Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Vandalistic Behavior,Bullying and Violence on Campus Essay Example

Vandalistic Behavior,Bullying and Violence on Campus Essay Example Vandalistic Behavior,Bullying and Violence on Campus Essay Vandalistic Behavior,Bullying and Violence on Campus Essay Abstract American Campus was and is usually idealized to be a sanctum for academic study. However, beneath the semblance of peaceful ivory tower, American campus nowadays is on and off plagued by an alloy of miscellaneous violence which has increasingly become a serous social problem. On the one hand, violence is taking place on American campus on a more frequent basis, and on the other hand, the way the violence is committed tends to be crueler, more violent and traumatically hurtful. In view of the increasingly worsening situation, it would be of enormous significance o look into the nature and scope of current violence on American campus and reveal the root causes for campus violence. This thesis presents the vandalistic behavior, bullying, sexual violence, hate violence, and mass murder as the typical violence typology on campus. According to the social learning theory, violence is interpreted as an outcome of students appropriating from their environments and popular culture aggressive behavior. Drawing upon the social learning theory, this thesis looks into a complex set of social factors that give rise to campus violence in the U. S. including the violence cult, gun ownership, and social tension factors such as racism, sexism and religious conflicts. Despite decades- long efforts taken by American society to combat violence, the adverse trend has not yet been reversed, or is likely to be in the foreseeable future. The underlying reason in that respect lies in some cultural, political and social forces deep-rooted in the American culture, which make the campus violence disease determinedly intractable, or even ineradicable. In this sense, to understand campus violence is in fact to understand American culture and society. Key words: Campus Violence, Social Learning Theory, American Society, Causes and Typology Behaviors. Shooting. ? Campus Violence.. . 16 2. 2. 2 Violence on Mass Media. Campus. Tension.. ? RootsContents American Campus Violence: an Overview. 5 1 1 1 Chapter One . 5 1. 2 Campus Violence .. 7 1. 2. 1 Vandalistic .. 8 1. 2. 2 .. 8 1. 2. sexual .. 9 1. 2. 4 Hate .. 10 1. 2. 5 Mass Murder/ .. 11 1. 3 Summary .. 12 Chapter Two Causes of 14 2. 1 The Theories on .. 14 2. 2 Violence . 16 2. 2. 1 Violence Cult in American .. 18 2. 2. 3 Violence cult on .. 20 2. 3 social .. 22 2. 3. 1 .. 252. 3. 3 .. 27 2. 4 Easy Access to . . 29 Chapter Three The Intractable Nature Gun.. of Campus Violence.. 33 3. 1 Cultural Legacy: Radical Individualism. 33 3. 2 Political Clout: Pro-Gun Interest Group. 6 3. 3 Social Institution: Escalated Social Conclusion. Bibliography. ? .. 421 Introduction For many years, c ollege campuses have been viewed as an ivory tower that is insulated from violence. In actual fact, however, the notion of the campus as a crime- free oasis is a myth, as in the case of the United States. Not only does violence or crime at large affect schools and colleges themselves in America, but in some respects its campuses have become fertile ground for violent or criminal behaviors that permeate beyond campus. The sharp escalation of youth violence from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s led to the descriptions of it as unprecedented (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1992), as epidemic (Tolmas, 1998: 483-492; U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001), and ubiquitous (Tolan, 2001), respectively. In 2005, the FBI declared 2,712 known violent crimes in the universities and colleges across all states. According to the estimates by the Department of Justice, the number of Juveniles arrested for violent crimes will double by the year 2010(Snyder Sickmund, 2006: 1 11). With the escalation of campus violence, many scholars have made great efforts to study the problem from different perspectives. Deanna C. Linville, for example, examines how extracurricular activities, such as participation in non-school clubs, religious activities, exercise frequency and number of sports team memberships relate to rural youth violence (2005: 483-492). Ann Bellotti attributes the etiology of violence in the college and university setting to beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors which may predispose, enable, and reinforce violence (1995: 105-123). Thomas W. Farmer and Elizabeth M. Z. Farmer suggest that aggression and school violence involve the contributions of both school social dynamics and the evelopmental histories of youth who are at risk for involvement in antisocial behavior (2004: 377-396). In these earlier studies on campus violence, there is a tendency to define the scope of the problem of campus violence narrowly, and this is likely to impede the understanding of the phenomenon and its dimensions, and compromises efforts to respond to it. In reaction to such limitation in previous studies, this thesis puts forward an integrated definition of campus violence by encompassing2 not only the violence resulting in physical harm but also the psychological or emotional trauma caused by it. Apart from putting forth an expanded definition to guide a comprehensive recognition of the problem of campus violence, this thesis draws upon the social learning theory to examine and analyze campus violence in the United States from the social, historical and cultural perspectives. In Chapter One, the author points out the conventional definition of campus violence which focuses on the visible physical harm produced by violence but neglects the psychological harm. Moreover, the usual definition ignores the thesis puts forth a more integrated definition of campus violence, and based on the efinition, presents hate and sexual violence that are driven by racism and sexism in society. Apart from that, campus bullying and mass shooting are two types of campus violence that have come to the forefront of the publics attention. Chapter Two proceeds to probe into the social factors that give rise to campus violence. Drawing upon the social learning theory, the thesis emphasizes that the social and cultural environment where a person is exposed to plays an influencing part in a persons behavior. Campus is a microcosm of society at large and the violence cult of America constitutes the fundamental cause of American campus violence. In At Zero Tolerance, Ronnie Casella concluded the cause of violence as follows: The United States has yet to view violence as an outcome of a national history that has been violent, of an economic system that creates the social isolation and hopelessness that causes some violence, and a culture that has come to accept and even prosper from everyday forms of aggression against the less powerful in the world. Unfortunately, this context of violence is not even recognized until it is the white and middle-class kids who become embroiled in the mayhem (2001:37). 3 However, the origins of violence lie in a complex set of influence. No single factor can provide the definitive answer to the question of why students commit violence so often and so casually. In addition to the violence cult, other social factors contributing campus violence need to be taken into account. A sample of 222 African American, Mexican American, or European American undergraduate students completed questionnaires as sessing lifetime exposure to interpersonal violence and current levels of psychological distress. The frequency of interpersonal violence was high: 39. 2% of the students reported direct exposure to at least one violent, nonsexual life event and 43. % reported at least one violent sexual experience. 