Accounting in Society Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Accounting in Society - Case Study Example There comes the question of consideration whether the presence of the accounting standards is a good or bad thing. There have been several arguments, in though of Baxter, regarding the presence of the accounting standards because there can be commands as well as regulations which help to run life more smoothly while there is the requirement of flexibility in dealing with certain aspects. It should be considered about the benefits that prevail through the presence of the accounting standards because the standards lay emphasis on what should be done rather than why and how it should be done. Therefore, it is quite important to consider whether having the accounting standards is good or bad because at one side they may make life easy by providing a set of rules and on the other hand it may create life difficult by taking away the flexibility of an accountant. The history of the accounting standards began in the late 1930’s when the idea of accounting based on the standard came to light. United States and the United Kingdom were among the countries which were thoroughly involved in the development of the accounting standards at the start and gave the accounting standards some initial touches. The history of both the countries which brought us the accounting standards today is outlined below with their levels of development in both the United States and United Kingdom. The US based standards took a series of stages to develop and come into a shape. In the beginning, the process was initiated by the committee on accounting procedures in 1939 who issued Accounting research bulletins. The committee worked for around 20 years and issued 50 Accounting Research Bulletins. There was a lot of criticism on that committee and their work because they were accused of not relying on the research that much. Therefore, in its place an Accounting Principles Board came in

World Peace Essay Example for Free

World Peace Essay Have you ever wondered if world peace is something that we truly desire? If so, why haven’t we started doing something in order to achieve it? I’m going to tell you why: Because it doesn’t exist. Peace has become one of the most important everlasting issues in all centuries, and it’s a concept that will continue to haunt future generations as long as we keep on doing nothing to make it happen. It is an utopian idea which consists of respecting each other’s beliefs and ideals. This means having patience towards others who are different from us, no matter what their skin colour is, age, ethnic group, sex, social status or sexual preference. Currently, one of the most popular social issues is homophobia. Homophobes, they’re people who will never accept gays and lesbians because of the erroneous idea of being â€Å"abnormal†, â€Å"against nature†, because God didn’t make us â€Å"that way† biologically or simply because they feel repulsed by the idea of two persons of the same sex in love with each other. If they really wanted to give world peace a shot, they would have to understand that it’s a matter of different tastes and points of view. It’s something as stupid as preferring red over blue or liking both. Moreover, it’s something that you cannot decide for yourself, it’s the way you are and there’s nothing you can do about it. If there’s something imperative in order to reach world peace is that we must act out and it must start with us. To accomplish that, we have to feel comfortable with the way we are, the way we look and the way we think. If you don’t start by respecting yourself nobody will, consequently, you won’t be able to accept others as they are. Therefore there will never be peace amongst us. Peace has to start at home. It has to be taught to us since we’re little so we can grow with those ideals, and not with the ones we currently have, those of revenge, challenge, greed and arrogance. As this would never happen by itself, we would have to live in a Hitler-like regime where we would have to think and believe the same things so as to be equal. To be all raised this way would be difficult, robot-like, monotonous, very boring and would bring with it problems such as rebellions which are far away from being a peaceful act. Equality is a very important concept when talking about peace. There shan’t be difference between a man and a woman. It’s the only thing that would make us stop fighting amongst each other since there would be nothing to fight about. We would have to own the same things and basically have the same knowledge as your mate next door, and do you know what we call this? : Communism. If you think about this, it wouldn’t even work because now we know that there are some things that exist which we won’t be able to have when we live under this regime. Maybe in a completely new generation. If this were possible, we would have to have the same ideas or else there’d be the risk of creating new political movements, which would again disagree with this way of thinking. It’s a never-ending circle. This is something that also happens with religion. There have been numerous attempts of reaching world peace but obviously they have failed because of the different ways of seeing things. Religions will never come to an agreement with each other. Religions have actually caused more conflicts, separation and wars rather than peace. Which I must say is quite ironic. By now you should have noticed that world peace is an issue that can never come to an end because people’s opinions vary a lot and it’s a shame that we will never be able to walk down the street without being judged. But then again, is world peace what we really want?

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes Of George Orwell Essay examples

Animal Farm: Communism Through The Eyes of George Orwell Throughout history, writers have written about many different subjects based on their personal experiences. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Blair. He is one of the most famous political satirists of the twentieth century. He was born in Bengal, India in 1903 to an English Civil Servant and died in 1950. He attended Eton from 1917 to 1921, and served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma from 1922 to 1927 before moving to Europe.Two of his most famous books, Animal Farm, written in 1946, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, written in 1949, were written about the political and social environment surrounding his life. "The driving force behind his two satires is an intense revulsion against totalitarianism, combined with an even stronger revulsion against its defenders among left-wing intellectuals."1 In most of George Orwell ¹s books and essays, there is a strong autobiographical element due to the fact that he spent many years living with Communists in northern Great Britain (a small number of people started to follow Communism in northern Great Britain when it started in Russia). George Orwell ¹s writing was affected greatly by his personal beliefs about Socialism, Communism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism, and by the revolts, wars, and revolutions going on in Europe and Russia at the time of his writings. George Orwell was a Socialist2 himself, and he despised Russian Communism3, and what it stood for. Orwell shows this hatred towards Communist Russia in a letter he wrote to Victor Gollancz saying, "For quite fifteen years I have regarded that regime with plain horror."4 Orwell wrote this letter in 1947, ten years after announcing his dislike of Communism. However, he had thought a great deal about Communism and what he disliked about if for a long time before he announced it to the public. Orwell "did not expect anything good from the Communist"5 and therefore Communism personally did not affect him, but "He was concerned with it (Communism) only because it was a problem for others."6 In Animal Farm, "an animal fable satirizing Communism,"7 Orwell uses farm animals in England to satirize Russian Communism and its leaders. One animal he uses is a pig named Napoleon, whose counterpart in the Russian Revolution is Joseph Stalin. After Napoleon takes charg... ...r, Alfred G. "Marx, Karl." World Book Encyclopedia.1988 ed. Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1949 Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1946 Stansky, Peter and Abraham, William. Orwell: The Transformation. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1979 Stansky,Peter. On Nineteen Eighty-Four. San Francisco, California: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1983 Wadsworth, Frank W. "Orwell, George" World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. Woodcock, George. The Crystal Spirit a study of George Orwell. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company,1966 Voorhees, Richard J. The Paradox of George Orwell. New York, NY: Purdue Research Foundation,1961 "Stalin, Joseph." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed. "Lenin, V.I." World Book Encyclopedia. 1988 ed.

Why Did So Many Colonists Die By Ashley Kron

Imagine sitting there and watching your friends die one by one. So many of the colonists died because first of all the colonists weren't prepared for the condition ions and the environment. Second the Englishmen didn't calculate well enough to support all the colonists. Everyone in Jamestown didn't know what they would face. The harsh environment of Jamestown began to show its effects throughout the settlement.The secondary source, document E † Chronology of English Mortal t)/' shows that a lot of colonists died from sickness,such as malaria. Also Document A says the e water was really brackish meaning the water was salty and could cause nausea. Addition ally the waste products in the water were not being flushed away with the tides. Document B states that when the colonists arrived in Jamestown was already in a drought. Due to this reason the lack of rainfall made it nearly impossible to grow crops. The environment wouldn't have been so aggravating if the settlers had been pre pared.Being an uneducated â€Å"gentlemen† made Jamestown suffer. Document C show multiple pieces of evidence supporting the fact that the settlers were unskilled d. First of all Document C shows that almost half of the men were â€Å"gentlemen†and didn't h eve a job. Also in document C most of the settlers held occupations that were unnecessary for a new colony. For example wig makers and tailors were recruited instead of important posits ions such as surgeons, farmers, and blacksmiths.

