The Year Of The Flood Essay - 1516 Words

The Year of the Flood Research Paper The novel The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood takes the Biblical origin story of man and creates a Garden of Eden for the end of the world. The novel’s allusion to Genesis adds to the message that the hardships befalling humanity and the destruction of the earth are due to man’s sinful nature just as Adam and Eve’s punishments and expulsion from paradise were a direct result of their sin. Adam and Eve, the first to live immorally on earth, are now recreated into a group of people that will witness the world’s end in a reflection of its beginning. The new Garden of Eden is created and lost in a time when new intelligence is created by man and evil fights for the hold of man once more. However, just as the expulsion from the original Garden led to the beginning of the world known today, the expulsion from the second Garden leads to the creation of a new world where humanity is largely absent. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are created by God and sent to rule over the Garden of Eden and to name and love all its creatures. Adam is a loyal and faithful companion to his wife, Eve, and takes on the role of leader and protector of his family. Eve is created as Adam’s companion, later becomes the world’s first sinner, and fills the role of caretaker for her family. The Year of the Flood molds the roles of Adam and Eve and offers instead a series of Adams and Eves as the highest members of a group of people known as God’s Gardeners. The new AdamsShow MoreRelatedThe Year Of The Flood1677 Words   |  7 PagesIn Margaret Atwood’s novel The Year of the Flood, several saints are mentioned during Adam Ones speech for Pollination Day namely Saint Suryamani Bhagat of India, among so many others, because of her contributions to forest preservation (Atwood 276). Atwood may have chosen to incorporate Bhagat, an environmental activist, as a saint in her novel considering that The Gardeners had devoted this festival to the mysteries of plant reproduction, especially that of those wondrous trees, the angiospermsRead MoreEssay on The Year of the Flood916 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Year of the Flood† is an epic, sprawling novel that moves back and forth between past, present and future effortlessly. Though it is told from Ren and Toby’s point of view, the novel is really about the story of three women (Ren, Toby, and Amanda) and their will to survive in a cruel and harsh world. It is a story of hope, despite all odds and a story of the power of love. Fatefulness about the survival of the species is not new. Religious thinking has end-time built in, and most of our sentientRead MoreThe Year Of The Flood By Margaret Atwood1993 Words   |  8 PagesENG4U - Interim ISU Progress Report The book I have chosen to read for my ISU is Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Year of the Flood’. The book has 434 pages in total and I am currently on page 170. The book is not hard to read, but the fact that it switches from different times and perspectives every chapter, which are not consistent or within a certain pattern occasionally makes it confusing. This book is also different from the books I am used to reading, giving me a unique and interesting change in perspectiveRead MoreAnalysis of Margaret Atwoods The Year of the Flood1601 Words   |  7 PagesJulie Stover Honors 200-012 Essay #3 In Margaret Atwood’s novel The Year Of The Flood she unfolds a bizarre, futuristic world of nature; one in which we see the primal instinct to survive. After a super disease wipes out the vast majority of the population, the few remaining characters endure dangerous creatures, strange weather, and other risky survivors. Why did certain individuals live while others perished? Was it simply fate, or was their survival predetermined by their beliefs? Atwood’sRead MoreEssay about Natural Hazards1303 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ Introduction Floods are a natural hazard. There have been many devastating floods in the past decade. Different countries have reacted differently during and after the floods have occurred. Some countries have needed economic help during these times. Some countries were able to give detailed warning and saved many lives in doing so. Developed countries have the money to warn its people of any floods or other natural hazards which may affect a community. Developing countries often doRead MoreFlood Assessment1179 Words   |  5 Pagesrecommendations concerning potential flood damages. METHOLODOGY The methodology used was to utilize the Recurrence Interval formula (R) = (N+1)/M, to determine the recurrence interval and magnitude of historical floods provided on the Stream Gauge Data of Peak Flood Discharges on Clearwater River in Hazard City. Also, I reviewed the flood insurance map to determine areas of floodplains and I utilized the topographic map of Hazard City to compare with the flood insurance map and to make my own conclusionsRead MoreEssay On Music Arts707 Words   |  3 PagesCohen research project established that the treatment group had improved health after 1 year, and the control group stated their health not good after the year (Flood Phillips, 2007). The control group re-counted a norm of 9 physician visits per year while the control group conveyed 13 visits in 1 year. The control group had more falls in 1 year, and treatment group conveyed less falls in 1 year afterwards (Flood Phillips, 2007). Medication consumption surged at a bigger ratio in the control groupRead MoreAnalysis Of The 21st Century Flood Reform Act811 Words   |  4 PagesHouse of Representatives passed the 21st Century Flood Reform Act (HR 2874) with a whopping 237 to 189 vote. If passed by the Senate and the President, the bill would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for another 5 years. The NFIP, which saw another devastating year of flood claims, is set to expire on December 8th. Our agent, Brian T. Ford, has read the entire bill and has provided us with his highlights below. 21st Century Flood Reform Act Highlights: Extends the NFIP until SeptemberRead MoreEssay on Flooding719 Words   |  3 Pages floods Thousands of years ago before people built towns and planted crops, rivers cut deep canyons and molded the continents. Often these rivers overflowed their banks and flooded the surrounding areas, depositing mineral rich silt and soil in the surrounding plains and valleys. Because of the way floods enrich soil some of the first cities were built along rivers. The most important ones grew along the Indus River in Pakistan; the Nile in Egypt; the Yellow River in China; and the Tigris andRead MoreNfip Essay912 Words   |  4 Pageswithin a designated floodplain to have a reliable means to recover from floods. Therefore, let’s first discuss the provisions of the NFIP, its benefits, consequences of repetitive loss, the status of sustainability, and potential changes to the program in the near future. The NFIP is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and insurance policies are available to those located within a designated flood zone and a participating comm unity (FEMA, 2017). However, though administered

