What Really Lies Behind The Infamous Casino Bonus

Article 1 - What really lies behind the infamous â€Å"casino bonus†? If I walked up to you in a casino offered you  £200 to gamble with would you take it? Of course you would! In reality, who wouldn’t jump all over a free money offer? Well this is exactly how online casinos behave towards new customers, as they do their best to get anyone and everyone wrapped up in the chance of playing with â€Å"free† money. If you are reading this article you have probably encountered a casino bonus that you are thinking about signing up for, you may even think that it’s a can’t miss freebie. But hold you horses, as things may not be what they seem. The following looks at what really lies behind those infamous casino bonuses that you see advertised so often. Are they a money trap or simply a nice gesture? When you look at casino bonuses you need to look at the big fish first, more importantly the one that is more often than not used to reel you in. Any and every major online casino offers players a serious ‘Welcome Bonus’. It is usually a case of registering; depositing the amount required, and then you’ll have your hands on some free play funds. No deposit bonuses can also be found if you search hard enough, but the ‘Welcome Bonuses’ offered are often far less lucrative. The problem with such bonuses is what lies behind them. Let’s start by looking at wagering requirements. If you thought that you were just going to be able to win big and cash out, you need to think again. A number within theShow MoreRelatedProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 Pageson-the-job training, case studies and situations are perhaps the best way to learn project management. Case studies allow the students to apply the knowledge learned in lectures. C ase studies require that the students investigate what went right in the case, what went wrong, and what recommendations should be made to prevent these problems from reoccurring in the future. The use of cases studies is applicable both to undergraduate and graduate level project management courses, as well as to training programs

William Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet - 985 Words

Throughout the Renaissance era, Shakespeare has made many great plays. One of the best plays, Romeo and Juliet, takes place in Verona, Italy. This play is a tragicomedy that involves many puns, jokes and laughs. Every character makes mistakes that contributes to the tragic deaths of Romeo and Juliet, yet, throughout the play, there is one character prompting the feud, Mercutio. Mercutio is the character most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet because he causes problems for both families even after his death. Mercutio pushes Romeo to crash the Capulet’s party, which causes Tybalt to get aggravated and duel with Romeo, and the cursing of both families that come true after his death. Firstly, Mercutio should be blamed for the young, star-crossed lover’s deaths, is because he is the one who convinces Romeo to join the Capulet’s party where he meets Juliet. Some of Mercutio’s character traits that contribute to him leading Romeo and Juliet to their death are mischievous, careless and hilarious but he doesn’t know when to stop. Mercutio is very pushy and doesn’t stop pushing until he gets what he wants. For example, when he tells Romeo that he needs to get over Rosaline and find a new lover to take his mind off of he, Mercutio says, â€Å"If love be rough with you, be rough with love. / Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down†(1.4.27-28.). This implies that the best way to get over a breakup is to meet someone and have sex. Mercutio knows that both families areShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1287 Words   |  6 PagesLizzy Baginski English Composition 2 Mr. Spera March 10, 2015 Romeo and Juliet Research Paper The movie Romeo and Juliet is a modern classic film that took place in 1996. Overall this is a timeless story that everyone should go and watch. This movie has an intriguing plot line that tells the story of two feuding families, The Montagues and The Capulets, and how the children of these two different families fall in love. The two children overcome various obstacles such as hiding their chemistry fromRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet 966 Words   |  4 Pages Beauty Over Gold â€Å"Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.--William Shakespeare, 1623. In his book As You Like It, William Shakespeare pointed out the supremacy of love rather than the want of gold and wealth. Truly, beauty is more important to thieves than wealth. Many of the thieves in this world would rather have an elegant woman than to obtain precious rubies. After all, what good is a prosperous man if he doesn’t have a charming woman? Two famous men grab my attention who didn’t fear forRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet Essay1024 Words   |  5 PagesRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an ItalianRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1124 Words   |  5 PagesThe play Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based onRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet861 Words   |  4 Pagesgreatly shown in the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was love at first sight with Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. Meeting at a party and falling in love to get married without even spending quality time with each other. Romeo and Juliet couldn t tell there parents because the Capulets and Montagues are long term rivals. Both Romeo and Juliet had to find different ways and excuses to make this marriage work. A big problem was developed. Romeo kills Juliet s cousin and is banishedRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1770 Words   |  8 Pagesof Romeo and Juliet. The story of two destined lovers who were killed by their own doing. But what if they weren t two destined lovers who got unlucky, but doomed partners that were never going to have a good-life to begin with.William Sha kespeare gives us a view of early signs of gang conflict in the early age of Verona, Italy. He gives us a perspective of the norms and customs of Italy during the Setting of William Shakespeare s most famous story. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, givesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1264 Words   |  6 Pagestheater-going public the most important dramatist in English literature, Shakespeare occupies a well-known position in the world of talented authors. His canon contains thirty-seven plays, written in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Additionally, throughout the years, they continue to sustain critical attention, with the majority of his works circling tragedies, one being Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet speaks to the timeless appeal of star-crossed lovers. Their loveRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet924 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy that follows t he so-called love of two teenagers. The two fall in love at a masked ball and have a secret marriage. Throughout the play, their actions show how ridiculous love is, and how it is a danger to anyone who become twisted in its choking grasp. However, in the death of the youth and survival of the elders, an alternative explanation for the tragic events may be found. Although Shakespeare seems to be mocking love throughout the play, itRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet1616 Words   |  7 Pageslove can also cause some of life s most controversial battles. These battles could stem from lack of patience, disagreement of moral values, and in some cases, an absence of attraction overall. In Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the issues that drive Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet s to each of their dreadful misfortunes are inevitable. When it comes to many of Shakespeare s plays, Aristotle s theory is used to describe them as tragedies. Romeo and Juliet is known by many as a tragedyRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet967 Words   |  4 Pagesof ‘Romeo and Juliet’ written by William Shakespeare. Shakespearean time was between the middle Ages and the Industrial Revolution and it was branded by religious changes. William Shakespeare is widely known as the greatest dramatist of all time. Born April 1564, Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is no doubt one of his most famous pieces. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was first published in 1597 and its tragic story of banned love still captures the creativity of its audience today. ‘Romeo and Juliet’, although

