Celebrity Worship Essay Example for Free

Celebrity Worship Essay About celebrity worship Good morning, everyone! Today my topic is about celebrity worship. Do you worship any celebrities? I think the answer will probably be yes. Nowadays most of us have their own idols. Whether the people of our affections are movie stars, athletes, or politicians we are hungry for information about them. We want to know what they are saying, what they are wearing, where they are going and whom they are with. Moreover, we mock their actions and want to become one of them who are often portrayed as beautiful, clever and rich. I think this is â€Å"celebrity worship†. And it is not only teenagers’ right; many adults also admire celebrities. But what drives our endless fascination with celebrity worship? The following some aspects may give the answer to the question. First of all, to some degree celebrity worship is a kind of belief. In this transient world, nothing seems to be unchangeable. People must find something to worship so that they will not lose themselves. Therefore, they admire celebrities, consider celebrities as good examples of their own lives and want to become as famous or wealthy as celebrities are. Secondly, some people consider the fascination with celebrities as a substitution for real life. There are many problems in our daily life, so people focus on celebrities’ life to avoid their own problems. They see celebrity worship as a kind of entertainment. In this way, they can relax themselves. What’s more, celebrity worship is a symbol of fashion especially for teenagers. If they do not want to be out-of-date, they believe that they should have an idol. As celebrity worship becomes increasingly crazy today, people begin to be concern about the impacts of it on our daily life. To some degree, celebrity worship can be unhealthy. If we pay too much attention to these famous people, we may do some crazy things that may hurt others or ourselves. For example, it was reported that a young girl from LiaoningProvince committed suicide just because her mother refused to buy her a CD of her idol. Another famous example is about a 28-year-old girl called Yang Lijuan. She became a huge fan of Andy Liu 13 years ago. From that moment, the only thing she cared about in her life was to meet her idol. She quit school, wrote letters, and spent many years watching the stars music videos. She even made public attempts to get close to him, two times in Hong Kong and once in Beijing, but every time was disappointed. The girls father was a 68-year-old retired middle school teacher who supported the entire family with his pension of 1,900 yuan per month and her mother was unable to work due to poor health. Her parents tried to persuade her to give up, but after their efforts failed, her father decided to help his daughter realize her dreams at any cost. The family borrowed money and went to Hong Kong again in order to meet the girl’s idol. Finally, the girl fulfilled her dream. However, her father became furious after he was informed that his daughter would not get a chance to spend enough time to talk privately with the star about her feelings for him. He jumped into the sea in an early Monday morning while his wife and daughter were still asleep. What a great tragedy it is! In addition, some experts say that celebrity worship can decrease a persons self-esteem because the endless admiration and yearning for a life and lifestyle that are out of reach may lead to ones feelings of isolation and inadequacy. However, some other experts take different views of it. They believe that for some celebrity worship may be unhealthy, while for most of people, it is can actually improve our lives. This is particularly true when the people of our affections set a good example that helps us strive to achieve our own ideals. If you idolize someone for their accomplishments, and these accomplishments make gains in your own life, then admiring a celebrity can have a positive effect on your ambition, or even on your mental health. In my opinion, celebrity worship is a kind of fact, whether it is good to us depends on how we treat it. We should have a reasonable attitude towards it. In our transient world, we need to find a goal for our life. In this sense, we may look up to celebrities as role models. But we should remember that they are just ideals. We should not mock their actions all the time. We need to find our own way to get our perfect life. In a word, if we worship a celebrity, we should choose the right people and the right way. That is all. Thanks for your attention.

The Wetherspoons company in UK

The Wetherspoons company in UK JD Wetherspoon PLC is a UK based company involved in the development and management of public houses in the UK (REUTERS). The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates its business through 793 pubs all over the UK (WETHERSPOON). It provides food and a variety of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks to its customers at competitive prices. Wetherspoon is known for its cheap drinks and food promotions. It also focuses heavily on its breakfast and coffee menus. In addition to traditional pubs, the company also operates newer styled bars providing a more vibrant and contemporary atmosphere under the Lloyds No 1 brand name. It also operates a relatively new hotel chain consisting of 16 hotels. Wetherspoon was founded by Tim Martin in 1979 with the first pub in London. In its early days, the company grew by opening pubs in unusual former retail locations. Over the 80s the company differentiated itself from other pubs by ridding itself of music, television and games and thus created a unique identity. In 1992 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a UK wide chain of around 40 pubs. Going public, provided wetherspoon with the required funding to expand and within the next four years the number of pubs in the chain quadrupled to 160. In the late 90s, the company diversified into the lodging business which still represents a very small proportion of their revenues. Over the past ten years wetherspoon has continued to expand and has successfully established a reputable network of pubs throughout the U.K. This report focuses on critically analysing JD wetherspoons strategic, financial and stock market performance over the past five years in comparison with its competitors and the industry as a whole. In conclusion the report will attempt to make recommendations to a potential investor regarding potential in the company. Strategic Analysis Pubs lie at the heart of British life and culture. Going to pubs has been one of the primary sources of entertainment in the country. According to the Social Issues Research Center (SIRC), an Oxford based not for profit social research organisation, over 75% of the adult British Population goes to pubs and over a third are regulars who go to pubs at least once a week (SIRC). This represents an industry with a customer base of roughly 37 million people. Broad business environment The broad business environment in the UK has changed drastically over the last decade. There have been about 300 pieces of government regulation in the public house sector along with tax increases, smoking ban, and changes in consumer lifestyles and attitudes towards going out and drinking. Pubs have needed to change with the times in order to retain their margins and remain profitable. Those successful have adopted an active strategy of evolving their business with the changing times. A detailed PESTEL analysis has been