Improvisation free essay sample

As I listen to Buck Hill improvise over Oleo I am constantly struck by the intelligence and placement of each line in spite of playing at what I consider superhuman speed. My ability to improvise on jazz piano has made me more spontaneous and creative, a useful trait in my academic and artistic worlds, and interpersonal relationships. As Louis Armstrong asserted, â€Å"What we play is life†. The improvisation of Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and Charlie Parker comes straight from the soul. Jazz improvisation captures a person’s essence as each note reflects the musician’s emotions, past, present, and future. According to Gershwin, â€Å"Life is a lot like jazz†¦it’s best when you improvise†. Neither life nor jazz goes according to plan. Armed with a â€Å"lead sheet† I have guidelines to fill with my own improvisation. A lead sheet is like the concrete plans people make for life. For example, I plan to do well in high school, go to a college of my choice, and end up with a career I love. We will write a custom essay sample on Improvisation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Though I plan on remaining inside these boundaries, there is room for creativity, self-exploration, and expression. I can choose what activities to do, what college to go to, and what to major in. In life, a musician exists within guidelines but makes the piece her own. Charlie Parker exclaimed, â€Å"If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn†. I agree. If we are the sum of our experiences, then our music must reflect this. Understanding improvisation leads to a greater appreciation of life. I am a more interesting person because I refuse to do the bare minimum. I choose to be original, and so use improvisation as I learn. I am passionate about new information, because I understand it is my duty to add to it. Nothing new ever happens if you keep doing the same thing as everyone else. I strongly believe without creativity a piece of work becomes completely useless. I am constantly improvising as I argue my thesis on feminism in the 1960s in History or explain my theories on Anna Karenina in English class. Each idea must have an aspect of creativity otherwise it is completely unimportant. My piano teacher reminds me that when improvising I need not â€Å"reinvent the wheel.† For example, there would be no computer without the typewriter, and no air conditioning without refrigeration. Having taken this to heart, I realize this is true in all facets of life. It is the ability to think on the spot that makes a person successful in other aspects as well. As a sailing instructor I constantly improvise on the water as obstacles came up. Skirting around weather, broken motorboats, students, and rocks is a difficult task, and I understand that for my students to learn I had to approach teaching in a creative way. Improvisation is the most honest form of music, because it is unedited and spontaneous. Without creativity, nothing would ever change, and the world would become completely stagnant. The most beautiful ability of the human mind is thought, and improvisation shows the boundless intelligence of the brain. I know that when I am not afraid to improvise I am capable of greater things.

Critique of Philadelphia (the movie) essays

Critique of Philadelphia (the movie) essays They are your friends, your sibling, your guardian and your significant other. They are your minister, your teacher, your bank-teller, your doctor, your mail-carrier, your roommate and your congressional representative (Mohr 1). They are everywhere, even in your workplace. Mohr, the author of A More Perfect Union, was referring to homosexuals. Gays and lesbians have become a contemporary social issue. For six years now, the homosexual issue has been dramatized in the media. The issue quickly carried over into the workplace. Although the workplace is becoming the new frontier in the battle for gay rights and equality (Winfeld 39), gays are subject to widespread discrimination in employment. In one such case, a man like Andrew Beckett was fired from a prestigious law firm because he was gay and had AIDS. Imagine, if you can, working for a law firm and just being promoted. You are a qualified, experienced, efficient worker. But, you are also gay and have AIDS. Since you are being plagued by legions, and no makeup can conceal your illness, you have no choice but to work at home or late-night at the office. Someone unknown to you discovers your illness and sexual orientation and decides to sabotage you. You have recently been working on the firms most important case. You leave a copy of the case on a disk on your desk. The following day, it is nowhere to be found. A day later, the disk is found and you are fired. You feel you were set to appear irresponsible and incompetent, but you were really fired because you have AIDS and are gay. This scenario is taken from the box-office hit Philadelphia. This 1993 drama became the first movie to openly discuss AIDS, thus...

