Natural Resources and Energy Paper Essay Example for Free

Natural Resources and Energy Paper Essay Wind Power and Global Role The world has been using wind energy for over 100 years now to generate power. â€Å"The first known use was in 5000 BC when people used sails to navigate the Nile River† (Alternative Energy, 2008-2012). Beginning in the early 1900’s, wind mills were used to pump groundwater in Midwestern portions of the country primarily. Today, windmill technological advances have brought about the development of powerful wind turbines and sophisticated windmill farms across the country. In many cases, the development of these devises has caused a decline in generating cost resulting in wind energy competitive with several other conventional sources of electricity. Today, wind is one of the leading sources of electricity beating out coal; coal can cause health issues as wind does not. Wind power has been the fastest growing energy source and some people are saying that is the reasoning behind the Global Warming Effect. There is talk already that in the next thirty to forty years the world’s energy will have to come from wind, solar or some other renewable resource. Wind power is used globally and plays several different roles in different areas of the world. Most areas though are using the same types of equipment for the energy resource, which are the windmills and turbines. In these different areas the climate control will control the amount of wind power being produced. In the hotter areas that have less wind are definitely not going to produce the same amo Alternative energy, Capacunts of wind energy as places that are in the windy areas like Seattle and Chicago. So from a geographical stand point, if someone is looking to generate m ass quantities of energy from wind, then being in Arizona is not going to be a good choice. Growing Human Population The population in terms of its affect on wind energy has very little effect on wind power production for one reason and one reason only. That is because winds are a direct result of the `uneven heating of the earth’s surface by solar radiation. So technically they are just another source of solar energy. There are still some major deficiencies of Wind power. Wind is not a constant source of energy at a particular place. Wind cannot be concentrated in one location, so that it will take up an enormous amount of space to create an equal amount of wind energy. And finally, once the energy is produced by the wind storing the energy becomes a major concern, meaning how you disperse the energy gathered effectively to the population. Only recently has wind power spread across the country as a somewhat viable source of power with the global initiatives to create and produce alternative energies. The Wind Farms were primarily used in California and recently spread out across the United States. There are some benefits of this energy such as agricultural, rural land use, pastures as well as farmers to use wind power in land open areas. Winds are probably never going to be the main or considered as a major energy producer for this country or for the world for several reasons. The population uses a huge amount of its energies. Because the way that wind energy is created, it has a role in our energy cycle but is reduced because it does not produce the end product energy. The wind is converted into electricity an d is a secondary source. Wind used with another source of energy, such as fission being the byproduct of another source of energy could generate several other improvements on different energy sources as well as decreasing the amounts of pressure on current energy sources may be a better and cost-effective approach to using wind energy. The problem with wind power and population is that wind power is not as efficient as our typical fossil fuels and has lower thermal dynamic potential to create the energy needed by the growing population. Another reason is as stated earlier the vast amount of space needed to create the power already effects the population. Most wind farms are in land masses that have already been cleared away, which limits the location. There are pluses and minuses to these areas. The land is usually prepared and cleared in advance so it can be used for farming and other industrial uses. At the same time of harvesting the wind power, some of the concerns would be the noise pollution that comes with a wind farm. Any type of populated area would be unbearable to endure. The population effects on wind energy are in reverse. The growing population does not have an effect on the production of wind energy other than the materials needed in its construction, the removal of large amounts of trees, and the loss of birds because of the blades over time. It seems as though we may be doing more damage than good for the return of energy that would be needed to support the population. Risks and Benefits of Renewable Energy Renewable energy resources are sustainable resources that replenish naturally. Such resources are produced from the sun, wind, biomass, tides, and geothermal. The main advantage of renewable resources is that the source is readily available and would never run out. Other important benefits include reducing contributions to global warming and with no polluting emissions. The disadvantages of using renewable energy is the expensive initial cost for setup, the difficulty to achieve the energy requirements needed, and the maintenance on the equipment. Depending on the application, the risks and benefits will vary when using the energy resource. Wind power is an electric energy obtained from surface air currents caused by the solar warming of air. Wind energy is a clean and cost-efficient way for energy. Wind power is placed in rural areas and requires constant wind (at least 15 mph) to operate. The wind turbines are most effective on high grounds where wind speeds are greater. At times, the turbines may kill birds and bats that get in its way. Other risks and disadvantages of wind include the cost, the noise pollution, and the unreliability factor of wind (Clean Energy Ideas, 2012). Solar energy power converts sunlight for heating and generating electricity. Solar power is used in commercial and residential applications. In order for solar power to generate energy, an open area along with sunlight is a necessity to perform properly. The weather, the time of day, and pollution can affect the performance of solar panels. At times, space could be limited and trees would be cut to make room for placing the panels in areas for sufficient amount of energy. Because of lack of space, many solar panels are placed on top of the roof. Some people think the panels make the buildings and property unattractive (Clean Energy Ideas, 2012). Biomass fermentation is plant and animal materials used as fuel. Biomass produces ethanol from different materials such as corn, grains, wood, saw dust and wood chips, plants, and animal wastes. Biomass is easily available where plants and crops are grown. Most of the source is from plants that gather its energy from the sun. In addition, the source is used for heat production, electricity, and fuel for cars. Biomass requires burning of materials, which contributes to air pollution, but it