Saturday, August 31, 2019

Further Study

Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gain as graduate education can improve my ability to do best work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career. While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personally, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways.A graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market. When i do degree, i offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, i also have a chance to gain hands-on e xperience in area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study.This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path. Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career.While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways. a graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market.When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study. This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path.Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for conside ring graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career. While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways.A graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market. When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorit ies in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study.This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path. Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career.While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways. a graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market.When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study. This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path.Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can i mprove my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career. While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways.A graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market. When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study.This help s to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path. Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career.While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways. a graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundat ion in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market.When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study. This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path.Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for adv ancement in career. While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways.A graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market. When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study.This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatic ally helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path. Advancing or furthering your ability to excel in your job or career is a smart reason for considering graduate education. The new skills and knowledge it gains as graduate education can improve my ability to do good work and better position to me for more opportunities for advancement in career.While a graduate degree does not automatically lead to a promotion in title, salary, or responsibility, it can be very personal, if not also professionally, rewarding. Hopefully my investment in yourself and in your graduate education will eventually pay off in both intangible and tangible ways. a graduate education can teach me more advanced skills and in-depth knowledge of an area outside my specialty, or provide a solid foundation in a completely new area, thus broadening the opportunities available to me in the job market.When I do a degree, I offered the rare opportunity to see work which spearheads the frontiers of my field of study. Not only that, I also have a chance to gain hands-awn experience in the area of work and will be mingling with people who are usually either authorities in their respective fields and who are as passionate about my field of study. This helps to build a genuine community of learning. As you step into graduate school, it automatically helps me to narrow down my career goals by making them clearer to become more committed to my work. In general, graduate studies will help me to accelerate in career path.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Case Analysis of Airline Industry in India Essay

