Tax Credits in Rhode Island Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tax Credits in Rhode Island - Research Paper Example It also includes real estate costs, utilities, labor costs, and taxes that are considered significant factors in business climate evaluation. In this area, Rhode Island has the largest prospect to enhance its reputation in national rankings. Rhode Island’s comparatively lofty tax burden and intricate regulatory structure are two major areas that have made business impossible within the island (Bardach 23). Several proposals have been forwarded with the intention of easing the pressure on businesses. One of these suggestions involves the introduction of tax credits to ease the tax burden and encourage local and foreign enterprises to thrive in the island. The following sections attempt to discuss the pros and cons of introducing such a macroeconomic policy as well as its effects and viability within Rhode Island. Elements such as a high tax burden and intricate regulatory setting have made it challenging the government to develop an appealing environment for commerce. Rhode Island’s business tax burden can be considered one of the highest globally. Based on the KPMG study entitled â€Å"Location Matters†, Rhode Island recorded higher than normal rates for its tax rate index at 28.4%. This figure was significantly higher than all the New England states (Bardach 26). The workforce quality, cost of doing business and business climate in Rhode Island has been cited by different surveys as being below standard while it has performed exceedingly well in terms of quality of life, access to capital and education levels.

Modern transparencies and unwanted-exposures Essay Example for Free

Modern transparencies and unwanted-exposures Essay Human beings have been constructing shelters to serve different purposes since the beginnings of civilization. How a building was constructed depended on three qualities set out by Vitruvius, the Roman architect in his treatise De Architectura †¢ Durability †¢ Utility †¢ Beauty Across the ages, one of these three criteria has been more important than the other. The precept of modern architecture is ‘form follows function’. The function of the building determines its structure. But built into this precept are many other modern and post-modern conceptions of notions such as privacy, publicity, sexuality, art, etc. Some of the key components of design are space, volume, mass, texture, shadow, light, materials, structure, etc. Each of these components has been given varied importance in the different times. Modernist architecture has been influenced heavily by the Austrian architect Adolf Loos who believed that ‘ornament is crime. ’ He said, The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects. He believed that the influence of culture on ornamentation would change with changing culture and therefore ornamentation itself would become obsolete. Adolf Loos said, â€Å"Does it follow that the house has nothing in common with art and is architecture not to be included in the arts? Only a very small part of architecture belongs to art: the tomb and the monument. Everything else that fulfils a function is to be excluded from the domain of art. † Ornamentation is tantamount to art, which Loos completely discredits by saying, â€Å"The house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not. † He differentiates designing a house and depicting art in these words, â€Å"The work of art is brought into the world without there being a need for it. The house satisfies a requirement. The work of art is responsible to none; the house is responsible to everyone. The work of art wants to draw people out of their state of comfort. † Loos echoes the philosophy of Deleuze when he says, â€Å"The work of art shows people new directions and thinks of the future. The house thinks of the present. † According to Deleuze, art is supposed to provide signs reading which a person is supposed come out of the rote of daily quotidian life and move towards creativity. Entailed in this function of art is deep discomfort which is why a house is not supposed to perform the function of art. Entailed in the notion of a house is a feeling of comfort in the present. â€Å"The house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not. † â€Å"The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative. † Adolf Loos strived to strip culture of ‘art’ and ‘ornament’ and bring to it pragmatism, functionality and rationalism. Each of these qualities is attributed to the male. They are in stark contrast to the Jugendstil artists from the Wagner school. According to Susan Henderson, â€Å"Loos maintained that strict gender distinctions were basic to the ordered logic of modern society, and he decried the ambiguous gender roles that had invaded art and culture. Jugendstil decadence lay in its unrealistic attitude towards the capitalist economy, its regressive fascination for a dying aristocratic tradition, and a benighted love of ornament that sapped the productive energies from Viennese culture. His call for cultural reclamation through a reinvigorated rhetoric set the stage for embedding a new masculinism in the language of early modernism and the reassertion of middle-class values after a generation of retreat from the productive enterprise. † There exists an in-built contradiction between notion of perfect space that the architect harbours and the real mess of daily life. In both cases the woman is positioned as hidden and within and is always object subject to the male gaze. The domestic space of the Josephine Baker is converted into an erotic space. Josephine is present ‘in absentia’. The architecture is incorporated into the body of Josephine Baker and the body is entrenched in the architecture. â€Å"This is a wide-ranging and multifaceted notion of circulation, which includes passages, traversals, transitions, transitory states erotic circulations. † (Bruno, 1992) Given this understanding of Loos’ psychology it is a little complicated to learn the aesthetics of the Josephine Baker villa in Paris. This villa stands in contrast to many other designs of Loos. Feres el-DahDah says, â€Å"It is an epistolary attempt to detail her image in ‘various points’ through a kind of writing that stretches a third skin between the body of the architect and that of the dancer. The house is an apparatus†¦through which one can somehow rub against, or trap, a dancer’s exoticized body. It is a building designed as a tactical enterprise, as the imaginary ‘prose’ of an amorous conquest in between whose lines (in between the stripes of its facades and the distribution of its rooms) one is to decode a longing to signify desire. In other words, this house corroborates someone’s yearning to touch the absent body of Josephine. † This ‘present absence’ of Josephine Baker is called by Adolf Loos, ‘modern distinction’. The intense longing for the absent object brings to life that objects giving it a surreal physical manifestation. The elevations of the Baker house support this Freudian argument. The empty spaces represent Loos’ phallocentric desired for the absent object. If the Josephine Baker house is a modern depiction of sexuality that uses large unwanted space as a representation of desire for the body of Josephine Baker, large space is also used to represent violence and inspire fear through the designs of panopticons. Panopticon is a prison designed by Jeremy Bentham, the eighteenth century English Philosopher. The function of a panoticon is to watch the prisons without the prisoners themselves being aware either of the observer or of the process of observation. Jeremy Bentham called it ‘sentiment of an invisible omniscience. ’ â€Å"the more constantly the persons to be inspected are under the eyes of the persons who should inspect them, the more perfectly will the purpose †¦ of the establishment have been attained. Ideal perfection, if that were the object, would require that each person should actually be in that predicament, during every instant of time. This being impossible, the next thing to be wished for is, that, at every instant, seeing reason to believe as much, and not being able to satisfy himself to the contrary, he should conceive himself to be so. This point, you will immediately see, is most completely secured by my brothers plan; and, I think, it will appear equally manifest, that it cannot be compassed by any other, or to speak more properly, that if it be compassed by any other, it can only be in proportion as such other may approach to this. † The fundamental structure of a panopticon consists of a circular building. The rooms of the prisoners are present in the circumference of the building. Iron grating is present on the inner circumference. But this grating is virtually invisible to the prisoner. Such a grating traps the prisoner between the feelings of freedom and imprisonment. The prisoner knows that there is a grating but he cannot see it. It places him a limbo between privacy and publicity. Violation of private space is violence nonetheless. The room of the inspector is at the centre of the building. The windows of the prisoners’ room ‘radiate’ through the centre of the inspector’s room such that the inspector has a direct view into the rooms of all the prisoners. The windows would be covered by blinds till the eye level of the prisoners. This function of a window is opposed to that perceived by Adolf Loos, â€Å"to let the light in; not to let the gaze pass through†. Of course, the context of the windows in both cases is very different. In a panopticon, light is allowed to pass through only to the extent that allows the inspector to see the inside of the cell. In a house, light must be let in to brighten the house and make it comfortable to the inhabitants.

President George W. Bushs Use of Pathos, Logos, and Ethos Essay

Throughout George W. Bush's political career he has implored the use of Aristotle's tripod, which we like to call it. This tripod is a rhetoric which implies that persuasion relies on three things, which are ethos, pathos, and logos. Logos is devoted solely to logic and reason. While on the other hand, pathos deals with attitudes and beliefs. Perhaps the most important one which pertains to George W. Bush is something called ethos, that is to say the branch of the tripod which deals with the personal strengths of the speaker and most importantly his character. Throughout his political journey he has showed the use of pathos, logos, and ethos time and time again, but the one of which he is commonly known for is ethos. The instances in which he has demonstrated them are countless, but I will recall but three. The first event took place on the day of September 14, 2001 at 'Ground Zero', three days after the attack of the World Trade Centers. The third instance was on September 20, 2001 during his Address to a Joint Session of Congress. Lastly, was the State of the Union Address in Washington D.C. Which was held on January 29, 2002. At 'Ground Zero' on September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush did many things to restore the confidence of the rattled and scared population. Unity was a key role in the success of this speech. The whole time that he made his speech his arm was wrapped around a firefighter at the scene which not only showed ethos, but also made them look like good friends and it showed a sense of stability and unity, â€Å"Throughout most of his speech, he kept his arm wrapped around a lead firefighter working at the scene,† (Docan.) In addition, he said how the local area was connected to other people who where hurt ar... ...n D.C. On January 29, 2002, at 'Ground Zero' on September 14, 2001, or at his Address to a Joint Session of Congress he has used many of Aristotle's ideas in order to instill trust and assurance back into his people. Works Cited Bush, George W. George W. Bush State of the Union Address. 29 Jan. 2002. . Bush, George W. President Declares â€Å"Freedom at War with Fear.† Address to a Joint Session of Congress. 20 Sep. 2001. . Docan, Tony. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Applied: George W. Bush Speaking at 'Ground Zero'. 22 Apr. 2002. . Orren, Gary. Gore vs. Bush Why It's All Greek to Me. 2000. .