Quality Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Quality Management - Term Paper Example This review focuses on Mike Bolton’s published issue- ‘Get Staff Involved in Quality Initiatives.’ Mike Bolton, the Vice President of ATC, a public transportation company, explored an entirely new quality initiative. He went out of the ordinary Six Sigma to the risk of involving employees-whose loyalty was not guaranteed-in quality initiatives. This was a daunting task that many critics doubted its feasibility. Bolton’s motivation for a new quality initiative was the economic downturn in 2000 when it merged with a global transportation service. He thought that adopting the Six Sigma would be costly in terms of time and finances considering their budget at the time. Together with ATC’s CEO, Jim Long, Bolton adopted the Action Workout initiative. This incorporated leaders and employees alike in quality improvement. Teams were deployed to each of ATC’s branches; this consisted of leaders and employees. Each team had one leader and six employees, their focus was improving one of the laid down key profitability driver at its location. Each location was put on a 60-day clock on the start and finish and assumed ownership of the results. The teams were encouraged to localize best practices, this enhanced member enthusiasm and creativity. Among the ideas put into action were trained teams comprising of defenders of safety whose main concern was to reduce accidents. They established the root cause of accidents to be failure to perform vehicle inspection. They established the ‘red dot’ inspection initiative to counter this. The other team was the ‘budgeteers’ team. Their focus was overtime expense reduction. This was achieved by routine vehicle fueling, maintenance timing and reporting accuracy among others. Every vehicle and every driver were tracked every day. Teams that produced the best results were awarded. The company also learnt a number of insights: the need to think carefully about team

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management - Essay Example Strategically, a firm that has a monopoly wants to keep any competitors from entering the market and can do so through force, lobbying, or collusion. A firm that owns a monopoly wants to keep other companies out of the market so they can set the price of the product in order to maximize profit. In monopolistic competition, the price that other firms set for the product is not as much of a concern for the firm strategically because there is product as well as brand differentiation. Therefore a firm can set its price without being influenced too much by competitors. In the long run, monopolistic competition becomes more and more like perfect competition. In an oligopoly, strategic decisions made by a firm are heavily influence by competitors because there are only a few sellers who control the market. A firm in this market structure often uses the same tactics as a firm who has a monopoly on the market to maintain or increase market share. Competition is fierce in this type of market w hich leads to lower prices and higher production. 2. Economic Factors If a firm believes that the benefits of entering or exiting a market outweigh the costs, their desire to do so will increase. Some economic factors that affect a firm’s desire to enter and exit a market are market growth, profit sustainability of that market over time, industry life cycle considerations, technological opportunities, barriers to market entry, and the number of competitors in the market. A growing market is more appealing to new entrants as is a market where growth does not appear to be slowing down any time soon. On the other hand, a declining market where there is no growth on the horizon is conducive to exiting. A market where product innovation is high also indicates that it is profitable to enter that market, whereas a market where product innovation has pretty much run its course is not a positive sign. Also, a â€Å"first-mover† has a better chance of making a substantial profit as opposed to someone who is trying to enter a market that has been around for a long time. Therefore, new markets are a good signal that entry will be profitable. Barriers to entry, such as the financial cost of entry, also discourage entry into a market. Conversely, the costs of exiting a market can discourage a firm from exit. As an example, Amazon.com entered the book selling market because they knew they could offer more books online than other bookstores could at brick and mortar stores. They entered the growing market of e-commerce and although it took them a while to turn a profit, they are now one of the most profitable e-commerce bookstores and also offer a wide variety of products now besides just books. As the e-commerce industry has grown, Amazon.com has grown as well. 3. Barring Entry In the internet marketing world, barriers to entry are relatively low. Basically anyone can learn about e-marketing and look for clients who need help with increasing their rank in searc h engines and so forth. However, it seems that larger companies in this industry have greater economies of scale. This is because they can generally produce more content, links, social media, and so on in order to generate more traffic than a very small internet marketing company with only a few people can. There are relatively low benefits in attempting to bar someone from entering this industry because it tends toward perfect competition where there are low barriers to entry and relatively low start-up costs. So the best way to

