Risk Management in Business: A Case Study

Risk Management in Business: A Case Study INTRODUCTION SITUATION Every day, there is the chance that some sort of business interruption, crisis, disaster, or emergency will occur. Anything that prevents access to key processes and activities can be defined as a disaster. Companies can experience many different threats to their mission critical systems such as fires, floods, lightning storms and humidity to disgruntled employees, hackers, human error, power failures and viruses. A disaster can happen at any time and it is vital to be prepared in the event that one occurs. NEED To be prepared for a business interruption, the organization must have a carefully crafted and comprehensive plan that describes risks, impacts, and step-by-step recovery strategies for critical business processes in various disaster and emergency scenarios. Without a plan, the team will be flying blind when an interruption occurs. The plan provides the necessary tools to mitigate interruptions and resume operations as quickly as possible, greatly facilitating decision-making and taking action when there is scant time and stress levels are elevated. CHALLENGE Using the information in the risk assessment to create effective recovery strategies for critical processes in all departments, incorporating these strategies into a comprehensive business continuity plan, and encouraging ownership of the plan across the organization, and ultimately, achieving the highest resiliency possible with limited resources. SOLUTION Create the recovery strategies department-by-department, process-by-process. This allows each department to focus on strategies specifically relevant to their critical processes without extraneous information from other departments. Do the same for your business continuity plan, writing smaller plans by department. Also, use a template to document your recovery strategies to ensure process consistency across the organization. Finally, have plans reviewed and approved by department heads and distributed to all employees to encourage ownership and pride in the plan. RESULT Each department in the organization will have a comprehensive action plan for business continuity outlining the steps to take to recover vital processes in various emergency scenarios. All employees will have their own copy of the plan, ready to use immediately when a disruption occurs. Employees will take ownership of the organizations business continuity effort and this effort will be further ingrained in the organizations corporate culture. CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURING COMPANY AN OVERVIEW The Chocolate Company since inception in 1990 has been largely responsible for satisfying the countrys demand for Chocolates and Sugar Confectionery. Situated at Rusayl Industrial Estates in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, the plant has various lines producing a wide range of confectionery like Éclairs, Toffees, Fudges, Caramels, Hard Boiled Candy and Enrobed Chocolates. These products are available in attractive packaging and premium Gift Boxes making them ideal for gifting as well as for own consumption. Most of the packaging in the Gift Pack segment has been carefully selected to ensure its enduring utility, thereby giving our valued customers an added benefit. The confectionery is produced by experienced personnel under stringent quality control and hygiene standards. State-of-the-art manufacturing facilities ensure products of international quality. The company in its relentless pursuit of quality obtained HACCP Certification in April, 2004. The Company, through its uncompromising stand on quality and competitive pricing, has successfully penetrated countries all over the Gulf, the African continent, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, USA and the UK. The principal business processes involved are Procurement of raw materials and consumables. Production and Quality control. Distribution and marketing. Inventory Management. Pricing and cost control. Feedback from consumers and redressal systems. Publicity and promotional activities. Recruitment and HR. Finance Administration. Corporate communications and public relations. Legal and secretarial matters. Investor relations. Maintenance of equipment and other assets. Capital expenditure for equipment and other purposes. IT systems and telecommunications. Transportation and Logistics. Today, manufacturing sector companies like chocolate manufacturing operates in increasingly complex, competitive and global markets. The ability to manage risks across geographies, products, assets, customer segments and functional departments is of paramount importance. The inability to manage these risks can cause irreparable damages. Chocolate company will always face the likelihood of being impacted by uncertain or adverse future events. These uncertainties will have an impact on a companys ability to generate capital and shareholders returns. The company Board expects that management will not only look at where the company may be exposed to risk, but also how these risks can be managed to influence favorable business outcomes. RISK AND RISK MANAGEMENT Risk Management Methodology followed by the chocolate company The risk management methodology at the chocolate company encompass the scope of risks to be managed, the process/systems and procedures to manage risk and the roles and responsibilities of individuals involved in risk management. The framework is comprehensive enough to capture all risks that the company is exposed to and have flexibility to accommodate any change in business activities. The chocolate companys effective risk management methodology includes Risk Policy framework. Identification of risks. Measurement and Impact Assessment. Management of the risks. Monitoring Reporting and Control. A. Risk Policy Framework The following fundamental principles should be considered by the company to develop and implement a proactive risk management program and help them to identify any potential areas of concern: Acceptance of a risk management framework: A formal risk management framework is needed at this company, to guide the integration of risk management into the companys day to day operations. Corporate governance and risk: At this company,corporate governance is the prime responsibility of the Board of Directors and the General Manager. It combines legal duties with responsibilities to improve and monitor the performance of the company. Establish the risk response strategy: Following the agreement on the risk assessment rankings in all functional departments, management action will need to be taken to reduce the risk levels where they have been deemed unacceptably high or alternatively remove constraints where they are preventing the business from pursuing opportunities. Assigning responsibility for risk management change process: It is important for the company to ensure that the daily operation of the business supports this strategy and that the staff understands the proposed changes. Re-sourcing: Risk management is the responsibility of all levels of management. Communication and training: Implementing a communication and training program is important to introduce the concept of risk management. Monitoring of risk management process: To ensure that risk responses gaps are filled and that the risk responses continue to operate effectively and remain appropriate in light of changing conditions. B. Identification of Various Risks of The Company While drafting this Risk management Policy, the primary risk exposures at the company X that are identified is provided below, which are inclusive but not exhaustive and it will be the responsibility of the Risk Management Committee to review these on a periodic basis. I. Market Risks It is the risk that the value of the company will be adversely affected by movements in market rates or prices, foreign exchange rates, national global fluctuations, credit spreads and/or commodity prices resulting in a loss to earnings and capital. The market risks identified at this chocolate company are as follows Government Policy risks Product Risks Environmental risks Volatility of export orders Price Competition in the local export market Currency fluctuation for export orders II. Operational Risks The operational risks identified at chocolate company are as follows Fire Allied Risks Machinery breakdown/ obsolescence Volatility of Raw material Packing material prices Quality/ Ageing risks of Raw material/ Packing material Delivery risk of Suppliers Loss of data information- IT security Manpower Availability risks Accidents Inventory carrying risk III. Reputation Risks These are risks arising from negative public opinion resulting from failures of process, strategy or corporate governance. The Reputation risks identified at this company are as follows Contamination-hygiene Product expiry/Shelf life Corporate Governance IV. Credit Risks Non receipt of receivables or delay in receipts is the credit risks attributable to the company. These may be identified as Payment risk from customers-local Payment risk from Customers- export Security from customers Advance to Suppliers V. Liquidity Risks The possibility is that the company will be unable to fund present and future financial obligations. These may be identified as Cash flow working capital management CAPEX decisions Cost overruns VI. Strategic Risks Risk those are arising from adverse business decisions or the improper implementation of such decisions. These may be identified as follows Business Plan forecasts. Attrition of key people. C. Risk Prioritizing and Impact Assessment Risk Prioritizing To adequately capture institutions risk exposure, risk measurement should represent aggregate exposure of the company to both risk type and business line and encompass short run as well as long run impact on it. To the maximum possible extent the company should establish systems / models that quantify their risk profile. However, in some risk categories, quantification is quite difficult and complex. Wherever it is not possible to quantify risks, qualitative measures should be adopted to capture those risks. The company should utilize a Risk Matrix to evaluate the level of risks which are identified in the Company. The Risk Matrix is formed by assessing the probability of the risk, the severity of the risk, and the quality of control that exists specific to those risks. Scoring is attributed for each the three parameters namely probability, severity and Internal control. The aggregate score is computed and ranking of the risks is ascertained. The probability of the impact occurring is arranged ranging from low to high. Scores assigned as 4 for High, 2 for medium and 1 for low. Severity of the Risk is assessed as High, Medium and low based on the experience and normal prudence. Scores assigned as 4 for High, 2 for medium and 1 for low. Quality of Internal control is also similarly categorized as high, medium and low. The scores assigned in the reverse order since the better the existing control the lower is the impact and vice-versa. So scores here can be assigned as 4 for Low, 2 for Medium and 1 for High. Aggregate Score was thereafter computed after adding the individual scores for each parameter. Companys Risk Matrix using the above method is shown in Annexure I ii. Impact Assessment The company being a medium scale manufacturing unit should focus on the manageable risks like Operational risks, Liquidity risks and Strategic risks. Market risks, Credit risks and Reputation risks though an integral part of risk management may not need detailed impact assessment at this stage unless the probability of such factors seem to be out of proportions in time to come. Impact assessment of the Operational risks, liquidity risks and strategic risks at the company termed herein as Manageable risks, can be assessed as follows Risk associated with any event has two components, loss severity and loss probability. Loss, in itself consists of expected and unexpected components. The unexpected loss component could be severe or catastrophic. Usually, expected losses are adjusted for in pricing or in reserve allocation. Unexpected losses require capital allocation. Given that operational risk, liquidity and strategic risk events are most often subject to internal control, any manageable risk system that passively measures these risks would clearly be inadequate. Once risk factors are identified as likely causes of the Risk losses, mitigating steps need to be initiated. While quantification would indicate risk magnitude and capital charges, it may not by itself suggest mitigating steps. This makes it advisable for the company to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to manageable Risk. The broad steps involved here would be: determine the types of operational losses that could occur identify the causal risk factors estimate the size and likelihood of losses Mitigate associated risks Qualitative Approaches Qualitative approaches involve Audits, Self-assessments Expert / collective judgment. Critical Self-Assessment: (CSA): This is one of the common qualitative bottom-up approaches where line managers of the company can critically analyze their business processes given specific scenarios to identify potential risks and gaps in their risk management processes. Tools like questionnaires, checklists and workshops are used to help the managers analyze the risk profile of their business units. The key idea behind this method is that businesses managers of this company are in the best position identify and manage the Operational Risks pertaining to their business units. Risk Audit Employing the services of external (or internal) auditors to review the business processes of a business unit is another approach. This process not only helps identify risks but also helps put in place the oversight organization for the manageable risks. Key Risk Indicators (KRI) Using the KRI approach the company can blend the qualitative and quantitative aspects of Operational Risk management. Factors that have predictive value and that can be easily measured with minimum time lag can serve as risk indicators. Some risk indicators inherently carry risk related information, for instance, indicators like sales volumes, order size, etc. Others are indirect indicators, for instance, production budgets, production lifecycle, performance appraisal etc. Key indicators are identified from several potential factors and are tracked over time. The predictive capabilities of the indicators are tested through regression analysis on historical loss data and indicator measurements. Based on such analysis, the set of indicators of the company being tracked can be modified suitably. Over time, as the model gets refined, the set of indicators can provide early warning signals for operational losses. D. Management of the risks Managing Market Risks: The chocolate company may be exposed to Market Risk in variety of ways as described earlier such as environmental issues, export orders, future contracts, Price competition, customer profile and marine transportation risks. Besides, market risk may also arise from activities categorized as off-balance sheet item. Government Policy Risks: Change in government policies, tax rates, introduction of new tax regimes, reduction or abolition of incentives etc carry risk to any entity in terms of its costing and pricing. In the short and medium term the company does not perceive any major risk in this segment, however the management has to be aware of any forthcoming changes that the government might envisage. Should there be any drastic change in Government policies that would affect its profitability especially in case of exports; the Company has contingency plans for producing at an alternative location outside Oman. Product Risks: Since the product is that of food item the company has to be 100% careful to maintain the product quality, product specification, pack sizes, contents in each pack etc. Producing lesser or poor quality products and not as per specification is a risk which company X needs to constantly be aware off. To mitigate such risks the company X should develop a well defined production policy develop a well defined Quality control and checks policy develop a well defined storage and Distribution policy Environmental risks: The company does not use and generate hazardous substances in its manufacturing operations. Hence the chances that the company may in future are subject to liabilities relating to the investigation and clean-up of contaminated areas is negligible. However the company should have a laid down policy of disposal of waste at pre-designed disposal points mainly for the rejected, expired and damaged items of raw materials, finished products and packing materials. Volatility of export orders: Some customers and sectors served by the company are directly dependent on general economic development, competition and frequent fluctuations in demand for their products. The prices for