Financing SME Essay Example for Free

Financing SME Essay The definition of Small Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) varies from country to country. The classification can be based on the firm’s assets, number of employees, or annual turnover along with the loan amount. Central Bank of Sri Lanka defines SMEs as enterprises with less than Rs. 600 million turnover per annum and with a maximum exposure of Rs. 200 million mainly to be classified as a SME for Basel II Capital adequacy calculation and utilization of funds accumulated in the Investment Fund Account in Banks. Whatever the definition, and regardless of the size of the economy, the growth of SMEs throughout the region is crucial to growth of respective economies. Because, SMEs play a critical and important role in providing job opportunities, enhancing the quality of human resources, maximizing the use of local resources, saving foreign exchange, nurturing a culture of entrepreneurship, fostering creativity and opening up new business opportunities etc. Most corporate organizations in Sri Lanka or elsewhere are the establishments started as SMEs in its early stages. Classic examples from our own country may be Nawaloka Group, Access International, Softlogic Group of companies. In most literature, it is mentioned that access to financing has been recognized as a major impediment for many SMEs and its growth, whereas corporate business entities have the advantage over the SMEs in doing so primarily as a result of their formalization. However, according to Juliet Mckee and Kimball Dietrich (2003), most common problems for SMEs are the lack of access to market information and technology, the low quality of human resources and the lack of access to capital. Despite efforts by financial institutions and public-sector bodies to close funding gaps, SMEs continue to experience difficulty in obtaining risk capital. These funding gaps relate to firm size, risk, knowledge, and flexibility. The development literature focus a good deal of attention on issues faced by SMEs in accessing finance. Traditionally, the focus is on obstacles created by financial institutions, mainly by commercial banks or on imperfections in the broader institutional environment. However, SMEs also make decisions about financing and display attitudes that have an important bearing on financing decisions. Therefore, constraints may also appear on the â€Å"demand side† of the financing market. Objective of this article is to discuss the key challenges and issues for bankers pertaining to SME lending, of which, part of them are inherent in SMEs and for others bankers are responsible. 1. Issues of SMEs 1. 1 Lack of financial literacy or weak financial literacy In the literature, lack of financial literacy is designated as informational asymmetries where SMEs typically posses privileged information on their business that cannot be easily accessed or cannot be accessed at all by lenders or outsiders. Reasons for this may vary and also have different perspectives. SMEs are mainly driven by entrepreneurs who have nurtured in their own ways to prospective SMEs. As a result of hard ways of development, they either had no time to devote further education or do not believe in learning. This is evident from the credit applications that are submitted to banks for financing. This eventually leads to low levels of financial literacy among entrepreneurs. Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in the world: how someone manages to earn or make it, how that person manages it, how he/she invests it (turn it into more) and how that person donates it to help others. More specifically, it refers to the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resource. Though many SME owners are sound in developing business models and working out the profitability of products and services, understanding about the macro picture of the SME’s overall financial standing in terms of profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flows is week. As a result, they sometimes opt to resort to outsiders or merely depend on themselves in preparation of financial information which may or may not reflect the actual picture of the SMEs. Because of this impediment, banks have no choice, but to depend on collateral for SME financing. At the backdrop cash flow lending is encouraged, financial institutions are struggling to project the SMEs’ sustainable bankability. This is recognized as the main obstacle for banks and financial institutions in financing SMEs. One of the options to counter this impediment is the concept of â€Å"Para accountant†. A Para accountant is an external consultant who uses finance, economics, risk management and technology skills to help organizations prepare and report financial and tax statements according to accounting principles and regulatory requirements. A Para accountant also may review a firms internal controls, processes and procedures to ensure that such controls are adequate. A Para accountant may work on a clients site or remotely. They are not necessarily qualified accountants, however, might be an option. Bankers’ prime objective in this endeavor is to develop reliable sources of information so that they could project the sustainable cash flows of the business. With this objective banks could train their credit appraisal officers as Para Accountants, who will interacts with prospective SMEs and develop a set of financial information while strengthening the banking relationship over a period of time. 1. 