Ethical Analysis of Citigroup Free Essays

string(125) " to the Corporate Citizenship Report, in early 2012, Citi rolled out a formalized ethics training program for all employees\." Company Assessment: An Analysis of CitiGroup 1 Company Assessment: An Analysis of CitiGroup Introduction With origins dating back to 1812, Citigroup (Citi) is a global diversified financial services holding company providing both individuals and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services. These services include; consumer banking and credit; corporate and investment banking; securities brokerage; transaction services; and wealth management. Headquartered in Manhattan, NY, Citi currently has over 260,000 employees servicing 200 million customer accounts in more than 160 countries around the globe. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical Analysis of Citigroup or any similar topic only for you Order Now Citi is organized into two divisions; Citicorp and Citi Holdings. Citicorp manages the consumer and institutional core client business, while Citi Holdings manages the brokerage and asset management divisions. Based on financial data obtained from the Citi website, the core st business (i. e. Citicorp), represents 92. 9% of the $19. 4 billion ($US) of the 1 quarter 2012 revenue. The total revenues of Citicorp are geographically diversified across the globe with North America representing 40% of the total, Asia at 22%, Latin America at 20% and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) accounting for the remaining 18% (Citi Financials, 2012) Over its 200 year history, Citi has been a leading innovator in financial services starting in the 1920’s by becoming the first major U. S. bank to offer compound interest on savings accounts. Also, through the acquisition of Second National Bank, Citi has the distinction of being the first bank in New York to provide separate banking services for women. Further innovations include; offering unsecured personal loans and customer checking accounts in 1928 and 1936 respectively (Citi Timeline, 2012). Citi’s original mission of offering traditional banking services evolved as they grew, however, since the financial crisis of 2008, Citi has been selling off many of the non-core operations to refocus on the traditional banking model. The refocused mission as stated on the corporate website is: â€Å"We strive to create the best outcomes for our clients and customers with financial solutions that are simple, creative and responsible. (Citi, 2012) The purpose of this paper is to conduct a review and overall ethical assessment of Citi which will include an overview of the mission, vision and values, ethics and compliance codes, leadership, corporate social responsibility as well as the corporate governance structure. Mission, Vision and Values Clicking on the â€Å"Our Company† link of the Citi website, you are immediately dra wn to the bolded text stating the corporate vision: â€Å"160 Countries. 1 Vision. Citi works tirelessly to provide consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services. We strive to create the best outcomes for our clients and customers with financial solutions that are simple, creative and responsible. † (Citi, 2012) It is clear that Citi has a vision that places them as the global bank focused on client service, innovation and financial responsibility. Expanding upon the vision statement is the mission statement of Citi and the principles that guide them. The Mission statement is: â€Å"Meeting the World’s Challenges. Seizing its Greatest Opportunities† (Citi Mission, 2012). The four key principles that guide the company as they endeavor to deliver on their vision and mission are; Common Purpose; Ingenuity; Leadership; and Responsible Finance. Based on the stated vision, mission and principles, in my opinion, Citi can be described as a focused team, rewarded based on talent and merit, operating in an innovative culture with one clear goal to deliver transparent and prudent financial products globally. I consider the written vision, mission and guiding principles of Citi to be quite inspiring. Ethics and Compliance Codes In early 2005, Charles Prince, then CEO of Citi announced a bold strategy to transform the financial giant that was Citi. His plan, known as the â€Å"Five Point Ethics Plan†, was designed to; improve ethical training; focus on talent and development; integrate ethics into performance appraisals and compensation; improve communications; and strengthen ethical controls. (Restoring Ethics, 2012) As the successor of Sandy Weill, who, Johnson (2012) suggests typifies the ethically neutral leader (p. 19), Prince faced considerable skepticism on whether his plan could work in such a large and complex organization that had a history of significant regulatory scrutiny, and was linked to some of the biggest scandals in corporate history (e. g. Worldcom). While Prince had some critics, he also had some support. In the January 28, 2005 edition of BusinessWeek Online, Prince was described as a smart, logical thinker and another quote made by an analyst was†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"I believe that non-charismatic Prince is going to be a more positive force at Citigroup than the other three charismatic CEOs going back to the 1960s. (Restoring Ethics, 2012) I believe he vision that Prince delivered after taking over from Weill, continues to be embraced by the current Citi CEO, Vikram Pandit as well as the Board of Directors. One of the key responsibilities of the Citi Board of Directors is to review and approve the Citi Code of Conduct (the â€Å"Code†). The Code outlines Citi’s principles, values and standards of practice for all employees of 2 Citi and as such can be viewed as Citi’s ethics code. Employees are expected to read and sign the Code, not necessarily as a condition of employment, but as a formalized agreement to abide by the standards of behavior outlined therein. Although not a formal contract of employment, the formal approach to signing the Code can be viewed as being integrated into HR practices. A point of interest is that Citi also strengthens the employee requirement to abide by the code by stating that even if an employee doesn’t return a signed copy, they are still bound by its terms and conditions. In fact, in the introduction to the Code, Citi is clear that failure to adhere to the Code can result in immediate termination of employment. The latest revision to the Code was made in 2011. The code is available in 26 different languages. While in the past, employees had periodic training on the Code, it appears that the training was ad hoc, but according to the Corporate Citizenship Report, in early 2012, Citi rolled out a formalized ethics training program for all employees. You read "Ethical Analysis of Citigroup" in category "Essay examples" In addition to the Code that exists for all employees, there is an additional Code of Ethics that applies solely to the senior financial executives (CEO, CFO, etc†¦) and financial administrative staff. While it may appear that this is a sign of a higher ethical standard at Citi, as with the NYSE requirement for a firm-wide code of ethics, Sarbanes Oxley mandates a requirement for a separate Code of Ethics for senior executives. In reading both the firm-wide Code as well as the Code of Ethics for the senior executives, it’s interesting to note that the Code of Ethics reads like a very compliance based document, while the firm-wide Code reads more like a call to action for all employees to act with the utmost integrity. In fact, the word integrity appears 9 times in a relatively short document. In all fairness to Citi, they do specify that the Code of Ethics should be considered a supplement to the firm-wide Code and they provide a link to the Code as part of the document. Citi also has a set of ethical principles that applies to suppliers. In short, Citi expects that suppliers adhere to the same high standards of practice that governs Citi. The key areas that the principles apply to are; ethical business practices (Integrity, transparency and community engagement); human rights in the workplace; environmental sustainability; and management systems and implementation. Further information on these principles is available at http://www. citigroup. com/citi/citizen/people/diversity/supplierprinciples. htm. One final point regarding the ethical policies of Citi would be that they operate a 24/7 ethics hotline where employees can report ethical concerns and remain anonymous to the extent that the law will allow. While it is unclear if the hotline is operated independently of Citi, (it appears as if it is not) there is a strong focus on confidentiality and although I was unable to identify the name of the individual, the Code identifies that Citi has an ethics officer. Leadership It is the responsibility of a leader to establish and foster the organizational climate. The leader’s ability to cast shadow or shed light will permeate throughout an organization and ultimately shape the culture. In short, regardless of who is named the formal ethics officer, the leader of the organization is charged with that duty. Citi is managed by an executive team of 24 senior leaders from key regions and divisions across Citigroup’s global network. While the ethnic origins of the executive are not specifically mentioned, there appears to be a wide range of ethnic backgrounds on the executive committee. Unlike the Board of Directors however, the executive committee has only 1 woman, Cece Stewart who is the president of US, Consumer and Commercial Banking. Citi maintains a compensation philosophy that attempts to align compensation with their overall Mission statement. The key objectives of this philosophy are to; enhance shareholder value; attract talent; recognize contributions; manage risk; provide independent oversight; and transparency to all stakeholders. You can visit http://www. citigroup. com/citi/investor/data/comp_phil_policy. df? ieNocache=340 for further information on Citi’s compensation policy. Some evidence to support the integrity of Citi’s compensation practices would be that, according to the 2011 Proxy Statement, as part of the process for making incentive awards for 2011, the Personal and Compensation committee considered the April 2011 â€Å"say on pay† vote which received as 92. 9% favorable. Perhaps the vote was biased upwards as a result of Pandit’s decision to only accept a â€Å"total† compensation package of $1 for 2010, and most of 2009? While I was unable to find any concise data that represents the pay gap between the top executives and the front line employees, I am pretty confident that for all of 2010, and the better part of 2009, the CEO was the lowest paid employee of Citi. The table on the following page provides some compensation data for the past 3 years for the key senior executives of Citi. 3 Change in Value of Deferred All Other Compensation Compenstion ($) ($) 0 0 0 73,047 51,995 49,117 0 0 0 0 14,700 0 3,750 14,700 9,800 14,700 14,700 9,800 14,700 14,700 Executive Member Year Salary ($) 1,671,370 1 125,001 500,000 500,000 416,667 500,000 500,000 500,000 500,000 Bonus ($) 5,331,452 0 0 2,200,000 Stock Awards ($) 0 0 0 Option Awards ($) 7,839,581 0 0 Total ($) 14,857,103 1 128,751 7,160,916 4,728,462 5,063,817 12,984,481 9,509,800 11,276,454 11,354,536 0 0 11,446,900 10,116,895 10,400,007 Vikram Pandit CEO John Gerspach CFO John Havens COO Brian Leach Chief Risk Officer Manuel Medina-Mora CEO Latin America 2011 2010 2009 2011 2010 2009 2011 2010 2009 2011 2,333,333 2,039,836 4,166,667 4,583,333 4,750,000 2,719,781 9,000,000 10,327,374 434,380 5,400,000 2,039,836 5,000,000 3,400,000 2011 2010 2009 546,966 546,966 546,966 4,181,214 0 0 3,998,939 2,719,781 7,450,911 0 9,328,010 361,984 2,119,018 163,047 0 0 0 Source: taken from the 2011 Citi Proxy Report While on the surface, multimillion dollar compensation packages may appear egregious, however, for each of the executives above, approximately 50% of the total compensation package is deferred and/or exists under a multiyear vesting provision that is not only tied to tenure at Citi, it is direct ly tied to the performance of the organization. For 2011, there does appear to be a â€Å"traditional† pay gap between the CEO and the other â€Å"C’s† and I suspect that the gap widens significantly as you move down to the front line workers. By looking at just the total cash (salary and bonus) component of the compensation packages that range from a low of $2. 5 million to a high of $7 million, many people will undoubtedly feel several of the other condemning emotions. But to add a little perspective, for 2011, Citi’s charitable giving was more than 2 times the value of the total (cash and deferred) executive compensation of the individuals above. Also, at a total of $6. 