Clara Hale Essays - Clara Hale, Hale, , Term Papers

Clara Hale Black History Month is a great time to celebrate out history, achievements, and accomplishments. February should not be the only time but it is certainly a good time to start. Many blacks have done extraordinary things. I admired Clara McBride Hale. She works with crack-addicted and HIV-positive babies. Clara McBride Hale was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. She has suffered lots in her lifetime. She became an orphan at 16, and a widow at the age of 27. She only had her children, and she kept them close. She ?adopted? a third child, and raised him as her own. She became affectionately known as Mother Hale to all in the neighborhood. She began staying at home and caring for the neighborhood kids charging only $2 per week. She later became a licensed foster parent. Hale House was started when Clara's daughter, Lorraine noticed a crack-addict mother with a newborn. She directed her to her mother's house, and this baby was the first of thousands of children to reap the love, support, devotion, and care from the arms of Mother Hale. Hale House is America's first and best known child care agency to gain worldwide recognition when Ronald Reagan introduced Mother Hale as he gave his 1986 State of Union Address. She was called an American hero, and was appointed to the National Drug-Free America Task Force. Many of the children come to Hale House from prisons, police stations and hospitals. They get their funding mostly from private donations and times do get very rough. Hale House is still in operation today. It has become a national role model for children without families. It is a great place to keep these children to keep them out of alleys, garbage cans, and many places where mothers abandon their newborn children. Sadly, Mother Hale passed away in 1993. In her honor, a life-sized statue was built for her in Harlem. Her dream and devotion lives on in the lives of the children she has helped raise and the many that will continue to benefit from Hale House.

Facts and Figures About Sivapithecus, the Primate Also Known as Ramapithecus

Facts and Figures About Sivapithecus, the Primate Also Known as Ramapithecus Sivapithecus occupies an important place on the prehistoric primate evolutionary flow chart: This slender, five-foot-long ape marked the time when early primates descended from the comforting shelter of trees and started to explore the wide-open grasslands. The late Miocene Sivapithecus possessed chimpanzee-like feet with flexible ankles, but otherwise it resembled an orangutan, to which it may have been directly ancestral. (Its also possible that the orangutan-like features of Sivapithecus arose via the process of convergent evolution, the tendency of animals in similar ecosystems to evolve similar features). Most important, from the perspective of paleontologists, were the shape of Sivapithecus teeth. This primates large canines and heavily enameled molars point to a diet of tough tubers and stems (such as would be found on the open plains) rather than tender fruits (such as would be found in trees). Sivapithecus is intimately associated with Ramapithecus, a now-downgraded genus of central Asian primate, discovered in the country of Nepal, that was once considered to be directly ancestral to modern humans. It turns out that the analysis of the original Ramapithecus fossils was flawed and that this primate was less human-like, and more orangutan-like, than had initially been thought, not to mention disturbingly similar to the earlier-named Sivapithecus. Today, most paleontologists believe that the fossils attributed to Ramapithecus actually represent the slightly smaller females of genus Sivapithecus (sexual differentiation not being an uncommon feature of ancestral apes and hominids), and that neither genus was a direct Homo sapiens ancestor. Species of Sivapithecus/Ramapithecus There are three named species of Sivapithecus, each dating to slightly different time frames. The type species, S. indicus, discovered in India in the late 19th century, lived from about 12 million to 10 million years ago; a second species. S. sivalensis, discovered in northern India and Pakistan in the early 1930s, lived from about nine to eight million years ago; and a third species, S. parvada, discovered on the Indian subcontinent in the 1970s, was significantly bigger than the other two and helped drive home the affinities of Sivapithecus with modern orangutans. You might be wondering, how did a hominid like Sivapithecus (or Ramapithecus) wind up in Asia, of all places, given that the human branch of the mammalian evolutionary tree originated in Africa? Well, these two facts are not inconsistent: it could be that the last common ancestor of Sivapithecus and Homo sapiens did in fact live in Africa, and its descendants migrated out of the continent during the middle Cenozoic Era. This has very little bearing on a lively debate now going on about whether hominids did, indeed, arise in Africa; unfortunately, this scientific dispute has been tainted by some well-founded accusations of racism (of course we didnt come from Africa, say some experts, since Africa is such a backward continent). Name: Sivapithecus (Greek for Siva ape); pronounced SEE-vah-pith-ECK-us Habitat: Woodlands of central Asia Historical Epoch: Middle-Late Miocene (12-7 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 50-75 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Chimpanzee-like feet; flexible wrists; large canines

