Minimum wages

Many economic theories have been proposed to discuss the impact of minimum wages on labor market. The proceedings of the labor market is based on the exchange of resources between the employee and employer, the employee receive wages in return for their labor services to the employer. Labor market is considered to be most competitive market, where the established market price is much closer to the value of the product. Therefore, the employee is likely to receive marginal value, in the competitive market (excluding the factor of minimum wage). Therefore minimum wage laws have been introduced which foresee crisis of unemployment, if fewer employers are interested to hire labor, where as more people are willing to offer their services. Therefore, the law intends to maintain the equilibrium, to avoid social and economic turmoil. The amount of labor supplied by the workers is directly proportional to the nominal wage, a certain increase in the wage, forecast increase in the labor supply. The observation is based on the assumption that an employee hired at a low wage will prefer to consume ‘leisure and forego wages', a slight increase in the nominal range, it becomes difficult to practice leisure and avoid labor, therefore there is an increase in the number of workers wiling to offer labor. The relationship between the labor supplied and nominal wage is function of different variables including price. A substantial increase in the price level will reduce the number of workers, at all wages (Wascher, 1995). LABOR MARKET AND WAGES There exists an inverse relationship between the nominal wage, and the ‘amount of labor demanded by the organizations'. A substantial increase in the wages is likely to compel the organizations to reduce recruitment schemes. The relationship has been derived on the basis of an assumption that the organization prefers saving for increased proportion of profitability i.e. such level of production is aimed by the organization which increases the profit i.e. the difference between expenses and revenue. The revenue is based on the price of an item, and quantity of the items sold (Christopher, 2005). The expanses include the amount of wages, which is based on the labor and services. Therefore, the company will prefer to maintain a minimum threshold level to secure profit, on the basis of reduction in the wages, as more workers are employed, the labor wage increases which turn the organization less profitable. The price factor may compel the organizations to recruit the employees for all wage levels. minimum wages AND LABOR MARKET: IMPLICATIONS It has been predicted that minimum wage laws are expected to increase unemployment, if minimum wage is established above equilibrium wage. It is because, a large number of employees will be interested in offering their services in exchange for higher wages, on contrary on small and limited number of such opportunities will be available. Also, the organizations will be careful about the recruitment scheme, and ensure that only well qualified people are hired on high wages, therefore there is expected to be little scope for the least skilled and inexperienced employees, thus within the labor market the unemployment level will increase (Kane, 2007). Another factor which has the potential to deteriorate the condition and extend the unemployment crisis is monopsony within the labor market. If the employer has the authority to determine the wages for the employees, it is expected that the unemployment rate will diminish because minimum wage may boost employment. The equilibrium between the labor demand and labor supply will exist only at a point when applied wage is equal to the requirements of the labor and organizations. Wages are more than the equilibrium wage, will result in unemployment i.e. the excess supply of labor. ‘Using the matching function formulation along with Nash bargaining between workers and firms, the results of Hosios inform us that an efficient labor market equilibrium requires that the elasticity of the matching function with respect to the size of the set of searchers be equal to the share of the surplus they receive’ (Kane, 2007). CONCERNS: MINIMUM WAGE It is important to understand that minimum wage is a practice control factor applicable on the labor, which can be regarded as the captivity of the economic rights of the low-paid labors, and their prospects. The increased minimum wage limit is expected to reduce America's labor freedom index to 87 percent. In the case of free market economy, the maximum utilization of the land, information, capital goods, and labors achieved through price allocation. If the prices are kept free floating, the market is considered to be real free in launch of its economic policies and business plans, which have an impact on the labor market, and the fixture of minimum wage. ‘Estimates of the bargaining power parameter, although significantly lesser than a   percent, are significantly larger than estimates of the match function elasticity and as a result yield an optimal minimum wage rate less than the then current value of $4.25’ (Swinnerton, 1996). Considering the example of an organization, the organization has the right to increase its wages to capture the attention of the labor for the employment. Wages are considered to be suitable indication to discuss the expansion of business activities, and direct employment. ‘Freely floating prices allocate resources efficiently to places where they will take root and boost economic productivity' (Christopher, 2005). Price signals have been disturbed and distorted through implementations of labor regulations, which hamper market mechanism, and restrict economic freedom of employers and employees. Minimum wage is considered to have significant impact on economic freedom, the labor supply and demand mechanism undergo disruption due to the allocation of government specified minimum wages (Card, 1995). If the situation is not existent, the minimum wage can be regarded as ‘crude instrument' which relocate the labor market towards efficient allocation. ‘The labor market is not excused from the basic economic principle that artificially high prices cause lower demand'. The National Bureau of Economic Research observed that many analysts were of the opinion that minimum wages have negative impact on the labor market, ‘almost all point to negative employment effects’. More specifically, the study also revealed that there is, ‘relatively overwhelming evidence of stronger unemployment’ impacts on less experienced workers (Swinnerton, 1996). In the case on United States, the proposed federal minimum wage has been avoided by the Congress for more than a decade. The reviewed limit for the minimum wage is expected to raise to $7.25, however analyst are of the opinion that labor market can be served well through expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (or EITC, a substantial wage subsidy for low-income workers). According to 2007 Index, more than 90% of the US labor market is considered independent, and the imposition of the minimum wage will not only hamper the status of the labor market, but will reduce the labor freedom factor. IMPLICATIONS The proper approach for ensuring better income for group of workers can be achieved through imposition of minimum wage. The entrance to Labor Market can be achieved through implementation of minimum wage, and this is likely to benefit least qualified individuals. ‘Labor market flexibility refers to the ease with which workers and employers can negotiate mutually advantageous labor contracts' (Nathalie, 2006). However the implementation of minimum wage has been discouraged by economist, most of the economists are of the opinion that higher minimum wage has failed to achieved the primarily goal of poverty reduction, and is responsible for unemployment. According to a survey by Canadian authorities, 10% increase in the minimum wage was responsible for the direct unemployment of Canadian teenagers by 2.5%. In this context the labor laws play fundamental role, to counter such flaws. Researchers have concluded that, the scheme of tightening of laws about labor relations is responsible for the unemployment. It has been warned that implementation of rigid laws for the minimum wage barrier will affect the performance of the organizations. It is believed that organizations will opt for recruitment of smaller staff, and sought the replacement of workers with machines, and diminishes the performance premiums and other perks, or move switch over their operations ands move to other part. EFFECTS AND ALTERNATIVE (TAX CREDIT) The increase in the level of minimum wage is considered to be blockade for the reformed economic policies of any country; furthermore it disrupts international competitiveness, labor freedom. Labor freedom, like property rights and business freedom, a detailed study report issued by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal have concluded that, all these factors are considered to be important parameters for the evaluation of country's overall economic freedom as measured by the Index of Economic Freedom (Kane, 2007). The labor market should be based on labor freedom to strengthen the scope of economic activities that correlates the ability of workers and businesses to interact without any surveillance or official restrictions by the government. The minimum wage is although considered to be an important measure for supporting the poor and less skilled worker, but such conditions affect the business activity and shatter the economic plans of the organizations, and consequently the labor market is affected (Wascher, 1995). ‘The minimum wage disrupts the natural interaction of supply and demand and leads to inefficient allocations of labor and, eventually, increased unemployment', on contrary the government discourage the practice of competitiveness, and transform it into level economic battlefield, with restricted scope of advents (Swinnerton, 1996). The sole objective of minimum wage is to provide higher income to low earners, but to avoid the negative fallout of labor market, the execution of such policy should be avoided, and therefore policies based on negative income tax or earned income tax credit should be introduced to favor the low wage earners. Such methodology is considered to be economic efficient. The classical analysis of minimum wage support the idea that higher wage earners should help the low earners, the restriction of higher minimum wage is likely to affect the services and jobs of the low wage earners, therefore the labor market can be strengthen by providing sufficient incentives to ‘ low wage workers at the expense of other low wage workers and businesses employing low wage workers' (Card, 1995). The alternative scheme of negative income tax or earned income tax credit support the low earners, and it is the over all society that incurs the cost, and this further stabilizes the labor market. The scheme is considered to be economically viable, ‘because, a low tax rate on the broader economy causes less deadweight loss than a high tax rate on a small section of the economy' (Wascher, 1995). It has been reported that the approved EITC has increased the level of earnings by 40 percent; the proposed $7.25 of minimum wage after taxes for a full-time worker is expected to double the EITC. It is expected that minimum wage and tax credit scheme will rekindle the hope of low earners, and re-link them directly to the benefits of growing economy. REFERENCES Tim Kane, Ph.D. and Anthony B. Kim. A Higher Minimum Wage Equals Less Economic Freedom. 2007. Prentice Hall. pp. 125 Neumark, D. and W. Wascher. Minimum-Wage Effects on School and Work Transitions of Teenagers. American Economic Review 85. 1995. pp. 244-249. Card, D. and A. Krueger. Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1995. Swinnerton, K. Minimum Wages in an Equilibrium Search Model with Diminishing Returns to Labor in Production. Journal of Labor Economics 14. 1996. pp. 340-355. Christopher J. Flinn. Minimum Wage Effects on Labor Market Outcomes under Search, Matching, and Endogenous Contact Rates. New York University Publications. 2005. pp. 45 Nathalie Elgrably. The Minimum Wage and Labor Market flexibility. December 2006.Montreal Economic Institute Publications.      

