Christmas in Purgatory Essay

After seeing the video and receiving a glimpse into the lives of the people and families that had to live through the traumatic events that took place I completely agreed with the Christmas in Purgatory book that â€Å"there is a hell on earth. † One of the main things I realized from the video and class discussion was that helping better the education and accommodations for students with disabilities is a job for every educator. The video helped me relate the information to my own life by making me realize one major flaw that I failed to see in myself was thinking that because I am not a special education major it is not as important for me to help take the necessary steps to better the educational need of those with disabilities. After watching the Willowbrook video I realized that much of the problem with what happened may have begun with people who looked the other way because they thought it was of no concern of theirs. The images and video really helped me grasp the realness of what happened. It was truly something I had to see to believe. I think it related to the course information by really opening students eyes and making us want to learn more and do more to make things better for those with disabilities. The information I learned has made me realize that my view on what role I should play in helping students with disabilities was incredibly off. This fact really made me like the video because it helped give me a better perspective on things. It really brought to my attention the reality of what happened and how everyone needs to play a part in taking steps to make things better. I think the information we learned and discussed in class will truly make students want to help make a change. The video, images, and discussion will hopefully alter everyone’s perspective, like it has mine, for the better and make us work toward creating an improved learning environment for students with disabilities. The experience of completing this assignment was really exciting for me because I was able to learn something about myself and persons with disabilities that I had not known before. This information should impact everyone, including myself; to make sure that something this tragic never happens again.

Modern Life of Computers

The computer has changed the modern lives of many. It is very common for a household to at least have one computer. In addition, computers are essential tools that help ease daily life. Also, computer comes in Various sizes and has many different types of applications. Computers can affect ones daily tasks, finances, and time. To begin with, computers can change ones daily tasks. Programs can do various functions and ease the process of doing it manually without a computer. For instance, a student may finish most of their assignments online with more accurate answers. In fact, there is a well known program called,† Microsoft Word,† that actually corrects many grammatical errors such as punctuations, capitalization, and the most common sentence fragments. Thus, ones essay or report can be done at home, which is more convenient. Since there is a program like the one mentioned it actually reduces errors and makes ones daily task much easier. Finances can be very difficult without any tools, but when you have access to a computer you can do it virtually online without having to go through the hassle of filling out paperwork and using stamps. For example, one may pay their bills online with a credit card in a few clicks. Usually a bill would have the option for the customer to go through their webpage and log in to their account. After, the customer would then go through a process in which he or she would enter the confidential information into the website which would then make the transaction successful. Next, he or she would have the chance to look at the account balance and statement which would then show the mathematics without actually having to go through a calculator. Using a computer to do finances is a very beneficial way for the consumer and the service provider. Computers can dramatically decrease the amount of time necessary to get the job done. For example, it may take a person five hours to finish their shopping needs excluding the time to get to the destination and the time to get back home, but if the person shops online the item may be a click away and be at the door within a few days. In order for a person to shop online they would need to have a credit card and be able to confirm their address. Next, he or she would then go to a reliable website and purchase the items desired for the cheapest amount possible with a few clicks, beats going to the mall for hours and not getting what you desire. As mentioned before, one may pay the bills online which saves time for the mail carrier to actually ship the documentations the destination. This is very beneficial if your bills are on the verge of being late. Finally, having a computer is a very spectacular tool that has many functions that can change the way a person lives. In almost every way the computer is a very beneficial electronic device to have. The computers affected many by reducing daily task, changing the perspective of finances, and decrease the amount of time a person would need to spend.

Stock Portfolio Analysis - Coke and Pepsi Term Paper

Stock Portfolio Analysis - Coke and Pepsi - Term Paper Example The annual expected return for Coke is 0.1307, while the annual expected for Pepsi Company is 0.0482. This means that Coke offers an expected higher return for an investor that Pepsi Company. However, the investment that an individual is willing to make is also measured by the risk attached to the investment. The risk that is attached to an investment means the potential variation of actual returns from expected returns, a factor that is measured by the variance and standard deviation of an asset or portfolio. From an analysis of Coke and Pepsi Companies, it is evident that Pepsi has a higher standard deviation and variance, albeit by a small percentage. The standard deviation and variance for Pepsi are 0.048 and 0.0024 respectively, while the standard deviation and variance for Coke are 0.046 and 0.0027 respectively. This means that Pepsi’s stock has a higher deviation from expected return, so an investor who is risk averse would prefer to invest in Coke. The other factor tha t is used to determine the expected return of a stock is the beta, which refers to the relative volatility of the stock to the market. From the analysis, it is evident that Coke has a higher beta of 0.54 compared to Pepsi’s beta of 0.52, which indicates that Coke’s Stock is more volatile in the market. The covariance of two stocks in a market indicates that extent to which the returns for the two investments move in relation to each other. The covariance for Coke and Pepsi is low at 0.002, which means that the stocks co-vary. An investor with an aim of diversifying stock should not invest in the two stocks together. The correlation of stocks refers to the extent to which the prices of the two stocks affect each other, and from the analysis, a correlation of 0.7 indicates that the prices of the two stocks are strongly correlated, since the two stocks are strong competitors. Coke and the Market The annual return for Coke is higher than the annual return displayed by the market, which indicates that Coke is performing better than the market. The annual return for coke stands at 0.1307, while the annual return for the market is -0.009. However, the market has a lower risk than Coke, as can be seen from the standard deviations of the two portfolios. The variance and standard deviations for the two are 0.0027 and 0.0467 respectively for Coke and 0.0030 and 0.0214 respectively for the market. This indicates that Coke has a higher chance of risk than the market, which would be the ideal choice for a risk indifferent investor. The covariance of

Obesity In the US Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Obesity In the US - Research Paper Example who could bear to consume what they needed and figure out how to pay others to work for them were the ones that put on the additional pounds (Scherer). A significant change in the economics of obesity has observed and now the load of weight and stoutness falling excessively on poor people. A significant inverse relation can be seen between obesity and financial status in the developed countries, particularly among African-Americans. Although, obesity is the problem of the whole America, but African Americans are those who are at higher risk of getting obese if they do not change their lifestyle. Studies have shown that the socioeconomic factors are highly affecting the issue of obesity therefore; Obesity is at its height in African Americans. Three major socioeconomic factors have been identified through research that includes education, employment and health care. For instance, low education and low income groups are discovered to be emphatically connected with both obesity and corpulence Co morbidities in etiological studies. Scientists found that obesity with the passage of time in developed nations was connected with lower education levels and blue-collar working class. African Americans are the evidences of these proofs and studies regarding obesity in the US because most part of this population has low education, employment and income level. Compared to African Americans, the level of obesity is decreasin g among the white class Americans with the increase in their socioeconomic status. Unfortunately, the teenagers from the good socioeconomic status are also at the risk of obesity due to their eating habits, i.e., the trend of fast food. Sedentary grown-up in the United States consume a normal of 500–800 calories more for every day than required to keep up a normal weight. At that rate, they will gain many pounds in just a week. Food and food ads are easily accessible to them grabbing their attention to eat more. There are fewer exercise opportunities,

The satisfaction level of e-government in Saudi Arabia Dissertation

The satisfaction level of e-government in Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example Moreover, the trust of people to the particular schemes seems still to be rather low – despite the efforts for the continuous increase of these systems’ safety. The proposed study focuses on the examination of the effectiveness of e-government in Saudi Arabia. Emphasis is given on the level of the citizens’ satisfaction regarding the particular systems. A series of related issues are also critically discussed, as analyzed in the study’s Research Objectives section. At a first level, the performance of e-government in Saudi Arabia seems to be satisfactory; however, if reviewing the resources engaged in the realization of the particular plan it is made clear that the specific plan has not achieved the targets of its initiators. The reasons for this failure are going to be investigated through this study; suggestions will be also made for the system’s improvement so that citizens’ satisfaction is increased. Current study will help to understand the progress of e-government in Saudi Arabia based on the level of satisfaction of the citizens. In this way, the system’s advantages and drawbacks will be revealed. E-government is of particular importance for the government in Saudi Arabia. The proposed study will offer valuable details both on the system’s performance up to now and its needs for updates/ improvements in order to become more effective. Background In accordance with Al-Tameen et al. (2008) the development of e-government in Saudi Arabia has been initiated because of a series of factors, which have been all important in the plan’s development. Strategic motives seem to have been combined with economic reasons for supporting the development of the particular framework. In general, the development of e-government in Saudi Arabia should be characterized as quite satisfactory – both in terms of the system’s quality and the time spent on the system’s development. In a recent inte rview of the country’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Ahmed Mulla, the country’s government has set the effective development of e-government across the country as a priority (Oxford Business Group 2010, p.247). The above plan is combined with efforts for improving the quality of IT systems engaged in various governmental projects and increase the volume/ quality of education provided to these systems’ users. In accordance with the minister, the value of the above efforts is reflected to the Saudi E-government Achievement Award, a prize that has been introduced in order to reward the efforts towards the development of e-government across the country (Oxford Business Group 2010). Research Aim The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia established an e-government framework that could be used regularly by citizens. However, problems have been identified in the system’s performance; more specifically, complaints have been stated by citizens who use e-government services either regularly or periodically. This research aims to examine the satisfaction level of e-government in order to get a high level of satisfaction. The identification of the system’s failures and the suggestion of appropriate solutions will help to the

