Isolation in Faulkners Light in August Essay -- Light August Essays

Isolation in Light In August In William Faulkners Light In August, virtually characters seem detached from each other and from society. It is often argued that Lena Grove is an exception to this, but I have found that I cannot agree with this view. Consequently, this essay bequeath show that Lena is lonely too, and that the message in Faulkners work on the issue of human contact is that everyone is essentially alone, either by voluntary turning point from company or by involuntary exclusion, and the only escape from this loneliness is to have a proper family to comfort you. As a child, Lena was involuntarily isolated from a society she wanted to be a part of. We are told that six or eight times a year she went to town on Saturday (p. 5), which obviously was not enough for her. It was because she believed that the people who saw her and whom she passed on foot would believe that she lived in town too (p. 5). Lena had a need to be a part of society and join the ranks of ordinary people in an ordinary town, which presumably includes marrying and starting a family. Living with McKinley in a far gain mill hamlet continued to keep Lena isolated, and this condition was further aggravated by the fact that she was kept busy with housework much of the time. Admittedly, housekeeping for a large family is one kind of community, but it is not the kind that Lena wants. She would rather have a family of her own than care for someone elses, and so she seeks love in the form of Lucas Burch. Unfortunately, Burch does not want to start a family. He only uses Lena for his own pleasure, and as soon as she tells him about the pregnancy, he leaves town (p. 16-17). Lena takes impinge on on a quest to reunite herself with her would-be hu... ...g the society she loves. When she no longer has any hope of putting her family together the way she reckons it should be, she can no longer face society because she will never fit in. Even if she married Bunch, he would still not be he r childs father, which would sop up their family an anomaly. Lena has turned into a voluntary outcast, dragging Byron Bunch around to help her run her daily life but never letting him get intimate, never really making him a part of her life. After being forced into isolation from society for most of her life, Lena has now chosen to remain isolated. She is just as alone as any other character in Light in August. The conclusion I inevitably reach is that Faulkner wanted to portray family as the ultimate unit of society. Without a family, you cannot fit into society, and if you do not fit into society, you are essentially alone.

Evaluation of Mother-Women in Chopin’s The Awakening :: Chopin Awakening

Evaluation of Mother-Women in Chopins The Awakening In short, Mrs. Pontellier was non a amaze-woman. The mother women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering close to with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their cute brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. (p.29) She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way. She would sometimes gathering them passionately to her heart she would sometimes forget them. The year before theyhad spent part of the summer with their grandmother Pontellier in Iberville. Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did not miss them except with an occasional intense longing. Their absence was a sort of relief, though she did not admit this, even to herself. It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly adoptd and for which Fate had not fitted her. (p. 40) Reading the above two public lifes it is clear that Mrs. Pontellier feels she is different from other mothers. She is not a mother-woman. Those maternal beings are angels who flutter about and protect their children, even if they are in no danger. They are not flesh and blood women with lives of their own. Surely they must have begun life that way, but the passage claims that as they minister to their children they grow wings and become angels. Mrs. Pontelliers use of words such as minister, angel and worship must mean that she thinks of maternalism as a religion. While the description of these mother-women might imply that they are angelic and selfless, in reality their identity (and existence) depends upon their husband and children. They exist only in a familial context. Without their children they would be nothing. If their children are in no real danger, then the mother-women must imagine a threat in order to vindicate their existence. The use of the word efface is strong and telling. It literally means to remove the face. The reader gathers that neither Mrs. Pontellier nor Kate Chopin admires this type of woman. In order to be socially acceptable in Kate Chopins time, one certainly needed a husband to have children. Neither of these passages directly refers to Mr. Pontellier. However, since Mrs. Pontellier is not a mother-woman, the reader can assume that she does not therefore worship her husband.

Wise Children Essay -- English Literature

Wise Children EssayAngela Carter uses a variety of methods and techniques to presentevents and characters in an interesting way in chapter 1. By usingDoras voice she is able to express the characters viewpoint andintroduce the subscriber to the story at a pace and style that non altogetherestablishes other characters plainly from how language is used the readercan create a personality for Dora also.The novel starts with a question to slowly introduce the reader intothe idea of the legitimacy and illegitimacy.WHY is London like Budapest?A. Because it two cities severalised by a river.Dora uses London to immediately explain how her and Dora live on thebastard side of Old Father Thames, not just literally but asillegitimate children it is a metaphor for their situation. Carteruses these parallels of the North and South divide to explain how Noraand Dora are from the wrong side of the tracks. and can also helpthe reader to relate and empathise with Dora and Noras position.The novel does not follow a chronological timeline, but is anon-linear narrative jumping back and forth between what is happeningon the twins 75th birthday and events that hasten taken place in thepast. The first main event in the novel is the arrival of theinvitation to Melchior Hazards birthday party, not only does itintroduce some action, but also other characters into the play andallows Carter to tell the reader some information on Doras situation,that Melchior Hazard is her father and who Wheelchair is. Carteruses plot very effectively in the first chapter she offers part ofthe story and then holds back, when Tristram is showing the videorecording, Freeze frame. This allows Carter to explain the famil... ...llen, Dora ismocking the demise of the Hazard family, the once great Shakespeareanact reduced to a host on a tacky game show. Dora pours scorn on theidea that the Hazard family are the height of respectability andlegitimacy Speaking of illegitimacy, there was more than a hint ofro mantic, nay, melodramatic illegitimacy in the Hazard family longbefore Nora and myself took our first bows, she breaks down the affable barriers between the two families, lowering them to her statusby revealing that even families of good reputation hide dark secrets.By the end of chapter 1 divergent questions gave been raised for thereader that now need answering, these questions create tensions thatencourage the reader to find out more. The plot development within thefirst chapter portray not only the events, but as they are seenthrough Dora shape her character.

Admissions Essay - I Will Practice Medicine :: Medicine College Admissions Essays

Admissions Essay - I Will Practice Medicine From the term I was 10 years old, I spent my summers at overnight ring. While baseball and canoeing were fun, I spent my free time in the camp radio station. Sitting at the microphone, my imagination ran wild as I made stories come alive, weaving characters in and out of danger, de coloreding punch lines, injecting irony. My fingers flew over the controls, get-up-and-go buttons, pulling levers at just the right times. I thrived on the creativity and precision it took to sound good on the air. As I grew older, my exposure to the media expanded. My first base job out of college was with CNNs Larry King Live, where I spent three exciting years. While the job had its thrills, it became an unsatisfying way to make a living for soulfulness who was taught to work hard for the under-served, think carefully nigh lifes priorities, and live by them everyday. I longed to feed my intellectual curiosity. I wanted to work with my hands and keep in volved with people. I was mature enough to work hard for what I wanted. I quit my job at CNN and began taking Pre-Med courses and volunteering in a hospital. I moved from my two-bedroom apartment to a small efficiency. Black-tie affairs with celebrities became TV dinners over a chemistry book. My life was changed. One year later, I hold back to donate my time as an Emergency Medical Technician in the Georgetown Emergency Room, and I play my guitar and sing with sick kids in the Pediatric Intensive feel for Unit. Volunteering has confirmed what I thought - that medicine is where I belong. Even in my limited capacity as a volunteer, bringing a cold longanimous a blanket or putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder is deeply rewarding. Watching a child smile as we sing Old McDonald, and knowing that, even for a moment, he is thinking about something besides his sick body, keeps me coming back every week. And learning about why our bodies work the way they do has even greater rewar ds, for a slightly different reason. When I was 13 years old, my mother died after battling liver cancer for a year and a half. I remember very well the first few months after the disease took hold. We tried different drugs and therapies in various doses.

me :: essays research papers

I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to elicit draw to lounge about into those ones, because they are only for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante. (I am also in Spanish Two, it is very enkindle)Im the oldest in my family, and I have a younger sister (12) and a younger brother (6). Since I was 11 age old, I have wanted to be an occupational therapist and teach disabled kids how to ride horses it is something that I really applaud doing. I also enjoy bill of exchange (Im in drawing two) and hablando en espanol. (Talking in Spanish). I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to pull strings to get into those ones, because they are only for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante. (I am also in Spanish Two, it is very interesting)Im the oldest in my family, and I have a younger sister (12) and a younger brother (6). Since I was 11 years old, I have wanted to be an occupational therapist and teach disabled kids how to ride horses it is something that I really enjoy doing. I also enjoy drawing (Im in drawing two) and hablando en espanol. (Talking in Spanish)I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to pull strings to get into those ones, because they are only for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante.

me :: essays research papers

I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to pull strings to shrink into those ones, because they be only(prenominal) for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante. (I am also in Spanish Two, it is very interesting)Im the oldest in my family, and I open a younger sister (12) and a younger brother (6). Since I was 11 years old, I have valued to be an occupational therapist and teach disabled kids how to ride horses it is something that I really enjoy doing. I also enjoy swig (Im in drawing two) and hablando en espanol. (Talking in Spanish). I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to pull strings to get into those ones, because they are only for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante. (I am also in Spanish Two, it is very interesting)Im the oldest in my family, and I have a younger siste r (12) and a younger brother (6). Since I was 11 years old, I have wanted to be an occupational therapist and teach disabled kids how to ride horses it is something that I really enjoy doing. I also enjoy drawing (Im in drawing two) and hablando en espanol. (Talking in Spanish)I am currently taking an art class, which I love, some psychology classes (I had to pull strings to get into those ones, because they are only for juniors and seniors) and a comp class (yours). Yo soy tanbien en espanol dos ) es muy interesante.