these products are, in part, dependent on the prevailing relationship between supply and demand. Possible price fluctuations are therefore apt to have a direct influence on each customers working capital management decisions, with subsequent influence on the customers Order Intake. This may lead to volatility in the development of Order Intake of the company. The company has a policy of geographically diversifying its customer base, as also expanding the customer base in each export market, so that transfer to less volatile locations can be made in short notice. Price Competition in the local export market: The Company does business in very competitive local and export markets. In spite of the competition the company has a 70% market share in the local market and its export business is expanding.Both these local and export markets in which it competes are highly fragmented, with a few large, international manufacturers competing against each other and against a high number of smaller, local companies. Sometimes new entrants or existing players suddenly lower their prices to get rid of the companys products. This has, in some cases, adversely impacted sales margins realized by certain of companys products. To mitigate this risk the company has taken the following steps: Maintaining complete information of its Competitors with respect to their latest technological developments, market strategies, new investments, management changes etc. Has developed emergency alternative plans to introduce different product ranges with minimal structural changes with similar or lower prices. Currency fluctuation for export orders:The Company exports its products to a large number of countries like Canada, USA, Australia, African countries, and the Middle East. Almost all export orders of the company are fixed in US dollars. Since Omani Rail is pegged with US Dollars, the fluctuation of the currencies in would have negligible impact on the export realizations at company X. Company X has a policy of booking export orders in terms of US dollars to avoid the risk of currency fluctuations. Managing Operational Risks: Being a chocolate manufacturing company, it deals with the retail market. The most important risks are those of Operational risks. Operational risk is associated with human error, system failures and inadequate procedures and controls. It is the risk of loss arising from the potential that inadequate information system; technology failures, breaches in internal controls, fraud, unforeseen catastrophes, or other operational problems may result in unexpected losses or reputation problems. Fire Allied risks: These are general risks applicable to almost all establishments. This includes Material damage to the companys property due to Fire lightning, Earthquake, Third party impact, Accidental damage, explosion, riot strike, storm tempest, burst pipes, Own Vehicle impact, malicious damage, and theft. The company should take necessary steps in mitigating such risks by taking â€Å"Property All Risks Insurance Policy† â€Å"Loss of profit insurance cover† Machinery breakdown/ obsolescence: This risk identified is a major risk element as the company has been established two decades earlier by using imported refurbished Plant and machinery. Though most of the machinery is in running condition as of now the chances of spare part obsolescence is quite high in a majority of such machines. The physical status and the possible mitigation for major machinery can be shown in ANNEXTURE II Volatility of Raw Material/ Packing Material prices: The Company faces a medium level risk in its Raw material Packing material prices. The main raw materials at are Sugar, Glucose, Milk Powder, vegetable fat, coconut, coco whey powders. The packing material required is Wrappers, Bags, Gift boxes, Gift Tins and cartoons. Other than a few packing materials almost all of the raw materials and packing materials are imported as shown below Quality risk Raw material Packing material: This is a medium sized risk and the company should take reasonable care to mitigate such risks. Since the majority of the raw materials and packing materials are imported by the company, the purchase committee should implementing a stringent policy of Should have a multiple suppliers from the same country or region. Should have proper Quality checks for each Consignment while receiving delivery. Should have a stringent penalty clause on variation of specifications in the agreements with suppliers. Delivery risk of Suppliers: This is major risk element at the company because of the fact that in most cases purchases are imported and made through Letter of Credits. Non Delivery or delayed delivery in such purchases may affect the performance of the company. The company is implementing proper penalty clauses in the purchase agreement for delayed and/ or non-delivery of the ordered items. Transporting risks: In case of local sales, the company transports the products mostly through its own personnel. The company therefore, takes a general Transit Insurance policy covering accidents and theft. Inventory carrying risk: Inventory Carrying risks are of three types: Storage risk Overstocking under stocking risk Expiry risk Storage risk The storage policies currently are The company can keeps the entire inventory in closed warehouses. Over-stocking Under-stocking: The company can maintain a good optimized production planning system in correlation with its sales plan so that it can have a optimum stocking policy. The current production plan is quite satisfactory and hence the risk is low to medium. But the company is mostly dependent on Export market, the volatility of export orders may lead to overstocking or under-stocking of inventory. Expiry risks: This risk is low to medium. Expiry risks of inventory can be mitigated by proper planning of Sales, Purchase, Production and Distribution. The Storekeeper needs to maintain up-to-date records. A system is being implemented to provide on-line information about the stock position i.e. the quantity in stock, Re-order period, Ordering level and the Expiry dates of each of the Raw material, packing material and finished stocks to the Sales, Production and Purchase department so that immediate action can be taken by the respective departments. Manpower Availability risks: There is a shortage of skilled manpower in Oman. This is however met with the expatriate staff employed mainly from the sub-continent. The company therefore faces a medium risk in terms of availability of skilled manpower. The company can met unskilled manpower availability with the local Omani population and also from expatriate staff. The gap of skilled labor availability is likely to increase and therefore the costs also increase. To mitigate such risks, the company can develop long term strategy to invest in higher capacity production machines so that the requirement of manpower is kept low. Accidents: The Company can face a chance of accidents at the factory, however the accident risks at the company is low, as it does not deal with hazardous material and the production processes are not complex. However the company may face risks from mechanical or electrical installations which cant be entirely ruled out. So the company needs to take the following steps: By providing ELCB (Electric Leakage Circuit Breakers) in all electrical circuits and ACBs for the main transformers By providing Hot masks to the manpower Having a good machinery breakdown policy Constant monitoring of the gas line leakages The company needs have a Manpower Accidents and Injury Policy to cover the possibility of injury or death of manpower within the factory premises. Managing Reputation Risks Reputation of the company may also get hamper in various situations some of which are Contamination-hygiene: Being in the Food sector the company should take utmost precaution to avoid any sort of contamination in its products which will reach to the general mass. The company should take precaution for the quality of the raw material and packing material that is required for the entire production process and the stocking procedure. The company can follow the following policy: Stringent Quality control checks of Raw materials and packing materials Stringent Quality checks of the entire production process Maintaining Hygiene standards of the Government of Oman both in production and stocking. Sample testing at each stage Have a third Party damage policy insurance coverage owing to contamination Product expiry/Shelf life risks: This is