Spinal Meningitis Essay -- essays research papers

Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person’s spinal cord and fluid that surrounds a person’s brain. It is sometimes referred to as Spinal Meningitis. It’s usually caused by either a bacterial or viral infection. As you read through this paper you will learn how Meningitis is transmitted, its symptoms, its effects, and even the incidences it has caused.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The common symptoms of anyone over two years old is high fever, headache, and stiff neck. Symptoms can develop over several hours or even one to two days. Other symptoms include vomiting, nausea, confusion, sleepiness, and discomfort looking at bright lights. As for newborns and small infants, the classical symptoms may be difficult to detect or absent. They may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. Seizures occur, as the disease progresses, to patients of any age. (Centers for Disease Control, {CDC} 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. They are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions. The spread of the disease is facilitated by close and prolonged contact. (CDC, 2004) For example: kissing someone, coughing or sneezing on a person, living in close quarters, and sharing eating or drinking utensils. The incubation period is on an average of four days, ranging from two to ten days. (World Health Organization, {WHO} 2004)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Five to ten percent ...

The Effects of Education on Fiscal Responsibility Essay -- Financial M

The world is recovering from financial crisis that started in 2007. The cause of the crisis was failure of American Mortgage Company. The effect has spread all over the world; however the world seems to be recovering. This is not the first time that the world has suffered such a crisis. There was the great depression of 1920s. The point that is in people’s mind; economists, politicians, and social scientist is how they can prevent the occurrence of such a crisis in future. Among the many recommendation brought out, there is the role that education can play. Our education system can be moulded to educate students and society in general on how they can prevent such an occurrence in the future. Secondary school life is the initial stage that a child moulding can start. It ensures that there is a base of a human being that can be shaped to influence the life of the child in future (Alloy & Ahrens, 2008). This paper will focus on how education can be used to combat future occurrenc e of such crisis. Development and enforcement of a money management principles The principle that human beings have are moulded by early life development. At high school a child is given some money to manage and spend. This is the period that they are given pocket money to spend at school and are allowed to make individual decisions toward things that affect their lives. In schools children should be taught on how to manage the finances they have, they should be trained on how to make decisions which have an impact on the finances they have. The little money they are given by their parents should be the one to start molding their behavior towards good financial management and making priorities. One of the most important things that people should aim at is t... ...simism for the future: Biased use of statistically relevant information in predictions for self versus others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(2), 366-378. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.52.2.366 Ambachtshee, K., Beartty, D. and Booth, L. (2008). The financial crisis and rescue. What went wrong? Why? What lesson can be learnt? Toronto: university of Toronto Melzert, H. (1995). Review of "Curriculum-adjustment in the Secondary School". Journal of Educational Psychology, 16(9), 638. doi:10.1037/h0068007. Morris, P. (1997). School knowledge, the state and the market: an analysis of the Hong Kong secondary school curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 29(3), 329-350. doi:10.1080/002202797184071. Park ,R. cona, K. and Fingess, M. (2008). The crisis of global environment governance: towards a new political economy of sustainability. New York: Prentice Hall

henry ford :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Henry Ford, born July 30, 1863, was the first of William and Mary Ford's six children. He grew up on a prosperous family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. (Teachers D.) It was early on that Henry showed a strong dislike for his farm chores and interests in all types of mechanical things. (Editors 205.) In 1879 at the very young age of only sixteen Henry left home for Detroit the present day motor city.(Ford Motor C.) In Detroit Henry worked as an apprentice to a machinist.(Wik 190.) Returning home to help with farming from time to time he remained in his apprenticeship for 3 years.(Ford Motor C.) In the years to follow Henry more or less drifted in his work such as operating or repairing steam engines, finding occasional work in a Detroit factory, and over-hauling his father's farm implements, as well as lending a reluctant hand with other farm work.(Dahlinger 12.) However In 1889 with the marriage to his wife Clara Bryant he was forced to find a steady job to support them an d worked by running a saw mill. (Teachers D.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1891, Ford became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. By doing making this decision it showed that Ford had decided to concentrate his job and work to industrial pursuits. His promotion to Chief Engineer in 1893 gave him enough extra time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines. (Yenne 150.) In 1896 his experiments produced a result; he made a quadricycle that had a steering wheel and a two speed engine with no reverse. (Teachers D.) Although this sounds like a very impressive feat Ford was not the first to build a self-propelled vehicle with a gasoline engine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After two unsuccessful attempts to establish a company to manufacture automobiles, the Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903 with Henry Ford as vice-president and chief engineer. (Editors 9.) The small company produced only a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. Groups of two or three men worked on each car from components ordered in by other companies. (Yenne 45) Henry Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient with the introduction of the Model T in 1908. (XXXX) â€Å"This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads, immediately becoming a huge success.