Phillip Larkin Essay

The statement Larkin is a poet of grey moods, suburban melancholy and accepted regrets. Is accurate and appropriate when looking at and reading his poetry. This is displayed through his various verse forms, including the ones Im going to talk about Aubade and The Whitsun Weddings. Both of which portray all three opuss.The poem Aubade as a whole represents these three themes through the constant use of truncation in poem at the end of every stanza. The poem itself as well as represents the themes as Aubade is about mourning the life we have in dressing for ending, which in its irony comes under the first theme of grey moods.More specifically to the theme of grey moods within Aubade is through the quote, I range all day, and get half drunk at night. /Waking at four to soundless dark. I stare As this is in the opening stanza it sets the billet of the poem and portrays Larkins particular mindset. The monosyllabic language emphasises his reluctance in engaging in daily life as sa lutary as his depression. understood dark, beingness an allusion to death it portrays to the reader a certain outlook Larkin has on life due to these moods.The next quote to represent grey moods shows a pragmatic sanction outlook Larkin has on life and thoughts. Making all thought impossible but how / and where and when I shall myself die. This quote from the poem is truncated to emphasise the inevitability of death itself. This quote yet again shows the outlook he has on life and the particular mindset Larkin is in which is largely influences his moods.Suburban melancholy is another theme represented throughout various poems written by Larkin, including Aubade. Throughout this poem despondent outlooks on life is shown for example in this quote, meanwhile telephones crouch, getting misrepresent to ring / in locked up offices. The personification effectively represents his distaste for life, working and daily duties again reiterating that the poem is about mourning life in prepar ation for death. The line in the quote saying, getting ready to ring can be interpreted as a symbol or a metaphorical representation of death calling.Another example displaying the theme of suburban melancholy is the quote, all the uncaring / intricate rented conception begins to rouse. By saying intricate world meat complicated it shows his outlook again on the daily life of society and human beings, possibly because they dont share the same preserve for death as he does. The words uncaring and unrented world link to extinction and further links back to the theme of grey moods as well as accepted regrets as his attitude towards life is we are all going to die any government agency so in a way what is the point.The theme of accepted regrets is evident throughout this poem and is shown in the quote, Being brave / lets no one off the sculpture This rhyme and truncation emphasises Larkins outlook and acceptance within life and death. In this quote he accepts and understands that d eath is inevitable and Larkin acknowledges that it does not matter who he is or the decisions he has made in life it will not change anything. Death will still come.The poem The Whitsun Weddings by Larkin as a whole represents all three themes through the structural use of truncation within stanzas to represent lines that are in a candid intonate and also enjambment in Larkins descriptions of buildings and such as he admires buildings because they can stand forever and he fears death.The theme of grey moods is present within this poem in the following quote, did my three-quarters-empty train pull out The use of rhythm allows this line to flow in to the next line to further emphasise his tone and attitude. This quote also shows a metaphorical emptiness within Larkin as during this poem the time and place and setting have a relevance and meaning and he does not.Suburban melancholy is portrayed throughout these quotes, Of blinding windscreens, smelt the fish dock. The ocular imagery at the beginning of this quote and then the olfactive imagery of the smell of the fish dock show sadness in his opinion and description of the landscape and his surroundings and how unappealing his society and life may be.Then in the quote, Its postal districts packed like squares of wheat The simile emphasises the closeness and urban feel of the society again adding to the unappealing and dull character and tone he sees in his surroundings.The final theme of accepted regrets is present within The Whitsun Weddings in these quotes, ready to be loosed with all the power / that being change can give. This objective language shows Larkins experience on this journey and that events like this can change someones outlook on life but it hasnt changed him and he accepts his decision for partaking in the journey.And as the tightened brakes took hold, there swelled / a sense of falling. This quote contains an aspect of visual imagery but shows a sense of falling to death. Death is inevitable and he believes that there is no hope, which he accepts and understands with the link to the sense of falling.Phillip Larkin is a poet is a poet of grey moods, suburban melancholy and accepted regrets and this as I have stated is unmistakable throughout all aspects of his poetry.

Write About the Way in Which Hosseini Uses Setting in

Write ab discover the way the significance of the way in which Hosseini uses setting in The Kite Runner. Focus on 2 or three. Hosseini uses setting in the kite runner in various ways. It is a tool in showcasing the social division between Hazara and Pashtuns in capital of Afghanistan and is also used to dramatise and add tension to the story. An example of Hosseini adding tension through setting is Amir and Babas car journey from capital of Afghanistan to Jalalabad.It is narrated by Amir in the present tense, as if he is there telling us whats happening at that moment as opposed to the one-time(prenominal) tense narrative style that the remainder of the book is told in. The diorama begins with We pulled up to the check point we ar only limited to Amirs see to it at the time, whilst Amir usually adds his thoughts for example just before Hassan runs raped, after his harelip has been fixed he says which was ironic. Because that was the winter Hassan stopped smiling there is no re flection of the past in this scene.There is no sense of omniscience and the reader feels for the first time that Amir is vulnerable and that he is real. The scene continues with Feet crushed tucker by using the word feet instead of some ones feet or the Russian soldiers feet, Hosseini makes it impersonal and threatening, as if the feet do not belong to a human universe with emotions. It also allows the reader to understand how Amir was feeling at the time, he knows that the feet belonged to the Russian soldier but he doesnt tell us and by only including information he knew at the time we turn into Amir and we feel his fear.The people in the car are clearly on edge, Hosseini shows us this through a flicker of a lighter, in order to hear it in the truck Amir and the other passengers must have been truly quiet and listening out for anything threatening. The word flicker is gentle and emphasises how still and alert they must have been. The deathly silence is broken by a shrill cackli ng that scares Amir. There is an eerie quality to this, the word cackling is usually associated with witches in childrens books, and although this should be very cliched- the evil character having an evil laugh- Hosseini ets up the scene in such a way that you feel frightened for Amir. The laughing man then starts singing an old Afghan wedding song and this is when his individualism is revealed with a thick Russian accent. This adds to the eeriness as there is a conflict of expectations- its more unsettling that the Russian soldier is singing and laughing instead than if he had been beating someone. When the door of the truck is opened and the three men peer in, Amir describes a bone coloured moon hanging in the sky.The word bone intensifies the feeling of danger and death, Hosseini could of used white or any other adjective to describe the moon but by associating the moon with bone he warns the reader that something bad is about to take place. The moon is also used later on, to show Babas bravery and nobility when he stands up to the Russian soldier he eclipsed the moonlight. Baba is shown to be fearless, he is larger than the moon and he shields them from it and everything else. Amir uses his direct thoughts when he describes how he had believed the Russian soldier has shot Baba Its done, then.Im eighteen and alone in doing this not only does it allow the reader to sympathise with Amir and join with him but its highlights how dangerous the situation is, Amir cant even protest against whats happening, the calm way in which he thinks it through where do I bury him? Where do I go after? I find is quite disturbing. I feel that it lacks emotion and for me I wonder if this is a fable by Amir -the writer. He knows that Baba didnt die, but he presents it in this way to sensationalise the story.Another use of setting in the story is to show the enceinte divisions of society in Kabul, Hosseini uses Babas house and Alis shack to show the social structure in Kab ul. Baba and Amir who were Pashtuns and Sunni Muslims were the affluent upper class and were respected whilst the Hassan and Ali as Hazaras and Shia Muslims were servants. The two houses are also used to show the different father-son relationship between Hassan and Ali and Baba and Amir. Babas house is described as being very grand the entire paragraph dedicated to it oozes wealth and prosperity.Hosseini uses superlative adjectives to describe the house prettiest house in all of Kabul Everything about the house is epicurean and beautiful, there are great descriptions of tapestries and marble floors and wide windows. Even the smells in the house are rich ever smelled of tobacco and cinnamon, the word perpetually hints that Babas wealth was continuous, it would never end, as if Amir believed that he would always live in this luxury. The house is very formal poplar tree trees lined the thoroughfare and rosebushes flanked the entryway.However throughout this beautiful description th ere are some cracks and some uneasiness. In particular the wrought- iron gates that give the house a prison worry feel, and also the mention of Rahim Khan Im in his arms, but its Rahim Khans pinky my fingers are curve around this suggests that within the opulence there are some badly hidden issues. In contrast Alis hut is introduced to the reader by the mind the Wall of Ailing Corn the corn that never really took as if there is also something wrong with the hut.Whilst Babas house is given a particular description Amirs description of Alis hut is brief, perhaps because he doesnt think its significant or maybe because he doesnt remember it much, he admits himself in the eighteen years that I lived in that house, I stepped into Hassan and Alis quarters only a handful of times He remembers it as sparse, clean, dimly lit it is simple and modest and reflects the character of it inhabitants. There is nothing extraneous and nothing excessive unlike Babas house with the burnt sienna ta ble that could easily seat thirty guests or the two acres of backyard.He also describes a loquat tree that gave shade to the house this differs to the poplar trees and rosebushes of Babas house. Loquat trees are local trees in Kabul whilst rosebushes are foreign, they also have purpose they produce fruit unlike Babas trees that are purely decoration. It is ironic that the smallest thing that Baba owns he shares and is associated with Ali Baba and Ali had planted a small vegetable garden. It is also significant that Amir describes his house as Babas estate or Babas house. He doesnt claim it, but when he describes Hassan and Alis ouse, not only does he call it a family line rather than a house but he says that its their home. The hut signifies the close relationship between Ali and Hassan they dont have fancy tapestries or tables that get in the way of each other. There is always something between Baba and Amir, even the house divides them upstairs was my bedroom, Babas room and his study. Baba constantly shuts Amir out of his study Go on now, he would say, This is grown-ups time. Hassan and Ali slept in the same room with two mattresses on opposite sides of the room- they were always together.Alis hut also shows Amirs attitude towards Hazaras and shows that the social division between Hazaras and Pashtuns is one that affects the younger generation too. He calls Hassans home a colly hut and although he says its modest, its evident that he doesnt think much of it. However the ironic thing is that Hassan and Alis hut fits with Kabul whilst Babas estate stands out not only because its pretty but because the vast majority of Kabul do not live like that a fact Amir is only aware of when he is much older.