conducted to analyse the broad business environment and its effects on the Pub industry. Please see Appendix A for the full analysis. The most significant factors responsible for shaping the business environment in the pub industry have been discussed below. Political Factors The UK pub industry has been highly regulated over the past few years. On the other hand, alcohol duty is rapidly increasing and is many times more than in other European nations. This coupled with the rising VAT and increased government activism against binge drinking and alcohol abuse has made it difficult for the pub operators to operate and maintain their margins. Economic Factors The Global economic crisis has led to consumer spending cuts, thereby leading to a decline in pub sales. Moreover rising national minimum wage and aggressive price competition with supermarkets are narrowing pubs margins and leading to reduced profits. However government intention to ban sale of below cost alcohol might come as a slight respite to the pub industry. Social Factors The rising national concern over Britains alcohol habits, have manifested itself in a number of ways. People are beginning to fully understand the problem and the government is taking steps to curb binge drinking and alcohol abuse. The UK drinks industry has launched a huge campaign to address this concern and to make people more aware about the problems associated with irresponsible drinking. Technological Factors The advent of technology has changed societys idea of entertainment, shifting it more inside the confines of the household. This has led to declining public interest in pubs. Pub operators have also increased their investment in technology considerably, in order to enhance the pub experience. These include among others, investments in television systems for sports, electronic point of sale systems and refrigeration systems to store alcohol at precise temperatures. Environmental Factors Pub retailers are becoming environmentally conscious and have taken steps to recycle most of the waste products particularly food, in order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. This is a great opportunity for pubs to portray themselves as socially responsible. Legal Factors The Licensing law allowed licensed pubs to potentially open 24 hours a day. This has been a huge opportunity for the pub industry and has increased competition. The law is currently under scrutiny by the government. Any changes to it might have a major impact on the industry. The drink driving laws over the past few years have also been made stringent. This has resulted in consumers avoiding driving to pubs and preferring to drink at home in order to avoid committing a drink driving offence. The above factors have had a very profound impact on all the major pub operators. They have responded to the environment and adjusted their strategy in order to succeed in these conditions. There has been a strategic focus on innovation in the pub industry through food development, skills training, interior enhancement etc. With growth in alternative forms of entertainment, socio-political pressures on pub operator margins, and tough economic climate, most of the market players are looking to diversify into the relatively less volatile and high margin businesses. Industry analysis With over 50,000 pubs catering to over 35 million customers, the pub sector represents a highly fragmented industry. The industry consists of a few big players with a chain of pubs throughout the UK. The six biggest pub chains own only about 42% of the total number of pubs. The biggest players in the industry by turnover, along with their main brands and number of outlets are as follows. Source : Mintel Pub Catering UK September 2010 While wetherspoon operates only managed pubs at city centre locations in major towns and cities throughout the UK (MINTEL, 2010), the business models for some of the other major players in the industry are very different and diverse. Punch Taverns operated both leased and managed pubs. Although a major proportion of their business comprises of leased pubs, they still have over 800 managed pubs in the UK. Enterprise Inns on the other hand only operates leased and tenanted pubs. Greene King has a much more segmented business model wherein its operations are divided into over 2400 managed, leased tenanted pubs and restaurants, two breweries, and a number of wholesale depots. Marstons has a similar mix of activities with over 2100 managed and tenanted pubs and bars, five breweries and wholesale facilities. Mitchells and Butlers (MB) operates managed pubs and pub restaurants mainly in the UK, but also has a small number of pub restaurants (43) in Germany. A very small proportion of their total estate consists of leased and franchised sites. They are the largest operator of managed pubs with over 1800 managed pubs in the UK. Competition for the smaller 58% of the pubs is largely limited to players in the local market. For example an individual pub in Leeds only competed with other individual pubs in Leeds. In order to analyse the pub industry in detail a full analysis has been conducted based on Porters five forces framework (Appendix B). The major outcomes of the analysis are as follows Threat of Entry Starting up a pub is reasonably easy process due to an undifferentiated market, and fairly low set up costs. Obtaining the individual pub license is fairly straightforward. Besides easy access to supply channels and low cost capital, have led to a significant threat of entry. However, a large scale of operations, popular brand identity, experience in the industry and established distribution channels are essential to operate competitively in the industry. Moreover increased government legislation and extraordinary levels of taxation in the sector have made it unattractive to new entrants, thus restricting the threat of entry to some extent. Threat of Substitutes Supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and off licensing shops represent a group of substitutes to public houses. Supermarkets in particular enjoy huge economies of scale and are in a position to undercut pub-prices. The perceived performance to price ratio to the consumer defines their choice between pubs and their substitutes. Although supermarkets cannot replicate the value added services provided by pubs, with the global financial crisis affecting disposable incomes, consumers have become highly price sensitive, thus increasing the threat of substitutes to a moderately high level. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers bargaining power has traditionally been moderately high due to low switching costs and easy availability alternatives. Recent trends categorised by declining alcohol consumption, low consumer disposable incomes, consumer preferences of drinking at home have further increased buyers power. Bargaining powers of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is quite high as the industry due to the dominance of a concentrated group of suppliers. A number of suppliers own powerful brands and hence pubs have to buy from them in order to satisfy consumer demands. Moreover, supply agreements such as tied house contracts give the suppliers an upper hand. The high power suppliers mean that pub operators, who have their own breweries and wholesale depots, have an obvious advantage. Competitive Rivalry The industry has traditionally been a growth industry with most major players looking to expand and open more pubs. However, pub margins have declined over the years and large volumes have become increasingly critical for pub companies to survive. The threat of competition from supermarkets has also become significant and combined with moderately high threat of entry, and strong bargaining power of customers, has led to increasing levels of competitive rivalry. The industry is categorised by low levels of product differentiation and aggressive price wars between competitors. The declining alcohol consumption, sluggish market growth, high taxes and pub closure rates have resulted in aggressive competition for retaining revenues. The pub industry is in a state of consolidation. The business environment has been tough and falling margins has made it difficult for pubs to meet their costs. With pub closure rates having reached record levels in 2009; all the major pub chains are in the process of reviewing and reorganising their business in order to adapt to the changing conditions. Wetherspoons Strategy Wetherspoon has adhered to simple principles of cleanliness, cheap drinks and good value food. With no music, wetherspoon pubs are seen as places where people can interact with friends over a round of drinks or food. The principle strategy that separates wetherspoon from most of its competitors is its focus on the consumer. Whilst a number of competitors lease their pubs out and are therefore less concerned about the ultimate consumer, wetherspoon makes constant efforts to innovate and enhance the consumer experience. This has given them the competitive edge over their competitors and hence they have chosen to stick to the 100% managed pubs business model. Wetherspoon has traditionally been quick to foresee impending changes in the business environment and strategise in order to adapt. They have stuck to their low price high revenue pricing strategy. Their efforts to provide products at the lowest price possible has been considerable success in recent times as customers have become highly price sensitive and are looking for value for money. They expect their promotions to remain a key driver to high revenues. Wetherspoon is aiming at rapid organic and inorganic growth by opening up new pubs and developing and refurbishing the existing ones. The economic downturn has provided it with the perfect opportunity to expand given low property prices and continued profitability of their pubs. Wetherspoon plans to open 250 new pubs in the period 2009 2014 (RICHARD WACHMAN, 2009). Their expansion strategy involves taking over underperforming bargain pubs and turning them around to profitability. The company rents most its pubs as opposed to buying them in a bid to keep its debt levels low. This has approach has enabled them to reach a position where they have considerable amounts of money to invest whilst their competitors are finding it very difficult to service their rising debts. Wetherspoon is focussing on developing their high margin food and coffee business. Wetherspoon started opening their pubs at 7A.M. to capitalise on early morning coffee and breakfast demand. This has also led to increase in overhead costs but having been rewarded with a 40% increase in coffee and breakfast sales, wetherspoon will continue to focus on the diversified product mix to stabilise and improve their overall margins. The company have invested significantly towards improving their service and standards. They have focussed on personnel and training and are making efforts to enhance customer experience in order to further boost the value provided for the money they charge their customers. Their strategy involves a number of efforts to portray themselves as a responsible business by taking on ethical business practices such as proper implementation of Challenge 21, conserving resources, recycling waste and reducing energy consumption. Wetherspoons chairman, Tim Martin owns around 23% of the company. This helps to reduce agency costs as the objectives of owners and management are likely to be more closely aligned. His 31 year long experience in the industry gives wetherspoon a strategic advantage over its competitors. The companys CEO John Hutson, has also been with the company for more than 20 years. There have been a few problems with the companys management in the past, most significantly the technical breach of the Companies Act 2006 in 2008, when the company failed to file the interim accounts with the registrar of companies prior to paying the 2007 final dividend and repurchasing its shares from the market (JD WETHERSPOON, 2008). Such incidents lead to financial and reputational losses and dent the public image of the firm. More recently, the unexpected resignations of the companys finance director Keith Down and its cheif operating officer Paul Harbottle have raised concerns about the managerial longevity of its board of directors. Financial Statement Analysis This section will analyse wetherspoons financial performance over the past five years as compared to its competitors and the industry in general. Of the competitors identified in the above section, Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns have a more similar business model to wetherspoon and hence their performance has extensively been used as a benchmark in this section. Year 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 Revenues (Â £million) 996.33 955.12 907.50 888.47 847.52 Table: Wetherspoons revenues for the past five years Turnover and Profitability Wetherspoon has experienced consistent growth in revenues over the past decade. Rebasing the revenue at the 2006 levels, wetherspoon seem to have outperformed most of the competition in terms of revenue. Although its revenue growth is one of the highest in the industry, it is still far behind Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns in absolute sales numbers. A significant proportion of Wetherspoons revenue comes from its new pubs. Over the past few years absolute revenues from new pubs has remarkably increased with wetherspoon opening more pubs year by year. In 2010, an extraordinary 97.68% of the growth in revenues was attributable to revenues from new pubs while like for like sales only accounted for 2.38% of the revenue growth. This is up from new pubs contributing 77.13% of revenue growth in 2009 and 57% in 2006. This indicates saturation in the revenue capacity of the already established pubs and exemplifies the importance of wetherspoons growth strategy to its revenues. Wetherspoons cost of sales (COS) is the highest amidst the competitors. Over the past five years, the wetherspoons average COS has been over 80% of revenue. This combined with other operating costs leads to an average operating profit of just under 10%. This is considerably low, compared to its competitors specially Enterprise Inns which has an average operating profit of over 55% in the 5 year period. The big difference in operating profit is to a large extent representative of the differences in business models of these companies. As JD Wetherspoon operates managed pubs only, the cost of retail sales is significant. On the other hand, the revenues of some of the competitors like Enterprise Inns, Marstons and Greene King are composed of the less costly rent, lease receipts and proceeds from the wholesale sales from their breweries and other alcohol manufacturing facilities. Since wetherspoons activities are more direct cost intensive, the higher cost of sales is understandable. A unique factor which distinguishes wetherspoon from its competitors is the low and stable debt interest levels. Wetherspoons interest expenses