INTRODUCTION Aviation Industry plays an important role in the economic growth of anation. It not only promotes international trade but also provides an effective and fastest means of transportation across the globe. Today, in the world of globalization and cut throat competition the value of time has become more precious. The history of Indian Aviation industry lies back in the year 1912.The first domestic flight was taken between Delhi and Karachi by the Indian State Air Services. Tata Airlines started with an air mail service in the year 1912.It was renamed as Air India in 1946. There were few players at the time of independence including Tata Airlines, Indian National Airways, Deccan Airways .In 1953 ,the government nationalized the airlines via the Air Corporations Act 1953. Two separate entities came into existence Indian Airlines which was the merger of the already existing domestic Airlines and Air India International. In the year 1986, private players were granted permission to work as air taxi operators which included Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Damania Airways, East West Airlines, Modiluft and NEPC Airways. In 1995, government granted scheduled career status to six private air taxi operators. But all the players could not survive and by 2003 Jet Airways and Air Sahara continued. Air Deccan entered the market in 2003.Air Deccan gave India its first Low Cost Carrier (LCC).Later on, other players also entered the market including Kingfisher, Paramount, GoAir, and Indigo. The year 2007 was the year of merger and acquisitions –the Jet-Sahara deal, the Kingfisher-Deccan deal, Indian-Air India. Full service airlines were forced to drop fares as well though their minimum fares tended to be still higher than those offered by the â€Å"low-cost† carriers. These low fares attracted leisure travelers to fly by air. The overall growth rate of the market was about three times faster than the growth in business travelers. The proportion of business travelers on full-service carriers such as Jet Airways came down to about two-thirds. OBJECTIVE The present study aims to identify the most important factors responsible for the performance of both public as well as in private low cost airlines, to compare and contrast on the basis of collected data and to suggest some adequate measures of improvement. The three major airlines making waves, for different reasons, in the Indian airlines industry are Air India, Kingfisher and Indigo. So in this paper we try to compare and analyse the reasons behind their successes and failures. We will be comparing the above mentioned airlines on the basis of their business models, scope for expansion, management practices and current operations. We try to compare and analyse the reasons behind their successes and failures. INDIGO Indigo is the exception to the rule in the Indian Airline industry as of today,being the only profitable Airline in the financial year ending March 2012. Despite having entered the market in 2006,Indigo has rapidly climbed up the ladder to become the second largest domestic carrier. Its market share increased from 5% in the first quarter of 2007 to 10.3% in first quarter of 2008 to 15.4% in December 2008 to a whopping 27.6% in September 2012. This growth rate of Indigo is expected to continue as the Airline increases its capacity on the domestic as well as international front.In addition,it also has massive fleet orders in the pipeline to sutain future growth. IndiGo currently has 51 A320s in its fleet, with more than four times that number of aircraft on firm order with Airbus. All the planes have exactly the same configurations, having the same engines, same number of seats in one class configuration. Load factors have also been strong throughout with an average load factor of 86.3% in June 2012 when the Industry’s average was 75%. Following are some of the strategies the airline has adopted which enable it to scale to the top in a span of 6 years: 1. Low cost,single class model- It has its low cost, single class model. Indigo retained its policy of offering one class of no frills service on a single type of plane. They have set a record for using the lightest passenger seats in India which weigh only 12.8 Kgs. They have started using paint which overall weighs 50 Kgs less. Such weight savings are negligible on their own but collectively ,they have helped Indigo to cut on costs and function as a â€Å"low cost airline†. 2. Maintaining a young fleet:Indigo uses the strategy of selling and leasing its planes,thus helping the airline to constantly replace its fleet,hence preventing the need for major checks and repairs. 3. Excellent Quality of Service: Some of the reasons for the outstanding quality are as follows: a. The management and staff are hired only after the CEO meets with each of them individually. b. The airline also employs far lesser number of people as compared to other airlines. c. The airline has trained its crews to de-plane the passengers in 6 minutes and unload the baggage in 10 minutes. It regularly acheives Turn around times of around 22-25 minutes(Industry Average being much more than 30 minutes). The lesser the time taken at the airports, the more the airplane can fly and earn more 4. Reliable and On-Time Service: Indigo’s Management has tried to attract customers with more than just low fares. An important factor is its on-time performance of 94 per cent – much higher than its other rivals. For instance, to ensure that its flights depart and arrive on time in spite of the dense fog that envelops Delhi and other northern cities without fail every winter, IndiGo has one of the highest percentages of pilots who are trained to fly under such conditions. IndiGo has set up a centralized operations control center which monitors the weather, anticipates delays and provides advance information to the ground staff in case an aircraft requires some repair or maintenance while it is airborne so that the engineers are ready to rectify the problem to save time. 5. War on Costs: d. On an average, an IndiGo aircraft flies for around 12 hours a day, compared to eight to 10 hours logged by most competitors. The extra hours allow it to undertake one extra flight daily, which translates into more seats and revenue. e. To reduce its cost of holding inventory of components, IndiGo has done a tie-up with Air France under which the French airline will stock components required by Indigo. In this way, the Inventory will not be in Indigo’s Books. 6. Additionally trained pilots: According to the latest figures released by the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, nearly 38 per cent of IndiGo’s pilots are CAT III compliant or are able to fly under low visibility. Even full service airline Jet has only 22 per cent of its pilots trained to fly under fog. Indigo has realized well in time that to sustain in this competitive industry, it needs to deliver on its promise and it seems to be doing so pretty well, especially in the domestic front. Kingfisher: Air DeccanLaunch: August 2003Low, variable fare, no frills. Only Economy Class. Mix of metro and cross-country destinations.Was acquired by Kingfisher and later renamed Kingfisher Red| Kingfisher AirlinesLaunch: May 2005Current Fleet: 94Variable fare, all frills. Single Kingfisher class. Premium in-flight service. Only metro destinations.| Collapse of Kingfisher Airlines â€Å"Kingfisher! King of good times† is seeing its worst time in recent months. All the ‘service with glamour’ provided by Vijay Mallya is not looking so glamorous at the closed ticket counters. Several flights have been cancelled and Government is swinging between the idea of shutting down or not shutting down the service. The losses incurred by the kingfisher are around 7000 crores. Revenue department is also blaming the airlines for tax evasion of another 2000 crores. His shares tumbled around 19 percent at BSE. There are numerous reasons for the present condition of the kingfisher airlines: Every big business needs an expert team of CEO and other officers look into the day to day activities. But here the scenario was different. Mallya kept this business under his direct control and this was one of his biggest blunders. This caused a major mismanagement and confusion among the employees. Administration of India’s second largest aircraft service was going down the lane. Mallya group continuously blamed Government for the dismal performance of airlines. To balance all this, they started cutting the salaries and perks of their staffs. They didn’t get their salaries on time due to which they refused to come back on job. Sometimes they also vented their anger and misbehaved with the passengers adding fuel to the fire. Another reason for its collapse is the takeover of Air Deccan in 550 crore acquisition. There were mixed reactions, some saying that it can be a disaster and some saying it to be a wonder. Kingfisher owned around 26 percent stake. Major advantage was that engineering and aircraft cost decreased due to almost same routes. But Kingfisher incurred losses of Air Deccan also. That’s when Vijay Mallya tried his luck and gave birth to a new low cost carrier ‘Kingfisher Red’. It was awarded death sentence in few years although low cost carriers were at its best. He provided goody bags and air hostesses provided a beautiful sight with their 24*7 ‘Pan Am† smiles. So customers started choosing Kingfisher Red over its mother brand because of same facilities with cheap prices. Kingfisher Airlines started incurring losses as it was typecasted as mainly the aircraft for the riches. Mallya started decreasing business class seats and routes to compensate the losses. Again when Mallya was already in turmoil, he tried another shot to ruin himself. He did not cared about his domestic flights and started the service on the international routes where competition was even higher with better facilities. This again provided him with losses. To compensate for these losses Mallya took loans from banks including SBI and many private banks with share from its UB group as collateral. It even collateralized its brand name ‘Kingfisher’. Now the group is asking for some time and easier interest rates that may help it to recover. But with rigid attitude of banks, it’s looking like a no win situation for Mallya group. Tax authorities have already frozen its bank account for the nonpayment of dues. Now only time will tell that what will be the future of this ‘once most stylish and attractive’ aircraft carrier. AIR INDIA Air India is considered to be India’s National Flag carrier. On October 15 1932, J.R.D Tata took from Karachi in a tiny light single- engine flight to Mumbai. It was known as Tata Airlines during those days. In the year 1946, it was renamed as Air India .In 2007, it was merged with Indian Airlines .The official name of the registered airline is National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) .However Air India was retained as the brand name for NACIL as it was well known at home and abroad. Air India Crisis 1. Merger and its Outcome Though operating in one of the fastest growing airline market in the world, both Air India and Indian Airlines were suffering losses before the merger in April, 2007. The former is plagued by the ills of bloated workforce and ageing fleet, the later a largely domestic operation that has been ceded market steadily to nimbler privately owned rivals for the past decade. Thus, in an attempt to revive them, the Government of India decided to merge the two entities and a new enterprise called National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) was formed. After the merger, in the first year of its operation was planned to focus on the workforce beginning with a management team of 400 people. The plan was eventually to split the carrier into five strategic units: Passenger, cargo, ground handling, MRO and low-cost airline. Five CEO would be heading the units and would report to one group chairman and MD. But as it turns out, the managers of the two carriers have little independence. They have to wait for Ministry of Aviation approval for taking not only major decision like buying new aircraft but also on routine business issues like new routes. According to Kapil Kaul, CEO of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation’s India, the government will ultimately privatize the carrier. But the ground picture was different. The management did not take any step to help in the process of privatization rather it was busy smoothing the ruffled feathers of the unions. Most of the wage agreements and seniority issues were cleared before the merger. But most of the issues were not resolved by the Air India management, which led to pilot strike and huge losses. 2. Disparity among pilots During the time of merger it was promised by the management that both Air India and Indian Airlines pilots would receive same amount of compensation. But in reality pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines were angry for not getting the same pay as their colleagues of Air-India for doing identical job and working in the same organization. 3. Unplanned Cargo Operation It was decided during the merger a separate division handling cargo would be formed. Thus Indian Airlines limited (IAL) signed an agreement with M/S Aeronautical Engineers Inc, Miami, US, in 2006, to convert five B737 aircraft into freighter aircraft for retail courier service at a cost Rs 41 cr. All five aircraft are now grounded. Even when they were leased out to private players in 2007 and 2009, it resulted in a loss of over Rs 29 cr. This startling revelation came after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) scrutinised the National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) accounts. This shows clearly the management has plans to lift Air India’s image and recover it losses. Due to improper execution it always resulted in huge losses. 4. Reasons for increasing losses and debts Around July 2011, the cumulative loss and debt burden of state-owned airlines stood around whopping Rs 67,270 crore. Its debt burden stood at Rs 46,950 crore – Rs 20,185 crore worth of aircraft loans, Rs 22,165 crore working capital loans and over-dues of Rs 4,600 crore. The national carrier has to repay a whopping Rs 20,415 crore worth of loans before the end of this fiscal year. High aviation oil prices, rise in wages and competition from other airlines are causing state-run Air India to incur Rs 600 crore monthly, as income is around Rs 1,100 crore and expenses at Rs 1,700 crore. Besides, the Government is paying interest on working capital and procurement of aircrafts. 5. The series of government infusion Against the backdrop of the state-owned airline’s massive cumulative loss and debt burden of about Rs 67,000 crore in July 2011, the Group of Ministers(GoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee granted approval for the Rs 1,200 crore equity infusion. The GoM has also granted approval for payment of Rs 532 crore for operating VVIP and rescue flights for the government and formation of strategic business units for ground handling. The Government on July 18th released Rs 265 crore to Air India to partially clear the interest burden to banks. Air India has borrowed loans from a consortium of 22 banks led by SBI. Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India are the three biggest lender of the airline. Central Bank and HDFC are the other key lenders. Air India has defaulted interest due on the working capital debt which is Rs 22,100 crore. 6. Routes Discrepancies The CAG report in May complains that Air India kept various routes operational despite suffering heavy losses: â€Å"Despite its critical financial position, the national carrier continued with routes which were rendering cash losses in domestic and international sectors.† The report refers to the India-US sector where Air India operated 10 international routes during 2005-09. By 2008-09, these routes were incurring losses. One route of Chennai to Bangkok with 95% passenger load capacity was cancelled and Thai Airways got the major pie of this shocking decision. Air India has not been able to inform the ministry and pilots why such a decision was taken. Another profitable route in the Middle East was reduced to just one flight a week. Conclusion Almost all the airlines in India are facing financial difficulties. There are couple of factors that account for this. One factor is the inability of the airlines to reduce costs, and the other is the â€Å"irrational† pricing that set in after the advent of LCCs.. They have chased market share, i.e., revenue maximization and forced the incumbents to match their low prices. They have been successful in taking the market share from the Full Service Carriers (FSCs). While revenue maximization may seem like a good short term strategy to enter the market, sooner or later, the LCCs have to be become profitable. These depressing financial conditions can lead only to two types of outcomes for the airlines—either some of them go bust in a market shake-out or they merge/get acquired by other airlines or business groups. 2007 became a landmark year in the industry because of the major consolidations that took place during the year. The airlines’ plans to expand capacity and replace ageing fleet aggressively should enable them to meet this growing demand more efficiently. But in the near term, they have to face significant challenges such as: 1. Realizing the benefits of the consolidations. 2. Realigning their competitive strategies to become profitable. 3. Pursuing aggressive cost reduction. 4. The availability of capital. 5. Constraints due to poor infrastructure for aviation in India. BIBLIOGRAPHY For the purpose of this paper, assistance has been taken from * EBSCO database for different research papers on LCC models and Information about Indian Airline Industry * Aceanalyser to get the Net Sales of different brands year wise * Euro monitor to get information about the background of the company competitive strategies * Different Airlines websites for the information * DGCA site for the growth about Indian Aviation Industry and the market shares of different players * Newspapers and Magazines to look into the advertising strategies of different brands * www.livemint.com * www.theindusview.com * http://www.centreforaviation.com * www.airfleets.net * http://www.indiainternalflights.com