again a very vital risk to the company as it is in the Food sector. The Government of Oman is very stringent in its laws to avoid expired products to be sold to the general public. So the company should take utmost care to avoid this risk by providing a stringent Distribution policy of its finished products Checks and controls before distribution of products. Monitoring distributed products on a daily basis Attributing Responsibility to a Senior Personnel for the management Corporate Governance: Corporate Governance Policies and Procedures manual are already in place at the company. Hence the risk associated with it is low. The management has to ensure proper compliance of the policies already undertaken to avoid any risk of reputation arising out of non-compliance of corporate governance. Managing Credit Risks: Credibility Risk of Customers: The Company should develop a credit policy based on regions, volume and credibility ranking of the parties. Export: The Company exports to a wide range of countries. The contacts of customers are mainly through visits and through mail. It is initially very difficult to assess the credibility of the customers abroad. The risk element is therefore medium and high. The company should mitigate this risk in the following manner: The company should back up the export orders by Letter of Credit from the parties. In case L/C mode is not practicable, the company can ask for advance payments or Security deposit, or post dated cheques which will cover the entire order taken prior to effecting delivery of the goods. The company currently did not enter into any distribution agreement with any export party and deals with parties on a case to case basis The Company can set up a network of distributors for handling exports sales as far as practicable. The company can also set up more than one distributor; in each region/country, so that price advantage can be achieved through minimal risk. The company should select distributors with proven track record, and the distributorship agreement should be through a internationally binding legal contract. Local: Local sales are affected by the company mainly to retail customers like supermarkets and hypermarkets, small shops and to two distributors in the interior. The company should take the following steps: Sale to all hypermarkets and supermarkets where the volumes are above a certain limit are, as far as possible, affected by means of an annual contract with all modalities and terms and conditions clearly laid out. For single shop outlets, the company may face the risk of shop closing down and non-payment or delayed payment. To counter this company should maintain small stocks with such shops and should have a regular but frequent collection system. In case of distributors the company should have legally binding distribution agreements. Limit setting: An important element of credit risk management is to establish exposure limits for each single customer and distributors. The compan

The Persuasive Antony of William Shakespeares Julius Caesar Essay

The Persuasive Antony of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar    In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, the characters give many persuasive speeches, some stronger than others, to convince characters in the story about what is true, false, right, and wrong.   After given instructions on a way to present his funeral speech for Caesar, Antony uses knowledge and skill to cover for his persuasion.   Antony speaks to the Roman mob after Brutus. His objective is to turn the people against Brutus and the conspirators in a persuading way so the group will no longer follow what is wrong.   Antony has skillful ways to help him convince the Romans that Caesar was a  loving man and Brutus is not so honorable.   He uses verbal irony, parallel phrases with repetition, and questioning of the truth to sway the crowds' feelings. When giving his speech, Antony uses his skill as an orator through the use of verbal irony.   Antony tells the Romans that Brutus called Caesar ambitious.   That is only what was said; he was not a man of ambition.   Antony proves this by saying that Caesar turned the crown down and even wept for the poor of Rome.   Brutus is referred to as an honorable man.   Of course this is not true, but Antony uses the statement as verbal irony to sway the peoples' minds.   Everyone knows that killing someone, no matter what the case, is not a quality of an honorable person.   Antony also knows Brutus' reason for killing Caesar was not valid and wants to prove this to the people.   When trying to prove himself true, Antony says, "I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke..." (Act III, scene ii, 102).   Antony does a swell job covering his purpose of his speech.   He is really trying to make the mob see that Caesar ... ...r's true self.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is Antony's speech for Caesar's funeral a persuasive one?   Antony does, in fact, persuade the Romans into believing the truth he reveals.   As an orator, Antony's words spoken through specific techniques such as verbal irony, parallel phrases with repetition, and questioning, prove his speech to be powerful and convincing.   Unlike Brutus' speech to the Romans, Antony uses true and factual information to back his thoughts.   He does a good job referring to the opposition, which is Brutus' thoughts of Caesar.   Antony definitely tests the crowd by causing them to think about the right and wrong in the situation.   He only wants the Romans to know that Caesar did love them and to realize Brutus wronged them.   By being a powerful orator, Antony wins over the crowds' perceptions to turn them against Brutus and the conspirators as his wished. The Persuasive Antony of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar Essay The Persuasive Antony of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar    In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, the characters give many persuasive speeches, some stronger than others, to convince characters in the story about what is true, false, right, and wrong.   After given instructions on a way to present his funeral speech for Caesar, Antony uses knowledge and skill to cover for his persuasion.   Antony speaks to the Roman mob after Brutus. His objective is to turn the people against Brutus and the conspirators in a persuading way so the group will no longer follow what is wrong.   Antony has skillful ways to help him convince the Romans that Caesar was a  loving man and Brutus is not so honorable.   He uses verbal irony, parallel phrases with repetition, and questioning of the truth to sway the crowds' feelings. When giving his speech, Antony uses his skill as an orator through the use of verbal irony.   Antony tells the Romans that Brutus called Caesar ambitious.   That is only what was said; he was not a man of ambition.   Antony proves this by saying that Caesar turned the crown down and even wept for the poor of Rome.   Brutus is referred to as an honorable man.   Of course this is not true, but Antony uses the statement as verbal irony to sway the peoples' minds.   Everyone knows that killing someone, no matter what the case, is not a quality of an honorable person.   Antony also knows Brutus' reason for killing Caesar was not valid and wants to prove this to the people.   When trying to prove himself true, Antony says, "I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke..." (Act III, scene ii, 102).   Antony does a swell job covering his purpose of his speech.   He is really trying to make the mob see that Caesar ... ...r's true self.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is Antony's speech for Caesar's funeral a persuasive one?   Antony does, in fact, persuade the Romans into believing the truth he reveals.   As an orator, Antony's words spoken through specific techniques such as verbal irony, parallel phrases with repetition, and questioning, prove his speech to be powerful and convincing.   Unlike Brutus' speech to the Romans, Antony uses true and factual information to back his thoughts.   He does a good job referring to the opposition, which is Brutus' thoughts of Caesar.   Antony definitely tests the crowd by causing them to think about the right and wrong in the situation.   He only wants the Romans to know that Caesar did love them and to realize Brutus wronged them.   By being a powerful orator, Antony wins over the crowds' perceptions to turn them against Brutus and the conspirators as his wished.

