Research on Tenured Teachers in the School System Paper

On Tenured Teachers in the School System - Research Paper Example Yet another essential detail to be considered is delivered through the understanding of cost as a relative good. Teachers with good reputation and solid experience are often expensive, which can be regarded by school administration as a shortcoming. Tenure protects experienced teachers from being dismissed for this reason. On the other hand, this same issue of protection becomes the primary disadvantage of tenure when doubts of the teacher’s competence raise. Due to tenure, it might become a problem to fire such a teacher without primarily addressing a lot of bureaucratic issues at hand. Moreover, another disadvantage that should be addressed here is that undergoing the legislatively fixed procedure of firing a teacher is costly and thus a lot of institutions might ignore the necessity of dismissing a teacher based on this consideration alone. In order to avoid this problem, some institutions are prone to secrecy by providing a teacher to dismiss certain sum of money (Mathis, 2010). This allows the schools to avoid disclosure and the expensive, long and difficult process of firing a tenured teacher. There is a set of other pros and cons that should be considered when talking about teacher tenure. Among the pros, there is a notion that tenure is actually quite a useful and beneficial instrument when used correctly (McGuinn, 2010, p. 26). Tenure can create the environment that allows the teachers to improve as it creates healthy competition and motivates teachers without tenure to work harder to get it.

Michael Milken Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Michael Milken - Essay Example Immediately after paying this debt, he resumed his lifelong philanthropic activities. Milken has promised that he will someday write his side of the controversy; but for now he feels it's less productive to focus on the past than to be involved in supporting the effort to accelerate medical solutions. Interviewer: Michael, that paragraph quoted from your website seems to imply that you don't believe you did anything wrong, that it was all a vast conspiracy to bring you down. Since you don't believe what you did was wrong, could you tell us whether you would do it again provided you didn't get caught MM: Ohh, that's a loaded question. First off let me point out that I violated the law and I was fined and I was imprisoned for almost 2 years of my life. So yes, what I did violated the law. There is a wider question though, and that is, how do we define what is wrong And I think that's the point being made on the website. The fact is I'm the only person in the history of that legislation to be prosecuted under it. And though I know I'm a fairly unique guy, I don't for one minute believe that I'm the only person who has violated that legislation.

Comparison of different modulation technique

Comparison of different modulation technique 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Modulation is the process of varying one waveform in relation to another waveform. In telecommunications, modulation is used to convey a message, or a musician may modulate the tone from a musical instrument by varying its volume, timing and pitch. Often a high-frequency sinusoid waveform is used as carrier signal to convey a lower frequency signal. The three key parameters of a sine wave are its amplitude (volume), its phase (timing) and its frequency (pitch), all of which can be modified in accordance with a low frequency information signal to obtain the modulated signal. A device that performs modulation is known as a modulator and a device that performs the inverse operation of modulation is known as a demodulator (sometimes detector or demod). 1.2 TWO TYPES OF MODULATION A) Analog modulation B) Digital modulation Here we discuss analog modulation techniques. 2. AMPLITUDE MODULATION Amplitude modulation (AM) is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent. For example, changes in the signal strength can be used to reflect the sounds to be reproduced by a speaker, or to specify the light intensity of television pixels. (Contrast this with frequency modulation, also commonly used for sound transmissions, in which the frequency is varied; and phase modulation, often used in remote controls, in which the phase is varied). 2.1 TYPES OF AMPLITUDE MODULATION As originally developed for the electric telephone, amplitude modulation was used to add audio information to the low-powered direct current flowing from a telephone transmitter to a receiver. As a simplified explanation, at the transmitting end, a telephone microphone was used to vary the strength of the transmitted current, according to the frequency and loudness of the sounds received. Then, at the receiving end of the telephone line, the transmitted electrical current affected an electromagnet, which strengthened and weakened in response to the strength of the current. In turn, the electromagnet produced vibrations in the receiver diaphragm, thus closely reproducing the frequency and loudness of the sounds originally heard at the transmitter. In contrast to the telephone, in radio communication what is modulated is a continuous wave radio signal (carrier wave) produced by a radio transmitter. In its basic form, amplitude modulation produces a signal with power concentrated at the carrier frequency and in two adjacent sidebands. This process is known as heterodyning. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulating signal and is a mirror image of the other. Amplitude modulation that results in two sidebands and a carrier is often called double sideband amplitude modulation (DSB-AM). Amplitude modulation is inefficient in terms of power usage and much of it is wasted. At least two-thirds of the power is concentrated in the carrier signal, which carries no useful information (beyond the fact that a signal is present); the remaining power is split between two identical sidebands, though only one of these is needed since they contain identical information. To increase transmitter efficiency, the carrier can be removed (suppressed) from the AM signal. This produces a reduced-carrier transmission or double-sideband suppressed-carrier (DSBSC) signal. A suppressed-carrier amplitude modulation scheme is three times more power-efficient than traditional DSB-AM. If the carrier is only partially suppressed, a double-sideband reduced-carrier (DSBRC) signal results. DSBSC and DSBRC signals need their carrier to be regenerated (by a beat frequency oscillator, for instance) to be demodulated using conventional techniques. Even greater efficiency is achieved—at the expense of increased transmitter and receiver complexity—by completely suppressing both the carrier and one of the sidebands. This is single-sideband modulation, widely used in amateur radio due to its efficient use of both power and bandwidth. A) DSB-FC In radio communications, a sideband is a band of frequencies higher than or lower than the carrier frequency, containing power as a result of the modulation process. The sidebands consist of all the Fourier components of the modulated signal except the carrier. All forms of modulation produce sidebands. Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave normally results in two mirror-image sidebands. The signal components above the carrier frequency constitute the upper sideband (USB) and those below the carrier frequency constitute the lower sideband (LSB). In conventional AM transmission, the carrier and both sidebands are present, sometimes called double sideband amplitude modulation (DSB-AM). In some forms of AM the carrier may be removed, producing double sideband with suppressed carrier (DSB-SC). An example is the stereophonic difference (L-R) information transmitted in FM stereo broadcasting on a 38kHz subcarrier. The receiver locally regenerates the subcarrier by doubling a special 19kHz pilot tone, but in other DSB-SC systems the carrier may be regenerated directly from the sidebands by a Costas loop or squaring loop. This is common in digital transmission systems such as BPSK where the signal is continually present. B) SSB-SC Single-sideband modulation (SSB) is a refinement of amplitude modulation that more efficiently uses electrical power and bandwidth. Amplitude modulation produces a modulated output signal that has twice the bandwidth of the original baseband signal. Single-sideband modulation avoids this bandwidth doubling, and the power wasted on a carrier, at the cost of somewhat increased device complexity. C) SUPPERESED CARRIER Reduced-carrier transmission is an amplitude modulation (AM) transmission in which the carrier wave level is reduced to reduce wasted electrical power. Suppressed-carrier transmission is a special case in which the carrier level is reduced below that required for demodulation by a normal receiver. Reduction of the carrier level permits higher power levels in the sidebands than would be possible with conventional AM transmission. Carrier power must be restored by the receiving station to permit demodulation, usually by means of a beat frequency oscillator (BFO). Failure of the BFO to match the original carrier frequency when receiving such a signal will cause a heterodyne. Suppressed carriers are often used for single sideband (SSB) transmissions, such as for amateur radio on shortwave. That system is referred to in full as SSB suppressed carrier (SSBSC) or (SSB-SC). International broadcasters agreed in 1985 to also use SSBSC entirely by 2015, though IBOC and IBAC digital radio (namely Digital Radio Mondiale) seems likely to make this irrelevant. D) VSB A vestigial sideband (in radio communication) is a sideband that has been only partly cut off or suppressed. Television broadcasts (in analog video formats) use this method if the video is transmitted in AM, due to the large bandwidth used. It may also be used in digital transmission, such as the ATSC standardized 8-VSB. The Milgo 4400/48 modem (circa 1967) used vestigial sideband and phase-shift keying to provide 4800-bit/s transmission over a 1600 Hz channel. E) QAM Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is both an analog and a digital modulation scheme. It conveys two analog message signals, or two digital bit streams, by changing (modulating) the amplitudes of two carrier waves, using the amplitude-shift keying (ASK) digital modulation scheme or amplitude modulation (AM) analog modulation scheme. These two waves, usually sinusoids, are out of phase with each other by 90Â ° and are thus called quadrature carriers or quadrature components — hence the name of the scheme. The modulated waves are summed, and the resulting waveform is a combination of both phase-shift keying (PSK) and amplitude-shift keying, or in the analog case of phase modulation (PM) and amplitude modulation. In the digital QAM case, a finite number of at least two phases, and at least two amplitudes are used. PSK modulators are often designed using the QAM principle, but are not considered as QAM since the amplitude of the modulated carrier signal is constant. 3) FREQUENCY MODULATION frequency modulation (FM) conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its frequency (contrast this with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant). In analog applications, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal. Digital data can be sent by shifting the carriers frequency among a set of discrete values, a technique known as frequency-shift keying. CARSONS RULE A rule of thumb, Carsons rule states that nearly all (~98%) of the power of a frequency-modulated signal lies within a bandwidth of where , as defined above, is the peak deviation of the instantaneous frequency from the center carrier frequency . Normal signal Modulated signal 4) PHASE MODULATION Phase modulation (PM) is a form of modulation that represents information as variations in the instantaneous phase of a carrier wave. Unlike its more popular counterpart, frequency modulation (FM), PM is not very widely used. This is because it tends to require more complex receiving hardware and there can be ambiguity problems in determining whether, for example, the signal has changed phase by +180Â ° or -180Â °. CARSONS RULE Suppose that the signal to be sent (called the modulating or message signal) is m(t) and the carrier onto which the signal is to be modulated is Annotated: carrier(time) = (carrier amplitude)sin(carrier frequencytime + phase shift) This make the modulated signal This shows how m(t) modulates the phase the greater m(t) is at a point in time, the greater the phase shift of the modulated signal at that point. It can also be viewed as a change of the frequency of the carrier signal, and phase modulation can thus be considered a special case of FM in which the carrier frequency modulation is given by the time derivative of the phase modulation. The spectral behaviour of phase modulation is difficult to derive, but the mathematics reveals that there are two regions of particular interest: For small amplitude signals, PM is similar to amplitude modulation (AM) and exhibits its unfortunate doubling of baseband bandwidth and poor efficiency. For a single large sinusoidal signal, PM is similar to FM, and its bandwidth is approximately, where fM = ωm / 2Ï€ and h is the modulation index defined below. This is also known as Carsons Rule for PM 5) SPACE MODULATION Space modulation is a radio Amplitude Modulation technique used in Instrument Landing Systems that incorporates the use of multiple antennas fed with various radio frequency powers and phases to create different depths of modulation within various volumes of three-dimensional airspace. This modulation method differs from internal modulation methods inside most other radio transmitters in that the phases and powers of the two individual signals mix within airspace, rather than in a modulator.