2 Entrepreneurs’ knowledge about building a prospective banking relationship A banking relationship is about much more than just selecting a bank to handle a company’s bank accounts. If the relationship is managed well, it can help a company to thrive. SMEs that use more than one bank will need to manage multiple banking relationships. A company will first have a business account (or several) at a retail bank (or banks) for all day-to-day financial transactions. Whether it is retail, SME or corporate, the banks should have a team of business banking advisers on hand, to advise and guide a company. It’s important to ensure continuity— banks usually offer a contact with a designated person and in turn expect to deal with the same person or persons from the company. A good banking relationship depends not only on personal rapport, but also by having a solid understanding of the company and its financial needs. Over time, a banking adviser should build up a good understanding of the company’s preferred ways of doing business and incorporate that into how their banking requirements are handled. There are many advantages having a sound banking relationship for SMEs. The bank is more likely to offer loans and other lines of credit, potentially at preferential rates of interest, if the bank advisers feel there is a good relationship with the company. The bank’s advice can be tailored for the company’s needs and personal style, rather than given generically. In times of crisis, a company having its bank’s support will be crucial. Even if a company is a text-book case of insolvency, strong personal rapport with a company representative means that the bank is more likely to offer leeway if it knows that directors are doing their utmost to keep the company going. Failure to develop a strong relationship, however, means that the SME is likely to miss out on good advice and, crucially, support in times of difficulty. However, unfortunately, many SMEs are not on the right track to understand the importance of having a good banking relationship. Given that no sound financial information are available, at least, SMEs should try to maintain a healthy customer relationship with the financial institution to entice financial needs, especially in difficult periods. It is both Bankers’ and SMEs’ responsibility of developing a prospective banking relationship over a period of time without compromising risk capital. More than the credit facilities, credit plus would be reasonably appropriate to start such a relationship and then move into advanced levels of relationships along with credit facilities. 1. 3 Financial discipline of entrepreneurs As Henry Ford correctly cited, â€Å"Wealth does not come accidently. You have to plan for it. † One’s discipline explains the right behavior and ability to take decisions without emotions. Hence, financial discipline is all about right financial decisions. In order to be financially discipline one should understand concepts of accounting and financial management in SME business. Accounting in general is all about record keeping and developing summary financial reports. Most commonly available financial reports or information are the profit and loss account, balance sheet and the cash flow statement. Unless SMEs keep records of their daily activities, it is difficult to develop financial statements with regard to their businesses. With no financial statements, SMEs will always struggle in making financial decisions. More often, there is no clear distinction between the business finance and the finances of the proprietor. Therefore, it is critical that the lender examines carefully borrower’s all commitments, i. e. , those related directly to the business and those associated with the proprietor’s private life and assets. Lack of Business Planning is a result of weak financial indiscipline in SMEs where investment decisions, working capital decisions, even pricing decisions are based on the entrepreneurs’ values than on facts. The lack of proper financial discipline results in incorrect business decisions, which hampers the sustainability of the SMEs. MacRobert (2002), in his SME manual explains why SME borrowers are different to commercial and corporate borrowers. One of the common reasons is unskilled/ untrained principals. Many SME principals in the Asia-Pacific region are self-starters, often with limited formal education, and minimal training in business management skills. That is not to say that they are incompetent, but that they often lack the capacity to research information on ways to strengthen their businesses, and, indeed, to be aware that such resources even exists. Role of the bankers in this regard is to educate the importance of financial discipline through strong banking relationships. Bankers are one of the key sources, to get SMEs to believe in financial discipline. Bank officers should take the initiatives in this endeavor to educate the SME owners. Role of the Government is also a key imperative in developing required conducive environment through institutional and policy frameworks. Some universities in Sri Lanka have already started dedicated departments to teach courses related entrepreneurship. (Example: University of Sri Jayewardenepura and University of Colombo) and It is important to note that Business studies is part of the GCE A/L curriculum. Recent budget proposals in 2011, 2012 and 2013 has given enough support to encourage SMEs and SME financing and one of the very useful proposals was to direct government banks to set up dedicated SME Branches not only to facilitate SMEs with easy access to finance, but also to educate SME owners and to guide and direct them to right places and people. However, strengthening the institutional framework to develop business development support services is also an imperative. 