Mercury Athletic Footwear Essay Example for Free

Mercury Athletic Footwear Essay John Liedtke head of Active Gear, Inc. (AGI) is contemplating whether to invest in Mercury Athletic a subsidiary of West Coast Fashions (WCF). Mercury was purchased by WCF in hopes to increase business revenue however this was not the case. Business did not do as expected, WCF was then eager to abandon its apparel. John Liedtke saw this as an opportunity to take over Mercury and as result increase its business revenue. In order to determine whether this is an essential business opportunity John needs to complete preliminary financial valuations to make a solid decision. Active Gear’s current income statements and balance sheets have made it evident that the firm has a lot of potential for growth when acquiring an additional company. After maintaining simple production and supply chains AGI avoided the worst of industry write-downs and missed profit opportunities (Luehrman, Helprin (2009). In comparison to other larger industry’s AGI has a strong operating margin. Even though AGI is a profitable firm it has a downfall that it is much smaller than many of its competitors and is slowly becoming a disadvantage. In order to foresee future growth AGI should take the necessary measures to incorporate Mercury Athletic Footwear. Similar to AGI, Mercury has potential room for growth despite its former acquisition with West Coast Fashions. In order to determine Mercury’s future financial growth John should use financial forecasting. This is essential for budgeting as well as planning purposes. The most obvious involves using cash flow forecasts (Formula shown on Exhibit 1). Cash flow forecasts are used to predict account balances several years into the future and indicates what is expected to exist during a forecast period (Gabehart Valuation Services. (2003). In conducting a 5 year projection from 2006 to 2011 in both the income statement and balance sheets John can identify Mercury’s net worth and highlight what its financial revenue maybe (Formula shown on Exhibit 1). These forecasts results are based on historic facts and can be adjusted. In doing this John can clearly see whether processes are in control or out of control for example how inventory changes affect finance costs and whether the investment is worth making. This also makes it clear what financing options are more suitable in the long term and which ones would cause problems, as a result avoid any surprises (Olley (2006). The discount rate of acquiring Mercury is also essential to know. Since discount cash flow is a valuation method used to estimate investment opportunities. Its purpose is to estimate money received from an investment and adjust for time value money (Harman (2011). In this case a 12% forecast was estimated and reflected a positive factor toward PV and NPV. There are however, some circumstances where discount cash flow can be a challenge for example, the most prevailing is when cash flow projections increase for each year in the forecast. It is then assumed that a company will mature in such a way that their maintainable growth rates will lean toward long-term rate of economic growth in the long run (Harman (2011). This intern becomes a challenge for the company against unexpected risks. In consideration to Mercury’s financial history and projections it would be in the best interest for AGI to move forward and invest in Mercury. This would increase revenue for AGI and bring in a new customer market. Prior to doing so John will need to perform a financial forecast as previously discussed. The review of general factors and considerations related to the preparation of forecasts needs to be in order as well. To begin John will need to compare each given year’s net worth on the balance sheet to the next. Assuming the cash flow is increasing and positive figures are shown it can be determine that revenue is coming in. However, most importantly if the Net Present Value (NPV) reflects a negative number or is smaller than zero then the investment should be rejected. In this case NPV is positive therefore John should accept the investment. Using this determination John will be able to make a confidant decision. The use of predicting income figures is important as it recognizes a company’s future benefits and is highly stressed in a company especially when determining an investment opportunity.

