Free Essays on Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer’s General Prologue

Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer’s General Prologue Chaucer’s account of the ecclesiastical figures is an example of his social satire. He presents the majority of these characters as people going on the pilgrimage for completely the wrong reasons, which suggests how seriously Chaucer is worried with the lowering of moral standards, as well as the avarice gripping society. This could be a definite criticism of the corrupt state of the church at the time. Out of the thirty pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales, eight are members of or have close dealings with the Church, which indicates just how much Medieval life is dominated by the Church, and how widespread it’s influence was. It is these descriptions of these ecclesiastical characters that demonstrates how the combination of larger amounts of power and money flowing into the Church have undermined the previously ascetic discipline, and distorted it’s moral values. The Monk is presented as a man of the world, who relishes in good food, recreation and freedom. Monks in those days actually had to take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience, living separate from the rest of the world so as to prevent any distractions from interfering with serving God. However, the Monk is a complete failure in those respects, as he loves the luxuries to be had in life. He rejects the monastic ways, of silence and prayer, as being out-dated, where he says â€Å"Thilke text heeld he nat worth an oystre†, and that he is for the â€Å"newe world†. It is the â€Å"olde thinges† that embody the principles on the monastic order, and he argues heatedly against the restrictions of his cloistered. He has â€Å"eyen stepe† that seemed to burn, which demonstrates his love of fresh air and exercise, and burning vitality. This commanding personality makes the Monks seem less unlikable, because it gives a positive charcteristic to his otherwise dec adent and disobedient ... Free Essays on Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer’s General Prologue Free Essays on Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer’s General Prologue Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer’s General Prologue Chaucer’s account of the ecclesiastical figures is an example of his social satire. He presents the majority of these characters as people going on the pilgrimage for completely the wrong reasons, which suggests how seriously Chaucer is worried with the lowering of moral standards, as well as the avarice gripping society. This could be a definite criticism of the corrupt state of the church at the time. Out of the thirty pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales, eight are members of or have close dealings with the Church, which indicates just how much Medieval life is dominated by the Church, and how widespread it’s influence was. It is these descriptions of these ecclesiastical characters that demonstrates how the combination of larger amounts of power and money flowing into the Church have undermined the previously ascetic discipline, and distorted it’s moral values. The Monk is presented as a man of the world, who relishes in good food, recreation and freedom. Monks in those days actually had to take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience, living separate from the rest of the world so as to prevent any distractions from interfering with serving God. However, the Monk is a complete failure in those respects, as he loves the luxuries to be had in life. He rejects the monastic ways, of silence and prayer, as being out-dated, where he says â€Å"Thilke text heeld he nat worth an oystre†, and that he is for the â€Å"newe world†. It is the â€Å"olde thinges† that embody the principles on the monastic order, and he argues heatedly against the restrictions of his cloistered. He has â€Å"eyen stepe† that seemed to burn, which demonstrates his love of fresh air and exercise, and burning vitality. This commanding personality makes the Monks seem less unlikable, because it gives a positive charcteristic to his otherwise dec adent and disobedient ...

Social Media Goals How to Set Them (And Crush Business Objectives)

Social Media Goals How to Set Them (And Crush Business Objectives) With all the time and money that your team invests into your social media marketing, wouldn’t it be nice to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your strategy is working? You first need to set right social media goals to help drive progress toward real business objectives. Then, youll be able to show your organization (or your clients) that their investment in social media marketing is  paying off. In this blog post you’ll learn: How to create attainable S.M.A.R.T social media goals. How to find the data you need to measure progress toward your goals. How to organize and record the data to prove your efforts are on track. How To Set Social Media Goals To Crush Your Business ObjectivesBefore You Start, Download Your Social Media Goal Kit Weve put together two templates to make applying the advice in this post easy: S.M.A.R.T Goals Worksheet to map out your goals and KPIs. Social Media Metrics spreadsheet template to record your weekly, monthly or quarterly data all in one place. Download em both now, and then well move on. Determine Which Channels You’re Going To Focus On The first part of your goal-setting process involves determining which social media channels to focus your efforts on. How do you know what channels to choose? Some qualifications that you may way to think about include: Where do we have the most active social presence? Where do we see the most potential for growth? Where is our competition the most successful online? Using those questions you should be able to prioritize which are most important. Which social media channels is your brand focusing on?Create Your S.M.A.R.T Goals The second part of creating your social media goals involves creating goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. The goals that you create need to be able to have a numerical value attached to them in some shape or form. For example, let’s break down the S.M.A.R.T specifics of the following goal: I want to add 5,000 Facebook followers to my total count by the end of 2017. This goal statement is: Specific: I want to gain 5,000 Facebook followers. We know exactly what we need to do in order to mark this goal as done. Measurable: 5,000 followers is a measurable value Attainable: If my Facebook followers are at 0, gaining 5,000 followers within a short amount of time, is a bit of a long shot, however, if you have a longer period of time (6 months or more) 5,000 followers is more attainable. Relevant: Is Facebook a strong social media channel that is garnering a lot of website visits or audience interaction? Is it worth the team’s time to invest in getting those extra followers? Time-Bound: The goal of gaining 5,000 followers needs to be met by Q4 of 2017. Your team now has a deadline. Each goal that you create can be recorded in the social media goals kit that you downloaded earlier: But if you need some help brainstorming S.M.A.R.T goals that you’re team wants to reach, we’ve broken down a couple of common goals and how to find the data you need to track progress toward them. Here's how set achievable social media goals (and track your progress towards them)Which Social Media Marketing Goals Should I Focus On? These next set of goals are broken down into categories: Traffic, Conversion  Increases, and Brand Awareness.  Your team can decide which metrics and goals to create in order to best achieve your overall business goals. But what do these categories mean? Traffic: How many of your followers are going from your social channels to your website? Conversions: How often are you followers following through and completing a set action Brand Awareness: How many people are aware of your brand and interacting with you on social media? For example, if one of your overarching business goals is to increase your customer base by 50%, then it would make sense to create goals that will help drive your social media followers to your website, as that traffic contributes to increasing your overall customer base. Recommended Reading: How to Get More Social Media Followers With 30 Awesome Tips Drive Traffic To Your Website What does it mean to create goals that drive traffic to your website? Targeting metrics like: How many of my followers or visitors from my target social media sites are visiting my website? What landing pages are my followers going to from my social sites? How long are they staying on my website or what is my bounce rate? What is the overall traffic percentage coming from social? Tracking these metrics are a great way to figure out where the traffic from your social channels is ending up on your website. If you can figure out where your audience is going, you can see where they’re stopping in the purchase process or what’s driving them all the way to a sale. So let’s break down this first goal. How many of my followers or visitors from my target social media sites are visiting my website? The first thing you’re going to want to do is open Google Analytics. Tracking tools like Google Analytics will help you track your traffic as it moves from your social sites. If you don’t have Google Analytics set up yet, check out this article from MOZ  or the Google  help center  to get started. Open your Google Analytics account and select Acquisition: Under Acquisition,  click through  Social Overview: The next step will be to set the dates in the top right-hand corner  of your screen  and adjusting your date range: Then, you'll be able to see all your referral traffic per social media channel for your selected time period. By clicking into each social network, you can see your top landing pages for each one, too: The numbers next to your top sites are the number of sessions that have occurred from the social site and the percentage of overall session per channel. You can record those numbers in your metrics tracking sheet: Are website visitors sticking around? Calculating your bounce rate is a great way to see if the content that you’ve created on your web pages is causing your audience to stay on your site or bounce right off the page to another one. Finding data to calculate your bounce rate can be complicated so let’s walk through how to find the data you need. Open your Google Analytics and select Behavior: From Behavior select Site Content and then Landing Pages: Then right next to your sidebar in the middle of your page is an option labeled Primary Dimension. Next to Landing Page should be Other which if you click on it will pull up a drop-down menu: You’re going to want to change the Other by selecting Acquisition then Sources. This will allow you to see the bounce rate coming from your social media channels: Now to find your social media pages you may have to click through to find them all but your bounce rates should be listed among the other statistics in your feed: As you collect your bounce rate metrics you can record them in your metrics tracking worksheet: How much traffic is social media contributing to your website traffic overall?  The final metric that you’re going to learn how to track is the percentage of traffic that social is contributing to your overall website traffic. Open Google Analytics and select Acquisition, then Channels: In the list that is generated, there should be an option that says Social. This section will calculate all of the traffic that has come from your social media channels over a specific area of time: You can keep track of your overall traffic percentages in your metric tracking worksheet: Accurately Determine Your Conversions From Social Media Now that you’ve determined how to track your website traffic, let’s move on to how to track conversions from your social media pages. What do conversion metrics look like to your team? It could be answering the following question: How many signups or conversions are happening on our website? While these metrics seem impossible to track, you can find that data you need. It’s just going to take some time and a lot of effort. How many conversions are coming from the traffic from my social media channels?  We’re going to take another dive into Google Analytics. Go to your analytics home page and select Acquisition: From Acquisition select Social and then Conversions: From their you will be able to see your conversion numbers per channel and how many conversions have been generated per channel: Now you may not see a dollar amount for those conversions. Why? Because you need to assign a goal and amount to each conversion. This process can be a bit complicated. For each URL that you are tracking you need to assign a dollar value to that conversion. For example, if you have a thank you for purchasing x product page, every time that URL surfaced you would know that you sold a certain amount of money. The easiest way to set up these URLs is to create goals in your Google Analytics. This process is outlined in this post from the Google Analytics  help desk. Once you have your goals set up and your values assigned for those goals you can begin to record them in your metrics tracking sheet: Accurately Gauge Your Engagement The last set of metrics that you can track revolves around brand engagement and how your followers are interacting with you on your social media channels. Some questions that you may want to answer with your data include: What is our follower growth? How many people are we reaching on our target social channels? How many mentions, shares, and comments are we getting? Tracking metrics like these allow you to gain insight into how your audience is interacting with you and how you can interact and create connections with them. The great thing is that most of these metrics can be found all in one place on each social channel. Recommended Reading: 30 Social Media Engagement Tactics That Will Boost Shares And Conversions Facebook Find your current number of followers on your page: Track your follower growth over time by going to your insights  tab and clicking on followers: To find, reactions, comments, shares and the reach of your posts, go to your Insights tab and click on Posts: Keep track of the data you need in your metrics sheet: Recommended Reading: Facebook Marketing Strategy: Why You Need One (And How to Build It) Twitter To find your current followers, check the information section of your profile. To find your follower growth, select Analytics  and then Audience: To find data on your impressions, engagements and engagement rate, click tweets  in your analytics bar: To get an even deeper break down of your analytics per tweet, click View Tweet Activity: Record that data in your metrics tracking spreadsheet: Recommended Reading: 15 Tactics to Boost Twitter Engagement (Backed By Research) Instagram To find your followers, check the information section of your profile: To find your follower growth scroll down the Insights tab: To get the metrics on your reach, follower change, website clicks and more you can scroll through the Insights tab: To get even more insights per post, click see more  in the posts tab and click on the post you want to see more in-depth analytics on: Those metrics can be recorded in your metrics tracking sheet: Recommended Reading: Everything You Need to Know About Instagram Analytics (+4 Free Tools) LinkedIn To find your current follower count, click into the information section of your profile. (Like you’ve done with every other profile so far): To find follower growth click Manage Page and select Analytics: Scroll down to Followers: To find more information on your impressions, interactions, followers gained and clicks on post: Keep track of your metrics in your metrics tracking sheet: Pinterest To find your Pinterest followers click the information section of your profile. It’s important to note with Pinterest, there is no graph to track your followers. You’re going to need to track your followers through the information section of your Pinterest profile: To find information on your impressions, clicks, saves and pin type per pin: To find information on your impressions, clicks, saves, and number of pins per board: Track your metrics in the metrics tracking sheet: Recommended Reading: How to Improve Your Pinterest Engagement Tactics With These 15 Tips Google+ Google+ is a bit of a beast when it comes to tracking your brand engagement metrics because it’s difficult to know where to look for the data you need. Fortunately, our friends at Steady Demand created this detailed guide on Google+ analytics. Give it a read, and you’ll learn everything you need to know. And if you're tracking Google+ metrics, we left space for you to record them in our metrics tracking worksheet. Recommended Reading: What 20 Studies Say About the Best Times to Post on Social Media Setting Your Baseline: What's Your Standard Social Media Marketing Performance? Now that you know where your metrics are for each social channel and where to record them you can begin to develop your baseline. The baseline is the starting number that you will determine the growth rate of your goals. For example, if you had 1,000 Facebook followers and you wanted to grow that number by 25%, you would take 25% of 1,000 since that is your base number. The easiest way to do this is to track all of your social media metrics at the volume you’re going to record them at (daily, weekly, monthly) for the past six months. Let’s go back to our follower example. Say from June 2016 to January 2017 we saw the following increases in followers on a month by month basis: June: 200 July: 300 August: 500 September: 550 October: 625 December: 900 January: 1,000 You would then take the increases for each month, which are: 100 followers 200 followers 50 followers 75 followers 275 followers 100 followers And average out that number: 1000+200+50+75+275+100 / 6 = 133.33 So your baseline growth for those 6 months is 133.33 followers and your baseline is 1,000.