4 billion, the 2011 commitment to climate change initiatives represented over 8% of Citi’s 2011 revenues, and almost 60% of net income. I must admit, besides a little wallet envy, I feel mostly admiration for the work, both social and economic that the leadership of Citi has done that started in 2005, was derailed during the financial crisis, and has continued over the past few years. Based on this evidence, I would challenge an assertion that the current management is hoarding rewards at the expense of all other stakeholders. When Prince took over leadership of Citi in 2005, his calm, intellectual demeanor was quite the opposite of the â€Å"larger than life† charismatic CEO that preceded him. Since taking over from Prince in 2007, Pandit appears to have followed by example and has demonstrated some remarkable unselfish actions as he navigated Citi through the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Despite the critics of the financial industry, Citi, through sound leadership, ranks well on the triple bottom line accounting metrics that forms the foundation of Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) One of the biggest criticisms of CSR reporting is that it is simply a public relations tool designed as window dressing to improve image. After the financial crisis of 2008, no other industry would have as many critics as the financial industry. To provide a little evidence of the integrity of an organization’s CSR claims may help st soothe the critics. Since the early part of the 21 century, Citi has been consistently been a constituent company of the Dow Jones World and North America Sustainability Indexes as well as the FTSE 4Good Index, and in 2011, Citi also became a component of the STOXX Global ESG Leaders indices. It is clear that the CSR activities of Citi are being recognized outside the organization and may have a little more credibility than window dressing. Citi defines its Corporate Social Responsibility framework as Global Citizenship. The three key focus areas of their citizenship efforts are; delivering financial solutions at affordable costs, sustaining the environment 4 and valuing Citi employees. Progress towards these three focus areas are provided as a summary page within the Global Citizenship report, but also as separate publication (attached as Appendix A). There are four key metrics for Financial Inclusion performance indicator. First, they provide charitable contributions (Strategic Giving), which at $121. 9 million for 2011 (1. % of net income), and represents an average annual growth rate of 13% since the end of the financial crisis in 2008. Second, is Small Business Lending, which at almost $8 billion for 2011, has grown by 75% since 2009, and actually surpassed the 2011 goal of $7 billion. nd The third metric is the provision of affordable housing lending, which at $2. 0 billion, places Citi, for the 2 consecutive year , the top affordable housing lender in the US. The final metric under Financial Inclusion is Global Microfinance. In 2011, Citi has provided microloans to almost one million lenders of which 92% of loans where to women. Under sustaining the environment performance indicator, Citi includes metrics for e-communications, clean energy, greenhouse gas emissions and using ESRM screening criteria for financial transactions. As one of the world’s leading credit card companies, Citi’s movement towards paperless statements has, at 29% penetration (2011), doubled since 2008. Under the clean energy metric, in 2007, Citi announced a 10 year, $50 billion commitment to activities directed at mitigating climate change. As of the end of 2011, 5 years in to the program, 73% of the total has been committed. Under the greenhouse gas emissions metric, in 2005, Citi announced a 10 year plan for a 25% reducing in greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2011, there has been a 13. 6% percent reduction since the 2005 baseline. In 2011, the integration of environmental and social factors into the traditional risk management screens for project financing covered over 400 projects globally. Citi appears to have a significant focus on environmental concerns through written policies and statements as well as real action. Further information on Citi’s position on the environment and their ESRM polices can be found at http://www. itigroup. com/citi/environment/ The final area covered under the report card is the metrics that cover the way Citi values their employees. The key metrics are; training; satisfaction; diversity; and employee volunteering. Citi has a very diverse workforce, and though 61 network groups consisting of 15,000 employee members in 18 locations around the world, Citi encourages emp loyee diversity and support. Employee satisfaction has been increasing since the end of the financial crisis and at 73% satisfaction for 2011; it represents an overall 10% increase since 2009. It is unclear whether the increase in a result of simply happy to have a job in a tough economy, or true job satisfaction, in any event, Citi appears to have a more satisfied workforce. Employee training has seen a remarkable increase since the 2008 financial crises. Training activities cover areas such as, leadership, management, product and compliance and since 2008; training hours have increased by over 80% at 38. 4 hours per year per employee. Employees of Citi provided almost 800,000 hours of volunteering activities during 2011, almost 30% growth over 2010. It seems that giving back to the community not only is evidenced by financial metrics but also by the employee’s action. Although Citi’s key performance indicators focus on; Financial Inclusion; Environmental Sustainability; and Valuing our Employees, the Global Citizenship report is quite extensive and can be viewed as a supplement to the Citi Annual Report. In addition to the three key focus areas covered above, the report also covers corporate governance, which is covered in the section that follows, as well as, how Citi serves the customer and maintains sustainable and diverse supply chain relationships. The report outlines both Citi’s achievements as well as the challenges they face and breaks down Citizenship on a regional basis. In guiding their citizenship activities, Citi uses a stakeholder engagement approach to and list their stakeholders as; Customers; Investors; Employees; Regulators; Suppliers; Community Leaders; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s); Socially Responsible Investors; Media; and Competitors. The communication channel used for each stakeholder and examples are included as Appendix B. Corporate Governance Corporate Governance has been defined as â€Å"The framework of rules and practices by which a board of directors ensures accountability, fairness, and transparency in a company’s relationship with its stakeholders (financiers, customers, management, employees, government, and the community). † (Governance, 2012). As an appendix to the annual proxy statement, Citi provides the Citigroup Inc. Corporate Governance Guidelines. Consistent with the overall corporate mission, the corporate governance mission is†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Citigroup Inc. the â€Å"Company†) aspires to the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical conduct: doing what we say; reporting results with accuracy and transparency; and maintaining full compliance with the laws, rules and regulations that govern the Company’s businesses. † (Citi Governance, 2012). This comprehensive document outlines the guidelines and policies with respect to the responsibilities, term, expected qualifications, and compensation of the Board and the committees thereof. Of notable mention in the governance policy would be the restriction against interlocking directorates, the requirement for personal stock ownership, and the annual review and assessment of board performance conducted by the Nomination, Governance and Public Affairs Committee. 5 One shortfall of the policy would be the lack of any set term for a board member. While there are two schools of thought with respect to fixed term appointments, in my opinion, the advantage of bringing in fresh ideas with new board members would outweigh any potential loss of knowledge that would exit with an entrenched board member. I believe staggered board appointments with fixed term would be an enhancement to the Citi corporate governance policy. As mentioned in the Ethics and Compliance Codes section above, as a requirement to list on the NYSE, a company is required to have a formal code of ethics. In addition to this requirement, the NYSE also requires a minimum standard for the independence of directors. To meet the regulation, Citi would need a minimum of 9 independent directors. At the end of 2011, 11 of the 13 member board were independent. The two connected members were Pandit, and the Citi Chairman, Michael O’Neill. The remaining board members consist of a diverse group of active and retired business professionals, a philanthropic foundation president, a former state federal reserve bank official, a leader from the investment management community as well as Ivey league academics. Although only 3 of the board members are women, almost 40% of the members are visible minorities which also includes the Chairman and the CEO of Citi. Simply put, the Board of Directors of Citi is comprised of a very comprehensive representation of their stakeholder groups as identified in Appendix B. As of 2011, there are 5 standing committees of the Board: Audit; Risk Management and Finance; Executive; Personnel and Compensation; and Nomination, Governance and Public Affairs. A separate Charter exists for each committee that outlines the mission, duties and requirements regarding independence of the committee members. The Audit and Risk management committee is comprised of all independent directors. O’Neill is the current Chair of the Executive as well as the Personnel and Compensation Committees (non-voting) and he sits as a voting member of the Nomination, Governance and Public Affairs Committee. Among other roles, the Nomination, Governance and Public Affairs Committee is responsible for the environmental sustainability and stakeholder engagement activities of Citi. Since 2005, non-employee directors receive $75,000 per year plus a deferred stock award valued at $150,000 on the date of issuance with a 2 year vesting period. With the requirement to own stock of Citi, as well as the deferred vesting of the majority of the compensation they will receive, directors of Citi are incented to act in the best interest of the organization. SEC Investigations As a publicly traded, multinational, diversified financial services organization, incorporated in the U. S. , it should not come as any surprise that in the course of their business dealings, both the organization and the individual staff of Citi will be subject to SEC litigations and investigations on a frequent basis. In fact, a search on the SEC website (http://www. sec. gov/litigation. shtml), and filtering the search parameters to include only â€Å"Litigation† and â€Å"Regulatory Actions† you will actually find too many to list. In fact, since January 1, 2005, there have been a total of 284 Regulatory Actions and 140 Litigations that has Citi named. It would be quite misleading to state that all litigations listed Citi as the defendant, however from my brief review of some of the search results there appears to be complaints related to the accounting treatment of credit derivatives, fair value misstatements of sub-prime mortgage exposure, many of which listed most of the financial services industry. There was however one interesting investigation made in 2008 that questioned the independence of the Board of Directors. While I can’t comment too much on the ethical leadership of the firm leading up to the financial crisis, evidence such as the highly publicized investigations, along with the involvement in Worldcom and other major financial collapses, certainly cast a shadow on the past activities. However, during the tenure of the current CEO, as well as his predecessor, the Board of Directors appear to have addressed many of the high level governance ethical shortcomings that were past investigations by the SEC. Conclusion Perhaps the most difficult aspect of conducting a review of an organization is coming to a definitive stance, based on concrete evidence, on the degree of ethical culture that exists inside the organization. Without living inside an organization, how can you state that ethical conduct permeates across all aspects of the firm activities? Operating in an industry that has undoubtedly has the highest level of public cynicism regarding ethical conduct, how could anyone take the stance that any financial services company scores well from any ethical standpoint? Despite this challenge, my impression from this review is that Citi does indeed rank well. Since taking over the firm in 2007, carrying on from Prince’s â€Å"Five Point Ethics Plan†, Pandit, has lead the firm back on firmer financial ground by shedding much of the troubled assets and refocusing the operation more towards a traditional banking model. Despite participating in the TARP and subsequently paying back all funds borrowed, under Pandit’s leadership, Citi has become one of the best capitalized banks in the U. S. He won high 6 praise from public opinion by accepting a total compensation package of $1 for most of 2009 and all of 2010, becoming undoubtedly, the lowest paid employee of Citi. Those types of unselfish acts, despite his personal net worth, should be viewed as a sign of an admirable leadership style. The critics statement that he doesn’t need/deserve the money is, in my opinion, ludicrous and shouldn’t overshadow what is a truly admirable action. An ethical culture starts with an ethical leader posed ready to lead by example and in my opinion, by his example, Mr. Pandit ranks very well. In addition to the profit motive, Citi approaches it business with a demonstrated commitment to environmental and social key performance metrics, engaging with all stakeholders, going above and beyond the simple legal requirements and acting as an agent of moral influence with suppliers. Adding to this ethical framework a very committed CEO, a strong board representing stakeholders, and ethics training, it’s hard to argue that the firm lacks a robust ethical framework. It appears as if the vision of Prince continues to be embraced by Pandit and Citi’s current leadership. While it may be a long road ahead in the court of public opinion, Citi appears to be on the right track to shed the degree of cynicism the financial industry has, but like most future outcomes, only time will tell. 7 References How to cite Ethical Analysis of Citigroup, Essay examples

