Juvenile Delinquency Increasing Juvenile Crime and...

Juvenile Delinquency: Increasing Juvenile Crime and Violence These days, children have been exposed to many dangers such as child abuse or kidnapping. This situation has not been improved so far, besides it is getting worse and worse. In present society, parents have to keep their eyes on children anytime because any children are potentially involved in crimes. On the other hand, Furedi, author of Culture of Fear, mentions â€Å"Children are depicted as more and more out of control† (20). Children themselves are considered as dangerous beings. The media broadcast juvenile delinquency one after another and they are focusing on it more than ever before so watching the news about the child crime is not unusual anymore. We suppose that†¦show more content†¦The data that the child crime is decreasing is actually surprise to me. Maybe many people think that the juvenile delinquency is increasing dramatically. This issue is not simple to say that children are not dangerous from this fact. Even though the crimes are decreasing during 9 0’s, why are old people afraid of children? Furedi states â€Å"Surveys show that many old people are actually scared of children and teenagers† (108). The child crime has been constantly decreasing during 90’s. However, the circumstances of the crimes are different from the past. The number of fatal shooting at schools and school-related violent deaths in the United States since the late 1980s has been a wake-up call to the nation about the accessibility of firearms to unstable, high-risk youth and their potential to create mass harm and havoc. (Flowers 52) The school where teenagers study changed the safe place into the dangerous one. The tragedy which was caused by eighteen and seventeen year old kids at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, was shocking enough to imprint us that schools are not safe and teenagers are dangerous. There is no end to the other examples. The substances of crime are changing during the past decade. It becomes more and more atrocious. Flowers also mentions â€Å"Studies have shown that firearms were fairly easy to obtain for youths, especially those living in high-risk neighborhoods† (30). This situation that teenager can obtainShow MoreRelatedJuvenile Delinquency Essay1646 Words   |  7 PagesA juvenile delinquent offense is an act committed by a juvenile for which an adult would be tried at a criminal court. New statistics give an alarming picture: juvenile delinquency is higher as never before. According to the census bureau, in 2008 there were 1,653,000 recorded delinquent offenses in t he United States. This is a 23.6% increase from 1990 when 1,337,000 delinquent offenses occurred. Today, a lot of people demand lowering the age of criminal responsibility and draconian penalties (JensonRead MoreCriminological Theories Of Juvenile Violence845 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout time, society has seen its fair share of crime from miniscule crimes to the most serious types of offenses like murder and rape. Violence can come from all shape and sizes from women, men, children, mentally ill, etc. An increasing problem in recent decades include juvenile violence. Juveniles can commit violence for an infinite amount of reasons like parental abuse, being bullied in school or peers, mental illness, and other outside factors. Juvenile are in a period in their lives where countlessRead MoreFactors That Cause The Increase Rate Of Juvenile Delinquency Essay1666 Words   |  7 Pagesincrease rate of Juvenile delinquencies. A survey research design will be used. Simple random sampl ing technique will be used while questionnaire and interview schedule will be necessary data collection instruments. This project will use the findings to know how to reduce the increasing rates of juvenile delinquency and also how to improve the current juvenile institutions available in order to be more productive. Juvenile Delinquency Introduction Juvenile delinquency is a situationRead MoreVideo games and juvenile delinquency700 Words   |  3 Pages Video games and juvenile delinquency In the modern society’s setting, juvenile delinquency is at a rising trend. This is the most lightly penalized crime committed by minors worldwide. A delinquent is an underage person who indulges in criminal doings; these crimes are more often than not based on their behavior. Their behaviors are mostly characterized by carelessness, unnecessary roughness and wild nature. Delinquents are in every state worldwide. Juvenile delinquency has been attributed toRead MoreContributing Factors to Juvenile Delinquency1620 Words   |  7 PagesJuvenile delinquency, according to Agnew and Brezina, is the violation of the law by a minor which is any persons under the age of 18 in most states. There are many contributing factors to juvenile delinquency such as domestic issues or stress at school, and there are also four different theories, strain, social learning, control, and labeling, to explain the different prospective of why it is thought that juveniles commence in delinquent behavi or. This particular discussion however, is going toRead MoreCauses and Solution of Juvenile Delinquency in America Essay1726 Words   |  7 Pagesmore than 3300 young adults under the age of 18† (Khan).Juvenile delinquency can be caused by the influence gangs,bullying, and bad parenting. This topic caught my attention because there a lot of kids getting arrested each year for crimes committed and kids getting involved in gangs, also kids getting access to weapons,drugs, or getting bully by other people. However juvenile delinquency can be prevented by offering bullying prevention, violence prevention curriculums and mentoring programs. â€Å"If gangsRead MoreThe Effects Of Juvenile Delinquency On Teens864 Words   |  4 PagesIt is very normal in the cities that shown these crime rates have been rapidly increasing. Usually it has been occurred in rural or urban areas. Increase of population in urban shows poverty, unstable, underdevelopment, deficiency and lack of housing areas. Theses can also affect teens that increase-doing crimes in which it called juvenile delinquency. There are two terms that define juvenile delinquency, 1: conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is a beyond parental controlRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency Is A Problem1508 Words   |  7 PagesJuvenile Delinquency When looking into the history of United States and elsewhere juvenile delinquency is a problem and has been one for over a century. Like other systems in place, the system involving juvenile delinquents has gone through many stages. In the case of the juvenile delinquency, it has gone through four stages, with us presently in the fourth. The causes behind juvenile delinquency are still unknown even today. Some blame it on the current culture, the over-exposure to violenceRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency1154 Words   |  5 PagesA traumatic childhood may predispose a child to violence against themselves or against others, in adolescence or adulthood. This information is and has been off the records, but so far no known relationship between the magnitude of traumatic experiences and different forms of violence at puberty. A study published in Pediatrics, which involved 136,549 U.S. students between 12 and 17 has been commissioned to evaluate this relationship. The researchers sought to determine six adverse experiences forRead MoreJuvenile Delinquency in the United States1585 Words   |  6 PagesJuvenile Crime Statistics Wendy R Swartz Keiser University Abstract: In this document, the topic of juvenile delinquency in the United States is thoroughly examined. Approximately 1.5 million minors (those are citizens who are under the age of 18) are arrested for criminal activity each year in the US. These juveniles are arrested for a variety of crimes; everything from petty vandalism and loitering to prostitution, drug dealing, and even murder. Of these, 70% of offenders will be tried and