Comparing Red Badge of Courage and Great Expectations :: comparison compare contrast essays

Red Badge of Courage and Great Expectations The hero of The Red Badge of Courage, which was written by Stephen Crane in the late 1800s, was a young private named Henry Fleming, who was fighting for the North in the American Civil War. Like Pip, in Great Expectations, Henry was a commoner. He was new to the Army and few people knew his name. The main difference between Henry and the earlier heroes is that Henry was not born with leadership qualities or traits like bravery. In fact, in the first battle he fought, he proved himself to be a coward by running from it. Henry's flaws were very similar to those of Pip and the Greek heroes. Arrogance was a flaw that many Greek mortal heroes, especially Odysseus and Oedipus, had. When Henry realized that none of his fellow soldiers were aware that he had run from the first battle, he regained his self-pride and self-confidence. Before long, he had convinced himself that he was "chosen of the gods and doomed to greatness." At first, Pip believed that status and wealth determined the "goodness" of a person. Henry had similar illusions. He believed that a war hero was a person who could manage to escape every tight situation he got into, and also a godly figure people looked up to and were fascinated by. His other illusions were that the only the best could survive against the hideous "dragons" of war, and that the enemy was a machine that never tired or lost will to fight. An important difference between Henry and the Greek heroes was that Henry's flaws were recognized by the people of Crane's day, whereas the Greeks did not see any flaws in their heroes, like Odysseus (they thought traits like arrogance were cool). Another difference between Henry and the Greek heroes can be seen in their heroic acts. Greek war heroes were praised for their outward bravery and military genius (how many enemy soldiers they killed, or how they were able to trick the enemy). Near the end, Henry was a war hero in the eyes of his fellow soldiers and commanding officers (he fought fearlessly and led charges), but what was truly heroic about Henry was the way he changed and developed.

Ethnic Background Essay

My name is Stephanie Flowers and until this class assignment I never thoughtfully considered what my actual ethnic background was. After looking up the meaning of my last name I found it to be of Welsh origin. This means that I could possibility trace my family roots back to Great Britain. After reading chapter one of Race and Ethnic Relations I discovered that being a part of a certain ethnic background does not mean that you have to be part of that race, but you have to practice the common cultural traditions of that subculture. So based off of my name some people might think that I was English. I grew up with a few household traditions that I consider to be a part of my ethnic background. To begin with, I would consider my family to practice Irish traditions. We always have huge St. Patrick’s Day party at my house that turns into an all-day drinking and eating celebration. I might not know all the reasons behind this celebration and what I consider a part of my family tradition, but it is still a part of my ethnic background in my opinion. Drinking is a big part of being Irish and in my family most celebrations do involve some type of alcohol. In Irish culture it is normal to introduce alcohol to children before the actual drinking age, I think this is good because we grow up with this around us and never take consumption of alcohol to extremes because it such a part of everyday life. I am would also consider myself to be of German ethnicity. My family has a good luck tradition for New Years. We eat pork roast and sauerkraut in hopes that the next year will be filled with lots of happiness and joy. I personally love this tradition and get upset when I sometimes only get to eat this meal once a year. It is one of my top five meals to eat that my grandma cooks. Being from the United States of America I do think that I have picked up so many different traditions from all of the friends that I have had throughout my life. This is why I love living in this country I get to experience so many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. My boyfriend is of the Catholic religion, his family maintains this culture by attending mass for Christmas, Easter, and whenever they feel the need strengthen their relationship with god. This is the way that they maintain their ethnic background. They are a common group of people who believe the idea that they all share the share cultural heritage. This stems from his Irish background where Catholicism is the main religion practiced in that country. So to me this is the way to stay in touch with being from Ireland even though they now live in America. My cousin Rachael is half Mexican. Her mom was an immigrant and came to this country to start a better life. I love getting to go to their house in Texas; her mom makes the best Mexican dishes. What I have noticed from her Mexican culture and ethnicity is that food is a way of bringing the family together, it is a time of bonding in their household. I believe that by cooking traditional Mexican food it keeps her in touch with her roots and makes her feel better connected to her homeland. After doing this assignment I am very interested in doing more research on my family roots and discovering more about who and where I came from. Like it says on the Ancestry. com commercial, â€Å"you don’t have to know what you’re looking for; you just have to start looking. † So that’s what I am going to start doing. Also, I would like to conduct interviews with the elderly people in my family and possibility start filling out my family tree, which would be an easy way to connect the dots of my family history. I will still continue to maintain my Irish and German background by drinking on St. Patrick’s Day and eating pork roast and sauerkraut. I am very proud to be an American and I wish I didn’t take all of the rights that I have in this country for granite.

The Fashion of Warriors

Memoirs off Secret Empire . Samurai I PBS Search Support for PBS. Org provided by: What's this? Sam aura warriors me urged as an elite force in Japan's prop inches during the early 1 20th century . Recruited by local chieftains, these fighting forces were m maintained long enough to wage a specific war, after which the soldiers would return to their lands to till the soil. With Japan's me proper live ins in the ancient capital of Ky tot and unable to m maintain control of the prop inches, the Sam aura clans established them sell sees as v table political entities.By the late 1 2 the century , Sam aura lords ruled both the prop inches and central Japan. They m maintained their influence until the m id-1 87 g's when the Sam aura class was outlawed and their privy ledge status was dissolve deed. Samurai warriors were at the top of the social order CASTE POSITION The Sam aura class, â€Å"shim in,† form deed Japan's top elite, and were the only caste granted the privy liege of wea ring two swords and have ins two name sees?a fame ill and a first name e.The shoguns and Adam y o lords were m me beers of the shim in caste. THEN & NOW Modern Japan still m maintains a culture based on the incepts of 1/3 The rigorous training of a Sam aura warrior began in childhood. Sam aura school was a unique com abomination of pay sisal training, Chinese studies, poetry and spiritual discipline. The y nouns warriors studied Keno (â€Å"the Way of the Sword†), the m oral code of the Sam aura, and Zen www. PBS. Org/empires/Japan/entered_8. HTML Buddhism .Sam aura were expected to live e according to Bushier (â€Å"The Way of the Warrior†), a strict ethical code influenced by Confucianism that stressed LOL alt to one's m aster, respect for one's superior, ethical behave ROR in all aspects of life and mom plate self-discipline. Girls also receive deed m arterial arts training. Although m cost Sam aura whom en did not fight on the battlefield, they were prepared to def end their homo sees against NV adders. The Sam aura attached great IM portable to the circus stances of their own death.If a Sam aura died of his own accord, it was considered a v Lillian end. Rather than suffer defeat or hum location at the hands of an enema y , Sam aura warriors often chose ritual suicide (speedup). After Outgas lye ass united Japan, Sam aura m litany serve ices were rarely needed. Though they continued to train daily , Sam aura gradually transform deed from warriors to bureaucrats. As townspeople acquired new wealth, the Sam aura, barred from engaging in com m race, found them sell sees in dire circus stances. For m any Sam aura, peace led to despair. Nor and sham e, funded mental to the Sam aura code. Sam aura warriors took great care sty ling their hair, which they pulled back into a topknot called a â€Å"chomp age. † For battle, Sam aura warriors shave deed the tops of their heads, which reduced the heat under their heave y helm test, and ore their hai r straight on the sides. When not wearing helm test, they pulled the side and back hair into a topknot. A Sam Uri's clothing sty el was v ere IM portent and indicative e of status. Outlandish, colorful patterns were considered IM m oddest and conceited.Though Sam aura children dressed flam boy antsy , they became e m ore subdued in appearance after their com ins-of-age Ceres non . The Sam Uri's eve ere day wear was a Kim non, usually consisting of an outer and inner lay ere. Norm ally m add of silk, the quality of the Kim non depended on the Sam Uri's income e and status. Beneath the Kim non, the warrior wore a loincloth. The Sam Uri's swords were norm ally thrust through an â€Å"Obi,† a belt wrapped around the waist, and were always s worn on the left side.