2. Issues with Banks SMEs are not only critical to the economy, but also to the banks’ profitability. Most diversified banks maintain a substantial percentage of exposure to the SMEs as a strategic investment given the diversity within the SME portfolio itself. It is always profitable, but need to properly evaluate and closely monitor the delinquencies to avoid any credit risks. It is a perception as well as a fact sometimes, that SMEs are always highly risky as explained by many banks. It may be due to several factors including, non availability of financial information, no tax returns, no collateral, one man show, highly sensitive to economic conditions, no proper organizational structure, and many more. These are reasons given to avoid or very conservative underwriting of SME credit proposals. As a result of these reasons, credit policies of financial institutions are based on stringent credit guidelines. 2. Institutional framework with hindering process issues In the case of many developing countries, the above mentioned obstacles to SME financing are exacerbated by institutional and process factors. Most developing countries are still highly concentrated and have uncompetitive banking sectors. This reinforces the tendency to adopt conservative lending policies. Credit policies which mainly cover the credit risk and market risk, endorse a processes which covers many elements to secure exposure, while satisfying the regulator’s requirements. This eventually results in a value driven Credit culture in financial institutions. According to MacDonald and Timothy (2006), management’s credit policy determines how much risk the bank will take and in what form. A bank’s credit culture refers to the fundamental principles that drive lending activity and how management analyzes risk. There can be large differences in their lending philosophy. The three potentially different credit cultures are: values driven, current profit driven, and market share driven. The institutional framework is reflected through the credit policy in this part of the world, the tendency is to inculcate a value driven credit culture, which has the following attributes: Focus is on credit quality with strong risk management systems and controls Primary emphasis is on bank’s soundness and stability and a consistent market presence Underwriting is conservative and significant loan concentrations are not allowed. Typical outcome is lower current profits from loans with fewer loan losses It is evident with lower non- performing ratios prevailing in banks justifies that credit risk is covered with loan risk mitigation factors and discourage granting venture capital to SMEs. Eventually, SMEs need to resort to acceptable securities which hinders them from easy access to finance from financial institutions. 2. 2 Collateral syndrome (Risk avert) Strong value driven credit cultures in financial institutions always tighten the belts in covering credit risk. Unless the financial institutions develop competencies in cash flow based lending, credit officers have no choice but to cover themselves with collateral in risky SME lending. Competencies itself will not drive the business unless the risky lending is rewarded with challenging business targets. Security based lending propositions are gradually becoming unhealthy for economies as it discourages strategically important investment decisions. Government of Sri Lanka recently enacted legislations to ease the pressure on SMEs through amendment of Parate execution where normal civil procedure of debt recovery should be applied for loans below Rs. five million with security of property mortgages. 2. 3 Weak competency in building cash flow based lending propositions Strong value based credit policies encourage security oriented lending and creates knowledge gaps in credit officers. Security oriented lending does not require strict cash flow projections and credit evaluations. Developing cash flow projections is an art and requires overall knowledge about the industry, technology, external factors (external climate) and specific firms (internal climate) along with econometrics modeling to analyze the cash flows. When it comes to large projects, knowledge in project appraisals and risk analysis will help the credit officers to get exposed to project financing. At the backdrop of investor confidence and developing businesses in emerging economies, venturing into risky business propositions is in the agenda of the banking and financial intuitions. Financing SMEs are risky but at the same time profitable, so indeed banks need to develop how best they could mitigate the risk of these ventures. One of the options is to gradually develop a culture of SME financing with confidence through development of competencies in their credit officers. Competency development not only addresses econometric techniques of analyzing and evaluating the credit proposals, but also industry knowledge and exposure, experiences of sick industries and business units, world politics and world economics, knowledge in emerging markets and technologies, behaviors and issues of labor, understanding the entrepreneurship etc. Conclusion Many of the literature examine the issues of financing SMEs world over. However, there are key issues not only from the SMEs point of view, but also from the financial institutions and, government’s point of views. No one can expect the SMEs to nurture in best practices all by themselves. In this regard, the role of financial intuitions is greater, when it comes to inculcate and nurture SMEs in the right directions. The issues for SME financing discussed above are the keys, but there are many others which needs further discussions.

