Gorilla, My Love Critical Anaysis Essay

The title alludes to a style of musical declamation that hovers between song and ordinary speech; it is used for dialogic and narrative interludes during operas and oratories. The term â€Å"recitatif† also once included the now-obsolete meaning, â€Å"the tone or rhythm peculiar to any language.† Both of these definitions suggest the story’s episodic nature, how each of the story’s five sections happens in a register that is different from the respective ordinary lives of its two central characters, Roberta and Twyla. The story’s vignettes bring together the rhythms of two lives for five, short moments, all of them narrated in Twyla’s voice. The story is, then, in several ways, Twyla’s â€Å"recitatif.† â€Å"Recitatif† is a pioneering story in racial writing as the race of Twyla and Roberta are debatable. Though the characters are clearly separated by class, neither is affirmed as African American or Caucasian. Morrison has described the story as â€Å"an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial†.[2] Plot summary[edit source | editbeta] First encounter[edit source | editbeta] Twyla and Roberta Fisk first meet within the confines of a state home for children, St. Bonny’s (named after St. Bonaventure), because each has been taken away from her mother. Roberta’s mother is sick; Twyla’s mother â€Å"just likes to dance all night.† We learn immediately that the girls look different from one another: one is black, one is white, although we aren’t told which is which. Despite their initially hostile feelings, they are drawn together because of their similar circumstances. They both like to eat chicken. The two girls turn out to be, in famous phrase, â€Å"more alike than unalike.† They were both â€Å"dumped† there. They become allies against the â€Å"big girls on the second floor† (whom they call â€Å"gar-girls,† a name they get from mishearing the word â€Å"gargoyle†), as well as against the home’s â€Å"real orphans,† the children whose parents have died. They share a fascination with Maggie, the old, sandy-colored woman â€Å"with legs like parentheses† who works in the home’s kitchen and who can’t speak. Twyla and Roberta are reminded of their differences on the Sunday that each of their mothers comes to visit and attend church with them. Twyla’s mother Mary is dressed inappropriately; Roberta’s mother, wearing an enormous cross on her even  more enormous chest. Mary offers her hand, but Roberta’s mother refuses to shake Mary’s hand. Twyla experiences twin humiliations: her mother’s inappropriate behavior shames her, and she feels slighted by Roberta’s mother’s refusal. Second encou nter[edit source | editbeta] Twyla and Roberta meet again eight years later during the 1960s, when Twyla is â€Å"working behind the counter at the Howard Johnson’s on the Thruway† and Roberta is sitting in a booth with, â€Å"two guys smothered in head and facial hair.† Roberta and her friends are on their way to the west coast to keep an appointment with Jimi Hendrix. The episode is brief, but long enough to make Twyla feel like an outsider in Roberta’s world. Third encounter[edit source | editbeta] The third time Twyla and Roberta meet is 20 years after they first met at St. Bonnys. They are both married and meet while shopping at the Food Emporium, a new gourmet grocery store. Twyla describes the encounter as a complete opposite of their last. They get along well and share memories of the past. Roberta is rich and Twyla is lower middle class. Twyla is married to a firefighter; Roberta is married to an IBM executive. Fourth encounter[edit source | editbeta] The next time the two women meet, â€Å"racial strife† threatens Twyla’s town of Newburgh, NY in the form of busing. As she drives by the school, Twyla sees Roberta there, picketing the forced integration. Twyla is briefly threatened by the other protesters; Roberta doesn’t come to her aid. Roberta’s parting remark unsettles Twyla: â€Å"Maybe I am different now, Twyla. But you’re not. You’re the same little state kid who kicked a poor old black lady when she was down on the ground. You kicked a black lady and you have the nerve to call me a bigot.† Twyla replies, â€Å"Maggie wasn’t black.† Either she does not remember that she was black, or she had never classified her sandy skin as black. Twyla decides to join the counter-picketing across the street from Roberta, where she spends a few days hoisting signs that respond directly to Roberta’s sign. Fifth encounter[edit source | editbeta] We meet Twyla and Roberta once more; this time it is in a coffee shop on Christmas Eve, years later, probably in the early 1980s. Roberta wants to discuss what she last said about Maggie. The conversation is sympathetic but ends on an unresolved note.

Sarbanes-Oxley’s Act: Article Summary

The article â€Å"Congress Should Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley Act† by William Niskannen discusses reasons and arguments why the law should be annulled. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA) was passed, in 2002 and was considered a response to the collapse of Enron and other corporations with similar problems. Nevertheless, the author views this act as inadequate, harmful and unnecessary. Firstly, the act is viewed as unnecessary because â€Å"the stock exchanges had already implemented most of the SOA changes in the rules of corporate governance in their new listing standards†. p. 12) In other words, Exchange Commission is provided with full authority to enforce and to approve all accounting rules and standards, as well as to control financial statements of their firms. Furthermore, Department of Justice is able to prosecute executives for frauds associated with securities, stocks and bonds. The author claims that Public company Accounting Oversight Boards isn’t useful as it ha s no authorities to regulate remaining independent public auditors. Secondly, the law is viewed as harmful because it â€Å"substantially increases the risks of serving as a corporate officer or director†. (p. 13) The author means that SOA may serve more foreign and small firms, rather than stocks on American exchange. For example, the law suggests banning of loans to corporate officers and it leads to elimination of one of the most effective tools of executive compensation. In such a way, the act reduces incentives of directors and corporate executives to receive legal advice. Finally, the act is viewed as inadequate because it has proved to fail problems of accounting, taxation, corporate governance and auditing. In such a way, SOA increase the risk of bankruptcy. I think that the question whether SOA is effective or should be repealed is rather controversial. On the one hand, it cares for of foreign firms and small businesses, as well as fails to respond to auditing and taxing problems. On the other hand, it is designed as rescue program after Enron scandal. Its goal is to restore reputation and public trust in corporate sector in the USA.

Jazz Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Jazz - Article Example The video refers to the Miles Davis performance of â€Å"Around Midnight† in Berlin, Germany, which he takes us through a story by the expressions that can be perceived through Jazz music. Miles Davis one of the most famous jazz players worked on the modern jazz musical concepts that have helped to grow this genre to a next level. One of the most interesting aspects of jazz music is the level to which the genre continues to grow and redefine itself long after its heyday of popularity. Whereas the full music of the hippie movement has long since faded into the past, the music of the roaring 20s has been lost from memory, and the music that brought a nation together during the Second World War has been forgotten, jazz continues to maintain a subculture of popularity, continues to be performed by a wide range musicians, and continues to redevelop and reengineer the means by which it sounds on nearly a continual level. The very first jazz melody â€Å"Agitation† gives the l istener a very exotic feeling by using his trumpet. It combines the different aspects from the musical perspectives. The song follows quick transitions with specific background sounds. The background music keeps the flow of the music steady and continuous. The trumpet is used throughout the music owing to its main emphasis on the intensity to the certain point it shows. In much the same way that saxophone is used within other jazz pieces to represent the missing vocalist, the trumpet within this particular piece gives the depth and complexity that a vocalist might give. Miles Davis improvisation in this specific type of Jazz know as Modal Jazz music has helped specifically to stretch out the harmony of the music into certain parts which makes the it more systematic and helps the music to proceed in an organized manner. Miles Davis stretched out certain improvements in different types of Jazz music, such as bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, modal jazz and jazz fusion. This specific piece f rom Miles Davis joins in with different instruments to give the feel of the environment producing a story of its sort. Ultimately Miles Davis exhibits the ability of the genre jazz to continue to reinvent itself and provide new forms of fusion between bebop, hard bop, cool jazz, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. In such a way, the full depth of evolution of this particular genre is aptly demonstrated to the reader. This modal jazz requires knowledge of musical nodes beforehand. Miles Davis, the most well-known protagonist of Jazz Music history had been on top of creating creative method for Modal Jazz. The video specifically has piano to create the specific background rhyme to the music that follows throughout the length of the video. Throughout the video there are specific changes in the chords, which at times follow a certain transition and after a break follow another set of harmonies. What can be understood with regards to jazz is that it has the unique ability to incorporate a range of different ideas concepts and emotions within a single piece and somehow wrap them up altogether so that they work cohesively. This is of course unique as compared to many other forms of music due to the fact that the average three-minute song only has a chorus are melody that exists for the space of about 15 to 20 seconds. Although the purpose of this analysis is not cheap and aspects of popular music that

OPPORTUNITY COSTS Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

OPPORTUNITY COSTS - Coursework Example EXPLAIN THE CONCEPTS OF COMPARATIVE AND ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE The concept of ‘Comparative and Absolute Advantage’ holds primary importance being closely related to profit maximization and increased productivity. It principally indicates the capability of a producer to manufacture products and/or services at a lesser opportunity cost than other producers operating in almost identical conditions. A comparative advantage provides a company the capacity to trade goods, products and services at a lower fee than other players in the market for the purpose of attaining higher sales margins and revenues. In the similar context, the concept of obsolete advantage can be identified when a company produces larger volume of goods than that of its competitors with a given amount of resources. In both these situations, companies are affirmed to obtain advantages over its competitors in terms of cost of production and profit margin (Horsley 1-99). For example, in case the USA and Canada ha ve been producing differing quantities of potatoes and rice in a year [as illustrated in the below table], both the producers will have to incur differing opportunity cost. ... Assessing both these situations, it can be observed that Canada will have a comparative advantage in producing larger volume of potatoes, with the given amount of resources and also by incurring lesser opportunity cost. Thus, Canada should produce potatoes. HOW DOES TRADE AFFECT THE PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES FRONTIER? EXPLAIN Production possibilities frontier, in simple terms, can be referred to as a frontier or a graph indicating the maximum output producing possibilities for a particular producer to manufacture two products at a given point of time. Indicating all possible combinations of the given two products, the production possibilities frontier tends to conclude the possible points at which the producer can manufacture at a greater production level in comparison to the other commodity’s normal production level with the fixed amount of resources (Horsley 1-99). Trade can affect the production possibilities frontier in a positive as well as in a negative manner. For instan ce, if the activities related to trade and commerce increases in a country, the requirement of the resources and production capacity with respect to two given commodities is also quite likely to increase (Horsley 1-99). Precisely, the concept of production possibilities frontier indicates the points at which a producer can make the maximum use of the resources allocated to produce one or more commodities. Notably, the points on the curved line of production possibilities frontier [refer to the diagram below] depicts efficiency of the producer to use the given amount of resources to produce maximum amount of product A and product B. On the contrary, the points below the curved line depict the inefficiency of the producer to make effective use of the resources allocated.