Cloud Computing Essay Example

Cloud Computing Essay Example Cloud Computing Essay Cloud Computing Essay Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 1 Return to Table of Contents CLOUD COMPUTING Web-Based Applications That Change he Way You Work and Collaborate Online Michael Miller 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 2 Return to Table of Contents Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Copyright  © 2009 by Que Publishing All rights reserved.No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any lia- bility assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-3803-5 ISBN-10: 0-7897-3803-1Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file. Printed in the United States of America First Printing: August 2008 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trade- mark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accu- rate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis.The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book. Bulk Sales Que Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U. S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 [emailprotected] com For sales outside of the U. S. , please contact International Sales [emailprotected] com Associate Publisher Greg Wiegand Acquisitions Editor Rick Kughen Development Editor Rick KughenManaging Editor Patrick Kanouse Project Editor Seth Kerney Copy Editor Keith Cline Indexer Tim Wright Proofreader Paula Lowell Technical Editor/Reviewer Aaron Ricadela Publishing Coordinator Cindy Teeters Book Designer Anne Jones Page Layout Bronkella Publishing LLC Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 3 Return to Table of Contents About the Author Michael Miller is a successful and prolific author.He is known for his casual, easy-to-read writing style and his ability to explain a wide variety of complex topics to an everyday audience. Mr. Miller has written more than 80 nonfiction books over the past two decades, with more than a million copies in print. His books for Que include Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Computer Basics, How Microsoft Windows Vista Works, Making a Living from Your eBay Business, Googlepedia: The Ultimate Google Resource, and Is It Safe? Protecting Your Computer, Your Business, and Yourself Online. You can email Mr. Miller directly at [emailprotected] com. His website is located at www. olehillgroup. com. Dedication To Sherry. Life is a cloud. Acknowledgments Thanks to the usual suspects at Que, including but not limited to Greg Wiegand, Rick Kughen, Seth Kerney Keith Cline, and technical editor Aaron Ricadela. Cloud Computing: W eb-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 4 Return to Table of Contents We Want to Hear from You! As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commenta- tor.We value your opinion and want to know what we’re doing right, what we could do better, what areas you’d like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom you’re willing to pass our way. As an associate publisher for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didn’t like about this book- as well as what we can do to make our books better. Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the bookWhen you write, please be sure to include this book’s title and author as well as your name, email address, and phone number. I wi ll carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book. Email: [emailprotected] com Mail: Greg Wiegand Associate Publisher Que Publishing 800 East 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA Reader Services Visit our website and register this book at informit. com/register for convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for this book.Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 5 Return to Table of Contents Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 6 Return to Table of Contents Introduction IntroductionComputing as you know it is about to change: Your applications and documents are going to move from the desktop into the cloud. I’m talking about cloud computing, where applications and files are hosted on a cloud consisting of thousands of com- puters and servers, all linked together and accessible via the Internet. With cloud computing, everything you do is now web based instead of being desktop based. You can access all your programs and documents from any computer that’s connected to the Internet. How will cloud computing change the way you work? For one thing, you’re no longer tied to a single computer.You can take your work anywhere because it’s always accessible via the web. In addition, cloud computing facilitates group collaboration, as all group members can access the same programs and documents from wherever they happen to be located. Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 7 Return to Table of Contents 2 Cloud ComputingCloud computing might sound far-fetched, but chances are you’re already using some cloud applications. If you’re using a web-based email program, such as Gmail or Hotmail, you’re computing in the cloud. If you’re using a web-based application suc h as Google Calendar or Apple MobileMe, you’re computing in the cloud. If you’re using a file- or photo-sharing site, such as Flickr or Picasa Web Albums, you’re computing in the cloud. It’s the technol- ogy of the future, available to use today. How does cloud computing work? What does cloud computing mean for the way you use a computer?What are the top cloud computing applications? Good questions all, and all answered in this book: Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online. I don’t pre- tend to answer every question you may have (the overly technical ones in particular), but I do try to give you a good solid overview of the cloud comput- ing phenomenon, and introduce you to some of the more popular cloud applications- in particular, those that facilitate group collaboration. And that’s where cloud computing really shines.Whether you want to share photographs with family members, coordinate volunteers for a community organization, or manage a multifaceted project in a large organization, cloud computing can help you collaborate and communicate with other group members. You’ll have a better idea of how this works after you read the book, but trust me on this one- if you need to collaborate, cloud computing is the way to do it. How This Book Is Organized Cloud computing is actually a pretty simple concept, but one with lots of vari- ations and ramifications.To help you better understand what cloud comput- ing is and what it does, I’ve organized this book into four major parts:  ¦ Part I, Understanding Cloud Computing, is the place for you to start learning about cloud computing. I explain how cloud computing works and examine which types of users can best benefit from this new technology.  ¦ Part II, Cloud Computing for Everyone, examines the practical bene- fit of cloud computing for users in three different scenarios: in the fam- ily, in the community and in the large organization. Part III, Using Cloud Services, is an overview of various types of web- based applications. You’ll learn about cloud services for scheduling, contact management, project management, word processing, presenta- tions, and other key applications. Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 8 Return to Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 3  ¦ Part IV, Outside the Cloud: Other Ways to Collaborate Online, moves eyond strict cloud computing to examine other Internet-based tools for group collaboration, including web email, instant messaging, social networks, online groupware, blogs, and wikis. Taken together, the 20 chapters in this book provide an excellent overview of cloud computing. If you’re not sure what cloud computing is yet, you will be when you get done reading this book. Conventions Used in This Book I hope that this book is easy enough to figure out on its own, without requir- ing it s own instruction manual. As you read through the pages, however, it helps to know precisely how I’ve presented specific types of information.Web Page Addresses There are a lot of web page addresses in this book. They’re noted as such: www. molehillgroup. com Technically, a web page address is supposed to start with http:// (as in molehillgroup. com). Because Internet Explorer and other web browsers automatically insert this piece of the address, however, you don’t have to type it- and I haven’t included it in any of the addresses in this book. Cloud Services I also list a lot of web-based applications and services in this book; after all, that’s what cloud computing is all about.Know, however, that companies are constantly changing prices, coming out with new features, introducing com- pletely new services, and discontinuing older ones. With that in mind, every service and URL listed in this book is valid as of June 2008; chances are, how- ever, that something will change by the time you read the book. Special Elements This book includes two special elements that provide additional information not included in the basic text. These elements are designed to supplement the text to make it your learning faster, easier, and more efficient.Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online Page 9 Return to Table of Contents Cloud Computing In addition, I end each chapter with a side- bar- a chunk of text that goes beyond what is presented in the normal chapter text to provide additional information that may be of interest to you. I find these side- bars interesting but not necessarily essen- tial; you may or may not feel the same. note A note is designed to provide information that is generally useful but not pecifically necessary for what you’re doing at the moment. tip A tip offers additional advice that might prove useful to the task at hand. Let Me Know What You Think I always l ove to hear from readers. If you want to contact me, feel free to email me at [emailprotected] com. I can’t promise that I’ll answer every message, but I do promise to read each one! If you want to learn more about me and any new books I have cooking, check out my Molehill Group website at www. molehillgroup. com. Who knows- you might A caution warns you of a particular situation-be alert to .the warning! ind some other books there that you’d like to read. 4 [pic] CHAPTER 1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing n a world that sees new technological trends bloom and fade on almost a daily basis, one new trend promises more longevity. This trend is called cloud computing, and it will change the way you use your computer and the Internet. Cloud computing portends a major change in how we store information and run applications. Instead of running programs and data on an individual desktop computer, every-thing is hosted in the cloud- a nebulous asse mblage ofcomputers and servers accessed via the Internet.Cloud computing lets you access all your applications and docu-ments from anywhere in the world, freeing you from the confines of the desktop and making it easier for group mem-bers in different locations to collaborate. fe3 Cloud Computing: What It Is and What It Isn’t From Collaboration to the Cloud: A Short History of Cloud Computing . The Network Is the Computer: How Cloud Computing Works Companies in the Cloud: Cloud Computing Today Why Cloud Computing Matters Cloud 8 PART I Understanding Cloud ComputingThe emergence of cloud computing is the computing equivalent of the electric-ity revolution of a century ago. Before the advent of electrical utilities, every farm and business produced its own electricity from freestanding generators. After the electrical grid was created, farms and businesses shut down their generators and bought electricity from the utilities, at a much lower price (and with much greater reliabil ity) than they could produce on their own. Look for the same type of revolution to occur as cloud computing takes hold.The desktop-centric notion of computing that we hold today is bound to fall by the wayside as we come to expect the universal access, 24/7 reliability, and ubiquitous collaboration promised by cloud computing. It is the way of the future. Cloud Computing: What It Is-and What It Isn’t With traditional desktop computing, you run copies of software programs on each computer you own. The documents you create are stored on the com- puter on which they were created. Although documents can be accessed from other computers on the network, they can’t be accessed by computers outside the network.The whole scene is PC-centric. With cloud computing, the software programs you use aren’t run from your personal computer, but are rather stored on servers accessed via the Internet. If your computer crashes, the software is still available for others to use. Same goes for the documents you create; they’re stored on a collection of servers accessed via the Internet. Anyone with permission can not only access the documents, but can also edit and collaborate on those documents in realtime. Unlike traditional computing, this cloud computing model isn’t PC- centric, it’s document-centric.Which PC you use to access a document simply isn’t important. But that’s a simplification. Let’s look in more detail at what cloud computing is- and, just as important, what it isn’t. What Cloud Computing Isn’t First, cloud computing isn’t network computing. With network computing, applications/documents are hosted on a single company’s server and accessed over the company’s network. Cloud computing is a lot bigger than that. It encompasses multiple companies, multiple servers, and multiple networks. Plus, unlike network computing, cloud services and storage are accessible fromC H A P T E R 1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing anywhere in the world over an Internet connection; with network computing, access is over the company’s network only. Cloud computing also isn’t traditional outsourcing, where a company farms out (subcontracts) its computing services to an outside firm. While an out-sourcing firm might host a company’s data or applications, those documents and programs are only accessible to the company’s employees via the com-pany’s network, not to the entire world via the Internet. So, despite superficial similarities, etworking computing and outsourcing are not cloud computing. What Cloud Computing Is Key to the definition of cloud computing is the cloud itself. For our purposes,the cloud is a large group of interconnected computers. These computers can be personal computers or network servers; they can be public or private. For example, Google hosts a cloud that consists of both smallish PCs and larg er servers. Google’s cloud is a private one (that is, Google owns it) that is publicly accessible (by Google’s users). This cloud of computers extends beyond a single company or enterprise.The applications and data served by the cloud are available to broad group of users, cross-enterprise and cross-platform. Access is via the Internet. Any authorized user can access these docs and apps from any computer over any Internet connection. And, to the user, the technology and infrastructure behind the cloud is invisible. It isn’t apparent (and, in most cases doesn’t mat-ter) whether cloud services are based on HTTP, HTML, XML, JavaScript, or other specific technologies. It might help to examine how one of the pioneers of cloud computing,Google, perceives the topic.From Google’s perspective, there are six key prop-erties of cloud computing:  ¦ Cloud computing is user-centric. Once you as a user are connected to the cloud, whatever is stored there- docum ents, messages, images, applications, whatever- becomes yours. In addition, not only is the data yours, but you can also share it with others. In effect, any device that accesses your data in the cloud also becomes yours.  ¦ Cloud computing is task-centric. Instead of focusing on the applica-tion and what it can do, the focus is on what you need done and how the application can do it for you. Traditional applications- word pro-cessing, spreadsheets, email, and so on- are becoming less important than the documents they create. 9 10PART IUnderstanding Cloud Computing  ¦ Cloud computing is powerful. Connecting hundreds or thousands of computers together in a cloud creates a wealth of computing power impossible with a single desktop PC.  ¦ Cloud computing is accessible. Because data is stored in the cloud, users can instantly retrieve more information from multiple reposito-ries. You’re not limited to a single source of data, as you are with a desktop PC. Cloud computing is intelligent. With all the various data stored on the computers in a cloud, data mining and analysis are necessary to access that information in an intelligent manner.  ¦ Cloud computing is programmable. Many of the tasks necessary with cloud computing must be automated. For example, to protect the integrity of the data, information stored on a single computer in the cloud must be replicated on other computers in the cloud. If that one computer goes offline, the cloud’s programming automatically redis- tributes that computer’s data to a new computer in the cloud.All these definitions behind us, what constitutes cloud computing in the real world? As you’ll learn throughout this book, a raft of web-hosted, Internet-accessible, group-collaborative applications are currently available, with many more onthe way. Perhaps the best and most popular examples of cloud computing applications today are the Google family of applications- Google Docs Spreadsheets, Google C alendar, Gmail, Picasa, and the like. All of these appli-cations are hosted on Google’s servers, are accessible to any user with an Internet con-nection, and can be used for group collab-oration from anywhere in the world.In short, cloud computing enables a shift from the computer to the user, from appli-cations to tasks, and from isolated data to data that can be accessed from anywhere and shared with anyone. The user no longer has to take on the task of data management; he doesn’t even have to remember where the data is. All that mat-ters is that the data is in the cloud, and thus immediately available to that user and to other authorized users. Note: Developers and IT types might have a slightly different definition of cloud computing than that for an end user.To the people who develop and manage computer systems, cloud computing is all about horizontal scalability in the form of server capability; the technical challenge is developing operating systems and applica- tions to manage this sort of on-the-fly scaling-while keeping the mechanics of it invisible to , the end user. CHAPTER 1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing 11 From Collaboration to the Cloud: A Short History of Cloud Computing Cloud computing has as its antecedents both client/server computing and peer-to-peer distributed computing.It’s all a matter of how centralized storage facilitates collaboration and how multiple computers work together to increase computing power. Client/Server Computing: Centralized Applications and Storage In the antediluvian days of computing (pre-1980 or so), everything operated on the client/server model. All the software applications, all the data, and all the control resided on huge mainframe computers, otherwise known as servers. If a user wanted to access specific data or run a program, he had to connect to the mainframe, gain appropriate access, and then do his business while essen-tially renting the program or data from th e server.Users connected to the server via a computer terminal, sometimes called a workstation or client. This computer was sometimes called a dumb terminal because it didn’t have a lot (if any! ) memory, storage space, or processing power. It was merely a device that connected the user to and enabled him to use the mainframe computer. Users accessed the mainframe only when granted permission, and the infor- mation technology (IT) staff weren’t in the habit of handing out access casu-ally. Even on a mainframe computer, processing power is limited- and the IT staff were the guardians of that power.Access was not immediate, nor could two users access the same data at the same time. Beyond that, users pretty much had to take whatever the IT staff gave them- with no variations. Want to customize a report to show only a subset of the normal information? Can’t do it. Want to create a new report to look at some new data? You can’t do it, although the IT staff ca n- but on their schedule, which might be weeks from now. The fact is, when multiple people are sharing a single computer, even if that computer is a huge mainframe, you have to wait your turn.Need to rerun a financial report? No problem- if you don’t mind waiting until this afternoon,or tomorrow morning. There isn’t always immediate access in a client/server environment, and seldom is there immediate gratification. So the client/server model, while providing similar centralized storage, differed from cloud computing in that it did not have a user-centric focus; with client/server computing, all the control rested with the mainframe- and with the guardians of that single computer. It was not a user-enabling environment. 2 PART I Understanding Cloud Computing Peer-to-Peer Computing: Sharing Resources As you can imagine, accessing a client/server system was kind of a hurry up and wait experience. The server part of the system also created a huge bottle-neck. All communica tions between computers had to go through the server first, however inefficient that might be. The obvious need to connect one computer to another without first hitting the server led to the development of peer-to-peer (P2P) computing.P2P computing defines a network architecture in which each computer has equivalent capa-bilities and responsibilities. This is in contrast to the traditional client/server network architecture, in which one or more computers are dedicated to serv-ing the others. (This relationship is sometimes characterized as a master/slave relationship, with the central server as the master and the client computer as the slave. ) P2P was an equalizing concept. In the P2P environment, every computer is a client and a server; there are no masters and slaves.By recognizing all com-puters on the network as peers, P2P enables direct exchange of resources and services. There is no need for a central server, because any computer can func-tion in that capacity when called on to do so. P2P was also a decentralizing concept. Control is decentralized, with all com-puters functioning as equals. Content is also dispersed among the various peer computers. No centralized server is assigned to host the available resources and services. Perhaps the most notable implementation of P2P computing is the Internet.Many of today’s users forget (or never knew) that the Internet was initially conceived, under its original ARPAnet guise, as a peer-to-peer system that would share computing resources across the United States. The various ARPAnet sites- and there weren’t many of them- were connected together not as clients and servers, but as equals. The P2P nature of the early Internet was best exemplified by the Usenet net-work. Usenet, which was created back in 1979, was a network of computers (accessed via the Internet), each of which hosted the entire contents of the net-work. Messages were propagated between the eer computers; users connect-ing to any si ngle Usenet server had access to all (or substantially all) the messages posted to each individual server. Although the users’ connection to the Usenet server was of the traditional client/server nature, the relationship between the Usenet servers was definitely P2P- and presaged the cloud com-puting of today. CHAPTER 1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing 13 That said, not every part of the Internet is P2P in nature. With the develop-ment of the World Wide Web came a shift away from P2P back to the client/server model.On the web, each website is served up by a group of com-puters, and sites’ visitors use client software (web browsers) to access it. Almost all content is centralized, all control is centralized, and the clients have no autonomy or control in the process. Distributed Computing: Providing More Computing Power One of the most important subsets of the P2P model is that of distributed com-puting, where idle PCs across a network or across th e Internet are tapped to provide computing power for large, processor-intensive projects.It’s a simple concept, all about cycle sharing between multiple computers. A personal computer, running full-out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, is capa-ble of tremendous computing power. Most people don’t use their computers 24/7, however, so a good portion of a computer’s resources go unused. Distributed computing uses those resources. When a computer is enlisted for a distributed computing project, software is installed on the machine to run various processing activities during those peri-ods when the PC is typically unused.The results of that spare-time processing are periodically uploaded to the distributed computing network, and com-bined with similar results from other PCs in the project. The result, if enough computers are involved, simulates the processing power of much larger main-frames and supercomputers- which is necessary for some very large and com-plex computi ng projects. For example, genetic research requires vast amounts of computing power. Left to traditional means, it might take years to solve essential mathematical problems. By connecting together thousands or millions) of individual PCs, more power is applied to the problem, and the results are obtained that much sooner. Distributed computing dates back to 1973, when multiple computers were net-worked together at the Xerox PARC labs and worm software was developed to cruise through the network looking for idle resources. A more practical appli-cation of distributed computing appeared in 1988, when researchers at the DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) System Research Center developed soft-ware that distributed the work to factor large numbers among workstations within their laboratory.By 1990, a group of about 100 users, utilizing this software, had factored a 100-digit number. By 1995, this same effort had been expanded to the web to factor a 130-digit number. 14PART IUnderstandin g Cloud Computing It wasn’t long before distributed computing hit the Internet. The first major Internet-based distributed computing project was distributed. net, launched in 1997, which employed thousands of personal computers to crack encryption codes. Even bigger was [emailprotected], launched in May 1999, which linked together millions of individual computers to search for intelligent life in outer space.Many distributed computing projects are conducted within large enterprises, using traditional network connections to form the distributed computing net-work. Other, larger, projects utilize the computers of everyday Internet users, with the computing typically taking place offline, and then uploaded once a day via traditional consumer Internet connections . Collaborative Computing: Working as a Group From the early days of client/server computing through the evolution of P2P, there has been a desire for multiple users to work simultaneously on the same computer-based proj ect.This type of collaborative computing is the driving force behind cloud computing, but has been around for more than a decade. Early group collaboration was enabled by the combination of several different P2P technologies. The goal was (and is) to enable multiple users to collaborate on group projects online, in real time. To collaborate on any project, users must first be able to talk to one another. In today’s environment, this means instant messaging for text-based commu-nication, with optional audio/telephony and video capabilities for voice and picture communication. Most collaboration systems offer the complete range of udio/video options, for full-featured multiple-user video conferencing. In addition, users must be able to share files and have multiple users work on the same document simultaneously. Real-time whiteboarding is also common, especially in corporate and education environments. Early group collaboration systems ranged from the relatively simple (Lotus N otes and Microsoft NetMeeting) to the extremely complex (the building-block architecture of the Groove Networks system). Most were targeted at large corporations, and limited to operation over the companies’ private networks.Note: Whiteboarding is where one or more users draw on a virtual white-board that is viewable by all the members of the group. C H A P T E R 1 Beyond the Desktop: An Introduction to Cloud Computing15 Cloud Computing: The Next Step in Collaboration With the growth of the Internet, there was no need to limit group collaboration to a single enterprise’s network environment. Users from multiple locations within a cor-poration, and from multiple organizations,desired to collaborate on projects that crossed company and geographic boundaries.To do this, projects had to be housed in the cloud of the Internet, and accessed from any Internet-enabled location. The concept of cloud-based documents and services took wing with the devel-opment of large server fa rms, such as those run by Google and other search companies. Google already had a collection of servers that it used to power its massive search engine; why not use that same computing power to drive a collection of web-based applications- and, in the process, provide a new level of Internet-based group collaboration?That’s exactly what happened, although Google wasn’t the only company offering cloud computing solutions. On the infrastructure side, IBM, Sun Systems, and other big iron providers are offering the hardware necessary to build cloud networks. On the software side, dozens of companies are develop-ing cloud-based applications and storage services. Today, people are using cloud services and storage to create, share, find, and organize information of all different types. Tomorrow, this functionality will be available not only to computer users, ut to users of any device that con-nects to the Internet- mobile phones, portable music players, even automo-biles and home television sets. Note: The term cloud com-puting is a relatively recent one, gaining prominence in 2007 as a means of describing Internet-based distributed com-puting and its associated applications. The Network Is the Computer: How Cloud Computing Works Sun Microsystems’s slogan is The network is the computer, and that’s as good as any to describe how cloud computing works. In essence, a network of computers functions as a single computer to serve data and applications to users over the Internet.The network exists in the cloud of IP addresses that we know as the Internet, offers massive computing power and storage capabil-ity and enables widescale group collaboration. But that

