Market Research on Foreclosure Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Market Research on Foreclosure Markets - Essay Example The number of annual foreclosure filings rose from 1.3 million in 2006 to 2.2 million in 2007, to 3.3 million in 2008, and to almost 4.0 million in 2009 (RealtyTrac). In order to determine whether foreclosure will continue, it is first necessary to determine the causes of these higher foreclosure rates and then to determine whether those causes are continuing. Foreclosures occur because an individual with a mortgage cannot afford the mortgage any longer and because the individual will not recover the amount of the mortgage from the sale of the home. So it is necessary to figure out what might cause individuals to have difficulty affording a mortgage and for the house values to decline below mortgage values. What might cause a decline in mortgage affordability would be closely related to all macroeconomic measures that affect income. So GDP and the unemployment rate will certainly affect incomes and thus home affordability, since less GDP means less economic activity, which in turn means declining profits and more unemployment. Obviously, lower profits and more unemployment translates into less money for people and thus more people unable to afford their mortgages. In fact there has been an extremely close correlation between unemployment rate and mortgage delinquency. One analysis has found a correlation of 98% between unemployment rate and delinquency rate between 2004 and the middle of 2009 (Calculated Risk). This close relationship is a contrast to what has been evidenced in the past, as the correlation between foreclosure rates and unemployment rates were found to be weak before this latest housing boom/bust cycle. In 1998 two economists examined the relationship between unemployme nt and mortgage foreclosure rates from 1950 to 1998, and concluded that there was very little correlation between unemployment changes and mortgage foreclosures (Elmer and Seelig). Yet because of the changing nature of mortgages beginning in the 1990s, the association between foreclosures and unemployment has become quite significant. Traditionally 20% downpayments had been the minimum requirement for most borrowers, but this requirement was increasingly weakened over the last 10-15 years (Calculated Risk). Therefore suddenly unemployed or underemployed homeowners who must sell may find themselves with mortgages worth more than the value of the home, due to the lack of equity and the declining home values, and will therefore have to foreclose.So as long as there is high unemployment and declining home values, more foreclosures are likely to occur. The decline in the house value below the mortgage value would occur if housing prices have fallen from the original time the mortgage was issued. Home prices began their decline in the middle of 2006 and have fallen to 2003 levels, and have shown modest increases since the beginning of 2009 (Case-Shiller). So homes that were purchased after 2003 are the most vulnerable to foreclosure. Home purchases before 2003 will be vulnerable to foreclosure if there was refinancing. The closer in time the home purchase or refinance was to the peak of mid-2006, the more vulnerable that loan will be to foreclosure, since those loans will have the highest mortgage/home value ratios. During the 1990s, mortgage loan originations (both purchase and refinance) were around 200 billion per quarter. This number began to rise in the late 1990s, fell back briefly, and started to rise again

Discuss Shakespeares dramatic technique in Act one scenes 1 to 7 Essay Example for Free

Discuss Shakespeares dramatic technique in Act one scenes 1 to 7 Essay The chief character of the play is Macbeth. He is first of all Thane of Glamis and then inherits the title thane of Cawdor from an executed traitor. Instigated by a prophecy from the Witches that he will become king, and urged on by his wife, he murders King Duncan, and has himself proclaimed king. To secure his position, he is driven to commit further criminal acts, and plunges his country into civil war. After he is killed in battle by Macduff he is described as a dead butcher. The first scene is set on the moor that is bleak and desolate. This scene is one of desolation and devastation. The desolate countryside metaphorically separates the humans from the Witches who are used to open the play to introduce the idea of fate and destiny. From the stage directions, the battlefield creates a scene of death, carnage and destruction in line 4, when the battles lost and won and line 12 and 13, fair is foul and foul is fair a paradox is offered. How can fair be foul? How a battle be lost and won? The Witches chant in rhyming couplets and their speech is deliberately equivocal to create confusion in the mortals, as it is open t interpretation. He rhyming couplets give the effect of an incantation, while the thunder and lightning echo the noise of the battle. Similarly strange is thepaaradox that closes the scene: contained within it is the oxymoron, fair is foul, and foul is fair, a paradoxical idea that the Witches are able to transform what is good into evil, and make what is evil appear virtuous. These are also the first words spoken in the play by Macbeth, the echo establishes an unconscious contact with the Witches and is dramatically effective. We discover that the Witches are on the moor to meet with Macbeth. They seem to know where Macbeth will be. Once again they show that they can foretell the future. What can Macbeth the plays eponymous hero have to do with these abnormal, weird woman who look not like thinhabitants of earth? How does he fit into their plans? The opening scene heightens the audiences expectations, as Macbeth will soon appear on stage, the audience will try and establish exactly why the Witches hope t meet him. Witches held great significance for a Jacobean audience who believed in witchcraft. Witches were