college tuition :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Public college tuition fees need to increase and not have a ceiling set on them because over time instructional costs increase due to rising wages, salaries and inflation. If there were a ceiling government taxes would increase, and last many amenities would have to be subtracted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, over time instructional costs increase due to rising wages, salaries and inflation. If tuition does not increase the salary of employees will decrease and jobs will have to be cut, because there will not be enough money. Along with a smaller faculty there will also be less class choice and increase in class size. Both of these things will result in a lower quality of education because there would not be enough money due to a tuition ceiling. The tuition that students and families pay goes towards the students education. According to Karen Arenson of the New York Times some colleges are already cutting back, taking such steps as eliminating faculty positions and reducing class sizes. These things are already happening without a tuition ceiling. Just think that all colleges would have to do this instead of some if there was a tuition ceiling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If a ceiling was set on tuition at all public colleges in the united states there would be a drastic increase in government taxes. Tuition at public universities is usually shared between the government or taxpayers, and the parents and student. As student costs increase such as maintenance, room, board, travel, laundry, and entertainment taxes would have to increase to cover the additional expenses. The failure of tuition to increase at the same rate as the increases of wages and salaries in the economy will require additional government revenues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  College isn’t all about bookwork. College is a place to have and experience new things. If a ceiling was set on tuition there would be almost no money to fund extracurricular activities such athletic and cultural facilities and other programs. Also colleges would not be able to pay for extensive libraries and new technology for students without tuition.

Death Changes Everything

Imogen is a thirteen year old girl. Her family consists of two older brothers, a dad called George, and a step-mother called Jenny. Her grandparents died, when she was a little, except a grandmother on her dads' side of the family called Mary. Her mother also died. Now all she has is a picture which she looks at every morning when she wakes up and just before she goes to bed. Jenny is an evil step-mother. Like one of those from a fairy tale. She seems to love George but hates children and wants nothing to do with them. In front of George she acts kindly towards them and makes an effort to communicate but when he's not around she just ignored them. Jenny is considered completely useless to the three kids. She sits at home watching television all day, she doesn't bother to clean the house or cook and instead she hires a maid and pays her to do the job. This isn't the type of mother role model that Imogen needs. She needs someone who could show her new things like teaching her how to cook complicated dishes for special occasions. Even though Imogen is well-behaved, she still needs a mother to go shopping with, to gossip with and have some mother, daughter time with. All these things could be done with friends but it's different when it's your mother. A mother gives advice that friends might not have experienced yet. George, Imogens' father, plays a big role in her life. He's a successful lawyer and Imogen takes him as her role model. George is a loving father who's always there for Imogen, helping her to make the right choices in life, encouraging her to study just that little bit harder for exams. He's not that big a role model for the boys as he is for Imogen but that's because they have other things on their mind instead of working hard to get a good education. Perfect. That's what Imogen is. She is a bright teenager with high ambitions of following her fathers' footsteps in becoming a lawyer. She has big, blue eyes, long, wavy hair and is short but extremely mature for her age. She loves school as much as cats loves mice and her friends are reliable, trustworthy and support her through thick and thin no matter what happens. Tom and Adam were two charming boys who had a way with the ladies. They were good students right up to the point of puberty. Usually girls are the ones with mood swings, but not in this case. They started misbehaving in class, then skipping lessons and finally stopped going to school altogether. Now they, unlike their sister, hate school. When in school they do everything to get themselves out and when out drinking alcohol, taking drugs were only a few of the things they do. They never seemed to understand how their own blood could love school so much. Imogens grandmother Mary was, in Imogens opinion, the nicest grandmother that ever lived. She lives abroad in Spain but visits regularly. She's loves all three children very much, she respects them and treats them like grown-ups. She is very healthy and lives life to the maximum, goes on holidays a lot, and is not scared of anything. Every time Mary visit's the country and they go shopping, Mary buys Imogen anything she asks for. Every morning, Imogens house, starts off the same way. She wakes up to the sound of her annoying brothers arguing with Jenny about how she doesn't have to act nicely in front of George and make them breakfast but this Monday morning she woke up to the sound of rain tapping at her window. She jumped out of bed, kissed her mothers photo, got washed and put her school uniform on. Walking down the stairs she noticed Jenny trying to make breakfast, with no complaints from the twins. That was because she was making pancakes and George was there watching his sons every move. She sat down next to Adam and as he turned around to ask Jenny for more food, he knocked over the glass of orange juice that was beside him, making it spill all over Imogens' school skirt. Walking back up the stairs to her bedroom, she slipped and bumped her knee onto the hard flood. She got up slowly and crawled to her bedroom. Rummaging through her closet she tried to find her other skirt. Realising it was in the laundry basket she walked over, got it out and put the malodorous skirt on. â€Å"That's disgusting!† said her twin brothers as they walked past her bedroom â€Å"It's not that dirty!† she lied The skirt wasn't literally dirty it just smelled. To take the smell away she went into the bathroom and smothered herself with perfume. Running back down the stairs she slipped and landed onto the side of her foot, hurting her ankle. Sitting on the floor thinking of how much pain was caused to her this morning she realised it was the start of a bad day. Looking up at the clock in the living room, it read quarter past eight. She was late. Today was the day of her first GCSE exam and Imogen wanted to get to school earlier than usual so that she could have enough time to go over the topics she wasn't very confident with. Now, if she took the bus, it would be impossible. George had still not left for work. He was standing in the kitchen reading a newspaper and drinking coffee. Imogen ran up to him and kissed him on the cheek. â€Å"Good morning dad.