What Is Self Or If There Even Is A Self - 861 Words

In trying to define what is self or if there even is a self, Hume asserts personal identity is a mere illusion and instead the self is a classification of the process of our mutable parts. On the other hand, in Descartes’ dissertation he defines self as a â€Å"rational soul† (pg33) or an essence unique to humans, held constant in the container of the human body. Hume’s and Descartes’ definition of self therefore is an all or nothing assumption; either the self is nonexistent dependent on the presence of an infinite constant, or the self does exist but is immutable and â€Å"entirely independent of the body.† (pg33) None of these theses satisfy what the self is. By definition, self is the composition of our physical and mental parts that in turn creates a unique process that can be identified as our self or soul. Therefore it cannot be delineated as an inner immaterial substance like a soul nor can it be claimed simply to be an illusion, self is the cohesion between these two theories. When Descartes argues that the â€Å"rational soul† (pg33) is not governed by nature’s constraints and is separable, he implies the possible extraction of the soul. In this way if extracted from the body and placed in another container the person would retain an exact conception of self that was held in their previous shell. As Descartes argues, the only thing responsible for the conception of self is the soul. However the definition of self is more complex than just the soul. Take into account theShow MoreRelatedHow Self Control Is Truly Free Will1143 Words   |  5 Pagesevery aspect of our lives and actions through our choices and self control, however there are times when this sense of free will is challenged. In Patricia Churchland’s article she covers how self control is truly free will, it can shape our actions, as well as habits. Yet, there are reasons why ones own self control could be diminished, for example, the case of the man who had strangled his own wife in his sleep. Churchland believes that self control is an application of our free will, and that theRead MoreArticle Review On Self Actualization And Self Realization Essay1097 Words   |  5 PagesSelf Actualization and Self Realization Are Different By Arthur Thomas Ware | Submitted On July 07, 2014 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest In that classic old movie, Papillon, starring Steve McQueen andRead MoreSelf-Defense Is the Answer Essay1164 Words   |  5 Pagesknow common terms such as self-defense. 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The following are some ways to improve self-respect:- †¢ Learn to HandleRead MoreSelf Education Essay912 Words   |  4 PagesWithin the book, â€Å"The Students Calling†, Leland Ryken states that, â€Å"All education is ultimately self-education† (15). There are multiple ways we can decipher what he is saying. In the literal sense of what he is saying, I disagree completely because it is absolutely impossible to be self-educated your entire life. On the contrary, if we are to understand the figurative meaning behind what Leland is saying, then I would agree with him because everyone learns differently than each other. Before I canRead MoreThe Impact of Self-Esteem, Significant Others and Media on Ones Self- Image1213 Words   |  5 Pagesallowed you to view other aspects of yourself. What do you think you would see? Better yet what do you think influenced you to come to your conclusion? How you answer this question determines your self-image. Self- image isn’t something a person is born with. Self- image are numbers of self impressions that are built up over a period of time. These impressions are influenced by a group of elements. I believe three of the most influential elements are self- esteem, significant others and the media. Read MoreThe Importance Of Close Relationships : Individual And Social Mindset Essay1687 Words   |  7 Pageswell. What we usually deduce as common sense, or relationship conundrum, can be examined through experimentation and can also be explained by our former psychological understanding. In this field, researchers have long proposed a set of important aspects in order to effectively analyze intimate interactions, and I want to chiefly focus on inner self-knowledge. One simple reason is that, we cannot fully understand our relationships unless we look backward and closely investigate ourselves. Self-esteemRead MoreDoes An Individual Have A Core Self? Essay1613 Words   |  7 PagesDoes an individual have a core-self? A simple answer that many people would respond with is yes, of course people have a core-self. How else would they be able to represent who they truly are if they do not have a core-self? Unfortunately, this is incorrect. The correct answer to this question is no. No, individuals do not have core-selves, but things cannot be that simple. People that think they have a core-self would say that it is the identity that someone has on the inside; their true selvesRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God And The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1404 Words   |  6 Pagesdreams like the male characters which is a crucial point since these novels are also about self fulfillment. Eyes and Gatsby are both novels which show insight to the issue of gender, mostly its effects on female characters, and how that affects their journey to self fulfillment, but Eyes takes a more straightforward approach to the issue than Gatsby which allows the female characters in Eyes to achieve self fulfillment quickly and fully. While it can be seen there is a gender issue in Gatsby FitzgeraldRead MoreNot Being Yourself835 Words   |  4 Pagesright elements is what makes us happy. That s false, as you re learning. Being happy is about being yourself. So what does it mean to be yourself? I prefer to start with the opposite concept: inauthenticity. Inauthenticity -- not being yourself -- is generally focused on trying to preserve some concept of self: ego maintenance. Our minds make ideas about who we are, and then cling to those ideas. Clinging consists of trying to pile up evidence that the self which I prefer is

Questions On E Commerce Architecture Report - 2283 Words

Assignment No. 2 - E-Commerce Architecture Report Report MMIS-654 Summer 2016 Dr. Richard Manning Harindra Warnasuriya Arachchilage 8/14/2016 Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Industry and Competitions 5 Business Plan Outline 6 1) Value Proposition 6 2) Revenue Model 6 3) Market Opportunity 6 4) Competitive Environment 6 5) Competitive Advantage 7 6) Market Strategy 8 7) Organizational Development 8 8) Management Team 8 IT Architecture Plan 9 Website- 9 Payment Process- 9 Software- 10 Hosting Service- 11 Interface Blueprint 12 Homepage 12 Product page 13 Shopping Cart 14 Checkout Page 15 Order Confirmation 16 Marketing Plan Outline 16 Reference 17 Executive Summary My proposed startup was an online grocery store called â€Å"Calorie Counter store†, the targeted customers are those people who health conscious, people who work out regularly are very conscious about what they intake. Another very important niche will be the vegans and the vegetarians. This website will be built on Magento Ecommerce Platform. The database used to store the product details, customer details, order transactions and to support the content management system will be in MySQL. The website will be hosted on Justhost, a hosting service provider which provides very competitive prices. The software and hardware specifications used will be described in specific details. Various methods will be used to advertise and get the project up and running. These methods will beShow MoreRelatedTeddy Bear1338 Words   |  6 PagesVermont Teddy Bear Report 1) How would you describe Vermont Teddy Bear  (VTB)’s business model (the products and services it sells, target market/s to whom it sells them, the value proposition it offers,  and its financial model)? Vermont Teddy Bear (VTB) has been found by John Sortino in 1981. This company has served as a gift delivery service with three main product lines: Bears (plush toys), PajamaGrams (apparel), and Calyx FlowersRead MoreE-commerce: Business Logic and Amanda Jane1813 Words   |  8 Pagesthis report is to examine e-commerce and also to provide a broad strategy that should be taken by Amanda Jane Horse Wear. Besides that, it is also to provide suggestion about suitable e-commerce that Amanda Jane should adopt. Firstly, a short summary of the case study, Amanda Jane Horse Wear will be illustrated with the main problem that will be identified. Next, a brief description of e-commerce in terms of definition, issue and benefits and the current trends will be explained as a part of e-commerceRead MoreFrameworks And Models That Facilitate The It Strategy Planning Process Essay1466 Words   |  6 Pagesdo this, a literature review of several existing models and frameworks that assist a business to plan the best strategy for IT in their organisation. 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Shown as the evidence in a report, â€Å"In 2015, the consulting company Frost Sullivan estimated that DJI, headquartered in China, had a 70% share of the market for commercial and consumer drones.†(https://www.bbva.com/en/whos-leading-drone-market/) In order to specify, the drone market is now expanding as E-commerce develops and consumers are more likely to purchase online. However, barriers to entry the market are extremelyRead MoreIkea Case Study Ebusiness5766 Words   |  24 PagesCorporate website e-commerce system 7 1.2.4 Summary 9 2 Strategy analysis 11 2.1 Business idea 11 2.1.1 Business Model 12 2.1.2 Vision 14 2.2 Global Strategy 14 2.3 Future challenges 15 3 Web site analysis 16 3.1 Informative communication 16 3.2 Structure, Navigation and visuality: 17 3.3 Information accuracy, security and trustworthiness of the site 18 3.4 Web shop 19 3.5 Personal opinion 20 4 Conclusion 21 Referencess 23 1 Theoretical Analysis E-commerce concept goes beyondRead MoreThe Importance Of Seo Rankings For Ecommerce1803 Words   |  8 Pagesby finding the most relevant websites for search queries, so optimizing for SEO not only drives traffic but also generates other benefits such as higher conversions, more sophisticated targeting and better brand promotion. 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The tremors of its presence were felt late by the industry at large, but the real galvanization happen after the dot.com burst which wiped the slate clean, and amazon.com and ebay.com were the survivors still standing. ―Amazon is e-commerceâ€â€" a term coined by a technocrat whose name is yet to reveal. But it’s a fact that Amazon was the one who made selling via internet a reality. Challenges were big which Amazon had to solve, and a prominent one was the mode of payment. Electronic payment

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences †Free Assignment Sample

Question: Describe about the Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences? Answer: Case Study 1 1. Anastasia faces difficulty in transfer from her hospital bed to the wheel chair and vice versa. Although she suffers from hemiparesis and the functioning of her body was reduced, she has regained some function, post accident. She even needs assistance in covering short distances. Since she does not know English, she faces problem in communicating and in expressing herself. She even faces difficulty in comprehending the language that is spoken by her family and this is the result of aphasia, which is a speech disorder and occurred as a result of injury to the left side of her brain (Head, H., 2014). 2. Since Anastasia is unable to express herself and comprehend the language of her family or nurses, it is important to use non verbal skills or use of communication aids like picture cards, using charades or employing bi lingual staff that can help in assisting the patient (Jirwe, M., Gerrish, K and Emami, A., 2010). 3. The actual nursing care needs of Anastasia are maintenance of correct body posture and preventing excessive stress or pressure on the body when indulging in daily activities like walking, sitting, etc. The other role of the nurses is to identify the signs and symptoms of stroke and provide supplementary oxygen to the patient. The nurses are also required to ensure efficient transfer of glucose containing fluids. Stroke should be taken and considered as an emergency situation and thus, high priority treatment action should be sought (Summers et al., 2009). 4. As a result of current medical condition of Anastasia, the potential complications that can occur can be related to disorders of sleep, atelectasis, pneumonia, depression, confusion, problem in swallowing and incontinence. Any kind of problem in the function of swallowing can eventually lead to undernutrition, dehydration or aspiration. Due to the hemiparesis condition, the immobility of her lims can further lead to thrombolic disease or UTI, contractures and pressure ulcers. The most dangerous and the most common problem is the inability to perform daily functions like ability to walk or see or think, speak, feel and remembers (The Merck manual, 2014). One other complication is the problem in the speech and the comprehending power of the patient. If the problem of aphasia still persist, it will be very difficult to speak, understand and even express what do you want to speak. Case Study 2 1. The methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is mostly found in hospitals wards. This strain of bacteria is resistant to all the penicillins and the beta lactam antimicrobial drugs and thus, are confined to the hospitals and the health care units. This bacteria spreads with the number of people coming in contact with the health care facility (David, M Daum, R., 2010). The standard precautions can help in prevention of MRSa infections in the health care facility. Hand washing, using gloves, protection of eyes, nose and mouth, wearing gowns, proper handling of laundry or disposable and lastly proper device handling of the care of the patient and the instruments or the devices, these methods can help in preventing the spread of MRSA. It is also important to ensure proper placement of the patients and not to keep the patients, already infected by MRSA in the common ward (David, M Daum, R., 2010).2. The possible risk factors for development of nosocomial infection are the d eath or discharge. Since the patient faced smelly discharge from the wound, this was the potential risk factor for developing the infection ( Wolkewitz et al., 2008). Secondly, the bacteria was already present in the hospital ward and the wound was not protected so as to avoid the initiation of infection.3. The standard precautions to prevent the risk include hand hygiene, before and after every patient contact, use of personal protective equipment, use of sterile needles, aseptic non touch technique, waste management, proper disposal of waste, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, allotment of single rooms and cohorting of the patients (NHMRC, 2010). Apart from these measures, it is important for the nurses to cater to the surgical wounds in a proper and sterile manner. The would should not be left exposed to the environment and after contact, hands should be sterilized before touching another patient. This will prevent the spread of MRSA through contact. Being obese, the4. mThe nursing strategies include developing an understanding with the patient such that it becomes easier to explain him about the effectiveness and use of the nutrients for curing of the illness. Another option is to build a more effective partnership or a therapeutic alliance with the patient.Case Study 3 1. The pre existing conditions of the patient might be affected by the fall and hospitalization. Since he is not taking any medications for depression, the condition has worsened and he is having suicidal ideations. Secondly, due to asthma and obesity, he is facing more pain and is being given morphine for making the pain subside. The conscious level of the patient is good which signifies that the fracture in the skull was not that severe. 2. The potential risk factors for Gordon after the surgery are his age and the size and deterioration of the hematomas. Even the anesthesia poses immense risk to his health.3. Gordon can be lifted by making use of the mechanism by which the end of the bed can be raised or lowered, depending upon the requirement. In order to ensure that the back pain is not elevated, the upper end can be raise and the patient can be shifted.4. Morphine is a schedule 2 drug. The seven rights of drug administration are right patient, right dose, right medication, right route of administration, right time, right documentation and right response (Lippincott Nursing center, 2014).5. The discharge of Gordon will require his family and the doctors to identify the needs regarding his ability to perform the daily activities. The hospital will provide the walking aid to the patient and schedule the next check up time. The doctor will ensure that the environment of the patients home is such that his recovery wil l be stimulated and not inhibited. The patient will be required to take medications on time and report in case of any adverse drug reactions (Grimmer et al., 2006). Case Study 4 1. When Louise initially enter the ward her vital signs are not normal and thus, the priority of treatment is the management of these signs. The pulse rate is high, temperature is high and respiration rate is also high. It is required to provide her oxygen mask so as to provide proper respiration. Following this her wound need to be assessed for any kind of infection or discharge. She should be given pain relieving analgesia so as to reduce the signs and symptoms and restore the normal body vital signs. Since the wounds are oozing, they should be properly cleaned and anti microbial agents should be used to prevent infection. 2. The immediate assessment comprises of checking the airway, breathing and the circulation of the patient. In order to stabilize the patient, the oxygen mask should be supplemented. Cardiac monitoring should be done next and the blood pressure of the patient, pulse rate and the temperature should also be recorded. The patient should be checked for seizure too.3. Lousie might be suffering from sepsis, which is infection by the bacteria. Since the wounds were open and ozzing, the contamination is quite possible. Also the symptoms of rise in temperature, elevated heart rate and increased respiratory rate, all point out to occurrence of this condition (Medicinenet.com, 2015).4. To minimize further deterioration of the patient it is important to immediately implement clinical intervention and treatment procedure. The procedure of defibrillation should be performed and post resustication care should be initiated. The arrangements for transferring the patient to the secondary care unit sho uld also be made simultaneously (NHS, 2015). References Head, H. (2014). Aphasia and kindred disorders of speech. Cambridge university Press. Jirwe, M., Gerrish, K and Emami, A. (2010). Student nurses experiences of communication in cross-cultural care encounters. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 24(3): 436-444. Summers et al. (2009). Comprehensive Overview of Nursing and Interdisciplinary Care of the Acute Ischemic Stroke Patient. Stroke, 40: 2911-2944. The Merck Manual. (2014). Overview of stroke. Retrieved on 18th March 2015 from https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/neurologic_disorders/stroke_cva/overview_of_stroke.html. NMRC (National Health and Medical Research Counsil). (2010). Clinical educators guide for the prevention and control of infection in healthcare, retrieved on 18th March 2015 from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/cd33_icg_clinical_ed_guide_web.pdf. Wolkewitz et al. (2008). Risk factors for the development of nosocomial pneumonia and mortality on intensive care units: application of competing risks models. Critical care, 12:R44. David, M Daum, R.(2010). Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Epidemiology and Clinical Consequences of an Emerging Epidemic. Clinical microbiology reviews, 23(3): 616-687. NHS (2015). Deteriorating patient policy: General policy no. 50. Wirral community. Lippincott Nursing center.com. (2014). 8 rights of medication administration, retrieved on 18th March 2014 from https://www.nursingcenter.com/Blog/post/2011/05/27/8-rights-of-medication-administration.aspx. Grimmer et al. (2006). Incorporating patient and carer concerns in discharge plans: the development of a practical patient centered checklist. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and practice, 4(1). Medicinenet.com (2015). Sepsis. Retrieved on 18th March 2015 from https://www.medicinenet.com/sepsis/page2.htm.

