American Liberty: From Past to Present

Liberty is a concept that is commonly used by the average American in his daily affairs. A lexical definition of liberty states that it refers to the freedom to believe or act without the restriction of an unnecessary force. As far as the individual is concerned, liberty is the capacity of a person to act according to his will. But do we really know the history of America’s liberty? Do we really understand the historical events that have shaped the liberty that we know of and enjoy in these contemporary times?In this paper, I will be examining the roots of American liberty from the founding era to the modern debates surrounding the concept of liberty. I will also be looking into the proponents of liberty and those who have shared a significant role in defining and upholding liberty as we know it today. The Founding Era Hundreds of years before today, America was an entirely different place. Long before the creation of the Constitution, different European countries have already established their own settlements across America. The Spaniards and the French were among the early colonizers until the time of the British.During the rule of the British Empire, severe shortage in human labor resulted to enslavement and indentured servitude of the natives. In the years that followed, conflicts broke-out between the Native Americans and the English settlers. It should be noted, however, that Virginia already had black indentured servants in 1619 after being settled by Englishmen in 1607 (â€Å"Virginia Records Timeline: 1553-1743,† http://memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjvatm3. html), thereby suggesting that the attainment of genuine liberty from the colonizers is yet to be realized.It is perhaps during the time when the English pilgrims came to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 and established their colonies that the concept of liberty came about, not the least in the context of the pre-Constitution history of America. As Mark Sargent w rites in his article â€Å"The Conservative Covenant: The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth,† some of the passengers in the Mayflower ship â€Å"who were not travelling to the New World for religious reasons would insist upon complete freedom when they stepped ashore† since the New World is already â€Å"outside the territory covered in their patent from the [British] crown† (Sargent, p.236). After the Seven Years War between the British forces and the alliance of French and American Indian forces in 1763, the British Empire enforced a series of taxes on the Americans so as to cover a portion of the cost for defending the colony. Since the Americans considered themselves as subjects of the King, they understood that they had the same rights to that of the King’s subjects living in Great Britain.However, the Sugar Act, Currency Act—both passed in 1764—the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Act of 1767, to name a few, compelled the Americans to take drastic measures to send the message to the British Empire that they were being treated as though they were less than the King’s subjects in Great Britain (Jensen, p. 186). Moreover, the taxes were enforced despite the lack of representation of the American colonists in the Westminster Parliament.One of the famous protests taken by the Americans is the Boston Tea Party in 1773 where numerous crates containing tea that belonged to the British East India Company were destroyed aboard ships in Boston Harbor. As a result, the British government passed a series of acts popularly known as the Intolerable Acts in 1774, further fanning the growing oppression felt by the American colonists. Eventually, the American Revolution ensued beginning in as early as 1775 when British forces confiscated arms and arrested revolutionaries in Concord, thereby sparking the first hostilities after the Intolerable Acts were passed (Jensen, p.434). From 1775 to 1783, the colonies tha t formed their own independent states fought as one as the Thirteen Colonies of North America. Lasting for roughly eight years, the American Revolutionary War ended in the ratification of the Treaty of Paris which formally recognized the Independence of America from the British Empire. Between these years, the colonies underwent several changes which constitute part of the developments toward the framing of the Constitution (Bobrick, p. 88).One of these changes is the shift towards the acceptance of notable republican ideals, such as liberty and inalienable rights as core values, among several members of the colonies. Moreover, the republican ideals of the time saw corruption as the greatest of all threats to liberty. In essence, the concept of liberty during the founding era revolves around the liberation of the American colonies from the British Empire and the growing oppression it gave to the colonists through taxation burdens and a series of repressive acts.For the American colo nists, liberty meant the severing of its ties from the British government and the creation of its own independent nation recognized by other countries. The writing and ratification of the Constitution On the fourth of July in 1776, the second Continental Congress signed and officially adopted the United States Declaration of Independence which established the separation of the thirteen American colonies—the colonies which were at war with Great Britain from 1775—from the British Empire.Although others say that the founding moment of America is not on July 4 but two days earlier (Groom, http://independent. co. uk/arts-entertainment/books/review/the-fourth-of-july-and-the-founding-of-america-by-peter-de-bolla-455878. html), it remains a fact that there came a point in time when America finally declared its independence. The evolution of American political theory—especially that which is concerned with liberty—can be better understood during the confrontatio n over the writing and the ratification of the Constitution.In fact, the Declaration asserts that people have unalienable rights which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of Confederation served as the constitution which governed the thirteen states as part of its alliance called the â€Å"United States of America†. After being ratified in 1781, the â€Å"United States of America† was brought as a political union under a confederate government in order to defend better the liberties of the people and of each state. Meaning, each state retained its independence and sovereignty despite being politically held together as part of the union.However, the Articles were not without opposition and criticisms from several notable political thinkers of the time. For example, James Madison saw several main flaws in the Articles of Confederation that were alarming, or threatened the very existence and purpose of the Articles first and foremost. For one, Madison was concerned about the dangers posed by the divided republics or â€Å"factions† given that their interest may stand in conflict to the interests of others. Madison argues in The Federalist, specifically in â€Å"Federalist No.10,† that in order to guard the citizens from the dangers posed by these individuals who have contradicting interests, a large republic should be created, a republic that will safeguard the citizens from the possible harms brought by other states. It is likewise important to note that the union is not a homogenous group of citizens with the same political inclinations. Madison also argues that for the government to become effective it needs to be a hybrid of a national and a federal constitution.The government should be balanced in the sense that it should be federal in some aspects and republican in others instead of giving more weight to each separate state over the larger republic. In his â€Å"Federalist No. 39,† Madison prop oses and describes a republic government guided by three fundamental principles: the derivation of the government’s legitimate power through the consent of the people, representatives elected as administrators in the government, and a limitation on the length of the terms of service rendered by the representatives (Kobylka and Carter, p.191). Madison also pointed out in â€Å"Federalist No. 51† that there should be checks and balances in the government, specifically among the judicial, legislative and the executive branches. The judiciary, therefore, is at par with the other two inasmuch as each of the other two are at par with one another. Giving one of the three more powers disables the other two to check if that branch is still functioning within its perimeters.As a result, the more powerful branch becomes a partisan branch which consequently creates dangers to the liberties of the people. Another important part of the evolution of American political theory is the c ontention raised by Patrick Henry. In a letter sent to Robert Pleasants in January 18, 1773, Patrick Henry sees the relationship between the new government and the institution of slavery as a contradiction precisely because while the new government is said to be founded on liberty, there the evil that is slavery persisted under the new government.During those times, slavery was not yet abolished and that the new government was unable to meet the challenge of living up to its roles and foundations by failing to address the institution of slavery and demolishing it altogether. Moreover, Henry understood the efforts of secession from the hands of England were a matter of freedom or slavery, which can also be looked upon as a question of either a freedom from or a continuation of tax slavery from the British.While Madison was part of the â€Å"Federalists† who were supporting the ratification of the Constitution, the â€Å"Anti-Federalists† apparently argued against its ra tification. It was Patrick Henry who led the group in criticizing the contents of the proposed Constitution. For instance, Henry argued that the phrase â€Å"We the People† in the Preamble of the Constitution was misleading primarily because it was not necessarily the people who agreed and created the proposed Constitution but the representatives of each participating state.Thus, Henry argues that the Preamble should instead read as â€Å"We the States† which in turn delegated power to the union. Another argument of the Anti-Federalists is the claim that the central government and, therefore, the central power might result to a revival of the monarchic type of rule reminiscent of the British Empire which the Patriots fought. The fear is that, by delegating a considerable amount of power to the central government, the liberties of the individual states and the people are weakened as a result.Nevertheless, the Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 and later rati fied in each of the state conventions held. The anti-federalists share a significant role in strengthening some of the points of the Constitution through the succeeding amendments. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are popularly known as the Bill of Rights; it is largely influenced by the arguments of the anti-federalists. For the most part, the Bill of Rights aimed to guarantee that Congress shall not create laws which stand against the rights and liberties of the citizens of the nation.In effect, the Bill of Rights limits the power of the federal government in order to secure the liberties of the people in the United States. In â€Å"Federalist No. 84,† Alexander Hamilton argues against the Bill of Rights for the reason that the American citizens will not have to necessarily surrender their rights as a result of the ratification of the Constitution and, thus, the protection of the rights through the Bill is unnecessary. Moreover, Hamilton also argues that creatin g a Bill of Rights would effectively limit the rights of the people since those that are not listed in the Bill will not be considered as rights.In response to the argument, the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution was introduced and ratified later on. The amendment specifically states that the rights of the people are not to be limited to those which are listed in the Constitution. As it can be observed, the time before and during the ratification of the Constitution and the succeeding amendments made reflect how the people at the time sought to protect the liberties that they have realized and gained after the American Revolution and the defeat of the British Empire.Moreover, the debates at that time revolved around the issue of what to do with the liberties gained and how to secure them for the coming generations. One side—the Anti-Federalists—argues that the central government weakens the independence and sovereignty of the states as well as the rights and liberties of the people. The other side—the Federalists—argues that the Constitution will help preserve and strengthen the Union. Modern debates In the years that followed, debates over the interpretation of the Constitution, the role of the government and the place of the individual in American society have escalated.In his essay â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† (popularly known as â€Å"Civil Disobedience†) first published in 1849, Henry David Thoreau asserts that the people should not simply remain passive and allow the government to be an agent of injustice. Much of Thoreau’s political beliefs eventually follow that same philosophy. In his work Walden published in 1854, Thoreau attempts to live a life of solitude in a cabin, away from the reaches of the society. In one of his days in Walden, Thoreau was arrested for the charge of not paying his taxes. His defense was that he refuses to pay federal taxes to a government that tolerates slavery.In ess ence, the fact that Thoreau decided to stay in solitude for approximately two years (although the contents of Walden was made to appear as though all the events happened within just a year) signifies his decision not to conform to the dictates of the society. On the contrary, Thoreau lived a life of liberty, free to do anything that he chooses without the institutions of society restraining him. The same sentiment—non-conformity or disobedience to the dictates of the society, especially the government—echoes through in Thoreau’s other work, which is â€Å"Civil Disobedience†.Thoreau asserts that â€Å"the only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think [is] right† (Thoreau, http://sniggle. net/Experiment/index. php? entry=rtcg#p04). That passage, along with the rest of â€Å"Civil Disobedience† and its theme in general, implies that people have an inherent liberty, which is the liberty to do any time what the y think is right. Taken altogether in the context of the concept of liberty, Thoreau seems to suggest that people ought to disobey a government that oppresses other people since each individual has inalienable rights that nobody can take away, not even the government.In the face of oppression such as slavery (which was still very much a part of America within twenty years after the ratification of the original Constitution since the issue of slavery was a very delicate and contentious matter during the Philadelphia Convention), Thoreau even suggested that Abolitionists should not only confine themselves with the mere thought of abolishing slavery but resisting the instructions of the government such as paying taxes.Thus, as a reading of Thoreau’s works would suggest, to have liberty is to act upon crucial issues instead of passively allowing contentious actions of the government to thrive and continue. I cannot help but think that Thoreau’s concept of liberty is someth ing that is absolute, which I also take to mean as confined only within one’s disposition instead of being limited by the government. Moreover, since Thoreau suggests that liberty is doing any time what one thinks is right an individual should first know if what he or she thinks is indeed right instead of being wrong.Charles Madison notes that Thoreau was heavily concerned with the â€Å"ever pressing problem of how one might earn a living and remain free† (Madison, p. 110). I cannot help but begin to think that Thoreau attempts at embodying and enacting his individualistic beliefs. As Leigh Kathryn Jenco argues, â€Å"The theory and practice of democracy fundamentally conflict with Thoreau’s conviction in moral autonomy and conscientious action† (Jenco, p.355); democracy is essentially the rule of the majority which consequently ignores the decisions of the minority. However, I think that much of Thoreau’s thoughts were heavily influenced by the c ircumstances during his time. His aversion towards the imposed taxation policy of the government stems from the fact that the government at that time still tolerates slavery which is directly against an individual’s liberty.Thoreau’s insight on the perceived conflict between the liberties being upheld by the Constitution and the actual state of the government during his time points us to the ideal that the people are sovereign because the people is the ultimate source of power of the government. If it is indeed the case that the Constitution upholds the rights of individuals including the right to liberty, it seems appropriate to consider as well why slavery at that time was not immediately abolished entirely especially at the time when the Constitution was ratified.In fact, it was only in 1865 under the Thirteenth Amendment—about 80 years after the original Constitution was adopted—when slavery was legally abolished and when Congress was given the power to finally enforce abolition. During the time when slavery was not yet abolished and immediately after the original Constitution was ratified, it can be said that not all citizens living in America were given full liberties. Several people were still laboring as slaves to their American masters.That is perhaps an often neglected piece of history that undermines the spirit of creating a Constitution and a government that will uphold the rights of the people. The pre-American Revolutionary war, the founding era, the ratification of the original Constitution, the creation of the Bill of Rights and the other succeeding amendments to the Constitution—all these stand as testimonies to the evolution of American political thought. The concept of liberty has played an important role in the development of the federal government and the Constitution.Although the history of American political thought might reveal that the attainment of liberty through the years has never been a smooth jo urney, contemporary America has reaped a large amount of benefits from the sacrifices and ideas of the Founding Fathers and all the people who lived and died during those times. Some might even argue that liberty is yet to be truly attained in today’s American society. But if liberty is yet to be attained in practice, how is it possible that people are given the right to air their grievances before the government?How is it possible that people have the liberty to do as they please so long as what they do does not conflict with what is legal? In any case, the present American Constitution guarantees the liberty of the people and that there are institutions which seek to promote and guard that important right. Had it been the case that the early Americans swallowed everything that the British Empire throw in their way and that the Founding Fathers abandoned the creation and amendment of the Constitution, the United States of America would not have been the land of the free and the home of the brave.Works Cited Bobrick, Benson. Fight for Freedom: The American Revolutionary War. 1st ed. New York, NY: Atheneum, 2004. Groom, Nick. â€Å"The Fourth of July and the Founding of America, by Peter De Bolla†. 2007. Independent. Co. Uk. October 16 2008. . Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist, on the New Constitution. 1787. October 18, 2008 . Jenco, Leigh Kathryn. â€Å"Thoreau’s Critique of Democracy. † The Review of Politics 65. 3 (2003): 355-81. Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution 1763-1776. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004. Kobylka, Joseph F. , and Bradley Kent Carter. â€Å"Madison, The Federalist, & the Constitutional Order: Human Nature & Institutional Structure. † Polity 20.2 (1987): 190-208. Madison, Charles. â€Å"Henry David Thoreau: Transcendental Individualist. † Ethics 54. 2 (1944): 110-23. Sargent, Mark L. â€Å"The Conservative Covenant: The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth. † The New England Quarterly 61. 2 (1988): 233-51. Thoreau, Henry David. â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government†. 1849. October 18 2008. . â€Å"Virginia Records Timeline: 1553-1743†. The Library of Congress. October 17 2008. .