Web 2.0 versus Pedagogy :: Technology, Voice Thread

Web 2.0 is an advance technology which many people used for communication such as blogs, social networking, entertainment and gaining of information about specific issue, events and people. It facilitates an interactive and collaborative application, user centered design and developing World Wide Web (Rad, 2007). This system is not originally intended for teaching a learning purpose but previously some educators was attracted to use this as an educational tool. (Peltier, 2009) Voice thread Integration of literacy and technology is very helpful for learners to fully understand the specific information and as well as in the side of educators that will improve their teaching strategy through adaptability of voice thread. Considering the advancement of the technologies and the knowledge of each educator and the willingness of the learners this progress will not be impossible to achieve as desired. Contributories in making the voice thread effective to the users depending on their capabilities to adapt the process of spreading information and interaction towards feedback mechanism will surely be manageable to which all queries are given that of enough attention. Voice Thread is an online tool which is not originally intended as a classroom tool but in 2008, Burden made a study in which Voice Thread can be used as an educational tool for enhancement of teaching and student learning. This kind of online application showcases a new designed learning tool that engages students to be motivated in exploring and gaining knowledge through video collaborative conversation, images, power point, and audio files. Voice Thread has the ability to securely accommodate learners not only to become readers but to become participants also. (Freyer, 2008) Voice Thread allows interaction within the user and the participants thru exchanging of comments by oral or textual. This application also allows privacy of documents being posted for which you can choose only the audiences or participants which can view your post. To attract learners to be more interested, Voice Thread also allows images or videos to be posted for a better presentation (Anderson, 2010). For better audio comments, Lofton (2008) suggested the usage of Audacity which is a free downloadable application that allows editing and volume adjustments. Another suggestion is to use a better quality microphone (Lofton, 2008). Voice Thread might pose an accessibility problem for those students with low bandwidth. In addition, viewing the application on a mobile phone can be difficult because it employs Flash to deliver content. Web 2.0 versus Pedagogy :: Technology, Voice Thread Web 2.0 is an advance technology which many people used for communication such as blogs, social networking, entertainment and gaining of information about specific issue, events and people. It facilitates an interactive and collaborative application, user centered design and developing World Wide Web (Rad, 2007). This system is not originally intended for teaching a learning purpose but previously some educators was attracted to use this as an educational tool. (Peltier, 2009) Voice thread Integration of literacy and technology is very helpful for learners to fully understand the specific information and as well as in the side of educators that will improve their teaching strategy through adaptability of voice thread. Considering the advancement of the technologies and the knowledge of each educator and the willingness of the learners this progress will not be impossible to achieve as desired. Contributories in making the voice thread effective to the users depending on their capabilities to adapt the process of spreading information and interaction towards feedback mechanism will surely be manageable to which all queries are given that of enough attention. Voice Thread is an online tool which is not originally intended as a classroom tool but in 2008, Burden made a study in which Voice Thread can be used as an educational tool for enhancement of teaching and student learning. This kind of online application showcases a new designed learning tool that engages students to be motivated in exploring and gaining knowledge through video collaborative conversation, images, power point, and audio files. Voice Thread has the ability to securely accommodate learners not only to become readers but to become participants also. (Freyer, 2008) Voice Thread allows interaction within the user and the participants thru exchanging of comments by oral or textual. This application also allows privacy of documents being posted for which you can choose only the audiences or participants which can view your post. To attract learners to be more interested, Voice Thread also allows images or videos to be posted for a better presentation (Anderson, 2010). For better audio comments, Lofton (2008) suggested the usage of Audacity which is a free downloadable application that allows editing and volume adjustments. Another suggestion is to use a better quality microphone (Lofton, 2008). Voice Thread might pose an accessibility problem for those students with low bandwidth. In addition, viewing the application on a mobile phone can be difficult because it employs Flash to deliver content.

Based on Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” Can Art Ever Push Social?