The Greatest Leaders of Today and Yesterday are Both Born Made free essay sample

A leader is someone who guides and inspires others in a way which brings out the potential lying dormant inside of them. To inspire, one must stir emotions, drive and intellect in others to motivate them to act on your vision (Pace, 2006) Great leaders are born with certain characteristics, which give them an advantage over others; however, they are not born a great leader. Such an individual utilize and mature their born traits, over time as they experience life’s challenges. These experiences yield knowledge and this knowledge is used to guide and improve the lives of others. Great leaders not only reflect on what they have learned for themselves, but also they are eager to learn and impart new ideas and information into others. Therefore, great leaders are not born; they develop knowledge and wisdom through experience. Leaders are both born and made. People are born with certain qualities and characteristics which help them to be more geared toward leadership. We will write a custom essay sample on The Greatest Leaders of Today and Yesterday are Both Born Made or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Such features as confidence, drove, empathy, ambition, determination all improves person’s ability to lead. Many strong leaders are very sociable individuals, and they are very curious also. Nevertheless, there is much to improve in order to become a great leader in the business arena or any other arena (Financial Management, 2001). Some individuals can easily understand and retain information, which can be a trait in which they are born with; however, without the reality of life’s experiences, born traits have no conduit to flourish (PR, N, 2012) even though they give the person an advantage over others. Now, there is an understanding, in addition to born features, experience plays an enormous role in the development of a strong leader. According to study, leaders who have born features which enhance their abilities are better thinkers due to their determination to seek experiences which will help them develop in particular areas (PR, N, 2012). These life experiences must be both subjective and measurable and repetitive over time in order to develop superior qualities within a person (PR, N, 2012). This study also stated â€Å"to be the most effective, leaders must be exposed to experiences that allow them to progress through increasing levels of involvement (PR, N, 2012). † Developing a strong leader is a long term process in which the individual’s information is perfected day by day with life’s interactions; therefore, leadership abilities are developed and retained (Gilmore, 2006). Life events are not always beneficial, but they all should be educational. Great leaders take their mistakes, learn from them and continue on their journey. By reflecting on these circumstances and gathering feedback from others, information and wisdom arises giving the person the ability to become a more effective leader (Gilmore, 2012). The most effective part of becoming a strong leader is the process of development. Leaders must abandon all self-imposed restrictions and redefine themselves as new experiences unfold (Gilmore, 2012). When a leader has a clear view of his/her identity, they will have the capability of inspiring others on their journey. This talent comes from minute changes in one’s self-image daily instead of trying to change all things at once. The ability to influence others shows a leader with the ability to make a positive impact within a company (Gilmore, 2012). Therefore, effective leaders continuously adjust their behaviors to the experiences and new information they encounter. Leaders motivate, manage and make decision which make their teams meet all goals effectively and efficiently (Pace, 2006). Therefore, strong, effective, exceptional leaders are born and made. These leaders are born with specific qualifications giving them an advantage over others; however, those born features must be developed through life experiences, which make them the great leader of yesterday, today and the future.

Sea Sponges Facts

Sea Sponges Facts When you look at a sponge, the word animal  might not be the first that comes to mind, but sea sponges are animals. There are over 6,000 species of sponges; most live in the marine environment, although there are also freshwater sponges. Natural sponges have been used by humans to clean and bathe with for at least 3,000 years. Sponges are classified in the phylum Porifera. The word Porifera  comes from the Latin words porus (pore) and ferre (bear), meaning pore-bearer. This is a reference to the numerous pores or holes on a sponges surface. It is through these pores that the sponge draws in water from which it feeds. Fast Facts: Sponges Scientific Name: PoriferaCommon Name: SpongeBasic Animal Group: InvertebrateSize: Various species range from under a half inch to 11 feet in lengthWeight: Up to approximately 20 poundsLifespan: Up to 2,300 yearsDiet:  CarnivoreHabitat: Oceans and freshwater lakes the world overPopulation: UnknownConservation Status: One species is classified Least Concern; most are Not Evaluated. Description Sponges come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Some, like the liver sponge, look like a low-lying crust on a rock, while others can be taller than humans. Some sponges are in the form of encrustations or masses, some are branched, and some look like tall vases. Sponges are relatively simple multi-celled animals. They do not have tissues or organs like some animals do; rather, they have specialized cells to perform necessary functions. These cells each have a job. Some are in charge of digestion, some reproduction, some bringing in water so the sponge can filter feed, and some are used for getting rid of wastes. The skeleton of a sponge is formed from spicules which are made of silica (a glass-like material) or calcareous (calcium or calcium carbonate) materials, and spongin, a protein that supports the spicules. Sponge species may be most readily identified by examining their spicules under a microscope. Sponges do not have a nervous system, so they dont move when touched.   Placebo365/Getty Images   Species There are an enormous number of species in the phylum Porifera, broken into five classes: Calcarea (Calcareous sponges)Demospongiae (Horny sponges)Hexactinellida (Glass sponges)Homoscleromorpha (Includes about 100 species of encrusting sponges)Porifera incertae sedis (Sponges whose classification has not yet been defined) There are over 6,000 formally described sponge species, measuring from under a half inch to 11 feet. The largest sponge discovered to date was found in Hawaii in 2015, and has not yet been named. Habitat and Distribution Sponges are found on the ocean floor or attached to substrates such as rocks, coral, shells, and marine organisms. Sponges range in habitat from shallow intertidal areas and coral reefs to the deep sea. They are found in oceans and freshwater lakes throughout the world. Diet and Behavior Most sponges feed on bacteria and organic matter by drawing water in through pores called ostia (singular: ostium), which are openings through which water enters the body. Lining the channels in these pores are collar cells. The collars of these cells surround a hair-like structure called a flagellum. The flagella beat to create water currents. Most sponges also feed on small organisms that come in with the water. There are also a few species of carnivorous sponges that feed by using their spicules to capture prey such as small crustaceans. Water and wastes are circulated out of the body by pores called oscula (singular: osculum). Reproduction and Offspring Sponges reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction occurs through the production of egg and sperm. In some species, these gametes are from the same individual; in others, separate individuals produce eggs and sperm. Fertilization occurs when the gametes are brought into the sponge by currents of water. A larva is formed, and it settles on a substrate where it becomes attached to the rest of its life. Asexual reproduction occurs by budding, which happens when a part of a sponge is broken off, or one of its branch tips is constricted, and then this small piece grows into a new sponge. They may also reproduce asexually by producing packets of cells called gemmules. Threats In general, sponges arent very tasty to most other marine animals. They can contain toxins, and their spicule structure probably doesnt make them very comfortable to digest. Two organisms that eat sponges though are hawksbill sea turtles and nudibranchs. Some nudibranchs will even absorb a sponges toxin while it eats it and then uses the toxin in its own defense. Most of the sponges have been evaluated by the IUCN, as Least Concern. RainervonBrandis/Getty Images Sponges and Humans The modern plastic sponge in our kitchens and bathrooms are named after natural sponges, living animals which were harvested and widely used as long ago as the 8th century BCE as implements for bathing and cleaning, as well as in medical practices such as assisting in healing and to cool or warm or comfort a body part. Ancient Greek writers such as Aristotle (384–332 BCE) suggested the best sponge for such tasks was one that is compressible and squeezable but not sticky, and holds great quantities of water in its canals and expels it out when compressed.   You can still buy natural sponges in health food stores or on the Internet. Artificial sponges were not invented until the 1940s, and long before that, commercial sponge harvesting industries developed in many areas, including Tarpon Springs and Key West, Florida. Sources Brusca Richard C. and Gary J. Brusca. Phylum Porifera: the sponges. Invertebrates. Cambridge, MA: Sinauer Press, 2003. 181–210.Castro, Fernando, et al. Agalychnis The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T55843A11379402, 2004.  Ã‚  Coulombe, Deborah A. The Seaside Naturalist. New York: Simon Schuster, 1984.Denoble, Peter. The Story of Sponge Divers. Alert Diver Online, 2011.Hendrikse, Sandra and Andrà ©Ã‚  Merks, A. Sponge Fishing in Key West and Tarpon Springs, American Sponge Diver, 2003Martinez, Andrew J. Marine Life of the North Atlantic. New York: Aqua Quest Publications, Inc., 2003.UCMP. Porifera: Life History and Ecology. University of California Museum of Paleontology.Wagner, Daniel, and Christopher D. Kelley. The Largest Sponge in the World? Marine Biodiversity 47.2 (2017): 367–68.  Voultsiadou, Eleni. Sponges: An Historical Survey of Their Knowledge in Greek Antiquity. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 87.6 (2007): 1757 –63. Print.