14% of the participants had lifetime diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, with the highest reported rate occurring for the African Americans, who also reported more violent sexual and nonsexual experiences and higher levels of psychological distress. Women reported more direct sexual experiences whereas men reported more nonsexual violent events (Satcher, 2001 : 7). Given that the respondents who had been victimized all came from minority groups, and that the female respondents were the easy targets of sexual violence, this sample indicates that racism and sexism are still irectly or indirectly causing campus violence. Moreover, the campus simply reflects the greater problem in society, where firearms are used in 60% of homicides, 41 % of robberies, 23 % of aggravated assaults, and 10 % of rapes (Espelage Swearer, 2003: 365-383). The easy access to gun is another factor that facilitates the prevalence of campus violence. Chapter Three looks into the forces deep-rooted in American society that makes the eradication of violence on campus difficult or even impossible. This is approached from three aspects: cultural, political and social. First, the thesis argues that ndividualism, as a highly lauded cultural legacy of the nation, bestows excessive freedom to the individuals. Secondly, with the gun interest group pursuing lucrative profits and backing up the gun ownership, gun acquisition wont be restricted within a short time soon. Finally, as the social tension resulting from the racial, sexual as to remain unchanged in a foreseeable future. As campus violence worsens off, it is worth attention and serious research work by related scholars and campus authority. This paper is a tentative attempt in this direction, intended to shed some light on the study of American campus violence. Chapter One American Campus Violence: an Overview 1. 1 Definition Campus violence has been present on American campus ever since the existence of campus and it has become one of the trickiest and the most serious issues in American society. Each year the boundaries of violence extend. Many scholars have studied the subject and formulated their own versions of definition for campus violence. The concept of violence literally means physical force used to inflict injury or damage. It connotes an intense manifestation of strength, usually involving some severe physical effects. As Gerald Priestland says, he essence of violence is that physical power is deliberately employed, with the ultimate sanction of physical pain, and little choice but surrender or physical resistance(1974: 19). And the archetypal act of violencethe image that we are likely to have of it-is something like punching someone on the nose, or stabbing them, or beating them. Accordingly, campus violence is conventionally defined as the use of force, often extreme physical force, by a student toward other people or himself/herself that results in harm. Berg defined violence in the campus setting as the use or threat of physical force with the ntent of causing physical injury, damage or intimidation of another person (2000:18). However, this kind of definition omits two critical elements of harm. First, it excludes the emotional and psychological pain that results from dominance of some over others. Violence on todays campus is more insidious, invisible, and psychologically harmful and can be done in a more explicitly civilized manner. Without sustaining actual physical force, one can still fall easy prey to violence, such as the tacit violence, discriminatory trauma and psychological abuse; second, the said definition ignores the violence of social process that produces ystematic social injury, such as that perpetuated through institutionalized racism and sexism. According to the theory of social learning initiated by Albert Bandura, individuals imitate as well as interpret and6 interact with the message of society. [P]eople are not simply reactors to external influences; they select, organize, and transform the stimuli that impinge upon them(1977: 89). In the case of campus violence, people living in an environment that prescribes certain violence standards or practice as normative will be nurtured to accept and come to terms with these acquiesced practices of violence. It should be noted that both racial and sexual violence are not rare across American campus. The implicitly rampant racism, sexism and religious discrimination in society result in hate violence with regard to race, sexuality and religion. The hate violence tends to exert on individuals or groups adverse psychological or mental impact, which might be more harmful than physical harms. For example, gender discrimination has been shown to create harmful effects on female students learning experience. When a teacher favors male students over females, because of the formers seemingly extroverted classroom participation, they eelings of inadequacy, anger, and long-term depression. As a result, the conventional definition of campus violence neglects harmful institutionalized social and educational processes, including acts and processes of institutionalized racism or sexism, other discrimination, labeling and tracking, sexual harassment, and predation (Henry, 1999: 18). Based on this analysis, when enumerating the concrete violent acts on campus, it is not adequate to assume that physical violence such as shoving, pinching, hitting, fghting, or aggravated assault cover the whole spectrum of ampus violence to the neglect of such hidden violence as verbal and psychological abuse, racially, sexually and religiously driven hate crimes that produce psychological harms other than physical injuries. Moreover, it should be noted that the exercise of the power to harm, as mentioned earlier, can also be accomplished by such factors as sexism, ageism and racism. The overlook of these broader dimensions of campus violence causes the missing of much of the content and many causes of violence on campus. In order to have a7 more accurate concept of campus violence, a more integrated definition of campus iolence is necessary. A more accurate and integrated definition should first of all replace the term force with power and by suggesting that violence is the use of power to harm another, whatever form that takes. So, the key point here is the use of power and the harm it causes when applied in a wrong way. Power is easy to understand. When broadly defined, it means the capacity to bring about change. It takes many forms, comes from many places and is measured in many ways. What is more difficult is how to define harm. What is harm? Harm, when narrowly conceived, is physical pain and suffering. But an expansive view says harm can also occur along many dimensions, beyond the physical, to include psychological or emotional; material or economic; social or identity; moral or ethical. For example, physical harms produce bodily pain or loss; material harms remove some of the persons economic standing; psychological harms have destructive effects on the human mind and weaken a persons emotional or mental functioning; social and symbolic harms lower a persons social status; moral or ethical harms corrupt standards of concern for the well-being of others (as in hate, pressure to cheat, and the like). With the inclusion of ocial practices as factors contributing to violence and the expansion on the resultant harm from violence, this thesis defines campus violence as the intentional use of power, threatened or actual, by some individual, or social process, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation. Based on this definition, the next section will put forward the representative typology of campus violence that merit attention by campus authority and U. S. government. 8 1. 2 Campus Violence Typology Based on the more integrated definition of campus violence as stated above, we can distinguish five modes in which violence may be inflicted: Vandalistic Behavior; Bullying; Hate Crime; Sexual Violence; Mass Murder/Shooting. 1. 2. 1 Vandalistic Behaviors Vandalistic behavior refers to the willful or malicious damage to school grounds and produce either explicit or implicit physical violence, bloody scene or violent confrontation between the youth, it is likely to cause psychological trauma on the targets. Specific examples for school vandalism include glass breakage, graffiti, and general property destruction. In the U. S. , these behaviors might be the external embodiment of anti-Semitism, one of the main motivations for the vandalistic behavior on campus. Nazi-related graffiti, such as the swastika, are more often than not found painted on the campus property to remind the Jews of the painful past. There has also been defacement done to numerous campus areas, such as the bobcat face, newly paved sidewalks and commuters cars. In other case of vandalism, it is found that students smear petroleum Jelly on the schools windows, throw birdseed and flour against the windows, dump paper in a courtyard and shot the uilding with paintballs. Arson also qualifies as vandalistic behavior due to its intention. According to the U. S. Department of Education (n. d. ), there were 1,098 cases of campus arson reported in 2002 Ooetta L. Carr, 2005: 9). Over the past two decades, concerns about school violence, weapons, drugs, and gangs have eclipsed apprehension and discussion about school vandalism, its causes, and possible responses. However, the alarming fact is that vandalistic behavior continues to occur regularly and to affect a significant proportion of U. S. campus. 