North American Free Trade Agreement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

North American Free Trade Agreement - Essay Example Because of this, the products available in the market, particularly imported goods, would be offered at a comparatively lower price. In this regard, the consumers benefit since they can buy more goods at a cheaper price. Second, the NAFTA provisions include the elimination of import quotas, especially on products such as motor vehicles, automotive parts, computers and textiles ("Wikipedia," n.d.). This results in the selling of more products in the market, thus, intensifying the competition among suppliers. As expected, competition brings about more efficient market conditions. Producers compete not only in terms of pricing but also in the quality of goods. Similarly, consumers gain from this as they could have a wider range of high-quality products to choose from. Lastly, the NAFTA enabled manufacturers in all three countries to maximize their full potential by operating in a bigger and more efficient North American economy. This translates to higher profits for competitive companies and allows for reinvestment of earnings. The net effect of this is that more jobs would be generated for the labor force. This, in a way, refutes argument asserted by many American labor unions that the NAFTA takes way jobs from American workers as manufacturers opt for the utilization of cheaper labor available in Mexico.

Library System Essay Example for Free

Library System Essay I. Introduction Freeman Dyson has said, â€Å"Technology is a gift of God, after the gift of life; it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gift. It is the monitor civilizations of arts and sciences†. With technology, they can get things done precisely, efficiently and fast. Wireless communication devices keep you connected wherever you go. These things were developed due to greater inventions and creativity of their designers. But on the other hand, there are still places or institutions that have a slow growth of development when it comes to advancement of technology. And one of these that caught the proponent’s attention is the library. Years ago, every library used paper based catalogs for finding books, but when the computers made it to the market, the libraries started to get digital. They were able to search through the library catalog in second to find a certain book (or any other reference materials that can be borrowed) and make all these items public for computer and web search. Kapitolyo High School Library is using a system wherein recording and compiling data are done manually which results to slow transaction of borrowing and returning of books. The library has a thousand number of books and students that leads the librarian to take too much time and effort to record all the details of the borrowers and also the reference materials one-by-one, checks and update the record of the books and make a report for the library using a piece of paper. The borrower’s also needs to wait for their turn to borrow books as reference materials for their notes and/or assignments and one problem in this situation is the students’ waste more time in finding the books because there are instances that the book they need is not available. Having a manual system, they have the problem in keeping the records because some are loss or damage and some are missing. The information are not properly organized which leads to lack of security and there are redundancies in recording the details of the books. As more libraries move towards providing services in digital environment, the improved access to remote library collection is making the use of electronic information resource more realistic and more attractive. Traditional  online services had transformed themselves into internet based online services using web based technologies. The proponents proposed a system entitled Web Based Library System to help the students and/or visitors of Kapitolyo High School Library to search a reference materials quick and easily, to know the information of the book in one click and to have an easily way to borrow and return a book. Web based library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats and accessible by computers. The system features web based transaction for borrowing and returning of books and it compute the penalty of the students if they didn’t return the book on time; OPAC (Online Public Access Cataloging) for the students and/or visitors to search and to know the information and availability of the book they want and a reservation system for students only; Mapping system to find the location of the books easily; The system also features the reports for the library to lessen the librarians tasks; And it has maintenance for user levels, book. The system will also solve the problem in data