Drug Testing Welfare Recipients free essay sample

So why are legislators wanting to implement drug testing for welfare recipients? Many believe that those receiving welfare assistance should engage in reasonable and constructive behavior in order to continue benefiting from public assistance. One study suggest that 1/3 of welfare recipients engage in illegal drug use. Those in favor Of drug testing feel that taxpayers have the right to see that their help goes to those who truly need it and that it is being used to benefit the recipient and not being wasted on a drug addiction.When welfare was first introduced it was intended as a temporary program to meet the current needs of those suffering financially. However, it appears that many have become lifelong dependents of public assistance. Scientific evaluation of Florists drug-testing requirement showed that welfare recipients who used illegal drugs had earnings that were 30 percent lower than those who did not. By reducing illegal drug use, many believe that former addicts would increase their earnings allowing them to become less and less dependent on the welfare program. We will write a custom essay sample on Drug Testing Welfare Recipients or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When the state of Florida imposed the law to drug test welfare recipients, new welfare enrollment declined by as much as 48%. Everyone has the chance to make their own decisions in life. For many it would seem that they would much rather continue with their illegal drug use then to receive financial assistance. However, who truly benefited from that decision? Does the government benefit because they are paying out less to welfare recipients?Of course they do, but if those who originally qualified for assistance based on their financial situation no longer apply or lose their benefits, then how are their needs being met? Many who receive welfare assistance depend on it in order to buy groceries, clothing, and to receive medical care. If parents chose to not sign up for welfare because of their drug SE, then what happens to the children? Who is buying the food and clothes? Who is providing medical care when it is needed? Children do not have a choice of deciding who their parents are.They do not get to decide whether or not their parents receive welfare. However, the children are often the ones who suffer be cause of bad choices. Fifth government stops providing assistance to the parents, the parents are no longer able to provide for the children. It is unfair that children need to suffer in order for the government to reduce the amount paid out to welfare recipients as well as reducing the umber of those using illegal drugs. There are a lot of pros and cons of requiring drug testing of welfare recipients.This debate is not something that will be solved over night or even by next year. While many working class Americans are required to be drug tested in order to secure a job and maintain their jobs, it is not something that is required by all employers or even the government. For those who receive public assistance, they are already required by law to follow various rules and regulations and have to submit private information to receive their benefits. The government has the right to add and change requirements to chive public assistance.However, by adding drug testing to the mix will it reduce the number of people addicted to drugs or will it cause more harm to innocent children if their parents are not able to receive assis tance. Requiring drug testing may reduce drug use a small percent, but the large majority will continue using and chose to not receive public assistance potentially causing an ever greater dependence of illegal drugs. Many say it is fair and justified and long over do. Both sides have valid points and this will be something that will continue to be debated for years to come. Drug Testing Welfare Recipients free essay sample Welfare is the provision of a minimal level of well-being and social support for all citizens, sometimes referred to as public aid. In most developed countries, welfare is largely provided by the government and to a lesser extent charities, informal social groups, religious groups, and inter-governmental organizations. There are 12,800,000 people on welfare in the United States. 46,700,000 are on food stamps, 5,600,000 are on unemployment insurance. The total government spending on welfare is $131. 9 billion, not including food stamps or unemployment (Welfare Statistics). As of April 17, 2013 29 states have proposed legislation requiring some form of drug testing or screening for public assistance recipients in 2013. Eight states, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah, have already passed legislation regarding drug testing or screening for public assistance applicants or recipients. States have proposed drug testing of applicants and recipients of public welfare benefits since federal welfare reform in 1996. In 2009, over 20 states proposed legislation that would require drug testing as a condition of eligibility for public assistance programs, and in 2010 at least 12 states had similar proposals(Drug Testing and Public Assistance). We will write a custom essay sample on Drug Testing Welfare Recipients or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Data from Utah has shown Utah spent more than $30,000 dollars from August 2012 to July 2014 to screen welfare recipients, but only twelve people tested positive. 