Economic Value Added (EVA) Statement Research Paper

Economic Value Added (EVA) Statement - Research Paper Example EVA is one such performance measurement tool that captures the financial profit and shareholders wealth. â€Å"EVA subtracts the cost of capital from the net operating profits after tax (NOPAT) generated in the business. It is a measure of the residual income from the income statement after accounting for the cost of the balance sheet† (Economic Value Added, 2007). How can Economic Value Added (EVA) Statements be used to improve financial statement reporting, results, and success? EVA statements are formed on the basis of two financial statements-the balance sheet and the income statement. EVA Statements can be Used as a Valuable Tool to Improve the Financial Statements: With the correct prediction of economic profits every financial year, EVA statement shows how much value is additional to the capital. It helps to set the goals of business, incentives of management, and pay bonuses for better performances which cannot be obtained from the cash flows of financial statement. .. . It helps to analyze the capital budgeting and long term investment decisions of the firm. Since it helps in calculating the financial profits, it can be a very useful performance measure which supports the financial statement of the business. It increases the average rate the of returns of shareholders. This helps to increase the rate of capital. EVA statement clearly specifies how much amount is given as tax, and therefore helps correct estimation of expenses in the financial statement. It also shows the economic value generated and distributed in the business. EVA can raise the firm’s investment, which is presently very low. The managers are thus paying attention on increasing earnings that they acquire on projects, for which the earnings do not validate the capital investments. EVA statements are based on financial statements; it is helpful to find out any faults and make adjustments in the accounting principles that can improve the capital and operating profits. As financi al statements are based on the generally accepted accounting principles, there will be mistakes, and therefore correct adjustments one needed, which can be possible through the EVA. EVA statements help in calculating the weighted average cost of capital; it is useful to estimate the risk and returns involved in the project of the business. What are some of the problems found with EVA? Though EVA is a useful method to evaluate the performance of business; it has some limitations which are as follows: EVA is considered as a short term performance measurement tool. Companies focusing on long term investment decisions cannot use EVA as a performance measurement. The EVA for future investments can not be calculated independently with every performance calculation, as

The history of coal in the 19th century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The history of coal in the 19th century - Essay Example The demand of coal was highly increased. It was admitted that in 1700 year coal production stand for the â€Å"2.7 million tonnes† while in 1800 year that number corresponded to the â€Å"10 million tonnes† (HistoryLearningSite, 2014). Moreover, till the end of nineteenths century of coal mining increased extremely high. The statistic data showed that in 1900 year coal production enlarged toâ€Å"250 million tonnes† (HistoryLearningSite, 2014). Such increase of coal production happened due to the number of different reasons that are highly essential. First and foremost, it could be mentioned that the industrial revolution led to the urbanization and increasing of population. It was more comfortable to use coal as a fuel than to use wood or charcoal, as the city dwellers have no opportunity to live near the forest and provide wood as a fuel (Wilde, 2015). Moreover, it was a few times cheaper; therefore, it was popular among the city dwellers. Coal industry played a significant role in the production of other things and issues in that period. For example, it was admitted that â€Å"after 1800 towns began to be lit by coal powered gas lamps† (Wilde, 2015). It was relevant to admit that people used coal for the lightening their houses and flats. Moreover, this material provided a helping hand in the development of small and huge industries in Europe (Wilde, 2015). Each factory had used coal as a fuel because of its practice and price. As it was admitted coal was used as a fuel â€Å"from iron production to simply bakeries† (Wilde, 2015). In addition, nineteenth century was marked by the expansion of borders between countries. People constructed channels that made the market of coal production wider (Wilde, 2015). That functioned through the trains and railways. It was worse to admit that they also were in need for coal as a fuel (Wilde, 2015). It was relevant

