Highly Assimilated Cherokee

DON HUNT LESSON 5 CHAPTER 9 Writing Assignment Questions How would you describe Jackson’s attitude toward the Indians? Jackson felt the Indians deserved to have land of their own, but land that the government would set aside for them. He still felt that they should be taught the arts of civilizations so they could co-exist with the white man. To what extent was the removal â€Å"voluntary,† as Jackson suggested? The removal was â€Å"voluntary† only if they wanted to be displaced from their homelands and where their forefathers were buried. If they decided to stay, they would have to obey the laws of the States. What kind of life did the Cherokee writer expect to find in the western territory? The Cherokee writer did not expect to find a very fruitful life in the western territory. He mentioned that they were not of there; they knew nothing of the land. He also mentions that there are others that are there now, and they would see them as intruders. Those that are not from there, are awaiting in the dark and will pounce on them as prey for they are no longer interested in an abundance life, but into stripping another of theirs. Why does Jackson believe that Indians and whites cannot live together? Jackson believes though the Indians are human they are not White and will not conform as the Whites want, thus, making it hard for the Indians and the Whites to live harmoniously together. Is his position borne out by the history of the Cherokee? No, his position is not out of the history of the Cherokee, but of the history of the White inflicting their laws on the Cherokee. Do Budinot’s arguments in favor of removal make sense? Budinot’s arguments make sense for removal only if you are looking to give the Cherokee tribes their pride back. Do you find it curious that Budinot, an educated and highly assimilated Cherokee, would argue for removal in the name of preserving the Cherokee people? No, Budinot, is arguing for their removal so that he can preserve the Cherokee Nation. Without preservation, there will be no Cherokee Nation. What does he fear if the Cherokee remain? Budinot fears that the Cherokee will not only lose what they have now, but all that is to become, they will be no more. What does this say about his attitude towards his own people? In Budinot’s argument, you can hear his pride for his people. His attitude towards his people is that he wants them to survive and to make that happen, certain things may need to be done, removal from the States. To what extent does his opinion of the prospects for Cherokee and whites living together coincide with Jackson’s? Budinot’s opinion is very similar, Budinot’s feels the Cherokee will not survive they way they are now, and Jackson will not allow them to survive the way they are now.