Iskra Angelova Assignment #3 Dr. Ferrante Writing 140 10/26/2012 Based on Andres Serrano’s â€Å"Piss Christ† can art ever push social boundaries too far? â€Å"Anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blasphemes the Name they are to be put to death. † (Holy Bible. Leviticus 24:16) Religion as believe and institution emerged centuries ago and it is a significant segment influencing our lives.Spiritual faith has impact in many institutions and fields, like politics and the art world. The Lord’s Supper has been and still is an inspiration to many artists. There are evidences in the history of the greatest art in the world: Michelangelo’s â€Å"The Creation of Adam†; â€Å"Last Supper† by Leonardo Da Vinci and many others. The representation of religious icons has been of significant importance of artists’ genius. Art is a pow erful machine which is able to shape our belief system and change lives.It has the power to teleport us to completely new environments where everyone could interpreted in their own personal perspective. The tremendous influence of art in people lives has a bouquet of lovely feelings replacing people reality with some paradise to the moment when believes fall apart. Centuries artists were focusing their talent into representation of religious people, as religion used to have a huge influence in people every day routines. Throughout the years there was a shift in the representation of religious figures.In the past they were idealized, but today there is controversy surrounding spiritual representations. The new way of picturing holy icons has become a number one topic for critics. Religious art can be highly controversial and insulting, and some ask if art is a powerful weapon that can push social boundaries too far. But where exactly does art cross the line between being acceptable a nd becoming controversial. In the past 25 years, one of the most discussed photographs, which shock society’s view of religious figure representation, is Andres Serrano’s â€Å"Piss Christ†, a controversial photograph of a small lastic crucifix submerged in a glass container filled with the artist’s urine and highlighted with red light. Some people are very sensitive when artist let their imagination and esthetic views take over the realistically and respectful representation of religious figures. As long as the creation of art does not break any laws in the country of exhibition, then art cannot push social boundaries too far. Without the title Serrano’s creation is arresting, but emphasis of the usage of urine for its creation categorizes as blasphemy.The first exhibition of the work caused bitter disputes because of its offensive context, also was problematic when it won the Visual Arts Award sponsored by the National Endowment for the Art, an i ndependent agency of the United States federal government that finances artistic projects. The general opinion claim that â€Å"Piss Christ† is blasphemous, but Serrano’s art work indicates the way modern society has begun to treat Christ and Christian values. The artist explains: â€Å"The Church is obsessed with the body and blood of Christ.At the same time, there is the impulse to repress and deny the physical nature of the Church’s membership. There is a real ambivalence there. It’s one thing to idealize the body and it’s another to deal with it realistically†¦ In my work, I attempt to personalize this tension in institutional religion by revising the way in which body fluids are idealized. â€Å"(Serrano 25). Serrano’s intentions are not to disgrace this religion but to show how commercialized the Christian icon has become in contemporary culture. The artist’s purpose is to involve people’s minds in both a visual an d intellectual domain.Even though this photograph is highly controversial and insulting to religious people, it does not violate any legislation. Religious groups and institutions make comparisons between Serrano’s â€Å"Piss Christ† and the resent film â€Å"Innocence of Muslims†. Wave of violence swept over the Arab world in response to provocation from the low-budget film satirizing Prophet Mohammed. Aggressively protesting crowds flood the streets in respond to the film, violent acts against the Western civilization and embassies attacks.But what is it so insulting about the film â€Å"Innocence of Muslims†? There are many offensive movies, art works and books which humiliate Christianity and directly disgrace Christ’s name, but in consequences of which the Christian world does not responds in such violent way. The examples are numerous, but the interesting fact is that all of the controversial art had been made during modernist movement when C hristians extracted themselves from the prejudices and place the freedom of expression over the dogmas.However, Serrano’s â€Å"Piss Christ† has been provoking and peeve people since its creation, the tolerance rich its pick on Palm Sunday, 2011 in France when it was attacked with hammer and destroyed by Catholic protestants, but it does not cross the limit and push the social boundaries too far. In contrast the anti-Muslim film, it could be consider as art which goes beyond the borders of acceptance because it is in contrast with what the Koran says about Mohammad representations and it causes people death. More than two decades Serrano’s photograph generates negative oppositions to politics, social and religious world.That contributes to the artist intention to make people engaged