Exploring the Past Essay Example for Free

Exploring the Past Essay All of us have little secrets which we don’t want to share with others – things which we are ashamed of, things which are too intimate to tell or just things which happened in the past and we don’t want to tell them because they may hurt someone or they may cause troubles to us. I have the perfect example that exploring the past sometimes may be painful. I have a friend – Lora- which is very amorous and gives all of herself for her boyfriend. But her ex one didn’t understand that. Tom – her ex-boyfriend was very weird and he wanted to know all about Lora’s previous relationships. One day he asked her why she has broken up with her last boyfriend. At first she didn’t want to talk about that but he was urging her. So she told Tom that she has betrayed her last boyfriend and that was the reason of their parting. When she has been at a party at a friend of her she has got very drunk and a boy from the party has embraced the opportunity and got alone with her. In the morning she couldn’t remember anything but it has been too late. The lover had gone off. Her only fault was that she had drunk so much but she wasn’t guilty for the rest of the occurrence. But her then boyfriend didn’t understand that and he left her although she loved him very much. As for Tom he thought Lora could do that again. They have been together for two years and he chucked her up because she might repeat the same mistake again. It was such a stupid reason. She could correct her mistake but she loved Tom very much. He loved her too but feelings were obviously insufficient to keep them together. They both pined after each other for a long but they didn’t get together again. We can’t return the time and fix our mistakes, nobody can change the past. So it is extremely purposeless to explore the old times. It’s just a waste of time which we can spend in creating the future.

The Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War Essay -- Vietnam War Essays

The Tet Offensive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tet Offensive was a major assault by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the U.S. forces situated there. It was not only a psychological advance for the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, but also gave the United States a notion that the war wasn’t going to be an easy win, and the chances of winning the war were, in fact, very slim.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The war initially was an attempt to limit the spread of communism throughout Asia. Similar to Korea, Vietnam was in a civil war divided by political ideologies. (2) The Domino Effect is the idea that when one nation falls to communism, other nations around it in time will fall (2). Under the fear of this happening in Vietnam, the United States joined forces with the South Vietnamese to fight the spread of communism (5). Though most of South Vietnam was indeed against the spread of communism, there were some who sympathized with the North, known as the Northern Liberation Front, or Viet Cong (VC). The VC hid amongst the other South Vietnamese civilians, and used guerilla tactics to fight for communism. (5)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Tet Offensive was an all out attack by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the VC during the Tet cease-fire (6). The cease-fire was a peaceful and hospitable agreement made between the U.S. and the NVA to stop all assaults during Tet, the annual Vietnamese festival for celebrating the lunar New Year. On the first day of the festival, January 31, 1968, NVA and VC launched a series of attacks on major cities and military bases located in South Vietnam. (6)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategically, the assault was a failure (5). The communist attackers had failed to permanently capture any of their targets, and overall, had lost more men than the democratic defenders (6). However, the deviousness and planning involved in the offensive was so great that the overall psychological effect had gained an advantage for North Vietnam and the VC (5).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Vietnam War was the most reported conflict in history (3). TV cameramen from all over the nation flew to Vietnam to document the sights and stories, so that viewers at home would have a feel for the war they were paying for. Sometimes the media’s output had a negative effect on the war effort, showing graphic senseless violence. (3) They also proved wrong the claims laid by General Westermoreland of ... ...d Historical Society, Inc. 1998   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book is written by the commanding officer of Bravo Company. It goes through the happenings of a platoon through the Vietnam War, and describes the events on the first night of Tet, and carries the topic for the two weeks that followed. 4. Pimlott, John. Vietnam: the Decisive Battles. New York, New York. Macmillan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Publishing Company. 1990   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book goes through the planning, and execution of the Tet Offensive, and describes in detail the effects of the attack, and how it was â€Å"decisive.† 5. Knopf, Alfred. Walter Cronkite: a Reporter’s Life. New York, New York.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Randomhouse, Inc. 1996.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Cronkite was one of the most influential political commentators during the sixties, his opinion was valued highly. This book gives an overview of how his opinion toward the war changed after the Tet Offensive, and how that changed the feelings of the American public. 6. Martin, Earl. Personal Interview. 21, March 2001   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Martin was a civilian relief volunteer during the war. He gave me an account of the change in moral of the volunteers and the civilians under pressure after the Tet Offensive had taken place.