Religion Pakistan

Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of life and the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a supernatural agency, or human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, spiritual, or divine. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect. Most religions have organized behaviors, including congregations for prayer, priestly hierarchies, holy places, and/or scriptures. The development of religion has taken different forms in different cultures. Some religions place greater emphasis on belief, while others emphasize practice. Some religions focus on the subjective experi ence of the religious individual, while others consider the activities of the community to be most important.Some religions claim to be universal, believing their laws and cosmology to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be practiced only by one, localized group. Religion often makes use of meditation, music and art. In many places it has been associated with public institutions such as education, the family, government, and political power. Types of Religions Religion defines who you are, what you are, and your views about the world around you. You must understand, a religion is much more than deity worshiping. Religion is the philosophy of life and a belief system.There are as many as four thousand and two religions in this world. Surprisingly, people know only a handful of religion. The four largest religious groups by population, estimated to account for between 5 and 6 billion people, are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Four largest religions| Adhe rents[citation needed]|   % of world population| Article| World population| 6. 8 billion| Figures taken from individual articles:| Christianity| 1. 9 billion – 2. 1 billion| 29% – 32%| Christianity by country| Islam| 1. 3 billion – 1. 57 billion| 19% – 21%| Islam by country| Buddhism| 500 million – 1. billion| 7% – 21%| Buddhism by country| Hinduism| 950 million – 1 billion| 14% – 20%| Hinduism by country| Total| 4. 65 billion – 6. 17 billion| 68. 38% – 90. 73%| | Christianity is one of the oldest religions of the world and has a large number of followers. It is estimated that Christianity has over two billion followers around the globe. Christianity practices a few beliefs and traditions of other religions. Like the Judaism and Islam, Christianity as a religion believes in the concept of one God. Hence, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are known as â€Å"ethical monotheism†.Judaism is older than Christian ity and this religion is the oldest of Abrahamic religions. Judaism is based on laws and principles of the Hebrew bible known as Tanakh. The Old Testament of Bible describes the struggles of the Hebrews or the Jews. After Moses frees them from the Egyptian captivity, they wander for almost forty years before they reached Jerusalem, the â€Å"Promised Land†. Today there are 14 million Jews in the world. Islam has 1. 3 billion religious followers. It is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. Followers of Islam religion worship Allah and consider Muhammad as their prophet.Like the Christians and the Jews, Muslims believe in one God. Hence, it is one of the three â€Å"monotheistic† religions of the world. Quran is their holy book and this religion follows strict religious discipline and customs. The life of a Muslim is guided by the Five Pillars or the five principles such as Shahadah (faith), Sala (ritual prayer), Zakah (alms tax), Sawm (Ramadan fasting) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Islam is an Arabic term and means surrendering to the will of God. You could say Islam is a system of belief that gives importance to family life, way of dressing, cleanliness and ethics.It also stresses on the importance of religious rituals and observances. There are many religions that follow their own system of beliefs, rituals and traditions. These religions are classified as prophetic religion, revealed religion, sacramental and mystical religion. Hinduism is considered to be one of the most tolerant religions in the world. The ultimate aim of any Hindu is to attain moksha from the cycle of rebirth. Historians believe over the centuries Hinduism had adopted many spiritual traditions and practices, which are seen even today in the homes of many Hindus.It is not easy to generalize the beliefs of Hinduism because the practices vary widely among the believers of this religion. Religion in Pakistan The Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, Pakistan, was built durin g the Mughal Empire Islam is the state religion in Pakistan, which is practised by about 95-97% of the 174,578,558 people of the nation. The remaining 3-5% practice Christianity, Hinduism and other religions. Muslims are divided into two major sects, the majority of them practice Sunni Islam while the Shias are a minority who estimate 5-20% depending on the source.Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic law school. The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Twelver (Ithna Asharia) branch with significant minority groups who practice Ismailism, which is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, and others. The religion of Islam was first introduced in the territory that is now called Pakistan Umayyad dynasty in the early-8th century led by Muhammad bin Qasim against Raja Dahir, the Hindu ruler of Sindh. The Umayyad Muslims conquered the northwestern part of the Indus Valley, from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.The arrival of th e Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of South Asia that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan in 1947 as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavids, the Ghurids, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region of Pakistan from 1526 until 1739.Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal era. The Mughal Empire declined in the early 18th century after the Afsharids and the Afghan Durrani Empire from the west came to take over what is now Pakistan. Constitution of Pakistan on religion The constitution of Pakistan establishes Islam as the state religion, and provides all its citizens t he right to profess, practice and propagate their religion subject to law, public order, and morality.The constitution limits the political rights of Pakistan's non-Muslims, and only Muslims are allowed to become the President or the Prime Minister. Moreover, only Muslims are allowed to serve as judges in the Federal Shariat Court, which has the power to strike down any law deemed un-Islamic. List of religions in Pakistan Based on information collected from the Library of Congress, Pew Research Center, CIA World Factbook, Oxford University, University of Pennsylvania, U. S. State Department and others, the following is a list of all the religions that are practised in Pakistan.The percentages are estimations depending on the source. * Islam * Sunni Muslims: 80-95% * Shia Muslims: 5-20% * Ahmadi Muslims: approximately 2. 3% or 4 million * Other religions * Christians: approx. 1. 6% or 2,800,000 people * Hindus: approx. 1. 6%or 2,443,614 people * Baha'is: 79,000 * Sikhs: 20,000 * Zoro astrian/Parsis: 20,000 * Buddhist: Unknown * Jews: Unknown * | Islam The Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, which is the largest mosque of Pakistan and is also one of the largest in the world, was built by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, and about 95-97% of Pakistanis are Muslims. The Muslims are divided into 2 sects, Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. The Shia Islam in Pakistan is practised by 5-20% of the Muslims and the remaining larger number of Muslims practice Sunni Islam. There are a number of Islamic law schools called Madhab (schools of jurisprudence), which are called fiqh or ‘Maktab-e-Fikr' in Urdu. Nearly all Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic school of thought while small number belong to the Hanbali school.The majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Twelver (Ithna Asharia) branch, with significant minority who adhere to Ismailism branch that is composed of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, a nd others. Islam to some extent syncretized with pre-Islamic influences, resulting in a religion with some traditions distinct from those of the Arab world. Two Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Ali Hajweri in Lahore (ca. 11th century) and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan, Sindh (ca. 12th century).Although members of Ahmadiyya (also derogatorily known as Qadiani) are considered to be Muslims, the government of Pakistan does not consider this group followers of Islam. The Pakistani parliament has declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. In 1974, the government of Pakistan amended its constitution to define a Muslim â€Å"as a person who believes in finality of Prophet Muhammad†. Ahmadis believe in Muhammad as the best and the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Christ of Muslims who was prophesized to come in the latter days and unite the Muslims.Consequently they were declared non-Muslims by a tribunal, the records of which have not been released to date. In 1984, Ordinance XX was enacted, which made it a crime for Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims or adherents of Islam, to â€Å"pose as Muslims†, to call their places of worship Masjid, or to proselytize, punishable by a prison term. According to the last Pakistan census, Ahmadis made up 0. 25% of the population, which is highly disputed due to the already existing state treatment of Ahmadis in Pakistan.The website adherents. comcited a report according to which the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was represented by 2,000,000 (1. 42%) adherents in 1995. Several other news report however claim adherents amounting to about 4 million, which is difficult to verify. [edit] Christianity Main article: Christianity in Pakistan Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi. Christians make up 1. 6% of Pakistan's population, about 2. 8 million people out of a total population. [1] They are the second largest religious minority community in Pakistan.Majority of the Pakistani Christian communi ties belong to converts from the low caste Hindus from Punjab region, from the British colonial era. The community is geographically spread throughout the Punjab province, whilst its presence in the rest of the provinces is mostly confined to the urban centers. There is a Roman Catholic community in Karachi which was established by Goan and Tamilian migrants when Karachi's infrastructure was being developed by the British during colonial administration between World War I and World War II. [edit] Judaism Main article: Jews and Judaism in PakistanJews (Urdu: pronounced â€Å"Yehudi†) are a very small religious group in Pakistan. Various estimates suggest that there were about 2,500 Jews living in Karachi at the beginning of the 20th century, and a smaller community of a few hundred lived in Peshawar. There were synagogues in both cities; while the Karachi synagogue was burnt down. [citation needed] The one in Peshawar still exists but has fallen into disuse. Nearly all Pakist ani Jews have emigrated. [citation needed] [edit] Hinduism Main article: Hinduism in Pakistan Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, KarachiHinduism has an ancient history in Pakistan, the Rig Veda was believed to have been composed in the Punjab region. [citation needed] Hindus today are a much reduced community numbering around 3 million or about 1. 6%. [1] According to the last census 93% of Hindus live in Sindh, 5% in Punjab and nearly 2% in Balochistan. [citation needed] [edit] Sikhism Main article: Sikhism in Pakistan Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in Punjab, Pakistan The number of Sikhs remaining in Pakistan today is very small; estimates vary, but the number is thought to be on the order of 20,000. 7] The shrine of Guru Nanak Dev is located in Nankana Sahib near the city of Lahore where many Sikhs from abroad make pilgrimage to this and other shrines. [edit] Buddhism Main article: Buddhism in Pakistan Like Hinduism, Buddhism has an ancient history in Pakistan. There are no established Buddhist c ommunities and numbers are very few. [edit] Zoroastrianism Further information: Parsi people Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, major urban centres in what is now Pakistan were home to a thriving Parsi business community.Karachi had the most prominent population of Parsis in Pakistan and were mostly Gujarati-speaking. After independence, majority of Pakistan's Parsi populace migrated to India, notably Bombay; however a number of Parsis still remain in Pakistan and have entered Pakistani public life as social workers, business folk, and diplomats. The most prominent Parsis of Pakistan today include Ardeshir Cowasjee, Byram Dinshawji Avari, Jamsheed Marker, as well as the late Minocher Bhandara. [edit] Baha'i Main article: Baha'i Faith in Pakistan The Baha'i Faith in Pakistan begins previous to its independence when it was part of India.The roots of the religion in the region go back to the first days of the Babi religion in 1844,[22] with Shaykh Sa'id Hindi who was from Mul tan. [23] During Baha'u'llah's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to the area that is current-day Pakistan. [24] In 1921 the Baha'is of Karachi elected their first Baha'i Local Spiritual Assembly. [23] By 1956 Baha'i local assemblies spread across many cities,[25] and in 1957, East and West Pakistan elected a separate National Baha'i Assembly from India and later East Pakistan became Bangladesh with its own national assembly. 26] Waves of refugees arrived in 1979 due to the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian Revolution in Iran. [27][28] The Baha'is in Pakistan have the right to hold public meetings, establish academic centers, teach their faith, and elect their administrative councils. [29] However, the government prohibits Baha'is from travelling to Israel for Baha'i pilgrimage. [30] Recent estimates are over 79,000[18] though Baha'is claimed less than half that number. [31] [edit] Kalash Religion This is the religion of the Kalash people living in a remote part of Chitral.Adherents of the Kalash religion number around 3,000 and inhabit three remote valleys in Chitral; Bumboret, Rumbur and Birir. Their religion is unique but shares some common ground with Vedic and Pre-Zoroastrian religions. [edit] Atheism Main article: Atheism There may also be some atheists and agnostics in Pakistan, particularly in the affluent areas of the larger cities. Some were born in secular families while others in religious ones. According to the 1998 census, people who did not state their religion accounted for 0. 