Wellness through Leisure for Hong Kong Research Paper

Wellness through Leisure for Hong Kong - Research Paper Example Leisure, just like any other aspect of society, is a rudimentary right. It is the same the rights that are based on gender, colour, descent, religion, and economic status among others. Civilizations are complicated and interconnected, and cannot be detached from other existential objectives. In order to touch a physical, social, spiritual, and mental happiness and security, every person must be able to elaborate their personal goals and objectives, fulfil needs and interrelate optimistically within the society (1). Hence, leisure is regarded as means for enhancing the quality of living (Mannell 3). As a matter of fact, leisure has always been identified to have a crucial role in the quality of life and living satisfaction among older individuals (3). The quality of life for a certain civilization or community is oftentimes identified by looking at the various markers that include income category, health behaviours, the quality of the environment, and the degree at which crime, negati ve family outcomes, and the breakdown of social reinforcement (Mannell 2). So, this paper shall elaborate on the relationship of wellness and leisure for Hong Kong. The Census and Statistics Department (1) revealed Hong Kong’s population to be at 7.07 million by the middle of 2010. This number represents the 6.86 million Usual Residents and 0.21 Mobile Residents. From 2006 – 2010, the region obtained a population growth percentage of 0.8%. For the longest time, Hong Kong is widely known to be one of the most densely populated places in the world. In a report produced by the Census and Statistics Department (1), the land population density of Hong Kong as of mid-2010 was estimated to be at 6, 540 persons in every one square kilometre. Kwun Tung was the most densely populated area in the region with 54, 530 persons per square kilometre. These numbers unveils the social and environmental conditions in Hong Kong, which could be an important factor for wellness in Hong Kong . Hong Kong offers different kinds of leisure for all ages, ranging from indoor facilities such as museums, indoor sports amenities, aerobics, and other sports and recreational programs, to outdoor recreational facilities like amusement parks i.e. Disneyland, Victoria Park and Ocean Park, trails and campgrounds (LCSD, â€Å"Indoor Leisure and Cultural Activities for Families†). In the field of arts, the Hong Kong Arts Festival is a leading arts event that offers a five-week long cultural festival featuring Hong Kong’s rich and diverse culture. Hong Kong is also a favourite venue for some of the world’s biggest sports league such as the WTA and the FIVB (â€Å"Indoor Leisure and Cultural Activities for Families†). Hong Kong likewise features the Hong Kong Film Festival that was established to absorb, support, and feature the different works of art of artists from all over the world (â€Å"Indoor Leisure and Cultural Activities for Families†). Hong K ong’s leisure activities are greatly influenced by the colonizing powers that occupied the region for so many years. The British occupation of Hong Kong gave birth to the globalization of its cultural ascriptions, which contradicts to the formerly old-fashioned cultural traditions of the People’s Republic of China. As a global city, Hong Kong represents a melting pot of races ranging from Chinese to Japanese, from Filipinos to Indonesians, and so many others. Hong Kong’s global politics, economics, and sociology have greatly impacted the leisure activities available in the region. For instance, the Hong Kong