1. 2. 2 sullytngg Bullying refers to unprovoked physical or psychological abuse of an individual by one or a group of students over time to create an ongoing pattern of harassment and abuse (Batsche Knoff, 1994:165-174; Hoover, Oliver, Thomson, 1993; Olweus, 1991:143-150). It is among the largely neglected aspect of low-level American campus violence. Not only does bullying produce physical harm, it also results in psychological detriments. Bullying usually takes place when there is an imbalance of power between aggressor and victim, and moreover, the aggressive acts are deliberate and repeated (Farrington 1993; Olweus, 1993; Smith Sharp, 1994). Although bullying is largely neglected, its occurrence frequency and coverage are both higher than other high-level campus violence. Bullying victimization is estimated to affect 15% to 20% of the U. S. tudent population, with verbal teasing and intimidation being the most common form and boys are reported to be victims at a higher rate than girls (Furlong, Chung, Bates, Morrison, 1995:289-298). Students grow up and leave school-including those mean kids of long ago, but in a certain sense the bully never actually grows up; he or she still bullies, harasses, and intimidates others. Little has changed over the years in this regard, with the possible exception that things may have gotten i mmeasurably worse-especially within the context of schooling. The gang is a cause that leads to campus bullying. Like any group of people who engage in socially disruptive or criminal behavior, gangs on campus create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. To a certain extent, the campus has become a breeding ground for gang, and the Juvenile and young adults associate together to victimize, bully and intimidate school members, carry out antisocial activities, such as omb-making, satanic websites visiting. The presence of the gang on campus undermines the campus climate to a great extent and accordingly, exerts negative 1. 2. Sexual Violence10 The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Kilmartin observes, [R]ape and other par tner iolence are the worst symptom of a larger problem: a continuum of disrespect toward women. This continuum includes mens display of negative attitudes through misogynist Jokes, demeaning pornography nd runs to the most extreme form of violence: gender motivated murder. Such an analysis also emphasizes power imbalances between the sexes and the social forces that create and maintain these imbalances. (2007: 23) In a country like the United States which finds sexism so prevailing in peoples mentality, sexual violence is not rare on American campus. It mainly includes sexual assault, stalking and dating violence. College campuses host large concentrations of young women who are at greater risk for rape and other forms of sexual assault than women in the general population or in a comparable age group. Stalking is particularly prevalent on college campuses; in fact, more than half of all stalking victims are between 18-29 years old, and 13% of college women have been stalked. In 1981 , Makepeace published the first report on dating violence, revealing that one in five college couples are involved in violent relationships. Recent studies show that as many as one in three college couples will be involved in at least one incident of iolence during the course of their dating relationship (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000; Lewis Fremouw, 2001:8(:)-84). 1. 2. Hate Violence Hate violence and its resultant victimization are becoming more prominent on Americas college campuses. Also known as bias-motivated violence, hate violence occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in al 1 certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, or political affiliation and a s a result, it is evealed that sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-lslamism and homosexuality have all induced and would continue to trigger off the occurrence of hate crime, which can take many forms. Incidents may involve physical assault, damage to property, bullying, harassment, verbal abuse or insults, or offensive graffiti or letters. They occur at virtually every type of college and university and in every part of the nation. Perpetrators of these incidents include current and former students and non- students. According to criminologist Dr. Jack McDevitt, hate crime is different from ther crimes in that the offender is sending a message to members of a certain group that they are unwelcome in a particular neighborhood, community, school, or workplace. By far the largest determinant of hate crimes is racial bias, with the group of African Americans at greatest risk. Apart from the hate crime against the Black Americans, there are ones committed against Hispanics, because of their immigration status. 1. 2. 5 Mass Murder/Shooting The April 2007 massacre of 32 victims on the otherwise bucolic campus of Virginia America. Not only was it the most devastating violent episode ever to occur at an nstitution of higher learning, it was the largest mass shooting of any kind in the nations history. Gun violence is the lethal form of campus violence. According to a recent national survey of 26,000 college students on 61 campuses, 7% of the students carried a gun or knife on the previous days. The study indicated that 11% of the men and 4% women surveyed carried weapons. Extrapolated, this means that approximately 1 million (to be exact, 980,000) students carry weapons on campus. 18% of high school students now carry a knife, razor, firearm, or other weapon on a regular basis, and 9% of them take a weapon to school. According to a national survey of 26,000 college students on 61 campuses in 1992, 7% of students carried a12 gun or knife. The outcome of such a heavily armed students group has been severe. In 1992, for example, 5,262 young people died from gunshot wounds, and an estimated 23,167 students suffered nonfatal firearm injuries that were treated in hospital emergency rooms from June 1992 through May 1993 dames Mercy Mark Rosenberg, 1998). 1. 3 Summary As demonstrated above, the most common campus violence takes forms of Vandalistic Behavior; Bullying; Hate Crime; Sexual Violence; Mass Murder/Shooting. Violence accounts for much of the morbidity and mortality among adolescents in the United States (National Center for Health Statistics, 2003). All the five types of violence are pervasive on American campuses. It was estimated that bullying victimization is calculated to affect 15% to 20% of the U. S. student population, with verbal teasing and intimidation being the most common form and boys reported to be victims at a higher rate than girls (Furlong, Chung, Bates, Morrison, 1995: 289-298). In the year of 1995, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted a study specific to the problem of hate crimes on the college campus. The study included 450 higher education institutions from 40 states. Of the 450 institutions surveyed, 222 or 49% reported an incident of a hate crime. It has been estimated that almost one million college students experience racially or ethnically motivated violence annually. In a study of 1 ,012 racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse students enrolled in various campus in Los Angeles, OKeefe found that violence in dating relationships was a frequent occurrence: 43% of the females and 39% of the males reported that they had inflicted some form of physical aggression on their dating partners at least nce (1997: 546-568). Unfortunately, current epidemiological reports suggest that this form of violence is on the rise. Between 1994 and 1999, there were 220 school- associated violent events resulting in 253 deaths?74. 5% of these involved firearms. Handguns caused almost 60% of these deaths. Oournal of American Medical Association, December 2001). 13 Such pervasive violence on campus brings about detrimental consequences. School violence has been reported as one of the most important and devastating social problems facing school children and their parents, to the extent that students erceive their school context as an unsafe environment (Astor and Meyer, 2001 : 374-399). It is recognized that disruptive behaviors on campus interferes with not only teaching, but also diminishes ability to focus on academic pursuits. The fears experience psychological reactions that interfere with the learning process (American Association of University Women, 2001)14 Chapter Two Causes of Campus Violence In the previous one, this thesis puts forth a more integrated definition of campus violence vis-? ¤-vis the conventional definition that ignores the psychological facet. Based on such a broader definition, Chapter Two will adopt corresponding theories and probe into the social factors that give rise to the campus violence in American society. 