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Commercial Fixture Essay

Suggested questions for the Commercial Fixtures Inc. case are given below. 1. What would you as an outside third party bid under the same conditions (with the same information) for the entire company (both halves)? Why? 2. What do you expect Albert Evans to bid for Gordon’s half interest? Why? 3. What should Gordon Whitlock bid for Albert’s half interest? Why? 4. How would you structure the purchase of the business? Question #1 is a business valuation question. There are a number of ways to estimate the value of a business. You have probably covered one or more of these ways in a previous class. The next two pages review a few of the various ways to go about it. For a discounted CF approach of valuing Commercial Fixtures Inc., I will use the following template: VALUATION APPROACHES – OVERVIEW/REVIEW 1. Comparable Trades Analysis — Using valuation ratios, or â€Å"multiples† of comparable firms Use one or more valuation ratios, which include (a) Price-Earnings (b) Market-Book (c) Price-CF (d) Price-Revenues (e) Enterprise Value to EBITDA, and (f) Other ratios. The prospective value (price) of the subject firm is quantified into—and compared with—one or more of the valuation ratios of its peers. The better the performance of the subject firm relative to comparable firms in the relevant performance measures (as measured by operating ratios), the higher the appropriate valuation ratio for the firm (and vice-versa). 2. Liquidation Value, aka Book Value approach Place liquidation values on the net working capital and fixed assets of the firm. Include tax write-off benefits, if any. This approach is rarely useful, and will typically serve as a minimum value (unless the firm is in severe distress). 3. (i.) Discounted Present Value of the Firm’s Free Cash Flows   Ã¢â‚¬â€ commonly referred to as DCF Valuation, or WACC valuation Value of the Firm = PV of future free cash flows + PV of terminal value a.Estimate the first 3 to 10 years’ free cash flows and calculate the PVs. (A five year horizon is common, but this can vary.) Typically you will use the WACC as your discount rate. Depending on the circumstances, the estimated cash flows may be available for fewer than five years, or more than five years. b.Estimate the PV of the terminal value. One estimate for the terminal value involves assuming perpetual cash flows after the initial time horizon, e.g.: i.If the cash flow after 5 years is expected to grow at a rate g for the foreseeable future: Terminal Value5 (TV5) = FCF6 /(k – g) = FCF5 (1+ g) / (k – g)., where k is the required rate of return. You must discount the TV to time 0, and then add this to the PV of the FCFs during the projection horizon. ii.If the cash flow at the end of 5 years is not expected to grow, i.e., g=0, then the general formula collapses to the PV of a no-growth perpetuity: Terminal Value5 = FCF6 / (k-g) = FCF5 (1+ g)/(k – g) = FCF5 / k c.Use the Value of the Firm equation above, i.e. sum PV of free cash flows + PV of terminal value . The Value of the firm’s Equity = Value of the Firm – Debt Currently Outstanding. 3. (ii.) Adjusted Present Value approach — we will only briefly discuss this approach; a topic for a future finance course. 4. Comments on Valuing the Firm using DCF (or WACC) and APV valuation approaches a.Watch the free cash flows (not reported earnings)! In particular, as in the capital budgeting decision process: –Depreciation charges are not cash outflows. –Investment in new property or equipment is a cash outflow. –Increases in net working capital are cash outflows. –Taxes are cash outflows b.Do not subtract interest expense from FCFs. We want to estimate a value for the whole business. The return to creditors is reflected in the discount rate used. c.Consider other factors, such as a control premium or a lack of marketability discount. These are mentioned in your textbook, and we will discuss these in class. d.Notice the sensitivity of your estimated firm value to changes in assumptions, particularly the perpetual terminal growth rate, and the discount rate. Typically a range of firm values is calculated from various ranges of these two rates (as suggested in the template on p. 1), particularly when uncertainty is high.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Hobbies, sports, film, current events etc Essay

Hobbies, sports, film, current events etc - Essay Example When this balance is disturbed in any way, there is bound to be trouble. Gunfire is not something that I like to hear even today. I have had the chance to think about my life in Somalia since I have been in America. There are so many things I like about my new home. There is a feeling of safety here that most Americans take for granted. When they see a person in a uniform, such as a police officer or a soldier, they can assume this person is not going to herm them, arrest them for no problem or make trouble for them unless they have broken laws. This is not the guarantee in Somalia. I also like the food in America. Fast is something that most people say is unhealthy, but I like to eat it sometimes. It is so different from the food at home. There are many things I like about America, but I will always feel like a Somali, even though I know my homeland is a dangerous place for many people. Essay #2 Sports Watching sports on television is something that I have learned to love since comi ng to the United States. Most people in America are crazy about sports. I have been lucky to have friends that invite me over to watch soccer on their televisions everywhere I go. My favorite sport in Somalia was soccer. We played it informally in the street. I'm a fan of professional soccer in America and like to watch any game that DC United plays. I have never lived in Washington DC but my friend did. He loved DC United so I became a fan. I like professional American soccer but actually prefer to watch the Premier League in Europe. I like to watch any game Arsenal plays. I am having a difficult time learning about the American sports of baseball and football. I like baseball much more because I lived near to where the Angels play in Pasadena, California. I like to watch baseball games, but only for a while. The game is sometimes slow. I do not like American football. I do not see what the individual players are doing and they are always stopping and starting the action. It is a s low game that many people seem to love. Catching the ball is difficult to do because it is oddly shaped. If I had to choose between watching baseball or football, I would choose baseball. Essay #3 History of Lewiston, Maine Lewiston, Maine is one of the towns where I have in America. There were lots of other Somali’s there. It is a place that gets very cold in the winter and is different that Somalia in nearly every way. I was wondering about the history of this place and why so many Somali’s were settling in such a cold place. I learned that Lewiston used to be a town that was very rich. There were factories that made cotton cloth and other textiles. These textiles were sold all over the United States and around the world. After America’s civil war, all of the factories were moved to the south so that people who had lost the war could have jobs. This meant that Lewiston got poorer and poorer. For a long time, it looked like Lewiston was going to be a town that could not stay alive. During the civil war in Somalia, many Somali’s like me came to America to live. I have lived in many places, such as Atlanta, Georgia and Pasadena, California. Some Somali’s heard about Lewiston, Maine and went there to live because it was nicer than other places that were taking Somali’s. Once word spread, lots of Somali’s went there to live. In Lewiston, there were some people that didn’t like all the Somali’s living in one spot. They didn’t like seeing different people. What has been good

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Human Development and Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Development and Learning - Essay Example According to Piaget's theory, cognitive development takes place in four separate stages and each stage progresses onto being more refined and conceptual levels of thought. Sensorimotor, the first stage (birth to 24 months) is characterized by knowledge being achieved mainly through sensory impressions and motor action. At the end of this stage, the child will have a little understanding outside what can be sensed. The subsequent stage is the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years) describes how child shifts from sensory testing to the progression of language and using of symbols. The basic characteristics of the stage are reading and a quick increase in vocabulary. The third stage is concrete operational (7 to 11 years) shows significant developments in perception and in the last phase known as the formal operational (11 to adulthood) explains the child's developing the skill to think about hypothetical conditions and reflect abstractly. Lev'Vygotsky, another renowned theorist, proposed the Sociocultural Theory of Development which suggested that children learn through socially interacting with their surrounding culture and communicate with others to learn the cultural values of the society through dialogue. Children progress in the direction of more individualized thought process during these social interactions. The co-constructed development incorporates individuals interacting through shared activities. Once the child is assisted in this process, he or she may be able to use enhanced strategies in the future if a familiar situation arises. This leads to internalization, which further results in the child's independent thought process. There are essential similarities between the natures of development of intelligence in children. This is particularly obvious in their views on the stage-related development process of cognitive abilities. Vygotsky is well known on his position on the importance of social factors in development. Piaget stressed the vital role of social factors in the building of knowledge. According to Piaget, social interaction is necessary in order to develop logic. Furthermore, both Vygotsky and Piaget agreed that it is the development of the individual which ultimately takes place. They also stated that internalization is not a process of copying material from the environment but is a transformative process. Piaget investigated the fundamental mechanisms in the individual constructing its thoughts, while Vygotsky dealt with socially developed mechanisms for constructing language meaning and learning. But both of them relate mental processes to the generative constructions of systems that maintain development, that is, in culture or in the individual interacting with its environment. In Vygotsky's opinion language is makes human species humanized and makes human thought a part of culture. On the other hand, language for Paiget is one of the five behavior patterns that manifest representational intelligence in children. Paiget's theory of intelligence is based on biological factors, but it also implies social dimensions as well. The

European Union Law and European Court of Justice Research Paper

European Union Law and European Court of Justice - Research Paper Example As the European Union believes in the principle that there must be harmony and equality of power between both individual entity as well as institutions must exist that why the legal jurisprudence has been changed in such manner. However, there are several such incidents and occasions where, though it is considered that an institution will act neutrally and for the benefit of common citizens, institutions act in a biased manner. Due to this reason, it has become important to introduce judicial protection for the purpose of protecting the fundamental rights of the individuals. While analyzing the constitutional functions of the ECJ Frank Hoffmeister has identified, â€Å"Ensuring access to Court for citizens was identified as the fourth constitutional function. For sure, as with some national Supreme Courts, there is no right to a constitutional complaint against any Community act, including of a legislative nature, allegedly infringing a human right of an EU citizen. Rather, Article 230 (4) of the Treaty allows bringing an action of annulment against a decision addressed to a person or against a decision, which, although in the form of a regulation or a decision addressed to another person, is of direct and individual concern to the former.†2 Thus, the aspect of protecting individual rights has been reasserted by such observation and at the same time, it has become one of the major constitutional functions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). To serve this purpose and protecting rights of individual citizens, they have not only been provided with the access to the European Court of Justice but at the same time with the aim at strengthening position of the Court the Art 230 has been implemented which is aimed at permitting the court to take the right kind of action to annual community acts.  