How to Get Into an Ivy League School

How to Get Into an Ivy League School If you are hoping to attend one of the Ivy League schools, youre going to need more than good grades. Seven of the eight Ivies made my list of the most selective colleges in the country, and acceptance rates range from 6% for Harvard University to 15% for Cornell University. Applicants who are admitted have earned excellent grades in challenging classes, demonstrated meaningful involvement in extracurricular activities, revealed leadership skills, and crafted winning essays. A successful Ivy League application is not the result of a little effort at application time. It is the culmination of years of hard work. The tips and strategies below can help make sure your Ivy League application is as strong as possible. Develop the Foundation for Ivy League Success Early The Ivy League universities (and all universities for that matter) will consider your accomplishments in 9th through 12th grades only. The admissions folks will not be interested in that literary award you got in 7th grade or the fact that you were on the varsity track team in 8th grade. That said, successful Ivy League applicants build the foundation for an impressive high school record long before high school. On the academic front, if you can get into an accelerated math track while in middle school, this will set you up to complete calculus before you graduate from high school. Also, start a foreign language as early as possible in your school district, and stick with it. This will put you on track to take an Advanced Placement language class in high school, or to take a dual enrollment language class through a local college. Strength in a foreign language  and completing math through calculus  are both important features of the majority of winning Ivy League applications. You can get admitted without these accomplishments, but your chances will be diminished. When it comes to extracurricular activities in middle school, use them to find your passion so that you begin ninth grade with focus and determination. If you discover in middle school that drama, not soccer, is what you truly want to be doing in your after school hours, great. Youre now in a position to develop depth and demonstrate leadership on the drama front when youre in high school. This is hard to do if you discover your love of theater in your junior year.   This article on college preparation in middle school can help you understand the numerous ways in which a strong middle school strategy can help set you up for Ivy League success. Craft Your High School Curriculum Thoughtfully The most important piece of your Ivy League application is your high school transcript. In general,  youll need to take the most challenging classes available to you if you are going to convince the admissions folks that you are prepared to succeed in your college coursework. If you have a choice between AP Calculus or business statistics, take AP Calculus. If Calculus BC is an option for you, it will be more impressive than Calculus AB. If you are debating whether or not you should take a foreign language in your senior year, do so (this advice assumes that you feel you are capable of succeeding in these courses). You should also be realistic on the academic front. The Ivies dont, in fact, expect you to take seven AP courses in your junior year, and trying to do too much is likely to backfire by causing burn out and/or low grades. Focus on core academic areas- English, math, science, language- and make sure you excel in these areas. Courses such as AP Psychology, AP Statistics, or AP Music Theory are fine if your school offers them, but they dont carry the same weight as AP Literature and AB Biology.   Also keep in mind that the Ivies recognize that some students have more academic opportunities than others. Only a small fraction of high schools offer a challenging International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. Only larger, well-funded high schools can offer a wide breadth of Advanced Placement courses. Not all high schools make it easy to take dual enrollment courses at a local college. If youre from a small rural school without many academic opportunities, the admissions officers at the Ivy League schools take your situation into consideration, and measures such as your SAT/ACT scores and letters of recommendation will be even more important for evaluating your college readiness. Earn High Grades Im frequently asked which is more important: high grades or challenging courses?  The reality for Ivy League admissions is that you need both. The Ivies will be looking for lots of A grades in the most challenging courses available to you. Also keep in mind that the applicant pool for all of the Ivy League schools is so strong that the admissions offices are often not interested in weighted GPAs. Weighted GPAs play an important and legitimate role in determining your class rank, but the reality is that when  admissions committees are comparing students from around the world, they will consider whether or not that A in AP World History is a true A or if it is B that was weighted up to an A. Realize that you dont need straight A grades to get into the Ivy League, but every B on your transcript is lessening your chance  of admission. Most successful Ivy League applicants have unweighted GPAs that are up in the 3.7 range or higher (3.9 or 4.0 is more common).   The pressure to earn straight A grades can sometimes cause applicants to make bad decisions when applying to highly competitive colleges. You should not  write a supplemental essay explaining why you got a B in one course in your sophomore year. There are, however, a few situations in which you should explain a bad grade. Also keep in mind that some students with less-than-stellar grades get admitted. This can be because they have an exceptional talent, come from a school or country with different grading standards, or have legitimate circumstances that made earning A grades extremely challenging. Focus on Depth and Achievement in Your Extracurricular Activities There are hundreds of endeavors that count as extracurricular activities, and the reality is that any of them can make your application shine if you have demonstrated true depth and passion in your chosen activity. This article on the best extracurricular activities shows how any given activity, when approached with enough commitment and energy, can become something truly impressive. In general, think of extracurriculars in terms of depth, not breadth. A student who acts a minor role in a play one year, plays JV tennis one spring, joins yearbook another year, and then joins Academic All-Stars senior year is going to look like a dabbler with no clear passion or area of expertise (these activities are all good things, but they dont make for a winning combination on an Ivy League application). On the flip side, consider a student who plays euphonium in County Band in 9th grade, Area All-State in 10th grade, All-State in 11th grade, and who also played in the school symphonic band, concert band, marching band, and pep band for all four years of high school. This is a student who clearly loves playing her instrument and will bring that interest and passion to the campus community.   Show That You Are a Good Community Member The admissions folks are looking for students to join their community, so they clearly want to enroll students who care about community. One way to demonstrate this is through community service. Realize, however, that there is no magic number here- an applicant with 1,000 hours of community service may not have an advantage over a student with 300 hours. Instead, make sure you are doing community service that is meaningful to you and that truly makes a difference in your community. You may even want to write one of your supplemental essays about one of your service projects. Earn High SAT or ACT Scores None of the Ivy League schools are test-optional, and SAT and ACT scores still carry a bit of weight in the admissions process. Because the Ivies draw from such a diverse pool of students from around the world, standardized tests truly are one of the few tools the schools can use to compare students. That said, the admissions folks do recognize that financially advantaged students have an advantage with the SAT and ACT, and that one thing these tests tend to predict is a familys income. To get a sense of what SAT and/or ACT scores youre going to need to get into an Ivy league school, check out these graphs of GPA, SAT and ACT data for students who were accepted, waitlisted, and rejected: Brown  | Columbia  | Cornell | Dartmouth | Harvard | Penn | Princeton | Yale The numbers are rather sobering: the great majority of admitted students are scoring in the top one or two percentiles on the SAT or ACT. At the same time, youll see that there are some outlying data points, and a few students do get in with less-than-ideal scores. Write a Winning Personal Statement Chances are youre applying to the Ivy League using the Common Application, so youll have five options for your personal statement. Check out these tips and samples for the Common Application essay options, and realize that your essay is important. An essay that is riddled with errors or focuses on a trivial or clichà © topic could land your application in the rejection pile. At the same time, realize that your essay doesnt need to focus on something extraordinary. You dont need to have solved global warming or saved a bus full of 1st-graders to have an effective focus for your essay. More important than what you write about is that you focus on something important to you, and that your essay is thoughtful and self-reflective.   Put Significant Effort Into Your Supplemental Essays All of the Ivy League schools require school-specific supplemental essays in addition to the main Common Application essay. Dont underestimate the importance of these essays. For one, these supplemental essays, much more than the common essay, demonstrate why you are interested in a specific Ivy League school. The admissions officers at Yale, for example, arent just looking for strong students. They are looking for strong students who are truly passionate about Yale and have specific reasons for wanting to attend Yale. If your supplemental essay responses are generic and could be used for multiple schools, you havent approached the challenge effectively. Do your research and be specific. The supplemental essays are one of the best tools for demonstrating your interest in a specific university.   Be sure to avoid these five supplemental essay mistakes. Ace Your Ivy League Interview Youre likely to interview with an alum of the Ivy League school to which you are applying. In truth, the interview isnt the most important part of your application, but it can make a difference. If you stumble to answer questions about your interests and your reasons for applying, this can certainly damage your application. Youll also want to make sure that you are polite and personable during your interview. In general, Ivy League interviews are friendly exchanges, and your interviewer wants to see you do well. A little preparation, however, can help. Be sure to think about these 12 common interview questions, and work to avoid these interview mistakes. Apply Early Action or Early Decision Harvard, Princeton, and Yale all have a single-choice early action program. Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn have early decision programs. All of these programs allow you to apply to just a single school through the early program. Early decision has additional restrictions in that if you are admitted, you are obligated to attend. You should not  apply early decision if you are not 100% sure that a specific Ivy League school is your top choice. With early action, its fine to apply early if theres a chance you will later change your mind. If youre on target for Ivy League admission (grades, SAT/ACT, interview, essays, extracurriculars), applying early is the best tool you have for improving your chances significantly. Take a look at this table of early and regular admit rates for the Ivy League schools.  You are four times more likely to get into Harvard by applying early than applying with the regular applicant pool. Yes- four times more likely.   Factors That You Cant Control Everything Ive written about above focuses on factors that you can control, especially if you start early. There are, however, a couple factors in the Ivy League admissions process that are outside of your control. If these factors work in your favor, great. If they dont, dont fret. The majority of accepted students do  not  have these advantages. First is legacy status. If you have a parent or sibling who attended the Ivy League school to which you are applying, this can work to your advantage. Colleges tend to like legacies for a couple reasons: they will be familiar with the school and are likely to accept an offer of admission (this helps with the universitys yield); also, family loyalty can be an important factor when it comes to alumni donations. You also cant control how you fit into the universitys efforts to enroll a diverse class of students. Other factors being equal, an applicant from Montana or Nepal is going to have an advantage over an applicant from New Jersey. Similarly, a strong student from an under-represented group will have an advantage over a student from a majority group. This may seem unfair, and its certainly an issue that has been debated in the courts, but most selective private universities operate under the idea that the undergraduate experience is enriched significantly when the students come from a wide range of geographical, ethnic, religious, and philosophical backgrounds. A Final Word Perhaps this point should have come first in this essay, but I always ask Ivy League applicants to ask themselves, Why the Ivy League? The answer is often far from satisfactory: family pressure, peer pressure, or just the prestige factor. Keep in mind that there is nothing magical about the eight Ivy League schools. Of the thousands of colleges in the world, the one that best matches your personality, academic interests, and professional aspirations is very likely  not  one of the eight Ivies.   Every year youll see the news headlines heralding that one student who got into all eight Ivies. The news channels love to celebrate these students, and the accomplishment is certainly impressive. At the same time, a student who would thrive in the bustling urban environment of Columbia would probably not enjoy the rural location of Cornell. The Ivies are remarkably different, and all eight are not going to be a great match for a single applicant. Also keep in mind that there are hundreds of colleges that deliver exceptional educations (in many cases better undergraduate educations) than the Ivies, and many of these schools will be much more accessible. They may also be more affordable since the Ivies do not offer any merit-based financial aid (although they do have excellent need-based aid).   In short, make sure you truly do have good reasons for wanting to attend an Ivy League school, and recognize that failure to get into one is not failure: you are likely to thrive at the college you do choose to attend.

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discussion - Essay Example Life and Styles of the Two Artists Picasso Pablo Picasso was recognized as one of the most brilliant artist in his time. He was even referred to as the genius of the century in the book written by Walther (2000). This can be attributed to the fact that his works are exceptional not only in quality but also in number. He excels in different fields of visual arts such as painting, sculpture, etching, and ceramics (Walther 7). But in all the accomplishments that he had achieved in his life, one of the most noteworthy is his contributions to the establishment of Cubism, which was considered as the most influential artistic movement in the twentieth century because it had altered the development not only of the European art but all forms of visual arts. Cubism initiated the rediscovery and the modernization of the different art forms based on the liberal and avant-garde principles inculcated in the style (Cottington 3). Picasso can be equated to Cubism. This is not only due to the fact th at he can be defined as an artist who is free from any form of categories since he can express himself through any style of art. This is similar to the definition of Cubism, which had started a new culture in terms of visual art style, since it did not conform in the classical or traditional form of art. Due to the fact that Picasso is one of the founders and forerunners of Cubism, his most influential and most memorable art works had been produced during the period. One of the paintings that contributed to the onset of Cubism is Picasso’s 1907 painting entitled Les Demoiselles d’Avignon or The Young Ladies of Avignon. The painting shows five nude female figures in provocative poses. Three of the women were portrayed with Picasso’s signature faces while the other two were portrayed with African mask-like faces. There are different points on the painting that can be related to the style of Picasso. Based on experts, it is the time when the African communities wer e discovered, thus, the fascination for the savage depicted both by the masks and the nudity can be observed (Walther 26). On a personal note, the artwork is a bold move to challenge the traditional culture. The nudity and the topic exploring prostitution is a challenge to the closed minded and traditional perspective of the European society during that time. Parallel to the said objective is the challenge of a new visual arts technique that is cubism. Prior to the said art work, the form of the human body is not ordinarily distorted. But in the said painting, Picasso attempted to use a bold method that constraints the perspective of the audience to the two-dimensional form of the canvas or the paper. The second painting is the Three Musicians which was made in 1921 as a representation of the continuous development of Cubism. The said painting was recognized as a form of Synthetic Cubism. In the painting, there are three figures described as a (Source: Walther 35) Figure 1. Les Demo iselles d’Avignon (1907). Harlequin, a Pierrot and a monk known to represent Picasso and his two friends Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob (Walther 56). Based on the aesthetic review of the painting, the style used by Picasso can be compared to animated form of Cubism. In this style, the figures of the characters in the painting are not as evident. This can be attributed to the fact that the shapes of the different parts of the body are only represented in 2

One Work of Art from Michelangelo Buonarroti and One work of Art from Assignment

One Work of Art from Michelangelo Buonarroti and One work of Art from Leonardo da Vinci - Assignment Example Through the art we are able to see how they have dressed and also in the picture we see one person at the center representing the religious leaders also being involved (Meyer, 2011). It’s seen as the last judgment presented to people on the account of their evil deeds in church. In the Mona Lisa art Leonardo tried to put across the beauty by her curves on her long hair with the color on her face being toned bringing out her beauty. Her hands joined together showed her being calm or relaxed. The clothing can be seen as an ideal woman from her decency showing how mature she is. Her skin color is evenly distributed through da Vinci’s painting. Buonarroti picture symbolizes the kind of activities in the society. The nude picture represents the church followers back scenes which are not in line with Christianity. Michelangelo was a religious person and through his artistic talent he portrayed human anatomy and movements in most of his arts. He was able to blend the colors well the blue shade and the brown shade. The blue showing the sky and the white clouds with people around with actions like asking for a favor from someone (Meyer, 2011). Leonardo da Vinci used blurred and dark outlines contrast of light and dark bringing an ambiguous effect. It has been able to convey an ideal woman as she is conservative and the looks on her face cannot be really told as blank expression as you cannot really determine if she’s smiling or not. Leonardo da Vinci used the technique in framing, use of lighting and composition (Perry, 2009).He used observations and understanding in coming up with his art. Mona Lisa’s eyebrows and eyelashes are visible portraying her beauty. Through glazing technique to show realism achieved through variation in color and shading. He tried to portray her inner beauty by using the dull colors portraying calmness (Perry, 2009). He also used the oil layering on wooden palette. The brush strokes can be seen as