redundancy, inaccurate and erroneous report, difficulty in borrowing and returning of books. A well organized library collection provides easily access and retrieval of materials. The system is highly acceptable because of being creative, user-friendly and efficient for the user by easy generating of card catalogue, records of books and the borrowers. Operational efficiency, time utilization and accuracy were optimized. II. Theoretical Framework Designing of database Designing of interface Coding the system Debugging the system Testing the system  Revision of documentation and the system Software Requirement * PHP * XAMPP * Notepad * VB. Net * Operating System Hardware Requirement * At least Pentium 4 or higher * At least 512mb or higher RAM * 80gb HDD Knowledge Requirement * Database * Security * Internet * Web Browser Web Based Library System for Kapitloyo High School INPUT PROCESSOUTPUT Evaluation Figure 1 IPO of Web Based Library System for Kapitolyo High School III. Statement of the Problem General Problem: How will the system helps to develop the transaction of borrowing and returning of books in Kapitlyo High School? Specific Problems: * How will the system help the students and/or visitors to search a book in an easy way? * How will the system help the students reserve a book or reference materials? * How will the system help the librarian to monitor the books and make a report for the library? IV. Objectives of the Study General Objective: To develop a web based library system that will help the students and also the librarian to have an easy way borrowing and returning of books in the library. Specific Objectives: * To develop an online library also known as OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) that will help the students and/or visitors to search a book easily. * To develop an online reservation for the students to help them reserve a book they want as reference material even if they are at home. * To make a database that will help the librarian monitor the books and make reports for the library. V. Scope and Limitations The scope of the study covers: * Web based transaction of borrowing and returning of books. * OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) – the students search for a book and it will show the information of the book and its availability. * Online Reservations (for students only). * Mapping of books (location of the book). * Computes the penalty of overdue books. * Reports for the library. * Maintenance for the Users, Books, Author, Subject and Location. The study is limited by: * Showing the contents of the books in web. VI. Significance of the Study This study gives importance to the people or things that may involve on it. These are the significance of the study that may help the people behind the said system. LIBRARIANThe librarian can monitor the books in the library and make a reports for the library. STUDENTSThe students can borrow and return a book easily. Using OPAC, they can search a book they want easily and quickly. VISITORSThe visitors can search a book in OPAC and can borrow a book for library use only. SCHOOLThe school can have a convenient transaction between the librarian and the borrower. PROPONENTSThe proponents gain more knowledge in programming skills that may use in developing other system. VII. Definition of Terms BorrowingTo take a book in the libaray temporarily with the intention of returning it CatalogingComplete and alphabetically list of books in the library with their description published as printed document or as a electronic document on internet. DatabaseAn organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality, in a way that supports processes requiring this information. Information RetrievalThe area of the study concerned with searching for documents, for information within the documents. ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a unique number assigned to a book title by its publisher for tracking and ordering purposes. LibraryA library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services. The collections can be of print, audio, and visual materials in numerous formats including maps, prints, documents, microform (microfilm / microfiche), CDs, cassettes,videotapes, DVDs, video games, e-books, audio books and many other electronic resources MicroformsAny forms, either films/paper, containing micro production of documents for transmission, storage, reading and printing. ReturningTo return a borrowed book in the library. User-friendlyThe ease of use and learn ability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. Web basedA web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet . The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language (such as JavaScript, combined with a browser-rendered markup language like HTML) and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.