A Reaction Paper to the Article “Versioning: a Smart Way to Sell Information” by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian

â€Å"Information Technology is changing the way companies operate. † Porter, et al. discussed the value of information and how its acquisition, processing, and transmission brought different dimensions of pricing and cost reduction for buyers and sellers around the world. Because information is valuable, diversity in strategies were employed to outperform one business from another. Incorporating IT is not just one way but the best stratagem, so far. IT integration offers wider possibilities on how to facilitate information extensively. Much more opportunities arrived when the web, the greatest source for data transfer and possession began its service through internet. The use of internet has transformed the way information is to be manipulated, acquired, and transferred easily from one user to the next. This concept of transfer became the foundation of businesses to invest more on IT aiming on earning using information shift through the so-called versioning. Versioning is supposed to mean as an upgrade, or a reproduction of an improved copy of product/s. Like books, version or more known as edition defines how valuable a book is judging from reprints it has gone through and the copies sold out from every reprint; and normally the cost of the first edition varies from the value to the strength of requested copies demanded by the public. Digital information versioning however, does not confine to an upgrade only. Because internet has provided several sources of acquiring information, capitalists reengineered the idea of versioning by looking at digital information as valuable goods to sell electronically. The business logic of selling also would not just conform to traditional and manual sides, but also begun pursuing global scale to outrun competitors. This is where strategy comes in. To strategically sell information goods, you need to determine its economic valuable first. According to Shapiro, et al. , there is a distinctive cost structure that first copy is often expensive and subsequent copies become very cheap. We are talking about production costs here – the same perception taken from editions of books also. Because of this, the more information is reproduced, the lower the average of cost production. With the speed of internet aiding the transfer, variable cost of production disappears almost completely. (Shapiro, p 108) Incorporating business strategy has then changed the interpretation of versioning. The basis of its purpose revolves in the possibilities of revenues that it may bring forth to entrepreneurs selling these goods. Now, versioning has several intentions that feature how important information is being sought through the internet. With the correct pricing, customer’s ability to purchase software and downloadable data in the market is determined and assessed. Understanding Strategic Risks in Versioning: A Smarter Way to Sell Digital Goods The objective of versioning is to continuously present an upgrade or development of an earlier adaptation as perceived in the concept of technology innovation which is expounded in the time of its release and use, as presented by International Standard ISO 861. While technology advances, industrialists found a better way of expanding the purpose of versions also. Versioning becomes the idea of goods marketability in the internet. For example, free version is offered for try outs. Most net users are attracted by freeware. The range of website providers is getting larger to offer such promotions. The logic of free version is to offer a â€Å"taste† of the product being sold. These â€Å"teasers† are very common in antivirus software which provides just enough of main service of the item. However, they are also a prelude to buying the higher or upgrade version which provides full service of the merchandise at a certain price. Whether a user will purchase the item remains to be seen on how imperative it is for him to obtain it. AVG 2011 free edition, for instance is antivirus software that offers security components like resident shield, license, identity protection, anti-spyware, email scanner, anti-rootkit, link scanner, update manager, and PC analyzer. After downloading the free edition, the AVG dashboard or dialog box contains an ad pertaining to another type of AVG software that offers larger scope of protection, named AVG Internet Security 2011 and downloading it would mean urchasing at $54. 99 for 1-year subscription. AVG Internet Security 2011 also offers an unlimited and complete virus protection that includes faster scanning (meaning the free version is time-consuming? ), enhanced firewall and system tools support. Taking a tour at their website, another lead does not offer free edition but a regular price of the AVG antivirus at $34. 99, and several other offers like Home Security, Business Secu rity, and Trial versions. Versioning becomes a form of customer and information segmentation. It is easier to classify the customers who need information depending on the coverage (speed, quality, and technical services). The higher the quality and comprehensiveness of a software, the more expensive it becomes and the fewer the chances are of its availability of being downloaded, printed or copied, unless for a biddable price. And so the higher or lower the price a customer is willing to pay for getting the information, the best way of identifying bidder/customers’ â€Å"class†. Categorizing different types of user enable business owners to understand trends, forecast future version launches and expansions that include revenue projectile and cost calculations. Versioning is also business intelligence per se because it is a form of gathering information from customers who reveal how much they are willing to pay for information they sought. Business Intelligence is knowledge about customers, competitors, business partners, competitive environment and internal operations of the organization that gives the ability to make effective important and strategic business decisions. With the knowledge acquired from classes of versions and types of purchases a customer makes, a business can start raising or dropping prices consequently from the analysis that a â€Å"professional† or frequent computer user will value the latest upgrades more than a simple home user. Consequently, once a customer starts bidding or showing interest on a product or information, he/she also willingly gives personal data regarding his work, his contact info (email or phone numbers and sometimes even home addresses) as a form of registration. The truth is the customer’s data goes on into a database as company’s resource for forecast, future product offers and other customer related transactions. While this strategy is good, there is a downbeat side some organizations normally neglect to respond to. For some companies who do not play fair, moral principles are ignored. Whereas, business intelligence through versioning provides competitive edge to the company, the method of acquiring data from customers can sometimes cross the line. The transfer and receipt of information becomes the means of spreading spywares, malwares and adware that are