5% of the population, but social pressures against claiming no religion was strong. 7] There is slight of atheism in the country. Pakistan's laws, which stipulate the death penalty for blaspheming, institutionalize such discrimination. Subsequently, most atheists and agnostics keep their views private and choose to portray themselves publicly as indifferent Muslims rather than non-Muslims. Islam in Pakistan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Islam in Pakistan Category| History| Islamic conquest  Ã‚ · Arab settlement Islamic rule  Ã‚ · Mughal Empire Hindu conversion  Ã‚ · Sectarian dispute| Architecture| Mughal  Ã‚ · Indo-Islamic  Ã‚ · Indo-Saracenic|Major figures| Mohammad bin Qasim  Ã‚ · Baba Fareed Khwaja Sheikh Pak  Ã‚ · Bulleh Shah Sir Syed Ahmed Khan  Ã‚ · Allama Iqbal Bahadur Yar Jung| Schools of law| Hanafi  Ã‚ · Shia  Ã‚ · Shafi`i  Ã‚ · Maliki  Ã‚ · Hanbali| Schools of thought| Shia  Ã‚ · Barelvi  Ã‚ · Deobandi  Ã‚ · Ahle Hadith Sufism  Ã‚ · Ahmadiyya| Mosques in Pakistan| List of Mosques -List of mosques in Lahore Faisal Mosque  Ã‚ · Badshahi Mosque| Political organisations and movements| Pakistan Muslim League Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam  Ã‚ · Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan  Ã‚ · Jamaat-e-Islami  Ã‚ · Tehrik-e-Jafaria Pakistan  Ã‚ · Jamiat Ahle Hadith  Ã‚ · Tablighi Jamaat| Culture| MusicQawwali  Ã‚ · Hamd    · Nasheed  Ã‚ · Naat  Ã‚ · Ghazal 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America Belize  Ã‚ · Costa Rica  Ã‚ · El Salvador  Ã‚ · Guatemala  Ã‚ · Honduras  Ã‚ · Nicaragua  Ã‚ · Panama  Ã‚ · Southern America Argentina  Ã‚ · Bolivia  Ã‚ · Brazil  Ã‚ · Chile  Ã‚ · Colombia  Ã‚ · Dominica  Ã‚ · Ecuador  Ã‚ · Guyana  Ã‚ · Paraguay  Ã‚ · Peru  Ã‚ · Suriname  Ã‚ · Uruguay  Ã‚ · Venezuela CaribbeanAntigua and Barbuda  Ã‚ · Bahamas  Ã‚ · Barbados  Ã‚ · Cuba  Ã‚ · Dominican Republic  Ã‚ · Grenada  Ã‚ · Haiti  Ã‚ · Jamaica  Ã‚ · Saint Kitts and Nevis  Ã‚ · Saint Lucia  Ã‚ · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Ã‚ · Trinidad and Tobago  Ã‚ ·| Islam in Oceania[show] Australia Australia  Ã‚ · Norfolk  Island  Ã‚ · Christmas  Island  Ã‚ · Cocos  (Keeling)  Islands Melanesia East  Timor  Ã‚ · Fiji  Ã‚ · New  Caledonia  Ã‚ · Papua New Guinea  Ã‚ · Solomon  Islands  Ã‚ · Vanuatu Micronesia Guam  Ã‚ · Kiribati  Ã‚ · Marshall  Islands  Ã‚ · Northern  Mariana  Islands  Ã‚ · Federated  States of  Micronesia  Ã‚ · Nauru  Ã‚ · Palau PolynesiaAmerican  Samoa  Ã‚ · Cook  Islands  Ã‚ · French  Polynesia  Ã‚ · New  Zealand  Ã‚ · Niue  Ã‚ · Pitcairn  Ã‚ · Samoa  Ã‚ · Tokelau  Ã‚ · Tonga  Ã‚ · Tuvalu  Ã‚ · Wallis and Futuna| This box: view  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  talk  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã‚  edit| Islam is the official religion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has a population of about 174,578,558. [1] The overwhelming majority (95-97%) of the Pakistani people are Muslims while the remaining 3-5% are Christian, Hindu, and others. [2][3] Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia. Sunnis are the majority while the Shias make up between 10-20%[4][3][5][2] of the total Muslim population of the country.Pakistan has the second largest number of Shias after Iran, which numbers between 17 million to as high as 30 million according to Vali Nasr. [6] Contents[hide] * 1 Umayyad invasion of Sindh and the arrival of Islam * 2 Islam and the Pakistan Movement * 3 Politicized Islam * 4 Muslim sects in Pakistan * 5 Laws and customs * 6 Media and pilgrimages * 7 Islamic education * 8 See also * 9 Further reading * 10 References * 11 External links| [edit] Umayyad invasion of Sindh and the arrival of Islam Main article: Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinentThe Badshahi Masjid, literally the ‘Royal Mosque', was built in 1674 by Aurangzeb. It is one of Lahore's best known landmarks, and epitomizes the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era. Islam arrived in the area now known as Pakistan in 711 CE, when th e Umayyad dynasty sent a Muslim Arab army led by Muhammad bin Qasim against the ruler of Sindh, Raja Dahir, this was due to the fact that Raja Dahir had given refuge to numerous Zoroastrian Princes who had fled the Islamic conquest of Iran. Mohummad Bin Qasim's army was defeated in his first thee attempts.The Muslim army conquered the northwestern part of Indus Valley from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea. The arrival of the Arab Muslims to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, along with subsequent Muslim dynasties, set the stage for the religious boundaries of South Asia that would lead to the development of the modern state of Pakistan as well as forming the foundation for Islamic rule which quickly spread across much of South Asia. Following the rule of various Islamic empires, including the Ghaznavid Empire, the Ghorid kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals controlled the region from 1526 until 1739.Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teach ers, theologians and Sufis flocked from the rest of the Muslim world to Islamic Sultanate and Mughal Empire in South Asia and in the land that became Pakistan. [edit] Islam and the Pakistan Movement The Muslim poet-philosopher Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal first proposed the idea of a Muslim state in northwestern South Asia in his address to the Muslim League at Allahabad in 1930. His proposal referred to the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and the NorthWest Frontier — essentially what would became Pakistan.Iqbal's idea gave concrete form to two distinct nations in the South Asia based on religion (Islam and Hinduism) and with different historical backgrounds, social customs, cultures, and social mores. Islam was thus the basis for the creation and the unification of a separate state. Allama Muhammad Iqbal in 1937, in a letter to Jinnah wrote, After a long and careful study of Islamic Law I have come to the conclusion that if this system of Law is properly understoo d and applied, at last the right to subsistence is secured to every body.But the enforcement and development of the Shariat of Islam is impossible in this country without a free Muslim state or states. This has been my honest conviction for many years and I still believe this to be the only way to solve the problem of bread for Muslims as well as to secure a peaceful India. [7] But just three days before the creation of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah made a different commitment. A commitment to secularism in Pakistan.In his inaugural address he said, You will find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. This statement of Jinnah is an object of great controversy since then and this vision of a Pakistan in which Islamic law would not be applied, contrary to Iqbal's perception, was questioned sho rtly after independence. [edit] Politicized IslamFaisal Mosque in Islamabad, which is the largest mosque of Pakistan and is also one of the largest in the world, was built by King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. From the outset, politics and religion have been intertwined both conceptually and practically in Islam. Because Prophet Muhammad established a government in Medina, precedents of governance and taxation exist. Through the history of Islam, from the Ummayyad (661-750) and Abbasid empires (750-1258) to the Mughals (1526- 1858), Safavis (1501–1722) and the Ottomans (1300-1923), religion and statehood have been treated as one.Indeed, one of the beliefs of Islam is that the purpose of the state is to provide an environment where Muslims can properly practice their religion. If a leader fails in this, the people have a right to depose him. In March 1949, the first constituent assembly passed Objectives Resolution, which declared that the state of Pakistan will be submitted to the sovereignty of God. In 1950, thirty one Ulema passed a demand draft, called Twenty Two Points of Ulema. This drafted demanded preparation of constitution according to Objectives Resolution. It also demanded changes in the law according to Shariah.In 1977, the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto outlawed alcohol and drugs and changed the weekend from Sunday to Friday, but no substantive Islamic reform program was implemented prior to General Zia-ul-Haq's Islamization program. Starting in February 1979, new penal measures based on Islamic principles of justice went into effect. These carried considerably greater implications for women than for men. A welfare and taxation system based on Zakat and a profit-and-loss banking system were also established in accordance with Islamic prohibitions against usury but were inadequate. edit] Muslim sects in Pakistan Further information: Sectarian violence in Pakistan  and  Shi'a Islam in Pakistan Data Durbar in Lahore, Pakistan is the tomb of A li Hajweri, eleventh century Sufi. People come each year to pay their respects, to say prayers and worship. The large complex also includes Jamia Hajweri, or Hajweri Mosque. According to the CIA World Factbook and Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 95-97% of the total population of Pakistan is Muslim. [3] The majority of the Pakistani Muslims are Sunnis, while Shias are estimated 10-20%. 8] [4] [3] [5] [2] The Muslims belong to different schools which are called Madhahib (singular: Madhhab) i. e. , schools of jurisprudence (also ‘Maktab-e-Fikr' (School of Thought) in Urdu). The Hanafi school of Sunnis includes the Barelvi and Deobandi schools. Although the vast majority of Pakistani Shi'a Muslims belong to Ithna ‘ashariyah school, there are significant minorities: Nizari Ismailis (Agha Khanis) and the smaller Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra branches. The Salafi sect is represented by the Ahle Hadith movement in Pakistan.Many people on the Makran coast of Baloc histan follow the Zikri sect of Islam. The two subsects of Sunni Hanafi school, Barelvis and Deobandis, have their own Masjids. The Shi'a Ithna ‘ashariyah school has its own Masjids commonly termed as Hussainias (Imambargahs). Mustaali Dawoodi Bohra and Sulaimani Bohra also have their own Masjids, while the Nizari Ismailis pray in Jama'at Khanas. The Ahmadiyya community, a minority group is also present. Ahmadis have been declared non-Muslims by the Government of Pakistan.In 1974, the government of Pakistan amended Constitution of Pakistan to define a Muslim â€Å"as a person who believes in finality of Prophet Muhammad†. [9] For this reason, Ahmadis are persecuted on behalf of their beliefs. Ahmadis believe in Muhammad as the best and the last law bearing prophet and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Christ of Muslims who was prophesied to come in the latter days and unite the Muslims. Consequently they were declared non-Muslims by a tribunal, the records of which have not bee n released to date.According to the last Pakistan census, Ahmadis made up 0. 25% of the population. However the website adherents. com[10] proposes that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community made up 1. 42% of the population; which is likely to be a less biased source. The Economist puts the figure of Ahmadiyya adherents to 4 million. The Ahmadis claim their community is even larger. Sufism has a strong tradition in Pakistan. The Muslim Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting the millions of native people to Islam.As in other areas where Sufis introduced it, Islam to some extent syncretized with pre-Islamic influences, resulting in a religion with some traditions distinct from those of the Arab world. The Naqshbandiya, Qadiriya, Chishtiya and Suhrawardiyya silsas have a a large following in Pakistan. Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Data Ganj Baksh (Ali Hajweri) in Lahore (ca. 11th century), Baha-ud-din Zakariya in Multan and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan ( ca. 12th century) and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit, Sindh and Rehman Baba in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. edit] Laws and customs There is no law in Pakistan enforcing hijab and wearing of Hijab by Pakistani women is fairly uncommon. However, the practice of wearing Hijab among younger women in urban centers is slowly growing due to media influence from the Middle East and Persian Gulf countries. The episodes of sectarian violence have significantly decreased in frequency over the years due to the conflictual engagement of the Islamic militant organizations with the state's armed forces and intelligence agencies. [edit] Media and pilgrimagesMedia and pilgrimages has influenced Pakistani Muslims to learn more about Islam as a result the local heterodox beliefs and practices are being replaced with orthodox beliefs from Quran and Sunnah. The inexpensive travel, simpler visa rules and direct air travel to Saudi Arabia has resulted in large number Pakistani Muslims going to Medina and Mecca for Haj and Umrah. This has helped to increase Pan-Islamic identity of Pakistani Muslims. The Muslim print media has always existed in Pakistan which included newspapers, books and magazines.The Muslim satellite channels are widely available and are watched by Pakistani population. [edit] Islamic education The Study of Islam as a subject is compulsory for all Muslim students up to Matriculation or O'levels in all schools in Pakistan. Islamic education to the masses is also propagated mainly by Islamic schools and literature. Islamic schools (or Madrassas) mostly cater to the youth from impoverished social backgrounds and those learning to be Islamic clerics. More casual and even research oriented material is available in the form of books.While the most prominent of these schools are being monitored, the latter are being ‘moderated' by both the government and some of the scholars, thereby also removing in the process the various material present in it that is used by An ti-Islam/Anti-Sunni writers. Oldest and universally accepted titles such as the Sahih Bukhari have been revised into ‘summarised' editions and some of the old, complete titles, translated to Urdu, the national language, are not available for purchase now. These changes are also a herald to new outbreaks of religious controversy in the region.