Christian Stewardship and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Christian Stewardship and Sustainability - Essay Example When God created man in the Garden of Eden, He gave him authority over all the earth. This authority involves taking care of the environment, and all its constituents. Consequently, Christian stewardship refers to a moral obligation conferred on human beings by God over the natural resources. It includes using the natural resources in ways that benefit humanity, and the perpetuation of such resources. Promoting the continuity of the resources maintains order in the universe as the resources allow man to meet his various needs and aspirations successfully. In addition, future generations get to enjoy quality resources in abundance, thus boosting their earthly experiences. God holds Christians accountable for their actions on earth. The accountability falls in many categories, including the environment. God ordained man to take care of the earth, and the responsibility goes with accountability. Consequently, Christians endeavor to safeguard the biodiversity in a compassionate and respectful manner. These attitudes also characterize the concept of sustainability as it bears the future generations in mind. More to this, sustainability aims at countering the environmental crisis, and ensuring that humanity enjoys the goodness of nature in future. Christian stewardship recognizes that natural resources serve as resources (Robinson, 20). Resources help in fulfilling the daily needs of humanity, hence the need for their conservation. Absence of such resources would lead to inadequate provision of the required needs, which would contravene God’s will for our lives. Likewise, sustainability realizes the need for resource protection. It encourages the proper utilization of such resources with an intention of providing the current and future society with a good life. More to this, Robinson (21) asserts that â€Å"stewardship is a value to be passed from generation to generation†. This means that Christian stewardship, just like