An Abuse of Power Essay

Abigail is the most prominent example of power and manipulation, with far worse repercussions, fooling the court and pretending to be God’s voice to get what she wants. Hale declares before the court that â€Å"private vengeance is working through this testimony,† (105) when Proctor attempts to show the court Abigail’s machinations. She recognizes the Puritan’s fear of God, and their fear of witches, to manipulate those in power, gaining her own strength in the court and causing mass hysteria to turn in her favor. Her rise to power begins even before the hysteria, starting with the group of girls from the forest, but her tactics are no different: manipulate others to save herself. They fear being caught, and she plays to their terror, telling them if they â€Å"breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, [then she] will come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder [them]† (19). This threat crafts her iron grip on the girls, allowing her to lead them against the town, lying and condemning folk to save themselves from strife over their actions. Abigail’s hold remains on the girls all through the play, forcing even the most honest to turn from truth and continue their lies â€Å"when people accused of witchery confronted [them] in court, [they] would faint, saying their spirits came out of their bodies and choked [them]† (98). This is evident in the scene where Mary confesses their lies, admitting they â€Å"never saw no spirits† and â€Å"were never threatened or afflicted by any manifest of the Devil or the Devil’s agents† (98). Abigail manipulates the court, using the power she’s gained to say she does God’s work, and Mary falls back to her, carrying out Abigail’s wishes by condemning John Proctor. This is similar to how Abigail got rid of Elizabeth by accusing her in her newfound place of power, so she could be with John, a fact that he addresses, refusing to â€Å"give [his] wife to vengeance† (73) when they come to arrest her. Abigail’s attitude of controlling the girls by vicious fear of witchery is easily comparable to that of the boy Jack in Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Jack recognizes the weakness in the group of boys, using their gnawing fear of â€Å"the beast† to turn them to his side, against Ralph. Though much more direct, Jack uses his power to threaten the boys on Ralph’s side, such as Samneric, to hail to savagery and chaos, much like Abigail did to Mary. He dominates the island, getting what he wants, and eliminating those such as Piggy and Ralph, who stand in his way. Abigail’s tactic of lying, manipulating fear and abusing her power in court grants her the same reward of getting her way, and pushing aside enemies like Elisabeth. The only difference is that Abigail’s actions come with far bigger consequences, more than Parris, Putnam or Danforth, fleshed out on a larger scale of victims who fell in the face of her machinations. In the end, Arthur Miller’s Crucible is a fine study of manipulation and abuse of power, shown in various forms, through vicious antagonists, always exploiting Salem’s fear to achieve their own selfish goals and further themselves on the social food chain. What Miller is perhaps attempting to demonstrate through this play is that those in positions of power will always abuse it, especially when faith is involved, because of the â€Å"manipulation of that faith to create fear and control† (Bardem), as have done Danforth, Parris, Putnam and Abigail.