Contemporary employment perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Contemporary employment perspectives - Essay Example Today, social work comprises a variety of functions, skills, and obligations. The nature of social work is essentially about dealing with the most serious social problems and reducing the scope of social exclusion, to promote positive change and enhance individual and social well-being. Childcare social worker: Job specification That social work is an indispensable component of social reality and progress cannot be denied. Burducea (2010) is correct in the origins of social work are modern. However, most, if not all, world civilizations were engaged in various social work activities, from sponsorship and personal financial assistance to philanthropy and the development of the sophisticated insurance systems. Although the role and importance of social work in the globalized work is well-documented, little is known about its functions. Childcare social workers are professionals with a Master’s degree in social work, dealing with problematic individuals and population groups, inc luding homeless youths. The goal of a childcare social worker’s job is to work in community, with individuals and families, who need professional assistance and face considerable emotional and social problems. Childcare social workers fulfill broad range of obligations and perspectives, including participation in multidisciplinary teams (Healy 2008). Childcare social workers deal with service users, assess their situation, and provide social and counseling support to those in need (Lyons & Carlsen 2006; Payne 2005). Homeless and runaway youths are rightly considered as one of the most socially vulnerable groups. The key tasks of a childcare social worker include analyzing and addressing new requests for social and emotional assistance to children, visiting their young clients at home, representing children in courts, and taking all actions that are appropriate for promoting children’s well-being. Childcare social workers are expected to contribute to the development of their service and work in multidisciplinary teams of social work volunteers. They must be prepared to work extra hours and pursue high degree of flexibility in job performance. Therefore, the job of a childcare social worker is essentially about detecting and finding runaway youths, assessing their situation and providing counseling support, to promote social inclusion, enhance their wellbeing, and guarantee that young people can meet their social needs. Childcare social work: theoretical underpinnings Social work is usually defined from the two different perspectives: that of science and that of an institutional arrangement with a solid normative and practical architecture (Burducea 2010). The key elements of social work as an institutional structure include benefits and beneficiaries, social work and normative systems (Burducea 2010). As a science, social work exemplifies a complex network of theoretical and methodological approaches to social problems (Burducea 2010). Social wor k as a profession uses multidisciplinary systems to assess the impact of the existing and emerging social problems on people and reduce their complexity (Burducea 2010). The social work paradigm is unique in the sense that it deals with the existing social problems â€Å"without violating the principles of social justice and human rights† (Burducea 2010). It would be fair to say that social workers serve a reliable buffer between