on debt were lower by over 210 million as compared to Punch Taverns for the financial year 2009-10. Besides lower levels of total debt, a low effective weighted average rate of interest on debt has contributed to the smaller interest charge. While wetherspoon are able to borrow at an average of 5.47%, the weighted average interest on debt for Punch Taverns in 6.8% on secured loan notes and 6.5% on finance leases. This is either due to relatively good swap management of interest rate, a safer credit profile, or lower principle amount and maturity period of the loans. This gives wetherspoon a big competitive advantage and enables them to retain a sizeable proportion of their operating profit as Net profit. Excluding the interest charge, Punch Taverns net profit would have been higher than that of wetherspoon. This illustrates the real impact of interest on debt on the relative profitability of these firms. Wetherspoons exceptional items solely comprised of impairment of property and fixed assets and amounted to 10.6 million this year. This represents a steep reduction of 47% from last years figure of 19.9 million and is primarily attributed to no litigation costs and property related write downs. Wetherspoons net profit has been very consistent over the past few years as opposed to its competitors. The tough global economic climate and the hostile business environment in the pub sector have led to a sizeable decline in profits for both Punch Taverns and Mitchell and Butlers. On the other hand wetherspoons consistent growth in revenue combined with low relative impairment losses and interest on debt has enabled it to maintain a profit of 40.78 million in 2010. This is a 61% rise from its profits in 2009. This compared with losses of 84 million and 159.90 million from Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns, reflects an overall superior performance by wetherspoon in terms of profitability. As per the chart above, wetherspoons return on assets and return on capital invested are immensely higher than both of its competitors. The two ratios rose 37.42% and 48.78% respectively from their 2009 levels. These jumps are primarily because of the 61% jump in earnings and represents excellent management of resources by the companys management. Wetherspoon rents a majority of its pubs and hence has a low level of noncurrent assets. This is the primary reason for the high asset turnover and return on assets. Wetherspoons revenues are 1.12 times of their total assets as opposed to Punch Taverns 0.22. This astoundingly high ratio represents wetherspoons highly competitive pricing strategy and its low margin, high volume operations. Wetherspoons ability to extract over 3-4 times more revenue than its competitors, gives it a clear competitive edge. Liquidity A majority of the assets in pub businesses tend to be non-current and hence the short term liquidity ratios tend to be lower. Moreover since the current assets in managed and operated pubs are mostly cash and other very liquid items, slightly lower current ratios are not deemed to be very risky. Wetherspoons current ratio of 0.37 is amongst the lowest in the industry. This has been fairly stable over the past five years with a standard deviation of a mere 0.064. Mitchell and Butlers and Punch Taverns have much higher current ratio of 0.64 and 1.27 respectively. Similarly, Wetherspoons quick ratio of 0.18 is nearly a fifth of Punch Taverns ratio. Wetherspoons current and quick ratios are both the lowest and the most stable in the industry with standard deviations of 0.064 and 0.036 respectively. The incredible stability of the ratio indicates a strategic approach to business operations. Very low liquidity ratios generally mean trouble for businesses, as they are indicators of inability to honour short term obligations. Theoretically, if all the current liabilities need to be paid off, wetherspoon will not have to resort to selling its fixed assets in order to arrange for the payment. However, cash payments from its customers along with favourable and stable credit terms with suppliers ensure that wetherspoon are able to manage will low current and quick ratios. They attempt to keep the current ratio at a reasonably low level in order to extracts maximum value from their current assets. Nevertheless, a current ratio of 0.37 is too low compared to the competitors and hence liquidity issues are more likely. Punch Taverns liquidity ratios are a lot higher primarily due to a high amount of receivables mainly caused by its leased and rented pub business. In those businesses, punch taverns tenants are likely to have a payment period within which they can settle the rent/lease payments. This leads to a significant amount of trade receivables. On the other hand almost all of wetherspoons revenues are retail cash revenues and hence the receivables are either due to prepayments or accrued income Wetherspoons receivables are only about 10 of Punch Taverns which it converts into cash within 1.64 days. This is many times lower than its competitors. Moreover inventories held days is a mere 8.5 days representing a quick and highly efficient cash cycle. Gearing Wetherspoons business model of operating with low level of debt is quite unique in the pub industry. The company enjoys the lowest level of long term debt amidst its competitors. Wetherspoons long term debt of 411.64 million is just 8.6% of that of Punch Taverns. MB and Punch Taverns on the other hand have debts of over 2 billion pounds. A low level of debt despite an active growth strategy and a consistent rise in its plant property and equipment (PPE) is a rare phenomenon. Wetherspoons managed to make this happen by renting quite a few of its pubs and managing debt efficiently. The extraordinarily low levels of debt at wetherspoon are matched by an almost equally low relative level of common equity. As a result wetherspoons Debt equity ratio is not as different from its competitors. Wetherspoons total debts are 2.56 times its equity as compared to 2.89 for Mitchells Butlers and 2.42 for Punch Taverns. The ratio used to be 1.83 in 2006, before the company initiated massive share repurchase programme which was largely financed by additional debt. As per the above table, their Total Debt to Earnings before interest and tax ratio has been the lowest in the industry. Over the years, as other companies have taken more debt relative to their earnings, wetherspoon has continued to utilise its debt with the same efficiency in order to generate earnings. Dividends Wetherspoons dividend payout ratio is incredibly high for a company which is in the growth stage of its lifecycle. In 2010 wetherspoon paid 64.19% of its net income as dividends. This represents a 292% jump from the 2006 dividend payout and is the highest in the industry. While Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns havent paid dividends in the past two years, wetherspoon has continued to pay dividends at an average of about 39% of their net profit in the past 5 years. Wetherspoon declared a yearlong dividend freeze in during the financial year 2008-09 in order to direct its cash flows towards debt reduction. The freeze was ended in March 2010 once the new 530 million banking facility was renegotiated. Now with the financing issues sorted, a progressive dividend policy can be expected from wetherspoons management as a measure to signal a bullish future outlook. Cash Flow Analysis In 2009, the pub industry experienced a sharp decline in cash flow as most of the players make efforts to deleverage