Identifying Post-Marital Residence Archaeologically

Identifying Post-Marital Residence Archaeologically A significant piece of kinship studies in anthropology and archaeology both is post-marital residence patterns, the rules within a society that determine where a child of a group resides after they get married. In pre-industrial communities, people generally live(d) in family compounds. Residence rules are essential organizing principles for a group, allowing families to build a labor force, share resources, and plan out rules for exogamy (who can marry who) and inheritance (how the shared resources are split among the survivors). Identifying Post-Marital Residence Archaeologically Beginning in the 1960s, archaeologists began attempting to identify patterns which might suggest post-marital residence at archaeological sites. The first attempts, pioneered by James Deetz, William Longacre and James Hill among others, were with ceramics, particularly decoration and style of pottery. In a patrilocal residence situation, the theory went, female pottery makers would bring in styles from their home clans and the resulting artifact assemblages would reflect that. That didnt work very well, in part because contexts where potsherds are found (middens) are rarely clear cut enough to indicate where the household was and who was responsible for the pot. See Dumond 1977 for a (fairly dyspeptic and so fairly typical for its era) discussion. DNA, isotope studies, and biological affinities have also been used with some success: the theory is that these physical differences would clearly identify the people who are outsiders to the community. The problem with that class of investigation is it is not always clear that where people are buried necessarily reflects where people lived. Examples of the methodologies are found in Bolnick and Smith (for DNA), Harle (for affinities) and Kusaka and colleagues (for isotope analyses). What seems to be a fruitful methodology of identifying post-marital residence patterns is using community and settlement patterns, as described by Ensor (2013). Post-Marital Residence and Settlement In his 2013 book The Archaeology of Kinship, Ensor lays out the physical expectations for settlement patterning in different post-marital residence behaviors. When recognized in the archaeological record, these on-the-ground, datable patterns provide insight into the societal makeup of the residents. Since archaeological sites are by definition diachronic resources (that is, they span decades or centuries and so contain evidence of change over time), they can also illuminate how residence patterns change as the community expands or contracts. There are three main forms of PMR: neolocal, unilocal and multi-local residences. Neolocal can be considered the pioneer stage, when a group consisting of parent(s) and child(ren) move away from existing family compounds to start new. Architecture associated with such a family structure is an isolated conjugal house which is not aggregated or formally situated with other dwellings. According to cross-cultural ethnographic studies, conjugal houses typically measure less that 43 square meters (462 square feet) in floor plan. Unilocal Residence Patterns Patrilocal residence is when the boys of the family stay in the family compound when they marry, bringing in spouses from elsewhere. Resources are owned by the men of the family, and, although the spouses reside with the family, they are still part of the clans where they were born. Ethnographic studies suggest that in these cases, new conjugal residences (whether rooms or houses) are constructed for the new families, and eventually a plaza is required for meeting places. A patrilocal residence pattern thus includes a number of conjugal residences scattered around a central plaza. Matrilocal residence is when the girls of the family stay in the family compound when they marry, bringing in spouses from elsewhere. Resources are owned by the women of the family and, although the spouses can reside with the family, they are still part of the clans where they were born. In this type of residence pattern, according to cross-cultural ethnographic studies, typically sisters or related women and their families live together, sharing domiciles which average 80 sq m (861 sq ft) or more. Meeting palces such as plazas are not necessary, because the families reside together. Cognatic Groups Ambilocal residence is a unilocal residence pattern when each couple decides which family clan to join. Bilocal residence patterns is a multi-local pattern in which each partner stays in their own family residence. Both of these have the same complex structure: both have plazas and small conjugal house groups and both have multifamily dwellings, so they cannot be distinguished archaeologically. Summary Residence rules define who is us: who can be relied on in emergencies, who is required to work on the farm, who we can marry, where we need to live and how our family decisions are made. Some argument can be made for residential rules driving the creation of ancestor worship and unequal status: who is us must have a founder (mythical or real) to identify, people who are related to a particular founder might be of a higher rank than others. By making the main sources of family income from outside of the family, the industrial revolution made post-marital residence no longer necessary or, in most cases today, even possible. Most likely, as with everything else in archaeology, post-marital residence patterns will be best identified using a variety of methods. Tracing the settlement pattern change of a community, and comparing physical data from cemeteries and changes in artifact styles from midden contexts will help approach the problem and clarify, as much as possible, this interesting and necessary societal organization. Sources Bolnick DA, and Smith DG. 2007. Migration and Social Structure among the Hopewell: Evidence from Ancient DNA. American Antiquity 72(4):627-644. Dumond DE. 1977. Science in Archaeology: The Saints Go Marching In. American Antiquity 42(3):330-349. Ensor BE. 2011. Kinship Theory in Archaeology: From Critiques to the Study of Transformations. American Antiquity 76(2):203-228. Ensor BE. 2013. The Archaeology of Kinship. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. 306 p. Harle MS. 2010. Biological Affinities and the Construction of Cultural Identity for the Proposed Coosa Chiefdom. Knoxville: University of Tennessee. Hubbe M, Neves WA, Oliveira ECd, and Strauss A. 2009. Postmarital residence practice in southern Brazilian coastal groups: continuity and change.  Latin American Antiquity 20(2):267-278. Kusaka S, Nakano T, Morita W, and Nakatsukasa M. 2012. Strontium isotope analysis to reveal migration in relation to climate change and ritual tooth ablation of Jomon skeletal remains from western Japan. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31(4):551-563. Tomczak PD, and Powell JF. 2003. Postmarital Residence Patterns in the Windover Population: Sex-Based Dental Variation as an Indicator of Patrilocality. American Antiquity 68(1):93-108.

Amateurism in Ncaa football Essay Example for Free

Amateurism in Ncaa football Essay The National Collegiate Athletic Association is corrupted with sneakiness, unfairness and greediness, particularly in division one colleges. In North America, sports play a huge role, especially sports like football, hockey, basketball and baseball. Sometimes this causes us to become vanished of fairness, like are the players being treated right? A great example of injustice in sports is amateurism of football players in division one colleges. Division one and division two athletes must obtain amateurism, which is playing the sport as a hobby rather than for the money, many would define amateurism as worthy but it is really tainted and monopolized! Should NCAA athletes get paid? Numerous of people would easily answer no because college athletes are on scholarships and various athletic departments loses money even with a winning record. Also college athletes have advantages with free tuition, books, living expenses, food, clothing and health. Although all of these features appear wonderful but there are more cons than pros of amateurism. For example the NCAA is a business that are making money out of these athletes basically for free and yes they do receive tuition but that does not compare to the large amount of money the NCAA is making out of them. According the Stanford Review, college athletic is a multimillion-dollar industry with recruiting the best of the best in the nation. So why not pay the best of the best, if they put in all this hard work, then they should be rewarded. Instead the National Colligate Athletic Association is a monopoly because of its limitation of scholarships and other payments to boost its college sports program. Also not all of the athletes receive scholarships. College football players put in more work on the field than they do in the classrooms. For example when in season they have five-hour practices and that doesn’t include lifting for an hour and this is from Tuesday to Friday with game day on Saturday. After the season is over then they begin spring ball which is just only practices and plus they don’t have a summer break because they have to stay for summer ball. We consider college athletes as student athletes but that is such an oxymoron because in realty their sport does come before their schoolwork. When playing in a big division one school, most athletes believe to make it in the big leagues but sadly only about 2% makes it. Colleges should stress more on education for so call student athletes but they don’t because of the athlete’s popularity and how the NCAA is making money out of them regardless if they have a future afterward or not. It’s horrible how the NCAA contract includes that when an athlete commits and decides to transfer to play for another school then they have to sit out a year. This rule is so unfair because coaches don’t have to do that. The NCAA is the biggest monopoly in America according to Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine. When selling college souvenirs and jerseys, videogames, etc and the athlete does not make any money from that, even if they are the main reason for those sales. It is amazing that most players receive a free education but does not compare to what the NCAA is making off of them. The players should receive a cut of these profits or gain a portion of this money after graduation so it can help them financially with their futures. Sadly the NCAA is too considerate of themselves and if an athlete is injure or not performing well then they have no problem wiping their name off the record books. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a business that makes tons of money from college athletes. Another reason why the NCAA doesn’t pay their athletes is because they will be tax and they can lose a lot of money from that. Well, professional sports obviously pay their athletes and they are tax too but the professional leagues are doing well. College basketball and college football are highly talked about and televised just like the professional sports so it shouldn’t be a problem if college athletes get paid. With amateurism in college sports, athletic programs cheat. They secretly cheat by illegally over paying top players or handing them out free stuff. For instance Cam Newton who was an All-American quarterback playing for Auburn and Mississippi before was secretly offered 120,000 to 18,000 from Mississippi State. Playing in top division one colleges, â€Å"winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing† and if athletic programs will cheat to have the best recruits and this is no surprise. If amateurism didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be any cheating scandals and every player will treated equally from their performance. Brown, Noah. â€Å"The NCAA Monopoly – The Toonari Post – News, Powered by the People! † The Toonari Post. N. p. , 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. . Amateurism in Ncaa football. (2017, Jun 03).