Wal-Mart and Union Membership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Wal-Mart and Union Membership - Research Paper Example The only advantage of having a union is that Wal-Mart will have to consult only the union when implementing its human resource policies rather than to consult the individual workers separately. It will also ease the government’s regulations in the industry as the government would know that the trade union is there to represent the interest of workers. Another advantage of Trade Unions for Wal-Mart is that it will make sure that all the grievances and resentment of workers are heard before they become an issue and hence it will result in better employee-employer relationship which will lead to smooth functioning of the organization.Hence, we can see that although Wal-Mart enjoys certain advantages when working with unions, but these are greatly outnumbered by the disadvantages of working with unions. 2) Employee gains a lot of advantages if they have union membership. The greatest advantage that it renders to the workers is strength in numbers. The bigger a group of workers demanding certain right, the more pressure it can put on the management and hence there are more chances that the management would give in to their demands. This encourages more and more employees to join the union and enjoy the benefits of being strong and more vocal. Another advantage for union membership is the Trade Union fund which is given in the form of allowances to its members in case they need them. It is disbursed to members who are going through a period of illness, trauma or any other kind of problem that requires them to use these funds of part of these funds. Similarly, Union membership allows the employees to communicate more actively with the government and press them to legislate for acts that promote workers’ rights and also increase job security. However, there are certain disadvanta ges of a union member also. Employees have to pay certain amount annually to the union as a membership fee. This puts an additional burden on employees. Individual employees cannot press for their demand and they lose their voice at the expense of what the large majority wants. Hence, one can say that although the union membership is beneficial for workers, it can also bring disharmony and conflict of interest among workers which can lead to other organization-wide problems. (Daft, 1996) 3) There can economics, social and ethical consequences of Wal-Mart trying to stop allowing its workers to hold a union membership. Many pressure groups will turn against Wal-Mart. They will declare Wal-Mart as an organization that does not support workers’ rights. This will lead to loss of goodwill and bad reputation for the company. Many customers might turn away from buying from Wal-Mart which will lead to loss of revenue for the company. It will also discourage workers joining Wal-Mart as they would see it as an organization that does not respect their rights and they are being treated not so well. This will lead to a decrease in supply of workers who want to join Wal-Mart and it will have to pay the workers who want to join Wal-Mart higher wages (Bamford, 2003). This can again lead to less of profitability in the income

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Health And Social Care Essay

