Swot Analysis of Proton Holding Berhad free essay sample

Two years later, On 9th July 1985 the Proton Saga was officially launched. It was Malaysia’s first domestically produced car and is still sold in Malaysia and other countries today. The original factory plant, covering 99,400 sq m, is situated at Shah Alam near Kuala Lumpur in central Malaysia. The site also houses an engine and transmission factory, a castings plant, RD centre and a semi-high speed test track. The factory is currently producing 240,000 units per annum. Opened in 2005, a state of the art assembly plant was constructed at Tanjung Malim, 60 miles north of Kuala Lumpur. This area has been named Proton City and consists of 500 hectare site containing the factory, plant, housing, a university and other commercial buildings to accommodate component suppliers. This plant produces the three newest model ranges, the GEN-2, Savvy and Satria Neo. Proton’s total workplace in Malaysia totals just over 6,000 personnel working in all areas of vehicle design, RD, production and manufacturing. We will write a custom essay sample on Swot Analysis of Proton Holding Berhad or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page With a solid base built up since 1983, Malaysia’s car manufacturing industry is progressing rapidly. Proton tool a major step forward in upgrading its engineering capabilities when it acquired a share in Lotus are closely involved in Proton’s new model development, with a team of engineers permenantly based at the design and development centre in Malaysia. The Company has come a long way since 1983, PROTON was publicly listed on the Kuala Lumpur stock Exchange in 1992, and today, Proton cars are exported to mor than 50 countries worldwide. Key export markets include Australia, Singappore, the far East and the UK, where during 2009 it celebrates 20 years in the market place. Since 1989, Proton Cars (UK) Ltd have been offering the British public reliable value for money vehicles. With each new model, Proton have improved and set new standards, earning a loyal group of customers, some of whom have recently purchased their 8th Proton vehicle.

How American Manifest Destiny Effects Modern Foreign Policy

How American Manifest Destiny Effects Modern Foreign Policy The term Manifest Destiny, which American writer John L. OSullivan coined in 1845, describes what most 19th-Century Americans believed was their God-given mission to expand westward, occupy a continental nation, and extend U.S. constitutional government to unenlightened peoples. While the term sounds like it is strictly historical, it also more subtly applies to the tendency of U.S. foreign policy to push democratic nation-building around the globe. Historical Background OSullivan first used the term to support the expansionist agenda of President James K. Polk, who took office in March 1845. Polk ran on only one platform westward expansion. He wanted to officially claim the southern part of Oregon Territory; annex the whole of the American Southwest from Mexico; and annex Texas. (Texas had declared independence from Mexico in 1836, but Mexico did not acknowledge it. Since then, Texas had survived barely as an independent nation; only U.S. congressional arguments over slavery had prevented it from becoming a state.) Polks policies would undoubtedly cause war with Mexico. OSullivans Manifest Destiny thesis helped drum up support for that war. Basic Elements of Manifest Destiny Historian Albert K. Weinberg, in his 1935 book Manifest Destiny first codified the elements of American Manifest Destiny. While others have debated and reinterpreted those elements, they remain a good foundation for explaining the idea. They include: Security: Simply, the first generations of Americans saw their unique position on the eastern edge of a new continent as an opportunity to create a nation without of the Balkanization of European countries. That is, they wanted a continental-sized nation, not many small nations on a continent. That obviously would give the United States few borders to worry about and enable it to conduct a cohesive foreign policy.Virtuous Government: Americans saw their Constitution as the ultimate, virtuous expression of enlightened governmental thought. Using the writings of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and others, Americans had created a new government without the hobbles of European monarchies one based on the will of the governed, not the government.National Mission/Divine Ordination: Americans believed that God, by geographically separating the U.S. from Europe, had given them the chance to create the ultimate government. It stood to reason, then, that He also wanted them to spread that governme nt to unenlightened people. Immediately, that applied to Native Americans. Modern Foreign Policy Implications The term Manifest Destiny fell out of use after the U.S. Civil War, in part to racist overtones of the concept, but it returned again in the 1890s to justify American intervention in the Cuban rebellion against Spain. That intervention resulted in the Spanish-American War, 1898. That war added more modern implications to the concept of Manifest Destiny. While the U.S. did not fight the war for true expansion, it did fight it to develop a rudimentary empire. After quickly beating Spain, the U.S. found itself in control of both Cuba and the Philippines. American officials, including President William McKinley, were hesitant to let nationals in either place run their own affairs, for fear that they would fail and allow other foreign nations to step into a power vacuum. Simply, many Americans believed that they need to take Manifest Destiny beyond American shores, not for land acquisition but to spread American democracy. The arrogance in that belief was racist itself. Wilson and Democracy Woodrow Wilson, president from 1913-1921, became a leading practitioner of modern Manifest Destiny. Wanting to rid Mexico of its dictator president Victoriano Huerta in 1914, Wilson commented that he would teach them to elect good men. His comment was fraught with the notion that only Americans could provide such governmental education, which was a hallmark of Manifest Destiny. Wilson ordered the U.S. Navy to conduct sabre-rattling exercises along the Mexican coastline, which in turn resulted in a minor battle in the town of Veracruz. In 1917, trying to justify Americas entry into World War I, Wilson remarked that the U.S. would make the world safe for democracy. Few statements have so clearly typified the modern implications of Manifest Destiny. The Bush Era It would be hard to classify American involvement in World War II as an extension of Manifest Destiny. You could make a greater case for its policies during the Cold War. The policies of George W. Bush toward Iraq, however, fit modern Manifest Destiny almost exactly. Bush, who said in a 2000 debate against Al Gore that he had no interest in nation-building, proceeded to do exactly that in Iraq. When Bush began the war in March 2003, his overt reason was to find weapons of mass destruction. In reality, he was bent on deposing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and installing in his place a system of American democracy. The ensuing insurrection against American occupiers proved how difficult it would be for the United States to continue pushing its brand of Manifest Destiny.