The Benefits and Hinderance of Assessments

Appraisal in primary instruction involves geting information and doing formal or informal opinions about kids ‘s advancement and attainments, including countries for farther development. The chief facets that are normally assessed in kids ‘s larning include: cognition, apprehension, accomplishments, behavior, attitudes and values in relation to the National Curriculum ( Wragg, 2001 ) . Assessment is indispensable as it can unearth of import information. For illustration, it can ; place spreads in kids ‘s acquisition and where support may be required, supply information that can be shared with parents, inform instructor ‘s planning and teaching method and bespeak the effectivity of schools. However, this is non an inclusive list and there are other indispensable grounds why appraisal is required, which shall be reinforced throughout this treatment. We shall concentrate on appraisal schemes and how this information is utilized ; in peculiar this will be cross referenced with my experience in school. We will get down by researching summational appraisal schemes. This is besides known as ‘Assessment of Learning ‘ ( AOL ) and is an analysis of the appraisal to day of the month, which occurs at the terminal of the twelvemonth or block of survey. Examples of summational appraisals include: the Foundation Stage Profile ( FSP ) , Standards Assessment Tests ( SATS ) and formal instructor appraisals. The empirical grounds collated from this is used to look into the advancement or attainment of the scholar in relation to countries of the National Curriculum. The cardinal intent of this type of appraisal is to supply informations for national and local benchmarking intents. Using this information is indispensable as it enables schools to infer whether kids are run intoing the age-related outlooks. If they have deviated, marks are reviewed and the necessary commissariats or intercessions are implemented. This is to guarantee kids remain on path to run into the national outlooks of doing at least two National Curriculum degrees advancement over each cardinal phase. In my base-school at Robin Hood Primary, information analysis is of import to inform their tracking systems so that they can take action and measure kids ‘s advancement and attainment. The anterior attainment informations is besides used at the start of term to put marks and inform average term planning. This is a cardinal focal point for learning and acquisition. The Contextual Value-Added ( CVA ) theoretical account is a national step which quantifies schools public presentation compared to others with similar features. This theoretical account considers a scope of factors such as ; anterior attainment, Particular Educational Needs ( SEN ) and Free School Meals that can impact kids ‘s public presentation ; therefore provides a flat playing field. The school ‘s CVA tonss are presented on RAISEonline, which is of import in puting the model for schools and bespeaking its accomplishment and attainment ( Weston, 2007 ) . This information enables Local Educational Authorities and schools to: place tendencies, underachieving groups, set realistic marks, and reexamine overall effectivity and criterions. This is peculiarly of import sing the: ‘breaking the nexus between disadvantage and low attainment ‘ certification. This is an enterprise to extenuate under-performance issues in disadvantaged communities. But it should be not ed that the recent White Paper: importance of instruction has indicated a reform into assessment coverage. In peculiar, the CVA theoretical account will discontinue and the hereafter reformed course of study will move as a benchmark for all schools, with a focal point on ‘pupils ‘ premium ‘ to raise accomplishment. There has been negativity towards external summational appraisals in footings of their dependability and whether it benefits the kid ‘s acquisition and advancement. SATS are classed as ‘high bets ‘ , which can ensue in ‘teaching to the trials ‘ and rote instead than deep larning being assessed ( James and Gipps 1998 ) . Hall ( 2010 ) noted that instructors can besides be inclined to follow ‘transmission manners ‘ of instruction, which reduces creativeness in the course of study ; and could finally impact kids ‘s acquisition. SATS are undertaken at Robin Hood Primary along with instructor appraisals. They continue to advance a originative course of study as they recognise the importance of making rich acquisition experiences and orienting kids ‘s demands. This is so they can bask larning and develop new accomplishments whilst still fixing kids for SATS in an effectual mode. In footings of my pattern, I will necessitate to use simil ar teaching methods to run into the larning demands of kids ( Q28 ) . The instructor appraisals officially consider kids ‘s public presentation in each country of acquisition ; and provides them a National Curriculum degree that ‘best-fits ‘ the kid. These have proved to be more popular than SATS in footings of their dependability. To some extent this can be used formatively to inform the teaching method of the schoolroom ( Hall, 2003 ) . The advantage is that the whole- course of study can be assessed in footings of the attainment marks instead than the specific focal point on nucleus topics. More significantly, learning is non specifically geared toward trials but can be adapted by prosecuting larning ends that meet kids ‘s demands ( Alexander, 2010 ) . Robin Hood Primary uses a assortment of grounds from different contexts to measure students as they recognise that kids learn in different ways. This is of import if we consider Gardner ‘s theory of multiple intelligences, where different instruction contexts leverage the ir strengths. The school ethos is a collaborative planning attack. This enables twelvemonth group instructors to discourse their appraisal attacks, what they are measuring in relation to their programmes of work and whether there is a common apprehension of the degree descriptions for moderateness intents. Hall and Harding ( 2002 ) noted that teacher appraisals can be enhanced if a ‘collaborative attack ‘ is envisioned. This is where an ‘assessment community ‘ is created affecting staff, students and even parents. In footings of my ain pattern, it will be indispensable that I discuss instructors ‘ appraisals with experient co-workers to guarantee that kids ‘s advancement and attainments are moderated ( Q11 ) . This information would besides be of import to inform planning and personalise acquisition to assist raise degree of accomplishments ; and contract any attainment spreads ( Q13, Q19 ) . This besides highlights how of import appraisal informations is to supervise kids ‘s advancement and raise attainment degrees. Now that we have discussed summational appraisal schemes, it is of import to research the normally preferable attack ; formative appraisal. Appraisal for Learning ( AFL ) and Assessment as Learning ( AAL ) are formative attacks and is a cardinal portion of the instruction, larning and be aftering procedure. It is a uninterrupted procedure of placing and reacting to kids ‘s acquisition in order for them to do effectual advancement. Therefore it enables instructors to reevaluate their teaching method and planning in visible radiation of whether the intended acquisition results have been achieved. In comparing to summational attacks, AFL recognises the importance of the scholar being included in the appraisal procedure. Hall ( 2003 ) reinforced this impression: ‘†¦ Just as acquisition is a societal procedure, so excessively assessment is a societal procedure. The manner the learner interprets the acquisition context is vitally of import to their success in that context ‘ . ( Hall, 2003, p. 12 ) Black and William ‘s ( 1998 ) research have proven that AFL does raise criterions of attainment. In peculiar, easing the lower abilities more than others, which minimises the spread of attainment. This links with the Assessment Reform Group ‘s ( 2002 ) research of AFL patterns. They highlighted 10 rules to maneuver instructors in implementing this in their schoolroom to advance effectual instruction and acquisition. The cardinal intent of AFL is to raise accomplishment. It involves kids to develop their ain acquisition, which makes them active agents in the appraisal procedure. Planning is critical to its success to guarantee that relevant information is collated to heighten kids ‘s advancement. Alexander ( 2010 ) emphasised that AFL lucifers modern positions of how kids learn as they actively construct their acquisition and take ownership. Key characteristics associated with AFL ( but non inclusive ) include: sharing the acquisition aims and success standards, supplying feedback, effectual inquiring, affecting kids in equal and self-assessment, and Assessing Pupils Progress ( APP ) . Robin Hood Primary extremely respects AFL as a mechanism to supervise kids ‘s advancement and attainment so that any barriers can be lifted to guarantee that they all reach their possible. This is reinforced by their purpose: ‘†¦Raise criterions of attainment and accomplishment by holding high outlooks of the instruction and larning ‘ . ( Robin Hood Primary School ‘s Policy, 2010 ) AFL is embedded within their school civilization to gain this purpose. The celebrated formative illustrations are some which are used within the school and shall now be discussed. Sharing larning aims is a whole-school attack and is made visually and verbally explicit to the kids in all topics. The kids besides write the acquisition aims in their work to reenforce outlooks. This pattern enables kids to be clear on the purpose of the lesson and more significantly what they need to make to be successful, which is the success standard. This so promotes self-assessment, which links to an of import impression made by Black and William ( 1998b ) : ‘†¦When scholars do come to a sense of how their work is judged they are far more effectual and committed as scholars. They can self-evaluate ‘ . ( Cited in Hall and Burke, 2003, p. 55 ) Sharing the success standard is every bit of import as the acquisition aims. Children recognize what the instructor ‘s outlooks are in footings of judging attainment and they can supervise their advancement towards these ends. At Robin Hood Primary, they normally make this visually explicit such as on the Interactive Whiteboard and is besides reinforced verbally throughout the lesson to do outlooks clear. In add-on, I have observed the instructor to underscore the intent of what they are making, which is of import if we consider the cognitive behavior attack to larning. This theory states that scholars actively construct their acquisition. By supplying a intent they are motivated to larn, which interlinks with the ‘what ‘s in it for me ‘ construct ( Hughes 2010 ) . In footings of pattern, it will be of import for me to go on to portion the acquisition aims and success standards with the category, by guaranting that it is besides expressed suitably to those with SEN and EAL needs. This would enable all kids to be engaged with the undertaking and basically their ain appraisal. It would besides allow me to concentrate on the acquisition results and therefore quality instead than merely acquiring the activities complete ( Q10, Q12, Q26b ) . Self-assessment is an built-in portion of the acquisition aims and success standards. This can merely be successful if kids assess and reflect on their ain ability and understand what they need to make to better instead than merely being told what to make. From my experience, oppugning throughout and during plenaries are utile manners to measure whether acquisition has taken topographic point. It besides enables kids ‘s to reflect whether they have fulfilled the success standards and larning aims. Robin Hood Primary considers effectual oppugning in self-assessment to be of import to get an penetration into kids ‘s acquisition. Open-ended inquiries are important to guarantee that it is inclusive of all scholars. Hall ( 2010 ) emphasised that kids need clip to believe to develop higher order believing accomplishments. From my experience, I have noticed the instructor to utilize ‘positive linguistic communication ‘ in the schoolroom if kids experience troubles or misconceptions, particularly in numeracy. The civilization is to handle errors as chances. I think this is an of import scheme to use so that kids are non de-motivated and increases their self-esteem ; but basically influences their acquisition positively. The school besides uses peer-assessment, which is more than marker trials and can reenforce self-assessment. For illustration, during certain speech production and listening group exercisings, the kids had to explicate inquiries sing a book, which was so discussed and evaluated as a category. This can be effectual as kids can get confidence in making their ain inquiries and sing a scope of differing responses. It besides enables them to develop an penetration into their ain public presentation and what they need to make to better by measuring the work of others. Clarke ( 2001 ) besides reinforced the importance of these appraisals as it raises their self-esteem as they are in control of their acquisition. It should be noted that there can be disadvantages with this type of appraisal in footings of sensitiveness or kids ‘s fight, but if used in the right context if can be powerful. In footings of my pattern, I will necessitate to guarantee that I present self and peer appraisal chances, in concurrence with effectual inquiring and feedback. This is so kids can reflect on their ain acquisition and be motivated to come on. This will besides supply me an penetration into their acquisition, which so informs short-tem planning in footings of the learning sequence of lessons ( Q29 ) . In relation to this, understanding the kids will be indispensable to provide for their demands efficaciously. This reinforces how these elements are closely interlinked with appraisal ( Q25a, Q25c, Q26a, Q27, Q28 ) . From the above treatment, we can see how formative appraisal schemes are more child-centred compared to summational attacks. This enables them to see how good they are making and more significantly for instructors to put marks. As mentioned earlier, Robin Hood Primary has pupil tracking systems, which enables them to measure whether kids are run intoing the age- related outlooks. These tracking systems consist of the National Curriculum degrees the kids obtained in the old old ages based on the SATS, instructor appraisals, APP informations and their anticipations for the terminal of the twelvemonth. The instructors besides have review meetings with the Head Teacher to look into that the students are on path. It enables instructors to put marks and commissariats to ease kids to do the 2 sub-level betterments within the twelvemonth. It besides deduces whether any intercessions are required to shut attainment spreads. This reinforces the importance of appraisal as pupil- degree informat ions is of import to inform acquisition, learning and be aftering so that attainment degrees can be raised. The ‘breaking the nexus between disadvantage and low attainment ‘ certification high spots that using informations can extenuate these links and encourages personalised learning commissariats. In footings of my pattern, it will be critical that this information is used for these intents so that kids can accomplish their possible ( Q10, Q13, Q19, Q25b, vitamin D, Q26b, Q29 ) . Robin Hood Primary besides have qualitative marks in literacy and numeracy, which are explicitly shared with the kids so they know how good they are making and what they need to make to better. This is of import so they can take ownership for their propensity. They have a mark sheet ( see appendix 1a and B ) in their numeracy and literacy books, which translate into ‘I can ‘ statements ; and are more child-friendly. This is a mechanism to portion marks with the kids so they know what they need to make to come on to their expected National Curriculum degrees by the terminal of the twelvemonth. The marks for EAL kids normally differ in literacy ( and other topics ) to guarantee they come on within their capablenesss. Children in Key Stage 1 and 2 besides complete an assessed piece of composing known as the ‘Big Write ‘ ; this is portion of the current school ‘s betterment program which places an accent on composing. This is normally undertaken at the termi nal of stage results to supervise kids in these specific countries of larning. Equally good as composing marks in their book, they are visually placed on their tabular arraies as a reminder. There are besides ocular shows such as ‘VCOP ‘ pyramids to foreground what they need to make to obtain a peculiar degree, which reinforces the criterions to take for. In footings of reading, the kids are informed of their degree at the beginning of the twelvemonth and where they are expected to be at the terminal of the twelvemonth. This is tracked by the instructor and instructor helper who monitor advancement. In footings of tracking other topics, the instructors provide feedback through constructive marker and general observations in the schoolroom. This is besides built-in to the self-assessment procedure so kids know how to bridge the spreads in their acquisition. Feedback is of import so instructors can assist scaffold their acquisition to shut the spread between what they know and need to cognize ( Clarke, 2003 ) . The instructor besides acquires feedback from the learning helpers as a manner of monitoring advancement. This besides demonstrates the importance of working closely with the support staff ( Q30 ) . I will necessitate to guarantee that I give constructive feedback to ease acquisition, particularly by associating their acquisition to prior experiences to do this meaningful. Feedback will besides enable me to set and inform hereafter planning and instruction ; which reinforces the appraisal, planning, learning rhythm and the importance of planning and monitoring kids ‘s advancement. ( Q12, Q27 ) The appraisal schemes across the age ranges are similar for Key Stage 1 and 2. However, in Key Stage 1 they have a phonics tracker to supervise advancement and inform ability groups. They besides use the ‘bubble and block ‘ attack, which specifies the positive component of their work and marks for betterment. There is besides the FSP which is a summational attack used in the Foundation Stage. This assesses kids ‘s patterned advance and the degree of attainment achieved in each of the six countries of larning. There are13 appraisal graduated tables covering these countries, which promotes instructors to used focused observations as a agency of the documented accomplishments ( DCFS, 2008 ) . This leads to a summational record at the terminal of the Foundation Stage. The FSP is used by the Key Stage 1 instructors to enable them to inform their hereafter planning. This reinforces the importance of appraisal informations in easing acquisition and raising attainment degre es. In footings of supervising the advancement and attainment of SEN kids ( or those working below the National Curriculum degrees ) , Robin Hood Primary uses p- degree informations and PIVATS in appraisal. These kids and those with learning troubles are still expected to do a similar rate of advancement compared to national outlooks of other kids. The school recognises that high outlooks, quality foremost learning ( as in all categories ) is important to raise their attainment degrees. The p-level information is used to set up good advancement for these scholars below the age-related outlooks. The information from these appraisal tools are used to inform Individual Education Plan marks ( for some kids ) and foregrounding their strengths excessively. Working with the SENCO will be of import to personalize and supervise the acquisition of these kids in footings of my pattern ( Q19 ) . APP is a mechanism they use to track single advancement, which is portion of AFL. By making so, they can place where kids are in their acquisition and set marks for patterned advance. It besides informs instructors ‘ capable cognition to infer what gaps they need to make full to enable kids to accomplish the expected degree. The school uses a representative sample in APP as it would be inefficient to supervise the advancement of each kid. For illustration, in my base-class they track a sum of six kids from the higher, middle and lower ability group for literacy ( excepting composing ) and numeracy. The school uses the APP appraisal guidelines from the Primary Nation Strategy certification to supervise kids ‘s advancement, although in some cases they use their ain stuffs. To measure reading, the kids are grouped harmonizing to ability for guided reading Sessionss. This enables the instructor to choose appropriate reading stuff and measure their word acknowledgment and comp rehension accomplishments. Targets are shared with the kids so they know what they have to make to come on to the following reading degree. More significantly, it facilitates instructors to reexamine planning, larning aims and place which group would profit from accelerated acquisition to acquire them on the right flight. APP will be indispensable to utilize in my pattern to inform planning to bridge any learning spreads and to personalize larning excessively ( Q19, Q22 ) . Thus It reinforces how AFL is of import is to pull off and be after the instruction and acquisition to acquire kids to where they need to be. Overall, we can see how appraisal is of import and an built-in portion of the planning and learning rhythm to raise attainment degrees. Assessment is of import to infer whether kids are run intoing the intended acquisition results or experience troubles ; which later inform be aftering. Planing and the sequence of lessons may so necessitate accommodations such by revisiting the larning aims or traveling in front based on the kids ‘s advancement. In bend, this informs the instructor ‘s teaching method as techniques may necessitate to be adapted or larning personalised to get the better of barriers. This may affect alterations in the distinction schemes to orient kids ‘s demands in the given context. Teaching besides enables appraisals to be made of the category, which informs planning ; hence this demonstrates how these elements are built-in. In footings of my pattern, I will necessitate to utilize appraisal to inform my planning and present high quality instruction. But most significantly, I will necessitate to cognize my category good and have high outlooks to raise attainment degrees so that they can all make their possible.Word Count: 3,312

