraq has been seen by many as and a just war but similarly others have perceived it as an unjust war from an ethical perspective. The War in Iraq War began in earnest after the September 11, 2001 although at that time the war was focused in Afghanistan but the Bush Administration thought that Saddam and his sons were potential terrorists. Iraq declined to allow the weapon inspectors to inspect weapons of mass destruction. This subsequently led to a US preparation for an Invasion of Iraq and since then war in Iraq has been constant. Once Bush’s deadline expired, forces of US and British troops invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003, which eventually lead to the collapse of the Iraqi government. In my opinion, if the US felt threatened by the fact that inspectors were not allowed to search for weapons of mass destruction, the government should not have resorted to such open invasion but to less violent means.1 However, the invasion took place, and I feel as if the invasion and the entire war that continued on with military involvement in Iraq are unjust. The War in Iraq was unjust because there were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq, the war was said to be “fought with a purpose of obtaining oil,” Iraq did not pose as a military threat, the numbers of people wounded and killed was insurmountable, the military involvement cost too much in tax dollars and in Federal spending, and the best way to support our troops is to send them home instead of keeping them in Iraq for basically no reason. The Catholic Church was also against the war, with Pope John Paul II directly speaking out against it. 2

1 – Cockburn, 2007, pg 44

2 – Cockburn, 2007, pg 47

Iraq has developed weapons of mass destruction, known also as WMDs, in the past. During the Gulf War in the early 1990′s, Iraq claimed to have chemical and biological weapons but refused to use them, even after they were forced over their border at the defeat in Kuwait. The only time Iraq used those types of weapons was against the Arabs, for only a minimal amount of time, and that was before the Gulf War started. Saddam Hussein proved to be a clever military leader knowing the repercussions of using chemical and biological weapons, including annihilation of his own regime, his country, and possibly the world. Saddam is known as a classical dictator, where his main goal is to just remain as a power figure. When Iraq was invaded by the US and British troops, the goal was to search and try to find weapons of mass destruction. The result was that there were no weapons of mass destruction found. Technically the “objective” was met, and the troops had no right to continue on with militaristic actions. The troops should have left once they found out there were no weapons of mass destruction instead of continually fighting, making the war unjust in that respect. Another reason why the war seems unjust is because of the “war for oil” mentality. 3

The U.S. was not going after ever a dictator, but they were going after Saddam for reasons. By democratizing Iraq, the U.S. could bring democratic encouragement towards other Middle Eastern countries. The risk of war can possibly turn out in a good result. It might start the beginning of peace between the Israeli’s and Palestinians and other Arab countries. There are many positive outcomes that may come from this war, that do make a lot of sense and are important to many people. 4

3 – Cerf, 2003, pg 23

4 – Cerf, 2003, pg 30

President Bush wanted to try in every way to prevent some of the most dangerous regimes, like Iraq, from threatening the U.S. with some of the world’s most destructive weapons (Daalder and Lindsay, brookings.edu). Iraq posed an imminent threat if it was not disarmed immediately. Iraq had possible ties with the attacks on The Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The Bush Administration also believed that Saddam would be an easy target to oust. Iraq had some biological and chemical weapons but it lacked nuclear weapons. Iraq’s army had grown a great deal weaker since the Persian Gulf War. The Administration also believed that liberating Iraq would cause the entire Middle East into democratic governments. This takeover would also give a chance for the U.S. to have the utmost strategic play over Iraq. (Ricks, 2007)

“Saddam Hussein’s regime threatened the safety of his people, the stability of his region and the security of everyone else” (Ricks, 151-155). Saddam had already agreed with the United Nations to disarm Iraq of its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons once before. He had also made many more of these false declarations with the U.S. and the UN.