Ability to Create a Diverse Team Is a Priority for Leaders Essay

Ability to Create a Diverse Team Is a Priority for Leaders - Essay Example Nowadays, a number of organizations and leaders have proposed that a diverse workforce is not essentially an ethical imperative, rather it is a source of competitive advantage. The reasons include the fact that a diverse workforce facilitates to serve different clients through effective communication and it can also generate better ideas and possible solutions to certain issues. Due to this reason, leaders must have the ability to bring together people from different families, disciplines, cultures, and groups and accordingly leverage every aspect of diversity (Kramar & Syed, 2012). According to Mullins (2010), diversity incorporates differences between employees. The difference can be in terms of ethnic origin, gender, family background, cultural background and education among others. In accordance with the research of Ibarra & Hansen (2011), a workforce which consists of individuals from different backgrounds can cause better productivity in comparison with those workforces which a re not diverse. Diverse teams have different thoughts and viewpoints as they arrive from different backgrounds. As a result, it facilitates to create innovative ideas. Thus, managing a diverse team is considered to be the most important skill for any industry. The management of a diverse workforce comprises the implementation of approaches by which varied employees are combined into a dynamic workforce. However, an assertive and strong leadership is essential in order to manage this kind of workforce. In an actual situation, appreciating diversity is quite simple to say, but quite hard to implement. Diverse workforce if not managed properly can generate conflicts among the team members. The different viewpoints and perspectives frequently generate confusion for the diverse workforce. Ultimately, disagreements can possibly give birth to the unproductive work environment and hinder the progression of organizational operations. Besides, unfamiliarity among diverse employees owing to di fferent values can have a negative impact on overall team morale, hindering organizational productivity. A diverse workforce also makes the decision-making process lengthier, because of diverging opinions, resulting in delayed reaction (Cronin and Weingart 2007). Conversely, a diverse workforce has several benefits and one of the most important benefits of diversity in innovation. Managers or leaders can use diversity by inspiring ‘outside-the-box’ thinking that can result in new discoveries. Furthermore, through a diverse workforce, managers can also realize the requirements of diverse customers. Hence, it enhances the marketing ability of organizations. A diverse workforce can enable derive access to a comprehensive talent pool. As a result, organizations will be in a better position of providing a variety of services to suit specific consumer groups. Thus, diversity is stated as the only way to satisfy the requirements of diverse customers (Barnett & McCormick, 2012) . Nevertheless, in order to be effective, the leaders of the diverse workforce must recognize the employees’ individuality. It would help to reveal the strengths and limitations of employees and also assist leaders to know the place in which an employee belongs within the organization. Managing a diverse workforce does not signify that leaders encourage their own values and alter the value of the workforce to match them. For managing a diverse workforce, leaders require greater emotional aptitude, allowing them to observe a business condition from different viewpoints (Shin, Kim, Lee, & Bian, 2012).  

HeLa cells still being used in science especially in Ebola virus Essay

HeLa cells still being used in science especially in Ebola virus - Essay Example Though the cells have been beneficial to the entire society, the way they were extracted, and the way they are being used has been criticized by many authors. Despite criticism, HeLA cells are still being used for every aspect in science today, and are being used to develop vaccinations that can fight the Ebola Virus, which has become a great threat to human beings. â€Å"The Immortal life of Henrietta† by Rebecca Skloot highlights how HeLa cells have been beneficial to the entire world. On October, 4, 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a 31 year old woman, and a mother died of cervical cancer. As it was the norm to take biopsy samples from patients, doctors took her cancerous tumors to enhance their study. However, this was done without her knowledge. Doctors, George Gey and Mary Kubicek, overcame laboratory failures, and succeeded in keeping human cancer cells alive and growing forever. Since then, the HeLa cells have been used to develop important vaccines and cancer medicines. In Skloot’s book she writes that the cells are also being used in processes such as cloning, gene mapping, as well as in vitro fertilization (Skloot 369). Moreover, cancer survivors who were being treated alongside Henrietta were not aware until mid-1970s that the cells from Henrietta’s cancer have been used to save their lives. After this discovery, many med ical researchers sought to know more about the cells, and why they are special. University of Minnesota scientists discovered that the cells could be infected with a virus that causes polio. With this knowledge the cells provided a quick way test of the usefulness of the Salk polio vaccine. It was discovered that if vaccinated patients produced antibodies that would prevent the disease, his or her blood plasma would prevent polio when it mixed with HeLa cells and poliovirus in laboratories. The research has been operated and funded by African-American researchers

HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

HR - Essay Example Ensuring proper performance management and ensuring that performance of the employees is rewarded are essential factors for the success of the organizations. COLLECTING HR OR L&D DATA The organizations need to collect appropriate data of the staff to assess their performance. This data must be linked to the appraisals offered to the employees, sick absences which the employees take etc. This is done because human capital is the biggest asset for the company. By assessing the performance of the employees incentives can be planned to amplify the performance of the staff members. Constantly monitoring the workforce helps in assessing the strengths of the organization. Therefore the performance of the individuals will be monitored on every project that they work. This would allow collecting information regarding every good and bad performance they have throughout the year. In addition to this, collecting information from peers, colleagues and managers can also be helpful. The managers and the staff need tobe motivated to learn and implement strategies which in the long run prove to be beneficial for the organization. DATA COLLECTION TO SUPPORT HR OR L&D PRACTICES The organization frequently collectsdata of individual performances which is maintained by the line manager. This helps them in assessing the individual performance and the effectiveness of the incentive which have been offered to improve the employee performance (PCS). Appropriate performance management is essential to accomplish the organizational goals and objectives. Generally, in the organization the performance is evaluated on the basis of different factors or criteria that have been formulated by the human resource department. These evaluation or performance evaluation forms are filled by the HR department as well as the direct manager or supervisor. Organizations conduct training of staff and coach them to deal with various situations. This helps in finding the outcome and effectiveness of the training that are conducted. All big organizations which have developed HR departments continuously engage in training and development activities. One of the most used techniques of training is on-job training in which the direct supervisor or mentor is guiding the employees in how to accomplish the task in the best possible manner. STORING RECORDS There are two methods of storing records. These methods are described below, Manual storage is the method of storing data in physical form. This requires a lot of paperwork and utilizes physical space in the cupboards and shelves as files. The data which is required in a later stage is stored in the form of hard copy. The benefit of such data is that it is easily accessible and notes can be made easily and it would not cost too much to the organization. Moreover, data can be stored and it can be used in future to know the achievements of the employees. Electronic storageis convenient and it stores more data and utilizes resources in t he most efficient manner. The electronic data requires less physical space and stores a large amount of data at the same time. Such data is useful for running reports and analyzing the data for HR activities and take important strategic decisions. ESSENTIALS MENTIONED IN UK LEGISLATION The UK legislation emphasizes that the data that is obtained from the