Film Response to Avatar free essay sample

This is because it came into the market when the revolutionary 3 dimension television was entering the world market. Even more hype was drawn to it due its characters in that are lifelike and the special effects that channel through the viewers mind as the plot unfolds. James Cameron the director places the storyline in a convincing manner fusing the main parts of the movie namely, the plot, the dialogue, the characters, settings and the themes that make it quite a good movie to catch. The storyline basically evolves around a solder in the US army who happens to be paralyzed half of his body. Due to technological advancements a way through which humans could be transformed into hybrid nature called avatar exists. The avatars mission is to explore outside destinations. The soldier is recruited to be the traveler to a moon known as the Pandora. As events unfold the viewer is taken into a mental rollercoaster of the Pandora land. We will write a custom essay sample on Film Response to Avatar or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Beautiful scenery and untamed thick forests with characters having supernatural powers is what greets the viewer. However conflict arises as the plot picks when the main character Jack Sully falls in love not only with the land but also with Neitiri an inhabitant of the Pandora or the Navi. This was against the wishes of the human creators of the main character the avatar. Soon its discovered that massive resources exist in Pandora and the human greed takes over. Its decided that the Navis are to be moved by force but the power of determination and good eventually triumphs. The plot of Avatar is in my opinion is original as its characterized by unique features and motion effects that makes it possible for one to be glued on the screen. Its one of the few elements of the movie that makes it recommended to movie audiences to watch. Also, dialogue of the characters is good as its minimal but very relevant. Cameron has used nonverbal or body language of the characters to communicate with the audience about the story. For instance the ability of the avatar to do things in amazing is self explanatory to the viewer. The characters of the movie are unique but very simple in their action. The development of their traits is evident as the movie goes on. The main character, Sully begins the movie as a wounded soldier whom its expected to be weak and dull due to the fact of his condition however as he turns into the avatar the experience of Pandora freedom seems to be opening for amore vibrant person but also a kind and adventurous person. Neytri on the other hand is seen as a more down to earth lady who is principled and who cannot trade anything for her people. In addition those two main characters the other supporting casts help bring out the themes of the movie which include imperialism and greed in the society. Its noted that the storyline also includes position whereby the humans discover a fortune in the Pandora and dont care if the moons in habitants exist or not. They invade with superior weapons and attack the planet but the forces of nature counter attack them. Environmentalism is a theme is that depict what people can do not only in Pandora but on earth to destroy the environment. This is perhaps an indirect movie that promotes greenness on earth. Having looked at the elements of the movie one can decide to take a good look at the criticism that has been on the increase regarding the movie. First are the fantastic computer graphic and the imagery. This is the best movie that has brought life to the graphics industry. There has been a revolution and a growth over the years in the graphics industry that has seen amore acceptable standard of the movie industry. The graphic are believable and if watched on the 3D format they can be quite entertaining. Another interesting feature of the movie is the director himself who has had a completely different approach in his works and approaches. This means if one likes adventurous movies with characters with determination and vibrancy this is the movie to catch. However the movie can also be counter analyzed. This means it has some characteristics that are a setback. First, the story line is too predictable at some point. The viewer is able to tell that in the long rub the triumph will go a particular side. This is one feature that makes great movies to have a shorter lifespan. The director ought to have left suspense at the end or at the anticlimax but chose not to, this may have cost the movie an interesting feature. Some critics have also pointed out that the plot of the movie is not original although its set up in the unique environment. There have been movies that had similar approaches like that of the avatar. However since the new concept of graphical development is introduced the originality is quickly covered. The company that produces such movies argued on this point that perhaps since it had improved the making of the movies using the 3D concept, perhaps it could appeal to more audiences. Despite depicting the White man save the day notion the movies has strong ant-colonialism and environment message. The movie thus is one of the great must watch because of the above stated reasons. Its one of the most expensive movies of all time and one may clearly say that the work wasnt in vain.

7 key resume tips from hiring managers

7 key resume tips from hiring managers Putting together a strong resume can be tricky. No one knows this better than hiring managers, who see job candidates make a lot of the same mistakes on their resumes over and over again. So who better to let you know what errors to avoid when making your own resume than the people in charge of hiring? Here are 7 tips from hiring managers that will ensure you avoid the biggest resume blunders. 1. Tell the truth.There’s an old assumption that everyone lies a little on their resumes. Don’t buy into that clichà ©, and rise above this silly misstep that’s sure to catch up with you. Lying about your experience on your resume can land you in a job that simply is not for you†¦or worse yet, lead to quite a bit of embarrassment if the hiring manager uncovers a lie. Don’t end up embarrassed or out of your depth because you stretched the truth on your resume.2. Take care of the details.Hiring managers pay close attention to the tiny little parts of every resume section. Misspellings or grammatical errors on a resume are red flags that a potential employee might also make sloppy mistakes on the job. Be equally careful when composing emails when following up on your resume and in your cover letter.3. Skip the objective.The objective is a classic resume element. It’s where you state your ultimate career goal. The thing is, your career goal will often have absolutely nothing to do with the particular position for which you’re actually applying. The resume space you set aside for your objective can be put to better use, so it’s probably wisest just to eliminate it altogether. It’s a bit outdated and no hiring manager is  ever going to miss it or knock you down a peg if it’s not there.4. Get (and list) relevant experience.Being well-educated may be crucial to get a particular job, but hiring managers also want to know that you’ve actually held down a job before. Recent graduates often make the error o f thinking their educational accomplishments are enough, and fail to include work experience on their resumes. Never leave out work experience, even if you have to list menial part-time jobs, unpaid internships, or volunteer work on your resume.5. Don’t forget your accomplishments.Hiring managers want to know where you’ve worked in the past, but that’s not enough to provide a clear picture of what you’ve accomplished. So for each work experience entry, also note what you accomplished or how you were outstanding in that particular job. Be brief, but specific.6. Don’t trumpet your strengths.Are you a strong leader or a â€Å"people person?† Good for you! But save descriptions of yourself for your interview. There shouldn’t be anything but your work experience, accomplishments, degrees earned, and contact information on your resume.7. Don’t forget the cover letter.Okay, so you have a ton of relevant work experience, you’ve earned a higher education degree, and your accomplishments are many and marvelous. Your resume is impeccable. But simply shipping off a resume in response to a job opportunity won’t get you the job- no matter how fabulous your resume is. You also need to submit a cover letter. This is where you can allow a bit more of your personality to shine through and explain why your experiences, education, and accomplishments are relevant to the particular job for which you are applying. Treat your cover letter with all the care you put into your resume, avoiding the misspellings, grammar errors, untruths, and other common mistakes that could make you seem like a less-than-ideal candidate.

140 Characters Twitter Fiction and the Art of Concise Writing

140 Characters Twitter Fiction and the Art of Concise Writing Plenty of people want to become writers, but feel that they simply don’t have the time to commit to writing even a short story. With all the interruptions of the digital age (to say nothing of family and work obligations), finding time to write really can be a challenge. It’s so easy to get frustrated with your writing when you’re just starting out; so hard to not be discouraged These days, there are plenty of ways an aspiring writer can hone their craft and add publication credits to their resume at the same time. And one of the very best ways is to write Twitter-sized tales. These short stories are 140 characters or less (including spaces), and pack a surprising emotional punch. Despite the limitations of the form, skilled Twitter fiction writers are able to make readers laugh, cry, or shiver as they build worlds and introduce characters. Twitter is home to several communities of avid writers and readers, and they are passionate about promoting great 140-character stories. There’s no hard and fast rule about what makes a great Twitter tale. Some stories focus on just a moment’s worth of action, while others span thousands of years in just two sentences. Many are humorous, but plenty more are heart-breaking. The form forces you to choose words precisely, and to cut out any extraneous information. More often than not, the title of the work gives the reader enough framing to understand the events in your story. So, what do you do after you’ve completed your little tale? The most obvious thing to do is post it on your own Twitter account, to share with your own followers. If you can spare the space, adding hashtags to your story will enable other Twitter fiction fans to find it more easily. Hashtags to consider include #vss (which stands for â€Å"very short story†), #nanofiction, or #fiction. Another hashtag is #lqw, which designates that the story contains the word of the day as designated There are also dozens of Twitter accounts for websites that publish only 140-character stories. Some of the most notable are @OneFortyFiction, @seedpodpub, @sixwordstories, @twitterfiction, @7Ãâ€"20, and @trapezemag, all of which are unpaid markets. @Nanoism is a paying Twitter fiction market, which publishes three times a week and pays between $1.50 and $1 for stories: not bad, given the brevity of the form. Serialized Twitter fiction is paid out at a higher rate. @thaumatrope and @tweetthemeat also pay to publish other people’s Twitter stories, though both markets are currently on hiatus. In short: keep on writing, and keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to grow your fan base. Depending on where you choose to publish your stories, your work may be exposed to thousands of people. In addition, there are often contests being held on Twitter But beyond the accolades and the prizes, the best thing about writing Twitter fiction is how it can improve your writing. With practice, this shortest of short story forms can help even the most verbose of writers to develop a clear, clean, and concise style. And that’s a skill that will benefit any writer as they begin work on longer projects.