Monday, August 26, 2019

The science of Addiction - psychology Assignment

The science of Addiction - psychology - Assignment Example It provides an insight of chemical interaction that takes place at the synaptic level that causes the drug user to feel â€Å"high†. The most interactive and yet knowledgeable was â€Å"Mouse Party†. It is self-explanatory and provides an in depth understanding about the 7 most dreaded drugs of abuse causing addiction encompassing: LSD, Cocaine, Alcohol, Methamphetamine, Marijuana, Ectasy, Heroin. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter located in our Central Nervous System making it one of our most important neurotransmitters. Another neurotransmitter of CNS called Norephinephrine is manufactured from dopamine. Dopamine, along with Norephinephrine, plays an imperative role in attention and focus. Drugs affecting attention and focus affects the signaling pathway of dopamine and therefore many of the aspects of the website focus on the neurotransmitter Dopamine which is also called as â€Å"happy neurotransmitter† responsible for the feeling of pleasure, attachment, sense of altruism and integration of thoughts and feelings. Moreover deficiencies of Dopamine cause anhedonia, lack of ability to feel love, sense attachment to another, lack of remorse about actions, distractibility. Thus dopamine play imperative role in the control of movement and therefore the website emphasized a lot on dopamine. The action of various drugs is well explained on this site under the section â€Å"How Drugs Can Kill†. This states that drugs are toxic substances and long-term drug abuse can badly affect the health of an individual, on the other hand even a single dose can be detrimental. E.g. Heroin is the cause for maximum deaths due to overdose of the drug. Under normal conditions the respiratory balance is maintained by excitatory and inhibitory signals by glutamate and GABA respectively, but a toxic dose of heroin enhances the inhibitory effect of GABA which reduces the breathing and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Businesses Polluting In a Third World Country Essay

Businesses Polluting In a Third World Country - Essay Example This paper illustrates that businesses might choose to obey the rules that regulate pollution or risk the chance of being penalized for not obeying the pollution rules. Considering the financial requirement of the penalty in comparison to fixing the problem, most businesses would rather pay the ‘smaller’ penalty, than fix the problem. This is usually exacerbated by the fact that majority of most environmental problems are not addressed by the government. The existing regulations are neither implemented fully nor the penalties punitive enough. For instance, an American Company established in an African country would find it easy to pay fines imposed on them as the exchange rate favors them. Equally, the cost of ‘fixing’ the problem, such as moving a factory from a populated mining area is too high compared to the fine imposed on the same. Thirdly, businesses in the third world find it easy to pollute because their ‘home’ environment is not affect ed. This is usually the case chiefly because the existing regulations and repercussions are inferior to those in their ‘home’ country. The third world governments are also to blame for the increase in such activities because with poorly implemented rules and regulations, the majority of authorities are easily compromised can accept bribes. Some companies bent on polluting the environment and failing to take responsibility opts to entice the local authorities through bribery and ‘sweet’ deals that they cannot refuse. As a result, the regulations are imposed unfairly; hence exposing the country to ultimate disintegration. Third World countries (also known as the least developed countries), in addition to their poor economic conditions also suffer from the effects of extremely poor environmental conditions. As governments strive to address the most basic of their fundamental needs (food, clean water, and healthcare), pollution and other countless environmental problems are neglected; with pollution primarily remaining unrestricted.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

CAPM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CAPM - Essay Example The CAPM presents partial equilibrium model where agents consider the risk free returns and the probability distributions of the future returns on risky assets as being exogenous. In this paper, I seek to give an in-depth understanding of this model by delving into the logic behind it, exploring critiques levelled against it, and explaining why it is still the model of choice in financial analysis. Finally, I give practical examples of its practical application that show evidence of its usefulness and continued use to date. The CAPM is built on the portfolio model that Harry Markowitz (1959) developed. In the model, a portfolio is selected by an investor at time t-1 which at t produces a stochastic return. Investors are assumed to be risk averse and, in their choosing among portfolios, care is only taken on the mean and the variance of their single-period investment return. This results in investors choosing â€Å"mean-variance-efficient† portfolios, the portfolios in this case 1) given variance, maximizes returns and 2) given expected returns, minimize portfolio return variance. For this, the approach is referred to as mean-variance model. An algebraic condition is provided by the model on asset weights in portfolios that are mean-variant-efficient. This algebraic statement is turned by the CAPM into a prediction that is testable about the connection between expected returns and risk through identification of an efficient portfolio if asset prices should clear all the assets off the market. To identify a mean-variant-efficient portfolio, Sharpe and Lintner added two crucial assumptions. The first one is complete agreement: taking asset prices to clear the market at t-1, it is agreed by investors that asset joint distribution returns from t-1 to t. This distribution is taken to be the true distribution, i.e. it provides the distribution giving returns that we employ in testing the model. Secondly, there is risk-free rate

Friday, August 23, 2019

Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting Research Paper

Discipline Profile of the Field of Accounting - Research Paper Example To determine how financially healthy a business is, the accounting statements prepared are based on accounting laws which are standardized to allow for fair comparison and the contrast between competing businesses (Rosacker et al, 2009). The language of accounting consists of symbols of currency, graphs, charts, reports and tables which express the business ideas of a company. This is because the accounting language is a clarification of a definite purpose. As such, it is imperative to logically hold that the major accounting purpose emanates from a definition, which is just like any other language which seeks to explain the meaning of term or concept. The genre of the language used can be classified as Metalanguage. Metalanguage is the language which uses symbols to explain or examine language. Such language is prevalent in accounting as the use of unique words such as ‘net income’ ‘equity’, ‘liabilities’, assets’, balance sheet’, ‘financial reports’ among others, creates a meaning which is only specific to business persons and the accounting field. In Meta language used in accounting, less importance is given to explanation or definitions (Pasternak, 2011). Extensive Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is a recent Meta language which has been introduced in the field of accounting. The new language seeks to improve the field of accounting by developing a customizable and standardized digital demonstration of accounting aspects such as data extracts, business reports, tax returns and financial statements. This language is an integral part of the accounting profession as it is being integrated into the accounting curriculum. Furthermore, businesses are required to submit their financial information in the form to XBRL to different authorities such as government regulators or the SEC (Cohen et al, 2005). The major method of communication among accountants is the memos and the emails. Memorandums are used to communicate internally with accountants, departments or clients.  

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Secret by Petrarch Essay Example for Free