The U.S. could not sacrifice delaying war with Iraq any longer (O’Hanlon, Brookings.edu). At that point in time Saddam Hussein could be let off the hook. It looked to be that Saddam was not eliminating his banned weapons of mass destruction voluntarily, and there were not any more options but to make him forcefully do this by a military action. There was definitely a nuclear and terrorist issue with Saddam and there is evidence to support it that he was doing more in both those areas then we had realized. The time for patience among the U.S. was running out. George Bush had also established a multilateral approach to this situation. There was now a counsel of people who were in support with George Bush. This approach was the precise technique to use. There were devastating consequences if there were to be an invasion of Iraq without multilateralism. Many of the supporting nations of the U.S. could have had damaged judgments towards the U.S. without this. Many argue in opposition of war and also have reasons. One argument described how Iraq had not really posed any threat to the U.S. (Simpson and Rangwala, Traprockpeace.org). There was not any solid evidence that Iraq was connected to the Al Qaeda network. There was also no evidence that Iraq had any new weapons of mass destruction, or that it shows the means of using the weapons it had. There was evidence out there about Iraq, but there was also shocking beliefs used an excuse for war. Many of the discussions about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction posed by the government were focused on Iraq’s capabilities. There were not any capabilities or intentions by Iraq. They were only capable of hurting the U.S., which isn’t a good enough reason for war. The U.S. government had stated that Iraq and Saddam were a danger and a threat to Americans. However Saddam hadn’t ever used any weapons of mass destruction against the U.S., nor threatened to. No plans or proposals for these weapons of mass destruction were ever found therefore we could just presume that there were never any. Iraq would never use these kinds of weapons unless certain circumstances were at hand. First of all they would use them if they felt they had nothing to lose and, in the case of an invasion. Nuclear weapons were never used by Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. The only way to prompt Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein from using any nuclear weapons against the U.S. would be to, refrain from invading Iraq or attempting any assassinations against Saddam which was later achieved through a court. Iraq really had no credible links to any anti U.S. terrorist groups. There was a lot of evidence proving that there were no ties between Iraq and any terrorist groups, but the U.S. government still said that there were. This meant that Iraq showed no indication of using any terrorism to threaten the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction. 6

6 – Jacobs, New York time, the war in Iraq,

A peaceful Middle East can only be achieved through constructing political links between Iraq and its neighbors. It has been proven that Iraq has not ever been able to sufficiently enrich Uranium for a bomb. The only way that Iraq would be able to produce a bomb is if it had U.S. and European assistance and that does not look as if it is happening any time soon. There is also evidence that Iraq is lacking enough missile power to back up any threats against other countries. (Ricks, 2007)

Many of the assessments about Iraq’s development of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons are based on pure imaginary analysis of what could be done with the Iraqi regime if it was determined to produce these weapons. By using the worst-case scenarios, the government is able to create Iraq’s potentials. You truly cannot launch a war on the foundation of unproven suspicions of both weapons and intentions. (Ricks, 2007)

Oil may not seem as a direct motive for invading Iraq but the intent to have some type of control of the oil reserves in Iraq was there. In April 2001, President Bush’s Cabinet agreed to use “US Military Intervention” to try to “influence” the flow of oil to other markets. The invasion, war, and extra involvement in Iraq may just be an excuse to try to control the “112 billion barrels of proven reserves along with roughly 220 billion barrels of probable and possible resources.” I am lead to believe that by sending and having our soldiers get killed by staying in Iraq longer than after the objective was met, to possibly try and take over Iraq’s oil fields, is completely unjust. Iraq never posing as a direct threat to the United States is another reason why the War in Iraq is unjust.

Saddam Hussein did not do anything to provoke an invasion or serve as a threat to US securities or the borders of any nation in the Middle East. Saddam commands a weakened military force which also does not show any type of threat as well. As stated earlier, Saddam Hussein knows that if he were to deploy any WMDs, Iraq would suffer with heavy retaliation. Saddam has no motive in using WMDs, unless Iraq was invaded, where he would use them in desperation versus the opposing forces. Saddam is a murderous and evil individual, but he is not stupid or suicidal. He has remained in power for over 20 years. Even if Iraq did not meet the deadline with the WMDs and the weapons inspectors, there is no right for any nation to wage war against another pre-emptively, or before there was a right and definite cause for war. The US invasion violated international laws, and also, the Geneva Convention, UN Charter, Monroe Doctrine, and the US Constitution’s restriction of armed forces. Whether or not Iraq had WMDs, the invasion proved they did not have any, making them less of a threat and more of a reason why the war is unjust because of the fact that the war continued on after the US met their objective. The war is also unjust because of the large Federal spending to support the war instead of for other purposes to help benefit the United States.