The Idealized Picture Of Women In Fashion Advertisements Marketing Essay

The Idealized Picture Of Women In Fashion Advertisements Marketing Essay RESEARCH AIM The aim of this dissertation is to research and analyse the idealized picture of women in fashion advertisements and to define the role of digital impact of transparency in fashion advertisements. Another aim is also to provide recommendations regarding the best way of portraying the women in fashion advertisements to increase the brand sales. BACKGROUND TO ISSUE Womens fashion advertisements in magazines, television and in digital media show the idealized image of women that can cause different females reaction to that to which belong for example doubt in self-esteem, perceiving attractiveness in themselves, general body dissatisfaction or cause problem with eating. According to the range of researches womens self-perception changed through social comparison (Durkin, 2007). According to the WARC report We dont want to live in your fantasy world women want to see the advertisements that mirror their age, size or background. There is also a debate between many people how real women should look like in advertisements where the rise of digital technologies gives photographers, advertisers and other people who do advertisements opportunity to retouch images of models or celebrities. Most of the women are aware of the digital technologies and the way fashion magazines use them. Although digital technologies make air brushed models so popular, marketers have to know their potential customers needs and expectations towards the fashion advertisements. If consumers dont want to see air-brushed models in advertisements marketers have to respect this, otherwise there will be a loud respond in social media to that campaign. (Gillard, 2011). The subject will try to explain however fashion advertisements persuade or manipulate its target audience. It will also try to explain and evaluate a range of business and real-world marketing problems theories. Readers will learn and understand the effect of fashion advertisements on brand perception what is the impact of digital media in whole process of fashion advertisements and also how should look the future fashion campaigns to make its target audience happy. The subject will also investigate current fashion advertisements and analyse the changing habits towards it. The question which will be asked in this part is: what was the reason to start using curve women in some of the fashion campaigns and what were the reactions for it. OBJECTIVES To identify and critically review general theories and ideas. To critically analyse the idealized female picture in fashion advertisement and its impact of women body satisfaction and brand perception. To examine and consider how fashion brands can influence womens buyers behaviour. To compare and discuss the idealized images of fashion advertising. To critically assess the level of visual attention to fashion advertising    To compare and contrast the visual attention to fashion advertising offline and online. To critically evaluate the impact of digital technology in portraying the picture of women in fashion advertisements. To discuss the issue of telling the truth in the fashion advertisements and how it is relevant to the brand. Draw conclusion from both primary and secondary research undertaken. Make recommendations how women should be portrait in the advertisements. LITERATURE SOURCES According to the research there are many, up to date journals, books and many relevant websites. Most of the sources are published in last five years. Dissertation will start from analysing: BOOKS TELL THE TRUTH, SUE UNERMAN AND JONATHAN BASKIN 2012. This book explains the content of marketing communication and how telling the truth in advertising campaigns is important to the brands. It brings the advantage of building a competitive brand as well as brings sales and solid relationship with its customers. AFTER IMAGE, JOHN GRANT, 2003 Book looks into the future of marketing, provide a range of business theories as well as provide a social research and look into the trends which dominate in successful brands. SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF FASHION ADVERTISEMENT MANUEL KAUFMANN, 2006 Book answers to the question How fashion advertisements convey their images by explaining the semiotics theory, the science of sings and how does it relate in fashion advertisements. ADVERTISING IN WOMENS FASHION MAGAZINES, DRU WINN, 2011 Book analyse the entire fashion magazine, the sexual role of women in fashion advertisements and stereotypes which magazines have. JOURNALS WILL CHANGING MEDIA CHANGE THE WORLD? KASSEY WINDELS, 2011 Article says how digital media affect creativity of the fashion advertising campaigns, what is the difference between fashion advertisements now and before. TARGETING WOMENS FASHION CLOTHING OPINION LKEADERS IN MEDIA PLANNING: AN APPLICATION TO MAGZANIES, ERIC VERNETTE, 2004 Journal tries to answer for the questions such as: how can opinions leaders are identified in a given segment? Do the media they read statistically differ from the media read by no opinion leaders? in focus on womens clothing brands in France. PRETTY AS A PICTURE: A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF IDETALISED IMAGERY IN ADVERTING IN WELL- BEING OF YOUNG WOMEN, KAREN FRASER AND EMMA TAYLOR 2012 Article explains fashion advertising role in visual background and impact of airbrushed women in advertising on young women. WEBSITES WOMENS VIEWS ON THIR PORTRAY IN ADVERTISING- WE HAVE CHANGED, DO ADVERTISERS KNOW? GILLEM LAWSOM, BRAHMA SUNANDA, 2006 Article analyse how women what are the nowadays women values, have they changed and what have changed. It analyse how do advertisers should communicate with them to make successful campaigns. YOUNG WOMENS VISUAL PROCESSING OF FASHION ADVERTISMENTS USING EYE TRACKING, HAEVON JU, 2012 The study analyse the effects of fashion advertisements on young women using eye tracking. WHAT WOMEN REALLY WANT FROM CAMPAIGN, PETER FIELD, 2009 Article study different advertising campaigns by using focus group and analyse what are women expectation from the advertisements. Online fashion magazines will be analysed such as: http://www.vogue.co.uk/ http://www.cosmopolitan.com/ http://www.cosmopolitan.com/ METHODOLOGY Dissertation will conduct three stage processes which is research planning (subject identification, information collection and analysis), research implementation according primary and secondary research and research review. Literature review will focus on explanation, discussion and critical analysis of terms and concepts as well as on analysis of the most relevant studies about fashion advertisements and impact of digital technologies in this field. In order to confirm data gathered in the secondary research there will be conducted primary research with the use of different methods. Primary Research will complete the subject with the opinion and information from people who are currently working on this subject as well as people who are interested in this. Methods which will be included are: Questionnaire to confirm all captured data and confirm its reliability it is believed to carry out additional questionnaires which will gain at least sixty responses. Questionnaire will research what kind of fashion advertisements more are appealing to the women. Interviews Interview people from fashion magazines and advertising agencies to find out the decision making process for fashion advertisements. Whenever is it better to make advertisements with skinny and beautiful models or curvy ones and why is like that. Focus Groups to research how advertisements fashion changes peoples perception of a brand. People will see, compare and describes their feelings about many different kind of fashion advertisements. Advertisements analyse analyse of the successful advertisements will be provided. This will analyse what kind of fashion advertisements are the most successful, what kind of reaction was formed and measure the level of customer engagement. TIME PLAN The timetable below shows dissertation plan for the year. Intensive research, reading and advertisement analysis will be conducted from October and will last till March. Primary Research will start in December and will be carrying out till February. Dissertation review and last corrections will be made from April till last submission 9th of May. October November December January February March April May Intensive Research Methodology Review Final Proposal 24th Reading and Advertisement Analyse 2nd draft hand it 17th Primary Research Literature Review Editing And Reviews Final Submission 9th