Different Aspects of Pain Essay

Pain is a subject to which all people can relate. There are many different types of pain, and people react to these pains in various ways. Pain is also caused from many different sources. It could be from grief, stress, or a significant event that occurs in one’s life. Pain is defined in the Dictionary as â€Å"mental or emotional suffering or torment.† The poetry of Robert Frost, James Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson all display different aspects of pain. Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California where his father worked as a newspaper editor. This may have been where Robert was first exposed to the aspect of writing. Robert’s first published poem was in a school newspaper at the age of 16 where he wrote a poem on the subject of Cortez in Mexico. Although he attended Dartmouth for seven weeks and spent two years at Harvard, he never finished a college education with a degree. After he had gotten married, he worked as a schoolteacher, and during this period is when he spent time writing the majority of his poetry. After his teaching career, he moved to England to pursue getting his works published since his poetry was not accepted for publishing in America. His first two books of poems, A Boy’s Will and North of Boston, were published in England and then later in America due to the overwhelming popularity of them in England (Greenberg ix-x). Frost’s poem â€Å"Out, Out† tells a story of the tragic death of a boy due to a buzz saw. The title is an allusion to act five William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where the main character, Macbeth, performs a soliloquy regarding the death of his wife: â€Å"Out, out, brief candle! / Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.† The allusion to Shakespeare in the title is appropriate to the subject matter because the soliloquy of Macbeth states that life is short, and inevitably will end. That is the message that Robert Frost is trying to convey in this poem. There are two different aspects of pain that appear in â€Å"Out, Out.† The first  one is the aspect of physical pain. This occurs when the buzz saw the boy is using, hits the boy’s hand and injures the hand severely. â€Å"As if to prove saws knew what supper meant, / Leaped out at the boy’s hand, / or seemed to leap — (Frost 522)† The boy then begins to feel the pain of what has just happened, the physical pain of his hand being severed by the buzz saw. The next type of pain that can be seen here is the psychological pain, caused by stress. As a result of the boy’s injury, he begins to fall into pieces about the whole matter (clarify this somehow. â€Å"fall into pieces† sounds a little ambiguous as well as clichà ©) . The poem says that the boy â€Å"half in appeal, but as if to keep / the life from spilling. Then the boy saw all — (Frost 522).† These two lines of the poem depict that the boy is old enough to understand what is going on with what is happening. His hand is injured beyond what the doctors can repair, and there is a high possibility of death because of what has just happened. The word ‘Life’ in this poem represents the blood that flowing from his hand. One can also see the apathy displayed by the rest of his family. Even though a member of the family has just died due to a tragic accident â€Å"Little–less–nothing!–and that ended it (Frost 522)† they show no pain of the loss of a family member. It is depicted in the last two lines of the poem, â€Å"No more to build on there. And they, since they / Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs (Frost 522).† This shows that they had no emotion to the event, and went on to what they were doing as if nothing had happened in the first place. The second piece of poetry presented is one by James Langston Hughes. James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902 in Joplin Missouri. He spent his early life living with his grandmother in Illinois. Hughes began to write poems, and also some short stories, while he was in high school. Hughes mentions that the primary influences to his writing are Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman. His first book of poetry, entitled The Weary Blues, was published in 1926, while he was in college. Hughes graduated from Lincoln University three years following the publication of his first book of poetry. The year following his college graduated, Hughes  won the Harmon gold medal for literature for the first novel that he wrote, Not Without Laughter. James Langston Hughes poem â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers† was the first poem of his that was published. This poem was also set to music later on. It is written from the perspective of a man that ties together African and African-American history. Hughes does this by naming different rivers that are in Africa and also those that are in the United States. This is where the wordplay of Langston Hughes can be seen. The type of pain that is displayed in this poem is not very obvious, but it is more implied than directly stated. Seeing that this poems speaks of African and African-American History, the idea of the oppression that these people groups have gone through is something that can be inferred from what the poem says. Both of these people groups have gone through major oppression because of slavery, inequality, and the like. (while it is not obvious I would recommend trying to find a few lines that can possibly show the pain) The final poem presented here is a poem from Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson was born in the year 1830 in a family that was considered to be very wealthy for that time period. Her father ultimately led the family and was a religious man for the family. He read prayers and passages of scripture to all that lived in the household to maintain this. She attended the seminary for a year, but went home after that year due to a significant amount of unpleasant experiences. After Emily left school, she isolated herself from all activities and responsibilities that were outside of the household, and kept to herself most of the time. She spent a significant amount of time reading books. Because of the morals that her father had, there were not many things for her to choose from, as her father thought that most books that were available at the time might shake up her thinking patterns. She then settled to read the Bible, classical myths, and also the works of William Shakespeare. Because of this, a great amount of the poems that she wrote had allusion to her readings contained in them. Although there is very little that people know of Emily Dickinson’s outside life, but after reading the  poems that she has written, one can gain some access to the inside life in Emily Dickinson (Madden 1287). Emily Dickinson wrote nearly two thousand different poems in her lifetime (Madden 1288). Only but a few of these poems were intentionally published by her. Although Emily made her brother and sister promise to destroy all of her works following her death, her sister, Lavinia, could not gain the strength to destroy her sister Emily’s poetry. Not too far following her death in 1886, nine volumes of her works that were revised in wording, punctuation, structure, and rhyme were published. Unedited versions that were true to the original manuscript of Emily Dickinson where not published until 1955 (Madden 1288). Most of the poems of Emily Dickinson were her own personal laments that she did not intend for the public to ever see. â€Å"After A Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes† is an example of one of these extremely personal poems. During the time that this poem was written, Dickinson had just lost a very close friend. She was also beginning to dismiss the ideas of a career, starting a family, and making contact with anything or anyone that was outside of her own house. This whole poem directly deals with the pain of emotional loss that comes with the passing away of a person that is extremely close. Death was something that Dickinson never adjusted to, and it is displayed in this poem. She depicts how the feeling sits heavily and does not seem to go away very quickly â€Å"The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs–(Dickinson 1291)† (Lundin 95). In the last two lines of the first stanza Dickinson says, â€Å"The stiff Heart questions what it He, that bore, / And Yesterday, or Centuries before? (Dickinson 1291)† Here she is reliving past pains and grief that have occurred in her life before the death of her friend. She also relives past painful moments in her life in the second stanza â€Å"The Feet, mechanical, go round (Dickinson 1291)† (Grabher 217). In the last stanza, Dickinson focuses on the present pain that is in her life. â€Å"This is the Hour of Lead– (Dickinson 1291)† refers to the passing of  Dickinson’s close friend. She then goes over the stages of how she moves on from these painful experiences: â€Å"As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow– / First–Chill–then Stupor–then the letting go– (Dickinson 1291)† The way that she ends this poems makes it appear as though she is trailing off into a land of thought to go dwell on what has just happened, to begin her process of recovery (Lundin 234). As one can see, many different aspects of pain have been discussed. Robert Frost’s â€Å"Out, Out† discussed physical pain due to an injury, and also the pain of stress due to that injury. James Langston Hughes implied the racial oppression of Africans and African-Americans that had gone before him in â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers.† Emily Dickinson goes deep into her personal life and displays emotional pain with â€Å"After A Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes† by reminiscing on past grief and dealing with a new grief due to the death of a friend. As one reads through and analyzes these poems, one can see the way that pain is displayed in the midst of them and how each separate type affects people in different ways.

Epoxy Resins Essays - Adhesives, Synthetic Resins, Free Essays

Epoxy Resins Essays - Adhesives, Synthetic Resins, Free Essays Epoxy Resins Epoxy resins The group of synthetic resins called epoxies produce the strongest adhesives in current use, as well as plastics and corrosion-resistant coatings. Epoxy adhesives are thermosetting; that is, after initial hardening, they cannot be remelted by heat. They have excellent resistance to solvents and weathering agents, and high electrical and temperature resistance. Their adhesion to almost any type of surfaceincluding metal, ceramic, wood, and fabricis unmatched. Epoxies are usually made by reacting epichlorohydrin and Bisphenol A to produce a polymer chain of somewhat complex structure. The end of the polymer chain is an epoxy group from epichlorohydrin; the resulting plastic receives its name from the end epoxy group. The unmodified epoxies are brittle; however, the properties of the cured resin can be varied widely by the selection of a suitable resin, curing agent, filler, and curing procedure. Flexible grades are modified with polyamines and polysulfides. Most epoxy formulations have two components that are mixed for curing. One-component epoxies are available that either contain a latent curing agent or are simply cured by absorption of oxygen from the air. Unlike most thermosetting plastics, epoxies shrink only slightly during curing. Epoxies can be used as filler-adhesives; the strength of the cemented joint is independent of its thickness. The epoxies are used as molding and potting compounds, reinforced plastics, surface finishes, and adhesives. Molding compounds are chiefly used by the electronic and electrical industries; potting compounds are poured to encapsulate small electronic parts. Epoxy paints have outstanding corrosion resistance and are permitted for use on food equipment such as flour bins and can coatings. Large and complex dies for the forming of metal sheet are made of epoxy and are often modified with powdered metal such as aluminum. Uses in construction include the repair and bonding of concrete and also epoxy terrazzo floors. Adolf Hitler Bibliography Lee, Henry, ed., Epoxy Resins (1970); Hilado, Carlos J., Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Systems (1984).

Why Cultural Appropriation Is Wrong

Why Cultural Appropriation Is Wrong Cultural appropriation is the adoption of certain elements from another culture without the consent of people who belong to that culture. Its a controversial topic, one that activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene and Jesse Williams have helped bring into the national spotlight. However, much of the public remains confused about what the term actually means.   People from hundreds of different ethnicities make up the U.S. population, so it’s not surprising that cultural groups rub off on each other at times. Americans who grow up in diverse communities may pick up the dialect, customs, and religious traditions of the cultural groups that surround them. Cultural appropriation is an entirely different matter. It has little to do with one’s exposure to and familiarity with different cultures. Instead, cultural appropriation typically involves members of a dominant group exploiting the culture of less privileged groups. Quite often, this is done along racial and ethnic lines with little understanding of the latter’s history, experience, and traditions. Defining Cultural Appropriation In order to understand cultural appropriation, we must first look at the two words that make up the term. Culture is defined as the beliefs, ideas, traditions, speech, and material objects associated with a particular group of people. Appropriation is the illegal, unfair, or unjust taking of something that doesnt belong to you. Susan Scafidi, a law professor at Fordham University, told Jezebel  that it’s difficult to give a concise explanation of cultural appropriation. The author of  Who Owns Culture? Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law, defined cultural appropriation as follows: â€Å"Taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone elses culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another cultures dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. Its most likely to be harmful when the source community is a ​In the United States, cultural appropriation almost always involves members of the dominant culture (or those who identify with it) â€Å"borrowing† from the cultures of minority groups.   African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and indigenous peoples generally tend to emerge as the groups targeted for cultural appropriation. Black music and dance, Native American fashions, decoration, and cultural symbols, and Asian martial arts and dress have all fallen prey to cultural appropriation. â€Å"Borrowing† is a key component of cultural appropriation and there are many examples in recent American history. In essence, however, it can be traced back to the racial beliefs of early America; an era when many whites saw people of color as less than human. Society has moved beyond those gross injustices, for the most part. And yet, insensitivity to the historical and current sufferings of others remains apparent today. Appropriation in Music In the 1950s, white musicians borrowed the musical stylings of their black counterparts. Because African Americans weren’t widely accepted in U.S. society at that time, record executives chose to have white artists replicate the sound of black musicians. The result is that music like rock-n-roll is largely associated with whites and its black pioneers are often forgotten. In the early 21st century, cultural appropriation remains a concern. Musicians such as  Madonna, Gwen Stefani, and Miley Cyrus  have all been accused of cultural appropriation. Madonnas famous voguing began in black and Latino sectors of the gay community. Gwen Stefani faced criticism for her fixation on Harajuku culture from Japan. In 2013, Miley Cyrus became the pop star most associated with cultural appropriation. During recorded and live performances, the former child star began to twerk, a dance style with roots in the African American community.   Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke perform during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. Theo Wargo/Getty Images Appropriation of Native Cultures Native American fashion, art, and rituals have also been appropriated into mainstream culture. Their fashion has been reproduced and sold for profit and their rituals are often adopted by eclectic religious and spiritual practitioners. A well-known case involves the sweat lodge retreats of James Arthur Ray. In 2009, three people died during one of his adopted sweat lodge ceremonies in Sedona, Arizona. This prompted the elders of Native American tribes to speak out against this practice because these plastic shamans have not been properly trained. Covering the lodge with plastic tarps was just one of Rays mistakes and he was later sued for impersonation. Similarly, in Australia, there was a period during which it was common for Aboriginal art to be copied by non-Aboriginal artists, often marketed and sold as authentic. This led to a renewed movement to authenticate Aboriginal products. Cultural Appropriation Takes Many Forms Buddhist tattoos, Muslim-inspired headdresses as fashion, and white gay men adopting the dialect of black women are other examples of cultural appropriation that are often called out. The examples are nearly endless and context is often key. For example, was the tattoo done in reverence or because its cool? Would a Muslim man wearing  the  keffiyeh  be considered a terrorist for that simple fact? At the same time, if a white man wears it, is it a fashion statement? Why Cultural Appropriation Is a Problem Cultural appropriation remains a concern for a variety of reasons. For one, this sort of â€Å"borrowing† is exploitative because it robs minority groups of the credit they deserve. Art and music forms that originated with minority groups come to be associated with members of the dominant group. As a result, the dominant group is deemed innovative and edgy. At the same time, the disadvantaged groups they â€Å"borrow† from continue to face negative stereotypes that imply they’re lacking in intelligence and creativity.   When singer Katy Perry performed as a geisha at the American Music Awards in 2013, she described it as an homage to Asian culture. Asian Americans disagreed with this assessment, declaring her performance â€Å"yellowface.† They also found issue with the song choice, Unconditionally, alongside a stereotype of passive Asian women. The question of whether it is a homage or an insult is at the core of cultural appropriation. What one person perceives as a tribute, people of that group may perceive as disrespectful. Its a fine line and one that must be carefully considered. How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation Every individual has choices to make when it comes to sensitivity toward others. As a member of the majority, someone may not be able to recognize a harmful appropriation unless its pointed out. This requires awareness of why youre buying or doing something that represents another culture. The intention is at the heart of the matter, so its important to ask yourself a series of questions. Why are you borrowing this? Is it out of a genuine interest? Is it something you feel called to do? Or, does it simply look appealing and youre following the trends?What is the source? For material items such as artwork, was it made by someone from that culture? What does this item mean to them?How respectful is this to the culture? What would someone from that group feel about it? Genuine interest in other cultures is not to be discounted. The sharing of ideas, traditions, and material items is what makes life interesting and helps diversify the world. It is the intention that remains most important and something everyone can remain conscious of as we learn from others.