Socio Economic Profile of Househohold Consumers in Mizoram: India

The Socio economic Characteristics of Household Customers in Mizoram 2. 1 Introduction Consumer Behaviour, existence the psychological dimension of marketing management, is based on motley factors. Since all of us argon consumers, what we buy, how we buy, where and when we buy, in how much quantity we buy depends on our perception, self concept, social and cultural background and our age and family cycle, our attitudes, beliefs, values, motivation, personality, social class and many some other factors that are twain internal and external to us (Mark ES and Armen T, 1985).This is very evident in India, the second most populous nation in the knowledge do principal(prenominal) and the number one contributor to the worlds population growth of potential customers (Population Reference Bureau, 2000). Traditionally, marketers entertain often relied on intuition and demographic cultivation such as age, sex, income level and occupation for identifying potential areas (Dash PK and Sar angi M, 2008). According to Sproles and Kendall (1986, p. 67), identification of these characteristics among the consumers helps to profile (individual) consumer style, educate consumers about their specific decision-making characteristics, and counsel families on financial management. Again, many research studies show that consumer profiles are crucial as it deals with the mental orientation of consumers in making decisions (Wells, 1975 Lastovicka, 1982 Westbrook and Black, 1985 Sproles and Sproles, 1990 Stone, 1954 Darden and Moschis, 1976).The important effects of demographic, socioeconomic and regional factor halt been demonstrated by various studies in consumers choice of foreign and domestic products, or rather ethnocentrism too (Sharma, 1995 Klien, 1998 and Elliot 2003). In the present chapter, it is intended to exaltedlight who the Mizoram plate consumers are on the basis of their demographic and socioeconomic profile. 2. 2 Profile of the sept customers Taking household customers as sample units, the households are sampled from urban and rude areas. All the eight (8) functioning districts are interpreted into consideration for the engage.For the research, all the district headquarters, namely, Aizawl, Champhai, Kolasib, Lawngtlai, Lunglei, Mamit, Saiha and Serchhip are taken as urban samples. The unpolished samples are taken from the following villages/towns Saitual and Aibawk from Aizawl district, Khawbung and Khawzawl from Champhai district, Bilkhawthlir and Vairengte from Kolasib district, Chawngte and Diltlang from Lawngtlai district, Hnahthial and Zobawk from Lunglei district, Rawpuichhip and Kawrthah from Mamit district, Tuipang and Sangau from Saiha district and N. Vanlaiphai and Thenzawl from Serchhip District. 0 households are sampled from the district headquarters for the urban sample and 20 households from each of the villages/towns mentioned for the uncouth population sample, making it 40 agrestic households for every district. In all, 640 households i. e. 80 households from each districts, 40 from urban areas and 40 from rural areas are sampled to cover the whole State. The profiling of households is done, with suitable modifications and necessary adjustments in accordance to Splores and Kendalls Consumer Styles Inventory model (Splores and Kendall, 1986).Following Leon GS and Leslie LKs demographic segmentation, the sample is studied on the basis of the education level, main occupation, family coat, composition of the households in cost of number of enceintes, children, male and female members, bunk of income, number of earning members in a household and lastly, the type of durable products have by household customers. synopsis is done using F- rivulet and Pearson Correlation to find out the family relationship amid rural and urban population for each of the demographic variables. F-Test analysis tests to exit whether devil population variances equal each other.Essentially, the analysis compares the ratio of two variances. The assumption is that if the variance is equal, the ratio of the variances should be equal to 1. Variance whitethorn be define as the square of standard deviation, standard deviation being the dispersion about the data locateds mean (Stephen L. Nelson, 2007). Standard deviation is reckon using the principle ? = v? fd2x/N ? fdx/N2 and variance will be ? 2 (Mohan Singhal, 1999) Pearson Correlation is used to determine the relationship between the two set of data x and y viz. rban and rural population. The formula for finding out the correlation r can be noned using the formula rxy = N? fxy-? fx.? fy/vN? fx2-(? fx)2N? fy2-(? fy)2 The make will be between -1 to +1. Positive value signifies positive correlation i. e. both the data sets move in same path man negative value signifies negative correlation i. e. the two data sets move in different direction (Lokesh Koul, 2009). The purpose of using F Test is to determine the homogeneity of the two sets i . e. rural and urban household customers. Correlation Analysis is sed to find out the nature and degree of relationship between the rural and urban household customers for each of the socio economic variables. 2. 2. 1Education According to Harold H. Kassarjian (1971), education, like other personal qualities including sex, income, family cycle and so on, carry an important role in influencing the buy behaviour. The respondents who represented their households were broadly classified into illiterates, literates, down the stairs Class 10, Class 10, college drop-outs, graduates and post graduates on the basis of their education level and are represented in picture 1. bring out 1 Educational profile of household respondents control board 1 Education level of rural and urban respondents Number of household customers Education LevelRuralUrban Illiterates5 (1. 56)4 (1. 25) Literates70 (21. 88)21 (6. 56) Below class 1071 (22. 19)41 (12. 81) Class 1080 (25. 00)61 (19. 06) College drop o uts30 (9. 38)32 (10. 00) Graduates51 (15. 94)105 (32. 81) Post graduates13 (4. 06)56 (17. 50) Total320320 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages. Taking into account the responses of rural and urban respondents as shown in put off 1, the outcome F-test value tallied to 0. 840913.This shows a senior high degree of similarity in the variances of the two sets, indicating homogeneity in composition between the two sets of respondents. The Pearsonian Correlation gave an output of 0. 287853, a positive relationship between rural and urban. regular though there is a high degree of homogeneity between the two sets of samples, the relationship between the same set is not very strong when introducing Correlation Analysis. According to nosecount India 2001, Mizoram stood as one of the leaders in the field of literacy. With 88. 48% rate of literacy, Mizoram came in second next to Kerala.This rationale is reflected in the study as delay 1 indicated that only 1. 41% of the household re spondents are illiterates. plain though there is not much difference between rural and urban respondents in respect of illiterates, the rural sample shows that absolute majority of the rural households have passed class 10 i. e. 25% of the 320 rural households, while the majority of the urban households are graduates with 32. 81% of the 320 urban households. Although there is a rather earthshaking spread head in the level of education between rural and urban samples, it is interesting to note that rural households do have access to higher education. . 38% are college drop outs, 15. 94% are graduates and 4. 06% of the rural households hold post graduate degrees. That makes 29. 38% of the rural households have exposure to collegiate environment and thus, to urban modus vivendi as all of the 22 colleges including Law Colleges are established in urban areas i. e. district headquarters (Statistical vade mecum, 2008). 2. 2. 2 Occupation According to the Statistical Handbook (2008) p ublished by the Government of Mizoram, agriculture and its allied sectors have a declining figures in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the past days from 2005-06 till 2007-08.Further decline is expected from the quick estimate made by the surgical incision. One factor so stated in the Handbook being the mautam famine. This may also result in change of occupation from agriculture to other sectors to ensure livelihood. On the other hand, the State saw the incubation of snobbish corporates in the form of restitution companies, banking companies and other private societies. Various private banking companies like Axis Bank, Syndicate, Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Punjab study Bank, IDBI, have started their showtime offices in Mizoram bringing about trading opportunities for educated youths (see Table 7. , Statistical Handbook 2008). At the same time, private insurance companies mushroomed in Mizoram from the past tailfin years. According to the Taxation D epartment , companies like Birla Sunlife, Tata-AIG, Bajaj-Alliance, assurance etc. have started their ventures in Mizoram, again opening employment for the sons-of-the-soil. With the fast advent of mobile-telecom industry in Mizoram since mid-2003, companies like Airtel, Reliance, Aircel, Tata-Indicom, Vodafone began employing mizo youths as their operational staffs. Even then, the bangingst employing organization is the State Government.According to the 5th Economic Census 2005 , the State Government accounted for 85% of employment in the State with 40,603 posts under its umbrella. In fact, the up-gradation data as on 2006 showed 51,070 employees including muster-rolls and work-charges. Purchase involvement and consumer behaviour is greatly influenced by the occupation of the household consumers (Harold H. Kassarjian, 1971). Therefore, the study reason the sample households as Agriculture, Carpentry and consummate Workers, Daily Wage Earner, Government Employed, Private Company Employed and Business or Own Enterprise.Exhibit 2 shows the profile of occupations of the respondents. Exhibit 2 Occupation profile of household respondents Table 2 Occupation of rural and urban respondents Number of household customers OccupationRuralUrban Agriculture81 (25. 31)3 (0. 94) Carpentry and Skilled Workers31 (9. 69)9 (2. 81) Daily wage earner40 (12. 50)32 (10) Government Employed99 (30. 94)223 (69. 69) Private Company employed3 (0. 94)19 (5. 94) Business66 (20. 63)34 (10. 63) Total320320 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages Applying F-test, the relationship of rural and urban sample variances is calculated as 0. 79742, a low degree of homogeneity in terms of their variance ratio. Table 2 shows that rural households are much evenly distributed in terms of different occupations than their urban counterparts. But then, the correlation degree gave a rather high positive correlation of 0. 69526. This may be due to the fact that the highest frequencies of both rural a nd urban households are political relation employed. Agriculture is still an important occupation for the rural households, claiming more than 1/4th of the whole rural households while agriculture is quite negligible for the urban population as an occupation.One indication that private companies are yet to penetrate the rural areas is the negligible employment by private companies in rural areas. Rural savings and insurance can yet still be tapped by private company players. Since 2005, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act/ Scheme began enhancing the purchasing power of the rural households. Moreover, this particular wage employment scheme encourages savings and personal insurance for the rural households . Rs. 39,500 crores will be pumped into the rural areas nation-wide in the year 2009-10 under this scheme.This can be an hazard as the rural consumers constitute more than 75% of the Indian population and out of the 1. 61 lakhs household in Mizoram, rural areas account for alm ost half of the whole population of the State (The trade Whitebook, 2005). Own enterprise or business constitute a substantial proportion of households in the rural sample, again an indication of good business opportunity for rural banking. The overall tabulation shows that 50% of the whole sample population are government employed, signifying a large business pool with secured incomes for marketers. . 2. 3 Family coat As the primary consumer decision making unit, the family has been the subject of intense examination for a number of years (Lakshmi PV and Murugan MS, 2008). Family may be regarded as one of the strongest artificial lake of influence on consumer behaviour, its size being the significant determinant (Matin Khan, 2006). As the core unit of defining culture, family has a very prominent effect on attitude formation in various facets of marketing (Burke, 2002 Wood, 2002). It may be held true that the family size matters in household consumer behaviour.The larger the fam ily, the larger its consumption ineluctably and wants. Product preferences also depend a lot on the household size (Srivastava KK and Sujata K, 2008). Exhibit 3 gives the overview family size of the household respondents. Exhibit 3 Family size profile of the household respondents Table 3 Family size of the rural and urban respondents Number of household customers Number of family membersRuralUrban Upto 211 (3. 44)22 (6. 88) 3 5152 (47. 50)154 (48. 13) 6 8133 (41. 56)138 (43. 13) 9 and above24 (7. 50)6 (1. 88) Total320320 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentagesExhibit 3 shows that about 47% of households are bigger families with 6 or more members and Table 3 indicated that the number of families with social rank of 9 and above is four times more in rural areas than in urban areas. According to the 2001 Census, the average size of scheduled tribe households in the rural areas was 5. 2 members while in urban areas it was 4. 9 members. It should be noted that the two family size s viz. 3 to 5 members and 6 to 8 members unitedly accounted for 89. 06% of the rural respondents and 91. 26% of their urban counterparts.Taking the family sizes 3 to 5 and 6 to 8, the median size lies between 5 and 6 member-households. This indicates the similarity of the households studied with that of the Census 2001 figures . The F-Test shows a very high degree of 0. 932141, indicating high homogeneity between the rural and urban respondents. Further application of Correlation Analysis gave the value of 0. 987285, demonstrating a very high level of relationship between the rural and urban customer households. Hence, both the tests show that there is not much difference between the rural and urban households in respect to family size.India, for several decades, have been involved in defining family size, in fact, one of the earliest nation to be bear on with the issue . Decadal studies show that there has been a marginal decrease in family size from 5. 