Conceptualizing Addiction Paper Essay

The history of addiction goes back centuries, and unfortunately, there is still a long way to go for people to realize the effects of chemical substances do more harm than good. The difference between drug use and abuse relies heavily on a person’s dependence on the substance. The line between the differences is often very fine. Depending on other factors involved, such as morals, values, environment, and genetic predisposition, the line will most likely be crossed without regard to the consequences until treatment and recovery are the only options left. This is essay compares two theoretical explanations for addiction, including a psychological theory, and a biological theory. In addition, the writer will describe the viewpoints of each model, and how their effectiveness in addiction prevention and intervention. The Psychological Model The psychological model includes cognitive behavioral theories, psychodynamic theories, and the learning theory. Cognitive-behavioral theories associate a person’s motivation for taking drugs with their need for variety (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). People often look for fulfillment and pleasure as they carry out their day-to-day responsibilities, thus finding chemical substances a way to escape reality or a reward. Psychodynamic theories suggest more complex explanations are the reason behind drug addiction. Childhood experiences and structure within the family determine a person’s ability to cope socially and emotionally. Thus, the person uses drugs to forget about the pain or provide a false sense of security. Finally, the learning theory of addiction implies that people learn over time and exposure to drugs that anxiety, tension, and stress all decrease with use, becoming a reinforcer for the user (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). Each  of theories explain addiction in terms of a malfunctioning thought process or learning process that can be reversed. For less severe cases of addiction, this type of treatment is effective. However, usually, a multi-treatment approach is necessary. Psychological models focus on the emotion and the mind, while biological models, as discussed next, find that addictive behaviors depend on the structure and chemistry in the body’s genetic makeup. The Biological Model â€Å"The statistical associations between genetic factors and alcohol abuse are very strong† (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). However, there is still much debate over the validity of genetics as a definite cause for addiction. Perhaps, the reason for this is because the number of children of alcoholics that go on to become alcoholics is still small. Additionally, genetic predisposition cannot explain the number of cases of alcoholics that did not come from alcoholic parents or families. In fact, addiction can be so prominent, that it remains even after the drug use has ended (McNeece & DiNitto, 2012). Therefore, the biological theory should not be ruled as it is based on what takes place in the body. There is no other theory that can explain how a person could still have addiction symptoms when the substance is absent from their system. Predisposition implies that there is a mutation or malfunction in the body that appears to cause a craving or susceptibility to becoming addicted t o a substance. Comparing Psychological and Biological Models Both of the psychological and biological models explain addiction. In addition, both models take a holistic approach in their arguments. They simply emphasize a certain portion of the body and based their studies around that. Interestingly, the theories related to the psychological model are all insightful to how humans think and interact, however, they do not explain well the interactions that take place once a substance takes over quite like the biological model. Finally, the main shortcoming of the psychological model of addiction is the treatment approaches, which attempt to retrain a person’s thinking. Since biologists have proved there are specific genetic components of addiction that are naturally either present or absent, causing a mutation, a simple change of thought will not be enough  to cure addiction in most cases. Treatment for Addiction Prevention and Intervention Out of the two models, the biological model has impressive supporting evidence regarding treatment for addiction. Perhaps, this is because of the perspective of how addiction affects people. It is easier to find a solution to a problem that is explained with support, rather than common thought patterns shared between people. Addiction may have specific characteristics that users share, but ultimately, it will affect everyone differently and many factors will be involved. Problems associated with drug abuse affect areas such as the digestive, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems, which is another advantage of biological treatment. Biologists study these systems and there functions and how addiction affects them. Thus, allowing them to incorporate treatment techniques that specialize in minimizing the effects of addiction while restoring the body’s systems. The duration, extent, and resiliency of the person still plays a vital role in the recovery and treatment process. Conclusion The history of addiction continues to stir controversy as to how it starts, who it affects, and why. While many choose to use chemical substances to get variety out of life, there are several that become addicted who cannot even give an answer as to why they continue to use. This is a sign of chemical dependency and typically means that the body and mind have now been altered in such a way that there will be adverse effects if and when a person chooses to stop using. Often, the decision to stop using is not voluntary. For many, there is not a realization that there is even a problem. There are just as many models that explain addiction as there are reasons that people become addicted. This essay explored the psychological and biological models of addiction. The psychological model deals with the mind and emotions, suggesting that people learn and adapt to certain behaviors over time. The biological model explains addiction as being present in all of us prior to being born, depending on the genetic predisposition and mutations. Arguably, no theory is better than another at explaining addiction. However, there is substantial evidence that supports  the biological model and its treatment when dealing with people with addictions. Reference McNeece, C.A., & DiNitto, D.M. (2012). Chemical Dependency: A systems approach (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Economic Forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economic Forecasting - Essay Example The annual inflation rates in the US in the decade starting 2004 can be seen in Fig. 1. In this graph, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published Current Consumer Price Index has been used to calculate the rates of inflation. Fig. 1 shows that in the last decade, the maximum inflation rate in the US has been recorded at 4.1% in 2007 whereas the lowest inflation rate was recorded at 0.1% in 2008. Coincidentally, the highest and the lowest values of inflation rate in the US have been recorded in one year from the start to the end of 2007. This may be attributed to the fact that the global financial recession had started in 2008, which is also why, the maximum variation in the inflation rate in one year was recorded from 2008 to 2009 when it soared up from the lowest 0.1% straight to 2.7%. The second largest variation was recorded from 2006 to 2007 when the inflation rate at increased from 2.5% to 4.1%. The year from 2010 to 2011 showed the third largest increase in inflation rate in the US from 1.5% to 3%. There has been very little variation in the rate of inflation in the US in the years from 2012 to 2014 compared to the preceding years when the rate of inflation unpredictably jumped up or down from one year to the next from 2005 to 2012. The annual inflation rate in the US was recorded at 1.7% in October 2014 for the third consecutive month because the decline in prices of energy sufficiently offset the increased costs of food and shelter. Energy prices year-on-year reduced 1.6% with a drop in the cost of fuel oil and gasoline by 6.5% and 5% respectively whereas the cost of food saw an increase by 3.1% (Trading Economics, 2014). Following an increase of 1.7% in the previous month, the index for all items less energy and food increased by 1.8%. There was seen an increase in the cost of services less energy by 2.5% with the index of transportation and shelter increasing by 1.8%

Multinational Corporation Expansion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Multinational Corporation Expansion - Essay Example The international finance dimension of political risks and foreign exchange encompass all the foreign exchange and political regulation put by a country to foreign investors. Almost every country has unique political and foreign exchange risks. By venturing into Ugandan market, PWC would be exposing itself to risks associated with this country. It would also be exposed to opportunities that arise due to both the regulation of foreign exchange and other political regulations. Uganda is a country that has few foreign exchange restrictions and does not charge very high interest rates to external investors. Therefore, this would be a potential opportunity for PWC in its attempt to venture into this market. However, this country is very politically unstable and its elections are always accompanied by violence. Therefore, its economy fluctuates from time to time, which can raise a potential risk to PWC. The market imperfection dimension of international finance encompasses legal restrictions, transaction/ transportation costs, information asymmetry, and discriminatory taxation (Eun & Resnick, 2007). This increases the cost of operation or even complicates the operations of the international organizations. Uganda has very few legal restrictions and discriminatory taxation and therefore this would act as a potential opportunity for PWC in its attempt to venture into this Ugandan market. However, Uganda is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the East African region. As a result, it has under-developed infrastructure and very few transactional services. Therefore, PWC might encounter high transactional/transportation cost as well as the unavailability of transactional/ transportation services. Expanded opportunity set dimension of international finance is the location of production in any country or region to maximize performance and raise funds (Eun & Resnick, 2007). In

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program Research Paper

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program - Research Paper Example This approach will result in a higher production rate thereby satisfying the both the local and international demand. Currently the company has about 600 workers doing assembly work on the floor and the number is expected to increase to 3,500 when the production of the F-35 jet fighter hits full throttle. There will be three shifts a day and approximately one aircraft will be complete per working day. As the plane moves through the assembly line there are various workstations to cater for different needs of the variants of the aircraft. With this kind of strategy the company plans to make around 130 planes in the early stages of production as it prepares for a high rate phase in later years (Finn, 2013). For a while the production of the F-35 struggled to meet its required target numbers. This however changed in 2013 as everything changed for the better. It was then that progress in flight tests improved and the technical risks that were there before overcame. The production program was able to surpass 10,000 flight hours in September of 2013, the same amount which had been achieved in the previous years. Overall around 8,000 thousand tests have been performed and the marine variant has achieved 500 successful vertical landings (Von, 2013). Such landings proved the capability of the aircraft to land in areas with no landing strips. Through this the program was able to evaluate whether the desired performance goals had been achieved. The success of this tests led to increase in production of the aircraft from 11 planes in 2011 to 30 in 2012 and finally 36 in 2013.By November 2014 a total of 115 F-35’s had been produced. This can also be accredited to the fact that Lockheed Mar tin, the Corporation making the jet fighter adopted the automated moving line assembly system for production. With this increased production numbers the unit price for each aircraft witnessed a great drop. The drop is so big that the