2. 1 The Theories on Violence There are as many theories of violence as there are forms of violence, and these theories have been discussed in exhaustive detail in a number of books and articles. Briefly speaking, theories of violence fall into several categories. 1) Social learning theory interprets violence as learned behavior, an outcome of students appropriating from their environments and popular culture aggressive behavior and hen considering violence as norm which they replicate in their own interaction with others (David Johnson Roger Johnson, 1995). (2) Rational choice theories identifies poor reasoning skills as the cause of violence, in which case, individuals weigh the consequences of a violent crime against the possible benefits and make the rational choice to be violent-in a sense, individuals det ermine that crime pays( Jeffrey Fagan Deanna L. Wilkinson, 1998). 3) Structural theories of violence that focuses on social and environmental conditions such as poverty. Here, violence is viewed as a systemic roblem having to do with inequities in the world and a general breakdown of relations between people, which leads to social isolation, frustration, and aggression (Frederic Thrasher, 1927). (4) Biological theories focus on medical conditions and biolol gical traits of violent offenders and have roots in eugenic explanations of criminal behavior, where criminal tendencies are identified in peoples physical and psychological stigmata ?essentially, in a persons natural makeup (David Green, 1985). 5) Interactionist theory incorporates some combination of social learning and tructural theories and view violence in connection to how peoplel 5 make sense and interpret their experiences and circumstances (Brandley Levinson, Douglas Foley, Dorothy Holland, 1996). Although these theori es on violence make sense in one way or another, social learning theory has been at the forefront of explaining how external influences affect the way people behave and cited as one of the most relevant and plausible theories regarding the acquisition of violence tendency. According to the social learning theory, people learn through modeling and imitation. Albert Bandura, who is often considered as the forefather of the theory, explained that most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasion this coded information serves as a guide for action. Social learning theory has been at the forefront of explaining how influences such as media affect young children. In his book, Social Learning and Personality Development, Bandura and his colleague, Richard Walters, concluded that imitation plays an important role in the acquisition of deviant, as well as of conforming, behavior. They reiterated in their own work the basic explanation put forth several decades earlier by the them to do, but rather what they see adults dd'(Gladys Reichard, 1938: 409-86). In probing into the causes of campus violence, attention must be given to the experiences of young people and how those experiences are interpreted by them. These experiences should include those in the community and school and with others but also experiences that students have with their popular culture, with the military (including JROTC organizations in high schools), and their knowledge of easy ccess to weapons. Cultures are created in neighborhoods, families, and states, and within a national context. What is easily accepted in the United States, what is produced and used, how individuals view themselves in relation to others, all add up to define what U. S. ulture is like and who Americans are as a people. If U. S. society continues to support militarism, to tolerate the mass manufacturing and distribution of weapons16 that have caused what health experts call a national health crisis in the country, and to patronize needless violence in the media, then, those who take art in such activities continue to produce a culture that is partly defined by violence. This violence may, if other factors fall into place, lead to youth and scho ol violence. Campus violence is Just one part of violence in the rest of society. According to the influence argument, it can be inferred that Americas violence cult, the dissemination of violence via mass media, and the institutionalized sexism, racism in society all exert influences on the person who is exposed to the context. 2. 2 Violence Cult Revolving around the social learning theory, the following section will discuss the iolence cult America practices historically and militarily, how the institutionalized sexism and racism still take foothold in contemporary America, including on American campus, and how these factors contribute to the happening of violence on campus. Violence is a defining characteristic of U. S. culture. Just like Ronnie Casella said in At Zero Tolerance: U. S. has benefited from violence. Through violence, the country has sustained economic and political might abroad, has bolstered domestic and international expansions, and has served international interventions. Violence is so ervasive in America that it symbolizes freedom, masculinity, dominance, and power. To understand Americas cult on violence, it is necessary to look at it from the historical perspective, as violence is historically consistent and it has been woven into the very fabric of American personality. The

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Capital structure and payout policy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Capital structure and payout policy - Term Paper Example Introduction Background Starbucks Corporation is an international company that deals with coffee products, with its headquarters based in Seattle Washington, America. During its commencement in 1971, the company was a retailer and a local coffee roaster; but it has since stretched out swiftly. It has Italian-style coffeehouse chain and it is the world’s largest coffeehouse company, with presence in more than 60 countries and more than 20,000 stores (Starbucks Corporation 2011 3). It deals with coffee beans, salads, hot and cold drinks, hot and cold sandwiches, snacks, mugs and tumblers, and sweet pastries. In addition, Starbucks distributes some of its brand through grocery stores, including coffee and ice cream. Its other products include markets films, music, and books through the Hear Music and the Starbucks Entertainment division. Scores of the company’s products are either location specific or seasonal. Starbuck’s most remarkable expansion, when it used to o pen new stores days on end, was in the 1990s till 2000s. The company started establishing oversees stores in 1990s; and currently, roughly third of its stores are oversees (Starbucks 2). Identification of problem Starbucks mainly obtain its capital from equity and debt sources. However, the company must struggle to strike a good balance between equity and debt; because, if it uses too much debt, then it may be obligated to pay too much interest and subject it to the risk of bankruptcy. Furthermore, such a scenario could limit its payout capability, hence keeping away investors, which again limits its shareholding capability. Therefore, it is important to analyze the company’s capital structure, as it plays a crucial role in regards to its dividend payout, risk of bankruptcy among other issues. Analysis of issues Capital structure means the manner in which a particular company combines its sources of capital, which are used to finance its long-term assets, including debt and e quity. Gearing or leverages is used to measure the proportion of the company’s debt capital. However, the company’s capital structure is affected by a number of factors, and the optimal financing mix should be its target. Difficulty, however, arises, in trying to establish the exact optimal capital structure, since this process is not a science. In order for Starbuck to establish its optimal capital structure, it has to give consideration to all the factors that are believed to play some crucial role in establishing an optimal mix. In addition, it is important to consider the fact that a trade-off between return and risk has a strong impact on the capital structure. In other words, this means that excessive debt will increase the company’s earnings risk, though this will lead to higher potential returns. Furthermore, if the company maintains high debt capital, the stock price will decline due to the higher risk related to high level of debts. On the other hand, the stock becomes more attractive to the investors, if it has a high potential of returns, which will again send the stock’s prices upwards. As such, the optimal capital structure for Starbuck is the one that establishes a balance between return and risk, hence helping attain its overall goal of maximizing the prices of its stock. It is, therefore, very crucial for the management of Starbuck to ensure it maintains the lowest cost of capital and at the same time maximizes the shareholder’s wealth. Capital structure i