† â€Å"Good morning honey,† he replied, â€Å"did you sleep well?† â€Å"Yes I did,† said Imogen, â€Å"can you take me to school by any chance?† â€Å"Of course I could† â€Å"Boys, get downstairs, I'm taking your sister to school and I might as well take you too!† he yelled upstairs â€Å"We'll take the bus coz it's too early for us to be leaving for school.† They shouted back â€Å"Fine, but don't be late.† â€Å"We won't be,† they replied with huge grins on their faces Imogens dad loves old cars and he himself had a 1986 BMW 635CSi. The car was safe but had a few flaws. The airbags didn't work on the front passenger side and the seatbelts easily became unbuckled. George was never worried because he was a very safe driver and he could never give his car away. As soon as Imogen got in the car she put a book on her fathers lap and asked him to ask her some questions but he couldn't because he was about to drive, instead he told her that he would when they stopped at a red traffic light. When they did he took the old book into his hands and started asking questions. Imogen gave a perfect answer to each and every question. Meanwhile, on the road opposite to theirs were a couple of drunken teenagers, joy riding. They didn't notice that the red light was on and carried on driving. The driver lost control and the car started to skid on the wet ground and so ended up hitting Imogens' car. The out of control car hit the BMW head on causing George's seatbelt to unbuckle and he flew out the front window. Imogens airbag was broken but luckily her seatbelt didn't unbuckle. An ambulance arrived and took them to the busy hospital. Imogen and George were rushed straight into surgery for they had suffered serious head injuries. Unfortunately none of the drunk teens were wearing a seatbelt and received serious injuries. They died before the ambulance got to the scene. Three weeks later, slowly opening her eyes, Imogen found herself in a hospital bed surrounded by family and friends. â€Å"What happened to me? Why am I in a hospital? Asked Imogen â€Å"Imogen, this is really important, what's the last thing you remember? Asked the nurse â€Å"I remember my dad was taking me to school. Then we stopped at a traffic light and he was asking – where is my dad?† When the doctors operated on Imogen, they did the best they could, her injuries where bad and the doctors were not sure whether or not she would be able to remember everything when she awoke from the coma. â€Å"I don't know how to tell you this, but your father-† said the nurse â€Å"I'll tell her,† interrupted Mary, Imogens grandmother, â€Å"your father died the day you were rushed into hospital. The surgeons did everything they could but they just weren't able to stop the bleeding† By the time she finished the sentence both of them were in tears. Mary went up to her favourite grandchild and put her arms around her. â€Å"It's my entire fault, grandma, it's my entire fault!† Imogen repeated, â€Å"I know it is, I asked him to drive me to school, if he hadn't got in the car to take me to school, he would still be here! It's my entire fault! Now we have no one to look after us, and I've missed my GCSE exams. It's my entire fault!† â€Å"You still have Jenny to look after you and I called the school to explain the situation, they said you can retake them when you get back† Imogen stayed in the hospital for another week under monitoring. Her friends visited and so did her brothers. The week went past very slowly. Everyday, all she did was lay in bed, watch television, walk around a bit and then go back to bed. There were no children there her age and she didn't want to talk to elderly people. Imogen received beautiful bouquets of flowers and tasty chocolates from family but she didn't want any of it, she just wanted her caring dad by her side, helping her through this. When Imogen got out of the hospital her brothers took her home. Jenny was in the living room watching television. â€Å"Welcome home!† exclaimed Jenny Imogen just ignored her and went straight up to her bedroom. The next few days were a blur. Imogen stayed in bed most days mourning and crying over all the memories she had with her father. Every time she saw a picture of him she burst out into tears. The words: ‘It's my fault, why did it have to happen, what did he do to deserve this, it was my bad day!' kept running though her mind. Even when she slept, she had horrifying nightmares about the crash; she pictured her dad on the operating table, while she was behind glass unable to help him. She needed help, support, encouragement to get her back to normal, but with a step-mother like Jenny, that would be impossible. The first day she went to school her brothers left her at the gate. Looking at the school from a distance she realised that she wasn't ready to go in. Instead she followed her brothers to where they went. Tom led the way while Adam followed behind like a dog on a leash. During the journey, Tom and Adam went into, what looked like an abandoned house, when they came out Tom carried a small, plastic bag full of white pills. He put them in his pocket and walked on. They came to a lighthouse looking building which was surrounded by a high fence. On the fence was a warning sign which read ‘No unauthorised person'. The light house was covered with horizontal red and white stripes and a long, unstable, wooden ladder reached the ground from the top. The two brothers approached the lighthouse. Imogen stared at the building. It was very unusual for a lighthouse not to be near the ocean. While staring she carried on walking and stepped on a piece of loose metal lying on the floor. â€Å"What are you doing here? Asked Adam â€Å"I wanted to know were you were going. I could go back if you want.† â€Å"Yes, go back!† he shouted â€Å"No,† insisted Tom, â€Å"she doesn't know the way back and what if she gets lost. Just let her come up with us, what's the worst that could happen?† Tom went up the unstable ladder first, then went Imogen and last of all came Adam. Climbing up the ladder Imogen tried not to look down. As they neared the top of the lighthouse, strange voices could be heard. At first it sounded like there were only few people talking but as Imogen went higher up the ladder she started to hear more and more voices. â€Å"We're here† announced Tom as they reached the top. â€Å"Finally,† one boy said, â€Å"what took you so long?† â€Å"It's a long story;† answered Adam â€Å"but our little sister is here with us,† All the people sitting on the dirty lighthouse floor turned and looked at Imogen. â€Å"How old is she?† a girl asked Tom â€Å"I'm nearly 14† she answered her. â€Å"Isn't that a bit young?† she asked Tom again This time he answered her: â€Å"Well how old were we when all of this started?† â€Å"True, true. Good point.