5 in 1980s to 5. 3 in 2001 even though there is a very significant increase in population during 1980 and 2001 from 493,757 to 888,573 . This is an indication of growing nuclearization of families in the Indian society as stated in Census India Report and an indication of mass education and media awareness of the general population demonstrated in the decrease of family size, an after-effect of family planning. . 2. 4 Age Product call for and interests vary with the age of the customers (Srivastava KK and Sujata K, 2008). Obviously then, different age groups present different marketing challenges and opportunities. Marketers thus have found age to be a in particular useful demographic variable for distinguishing segments (Elliot et al, 2003). Table 4 shows the number of adults in both rural and urban households. Table 4 Number of adults Number of household customers Number of adultsRuralUrbanTotal Upto 2102 (31. 88)104 (32. 50)206 (32. 19) 3 5146 (45. 63)171 (53. 44)317 (49. 53) 6 871 (22. 19)41 (12. 81) 112 (17. 50) 9 and above1 0. 31)4 (1. 25)5 0. 78) Total320320640 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages The output value of F Test gave a significantly high 0. 768617 demonstrate the similarity between the rural and urban household customers in respect of the adult population. A correlation degree of positive . 959861 also indicates that there is a very high positive relationship between the two samples. Almost 50% of the households have 3 to 5 adult members. About 22% of the households in rural Mizoram have the adult population of 6 to 8 members, whereas only 13% of the households in urban Mizoram have the same number of adult population.It is already demonstrated in Table 3 that the median household size of the samples is between 5 to 6 members. Therefore, it can be stated that the majority of households are adult-dominated. As for the children population, the rural and urban households are studied of its child members, categorizing them in 2 subsets, below 14 years of age a nd between 14 to 18 years of age. Table 5 Number of children below 14 years Number of household customers Number of children below 14 yearsRuralUrbanTotal Upto 2112 (35)94 (29. 38)206 (32. 19) 3 566 (20. 63)78 (24. 38)144 (22. ) 6 820 (6. 25)16 (5)36 (5. 63) 9 and above01 (0. 31)1 (0. 16) Total198189387 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages Of the 320 rural households, 198 households have family members below 14 years and out of 320 urban households, 189 households have family members between 14 to 18 years of age. Table 6 Number of children between 14 to 18 years Number of household consumers Number of children between 14 to 18 yearsRuralUrbanTotal Less than 255 (10. 94)76 (23. 75)131 (20. 47) 3 559 (18. 44)42 (13. 13)101 (15. 78) 6 88 (2. 5)12 (3. 75)20 (3. 13) More than 90 (0. 31)1 (0. 16) Total122131253 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages Out of the 320 rural households, 122 households have family members between 14 to 18 years of age. Out of the 320 urban hous eholds, 131 households have family members between 14 to 18 years of age. The distinction of the children population into the 2 subsets is to segment the consumption call for and wants (Srivastava KK and Sujata K, 2008) Analysis of the rural and urban respondents with children below 14 years gave F-test value of 0. 884167 and a correlation coefficient of . 970224.These results showed the close relationship between the two samples. Again, rural households and urban households with children between 14 to 18 years gave an F-test output of 0. 888851 and a correlation coefficient of . 886998, showing a positive relationship between the samples. This again shows that there is not much difference between the rural and urban household customers. A significant finding from the two subset tables is that most of the households in both rural and urban areas have the highest frequency in the least number of children in its family members i. . not more than 2 in the household, followed by 3 to 5 children in a household. While most of the households have 3 to 5 adults, most of the households have less than 2 members classified as children. This clearly demonstrated that most of the households are in the family stages known as Full Nest II and III . 2. 2. 5 Income Income is, perhaps the single factor which significantly define the consumer behaviour of households. In fact, much of the other demographic characteristics like education, family size, and culture depend largely on the income of the households.Even the economic environment depends on the households income and as Philip Kotler (2006) stated, In the economic arena, marketers need to focus on income distribution. Income is one of the important determinants which have a strong positive influence on the will power of durables (Bijaya KP and Siba PP, 2008) and even preference pattern of consumable products largely depend upon the income distribution of the households (Prashanta KD and Minaketan S, 2008).Several studies show that income, as a demographic factor, has a significant effect on purchasing styles even on the internet (Marakas GM, Yi MY and Johnson RD, 2002 Ratchford et al, 2001 Wood, 2002). The income range of the household respondents is illustrated in Exhibit 4. Exhibit 4 Income profile of household respondents Table 7 Income range of the rural and urban respondents Number of household customers Income RangeRuralUrban 2000019 (5. 94)87 (27. 19) Total320320 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages Taking the values given in Table 7, F-Test Analysis for the rural and urban households gave an output 0. 5093 while the Correlation Analysis gave a low positive relation degree of 0. 06. This shows that the income range distribution between rural and urban are rather loosely related, compared to other socio-economic factors already studied. In the rural sample, households with monthly income of Rs. 10,001 to 15,000 has the largest percentage, while the urban sample showed that households w ith more than 20,000 has the highest percentage. This may be due to the fact that the main occupation of the urban households is government jobs.Even though the largest percentage of the rural households is government employed, a very significant portion of the rural households are engaging in agriculture (see Table 2). Another factor may be the fact that higher paying government jobs are mostly within the urban areas. According to Lalit Kumar Jha (1997), the overall average household income of Mizoram State is Rs. 10,026 per month. This income range is reflected in the total household samples with 21. 09% as the highest percentage, showing the whole household sample is the sub-set of the State population. 2. 2. 6 Earning MembersThe phenomenon of double income has been identified as a sociologically relevant variable which may affect lifestyles of households (Srivastava KK and Sujata K, 2008). Michman R (1980) identified the multiplicity of income sources of households as an importa nt market sub-segmentation as the purchasing capacity and involvement is much more dynamic. Recently, new segment has been identified and targeted as DINK or Double Income No Kids. An interesting survey by the Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry of India (2008) on Changing Consumption Patterns of Delhi shows that DINKs are high spenders .The survey states that households DINKS spend more of their resources on luxurious lifestyles while their counterparts, double income-with kids households spend most of their incomes on child education, healthcare, insurance and home making, making the study of income source pattern a crucial issue for marketers. The number of earning members per households is presented in Exhibit 5 Exhibit 5 Earning members profile of household respondents Table 8 Number of earning members in rural and urban households Number of household consumers No. of Earning Member(s)RuralUrban 1248 (77. 5)141 (44. 06) 263 (19. 69)137 (42. 81) 39 2. 81)42 (13. 13) Total3 20320 Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages Table 9 depicts a rather unrelated distribution of number of households for rural and urban areas. Even though F-test Analysis gave a rather low homogeneity between rural and urban households with a degree of 0. 33318, Correlation Analysis gave a significant positive relationship of 0. 700723. This shows that even though there is a rather large disparity between the means of rural and urban households, their relationship cannot be ignored. The study shows that most of the rural households have only one earning member in its households, claiming 77. 0% of the whole sample while the urban households have a very prominent proportion of two earning member households claiming 42. 81% of the urban sample, a close second to households with only one earning member. The number of earning members of rural and urban households can be co-related with the income ranges of rural and urban households. Table 7 showed that the average income range of urban households is relatively higher than rural households and Table 8 indicated that households with two earning members are quite higher in urban samples. . 2. 7 Durable products owned ORG-Gfk Year-End Reviews (2004) states that the Indian consumer durable industry is estimated at around Rs. 200 billion and growing. The healthy growth of durables market can be an emergence of various factors like fragmentation of households into double-income nuclear families to the presence of easier finance options expansion of dealer networks and after-sales services (Marketer Whitebook, 2005). In fact, durable products account for 6. 6% of yearly purchases of Indian households (Arvind Singhal, 2001).According to the information given in The Marketer Whitebook (2005) 42% of all households owned radios, 20. 4% owned television, 14. 1% owned visit, 3. 1% owned bicycle, 6. 2% owned motorized 2-wheelers, 3. 4% owned cars and 50. 9% owned unspecified durables in Mizoram. The profile of durable p roducts owned by the households determine various dimensions of consumer behaviour, namely, purchase preference, product penetration, support purchase for already owned durables, marketing opportunities and so on. Exhibit 6 gives an overview to the ownership of durable products by the household respondents.Exhibit 6 Durable products profile of the household respondents Number of households Table 10 Durable products owned by rural and respondents Number of household customers RuralUrban Radio205 (64. 06)182 (56. 87) LPG209 (65. 31)315 (98. 43) Music system107 (33. 43)179 (55. 93) Television218 (68. 13)308 (96. 25) Fridge189 (59. 06)306 (95. 63) Oven15 (4. 68)65 (20. 31) slipstream machine125 (39. 06)210 (65. 62) Telephone135 (42. 18)289 (90. 31) Mobile233 (72. 81)300 (93. 75) Computer48 (15)187 (58. 43) Scooter42 (13. 12)18 (5. 62) Bike31 (9. 68)112 (35) Car19 (5. 93)119 (37. 18)Note Figures in parenthesis are percentages From Table 9, the most owned durables by rural and urban hous ehold respondents can be ranked and represented in Table 10. Table 10 Ranking of most owned durable products Ranks 12345 RuralMobileTelevisionLPGRadioFridge UrbanLPGTelevisionFridgeMobileTelephone OverallLPGMobileTelevisionFridgeTelephone Durable products are independent to factors like access to electricity, approachability of LPG suppliers and petrol pumps. According to the Statistical Handbook (2008), there are 24 LPG authorised dealers, each district having at least one dealer.There are 18 petrol pumps all over the State and every district except Mamit district has at least one recognised petrol pump. As for electrification, 570 villages have already been electrified, accounting for around 70% of the State accessing to electricity, 44. 1% of the rural households and 94. 4% of the urban households reported as electrified. According to the Taxation Department Report, mobile phone came in use only from 2003 that too started only with BSNL giving out 500 subscriptions. Till October 2008, there is a total of 2,85,287 subscribers with BSNL, Airtel, Reliance and Aircel.This information does not take into consideration the entry of Tata-Indicom and Vodaphone service providers. Out of the 320 respondents from rural households, 233 households (i. e. 72. 81%) own mobile phones. Various factors can come into play here, the competitive and aggressive participation of mobile service providers in the rapid and widespread penetration of both rural and urban areas being one of the major factors, competing and overtaking at some places in the once monopoly of the state-owned BSNL. About 29 recognised cable TV operators operating in urban and semi-urban areas gave monthly subscription to consumers since 1991 . apart from these operators, private dish antennas are made available by Zee Group (Dish Tv) at affordable prices below Rs. 2,000 . This may be one of the main reasons that television is very popular in both the rural and urban areas, claiming 68. 13% of rural househol ds and 96. 25% of urban households owned television set. It is interesting to see that even some unelectrified villages have solar powered television with dish antennas besides the thatched huts . LPG is considered household necessity for the urban households with 98. 43% of urban samples having access to LPG.Yet, it came as the third most owned durable product in the rural areas. A prominent factor may be the easy accessibility to the LPG dealers. Aizawl has 11 LPG agents within its district, Lunglei with 4 agencies, Kolasib with 3 agencies, Champhai with 2 agencies and Lawngtlai, Mamit, Serchhip and Saiha with 1 agency each. Other factors may be the price of LPG cylinders and uncertainty of supply even at the agencies. Even though radio continues to be the most extensive network covering the entire State , its popularity is confined mostly to the rural areas, accounting for 64. 06% of rural households and 56. 7% of urban households of the sample. Advance of other electronic media, like cable television network and Doordarshan, maybe one of the main reasons. Fridge ownership accounted for 59. 06% of rural households and 95. 63% of urban households. As large number of rural households are agrarian based, they can be assumed to have easy access to fresh vegetables as compared to the urban households. The main utility of fridge being storing of food, thus is more popular in the urban areas. As for telephone, 90. 31% of the urban households have telephone connection while 42. 18% of rural households accounted for telephone connection.