Friday, February 7, 2020

Management accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management accounting - Assignment Example Taking into account the advice given out by the proposals of the Function Managers there is a need for a partial overhaul of the companies working practice and corresponding adjustments need to be made to its business model with an overall aim of ensuring as smooth a transition as possible in the aftermath of the acquisition of the company by MAJORAIR. What should also be considered by the board is the long-term strategy of what market should be the focus in terms of both location (established versus expanding) and passenger type (low cost versus high end and discerning), as well as the risks posed by each of these approaches. In regards to the accounts for the season Winter 2011/12 Overall profitability for the season stands at ?148,201,205 It will be important to benchmark the overall profitability of the proposals against this figure to establish which offer would be the most attractive to the company. Another important figure to look at would be at which moment in the season the proposals meet the breakeven mark. There are two ways of looking at this figure. One is to look at which moment in time the costs are covered by simply deducting overall costs against turnover as a point in time (for example: costs are covered between months 3 & 4 and from that point on all revenue can be considered as profit.) Another is to deduct what percentage of each sale is allocated to cover the costs spread out over the entire season or year. Figures for the yearly turnover are not calculated in this analysis because of the uncertainty of passenger numbers for the summer months. In regards to Load Factor there is some room for improvement Gatwick – Washington (AM) – 77.97% Load Capacity (55.14% of total available seats) Gatwick – Washington (PM) – 88.44% Load Capacity (28.26 of total available seats) Gatwick – Boston (AM) – 79.44% Load Capacity (57.9% of total available seats) Gatwick – Boston (PM) – 84.5% Load Capacity (50.88% of total available seats) Gatwick – Seattle (AM) – 55.78% Load Capacity (34% of total available seats) Gatwick – Seattle (PM) – 77.57% Load Capacity (63.16% of total available seats) As the accounts stand there is a surplus that can be reinvested or paid out to shareholders as part of a dividend but before either of these can occur I will be analysing the proposals set by the Functional Managers in regards to an investment strategy. Some of them are long-term investments, several of them are speculative and some of them deal with short-term fixes. I will be assessing them on immediate changes to profitability, projected impacts of capital expenditure feedback (for both the immediate fiscal year and for long-term cost reductions through investments) and what impact each proposal has on the current business practice used by SMALLAIR. Network Management In the first instance, this is the proposal I would want to present to the board as I agree with the recommendations of the proposal in a number of ways. Firstly, the Washington PM flight is the most efficient at load

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Lines composed upon Westminster bridge, Sept. 3 1802 and London Essay Example for Free

Lines composed upon Westminster bridge, Sept. 3 1802 and London Essay These two poems show very different views of London. Lines composed upon Westminster Bridge, written by William Wordsworth, describes London in detail. He captures the beautified city and expresses the calmness of the morning. William Blake, who lived around the same time, wrote London which expresses the chaotic and corrupt side of London. Wordsworth describes the city in much detail. A sight so touching in its majesty. The Earth has not anything to show more fair. He expresses his true feeling about the city from where he sees it. He goes on to personify the city and describe how it doth like a garment wear The beauty of the morning; silent, bare. He has captured the city in the morning when it is quiet and in a sense almost naked with no one yet bustling through the streets, there are no fume engulfed traffic jams or shouting street salesmen. There is only the calmness of the morning. All the man made objects and buildings, such as ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples lie open unto the fields and to the sky. The man built objects remain where they were left not yet being used by Londoners. The atmosphere is sublime, the sun is just rising and soaking everything in its light, Never did sun more beautifully steep Neer saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! the scene is so peaceful he is feeling peace within himself. The natural body of the city, the river, is gliding in its own free way, the way it wants the river glideth at its own sweet will Its free will is moving it naturally through the city as though it were the countryside. The river has also been personified to give more emphasis of its freedom. He is so overwhelmed by the atmosphere and calmness of the city. Dear God! The very houses seem asleep everywhere he sees is not yet awake, again he has personified an object to give it more emphasis. His final line is describing the city as a mighty heart that is lying still. The capital, like the giant mechanism of a heart is just lying still. The aim from the poem is to describe the amazement he sees when looking over a massive city and seeing the calmness. He wants to express to others how peaceful and calm it makes him feel and pass that feeling on to the reader. The first two stanzas describe what the city is like, and what he sees around him. The sestet after this shows his personal response to what he has already described and how he feels about the city. Blake presents a much more depressing, morbid scene of London describing the corruptness of everything in the city. He is describing the attitudes and goings on in London that are normally never spoken about, the things which people may or may not know but which go on behind closed doors. A lot of repetition is used, unlike in Wordsworths poem, to give emphasis to the points which he is trying to make. In every cry, of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice he only lists one example in each line but gives the effect of a lot of crying and pain and fear. He speaks in a first hand account throughout the poem I wander, I hear, and I meet. By speaking in the present tense it makes the reader more inclined to think it is going on here and now however old the poem may be. By beginning the first line with I wander thro each chartered street It makes it easier to visualise what he is describing because it is a first hand account. The chartered streets are each set out neatly and ordered, the chartered Thames is also very regulated and gives the impression of it being divided and bought and sold. He notices a mark in every face I meet Marks of wisdom, marks of woe. This evidence of scars of weakness and great sadness in faces contrasts with the peaceful and happy atmosphere Wordsworth gave to London. He hears mind-forgd manacles in crys of every man and Infants cry of fear he is referring to the fake, made up manacles that he cannot actually hear but knows that something is wrong. His repetition of cry continues to the next stanza where he talks of chimney-sweepers which are doing the dirty, hardest jobs and suffering for their work, an example of the depressed and morbid London. The description of the blackening church shows the soot taking over London and the church becoming almost evil, involved with dirty money or becoming corrupt. Even the church is starting to lose its faith. Another large part of London life is also criticised, the hapless soldiers sigh Runs in blood down palace walls. Fighting is going on around the palace but going unnoticed, the palace is oblivious to the corruptness going on inside its own walls. He contrasts the third stanza with the 4th final stanza, not only the church and palace and the huge industries of London are corrupt the streets are also. Thro the midnight