The structure of congress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The structure of congress - Essay Example Indeed, the government system in the United States may have its own strengths and weaknesses and it is subject to a number of critical review and analysis, some of which have been done in the following texts. The Structure of Congress Generally, the Congress of the United States is a bicameral legislature, which takes its unique governance operations from its structure and committees. There exist two major for a namely the House of Representatives and the Senate, two of whom make up the bicameral legislature. Due to the array of work that needs to be done by the Senate and House, there is a compromised system which ensures that the workload is better handled and this system is in the use of the committees to get duties of Congress executed (Stowitts, 2009). Indeed, the various committees and the responsibilities or roles assigned to them make up the structure of Congress. There exists several committees at the Senate but these may be grouped and categorized into Standing Committees, Select Committees, and Joint Committees. At the House, committees are put in charge of special sectors of the economy and thus make up committees such as Committee on Agriculture, Committee on House Administration, Committee on Rules, and so on. In its broader sense, it can be said that the Congress represents the larger population of the United States of America. The reason for this assertion is that members of Congress are voted into their offices and not merely appointed. This electoral system therefore enshrines powers in the hands of the ordinary American to determine who he or she wants to represent (Stowitts et al, 2010). Consequently, Congress represents the people on the ground. By the voting system, it is important to note that the fact that a congressman is voted for by a particular group of persons does not mean that that congressman represents the interest of those people only but then, once the congressman assumes office, he is mandated to represent the interest of all people within his electoral area without discrimination. It is indeed due to the need for there to be a fairer representation of the United States people that there are as people as 535 Voting members of Congress scattered all across the various States of America. What Congress does As democratic as the government system of the United States of America is, one of the virtues of governance that can indeed justify the exhibition of democracy in that country is the presence of shared powers among state offices, or what is commonly known as checks and balance (Stowitts, 2009). To this end, there are three major arms of government namely the executive, judiciary and legislature. The legislative arm of government is mainly responsible for making laws that are rooted in the constitution of the country. It is this arm that Congress represents. What congress does exactly therefore is for it to make laws for the country. With this role of Congress, some of the powers of state governance are taken away from the presidency into the hands of the ordinary people, whom the Congress represents. Subsequently, Congress determines several aspects of state governance including how funds should be raised for the country and how funds raised should

Naming the Minerals Essay Example for Free

Naming the Minerals Essay Name the minerals below. Then, insert a percentage of how certain you are in your identification. Finally, explain your percentage of certainty: What was confusing about this mineral? What other minerals do you think it could be? Remember, the minerals in the virtual lab include seven of the following: borax, calcite, corundum, graphite, gypsum, orthoclase feldspar, pyrite, quartz, talc, and topaz. Identification of Mineral Percent Certain Explanation of Certainty Example: Fluorite 80% certain I am almost certain this mineral is fluorite, but I am not completely sure. Fluorite and gypsum are both white, shiny, have white streaks, cleave, and show no reaction to acid. However, the specific gravity of this mineral is 3.18, which is higher than gypsum, so I am pretty sure it is fluorite. Mineral 1: Pyrite 80% certain I am almost sure that this mineral is pyrite because it is gold and has a black streak. The only thinks that do not match up is the specific gravity and the hardness. Mineral 2: Talc 100% certain I am certain that this mineral is talc because the hardness, specific gravity, color, streak and acid reaction are all the same. I am almost sure that this mineral is pyrite because it is gold and has a black streak. The only thinks that do not match up is the specific gravity and the hardness.. Mineral 3:Calcite 100% certain I am certain that this mineral is calcite because it is the only mineral on the list that is white and had an active bubbling acid affect. Mineral 4: Orthoclase Feldspar 90% certain I am almost certain that this mineral is orthoclase feldspar because everything matches but the hardness. The only other mineral it could be is corundum and the hardness is nine and I feel that that is way too high to be my mineral. My mineral matches best with orthoclase feldspar. Mineral 5:Quartz 100% certain I am almost certain that this mineral is quartz because it completely matches the description. Mineral 6: Gypsum 100% certain I am certain that this mineral is gypsum because the color, specific gravity, hardness, streak, luster and cleavage all match up to gypsum Mineral 7:Graphite 90% certain I am almost certain that this mineral is graphite. The only thing that does not match up is the acid reaction. When I ran the test I did not see any reaction with the acid but graphite does react to acid. I did not see any other options because the mineral is black and the streak is brown. So I am almost positive that the mineral is graphite. Part 3: Summary Write a summary answering the following: What are the four requirements for a material to be classified as a mineral? How do you differentiate between minerals? Briefly summarize the six methods to tell minerals apart. Summarize the major differences between minerals and rocks. For a solid to be classified as a mineral it must meet these four requirements: naturally solid, formed by inorganic processes, have characteristics of crystal structure, and a specific chemical composition. In order to tell minerals apart you can use these six methods: luster or color, streak, specific gravity, cleavage fracture, hardness, and acidity. Luster is the intensity that light reflects off of a mineral. A mineral may be shiny, pearly, or even metallic. Some minerals may be distinguishable by their color. By dragging a mineral across a streak plate its mineral powder will leave a streak with a particular color, but this is not a very reliable way of identifying a mineral. By dividing the weight of a mineral in water by the weight of the water you can get the specific gravity of a mineral. Another method is by determining if the mineral has cleavage or fracture. When broken a rock will either be in rounded chunks, fractured, or it be flat with corners, cleavage. Using the M oh’s Hardness Scale you can determine minerals hardness. Hydrochloric acid placed on a mineral will determine whether a mineral contains calcium carbonate. The difference between minerals and rock is that rocks are aggregates. This means a collection of minerals that intergroup together; sometimes many kinds in one rock.

School Security: Safe but Subtle Essay -- essays papers

School Security: Safe but Subtle The most infamous and deadly act of violence to occur in a U.S. school were the events of April 20, 1999. In Littleton Colorado two teens went on a shooting and bombing spree that left 15 dead and 24 wounded before they shot and killed themselves. During the rampage, the two fired about 900 rounds of ammunition from two sawed off shotguns, a 9-mm semiautomatic carbine, and a semiautomatic handgun. Police also later found more than 30 bombs placed throughout the school (Brock, 2001). In light of recent acts of violence in the nation’s schools, school safety and security have become a hot topic. However, the issue of school safety goes beyond student violence. It includes property damage, theft, and anything else that concerns the overall well being of schools. While it is important to create a safe environment in schools it is also necessary to make sure students feel comfortable in this atmosphere. The security can not be so overbearing that it becomes a negative tactic that gets in the way of the students main objective, learning. Barely noticeable cameras, ID cards, and security guards without uniforms can help generate this safe, but comfortable learning environment. On the other hand metal detectors and mini police forces may be a little too reminiscent of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, or even modern prisons. School security should not be overbearing or obtrusive where it gets in the way of a comfortable environment that is conducive to l earning in the nation’s schools. Schools are safe places. However, the American public has become increasingly concerned with crime in schools and the safety of students. In part, this concern has been shaped by the highly publicized acts ... ...iew of School Safety Research. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://nssc1.org/studies/statistic%20resourcespdf.pdf. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Are America’s Schools Safe? Students Speak Out: 1999 School Crime Supplement. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp/pubid=2002331. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2003). Indicators of School Crime and Safety; 2003. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2004/crime03. Watson, R.J., & Watson, R.S. (2002). The School as a Safe Haven. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey. Wright, Joe. (2004). Let’s See Some ID. American School & University, 76(7), 56-57. Retrieved April 14, 2005 from Academic Search/EBSCO database. http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=12649650.