Lincoln :: essays research papers

Lincoln was born on Feb. 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, the son of Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln , pioneer farmers. At the age of two he was taken by his parents to nearby Knob Creek and at eight to Spencer Co., Ind. The following year his mother died. In 1819 his father married Sarah Bush Johnston, a kindly widow. Lincoln grew up a tall, gangling youth, who could hold his own in physical contests and also showed great intellectual promise, although he had little formal education. After moving with his family to Macon Co., Ill., in 1831, he struck out on his own, taking a cargo to New Orleans, La., on a flatboat. He then returned to Illinois and settled in New Salem, a short-lived community on the Sangamon River, where he split rails and clerked in a store. He gained the respect of his fellow townspeople, including the so called Clary Grove boys, who had challenged him to fight, and was elected captain of his company in the Black Hawk War . Returning from the war, he began an unsuccessful venture in shopkeeping that ended when his partner died. In 1833 he was appointed postmaster but had to supplement his income with surveying and various other jobs. At the same time he began to study law. The story of his romance with Ann Rutledge ,a local young woman whom he knew briefly before her untimely death, is unsubstantiated. Defeated in 1832 in a race for the state legislature, Lincoln was elected on the Whig ticket two years later and served in the lower house from 1834 to 1841. He quickly emerged as one of the leaders of the party and was one of the authors of the removal of the capital to Springfield, where he settled in 1837. After his admission to the bar he entered into successive partnerships with John T. Stuart , Stephen T. Logan , and William Herndon , and soon won recognition as an effective and resourceful attorney. In 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd , the daughter of a prominent Kentucky banker, and despite her somewhat difficult disposition, the marriage seems to have been reasonably successful. The Lincolns had four children, only one of whom reached adulthood. His birth in a slave state notwithstanding, Lincoln had long opposed slavery. In the legislature he voted against resolutions favorable to the â€Å"peculiar institution† and in 1837 was one of two members who signed a protest against it. Elected to Congress in 1846, he attracted attention because of his outspoken criticism of