themselves post the credit crunch. Wetherspoons went from being a cash generator of 7.15 million in 2007 to a cash sink of 2.6 million in 2008. The financing outflows jumped threefolds mainly due to dividend payments of 17.38 million and repurchases of one million shares from the market. The net cash flow continued to be negative in 2009 primarily due to the repayment of long term debts to the tune of around 45 million pounds. Since then the cash position of the company has recovered and the company was a cash generator of 2.48 million in 2010. Wetherspoons has a positive growth in cash inflow from operating activities, but the overall level of operating inflow is low. While Punch Taverns operating inflows are declining due to dwindling revenue and profits, Mitchells and Butlers in contrast, enjoy a much better cash flow from operating activities and hence has access to a bigger pool of funds for its investing and financing activities. Wetherspoons growth policy has led to increased cash outflows from investing activities by over twice the amount in 2006. On the contrary Mitchells Butlers has decreased their cash outflows in investing activities. This is due to their strategic sale of a number of pubs in order to concentrate on the high margin food business. Wetherspoons repayment of the USD 140 million private placement was accompanied by a further advancedment of 96.68 million pounds of long term loans. As a result the cash outflow from financing activities decreased significantly from last year. The total cash flow position would have been much worse, if the company hadnt put a freeze on dividends in 2009. Wetherspoons decision to not declare a final dividend for the financial year 2008-2009 ensured prevented a further cash deficit, given the high levels of capital expenditure in 2009. Accounting policies and Problems in Comparison Given the immaterial size of the companies hotel business, and no international operations, wetherspoon doesnt split its results by business or geographical segments in accordance with the IAS 14. Wetherspoon follows a historic cost model and does not revalue its non current assets. Punch Taverns follow the same method, however Mitchells and Butlers actively revalue its assets. This can lead to distortions in actual value of non current assets and makes them uncomparable. For example Wetherspoon unlike Mitchells Butlers ignores the effect of inflation on the value of its assets. While wetherspoon depreciates fixtures and fittings over a time period of 3-10 years, Mitchells and Butlers do it over a period of 3-20 years. This can further make the asset values uncomparable. Stock Market Analysis The FTSE 350 index seems to be very highly correlated to the FTSE 350 Travel and Leisure index. Prior to the subprime crisis, the travel and leisure index seems to be doing marginally better, while post crisis, the FTSE 350 has slightly outperformed the FTSE 350 travel and leisure index. JD Wetherspoon has outperformed both the indices almost all the time during the last 5 years except for a brief period in 2008 because of the immediate effect of the economic crisis. As per the above graph, JD wetherspoon has consistently outperformed Punch Taverns throughout the past five years. It has also better than Mitchells Butlers since the middle of 2008. This is primarily due to relatively higher revenues and profits at wetherspoon. Wetherspoons expansion strategy has enhanced its future outlook and given a boost to the companys share price. January 06 March 07 The period from Jan 2006 until the beginning of 2007 saw a very sharp increase in wetherspoons share price. While the travel and leisure index only rose up by around 25%, wetherspoon rose by a phenomenal 120%. The football world cup kick-started the 8 month long rally in the travel leisure index. Wetherspoon took advantage of the opportunity by abandoning its no television policy and showing the matches in its pubs. Moreover, they also started to establish a very strong foothold in the coffee and breakfast market. Besides strong financial performance in 2006, wetherspoons purchase of 800,000 of its own shares in September 2006 (REUTERS, 2006) , the interest of Schroder Investment Management in 12.05% of its total common shares, along with significant interests from Aegon UK and Global Value fund Sicav, were one of the primary reasons why wetherspoons rose to its all time high level of 761 pence in March 2007. April 07 September 2008 The smoking ban was implemented in the UK with effect from July 2007. As expected, the ban put immense downward pressures on pub revenues, thereby leading to a crash in share prices. The travel and leisure index crashed around 30% by the end of the year and wetherspoon lost 50% of its value. 2008 presented even worse economic conditions for the pub industry with the advent of the credit crisis. All major pub operators continued to face loss of revenues and hence saw a significant decline in their share price. The extreme volatility in credit markets forced Mitchells Butlers to shelve a 4.5 billion pound property deal (BLAND, Ben, 2007) leading to losses of 274 million pounds on hedges tied to the transaction. Moreover, failed efforts by Punch Taverns to acquire Mitchells Butlers, led to further decline in share prices of both companies. On the other hand Wetherspoon continued to strengthen its revenues due to increased revenues in its food business. In September 2008, wetherspoon d eclared a 5.5% increase in sales and a 12p per share dividend as opposed to zero dividends and huge losses by punch taverns. As a result wetherspoons share price started to consolidate and by the end of

My Personal Teaching Philosophy Education Essay

My Personal Teaching Philosophy Education Essay Teaching. Teaching is a delivery of knowledge and giving impact on the next generation. In terms of teaching, I will discuss my roles as a teacher and a learner, narrate clearly about my teaching styles that I used to and will intend to apply. Relevant examples are given to cover the importance of the effectiveness of my teaching style as well as its downside. My teaching style is dominated by two preeminent styles: all-round flexible and adaptable teacher and big conference teacher. 1 These results are in line with what I have experienced. Currently, I lecture both theoretical and practical medical subjects. In small groups, I teach Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for theoretical subjects and Skills Laboratory as practical one. Whereas in large classes, I assist one of the lectures in Elective Block. As a medical teacher, I maintain my teaching roles as: 1. Motivator Dreams need a helping hand. As a teacher, I feel responsible to motivate learners. I energize students spirit when they fail, guide and coach them in achieving their dreams. Students should be given an understanding that no goals can be achieved without putting any efforts. Conversely, learning is built with frequent exposure and practising.2 2. Mentor As a mentor, I am alert to students aptitude and learning styles. This allows me to nurture their development and heighten their enthusiasm. To do this, I use inspiring quotations to pump out the students mood. Consequently, not only they enjoy the class, but also love the lessons. Quality time, a form of dedication, is highly important for both of us. 3 3. Role model Our words and actions create our own world. This motto keeps me to provide positive reinforcement for students continually. As a role model, I realize that there is a hidden curriculum that I have to nourish in students performance, particularly: attitude, communication skills, and social awareness. I do hope that my words and actions can inspire students to value other peoples lives, including patients lives. Encouraging learners to see all subjects holistically is equally important, thereby they will have a capability in making wise decision as junior doctors. 