ICT Meeting Special Needs

The person that I am going to be studying is Mr. C Aziz a man who lost his eyes when he was at the age of 32, due to an accident with a group of hooligans assaulting Mr Aziz on his way home one evening. Now Mohammed is currently 32 years of age and he and his wife live with their two sons. Mohammed Aziz is a musician, who aspires to one day be able to play as well as his idol Stevie Wonder. The topic blindness is often stereotyped to the thought of sight being gone forever, however in some cases of Blindness there is a chance of seeing again, however sadly in Mr Aziz's case, this is not a possibility. Blindness is the inability to see anything. Some people are called blind, even though they can see a vaguely. This is because they cannot see clearly, but can only see fuzzy shapes or colours. In modern countries, few young people are blind. Blindness is mostly caused by diseases of old people, like cataracts and trachoma. Sometimes, though, people are born blind. Some people are colour blind, which means they can see, however cannot tell certain colours apart. When people are blind they use such things as the alphabet in Braille and guard dogs to do every day things. Although again in Mohammed's case sadly he is not colour blind but fully blind. Technology 1 Braille Watch Braille watches have raised dots that allow a blind person to tell the time. Simply flip up the cover and feel the dots on the dial. There are different types of Braille Watches like the voice one that tells you the time when you need it and it is in digital and normally time. In Braille watches you can save appointments and notes and you can save birthdays and you can record voice and in also can tell you the temperature. Advantages o It's is small and the right size to fit a hand and says it in voice the time and date o Help people with appointments and helps them to not forget time and date and if they got anything information o Tell you everything in English, 99 different languages o It is like a person that is standing next to the blind person and helping Disadvantages o Not waterproof o Easily breaks o Something's very disturbing o Gets lost o One of the bad thing about Braille Watches is that it only reminds you once and that's bad because maybe the person is fast a sleep and can't hear it so they will mess the alarm How the technology meets their personal needs The Braille watch is particularly important in the life of Mr Aziz as it fits directly into his daily schedule. Mohammed, a devout Muslim, needs to wake up at 6am on a daily basis so he may do his daily prayers. The Braille watch is good for this as it allows him for one to be able to actually know the time, to know the right time in which he must pray, it also helps him as some Braille watches also have alarm clocks on them, this however may not be an option for Mr Aziz as, he has a very low budget, as a musician living off benefits from the government and disability benefits he does not have much money to be spending on luxury items, nevertheless Mohammed believes that religion is a very vital aspect of his life, and must uphold all traditions so an alarm is a must (Mohammed believes that if he devotes his life to his religion then one day his eyes may be healed by a miracle. The Braille watch also helps Mr Aziz as it allows him to keep track of when to take his eye medication. Even though Mr Aziz's eyes are now permanently obsolete, he must still use his droplets to prevent any infections in his eyes that may cause him discomfort, and with the help of the Braille watch he is able to know the time at all times and keep track with his medical schedule. Finally although Mr Aziz is sadly blind, he is still a very joyful individual person overall and likes to enjoy himself, with the help of the Braille watch, Mr Aziz he is able to watch all his favourite TV programmes on time without missing a single moment of the show. I believe that the Braille watch is an excellent technology in helping the blind or visually impaired to keep good track of the time. With the compact designs that house the Braille watch, and the voice helper, with over 99 languages built in, as well as a tonne of other gadgets, including I believe that the Braille watch is the ultimate timepiece of the 21st century when thinking of how to help the visually impaired with timekeeping. However with the Braille watch, the problem may arise that if the watch is broken, or needs repairing in any manner then getting the watch repaired is a very tricky matter, firstly it may be very costly as there are not many shops that repair Braille watches, and secondly as I just said there are not many stores that sell Braille watches so finding a shop which would repair the watch would be a strenuous task in itself. How the technology meets their social needs The Braille watch is pretty hand when it comes to Mr Aziz's social needs. As the Aziz family is quite lazy, Mr Aziz relies on his watch to wake up in the morning and to wake up his fellow family members for both work and school. As was said before Mr Aziz is over a very cheery man, he does not allow his sight to bring him down in life, this is why he has many friends in his local area, the element of kindness and happiness is very strong in the heart of Mr Aziz, so attracts the friendship of many of his peers. The Braille watch allows him to keep up to track with his friends on a daily basis. Another branch of Mohammed's daily routine consists of him going to one of his neighbours house daily to discuss topics such as football and their married lives, however Mohammed must wait until 10:15 every day to attend his friends home as he must wait for the children to be sent to school and the missus to go to work, this is where the Braille watch comes in, it allows Mohammed to keep track of the right time him to make his daily visit to his acquaintances' home. Everyday Mohammed rings his home town of Afghanistan to check on his brothers, sisters and parents and see how their lives are going. The time zones however are very different in these two regions of the world, so Mohammed has to use his watch to know the right time, so he does not call at an inconvenient time when his parents are sleeping. His wife is not able to help him with this as well as she works a very tight shift to try support her family (however she does not do it very well, working as a shop assistant on minimum wage makes it very difficult) so she does not have the time to call Mohammed and tell him the time in Kabul, this is why the Braille watch is very vital in his social life. Moreover, everyday at lunchtime Mr Aziz goes to his local school, Wembley Manor Primary School and recites compositions on his piano for children during their lunch break, as part of a good citizenship programme he set up a year ago. The Braille watch is very important as he only plays the piano during the children's lunch time which only lasts 1 hour, so Mr Aziz cannot be late, obviously there will be no penalty for coming late to this job, as it is all voluntary work, however the children enjoy his piano playing very much and would be terribly disappointed if he did not make a session, this is why Mr Aziz needs to hold on to his Braille watch and know the right time to get to the school. As was said before, if the watch does in fact get ruined or needs repairing, then on top of trying to find a store that restores Braille watches, he would need to get one of his friends or wife to escort him to the store, as he cannot see himself, this may bother his friends if they are busy and do not have time to take him. How the technology meets their needs in employment Mohammed Aziz is a composer and composes melodies for himself and for retail; she can make a living, although at the time being he has not been selling much. Mohammed needs to be able to have certain times of the day where he dedicates it to his music, so as not neglect his music, this is where the Braille watch fits in, Mr Aziz sets it on reminder everyday at 9pm so it rings and reminds him that he needs to finish his composing, this may be done without the use of his watch, by his wife reminding him if he forgets, however his wife is not at home at all times, she sometimes goes over to her neighbours house for their book club, and Mr Aziz forgets also at times so using the Braille watch is the most efficient way to remind him of the tasks he needs to do. I think that even though the Braille watch does an adequate job in helping Mohammed keep up with his work schedule by reminding him of the time he needs write his compositions, there may be a better technology such as a handheld PC with Braille keys that could assist him around the day. This however is very pricey and probably not in Mr Aziz's price range, so must be reconsidered, also if it is bought, the issue of thieves must also be thought, a Handheld PC specially made for blind people is very pricey and if a thief is to take advantage of Mr Aziz's disability and rob him of his Handheld PC, then the financial implications should be thought about, does Mr Aziz have enough money to replace something so expensive, will it impact his family financially leaving them in debt? These are just some questions that would be thought of when buying something so expensive for Mr Aziz. If the watch breaks down before Mohammed is due to go to work (his voluntary work) then he may not be aware of the time and miss his normal music session at Wembley Manor, upsetting the children because they did not see their favourite musician playing during their lunch hour. Technology 2 Braille Notetaker The Iris kb line offers portable and compact personal data assistants equipped with Braille keyboards and refreshable Braille displays of 20 or 40 cells. This line is part of a range of new generation Braille devices by Euro Braille. These devices incorporate a broad range of applications and are available with either a 128 MB internal storage capacity 256 MB capacity. The series of four keys on both sides of the keyboard, used for navigation, have been placed as closely as possible to the keyboard to minimise hand movements. This helps achieve a more ergonomic design aimed at reducing your risk of repetitive motion injuries. Spreadsheet applications allow you to work with data and formulas in cells that are identified by line and column, Calculator applications allow you to make basic calculations, File Explorer application facilitate handling files and folders in a tree structure, Calendar application pages to organise your appointments and tasks, Contacts pages to easily store and retrieve all your contact information when you need it and more. Advantages o Braille Display with 20 or 40 characters o QWERTY Keyboard o 8-Key command keyboard o Lithium-ion battery for fast recharge: 10 hours of autonomy o Serial port for PC