produces less greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuels (EHow, 2012). Hydropower is created as water flows through rivers and streams, the dams convert the energy of water to kinetic energy as the water turns turbines to generate electricity. Hydropower is efficient with 90% of the energy consumed to electricity. The benefits include clean source of energy, availability, and the reservoir can be used for leisure (boating, fishing, and swimming) and irrigation purposes. On the other hand, the risks involve overflow which can destroy the plant vegetation in the process (Benefits of, 2012). Geothermal energy is extracted from the heat produ ced by the Earth’s core. For centuries, many places have been extracting the source for hot springs. Some areas have geothermal power plants to generate electricity. In other areas, ground source heat pumps are used to extract water for the home or business hot water supply, which helps to reduce energy costs. The disadvantage is that a large area is needed to run the piping system (Clean Energy Ideas, 2012). Conclusion As the human population increases, the demand for energy will increase as well. There is much debate for the preferred choice of energy. Wind and other renewable energy resources are a clear alternative if we want to have a sustainable future for our children. Comparing the factors, the advantages with the use of renewable energy outweighs the risks and disadvantages. Although the initial cost will be expensive, the energy used will pay for itself in the long run. Reducing air pollution, contributing less to global warming, and reserving nonrenewable energy resources are just a few benefits with the use of renewable energy as an alternative. References Alternative Energy. (2008-2012). Retrieved from http://www.altenergy.org/ Benefits of (September, 2012). Benefits of Hydropower. Retrieved from http://benefitof.net Clean Energy Ideas (September, 2012). Natural and Renewable Energy Sources. Retrieved from http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com EHow (September, 2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Biomass Energy. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation Globally it has been found that the mergers and acquisition have become one of the major ways to corporate restructuring which has also struck the financial services industry which has experienced merger waves leading to the emergence of huge banks and financial institutions. The main reason for mergers is intense competition among the companies in the same industry which put focus on economies of scale, efficiency in cost and profitability. Some other factors leading to the mergers is the too big to fail principle followed by the authorities. In few countries like Germany, weak banks were forcefully merged to avoid the problem financial distress arising out of bad loans and erosion of capital funds. Several academic studies have analyzed merger related gains in banking and these studies have adopted two approaches. The first approach deals with evaluating the long term performance of the merger by analyzing the accounting information such as return on assets, operating costs and eff iciency ratios. A mergers is considered to have led to improved performance if the the change in the accounting based performance is superior to the changes in the performance of the comparable banks that were not involved in the merger activity during that period. Another approach is to analyze the gains in stock price of the bidder and the target company around the announcement of the merger. In this approach the merger is assumed to create value if the combined value of the bidder and target banks increase on the announcement of the merger and the consequent and the stock prices reflect the potential value of the acquiring banks. The objective of this paper is to present a panoramic view of merger trends in India and to ascertain two important perceptions of stake-holders, shareholders and managers and to discuss dilemmas and other issues of this topic of Indian banking. Review of Literature for impact of mergers The two important issues which are examined by various academic studies relating to bank mergers are: impact of mergers on the operating performance and efficiency of the banks Impact of mergers on the market value of the equity of both bidder and the target banks. Cornett and Tehranian (1992) and Spindit and Tarhan (1992) provided evidence for increase in post-merger operating performance. However the studies of Berger and Humphrey (1992), Piloff (1996) and Berger (1997) did not find any evidence in increase in post-merger operating performance. Berger and Humphrey (1994) also reported that most of the studies that examined pre-merger and post-merger financial ratios found no impact on operating cost and profit ratios. The reasons for mixed evidence are: lag between completion of merger process and the realization of benefits of mergers, sample selection and the methods adopted in the financing of mergers. Further, the financial ratios may be misleading indicators of performance because they do not take into account for product mix or input prices. On the other hand researches may also could have confused scale and scope efficiency gains with what is known as X-efficiency gains. Recent studies have explicitly employed frontier X-efficiency met hods to identify the X-efficiency benefits of bank mergers. Few studies have also analyzed the potential benefits and scale economies of mergers. Landerman (2000) explored diversification benefits to be had from banks merging with non banking financial service firms. Simulated mergers of US banks and non-bank financial service firms demonstrated that diversification of banks into insurance business and securities brokerage is optimal for reducing the probability of bankruptcy for bank holding companies. Wheelock and Wilson (2004) found that expected merger activity in US banking industry is positively related to management rating, size of the bank, competitive position and geographical location of banks and is negatively related to market concentration. The second issue determined was the analysis of merger gains in terms of the gains in stock price performance of the bidder and the target banks on announcement of merger. In this case a merger is expected to create value only if the combined value of the bidder and target companies increases after the declaration of the merger. However a lot of studies have failed to find any direct relationship between the merger and the gains in performance or in shareholder wealth. But there are reasons for mixed evidence as a merger announcement also takes in to account the way the deal is financed .If equity offerings are used it may be interpreted as overvaluation by the issuer. Therefore the negative announcements returns to the firms that are bidding can be attributed to the negative signalling which is completely unrelated to the value which is created by the merger. Returns to the bidders companies shareholders is greater when the merger is totally financed with cash than in mergers in whi ch financing is done through equity offering. There is one more problem with this event study analysis as if there is a consolidation wave going on; mergers