The Symbolic Use of Nature in the Romantic Period

LITR 211 English Lit geological erature 18th Century to the Present Week 6 January 15, 2012 Essay 1 The symbolic use of nature in the Romantic Period Olejniczak, Brian 4029035 The Romantic period has very little to do with its actual name. Rather, the authors of this period used descriptive imagery and extensively referenced nature because the use of nature is symbolic. There are many authors of the Romantic period that illustrate this point. Instead of include the governmental lifestyle of the period like other era authors did, the Romantics turned to nature for inspiration. Romantics turned to nature for self fulfillment. They were turning away from the values and beliefs of the previous era, embracing new ways of expressing their imagination and feelings. Instead of a concentration on head, the intellectual focus of reason, they preferred to rely on the self, in the radical idea of individual freedom. Instead of striving for perfection, the Romantics preferred the glory of the imperfect. (Lombardi 2012. ) The Romantic authors stressed the importance of the individual and boldness over the ideals of the coming straightlaced ages ideals of loyalty and fraternity.The onset of the Romantic period is said to have begun with the writings of William Wordsworth with such works as Lines written in archaean spring and I wandered lonely as a cloud. In Wordsworths Lines Written In Early Spring he states To her fair works did temper link The human soul that done me ran And much it grieved my heart to think What man has made of man. (Wordsworth Line 5-8. ) Here you can clearly see Wordsworths use of nature and how it affects the human soul.In this poem the speaker is sitting in a very lush meadow that is graphically described with such words like sweet and budding twigs. Wordsworth is very elaborate in his description of the meadow in which he is sitting in. Wordsworth looks at Nature and through his views sad thoughts come to his mind. Here he expresses his c onviction in that knowledge of reality is reached through emotions and intuitions that Nature generates at being observed by man. universe Nature the real representation of reality and godliness as well. Through primrose tufts, in that green bower The periwinkle trailed its wreaths And tis my faith that every peak Enjoys the air it breaths. (Wordsworth Line 9-12) In lines nine through twelve, he observes nature at its peak, in all its splendor and beauty. He tells about its dynamic ontogeny when he describes how the periwinkle trains its branches through the grass. He also displays his implication in this development of natural events expressing his desire for the flowers to rejoice at their existence.Wordsworths poems initiated the Romantic era by emphasizing feeling, instinct, and pleasure above formality and mannerism. Lombardi, Esther (2012). Ask. com Romantic Period Where did it all begin? Retrieved on January 12, 2012 from http//classiclit. about. com/od/britishromantics/a /aa_britromantic. htm Wordsworth, William. Editor Bartleby Bookstore. Lines Written In Early Spring Retrieved on January 13, 2012 from http//www. bartleby. com/145/ww130. html

Romeo and Juliet Fate

Forced married couple Feud (we dont know what the feud is over, its never explained. Its clearly fate because they dont know what theyre arguing about) Meeting at the party (Romeo is drugged) Violence Deaths of Table and Mercuric (influences) when Romeo kills Table everything starts falling apart Forced marriage attitude to women If women were valued, women would not be forced into such as marriage and not treated Just as objects, we may see more discern and less violence.Mercuric says if you fall in love you become less masculine Prologue (Not only will they die, the only delegacy for the feud to end if for them to die.This is the only way out, it is certain) from the outset the viewer knows theyll die, not only for each other but to stop violence and feud because its compose in the stars Loveliness between Montague and Caplet solitary(prenominal) example of love besides Romeo and Juliet, is Romeo and Mercuric but Romeo doesnt love Mercuric back, no one loves anyone, o r doesnt seem too, Lady Caplet doesnt love Juliet Romeo Romeo-reckless young earth (Friar Lawrence tells Romeo to slow down, find quote) Rushes into things, very in-touch with his emotions, lets it get the best of him (top with heart, symbolic) Oh I am fortunes fool is he was passionate young man, he would not have make the decision to kill Table Romeo and Juliet are in no way to blame for their untimely deaths, discuss. Agree Fate has determined that they must die (as is written in the prologue)

The Cons of Mandatory Marital Counseling

Until death do us part does not hold the meaning or weight that it utilize to in umpteen marriages. Divorce rates began to soar in the 1980s and by the early 1990s, the average divorce rate was 50%. That means that some(prenominal) other marriage ended in divorce. One reason numerous believe so m any divorces occur is due to the fact that they are withal easy to obtain.While this may be true, recent movements to require marital direction prior to allowing couples to apply for a divorce have raised many questions as to the effectiveness of mandatory marital counseling. While mandatory marital counseling may seem like a good idea, it is bad for many reasons. Mandating couples to obtain marital counseling prior to a divorce can raise unrealistic outcomes, obstruct schedules that are already constrained, and take away more(prenominal) freedom of the individual.Many states are trying to pass legislation that would require pre marital counseling as well as several years of counselin g before granting a divorce to couples seeking to separate legally. While counseling may help some work out their problems, this can too hotshot to unrealistic expectations. Couples who have been together for several years already know what they can and cannot work out with each other. They may have tried forward counseling and failed at it.Just offering the counseling does not mean that it is going to work. Counseling and working through problems can only work if both parties are open to it and wish for it to work. When one partner is not willing to resolve issues, the other partner may be left with unrealistic expectations that the family relationship can be salvaged, when in fact, the promise of counseling is only delaying the inevitable.Marital counseling takes time. With 2 people on different schedules who may not tied(p) live together, time is constrained enough as it is. Mandating someones time who did not commit a crime is a crime in and of itself. Wanting a divorce is not a crime, and sentencing couples to seek counseling is like treating them like prisoners. If one parent has restricted access to the children, this obligation could also cut into his or her already limited parenting time.Mandating marital counseling is a violation of personal freedoms. It takes away an individuals choice to impart decisions regarding whom to be with. It forces people who do not want to see each other to spend time together talking about their already troubled relationship. This typeface of communication can often lead to more hurt and anger as more secrets are revealed during counseling sessions.Things that were not going to be all overlap to keep the other party from being further hurt or angered often end up being aired. What once could have been an cordial parting gets drawn out. There is no choice but to remain legally married until the sessions are over and the court sees fit to grant a petition for divorce.While counseling can help in some situations, mandating counseling never seems to be a good idea for non criminal activity. When two people decide to end a marriage, they should be allowed to do so without being mandated by the government. Forced counseling can provide unrealistic expectations and make separation all the more painful. Already busy schedules become blocked off with mandatory meeting times with counselors and government has more control over peoples personal freedoms and rights. Even though the divorce rates are high and dont seem to be getting any lower, mandating marital counseling is not the answer.