An Report On Darlie Toothpaste’ S Integrated Marketing

1.0 INTRODUCTION1.1 AuthorizationThe CEO of the Haolai Company requested this report on 16, May. The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of Darlie toothpaste’s current marketing situation and integrated marketing communication program (IMC). It aims to create a new promotional tool to for the target market.1. 2 LimitationsThere’re some limitations in the production of the report. To begin with, there’s not much information about the Darlie’s company can be found in the web. I just can find the Haolai Company is a chemical industry company.Besides, there is also not much information about the Darlie toothpaste in some authority business magazines and books. Sometimes, I just make a realistic assumption. 1. 3 Scope The scope of the report limited to integrated marketing communication in five areas: the current marketing situation analysis, the used IMC program analysis, the IMC plans will be developed, media plan and some recommendations for the Darlie toothpaste.2.0 BACKGROUND2.1 About the companyDarlie is a brand of the world's best oral care products manufacturer which is named Haolai chemical industry. In the 1930, the recipe of Darlie was developed.At the beginning, Darlie’s production and operation is in the Kowloon, Hong Kong. In 1997, Darlie transferred all the toothpaste products from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland. Today, the Darlie has become one of the best-selling brands in toothpaste market in China and south Asia.2. 2 About DarlieThe main products of Darlie are toothpaste and toothbrush. The concept of Darlie is healthy white teeth and pure fresh breath makes you every day full of confident smile. Darlieh has different kinds of toothpaste according to different effects too satisfy the different needs of consumers.It has four Series: fresh breath, teeth whitening, anti-sensitivity and for children.2. 3 Competitor analysisIn the current toothpaste market, it exits many competitors such as: Crest, Col gate, China, bamboo salt, Amway and so on. Analyzing Crest, it is one brand of Procter & Gamble which was born in 1955. It's famous for excellent high-decay toothpaste. And it is the first to be recognized by the world authority on oral-organization – the American Dental Association (ADA) decay toothpaste. Compare with Darlie, Crest's market share occupy all over the world not just Asia.In June 1996, Crest came to China and after one year, it has already been known by everybody in China. The brand concept of Crest is: ‘keep your smile healthy and beautiful ‘. There are two types of Crest toothpaste: series of healthy and series of whitening. Besides, every type of Crest has different products. For toothpaste, Crest has the similar benefits with Darlie such whitening, fresh breath and so on. But the most famous benefit of Crest toothpaste is preventing tooth decay and protecting tooth effectively. About Crest' s promotion, advertisement on television and internet a re the main ways.But crest has advantages of Darlie, because crest's advertisement is high-frequency.2.4 Target marketThe toothpaste market can be segment into different parts on the basis of geographic, demographic, psychologic and behavior variables. According to Hawkins, Mothersbaugh & Best (2007, p16): ‘Perhaps the most important marketing decision is a firm makes is the selection of one or more market segments on which to focus. ’ Firstly, Darlie toothpaste is in consumers’ good graces in Southeast Asia because of its advanced technology and unique recipe of product.Besides, it is popular in coastland of Guangdong province. On the side of demographic, there are not many people know the brand name and features of Darlie In addition, females will pay more attention on choosing toothpaste than males. In terms of psychological, consumers’ individuation demand is increasing with the development of economy and technology. In other words, consumers pursue ne w feelings, health, white, nature and useful in the modern society. Moreover, young consumers prefer to the multi-functional toothpaste which can provide special feelings like tea fragrance.From the perspective of behavioral, toothpastes are necessary products in people’s daily life and consumers will buy toothpastes routinely. Besides, young consumers will choose the new products and abroad brands because of their individuation demand. Furthermore, spinsterhood will buy fewer products once than married people and promotion methods affect consumers heavily. In this report, the target market focus on the consumers who like the tea fragrance and want to fresh breath.2. 5 The Darlie toothpaste's positioning strategyThere are five competitive advantages for Darlie. Firstly, it has a good management system. Darlie encourages its employees to innovate with a reasonable remuneration and reward. It can motivate the employees to work out the new technology to enrich the products. Seco ndly, Darlie is good at research and development. As the needs of consumers are changing quickly, so it often makes the change of products like in quality, style and shape, and it continue to introduce new products to meet customer needs. In addition, Darlie has a strong channel advantage.It not only has distribution channels and end-channels, but also has a geographic strategy, so that it can sale the products through different ways in different areas. Besides, quality service is another strength for Darlie. The good service will shorten the checkout process and satisfy the consumers’ needs, and then makes the customers have a good memory to the products. Last but not the least, freshen breath is Darlie’s important characteristic. Many people think that freshen breath is an important function of toothpaste (2011).The main function of Darlie toothpaste is breath fresh, so that it will have a fixed group customer.3.0 IMC PROGRAM3. 1 The promotional elements mixThere are six elements in IMC mix: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, internet marketing and direct marketing. Darlie uses three elements of promotional mix in current market, which is advertising, sales promotion and internet/interactive marketing. Firstly, advertising is Darlie's main way of promotion. It uses mass media such as TV, radio, magazine, newspapers to attract consumers. The most important promotional tool of Darile is TV advertisements.Darile input much money in inviting stars as its spokesperson. Besides, it also spends a lot of money on broadcasting TV advertising. For Darile, advertising is a valuable tool for targeting mass consumer market. Secondly, in the promotional mix is sales promotion. Darile also has two major categories: consumer-oriented and trade-oriented activities. In supermarket, businessmen always use coupons, samples, premiums, rebates, contests to stimulate short-term sales. And in the current, Darile has many different selling ways such as wholesalers, distribution, and retailers.The third variable in the promotional mix is interactive/ internet marketing, which changes by the development of technology. For Darile, in traditional market, consumers only get information from advertising and buy toothpastes and toothbrush in supermarket and stores. But now Darile advertise their products on the websites. Consumers can purchase the products on the Internet or by the telephone. Then the products can be de lived to your home directly. Besides, if the consumers have some inquiries or questions, they can call the customer service Hartline or in online message.The interactive/internet marketing brings many advantages to Darlie's promotion.3. 2 The low-involvement hierarchyAs toothpaste is usually used in people’s daily life, so Darlie is belonging to the low-involvement hierarchy of customer response process. The sequence of low-involvement hierarchy is learn-do feel. It means that the involvement in buying Darl ie is low and the customers are viewed as passing from cognition to behavior to attitude.3. 3 IMC objectivesDarile has three promotional mix elements are being used for IMC objectives based on the response process.As Mothersbaugh & Best (2007, p 8) explans:'Integrate marketing communications involves coordinating the various promotional elements and other marketing activities that communicate with a firm's customers. ‘ At first, advertising is a valuable tool for building brand equity. Darile’s advertising transfer the name, logo, symbols, design, packaging and performance to consumers. Because Darile is low-involvement hierarchy of customer response process, it needs faithful relationship to repeat purchase. Secondly, sales promotion is a shift marketplace power from manufacturers to retailers.People can buy Darlie's products in local retails such as Wal-Mart. And the retailers have more promotional tools than manufacturers to sell. Thirdly,The business of Darlie chang e from traditional market to Internet with the rapid growth of technology. Besides, traditional media advertising in TV or broadcast is replaced by internet advertising.4. 0 DEVELP THE IMC PLAN4. 1 New promotional toolPersonal selling is as a new promotional tool for Darlie toothpaste. Unlike advertising, personal selling is face-to-face communication between buyers and sellers.In this report, the target consumers of Darlie is people who like tea aroma and want to fresh breath. The Personal contact in selling focuses more on consumers’ specific need or situation than other promotional tools. Sellers can communicate with the target consumers through telephone, QQ, MSN and email to know their needs and give services. It is more flexible and convenient. Besides, Personal selling also is good to get feedback to modify the types of products according to different needs. For example, if the person has Gums bleeding, sell g the Anti-allergic Darlie toothpaste.And in this way, it can build loyal customer relationships and Brand loyalty.4. 2 Major selling ideaDarlie’s ideal market share occupy overall all the ages of the consumers. But In current intense toothpaste competitive market in China, it is impossible. Comparing with the other competitor such as Crest, Amway, China, the central theme of Darlie toothpaste is ‘fresh breath’. And the target market is the person who like tea aroma. Before selling, sellers can make a questionnaire for analyzing the toothpaste market. Darcie can develop specific taste and efficacy of toothpaste, according to the customer's dental health and taste preferences.And the seller s also needs to provide good after-sales service for audiences. They can send some new samples; tell them some knowledge to protect teeth, and how to brush teeth correctly.5. 0 GREATIVE STRATEGY5. 1 Implementation of the creative strategyThe creative strategy including: advertising appeal, execution style, creative tactics, and media veh icle can be used in development and implementation of an advertising message. Advertising appeal has two categories: information/rational appeals and emotional appeals.In order to emphasize the Darlie toothpaste’s feature of fresh breath and transfer the fragrance of tea of Darlie toothpaste to the consumers, information/rational appeal of advertisement is better. Using the advertising appeal, people will know more about Darlie toothpaste not only the brand name but also the specific feature. The creative execution style of the Darlie toothpaste is direct and concise. When people see the advertisement at first glance, they can recognize the brand of the Darlie toothpaste. And it is also beautiful, which make people feel fresh and cool. Creative tactics is used to design the actual advertisement.It has two different types: for print advertising and for television. In this report, the picture is designed for print advertising. Firstly, the background of the print is Danas. And in spring morning, fog around the Danas, which makes people feel fresh. Secondly, it uses the direct headlines, ‘Daile toothpaste, and the fragrance of tea’. It is in the top of the print, which is not very big. As Mothersbaugh & Best (2007, p 311):' they are often more effective at attracting reads’ attention and interest because they provoke curiosity and lure readers into the body copy to learn an answer or get explanation. On the left of the words, it is a small teapot. And on the right, it is a new design Darile toothpaste.The Chinese ‘cha xiang’ and English words ‘the fragrance of tea’ print on the body of the toothpaste. It also has the symbol of Darlie, a head portrait. Secondly, in this print, the body copy is the main point. The picture shows that a toothbrush sends out a ray of tea aroma. And the most important is that the tea aroma uses a figure of teapot. And in the teapot, it prints One Chinese word‘cha‘which is written by Chinese style. This advertisement can be used to two media vehicles, the print media and the support media.Magazines and newspapers are two types of the print media. And there are many types of the support media, like outdoor advertising, aerial advertising, transit advertising, promotional products, and yellow pages advertising and so on. The designed picture can be enlarged or narrowed according to different sizes.5. 2 Evaluation of the creative strategyIn this report, the target consumers of Darlie is people who like tea aroma and want to fresh breath. And Darlie toothpaste is belonging to the low-involvement hierarchy of customer response process.It means that the involvement in buying Darlie is low. Besides, Haolai Company is not as well-funded as Procter & Gamble. So it does not have enough funds to input in advertisement. So this creative strategy for print advertising has its own advantages and disadvantages. First at all, the tea fragrance of Darlie toothpaste i s one of the most important advantages. It is a specific smell and taste which other toothpastes have. It has good effects on creating awareness among the target market. Besides, the advertisements on magazines can be accepted by consumers more easily.Most audiences pay much attention to the magazine when they read it. Toothpaste is a low-involvement product, while magazines can express the information about the product to the target market effectively. In addition, it saves the cost. It does not need Celebrity endorsements and TV ads, which is expensive. While there are also some disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is current market saturation. Too many companies select to use advertising medium. The Darlie toothpaste’s promotional products may be ignored by consumers. Besides, TV ads appear more frequent than print adverting.The print ads can not impress the consumers repeat by repeat in a short time. Moreover, it lacks of the effect of celebrity, which make low brand l oyalty.6.0 CONCLUSIONSAfter analyzing the current market of the Darlie toothpaste, it can be concluded that:6.1 The current marketing situation of Darlie toothpaste, the including the background about the company, market share, the introduction about the product , competitive analysis, the Darlie toothpaste’s target market and Darlie’s positioning strategy.6. 2 Three promotional elements of the IMC mix have been used in the report.Advertising, sales promotion and interactive/ internet marketing, the IMC program such as the low-involvement hierarchy and the Darlie toothpaste’s IMC objectives have been discussed in the report.6.3 Developing the Darlie toothpaste’s IMC plan. New promotional tool and major selling idea has been made.6.4 Implementation and evaluation of the creative strategy7.0 RECOMMENDATIONIt is recommended that:7. 1 As a low-involvement product, the company should pay more attention to the brand when advertising on mass media.7. 2 Personal selling is as a new promotional tool for Darlie toothpaste.The company should strength the communication between consumers and sellers.7. 3 Free samples and bundling can be used. And the company can promote the toothbrushes in the supermarkets by setting an experience place for attract more consumers. The company should develop specific taste and efficacy of toothpaste, according to the customer's dental health and taste preferences. Besides, good after-sales service for audiences is necessary.7. 4 The new creative strategy for print advertising can be used. It can build the Darlie toothpaste‘s image of fresh breath.