Evaluating Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Evaluating - Coursework Example Additionally, this paper presents an evaluation of 5 conflict resolution methods and a conflict resolution method that is best applicable to both teams and rationale for this decision. Finally, this paper presents a conclusion of the findings and literature applied. Interprofessional collaboration is a complex communication process that poses a number of features. According to Scholl, Koelewijn-van Loon and Sepucha, et al. (2011), interprofessional collaboration, in a nursing setting or health care environment is described as the process of division of planning, decision making, goal setting, accountability assumptions and problem solving processes which links with working jointly. This process fosters harmonization of efforts in a team or group. Working as a team or collaboratively is a common term in the health care environment, where the health care providers strive to work together in order to achieve positive health outcomes. The surgical and recovery team work in harmony to achieve their set goals and objectives which entail achieving a positive health outcome. In particular, the surgical team carries out the surgery procedures on the patients in the surgery environments whereas the recovery team plays the role of assisting the patients in recovering from the surgical procedures (Scholl et al., 2011). This entails taking the patients from the surgical room and providing them with the necessary care that they need in order to triumph over the surgery to a normal life (Schrijvers, van Hoorn & Huiskes, 2012). Over and above, both the surgical and the recovery team play a significant role in enabling the patient achieve beneficial health outcomes. This is made possible via collaborative working process where everyone embraces communication through effective reporting and handover. Interprofessional collaborations foster exchange of knowledge, improved patient health outcomes, improved health care service satisfaction and an effective

Publix Super Market and the Effect of Hurricanes Research Paper

Publix Super Market and the Effect of Hurricanes - Research Paper Example Hurricanes result to enormous damages and devastation within the local communities. These natural disasters tend to deter and disrupt supply chains of major products due to the damages inflicted on infrastructure such as roads, rails, and communication channels. Consequently, businesses (especially those that operate a Just-in-Time manufacturing methodology) incur significant supply shortages that run for long durations, resulting to losses due to lost revenues. Other losses emanate from damage on goods and insurance claims that may run into hundreds of million of dollars. One such business that experienced huge losses in the 2004-2005 hurricanes in Miami, Florida is Publix Supermarket and its chain of stores. This paper seeks to examine the effects of external events to a business, drawing from the impacts of hurricanes on Publix supermarket, especially the disruption of its supply chain, damages to goods, and insurance claims (Publix AMC). Publix Supermarket Inc is an employee-owne d chain stores operating primarily in the United States. The company has grown rapidly since its establishment to dominate the retail industry in Florida and the US at large, operating 1086 retail stores, 8 centers for grocery distribution, and nine brand-manufacturing facilities. The product portfolio of the company is majorly grocery, foods and beverages, and other finished products, groceries and food products being dominant. With the headquarters in Florida, the retail giant has over 757 stores, with a grocery distribution center in Miami (Publix AMC). The company has a solid establishment in the Florida region, but the fact that the area is prone to hurricanes and tornadoes downplays its development. Due to the delicate nature of its products portfolio, Publix operates a primarily Just-in-Time manufacturing method. This production methodology emphasizes on problem solving and waste reduction for continuous improvement, thus improving organizational performance. The fundamental principles include having adequate inventory only, improving quality, reducing setup time and queue length, and reducing costs. This production method has quality and cost benefits, but the most significant challenge is supply chain disruptions. Supply chain disruptions occur because of failure of one element of the supply chain and the subsequent failure in the rest of the chain. There are two categories of supply chain risks: disruption or operation. Operational risks refer to uncertainties such as uncertainty in costs, customer demand, and supply. Disruption risks are associated with economic crises or manmade and natural disasters. This paper focuses on the disruption risks in the supply chain of Publix Supermarket Inc. In Miami, the most significant disasters are hurricanes. About eight years ago, the region experienced three catastrophic hurricanes in barely two month, with hurricane Charley in August 13 2004, hurricane Ivan in September 2004, and hurricane Jeanne in September 2004. The impacts of the events were enormous to the people and business in that community. Among the most affected was Publix Super Markets, recording well over $60 million in product losses alone (SEC 17). According to the organization’s Form 10-K submission for the fiscal year 2006 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the 2004-2005 hurricanes had significant financial

The Rising Economic Importance of Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8000 words

The Rising Economic Importance of Women - Essay Example rmination model with three component parts: the individual-level segment, which includes variables such as education and age; the structural-level segment, which includes variables such as hours worked per week, industry, and occupation; a gender-level segment, which includes variables such as sex, marital status, and with child under age six. Results indicate that, net of other factors, women earn $111.21 less per week than men in spite of having a higher percentage of college degrees and positions in white-collar high-skill employment. Analysis of the results suggests that there are two potential means by which the pay-gap can be reduced. Women are typically, either by choice or because they are forced, selected into gender homogenous positions such as education or healthcare that are devalued. Women therefore need to select positions that will generate a more heterogeneous employment structure and pursue occupations in typically male dominated areas. Additionally, the enactment of a Pay Equity Act could further restore the balance and redistribute income by evaluating positions based on the value of their work and not based on sex, race, or other personal/individual attributes. Four decades have passed since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act (1963), but are we any closer to gender equality? The Equal Pay Act was created as a result of the large income discrepancies that existed for individuals doing the same work and was termed pay discrimination. Throughout the years many justifications have been put forth for unequal pay based on gender with the predominant being the sex difference in productivity. Sex segregation, the division of labor based on gender, has existed from almost the beginning and is arguably one of the most profound reasons why the pay-gap still exists today. The Equal Pay Act has done little to address this issue because it only addresses gender income differences for those individuals occupying the same positions. Another justification for

Top business management teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Top business management teams - Essay Example Wrong approach on these issues has seen different companies; organizations and firms topple while as correct measures have seen their excellence and succession. Recently, each and every firm has its human resource management department on the spotlight. Even though the situation is so, critics and analysts point out that it the high time line managers and human resource professionals rethought and redefined the exact meaning of human resource (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). As a result, human resource managers are responding to scrutiny by applying new thinking and approach. They are trying to transform from the earlier concept of do-ables to focusing on more proactive measures, the deliverables. While the do-ables usually dwell on improving HR practices, upgrading HR professionals, and re-instituting or re- engineering of human resource departments. Activities involved here are emphasizing on taken actions, activities and an organizations happenings, occurrences and events. Deliverables deal mainly in outcomes, values and results that emerge from carrying out or under taking human resource upgrading or practice. Survey done on aspects towards managing performance and development of workers: shows a variety of differences depending on the nature of business. Some of the strategies applied included strategies, policies and employee recruitment, promotion, appraisals, pension payment and compensation: job design, complains handling and labor management. Managers must take competence of their workers into account very serious, technically/functionally that is individual achievements in finance, marketing and customer care, core basically in organization, crisis management, logistics and manufacturing. Social capabilities like leadership, setting directives, diversity, commitment, teamwork and credibility among other reasons. They should also consider organizational merits such as long distance work, time, speed and intellectual capital. Competencies result to correct total income and balance sheet reflection. Incase of errors or omissions, reports annual reports published would reflect a lie, even from a slight discrepancy. Competence also ensures that final products or services are of high standards thus increasing customer in flow and a growth in demand (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). Managers should make change happen by being the change agent: In an environment that is unpredictable or even unforeseeable, they should emphasize on the ability to quickly change rather than investing on policies that might not work in such cases. They ought to prepare their workers for anything anytime. Change in the sense of perceptions and euphoria about the company is also worth consideration in efforts towards HR management. They should create an intellectual capital and play employee champions: the challenge lies in what they have and how to increase it. With keen interest on workers progress, managers can encourage and campaign for even better working conditions. By championing for their welfare in turn morale can be boosted among employees. Human resource managers need also to improve on their employee relations in order to create that friendly atmosphere. This involves understanding of their pros and cons, practicing empathy and creating a close relationship between them and the working team in their company. By showing that they really care, the workers will feel