The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan

The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE AND MARSHALL PLAN SHAPING AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY This research paper presents and overview for the change caused by the well-known Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan was the impetus for the change in United States foreign policy, from the isolationist to the internationalist; therefore, we were drawn into two wars of containment and into world affairs. The Truman Doctrine led to major change in U.S. foreign policy from its inception- aid to Turkey and Greece- to its indirect influence in Korea and Vietnam. On March 12, 1947 President Truman gave his message to congress requesting 400 million in emergency aid for the unstable governments to Turkey and Greece. This marks the beginning of what we now know of as the Truman Doctrine. Within this message Truman said: â€Å"I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.† â€Å"I believe we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.† â€Å"I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.† (Jentleson) The presidents address alternated the warnings of the dangers of communism in specific areas, which were the gateway to Europe and the Middle East. President Truman never pertained to the Soviet Union, but in speaking of violations of the Yalta agreement of â€Å"totalitarian regimes† he made it very obvious who his objective was. The Truman Doctrine imitated the directing assumption of the U.S. Cold War policy. The immediate need of this statement was critical because of the crisis in the country of Greece. This crisis was because Britain announced that they could no longer assume the economic and other burdens of continued participation in Greek affairs. Politically, the United States realized that the United Nations could not guarantee peace. Economically, the Truman Doctrine recognized that the plans that had been developed during the war were not adequate enough to rebuild and rehabilitate war-torn countries of the world. There needed to be something more to ensure that these countries would be stable enough to resist Communist pressure. The Truman Doctrine implies that the responsibility that America had for the economic welfare for these war-torn countries did not end immediately after the war. The economic aid that President Truman proposed totaled about $400 million. President Truman knew the United States was the only country that could aid in this economic hardship of Greece and Turkey. Truman argued that the United States could no longer stand by and allow the forcible expansion of Soviet totalitarianism into free, independent nations, because American national security now depended upon more than just the physical security of American territory. Rather, in a sharp break with its traditional avoidance of extensive foreign commitments beyond the Western Hemisphere during peacetime, the Truman Doctrine committed the United States to actively offering assistance to preserve the political integrity of democratic nations when such an offer was deemed to be in the best interest of the United States. Just a few months later, June 1947, at Harvard University, Secretary of State George Marshall announced a plan in his commencement speech. This plan is the Marshall Plan: â€Å"In considering the requirements for the rehabilitation of Europe, the physical loss of life, the visible destruction of cities, factories, mines and railroads was correctly estimated, but it has become obvious during recent months that this visible destruction was probably less serious than the dislocation of the entire fabric of European economy.† â€Å"The truth of the matter is that Europes requirements for the next three or four years of foreign food and other essential products-principally from American-are so much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very grave character. The remedy lies in breaking the vicious cycle and restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.† The Marshall Plan was the primary plan after WWII of the United States for rebuilding in creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, June 5, 1947, the reconstructive plan was established. The United States responded to the crisis in Europe for four reasons. First, Europe had been a great market for American goods; without a prosperous Europe, the United States might have suffered a severe economic depression. Second, Western Europe might have used socialist or Communist methods to rebuild their country without the help of American aid, in which the United States leader considered that undesirable. Another reason was due to the United States was beginning to understand that Western Europe appeared to open to influence by our principal rival, the U.S.S.R. Finally, European fears of the World War II foe would lessen only if the Germans were integrated into a larger Europe by rebuilding Western Germany as a buffer against further Soviet expansion. Then the U.S. co ngress gave $13.1 billion of the $29 billion Western Europe asked for. Seventy percent that was distributed by the Economic Cooperation Administration was spent for goods in the U.S. As cold war tensions heightened in 1949 the largest amounts went in order of Great Britain, France, Italy, and West Germany. The funds increasingly went into military expenditures rather than industrial rebuilding. In April 1948, the plan had now been in operation for four years. 7 billion in U.S. dollars were given to aid in economic and technical assistance to European countries that had joined in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). By 1952, West Germany was independent, rearmed, and economically booming, West European industrial production stood 35 percent above prewar levels. The economy of every participating state had grown well past pre-war levels by the time the plan had come to completion. The Marshall Plan left a legacy of U.S.-European friendship, transatlantic cooperation, U.S. engagement in Europe, and bipartisan U.S. support for that engagement. That legacy has guided U.S.-European relations ever since, and it serves as a beacon for the Euro-Atlantic Community today. The Marshall Plan was not only used to aid Europe in June 1947, again used on March 16, 1961, when the Cold War was at its greatest height and lastly used on March 14, 2002 at the request of President Bush with the events of September 11th â€Å"war on terrorism. The third and final President to request aid from the Marshall Plan was President George Bush, March 14, 2002, due to the war on terrorism events of September 11th. Later, President Bush addressed the Inter-American Development Bank announced the largest increase in foreign aid assistance in 40 years of $5 billion dollars. To quote from the Presidents speech, The growing divide between wealth and poverty, between opportunity and misery, is both a challenge to our compassion and a source of instability. Even as we fight to defeat terror, we must also fight for the values that make life worth living; for education and health and economic opportunity. The President was clear. However, that the new funds would be used for countries that root out corruption, respect human rights and adhere to the rule of law, as well as encourage open markets and sustainable budget policies. The most important question which development professionals must answer in order to make the aid system produce better and more sustainable results are this: what structures, what systemic pressures, and what incentives will overcome the inherent characteristic of human nature in all societies that opposes transformational change because it can be so threatening? One of the sad lessons we have learned through painful mistakes is that transformational change in a poor country cannot be imposed from the outside, not by the UN, not by the Banks, and not by donor governments. There must be national leadership and local support for transformational change to remove the impediments to microeconomic reform, to clean up corruption in the political system, and to make public management more accountable and transparent. What causes this leadership to form and act should be a question of considerable interest to us. Part of the answer lies in the nature of the incentive system in the internatio nal aid community. When the stability of fellow Western democracies was at stake, the Marshall Plan applied also to American principles. Much of Europe was devastated by the end of WWII. Most of the 60 million casualties among WWII were residents of Europe. Devastation of Europes agriculture led to conditions of starvation in many parts of the continents. Damaged railways and bridges left them economically isolated. The U.S. was the only major power whose infrastructure had not been harmed in WWII because we had entered the war later than other powers. During this time, the U.S. saw the fastest period of economic growth in the history of our nation due to American factories supporting both our allies and our own war effort. The health of the economy was reliant on trade. Aid from the Marshall Plan was mostly used by Europeans to purchase manufactured goods and raw materials from the U.S. George Marshall determined that providing economic stability to Europe would also provide political stability. When aid was offered, the European countries refused due to having already organized the program themselves. Thus, the process of European integration was started, and the economic and political foundations were laid for the stable, prosperous, and democratic Europe we know today. Different regions require different approaches. One great lesson of the Marshall Plan is that it was designed specifically to meet the critical needs of a particular place during a particular moment in history. It worked because Europeans were uniquely able to make it work. People need to find modern ways of solving current problems. We need to mention also that Americans and others tried to replant NATO in other types of soil during the fifties and sixties. I dont think those approaches worked very well. This is another reason to be cautious today. WORKS CITED EUROPEAN RECOVERY PROGRAM. 2009. History.com. 12 Dec 2009, 01:12 B.W. Jentleson, American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century, 3rd edition (2007), W.W. Norton . Facts Sheet prepared by the Office of Policy and Public Affairs, Bureau for European and Canadian Affairs, . The Marshall Plan. 5/12/97 Fact Sheet: The Marshall Plan. 20 Jan 2001. The State Department, Web. 12 Dec 2009. . U.S. Department of State Diplomacy in Action. Truman Doctrine, 1947. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, Web. 12 Dec 2009. .