Diversification and Firm Performance Free Essays

DIVERSIFICATION AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION Anil M. Pandya and Narendar V. Rao Abstract Diversification is a strategic option that many managers use to improve their firms’ performance. We will write a custom essay sample on Diversification and Firm Performance or any similar topic only for you Order Now This interdisciplinary research attempts to verify whether firm level diversification has any impact on performance. The study finds that on average, diversified firms show better performance compared to undiversified firms on both risk and return dimensions. It also tests the robustness of these results by classifying firms by performance class. The results show that among the best performing class of firms, undiversified firms have higher returns, but these returns are accompanied by high variance. Whereas, highly diversified firms show lower returns, and much lower variance. Results further show that diversified firms perform better than undiversified firms on risk and return dimensions, in the low and average performance classes. The paper concludes that a dominant undiversified firm may perform better than a highly diversified firm in terms of return but its riskiness will be much greater. If managers of such firms opt for diversification, their returns will decrease, but their riskiness will reduce proportionately more than the reduction in their returns. In such firms, there will be a tradeoff between risk and return. INTRODUCTION Two seemingly irreconcilable facts motivate this study: one, diversification continues to be an important strategy for corporate growth; and two, while Management and Marketing disciplines favor related diversification, Finance makes a strong case against corporate diversification. With the help of a large sample, this interdisciplinary study tries to address this contradiction in the associative relationship between diversification and firm performance. Diversification is a means by which a firm expands from its core business into other product markets (Aaker 1980, Andrews 1980, Berry 1975, Chandler 1962, Gluck 1985). Research shows corporate management to be actively engaged in diversifying activities. Rumelt (1986) found that by 1974 only 14 percent of the Fortune 500 firms operated as single businesses and 86 percent operated as diversified businesses. Many researchers note a rise in diversified firms (Datta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990). European corporate managers according to a survey, not only favor it but actively pursue diversification (Kerin, Mahajan and Varadarajan 1990). Firms spend considerable sums acquiring other firms or bet heavily on internal RD to diversify away from their core product/markets. Of late U. S. firms are beginning to moderate their zeal for diversification and are consolidating around their core businesses. But this trend has not affected large Asian corporations which continue to remain highly diversified. As in any economic activity there are costs and benefits associated with diversification, and ultimately, a firm’s performance must depend on how managers achieve a balance between costs and benefits in each concrete case. Moreover, these benefits and costs may not fall equally on managers and investors. Management researchers argue that diversification prolongs the life of a firm. Researchers in finance argue diversification benefits managers because it buys them insurance, and shareholders usually bear all the costs of such insurance. Diversification can improve debt capacity, reduce the chances of bankruptcy by going into new product/ markets (Higgins and Schall 1975, Lewellen 1971), and improve asset deployment and profitability (Teece 1982, Williamson 1975). Skills developed in one business transferred to other businesses, can increase labor and capital productivity. A diversified firm can transfer funds from a cash surplus unit to a cash deficit unit without taxes or transaction costs (Bhide 1993). Diversified firms pool unsystematic risk and reduce the variability of operating cash flow and enjoy comparative advantage in hiring because key employees may have a greater sense of job security (Bhide 1993). These are some of the major benefits of diversification strategy. Diversification, firm size, and executive compensations are highly correlated, which may suggest that diversification provides benefits to managers that are unavailable to investors (Hoskisson and Hitt 1990), creating what economists call the agency problem (Fama 1980) and managers stand to lose if they become unemployed, either through poor firm performance or bankruptcy (Bhide 1993, Dutta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990). Diversification can also lead to the problem of moral hazard, the chance that people will alter behavior after entering into a contract-as in a conflict of interest by providing insurance for managers who have invested in firm specific skills, and have an interest in diversifying away a certain amount of firm specific risk and may look upon diversification as a form of compensation (Amihud and Lev 1981, Bhide 1993). Although it may be necessary for a firm to reduce firm specific risk to build relations with suppliers and employees, only top managers can decide what is the right amount of diversification as insurance (Bhide 1993). Diversification can be expensive (Jones and Hill 1988, Porter 1985) and place considerable stress on top management (McDougall and Round 1984). These are the costs of diversification. In the final analysis, this situational argument regarding balancing costs and benefits can only explain the performance of individual firms but it cannot address the theoretical question about the veracity of diversification as a valid corporate strategy. Consequently, following the benefit-cost agreement, whether in general, diversification enhances firm performance becomes an empirical question. Further, recent reviews of the rather extensive literature do not find agreement about the direction of association between firm diversification and firm performance. This lack of a clear answer in the literature motivates the present study. The paper is organized in four sections. The first section briefly reviews the empirical literature and presents the research hypotheses. Section two describes the research methodology and operationalizes the dependent and independent variables. Section three presents the results of the study. The concluding section discusses the results and summarizes the findings. REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESIS The impact of diversification on firm performance is mixed. Three recent reviewers (Datta, Rajagopalan and Rasheed 1991, Hoskisson and Hitt 1990, Kerin, Mahajan and Varadarajan 1990), broadly conclude: (a) the empirical evidence is inconclusive; (b) models, perspectives and results differ based on the disciplinary perspective chosen by the researcher; and  © the relationship between diversification and performance is complex and is affected by intervening and contingent variables such as related versus unrelated diversification, type of relatedness, the capability of top managers, industry structure, and the mode of diversification. Some studies claim diversifying into related product-markets produces higher returns than diversifying into unrelated product-markets and less diversified firms perform better than highly diversified firms (Christensen and Montgomery 1981, Keats 1990, Michel and Shaked 1984, Rumelt 1974, 1982, 1986). Some claim that the economies in integrating operations and core skills obtained in related diversification outweigh the costs of internal capital markets and the smaller variances in sales revenues generated by unrelated diversification (see Datta, Rajagopalan ; Rasheed 1991). While agreeing that related strategy is better than unrelated, Prahalad and Bettis (1986), clarify that it is the insight and the vision of the top managers in choosing the right strategy (how much and what kind of relatedness), rather than diversification per se, which is the key to successful diversification. Accordingly, it is not product-market diversity but the strategic logic that managers use that links firm diversification to performance; which implies that diversified firms without such logic may not perform as well. Markides and Williamson (1994) show that strategic relatedness is superior to market relatedness in predicting when diversifiers related outperform unrelated ones. Others however argue, it is not management conduct so much, but industry structure that governs firm performance (Christensen and Montgomery 1981, Montgomery 1985). Besides diversification types and industry structure, researchers have also looked at the ways firms diversify. Simmonds (1990) examined the combined effects of breadth (related vs. nrelated) and mode (internal R ; D versus Mergers ; Acquisitions) and found that relatedly diversified firms are better performers than unrelatedly diversified firms, and R ; D based product development is better than mergers and acquisition- led diversification (Simmonds 1990, Lamont and Anderson 1985). Among studies of acquisitions the results are mixed. Some report that related acquisitions are better performers than unrelated ones (Kusewitt 1985), or there is no real difference among them (Montgomery and Singh 1984). Some studies on breadth and performance find relatedly diversified firms perform better than firms that are unrelatedly diversified (Rumelt 1974, 1982, 1986). Others show confounding effects in firm performance because of diversification category and industry (Christiansen and Montgomery 1981, Montgomery 1985). Recent studies suggest service firms should not diversify (Normann 1984), whereas, Nayyar (1993), shows that in the service industry diversification ased on information asymmetry is positively associated with performance, whereas diversification based on economies of scope is negatively associated with performance. A contradiction of Johnson and Thomas’ (1987) confirmation of Rumelt’s finding that the appropriateness of product diversity is judged by a balance between economies of scope and diseconomies of scale. It also appears there is a limit on how much a firm can diversify; if a firm goes beyond this point its market value suffers and reduction in diversific ation by refocusing is associated with value creation (Markides 1992). Apart from the empirical evidence, the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) holds that competition among investors for information ensures that current prices of widely traded securities are the unbiased predictors of their future value, and that current prices represent the net present value of its future cash flow. Evidence supports the existence of weak, semi- and near-strong forms of market efficiency (Fama 1970). If this view of the market is true, then investors have the information necessary to construct portfolios of stocks to maximize their risk/return strategies for a given amount of resource. Consequently, a firm’s management cannot do better for the investor by diversifying into different product markets and create a portfolio that will improve returns or better manage risk than investor’s stock portfolio. Stockholders also do not pay a premium for diversified firms (Brealey and Myers 1996); the market does not value risk/return trade-off positively for unrelated diversification (Lubatkin and O’Neil 1987), and acquiring firms only earn normal returns (Lehn and Mitchell 1993), and not economic rents. Finally, corporate takeovers discipline managers who waste shareholder resources and bust-ups promote economic efficiency by reallocating assets to higher valued uses or more efficient uses (Jensen and Ruback 1983, Lehn and Mitchell 1993). The review of empirical literature from Management/Marketing disciplines and the theoretical and empirical literature from Finance show that the relationship between diversification and performance is complex and is affected by intervening and contingent variables. Taken together, the evidence and arguments presented above seems to suggest that diversified firms (i. . highly unrelatedly diversified firms) as a class, should perform less well than an optimal securities portfolio, and thus for our study we propose the following null hypothesis. Our null hypothesis (H0) is that: Highly diversified firms should perform less well than moderately diversified and single product firms. There are numerous arguments and findings against the null hypothesis p roposed above. In certain markets, an investor may face assets constraint in constructing a portfolio, restricting diversification opportunities (Levy 1978). Farrelly, and Reichenstein (1984) show that total risk rather than systematic risk alone, better explains the expertly assessed risk of stocks. Jahera, Lloyd and Page (1987), find well-diversified firms have higher returns regardless of size. DeBondt and Thaler (1985, 1987), argue that the market as a whole overreacts to major events. Prices shoot up on good economic news and decline sharply on bad news. According to Brown and Harlow (1988, 1993), investors hedge their bets and over react or under react to important news by pricing securities below their expected values. As uncertainties decrease, stock prices adjust upwards, regardless of the direction of the impact of the initial event. The post-event adjustment in prices tends to be greater in the case of bad news than in the case of good news. Haugen (1995) also casts doubts on the validity of the EMH. Finally, Fama and French (1992), changing their earlier stance, argue that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is incapable of describing the last fifty years of stock returns, and the beta is not an appropriate measure of risk. This implies that a stockholder may not be better positioned to diversify his portfolio of stocks as compared to a corporate manager as implied by the null hypothesis. On the basis of this discussion, we could argue that market inefficiency may not allow investors to optimally allocate their resources. It can put managers, especially good ones, in a more advantageous position to diversify their product market portfolios and thereby improve firm performance. Thus, our alternate hypothesis (H1) is: that diversified firms perform better in terms of return and risk measures compared to less diversified firms. Thus, on average, diversified firms as a class should perform better than moderately diversified or single-product firms. STUDY DESIGN The availability of the Compustat database has made it possible to study a larger sample of firms over several years and approach the problem of diversification from a more macro perspective. The approach used in this study is akin to that of military historians who examine past battles and in the context of operational tactics conclude that combatants with greater orce (material and manpower) tend to win more often. Those with insufficient force need the advantage of mobility and surprise to neutralize superior force in order to win. These insights, based on outcomes of many battles, allow historians to disengage from contingencies and specificities of stewardship and terrain. This does not imply that situational specifics should be ignored in planning military campaigns. The finding only points out the general truth of certain tactics. Similarly, in the context of the conduct of business strategy, we could also first examine the performance of diversified firms