streets I hear How the youthful harlots curse there is a lot of prostitution going on in the streets of London but was something that wasnt spoken about. The STDs, or curses blasts the new born infants tear. Implying that prostitutes pass on STDs and then these in turn get passed on to the newborn babies of those who have any disease. Another example of a corrupt system in London, which now effects the innocent. And blights with plagues the marriage hearse. Sleeping with prostitutes while married destroys the whole point of marriage and then if the partner becomes pregnant another generation is born into corruption. The use of hearse shows how marriage is carried away as though dead and not taken seriously. The extremely regular meter helps put across the ordered ways he describes the beginning. These chartered and regulated ways soon give way to the examples of how corruption is slowly taking over the whole city, the government, the church, the palace and the streets. The first poem also used a regular meter, which, also worked well in describing the city peacefully and happily. The two poems contrast greatly in not what they describe but how they describe it. Wordsworth has a much more calming poem, which in effect leaves the reader much more calm and peaceful. This is unlike Blakes who describes so much evil and chaos going on, his poem leaves the reader much more depressed and almost disgusted with how the people and industries of London are behaving. Their use of language is also quite different, Wordsworths entire poem is full of description of beauty, bright and glittering and full of splendour. He uses very grand descriptions of everything unlike the descriptions of Blake, which are quite harsh and blunt, blasts the new born infants tear, blights with plagues and runs in blood down palace walls. I did enjoy both poems but preferred the first, Lines composed upon Westminster because of its use of more soothing, happy descriptions of London. It made me feel much more relaxed after reading it whereas London left me feeling slightly more depressed and sad. Although this may have been the aim of Blakes poem I preferred Wordsworths poem because it was much calmer.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Teenage Alcoholism Essay -- essays research papers fc

ALCOHOLISM This research paper is on alcoholism and its affect on teenagers and adults. This piece will fully outline alcohol from its origin, and different types of alcohol, all the way to the treatment of alcohol addiction. Reading this paper will hopefully shed some light on the fact that people with an alcohol addiction do not only hurt and affect themselves, but also make the people around them susceptible to the same fate. I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ethyl alcohol (also known as drinking alcohol), is one of the oldest drugs in the world. Five thousand years ago, the people of Mesopotamia drank beer and recorded it on clay tablets. The ancient Egyptians brewed and drank beer also.1 And today, alcohol is probably used in every country in the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are several types of alcohol, but ethyl is the most common and is the only one that can be consumed. Other alcohols include: Methyl, used in antifreeze and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   cleaning solutions; Isopropyl, which is used in rubbing alcohol; Ethylene, also used in antifreeze; and Glycerol, which is used in hand lotions and plastic explosives.2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Alcohol is made through a process called fermentation. Fermentation turns fruit juice into wine and grain mixed with liquid into beer.3 This process is completed by a group of microscopic organisms, mostly made up of yeasts. When the yeast bacteria act on the sugar (glucose) in the fruit juice, they produce alcohol and carbon dioxide.4 Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is a diseased condition resulting from the excessive or persistent use of alcoholic beverages.5 These beverages include: whiskey, wine, wine coolers, beer, liquor, hard cider and many others. Alcoholism is thought to arise from a combination of a wide range of physiological, psychological, social and genetic factors.6 Consumption of alcohol has greatly increased in the United States, many European countries and countries that were in the former Soviet Union. This is paralleled by growing evidence o... ...she has a drinking problem and second, that he/she knows that people with an alcohol addiction do not only hurt and affect themselves, but they also make the people around them susceptible to the same fate. Then perhaps we can slowly but surely put an end to alcoholism.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography World Book Encyclopedia 1995 Edition   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keyword(s): Alcoholism, Al-Anon, Alcoholics Anonymous ''Alcohol'' Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Vol. 1,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Harper & Row, 1993 Resnick, Charlotte A. and Gloria R. Resnick, To Your Good Health-2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  nd Edition,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  p. 374-388, New York, Amsco, 1989 http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/leginfo/sb35.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Texas Alcoholic Beverage Comission, 2001 http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/alcoholreason.htm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  no author given, no date given http://www.utextension.utk.edu/spfiles/sp491b   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What to Know About Teen Alcohol and other Drug Use (downloadable   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  pamphlet) 2001

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Terrorism Case Study

Caless (2012) defines terrorism as † the threat or use of violence to further a political agenda for change by inducing widespread fear†. However, experts have been debating over a clear definition for terrorism for over 100 years. Although the word was first used over 200 years ago when discussing the Reign of Terror (Whitaker, 2001). Consequently, there have been over 100 definitions offered for terrorism (Laqueur, 1977, cited in Martin, 2013). Alex Schmid's (2004) research also illustrates the lack of clarity surrounding the definition.And most experts believe that an impartial and universal recognised definition will never be agreed upon (Ganor, 2002). With the lack of clarity surrounding the definition, a further question arises; who is classed as a terrorist? This is reflected in the well known phrase â€Å"one man's freedom fighter, is another man's terrorist. † (Gerald Seymour, 1975, cited in Ganor, 2002). Overall, it is agreed, that this depends on the sub jective viewpoint of the individual (Ganor, 2002; Jackson, 2008; Corte, 2007).The Just War doctrine is an â€Å"ideal and moralistic philosophy† (Martin, 2013). It asks questions such as â€Å"what types of force are morally acceptable? † and â€Å"who can morally be defined as an enemy? † This notion is usually used by ideological and religious extremists, in order to justify their own acts of extreme violence. A prime example of religious extremists is the ‘jihadi Islamic fundamentalists', the term jihad means a sacred â€Å"struggle† but is manifested by some radical Muslim clerics as a holy war and therefore perceived that their war is a â€Å"just war† (Martin, 2013).This paper will endeavour to answer the question; Did University College London (UCL) further radicalise Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab? There have been many debates, theories and investigations surrounding this question, many of which will be analysed throughout. Umar Farouk Abd ulmutallab (born 22 December 1986) is a Nigerian Islamist who attempted to detonate plastic explosives in his underwear whilst travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit, on Christmas Day 2009, on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253. In January 2005 Abdulmutallab joined an Islamic forum under the pseudonym â€Å"Farouk1986† (Now Public, 2009).He frequently contributed to the forum. His postings normally gave advice to other forum members, although on occasion he expressed more personal views. These included his â€Å"jihad fantasies†, describing how â€Å"Muslims will win and rule the world† and prays to Allah to â€Å"unite us all Muslims and give us victory over those who do not believe†. The majority of his postings illustrate his loneliness and his struggle to contain his