Marketing Project (Jeans) Essay

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Paige Premium Denim is one of the world’s leading denim brands with its signature â€Å"perfect fit† and unmatched variety of styles that flatter the body. Paige Premium Denim was founded in 2004 by fit model Paige Adams-Geller on the principle that you don’t have to be a size zero to look great and feel great in a pair of designer jeans. Committed to using the highest quality materials, the denim line infuses considered, unexpected details into each and every design, combines Southern California casual with pure sophistication. Since the fit model known for having â€Å"the best butt in the business†, soon became known as the designer who makes â€Å"the best butt jeans† in the business. She used her expertise and unique values to create the â€Å"perfect fitting jean.†1 Promising its clientele style they can make all their own, the brand has become a favorite among fashion influencers due to its impeccable styling, exceptional fit and fabric innovation. In constant development, Paige Denim has successfully created an inclusive, complete, and quality label; Paige products are sold in select, high-end retailers and specialty boutiques throughout the world.2 This report will analyze how Paige Premium Denim uses the 4 P’s of product, price, place, and promotion to deliver a quality product to its target market. Target Market The target market can be classified as simply as celebrity style. Geographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim brand of jeans was created in the US and is focused around women who are located in California and surrounding area, and where jean trends are highly changing. The market numbers for this area are quite high as the climate doesn’t change with the seasons. With innovated technology and the ability to ship products worldwide, Paige Premium Denim is sold in 80 countries where jeans trends are highly sought after, such as London, England, and Pairs, France. Demographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim targets women between the ages of 18-50 with a healthy lifestyle and an above average income. Generally these women have purchasing power with dominate careers and driven oriented in the fashion industry. Women who are still highly involved in family values are a prime target for this brand of jeans, especially North American women who value their health, career and family. Psychographic Segmentation: Paige Premium Denim is an advocate of healthy and positive self-image. It focuses on a status that allows women to feel like a celebrity. Trend setting actresses such as: Blake Lively, Katie Holmes, and Sarah Jessica Parker wear Paige jeans and allows for them to set trends to their followers.3 This product gives women the opportunity to wear celebrity clothing and in turn have a sense of status. Benefit Segmentation: The idea of making such a high quality product for women gives them the sense of purpose; and that by purchasing Paige jeans the benefit they will receive is a sense of being a part of a celebrity trend setting genre. It gives a sense a power and confidence that each pair of jeans is designed with the customer in mind and fulfills that sense of purpose by feeling great once wearing them.4 Usage-Rate Segmentation: Jeans are a top article of clothing found in any person’s wardrobe not just women; however when it comes to clothing the market adapts to women’s needs in terms of usage and purchasing power. Once a new product is developed by Paige Premium Denim; loyal brand followers tend to purchase the product as soon as it comes available.† It is delivered as a ‘must have’ new item† says Marc, the owner of â€Å"The Art of Denim† clothing store in downtown Guelph, Ontario. Product Strategy As the first woman to break into the male-dominated denim world, the â€Å"jeanius† of fit-model-turned-designer; the brand founder, Paige Adams-Geller, designs Paige Denim with her uniquely feminine perspective and fifteen years of â€Å"behind the seams† experience to create a denim brand that is designed by a woman that focused specifically on the desires of a woman. The product promises that every style delivers a drop dead fit and each style is designed with the customer in mind. Fabrics used include: denim/ twill, fencel/ knit, corduroy, and coated leather.5 Paige uses only the finest fabrics and materials while each design is infused with thought and considered elements of women’s bodies. Styles include: ultra-skinny fit, skinny, straight leg, cropped, boot cut, flare, wide leg, curvy, petite, extra-long, and maternity fits. Paige jean’s goal is for women to have a tighter thigh area to create the look of a lifted backside, and while it is effective; it isn’t always the most comfortable. Paige Denim is committed to using the highest quality materials and infusing, unexpected details into each and every design. For example, in the skinny leg style the back right pocket has a tiny pocket sewn into it that a credit card or ID card fits perfectly into. This allows women who are tend not to carry hand bags the opportunity to have a pair of jeans that will fit their needs. Colour is never just navy blue for Paige denim. It is, however; washed in dark, medium, and light denim, as well as non-traditional colours for denim such as red. Paige is from Alaska, and during her time when she visits, that when her inspiration takes place.6 The culture brings in different colours to experiment with as well as texture and materials. Size range from 23 to 34 waistband size or some labels can be read as, XS (extra small), S (small), M (medium), and L (large). Paige jeans do come in a more extended range of sizes, such as its maternity fits with elastic waistbands. The length of each pair is also important; they range from 30 to 34 in length or from petite to tall. 7 Labelling is another important aspect for Paige jeans as they have re-launched its design to fit the growth of the company, as shown in Figure 1. Labelling is the one element of those changes. Here is the labels and tags in comparison to the original ones. Old Paige Tag New Paige Tag

The Life and Times of Archery Essays

The Life and Times of Archery Essays The Life and Times of Archery Essay The Life and Times of Archery Essay The Life and Times of Archery Introduction Have you ever shot a bow, would you like to? Well I really love to shoot a bow and hunt with one. Preview Today I would like to take you through the history of archery throughout the centuries. I’m going to give you three main points about archery; early bows, how bows were used in Europe throughout the middle ages and how archery has evolved today. Transition: The bow is born I. Early bows. The earliest bows known to date were discovered in what is today Africa. They were simple and made from small saplings and were stung with animal sinew, which is dried animal guts. The Chinese made bows out of bamboo and were strung with vines, needless to say these bows weren’t very accurate or effective. When used for hunting they injured many more animals than they would have actually killed. They had very simple feather fletching and crude stone or flint arrowheads. The bow was what came to replace the spear and when used together they cave early people a huge advantage in hunting. This was the main use for early bows. Transition: There is a new need for the bow. II. The bows use throughout the middle ages in Europe As the middle ages came, uses for the bow changed dramatically. Rather than hunting, bows were now being used in war to kill other people instead of animals. Bow designs changed as well they got longer and were made from heavier larger pieces of wood. This was to increase range and killing ability. These new bows could be as long as or taller than the archer himself, and were ironically called â€Å"longbows†. long lines of bowmen played a key role in warfare at this time and charging troops could be wiped-out very quickly. Bows also proved very effective when they were used by soldiers riding horses or riding in chariots. In England the use of the bow started to hit a decline somewhere in the 15th century. This was mainly caused by a shortage of wood for making the bows. A grown supply of wood was needed to ensure that the bow could stay in use. So the yew tree was grown in many areas. According to library. think quest. org, Charles VII, ordered that yew trees were to be grown in every Normandy churchyard, and the British who were large consumers of yew wood, made a trade agreement with Italy because Italian yew was the highest quality wood. Despite being an ancient weapon it has held a strong military significance in several countries until modern times. Transition: Archery†¦an American sport. III. Archery is a modern sport. Archery as a sport had a late arrival to America. The United Bowmen, which was founded in 1828 is where archery as a sport was rooted in American history. This Philadelphia based club still exists today. The sports popularity grew quite fast and soon in 1879 the National Archery Assn. was founded. Unfortunately the depression that soon followed all but stopped archeries growth. Fortunately shortly after the depression ended the growth kicked off right where it ended. Interest in archery grew along with techniques in bow making, scientists started to create new ways to make bows and the material of choice was laminated fiberglass. This hade a huge impact on the speed and accuracy of bows because the faster you can shoot an arrow makes the bow shoot a tighter group. Archery became an Olympic sport in 1900 at the Paris games. The only thing shot were hay targets and all competitors shot longbows. Unfortunately Olympic popularity in archery all but went away by the 1920 games. But in 1970 it was again set as an Olympic event for both men and women. The stands at the 1984 Olympics were filled to capacity with fans wanting to watch the archery event. Advances in archery have continued to increase at staggering rate. Transition: What’s next? Conclusion: Archery has been around for thousands and thousands of years and has been one of the most diverse activities, wheatear you are holing off a charging infantry, killing a deer, or winning the gold for your country it will survive for generations to come. Bibliography: www. library. thinkquest. org/archeryhistory