Theories Of Ethical And Pshchological Egoism Essay Example for Free

Theories Of Ethical And Pshchological Egoism Essay Many feel that human nature drives people to deny all forms of altruism and the desire to help others; while an equal amount feels that it is the duty of every human to help others at all costs.   Because there is no way to really decide such a subjective argument, it seems personal preference is the best way to dictate such action.   The alternatives to such altruistic action are egoism, as described through ethical and psychological egoism. These options counter the utilitarian approach, which many find the preferable way for humans to act, and the greatest good for the greatest number of people should be in mind for every action a person makes.    However, the utilitarian approach often leaves open-ended questions on just how much help the fortunate should give to those who are not.   That is why the best approach is through ethical egoism, as if everyone looked out for his or her best interests, ideally, everyone would be able to support themselves and those for whom they care.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While utilitarianism seems to be an ideal way to exist, it leaves too many questions about morality and the limits of altruism.   Egoism is much more natural, as it fosters the will to survive with a distinct rationalism.   The distinction between psychological egoism and ethical egoism reflects the contrast of is verses ought, fact verses value, or descriptive verses prescriptive (Philosophy Lander, 2006). In layman’s terms, this means that ethical egoism is based on the idea that individuals should do only what is in his or her self-interest to achieve morality, while psychological egoism accepts the fact that all people act in their self-interests anyway, despite any appearance to the contrary.   This expresses the difference between the descriptive nature of psychological egoism and the prescriptive nature of ethical egoism, with the former stating humans do things in their own best interests, while the latter states that humans merely should do things in their best interest (Lycan, 2001). To a psychological egoist, human nature is being wholly self-centered and self-motivated, which basically renders all morality useless (Moseley, 2006).   To an ethical egoist, morality is still pertinent and there are strong and weak types of the theory, with the strong version holding it is always moral to promote one’s own good, and it is never moral not to promote it, while the weak version states although it is always moral to promote one’s own good, it is not necessarily never moral to not (Moseley, 2006).   The weak version allows that there may be situations where pursuit of self-interest is not the most important thing and may actually be contrary to the best interests of an individual when concerning morality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The difference between psychological and ethical egoism cannot be fully understood without knowing the fallacy that exists with psychological egoism.   The fallacy is that people are always motivated by self-interest, when there may be a great variety of motivating factors affecting their decisions, especially emotions.   The concept of motivation has a great deal to do with each theory, as psychological egoism is motivated by individual selfishness, while ethical egoism is motivated by the idea that one must do what is right, even if against self-interests. Because of this, one can commit an altruistic act with ethical egoism, however, with psychological egoism altruism is impossible unless simultaneously serving the interest of the individual as well.   Selfishness and self-interest, while containing some similar attributes, are very different, in that selfishness focuses solely on the needs of the individual, while self-interest merely seeks advantageous circumstances to ensure success. Ethical egoism is a philosophical practice that encourages individuals to pursue their own self-interests.   While it is idealistic to think of helping unknown masses with one’s own hard earned money, it is also naà ¯ve to think that people should feel obligated to do so.   A person who works hard to make money to buy fine things is entitled to those things.   Just because a person is successful and can afford luxury items does not mean that they are obligated to help strangers because it serves some sort of utilitarian purpose. If anything, much of this altruism merely perpetuates a cycle in which those who are poor become accustomed to the aid of those who are not.   If they pursued their own self-interests, they would be better able to rise above their own struggles and create a successful world for themselves. Ethical egoism is not entirely without the concept of helping others, however it focuses not on people that an individual will never meet, but the people in his or her life and those that the person loves and touches personally.   Psychological egoism lacks the fundamental questions of morality to begin with, and helping others is only necessary if it benefits the helper.   While it is difficult to claim that either type of egoism is correct, or even preferable to a utilitarian approach, it allows individuals to remain independent and free of all illusions. REFERENCES Lycan, W. (2001). Morality. University of North Carolina. Retrieved April 26, 2008, from http://www.unc.edu/~ujanel/Morality.htm Moseley, A. (2006). Egoism. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/e/egoism.htm#SH2b Philosophy Lander. (2006). Psychological Egoism. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/egoism.html

William Carlos Williams This is Just to Say Essay -- Poem Williams Th

William Carlos Williams' This is Just to Say poem (p m) – noun: 1. A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of language chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme. 2. A composition in verse rather than in prose. 3. A literary composition written with an intensity or beauty of language more characteristic of poetry than of prose. -- The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright  © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, there are three different definitions of a poem. William Carlos Williams’ highly anthologized poem, â€Å"This Is Just to Say,† fits only one of those descriptions. The single reason it can be classified as a poem is that it is written in verse. In all else, â€Å"This Is Just to Say† fails not only as a poem, but as an interesting work of writing. â€Å"This Is Just to Say† makes absolutely no use of any literary techniques. It lacks rhyme, meter, metaphor, simile, symbol, analogy, allusion and any other device one can think of. The only alliteration present is in the second to last line and is otherwise so sparse as to make that bit seem accidental. Any person attempting to read the poem as a â€Å"metaphor for a variety of larger conflicts,† as the opponent of this particular paper claims, is making it up out of whole cloth and giving Williams far too much credit. True, there are three stanzas, each composed of four lines, but that hardly qualifies a piece as a genuine poem. There is no discernable pattern of syl... ...had been fooled. It’s about time that somebody called the emperor’s bluff. Not even Williams himself originally intended â€Å"This Is Just to Say† to be read as a poem, so any attempt to defend it as one is doomed to fail. Unless, of course, the person defending that position is of the belief that any set of words strung together with the proper line breaks is magically transformed into a poem. In that case, everyone with a Magnetic Poetry Kit deserves to be as famous. William Carlos Williams simply took two ordinary sentences, chopped them up into lines and stanzas, and called it poetry. The so-called poem â€Å"This Is Just to Say† is in reality nothing more than two thinly disguised, unremarkable lines of prose. The name of all poetry is cheapened when people call notes such as these â€Å"poems.† The truth is, â€Å"This Is Just to Say† says very little indeed.

Book Review of “Cheaper” by the Dozen

The autobiographical book Cheaper by the Dozen was written in 1949. Since then, it has been reprinted numerous times, most recently in 2003. The book, written by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, two of the twelve children of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, is about Frank Jr. and Ernestine's recollections of growing up, in the company of ten other siblings and two high-powered engineers as parents, in a huge house in Montclair, New Jersey, around the turn of the 20th century. Much of the humor within this book is because the father of this huge family, Frank, is a good-hearted man who loves his twelve children and their antics, but is also an engineer (as is his wife Lillian) by profession, and an â€Å"efficiency expert†. Frank Sr. likes to believe problems and conflicts can be solved in a sort of mechanical way, and sometimes with just one quick solution for every problem (at least that is his theory). Many funny and ironic situations arise from this questionable premise. Still, as the authors of Cheaper by the Dozen recall, â€Å"Dad was happiest in a crowd, especially a crowd of kids† (p. ). But since, as an engineer, Frank Sr. owns a scientific management company, he continually tries to apply his various principles of â€Å"scientific management† at home, with mixed results. In one incident, he does so by taking motion pictures of his children washing dishes and doing other household chores, which he calls â€Å"motion study† (p. 3) in order to study their efficiency at these tasks (or the lack thereof), and then hopefully apply what he has learned from these homemade â€Å"motion studies† to other workplace situations. Frank Sr. lso has each of his twelve children chart their weights and other progress each day, on a â€Å"progress and weight chart† (p. 3) he has put up on the bathroom wall, as soon as they can physically write (which is early, since the father has high expectations of his children in every respect). There is sometimes disagreement between Frank Sr. and the children's mother, Lillian, which points out some of the differences between them. For example, Lillian wants to save a spot on the â€Å"progress and weight charts† for recording the children's daily prayers, but Frank Sr. ever the practical man of action rather than contemplation, insists there is no room for that. Many of the funniest episodes in the book derive from these types of conflicts (always rather gentle ones) between the parents, especially since their mother, Lillian, is more relaxed in terms of her personality, and sees everything more individually and perhaps, at times, more clearly as well (although Lillian never directly insists on this to Frank Sr. , but just lets things happen until the truth becomes apparent on its own). Although both Lillian and Frank Sr. re brilliant engineers, Lillian seems to have more personal insight into her children as individuals. And, despite Frank Sr. ‘s considerable â€Å"efficiency†, Lillian often has more common sense. This is perhaps reflected in the way Frank Sr. and his philosophies of â€Å"efficiency† are joked about, much more in the book, than Lillian or her actions or beliefs are joked about. Lillian was an early career woman, and one of the other themes of this book is how she handled, so well, especially for those times, a high-powered career and raising twelve children. Lillian Gilbreth herself, although not the main focus of this book, is very inspiring in that way. The main reason, overall, that I liked this book is because the humor within it is good natured, and the high-powered Gilbreth family, even though it is so large and chaotic, and has its own share of challenges and setbacks, is not â€Å"dysfunctional† in any way, like so many, even smaller, families today. That, in and of itself, is amazing. Whatever is happening, inside or outside the family, there is always love, solidarity, and teamwork within the family itself. The authors also mention how Frank Sr. would never criticize his family to anyone outside the family. Obviously, this book was set in far simpler times than today. For example, as the now grown up Gilbreth siblings first describe their father: â€Å"Dad was a tall man, with a large head, jowls, and a Herbert Hoover collar†¦ † (p. 1). This tells us right away that the book takes place many decades ago, since Herbert Hoover was President in the 1920's. Even the conflicts and disagreements detailed within the book, which are always described truthfully and in detail, seem humorous, good-natured, and reasonable, especially compared to many kinds of family conflicts today. Also, these conflicts are always agreeably resolved, without any lasting damage to any of the children or their egos. This, also, is truly amazing, since both parents are so busy, not only inside but outside the home. Also, the mother and the father are very different from one another by nature, but as the authors point out, they work well together and do everything well as a team. They are always supportive of each other and their children. Dr. Lillian Gilbreth seems the true hero of the Cheaper by the Dozen family. Frank Gilbreth Sr. died before any of his children had reached 20 years old. Lillian continued raising the children on her own, while working and lecturing full-time. Moreover, she managed to put them all through college. Lillian Gilbreth, amazingly, given both the time and the large number of children she had, also had a very distinguished career in her own right when few women had such careers, and even fewer were also mothers of such large families. Still, Lillian Gilbreth managed to be a loving and attentive mother to all of her children. I found Cheaper by the Dozen to be a very inspiring book, and always very honest and humorous. Cheaper by the Dozen conveys the message that family members who love one another, stick together, and have a sense of humor about things that happen in families, and in life, can make it through anything. Therefore, I highly recommend the book Cheaper by the Dozen as an excellent reading experience for everyone.

Effects of Job Rotation

Discuss the various issues of managerial behaviour and related matters raised by this case study Laurie J. Mullins argues that A fist step in the effective management of other people is confidence in your own ability, and awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses. Why is it then that managers find it difficult to admit their mistakes, to say sorry or to laugh at themselves? 1 In the building society case study, there are examples of bad managerial behaviour on the part of both Mary Rodgers, the branch manager and Jane Taylor, the senior branch assistant.Jane Taylor was clearly good at her job if, after four years, she was promoted to this new role, yet within a short period of time, she was having trouble with Tony Jackson. Looking back at what Mullins said, Miss Taylor doesn't appear to have confidence in her own ability or indeed awareness in her own strengths and weaknesses. According to Thompson ; McHugh â€Å"control is not an end in itself, but a means to transform the ca pacity to work established by the wage relation into profitable production†, and Jane is unable to control her sub-ordinate – what are the reasons for this?Part of the problem stems from the beginning of the case study and the relationship between Jane and her manager. Mary Rogers does not instil any confidence in Jane when she effectively ‘dumps' this new role. Up until now, Jane has been performing specific task functions and has no real knowledge of how to manage people as she has previously been performing the duties of a cashier and looking after mortgage advice accounts – more task orientated skills rather than managerial ones. The refresher course she attends includes nothing on this either and Jane immediately falls into what McGregor calls the ‘Theory X' assumption of human nature.The central principle of ‘Theory X' is direction and control through a centralised system of organisation and exercise of authority2 and Jane automatically tr ies to coerce and direct Tony Jackson. The inability of Mary Rodgers to provide effective support and development for Jane shows a clear ineptitude on her part. She admits herself that the reason for Jane's promotion is that â€Å"I [Mary] need someone to take some of the weight off my shoulders† and she seems to be reluctant to help intervene and solve

Degrees of Freedom in Statistics and Mathematics

Degrees of Freedom in Statistics and Mathematics In statistics, the degrees of freedom are used to define the number of independent quantities that can be assigned to a statistical distribution. This number typically refers to a positive whole number that indicates the lack of restrictions on a persons ability to calculate missing factors from statistical problems. Degrees of freedom act as variables in the final calculation of a statistic and are used to determine the outcome of different scenarios in a system, and in math degrees of freedom define the number of dimensions in a domain that is needed to determine the full vector. To illustrate the concept of a degree of freedom, we will look at a basic calculation concerning the sample mean, and to find the mean of a list of data, we add all of the data and divide by the total number of values. An Illustration with a Sample Mean For a moment suppose that we know the mean of a data set is 25 and that the values in this set are 20, 10, 50, and one unknown number. The formula for a sample mean gives us the equation (20 10 50 x)/4 25, where x denotes the unknown, using some basic algebra, one can then determine that the missing number,  x, is equal to 20. Lets alter this scenario slightly. Again we suppose that we know the mean of a data set is 25. However, this time the values in the data set are 20, 10, and two unknown values. These unknowns could be different, so we use two different variables, x, and y,  to denote this. The resulting equation is (20 10 x y)/4 25. With some algebra, we obtain y 70- x. The formula is written in this form to show that once we choose a value for x, the value for y is completely determined. We have one choice to make, and this shows that there is one degree of freedom. Now well look at a sample size of one hundred. If we know that the mean of this sample data is 20, but do not know the values of any of the data, then there are 99 degrees of freedom. All values must add up to a total of 20 x 100 2000. Once we have the values of 99 elements in the data set, then the last one has been determined. Student t-score and Chi-Square Distribution Degrees of freedom play an important role when using the Student t-score table. There are actually several t-score distributions. We differentiate between these distributions by use of degrees of freedom. Here the probability distribution that we use depends upon the size of our sample. If our sample size is n, then the number of degrees of freedom is n-1. For instance, a sample size of 22 would require us to use the row of the t-score table with 21 degrees of freedom. The use of a chi-square distribution also requires the use of degrees of freedom. Here, in an identical manner as with the t-score  distribution, the sample size determines which distribution to use. If the sample size is n, then there are n-1 degrees of freedom. Standard Deviation and Advanced Techniques Another place where degrees of freedom show up is in the formula for the standard deviation. This occurrence is not as overt, but we can see it if we know where to look. To find a standard deviation we are looking for the average deviation from the mean. However, after subtracting the mean from each data value and squaring the differences, we end up dividing by n-1 rather than n as we might expect. The presence of the n-1 comes from the number of degrees of freedom. Since the n data values and the sample mean are being used in the formula, there are n-1 degrees of freedom. More advanced statistical techniques use more complicated ways of counting the degrees of freedom. When calculating the test statistic for two means with independent samples of n1 and n2 elements, the number of degrees of freedom has quite a complicated formula. It can be estimated by using the smaller of n1-1 and n2-1 Another example of a different way to count the degrees of freedom comes with an F test. In conducting an F test we have k samples each of size n- the degrees of freedom in the numerator is k-1 and in the denominator is k(n-1).