And I Lived...

She smiles down at me, living in the full pleasure of being alive. I dont yet understand her importance or her influence, but I love her just the same. I take her hand, and we dance across the beach, happily following the shoreline, our windbreakers fluttering against our arms. We laugh, looking for sand dollars, mimicking seagulls, and enjoying sunset at Higgins Beach. Tingling with life, we return to the cottage, our bare nerve ends raw from exposure to the wind-blown sand. Our hair is tangled, the feeling of salt air all through it. I drag the twisted green hose from the flower garden and rinse the salt water off our feet. Soon we are reaching into pockets and rediscovering the treasures found just minutes before. Half a sea urchin tumbles out, and then a particularly shiny lady slipper. Walking up the cottage steps, my grandmother must stop and inspect the clover. Four-leaf clovers hold a special appeal for her, thousands lay pressed in various books, forgotten, the books now returned to countless libraries. We toss our treasures in the sink and then wash them off. When dried, they are scattered about the cottage, placed on window sills, next to lamps, symbolically perched on the TV, the large shells always reserved to be used as soap dishes. The day is done, but the living of it is not. Quickly we rush to change into our pajamas. She was never one for nightgowns. I run a toothbrush over my teeth, and bound into her room, clutching a book in my hand. Jumping on her bed, I see everything has already been arranged: the pillows piled back against the wall, the glass of water on the table, the book on top of the radio. I grin in the familiarity of it all, and she asks what book I have. I tell her, and hand it to her. We sit next to each other and lean back against a dozen pillows. She reads, and I follow along, completely unaware of any other world. All too soon the book is finished, the chapter completed, the paragraph done. I go up to bed while she goes to the freezer for Hershey bars and completes some reading of her own. The new day starts off with a morning beach walk, but today is different. Were going shopping. By late morning we have set off in her little blue car. Heading for the bread store I chat endlessly about school, my Christmas hopes, and favorite books. Grammy is always interested in what I am reading. She too talks about books those she is hoping to write. We pull into Country Kitchen and buy all the day-old bread. Piling it into her car, we discuss which clothing store to traverse. Time to shop. We enter the building, no real goal in mind. No, I dont have one; she does. In her mind she goes through all the people she knows, all the people she hasnt seen for awhile, people she knows who are under the weather. And she tries to find something for them. Something to make them smile; nothing big or expensive or fancy, just a smile she can wrap up and mail them. Heading back to the cottage, we laugh over the foolish things manufacturers are producing. She is excited about the bread. Pulling into the driveway she comments on adding more flowers to the garden. Unloading everything we laugh some more and hurry inside. We throw everything in the hallway and rush toward the day-old bread. Flying out the door, we run down the beach. Stopping halfway to the shore, we stand, and begin ripping into the bread packages. Slices of bread begin to whiz through the air. Seagulls come from the far ends of the beach. Layers of circles of squawking gulls, flying slices of bread, sounds of flapping wings and laughter, the air pushed by bird wings, and there, in the center, my grandmother and me. She thinks nothing of this, except the fun that it is. That there might be questioning thoughts by neighbors, beach-walkers, fishermen doesnt occur to her. And if it does, she doesnt care. My grandmother became a woman that, beyond my love, I have grown to respect and admire. She chose to divorce her first husband in the 1930s. Unheard of. She kept her two children and soon remarried. Qualms about dating when she had children? Never. She wanted to be an author. She wrote newspaper articles at age sixteen. But the big magazines wouldnt publish works by a woman. So she changed her name to Duane. No big deal, thought Gram. She has published dozens of books in just as many languages. Awards, respect, the love and admiration of many. But in my eyes, her greatest trait was her ability to live. Her favorite words were, Lets celebrate. When lengthened, the full sentence would read, Let us celebrate being alive. Never once did she stop living, stop feeling, stop caring, stop being. She hated the dumb television shows, the raunchy books, the items that deaden a person to the world. In short, my grandmother knew what life was, and I, in all my respect and love for her, have learned life from her.

Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) - Essay Example While Hughes (1998) is not entirely incorrect, he is not correct either. Certainly, as Maio (1991) argues, technology is a major determinant of a port's capacity to execute the functions and responsibilities associate with VTS and, technological limitations ultimately delimit the capacity to efficiently and effectively execute the stated responsibilities. Nevertheless, the human factor is integral as VTS is ultimately all about human-machine interaction. The qualifications of operators, thus, extends beyond the ability to work with the system and correctly interpret data output to include, more often than not, crisis management and critical decision-making under pressure. There is little room for human error (Maio, 1991). In consideration of the somewhat divergent points of view presented in the preceding paragraph, the primary aim of the present study is the analysis and articulation of VTS operator and personal qualifications, alongside a determination of the extent to which the failure to satisfy these qualifications adversely bears upon a port's capacity to execute its VTS responsibilities. Within the context of the functions of Vessel Traffic Service and the systems used for the monitoring of waterway traffic and the maintenance of safety, what characteristics and qualifications should VTS operators possess As a strategy for responding to the selected researched question and satisfying the research's articulated aim, an in-depth investigative exploration of radar technology, coastal radar systems, and the requirements of coastal radar surveillance shall be undertaken. The results of the investigation shall determine the optimal coastal radar surveillance system(s). Introduction Prior to presenting the data upon which the discussion pertaining to the research question shall be based, it is necessary to contextualize the report's focus. This shall be done through a review of the role which Vessel Traffic Service play in the promotion of waterway safety, the strategies by which vessel traffic is monitored and safety maintained, an historical analysis of its development and the articulation of its responsibilities and tasks of VTS operators. 2.1 Background The provision of traffic services is integral to the maintenance of minimum safety levels in all forms of transportation. This is especially true for vessel traffic and, more so in busy waterways. The reason as Nuutinen, Savioja and Sonninen (2005) contend lies in the fact that the mismanagement of vessel traffic in busy waterways results in both environmental and human catastrophe. Vessel traffic management, in other words, is of unique and critical importance. Further to that, it is also extremely complex and complicated, requiring a degree of data precision and

Journal 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Journal 2 - Essay Example On my visit, I discovered that the local mosque serves as a community center of sorts for people of the Muslim faith and, indeed, Islamic culture. It is a place for them to gather and be reminded of who they are and where they come from. The person spending time with me at the Mosque told me that it is not at all uncommon for them to have numerous gatherings where members socialize, eat, and reminisce about their own culture. Americans who are Islamic in the area find the Mosque to be a great place to learn more about a faith that is not widely practiced in the United States. In addition, they learn much about the culture of Islam and can transform themselves into another place and time. It certainly seems to be a wonderful way to bridge two cultures together and to achieve a balance between varying perspectives. Visiting my local Islamic Center was truly a cultural immersion experience because little at the Mosque resembled my own culture. Indeed, visitors can really transform themselves into Islamic culture from the time they enter the building. This experience opened my eyes to a faith, culture, and people group that I admit I had little understanding about. It was not an experience in religious dogma. In fact, we talked very little about the religion of Islam. Rather, we focused on discussing issues of culture and how the West perceives those who are from a Middle Eastern, Arabic, or Islamic background. It was a healthy exchange of ideas, tempered with respect, and one that was both enlightening and educational. Part of learning to appreciate other cultures is being able to simulate their feelings, emotions, and way of life (Nieto & Bode, 2012). Spending this time at the Islamic Center one afternoon and observing the comings and goings of the members was truly like witnessing another culture in action. The knowledge I gained enables me now to