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Health And Social Care Essay Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a serious respiratory condition of diffuse alveolar injury seen frequently in intensive care patients. It was first identified in 1967 by Ashbaugh, Bigelow, Petty and Levine as the acute onset of broad respiratory symptoms. This improved the clinical and pathological understanding of the condition. Small changes to therapeutic practice have developed, however despite these developments the morbidity and mortality in patients of all ages with ARDS remains significantly high (Fan, Needham, Stewart, 2005). This topic has been chosen by the author as they have a personal interest in this type of patient after having recently cared for a critically ill ARDS patient in their ICU (Intensive Care Unit). The author has previously been involved in caring for ARDS patients at their place of work and over that period has observed changing practices and treatment. A further knowledge and understanding of this complex patient is their motivation for this topic. A case study relating to a case of ARDS is attached as Appendix 1 and will be referred to throughout this assignment. The pathophysiology of this disease leading up to the presenting signs and symptoms of ARDS will be presented. Current literature and treatment trends will be discussed in conjunction with the medical and nursing practice observed within the ICU workplace. Treatment trends and recommended best practices will be identified and critically analysed. Recommendations will then be presented to encourage best practice within the ICU workplace. First described in 1967 by Ashbaugh and colleagues as Adult Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, ARDS patients continue to have a high rate of mortality and morbidity (Fan, Needham, Stewart, 2005). A definition was implemented in 1988 (MORE DETAILS>>>) and then a new simplified definition was recommended in 1994 by the American-European Consensus Conference (AECC) (Harman 2009). It acknowledged that the severity of lung injury varies, and it was a definition that was easy to apply in the clinical setting (Ware Matthay, 2000). The new definition involved changing the name from adult to acute respiratory distress syndrome as it was observed that the syndrome occurs in adults and children. The AECC definition states that the patient must have an acute condition, characterised by bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and severe hypoxaemia in the absence of evidence of cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. Hypoxaemia is calculated as a ratio of PaO2/FiO2. In ARDS the ratio is less than 200. Cardiogen ic pulmonary oedema is excluded either clinically or by pulmonary wedge pressure of less than 18mm Hg in patients with a Swan-Ganz catheter. Despite this official and accepted definition there is still argument over the ability to accurately define ARDS when it is a syndrome and not an illness and because of this the presentation and pathway of the disease varies between patients (Zambon Vincent, 2008). There has also been criticism over the simplicity of the AECC definition as it does not identify the underlying cause, nor does it require other systems affected to be assessed (Ware Matthay, 2000). The major benefit of the universally accepted definition has been the ability for hospitals and investigators to begin the advancement of clinical trials into treatment of this syndrome (Ware Matthay, 2000). In patients diagnosed with ARDS 80% can have the cause related to either direct or indirect injuries. Direct injuries include pneumonia, aspiration, lung contusion, fat embolism, near-drowning, inhalation injury, and reperfusion injury. While indirect injuries include non-pulmonary sepsis, multiple trauma, massive transfusion, pancreatitis and cardiopulmonary bypass (Berten Soni 2009). This insult to the respiratory system is reflected in a variety of pathophysiological presentations leading to the patients presenting signs and symptoms. There are 3 identified stages of ARDS. The acute or exudative phase is seen in days 1-7. The sub-acute or proliferative stage is seen from around day 7, and the chronic or fibrotic phase is generally seen around 2-3 weeks after the initial onset (Marshall, Bellingan, Laurent, 1998, Griffiths 2007). The exudative phase leads to the disruption of the normal alveoli-capillary barrier which therefore disrupts ventilation and oxygenation. Inflammation occurs in the lungs and the body releases cytokines and inflammatory mediators from the epithelial and endothelial cells. Other cells (neutrophils and T-lymphocytes) move into the lungs and causing alveolar damage. The inflammation causes endothelial dysfunction, and increases the permeability of this barrier which allows fluid to escape from the capillaries and limits the draining of fluid out from the lungs. Small vessel thrombosis occurs as a result of pulmonary capillary and endothelial swelling Cell debris plugs the alveolus lumen leading to pulmonary oedema increasing the thickness in the alveolar-capillary space. Surfactant supply depletes and production becomes inactivated. The exudative phase is seen in the ICU patient as increased shortness of breath, higher respiratory rate, productive cough, wet sounding chest, decreased oxygenation. These symptoms were all seen with the patient in Appendix A. The Proliferative Phase is and involves the initial stimulus causing the stimulation of the cascade effect. All ARDS patients will experience this stage. It leads to an increase in the permeability of the alveolar-capillary barrier leads to a rush of fluid into the alveoli. This injury allows pulmonary oedema to occur in patients with no known cardiogenic failure. This protein rich fluid engulfs the alveoli drawing in activated neutrophils and macrophages. This initiates the inflammatory cascade which releases interleukins, tumour necrosis factor and inflammatory mediators. Neutrophils release oxidants, leukotrienes and various proteases. The effect of this process is cell damage, with cell debris blocking alveolus lumen and the inactivation of surfactant. As a result platelets combine, a procoagulant cascade may arise. Surfactant inactivation, alveolar filling, cellular debris all lead to an increase in respiration rate. Surfactant loss causes alveolar collapse due to increased surface tension and causes a decreased closing lung volume. This leads to less than normal functional residual capacity causing increased respiratory rate and reduced lung compliance. The alteration in the harmony between alveoli and vascular ************************************************** The proliferative stage is generally seen after day 7. It involves the proliferation of fibroblasts, hyperplasia of pneumocytes and ongoing inflammation. The Fibrotic phase is seen 3 weeks after presentation and the patient is seen to have lung fibrosis, honeycombing and bronchiectesis. This leads to long-term chronic lung conditions. Clinical management of ARDS is focused on promptly and appropriately treating the underlying cause, supporting lung function and preventing complications related to the medical treatment and the disease process. No treatment is definitive, but early anticipation of complications can reduce the length of stay. Treatment is supportive As previously noted mortality rates have barely reduced over the years. There has been much research into new ventilation strategies along with