are anticipated by stockholders and analyst. Potential candidates for the mergers are highlighted and made popular by the financial press and the stock market analysts. In these cases the event study analysis may fail. Therefore an analysis of mergers across the world and a literature review does not provide strong evidence on the benefits gained by banks in the mergers in the banking industry. Also the findings of the literature also contrast with the findings of the consultants who find a considerable cost savings and operational efficiency achieved through mergers. The reasons why academic study do not find cost benefits and the consultants highlight this fact are Consulates may study a potential cost savings which may not materialize They tend to highlight potential cost saving activities and the economist study all the activities. They tend to be biased towards successful cases and ignore the unsuccessful ones. They tend blow up the benefits achieved while the benefits may be miniscule if accounted on a relative terms. The academic studies provide motivation for the examination and evaluation of two important issues pertaining to the mergers and acquisition to the Indian banking. Do mergers help in improving the operational performance and result in cost savings However in India most of the mergers are forced by the central bank in order to protect the interest of the depositors and avoid financial distress therefore the above mentioned reason is rarely found in the mergers activities. Do merger provide abnormal gains and returns to the acquirer and the target banks upon the declaration Consolidation Trends Observed in India Improving the operational performance and cost efficiency has always been a priority in Indian banking sector and has been a major issue of discussions in the policy formulation by the government of India in the consultation and with the central bank (Reserve Bank of India). Several committees have also been formed in order to suggest structural changes to achieve this objective. Some of the major committees formed are Banking Commission, 1972 Chairman R.G Saraiya, 1976 chairman : Manubhai Shah Committee for the functioning of public sector banks, 1978 chairman : James S Raj These committees have suggested the restructuring of the Indian banking system with an objective to improve the process of credit delivery and also suggested the idea of having around 3 to 4 large banks which have a pan India presence and the rest of the bank should be present at the regional level. The major thrust on consolidation started with the Narasimham committee in 1991. It emphasised and embarked upon consolidation and merger in order to make the Indian banks huge in size and also comparable to the global banks. A second Narasimham committe was also formed in 1998 which suggested mergers and consolidation among the strong banks in public as well as private sector and also with other financial institutions, NBFC (Non Banking Financial Companies). Now we will have a look at some of the recent trends in consolidation in Indian banking. Restructuring of weak Indian Banks Amongst other routes government of India has adopted mergers as a means to achieve restructuring of the Indian banking system. Many banks which are small in size and are weak are merged with other banks which are stronger and are larger to protect the interest of the depositors and also to avoid financial distress. These types of mergers can be termed as forced mergers. Hence when a banks shows symptoms of sickness like increasing size of NPAs, reduction in the net worth and substantial decline in capital adequacy ratio, RBI forces moratorium under the section 45(1) of the Banking Regulation act 1949 for a specified period on the activities and the operations of the working of the sick bank. In this period a strong bank is identified and asked to prepare and present a scheme of merger with the weak bank. In this case the acquirer banks takes hold of all the assets of the weak bank and ensures the depositors of their money in case they want to withdraw. The mergers which took place in the pre-reform period fall into this category. In the post reform period 21 mergers have taken place out of which 13 are forced mergers where RBI has intervened. The main reason for these mergers was the protection of the depositors interest and avoids the financial distress. Mergers which took place voluntarily Apart from forced mergers there have been few mergers in which expansion, diversification and growth were the major motives and in which RBI did not intervene or force. The first merger of this kind took place in 1993 when the Times Bank was acquired by HDFC bank which was followed by acquisition of Bank of Madura by the ICICI Bank. The latest of these is merger of Lord Krishnan Bank with Centurion Bank of Punjab. Although in all these deals the target bank suffered with low profitability, Increase in NPA and lack of alternate revenues in order to provide cushion for capital adequacy but these mergers were not forced. There was no regulatory intervention in these mergers however the motives behind these mergers may not necessarily be scale of economies and achieving market power. For instance ICICI bank acquired bank of Russia with a motive of entry in to Russia although it just had one branch. SBI acquired 51% stake in Mauritian Bank through Indian Ocean International Bank which wil l be integrated with the State Bank of Indias International business as a subsidiary. Integration of Financial Services and Achieving Universal Banking Model Several developmental financial institutions have been formed over a period of time in India in order to improve the efficiency of allocation of resources to different segments of the economy. However because of the flexibility given by the RBI to the banks in the credit delivery process the banks have increased and diversified their loan portfolio to various areas such as project finance, long-term loans, and other specialised sector lending. This is the reason why DFIs have become redundant. A working capital group (1998) was appointed by RBI which has recommended the universal model of banking by exploring the possibility of mergers between various sets of financial entities based on economical considerations. Similarly in the private sector ICICI merger with its subsidiary bank and IDBI (industrial Development Bank of India) was incorporates as a public sector bank which acquired private sector bank IDBI bank in 2004. In order to provide integrated financial services and achieve operation efficiencies many public sector banks have acquired their subsidiaries, for instance Andhra Bank acquired its housing finance subsidiary Andhra Bank Housing Finance LTD, Bank of India acquired BOI finance Ltd and BOI Asset Management Company Ltd. Acquisition of similar types took place in the private sector as well. Alignment of Operations of Foreign Banks with Global Trends As the Parent banks went under reconstruction process their parts operating in India also started restructuring. For example, Standard Charted Grindlay bank was formed due to acquisition of ANZ Grindlay by the Standard Charted Bank. Similarly due to acquisition of two Japanese banks like Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank Ltd the Indian operations of Sakura Bank were merged with Sumitomo Bank in 2001.Forign banks were permitted to enter into merger and acquisition transaction with any of the private sector bank in India with a condition that the overall investment limit limit will be 74 per cent after the second phase of WTO commitments which commenced in April 2009. This may lead to further consolidation in the Indian banking sector. Merger and Consolidation of Cooperatives, RRBs and UCBs Small banks present in India apart from other banks are co-operative banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). These are formed for fulfilling the credit requirements of agriculture, small traders and SSI and other rural economic activities. All of these institutions are suffering from bad loans, operational inefficiencies, and Poor recovery of loans. This proved to be a barrier for further lending and financial intermediation. A committee formed under Jugdish Capoor suggested voluntary amalgamations or merger of these co-operatives based on various criterias like economies of scale, especially in areas where the operations of these banks have become unviable and there are no more in a position to supply credit to agriculture sector. 28 RRBs were consolidated into 9 new RRBs in September 2005.A high powered committee on Urban Co-operative Banks (1999) recommended that UCBs which are sick should be liquidated in a time bound manner as the operation of lar ge number of financially sick banks is devastating for UCBs and also for the interest of depositors. Due to this more mergers are expected in the future and RBI also has taken a lot of new initiatives for restructuring of banks including the issuance of guidelines in May 2005. Shareholders Perception of Merger As stated above the Indian banking sector has experienced two types of mergers – focussed and voluntary mergers. Forced mergers were initiated by RBI and their main objective was to protect the interest of the depositors and prevent financial distress of the banks. Whenever a bank showed symptoms of sickness like huge NPA levels, erosion of net worth etc, RBI intervened and merged the weak bank with a stronger one by force. Thus we can form a hypothesis that in case of forced mergers the target banks shareholders will gain abnormally with the declaration. The second type of merger is voluntary type where the motivation behind the merger is to achieve cost reduction, increase in size, diversification, strategic entry into a market. In these cases the acquired banks reaped the benefit of branch network and customer clientele of the banks acquired. In these cases both the acquirer bank and the target bank must have had benefit out of the merger. In this paper the mergers between 1993 to 2006 are considered. There were 21 mergers out of which only five were voluntary. These are mainly mergers of private sector banks with other private sector banks. Two cases are conversion of financial institution to commercial bank where the objective was to form a universal bank model which offers a wide range of financial services. Ina study conducted which is presented in this paper six cases of forced mergers were selected for the purpose of analysis as in other cases the target banks were not listed and the size of the banks were much lower than the acquirer banks therefore these cases are of less merit for further analysis. In this study the wealth effects of almost all the banking mergers during the period 1999-2006 is analyzed. The event study analysis used in this analysis is very straight forward and conventional. The merger period consist of four days prior and four days after the event. The reason for taking such window is to analyze the change in wealth of the shareholder around the day of the declaration on the merger. Daily adjusted closing prices of stocks and the market index is taken for the analysis. The abnormal returns are calculated as follows. ARit= Rit – [a + BRm] Here Rit: daily return on firm ‘i on day ‘t Rmt is the return on the bench mark index a and B are the regression parameters. The abnormal return is calculated for both the acquirer and the target firm and the significance of these values are tested by finding standard error and the t-value : Analysis of Research Results In forced mergers case the stockholders of target banks have not achieved any significant returns on the declaration of the merger. However in the case of Nedungadi Bank, the stockholder did gain significant on the 2nd day of the announcement but after that no abnormal returns were found. In the case of GTB the stockholders had deeply discounted the merger. As it was a case of serious case of bank failure the merger did give a confidence to the depositors but the merger declaration did not provide any abnormal returns. United bank did gain marginally on the announcement but it was not significant statistically. Thus the hypothesis that target banks shareholders welcome merger announcement as a safety net can be rejected. The shareholders of the acquirer bank lost their market value of equity. In case of ICICI bank, it was signalled as an emergence of a large private sector bank and hence due to which the banks shareholders expectations go up with significant increase in the returns. In other cases of acquisition the acquirer bank lost on merging with the weak banks. Hence in all the forced mergers neither the acquirer bank nor the target bank gained on declaration of the merger and the stockholders of the acquirer bank lost wealth as the announcement of the merger was taken as a negative signal. It is argued that merger of weak banks with strong ones is essential for restructuring of banking system and also a step in the consolidation of the banking sector. But in almost all the mergers it was found that the target banks for the merger were determined at the time when they were at the verge of getting collapse. The acquirer bank which was forced by RBI was left with no option but to accept the proposed merger. It is recommended that RBI should pursue Prompt corrective action system and should determine the weak banks on the basis of some defined criterias so that the acquirer bank can choose the target banks on the strategic issues which benefit all the parties . Abnormal Returns of Target Banks Abnormal returns of Bidder banks In case of voluntary mergers it can be seen that the target banks have obtained higher returns that the acquirer banks. Both the acquirer and the target banks stockholders benefitted on declaration of the merger. Therefore the stock market welcomed the merger which will lead to growth and efficiency aspects of the merged entity and benefitted the shareholders of both the banks. For instance in the case of acquisition of times banks by HDFC bank it was viewed as a positive signal by the shareholders of both the bank. At the time of the merger the Times Bank was crippled with increasing NPAs and low profitability, the acquisition by the HDFC bank gave relief to the depositors of the Times Bank. On the other hand HDFC bank emerged as the largest private sector bank by gaining from the retail portfolio of the Times Bank. In case of BOM acquisition by the ICIC bank the BOM gained the advantage of being able to provide