250 people failed to meet drug screening requirements and were banned from receiving or applying for benefits for three months. Those people would have received more than $350,000 in benefits. Utah’s law does not disqualify people who test positive from benefits, but instead requires them to enter substance abuse treatment. (Utah’s Welfare Drug Testing Saved More than $350,000 in First Year, Officials Say). Robert Rector, senior research fellow in domestic policy at Heritage foundation and leading authority on the welfare system, also believes people receiving welfare should be drug tested. He says, â€Å"Taxpayers should provide support to those in need; recipients, in return, should engage in responsible and constructive behavior as a condition of receiving aid. †. Almost 20% of welfare recipients report recent use of some illicit drug. (Key Research Findings). Robert also says, â€Å"Scientific evaluation of Florida’s drug-testing requirement showed that welfare recipients who used illegal drugs had earning that were 30% lower than those who did not. Quite simply, drug use was linked to lower levels of work. † Peter Cappelli, who is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at the Wharton School and director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources, says that police already have the right to require drug test when there is probable cause. Peter states that people do not choose to be on welfare, unlike kids who play football at a local high school. Peter also goes on to say that the children are potentially affected by the drug testing. Kansas’s SB 149 bill says, â€Å"If an applicant for a recipient of cash assistance is ineligible for or terminated from cash assistance as a result of a positive test result for unlawful use of a controlled substance or controlled substance analog, and such applicant for or recipient of cash assistance is the parent or legal guardian of a minor child, an appropriate protective payee shall be designated to receive cash assistance on behalf of such child. †(United States Cong. ). Many who have proposed drug testing those on welfare proposed to require drug testing when reasonable suspicion exist(Drug Testing Public Assistance). The United States should test those on welfare and other benefit programs. The amount it would cost and amount of money that could be saved could help lower the nations national debt. If Utah can save $350,000, the United States as a whole could save even more. Drug testing welfare recipients free essay sample â€Å"With 4, 300,000 people, roughly 4. 1% of the American population on welfare, the government annually spends about 132 billion dollars on welfare, which does not include either food stamps or unemployment insurance. †. Since the 1930s, many forms of welfare have been assisting the needy families and less fortunate of the society. However, within the past few years or so, there have been actions made to start drug testing recipients of welfare, potentially altering the whole concept of welfare. Although, only 3 states, as of now, have actually made it a law, â€Å"getting welfare and food stamps may become tougher as twenty three states around the country seek to adopt stricter laws that would require public aid recipients to take drug tests. † (Alcindor, 2012). The act of drug testing welfare recipients would be just that, drug testing recipients. Many of the states considering this have different plans to go about it, but all would have the same general idea. We will write a custom essay sample on Drug testing welfare recipients or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For example, states like Florida are requiring that all people receiving any form of aid get tested while other states such as Missouri are requiring testing for anyone they â€Å"reasonably† suspect of drug use. Then there are some other states that are not necessarily considering drug testing, but rather creating more steps in order to receive aid. Regardless of the method used, the whole point is to attempt to keep tax dollars out of the hands of drug sellers and users and keep the system from being abused. One of the main thoughts behind it is that if a person has the means to be able to buy drugs, then there is no reason that he or she should be on any sort of public assistance. Drug testing in today’s society is by no means a new concept. Almost all applications for any level of job require that an applicant at least be willing to submit a drug test if not actually required to take one. In order to be considered for employment, companies appreciate knowing that they are paying someone to not only work hard for them, but also that he or she is not using illicit or illegal drugs. It is a simple way for companies to be reassured that their employees have the best interests in mind for said company, not to mention it is against the law and would reflect negatively on the company. It would only make sense that if a person is required to drug test for employment in which to earn money that those earning money via public assistance are also held to that same standard. While there are those that consider it a fair and an obvious decision, there are also those who view it as unethical, unnecessary and a waste of money. While the idea of drug testing recipients seems like an easy and obvious solution to keep the welfare program from being abused, the facts behind this sort of process are not so compelling. For example, Florida is one of the few states that very recently passed a law that would require testing and it â€Å"turned out to be so expensive that it ultimately cost the state an additional $45,780–even after savings from benefits that were denied to applicants who failed the tests. The measure failed to move forward in part because only  6% of applicants did not pass the test–a rate three times lower than the percentage of estimated of illegal drug users in Florida. † (Whitaker, 2012). With numbers like that, the act of drug testing definitely carries pros and cons with it that not only affect those on welfare but society and the government as a whole. Just the mere discussion of drug testing recipients has managed to spring up quite a controversy throughout the country recently and has citizens and government officials alike questioning whether or not this is the right direction to go to save on tax dollars. The popular opinion with this particular subject is one of saving money and also cutting back on the drug use in today’s society. â€Å"Many people agree that it is not fair that taxpayers should have to pay for the addiction of those receiving public assistance and if drug testing were to be implemented, that would cause people to either stop using or seek help in order to gain assistance back after a failed test. † (Candisky, 2012). While these are very true and very legitimate reasons in the direction for drug testing, there are still those lingering cons of the process as well. â€Å"There has always been a negative stigma associated with those receiving welfare and to add a drug test on top of that would only seem to make matters worse. † (Barrett, 