pharmacological and non-pharmacological techniques. So far few have improved survival. The most important and practice changing study was in 2000 when The Acute Respiratory Syndrome Network did a large (861 patients) multi-centred randomised trial comparing traditional tidal volumes with lower tidal volumes. At the time patients were being ventilated with tidal volumes (VT) of 10-15ml per kilogram of body weight with plateau pressures of 50, to achieve normocarbia and pH. The study was abandoned early as there was seen to be a 22% decrease in mortality of those patients with the lower range of TV. The high peak pressure and the high tidal volumes were found to be causing shearing injuries to the lungs and also causing a higher mortality. This study revolutionalised ventilation strategies of ARDS patients and demonstrated that lung protection techniques could improve survival (Levy, 2004). It is now common practice worldwide to ventilate patients on tidal volumes of around 6ml/kg and as low as 4ml/kg and to allow permissive hypercarbia. I There continues to be research in to the benefit of PEEP in ARDS. There have been several studies conducted looking at the benefits but few have had conclusive results. Ashbaugh et al. (1967) identified patients that were mechanically ventilated with ARDS and had no PEEP became immediately severely hypoxaemic. Research has continued since then as to identify the optimal amount of PEEP. PEEP is important as it assists the severe ARDS patient by minimising alveolar collapse and improving gas exchange and lung compliance. Traditionally PEEP is set at 5-12cmH2O (Briel et al., 2010) but it is yet to be established what is the optimal level of PEEP ( Gattiononi, Caironi, 2008, Dellinger, Levy, Carlet et al, 2008). recent studies have been trying to identify if higher PEEP is better than lower, or traditional PEEPS. The problem has been what is low and what is high PEEP? A recent analysis by Briel et al. (2010) and supporting commentary by Rubenfeld (2010) has identified that the it has also been found that PEEP can be dangerous in but it is not established how much is enough PEEP. The author has identified medical and treatment seen within their place of work and will discuss this further. Oxygenation is optimised as seen in appendix A by Treatment includes optimising gas exchange by maintaining oxygenation, adequate tissue perfusion. Strict fluid balance. Ensuring nutritional requirements are met Before 1990 ARDS was reported to have a mortality rate of 40-70% in the US (there were few studies outside the USA initially) (Harman, 2009). Since then several studies have been done around the world. New research has found the rate of mortality has deceased marginally in some studies, but still not significantly. A couple of studies in the US and the UK in the 1990s have found mortality rates much lower in the 30-40% range (Davidson, Caldwell Curtis, 1999, Davey-Quinn, Gedney Whitely 1999). A 2002 Australian study identified mortality at 34% (Bersten, Edibam, Hunt, Moran, and the ANNZCCSCTG). A 2008 systematic analysis of ARDS statistics identified mortality still in the range of 15-61% in studies published after 2000 (Zambon Vincent, 2008). It must be acknowledged that some of this data was from studies with very small groups of patients in the trials. Despite this it still identifies a high rate of mortality and very little improvement in survival over the years. Improvements have been developed in the care due to ventilation strategies, improved intensive care better understanding and treatment of sepsis, recent changes in the application mechanical ventilation, better overall supportive care of critically ill patients Medical and nursing management within the authors One of the biggest developments in the treatment of ARDS was a study done in 2000 which challenged the traditional ventilation of high Treatment is supportive with the aim of maintaining adequate oxygenation to the tissues via APPENDIX 1 Mrs X is a 51 year old female who is normally fit and well. She has no past medical history. She does not take any regular medicines. She has no known allergies. She lives with her husband and 3 adult children and works full time. She returned from Melbourne 10 days prior to her presenting symptoms appearing. Mrs X has been unwell for 7 days with lethargy, myalgia, and a slight cough. She presents to her GP with a 72 hour of worsening headache, myalgia, and now a productive cough. Her GP prescribes antibiotics (Amoxycillin) and advises her to commence them the following day. The following day Mrs X is taken to the local tertiary hospital (A) by her husband with further worsening symptoms and now respiratory distress. Her respiratory rate is 30; her SpO2 is 93% on room air. She is tachycardic (110), afebrile, normotensive and her chest x-ray shows right middle and right lower lobe pneumonia, early basal consolidation, and a small left pleural effusion. Mrs X is admitted to the medical ward on CPAP Presents at tertiary hospital (A) with worsening symptoms. Respiratory Rate 30. CXR shows RML + RLL pneumonia, early basal consolidation, and small L) pleural effusion. Admitted to medical ward with CPAP, tiring over the evening with increasing PEEP and FiO2 requirements. Transferred to ICU on CPAP. Intubated at 2130hrs due to worsening condition and tiring. Continues to deteriorate over the next 12 hours, now with a vasopressor requirement. Referred to tertiary hospital (B) for transfer. Swabs and cultures taken for multiple bacteria and to identify the source of pneumonia. Broad spectrum antibiotic cover commenced. (Screening included H1N1, mycoplasma serology, and urinary legonella-all eventually coming back as negative). Managed in tertiary hospital (A) overnight with high PEEP (20) and Fio2 (90%) requirements. Spo2 and PaO2 remain low (85%/55). Recruitment manoeuvres attempted by consultant and found to bed unsuccessful. Bloods show early coagulopathy, thrombocytopenia. Worsening CXR: RUL, RML, RLL, LML, LLL consolidation. Discussion with family regarding possibility of ECMO in tertiary hospital (C) if continued deterioration. Tertiary hospital (B) arrives the following afternoon. Pt being managed prone. Unproned and transferred to Tertiary Hospital (B). Arterial blood gas on arrival= Managed in hospital (B) with high respiratory support. Peaking with Fio2 1.0 PEEP of 24. Aiming for Pao2 >60, SpO2 >88%. Condition further deteriorates on day 3 in hospital (B). Ventilation and oxygenation proving difficult. Any movement causing severe desaturation. Increasing PEEP (18) and decreasing FiO2 (0.6-0.7) found to be beneficial in this patient. ABG over the day Time FiO2 pH pCO2 pO2 0908 0.6 7.35 53.5 59.7 1452 0.7 7.36 52.4 60.5 2001 0.6 7.35 53.6 62.6 2300 0.7 7.38 49.7 55.0 Initial arterial blood gas shows Sedated on morphine and midazolam and propofol. Strict fluid balance. Commenced on regular IV steroids. IV frusemide. IV erythromycin and imipenem. FASTHUG principle applied. Enteral feeding recommenced Remained febrile despite antibiotic and line changes. Chest drain insertion on day 3 in hospital (B) Tracheostomy on day 9 as not respiratory or cardiovascularly stable enough earlier. Remained on a FiO2 of an average of 0.60 and PEEP of 16-20 for the first 12 days. De-sedated and a slow respiratory wean commenced on day 10. Patient continues to be critically ill and have slow respiratory wean on day 18 when she is transferred back to her domicile hospital (Hospital A) to continue recovery and weaning