The Best AP US History Notes to Study With

The Best AP US History Notes to Study With SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Want some notes to help break down your AP US History class? Or are you looking to brush up on a historical period you’re having a hard time remembering? We have detailed notes organized by US History units, which fit under the most recent 2015-16 AP US History guidelines. Read on to get help with AP US History and be prepared for the test. Wait, What? New AP US History Guidelines? Yes, the AP US History course has undergone some revision. For the 2015-16 school year, the APUSH course will be using revised guidelines. These guidelines build on revisions in recent years to make the class more skills-based, though the most recent changes were affected by a political controversy. These new guidelines are in response to a controversy regarding the curriculum raised by political conservatives. In short, conservatives thought the curriculum was an overly negative look at US History that didn’t emphasize ideas like American exceptionalism. You can read a summary of the controversy here if you’re interested. Regardless of how the new guidelines came about or how you feel about them, the reality is that APUSH now has new guidelines we have to work with. We will briefly break down these new guidelines before getting into the chronology of US History and notes. AP US History has three broad learning objectives: historical thinking skills (basically how you analyze what you learn), thematic learning objectives (themes to look for in each period of US History), and finally the concept outline (the traditional division of US History by time periods). We will go over the first two areas (historical thinking skills and thematic learning objectives) so you know what to look for as you dig into the notes, which are chronological and thus fall under the third objective. You can read the complete description of the new guidelines here if you’re curious about the changes. Historical Thinking Skills The AP program wants to help US History students develop historical thinking skills, rather than just memorize a string of facts about a certain place or time period. Especially since AP US History is notorious for requiring students to memorize tons of dates, facts, and names, the new curriculum aims to develop history skills so the course isn’t mostly memorization-based. Each APUSH exam question will test one or more of these skill-based objectives as well as one or more of the thematic objectives. So keep these skills in mind as you go through the chronological notes. Your AP US History teacher should be working on these skills with your class. If they’re not, we recommend getting a prep book, which will review the skills in detail and show you how to demonstrate them in the essays. The skills are as follows: Analyzing historical primary and secondary sources and evidence: this skill teaches you to compare the content of a source with the authorship, point of view, purpose, audience, and format or medium of a source. You also have to decide how useful or flawed the source is as historical evidence. Making historical connections: can you compare, contextualize, and synthesize various historical developments? Chronological reasoning: you'll learn to identify causation and patterns of continuity and change over time. You'll also learn about periodization (how historians create different chronological periods and why that matters). Creating and supporting an argument: you'll learn how to define and frame a question about the past and then make a claim or argument about that question. A strong historical argument requires a specific thesis or claim, supported by detailed analysis of different types of historical evidence. The argument and evidence used should be framed around the application of a specific historical thinking skill (comparison, causation, patterns of continuity and change over time, or periodization). Thematic Learning Objectives Beyond just the basic facts of US History and broad historical thinking skills, the AP program wants you to get a bigger-picture understanding of major themes and developments across America’s history, like you would in a college course. Have you ever heard the phrase "missing the forest for the trees"? The same goes here - the AP program doesn't want you to memorize a bunch of years and names without understanding the larger relevance of them. The goal is to be able to connect these themes between different periods in US History and be able to discuss them in an essay. As we get into the concept outline, which breaks down APUSH by time periods and where we are linking to notes, think about these themes and see if you can connect them to the outline notes. These are important themes to trace throughout all of your AP US History studying! American and National Identity: how and why definitions of American and national identity and values have developed, including citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism. Politics and Power: how different social and political groups have influenced society and government in the United States, as well as how political beliefs and institutions have changed over time. Work, Exchange, and Technology: the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange, particularly the role of technology, economic markets, and government. Culture and Society: the roles that ideas, beliefs, social mores, and creative expression have played in shaping the United States, as well as how various identities, cultures, and values have been preserved or changed in different contexts of U.S. history. Migration and Settlement: why and how the various people who moved to and within the United States both adapted to and transformed their new social and physical environments. Geography and the Environment: the role of geography and both the natural and human-made environments on social and political developments in what would become the United States. America in the World: the interactions between nations that affected North American history in the colonial period, and on the influence of the United States on world affairs. The Concept Outline by Time Period Finally, the AP US History course is organized by chronological periods as well as the historical skills and themes discussed above. In other words, this is your basic "first A happened, then B, then C" structure you're probably used to from past history classes, the specific dates, names, and events of history. After all, a great essay about the development of democracy in America would be weakened if you didn't know the year the Constitution was ratified. That was in 1788, by the way. So yes, chronology is the easiest way to think about history. But remember to think about the seven themes and try to connect them to the basic facts you're learning. For example, when thinking about secession, you should know when the Southern states seceded (in 1860 and 1861), but you could also connect the "Culture and Society" theme to explain why: "the belief in a distinctively Southern way of life and a refusal to abandon it drove the Southern states to secede." In short, understanding those themes will help you gain a broader understanding of the names and dates you're learning. Plus, being able to write about them will take your essays from good to great. These chapter outlines come from APStudyNotes.org. The source is The American Pageant, one of the best AP US History textbooks. The time periods don’t always exactly match up with AP’s guidelines, which is going to be true of most textbooks (there are only a few out there written exclusively for APUSH). But we have organized the outlines so they mostly match up with the AP US History's division of the timeline. Whether you’re using The American Pageant or not, these outlines well provide helpful overviews which can help you study either over the course of the year or in the run-up to the AP exam. 1491 - 1607 (5% of exam) The Planting of English America: 1500-1733 1607-1754 (10% of exam) Settling the Northern Colonies: 1619-1700 American Life in the Seventeenth Century: 1607-1692 1754-1800 (12% of exam) Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution: 1700-1775 The Road to Revolution: 1763-1775 Launching the New Ship of State: 1789-1800 1800-1848 (10% of exam) The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism: 1812-1824 The Rise of a Mass Democracy: 1824-1840 The Ferment of Reform and Culture: 1790-1860 The South and the Slavery Controversy: 1793-1860 Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy: 1841-1848 1844-1877 (13% of exam) Renewing the Sectional Struggle: 1848-1854 Drifting Toward Disunion: 1854-1861 Girding for War, The North and the South: 1861-1865 The Furnace of Civil War: 1861-1865 1865 - 1898 (13% of exam) Paralysis of Politics in the Gilded Age: 1869-1896 Industry Comes of Age: 1865-1900 America Moves to the City: 1865-1900 The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution: 1865-1896 1890 - 1945 (17% of exam) The Path of Empire: 1890-1899 America on the World Stage: 1899-1909 Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt: 1901-1912 Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad: 1912-1916 The War to End War: 1917-1918 American Life in the Roaring Twenties: 1919-1929 The Politics of Boom and Bust: 1920-1932 The Great Depression and the New Deal: 1933-1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War: 1933-1941 America in World War II: 1941-1945 1945 - 1980 (15% of exam) The Cold War Begins: 1945-1952 The Eisenhower Era: 1952-1960 The Stormy Sixties: 1960-1968 The Stalemated Seventies: 1968-1980 1980 - present (5% of exam) The Resurgence of Conservatism: 1980-2000 Notice that the textbook’s chapters fall roughly within the APUSH guidelines for chronology in terms of the amount of time spent on each period. All US History textbooks approved by College Board will have good coverage of all chronological topics, so if you have chapter guides or notes from your own class's US History Textbook, you can (and should!) use those as well. What’s Next? Did you know many colleges require SAT Subject Tests to apply? Luckily you can put your AP subjects to use on these – for example you could take the US History SAT Subject Test after you study for AP US History. Find out which colleges require SAT subject tests and the best time in your high school career to take them. Also studying for the SAT/ACT? Find out when you should take the SAT/ACT and learn about the best prep books you can buy for the SAT/ACT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Echo-planar Imaging in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Essay