The real meaning and its impact of characters' symbols in the Great Research Paper

The real meaning and its impact of characters' symbols in the Great Gatsby - Research Paper Example e same time reflects upon the deviation from the American dream in the context of the individual desires of individuals that run counter parallel and counterproductive to the actual goals that may be set forth in life to be achieved (Tyson, 40). A personal way of life, inspired by the social outfit, stands in conflict with the American dream as well as the moral and social values of a respectable society. Gatsby originally had a humble background to his record and he overtook the rich life style to cover it up. While the American Dream was based on values, moral up gradation and standardized living along with the social development, the movie depicts characters that have seen deviation from the core value of the American dream. Money has become the center stone of the attraction and desire of the people. The 20s decade saw progress however at the cost of the moral values (Hobby, 67). The overall script is prepared against a backdrop of a society and environment that was driven by the scientific developments and progress all over. In the wake of such developments, the people’s orientation and desire for acquiring more wealth, parties, expensive life styles, origination of the new music genres, different brands coming forth in the field of clothes and in the domain of car manufacturing industries were few of the progressive elements that were part of the American society at that time. This development in turn led to the people’s desire for collecting money and rising in social status and earning the recognition. Happiness has been always attributed to the accomplishment of the goals in the American Dream. However the American dream set forth the pattern and elements that would allow accomplishment of such goals. In the light of such a nationalistic ideology, there is little space or margin for negative activities and functions which may corrode an individual’s character or ambitions. The 20s decade of the last century was characterized by a totally

Safeguarding Adults at risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Safeguarding Adults at risk - Essay Example Abuse is defined as the improper treatment to an individual or an entity, in order to gain benefit from such practices for a better life (Pillemer & Wolf, 1986). However, this form of benefit is considered as unfair and unethical. There are several categories of abuse, which the world has witnessed. Some of the most common categories of abuse include physical abuse, wherein an individual or group contacts with others and purposes to physical pain, physical suffering, injury, or bodily harm (Summers & Hoffman, 2006). Another category of abuse, which is extensively familiar among women, is the sexual abuse. It is also known as molestation, wherein one individual forces other for undesired sexual behaviour. Moreover, there is another category of abuse, which is provided lesser importance, but has a significant impact on the victim. In this regard, the behaviour of an individual or groups leads to psychological trauma to others. This psychological trauma to the victim includes chronic de pression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (Sanderson, 2006). Furthermore, another common category of abuse, which is widely notable, is the financial abuse. In financial abuse, individuals create circumstances to obtain financial advantages from others. The victim in such circumstances undesirably has to make payments, which is considered as unethical or immoral. In addition, there is prevalence of another category of abuse, which is the neglect discriminatory abuse (Sajo, 2006). Some of the individuals or groups are highly vulnerable to the different categories of abuse. In this regard, vulnerable is defined as the possibility of being harmed or attacked by the influence of others. Thus, it is important from the perspective of benefiting the society through incorporating some of the safeguarding measures (Sanderson, 2006). Safeguarding to

Written report of Ma Wan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Written report of Ma Wan - Essay Example Although Ma Wan is a small island, it has proved to be a favourable destination for international and local tourists (Sewell & James, 1995). It has a number of leisure places such as the Ma Wan Park, Noah’s Ark Museum, Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach overseen by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Heritage Centre (Sewell & James, 1995). Ma Wan is an island and a relative small one and as such has a small number of inhabitants. One thing notable is the old abandoned houses that are found in sections of the island. The governments seem to have prompted an agenda of relocating some of the locals to ease population in this area. The reduction of the population had fallen to 800 in 2008 (You Lin Xu, 2011). Abandoned shops are visible, and schools too, one being the Kei Wai Primary School indicating that the locals had not been alienated to the outside world. Religion integration is well-bonded in Ma Wan. Noah’s Ark is also an important landmark in Ma Wan. It is based on the Biblical story about Noah. The presence of temples has been an indication of the preservation of Ma Wan’s religion. Presence of churches and temples places Ma Wan as a multi-religion region, and there has been a peaceful co-existence between these different groups. These indicates an important aspect of diversification around Ma Wan. Ma Wan transport has been significantly advanced, and the construction of Kap Shui Mun Bridge is an indication of this progress. However, though, the people of Ma Wan depend on water transport mainly to get to the mainland and also the tourists mainly use water transport as part of their leisure activities. Therefore, it is an indication that Ma Wan has limited connection of roads to the mainland of Hong Kong. As such, the locals offer transport services through boats. A harbour is also present in Ma Wan, and this has been as a result of the evacuation

Work-Related Communication Problem in Corporate Communication Essay

Work-Related Communication Problem in Corporate Communication - Essay Example Signals of this prolific growth have been evident since 2003, which has resulted in a constant drive by retailers to introduce new delivery mechanisms to broaden customer reach (Diamond and Pinter, 2004). As such, this has seen a shifting approach in multi-channel retail strategy from bricks and mortar to multi-level formats including home shopping and mobile commerce (Levy and Weitz, 2008). With increasing and improving technology, various steps are taken for the improvement of communication because businesses run on the basis of good communication skills. For understanding the problems of communication, individual performance is very important to understand. Various assessment tools and theories-based on human nature provide perspectives in understanding individual performance in the workplace. To this end, the consideration of the social exchange theory and social penetration theory highlight the underlying motivation in social relationships. It is further submitted in the corporate context that a comprehensive understanding of the social exchange theory and social penetration theory are key organizational development going forward. The corporate communication is very significant for the development and establishment of businesses all over the world. The communication problems such as work-related communication problems are very crucial as they affect the organization negatively if handled carelessly. Leading sociologist George Caspar Homans is usually hailed as the central consolidator of Social Exchange Theory works in his work â€Å"Social Behaviour as Exchange† (1958). In general terms, the social exchange theory posits that social change and stability is a process of negotiated exchanges between parties (Homans, 1958).  

Floods in India Essay Example for Free

Floods in India Essay India, being a peninsular country and surrounded by the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, is quite prone to flood. As per the Geological Survey of India (GSI), the major flood prone areas of India cover almost 12.5% area of the country. Every year, flood, the most common disaster in India causes immense loss to the countrys property and lives. India Flood Prone Areas The states falling within the periphery of India Flood Prone Areas are West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Bihar, Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The intense monsoon rains from southwest causes rivers like Brahmaputra, Ganga, Yamuna etc. to swell their banks, which in turn floods the adjacent areas. Over the past few decades, central India has become familiar with precipitation events like torrential rains and flash floods. The major flood prone areas in India are the river banks and deltas of Ravi, Yamuna-Sahibi, Gandak, Sutlej, Ganga, Ghaggar, Kosi, Teesta, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Mahananda, Damodar, Godavari, Mayurakshi, Sabarmati and their tributaries. Though the north-Indian plains prone to flood more, the India flood prone areas can be broadly categorized in three divisions: Besides the Ganga, rivers like Sarada, Rapti, Gandak and Ghagra causes flood in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. The Yamuna is famous for flooding Haryana and Delhi. Bihar experiences massive dangerous flood every year. River Burhi, Bagmati, Gandak, Kamla along with many small rivers contribute to that. In West Bengal, rivers like Mahananda, Bhagirathi, Damodar, Ajay etc. causes floods because of tidal effects and insufficient river channels. * Brahmaputra and Barak Basins: The river banks of Brahmaputra and Barak gets flooded due to the Surplus water found in the Brahmaputra basin and the Barak basin. These rivers along with their tributaries flood the northeastern states like West Bengal, Assam and Sikkim. Jaldakha, Teesta and Torsa in northern West Bengal and rivers in Manipur often overflow their banks. * Central India and Deccan Rivers Basin: In Orissa, spilling over of river banks by Mahanadi, Baitarni and Brahmani causes havoc. The deltaic area formed by these three rivers is thickly populated. Even some small rivers of Kerala and mud stream from the nearby hills add on to the destruction. Southern and central India observes floods caused by Narmada, Godavari, Tapi, Krishna and Mahanadi due to heavy rainfall. Cyclonic storms in the deltaic regions of Godavari, Mahanadi and Krishna even floods the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Tamil Nadu occasionally.