No topic needed Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No topic needed - Speech or Presentation Example This is because the amount of time invested is less than the prize awarded. Unlike in the first case, the result after multiplying the probability with the prize and less the cost is a positive figure. (e) This time allocation is not equilibrium. This is for the reason that they both are equally talented but Shirley gets an added advantage by training longer than Laverne. They should have trained for equal time for the allocation to be equilibrium. (f) The allocation of 5 hours of training per week is not Nash equilibrium. This is because the payoff increases to 6 when the training time reduces to 4 and reduces 4 when the training time increases to 6. (e) The t-statistic is sort of a departure ratio of an approximated parameter from its speculative value as well as its usual error. It is normally used in theory testing, for instance in the t-test of Students, in bootstrapping, in addition to in the amplified Dickey–Fuller

Quickbooks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quickbooks - Research Paper Example When a brand finds the value of brand equity, they can trail a brand equity roadmap to accomplish that potential value (Williams 222). The overview of brand loyalty to this model is still contentious as other conceptualizations place brand loyalty as anoutcome of brand equity, which entails awareness and associations of our firm. But when someone buys a brand or places a value on it, the loyalty of the client base is every so often the asset utmost prized, so it marks financial sense to include it (Gruner6). Also, when managing a brand, the addition of brand loyalty as part of our firm brand’s equity allows the firm’s marketers to defend giving it significance in the brand-building budget. Brandequity that our firm uses also provides value to clients (Gruner 7). It enhances the client’s ability to understand and process information and affects the quality of the user experience. As it provides value to customers, it also makes it laid-back to justify in a brand-building budget. The model provides viewpoint of brand equity as one of the chief components of recent marketing alongside segmentation -the marketing concept, and several others(Gruner 8) I can propose a brand QuickBooks as application software that processes and records accounting transactions with modules of function such as payroll, trial balance, and account payable as well as account receivable. Simply, it’s an accounting information system. It can be developed in-house by our company(Gruner 12). The QuickBooksshould compose of such modules as: billing- where invoices to clients are produced by the company; bookkeeping – where the company records payments and collection; stock/ inventory where the company keeps control of its inventory. Our brand QuickBooks should reflecta financial accounting software program, which can be of use to small businesses(Testa 53). The software boasts a variety of features intended at helping users manage every of their accounting

Political Philosophy Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Political Philosophy Questions - Essay Example He argues that for a general will to be real, it must come from everyone for everybody hence having a formal and substantive aspect. Formally, in the sense that application of the law should be general such that it applies on every person. The general will institute human rights because it is a force of the just and good as it is independent and sovereign. Through this, the community is under the control of everybody and their rights therefore no one can take any action without the permission from all. There is removal of individual achievements through this kind of dependency because all the power is in the sovereign of the community. When there is a major decision to make, they participate in voting instead of the benefit of a debate. Political communities can be of great use in releasing people from their mistaken perception, conflicts, and corruption. General will is supreme and everyone despite his or her position in the society has to obey it fairly. The rulers in political history who have employed general will in ruling in their administration have clearly shown a vibrant benevolence and love for humanity (â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy†). Participatory democracy is the process of stressing the participation of constituents in the operation of a political system. It tries to make every member of a population make valid contribution in decision-making process. Representative democracy is the process of electing representatives through elections so that they can represent a group of people in the decision-making processes. There are two possible ways of combining both democracies through coexistence at diverse levels and complementariness. That is an interaction between participatory and representative democracies. For instance, when there is a decision to make from a political society, in order to increases participation at the local level politicians can return the power that was

Solving Equations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Solving Equations - Assignment Example In this project, Bluman (2004, p. 331) challenged students to examine an equation, x2 – x + 41, which purportedly yields prime numbers. Students choose numbers to substitute to x in the formula and observe if prime numbers occur. An added challenge was to venture into finding a number, which when substituted in the given equation, will result in a composite number. It is presupposed that a prime number is one whose factors are itself and 1, is common knowledge. On the other hand, a composite number may not be that much of a common knowledge. A definition is thus, provided: a composite number is â€Å"any whole number greater than one that is not a prime number †¦ [it] always has at least one divisor other than itself and 1† (p. 175). Based on the instructor’s specifications, numbers to be substituted should include zero (0), any two even numbers and any two odd numbers. The numbers chosen for substitution aside from 0 were: 10 and 16; and 9 and 11. Table 1 presents the computations involved in this project in five columns: the given equation, the number substituted, the computation, the result and an indicator of whether the result is a prime or a composite number. As shown in Table 1, all the five numbers substituted to the equation yielded all prime numbers. However, the greater challenge in this project was to find if the equation could also yield composite numbers. For this purpose, an attempt was made to find results which are composite number using the first 201 integers from 0 -200, which should serve as the delimitation for the scope of the substitutions. This mini-experiment revealed that the equation x2 – x + 41 does not result in all prime numbers. Substituting 0 – 40 yielded all prime numbers. From 41 onwards, many composite number outcomes were found. Table 2 shows the numbers substituted which came out with non-prime or composite results, together with the factors of the composite number other than one and itself. The substituted