† Tom and Adam went around the lighthouse giving each person a couple of the white pills. Imogen went around to all the people, looking at what they were doing. To her it looked like they were drinking alcohol, swallowing the white pills and smoking weed. â€Å"What are the white pills and what do they do?† Imogen asked a little girl sitting in the corner sticking a white tablet in her mouth. â€Å"They're called ecstasy and they make me feel a whole lot better then I did this morning† answered the girl â€Å"I want some† requested Imogen â€Å"Sure,† said the girl, â€Å"but tell your brothers to get me an extra one, for next week.† The little girl was younger then Imogen but she looked worn-out and like she hadn't eaten in weeks. For a few short seconds after swallowing the tablet Imogen felt nothing, then minutes later the action kicked in. She felt ecstatic. Like nothing could ever go wrong. Then taking a sip of a transparent drink, she felt dizzy but relaxed. Finally, when she inhaled the weed she felt like all her problems and worries vanished and she was in a completely different world. School or education didn't matter. In this world she felt like she could do anything, even fly. Everyday, instead of taking Imogen to school, her brothers took her with them to the lighthouse. This carried on for weeks until Stephanie, the little girl that gave Imogen the weed, ecstasy and alcohol, had a heart attack. Lucky for everyone there, she had no family, so all they had to do was bury her in the cemetery at night. This was too much for Imogen. The death of the little girl made her remember the death of her dad. She realised that taking drugs, smoking and drinking alcohol wasn't the way to deal with death. She had to face death and just get over it. â€Å"I'm not going to come here with you any more,† Announced Imogen. â€Å"Why not?† asked her brothers â€Å"Because what your doing is bad for your health and what point are you trying to prove by drinking, drugs and smoking?† There is no point to prove, it makes us feel good and you should know, you've tried it for yourself and you know the pleasure it gives you.† â€Å"There's no pleasure in this if there is a risk of dying. I will give up.† â€Å"It's not as simple as it sounds. You go through a lot of pain when you try to give up. Are you sure you're ready?† asked her brothers â€Å"I will give up, I don't want to die like little Stephanie did. The only reason I started this was because I couldn't get over dads death and I didn't get any support from anyone, but me dying isn't going to make anything better either.† â€Å"Tomorrow you're going to end up coming back with us,† warned Adam â€Å"No,† Imogen said, â€Å"Tomorrow will be another day.† Stopping wasn't difficult. Imogen went through the normal process of withdrawal symptoms; aches and pains, sweating, shaking, headaches and cravings for the drug, but thinking about her father's and Stephanie's death helped her to pull through.

Exclusionary Rule

Contemporary Issues Paper: The Exclusionary Rule Jennifer Howell November 6, 2010 The Exclusionary Rule and Its Exceptions Introduction: The Exclusionary Rule The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement personnel. (US Const. amend. IV) Though the Amendment â€Å"forbids unreasonable searches and seizures, it does not provide a mechanism for prevention or a remedy. (Jackson, 1996) After passage of the Fourth Amendment, courts began to make laws regarding the rule against unreasonable searches and seizures.The courts designed a rule known as the Exclusionary Rule, which provided a remedy for the violation of a suspect’s Fourth Amendment privileges: any evidence seized in violation of the suspect’s rights and protections may not be used against the suspect in a criminal prosecution. The courts have been working and refining the exclusinary rule since its introduction in the 1900 ’s. (Exclusionary Rule, n. . ) The first case that applied the exclusionary rule was the case of Weeks v. United States, 232 U. S. 393, in which the Supreme Court â€Å"held that the Fourth Amendment barred the use of evidence secured through a warrantless search. † (Exclusionary Rule, n. d. ) The exclusionary rule requires an illegal action by a police officer or agent of the police, evidence secured as a result of the illegal action, and a â€Å"casual connection between the illegal action and the evidence secured. † (Evaluation, n. d. ) Exceptions to the Exclusionary RuleSince the introduction of the exclusionary rule, courts have found that it can not be enforced across the board, and have carved out a number of exceptions. These are: * The Impeachment Exception This exception allows the Government to offer illegally-seized evidence on cross-examination of the defendant to impeach the defendant after the defendant takes the stand and perjures himself. It sho uld be noted that the exception applies only to the testimony of the defendant, and not to any other witnesses. * The Independent Source ExceptionThis exception is a way of protecting the government’s case when the evidence was found â€Å"through an independent source sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint. † (Jackson, 1996) That is, the evidence was seized not only illegally, but also legally. * The Inevitable Discovery Exception The inevitable discovery exception was established to allow the admission of illegally-seized evidence that, though it was discovered unlawfully and in violation of the Fourth Amendment, would have inevitably been discovered anyway, through lawful means. The Good Faith Exception When an officer acts on a search warrant and discovers evidence, and the search warrant is later determined to be invalid, the evidence can still be used as long as the officers acted in good faith that the warrant was valid at the time of its execution. This exception was developed because the purpose of the exclusionary rule was not designed to punish the errors of judges and magistrates, but to deter police misconduct. (Exclusionary Rule, n. d. ) * The Harmless Error ExceptionThe harmless error exception allows introduction of evidence as long as the evidence is determined to be â€Å"harmless† evidence – that is, it applies to immaterial issues. The evidence and circumstances are reviewed by the court, and the evidence has to be found harmless by a reasonable doubt. (Jackson, 1996) * The Rule of Attenuation The Court established the â€Å"rule of attenuation,† which allows the introduction of illegally-seized evidence when â€Å"the Fourth Amendment violation is sufficiently far from the discovery of the evidence as to dissipate the taint. (Jackson, 1996) The Courts have provided three factors for Courts to apply to determine if the rule of attenuation applies: â€Å"(1) the length of time betw een the illegality and the seizure of evidence, (2) the presence of additional intervening factors; and (3) the degree and purpose of the official misconduct. † (Jackson, 1996) Legal Implications of the Exclusionary Rule The exclusionary rule and the development of its exceptions are of vital legal importance to the people of the United States.The courts have reasoned that illegally obtained evidence can not be used in a trial to do so would be to condone unconstitutional behavior, thereby â€Å"compromising the integrity of the jury. † (Jackson, 1996) The Fourth Amendment is a constraint on the power of the police officers, and gives the officers an incentive to control their power. The exclusionary rule has great legal implications in that it protects American citizens from officers and other State actors who have personal motivations that â€Å"may otherwise be in conflict with Fourth Amendment compliance. (Jackson, 1996) In fact, the Supreme Court has held that the abuses that gave rise to the exclusionary rule featured intentional conduct which was patently unconstitutional. (Herring, 2009)Political & Financial Implications There are political adversaries of the exclusionary rule, who argue that the rule protects criminals. However, studies show that the actual societal cost of the exclusionary rule is relatively small. The cumulative loss in felony cases attributable to Fourth Amendment violations and the subsequent exclusion of evidence is between . 