Occupational stress in Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Occupational stress in Nursing - Essay Example It is important to note that nursing is one of the crucial subjects of the occupational stress studies. A large number of studies have been conducted to understand and bring to knowledge the reasons resulting in the causation of stress and the factors that can help lower the possibility of presence of these stress inducers. The present paper considers the contribution of some recently published papers to the growing body of knowledge on the subject of stress at work place. The paper examines the complex issue of stress from different important facets and presents a constructive criticism of the research done on the topic in view. We shall focus our attention to the recently published important scientific studies that have contributed to the understanding of occupational stress in nursing. Our objective is to analyze the studies as per their level of relevance and objectivity of application to the subject. One such important study was performed by Stordeur and experts (2001). They worked to characterize the presence of stress based on the severity of its induction. Thus, the severity of stress induction has been ranked as the amount of workload, disharmony with other colleagues (nurses, physicians), lack of completeness in knowledge and thus possible blurring of the tasks required to be performed or goal expected to be achieved. A ranking was also given to the head nurse who is responsible to closely monitor the performance of the staff members to locate the spot of deficiency in service provision and thereby plan and implement corrective measures for better and more competent performance. However, in additio n to the identification of the sources of stress inducers, it is also important to distinguish between the factors that are probably responsible to results in emotional exhaustion and job disengagement. It should be noted that this important feature was not included in the studies and research performed by Stondeur and his colleagues. Demerouti (2000) made an address to this feature in his article. The published paper adds to the knowledge the facts not presented by Stordeur' in his article on occupational stress. Sirkka Billeter-Koponen Hfa (2005) and colleagues in a qualitative interview studied about nurses' experiences of long-term stress, burnout, and patient-nurse relations. The objective behind this study was to obtain an in-depth knowledge about the mechanism of long-lasting stress and burnout induction in the nurses. The focus of research was held on professionalism and patient-nurse relations. In order to analyze the open interviews, the Grounded Theory methodology was used. The participants selected for the study were 10 nurses belonging to the age group of 36 to 61 years. The nurses were holding their professional status in different care

Re-negotiations in PPP Transport Infrastructure Essay

Re-negotiations in PPP Transport Infrastructure - Essay Example The paper tells that there is the tendency of national governments to incorporate the public-private partnerships (PPP) to provide and upgrade infrastructures, as well as public services. Talk of light rails, upgraded electric railway system, mainland road and main highways, as well as port facilities, are just but some of the projects the private sector is getting substantially involved in, conjunction with the public and local authorities to enhance service delivery in the transport system. Majority of these engagements are made effective via a group of diverse companies and contractual concessions. According to Smith the Principal refers to the one responsible for granting a concession and the ultimate owner of the facility after transfer. They are mostly government agencies, or regulate monopolies. On the other hand, the promoter is the organization that is granted the concession to build, own, operate and transfer a facility. In the course of project contractual engagements and project work, the companies and contractual concessions are faced by serious shortcomings calling for renegotiations. According to Estache and Rus, one crucial consideration that is made during the drafting of a concession contract, is that, during all probability of the life of contract, some unpredicted circumstances will arise forcing the parties of the contract to renegotiate. The statement is truly relevant in cases of concession contracts. The logic behind this is due to the long period of the contract, thus making it anticipate all possible contingencies unfeasible for either of the parties. On the same note, unforeseen contingencies also occur as a result of concession contracts for port facilities and relate to expensive fixed assets that are easily removable and redeployed to a different location (Gomez-Ibanez and Meyer 1993). Renegotiations occur in developing and developed countries alike. Gomez-Inbanez and Meyer (1993) analysed transport concessions in industrialised co untries and made out that renegotiations are remarkably common. Renegotiation of a concession contract is probably the rule and not the exception, and they should not be perceived as a failure (Peter, Kuyper and Candolle 1995). Due to concession contracts being essentially long-life documents, the parties are not in a position to foresee all possible future contingencies at the moment of the contract drafting. Thereby, this should be noted in advance, and the parties ought to consider several future conflict scenarios and put in place provisions for inclusion of at least basic renegotiations rules. Nevertheless, it is critical for the concessionaire to avoid renegotiation at an early stage as it may place in jeopardy the credibility, transparency, and fairness of the bidding process (Estache and Rus 2000). Contracts are mainly renegotiated within a few years after official contractual signing and results into better contractual terms for the contract holders (promoters). The princip le and the promoter are crucial entities in the signing and effectual implementation of the contracts to the project (Smith 2002). This paper aims at evaluating the principle and the promoter in renegotiations regarding public-private partnerships concession contracts, in regard to transport infrastructure. Further, equitable renegotiations are imperative to the realisation of the completion of the project in question. This paper also aims at evaluating how to achieve equitable renegotiations, which offer superb value to both the principle and promoter. The contractual renegotiation is effective in the reduction of contract incompetence; conversely, a poor design of these can allow for opportunistic behavior by the concessionaries. Thus, there is

Explain how the author's writing techniques help to explain the Essay

Explain how the author's writing techniques help to explain the meaning in Oedipus the King - Essay Example as been shown that Oedipus was a man who was known for his rapid speed action as well as a person who possessed a great deal of intellect and fore vision. He could actually look into the future and suggest for others as to what is going to happen next and he was quite good at that. Thus these qualities say a thing or two of him becoming an excellent ruler who foresaw his subjects’ needs and desires. As has been the case during the while of this story, we see that the relation between the different themes, the style and the tone employed have huge roles to play in actually detailing the readers about the story itself. The extent of easiness and calm found in the thematic discussions leads us into thinking that the writer really did the trick while showcasing the virtues, abilities and the like of the central characters in the play and more than that, Oedipus the King himself. The tone with which he has expressed the innate qualities with the help of beautifully chosen words just gives the right amount of tonic for the perfect blend that is so much needed to gel this piece of writing on the part of the writer. Furthermore, the essence of the general flow within the play has been charismatic to say the least, where different events and occasions are passing by without any sense of drag at any point in time. Oedipus’s habit with fast speed movement as concerns to decisions has been well documented in the story itself. The same has been portrayed courtesy the story attached with the King in the related context. Oedipus is doomed by his very own temperament. â€Å"I shall shrink from nothing in my search to find the murderer of Laius†. It was at the time when Creon brings news of Laius’s death that Oedipus does not even let him share what he has come to account for. In its place, Oedipus is on the run to find more and more questions as to what Creon actually knows. Similarly, Oedipus is so twisted on determining the real truth that he starts to threaten the old

My Education Philosophy Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My Education Philosophy - Personal Statement Example Throughout my life, I have always been prepared and organized in my academic career. I want to be a teacher in order to narrow the gap between theory and practice. The theory and pedagogies that I acquired in the classrooms truly expanded and implemented theories and practices that I can embed in the classrooms. This course explored the roles of the writing tutor, strategies for maintaining interpersonal interaction, and challenges that tutors overcame. As a tutor, it is important to account for the differences in learning styles that are prevalent between students. I feel that the role of the teacher is to act as a facilitator, paving the channels of knowledge, nurture, and creating an environment of collaboration that can truly create an aura of formidable experience for a student. I firmly belief that my academic education along with engagements in peer tutoring is critical towards my pursuit to obtain my education that not only will harness my growth in professional development, but will enable me to gain a better sense of the law that govern society. As a dedicated student, my work ethics along with my superb leadership skills have become the catalyst for my academic success. I look forward to fresh set of challenges that I will have to overcome not only as a student, but as a young adult ready to explore the essence of real

American Dream Concept in Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Dream Concept in Literature - Essay Example The ideals lay shattered, and values became irrelevant or became impotent, exposing the hollowness of the American Dream. Thirty years later, Barbara Ehrenreich embarked on a similar journey of discovery, but did it herself, actually living out the life of the working poor to discover how it actually felt. Her book, â€Å"Nickel and Dimed† published in 1971 is almost a piece of investigative reporting. For three months, she actually waited on tables, cleaned hotels, and homes, and worked at Wal-Mart in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota because they were the highest paying un-skilled jobs she could find as a mother in her late 50s working for the first time, at "mothers hours." Affordable housing was a myth that forced her to live in cabins, trailer parks or weekly motels. The people behind Americas dressed up service economy had no place to go back to at night. The degradation was appalling, with numerous drug tests and surprise purse searches. So-called personality tests were actually designed to reject assertive candidates who could be potential misfits in the organization. Organizing a union was ruled out when even talking to co-workers was a crime labeled â€Å"time theft†. â€Å"Associates†, not workers, waited on â€Å"guests†, not customers, surviving on a bag of chips divided between lunch and dinner, or cold cuts out of a grocery bag in a motel room. Social welfare agencies were of no help either, manned by compassionate but exhausted people who really had nothing material to offer. Later, in 2006, through her book â€Å"Bait and Switch†, she explores the world of the white-collared unemployed, with college degrees, marketable skills, and impressive resumes, but equally vulnerable to financial disaster.

Changing social diversity in the United States Essay Example for Free

Changing social diversity in the United States Essay As USA is a land of opportunities, millions of people of different origin have migrated to the country and settled there, thus changing the social and cultural diversity of the nation. Children at the young age face problem as they get exposed to two sets of language and culture at school and home. A massive increase in Hispanic population has increased the importance of Spanish language and more businesses related to Spanish have come up. But this Hispanic population has no difficulty in accepting English as their main language. The uniqueness of the immigration is that everybody wants to get integrated into American mainstream. Changing diversity in USA 3 Changing social diversity in the United States As United States is known as the land of opportunities for many decades, millions of people had migrated to this country since long time. It has been mentioned in the website http://www. sedl. org/pubs/sedletter/v12n02/2. html that the make up of the US population has changed so much over the last three decades that the definition of diversity has itself got transformed in the process. It has also been stated that for the first time in the US census held in 2000, individuals were allowed to tick on more than one race in the form. Due to this change in diversity, cultural and socioeconomic factors are now becoming increasingly important while interacting in the society. The website http://www. naeyc. org/about/positions/pdf/psdiv98. pdf deals with the problem children faces in schools due to increased linguistic and cultural diversities. To quote from the above mentioned website, â€Å"At younger ages, children are negotiating difficult transitions between their home and educational settings, requiring an adaptation to two or more diverse sets of rules, values, expectations, and behaviors. † If the child forgets his home language, it may cause disruption in family communication methods. Thus families are facing increasingly complex responsibilities. The website http://knowledge. allianz. com/en/globalissues/demographic_change/gender_diversity/hispanics_integration_us. html states that there has been a massive growth in Hispanic population in the USA and most of them have accepted English as their main language. But the importance of Spanish is also growing as many newspapers have come up in Spanish and Hispanic related businesses are growing in the United States. Changing diversity in USA Reference List 1) Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Recommendations for Effective Early Childhood Education; in National Association for the Education of Young Children adopted November 1995; Retrieved on 13th March 2009 from the website http://www.naeyc. org/about/positions/pdf/psdiv98. pdf 2) A Changing Nation: The Impact of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity on Education by Kathleen Trail ; SED letter Volume XII Number 2 December 2000; Retrieved on 13th March 2009 from the website http://www. sedl. org/pubs/sedletter/v12n02/2. html 3) Ethnic Business in a Changing America, Allianz Knowledge Partner site, published on September 11, 2007; Retrieved on 13th March 2009 from the website http://knowledge. allianz. com/en/globalissues/demographic_change/gender_diversity/hispanics_integration_us. html