Competitive Advantage And Corporate Social Responsibility Management Essay

Competitive Advantage And Corporate Social Responsibility Management Essay The idea of stakeholder approach to strategic management suggests that managers must formulate and implement processes which satisfy all and only those groups who have a stake in the business. The main task in the process is to manage and integrate the relationships and interests of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, communities and other groups in a way that ensures the long-term success of the firm. Stakeholder approach suggests that we repaint our picture of the firm. For good or ill, there are myriad groups who have a stake in the success of the firm. Many traditional views of strategy have ignored some stakeholders, marginalized others and consistently traded-off the interests of others against favoured stakeholder groups. Such an approach may well be appropriate in relatively stable environments. However, changing world the limitations of traditional approaches to strategic management become increasingly apparent. The interests of key stakeholders must be integrated into the very purpose of the firm, and stakeholder relationships must be managed in a coherent and strategic fashion  [1]  . 2. Porter, M. E., Kramer, M. R., (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. (2006, December) (Harvard Business Review), 84(12), p. 76-92. Although businesses have become increasingly aware of stakeholder pressure to demonstrate a commitment to their corporate social responsibilities (CSR), this does not necessarily mean the adoption of an integrated and strategic approach to CSR. Rather, as Michael Porter (Harvard Business School, Boston) and Mark Kramer (John F Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts) have recently argued in the Harvard Business Review (December 2006), current approaches to CSR are fragmented and disconnected from business goals. This has resulted in disparate and reactive initiatives designed to mollify vocal stakeholders or deflect attention from questionable business practices, and these have justifiably been criticised as feel good marketing campaigns which have failed to generate bottom line benefits. Porter and Kramer suggest a new approach to CSR which both (i) acknowledges the interdependence of companies and the broader community, and (ii) enables companies to develop a tailored, rather than generic, CSR strategy. In this way, companies will make the most significant social impact and reap the greatest business benefits. This note provides a summary of Porter and Kramers article, giving particular attention to the practical issues of creating a tailored corporate social agenda. 2.1 Background Companies which have responded to their CSR have usually done so for one, or a combination, of the following four reasons/principles moral obligation, sustainability, compliance or reputation. Moral obligation refers to the compulsion for companies to be good citizens and do the right thing. The sustainability argument emphasises the need for companies to have regard to the natural environment from which resources are drawn. The compliance or licence to operate argument reflects a pragmatic response to agendas set by Government regulators, and the reputation impetus is all about creating a positive impression on consumers, staff and shareholders. Porter and Kramer identify the individual deficiencies of each of these principles as a sufficient justification for CSR (e.g. they argue that the sustainability school of thought raises questions about balancing long term objectives against short term costs, but offers no framework for resolution). Fundamentally however, Porter and Kramer argue that there is an inherent weakness in all four school of thought, namely they focus on the tension between business and society, rather than their interdependence. Further each strategy creates a generic rationale that is not tied to the strategy and operations of any specific company or the places in which it operates. Porter and Kramer argue that the deficiencies in approach to CSR have resulted in unco-ordinated and non-strategic activities that neither make any meaningful social impact nor strengthen the firms long-term competitiveness. Having set the scene, Porter and Kramer suggest a new approach to CSR to achieve these outcomes. 2.2 A new approach Porter and Kramers new approach has two key elements. Firstly, they suggest that a CSR strategy should be predicated on an acceptance of the interdependence of business and society, i.e. successful corporations need a healthy society and a healthy society needs successful companies. Porter and Kramer suggest that the points of intersection between companies and society are both inside-out linkages (i.e. internal activities which affect the external environment such as hiring practices, emissions and waste control) and outside-in linkages (i.e. social conditions which affect a companys capacity to conduct business, e.g. rules and regulations, local education and health supports). This platform of understanding implies that both business decisions and social policy have shared values, and lifts CSR from a nice to do (which is reminiscent of the moral obligation argument or philanthropic approach to CSR) to the have to do (which, although not acknowledged by Porter and Kramer, is an ext ension of the sustainability argument). Secondly, and this is the real benefit of Porter and Kramers thesis, they argue that each company should create a tailored (rather than a generic) corporate social agenda, and provide a practical tool to chart that agenda i.e. to identify those areas of social context with the greatest strategic value. 2.3 The practice of developing a new CSR strategy Porter and Kramers practical tool to developing a new CSR strategy encompasses the following steps: Choosing which social issues to address. The essential test that should guide CSR is not whether the cause is worthy, but whether it presents an opportunity to create shared value that is, a meaningful benefit for society that is also meaningful to the business. Porter and Kramer argue that companies should sort social issues into three categories (i) generic social issues which affect all companies; (ii) value chain social impacts which have a direct affect on the companys ordinary course of business; and (iii) social dimensions of competitive context which significantly affect the underlying drivers of a companys competitiveness in a specific location. Once the social issues have been categorised they should be ranked, i.e. prioritised, for action Creating a corporate social agenda. The selected social issues should be identified in an explicit and affirmative corporate social agenda. This agenda will reflect an approach to CSR which is both  responsive  to stakeholder concerns and anticipated risks, andstrategic  (i.e. integrates inside-out and outside-in linkages) Organising for CSR. The corporate social agenda should be integrated into affirmative business practices, i.e. to ensure that operating management is engaged in processes that identify and prioritise social issues based on their salience to business operations and their importance to the companys competitive context. Further, Porter and Kramer suggest that measurement of outcomes is critical to the agenda, and that value chain and competitive context investments in CSR need to be incorporated into the performance managers with PL responsibility. In particular Porter and Kramer argue for the measurement of the CSR initiatives in terms of social impact (although omit to discuss what those measures might be). Conclusion Porter and Kramer offer a new approach to CSR which focuses on identifying the shared values between a particular company and its social context, and developing a tailored and strategic response. Using Porter and Kramers tool to map social opportunities, and practical steps to identify, develop and organise for CSR, companies now have a new CSR framework to enhance business and social outcomes. If companies are able to successfully use this model (and Porter and Kramers article provides numerous case studies to that effect) then the benefits will be reaped in terms of both a competitive advantage and social enhancement. 3.An Empirical Analysis of the Strategic Use of Corporate Social Responsibility by Donald S. Siegel and Donald F. Vitaliano In a recent insightful survey of CSR, The Economist (2005, 8) identified four varieties of CSR based on whether this activity raised or lowered profits and raised or lowered social welfare. This paper constitutes the first empirical test of recent theories of strategic CSR. Specifically, we focus on the importance of the type of product or service sold by a firm as a determinant of managements decision to invest in CSR. This decision could represent a signaling device regarding the quality of the firms output. Consistent with these theories of strategic CSR, we find that firms selling durable experience goods or credence services are much more likely than comparable firms to be socially responsible. Ceteris paribus, our results imply that a firmselling financial services (a credence service) is more likely to opt for CSR by about 23 percentage points (compared to firms selling search goods). Similarly, a firm producing durable experience goods, such as automobiles or software, is mor e likely (than a firm selling search goods) to be socially responsible by about 15 percentage points. Firms selling experience services or nondurable experience goods, by contrast, are no more likely to adopt CSR than a firm whose product is a search good. While additional research is needed to pin down the diverse reasons why firms adopt a CSR stance, the evidence presented here supports a view that it is consistent with strategic theories of CSR and rational, profit-seeking management decision making. Others may view the same evidence as proof that CSR is a fraud or smokescreen to disguise the same behavior, which they abhor. Regardless of interpretation, we hope that this exploratory paper stimulates additional empirical research on the strategic use of CSR. Several caveats should be mentioned. The first is that our empirical analysis is based on a single cross section of data. It would be useful to test theories of strategic CSR using panel data, which would enable us to better control for unobserved firm heterogeneity and changes in CSR behavior and its determinants over time. A second concern is the possibility that our econometric analysis is subject to omitted variables bias; in contrast to ordinary least squares estimation, the estimated Co-efficients in a probit model would be inconsistent even if the omitted variables are uncorrelated with the included regressors (see Greene, 2000, p. 828). It is impossible to assess the importance of this effect on our estimates of the impact of good type on the propensity of firms to engage in CSR. It is also difficult to classify a company cleanly into selling search, experience, or credence goods and service. Although we eliminated conglomerate firms from our sample and relied on the firms primary products or services for our industry classification, we recognize that many firms are diversified, which introduces a certain amount of measurement error in our empirical analysis. In an ideal world, the division or perhaps, the plant or establishment would serve as the unit of analysis, rather than the firm.