Reaearch Article Analysis Essay Example for Free

Reaearch Article Analysis Essay The system of law enforcement course of action making is a perpendicular form and a parallel political dynamic. The system of law enforcement research had the knowledge and ability to apply the decision – making process within state law enforcement courses and administrative divisions can control resolutions by giving studies to meet policy maker’s needs. This document gives a schematic outlook on the system of law enforcement determination – making methods and speaks of how researchers can make his or her accomplishments pertinent within it. Purpose The system of law enforcement action adopted and pursued by government examinations aimed at the discovery and interpretation of new knowledge seeks to equip assessments and examinations of a serious offense and provides tactics for its reduction. The number in the system of law enforcement and the scientific study of crimes periodical, analysis, and a printed narrative are full of new knowledge and policy examinations. In fact, one topic has obtained reduced recognition; however, it is how the system of law enforcement action planned and administrative divisions use the system of law enforcement in programs developing and policy making. To obtain federal money each state upholds law enforcement actions by the government and plans establishments (Garrison, 2009). Government and regional police departments establish the system of judicial body, corrections, and non – profit associations obtain money through these law enforcement establishments to assist law enforcement responsi bilities. Law enforcement researchers can make his or her business more applicable to law enforcement policy makers by having knowledge of the art of science of government authority, and policy dynamics that govern how establishments function. Law enforcement principles and intentions are ethically – based entities. By this Dena means that the law enforcement principles work in an enclosed area that negotiates with confident questions of correct and incorrect what establishes fairness and prejudice as well as the attention of an individual’s obligation. In fact, the appearance of these morals explains the division of law enforcement and law enforcement policy – making establishments from other establishments for example, original or medical sciences. Dissimilar to the institutions and Dena’s conversation, law enforcement, the natural sciences does not associate the causes of human weakness (Garrison, 2009). Problem The reason for dysfunction, our, unlike hypothesis propose are inward and outward causes for example, a need of political authority and poor disorders (Garrison, 2009). Considering how these reasons are observed and defined these causes have moral meanings associated with them. Important, the law enforcement design is a subject that regular people can readily associate to and reveal views (at least in appreciation to causation) without immersion and guidance in control (Garrison, 2009). The law enforcement design transmissions on the primary surface of policy making, exercising or seeking power in the governmental or public affairs, the study of the nature and origin of ideals. Questions and answers Is the behavior of wrongdoings in a village a law enforcement matter or a public health matter? Answer – it is a law enforcement matter because law enforcement and others for example, judges, and lawyers have to decide the punishment for the criminal but the punishment for the criminal depends on what the wrong doing was. Is the answer to a wrongdoing a discipline and containment design or a medical design in which methods are the key product? Answer – in this case it would be a medical model because treatment would be the factor to the individual or individuals involved in the wrong doing. Is wrongdoing a matter of a person’s chosen conduct or is the outcome of environmental methods past the constrain or obligation of the individual? Answer – this can be both because the person chooses to conduct the wrong doing but the environmental factors for example; the individual coming from a poor neighborhood could also contribute to the individual’s action (Garrison, 2009 White, 2013). Describe the design of the study Examinations can affect the exercising or seeking power in governmental affairs, the study of the nature, and the origin of ideals concern that in turn, holds design within the law enforcement outlined establishments. To accomplish control in the resolution events the researchers must uphold both traditional esteem, and a character of presented unprejudiced examinations by policy makers (Weiss, 1976, Ross Shapiro, 1999).The theoretical probability and the absence of a political bias of the researcher are the central results to acceptability. If individuals see an analysis as too reserved or too permissive, his or her research results are not considered worthy if the decision makers do not bestow the equal political theory (Garrison, 2009). It is better for an analysis to have no political character, thus leaving his or her qualification the main representative to create opinions. The design represents how an analysis can motivate one or more important individuals of the counsel by supplying the individuals with studies that reverberates carefully with the moral and political theories to those constituents. In fact, those constituents make the whole counsel. In addition, the politics, and authority of the council will resolve if a policy conclusion will transpire and what policies, if made, researchers will transcribe to the supervisor to carry out (Garrison, 2009). The planning administrative division manages the s econd level of the planning, carries out the decisions of the goals and puts the policy into the curriculum. In fact, once the counsel informs the supervisor on the policy it is his or her responsibility to seek the details of practice commonly regarding a workers topic, and this is at the decision of the supervisor. Thus, the judgment making authority for carrying out changes are to an individual opinion maker. In addition, analysists must know what position of decision making policy or a specific responsibility or curriculum is under to decide how the analysis can be substantial. Furthermore, if an establishment needs details, evaluations, or data on policy process is in its planning notable action studies that provides transparent and operational data will have a big effect on the method (Weiss, 1976). Operational Definition From an un widely administrative system (Hall, 1989) exercising or seeking power in governmental or public affairs concern in a course of action adopted by the government there is another view to the art or science of government on decision making –political timing. The British Navy incorporated lemons in the diet of the crew members to fight a disease 263 years back after medical science demonstrated the usefulness. Although the connection separating smoking and lung cancer was made in 1950 it was not until the 1990s that a government policy was put into place to stop smoking in individuals 18 and younger (Lomas, 2000). Inductive Logic To furnish assorted control establishments and stakeholders with an examination aimed at the discovery and interoperation of new knowledge there are three processes. One a portion of the study is left out and rejects the outcome because researchers defy the outcome. Exercising or seeking power in governmental or public affairs. Two – studies center on clauses and delicate variations in information, but center on clauses and limitations not well accepted in the public policy (Ross Shapiro, 1999). Three – using the identical data conservatives makes noted facts and policy makers make a course of action adopted by the government. Ross Shapiro advises that a course of action adopted by government that studies can have exercising or seeking power in the government, and define the studies or if the examinations have worth (Ross Shapiro, 1999). Deductive Logic The success of making examinations aimed at the discovery greater, and beneficial analysis comprehend processes. There can be no individual correct opinion in government judgment making, values, and examination outcomes will never be understand or believed enough to give the conclusion in a policy dispute (Weiss, 1982). In fact, researchers who do not have the quality or power for making the last policy decision do not obtain a course of action adopted by the government. In addition, actions adopted by the government when in question about what data researchers require, researchers obtain information that is pleasant or relating to government in the researchers association (Weiss, 1982). Furthermore, actions adopted, and pursued by government makers are feeling at ease with the condition and do not alter easily. Finally, the governmental affairs use researchers to back a predetermined policy position is a worthy use of analysis because it gives individuals the general understanding f or the analysis (Weiss, 1982). Findings The significant basis that courses bring to the course of action process is a self – governing, logical method. The stakes are high and some topics are likely argued by special interest stakeholders. The data has to support credibility (Ross Shapiro, 1999). In fact, researchers should stay away from political discussion on what the researcher means for future policy making. Researchers examining analysis and outcomes based on authorities’ information, individuals should keep in mind that authorities control information is complete information. Furthermore, information can be explained lawfully in unusual ways, and the choice of possible explanations of information can come about from government actions, and have the same legitimacy (Ross Shapiro, 1999). Qualitative or Quantitative The information in this document is qualitative data because there is information and opinions on many levels. Information is part of a method that contains giving training and understanding for policy deliberations producing words for accepting dilemmas, and producing answers that happen over time (Rist, 1994). With this qualitative data consisting of values represent qualities of non-numerical categories (Bennett, Briggs, Triola, 2009). This is important because it gives information estimation, awareness of past information and analysis on what causes have been and what have not been put into place pertaining to the development (Rist, 1994). In conclusion, research is important in law enforcement policies because the information received can determine what policies have and have not been put into place, and if new policies need to be added. Researchers have to pay attention to the information collected, and have the information needed to know what can and what cannot be used. In f act, researchers give the government the last choice on rather they should use the information or not. Decisions are very important in the research area of law enforcement because the research changes therefore; researchers must have the knowledge and skills on when and when not to use specific data. References Bennett, J.O., Briggs, W.L., Triola, M.F. (2009). Statistical reasoning for everyday life (3rd ed.) .Boston, MA: Pearson/Addison Wesley Dictionary.com (2013) Garrison, A.H. (2009). The Influence of Research on Criminal Justice Policy Making. Professional Issues in Criminal Justice, 4(1), Lomas, J. (2000, Spring). Connecting research and policy. ISUMA, (), 140-144. Rist, R. (1994). Influencing the policy process with qualitative research. Handbook on qualitative research, (), . Weiss, J. (1976). Using Social Science for Social Policy. Policy Studies Journal, 4(3), 234-238. Weiss, J. (1982). Policy research in the context of diffuse decision making. The Journal of Higher Education, 53(6), 619-639.