Echo-planar Imaging in Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Essay Example However, EPI can be very intolerant and the system needs careful selection of parameters. Echo-planar imaging is the fastest and most supple means of MR imaging nowadays. It offers substantial autonomy in the assortment of the parameters needed for contrast and resolution. However, according to the process, the system of formation of the images works close to its confines of performance depending on amplitude of the gradients and the number of times it rises, the stability in the structure and general stature of the noise formed and, thus, proves to be a difficult method. Even so, the advantages of EPI in â€Å"functional neuroimaging† have increased its demand and provide technological development (Cohen, 2000, p.15). The present study focuses on the concept of EPI in MRI and discusses the method, its working, the issues of image ghosting, its disadvantages, its sensitivity, as well as clinical benefits. BLIP EPI Method Echo-planar imaging (EPI) is skilled to considerably cut down the times of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. It allows getting hold of representations within a timeframe of only 20–100 msec. This particular resolution of time enables successful elimination of motion-related relics. Consequently, it becomes possible to achieve imaging of rapidly changing physiologic processes.  In order to understand the basic principles and working of the method, the understanding of k space theory is necessary. K space is a realistic medium of data where the MR imaging is in a digitized form and represents the picture before â€Å"Fourier transform analysis†. All points in k space contain data from all locations within an MR image. The Fourier transform of k space is the image† (Poustchi-Amin et al, 2001, pp.767-779). While studying the working of echo-planar imaging, it is helpful to put the usual spin-echo (SE) imaging side by side. In pulse progression of a SE, a single line of the data of representation, which is actually a sing le line in k space or a single stride of encoding a phase, is composed in every time of repetition (TR) period. Then the series of the pulse is continued for numerous times of TR in anticipation of all the steps of encoding the phase, collection and filling the k space. As a result, the time of imaging becomes equal to the creation of the TR, as well as the number of phase-encoding steps (Poustchi-Amin et al, 2001, pp.767-779). As compared to Fast Spin Echo (FSE), the gradient refocused echo in EPI adds a single line in the area of k-space. The direction in which line is read is altered by the positive and negative read gradients. A shift in k-space occurs through the presence of the phase blip that occurs between the echoes. This is the method known as blip EPI. The spins are excited once in the process of EPI and the pulses between the echoes do not involve any 180 degrees RF. If there is a spin echo EPI sequence, a large positive phase may be used that encodes the gradient if it does not reach the 180 ° degree pulse. Gradients are used by EPI, having both a negative and positive polarity, such that both odd and even echoes may be produced. The contrast in EPI can be restricted by varying the preliminary preparation of the echo from a spin echo to a gradient echo, or by the use of inversion recovery (Module 1, pp.7-16). In the process of echo-planar imaging, several lines of information related to the picture are achieved following a

Graduation for all English Language Learners Assignment

Graduation for all English Language Learners - Assignment Example 1 2 3 4 5 Scale # 3 (Personal Abilities / interest) Question # 6 Do I afford the cost / fee of learning English Language? 1 2 3 4 5 Question # 7 Do I have ability of learning English Language? 1 2 3 4 5 Question # 8 Do I have an interest in learning English Language? 1 2 3 4 5 Scale # 4 (benefits) Question # 9 After learning English Language, would I get good response from the market? 1 2 3 4 5 Question # 10 Would the English Language help / facilitate me to boost my professional career? 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction Peer Reviews; mean the evaluation of a work through diverse ways that ultimately gives confidence to the students / authors to look at their own writing as a work in progress. During the process of peer review, each of the students (peer reviewers) has an equal chance to criticize the work of their fellow student. The initial part of the document identified a construct and defined it using Peer Review articles / books on promoting English Language to all students till graduatio n. The developed construct contains basically four (4) types of questions which need to be answered to build up a trend for promoting English Language learning. ... The first (1st) scale contains two (2) items, whereas, each item has been rated five (5) points Likert scale. The two (2) questions on this scale have been developed to know whether the candidate has been facilitated to take admission in graduation of English Language. The second (2nd) scale contains three (3) questions and the answer of the each question would be rated five (5) points Likert scale. This scale has been developed to identify the efforts made by the English Language learning candidate for knowing the importance of the subject. Moreover, the questions identify the efforts of the instructors for attracting students to learn English Language. The third (3rd) scale contains three (3) items and each of the items would be rated five (5) points Likert scale. This scale identifies the personal interest as well as the capabilities of the English Language learning candidate to know whether the candidate wants to learn English Language. The forth (4th) scale contains four (4) ite ms; each item would be rated five (5) points Likert scale. The questions in the scale facilitate to recognize the future scope of the English Language learners; this scale would be utilized to motivate the candidates to learn English Language (Timberlake, 2009). Method of scaling These assessments use a summative scale to obtain a total assessment score to identify the level of the content. A five (5) step Likert scale has been utilized with the ratings include: ‘Strongly disagree’, ‘Disagree’, ‘Neither Agree or Disagree’, ‘Agree’ and ‘Strongly Agree’. The scoring for the above given ratings which have been utilized in the document include from one (1) to five (5),

Case Study and 2 General Qustion of scope management Essay

Case Study and 2 General Qustion of scope management - Essay Example Stakeholders are those individual or group that affects the business in one way or another. These include, customers, prospective customers, suppliers, Government, community among others. In our Rolls-Royce case, the stakeholders include, Airbus, Boeing, Turkey’s national airline, Government among others. You need to develop an understanding of the needs of the stakeholders. You need to understand their view about you project and how you can best attract their participation to the project. Understanding how you can communicate with them is also very important. Objective can be defined as the goals that the organization aims at achieving in the course of their business and activities. This can be reflected through mission statements, performance metrics and in situations whereby the organization keeps on reminding the employees on how crucial their work is in the organization. Strategies on the other hand are a planned action that focuses on enabling the organization to achieve its objectives. After a strategy is established, it has to be communicated to the entire organization through the top management, in order to justify it and commit the whole organization to it. An organization can have an objective of increasing the number of customers in a given period of time. For example an organization dealing with online newsletters may have an objective of increasing the number people subscribing for e-newsletter each month by 20%. Project management is an important management tool in a broad aspect of economic activities. Project management can be viewed as an art or a science (Schmidt 144). As an art, project management is concerned with managing and relating to people with an aid of project manager who uses experience and skills in technical situation of each project. As a science, the success of the project depends on proven and repeated processes and technique. Project management is an important tool in

War is Kind vs. Dulce et Decorum Est Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

War is Kind vs. Dulce et Decorum Est - Essay Example Clearly, the subject of each composition points to the intensity of passion which treats war either as something acceptable and void of evil or as an object of contempt. In 'War is Kind', the author attempts to offer a solemn insight to the humility and overall good the war is given to possess. The tone with its smooth texture enhances the poem's theme to attain to the goal of realizing that, despite the hostile occurrences and ends, war implicitly acts in kindness. No tough imagery is rendered, instead the seemingly mild and abstract simplicity of what was bound to take place or be fulfilled as in a prophecy especially on mentioning â€Å"These men were born to drill and die (Crane)† in two strophic occasions. On the other hand, 'Dulce et Decorum Est' contains elements and device which W. Owen deemed necessary to put the audience in the shoe of reality that establishes how excruciating it is to confront the ill fates of combat.

Methamphetamine Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11250 words

Methamphetamine Abuse - Essay Example It is also a belief that chronic abuse of the drug would eventually lead to profound reduction in the gray matter of the brain. There are many associated health risks reported with methamphetamine abuse, some of which are risky sexual behavior, social and family problems, and drug induced psychosis (Murray, 1998). Quite as expected, methamphetamine is a popular drug of abuse with limited role as a licit therapeutic agent only in certain indications (Gibson, Leamon, & Flynn, 2002). Due to growing problem of methamphetamine abuse, there is increased demand of the drug, and in many parts of the United State, there are illegal indigenous methamphetamine synthesis laboratories to meet this demand, which hardly follow any safety protocol (Topolski, 2007). People working in these facilities are exposed to increased risk of occupational hazards. There are also reports of increased industrial accidents in these manufacturing units. It has been reported that methamphetamine abuse, manufacturing, control, and accidental or unintentional exposure, all have been associated with health hazards, which have grown into a significant public health problems with no easy solutions (Spoth, Clair, Shin, & Redmond, 2006). On the other hand, there is quite a volume of research in this area with abundant information. Therefore, it would be prudent to undertake a research in this area with the aim of finding solutions to these problems associated with methamphetamine. In order to be able to understand the problem better, it is felt that this problem should be studied in greater detail right from its roots. If involvement in illegal drug manufacturing leads to inordinate exposure with potential and real health risks (Lazarou, 2008), then the root is at the social and economic drivers of the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine, almost to the extent of household small scale industry dedicated to production of street drugs. Drug abuse of any kind is associated with criminal activities of trading with tremendous fiscal implications (Cartier, Farabee, & Prendergast, 2006). Therefore identification and characterization of the problem need an analysis of the epidemiological details of methamphetamine abuse, since solutions for the epidemiological factors may lead to decreased abuse and demand. If the demand is less, there would be less production as expected, and this may curtail the occupational hazards associated with methamphetamine manufacturing units (Tunnell, 2006). Thus the objectives of this research are to study and critically review information on methamphetamine abuse history and epidemiology, processes and materials employed in the manufacturing of illegal methamphetamine, so an analysis of hazards and risks for the first responders and public associated with such illegal laboratories