the objects of morbid and fevered fascination during this era. The Jacobeans were afraid and superstitious. They suspected that the Witches were credited with powers and could predict the future, fly, cause fogs and tempests, bring on night in daytime, kill animals and curse people, with fatal diseases as well as induce nightmares. By the use of this technique, Shakespeare knew that he would get his audiences attention with the opening scene. Although brief, this scene sets the supernatural atmosphere of the play, which is central to its dramatic action. In scene two, Shakespeare cleverly moves the scene to establish a different mood when introducing the humans. The seething battlefield replaces the moor, foul thunder is replaced by the sound of the military alarum and the humans replace the Witches. In this scene we meet Duncan, the King of Scotland, and his sons, Donalbain and Malcolm. Duncans supremacy is instantly established for he is the first to speak. They receive a report of the battle fought against the King of Norway and Macdonwald, the thane of Cawdor who has proved disloyal to Duncan. From the report he audience learns about the heroism and bravery of one of the King Duncans generals, Macbeth. Shakespeare continues to build suspense as he introduces the humans. The audience are also introduced to evil in man and the evil in warfare. The playwrights use of language helps to bring the battle to life and emphasises Macbeths importance. Dynamic verbs like, smokd, brandishd and unseamd suggest Macbeths skills and courage as his sword smokd with bloody execution. Once again we hear about Macbeth before we see him. Hw=e is spoken of in glowing terms and he becomes a hero in the eyes of the audience. Though he is referred to as a worthy gentlemen, there is still the memory that his name is connected with the Witches. Brave Macbeth kills Macdonwald by carving out his passage till he unseemd him from the nave to the chops with his brandishd steel that smokd with bloody execution. Part of this description highlights Macbeths bravery and valour, but the captains description of Macbeths unseeming of Macdonwald can be interpreted in different ways. Shakespeare intentionally paints an ambiguous picture of Macbeth. Macbeth, however, is still not satisfied until he had fixd [Macdonwalds] head upon the battlements. The decapitation of Macdonwald would support a more negative reading of Macbeth as oppose to his courageous behaviour. Scene two concludes with an ironic note as Macbeth is rewarded with the title of Thane of Cawdor which has been taken from that most disloyal traitor and given to Macbeth, who will prove to be more treacherous: No more than Thane of Cawdor shall deceive, Our bosom interest. Go pronounce his death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. The audience will realise that to make Macbeth Thane of Cawdor is a great mistake. We see Macbeth, the loyal subject and great hero who fought for good, change and become corrupt, and gradually deteriorate into a vicious tyrant. At the start of scene three, we meet the Witches once again in foul weather and we begin to witness their spiteful destructive nature. One sister has been killing swine while another has possession of a pilots thumb. The other Witch punishes a sailors wife by conjuring up a storm, therefore getting at her husband. From this the audience learns that the powers the Witches carry are limited. They cannot kill, but are able to create a climate for evil to flourish. Though his bark cannot be lost Yet it shall be tempest-tossd. The Witches curse on the sailor can be read as a prediction of Macbeths future. We are shown that the Witches are determined to make people suffer. They torment the sailor and drain him dry as hay. They deny him sleep at night and in the day. They ensure that he shall live a man forbid. However, Macbeth can be destroyed because the forces of veil are present within him. He alone causes chaos in the world by destroying the natural order when he deliberately choose the path of evil. The ship is a metaphor for the state of Scotland which is going to tempest tossd when Macbeth becomes king. A drum beats and Macbeth makes an entrance. We finally meet him and it is significant that his first appearance is with the Witches on the moor. This represents his connection with evil. His paradoxical word So foul and fair a day I have not seen arrests us because it replicates those of the Witches. This once again draws inferences between Macbeth and evil. This could suggest that the Witches have control over Macbeth, or that the hags are in some way similar to him. The appearance of the Witches like their speeches is equivocal. It is Banquo, who is used now as a dramatic device, who first comments on the bizarre appearance of the Witches. They look not like thinhabitants oth earth, and yet are ont and they appear to be women though they have beards. Banquo is calm and is looking for a reasonable explanation to why the Witches are on the moor, whilst Macbeth is impatient and wants an immediate answer to why the Witches have come with such prophetic greetings. The Witches prophesise that Macbeth, Thane of Glamis will become Thane of Cawdor and king hereafter, and that Banquo will have kings. Part of the prophecy is immediately fulfilled when a messenger announces that Duncan, King of Scotland has promoted Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. We the audience realise, that from the previous scene, Macbeth with his courage and bravery, and not the Witches powers, has won him the title Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is rapt withal and becomes lost in his thoughts, as the Witches have articulated his secret desire of killing the King. His mind has been corrupted and he wants glory for himself. Shakespeare shows how evil can control what is good in Macbeth. Macbeth is torn between the forces of good and evil and he believes that he cannot be king unless evil wins over good. Macbeth