The Secret by Petrarch Essay During the Middle Ages, European thinkers began to examine the world of humanistic thought.   While this way of thinking was not new and humanism was pondered by ancient thinkers thousands of years earlier, the thing that made this line of thought so unique in Europe during this time was the strong influence of the Church.   Thinkers like the Italian Francesco Petrarch and borrowed many philosophical elements from the Church and classical humanism, trying to synthesize the City of God with the City of the World.    However, because of their rejection of the synthesis between these two worlds, the Church did their best to ensure that such acceptance of humanistic thought had no place in Church doctrine, and Petrarch was caught between his deep love of faith and his passion for reason. Despite his love of God and his desire to live a life ruled by adherence to reason, Petrarch must seemingly choose between the two and sacrifice his free will for his religious faith, but he instead chooses to attempt to synthesize them; Petrarch’s basic teachings in â€Å"The Secret† seek to reflect that a synthesis between faith and reason is possible and both the City of God and the City of the World knowable, reflecting an emerging line of humanistic thought of his age that increasingly caused tension between the thinkers of the time and the Church.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Petrarch was a renowned fourteenth-century poet and scholar, and his contributions to European culture could end with these accomplishments.   What he contributed to the world of Christian humanism would also go onto inspire generations that followed and lead to the Renaissance.   In his â€Å"Secret Book† Petrarch brings up the classical argument that God gave humans the intellectual potential to figure out the world for themselves. Because of their ability to understand the world through philosophy and reason, Petrarch’s beliefs conflicted with the Church doctrine that human intelligence and capability is limited by God’s will.   Much like the thinkers Marcus Aurelius of Ancient Rome and St. Augustine, Petrarch’s â€Å"Secret Book† sought to explore his faith and his knowledge as it relates to the City of God and the City of the World. Borrowing the spirit of St. Augustine, and with truth as his guide, Petrarch created dialogues that examined his relationship with the worlds of God and man.   The book begins with Petrarch introducing the extent of his spiritual and humanist struggles and how they relate to the afterlife: â€Å"Often have I wondered with much curiosity as to our coming into this world and what will follow our departure† (Petrarch).   The information that he cannot know torments him and he relays his questioning in the form of a dialogue between he and St. Augustine. Petrarch is unhappy and St. Augustine suggests his unhappiness may be caused by his acceptance of the City of the World and his neglect for the City of God.   St. Augustine recalls the words of classical philosopher Cicero: â€Å"They could look at nothing with their mind, but judged everything by the sight of their eyes; yet a man of any greatness of understanding is known by his detaching his thought from objects of sense, and his meditations from the ordinary track in which others move† (Petrarch). Petrarch experienced this detaching as a man of greatness of understanding, and the parallel between his time and thought with the ancient philosopher help show that human intelligence and reason continued to evolve.   The dilemma comes in trying to figure out whether this knowledge is attained by man himself or given by God, and whether the material world and the senses are as valuable as the promise of an afterworld. One of the main problems that Petrarch experiences in his â€Å"Secret Book† is the place of free will within faith.   Augustine reminds Petrarch that he chooses free will even with his faith: â€Å"No man can become or can be unhappy unless he so chooses† (Petrarch).   Petrarch comes to realize that it his choice for things in the City of the World, including his love for women and material things, and the only thing that makes these bad is that they prevent him from knowing the eternal City of God. To both Augustine and Petrarch, reason did not necessarily need to erode faith in God, but could go a long way in reinforcing it and in essence proving it correct.   His equal love for both and his desire to retain them as significant aspects of his life were keys to understanding his position in his writing.   In his book, Petrarch sought to synthesize his worldly thoughts and action with those of his faith, and his humanistic views were largely frowned upon by the Church, though they were nothing more than a precursor for the thought that would come to dominate Europe. The basic teachings of Petrarch not only borrow from Christian and humanistic thought from the past, but attempt to show that God granted men the ability to reason and free will to be pursued if they so choose.   While man may pursue with passion the many elements of being free, including worldly pleasures outside of faith, they run the risk of alienating themselves from God’s world, which was portrayed by the Church as the only singular dictator of human action.   By stating humans have free will within the confines of religious faith was an extremely controversial and revolutionary line of thinking for his Petrarch’s time, and reflected the growing tension within society. Though the Church’s power was fully realized and would not be relinquished, many people would use Petrarch’s arguments about free will to help liberate them from the often oppressive doctrines of the Church, while still managing to retain the love of God and their religious faith.   Prior to Petrarch’s work, this concept of synthesizing faith with reason was not only frowned upon by church leaders, but almost unheard of in a highly Christianized world. As the lone authority on matters of faith, morality, and will, the Church would continue to fight against any and all lines of thought that remotely challenged the sovereignty of its rule over the citizenry of Europe, but the growing humanism after the Black Death made many men like Petrarch question humanity’s place and purpose in the universe. Because of the legacy of the Church and the importance of religious thinking, there was really only one place such thought could begin from, and religious scholasticism was the foundation for all thought that would eventually supplant it, much like the line of thought espoused by Petrarch.   While Petrarch was seen as challenging the authority of the Church, and even the authority of God as the lone dictator of human freedom, he was also stating that the free will humans enjoyed was granted by the very same God. Petrarch was a devout Christians that also contributed greatly to the growth of humanism.   His personal dilemmas were centered around his beliefs that the City of the World must be known as much as the City of God, and his love for each was too strong to deny one for the other.   While too much knowledge of the City of the World could lead people to avoid learning about the City of God, it was also important to understand the world and the people in it as a way of understanding God’s truth.   Petrarch was also alive during a strange time of great tension, where the Church was largely corrupt and in turmoil, Europe was emerging from the Dark Ages, and the growing humanism was slowly changing the ideas of all people. Petrarch believed in the goodness and potential of people, and had faith in man’s ability to understand the world, which is all he sought to do.   The rejection by the Church of the synthesis of the City of the World and that of God is related to its fear that people will not follow its doctrines, and is nothing more than the last gasps of a power structure that could not hold a monopoly over the will and the faith of men and women across Europe. For men like Petrarch, humans can have a relationship with God and learn his truths by using their own reason and intellect.   The rejection of the synthesis of the two cities is nothing more than an attempt by the Church to keep control over the masses of people.   But, with the help and inspiration of men like Petrarch, people would eventually realize the benefit and power of their own free will and seek to understand the City of God and the City of the World alike. Works Cited: Petrarch, Francesco. â€Å"Petrarch’s Secret.†Ã‚   Francesco Petrarch – Father of Humanism.   Trans. William H. Draper. 1911. 7 Mar 2008. http://petrarch.petersadlon.com/secretum.html.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

History of American Football Essay Example for Free

History of American Football Essay Beginning of Football Football as well as rugby and soccer are believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game of harpaston. Harpaston is mentioned frequently in classical literature. where it is often referred to as a very rough and brutal game.The rules of this ancient sport were quite simple: Points were awarded when a player would cross a goal line by either kicking the ball, running with it across the goal line, or throwing it across the line to another player. The other team’s objective was simply to stop them by any means possible. There was no specific field length, no side line boundaries, no specified number of players per team, only a glaring lack of rules. Most modern versions of football are believed to have originated from England in the twelfth century. The game became so popular in England that the kings of that time (Henry II and Henry IV) actually banned football. They believed that football was taking away interest from the traditional sports of England, such as fencing and archery. Walter Camp Walter Camp was born April 17, 1859, in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale from 1876 to 1882, where he studied medicine and business. Walter Camp was an author, athletic director, chairman of the board of the New Haven Clock Company, and director of the Peck Brothers Company. He was general athletic director and head advisory football coach at Yale University from 1888-1914, and chairman of the Yale football committee from 1888-1912. Camp played footba ll at Yale and helped evolve the rules of the game away from Rugby and Soccer rules into the rules of American Football as we know them today. One precursor to Walter Camps influence was William Ebb Ellis, a student at the Rugby School in England. In 1823, Ellis was the first person noted for picking up the ball during the soccer game and running with it, thereby breaking and changing the rules. In 1876, at the Massosoit  convention, the the first attempts at writing down the rules of American football were made. Walter Camp edited every American Football rulebook until his death in 1925. Walter Camp contributed the following changes from Rugby and Soccer to American football one side retained undisputed possession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as a result of its own violations the line of scrimmage 11 on a team instead of 15 created the quarter-back and center positions forward pass standardized the scoring system, numerical scoring created the safety, interference penalties, and the neutral zone tackling as low as the knee was permitted 1888 a touchdown increased in value to six points and field goals went down to three points 1912 The NFL or the National Football League, was formed in 1920 soccor/football Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports. Early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds occurrence in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of ball was a popular sport.It is said that early growth of the modern soccer started in England. Some amusing facts even mention that the first ball used was the head of some Danish brigand. It is said that during medieval times, the old form of soccer used to allow many ill practices like kicking, punching, biting and gouging. The main aim was to carry the ball to a target spot. People grew so fond of the game that they would throng the field all day long. Sometimes the competition grew fierce and masses got so wild that there were frequent incidents of violence during the game. It is also said that soldiers admired the game so much that they missed archery practice to watch it King Edward III banned soccer in 1365 owing to the growing incidents of violence and military indulgence in the sport. In 1424 King James I of Scotland also proclaimed in the Parliament— Na man play at the Fute-ball No man shall play football When and where exactly did soccer start is a question that has no precise answer to it. You can easily say that this popular game has been played for more than three thousand years. The nativity of modern-day soccer must be credited to Britain. It was also known as the association football, with Scotland and England being the co-founders of the systematic game of soccer. Modern History of Soccer: 18th Century onwards In 1815, a major development took place that made soccer popular in Universities, Colleges and Schools. The popular English School and Eton College came forth with a set of rules, known as the Cambridge Rules. Football was segregated into two groups; some colleges and schools opted for Rugby rules that allowed tripping, shin kicking and also carrying the ball. These rules were exclusively prohibited as per the Cambridge rules.The history of modern-day soccer was established in 1863. In October 1863, eleven representatives from London clubs and schools met at the Freemason’s Tavern to set up common fundamental rules to control the matches amongst themselves. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of the Football Association. In December 1863, the Rugby Football and Association football finally split as the supporters of the Rugby School rules walked out. Firmly establishing the foundation of soccer in 1869, the Football Association strictly banned any kind of handling of the ball. Soccer’s popularity spread rapidly during the 1800s as British sailors, traders and soldiers introduced the sport to different parts of the globe. Italians, Austrians and Germans drew to Europe, while Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil adopted the sport in South America. FIFA was established in the year 1904 and by early 1930s, different leagues were operating from various countries. FIFA is credited with organizing the first world cup in Uruguay. The history of soccer is rich with events, development and its growing craze all over the world. You will find yourself amazed as you learn about different times of this wonderful sport that has held our awe and admiration for over 3000 years. why is soccer called football The game that the rest of the world calls football or the beautiful game goes by a different name in the United States and Canada soccer. Americans adopted the name soccer after almost 100 years of playing this game under the name football.The games history and development provides important clues about the use of the word soccer to identify the game in the countries  that do not call it football.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Condominium Living in Malaysia