Integrated marketing communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Integrated marketing communication - Assignment Example She also needs to know whether the products and brand are too expensive or whether some are too cheap that they appear not to be of good quality. Such information can be used to increase stocking of the products and brands in various joints, improve pricing and the quality of the products and brands. The types of data the distributorship should collect about business customers include the information on how many business customers, for instance restaurants and drinking establishments, prominently display her products, whether the business customers give her products a good, fair or poor shelf space in off-sale outlets or whether they stock it at all. She can use this information to build a bond with the business customers to help increase the sales of Aheuser-Busch brands. This information can also be used to create a new link with business customers that do not stock Aheuser-Busch brands in their shelves to make them start selling the brand. It can also help her convince the business customers to give a good or fair shelf space in off-sale outlets by coming to an agreeable business terms with them (Clow & Baack, 2012). The distributorship can build frequency or loyalty program in the area. In this scenario, effective frequency will work rather than loyalty because there are many competitors and building loyalty would be difficult. A frequency will work in the sense that the distributorship will advertise the brand over a period of time in a platform of choice before a response is made. The distributorship can do this after collecting data on individual customers and business customers. The brand is not popular like other brands like Heineken and frequency will advertise the brand more. The sales approach that should be used for various businesses by the sales staff that sells Anheuser-Busch products is the networker approach. This approach is where the sales

Understanding the experiences of special education students who did Dissertation

Understanding the experiences of special education students who did not complete high school - Dissertation Example The purpose of this qualitative case study is to identify the common experiences of special education students who decide to drop-out of high school and the common factors that contribute to the decision to drop-out of high school. The case study will be comprised of male and female special education high school students who dropped out of school at Ridgeville High School (pseudonym for a Virginia high school) during their third and fourth years in the school years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The sample population will consist of students between the ages of 16-20. The sampling size will be 15 although 33 students will be initially contacted. The study will be a phenomenological study and will therefore be conducted by virtue of semi-structured interviews designed to identify the common experiences of students who dropped out of school close to graduation. The results of the semi-structured interview will be compared and analysed by virtue of a qualitative data analysis. The results wil l be coded and categorized generally using a phenomenological reductionism method. Once the data are collated and sorted and commonalities are identified, all possible conclusions will be analysed so that a final conclusion can be drawn. Using information from interviews with recent dropouts from Ridgeville High School, in conjunction with findings from current literature, this study will contribute to the development of recommendations for more effective dropout prevention programs for special education students. Descriptors: Achievement gap Disability Drop-out Drop-out prevention IDEA 2004 Dropping out IEP Inclusion NCLB QDA Special Education Student Engagement ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii CHAPTER ONE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Background 2 Problem Statement 12 Purpose of the Study 15 Research Questions 15 Scope of the Study 16 Limitations and Delimitations 17 Definition of Terms 19 Research Plan 21 CHAPTER TWO 24 LITERATURE REVIEW 2 4 Introduction 24 Overview 25 Institutional reasons for dropping out 38 School belonging and dropout rates 44 Special education services and dropout rates 47 Exit exams 49 Inclusion: Does it reduce dropout rates? 54 Teachers and inclusion 64 Dropout prevention programs 71 IEP programming 74 Transition programming 76 Programs attending to social and academic elements of student lives: Finn’s participation-identification model of school engagement-belonging 79 School belonging and engagement and special education 91 Case studies of best practice school engagement programs that have improved the retention level of special education students in high school 98 Conclusion 102 CHAPTER THREE 104 METHODOLOGY 104 Introduction 104 Research Questions 105 Design 106 Active Observation 112 Intensive Interview 113 Data Collection Procedures 116 In-depth Interviews 117 The Researcher’s Role 120 Qualitative Data Analysis 120 The Coding Process

Knowledge management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Knowledge management - Essay Example Conversely, knowledge management views knowledge as a tacit concept that is resident in individuals and organizations. Information management seeks to enhance internal processes and ensure the quality of business operations whilst knowledge management seeks to facilitate knowledge-rich relations and support ongoing innovation and development. Most Information Management Systems are based on business processes that are clearly defined, relatively stable and involve similar objects such as applications, invoices, and orders. Examples of such business processes include production processes, logistics, and administration. On the other hand, knowledge management systems are dynamic and difficult to predict because different times and situations need different knowledge. The people involved in knowledge management do not need information. Rather, they look for background information, argumentations, conclusions, methods, opinions, analyses and best practices. Knowledge management strategy is primarily the domain of human resource director and its significance to the director explains this. The strategy helps formalize, store, share, distribute, and coordinate an organization’s knowledge assets all of which are functions that touch on the work of the human resource director. The director is able to modify the culture of an organization in such a way that the organization’s values and norms seamlessly connect with the knowledge management strategy. Human resource director is able to promote a climate of trust and commitment in an organization in order to make it easy to manage knowledge. This director has the capacity to organize an organization’s employees in to networks, teams, and communities of practice in order to enhance sharing of knowledge. The strategy also helps human resource director to influence an organization to adopt policies that encourage the hiring and

SEO Search Engine Optimization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SEO Search Engine Optimization - Research Paper Example Their ranking in Search Engine Optimization depends on several factors such as relevance, page title and relevance of words used. Other factors include reputation of the website and links. SEO works by  crawling,  indexing,  processing,  calculating relevancy, and retrieving whose final results is the ranking of website. Crawling meant a use of software such as Gooblebot to track website pages and to enable indexing or the sorting of website. Relevance is the determination whether a website has an appeal and the number of times it was visited in the retrieving two (www.webconfs.com). SEO can be used in almost anything in the website but particularly among business organizations where being on top of the search would mean more visits that could translate to potential business. One of the most common strategy to improve SEO ranking is to make sure that the word choices and phrases in the home page are relevant to what the website is all about. For example, if it is website is about sports, then the word â€Å"sports† should be used in the home page. Page title is also key in increasing the rank of a website in SEO by using performing keywords. Links that direct visitors from other websites including reviews coming from third parties such as bloggers can increase the ranking of a website. Its reputation should also be protected to avoid being penalized by search engines that would deteriorate its ranking in the SEO. Ingham, Edmund. "The SEO Secrets Every Business Should Know."  Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. . Lines, Natalie. "What is SEO and how can it help my websites Google visibility?."The Guardian. N.p., 7 July 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014.