services like Treasury management, cash management services to its cust omers and ICICI bank increased its size by acquiring BOM and reached the position of large private sector banks in 1999. At the announcement of the merger there was a steep rise in the gains which was reaped by the BOM shareholders however the stockholders of ICIC bank did not get any significant returns. In all the even study analysis revealed that neither the acquirer bank nor the target bank stock holders have perceived any potential gain on the declaration of the mergers. Hence the share holders who are important stakeholders of the banking companies did not consider the mergers as a signal of improving health, economies of scale and the market power of banks. Managers take on the Mergers Managers provide highest priority to the merger of the two public sector banks which provides a signals the banking sectors view on the need for consolidation of public sector banks. Managers do not prefer the merger of bank and NBFCs or financial services entities There are some issues which are needed to be taken care of while proposing a merger of banks according to the managers Valuation of the Loan portfolio of the target bank This is one of the main factor which is needed to be considered at the time of the merger. As in the management of the credit portfolio the accounting and the exposure norms suggested by the RBI are the same which helps in figuring out the book value of loans easily. However Indian banks have adopted divergent practices in rating the borrowers, loan pricing and maintenance of collateral securities therefore a detailed audit of the loan portfolio, cash flow generation and collaterals is very essential in order to get an opinion on the value of the loan portfolio of the target bank. Valuation of Intangible assets The valuation of the assets of the banks is a very critical factor for the success of any merger or consolidation. The tangible assets of the bank are loans, investment part apart from other fixed assets like buildings, ATMs and the IT infrastructure the bank owns. A commercial bank also holds a lot of intangible assets like clientele based on core deposits, safety value contracts, computer softwares, human resources, brands and goodwill. Determining the inherent strength of the bank based on the valuation of the intangible assets is also very important. Determination of the value of equity Determining the value of the target banks assets, liabilities and valuation of its equity value is the major aspect of a merger process. Various approaches can be used like dividend discount model, cash flow to equity model and excess return model. However banks have totally different operations than a normal manufacturing firm as they are highly leveraged because they have more than 90% of the resources as borrowed or as debt and banks are highly regulated institutions and regulatory instruction have vast implication in asset and income recognition. Interest rates volatility, regulatory capital adequacy ratios and restriction on dividend pay put ratios also have influence on the earnings of the banks. Human Resource Issues It is the most complicated issue in the merger process.HR issues like the service condition, strategy for rewarding people, employee relation, benefit plans and compensation, provision of pension, law suits and the trade union actions are very critical for the viability of the merger and the deal to go through. Cultural Issues This is also a critical issue in the pre-merger and post merger period. It is central to an organizational environment and recognizing cultural friction is very difficult as it results in various problems such as poor productivity, riff in the top management, increase in the turnover rates, delays in the integration process and failures in realizing the projected synergies. Information Technology platform integration In todays banking banks are highly dependent on the information technology. It has become a key strategic issue due to the impact it has on the operation of the bank. A significant portion of the synergy depends on the information technology integration. Divergent IT platforms and software systems have proven to be major constraints in the consolidation. Customer Retention Customers also major stakeholders of banks and are needed to be communicated properly about the merger and the customers of the target bank should be attended with utmost care. Various studies have shown that firms borrowing from target banks are very likely to lose their relationship with the bank on its merger.

Complementary Medicines - A Perplexing Pharmaceutical Product Essay

There is no place for the supply of vitamins or complimentary medicines in pharmacy. Some evidence suggests that complementary medicines work can work, and that consumer use of complementary medicines is on the increase. However, most complementary medicines lack clinical trials that conclusively prove their efficacy. This is further compounded by a lack of clear information on the status of the body of evidence for the support of specific complementary medicines. For pharmacists, considered as drug therapy experts within the community, their supply from a pharmacy presents a serious ethical dilemma, because it is would be unwise to recommend an unproven treatment. This essay will argue that there is no place for the supply of complementary medicines in pharmacy. Reasons for consumer demand for complementary medicine will be reviewed and the ethics of their supply by a pharmacist within a pharmacy will be examined. Within this essay, the term ‘complementary’ medicines will be intended to include â€Å"herbal medicines, traditional medicines, vita mins and minerals, nutritional supplements, homeopathic medicines and aromatherapy products† as defined by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (REF:TGA). Complementary medicine use has become wide spread, and by all accounts, consumer demand is increasing further. A 2004 representative population survey conducted within Australia revealed that 52% of Australians had used a complementary medicine within the last twelve months (REF:6). (REF:2) reports that consumers reasons for accessing complementary medicines are several and varied, and includes: a) those without ready access to conventional therapies, b) those dissatisfied with conventional care, c) those whom conventional me... ...omplementary medicines do not require proof of efficacy and therefore their efficacy has not been established. The belief held by about half of the Australian public that the government tests complementary medicines for efficacy is incorrect. This creates a problem for health care professionals because a risk-benefit profile can not be established, and so consequently they are unable to recommend an unproven complementary medicine. Lack of efficacy also creates ethical challenges for their supply as the community perceives pharmacists as evidence-based experts on drug therapy, but for the majority of complementary medicines this evidence does not exist. Therefore, there is no place for the supply of complementary medicines in pharmacy. (REF:5) summaries this position well, â€Å"when proof of efficacy is lacking, any risk, no matter how remote, is too much to bear†.