3 Learning. Based on educational theory, I found out that I am a Reflector and Pragmatist learner.4 This questionnaire enriched my previous perspective as a visual learner. I realize that being a constructivist learner also impacts my teaching methods. When I teach, for instance, I frequently provide examples and illustration, then relate them to my live experiences. 4-6 By sharing my experiences, I hope that learners compare them to their experiences. Classroom Effectiveness. I use various methods of teaching. This helps students to get accustomed to working collaboratively as a clinical team later. I love using dynamic and interactive methods, including: discussions, activities, games, field trip, and role play. When I teach, for instance, I form the class into small groups, present a few questions, then let them brainstorm. I structure my teaching for not more than two hours by imposing recess in the middle. The aim of this is to create an alive and conducive learning atmosphere, either in PBL or small group discussion. With good organization, I set aside my time prior to lectures to adjust materials and sequence appropriate with the time allocation. To facilitate, I provide up-to-date material, innovative teaching aids and media. Instructional technologies that I use include slides, pointer, flipchart, video, e-learning and simulation. I tend to prevent overload information. This is done by emphasizing most frequent cases and compiling similar topics into one module. Several steps that I perform in classroom: 1. Offer students a Pre-test and Learning Styles Survey I use Index of Learning Styles to find out deeply about my students preference and background.7 Over the years, most of the students are visual learners. Hence, it is advisable not to give lectures in one-way teaching method. For instance, I put visual aids like eye-catching pictures, diagrams, or video in class. 2. Define Learning Objectives Learning objectives are important for students to have a broad viewpoint of what knowledge or skills they will accomplish by the end of the class.8,9 I emphasize the importance of understanding the materials along with other subjects as a whole, not only certain chunks of organ systems. 3. Illuminate rules and roles for learners In large group settings, I discuss with students my teaching rules and learning outline at every first session.8,9 Whereas, in small classes, each student is given a chance to take turn in demonstrating the skills and procedures. I also provide them free time and rooms to practise out of class hours. Sometimes, there is an uncertainty in students own motivation. However, I have a belief, the more we restrict learners, the more they do not respect us. Principally, I trust them as an adult learner and let them learn freely without my full supervision or intervention. Students feedback showed that they favor my teaching methods because they feel valued for being treated as colleagues. Their marks and attitudes are generally excellent. Likewise, faculty members have described my teaching as flexible and professional. Students Background. My teaching is mostly based on class size, students background and interests. I had once a student who was always absent and come late. Previously, other stakeholders did not recognize his problems. After asking him in person, I came to know that he could not come to morning class due to consuming certain medicine. Next, I gathered the group which he involves in class. I asked the other students to help him participate in any discussions and project. Though his participation was slight in the first time, I could see a good progress of his passion to finish a degree. Later on, his internship performance was excellent and he graduated. Another case like students unwillingness to be a doctor is also plentiful to find. Being a sensitive teacher to students problems and conditions help me nourish their development and create an enjoyable environment for them to keep going. Downside. One of my biggest struggles in teaching is facing destructive learners, especially those who often fail the whole entire semester. In PBL settings, for instance, such student is more likely to interrupt and not willing to tolerate other learners perspective. Above all, I need to enhance my teaching capacity tremendously over time. To lead younger generations, I have to learn from others and understand the learners. This will allow me to ensure that all graduates are fit into the best practices as medical field is very much related to humans lives.

Essay example --

Our world is growing! Growing in population that is, but the resources are staying the same. To help with the growing of the population that will be happening in the 21st century, science and agriculture need to work hand-in-hand. They need to stand together to make a break through together, to insure that everyone will have food on their plate. We need to work to have larger yields with the land we have. Some people say that humans need to change their diet, and others say that we should destroy hundreds of acres of wild land. According to Feed Nine Billion website, people feel that the only way things will be improving, is if everyone becomes a vegetarian. But others disagree. The people who think that this is the only way do have a good point. Grains and vegetables do produce so much faster than animal production. Then again, you can’t just assume that everyone will follow, and turn to becoming a vegetarian. Besides think of all the farmers that would be out of a job! These farmers could have been family business, just like a dairy farm that is located outside of our town. R&D dairy farm has been handed down generation after generation. Funding has to become an essential in today’s society for this new advance in technology that will be needed. We aren’t only having problems worrying about feeding the next generation; we should be concerned now. Did you know, that in the last 11 years, six of those years the population has consumed more than what was produced? The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website, just this year the cereal production has gone up eight percent. Imagine what will be expected in the 21st century. People are demanding more food now, than they ever have. Scientists say that far... ...t too expensive for the farmers. The second step is that broader awareness is required. According to Sarah Alexander, â€Å"different farmers trust different sources, such as vendors, crop consultants, and university extension services.† Farmers are going to need to be open minded to new things, in order to feed the human race. The last step is farmers need the right incentives. Farmers want to know about the good that they are doing. Farmer’s want to know how they are saving the environment, and how they are producing more food, and feeding more people than they were before. If we all work together, feeding the nine will be possible, and even likely. Farmers need to know how much they are needed, for this process and know that new ways of farming will help in the long run. People don’t have to change their diets so everyone can be fed. Together, we can feed the world.