The Legalization of Physician Assisted Suicide Essay Example for Free

The Legalization of Physician Assisted Suicide Essay The Legalization of Physician Assisted Suicide Of all the controversial topics to I could have chosen to discuss, the topic of physician assisted death is one that seems to be very taboo, even to date. Oregon is the only state to successfully pass a bill legalizing the practice; this bill is called the Death With Dignity Act (DWDA). Some may confuse physician-assisted death with euthanasia, yet they are two completely different acts. Euthanasia requires a physician, or other entity, to administer a deadly concoction; physician-assisted death is at the request of a terminally ill patient, the doctor provides a prescription of lethal medication which the patient takes of their own free will when they decide the time has come. The legalization of physician-assisted suicide will open up just one more option for patients suffering from terminal illnesses and allow them to die with a little dignity. Terminally ill patients don’t have a lot of options, most suffer greatly on a day-to-day basis. The addition of just one more option to such a short list can do a lot to psychologically comfort a patient. In his essay â€Å"Physician-Assisted Death in the United States: Are the Existing Last Resorts Enough?† Timothy E. Quill outlines several aspects of physician-assisted death, specifically the fact that terminally ill patients need as many options as they can get. Terminally ill patients suffer a great deal; they know that eventually they will die. He states that there are â€Å"several ‘last resort’ options, including aggressive pain management, foregoing life-sustaining therapies, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, and sedation to unconsciousness [†¦]† (17-22). Some of the suggested last-resort methods seem to be no better than physician-assisted suicide. Take, for example, the method of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED); for a patient, who is already suffering from the chronic pain of illness, is it fair to ask them to add the suffering of voluntary hunger and dehydration? Sedation to unconsciousness seems to be no better of a solution; the patient is put into a comatose state until they eventually die. This solution seems to ease the suffering of the patient, yet extend the suffering of the family. Aside from VSED and sedation, to forgo life-sustaining therapies seems to be no better. If a pati ent is currently undergoing palliative care to treat symptoms that are causing them to suffer, why stop the treatment and increase the suffering rather than end  the suffering once and for all? Quill goes on to discuss the fact that the choices available to a terminally ill patient are so few that there should be no harm in adding just one more to the very short list. For example, Quill states that â€Å"some patients will need a way out, and arbitrarily withholding one important option from patients whose options are so limited seems unfair† (17-22). Quill makes the point that a patient suffering from a terminal illness will want a way out; not necessarily a way out of life, but a way out of the suffering. There are very few options for someone with chronic suffering, as relief is difficult to come by for someone who is dying. Physician-assisted suicide is just one of these options, and it’s an option that should not be overlooked. In addition, Quill goes further to state that the option of physician-assisted suicide is only an option, just one choice a patient can make about their own health care. â€Å"Most patients will be reassured by the possibility of an escape, and the vast majority will never need to activate that possibility† (17-22). This is a very powerful quote, as it brings forth the point of legalizing physician -assisted suicide doesn’t mean that the act will result in a large amount of deaths. The legalization of the act will simply add one more possibility to the list of last-resorts available to a patient. The quote also goes as far as to say that the vast majority of patients will simply be reassured that, should all other options be exhausted, there is still the possibility of a final escape; never actually needing to use it, should palliative care and hospice suffice in controlling the symptoms of suffering. With the examples provided, we can see that the need for legalizing physician-assisted death is important for patients who suffer from day today. Opening just one more option, when there are so few to choose from, will give the patients a sense of reassurance that they can still have control over their lives. Physician-assisted death is intended as a last resort option; denying the patient a final escape, when all other options have been exhausted, is unfair. Now that we’ve established that a terminally ill patient will benefit from knowing that they have the option of a final escape, let’s talk about why a patient would resort to using physician-assisted suicide. Among the most sensible reasons to end one’s life, the thought of an end to suffering comes to mind. However, we already know that end-of-life palliative care is put into place in order to help  ease the suffering and pain of a terminal illness. This is true, but when is too much? Going back to Timothy Quill, he states that â€Å"there will always be a small percentage of cases where suffering sometimes becomes unacceptably severe [†¦]† (17-22). While suffering is a constant, there are several degrees of suffering; sometimes this suffering can be easily controlled with palliative care and aggressive pain management. However, Quill notes that there are times where the suffering cannot be easily controlled, and there comes a point when it becomes simply unacceptable. When suffering reaches this point, it is time for a patient to start thinking about last resort options; looking for a way to end the suffering. A patient living with terminal cancer is, without a doub t, suffering. Palliative care and hospice care are programs put into place with no intent other than to alleviate the suffering. In her essay â€Å"Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: There is an Alternative†, Sylvia Dianne Ledger describes suffering as such, â€Å"It occurs when a person perceives the impending destruction of themselves, and it is associated with a loss of hope† (81-94). This description of human suffering is excellent when trying to advocate an end to said suffering. Ledger states that a person suffers when they sense their own destruction, when they realize that their end is near. Facing one’s own mortality is not an easy thing to do. The thought of being unable to stop your own demise can, indeed, cause great suffering. Ledger goes as far as to say that this realization of one’s own mortality is associated with a loss of hope, a sense of despair. Along with a loss of hope, there are several reasons why a patient would choose physician-assisted suicide as a last resort option. In an article titled â€Å"The Case for Physician-Assisted Suicide: How can it Possibly be Proven?† from the Journal of Medical Ethics, E Dahl and N Levy report that, according to Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act, â€Å"the most frequently reported reasons for choosing physician-assisted death under the DWDA are ‘loss of autonomy’, ‘loss of dignity’, and ‘loss of the ability to enjoy the activities that make life worth living’† (335-338). This report notes that the top reasons for a patient to choose physician-assisted suicide as the final option don’t even include an escape from the physical pain. Being terminally ill makes life simply un-enjoyable. The number one reason given for physician-assisted death is a loss of autonomy. To lose the ability to have  control over one’s life can be psychologically devastating. The loss of dignity and the ability to enjoy life came in closely behind to round out the top three reasons for wanting death as a final escape. When palliative care doesn’t sufficiently ease the pain experienced on a daily basis, last-resort options should be made available to a patient. When chronic pain and illness take away one’s ability to enjoy life, take away one’s dignity, and take away the human right of autonomy, an option to end the suffering once and for all should be made available. Even the sick deserve to maintain some semblance of their former selves and die with a little dignity. Those who are against physician-assisted suicide have a valid argument, there are always options to ease suffering and control symptoms. Both hospice and palliative care are viable options in the case of terminally ill patients. While discussing alternative options to physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, Sylvia Dianne Ledger discusses how far end-of-life care programs have come in helping the terminally ill cope with their disease. She notes that â€Å"with the rise of the hospice movement and the availability of its knowledge and experience in the control of distressing symptoms in terminal disease, there is no longer any real indication for euthanasia† (81-94). Ledger notes that both forms of end-of-life care have improved greatly over the years, becoming more and more viable when considering end-of-life options. She notes that they have improved in ease of access, becoming more available to patients through reimbursement programs due their growing popularity. Hospice and palliative care are not only more easily accessible to patients with a need for end-of-life treatment, but their mode of delivery has become more efficient; nurses can now come to nursing homes, hospitals, even patient homes, in order to provide care specific to each patient’s needs. While these programs continue to improve the quality of care they provide, Ledger notes that they also remain a standard among end-of-life care programs and that their implementation leave no room for more drastic options. With such wonderful programs in place and so easily accessible, E. Dahl and N. Levy note that the topic of physician-assisted suicide can actually lead into a discussion about other end-of-life options. They state that â€Å"a request for a  prescription can be an opportunity for a medical provider to explore with patients their fears and wishes around end of life care, and to make  patients aware of other options† (335-338). This means that when a patient believes that their suffering requires a more direct and aggressive action, perhaps suicide shouldn’t be the first option. For a patient to request aid in dying opens up the chance to discuss other options for end of life care. These options are, more often than not, palliative and hospice care. A patient has access to medication to control pain as well as a wide variety of other symptoms. Only after discussing these options should a patient consider ending their life. While discussing how talks about physician-assisted suicide have shed a new light on the palliative care option, Wesley J. Smith addresses the ideas of suicide among patients who are currently enrolled in such programs. He states that â€Å"[†¦] suicide prevention, when needed, is an essential part of the package, crucial to fulfilling a hospice’s call to value the lives and intrinsic dignity of each patient until the moment of natural death† (85-86). The argument with this phrase is that hospice care programs are aware of the suffering, and realize that patients who are already enrolled in their programs are possibly contemplating an end to their lives. He notes that suicide prevention is actually one of the many services offered by hospice programs. This service is offered because the idea of a hospice is to make a patient as comfortable as possible before their lives end of natural causes. He continues by saying that suicide prevention is crucial to maintaining the values of hospice care: to value the life and basic dignities of patients enrolled in their programs. There are several wonderful arguments for why patients should choose a long (or short) term care program over suicide, these programs are set up to control pain and other symptoms. These programs have improved greatly over the last several years, and are now able to provide better care; reimbursement programs have also become available, as both hospice and palliative care have become a very widely accepted form of last-resort treatments among the terminally ill. While end-of-life care programs are excellent, and offer relief from many of the symptoms affecting patients, these programs seem to do little to overcome the underlying issues causing a patient to desire a final escape. The biggest issue with the ever-expanding hospice and palliative care programs is a lack of manpower. Timothy Quill addresses this issue when discussing last resort options. He states that â€Å"there remain serious challenges. There are not enough skilled  palliative care clinicians to meet the growing needs [†¦]† (17-22). This is definitely a problem with the end-of-life programs which are growing rapidly. With programs such as Medicaid who are willing to reimburse patients who truly need palliative care, many more patients who are actively dying will be enrolling in these programs. If these programs are not fully prepared and staffed to meet their growing clientele, there won’t be enough nurses available to treat patients. Quill goes on to state that even if a patient is fully educated on palliative care options, enrolled, and being treated by a nurse, this may not be a reason to rule out the final escape. He notes that â€Å"all last resort options, including physician-assisted death, make sense only if excellent palliative care is already being provided† (17-22). This argument directly refutes the opposition’s view that hospice and palliative care are acceptable altern atives to physician-assisted-death. He states that the last resort options only become acceptable if all other options have been exhausted. Once a patient has enrolled in hospice care and an aggressive pain management system has been implemented, what if they continue to suffer. At this point, once palliative care has failed to control the suffering, physician-assisted death is an option that should be considered. When discussing how physician-assisted suicide has corrupted palliative care programs, Wesley J. Smith provides data which further refutes the opposition’s claim. He states that â€Å"according to the state, approximately 86 percent of people who died by swallowing poisonous overdoses under the Oregon law were receiving hospice care at the time they committed suicide† (85-86). It’s clear that the alternative to physician-assisted suicide is not doing a well-enough job of keeping patients’ suffering to a minimum. In Oregon, where physician-assisted death is legal, a vast majority of patients who take advantage of this option have already tried the alternatives. Hospice care may work, for a time, but if the suffering continues while the patient is receiving treatment to control the symptoms, there is still one option left. Through these examples it can be seen that, while hospice and palliative care are programs that are designed to control symptoms and comfort a patient in their last moments, they can’t be the absolute answer. Pain is not the only thing causing patients to suffer. A terminally ill patient who has little control over what is left of their time deserve to maintain their dignity in death;  legalizing physician-assisted suicide will give patients one last moment of control over their lives. A patient doesn’t have a lot of options when the prognosis is death, and the options on the list aren’t necessarily the best. When suggestions such as voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, or sedation into permanent unconsciousness are suggested, it seems almost unfair to deny a patient the option of a final, absolute escape. While hospice and palliative care have a come a long way, and are indeed viable programs for symptom management, there are still aspects of suffering that they cannot control. Pain is just symptom of a terminally patient. Reports of loss of autonomy, loss of dignity, and an inability to enjoy life seem to be at the top of the list when patients begin discussing the desire for death. While the arguments against physician-assisted death hold weight, and make good points, the fact remains that denying someone one last option to control their life is unfair. When someone has lost the ability to enjoy life, lost the sense of control over their own destiny, the availability of a final escape is comforting. Physician-assisted death should be legalized, in order to provide patients just one more option on a list that is so incredibly short. The simple availability of this option should, at the very least, comfort patients if they know that they have a final resort should all other possibilities be exhausted. Works Cited Dahl, E. and Levy, N. â€Å"The Case for Physician Assisted Suicide: How Can It Possibly Be Proven?† Journal of Medical Ethics 32.6 (2006): 335-338. ProQuest Research Library. 10 Apr 2012 Ledger, Sylvia Dianne. â€Å"Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: There is an Alternative.† Ethics Medicine 23.2 (2007): 81-94. ProQuest Research Library. 10 Apr 2012. Smith, Wesley J. â€Å"Assisted Suicide and the Corruption of Palliative Care.† Human Life Review 34.2 (2008): 85-86. ProQuest Research Library. 12 Apr 2012 Quill, Timothy E. â€Å"Physician-Assisted Death in the United States: Are the Existing ‘Last Resorts’ Enough?† The Hasting Center Report 38.5 (2008): 17-22. JSTOR. 10 Apr 2012