2011). Similarly to that statement, citizens receiving welfare are no more likely to have problems with drugs than anyone else in society, so why is the target recently been falling on welfare recipients? However, one of the main concerns is the price tag that a law like this carries. As mentioned earlier with Florida, it actually ended up costing the state a lot more money than it saved and â€Å"over the past few years, some two dozen states either have passed or considered laws requiring testing. Many of the testing bills proposed in other states went nowhere or were defeated once it became clear there was little likelihood of saving money. † (Editorial Board, 2012). With the economy still in a vulnerable condition, the idea of spending a lot of money on new controversial legislation like this is something that a lot of states are having a hard time 5 with. Not to mention the consideration of a law like this has the Fourth Amendment to consider as well. It could be seen as unconstitutional to â€Å"reasonably† drug test someone because they are on welfare, giving a whole new different negative stigma to an already difficult topic and potentially driving some people away from applying for welfare. There are definitely at least two very clear, very opposite sides to a topic like this and with it only being in question for just a few years now, there is still a lot more that can be done to not only attempt to solve the issue of wasted tax dollars, but to make something like this fair to all people of the society as opposed to targeting those on welfare. With so many different angles and arguments underlying the main issue, it is not something that can be solved in a short amount of time, but rather, needs to be worked and looked at over years to find one or more possible solutions to such a pressing and important issue. The spending and saving of tax dollars affects almost everyone in society and the government and any effort to save that money is an important issue. As previously mentioned, this is still a new and ongoing issue to be discussed and solved, along with it will come the social workers’ role in it. Social workers play a key role in society, especially with welfare related issues. If down the line, a law similar to this does become widely passed, the role of social workers will become a little more important. As a social worker, he or she is to advocate for his or her clients and hypothetically speaking, his or her client tests positive for drug use, the social worker then becomes more involved. He or she would have to then work with the client to receive proper rehab or help to get him or her back on track to receive benefits again. As mentioned, this is all a very hypothetical situation because drug testing recipients is such a new concept and no one can predict what direction this legislation could end up taking. Whatever the case may be in the future, the role of the social worker will be a very involved and important one, as it is today with any welfare related issue. The question of whether or not to drug test recipients then brings up a big question, among many others. If a law like that were to get passed, what sort of punishment would there be for those who failed the test? Would he or she be banned for the program for a certain amount of time? For good? Or would he or she just get help then re – test? If so, after how much allotted time? With so many questions to answer and many potential directions it could go, it is definitely another underlying problem that will need to be addressed if this progresses. Too many people rely on welfare to survive and it would be inhumane to deny anyone that right for an extensive period of time. Obviously, one of the main ideas propelling this topic is that of fairness, however, it needs to be done in a cheaper way. Trying to save tax payer money doesn’t make sense at all if it only costs a lot of money to do so in the long run. With anything anymore, there is not clear cut â€Å"right or wrong† answer just like there isn’t a â€Å"one side versus another side. † Drug testing welfare recipients carries with it a number of opinions and a number of different angles to approach it with. How deep should this topic go? Where does the line get drawn? There is no clear cut answer to it just like there is no line that can be drawn at any point. No matter the outcome, people’s lives are affected and not everyone will be content with how things go so really, there never will be a definite law or legislation for such a controversial topic such as this. The rich are getting richer and the poor are dramatically getting poorer, making welfare a necessity for a larger number of people every year. Drug testing those recipients could very easily just be the tip of the iceberg for what lies ahead for the welfare state.

Hertz Lbo free essay sample

1. How much value do you expect to be created by operating improvements and capital structure changes envisioned by CDR? CDR proposed changes to the following areas. a. US RAC on-airport operating expenses: Labor per transaction, administrative and other costs had increased 41%, 65% and 30% respectively between 2000 and 2005. In addition, margins were not constant across locations and varied from 32% to -7%. CDR proposed that the operating expenses could be reduced resulting in cost savings of $75M per year. b. US RAC off-airport strategy: Hertz’s plan for expansion in off-airport locations had not generated the profit commensurate with the capital required to support it. Further, profit margins varied from 55% to -200% across off-airport locations. CDR proposed that potential savings of $58M per year could be realized from this source. c. European operating and SGA: Hertz’s European SGA expenses as a percent of revenue were nearly three times higher than those in the US. We will write a custom essay sample on Hertz Lbo or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page CDR proposed that efficiencies from this source would be $33M per year. d. US RAC fleet costs: Hertz had higher fleet costs as compared to its competition. However, this advantage that the competition held over Hertz was expected to go away soon, which would result in a more level playing field. e. US RAC Nonfleet capital expenditures: Hertz spent more on capital expenses than its competitors. Reducing this to comparable levels with Avis would result in savings of $57M per year. f. HERC ROIC: Aligning manager’s incentives to focus on ROIC was expected to result in significant savings, to the order of $32M per year. In total, CDR was expecting to create approximately $255M per