Essay --

After studying the sonnet of Shakespeare, I think if the emotion between two men is only called male friendship, Shakespeare‟s sonnets assert too much love to be addressed to a man. It seems ridiculous that Shakespeare, a moral man addressed abundant affectionate sonnets to men. His poems use language of love: â€Å"lord of love†, â€Å"eternal love†, â€Å"my lovely boy†, â€Å"my friend and I are one†, â€Å"thou mine, I thine†. Those languages sometimes can be regarded as non-sexual friendship, in Shakespeare‟s work; they are certainly the language of sexual love. Many of the sonnets are saturated in the language of longing and desire; they showed some sorrow about the lacking of the male friend‟s â€Å"sweet love†. There are many explicit and implicit clues in the sonnets that show the male love in Shakespeare‟s heart. Next I want to turn to the plays, the male love are even more distinctly open to interpretation than sonnets. And some interesting things I found that is if the plays are open to gay readings then those readings will have their own kind of rationality. Some male characters in Shakespeare openly betray idealized intensity of affection for other men comparable to that expressed by the persona of the sonnets. One is Antonio, a comparatively minor character in Twelfth Night. It is easy to portray him as an older man enamored of a younger Sebastian who only partly under the nature of Antonio‟s affection, and such a description successful build a kind of sad atmosphere which saturate the pain of unreturned love. The male love brought out far more clearly not at the end of the play but in Antonio‟s first appearance. He and Sebastian appeared on a bed in which they had clearly just slept together. Indeed, Stephen Orgel has described Antonio ... ...ul is that maybe even Shakespeare can not answer the question that whether Bassanio, sometimes when a story is created, the emotions of characters do not all under controlled by the writers. In other irresponsible words, only Bassanio can answer the questions for us but maybe he does not want to say anything. Before talking about Shakespeare‟s racism of shylock, we can firstly focus on some background information. Shakespeare‟s plays showed his awareness of the ineradicable enmity between Christian generosity and the Jewish fixation on money. According to Stanley Wells, Shakespeare may be actually a German. How ever, not matter Shakespeare is belongs to which country. Nazi Germany should congratulate that Shakespeare can stands for them to show the understand of the racial psychology The merchant of Venice is a anti-semitic story which obviously appealed to the

Essay --

The Sweet Spot is Pretty Sweet Everyone knows that the sweet spot is the best place to hit a ball on a bat, but what really makes this the best place? The sweet spot is a very important spot on the bat, and without it, the ball will barely leave the infield. When someone hits the ball on the sweet spot, it feels very different from hitting the ball on the end of the bat or by the hands. Hitting the ball on the sweet spot makes it so the batter does not even feel the collision. There will be no vibrations, so therefore no stinging, when the batter hits the right area on the bat. Batters also have a hard time trying to extend through the ball when they do not hit the sweet spot. It is easy to extend and push the ball farther when the ball is hit on the sweet spot. Also, when the ball hits the sweet spot, all of the energy will go with the ball, making it go faster and farther. When the ball hits somewhere else on the bat, the bat will take a lot of the energy away from the ball making the ball not go as far. The swe et spot has more behind it than one would think, it differs in various types of bats, and it is the best place to hit the ball on a bat. There are many different definitions for the sweet spot of a bat. Most people who do not know much about the sweet spot would define it as the place on the bat where the ball goes the farthest when it is hit. They could also define it as the location that produces hardly any vibrational sensation, or sting, in the batter’s hands. But there are many more scientific definitions that the majority of people will not fully understand. It can be defined as the center of percussion, as well as the region between the nodes of the first two vibrational modes on the bat. Lastly, it is defined as ... ...uding the players themselves can have their own meaning of what the sweet spot is. Also, the sweet spot is located in almost the same place for both aluminum and wood bats, and there are not many differences between the two’s sweet spots. There are many elements in the bat when a ball hits the sweet spot, but the major one is the bending modes. These modes are extremely important for a bat, because they create the nodes that make up the sweet spot. Another important definition of the sweet spot is that it is the center of percussion. Then lastly, the sweet spot is the best place to hit the ball on the bat. There is no vibration or pain, and the hitter is pretty much guaranteed a good hit if they hit the sweet spot. The next time a batter gets a perfect hit, think about all of the things going on inside and outside of the bat when the ball hits the sweet spot.

Does Malvolio deserve his fate?