This is Your Platform

This is Your Platform Jane Friedman is a brilliant woman in the publishing world. Shed been editor of Writers Digest and the Virginia Quarterly. Now shes just an in-demand guru, and trust me, I read everything of hers that comes across my screen. One of her most famous posts on her blog is A Definition of Author Platform https://janefriedman.com/author-platform-definition/   Platform building requires consistent, ongoing effort over the course of a career. It also means making incremental improvements in extending your network. It’s about making waves that attract other people to you - not about begging others to pay attention. The following list is not exhaustive, but helps give you an idea of how platform can grow. 1) Publishing or distributing quality work in outlets you want to be identified with and that your target audience reads. 2) Producing a body of work on your own platform - e.g., blog, e-mail newsletter, social network, podcast, video, digital downloads, etc- that gathers quality followers or a community of people who are interested in what you have to say. This is usually a longterm process. 3) Speaking at and/or attending events where you meet new people and extend your network of contacts. 4) Finding meaningful ways to engage with and develop your target audience, whether through content, events, online marketing/promotion, etc. 5) Partnering with peers or influencers to tackle a new project and/or extend your visibility. I have taught classes on platform, and the most common confusion I see across those seas of faces is how to clearly define what platform  is, so that those writers can follow some magical formula to get it. Its not a well-defined path. Here is my definition of platform: 1) Platform is you and your work and the magnetism it has on the public. 2) Add to that your ability to develop a reputation. 3) And finally add to that your ability to maintain a momentum, because platform isnt something you build and expect it to remain structurally sound forever. Platform is a long-term goal. Jane summarizes it as An ability to sell books because of who you are or who you can reach. Yes, thats spot on. But theres also an unspoken understanding that platform cant erode. Platform has no laurels to rest upon . . . you have to work with it every day to keep it alive and well.

Dont Name Your Character Mary Sue

Dont Name Your Character Mary Sue Don’t Name Your Character Mary Sue Don’t Name Your Character Mary Sue By Mark Nichol Are your lead characters a menagerie of Mary Sues? A Mary Sue is a walking clichà ©, unrealistically flawless and therefore flat and boring a hero in your story, but a villain in your efforts to create well-rounded characters. The label for this trope is from a character in a fan-fiction Star Trek parody featuring a winsome but tiresome teenage hero by that name. The story poked fun at the adolescent (or adolescent-minded) authors of fan fiction who create characters often idealized self-representations notably lacking in personality flaws and seemingly incapable of making mistakes. The result, invariably, is a dull Dudley (or Dolly) Do-Right. But wait, you protest some of the most memorable characters in storytelling traditions have been Mary Sues! What about all the heroes of folk tales and fairytales? What about the central figures in Horatio Alger Hiss rags-to-riches stories and the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries? What about icons of the small and big screens like Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker? There’s no law against coaxing a Mary Sue to life in any creative medium. But recognize that the presence of a gosh-and-golly go-getter is an element that marks the framing narrative as pulp fiction. If you want to produce pulp, have at it; the demand for it is insatiable. But if you wish to be taken seriously as a writer, understand that realistic characters those with hopes and dreams and desires, yes, but also with doubts and faults and weaknesses are full of depth and dimension. Characters who always know what to do and what to say, who always do the right thing, are less appealing, because we are less likely to see our own imperfect selves reflected in them. A faultless character is, like a story free of conflict, a flimsy basis for a good story. Tales appeal to us because we empathize with people who fail but then get up, dust themselves off, and try again, because that’s what we do every day, and that’s what builds our character. If your name is Mary Sue, you never fall and you (and the story that surrounds you) can therefore never truly be admired. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of AdjectivesBody Parts as Tools of Measurement10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

Financial Reporting Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial Reporting - Coursework Example Therefore, this is a positive perspective that has greatly contributed to the company’s success. Tesco plc has a market share of around 30 %. It is the second largest supermarket in terms of revenues after Walmart. The company targets the general public with its goods and services. It made an expansion and is currently offering financial services via Banking. The bank is known as Tesco Bank. Lastly, Tesco company is a publicly traded Company on the London Stock Exchange. The company’s share prices for 2011, 2012 and 2013 were  £ 425,  £ 391and  £ 336. Therefore, this paper contains analyses on the Company’s financial performance for two years, that is, (2012 and 2013), profitability analysis, leverage analysis, efficiency ratios, investment analysis, and analysis of the segmental performance and lastly, the analysis of the company’s accounting policies for goodwill and other intangible assets. Return on capital employed (ROCE) – capital employed is total assets – current liabilities. Therefore, return on capital employed ratio indicates the return generated by every pound invested as capital employed. Concerning the case study, in 2012 and 2013, ROCE for Tesco PLC was 8.9% and 0.38% respectively. This means that in 2012, 8.9% of the company’s net profit was generated by the company’s capital employed. However, the company’s ROCE decreased in the year 2013 due to a sharp reduction in the net profit. The profitability level decreased because loss for the year from discontinued operations increased by  £ 916 million (Duncan 2009, pp. 42-44). Gross profit margin – the ratio indicates a company’s financial health after meeting the cost of sales. It also indicates the company’s ability to pay for future operating costs. Concerning Tesco PLC, the ratio for 2012 and 2013 are 8.4% and 6.3% respectively. This means that in the year 2013, 6.3 % of the

The Worlds Water Supply Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Worlds Water Supply - Essay Example Will human have ample potable drinking water? What will be the effect of changes in water supply in the world food supply? These are some of the concerns this research aims to address together with present the current trends and future prediction of the world’s water supply. World’s water can be divided into two main classifications, namely salt water and fresh water. Majority of the world’s water supply is salt water, which comprises 97.5 percent of the total world’s water. Table 1 illustrates the classifications of water. Only the freshwater are usable by human and 70% of the fresh water in the glaciers and unusable. Table 2 shows the usage of the fresh water in the world. Evidently, majority of the exploitable water supply is used in agriculture, which includes irrigation and other food production process. However, most studies do not include possible water shortage in their analysis of food shortages (Seckler and Seckler, 1998). This is an alarming concern. Water is needed in the production of food, such as irrigation for the crops and other staple foods. Without factoring in water shortage to the current projection of food shortage, different scholars are already worried with the results, what more if they include water shortage in the projection. Table 3 gives an idea about the access to potable water and proper sanitation. In addition to this figures, Simonic (2002) and World Health Organization assessed that more or less 1.1 billion individuals in third world countries has no capacity to obtain or cannot have healthy drinkable water. While 2.4 billion of the world population is does not have ample water for sanitation (WHO, 2002). Moreover, 1.8 million individuals, of whom 90% are children below five years of age, die each year due to water-related cases. Another alarming concern is pointed out by the study of Jenerette and Larsen (2006) which argues that guaranteeing enough water supplies to more than 50 percent of the

Contrast and compare occupational therapist and registered nurse Essay

Contrast and compare occupational therapist and registered nurse - Essay Example A Registered Nurse (RN), on the other hand is a professional qualified to perform health care and practice nursing through assessment, planning and implementation of the required level of nursing for the sick and injured. While therapists concentrate more on physical rehabilitation, disabilities in learning and improving mental health, registered nurses are widely associated with the care, medication and health maintenance of a patient. â€Å"Nurses do a lot of chores that occupational therapists don’t have time for. This includes feeding, bathing, administering oral, subcutaneous, injectable and IV medications (Gavin R, 2008). Gavin R (2008), a retired nurse, also pointed out that nurses tend to the cleaning of wounds, console and comfort the patients and are a vital cog in medical emergencies. They can also assist the surgeons if there is a need. They keep all lengthy records and progress reports and also influence charting down of treatment and progress plans. Gavin (2008) further emphasised that a therapist’s job is not that easy but it does not contain the variations that a nursing job has; a therapist normally devises rehabilitation plans on the basis of well-known methods. Nursing is mainly controlled and regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in the UK. It lays down all of the things that a person needs to do to qualify as a registered nurse and stay registered. To work as a registered nurse, the person must complete an education program that is recognized by NMC and meet the required standard proficiency level. This includes completing a degree or a diploma from a university offering a course in the chosen speciality. This leads to an academic award and professional registration as a 1st level registered nurse. These courses are normally three to four years long and are a 50/50 split between learning in university, and practicing patient care in a hospital or community