International Management 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Management 2 - Essay Example Due to this, International Human Resources Management has come to the forefront. International Human Resources Management seeks to lay down common rules, solutions to problems and personnel management systems to help this new phase of global expansion transform into a success story and to help organisations adapt and procure better results. Working in a country that one is not familiar with, is a great challenge in itself. More so, when it involves the establishment of a branch office of one’s company or deals with the successful initiation of an extension of your company, in a scenario completely different from the one you are familiar with. Therefore, a great amount of thought-processing and execution must go down into such plans, before embarking on a conclusion. Thailand is one of the favorable fast-growing sites for international expansion of business, trade and commerce. Transfer of technology, the extent of involvement of the local resources, the net currency profit, etc. are some of the factors that are looked into, before the green signal for the establishment of subsidiaries is given. When an employee needs to be sent abroad by a company, both, the company as well as the employee need to look into certain vital factors that affect and make an impact on successful stint of the subsidiary company, in a host country. The strategy employed in the expansion process will surely play a dominating role in determining the level of success received by the proposed plan. Special skills of employees are not duly recognised as proposed by the management. Instead, there exists the diffusion of persistence of such skill-based work approaches. The sharing of tasks can lead to the sharpening

Market share Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Market share - Essay Example This report provides all the relevant information regarding ASDA supermarkets that is required for business and competitor intelligence needs. It contains the major external and internal factors that affect ASDA stores limited in SWOT and PESTLE analysis form. Conclusions and recommendations reached is based on the data collected in relation to the history, business description and the list of products and services provided by the supermarket. ASDA supermarket is a British chain of supermarkets dealing with mostly retail business in foodstuffs, toys, clothing and the general merchandise. The supermarket chain has also a mobile telephone network known as ASDA mobile. The head offices of ASDA chain of supermarkets are situated in ASDA house Leeds, West Yorkshire (Asda par 4 2010). ASDA has collaborated with major players in the retail industries in strengthening and increasing its market share. One such situation is when the management showed interest in Wal-mart the largest retailers in the world (Deloitte 2009 par 1), and become its subsidiary in 1999. It is the second largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom after Tesco. The ASDA supermarket was previously at third position but managed to overtake Sainsbury in 2003. The market share of the various supermarkets in the United Kingdom is as shown below: The marketing promotions of ASDA supermarket have solely been based on price. The slogan for the supermarket is â€Å"Britain’s Lowest Priced Supermarket, twelve years running†. The supermarket has now been wholly owned by Wal-mart and thus is not required by law to declare its half yearly or quarterly earnings. The supermarket submits all accounts to Wal-mart’s offices each and every October. The supermarket enjoys an employee pool of 143, 126 in number thus a major employer in the region. ASDA in 2006 introduced ASDA essentials to stock the products of the company. This

The Information Systems Development Life Cycle Assignment

The Information Systems Development Life Cycle - Assignment Example The researcher states that in the photograph printing store, the components (phases) in the SDLC will be the steps to be taken to migrate to a new computerized and more accurate (tamper-proof) employee time-entry system and analyzes each step. Planning – this is the very first or initial phase of the SDLC and ideas here are discussed such as what the proposed computerized system is expected to solve (problems like the lost punch cards, inaccurate timekeeping, and employee cheating – punching for an absent employee). The costs will also be discussed and the time frame needed to fully implement this new system. Creating – the hardware requirements will be specified including a software program to run the whole system. A total number of employees, backup systems, desired features and all other operational details are created at this point so that management expectations can be met. Testing – the new system will be tried if there are kinks or bugs in it so rem edies and patches can be applied immediately prior to actual implementation and avoid future problems. Deploying – once the new system is complete and fully operational (bug-free), it will now be implemented throughout the entire store and employees are required to use it. The new system can then be integrated into the firm’s payroll system to automatically compute wages and salaries for the employees based on their time records to generate a payroll.

Cultural Differences Affecting Meaning and Understanding Essay Example for Free

Cultural Differences Affecting Meaning and Understanding Essay How do cultural differences affect meaning and understanding? In today’s business environment, the mechanics of global business seem to be working on a surface level. We can make quick money transactions by phone or by computer. Consumers can purchase products from all different countries in one transaction. Although trade barriers are still a major topic, they are slowly decreasing. As we sick below the surface, we will see that Global business is still in major jeopardy because of a newly emerging challenge: Cultural differences. Culture is the pattern of beliefs or expectations that inevitably shape the behaviours of individuals and teams within organisations. It is concerned with the basic assumptions, values, attitudes, food and feeding habits, dress and appearance, relationships, a sense of self and space and norms shaped by members of an organisation or country. These elements of culture are usually taken for granted and guide others perceptions, thoughts and actions. For example, the Culture at McDonald’s fast food chain emphasises efficiency, speed and consistency. It orients employees to company goals and charters and suggests the necessary behaviours for success. Many educated, business people may say â€Å"But we are getting closer and closer to each other, we don’t have any cultural problems’. Yes, it is possible to transcend cultural differences; however statements like this can be misleading to many people. (Funakawa, p18) Geert Hofstede, a successful cross-cultural management researcher, observes five different dimensions within a culture: Power/Distancing – This refers to the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among people with and without power. High Power distancing cultures conclude that society accepts an unequal distribution of power and people understand their place in the system. Low Power Distancing means that power is shared and well dispersed. It also means that society members view themselves as equals. Application: According to Hofstedes model, in a high Power distancing country like Malaysia, you would probably send reports only to top management and have closed door meetings where only a select few, powerful leaders were in attendance. Individualism – This refers to the strength of the ties people have to others within the community. A high Individualism society indicates a loose connection with people. In countries with a high Individualism society there is a lack of interpersonal connection and little sharing of responsibility, beyond family and perhaps a few close friends. A society with a low Individualism would have strong group cohesion, and there would be a large amount of loyalty and respect for members of the group. The group itself is also larger and people take more responsibility for each others well being. Masculinity – This refers to how much a society sticks with, and values, traditional male and female roles. High Masculinity societies are found in countries where men are expected to be tough, to be the provider, to be assertive and to be strong. If women work outside the home, they have separate professions from men. Low Masculinity societies do not reverse the gender roles. In a low Masculinity society, the roles are simply blurred. You see women and men working together equally across many professions. Men are allowed to be sensitive and women can work hard for professional success. Uncertainty/Avoidance Index – This relates to the degree of anxiety society members feel when in uncertain or unknown situations. High Uncertainty societies try to avoid ambiguous situations whenever possible. They are governed by rules and order and they seek a collective truth. Low Uncertainty societies indicate the society enjoys novel events and values differences. There are very few rules and people are encouraged to discover their own truth. Geert also observes that when people write about national cultures in modern society becoming more and more similar, the evidence cited is usually taken from the level of practices; people dress the same, use the same fashionable words in context, buy the same products and brands, they participate in global sports etc. These manifestations of culture are sometimes mistaken for all there is: the deeper, underlying values is often overlooked. (Funakawa p33) The value for cross cultural communication cannot be overemphasised. It is what enables any mission statement, vision or strategy, and affects meaning and understanding on every level.

TV Personalities Essay Example for Free

TV Personalities Essay For this project, I chose the television show House. In this particular episode, Dr. House and his team of doctors face the problem of diagnosing a man who came into the ER at the hospital after fainting. There are no clear symptoms that point to a single medical diagnosis. The second part of this episode deals with House and his best friend Wilson. Wilson is in a relationship with another doctor that House doesn’t particularly like and House is determined to get his fair share of time with his friend, away from his girlfriend. I have obviously chosen Dr. House has my subject for this paper. House is a very brilliant and gifted doctor. He is also very obnoxious, overbearing, rude, egotistical, sarcastic, arrogant, and cantankerous. House will gather his team to brainstorm about what the symptoms that patient is showing to see if they can come up with a solution and House will override everything they say. He will ask for a vote on the way to proceed and then disregard the vote for whatever he wants. Looking at Freud, it would appear that House’s id is still very strong and was not tempered very much by the Ego and Superego. House is still very demanding, irrational, illogical and impulsive in the way he lives his life. By studying Freud, it would also seem that in the stage of the Superego that House failed to fully develop the ego ideal and the conscience. The Behaviorist’s view would show that the way House is today is a result of environmental stimulus that was reinforced or strengthened in some way while he was growing up. It would suggest that his parents might have praised him when he acted out and was disrespectful instead of properly chastising or punishing him. The social cognitive view of personality suggests that House has a high self-efficacy. He is very sure of his talent as a doctor and therefore excels at his job. This view of personality also will show that House is very comfortable in his environment. Because of his comfort level, his behavior of being rude, sarcastic, and so on, will continue because he receives the type of reaction from others that it seems like he expects. This theory suggests that if the environment changes, his behavior should adapt to the change. In this episode, the only time his behavior changed in any way was when he was out with his friend Wilson. Although he was still sarcastic, overbearing and obnoxious, it was not as bad as when he was in the hospital. House’s real self and his ideal self are pretty well matched when looking at the humanistic perspective. House is very confident and sure of himself in what he is and who he wants to be. According to Rogers, House would be a fully functioning person. When House was growing up he must have received unconditional positive regard from his parents. The last personality theory that will be touched upon will be the trait theories. The one trait theory will be scrutinized is the Big Five. House is definitely an extrovert. He obviously likes being the center of attention. This was shown by the way he directed the attention to be on himself whenever he gathered his team of doctors together. House would also score very low on the trait of Agreeableness. House was very rude, irritable, and aggressive. A very high score would be given to House on Openness. House shows that he would have to be very curious and imaginative when looking for the causes for symptoms that patients emit and finding a diagnosis and cure for those symptoms. House was also very nonconforming. House definitely did not conform to the expectations of the way a doctor should conduct himself, whether with other colleagues or with patients themselves. House would also score high on Conscientiousness. He might not be the easiest person to be around, but he is very reliable. He would also have to be an ambitious person to become the brilliant doctor that he is. Neuroticism is hard to decide. Although House shows that he can be very temperamental, which is a characteristic for the higher score, it did not seem that he exhibited the traits of worrying, insecurity, and anxiousness. On the flip side, the low scoring characteristics for Neuoticism are calm, secure, relaxed and stable. House could probably be described as stable, but the other characteristics don’t really match him either.