Condominium Living in Malaysia The concept of condominium living in Malaysia is already promoted for few years before and almost all the people in the city will accept this type of housing. Due to the rapid rate of urbanisation and scarce of land available, condominium become the most popular housing types which lead to maximise the usage of land available with providing the facilities. Condominium living has become more common in a feature of the residential landscape in many parts of the country, especially in densely populated areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang. This is mainly cause by the scarcity of land in big cities and rapid urbanisation due to massive population migration. Other than population migration, the needs of people and changing lifestyle have also contributed to the development of the high-rise building over the country. Limited land has driven up the prices of properties, especially the place such as those in the Kuala Lumpur city centre and the fast developing corridors in the Klang Valleys (The Star, 2004). Since Malaysia is now promoting a policy, housing-owning democracy with a target which every family will own a house. With this policy, there is an opportunity to let the people choose what kind of housing is likely to be bought. Condominium living can open up an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between three major ethnic for racial integration. It is to help the political and economic stability in the country. All the residents will share their responsibility and give their effort over the common areas and facilities such as corridor or the recreational facilities within the condominium. There are many reasons why people make their homes in condominiums. Some is because their children have grown up and moved out, and their homes are now too large. Others consider it because it is cheaper to buy a unit in a condo rather than a landed property in the location they want (National House Buyers Association, 2009). Living within the condominium where neighbours can be easily call upon when problems arise will increase the mutual understanding between the neighbours. Condominium living is about lifestyle and buying a condominium is actually investing in a lifestyle (Chan, C. K., 1991). Some rich people will buy the condominium just because of the facilities it is provided. They can just rent the condominium in term of it location or equipped by good facilities such as 24-hour security, swimming pools and barbecue pits. From this chapter, we will understand concept of condominium development, definition of condominium, the types of condominium, basic instrument for purchasing condominium, the units, common areas, Strata Title Act (1985) and Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 663). The Concept of Condominium Development: Condominium means to control (dominion) a certain property jointly with (con) one or more persons (Chan, C. K., 1991). This housing development is a form of co-ownership over a multiple-unit property, for instance flat. The co-ownership will own a unit and have their own interest in the air space and an undivided interest in the common area, such as corridor, lobbies, playground, garden, swimming pools and car park. Condominium development is to be introduced and solved the problem because of the rapid urbanisation and limited of land available. Due to these problems, condominium is more popular in the crowded city such as Kuala Lumpur. Desa Kudalan project was the first project launched in Kuala Lumpur which was located in the up-market area of Jalan Pekeliling (Chan, C. K., 1991). Demand of condominium is rise in crowded cities and there will be some of the factors that contributed to the demand such as scarcity of land and high land cost. Because limited land available in cities, it driven up the land price goes up. Condominium developments help the citizen to have their own house which in the multiple-unit property, condominium where each individual has their own interest known as unit. As the population rise, some cities are facing shortage of housing. Multiple-unit property will help the citizen to have their own house which fulfilled the housing democracy which now promoting by the government where every citizen owns their house. People nowadays are more educated and they will meet and satisfy their need to fulfil the life they want to be. Changing lifestyle is one of the factors for the contribution of condominium development. There are many facilities provided by living in condominium such as24-hour security and swimming pool. The types of condominium development are different in the form of low rise and high rise, integrated linked type, cluster of repetitive nature, in varying community density, in more central urban region and the suburban as well as areas of resort, in varying cost values; but in all cases, the concept of mutual benefitting community living remains the basic (Sze To, K. Y., 1979). The concept of condominium development is consider quite success in the crowded city compare to rural area. This has helped to create a market for condominium housing and citizens have more choice to choose according to their favourite. Definition of Condominium: Con-dominium is derive from two word which mean joint sovereignty or in the more historical sense joint control of a State by other States. In housing development, it is referred to subsidiary title coupled with common title or as defined under the National Land Code in previous days (Sze To, K. Y., 1979). The word condo or condominium comes from the two Latin words- con means together and dominium, means property. A condominium can be an apartment, house, townhouse or a unit in an apartment house in which the units are individually owned. Hence, there is always common property owned with others- recreation areas, lawns, basement, garage as well as the individual units are owned outright ( Kalia, A., 2007). Others than that, condominium is the home ownership that owned by the individual units, which is known as condominium units. Undivided interest means a share or right that owned by the unit holder, but the ratio or the share cannot be defined apart from the whole (Holeman, J. R., 1980). Each unit owner has the same interest which is called shared rights towards the common areas that used together, for instance swimming pool, car park, barbecue pits, elevator and others. Management of the condominium is responsibility to well manage the common area in order to provide a harmonies environment within the condominium. An amount of money, which is management fee, will be paid by the unit owners every month in order the property management are sufficient money to manage the common areas. Normally, home owners will form an association, to maintain and manage the common areas. There are various types of design unit within a condominium, such as studio unit, penthouse and duplex. Penthouse and duplex are expensive condominium living and normally rich people will purchase this kind of condominium to match their luxury lifestyle. Studio unit is consists of dining, living and bedroom that combined together to become a large room. The kitchen facilities as a part of the central room. Bathroom in this unit has its own smaller partition. Penthouse which high classification in the condominium is located at the top of the building. It is separate from with others building to have privacy by unique design such as high ceiling. Duplex consist of two floors connected by internal staircase in condominium. Types of Condominium: There are several type of condominium such as residential condominium, non-residential condominium, standard condominium and phase condominium. Residential condominium is owned by the individual units which the owner will occupy for living purpose. Some of the owner will rent out to others to earn the rental income. They will pay monthly maintenance fee to management department of condominium for maintaining and managing the common area that all the owners have the shared right on it. There is also non-residential condominium can be found in the property market such as hotel, services apartment, retail shop and office building. The structure is the same with the residential condominium but the difference is the usage of the building. Standard condominium is just a general type of condominium that can be found in any country. This kind of condominium is subdivided into units and common area. Hence, this kind of owner will own different but inseparable entities. One is the well defined space that used for residential purpose; one is the common area which the owner have shared interest on it. This shared interest between the owners cannot be defined from the whole part. Phased condominium is a condominium developed according to stages. Normally, the time to complete the development will not exceed 10 years. Hence, the condominium development size will increase from time to time until the development is complete. The advantage of this type of condominium is the purchasers do not have to wait for so long for the development to complete. There is also a benefit for the developer which the income does not influence by the period to occupy or awaiting title. This type of condominium will use phase one to be the name that completed first. The owners is also own different but inseparable entities. Basic Instrument for Purchasing Condominium: Before the condominium can be purchased, there are three instruments used in order to purchase condominium, deed of Mutual Covenant, declaration of condominium and bylaw of condominium association. Deed of Mutual Covenant: When a person purchases a property where there are common areas that need all the involvement of all the unit owners, the owner will asked to enter into a Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC) while the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) is signed upon. Deed of Mutual Covenant is an agreement of mutual involved between the developer and the purchaser. The contents different from developer to developer, and they are distinctly separate from those in the SPA (National House Buyers Association, 2004). Housing Development Act does not regulate the contents in DMC compare to Sale and Purchase Agreement. The contents consist of the clauses which assure the purchaser and the developer. There are some clauses are as follows: Maintenance Charges. The maintenance charges are the agreed amount that valid for a period. After the period, the agreed amount will be increased to a reasonable amount. Undertaking Not To Lodge A caveat. DMC restrict the purchaser or owner to lodge any caveat on the property. Right of the developer to cease supply of utilities. Developer has the right to cut the utilities such as electricity and water supply, in case of any default or delay payment by the resident. Consent fees. National House Buyers Association (2004:1) stated. The amendment to the Housing Regulations, effective Dec 1, 2002, developers can only charge a sum of 0.5% of the purchase price or RM500, whichever is lower. This is regardless of when the SPA was signed. The amended Housing Regulations also states that: No housing developer shall collect any fee by whatever name called for giving his consent to any purchaser or subsequent purchaser of a housing accommodation to assign his rights and benefits to and in the contract of sale to any financial institution providing a loan for such purchaser to finance or part finance the purchase of the housing accommodation Period of validity of the DMC. The validity period of DMC is the strata titles have been issued to the each unit owners and the management corporation is formed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many dispute causes by the clauses between developers and buyers. The maintenance charges will be increase to a reasonable amount after certain period. Some buyers do not check during signing the DMC or do not understand what is the reasonable amount will be stated. The disputes begin with developers after certain period when buyers realise they have to pay more for maintenance charges. Although the buyer is owned the property, he is no right to enter any caveat to his own property to secure his rights. Government should solve the dispute between developers and buyers by standardize contents of DMC like Sale and Purchase Agreement to ensure the equilibrium balance between developers and buyers. Declaration of Condominium:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The declaration of condominium (also known as the declaration of restrictions or master deed) establishes the definition of the private and common elements within the condominium community, and outlines the rights and obligations of the owners. It is actually a legal instrument recorded that create a condominium development under law. This declaration of condominium will set up a fund to maintain the property, and creates the condominium association. Instructions for how amendments are to be when the change of conditions of demand should be given by the declaration of condominium. For instance, the developer has to prepare a declaration of condominium to fully state the ownership rights of the owners according to their units (Holeman, J. R., 1980). Articles of Incorporation:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Constitution condominium community is a set of rule and regulation which same as the articles of incorporation and declaration of condominium. The articles of incorporation will constitute the rule and regulation for the purpose of condominium and it will be stated there whether it is for investment purpose or just for resident occupation. The condominium will operate according to the rules and regulation when the article of incorporation is legally bound while condominium by-law will establish the guidelines of condominium. Membership requirements, election procedures, and the powers and duties of the directors and officers are regulated by by-law. They determine how the finances are to be handled, and how the project is to be maintained, insured, and restricted. By-law will continuous change and amend to meet the suitable condition (Holeman, J. R., 1980). Bylaw of Condominium Association; By-law should be abided by the condominium unit owners. Developers or the purchaser of the units are generally draft the rules and regulation of condominium in by-law of condominium. Normally, by-law will establish the electing officers or board members procedures of the condominium association, inform the member when the meeting is being held, and also responsible for the building maintenance and insurance in common areas. Some of the restrictions may impose to restrict unit holders to do something against the rule and regulation or penalties for not compliance to the rules (Answer Corporation, 2009). Rules and Regulation; Rules and regulations are required by managing the condominium as the by-law gives the rules for living together with harmonies. These rules and regulations will determine and enforce by the board of Director. Some of the rules and regulations are stated as below: Homeowners Dues. The monthly homeowners due must be paid according to the period that has been determined. Condominium may take some action towards homeowners who are refused to pay it. Common Elements. The homeowner or residents are not allowed to making loud