reveals a disturbed mind, when he speaks his own thoughts aloud in a soliloquy, as murder is in his mind. His first thought is to leave everything to chance: If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me, Without my stir Macbeth has asked Ross and Angus, the messengers, why they dress [him] in borrowd robes- why they call him by the name of Cawdor, when Cawdor lives. By the end of the scene Macbeth is contemplating borrowing the kings robes. The reference to clothing in this scene is symbolic. The imagery of clothing indicates status, prestige and symbolises a persons title. By using the imagery of clothing, Shakespeare is trying to show that if you wear someone elses clothes they may feel uncomfortable and they may cleave not to their mould because they are borrowd. Therefore if Macbeth wears the robes of the kingship they will cleave not to [his] mould as he is not worthy of the kings throne. When the Witches depart in this scene, Macbeth orders them to, Stay, you imperfect speakers tell me more. Macbeths curiosity has got the better of him and his demand of the Witches indicates his obsessive interest with these weird women and their prophecies. The Witches vanish into the air as they do not receive orders from mortals and will not be dictated to. The source and purpose of their evil remains a mystery to the audience. Shakespeare metaphorically compares the disappearance of the Witches to bubbles. Macbeths life can also be represented as a bubble, as the honour, love, obedience and troops of old friends that he has will soon disappear under the wishes they had stayd. Ross and Angus enter, they are used as dramatic devices to convey to Macbeth the Kings decision to reward Macbeth with the title Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo are both shocked as the devil has spoken the truth. Macbeth is already snared by the Witches prophecies, as he believes that, The greatest is behind On the other hand, Banquo can see through the trickery of the Witches. He is sceptical and can see through Macbeths motives in asking him whether he hopes his heirs will become kings. Banquo tries to warm Macbeth against the instruments of darkness. He tries to convince Macbeth that the Witches tell simple truths that are easy to believe, so that when they want to deceive people with more important matters they will also be believed. And often times, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betrays In deepest consequence. Banquo is portrayed b by Shakespeare in a positive light, as he does not make him an accomplice in Duncans murder. The stage directions show that Macbeth turns aside. This informs the audience that he is talking to himself. This symbolises Macbeth turning away from the other characters in the play as well as the path to righteousness. Shakespeare uses dramatic language to emphasise Macbeths horror. His seated heart knock at his ribs and his hair is unfixed. The scene concludes with Macbeth and Banquo following Ross and Angus to meet the king. The audience are filled with a sense of apprehension and anticipation. One question remains: how will Macbeth get the crown? Scene four opens with a focus on treachery and betrayal. King Duncan hears his son, Malcolm, relate how the treacherous Cawdor has been executed. Also in this scene Duncan reveals his lack of knowledge regarding his own thanes. He exposes a very human weakness-one which lies at the heart of the play- the difficulty of working out who is loyal and who is pretyending loyalty: Theres no art to find the Minds construction in the face. It seems likely that there is an implicit criticism of Duncan here: a good King should be able to assess the loyalty of all his servants. Duncans failure to do so reveals his limitation as a monarch- one who is taken in by appearances. Dramatic irony is introduced where Duncan announces that Cawdor was a Kinsman in whom he had absolute trust. Macbeths betrayal will replicate that of Cawdors. When Macbeth and Banquo enter, Duncan immediately singles out Macbth for praise, oworthiest cousin. The superlative worthiest subtly reveals that Macbeth is yet another thane in whom Duncan has absolute trust. Macbeth is the most dangerous of the potential traitors because he is closest to the king. Scene four is the only time we see Macbeth and Duncan together and Shakespeare contrasts the forces of good and evil. Macbeths deceit and hypocrisy is shown in this scene when he praises King Duncan and promises to honour him with loyalty. He convinces Duncan that servicing your highness will be its own reward. Macbeth is a hypocrite because in the previous scene he has contemplated the murder of Duncan. Duncan ironically comments that he has started to metaphorically plant Macbeth, meaning that he will make sure that Macbeth grows greater and stronger as a reward for his services. This is ironic because what is growing in Macbeth is the seed of ambition to be King himself. Shakespeare deliberately plants an obstacle in Macbeths path when Duncan announces that his eldest son, Malcolm, is to succeed him as king. Macbeth now sees Malcolm as an obstacle between himself and the throne which he must fall down or else oer leap. Shakespeare uses the euphemism that Malcolm is a step he must oer leap, in order to disguise the realisation that Malcolm must be eradicated. In an aside, symbolically turning his back on the King, Macbeth reveals to the audience, and articulates for the first time his black and deep desires. He invokes the powers of darkness to hide [their] fires. At the beginning of scene five, we see that Macbeth and his dearest partner of greatness, Lady Macbeth, have a very close relationship. This is a contrast to how distant they become later on in the play when Macbeths fiend-like queen is innocent of the knowledge. She is innocent of the knowledge as Macbeth does not confide about his plans to kill Banquo, and she shows ignorance of Macbeths murder of Macduffs family. She asks in her