Detroit and Cleveland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Detroit and Cleveland - Essay Example Once upheld because of its transportation system, the cities are now considered hinterlands which thankfully, have awakened concerned parties to look into the issue and find solutions. The solution they found is to improve the transportation system, which politicians found to be a potential investment as examined what happened in the cities around the world which rapidly developed during the last decades. Detroit, which started its influence in the transportation system, first applied the Gallatin plan, making canals that linked the city to other cities and eventually to other states. This made transportation and economic transactions easier and consequently improving the city’s economy. Eventually, people moved in to the city with new businesses and creating jobs that made the city into a suburb that attracted more people. The growth of Detroit’s population continued with a steep density gradient as it looked towards improving roads for easier transportation, eyeing th e use of airlines to concentrate people in the city. Likewise, Cleveland had a similar experience that made it have a name that could be compared to the formerly mentioned city. It is then observed that transportation indeed have a great influence in the success of a city’s economy. ... Citizens cried for a better transportation system that would allow them faster and safer travels so they could perform well in their responsibilities. With the glory of the aforementioned cities lost, their populations decreased, affecting their economy and leaving them to seem provincial when compared to cities in Spain which a few decades ago were very far behind when it comes to their economic status. The comparisons with Spain and China became a challenge to the two cities and are now planning their course of action to attract back people to move into the lands, invest in the cities and have their residencies, with an economic based program concentrated on the railway system. Detroit’s plan to use state of the art technology in the transportation system would bring a great change in the travel experiences of people, as they move from place to place on comfortable, high speed rails. The cities envision railroads that allow fast-paced transportations comparable to highly imp roved transport systems of Spain and probably with the German autobahn. The cities look forward to a bright future as they plan to make transportation systems that are wired, using light emitting diodes to produce a dream come true for the nation. This plan is supported by the current president of America however, the financial assistance offered by the government is not sufficient enough to support the project. Despite such a problem, the nation is still hopeful that this will come to pass as the evidence of what high technology transportation has brought to other nations, has proven to be worth the sacrifices. Urban renewal is aimed with the improvement

Answers for 5 discussion questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answers for 5 discussion questions - Essay Example Jackson’s â€Å"The Haunting of Hill House† is a book whose plot revolves round haunting sessions in a hill house. â€Å"Eleanor did not sleep during the afternoon, although she would have liked to; instead, she lay on Theodoras bed in the green room and watched Theodora do her nails, chatting lazily, unwilling to let herself perceive that she had followed Theodora into the green room because she had not dared to be alone† (pg 40). This quote portrays horror in the hill house as everybody feels fear yet they refuse to admit. Horror in the hill house make characters incline to believe in redemption from religion. â€Å"Hell House† depicts haunting sessions and doom that befalls non-believers. This movie is unethical as a method of persuasion as it instills fear in characters leaving them with no other option but believe in religion. Cults and organizations exhibit pledge to their leaders regarding organizational beliefs, ideas and obligations. Leaders of cults and organizations command actions of members and resistance to these actions is unacceptable. Cults and organization serve to acquire financial benefits. Encouraging team spirit within cults and organizations forms a unique feature. However, cults differ from organizations in various aspects. Actions of leaders of organization are subject to review by relevant authorities marred with such duties. Cults are not answerable to any authorities and their activities are non-religious. Unlike cults, organizations condemn members from cutting links with their families or friends. Organizations are not necessarily formed on religious beliefs and ideologies. "It is also possible that part of our test of faith is our loving of this world, even our flesh body, to the extent to be willing to leave it without any proof of the Next Levels existence" (Davis pp. 123). The intriguing aspect of Davis’s analysis is the

European court of justice on the free movement of workers Essay

European court of justice on the free movement of workers - Essay Example According to the research findings the 1957 Treaty of Rome established cooperation amongst some six European nations which led to the formation of the European Economic Community, a supranational body meant to enhanced the creation of a common market and promote the rights of citizens of member states. Member states agreed to cede some elements of their sovereignty to the European Commission and in return, acquired some rights and freedoms for their citizens through a common market with several flexibilities in international matters. Amongst the freedoms that the EC Treaty guarantees is the free movement of persons, services and capital under Article 39 of the EC Treaty. Since the European Community was neither a federation nor a nation, the application of the EC Treaty had some challenges which have been modified through a number of treaties that made it more appropriate and practicable in application. This include the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. There are some cases that the law of member states interacts in a complex manner with EU Laws. The evolution of the Freedom of Movement in the European Community is steeped in Article 39 of the TFEU which prevents all forms of discrimination against citizens of member states who move to other EU nations The legal preamble is provided by Regulation 1612/68 of the Council which forbids specifies the types of discrimination that must be avoided Other supporting regulations like the Directive 68/360 supports the easy entry of EU nationals into other nations in the Union. European Court of Justice cases have helped to outline major terms in the Laws relating to free movement like 'worker' and 'equal treatment'. This have laid precedence on the core definitions and application of the laws on the Free Movement of Persons in the European Union. Introduction The Free Movement of Persons in member states of the European Community is one of the 'four freedoms' envisaged in the original 1957 Rome Treaty9. The free movement of persons is one of the most fundamental components that are central to the success of the creation and sustenance of a common market10. The laws on the freedom of movement in the European Community allows the settlement and integration of citizens of member states into other member states11. This include the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality12, the right to seek work and remain a worker in another Member State13, the right to receive and provide services14. These come together to create a framework for the operation of the laws on the freedom of movement of persons across the European Union. Currently, these EU legal standards provide the broad framework that determines the scope and application of the laws on the mobility of labour between member states15. The European Court of Justice has interpreted the standards and frameworks on the EU rules on freedom of movement16. These have created precedents that have restricted the scope of the free movement of persons17. Thus some elements of Article 45 of the TFEU have been tested and ambiguities clarified18. The European Union freedom of rights of movement is guaranteed by Article 45 of TFEU19. It is a convergence point that integrates other legal instruments in the European Union which prevents all forms of discrimination in relation to employment of EU nationals in member nations in relation to remuneration and other conditions of work are abolished20. These laws guarantee EU national’s rights to settle, work and integrate into other member states21. The main limitation of the application of this law is that the freedom of movement and the right to employment does not apply to the public service of any member state22. This is one of the indicators that the law supports a degree of subsidiarity and allows member states to retain some level of autonomy. On the