damaging to users and other companies. Whether it may appear harmless to include spoofing (forging of the return address on an email), and key loggers (Trojan horse that records every keystroke and mouse click) as a means to understand their customers better, it is a malicious form of invasion of privacy of an individual – a crime that is also often not apprehended because of the broadness of the scope of the internet. Crossing the lines could lead to mistrust of customers and future clients further damaging the reputation of the establishment. Malwares that are incorporated to version download sometimes cannot be entirely blamed to the organization who seeks competitive advantage. Internet is full of hackers, either a participant of the rival or simply an individual who enjoys making pranks to others. An unprotected website can be easily hacked and integrate viruses to the system even with the assurance of the host’s protection. Ensuring that the website is protected from getting data stolen and damaged can preserve company integrity. Information goods sellers should also not traverse the code of ethics to gain competitive edge. While seemingly technology reacts positively to the interest of the business, businessmen must hang on to not just building trust with their customers but also protecting the trust given to them so as to build long-lasting customer relationships with them. On the other hand, versioning can either upgrade or downgrade the quality impression of information goods, too. While free version clicks in the market, there are risks on premium quality versions of information goods. Oestreicher-Singer, et al stated that technologically savvy customers especially the non ethical, support-independent advanced users) view digital goods as being of higher value, and possibly as better substitutes than physical goods subjecting digital goods to piracy and therefore affecting the demands of emerging ones. Piracy is the unauthorized reproduction of digital goods under copyright, infringing the holder’s exclusive privileges to his property. It happens â€Å"because the copy of a copy typically does not deteriorate in quality† and â€Å"copying products can become a wide-spread phenomenon – as illustrated by the surge of file-sharing networks. (Peitz, 2003) Piracy usually occurs because â€Å"users try to maximize their expected benefit (utility). † (Ozertan, 2008) Peitz, et al. further concluded that non-authorized copy may either leave the seller’s profit unchanged or reduce it, because of limited supplier’s monopoly to the goods. Then again, versioning with segmentation and monitoring can prevent it from happening by adopting copyright protection and employ resale rights (which offers restrictions on copies and reselling) for every version released. Espousing lower price for premium versions also decreases piracy because it curbs the edge of can’t-afford notion, therefore allowing the user to aim for the original rather than the pirated copy. In terms of free version, it can have unlimited reproduction since it does not restrict a user from copying and transferring it to another user; however in effect provides an excuse for a non ethical independent user to sell it to another user at a higher price and misleading it as a premium/professional version. This type of piracy often strikes on software copy sold as physical goods (CD,DVD copies). Information goods versioning, in order to work effectively should be implemented correctly and according to the output of the company. Variable costs may disappear completely (Shapiro, et al. ) upon the reproduction of copies by the seller, but neglecting the end-user assessment of product related to copyright concerns, piracy control, privacy policies and website security can turn these variable costs into steep costs during loss of goods monopoly, corrupted reputations from unsecured websites, and unethical business practices for incorporating malwares in selling information goods. Even if versioning poses great possibilities of gaining competitive advantage against rivalries, it also carries responsibilities and risks for the vendor during its application. Versioning may be a smarter way of selling online goods, but vendor should be smarter by focusing on the economic structure and welfare of digital goods first and understanding its trends and unpredictability caused by the constant technology enhancement. What might have worked 5 years earlier could not simply work today. Rather, there is a need to induce another strategy with a strategy to make it work, or replace it completely with another. To date, versioning still applies at present, however more techniques arrived in the picture such as viral marketing, affiliate programs, SEO, collaboration and virtual teams, etc that is in fact a result of studied digital goods selling methods years ago.

L’origine Du Monde Essay

L’Origine du monde is an oil painting realized by Courbet in 1866. It may be the most controversial piece of art that the famous artist has ever presented. Consisting of a 46Ãâ€"55 centimeters close up on a woman’s genitals, the picture makes all the conventions shatter and gets any audience uncomfortable. This essay first explores the historical trajectory of L’Origine du monde, from its origins to its rediscovery since 1995. The painting results from Courbet’s imaginary as well as a precise historical context: the era of the Second Empire was indeed characterized by its interest for nude and erotic painting, what encouraged Courbet to revitalize in his realistic manner this kind of practicing art. Considered as scandalous, the picture has remained hidden during almost one century until its being given to the Orsay Museum, which the piece of art enters on the 26th June 1995. Turning to a more precise analysis of the painting, the essay then emphasizes its ambiguity: although the aim of the painter was to represent the reality of a woman body, trying to reach objectiveness, there is also a will to make the audience react, mind about his relation to nudity. Therefore, the paper leans upon the taxonomy of nudity vs. nakedness in order to understand the peculiar subject of this painting. The last issue the paper deals with is the question of genders in L’Origine du monde. Lots of artists have included Courbet’s painting in their artwork. A case in point of this broad reinterpretation is Orlan’s photograph entitled War’s Origin: Orlan took the same disposition up for its picture as Courbet’s one but represented a man’s genitals instead. By the play on words between both titles, she makes L’Origine du monde enter the gender debate, using nudity as a weapon and genitals as witnesses. Introduction The gender debate highlights the difficulty to get over the biologics and give a social definition of woman. The status of women artists and broadly talking the relation between art and women are some quite good indicators of these difficulties. They help revealing the huge evolution which art has experienced over one century regarding the feminine gender. Since feminist movements rose in modern societies during the seventies, it seems like women have tried to get rid of the taboos around their body. Although they were meant to protect decency, the sense of modesty has in fact prevented