without regard to specifics of strategy, like type, breadth, modality and industry, and figure out if in general, the average performance of diversified firms is better than that of undiversified firms. The diversification literature is unable to demonstrate that diversification type, breadth, modality, and industry have consistent and predictable impact on performance. We therefore treat these as situational contingencies and do not take them into account. Earlier studies of diversification use cross sectional data, small samples and single measures of performance. We on the other hand, examine a large sample of firms with data over a seven year period. We use about two thousand firms, and multiple performance measures. The starting point of our main study is 1984, the earliest data point for segment information available on the Compustat database. Specialization Ratio (revenue from a firm’s largest segment divided by its total revenue) as the dependent variable measures the extent of diversification. Accounting and market returns, their variability, coefficient of variation, and the Sharpe Index are the independent performance variables. The study also tests the robustness of classification of firms based on SR ratios. For this part of the study, the data is available from 1981. It also tests the robustness of results based on the extent of performance and the degree of diversification. MEASUREMENT OF CONCEPTS Diversification is treated as the independent variable in this study. As a policy variable, managers can control the extent of diversification desired, and performance is the dependent variable. This section defines and operationalizes these concepts. Diversification This study uses Specialization Ratio (SR) to classify firms into three classes of diversification. Its logic reflects the importance of the firm’s core product market to that of the rest of the firm (Rumelt, 1974, 1982; Shaikh ; Varadarajan, 1984). After we started this work some researchers have argued that the entropy measure of diversification is probably a better one. We leave it to future research to test the robustness of SR versus other measures of diversification. Operationally, SR is a ratio of the firm’s annual revenues from its largest discrete, product-market activity to its total revenues. In the diversification literature, SR has been one of the methods of choice for measuring diversification. It is easy to understand and calculate. TABLE 1 Values of Specialization Ratios in Rumelt’s and Our Classification Schemes SR Values in Rumelt’s Scheme SR Values in Our Scheme Undiversified, Single Product Firms SR ? . 95 SR ? 0. 95 Moderately Diversified Firms 0. 95 ; SR ? 0. 7 0. 95 ; SR ? 0. 5 Highly Diversified Firms SR ; 0. 7 SR ; 0. 5 Performance Management researchers prefer accounting variables as performance measures such as return on equity (ROE), return on investment (ROI), and return on assets (ROA), along with their variability as measures of risk. Earlier studies typically measure accounting rates of return. These include: (ROI), return on capital (ROC), return on assets (ROA) and return on sales (ROS). The idea behind these measures is perhaps to evaluate managerial performance-how well is a firm’s management using the assets (as measured in dollars) to generate accounting returns per dollar of investment, assets or sales. The problems with these measures are well known. Accounting returns include depreciation and inventory costs and affect the accurate reporting of earnings. Asset values are also recorded historically. Since accounting conventions make these variables unreliable, financial economists prefer market returns or discounted cash flows as measures of performance. For the sake of consistency, we use two accounting measures: ROE and ROA; along with market return to measure performance. Return on equity (ROE) is a frequently used variable in judging top management performance, and for making executive compensation decisions. We use ROE as a measure to judge performance and calculate the average return on equity (AROE) across all sampled firms and time periods, its standard deviation and also the coefficient of variation for each of the three diversification groups. ROE is defined as net income (income available to common stockholders) divided by stockholders equity. The coefficient of variation (CV) gives us the risk per unit of average return. ROA is the most frequently used performance measure in previous studies. It is defined as net income (income available to common stockholders), divided by the book value of total assets. We also calculate the average return on assets (AROA) across all sampled firms and time periods calculate its standard deviation and also the coefficient of variation for each of the three diversification groups. Market return (MKTRET), is the third dependent variable we use. MKTRET is computed for a calendar year by taking the difference between the current year’s ending stock price, and the previous year’s ending price, adding to it the dividends paid out for the year, and then dividing the result by the previous year’s ending price. This study includes companies for which complete data to calculate the variances used is available on Compustat PC- Plus for the period 1984 through 1990. In addition, we calculate the average market return (AMKTRET) for each of the three groups, the standard deviation of AMKTRET, and the Sharpe Index (Sharpe, 1966), a commonly used risk-adjusted performance measure. It measures the risk premium earned per unit of risk exposure. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION As mentioned earlier, Table 1 presents comparison of breaks between Rumelt’s classification and the modified version. Using the Compustat database we then classified 2637 firms using Rumelt’s classification scheme for the years 1981-1990. Table 2 presents the AROE and its standard deviation using Rumelt’s classification. While we intended to calculate AROA and MKTRT for this data set we were unsuccessful because of the problem of missing data. The 1984 – 90 data set proved to be better and was used for the alternate classification scheme for all the three performance variables. Using the same Compustat database, we classified 2188 firms in three groups: Single Product Firms (SR ; 0. 5), Moderately Diversified Firms (0. 5 ? SR ? 0. 95), and Highly Diversified Firms (SR ; 0. 5), for each of the seven years, from 1984 to 1990, for which complete segmental data was available. We kept only those firms in the sample that remained in the same SR category for the entire seven year period, and had all the data for computing the variables. After classification, we calculated each of the t hree performance variables: return on equity (ROE), return on assets (ROA), and market return (MKTRET), for each firm in each of the three groups, for each year from 1984 to 1990. We also calculated the average ROE (AROE), average ROA (AROA), and average MKTRET (AMKTRET), first by averaging across the seven years for each firm, and then by averaging across firms by pooling across the years, along with their standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. Tables 3, 4 and 5 present the results. The number of firms in each performance group varies slightly because we had to ensure that the data was available for all variables, for all the seven years. Statistical Procedure The test of the null hypothesis requires a test of equality of means of each classification group, and for each performance variable. While the study may indicate one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), it is not a robust test. The application of ANOVA requires that the data set meet three critical assumptions: first, the test is extremely sensitive to departures from normality; second, the assumption of homogeneity of variance is necessary; and third, the errors should be independent of group mean. While for our study the first and the third assumptions checked out, the second assumption regarding the homogeneity of variance failed. We carried out Hartley’s test of equality of variance for each performance variable. This test confirmed that variance of the three groups is unequal for each performance variable. We faced the Beherens-Fisher problem or checking for equality of means when variances of the underlying population are unequal. Such situations indicate Cochran’s approximation test for hypotheses testing (Berenson and Levine 1992). This test requires us to test the null hypothesis of equality of means, taken two at a time, and according to the test we must reject the null if the t (observed) exceeds t (critical) at chosen levels of significance. (Statistical information available from authors by request) TABLE 2 Performance Based on Rumelt’s SR Classification Scheme: ROE-1981-1990 N AROE SD CV Undiversified Firms (SR ? 0. 95) 1663 3. 8 277. 73. 13 Moderately Diversified (. 95 SR ? .7) 371 2. 3 181. 2 78. 78 Highly Diversified (SR . 7) 603 9. 9 100. 9 10. 25 Results Classification Methods: Comparison and a Test of Robustness Table 1 compares the breaks in SR values. Table 2 reports the results using Rumelt’s scheme with 1981-1990 data, and Table 3 reports the results using our scheme with 1984-1990 data. The first column in Table 2 shows the three categories of diversification based on SR values; N stands for the number of firms that remained in the same group for the period 1981-1990, and had performance data for the entire period under study; AROE stands for the average of the ROE calculated over N firms; SD stands for the standard deviation of AROA; and CV represents the coefficient of variation, given by the ratio of SD divided by the AROE, representing the risk per unit average return. Tables 3 through 5 follow the same layout for ROE, TABLE 3 Performance As: Return On Equity (AROE)-1984-1990 N AROE SD CV Undiversified 1844 -1. 6 323. 3 NA Moderately Diversified 315 32. 7 409. 4 12. 52 Highly Diversified 23 14. 6 9. 8 0. 67 N= Sample Size, AROE= Average Return on Equity, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of VariationROA and MKTRET. The highly diversified group in Table 2 has AROE of 9. , SD equal to 100. 9 and CV of 10. 25; the moderate group has AROE of 2. 3, SD equals 181. 2 and CV equals 78. 8. The Undiversified group AROE is 3. 8, SD 277. 9 and CV 73. 1. The highly diversified group has the highest AROE, the lowest Standard Deviation and the lowest Coefficient of variation. The results are in the expected direction. The results follow the expected path with the exception that AROE of the moderate group is less than that of the undiversified group but the mean values are not far apart and the difference is statistically insignificant. The result for the undiversified and the highly diversified groups are as expected. The SD values are also in the expected direction. Compare these results with results obtained in Table 3. Table 3 shows the relationship between the degree of diversification and group-wise performance measured by ROE. The sample consists of 1844 single product firms with SR greater or equal to 0. 95. The average ROE of these firms over the seven year period is -1. 6 percent, with a SD of 323. 3. The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. , has 315 firms. The AROE of the group equals32. 7 percent and the SD equals 409. 4. While the AROE of this group is clearly superior to that of single productfirms, the group shows high ROE variability. Thus, the moderately diversified group shows an slightly improvedrisk-return profile. The third group with SR values of less than 0. 5, is the smallest, and includes only 23 firms. The average ROE of the group equals 14. 6 or about half that of the second group, with SD of 9. 8, which is much lower than the first and the second group. The CV is the lowest at 0. 67, which is about 1/20 of the moderate group. Table 3 shows that while highly diversified firms have lower risk than moderately diversified firms; moderately diversified firms have higher average ROE compared to highly diversified firms. It also shows that single product firms have lower risk than moderately diversified firms, but moderately diversified firms have much higher returns. When we combine the return and risk measures as given by the coefficient of variation CV, we do see consistent results, i. e. that highly diversified firms have better risk-return profile than moderately diversified firms; and moderately diversified firms perform better in risk-return terms when compared to single product firms. We find that the Tables 2 and 3 show results in expected direction. The highly diversified groups have higher AROE and lower SD compared to the other two groups. This comparison of the two classification schemes shows sufficient consistency especially in the two extreme groups to strongly suggest that performance tends to be invariant to classification breaks. The comparison also demonstrates the validity of using the more pronounced classification scheme used in this study. Performance as Return on Assets and its Variability Table 4 shows the relationship between the degree of diversification and group-wise performance based on ROA. The sample consists of 1848 single product firms with SR greater or equal to 0. 95. The AROA of these firms over the seven year period is – 1. 9 percent, with a SD of 38. 2. TABLE 4 Performance As: Return On Assets (AROA)-1984-1990 N AROA SD CV Undiversified 1848 -1. 38. 2 NA Moderately Diversified 316 4. 0 5. 0 1. 25 Highly Diversified 24 5. 8 2. 7 0. 47 N= Sample Size, AROA= Average Return on Assets, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of Variation The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. 5 has 316 firms. Its AROA equals 4 percent with a5 percent SD. In absolute terms, the AROA of this group is higher than that of undiversified firms and has lower SDof 5. 0 percent, as compare d to 38. percent of the first group. The CV is positive at 1. 25, which shows a much improved risk-return profile. The third group of the highly diversified firms includes 24 firms, with AROA of 5. 8 and SD of 2. 7. These values are lower than the first and the second group. The CV of this group is high at 0. 47, being 38 percent of the moderate group. Statistical results in Table 2 show that as we move from undiversified group of firms to the highly diversified group of firms, the average return on assets increases, and the variability of ROA as given by SD decreases, and CV or the risk per unit return decreases. Statistically, according to Table 4, the above results are significant at the 1% level. Based on these findings reject the null hypothesis. Performance as Market Return Table 5 reports group-wise markets return performance. The sample consists of 1195 firms in the single product category, and 280 and 23 firms in the moderately and highly diversified groups. The sample for each group is smaller than it was for AROA and AROE because we eliminated firms that did not have complete information for the period under study. The average market return AMKTRET of the undiversified group over the study period is 8. 2 percent. The SD is 21. 1, the risk per unit of return as measured by the CV is 2. 57 and the Sharpe Index is 0. 0421. The moderately diversified group with SR between 0. 95 and 0. 5 has 280 firms. Their AMKTRET equals 13. 2 percent and the SD equals 40. 8 percent. Whereas, the average market return of this group is clearly superior to that of the single product firms, the group shows higher variability as compared to the first one. The CV, i. e. , the risk per unit return also is higher at 3. 