â€Å"sexual drive†, and he goes on to urge fellow forum users to limit their activities to â€Å"Islamically good† and to only â€Å"hang around with good Muslims who enjoy s tudying†.Throughout his postings in the forum he maintains that he is memorising the Quran (Islamic Forum, 2005). These postings illustrate that Abdulmutallab's views on the Islamic religion, are very similar to Salafism or Olivier Roy's neo-fundamentalism (see: Social Science Research Council). This is shown with his fixation on personal faith, and is also portrayed when he praises Shaykhs Saud as-Shuraim and Abdul Rahman as Sudais (Islamic Forum, 2005). Another radical Muslim he mentions is Abdullah el-Faisal, who is currently in prison in the UK for influencing his supporters to murder Jews, Hindus and Americans (Forest, 2012).Some of the media (Gardham, 2009) focused on Abdulmutallab's love for football and this is clearly seen within his postings online. However, by November 15th 2005, he had turned against it stating â€Å"Let’s save our honor and religion and try to stay away from football and do sporting activities that are more Islamically beneficial†¦ ru nning, paintball, archery (or any other sport of the like that teaches [how to] target and aim). † (Islamic Forum, 2005). There are many different theories as to where Abdulmutallab was further radicalised, the one that will be discussed in this paper is the possibility hat University College London (UCL) and it's Islamic Society were the perpetrators. During the investigation of the attempted attack of Flight 253, the University College of London (UCL) had held their own investigation of their Islamic Society and although the evidence holds strongly against them, as will be seen throughout this paper, they came to their own conclusion that   there was â€Å"no evidence to suggest either that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalised while a student at UCL, or that conditions at UCL during that time or subsequently were conducive to the radicalisation of students. (UCL, 2010). Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab began university, in September 2005, during a peak of Islamist activity in the UK, there were events organised by Ikhwan (Ikhwan Web, 2005)  and Jamaat-e-Islami inspired groups that were being held weekly and their influence over British Islam was steadily increasing (Hitchens, 2010). This year is an important one, as the emergence of the first Islamic militant groups in Bangladesh (Kabir, 2005) were seen and Islam became the official religion of Iraq (Islamopedia Online).British Islamists were exploiting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and implicating the Western governments with the â€Å"war on Islam and Muslims,† (Hitchens, 2010). According to Islamist's, Western Muslims, had a duty to stand up for their religion and fight back using peaceful methods (O'Connor, 2012). The â€Å"Stop Police Terror† lecture was given by Awlaki at the East London Mosque in 2003 (YouTube, 2011). The listed supporters of this group could be found on the Stop Political Terror website, and interestingly UCL was among this list (Stop Political Terror, 2003- 2005).The aims of this campaign was to urge Muslims to fight against the â€Å"anti-terrorist police† and to alert them of â€Å"the deteriorating situation in the UK and the scale of arrests, raids and abuse meted out [against Muslims] by Anti-Terrorist Police. † The campaign statement also included a clear warning: â€Å"Britain's Muslims, as a community, will refuse to cooperate with the law enforcement authorities  if  this abuse continues. † (Stop Political Terror, 2003-2005). During this time, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) ran another campaign alongside â€Å"Stop Political Terror. , issuing further explicit statements -â€Å"previously, it was Muslims themselves under attack, now the agenda [is] to attack Islam, its principles †¦ New laws making it an offence †¦ aim to divide and weaken the Muslim community. † And â€Å"The relative concept of ‘extremism’ is being used to condemn Muslims from very diverse political viewpoints. † (Hitchens, 2010). The perception of a Western â€Å"war on Islam† is one of the key recruitment tools of global jihadist groups like al-Qaeda (Home Office, 2011).Therefore, it is clear that Abdulmutallab was absorbed in an protesting setting, and this appeared to him to give value and objective, to his already pre-existing neo-fundamentalist attitude and personal discontent (loneliness). It is also apparent from his previous online statements, that he was vulnerable to the indoctrination; â€Å"I hope to get over my loneliness when I go to university†¦ where there are usually Islamic groups [and] clubs with good Muslims† (Islamic Forum, 2005).His obsession with Islam is clearly illustrated with the amount of time he devoted to the group, and after a year of starting university he was already president of UCL's Islamic Society (Irvine, 2009). Terrorist groups are also known to use the media to their advantage. As terrorism is à ¢â‚¬Å"not limited to specific locales or regions† and the media has allowed everybody to witness some form of terror. Knowing this terrorist groups can therefore understand the power of the images and manipulate them to their advantage (Martin, 2013).Gus Martin (2013) explains the media frenzy surrounding terrorism, and describes the 21st century as being â€Å"an era of globalized terrorism†. Another key recruitment tool that jihad groups use is the internet (US Department of Defense, 2007). Sites such as Facebook, (Torok, 2011) and the creation of websites that can be regionalised. Although governments monitor the websites and, if necessary shut them down, another website can be made and the process can start again (McNeal, 2008). It is clear that Abdulmutallab was a fan of internet use, with his frequent postings on the Islamic Forum.Awlaki could also be an key element in the â€Å"jihad internet recruitment† process. The media present him as the â€Å"Bin La den of the internet† (Madhani 2010; CNN, 2011). He was  a Muslim lecturer and spiritual leader who had been accused of being a senior al-Qaeda â€Å"effective global recruiter† (Telegraph, 2012) and motivator. He is thought to have given a series of video link lectures at the East London Mosque (Gilligan, 2010). They however, categorically deny this ever took place, and deny that Abdulmutallab even attended the Mosque (East London Mosque, 2010). The University of Westminster Islamic Society are alleged to have ties with Awlaki.Another Islamic Forum announced him as a guest at University of Westminster Islamic Society Annual Dinner in 2006 (Ummah Forum, 2006). Along with these connections Awlaki is also suspected to have had â€Å"recruited† Abdulmutallab before the attack. According to Fox News, an FBI bulletin states that Awlaki showed Abdulmutallab â€Å"how to detonate the bomb† (Catherine Herridge, 2011). Research carried out by the University of Cam bridge suggest that â€Å"the majority of young British Muslims are opposed to political Islam, and are more likely to join Amnesty International† (Cambridge University, 2008).This was criticised, when Anthony Glees accused Cambridge of trying to prove that British universities are not â€Å"hotbeds of Islamic radicalism† and called the research â€Å"flimsy and uncompelling† (Lipsett, 2008). Their research was argued against by the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC), who stated that â€Å"Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalised at University College London†, and goes on to describe British universities as the â€Å"breeding grounds of Islamic extremism†(Centre for Social Cohesion, 2010).They describe themselves as the â€Å"Centre [that] has been at the forefront of the debate on what role Universities should play in ensuring that British students do not fall victim to the ideology of violent Islamism. † (Centre for Social Cohesion, 2010). They went on to completely contradict Cambridge Universities report, and suggested within the report that Islamic extremism will â€Å"flourish†. This statement was further supported when Abdulmutallab became the fifth president of a UK Islamic society to face terrorist charges (Weiss, 2011).The vulnerability of Abdulmutallab along with the recruitment tools of jihadist groups illustrate how easily individuals can slip beyond this porous boundary rapidly and very often unnoticed. Since the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, it has become apparent that Al-Qaeda are focusing on mobilising Western Muslims to commit â€Å"lone-wolf† terror (RUSI, 2012). This evidence is supported by the ICSR (2011) who describe Awlaki's role as â€Å"ideological rather than operational† and explain that the greatest threat he poses is the mobilisation of Western Muslims through his sermons and therefore expanding the jihadi movement.