Treatments of Parkinson’s diseases Essay Example for Free

Treatments of Parkinson’s diseases Essay Parkinson’s disease is a neurological condition that affects the sufferer’s mobility and also the speech. It affects the central nervous system leading to a person’s inability to control body movement and also speech. It is a disease whose treatment does not intend to cure it but instead, aims at controlling its manifestation. There are various ways in which this can be done. It may involve the use of drugs, performance of surgery and also physical exercise is encouraged. It progresses gradually from the early stages with mild symptoms to later stages with severe symptoms.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The disease is as a result of lowered formation and action of dopamine which is produced by the dopaminergic neurons found in the brain. This then led to the formation of drugs that will either increase the formation or mimic the actions taken by dopamine in the brain. This was important because an increase in the levels of dopamine would lead to a reduction of the effects of the disease. All the drugs used to control the disease all include dopamine as their main active agent regardless of how it works. Depending on which class of drugs it belongs to, it may either mimic or produce dopamine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among the earliest forms of treatments are the anticholinergics. These were used even before the introduction of levodopa which is the most widely used drug. The anticholinergics had very mild benefits when they were compared to the harmful side effects that followed its use. The side effects include having a dry mouth, urine retention which especially occurs among men, it also causes very severe constipation and nausea. There are some other side effects that occur that are more serious and are among the major reasons why the use of these drugs has become minimal. These include confusion memory loss and hallucination (http://www.mayoclinic.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The realization that the benefits realized were much less than the side effects it causes has led to the reduction of its prescription. Since some anti-depressants and antihistamine diphenhydramine tend to have the almost the same effects as the anticholinergics, some doctors prescribe them to older people who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Once an individual realizes that they are having hallucinations and the other severe symptoms, it is adviced that the use of the drug be stopped immediately.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Levodopa is drug that was introduced in 1967 and is currently the most commonly used drug. It is mostly addressed to as Sinemet and is used to help restore the control that one has over the muscles. It is referred to as a gold standard because it is introduced at the time when the symptoms are very mild at the onset of the disease. Once it gets into the body, it is converted inside the brain into dopamine. It therefore increases the level of dopamine that is found in the brain and counters the effects of the disease. (http://www.fdu.gov). the conversion to dopamine is what leads to the positive effects that a patient experiences when using the drug.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It however has very serious side effects which include nausea and dyskinesias (involuntary movement). This occurs because only a small percentage of it enters the dopaminergic neurons to be transformed into dopamine in the brain. The rest of it is transformed in to dopamine in the body. It therefore becomes necessary to use cardibopa which delays the metabolism of levodopa until it reaches the dopaminergic neurons in the brain. The combination hence helps reduce the side effects caused by the drug because once the metabolism takes place only in the brain it means that the side-effects are not felt as much as when it occurs in the body.   The other problem posed by the use of this drug is that its dosage needs to be increased over time. It has also been observed that it works on and off without any explained cause as to why this happens. This makes it unreliable because its effects are not constant and at times the patient gets violent attacks while still under medication. The various side effects and unreliability of levodopa leads to the necessity to combine it with various other drugs to make it more effective. Some of these drugs can be used on their own while others actually require to be used with the levedopa-cardibopa combination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A cluster of drugs called dopamine agonists are usually used in a combination with the levodopa-cardibopa drugs. They can however also be used on their own. If used without the use of cardibopa-levodopa therapy, it can only be when the diseased has not progressed far and also only works well in younger adults. In other words it is used alone when the symptoms are mild and only in younger adults. This class of drugs does not produce or help in the production of dopamine but instead imitates the effects that dopamine has in the body. (http://www.mayoclinic.com). In other words, they tend to act on behalf of dopamine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This class of drugs include; Apokyn, Requip, Parlodel and Mirapex. Parlodel used to be administered some time back but of late its use has become less. This is because it had very serious side effects that endangered the patient more than it benefited him/her. It would cause inflammation in the lungs and/or heart valves of the user and thus would lead to further deterioration of the patients’ health. In general this class of drugs has side effects that are almost similar to those of carbidopa-levodopa but with slight differences. The effects of having involuntary movement are reduced while those of hallucinations and/or sleepiness are increased.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The drug Mirapex takes up the role of dopamine in the body as it is one of the dopamine agonists. When it is used in the absence of levodopa-cardibopa, it causes a 30% improvement in the health of the patient. When used in combination, it is able to reduce the intake of the levodopa dosage by about 25%. Requip is also a dopamine agonist that can also be used either alone or with levodopa. When used together with levodopa, it can reduce the intake of the close by around 31%. The reduction of the dosage is on top of increased benefits to the patient (http://www.fda.gov). Catechol-o-methyltransferace inhibitors which are usually abbreviated as COMT inhibitors, are used block the enzymes that break down the levodopa into dopamine even before it reaches the brain thus causing severe side effects and minimal benefits to the patient. They can be used in combination with the levodopa-cardibopa therapy. The two main COMT inhibitors are Tasmar and Entacapone. Tasmar is rarely used because of its severe impact on the health of the user. It causes severe liver damage and hence is only used as a last resort if the patient has failed to respond to any other therapy (http://www.mayoclinic.com)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stalevo is the result of a combination of cardibopa, levodopa and entacapone. Entacapone does not have side-effects as severe as those of tasmar and hence is preferred than tasmar. Its major side-effect is the involuntary movements experienced by the user. It works in conjunction with the cabidopa-levodopa therapy by increasing their availability. This is done by blocking the enzymes that break down the substance into dopamine until the drug is already in the brain. This then means that the effects of cabidopa-levodopa are prolonged because they occur only in the brain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Selegiline also referred to as Eldepryl is another drug that can either be used with or without the presence of carbidopa-levodopa therapy. It works by preventing the metabolism of dopamine. It does this by slowing down the activity of one of the enzymes that metabolize dopamine. This is the monoamine oxidase B which is abbreviated as MAO-B. The use of selegiline has other positive effects like delaying the need of carbidopa-levodopa. When combined with carbidopa-levodopa it improves the effectiveness of the drug. It can however have some adverse toxic reactions when combined with Demerol which is a narcotic drug.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apart from ingesting drugs, they can be administered through the skin through the use of a silicon-based patch. Rotigotine is a dopamine agonist drug that can be administered through the skin but can only be used in the early stages of the disease. This is called Neupro-rotigotine transdermal system. The patch requires to be changed every 24 hours. It works by stimulating the dopamine receptors in the body. Its side-effects include skin reaction where the patch is hallucinations, insomnia, drowsiness, sleep-attacks, nausea, vomiting and the most severe is the reduction in blood pressure once the person stands up (http://www.fda.gov).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amantadine is another drug that is used in treatment of Parkinson’s disease but its use was discovered by accident. Initially it was to be an antiviral used in the treatment of influenza and was approved as such in 1976 by Food and Drug Administration. It was however discovered to provide relief if only short term when used alone in the early stages of the Parkinson’s disease. When it is combined with carbidopa-levodopa it can be used by those in the later stages. It has side effects that mostly involve swelling of the ankles and also turning the skin color to purple (http://www.mayodinic.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In every human beings body, there is the presence of coenzyme Q10 which is produced by the mitochondria. This enzyme is used in the transport of electrons so that they can gain energy from the oxygen inhaled. This is done in the process called cellular respiration. The levels of this enzyme are very low in those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. These people can therefore benefit greatly by having more of this enzyme which can only be done by taking supplements.   This then aids in helping slows down the onset of the disease and these supplements can be brought from a pharmacist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Apart from the use of drugs, there are various surgeries that can be used to control the effects of the disease. One of the surgeries is pallidotomy which involves the destruction of a small bit of the globus pallidus. This is because it is overactive in those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It is done by drilling a small hole in the skull and using an electric probe to do the destruction. It can only be done when the patient is sedated but awake so as the judge his or her reactions to stimuli. It is done on one side of the brain at a time and may be done more than once if necessary. Its side effects mostly involves impaired speech (http://www.fda.gov)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thalamotomy is another surgical procedure used in the control of Parkinson’s disease. It is only performed on those patients who are experiencing tremors in either the hand or the arm and these tremors become too severe to the point of disabling that person. It involves the destruction of a specific group of cells that are in the thalamus in the brain. It has been found to be successful in that it reduces or completely eliminates the tremors in around 90% of those who undergo the procedure (http://www.fda.gov).   There is also the presence of a gadget that can be equalized to the pacemaker used for cardio problems and is referred to as a â€Å"brain pacemaker† (http://www.fda.gov). This is a form of therapy is referred to as Active Tremor Control Therapy. It involves the surgical implantation of an insulated wire to the brain. It is placed in the thalamus region of the brain, the subthalamic nucleus, and also the globus pallidus area of the brain. It is referred to as a neurostimulator whose main task occurs in the process of a tremor occurring. The whole system includes three components which are: lead, extension and the neurostimulator. This system is referred to as Deep Brain Stimulation because it occurs directly inside the brain. A small hole is made in the skull and through it the lead is inserted into the brain. The lead is a very thin wire that is insulated. The tip of the lead is in contact with the area that has been targeted. Once it has been implanted, it is connected to the neurostimulator by the extension which is also an insulated wire (http://minds.nih.gov). The extension passes under the skin and moves from the head, to the neck, shoulder and finally to where the neurostimulator is located. The neurotransmitter is located either under the collarbone, in the abdomen or the lower chest area just directly under the skin. The neurotransmitter involves a battery pack that sends electrical impulses to the brain. This is done through the extension and finally the lead. When the person is undergoing tremors, he or she is supposed to pass a handheld magnet over the location of the neurostimulator. The electrical impulses that are sent by the neurostimulator work by blocking the electrical signals that are the cause of the Parkinson’s disease symptoms. These are dysfunctional brain signals and they are the cause of the tremors. This procedure is preferred because it does not destroy the nerve cells and hence when one wants to stop its use it is as easy as having the system surgically removed.   This is then makes it possible for one to use it comfortably especially as it has minimal if any side effects. This system has no reported side effects as yet as it only involves inserting and removing a piece of wire in the brain. Works cited Henkel John, Parkinson’s Disease: New Treatments Slow Onslaught of Symptoms U.S Food and Drug Administration 1998. Retrieved on 22 November 2007 from http://www.fda.gov/fdac.features/19981498.html Mayoclinic.com Tools for healthier lives Parkinson’s disease Treatment April 12 2007 Retrieved on 22 November 2007 from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/parkinsons-disease/DS00295/DSECTION=8 National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NINDS Deep Brain Stimulation For Parkinson’s Disease Information Page last update Nov 19 2007 Retrieved on 22 November 2007 from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/deep_brain_stimulation/deep_deep_stimulation.htm U.S Food and Drug Administration Neupro Patch for Parkinson’s Approved May 14 2007 Retrieved on 22 Nov 207 from http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/neupro051407.html