year. Conservatively, we would expect that CDR would realize 50% of its projections, which amounts to approximately $127M per year. 2. How would you explain the proposed transaction structure developed by CDR and its partners? Specifically, does it help or hinder the realization of the anticipated sources of value in the deal? The transaction structure can be summarized as follows: a. Created a new special purpose entity – Fleetco – that would buy vehicles from OEMs and dealers and would finance the purchases through ABS and equity from Hertz, the parent company. b. Fleetco’s ABS were secured by the fleet nd repurchase agreements with car manufacturers. c. Fleetco would lease the vehicles to Hertz, the parent company. Fleetco’s assets thus consisted of the rental cars and the cash contributed by the parent. The lease payments from the parent would pay the interest payments on the ABS debt. d. The parent company maintained control of HERC and rented out equipment and serviced them. At first glance, the transaction structure described above does not seem to have any impact on the operating efficiencies that were generated through the deal and seems more to affect the financing aspect of the deal. The transaction structure was designed to maximize the funding obtainable through the RAC fleet and to tap the ABS market. However, digging a little deeper, we can see that CDR wanted to achieve the following with this structure: a. Stability in the business without having to restructure due to downturns. b. Allow for volume purchases that would mitigate seasonal and cyclic fluctuations in car rental activity. c. They also wanted to obtain sufficient liquidity to enable opportunities for future growth and expansion without refinancing. . Finally, lower the cost of capital than what was currently available under Hertz’s existing structure. The value expected to be derived from operating efficiencies were dependant on CDR’s ability to make decisions without worrying about putting out short term fires and independence from the parent with regards to business decisions. The vision was broader, and depended on complete flexibility and autonomy, which they were able to obtain from this structure. With this structure and the resulting ability to take business decisions without having to get buy-in from the parent company, CDR could reduce the labor costs without fearing a backlash from the employees in the RAC on-airport segment, close the RAC off-airport locations which were not generating sufficient profits, and align manager’s incentives to focus on key metrics such as ROIC. 3. Compare your anticipated sources of value to the illustrative projections contained in the Hertz selected projections online. The anticipated sources of value are the following: . US On-Airport segment – margin increase through productivity gains that more than offset cost inflation b. Off Airport segment – market share to increase due to further penetration of replacement segment. c. European and international RAC: steady volume growth, and cost savings and margin enhancements expected from narrowing of the gap between US and non-US performance comparable cost categories. d. HER C: EBITDA margin improvements resulting from capital efficiency and SGA leverage. From the projections we see the following: 200520062007200820092010 RAC Gross EBITDA ($, M)$2,201$2,436$2,616$2,868$3,097$3,305 Change 10. 68 %7. 39 %9. 63 %7. 98 %6. 72 % RAC Adjusted EBITDA$469$491$554$623$708$809 Change4. 69 %12. 83 %12. 45 %13. 64 %14. 27 % As we can see from the table above, RAC Gross EBITDA is increasing every year about 8%. The RAC adjusted EBITDA is increasing at about 12. 5% every year on average. The RAC Adjusted EBITDA which is the Gross EBITDA minus financing and depreciation charges is growing at a much higher pace. We can attribute these increases to value generated from operating efficiency improvements. 4. How much should CCM bid on sep 5? Assumptions 20. 84% Corporate Debt5296 Fill in the ? s, attach to write-up Revenues2005 PF20062007200820092010 RAC (rent-a-car)600164276783699374487720 HERC137413611669164217871725 Corporate717171717171 Total744678598523870693069516 Gross EBITDA RAC220124362616286830973305 HERC558613660725752788 Corporate Expenses(7)(7)(7)(7)(7)(7) Total Gross EBITDA275230423269358638424086 Corporate EBITDA RAC Gross EBITDA220124362616286830973305 less: RAC Cash Depreciation Interest (lease pmt)(1732)(1945)(2062)(2245)(2389)(2496) RAC Adjusted EBITDA469491554623708809 HERC EBITDA558613660725752789 Corporate Expenses(7)(7)(7)(7)(7)(7) Corporate EBITDA102010971207134114531591 Free Cash Flow to Equity (FCFe) 20062007200820092010 Corporate EBITDA 1,097. 0 1,207. 0 1,341. 0 1,453. 0 1,591. 0 less: increase in RAC equity (20. 84% x ? fleet) 99. 4 91. 5 92. 9 77. 5 116. 7 less: HERC maintenance CAPX (cash deprn) (230. 0)(287. 0)(292. 0)(303. 0)(322. 0) less: HERC growth CAPX (HERC ? below) 76. 0 78. 0 70. 0 72. 0 65. 0 less: corporate CAPX (256. 0)(221. 0)(217. 0)(209. 0)(217. 0) plus: decrease in work cap 29. 9 27. 1 24. 9. 7 7. 1 plus: increase in other liabs (pension insurance) 58. 9 66. 4 36. 0 48. 8 69. 4 less: corporate cash interest, net (461. 0)(456. 0)(445. 0)(424. 0)(390. 0) less: corporate cash taxes (30. 0)(33. 0)(37. 0)(40. 0)(43. 0) equals: Available to Pay Principal 384. 2 473. 0 573. 0 685. 0 877. 2 less: principal payments (384. 2)(473. 0)(573. 0)(685. 0)(877. 2) Free Cash Flow to Equity 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0 0. 0 End of Year Rental Equip ment Value2005 PF20062007200820092010 RAC8,176. 08,653. 09,092. 09,538. 09,910. 010,470. 0 HERC1,857. 01,933. 02,011. 2,081. 02,153. 02,218. 0 10,033. 010,586. 011,103. 011,619. 012,063. 012,688. 0 Corporate Leverage 2005 PF20062007200820092010 Gross Corp Debt5,296. 0 4,911. 8 4,438. 8 3,865. 8 3,180. 7 2,303. 5 Excess cash (proportional to fleet size on book)526. 4 553. 0 517. 0 516. 0 444. 0 625. 0 Net Corp Debt (Gross less XS Cash of $526. 4)4,769. 6 4,358. 8 3,921. 8 3,349. 8 2,736. 7 1,678. 5 Corp EBITDA/cash interest 2. 38 x 2. 65 x 3. 01 x 3. 43 x 4. 08 x Valuation Preliminaries2005 PF Corporate EBITDA, 20101591. 0 times: EBITDA multiple (comps)5. 0 equals: 2010 enterprise value7955. 0 less: net corp debt(4769. 6) equals: 2010 equity value3185. 4 unlevered hertz beta90. 0% market risk premium5. 5% riskless rate4. 4% Cost of Equity2005 PF20062007200820092010 Net Corp Debt as % Equity Value221. 5%179. 6%145. 6%113. 6%85. 9% Levered Beta189. 3%151. 6%121. 0%92. 3%67. 3% Cost of Equity 14. 8%12. 7%11. 0%9. 4%8. 1% Valuation by Backwards Iteration Estimated Total Equity Value, Start of Year 2153. 682426. 992694. 102948. 003185. 40