The Debate Over Euthanasia Essay -- Euthanasia Death Argumentative Ess

The Debate Over Euthanasia The controversy over euthanasia has recently become highly publicized. However, this issue is not a new debate. Society has voiced its opinions on the subject for hundreds of years. Euthanasia, which is Greek for "good death", refers to the act of ending another person’s life in order to end their suffering and pain.1 Two forms, passive and active euthanasia, categorize the actions taken to end the person’s life. Passive euthanasia involves removing a patient’s life support, withholding food and water, and discontinuing medical treatments. Active euthanasia includes any direct action taken to cause the death of the person, such as administrating a lethal drug.2 The debate over this issue stems from moral, ethical, and religious beliefs. All of these standpoints either side with the patient dying a natural death or from an accelerated death by euthanasia. History Throughout history, euthanasia has been used as a way to relieve a patient from an incurable illness or from living a life of unbearable pain. Many cultures, such as the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, did not oppose one’s decision to end his life rather than living with agonizing pain.3 During this time period, this choice was commonplace. A few ancient philosophers, who believed that the ending of a human life belonged to the gods only, met it with objection. When the Christian era began, the subject was rarely discussed or practiced because of the strong trust and faith held in God and his divine command. It was not until the eighteenth century Enlightenment period that new ideas favoring euthanasia were put forth by philosophers and other prominent figures such as Samuel Williams and David Hume.4 By the close of the 1800’s... .... - "Euthanasia: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions," International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force, 2 March 1999, http://iaetf.org/index.htm (8 March 1999). - Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: All Sides of the Issues, 3 March 1999, http://www.religioustolerance.org/euthanas.htm(4 March 1999). - Green, James T. The Effects of Chemotherapy, 22 January 1999, http://www.databaun.com/jamez/writing/chemo.html(2 March 1999). - "Interview With Timothy Quill M.D.," Frontline/WGBH Educational Foundation, 1998, http://www2.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kevorkian/medicine/quill2.html(4 March 1999). - Larue, Gerald, Th.D. Playing God: Fifty Religions Views on Your Right to Die Wakefield, NJ: Moyer Bell, 1996. - Manning, Michael M.D. Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1998.

Working and Going to School

Working, parenting, and going to school are tough Is it possible to accomplish my goals and still meet everyday responsibilities? Working a full-time job, being a single parent, and going to college are emotionally draining. It’s stressful, frustrating, and hard to be positive at times when there are so many demands on time. Goals can be accomplished and still meet everyday responsibilities. Working, parenting, and going to school are tough. Working a full time job is demanding. Getting up early and working late is physically draining. Day to day responsibilities need to be met which adds stress. My job is physically demanding on a daily basis. I work in the service field where I work outside everyday in any kind of weather. Heavy lifting, climbing, completing the job at hand, all the while praying I go home safe and in one piece at the end of the day. â€Å"I was waiting tables, going nowhere,† said Lynch, 32, and a single mother of one. â€Å"I was in a rut for a long, long time. †(Brindley, 2006) Those statements made me think about what I’m doing to change my life for the better. A one income household requires that I drag my behind out of bed on a daily basis and do my job to the best of my ability in order to pay the bills. I’m a single parent of a 15 year old daughter whom I love very much. Being a single parent isn’t easy. The sole responsibility of a raising a child to be responsible and disciplined is entirely up to the single parent. I talk with my daughter on a regular basis about my assignments and what my grades are in my courses. She cheers for me when I get excellent scores on tests. I need all the motivation I can possibly get. Recently, my daughter sprained her foot at school and has been on crutches for the past two weeks. I’ve made changes to my daily schedule to accommodate her needs. She is in a walking cast now but still stubborn and demanding. She is a typical teenager that plans activities with her friends and needs Mom to get her where she needs to go. School and grades are a constant struggle with her. I can’t get through to her know it all head that doing her homework and studying for tests are a must to get decent grades. I see that if I am going to be a positive role model, going back to school and succeeding in my courses. (Seastrand, 2007) When her grades are down she has no privileges. That’s when Mom gets a break! She’s not much fun to be around during these times either. Attending online college courses is mentally and physically demanding. Staying organized isn’t an easy task. Organization is the key to your success. If you have no idea what assignments are due, what appointments at work or school are up ahead you will get more stressed which will make your GPA plummet. Keep your home organized with your textbooks in one spot, your bills and mail in another spot, etc. Patience and priorities are a necessity. Take the time to stay organized and don’t procrastinate. (Comments on: How to Manage School While Working, 2005) I’m constantly kicking my daughter off of the computer in order to get assignments done. Deadlines for assignments don’t change but need to be broken down into tasks on a daily basis to meet the deadlines. Attending college courses is stressful. The decision to start taking college courses and working towards my B. A. in Accounting was easy. â€Å"How was I going to pay for my education? † I applied for grants and loans for this year. I had to wait several months before I did get my approval after starting my courses. I can breathe a little easier now but I still have several more years in order to finish my degree. I am in the midst of checking into scholarships which will greatly help the financial needs of school. Re-organizing my schedule in order to complete assignments and study is an on-going struggle. â€Å"Will I be successful in my college courses and get good grades? † I’m constantly working on this and praying for the best. Being a single college mother is a hard win/win situation and the long term effects are most important. (Seastrand, 2007) Being a good example to my daughter and getting good grades on work is my motivation to keep going. Organization, communication, patience, and priorities are necessities and the keys to success. (Comments on: How to Manage School While Working, 2005). Here is one statement that really struck me and I hope it helps other students also. Most importantly, always believe YOU CAN DO IT! Becoming more educated will change your life. In the famous words of someone whose name I have forgotten: â€Å"It is never too late to be who you were meant to become. † Good luck, I’m pulling for you! (Comments on: How to Manage School While Working, 2005) Another insight was not listening to people who say what your doing will be â€Å"too hard. † Keep pushing through and before you know it your degree requirements will be satisfied and your child will be clapping for you on graduation day. Go easy on yourself and keep things as simple as possible. Rely on friends and family if need be. (Seastrand, 2007). Working a full time job, being a single parent, and going to college are all very stressful but goals can be accomplished with organization and patience. References Brindley, M. (2006, November). Going back to college made easier for single parents hoping to improve their lives. Comments on: How to Manage School While Working (2005, 22 November). Seastrand, A. , (2007, April). What’s a Mom to Do? College Mom Magazine

The Family Album: Questioning Memory.