Why Women Speak Differently Than Men

Why Women Speak Differently Than Men INTRODUCTION This theoretical seminar paper will elaborate on the significant differences of language or speaking behaviour concerning gender. The different ways men and women use language has been of interest in the study of discourse in awhile. Current studies have revealed that women use more words related to psychological and social processes, whereas men refer more to object properties and impersonal topics. (Newman (2008) p. 211) However, do women really speak differently than men or is language possibly even sexist? Ann Weatherall, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, assumed that language issues concerning gender are political issues. Furthermore, she thinks that a womans social position is not only reflected by language, but it could challenge it. In addition, she says that certain knowledge about the relationship between language and gender is significant, due to information about strategies for engendering social change for the better. (Weatherall (2002) p. 2) The overall aim of this paper is to draw a conclusion on a de facto incidence of concrete language or speaking differences in meaning/ message, words and phrases between men and women. Where are the differences concerning politeness? Is there a womens language and why do men mostly dominate conversations, if women are better at talking than men? In which way do language skills develop during the childhood? All these questions will be answered in this theoretical analysis. Summing up, this analysis identifies when, where, and how do men and women communicate differently, including why these differences exist. The following research provides a reflection on how men and women communicate in various contexts and domains. ANALYSIS Theoretical Concepts Generally speaking, gender differences in terms of language contain political, professional and personal implications. Other guiding principles are biological or social differences, which need to be taken into consideration. The following analysis points out both sex similarities and sex differences with respect to communicative behaviour. In some domains mens normal speech is similar to womens talking behaviour and in cases they differ completely. In progress, it should be anticipated that both sexes budge in manifold cultural and social environments and thus avail themselves of alternative meanings by sharing universal terms and expressions. Those subtle distinctions often cause misunderstandings and even confusion regarding verbal and non-verbal messages. (Canary, 1998, p. ix-xi) Language differences between men and women can be found in vocabulary innovation, pronunciation, communication style and grammar. According to Ann Weatherall, a scientist of psychology, the nineteenth-century contained an awareness of a relationship between language and womens social status due to womens movement and the publications of this time. (Weatherall, 2002, pp. 2) Language Development during Infancy Even in infancy at the age of nine to fifteen years, the development of language diverse grids can be observed. In their article Sex differences in neural processing of language among children of 2008 by Douglas D. Burman, Tali Bitan and James R. Booth, the scientists research on the sex differences with regard to cerebral activities. They suggest that girls rely on a supramodal language network, whereas boys process visual and auditory words differently. Furthermore the scientists claim that females are generally better among language performance than males, even when they are only two or three years old. They say that boys start talking later, acquire vocabulary slower and show less spontaneous language than girls. (Burman (2008) pp. 1349) For their research study, they used a statistical model that generalized across task, stimulus modality, and age while accounting for variability in performance accuracy. Their findings revealed the following significant attributes: Girls exhibit a greater activation of language areas. In frontal and temporal regions the activation was bilaterally weaker among boys, as right-hemisphere activation was stronger among girls, reducing sensitivity with a higher threshold created the appearance of a laterality difference similar to that reported by others. The left fusiform and superior temporal gyri showed similar sex differences during non-linguistic sensory tasks, yet activation of the fusiform (as well as the left inferior frontal gyrus) was correlated with performance accuracy only during linguistic judgments. Correlation of the left fusiform activation with standardized reading scores further demonstrated its relevance to sex differences in language function. Finally, differences in brain behaviour correlations collapsed across language judgments or stimulus modality demonstrated that girls and boys rely on different brain areas for accurate language performance. (Burman (2008) p. 1357) Although both boys and girls showed bilateral activation, increasing our statistical threshold (thereby lowering sensitivity) resulted in marked sex differences in laterality, with frontal and temporal lobe activation appearing in the right-hemisphere of girls, where their activation was stronger than boys. (Burman (2008) p. 1358) As Jennifer Coates research found, girls acquire linguistic skills at a faster rate than boys. Moreover, they acquire patterns, which differentiate them from boys. The differences, initially thought to result from innate biological differences, are actually developments of distinctions in the linguistic environment of girls and boys. In the socialization process, language plays an important role for a child. [C]ildren are socialized into culturally approved sex roles largely through language. The process of learning to be male or female in our society means, in other words, to learn sex-appropriate language. There are four methods of acquiring socialization through language: The first approach would be through explicit comment on certain aspects of linguistic behaviour, for instance, through swearing, taboo words, verbosity or politeness. Secondly, adults provide different linguistic models for children to identify with. A third way would be that adults talk differently to children d epending on the sex of the child. Experiences say that adults tend to interrupt girls and lisp more when speaking to little girls. The fourth way says that adults have different preconditions of male and female children. Girls are expected to be more verbally able than male infants. The locus of linguistic change can be child language. Linguistic change in progress will be revealed, when we compare the variety of language acquired by children with the variety used by adults of the same ethnic groups or social classes. During infancy and adolescence the individual learns linguistic behaviour appropriate to its sex and becomes part of his or her identity. (Coates, 1986, pp. 133, 134) iii. Major Differences According to Canary and Dindia, the term gender concerns social, symbolic construction that expresses the meaning a society confers on biological sex. Furthermore, they claim gender is related to cultures within any society given. Those two researchers found various communication-related differences including that male infancy and adolescent interacting contains a lot of interruption, self-displays, challenges, strong assertion or direct judgement than female childhood and adolescent communication. Their observations showed that females rely more on verbal communication than men, comprising personal disclosures. Women exhibit this behaviour to maintain and to build intimacy with friends or potential partners. On the other hand, men put confidence in shared activities or doing complaisance for others to build, sustain and express intimacy with friends and potential partners. Additionally, the scientists claim that men only talk about relationships, if there emerged a serious tension or problem requiring attention, whereas women conciliate when talking about relationships. In general, men react less sensitive to and perceptive of others nonverbal cues than women. Moreover, females tend to be more involved in taking care for others than men do. Resulting from these facts comes the idea that both sexes follow expressive and instrumental goals, although one sex may stress one objective more than the other. In other words, males and females misunderstand each other in terms of requesting, questioning, listening or offering assistance. Contrary to sex differences, gender distinctions are cultivated, but not compulsive. (Canary, 1998, p. 20) Speaking mannerism is also shaped by group experiences such as football, hunting, ballet, cheerleading, being father or mother, president or even a hobo. Other social ideologies can be personal appearances or professional options, which underly and reflect social, economic and political power, the income and economic security, which is provided by women and men. Those indications constitute the major distinctions in male and female communication behaviour. As gender theory is seen as a social construction rooted in hierarchy, which means that power is more useful than gender in defining general differentiation. Power imbalance gives information about varieties between various groups of unequal standing, containing parents and children, slaves and masters, prisoners and guards or workplace related hierarchies. (Canary, 1998, p. 21) All in all, owing to Canarys and Dindias evidences, differences between man and women depend on social structures and practices that create and normalize disparate power and correspondingly disparate opportunities, experiences and socially approved identities and activities for the sexes. In their point of view, there was a misinterpretation of personal qualities of human beings by justifying the unequal treatment of individual persons. With the help of Tavris work on academic and popular instances and endemic differences between males and females, the researchers state that mens and womens daily behaviour is adjusted to their roles they play, the ideologies they belief in and the work they do. Thus, their human qualities can be encourages by transforming roles, ideologies and work in both sexes. A further perception in terms of social prescriptions is the fact that women are naturally better than men at taking care of others and of the range of things necessary for all of us to exist. So, we can say in the first place, the existing differences result from culture without being unalterable or essential. (Canary, 1998, pp. 34-36) When looking at conversational interaction, we observe many differences and even a polarized depiction of men and women. The differences imply thoughts, feelings, responds, reactions, love, needs and appreciation. The so-called socialization of women and men develops contrasting communication styles. From this follows that men tend to be direct and assertive, on the other hand, women have a penchant to be polite, expressive and to assume an interpersonal orientation. It needs to be added that those differences reside within the individual. A persons gender does not define its entity, but one should pay attention to what someone does in interaction with others. Male or female talking behaviour depends on the situational context and for that reason no person can be allocated masculine or feminine in significant contexts. [The] construction of polarized conception of men and women in interaction helps to sustain current realities and keep inequalities in place. (Canary, 1998, p. 77) As we learned, the comparison of talking behaviour between men and women reveals consistent gender differences in language use. For women the English language served as way to discuss people and their actions, as well as communicating internal processes to others, including doubts. Additionally, women express thoughts, emotions, senses, negations and verbs in present and past tense more often than men. For men language serves rather as a repository of labels for external events, objects and processes. Along with technical linguistic features such as numbers, articles, prepositions and long words were discussion of occupation, money, sports and even swear words. One phenomenon of both sexes is the indistinguishability in their references to sexuality, anger, time, the use of first-person plural, the number of words and question marks and the insertion of qualifiers in the form of exclusion words (e.g., but, although). The main difference of men was that their speech was characterized by more negative emotion and more references to the past relative to their writing. Natural language tends to be more informal and less constrained, perhaps because spoken language is more natural than writing. Especially girls use function words like pronouns at much higher rates in conversations. Unlike women, men talk about concrete objects, which require nouns and articles, when having a conversation about any topic. Summing up, the general message by Newman, Groom, Handelman and Pennebaker concerns gender differences that are larger on tasks and place fewer constraints on language use. Despite this, both sexes use language in reliably and systematically different ways. Writing about a traumatic experience is very different from writing a class exam, but men and women wrote differently across both contexts. This mirrors the substantial intraindividual consistency in language use reported in earlier work. Thus, gender differences in written and spoken language appear to be reliable and subtle. Their analysis has identified differences at four major levels of research- words, phrases, sentences, and overall messages. Primarily presented word differences possess the most direct correspondence to previous literature. However, many phrase-level, sentence-level, and message-level features are associated with particular word choices. (Newman, 2008, pp. 229,230) iv. Word Differences Discoveries found that women used more intensive adverbs and affect words regarding emotional references, not being always restricted to positive emotions. Successful replications for mens speaking behaviour contained a substantial increased use of numbers, articles, long words, and swearing. Women are more likely to refer both to positive feelings and to negative emotions than men, especially, sadness and anxiety. The finding of a male advantage in anger words is not replicated. The most striking discovery is that unlike men, women are the more prolific users of first-person singular pronouns (i.e., I, me, and my). (Newman, 2008, pp. 230, 231) v. Phrase Differences The category of polite forms (e.g., Would you mind if, Should I get the door?) confirms a small but reliable tendency to be appearing more often in womens texts. Women were more likely to hedge than men. However, women were no more likely to use words from the tentative category (e.g., maybe, perhaps). The use of phrases, such as I guess, indicate the findings that women use more polite forms, and are reluctant to force their views on other people. (Newman, 2008, p. 231) vi. Sentences Differences In terms of words used, men consume more airtime. The data of Newman data found no evidence of any differences in overall word count. Women ask more questions and insert more tag questions into their sentence. (Newman, 2008, p. 231) vii. Differences in message It concerns what is implicit in language rather than what is contained in languages manifest features. Even so, it is informative to consider the types of topics that males and females use their words to talk about. There is strong evidence that women seem to have more of a rapport style, discussing social topics and expressing internal thoughts and feelings more often, whereas men report more often, describing the quantity and location of objects. The absence of a difference in first-person plural may indicate that the word we is not a simple marker of a communal, interdependent mindset rather than indicating doubts about whether women really are rapport oriented. (Newman (2008) pp. 232-233) In the sociolinguistic research of sex differentiation, scientists found that sex differences in language often cut across social class variation. It seems that women from the middle class apply proportionally more standard forms, accorded to overt prestige by society. However, men from the working class apply proportionally more non-standard forms, which are closer to the vernacular. (Coates, 1986, pp. 77, 78) If we have a look at sex differences in communicative competence, it can be observed that men and women pursue different interactive modes. Exempli gartia, in mixed-sex conversations, men tend to interrupt women, which induces silence in the female mind. This strategy used by men is meant to control certain topics of conversation. In return, women have the conspicuous mannerism of minimal responses to indicate support for the person, who is talking. As a general rule, men tend to talk more, use more often swearwords or imperative forms to get things done, while women have a disposition to ask more questions. In terms of politeness, it is the women that avails herself of genteel linguistic forms. Such amassments of linguistic features are often called mens or womens style. Such conspicuous facts in speech are typical for people, who range within a low status society. Such linguistic clusters can be seen as powerful signs of mutual support and solidarity, when women talk to women. Thos e tokens can also be denoted as ideal form of co-operative discourse or co-counselling. Consequently, mens style could be describes as competitive and assertive by dominating mixed-sex interaction, whereas the womens style can be interpreted as co-operative and supportive. Looking at the speech community in respect of participation, it can be assumed that both males and females stick to a certain set of norms for conversational interaction. Needless to say, these norms are differently referring to women or men. What we can exclude is the assumption that these shared norms are grammatical or phonological, but men and women constitute distinct speech communities. (Coates, 1986, p. 117) Contexts are significantly different according to the same-sex or to mixed-sex conversations. The gender hierarchy becomes irrelevant, if all the talking participants are the same sex. In mixed-race conversation, one can observe dominance and oppression. When women interact with other women, they feel equal, but when speaking to men, they are dominated. (Coates, 1986, p. 161) IV. CONCLUSION Taking everything into consideration, interpreting the gender differences is clearly an expansive matter. Further investigation in the future could give some more indications of detailed explanation of the ways in which social roles and relationships between men and women contribute to differences in language use. As we learned during the analysis atop, the study of language caters an unambiguously social perspective on the study of gender differences. Understanding the main differences in communication style between human beings is obviously dependent on the maintenance of gender stereotypes. Communication differences concerning gender reflect a complex combination of social goals, situational demands, and socialization. The overall aim of this paper was to provide a clear outline of the differences in mens and womens language, and maybe offers a starting point for future research into the nature and origin of gender differences. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates significant differences in the way that humans use language with respect to what they say and how they choose to say it. (Newman (2008) p. 233) Furthermore, the study found that girls have significantly greater activation in linguistic areas of the brain. The pattern of activation differences and the relationship of activation with performance accuracy and reading skill suggest that these differences underlie childhood sex differences in language performance. Furthermore, the results indicate that accurate performance among boys and girls depends on different brain regions, perhaps reflecting different approaches to linguistic processing despite extensive overlap in activated regions. Girls make language judgments based on linguistic content by accessing a common language network regardless of the sensory input, whereas boys rely on a modality-specific network. Although such differences reflect early differences in processing language, evidence does not currently suggest that differences in brain-behaviour correlations persist into adulthood. Instead, such differences may disappear as the development of sensory processing in boys catches up to girls, so that by adulthood language processing in both sexes relies on the efficiency of the brains linguistic network. This possibility warrants further study. Nonetheless, by characterizing the nature of sex differences in processing language during a period in which reading acquisition occurs, our findings represent an important step toward identifying the developmental basis for sex differences in language performance. (Burman (2008) pp. 1359, 1360) Summing up, this theoretical seminar paper tried to uncover sex and gender differences and has demonstrated that not only in our society exist male and female differences in language. Linguistic sex differences have socially undesirable consequences. Mens and womens differing understanding in conversational interaction can sometimes lead to miscommunication. [This] miscommunication between adult speakers in mixed conversations assumes that women and men talk differently and have different rules for conversation, because they belong to different subcultures. The path of using language concerning girls is a contributory factor to their disadvantaged position. Differences in girls and boys language are directly related to girls oppression, when looking at the differences in the gender roles and identities of women and men and the hierarchical nature of gender relations and the dominance of men. Language is one of the means by which individuals locate themselves in social space. Completi ng, speech can be seen as an act of identity, because while speaking the individuals defines him- or herself as male or female. (Coates, 1986, pp. 160, 161) It is hoped that this paper could help to understand the way males and females use language and their linguistic relationship a little better.