rambling state where the Thane of Fifes wife is now. Macbeths lack of sorrow when he hears of his wifes death is also indicative of how they have drifted apart. In all the public scenes in the play she acts like the innocent flower; in the private scenes we see the serpent undert. It is suggested that she commits suicide as she has become lonely and rather isolated. Lady Macbeth does not live up to the expectation of a typical Jacobean/Elizabethan woman. She wants the spirits the spirits to unsex her so that she can be tough and strong. Lady Macbeth uses strong imperatives and determined language that is brutal and violent. This is because she is delighted with her husbands letter and shows determination that he will become king. The letter form Macbeth describes the Witches appearances, their prophecies-in particular that which promises the throne to Macbeth- but does not mention King Duncans announcement of his heir; the audience can therefore, assume that this letter was written immediately after the events which occur in the third scene. Although Lady Macbeth knows that her husband is ambitious, she is aware that he is too full othe milk of human kindness. She says that ruthlessness is an illness that Macbeth does not have. This is not a true portrayal of Macbeth, because from the previous scenes and throughout the play we see that Macbeth is not too full othe milk of human kindness but lacks it. Perhaps she is comparing Macbeth to herself and is saying that Macbeth is not as ambitious as she is. Lady Macbeth under estimates the powers of her conscience. She see her conscience as her weakness, not realising until after Duncans murder how she will pour[her] spirits in his ear. She has also decided that nothing will stand between him (or her?) and the golden crown ( a metonym for the throne). Lady Macbeth greets her husband like the Witches, which subconsciously links her to evil and believes that her call to the murdering ministers has been answered. She feels now the future in the instant and that she is beyond this ignorant present. This is ironic as Lady Macbeth is still being ignorant. Lady Macbeths confidence is a contrast to Macbeths uncertainty. She advises him to look like the innocent flower but be the serpent undert and to only look up clear. She is in control of their relationship and tries to help Macbeth find the necessary determination to do the deed. Though Lady Macbeth appears to be confident, she uses euphemisms when talking to Macbeth about the nights great business. At this point in the play, Macbeth has been tempted to commit regicide, however he has tried to resist temptation. Macbeths resistance, however, is not vigorous enough to stand up to his wifes ability to manipulate him. The scene closes dramatically with Lady Macbeth emphatic affirmation that Duncans fate rests in her hands- leave all the rest to me. Scene six sees King Duncan arriving at Macbeths castle, he and Banquo talk about how pleasant a place it is to visit. They comment that the air recommends itself and is delicate. This is ironic in view of Lady Macbeths words in the previous scene, and even more so when compared with that of the Witches say about the fog and filthy air surrounding their evil deeds. Duncan also says that he is grateful for the love which is shown to him. Here again, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony. The idea that Duncan feels safe and loved in the surroundings is ironic as this will be the scene of his murder. This creates a sense of anticipation for the audience. It shows Duncans naivety, as he keeps full trust in Macbeth and his fair and noble hostess. We are presented in this scene with images of tranquillity and the words host and guest are repeated. At the beginning of scene seven, we once again see the struggle between the forces of good and evil. Macbeth cannot make up his mind whether to kill Duncan and he wrestles with his conscience in his soliloquy. He knows that the murder would be wrong and would he would end up paying the price for his crime, but he has vaulting ambition that is very persuasive to his conscience. Though Macbeth is driven by his vaulting ambition he redeems himself and will proceed no further in this business, as Duncans murder will be like angels, trumpet-tongud and heaven would be outraged. The verb will shows Macbeths determination to keep his soul. Toward the end of his soliloquy Macbeth compares his excessive ambition to a horse that tries to jump too high and fall on the other side of the fence. Within the soliloquy Macbeths thoughts seem to be fragmented, this is shown by the use of many full stops. Lady Macbeth verbally assaults her husband using violent language that becomes heightened. She accuses him of being a coward and questions his manhood: when you durst do it, she says, then you were a man. She is forceful in her language and she conjures up images of horror. She knows, How tendertis love the babe that milks me: I would, While it was smiling in my face, Have pluckd my nipple from boneless gums, and dashd the brains out Lady Macbeth seems to have been granted her earlier wish to the evil spirits to Fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Macbeths earlier decision not to kill Duncan crumbles under the scornful attack of his wife, especially when his bravery is questioned. However, he is still worried bout what will happen to then if they should fail. Shakespeare cleverly ends the scene with rhyming couplets. Away, and mock the time with fairest show, False face must hide what the false heart doth know. The rhyming couplets symbolise their connection with the Witches and evil as they complete their preparations for murder. The audience waits in anticipation. Throughout Act one Shakespeare creates an atmosphere of tension by exploring the theme of evil against good. Symbolism is used to emphasise this theme. Dramatic irony, dramatic language and strong descriptive scenes also help to build up an atmosphere of tension.