The Story of George Crum, Inventor of the Potato Chip

The Story of George Crum, Inventor of the Potato Chip George Crum (born George Speck; July 15, 1824 – July 22, 1914) was a renowned African-American chef who worked at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York during the mid-1800s. According to culinary legend, Crum invented the potato chip during his work at the restaurant. Fast Facts: George Crum Known For: Widely credited with inventing potato chips when he sliced an order of French fries extra-thin to spite a demanding customer. The story has since been debunked as a myth, but Crum achieved success when he opened  Crums, a popular restaurant in Malta, New York.  Also Known As: George SpeckBorn: July 15, 1824, in Saratoga Springs,  New York, USADied: July 22, 1914, in Malta, New York, USA The Potato Chip Legend   George Speck was born to parents Abraham Speck and Diana Tull  on July 15, 1824. He grew up in upstate New York and was hired at Moons Lake House in the 1850s. Moon’s Lake House was a high-end restaurant that catered to wealthy Manhattan families when Speck was hired. A  regular patron of the restaurant,  Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, frequently forgot Specks given surname. Vanderbilt  often asked waiters to relay various requests to â€Å"Crum,† thus giving Speck the name he is now known by.   According to popular legend, the potato chip was invented when a picky customer (Vanderbilt himself, according to some reports) repeatedly sent back an order of  French fries, complaining that they were too thick. Frustrated with the customer’s demands, Crum sought revenge by slicing a batch of potatoes paper-thin, frying them to a crisp, and seasoning them with lots of salt. Surprisingly, the customer loved them.  Soon enough, Crum and Moons Lake House became well-known  for their special â€Å"Saratoga chips.†Ã‚   Disputing the Legend   A number of notable accounts  have disputed the story of Crums culinary innovation. Recipes for frying thin potato slices had already been published in cookbooks  by the early 1800s. Several reports on Crum himself, including a  commissioned biography of the chef published in 1893 and his own obituary, were curiously missing any mention of potato chips whatsoever.   Crums sister, Kate Wicks, claimed to be the real inventor of the potato chip. Wick’s obituary, published in The Saratogian in 1924, read, A sister of George Crum, Mrs. Catherine Wicks, died at the age of 102, and was the cook at Moon’s Lake House. She first invented and fried the famous Saratoga Chips. This statement  is supported by Wicks’ own recollections of the tale, which was published in several periodicals during her lifetime. Wicks explained that she had sliced off a sliver of potato that inadvertently fell into a hot frying pan. She let Crum taste it and his enthusiastic approval led to the decision to serve the chips. Crums Legacy Visitors came far and wide to Moons Lake House for a taste of the famous Saratoga chips, sometimes even taking a 10-mile trip around the lake just to get to the restaurant. Cary Moon, the owner of Moon’s Lake House, later tried to claim credit for the invention and began producing and distributing potato chips in boxes. Once Crum opened his own restaurant in the 1860s, called Crum’s, he provided every table with a basket of chips.   Crum’s chips remained a local delicacy until the 1920s when a salesman and entrepreneur named Herman Lay began traveling throughout the south and introducing potato chips to different communities throughout the country. At that point, Crums legacy was overtaken  by the mass production and distribution of potato chips on a national scale. Sources George Crum Dies at Saratoga Lake,  The (Saratoga Springs) Saratogian.  July 27, 1914.  Another Claims Potato Chip Idea,†Ã‚  Glens Falls Post Star.  August 4, 1932Barrett Britten, Elizabeth  [Jean McGregor]. Chronicles of Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, NY. Bradshaw 1947.Bradley, Hugh. Such Was Saratoga.  New York, 1940. 1940, 121-122.Dearborn, R.F.  Saratoga and How to See It. Albany, New York. 1871.  Gruse, Doug. Chipping Away at History.  Post-Star, Glens Falls, New York. November 25, 2009Kitchiner, William.  The Cook’s Oracle; Containing Receipts for Plain Cookery, on the Most Economical Plan for Private Families. 4th ed. A. Constable and Co. of Edinburgh and London.Lee, N.K.M.  The Cooks Own Book: Being A Complete Culinary Encyclopedia.  Boston, Munroe, and Francis. New York, Charles E. Francis, and David Felt. 1832.

Plato - Apology (Five Dialogues) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plato - Apology (Five Dialogues) - Essay Example Therefore, the form is not a mere idea of roundness in the mind. It exists independently from the basketball and individual thinking of it. It then follows that all round objects, including basketball, copy or participates in this form of roundness. To enhance our understanding of the difference between the properties of forms and those of material objects, there is need to examine the first two properties of forms. Forms are transcendent, that is, they do not exist in time and space. However, a material object, like a basketball, exists in time and space. The roundness of a form does not exist at any particular time or place, thus forms subsist in different ways. This is important as it explains the unchanging property of forms. The roundness property of a basketball will never change: it remains the same at all places and times of instantiation. The form of roundness in present in many spatial locations, and the property or roundness would remain even after the destruction of all r ound objects (192). The second property of forms is purity. Any material object, like a basketball, has various properties: elasticity, roundness, and others, which combine to make the individual basketball. A form is one of the many properties, existing individually apart from time and space. Roundness is purely roundness, without any mixture of properties. The differentiation factors between forms and material objects are pure and transcendent properties, as materials incorporate complex conglomeration of properties in time and space. According to Plato’s principle, humans believe that the reality of a thing dependents on its objectivity. This is because humans tend to distinguish reality and appearance. However, forms are more objective than material objectives, thus forms are more real than the material objects. One of the properties of the soul is eternity. Drawing from the unchanging property of forms, then it means that the soul never dies, nor does it ever begin. It t hen follows that the soul is immortal, and thus exists before and after the â€Å"birth† of the body. Question Two In the Apology, there are four charges against Socrates. First, Socrates faces accusation for studying things in the heavens and below the earth. Second, he tends to make the worst arguments into better arguments, thus persuading others to follow him and his beliefs. Third, he is guilty of corrupting young people, and fourth, he does not believe in the gods of the city. The charge against studying matters of the skies and the ground below contradicts Socrates position as an atheist. Matters of heavens and beneath the earth primarily focus on religious belief of individuals and the gods, thus countering Socrates’ position as an atheist. The basic definition of atheism is the lack of belief in deities. It thus follows that the first charge against Socrates contradicts his position as an atheist. The charge that Socrates turns the worst arguments into stronge r arguments identifies him with the Sophists. Sophists were a group of people with techniques of persuasion that enabled them to influence people to adopt their beliefs and points of view, despite their ignorance on the subject matter of the topic. Athenians accused Socrates of being a Sophist. The charges against corrupting the youth came from Meletus. According to him, Socrates was responsible for corrupting the minds of the youth in Athens.

Are organizations rational Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Are organizations rational - Assignment Example ncy and reliability of the system (Miller, 2012).  The desire to achieve efficiency forms the major part of rationality and organisation is considered as a mechanism where different parts are used to achieve the desired results. Since managers work towards achieving the best results, rationality is based on the efficiency of systems to achieve the desired outcome. This paper attempts to reveal how organisations show rationality in the decisions that are made in management level and the rationality of organisation through its independence and formation. Rational system involves two main elements that include goal specificity and formalisation. Rationality in organisations is related to formalisation of activities and decisions that form the daily systems of the organisation. This means that the organisation behaviour is shaped by standardisation and regulation of all activities in the organisation to achieve efficiency (Sapru, 2011). Through formalisation, stable expectations in production and results acts as the main focus of the company and this is one of the preconditions of rationality. An organisation offers an environment where employees are expected to perform to achieve certain goals and objectives of the company through a formal system thus resulting to rationality. It is therefore important to note that many organisations are rational owing to the fact that they operate with an objective to achieve desired results through formalised principles that are not based on emotions or superstitious beliefs (Catino, 2013).   Goal specificity involves the fact that organisations are formed for a specific objective or goal. Organisations focus on certain goals as their main purpose of operation. Specific goals are used as equipment for supporting rational behaviour in an organisation where they provide guidelines on the structural design, and this points on what specific tasks need to be carried out to ensure great performance and how to allocate resources to

The 'Colored Revolutions' of Eastern Europe During the 2000s Essay

The 'Colored Revolutions' of Eastern Europe During the 2000s - Essay Example It is certainly alluring to see the breakdown of the Soviet territory as the segment of a universal disintegration of autocracies. This opinion surely prejudiced how the democratic changeover in Eastern and Central Europe has been observed in the West (as the "end of history") as well as by some of its characters. Ten years after, nonetheless, even with widespread Western exertions at democracy advancement, the democratic current has rather withdrawn, leaving a depiction of accomplishments in Central Europe (along within Latin America and fragments of Asia) counterbalance by hindrances in the earlier Soviet Union and the Balkans (but similarly in China and most of Africa) (Jacques, 2000). The examination of the consequences of domestic changes for the local system of international dealings should take place from the implication of the main factors and procedures, which formed the post-soviet space design in the last decade. The first amongst these is the procedure of state and nation -structuring in the Afresh Independent States. Fresh political leaders in the previous Soviet states had a particular image of their state-projects which, as a law, protected Euro-Atlantic ambitions and, in reality, detached relations with Russia as well collaboration in the post-Soviet region from the list of primaries in their foreign policy schedules. Secondly, these objectives, along with the fluctuations in Europe and its boundary, stemmed in the participation of outside troupes in the post-soviet district - US, EU, NATO, and the Western European countries, and, some local actors, i.e. Poland, Turkey, China etc.