Literacy narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Literacy narrative - Essay Example I have always been in love with Engines and machines, the ability of doing it in the US was a great opportunity, but doing it without ample knowledge on written and spoken English would be like putting the cart before the horse because I would not do Engineering to my full potential. To be able to obtain my bachelor degree in Civil engineering at Rodger Williams University in the US, I had to first enroll for English classes at ELS English centre just within the same university’s campus in Bristol town. Bristol is a small town located at the centre of the smallest state in the union of Rhode Island. I experienced the beauty of heavens in Rode Island, the breeze from the large water body cooled me off while I enjoyed the summer, the weather was fantastic, and the warmth of the people around me soothed me and made me feel at home. The act of learning became more comprehensible for thanks to the support of my teachers, at the same time I also managed to make new friends and my so cial life was full of fun especially during the weekends. I took my writing skills and style learning in a slow and steady manner, I never wanted to rush thing over because I already learnt that slow and steady wins the race. Among the classes I undertook was the reading and writing class, the fact that it begun in the morning was a big boost to me because I was still as fresh as the word fresh itself and my mood was always good for learning and Mrs. Carol too set a good atmosphere for the learning experience and I started to see the daylight in the English language. The help provided by Mrs. Carol always prevented me from turning tail when things seemed to be a little harder. She was ever present in her office for consultations and any other questions I always had. There is this instance of the process that I will never forget; it is one of the memorable moments in my English studying process. She gave an assignment of comparing two things within an article and the time span for it s completion was includes as twenty four hours. The assignment was well described by her as an open book including the thesis statement; still I found this to be as hard as a rock. I thought that the reason for not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this assignment was because it was the first I ever had, I went ahead and gave it all my all expecting to surprise my teacher by making up to the mark. After presenting the assignment, I was astonished when my teacher asked, ‘Where is your thesis, Mohammed?’ Knowing that it was a statement I decided to make a statement of the conclusion an escape goat to her question instead I was moving wide of the mark. The teacher asked me how I was going to make my readers understand how I was going to make my readers understand what I was talking about if I placed my thesis at the end of the article. She pointed out that the thesis should always be in the introduction. I was not the only fish in the pool; there were also othe r international students that had the same problem as me. Mrs. Carol therefore, trying to offer solution to my problem decided to give me links to websites and articles that were written in English so that I could practice identification of thesis in them. I went home with a strategy after getting a

Methamphetamine Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11250 words

Methamphetamine Abuse - Essay Example It is also a belief that chronic abuse of the drug would eventually lead to profound reduction in the gray matter of the brain. There are many associated health risks reported with methamphetamine abuse, some of which are risky sexual behavior, social and family problems, and drug induced psychosis (Murray, 1998). Quite as expected, methamphetamine is a popular drug of abuse with limited role as a licit therapeutic agent only in certain indications (Gibson, Leamon, & Flynn, 2002). Due to growing problem of methamphetamine abuse, there is increased demand of the drug, and in many parts of the United State, there are illegal indigenous methamphetamine synthesis laboratories to meet this demand, which hardly follow any safety protocol (Topolski, 2007). People working in these facilities are exposed to increased risk of occupational hazards. There are also reports of increased industrial accidents in these manufacturing units. It has been reported that methamphetamine abuse, manufacturing, control, and accidental or unintentional exposure, all have been associated with health hazards, which have grown into a significant public health problems with no easy solutions (Spoth, Clair, Shin, & Redmond, 2006). On the other hand, there is quite a volume of research in this area with abundant information. Therefore, it would be prudent to undertake a research in this area with the aim of finding solutions to these problems associated with methamphetamine. In order to be able to understand the problem better, it is felt that this problem should be studied in greater detail right from its roots. If involvement in illegal drug manufacturing leads to inordinate exposure with potential and real health risks (Lazarou, 2008), then the root is at the social and economic drivers of the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine, almost to the extent of household small scale industry dedicated to production of street drugs. Drug abuse of any kind is associated with criminal activities of trading with tremendous fiscal implications (Cartier, Farabee, & Prendergast, 2006). Therefore identification and characterization of the problem need an analysis of the epidemiological details of methamphetamine abuse, since solutions for the epidemiological factors may lead to decreased abuse and demand. If the demand is less, there would be less production as expected, and this may curtail the occupational hazards associated with methamphetamine manufacturing units (Tunnell, 2006). Thus the objectives of this research are to study and critically review information on methamphetamine abuse history and epidemiology, processes and materials employed in the manufacturing of illegal methamphetamine, so an analysis of hazards and risks for the first responders and public associated with such illegal laboratories

Performance management article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Performance management article - Essay Example Measurement of performance is through the collection, analyzing and dissemination of data to assess the production of an individual, group or organization as a whole. For a company’s success in the field, goals are structured as a means for the company to determine its success. This success rate can be measured through financial capacity, the rate of growth of the company or in terms of the quality of the services rendered. By measuring and creating ways to measure the development of the company, it is possible to measure the success of the company. True to many, the business clichà © ‘what gets measured gets done’ is complemented by the study. For a business that is starting up, profit generation is their main objective. Therefore, the managers in charge structure policies that will aid the workforce to attain the necessary goals setup. Use of bonuses is a commonly used method to incentivize the workforce to working better and efficiently. However, change is dynamic and therefore the company’s goals are subject to alteration. As such, the company must know the correct performance measurements systems that help the organization in achieving its necessary goals (Neely, 1999). In the recent past, the use of financial systems to measure performance was common. This enables the firm to know whether they were making the most on their profits, as this is the main objective of any business. From the data collected, the firm can only get the results in figures but no more deductions can be made. However, as the years have passed companies have sought for more complex systems show An example of its implementation is the choice for a firm to focus more on its customer relation services rather than on sales of the company. This will assist the firm to position itself in the market as an organization that cares about the quality of customer care services. The revised measurement will enable the organization to alter

Target age groups Essay Example for Free

Target age groups Essay Magazines are there as entertainment purpose and also to give information if one is interested on a specific topic like `Auto Trader which is aimed at a readership that is interested in buying cars or `Elle which is a fashion magazine. I wanted to investigate how the language varies in magazines aimed at females in different age groups and I plan to investigate this by getting magazines and analyzing a text to find common and different linguistical features like the semantic, lexical, grammatical and pragmatic choices used in the magazines to attract the target audience. The three magazines I shall be using are `Elle, `Sugar and `Go Girl which are all aimed at different readerships. I carried out a survey to find out the age group range for all three magazines. I think I shall find that the `Elle magazine uses less informal vocabulary, and has long complex sentences as the readership have a greater understanding and are more developed in their vocabulary than the target audience for `Sugar and `Go Girl who are still developing their vocabulary. Another difference I think I may find is the exclusive lexis used in `Sugar as it is aimed at teenagers who tend to use a lot of slang. In `Go Girl I feel that I shall find the sentences will be short and simple and the vocabulary will also be simple. This could be because the readers of this magazine are young girls who may find it difficult to understand long complicated sentences and have not yet come across such complex words and are still developing their vocabulary. Methodology: The three magazines I took into consideration are: `Elle which is supposed to be the worlds best-selling fashion magazine as stated on the magazine is the first magazine I chose in my investigation . It is a magazine for those who want to know how to look beautiful sophisticated and be up-to date on the latest trends and fashion. `Sugar which is said to be Britains best-selling girls magazine as it says on the cover is the second magazine I chose to use for my investigation. It is aimed at teenage girls but does not have a specific purpose like `Elle which is a fashion magazine. `Sugar is a magazine with articles on everything from clothes to music, make-up, gossip and problem pages. The last magazine is called `Go Girl which is aimed at a younger female readership is also like `Sugar which has articles girls like to read about such as what is going on in the lives of famous popstars? , fashion, gossip and other articles. First I got the same month issue for all three magazines, that is the July issue and carried out a survey on the target audience by asking girls what age group would read the three magazines. From my survey `Elle is found to be aimed at an audience from eighteen years and upwards, `Sugar is aimed at thirteen to seventeen year olds and `Go Girl for ages eight to twelve. Then I took the same type of article from all three magazines i. e. the monthly Horoscopes and decided to analyze the different linguistic features like Latinate words, colloquial words, slang words, clippings/abbreviations, the types of sentences and pragmatics. Analysis: Lexis This is to do with the choice of vocabulary used. Ive divided this section into Latinate words, colloquial words, slang words and clippings/abbreviations. The choices of lexis in all three magazines are found to be different, as there is a difference in the ages of the readership. However there are similarities in the lexis because the text I have used from all three magazines are on the same topic. The words used in Horoscopes are personal, tend to appeal to ones emotions and convey opinions on ones life. This could be because the purpose of horoscopes is to predict what will happen in the future and try to guide people on what they should do to improve their life or to avoid doing something wrong. So there will be some similarities like the use of nouns and adjective as well as the words semantically linked to astrology and time (which is also linked to astrology)(as shown in diagram1 and 2). Latinate words These are words that are derived from Latin and are usually used in texts that are important like in legal documents or in texts that are for an audience who are educated to show either importance, authority, intelligence or sophistication. I took two sections from all three articles randomly (around 120 words) and listed the number of Latinate words found in each. I found that in the first text from `Elle magazine there were more Latinate words used than in the other two. (as shown in the table 1 in appendix).