connection; Parallel port for Braille and black printing o VGA port to visualise iris documents on a computer monitor o RJ45 port for connection to Ethernet network RJ11 port for connection to a telephone network o 2 USB ports (type A) Loudspeaker + Audio – in (microphone) and Audio-out (headphones) o 12V supply o It is very light 1,7 kg o Dimensions: 24 cm x 20 cm x 3,8 cm o 12-volt main charger o it is like an computer with everything like USB reader/writer that is WinCE compatible (Floppy disk, memory, USB Key, etc) o Disadvantages o Cost's to much = à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3,382 o slow writing o The charge run out quickly o It takes lots of time to charge up How the technology meets their personal needs The Braille note taker meets Mohammed's personal needs adequately as it allows him to make notes and write his compositions, this is especially good as Mohammed is not able to write his compositions with a pen and paper as he is blind, so he needs an alternative method which is user friendly to the visually impaired, hence the note taker. The note taker is also very light which allows Mohammed to keep it in his pocket without weighing him down, or sticking out of his pockets bringing any unnecessary attention for muggers or anyone with the intention to steal the note taker. Furthermore the note taker is actually very expensive, with a price ranging over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3000 it is no way in Mohammed's budget, however if he does receive one some way, perhaps from the government free of charge, to help his disability, then the small size will matter as it does not attract unwanted attention. The Note taker also meets Mr Aziz's personal needs as it has a 128mb or 258mb internal hard drive, which will allow him to store his music on. As Mohammed is a musician he has a strong passion for music, so being able to listen to his music frequently will bring great joy to him. The note taker will also allow Mr Aziz to keep a track of all special occasions through the use of the built in calendar that comes with most note taker, now Mr Aziz will never forget any special occasions or important dates. How the technology meets their social needs The Braille note taker is quite good in terms of Mr Aziz's personal needs. The note taker allows Mr Aziz to keep in constant contact with his friends who travel regularly, due to their jobs. The note taker allows him to do this by letting him send and receive emails. The note taker also allows Mohammed to exchange music with his friends via USB, this is a great advantage as he does not have to go out and buy the songs to listen to them, he can just get them off his friends if they have the songs on their PCs. As I said before, Mohammed's friends travel a lot due to demanding jobs, sometimes they are allowed to take a guest with them to the different locations of the world that they must go, so to feel Mohammed feel better about his eyes, they take him with them as their guests. However sometimes during their travels they sometimes get lost as they are in a foreign country and do not know their way around, this is where the note taker comes in, Mohammed can go on a website such as Google maps to then find the route to their destination. If unfortunately Mr Aziz's note taker was to be accidently damaged, lost or stolen, this could bring problems for not only himself but for his friends also. As Mr Aziz does not make a lot of money in his profession, he may need rely on his friends financially to fund for another note taker, or for the repair to his current note taker, this may be awkward for his friends as they must help him as they are his friends, but at the same time need the money so are then in a moral dilemma, to help their blind friend, or to keep the money and use it for themselves. This could also resolve in disputes amongst the friends if some help out Mohammed and others don't, some of the friends get be angered as to why they did not help him out. How the technology meets their needs in employment The Braille note taker helps Mr Aziz in his profession, as it allows him to message his record manager to tell him when his new compositions are ready; it also allows him to receive messages from his record manager to know times of important meetings, and times for his studio recordings. The note take also helps him in his work as it allows him to write his compositions, which needs to sell and make his living, without the compositions there would be no way for his music to succeed. Again the problem arises that if he loses the note taker, or it gets stolen, then he would have a very big problem on his hands, for one it would cost a lot of money to either replace the note taker (money which he does not have) or repair, but the other great problem would be that all of his appointment times and record dates would be gone, not only that but also all of Mr Aziz's compositions are saved on his note taker, so if he loses it then his songs would be lost as well, making him working as a musician obsolete as he does not have the tools for his success, his songs. Technology 3 Talking Typer for Windows Computer keyboarding and typing training software that speaks and displays lessons on screen. Includes drills, practice, and typing games. Adjustable to the student's level of skill and sight impairment. Recommended ages: 6 and older. Built from the ground up with blind and visually impaired students in mind, Talking Typing Teacher features digitized human speech, which is used everywhere in the program. This means that whether you're navigating menus, changing options, managing dozens of student accounts, or visiting the Help Desk, you'll enjoy listening to Eager Eddie read the screen. What makes TTT so special, however, is that each and every typing lesson or practice session is read aloud with clear, concise pre-recorded dialog. Put quite simply, you won't need to worry about trying to understand synthetic speech when you're learning to type with TTT. The only thing Text-To-Speech is really used for is to read your name and play back text you type into Workbook, a fully-functional talking word processor that ships with Talking Typing Teacher. Advantages o Built-in human speech (in the form MarvelTalk) that narrates the entire program o Complete interaction with both sound and full-colour animations o Detailed lesson curriculum designed with three levels of instruction o Full support for multiple student use. This means that you can have more than one student set up with the program, and TTT will pull up each student's record when he or she logs in. o Three levels of instruction that not only change the number of keys that are taught, but also how the instructions are worded and presented o Lessons that teach and reinforce typing, with careful emphasis on posture and correct typing habits o Lessons consisting of spoken and displayed instructions, practice drills, and final reminders o CD-ROM Drive o Intel Pentium @400 MHz Equivalent or Higher o Keyboard o Sound Card o 96MB RAM Disadvantages o Very old How the technology meets their personal needs This meets Mohammed's needs very well, as he is blind and needs to write using the Braille keyboard, it wastes a lot of time, however with the help of the talking typer Mohammed is able to quickly and efficiently type things on applications such as Microsoft word, all he has to do is say the sentence and the talking typer will automatically type the sentence out for him. It also helps Mr Aziz because as he is blind, he cannot navigate the mouse around the PC to find certain applications he is looking for, however with the help of the talking typer he can quickly and easily open applications by saying a couple of simple words, such as â€Å"open Microsoft Word† and then the application will be opened. The technology is very good for Mohammed Aziz as now he may be able to use the PC without the help of others, as he does not now need to rely on others for help, it now makes Mr Aziz feel happy about himself and not so useless and at a disadvantage due to his disability (even though he is, no one wishes to feel like they are worthless). The talking typer however does have a few faults to it, firstly it is a needs the hardware to operate, a microphone. This is a disadvantage as microphones can be easily broken due to their small flimsy fatigues; additionally it is much easier to be broken by a blind man as he cannot not see what he is doing. Furthermore the there are a very vast variety of applications and documents which exist in PCs, it is very hard for Mr Aziz to remember the names of all of these applications so that he can open them through voice commands, this is the extent which the technology meets his needs. How the technology meets their social needs The talking typer is fulfils his social needs to a great extent. As Mr Aziz is quite a popular guy thanks to his cheery attitude, he has plenty of friends, and likes to regularly socialise with them. He does this by meeting up with them, speaking to them on the phone, and emailing them or talking to them through an instant messaging service such as MSN Messenger. The talking typer allows him to make quick responses through the email service by just quickly saying everything that he wishes to be in his email, whereas before he had to wait for his wife to come home and type it all out for him (as he does not like using the Braille keyboard, it inflicts a slight pain in his fingers keeping them in the same positions typing constantly) Mr Aziz also uses the internet to buy clothes and his shopping through websites such as www.Asda.co.uk and www.Littlewoods.co.uk. With the help of the talking typer he can quickly order the goods through voice commands. How the technology meets their needs in employment The Talking typer does not help Mr Aziz is his profession very much. This is because he does not need to use the PC in his profession, and even if he does he may use his note taker instead, it is much more compact and can be used at any time or place, when he is inspired for a song he can quickly note down the ideas he has for his song rather than going home, wasting time and losing his inspiration. The talking typer is however good in some ways, it allows Mr Aziz to quickly memorise his lyrics, by inputting his lyrics through the talking typer he can then make the computer reply the lyrics and listen and memorise the words. Overall I do not think that there could be a better technology than the talking typer, perhaps a technology that connects directly to your mind and allows you to see computer images in your mind, would really benefit blind people, as it gives them the opportunity to actually see and use the computer efficiently, however this sort of technology has not yet been invented, but could be the hope for the future for the visually impaired.