Soul Music As A Vehicle Of Social Expression Essays - Free Essays

Soul Music As A Vehicle Of Social Expression Essays - Free Essays Soul Music As A Vehicle Of Social Expression Music is the most powerful vehicle of human expression. As the embodiment of love, disapproval, happiness, experience life, music speaks to us, because it comes from us. Each people, in each paradine of the human experience instinctively and systematically change the music of the past to represent the realities of the present. In this century, black music, more specifically Soul music, has been that music that has brought to plain view that which evidences our humanity hope, hurt, joy and passion in such a way that the world has no other choice than to feel its power and marvel in its brilliance. When one discusses the relationship between Soul music and the civil rights movement, it becomes a dialouge very akin to that of the chicken and the egg. The period of Classic Soul is that period primarily, but not exclusively referenced as the 1950s, 60s and 70s (Stephenson 186). This is the time frame of the American Civil Rights Movement, and the impact of the massive changes going on, are reflected in the music and the culture. So one would be correct in both assuming that the Civil Rights Movement gave rise to Soul music, as much Soul music contributed to the success of the campaign for civil rights. Soul music during its heyday, did more than simply entertain. For a race of people it served as a source of motivation, strength and education, for a people immersed in turmoil and tragedy. The institution of segregation had effectively inhibited the general populaces awareness of the great achievements and contributions made by African-americans throughout the history of the United States (Franklin 429). Inasmuch, Soul music sought to bring that undersight to light. Soul songs like Donny Hathaways To Be Young, Gifted and Black, was revolutionary, in that they sought to instill pride of ones history, but at the same time motivate a new generation to reach new heights. As Hathaway says, We must begin to tell our young, Dont you know that there is a whole world waiting for you?, he is calling for the teaching of black pride to the youth, which was a wide spread trend in black communities of the 60s and 70s (Hathaway). James Browns Say It Loud, Im Black and Im Proud, became an anthem fo r the movement (Brown). The songs lyrics like, .Dont quit moving, until we get what we deservewed rather die on our feet, than keep living on our knees, were words of inspiration for those involved in the struggle for equality. Whereas the predominant theme of rhythm and blues was love and other kind of human relationships, soul singers voiced concern about the social injustice, racial pride, black militancy, and forms of protest (Southern 517). Eileen Southerns statement on Soul music greatly describes the type of works produced by Hathaway and Brown at the time, yet was definetly not exclusive to these two artists. The period wherein Soul intertwined with the Civil Rights Movement, produced music greatly influenced by the environment in which its creators lived. Donny Hathaways, Ghetto, and Marvin Gayes Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler), speak of the harshness of life in the Inner City (Hathaway/Gaye). Societal ills and political unrest were a major theme of Soul music, and Marvin Gayes work, almost more than any other artist, was demonstrative of this fact. Gayes album Whats Goin On, was his commentary on the social problems of the period, and through its success tremendously impacted the increasing social awareness. Despair within the black community was given voice in Gayes Inner City Blues. Inflation, taxes, unemployment and police brutality were numbered among the themes addressed in the song. The sense of hopelesness of the piece can best be conveyed in the line saying, this life aint worth the living.makes me wanna holler, throw up both my hands!(Gaye). Save the Children goes on to ask: Who is willing to try and save a world that is destined to die?, yet goes on to say live life for the childrenlets save the children (Gaye). So, even in the midst of great despair, Gaye, and other artist of his genre, did believe in the possibility of change. Ball of

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Workplace and Communication - Essay Example When one understands the basis of being satisfied with his job, the discussion of getting the work done in a good enough manner is very important. However, what is really required is a vision to do things the right way and keep all the employees and peers devoted to their respective work domains so that success within the work environments is ensured. When one discusses the factors of a positive work environment, the understanding of who creates such an environment is very necessary. This is because the workplace factors are usually changing all the time and do not require constant checks. What is indeed desired is an environment that shall make the employees feel at home with how they are treated and what kind of facilities they enjoy while doing their tasks or jobs. These employees should cultivate positive-ness from their own selves so that this could be reflected back in their work. But then again it is always easier said than done because it involves quite a few issues, most important of which are the reasons that can go ahead in asking for communicating the problems that the employees experience and feel that they can resolve with dialogue. Being positive is very necessary because it asks of the people to represent who they really are and what they can achieve. What is required is a proper framework to make sure that they r emain contented and stuck with what they are doing and without any problems whatsoever. This shall build ways and means through which success would eventually be attained within a workplace environment. Hard work is required to create positive-ness within a workplace environment because it will bring success for everyone. I think that employee interaction outside of the workplace environment actually helps the employees to grow and show who they really are. It makes them feel satisfied with their norms and routines, and allows for the development of