Alzheimers Disease Essay example -- Alzheimers Disease Essays

Alzheimer's Disease On the first day of class, it was proposed that "Brain=Behavior," implying that not only all actions and emotions can be explained by neuronal activity, but also the very sense of self which is so important to many of us. This latter implication was met with considerable resistance. Surely there must be more to an individual's personality and Self than a bunch of patterns of activity across neurons. Through the research I have done for this paper, I have discovered that disorders such as Alzheimer's disease add a new twist to the debate surrounding the origin of the Self. My purpose here is to provide an overview of Alzheimer's disease, including its neurobiological basis, the differences between early and late onset, and some of the possible causes, and then to readdress the question of whether the Self can be traced to the Brain in light of this information. Over the last few decades, Alzheimer's disease has come to be recognized as the most common form of dementia among the world's older population, affecting an estimated 4 million people in the United States alone (1, 2). It is characterized by progressive loss of memory, language and reasoning skills, and other cognitive functions, as well as changes in personality, such as increased aggressiveness (1, 2). No definite cause has been discovered, and it is as yet without a cure; however, much progress has been and continues to be made, and many scientists believe that a cure will eventually be developed. Although the causes are unknown, research has shown that the disease begins in the entorhinal cortex and spreads first to the hippocampus and then proceeds to other parts of the brain, particularly the cerebral cortex. Since these two regions are ... ...comprehensive summary of current research regarding the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of Alzheimer's, including care. In addition to this wealth of information, the site has excellent graphical representations accessible by links throughout the text, as well as a glossary of technical terms at the end. 2. http://hcs.harvard.edu:80/~husn/BRAIN/vol3/b96txt.html#EarlyandLate: Early and Late Onset as Subdivisions of Alzheimer's Disease, an article by Elizabeth Kensinger published in the online journal, The Harvard BRAIN. Explores and explains research to date regarding these two different forms of Alzheimer's disease, covering the "symptomatic, biological, genetic, neurophysiological and neurological characteristics" of both early and late onset subtypes. Then proceeds to draw conclusions from this data, regarding future approaches to diagnosis and treatment.

Intro to Macro Notes

A situation In which unlimited wants exceed the Ilmlted resources available to fulfill those wants Economics: The study of the choices people make to attain their goals, given their scarce resources. Economic Model: A simplified version of reality used to analyze real-world economic situations.Often based on unrealistic assumptions that simplify the problem at hand without substantially affecting the validity of the answer No one model can address every important topic, so we will learn diff models as we study difftopics Economic analysis may be positive or normative: Positive analysis: Analysis concerned with what is Positive statements can be evaluated as true or false using only data. For example, â€Å"After speeding cameras were Installed on 1-38, the average speed of motorists dec reased. † Normative analysis: Analysis concerned with what ought to be.Normative statemnts involve personal values, so they cannot be evaluated as true or flase using only data â€Å"the gover nemtn should install addition speeding cameras on 1-380 Economics is studied on two levels: Microeconomics: The study of how households and firms make choices, how they nteract in markets, and how the government attempts to influence their choices. Macroeconomics: The study ot the economy as a whole including topics such as Inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. Micro and macro are closely Interwlned because changes In the overall economy arise from the decisions of individual households and firms.CHAPTER 2 Trade off: The idea hat because of scarcity, producing more of one good or service means producing less of another good or service PPH A curve snowlng tne maxlmum attalnaDle comDlnatlons 0T two products tn ay be produced with available resources and current technology The PPF is an economic model used to analyze the tradeoffs that individuals firms, and countries face when deciding how to employ their scarce resources. Combinations outside the PPF are unattainable, given t he available resources and current technology (scarcity) Combinations inside or on the PPF are attainable, given current shit.Inside the PPF is ineffificent, reosuces are not being used and possible for economy to produce more of one without making more of other Comibinations of the PPF are efficient because the maximum output obtained from he available resouces are current technology so it is impossible for the economy to produce more of one good without producing less of the other(Trade ofO Oportunity cost: The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity Every choice has an opportunity cost because every choice has a next-best alternative In our pPF example near can use all is avaible resources and current technology to produce either 200 laptops per week or 400 tablets per week 200L=400T so 1 L=2T and IT=O. L Near's Marginal opportunity cost of 1 laptop is constant at 2 tablets, meaning that for Near to produce 1 more laptop, it must give up producin g 2 tablets; inversely, Near's marginal opportunity cost of 1 tablet is constant at one-half of a laptop, meaning that for Near to produce 1 more tablet, it must give up producing one-half of a laptop In the same example, Far can use all resources and currnet technology to produce either 220 laptops per week or 1100 tablets per week 220L=1100T, so IL-5T and IT=. 2L Fars marginal opportunity cost of 1 laptop is constant at 5 tablets, and Fars marginal opportunity cost of 1 tablet is constant at one-fifth ofa laptopA bowed-out PPF illustrates increasing marginal opportunity costs: as the economy increases it production of one good in one-unit increments, it must decrease tis production of the other good by larger and larger amounts (see page 44 of the textbook for a numerical example) I nls occurs Decause some resources are netter sultea to produce one g ratner than the other A bowed-out PPF is more realistic than a straight-line PPF but we use straight-line PPFs for simplicity (the c onclusions are the same for both) At any given time, the resources available to an economy are fixed, but over time, the esources available to an economy may increase or decrease. When an economy gains resources, its PPF shirts outward, and when an economy loses resources , its PPF shifts inward An improvement in technology makes it possible for an economy to produce more goods and services with the same amount of resources, so the economy's PPF shifts outward when technology improves. Economic Growth: The ability of the economy to increase the production of goods and services. Outward shifts of an economys PPF represent economic growth EXAMPLES: illustrate the effect of each of the following on a bowed-out PPF for corn and computers:Comparative advantage: The ability of an individual, a firm or country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than competitors Near has the compartative advantage in the production of laptops: Far's marginical opportunity cost of 1 lap top is 5 tablets, while nears marginial oppurnity cost of 1 laptop is only 2 tablets. Far has the comparative advantage in the production of tablets. Near's marginal opportunity cost of 1 tablet is one-half of a laptop, while far's marginal opportunity cost of 1 tablet is only one-fifth ofa laptop. It is possitble o have the absolute advantage without having comparative advantage n production of that good (far and laptops) It is possible to have comparative advantage without having absolute advantage too. near and laptops) Gains from trade arise form specialization and trade are based on comparative advantage.

