Political Correctness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political Correctness - Assignment Example Protecting the rights of minorities is important due to external factors such as gender and race in relation to the use of offensive words. Moreover, not everyone reacts to situations, in the same way. Some people are more irritable than others (Uelmen 1). Sometimes, things get out of hand leading to dangerous fights or bitterness that leads to revenge. Choice of words should be based on the relationship between individuals and the situation at hand. While some people might entertain jokes, some may interpret them as being offensive. The dynamics of choosing words vary depending on the situation. It is better to avoid offensive words because the mood in which people might be in is sometimes unpredictable. On the other hand, maintaining a stand in terms of being able to say yes or no is usually the right thing to do. Saying no can and should be accompanied by the right choice of words. Disagreeing with something does not imply that people should offend others. Being fearful on the choice of words is not a sign of weakness as some may interpret. It is an implication that besides being mindful and respectful, people regard others with high

Visual Basic Programming Language Essay Example for Free

Visual Basic Programming Language Essay A computer program is the set of instructions a computer follows to execute a specific operation that includes to input, process, output and store data to meet unique information needs. Professors John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz of Dartmouth College as a tool to train students in computer programming created the original basic programming language in the 1960s. (Voon Kiong, 2008) The word basic stands for Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. The latest advancement of basic; visual basic programming language has incorporated a graphic interface and event-driven programming. Features of current system It includes several components; first a graphic user interface which provides a fully integrated development environment for easy access to all visual basic development tools. Secondly it incorporates a set of objects such as labels and buttons that can respond to a wide variety of user-initiated events. Thirdly it consists of a vocabulary of statements, methods, and a set of rules for the construction of program codes. Lastly it has the ability to compile stand-alone executable Windows programs. (Mabbutt, 2008) Benefits and uses This programming begins with a form on which the programmer draws all the objects necessary to support the needs of the application and user for example data can be displayed on the in labels that are placed in the form and keyboard input is typically entered via text boxes where command buttons provide access to activities such as printing or exiting the applications. All these are controls which contain both a purpose and a set of predefined events to which they can respond. The programmer writes modules of code called procedures associated with an event of a command button. This approach to programming is a departure from traditional programming that required execution in a top-down manner sequence, which had to be pre-defined. An event-driven program gives the user control over the order in which actions occur. Work cited: Dr. Liew Voon Kiong (2008, 5th November) visual basic tutorial. Retrieved 9th May 2008 Accessed from: http://www. vbtutor. net/ Dan Mabbutt (2008, 7th May). Guide to visual basic. Retrieved 9th May 2008 Accessed from: http://visualbasic. about. com

Medea - the conception of drama within theatrical production :: essays research papers fc

â€Å"The Conception of Drama within Theatrical Production†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Euripides’ tragic play, Medea, the playwright creates an undercurrent of chaos in the play upon asserting that, â€Å"the world’s great order [is being] reversed.† (Lawall, 651, line 408). The manipulation of the spectators’ emotions, which instills in them a sentiment of drama, is relative to this undertone of disorder, as opposed to being absolute. The central thesis suggests drama in the play as relative to the method of theatrical production. The three concepts of set, costumes, and acting, are tools which accentuate the drama of the play. Respectively, these three notions represent the appearance of drama on political, social, and moral levels. This essay will compare three different productions of Euripides’ melodrama, namely, the play as presented by the Jazzart Dance Theatre ¹; the Culver City (California) Public Theatre ²; and finally, the original ancient Greek production of the play, as it was scripted by Euripi des.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two contemporary productions of Medea were selected for this essay in an effort to contrast the ancient Greek version of the play with two modernized versions, which would demonstrate a wide distinction between the styles of production. Furthermore, both modernized versions of the play add their own innovation to the production, making for an even broader dissimilarity among the plays. Moreover, both recent productions are fashioned within cultures which have borrowed their political, social, and moral ways of life from Ancient Greek society, specifically, South Africa ¹ (British Colonies), and The United States ².   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Jazzart Dance Theatre is known today for its distinctive style and ingenuity in extending the boundaries of South African dance. Contrarily to the original production of Medea, Jazzart’s unique approach uses dance (as opposed to music) to articulate emotion to the viewers. The dancers reinvent Greek tragedy, harbouring no artistic safety net.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The set plays a central role in dramatizing the theatrical experience of this particular production. As you can see in both figures 1 and 2, the set is purposely designed to resemble a metropolitan alleyway. This dramatic ambiance is created in an effort to parallel the harshness of the unforgiving streets of any particular conurbation. Normally, the audience would tend to construe this setting as a symbol of turmoil in the kingdom of Corinth. Thus, the set itself works as a device in developing a sense of political drama.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The costumes which are used for this particular production are also essential in dramatizing the on-stage action.