The Family Album: Questioning Memory. â€Å"After 17 years I’m back in Shanghai and all along, my memory has been playing tricks† (Otsuka, 2006:33). Why do we take images for family albums? We take them to remember people as they were. Traditionally in portrait photography, it has been a point of argument whether a photograph can or cannot reveal the true sense of a person, their personality or inner self. To me the photograph is merely surface – a likeness -, it is what the photographer or archivist wants to be seen, and holds no deeper resonance.In addition, not only do we want to remember, we want to acknowledge our existence, and in the future, be ourselves remembered as an essential part of the family unit. It is not only about belonging, but about leaving a trace of ourselves that will be around long after we are gone: photographs are tokens of immortality. The family album both represents what has to be continued and perpetuates the myth of the ‘happ y family’, which can be construed in multiple ways depending on the viewer and their motives.The portrayal of the ‘happy family’ is dependent on the various stages of editing – the photographer decides who is included or left out, tells the subjects where to stand or sit, and when to say â€Å"Cheese! † The collator then decides which photographs are worthy of going into the album and which will be left in a box, or thrown away. The editing and archiving follow perceived ideologies of family history, reflecting the editor’s own purpose and personal viewpoint. Claire Grey believes that history is always a personal account (Holland Spence, 1991: 108).But do these photos help us remember or do they alter or replace the real memories of what happened and who the people in the photos really were? In this essay, I will attempt to explain why I believe that the memories imbedded in the family album are constructs, falsehoods. I am going to look at i mages from six photographers as well as my own family albums to ascertain the accuracy of memory generated by image. In looking at a family album, do I take other people’s and family member’s recollections and apply them to my own history?Collective memory can twist the truth and often construct altered variations. As stories pass from one generation to the next, they are prone to fabrication and exaggeration. Lorie Novak states, â€Å"Our own images are often tied up in family legend with conversations about family photographs frequently accompanied by embellishment and invention. Photographs and the narratives they inspire can become substitutes for memories of actual events† (Hirsch, 1999: 26-27).She also wondered whether the information omitted from her own family album shaped her memories and studied this concept in her work (Hirsch, 1999: 15). Maybe this is the same for Ingrid Hesling, who, at the age of 16, found out that she was adopted – I wonder if this new information changed her memories or merely her perception of her memories: it would appear those that were once fond became bitter. She questioned her entire childhood leading her to create work using a combination of old family photos, text and her own contemporary images.Her work is an investigation into how memory can be altered depending on how you relate to the history behind it and the images documenting it. Analysing Numbers (Figure 1), the eye is drawn immediately to the smiling child clutching her toys, an image taken from the family album, then to the accompanying photo, and finally to its contents, the numbers – which symbolically do not reach 16 – and the text. The emptiness behind the child and the distance between her and the numbers – enhanced by the strong horizontals – metaphorically represents the separation from the truth.The child and toys have connotations of family, comfort and home, whereas, the numbers suggest conformi ty, lack of individuality and belonging, – being a number without identity. The subject matter is not immediately obvious until the text (both within and out of the image) is included. The initial impression of happiness is underscored and then submerged by a sense of unease, of anger and of betrayal. The original photo should evoke happiness but the viewer becomes disturbed when the opposite occurs. Is this family image therefore a fabrication, just because the way we see the memory has changed?Were things left out of the Hesling family album images in order to conceal the truth from her? In my own work, I use the family album aesthetic frequently. I seek out, analyse old family photographs, and try to apply them to my work. It fascinates me when I find images of myself as a child that I have never encountered before. I automatically try to locate any memories associated with the image, despite the fact that they do not exist for me, as I was too young, and attempt to rememb er stories I may have been told about the photograph.But this is not a true memory – it is assimilated from my family’s collective memory. Jo Spence said that searching for memories within family photographs, was impossible (Holland Spence, 1991:203). Trish Morrissey is a photographer who looks at ‘the family album as fiction’, carefully constructing the conventions and cliches of the domestic snap shot; thus, courting reality by the act of staging. In this way she has created a generic family album, to which anyone can relate: her family album has become everybody’s family album and countless others now share the memories.Anne McNeill states in her essay on Morrissey’s work that the images in the ‘shoe box’ are not the ‘official’ history of the family, but â€Å"the ones that got away† (Morrissey, 2004:23). This is an interesting concept, in that the family deem some images more important than others: ‘ proper’ images are displayed on top of the TV or framed for the wall, whereas the pictures that could be perceived as being more ‘real’, of everyday life, are put away in a box or packet to be perused at times of reminiscence.I am attracted to Morrissey’s work because of the questioning nature of her images. In September 20th, 1985 (Figure 2), with her sister in the other role, she meticulously recreates the original connection between the subjects as well as the peripheral details. However, in contrast to most family photos, the people in her images rarely smile, forcing the viewer to concentrate on the gestures and body language and use them to interpret and reveal hidden tensions between family members. Such underlying tensions tell more of the history and context than smiling faces.Staging allows the viewer to witness Morrissey in the act of constructing photographic meaning. Colour draws the eye to the teenage subject, her expression, and then to the contrasting expression of the older woman. The title includes the date – confirmed by the style and fashion – however as it is known that the images are reconstructed and were taken more recently than the title states, this inclusion generates more questions than answers. She questions the truth of the family album. Her images constructed as generic examples, using, and according to, her memories and the original photos.But how accurately can these be recreated when personal memory and current emotions are present? The reconstruction becomes a new history of her and her sister. Then we realise it is, and always has been, about her relationship with her sister, and this in turn, makes the viewer question the validity of all family album images: the allusion to unacknowledged family tension and the fallacy of the ‘happy family’. She questions the legitimacy of the entire tradition of the family album. Tim Roda is another artist who recreates personal histori es using his memories.Roda uses his family to recreate definitive life-changing memories and moments from his life: his son assumes his childhood role and he becomes his father. This strikes a chord with me as my current work revolves around the ideas of role reversal – child becoming adult and vice versa. Roda’s Untitled (Figure 3) initially caused me confusion and distress, as if a still from a horror film: it is dark, shadowy, and menacing. It is obviously and unapologetically staged, but why? It makes me ask questions. What is it about?It is a narrative, but is it fact or fiction? The camera is used to record a moment in time that balances between memories and constructed commentaries, yet it is a documentation of real events for the people taking part in the image making. Although his family are the immediate subjects, the work is filled with metaphorical reverberations of family history and childhood memories. Initially the composition leads the viewer to the man . What is he doing? Then the attention is drawn to the child with sharp shears, then to the birds hanging from the ceiling.These birds give a context to the image and place it somewhere that is recognisable. The man appears to have been hunting and is subsequently preparing the animal for cooking. The scene suggests that that they are country people, perhaps poor and living off the land: the father now teaching the boy by passing on traditions and skills. But is this a true memory or a corrupt, idealised memory? How much of it has been exaggerated or changed from the reality of the past? How would we know? Miyako Ishiuchi, in contrast, photographed her late mother’s belongings.She never got on with her mother but was distraught at her death, leading her to create a series of images as a memorial and tribute: a catalogue of personal belongings, objectified in the images, but subjectified in the photographer’s mind. In this way Ishiuchi sought to create an emotional conn ection, a sense of personal closeness and history, she never had when her mother was alive. The image is slightly off centre: does this reflect the true relationship? Despite this, the images remain clinical and objective: the daughter becoming the photographer and archivist of her mother’s possessions, using them to create a pseudo family album.Although Figure 4, an image from the Mother’s’ Series, is skeletal and ghostly, its forensic detail alluding to death, it is very simple and beautiful, with connotations of family love and loss – in some ways a memento mori. It is aesthetically pleasing, like still life, but ‘still death’. The image is deeply personal and yet it holds universal meaning. She strives to seize a point of contact between the past and present. The meaning of this single image is not obvious when viewed on its own, however becomes clearer when viewed with the others in the series.It is a highly emotive collection of images, reminding me of my own mother’s death, my relationship with her and how I dealt with her possessions and my memories of her after she died. One of my favourite photographers of the moment is Chino Otsuka. She has approached the questioning of the family album image in a new and unique way. At first glance, 1976 and 2005, Kakamura, Japan (Figure 8) appears to be an actual family album photograph, perhaps of a mother and daughter, maybe a holiday snap. However, once you are made aware of the digital alteration, it becomes much more interesting and poses many questions about the context.Otsuka includes verses in her book, which help to explain her intentions: â€Å"One by one, I retrieve fragments of memories and paste them all together† (Otsuka, 2006:37). This has double meaning: the ‘pasting’ both psychological as well as physical. The final image is a construct both as a photograph and as a memory. At first glance, she could be taken for the child’ s mother, sister, or aunt. It makes me question familial roles and place within the family. She has created time travel: â€Å"Past becomes present, the present becomes the future, back and forth, travelling in time† (Otsuka, 006:31). This makes us question, if we could go back, what would we do, say or change? In actuality Otsuka photographed herself in 2005, replicating the correct light conditions, and then digitally compositing the new image next to herself as a child. The original image was perfectly symmetrical, with the child in the centre. The addition of the adult shifts the balance. But what balance has changed? Is it merely the symmetry or is it rather the balance of power and control? Here because the adult and child are the same person, the family album becomes a mockery.She speaks of memory, â€Å"Until I look for it, it will hide forever [†¦] Just when I have forgotten it, it comes into sight and when I finally catch it I realise how much of it has escape d† (Otsuka, 2006:39). She is questioning her own memory and realising her memory lies to her. Even the recreation of the memory will eventually be corrupted. Here she categorically states that nothing can be received at face value. The apparent truth may in fact be corrupt, but to accentuate her belief in this dishonesty she has tainted it further.She may in fact remember the original memory but has replaced it with a falsehood. This event never happened, could never happen, it is an impossibility: a visual paradox. As my attention is drawn first to the child, then the woman, then the shadows, I seem to be searching for a reason to disprove the truth of this image. Why is the knowledge that it is fake not enough? Am I still so programmed to accept the photograph as truth, that I must find proof that the photograph is a lie? How then do these photographers’ interpretations of the family album reflect in my response to the images in my own?Through family photos, I place m yself within my family’s history. If they, as I believe, mean nothing, then how does that in turn affect how I view my history and my memories? ‘Christmas’ (Figure 9) was taken at my father’s parents flat in Glasgow, in1972. It is not unusual in any way. It does not differ greatly from other family album images. In fact, the majority of families have very similar images in their collections. I, at three years old, stand between my grandparents, seemingly being presented to the camera, with my mother and father (and the dog) at the back.My father, an amateur photographer, would have proudly taken the photo using the self-timer, explaining the not-quite perfect stance of the subjects. I assume it is an individual image, and not part of a series, although through the nature of editing – as spoken about previously -, other images, taken at the same time, may have been discarded or lost. This means that I am unable to build a picture of the whole holiday : it is merely a captured moment in time. My eye is first drawn to myself, perhaps looking for recognition, then to my Grandparents and my mother – all three of whom are now dead -, then to my father.The image was taken in the tradition of family portraiture to commemorate the family being together (our family lived abroad and only visited Scotland occasionally). You would expect this to be a happy time, however, my grandfather and I – who reputedly enjoyed and sought out being photographed – are noticeably uncomfortable. On closer inspection, I can see that we are not in fact the happy family my father wished to depict. It reminds me of Trish Morrissey’s work, where the tensions between family members are apparent despite the fake smiles attempting to cover up the real feelings.However, this image was intended only for family viewing, so why the faking? All the people in this picture will have been aware of the reality. Who are they faking for? I presume it can only be the tradition of smiling for the camera and a subconscious conveyance to future generations of family and friends that we were the archetypal ‘happy family’. Certain things in the image trigger my sensory memory, such as the material of the seat, the curtains and carpet, but I have no visual memory of this time.Roland Barthes wrote about his sensory memory being triggered by an image: â€Å"[my mother] is hugging me, a child, against her; I can waken