Objectives of the Firm Essay

The standard economic assumption underlying the analysis of firms is profit maximization. Real world firms, however, might not, and many times do not, make decisions based on the profit-maximization objective, or at least exclusively on the profit-maximization objective. Other objectives include: (1) sales maximization, (2) pursuit of personal welfare, and (3) pursuit of social welfare. Although firms are assumed to make decisions that increase profit in standard economic analysis, real world firms often pursue other objectives on a day-to-day basis. Some firms set their sights on maximizing sales. For other firms the owners or employees are inclined to enhance personal living standards. And more than a few firms take steps that promote the overall welfare of society. In some cases, these other objectives help a firm pursue profit maximization. In other cases, they prevent a firm from maximizing profit. Profit Maximization Profit maximization is the process of obtaining the highest possible level of profit through the production and sale of goods and services. This is the guiding principle underlying the analysis of short-run production by a firm. In particular, economic analysis is assumed that firms undertake actions and make the decisions that increase profit. Profit is the difference between the total revenue a firm receives from selling output and the total cost of producing that output. Profit-maximization means that a firm seeks the production level that generates the greatest difference between total revenue and total cost. Consider how profit maximization might work for The Wacky Willy Company. Suppose that The Wacky Willy Company generates $100,000 of profit by producing 100,000 Stuffed Amigos, the difference between $1,000,000 of revenue and $900,000 of cost. * If profit falls from this $100,000 level when The Wacky Willy Company produces more (100,001) or fewer (99,999) Stuffed Amigos, then it is maximizing profit at 100,000. Alternatively, if profit can be increased by producing more or less, then The Wacky Willy Company is NOT maximizing profit at the current level of production. Suppose, for example, that producing 100,001 Stuffed Amigos adds an extra $11 to revenue but only $9 to cost. In this case, profit can be increased by $2, reaching $100,002, by producing one more Stuffed Amigo. As such 100,000 is NOT the profit maximizing level of production. * In contrast, suppose that producing 99,999 Stuffed Amigos reduces cost by $11 but only reduces revenue by only $9. In this case, profit can also be increased by $2, reaching $100,002, by producing one fewer Stuffed Amigo. As such 100,000 is NOT the profit maximizing level of production. Sales Maximization A reasonable, and often pursued objective of firms is to maximize sales, that is, to sell as much output as possible. Clearly sales lead to revenue, meaning that maximizing sales is also bound to maximize revenue. But as the analysis of short-run production indicates, maximizing sales does NOT necessarily maximize profit. So why do firms do it? Are firms unreasonable? Are they irrational? Do they NOT understand the basic economic principles of short-run production? For some firms, the answers to these questions could be yes. But for other firms, sales maximization is actually a reasonable, even better, alternative to profit maximization. Consider, the day-to-day production of Wacky Willy Stuffed Amigos. Suppose the President of The Wacky Willy Company, William J. Wackowski, issues a corporate directive to sell as many Stuffed Amigos as possible, to maximize sales. Is Willy Wackowski wacky? It might be that Mr. Wackowski has no knowledge of basic economic principles. Alternatively Wacky William might have more business sense than it appears. In particular, if the price received from selling Stuffed Amigos is greater than the cost of producing each one, and looks to remain that way regardless of the quantity produced, then a reasonable goal is to maximize sales. If sales are greater, then so too is profit. Wacky Willy does NOT maximize profit under these circumstances. That is, it does not produce the quantity that achieves the highest possible profit. However, with each Stuffed Amigo produced, profit increases. In fact, Wacky Willy might not KNOW the profit-maximizing production level. All it knows is that selling more Stuffed Amigos, increases profit. While sales maximization can serve as a means of pursing profit maximization, it can also prevent a firm from maximizing profit. The reason, of course, is that if sales become so large that the cost of production increases such that marginal cost exceeds marginal revenue, the maximizing sales does not maximize profit. Pursuit of Personal Welfare The people who make decisions for a business are, in fact, people. They have likes and dislikes. They have personal goals and aspirations just like people who do not make decisions for firms. On occasion