The Changing Political fortunes of the Nazi Party :: Ancient Rome Roman History

The Changing Political fortunes of the Nazi Party "Account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party from November, 1923 until January, 1933." The main political changes that the Nazi Party or the NSDAP endured during the period of November, 1923 until January 1933 was its rise from a small extreme right party to a major political force. It is vitally important that the reasons behind this rise to power also be examined, to explain why the NSDAP was able to rise to the top. However first a perspective on the Nazi party itself is necessary to account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party. In late 1923 and early 1924 the German economy seemed to experience a mild period of economic stabilisation and "prosperity". In November, the government issued a new currency and ensured that tight restrictions were imposed. The economy was further stimulated by loans principally from the USA. However despite all this there simultaneously, was increasing numbers of unemployed persons. A well cited example of this is the coal mining industry where the introduction of more efficient machinery meant that one in four miners lost their jobs. No doubt that increased unemployment meant that the German population grew increasingly discontent with the Weimar government and this is the beginnings of the swing towards more radical political voting. Hitler knew that he had to have attractive political policies in order to attract a greater pool of voters, looking for alternative parties, and he recognized a possible solution to this was to attract the attention of the farming and rural communit y. The Nazi Party took this opportunity quickly and campaigned hard to win over the votes of the farmers and rural workers by promising tax reductions, cheaper electricity and a promise to rebuild the farming industry. "The peasants, the Nazis said, were of true German blood and their life was the true German life. They had shamefully been neglected by the Weimar Republic." Hitler told the people of the land that under a Nazi Government, rural people would be the most important people in Germany. The rural Germans were on the brink of bankruptcy, constituting approximately 11 Billion marks by 1932. The Nazi's promise of a return to rural prosperity was too good for them to resist. Yet this adoption of the rural Germans also proved useful in another sense because it allowed the Nazi party to use the Jewish people as a scapegoat towards the problems faced by the rural Germans.

How William Shatner Changed the World

The documentary â€Å"How William Shatner Changed the World† is about the global effect that the original series of Star Trek had on technology throughout the world. The documentary talks about the technology that currently existed when Star Trek originally came out in 1966 and its comparison to the ‘futuristic' technology that was onboard the Star Trek ship the ‘Enterprise'. This ‘futuristic' technology onboard the enterprise sparked a revolution in the world's technology and inspired many to make technology similar to the ones on Star Trek.Many film techniques are used in this documentary not only to make the documentary interesting, but humourous as well. Some of these film techniques include various camera shots, archival footage and montages to name a few. In the beginning of the documentary, William Shatner is talking and is driving his car and whilst he is driving it there are many jump shots between his car and segments of Star Trek. The effect of thi s gives you insight of what the documentary is mainly about.In this documentary many inventors make an appearance in the documentary and talk about how Star Trek inspired them to invent their technology e. g. Martin Cooper who was the inventor of the cell phone the shots used when all of them are talking are medium shots that capture their face and upper torso. This gives off the feeling that the people look close and also so that the camera men can capture them using arm gestures. The use of archival footage is used a lot throughout this documentary showing mainly clips of Star Trek relating to the topic that William Shatner is narrating about.This makes it easy to show what the ‘futuristic' technology Star Trek had at the time so we can see and compare it to today's modern technology that we take for granted. One of the more interesting film techniques that was used in the documentary was a segue which was used when William Shatner walked up to a giant rock, then an edit was used to show archival footage of him as an younger actor in a Star Trek episode fighting an alien, and as an alien throws the rock, the current William Shatner comes back into view and catches the rock.This use of one motif being the rock used in two scenes to link each other is a slightly humourous segue. Other film techniques used in this documentary are camera angles where William Shatner deliberately moves the camera up and down making him look slightly different from both angles. Editing is also used throughout the documentary a lot for example when William Shatner was narrating and the camera was upon him, jump cuts are used switching to different shots of him like close ups, long shots and crane shots.This editing makes William Shatner's narration more interesting and funny. â€Å"How William Shatner Changed the World† is an example of a great documentary that uses its film techniques wisely and with good timing, not to mention the documentary has a very good context that appeals to many viewers because of its witty humour.