8. The Sharpe Index of the moderate group is 0. 1443, about three times higher than the first group, and is in the expected direction. The third group includes 23 firms. Its AMKTRET equals 16. 3, with SD of 10. 1, which is much lower than the first and the second group. The CV is 0. 67, about a fourth of the first group. The Sharpe Index at 0. 89 is about six times higher than that of moderately diversifie d firms. Table 5 shows that the average market return for the highly diversified group is higher than the moderately diversified group, followed by the single product group. The variability of market returns of the highly diversified group is lower than firms in the single product group. Moderately diversified firms on average have a higher market return, but higher risk than single product firms. The Sharpe Index, the inverse of which gives us risk per unit return, and is a better risk-return measure, shows that the performance of highly diversified firms is much better than the moderately diversified ones, and performance of moderately diversified firms is better than single product firms. TABLE 5 Performance As: Market Return (AMKTRET)-1984-1990 N AMKTRET SD CV SI Undiversified 1195 8. 2 21. 1 2. 57 0. 0421 Moderately Diversified 280 13. 2 40. 8 3. 08 0. 1443 Highly Diversified 23 16. 3 10. 1 0. 67 0. 8900 N= Sample Size, AMKRET= Average Market Return, SD= Standard Deviation, CV= Coefficient of Variation, SI= Sharp’s Index Analysis of Results Statistical analysis of the results in Tables 3, 4 and 5 are reported in Table 6. These results look strong. They `show that performance of firms as measured by all the variables in the undiversified group is markedly below that of the firms in the highly diversified group and that these results are statistically significant. The results also show that the performance of firms in the moderately diversified group is better than that of the firms in the undiversified group. These results are also statistically significant. The performance difference between the moderate and highly diversified group however, is not always that clear. When measured on AROA, Sharpe Index and CV, the results are in the expected direction and significant, but when performance is measured by AROE and its SD, and AMKTRET and its SD, the results are not as clear. TABLE 6 Statistical Analysis of Performance Variables STATISTIC AROA AROE AMKTRET n 729. 33 727. 33 499. 3 F max (3,n) 20. 17* 1747. 78* 16. 32* F12 58. 37* 0. 67*+ 0. 27+ F23 3. 43* 1747. 78* 16. 32* F13 200. 17* 1088. 33* 4. 45* t’12 6. 29* 1. 41**** 1. 9** t’23 2. 91* 1. 86*** 0. 96*+ t’13 7. 38* 2. 08*** 3. 07* *Significant at 0. 01 or less; **Significant at 0. 025; ***Significant at 0. 05; ****Significant at 0. 1; *+Significant at 0. 25; +Not significant. The results suggest that we can reject the null and accept the alternate hypothesis: that higher the degree of diversification, greater is the average performance, measured in risk-return te rms. The following paragraphs analyze the results for each performance variable in greater detail. Analysis of Results by Performance Class We further massage our data by subdividing each diversification category: undiversified, moderately diversified, and highly diversified, into three performance classes by adding and subtracting one standard deviation from the average ROE. Thus, each category is divided into three performance subclasses: Average ROE + 1 Std. Dev. ; Average ROE; and Average ROE – 1 Std. Dev†¦ This gives rise to a total of nine performance classes, three for each level of diversification. If the hypothesis that the higher the degree of diversification, the higher the performance is robust, then we should expect it to hold when we compare performance across the performance sub-classes. That is; the high, average and below average ROE performance of highly diversified firms should be higher than the respective performance of the three moderately diversified groups, and each of the three moderate performance groups should have higher average ROE as compared to each of the three undiversified groups. If this relation holds then we can say with greater degree of confidence that diversification of firms leads to higher performance for all classes of firms. We, therefore, hypothesize that the best, the average and the medium performing groups demonstrate a consistent pattern of performance across the three diversification groups on both risk and return dimensions. Table 7 shows classification of firms based on degree of diversification and by performance class. These results are both in expected and unexpected directions. The performance for the low and average performing firms, both in terms of risk and return diversification is in expected directions. But the results for the high performance group is found to be in the expected direction only for risk, while for the return measure the performance is in the opposite direction. In the worst performance sub-class, the AROE of undiversified firms is -59. 53, and the SD is 103. 16. As we go toward increasing level of diversification, AROE performance increases to -5. 78 and SD drops down to 5. 58 for the moderate group. For the highly diversified group, AROE becomes +2 and SD falls to 0. 2. In the average performance sub-class, the AROE for the undiversified group is 2. 46, and SD is 6. 87. For the moderately diversified group, ROE increases to 4. 21 and SD falls to 2. 91. For the highly diversified group, AROE increases to 5. 27 and SD falls 1. 60. The results for these two performance sub-classes are consistent with the results obtained for the entire group as shown in Table 3. The results for the best performance sub-class show interesting results. The AROE for the undiversified group is 35. 28 and the SD is 36. 44. AROE for the moderately diversified group decreases to 12. 9. SD also decreases to 3. 3. For the highly diversified group, AROE drops to 9. 52, nearly a fourth of the undiversified group, and the SD decreases to 0. 87, one thirty sixth of the undiversified group. Clearly the results for the best performance class are contrary to earlier findings as far as ROE is concerned, but they are in expected direction as far as standard deviation is concerned. We are, however, able to reject the null hypothesis if we look at CV (Risk per unit return). The value of CV decreases as we move from undiversified to highly diversified group. These results suggest that dominant firms operating with core competencies and operating in less competitive environments are better off concentrating on one business segment. Our results show that such firms have superior returns but are unable to diversify away market risks. These firms may waste investor resources by diversifying into other businesses. On the other hand, firms operating in markets where they face considerable competition and have fewer core competencies, or are unable to dominate their markets, they are likely to be better off diversifying, as it would reduce risk for such firms and increase average returns. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The study began with questions regarding discrepancies in empirical and theoretical investigations into the relationship between firm diversification and performance. Our results suggest that the average performance of diversified firms (especially highly diversified ones) perform well on a risk-return basis on accounting measures as well as market-based measures, when compared with group of firms that are not as highly diversified. Managers tend to judge performance using accounting measures such as ROE and ROA where as financial markets use market-based measures such as MKTRET. Our results show that on both types of performance measures, the group of diversified firms on average tends to perform better. The data show that with an increasing degree of diversification, the average return on assets, average return on equity and average market return, increase and the average risk per average unit return decreases. The results are clearer when comparisons are made between the highly diversified and the undiversified group, and the moderate and undiversified groups. The results are not as sharp when we compare results between the moderately diversified and the highly diversified group. The implication of the finding is that in general diversification is helpful but it does not tell us how much of it is helpful. Additional research on economies of scope for these groups of firms may throw some light on this issue. The marginal ambiguity between the moderate and the highly diversified groups may also be the result of eliminating the contingent variables like type, modality and extent of diversification. Controlling these variables may provide greater insight and clarify the differences between the moderate and the highly diversified groups of firms and lend support to theory building. The most surprising finding of our study was about the class of â€Å"best performing† firms. The study found that AROE of undiversified firms was four times better than the highly diversified firms, but such firms had 36 times the volatility of the highly diversified firms. This result implies that the best performing firms, if they diversify, will reduce their earnings, but dampen the volatility of their returns. Managers of such firms therefore will be tempted to dampen the volatility of returns by diversification. Such actions, according to this study will lead to a reduction in returns, but the reduction in volatility of returns will be much greater. This is clearly beneficial to managers and employees of the firm, but a benefit of such insurance for the shareholders is not as clear. The implications for investors are that, if they risk such high performance, they ought to stay in for the long haul, and have high tolerance for volatility. But even for this class of firms based on coefficient of variation, we feel that the average performance of highly diversified firms tends to be better than that of the undiversified firms. One must judge Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric (GE) in this context. GE’s top management group insists that each of their divisions must be either number one or number two in their specific product markets. Thus GE, a high performing conglomerate is trying to emulate characteristics of a dominant undiversified firm at the product market level in order to earn very high returns and concomitantly it practices the art of being an aggressive and active conglomerate at the corporate level to reduce the risk engendered by dominant firms. But not all high performing firms are as careful, well managed or lucky. The study echoes the belief of senior corporate executives who think diversification enhances firm value because it contributes to improvement of the firm’s risk-return profile. The results also speak to the concerns of investors. Diversification, especially for the truly high performing firms reduces risk but at the cost of returns. There is undoubtedly a trade-off here between risk and return when managers of such single firms diversify from their core business. Thus diversification does buy insurance for the managers which may help managers and employees more than investors. But in the case of the average and the low performing single firms (most likely the non dominant firms), gain from diversification in return and risk terms, seem significant. The moderate and highly diversified groups also benefit from diversification on risk and return dimensions but their performance is not stellar by any stretch of the imagination. One can argue that diversification tends to reduce the already severe competitive threat faced by the majority of firms in these groups. The implications for investors follow suit. They are better off picking stocks of well-diversified firms as these deliver better returns over time as compared to moderately diversified or undiversified firms. The finding that on average, highly diversified firms, including conglomerates, show better performance than single product firms or moderately diversified firms, supports the belief of corporate executives but is contrary to the viewpoint of research in finance. A classification scheme by definition remains arbitrary, no matter how well we justify the scheme. The only safeguard against such arbitrariness is to demonstrate that the results of the study are invariant to changes in arbitrarily set classification boundaries. We were somewhat successful in showing that changing classification boundaries did not change the thrust of our results. Both methods showed that AROE of highly diversified group of firms was greater than that of the undiversified group. But this still is a fruitful direction for future research. We were able to examine ROE alone because of data limitations. The 1981-1990 data set was not consistent for all the variables and segments of businesses. Other variables need to be tested. Researchers may also want to know if, at what point, the results are no longer invariant to SR classification values. Our study has several other limitations. The research period (1984-1990) of this study does not match the time periods reported in earlier studies. If diversification matters as a strategy, then it ought to do so no matter what the time period. This study has examined pooled time series data and finds the results consistent with expectations. Subject to the availability of data, replication over different time periods will adequately address this issue. Economic arguments require that we measure performance in terms of cash flows. We do need to look at the net present value of cash flows to make strong statements about the usefulness of a diversification strategy in the capital budgeting sense. Market return may be a reasonable substitute but the examination of the net present value of cash flow may be necessary from the point of view of the stock market. This is left to future research. Although SR is an acceptable measure of diversification, the entropy measure (Hoskisson, et. al. , 1993) has become an important and probably a better measure of diversification. This study was extensive enough. Perhaps multiple measures of diversification in a future study will alleviate methodological concerns about the appropriateness of diversification measures. The research design of this study differs somewhat from similar earlier studies, and as stated at the outset, it does not address the question whether investor portfolios outperform diversified firms. Therefore, while addressing several possible objections, we urge caution in accepting these results, and suggest future research to verify the findings reported here. Finally, this study examines the association between corporate diversification and performance per se. It does not address the differences in performance caused by types of diversification, like related, or unrelated; nor does it use modifying variables like firm size and other firm-level factors, or modalities of diversification such as internal product development or mergers and acquisitions. The results of this study are interesting enough to warrant the inclusion of variables that control for industry structure and contingency variables such as interest rates or the state of the economy; or underlying managerial motivation like risk reduction, agency problem, or moral hazard. Such controls will provide greater insight into the diversification strategy, as a practice and as a phenomenon. How to cite Diversification and Firm Performance, Essay examples