any social evolution of the status of woman and any changing in the social perception of her body. Dealing with this issue one hundred years before it becomes one of the main topics of public debate, Courbet painted L’Origine du monde in 1866. Consisting of a 46Ãâ€"55 centimeters close up on a woman’s genitals, the picture makes all the conventions shatter and gets any audience uncomfortable, what may explain the chaotic history of this piece of art. We may therefore wonder what Courbet’s intents were by choosing to bring such a provocative picture to the fore. In which debate did he want his work to take part? What is the current role of L’Origine du monde in the gender show? L’Origine du monde : a time bomb†¦ The painting genesis How did Courbet come to this piece of art? This has been the big questioning since Courbet has painted it in secret in the 1860s. Several previous pictures had yet announced the tone of what would be named much later L’Origine du monde. A case in point is the painting Paresse et Luxure, also dated from 1866, where the artist stages two women making love. We could also quote Les Baigneuses painted in 1853 that shows a naked fat woman coming out of the water, with all her rolls of fat and her smudged feet. Courbet has a real fascination for woman’s body which he aim at representing with no effect, in his natural – and to him beautiful – state. To realize its close up, the painter surely got inspirited from pornographic photographs which were becoming more and more numerous at that time. He also brought his imaginative world in: Courbet spent his whole childhood in the mountains of the Jura, and L’Origine du monde presents a troubling likeness with a drawing he had realized in his youth of the entry of La Dame verte cave. The same disposition, close colors, all these factors contribute to make woman’s genitals become fascinating and schemer, like this cave that used to fill Courbet’s dreams in. The historical context At the time Courbet painted L’Origine du Monde, nudity was a fashionable topic. The audience was keen of â€Å"vaguely erotic pieces of art provided they were idealized, [†¦] almost immaterial. † Thus many artists who represented nudity and exhibited their paintings at the Salon des representations became famous and obtained a great recognition for their work. Among these, considered nowadays as academic or even classical, let’s quote Alexandre Cabanel and his painting entitled La Naissance de Venus. It represents a naked woman surrendered by a few putti who is having an orgasm. Though, due to the mythological topic, this piece of art has not been considered as scandalous at the time it has been presented, in 1863. This is precisely what Courbet rejects. To his mind, this way of painting women’s body is hypocritical. His ultimate goal is to get as close as possible from reality, and not to conform to the classic rules. The way he paints fleshes is therefore interesting: he gives them a crude consistency and bright colors. The exile until 1995 In 1864, Venus et Psyche a previous painting from Courbet was refused at the Salon because of its â€Å"indecency†. This do show that the audience could not have appreciated L’Origine du monde: people would have simply rejected it without trying to understand its message. That’s why Courbet kept his work hidden until his death. Concealed behind a green tapestry, he showed it to some rare and privileged visitors, which he considered as able to understand the artistic intents behind genitals. The piece of art has ever since had a chaotic story: going from owner to owner, the painting remains reserved to a restricted circle of initiates. A roman has even been published that tells the whole story of the piece of art: Le roman de l’Origine by Bernard Teyssedre. It ends with the entry of L’Origine du monde, in Orsay museum on the 26th, June 1995. In a nutshell, the painting has experienced a long exile from its being realized in secret to its being revealed to the world in 1995. One century off the spotlights: here is the price of Courbet’s brilliant audacity. †¦which asks the question of nudity. 1. Construction of the painting L’Origine du monde is an oil painting that offers an unconventional and pornographic framing of a woman’s body. In the center of the picture, she presents her pubis topped by an imposing hairiness contrasting with the pervasive flesh. She also shows generously proportioned hips and belly. We can even make a breast out, which is partly hidden by the white woolen surrounding the painting’s subject. In both bottom corners, there are wide thighs, which emphasize the pinkish crack in the foreground that is like a knife wound in the picture. 2. A naked woman Courbet was issued from the realist movement. That is to say that he contemplated to draw things as he saw them, trying to reach what he considered as objectiveness. That’s partly what he did by painting L’Origine du monde. What is it? A naked woman, nothing more, nothing less. There is no fig-leaf to hide what conventions would condemn. There is nothing else than the woman on the picture: her body is the only thing represented, what means that it has an interest in itself. Nakedness becomes the subject of the painting. But nakedness does not imply aesthetics. Courbet painted each roll of fat, each stretch mark, each hair that constitutes this dark and schemer hole in the middle of the picture. He wanted to draw a woman, not the woman as men were used to idealizing her, because even if the first is only part of the diversity of women in the world, the second one is linked with fantasy rather than with reality. That’s what John Berger described as nakedness: â€Å"to be naked is to be oneself† he said. Who then could be more naked than the model of L’Origine du monde? A nude woman However, shall we deny any longer that there is something more than description in this picture? No we don’t! The first sign which shows that Courbet did not content himself with painting what he saw is the position of the model’s legs. They make a right angle: quite an uncomfortable position which has nothing natural! He did not paint a sleeping woman; he painted a woman voluntarily and deliberately exhibiting her genitals. This painting seems to be aggressive; even if this woman has no head, she looks at the audience and encourages viewers to examine her pubis. They cannot look elsewhere; whatever they do, the picture wins: Courbet shows what should not be visible what cause any viewer to become a voyeur who must face his own relationship to nudity. This way, the model is nude rather than naked. According to John Berger and the famous taxonomy we have already dealt with, to be nude is â€Å"to be seen naked by others. [†¦] Nudity is placed on display. † Here we are! L’Origine du monde carries a message to the viewer. Its shocking nature is no goal, but a mean to make us mind about our relation to nudity. An ode to woman 1. Unveiling the sacred Religions are bound to regulate relations between what is sacred and what is on Earth. Sense of modesty has been enforced by the Christianity in the Middle-age. It is thus a product of religion that tells us which corporal behavior is acceptable and which is not. Religion has become the intermediate between us and our body, above all