Supporting parents through the experience of their childs cancer Dissertation

Supporting parents through the experience of their childs cancer treatment - Dissertation Example In this case, the study focuses on the support rendered to the parents of a child with cancer, which according to numerous researches they normally undergo both disheartening and distressful experiences (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). This is especially when they watch their children experience painful incidences on daily basis with little knowledge on how to alleviate it or help them (Kars et al. 2008). Consequently, in this situation parents end up experiencing depression, stress and shock (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). The latter (shock) characterizes parents of newly diagnosed children with cancer, which persists almost throughout the entire treatment period though there are strategies by varied entities meant to help them. These encompass instituting support mechanisms for both the parents and children during the long-term treatment period (Yun-Shan & Verklan, 2008). They embrace availing adequate information to the parents or the guardians, supporting their coping strategies/m echanisms (like fellowshipping together) and intervening where possible with the necessary support (Ferrandis et al. 2008). Availing adequate information to the parents goes beyond imparting them with literature about cancer but equipping them with the necessary knowledge regarding what is affecting their children (Rogers, 2011). Therefore, this entails effective parent-clinician communication intended to give caregivers psychological peace (Clarke & Neil, 2010). However, due to certain factors in the medical institutions, this has somehow failed. This is evident with confusions that the parents have experienced when dealing with diverse pediatricians handling their children cases, whereby they seem to have contradicting ideas concerning their children’s cancer predicaments. Consequently, this leaves parents with doubt regarding the expertise of the oncologists tackling their child’s health predicament (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). This study seeks to highlight exper iences of parents having a child with cancer, how they react to stress (based on gender), their coping mechanisms and effectiveness of varied strategies meant to support parents through the treatment period. Rationale The topic is essential in relation to my field as a pediatrician whereby its core focus entails highlighting the epidemic of child cancer and what their parents experience. Mostly, this encompasses support mechanisms so far instituted by varied related authorities aimed at helping parent manage child cancer as well as granting them the necessary psychological peace (Wills, 2009). The recent aspect that has prompted me to contact this study was to ascertain; the state of parent-clinician communication in the medical field and forms implement to impart parent with the necessary information (Clarke & Neil, 2010). The latter encompass developments, which pediatricians have devised and stated as effective in their quest to impart parents with adequate knowledge regarding ca ncer, which is through leaflets besides utilizing electronic media (Rogers, 2011). Relevance of the Study The topic, which is about support given to parents during their child’s long-term treatment, is among numerous duties that are within the area of my specialization. Definitions The study utilizes the word â€Å"ailing† instead of â€Å"suffering†. Since, the latter has a wide scope of definitions and implications compared to â€Å"

Classroom management plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Classroom management plan - Essay Example Having the appropriate atmosphere for every student to study is the teacher’s main goal of enforcing best classroom management. Without the peaceful environment students will not be able to learn. Discipline Philosophy This season the district has incorporated classroom rules in all of the schools. As an observer during the first two days I learnt a lot that will assist me evaluate my philosophy for the teaching career a head. As a teacher I have placed a lot of emphasis in considering the values and beliefs concerning discipline and personal management style and the social objectives for the students.The objective is to arrange the logistic of the classroom so that the students in the classroom become student-centred instead of becoming teacher-centred. In order to be very organized the structure of the classroom need to vary, which allows change to be done to parts of the plan from one year to another (Elena et al, 2007 P. 64). One of the key rules is to show respect to ever ybody and accommodating their differences. Every student have his or her own way of learning, and creating an appreciation for those differences will be important in building a safe and peaceful classroom community.From the knowledge gained in classroom what as a teacher I view as main components classroom management plan have receive a great influence. I have view the two sides of the spectrum in ways of structure. A classroom was more structured with the structure dominating the classroom and studying was not going on. Another room was complete chaos and the instructor had lost control over his students, and he did not mind to come up with structure to improve their learning. The view of discipline in the classroom entails all of the skills an individual have had in various classroom setting. There must be a clear understanding of the structure by the teacher as well having valid concern entailing the well-being of the students. If a teacher can understand his individual values on classroom structure, he will create a very reliable management plan that he can use. The classroom experience changes the instructors way to the type of rules he chooses for the classroom. For instance, the teacher may think that one of the main rules, which cannot be negotiated, is for every student to be in school on time. The same teacher my later realize how problematic and narrow-minded the idea is when considering various schools. He can learn that such rule should not exist, as he would be putting students, most of whom have no means of controlling their morning arrival due to a guardian driver, at a disadvantage. In addition the teacher needs to be honest like the saying ‘Honest is the policy’. The instructor should become honest and show respect to those that are also honest. He should, therefore, make a classroom community where every student understands that becoming honest is the best (Sprick, 2010 P. 103). Moreover, they should learn that lying is not a me ans for escaping out of a problem of for getting a conflict resolved. Having this skills and expectation, the instructor will move into his classroom understanding the kind of person he his. He will also know how he will use his life experiences to assist him to be a guide for his students’ educational experience. Rules/Reward/Consequences Consequential management is an agreed measure in ensuring that students attain their set objectives. It is a positive measure as it serves to provide the student informed

Supporting parents through the experience of their childs cancer Dissertation

Supporting parents through the experience of their childs cancer treatment - Dissertation Example In this case, the study focuses on the support rendered to the parents of a child with cancer, which according to numerous researches they normally undergo both disheartening and distressful experiences (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). This is especially when they watch their children experience painful incidences on daily basis with little knowledge on how to alleviate it or help them (Kars et al. 2008). Consequently, in this situation parents end up experiencing depression, stress and shock (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). The latter (shock) characterizes parents of newly diagnosed children with cancer, which persists almost throughout the entire treatment period though there are strategies by varied entities meant to help them. These encompass instituting support mechanisms for both the parents and children during the long-term treatment period (Yun-Shan & Verklan, 2008). They embrace availing adequate information to the parents or the guardians, supporting their coping strategies/m echanisms (like fellowshipping together) and intervening where possible with the necessary support (Ferrandis et al. 2008). Availing adequate information to the parents goes beyond imparting them with literature about cancer but equipping them with the necessary knowledge regarding what is affecting their children (Rogers, 2011). Therefore, this entails effective parent-clinician communication intended to give caregivers psychological peace (Clarke & Neil, 2010). However, due to certain factors in the medical institutions, this has somehow failed. This is evident with confusions that the parents have experienced when dealing with diverse pediatricians handling their children cases, whereby they seem to have contradicting ideas concerning their children’s cancer predicaments. Consequently, this leaves parents with doubt regarding the expertise of the oncologists tackling their child’s health predicament (Boman, Bjork & Lindahl, 2003). This study seeks to highlight exper iences of parents having a child with cancer, how they react to stress (based on gender), their coping mechanisms and effectiveness of varied strategies meant to support parents through the treatment period. Rationale The topic is essential in relation to my field as a pediatrician whereby its core focus entails highlighting the epidemic of child cancer and what their parents experience. Mostly, this encompasses support mechanisms so far instituted by varied related authorities aimed at helping parent manage child cancer as well as granting them the necessary psychological peace (Wills, 2009). The recent aspect that has prompted me to contact this study was to ascertain; the state of parent-clinician communication in the medical field and forms implement to impart parent with the necessary information (Clarke & Neil, 2010). The latter encompass developments, which pediatricians have devised and stated as effective in their quest to impart parents with adequate knowledge regarding ca ncer, which is through leaflets besides utilizing electronic media (Rogers, 2011). Relevance of the Study The topic, which is about support given to parents during their child’s long-term treatment, is among numerous duties that are within the area of my specialization. Definitions The study utilizes the word â€Å"ailing† instead of â€Å"suffering†. Since, the latter has a wide scope of definitions and implications compared to â€Å"

Comparative democratisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparative democratisation - Essay Example The death of Franco elevated Dan Juan Carlos de Bourbon to the monarchy. Until Franco's death, Juan Carlos had discreetly stood in the background and served to follow the dictator's plan. However once in power as king of Spain Juan Carlos facilitated the development of the current political system, as his father, Don Juan de Bourbon had advocated since 1946. Juan Carlos began his reign without leaving the confines of Franco's legal system. As such he swore fidelity to the principles of the movement national, the sole legal party of the Franco era. He took possession of the crown before the Francoist Cortes Generales and respected Ley Organica del Estado (the organic law of the state) for the appointment of his first head of government. He showed the beginning of transition through his speech before the Cortes. The first government of Juan Carlos was presided over by Carlos Arias Navarro. The king made this appointment in accordance with the guidelines of the 1966 Ley organica Del Estado (organic law of the state). However in July 1976, as Prime Minister Arias Navarro continued to delay reform and object to democratisation, King Juan Carlos demanded his resignation. Fernandez Miranda, as president of the council of the kingdom, obtained Adolfo Suarez's placements on the new list of three candidates for head of the government. The king chose Suarez because he felt he would be able to meet the challenge of the would be political process that lay ahead. Adolfo Suarez quickly presented a clear program based on how two points; (a) The development of a law for political reform that once approved by the Cortes and Spanish public in a referendum would open the constituent process for creating a liberal democracy in Spain. (b) A call for democratic elections in June 1977, in order to elect a Cortes that would be charged with drawing up a new democratic constitution. Despite all difficulties from the army and opposition Suarez's project went underway without delay between July 1976 and June 1977. The draft of the law for political reform (Ley para la Reforma politiza) written by Torcuato Fernandez Miranda was approved by the Suarez Government in September 1976. This law was debated throughout the month of November by Cortes under the presidency of Fernandez-Miranda. It was approved with 425 votes in favour, 598 against and 13 abstentions. The Suarez government wanted to gain further legitimacy for the changes through a popular referendum with 77.72 % participation rate. 94% of the voters voted in favour of the changes to add to his credibility Suarez, freed 400 prisoners in July 1976. He also granted blanket amnesty in May same year. In December 1976, he disbanded the Tribunal de Order Publica (TOP), a sort of Francoist secret police. He legalized the right to strike, with the right to unionize being granted a month after Suarez initiated political contact with the opposition by meeting Felipe Gonzalez, secretary general of the PSOE in 1976. However the big problem was for po litical normalization was the legalization of the communist party of Spain (Partido communista de Espania). PCE's secretary general, Santiago Carrillo's offer of a "social pact" pushed Suarez to take the riskiest step of transition by legalizing PCE in April 1977. To resolve the difficulty of a group of hard -liner Francoist led by Jose Antonio Giron, Suarez centered on General Diez Alegria. He decided to give the members this group the