with his work not only visually but intellectually too. Twenty five years from its creation and it is still highly provocative. Faith people are bombarding President Obama with their requests to forbid â€Å"Piss Christ† exhibition at the Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery in New York City. Serrano’s photograph is various things including shocking, scandalous, beautiful and compelling, but there are much more important things which this art addresses and who could dispute its seriousness, originality and power?It is showing how limited is the human mind and how low educated are some people in sense of understanding art work. The artist is twisting the meaning and placing religious symbols into new contexts. He is displaying the commercialized side of the religion. People are arguing that this great creation is blasphemy, but the Bible says do not make any idols and do not worship them. In that sense of thinking isn’t it a wooden or plastic object made from human hand representing Jesus’s suffer against the Holly book lows?Bill Donohue, who is president of the Catholic League, believes that the President of The United States should defend Ame rican’s values. Obama ignores this request and does not prohibit the display of Serrano’s photograph but even support it and refused to stand against an art made 25 years ago. Artist’s supporters point out that â€Å"Piss Christ† is an expression of artistic liberty and freedom of speech. Since its creation, this art work has generated a lot of negative comments.The work was a centurial focus of the Cultural War in the 1990’s on which was question its artistic value. Throughout his career, Serrano has created a different visual language that raise the question about religion, humanity, sex and social values. The abstract beauty of his photographs it could be termed as spiritual quest. It is a fight of good and immoral, the urine is symbol of the realism and the holly icon is the idealism. His photographs are emblematic for contrasting elements from life: beauty, disgust, provocation etc.Renowned for a passionate body of work that challenges artisti c and social boundaries Andres Serrano has exhibited since the 1980s. His art is categorized as inappropriate, blasphemous and even there are claims that it is not an art. With turbulent negative verbal and physical attacks against the â€Å"Piss Christ†, Serrano cleverly navigate human attention in the direction of questioning our values and believes. This photograph is provocative art work, which is displaying a perfect balance between realism and idealism.Although its controversial idea and strongly offensive meaning this great art creating could not be consider as object which pushes social boundaries too far. In contrast to the resent film â€Å"Innocence Muslim† which not only brakes Islamic lows but provokes human vandalism and push the limits to the extremes, exactly a human death. But the question is can a society living in medieval to overleap its social and cultural point of view? Hardly. It will not change even after this cheap provocation.The modern societ y should become more open minded and free ourselves from the religious prejudices and Serrano since 25 years ago is driving people all over the world towards this goal. Work Cited: 1. Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV ® Copyright  © 1973, 1978, 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Leviticus 24:16 2. Serrano, Andres :Works 1 983-1993. Philadelphia: Insti- 1994 tute of Contempora Art, Universityo f Pennsylvania 3. Massara, Kathleen. Piss Christ: Andres Serrano’s Iconic Work on View at Edward Tyler NahemGallery. The Huffington Post.

The Failure of Jacksonian Democracy by Andrew Jackson

US History to 1877 What does the term â€Å"Jacksonian† democracy mean, and how it accurate is it to describe the period between 1824 and 1844. The â€Å"Jacksonian† Democracy’s meaning originates from the political philosophy of the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. The philosophy stated intentions was to strengthen the power of the poor lower class while weakening the influence of the rich upper class. As stated in â€Å"Jacksonian† democracy was intended to elevate the political process of the â€Å"common man†. Their efforts failed. Even though the term was intended to strengthen lower class people, Jacksonian democrats only advanced the interests of middle class white men. The Jacksonian democracy also was against centralized banks and believed that the economic stability of the nation did not rest upon the wealthy. The Jacksonian democracy divided the United States and favored sectionalism, which means favoritism based on region and not country as a whole. The Jacksonian democracy ultimately damaged the stability and union of the nation. The Jacksonians in this democracy believed that they were revolutionaries and progressives, and in some regards they were. Before the Jacksonian democracy, only white men with property could vote. During the Jacksonian democracy all white males could vote, if they were twenty one. Yet in many ways the Jacksonian democracy yielded no change for non white males.. Slaves and Women during this time period did not gain any progressiveShow MoreRelatedAndrew Jackson And The Influence Of The Jacksonian Democracy1259 Words   |  6 Pagesinfluence of the politician Andrew Jackson. The Democrats believed in a limited federal government and supported giving more power