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

Set in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the restless years following World War Two, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is the story of Blanche DuBois, a fragile and neurotic woman on a desperate prowl for someplace in the world to call her own. After being exiled from her hometown of Laurel, Mississippi for seducing a seventeen-year-old boy at the school where she taught English, Blanche explains her unexpected appearance on Stanley and Stella's (Blanche's sister) doorstep as nervous exhaustion. This, she claims, is the result of a series of financial calamities which have recently claimed the family plantation, Belle Reve. Suspicious, Stanley points out that "under Louisiana's Napoleonic code what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband." Stanley, a sinewy and brutish man, is as territorial as a panther. He tells Blanche he doesn't like to be swindled and demands to see the bill of sale. This encounter defines Stanley and Blanche's relationship. They are opposing camps and Stella i s caught in no-man's-land. But Stanley and Stella are deeply in love. Blanche's efforts to impose herself between them only enrages the animal inside Stanley. When Mitch -- a card-playing buddy of Stanley's -- arrives on the scene, Blanche begins to see a way out of her predicament. Mitch, himself alone in the world, reveres Blanche as a beautiful and refined woman. Yet, as rumors of Blanche's past in Laurel begin to catch up to her, her circumstances become unbearable. Characters: Blanche Dubois: Blanche Dubois is the older sister of Stella Kowalski who visits them in New Orleans and stays throughout the summer. She was a schoolteacher of English in Mississippi and presents herself as very prim, proper, and prudent. Her name is French and she says, 'It [Dubois] means woods and Blanche means white, so the two together mean white woods. Like an orchard in spring!' (Act III, pg. 177). She was married to a young man named Allan, who committed suicide when she was very young. She drinks and smokes and tells lies. She suffers from continual delusions of hearing polka tunes and gunshots. Stella loves her dearly, but Stanley is in direct opposition to her false appearance and selfish attitude. Blanche cannot be around direct light and is overly concerned with her appearance, accessories, bathing, and age. She has a brief romance with Mitch and is later committed to a mental institution. Stanley Kowalski: Stanley is Stella's strong and good-looking husband.

Lehman Brothers

Research a failure that occurred at a large organization such as Tyco, Chrysler/Daimler-Benz, Daewoo, WorldCom, or Enron. In an APA formatted paper that is no longer than 1,050 words, describe how specific organizational behavior theories could have predicted or can explain the failure of the company. Compare and contrast the contributions of leadership, management, and organizational structures to the organizational failure. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the fourth largest US investment bank, succumbed to the sub prime mortgage crisis in the biggest bankruptcy filing in history. The 158 year old firm, which survived railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the great depression in the 1930s, & the collapse of long term capital management a decade ago, filed a chapter 11 petition with US bankruptcy caught in Manhattan on September, 15. The following day, its investment banking & trading divisions were acquired by Barclays plc along with its New York headquarters building. In the biggest reshaping of the financial industry since the Great Depression, Wall Street’s most storied firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. , headed towards extinction. The 158 year old firm, which survived railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the great depression in the 1930s, & the collapse of long term capital management a decade ago, filed a chapter 11 petition with US bankruptcy caught in Manhattan on September, 15. The following day, its investment banking & trading divisions were acquired by Barclays plc along with its New York headquarters building. The collapse of Lehman, which listed more than $613 billion of debt, dwarfs World Com Inc’s insolvency in 2002 & Drexel Burnham Lambert’s failure in 1990. What happened that weekend was that the Fed got a bunch of bank presidents together and asked them to invest in Lehman (basically loan Lehman money). The bank CEOs, knowing the risk of such a loan (they could see Lehman's finances), refused to do so without some kind of assistance from the government (whether it be loss-protection, the government paying half of the loan, etc etc). Hank Paulson, the Secretary of Treasury, refused to do this, saying that he didn't want to saddle the taxpayers with paying to save a private company that screwed up. Breakup process IMIDIATE AFTER EFFECTS- US stocks tumbled, more than $300 billion in market value, pummeled by the developments. Lehman plunged 95%; AIG retreated 42% on funding concerns while Bank of America Corp slumped 14% after agreeing to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion. The bankruptcy filing represents the end of a 158-year-old company that survived world wars, the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, but not the global credit crunch. Financial institutions globally have recorded more than $500 billion of write-downs and credit losses as the U. S. subprime mortgage crisis has spread to other markets. {text:bookmark-start} {text:bookmark-end} Bankruptcy also represents a bad end to Chief Executive Dick Fuld's four-decade career at Lehman. Fuld, who piloted the investment bank through prior crises with aplomb, was widely seen as too slow to recognize Lehman's need to raise capital and shed bad assets. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy because they failed to raise enough capital to secure their debts. The next logical question is why did they have so much debt? This is a two-fold answer: second, Lehman had a ton of what is called â€Å"leveraged assets†. Basically what happened (the non-basic is for another question) is Lehman took their assets and took out loans secured by those assets (for instance, using their on-hand cash as down payments on loans) and then invested those loans in the aforementioned property derivatives. So, not only did those investments lose value, but Lehman had to pay the interest on the money they borrowed (and subsequently lost). In short, Lehman was a casualty of the credit crunch due to exposure to bad debt. In August 2007, the firm closed its subprime lender, BNC Mortgage, eliminating 1,200 positions in 23 locations, and took an after-tax charge of $25 million and a $27 million reduction in goodwill). Lehman said that poor market conditions in the mortgage space â€Å"necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the subprime space†. At the end of August ‘07, Lehman had $600 billion of assets financed with just $30 billion of equity. Having so little capital meant that a 5 percent decline in assets would wipe out the value of the company, which investors saw as a real risk due to the company's billions of dollars of mortgage securities. In 2008, Lehman faced an unprecedented loss to the continuing subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman's loss was apparently a result of having held on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches when securitizing the underlying mortgages; whether Lehman did this because it was simply unable to sell the lower-rated bonds, or made a conscious decision to hold them, is unclear. In any event, huge losses accrued in lower-rated mortgage-backed securities throughout 2008. In the second fiscal quarter, Lehman reported losses of $2. 8 billion and was forced to sell off $6 billion in assets. In the first half of 2008 alone, Lehman stock lost 73% of its value as the credit market continued to tighten. In August 2008, Lehman reported that it intended to release 6% of its work force, 1,500 people, just ahead of its third-quarter-reporting deadline in September. On August 22, 2008, shares in Lehman closed up 5% (16% for the week) on reports that the state-controlled Korea Development Bank was considering buying the bank. Most of those gains were quickly eroded as news came in that Korea Development Bank was â€Å"facing difficulties pleasing regulators and attracting partners for the deal. † It culminated on September 9, when Lehman's shares plunged 45% to $7. 79, after it was reported that the state-run South Korean firm had put talks on hold. On September 17, 2008 Swiss Re estimates its overall net exposure approximately CHF 50 million to Lehman Brothers. Investor confidence continued to erode as Lehman's stock lost roughly half its value and pushed the S&P 500 down 3. 4% on September 9. The Dow Jones lost 300 points the same day on investors' concerns about the security of the bank. The U. S. government did not announce any plans to assist with any possible financial crisis that emerged at Lehman. The next day, Lehman announced a loss of $3. 9 billion and their intent to sell off a majority stake in their investment-management business, which includes Neuberger Berman. The stock slid 7 percent that day. Lehman, after earlier rejecting questions on the sale of the company, was reportedly searching for a buyer as its stock price dropped another 40 percent on September 11, 2008. Just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, executives at Neuberger Berman sent e-mail memos suggesting, among other things, that the Lehman Brothers' top people forgo multi-million dollar bonuses to â€Å"send a strong message to both employees and investors that management is not shirking accountability for recent performance. † Lehman Brothers Investment Management Director George Herbert Walker IV, second cousin to U. S. President George Walker Bush, dismissed the proposal, going so far as to actually apologize to other members of the Lehman Brothers executive committee for the idea of bonus reduction having been suggested. He wrote, â€Å"Sorry team. I am not sure what's in the water at Neuberger Berman. I'm embarrassed and I apologize. † In its Chapter 11 filing, Lehman named Citibank and Bank of New York Mellon as trustees for about $138 billion of senior Lehman bonds. It said Citi's Hong Kong affiliate had made a $275 million bank loan to Lehman. Among Lehman's other unsecured creditors are Japanese banks Aozora Bank, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Shinsei Bank and UFJ Bank. France's BNP Paribas is also on Lehman's list of its 30 largest unsecured creditors. The firm said that as of May 31, it owed about $110. 5 billion on account of senior unsecured notes, $12. 6 billion on account of subordinated unsecured notes, and $5 billion on account of junior subordinated notes. Lehman also disclosed that it owned stakes of 10 percent or more in a number of companies, including Imperial Sugar Co , Lpath Inc, Derma Services, Flagstone Reinsurance, GLG Partners, Ronco Corp , Pacific Energy Partners, Blount International , Pemstar Inc and Transmontaigne Inc. The investment bank, once the fourth-largest in the United States, had hoped to raise capital by selling off a stake in its investment unit, and use that capital as well as other funds to spin off some of its toxic assets to shareholders. But that plan did not satisfy investors, who punished Lehman's share price, or rating agencies, who pressed the company to find a stronger partner. Lehman said the uncertainty, particularly among banks through which it clears securities trades, ultimately made it impossible for it to continue to operate its business. The bankruptcy filing comes after a weekend of heated negotiations among regulators and Wall Street firms about Lehman's fate. The U. S. government refused to backstop Lehman's worst assets the way it backstopped Bear Stearns Cos Inc's sale to JPMorgan Chase. Government officials told banks to support Lehman or else be prepared for more investment banks to lose investor confidence and fail. But prospective bidders refused to buy Lehman without government support, people briefed on the matter said. In the end, Lehman was allowed to fail, and Bank of America Corp agreed to buy what was seen as the next weakest U. S. investment bank, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. For many of Lehman's 26,000 employees the outlook is likely to be gloomy, with job losses expected to be substantial even if significant parts of the business can be sold. At Lehman's headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, men dressed in suits came and went, while some employees entered the building with what appeared to be empty duffel bags, then left with them full. Others emerged with accordion files, binders stuffed with papers and full valises. On Sunday night, hundreds of Lehman employees were still in the office to clear their desks and pack personal belongings, according to an employee. Several money-market funds and institutional cash funds had significant exposure to Lehman with the institutional cash fund run by The Bank of New York Mellon and the Primary Reserve Fund, a money-market fund, both falling below $1 per share, called â€Å"breaking the buck†, following losses on their holdings of Lehman assets. In a statement The Bank of New York Mellon said its fund had isolated the Lehman assets in a separate structure. It said the assets accounted for 1. 