Analysis of Economics and Finances of Multan District

Analysis of Economics and Finances of Multan District Abstract Public finance deals with the financial management of public entities. This paper provides an overview of the financial affairs of local government of district Multan and identifies issues faced by the systems to deliver efficiently and effectively. It also highlights areas or improvement and opportunities to fund these activities. The district government heavily relies on the provincial grants and has very limited self generated revenue. Although it is responsible to manage various institutions of social services and carry out developmental activities in the district, its reliance on provincial grants make its effort less effective. TMA on the other hand have significant revenue generation and use this to their advantage and work with autonomy. However they still rely on provincial grants for any developmental activities. The stale business process and hurdles in the legal framework also contribute significantly towards the in efficiency of the systems. There are solutions that can help turn around the situation but it needs a sincere effort on part the provincial and local government. Automation and legal reforms could cover a lot of issues. They would not only increase efficiency but would help curtail corruption at various levels. However strong political could change the scene altogether. A comprehensive process was adopted in collecting secondary data through official documents, template and meetings with officials. District Multan was chosen due to its importance specially in the current political setup and based on convenience. Introduction Despite some modest achievements, the economic and social progress in Pakistan has been far from satisfactory during the last more than five decades of independence. Average annual growth rate of 6.8, 4.8, 6.5 and 4.6% (Government of Pakistan, 2003) respectively in the decades of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is not comparable with the rapid economic progress made by South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries which were initially at nearly the same level of economic development (or even below) as that of Pakistan. The performance on social indicators has been gloomier. Despite average figures for economic growth, many countries like Vietnam and Cuba have been able to eradicate illiteracy and have achieved health statistics comparable with developed countries (Zaidi, 2000). Pakistan still ranks at the tail end of social development ranking. Pakistan is also a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, a landmark event showing commitment of political, corporate and civil society leadership to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty and to improve education, health, gender and environment situation through global partnerships for development. A study of the progress achieved on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that the performance of Pakistan has not been noteworthy in the decade of 90s. There has been a gradual convergence of opinion amongst all stakeholders – government, civil society as well as international development partners – that the failure in social sectors is a direct outcome of the crisis of governance and macro economic imbalances. Further, there is a broad consensus that governance cannot be improved without a meaningful devolution of authority to functional tiers and without ensuring peoples participation in decision making processes at all levels. This stakeholder consensus provided the necessary impetus for the present government to introduce its devolution reforms conceived in 2000 and launched simultaneously in all provinces of Pakistan through introduction of Local Government Ordinances in 2001. Until the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances, the elected local government tiers had a precarious existence depending upon the will of the provincial governments. Many times these would be dissolved and un-elected administrators appointed. Working under the ambit of Local government Ordinances of 1979, there were urban and rural local councils. While urban local councils consisted of Metropolitan/Municipal Corporations and Municipal/Town committees, the rural councils were called District Councils and Union Councils. Traditionally the local councils in Pakistan have performed municipal functions like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, fire fighting, maintenance of slaughter houses, promotion of cattle markets, fairs and exhibitions and street lighting. They also had varying roles in primary and preventive health care, maternal and child health, promotion of literacy and rural infrastructure development. Devolution reforms in Pakistan, introduced by the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances of 2001 have provided a 3-tier local government system consisting of District Government (DG), Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration (TMA) and Union Administrations (UA). Working under the direction and control of elected councils and Nazims, the present local government system attempts to create institutions and mechanisms for public participation in design, management, monitoring and control of social service delivery. Many of the functions previously performed by the local offices of provincial government departments now clearly fall within the domain of DGs. These reforms are aimed to increase local governments responsibility for efficient and effective social and municipal services delivery. Municipal functions with a wider scope are being carried out by Town Municipal Administrations and City District Governments (established initially in provincial headquarters but subsequently in sele cted big cities as well). Access to adequate resources for the local governments is now considered essential. Additional fiscal space is required for enhanced allocations for the social sector as well as infrastructure development. These resources are also required to meet the social deficits that have accumulated over the past due to inadequate funding coupled with low utilisation in social sectors. Devolution reforms, as originally conceived and articulated, envisaged large scale fiscal decentralisation to follow the administrative and political decentralisation. While a fiscal relationship has been forged between the province and the districts, an extensive reorganisation of resources has not taken place and the vertical financial imbalance stays in place with the major financial collections being made at the federal (and to a lesser extent at the provincial) level. On the other hand, the service provision has fallen at the DG level where the tax base and collection potential is the lowest. Courtesy: Decentralization Support Program, Role Book: 4-day workshop for elected local leadershipResultantly, the biggest challenge facing the local councils in Pakistan (which are more empowered today and have a wider scope of functions than ever) is to ensure consistent, reliable and fool proof mechanisms of transfers from provincial governments and to expand ‘own source revenues in order to provide efficient and effective service delivery as envisaged in devolution reforms. Public Finance  is that part of finance which hovers around the central question of allocation of resources subjected to the budget constraint of the government or public entities. It is that branch of economics which identifies and appraises the means and effects of the policies of the government. Public sector finance tries to examine the effects and consequences of different types of taxation and expenditures on the economic agents (individuals, institutions, organizations, etc.) of the society and ultimately on the entire economy. Public finance also analyzes the effectiveness of the policies aimed at certain objectives and consequently to the development of procedures and techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the policy. Literature Review Much of the functional autonomy of the local governments depends upon their ability to raise the required resources from their own sources and to get the balance from the provincial/federal government through consistent and assured mechanisms. This requires not only devising institutional mechanisms for formula and criteria based fiscal transfers but also exploring revenue potentials of local own source revenues. These own source revenues can be in the form of taxes and fees for services provided. It is quite surprising that despite the significance of this, very few local studies have been carried out to examine the resource potential of the local bodies in Pakistan. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) of Pakistan, formulated after considerable debate and input from all major stakeholders, admits that the local governments depend primarily upon fiscal transfers from provincial governments and recognises the need for local revenue mobilisation as an important activity for the sustainability of local government system. Factors steeped in political economy and elite structures have influenced local revenue generation decisions. Howe and Reeb (1997) conducting a survey of the local tax system in USA since the colonial times have determined that economic and political considerations have influenced the tax systems. Bird (2000) gives the desirable characteristics of a local tax. First, the tax base should be relatively immobile so that local governments can vary the rates without losing a significant portion of the base. Second, the tax yield should be adequate to meet the local needs, increase overtime as expenditure increases, and be relatively stable and predictable. Third, the tax should be one that is not easy to export to non residents. Fourth, the tax base should be visible to ensure accountability. Fifth, the tax payers should perceive the tax to be reasonably fair. Sixth, the tax should be reasonably easy to administer. According to Bird (1999), ‘international experience tells that the most responsible and accountable local governments are those that raise their own revenues and set their own tax rates. Meaningful local autonomy and accountability can only take place if the local governments are able to set their own tax rates. In Pakistan, on the other hand, provincial government has the power to vet the tax proposal and no tax can be levied by a local council without publication in official gazette. Kitchen and Slack (2003) after a comprehensive analysis of local taxes in developed world, including Canada, are of the view that in order to meet the growing needs of municipalities, it is mandatory that new resources in addition to the traditional property tax and user fees must be explored. There is little autonomy in preparing district development and non development budgets because of inability to convey the quantum of provincial transfers and vertical programmes. There is more ‘budgetary certainty in TMAs because of increased reliance on OZT replacement tax and own source revenues. Formula based transfers to districts through Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards have several weaknesses. District governments have weak tax base in terms of buoyancy and potency of taxes assigned. Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) assigned to TMAs is a buoyant tax but there are administrative confusions. According to Shah et al. (1996) and World Bank (2000) the existing provincial taxes and user charges are inefficient and inequitable and are incapable of meeting significant share of provincial expenditures. Frequently changing and low yield tax instruments with poor tax records create incentives for tax evasion. Considering that agriculture contributes approximately 25% of the GDP in Pakistan, it is estimated that a properly enforced Agricultural Income Tax (AIT) could generate over Rs. 500 million in NWFP only. Presently due to collusion between revenue officials and landowners, lack of understanding, improper assessment and poor collection by the tax collectors, very little of the potential is realised. Bahl (2004) states that in the contemporary world nearly 80 countries are implementing fiscal decentralisation policies. Local government should have the power to define revenue bases, set tax rates and raise taxes. A good tax system should be administratively feasible, revenue burden should correspond to the general condition of local economy, revenue yield should be stable and it should be adequate both for payer and local government. A research study carried out by Provincial Program Support Office, DSP, Punjab ‘Tax and Non Tax Receipt Database Development – TMA Khanewal in 2005 indicates that there is substantial potential of increase in revenues without enhancing the rates. It has been observed that service delivery potential of the TMA is weak because of its inability to meet all the expenditures. The record of TMA is old; there is no practice of periodic update; and monitoring system is weak. The study also noted that revenue generation can improve dramatically by improving record keeping through maintenance of disaggregated information of taxes and tax payers in all details by the use of information technology. The study recommended computerisation of tax records, capacity building of tax/revenue staff, and increase in transparency of tax records, wider dissemination of information about tax policies, rates and procedures through establishment of people friendly frameworks. Research Methodology The paper examines the current financial situation of district Multan and identifies areas of potential improvement. It also recommends areas that need restructuring and legal reforms to bring about the change that would not only improve systems but would make it robust and ready for future economic growth of the district, keeping in mind the potential the district. Mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative tools was employed for data collection and analysis. Broadly speaking, it had the following three components. Component 1: The first component involved conducting a comprehensive literature review to see the national, regional and international trends in local resource mobilisation and issues faced by the system. The range of sources accessed and reports/publications examined is broad and includes similar studies conducted for other districts in Pakistan (e.g. Khanewal) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, to the extent of Pakistan, the Khanewal study is so far the only study available as a reference for examination of local resource enhancement in the local government. Greater reliance, therefore, had to be placed on studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the literature review helped in identifying the issues involved in local taxation (levy, assessment and collection) and an examination thereof in a comparative perspective. The success of local governments to raise resources locally is largely contingent on framing appropriate laws and rules in consonance with the ground realities. Therefore, an important part of the literature review exercise was to identify relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications and circulars that in some distinct manner impinge upon the resource mobilisation at district/tehsil level. Component 2: Along with the literature review an exercise was also undertaken to collect data for the District Government (DG) Multan and each of the six Tehsil Municipal Administrations included in the two districts. A comprehensive template was developed to standardise data collected from various councils. It lists all major and minor sources of revenue for a local council; the legal framework (law/rule/regulation) authorising its levy; business process for assessment and collection; the amount budgeted against each tax/levy/fee/cess etc for each of the last four fiscal years 2007-10; budgetary revisions (if any) and collections actually realised. The budget documents for the last four years were used as the starting point and the amount budgeted for each source was picked from the budget documents. Component 3 A detailed analysis of receipts, expenditure, development initiatives, review of business process and relevant legal provision and their issues was carried out. Component 4: Then a series of individual interviews were held. This included meeting the Tehsil Municipal Officers, Executive District Officers (Revenue, Finance and Planning, Municipal Services), various District Officers, Excise and taxation officials, Multan Development Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency officials The suggestions and recommendations on the perspectives emanating from these interviews. Data Analysis and interpretation Overview of Public Finance (district government budget) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Actual Actual RE Non-development 2,762.80 3,912.51 4,066.98 Development 1,462.49 1,539.14 882.19 Development – tied grant 300.12 512.19 965.16 Total 4,525.41 5,963.84 5,914.34 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Opening balance 386.16 995.15 1,086.13 Provincial grants 3,780.30 3,853.29 5,172.88 Own Source revenue 201.07 149.37 140.13 Tied grants (development and non-development) 475.84 801.40 1,017.88 Total 4,853.37 5,726.64 7,417.02 Revenue of the district is of two types i.e. Own source revenue and provincial transfers. In district Multan there is a heavy reliance on funding from provincial government since district OSR is almost negligible. Efforts are needed to change the scenario and move the district towards sustainability A sharp rise of 37% in provincial grants could be noticed in the FY 2008-09 over FY 2007-08 endorsing districts dependence on these transfers. The provincial grants are transferred as per the PFC criteria which will be discussed in depth later in the chapter. Tied grants being the second highest source has been transferred for development and non development expenses of the district government. For the FY 2008-09 the tied grants are Rs. 1,018m which constitute 13.7% of the total sources. These grants are for specific expenditure and are not in districts control. The own source revenue (OSR) of the district govt. forms a very insignificant amount (2%, 2008-09), rendering the district to re ly heavily on provincial transfers. The OSR of the district has been on a decreasing trend compared to overall resource requirement. This is a major cause of concern as this not only increases dependence on provincial transfer but it also affects the autonomy of the district to make decisions. A sincere effort to revamp the taxes and their collection mechanism is required with the focus on generating more resource. In budget for FY 2009-10 there is an increase in OSR of 40% which includes estimation of arrears that are more than 3 years old. These balances are very old and have been appearing in budget estimates for over more than 3 years. However the increase is still insignificant compare to the requirement of the district. A detailed analysis of item by item sources of income was done. Issues relating to a few significant items will be highlighted in the section of recommendations. Expenditures are categorized in to two broad categories i.e. Development and Non development. The ratio of development vs. non development expenditure has changed over the years with a downward trend in development expenditure. This trend should be a cause of concern as the development projects loose priority to make way for funding ongoing activities In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 the ratio of non developmental expenses vs. development expenses is 61% to 39%, 66% to 34% and 69% to 31% respectively. This shows the declining trend of developmental budget. The year 2008-09 saw a drop in the allocation for developmental activities out of district government resources from Rs. 1,538 m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 1,082 m in FY 2008-09. This huge reduction was somewhat compensated through increase in development expenditure through tied grants which rose from Rs. 512m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 965m in FY 2008-09. In FY 2008-09 the budget estimate for development activities other than CCB and tied gr ants stood at Rs. 558 m for ongoing activities and Rs. 742 m for new activities. The revised estimate for same expenditure came out to be Rs. 656m. Which means that not only new activities