Global Warming is not as Big a Deal as the Government Makes it Seem Research Paper

Global Warming is not as Big a Deal as the Government Makes it Seem - Research Paper Example This paper briefly analyses the global warming topic with respect to reasons other than manmade. As per the recent studies, the earth’s surface temperature has been increased around 0.750 C during the last century itself. Moreover, scientists believe that the atmospheric temperature may even go up by 6 degrees before the end of the current century. Studies also showed that warming and sea level rise may continue for more than 1000 years even if we manage to stabilize the greenhouse gas levels. Increased global temperature can create dangerous futures for the human being. The consequences of global warming are unimaginable. Sea level raise, increased extreme weather intensities, changes in agricultural yields, complete destruction of some living things etc are some of the immediate difficulties we can anticipate. Even though manmade activities may have some effect, modern scientific theories unanimously agreed that the major reasons for global warming may be natural phenomenon like solar variations and volcanoes. While the world is unanimous in accepting the fact that global warming may cause severe problems to living things, there are different opinions about who contributes to the atmospheric temperature. The intensity of radiations received on earth from the sun has been increased drastically as per the studies conducted by Dr. Solanki.  

Public Policies Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Policies - Term Paper Example These people feel threatened by the public interest groups that jockey for room and influence. However, there are others who believe that these groups prove that America is a vibrant democracy. This latter opinion makes much more sense and will be explored in the course of this essay. America has a truly brilliant political system. Each person has one vote. But by organizing together, groups of people can have a larger impact on the system. For example, people who enjoy owning guns for recreational purposes such as hunting can join together to be members of the NRA. There are millions of people who have done so. This is an issue that is important to them. When a politician suggests that the law should be changed to make possessing guns more dangerous, these millions of NRA members have an effective way of championing their position. Likewise, those who want more gun control are free to organize to present the opposite point of view. The debate will presumably happen in public. The representatives can choose a position and can allow the voters to ratify his or her decision at the next election. That is how democracy works. There is nothing broken about lobbying. As Anderson explains in his book, there are a number of different types of interest groups. Some are professional, some are ad hoc. Some are interested in a single issue, others have multiple interests. Some think tanks provide constant pressure on political issues (Anderson, 64). Others groups are collections of professional activists (Anderson, 72). In all of these forms, these groups contribute to our democracy. One of the transformative decisions of the Supreme Court in recent years regarding interest groups is the Citizens United decision which overturned the campaign financing laws. In the past groups could not spend very much money promoting a candidate during an election period. The Court felt that this was an assault on freedom of expression and overturned the law. In

Comprehensive Technical Analysis Project Research Paper

Comprehensive Technical Analysis Project - Research Paper Example Its revenues were growing by the day, this is because its presence in Europe and Africa. The company in the 1990’s started diversifying its range of cars and opened up manufacturing industries in many parts of the world. This boosted their sales in the countries where they were manufacturing the cars. Toyota by 2010 was still the motor company to beat in terms of sales; it had sold over 8,557,351 units which represents an 11.0% market share. In order to measure if a company is profitable it must be compared with its competitor, Toyota sales from only automotive operations as for the fiscal year of April through September the first six months amounted to approximately 8,863.6 billion yen, this translates to $104 billion dollars at an exchange rate of 85 yen to the dollar. Looking at General motors, the revenues during the two quarters is approximately $67.2 billion. Thus, Toyota auto operations averaged about 12% of all sales done in the motor industry in the fiscal year of 2009 to 2010. Toyota auto operations are over 50% larger than all GM sales. When Toyota and General Motors are compared to the motor industry, they rank way higher than other companies in the industry, this is in terms of the market share and the profitability, the companies have a history of their profits running to billions of dollars and their assets size running into hundreds of billions. They are two of the largest motor companies in the world and they are in frequent competition. The closest company that comes close to the two is the German company Volkswagen, however, it grosses lesser than the two mega companies. The following is a comparison of the industry. Toyota 8,557,351 GM 8,476,192 Volkswagen 7,341,065 Hyundai Motor 5,764,918. Toyota ascent has been attributed to the ever improving profits and this growth compared with the sales is inevitable. To assess the relativity of the

Explaining the Magic of Physics in Everyday Life Assignment

Explaining the Magic of Physics in Everyday Life - Assignment Example This is because natural motion seems similar when time is run backwards as the laws of motion are symmetric in relation to reversal of time. In Peter’s case, time was run backwards in the film. The equations required to explain motion under consistent acceleration are similar as those used to explain the motion of an object in a film playing in reverse. The tension on the pants would not be changed at all. Tension is as a result of two forces acting in opposite directions. It is a tensor. It can be assumed that in the Levi Strauss trademark when the two horses are pulling the pants each horse exerts a force of 10,000N, hence, each horse is exerting the same amount of force on the pants which results in a deadlock. If one horse was used to pull the pants while attached to a tree trunk, the tree trunk would also exert an equal amount of force because for every action there is a reaction. Hence, the tension in the pants would not be reduced by one half. For if it was to be reduced by one half, it means the horse would pull away the pants from the log. Air bubbles rise steadily under water. This is because air is less dense than water therefore the force of gravity acting on the bubble will be less causing the air bubble to float. The air bubble will increase its size to the surface of the water since it expands with decreasing pressure. As the volume of the bubbles increases, they will become less dense than water because of the lowered pressure. The iron disk is a metal which is a solid. It is well known that when solids are heated, they expand. Molecules in the iron disk vibrate about their mean position upon heating. As the heating is increased, the vibration of the molecules in the iron disk about their mean position increases. The molecules in the iron disk will move farther from each other as the energy from heating increases. This means that the iron disk shall expand. The diameter of the hole

Jean-Antoine Watteaus Foursome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Jean-Antoine Watteaus Foursome - Essay Example "The image ÃŽ ¿f cadavers being carried by an angry and frustrated crowd, with which I began this essay, is not far from the one that I have just finished analyzing. Both Barbier and Watteau are symbolically recreating felt, palpable social change in the first two decades ÃŽ ¿f the eighteenth century. They are also, on a second level ÃŽ ¿f symbolization, trying to understand the metaphorization ÃŽ ¿f power and influence. The riots over paper money that had suddenly become worthless and the commodification ÃŽ ¿f art itself, ÃŽ ¿f placing a monetary value on the most aesthetic ÃŽ ¿f man's activities, are significant issues, important to describe. The palpable weakening ÃŽ ¿f a heretofore seemingly invincible central government, objectified in these two scenes by the closed doors ÃŽ ¿f the Palais-Royal and the disappearing portrait ÃŽ ¿f Louis XIV, had been underlined by the relative openness that Philippe d'Orleans had brought to his Court; but, his candor was too little and too late. Power had hemorrhaged into the streets. Classes were being redefined, and with them a new ethics, exemplified in the young man's father's awkward attempts at warning his son about mercurial Parisians. Merit will count more than it did, but appearances and the superficial will skill reign, only no longer to be systematically defined by the court. The Regency period (1715-1723) was one ÃŽ ¿f remarkable narrative energy. Writers such as Challe, Prevost, Marivaux, Montesquieu.... To do a painting, especially when one is dying from tuberculosis, that depicts a moment in a shop's existence, a painting that is meant to attract connoisseurs and speculators, underlines how compelling was the statement that Watteau wanted to make. The transient and its valuation are connected brilliantly in L'Enseigne de Gersaint (a title that offers no profundity f meaning either), because they are connected aesthetically. Thus, Watteau pushes us to surrender to art what it demands: the recognition that only through imaginative effort can an equitable ethics f urbanity be derived. This painting is about the power f art to transcend even the most powerful social and personal impediments to happiness, because they are indeed transient. The sign Watteau painted signals a new social context, bent on possessing, evaluating, and judging according to appearance and by anyone. It is indeed a "photograph" f the Regency.1 L'Enseigne de Gersaint introduces, without the aesthetic and emotional distancing that defines the fetes galantes, the body as the site for the working out f desire, and society as the space in which bodies define and adapt themselves. Fiction and art should draw the connections among desire, the body and society. And this work does just that: it shows potential connections that can narrate the place f desire in an emergent cultural realignment. The painting is so well balanced thematically that one may forget that it is a quite sophisticated commentary on the function f art in society. Its self-consciousness, its theatricality, and its extraordinary use f color all tend us away from its intellectualism. Watteau was asking fundamental questions about the role f the spectator in the production and

Comprehensive Technical Analysis Project Research Paper

Comprehensive Technical Analysis Project - Research Paper Example Its revenues were growing by the day, this is because its presence in Europe and Africa. The company in the 1990’s started diversifying its range of cars and opened up manufacturing industries in many parts of the world. This boosted their sales in the countries where they were manufacturing the cars. Toyota by 2010 was still the motor company to beat in terms of sales; it had sold over 8,557,351 units which represents an 11.0% market share. In order to measure if a company is profitable it must be compared with its competitor, Toyota sales from only automotive operations as for the fiscal year of April through September the first six months amounted to approximately 8,863.6 billion yen, this translates to $104 billion dollars at an exchange rate of 85 yen to the dollar. Looking at General motors, the revenues during the two quarters is approximately $67.2 billion. Thus, Toyota auto operations averaged about 12% of all sales done in the motor industry in the fiscal year of 2009 to 2010. Toyota auto operations are over 50% larger than all GM sales. When Toyota and General Motors are compared to the motor industry, they rank way higher than other companies in the industry, this is in terms of the market share and the profitability, the companies have a history of their profits running to billions of dollars and their assets size running into hundreds of billions. They are two of the largest motor companies in the world and they are in frequent competition. The closest company that comes close to the two is the German company Volkswagen, however, it grosses lesser than the two mega companies. The following is a comparison of the industry. Toyota 8,557,351 GM 8,476,192 Volkswagen 7,341,065 Hyundai Motor 5,764,918. Toyota ascent has been attributed to the ever improving profits and this growth compared with the sales is inevitable. To assess the relativity of the