Personal Computers are better than Macintosh Computers Essay -- Techno

The conflict between personal computers (PCs; developed by Microsoft) and Macintosh computers (Macs; developed by Apple) has occurred for many years. The two are constantly competing with each other to win over the computing market. Macintosh claims that their computers are more efficient when working with graphic design and media arts, while a PC is known for mathematical superiority and a stronger variety of hardware and software. Many myths about both systems have been spread amongst the consumer world. However, proper research can easily clarify these fictions. Someone looking to buy a new computer has a right to know the truths behind both systems. Though the Macintosh computer and the personal computer have been competing for years, a PC is a much wiser choice for the average consumer. The PC and the Mac have many factors that can be compared and contrasted. Walking through the computer store, a shopper can see the two side-by-side and begin to make conclusions. The Mac looks sleek and fancy with all sorts of different colors while a PC may appear to be nothing more than a vanilla-colored box. However, when the shopper looks around the store, it is easy to notice "that Mac titles aren't easy to find" (Kantor). Microsoft's operating system, Windows, is supported by many software developing companies, while only a small selection is made available to Mac owners. Something else someone might notice is that only Apple makes Macintosh computers, while many different companies can make a PC that supports Microsoft Windows. Taking a brief look at the interface of the systems, the Mac looks bubbly and "cute" while the Windows desktop tends to look more corporate or professional (Farmer, Harris, Kantor, Marks). Let's look a littl... ...list of companies while only Apple makes Macintosh computers. Both Macs and PCs are vulnerable to viruses, so one of Mac's few advantages is actually a myth. It would seem that a personal computer has many advantages over a Mac. Therefore, it would make sense that PCs make up "95 percent or more of the market" (Kantor). By sticking with the majority, a user has easy access to people who are trained to repair their computer and to hardware and software selections (Kantor). Due to of the reasons stated, a personal computer is a much better choice than a Macintosh computer for most consumers. People with certain needs may be happier with a Mac. However, the majority of consumers will find reliability and satisfaction in a PC. An educated shopper knows what they are personally looking for, and hopefully those who read this essay can confidently make their own choice.