Kierkegaards View On Faith And Knowledge

Kierkegaards View On Faith And Knowledge Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, is often seen as a philosophical iconoclast, who rejects excessive formalism and instead believes in the subjectivity of the autonomous individual; autonomy for him is the best guide to what people should do ethically and ethics could in its turn enable the individual to approach knowledge through faith. This philosopher was thus often concerned with the nature of truth and knowledge especially in regard to articles of faith. It is commonly known that biblical Christianity is founded on the truths of Gods word. Kierkegaards claim that knowledge or truth can be achieved through subjectivity is therefore at first glance incomprehensibly elusive. However, it should be taken into account that Kierkegaard is basing his ideas on a criticism of Hegels approach to the nature of absolute knowledge. Hegel claimed namely that human beings could possess absolute knowledge and certainty through a careful and rational analysis of human existence. John Cli macus, a 7th century monk, argued in his turn against this idea by noting that an acceptance of this approach would imply that knowing is more important for Christians than believing; two acts that are very different at the core because of the qualitative difference between knowledge and faith. (Garrett) Kierkegaards major emphasis in this regard is that Christian life is founded on more than a simple belief in an orthodox doctrine. For this reason, when Kierkegaard underlines the need for subjectivity to reach knowledge he is merely claiming that all human beings must appropriate the truth of whatever they believe if it is truly to take hold of their lives. (Garrett). In short, Kierkegaard argues thus that a rational life is indeed a moral life, and a moral life is a religious life. Morality and ethics consequently inevitably lead to religion. Under such a supposition, the ethical individual would surmise his task as becoming less the individual or particular and more the universal (JSTOR 161). The goal becomes the unification of the particular and the universal. Under such a unity, truth is revealed as truth is in what is ethical, and what is ethical is determined by reason. Contrasting Kierkegaards views with the Kantian approach to faith and knowledge enables also for a closer understanding of the philosophers ideas. To Kierkegaard is it not Kantian reason which leads to God but faith. One cannot make a rational decision towards that which has no facts, no proof, and no certainty. The ethical thrives on the certainty of truth through reason. The religious cannot have such a luxury. It is not rational decision-making, rather, it is faith. Kierkegaard refers to the transition from the ethical to the third stage as the Leap of Faith. The Leap of Faith is the third stage in Kierkegaards theory of overcoming the paradox which is an apparently true statement that however leads to a contradiction or a situation that goes against ones intuition. It can only be resolved when the contradiction is shown as apparent. Kierkegaards story of Abraham exhibits such a paradox. Abraham could not prove he heard a voice yet he believed and was willing to risk his son based on this belief. Through Abrahams story Kierkegaard shows that the paradox of faith rests on the idea that the believer acts on less than complete knowledge. Kierkegaard believed however that humans ought to have faith by the virtue of the absurd, which is because something is contradictory at nature. (Kierkegaard) The leap of faith, that is often associated with the emergence of existentialism, is therefore Kierkegaards response to a problem which is essentially Kantian in origin and structure. Kierkegaard wants to accommodate both the Kantian interpretation of morality as a rational command and Kants insistence on morality as the sole point of access to religion, while rejecting the Kantian moralization of religion and rationalization of faith. The leap of faith is not, as existentialism would have it, an absolute beginning in philosophy or in individual reflection but a transition from morality to religion within an essentially Kantian context. This point is not only of historical but also of systematic value. From the standpoint of Kantian philosophy its value lies in the attempt to establish a connection between morality and religion which preserves morality as a rational command but which also avoids the Kantian reduction of religion to morality and faith to reason. From the standpoint of Kierkegaards existentialists successors it advances the argument that morality understood as a rational command is that condition without which the subject can make no progress toward objective and universal truth, which leads to its avoidance of the separation of reason and choice and ends consequently in subjectivism. Kierkegaard sees faith as the abandonment of all else before it in order to wholly accept it. One cannot coldly and rationally choose to accept faith because it has the greatest utility or merit. This would still be the ethical stage in religious clothing. The third stage, according to Kierkegaard, needs passion to survive; it needs the unknown, and the Leap of Faith. If the particular is not faithfully accepted but is rather critically scrutinized, then the religious stage will inevitably suffer the same fate of a moral dilemma that deprives the ethical stage from eternal happiness. According to Kierkegaard, the religious stage is spared only by the ethical paradox through faith. . It is interesting to note that while philosophers as Kant believe that morality and religion are one so the jump is seamless, Kierkegaard believes the step requires an evolution of thought because one cannot move from a set of moral premises to a religious conclusion if morality, which is expressed concep tually, is understood as commands based on reason while religion, which is expressed paradoxically, is understood as promise based on faith (JSTOR 164). Kierkegaards views regarding the nature of rational knowledge attainment through faith rests thus on several principles as has been illustrated. The Leap of faith has been discussed. Another aspect to his ideas is the ethical individual as part of this complicated process. The ethical individual must be like a judge, closely and impartially evaluating all information and evidence presented before making an educated decision. The imagery of the judge represents the epitome of rationalist ideology. He is a character which tries to equate ethics with rational decisions. The judge seeks to distance his self from social relations and personal desires so that he is like a force of nature. With such impartiality, he hopes that he can logically deduce the correct decision to any situation like an artificial intelligence. The judge attempts to watch the scales of relative merit and announce ones choice only after observing a clear tip in one direction. It is, the Judge might say, a foolproof method for determining which choice will produce the most appropriate action (Friedman 160). Through such certainty, an ethicist could be said to demystify the world. One who can act without doubt and knows exactly what decision to make. If a person was truly capable of such power, they could be said to be making their self into that of the divine, with omniscient knowledge In conclusion, whereas as other theorists who argue against secular enlightenment, such as Immanuel Kant, would say that the individual has a logical inescapable path to religion based on factual reasoning, Kierkegaard disagrees. Kierkegaard soundly rejects such assumptions when he declares: I do not believe that Kant himself, or any of his successors, have managed to show that any serious moral constraint can be derived from simply considering the conditions of rational agency. Nor do I think that this can be done. What follows rests on the premise that the Kantian project is a failure (Rudd 13). According to Kierkegaard, is it not rational thought or morality which leads to God, but rather faith alone. The ethical depends on certainty of truth through reason, but the religious cannot have such a luxury. They depend on the very suspension of reason and certainty of knowledge; they depend on faith. This transition from the ethical to the religious is what Kierkegaard refers to as the Leap of Faith. The Leap requires one to accept that their capabilities alone are insufficient, and that only by placing their faith in God can they hope to achieve true knowledge.