The Uses And Misuses Of Derivatives Finance Essay

The Uses And Misuses Of Derivatives Finance Essay Hedge funds are pools of investment that invest in almost any opportunity in any market where they foresee impressive gains at reduced risk. Hedging refers to implementing strategies that manage or protect against an identified risk exposure. They take leveraged positions in publically traded equity, debt, foreign exchange and derivatives. The primary aim of most hedge funds is to reduce volatility and risk while attempting to preserve capital and deliver positive returns under all market conditions (Friedland., 2008). Derivatives provide institutions the opportunity to break financial risks into smaller components and then to buy or sell those components to manage risk. Hedge funds hold a number of assets; they use derivatives to protect against the adverse price movement of these assets. Hedge funds play more of the role of speculators than of hedgers. They use derivatives when buying and selling assets and by putting long-short positions, they seek to hedge themselves against broad market moves while profiting from changes in the relative value of the instruments they go long or short. Hedge funds offer a variety of unique strategies to utilize when investing in hedge funds, these are called hedging techniques. These include Market Neutral Strategies, Event Drive / Special Situations Strategies, Long Short, Global Macro, Sector and Country, Dynamic Strategies, Funds of Funds, Funds of Funds of Funds etc. (http://www.global-derivatives.com) Market Neutral Strategies are used in Market Neutral Funds. They tend to take positions which offset each other through both a long and short position simultaneously to reduce their risk exposure. These strategies include Long Short and Convertible Arbitrage. Long-Short methodology attempts to reduce market risk by taking both long and short positions in the market. This can be done by taking a long position in undervalued assed and a short position in overvalued ones. In these funds, it is anticipated that the undervalued assets will increase in value than any losses incurred from the overvalued assets, or vice versa. Convertible arbitrage is a relatively more complex strategy. In this convertible securities such as convertible bonds which can be converted into normal shares or bonds are bought, to take advantage of any price discrepancies between the convertible security and that of the exchangeable underlying. A position can be taken for buying convertible security or selling the underlying asset to realise any difference in prices. (http://www.global-derivatives.com) Event Driven / Special Situations Strategies intend to make profit from events related to particular companies. Event Driven funds take a bet that something in the future will happen which will affect the company and its assets in a particular way. These funds include Distressed Securities and Merger/ Risk Arbitrage; these securities include debt and equity of companies undergoing reorganization or bankruptcy, it is hoped that companies will recover and increase in value. These securities have very low value and can be given to the management of a company during the restructuring process. Merger/Risk Arbitrage funds tend to analyze companies which are potential takeover or merger targets by taking two positions. An example of it would be to buy the stocks of a company that is being acquired with hope that its prices will rise and to sell stocks of the company that is acquiring, in anticipation that its value might fall. (http://www.global-derivatives.com) Long Short is another strategy which includes buying and selling a security based on the sentiments in the market or of a company. It includes short selling, long, and growth fund. Short selling occurs when a person anticipates that the price will fall in future and sells a stock which it does not possess, through borrowing. If the price really falls in future, they buy the lot from the market at a lower price and return it to the one they borrowed from earlier at lower price, thus making a profit. Long is another strategy in hedge funds, it is a fixed income instrument that benefits from the rise in the price of the held asset. They often utilize leveraged positions to maximize returns. Global Macro is an economics based strategy which intends to benefit from shifts in global economic conditions such as inflation, interest rates and other macro-economic factors; a common example of it is the use of interest rate derivatives for speculative purposes, they give profit from economic movements within particular countries. Sector and Country strategies include sector funds and emerging markets. Sector funds are hedge funds that specialize within a particular industry for example technology, textile etc. these investments consist of long or short positions in stock, debt, or even derivatives on the stocks. Emerging markets include funds that emphasize on emerging markets with less-developed economies and aim to profit from market growth which influence the securities positively. Securities in these hedge funds include sovereign debt or corporate securities with the anticipation that their prices will rise with economic growth. Dynamic strategies include elements such as market timings and opportunistic. Strategy of market timing involves the right timing of the market. It includes making profit based on the correct timing of investments across markets by moving between various asset classes depending upon the view of the manager regarding the market environment. Opportunistic strategy involves switching across asset classes, they use a number of strategies mentioned above depending upon the managers discretion, and the reason for switching strategies is to make the most profit. (http://www.global-derivatives.com) Funds of funds is the strategy of hedge funds to invest in other hedge funds in order to diversify the risk and exposure. The success of these funds depends upon the managers way of handling the funds rather than the performance of the actual investments. Funds of funds of funds or F3s is a new concept to hedge the risk exposure in terms of investments by reducing the volatility of the funds itself. They are good for high risk-averse investors willing to invest in the hedge funds industry. (http://www.global-derivatives.com) Amaranth Advisors LLC (Amaranth) Formation and Background Amaranth comprises of Amaranth LLC and Amaranth Advisors LLC. It was founded by Nick Maounis (Maounis) in 2000 as a multi-strategy hedge fund with a special focus on convertible arbitrage (selling (short) equity stocks and at the same time buying (long) convertibles of the same company creating a delta neutral portfolio), with its headquarter in Greenwich, Connecticut and with approximately $600 million in capital. Maounis experience was in managing a number of various arbitrage accounts in the US, Japan, Europe and Canada. The aim was to make profits from the small discrepancies in prices of stocks and bonds, through its structure of three principal funds Amaranth Partners LLC, Amaranth Capital Partners LLC, and Amaranth International Limited and the 27 investment professionals. It sought to employ a group of arbitrage trading strategies particularly featuring convertible bonds, stocks of merging companies and utilities. However, Over the years, the trading activity of Amaranth ex panded into merger arbitrage (making a riskless profit by purchasing individual stocks of two merging companies and selling them together), leveraged loans (loans given/extended to individuals or companies that already have large debts on their books), blank-check companies (developing companies) ,volatility trading arbitrage (buying or selling an option on an underlying instrument and selling or buying a varying percentage of the underlying instrument this to gain from the difference between the implied volatility of an option and forecasted future probable volatility of the corresponding underlying instrument), long/short equity, and energy trading. (ICMR, 2010) Strategy As noted above, at the time of formations and throughout its term, the firm emphasized that it was a multi-strategy hedge fund, but as it could be noted in the aftermaths that most of the firms investments and losses were in natural gas derivatives. Amaranths basic strategy comprised of trading in the Natural Gas market; the firm took a long position in winters, with hope that the prices will rise, especially when the demand for natural gas exceeds the supply and storage capacity due to the cold season. Its winter months were November, December, January, February and March. Amaranth used to take a short position in summers when it anticipated that the prices will fall. Part of its strategy also included taking short position in April and long position in March. Moreover, another strategy was to purchase call options on winter months and put options on non-winter months. Amaranth used to bet that natural gas prices will rise, and the spreads in March and April prices will rise as well. Nature of Natural Gas Market By nature, the natural gas market is very risky and volatile. Majorly because there is a commercial need for the commodity. This situation creates a need for an institution to control its supply and storage. In America, there has been inadequate storage capacity of natural gas for peak the winter season demand. Therefore the price of natural gas is higher in winters; firstly due high demand and secondly due to increase the incentives to store natural gas. These factors raise the prices of winter natural gas contracts to an all time high level. Apart from that, the market of natural gas is also volatile because the natural gas production in America is lower than the rise in the demand for natural gas. U.S. Natural Gas markets are shielded from the global energy factors because a very small amount of US natural gas need are met by imports of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG). Commodities trades require less margin money (collateral) than other markets. On the main exchanges, trades post 10 percent of their positions value, whereas in the stock market, 50 percent is common. (Davis, Sender, Zuckerman, 2006). After gaining credit from banks, it is very easy for commodity hedge funds to get highly leveraged quickly. Traders of natural gas have a number of options. The largest exchange for trading natural gas is the NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) which has standardized futures contracts up to few delivery months up to 5 years that are traded on the exchange. Traders can also use ICE (Intercontinental Exchange) which is an over-the-counter market for trading natural gas futures contracts. There has been a lot of debate if hedge funds have an impact on energy trading. According to Gary Gensler (a former Goldman Sachs banker and treasury department official and chairman of the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) the chief regulator for energy futures energy trading said I believe that excessive speculation in commodity futures can cause sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in commodity prices,. He also expressed his opinion that the rapid growth of commodity index funds and increased hedge fund allocation to commodity assets contributed to the bubble in commodity prices. (Delamaide, Jan 11, 2010) Performance The founders original expertise was in convertible bonds (Till, 2006). The firm later specialized in leveraged loans, blank-check companies and in energy trading. Till June 30th 2006, energy trades accounted for about half of the funds capital and generated about 75% of their profits. (Till, 2006) In 2002 Amaranth started trading with JP Morgan Chase, in energy commodity trading. The winters of 2003 were exceptionally cold and lasted till February, this raised the prices of natural gas manifolds, and this in turn gave huge profits to Amaranth due to its long position in winters. By 2004-5 Amaranth shifted most of its investments into energy trading. The company used to make huge profits from placing spread trades and placing bullish bets on energy in 2005. In the same year America was severely hit by Hurricane Katrina, which adversely impacted it natural gas and oil production and refining capacity. This raised the price of natural gas and Amaranth reaped huge profits out of it. The accounts of Amaranth LLC showed robust performance by the company since its inception. The compound annual return for the period September 2000-November 2005 according to media reports was 14.72 net of all costs. (Gupta Kazemi) The chart below shows Amaranths returns till May 2005. The chart compares the Amaranths returns against CISDM Equal Weighted Hedge Fund Index and CISDM Convertible Arbitrage Index. Amaranth had gained a noteworthy position in May 2005, in CISDM Equal Weighted Hedge Fund Index. The chart show the volatility Amaranth was facing in May 2005, this volatility had brought high returns in the past but things then started taking the turn towards the wrong side. Amaranths returns; source: (Gupta Kazemi) NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) noticed Amaranths considerable open interest of 51% in Aug 2006 in September natural gas futures contract, which would expire at the end of the month. NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange) brought its concerns into notice to Amaranth. Amaranth not only reduced their September but also Octobers positions, as per the directions of NYMEX (New York Mercantile Exchange). Alongside Amaranth increased their positions in October and September positions under ICE contracts, thus escalating their overall positions in natural gas. (Gupta Kazemi) According to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, investors in Amaranths funds included a number of Wall Street banks including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group and Deutsche Bank AG. (Burton Leising, 2006) Amaranth was marketing energy and commodities fund to open in December 2006 of about $5 billion. The fund was to be managed by Hunter and Jeff Baired, co-head of Amaranths Global energy and commodities business. But unfortunately the events that followed didnt allow it to happen. (Burton Leising, 2006) Collapse and Beyond Amaranth used to bet that natural gas prices will rise, and the spreads in March and April prices will rise as well. However in 2006, so did not happen and gas prices began to decline due to rising inventories leaving Amaranth on the wrong side of the market trend and consequently reducing its portfolio value of $9.2 billion by less than half. Headed by Brian Hunter, it seemed that Amaranth had not anticipated the rise in the natural gas storage capacity, and the weather pattern bringing a warmer winter. It was in a weeks time that Amaranth lost 65% of its $9.2 billion assets. On September 14 alone, the fund lost $681 million from its natural gas exposure. On September 20th 2006, Amaranth sold its entire energy trading portfolio in a flurry to J.P. Morgan Chase and Citadel Investment Group. It did so at significant discounts to the portfolios then mark-to-market value. (Till, 2006) At the time of liquidation of Amaranth, the spread on gas future declined. The spread on positions held by Amaranth were $2.85 in late August, but after the liquidation had reached below $0.75. (MORGENSON ANDERSON, September 20, 2006). This indicates the lower price expectations in both the bid and ask price for every $1 invested in Amaranths holdings. When Amaranth Advisors LLC announced that it had suffered losses just as big as LTCMs, markets did not respond for Amaranth the way as they did for LTCM (Long Term Capital Management). New York Fed did not hold summit meeting for a bailout plan; but JP. Morgan Co. and Merrill Lynch Co started selling off Amaranths