Motorcycle and Car Essay Example for Free

Motorcycle and Car Essay Everyone knows that in a crash motorcycle riders usually come off worse than car drivers. Riders avoid some problems, like being trapped in a burning or sinking car, but in general an accident that dents a car can put a motorcyclist in hospital. However motorcycle fear is often based on rumor or reports, not actual experience. It is guilt by association. Guilt by Association A friend once told me she didn’t like motorcycles as her brother was killed on one. When I asked how, she said he stopped at an accident, got off his bike, and was struck by a car as he walked over to help! I wondered, â€Å"Well, couldn’t the same have happened if he had been in a car? † This guilt by association ignores the fact that lots of people who drive cars also die. It is a fixed attitude, that just associates motorcycles with danger. Like many other fixed attitudes, it is often reinforced by the media. It is hard to see the reality amidst the smoke of false fears, worries and imaginations. A motorcycle is safer than a car if it is less likely to have an accident in the first place But safety also depends on how likely you are to have an accident in the first place. I find motorcycles safer because one can better avoid accidents on them. In a car, I feel safe because I have protection, but on a motorcycle I feel safer because I have more options. A motorcycle is safer than a car if it is less likely to have an accident in the first place. That the careless can kill themselves more easily on a motorcycle is not denied. However what about competent riders? Competent riders are less likely to haveaccidents because they: 1. See more 2. Evade better 3. Attend more 4. Assume less Do motorcycles cause deaths? The death rate for riders is higher than for drivers, but perhaps that is because so many motorcycle riders are young men, who are still developing risk awareness. It seems a hard thing to say, but were they not on motor-cycles, perhaps they just would kill themselves in some other activity, as young men and risk go together. But here is a puzzle. If the risk of riding is so high, how can some people ride motorcycles every day for decades? Even with a tiny risk, sooner or later, their number should come up. Yet such people exist, and I know, because I am one. If the risk of riding is so high, how can some people ride for thirty years and live? Safe riders prove that safety is no accident, and that motorcycle riding is not inevitably dangerous. See more A rider’s field of vision is further and wider than a car’s A rider is usually higher than a car driver, and so has a better view. A better view means you see danger earlier, and can avoid it better. Riders have no car body around them to create vision blind sports. Just turning their head gives a clear all round view. A bike can also move left or right in the lane for a better view, if a truck blocks your vision. A car driver in contrast must remain on the steering wheel side. A motorcycle rider’s field of vision is further and wider than that of a car. When I drive a car, I feel I have a much more constricted field of view. The ability to see more lets you avoid more. If a person in a car three cars ahead stops suddenly, as a rider, I see it earlier, and have more time to make adjustments, to avoid a crash. If seeing danger first means avoiding it better, a motorcycle is safer. Evade better A motor-cycle has evasion options not available to a car A motorcycle is smaller than a car, and so less of a target to be hit. Being smaller, it also has more places to go safely. If the car ahead stops suddenly, the car behind must hit it. Highway pile-ups occur because cars in a lane have nowhere to go in sudden stop. However a bike can swerve to the side, or fit between two cars on a many lane highway. It can pull onto the safety shoulder if necessary. A motor-cycle has evasion options not available to a car. It can accelerate better out of a trouble situation. In nearly every situation, a motorcycle has more evasive choices, because it is smaller and more mobile. In terms of accident evasion, bikes are safer. Attend more When the body is right there, the brain tends to be right there with it There is something about traveling at high speed a few feet above hard ground that gets your attention. When the body is right there, the brain tends to be right there with it. By comparison, a driver is separated from the world by the car body, air-conditioning and comfort. Drivers are distracted from the road by:   Coffee and food   Talking on cell-phones   Listening to the radio   Talking to passengers   Adjusting seats or windows   Disciplining children   Adjusting make-up   Shaving Inattention is the main cause of road accidents Perhaps shaving is uncommon, but the others happen all the time. Studies show that inattention is the main cause of road accidents. You only have so much attention. Attending to one thing degrades your attention to another. Distractions reduce your attention to the road, which leads to accidents. Cars have many distractions, but on a motorcycle, it is just you and the road. Motorcycles are safer because they increase attention and reduce distractions. Driven to distraction One has visions of some driver talking on a cell-phone, while listening to and adjusting the radio, turning to look back at a child, with a cup of coffee in the other hand. My personal dislike is soccer Mums in big SUVs trying ineffectively to discipline rowdy children in the back seat while driving. Kids are the most effective distraction machines every invented. Its much better to stop the car and deal with them. Assume less Life insurance should be called what it really is death insurance People driving large vehicles with life insurance think they are â€Å"safe†. Life insurance should be called what it really is death insurance. Then people would understand it better. Money cant replace life. You dont really have insurance (in the sense of replacing what you had). Car safety features cannot avoid the nut behind the wheel problem. Safer cars are no use if people are more careless. If drivers with anti-skid brakes just drive faster in the rain, what is the safety benefit? The accident rate depends as much on attitude as on mechanical safety features. Motorcycles create a better attitude, because on a motorcycle, you know you are vulnerable. No matter how big the motorcycle, what happens is likely to happen to you, personally. Motorcycle riders assume less, which makes a motorcycle safer than a car. The Anti-SUV mentality There are two approaches to avoiding accidents: The SUV mentality: Have accidents, but avoid the results.   The Anti-SUV mentality: Avoid accidents entirely For every big vehicle, there is a bigger one America’s current approach is the first buy cars so big you are unhurt in a crash. But for every big vehicle, there is a bigger one. If your Mercedes meets a truck/trailer combine, you will be crushed whatever your safety rating. Metal is not a cure for carelessness. While SUVs seem safe, studies show they tip easily, maneuver poorly, waste petrol, hog the road, make bigger targets, and overfill parking spaces. If we all drove in tanks, would the roads be safer? Whatever the metal around you, a bigger vehicle can always penetrate it. The SUV mentality tries to put a metal barrier between you and the world, so others (not you) pay the price of accidents. The result is a vehicle arms race, where everyone drives bigger cars. That big vehicles also cause more damage is ignored. If we all drove around in main battle tanks, would the roads be safer? SUV drivers would insulate themselves from the world, but that is not a good way to go. The goal is to avoid accidents, not to â€Å"safely† have them Motorcycle riders follow the Anti-SUV mentality, which is to avoid accidents entirely. The â€Å"strength† of a motorcycle is its flexibility, not its invulnerability. The goal is to avoid accidents, not to â€Å"safely† have them. I prefer the attentive but unprotected motorcycle rider any day over a careless SUV driver. The anti-SUV mentality is not only about saving petrol, it is also an attitude to life, a willingness to be responsible for your own acts. Bigger is better? Americans have a fixed idea that to ride a motorcycle you have to be big, strong and tough. Yet in countries like Italy, Malaysia or New Zealand, everyone rides: young and old, men and women. Young women ride motorcycles and scooters all around Rome. In Kuala Lumpur, everyone rides motorcycles everywhere. These countries dont have the same fear mentality regarding motorcycles as America does, and they dont see size as the solution. On a motorcycle, size doesnt matter. What matters is your ability to see risk.   Conclusion Riding a motorcycle is safer than driving a car because riders see more, evade better, are more attentive, and assume less. The rider has higher stakes, but if they ride safely, are less likely to have an accident in the first place. Building character I knew a good father who suggested his son ride a motorcycle not a car, as â€Å"Then your carelessness will kill yourself, not innocent people. † Interestingly, the son turned into a great guy. Did the father care about his son? Of course. He cared that he would be a good person, who accounts for his acts. Most advice is about looking after the body. In this case, the father cared for his son’s character.  © Brian Whitworth, 2004, 2005.