Companys Product Line and Product Mix

Companys Product Line and Product Mix ACKNOWLEGEMENT I am thankful to Mr. KRISHNA GOPAL for providing me the task of preparing the Term Paper on COMPANYS PRODUCT LINE AND PRODUCT MIX RELATION. We at Lovely believe in taking challenges and the term paper provided me the opportunity to tackle a practical challenge in the subject of MARKETING MANAGEMENT. This term paper tested my patience at every step of preparation but the courage provided by my teachers helped me to swim against the tide and budge against the wind. I am also thankful to my friends and parents for providing me help at every step of grounding of the Term Paper. INTRODUTION:- PEPSICO Company PepsiCo is a world leader in convenient snacks, foods and beverages. Learn more about our brand, our company, and our people. Our Mission and Vision At PepsiCo, we believe being a responsible corporate citizen is not only the right thing to do, but the right thing to do for our business. Our Brands Pepsi Co is home to hundreds of brands around the globe. Listed here are some of our most recognized. PepsiCo Values and Philosophy Our Values Philosophy are a reflection of the socially and environmentally responsible company we aspire to be. They are the foundation for every business decision we make. The PepsiCo Family Meet the three major divisions of the PepsiCo family: PepsiCo Americas Beverages, PepsiCo Americas Foods, and PepsiCo International. Our History Lifestyle ImagePepsiCo has enjoyed a long, proud history dating all the way back to 1898. Take a trip down memory lane with us and explore some of our more memorable moments. Our People At PepsiCo, our people have driven our success for over 100 years. Meet the talented folks at the helm now and learn how theyre helping steer our company into the next 100. Our Progress PepsiCo is proud to share the progress weve made on of our Performance with Purpose agenda journey over the last year. Take a look at some the most significant successes. PRODUCT LINE:- Group of products manufactured by a firm that are closely related in use and in production and marketing requirements. The depth of the product line refers to the number of different products offered in a product line. For example, General Foods has about a dozen different products in its coffee product line. Each of these items is promoted as distinctive, although they share the same distribution channels and similar manufacturing facilities. McDonalds has developed a food product line that includes several hamburger, fish, and chicken sandwiches. A product line may be targeted to a particular customer group, such as Skill home shop tools, or sold to various customer types through the same outlets Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one, lining involves offering several related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various sizes, types, colours, qualities, or prices. Line depth refers to the number of product variants in a line. Line consistency refers to how closely related the products that make up the line are. Line vulnerability refers to the percentage of sales or profits that are derived from only a few products in the line. The number of different product lines sold by a company is referred to as width of product mix. The total number of products sold in all lines is referred to as length of product mix. If a line of products is sold with the same brand name, this is referred to as family branding. When you add a new product to a line, it is referred to as a line extension. When you add a line extension that is of better quality than the other products in the line, this is referred to as trading up or brand leveraging. When you add a line extension that is of lower quality than the other products of the line, this is referred to as trading down. When you trade down, you will likely reduce your brand equity. You are gaining short-term sales at the expense of long term sales. Image anchors are highly promoted products within a line that define the image of the whole line. Image anchors are usually from the higher end of the lines range. When you add a new product within the current range of an incomplete line, this is referred to as line filling. Price lining is the use of a limited number of prices for all your product offerings. This is a tradition started in the old five and dime stores in which everything cost either 5 or 10 cents. Its underlying rationale is that these amounts are seen as suitable price points for a whole range of products by prospective customers. It has the advantage of ease of administering, but the disadvantage of inflexibility, particularly in times of inflation or unstable prices. There are many important decisions about product and service development and marketing. In the process of product development and marketing we should focus on strategic decisions about product attributes, product branding, product packaging, product labeling and product support services. But product strategy also calls for building a product line. Length, width, and depth. Length is the number of product linescollections and services. Width is the number of categories within a product line such as the SF or large print collections or the number of services for adults. Depth is the number of copies for each item or the number of times that a service is available. Thus the product mix can be expanded by adding length or new product lines, width of a new category to an existing product line [graphic novels], or depth [adding more copies to make particular content more accessible PEPSI PRODUCT LINE:- The Pepsi-Cola drink contains basic ingredients found in most other similar drinks including carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, colorings, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors. The caffeine free Pepsi-Cola contains the same ingredients but no caffeine. Some of the different and varied brands of Pepsi are as follows: All Sport Aquafina Caffeine-Free Pepsi Crystal Pepsi Diet Pepsi Gatorade Izze Jazz Josta Mirinda Mountain Dew Mountain Dew AMP Mountain Dew LiveWire Mountain Dew MDX Mug Root Beer Pepsi Pepsi Blue Pepsi Cappuccino Pepsi Max Pepsi ONE Pepsi Samba Pepsi Tarik Pepsi Twist Propel Fitness Water Sierra Mist Slice SoBe Storm Teem Tropicana Products Tropicana Twister PRODUCT MIX:- The variety of product lines that a company produces, or that a retailer stocks. Product mix usually refers to the length (the number of products in the product line), breadth (the number of product lines that a company offers), depth (the different varieties of product in the product line), and consistency (the relationship between products in their final destination) of product lines. Product mix is sometimes called product assortment. PRODUCTS MIX OF PEPSICO:- PepsiCo makes products like Doritos, Lays, Cheetos, Fritos, Ruffle potato chips, Tostitos, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Sun Chips, Rold Gold pretzels, Stacys pita chips, Smartfood popcorn, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Tropicana Pure premium, Sierra Mist, Propel, Tropicana juice drinks, Dole, SOBE Life Water, Aquafina, Capn Crunch, Life cereal, Starbucks ready to drink coffee, Lipton read to drink tea, Quaker oatmeal, Aunt Jemina pancake syrup, and Aunt Jemina pancake mix. Product Mix Decisions The term product mix was already defined. In the area of product mix, marketing decisions are width, length, depth and consistency. Width refers to number of product lines (Refer the new product management article). Length refers to the total number of items in a product line (different brands in a line). Depth refers to variants of each product in a line (different pack sizes of a brand). Consistency refers to how closely related the various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other way. Kotler says explicitly that product mix planning is largely the responsibility of the companys strategic planners. The top management has to assess with the information supplied by companys marketers, which the product mix. Hence the product mix is a shared decision by various functions of the company and not that of marketing department alone. Elements of a Product Mix If an organization is marketing more than one product it has a product mix. Product itema single product Product lineall items of the same type Product mixtotal group of products that an organization markets Depth measures the # of products that are offered within each product line. Satisfies several consumer segments for the same product, maximizes shelf space, discourages competitors, covers a range of prices and sustains dealer support. High cost in inventory etc. Width measures the # of product lines a company offers. Enables a firm to diversify products, appeals to different consumer needs and encourages one stop shopping. PEPSICO example in class. Why so many different products? Different needs of different target markets for the same product. Channels of distribution economies etc. LITRATURE REVIEW: Past analysis of product mix;- PRODUCT-MIX ANALYSIS Since top management is ultimately responsible for the product mix and the resulting profits or losses, they often analyze the company product mix. The first assessment involves the area of opportunity in a particular industry or market. Opportunity is generally defined in terms of current industry growth or potential attractiveness as an investment. The second criterion is the companys ability to exploit opportunity, which is based on its current or potential position in the industry. The companys position can be measured in terms of market share if it is currently in the market, or in terms of its resources if it is considering entering the market. These two factors-opportunity and the companys ability to exploit it-provide four different options for a company to follow. High opportunity and ability to exploit it result in the firms introducing new products or expanding markets for existing products to ensure future growth. Low opportunity but a strong current market position will generally result in the companys attempting to maintain its position to ensure current profitability. High opportunity but a lack of ability to exploit it results in either (a) attempting to acquire the necessary resources or (b) deciding not to further pursue opportunity in these markets. Low opportunity and a weak market position will result in either (a) avoiding these markets or (b) divesting existing products in them. These options provide a basis for the firm to evaluate new and existing products in an attempt to achieve balance between current and future growth. This analysis may cause the product mix to change, depending on what management decides. The most widely used approach to product portfolio analysis is the model developed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The BCG analysis emphasizes two main criteria in evaluating the firms product mix: the market growth rate and the products relative market share. BCG uses these two criteria because they are closely related to profitability, which is why top management often uses the BCG analysis. Proper analysis and conclusions may lead to significant changes to the companys product mix, product line, and product offerings. The market growth rate represents the products category position in the product life cycle. Products in the introductory and growth phases require more investment because of research and development and initial marketing costs for advertising, selling, and distribution. This category is also regarded as a high-growth area (e.g., the Internet). Relative market share represents the companys competitive strength (or estimated strength for a new entry). Market share is compared to that of the leading competitor. Once the analysis has been done using the market growth rate and relative market share, products are placed into one of four categories. Stars: Products with high growth and market share are know as stars. Because these products have high potential for profitability, they should be given top priority in financing, advertising, product positioning, and distribution. As a result, they need significant amounts of cash to finance rapid growth and frequently show an initial negative cash flow. Cash cows: Products with a high relative market share but in a low growth position are cash cows. These are profitable products that generate more cash than is required to produce and market them. Excess cash should be used to finance high-opportunity areas (stars or problem children). Strategies for cash cows should be designed to sustain current market share rather than to expand it. An expansion strategy would require additional investment, thus decreasing the existing positive cash flow. Problem children: These products have low relative market share but are in a high-growth situation. They are called problem children because their eventual direction is not yet clear. The firm should invest heavily in those that sales forecasts indicate might have a reasonable chance to become stars. Otherwise divestment is the best course, since problem children may become dogs and thereby candidates for deletion. Dogs: Products in the category are clearly candidates for deletion. Such products have low market shares and unlike problem children, have no real prospect for growth. Eliminating a dog is not always necessary, since there are strategies for dogs that could make them profitable in the short term. These strategies involve harvesting these products by eliminating marketing support and selling the product only to intensely loyal consumers who will buy in the absence of advertising. However, over the long term companies will seek to eliminate dogs. As can be seen from the description of the four BCG alternatives, products are evaluated as producers or users of cash. Products with a positive cash flow will finance high-opportunity products that need cash. The emphasis on cash flow stems from managements belief that it is better to finance new entries and to support existing products with internally produced funds than to increase debt or equity in the company. Based on this belief, companies will normally take money from cash cows and divert it to stars and to some problem children. The hope is that the stars will turn into cash cows and the problem children will turn into stars. The dogs will continue to receive lower funding and eventually be dropped. PEPSICO PRODUCT MIX RELATE TO DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCT LINE: PepsiCo product line directs relate to has product mix. When companys product line is developed then product mix also developed. Because A product mix consists of all the product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale. Avons product mix consists of four major product lines: cosmetics, jewelry, fashions, and household items. Each product line consists of several sublines. A companys. pepsico a fairly wide product mix consisting of many product lines, product mix has four important dimensions: width, length, depth, and consistency. Product mix width refers to the number of different product lines the company carries including paper, food, household cleaning, medicinal, cosmetics, and personal care products. Product mix length refers to the total number of items the company carries within its product lines. Procter Gamble typically carries many brands within each line. For example, it sells eleven laundry detergents, eight hand soaps, six shampoos, and four dishwashing detergents. Product line depth refers to the number of versions offered of each product in the line. Thus, pepsicos pepsi come into different different color and taste. Finally, the consistency of the product mix refers to how closely related the various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other way. Pepsico product lines are consistent insofar as they are consumer products that go through the same distribution channels. The lines are less consistent insofar as they perform different functions for buyers. PEPSICO product line delopment is closely relates to product mix because when product line is big then company product mix also developed. Product line and product mix have direct relationship. Depth of the product line:- Product line depth refers to the number of versions offered of each product in the line. Thus, pepsicos pepsi come into different different color and taste. Pepsico added depth to its product line more then width of product mix because companys product mix width is narrow and product line depth is good. (LIKE- PEPSI PRODUCT IS MORE THEN OTHER PRODUCT) Product mix WIDTH:- product mix has four important dimensions: width, length, depth, and consistency. Product mix width refers to the number of different product lines the company carries including paper, food, household cleaning, medicinal, cosmetics, and personal care products. Product mix length refers to the total number of items the company carries within its product lines. Pepsico typically carries many brands within each line. For example, it sells pepsi, Aquafina Starbucks (Partnership) Lipton (Partnership) WIDE WIDTH, AVERAGE DEPTH The product lines are defined in terms of academic departments. The depth of each line is shown by the number of different product items-course offerings-offered within each product line. (The examples represent only a partial listing of what a real university would offer.) The state university has made the strategic decision to offer a diverse market mix. Because the university has numerous academic departments, it can appeal to a large cross-section of potential students. This university has decided to offer a wide product line (academic departments), but the depth of each department (course offerings) is only average. In order to see the difference in product mix, product line, and products, consider a smaller college that focuses on the sciences represented in Table 2. This college has decided to concentrate its resources in a few departments. CONCLUSION:- PEPSICOS PRODUCT LINE IS MORE DEVELOPED THEN PRODUCT MIX. PEPSICO PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ALSO DEVELOPED ITS PRODUCT MIX. PEPSICO ADDED PRODUCT LINE DEPTH IS MORE THEN PRODUCT MIX WIDTH BECAUSE PEPSICO USE LIMITES OF DIFFERENT PRODUCT ITS INCREASE HAS PRODUCT LINE DEPTH. FOR INCREASING PRODUCT MIX. REFERANCE: http://pgdba.blogspot.com/2008/05/product-mix-product-line.html http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=enq=+PRODUCT+MIX+RELATE+TO+PRODUCT+LINEbtnG=Searchmeta=aq=ooq= http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=ensource=hpq=wikipediabtnG=Google+Searchmeta=aq=0oq=wi Assel, Henry. (1985). Marketing Management Strategy and Action. Boston: Kent Publishing Company. Bernhardt, Kenneth L., and Kinnear, Thomas C. (1983). Principles of Marketing. Scott, Foresman and Company. Dickson, Peter R. (1994). Marketing Management. Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Kotler, Philip (1980). Principles of Marketing. NJ: Prentice-Hall. Myers, James H. (1986). Marketing. McGraw-Hill. Schewe, Charles D., and Smith, Reuben M. (1983). Marketing Concepts and Applications. McGraw-Hill.