as far as woman’s body is concerned. Christianity established rules to interact with nudity. Nudity must not be public, naked body should never be seen. Courbet parodies this narrow-minded way of thinking with L’Origine du monde. First, the circumlocution that constitutes the title is revealing: endowing the woman’s genitals with the power of creation, he gives to his work a universal dimension, a solemnity that contrasts with the effective subject of the painting. This should never be seen? Well Courbet dedicated a whole painting where he tried to be as accurate as he was able to. A single detail misses: the model seems to have no clitoris. Maybe another way Courbet found to give his work a more serious tone to mock the Christian vision of nudity. Another case in point is the white woolen under the model, which almost gives a mythological atmosphere to the painting. In a nutshell, Courbet displays contempt towards classical vision of nudity by unveiling what should never be seen. But this distancing with classical vision goes further: he aims to put woman social status in question. L’Origine du Monde vs. L’Origine de la guerre In 1989, a French artist, Orlan, realized L’Origine de la guerre, which is actually a rerun of Courbet’s painting. It is a photograph of a man’s tumid genitals, where the disposition is scrupulously the same as in L’Origine du monde. The style is also meant to match perfectly with the realism of her model: Orlan chose photography – a proof of Courbet’s talent to draw reality. She even has imitated the baroque frame of L’Origine du monde so as to make the parallel between her work and Courbet’s one get striking. Why did she so? In fact, Orlan had understood the polemical impact of L’Origine du monde behind the struggle on decency issue. She had foreseen that the painting dealt with woman rather than with nudity. As a consequence, she wanted it to enter the gender debate and that’s what she did by exhibiting her piece of art entitled L’Origine de la guerre. The play on words between both titles is the starting point of her message. Man is violent, dominant, what may be emphasized by the fact the penis has been represented in erection. Sexuality is a mean for man to settle his domination, whereas woman’s genitals represent life and peace. By putting the blame on man, Orlan speaks in favor of woman. By rerunning Courbet’s work, she allows for a better understanding of its message. Woman’s status in question We saw that Courbet, through his painting, puts the stress on our relation to nudity and by the way on the status of woman in modern societies. L’Origine du monde is a reflection on woman’s misleading status as well as a cure to remedy it. He makes every taboo about woman body shatter since he seems to be thinking this is the way woman will get their social emancipation. Sense of modesty is in fact a way to keep woman prisoner of society. This prevents any changing in the established order that could jostle male domination on woman. Looking at what should never be seen compels any audience to come to the conclusion that decency is arbitrary. Sense of modesty has nothing natural and one can easily outstrip such a moral rule.

Against School Essay

In his essay â€Å"Against School† John Gatto argues that public education cripples America’s kids in many different aspects of their lives. Gatto claims that compulsory schooling is what is wrong with our nation’s educational system. He states that schools are really laboratories of experimentation on young minds and drill centers for the habits and attitudes that society demands. â€Å"I had more than enough reason to think of our schools—with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers-as virtual factories of childishness (Gatto, Against School). † The only real purpose of schools, Gatto believes, is to turn the children into servants. Throughout their twelve years of schooling students are forced to conform to society’s expectations, and along the way the students and teachers lose the value of a true education. Do we really need school? Does school have to be in this exact design, â€Å"Six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years (Gatto, Against School)? † Does it mean attending a cold lifeless classroom, surrounded by fellow students that are bored with their studies and a teacher who seems to have little to no motivation left? Gatto specifies a significant number of successful Americans that were not put through the schooling system but still turned out to be productive such as, George Washington. Gatto says, â€Å" We have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think of â€Å"success† as synonymous with, or at least dependent upon, â€Å"schooling,† but historically that isn’t true in either an intellectual or financial sense. † Gatto believes the main reason for the existence of schooling is to train uniform citizens and reduce originality, therefore, making every individual the same. Also, he says the school system is made for certain profits to the economy because it encourages obedience to authority and promotes manipulation in children’s attitudes, including the determination of their social roles. The schooling system’s main focus is to integrate the social, economic and political economy into the children’s studies. Ultimately, Gatto concludes that school drills children to be employees and consumers. A child’s capacity for imagination and maturity is limited rather than encouraged by compulsory schooling, which should have never been the case. There still may be a glimpse of hope at the end of this darkened tunnel. Gatto claims that if teachers and parents put enough effort in, they could help kids â€Å"take† an education rather than receive it. When children â€Å"take† an education they are active participants in their future, which becomes the key to their success. However, when students passively receive an education they may have the knowledge on hand but do not know how to put it to use. He supposes he can bring out the best qualities in children by giving them the chance to make decisions and take risks from time to time, rather than confining them to schooling. By encouraging the best qualities of youthfulness, introducing kids to competent adults, allowing children to take personal risks and being more flexible about time, texts, and tests Gatto believes the whole outlook on our schooling system could be changed. Throughout his essay, â€Å"Against School† Gatto warns of the dangers of our public schooling systems yet, his cynicism is balanced with positive suggestions for those who want change. He illustrates how school is a prison where children are forced to grow up at a rapid pace and are denied the right to make their own decisions. On the other hand, he suggests that if you know the logic behind school systems, their traps can easily be avoided and therein lies his answer: â€Å"School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers. School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently (Gatto, Against School). † Gatto gives various examples about how teachers can take action to make the school system better but when they don’t reach beyond the norm the responsibility for ensuring a truly educated and mature child may depend upon the parents.