in myself the rumpled softness of her crepe de chine and the perfume of her rice powder† (Barthes, 1982: 65). I found an image of myself aged six that I had previously not seen, and although I do not remember the photograph being taken, I do recall the texture, colour and smell of my dress, and associated images of my Mother leaning over the sewing machine making it. Are all these fake memories?Even if I cross-referenced with someone else that was there, their memory would be different as it is as per sonal to them as my memories are to me. To me this is the truth, as it is all I have. Is it better to have some believed memory, no matter how untruthful, than no memory at all? Looking to my own, more recent, family album images I have noticed that the family album has recently begun to change in style and content, partially due to the onset of digital cameras and computers. It is no longer merely portraiture but also has a documentary style. Gone are the formal (or informal) posed portraits of individuals and family groups.People now take more pictures of their friends and family candidly, when the subject is unaware of the image being taken. These may not be intended for the ‘official’ family album, but are most family’s more personal ‘shoe box’ pictures. This raises the question of whether the memories associated with these images are related to differently by both the photographer and the subject. Are these recalled memories more ‘realâ₠¬â„¢ than formal, posed images? As photography changes in our digital and computer based society, so does the way we take, edit and construct images for the family album.There are now fewer mistakes made when taking images. Only a few years ago, films were shot and printed, and all the images were kept, even the mistakes (cut off heads, fingers in shot, badly exposed, etc), whereas, now, with digital technology, the editing is done in camera. The ‘bad’ or unacceptable shots are deleted and re-shot before printing (if they are printed at all). There is now also a mass profusion of images, whereas before, due to cost of film and printing, families were more selective with their image taking, and consequently saved every image, however ‘bad’.Images now, are more likely to be kept on disc, losing the tactile quality we associate with photographs. The family album is becoming no longer a literal book of images. They are spread throughout cyberspace on social net working sites. Has this given the family album less value? Certainly the extended family can now have instant access to the family album, but are they really interested in any other images but their own? Why do we insist on sharing our most personal family moments with anyone and everyone?Again, I think it is about portraying the ‘perfect, happy family’ as well as spreading our immortality as far and wide as possible before we die. These modern methods of image dissemination negate the importance and relevance of the family album as a historical document, and we cynically become blase about images in general. In Umberto Eco’s book, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, the protagonist is struck with almost complete memory loss, and in attempting to reconstruct his personal history, he comes to realise that he cannot rely on other people’s remembrances.He is shown a photograph of his parents, and states, â€Å"You tell me that these two were my parents, so now I know, but it’s a memory that you have given me. I’ll remember the photo from now on, but not them† (Eco, 2005: 24). He then retreats to his old family home and spends all his time in the attic, attempting to regain his memories, but only discovers that memory once lost cannot be regained, merely re-learnt: â€Å"Our memory is never fully ‘ours’, nor are the pictures ever unmediated representations of our past. [†¦ we both construct a fantastic past and set out on a detective trail to find other versions of a ‘real’ one† (Hirsch, 1997: 14). Similarly, Mier Joel Wigoder speaks of placing this photograph (Figure 12) of his father and grandfather on his desk, in place of an image of himself and his father that never existed. It is not his memory as he was not there, but it is a memory he wishes he had. He has invented a memory (or a fantasy? ) for himself based on a photograph taken before he was born. However, it is possib le that all memories are created in this way.I have looked at other people’s family photos and used them to prompt my own memories of similar times, places and people. As Heather Cameron says, â€Å"Our memory [†¦ ] is a constant process of writing and rewriting, crossing out, overlapping images and distortion. It shifts and flows and moves without a fixed foundation† (Cameron, 2002:6). Nan Goldin believed that by taking photos of her friends and family, she would be able to retain her own memories of them and not be influenced by the memories of others (Goldin, 1986:9), but even in her candid style that seems impossible. Annette Kuhn states, â€Å"Family photographs are supposed [†¦ to evoke memories that might have little or nothing to do with what is actually in the picture. The photograph is a prop, a prompt, a pre-text [†¦ ] but if a photograph is somewhat contingent in the process of memory production, what is the status of the memories actually p roduced? † (Kuhn, 2002: 13). When I recall some memory or look at old photos of myself when I was young, I could just as easily be remembering a particular thing because my Mother had related it to me when she was alive. However, I may be seeing these memories through rose tinted glasses, editing out the bad times before I can recall them.Personal family photos are not the only ones to generate an emotional response, and photographers such as Morrissey use this to effect. September 20th, 1985 (Figure 2) elicits an emotional response in me, making me laugh by triggering my own personal memories, remembrance of my own family album images and experiences: creating a transferrable memory. Everyone has some images similar to this in their collection. It makes us reassess our own memories and question them. The family album forms the basis of a pictorially gilded game of Chinese Whispers, as family stories and histories are passed down the generations.Memory is ever changing depende nt on the viewer or narrator’s state of mind and intentions, and these stories, intentionally or not, become distorted, exaggerated or even fabricated. This is not memory – it is learning, and the learning gradually replaces the real memory until, finally, it is completely lost in the past and the faked history becomes legend. Everything is not always as it seems in the family album. Smiles are often faked (even in unhappy, tense situations), and everyday tensions and power struggles between family members are hidden, the very act of taking a posed photograph is essentially faking the memory at its conception.Thus family albums can be seen as fiction, a subjective story rather than, if there is such a thing, an objective history. The photograph can merely show what was in front of it at a specific moment in time, but the mind takes this information and runs with it, creating stories around the image – â€Å"In short, to remember is to reconstruct, in part on th e basis of what we have learned or said since† (Eco, 2005: 25). ———————– Figure 2: Morrissey, T. 2004. September 20th, 1985. Figure 3: RODA, T. 2004. Untitled.Figure 4: ISHIUCHI, M. 2002. (‘Mother’s’ Series). Figure 7: ISHIUCHI, M. 2002. Mother’s #24. Figure 8: OTSUKA, C. 2005. 1976 and 2005, Kakamura, Japan. Figure 9: PIPE FAMILY ALBUM. 1972. Christmas Figure 12: WIGODER FAMILY ALBUM. 1942. Louis and Geoffrey Wigoder walking down Westmoreland St, Dublin, 1942. Figure 1: HESLING, I. 2000. Numbers. Figure 11: BEST FAMILY ALBUM. 2008. Untitled. Figure 6: ISHIUCHI, M. 2002. Mother’s #33 Figure 5: ISHIUCHI, M. 2001. Mother’s #55 Figure 10: BEST FAMILY ALBUM. 2007. Untitled. ———————– 3