Analysing Nora’s Comment to Mrs. Linde :: A Dolls House Marriage Henrik Ibsen Essays

Analysing Nora’s Comment to Mrs. Linde Nora’s comment to Mrs. Linde that Torvald doesn’t like to see sewing in his home indicates that Torvald likes the idea and the appearance of a beautiful, carefree wife who does not have to work but rather serves as a showpiece. As Nora explains to Mrs. Linde, Torvald likes his home to seem â€Å"happy and welcoming.† Mrs. Linde’s response that Nora too is skilled at making a home look happy because she is â€Å"her father’s daughter† suggests that Nora’s father regarded her in a way similar to Torvald—as a means to giving a home its proper appearance. Torvald’s opinion on his wife’s role in their home is his defining character characteristics. His unrelenting treatment of Nora as a doll indicates that he is unable to develop or grow. As Nora’s understanding of the people and events around her develops, Torvald’s remains stationary. He is the only character who continues to believe in the charade, probably because he is the only main character in the play that does not keep secrets or harbour any hidden complexity. Each of the other characters—Nora, Mrs. Linde, Krogstad, Dr. Rank—has at some point kept secrets, hidden a true love, or plotted for one reason or another. Nora’s use of Torvald’s pet names for her to win his cooperation is an act of manipulation on her part. She knows that calling herself his â€Å"little bird,† his â€Å"squirrel,† and his â€Å"skylark,† and thus conforming to his desired standards will make him more willingly to give in to her wishes. At first, Nora’s interaction with Dr. Rank is correspondingly manipulative. When she flirts with him by showing her stockings, it seems that she hopes to lure Dr. Rank and then persuade him to speak to Torvald about keeping Krogstad on at the bank. Yet after Dr. Rank confesses that he loves her, Nora suddenly shuts down and refuses to ask her favour. She has developed some moral honesty. Despite her desperate need, she realizes that she would be taking advantage of Dr. Rank by capitalizing on his love for her. When Nora explains that Dr. Rank’s poor health owes to his father’s promiscuity, for the second time we come across the idea that moral corruption transfers from parent to child. (In Act One, Torvald argues that young criminals result from a household full of lies.) These statements clarify Nora’s torment and her refusal to interact with her children when she feels like a criminal. They also reveal that both

Sports Narrative - Track State Champion :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Track State Champion With shaky knees, I hesitantly made my way up the large white steps. With the back of my hand, I brushed away a few salty tears of relief. As I stood at the top of the podium and looked up into the packed stadium, my mind drifted back to everything I had gone through to achieve this moment, the day I became a state champion. The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It wa s visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday. As the season progressed, competition started getting fiercer. I was up against girls running at a 5A level, yet, I was able to hold my own. Finally there came a tiny light at the end of the tunnel; it seemed as though I was getting closer and closer to accomplishing my goal. Along with my undefeated title came a huge target painted on my back. I religiously checked "Rocky Preps" every day to see if the competition was gaining on me. It seemed that every time I had improved, there was someone right behind me, running their personal best too. I trained during the weeks before regionals like I had never trained before. Each day my stomach became more twisted with knots that looped around every part of my stomach. I don't think I had ever been that nervous in my whole life.

The Communication Decency Act: The Fight For Freedom of Speech on the Internet :: essays research papers

The Communication Decency Act: The Fight For Freedom of Speech on the Internet The Communication Decency Act is a bill which has insulted our right as American citizens. It a bill which SHOULD not pass. I'll share with you how Internet users are reacting to this bill, and why they say it is unconstitutional. Some individuals disagree with one part of the bill. According to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ query/z?c104:s.652.enr:, which has the Communications Decency Act on-line for public viewing,: "Whoever uses an Internet service to send to a person or persons under 18 years of age......any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image,........or anything offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs.....shall be fined $250,000 if the person(s) is/are under 18....... imprisoned not more than two years.......or both." The wording of that section seems sensible. However, if this one little paragraph is approved, many sites such as the: Venus de Milo site located at: http://www.paris.org/Musees/Louvre/Treasures/gifs/venusdemilo.gif; the Sistine Chapel at: http://www.oir.ucf.edu/wm/paint/auth/michelangelo/michelangelo.creation and Michelangelo's David @ http://fileroom.aaup.uic.edu/FileRoom/images/image201.gif could not be accessed and used by anybody under the age of 18. These works of art and many other museum pictures would not be available. The bill says these sites show indecent pictures. The next part of the CDA has everybody in a big legal fit. We, concerned Internet users, took the writers of this bill to court, and we won. This part of the bill states: "Whoever....makes, creates, or solicits...........any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communication which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent.......with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass another person......by means of an Internet page..........shall be fined $250,000 under title 18......imprisoned not more than two years....or both......" The writer of that paragraph of the bill forgot something. It violates the constitution. The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law....prohibiting or abridging the freedom of speech......the right of the people peaceably to assemble.....and to petition the Government.............." This bill does exactly that. It says we cannot express our feelings cleanly. I understand that what may be of interest to me, may be offensive to others. Many people put up warning signs on their websites stating, "This site may contain offensive material. If you are easily offended you may not want to come here." If the writers of this bill would have listed that as a requirement there would have been no trouble. Here is the way I look at it. I think that some things should be censored on the Internet. Child pornography, for instance, is already illegal, so it follows that it should also be illegal on the Internet. Besides, psychologically, it damages the children involved. Something else that should be banned from the Internet are "hacker"