Why D1 Athletes Should Be Paid

Trying to Get That Paper According to the NCAA, student-athletes are students first and athletes second. However over the last decade there have been many questions raised about what the actual definition of what a student-athlete really is. This is because of the millions of dollars generated by institutions that broadcasting and promoting these â€Å"student-first† athletes. The main question that arises from this is should the NCAA and or institutions/ conferences be paying athletes for their services?By looking at the billions of dollars a year that the business of college sports generates just in television and radio time alone, indicates that student athletes should be paid. If these schools and the NCAA are making billions of dollars from college sports, then why shouldn’t the athletes get paid for doing what they do? After doing some research over a year ago and taking another look at this issue now, the question about paying college athletes has stayed the same .The debate whether to pay college athletes or not arose in the 1980s after Southern Methodist University was caught paying football players for their services. Upon discovery of these infractions, SMU was administered the â€Å"death penalty†, including loss of scholarships and no participation in bowl games for five years. The controversy surrounding paying college athletes seems to have risen from this unfortunate circumstance and has been cultivated into a huge social topic today.Following the SMU scandal in the late 1980s the NCAA rewrote their guidebook that describes an athlete’s role in an academic institution. According to the NCAA, â€Å"Student-athletes are students first and athletes second. They are not university employees who are paid for their labor† (NCAA. com). Looking at the arguments made by the NCAA, they make a valid point in showing how athletes are â€Å"compensated† for their participation in sports. According to the NCAA, â€Å" Many [athletes] receive athletics grants-in-aid that can be worth more than $100,000 (NCAA. om). There are many people who would agree with the NCAA in saying that the scholarships given to the student-athletes is enough â€Å"compensation† for the student-athletes to cover their costs of attending school. There are many other topics that all have a role in deciding whether or not to pay college athletes; mainly television, memorabilia sales, and individual endorsement deals. The question itself hasn’t changed over the years; it’s the financial situation that college institutions and athletes now are exposed to that has changed.All seemed fine and well until, starting in the early 2000’s, large Division 1 sports conferences signed deals with large television networks, generating millions of dollars in revenue for the institutions who were a part of the conference. So the question arose again, should we pay college athletes? According to research done by t he National College Players Association, â€Å"If allowed access to the fair market like the pros, the average FBS football and basketball player would be worth approximately $121,048 and $265,027 respectively (not counting individual commercial endorsement deals)† (NCPANOW. rg). People today are still opposed to paying college athletes, but the case for actually paying them grows stronger year after year. According to ESPN columnist Michael Wilbon, college football and basketball generate over 11 billion dollars in television revenue. He argues, â€Å"why not take 1. 3 billion dollars off the top and, invest it, and make it available for stipends to college athletes? † (Wilbon). Another person in favor of paying college athletes is former Penn State basketball player Stephen Danley.In his interview with National Review reporter, Duncan Currie, he says that, â€Å"in certain programs players are even allowed to take enough credits to graduate in four years. If they [t he colleges] want â€Å"student-athletes† then they should at least give them the financial means to return for an extra year to complete a degree after their playing days are over† (Currie). These two arguments not only show that there is in fact funding to pay these athletes, but that scholarships don’t cover the actual amount of time it takes for a student to finish his/ her degree.So why not help them out financially and allow them to finish? Looking at the large amounts of money going to conferences and universities due to the profits of college sports, it’s easy to see where the debate about paying college athletes comes from. This isn’t a discussion of moral issue or ethical debate; rather, this is simply an issue of looking at the numbers generated and whether or not to pay these athletes for benefiting their schools in popularity and financial gains. So after looking at everything that encompasses college sports, the debate continues; shoul d college athletes be paid?