portfolio of natural gas futures. The co-founder of Energy Hedge Fund Centre (which tracks 520 energy funds) said, There is not systematic risk. The market can absorb this. (Mufson, 2006). The reasons for such a reaction were that, firstly Amaranth (although was doing rash trading) but borrowed less heavily and had less leverage than LTCM (Long Term Capital Management); secondly its positions were smaller and focused in natural gas futures. LTCM s failure threatened the stability of banks, whereas Amaranths failure only hurt imprudent investors in the natural gas market who hadnt done any research before investing. Amaranths co-founder and chief executive, Nicholas Maounis, said in his letter to investors that the fund was aggressively reducing our natural gas exposure to meet payments to creditors. The said that there was large scale fluctuations in the value of the fund, which was up sharply in August, would be down 35 percent for the year after the sell-off. Later Maounis said that the conditions in the natural gas market deteriorated and market liquidity dried up so quickly that the fund was unable to unwind its energy positions. He said it became clear that we couldnt trade out of it. Amaranth had no choice but to sell its positions at a huge loss because the fund was faced with margin calls and couldnt borrow anymore because of the liquidity problem that emerged once news of its losses hit the market. Maounis apologized to the institutional investors, pension funds and wealthy individuals who lost money as a result of the bad trades. He said We feel bad about losing our money. We feel even worse about losing your money. (CBC-News, 2006) Officially at Amaranth desperately tried to sell the fund to Citigroup. But despite the extensive talks and negotiations, Citigroup decided to walk away from making any deal. (Taulli, Sep 29th 2006 ) On July 25, 2007, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Amaranth and head energy trader Brian Hunter with Attempted Manipulation of the Price of Natural Gas Futures including making false statements to the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has also charged Amaranth and its traders with market manipulation. Amaranth filed a lawsuit against JP Morgan claiming US$ 1 billion in damages, on the grounds that the bank interfered in the companys work to make a deal with Goldman Sachs and Citadel Investments. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) later announced a settlement with Amaranths defendants. However Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) did not withdraw its charges on Amaranth and on August 12, 2009, the federal court ordered Amaranth to pay a $7.5 million civil monetary penalty. The court also enjoins Amaranth from violating the anti-manipulation provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. (Release, 2009) Amaranth then sued Touradji and his employees (Touradji Capital Management LP), by filing a complaint on September 18, 2006 in New York Supreme court in Manhattan, seeking at least $350 million for claims including breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. Amaranth says that Touradji Capital Management LP breached two contracts agreed to in September 2006 regarding the transfer and purchase of Amaranths base-metals portfolio. According to the official documents, Touradji Capital Management LP used the information to recover profits obtained by defendants through improper trading practices and misuse of plaintiffs propriety and confidential information. Maounis, through a spokesman, refused to comment on the Touradji Capital Management LP suit (Chanjaroen, 2006). However in September 2009, Amaranth withdrew the summon it filed against Touradji Capital Management. Neither of the parties made a payment of any kind due to the withdrawal of notice. After the fall of Amaranth, Goldman Sachs was quick to come into action, and struck a deal to take over hedge fund manager of Amaranth Advisor LLCs lease at Greenwich America. Goldman occupied about 124,000 square feet at the property, which had served at Amaranths headquarters before the company was wound up in September. Amaranths lease was to expire in at the end of 2015 and had a rate of about $35 per square foot. (Ambroz, April 10, 2007) Internal control or Management of Amaranth Maouniss original expertise was in convertible bonds. In mid 2004 Maounis hired Brian Hunter (Hunter) an energy trader who was working for Deutshe Bank energy trading desk. Calgary-based Hunter was Amaranths head energy trader, who was given a free hand to trade the commodity market, due to his past experience of taking huge positions and making huge profits in the natural gas market. Maounis was impressed that Hunters made hundreds of millions of dollars (around 1 billion) for the firm in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina sent natural gas prices soaring, made the 32-year-old Canadian a co-head of commodities trading. Maounis let Hunter increase the size of his natural gas positions so that they became more than half of the entire firms exposure. This was against Amaranths claim of maintaining a multi-strategy fund. Before Hunters arrival, all commodities positions made up about 20 percent of Amaranths portfolio with natural gas having roughly 7 percent share. Amaranths partners had a confidence built on past success and they thought that they had a fool-proof strategy (taking long position in winters and short in summers); the company had reaped huge profits in 2002-2005 from this strategy. Amaranths website said moving nimbly and effectively within an ever-changing investment landscape and said that its employees possess fearlessness with respect to complexity, learning, as well as invention, and continuously strive for perfection. Maounis, said he had chosen the companys name, which means unfading in Greek. According to the wall street journal, Brian Hunters had so much success in trading natural gas futures, or bets, on the future prices of the commodity, that Amaranth allowed him to work from his home in Calgary, where he drove a Ferrari in summer and a Bentley in winters. (Hedge fund: a gamble too far, 2006, September 20). Analysts estimate that in order to fund his positions, Hunter was borrowing $8 for every $1 of Amaranths own funds. When the bet went in his favour, he could pay back the debt and keep the rest of the profit for Amaranth. As the bets started to go against him September 2006, his borrowing amplified his losses. (Hedge fund: a gamble too far, 2006, September 20). It is commonly believed that hedge funds improve the efficiency of the financial markets by introducing liquidity and innovation (Hedge fund: a gamble too far, 2006, September 20). However Amaranths collapse shows that the hedge fund managers earn for their lavish salaries only and not for the investors who have put up their earnings and savings in their funds. Operational risk is the risk associated with the internal management of the company and the probability of making wrong decisions that might harm the performance of the firm. Amaranth seemed to be suffering highly from operational risk. Hunters had a target of making $2 billion for the year at the end of August 2006. Analysts comment of such a target that Hunters must have had an unconsciously large position for this market, One of the biggest players in the energy markets, such as Goldman Sachs Group, would take up positions less than a tenth as big as Hunters, traders said. Hunter was involved in rash trading in the market as his positions were often twice as big as the next biggest. It is also said that in Amaranth, there was an exclusive risk manager for every trading book, who sat with the risk takers on the trading desk. (http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Finance/Collapse-Amaranth%20Advisors-Case%20Studies.htm#Risk_Management)The risk managers were well qualified and had advance degrees. Paul Touradji, founder and managing partner of Touradji Capital Management, said was obvious about risk control and not about commodities. Touradji admitted that he exited the natural gas market for a year because Amaranth had entered the market, comparing its presence with that of well-financed poker player sitting down with poorer players and making big bets. I cant think of a right counterstrategy other than to say, I am going to be at the bar until youre done, Touradji said. (http://www.hedgefundintelligence.com/Event.aspx?ProductID=7035ElementID=4983, 2006) Problems Diversification is the key element of all investment portfolios. It reduces the unsystematic risk of instability in any part of the economy. Amaranth specialized in the natural gas industry so much that it failed to realise that if it took any incorrect venture at any point in time, it would not have to face severe consequences. This is counted as a factor of poor risk management. One of the biggest issues with hedge funds is that there is lack of transparency for investors and they have no idea as to what the fund is doing with their money. Most hedge funds make money with the performance fees that are generated when the fund achieves larger gains; the bigger the gains the larger the fees for the hedge funds. If the funds stays still or falls, the performance fee is exactly the same. This type of fee structure can force hedge fund traders to implement exceedingly risky strategies. Much of the blame for what happened to Amaranth is being put on Brian Hunters, although he had a strategy, experience and understanding in the natural gas market; which worked well with various weather shocks, but the fund manager failed to take into account the rise in storage capacity of natural gas. The arrival of a relatively warm winter did not raise the demand of natural gas as much as in the previous years. These factors did not increase the price of natural gas as much, thus creating problems for Amaranth which has a long position. Amaranth was operating on a high leverage. As told earlier, Amaranth was operating on an 8:1 of debt to equity ratio. This amplified the credit problems for Amaranth because once it started facing liquidity problems; it ran out of cash to maintain its cash flows. After its collapse but before liquidating, Amaranth placed restrictions on its investors to withdraw holdings of cash. That is, they were allowed to withdraw for certain number of days but were required to submit the amount before the end of the term because inability to do so resulted in a penalty. Investors were not allowed their savings beyond 7.5% of their savings. (MORGENSON ANDERSON, September 20, 2006). The bankruptcy of funds causes damage to a number of individuals and companies that have their stake with them. In the Case of Amaranth, Morgan Stanley, invested $126 million, or about 5 percent, of its $2.3 billion funds of hedge funds in Amaranth. Even New York Fed Governor Timothy F. Geithner warned that hedge fund failures could hurt market participants other than those investors and lenders who have chosen to do business directly with those funds. (Mufson, 2006). This is because the instability created in the market (because of the bankruptcy of the company and the loss of a lot of people) can result in a systemic risk, which influences other sectors as well. It is commonly said that Amaranths systems did not measure risks correctly and did not take steps that would reduce the risk. The risk models that were employed by hedge funds use historic data, but the natural gas markets in 2006 were more volatile than any other year since 2001, making models less useful. A managing director of Lyster Watson Co, an advisory firm that invests in hedge funds for clients but not with Amaranth said, It was a total failure of risk control to put your entire business at risk and not seem to know it. They were more leveraged than they realised. (Davis, Sender, Zuckerman, 2006). Lessons to be learnt Derivatives as we know are risky sources of investments, and there a number of lessons that one can learn from the incident of Amaranth. Before making an investment (esp. in sector fund) it is important to analyze the performance of the sector relating to the profits and losses, during the past few years. A monthly sector analysis reveals that a -24% monthly loss is normal and the monthly volatility of the energy strategies was around 12% (Till, 2006), therefore due consideration should be made by investors before investing in such an industry. The second factor that fund managers should consider is of marketability or liquidity, which is the ease with which the contracts can be sold into the market again. The exchange traded futures market of natural gas contracts is way smaller than the over-the-counter natural gas positions. This should put the question in investors minds that in case the market of natural gas declines so how will they sell their contracts and liquidate their position. The strategy of Amaranth did not include an exit strategy. The following case of MotherRock also proves this point. Before the fall of Amaranth, on August 2, 2006 MotherRock, a natural-gas-oriented hedge fund had announced that it was shutting down, its losses had reached up to $300 million; it had made a wrong short position and was therefore forced to liquidate due to mounting losses. This should have sent alarming bell to the investors in Amaranth to secure their position in the market and they make sure that the dont face liquidity risk in near future (liquidity risk explained later). All successful investors have an exit strategy as part of their main strategy; liquidity is one of the four core factors to consider when investing in the market, these factors are risk, return, liquidity and maturity. Liquidity risk includes the risk that liabilities cannot be met when they fall due and can only be met at an uneconomic price. This risk can be accounted for by widening the bid/offer spread. An institution might lose liquidity if its credit ratings fall, it experiences sudden unexpected cash outflows or some other event that causes the counterparties to avoid trading with or lending to the institution. A firm can also be exposed to liquidity risk if markets on which it depends are subject to loss of liquidity. Liquidity risk tends to compound other risks. If a trading organization has a position in an illiquid asset, its limited ability to liquidate that position at short notice will compound its market risk. Suppose a firm has offsetting cash flows with two different parties on a given day. If the counterparty that owes it a payment defaults, the firm will have to raise cash from other sources to make its payment. Should it be unable to make its payment, it will default too. Here liquidity risk is compounding credit risk. A position can be hedged against market risk, through diversification of the portfolio by including assets with different unsystemic risks, but still has liquidity risk. Amaranths investments were high-risk funds that lacked liquidity due to the nature of the natural gas futures market. They did not have any counter party to take their position under a week, when they needed it most. One reason that can explain this liquidity problem is that the counter parties had already locked their position in the forward contracts relating to production or storage. It seemed that due to their past experience, of success in assuming long position in winters and short position in summers, Amaranth failed to anticipate the liquidity risk they were getting into by being unable to find a counter party. (Till, 2006). This was the job of the funds risks managers to employ scenario analysis based on this past events. Taking all the factors mentioned above proves that Amaranth was taking immense risk with respect to liquidity. Amaranth was giving the natural gas comodity market a service by providing liquidity to the participants who cou