How Investment Opportunities Affect Cash Holdings

How Investment Opportunities Affect Cash Holdings Introduction In recent years the interest of financial researches raised to firms cash policy, cash positions; if more accurate they are paying more attention why do firms hold so much cash. These issues have a long history and are the basis of corporate finance.  Indeed, from the day to day operations to finance long-term investments, own funds are just the most important source of funding. In particular, observers have recently serious doubts about the validity of so much cash.  This problem has led to important research aimed at clarifying the multifaceted aspects of monetary policy firms.  Although the rapid development of significantly enriched our understanding of the factors that stocks of companies the funds, the literature has paid little attention in the form of cash policys real impact on the daily activities of firms. In the 2007-2008 credit crunch business leaders and the media have made the phrase cash is sovereign back in vogue.  Although the firms internal cash flows decline, the stock markets collapsed and the credit markets nearly frozen, the lack of money has become a reality for many firms.  For example, General Motors (GM), based in the U.S. automaker, announced on 7 November 2008 that he could escape from the liquidity, despite the ongoing restructuring process. GM eventually reorganized through bankruptcy, but their fate was to demonstrate the importance of cash holdings.  Although the reduction of cash flows, as a rule, inevitable in many industries during the economic downturn, the symptoms can be removed by a sufficient amount of cash as a buffer to the crisis.  Nevertheless, for several reasons shareholders do not always want to see the firm to save money and sit on it.  The shareholders outlook on firms cash holdings and the cost they place on it will be examined in this research. The determinants and consequences of corporate cash holdings have attracted enlarged interest of scientists over the past ten years.  One key issue was that the relationship between cash and the value of the company.  Broadly speaking, two main factors in the equation of the advantages of liquidity of the company and the agency cost of managerial discretion.  Both these arguments have their supporters. For example, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that costly external financing means that firms must maintain a sufficient cash reserve, which provides liquidity to take advantage of new projects a positive NPV.  However, according to Jensen (1986) the agency costs of managerial consolidation means that large amounts of cash should be paid to shareholders to keep managers overinvesting negative NPV projects.  Apparently, there is no single truth, which will apply to all companies at once, as the needs of both the firm and its managers are not uniform. Understanding the value of cash is of interest not only for researchers and scientists, but even more so for practitioners.  Equity analysts, financiers and corporate chief financial officers must all be very interesting to know which factors affect the cost of cash holdings in the company and why. Most equity analysts simply add cash to the top of the value of the company, without giving attention from what could be the reason why money should not be evaluated at face value. However, researches show, markets, monetary values in different firms in different ways, and, consequently, analysts may be too especially if the company has a large amount of liquid assets.  For corporate financiers situation is somewhat different, because they often give the conclusion that the value of the target firm is the acquirer, thereby eliminating the influence of the prevailing corporate governance and financial policies.  Nevertheless, it can be valuable to understand the value of cash when as sessing the market value of the firm.  Finally, the financial department of a firm must know why their cash cannot be appreciated at face value, and that they could do if they want.  This allows us not only to understand the preferences of shareholders, but perhaps an opportunity to meet them. Problem Statement In this research I want to find answers to the questions like: What is the reason of holding so much cash than needed? What kind of effects it could cause? How the financing constraints and investment opportunities together affect the value the shareholders place on cash? How firms investment opportunities affect the marginal value of firms cash holdings? How firms the state of external capital markets affect the marginal value of firms cash holdings? 1.3 Research objectives The aim of this work is the approach to the cost of cash holdings of firms in two directions. First, subsequent to Faulkender and Wang (2006), who studied the cross-section changes in the marginal value of corporate cash, which arises from differences in corporate financial policy. Secondly, inspired by the credit crunch of 2007-2008, I examine how changes in the external capital markets affect the cost of money over time.  As far as I know there have not been previous studies on the time changes in the value of cash.  There are several reasons why the loan should affect any results related to the companys cash holdings.  First, Almeida et al.(2004) show that financially constrained firms maintain a significantly higher proportion of their cash flow, the following adverse macroeconomic shocks than before.  This means that the relationship between the preserve cash flow and earnings of the company is dynamic and may change over time.  Second, the importance of cash is emphasized in a recession.  When a loan is becoming more rationed, the company in which a lot of cash does not need to worry about the inability to finance daily operations.  Intuitively, firms with more cash are less likely to be downgraded credit rating and are able to maintain acce ss to capital markets.  In addition, these companies can take advantage of the plight of the weaker firms, which may be less liquid assets, through active competitive actions and acquisitions.  Thus, it seems appropriate to us a treasure load of cash in good times to be able to strike when the economy turns.  Finally, as credit becomes more and more rationed, it also becomes more expensive.  This is especially true for financially constrained firms. I use a sample of around 1000 Malaysian firms for the last decade from 1999 to 2009 to test the hypothesis in Faulkender and Wang (2006), impact of investment opportunities on the value of cash, and the change in value of cash over the economic cycle. The usable observations begin from 1999 because for most of the variables I require a change throughout a fiscal year. The extraordinary state in the financial markets during 2007-2008 allows me to study how it may have impacted the value of cash. The following terms interchangeably I use in this thesis. First, in a few ways, mainly as cash holdings, cash reserves, or simply cash I refer to firms cash holdings. Nevertheless, cash level is used to refer to cash ratio (cash to net assets). Second, I use the value of cash, the marginal value of cash, value of additional cash, value of an extra dollar of cash, and the value the shareholders place on cash while referring to the value of firms cash holdings. Third, since most of the previous studies have been done with U.S. data, I discuss the value of a dollar in the introduction. However, my data are from Malaysia, and therefore in the empirical part I am examining the value of a ringgit. I review the related literature in the next section. Section 3 develops theoretical framework of the study, the main hypothesis, illustrates the methods and details the sample selection. LITERATURE REVIEW The literature on market value of cash can be divided into research focus on the benefits of liquidity, or agency costs.  The former approaches through the studies of financial policy and corporate decision making of companies, whereas the latter evaluates the degree of agency conflicts on the basis of corporate governance factors.  Despite the general division between the two issues, both are at least implicitly always present during the tests and conclusions. Although much effort has recently been devoted to studying the determinants of cash policy of firms, data on the impact of reserves firms cash remains relatively small.  However, there are a few notable exceptions.  Blanchard, Lopez-de-Silanes and Shleifer (1994), who studied a small sample of companies that received cash windfalls from lawsuits, and Harford (1999), studied the acquisition of the company with unusual cash, the document that managers with weaker incentives to maximize  value, tend to spend large amounts of cash is inefficient. Opler, Pinkowitz, Stulz and Williamson (1999) argue that corporate cash can be attributed to a compromise, the theory of financial hierarchy and agency theory.  Kim, Mauer and Sherman (1998) develop a model of compromise and argue that the optimal amount of corporate cash holdings is determined by the tradeoff between lower income and benefits to minimize the need for costly external financing.  Almeida, Campello and Weisbach (2004) believe that corporate cash holdings affected by financial difficulties.  Pinkowitz and Williamson (2001) believe that the bank authorities can affect the cash holdings of Japanese firms.  Faulkender and Wang (2006) consider changes in the marginal value of corporate cash holdings related to differences in corporate financial policy.  Foley, Hartzell, Titman and Twite (2006) offer tax-based explanations of corporate cash. Most of the literature to evaluate the relationship between financial policy and the exact market value cash holding focused on companies in the United States of America (USA) Pinkowitz and Williamson (2004), Faulkender and Wang (2006), and Denis and Sibilkov (2007) all  study how the financial characteristics of the company, and the cost of cash to play together. Pinkowitz and Williamson (2004) show that the average market value of the dollar held by a firm at roughly $ 1.20, which indicates that shareholders believe that the benefits outweigh the potential liquidity problems of the agency associated with it.  Faulkender and Wang (2006), using different methodologies to find the market value of the dollar at $ 0.94 on average.  Their results suggest that the potential costs of institutions, as well as tax effects outweigh the benefits to the average firm.  Denis Sibilkov (2007) focus on the financial difficulties of the company and the investment opportunities and find consi stent results.  Nevertheless, there is significant cross-section changes in the market value of money, thus focusing on the mean values shows only a little about the relationship between fiscal policy and the value of cash. The other branch of value of cash literature focuses on the effect of corporate governance.  For example, Dittmar and Mahrt-Smith (2007) use U.S. data show that the additional $ 1 cash for badly managed companies worth between $ 0.42 to $ 0.88, while good governance doubles the value.  Pinkowitz et al.  (2006) used a cross-border data and found that an additional $ 1 is associated with an increase in company value of $ 0.29 to $ 0.33, depending on the criteria of corporate governance in countries with weak protection of shareholders, while an additional $ 1 in cash  associated with an increase of $ 0.91 to $ 0.95 in the value of the company in countries with good shareholder protection.  In addition, Kalcheva and Lins (2003) found that a minority of investors who are not very well protected by applicable discounts for firms in high levels of cash.  This is consistent with the findings Fresard and Salva (2009), which show that the value of $ 1 of excess cash of typical non -US companies is U.S. $ 0,58, while it is $ 1.61 for the firms listed in the U.S. through exchanges means that  investors discount the value of corporate cash reserves when they are at high risk of turning into private profit. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Theoretical Framework Here I will talk about the early literature related to the value of cash holdings of the company, as well as provide relevant theory.  I begin with outlining the background to understand why firms hold cash. It is necessary to identify with why firms hold cash in order to understand how the shareholders determine the importance they attach to the cash.  Then I will present before the relevant studies and conclusions contained in the value of the cash literature. 3.1.1 Cash holding motives If all firms operating in the world of perfect capital markets, cash holdings will have no value.  If the firm was in need of cash for operations or investments, it can raise funds at zero cost. While there is no liquidity premium in such a world, holdings of liquid assets have no possibility of cost.  Consequently, if a company borrows money and invests it in liquid assets, shareholder wealth is unchanged. Nevertheless, in the real world markets are not perfect and the holding of liquid assets has its costs.  Thus, a firm must strike a balance between the marginal cost of holding liquid assets and the marginal benefit of holding these assets. Here, I present five theories of why firms hold cash and which have been shown in earlier literature. 3.1.1.1 The transaction motive Transactions motive for holding cash is due to the cost of converting money substitutes into cash.  According to Keynes (1936), a company can save on transaction costs by using cash to make payments without liquidation of assets.  Miller and Orr (1966) model the demand for cash to finance daily operations, and the required level of cash.  The company short of liquid assets has to raise funds in capital markets, liquidate existing assets, reduce dividends and investment, the revision of existing financial contracts, or use a combination of these actions.  Since there are both fixed and variable costs in increasing cash, the company must hold a buffer of cash to avoid raising cash often, and thus to avoid the associated fixed transaction costs. Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that the increase in external financing is more costly than using internal resources in the presence of asymmetric information.  Since outsiders know less than the management, they may discount the price of securities more than management was willing to accept.  Thus, the management may find it more profitable not to sell securities, and even reduce the investment.  For this reason, it may be optimal for companies that conduct a certain level of cash to meet the needs of investment spending. 3.1.1.2 The agency motive Jensen (1986) argues that entrenched managers have incentives to retain cash rather than an increase in payments to shareholders, even if the firm has limited opportunities for investment.  Opler et al.  (1999) tender reasons why managers can use the optimal cash policies.  First, managers can accumulate funds to pursue their personal interests.  Cash allows managers to invest in external capital markets would not be willing to finance.  They usually spend one dollar in cash in hand, even if they cannot raise financing from the markets.  Consequently, they could make investments that may have a negative impact on the value of the company.  Jensens (1986) free cash flow problem predicts that managers with surplus cash are probably to overinvest.  Thus, a one dollar increase in cash holdings of firms can lead to significantly less than one dollar increase in the value of the company.  As the outsiders do not know, whether managers are accumulating cash to increase the value of the company or pursue their own goals, the cost of external capital is likely to increase. 3.1.1.3 The tax motive In recent studies by Foley et al. (2007) shows that U.S. companies which will bear the tax consequences associated with the repatriation of foreign earnings hold a high level of cash. Affiliates referring to the highest tax consequences of repatriating also have the highest level of cash.  This means that multinational companies are more likely to accumulate cash.  The extent this applies to the Malaysian firms has yet be studied. 3.1.1.4 The theory financing hierarchy The theory of financing hierarchy implies that there is no optimal amount of cash, based on arguments similar to the hierarchy theory of capital structure (Opler et al. (1999)).  According to theory, firms are not willing to issue shares, because it is too expensive because of the asymmetry of information.  They sell the debt when they do not have sufficient resources, and when they can do so.  When they have sufficient resources to invest in profitable opportunities available, they pay the debt which becomes due, and to accumulate more cash or else.  The theory assumes that the cash holdings of firms are less strategic choice but more a result of a dynamic, endogenous process. 3.1.1.5 Investment opportunities and the value of cash Pinkowitz and Williamson (2004) were the first who studied the market value of cash holdings.  They focus on firms investment and financing opportunities.  They find that the growth of the company have the possibility of a positive attitude to the market value of money.  Firms with greater investment opportunities have a higher cost of cash.  They also show that firms with higher uncertainty of investment have a higher valuation.  In addition, firms in a difficult financial situation have lower valuation on cost. Faulkender and Wang (2006) confirm this conclusion, as they show that firms with lower leverage, a proxy for financial distress, have higher value put on cash.  Finally, Pinkowitz and Williamson (2004) argue that access to capital markets does not affect the market value of cash.  However, they note that their proxy for access to capital markets, company size may not be perfect. Consequently, Faulkender and Wang (2006) show that the difficulties in obtaining ac cess to capital markets play an important role in the market value of cash.  Liu and Chang (2009) show similar proof on the impact of financial constraints on the market value of cash.  Faulkender and Wang (2006) also show that the marginal cost of cash reduces with the amount of cash holdings.  They argue that this is associated with an increase in the probability distribution of cash to shareholders, and consequently incurring transaction costs and taxation, to reduce the cost of cash. Hypothesis After I studied the theory of the value of cash holdings, I turn to the empirical predictions.  I present hypotheses for the impact of financial policy and investment opportunities on the value of cash.  These hypotheses relate to previous work in the field of corporate finance and the value for cash. Hypothesis 1: The marginal value of cash is decreasing in the level of the firms cash position After Faulkender and Wang (2006), I initially hypothesize that the marginal value of the shareholders place on cash holdings of the company reduces as the level of cash holdings increases.  The reasons are based on agency and tax considerations.  As firms cash level rises it becomes more likely to distribute the cash to shareholders who then as a result incur a dividend tax.  In addition, the company with high cash holdings becomes more vulnerable to face agency costs as shareholders begin to worry about the interest and ability of managers to invest in positive NPV projects.  Thus, the marginal cost of cash should reduce as the cash level of the company increases. Hypothesis 2: An extra ringgit of cash holdings is less valuable for shareholders in highly levered firms than in firms with low leverage. The second hypothesis from Faulkender and Wang (2006), which I test in my Malaysian sample, is the negative relation marginal cost of cash and firms leverage.  The cost of cash for shareholders in high levered firms is likely to be less than in firms with low leverage as contingent claims analysis predicts that most of the value of these firms is in the hands of debt holders. Additional ringgit is likely to go mostly to increase the value of debt and therefore, the value for shareholders is low. Hypothesis 3: An extra ringgit of cash holdings is more valuable for shareholders in financially constrained firms. The last hypothesis which follows Faulkender and Wang (2006) is that the simplicity of accessing to external capital markets should have an impact on the value of cash.  Access may be limited for various reasons, but often associated with asymmetric information about the state of the company, which may occur for smaller firms, firms without any credit rating or equity research coverage and the firms that do not pay dividends.  These firms can be considered as financially constrained and can be thought of having higher costs in raising external funds.  Thus, with its own funds, i.e. cash in hand, should be more valuable to these firms than financially unconstrained firms, which are likely and able to obtain external financing. Hypothesis 4: An extra ringgit of cash holdings is more valuable for firms with good investment opportunities. I examine whether firms with better investment opportunities have a higher valuation on their cash holdings than firms with weaker growth potential by following Pinkowitz and Williamson (2004).  Pinkowitz and Williamson argue that the main theoretical determinant of the value of cash holding should be the investment opportunity set of the firm.  First, liquidity is important, because without liquid assets of the firm will be forced to abandon a positive NPV project (Myers and Majluf (1984)).  This should increase the cost of cash as it is expected to increase in value of assets.  Secondly, Jensens (1986) free cash flow problem arises when the firm has a few good opportunities for investment.  If a company with sufficient cash reserves has positive NPV investment opportunities, it is likely to use these advantages instead of wasting money on unproductive ventures.  Intuition is that when two identical firms except that one has a positive NPV investment opportunities and th e other one does not have the opportunity to invest, it is likely that the first firm will spend its cash in ways more valuable to the shareholders. Hypothesis 5: The marginal value of cash is high for financially constrained firms with good investment opportunities. One of the arguments in Faulkender and Wang (2006) having a higher marginal value of cash for financially constrained firms is that when firms have positive NPV investment opportunities. The higher the cost of raising external capital is, the more likely these opportunities are foregone. Though, they do not test for it empirically. I hypothesize that the reason why financially constrained firms and firms with better investment opportunities have a higher value placed on cash when examined separately, is in fact due to the combined effect of these two criteria.  A financially constrained firm without investment opportunities is unable to make return for the cash, while a financially unconstrained firm with good investment opportunities can simply increase external funding when it needs to. Thus, financially constrained firms with good investment opportunities should have a high value placed on their cash holdings by their shareholders compared with other firms. Hypothesis 6: Firms cash holdings, on average, decrease when the cost of external capital increases. When conditions in the corporate credit market deteriorate, it often leads to a reduction in the economy (Fisher (1933)).  As firms generate less internal cash flows and at the same time, corporate credit becomes more expensive and rationed, cash reserves of firms, on average, should decline.  It was also suggested by Opler et al (1999). Hypothesis 7: When the cost of external capital is higher an extra ringgit of cash holdings is more valuable. As the supply of credit becomes more rationed and therefore more expensive, the cost of raising capital increases.  The increase in the cost of capital makes firms more likely to give up positive NPV projects due to lack of funding.  Therefore, when a credit is more rationed, cash holdings should become more valuable because they can help companies take advantage of positive NPV investment opportunities without incurring high costs of raising external capital. Methods I follow Faulkender and Wang (2006) who developed a methodology which estimates the extra value the market incorporates into equity values that result from changes in the cash position of firms over the fiscal year to measure the impact of corporate financial policy on the value of cash holdings. Since stock returns are influenced by the common risk factors, as well as changes in firm-specific characteristics it is necessary to control for both to be able to estimate the magnitude change attributed to the change in cash. The change in the value of a firm is measured by the excess return for the firm i during fiscal year t less the return of stock is benchmark portfolio during fiscal year t. Then the excess returns are regressed on changes in the characteristics of the firm.  In this case the main interest is in the estimated coefficient corresponding to the variable measuring the ratio of unexpected changes in cash of the firms lagged equity value.  Since the dependent and indepe ndent variables are standardized by lagged market value of equity, the coefficient measures the dollar change in shareholder value resulting from a change of one dollar of cash held by the firm. Faulkender and Wang (2006) methodology is in effect a long-term event study, in which event is unexpected changes in cash holdings, controlled for other factors that may impact returns over the assessment window of one year. 3.3.1 Controlling for risk-related market-wide factors To control for risk-related factors excess returns are examined that may impact a firms discount rate and return. Fama and French (1993) show that size and the book-to-market of equity clarifies ordinary variation in stock returns. To arrive at the estimate of the excess return I use the 25 Fama-French portfolios (Fama and French (1993)) formed on size, measured as market capitalization, and book-to-market value of equity ratio (BE/ME henceforth) as my benchmark portfolios. First firms are sorted by size and divided in five size groups, and then firms are sorted by BE/ME ratios and divided in five BE/ME quintiles for each year. Then I group every firm into one of BE/ME portfolios and 25 size based on the intersection between the BE/ME and size independent sorts. Firms excess return is calculated by subtracting the firm is benchmark portfolio return during fiscal year t from the firm is stock return during fiscal year t. The fiscal year, or yearly, returns are calculated using the monthly returns. Hence, the dependent variable for the baseline regression is (1) where ri,t is the stock return for firm i during fiscal year t and is stock is benchmark portfolios return during the corresponding fiscal year t. 3.3.2 Controlling for firm-specific factors It is necessary to control for variables that could be correlated with both change and returns in cash holdings to be able to examine how much the change in cash holdings impacts the change in equity value. Hence, in addition to change in cash should be regressed the excess stock return over the fiscal year on changes in a firms profitability, investment policy, and financing policy. The subsequent equation describes baseline regression: = (2) where the ΔX term indicates unforeseen change in variable X. The dependent variable is described above. The independent variables are firm-specific factors that control for sources of value other than cash or may be correlated with cash holdings. The dependent variable was described above.  Independent variables are firm-specific factors that control the sources of value, except for cash and can be correlated with cash holdings. ΔCi,t is the unforeseen change throughout fiscal year t in firm is cash holdings in balance sheet and the most significant variable in the regression. I suppose that the unforeseen change in cash holdings equals to the realized change in cash holdings throughout the fiscal year. ΔEi,t is the change throughout fiscal year t in earnings before interest and extraordinary items, and controls for profitability of firm. Firms investment changes policy are controlled by ΔNAi,t, the change throughout fiscal year t in total assets net of cash, and ΔRDi,t, the change throughout fiscal year t in RD expenditure. The financing policy is controlled by ΔIi,t which is the change throughout fiscal year t in interest expense, ΔDi,t which is the change during fiscal year t in sum dividends, Ci,t-1 which is firm is lagged cash holdings at time t-1, Li,t which is market leverage at the of fiscal year t, and finally NFi,t which is the firms net financing throughout the fiscal year t. As the stock return is also by definition divided by Mi,t-1, the standardization allows for understanding the estimated coefficients as the dollar change in value for a one-dollar change in the relevant independent variable. Sample Selection For my empirical analysis of the marginal value of cash in Malaysia and how it may have changed over time with the availability of capital from the external market I use a sample of publicly listed Malaysian firms from 1999 to 2009. The sample includes both active and inactive firms to avoid a survivorship bias. In this section I describe how I calculate the variables and from where I obtain the data. Here I will first describe how the dependent variable is calculated, and then describe the independent variables in detail. 3.4.1 Dependent variable The dependent variable is the excess return of a firms stock (Eq. (1)). The stock return for a firm i through fiscal year t, ri,t, is calculated using Total Return Index (item ReturnIndex) from Thomson Reuters Datastream database (referred as Datastream after this). The index regulates for stock splits and dividends, and therefore the most accurate measure of increase in firm equity value. 3.4.2 Independent variables The change is basically the difference between fiscal years t and t-1. In addition, all variables excluding for leverage and net financing are deflated by one-year holdup market value of equity. The variables used in Eq. (2) are measured as below: a) Ci,t and Ci,t-1 One-year holdup cash holdings and cash holdings are measured as cash and short-term investments (CashAndSTInvestments). Ever since this is the most important variable, it should be noted that firms cash holdings are considered to include marketable securities and cash in majority of academic studies. Depending on the source, these can be listed as cash and equivalent, cash and short-term investments or marketable securities and cash. Though, in addition to cash the definition can include items such as commercial papers, treasury bills and other money market investments. In general databases adjust the reported records from firm financial statements in order to make the data comparable across the firms. b) Ei,t Earnings before interest and extraordinary items are calculated as earnings before extraordinary items (IncomeBefExtraItemsCFStmt) plus interest expenses (InterestExpenseOnDebt). c) NAi,t Total assets net of cash or net assets, are calculated as total assets (TotalAssets) minus cash holdings (CashAndSTInvestments). d) RDi,t RD expenditure is simply RD expenditure (ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense). It is set to zero if missing. e) Ii,t Interest expense is measured as interest expenses on debt (InterestExpenseOnDebt). f) Di,t Total dividends are measured as common dividends paid (CommonDividendsCash). g) Li,t Ma