None Provided85 Essay Example For Students

None Provided85 Essay Goodman Brown, from Young Goodman Brown and Hooper, from The Ministers Black Veil are two characters that suffer from a pride of intellect. Their pride causes them similar problems and they end up living similar lives, although they came from different backgrounds. Hooper and Goodman Brown both become isolated from society. Hooper had a revelation, and he feels that he truly understands human nature and sin. However, he believes that he is above everybody else because he has this understanding. This is what causes the major separation between Hooper and society. After Hooper dawns the veil he can no longer function or act as a normal person, because of this feeling of superiority. His perception of an ultimate human isolation leaves him the man most isolated in what Hawthorne describes as that saddest of all prisons, his own heart . . . (The Ministers Black Veil,228). The veil affects all parts of his life, his fiance leaves him and he can no longer relate to his congregation the same way. As a result of wearing the veil, Hooper becomes a man apart, isolated from love and sympathy, suspected and even feared by his congregation(Ministers Black Veil, 228). Goodman Brown suffers the same fate because he also has a feeling of superiority over the rest of the village. He attains this feeling after he sees all the people that he though were good and pure participating in satanic rituals in the forest. He looses all faith in the community and feels as though he is above them because he was able to resist the devil. The lack or trust trusting that Goodman Brown had separated him from the community because he was a strong Puritan and felt as though he could not associate devil worshipers. Brown, despairing and embittered, belongs neither to the Devils party nor to the only other life-sustaining cause he knowsthat of the Puritan faith and the Puritan community(Levy,119). Hooper and Goodman Browns pride of intellect cause them to loose a loved one and their kind and loving nature. Hooper drives his fiance Elizabeth away by wearing the veil. Elizabeth sees how Hooper is separating himself and it scares her away from their purposed marriage. Hoopers fiancee, seems at first unawed by the veil. To her it is merely a cloth that hides the face she most delights to see. But, like a sudden twilight in the air, Elizabeth suddenly senses the unapproachable inner isolation of the man who wears it, and its terrors fall upon her, too(The Ministers Black Veil,228). As a result of Hooper pride, he looses his loving and kind nature. Hooper is shunned and even feared by the others in their times of health and happiness(The Ministers Black Veil,228). He concentrates so much on the negative aspects of people that he refuses to see the good in them. He makes the dark side of people the whole truth of human existence. His own kind and loving nature is lost for all(The Ministers Black Veil,228). Goodman Brown also looses someone very close to him. He separates himself from his wife Faith. This is a result of Goodman Browns pride. He felt so strongly that he was the only innocent person that he could not trust anybody else including Faith, his apparently religiously devote wife. When Goodman Brown saw Faith in the forest (Hawthorne, 178) she became just like the other townsman. He now knows that Faiths voice has been mingled with the other familiar tones, heard daily at Salem village(Levy,118). Goodman Browns loving nature is also lost due to his pride. He becomes separates himself so much that he can no longer hold a loving relationship with Faith like he did early in the story(Hawthorne,165). Hooper from The Ministers Black Veil and Goodman Brown from Young Goodman Brown both suffer similar fates from their pride of intellect. It caused them to be drastically separated from society, and to loose loved ones and their loving nature. .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .postImageUrl , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:hover , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:visited , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:active { border:0!important; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:active , .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0aca6ad33236594f322c9225284121ae:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Medieval Yarmouth, England Essay Their pride of intellect changed their whole lives. It can be seen as a cloak that the characters try to wrap themselves in to escape human nature and mankind. It is obvious that the characters did not consider or were

Radiology Essays - Medical Physics, Medical Imaging,

Radiology Radiology Humanity, constantly learning, growing, and facing more challenges each second of the day. Whether the challenges are mental or purely physical. We have found more efficient, safer, and easier ways of doing the tasks we may face. From moving cargo, to sending information via the Internet. Probably the greatest accomplishments we have made, are in the studies of medicine/treatment. And to be specific, the study of radiology. Radiology, the process of working and viewing inside the human body without breaking the skin. By using radiant energy, which may take the form of x rays or other types of radiation, we are able to diagnose and treat many diseases and injuries. Both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology involve the use of ionizing radiation ( Beta, Alpha, Gamma, and x rays), with the exception of the MRI, which uses a magnetic field rather then radiation. Radiology is classified as being either diagnostic or therapeutic. Diagnostic radiology is an evaluation of the body, by means of static or dynamic images or anatomy, physiology, and alterations caused by injury or disease. A majority of these pictures are formed by passing a low or high level of x rays through the part of the body being examined, producing the static image on film. This image is called a radiograph or x ray picture. The image it's self may have many forms. It could be a common radiograph, such as a chest x ray; a tomograph (Greek for "section"), which is a radiograph obtained by timing the x ray exposure to correspond with the movement of the x ray tube and film in opposite directions around the plane of the body; or, finally, a computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT) scan. Which is a computer analysis of a sharply limited, thin x ray beam passed circumferentially through an area of the body, giving the doctor of Technician a cross-sectional image. Much like that of slicing a loaf of bread into sections. Other images may be obtained by using ultrasound or MRI, or by recording the activity of isotopes internally administered and deposited in certain parts of our body. This practice is called nuclear radiology or nuclear medicine. This include such techniques as a PET scan, or positron emission tomography, which uses patterns of the positron decaying to study metabolism reactions in the body. PET requires a cyclotron as an on-site source of short-lived, positron-emitting isotopes. The isotopes are injected into the patient along with a glucose related compound, and the positrons collide with the electrons in the body to produce photons. The photons are then tracked by a tomographic scintillation counter, and the information is processed by a computer to provide both image and data on blood flow and metabolic processes within bodily tissues. PET scans are particularly useful for diagnosing brain tumor and the effects of strokes on the brain, along with various mental illnesses. They are also used in brain research and in mapping of brain functions. Another form of imaging is ultrasound. Ultrasound, which uses very high frequency sound, is directed into the body. And because the tissue interference's reflect sound, doctors are able to produce, by use of a computer, a photograph or moving image on a television. Ultrasound has many application uses on the body, but is more commonly used in examinations of the fetus during pregnancy, because use of radiation may affect the outcome of the baby. Some other practices for ultrasound include examination of the arteries, heart, pancreas, urinary system, ovaries, brain, and spinal cord. And because sound travels well through fluids it is a very useful technique for diagnosing cysts( which are filled with fluid), and fluid filled structures such as the bladder. And since sound is absorbed by air and bone it is impossible to use a ultrasound on bones or lungs. The sound waves are produced by a random oscillating crystal, and are inaudible to humans. A instrument called a transducer is used to transmit the sound waves and receive the echoes. The transducer must be in close contact with the skin, and a jelly like substance is used to improve the quality of the transmission. And last of the diagnostic imaging tools is the MRI. MRI, which stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Was a technique developed in the 1950's by Felix Bloch, and is the most versatile, powerful, and sensitive tool in use. The process of MRI was originally called NRI (Nuclear Resonance Imaging), but was found to be to confusing due to the fact that MRI's don't use radioactivity and ionizing radiation. The MRI generates a very powerful electromagnetic field, which allows the radiologist to generate thin-section images of any part