Animal Farm - George Orwell Essay -- Animal Farm Essays

Animal Farm George Orwell 128 Pages George Orwell, the pen name of Eric Blair, was born in Bengal in 1903. He was educated at Eton School in England, and then served with the Indian Imperial Police in Burma. He returned to Europe and became a writer of novels and essays. Much of his work was political, and although he had a hatred of Communism, he was a socialist. Orwell died at the age of forty-seven of a lung problem, leaving behind several unfinished works. Animal Farm is a parody of the Communist revolution in Russia, and as a result its themes are the evils of totalitarianism and selfishness, and also the importance of hard work. Animal Farm tells the story of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, but from a viewpoint slightly more comical: that of a farm in England. The story begins in a barn, where a boar on the farm named Old Major has gathered the other animals to tell them of a dream he had, a dream of a world in which humans do not rule over other animals. Old Major encourag es the animals of the farm to revolt against Mr. Jones, the owner of the farm. Not long after, he dies, but the animals keep his ideas of Animalism (which is essentially Communism) alive and the pigs, who are the most clever animals on the farm, begin to plan a revolution. One day, the workers on the farm forget to feed the animals, and so some of the more powerful horses break down the door to the barn where the feed is stored, and the animals enjoy a feast. When Mr. Jones learns of this, however, he immediately orders all of the animals to be punished appropriately. As they are being whipped and beaten, the animals suddenly turn on the workers. The humans, who had no way of anticipating such an attack, are scared off of the farm. When the animals realize what has happened, they go back to the main barn to discuss the recent events. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume control of the farm, and the animals immediately declare the farmhouse to be a sort of museum, in which no anim al should enter. The pigs then reveal that they had been learning how to read and write for the entire time in which the revolution was being planned, and the animals agree on seven basic rules, which they called the Seven Commandments. The Seven Commandments consist of the following: ? Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. ? Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. ? No animal sha... ...t day, while the animals are working, Clover comes rushing into the fields telling the other animals to follow her. When they do, they see Squealer walking on his hind legs. Then, the door to the farmhouse swings open and Napoleon comes out, also on his hind legs and with a whip in his hand. Afterwards, the animals do not find it strange that they are being whipped while working, except for Clover, who again looks at the Commandments. She finds that the seventh reads “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'; That evening, some carts approach the farmhouse, and the animals see a procession of humans entering. Fearful but curious, they look into the window and see the humans and pigs sitting at a large table, with Napoleon at the head. Mr. Pilkington makes a toast to the prosperity of Animal Farm, and as the animals are walking away, a loud shout comes from the farmhouse, and they go back to see what happened. There they find that Napoleon and Pilkington had both played an ace of spades in a game of poker. It is at this point that “The creatures outside look from pig to man and man to pig; but already it is impossible to say which is which.';