Debt and Equity Essay

Long-term financing requires a meticulous understanding of the various features of debt and equity and their impact an organization. While evaluating debt and equity, an investment banker also has to consider the unique characteristics of the organization’s dealings while ensuring that the organization’s requirements are met. Debt CapitalDebt capital includes all long-term borrowing incurred by the firm. The cost of debt was found to be less than the cost of other forms of financing. The relative inexpensiveness of debt capital is because the lenders take the least risk of any long-term contributors of capital. Their risk is less than that of other because (1) they have a higher priority of claim against any earnings or assets available for payment (2) they have a far stronger legal pressure against the company to make payment than do preferred or common stockholders, and (3) the tax-deductibility of interest payments lowers the debt cost to the firm substantially. Equity CapitalEquity capital consists of the long-term funds provided by the firm’s owners, the stockholders. Unlike borrowed funds that must be repaid at a specified future date, equity capital is expected to remain in the firm for an indefinite period. The two basic sources of equity capital are (1) preferred stock and (2) common stock equity, which includes common stock and retained earnings. Common stock is typically the most expensive form of equity, followed by retained earnings and preferred stock, respectively (Pinegar, Wilbricht, 1989). A firm’s capital structure is determined by the mix of long-term debt and equity it uses in financing its operations. Debt and equity capital differ with respect to voice in management, claims on income and assets, maturity, and tax treatment. Capital structure can be externally assessed using the debt ratio and the debt-equity ratio to measure the firm’s degree of indebtedness or the times interest earned ratio and the fixed-payment coverage ratio to measure its ability to meet fixed financial payments. Research suggests is an optimal capital structure that balances the firms; benefits and cost of debt financing. The major benefit of debt financing is the tax-deductible interest, and the costs of debt financing include the  probability of bankruptcy, agency costs imposed by lenders in their loan agreements, and asymmetric information costs attributable to managers having more information about the firm’s prospects than do investors (Modigliani and Miller, 1958). Reference: Modigliani, Franco and Miller, Merton. (1958). The Cost of Capital, CorporationFinance, and the Theory of Investment. American Economic Review. Pinegar, J. Michael and Wilbricht, Liza. (1989). What Managers Think of CapitalStructure Theory.

PCs are Better than Macs for Home Users essays

PCs are Better than Macs for Home Users essays For years, Macs and PCs have been competing for home users. Apple has recently released the new iMac, and the notebook version of the iMac the iBook. Even though several years ago, Macs were better than PCs, now, PCs are better than Macs for home users in terms of performance and expansion options. To some consumers, performance is often the most important factor in buying a computer. Performance doesnt necessarily mean how well the computer performs potentially, but only on specific tasks. Both iBook and iMac are designed for home users, most of whom neither care about number of floating-point operations per second, nor know what it means. Very few home users will pay $500 for Photoshop 5.0 to edit photos on their PC. The more likely uses for home computers are: word processing, browsing the Internet, and 3-D gaming. Since the most popular word processor is developed by Microsoft and allegedly optimized for Windows, it would be unfair to compare the Mac version of MS Word with the Windows version. However, comparing the performance in 3-D games and the Internet is fair. Even though PC Magazine specializes in PCs, it reviewed the iBook as soon as it came out. The article focused on performance of the iBook and compared it to a similar IBM-compatible notebook. Since there are no new IBM-compatible notebooks that match iBooks specifications, PC Magazine decided to use the notebook they believed to be closest to iBook the IBM ThinkPad iSeries 1480. They have very few similarities: the both notebooks are available in different colors, and neither notebook has the fastest processor from its platform. Apple claims that its notebooks are up to twice as fast as comparable Microsoft Windows-based portables (qtd. in Hill 53). This statement is very vague it doesnt say how they compared the portables, and what Apple meant by comparable. Since similar statements have been ma...