6% and 2. 5%. (Davies, 1983) The exclusionary rule, while seemingly necessary to deter police misconduct, has financial implications in that when evidence is suppressed, the State may be unable to prosecute the case, and not only wastes the time and costs of the police department involved, but also the time and efforts of judges, court employees, and jurors. Interestingly, Mialon found in his study that the exclusionary rule directly reduces searches by police (in that it reduces chances of a s uccessful conviction) and it also indirectly increases them (via an increase in crime).The exceptions that have been carved out help deter these costs by ensuring that the only cases that are affected by the exclusionary rule are those that truly violated the Fourth Amendment rights of the defendant.Sources: Davies, Thomas (1983) A Hard Look at What We Know (and Still Need to Learn) About the â€Å"Costs† of the Exclusionary Rule: The NIJ Study and Other Studies of â€Å"Lost† Arrests. 1983 American Bar Foundation Research Journal 611,622 Evaluation of the Exclusionary Rule. Retrieved November 4, 2010, from http://www. essortment. com/all/exclusionaryrul_rmlx. htm Exclusionary Rule (n. . ). Retrieved November 3, 2010, from http://legal-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/Exclusionary+Rule Herring v. United States. (2009) 129 S. Ct. 695 (via scholar. google. com)Jackson, Heather. (1996) Arizona v. Evans: Expanding Exclusionary Rule Exceptions and Contracting Fourth Amend ment Protection. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol 86, No. 4. Northwestern University School of Law. Mialon, Hugo and Sue Mialon. Abstract on The Effects of the Fourth Amendment: An Economic Analysis. Retrieved November 6, 2010, from http://jleo. oxfordjournals. org/content/24/1/22. abstract

Economic and Political Changes During the Medieval Ages Essay

Before becoming what it is today Europe went through a lot of changes. After the fall of Rome, Europe was in chaos. This is until Charlemagne helped to restore it, after his death though, Europe was back into chaos. Chaos ended in the High Middle Ages when Europe prospered politically and economically. In the Early Middle Ages, also known as the â€Å"Dark ages† which was after the fall of Rome which was caused because of lack of a centralized government, lack of trade, and lack of formal learning, there was a period of great disorder. Because of Europe’s many natural resources such as their seas which were great for fighting and farming, many Germanic tribes, Viking, and other people tried to attack it. When Charlemagne became Emperor the chaos stopped but after his death it continued again. The High Middle Ages were times of economic and political prosperity for Europe. Europe started using a feudal system, which is a system of government based on control of land. In feudal society everybody had a place. For example, vassals pledged their loyalty to their lords and they helped each other out. Another example is serfs farmed and did other labor work for the lords and kings in exchange for land and food. The feudal system provided Europe with a centralized government. Economically Europe also changed, During the Agricultural Revolution they made new technologies such as the wind mill and iron plow which greatly helped with farming. They also started using the three-field system. Because of their change there was more food and the population grew. Trade routes, trade fairs and towns were also created. Another big change was the Commercial Revolution. Money reappeared and was used to buy and sell goods. Europeans developed new ways of doing business. They created partnerships and an insurance system. This greatly helped business in Europe. In order for Europe to get out of its â€Å"Dark Ages† it had to go through change. By changing politically and economically, it prospered. Even now other civilizations are influenced by this. For example we have an insurance system and use windmills. In order for Europe to prosper it had to go through change.

Government mandated use of ethanol in consumer used gas stations Essay

Government mandated use of ethanol in consumer used gas stations - Essay Example Ethanol in the US is an alternative to foreign oil. The government established that it is easier to rely on ethanol for energy other than relying on foreign countries for oil. For many years, there has been use of oil as a source of energy in running machines. There has also been a constant rivalry between countries on the control of oil and its products. In addition to this, the oil wells are on the state of almost complete depletion and at one time, there will be no more of it. The government decided to seek an alternative source of energy that is reliable and easier to regenerate (Shawn & Kimberly 168). Another advantage of ethanol is that it is of an organic origin. Ethanol is a plant-based fuel whose production hails from agricultural products such as corn, waste paper, wheat, sugarcane and sorghum. The resources used to produce it are available locally from farmers. This easy availability makes it easier to rely upon as compared to oil. In using locally produced raw material, it also contributes to the development of the economy making it economically friendly (Gaffigan 42). Ethanol is environmentally friendly. When producing energy, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. Car users note that ethanol does not produce large amounts of toxic materials to the environment as compared to the alternative gasoline. The commodity does not contain toxic materials such as lead and benzene, which compose the components of gasoline making it toxic. This advantage, of being environmentally friendly, gains ethanol’s popularity over gasoline (Shawn & Kimberly 168). Although ethanol is friendly to the natural environment, scientists prove it very corrosive. Ethanol is a good absorber of water and dirt. This property enables it to absorb water and dirt in the engines of motor vehicles. In the event that the water and dirt does not filter out properly, it causes corrosion and a lot of damage in the interior of the engine block. In addition to