Dickinson and William Cullen Bryant, Contemplation of Death Essay Example for Free

Dickinson and William Cullen Bryant, Contemplation of Death Essay Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the world paid witness to an intellectual and philosophical revolution that forever changed the perception of life itself. The Great Awakening caused people to become more in tune with their spiritual self, and the Great Enlightenment caused people to question, to think, and to pursue the unknown. This new wave of thinking, helped writers of the Romantic and Transcendent era, such as William Cullen Bryant, and Emily Dickinson, express their feelings of life. Thanatopsis†, by William Cullen Bryant, and â€Å"Because I could Not Stop for Death†, by Emily Dickinson, both exemplify the indisputable facts, that death is an inevitable, natural part of life, and there is no reason to be afraid of death. Even though the two poems both share the same underlying themes, they are presented in different ways. William Cullen Bryant and Emily Dickinson both perpetuated their belief that death is inevitable, but in very different ways. In â€Å"Thanatopsis†, by William Cullen Bryant, he expresses that death inevitable, by explaining that eventually, everyone dies, and that it is essentially part of a â€Å"life cycle†. Death is inevitable no matter whom you are, and everyone will die. He accentuates this idea when he says, â€Å"Thou shalt lie down with patriarchs of the infant world – with kings, the powerful of the earth, the wise the good † (Lines 33- 35). Cullen uses this line to say that no matter who you are, everyone has the same fate. We all end up the same, as he says in lines 25-28, â€Å"Thine individual being, shalt though go, to mix forever with the elements, to be a brother of the insensible rock†. Dickinson, however, presents her belief that death is natural in a completely different way. Dickinson believed that death was a part of the cycle of death. In lines 9-12, Dickinson stated, â€Å"We passed the School, where Children strove, at Recess- in the Ring – We passed the Fields of Grazing Grain – We passed the setting sun†. These lines are metaphors for the stages of life, from childhood to maturity to old age and then death. Dickinson presented those metaphors, to say that her â€Å"carriage ride with death†, was just another stage. We all are once young, we all will grow, and we will all die. Another difference between the two authors expressing that life is inevitable is that Bryant simply believes â€Å"shalt though go mix forever with the elements†, while Dickinson believes, â€Å"Were toward eternity†. Bryant believes that death is final, and Dickinson is perhaps more religious, and believes that there is still life after death. Even though William Cullen Bryant and Dickinson got their point across in different ways, they both were able to express their belief that death is certain. Even though Bryant and Dickinson have very different writing styles, they both further accentuate their belief that death is inevitable by writing about how life is short. Bryant writes about how life is short in lines 17-20 when he says, â€Å"Yet a few days, and thee all beholding sun shall see now more†. This means that in just a short amount of time, you will no longer be here, your life will end, and your â€Å"sun† will burn out, ceasing to exist. There is no way around it. Dickinson is able to express this idea, in a completely different way. From lines 14- 16 Dickinson said, â€Å" The Dews drew quivering and chill ,For only Gossamer, my Gown , My Tippet , only Tule â€Å". When Dickinson says this, she is using her clothing to have an even deeper meaning; A Gossamer is a thin, light cloth, and â€Å"my tippet, my tule†, means that â€Å"my shawl was only a fine net cloth†. She dressed lightly, even though it was cold out, ( â€Å" the dews drew quivering and chill† ) because it would not take death long to take her on the carriage ride, watching her life pass her by. Life is short, and death is inevitable. The carriage ride throughout her life will come to an end, which is why she did not dress properly. Although Bryant and Dickinson have very different writing styles, they are both able to express how they believe that death is inevitable by writing about how life is short. Usually, when an author writes about death, the writing is dark, and brooding. However, â€Å"Thanatopsis†, and â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death†, both offer solace that death is nothing to fear. William Cullen Bryant says we are to live so that when it is time for us to die; we should not fight it, but welcome it. We should not be afraid like a slave at night in a dungeon but instead we should be sustained an soothed with an unfaltering trust approaching our grave like one who wraps the covers from his bed around him and lies down to pleasant dreams, as Bryant says from lines 73 – 81, â€Å"So live, that when thy summons comes to join , The innumerable caravan, which moves , To that mysterious realm, where each shall take , His chamber in the silent halls of death,  Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed, By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave , Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. â€Å" Bryant is simply saying that we should welcome death, and look forward to it, for it is nothing to fear. Dickinson is able to offer solace by personifying death from lines 1-8, â€Å" Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me, the carriage held but just ourselves, and immortality, we slowly drove, he knew no haste, and I had put away, my labor and my leisure too , for his civility. Dickinson personifies death as a kind, civil man. He waited for her, did not rush her, and he respected her. Dickinson personifies death as a gentleman; to express that death should not be feared, because there is no reason to be afraid. Although many writings about death are very dark, and pessimistic, â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death†, are both very comforting, but in very different ways. The new wave of thinking during the 19th centuries, helped Romantic and Transcendent era authors such as William Cullen Bryant, and Emily Dickinson express their thoughts of death, in a way that it had not previously been expressed. â€Å"Thanatopsis† and â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† both exemplify the same indisputable facts, that death is an inevitable, natural part of life, and there is no reason to be afraid of death. Even though the two poems both share the same underlying themes, they are presented in different ways. Bryant accentuates his belief that death is inevitable saying that eventually, we all die, no matter whether royalty, or a peasant. Dickinson is able to do this by giving a metaphor to various stages of life, which is to say, that death is just another stage. Death is part of the cycle. Bryant also pointed out that life is short, by giving an analogy to not seeing the sun any more. Dickinson did this by stating that she was underdressed for her ride passing through her life, because it was short, and she knew she would soon die, and go onwards towards eternity. Both Bryant and Dickinson offer solace about death. Bryant offers solace by saying that there is no need to worry, but that we should embrace it. Dickinson offers solace by personifying death, calling him civil, and kind, to accentuate her belief that there is nothing to fear. William Cullen Bryant and Emily Dickinson were two of the greatest writers of their time, and both wrote about the same underlying themes, but expressed them in completely different ways.