Denim Finishing Company Case Essay

Mrs. Kelsey Bowser using the ABC method decided to use the number of garments as the cost driver of the change-over costs. Nevertheless, I argue that this was not the best possible choice. I will try to defend my point using the following example. Let’s assume that Guess Who Jeans demands 600, not 500 garments per shipment. Although the number of garments changes, the total change-over costs would stay the same, because no additional retooling of the machine would be necessary. The whole change-over process takes 3 hours regarding if the number of garments is 200, 500 or 800. Furthermore, let’s strictly theoretically assume that the company is able to achieve some extra capacity and one batch is now composed of 150 garments instead of 100 garments. Still, although the total number of garments would vastly increase, the change-over costs would be altered only partially. The opportunity cost measured as a lost contribution margin would slightly increase, but the out-of-po cket costs would stay the same, as the wages of the employees and supplies costs will not change. Thus, it is clear that the number of garments is not the proper cost driver for the change-over costs. In my opinion the number of shipments would be a much better cost driver for the change-over costs. Regarding the number of garments or the number of batches Guess Who Jeans demands every shipment requires the change-over costs to be incurred twice. For instance, if 99 shipments were made, the total change-over costs would equal $351 * 198 = $69,498, because two change-overs ($702) would not have to be undertaken. Thus, the number of shipments clearly drives the analyzed costs. Unlikely the previous example with the number of garments per batch increasing to 150, the number of shipments fully ‘drives’ the change-over costs. Every time the number of shipments rises or falls, the change-over costs change by the full amount of the two per-changeover costs which properly reflect the real situation. Using such a cost driver may be problematic when the allocation of the chang e-over costs is analyzed. Nevertheless, I argue that those cost should be solely allocated to the propriety denim finishing. The demand for the stonewashing services exceeds the company’s capacity. Thus, if the Guess Who Jeans’ offer was declined, the company would use the whole capacity for stonewashing. However, if the offer was accepted the stonewashing processes would be somehow ‘interrupted’ by the propriety denim finishing. Each ‘interruption’, and therefore each shipment would require incurring the change-over costs twice. No factor connected with stonewashing ‘drives’ those costs. Regarding the number of batches or garments used in the stonewashing process each shipment necessitates the cost of $702. Therefore, I believe this cost should be associated with every shipment done by Guess Who Jeans. In Appendix A I present the product profitability analysis using the number of shipment as the cost driver. Moreover, Mrs. Kelsey Bowser claims that the change-over costs should be treated as product-sustaining costs. Nevertheless, I believe her opinion is wrong. I believe these costs should be on the batch level in the cost hierarchy. Hence, I believe the initial analysis undertaken by Mrs. Bowser was correct, although the cost driver she selected was improper. Product-sustaining level costs could be defined as ‘activities that are needed to support an entire product line but are not performed every time a new unit or batch of products is produced’ [Hilton 2010]. Although the first part of the definition applies to the change-over costs, it is clearly not the case when the second part of the definition is concerned. The change-over costs have to be incurred every time the shipments is delivered and the propriety denim finishing has to be done. Therefore, I believe these costs should be rather placed as the batch-level costs in the cost hierarchy. Batch-level costs are believed to ‘arise from activities performed once for each batch or lot of products’ [Zimmerman 2011]. Since the change-over costs need to be incurred every shipment, placing them at this level in the hierarchy seems reasonable. 2. It is clear that before accepting the proposal several nonfinancial issues have to be considered in order to make a reasonable decision. First, the management should think how accepting the Gues Who offer would affect the relations with the other clients. Since Guess Who requires the Denim Finishing Company not to offer the particular type of finish to other customers, it is very likely that relations with other firms will worsen. The Denim Finishing Company has been cooperating with many companies for a long time. Therefore, those companies may dislike the fact that the new client receives the special treatment, while such benefits could not be observed in their case, even though they have been the customers for ages. Consequently, the Denim Finishing Company’s reputation may shrink and furthermore the firm may lose some of its customers that it had long term relations established with. Accepting the Guess Who offer, as mentioned before, would require the Denim Finishing Company to offer the certain time of finish exclusively to Guess Who. Hence, the firm would be prohibited from providing other companies with this service. Before making the decision it should be analyzed if that could lead to potential losses in the future. For instance, although cooperating with Guess Who may be beneficial, the potential gains from offering that type of finish to other clients could be higher. If so, the Denim Finishing Company should rather provide the service to other firms. Naturally, before making such a decision it has to be determined if other firms would require the Denim Finishing Company to offer the service exclusively to them, like it is the case for Guess Who. Offering exclusive service to one company may result in other companies’ (not only potential clients as mentioned in the previous paragraph, but also current ones) demands for exclusive treatment. If other clients, especially those who have been cooperating with the Denim Finishing Company for a long time, realize that it is possible to receive such a special treatment, they would likely claim for it too, as it could give them a competitive advantage over other firms in their industry. Thus, the Denim Finishing Company would undoubtedly face a big problem. It theoretically could increase the prices for the firms that demand exclusive service, but it could lead to losing those clients. Accepting or declining the Guess Who offer may also result in potential conflicts within the firm that have to be considered. For instance, Bruce Farrand who is against the offer may be so determined in defending his point of view that if the offer is accepted, he will decide to terminate his employment. However, he might be so valuable for the company