noise which will disturb other residents within the period that has been determined. The balconies must be neat and clean in appearance. No any blocking items or store room are allowed to be place at common area. Parking. Vehicles have to be parked in the designated parking spaces. Vehicles are not allowed to park their vehicle at the prohibited area such as in front of garage. Pets. Some of the condominium may allow the residents to have their pets. Some condominium will not. If allowed, it must consistent with the responsibilities associated with living in a condominium. The Unit: Unit is the description which usually contained in the declaration of condominium. The most important element is boundary described, because homeowners are responsible to maintain, manage, insure and decorate their own unit. Each unit owner shall be entitled to exclusive possession of his apartment, subject to the provisions of the condominium documents (Holeman, J. R., 1980). Common Areas: The documents refer to common area shared by condominium owners as that part of the projects exclusive of all private units. The ownership of each condominium unit includes an undivided interest in, as well as rights and title to these common areas (Holeman, J. R., 1980). The common areas are divided into two: general common interest and limited common elements. Generally, common areas include the land, main walls, foundations, roofs, hallways, elevators, swimming pools and other recreational areas and parking lots. Detached carports and garages are sometimes owned by the association and assigned to individual unit owners, and sometimes they are owned with the unit (King, B., 2003). Limited common elements are a physical part of the common areas, but are for the exclusive use of a particular unit owner or group of owners. Limited areas usually refer to parking spaces, patio space, Storage space, and entrances ways (Holeman, J. R., 1980). Neighbourhood Link (2009:1) explained. Limited common elements could also be any air conditioning or heating units, chute, flue, duct, wire, conduit, bearing wall, bearing column and other fixture, whether located within or outside of the boundaries of a unit, which serve only that unit or are allocated solely to that unit. Any shutters, awnings, window boxes, doorsteps, stoops, porches, decks, balconies, entryways, patios, exterior doors and windows, other fixtures designed to serve a single unit, but located outside the Units boundaries are limited common elements allocated exclusively to that unit. Strata Title Act (1985): The interest of unit holders and developers are subjected in sub-division of building for subsidiary titles (Strata Titles). This legally abided title has contributed a more effective implementation when some of the disputes are arise (Kok, S. T., 1979). The Federal and Director Generals Land and Mines Department (2009:1) explained that strata Title was first introduced in 1966 by the Malaysian National Land Code 1965, to better cope with the legal ownership of multi-storey buildings. Previously, it was known as subsidiary titles by reference to the buildings erected on alienated land. By 2007 strata title legislative amendment, the strata titles concept was extended to be applied for land parcels created on alienated land. Definition: Strata title is a form of ownership for multi-storey buildings or blocks or multi layer of land on a piece of alienated land. The Strata part term refers to subdivided units being on different levels (The Federal and Director Generals Land and Mines Department, 2009). Management Corporation is formed under Strata Title Schemes where combination the individual parcels and common property with a self-governance of Strata Corporation. The individual parcel is indicating condominium, apartment, town house, and each of the individual units will be hold a different title. Management Corporation is formed automatically when the strata title is registered by opening of a Book of Strata Register (The Federal and Director Generals Land and Mines Department, 2009). The Management Corporation has to elect a council who responsible to perform the MCs duties and powers and carry out the MCs business. The council is consisting of not less than three and not more than fourteen proprietors of multi-storey building. Under section 41 of Strata Title Act 1985, the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) must be conducted within one month after expiration of the initial period. Initial Period is the period commence from the day of the MC is formed and the end on the day on which there are at least one- quarter of aggregate share units, not including the proprietor of the lot who known as original proprietor of Master Title (Tan, R., 2007). By-Laws: By-laws under the Third Schedule of Strata Titles Act, 1985 are applicable to all subdivided buildings. Additional by-laws and continuous amendment can be made by management corporation so that by-laws does not contracting with the Third Schedule of the Strata Titles Act, 1985. All owners in Management Corporation must comply the additional by-laws as long as the law is applicable. And the additional by-law shall be publishing in the public for their awareness. Records of all such by-laws must be properly kept by Management Corporation for inspection (National House Buyers Association, 2009). Requirement of Subdivision of Building: Homeowner will be given a separate title which is sub-divided any building into each individual title of the proprietor of the land with approval of The Federal and Director Generals Land and Mines Department. Any building which intends to sub-divide to an individual title has to be subject to some of the conditions as follow: The land is only held as one lot under registry title. Building must have 2 or more storeys above the ground level, with an area at least 5,000 square feet. The building must approved and certified by a Licensed Surveyor. The boundary of the lot with will be examined carefully by him. The sub-division does not contravene any restriction in interest in the land or any requirement that has been gazetted in title. The building has to be constructed in accordance with the plan submitted where the planning permission was required by for the building and it should certified by Architect(register under the Architect Ordinance 1951). here is no item of land revenue is outstanding in the respected land. Formation of Management Corporation: MC is the medium through which the proprietors control and manage the strata scheme pursuant to the Strata Titles Act 1985 and the Rules made there under. If it is a subdivided building or multi-storey building, it is automatically register under strata title. The MC is known by the name appearing in the book of the strata register relating to the subdivided building (National House Buyers Association, 2009). It is a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal. It is not necessary to register it under the Societies Act 1966 or any other law. In the case of a subdivided low-cost building, however, the MC does not come into existence automatically with the opening of the strata register. Under section 64 of the Strata Titles Act 1985, the MC comes into existence upon the completion of the transfer of strata title in respect of all the parcels by the original proprietor. On the other hand, the proprietors, other than the original proprietor, having share units totalling more than half of the aggregate share units of all the parcels may apply o the Director of Lands and Mines for an order to establish the management corporation as provided for under section 64A. Duties, Powers and Responsibilities of the Management Corporation: Normally, the duties, powers and responsibilities of MC are under section 43 of the Strata Title Act, 1985. National House Buyers Association (2009) stated that the MC should exercise their duties, powers and responsibility according as below: To collect the contributions from parcel proprietors. To purchase the movable property for the use as common property. To secure the repayment and the payment interest. To do all things necessary for the performance of its duties. To manage and maintain the common property. To insure and keep insured the subdivided building against fire and other risks. To pay insurance premiums, quit rent and other rates. To comply with any notices or orders given by an public authorities to execute any works in respect of the reasonable time. To prepare and maintain a strata roll for the subdivided building. To be the custodian of the issue of the document of title of the relevant land. Tot purchase additional land, grant or accept an easement. To provide an appropriate receptacle for postal deliveries. Financial Management: Management Corporation has to establish a management fund in order to manage and maintain, control the common properties, paying taxes, rates and insurance. Some acquisition and investment activities may also allowed for MC to proceed. MC will decide the amount of homeowner to levy the contribution according to their respective share unit and the interest rate whoever homeowner is in respect of late payment of contribution for maintain the management find accounts. A portion of money from the management fund account are distributed for painting the building, purchasing movable property for the purpose of common property, replacement of fixture and fitting in common property and others expenditure for maintenance. Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 663): Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 663) was first came to enforce on 12 April 2007. It is an Act to provide for the proper maintenance and, management of buildings and common property, and for matters incidental thereto (Lee, S. S., 2007). There are some problems during the duration after vacant possession is delivered by developer to purchaser and before the establishment of the Management Corporation. Hence, this present law is to cover what is inadequate in addressing the problems during that period. The developer is responsible for the maintenance and management of the common property before the formation of the Management Corporation (Lee, S. S., 2007). The maintenance and management of building and common property under the Building and Common Property Act 2007 covers all types of building that will be or have been subdivided and issued with strata titles namely residential buildings such as condominiums flats, apartments and gated community developments, commercial buildings such as office blocks, shopping complexes, service apartments, mixed developments and industrial buildings. In respect of building with strata titles, it includes all parcels, accessory parcels and common property (Maidin, A. J., 2007). According to the section 4 of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 663), a Joint Management Body is formed which comprise the developer and purchasers to administer the maintenance and management of the building during the initial period before the Management Corporation fully takes control of the common property of the development from the developer (Soong, D., 2007). Joint Management Body: The first meeting of the Body has to be convoked by developers no later than 12 months from the commencement of the act for the building concerned was completed before the commencement of the Act. In cases where the building is completed on or after the commencement of the Act, the meeting must be held no later than 12 months from the delivery of vacant possession to the purchasers. Unlike the Management Corporation, the developers duty to convene the first meeting of the Body is effectively tied to the delivery of vacant possession to the purchasers and not effected by how long it takes the developer to apply for and procure the opening of the strata register for the development or whether the developer has sold and transferred 25% of the development to purchasers (Soong, D., 2007). Formation of Joint Management Body: Before the JMB is established, the developer has responsibility to carry out the maintenance works and to ensure the building is free others risks. Developer has the duty to have a first meeting with all the purchasers within specified period. If developer fails to do so, the developer will be fined not more than RM25, 000 or imprisonment in a period not more than three months or both. Duties of Joint Management Body Joint Management Body is a body corporate, hence there are boned to be sued if anything found in default. The duties of the JMB are, among others, to: Maintain the common property and keep it in good serviceable repair. Fix and impose charges for the maintenance works. Insure the building and apply insurance moneys received for rebuilding and reinstatement. Prepare and maintain a register of all purchasers. Ensure that the Building Maintenance Fund (BMF) is audited and provide financial statements to purchasers. Enforce house rules (Wong, A. F. H., 2009). Powers of Joint Management Body: Joint Management Bodys powers under Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 (Act 663) are almost the same with those of the Management Corporation under Strata Titles Act. The Body is essentially a form of Pre-management Corporation (Soong, D., 2007). In essence, the Body is required to perform all acts required for the proper maintenance and management of the building, such as maintaining audited accounts and enforcing house rules for the proper maintenance and management of the building. The JMB is empowered to: i. Collect maintenance charges from purchasers. ii. Authorise expenditure for carrying out the maintenance works. iii. Recover monies due from purchasers. iv. Acquire property for use by purchasers in connection with the common property. v. Secure the services of a person to undertake the maintenance works. vi. Make house rules (Wong, A. F. H., 2009). Building Maintenance Account: Financial statements which include the maintenance and management of the development are specified by the Act has to be maintained by developer and the Body before the account is being passed to the Management Corporation. Ensuring funds to be audited which held for the maintenance of the development and provide the audited financial statements for the information to purchasers is part of the duty of the Body (Soong, D., 2007). In each development, developer is required to open a Building Maintenance Account before vacant possession is delivering to homeowner. Other than that, developer also required to deposit all the money received for the purpose of Building Maintenance Account which the money does not go directly to developer. Building Maintenance Account must to be audited by a public and professional auditor, and the auditors report must be attach and report to Commissioner within 14 days. Commissioner has the power to engage their own auditor to investigate the entire document related, such as account of the developers company. Under Part IV Section 16, before delivery of vacant possession, the developer of a strata development must open a Building Maintenance Account (BMA) in the name of the strata development for each development. This applies to all newly completed strata development where the vacant possession has not been delivered to the purchasers as of 12th April, 2007. For developments where vacant possession has been given but the management corpora