Capital One Case Study Essay

In consumer lending, every product is evolving in the same direction as credit cards-toward large, national-scale consolidators replacing local, face-to-face lending. That evolution has happened in credit cards. It’s well under way in auto finance, mortgages, and home equity. Its coming more slowly in installment lending. So consumer lending, a major part of the asset side of banking, is all flowing toward national consolidators like Capital One. -RICHARD D. FAIRBANK, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORPORATION’ United Kingdom, the Hfs Group, to strengthen its Global Financial services (GFS) subsidiary in the British market. As of April 2005, it possessed sufficient liquidity ($21 billion) and capital ($9.2 billion)4 to enable its famous brand to expand into new markets and seize the right opportunities for profitable growth. Although the company’s acquisition of Hibernia in March 2005 provided it an opportunity to enter the fast-developing Texas markets of Houston and Dallas, it might face stiff competition from other large credit companies, such as Citigroup and J.P. Morgan. Capital One Financial Corporation is a diversified bank holding company, with a 2005 market value of $18.92 billion. It provides a gamut of financial services through its main subsidiaries-Capital One Bank, Capital One FS.B. (which offers consumer and commercial lending and consumer deposit products), and Capital One Auto Finance Inc (COAF). From a small local bankcard issuer in 1995, the company has transformed itself into one of the largest financial institutions in the United States by continually  introducing a steady stream of products. It features one of the most recognized brands in the industry, which it leverages along with its strategies of direct marketing, risk analysis, and information technology to grow and diversify into other businesses. Ranked 206th in the Fortune 500 list in 2005,2 the company has been gradually transforming itself from a credit card company to an institution that provides banking and other financial services to consumers. By January 2005, it was the 31st largest deposit institution in the United States with $25.6 billion3 in interest-bearing deposits. Capital One has been on the path of diversification from the late 1990s and has made three acquisitions between 2004 and 2005: Onyx Acceptance Corporation, eSmartloan, and Hibernia National Bank. It has also acquired a home equity brokerage company in the  Capital One is the fifth largest credit card provider in the United States5 and one of the largest issuers of MasterCard and Visa credit cards. It was founded as a wholly owned subsidiary of Virginia-based Signet Bank when Richard D. Fairbank, CEO and chairman of Capital One, was invited by the bank to head its bankcard division. It began its operations in 1953, the same year MasterCard International was formed. Fairbank and the former vice chairman of Capital One, Nigel Morris, realized that traditional banks offered loans without focusing on the customers-like analyzing their risk characteristics. They decided that by using technology and data mining techniques in the decision- making process of providing credit, the bank could charge the appropriate interest rates more accurately and earn greater profits. In 1994, Capital One was spun off from Signet as a public credit card company and established itself in McLean, Virginia. It had an initial public offering of 7,125,000 shares of common stock in the United States and Canada, at a price of $16 per share,6 which was managed by J.P. Morgan Securities Ine., Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Barney Ine. It is a part of the S&P 500 index, and also trades on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol COF ~ This case was written by Susmita Nandi, under the direction of Sumit Kumar Chaudhuri, ICFAI Business School Case Development Centre. It is intended to be :;: used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate  either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. The case was compiled from 25 published sources.  © 2005, ICFAI Business School Case Development Centre. No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced, or  © distributed in any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner. Between 1994 and 2004, the company grew at an annual compound rate of 29 percent/ both in terms of its EPS and the number of customers. In 2004, its earnings were $1.5 billion, and the EPS was at $6.21.8 At the end of 2004, the company and its subsidiaries held 48.6 million accounts and $79.9 billion9 in managed loans outstanding, which grew by 12 percent ($8.6 billion) over the previous year (see Exhibit 1). It had 17,760 employees in March 2005. The bank offers 7,00010variations of its MasterCard and Visa cards, each one is customized to appeal to different customer preferences and needs by combining product features such as different backgrounds and colors, along with varied annual percentage rates, credit limits, fees, and rewards programs. Capital One’s pricing strategy is based on the risk level of its customers. It offers platinum and gold cards to its preferred customers with excellent credit history and a wide range of secured and unsecured cards to customers with limited or poor credit history. The company also provides a range of consumer products like auto finanCing, mortgage services, credit insurance, and home-equity loans. Customizations of credit cards at Capital One are made with the support of its Information-Based Strategy (IBS), which uses sophisticated data-mining techniques to match its credit cards (its combination of interest rates, fees, rewards, and other conditions) with targeted customers based on their credit scores, credit uses, and other parameters. IBS is the fusion of one of the world’s largest databases, information systems, a well-trained team of analysts and statisticians, and advanced scoring models. The company’s decision-making process is made efficient by bringing together marketing, credit, risk, and information technology. It selects its most profitable customers and the appropriate rate by using the rigorous testing of econometric and time series models. The credit ratings of customers is based on the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) scores, which are used to predict payment risk by looking at several variables, including credit history. The  IBS system uses FICO scores to divide its customers into three groups of super-prime (with excellent credit history), prime (average credit history), and sub-prime (with poor or very little credit history). Through the use of IBS, the company has been able to locate a group of students who were not included in the mailing lists of other credit card companies because these students, mostly unemployed and little or no credit histories, were considered high risk. Capital One’s strategy of sending credit card applications, which were tailored to the needs of these students, proved effective, as 70 percent of the applications were filled and mailed back, thus creating a new market for the company. IBS has also helped Capital One avoid customers who do not pay interest charges on loans. The charge-off rate (for bad debt) of Capital One is the industry’s lowest, and for 2004 was at 4.37 percent, compared to 5.32 percent in the previous year. Capital One’s GFS segment offers a portfolio of diverse products to both domestic and international consumers. In the domestic market, the GFS segment includes installment lending, health care finance, mortgage lending services, and small business lending services. GFS has been on a growth curve and in 2004, it accounted for 27 percent of Capital One’s total managed loans, which are comprised of reported loans and off-balance sheet securitized loans. It also accounts for 14 percent of its earnings. Its international portfolio primarily consists of credit card business in the United Kingdom and Canada, valued at $8.2 billion and $2.4 billion,12 respectively. Capital One is the United Kingdom’s seventh largest credit card issuer, and among the top ten of the same in Canada. In January 2005, the company completed the formalities to acquire a British equity brokerage firm called Hfs Group to strengthen its position in the United Kingdom. Although Capital One had hold ings in France and South Africa, it exited these markets due to lack of growth opportunities. Capital One generated strong earnings and loan growth again in 2004, as it has each year since its initial public offering ten years ago. The company is well positioned for continued success in 2005 in both our Us. credit card and our growing and profitable diversification businesses. -RICHARD D. FAIRBANK, CHAIRMAN CAPITAL AND CEO, CORPORATION† ONE FINANCIAL Capital One grew at 30 percent14 (see Exhibit 2, on page 68) between 1994 and 2004 by issuing credit cards at attractive interest rates. Most of its business is conducted via direct mail (junk-mail solicitations), although it also markets its products through television and Internet (http://www .capitalone.com). It expanded its credit card operations in Canada, Europe, and South Africa in the late 1990s. At the same time, the company also made strategic moves toward diversifying its portfolio by entering into financing of automobiles and other motor vehicles, mortgage and home equity loans, insurance, and other consumer lending products. Although 60 percent of its total managed loans is in its credit cards business (see Exhibit 3, on page 68), the company is gradually increasing its operations in other business segments. In 1998, Capital One bought Amerifee, a company that provided financing for elective surgeries such as orthodontic, vision, and cosmetic procedures. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital One in May 2001. Amerifee is a market leader known for introducing Orthodontists Fee and Dental Fee plans in 1993 and 1998, respectively. These fee plans are the largest patient payment plans in  (dollars in millions, except per-share data) Reproductive Endocrinologists and infertility clinics. IS The subsidiary formally became Capital One Healthcare Finance in April 2005. Capital One soon realized that the auto financing market is double that of the credit  card market, and therefore it has a strong growth potential in that segment. This market is highly fragmented and no company holds more than 20 percent16 of the market share. It provided an opportunity to Capital One Auto Finance Ine. (COAF) to introduce innovative offers and increase its market share. COAF added $163.8 millionl? to the company’s earnings in 2004, and has continued to be on a high growth curve. To strengthen its market position in the automobile finance segment, the company acquired ONYXAcceptance Corporation (Onyx) for $191 millionl8 (in an all cash transaction) on January 11, 2005. It also acquired InsLogic, an insurance brokerage firm, from Onyx’s management team. The purchase strengthened the Auto Finance subsidiary of Capital One and enhanced its dealer relationships, coastto-coast market penetration in the United States, and its product line among the prime borrowers. Onyx is based in Foothills, California, and provides automobile loans to certain independent and franchise dealerships all over the United States. Onyx claims to have purchased and securitized $10 billionl9 in auto loans since its inception in 1993, and will add 12,000 new dealerships to Capital One’s list. According to David R. Lawson, Capital One’s executive vice president, and president of COAF, â€Å"This transaction combines two strong franchises with complementary strengths. Onyx’s significant and long-standing presence with California dealerships coupled with its strong prime product offering fills out both COAF’s product line and geographic footprint. Together, we expect to realize significant revenue and cost synergies:’20 This acquisition may make COAF the second largest auto lender in the United States. COAF has announced that it has raised its car loan limit to $100,00021 (previously $75,000) for direct-toconsumer vehicle loans that have originated from its Web  site (http://capitaloneautofinance.com) in February 2005. This move was made in response to the growing demand for luxury cars such as Corvette by Chevrolet, so that the company can get more business from this customer segment. This extension is limited to only those with excellent credit histories (super-prime customers). The vice president of COAF, Brian Reed, said, â€Å"Car buyers have more choices than ever today at the higher end of the  car spectrum, so weà ¢â‚¬â„¢ve adjusted our limit to offer consumers greater flexibilit/’22 The competitive advantage of COAF is that the loan process takes place on the Internet and requires no legacy fees. Also, its IBS system allows it to charge varying interest rates depending on the customer’s risk levels. In February 2005, Capital One purchased eSmartloans .com for $155 million,23 one of the largest online providers of home equity loans mortgages in the United States. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, the company offers a variety of products that are marketed and delivered directly to homeowners. The purchase is meant to broaden Capital One’s offering of consumer loans and deepen its position in the growing US. home equity market. Larry Klane, Capital One’s executive vice president of Global Financial Services, said, â€Å"eSmartloan has succeeded in building a scalable technology platform, a highly skilled sales team, and an outstanding reputation for customer service and speed to close. By combining these strengths with Capital One’s powerful national brand, access to 47 million accounts, and expertise in direct marketing, we will enhance the growth of our home equity lending business:’24 In early March 2005, Capital One announced its decision to purchase Hibernia National Bank. Hibernia is the largest bank in Louisiana,2s with 316 branches in Louisiana and Texas, and $17.4 billion26 in deposits. It provides a wide assortment of financial products and services through its banking and non-banking subsidiaries that ranges from deposit products, small business, commercial, mortgage, private and international banking, to trust and investment management, brokerage, investment banking, and insurance. Capital One paid a 24 percent premium over Hibernia’s closing stock price of $26.57 as on March 4, or $33 per share,27and a total of$5.3 billion for the purchase. The merger is expected to cost $175 million in restructuring expenses and result in near-term synergies of$135 million.28 According to Fairbank, â€Å"This acquisition is a natural extension of the diversification strategy we have been pursuing for some time. The transaction brings together two financial companies with complementary strengths and represents a compelling long-term value proposition for shareholders of both companies. Hibernia’s leading market share in Louisiana and its promising Texas branch expansion create not only a solid growth platform as we continue to expand, but also an additional source oflower cost funding. Additionally, we believe our national brand, 48 million accounts, broad product offerings, asset generation capabilities, and market expertise will drive profitable growth in branch banking:’ 29 Capital One wanted to purchase a commercial bank with a strong management team and a large local market share. Hibernia has both these qualities as well as the potential to expand extensively into Texas markets. Currently it has only 109 branches in Texas, but the cities of Dallas and Houston are number 2 and 3 in terms of fastest growing markets in the metro cities, a seemingly untapped potential for capturing market share in that region.30 The main advantage of purchasing Hibernia is that Capital One gains access to a lower cost of funding at 1.38 percent against a rate of 4.24 percent.3l One third of Capital One’s funding is obtained from the deposits in its fully owned Internet bank at 4 percent, which is higher than that paid by any of its rivals. The rest of it comes from securitization, which is risky as well as costlier than its other avenues of sourcing funds. It can increase ratio of funding from deposits from the previous 30 percent to 40 percent,32 to support its lending operations in the areas of credit cards, auto finance and mortgages. Acquiring Hibernia is also expected to increase its profit margins due to decreased interest expenses and bring stability to its businesses of consumer lending and other financial products. It now has the ability to use Hibernia’s brick -and- mortar branches as a launching pad to market its range of offerings in combination with its IBS techniques. The deal also provides Capital One with the opportunity to enter the debit -card market and also introduce its own home equity credit line. Early in the twenty-first century, the US. credit card industry witnessed a high level of competition and was also going through a phase of consolidation. For example, J.P. Morgan merged with Chase in 2000, and the combined group merged with Bank One in July 2004 to form the second largest US. bank holding company with a combined asset base of $1 trillion33 and 19.1 percent of the total credit card market share. The US. consumer debt amount of $2.1 trillion (Federal Reserve Bank data) in January 2005 was mostly due to the top ten credit card companies, which held 85 percent of the market share.34 Market share of Capital One in the credit card segment  fell from 7.2 percent in 200Ys to 6.8 percent (see Exhibit 4) in 2004. Capital One was left with no innovative ideas such as being the first bank to offer automatic balance transfers, which could grab business from other banks. The rise in personal bankruptcies and the economic recession between 2001 and 2004, coupled with the saturation of the credit card market diminished growth opportunities for Capital One in that market. This  necessitated its diversification into other consumer lending operations through different distribution channels such as Hibernia. Capital One has been bombarding the Internet, radio, and television with its advertisement, â€Å"What’s in your wallet?† with one of the versions featuring the famous Hollywood comedian David Spade (Appendix 1). It spent $285 million on advertisements, a total marketing  expense of $1.3 billion36 in 2004 and $5.4 million in January 2005,37 which was more than competitors such as American Express. In a consumer survey conducted by USA Today’s weekly poll, 30 percent of the people â€Å"disliked† the advertisement, while 12 percent liked it â€Å"a lot;’ suggesting that it did not receive the popularity it wanted. It was opined that the advertisement expense has been eating into Capital One’s profits. Another potential hurdle for Capital One is its potentially risky source of funding from securitization. It pools together the loans it originates and invests pieces from that collection in different securities. Because the investment is dependent on the stock market price fluctuations, this source of funding involves a great deal of uncertainty and risks of monetary loss. It has also amassed a large portfolio of sub-prime customers as it relies on its IBS system to guide it toward greater profit margins (related to greater risk), without incurring heavy losses. Due to federal regulations and a great many of its customers defaulting on their loans, Capital One had to shift away from subprime to a greater proportion of prime and super-prime customers. This change led to smaller margins as the company offered an introductory rate of 9.9 percent to its super-prime customers vis-a-vis a rate of25.9 percent3s charged to sub-prime customers who are associated with  high probability of delinquency. In July 2002, the company disclosed its decision to tighten controls over its loan disbursements (mainly to sub-prime lenders) to meet the banking regulators’ demands, leading to a 40 percent decline39 in its shares in one day (Appendix 2). Management of Hibernia’s branch banking and its non-consumer lending operations, after the merger is complete, might pose a challenge for Capital One because it lacks experience in those fields. The non-consumer lending portfolio consists of commercial and industrial loans (C&I) and commercial real-estate (CRE) loans. Hibernia’s combined portfolio of C&I and CRE is worth $4 billion,40 and its small business portfolio is valued at $3.2 billion. The challenge will be to efficiently integrate Hibernia into its system and strategy, which includes incorporation of its retail branch banking, and review of its business and asset integration plans. For the short term, it might need to rely on Hibernia’s management team in making any strategic decisions. Part of the strategic long-term vision, as announced by the company is to expand  further into the state of Texas, especially in Dallas and Houston, and establish  new branches there. In expanding in that direction, Capital One is likely to face stiff competition from several major players in the credit card and banking industry such as JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, and American Express. It may be difficult for Capital One to steal any business away from these giants, even with its innovative ideas and products, because the bigger players have strong presence in that region. Analyst and credit rating agencies like Fitch have warned that Capital One’s growth depends on its ability to aggreSSively defend and maintain market positions in the states of Louisiana and Texas. Fairbanks said, â€Å"We’re well positioned to continue our profitable growth. Financially, we’ve never been stronger. Our flagship credit card business is thriving. We’re successfully taking IBS, the strategy that made Capital One a winner in credit cards and auto finance, to new businesses. And, we have a powerful brand and huge customer base to fuel our growth and diversification. Our people have pulled together to make Capital One the strong, diversified company it is today. And I am confident that they will sustain our momentum as we enter our second decade as a public company: M. McNamee, 2005, Capital One’s concrete step, http://www .businessweek.com, March 11. http://wwwfortune.com. http://wwwcapitalone.com. Ibid. N. Slaughter, 2005, Capital One shells out http://wwwfoolcom, March 7 1994, Capital One financial corporation completes initial public offering, http://wwwbusinesswire.com. http://wwwfortune.com. Ibid. 2005, Capital One to acquire Hibernia Corporation for $5.3 billion in stock and cash, http://biz.yahoo.com, March 6. M. McNamee, 1999, Capital One: Isn’t there more to life than plastic?† http://wwwbusinessweek.com. http://wwwcapitalone.com. Ibid. http://wwwcapitalone.com. 2005, A capital idea, http://wwweconomist.eom, http://wwwcapitalonehealthcarefinance.com. Ibid. http://wwwcapitalone.com. Ibid. http://wwwonyxacceptance.com. http://wwwcapitalone.com. 2005, Capital One announces new online auto loan limit of $100,000, http://wwwpwrebdireCl.com. February 25. Ibid. March 10. November 22. November 15. http://wwwmccollpartners.com . http://wwwcapitalone.com. Louisiana is one of the southern-most located between Texas and Mississippi. A capital idea, op. cil. states in the U.S. and is 2005, Capital One buying Hibernia for $5.3B, http://wwwcnnmoney. com, March 7 http://wwwCapitalone.com. Capital One to acquire Hibernia Corporation for $5.3 billion in stock and cash, op. cil. Capital One’s concrete step, op. cil. A capital idea, op. cil. Ibid. 1 Locke, 2005, Bank One, JPMorgan merger ups the ante in Colorado banking game, http://wwwbizjournals.com. A capital idea, op. cil. March 25 K. Maguire, 2005, Capital One rolls with the punches, http://news.yahoo.com, March 21 http://wwwcapitalone.com. M. McCarthy, 2005, Capital One’s ‘What’s in your wallet?’ ads filling airwaves, http://wwwusatoday.com. March 13. S. Maranjian, 2005, How to owe $40,000 by doing nothing, http://wwwfoolcom, February 11. R. Barker, 2003, Who’s minding the store at Capital One? http://wwwbusinessweek.com. March 24. 2005, Fitch places Capital One on rating watch positive; Hibernia on watch negative, http://wwwbloomberg.com. March 7 http://wwwcapitalone.com.

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)- English Literature Essay (100 Level Course)

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)- English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Elizabeth I (1558-1603)- English Literature Essay (100 Level Course) In 1558 Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, ascended to the throne of England. Once crowned queen, she devoted her life, her instinctive political skill and courage to the creation of a modern stronger England. Elizabeth re-established the Anglican Church, but, as she was personally tolerant and even sceptical, she avoided the excesses of fanaticism. In 1559 Parliament passed a second Act of Supremacy, which asserted the supremacy of the monarch, and stated that no foreign prince, State or potent ate could have spiritual or temporal authority within the realm of England†. Elizabeth named herself Governor, however, and not â€Å"Supreme Head on Earth† of the Church of England, as her father had done. With the Act of Uniformity (1559) she stated that only Cranmer’s Prayer Book was to be used by the English people; there was little persecution; she was very severe only when Catholic plots proved a danger for her or the State. As far as problems of individual conscience were concerned, Elizabeth was tolerant, leaving the individual as master of his own soul. This was the highest degree of compromise possible in those times, and was largely accepted by the people. Research Papers on Elizabeth I (1558-1603)- English Literature Essay (100 Level Course)Bringing Democracy to AfricaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoTrailblazing by Eric AndersonMind TravelQuebec and CanadaStandardized TestingPETSTEL analysis of IndiaGenetic EngineeringPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Essay

About Ground Beetles, of the Family Carabidae

About Ground Beetles, of the Family Carabidae Turn over a rock or log, and youll see dark, shiny beetles running for cover- ground beetles. This diverse group of predators are among the top 10 beneficial garden insects. Though hidden by day, at night the Carabids hunt and feed on some of our worst garden pests. Description The best way to get to know the ground beetles is to observe some up close. Since most are nocturnal, you can usually find them hiding under boards or stepping stones during the day. Try using a pitfall trap to collect a few, and check for the telltale Carabid characteristics. Most ground beetles are black and shiny, though some display metallic colors. In many Carabids, the elytra are grooved. Look at a ground beetles hind legs, and youll notice the first leg segments (the hips) extend backward  over the first abdominal segment. Threadlike antennae emerge from between the eyes and the jaws of the ground beetle. The pronotum is always wider than the area of the head where the eyes are present. Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ArthropodaClass:  InsectaOrder:  ColeopteraFamily: Carabidae Diet Nearly all ground beetles prey on other invertebrates. Some Carabids are specialized predators, feeding exclusively on one type of prey. A few ground beetles feed on plants or seeds, and others are omnivores. Life Cycle Like all beetles, Carabids undergo complete metamorphosis with four stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The entire cycle, from egg to reaching reproductivity, takes a full year in most species. Ground beetles usually lay their eggs on the surface of the soil or cover their eggs with soil. In general, eggs take up to a week to hatch. Larvae go through 2-4 instars before reaching the pupal stage. Ground beetles which breed in the spring typically overwinter as adults. Carabids that breed during the summer months tend to overwinter as larvae, then finish their development to adults in the spring. Special Adaptations and Defenses Many ground beetles employ chemical defense systems to fend off attackers. When handled or threatened, they use abdominal glands to produce pungent odors. Some, like the bombardier beetles, can even make chemical compounds that burn on contact. Range and Distribution Ground beetles live in almost every terrestrial habitat on earth. Worldwide, about 40,000 species in the family Carabidae have been described and named. In North America, the ground beetles number well over 2,000.

Compare and contrast aspects of Arab identity as manifested in Essay

Compare and contrast aspects of Arab identity as manifested in Palestinian and Druze communities - Essay Example do not have their own country, similar to the Kurdish people of Turkey today who are fighting for their own homeland through an armed secessionist movement in northern Turkey. The Druze never had a single country to call as their own due to being scattered in many places a long time ago and did not seek any piece of land they can call as their own homeland. This makes the Druze unique in history. They were left out when the British partitioned and left Palestine but had steadfastly retained their identity. Palestinians live within the original geographic borders of Palestine situated in the regions encompassing Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Except for those who took up Israeli or Jordanian citizenship or of some other country, Palestinians are stateless because they have no officially-recognized country. Palestinians and Druze think of themselves as Arabs but with sub-identities such as an Arab (national), civic (Israeli or Syrian), and religious as Druze, Christian or Muslim (Hofman & Rouhana 76). This paper discusses two films that portray how these Arab identities are expressed in art such as films which mirror a collective consciousness that is manifested by people who are trying to define themselves. The Druze community is very small when considered as an ethnic group and this very smallness makes the Druze persevere in their customs and practices. They are very decided to remain identified as a Druze although in some quarters, the word Druze is often derogatory. In their communities, the person considers himself or herself as Druze first and second as Syrian. Druze people in the Golan Heights consider themselves as Syrian citizens. The Druze already have a well-defined or clear social identity unlike the Palestinians who are still struggling to establish an identity. This difference is well contrasted in the two films being discussed. In the film â€Å"The Syrian Bride† it was shown how ephemeral this idea of citizenship is because the bride

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

THE QUEST FOR FREEDOM - Thesis Example hand, Douglass’s narrative presents a vivid account of one of the darkest periods in American history, marked with â€Å"lawful† violence and suppression, outrageous cruelty to, and disregard for the human nature of millions of people, whose only fault was the color of their skin. On the other hand, the narrative depicts the bold quest for freedom of a man, born as a chattel, who passed through the whole spectrum of woes and humiliation one would imagine to become an â€Å"American icon† and â€Å"Representative American man† (Stauffer 201). Although Douglass’s quest for freedom was thorny and everlasting, i.e. having continued far beyond the point of achievement of physical freedom, one particular episode in it denotes the actual transformation of the slave into a free man – when a single act of resistance annihilated years of humiliation and century-long collective self-perception of inferiority. Frederick Douglass was born and grew up in slavery; being separated from his mother too early in his life – even before he knew her as his mother – he was unaware about who his father was (Douglass 9). That, in fact, was nothing unwonted in early-nineteenth-century America, especially in the South, where â€Å"the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs†, and more often than not â€Å"before the child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off† (Douglass 10). It had been a common practice by that time slaveholders to have children from slave-women, which engendered the paradox of being both masters and fathers of those children; which probably was the case of Douglass’s coming into the world – â€Å"the whisper that my master was my father may or may not be true† (Douglass 11). Another common occurrence in the South, also established by the law, was that those â€Å"fathers† had the right to and did torture, as well as sell their children to other