Ratio: Balance Sheet and Financial Results

UVA-C-2332 Rev. Oct. 17, 2012 RATIOS TELL A STORY2011 Financial leave behinds and conditions vary among companies for a reckon of reasons. One reason for the variation can be traced to the characteristics of the industries in which companies operate. For example, whatever industries require large investments in property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), while others require very little. In some industries, the competitive productpricing structure permits companies to earn significant profits per sales dollar, while in other industries the product-pricing structure imposes a much lower profit margin.In closely low-margin industries, however, companies often experience a relatively high rate of product throughput. A second reason for some of the variation in fiscal results and conditions among companies is the result of management philosophy and policy. Some companies reduce their manufacturing capacity to match more closely their immediate sales prospects, while others carry excess ca pacity to be prepared for future sales growth. Also, some companies finance their assets with borrowed funds, while others avoid that leverage and lead instead to finance their assets with owners equity.And some corporate management teams choose to not pay dividends to their owners, preferring to reinvest those funds in the company. Of course, another reason for some of the variation in reported financial results among companies is the differing competencies of management. Given the equal assiduity characteristics and the same management policies, different companies may report different financial results simply because their managements perform differently. And last, one other reason is that some industries are more vulnerable to macroeconomic conditions than others.This can be true when macroeconomic conditions (e. g. , foreign exchange rates, interest rates, and taxes) are weak and deteriorating as well as when they are intemperate and improving. Or this can also be true whe n such conditions are stable versus volatile. Those differences in industry characteristics, in company policies, in management performance, and in responsiveness to the macroeconomic environment are reflected in the financial statements published by publicly held companies. Furthermore, they can be highlighted through the use of financial ratios.Exhibit 1 presents balance canvasss, in percentage form, and This case was prepared by Professor Mark E. Haskins, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and has benefited from collaborations with various colleagues over the years on earlier versions. It was written as a basis for discussion rather than to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright ? 2012 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved.To order copies, send an e-mail to emailprotected com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the permission of the Darden School Foundation. ? -2- UVA-C-2332 selected financial ratios computed from fiscal year 2011 balance sheets and income statements for 13 companies from the following industries ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? irline railroad pharmaceuticals commercial banking photographic equipment, printing, and sales discount general-merchandise retail electric utility fast-food restaurant chain of mountains wholesale food distribution supermarket (grocery) chain Inter crystalise retailing advertising agency services computer software development Study the balance sheet profiles and the financial ratios listed for each of the 13 companies as presented in Exhibit 1. 1 Your assignment is to use your intuition, common sense, and basic understanding of the unique attributes of each industry listed above to match each column in the exhibit with one of t he industries.Be prepared to give the reasons for your pairings, citing the data that seems to be consistent with the characteristics of the industry you selected. Ours is not a perfect world, however, and for our class discussion, it will be helpful if you will also identify those pieces of data that seem to contradict the pairings you have made. Please note that using the data available here, you will find it difficult to identify those companies whose financial results differ because of management policy and competence.Please note in Exhibit 1 OCI = opposite Comprehensive Income, CFFO = Cash Flow From Operations, ST = Short Term, and LT = Long Term. 1 -3The ratios in Exhibit 1 are based on the following formulas 1. ROS (return on sales) = take in income Net sales Net sales Average extreme assets Net income Average total assets ROS ? Asset turnover Average total assets Average total owners equity Net income Average total owners equity ROA ? Financial leverage Total current ass ets Total current liabilities Cost of goods sold Average culture inventory Average accounts receivable Net sales/365 days UVA-C-2332 . Asset turnover = 3. ROA (return on assets) or = = 4. Financial leverage = 5. ROE (return on equity) or = = 6. Current ratio = 7. Inventory turnover = 8. Receivables collection = 9. Revenue growth = This years net salesLast years net sales Last years net sales Net salesCost of goods sold Net sales Cash dividends Net income research and development expense Net sales 10. Gross margin = 11. Dividend payout 12. R&D ratio = = -4Exhibit 1 RATIOS TE ELL A STORY Y2011 Selected Financ info for 13 C S cial Companies (b balance sheet amou are percentage of total assets) unts UVA-C-2332 V

Guess, Inc.