3% of its fund. The drop in the Primary Reserve Fund was the first time since 1994 that a money-market fund had dropped below the $1-per-share level. About 100 hedge funds used Lehman as their prime broker and relied largely on the firm for financing. As administrators) took charge of the London business and the U. S. holding company filed for bankruptcy, positio ns held by those hedge funds at Lehman were frozen. As a result the hedge funds are being forced to de-lever and sit on large cash balances inhibiting chances at further growth. In Japan, banks and insurers announced a combined 249 billion yen ($2. billion) in potential losses tied to the collapse of Lehman. Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. cut its profit forecast by more than half, citing 11. 8 billion yen in losses on bonds and loans linked to Lehman. The Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said â€Å"Most lending to Lehman Brothers was made by major Japanese banks, and their possible losses seem to be within the levels that can be covered by their profits,† adding â€Å"There is no concern that the latest events will threaten the stability of Japan's financial system. † During bankruptcy proceedings a lawyer from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group said the company is facing between $1. billion and $1. 8 billion in claims against Lehman partially based on an unsecured g uarantee from Lehman and connected to trading losses with Lehman subsidiaries, Martin Bienenstock. After Constellation Energy was reported to have exposure to Lehman, its stock went down 56% in the first day of trading having started at $67. 87. The massive drop in stocks led to the New York Stock Exchange halting trade of Constellation. The next day, as the stock plummeted as low as $13 per share, Constellation announced it was hiring Morgan Stanley and UBS to advise it on â€Å"strategic alternatives† suggesting a buyout. While rumors suggested French power company Electricite de France would buy the company or increase its stake, Constellation ultimately agreed to a buyout by MidAmerican Energy, part of Berkshire Hathaway (headed by billionaire Warren Buffett). The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation or Farmer Mac said it would have to write off $48 million in Lehman debt it owned as a result of the bankruptcy. Farmer Mac said it may not be in compliance with its minimum capital requirements at the end of September. 2008). economies. Furthermore, such wealth effects tend to play out gradually. The 158 year old Lehman Brothers’ move to file for bankruptcy wiped off more than Rs2000 crore from the market valuation of those Indian companies in which the US financial major made equity investments. Major stocks held through participatory notes issued by Lehman Brothers Investment Management, a SEBI- registered foreign institutional investor, saw their prices nosedive. Participatory notes are derivative instruments through which foreign investors that are not registered in India can trade on the Indian markets. In addition to its equity holdings in listed companies, Lehman had also invested in various projects of Indian companies, especially in real estate. In India, Lehman also acquired BRICS Institutional Equities business of research analysts and sales and trading professionals and bought a 26% stake in Edelweiss Capital Finance , a non banking financial company, recently. The investment banking major has also been involved in several Indian initial public offers. IT SECTOR- The meltdown in US had a huge impact on indian IT & IT companies as a large chunk of their revenues is from US. Thus, the crisis had definitely delayed various new projects. Market sources revealed that the companies affected by the crisis such as Lehman Brothers, Merill Lynch and AIG have been outsourcing work to wipro, Tata Consultancy Services & Infosys. There was a direct impact on the revenues of this companies. As more & more consolidation, acquisition & mergers took place in the US, the number of companies in this space came down & shrunk the addressable market for the Indian IT services companies. Consolidation also led to consolidated IT resources & reduction in IT spending, which had negative effect on the IT companies. The slowdown also had an jmpact on the hiring practices of Indian IT services companies, who had to now focus on just-in-time hiring, rather than advanced hiring practices like campus recruitment. Thus, w. r. t. Lehman, as much as 60% of the revenue of India’s software firms comes from the global financial sector, so the fallout of Lehman’s bankruptcy on India’s IT sector cn be well imagined. REAL ESTATE- The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the bailout of Merrill Lynch, the global financial behemoths, affected Indian realty companies that were in the process of raising fresh funds. Many leading realtors, already facing a paucity of funds due to a slowdown or a correction in prices, found it more difficult to raise resources even at the project level. Merrill Lynch & Lehman Brothers had exposure to more than a dozen realty companies, including, Ansal Housing, Anant Raj Industries, Unity Infrastructure, the Puravankara group and J Kumar Infrastructure, among others. The Indian companies are not only unable to raise fresh capital but they are also finding it difficult to sell the inventory of housing stock as demand & prices both have fallen. BANKING- ICICI Bank said that it might need to make an additional provision of $28 million (Rs. 188 crore) on its exposure to bonds issued by Lehman. It had already made provisions of $12 million on these bonds. Indian IT major Wipro Technologies has expressed interest in bidding for the Indian back office business of Lehman. The bankrupt investment banking firm is expected to close its captive unit in Mumbai by the end of this month. The unit’s 1200 employees, who work on equity research and analytics support for the mergers and acquisitions business, have been asked to quit by September end. Unlike employees in Lehman’s investment banking business who have been receiving feelers from domestic banks, employees in the captive BPO are unlikely to find alternate jobs quickly because the IT and IT- enabled services industries have already begun downsizing, owing to the global financial crisis. The RBI had moved quickly to improve liquidity. Still there could be some impact on credit availability. That implies more expensive credit (even public sector banks are said to be raising money at 11. 