Prejudice in America Essay example -- Prejudice United States

Prejudice, the Spoil of Life I was born and raised in Europe. I have learned from my history books that there were freedom and equality in the United States. I learned that, among many other rights, people enjoy freedom of religion and freedom of speech - the rights that were envied by millions of people of the Eastern Block countries. When I came to the United States, I truly believed in the truthfulness of these terms. To my complete satisfaction, my experience taught me the existence of these facts. However, I became disappointed in my surroundings, when I was forced to recognize that a portion of people were not free of prejudice. "Prejudice," Gordon Allport writes, "is thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant" (Allport, qtd. in Rottenberg and Winchell 81). This short definition helped me to discover that, regardless of race, color, national origin, or gender, people share a universally existing problem: prejudice. Despite of my experience regarding prejudice, many people believe that prejudice does not exist, and one should not interpret the opinion of others as prejudice. These people reason that it is their right to express their opinions. However, I do not agree with this judgment. Let me bring Gordon Allport's essay of "The Nature of Prejudice," and his observation of the types of prejudice to my defense. According to Allport, who summarized the different types of prejudices and defined prejudice in his essay, some people feel dislike against minorities, but they are not able to explain their reasoning, however. Allport found that this dislike is a mannerism taught by society and surfaces in their "treatment to Negroes" (Allport, qtd. in Rottenberg and Winchell 80). Others, who live "in various parts of ... ...e years, but I still receive unfair treatment at times. Besides some occasional unfairness, the majority of people find my heritage rather interesting than controversial. My experience is only one example of the thousands of incidents against people. No matter where I look, I see unfair treatment all over the world. Regardless of the continent or culture, nobody is exempt from biases. But I cannot blame people carrying this disease because any average community has to rely on a limited amount of knowledge. However, and my experience is the best example, it takes time, effort, and courage to reveal causes and reasoning to draw up a conclusion so that the public would have a full understanding of the historical background of any newcomer. Works Cited Rottenberg, Annette T., and Donna Haisty Winchell. Elements of Argument. 8th. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 2006. Prejudice in America Essay example -- Prejudice United States Prejudice, the Spoil of Life I was born and raised in Europe. I have learned from my history books that there were freedom and equality in the United States. I learned that, among many other rights, people enjoy freedom of religion and freedom of speech - the rights that were envied by millions of people of the Eastern Block countries. When I came to the United States, I truly believed in the truthfulness of these terms. To my complete satisfaction, my experience taught me the existence of these facts. However, I became disappointed in my surroundings, when I was forced to recognize that a portion of people were not free of prejudice. "Prejudice," Gordon Allport writes, "is thinking ill of others without sufficient warrant" (Allport, qtd. in Rottenberg and Winchell 81). This short definition helped me to discover that, regardless of race, color, national origin, or gender, people share a universally existing problem: prejudice. Despite of my experience regarding prejudice, many people believe that prejudice does not exist, and one should not interpret the opinion of others as prejudice. These people reason that it is their right to express their opinions. However, I do not agree with this judgment. Let me bring Gordon Allport's essay of "The Nature of Prejudice," and his observation of the types of prejudice to my defense. According to Allport, who summarized the different types of prejudices and defined prejudice in his essay, some people feel dislike against minorities, but they are not able to explain their reasoning, however. Allport found that this dislike is a mannerism taught by society and surfaces in their "treatment to Negroes" (Allport, qtd. in Rottenberg and Winchell 80). Others, who live "in various parts of ... ...e years, but I still receive unfair treatment at times. Besides some occasional unfairness, the majority of people find my heritage rather interesting than controversial. My experience is only one example of the thousands of incidents against people. No matter where I look, I see unfair treatment all over the world. Regardless of the continent or culture, nobody is exempt from biases. But I cannot blame people carrying this disease because any average community has to rely on a limited amount of knowledge. However, and my experience is the best example, it takes time, effort, and courage to reveal causes and reasoning to draw up a conclusion so that the public would have a full understanding of the historical background of any newcomer. Works Cited Rottenberg, Annette T., and Donna Haisty Winchell. Elements of Argument. 8th. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 2006.