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Insurgent Movements During and Immediately After WW2 - Essay Example The further occupation of France, as well as austerity measures of Nazis and Vichy regime increased the will to fight. Part of the population had no choice apart from joining the Resistance (Jews or people forced to work in Germany) (Crowdy, 2007). Part of Resistance groups were communist and antifascists. Another part of the Resistance fought for the liberation of France and establishing the new country. It should be also mentioned that significant part of Frenchmen was depressed by the defeat in 1940, did not want to fight or preferred to accept the existing situation. So-called passive resistance also existed (Folker, 2012). The Resistance was a movement of people with different principles and motivations. The Resistance included various forms of struggle. It may be described as a combination of movements and networks (Folker, 2012). Movements were mostly aimed on the fight against the Nazism ideology. They grouped around newspapers and spread the ideas of the Resistance. The production of the publications was another form of resistance. Networks were structures that are more active. They gathered information about military activity, organized sabotage actions and armed resistance. Sabotage and espionage were the main forms of fight. The armed fight was the less frequent form of resistance. Non-obedience to the Nazis legislation or hiding Jews are also treated as a form of fight. Part of people treat themselves as resistants for ‘at least doing something’. About 500,000 people were involved in the Resistance and about 100,000 people participating in this movement were killed. The results of maquis’ military was not so serious (about 9,000 executions). The most impo rtant result of the Resistance activities was the information gathered before the Normandy invasion (Cobb, 2009). The activity of the Resistance media was one of the

Josef Mengele †the Angel of Death Essay Example for Free

Josef Mengele – the Angel of Death Essay After the war many Nazi doctors were tried at Nuremberg, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Yet the man who became the most infamous Nazi doctor — although Hitler himself may never heard of him — fled to South America and escaped prosecution. He was never caught and convicted, though he lived for decades thereafter. Mengele, called Uncle by the countless children he subjected to gruesome experiments and unthinkable torture, and known as the Angel of Death in the concentration camps, was responsible for the torture and deaths of 400,000 people, and the torment of thousands more. The most important thing to note about Mengele is that he was not an isolated example of an evil maniac gone berserk. He was simply part of a system and a much wider network of Nazi doctors. His work may have been different from those of the other doctors only in quantitative terms not qualitative terms. Today, the Auschwitz experiments of Josef Mengele remain the most egregious example of the collaboration of unscrupulous researchers with equally unscrupulous senior scientists and prestigious scientific institutions – which is a phenomenon that could be happening on a wide scale in our own times, especially in matters of drug trials of giant pharmaceutical corporations. In 1947, the world learned of what is now the most infamous scandal in medical research: medical experiments conducted by Nazi doctors. Nazi doctors performed a variety of extremely disturbing experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. Some experiments were designed to further the war effort. For example, to study gunshot wounds, Nazi doctors shot inmates and examined their wounds. To study diseases such as typhus, Nazi doctors intentionally infected inmates with disease. To study human capacity to withstand exposure to cold, Nazi doctors stripped inmates and exposed them to icy water or blizzards. However, the majority of experiments had less to do with winning the war and more to do with promoting or substantiating Nazi ideology. Doctors were interested in sterilizing undesirables, curing homosexuality, and establishing anthropological differences between races. To find an effective means of mass sterilization, Nazi doctors injected hundreds of women with a caustic substance in the hope of obstructing their fallopian tubes, and inflicted severe burns and infections on both male and female prisoners by exposing them to high doses of radiation. To cure homosexuality, Nazi doctors injected hormones into inmates suspected of being homosexual. To catalog physical differences in race, Nazi doctors killed a number of prisoners, stripped the flesh off their bones, and saved their skeletons for an anthropological museum. Dr. Mengele is among the best known SS physicians at Auschwitz, and was responsible along with other SS doctors for selections and medical experiments that used prisoners as guinea pigs. Mengele could never have thought of himself as a monstrous psychopath, though, but only as a biomedical scientist participating in a broad program of racial research. During the Holocaust Mengele and many other Nazi physicians used thousands of camp inmates, especially those with disabilities and deformities as subjects for their biomedical racial research. Born in the Swabian section of Bavaria in 1911 into an upper middle-class family, Mengele eventually earned two doctorates. The first doctorate was in physical anthropology at Munich under Theodor Mollison in 1935 and the second was in medicine at Frankfurt under Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer in 1938. He received his license to practice medicine in late 1937 but apparently did not pursue certification in a specialty. Instead, he opted for research. As a student of anthropology, he had studied under the leading exponents of the life unworthy of living† theory and it greatly influenced his thinking and behavior. The notion that some lives were not worth living was rapidly becoming academically acceptable. His two dissertation supervisors were eugenicists, and his dissertations in anthropology at Munich and in medicine at Frankfurt both dealt with research in racial hygiene. After finishing his second doctorate, Mengele continued his research in Verschuers Frankfurt Institute for Hereditary Biology and Race Hygiene. As principal investigator, Verschuer supervised the research of numerous assistants under a variety of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft German Research Foundation) research grants. Verschuer’s 1938 report to the DFG on this sponsored research, focusing on the genetic study of twins and families, lists the work and publications of his assistant Mengele. Although Mengele did not join the Nazi party until 1938, he belonged to the brown-shirt storm troopers, the SA, during 1933-34 and in 1938 