Jean-Antoine Watteaus Foursome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Jean-Antoine Watteaus Foursome - Essay Example "The image ÃŽ ¿f cadavers being carried by an angry and frustrated crowd, with which I began this essay, is not far from the one that I have just finished analyzing. Both Barbier and Watteau are symbolically recreating felt, palpable social change in the first two decades ÃŽ ¿f the eighteenth century. They are also, on a second level ÃŽ ¿f symbolization, trying to understand the metaphorization ÃŽ ¿f power and influence. The riots over paper money that had suddenly become worthless and the commodification ÃŽ ¿f art itself, ÃŽ ¿f placing a monetary value on the most aesthetic ÃŽ ¿f man's activities, are significant issues, important to describe. The palpable weakening ÃŽ ¿f a heretofore seemingly invincible central government, objectified in these two scenes by the closed doors ÃŽ ¿f the Palais-Royal and the disappearing portrait ÃŽ ¿f Louis XIV, had been underlined by the relative openness that Philippe d'Orleans had brought to his Court; but, his candor was too little and too late. Power had hemorrhaged into the streets. Classes were being redefined, and with them a new ethics, exemplified in the young man's father's awkward attempts at warning his son about mercurial Parisians. Merit will count more than it did, but appearances and the superficial will skill reign, only no longer to be systematically defined by the court. The Regency period (1715-1723) was one ÃŽ ¿f remarkable narrative energy. Writers such as Challe, Prevost, Marivaux, Montesquieu.... To do a painting, especially when one is dying from tuberculosis, that depicts a moment in a shop's existence, a painting that is meant to attract connoisseurs and speculators, underlines how compelling was the statement that Watteau wanted to make. The transient and its valuation are connected brilliantly in L'Enseigne de Gersaint (a title that offers no profundity f meaning either), because they are connected aesthetically. Thus, Watteau pushes us to surrender to art what it demands: the recognition that only through imaginative effort can an equitable ethics f urbanity be derived. This painting is about the power f art to transcend even the most powerful social and personal impediments to happiness, because they are indeed transient. The sign Watteau painted signals a new social context, bent on possessing, evaluating, and judging according to appearance and by anyone. It is indeed a "photograph" f the Regency.1 L'Enseigne de Gersaint introduces, without the aesthetic and emotional distancing that defines the fetes galantes, the body as the site for the working out f desire, and society as the space in which bodies define and adapt themselves. Fiction and art should draw the connections among desire, the body and society. And this work does just that: it shows potential connections that can narrate the place f desire in an emergent cultural realignment. The painting is so well balanced thematically that one may forget that it is a quite sophisticated commentary on the function f art in society. Its self-consciousness, its theatricality, and its extraordinary use f color all tend us away from its intellectualism. Watteau was asking fundamental questions about the role f the spectator in the production and

King Hussein bin Talal Essay Example for Free

King Hussein bin Talal Essay Many individuals desire power to create change and leave a mark in history. Though some were successful in achieving this, many were left to do their part and contribute to the betterment of many. One man was able to do this and create his own legacy; an unending desire to develop and create his lasting marks both in the Muslim and Western world. This man, a born leader and dreamer, is King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan. Born in November 14, 1935 from Prince Talal bin Abdullah and Princess Zein al-Sharaf bint Jamil, the young King Hussein possessed the leadership and skill that can surpass his father (King Hussein. gov, 2006). Along with his two siblings, King Hussein lived a happy life full of luxuries and on one day creating a legacy of his own in Jordan. Since the Muslim believed in the traditional transfer of power to the direct descendants of Mohammed, he was being groomed to assume the throne as the forty second generation descendant, when the time comes (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). At such a young age, then Prince Hussein saw the violence of the world when an assassination attempt took his grandfather’s life (King Abdullah). There was a story wherein Prince Hussein was saved from the assassination because of the medal his grandfather gave him wherein in the future he forever cherished the most (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). Due to this sudden turn of events, Prince Hussein’s father, King Talal assumed the throne. However his reign was not going to last for long because of an illness. During his father’s reign, Prince Hussein dedicated his life in the study of politics, law and proved to be a scholar in different areas. He devoted his lifetime towards the pursuit of information and new ideas. His mind was very open to changes and dreamed to improve the welfare of his country (King Hussein. gov, 2006). Not long shall he realize that he will assume the throne of his father and become one of the most prominent figures in the Muslim world. King Hussein’s formal accession to the throne came in two years after his father was proven to mentally incapacitated and unable to lead. Seeing this, formal procedures were made to appoint the next successor and deal with the current issues surrounding Jordan during that time. â€Å"A Regency Council was appointed until King Hussein’s formal accession to the throne on May 2, 1953, when he assumed his constitutional powers after reaching the age of eighteen, according to the Islamic calendar† (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009, p. 1). At a young age of 18, the new King Hussein was a vibrant and energetic fellow. However, his reign was immediately put to the test with the recent challenges and hurdles impeding Jordan’s growth. There were issues of poverty and unemployment in the country. He needed to enact changes immediately to help and sustain the growth of the state and improve the welfare of his countrymen. With this, he primarily focused his ideas and interests in creating and developing the economy and its key industries. He looked into what can make the country benefit more and sought to improve and intensify them with the incorporation of technology during that time. He believed that by devoting his time on this, he can have a competitive advantage over other states. Among these vital sectors include (1) phosphate, (2) potash and (3) cement (King Hussein. org, 2006). Also, King Hussein understood that for trade to increase and develop there must be an available path to vital locations and commercial areas. That is why another of his first projects included linking the many cities of Jordan using an effective highway system. This was a good strategy for the Kingdom because it enabled mobilization and easier access for communication, goods and trade. At this rate, he knew that after a while, changes will start to manifest and help develop the country towards its desired objectives. With his interest in implementing change, many developments have been seen even in the first five years of his reign. Overall, he proved to be a mover towards growth and a powerhouse in giving out what needs to be done. It is reported that during 1950, only 10% of Jordanians have access to clean water, however this has gone up to 99% during his reign as king (King Hussein. org, 2006). Though his interests were focused on the development of the economy, King Hussein never neglected the needs of his people. He believed that the Jordanians are a huge asset towards growth and improvement (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). That is why he also pursued to develop Jordan’s healthcare system and administered cheap but effective treatment to those who need it most. â€Å"UNICEF statistics show that between 1981 and 1991, Jordan achieved the world’s fastest annual rate of decline in infant mortality -from 70 deaths per 1000 births in 1981 to 37 per 1000 in 1991, a fall of over 47%† (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009, p. 1). In foreign policy and international relations, King Hussein has always been considered a pacifist. He never wanted to engage in conflict with other states and sought ways to deepen and enhance relationships especially among Muslim countries. In his 45 years of reign as king, he was one of the promoters of implementing peace in the Middle East. He operated and cooperated with the rules and tenets of international organizations such as the United Nations and used it as a model to denounce conflict and war (King Hussein. org, 2006). This was particularly evident as he was a mediator in many conflicts such as the Madrid Peace Conference, the 1994 Peace Treaty, and the 1990-1991 Gulf Crisis (King Hussein. org, 2006). This is important to point out because he wanted peace and tolerance among states either in political and religious affairs. It is through this belief that he modeled his country to be and advocate liberty, human rights and equality among all citizens. With this move, he next sought to democratize the country by offering his power towards citizens via parliamentary elections. It is in here that he amended the Jordanian constitution and sought to include tenets of liberal democratization and political pluralism during the 90’s (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). As far as his personal life is concerned, he had a happy family. He is married to Queen Noor on June 15, 1978 and had 12 children from three different wives. During his past time, away from politics and international relations, he focused his attention on sports such as racing, motorcycles and aviation (King Hussein. org, 2006). At the same time, this did not stop him from writing and he was able to publish three books which are â€Å"Uneasy Lies the Head (1962), about his childhood and early years as king, My War With Israel (1969), and Mon Metier de Roi† (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). However, later in his life, King Hussein has been suffering from different ailments. â€Å"He had surgery for a cancerous kidney in 1992, and had six months of chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the Mayo Clinic in 1998† (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2009). The world was shocked when they found out that he died of cancer. Though he did leave Jordan grieving, he left yet another contribution that forever shall be remembered and cherished. â€Å"King Husseins directive to provide Internet access for every Jordanian school highlights yet another aspect of his enduring legacy† (King Hussein. org, 2006). In the end, King Hussein exemplified what really is to be a leader. His grasp of power was used to move not only his country but the world forward. His contributions enveloped change and made his nation prosper. It is wise therefore that his name Al-Malik Al-Insan (â€Å"The Humane King†) be bequeathed accordingly and be recognized as one of the captivating leaders of modern times. Reference American-Isreali Cooperative Enterprise (2009) King Hussein bin Talal in Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved March 5, 2009 from, http://www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/jsource/biography/Hussein. html King Hussein. org (2006) Biography. Retrieved March 5, 2009 from, http://www. kinghussein. gov. jo/biography. html