were not initiated nor ongoing expenditure targets were met. The major reasons identified during discussion is the change in political setup in the province resulting in delay tactics for funds transfer. The development budget for the district government consists of funds allocated towards Annual development program, Citizen Community board and Tied grants (provided by provincial government against specific development projects). In the FY 2009-10 the total budget for development stands at Rs. 2,749 m which is 38% of the total budget for this year. The total allocation towards ADP is Rs. 1,492 m which is 54% of the total development budget. This ADP has Rs. 966m as ongoing projects that have started in previous years. This is a large allocation and has taken up approximately 35% of the share from development budget. The new projects identified for the year are 19% of the total development budget. The ADP (ongoing and new) are mainly focused on following sectors Annual development program 2009-10 % Sectors Rs. in millions Education 214.342 14% Health 159.877 12% Dist. Govt. facilities 52.166 3% Solid waste management 26.188 2% Sports 47.14 3% General bus stand 64.259 4% Livestock and Fisheries 24.027 2% Firms to market roads 223.931 15% Roads, Building and Roundabouts 348.837 23% Others 332.034 22% Total 1492.801 The above table reflects district governments priorities for sector development. The social services such as health and education take up 26% of the share whereas the roads network takes up 38% of the allocation. Overview of Public Finance (All 6 TMAs) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Non-development 251 247 326 Development 470 449 584 Total 721 697 910 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Provincial grant 246 303 290 Own Source revenue 293 339 414 Total 540 642 704 There are 6 TMAs in the district and all of them have a reasonable amount of OSR to help them fund their activities. However there is still potential to increase their revenue specially taxes that form a major component of their OSR. Receipts of TMA consist of provincial transfer and OSR. In TMAs OSR contributes significantly. The ratio of contribution of OSR has in fact increased in FY 2008-09. This is a positive sign as far the TMAs ability to make decisions is involved. However there is still room for increase in revenue. The major source being taxes should be tapped into for more efficiency. It is worth noting, looking at the combined figures for all 6 TMAs, that the OSR in all the 3 FY under discussion has been sufficient to fund the non development activities even leaving a surplus to be spent on development activities. The development vs. non development expenses are more or less consistent at a ratio of 64:36 over the last 3 years. The above table shows the break up of development expenditure for the TMA. The allocation towards development expenditure is 64% of the total outlay. It has remained at this level over last 3 years. The allocation in FY 2008-09, which comprises of the annual development projects, CCB contribution and payment against liabilities amounts to Rs. 255m, Rs. 262m and Rs. 66 m, respectively. Payments against these liabilities were frozen by the government of Punjab and have asked the TMAs to present these liabilities as new projects under the ADP. Optimistic planning and change in political setup at the provincial level resulted in huge payment liabilities being carried forward to the next year. PFC award – This is another source of income for the DG and TMAs. The criteria for distributing the PFC grant is specified by the Punjab Government and takes into consideration the population and socio economic indicator of the district (GOP, 2009-10) The district government and the TMAs have received funds at around 5% level from the provincial allocation over last 4 years. If we take a simple benchmark of population to compare the level of funding, Multan district has 4.26% population of Punjab (GOP, Punjab Development Statistics, 2009). This reflects that district Multan has been receiving fair share of the pie. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Resources transfer by Province to DG 90,794 96,952 99,413 108,822 TMA 13,541 14,431 15,320 15,209 Total 104,335 111,383 114,733 124,031 Allocation to DG and TMAs of Multan 4,512.56 4,885.02 6,480.43 6,108.37 % share 4.325% 4.386% 5.648% 4.925% Population Punjab 87,548 89,036 90,550 92,089 Multan 3,727 3,792 3,858 3,925 % population 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% Recommendations Business process and legal reforms In this section we will focus our discussion on business process and relevant legal reforms to help identify areas of improvement. Section 116 of PLGO 2001 empowers the council to impose, increase, reduce, abolish, suspend and/or exempt any tax mentioned in the second schedule there in. However the section also mentioned that any amendment to taxes is vetted by the provincial government. This process hampers the local governments autonomy to set their own tax rates as the provincial government plays a controlling role. If full autonomy to fix rates etc. is not to be devolved, then the issue can be resolved by providing band widths within which the DGs and the TMAs would be free to act. To address the issue of stale process it is recommend that automation of business process, a comprehensive revenues base assessment and capacity building of staff should take place. The automation of business processes would result in better accounting, efficiency in tax collection mechanism hence increasing revenue, provide up to date databases, availability of information to be used by various department and timely reporting. It has been assessed that without increasing the rates of present taxes the yield can improve dramatically by maintaining records/registers properly, regular survey and incorporation of changes in tax records, improved monitoring and inclusion of systems of rewards and punishments for tax collecting machinery. Capacity and training of staff are critical to success of any initiative for enhancement of own source revenues. Local government officials dealing with these issues (in many cases) do not have up to date information about government laws and rules. Training with respect to financial management and procurement plus IT is also critical for bringing positive change. Low yielding taxes/fees are an administrative hassle for the collecting authority and they should be done away with or their rates be revised upwards to increase revenue. Dissemination of information about process, assessments, valuation table, and fees would help curtail corruption. One of the major reason people fall in the trap of providing kick backs is lack of information. This information could be made available through IEC material, notices in newspapers, display through posters in relevant offices and media awareness campaign. The business process of all OSR items such as taxes, rents and fees and user charge in the DGs and TMAs have mostly been defined a long time ago and the current LG setup has inherited them. There has not been any significant investment in review and reform of business processes of the taxes. Our research has shown that many improvements in the system can result from identification and removal of various loopholes and weaknesses in the processes. We recommend a comprehensive effort to be made to overhaul these processes which would result in collection efficiencies and significant improvement in tax payer facilitation. A quality control mechanism should be introduced to check functioning of various departments in the district. Conclusion This study briefly discusses the financial position of District Multan. It also carries out the financial analysis of the current situation and identifies issues faced by the local government. The major issues highlighted are capacity of the local government and the will to address issues. Multan being the 5th largest city of Pakistan has the potential to grow economically. It is well geographically well positioned since it lies in the middle of the trade route connecting south with north. A major initiative to revamp the systems would result in positive outcome for the people of the district. This paper also recommends few areas of improvement. A much larger effort needs to go into this. Recommendations such as legal reforms, revamping business process, trainings and automation needs to be implemented together to bring quick change. However this whole effort needs to be financed. The financing could take place with one or all of the following options; Lists of 11 properties were identified on a pilot basis. These properties/facilities are all in prime locations inside the city and are owned by the DG. We propose to sell of these properties and either abolished these facilities or relocate them to a more economical location. Through this proposal we would be able to raise Rs. 4,682 m. This in only the tip of iceberg, a more comprehensive study would reveal a lot more properties. Another area of resource generation is the property given on rent. The DG and TMA have many shops, stores and buildings that have been rented out. One of the ways forward could be to revise the rents and bring them at market level. Another option is to sell out these properties on market value and receive a good cash inflow that could be used for major initiatives. There are many government educational institutions with city limits many of them being on prime locations. A designated education city should be developed and all these institution should be shifted. A cost benefit analysis should be carried out to assess the potential of this option. Municipal bond is a  bond  issued by a city or other local government, or their agencies. Municipal bonds may be general obligations of the issuer or secured by specified revenues. Interest income is received by holders of municipal bonds. Municipal securities consist of both short-term issues (often called notes, which typically mature in one year or less) and long-term issues (commonly known as bonds, which mature in more than one year). Short-term notes are used by an issuer to raise money for a variety of reasons: in anticipation of future revenues such as taxes, state or Analysis of Economics and Finances of Multan District Analysis of Economics and Finances of Multan District Abstract Public finance deals with the financial management of public entities. This paper provides an overview of the financial affairs of local government of district Multan and identifies issues faced by the systems to deliver efficiently and effectively. It also highlights areas or improvement and opportunities to fund these activities. The district government heavily relies on the provincial grants and has very limited self generated revenue. Although it is responsible to manage various institutions of social services and carry out developmental activities in the district, its reliance on provincial grants make its effort less effective. TMA on the other hand have significant revenue generation and use this to their advantage and work with autonomy. However they still rely on provincial grants for any developmental activities. The stale business process and hurdles in the legal framework also contribute significantly towards the in efficiency of the systems. There are solutions that can help turn around the situation but it needs a sincere effort on part the provincial and local government. Automation and legal reforms could cover a lot of issues. They would not only increase efficiency but would help curtail corruption at various levels. However strong political could change the scene altogether. A comprehensive process was adopted in collecting secondary data through official documents, template and meetings with officials. District Multan was chosen due to its importance specially in the current political setup and based on convenience. Introduction Despite some modest achievements, the economic and social progress in Pakistan has been far from satisfactory during the last more than five decades of independence. Average annual growth rate of 6.8, 4.8, 6.5 and 4.6% (Government of Pakistan, 2003) respectively in the decades of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is not comparable with the rapid economic progress made by South Korea, Malaysia, China and many other countries which were initially at nearly the same level of economic development (or even below) as that of Pakistan. The performance on social indicators has been gloomier. Despite average figures for economic growth, many countries like Vietnam and Cuba have been able to eradicate illiteracy and have achieved health statistics comparable with developed countries (Zaidi, 2000). Pakistan still ranks at the tail end of social development ranking. Pakistan is also a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, a landmark event showing commitment of political, corporate and civil society leadership to eliminate extreme hunger and poverty and to improve education, health, gender and environment situation through global partnerships for development. A study of the progress achieved on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that the performance of Pakistan has not been noteworthy in the decade of 90s. There has been a gradual convergence of opinion amongst all stakeholders – government, civil society as well as international development partners – that the failure in social sectors is a direct outcome of the crisis of governance and macro economic imbalances. Further, there is a broad consensus that governance cannot be improved without a meaningful devolution of authority to functional tiers and without ensuring peoples participation in decision making processes at all levels. This stakeholder consensus provided the necessary impetus for the present government to introduce its devolution reforms conceived in 2000 and launched simultaneously in all provinces of Pakistan through introduction of Local Government Ordinances in 2001. Until the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances, the elected local government tiers had a precarious existence depending upon the will of the provincial governments. Many times these would be dissolved and un-elected administrators appointed. Working under the ambit of Local government Ordinances of 1979, there were urban and rural local councils. While urban local councils consisted of Metropolitan/Municipal Corporations and Municipal/Town committees, the rural councils were called District Councils and Union Councils. Traditionally the local councils in Pakistan have performed municipal functions like water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, fire fighting, maintenance of slaughter houses, promotion of cattle markets, fairs and exhibitions and street lighting. They also had varying roles in primary and preventive health care, maternal and child health, promotion of literacy and rural infrastructure development. Devolution reforms in Pakistan, introduced by the promulgation of Local Government Ordinances of 2001 have provided a 3-tier local government system consisting of District Government (DG), Tehsil/Town Municipal Administration (TMA) and Union Administrations (UA). Working under the direction and control of elected councils and Nazims, the present local government system attempts to create institutions and mechanisms for public participation in design, management, monitoring and control of social service delivery. Many of the functions previously performed by the local offices of provincial government departments now clearly fall within the domain of DGs. These reforms are aimed to increase local governments responsibility for efficient and effective social and municipal services delivery. Municipal functions with a wider scope are being carried out by Town Municipal Administrations and City District Governments (established initially in provincial headquarters but subsequently in sele cted big cities as well). Access to adequate resources for the local governments is now considered essential. Additional fiscal space is required for enhanced allocations for the social sector as well as infrastructure development. These resources are also required to meet the social deficits that have accumulated over the past due to inadequate funding coupled with low utilisation in social sectors. Devolution reforms, as originally conceived and articulated, envisaged large scale fiscal decentralisation to follow the administrative and political decentralisation. While a fiscal relationship has been forged between the province and the districts, an extensive reorganisation of resources has not taken place and the vertical financial imbalance stays in place with the major financial collections being made at the federal (and to a lesser extent at the provincial) level. On the other hand, the service provision has fallen at the DG level where the tax base and collection potential is the lowest. Courtesy: Decentralization Support Program, Role Book: 4-day workshop for elected local leadershipResultantly, the biggest challenge facing the local councils in Pakistan (which are more empowered today and have a wider scope of functions than ever) is to ensure consistent, reliable and fool proof mechanisms of transfers from provincial governments and to expand ‘own source revenues in order to provide efficient and effective service delivery as envisaged in devolution reforms. Public Finance  is that part of finance which hovers around the central question of allocation of resources subjected to the budget constraint of the government or public entities. It is that branch of economics which identifies and appraises the means and effects of the policies of the government. Public sector finance tries to examine the effects and consequences of different types of taxation and expenditures on the economic agents (individuals, institutions, organizations, etc.) of the society and ultimately on the entire economy. Public finance also analyzes the effectiveness of the policies aimed at certain objectives and consequently to the development of procedures and techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the policy. Literature Review Much of the functional autonomy of the local governments depends upon their ability to raise the required resources from their own sources and to get the balance from the provincial/federal government through consistent and assured mechanisms. This requires not only devising institutional mechanisms for formula and criteria based fiscal transfers but also exploring revenue potentials of local own source revenues. These own source revenues can be in the form of taxes and fees for services provided. It is quite surprising that despite the significance of this, very few local studies have been carried out to examine the resource potential of the local bodies in Pakistan. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) of Pakistan, formulated after considerable debate and input from all major stakeholders, admits that the local governments depend primarily upon fiscal transfers from provincial governments and recognises the need for local revenue mobilisation as an important activity for the sustainability of local government system. Factors steeped in political economy and elite structures have influenced local revenue generation decisions. Howe and Reeb (1997) conducting a survey of the local tax system in USA since the colonial times have determined that economic and political considerations have influenced the tax systems. Bird (2000) gives the desirable characteristics of a local tax. First, the tax base should be relatively immobile so that local governments can vary the rates without losing a significant portion of the base. Second, the tax yield should be adequate to meet the local needs, increase overtime as expenditure increases, and be relatively stable and predictable. Third, the tax should be one that is not easy to export to non residents. Fourth, the tax base should be visible to ensure accountability. Fifth, the tax payers should perceive the tax to be reasonably fair. Sixth, the tax should be reasonably easy to administer. According to Bird (1999), ‘international experience tells that the most responsible and accountable local governments are those that raise their own revenues and set their own tax rates. Meaningful local autonomy and accountability can only take place if the local governments are able to set their own tax rates. In Pakistan, on the other hand, provincial government has the power to vet the tax proposal and no tax can be levied by a local council without publication in official gazette. Kitchen and Slack (2003) after a comprehensive analysis of local taxes in developed world, including Canada, are of the view that in order to meet the growing needs of municipalities, it is mandatory that new resources in addition to the traditional property tax and user fees must be explored. There is little autonomy in preparing district development and non development budgets because of inability to convey the quantum of provincial transfers and vertical programmes. There is more ‘budgetary certainty in TMAs because of increased reliance on OZT replacement tax and own source revenues. Formula based transfers to districts through Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards have several weaknesses. District governments have weak tax base in terms of buoyancy and potency of taxes assigned. Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) assigned to TMAs is a buoyant tax but there are administrative confusions. According to Shah et al. (1996) and World Bank (2000) the existing provincial taxes and user charges are inefficient and inequitable and are incapable of meeting significant share of provincial expenditures. Frequently changing and low yield tax instruments with poor tax records create incentives for tax evasion. Considering that agriculture contributes approximately 25% of the GDP in Pakistan, it is estimated that a properly enforced Agricultural Income Tax (AIT) could generate over Rs. 500 million in NWFP only. Presently due to collusion between revenue officials and landowners, lack of understanding, improper assessment and poor collection by the tax collectors, very little of the potential is realised. Bahl (2004) states that in the contemporary world nearly 80 countries are implementing fiscal decentralisation policies. Local government should have the power to define revenue bases, set tax rates and raise taxes. A good tax system should be administratively feasible, revenue burden should correspond to the general condition of local economy, revenue yield should be stable and it should be adequate both for payer and local government. A research study carried out by Provincial Program Support Office, DSP, Punjab ‘Tax and Non Tax Receipt Database Development – TMA Khanewal in 2005 indicates that there is substantial potential of increase in revenues without enhancing the rates. It has been observed that service delivery potential of the TMA is weak because of its inability to meet all the expenditures. The record of TMA is old; there is no practice of periodic update; and monitoring system is weak. The study also noted that revenue generation can improve dramatically by improving record keeping through maintenance of disaggregated information of taxes and tax payers in all details by the use of information technology. The study recommended computerisation of tax records, capacity building of tax/revenue staff, and increase in transparency of tax records, wider dissemination of information about tax policies, rates and procedures through establishment of people friendly frameworks. Research Methodology The paper examines the current financial situation of district Multan and identifies areas of potential improvement. It also recommends areas that need restructuring and legal reforms to bring about the change that would not only improve systems but would make it robust and ready for future economic growth of the district, keeping in mind the potential the district. Mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative tools was employed for data collection and analysis. Broadly speaking, it had the following three components. Component 1: The first component involved conducting a comprehensive literature review to see the national, regional and international trends in local resource mobilisation and issues faced by the system. The range of sources accessed and reports/publications examined is broad and includes similar studies conducted for other districts in Pakistan (e.g. Khanewal) and elsewhere. Unfortunately, to the extent of Pakistan, the Khanewal study is so far the only study available as a reference for examination of local resource enhancement in the local government. Greater reliance, therefore, had to be placed on studies conducted in other countries. Nevertheless, the literature review helped in identifying the issues involved in local taxation (levy, assessment and collection) and an examination thereof in a comparative perspective. The success of local governments to raise resources locally is largely contingent on framing appropriate laws and rules in consonance with the ground realities. Therefore, an important part of the literature review exercise was to identify relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications and circulars that in some distinct manner impinge upon the resource mobilisation at district/tehsil level. Component 2: Along with the literature review an exercise was also undertaken to collect data for the District Government (DG) Multan and each of the six Tehsil Municipal Administrations included in the two districts. A comprehensive template was developed to standardise data collected from various councils. It lists all major and minor sources of revenue for a local council; the legal framework (law/rule/regulation) authorising its levy; business process for assessment and collection; the amount budgeted against each tax/levy/fee/cess etc for each of the last four fiscal years 2007-10; budgetary revisions (if any) and collections actually realised. The budget documents for the last four years were used as the starting point and the amount budgeted for each source was picked from the budget documents. Component 3 A detailed analysis of receipts, expenditure, development initiatives, review of business process and relevant legal provision and their issues was carried out. Component 4: Then a series of individual interviews were held. This included meeting the Tehsil Municipal Officers, Executive District Officers (Revenue, Finance and Planning, Municipal Services), various District Officers, Excise and taxation officials, Multan Development Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency officials The suggestions and recommendations on the perspectives emanating from these interviews. Data Analysis and interpretation Overview of Public Finance (district government budget) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Actual Actual RE Non-development 2,762.80 3,912.51 4,066.98 Development 1,462.49 1,539.14 882.19 Development – tied grant 300.12 512.19 965.16 Total 4,525.41 5,963.84 5,914.34 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Opening balance 386.16 995.15 1,086.13 Provincial grants 3,780.30 3,853.29 5,172.88 Own Source revenue 201.07 149.37 140.13 Tied grants (development and non-development) 475.84 801.40 1,017.88 Total 4,853.37 5,726.64 7,417.02 Revenue of the district is of two types i.e. Own source revenue and provincial transfers. In district Multan there is a heavy reliance on funding from provincial government since district OSR is almost negligible. Efforts are needed to change the scenario and move the district towards sustainability A sharp rise of 37% in provincial grants could be noticed in the FY 2008-09 over FY 2007-08 endorsing districts dependence on these transfers. The provincial grants are transferred as per the PFC criteria which will be discussed in depth later in the chapter. Tied grants being the second highest source has been transferred for development and non development expenses of the district government. For the FY 2008-09 the tied grants are Rs. 1,018m which constitute 13.7% of the total sources. These grants are for specific expenditure and are not in districts control. The own source revenue (OSR) of the district govt. forms a very insignificant amount (2%, 2008-09), rendering the district to re ly heavily on provincial transfers. The OSR of the district has been on a decreasing trend compared to overall resource requirement. This is a major cause of concern as this not only increases dependence on provincial transfer but it also affects the autonomy of the district to make decisions. A sincere effort to revamp the taxes and their collection mechanism is required with the focus on generating more resource. In budget for FY 2009-10 there is an increase in OSR of 40% which includes estimation of arrears that are more than 3 years old. These balances are very old and have been appearing in budget estimates for over more than 3 years. However the increase is still insignificant compare to the requirement of the district. A detailed analysis of item by item sources of income was done. Issues relating to a few significant items will be highlighted in the section of recommendations. Expenditures are categorized in to two broad categories i.e. Development and Non development. The ratio of development vs. non development expenditure has changed over the years with a downward trend in development expenditure. This trend should be a cause of concern as the development projects loose priority to make way for funding ongoing activities In 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 the ratio of non developmental expenses vs. development expenses is 61% to 39%, 66% to 34% and 69% to 31% respectively. This shows the declining trend of developmental budget. The year 2008-09 saw a drop in the allocation for developmental activities out of district government resources from Rs. 1,538 m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 1,082 m in FY 2008-09. This huge reduction was somewhat compensated through increase in development expenditure through tied grants which rose from Rs. 512m in FY 2007-08 to Rs. 965m in FY 2008-09. In FY 2008-09 the budget estimate for development activities other than CCB and tied gr ants stood at Rs. 558 m for ongoing activities and Rs. 742 m for new activities. The revised estimate for same expenditure came out to be Rs. 656m. Which means that not only new activities were not initiated nor ongoing expenditure targets were met. The major reasons identified during discussion is the change in political setup in the province resulting in delay tactics for funds transfer. The development budget for the district government consists of funds allocated towards Annual development program, Citizen Community board and Tied grants (provided by provincial government against specific development projects). In the FY 2009-10 the total budget for development stands at Rs. 2,749 m which is 38% of the total budget for this year. The total allocation towards ADP is Rs. 1,492 m which is 54% of the total development budget. This ADP has Rs. 966m as ongoing projects that have started in previous years. This is a large allocation and has taken up approximately 35% of the share from development budget. The new projects identified for the year are 19% of the total development budget. The ADP (ongoing and new) are mainly focused on following sectors Annual development program 2009-10 % Sectors Rs. in millions Education 214.342 14% Health 159.877 12% Dist. Govt. facilities 52.166 3% Solid waste management 26.188 2% Sports 47.14 3% General bus stand 64.259 4% Livestock and Fisheries 24.027 2% Firms to market roads 223.931 15% Roads, Building and Roundabouts 348.837 23% Others 332.034 22% Total 1492.801 The above table reflects district governments priorities for sector development. The social services such as health and education take up 26% of the share whereas the roads network takes up 38% of the allocation. Overview of Public Finance (All 6 TMAs) Rs. in millions Description 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Expenditure Non-development 251 247 326 Development 470 449 584 Total 721 697 910 Source of revenue 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Provincial grant 246 303 290 Own Source revenue 293 339 414 Total 540 642 704 There are 6 TMAs in the district and all of them have a reasonable amount of OSR to help them fund their activities. However there is still potential to increase their revenue specially taxes that form a major component of their OSR. Receipts of TMA consist of provincial transfer and OSR. In TMAs OSR contributes significantly. The ratio of contribution of OSR has in fact increased in FY 2008-09. This is a positive sign as far the TMAs ability to make decisions is involved. However there is still room for increase in revenue. The major source being taxes should be tapped into for more efficiency. It is worth noting, looking at the combined figures for all 6 TMAs, that the OSR in all the 3 FY under discussion has been sufficient to fund the non development activities even leaving a surplus to be spent on development activities. The development vs. non development expenses are more or less consistent at a ratio of 64:36 over the last 3 years. The above table shows the break up of development expenditure for the TMA. The allocation towards development expenditure is 64% of the total outlay. It has remained at this level over last 3 years. The allocation in FY 2008-09, which comprises of the annual development projects, CCB contribution and payment against liabilities amounts to Rs. 255m, Rs. 262m and Rs. 66 m, respectively. Payments against these liabilities were frozen by the government of Punjab and have asked the TMAs to present these liabilities as new projects under the ADP. Optimistic planning and change in political setup at the provincial level resulted in huge payment liabilities being carried forward to the next year. PFC award – This is another source of income for the DG and TMAs. The criteria for distributing the PFC grant is specified by the Punjab Government and takes into consideration the population and socio economic indicator of the district (GOP, 2009-10) The district government and the TMAs have received funds at around 5% level from the provincial allocation over last 4 years. If we take a simple benchmark of population to compare the level of funding, Multan district has 4.26% population of Punjab (GOP, Punjab Development Statistics, 2009). This reflects that district Multan has been receiving fair share of the pie. 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Resources transfer by Province to DG 90,794 96,952 99,413 108,822 TMA 13,541 14,431 15,320 15,209 Total 104,335 111,383 114,733 124,031 Allocation to DG and TMAs of Multan 4,512.56 4,885.02 6,480.43 6,108.37 % share 4.325% 4.386% 5.648% 4.925% Population Punjab 87,548 89,036 90,550 92,089 Multan 3,727 3,792 3,858 3,925 % population 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% 4.26% Recommendations Business process and legal reforms In this section we will focus our discussion on business process and relevant legal reforms to help identify areas of improvement. Section 116 of PLGO 2001 empowers the council to impose, increase, reduce, abolish, suspend and/or exempt any tax mentioned in the second schedule there in. However the section also mentioned that any amendment to taxes is vetted by the provincial government. This process hampers the local governments autonomy to set their own tax rates as the provincial government plays a controlling role. If full autonomy to fix rates etc. is not to be devolved, then the issue can be resolved by providing band widths within which the DGs and the TMAs would be free to act. To address the issue of stale process it is recommend that automation of business process, a comprehensive revenues base assessment and capacity building of staff should take place. The automation of business processes would result in better accounting, efficiency in tax collection mechanism hence increasing revenue, provide up to date databases, availability of information to be used by various department and timely reporting. It has been assessed that without increasing the rates of present taxes the yield can improve dramatically by maintaining records/registers properly, regular survey and incorporation of changes in tax records, improved monitoring and inclusion of systems of rewards and punishments for tax collecting machinery. Capacity and training of staff are critical to success of any initiative for enhancement of own source revenues. Local government officials dealing with these issues (in many cases) do not have up to date information about government laws and rules. Training with respect to financial management and procurement plus IT is also critical for bringing positive change. Low yielding taxes/fees are an administrative hassle for the collecting authority and they should be done away with or their rates be revised upwards to increase revenue. Dissemination of information about process, assessments, valuation table, and fees would help curtail corruption. One of the major reason people fall in the trap of providing kick backs is lack of information. This information could be made available through IEC material, notices in newspapers, display through posters in relevant offices and media awareness campaign. The business process of all OSR items such as taxes, rents and fees and user charge in the DGs and TMAs have mostly been defined a long time ago and the current LG setup has inherited them. There has not been any significant investment in review and reform of business processes of the taxes. Our research has shown that many improvements in the system can result from identification and removal of various loopholes and weaknesses in the processes. We recommend a comprehensive effort to be made to overhaul these processes which would result in collection efficiencies and significant improvement in tax payer facilitation. A quality control mechanism should be introduced to check functioning of various departments in the district. Conclusion This study briefly discusses the financial position of District Multan. It also carries out the financial analysis of the current situation and identifies issues faced by the local government. The major issues highlighted are capacity of the local government and the will to address issues. Multan being the 5th largest city of Pakistan has the potential to grow economically. It is well geographically well positioned since it lies in the middle of the trade route connecting south with north. A major initiative to revamp the systems would result in positive outcome for the people of the district. This paper also recommends few areas of improvement. A much larger effort needs to go into this. Recommendations such as legal reforms, revamping business process, trainings and automation needs to be implemented together to bring quick change. However this whole effort needs to be financed. The financing could take place with one or all of the following options; Lists of 11 properties were identified on a pilot basis. These properties/facilities are all in prime locations inside the city and are owned by the DG. We propose to sell of these properties and either abolished these facilities or relocate them to a more economical location. Through this proposal we would be able to raise Rs. 4,682 m. This in only the tip of iceberg, a more comprehensive study would reveal a lot more properties. Another area of resource generation is the property given on rent. The DG and TMA have many shops, stores and buildings that have been rented out. One of the ways forward could be to revise the rents and bring them at market level. Another option is to sell out these properties on market value and receive a good cash inflow that could be used for major initiatives. There are many government educational institutions with city limits many of them being on prime locations. A designated education city should be developed and all these institution should be shifted. A cost benefit analysis should be carried out to assess the potential of this option. Municipal bond is a  bond  issued by a city or other local government, or their agencies. Municipal bonds may be general obligations of the issuer or secured by specified revenues. Interest income is received by holders of municipal bonds. Municipal securities consist of both short-term issues (often called notes, which typically mature in one year or less) and long-term issues (commonly known as bonds, which mature in more than one year). Short-term notes are used by an issuer to raise money for a variety of reasons: in anticipation of future revenues such as taxes, state or