The Bush Administration has spent billions of dollars on this ethically unjustified war. In 2004 a total deficit of $412 billion was reported which was the largest in history, and much of those funds went going towards funding the war. Initially, Congress provided $228 billion for the war but the entire military and reconstruction process of Iraq was over $300 billion. In 2005 the deficit was $427 billion which mainly came as result of the Iraq war. This is totally unjust since the war should have been over way before this point in time. The Federal Budget should have been spent on issues such as education and medicine. From an ethical standpoint a cure for AIDS can be seen as a real life saver. (Ricks, 2007)

Since March 20, 2003, there have been “1, 674 coalition troops killed, 1,502 Americans, 86 Britons, seven Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 20 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 17 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 17 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq.” Also at least “11, 069 troops have been wounded in action,” according to the Pentagon. These statistics are as recent as March 4, 2005. These statistics are too large, especially after the objective was met early in the war’s stages. The soldiers should not have been ordered to continue fighting with no direct reasons and all of the deaths and injuries that have happened because of it are unjust. People always talk about “Supporting our Troops” in thoughts and prayers, while they are they are on the battlefield. That is positive to show support, but in reality, the best way to support our troops is to remove them from harm’s way and bring them home. Unjust opinions on the War in Iraq are also formed because of the fact that the Catholic Church shows lack of support for the war and firm belief against it.

Pope John Paul II and many of his assistants at the Vatican wasted no time to speak out against the US led invasion of Iraq. The Pope said that the war was unjust and counter productive by leaving many dead and wounded, by destroying Iraqi structures, and by weakening the United Nations and their efforts to stop global terrorism. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2258 states: “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being,” showing that killing, whatever the circumstance be, is ultimately wrong. 2307 states: “The fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life. Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war,” also showing us how killing is wrong, even in terms of war. Finally, 2308 states: “All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war,” stating to try to do whatever you can to go against war. Overall, these reasons help to prove why the War in Iraq is unjust.

America only imports 3% of our total oil usage form Iraq. The French on the other hand have many interests in Iraqi oil. In the past decade, French oil companies have been paid millions of dollars to build the infrastructure of Iraq’s oil industry. Just recently, Saddam Hussein has concluded a contract for another 10 years of French support for even more money. It is quite clear that while the French may actually care about sending its troops to battle, they most likely have many ulterior motives. (Ricks, 2007)

The Iraqi people need to be liberated, and in my opinion hundreds of American troops are worth saving Iraqi citizens from being slaughtered.

Another excellent reason for going to war is the legal one. Saddam Hussein has repeatedly violated the UN’s peace treaty that was given to him after the Persian Gulf War. In it, he was supposed to not have any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons and he was supposed to allow UN inspectors free reign to search for them. Because it is obvious he has some of these weapons, he has used them on his own people, the UN should have gone in but for France’s ulterior motives and promise to veto anything the US brought to the table.

In conclusion, the War in Iraq was unjust. There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. A possible war motive was for oil, and shedding blood for oil is wrong. Iraq did not pose as a true threat to the United States and the war should not have dragged on as much as it did after they reached their objective of finding the information on the WMD status. The numbers of soldiers and people killed and wounded were much greater than expected and was unnecessary. The amount of money spent on a “war with no purpose” takes away from the funding of education, medicine, business, and other uses to benefit the country. Finally, Pope John Paul II and the Vatican Counsel spoke out against the war also, saying that it was unjust, unnecessary and unethical . Overall, the War in Iraq was unjust, especially because of the added involvement in the country after the invasion.

Bibliography

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http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/fifth.html

2. Zunes, Stephen. “Why Not Wage War with Iraq.” 18th April, 2008.

http://www.presentdanger.org/cgaa/talkingpoints/0210iraq.html

3.McClarity, Scott. “60 Reasons to Protest George W. Bush’s Planned Invasion

of Iraq.” 18th April, 2008. http://www.themoderntribune.com/60_reasons_not_to_go_to_war_with_iraq-iraq_war-_war_on_iraq.htm

4.”Evidence for Corrupt Motives for War on Iraq and Afghanistan.”

18th April, 2008. http://www.thedebate.org/

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http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-25-budget-deficits_x.htm

8.”Has Vatican changed position on Iraq War, or has war changed Iraq”"

18th April, 2008.

http://www.georgiabulletin.org/world/2003/11/25/WORLD-5/

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks Penguin July 31, 2007

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My War: Killing Time in Iraqby Colby Buzzell Berkley Trade September 5, 2006

The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions by Christopher Cerf Touchstone May 6, 2003

The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq by Patrick Cockburn September 1, 2007

New York times, William Jacobson, the war on Iraq, January 2008

O’Hanlon, Brookings.edu