these people use the firm to pursue their own personal welfare. When they do, their actions could enhance the firm’s profit maximization or, in many cases, prevent profit maximization. How about a few examples? Once again, consider William J. Wackowski, the president of The Wacky Willy Company. Perhaps Willy enjoys the finer things in life–a large house, fancy cars, and expensive vacations–which require a hefty income. As the primary stockholder of The Wacky Willy Company, when the business maximizes profit, then William J. Wackowski benefits with more income. In this case, the pursuit of personal welfare coincides with profit maximization. Alternatively, suppose that the Mr. Wackowski hates the color purple. He simply refuse to produce ANY purple Stuffed Amigos. However, market studies clearly indicate that buyers want purple Stuffed Amigos. Moreover, the purple fabric that would be used to produce purple Stuffed Amigos is significantly less expensive than other colors. Mr. Willy clearly is wacky in this case. His purple-phobia prevents profit maximization. William the Wackster might also decide to enhance his corporate lifestyle at the expense of corporate profit. He could, for example, give himself a bigger, more luxurious (but unneeded) office, a higher (but unneeded) salary, a company jet (also unneeded), season tickets to Shady Valley Primadonnas baseball team (clearly unneeded) and other (unneeded) amenities that are NOT needed to profitably produce Stuffed Amigos. These improve William’s personal welfare, but at the expense of corporate profit. Pursuit of Social Welfare The people who make decisions for firms also have social consciences. Part of their likes and dislikes might be related to the overall state of society. As such, they might use the firm to pursue social welfare, which could enhance or prevent the firm’s profit maximization. How might William J. Wackowski’s pursuit of social welfare enhance or prevent profit maximization of The Wacky Willy Company? Suppose that William wants a cleaner environment. As such, he might implement more costly environmentally â€Å"friendly† production techniques and materials. He does his part to â€Å"clean the environment,† but at the expense of company profit. Then again, Mr. Wackowski might feel that government environmental quality regulations restrict capital investment and economic growth. As such, William might have The Wacky Willy Company use part of its advertising budget to promote this view point. He might even use company revenue to set up the Wackowski Foundation for Policy Studies that is both a scientific think tank and a special interest lobbying organization with the goal of reducing environmental quality regulations. While the pursuit of social welfare is likely to reduce company profit, it could have the opposite effect as well. Such activities could give The Wacky Willy Company a likeable public image that motivates people to buy more Stuffed Amigos than they would otherwise. In fact, some firms use the pursuit of social welfare as one aspect of their overall advertising efforts. They enhance their public image at the same time they do something â€Å"good† for society. Natural Selection Whichever objective a firm pursues on a day-to-day basis, the notion of natural selection suggests that successful firms intentionally or unintentionally maximize profit. That is, the firms best suited to the economic environment, and thus generate the most profit, are the ones that tend to survive. The natural selection of business firms is an adaptation of the biological process of natural selection, in which biological entities best suited to the natural environment are the ones that survive. The concept of economic natural selection means that those firms that generate the greatest profit are the ones that avoid bankruptcy and survive to produce another day. While firms might pursue sales maximization, personal welfare, or social welfare, only those firms that also maximize profit remain in business. 2) The following   is from chapter one in the text   Financial Management and Policy, by James C. Van Horne, Copyright 1974 by Prentice-Hall. It is classic finance. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE FIRM In this [course], we assume that the objective of the firm is to maximize its value to its shareholders. Value is represented by the market price of the company’s common stock, which, in turn, is a reflection of the firm’s investment, financing, and dividend decisions. Profit Maximization vs. Wealth Maximization Frequently, maximization of profits is regarded as the proper objective of the firm, but it is not as inclusive a goal as that of maximizing shareholder wealth. For one thing, total profits are not as important as earnings per share. A firm could always raise total profits by issuing stock and using the proceeds to invest in Treasury bills. Even maximization of earnings per share, however, is not a fully