Us Soldiers Imaging the Iraq War

Popular Communication, 7: 17–27, 2009 Copyright  © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1540-5702 print / 1540-5710 online DOI: 10. 1080/15405700802584304 Popular Communication, 1540-5710 1540-5702 HPPC Communication Vol. 7, No. 1, Nov 2008: pp. 0–0 US Soldiers Imaging the Iraq War on YouTube Kari Anden-Papadopoulos Stockholm University Anden-Papadopoulos US Soldiers Imaging the Iraq War on YouTube This article examines the homemade videos uploaded to YouTube by coalition soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.I interrogate how perceptions of war, and the conventions of war reporting, change as new media technologies allow soldiers to log on to the Web and upload personal views from the frontlines. The Iraqi conflict is emerging as the first YouTube war, where homemade soldiers’ videos throw into sharp relief the reportorial conventions of the mainstream news coverage. I take into consideration the format, meanings and communicative functions of these amateur videos, and the distinctive ways in which they reconfigure professional standards of ethics and authenticity.The firsthand testimonials by soldiers offer the public uncensored insights into the experience of warfare and may provide the basis for a questioning of the authority and activity of U. S. foreign policy. INTRODUCTION This article considers the specific challenges that the online proliferation of alternative imagery of violent international conflict raises for traditional journalism and its standards of ethics and credibility.I examine how modern communication technologies that allow active duty soldiers to log on to the Web from Afghanistan and Iraq, and upload personal and at times shockingly brutal views from the frontlines, can alter our perception of war and the conventions of war reporting. The most graphic images show the gruesome aftermath of suicide bombings and fierce gunfights between coalition forces and insurgents. Sites such as MySpace, YouTube, Google Video, L iveLeak, and military. com abound with violent videos and stills from combat soldiers, some set to heavy metal or rap music, and include troops using obscene language.My article examines the homemade videos uploaded to YouTube by coalition soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. These personal, poignant and sometimes shockingly brutal video testimonies clearly diverge from, and subvert traditional forms and standards for war reporting. I take into consideration the format, meanings, and communicative functions of these amateur videos, and the distinctive ways in which they reconfigure professional standards of ethics and authenticity.The soldiers’ firsthand accounts of the war have introduced new and sometimes highly controversial perspectives into the documentation of warfare that military and media elites are struggling to contain. The most contentious imagery uploaded to YouTube is undoubtedly Correspondence should be addressed to Kari Anden-Papadopoulos, Department of Journalism, Media, and Communication, Stockholm University, Karlavagen 104, P. O. Box 27 861, 115 93 Stockholm. E-mail: [email  protected] jmk. su. se 18 ANDEN-PAPADOPOULOS he live recordings of violent confrontations, in which U. S. troops can be seen taking part in aggressive and seemingly indiscriminate killings of Iraqi citizens. However, some of the soldier videos that have caused most public outrage are shot behind the scenes of combat, showing troops entertaining themselves by demeaning Iraqi children or abusing pet animals. Also, the recurrent video tributes to fallen soldiers foreground a controversial and highly emotional subject: the premature and violent deaths of young U. S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.My analysis suggests that these audiovisual productions by active duty soldiers can provide us with the kind of critical perspectives needed for a more open democratic questioning of U. S. foreign policy and the conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. IMAGE W ARS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY During almost all major wars in modern times, governments have made systematic efforts to shape the visual experience of the citizenry (Brothers, 1997; Campbell, 2003; Griffin, 1999, 2004; Moeller, 1989; Roeder, 1993; Taylor, 1991, 1998; Zelizer, 1998, 2004).In recent years, increasingly professional government media management strategies have strengthened the dominance of official perspectives in the U. S. and UK mainstream news media (Robinson, 2004). The media tend to support the government course of action during military operations and privilege the official version of events (Allan & Zelizer, 2004; Thussu & Freedman, 2003; Tumber & Palmer, 2004). Central to the manufacture of this version is the representation of warfare as clinical and even compassionate.What is most striking about traditional war coverage in the Anglo-American news media is that the images are relatively bloodless and seldom hint at the capacity of modern warfare machinery to injure the human body. However, cable and satellite television, as well as new media technology, have made it more difficult for nation states to control the information crossing their borders (Webster, 2003). The information front is no longer confined to traditional mass media but extended to an increasingly porous and fast global communication space (Taylor, 2003).Alternative imagery of violent international conflict that has not been created or disseminated by mainstream media is exploding onto these new nonfiltered public spheres, and often finds its way to conventional news outlets. It includes stills and videos created by active duty soldiers and imagery produced by civilians in the war zone. Iraqi insurgent imagery is also prevalent, showing the bloody work of sectarian death squads, and U. S. soldiers being shot and blown up (Johnson, 2007).The insurgent videos, set to inspiring religious soundtracks or chanting, are not only aimed at drawing new recruits and donations but also at terrorizing of the enemy with the violent spectacle. Increasingly, these spectacles of terror are staged primarily to generate footage to be circulated in the media and thereby subject potential mass audiences to the shocking displays of destruction. The proliferation of vernacular imagery of international conflict has become a key issue of concern for both military and media elites (Kennedy, 2008).The military is uneasy with the threat such communications pose to operational security and also with their potential to subvert the understandings of war and foreign policy so powerfully framed by government and military powers. For the media, the main concern with the advent of citizen journalism is that it bypasses the established forms of news production and representation and even challenges the professional status of journalists. The popularity of internet communications in war zones has led the US SOLDIERS IMAGING THE IRAQ WAR ON YOUTUBE 19Pentagon to begin closely monitori ng what its troops post online, with special attention being paid to images that show the aftermath of combat (Greene, 2006). A policy instituted in the spring of 2005, however, requires all military bloggers inside Iraq to register with their units. It gives unit commanders the authority to review blogs and other communications before they are sent to make sure there are no violations of operational security. The internet has become a key battleground of information and image warfare, a territory long dominated by Islamist extremist groups that have demonstrated greater sophistication than the U.S. Army in their use of Web 2. 0 tools. They utilize the net for â€Å"fundraising and recruitment, training and instruction, and propaganda and psychological warfare, and for gathering open-source information with which to plan attacks† (Weimann, 2006, p. x). The online response from official U. S. military sources has been fairly subdued, characterized by an unwillingness to exploi t new media to get their message out. However, in March 2007, the U. S. Defense Department made a significant move into the cyberspace battleground with the launch of its own channel on YouTube, called Multi-National Force – Iraq. The videos uploaded to the site adhere to traditional norms of propaganda, showing American soldiers succeeding in â€Å"clinical† combat and aiding local Iraqi citizens (Christensen, 2008). The channel is a direct attempt by the U. S. Defense Department to counteract the prolific posting of damaging video clips by its own troops, an attempt at online visual management accompanied by what appears to be a concerted effort to suppress online publications by troops in the field.In May 2007, the U. S. military announced that it had blocked troops from accessing popular video-sharing sites, including YouTube and MySpace, on military computers. Shortly after, YouTube removed dozens of soldiers’ videos from its archives and suspended the acco unts of some users who had posted them. The U. S. Army is facing a dilemma over how to manage internet access by its troops. On the one hand, online communication clearly serves to boost battlefield performance and morale.Soldiers and their families visit social networking sites to exchange notes, swap images, and share recorded messages – a form of instant communication that, together with e-mail, has largely replaced the mail call. Moreover, a large majority of military bloggers in the war zone express unabashed support for the operations in Iraq and elsewhere and, most importantly, lend them a human face, which provides invaluable PR for the military. On the other hand, the Pentagon knows that enemies are proficient at mining the Web to collect intelligence on potential targets.In addition, the occasional posting of gruesome battle photographs and videos by serving soldiers not only jeopardizes operational security but also contradicts the carefully crafted image of modern warfare as clean, rational, and even humanitarian. THE â€Å"YOUTUBE WAR† A new digital generation of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq is turning to the internet in a strongly felt urge to communicate and come to terms with the realities of experiencing a war up close. Today’s soldiers are equipped with the same digital tools and technology as the media, which enable them to share their experiences with potentially vast audiences.The omnipresence of digital cameras and camcorders among serving soldiers means that they â€Å"exist in a new relationship to their experience of war, they are now potential witnesses and sources within the 1 http://youtube. com/profile? user=MNFIRAQ 20 ANDEN-PAPADOPOULOS documentation of events† (Kennedy, 2008 p. 4; see also Mortensen, 2007). This also means that the boundaries between those who are fighting and those who are documenting the war are becoming more and more blurred. In the age of digital media, the waging and represent ing of war are enmeshed almost to the point of being inseparable.Much of the imagery that coalition soldiers produce of their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan is shared primarily with close family and friends, and within their units, via e-mail or burned to CDs. Still, a large amount of the imagery is made available to the public via a wide range of internet venues, in particular through the rapidly growing subculture of â€Å"milbloggers† – firstperson online diaries by serving troops. Since their first appearance in 2003, the number of milblogs has increased rapidly. Today it is estimated there are more than 2,500 milblogs (Kennedy, 2008).More recently, video-sharing platforms such as YouTube have become popular outlets for soldiers to publicize their audiovisual productions. YouTube has become one of the fastest-growing Web sites in the world – in January 2008 alone almost 79 million users watched more than 3 billion videos on the site. 2 By offering users the unprecedented ability to share their experiences inexpensively and instantly with a potential mass audience, YouTube has turned video sharing into one of the most significant features of contemporary internet culture.The Web site’s community guidelines forbid the uploading of material likely to be perceived as inappropriate or offensive, such as videos containing pornography or sexually explicit content, animal abuse, bomb making, graphic or gratuitous violence, or dead bodies. 3 Still, the enforcement of these guidelines is relatively weak, and videos that clearly violate YouTube’s terms of use are proliferating on the website (Gimeno, 2008). 4 The video clips uploaded by U. S. oldiers on YouTube cover a range of settings, activities, and emotions: combat action, routine patrolling, colloquial interaction with Iraqi civilians, recreation in the barracks, and tributes to fallen comrades. 5 It is often the case that several or all of these five general thematic cat egories can be found in individual video clips. The videos contain not only private footage created by the troops themselves but also imagery appropriated from other sources such as official military recordings, news broadcasts, music videos, and so forth.There is a significant degree of visual redundancy in these videos in the sense that certain stills and moving images tend to reappear time and again. This is also to say that the question of authorship and authenticity is difficult to decide when it comes to this type of image production. The Iraq war is being fought by what has been called the first Playstation generation, raised on Hollywood war films, graphic video games, and internet porn.When this generation of soldiers now documents and tries to communicate their experiences of actual warfare, they fall back on contemporary popular culture and its broad repertoire of war as entertainment. The video clips follow an MTV style of format, with a montage of stills and live footag e cut rapidly to music. The more violent scenes are typically edited to heavy metal or rap music, while the recurrent themes of brotherhood, mourning, and loss are set to power ballads. In creating, posing http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Youtube http://www. youtube. om/t/community_guidelines 4 Thousands of videos on the website are for example explicitly tagged with human rights violation terms such as â€Å"execution,† â€Å"torture,† â€Å"rape and sexual abuse,† and â€Å"mass killings† (Gimeno, 2008). 5 A sixth type of content is the dissenting soldier testimony: Iraq war veterans bearing public witness to dark war experiences, such as killing unarmed civilians with the consent of their superiors. Since this is a specific genre that does not entail images that document the controversial aspects of warfare, I will not consider it further in this article. 2 US SOLDIERS IMAGING THE IRAQ WAR ON YOUTUBE 21 for, and uploading these videos the American soldie rs also follow the trend in contemporary â€Å"confessional† media culture to employ digital technologies as tools for exposing and exhibiting the self on the internet or other media venues. They are part of the recent explosion of (until now) private discourses in public spaces, such as swapping intimate details about your life via MySpace and Facebook. The troops can and do post footage on personal Web sites, but the networking sites and video-sharing platforms rovide a more public arena where the videos become open to global audiences who can communicate directly with the soldiers and give feedback on their audiovisual productions. COMBAT ACTION Since the Vietnam War, news organizations and media scholars have debated the question of whether, and how, explicit images of the violence and carnage of war should be broadcast. For the soldiers serving in Iraq, however, this is not an issue. They are clearly not impartial or external observers of the war, who abide by the dictat e to serve the so-called â€Å"public interest. † They are combatants documenting the war as they wage and experience it.Many combat videos focus on the physical actions of the U. S. troops, shooting or blowing up targets that are in the distance. Most of them are edited to music, but some present live action footage with original sound, showing troops engaged in intense street battles and gunfights. Young soldiers often take what appears to be a near-sexual pleasure in the violent fighting – you hear them breathe heavily, moan, and make excited comments. One example is an entry on YouTube titled â€Å"Iraq Witness War Crimes U. S. Soldiers Murder Unarmed Civilians. †6 The clip shows a group of U. S. oldiers open fire on unidentified targets across the street from a rooftop in Ramadi. The troops cheer and laugh loudly as they fire on two cars that apparently by chance drive into the line of fire. The unarmed passengers leave the cars running in an attempt to see k protection in the nearby buildings but are summarily gunned down by the soldiers. The boasting comments made by different soldiers on the video make the scene of what appears to be unprovoked aggression even more disturbing: â€Å"See that car, I lit that fucker up! He got 30 rounds in that bitch! † â€Å"Oooh, my bitch is fucking done dude! â€Å"Dude, look at it! We fucked those people all to shit down there! † The edited to music combat videos are typically made in a fragmented style with a rapid succession of various battle scenarios. They are often set to hard rock music – a symbolic expression of the adrenaline rush felt by soldiers going into a fight. In some cases, these videos seem to glorify violence and promote a kind of adolescent machismo with soldiers taking keen delight in shooting or blowing up targets. Other combat videos however clearly distance themselves from such a pro-war sensibility and militaristic celebration of power.One example is a video titled â€Å"U. S. Army, Marines-Iraq War-Kill Insurgents (4th video Battle). † Set to the heavy metal song â€Å"Eyes of the Insane† by Slayer, it is a montage of stills and moving images that shows U. S. troops engaged in various spectacular combat scenes. The lyrics of the song are the guiding principle 6 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=JWYNn1pTwPM Added February 22, 2008, by â€Å"Slavesrevolt. † Accessed June 15, 2008. 