Baldwin and The Little Rock Nine Essay -- James Baldwin

The Little Rock Nine: Weaving the Tapestry of American History Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined â€Å"American history† is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay â€Å"Take Me to the Water.† Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin... ... to Enter Topeka School.† New York Times 29 Aug. 1958: 11. Calloway-Thomas, Carolyn, and Thurmon Garner. â€Å"Daisy Bates and the Little Rock School Crisis: Forging the Way.† Journal of Black Studies 26, 5 Special Issue: The Voices of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. May, 1996: 616-628. JSTOR. 10 April 2004 Figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Videocassette. Princeton, 1999. Fine, Benjamin. â€Å"Little Rock Faces Showdown Today Over Integration.† New York Times 7 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Little Rock Told To Integrate Despite Militia.† New York Times 4 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Students Unhurt.† New York Times 24 Sept. 1957: 1. United States. â€Å"Commission on Civil Rights. School Desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas June 1977.† Washington, D.C. June 1977. Baldwin and The Little Rock Nine Essay -- James Baldwin The Little Rock Nine: Weaving the Tapestry of American History Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined â€Å"American history† is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay â€Å"Take Me to the Water.† Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin... ... to Enter Topeka School.† New York Times 29 Aug. 1958: 11. Calloway-Thomas, Carolyn, and Thurmon Garner. â€Å"Daisy Bates and the Little Rock School Crisis: Forging the Way.† Journal of Black Studies 26, 5 Special Issue: The Voices of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. May, 1996: 616-628. JSTOR. 10 April 2004 Figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Videocassette. Princeton, 1999. Fine, Benjamin. â€Å"Little Rock Faces Showdown Today Over Integration.† New York Times 7 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Little Rock Told To Integrate Despite Militia.† New York Times 4 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Students Unhurt.† New York Times 24 Sept. 1957: 1. United States. â€Å"Commission on Civil Rights. School Desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas June 1977.† Washington, D.C. June 1977.

Customer Service Essay

As a highly motivated and energetic person, I was excited to learn of your company’s opening for an Assistant Manager. In reviewing my resume, you will find that I possess all the attributes your are seeking, gained in over six years of hands-on progressive experience. A perfect match for your needs. You seek someone with motivational and leadership skills. I propelled my career to become the top Senior Sales Consultant for a fortune 500 company that serves 90 stores in 25 states. While increasing the bottom line of the company using innovative techniques, I utilized strong interpersonal skills to build a solid team of personnel with a high morale. Exceptional Customer Service has been demonstrated by my ability to manage customer’s needs while applying operations knowledge by implementing aggressive sales plans with a cutting edge technique, of particular value to your industry. A team player with the ability to work effectively with others, I developed training techniques that provided win-win results – Through a product-awareness program employees received intensive training, while customer’s benefited from well-informed and confident customer service personnel. For your convenience, I have kept this letter short. I can make an immediate and valuable contribution to In-Game Support Entertainment and look forward to meeting you where we can discuss in more detail your needs and my qualifications.

National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Essay

I. Historical Background The initiative to establish a parish on Retiro Street began in 1941, with the request of the Capuchins in the Philippines to the Rev. Michael ODoherty, Archbishop of Manila. On march 28, 1942, a decree was issued establishing the Sta. Teresita del Nino Jesus Parish, the original name of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Construction of the church, however, was delayed because of World War II. Enshrined within the temporary church was the image of our Lady of Lourdes. To keep the image safe during the war, it was moved from place to place, until it rested for a long time in the chapel of Sta. Teresita on Mayon Street. On February 10, 1951, the image was brought back to Sta. Teresita Parish on Retiro. In 1997, on the forty-fifth foundation anniversary, Our Lady of Lourdes parish was declared a national shrine, with the approval of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. It has its own parochial school offering education from pre-school to high school. II. Activities/Programs of the Church SCHEDULE OF MASSES: Monday to Saturday: 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 am and 6:00 pm Sunday: 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 am and 3:30, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 pm A.Umbrella of all youth organizations of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. Composed of 13 youth organizations (Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC), Catholic Womens League Jr. (CWL Jr.), Coro de Angeli, Franciscan Youth Movement (FYM-NSOLL Fraternity), Knights of the Altar (KOTA), Lectors and Commentators for Childrens Mass (LCCM), Legion of Mary (LOM), Salvacion Choir (SC), Singles for Christ (SFC-NSOLL Chapter), Squirettes of Mary Immaculate (SMI), Young Artists for Culture Arts and Advocacy (YAFCA-NSOLL Repertory), NSOLL Youth Choir (YC) and Youth for Christ (YFC-NSOLL Chapter). B. Regular Activities Advent Recollection, Youth Night, Organization Fair, Lenten Retreat, T-shirt Selling, Barya Para Sa Kabataan, Sportsfest, Youth Mass sa BEC, Youth Camp, PYM election and induction, Harana kay Maria and General Assembly III. Plan of Action/Realizations Being aware with what is happening in our Parish and knowing the Activities and Programs of the Church are the things that I developed after I did my research. I learned that we must serve our Parish first before anything else so that we can extend our gratitude to them. I also learned that there are so many things and ways that we can do to become closer to God and to strengthen our faith in God. We must learn to spend time to serve God and to bond with our neighbors. With that, we became closer and bonded as a Christian Community to serve and to strengthen our faith in God.