Malvolio's character and the misfortunes he encounters though out Twelfth Night provide a lot of the play's comedy scenes. His haughty and pretentious demeanour makes him easy to dislike, yet the treatment he receives is at times a little undeserved and leads to the issue of whether or not Malvolio deserves his fate. In Act 1 of Twelfth Night the audience is immediately presented with Malvolio as a pompous and arrogant man who is ‘sick of self-love.' He is shown as selfish and disillusioned with self-importance when unwilling to carry out menial tasks like delivering a ring; ‘you might have saved me pains' even though it is part of his job. Blindly, he simultaneously criticises Feste's lack of funniness and Olivia for laughing at it; ‘your ladyship takes delight in such a barren rascal,' he arrogantly lectures his superiors showing that he thinks he is above them. This negative representation of Malvolio is continued into Act 2 where the audience gets a glimpse of Malvolio as a puritanical killjoy. Before Malvolio even enters to bring an end to Sir Toby's fun, Maria comments on her surprise that Olivia hasn't already ‘called up her steward Malvolio' to do so. This shows how other characters also think Malvolio is a curmudgeon. Our contempt for Malvolio increases further when he enters and begins to tell the knights off, even though they are his social superiors. He accuses them of being ‘mad' of acting like ‘tinkers' who have ‘no wit, manners, nor honesty'. His remarks indicate that he believes they are acting like commoners and that he would never stoop to such a level, he believes he is above them. He is rude to them and also to Maria, who is his social equal, although he clearly doesn't think so; ‘if you prized my lady's favour†¦you would not give means for this uncivil rule.' Malvolio's relationships with the other characters in the play are on the whole not very good. He does not respect them and they dislike and ridicule him. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste and Maria do not share Malvolio's patronising, high opinion of himself and they mimic him by singing at him and reminding him that he is no more ‘than a steward.' The audience's dislike for Malvolio is deepened when he leaves threatening to tell Olivia of their behaviour ‘by his hand,' because of course, nobody likes a telltale. Later, Maria directly calls Malvolio a ‘puritan' this word is used to describe him as a religious killjoy who wishes to inflict his strong, opinionated views on everybody else. Maria also calls Malvolio an ‘affectioned ass' showing that he is so deluded with such a high opinion of himself he believes everybody else should share it. This directly relates to Malvolio being vain about his committed Christian values and portrays him as an outsider among more f un loving people. The language and imagery used to present Malvolio in the early stages of the play enforce a negative image of a rude, pompous and irritating man but he never actually does anything harmful or nasty. He genuinely respects his ‘ladyship' Olivia and is a loyal servant shown by his dismay at Sir Toby's behaviour, ‘Is there no respect for place, persons, nor time in you?' His loyalty shows he understands the value of trust. He is clearly learned and articulate in speech, ‘mitigation in voice' and he is an efficient steward who, after all, is only doing his job. Prior to Malvolio receiving the false letter declaring Olivia's love for him, he makes matters worse for himself by arrogantly imagining his marriage to Olivia, ‘to be Count Malvolio.' This antagonising behaviour shows that Malvolio is very shallow and simply imagines the trappings of wealth; ‘sitting in my state,' ‘my officers around me' and ‘my branched velvet gown,' his ideas are far above his station, he his developing his enjoyment of appearing important. When he picks the letter up and reads it, Malvolio almost instantly relates Olivia's love to himself, ‘M – why, that begins my name.' This shows that his vanity lets him believe, with out question, he is the sort of man Olivia would fall in love with. He falls so easily into such a palpable trap that it is difficult not to believe that he deserves what is coming to him. He convinces himself, on the basis of very thin evidence, that this is confirmation of Olivia's love for him, ‘I will be point-device the very man.' Unfortunately this means that Malvolio's pomposity gets virtually out of control, ‘I will wash off gross acquaintance' and he becomes completely carried away with his dreams. Malvolio falls for the trick so entirely that he induces a little sympathy from the audience because he is so gullible and easily deceived. He is a naturally ambitious person, a social climber who only wishes to fulfil his personal potential. Perhaps his imagination is a little over active but he isn't harming anybody with thoughts. Despite Malvolio's self-delusion the actions of the conspirators begin to appear a little spiteful and excessive, especially as they are already sowing the seeds for further misunderstandings within the play by forewarning Olivia of Malvolio's ‘madness.' Ironically Olivia calls for Malvolio because his seriousness suits her mood but his transformation to her ‘requests' surprises her, ‘Smil'st thou?' Naively, Malvolio has meticulously ‘executed' the ridiculous requests including the ‘trick of singularity' and ‘yellow stockings.' He clearly believes that by doing this he will ‘achieve greatness' and nothing can come between him and the ‘full prospects' of his hopes. His soaring high opinion of himself allows him to believe what he wants to, because of this he misunderstands everything Olivia says. When she instructs him to ‘go to bed' to sleep off his madness he believes she means to go to bed with her, ‘I'll come to thee.' Olivia shows concern for her loyal servant and asks for ‘special care' of her ‘fellow.' He also takes these words the wrong way and launches into a great speech about how she recognises him as her social equal and ‘fellow.' The scheme has succee ded to make Malvolio look completely foolish but the tricksters then begin to take things a little too far when they accuse him of being ‘possessed.' When Olivia departs the trick is rendered a success as Malvolio ‘hath taken the infection of the device' and fallen for it. The audience is reminded of Malvolio's snobbishness, ‘go off, I discard you.' This only encourages the kinsmen and servants