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's extremis t views are apparent very early on. Although, as his loneliness grew, so did his radical views. It appears that he was trying to fight his urges to act upon these views time after time. Abdulmutallab was quite clearly an â€Å"extremist† turned â€Å"terrorist†, as it is clearly defined by Martin (2013); â€Å"extremists† who violently act out their extremist beliefs are â€Å"terrorists†. It is clear that his time at UCL and within the Islamic Society unquestionably played a part in Abdulmutallab's further radicalisation when examining the evidence discussed.It is also remarkable to see that UCL was among the list of supporters of the Stop Police Terror campaigns, almost condemning themselves of the radicalisation. They contradicted themselves when they released their findings that â€Å"no evidence to suggest †¦ that conditions at UCL †¦ [are] conducive to the radicalisation of students. † (UCL, 2010). It is noted that Cambridge Univers ity's ‘flimsy' research could support the UCL's outcome, but then could this research, with their ‘bad press', also diminish their findings.Overall, there are many factors that led to the radicalisation of Abdulmutallab, his state of mind, his vulnerability, and the people that he was associated with within the Islamic Society. Therefore, the UCL was not completely at fault, it was also the fundamentalists, that infiltrated the system and took advantage of a vulnerable, young Muslim. References Caless, B (2012) ‘Terrorism and Political Violence: Introduction, Overview and the Problem with Definitions. (Accessed: 5 December 2012). Cambridge University (2008) ‘Campus radicalism fears too extreme? ‘ Available at: http://www. cam. ac. k/research/news/campus-radicalism-fears-too-extreme/ (Accessed: 5 December 2012). CNN Online (2011) ‘ Al-Awlaki: Who was he? ‘, CNN Online, Available at: http://security. blogs. cnn. com/2011/09/30/al-awlaki-who-wa s-he/ (Accessed: 5 December, 2012). De La Corte, L (2007) ‘Explaining Terrorism: A Psychosocial Approach'  Perspectives on Terrorism, North America, Vol. No. 2 [Online] Available at: . (Accessed: 5 Dec. 2012). East London Mosque (2010) ‘ East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre  Ã‚   Statement on Anwar Awlaki' [Online] Available at: http://www. astlondonmosque. org. uk/uploadedImage/pdf/2010_11_07_15_44_46_Awlaki%20Statement%206%20Nov10%20-%20Full%20Statement. pdf (Accessed: 5 December, 2012) East London Mosque (2010) ‘ Sunday Mirror publish ELM letter' [Online] Available at: http://www. eastlondonmosque. org. uk/archive/news/243 (Acccessed: 5 December, 2012). Forest, J (2012) ‘Perception Challenges Faced by Al-Qaeda on the Battlefield of Influence Warfare. ‘  Perspectives on Terrorism, North America, Vol. 6, No. 2. [Online] Available at: . (Accessed: 05 Dec. 2012). Ganor, B. (2002) ‘Defining Terrorism- Is One Man's Terrorist Another Man' s Freedom Fighter? ‘. International Institute for Counter-Terrorism [Online]. Available at: http://www. ict. org. il/ResearchPublications/tabid/64/Articlsid/432/Default. aspx#Defining_Terrorism:_The_Present_Situation (Accessed: 1 December 2012). Gardham, D. (2009) ‘ Detroit bomber: internet forum traces journey from lonely schoolboy to Islamic fundamentalist', The Telegraph, 30 December 2009 [Online]. Available at: http://www. telegraph. o. uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6910776/Detroit-bo mber-internet-forum-traces-journey-from-lonely-schoolboy-to-Islamic-fundamentalist. html. (Accessed: 5 December 2012). Gilligan, A (2010) â€Å"East London Mosque: the terrorist question and the lies†, The Telegraph, 2 November 2010 [Online]. Available at: http://blogs. telegraph. co. uk/news/andrewgilligan/100061920/east-london-mosque-the-terrorist-connection-and-the-lies/ (Accessed: 5 December 2012). Gregory S. McNeal (2008). â€Å"Cyber Embargo: Countering the Internet J ihad†Ã‚  , Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, vol. 9, pp. 789-826. [Online] Available at: http://works. bepress. com/gregorymcneal/15 (Accessed 1 December 2012) Herridge, C (2011). ‘ Awlaki Trained Suspected Christmas Jet Bomber How to Detonate Underwear, Document Reveals'. Fox News, 4 October 2011 [Online] Available at:  http://www. foxnews. com/us/2011/10/04/al-awlaki-trained-suspected-christmas-day-jet-bomber-how-to-detonate-underwear/#ixzz2ECpGaSXS (Accessed:5 December 2012). Hitchens, A (2010) ‘The Making of the Christmas Day Bomber', Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, Vol. 10 [Online]. Available at: http://currenttrends. rg/research/detail/the-making-of-the-christmas-day-bomber (Accesed: 29 November 2012). Home Office (2011) Contest: The United Kingdom’s Strategy for Countering terrorism. London: The Stationery Office. (Cm. 8123). [Online] Available at: http://www. homeoffice. gov. uk/publications/counter-terrorism/counter-terrorism -strategy/strategy-contest? view=Binary (Accessed: 2 December 2012). ICSR (The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)(2011) ‘ICSR Insight: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad'. [Online] Available at: http://icsr. nfo/2011/09/icsr-insight-how-anwar-al-awlaki-became-the-face-of-western-jihad/ (Accessed: 5 December, 2012). Irvine, C (2009) ‘ Detroit terror attack: suspect president of university Islamic society', The Telegraph, 29 December 2009 [Online]. Available at: http://www. telegraph. co. uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6902785/Detroit-terror-attack-suspect-president-of-university-Islamic-society. html (Accessed: 5 December, 2012) Ikhwan Web (2005) International Religious Freedom Report 2005. Available at: http://www. ikhwanweb. com/article. php? id=13543&ref=search. php

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Biology Case Study - 1218 Words

Discussion Our sample population of 498 individuals had 83% of them that were 35 year old and above with a mean of around 46.6 years old as displayed in Graph 2 and Table 1. This shows us that our population of civil servants was on the middle-aged range, with support from a standard deviation of 10 years and a median of 48 years. This is convenient for our sample study since heart attack disease has been found to start developing in as early a range as 20-39 years (Mozaffarian 2015). Some interesting things to note about our population sample is the changes overtime they had from 1950 to 1962. The weight change decreased about 1.4 pounds as did the serum cholesterol by 4.5 mg% and BMI by 0.2298964. Our mean blood pressure readings†¦show more content†¦This can skew our study and can provide a source of bias in our data, since we cannot determine whether some of our individuals health was already at risk due to other factors in their initial health. Something to note in the graph is th at about 1/3 of each of the categories had individuals that died. This can be seen as a normal death indication due to aging or it could be related to another factor present in some of our individuals, such as where they worked or even if they had similar healthcare outcomes (insurance, routine examinations, medication regimen, etc). Frequency graphs were used to compare the incidence of death with the SES and clinical status. The clinical status was measured during the study and SES obtained in the beginning of the study with the assumption that it had not changed throughout the study. From Table 3, we can see that we had no individuals in our sample that had any other hd, besides the ones listed, or any coronary hd with hypertension. To compare within each category the percentage of people that died or lived, we can look at the second number in the box. Double the people ended up dying then living in categories 4 and 5, which represent individuals with hypertension with rheumatic hd and rheumatic hd, respectively. This indicates a possible connection between rheumatic hd which should be followed up on in future studies, but we should keepShow MoreRelatedBiology Case Study983 Words   |  4 Pagesrelationship between microRNA-22-3p and 3-UTR of TP63 mRNA was performed by a bioinformatics algorithm and confirmed by a dual luciferase reporter assay. OC cell lines Lung cancer cell lines H292, PC-9, CL1-5, A549 and normal NHBE cells were used in this study. All of Lung cancer and normaL ceLL Lines - were provided by ATCC. H292, PC-9, CL1-5, A549 and NHBE cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS). 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