500 Million Years of Fish Evolution

500 Million Years of Fish Evolution Compared to dinosaurs, mammoths and saber-toothed cats, fish evolution may not seem all that interesting - until you realize that if it werent for prehistoric fish, dinosaurs, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats would never have existed. The first vertebrates on the planet, fish provided the basic body plan subsequently elaborated on by hundreds of millions of years of evolution: in other words, your great-great-great (multiply by a billion) grandmother was a small, meek fish of the Devonian period. (See a gallery of prehistoric fish pictures and profiles, a list of 10 recently extinct fish, and a slideshow of 10 Prehistoric Fish Everyone Should Know.) The Earliest Vertebrates: Pikaia and Pals Although most paleontologists wouldnt recognize them as true fish, the first fish-like creatures to leave an impression on the fossil record appeared during the middle Cambrian period, about 530 million years ago. The most famous of these, Pikaia, looked more like a worm than a fish, but it had four features crucial to later fish (and vertebrate) evolution: a head distinct from its tail, bilateral symmetry (the left side of its body looked like the right side), V-shaped muscles, and most importantly, a nerve cord running down the length of its body. Because this cord wasnt protected by a tube of bone or cartilage, Pikaia was technically a chordate rather than a vertebrate, but it still lay at the root of the vertebrate family tree. Two other Cambrian proto-fish were a bit more robust than Pikaia. Haikouichthys is considered by some expertsat least those not overly concerned by its lack of a calcified backbone - to be the earliest jawless fish, and this inch-long creature had rudimentary fins running along the top and bottom of its body. The similar Myllokunmingia was slightly less elongated than either Pikaia or Haikouichthys, and it also had pouched gills and (possibly) a skull made of cartilage. (Other fish-like creatures may have predated these three genera by tens of millions of years; unfortunately, they havent left any fossil remains.) The Evolution of Jawless Fish During the Ordovician and Silurian periods - from 490 to 410 million years ago - the worlds oceans, lakes, and rivers were dominated by jawless fish, so named because they lacked lower jaws (and thus the ability to consume large prey). You can recognize most of these prehistoric fish by the -aspis (the Greek word for shield) in the second parts of their names, which hints at the second main characteristic of these early vertebrates: their heads were covered by tough plates of bony armor. The most notable jawless fish of the Ordovician period were Astraspis and Arandaspis, six-inch-long, big-headed, finless fish that resembled giant tadpoles. Both of these species made their living by bottom-feeding in shallow waters, wriggling slowly above the surface and sucking up tiny animals and the waste of other marine creatures. Their Silurian descendants shared the same body plan, with the important addition of forked tail fins, which gave them more maneuverability. If the -aspis fish were the most advanced vertebrates of their time, why were their heads covered in bulky, un-hydrodynamic armor? The answer is that, hundreds of millions of years ago, vertebrates were far from the dominant life forms in the earths oceans, and these early fish needed a means of defense against giant sea scorpions and other large arthropods. The Big Split: Lobe-Finned Fish, Ray-Finned Fish, and Placoderms By the start of the Devonian periodabout 420 million years agothe evolution of prehistoric fish veered off in two (or three, depending on how you count them) directions. One development, which wound up going nowhere, was the appearance of the jawed fishes known as placoderms (plated skin), the earliest identified example of which is Entelognathus. These were essentially larger, more varied -aspis fish with true jaws, and the most famous genus by far was the 30-foot-long Dunkleosteus, one of the biggest fish that ever lived. Perhaps because they were so slow and awkward, placoderms vanished by the end of the Devonian period, outclassed by two other newly evolved families of jawed fish: the chondrichthians (fish with cartilaginous skeletons) and osteichthyans (fish with bony skeletons). The chondrichthians included prehistoric sharks, which went on to tear their own bloody path through evolutionary history. The osteichthyans, meanwhile, split into two further groups: the actinopterygians (ray-finned fish) and sarcopterygians (lobe-finned fish). Ray-finned fish, lobe-finned fish, who cares? Well, you do: the lobe-finned fishes of the Devonian period, such as Panderichthys and Eusthenopteron, had a characteristic fin structure that enabled them to evolve into the first tetrapods - the proverbial fish out of water ancestral to all land-living vertebrates, including humans. The ray-finned fish stayed in the water, but went on to become the most successful vertebrates of all: today, there are tens of thousand of species of ray-finned fish, making them the most diverse and numerous vertebrates on the planet (among the earliest ray-finned fish were Saurichthys and Cheirolepis). The Giant Fish of the Mesozoic Era No history of fish would be complete without mentioning the giant dino-fish of the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (though these fish werent as numerous as their oversized dinosaur cousins). The most famous of these giants were the Jurassic Leedsichthys, which some reconstructions put at a whopping 70 feet long, and the Cretaceous Xiphactinus, which was only about 20 feet long but at least had a more robust diet (other fish, compared to Leedsichthys diet of plankton and krill). A new addition is Bonnerichthys, yet another large, Cretaceous fish with a tiny, protozoan diet. Bear in mind, though, that for every dino-fish like Leedsichthys there are a dozen smaller prehistoric fish of equal interest to paleontologists. The list is nearly endless, but examples include Dipterus (an ancient lungfish), Enchodus (also known as the saber-toothed herring), the prehistoric rabbitfish Ischyodus, and the small but prolific Knightia, which has yielded so many fossils that you can buy your own for less than a hundred bucks.

Weimar Constitution of Germany essays

Weimar Constitution of Germany essays After the recent signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the current German government is under great criticism. Extreme left wing political parties are pushing for Revolution. One such group is the Spartacists, a group following the example set by Lenin, in the successful communist movement in Russia. After the abdication of the Kaiser, leader of the Social Democratic Party, Ebert, received the position of Chancellor. Only two days later the armistice was signed, indicating the end of the war. The most urgent task facing the Ebert government was to create a new constitution for Germany. Germany was, after the war, in great economical, emotional and physical disrepair and man political groups were fighting for power. The task of drafting a constitution was given to Hugo Preuss, a lawyer and prominent figure of the German Democratic Party. The constitution guaranteed basic rights to the German people. All were to be equal in the eyes of the law, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of religion are all written into the constitution. This new constitution meant Germany would have a president, elected every seven years. The president was Head-of-State and Supreme Commander of the armed forces. It gives the president power and not just a position. The president appoints and dismisses the chancellor and has the power to dissolve the Reichstag and call elections if the need arises. Under article 48, the president can also intervene, using the armed forces, to restore order, in an emergency situation. This power also means the president can suspend the basic rights of the people, the ability to rule by decree in times of emergency. Under the new system, Germany will have two houses of parliament. The German states were represented by the Reichstrat, and a more powerful house, the Reichstag, representative of the German people. The constitution also gave voting right ...

EU LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EU LAW - Essay Example Article 18(1) of the E.C. Treaty provides that every citizen can move and reside freely in any part of the E.U. Article 39 (1) provides for free movement of workers. Article 43 provides for freedom of establishment by which individuals can get self employed. Article 49 gives freedom to provide and receive service in any part of the E.U.1. Citizens are bound by the law of the European Union and decision of the European Union Court of Justice is final. The individuals and Government officials should consult the legislation relating to the European parliament which represents people of Europe, the Council of the European Union which represents national governments of member states, and the European Commission that takes care of the common interest of the E.U. The Sarbotinians should exercise their votes in European Parliament elections. Some of the benefits that Sarbotinians can enjoy because of this membership in the EU are that they can travel across EU regions without passports and border checks. They can buy goods of their choice in any other member state where they may get at cheaper prices without custom duties. The single currency Euro makes it easier for all EU members to travel in any part of EU without having to convert it to local currency. Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain are already using Euro even for their local transactions. Hereafter it will be a single market without frontiers for member states thus intensifying competition and ensuring the highest possible quality for goods and services at the lowest possible prices. As per ascension treaty, there can be restrictions on work in other member states for new Sarbotinians between January 2010 and December 2015 but they will be phased o ut gradually. While the U.K.,