joined the SS. As an SS member, he was drafted during the war into the Waffen SS instead of the Wehrmacht, advancing by 1943 to the rank of captain (Hauptstrumfuhrer). He served as an SS physician to the Eastern front until he was wounded and therefore posted to the concentration camp death head units in the rear. He functioned during 1943-1944 as one of the SS physicians at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. In his new post, Mengele performed the usual duties of a concentration camp SS physician as well as the special Auschwitz assignment of directing selections for the gas chamber. In addition, Auschwitz opened up unlimited opportunities for the ambitious researcher. Research subjects were available in large numbers, and the restraints of medical ethics did not apply. Further, Mengele could compel highly skilled inmate physicians to design and conduct research, perform tests and autopsies, and produce research papers, without the need to share credit with them. It is therefore not surprising that Mengele used Auschwitz as a research laboratory. Otmar von Verschuer, Mengeles mentor who was himself a protege of Eugen Fischer, had left Frankfurt for Berlin in 1942 to succeed Fischer as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology. Mengele had worked at the institute during SS assignments to Berlin and thus continued to contribute to Verschuers research projects (Cefrey 62). When Mengele went to Auschwitz, Vershuer realized the potential of this posting, and as principal investigator, he carried Mengeles Auschwitz experiments on his DFG grants. Therefore, Mengele’s experiments — that often necessitated the killing of children, thousands of them (especially twins) — were part of the official program and in pursuing his shockingly macabre â€Å"research† he was only following the broad lines of Nazi research agenda. Driven by the desire to advance his medical career by scientific publications, Dr Mengele began to conduct all kinds of utterly atrocious medical experiments on living Jews, children, twins, disabled people, and all those who fell into the Nazi category of ‘Untermenschen’ – all of whom he took from the barracks of the concentration camp at Auschwitz, or ‘selected’ right away on their arrival, and brought to his hospital block. Mengele used the pretext of medical treatment to kill thousands upon thousands of prisoners, personally administering the horrific torture procedures, for example as by injecting them with phenol, petrol, chloroform, or by ordering SS medical orderlies to do so. From the moment of his arrival at Auschwitz, Mengele joined the other SS officers and SS doctors, among them Dr Clauberg and Dr Kremer, in the selection of Jews reaching the Auschwitz railway junction from all over Europe. With a movement of the hand or the wave of a stick, he indicated as unfit for work, and thus destined for immediate death in the gas chambers, all children, old people, sick, crippled and weak Jews, and all pregnant women. Between May 1943 and November 1944 Mengele conducted, also along with Dr. Heinz Thilo, scores of such selections. Mengele was especially on the lookout for twins and other promising research subjects (Lifton 165). He also took an equally decisive part in several selections in the camp infirmary, pointing out for death by shooting, injection or gassing those Jews whose strength had been sapped by starvation, force labor, untreated illness or ill-treatment by the guards. On May 26, 1943, only two days after he arrived at Aushwitz, Mengele committed his first mass murder. There was a typhoid epidemic in the barracks of over a thousand Gypsies who had been brought to the camp two months earlier. For Dr Mengele, typhoid was not an illness to be cured, but one to be eliminated; that day, all the Gypsies were dragged out of their barracks and driven to the gas chambers. Against their names in the camp register were put the letters SB Sondebehandlung, Special Treatment. This was just a sign of much worse things to come. In perpetrating a host of such ghastly medical and scientific experiments, Mengele was of course being an independent member of a larger cohort of wanton butchers. These Nazi doctors most brazenly forsook their Hippocratic Oath and armed themselves with scalpels, forceps, and needles in inflicting immeasurable pain and torture on hundreds of thousands of innocent people, a significant portion of them being children. Mengele regularly mailed the results of his research on twins to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute. There scientists analyzed the samples of blood obtained before death and the organs obtained after dissection. It was a systematic, organized and purposeful enterprise. Though few of these doctors collected scientifically valid data and many of the experiments were expressions of pure pathological sadism, the Nazi doctors justified their acts of torture and inhumanity as attempts to improve German medicine and advance science. Mengele himself, through his research on twins, dreamed of being able to genetically engineer a flawless race. The ultimate goal was to produce an ideal race of Aryan men and women endowed with only the finest genetic traits, who would rapidly multiply and rule the world. (Lagnado, Dekel 61) Of the approximately 350 doctors who are estimated to have committed medical crimes, only about 20 doctors and 3 assistants were brought to justice in Nuremberg (Spitz 50). Some others were tried, and sentenced to in American military trials at Dachau. Still many doctors escaped, including one who would become the most infamous of them all, Dr. Josef Mengele. Human experimentation neither arose with the Nazis, nor ended with them; however, the history of human experimentation in the West is usually divided into two eras: before the Nazis and after. Mengele is by no means such a grotesque aberration as he may appear to be at first. Nazi doctors perpetrated some of the most horrendous actions during the Third Reich, but the shadows of Auschwitz and Nuremberg are long. Though Mengele escaped scot-free, we at least know about his evil deeds; there may be many others of his ilk alive today and even working in collaboration with reputed organizations whose work we may never even come to know. Works Cited Cefrey, Holly. â€Å"Doctor Josef Mengele: The Angel of Death† New York : The Rosen Publishing Group, 2001 Lagnado, Lucette Matalon; Dekel, Sheila Cohn. â€Å"Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz. † New York : Penguin Books, 1992 Lifton, Robert Jay. â€Å"The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide† New