A Child Called It Essay -- Child Abuse Essays Papers

A Child Called It As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of his life and is an affecting and inspiration memoir of one child's determination to survive. In most of my classes I’ve always heard that your parents are the most important people in your life and I truly believe this. People are affected by everything their parents say and do both in childhood and later on in adulthood. If a child is constantly looked down upon and made to believe that nothing they do is good enough, chances are they will grow up believing this and having low confidence. It is remarkable that a child David’s age fought himself from breaking down, dissolving into tears and giving up hope for a better future. David constantly worked towards or rather survived because of a dream, a dream t hat he was a prince and that every...

Integration Of Umts And B-isdn: Is It Possible Or Desirable? :: essays research papers

Integration Of UMTS And B-ISDN: Is It Possible Or Desirable? INTRODUCTION In the future, existing fixed networks will be complemented by mobile networks with similar numbers of users. These mobile users will have identical requirements and expectations to the fixed users, for on-demand applications of telecommunications requiring high bit-rate channels. It will be necessary for these fixed and mobile networks to interoperate in order to pass data, in real time and at high speeds, between their users. But how far must this interoperation be taken? How much integration of the fixed and mobile network structures is needed? Here, a fixed network, B-ISDN, and a mobile network, UMTS, under development at the same time, are examined to see how well and closely they should work together in order to meet expected user needs. Work already taking place on this is discussed. BACKGROUND The Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), the third generation of mobile networks, is presently being specified as part of the European RACE technology initiative. The aim of UMTS is to implement terminal mobility and personal mobility within its systems, providing a single world mobile standard. Outside Europe, UMTS is now known as International Mobile Telecommunications 2000 (IMT2000), which replaces its previous name of Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunication System (FPLMTS). [BUIT95] UMTS is envisaged as providing the infrastructure needed to support a wide range of multimedia digital services, or teleservices [CHEU94], requiring channel bit- rates of less than the UMTS upper ceiling of 2 Mbits/second, as allocated to it in the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) '92 bands. UMTS must also support the traditional mobile services presently offered by separate networks, including cordless, cellular, paging, wireless local loop, and satellite services. [BUIT95] Mobile teleservices requiring higher bit rates, from 2 to 155 Mbits/second, are expected to be catered for by Mobile Broadband Services (MBS), the eventual successor to UMTS, which is still under study. [RACED732] Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN), conceived as an all- purpose digital network that will supersede Narrowband ISDN (N-ISDN or ISDN), is also still being specified. B-ISDN, with its transport layer of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is expected to be the backbone of future fixed digital networks. [MINZ89] It is anticipated that, by the year 2005, up to 50% of all communication terminals will be mobile. [CHEU94] The Mobile Green Paper, issued by the European Commission in 1994, predicts 40 million mobile users in the European Union by 2000, rising to 80 million by 2010. This gives mobile users an importance ranking alongside fixed-network users. [BUIT95] One result of this growth in mobile telecommunications will be the increase in teleservice operations that originate in either the fixed or mobile network, but