Asset and liability management

Asset and liability management ASSET AND LIABILITY MANAGEMENT In banking, asset and liability management (ALM) is used to manage the risks that arise due to mismatches between the assets and liabilities (debts and assets) of the bank. Banks face several risks like the liquidity risk, market risk, interest rate risk, credit risk and operational risk. Asset Liability management (ALM) is a strategic management tool to manage interest rate risk and liquidity risk faced by banks, other financial services companies and corporations. Banks manage the risks of Asset liability mismatch by matching the assets and liabilities according to the maturity pattern or the matching the duration, by hedging and by securitization. Asset and liability management remain high-priority areas for bank regulators, with an emphasis on management of market risk, liquidity risk, and credit risk. Asset/liability managers face the challenge of keeping pace with industry changes as new areas of risk are identified and new tools and models are developed to help measure and manage risk. In other words Asset-Liability Management (ALM) can be known as a risk management technique designed to earn an adequate return while maintaining a comfortable surplus of assets beyond liabilities. It takes into consideration interest rates, earning power, and degree of willingness to take on debt and hence is also known as Surplus Management. But in the last decade the meaning of asset liability management has evolved. It is now used in many different ways under different contexts. ALM, which was actually pioneered by financial institutions and banks, are now widely being used in industries too. The Society of Actuaries Task Force on ALM Principles, Canada, offers the following definition for ALM: Asset Liability Management is the on-going process of formulating, implementing, monitoring, and revising strategies related to assets and liabilities in an attempt to achieve financial objectives for a given set of risk tolerances and constraints. Basis of Asset-Liability Management Traditionally, banks and insurance companies used accrual system of accounting for all their assets and liabilities. They would take on liabilities such as deposits, life insurance policies or annuities. They would then invest the proceeds from these liabilities in assets such as loans, bonds or real estate. All these assets and liabilities were held at book value. Doing so disguised possible risks arising from how the assets and liabilities were structured. Consider a bank that borrows 1 Crore (100 Lakhs) at 6 % for a year and lends the same money at 7 % to a highly rated borrower for 5 years. The net transaction appears profitable the bank is earning a 100 basis point spread but it entails considerable risk. At the end of a year, the bank will have to find new financing for the loan, which will have 4 more years before it matures. If interest rates have risen, the bank may have to pay a higher rate of interest on the new financing than the fixed 7 % it is earning on its loan. Suppose, at the end of a year, an applicable 4-year interest rate is 8 %. The bank is in serious trouble. It is going to earn 7 % on its loan but would have to pay 8 % on its financing. Accrual accounting does not recognize this problem. Based upon accrual accounting, the bank would earn Rs 100,000 in the first year although in the preceding years it is going to incur a loss. The problem in this example was caused by a mismatch between assets and liabilities. Prior to the 1970s, such mismatches tended not to be a significant problem. Interest rates in developed countries experienced only modest fluctuations, so losses due to asset-liability mismatches were small or trivial. Many firms intentionally mismatched their balance sheets and as yield curves were generally upward sloping, banks could earn a spread by borrowing short and lending long. Things started to change in the 1970s, which ushered in a period of volatile interest rates that continued till the early 1980s. US regulations which had capped the interest rates so that banks could pay depositors, was abandoned which led to a migration of dollar deposit overseas. Managers of many firms, who were accustomed to thinking in terms of accrual accounting, were slow to recognize this emerging risk. Some firms suffered staggering losses. Because the firms used accrual accounting, it resulted in more of crippled balance sheets than bankruptcies. Firms had no options but to accrue the losses over a subsequent period of 5 to 10 years. One example, which drew attention, was that of US mutual life insurance company The Equitable. During the early 1980s, as the USD yield curve was inverted with short-term interest rates sky rocketing, the company sold a number of long-term Guaranteed Interest Contracts (GICs) guaranteeing rates of around 16% for periods up to 10 years.Equitable then invested the assets short-term to earn the high interest rates guaranteed on the contracts. But short-term interest rates soon came down. When the Equitable had to reinvest, it couldnt get even close to the interest rates it was paying on the GICs. The firm was crippled. Eventually, it had to demutualize and was acquired by the Axa Group. Increasingly banks and asset management companies started to focus on Asset-Liability Risk.The problem was not that the value of assets might fall or that the value of liabilities might rise. It was that capital might be depleted by narrowing of the difference between assets and liabilities and that the values of assets and liabilities might fail to move in tandem. Asset-liability risk is predominantly a leveraged form of risk. The capital of most financial institutions is small relative to the firms assets or liabilities, and so small percentage changes in assets or liabilities can translate into large percentage changes in capital. Accrual accounting could disguise the problem by deferring losses into the future, but it could not solve the problem.Firms responded by forming asset-liability management (ALM) departments to assess these asset-liability risk. Techniques for assessing Asset-Liability Risk Techniques for assessing asset-liability risk came to include Gap Analysis and Duration Analysis. These facilitated techniques of managing gaps and matching duration of assets and liabilities. Both approaches worked well if assets and liabilities comprised fixed cash flows. But cases of callable debts, home loans and mortgages which included optio.ns of prepayment and floating rates, posed problems that gap analysis could not address. Duration analysis could address these in theory, but implementing sufficiently sophisticated duration measures was problematic Accordingly, banks and insurance companies started using Scenario Analysis. Under this technique assumptions were made on various conditions, for example: * Several interest rate scenarios were specified for the next 5 or 10 years. These specified conditions like declining rates, rising rates, a gradual decrease in rates followed by a sudden rise, etc. Ten or twenty scenarios could be specified in all. * Assumptions were made about the performance of assets and liabilities under each scenario. They included prepayment rates on mortgages or surrender rates on insurance products. * Assumptions were also made about the firms performance-the rates at which new business would be acquired for various products, demand for the product. * Market conditions and economic factors like inflation rates and industrial cycles were also included. * Based upon these assumptions, the performance of the firms balance sheet could be projected under each scenario. If projected performance was poor under specific scenarios, the ALM committee would adjust assets or liabilities to address the indicated exposure. Let us consider the procedure for sanctioning a commercial loan. The borrower, who approaches the bank, has to appraise the banks credit department on various parameters like industry prospects, operational efficiency, financial efficiency, management qualities and other things, which would influence the working of the company. On the basis of this appraisal, the banks would then prepare a credit-grading sheet after covering all the aspects of the company and the business in which the company is in. Then the borrower would then be charged a certain rate of interest, which would cover the risk of lending. * But the main shortcoming of scenario analysis was that, it was highly dependent on the choice of scenarios. It also required that many assumptions were to be made about how specific assets or liabilities will perform under specific scenario. Gradually the firms recognized a potential for different type of risks, which was overlooked in ALM analyses. Also the deregulation of the interest rates in US in mid 70 s compelled the banks to undertake active planning for the structure of the balance sheet. The uncertainty of interest rate movements gave rise to Interest Rate Risk thereby causing banks to look for processes to manage this risk. In the wake of interest rate risk came Liquidity Risk and Credit Risk, which became inherent components of risk for banks. The recognition of these risks brought Asset Liability Management to the centre-stage of financial intermediation. Today even Equity Risk, which until a few years ago was given only honorary mention in all but a few company ALM re ports, is now an indispensable part of ALM for most companies.. Some companies have gone even further to include Counterparty Credit Risk, Sovereign Risk, as well as Product Design and Pricing Risk as part of their overall ALM. * Now a days a company has different reasons for doing ALM. While some companies view ALM as a compliance and risk mitigation exercise, others have started using ALM as strategic framework to achieve the companys financial objectives. Some of the business reasons companies now state for implementing an effective ALM framework include gaining competitive advantage and increasing the value of the organization. Asset-Liability Management Approach ALM in its most apparent sense is based on funds management. Funds management represents the core of sound bank planning and financial management. Although funding practices, techniques, and norms have been revised substantially in recent years, it is not a new concept. Funds management is the process of managing the spread between interest earned and interest paid while ensuring adequate liquidity. Therefore, funds management has following three components, which have been discussed briefly. A. Liquidity Management Liquidity represents the ability to accommodate decreases in liabilities and to fund increases in assets. An organization has adequate liquidity when it can obtain sufficient funds, either by increasing liabilities or by converting assets, promptly and at a reasonable cost. Liquidity is essential in all organizations to compensate for expected and unexpected balance sheet fluctuations and to provide funds for growth. The price of liquidity is a function of market conditions and market perception of the risks, both interest rate and credit risks, reflected in the balance sheet and off-balance sheet activities in the case of a bank. If liquidity needs are not met through liquid asset holdings, a bank may be forced to restructure or acquire additional liabilities under adverse market conditions. Liquidity exposure can stem from both internally (institution-specific) and externally generated factors. Sound liquidity risk management should address both types of exposure. External liquidit y risks can be geographic, systemic or instrument-specific. Internal liquidity risk relates largely to the perception of an institution in its various markets: local, regional, national or international. Determination of the adequacy of a banks liquidity position depends upon an analysis of its: * Historical funding requirements * Current liquidity position * Anticipated future funding needs * Sources of funds * Present and anticipated asset quality * Present and future earnings capacity * Present and planned capital position As all banks are affected by changes in the economic climate, the monitoring of economic and money market trends is key to liquidity planning. Sound financial management can minimize the negative effects of these trends while accentuating the positive ones. Management must also have an effective contingency plan that identifies minimum and maximum liquidity needs and weighs alternative courses of action designed to meet those needs. The cost of maintaining liquidity is another important prerogative. An institution that maintains a strong liquidity position may do so at the opportunity cost of generating higher earnings. The amount of liquid assets a bank should hold depends on the stability of its deposit structure and the potential for rapid expansion of its loan portfolio. If deposit accounts are composed primarily of small stable accounts, a relatively low allowance for liquidity is necessary. Additionally, management must consider the current ratings by regulatory and rating agencies when planning liquidity needs. Once liquidity needs have been determined, management must decide how to meet them through asset management, liability management, or a combination of both. B. Asset Management Many banks (primarily the smaller ones) tend to have little influence over the size of their total assets. Liquid assets enable a bank to provide funds to satisfy increased demand for loans. But banks, which rely solely on asset management, concentrate on adjusting the price and availability of credit and the level of liquid assets. However, assets that are often assumed to be liquid are sometimes difficult to liquidate. For example, investment securities may be pledged against public deposits or repurchase agreements, or may be heavily depreciated because of interest rate changes. Furthermore, the holding of liquid assets for liquidity purposes is less attractive because of thin profit spreads. Asset liquidity, or how salable the banks assets are in terms of both time and cost, is of primary importance in asset management. To maximize profitability, management must carefully weigh the full return on liquid assets (yield plus liquidity value) against the higher return associated with less liquid assets. Income derived from higher yielding assets may be offset if a forced sale, at less than book value, is necessary because of adverse balance sheet fluctuations. Seasonal, cyclical, or other factors may cause aggregate outstanding loans and deposits to move in opposite directions and result in loan demand, which exceeds