Anthropology Final Paper essays

Anthropology Final Paper essays During the beginning of the semester, I did not find the class very interesting at all. It reminded me too much of a history class. The topics just werent appealing to me. Learning of how people function in other societies was really boring to me. I am more interested in learning about my own society and the history of it. I feel that would have a bigger impact on me instead of learning about other peoples societies. The class began to get more interesting towards the end of the semester when we started talking about Philadelphia and its suburbs. I found it very interesting because I already knew about most of the topics. My father works for PHA (Phila. Housing Auth.), and they own all of the projects and various scattered sites throughout the city. As a young child my dad would take my sister and I and drive around the city. He would tell us what used to be where and how nice everything in our neighborhood used to be. I live in Germantown, so when we began our discussion of Philadelphia I knew exactly where Everything was that we where talking about. Also my family belongs to the Germantown historical Society, so I have learned plenty from that. When I was in tenth grade we did a city block project. Every student was assigned a block and we had to evaluate that block during three different time periods. This required looking at old maps and plenty of microfiche. The block I was assigned was the 700 block of walnut street. Washington Square was located directly across the street from my block. When we started talking about that I already knew about it. These are the topics that held my interest. I cant say that my thinking has been affected, but there were plenty of times where I felt connections between class materials and my experiences in the real world. I also felt that the class material was very accurate. Although some of the class was not very interesting. I do feel that m...

Co-op Bank Essays

Co-op Bank Essays Co-op Bank Essay Co-op Bank Essay As the regulation had been more relaxed in the bank industry, cost accounting came more important due to aggressive competition among banks. Traditional volume based costing is obviously inappropriate. Therefore, the Bank changed to activity-based costing (BBC). We find that the implementation of activity-based costing (BBC) enhanced the ability to identify profitable products and customers but it had some weakness as follows: 1. BBC implementation was too costly, time-consuming and complex. 2. Too small sample from past data might affect the accuracy of its cost driver rate and not sufficient for decision making. . The 15% Of banks expense Ewing sustaining costs were not allocated to any products due to irrelevant causing too high administrative cost. Recommendations discussed include: 1. The bank should regroup 235 activities for those with the same characteristics. 2. The team should extend data collecting range since there were a few transactions occurred in three months and use the most recent data. 3. The bank should allocate sustaining cost by using dual-rate cost allocation method. 4. The bank should follow up the service quality to ensure that customers receive what it used to be. 5. The management should increase sales for profitable products. Then unprofitable products, we suggest the firm reduce non-valued added cost. The report also investigates the fact that the analysis conducted has limitations. Some of the limitations include: The article didnt state cost of BBC implementation so we couldnt compare between cost and benefit of using it. Contents Page Company Background Cost Structure Analysis of BBC implementation 3 Recommendation Conclusion 5 Appendices Exhibit 1 : Timeline of Co-pop Bank 6 Exhibit 2 : Major Resource Cost Pools Exhibit 3 : Personal Sector Products (classified by profitability) 7 References 8 The Co-operative bank was founded as an department of the Co-operative Wholesale Society (COWS) serving the treasury needs for its operation. Between late sass and 1 971, the deposit dramatically increased. As a result, the bank was separated to independent entity with COWS holding the whole issue of share capital. Then the first situation for new hired managers was to solve the problem which was from competitive pressure. They decided to focus on personal customers by introducing free banking for customers who maintained credit balances in their current accounts. In 1975, the banks broadened customer base for both assets and deposits as a settlement bank. During 1 sass and ass, the bank expanded the range of products and services for personal and corporate customers by introducing credit cards and launching many saving products to generate growth from internal. In 1988, since the Government deregulates the financial sector, many new players were inspired to move to this area. When there were many banks, customers were willing to switch banks and to take products from several institutions so the competition was very aggressive on price. To compete the market, Managing Director assigned Thomas, one of the management, to solve this problem. He thought that the bank should re-affirm the fundamental values which were Mission Statement and Ethical policy then restructure Co-pop Banks operations by settle Personal Customer Service center serving personal customers and Regional Processing Center serving corporate customers. Moreover, the bank increased cross-selling activities and offered new products such as credit cards, current account and services. Unfortunately this affected on high cost-to-income ratio. In late 1992, the ann. was about to restructure so Thomas launched Project SABER (Sales And Business REengineering) to improve the cost income ratio and the service to customers. This project was to address five corporate needs: 1. Overhead Reduction 2. Re-engineering of business processes, particularly those that did not add value to customers. 3. Product Profitability 4. Customer Profitability 5. Segment Profitability The existing cost system Co-pop Bank used was traditional cost system described as Expense was measured for geographic and departmental cost centers. Headquarter expense was allocated to operating segments by illume and size of business. Revenue measured from fee income and net interest. No estimation for costs of producing the revenue. After 3-month data collecting (March-May 1993) for analysis and decision making to restructure organization, the banks project team decided to implement BBC following the pilot project in check clearing center. BBC implementation steps are as follows: 1 . Identify resource cost pools and divided into three categories: operational staff, infrastructure and miscellaneous. (See the major resource cost pools in Exhibit 2) 2. Identify activities. 