Beth The Pig Humorous Story :: essays research papers

Beth the Pig   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once-upon-a-time, there was a farmer named Phildo, who owned a pig. The pig's name was Beth, and she weighed about twelve hundred pounds. Phildo was very proud of her. Everywhere he went Beth was right there behind him. People passing him along the sidewalk would say good morning and comment on how hippo-like Beth. Phildo would smile and raise his hat good morning. By the time of the spring fair, she weighed in at slightly over one thousand, five hundred pounds. When word spread that there was a pig at the spring fair that weighed one thousand pounds, people came from all over the tri-state area. Someone even gave Phildo a dozen peaches and some Wolfschmidt vodka for the right to sell Beth T-shirts and baseball caps. Wolfschmidt’s and peaches were what Phildo loved. That is, more than women anyway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Crowds gathered in front of her pen. People pointed cameras and flashes at her. On the third day of the fair, a television crew came down to do a story for the five o'clock news. Phildo couldn't have been happier. Even after the fair was over, and Beth was in her own pen, the people still drove up every morning to see Beth and have their picture taken with her. Every day she seemed to get bigger and bigger. News crews camped outside Phildo house so they could give up to the minute coverage on the ever-growing pig. One of the news crews arranged to have a scale brought down so they could weigh her. One day a group of government officials came by to see the pig. They took blood samples, soil samples, and even air samples. They asked Phildo all sorts of questions. How old was she? Why was her head so big? Who did she eat? Phildo answered, â€Å"I grave not to answer these questions, just give me my vodka and get out of my face!† The next day the government officials declared the area of Phildo farm to be off limits to the public. The crowds were restrained at the entrance to the driveway. There were scientists all over the farm taking measurements, while men in dark suits with sunglasses sat in the kitchen asking Phildo the same questions over and over, and asking if there was something, that explain this tremendous growth of fat Beth the pig. Helicopters landed from time to time, and people with walkie-talkies got out and gave orders to the other anonymous government officials.