An Introduction to Black Holes

An Introduction to Black Holes Black holes are objects in the universe with so much mass trapped inside their boundaries that they have incredibly strong gravitational fields. In fact, the gravitational force of a black hole is so strong that nothing can escape once it has gone inside. Not even light can escape a black hole, it is trapped inside along with stars, gas, and dust. Most black holes contain many times the mass of our Sun and the heaviest ones can have millions of solar masses. This computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. The black region in the center represents the black holes event horizon, where no light can escape the massive objects gravitational grip. The black holes powerful gravity distorts space around it like a funhouse mirror. Light from background stars is stretched and smeared as the stars skim by the black hole. NASA, ESA, and D. Coe, J. Anderson, and R. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute), Science Credit: NASA, ESA, C.-P. Ma (University of California, Berkeley), and J. Thomas (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany). Despite all that mass, the actual singularity that forms the core of the black hole has never been seen or imaged. It is, as the word suggests, a tiny point in space, but it has a LOT of mass. Astronomers are only able to study these objects through their effect on the material that surrounds them.  The material around the black hole forms a rotating disk that lies just beyond a region called the event horizon, which is the gravitational point of no return. The Structure of a Black Hole The basic building block of the black hole is the singularity: a pinpoint region of space that contains all the mass of the black hole. Around it is a region of space from which light cannot escape, giving the black hole its name. The outer edge of this region is what forms the event horizon. Its the invisible boundary where the pull of the gravitational field is equal to the speed of light. Its also where gravity and light speed are balanced. The event horizons position depends on the gravitational pull of the black hole. Astronomers calculate the location of an event horizon around a black hole using the equation  Rs 2GM/c2.  R is the radius of the singularity,  G is the force of gravity, M is the mass, c is the speed of light.   Black Hole Types and How They Form There are different types of black holes, and they come about in different ways. The most common type is known as a stellar-mass black hole.  These contain roughly up to a few times the mass of our Sun, and form when large main sequence stars (10 - 15 times the mass of our Sun) run out of nuclear fuel in their cores. The result is a massive supernova explosion that blasts the stars outer layers to space. Whats left behind collapses to create a black hole. An artists conception of a stellar-mass black hole (in blue) hat likely formed when a supermassive star collapsed, feeding from material ejected by a nearby star. ESA, NASA and Felix Mirabel) The two other types of black holes are supermassive black holes (SMBH) and micro black holes. A single SMBH can contain the mass of millions or billions of suns. Micro black holes are, as their name implies, very tiny. They might have perhaps only 20 micrograms of mass. In both cases, the mechanisms for their creation are not entirely clear. Micro black holes exist in theory but have not been directly detected. Supermassive black holes are found to exist in the cores of most galaxies  and their origins are still hotly debated. Its  possible that supermassive black holes  are the result of a merger between smaller, stellar-mass black holes and other matter. Some astronomers suggest that they might be created when a single highly massive (hundreds of times the mass of the Sun) star collapses.  Either way, they are massive enough to affect the galaxy in many ways, ranging from effects on starbirth rates to the orbits of stars and material in their near vicinity. Many galaxies have supermassive black holes at their cores. If they are actively eating, then they give off huge jets and are known as active galactic nuclei. NASA/JPL-Caltech Micro black holes, on the other hand, could be created during the collision of two very high-energy particles. Scientists suggest this happens continuously in the upper atmosphere of Earth and is likely to happen during particle physics experiments at such places as CERN.   How Scientists Measure Black Holes Since light can not escape from the region around a black hole affected  by the event horizon, nobody can really see a black hole. However, astronomers can measure and characterize them by the effects they have on their surroundings. Black holes that are near other objects exert a gravitational effect on them. For one thing, mass can also be determined by the orbit of material around the black hole. A model of a black hole surrounded by heated ionized) material. This may be what the black hole in the Milky Way looks like. Brandon DeFrise Carter, CC0, Wikimedia.  Ã‚  Ã‚   In practice, astronomers deduce the presence of the black hole by studying how light behaves around it. Black holes, like all massive objects, have enough gravitational pull to bend lights path as it passes by. As stars behind the black hole move relative to it, the light emitted by them will appear distorted, or the stars will appear to move in an unusual way. From this information, the position and mass of the black hole can be determined. This is especially apparent in galaxy clusters where the combined mass of the clusters, their dark matter,  and their black holes create oddly-shaped arcs and rings by bending the light of more distant objects as it passes by.   Astronomers can also see black holes by the radiation the heated material around them gives off, such as radio or x rays.  The speed of that material also gives important clues to the characteristics of the black hole its trying to escape. Hawking Radiation The final way that astronomers could possibly detect a black hole is through a mechanism known as Hawking radiation. Named for the famed theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, Hawking radiation is a consequence of thermodynamics that requires that energy escape from a black hole. The basic idea is that, due to natural interactions and fluctuations in the vacuum, the matter will be created in the form of an electron and anti-electron (called a positron). When this occurs near the event horizon, one particle will be ejected away from the black hole, while the other will fall into the gravitational well. To an observer, all that is seen is a particle being emitted from the black hole. The particle would be seen as having positive energy. This means, by symmetry, that the particle that fell into the black hole would have negative energy. The result is that as a black hole ages, it loses energy, and therefore loses mass (by Einsteins famous equation, EMC2,  where Eenergy, Mmass, and C is the speed of light). Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

OMNI Services Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

OMNI Services - Case Study Example Its businesses operated in many locations that comprised the larger percentage of its revenue. The main headquarter was placed at Kansas City. Other services included the provision of laundry and rental services, linen-supply services, and dust-control services. The company also provided executive garments for office and management personnel, shop towels, store floor mats, fender covers and linen role towels. Eleven of its twelve subsidiaries were located on the fringes of metropolitan areas. Their largest operation was first established in Culpeper, Virginia. It served the entire Washington D.C. area as well as other less populated areas surrounding D.C. the company enjoyed labor from employees who were more dependable due to their urban location. The OMNI deal uses a market capitalization weighted approach to carry out investments in broad and diverse group of small-cap stocks. The company benefited most due to its relationship with its customers. Its brands remained on top due to strategic value creation in business. The company always delivered relevant brands on time. Consumers have more control to dictate how and when they want to interact with their money. One of its strategic and financial values is governance and organization. The insights into the economics of a company organization can be of great value (Pablo 2002). Due to the company understanding of the above it was able to provide an analysis for decisions on its organization. The company was able to carry out major decisions such as which markets to venture into and how to venture into those markets. The owners were able to understand how different structures of ownership or organization affect and influence both finance and governance. The other strategic and finance value is the corporate and managerial strategy (Pablo 2002). Per se, it taught the management the theoretical and practical approaches top strategic management. It guides on perspectives on leadership approaches or managerial

Returns to an Asset Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Returns to an Asset - Essay Example Having knowledge of the statistical properties also makes it easier to evaluate the efficiency of the financial assets. The financial assets are then modelled for better knowledge of the returns. Background to the Data Sample There are many concepts that are adopted in the finance to make the concept of finance management more clear. Some of the concepts are considered to the appropriate for other branches and some are altered to suite the financial setup. Interest is considered as one of the fundamental concepts incorporated in finance and related organizations. Interest is termed as the fixed profit over an investment in a particular time frame. Mostly, it is calculated in terms of percentage, like if a person invests ?100 and the rate of interest is 5% in a year, the organization that deposited the amount will have to pay ?105 in a year (Wang, Lecture 1, n.d.,). Sometimes the rate of interest is divided into monthly basis like if the interest rate of 5% is divided into monthly ins talments, the person that deposited the sum will be given 0.4% per month. Interest has two types; compound interest and simple interest. The simple interest is only applied to the original amount. Like if a person deposited ?100 in bank at the rate of 5% simple interest annually, he will be given interest on ?100 every year. The compound interest in applied on the original amount plus the interest amount. ... The probability of 1 is about 1/6, as the die has six sides. The probability of each side is 1/6. On the other hand, the coin has two sides and if it is tossed ones, the probability of each side is ?. Thus, it can be said that the probability of a certain event remains between 0 and 1. The probability depicts the risk factor (Wang, Lecture 2, n.d.,). Discrete returns are liked most due to the fact that the calculation based on the discrete returns is simpler and the rate of profit represents the real profit. There is less formulation required to evaluate the discrete returns. For example, Mr. X buy a stock share for ?10, the very next day, he wanted to sell the share and sold it in ?11. Thus the profit, he attained while selling the stock share is about ?1, which is about 10% of the ?10 or original investment. On the other hand, the logarithmic value of the whole scenario give the percentage profit of about 9.53%, which is less than the original profit. Thus, the discrete returns hav e remained to be correct in the given scenario but the log returns proved to be incorrect. Log returns are regarded as to be most likely to generate statistical information and thus, the financial modellers like the concept of the log returns. It shows the statistical information for some period of time and thus the financial efficiency of the financial asset can be modelled. It creates an approximation of the true value of the financial asset. The log normal distribution creates a financial value over a period of time regarding the total financial asset. Log normal distributions do not generate a negative value. The two images above show the difference between the Normal Density and Log normal density. Value at Risk (VAR) Value at risk is a Statistical