that the gains from the cooperation with Guess Who would not compensate for the value added by Mr. Farrand. Moreover, some other conflicts could arise in the company after deciding either. Before making the decision it would also be recommended to analyze the potential influence the service offered to Guess Who could have on the machine. Since providing the finish would require constant and often retooling of the machine, it could negatively affect the lifetime of the machine. What is more, it is possible that the quality of services done by the machine would shrink because of those often changes. Hence, the satisfaction among clients could diminish and the high cost of purchasing new machine would have to be incurred soon. It also cannot be forgotten that the current demand exceeds the firm’s capacity and some of its clients already use services provided by other companies. Thus, if the Denim Finishing Company’s has even less time for stonewashing, these clients can shift to competitors. Finally, it should be estimated what potential nonfinancial benefits could cooperating with Guess Who bring to the Denim Finishing Company. Guess Who is considered to be a company that offers innovative and premium products. Thus, being an important business partner of such a firm could have a positive impact on the Denim Finishing Company’s reputation. Consequently, it could attract new clients and encourage more companies to cooperate with the Denim Finishing Company. Moreover, successful cooperation with Guess Who Jeans could lead to extending the business relations with that company. For instance, it could outsource more of its production to the Denim Finishing Company. 3. If I were Tom Corcoran, I would undoubtedly have a few questions for the controller. First, I would ask about all the problems mentioned in the two previous questions. As mentioned before, I believe that Mrs. Bowser did not place the change-over costs at the right level in the cost hierarchy. Hence, I would like to get to know why she decided to treat them as product-sustaining costs, while there are a lot of arguments supporting the idea to treat them as batch-level costs. Furthermore, the cost driver chosen by Mrs. Bowser is highly doubtful. I would require the explanation how and to what extent in her opinion the number of garments ‘drives’ the change-over costs. Since I believe the number of garments is not the right cost driver, I would ask Mrs. Bowser for some other type of profitability analysis, such as the analysis presented in Appendix A. The analysis presented at the meeting by the controller could be misleading. Both Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 4 present data that is in my opinion inaccurate. Moreover, as it was analyzed in the second question accepting or declining the offer could lead to multiple nonfinancial outcomes that may play a significant role on the company’s profitability. Hence, I would ask if such factors have been analyzed and if so, what possible impact they may have. I also believe that Tom Corcoran would be most interested in the total profit his company would have under both scenarios. Analyses presented at the meeting, as valuable as they might be, do not contain such information. For instance, they do not include the facility-sustaining costs that the Denim Finishing Company has to incur. Hence, it would be recommended to present Tom Corcoran with the yearly profit the firm may earn. Moreover, I would ask Mrs. Bowser about the accuracy of her assumptions in Exhibit 4. She estimates that the costs of the proprietary process, as well as the price paid by Guess Who Jeans wi ll not change during the year. However, it may not necessarily be the case. The analysis relies on historical costs that may not be appropriate for the future estimations. Thus, I would like to know if Mrs. Bowser took that aspect into account. Another question would regard the overhead rates of the batch- and unit-level costs. The rates were estimated when only stonewashing was done. However, accepting the offer from Guess Who Jeans would require retaining from using the machine for 600 hours. This could likely result in different overhead costs and consequently different overhead rates. The batch-level utility cost can be particularly problematic. It is ‘driven’ by the machine hours and as previously mentioned the machine is not used for 3 hours before and 3 hours after the shipment. Furthermore, the case makes it unclear whether drying is also performed by the Unit #4. The per-garment utilities cost includes 3 hours for washing and 3 hours for drying. However, when the change-over is undertaken, the washing is not performed, because the machine cannot be used. Therefore, during the change-over the utilities cost is possibly lower. This is especially important for the opportunity cost analysis. Since the case is lacking information explaining the problem, if I were Tom Corcoran I would like to clarify it. Finally, I strongly believe that it would also be necessary to ask Mrs. Bowser about the facility-sustaining costs. Such costs are ignored in the controller’s analysis. Nevertheless, they still affect the company’s profitability. Hence, I would like to get to know how big those costs are. Moreover, the facility-sustaining costs could also be somehow influenced by the possible cooperation with Guess Who Jeans. For instance, the security or insurance costs could rise, since the service is supposed to be offered exclusively to that particular client. Therefore, the analysis of the capacity-sustaining costs would also be useful. To sum up, if I were Tom Corcoran I would have many doubts about the controller’s analysis. I would probably ask her to prepare yet another presentation that includes my suggestions. However, if I were to make the decision, I probably would accept the Guess Who Jeans’ offer. The analysis in the Appendix A, although it does not include nonfinancial factors and may not properly reflect all the costs, clearly shows that such a scenario leads to increased profits. 