The Unbiased Predictors Of Future Spot Rates Finance Essay

The Unbiased Predictors Of Future Spot Rates Finance Essay Market efficiency is a concept that is controversial and attracts strong views, pros and cons, partly because of differences between individuals about what it really means and partly because it is a core belief that, in large part, determines how an investor approaches investing. This report provides a simple definition of market efficiency considers the implication of an efficient market for investors and summarizes some of the basic approaches that are used to investment schemes, thereby proving or disproving market efficiency. Besides this, in this report I am going to examine whether the forward exchange rates are unbiased predictors of future spot rates or not. As foreign exchange markets are composed of various theories and internationally accepted principles there are no consensus about the theories and implications. Efficient market Levich (1983) defines an efficient market as a market, where prices fully reflects all available public and private information. Efficient market is the market in which the security prices reflect all available information and adjust instantly to any new information. It therefore means that the market is efficient when forward rates accurately forecasts future spot rates. Salavatore (1993) argues that markets are efficient when prices correctly reflect the scarcity of the various resources resulting in allocation efficiency. Efficiency therefore, will also mean that economic agents will not be able to earn unusual profits by exploiting the available information. The history of efficient market hypothesis could be traced back at least to the 1920s. In modern times Fama (1970) is credited as presenting a scholarly abstraction of efficient market hypothesis (EMH). According to his definition, there are three types of efficient market, depending upon the extent of the information reflected in the market: Weak form: a market is said to be weak-form efficient if there is no relationship between the past price changes and the future price changes, in short the prices are independent. No trading rules can be developed to make abnormal returns based on the past history of an assets prices or returns. Semi-strong form: semi-strong form EMH states that no abnormal profits or returns can be made by developing a trading rule based on publically available information. The semi-strong from encompasses the weak form because past history is publically available. Public information also includes non-market information, e.g. economic news, company accounts and stock splits. Strong form: In a strong efficient market not only public but also private information is available which can tell about future spot rates. Therefore no group of investors will be able to consistently derive any above-average profits. So the strong form states that the market should be perfect in which all the information is available to everyone at the same time. Efficient market hypothesis The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) has played an important role in understanding foreign exchange market efficiency especially in the past few decades. It states that if economic agents are risk-neutral; all available information is used rationally; the market is competitive; there are no taxes, transaction costs, or other frictions; then the foreign exchange market will be efficient in the sense that the expected rate of return to speculation in the forward exchange market will be zero (Geweke and Feige, 1979 and Hansan and Hodrick, 1980). The EMH also implies that since forward rates fully reflect available information concerning investors expectations of future spot rates, the forward rates should be unbiased forecasts of the future spot rates. Technically, an efficient market is one in which observed exchange rate deviations from their long run value can be explained within information and transaction costs. So, in the absence of any new and relevant information, exchange rate s will reflect their fundamental values and there will be no opportunities for deriving above-average profits. Thus excess profit or return from business can be defined as: Zj, tâ‚ ¬Ã‚ «1 rj, tâ‚ ¬Ã‚ «1 E (rj, tâ‚ ¬Ã‚ «1 It) â‚ ¬Ã‚ ½Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1) Where rj, t+1 is the actual one period rate of return for holding currency j in the period ending at time t+1 and E (rj, t+1|It) is the expected value of that return conditional on the information set available at t. according to equation the foreign exchange market is efficient if, on average, expectation errors are zero. [E (zj, t+1|It) =0] and these errors follow no pattern that might be exploited to produce profits (zj, t is uncorrelated with zj, k+1 for any value of k). . Implications of EMH in exchange rates In the case of exchange rates, a serious complication exists in the application of the EMH. At one time, it was assumed that the forward exchange rate represented the markets expectation of the actual future value of the exchange rate. However, it is now realized that this need not be the case if risk aversion is a significant factor limiting international capital flows. Alternative theories about the causes of the bias in the forward rate are surveyed by Froot and Thaler (1990). A necessary arithmetic relation exists between the forward rate and the interest differential. For example, if the Canadian interest rate is 1 percentage point higher than its U.S. counterpart, then the one year forward rate for the Canadian dollar must represent a 1 percent depreciation of the Canadian dollar vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar. This is called covered interest arbitrage, and if it did not hold then an opportunity would be available to make a riskless excess profit by lending in one country or the oth er. The forward rate is the mirror image of the interest rate differential that prevails between Canada and the United States, and in principle either one of the could be the cause of the other. If the forward rate were the markets actual expectation of the future value of the spot exchange rate, it would imply that interest rate differentials are determined by the expected change in the exchange rate embodied in the forward rate. In that case, Canada could have a higher interest rate than the United States only because the market expected the Canadian dollar to decline correspondingly in the coming year. To sum up, two alternatives are possible as to what the actual market expectation of the dollars future value is. Suppose the spot rate is 80 cents, the one-year forward rate is 77 cents, and the Canadian one-year interest rate is 3 percentage points higher than its U.S. counterpart. This could mean either: The market expects that the Canadian dollar will decline 3 percent over the coming year, and this is why money does not continue to flood into Canada until it eliminates the interest differential. (This would imply that the forward rate is the EMH predictor of the one-year-ahead exchange rate, because it always shows a 3 percent depreciation when the Canadian interest rate is 3 percentage points higher). Alternatively, the market expects the exchange rate to stay about where it is now. In that case, why doesnt an infinite amount of money flood into Canada to eliminate that wide interest differential? Because, while the central expectation is that the Canadian dollar will remain unchanged, there is a perceived risk that it might depreciate as much as, perhaps, 10 percent, and it may also appreciate 10 percent. But if investors are risk averse, they will put greater weight on the risk of depreciation, and limit their investments in Canada at such a point that the Canadian interest rate remains well above the U.S. interest rates. Either one of these alternatives is possible. Therefore, EMH does not make any clear prediction about what the future value of the dollar will be. Forward exchange rates are unbiased predictors of future spot rates Forward rate is the currently determined rate of exchange for a transaction to be carried out in the future. For example, the 90-day forward rate is the exchange rate to be applied to a transaction which is agreed to be completed at the end of 90 days from the date of agreement. The spot exchange rate prevailing in the market at the end of the 90-day period may be referred as the future spot rate. To find whether forward rate can be used to predict the future spot rate or not, there is a hypothesis, which postulates that the forward exchange rates are unbiased predictors of future spot rates in the exchange market. Technically speaking, an unbiased predictor is one that is just likely to overestimate as to underestimate a value, but these errors in the opposite directions are likely to offset each other in the long run. As discussed above this hypothesis is based on the assumption that for the major free floating currencies, the foreign exchange markets are reasonably efficient. Let us discuss this in light of an example: The 30-day forward rate of British Pounds is $1.40 and the general expectation of speculation is that the future rate of pound will be $1.45 in 30 days. Since speculator expect the future spot rate to be $1.45 and then sell them when received (in 30 days) at the spot rate existing then. If their forecast is correct, they will earn $.05 per pound, i.e. $1.45 $1.40. If a large number of speculators implement this strategy, the substantial forward purchases of pounds will cause the forward rate to increase until the speculative demand stops. Perhaps this demand will terminate when the forward rate reaches $1.45, since at this rate no profit will be expected by implementing the strategy. Thus the forward rate moves toward the markets general expectation of the future spot rate. In this sense the forward rate serves as the market based forecast of predictor of the future spot rate, as it reflects the markets expectation of the spot rate at the end of the forward horizon (30 days in this case). It can also be implied, If todays expectation of future exchange rate is unbiased, and if the forward and future prices equal that expectation, we would find that todays forward, on an average and in the long run equal the subsequently observed spot exchange rate. Thus there are two things to be considered: first, does the forward price equal the markets expectation of the future exchange rate? Second, is todays expectation of the future spot exchange rate unbiased? That is, does todays expectation of the future spot exchange rate equal the actual observed rate? Unfortunately, there is no truly accurate way to observe todays market expectation of future exchange rates. Therefore, most tests assume that the market expectation is an unbiased estimate of future spot exchange rate. Under this assumption scholars have tested the relationship between the forward and observed spot rate. They test the following equivalence: F0, t = St à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (1) Where, F0, t = the forward price at t=0 for contract expiring at time t and St = the spot exchange rate observed at time t. Testing the equivalence in above equation determines whether the forward price is a good estimate of the future spot rate of exchange. Even if there are large deviations between the two prices in equation, it is still possible that the forward price would provide a prediction of the future spot rate. An unbiased predictor is a predictor whose expected value equals the variable being predicted. In other words, if the quantity F0, t St equals zero, on average, the forward prices would provide an unbiased estimate of the future spot rate of exchange. Although the forward rates are predictors of future spot rates, but only in the condition of risk-neutrality. If risk neutral spectaculars are available in sufficient quantity, their profit-seeking activity will drive the future prices toward equality with the expected future spot price. And there are many factors which affect the future spot exchange rates like interest rates, inflation rates and price levels. So, the linkages among interest rates, price levels, expected inflation and exchange rates emphasizes the fundamental relationship that exists between the forward and future foreign exchange prices, on the one hand, and the expected future value of the currencies, on the other. To investigate this relationship let us consider the table shown in appendix. It can be seen that in the left panel, a set of consistent exchange rates, interest rates, expected inflation rates and tortilla prices are presented for March 20, 2009. The right panel presents the expected spot exchange rate for March 20, 2010, along with expected tortilla prices, consistent with the expected levels of inflation in Mexico and United States. Assuming, all of these values hold and that the expected spot exchange rate in one year is MP 11 per dollar. With the Mar, 2010 future prices of 10.45 MP/$, a speculative opportunity exists as follows. A speculator might buy futures contract for the delivery of dollars in one year for MP 10.45/$. If the expectation that the dollar will be worth MP 11 in one year, will be correct, the speculator will earn a profit that results from acquiring a dollar via the futures market for MP10.45 and selling it for the price of MP 11. If we assume that risk-neutral speculators are present in the foreign exchange market, the discrepancy betwe en the future prices of 10.45 MP/$ and an expected spot exchange rate of 11 MP/$ (at the time the future contract matures) cannot exist. In fact, given a profusion of risk-neutral speculators, the only expected spot exchange rate to prevail on March 20, 2010, which would eliminate the incentive to speculate, would be 10.45 MP/$. Of course, different market participants have different expectations regarding inflation rates and expected future spot exchange rates, and this difference in expectations is the necessary requirement for speculation. No predictor is perfect; therefore, it is possible that the forward or future prices may seem to be error-ridden. While earlier studies generally found that forward exchange prices are were predictors of future spot rates, later studies clearly find bias and large errors in the future forecasts of subsequent spot prices. In summary, the errors in forecasts of future exchange rates appear to be large and biases do seem to exist in these forecasts, although the biases appear to be too small to allow profitable exploitation of efficient markets. Conclusion: Famas 1965 insight- Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) irreversibly changed the way we look at financial markets. The impact of the theory of efficient markets has proven to be durable and seems likely to continue to be so, despite its inevitable and painfully obvious limitations. And there have been a number of studies of the forecasting accuracy of future and forward exchange rates. Most of these studies find significant errors or biases in the future based forecasts. However, compared with most professional forecasting services, the forward exchange rates still provides a superior forecast of future spot rates. Only if the investors are risk-neutral, then the forward rates may be a guide for predicting and determining the future spot rate. But normally, the investors are risk- averse and they need some amount of premium over and above the forward rate and because of this premium the forward rate alone cannot shape the future spot rate. References: Aggarwal, R., Mohanty, K.S. Lin, T.W. (2008). Are forward exchange rates rational forecast of future spot rates? An improved econometric analysis for the major currencies. Multinational finance journal. 20 (2), pp-22-25. Ball, R. (2009). The global financial crises and the efficient market hypothesis: what have we learned? Journal of applied corporate finance, forthcoming. November, 5. 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