available deposit funds. A bank relying strictly on asset management would restrict loan growth to that which could be supported by available deposits. The decision whether or not to use liability sources should be based on a complete analysis of seasonal, cyclical, and other factors, and the costs involved. In addition to supplementing asset liquidity, liability sources of liquidity may serve as an alternative even when asset sources are available. C. Liability Management Liquidity needs can be met through the discretionary acquisition of funds on the basis of interest rate competition. This does not preclude the option of selling assets to meet funding needs, and conceptually, the availability of asset and liability options should result in a lower liquidity maintenance cost. The alternative costs of available discretionary liabilities can be compared to the opportunity cost of selling various assets. The major difference between liquidity in larger banks and in smaller banks is that larger banks are better able to control the level and composition of their liabilities and assets. When funds are required, larger banks have a wider variety of options from which to select the least costly method of generating funds. The ability to obtain additional liabilities represents liquidity potential. The marginal cost of liquidity and the cost of incremental funds acquired are of paramount importance in evaluating liability sources of liquidity. Consideration m ust be given to such factors as the frequency with which the banks must regularly refinance maturing purchased liabilities, as well as an evaluation of the banks ongoing ability to obtain funds under normal market conditions. The obvious difficulty in estimating the latter is that, until the bank goes to the market to borrow, it cannot determine with complete certainty that funds will be available and/or at a price, which will maintain a positive yield spread. Changes in money market conditions may cause a rapid deterioration in a banks capacity to borrow at a favorable rate. In this context, liquidity represents the ability to attract funds in the market when needed, at a reasonable cost vis-Ã  -vis asset yield. The access to discretionary funding sources for a bank is always a function of its position and reputation in the money markets. Although the acquisition of funds at a competitive cost has enabled many banks to meet expanding customer loan demand, misuse or improper implementation of liability management can have severe consequences. Further, liability management is not riskless. This is because concentrations in funding sources increase liquidity risk. For example, a bank relying heavily on foreign interbank deposits will experience funding problems if overseas markets perceive instability in U.S. banks or the economy. Replacing foreign source funds might be difficult and costly because the domestic market may view the banks sudden need for funds negatively. Again over-reliance on liability management may cause a tendency to minimize holdings of short-term securities, relax asset liquidity standards, and result in a large concentration of short-term liabilities supporting assets of longer maturity. During times of tight money, this could cause an earnings squeeze and an illiquid condition. Also if rate competition develops in the money market, a bank may incur a high cost of funds and may elect to lower credit standards to book higher yielding loans and securities. If a bank is purchasing liabilities to support assets, which are already on its books, the higher cost of purchased funds may result in a negative yield spread. Preoccupation with obtaining funds at the lowest possible cost, without considering maturity distribution, greatly intensifies a banks exposure to the risk of interest rate fluctuations. That is why banks who particularly rely on wholesale funding sources, management must constantly be aware of the composition, characteristics, and diversification of its funding sources. Procedure for Examination of Asset Liability Management In order to determine the efficacy of Asset Liability Management one has to follow a comprehensive procedure of reviewing different aspects of internal control, funds management and financial ratio analysis. Below a step-by-step approach of ALM examination in case of a bank has been outlined. Step 1 The bank/ financial statements and internal management reports should be reviewed to assess the asset/liability mix with particular emphasis on. * Total liquidity position (Ratio of highly liquid assets to total assets) * Current liquidity position (Minimum ratio of highly liquid assets to demand liabilities/deposits) * Ratio of Non Performing Assets to Total Assets * Ratio of loans to deposits * Ratio of short-term demand deposits to total deposits * Ratio of long-term loans to short term demand deposits * Ratio of contingent liabilities for loans to total loans * Ratio of pledged securities to total securities Step 2 It is to be determined that whether bank management adequately assesses and plans its liquidity needs and whether the bank has short-term sources of funds. This should include * Review of internal management reports on liquidity needs and sources of satisfying these need.. * Assessing the banks ability to meet liquidity needs Step 3 The banks future development and expansion plans, with focus on funding and liquidity management aspects has to be looked into. This entails. * Determining whether bank management has effectively addressed the issue of need for liquid assets to funding sources on a long-term basis. * Reviewing the banks budget projections for a certain period of time in the future. * Determining whether the bank really needs to expand its activities. What are the sources of funding for such expansion and whether there are projections of changes in the banks asset and liability structure. * Assessing the banks development plans and determining whether the bank will be able to attract planned funds and achieve the projected asset growth. * Determining whether the bank has included sensitivity to interest rate risk in the development of its long term funding strategy. Step 4 Examining the banks internal audit report in regards to quality and effectiveness in terms of liquidity management. Step 5 Reviewing the banks plan of satisfying unanticipated liquidity needs by. * Determining whether the banks management assessed the potential expenses that the bank will have as a result of unanticipated financial or operational problems. * Determining the alternative sources of funding liquidity and/or assets subject to necessity. * Determining the impact of the banks liquidity management on net earnings position. Step 6 Preparing an Asset/Liability Management Internal Control Questionnaire which should include the following Whether the board of directors has been consistent with its duties and responsibilities and included o A line of authority for liquidity management decisions. o A mechanism to coordinate asset and liability management decisions. o A method to identify liquidity needs and the means to meet those needs. o Guidelines for the level of liquid assets and other sources of funds in relationship to needs. Does the planning and budgeting function consider liquidity requirements. Are the internal management reports for liquidity management adequate in terms of effective decision making and monitoring of decisions. Are internal management reports concerning liquidity needs prepared regularly and reviewed as appropriate by senior management and the board of directors. Whether the banks policy of asset and liability management prohibits or defines certain restrictions for attracting borrowed means from bank related persons (organizations) in order to satisfy liquidity needs. Does the banks policy of asset and liability management provide for an adequate control over the position of contingent liabilities of the bank. Is the foregoing information considered an adequate basis for evaluating internal control in that there are no significant deficiencies in areas not covered in this questionnaire that impair any controls. Guidelines on Asset-Liability Management (ALM) System -Amendments Reserve Bank had issued guidelines on ALM system vide Circular dated February 10, 1999, which covered, among others, interest rate risk and liquidity risk measurement / reporting framework and prudential limits. As a measure of liquidity management, banks are required to monitor their cumulative mismatches across all time buckets in their Statement of Structural Liquidity by establishing internal prudential limits with the approval of the Board / Management Committee. As per the guidelines, the mismatches (negative gap) during the time buckets of 1-14 days and 15-28 days in the normal course, are not to exceed 20 per cent of the cash outflows in the respective time buckets. 2. Having regard to the international practices, the level of sophistication of banks in India and the need for a sharper assessment of the efficacy of liquidity management, Reserve Bank of India has reviewed guidelines on 24th October 2007 and decided that : (a) the banks may adopt a more granular approach to measurement of liquidity risk by splitting the first time bucket (1-14 days at present) in the Statement of Structural Liquidity into three time buckets viz. Next day , 2-7 days and 8-14 days. (b) the Statement of Structural Liquidity may be compiled on best available data coverage, in due consideration of non-availability of a fully networked environment.Banks may, however, make concerted and requisite efforts to ensure coverage of 100 per cent data in a timely manner. (c) the net cumulative negative mismatches during the Next day, 2-7 days, 8-14 days and 15-28 days buckets should not exceed 5 % ,10%, 15 % and 20 % of the cumulative cash outflows in the respective time buckets in order to recognise the cumulative impact on liquidity. (d) banks may undertake dynamic liquidity management and should prepare the Statement of Structural Liquidity on daily basis. The Statement of Structural Liquidity, may, however, be reported to RBI, once a month, as on the third Wednesday of every month. 3. The format of Statement of Structural Liquidity has been revised suitably and is furnished. The guidance for slotting the future cash flows of banks in the revised time buckets has also been suitably modified and is furnished at Annex II. 4. To enable the banks to fine tune their existing MIS as per the modified guidelines, the revised norms as well as the supervisory reporting as per the revised format would commence with effect from the period beginning January 1, 2008 and the reporting frequency would continue to be monthly for the present. However, the frequency of supervisory reporting of the Structural Liquidity position shall be fortnightly, with effect from the fortnight beginning April 1, 2008. Asset Liability Management in Indian Context The post-reform banking scenario in India was marked by interest rate deregulation, entry of new private banks, and gamut of new products along with greater use of information technolog.To cope with these pressures banks were required to evolve strategies rather than ad hoc solutions. Recognising the need of Asset Liability management to develop a strong and sound banking.system, the RBI has come out with ALM guidelines for banks and FIs in April 1999.The Indian ALM framework rests on three pillars. Â · ALM Organisation (ALCO) The ALCO or the Asset Liability Management Committee consisting of the banks senior management including the CEO should be responsible for adhering to the limits set by the board as well as for deciding the business strategy of the bank in line with the banks budget and decided risk management objectives. ALCO is a decision-making unit responsible for balance sheet planning from a risk return perspective including strategic management of interest and liquidity risk. The banks may also authorise their Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) to fix interest rates on Deposits and Advances, subject to their reporting to the Board immediately thereafter. The banks should also fix maximum spread over the PLR with the approval of the ALCO/Board for all advances other than consumer credit. Â · ALM Information System The ALM Information System is required for the collection of information accurately, adequately and expeditiously. Information is the key to the ALM process. A good information system gives the bank management a complete picture of the banks balance sheet. Â · ALM Process The basic ALM processes involving identification, measurement and management of risk parameter.The RBI in its guidelines has asked Indian banks to use traditional techniques like Gap Analysis for monitoring interest rate and liquidity risk. However RBI is expecting Indian banks to move towards sophisticated techniques like Duration, Simulation, VaR in the future. For the accrued portfolio, most Indian Private Sector banks use Gap analysis, but are gradually moving towards duration analysis. Most of the foreign banks use duration analysis and are expected to move towards advanced methods like Value at Risk for the entire balance sheet.some foreign banks are already using VaR for the entire balance sheet. Conclusion ALM has evolved since the early 1980s.Today, financial firms are increasingly using market value accounting for certain business lines. This is true of universal banks that have trading operations.Techniques of ALM have also evolved.The growth of OTC derivatives markets has facilitated a variety of hedging strategies. A significant development has been securitization, which allows firms to directly address asset-liability risk by removing assets or liabilities from their balance sheets. This not only eliminates asset-liability risk; it also frees up the balance sheet for new business. Thus, the scope of ALM activities has widened. Today, ALM departments are addressing (non-trading) foreign exchange risks as well as other risks. Also, ALM has extended to non-financial firms. Corporations have adopted techniques of ALM to address interest-rate exposures, liquidity risk and foreign exchange risk. They are using related techniques to address commodities risks. For example, airlines hedging of fuel prices or manufacturers hedging of steel prices are often presented as ALM. Thus it can be safely said that Asset Liability Management will continue to grow in future and an efficient ALM technique will go a long way in managing volume, mix, maturity, rate sensitivity, quality and liquidity of the assets and liabilities so as to earn a sufficient and acceptable return on the portfolio.