5%, so that lending rates will inch up to 16 % and higher). For companies looking to raise capital, the alternative of funding through fresh equity is not cheap, either, since stock valuations have suffered in the wake of the FII pull out. Capital has suddenly become more expensive. There is a risk that projects underway will suffer from delays and cost overruns as cost of credit shoots up. Real estate could be most affected sector. Builders may have to resort to dropping prices to find customers for housing projects nearing completion. Another worry is impact on job creation in the country. There could be downsizing in companies in sectors impacted by high cost of credit and fall in demand. The layoffs in IT sector may be a fair portent of things to come. The crisis does have a silver lining. The falling rupee(against the dollar) will mean that exporters affected by the earlier rise of the currency can breathe easy. However importers would be at the receiving end. Importers of oil and other commodities’ prices will neutralize the impact of the dollar’s decline against the rupee. Prices of stocks and real estate, which had appreciated by too much, will come down to realistic levels. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing indicate that as of their May 31, 2008 financial statement that the firm has $639 billion of assets and $613 billion of debt. At that time the firm had about $110 billion in ordinary bonds, and about $17. 6 billion in subordinated bonds. The composition of the other debts is hard to determine, in part, because of a bad cross reference in that part of the filing. As of the last financial statement, accounts payable were about $71 billion, short term debt was $163 billion, other current liabilities were about $29 billion, and long term debt was about $350 billion. As of the filing date, the listing of the top 30 outsider creditors of the firm mentioned $138 billion of ordinary bonds (managed by two bond trustees), $17 billion of subordinated bonds (managed by one of the two ordinary bond trustees), and about 3 billion in bank loans and letters of credit ranging in size from $463 million to $10 million from 23 different institutions (a few of whom appear to be related entities of each other). This leaves about $485 million of debts owed to creditors in amounts less than $10 million and insider debtors. This would suggest that $71 billion+ is made up of trade credit in small amounts per creditor, while $414 billion is made up of financial creditors in amounts less than $10 million and insider debt, with insider debt probably making up the bulk of the debts, as investment banks don't generally take deposits from millions of households the way that commercial banks do. There don't appear to be any significant (i. e. more than $10 million) secured creditors or trade creditors, although this might not include financial rights of setoff. There are more details in an Affidavit of the CFO, which is honestly rather dubious and unsatisfying. I find it very hard to believe that Lehman Brothers is incapable of providing much, much more information than it has to date with only modest effort. While it might not be able to provide ever single creditor in a matter of weeks, it ought to be able to publicly account for more than a third of its outstanding debt. These folks are in the financial analysis business and live and die on their own ability to be highly leveraged without becoming insolvent. Equity The most recent financial statement listed the aggregate value of preferred stock at $7 billion (and did not include it as a debtor in the petition). The aggregate redemption value of the preferred stock based upon the rights of each class of preferred stock, the number of preferred shares identified in the petition (presumably the number of authorized preferred shares in each class), and assuming that preferred stock dividends aren't grossly in arrears, is about $237 billion. This is calculated as follows: 5 million shares, $500 each, $2. 5 billion 4 million shares, $5000 each, $2. billion 12 million shares, $2500 each, $30 billion 5. 2 million shares, $2500 each, $12. 5 billion 66 million shares, $2500 each, $165 billlion 12 million shares, $25 each, $0. 3 billion 12 million shares, $25 each, $0. 3 billion 16 million shares, $25 each, $0. 4 billion 8 million shares, $25 each, $0. 2 billion 4 million shares, $1000 each, $4 billion 2 million shares, $1000 each, $2 billion But, this appears to grossly overstate the amount of preferred stock shares outstanding. There are 694,401,926 common shares outstanding according to the petition. Assets The source balance statement listed the company's assets as $314 billion in cash, $42 billion in net receivables, $4. 