Algebra As Thought Experiment :: Education Mathematics Learning Essays

Algebra As Thought Experiment ABSTRACT: This paper addresses the problem of understanding what mathematics contributes to the exceptional success of modern mathematical physics. I urge that we give up the Kantian construal of the division between mathematics (synthetic a priori) and physics (experimental), and that we ask instead how algebra helps synthetic a posteriori mathematics improve our ability to study the world. The theses suggested are: 1) Mathematical theories are about the empirical world, and are true or false just like other theories of empirical science. 2) The air of artificiality in mathematics lies exclusively in the use of algebraic method. 3) This method is constructive much like all fiction is, but this construction is for the purpose of experimental investigation of the physical world to the extent that anything in the world has objects like those in the fictional world of a particular algebra. 4) This is why algebraic techniques are successful even when the assumptions of the system are fal se: they may still be applicable to some things considered from some perspective. 5) The success of mathematical physics is also due to Descartes' discovery of a remarkable truth: we live in space and time which can be described as a whole. 6) Therefore, what distinguishes modern science from earlier and later philosophy is not a general method of science, but the fact that it happened to find a truth, and a particular way of studying reality which bore fruit. In the sixteenth century, physics was a part of the general subject known as philosophy. When Galileo wrote the Dialogues Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, he was commenting on some aspects of Aristotle's Philosophy. He was more favorable to the use of mathematics in various problems of physics than was current in his day. He may be described as trying to revive an Archimedean conception of motion in terms of geometry, which may be called "kinematics." Galileo also introduced the experimental method into physics. The experimental method had been very successfully utilized in Alchemy, which was a low or a clandestine science at the time. Its success in physics brought the issue of experimentation into the spot light. Since there are few claims original to Galileo that we may still wish to defend, we may want to describe his success as the introduction of these techniques which he invented or adapted for subsequent physicists to employ. Experimental techniques have improved considerably since Galileo's day.

From Institutions to Inclusions Essay -- Special Education, Section 50

From Institutions to Inclusions During my Research on Special Education and how far it has come I found that Prior to the Eighteenth Century Children with Disabilities were often outcast from society, in fact they were often institutionalized in asylums away from the society. According to an article from about.com, the action of physically, mentally, and physiologically mistreating a student with a disability became illegal when Congress enacted what was then the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act" (Public Law 94-142) on Nov. 29, 1975. The law intended to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for infants, toddlers, children, and youths with disabilities and their families. According the NASET (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS) the term "inclusion or responsible inclusion" is a term used to identify the action of providing services to students with disabilities in the educational setting. Inclusion is commonly considered the least restrictive route and environment for students with disabilities (HICKS-MONROE) According to the text titled "100 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCESS". It states under Federal Law Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) protects students and their parent/guardian. The definition of Special Education means, "Specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents/ guardians, to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability" (PIERANGELO/GIULIANI) To ensure each student with a disability is treated fairly the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was enacted. According to IDEA there are four specific purposes of this act. One It ensures a ... ...akes to get them where they deserve to be, and that is with the rest of the class. I know firsthand what it feels like to need help for your child that has a special need and how much it hurts and frustrates a parent when hurdles are placed in front of you. My child has needed a 504 Plan since Kindergarten and during her first year, we had no other choice, but to get an attorney because the school she attended refused to accommodate her needs. It was necessary for us to fight for her rights so she could attend school with her peers. When it comes to incorporating what I have learned about Special Education. I would try to teach my students by setting goals and objectives for each child early on. Try to teach as many concepts as possible to the group as a whole, and then teach the specific concepts to the smaller group or individuals that require the extra help.

America’s Two Assemblies Essay

Introduction The U.S. government is composed of a bicameral Congress. The first one is the Senate, which is represented equally by the states. The second one is the House of Representatives, which is represented by population. This setup is proposed by the Connecticut Compromise, which combines the proposal of New Jersey and Virginia regarding the issues surrounding the creation of a new Congress. New Jersey, one of the smaller states, insisted that each state should have equal representation in the Congress. But the Virginia Plan argued that a legislature based on population is more fitting. So as a result, the two proposals were combined satisfactorily forming the two houses of the Congress (Lader 2002, 55). The U.S. Senate, or the upper house, is bestowed with different powers, one of which is the power to approve the laws and treaties created by the presidential or the executive branch of the government, as well as the ones coming from the lower house. It approves the laws and treaties by the virtue of two-thirds of votes of the whole Senate population. If that number is not reached, the law can be outwardly rejected, shelved, or is requested to be amended (Powers and Procedures 2006, 1). The lower house, or the House of Representatives, on the other hand, is bestowed the power to create bill which, in turn will turn into a law that the whole nation will follow, and eventually, benefit from. The House of Representatives meets to create bills and resolutions, discusses them, and passes them on to the Senate for further review and ratification (The Legislative Process 2006, 1). These are the basic functions of both the Houses. The functions of creating laws will be further discussed in this paper to show that these two assemblies are essential in any system of government to ensure checks and balances on government power. II. Making a Law A bill starts from an idea of a person. It won’t matter if he is a part of the Congress, a social group or organization, or just a regular citizen. The idea then is brought to the House of Representatives so that they can hear out the pros and cons about it. A group especially designed to cater to the needs and the interest of that idea hears it. For example, if the idea is about education, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce handles it. The law starts from a single thought that is processed and formed into a bill (Donovan 2004, 6-11). All American law starts out this way – as a bill. A bill is a document that proposes an entirely new law or an amendment to an existing one. The bill can be passed by any member of the Congress, even though the idea of making a law comes from government departments or from political parties, as announced in the party platforms during election campaigns. A bill passed by a member of the House of Representative as projected by the government is called the â€Å"Government Bill.