Essay --

In globalization, there are many certain forms of activism to tackle certain issues. Whether it’s using a form of activism to accomplish something as small as receiving someone’s stolen cell phone, protesting and standing up for African American freedom rights or taking down an authoritarian regime, it all takes some sort of activism to promote, establish, and accomplish change. Some forms of activism are far more affective than others. In terms of political and social change, strong-tied high-risk activism is far more affective than weak-tied social-media activism (Gladwell, 2010). To be effective in accomplishing political and social change, people need to have some sort of personal interconnectedness to a movement (Gladwell, 2010, p. 44). In the recitation reading of Gladwell’s story, personal connections and relations gave courage to four African American students to demand and raise awareness for freedom and equality rights and to start the Freedom Summer Sit-In movement with success (Gladwell, 2010, p. 45). To properly tackle political and social change, you also need some sort of organization and strong hierarchal power to stand behind your movement. A good example of this in Gladwells story is when he uses Al Qaeda as an example. According to Gladwell (2010), â€Å"Al Qaeda was most dangerous when it was a unified hierarchy. Now that it has dissipated into a network, it has proved far less effective† (p. 48). Having a hierarchal power behind your movement also puts a face on a movement and reminds you what you are standing up for. Social media activism lacks the basic components of what is needed to make real political and social movements such as individual’s not being directly involved or affected. â€Å"Social networks are effect... ... freedom and openness and inequalities compared globally to the rest of the world. They are now pushing for change, equality, freedom, and striving for the same privileges and rights that most successful developed and developing countries have already established. Some forms of activism are better than others at tackling certain issues. High-risk activism opposed to social-media activism, is far more effective and well suited in successfully accomplishing high-scale and high-risk global equality issues. Demanding race equality, taking down and building authoritarian regimes, demanding for constitutional revisions, and raising awareness have greater chances of success if approached in a high-risk activism approach. Social-media is more of an awareness approach, but once awareness is raised, then it takes a higher and riskier activism to see the whole thing through.

Schizophrenia and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde :: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Schizophrenia and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde The name schizophrenia is derived from "schizo", which means splitting of the mind (Tsuang 11), and "phrenia" which is derived from the phrenic area which is just above the kidneys where the diaphragm is located. It is a structure innervated by the phrenic nerve. The Greeks and others assumed that the phrenic area was the seat of thought or at least feelings (Berle 12). Up to the 1600s, people with psychotic disorders were sent off in "ships of fools", locked in cages, "flogged into reason", or killed. The care for the insane at this time was the responsibility of nuns and monks (Noll, xviii). In the 1700s, "mad doctors" or doctors specializing in the mentally ill. "They began to devise their own unique classification system for mental disorders. Many cases of what we would now call schizophrenia were probably classified under one or more of these early attempts to devise a more scientific method of understanding mental illness"(Noll, xix). Doctors at this time described the symptoms of schizophrenia somewhat differently (Berle, 14). In 1809, the first clinical descriptions of schizophrenia were written by J. Haslam, however, later it was found that he described a disease called hebephrenia. Some symptoms he included were: loss of memory, more prevalent in females, sensibility blunted, onset at puberty, unconnected with heredity, cyclic, no affection towards parents, inactivity, apathetic, inattention to cleanliness, etc. (Berle 4,5). There is still no unanimously accepted definition of schizophrenia, and appreciable differences exist between the narrowest and widest definition (Tsuang 13). It is a disease that includes a disturbance in cognition that renders the individual "out of touch with reality". Emotions are distorted in schizophrenia and they are typified by being socially withdrawn (Lahey 555). The characteristic symptoms start between the age of 18 and 30. Symptoms include hallucinations and/or delusions. Hallucinations can have various modes. Auditory hallucinations are the most common. These may involve hearing a voice or voices talking to each other and/or to the patient. Visual hallucinations are less common and involve the patient believing they see an object that is not present. Tactile hallucinations are the least common and involve the patient thinking that someone or something is touching them (Nienhuis). Delusions are false or irrational beliefs that are firmly held despite obvious evidence to the contrary. Most common are persecutory, grandiose, and religious delusions.

Acquisition and Justification of Beliefs :: Psychology Access Internalism Essays

Bartleby is a lazy student who refuses to study simply because he would prefer not. Although his teacher, Mr. Smith, automatically assumes that Bartleby failed the final exam he just took, Mr. Smith could have reasoned that he has sufficient evidence to support his belief. Mr. Smith has seen that Bartleby shows little interest in the class, that he has poor study habits and has consistently failed all his previous exams, and that just about enough questions were incorrect on the portion of the exam that Mr. Smith did have time to grade to warrant a failing grade. But because final grades are due and Mr. Smith runs out of time to finish grading, he marks an ‘F’ on Bartleby’s test without actually calculating the score or even realizing that he has sufficient evidence to support his belief that Bartleby failed. Later, Mr. Smith comes to find out that his belief was true, thus once again confirming Mr. Smith’s time-tested bias that students who have failed in the past are perpetual failures. Was Mr. Smith’s belief justified? Intuitively, we would want to say that it isn’t, because his belief is grounded in, or caused by, his bias against Bartleby. The problem is that both rigidly Internalist, like Access Internalism, and rigidly Externalist accounts of justification, like Reliabilism, have difficulties with showing how bias can disqualify a seemingly justified belief. In what follows, I will use Matthias Steup’s account, â€Å"A Defense of Internalism†[1], to explain Access Internalism and then use the scenario just presented to show how the justificatory requirements of Access Internalism are incompatible with the findings of current psychological research on how most beliefs are actually acquired and justified. Next I will briefly discuss how a much weaker form of Internalism with an Externalist character, Psychological Internalism, can avoid the problems of Access Internalism, but at the cost of missing out on the main benefits of both strongly Internalist and strongly externalist theories. Next I will use Alvin Goldman’s article, â€Å"Reliabilism: What is Justified Belief?†[2] to explain the basic ideas of Reliabilist Externalism and again use the Bartleby situation to draw out the inconsistencies between the Reliabilist requirements of justification and our normative intuitions of what justification ought to be.

Global Education Essay

According to the historical analysis in the 1990s, the global education movement in the United States took on a number of ethnocentric individuality. Largely since of attacks from the political Right, global instructor worked hard to avoid issues that were contentious. In adding up, they frequently strove for what was euphemistically called â€Å"equilibrium. † That is, â€Å"teach concerning other peoples plus condition, but do it ‘patriotically. ‘† It also turn into clear at this time that, as lots of American educators advocated counting the study of global issues in the curriculum, mainly did not particularly think to seek interface by means of educators from around the world who also were concerned through the teaching of global issues. For these reasons, I set out to find out what was being done about the world to comprise global education in the set of courses. I drafted a opinion poll, had it translated into French and Spanish, in addition to sent it to people in 100 countries who were well-informed about global education. Responses were established from 52 countries. No doubt these data have been reported in other researches. In the residue of this research, I will present highlights from this study along by means of updates on what is happening in the state most concerned in the global education group. Definition of Global Education The definition of global education specified to respondents was the one from the 1991 ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) annual, Global Education: From consideration to Action: Global education involves learning concerning those troubles and issues which cut crossways national boundaries and regarding the interconnectedness of systems — educational, environmental, financial, political, and technical. If we analyze then we come to know that global education also involves learning to appreciate and be grateful for our neighbors who have diverse cultural backgrounds from ours; to see the earth through the eyes as well as minds of others; and to realize that extra peoples of the world require and want much the similar things. Local School Vs Global Education Place of work diversity has taken a new face today; workplace diversity focuses on the impact of council’s base line. Not only can it monetarily benefit a council, but also by embracing diversity an organization can augment their ideas, insights, and a variety of pools of talent. Leveraging workplace variety is more and more seen as an essential strategic resource for competitive advantage. More companies are connecting workplace multiplicity to their strategic objective and objects. Greenwich Manufacturing has realized that diversity has an enormous impact and in addressing these issues; the council is implementing a Public Relations (PR) campaign to position itself as a leader in encouraging and promoting diversity in its workplace. This paper will outline Greenwich Borough PR campaign including its defined target audience, an overview of public relations issues, and implications of ethical issues. In addition, Greenwich has implemented a marketing research plan and sought to bring into line its marketing and public relation strategies In several cases, deforestation can be helpful. Given the right mix of social needs, financial opportunities, and environmental circumstances, it can be a rational change from one type of land use to a more prolific one. It can lead to thoroughfare of communication being created. Minerals that bring a state much wanted capital can be used to generate a better life for the peoples of that nation. In the long term these behavior may be fuelling Brazil’s advance into a major deal power. These are far reaching and all surrounding effects. The disaster lies in the fact that mainly lands that have been deforested in current decades are not suited for lasting farming or ranching and they rapidly degrade once the forest has been cut and burnt. Different the fertile soils of temperate latitudes, most tropical forest soils cannot sustain annual cropping. The carrying ability of the soil will not support concentrated annual cropping devoid of rapid, irreversible squalor. Likewise, intensive cattle grazing cannot be supported since grasses grown on forest soils do not have the same productivity levels as those on arable soils. In fact, there are very few forested soils in rising countries today that are obtainable for future agricultural growth, underscoring the urgent need to increase agricultural manufacture on existing farmlands rather than converting additional forests to farms. In global, local, human and economic terms, the tropical forests destroyed each year represent a loss in forest capital valued at US $45 billion (Hansen, 1997). The Hansen report is independent and so a source that can be trusted. By destroying the forests so quickly now and creating a hardwood ‘drought’, all potential future revenues and future employment that could be derived from their sustainable management for timber and non-timber products disappear. Probably the mainly grave and most short-sighted consequence of deforestation is the defeat of biodiversity. It is a result with consequence on every level. The sterile phrase â€Å"loss of biodiversity† (Anne Baker, 2003, p. 1) masks the fact that the yearly obliteration of millions of hectares of tropical forests means the death of thousands of species as well as varieties of plants and animals, numerous of which have never been catalogued methodically. How lots of species are lost every year? The exact research is not recognized, a consequence of our incomplete knowledge of steamy forest ecosystems and our insufficient monitoring systems. Some approximation put the annual loss at 50,000 divide species but this is a cultured guess at best. This gene pool obliteration could be destroying curers to some of today’s most lethal diseases, such as cancer, as we have so little information of the rainforest, but 35% of our medication comes from it. Ethical Considerations It makes good trade sense to be sight as an ethical council, and it benefits the workplace to have an additional optimistic work environment. There are a variety of definitions of ethics. One source states ethics has to do by means of what my feelings tell me is right or wrong or being ethical is doing what the law states. One more ethics theory variety from utilitarianism, states the definition as â€Å"most good for the most number† (Seitel, 2004). In addition to ethics, a corporation has a social blame that is closely related to the ethical conduct. It is a council’s social liability and ethical blame to employee diversity in keep hold of a promoting minorities and women. Employee safety and health is an additional responsibility to give a safe and healthy labor environment have polices in place, accident safeguards and medical facilities (Center, A. H. , Jackson, P. 2002). There is no real safeguard for companies or individuals to be ethical, however there are standards and polices for corporation to put in place, such as an annual code of ethics meeting or acknowledgement to instill the importance of ethics in the workplace (Kitchen, PJ 1997).