appropriate objective, partly because it does not specify the timing or duration of expected returns. Is the investment project that will produce $100,000 return 5 years from now more valuable than the project that will produce annual returns of $15,000 in each of the next 5 years? An answer to this question depends upon the time value of money to the firm and to investors at the margin. Few existing stockholders would think favorably of a project that promised its first return in 100 years. We must take into account the time pattern of returns in our analysis. Another shortcoming of the objective of maximizing earnings per share is that it does not consider the risk or uncertainty of the prospective earnings stream. Some investment projects are far more risky than others. As a result, the prospective stream of earnings per share would be more uncertain if these projects were undertaken. In addition, a company will be more or less risky depending upon the amount of debt in relation to equity in its capital structure. This risk is known as financial risk; and it, too, contributes to the uncertainty of the prospective stream of earnings per share. Two companies may have the same expected future earnings per share, but if the earnings stream of one is subject to considerably more uncertainty than the earnings stream of the other, the market price per share of its stock may be less. For the reasons above, an objective of maximizing earnings per share may not be the same as maximizing market price per share. The market price of a firm’s stock represents the focal judgment of all market participants as to what the value is of the particular firm. It takes into account present and prospective future earnings per share, the timing, duration, and risk of these earnings, and any other factors that bear upon the market price of stock. The market price serves as a performance index or report card of the firm’s progress; it indicates how well management is doing in behalf of its stockholders. Management vs. Stockholders In certain situations the objectives of management may differ from those of the firms stockholders. In a large corporation whose stock is widely held, stockholders exert very little control or influence over the operations of the company. When the control of a company is separate from its ownership, management may not always act in the best interests of the stockholders [Agency Theory]. [Managers] sometimes are said to be â€Å"satisficers† rather than â€Å"maximizers†; they may be content to â€Å"play it safe† and seek an acceptable level of growth, being more concerned with perpetuating their own existence than with maximizing the value of the firm to its shareholders. The most important goal to a management [team]of this sort may be its own survival. As a result, it may be unwilling to take reasonable risks for fear of making a mistake, thereby becoming conspicuous to the outside suppliers of capital. In turn, these suppliers may pose a threat to management’s survival. It is true that in order to survive over the long run, management may have to behave in a manner that is reasonably consistent with maximizing shareholder wealth. Nevertheless, the goals of the two parties do not necessarily have to be the same. Maximization of shareholder wealth, then, is an appropriate guide for how a firm should act. When management does not act in a manner consistent with this objective, we must recognize this as a constraint and determine the opportunity cost. This cost is measurable only if we determine what the outcome would have been had the firm attempted to maximize shareholder wealth. A Normative Goal Because the principal of maximization of shareholder wealth provides a rational guide for running a business and for the efficient allocation of resources in society, we use it as our assumed objective in considering how financial decisions should be made. The purpose of capital markets is to efficiently allocate savings in an economy from ultimate savers to ultimate users of funds who invest in real assets. If savings are to be channeled to the most promising investment opportunities, a rational economic criteria must exist that governs their flow. By and large, the allocation of savings in an economy occurs on the basis of expected return and risk. The market value of a firm’s stock embodies both of these factors. It therefore reflects the market’s tradeoff between risk and return. If decisions are made in keeping with the likely effect upon the market value of its stock, a firm will attract capital only when its investment opportunities justify the use of that capital in the overall economy. Put another way, the equilibration process by which savings are allocated in an economy occurs on the basis of expected return and risk. Holding risk constant, those economic units (business firms, households, financial institutions, or governments) willing to pay the highest yield are the ones entitled