Hillsborough vs. Belfast essays

Hillsborough vs. Belfast essays This paper will deal with the Northern Irish conflict, focusing mainly on the two Anglo-Irish Agreements. The most recent and well-known is the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement of April 10th, 1998, the older agreement is the Hillsborough Agreement of November 25th, 1985, which was signed by both prime ministers of Britain and Ireland, Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald. Firstly a short introduction to the conflict in general will be given, after which the agreements will both be discussed in more detail. The events leading up to both agreements and the consequences will then be analyzed and compared. The goal of this paper is to find an answer to the following research question: What factors made the Belfast Agreement more stable and why, and is there anything that can be said about the future of the peace process by deduction from this comparison? This question will be answered after the comparison between the two agreements in the conclusion, which will be followed by a discussion in which the conclusions drawn in this paper will be scrutinized. For further reading suggestions and a source list, I would like to refer you to the last page, where a comprehensive list of all used sources will be given. In 1170, more than a century after the Norman Conquest of England, Henry II of England claimed Ireland and attempted to attach it to his kingdom. He succeeded in establishing control in a small area surrounding Dublin, but the different Irish clans held strong and the major expansion of English dominion did not take place until the sixteenth century. In 1609 military conquest had established English rule over most of the island, save the province of Ulster. The clans in Ulster fought long and hard, but lost and their leaders left for Europe. The land was confiscated and distributed among English settlers. A hundred years later only about five percent of the land of Ulster ...

Creation of man- from a biblical standpoint Essay

Creation of man- from a biblical standpoint - Essay Example Mutations were also claimed to produce a considerable impact upon the evolutionary processes, as they created certain differences within a species, thus producing possibilities for evolutionary transformations. Natural selection is a constant process that exists within any species and results in preserving and storing changes that prove to be useful for this very species in the given conditions. Bad changes are thereby annihilated. In the animal world, one can observe the following tendency: the animals having useful characteristics usually survive, whereas the animals possessing non-useful features tend to die out. Natural selection highlights those features which determine any individual’s ability to survive in certain conditions, to obtain food successfully and avoid potential danger. Natural selection plays â€Å"creative† role in the nature, as it is considered the main driving force of evolution. It is generally thought by evolutionists that of all undirected changes some changes may be selected which can result in formation of new species that are fitter for the given conditions. However, since Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was created and published, more theories began to evolve which dealt with the question of whether the model of evolution proposed by Darwin was the only possible one. K. E. von Baer was Darwin’s contemporary, and, perhaps, the first opponent. (Kull, K., 1998) Moreover, there are also the creationists who deny the very essence of evolution as they are guided by their beliefs in the Holy Bible. For example, one of creationists A. Custance in his book Evolution or creation? states that: †¦ cooperation and even self-sacrifice are found to be by no means uncommon among animals in the wild, both between members of a single species and between members of different species. Animals are seen to feed the wounded, guide the blind, help the disabled, and

Analysis and evidence-based findings on Alex Color Studio employee's Essay

Analysis and evidence-based findings on Alex Color Studio employee's relationship Conflict - Essay Example This approach is more concerned with how workplace relationships progress and how such conflicts can be predicted by examining underlying communication practices, quality of the existing relationships, employees satisfaction, career advancement and performance. Thus, relationship conflicts is a workplace is affected by poor communication strategies, lack of employee satisfactions due to pay or promotions, unavailability of career advancement chances, and the nature and quality of the relationships. The nature of conflicts in Axle Color Studio is mostly relationship conflicts as opposed to task conflicts. Alex and Jackie admitted of there being several cases of relationship conflicts despite their constant argue to their employees not to bring personal conflicts into the salon. The interview revealed that there have been many visible instances of relationship conflicts between staff members which cause strain on assistant-stylist relationship when we are understaffed with assistants. Much of the relationship conflicts identified by Alex and Jackie are traced to the stylists’ relationship outside the salon. Due to the fact that the salon has few employees, their relationship is more personal and thus, extends outside the salon and thus external conflicts are extended from outside the salon into the salon. Even though Alex and Jackie have tried to persuade their employees to avoid mixing outside issues with the salon issues relationship conflicts have continued to be inevitable in Axle Color Studio. Stylists in the salon agree that conflict in the salon has very negative energy as conflicts between two employees causes the other employees around them to become stressed out which causes the salon’s atmosphere to then become tense and unpleasant. Intensified conflicts results into an overworked staff and it can be translated into their clients too. A client getting an experience in a tense and an unwelcoming environment is not likely to