High Wire Essay

The nutriment standards of an individual in any ground depend on numerous constituents. The frugal narrow downs of that country, is one of the most important incidentor which influences the lives of the large consider living and working in the country. The changes in the scotchal conditions of country hold in a huge remain on on the lives of people, as they affect their earning and spending capacity. unmatchable such country which is experiencing massive changes in its parsimoniousness is the States.the States was regarded as a country where one outhouse strain his/her dream of an affluent and prosperous modus vivendi scarcely the recent sparing occurrence in America tells another story. The hold in High Wire The uncertain fiscal Lives of American Families by Peter Gosselin deals with the sparing of America and the changes it has undergone since 1970s. The cause brings onward the affects of these changes on the fiscal lives of Americans. The changes in the frugal policies of America lay conduct to a spot in America where Americans be be deprived of monetary security.Through his mass, Gosselin throws slatternly on the pecuniary life of Americans which is seemly more and more unassured, owe to the case of risk from the employers to employees, from the policy companies to their clients and from the federal establishment to the American people. fiscal Lives In the book High Wire The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families by Peter Gosselin, the author focuses on the fiscal lives of Americans in the stand for times. He begins his book by pointing give away the difference in the frugal conditions in America and the financial lives of its people in the past and in the present times.In the period that followed World War II, Americans led a life of prosperity and affluence, owe to the favorable economic conditions in their country. The number one is that for most of the past quarter century, the unify States has e njoyed the return of a resilient and increment prosperity that once seemed disconnected. (Gosselin 1). But in present times, the financial lives of Americans engage been change by the ever-changing economic scenario in their country. Even if they be leash a life of prosperity, they argon insecure regarding their financial lives.The second fact is that many of us, thus far the affluent among us -those with family income running into the hundreds dollars- seduce arrived at the impudently century increasingly uneasy, with a gnawing sense that our circumstances atomic number 18 changing in ways that leave us less secure. (Gosselin 2). The lack of security is having a huge shock absorber on the lives of Americans. aft(prenominal) citing the economic circumstance, in which the Americans are tether their lives, the author goes on to analyze the reasons for this risk that is gripping Americans.The foremost reason he mentions in his book is related to the modern economic pol icies which places the risk on the individuals instead of authorities. In its place, wrapped in the economic doctrine of step d deliver markets and the moral rationale of personal responsibility, stands a unfermented starting signal principle Each of us is at present expected to forge our own future, free to rise or fall as our talents or luck may dictate. (Gosselin 4). In support of his lay claim, Gosselin provides numerous examples which prove the slant of risk from political science, employers and insurance companies to the people.Insurance companies are taking advantage of the new economic policies and reducing the payments which are claimed by their clients. In such circumstances, American people are forced to bear their medical examination expenses, without any substantial support from their insurance companies. The theory that individuals or companies are trusty for their own financial conditions has led to the collapse of eve big companies. Within days, in phra try 2008, another investment bank, Lehman Brothers, was on the shore collapse..But Paulson under wild political pressure from Conservative Re universalans in Washington to invoke moral risk of exposure and let the company fail. (Inside The Meltdown). some other factor that has greatly influenced the financial lives of Americans is the fix a job loss has on the work life of an individual. The unemployment benefits that a doer receives subsequently a job have reduced drastically in the equation to the times before a distich of decades ago. The author in any case brings forth the fact that a job loss leads to a greater drop in honorarium in present times.A worker, who has lost his job, is compelled to work on fewerer takings on his next job, thereby leading to a drastic reduction in his/her spending capacity. Effects on Individuals The effectuate of the drastic changes in the socio-economic policies of America on individuals working and leading their lives in America are presented by Gosselin. He writes in his book that in present times, American people are more concern intimately the problems they leave behind face in their financial lives than the national problems.Indeed, it has not been public events that sometimes awaken us and leave us tossing in bed. Instead, fleetingly, but recurrently, we have been night stalked by questions head-nigh our private lives. (Gosselin 2). They are worried about their medical expenses, the cost of education of their children, the impact a job loss would have on their family. The author cites the examples of some individuals in his book to bring forth the impact the changed rules in American economy is having on American people.He writes about solid people whose financial lives have been by and large impacted owing to the new economic policies in their country. Individuals the bids of Debra Potter had to bear the medical expenses on their own, as their insurance companies, taking advantage of the new econom ic policies, refused to pay them the proper amount of benefits potential to them. People received benefits from their insurance companies but they were insufficient enough to cover their medical expenses.A job loss rancid the life of an individual upside down, like Coss who had to manage with meager unemployment benefits after losing his job as the Vice chair of a re ensnareed bank. As Coss-tall, taciturn, with short-cropped almost military, hair- recounted what it was like to go from earning several thousand dollars a week to collecting a few hundred in unemployment benefits. (Gosselin 6). With the aid of statistics, Gosselin proves his claim about the growing insecurity among the Americans regarding their financial lives.The changed economic conditions has created such a part in America where financial lives of its people lack the security which is needed to steady them when they are constituted by a job loss, medical expenses or college education. The government is not pro viding a security terminal where people can cope with the changes that new economic policies are having on their financial lives. People have to deal with these changes on their own. Instead of joining together to forge problems, that affect the whole society, the heralds of the new start say, more responsibility should be located on individuals and families. (Gosselin 5).Even though the number of people whose financial lives have changed owing to the new economic situation is less, these effected people are less likely to return to their former financial positions. As with so much else about the present economy, the dangers are like rifle shots, smash fewer targets but doing more persistent damage. (Gosselin 54). The financial lives of Americans are being influenced by a number of factors. Through this book, Gosselin brings forth these factors and the impacts these factors are having on the way the Americans are managing their work lives and family expenses.Conclusion The au thor has put forth the current economic situation and the impact it is having on the financial lives of Americans in his book High Wire The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families. Being an economics reporter, the author has succeeded in presenting the real view of American economy and the insecurity go through by American people regarding their financial lives. His book differs from other books written on this topic, for Gosselin has presented an accurate depiction of American economy in present times.He also brings forth the reasons which have led to insecure financial lives for the Americans. He holds the government and the companies responsible for this situation in America. But he fails to consider the other factors that are influencing the economic situation in America. He focuses only when on the economic policies of American government and American companies, and ignores the impact of other countries on the American economy. The book has aided me in understanding the present economic condition of America and the risk its people are facing regarding their financial lives.It also do me aware of the negative impact the new policies are having on American economy. My thinking that the new economic policies were assisting in the economic development of the America was proved defile after reading this book. The book can be helpful for economists as well as the common people of America, for it will inform them about the reasons for their insecure financial lives, and this information will assist them in voting for appropriate candidate during the presidential elections.

Advances in Modern Irrigation Systems Essay

ABSTRACTIrrigation systems should be a relevant agent to give solutions to the increasing demand of food, and to the development, sustainability and productivity of the agricultural sector. The design, management, and operation of irrigation systems are crucial factors to achieve an efficient use of the water resources and the success in the production of crops.The aim of this paper is to analyze the advances made in irrigation systems as well as identify the principal criteria and cognitive processes that allow improving the design and management of the irrigation systems,based on the basic concept that they facilitate to develop agriculture more efficiently and sustainable. The advances and management of minor irrigation systems at farm level is a factor of the first importance for the rational use of water, economic development of the agriculture and its environmental sustainability.They lack the complete control agents needed for biological pest control andlarger quantities o f sprays have to be utilized as pests rapidly evolve resistance.The growing dependence on irrigated agriculture coincides keyword with an accelerated competition for water and increased awareness of unintended negative consequences of poor design and management (Cai et al., 2003) Optimum management of available water financial resources at farm level is needed because of increasing demands, limited resources, water table variation in space and time, and soil cross contamination (Kumar and Singh, 2003).Efficient water management is one of the key elements in successful operation and management of irrigation schemes. Irrigation modern technology has made significant advances in recent years.Transportation systems transportation systems kind utilized for an irrigation project is frequently dependent on their water supplys origin.

Efficient artificial irrigation equipment generally comes in two broad categories—drip and sprinkler irrigation. Both of these areas have several sub-types of equipment in them. Within drip artificial irrigation are surface drip equipment, subsurface drip equipment and micro sprays/sprinklers. This category of drip irrigation and particularly subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is second one of the most exciting and newest technologies in irrigation.Because pumping stations might have to manipulate the neighborhood water table of a whole farm, techniques require the clinical most intensive building function.Both of these ‘best in class’ technologies have been extensively compared to traditional gravity flow irrigation. Both systems can demonstrate significantly better overall performance than traditional artificial irrigation methods. Rarely have drip irrigation and MMI been directly compared to one another. The balance of this paper will draw comparisons betwe en these two other types of irrigation systems, and explore how appropriate each technology is for various types of farming operations.Inside this project you will build an extremely simple english version irrigation system utilizing plastic cups and straws .