to the states. The economic monopolies in the East concerned the Democrats, they wanted equal opportunity for white males in the South and West. By the presidential election in 1828, new amendments to voting qualifications allowed more white males to vote. With support from this new population of voters, Jackson swept the electio n, dawning the Jacksonian Era that lasted untilRead MoreDbq on Andrew Jackson Essay813 Words   |  4 PagesDBQ – Andrew Jackson Jacksonian Democrats believed that they were protecting individual liberty, political democracy, the equality of economic opportunity, and upholding the rights of the Constitution of the United States. In my opinion, the Jacksonians were, to some extent, guardians of the United States. However, the Jacksonians did have their flaws. When it came to protecting individual liberties, Jacksonians favored the white male population, but totally ignored others. They wanted toRead MoreJacksonian Democracy Dbq Essay1198 Words   |  5 PagesKathy Dai M. Galvin AP USH Period 1 Jacksonian Democracy DBQ The Jacksonian democracy of the 1820s-1830s is often associated with an expansion of the political influence, economic opportunities, and social equality available to â€Å"the common man,† a concept of the masses which President Andrew Jackson and his newly founded Democratic party came to represent. The new administration certainly saw gains for the majority; namely, public participation in government increased to unprecedentedRead MoreAnalysis Of The War Hero After The Battle Of New Orleans934 Words   |  4 PagesNovember 2015 APUSH DBQ: Jacksonian Democrats Andrew Jackson became known as the war hero after the Battle of New Orleans. His victory over the Indians in the battle helped his public recognition and increased his popularity in society. In the election of 1820, Andrew Jackson ran for presidency and won with flying colors. Jackson’s humble background gave him an edge over other candidates - he was the voice for the â€Å"common man† and endorsed the idea of national democracy. His years in office was namedRead MoreEssay on Jacksonian Democracy755 Words   |  4 PagesJacksonian Democracy Jacksonian democracy was created during antebellum America. The Jackson democrats attempted to aggrandize the puissance of lower classes poor while decreasing the influence of the rich and potent. Economically, they benefited from governing during a time of paramount advances in transportation, which boosted commerce and helped the common man. Politically, they invested power into an overwhelmingly powerful executive branch. The Jacksonian democrats portrayed themselves asRead MoreThe Jacksonian Democratic Party1423 Words   |  6 Pagesorganization of a party, who shall†¦prevent dangerous combinations to subvert these indefeasible and fundamental privileges†, he called for a party to become the sentinel of the original American democracy. And for many, the Jacksonian Democratic Party filled that role. The Democrats, who pursued a democracy that entailed economic and social independence for the common citizen, faced harsh opposition from the Whig Party in the Second Amer ican Party System. But apart from the political tensions of theRead MoreThe Jacksonian Era Of The Common Man1561 Words   |  7 PagesThe Jacksonian period (1824-1841) is widely recognized as the era of the â€Å"common man†. To an extent, this statement is true due to the numerous political advancements that increased the rights of the â€Å"common man†. However, the political developments alone do not form a full picture of this period. In contrast with the progress in the political sphere, the economic developments during this era oppressed the people as America plunged into the worst financial depression it had seen to that pointRead MoreJacksonian Dbq1652 Words   |  7 PagesThe Age of Jackson, from the 1820s to the 1830s, was a period of American history full of contradictions, especially in regard to democracy. The period saw an increase in voter participation, nominating committees replaced caucuses, and electors began to be popularly elected. Yet, all of these voting changes affected only a minority of the American people: White, Anglo-Saxon males. So, though one can easily tell that White, Anglo-Saxon males were gaining true liberty and equality, the millionsRead MoreAssess the successes and failures of Andrew Jacksons presidency2230 Words   |  9 PagesWhen Jackson came to power in 1829 he promised much, advocating equality, democratic change, morality in government and true representation. However Jacksons success or failure as a president is shown by what he actually did. The thesis of this essay is that despite the variety of issues faced by Jackson he didnt actually bring about much change. This could be interpreted as failure but his legacy as a strong president, as a symbol of US democracy, and also the devotion of the people to him, doesRead MoreFlaws of Jacksonian Democracy2066 Words   |  9 Pagesof New Orleans, Andrew Jackson (â€Å"Old Hickory†) first became publicly recognized as a war hero and an Indian fighter. Very few people, if any, probably predicted he would one day become the president of the United States; but he did! In the election of 1828, Jackson campaigned as an authentic man of the people and was elected president by a landslide. During the campaign, Jacksonians created a new political party—the Democrats, the first modern one created, that supported Jackson and his run for