P&G vs Unilever Executive Summary

Unilever and P&G – Comparative Analysis Executive Summary The Consumer Products Industry is the biggest industry in the world at the moment, with total revenues amounting to about 50% of all goods sold. It is comparable to the GDP of the 4th biggest economy in the world, and entails most of the products we use in our every day lives. There are 3 key factors that drive the industry today: developing markets, the emerging middle-class of developing countries and the millions of baby boomers in developed markets.The industry faces many challenges nonetheless, such as an increase in prices of raw materials, crude oil, crops and commodities – especially oil prices; the constant broadening of the industry caused by globalization; and an increasing tendency for consumers to shop at mass-discount shops rather than the well-established companies within the Industry. The main players in this industry are Unilever, P&G, Nestle, Johnson &Johnson, PepsiCo, Mars and Henkel. This repo rt focuses on the comparative analysis of Unilever and P&G. Some of P&G’s most famous brands are Braun, Gillette, Oral-B and Pantene.These and the top 50% of most well known brands account for 90% of P&G sales and more than 90% of its profits. Furthermore, 25 of these 50 brands go as far as generating more than $1 billion each in annual sales. Overall, the company markets its brands in over 180 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and the Asian region. Despite the recent crisis, P&G continued to experience growth due to a strategy of â€Å"investments in innovation, portfolio expansion, marketing support and consumer value†. The company is also investing $2 billion in R&D annually.As for Unilever, the company owns more than 400 brands, and 2 million people use Unilever an product on any given day. Unilever is based in 100 countries and sells products into more than 150. The long-term goals are continuous improvement and developing a sustainable business, and the company has over 6000 people working in R&D across the globe for a total of $1,3 billion worth of R&D investments in 2011. In terms of financial comparative analysis, market Ratios for both companies show that Unilever and P&G are attractive investments for investors.P&G has a higher EPS on average and is a more preferable investment currently for investors looking for high returns. The market ratios also show that Unilever has been improving its earnings and has a higher earning potential in the future as its EPS, P/E and payout ratio have been improving over time. P&G on the other hand currently has a higher yield as shown by the Dividend Yield ratio but its performance seems to be declining gradually as evident by the worsening Market Ratios.The Liquidity ratios of both companies clearly point out to the fact that the companies are not in a position to meet their immediate liabilities. However, this is not a matter of concern as both companies are la rge, stable and established businesses. The liquidity ratios show an adverse situation for the companies even though they are healthy otherwise. This is because the industry is such that the companies must have high current liabilities over extended periods of time and low assets due to very fast inventory turnover rate.The consumer goods industry requires that a company’s inventory turns be fast and the accounts payable be large over long periods of time to have a high level of efficiency and consequently profitability. It also assures both corporations a competitive edge and for this reason liquidity ratios must remain low which may seem unhealthy but in reality is helpful in this particular industry. From 2007 to 2011 Unilever consistently had higher growth rates in revenue, operating and net profit. During this time span P&G profit growth rates even were negative.This indicates that P&G is from an absolute point of view still bigger and more profitable, but Unilever is ca tching up. A closer look at the profitability ratios shows that both companies are doing very well with gross ratios of 43,80% (Unilever) and 50,56% (P&G). These ratios are above the 40% industry average and especially P&G is very profitable. This first indication is consistent with the further analysis of profitability ratios such as the net profit margin, which is still is 5% higher for P&G than Unilever.So far P&G has managed the increasing pressure on margins due to increasing raw material prices more successful than Unilever, but has to adjust its cost-structure to stop the ongoing negative trend of the last five years. Regarding efficiency ratios like return on capital ratios the previous dominance of P&G’s financial performance cannot be confirmed. Instead, Unilever outperforms P&G in all efficiency ratios, like the return on invested capital (16,89% vs. 10,42%), the return on assets (11,26% vs. 8,99%) or the return on capital employed (16,66% vs. 14,06%) for the time span between 2007 to 2011.This indicates Unilever outstanding capabilities to allocate its resources to the most profitable investments and to use the assets as efficient as possible. In terms of the debt situation for P&G and Unilever, analysis has shown that Unilever’s business is higher leveraged (D-E ratio 2,13) than P&G’s (1,09). This and the higher efficiency also explain why Unilever’s return on equity is much higher (36,06%) than P&G’s (18,78%). As a result of its high profitability and low debt-to-equity ratio, P&G’s TIE ratio is also much higher than Unilever’s (11,95 vs. ,61). The analysis has shown that P&G is a more conservative financed and highly profitable business whereas Unilever is more aggressive in terms of growth. Unilever already is highly efficient and has grown much faster than P&G over the last five years. If this trend is not reversed P&G will face increasing competition from Unilever in the close future. Weâ€℠¢ve calculated the average over five years for each company’s activity ratios and compared them as such because these ratios seemed to be relatively stable over time.They also appear to be in line with the companies’ strategies and policies, starting with the Asset Turnover being proportional to the return on equity: Unilever has a turnover almost double that of P&G. As we’ve mentioned earlier, fast inventory turnover is a characteristic of the industry, but Unilever seems to be doing better than P&G in these terms as well. We believe that Unilever’s focus on food products gives it a higher Inventory Turnover (9,09) compared to P&G’s household products focus (5,41).This gives Unilever a lower average age of inventory. Unilever also has a higher Day Purchases Outstanding Ratio, meaning they stretch suppliers much more by taking 88,40 days to pays them, compared to P&G’s 65,48 days. Strictly speaking, we would expect P&G to display a higher ba rgaining power to do its much higher Revenue, but this ratio shows a different story. Reasons for this could be due to geography, both in terms of differences in local management and in local regulations, and to the diversity of suppliers induced by the focus on 50 or 300 brands.In terms of the Day Sales Outstanding Ratio, it is P&G that seems to have the better policy this time. They convert Accounts Receivable to Cash in about 28 days versus 35 days for Unilever. Again, although smaller, this difference is important because it can reflect a difference in policies or diversity of suppliers. These two factors combined, low DSO and high DPO Ratios, lead to a negative Net Working Capital such as we had seen in our Walmart analysis. Compared to Assets, P&G has a negative NWC of -27% and Unilever of -20%.In conclusion, both companies show very strong financial health given the crisis, especially compared to the rest of the market. They are defensive values which show that their policies are working to resist the crisis. In absolute terms P&G is doing better as a company because it is a bigger, stronger, established firm. In relative terms the ratios paint another picture though: Unilever has been catching up to P&G in recent years, and their growth and financial management seems to be stronger than that of P&G.