Meaning and Importance of Physics :: essays research papers

What is Physics? The Meaning and Importance During the seventeenth century, the modern science of physics started to emerge and become a widespread tool used around the world. Many prominent people contributed to the build up of this fascinating field and managed to generally define it as the science of matter and energy and their interactions. However, as we know, physics is much more than that. It explains the world around us in every form imaginable. The study of physics is a fundamental science that helps the advancing knowledge of the natural world, technology and aids in the other sciences and in our economy. Without the field of physics, the world today would be a complete mystery, everything would be different because of the significance physics has on our life as individuals and as a society. In the natural world, physicists find new discoveries constantly. Some of these discoveries include the study of motion and forces. The well-known scientist, Isaac Newton, came up with the three laws of motion, which state rules and facts about the movement of an object. Our textbook states the laws of motion, as ?A body in motion will remain in motion at a constant speed and direction unless an outside force acts upon it. The net force acting upon an object is directly related to the mass and acceleration of the object resulting acceleration is in the direction of the net force, which is the vector sum of all forces acting upon the object. Finally, the third law of motion states that when one object applies a force to another, the other object applies the same amount of force back to the first object, but in opposite directions.? With these laws of motion, we can understand in detail how our world works. Also, that the movement of an object is more complex than a simple push. This discovery is taught to students all over the world because of its great importance and will continue to enhance the knowledge of the mystery of our earth. The importance of physics not only lies in the discoveries of the natural world, but in the technology in our modern lives. Today we use many gadgets in our everyday tasks, which act as convenient aids to all of our needs. Some of these little novelties are cell phones, radios, computers, lasers used in eye surgery, fiber optics used in phone lines, calculators, hearing aids, and even global positioning systems.

Capital Punishment :: essays research papers fc

Introduction This day in age murderers’ actions are getting more and more incomprehensive. They are no longer just committing murder: they are torturing, mutilating, and engaging in grossly inappropriate acts against fellow human beings. Behaviors such as this will continue if nothing is done to stop them. The death penalty is a humane way to punish the convicted and deter these gruesome acts. Early as 1930, we can find the first recorded execution. Between the times of 1930 to 1967 there was a recorded number of 3,859 people executed. The following nine years would bring victory for those against capital punishment, there was no executions done in this time frame. Gregg vs. Georgia, Supreme Court of 1976 made a ruling that â€Å"the death penalty does not violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment.† The death penalty has been accepted by thirty-nine states of America (Newton, 1983).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the basics in understanding capital punishment is the methods of which are used. Which will be the first of things I will be presenting. I will be showing how selections of death row are made. The last of subject matters that I will be touching on are the problems with the process of capital punishment and a possible more effective approach. I will also be concluding my findings and ending with a thought of my own. Methods of Execution In the United States today, there are five existing methods of execution. These methods are used to kill convicted criminals that have been given the sentence of the death penalty. The different methods are; lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, hanging, and firing squad shootings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lethal injection is currently used by thirty-six states in America. It is the most commonly used from of execution in the U.S. The preparation begins outside of the chamber with the use of a gurney. The convict is held to the gurney by wrist and ankle straps. There is then a cardiac monitor and stethoscope attached and started. In each arm there is a saline intravenous line. The convict is then covered by a sheet. The lines are turned off and the felon receives the first injection of sodium thiopental. This puts the felon to sleep. They are then injected with Pavulon, which relaxes all of the muscles in the body and stops breathing. Shortly after, the felon dies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next method of execution used is electrocution. This method is done by putting the person in a wooden chair, which they are secured to by leather straps.

The Spirit of Public Administration by H George Frederickson

H. George Frederickson†s â€Å"The Spirit of Public Administration† is an informative yet drab look at motivating public administrators. Frederickson discusses a wide variety of topics that would be useful to any public administrator, but the verbiage used is a bit difficult for an individual that may be entering into the service field â€Å"The Spirit of Public Administration is broken down into three parts. These parts are: Part I: Governance, Politics, and the Public Part III: Ethics, Citizenship, and Benevolence in Public Administration Frederickson did take the initiative to explain public administration and some of its functions before going in-depth on different facets of the role. Some great topics discussed were governance, fairness and social equity, and ethics and public administration. Frederickson begins in Chapter 1 by explaining that â€Å"public administration is both a profession and field of study (p. 19).† This statement is very exact. Often times public administrators focus on the profession and do not practice studying their role in society. â€Å"The word administration is the subject of extended study, analysis, and discourse (p. 19).† Meaning the role of the public administrator is to lead along with learning as they progress through their careers. Also, in the chapter, Frederickson addresses ways in which to encourage citizen involvement in government. Frederickson acknowledges Benjamin Barber, Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age, 11-point suggestion in achieving the goal: 2. Television town meetings and a civic communications cooperative 3. Civic education and equal access to information: a civic education postal act and a civic videotext service. 4. Supplementary institutions, including representative town meetings, office holding by lot, decriminalization, and lay justice 5. A national initiative and referendum process 7. Election by slot; sortition and rotation 8. Vouchers and the market approach to public choice 9. National citizenship and common action: universal citizen service and related volunteer programs and training and employment opportunities 10. Neighborhood citizenship and common action: extensive volunteerism and sweat-equity Frederickson evaluates that some of these suggestions may be impractical. As an african-american citizen, all of the suggestions seemed impractical. Often times, minority populations do not have the time to participate in meetings and volunteerism. A more effective way may be informative newsletters that provide alternate solutions that are not as time consuming. Chapter 2 and 3 discusses the political aspect of public administration and governance. In Chapter2, Frederickson discusses the theory on which his book is based upon, the Hamiltonian tradition. This chapter makes valid points in how important it is for administrators to be versed in politics. Administrators are not delegated power through the U.S. Constitution, but state constitutions are political processes allow for administrators to be more involved in government. Through this vital tool, administrators are able to profoundly assist the public. After addressing the political aspect, Frederickson makes a smooth transition in Chapter 3 to discuss governance. Frederickson points out that there are several different definitions in defining governance. Frederickson makes a profound remark by stating, â€Å"it is likely that governance is the preferred modern theory that attempts to marry politics to administration (p. 92).† Frederickson also list five vital points pertaining to governance (p.92): 2. Governance is a remarkable fusion of popular literature on government reform, popular executive politics, serious empirical scholarship, and modern public administration theory. 3. Public administration as governance has a better windup than pitch. 4. The use of governance as a surrogate for public administration masks the fundamental issue of what ought to be the role of non-elected public officials in a democratic party There must always be boundaries set between governing and governance. â€Å"In public administration as governance, it is essential that we do not diminish our institutions to such an extent that we lose our capacity to support the development of sound public policy, as well as our ability to effectively implement that policy (p.94).† Chapter 4 begins Part II a very important aspect of Public Administration, Issues of Fairness. During Chapter 4, Frederickson utilizes different philosophers to express how discretion is part of government and non-profit organizational life. To further reiterate the importance of this topic, Frederickson discusses in Chapter 5 the specifics of fairness and social equity in the theory and practice of public administration. Frederickson reviews theoretical, legal, and analytical developments of the past twenty years as it pertains to fairness and social equity. These two chapters were crucial in actually focusing on the â€Å"spirit† of public administration due to the increased amount of fraud and lack of faith citizens have for government. Chapter 4 and 5 validates intergenerational concepts of public administration that are discussed in Chapter 6. The success of public administrators is based on future generations. Frederickson believes moral and ethical responsibility should be extended to future generations. As he states, â€Å"philosophy and the practical affairs of people is to practice fairness, justice and equity†¦.There can be no moral community without some agreed upon arrangements for all three (p.150).† Morality in government has been extended from generation to generation. Government has tried to fix moral wrongs through creating the public school system to provide education for all, the abolition of slavery, and constantly raising concerns of ecology for future generations. â€Å"Following the logic of the command theory of social equity, public officials should seek to adopt and implement policies that support intergenerational social equity (p.151).† For example, Garrett Hardin (1980) addressed problems of overpopulation. Because of this concern for upcoming generations, contraceptives and education have been provided to all classes to preserve the nation economy, which allows society to sustain or improve its current condition. Privatization has also been a concern addressed for future generations. Frederickson expresses, â€Å"government through public policy must intervene in the private market to regulate in favor of future generations (p.153).† Just as government and administrators have done in the past, regulating private companies will protect the interest of the public while allowing government to continue generating revenue for future generations. Chapters 7 through 11 compose Part III of The Spirit of Public Administration. Part III discusses Ethics, Citizenship, and Benevolence in Public Administration. Chapter 7 discusses very controversial issues on ethics in public administration. The chapter effectively begins by discussing how government reform of the early 20th Century has affected American government today and that the current practices of ethic reform will have the same lasting effect. In early government..†Increasing administrative capacity and decreasing politics reduced corruption. In the present case, we are moving in the opposite direction, reducing administrative capacity and increasing political control, with the probability that more rather than less corruption will result (p.181).† A point that Frederickson stated was that â€Å"today, government provides more controls on political corruption than in the past (p.181).† Based on recent events that continuously occur, i.e. embezzlement, fraud, that statement may have been slightly skewed. Frederickson validates the statement by addressing innovative tasks that are or should be followed in ethics research agenda: 1. Standards of right and wrong vary significantly from context to context. 2. Researchers should compare ethical standards and behavior between settings, professions, and cultures. 3. Researchers should assess the effect on the behavior of government officials, both political and administrative of traditional procedural and managerial controls compared with modern approaches. 5. Assess the influence of privatization on governmental corruption and ethics 6. Measure the effects of reduced administrative discretion on both administrative effectiveness and ethics. Chapters 8 through 11 focused on boundaries and roles that the public administrator should adhere to and how negative views of government effect administrators in a positive and negative light. These chapters seem to become redundant and uninformative because they seem to focus more on a national level than local and most administrators† function at a state or local capacity. In Chapter 8 Frederickson discusses several points on the pros and cons of negative views of government: Good results of negative opinions of government: 2. Funding for schools and higher standards Bad results (less ethical government) 1. Due to downsizing of merit civil servants, the loss of institutional memory and the â€Å"hollowing out† of government. 2. Deregulation. No rules which gives incentive to fraud). 3. Contract employees (high kickback and fraud) 4. Authorities and special districts (fraud on fee-for-service contracts). This statement plainly shows that government is in need of much work and public administrators will continue to have the hardest task of gaining citizen trust based on government†s profound corruption. Though Frederickson should have definitely created an upbeat book to keep the â€Å"spirit† of public administration motivated, he brought forth some valid points that a public administrator could utilize. The conclusions of his overly long chapters helped the reader to stay abreast on the points that he was expressing in each chapter. Due to time constraints of most administrators, a cliff notes version or quick reference book would be an ideal tool for public servants on all levels.