Production Notes :: College Theatre Festival Papers

Production Notes Preface The slides and video that are found on this web site are recordings of a production of Measure for Measure mounted at the College of the Holy Cross in the fall of 1996. In February, 1997, the production was re-mounted at Brandeis University as part of the American College Theatre Festival. The following notes formed the conceptual basis for the production. First Response In the final months of the twentieth century, Measure provides us with a searing allegory about a society that is divided severely along economic and social lines. The ubiquitious moral rot of Shakespeare's play parallels our contemporary world. The political and social hypocricy of rulers who abuse power for personal gain while criticizing and punishing the lower classes comes right out of the evening news. Some issues of the play hit home harder today and in a radically different manner then they would have in Shakespeare's day. Ideas such as sexual harrassment and immorality connote wildly different things to a contemporary audience, particularly in light of recent current events. Talking Points I. Measure for Measure is a play about power--political, economic, and sexual power--and how these three interrelated phenomena intersect with catastrophic consequences when they are abused by an inadequate leader. But it is essential to note that the play is not against the use of power per se, because the entire crisis is instigated by the failure of a rightful ruler to exercise properly his responsibilities of office. Indeed, the entire arc of the play is about how this ruler--Duke Vincentio--learns about the nature of power and the necessity of its public demonstration. It can be argued that, in many respects, the play is a primer about effective leadership and must be viewed as a humanistic revision of Machievelli's The Prince. II. Political power must be exercised correctly and sexual desires must be pursued properly. Without sex there is no propagation of the species and without political restraint there is no maintenance of the social order. Political responsibility cannot be avoided and neither can the fundamental need of humans to fornicate. Without restraint, however, the pursuit of these intersecting fundamental drives will undermine the stability of society. Measure for Measure argues that political power must be exercised in a principled manner and sexual intercourse must occur under the sanction of marriage. III. A recurring theme in the plays of Shakespeare is the nature of effective leadership.