Free Essays on McDonaldization Affects Us All

McDonaldization Affects Us All McDonalds is everywhere. When a person walks just a couple of blocks from their house they are going to pass at least two McDonalds. In our society, McDonalds has become a common fixation in our culture. It is what represents America. According to Eric Schlosser, â€Å"Fast food has joined Hollywood movies, blue jeans, and pop music as one of America’s most prominent cultural exports† (10). In a way the fast food industry is taking over, especially McDonalds. Actually McDonalds has taken over because like what was said in the beginning of this paragraph, McDonalds is everywhere. This is where McDonaldization comes in. According to Robert Keel, â€Å"McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world†(1). The affects McDonaldization have had on society and its employees tend to be negative ones. But the reason it is so widespread is because huge organizations rely on it as a means to maximize profit. But is the price too high for the rest of us to bear? It plays as a de-motivator and affects everyone’s everyday thinking. McDonaldization affects how consumers want the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money and it also contributes to how unequal and dehumanizing the workplace is, and finally, McDonaldization causes people to become close-minded, ignorant, and afraid of change. Imagine yourself behind the counter or in the drive- through window at McDonalds. You are programmed how to act and what to say. You have been working there for three years and earn $5.50 an hour. You have never worked more than 29 hours while working there. As stated by Keel, â€Å"These circumstances are true for over 40 percent of six million people employed in restaurants today† (1). The reason for these circumstances are due to the change in our society by which the co... Free Essays on McDonaldization Affects Us All Free Essays on McDonaldization Affects Us All McDonaldization Affects Us All McDonalds is everywhere. When a person walks just a couple of blocks from their house they are going to pass at least two McDonalds. In our society, McDonalds has become a common fixation in our culture. It is what represents America. According to Eric Schlosser, â€Å"Fast food has joined Hollywood movies, blue jeans, and pop music as one of America’s most prominent cultural exports† (10). In a way the fast food industry is taking over, especially McDonalds. Actually McDonalds has taken over because like what was said in the beginning of this paragraph, McDonalds is everywhere. This is where McDonaldization comes in. According to Robert Keel, â€Å"McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world†(1). The affects McDonaldization have had on society and its employees tend to be negative ones. But the reason it is so widespread is because huge organizations rely on it as a means to maximize profit. But is the price too high for the rest of us to bear? It plays as a de-motivator and affects everyone’s everyday thinking. McDonaldization affects how consumers want the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money and it also contributes to how unequal and dehumanizing the workplace is, and finally, McDonaldization causes people to become close-minded, ignorant, and afraid of change. Imagine yourself behind the counter or in the drive- through window at McDonalds. You are programmed how to act and what to say. You have been working there for three years and earn $5.50 an hour. You have never worked more than 29 hours while working there. As stated by Keel, â€Å"These circumstances are true for over 40 percent of six million people employed in restaurants today† (1). The reason for these circumstances are due to the change in our society by which the co...

Definition and Examples of Headlinese

Definition and Examples of Headlinese Headlinese is an informal term for the abbreviated style of newspaper headlines - a register characterized by short words, abbreviations, cliches, noun stacking,  word play,  present-tense verbs,  and ellipsis.   Headlinese combinations are not in themselves sentences, said linguist  Otto Jespersen, and often cannot be directly supplemented so as to form articulate sentences: they move, as it were, on the fringe of ordinary grammar (A Modern English Grammar, Vol. 7, 1949). Nonetheless, says British journalist Andy Bodle, [m]ost of the time the meaning of headlines is quite clear (to native English speakers, anyway). They generally achieve their aim of provoking interest without misrepresenting the facts too grievously (The Guardian [UK], December 4, 2014). Examples and Observations Perhaps a copy editors best test for headlinese is the question: How often do I hear this word used in ordinary conversation with its headline meaning? If hardly ever, the word is headlinese.(John Bremner, Words on Words. Columbia University  Press, 1980)In their quest for concision, writers of newspaper headlines are . . . inveterate sweepers away of little words, and the dust they kick up can lead to some amusing ambiguities. Legendary headlines from years past (some of which verge on the mythical) include Giant Waves Down Queen Mary’s Funnel, MacArthur Flies Back to Front and Eighth Army Push Bottles Up Germans. The Columbia Journalism Review even published two anthologies of ambiguous headlinese in the 1980s, with the classic titles Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim and Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge.(Ben Zimmer, Crash Blossoms. The New York Times, January 10, 2010)[W]hen the folks at Variety toss around insider lingo and cryptic headlinese like B.O. Sweet for Chocolat and Helmi ng Double for Soderbergh its hard to tell what the heck theyre talking about.(Scott Veale, Word for Word/Variety Slanguage. The New York Times, Feb. 25, 2001) Plane Too Low to the Ground, Crash Probe Told(Headline quoted by John Russial in Strategic Copy Editing. Guilford, 2004)Police: Middletown Man Hides Crack In His Buttocks(Headline in the Hartford Courant, March 8, 2013)Man Shoots Pictures of Wolf Chasing Him on Motorcycle in CanadaBANF, Alberta – A Canadian man says he was chased by a gray wolf while he was riding a motorcycle in British Columbia. . . .(Headline and lead at FoxNews.com, June 21, 2013)Short Words in Headlinese: Thinnernyms- Headlinese  might be defined as words that no human being would utter in context but that headline writers use because they fit into tight spaces.(John Russial,  Strategic Copy Editing. Guilford Press, 2004)- The grandest, oldest and arguably finest headline tradition of all, of course, is the use of short words. Instead of disagreeing, people clash. Rather than competing, they vie. Instead of divisions, we have rifts. And instead of a Mexico president promising reforms of the policing s ystem in an effort to mollify people’s anger over the murder of 43 students, we get Mexico president vows police reform in bid to quell massacre rage. I was inordinately pleased with myself for coining the word thinnernym to describe these short words, although I’ve since been informed that I’m not the first to do so.(Andy Bodle, Sub Ire as Hacks Slash Word Length: Getting the Skinny on Thinnernyms. The Guardian [UK], December 4, 2014)- [B]revity is a whip-bearing  dominatrix in the discipline of headline writing.(William Safire, Hotting Up. The New York Times Magazine, June 10, 2007) Life on Mars- War of the WordsThis is a headline from The Friday Review Section of The Independent of 21 August 1998. It introduces an article reviewing a fierce scientific debate about the possibility of life on Mars. Headline writers use a wide range of devices to create a very specific style, which is sometimes called headlinese. Their one-liners must put in a nutshell the main point of the news story they relate to and at the same time capture the readers attention. . . . [I]f we pad out the above headline, we might get something like The life on Mars debate remains a war of words. It will be noticed that the headline as it stands contains no verbs: this is replaced by the dash (- ). The structure has the effect of all the focus being on the balanced phrases, Life on Mars and War of the Words.(Peter Verdonk, Stylistics. Oxford University  Press, 2002)Telegraphic EllipsisA form of written language which typically uses telegraphic ellipsis is the newspaper headline. . . .Grammati cal clues present in  the headlines themselves . . . interact with contextual information from the setting to encode retrievable meaning; This process is essentially cataphoric in that headlines refer forward to the main body of the text, a fact exploited by editors and sub-editors on a daily basis to encourage headline-spotters to read on.(Peter Wilson, Mind The Gap: Ellipsis and Stylistic Variation in Spoken and Written English., 2000. Rpt. Routledge, 2014) Noun Stacking in HeadlinesA string of unleavened nouns will form a whole headline. Three nouns stuck cheek by jowl was once the limit, but now four is standard. Some months ago two tabloids gave their front pages to SCHOOL COACH CRASH DRAMA and SCHOOL OUTING COACH HORROR and a week or two later one of them achieved five with SCHOOL BUS BELTS SAFETY VICTORY. There is some loss of seriousness here, as if anyone cared.(Kingsley Amis, The Kings English: A Guide to Modern Usage. HarperCollins, 1997)A colleague points out: It sometimes seems that any time anyone writes a piece about Africa (or, in fact, dark-skinned people), the first (and usually last) headline everyone comes up with is Heart of Darkness. Its unimaginative, and boring, but more importantly perpetuates lazy colonial attitudes, ideas of ignorance and benightedness, etc.(David Marsh, Mind Your Language. The Guardian, February  14, 2010) See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Block LanguageCopyeditingCrash BlossomJargonJournaleseTelegraphic Speech