3 billion in fixed assets, and $279 billion in non-current assets. Presumably, this number is lower now, due to market losses, particularly in mortgage based securities. Some breakdown on the nature of those assets is available: Sanford Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz estimates that 55% of Lehman's balance sheet can be quickly liquidated, particularly such assets as receivables and short-term loans known as repurchase agreements. There are about $269 billion in securities that are â€Å"another story,† Hintz wrote in a report released Monday. He estimates 27% of the $269 billion is in mortgages, 17% in derivatives, and 8% in real estate. Analysis The two primary bond trustees seem likely to be the dominant voice on behalf of creditors in this bankruptcy on the creditor's committee. This could be a 100% payout liquidity failure bankruptcy, and failing that, could be one in which common stock shareholders, preferred stock shareholders, and perhaps subordinated debtors bear the brunt of the impact, while general creditors are held harmless or nearly so. Indeed, if the company adopts a plan that holds harmless all preferred and general unsecured creditors, and all secured creditors, then only the holders of subordinated debt would have any right to object. Since all of the subordinated debt appears to be represented by a single bond trustee, this might mean that the plan could be confirmed in a one on one negotiation with the representative of that bank. Equity and subordinated debt together are capable of absorbing a $43 billion loss between May 31, 2008 and the bankruptcy filing, and pre-bankruptcy loss estimates had been in the vicinity of $7 billion. Barclays Bank is discussing buying the brokerage and investment banking operations including the headquarters out of bankruptcy for about $8 billion (presumably the usually highly profitable brick and mortar part of the operation which probably also counts for most accounts payable and accounts receivable), and assuming that this is a market value for that operation by some reasonable measure, the market losses that other creditors would have to bear would remain unchanges, but greater liquidity could speed up the payout. The bankruptcy filing covers only Lehman’s holding company. Its brokerage and money-management units are not in Chapter 11 † employees still have their jobs, customers still execute transactions on accounts, and portfolio managers still manage mutual funds. The relative independence of these subsidiaries from the bankruptcy process is what enables Barclays, the U. K. -bank that walked away from a Lehman rescue over the weekend, to consider purchasing part of Lehman. Another interesting possibility would be a plan that allocated good, short term assets to outsider creditors as payment in full, while allocating securities of uncertain value, like the mortgage backed securities, to the insiders. Outsiders can't object if they get quick cash in exchange of the debts owed to them, so this plan could be imposed on them, leaving insiders with any windfalls resulting from market undervaluation of Lehman Brothers' complex financial assets. The biggest overall risk is that the derivatives market, and in particular, the credit default market, will be screwed up by the freezing of the positions of a major market player, although recent bankruptcy law reforms are designed to minimize this impact. Financial crises are terrifying when underlying economic fundamentals are out of line with established theory, leading to bursts of unjustified optimism and/or pessimism. It is the responsibility of the powers that be to bring sense to the market. Every financial crisis is different, but they do all end. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch’s acquisition by Bank of America is yet another stage in the progression of the financial crisis that had its roots in the US sub-prime mortgage market. The initial stage of the crisis took a toll on direct mortgage lenders like Countrywide Financial. In a subsequent stage, guarantors of mortgage-backed securities like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae came under attack. This culminated in their going into US government ‘receivership’ (effectively nationalization) a few weeks ago before the bankruptcy was actually filed. Lehman’s demise marks the stage where banks with indirect but large exposures to the US mortgage market, principally through derivative instruments, bear the brunt. This is not necessarily the final stage and the worst is perhaps not over. A key feature of this crisis that started in the middle of 2007 has been the lack of clarity on both the nature and number of financial institutions that have indirect exposure to subprime assets, as well as, cross-product problems involving movement from subprime to prime mortgages with final spillover into derivatives, structured products and counterparty risks. We could see another set of intermediaries coming under severe pressure. The decision by the US Treasury and the Fed not to guarantee Lehman’s financial liabilities is a clear signal to the market that they believe that no institution is ‘too big to fail’. Going forward, a government-funded bailout is likely to be the exception, not the norm. Besides, with Lehman’s bankruptcy, the fate of its counterparties hangs in balance. It is not clear whether a fire-sale of Lehman’s assets will be adequate to pay off its creditors. Besides, apprehensions of other banks meeting Lehman’s fate will keep inter-bank lenders on edge. This could lead to a huge squeeze on inter-bank liquidity and trigger another bout of turbulence in credit markets. Finally, the Lehman episode has ramped up the level of risk-aversion in the global financial system. These are days of extreme and often irrational pessimism. The way to survive this crisis is to stay focused on the fundamentals. From a fundamental perspective, India’s financial system has a lot going for it. Indian banks have no direct exposure to G-7 mortgage markets and their ndirect exposure is minuscule relative to the size of their balance sheet. This has protected us in the past and will continue to insulate us to a significant degree from the turmoil in global markets. As this phase of extreme pessimism abates a bit, global investors are likely to reward India for the robustness of its system. Thus, at last, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings I nc, was mainly caused by the fall in house prices & the easy finance provided for housing at vary low interest rates which made the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 500 points. The treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had been sending warning signals to Lehman Brothers ever since the firm announced its second quarter losses of $2. 8 billion. Experts were also quoted as saying that the 158-year-old bank was just living off the brand name that it had nurtured over the years. The Lehman bankruptcy had a great impact on INDIA. The undercapitalization of financial houses that was at the core of the financial meltdown in the US & developed markets became a problem in Indian Financial System, too.