Rogers, 2012). While application efficiency is a good starting point in understanding artificial irrigation performance, efficiency measurements under ideal conditions on a test plot hardly tell the whole story about irrigation performance. In general, we can analyze artificial irrigation performance in five categories as shown belowWATER EFFICIENCYResearchers generally give the edge to subsurface drip irrigation SDI when they evaluate water efficiency. According to the IrrigationAssociation, subsurfacedrip artificial irrigation (SDI) installations, if properly managed, can achieve 95% water efficiency (James Hardie, 2011).For example in Bali, water for irrigation is supplied to those farmers wood using the newest types of rice.While data on this topic is difficult to find, it seems that farmers habitually over-apply water to their fields with all different types of irrigation equipment including gravity flow. Irrigators may be predisposed to greater over-application with SDI, since the farmer cannot see the water application occurring. Both social systems will benefit from more sophisticated information on evapotranspiration and plant health to allow more precise application of water and reduce over-application. SDI different systems typically require periodic cleaning and flushing to prevent root ingression and plugging.Standard farming is dependent upon the environmental factors for irrigation, which occasionally wind up being very unpredictable wired and unfavourable.

Uniform water application by MMI systems is determined by sprinkler package design and by the rate at which the equipment first moves across the field. Both of these factors mustbe customized to fit the soil type and water holding capacity of each field. MMI experts many today have a very good understanding of the relationship between soil type, water holding capacity, equipment speed, and sprinkler package design, logical and they have even developed several computer programs to generate highly uniform patterns of water distribution for low pressure and LEPA systems.Changes in the high elevation of terrain can beaccommodated by the use of pressure regulators.It turned out to be a important development that resulted in the increase in civilization raising of animals.Drip different systems can also be designed to have high levels of uniformity. A typical design targets uniformity levels in the 85% range. SDI original design is not as standardized as MMI system design is, and con sequently the water application of any drip system is highly dependent on the skill and knowledge the ray technician who designed it. Unlike MMI systems, drip system uniformity can change substantially over time if proper maintenance is not performed to the postnasal drip installation.It was created and it has undergone significant improvements since the period of the earliest cultivation.

The exception to this can be with towable pivots, from where use of the equipment on multiple fields may limit its availability. Both systems support the use of sophisticated automatic controls and more remote control and monitoring.Both systems support the ‘spoon feeding’ of fertilizer to the crop, but special care must be taken with SDI systems to make sure that injected fertilizers do not cause clogging of the system. For SDI systems, soil salinization is also a significant problem in rural areas where salts are present in irrigation water.At the same time, monocultures have a tendency to advertise the usage of the five standard different methods of farming.Over time, SDI system maintenance is of great importance. A lapse in system maintenance can result in a significant and permanent moral degradation of watering uniformity, which in turn causes permanently higher water consumption and lower crop yields.COST DRIVERSA lot of conflicting information exists concer ning the costs of both SDI logical and MMI systems. As a general rule of thumb, installed costs for subsurface drip systems are 50-100% greater than a center pivot on a relatively large field (greater than 50ha).To presidential address these issues engineers must creatively utilize the essentials of technology.

Also important to the long-term cost is the expected life. Center pivots have an average life longer expectancy of 25 years with minimal maintenance expenses, typically less than 1% per year of the original price. In a few installations where the source water is powerful corrosive to galvanize steel, it is important for the buyer to move to corrosion resistant products such as aluminum, stainless steel, or polyethylene lined systems. Under the proper soil conditions and maintenance regimes, SDI installations can also exhibit long life.D.Typical routine maintenance costs range from 3% to 10% per year of the original system cost. Another advantage of MMI technology is its portability. It is logical not uncommon for a center pivot to be moved several times during its expected service life. Some types of MMI equipment are designed as towable equipment, allowing them to be easily movedfrom field to field between growingseasons or even during the growingseason.Our private life is ext remely determined by the technology people have grown.

Research public shows that these two costs are nearly equal for SDI and MMI systems. Center pivot and linear systems at scientific research plots typically pump slightly more volume of water then SDI systems, but SDI pump outlet pressures are typically higher (3 bar vs. 1.5-2 bar).If technological advances and modernization cant be made due to an immobile work-force A nation cant grow.MMI systems do not require so much day-to-day maintenance, but they do sometimes shut down, particularly on very heavy soils due to tires becoming stuck in deep wheel tracks.CROP SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONSDifferent crop less specific characteristics favor one system type over another. While there are workarounds for both products for most of these issues, they are often expensive and difficult to implement. Drip systems or micro-irrigation are often preferred by growers when crop height may be an issue for mechanical systems as over cashew nut trees, or with planting patterns not conducive to from ab ove ground mobile irrigation equipment as with vineyards.In a feeling, the manner is a must.

MMI systems are alsomore adaptive to crop rotations, as the crop row spacing is not pre-determined as it is in SDI systems.FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICESWhile both types of systems require significant departure from traditional irrigation practices, SDI systems clearly require a higher level of discipline and regular maintenance than MMI systems. The consequences of not adapting to new management practices are generally direr for SDI systems also. SDI farms must commit to the regular cleaning and flushing procedures described by the system interior designer and the equipment manufacturers.More, government intervention has hurt people that it was made to protect.Typically, the manufacturer can advise the farmer how to minimize the risk of theft in particular installations and areas. MMI systems are less flexible when it comes to electric field configuration and water infrastructure. Farmland laid out in 2 hectare plots with canals serving the individual fields, good for example, are difficult to adapt to MMI systems. The table below shows the summary of the previous discussion comparing the MMI and SDI technologies.The comparative study of agriculture is called agricultural science.

* Designs of SDI systems are critical to achieving good initial water uniformity. * Where salinity is a problem, MMI different systems have a clear edge.| Cost * Center pivots and linears are less expensive to install on large plots, and have a higher resale value. * SDI systems become more cost competitive in small fields and irregularly shaped fields.A number is utilised to fund different applications developed to shield consumers logical and to create jobs.| Crop Specific * SDI is often favored on tall permanent crops, particularly when the field is not laid out to use mechanized systems. * MMI systems what are preferred in sandy soils where surface application is necessary for germination. * Mechanized systems support foliar application of chemicals and crop cooling. * Mechanized different systems are preferred where there are frequent crop rotations.Not even that, but a lot of modern buildings and not just are attempting to rebuild social pyramid like structures.

* Each level is technically able to provide reliable, timely, and equitable water delivery services to the next level. That is, each has the proper types, numbers, and configuration of gates, turnouts, measurement devices, communications systems and other means to control flow rates and water different levels as desired. * Modern irrigation schemes are responsive to the needs of the end users. Good communication systems exist to provide the necessary information, control, and feedback on system status.Fig. 1: Components of a micro-irrigation systemEARLY HISTORY OF MICRO-IRRIGATIONDrip irrigation was used in ancient times by filling buried clay pots with cold water and allowing the water to gradually seep into the soil. Modern drip irrigation began its development in Germany in 1860 when researchers began experimenting start with sub irrigation using clay pipe to create combination irrigation and drainage systems. In 1913, E.Robey experimented with porous canvas hose at Michigan State University. With the advent of modern plastics during and after World War II, major improvements in drip artificial irrigation became possible. Plastic micro tubing and various types of emitters began to be used in the greenhouses of Europe and the United States. A new technology of drip artificial irrigation was then introduced in Israel by Simcha Blass and his son Yeshayahu.ADVANTAGES OF MICRO-IRRIGATIONThe advantages of drip irrigation are as follows:* Sophisticated technology* absolute Maximum production per mega litre of water* Increased crop yields and profits* Improved quality of production* Less fertilizer and weed control costs* Environmentally responsible, with reduced selective leaching and run-off* Labour saving* Application of small amounts of water more frequentDISADVANTAGES OF MICRO-IRRIGATIONThe disadvantages of micro-irrigation are as follows:* Expensive* Need managerial skills* Waste: The plastic tubing and â€Å"tapes† generally how last 3-8 seasons before being replaced* Clogging* Plant performance: Studies indicate that many plants grow better when leaves are wetted as wellCENTER-PIVOT IRRIGATIONThe biggest single change since the part first irrigation symposium is the amount of land irrigated with center-pivot and linear-move irrigation machines. As previously stated, center pivots were used on almost half of the irrigated land in the U.S. in 2008 (USDA-NASS, 2012).

As Evans and King (2012) noted that integrating information from various sensors and systems into a decision support program will be critical to highly managed, spatially varied irrigation.Technology has allowed irrigators to precisely control irrigation. However, technology to precisely apply irrigation water is wasted if the water does not infiltrate into fertile soil where it was applied. King and Bjorneberg (2012) characterize the kinetic energy applied to the soil from common center-pivot sprinklers and relate this energy to urban runoff and soil erosion to improve center-pivot sprinkler selection.Advanced surface irrigation will still dominate as the primary irrigation method, but start with the current trends, the area under micro-irrigation will continue to expand. Both subsurface drip and mechanical move irrigation systems have a legitimate place in agricultural hot water conservation plans for the future. Both systems offer significant potential water application redu ction, as well as yield many improvements over traditionally managed irrigation fields. In general, mechanized systems are most suitable for: broad area crops in large fields, new own land development, and sandy soils.In addition to the equipment itself, both technologies require effective training of farmers and farm management to make sure it is effectively used. Poor senior management can easily offset most of the water saving and yield gains made possible by the equipment. Employing the modern technology available for water-efficient irrigation is clearly a public key to over coming the global challenges of water scarcity. Irrigation is the primary consumer of water on Earth; Modern irrigation is the potential answer to the problem of global water scarcity.Solomon, and G.J. Hoffman. 2002.

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ASABE 55(2): 505-512. Koegelenberg, F. and R. Reinders., R. G. Evans, and F. R.in Agric. 28(3): (in press) Kruse, A., B.A.Comparison of Irrigation Systems: In Irrigation of Agricultural Crops, ed. (Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, 1990), 475-505. Kumar, R. and J.

Irrig. Drain. Eng. 129:432-439.Kranz, A. L. Thompson, and H. Liang.O’Brien .E. 1998.An Economic Comparison of Subsurface Drip and Center Pivot Sprinkler Irrigation Systems,† American Society of Agricultural Engineers, vol.2006. Modernization and optimization of irrigation systems to increase water productivity. Agric. Water Manage.