pretend they believe he is a lunatic, possessed by the devil, ‘bewitched' and attempt to convince Malvolio himself that he is mad, ‘defy the devil.' They wind him up and pretend to be concerned by calling him childishly affectionate names like ‘chuck' and ‘biddy.' Malvolio senses that they are ridiculing him, and getting annoyed he almost stoops to their ‘element' by telling them to ‘go, hang yourselves all.' The jest now goes one step further out of proportion when the conspirators decide they will imprison Malvolio. This, added to his evident confusion causes the audience to now feel sympathetic towards Malvolio. Maria and the others are still treating the joke as a bit of fun but the audience is able to see how it is getting out of control by the change in Malvolio's personality. They have begun to mess with his mind; ‘make him believe' and they trick him into thinking he is talking to a priest but it is really Feste. This is probably in revenge to Malvolio's remarks regarding Feste's ‘barren' humour. Yet this deception increases sympathy for Malvolio because he doesn't deserve such mistreatment. Feste ridicules Malvolio with his disguise and mocks the steward's earlier behaviour by adopting a pompous voice; ‘that that is, is.' Malvolio's desperation is highlighted by words like ‘never was man thus wronged' but Feste continues to try and make Malvolio believe he is a ‘lunatic' and a ‘hyperbolical fiend' who is speaking the words of ‘Satan.' The teasing and accusations are the key to the audience's pity for Malvolio. The treatment of their prisoner even becomes a little sinister when the conspirators try to manipulate Malvolio into thinking he is insane, ‘windows transparent as barricadoes.' Malvolio ceaselessly denies madness, ‘I am not mad,' and his language becomes simple, direct and honest showing that he is in control of what he is saying and steadfastly refuses all of Feste's accusations, ‘I am no more mad then you are.' This is a complete change from his earlier pompous, lecturing tone of speech. He remains faithful to his Christian beliefs, an admirable quality, even when contradicting them would free him, ‘no way approve his opinion.' Even when Malvolio's dignity is taken away, he insists on his sanity ‘well is my wits as any man' but is not willing to sell his soul, however, Feste's suggestion of this would increase sympathy for Malvolio, who is clearly not remotely mad. His change in personality is evident when he speaks to the real Feste as an equal, ‘live to be thankful.' Malvolio's honesty and devotion to his faith highlights the other characters worse flaws than merely being pompous. Maria's actions and words show her to be shallow and malicious, ‘make him believe thou art Sir Topas.' Feste's teasing and deception is unwarranted and cruel, ‘madman, thou errest.' Sir Toby just wants to put an end to the ‘sport' for selfish reasons of not wanting to agitate Olivia further, not for the humanity of Malvolio. These characters do not understand the importance of trust or friendship, at least Malvolio respects the value of loyalty. In the final scene of the play, Malvolio's letter to Olivia reveals how he has suffered, ‘put me into darkness.' He leaves his ‘duty' to Olivia in order to speak honestly of his ‘injury.' It is clear how much his dignity and feelings have been hurt without just reason and the treatment he has received has been appalling. Olivia sympathises with him, ‘this practice has most shrewdly passed upon thee' and considers his fate to be excessive. It is difficult not to feel pity for Malvolio when he discovers he is the last to find out about the wicked trick that has been played upon him, ‘poor fool†¦they baffled thee.' Malvolio's last words lack his usual dignity; ‘I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you,' these words show his anger and resentment towards people he believed he knew, his motive for revenge being the immense humiliation he has suffered. Malvolio is a loyal servant to Olivia and does far more to help her than the likes of Sir Toby or Feste. His personality flaws are not nearly as destructive as some other characters yet he is excessively punished for them. The joke would have been acceptable if it had only gone as far as to make him look a little foolish and remind him of his position but unfortunately it was taken too far. Throughout Twelfth Night the audience is reminded of Malvolio's pompous and occasionally arrogant attitude, but despite his faults he still does not deserve his unkind fate.

Extent of Government Change Under Essay

It was during this time that the Federal Government first began promoting things like worker safety on the job. For example, the Railway Safety Appliance Act was passed during this time. It required railroads to install safety devices such as steps and handrails on their engines and cars to reduce the number of industrial accidents. President Theodore Roosevelt vastly increased the traditional perception of the role of the federal government. His policies, such as â€Å"Big Stick Ideology† abroad and the â€Å"Square Deal† at home, expanded the influence of the government on manifold levels. Two cases, however, that of trust-busting and that of conservation, specifically accentuate this expansion. In the year 1901, President William McKinley had just been assassinated, and America needed a leader to which she could turn to. Theodore Roosevelt became the new president, and unbeknownst to the people, would immortalize the presidency forever. Roosevelt made considerable efforts at the conservation of the planet for future generations by use of the Newlands Reclamation Act of 1902 and by establishing the Bureau of Reclamations and broke up the destructive and all too powerful trusts that were ruling corporate America by instating the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Expedition Act of 1903, during what would later become known as the Progressive Era. During Theodore Roosevelt’s term in office, changes in the government began to be made. Roosevelt’s mindset was to change the role of the government for the betterment of the economy during the Progressive Era. Through trying to break up trusts in the government, such as the Sherman Anti-Trust Acts, he believed he could change the U.S. government for the better. Conflicts from labor (the Square Deal) and conservation during the Progressive Era helped Roosevelt change multiple roles of the federal government.