Night Waitress by Lynda Hull is a poem that describes the feelings of :: English Literature

Night Waitress by Lynda Hull is a poem that describes the feelings of a waitress that works the night shift of a diner Reflection of â€Å"Night Waitress† â€Å"Night Waitress† by Lynda Hull is a poem that describes the feelings of a waitress that works the night shift of a diner. The speaker obviously belongs to a lower social class, in the way of income and her occupation. Much like the character in this poem, the speaker in â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper† by William Blake works long, hard hours as a chimneysweeper. These two characters are both related in their ways of life and their classes in our society. They both make just enough money to get by and often think about what it would be like to be of a higher class. In â€Å"Night Waitress† the speaker often brings up the thought of feeling of feeling trapped in her private world. She is most likely going to be doing what she is now for the rest of her life, unless she would come across something else by chance. The poem of the chimneysweeper shows a young man who is forced to work to earn money for his family. With working at such a young age and not furthering his education he does not have a very good chance of doing anything else for a living. He did not choose to have this way of life, but is forced by his economic situation to earn money in any way he can. In the same sense, the waitress probably has not dreamed of becoming a waitress at a small restaurant. Both of these speakers show signs of yearning to be part of a different class. In â€Å"Night Waitress† the speaker makes reference to Cadillacs that would roll by factories and refineries, and escape her

Essay --

Today there are many problems and defects with with healthcare, income inequality and poverty. From time to time the government tried to change policies, in order to improve these issues, however, the gap between rich and poor keeps increasing and there is very little improvement in healthcare and the economy. In fact, healthcare keeps on becoming costly. Research studies shown that, there are strong connection has been made between housing and health. The continuing inequities in health reflect socioeconomic inequalities including housing conditions and this has led to a renewal of studies in the past years in housing as a cause of health (Research Part: I, Ch. 4&5). In this research essay it will focus on housing as a cause of health, and study of a causal connection between the two can be identified. Also, it will study other things that related to housing and may have an impact on health and how they interact, and whether a more approach included that should be taken to improve h ealth status. This approach would accept the complex causal role of housing, both at an individual and community level. According to the research studies, there are many causes of health, including: household income, employment, working conditions, education, warm dry housing, family support, the absence of drugs and diseases (Research Part: I, Ch. 4&5). Each social class has a evident power, and that power is their economic ability to change society. The four major classes are the capitalists, managers, businesspersons, and the workers. A persons clothing, housing and educational opportunities usually depend on their class, but that is a direct reflection of their income. A person does not gain any class or power without their income being taken into... ...level initiatives and stronger legislation to require healthier homes and neighborhoods. Public health professionals and health care providers must fight to create universal, equitable housing policies that benefit our most vulnerable populations." In conclusion, health and housing are strongly and complexly interconnected at a level that appears clear to common sense, but can be difficult to discover through scientific experiments. According to the researches above, it’s shows that housing indeed is an important factor of health status. However, the very nature of both housing and health means that they are inserted of some other factors, and each of the factor are influence by one of another. Anyway, the strong correlation between these two concepts means that if an incorporated, continual policy was approved, the consequences could prove to be quite significant.