theorize? , Inc. What started as a sm exclusively family owned jeans boutique has flourished into a globose lifestyle brand. cipher? , Inc. currently designs, markets, distributes, and licenses a leading lifestyle charm of contemporary app arl and accessories for men, women, and children that mirror the American lifestyle, while grasping European dash sensibilities. While the insertion of sham, Inc. s history and enormous success can be attributed to their roots in the sale of jeans, cogitate, Inc. has straight paded globally, granting licenses for the manufacture and distribution of a honest line of product categories. hypothesis, Inc. perates in 87 countries, with the legal age of the stock certificates in the U. S. and Canada. As of 2010, opine has 1292 stores, 504 in North America, 441 in Europe, and 347 in South East Asia (Breif memorial of the Comp both and the Marciano Brothers). The company has discernments with 17 licensees. Throughout the past 30 years, view, Inc. has made every effort to keep buns their status as a global phenomenon. story CEO and moderate, Maurice Marciano, and Co-Chairman,Paul Marciano The epitome of a successful family line of credit, jeopardize, Inc was founded in 1981 by the four Marciano brothers, Georges, Armand, Paul, and Maurice (Guess? Inc. ). They came equipped with experience in the fashion industry, having introductoryly owned and operated a chain of twelve retail stores in France (Guess, Inc. ). The brothers moved to California from Marseilles, France in 1977, where Guess was born, starting as a small jeans company. Georges Marciano was the designer of the jeans, and the brothers gave them the name Guess as they believed that word to be easy to check out due to their limited English (Guess, Inc. ). The companys original jeans were innovative for its time, stone-washed, made to fit tightly, and have zippers at the ankles.They called this the Marilyn Jean (Guess, Inc. ), and the style lived u p to its name, with a sexy, unique style and attitude. They had a softer feel and luminance colors than typical denim jeans. They also featured the classic Guess triangle on the back pocket, which would in short become the distinctive Guess trademark. Believing strongly in his familys jean argument, Georges flew to clean York, and convinced Bloomingdales to display 30 pairs of his European-style jeans on consignment in the Bloomingdales flagship New York store (Guess, Inc. ). Within three hours, Bloomingdales sold out every pair.Demand for the jeans soon skyrocketed, and the brothers would find themselves oerwhelmed. though he possessed no previous ad experience, the brothers appointed Paul Marciano as their advertising director, in hope of expanding their chapiter. This proved to be wildly successful, as Paul would design an ad campaign that would invigorate the way jeans and other clothing were sold. Seeking to take a different direction from the typical studio a go badment design, Paul brought the models and the jeans outdoors, using grainy b lose-and-white photography.He had the models show off the jeans using provocative poses, which would later(prenominal) be described by Forbes Magazine as catering to teenage cravings for sex, power, attention, and self-loveelectric non only with sexuality, but with an implicit brutality and exhibitionism as well. ( animadvert INC (NYSE GES) Balance Sheet). These controversial ads would quickly crap a ho practisehold name for Guess. By the end of 1982, their jeans produced about $12 jillion in r even soue (Guess, Inc. ). Over the beside 15 years, Guess would grow from a company of 30 pairs of jeans, to a globally alter cardinal- sawhorse empire.Legal Battles Overwhelmed by their increasing costs to produce, the Marciano brothers desire a solution to expand their capital and access cheaper foreign labor. In July 1983, they signed an agreement with the Nakash brothers of the company Jordache which would entitle the Nakash brothers to 50% ownership of Guess, Inc. in exchange for $4. 8 one million million, as well as the use of Jordaches Hong Kong manufacturing forms (Guess, Inc. ). This deal also com committaled Jordache to produce a new line of jeans, entitled Gasoline, using parts of Guess designs in a pull down-priced line.However, Guess made a mis let out in putting their trust in the Nakash brothers, and neglecting to offer up written assurances in the agreement to protect each company against creating knock-offs of each others designs. This mistake would soon come back to haunt them, in their biggest legal battle to date. The Marcianos sued the Nakash brothers on charges of unfair competition, accusive them of using their position on the Guess board of directors and their access to Guess designs in the Hong King plant to produce clothing in their Jordache line that were clear knockoffs of Guess designs.In the suit, the Marcianos sought to null the 1983 agreement that had given Nakashes ownership of half of Guess (Guess, Inc. ). This battle would move on for the next five years, eventually stopping point with the two sets of brothers settling out of court, and the Marcianos regaining full control of the business. Estimated attorney fees were as high as $10 million per year for each side (Guess, Inc. ). This was an ugly legal battle that cost Guess Inc. an unnecessary amount of funds. 1982 also bought a smaller legal battle with Jeff Hamilton, Inc.Guess sought to cypher the mens wear out market by obtaining a licensing agreement with this company. Under this agreement, Jeff Hamilton, Inc would market a line of clothing below the Guess name in exchange for a 7% royalty fee (Guess, Inc. ). However, Guess soon decided that Hamilton was targeting the young mens market too strongly, and did not approve of Hamiltons fling of Guess merchandise in large discount stores, which was hurting the labels high-end image. Guess sought to terminate the licens e agreement, which they eventually succeeded in doing in 1986.This extensive legal battle resulted in a slow offset for Guess menswear. Marketing & Promotional Strategies Guess is backed by their corporate mission teaching At Guess, we ar perpetrate to being a worldwide leader in the fashion industry. We will deliver products and services of uncompromising quality and integrity consistent with our brand and our image. We are committed to listening and responding to the of necessity of our customers, associates and business partners, and honor their individual value.We are dedicated to personal and master key enrichment with an environment of open communication, creativity, teamwork, trust, and respect. We stay fresh to give back to the community, support humanity, and protect the environment as part of our responsibility. We remain committed to an entrepreneurial spirit that fuels the growth of our Company and annexd shareholder value. Through high-principled leadership w e will embrace diversity, cultivate strength, pride and passion to align our personal life and our passkey life. (The Guess Mission Statement). The target customer for Guess is a young, affluent adult, between the ages of 18 and 32. Guess makes every effort to live by this mission statement every day, and uses a variety of inventive marketing and promotional strategies to further entice the target customer to purchase Guess products. The mission statement is executed everyday in Guess, Incs corporate system, which cogitatees on the long term. Guess is a global company k this instantn for their quality, trend-setting styles, and marketing creativity.In realizing the importance of diversity, and consumers needs to constantly have something new, Guess never fails to bring forward new products and images to keep their name alive. While originally gaining momentum with their jeans, Guess now manufacturers and distributes a wide range of product lines. Once realizing their success, in the 80s, the Marciano brothers decided to addition their dominance, and expand beyond mens and womens jeans. Baby compute? , ideate? watches, GUESS? footwear, GUESS? eyewear, and GUESS? fragrances were introduced.Wishing to continue their expansion, Guess introduced even much products in the late 90s, including an entire army of GUESS handbags, active wear, jewelry, swimwear, innerwear, leather, belts, neckwear, and mens classics (CITE- annual report). Around the millennium, Guess introduced their website, opening the company to a whole other world of authorization. Guess operates in 6 different store concepts in an exploit to appeal to a variety of different markets. The original GUESS? retail stores carry a full assortment of full-priced Guess products, including mens and womens merchandise, and licensed products.GUESS? factory outlet stores are in the main located in outlet malls, and dish out a select assortment of mens and womens cloak and licensed products at demo ralize price points. GUESS by MARCIANO stores were introduced in the spend of cc4 (GUESS INC (NYSE GES) Balance Sheet), in an attempt to recapture the companys glamorous image. The Marciano chain offers apparel and accessories that are sexy, yet sophisticated. The target market for these stores is slightly older customers interested in higher-end clothing and accessories much(prenominal) as ritzy evening dresses and fancy jeans.G by GUESS stores offers Guess products at a lower price point than Guess retail stores, in order to target a wider demographic. These stores carry apparel for men and women, as well as a full line of accessories and footwear. Products in this line provide a more fun, youthful image fashion-forward, yet not cutting edge fashion. GUESS? accessories stores sell GUESS? and GUESS by Marciano labeled accessory products. Finally, GUESS also operates in an e-commerce segment, with websites in 6 different languages (Maurice Marciano and Marciano).Guess is known fo r their iconic black-and-white print advertisements and logos that have remarked a level of consistency throughout the companys history. The aim of Guess advertisements is to place more of an speech pattern on the brand image than on the actual products (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). All Guess advertisements use similar themes and images, primarily using outdoor images. Guess images have been showcased in international print campaigns in virtually all major magazines, on television, billboards, bus shelters, and advertisements throughout the world.The image of the Guess model has become a bulge out culture icon in the history of fashion advertising. Guess model, Anna Nicole Smith, in the ahead of time 1990s pull Barrymore Adriana Lima Paris HIlton Guess brought forth the faces of many forthcoming supermodels in their sexy promotional campaigns, including name calling such as Anna Nicole Smith, Claudia, Schiffer, , Drew Barrymore, Jessica Miller, Cindy Taylor, Minki Van Der We sthuizen, and Shana Zadrick (Guess? Inc. News- Company Information). Iconic models, actresses and all-round sex-bombs have all pouted and represent for these successful Guess ad campaigns.It goes without saying that Guess has been such an influential brand in the fashion world. Sales Trends & Financial Data For the first quarter of 2012, Guess, Inc reported dough meshing of $42. 7 million. This was a 15. 2% decrease from the first quarter of the fiscal year 2011, in which Guess, Inc. reported net earnings of $50. 3 million (Guess? , Inc. Reports root Quarter Results). Balance Sheet from www. FORBES. com For the entire year, ending January 29 ,2011, net earnings for Guess, Inc were reported at $289. 5 million, an increase of 19. %, with raw profit increasing to $1090. 2 million, an increase of 15. 8%. Total net revenue increased to $2,487. 3 million, and gross margin decreased from the previous year to 43. 8% of total revenues (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). The decrease in gro ss margin was attributed to the negative impact of the stronger U. S. dollar on product purchases, increased occupancy costs due to retail expansion in Europe, lower initial mark-ups in Europe, and higher markdowns in the North American retail segment (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). Earnings from trading operations were reported at $404. million, a 12. 8% increase from the prior year, and other income, including interest income and expense, totaled $16. 7 million (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). As of January 29, 2011, Guess, Inc. had $442. 1 million in cash and cash equivalents, down $60. 0 million from 2010. In breaking down all of their marketing segments, Guess, Inc found that once again, the largest increase in gross profit came from their European segment. In Europe, revenues increased 23. 2% to $920. 3 million. Revenues produced by other segments were reported as follows North American Retail- Net Revenue $1069. 9 million * Earnings from trading operations $122. 6 million * Operation Margin 11. 5% Asia- * Net Revenue $53. 6 million * Earnings from Operation $28. 6million * operational Margin 14. 3% North American Wholesale- * Net Revenue $181. 0 million * Earnings from Operations $46. 2 million * Operating Margin 25. 5% (Maurice Marciano and Marciano) Despite setbacks from their legal battles (The Marciano brothers believed they would have exceeded $1 cardinal in gross revenue by their 10th anniversary, had it not been for the court cases) (Guess? Inc. ), Guess gross revenue flourished from the very beginning. 1984 brought sales of $150 million, and in 1987, the company reached profits of $100 million, with sales reaching $350 million (Guess, Inc. ). At that time, Guess retail stores grew to 19 locations, and sales reached $575 million in 1990 (Guess, Inc. ). In 1991, Guess strategically increased their advertising budget to $22 million. This worked in their favor, as the company earned enough profits to add 33 more stores by the end of the year, including the European flagship store in Florence, Italy.Sales slowed during the recession in the early 1990s (Guess, Inc. ). However, the mens collection took an opposite approach shot, and sales skyrocketed, with a 41% sales growth in 1991 alone (Guess, Inc. ). By the end of the year, menswear sales would account for 40 of total company sales. During this time, Guess also began to see the extensive opportunities available with international sales, as licensing arrangements introduced Guess to over a 12 countries, causing a significant increase in revenues. By 1993, Guess had reached an estimated $700 million in sales (Guess, Inc. . During this time, Georges Marciano decided to step down from his position as CEO, and sell his 40% of the company to his brothers for around $200 million. Maurice was then named CEO, and took over direction of design. Guess then stepped up their promotional campaign, looking to fuel its future growth. Licensing became a vital part of total revenues, w ith products now including home furnishings, infant wear, and junior knit wear (Guess, Inc. ). Meanwhile, sales continued to grow, now focusing on more accessories as well.In 1994, sales of Guess watches exceeded $100 million and footwear more than $60 million. Guess became a publicly traded company in 1996 (Guess, Inc. ). Hoping to continue their uninterrupted success, Guess was disappointed when 1997 sales began to drop. To compensate, Guess created a new line of high-end jeans called subsidy Denim for men and women. However, this proved to be another disappointment, and the market share was lost due to warring pressures and a terrible retail environment. In 1999, Guess decided to start their first e-commerce store (www. guess. om), which gave their sales a much-needed boost. Even in critical times, Guess was able to open 56 new stores in 2000. Annual sales would increase by 32% with the introduction of G Brand, a new tell apart line of high quality unisexual jeans wear that us ed Italian denim and European designs. At the end of 2000, Guess had 212 stores in the U. S. and Canada. In 2001, Guess utilizeed a new marketing strategy in order to keep their profits rising. With these new strong marketing methods, Guess was able to increase their sales, and open 24 new stores in the U. S. and Canada, a total of 249 stores.Guess continues their success over the next several years. As of 2010, Guess has 1292 stores, 504 in North America, 441 in Europe, and 347 in South East Asia (Breif History of the Company and the Marciano Brothers). Looking towards the year ending January 28, 2012, Guess, Inc. expects new revenues to range from $2. 74 billion to $2. 80 billion (Guess? , Inc. Reports startle Quarter Results). Operating margins are expected to be between $16. 5%, while thin out earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $3. 30 to $3. 50 (Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results). SWOT AnalysisLike any business, Guess must analyze each of their st rengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and implement a strategy of using each of these aspects to their returns. Strengths A quick overview of the strengths of Guess, Inc. include maintaining a strong and diversified brand portfolio, a global full lifestyle brand, an effective management team, and solid capital structure. Guess produces a brand that portrays a fun, fashionable, and sexy image, which is developed and maintained worldwide. Guess maintain a massive level of global success, with stores in 85 countries besides the U.S. and Canada. Because of this global diversification, the company is still able to grow, even in tough economic times. International growth remains one of Guess, Incs top strengths. other major advantage Guess has is their use of multiple distribution channels. Not a company to focus solely on one channel, Guess Inc uses retail, wholesale, e-commerce, as well as licensing distribution to sell their products. This proves as a preventative benefit, as their operating results are not relying solely on the performance on one single channel.This also allows Guess, Inc to quickly adapt to ay changes in the distribution or retail environment of any one particular region. Adding to their diversity, Guess also relies on multiple store concepts, including flagship GUESS? full-priced retail stores, GUESS? factory outlet stores, GUESS by MARCIANO stores, G by GUESS stores, GUESS? Accessories stores, and GUESS? kids stores (Maurice Marciano and Marciano). This allows Guess to target multiple demographics in different regions. Weaknesses Like any company, Guess, Inc must also identify their weaknesses.A quick overview of the weaknesses of Guess, Inc. include maintaining a business in a exceedingly promotional environment, the highly competitive nature of the apparel industry, discretionary expending being dictated by the situation in the global economy, and the narrow focus on womens apparel. While Guess has very diversified products, and targets women, men, as well as children, their heavy focus on womens apparel could be seen as a big weakness. Only 10% of Guess consumers are men, boys, or babies (Maurice Marciano and Marciano), which may indicate a lack of balance of promotional activities.Guess should assign more of their promotional budget to focusing on these areas, sort of than attempting to portray an image of solely a womens retailer. This also creates an opportunity for competitors to gain control over these sectors. While Guess stores may be growing rapidly in other countries, they must continue to be careful not to saturate the market. Opportunities A quick overview of the opportunities for Guess, Inc. include growing demand in foreign countries, such as China, under-penetrated markets in Europe, growth in the U. S. , and alliances by leasing.The Guess e-commerce environment improves customer relations, and creates an alternative shopping environment. In realizing this, Guess has the opportunity to i ncrease their profits significantly by keep to offer a wide range of products and keep up with an ever-changing economy. Technology proves to be a long opportunity for Guess, as they can benefit from consumers need for convenience. Guess mens clothing category also has the biggest potential and room for growth. If Guess takes advantage of that, they will allow themselves the potential for a tremendous increase in profits.Guess should also take advantage of the new business casual trend, whereas smart casual clothing is becoming more and more acceptable in professional offices, and more people are looking for an acceptable replacement for their suits, ties, and other formal business attire. Threats A quick overview of the threats against Guess, Inc. include continued weakness in global consumer spending, low entry cost for competitors in the apparel market, changes to import tariffs, quotas, and taxes, and increases in energy and raw materials prices.Competitors are always consider ed one of a businesss greatest threats. The apparel industry is highly competitive, which may cause difficulties for Guess in the future. During a recession or uncertain economic conditions, consumers may be faced with reduced confidence and spending habits, resulting in a slow-down in sales and profits. While relationships with international markets and suppliers prove to be a cool it strength for Guess, there are also threats involved.Since Guess does not own or operate any production facilities of their own (CITE- annual report), they depend heavily on foreign suppliers and manufacturers to produce products of top quality, and on the dot to their specifications. Since Guess is a global business, there revenues could inadvertently be affected by factors beyond their control, such as recessions in foreign countries, political instability which may interrupt trade with foreign vendors, reduced global demand, significant fluxations in the value of the dollar against foreign currenc ies, or local business practices that do not conform to legal or ethical guidelines.Furthermore, Maurice and Paul Marciano currently hold 33% ownership of Guess shares, which is a very significant percentage. Their interests may differ from those of other stockholders, which could present a potential threat to the nature of the business. Competition One of Guess, Incs top competitors is Abercrombie and Fitch. Similar to Guess, Abercrombies positioning strategy involves the use of sexually overt advertising positioned to appeal to young adult markets.Unlike Guess, Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements often visualize nudity, alcohol consumption and assorted sexual behaviors. Guess chooses to take a less scandalous approach, and maintain a softer, more classical image. Abercrombie Fitch does not have a mass market approach to its advertising. It places print ads in 4 magazines Vanity Fair, Interview, Out, and Rolling Stone. Abercrombie Fitch is well positioned for the future, howeve r it is necessary for them to continue to move forward in their efforts to maintain a new, trendy image.In the face of a fall economy, Abercrombies advertising stands out to an audience that has been exposed to a lot of noisy ads. In comparison to Guess, Abercrombie has the advantage of selling products under four different concepts, Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie, Hollister, and RUEHL. This provides the added benefit of appealing to different markets and demographics under completely different names, whereas Guess will only sell products with the Guess name , allowing Guess limited access to the market. GUESS? In the FutureImmediate strategies to make Guess bigger and better would be to focus more of their advertising and promotional capabilities to their menswear collection. In the near future, I would recommend opening individual Guess for hands stores, which would open the door to an entire new demographic, increasing the potential for an immeasurable amount of profits. Focu sing on new markets in Europe should also prove to be beneficial for the company. Currently, this market is under-penetrated, but has great potential for expansion in the future.As for a long term growth strategy, Guess needs to continue increasing their retail presence and expanding internationally. Guess has an excellent retail strategy which needs to be executed in each region of the world. Looking towards the long term, Guess should consider forming an alliance with a major competitor in the market, such as BEBE or Levis. Both of these companies have showed evidence of essay to come up with new styles in an attempt to keep up with Guess (Guess? , Inc. ), and are evenly dominating the market for jeans and/or casual wear.Merging with either of these companies would prove to be tremendously remunerative for Guess, as it would eliminate much of the competition, as well as allow them to dominate more of the market. Celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year, Guess, Inc. is now bigger and better than ever, and growth shows no signs of slowing down. As long as they continue to leverage their presence globally and execute their mission statement and creative promotional strategies, Guess will continue to stay on top of the fashion world. Works Cited Breif History of the Company and the Marciano Brothers. 25 June 2009. Guess, Inc. 1 May 2011 . Guess, Inc. Funding Universe. 27 May 2011 . Guess? Inc. News- Company Information. New York clocks 2011. Guess? , Inc. 2011. Hoovers Company Information. May 2011 http//proquest. umi. com. ezproxy. library. berkeley. org/pqdweb? index=4did=168188551SrchMode=1sid=1Fmt=3VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1307571605clientId=11195.Guess? , Inc. Reports First Quarter Results. Fiscal Results for the First Quarter Ended April 30, 2011. Los Angeles, CA PR Newswire, 2011. Marcianos Go Full Time Now at Guess. Womens Wear Daily 16 6 1990 1. Maurice Marciano, Chairman of the Board, Guess, Inc. and Paul, CEO & Vice Chair man of the Board, Guess, Inc Marciano. Guess? , Inc Annual Report 2010. Annual Report. 2010. The Guess Mission Statement. Guess, Inc. 2011 .