Should the Legal Drinking Age be Changed to 18

Should the Legal Drinking Age be Changed to 18 One of the hottest topics of debate in today’s world is the legal drinking age. The reason why this topic is much debated nowadays is because of the fact that many people are of the opinion that a person is grown up at the age of 18 and has a clear understanding of what is wrong or right at this age. Most people in the United States, do not regard the legal drinking age as the right one, in other words, they do not agree with it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Should the Legal Drinking Age be Changed to 18? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many citizens strongly argue that the legal age to buy, possess or purchase alcohol drinks should be 18 years rather than 21. Taking into consideration that the American citizens are allowed to vote at the age of 18 years, this seems to be quite a valid point of argument, however, drinking age is not changed to 18 years as teenagers are considered not to be capable of getti ng over alcohol at such tender age. The current age limit is the correct age as a person is matured enough at the age of 21 and knows his/ her social responsibility.   Lowering the age to 18 years old would only bring about chaos in the life of a teenager as it is the age when they are careless and reckless. â€Å"The teenage brain is not just an adult brain with fewer miles on it,† says Frances E. Jensen, a professor of neurology. â€Å"It’s a paradoxical time of development. These are people with very sharp brains, but they’re not quite sure what to do with them† (Ruder par. 2). Legal drinking age should not be changed to 18 as teenagers still do not understand their mental hardwiring, thus it would only lead to much chaos in their lives which will result in more drinking problems as teenagers are more subjected to some of alcohols effects than the adults are. Teenagers neither understand nor have a complete control of their life. â€Å"Teen brains, for example, are more susceptible than their adult counterparts to alcohol-induced toxicity. Jensen highlights an experiment in which rat brain cells were exposed to alcohol, which blocks certain synaptic activity. When the alcohol was washed out, the adult cells recovered while the adolescent cells remained â€Å"disabled.†Ã¢â‚¬  (Ruder par. 9). Teenagers are more prone to addiction than adults and if they are given the license to drink it would only result in numerous teenagers becoming alcoholics. Their brains are still not developed and they are more vulnerable to bad influences from the outside. Many people are of the opinion that lowering the age is desirable as we are just suppressing the young people and it makes alcohol more desirable for them as they are not allowed to drink it by the law.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the contrary, lowering the age would not in any way be beneficial for them as it would rather increase their ability to obtain alcohol freely which in turn would produce countless teenage alcoholics. â€Å"The adolescent brain is still undergoing several maturational processes that render it more vulnerable to some of the effects of substances† (Tapert par. 4). Teenagers are not in a position to make right judgments. Human and animal studies, as Jensen and Urion note, have shown that the brain grows and changes continually in young people- and that it is only about 80 percent developed in adolescents† (Ruder par. 5). Therefore, the legal age of drinking should be not lowered as it is irresponsible as well as immoral to hand over alcohol to teenagers who are mentally unstable at their age. Lowering the drinking age would only lead to chaos in teenagers’ lives which would also result in more drinking problems. â€Å"Adolescence is a time of transition, physically, socially, and emotionally. The adolescent brain is in transition as well (Giedd et al. par. 2). Despite the fact that all vital functional and structural changes happen in the brain all through the childhood to adulthood, it is during the adolescent period that such changes mostly occur. (Alcohol and Adolescent Brain Development par. 2). Teenagers are easily influenced; they are not in that stage of life when judgments are correct and their acts are conscious. If the age is lowered, many teenagers would be trapped as they are more prone to addiction to alcohol than adults. It would, in its turn, impact the choices the teens make, which would often be wrong that will negatively influence their whole lives. Teenage years is the period when it is impossible to have a complete control of things as the brain formation has not been completed yet. If teenagers are addicted to something, it becomes very difficult for them to give up bad habits. â€Å"During adolescence, the brain undergoes a major remodeling involv ing the formation of new connections between nerve cells, as well as the pruning of existing synaptic connections. These changes affect the processes involved in planning and decision making, impulse control, voluntary movement, memory, and speech production, among others† (Rubia et al. par. 3). Therefore, it is not right to treat teenagers as adults and give them the responsibilities those of adults.   It would also be highly irresponsible to give them the freedom to drink as 18 is not the right age to make mature decisions in life.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Should the Legal Drinking Age be Changed to 18? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"Research also suggests that adolescents are less sensitive than adults to some of alcohols effects. For example, adolescent rats, on their first exposure to alcohol, are less susceptible than adult rats to alcohols sedative effects, as well as its effects on ba lance and motor coordination† (Little et al. White et al.). Teenager’s brain is not fully developed which makes it more vulnerable to alcohol-induced toxicity than an adults brain. They should be protected from making the wrong choices in life so basically alcohol is definitely not the right thing to do. From the above discussion it is clear and evident that the legal drinking age should not be changed to 18. The legal drinking age should not be lowered as teenagers of 18 still do not understand their necessities; it would only lead to bigger chaos in their lives resulting in more drinking problems since teenagers are less stable and resistant to some of the alcohols effects. Alcohol and Adolescent Brain Development. 2008. AddictionInfo.org. 2008. Web. Ruder, Debra Bradley. The Teen Brain. Harvard Magazine. 2008. Web. Tapert Trudeau, Michelle. Teen Drinking May Cause Irreversible Brain Damage. NPR. 2007. Web.

Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative Essay Example

Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative Essay Example Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative Essay Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative Essay Essay Topic: The Man Of Mode In last many old ages, few direction accounting inventions has been developed. Directors have to do determination on a day-to-day footing every bit good do determinations sing the hereafter and how to last and turn in an energetic market topographic point with of all time turning unsure fortunes. Traditional or modern direction accounting system give relevant information to all degrees of direction, fiscal and other information to do determinations about planning, control of operations and placing chances to add value. The modern direction accounting pattern are typically different from that of traditional direction accounting as they enable directors to do sound determinations to minimise cost every bit good in the same clip add value to the merchandises and services by bettering the quality of merchandises, which is required by the clients, and cut down waste. In add-on, the modern direction accounting systems allow the administration as whole to develop the advanced capacity of the administration and flexibleness so that it can continually alter and better public presentation financially every bit good in its non fiscal countries of public presentation. Traditional vs. Modern Innovative Traditional will concentrate on cost control and, in peculiar, what is recognized as variance analysis and which involves measuring forecast results with existent results for illustration for costs such as stuffs and labor. The types of activity, hence, that direction comptrollers have traditionally involved themselves with include: Cost analysis Cost control Budget readying Budgetary control processes Cost/benefit analysis Investment assessment. More modern, innovative attacks include enterprises such as: Business procedure re-engineering: This is about rethinking and re-designing concern procedures as a agency of cut downing costs and bettering bringing Zero-based budgeting: re-thinking budgets in a manner that engage warranting and prioritizing all points of outgo Activity-based direction: looking at what really causes costs to be incurred, and being better able to calculate and command costs Life rhythm costing: sing a merchandise s costs over its full life rhythm ( instead than merely, for illustration, the initial edifice costs ) Total quality direction: the procedure of uninterrupted quality betterment beyond budgeting : a challenge to traditional budgeting techniques via the usage of more flexible and broad ranging procedures Balanced scorecards: the usage of cardinal public presentation indexs within four different positions fiscal, client, internal concern procedure and learning/growth. Non fiscal public presentation measuring approached gained impulse as a consequence of dissatisfaction with the traditional techniques such as balance sheets and income statement, as engineering increasing and increasing planetary competition, companies able to acknowledge better their mistake and might to better their bing capablenesss and make new 1s the most successful of these being Economic Value Added ( EVA ) . Initially Return on Investment ( ROI ) was used to enhancement the intuition and penetration of directors. It was used to direct down the end for division directors to run into from corporate office. Since directors reward and endorsement chances depended on the ability to run into marks, these nucleus directors has a strong inducement to set their information consequently. Some concerns have built accounting instruction faculties for their directors that help them acknowledge the elaborate information they get. Management comptrollers have a critical duty in fixing and administering preparation stuffs. Nowadays multifaceted managerial milieus proficient maps, peculiarly accounting, need to go more than providers of information. They must turn into a sort of an educating where directors can obtain preparation. So far in legion organisations, comptrollers are excessively feverish to turn out to be teachers and internal wages systems likely depress such public presentations. As the scope of direction accounting messages enlarge to incorporate non-financial presentation indexs, direction comptrollers get an extra challenge. Many directors have complexnesss visualising the cause and ensue relationships that connect cost drivers to fiscal returns. Yet this is the cardinal information needed to pull off value, and instruction is on a regular basis required to assist directors acknowledge improved the ground and consequence dealingss that cause stockholder value. Increasing functional country means that directors are of all time more degage from stockholder values. Many directors are strongly devoted to the association without being dedicated to the fiscal purpose that drives it. Management comptrollers have a duty to take portion in transfusing fiscal control and delegating fiscal values to non-financial directors. One technique is to necessitate operating directors ( instead than comptrollers ) to consistently form and show the fiscal survey of their industry unit. At the similar juncture that the direction accounting function must pay great sum of attending to the efficiency of its interior substructure procedures, other demands are happening. There is lifting force per unit area to diminish on the whole cost of the finance map as a fraction of grosss. There are bit by bit more clip devouring demands for more comprehensive external coverage. While these concluding ends are critical and must be achieved, puting the precedency there merely hike the hazard that internal accounting communications will be unsuccessful to acquire their aims and that direction accounting system modify will be farther postponed. Decision As discussed above, the modern direction accounting relevant to modern organisational direction issues as good rectify and reform the traditional direction accounting patterns to do determinations and specialized determinations based on relevant fiscal and non-financial information depending on the nature of activities, size, external fortunes and market conditions, client profiles, organisational human resource issues, structural issues. Even the modern direction accounting is non extra but can be wholly different. As good, some are more appropriate to assorted organisations and some are non, given the internal direction patterns, size of organisations, top direction support, human resource patterns. Organizational structural issues, employee motivational factors, centralisation decentalisation issues. In other words, before sing implementing modern direction accounting patterns the direction must hold a feasibleness survey sing the above issues and measure the cost and benefit of the systems in fiscal and non-financial footings. Otherwise the benefits are applied without through rating and committedness by top direction, therefore the benefits of these patterns will non be realized to the full. If carefully considered based on adequate facts and non on emotions, so the modern direction accounting with other schemes will surely helpful for direction to do sound determinations and hence contribute to the success of th e organisation than the traditional direction accounting patterns.