You Are an Investment Analyst Essay Example for Free

You Are an Investment Analyst Essay History â€Å"Brad’s drink† was created in the summer of 1893 by pharmacist Caleb Bradham of New Bern, North Carolina. The drink was renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898, after pepsin and cola nuts were used in the recipe. Also in 1898, Caleb Bradham wisely bought the trade name Pep Cola for $100 from a competitor from Newark, New Jersey that had gone broke. The new name was trademarked on June 16th, 1903. Bradhams neighbor, an artist designed the first Pepsi logo and ninety-seven shares of stock for Bradhams new company were issued (Bellis, 2012). After seventeen years of success, Caleb Bradham lost Pepsi Cola. He had gambled on the fluctuations of sugar prices during W.W.I, believing that sugar prices would continue to rise but they fell instead leaving Caleb Bradham with an overpriced sugar inventory. Pepsi Cola went bankrupt in 1923. In 1931, Pepsi Cola was bought by the Loft Candy Company Loft president, Charles G. Guth who reformulated the popular soft drink. Guth struggled to make a success of Pepsi and even offered to sell Pepsi to the Coca-Cola company, who refused to offer a bid (Bellis, 2012). In May, 1886, Coca Cola was invented by Doctor John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expanses, so the first year of sales were a loss (Bellis, 2012). In 1887, another Atlanta pharmacist and businessman, Asa Candler bought the formula for Coca Cola from inventor John Pemberton for $2,300. By the late 1890s, Coca Cola was one of America’s most popular fountain drinks, largely due to Candler’s aggressive marketing of the product. With Asa Candler, now at the helm, the Coca Cola Company increased syrup sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. Until the 1960s, both small town and big city dwellers enjoyed carbonated beverages at the local soda fountain or ice cream saloon. Often housed in the drug store, the soda fountain counter served as a meeting place for people of all ages. Often combined with lunch counters, the soda fountain declined in popularity as commercial ice cream, bottled soft drinks, and fast food restaurants became popular (Bellis, 2012). Products and Services PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with a diverse product portfolio that includes 22 brands that each generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Pepsi-Cola North America is the refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo, Inc., in the United States and Canada. Its U.S. brands include Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, SoBe, AMP Energy, IZZE, Naked Juice, Propel, Mug, and Aquafina, among others. The company also makes and markets North America’s best-selling ready-to-drink iced teas and coffees, respectively, via joint ventures with Lipton and Starbucks (PepsiCo, 2012). Frito-Lay North America is the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo. For more than 75 years, Frito Lay has enjoyed growing the best snacks on earth starting with simple, farm-grown ingredients. To continue growing the best snacks on earth, they are working to reduce their impact on the environment by improving how they make their snacks. Frito-Lay is also dedicated to giving consumers a wider range of healthier choices. They offer great-tasting chips with less fat through their Baked! Line and snacks made only from natural ingredients, which contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives with their Natural line. All of their snack chips contain 0 grams of trans fat (PepsiCo, 2012). Tropicana Products, Inc., a division of PepsiCo, Inc., is the leading producer and marketer of branded fruit juices. Tropicana markets its products in the U.S. under a variety of brand names, including the Tropicana not-from-concentrate line of juices: Dole ® juices and juice blends; Tropicana ® Juices, Trop50 and Tropicana Twister ® juice beverages. The Dole brand name is licensed from Dole Food Company, Inc. (PepsiCo, 2012). Quaker brands have been around for over a century. They are symbols of quality, great taste, and nutrition. Holding No.1 positions in their respective categories are favorites such as Quaker Oats, Quake r Rice Cakes, Chewy Granola Bars and Rice-A-Roni ®. With its Aunt Jemima ® brand, Quaker is also a leading manufacturer of pancake syrups and mixes. It is among the four largest manufacturers of cold cereals with popular brands like Cap’n Crunch ® and Life ® (PepsiCo, 2012). Available in more than 80 countries, Gatorade’s line of performance drinks adds over 45 years of rehydration and sports nutrition research to the PepsiCo portfolio. In early summer of 1965, a University of Florida assistant football coach sat down with a team of university physicians and asked them to determine why so many of his players were being affected by heat and heat-related illnesses. The researchers Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada soon discovered two key factors that were causing the Gator players to â€Å"wilt†: the fluids and electrolytes the players lost through sweat were not being replaced, and the large amounts of carbohydrates the players’ bodies used for energy were not being replenished (PepsiCo, 2012). The researchers then took their findings into the lab, and scientifically formulated a new, precisely balanced carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage that would adequately replace the key components lost by Gator players through sweating and exercise. They called their concoction â€Å"Gatorade.† After years of careful research by the staff at GSSI into the needs of athletes engaged in high-demand training and competition, Gatorade launched the Gatorade Performance Series, an elite line of sports nutrition products, in 2001. These products include Gatorade Energy Drink, Gatorade Energy Bar, and the Gatorade Nutrition Shake (PepsiCo, 2012). Four years later, after studying endurance athletes, GSSI developed the Gatorade Endurance Formula. Featuring a higher concentration of sodium the key electrolyte found in Original Thirst Quencher and four other electrolytes lost in sweat, Gatorade Endurance Formula became a mainstay on racetracks the world over (PepsiCo, 2012). The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, the world’s most valuable brand, our Company’s portfolio features 15 billion dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world’s top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system employees (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Major Customers PepsiCo is proud to offer consumers a wide range of products that deliver great taste, nutritional value, convenience and affordability. They’re committed to playing a responsible role in health and wellness by encouraging consumers to adopt healthy lifestyles, beginning with offering consumers a choice of a wide variety of products. PepsiCo is always finding innovative ways to reduce the use of energy, water and packaging, and to better serve consumer wants and needs through new products and packaging. Through continuously expand their distribution network to make their enjoyable products more widely available. PepsiCo works relentlessly to improve productivity so they can offer affordable products to a broad range of consumers (PepsiCo, 2012). Coca-Cola system is a global business that operates on a local scale, in every community where we do business. Coca-Cola is able to create global reach with local focus because of the strength of the Coca-Cola system, which comprises our Company and our nearly 300 bottling partners worldwide (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). While many view our Company as simply â€Å"Coca-Cola,† our system operates through multiple local channels. Our Company manufactures and sells concentrates, beverage bases and syrups to bottling operations, owns the brands and is responsible for consumer brand marketing initiatives. Our bottling partners manufacture, package, merchandise and distribute the final branded beverages to our customers and vending partners, who then sell our products to consumers (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Major Suppliers Since 2007, PepsiCo has employed a Supplier Code of Conduct (ScoC) globally. The PepsiCo Supplier Code of Conduct communicates our global expectations in the areas of labor practices, associate health and safety, environmental management and business integrity (PepsiCo, 2012). Our Supplier Code is based on the International Labor Organization, United Nations Global Compact and other internationally recognized standards. The ScoC includes 13 standards that require suppliers to adhere to the following: basic compliance with local law, respect for human rights and prohibiting all forms of forced or compulsory labor, ensuring no child labor is used, and cooperating with reasonable assessment processes requested by PepsiCo. The ScoC is communicated in 19 languages, and is mandatory in procurement contracts globally (PepsiCo, 2012). Our suppliers and business partners are vital to our continued success. They help us refresh the world, more than 1.7 billion times every day, by delivering necessary products and services for our business (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Having a sound, stable and ethical supply base is important for our growth and the footprint we leave in local communities around the world. Our suppliers provide our system with materials, including ingredients, packaging and machinery, as well as goods and services. As a company, we have a responsibility to hold our direct suppliers and bottling partners to standards no less than those required by applicable law. We also have an opportunity to support community development by purchasing goods and services from minority- and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs) (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Our suppliers are expected, at a minimum, to conduct business in an ethical manner and comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Our Supplier Guiding Principles (SGPs) communicate our values and expectations for our bottling partners and business partners. The SGPs are a part of all supplier agreements, and a pre-certification practice is in place for trademark marketing suppliers. Suppliers also are provided training and assistance programs on an as-needed basis for areas where they need to improve their operations (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Leadership In 2010, PepsiCo created the Global Sustainability team, whose role is to develop, implement and enforce standards to ensure consistency and quality in our sustainability reporting and ultimately accelerate our Performance with Purpose mission (PepsiCo, 2012). More specifically, an overall governance structure has been defined and implemented. This includes the creation of the Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC), made up of the most senior members of the organization (the majority report directly to our CEO), as well as the establishment of Sustainability Leadership Teams across all four planks, based on defined roles and selection criteria, and guided by PepsiCo’s Public Policy Coordinating Group (PepsiCo, 2012). The Performance Sustainability Leadership Team (PSLT), Human Sustainability Leadership Team (HSLT), Environmental Sustainability Leadership Team (ESLT) and Talent Sustainability Leadership Team (TSLT) are responsible for creating our overall strategy, driving implementation and identifying issues/risks, which are then communicated to the Sustainability Steering Committee (PepsiCo, 2012). Since our first soda fountain sales in 1886, we have been a driver of marketplace innovation and an investor in local economies. Today we lead the beverage industry with more than 500 beverage brands – including four of the world’s top-five sparkling brands. But while our business opportunities are enormous, our commitment to our consumers and the communities in which we operate is even greater (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Muhtar Kent, our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, leads us into the new century with a firm commitment to the values and spirit of the world’s greatest brand. In our journey to become a sustainable, profitable growth company, our management structure has evolved to sharpen external focus on the marketplace with greater speed, productivity and effectiveness (Coca-Cola Journey, 2012 ). Initial Public Offering An initial public offering yesterday by Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. provided a stark contrast to the pyrotechnics of recent Internet offerings. In a spinoff from its parent company, PepsiCo Inc., Pepsi Bottling sold 100 million shares at $23 each, for a total of $2.3 billion, which will be used to pay off debt. The initial offering price was settled at the low end of the estimated range of $23 to $26, an indication that prepricing demand was less than the company had anticipated. The stock closed at $21.6875 on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts were quick to distinguish Pepsi Bottling Group’s offering from the string of highly successful recent Internet deals, whose phenomenal openings have conditioned investors into expecting huge first-day gains (Pepsi Spinoff in Lackluster Stock Offering, 1999). Initial public offering involves the first or initial sale of the corporation’s common shares to the public in the hope of raising additional revenues for the corporation. If you will apply in on the case of Coca Cola, the worldwide manufacturing and distribution of their carbonated drink products is the result of their IPO, which happened in 1919. A single share of Coca Cola is worth $40 dollars, yet the market value of their shares suddenly crashed to $19 per common share in 1920 (when they have undergone a secondary market offering). Despite of such crash in the market value of their common shares, Coca Cola managed to survive and extend operations to different regions around the world, particularly within the Asian and European regions. Different corporate entities later on affiliated with Coca Cola to further boost their revenue generation capabilities (Interesting Initial Public Offering of the Coca Cola Company and Its Worldwide Affiliate Units, 2010).