† If an individual member of the Congress passes a bill, it is called a â€Å"Private Member’s Bill† (Brody 2001, 1-3). A bill is not a law yet; it has to be approved first by both the Houses of the Congress, and should be affirmed by the incumbent President. The two Houses of Congress will be assessing the bill and has the power to add proposals to make the necessary changes in it. These proposals are usually debated on; speeches are crafted to pronounce a member’s stand towards the bill. The Congress will be voting towards the approval or the shelving of the bill. Usually, the bill has to be read thrice and has to go through all the necessary changes before it is successfully passed on each House of Congress (Holder 1997, 1-4). Here, we see the interaction of the two Houses of the Congress. A law can impact the nation’s economy, and so that the lawmakers themselves, either from the upper or lower house won’t make a law that would benefit them individually or wholly. Intense deliberation and scrutiny is performed on the every bill that was conceptualized and is passed in the hope that it will be implemented only to benefit the many (Brady & McCubbins 2002, 17). III. The Showcase of Balance The innate need of one House of the Congress for the other shows that there is balance in the legislative branch of the government itself. One cannot exist without the other. A bill will not become a law in the absence of either the houses. There would be no law implemented and conceptualized by just one House alone. A single law has to go through the process as required by both the Houses of the Congress (Sajo 1999, 69). These laws, on the other hand, will not become valid without being finalized and approved by the executive branch of government, which is composed of the President and his Cabinet. The final say still belongs to the Head of State. But he cannot influence the Congress as to what laws they should make or ratify. The executive branch can propose and lobby for a bill, but it cannot fully instruct the Congress to just pass it in its favor. Even if the bill is proposed from the above, it still has to go through the same processes. No special treatment is given (Sajo 1999, 89). At this point, the balance between the two branches of the government, namely executive and legislative becomes evident. The President of the United States in his supreme power and capacity, cannot, in any way, influence the Congress to absolutely work for him. He cannot mandate what laws he wanted to be created and passed over to him for finalization. In essence, his office is equal to the legislative office. They work in parallel of each other, so that one cannot take advantage of one another (Sajo 1999, 99). Without the Congress doing its job, the President will have the freedom of making laws himself for whatever reasons he finds urgent. And laws have a big impact to a nation. One wrong law could mean economic distress. One selfish law could suppress freedom. One inappropriate law could wreak havoc. Without the Congress, the President will have his absolute power. The U.S. democratic form of government is gone and a totalitarian form of government will take its place. When that happens, the power shifts heavily to the executive branch of the government (Borrelli 2002, 18). Another branch of the government is the judicial branch. Although the branch does not actively participate in the law-making process, it is directly involved in the implementation of such laws. Even if the legislative body makes the laws and the executive finalizes it, they do not participate in the process of making sure that the laws are fully observed and strictly followed by all members of the society. This is the job of the judiciary. The law applies to all, and that includes the lawmakers who created them and the President of the United States himself. Without the judicial branch of government doing its assigned task of maintaining harmony and peace within the nation’s constituents, the laws would become worthless (Berger et al 2001, 606). IV. The Law and the Society A harmonious society simply cannot exist unless the people who belong in it respect all the governing law implemented to a considerable degree. Laws have the power to settle certain issues in the society and the government. If all people respect the law enough, they would choose to reconcile their individual differences to the context of what is right and valid, as provided by the law’s provisions. All laws should be respectable and sound enough to be appreciated by everyone. Law and morality should also come hand in hand; otherwise, the people will have to choose either to lose their morality or their respect of the law. Laws are created so as to maintain justice in the society; therefore law and justice should be one and the same in the minds of the people (Bastiat 2004, 22). Lawmakers should take it upon themselves to make and amend laws according to the interests of the general public and not for their own personal gains. Laws should help accelerate the resolution of current social conflicts and national dilemma. Every law in the land should represent their citizens accordingly. The law is so powerful it can make a society; and that power is also enormous enough to destroy it in a rather big and convincing way (Lempert & Sanders 1986, 15-20). And this is the main responsibility bestowed upon the shoulders of the legislative branch of government. A balanced government cannot exist in the absence of the Congress. The power will swing indefinitely to either the judicial or the executive branch. And the result of that can prove to be perilous to the society (Lempert & Sanders 1986, 26-27). V. Conclusion The American law is intensely compiled, created, and enacted to serve a greater purpose in the society. The burden of enhancing the laws does not depend solely on the solons and lawmakers. We, as individual members of the society, have an immense duty to promote and participate in the creation of these laws as well. We have to be active members of the society and have to make a mark for our own good. We should all help the legislative branch to preserve the balance of power in the government and the society. Works Cited Bastiat, Frederick. (2004). The Law. Montana: Kessinger Publishing. Berger, Marsall J., Schatz Gerald S., Laufer Deborah S. (2001). Federal Administrative Dispute Resolution Deskbook. Illinois: American Bar Association. Borrelli, Maryanne. (2002). The President’s Cabinet: Gender, Power, and Representation. Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Brady, David W & McCubbins, Matthew D. (2002). Party, Process, and Political Change in Congress: New Perspectives on the History of Congress. California: Stanford University Press. Brody, David C. (2001). Criminal Law. Maryland: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Donovan, Sandy. (2004). Making Laws: A Look at How a Bill Becomes a Law. Minnesota: Lerner Publications. Holder, Angela R. (1997). The Meaning of the Constitution. New York: Barron’s Educational Series. Lader, Curt. (2002). Barrons How to Prepare for the Ap U.S. Government and Politics. New York: Barron’s Educational Series. Lempert, Richard & Sanders Joseph. (1986). An Invitation to Law and Social Science: Deserts, Disputes and Distribution. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Powers & Procedures. (2006). United States Senate. [Online] Available at http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/powers.htm. Sajo, Andras. (1999). Limiting Government: An Introduction to Constitutionalism. New York: Central European University Press. The Legislative Process. (2006). United State House of Represenatives. [Online] Available at http://www.house.gov/house/Tying_it_all.shtml.