History of American Education Essay

The Colonial Period (1607–1775) †¢ 1642 †¢ Massachusetts Bay Colony law requires proper teaching of children. In 1642, the Mass Bay Colony ruled children not taught properly would be apprenticed (practical work experience under the supervision of skilled workers in the trade and arts) to the town. The Early National Period (1775–1820) †¢ 1805 †¢ First elementary school established in New York, Formed by a wealthy businessmen to provide education for poor children. Run on the â€Å"Lancastrian† model that the older students learn and pass it down to the younger children. The Common School Movement (1820–1865). †¢1825 †¢ Noah Webster standardizes word meanings. First edition of Noah Webster’s â€Å"An American Dictionary† is published. The Evolution of the American High School (1890- 1920) †¢ 1895 †¢ First achievement test devised. Joseph Rice develops a spelling test, which he gives to over 16,000 students in eighth grade. The spelling test is made of 50 words. The Modern Era (1946 – present) †¢ 1954 †¢ Brown vs. Board of education, Topeka case makes segregated schooling illegal on the grounds that segregated schools generate feelings of racial inferiority and are inherently unequal. The Colonial Period (1607–1775) †¢ 1642 †¢ Massachusetts Bay Colony law requires proper teaching of children. In 1642, the Mass Bay Colony ruled children not taught properly would be apprenticed (practical work experience under the supervision of skilled workers in the trade and arts) to the town. This even in education history has shaped today’s classroom and proposes great reflection of what children are to become tomorrow. In this even, societies are molding a future for children, boosting their education in hopes that someday they  will have made a wise career choice and make something of them. Not intended for the children to work under someone’s care, but to work for themselves. This is still practiced in today’s classroom. The curriculum gets more complicated and the lessons get harder to accomplish. This paves the way for children to challenge themselves and others around them in order to succeed. Teachers are to encourage students to be what they want to be in life and not to settle for less. Children are encouraged by parents, teachers and society to become successful no matter what they plan to achieve with their education. This method is started before birth for many children and parents. Parents practice things such as singing, playing music, reading and talking to unborn children to stimulate them in the womb. This stimulation helps children progress faster and learn easier when they are born. Society has stressed to children that they should learn, learn, and learn some more to be as successful as they can possibly be.