3. Match resource cost to activities. . Define activity cost driver and collect the quantities of each activity cost driver. 5. Calculate activity cost driver rate. 6. Trace activity cost to each product with 15% remaining to the sustaining cost. 7. Calculate product profitability. (See the profitable/unprofitable products list in Exhibit 3) After they implemented BBC, they use the result for decision making in many way. L. Product decision The bank used BBC allocating sustaining cost to analyze whether its product were profitable. Its targeted product were financial advice and new investment products which grew in deregulated area. Fortunately they were not successful as they hoped. However; there were high profitable products: Visa credit cards. II. Customer profitability With limited customers data, the BBC team extend the study to the customer- specific expenses based on sample of current accounts. They found that 55% of expense were related to processing transactions and the rest w ere maintaining costs. Revenue measurement was classified by each product for each customer. The analysis showed that current accounts were unprofitable because of low balance so the managers started to find the way to attract this reduce from customers. For Visa credit card, the team divided into two groups: profitable and unprofitable customers. The bank earned interest income from customers who had large unpaid balances and processing fee from customers who transacted frequently. Ill. Overhead reduction and business process reengineering From SABER project, the Co-pop Bank moved their focus to process-oriented organization. This urged managers to figure out which processes were value added to customers and which were not, and to improve efficiency for processes which could help the bank reduce cost and use extra capacity to enervate more income. In detail, analysis showed that high cost was from fixed cost so the bank solved this problem by outsourcing some areas such as computer development and ATM network to replace fixed cost with variable cost. IV. Sustaining Cost Since a large number amount of expenses classified as sustaining cost was a result of property and information technology resources not from products and customers, the management would have to concern more about making a decision on these issues. The main point was to lower cost-to-income ratio. Analysis of BBC implementation. Strength: Expenses were directly allocated to each cost center except for support department expenses. It could allocate cost to each product so cost of product became more accurate leading to identify profitable area and unprofitable area which increases accuracy when top management performed decision making. Weakness: As the project team collecting data for analysis from March to May, 1 993 (3 periods), that might affect the accuracy of its cost driver rate and not sufficient information for manager to do decision making. The 15% of banks expense being sustaining costs were not allocated to any products due to relevant causing too high administrative cost. If the bank can allocate BBC implementation was too costly, time-consuming and complex. The cost of using this BBC might be high comparing with the benefits from it. For example, when there are too many activities, it was time wasted for collecting cost driver data such as service hour. Sahara (1992) described step-by-step why bank should implement BBC: Identify and set up profit centers. Prepare product list associated to each profit center, product list related to activities and non-product list related to activities. Classify non-product list to activities by using unit-specific significance and organization-wide significance. Spread the former activities across all products Comparing Co-pop banks step with Sharmas step above, the banks BBC system was good but it needed some improvements for better efficiency. Our suggestions are as follow; 1. The team should extend data collecting range since there were a few transactions occurred in three months and use the most recent data. We recommend to collecting data from January to December 2012. 2. The bank should regroup 235 activities for those with the same characteristics. For example, Existing Activity Description Activity Cost Driver Clear debit items No. Of debits processed Clear debit and credit items No. Of debits and credits processed Clear credit items NO. Of credits processed Branch operations for debit items No. Of branch counter debits Branch operations for debit and credit items No. Of branch counter debits and credits Branch operations for credit items No. Of branch counter credits Customer inquiries No. F telephone minutes No. Of questions Customer correspondence No. Of customer letters 3. The bank should allocate sustaining cost by using dual-rate cost allocation teeth by classifying all costs into two cost pools: a fixed-cost cost pool and a variable-cost cost pool. Fixed-cost cost pool There are three steps to allocate fixed sustaining cost for bank products. 1 . Evaluate budget for fixed sust aining cost such as hardware maintenance and long term software license 2. Calculate cost allocation formula by using activity cost of each product. This formula will show proportion of all activities of all products. Proportion rate = activity for one product/ activities of all products. 3. Allocate fixed sustaining cost by resource product required. Allocation rate = Proportion rate * Budget for fixed sustaining cost Variable-cost cost pool Variable cost to activity cost driver ratio will generate constant value for period of time which consider significantly. When activity cost driver has changed, the ratio also changed. For example, we identify activity cost driver as the number of cheese book issued. If the number of cheese book issued is increased, relating cost increases. We use two ratios together to calculate total allocated cost for each product. 4. As Co-pop Bank implemented BBC system to reduce cost, they should follow up the service quality to ensure that customers receive what it used to be. This leads to customers loyalty. So, it becomes sustainable competitive advantage. 5. The management should increase sales for profitable products by offering promotions to attract more customers. Then unprofitable products, we suggest the firm reduce non- valued added cost.