Anglogold Ashanti: Analysis of Csr Strategy

AngloGold Ashanti An Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Essay 1 By: S. BLIDI ELLIOTT Index No. : EMBA 10110042 Course: Ethics, Social Responsibility and Governance Course No. : EMBA 663 Lecturer: Dr. Judy N. Muthuri Date: September 28, 2012 Word Count: 5,709 This essay is the first of a two-part series critically examining the corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and performance of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA). This first essay analyses the company’s CSR strategy and activities against the yard sticks provided by the Ghana Business Code and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).In analyzing AGA’s strategy, we explore the likely motivating factors driving the company’s CSR activities and how these drivers inform AngloGold’s responsiveness to environmental, social and other stakeholder issues. In evaluating AGA’s CSR reporting and performance, we present a background of the company followed by an overview of the company’s CSR strategy and analysis of whether that strategy conforms to accepted standards.This essay is written in partial fulfillment of the course requirements of the Ethics, Social Responsibility and Governance module (EMBA 663) of the Executive Masters in Business Administration program of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI – AN OVERVIEW AngloGold Ashanti is a multinational corporation headquartered in South Africa with various mining operations in ten countries spread across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The company’s primary activity is gold mining, though silver and uranium, among other by products, are produced in the process of extracting the gold from the ore bodies.In 2011, AngloGold reported sales of $6. 6 billion from 4. 33 million ounces of gold produced with a workforce of close to 70,000 persons across four continents. AGA is a truly global company with market capitalization of $16. 2 billion and listings on stock exchanges in A ngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 2 Johannesburg, Accra, London, Sidney and New York. The company is majority owned by shareholders in the USA (47. 9%) and South Africa (27. 9%), with the rest of the shares distributed throughout the world, including a 1. % shareholding by the Government of Ghana (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011: 5-10). AngloGold produces dore (unrefined gold bars) at its worldwide operations for sale mainly to gold refineries which sell on to bullion banks and jewelers. Like others in the industry, AGA has benefitted from recent increasing demand for gold as a store of value. This demand has been driven over the last few years by the worldwide economic downturn and banking crisis which have made investors wary of unstable currency and equity markets.This essay focuses on AGA’s operations in Ghana, where the company operates two mining properties in the west of the country at Iduapriem and Obuasi. These operations account for 11. 8 % of the company’s global production and revenues (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011: 22) Located in the Ashanti and Western Regions of Ghana, Iduapriem and Obuasi were the main targets of the merger between AngloGold Limited of South Africa and Ashanti Goldfields Limited of Ghana to form the current company, AngloGold Ashanti, in 2004.SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY AngloGold Ashanti provides extensive, publicly available information about what the company calls its â€Å"sustainability† strategy and programs. The company’s â€Å"Sustainability Report 2011 – Sustainable Gold† (www. aga-reports. com/11/sustainability-report/home) is one part of AGA’s â€Å"Integrated Report 2011 – Pure Gold† which also includes the company’s Annual Financial Statements and a Mineral Resources and Ore Reserve Report. The company says its Integrated Report is in compliance with South Africa’s King Code on Corporate AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 3Governance 2009 (http://african. ipapercms. dk/IOD/KINGIII/kingiiicode/) which mandates companies operating in South Africa to issue a triple bottom line report on financial and sustainability performance. The King III Code further encourages companies to tailor their sustainability reports according to the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (www. globalreporting. org/reporting/latest-guidelines/g3-guidelines).AngloGold Ashanti appears to have gone to great lengths to remain compliant with the intent of King III Code by presenting sustainability and financial data as an integral part of the company’s governance and business strategy with strong emphasis on the company’s responsiveness to stakeholder issues. The company’s compliant posture is also evident in its reported reliance on the GRI Guidelines, the principles of the UN Global Compact (http://www. unglobalcompact. org/), and t he Sustainable Development Framework of the industry body, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) http://www. icmm. com/our-work/sustainable-development-framework). While AGA does not specifically mention the Ghana Business Code, acceptance of the principles of the UN Global Compact amounts to acceptance of the Ghana Code which is nearly a verbatim rendition of the Global Compact. AngloGold Ashanti in its Sustainability Report 2011 expresses a mission to: To create value for our shareholders, our employees and our business and social partners through safely and responsibly exploring, mining and marketing our products.Our primary focus is gold and we will pursue value creating opportunities in other minerals where we can leverage our existing assets, skills and experience to enhance the delivery of value. This mission statement gives early insight that the company’s CSR strategy is largely driven by an instrumental motivation (Maignan & Ralston, 2002: 498) to ac hieve performance objectives – creating value. A reading of the company’s values statement enhances this impression of a firm focused on CSR as a means to achieve strategic business objectives. AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 4AngloGold’s stated values are closely aligned with the 10 principles of the Ghana Business Code (Ghana Business Code, 2006). The firm’s first value statement â€Å"Safety is our first value†1 speaks of health and safety at the workplace in alignment with the principles on human rights and labour standards of the Ghana Business Code and the UN Global Compact. The second value statement â€Å"We treat each other with dignity and respect† deals with honesty and ethical business and social practices and is aligned with the human rights, labour and anti-corruption principles of the Ghana Code.AngloGold declares its intent to respect the Global Compact (and by extension the Ghana Code) in its o ther statements concerning the company’s value for diversity and its respect for the environment. Two of the company’s value statements are particularly noteworthy as they speak directly to the company’s sustainability strategy. In value statement 4, the company declares â€Å"We are accountable for our actions and undertake to deliver on our commitments†. This statement goes to the core of what some writers (eg.Crane, Matten & Spence, 2008:5) see to be an essence of corporate social responsibility – companies being accountable for negative impacts of their actions and taking the appropriate corrective and, in the best case, preventive measures. AngloGold’s value statement 5 â€Å"The communities and societies in which we operate will be better off for AngloGold Ashanti having been there† is a powerful statement of commitment by the company to go beyond the scope of its legal and economic responsibilities into the higher realms of â⠂¬Å"Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR† (Branco & Rodrigues, 2007:10). See Appendix for full text of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mission, Vision and Values Statements AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 5 AngloGold Ashanti’s Sustainability Report 2011 is a centralized, group level report, but its supplementary sustainability data and country reports provide a localized perspective of the company’s CSR performance, with particular reference to its performance in Ghana.ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI CSR REPORTING AND THE GRI The Global Reporting Initiative was established in 1997 with a mission to provide a common framework for CSR reporting based on globally accepted principles, concepts and metrics (Hedberg & Malmborg, 2003: 155). The Guidelines give firms a template for the content and presentation of their CSR reports to enable comparison with other such reports. The Guidelines are divided into two parts covering the reporting principles and guidance and the standard disclosures (https://www. globalreporting. org/resourcelibrary/G3-Guidelines-InclTechnical-Protocol. df). Part 1 of the Guidelines give guidance to firms on how to determine the content of reports based on principles of materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context and completeness. This Part also intends to help firms maintain the quality of their reports with regard to accuracy, timeliness, reliability and clarity. The overall objective is for reports to not only present the issues affecting individual firms, but how the firms’ social, economic and environmental performance contributes to sustainable development at the global level.Part 2 of the guidelines covers standard disclosures expected of companies in terms of their strategy and profile, approach of management to CSR issues and a common set of performance indicators. Disclosures on strategy are intended to establish the link between the firm’s business strategy and its governa nce and sustainability performance. AngloGold Ashanti appears to have embraced the GRI Guidelines in an effort to communicate its adherence to widely accepted CSR principles and processes. Hedberg andAngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 6 Malmborg (2003: 153) have suggested that a firm’s use of the GRI Guidelines is often motivated by the firm’s need to â€Å"seek organizational legitimacy† by using a globally respected template that would lend credibility to the company’s reports. AngloGold gives itself an A+ rating for adherence to the GRI Guidelines, meaning the company believes that its sustainability report includes reporting on all indicators of relevance to the GRI.In closely examining the AGA report for 2011, it is clear that AngloGold has closely followed the guidelines on what content to include and how to include it in keeping with the Standard Disclosures of the GRI. The first section of the Standard Disclosures calls for presentation of a high level analysis of the company’s strategy. AngloGold’s Sustainability Report 2011 adheres to this guideline through a statement from AngloGold CEO Mark Cutifani (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:12) outlining the company’s vision and how this vision links with the company’s business strategy and sustainability performance.He outlines key focus areas for the company’s strategy, including health and safety for employees and business stakeholders, minimizing the environmental impact of operations, protection of human rights, maintaining efficiency in production, controlling costs, maximizing returns and â€Å"delivering value† to community stakeholders. AGA believes these strategic focus areas are consistent with the company’s definition of sustainable development because they cover the social, economic and environmental issues of most concern to the company and its stakeholders (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011: 13).Stakeholder pressure from a negative duty perspective (Maignan & Ralston, 2002:498) is evident when the CEO reports that â€Å"to our key stakeholders it appears we may have taken our local communities and the various levels of government for granted† (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:13). This pressure from local communities, particularly communities around the AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 7 ompany’s operations at Obuasi and Iduapriem in Ghana, has pushed AGA to declare that its CSR strategy is centered on the concept of â€Å"rebuilding trust with local communities, regulatory authorities and government leaders† (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:13) through an approach of creating mutually beneficial value for the company and the communities in which it operates. In line with the GRI Standard Disclosures, the CEO statement affirms engagement with a wide range of stakeholders including the Extractive Industries Transparency I nitiative (EITI) and the United Nations Global Compact in developing its CSR strategy and performance.AngloGold further identifies the key risks and impacts on sustainability and the effects on stakeholders that would affect the company’s long term performance. Among risks and sustainability trends of concern to the company is the issue of ‘resource nationalism’ which AngloGold describes as the tendency for governments to demand more returns from companies involved in extractive industries (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:13). This resource nationalism is expressed through mining code revisions, increased royalty ayments and taxes, and increased demand for companies’ direct contribution to development initiatives. A related risk, from AngloGold’s perspective, is the issue of increased community activism around land use and availability of water. The company commits itself, in its 2011 report, to improve its performance in the areas of water and land use, waste disposal and environmental management. In conformity with the GRI, these commitments are expressed as performance targets which the company considers to be essential for its long term survival.AngloGold’s sustainability report provides extensive information profiling the company in keeping with section two of the GRI Standard Disclosures. The profile includes key information on shareholders, production levels, net sales, number of employees, AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 8 capitalization, and breakdown of all indicators by region and country operations, among other performance indicators. The company, in conformity with EITI, reports all payments to the Government of Ghana and local administrations (http://www. aga- reports. om/11/pdf/ghana. pdf). GRI guidelines provide specific environmental indicators required to be reported on by firms. AngloGold provides detailed data on reportable environmental incidents, energy efficiency, wa ter use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and cyanide certification (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011: 6-7). The issue of water is of critical concern at AngloGold’s Ghana operations, because of what the company describes as Ghana’s high levels of rainfall and water run-off which make implementation of ‘closed loop’ systems for recycling water unfeasible.Gold mining operations require huge quantities of water which brings these operations into competition with community agricultural programs for this often scarce resource. AngloGold admits that mismanagement of water supply and quality can have severe impacts on gold production as well as on the health of mining communities. In its Ghana Fact Sheet, the company says â€Å"water quality and usage are of concern globally, but are particularly significant for operations in Ghana, where there is significant potential environmental and social impact and a high level of stakeholder scrutiny† (http://www . ga-reports. com/11/pdf/ghana. pdf). The company agrees, in its 2011 report, that its suboptimal management of water in Ghana has led to disputes with local communities, and that greater efforts are being put into place to address these shortcomings through what AGA calls its Global Strategy for Water Security. The GRI guidelines also encourage companies to report on a range of social performance indicators regarding labour practices, human rights and other societal concerns.The guidelines make reference to several internationally recognized standards and protocols, AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 9 particularly the International Labour Organization (ILO) Tripartite Declaration Concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Conventions on Civil, Human, Politi cal, Social and Cultural Rights.AngloGold’s close adherence to the GRI Guidelines may be laudable, but leaves questions as to the company’s motivations. Hedberg & Malmborg in their work on the use of the GRI guidelines among companies in Sweden, suggest that companies are motivated to use the guidelines to â€Å"provide a good and established structure for their reports† (2003:159) in order to seek societal legitimacy, and that a main reason the guidelines are used is to get a proper design for their reports.Because the Guidelines give firms leeway to choose the level and depth of their reporting, and that little if any verification of reports is done by GRI, Hedberg and Malmborg suggest the Guidelines may lack a certain credibility which may negatively impact the company in the long term (2003: 163). Given the above perception of the credibility challenges of the GRI Guidelines, AngloGold’s CSR strategy needs to be subjected to closer scrutiny, beginning with an analysis of the company’s stakeholders and the stakeholder issues that drive AGA’s CSR strategy and activities.STAKEHOLDERS Branco and Rodrigues in their paper on stakeholder theory and CSR remark that stakeholder theory is â€Å"inescapable if one wants to discuss and analyze CSR† (2007: 5). Maignan & Ralston, in discussing CSR motivations, speak of a negative duty approach by which companies engage in CSR activities because of legitimacy issues and stakeholder pressure (2002: 498). Woods (1991:703-705) in her corporate social performance model, emphasizes AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 10 he vital role of stakeholder management in a firm’s processes of social responsiveness. Stakeholder theory makes the case that CSR performance is driven by a firm’s need to respond to and satisfy