Developing a Compensator using Cerrobend Materials

Developing a Compensator using Cerrobend Materials ABSTRACT In external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), dose optimization is achieved by conforming the dose distribution to the shape of the intended target whilst minimizing radiation to normal tissues in close proximity to the target. This is achieved by modulating the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. Compensators may be used to achieve the above effect and can be used to approximate the fluence map by appropriate linear attenuation coefficient of individual beamlets making up the original open beam fluence. This may be done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. This work describe the procedures for designing, constructing and dosimetric considerations of cerrobend compensator for high energy photon beams, using the bolus option on the surface of the phantom planned with Prowess Panther TPS. Also correc tion factors that account with effects of field size, treatment depth and changes in thickness ratio because of using bolus were introduced. The cerrobend compensator was adjusted to account for beam divergence and reduction in dose contributed by scattered radiation. The correction factors were applied to the thickness ratio for determination of appropriate thickness of cerrobend that mimic bolus. The measurements were done in Theratron Equinox 100 cobalt-60 teletherapy unit using Cerrobend slabs constructed to account for divergence of the beam for the maximum field size considered in this research (3030 cm2). The narrow and broad beam linear attenuation coefficient for cerrobend were determined using simple attenuation model, varying the field size from 44 cm2 to 3030 cm2 field sizes in air, and also varying the thickness of cerrobend from 0.5cm to 4.6cm. The value found was 0.4574cm-1 and also the field size dependence of linear attenuation coefficient were investigated. The sca tter produced by cerrobend was accessed and evaluated. The scatter-to-primary ratio dose contribution was found to be negligible for small field size as reported by Dimitriadis (2002), and can cause error in the final dose calculation up to 13.3% for 3030 cm2 and 4.09 cm thickness of cerrobend. The cerrobend compensator was successful designed and constructed. The dosimetric accuracy for constructed cerrobend compensator was found to be deviating with that predicted with Prowess Panther Treatment Planning System with percentage error ranging from 0.365 to 25%, which is associated with limitations in producing precise thickness of cerrobend with the same accuracy of that generated by the equation 3.04 and limitations in generating flat surface topography and also the presence of air bubble in the cerrobend compensator which was not investigated in thiswork. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Cancer is a significant health care problem. On average about half of all cancer patients are treated with radiation therapy worldwide (IAEA, 2004). Radiotherapy, also referred to as radiation therapy, radiation oncology or therapeutic radiology is one of the three modalities used to treat malignant disease (cancer) the other two being chemotherapy and surgery (Suntharalingamn et al, 2005). Radiotherapy uses ionizing radiation to eradicate cancerous cells with the least possible damage to normal tissues. The first therapeutic use of ionizing radiation was demonstrated in 1897 by Wilhelm Alexander Freud, a German surgeon before Vienna Medical Society when he demonstrated the disappearance of a hairy mole following treatment with x-ray (Hall, 2000). The first recorded experiment in radiobiology was also performed by Becquerel when he advertently left a radium container in his vest pocket and subsequently described the skin erythema two weeks later (Hall, 2000). The modalities of radiotherapy are divided into two types, tele-therapy and brachytherapy. Brachytherapy is a method of treatment in which sealed sources are used to deliver radiation at short distances by interstitial, intracavitary or surface application (Khan, 2010). Tele-therapy is a treatment modality in which the source of radiation is at a distance from the patient, also called external beam radiation therapy, it uses photons ranging from kilo voltage to megavoltage photons, and electron beams from linear accelerators or Co-60 tele therapy units. In External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT), the methodology of treatment depends on different factors, which may include the shape and size of the tumour to be treated within the patient, sparing of normal tissues within the vicinity of the target from excessive irradiation, financial constraints and the quest of optimization of radiation dose to the target. There are different treatment techniques ranging from 2-D conventional radioth erapy to more advanced Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). IMRT is a treatment planning and delivery technique that can greatly improve the process of conformal radiotherapy which refers to the process of blocking a beam with irregular shaped beam portal so that the dose delivered corresponds more closely to tumour whilst reducing the dose to normal tissue. In developing countries, most of the centrees are restricted to a Co-60 tele therapy unit with basic treatment planning and simulation capabilities. Patients present irregular surface topographies and tissue heterogeneities. According to Chang (2004), a compensator is a traditional tool for modern application and is an alternative IMRT delivery technique. In IMRT, the compensator is used not in the sense of compensating for missing tissue or tissue heterogeneity but as beam intensifier like dynamic wedges and multileaf collimators (MLC). The goal is to achieve dose uniformity throughout the whole target volume and, more importantly to spare critical structures according to the dose and dose volume constraint prescribed by the clinicians for specific patients (Jiango et al, 1998). Therefore, compensators are designed to produce an optimized primary fluency profile at the patient’s surface. This is achieved by modulating the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. There are various methods by which compensators can be made. According to Williams and Thwaites (2000), the three main types are grid-blocking system, contour system and a system using machined compensator. The first compensators made by Ellis et al. (1958) were constructed by stacking aluminum pillars. Another method reported by Lam et al. (1983) describes the construction of compensators from thin sheets of lead. Today compensators are more commonly made from molds filled with molten alloy or wax. Using molds is advantageous since it results in compensators with smoother surfaces and thus greater accuracy. To make a compensator for an IMRT practice, it is required to calculate the effective attenuation coefficient () of its materials, which is affected by various factors as field size, depth, off- axis distance, compensator thickness (Haghparast et al, 2013). A number of elements have been used to form compensators which include tungsten-epoxy mixture (Xu et al, 2002), Lucite (Khan et al, 1970), gypsum (Weeks et al, 1988), tin-wax (Van et al, 1995), tin (Chang et al, 2000), cerrobend (Waltz BJ et al, 1973), steel (Van et al, 1995), aluminum (Ellis et al, 1959), brass (Ellis et al, 1959; Tess, 2014), lead (Leung et al, 1974; Cunnighan et al, 1976; Andrew et al, 1982; Spicka et al, 1988), coper (Tess, 2014). In this study, a cerrobend compensator will be constructed using a simple attenuation model to determine its effective attenuation coefficient. Film and an ionization chamber will be used for dosimetric measurements and for verification of measured dose distribution and compared with those calculated with the PROWESS Panther TPS software at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. PROBLEM STATEMENT In external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), dose optimization is achieved by conforming the dose distribution to the shape of the intended target whilst minimizing radiation to normal tissues in close proximity to the target. Most dosimetric measurements are done on flat surface and homogenous medium, however patients surface is highly irregular and internal tissues are heterogeneous. The main aim of radiation therapy is to deliver uniform dose distribution within +7 % and –5 % (ICRU report 50, 1993) of the dose prescription without exceeding the tolerance dose of the critical structure around tumor volume. To achieve this goal, the above irregularities should be corrected. Thus different studies suggested and implemented bolus which is a tissue equivalent material placed at the surface of the patient to compensate the missing tissue. However, this technique doesnt spare the skin beneath the bolus. This is because, the buildup region is in the bolus and Dmax (depth of maximum dose) will be at skin surface. To solve such complications compensators have been introduced by different people on different approaches to correct both surface irregularity and tissue heterogeneity which is now done by using MLC based IMRT. Advanced technological innovations in anatomic and functional imaging modalities (CT, MRI, PET, and US) have led to improved visualization and the delineation of tumour. Radiation treatment planning and delivered techniques have also seen a marked improvement. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) provides a high degree of dose conformity to the planning target volume (PTV) and the conformal avoidance of organs at risk. Therefore radiation field is not only geometrically shaped to conform to the outline of the planning target volume at the beams eye view, but is also intensity modulated. The National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) presently uses paraffin wax for construction of a compensator and cerrobend for shielding blocks, but there is a need to implement physical compensator based IMRT using materials which are available in the Centre and is inexpensive. This research will focus on design and construction and dosimetric considerations of cerrobend compensators to modulate the intensities of the radiation across the radiation portals forming the irradiation geometry used for the treatment. OBJECTIVES GENERAL OBJECTIVE The general objective of this work is designing and constructing a compensator using cerrobend materials. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To clarify the effect of scattered photons generated within the compensator on head scatter factor. To evaluate dosimetric accuracy and dose coverage. To compare and evaluate measured and predicted data. To evaluate the variation of dose distribution by the compensator. SCOPE AND LIMITATION The scope of this thesis is in the area of the IMRT by means of physical compensators specifically using cerrobend which are manually fabricated. In most centres which are practicing IMRT, the construction of the compensator to provide the needed modulation is done by generating a fluency map of the radiation portal needed. This is done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. The bolus option will be used in this research as currently there is no TPS in the country that can do inverse planning. In this case, the cerrobend compensator will be used to replicate dosimetric effects of the bolus placed on the surface of the patient. According to Jiang et al (1998), the calculation of compensator thickness profile (an optimized primary fluency profile) is straightforward typically using the exponentially attenuation model. With reference to this, the shape of the compensator w ill be adjusted to account for beam divergence and reduction in dose contributed by scattered radiation. Thus the dosimetric considerations is part of the scope of this research. The measurement will be made from a Co-60 tele therapy machine at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). RELEVANCE OF THE PROJECT WORK In radiation oncology, a patient should get the best treatment option as much as possible in order to improve quality of patient care. So the expected results such as correction factors to account for reduction in scatter for using the cerrobend compensator to mimic bolus would have immense contribution to scientific and technical knowledge. From this work, it will be possible to implement IMRT delivering technique at National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear medicine of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The clinical implementation of IMRT technique requires at least two systems (Khan, 2010), which are: treatment planning computer system that can calculate non-uniform fluence maps for multiple beams directed from different directions to maximize dose to target while minimizing dose to critical normal structures. This may be done with a treatment planning system (TPS) with inverse planning capabilities or with a bolus placed on the surface of the patient at the beam entrance point. The s econd one, is a system delivering a non-uniform fluence as planned, so each of these systems must be appropriately tested and commissioned before the actual clinical use. The bolus option will be used in this research as currently there is no TPS in the country that can do inverse planning. The cerrobend compensator will be used to replicate dosimetric effects of the bolus placed on the surface of the patient. Similar research was done using different materials by Teclehaimanot (2014) in which the results were not in the clinically acceptable levels, so with this work we are expecting to reach such clinical levels with deviation less than 5%. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is widely used in clinical applications in developed countries, for the treatment of malignant and non-malignant diseases. This technique uses multiple radiation beams of non-uniform intensities. The beams are modulated to the required intensity maps for delivering highly conformal doses of radiation to the treatment targets, while sparing the adjacent normal tissue structures. This treatment technique has superior dosimetric advantages over 2-dimensional (2D) and conventional 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) treatments. It can potentially benefit the patient in three ways. Firstly, by improving conformity with target dose, it can reduce the probability of in-field recurrence. Secondly, by reducing irradiation of normal tissue, it can minimize the degree of morbidity associated with treatment. Finally, by facilitating escalation of dose, it can improve local control (Cheung, 2006). Compensator based IMRT has a lot of advantages over MLC, many literature reported by Taherkhani (2010), report that the penumbra regions created by MLCs are larger than those generated by cerrobend blocks. Compensators provide more consistent dose, impose no limitations on the dose delivery rate, reduce skin surface doses, and because of the high density of the cerrobend allows improved skin sparing with low production rate of secondary electrons (Gray, 1979; Hine, 1951) reported by Shery (1987). It gives continuous intensity modulation, high spatial resolution, gives room to treat large field size, easy quality assurance (QA), shorter treatment time delivery with some drawbacks which are lack of automation (Chang, 2004), but there are some disadvantages like the therapist having to go to the treatment room to change the compensator in multiple fields and production cost, being labor intensive and time consuming. But now these drawbacks have been fixed in many developed countries by introducing a milling machine which is incorporated with the Treatment Planning System (TPS), and an automated compensator-IMRT technique (Javedan et al. 2008). Other main advantage of using cerrobend in this research are: its low melting point of 1580F (700C) which makes it easy to be recycled. It is readily available, inexpensive, high density (9.8g/cm3) and is used as shielding blocks in EBRT where doses are reduced by 95% or 99% of their initial value. As a material for compensation with high energy photons, cerrobend provides several advantages over tissue equivalent material (Shery, 1987). In the past, Cerrobend had not been considered as an excellent compensator material despite its high density. Recently Chang et al (2004) found that there are cerrobend filling techniques that produce smooth and accurate compensators with consistent density. Solidified Cerrobend in the compensator mold becomes one of the top choices of compensator material. And it can be easily shaped to the intended form with uniform density using the technique described by (Chang, 2004). Chang et al (2004) showed that compensator-IMRT technique has several benefits for delivering continuous intensity modulation and have shown that the finer resolution compensator-IMRT technique can also produce dosimetry that is closer to the ideal IMRT treatment (without any delivery limitation) compared with the segmental MLC IMRT technique. From this work the patients treated at the National Centre of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine will benefit from all the advantages of IMRT techniques mentioned above. Consequently patients will also get a better and inexpensive treatment option.

Essay --

This research project investigates whether ensemble statistics are also possible in the sound intensity domain. It has been established that people represent multiple objects as ensembles in many types of stimuli in visual domain. Also, some studies investigated this ability in auditory domain on frequency. The present study aims to show that people can also represent a set of varying decibels as an ensemble. This ability might be crucial given that in daily life people are exposed to multiple levels of sound intensities and extracting summary statistics can be beneficial to guide attention to more salient sounds, like rising sound which can indicate an approaching target, among many others. To investigate whether people represent different decibels as ensembles this study used dynamic exposure in temporal sequences and to get finer grained responses used a response method in which participants generated their own instead of choosing among alternatives. Since the relationship between decibel increase and perceived loudness increase is not linear but it follows Stevens’ power rule, it is expected that participants’ responses will provide a better fit with Stevens’ exponent for loudness in perceiving the average loudness of sounds. â€Æ' In daily life, along with individual stimuli, people encounter with crowds of stimuli and they are able to perform in the face of the abundance of stimuli. Given that sensory systems’ capacity is limited to a certain amount of information, (Alvarez & Cavanagh, 2004), instead of representing every single object individually, there may be another way for representing group of items (Ariely, 2001). Ensemble representations, which can be defined as representations that give the compressed summary statistics... ...rentiating softer sounds would not be likely, a type of dynamic display should be used. For this study, discrete presentation of individual sounds in following temporal sequences will be used. Also, as for the response selection, people will generate their own responses. This, as also suggested by Haberman and Whitney (2009), allows getting a finer grained response from the participants. Hence, this study proposes that as it is the case for many other properties of various stimuli types, humans should be able to extract summary statistics of a set of sound decibels, which is a fundamental property of our acoustic environment, but this averaging should follow Stevens power function on loudness. This research project first explores whether this is the case, whether people can find the average decibel of sounds that are presented dynamically in temporal sequences.