Presenting the Budget Essay

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARYV.C. & Associates along with New York City propose to offer a occupation addressing design housed within the NYC surgical incision of Social Services beginning July 1, 2013 the beginning of the fiscal period 2013. STATEMENT OF NEED Since Super coerce Sandy in 2012, years of collaboration within the Mayors office to crackdown on slumlords, the feed grocery store crash of 2008 and the continuing efforts to keep New Yorkers safe since 2001, an influx of jobs have been created through off New York. Since 2007, City-certified minority and Women-Owned Business openings have been awarded over 26,000 City prime contracts and subcontracts worth more than $1.9 billion. (nyc.gov 2014) An evaluation of spicy branch and rapid demand in office administration, security, construction and flat maintenance poises a need for employable man-to-mans to enter the market place. The Department of Social Services has administrative responsibilities for families not only in cri sis plainly those seeking to enrich their lives through culture to better prep ar them for the custody. Presenting the Budget2 Once individuals are provided hands-on job training workshops they will be able to go out and seek employment. platform DESCRIPTIONThe Human Resources Administration, Department of Social Services (DSS) provides services and temporary assistance that help families and individuals with scotch and social service inescapably to achieve their highest level of self-sufficiency and that help other families and individuals die hard self-sufficient. (nyc.gov 2014) fifteen percent of U.S. adults lack a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential, and other 30 percent have a high school diploma with no postsecondary education. Collectively, these individuals fix up over half of todays unemployed adults. Adults without a high school diploma are more likely to be in need of temporary cash assistance and in-kind benefits such as Medicaid, food sta mps, and housing subsidies.BENEFITSThe primary benefit from this project would be to strengthen the link between employers urgent needs and individuals who are job ready because of hands-on job training workshops. Having a few companies induct to expressing their needs would allow DSS to deploy skilled individuals in the workforce instead of a company having to train them. For example, within the office administration training, hands on training would consist of building confidence in Microsoft Word and Excel because these twain are the basics for administration assistance.Presenting the Budget 3PERFORMANCE measuring rodMeasurements MeasureTargetInputCost to provide hands-on job training workshops in office administration, security, construction and apartment maintenanceAs budgeted for $500,000 over 3 years beginningOutcomeOver 85% of trained individuals placed in the workforce. Sustain initial 85% placement rate for years two and three. EfficiencyCost per individual trainedAppr oximately $625 to train from each one individual to receive employment and become self-sufficient. EffectivenessPercent of individualsplaced Provide repeat workshop for 20% of commonwealth if requested later on placed and not successful Quality or ProcessPercent of employers satisfied with placed individuals at the end of six monthsOn a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very satisfied and 1 being dissatisfied, projected target will be between seven and ten. Equity Percent of individuals who remain in the workforce one year after placement.70 percent of individuals still with initial placement after one year.COSTSThe program costs are mostly allocated to personnel and contractual services because of the personality of the program. The Social Services Department would have one full- snip equivalent employee charged 35% of the time to the program to oversee the operations for the next three years. In addition to the full-time staff member, a part-time staff member will be hired to perform all functions related to carrying out day to day duties related to but not limited to contract personnel scheduling for training sessions, classroom and equipment set-up, ordering supplies, recordkeeping of stipends associated with travel for offsite visits.Presenting the Budget 4Other costs associated with the program are reckoner and software purchases in year one, which the computer costs are lower in years two and three because only software licenses should be updated or additional software purchases required but computers purchased in year one should have a useful life of five years which will pass the program by two years. STAFFING IMPACT One part-time employee will begin working in FY2013. For fiscal years 2014 and 2015 an additional part-time employee will be employed to assist because of judge numbers of individuals will increase in years two and three. Within the small note sector contracted instructors/trainers from each of the four sectors will provide employment a nd training services for low-skilled, unemployed adults, including veterans for the workforce. These instructors will be vetted from NYCs Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program, the Emerging Business Enterprise (EBE) Program and the Locally-based Business Enterprise (LBE) Program.Breakdown of Expected Individuals Per Sector32040%Office Administration28035%Security8010%Apartment maintenance12015%Construction800100%OPTIONSA cost of $625 per individual for training is pennies compared to what the state and federal assistance cost would be for each of the anticipated 800 participants in one year. For example, in New York State an individual could receive $600 monthly for housing and food assistance. The cost of three years of training 800 individuals would be equal to that of the state paying 800 welfare recipients in one month. Presenting the Budget 5 To ensure that our nation rises to the task of developing a skilled workforce that meets the demands of employers, policymakers need to widen their focus to expanding education and training to lower-skilled adults and youth, including high school dropouts, adults who have a high school diploma or GED but are not college ready, and adults with low English proficiency.Without a targeted strategy to educate more low-skilled Ameri throw outs, the U.S. will continue to lag behind in measures of educational attainment and thus in stinting competitiveness. (Foster, Strawn, Duke 2011) After evaluating years one and two the Department should determine whether additional support should be requested for additional years. The economy will continue to grow and no deserving individual should be left behind because of lack of skills.Budget allocation Object codes201320142015Personnel services (PS), addFull-time, permanent=FTE ($125,000*.35) 43,750 46,000 48,000 Part-time (1 employee yr 1 yrs 2 & 3 = 1.5 employees) 30,000 40,000 40,000 Contractual (Professional trainers from various industries) 20,000 55,0 00 28,000Nonpersonnel services (OTPS), radicalSupplies 20,000 30,000 25,000 Computers & Computer Software 25,000 10,000 8,500 Rental Equipment 5,000 7,000 6,500 Travel Benefits 2,750 5,000 4,500 Social ServicesContractual servicesCharges, awards, grants and subsidiesBonds and otherFund, unionGeneral fundsFederal fundsState funds146,500193,000160,5000Other fundsEmployees, TotalACCOMPANYING ordinanceNo legislation is required to implement this program. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult canon program provides employment and training services for disadvantaged, low-skilled, unemployed, and underemployed adults, including veterans, within the public workforce system. The program is well-positioned to meet the needs of adult job seekers and support the economic recovery by helping adult customers understand their skills in the context of the current labor market and improve those skills to find better jobs with career pathways. Specifically, the WIA Adult formula program Suppo rts an economy that is built to last by aligning the skills of American workers with needs of businesses so they can compete in the rapidly evolving job market of the 21st century Transforms the unemployment system into a reemployment system by providing adult job seekers with job placement, career counseling, skills-training, credential attainment, and labor exchange services that make it possible for disadvantaged, low-skilled, and underemployed adult workers to get back to work quickly Puts veterans back to work by providing priority of service to veterans and eligible spouses and Offers seamless service deliverywith multiple workforce-related programs housed in American duty Centers. A consolidated entry point provides the best value in terms of positive outcomes for job seekers and business customers by capitalizing on the administrative efficiencies and shared resources. (nyc.gov 2014)The Department will award 4 5 competitive grants ranging in size from $2 3 million to re gions to implement sector-based strategies to meet the dual goals of providing customized solutions for business while providing training and career advancement opportunities for targeted populations. These grants would support the development of partnerships between the workforce system, business, community colleges, economic development, and others such as organized labor, the adult basic education system, and supportive service providers modify brisk training based on business demand and train and provide career advancement opportunities for targeted populations such as acutely or chronically long term unemployed low-wage workers, new labor market entrants, and veterans. (dol.gov 2014) Presenting the Budget 7 Keeping in tandem with other major cities it would be to New Yorks advantage to pursue this program.Referencehttp//www.nyc.gov/hypertext markup language/sbs/html/about/about.shtmlFoster, Strawn, J., Duke-Banfield, 2011, Beyond Basic Skills http//files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/E D538035.pdf http//www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/procurement/mwbe.shtmlhttp//www.dol.gov/dol/budget/2015/PDF/CBJ-2015-V1-04.pdf