the interests of its stakeholders. Branco and Rodrigues point further to the tendency of firms to pay greater attention to thei r primary stakeholders as opposed to the issues of secondary stakeholders who are not necessarily â€Å"essential for a firm’s survival† (2007:7).As a multinational company operating labor-intensive operations on four continents, and with listings on multiple stock exchanges, AngloGold Ashanti must tread carefully in order to be responsive to conflicting stakeholder issues while maintaining its focus on its fiduciary responsibility to primary stakeholders, particularly the company’s shareholders. The company’s stakeholder management strategy appears to be based on what the company describes as the â€Å"risks and drivers† that allow its operations to be successful and create mutual value for its shareholders and communities.The company says its stakeholder engagement policy intends to assure that its operations continue to meet performance targets while generating returns for its shareholders and community stakeholders. This approach speaks directl y to the â€Å"instrumental† dimension of CSR as explained by Maignan & Ralston (2002:498). An instrumental approach from a negative duty perspective implies that AngloGold pursues stakeholder engagement, and indeed its entire CSR strategy, because it is compelled to do so by stakeholder expectations and pressure, and not out of any altruistic principles.This explains the strong motivation for the company to manage stakeholders to avoid negative impacts and risks to its operations that would be detrimental to its financial performance. This is an approach that can be observed in all aspects of the company’s stated CSR strategy, which may prompt cynics, as Ghillyer notes, to â€Å"see these initiatives as public AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 11 elations exercises with no real evidence of dramatic changes in the core operating philosophies†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2008:62). AngloGold Chairman Tito Mboweni, in a sustainability statement in the comp any’s Integrated Report (2011:8) says â€Å"being a good corporate citizen, as we seek to be, is a prerequisite for being a successful miner† and that â€Å"governments and their citizens are entitled to expect not only a fair fiscal return but also a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship between them and the companies†¦Ã¢â‚¬ .He however goes on to caution that â€Å"pushed too far, though, raised taxes and royalty rates will begin to discourage investment and reduce the overall value of the industry to both societies and shareholders. The regulatory environment is becoming increasingly complex and onerous. † The influence of stakeholders can be observed in the key issues driving AngloGold’s CSR strategy and emphasized in its Sustainability Report 2011. One such issue is what the company calls the trend toward greater â€Å"resource nationalism† among its stakeholder governments in the jurisdictions in which the company operates.Th e risk of resource nationalism impacts the company in terms of the increased community pressure on AngloGold to make explicit the benefits of its mining activities for communities and national economies, the increased community activism about access to and fair value received for scarce natural resources, and increased demand for higher tax and royalty payments to governments. AngloGold reports that it is responding to this stakeholder issue by developing a general framework to approach development in a more organized and systematic way.The company reports that it has increased its community investments in partnership with communities and local government administrations in an effort to demonstrate the benefits of what the company calls â€Å"responsible mining†. These measures can be seen as the company’s attempt to secure and maintain its legitimacy and social license to operate. AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 12 Artisanal and small-sc ale mining is another issue that has driven AGA’s corporate social response. This issue has particular resonance in Ghana where AGA mines properties which have for a great many years been mined by community members.The conflicts that have resulted from small-scale mining encroachments on AngloGold concession areas have led to charges of human rights violations against the company. These violations have included allegations of deaths resulting from AngloGold security interventions in â€Å"illegal† mining activities on the company’s concession area. In response to this stakeholder issue, AngloGold reports that it has become involved with initiatives in Ghana and at other operations to â€Å"formalize artisanal and small-scale mining in a way which will benefit local economies and create sustainable livelihoods† (AGA Sustainability Report 2011:16).The company says it is also cooperating with host governments to address the economic causes of illegal mining, and with international and industry organizations to develop common approaches. Of concern to AngloGold is the Dodd-Frank Act of the United States which requires the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish rules requiring certain companies to disclose their involvement with conflict minerals, particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo where AngloGold maintains gold mining operations http://www. sec. gov/news/press/2012/2012-163. htm). The activities of illegal miners near AGA operations has the potential, the company believes, to taint the gold legally mined by AGA, especially in light of the global trend among consumers for â€Å"responsible gold† (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:19) that does not contribute to conflict and human rights violations. AGA’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange makes it accountable to conform to the SEC’s rulings. AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & PerformancePage 13 Health and safety is anoth er multi-stakeholder issue emphasized by AngloGold in its 2011 report. The company reports that â€Å"safety and health are not only business imperatives, but are part of our obligation to operate with respect for human rights†. The health and safety of the company’s employees and the communities in which it operates is a pressing issue for nongovernmental organizations (NGO), governments and multilateral institutions interested in protecting the rights and preventing the exploitation of workers.AngloGold says it respects and values the ten principles of the UN Global Compact and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPSHR) in the development of a â€Å"safety transformation framework† to address its less than adequate health and safety performance. The company lists safety as its first value and has set firm targets for reducing work related accident, injury and health frequency rates by 2015 (AGA Sustainability Report, 2011:11).The companyâ₠¬â„¢s malaria control program at Obuasi, Ghana, has received commendation from Ghana’s malaria control program and a $138 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria to enable the company step up intervention across Ghana. Ghana’s Daily Graphic newspaper reported in September 2012 (http://www. ghana. gov. gh/index. php/news/features/16095-anglogold-malaria-control-projectbenefits-40-districts) that AngloGold’s malaria program was set to benefit 40 communities in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Central and Ashanti regions of the country.Environmental and natural resource management is a prominent part of AngloGold’s CSR reporting in response to stakeholder interest, especially in Ghana where the company’s contamination of community water resources has been a contentious issue for many years. The company has accepted its liability for polluting the rivers around its Obuasi and Iduapriem operations in Ghana. The dr astic situation resulted in the suspension of the company’s operations by the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency in 2007. The companyAngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 14 claims these environmental issues are legacy problems which are being addressed through the implementation of more technologically advanced water management techniques (AGA Ghana Fact Sheet, 2011:4). AngloGold claims to have made extensive efforts to improve its CSR performance in Ghana particularly regarding land and water use, environmental protection and community investment. In 2011, the company commissioned an â€Å"independent† sustainability review panel to assess its performance in Ghana.The panel reported, in part, that â€Å"success at Obuasi requires that the company address Obuasi systematically in its planning, its engagement and communications, its investments, its governance and its development of capabilities† (AGA Sustainability Report 2011: 23). The challenges faced by the company in CSR performance in Ghana were highlighted in 2011 when the company was given the dishonor of receiving the Public Eye Award for 2011 for the company’s â€Å"irresponsible corporate behavior† (Public Eye Awards, 2011).The Public Eye Awards are run by Berne Foundation and Greenpeace to coincide with the annual World Economic Forum at Davos and call attention to CSR issues by naming and shaming multinationals seen to be culpable in environmental and social issues. The citation for the ‘award’ claimed that: The South African mining company AngloGold Ashanti contaminates land and people with its gold mining in Ghana. To extract 30 kg (66 lb) of gold, 6,000 tons of rock are mined every day, then ground up and mixed with cyanide in tanks.The highly-toxic mining waste is kept in large storage ponds that contaminate rivers and wells, as well as all those who (must) drink from them. Where there was once cultivated land, now the ground is contaminated and can no longer be farmed. In addition, in the company’s own guard houses, several suspects were tortured, and dogs were set on people; there have been fatalities as a result. Although the ecological and social problems in the mines – some mines are up to 100 years old – have been documented by authorities, NGOs and the company itself – and even AngloGold Ashanti committed itself in 2004 to improveAngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 15 the situation – things have in fact worsened since then. No wonder AngloGold Ashanti received the worst possible rating for social and environmental protection from the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency in a recent industry comparison. AngloGold has responded by claiming that its Public Eye award was â€Å"undeserved† and that its environmental and human rights record in Ghana should be seen in the context of the over 100 years of mining in Ghana usin g methods which are not acceptable by today’s standards.The company claims that it has invested heavily to improve the infrastructure and processes at its Ghana mines and that resolving all legacy issues would require more time (www. ghanachamberofmines. org/site/news/details. php? id=33). The company says it has worked closely with Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remedy environmental concerns, but the EPA’s AKOBEN Programme (http://www. epaghanaakoben. org/) in 2010 gave AngloGold AKOBEN’s lowest overall rating of â€Å"Red†, indicating poor performance in environmental management.AKOBEN is an initiative of the Ghana EPA to monitor, evaluate and disclose environmental and social performance. The AKOBEN rating appears to buttress a 2011 report by Ghana’s Centre for Environmental Impact Assessment (CEIA) which alleged that discharge from AngloGold operations in Obuasi and Tarkwa had polluted some 262 streams with resulting hi gh incidence of keratosis, other skin diseases and type II diabetes (http://environmentalwatchman. blogspot. com/2011/08/mining-activities†¦ ). This report has not been independently confirmed.The negative impact of AngloGold’s gold mining on the environment, agricultural productivity and the livelihoods of Ghanaian communities has been extensively researched by Aragon and Rud who have reported that â€Å"†¦we find that mining has reduced agricultural productivity by almost 40%. This result is driven by polluting mines, not by input availability†¦ we find that the mining activity is associated with an increase in poverty, child AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 16 malnutrition and respiratory diseases†¦the actual fiscal contribution of ining would not have been enough to compensate affected populations† (2012:1). These negative reports tend to give credence to a criticism of CSR reporting as being window dressing far rem oved from actual performance. Haigh and Jones argue that there are â€Å"inherent contradictions between the pursuit of economic growth and goals of ecological maintenance and social justice† (2006:1) and that managers would not expend resources on CSR if they do not expect CSR to maximize â€Å"the gap between revenues and relevant costs† (2006:2).Haigh and Jones contend that companies have a â€Å"Business first (profit and market share) and Society second (other stakeholders in line after stockholders)† (2006:3) approach, suggesting that a firm’s CSR performance is a reaction to â€Å"first mover CSR strategies of competitors† out of fear of losing market position (2006:2). The Haigh and Jones argument does not detract from Woods who asserts that corporate social performance (CSP) is not â€Å"completely distinct from business performance† (1991:693).In Woods’ model of CSP, a company’s performance should be evaluated on the basis of the social responsibility principles motivating the company, the extent to which that company uses CSP processes and the societal impact of that company’s programs and activities (1991:693). AngloGold’s CSR reporting appears to be fairly consistent with the Woods CSP model. The company seeks to secure its license to operate and establish its legitimacy through its stated compliance with legal, economic and regulatory requirements.This is the expected behavior of a firm in line with the institutional principle of Woods’ model (1991:695). Woods’ organizational principle of public responsibility is expressed in AngloGold’s acceptance of responsibility for the negative outcomes of the company’s activities, as indicated, for AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 17 example, in AngloGold’s actions to clean up and prevent continued pollution of waterways in Ghana.Woods’ managerial discretion principle is articulated in the statements of AngloGold’s CEO and Chairman reaffirming the company’s commitment to be a good corporate citizen as expressed in the company’s philanthropic contributions to communities and the company’s community investments in feeder road repairs, health programs, youth apprenticeship programs, sustainable alternative livelihoods programs and other activities intended to improve the communities’ quality of life, above and beyond the company’s legal obligations.The second facet of Woods’ CSP model concerns a company’s use of processes of corporate social responsiveness. Woods says that â€Å"responsiveness complements but does not replace responsibility† and that â€Å"responsiveness provides an action counterpoint to the principled reflection of social responsibility† (1991:703). AngloGold appears to fulfill the three conditions Woods identifies as being characteristic of a socially responsi ve firm: 1) The company monitors and assesses environmental conditions 2) it actively manages its stakeholders and 3) manages the resultant stakeholder issues.AngloGold’s Sustainability Report 2011 is a testament to the depth of environmental scanning engaged in by the company in determining the risks and opportunities impacting the company. An extensive appraisal was done earlier in this paper of the company’s management of its stakeholders and stakeholder issues. It can safely be concluded, based on the company’s reporting, that AngloGold is a socially responsive firm.The third facet of Woods’ model involves the observable impacts of a company’s programs and policies (1991:708). The impacts of AngloGold’s CSR activities may be evaluated through the company’s reporting against social indicators such as that contained in the GRI AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 18 Guidelines mentioned above and can be obs erved in the positive results seen in AngloGold’s programs such as its highly commended malaria control activities in Ghana.Outcomes can also be observed, according to Woods, in the company’s institutionalization of policies to address stakeholder issues. CONCLUSION It is an easy conclusion to reach that AngloGold Ashanti is very adept, from the evidence of its CSR reporting, at hitting all the right notes in its effort to be seen as a socially responsible company. The company’s instrumental motivation in strong alignment with a negative duty motivation, far outweighs other factors as the driver of AngloGold’s CSR strategy and activities.The company’s diverse stakeholders – from shareholders in London and Johannesburg, and the SEC in New York, to the villagers of Iduapriem and Obuasi in Ghana and all others in between – present a multitude of issues that the company tries to address, using the GRI Guidelines and other international st andards, in its Sustainability Report 2011. The universal principles expressed in the Ghana Business Code are those the company professes to be the bedrock of its corporate value system, and against which the company reports its performance.AngloGold’s CSR performance in Ghana is far from adequate, but the company is transparent in publicly reporting these shortcomings. 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Global Compact. http://www. unglobalcompact. org/, first accessed September 2012 AngloGold Ashanti: Analysis of CSR Strategy & Performance Page 22 APPENDIX AngloGold Mission To create value for our shareholders, our employees and our business and social partners through safely and responsibly exploring, mining and marketing our products. Our primary focus is gold and we will pursue value creating opportunities in other minerals where we can leverage our existing assets, skills and experience to enhance the delivery of value. AngloGold Values