RELATIONSHIPS & CULTURE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

RELATIONSHIPS & CULTURE - Essay Example Cultural distance and differences are widely used constructs in making international business relating to expansion of foreign investments, entry mode choice, and performance of affiliates (Shenkar, 2001). Likewise, relationship marketing emphasises on customer retention and satisfaction instead of focusing dominantly on transactions and sales. It is said that an organisation needs to improve its level of competitiveness in a globalised market in order to survive the competition if not to dominate it, and marketing tactics help tremendously in achieving this endeavor. Literatures say that among these tactics is the employment of relationship marketing that aids the firm to market internationally its product or service. A firm's external operations entail an understanding of how cultural differences affect international marketing decisions. This understanding can be utilised in predicting strategic movements and responses of competitors and thus enables the firm to design effective competitive strategies. International sales negotiations are the primary focal point of this understanding (Tse, et al., 1988, p. 81). The internal conduct of multinational firms also needs knowledge of the impact of culture on marketing decisions. ... For organisations with diverse cultural backgrounds, the interpretation of cues for standard operating procedures may vary because of these cultural backgrounds, imploring the need to understand cultural differences in international marketing. Another reason as to why a good understanding of cultural differences is important in international marketing is because this knowledge of cultural influences permits the firms to adapt to such differences, enabling it to reduce the so called 'noisy communications" as well as eliminate errors in decision-making. These are said to occur likely out of lack of common understanding, which stems from lack of understanding of cultural differences (Montgomery and Weinberg, 1979 in Tse, et al., 1988, p. 81). It is already a given knowledge that in the past, especially prior to the globalised era, Western managerial culture dominated multinational firms. However, this trail has changed a long way as shown by the recent trends' increase in international trade and foreign direct investment of Asian multinational firms and North American subsidiaries that operate in Asian countries. This implies furtherance of salient understanding of cultural impact on an organisation's internal operations (Tse , et al., 1988). This emphasis on cultural differences is exemplified by the case of China's businesses, which experience isolation from contacts with international markets for many years. Thus, their marketing decision processes have relatively represented pure form of cultural influence on business behavior caused by cultural impacts. It is suggested that an Oriental business community with strong and continuous interaction with the Western businesses is what

The Explore Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Explore Project - Essay Example Explore Worldwide Ltd. is an adventure tour company which was established in 1981. Explore is not just a market leader but it is the most popular adventure tourism company in the UK. Explore offers various torus packages such as short breaks, family adventures, cycle tours, tailor-made tours etc. Explore has organized 40,000 tours until now and offer 400 tours across 120 countries. As mentioned above the tourism industry is growing at a rapid rate and hence there is tremendous competition. Explore’s competitors are not just local and national but also international tourism companies. This is because of the niche that Explore has established over the years by organizing tours to international tourists and has been able to build a loyal customer base. This is evident from the fact that there has been an increase in the number of trips booked by same tourist groups. The various competitors of Explore in UK are Diamond Travel, Thomas Cook, Exodus, First Choice, The Adventure Company, etc. There are various international tourism companies that compete with Explore but they all can not be analyzed in general as the competition in international market is destination oriented. In the recent years adventure tourism has grown at a fast rate and is one of the primary categories in the tourism market. This has been supported by various researches. A study by National Geographic and TIA suggested that 20% of the total leisure market is occupied by active or adventure travel (Heyniger, 2006). It was revealed in 2001 (The Mintel Report) that 25% of total European tour packages were accounted by adventure torus. The study also found out that there were a total 443,000 adventure holidays per year. It is estimated by Travel Industry Association of America that the adventure tourism is growing at a rate of 10%. Various studies have thrown light on the fact that there is an increase in the number of women who are taking up adventure tourism

Scope of Practice for Regisers Nurses Essay Example for Free

Scope of Practice for Regisers Nurses Essay The Regulation states that registrants of CRNBC may practise nursing. Nursing is defined as the health profession in which a person provides the following services: †¢ Health care for promoting, maintaining and restoring health †¢ Prevention, treatment and palliation of illness and injury, primarily by assessing health status, planning and implementing interventions, and coordinating health services This definition does not refer to evaluation, but neither does it exclude it. Evaluation is, of course, an important part of nursing practice. The Regulation does not refer to education, administration and research in the scope of practice statement for nurses or any other health professionals in B. C. However, CRNBC’s Professional Standards make it clear that clinical practice, education, administration and research are all considered part of the practice of registered nursing. College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia 5 Scope of Practice

Edification or False Idolatry in Emersons The American Scholar :: Emerson American Scholar Essays

Edification or False Idolatry in Emerson's The American Scholar  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Commencement speeches are customarily routine, pedantic, platitude filled, mildly inspiring lectures.   This description, however, was never applied to Ralph Waldo Emerson's oration, "The American Scholar," delivered to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard in 1837.   Oliver Wendell Holmes called this speech America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence."   In addition to being a call for literary independence from Europe and past traditions, the speech was a blueprint for how humans should live their lives.   Emerson believed that the way to reunite with the Over-Soul was to become "The American Scholar."   He would do this by observing nature, by studying the past through books, and by taking action.   To become a scholar, humans also needed to develop self trust, espouse freedom and bravery, and value the individual over the masses.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Because this speech is so pregnant with discussion topics, an intrinsic part of the blueprint   may not catch the reader's attention or receive the analysis it deserves.   It delivers a message that contemporary humans still need to receive.   The startling, heretical admonition not to worship or make false idols of books and other objects of art, given in Emerson's "The American Scholar," demonstrates his belief in the vital necessity for self-reliance and active, creative reading and writing.   When he exhorts us to live as a scholar, as "Man Thinking," rather than "a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking" (1530), he is cautioning us against the false idolatry of book or Bible worship.  Ã‚   When Emerson introduces the second great influence on the spirit of the scholar, he at first praises books.   He expounds on "the mind of the Past,--in whatever form, whether of literature, of art, of institutions, that mind is inscribed.   Books are the best type of the influence of the past" (1532).   Emerson is saying that books are the best vehicle available to the scholar for studying the ideas and accomplishments of past men and ages.   But after affirming that "the theory of books is noble" (1532) and presenting an idealized way of reading and reusing books from past ages by which "business" and "dead facts" come out as "poetry" and "quick thought" when read and rewritten in a new age, Emerson   begins to show doubts that reuse is possible and states that "Each age, it is found, must   write its own books; or rather each generation for the next succeeding.

Essay on Language Diversity Essay

Language diversity is an important topic for all South Africans to consider since we have 11 official languages. This means that we are challenged when it comes to being able to communicate with one another. This challenge presents itself in various forms, from the workplace to people’s daily lives and personal outlooks surrounding different cultures. Language diversity also influences important issues such as education, Government and adoption. Adoption in South African families is a good example of the language challenges South Africans face. If a family decides to adopt a child from another language, they are essentially uprooting the child from its heritage. If the child is only a baby when it’s adopted, it should be able to integrate into its new family with relative ease, because culture is learned and not inherited. However, if the child is a bit older and has lived some of his/her formative years in his/her original language and culture, the adoptive parents run the risk of not being able to fully understand their child, its unique cultural/ethnic needs/beliefs and/or methods of communication. Families who adopt toddlers, children and/or teenagers from different cultural and language backgrounds will only be able to cope with the unique parental challenges they will face through undertaking to learn about the community their child is from. Although it is important for such parents to integrate their adoptive children into their own cultural practices, so that the child feels truly part of the new family, it is also important that the child’s traditional beliefs and practices are understood by the parents, and where required, integrated into the family. One of the ways in which the adoptive parents may need to integrate the child’s heritage into their family is through learning and using more than one language in the home. If the child’s adoptive parents do not speak the child’s mother tongue, this may leave the child feeling alienated, and could lead to communication issues that could break down family bonds. Conversely, if the child is not taught the language of its adoptive parents, the parents  may feel a separation from the child, and that the child is not truly ‘one of them’, which would be very damaging for both the parents and the child. It is therefore important that the mother tongue of all family members is accepted in the home, and that a multilingual family culture is embraced and cultivated. If families with adopted members learn to understand, accept and embrace one another’s differences, they will be brought together and they will be able to bond on the basis of their shared humanity, rather than feel divided on the basis of their differing cultural practices. An aspect of such an embrace could manifest in the form of learning one another’s languages to break down any communication barriers that may otherwise exist. This process is a very positive one for South Africans because we live in such a culturally and linguistically diverse country. Aside from adoption, language diversity is also an important consideration in relation to Government, education, and interpersonal relationships in South Africa. When individuals communicate in general, it is important that they bear in mind the ‘cooperative principles’ of language usage. This means that both the speaker and the listener needs to be aware of possible ambiguity in sentences, and the speaker needs to be succinct and able to express himself or herself clearly. In the case of education, students who are learning in a language that is not their mother tongue may struggle to be perspicuous and this may obstruct their ability to be understood by their tutors. These students may also struggle to understand what their tutors are communicating to them, and may therefore be unable to interpret complex tasks correctly. Awareness of language diversity – and the barriers it can create – is therefore highly important in education as language, aside from intelligence, could be a deciding factor in a student’s ability to pass a course. Similar concerns also apply to the Government – who hold the burden to communicate with the entire, linguistically diverse nation competently and effectively. Government officials, and the President, must therefore be  certain that their speeches are translated accurately in all languages, as well as all legislation and legal proceedings. If certain laws passed are misunderstood, it could result in civil unrest. During legal proceedings, misunderstanding could even result unfair prosecution. On an interpersonal level, and in the work place, language diversity can be threatening and can create divides among individuals. Although people in the workplace are regularly exposed to other cultures and therefore don’t feel as threatened by them, language barriers could still prevent people from working cohesively. People who are not upper-income earners, and therefore not often exposed to other culture, may perceive the differences among cultures threating, which could in turn hinder their ability to work together in future. In conclusion I think that language diversity is an inextricable part of South African life, and it should be understood and respected by everyone. Citizens of the country should put active effort into learning how to communicate across language and cultural divides. Language diversity should not be seen as a force pushing the different cultures apart, but rather as a challenge that can be mastered in order to foster educational outcomes, political peace and work projects as well as a tool that will bring together families and friendships of all backgrounds.