22 ANDEN-PAPADOPOULOS for the set up of the video, taking the point of view of a soldier who suffers from the traumatic effects of war.He testifies to the â€Å"devastating insanity† of war which he keeps re-experiencing in the form of intrusive images: â€Å"I keep seeing mutilated faces/Even in my dreams/Distorted images/Flashing rapidly /Psychotically abusing me/Devouring my brain. † The video starts with an extreme close-up of an eye, in which the reflection of a soldier can be seen. This visual effect emphasizes th at the rapid flashes of violent battle imagery in the video represent horrific war experiences as they are reflected – and compulsively replayed – in the eyes and mind of a traumatized soldier.One scene shows what appears to be an unarmed Iraqi civilian driving a motorcycle being gunned down from across the street by U. S. troops. Another shows two unidentified men running for their lives down a dusty Iraqi street before they are killed by U. S. troops in a Humvee. Yet another shows three marines on a balcony as they are hit by shrapnel blasting back at high speed from a distant exploding building. The video documents and expresses the maker’s own experience of the insanity of war – the chaos, panic, vulnerability, and kill-or-get-killed logic that compels soldiers to use sometimes indiscriminate violence.It presents warfare as a traumatizing experience that leaves the soldier full of questions and disturbing memories. In many cases, the videos contain im agery that originates from military surveillance devices such as night vision cameras and aerial surveillance technologies. Here, the representation of war becomes one with the waging of war itself. One example is a clip titled â€Å"Apache Kills in Iraq,† which consists of guncam footage taken at night from an Apache helicopter. 7 The video shows a U. S. ttack aircraft using high power ammunition to eliminate three suspected weapon smugglers on the ground. The clip is disturbing not only because the Iraqi men apparently are gunned down without a confirmed identification, but also because it visualizes the devastating impact of high power artillery when used against humans. The thermal imaging system used at night shows the glowing presence of the warm human body against the dark surroundings, making the effect of impact shockingly apparent: When the 30mm rounds hit the Iraqi men, you literally see warm viscera scattering in all directions.As one of the three victims lies hel pless and wounded on the ground, the Apache pilots take aim and kill him with a second salvo, an action that would seem to qualify as a war crime. â€Å"OPERATION IRAQI BOREDOM† Soldiers have privileged access to the frontline of war and also to its back stage. They can go behind the scenes and document the more private settings, activities, and feelings that professional photographers cannot access and would not necessarily attribute news value to.The soldiers perform not only in front of the camera, but apparently even for the camera, often in playful, intimate, and humorous ways that clearly defy the more formal and distancing conventions of professional journalism. They often film themselves and their comrades goofing off for the camera, playing pranks such as capturing and overtaking a port-a-John housing a soldier dressed mockingly as a terrorist. 8 Frat-style humor is a key feature not only of these recurrent http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=LoFq9jYB2wo. Added July 24 , 2006, by â€Å"acdclights. Accessed June 19, 2008. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=XvMLREePkyY&NR=1. Added June 16, 2007, by â€Å"Sensicane. † Accessed June 29, 2008. 8 7 US SOLDIERS IMAGING THE IRAQ WAR ON YOUTUBE 23 â€Å"toilet action† clips, but of many of the videos that show troops in downtime activities. The soldiers waste time in measured nonsensical performances such as taping a comrade to the front of a Humvee, dancing poorly in their underwear, drinking maple syrup, or pouring canned air – which boils at room temperature – into the palm of their hand and watching as it burns the skin.These videos testify to the boredom that soldiers feel when not in action. Making videos is a way to offset the monotony, and also to release stress and frustration. Some of them are rather creative and witty, such as the celebrated rap song spoof about Ramadi titled â€Å"Lazy Ramadi. †9 This is a battle zone parody of the widely popular Saturday Nigh t Live’s â€Å"Lazy Sunday,† created by and starring two National Guard staff sergeants who rap jokily about insurgents, body armor, Jell-O, and their hometown Muncie, Indiana. The clip evidently struck a pop-cultural chord.It became an overnight internet sensation that has been viewed millions of times on different internet venues. Ramadi is considered to be the most dangerous city in Iraq. The rap skit makes light of a hazardous and high stress situation, providing comic relief for both soldiers and the home front. â€Å"Lazy Ramadi† has many imitators on YouTube, with music video parodies that mock the grim conditions of war. There are also more controversial examples of activities that soldiers resort to in order to entertain themselves and their YouTube audiences. A clip posted in March of 2008 shows a U.S. Marine, David Motari, throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq. 10 The 17-second clip generated international attention and sparked outrage from animal right groups around the world when it came to light. In the video, Motari smiles and jokes with his comrades before he hurls the puppy over a cliff as it yelps. An unknown person operating the video camera is heard laughing and another voice saying, â€Å"That’s mean. That’s mean, Motari. † The video clip caused the Marine Corps to expel David Motari and to take disciplinary measures against a second Marine involved.TRIBUTES TO THE FALLEN US SOLDIERS Tribute videos foreground a controversial and highly emotional topic: the deaths of U. S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are made as specific tributes to individual soldiers or as a generic homage to the U. S. troops serving and dying overseas. The former are typically created by close family members or friends and show private recordings from the funeral ceremonies interspersed with snapshots from family albums. The latter often present melancholic meditations on the ordeals U. S. troops face in Iraq, highlighting the harsh conditions and consequences of their mission.These memorial videos almost obsessively parade images of coffins draped in the American flag, a motif that inevitably conjures up the ghosts of Vietnam. In contrast to much official imagery, they also show seriously wounded American soldiers, soldiers being hit, and soldiers breaking down and crying. The Pentagon and the Bush administration have gone to great length to avoid images of U. S. casualties being broadcast or published in the U. S. media and have enforced a ban on pictures of the flag-draped coffins returning home from Iraq and 9 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=5k3L-_Snu7k.Added May 15, 2006 by SSG Matt Wright and SSG Josh Dobbs. Accessed June 30, 2008. See also Lazy Ramadi’s official site at http://lazyramadi. com 10 The video was viewed tens of thousands of times before YouTube took it down because of a violation of the site’s terms of use. The clip is still widely available on t he internet, however. 24 ANDEN-PAPADOPOULOS Afghanistan. Military and governmental officials always have been careful to prevent images that show their own troops dead or seriously wounded, since such sights might arouse fears about war’s personal and social consequences and undermine faith in the cause.What makes these images so contentious is not only the disturbing sight – actual or symbolic – of dead bodies, but the repressed question that they might evoke: Is the war worth the cost? Hence, official narratives have persistently sought to put depictions of American death in a meaningful context. Blood is sacrifice, spilled for sovereignty and freedom. Corpses are swiftly transformed into martyrs, whose surrender warrants our redemption. Mortality is relied on to project immortality, impregnability, and a reinvigorated sense of national purpose.In contrast, soldier tribute videos present more mixed messages. The themes of bravery, camaraderie, and patriotic pr ide are counterbalanced or even nullified by distressing expressions of pain, vulnerability, and irretrievable personal loss. One example is an entry on YouTube titled â€Å"Final Salute: American Soldiers in Iraq. †11 The clip starts with footage taken from a moving military vehicle, shot through the front windshield. After a couple of seconds, a roadside bomb explodes and shatters the windshield right before our eyes, as smoke and fire fill the screen.The spectacular scene positions the viewer with the vulnerable soldiers, making palpable the experience of lethal danger. This is followed by a slide show with images of soldiers crying, embracing, and paying tribute to fallen comrades. A recurring motif is the ritual shrines assembled of the dead soldier’s military gear. These memorials symbolically resurrect the dead soldier, with the rifle as a body placed in the boots, crowned by the helmet and dog tag. Sometimes they also include a formal portrait of the deceased. Images of flag-draped coffins are also repeatedly shown in the video, as are photographs of wounded U.S. soldiers. Some of the latter are extremely graphic, such as a close-up of the remains of a soldier’s blown-off feet. The overall theme of many tribute videos is the anguish and grief that the casualties of war cause for the U. S. soldiers and their families. They ask us to remember and fully appreciate the sacrifice of the young men and women serving overseas. Where the military and government elites attempt to spin American death into a political weapon, used to reinforce loyalty to the nation and to the military effort, tribute videos lament the loss of young lives in their own right.They insist that we recognize and recall the fallen American soldiers as persons, as unique individuals, whose sacrifice can only truly be measured through the consideration of what they meant to those who knew and loved them. INTERACTION WITH IRAQI CIVILIANS A great number of the soldier vi deos contain images of Iraqi children, the epitome of innocence and hope for the future. Many clips clearly attempt to cultivate the image of a good relationship between U. S. forces and local civilians, showing troops in amiable exchanges with Iraqi children and families. 2 The soldiers hand out candy, toys, and books to happy children, play with them, and give them medical care. The Iraqi children laugh, give a â€Å"thumbs up,† and wave 11 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=WIw-BP4zfW4. Added August 27, 2006, by â€Å"prezjackie. † Accessed June 27, 2008. 12 â€Å"Iraq War: The Soldiers,† at http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=FUm05_I8xJ4. Accessed July 16, 2008. Iraq video â€Å"Why† at http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=hPVPqERfTM4. Accessed July 16, 2008. US SOLDIERS IMAGING THE IRAQ WAR ON YOUTUBE 25 small American flags, and are often seen embracing and even kissing the troops.These clips are obviously intended to project an image of the U. S. and coa lition soldiers as humane and compassionate. They reflect and reinforce the official U. S. framing of the Iraq conflict as a â€Å"war of liberation† – the troops appear as the longed-for saviors of an undeveloped nation in need of paternal guidance. Other clips, however, employ the symbolic power of the innocent child to communicate strong anti-war messages. 13 Here, the Iraqi children are foregrounded as defenseless victims who cry out for us to take a critical stand on a conflict that deprives even infants of their tender life and limb.These videos contain graphic depictions of children seriously wounded, bleeding, screaming, and crying – often with a direct address to the camera, imploring us to act upon their unjust suffering. Such imagery evidently reflects negatively on the military effort in Iraq. By implication, if not explicitly, the U. S. forces are portrayed as cruel assaulters – rather than fatherly protectors – of the people of Iraq, bringing injury, death, and destruction to the country. In contrast to the feel good visuals of smiling Iraqi children, these depictions present the war as immoral and misguided.Apart from the clips that implicate U. S. soldiers in physical cruelties, there are also videos that document troops abusing Iraqi children in a more psychological sense. A notorious clip, â€Å"Iraqi Kids Run for Water,† shows U. S. soldiers dangle bottles of clean water over the back of a truck. 14 Much to the amusement of the soldiers, the trick makes Iraqi children run after the truck for a long period in a vain attempt to reach the bottles. Another clip shows U. S. soldiers entertaining themselves by teaching a group of Iraqi children (who apparently do not understand English) to say â€Å"Fuck Iraq. 15 In another video, a U. S. soldier dupes a clueless Iraqi boy to admit that he has â€Å"fucked donkey. †16 Needless to say, the humanitarian halo fades in the light of such stark enactment s of patronizing, neo-colonial arrogance. CONCLUSIONS The frames of media and military elites no doubt remain powerful controls on the public understanding of international affairs. Still, the explosion of vernacular imagery of international conflict is becoming an increasingly important factor in the representation and shaping of the news and the newsworthy, and in mediating perceptions of war and foreign policy.The Iraqi conflict is emerging as the first YouTube war, where homemade soldiers’ videos throw into sharp relief the reportorial conventions of mainstream news coverage. Contrary to the myths of national glory, macho heroism, and clinical warfare manufactured by military and media elites, the firsthand testimonials by soldiers actually living the war offer the public uncensored insights into the mundane, violent, and even depraved faces of warfare. They challenge traditional 13 â€Å"War in Iraq† at http://www. youtube. com/watch? =4Gu7pswE43Y&mode=related&sea rch=. Accessed July 16, 2008. â€Å"Iraq anti war video† at http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=3wKG9T1xPwY. Accessed July 16, 2008. 14 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=L71Y1galpyA. Accessed July 2007, 2008. This clip has been submitted to YouTube numerous times by different users. 15 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=eBGi8jr_CBE&feature=related. Added December 18, 2006, by â€Å"tmacdagreat. † Accessed July 27, 2008. 16 http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=kpHWaUSfYj8&feature=related. Added February 7, 2007, by â€Å"666stunts666. Accessed July 27, 2008. 26 ANDEN-PAPADOPOULOS journalism’s claim to authenticity and credibility precisely by showing that which the mainstream news will not show and thus rendering dubious the professional practices of selection, framing, and editing. The authenticity of the soldiers’ experience lends a heightened sense of veracity and immediacy to their representations of war. The â€Å"reality effect† is further undersco red by the soldiers’ personal points of view and the often raw emotionalism and poor technical quality of their amateur videos.Many of the soldier videos not only conflict with the official message that the military mission in Iraq is about rebuilding and peace but also with the persistent marketing – and popular perception – of â€Å"our† troops as fair, courageous, and caring. They show aggressive fighting by U. S. and coalition troops that at times revel in violently destroying the enemy. Other recordings contradict the image of a benign American presence in Iraq by showing troops unscrupulously abusing Iraqi children and pets – the embodiment of a degenerate abuse of power.The soldier videos also challenge the mainstream news convention of hiding the disturbing sight of dead and badly injured bodies from public view. They display gruesome images of dead and mutilated Iraqi insurgents and civilians, and also of U. S. casualties. The many memoria l videos also defy the mainstream practice of transforming dead soldiers into generic symbols of national purpose and rectitude. Instead, they urge us to remember the fallen soldier as a specific individual whose death has devastating consequences for the loved ones left behind.This highlighting of war’s personal and social consequences undermines the official attempts at concealing these costs of war. Another sight not often found in official imagery, but frequently so in the soldier videos, is of troops crying. Here, the soldiers openly express their vulnerability when faced with the fatalities of war. If such a display of emotions contradicts the ideal of macho heroism, this is even true of some of the mundane imagery showing troops killing time in the barracks.Their playful performances for the camera abound with obscenities and adolescent humor, showing an unruly, even silly side of the troops that works against the official image of the regimented U. S. soldier. Yet the y serve to put a human face on the U. S. military. For better and worse, many of the soldier videos bring us closer to the troops as real people, as opposed to prescribed images of dutiful soldiers who place their lives at risk in order to restore security to the sacred homeland.The homemade soldier videos represent a way of dealing with the stress, agony, and boredom of experiencing a war first-hand. Making these videos, though often a form of entertainment, can be seen as a coping mechanism, helping the soldiers to make sense of and communicate about a war that has gotten more and more complicated since Saddam’s statue fell. These new sources allow for more diverse points of view that complement, and at times disrupt the traditional framings of war.As my analysis of the soldier videos makes apparent, these nonprofessional contributions can provide us with critical insights into the complex, painful realities of experiencing a war directly, thereby offering the basis for a m ore open and democratic questioning of the authority and activity of U. S. foreign policy. It may be that these dispatches lack a coherent explanation for why the bombs are going off, and that it is often difficult to ascertain what is going on in each video, when and where it was shot and who shot it.Still, it is precisely the lack of prescribed framings and official narratives that make the soldier videos valuable, in that they provide raw, often unfiltered views that resist an all too neat packaging of war by those who direct it. 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