Financial Analysis for Mining Project

Financial Analysis for Mining Project Definition of Project Finance Financial institutions use a particular type of lending known as project finance when funding a developing mining project. The loan is repaid from the cash flows generated by the project with no recourse, or only limited recourse, to the company as a whole. In non-recourse lending, no tangible assets exist until the operation is brought into production. Clearly the lender will be exposed to all the risks associated with the project which could result in revenue being insufficient to service debt. Banks will thus always take a conservative stance when evaluating the economic viability of a project and may look to the project sponsor to provide corporate guarantees for the loan. If the sponsor is a junior company with little or no collateral, the role of government-backed guarantees becomes important. Project finance is not readily available to junior companies with proven deposits but no operating production. These companies may instead generate funds from the equity market to bring the project to the stage of being a viable operation. Once steady cash flows have been established, debt finance then becomes both possible and attractive and is used to develop the project to its optimum potential. Project finance is also used to develop a particular component of well established operations, such as new mining equipment, the rehabilitation of old or the sinking of new shaft systems, or upgrading of a treatment plant. Why Project Finance? Mining projects are capital-intensive ventures with an inherently high risk, and as such are often not deemed sufficiently creditworthy to obtain traditional financing. The project sponsors may be unwilling to carry the risks and assume the debt obligations associated with traditional financing even if it is available. Project finance is an attractive alternative as it allows the risks associated with the project to be shared with the principal lender. The main advantage of non-recourse funding is that the sponsor has no obligation to service the debt if cash flows generated through mining operations are insufficient to cover the principal and interest payments on the loan. The lender has the security of a collateral guarantee from the sponsor and an economic completion test (ECT) if a project is being developed from the feasibility stage. An ECT acts as a safeguard for the lender against any flaws in the feasibility study encountered during the construction phase and over the start-up period of the project. Once the project has passed the ECT then the guarantee falls away, and the only asset the bank can claim is the actual cash flow itself. Sponsors typically seek to finance the development and construction costs of a mining project on a highly geared basis, often around 60% to 70% debt. Such financing permits the sponsor to put fewer funds at risk and develop the project without diluting its equity investment in the venture. Project finance can also lead to reductions in the cost of capital, as lower cost, tax-deductible interest is used rather than higher cost, taxable returns on equity. Financing should be structured to maximise tax benefits and ensure that all available tax benefits are taken advantage of by the sponsor. Project Financing Participants Sponsor/Developer The sponsor or developer of a mining project is the organising body that controls and has an equity interest in the company or other entity that owns the project. In mining projects there is often more than one sponsor, and these will normally join together under a joint-venture agreement to form a single corporation/partnership that will essentially function as the project owner. A joint-venture agreement must be carefully drawn up with legal involvement and must clearly state the respective rights and responsibilities to the project of the parties involved. Lender The lender of project financing is a financial institution or group of financial institutions that provide the capital loan to the project company. Lenders are usually corporate investment banking groups, though NGO involvement in project finance is important in developing world countries. Due to the non-recourse nature of project finance, the lender takes a security interest in all of the project assets. Government If the sponsor is a junior company with little or no collateral, governments may be required to provide the lender with a guarantee on the loan. This practice is particularly common in the former Soviet Union region, where formerly state-owned projects now seeking to develop in the private sector are backed by national governments in their applications for project finance. An Introduction to Modelling Metal Project Finance February 1, 2010 Schedule to Project Finance The development of a project to the stage where project finance becomes viable involves going through the following stages: resource definition drilling of exploration target; preliminary feasibility study; further project development expenditure; full feasibility study; and information memorandum. Preliminary Feasibility Study Once an economic mineral resource has been identified by an exploration group, a preliminary feasibility study is undertaken by a small group of experienced professionals to determine if further expenditure on the project is justified. The foundation of the pre-feasibility study is the development of a geological model which forms the basis of the reserve estimation. Geostatistical techniques can then be applied to determine if the deposit has been correctly sampled and provide an indication of the uncertainty associated with the estimated grade. The whole integrity of a project will be called into question if the geostatisticians have to place any qualification on the reliability of the sampling programme. Once the geometric form and size of the deposit and the concentration of the mineral have been established, an initial design for the mine and mineral processing stages can be considered. It is particularly important that the rate of production should be on a scale which is appropriate to the size of the ore body. A mine life much in excess of 10 years does not enhance the net present value (NPV) of the project, while too short a mine life does not permit adequate return on capital. A simple discounted cash flow analysis based on some broadly based engineering assumptions can then be set up, provided the reserve estimation is reliable. This will establish the overall financial viability of the project and allows a basic sensitivity analysis to be undertaken. Full Feasibility Study Most junior companies do not have the resources required to meet the high cost of generating all the data needed to undertake a full feasibility study and then fund the study itself. This phase of project development is often funded by bringing on board a major joint venture partner or by raising finance through share issues on the stock market. Essentially, the technical component of the prospectus for a market listing on one of the senior stock exchanges involves the preparation of a pre-feasibility study. Typically, a junior company with a proven deposit will attempt to establish a production capability once equity funding has been obtained. This will provide material for a full feasibility study. Before a mining project can proceed from the exploration and evaluation stage to full-scale production, all available data and relevant factors are compiled and evaluated as part of the full feasibility study. This should analyse every technical, financial and other aspects of the project. The major topics that are expected to be covered include: geology; grade and reserve estimation; mining method and plan; mineral processing design plan and test results; capital costs, taxation and royalty assumptions; operating cost estimates; product price assumptions and negotiated sales contracts; environmental considerations and operating permits; and financial modelling. Typically, a full feasibility study would involve a team of at least 10 professionals who could take up to a year to complete the task. It would be used as a blueprint when calling for tenders and awarding multi-million dollar contracts. Information Memorandum An information memorandum builds on the full feasibility study and results in the document required by the bank in any application for debt finance. While this document would incorporate a full technical feasibility study, a bank would also require background information on the borrower. This includes audited company accounts, a profile of the company structure and senior personnel, the legal framework of the company, the proposed loan terms and all the necessary information on exactly how the loan will be administered, controlled and protected. This material is all incorporated in the information memorandum. Sensitivity analysis would be undertaken on the financial model and key parameters such as operating costs and capital costs would be varied. Clearly much greater confidence will be placed on estimates provided by an experienced mining company than junior companies with no production experience. While junior companies can hire consultants to provide technical reports covering operating and capital costs acceptable to the lender, they will need to assemble an experienced management team. Getting a mine and processing plant to perform to their design capabilities is as much an art as a science. A proven track record is clearly an advantage. The information memorandum will also require an environmental audit to be carried out with specific reference to liability for previous mining activity. Superfund legislation in the US can hold lenders responsible for environmental damage at sites where loans have long since been repaid, or where degradation occurred before it was owned by the mining company to which the bank has provided debt finance. The Lenders Decision Making Process The lender will initially review the submitted information memorandum and it is then frequent practice to hire an independent consultant to perform a due-diligence test or prepare an independent feasibility study. Banks will construct their own financial models and carry out detailed sensitivity analyses. Potential risks must be identified and quantified prior to committing to a project. Given the number of independent and interdependent variables present in a mining operation, it is quite impossible to envisage all possible scenarios that could prevail during actual mining. Monte Carlo techniques are sometimes used to simulate some of the possibilities, but these assume the statistical independence of the parameters, which is clearly not valid. Once the project finance analysts have reviewed and accepted the information memorandum, their findings will be presented to a credit committee which is responsible for the ultimate accept/reject decision. The background information on the borrower and credit guarantees are particularly important at this stage. The Purpose of Modelling The size and complexity of a projects financing requires accurate financial analysis, and modelling plays a vital role in charting a projects cash flows. Both the lender and sponsor alike need to establish that future revenues will be of sufficient magnitude to meet loan repayments on schedule while still producing a residual profit for the sponsor. Discounted cash flow (DCF) modelling thus forms an integral part of the preliminary and full feasibility studies and allows the economic viability of a project with debt finance to be tested. Cash flow modelling should be undertaken throughout project development, with an increasing level of detail as more data becomes available. A preliminary feasibility should include a simple DCF model that allows the overall financial viability of the proposed operation to be established. By the time a project reaches full feasibility level, detailed engineering studies and market evaluations will have been undertaken and capital costs, operating costs, and predicted sales levels can be defined with confidence. A full feasibility cash flow model will thus be more refined and will incorporate tax and royalty formulae and full project financing scenarios. A detailed sensitivity analysis will also be included. In evaluating an information memorandum, the lender will scrutinise the cash flow model of the project and employ independent consultants to verify the cost assumptions used. The lender will perform a risk analysis on the model inputs and analyse the project financing component in order to determine the banks optimum lending scenario. DCF Analysis and the Time Value of Money The principle of discounting cash flows is based on the logic that money received in the future is worth less than that same amount received today, due to the opportunity of earning additional revenue on that sum if it were to be invested elsewhere. Suppose there is a choice of receiving $1000 today and investing it or receiving $2000 in ten years time. Which is the most valuable outcome? The answer clearly depends on the prevailing interest rate. If it happens to be 5%, the money would be worth $1629 at the end of ten years and so it would be better to wait. On the other hand, if the current rate happens to be 10% the sum would be worth $2594 in ten years time and so it would be preferable to take the money now and invest it. The break-even interest rate in this scenario is about 7.2%. Modelling incremental discounted cash flows analyses the financial viability of a project by not only testing that generated revenues are substantially greater than costs and debt service requirements, but also by measuring the present value of those profits. The underlying philosophy in DCF analysis is that the project is to be compared with investing the same stream of cash flows elsewhere. One of the essential questions in DCF analysis is how to choose the discount rate. Discounted cash flows can be used to determine the Net Present Value of the project, which is essentially a present valuation of the potential of the deposit to generate future profits. NPV is calculated as follows: Projects with an NPV greater than zero will produce greater revenues than their costs at the minimum acceptable rate of return (the discount or hurdle rate), and mutually exclusive investment opportunities are ranked by magnitude of NPV. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Payback Period of a project can also be calculated from a model of future cash flows. IRR is essentially the discount rate at which NPV at time zero of all cash flows is equal to zero, and is calculated as follows: A project is profitable if the IRR exceeds the opportunity cost of capital (the projects discount rate), and mutually exclusive scenarios are ranked by magnitude of IRR. Payback period is simply the time taken for the initial capital investment to be recovered by the stream of annual positive cash flows, and is not generally used alone for making an investment decision as it takes no account of the time value of money. Developing a Spreadsheet-Based Model The most important elements to remember when developing a spreadsheet model of projected cash flows are clarity, consistency, and flexibility. The spreadsheets used in some projects can be very large and complicated, with entries going from page to page. Spreadsheet cells call for results from other cells which in their turn call other cells. It is not always easy to follow the logic of the steps being carried out and, when the spreadsheet is very convoluted, there is a real possibility of artefacts being introduced. Even if there are none, it becomes very difficult to test the projects sensitivity to input parameters. There is great benefit to be gained from a consistent basic layout with a clear flow of logic throughout. Input pages, calculations, and output reports should be kept in separate areas. This course has employed the use of IC-MinEval, a purpose-designed software package for the financial evaluation of mining projects. IC-MinEval automates all the stages required to produce an Excel-based DCF model of a mining project through a series of clearly defined menu-driven forms that prompt the user to enter all the necessary technical and financial variables. Once the key technical and financial data has been entered, it is checked and a comprehensive series of Visual Basic routines ensures that a set of Excel worksheets are generated to form a customised DCF model. The DCF method of analysis has the advantage that a model can be constructed which reflects the primary technical features of the project. This does, however, require a level of knowledge about the operation which may not be available outside the company, but it is still possible to develop a model based on comparative scenarios which can provide the basis for a preliminary valuation. This is the approach followed by IC-MinEval and adopted in this course. The first step in creating a spreadsheet cash flow model is to compile all available project information on an input sheet database. This includes all the technical information which will allow calculation of mine life, annual ROM production and annual production of saleable commodity. The input sheet must also contain project cost information to allow calculation of annual capital, operating, and transportation costs. Finally, financial data must be input, including sale price, tax and royalty rates, project discount rates, and project financing information. A separate series of worksheets can then be created to calculate the annual production, sales and costs. The results are then used to construct a model of the cash inflows and outflows in each year of the projects life. A mine life much in excess of 10 years does not enhance the NPV of the project, while too short a mine life does not permit adequate return on capital. A project with a very long potential lifespan should thus only be modelled over the first 10 to 15 years of its life. It is unlikely that a mine with a longer life could operate effectively without additional capitalisation and so the cash flow forecasts for the later years would be highly subjective in any case. Project Input Data The input data needed to construct a spreadsheet-based cash flow model is divided into project technical information and financial information. IC-MinEval has a series of input screens which prompt you for all the necessary data, navigated from an input menu screen (Figure 1). The basic technical inputs can be subdivided as follows: general project information; resource information; mining rates; costs; commodity price; expenditure; and environmental and closure provisions. General Information General information is required on the commodity/ies, and on the mining method that is to be used to exploit the resource. The choice of mining method has important implications for the rate of production, equipment, capital expenditure and mining operating costs. The permitting and construction period also needs to be established in order to determine the total pre-production period of the project, the time after the initial capital expenditure (capex) has been spent before production (and revenue) can begin. In terms of project finance, the end of this period signifies completion when the projects cash flows become the primary source of debt repayment. Resource Information Information is required on the size of the deposit, the grades, and several other mining parameters. The total mineralised volume of the deposit revealed by geostatistical evaluation can be multiplied by the specific gravity of the particular ore-type to calculate the total in situ ore reserve tonnage. The expected mining recovery (the percentage of the in situ ore that can be mined) provided by the engineering study is multiplied by the total in situ ore tonnage to determine the total ore to be recovered.The expected dilution (the amount of waste rock that is mistakenly mined as ore), stripping ratio (the amount of waste material needed to be removed for every unit of ore mined in surface operations), grade (average grade of ore mined that is higher than the economic cut-off) and plant recovery (the percentage of the commodity contained in the ore rock that can be extracted by the plant) are also required in order to establish the quantity of the saleable commodity produced. Mining Rate The mining rate needs to be established because it directly affects the mine life and capex, as the more rock mined per year, the larger the processing plant and equipment that is required. In addition to the average rate during full production, it must also be established if the mining rate is to be varied over the first few years of production, to model a more realistic slower start up rate. It is particularly important that the rate of production should be on a scale which is appropriate to the size of the ore body. A mine life much in excess of 10 years does not enhance the net present value of the project, while too short a mine life does not permit adequate return on capital. Costs The reliability of a cash flow model often hinges on the accurate determination of the projects capex and operating costs. If these are known, or an accurate estimation is made from similar operations, then these figures can be entered directly. However, project costs are often not known with any degree of certainty during the construction of an early financial model. In this case, OHara cost formulae can be used to calculate rough estimates of capex and operating costs (OHara and Suboleski (1992)). Capex Capital costs (capex) are costs in a particular year that will produce benefits in later years. The major capital requirements in mining projects are the cost of constructing the mine site (including purchase of mining equipment), mill and processing plant. Additional costs and expenses that will be incurred in developing a project are termed capital overheads and can be entered into the model as a percentage of the total capex. Operating costs Operating costs (op costs) are costs that only produce a benefit for that year and are calculated annually. In order to establish the total operating costs per tonne of saleable commodity, the costs of mining ore, mining waste and processing must be established. There may be annual fixed operating costs (e.g. administration costs, salaries, office overheads) that must also be incorporated into the model. If coal or an industrial mineral product is the commodity in question, an additional transport cost component must be established. Commodity Price The expected sale price(s) of the product(s) and how this/these will vary over the project life must be established. It must be decided whether the commodity/ies will be sold entirely on the spot market or whether a percentage will be forward sold at a different price. Hedging details must be incorporated into the model if forward sales are to be applied. Expenditure The model must reveal how capex payments are to be spread over the first few years of the project and the amount of working capital to be used must be established. The capex is unlikely to all be employed in the first year of the project, depending on delays and the construction period. Working capital is the capital reserve required for the day-to-day running of the operation and can be expressed as a percentage of the annual operating costs, normally set at around 25%. Environmental and Closure Provisions A financial model should include the expected environmental costs and additional costs associated with the projects closure. This may incorporate a fixed bullet payment at the end of the mine life to cover environmental rehabilitation costs, a sink fund at the beginning of production that acts as an environmental bond to cover rehabilitation costs, and annual environmental costs during production and after mining to cover on-going costs. It must be established how long after completion of mining the annual rehabilitation costs have to be paid. Basic Financial Parameters The financial inputs to the model set the basic financial parameters of the project, such as tax and inflation rate, depreciation, and project financing scenario (Table 1). Discount Rate and Cost of Capital There are two methods of discounting that can be used to calculate the NPV in a financial model. The pre-determined discount rate can be used or the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) can be used. WACC is calculated as follows: As the NPV is calculated on the cash flows before funding but after tax, an allowance is made for the tax implications of interest payments on debt. The cost of debt is calculated as: The WACC thus varies according to the debt/equity ratio of the projects funding structure. The cost of equity is generally higher than the cost of debt, reflecting the higher rate of return required by the equity holders in comparison to the cheaper interest rate on debt. Thus the greater the percentage of total capex funded by debt, the lower the WACC and thus the more favourable the calculated NPV. This is an essential principal of project finance. Project Finance Parameters Input information is required to set up the financing structure of the project including the amount of debt and equity, interest rate and repayment schedule. Capital structure The debt/equity ratio and the size of debt will be decided by the lender. This can be expressed as a percentage of the total financing requirements that will be funded as debt. The optimum draw-down period for the debt funding will be agreed between the project sponsor and lender, and may be drawn out over as long a period as the first five years of the project. Loan type and repayment schedule The schedule for loan repayment needs to be established in order to complete the cash flow model. The number and size of loan repayments will be negotiated between the lender and sponsor, as will the grace period, if any, before repayments must commence. Loan repayments can be made in equal instalments (straight loan) or made proportional to the production rate (production loan). There will be other cash flows associated with organising the project finance that must also be included in the early years of the model. These include an up-front fee by the bank for arranging the loan (a percentage of the total loan available), a commitment fee (an annual fee charged on the amount of the loan that has not been used), fixed charges (for agents fees, legal documentation, independent reports, etc.) and contingency to act as a cushion against unexpected cost rises, etc. (a percentage of the total required funding). Loan interest rate This is the annual rate of interest on the debt as set by the lender. Return on equity This is the annual expected return on equity invested as funds. This can be calculated by a variety of methods including the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). It is often linked to the overall company gearing of the project sponsor. Demand for Nickel Top of Form Session Headings: Bottom of Form Introduction Nickel is one of the more common elements in the composition of the earth, but it is sparingly distributed in the earths crust. Nickel is usually found in modest concentrations and occurs in conjunction with a wide variety of other metals and non-metals. The worlds nickel resources occur in two main geological settings: in secondary minerals such as garnierite and limonite contained in nickel-bearing laterites; and in sulphide minerals associated with mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks. The nickel grade of lateritic ore typically ranges from 1-2%, and that of sulphide ore from 1-4%. Nickel is of considerable economic and strategic importance to many countries, its main use being a critical component in the development of metal alloys. More than 80% of the worlds nickel production is used in alloys, and about 60% of global nickel is used specifically for the manufacture of stainless steel (NIDI (2005)). Nickel is also used in the manufacture of Monel Metal, a corrosion-resistant alloy used by the shipbuilding industry, and is an important strategic metal. Throughout the early 1980s the growth in nickel production exceeded the growth in demand, but the late 80s and early 90s saw this trend reversed as the number of emerging new applications of stainless steel, combined with its rapidly-improving price competitiveness, generated a sustained growth in demand for nickel metal. Indeed, Chinas use of nickel-containing stainless steel and its use of primary nickel have grown dramatically and with impressive consistency over the last fifteen years (NIDI (2004)). Nickel s tocks were rapidly depleted over the middle years of the 2000s, but recovered during the 2008/9 world financial problem period. Concern over depleting reserves of sulphide ores, the traditional source of nickel metal, and high nickel prices led to renewed interest in nickel laterite ores that were previously thought too technologically difficult and costly to treat. The introduction of High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) as a large-scale hydrometallurgical method of concentrating nickel metal and cobalt by-products from limonitic laterite ore appeared to enhance the feasibility of laterite deposits as a long-term solution to the continuing demand for nickel. However, poor initial operating performances at major new HPAL processing plants have cast doubt over this technologys ability to provide a large-scale supply of nickel while operating economically. So sulphide deposits remain the main source of nickel metal. The following working sessions therefore will concentrate on sulphide nickel deposits and provide a review of the major technical aspects of nickel projects that must be taken into consideration in th e economic analysis of such operations. Part 5 introduces a typical nickel sulphide case history with which to demonstrate the modelling of nickel project finance. Prices and Markets The nickel price is closely linked to the global demand for stainless steel which is in turn governed by industrial productivity associated with the global economic climate. 2007-08 witnessed a huge fall in London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel prices (Figure 1), principally due to the collapse of the world economy resulting in huge drop in demand for and production of stainless steel associated with the recession. 2009 has witnessed a modest resurgence in the LME nickel price as demand has outstripped production. Since 2002, a booming commodities sector, partly driven by the rapid growth of China, put substantial pressure on nickel suppliers to meet demand. This in turn had a huge impact on prices. However, forecasting forward much is dependent on how sustained the 2009 easing of the recession will be. The general trend of increasing nickel prices in through most of the mid 2000s, generated renewed interest in the nickel sector. Western Australia in particular witnessed significant increases in production over the past period, with several new major nickel sulphide and laterite projects arising. However, the new HPAL laterite operations in the region did not live up to expectations, with over-optimistic product