Report on the Condition of Psychological Pressure of College Students

Title page Resisting Pressure: Survey on Chongqing University's Students' Psychological Pressure Group6 Supervisor: Wang Xu Chongqing University May 7, 2012 Abstract page Abstract This survey examined the condition of Chongqing university's students' psychological health. Our main aim is to find ways to deal with the pressure we students face. 100 Chongqing university's students were surveyed on both pressure they face and ways they use to deal with that. We predicted that academic pressure,emotional pressure and the pressure of employment can be huge to our students and it's hard for them to deal with that.Actually,pressure from the above three aspects was not that huge for our students,no matter they are science students or arts students,girls or boys. Also,it seems like that our students have their own set of ways to handle these pressure. Still,there are a certain number of students find they struggle to handle pressure from the three aspects,suggesting that Chongqing university 's students mainly stay a healthy psychological condition,but there are still things we can do to improve that. Body Resisting Pressure: Survey on Chongqing University's Students' Psychological PressureNowadays,with the rapid development of China's economy,psychological pressure more and more appear in newspaper,TV,or someone's life,especially,a university student's life. Many factors can be pressure for a university student. For example,academic grade point(GPA),emotional problems or job-hunting difficulties. After summarizing most pressure factors, we classified them to three aspects:academic pressure,emotional pressure and pressure of the employment. So,how the three pressure source affect university students and how the students deal with that?As to psychological sources of stress for college students, foreign research results are generally believed to include academic factors, social factors, life and economic factors, career factors. [i] For example, Misra's research shows tha t the Students' largest source of stress are factors that directly related to learning , such as test scores and test results, the burden of learning;The second largest source of pressure are social environment-related factors such as economic problems, lack of time to communicate with parents and friends. ii]The Armeli group's study shows that students's anxiety caused by the pressure of two aspects;on the one hand, it's high academic expectations that caused them anxious;on the other hand, it is the will of self-development and maintaining good interpersonal relationships contributes to that anxiety. [iii]Domestic scholars found that the pressure sense of college students mostly come from life events when thay are trying to adapt to college life. Severe psychological problems are caused especially by life events which are linked to their personal lives, their parents and family, learning progress , and most of them are negative events. iv]Li Lun and Wang Qian, according to whose r esearch,they pointed out that the psychological pressure of college students can be summarized into the three categories: pressure from family, work , learning problems ,love and interpersonal problems. [v]Li Hong and Mei JinRong's study indicates that college students' main pressure source including:study,job-hunting,interpersonal relationships,life problems,romance,economy,society,tests,family,life and study environment,future,competence,personal affairs(development,outlook,confidence),health,competitiveness. 5 categories in total. [vi] However,it's not hard to see that the studies which have been done mostly are qualitative analysis . Most researches focused on frequency and type of event that caused pressure,but lack the discovery of the psychological experience of degree research. Therefore, we want to use the college students' psychological pressure gauge as a theoretical basis to provide a scientific analysis of mental health status of college students so to put forward some constructive ideas for college students to stay psychological health. . Method ParticipantsParticipants included 100 Chongqing university students (56 females, 44males;61 majoring in science,19 majoring in arts),most of them are in their freshman year,the other are junior students. Materials Stress in college students is texted by 25 questions listed in each of 100 questionnaires. We tested it in three different aspects–academic pressure,emotional pressure and the pressure of employment. participants are requested to make multiple-choice or single choice so let us know the degree of their psychological pressure. Pressure degree is measured on the basis of Students pressure measure table. vii]And ways to handle pressure are concluded from these analysis . Procedure As our first step,we gave away 100 questionnaires ,then we collected the data and made an analysis of it using the Students Pressure Measure Table,at last,we put forward our view and suggestions. Note:M–male( 44); F–female(56);ST–science students(61);AT–arts students(39) Academic pressure group Emotional pressure group I. [pic] [pic] Unexpectedly,a significant difference between science students and arts students was found. However,there was no obvious difference between boys and girls was indicated.We deduced that the former phenomenon was due to the following reasons:For one thing,science students are busy doing their homework or experiments ,when compared with arts students,they have less time to experience loneness and their life maybe much simpler. This point of view was supported by Figure 2—Academic performance was more important for science students than arts students. As the saying goes:Simple is beautiful. Simple life lead to a higher happiness level. For another,it's a new trend which was observed by many sociologists that boys majoring in science are more appealing for girls than boys majoring in arts.Combining with the fact that Chongqing Universi ty's Male to Female ratio is 7 to 1. It's no surprise that boys majoring in science are less pressed by factors like romance but money is a problem. Also unexpectedly,we found that girls we surveyed put more attention the academic factors,Perhaps that's why girls feel more happy than boys–girlfriends' mood may always changing but your GPA is always there. Is that a reason why girls are always studying hard than boys in college? II. [pic] [pic] [pic] We predicted that girls are more easy to feel lonely and have a stronger urge of taking with others.Moreover,they might be more good at dealing with their psychological pressure. Our survey results partly support our idea:most girls are not always troubled with the feeling of loneliness and girls do know how to deal with own pressure—they write letters or diaries;they can cry out or go shopping with friends.. Unexpectedly,compared with boys,they are less likely to talk about their problems than boys. So,why? After looking t hrough our data collecting results,here is the reason:among the 54 girls we surveyed,39 are majoring in science.As we all know,in some science majors,girls are rare,say,The Civil Engineering,so it's no wonder they don't like to talk about it:female friends around them,especially in a same class are are. So,how about build a relationship with boys,treat them as their â€Å"girlfriends†? III. [pic] [pic] [pic] Unexpectedly,it seems like that most students who received our survey all have a familiar results according to the figure1,2,3. Half students will be pressed by others' views ,pressed by the mainstream definition of success,and pressed by dealing interpersonal relationships no matter he or she,science or arts.This phenomenon can be explained by the theory of Group Psychological Effects. ,which says because of the need of seeking belonging sense,individuals will obey the norms and standards of a certain group. However,Group Psychological Effects are not equivalent to each member,that's why the other choose an opposite choice. Also unexpectedly,girls are more pressured by â€Å"success† though we traditionally thought that boy was the one who shouldered too heavy an expectation. All in all,we found that students in Chongqing University generally stay in a healthy emotional pressure level,and the existence of there pressure sources might be a good thing.Because it can help college students mature both physically and mentally thus they will learn to understand others and get along well with themselves. We always believe that EQ is more important than IQ,so the pressure can increase their EQ,even stimulate them to rebuild a better self. Job-hunting pressure group Discussion The purpose of this study was to find how different levels of pressure college students bear and put forward constructive methods to deal with that.We predicted that a large number of college students are experiencing or have experienced different levels of depression caused by pressure. In this study,those students that we tested mostly showed healthy psychological condition and a good knowledge of ways to let out pressure. Thus,our hypothesis was not supported by this study. But,how and why? Is it true that college students are living happily and without pressure given by society. We postulate that this result can be explained by the following reasons:First of all,the concept of â€Å"vanity† may explain this unusual phenomenon.Fear of being other people see themselves vulnerable and the trend to pretend optimism as all people like optimistic make them choose some options which are not true. Secondly,our participants mainly are freshmen,in their first year in university,the impact of pressure from the three sources are small as everything is new which attract their most attention. Last but not least,it's maybe cultural background that affects our students choice. For example,most westerners are used to express theirs feelings directly,however,we Chinese are more familiar with words like†just so-so†,†not bad†,which are not clear to escribe our feelings. And that may make an effect on our survey. In conclusion, the results of this study provide some fascinating insights into the pressure level Chongqing University students feel. Contrary to what we predicted, most students may indeed always stay in a good psychological condition and know a lot to get alone with their emotion. This research and other research to follow will contribute to knowledge of the main condition of Chongqing University students and good ways to deal with pressure. —and possible advantages—of skipping meals.The mixed results of this study suggest that we have much more to learn about resisting pressure in college. ———————– [i] Rawson H E,Bloomer K,Kendall A. Stress,anxiety,depression and physical illness in college students. [J]. The Journal of Genetic Psycholog y,1999,155(3);321-330. [ii] Misra R,Mc Kean M. College students' academic stress and its relation to their anxiety,time management and leisure satisfaction[J]. American of Health Studies,2000,16(1);41-51. [iii] Armeli S,Gunthert K C,Cohen L H.Stressor appraisals,coping,and post-event outcomes:The dimensionality and antecedents of stress-related growth[J]. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology,2001,20(3);366-395. [iv] Guo JinWu,She ShuangYu. A Preliminary Study of College Students' Sense of Life Stress. [J]Psychological Science,1996,19(2),;123-124. [v] Li Lun,Wang Qian. University Students' Mental Stress: Life Events And Coping Style Characteristics[J],Medicine And Society. 2002,8(1);27-31. [vi] Li Hong,Mei JinRong. Development of Stress Scale for College Students. [J]. Applied Psychology,2002,8(1),:27-31.