4. Activity-based costing is undoubtedly a useful tool that could help the management to make the optimal decision. It is much more accurate that the traditional costing systems. Distinguishing various activities and determining cost drivers relating to them helps to more precisely allocate the costs. Using one cost driver for all the amount of the overhead could create the situation where the indirect costs are not really ‘driven’ by the particular cost. For instance, although direct labor hours might to some extent determine the value of the overhead, the influence may only be partial, especially regarding certain products. Using various cost drivers for various activities largely eliminates this problem. What is more, selecting particular cost drivers for respective activities enables ‘taxing’ certain activities. This internal tax system gives an incentive to reduce certain costs and therefore improve the company’s efficiency. For instance, if machine labor hours are chosen as a driver for the production activity there is an impulse to lower the number of machine labor hours which consequently results in decreased value of overhead, lower costs and higher profits. Under Activity-Based Costing the share of costs allocated directly to the products increases. Thus, the company better understand where its overhead costs go to. It enables the firm to identify the products that are not profitable and undertake relevant actions, such as decreasing costs, raising the price or withdrawing the product. However, the cost hierarchy helps to make such decision regarding not only particular products, but also batches and product lines. This undoubtedly allows making decisions that are more profit-maximizing. Moreover, in the ABC the practical capacity is used. Therefore, it is possible to determine the unused capacity. Diminishing the unused capacity is definitely helpful in maximizing the profits of the company. Hence, Activity-Based Costing provides the management with the information necessary to make optimal decisions. To compare, the traditional costing systems do not give such a possibility. However, the ABC method also has some flaws that may result in making a non-optimal production decision. Some of those disadvantages could be observed in the previous questions. First, the system is believed to be complicated. As noticeable in the first question choosing the proper cost driver for the particular activity might be problematic. Selecting the wrong driver could lead to biased results and consequently the decision that is not profit-maximizing. Furthermore, trying to maintain the cost hierarchy may also be difficult, as shown in the example of Mrs. Bowser from the Denim Finish Company. The results when the costs were determined as the batch-level where completely different than when they were analyzed to be product-level. Thus, such easily made mistakes could result in a non-optimal decision. Furthermore, as it could be seen in the second question Activity-Based Costing does not include any nonfinancial measures. Thus, even though pure financial values may show that a particular decision is profit-maximizing, it might not necessarily be the case. Other factors, such as e.g. loss of reputation could actually result in decreased profits. Finally, the ABC method requires gathering data from the whole company, often through interviews. Hence, there is a relatively big possibility that collected data is not perfectly accurate. To sum up, the Activity-Based Costing method is quite reliable tool in making optimal production decisions, especially compared to the traditional costing systems. However, the system has to be carefully planned and implemented, because any mistakes could lead to inaccurate results. Choosing the wrong cost driver and improper assignment of the costs in the cost hierarchy may result in undesired errors. Furthermore, as useful as the ABC is, the management cannot rely solely on financial values provided by the method. Before making the decision all nonfinancial factors have to be considered. Only such a consideration combined with the information supplied by the properly designed and applied Activity-Based Costing system can lead to the optimal production decision. 5. The marginal costing analysis may undoubtedly be a useful tool in making an optimal decision. However, it has to be used carefully, because some of its suggestions may be misleading. This could also be observed in the analysis presented by Mrs. Bowser. The concerns are somehow parallel to the questions raised before. First, the marginal costing analysis does not include any nonfinancial factors. Hence, although the particular activity may seem profitable, it might not necessary be true. Second, the analysis is based on the historical, not the actual costs. The actual costs and price that Guess Who Jeans would be required to pay may differ over the time. Similarly, the application of the overhead depends on the estimates rather than the actual values. Thus, over or underabsorption may happen. Moreover, as mentioned before, after accepting the offer the overhead rates could change. Thus, the costs provided by the controller in the analysis might be inaccurate. As pointed out in the previous question the case is lacking the information about the possible decrease in the utilities costs during the change-overs. If that was true, the opportunity cost associated with the lost contribution margin on sales of 70,000 stonewashed garments would considerably increase. Considerably, the incremental profit from accepting the new offer would diminish. Another problem with Mrs. Bowser’s analysis, as well as with all the marginal costing analyses is that they do not include the costs that do not change with the unit volume. However, such costs could also influence the decision. Although the analysis presented by the controller shows that accepting the offer would be highly profitable, the figures would not look so vastly appealing if the amount of capacity-sustaining overhead was included in the Exhibit. Furthermore, the presented analysis is only a short-term one. Nevertheless, before making a strategic management the management also has to cons ider the long-term perspective. The analysis shows that in the certain year the incremental profits from accepting the Guess Who Jeans’ offer would equal some particular value. The analysis only includes one year though. In the following years the profits could be lower and thus declining the offer could actually be a better decision. For instance, imagine that Guess Who Jeans needs the propriety denim finishing services for its new products that are just to be introduced to the market. The client may expect the high demand for the new product in the first year. However, in the following years the demand for the product, and consequently for the Denim Finishing Company’s services may shrink. Finally, the marginal costing analysis includes only one-case scenario. It assumes that the projected and the actual number of shipments will be equal. However, it is not certain if that will happen. If some unexpected events happen the marginal costing analysis will not properly reflect the real situation. It cannot be forgotten that the marginal costing analysis is a simple and straightforward tool that can support the decision making. It is particularly useful when two products or divisions are to be compared. Moreover, it can give the management the basis for analyzing the opportunity cost of declining the Guess Who Jeans’ offer. However, the marginal costing analysis should be used carefully. I believe it should be treated as a supportive instrument for decision making rather than the major source of information. Hence, if the controller alter a few things, the analysis could help to make the optimal, profit-maximizing decision.