to the use of funds. If rationality prevails, the economic units bidding the highest yields will be the ones with the most promising investment opportunities. As a result, savings will tend to be allocated to the most efficient users. Maximization of shareholder wealth then embodies the risk-return tradeoff of the market and is the focal point by which funds should be allocated within and among business firms. Any other objective is likely to result in the suboptimal allocation of funds and therefore lead to less than optimal level of economic want satisfaction. This is not to say that management should ignore the question of social responsibility. As related to business firms, social responsibility concerns such things as protecting the consumer, paying fair wages to employees, maintaining fair hiring practices, supporting education, and becoming actively involved in environmental issues like clean air and water. Many people feel that a firm has no choice but to act in socially responsible ways; they argue that shareholder wealth and, perhaps, the corporations vary existence depends upon its being socially responsible. However, the criteria for social responsibility are not clearly defined, making formulation of a consistent objective function difficult. Moreover, social responsibility creates certain problems for the firm. One is that it falls unevenly on different corporations. Another is that it sometimes conflicts with the objective of wealth maximization. Certain social actions, from a long-range point of view, unmistakably are in the best interests of stockholders, and there is little question that they should be undertaken. Other actions are less clear, and to engage in them may result in a decline of profits and in shareholder wealth in the long run. From the standpoint of society, this decline may produce a conflict. What is gained in having a socially desirable goal achieved may be offset in whole or part by an accompanying less efficient allocation of resources in society. The latter will result in a less than optimal growth of the economy and a lower total level of economic want satisfaction. In an era of unfilled wants and scarcity, the allocation process is extremely important. Many people feel that management should not be called upon to resolve the conflict posed above. Rather, society, with its broad general perspective, should make the decisions necessary in this area. Only society, acting through Congress and other representative governmental bodies, can judge the relative tradeoff between the achievement of a social goal and the sacrifice in the efficiency of apportioning resources that may accompany realization of the goal. With these decisions made, corporations can engage in wealth maximization and thereby efficiently allocate resources, subject, of course, to certain governmental constraints. Under such a system, corporations can be viewed as producing both private and social goods, and the maximization of shareholder wealth remains a viable corporate objective.

Don t Make Any Sound - 701 Words

I wake up from what felt like an endless night. I was tired, and could not keep my eyes open. All I wanted to do was sleep. I feel that my head is immediately throbbing so I put my hand on it, thinking that it would stop the pain. It did not. I started to cry and wail because this pain was too much to endure when suddenly, someone put their hand over my mouth to stop me from crying. It was Tony. My eyes were still blurry from the tears, but I was able to tell who it was. Tony, the friend that I had ever since I was young. And he is still here in the greatest of all circumstances. â€Å"You got hit. Don’t make any sound,† Tony said to me. I looked around not knowing where I was. There was grass under my feet, and the sun above us was very hot. â€Å"Where are we?† I asked with every word coming out of my mouth hesitantly. Tony replied, â€Å"We don’t know. In the bush. They were going to kill you. That soldier, the one with the scarred face, he’s mean. They call him Lizard.† The first thing that I thought of right when Tony said it was that they were going to kill me. What had I done wrong that was deserving of this? These people are the ones that are deserving of a punishment, not me. All I did was go to school and now I ended up here. Why am I the one that has to get punished for this? â€Å"The commander asked who you were. I told him your name. That soldier Lizard made us carry you all night.† Paul said. â€Å"I don’t understand what is going on. How did we end up here?† â€Å"Lizard – He’s got it outShow MoreRelatedThe Lighting Of Electrical Systems And Electronics915 Words   |  4 Pagesif they don t do it properly Little problems are the lights could be out of sync with the music. Another one could be that the engineer might of not set up the equipment correctly so when it come to the gig the whole thing might not work. 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