Breakfast Club Analysis

Ask anyone who was a teenager during the 80s who John Hughes is, they’ll start reciting every movie he has been involved in. He has dabbled in writing, directing and even producing. He will forever be remembered as an icon of the 80s. John Hughes was a writer for National Lampoon magazine in 1979. He was inspired by the success of â€Å"National Lampoon’s Animal House†, written by an associate of National Lampoon Magazine Harold Ramis, Mr. Hughes took a shot at screenwriting. National Lampoon’s Class Reunion, National Lampoon’s Vacation and Mr. Mom were his first screenwriting credits. These films allowed him to direct his first feature film, â€Å"Sixteen Candles†. His films such as â€Å"Weird Science†, †Pretty In Pink† and â€Å"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off† helped him become synonymous with â€Å"teen movies†. He focused on middle class life, which helped his films to be believable and interesting. He portrayed teens in a way that was relatable to his audience. According to Hollywood insiders, if a movie was to be made depicting teenagers and their emotions, John Hughes was the man to create it. Nowhere is this more evident than in â€Å"The Breakfast Club†. Hughes portrayed his characters in five types: the brain, the jock, the princess, the misfit and the criminal. Everyone who has seen this movie can see themselves in one of these characters. I fell somewhere between the jock and the brain. At the beginning of the movie, the characters had little interaction, unless it was hurling insults at each other. Cliques just don’t mix, and they felt like there wasn’t any common ground between them. Then Brian (themisfit), Andrew (the jock), Clare (the princess), Allison (the misfit) and John (the criminal) are forced to spend detention together on a Saturday Morning. That’s when things start to get interesting. During the course of the movie, the characters spend time talking and relating to one another. Each one feels different and alienated. In their own worlds, they have been neglected, abused, bullied, or even ignored by both their families and their other friends. Throughout the movie they realize that although they may seem completely different on the outside, on the inside they are all experiencing the same things. Although this movie is twenty plus years old, the themes of commonality is still true today. It speaks directly to young people. Kids/Students are still trying to find their way and fit in. The character’s of â€Å"The Breakfast Club† makes the audience think, learn, and grow. The film shows that people are wasting time hating someone they don’t know. It shows that if you take time to get to know someone, you may find they are more like you than you thought. You may find empathy for them, and you may find you can learn from them. You may even find that you like them. A reviewer at Reel. com called the movie â€Å"almost quaint in its depiction of disaffected high school students. That is true; parts of the movie is dated. If it was made today, Clare would have a baby. John would have done time for gang activity. Andrew, the jock would be on steroids. Brian and the kid who was beat up by Andrew would have formed the Trench Coat Mafia, and the flare gun in the locker would have been an assault rifle. Allison would not have even made it into the movie beca use she would have hung herself in her bedroom closet waiting to be discovered. Later â€Å"teen flicks† adjusted to the growing sophistication of teenage sensibility. This movie had a message of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding. The Breakfast Club continues to be a classic because the issues presented in the movie about social class and acceptance remains hot topics for high school students. Although the movie is funny, it handles teenage issues with a bit of maturity. The set the standard for other teenage movies. It has made such an impact that MTV honored it with a Silver Bucket of Excellence award. The cultural significance of the movie can also be seen in the recent JC Penny commercial.

Using Verbs and Adjectives to Brighten up News Stories

Using Verbs and Adjectives to Brighten up News Stories Journalism students just getting started in the craft of news writing tend to clog up their prose with too many adjectives and lots of boring, cliched verbs, when in fact, they should be doing the opposite. A key to good writing is to use adjectives sparingly while choosing interesting, unusual verbs that readers dont expect. The following breakdown illustrates the effective use of adjectives. Adjectives Theres an old rule in the writing business - show, dont tell. The problem with adjectives is that they dont show us anything. In other words, they rarely if ever evoke visual images in readers minds, and are just a lazy substitute for writing good, effective description. Look at the following two examples: The man was fat. The mans belly hung over his belt buckle and there was sweat on his forehead as he climbed the stairs. See the difference? The first sentence is vague and lifeless. It doesnt really create a picture in your mind. The second sentence, on the other hand, evokes images through just a few descriptive phrases - the belly hanging over the belt, the sweaty forehead. Notice that the word fat isnt used. It isnt needed. We get the picture. Here are two more examples. The sad woman cried at the funeral. The womans shoulders shook and she dabbed at her moist eyes with a handkerchief as she stood over the casket. Again, the difference is clear. The first sentence uses a tired adjective - sad - and does little to describe what is happening. The second sentence paints a picture of a scene that we can readily imagine, using specific details - the shaking shoulders, the dabbing of the wet eyes. Hard-news stories often dont have the space for long passages of description, but even just a few keywords can convey to readers a sense of a place or a person. But feature stories are perfect for descriptive passages like these. The other problem with adjectives is that they can unwittingly transmit a reporters bias or feelings. Look at the following sentence: The plucky demonstrators protested the heavy-handed government policies. See how just two adjectives - plucky and heavy-handed - have effectively conveyed how the reporter feels about the story. Thats fine for an opinion column, but not for an objective news story. Its easy to betray your feelings about a story if you make the mistake of using adjectives this way. Verbs Editors like the use of verbs because they convey action and give a story a sense of movement and momentum. But too often writers use tired, overused verbs like these: He hit the ball. She ate the candy. They walked up the hill. Hit, ate and walked - booooring! How about this: He swatted the ball. She gobbled the candy. They trudged up the hill. See the difference? The use of unusual, off-the-beaten-path verbs will surprise readers and add freshness to your sentences. And anytime you give a reader something they dont expect, theyre bound to read your story more closely, and more likely to finish it. So get out your thesaurus and hunt down some bright, fresh verbs that will make your next story sparkle. The larger point is this,  as journalists, we are writing to be read. You can cover the most important topic known to man, but if you write about it in dull, lifeless prose, readers will pass your story by. And no self-respecting journalist wants that to happen - ever.

Mary Church Terrell Quotes

Mary Church Terrell Quotes Mary Church Terrell was born the same year that the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, and she died two months after the Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education. In between, she advocated for racial and gender justice, and especially for rights and opportunities for African American women. Selected Mary Church Terrell Quotations And so, lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long. With courage, born of success achieved in the past, with a keen sense of the responsibility which we shall continue to assume, we look forward to a future large with promise and hope. Seeking no favors because of our color, nor patronage because of our needs, we knock at the bar of justice, asking an equal chance. I cannot help wondering sometimes what I might have become and might have done if I had lived in a country which had not circumscribed and handicapped me on account of my race, that had allowed me to reach any height I was able to attain. Through the National Association of Colored Women, which was formed by the union of two large organizations in July, 1896, and which is now the only national body among colored women, much good has been done in the past, and more will be accomplished in the future, we hope. Believing that it is only through the home that a people can become really good and truly great, the National Association of Colored Women has entered that sacred domain. Homes, more homes, better homes, purer homes is the text upon which our have been and will be preached. Please stop using the word Negro.... We are the only human beings in the world with fifty-seven variety of complexions who are classed together as a single racial unit. Therefore, we are really truly colored people, and that is the only name in the English language which accurately describes us. It is impossible for any white person in the United States, no matter how sympathetic and broad, to realize what life would mean to him if his incentive to effort were suddenly snatched away. To the lack of incentive to effort, which is the awful shadow under which we live, may be traced the wreck and ruin of score of colored youth. Seeing their children touched and seared and wounded by race prejudice is one of the heaviest crosses which colored women have to bear. Surely nowhere in the world do oppression and persecution based solely on the color of the skin appear more hateful and hideous than in the capital of the United States, because the chasm between the principles upon which this Government was founded, in which it still professes to believe, and those which are daily practiced under the protection of the flag, yawn so wide and deep. As a colored woman I may enter more than one white church in Washington without receiving that welcome which as a human being I have the right to expect in the sanctuary of God. When Ernestine Rose, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Susan B. Anthony began that agitation by which colleges were opened to women and the numerous reforms inaugurated for the amelioration of their condition along all lines, their sisters who groaned in bondage had little reason to hope that these blessings would ever brighten their crushed and blighted lives, for during those days of oppression and despair, colored women were not only refused admittance to institutions of learning, but the law of the States in which the majority lived made it a crime to teach them to read. Quote collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis.