Coursework #3 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Coursework #3 - Case Study Example With that stated, the expected return on this portfolio is halfway between the expected returns on the two individual securities; however, the standard deviation is less than halfway between the standard deviations on the two securities. Therefore, unless the investor was very risk averse, meaning he would look at this case, where he might choose to invest only in security A. However, if he were not risk averse he would invest in the portfolio rather than invest in the two securities separately (Gitman, 2009). Standard deviation is defined as the common statistical indicator of an assets risk; it measures the dispersion around the expected value. This is another way that a firms risk and expected return directly affect its share price. Risk and return are the two key determinants of a firms value. It is generally a financial managers responsibility to assess carefully the risk and return of all major decisions. Managers use this to ensure that the expected returns justify the level of risk that someone will introduce (Gitman, 2009. The definition of (CAPM) or capital asset pricing model is the basic theory that links risk and return for all assets. We describe this relationship between the required return, r. The no diversifiable risk of the firm as it is measured by the beta coefficient b. This is important in finance because the model CAPM links non-diversifiable risk and return with all assets. Generally, there are five sections. The first deals with the beta coefficient, which is a measure of the non-diversifiable risk. The second section presents an equation of the model itself. The third section graphically describes the relationship between risk and return. The fourth section discusses the effects of changes in inflationary expectations and risk aversion on the relationship between risk and return and the fifth section offers some comments of the CAPM. The CAPM model in general relies on historical data. The betas

Identify the historical and cultural factors Essay Example for Free

Identify the historical and cultural factors Essay Identify the historical and cultural factors that contribute to the development of the learning perspective. To what extent is the learning perspective relevant today?  The study of how humans learn is a dominant component of the learning perspective. The study of behaviour in this perspective and is also commonly known as the Behaviouristic Approach, as they believe that behaviour is the only valid data in psychology. Behaviourism developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia in relation to many factors. Traditional Behaviourists believed that all organisms learn in the same way, and could be explained by the processes of classical and operant conditioning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour and/or knowledge that occurs as a result of practice and/or experience in the environment. Psychologists working within this perspective have investigated he ways in which behaviour changes, usually using laboratory experiments, and often-using non-human animals. The Learning perspective developed simultaneously in the United States and Russia with American Theorists John Watson, Albert Bandura and Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.  The way in which behaviour can be observed is seen as being objectively or unbiased, and this is the opposite to the theory of introspection. The unreliability of the way in which subjective data is obtained in introspection is one of the main criticisms that lead to the rise of behaviourism. In introspection the data collected in said to be subjective and therefore biased in the sense that it comes from ones own mind. Give me a dozen healthy infantsand my own specified world to bring them up in and Ill guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select doctor, lawyerand yes, even beggarman and thief.1  John Watson 1913  Watson wrote an article titled Psychology as the behaviourist views it. This article, which set out all main assumptions and principles, sparked the rise of the behaviourist movement in 1913. Albert Bandura was the major motivator behind the social learning theory, which included cognitive factors that were not incorporated by behaviourists, as they thought behaviour was almost entirely determined by the environment. Bandura suggests that much behaviour, including aggression, is learnt from the environment through reinforcement and the process of modelling. Bandura integrated cognitive influences and called his modified theory the social learning theory. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, whilst conducting experiments on the digestive systems on dogs stumbled across the developed principles of classical conditioning. All these factors contributed to the advancement of the learning perspective, as we know it today. Key concepts of the perspective are classical and operant conditioning, social, latent and insight learning. All concepts are built from the historical and cultural factors that gave rise to the learning perspective. Findings after conduction of experiments show a remarkable relevance to todays society and knowledge. Whether it is classical conditioning and relating findings to aversion therapy or operant conditionings relation to animal training or modifying behaviour through reinforcement and punishment. Therefore it is important to research experimenters who performed relevant experiments to relate their results to today. Classical condition is learning through association, which was accidentally found by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was conducting experiments in relation to dogs digestive systems when he stumbled on, what is known as, classical conditioning. Pavlov noticed that dogs did not only salivate when food was placed in front of them, but they also salivated before the food was given to them, and was triggered by other factors such as upon hearing or seeing Pavlov, or the sound of footsteps. Pavlov then discovered that the anticipation of receiving the food made the dogs salivate. Pavlov then modified his experiment to test whether using a stimulus such as meat powder, which caused salivation, could be varied and a conditioned stimulus such as the ringing of a bell could also bring about the unconditioned response of salivation originally caused by being presented with the sight of the meat powder. Pavlov used a soundproof room, to minimise and limit extraneous variables so he could be sure that it was i.e. only the ringing of a bell that was affecting the salivation after the conditioned stimulus. John Watson performed another example of classical conditioning when he experimented on Little Albert in 1920. Behaviourists learning theorists such as Watson suggested that phobias were conditioned emotional responses. Certain stimuli, such as sudden loud noises, naturally cause fear reactions, and stimuli that become associated with them will acquire the same emotional responses. Little Albert was presented with a white laboratory rat to which he showed no fear response. Watson then associated the loud noise simultaneously with the presentation of the rat, Little Albert then associated fear with the rat, and was then able to generalise these response to other fluffy white objects. The study with Little Albert has serious ethical problems. Firstly that he participated in the experiment involuntary and without the consent of his mother. Also Watson reported that they hesitated about proceeding with the experiment but comforted themselves that Albert would encounter such traumatic associations when he left the sheltered environment of the nursery anyway. This is not a very good ethical defence, especially since they believed such associations might persist indefinitely and did not leave sufficient time to remove the fear afterwards, despite knowing that Albert was due to leave. Classical conditioning can be related to today with the development of therapies using classical conditioning techniques to extinguishing fear. The first technique of therapy is the systematic desensitation, which aims to extinguish the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually, step by step. This therapy was developed mainly by Wolpe, who stated that in order for the fear to be removed gradually, a hierarchy of fear must be formed and ranked by the subject from least fearful to most fearful. The subject is then given training in deep muscle relaxation techniques so it can then be used at each stage of the hierarchy starting from the least fearful to the most and only progressing when the subject feels sufficiently relaxed. This method of treatment has a very high success rate with specific phobias, i.e. of particular animals. It is considered to work particularly well because the response of fear and relaxation is said to be impossible for them to exist at the same time. The second techniques of therapy are implosion and the flooding techniques, when both methods produce extinction of a phobias fear by the continual and dramatic presentation of the phobic or situation. Wolpe in 1960 forced a girl with a fear of cars into the back seat of a car and drove her around for 4 hours straight until her hysterical fear completely disappeared. Marks et al (1981) say that this kind of therapy works because eventually some stimulus exhaustion takes place, as you cannot scream forever and then the conditioned fear response extinguishes. The technique most similar to classical conditioning is called Aversion Therapy, and is most relevant to todays treatment of alcoholism, smoking or overeating. The technique aims to remove undesirable responses to certain stimuli by associating them with aversive stimuli, in the hope that the undesirable responses will be avoided in the future. Aversion therapy has been used to treat alcoholism, for example the person is given alcohol with a nausea-inducing drug unsuspectingly, and should then feel sick. The person associates drinking with their intestinal distress and results found that two out of three people did not have any alcohol a year later. Although it has a high success rate, ethical considerations of deliberating causing discomfort to another person through deception must be taken into account. The limitation of this type of therapy is its difficulty to generalise to other situations from where the learning took place.

Pete Sampras Essay -- essays research papers fc

Pete Sampras the American Sensation The reason why I chose to do my research paper on Pete Sampras is because I love to play tennis, and Pete is the greatest tennis player alive. I have always made him my role model, and I hope to one day meet him. I try and model my tennis game after his and it has really helped my tennis game. Pete Sampras is my childhood hero, and that is the reason why I chose the topic of Pete Sampras. Pete was born on August 12, 1971. in Washington, DC. Although Pete was born in Washington, he grew up in Palos Verdes, California. Pete is a direct descendent of Sam and Georgia Sampras. Pete has three Siblings one elder and two younger. The elder sibling is Stella, the current head tennis coach at UCLA. Pete's younger sister Marion has not decided on a career yet, and Pete's third sibling is his only brother, Gus who is the Current Assistant Tournament Director at Scottsdale ATP Tour Event (Role Models). Pete began playing tennis at the age of seven, and when he was nine, his father asked Pete Fischer, a physician and amateur player, to hit with his son. Fischer was so impressed with Pete's ability, he became Pete's personal coach. When Pete was eleven, he had the opportunity to hit with his childhood hero Rod Laver. Pete later told his coach that he was so nervous he couldn't get the ball over the net. Pete rarely won a major junior tournament. Fischer believed that someone of his talent should play up in age groups against older and stronger players to develop his all around game. When Pete reached the age of 14, Fischer changed Pete's two-handed backhand to a one-handed. At the same time of his backhand switch Fischer switched Pete from a safe defensive baseliner to a risky serve and volleyer. The reason he did this was to try and make Pete feel much more laid back and in the end it worked. Pete turned pro at the age of 16 following his junior year in high-school. By the late 1980's, Pete split with his coach Pete Fischer because Pete felt that Fischer was an overbearing perfectionist. After the split with Fischer, Pete picked up a new coach, Tim Gullikson. Tim Gullikson showed Pete the value of playing percentage tennis--going for smart, conservative shots rather than flashy, difficult ones. On May 3, 1996, Gullik... ...aw: 96 R128 Bye, () N/A R64 Kiefer, Nicolas (GER ) 36 6-3 3-6 6-3 R32 Roddick, Andy (USA ) 131 6-7(2) 3-6 (S.L. Price) As you can see Pete has had a few wins but about two years ago, the peak of his career, he wouldn't have lost to any of those players. If you noticed in the Miami Ericsson open he was beat by Andy Roddick a young 19 year old player who just turned pro. That just reinstates my point that he will not be able to keep up with the young up and comers. WORKS CITED 1. " Role Models on the Web: Pete Sampras" April 27, 2000 Available: www.rolemodel.net/Sampras/Sampras.html April 27, 2001 2. Price, S.L. "The Passion of Pete Sampras." Sports Illustrated May 26 1997: 56-63 3. "Pete Sampras." Current Biography. 14th edition. The HW Publishing Company 233-242

Analysis Report of Cango

Analysis Report of CanGo Veronica Perla BSN460ON Senior Project Dr. John Martin September 7, 2009 Overview CanGo is an Internet startup company that retails an exciting array of products and services, ranging from books and videos to online gaming, and prides itself on providing the best customer service in terms of product delivery and support. The company’s Web site is fun and easy to use; employing the latest technology in Web site development, product innovation, and services is how CanGo strives to provide their customers with the most exciting entertainment. The majority of CanGo’s customers are the Gen-Xers and the Gen-Yers, who enjoy the latest in online gaming and entertainment. Under age, consumers (under 18 years of age) are serviced responsibly by requiring adult permission for online purchases. CanGo strongly values its employees and customers. The company best serves its employees by involving them in decision-making, staff training, and development. CanGo believes that keeping their employees motivated and working at their full potential can translate into the best customer service possible. There is a growing trend that CanGo has identified within the gaming industry that will be utilized to bring the company added success. This growing trend is online gaming. CanGo wants to become a leader of the online gamming market. The hope of the company is to become a complete success story both as an online retailer and online gaming service. The company has recently been called a success story by the Hudson Valley Business Association. The CEO of CanGo, Elizabeth Bennet, has been named the Regions Business Leader of the year. Potential entrepreneurs want to know how and why CanGo became a success story. This leads to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that this Internet Company has and faces in its entrepreneurial endeavors. S. W. O. T Analysis The information used to develop this analysis was taken from the visual analysis performed on recorded episodes depicting staff interaction and company dynamics. The observations will be separated into internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) issues. Strengths CanGo has demonstrated a few strengths in these preliminary episodes. Elizabeth Bennet, CEO of CanGo, is the company’s greatest strength. Her vision of knowing what consumers want and how to get it to them at a lower cost is what has made CanGo a success story in Hudson Valley. This passion is carried through to the staff and is demonstrated by Andrew’s eagerness to take on the potentially lucrative market of online gaming. The CanGo staff is another one of the company’s strengths. Each staff member brings an additional resource to the company that can be utilized to improve productivity and development. For instance, Debbie has organizational skills and a teaching background that can be utilized for training purposes. Training and development are strengths that successful companies posses. Utilizing the skills that each staff member brings can help CanGo become a bigger success story across the country and not just in Hudson Valley. These strengths also lead to CanGo’s weaknesses as a company. Weaknesses These preliminary episodes also showed many of CanGo’s weaknesses. The most apparent weakness would be the lack of a vision statement, mission statement and strategic plan. These weaknesses were made apparent by Elizabeth Bennet’s frustration with the writing of the speech she was to give at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. She states that her success was pure luck and that all she did was begin a new business venture. A strategic plan is important to a successful company because it guides and focuses all staff members to specific goals and establishes a course of action to achieve them. Strategic planning also serves as a way to ensure that all departments within the organization share a common goal. Another important component to a successful business is the vision and mission statements. Vision statements are written for the organization and its employees. They are comprised of the dreams and inspirations of the organization and where it is headed. This statement also serves as the framework for the organization’s strategic plan. Mission statements are a representation of the organization’s purpose for existing. It should be derived from the vision statement and used as a guide when producing a strategic plan. These three articles would have helped Elizabeth write the Chamber of Commerce speech by providing her with the foundation necessary to provide the potential entrepreneurs attending this meeting the how and why of CanGo’s success. There are a few other internal issues that plague CanGo and may impede its success if not addressed. The lack of project implementation procedures, organizational skills, management involvement and skepticism can lead to poor performance, failed projects, and miscommunication. Implementing a project plan can help keep staff members on course and pinpoint areas that may need special attention. This plan also helps make sure that projects follow specific paths to guarantee timely results. Utilizing the resources that staff members bring to the company will ensure that everyone has the skills necessary to accomplish their objectives. For instance, Debbie Haynes was previously a teacher at the Drake School of Business; she possesses great organizational and teaching skills that can be utilized by CanGo to further develop the staff. Debbie can head a training seminar on the importance of organizing, prioritizing and scheduling impending projects using Gantt charts. These types of resources are abundant within any organization; all that is needed is to identify what kind of skill each particular staff member brings to the organization. The last major weakness is the lack of management involvement in the course of a project. This is made evident when Warren handed Nick the task of creating an implementation report for online gaming. Nick was left to figure it out on his own. Management should be involved in the planning and implementation of any project. For instance, CanGo could implement procedures like research deadlines, preliminary draft sign off requirements and senior staff team eetings to discuss the progress of the project. This will eliminate the chance for poor and costly errors. CanGo has the opportunity to take these weaknesses into consideration and make some changes that will improve the organization as a whole. This kind of improvement will prepare it to achieve external opportunities and deal with external threats as well. Opport unities CanGo not only has strengths and weaknesses but also opportunities. These potential opportunities are for company growth, increased capital, new market ventures, and expansion into other areas of e-commerce. There is a great opportunity for company growth both in regards to increase workforce and possible mergers with other startup Internet companies. As CanGo reaches higher sales volume it will be necessary to incorporate an automated storage and retrieval system. With the impending five-hundred percent increase in sales this coming holiday season; CanGo needs to make certain that their order fulfillment and processing center is equipped to handle this possible increase. Every company is looking for a way to increase its capital. CanGo has been preparing to go public which will increase its capital base. This kind of opportunity can also become a weakness due to the fickleness of the stock market. However, if CanGo can successfully handle its five-hundred percent sales increase during the holiday season, this opportunity can prove to be a very lucrative venture. CanGo’s greatest opportunity is to branch out into new markets. E-commerce is a very broad market that has plenty of opportunities for organizations such as CanGo. The CanGo team may decide to expand and include other items to their list of inventory. Elizabeth Bennet’s dream was to help consumers shop and find what they need easier and at a lower price. If she sticks to this philosophy she may take CanGo in the direction of Amazon. com or Overstock. com. The sky is the limit for these kinds of opportunities. New market ventures may be a great lucrative opportunity but it may also bring with it threats. Threats The CanGo organization faces a couple of threats like the possibility of failure, loss of capital, and takeovers. Failure is eminent for any organization but it is especially eminent for CanGo. The lack of a vision, mission statement and a strategic plan can lead to failure. Vision and mission statements are important for any organization because they not only provide a clear view of what the organization’s goals and intentions are but they also help give the staff a standard that should be met and maintained. Implementing a strategic plan is a vital part of any successful business and has been proved to help carry a business through tough economic climates. Loss of capital is also a viable threat. This may be caused by lawsuits, manufacturer or vendor bankruptcies and low sales. Keeping capital secure is sometimes a bit difficult to do. This may be accomplished by purchasing liability insurance and using a variety of manufacturers and vendors. Low sales are often directly linked to the economic forecast. This is sometimes hard to prepare for and should be observed by the accounting and finance department to ensure that the inventory purchased match the possible sales and future market forecast. Takeovers of successful companies are also threats that need to be watched for. CanGo’s success as a small Internet e-commerce company may make it a very enticing company to purchase. Competitors like Amazon. com and Overstock. com may feel that CanGo’s success is a force that needs to be control before it becomes an e-commerce giant that may affect their sales margins. The easiest way to obtain this company would be by force; which is why takeovers are a legitimate threat to CanGo. Recommendations CanGo’s greatest asset and strength is CEO, Bennet’s vision and passion for this company. Elizabeth Bennet is the only one who has a clear picture of what the company is about, what its intent in the market is and how to achieve it. There needs to be a vision statement and a mission statement prepared to let the entire company in on Elizabeth’s vision. Once these statements are in place and all of the CanGo staff has had a chance to look them over and jump on board, the executive team should convene to prepare a strategic plan based on both the vision and mission statements previously prepared. This strategic plan should include specific goals for the company to attain within the next five to ten years. This is the most important recommendation that can be offered at this particular time. There is another not so eminent recommendation that is being offered at this time. This is in regards to the utilization of staff resources. CanGo has a diverse quality of people with different academic backgrounds and skill sets. Utilizing these specific traits can enrich the company as a whole. As mentioned earlier utilizing Debbie Haynes’s teaching credentials and organizational skills to train the staff on the importance of Gantt Charts and prioritizing tasks for impending projects may help save time, otherwise spent on trying to figure out where to begin and what needs to be accomplished first. This would help the staff members reach deadlines and complete projects without the added stress of disorganization. These recommendations are meant to promote company growth and development. These two elements are necessary for a successful company to remain a success in their particular market. References Archives: Why a Strategic Plan is Important? (2006) Online Business Advisor. Retrieved September 9, 2009, form http://www. onlinebusadv. com/? PAGE=171 Business Resource Software: Mission Statement. (n. d. ) Center for Business Planning. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://www. businessplans. org/mission. html CanGo Intranet: Company Information. (n. d. ) Mastering Business. Retrieved September 4, 2009, from http://myphlip2. pearsoncmg. com/masteringbusiness/cango/companyinfo. html Definition: SWOT Analysis. (n. d. ) Answers. com. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://www. answers. com/topic/swot-analysis Definition: Vision Statement. (n. d. ) About. com. Retrieved September 9, 2009, from http://sbinfocanada. about. com/od/businessplanning/g/visionstatement. htm

Project Technical Paper †Reliable Pharmaceutical Supply Essay

To process a prescription order, RPS needs to know about the patients, the nursing home, and the nursing home unit where each patient resides. Each nursing home has at least one, but possibly many, units. A patient is assigned to a specific unit. An order consists of one or more prescriptions, each for one specific drug and one specific patient. An order, therefore, consists of prescriptions for more than one patient. Careful tracking and record keeping is crucial. In addition, each patient has multiple prescriptions, and one pharmacist fills each order. There are several points in the order-fulfillment process at which information must be recorded in the system. Case manifests must be printed at the start of each shift. Because a prescription may take a long time to be used completely, information must be entered into the system each time a medication is sent, noting the quantity sent and which pharmacist filled the prescription for that shift. Prescriptions contain basic information such as ID number, original date of order, drug, unit of dosage (pill, teaspoon, suppository), size of dosage, frequency of dosage, and special instructions (take with food, take before meals). There are several types of prescriptions, each with unique characteristics. Some orders are for a single, one-time-use prescription. Some orders are for a number of dosages. Some orders are for a certain time period. Information about the prescription order must be maintained. An order occurs when the nursing home phones in the needed prescriptions. Because presc riptions may last for an extended period of time, a prescription is a separate entity from the order itself. The system records which employee accepted and entered the original order. The system has basic data about all drugs. Each drug has generic information such as name 1. Entity-relationship diagram that shows the data strorage requirements for Relable Pharamceutical Supply 2. Domain meta class for RPS. 3. Activity diagram for each use case related to entering new orders Activity Diagram For Entering New Orders. Nurshing Home Prescription Drugs Accounts Section Activity Diagram For Creating Case Manifests. Nurshing Home Prescription Drugs Information Record Section Activity Diagram For Fulfilling Orders. Nurshing Home Prescription Drugs Accounts Section 4. System sequence diagram System sequence diagram for entering new order Enter Prescription Order Record Prescription Info Record Drugs Info Display drugs Ordered Find drugs Availability Pending Order Pending Order Update Order Confirm new Order Confirm Order Update Bill Receive Bills System sequence diagram for Creating Case Manifest Enter Precription Order Record Prescription Info Record Drugs Info Display drugs Ordered Find drugs Availability Pending Order Pending Order Update Order Confirm new Order Confirm Order Update Record Case Manifest System sequence diagram for fulfilling order Fulfill Order Check Prescription Info Record Drugs Ordered Display drugs availabilityRecord types of drugs Find drugs Availability Pending Order Pending Order Record Updated Drugs Confirm fulfilling Order Confirm Fulfilling Order Update Bill payble Receive Fees Calculated 5. State machine diagram for an order 6. Three-layer architecture for this new system Presentation Layer Businness Layer Data Layer †¢ Presentation. The presentation layer provides the application’s user interface (UI). Nursing home users can place orders using the UI tool and Reliable employees can Process the Orders. †¢ Business. The business layer implements the business functionality of the application. Business logic is implemented here, Business entities corresponds to the data . †¢ Data The data layer provides access to external systems such as databases. Each layer should be structured as described in the following paragraphs. 7. Design two (2) separate menu hierarchies, one (1) for Reliable employees and one (1) for nursing home employees. Reliable Employees – Check Drug Availability Order Id Order date Drug names Save Order Info Nurshing Home User- Order Prescription Id Pharmacist name Pharmacist id Order date Drug names Patient names 8. Write out the steps of the dialog between the user and the system for the use case Place new order for nursing home employees. User – input prescription details (prescription ID, Drug details, Pharmacist Name) System – Create order User – Place Order System – Check Order details, confirm new order System – Check Drug availability System – Fulfill order User – Validate fulfilled Order System – Update Order Information System – Prepare shipment User – Give medications to Patient Unit User – Place Pending Order 9.Review the input form you created for collecting orders from the nursing homes. Identify all of the input controls necessary to ensure the prescriptions are correct. Recommend other procedures or controls to ensure that there are no mistakes with prescriptions. Input Prescriptions must have the controls to provide basic information- 1.Provide Prescription ID 2.Original Date of the Order 3.Drug Name 4.Unit Of Dosage(Pill, teaspoon or suppository) 5.Size of Dosage 6.Special Instruction – take with food, take before meals 10.Create a work breakdown structure of your proposed plan. Write a memo to the senior executive team at RPS that includes a summary of the created system and three (3) recommendations for future changes/improvements to the system. Work Breakdown- 1.Create the presentation layer -Develop UI components for Reliable Employees to process the orders from nurshing home -Develop UI components for the Users to create Orders for passing prescription details and preparing the order. 2.Business Logic Layer- a.Create the Business logic for Accessing the Database and providing rules to access and update data. 3.Data Access Layer- a.Select a data base to store the Drugs and prescription information. b.Develop the data access layer for the above data base. Memo- Sir, Please find the architecture of the system. This uses 3-tier architecture. This has presentation layers for both Users and Reliable Employees to provide and update the prescription and Order details respectively. Users will be able to create the orders and pass it to RPS office and there the order will be processed and shipment of the order can be initiated or denied if order cannot be fulfilled. Recommendation for Improvement- 1) More attributes can be added to the prescription data for address, phone number etc. 2) User history can be stored in a persistence cache for fast access. 3) Web interface can be added for online access of the presentation layers.

Chinas Physical Geography - A Diverse Landscape

Chinas Physical Geography - A Diverse Landscape Sitting on the Pacific Rim at 35 degrees North and 105 degrees East is the People’s Republic of China. Along with Japan and Korea, China is often considered part of Northeast Asia as it borders North Korea and shares a maritime border with Japan. But the country also shares land borders with 13 other nations in Central, South and Southeast Asia – including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. With 3.7 million square miles (9.6 square km) of terrain, China’s landscape is diverse and expansive. Hainan Province, China’s southernmost region is in the tropics, while Heilongjiang Province which borders Russia, can dip to below freezing. There are also the western desert and plateau regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, and to the north lies the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Just about every physical landscape can be found in China. Mountains and Rivers Major mountain ranges in China include the Himalayas along the India and Nepal border, the Kunlun Mountains in the center-west region, the Tianshan Mountains in the northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Qinling Mountains that separates north and south China, the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the northeast, the Tiahang Mountains in north-central China, and the Hengduan Mountains in the southeast where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan meet. The rivers in China include the 4,000-mile (6,300 km) Yangzi River, also known as the Changjiang or the Yangtze, that begins in Tibet and cuts trough the middle of the country, before emptying into the East China Sea near Shanghai. It is the third longest river in the world after the Amazon and the Nile. The 1,200-mile (1900 km) Huanghe or Yellow River begins in the western Qinghai Province and travels a meandering route through North China to the Bohai Sea in Shangdong Province. The Heilongjiang or Black Dragon River runs along the Northeast marking China’s border with Russia. Southern China has the Zhujiang or Pearl River whose tributaries make a delta emptying into the South China Sea near Hong Kong. A Difficult Land While China is the fourth largest country in the world, behind Russia, Canada, and the United States in terms of landmass, only about 15 percent of it is arable, as most of the country is made of mountains, hills, and highlands. Throughout history, this has proven a challenge to grow enough food to feed Chinas large population. Farmers have practiced intensive agriculture methods, some of which have led to a great erosion of its mountains. For centuries China has also struggled with earthquakes, droughts, floods, typhoons, tsunamis, and sandstorms. It is no surprise then that much of Chinese development has been shaped by the land. Because so much of western China is not as fertile as other regions, most of the population lives in the eastern third of the country. This has resulted in uneven development where eastern cities are heavily populated and more industrial and commercial while the western regions are less populated and have little industry. Located on the Pacific Rim, Chinas earthquakes have been severe. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake in northeast China is said to have killed more than 200,000 people. In May 2008, an earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province killed nearly 87,000 people and left millions homeless. While the nation is just a bit smaller than the United States, China uses only one time zone, China Standard Time, which is eight hours ahead of GMT. A Poem About Chinas Land: At Heron Lodge For centuries the diverse landscape of China has inspired artists and poets. Tang Dynasty poet Wang Zhihuan’s (688-742) poem â€Å"At Heron Lodge† romanticizes the land, and also shows an appreciation of perspective: Mountains cover the white sun And oceans drain the yellow river But you can widen your view three hundred miles By ascending a single flight of stairs

us vs eu essays

us vs eu essays What does a coherent and unified European community (now known as the European Union) mean to the United States? Is it a threat, a competitor, or a partner? Or is it the three combined together? I think it is the three combined together. Depending on the situation, whether economically, politically, or military, the European Union has acted as a threat, competitor or a partner to the United States. This could be demonstrated using different economic, political and military examples. First, lets look at the role and involvement of the United States in the Formation of the European Union. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with the European Union since 1953, when the first US Observers to the European Defense Community and the European Coal and Steel Community were nominated. In 1961, the US Mission to the European Communities - now the European Union - was established. The European Commission is represented in the United States by a Delegation in Washington, which was established in 1954. In 1971 the Washington office became a Delegation with full diplomatic privileges and immunities. The Delegation represents the European Commission in its dealings with the US government. It reports on US developments to headquarters in Brussels and acts as a liaison with other international institutions in Washington, DC. The European Union and the United States hold twice-yearly presidential summits to assess and develop transatlantic cooperation. The EU-US summits bring together the President of the United States and the President of the European Commission. The EU-US Presidential Summits started as a result of the November 1990 Transatlantic Declaration. In December 1995, a step forward in the relations was taken at the EU-US Summit in Madrid, when the European Union and the United States adopted the New Transatlantic Agenda. Both sides pledged to work together to promote peace, democracy and stability, foster economic growth a ...