Corruption in Spain Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Corruption in Spain - Article Example The article "Corruption in Spain" talks about the corruption situation in Spain involving Princess Cristina de Borbon, sister of Spain’s King and a former board member of Noos institute, and her husband who was the chair of Noos Institute. It is alleged that Princess Cristina's husband and his business partner used the consultancy and organization of tourism and sports banner together with their connections to obtain public contracts, which they overcharged. They stowed away the money in offshore accounts and other privately owned companies. Between 2003 and 2006, Urdangarin and Diego Torres, his former partner siphoned millions through Noor. In addition, it is alleged that Urdangarin and Christina used their company Aizoon to launder funds from their government. They obtained lucrative public contracts without bidding but used their royal connections to do so. Her silence involvement comes from the fact that she was a board member of Noor and a co-owner of Aizoon, a private company which she jointly owned with her husband, therefore, there is no way that Urdangarin would have committed the alleged crime without her knowledge. Similarly, Aizoon has the history of constantly changing its legal domicile. This together with the numerous links that it has with Noos is not a coincidence. The case is historic not only for Spain as a country but also for the entire Europe as it stresses the respect for and the independence of Spain’s judicial system.

Influence of Religion and Education on Moral Judgement

Influence of Religion and Education on Moral Judgement Morality Education How do people explain what is moral? Or what is right or wrong? Morals signify what is right or wrong and it mainly depends on the cultural context. According to Lalonde in lecture, morality is the behaviour that people regard to be right or wrong, morality depends on culture and as a result morals are culturally imbedded into a person in a particular geographical area. There have been so many researches done on the topic of morality, but the main focus of this research is on how people living in multicultural countries relate to other cultures around them and what they judge to be right or wrong. Morality has become a broad topic for most researches and it is not only fascinating but it is how it has developed and still shapes individuals behaviour regardless of where they are or who they are with. In recent discussion about morals, moral reasoning develops from childhood. When a person is born into a particular society, mainly the he or she learns the morals associated with that cu lture. Society is a leading influence on morality thus, the terms in-group favouritism and out-group derogation support this argument. In-group favouritism is associated with members in a particular group, whiles members outside the group are treated differently. Hence morality has to do with the wrong and right behaviours where, members in particular groups’ behaviours are perceived to be right and outsiders behaviours’ are perceived to be wrong. This paper will cover some literature reviews of other research study and a proposed study on how religion and education influence moral judgements, methods been used and the conclusion. Moreover, Larin, Geddes Eva performed cross sectional study which compares moral judgments within two groups of students who underwent a physical therapy and was measured by ‘Defining Issues Test’ (DIT). According to Larin, Geddes Eva, many researches have used Kohlberg’s concept of moral reasoning which have been criticised in many dimensions, so the results of this research was not characterized under Kohlberg’s theory but mainly on the religious effect on morality in testing different groups across cultures (2009). In this research, two different groups of students in different cultures underwent a physical therapy and were tested after a period of time. One group of students were from a western culture whiles the others were from an Islamic religious background (Larin, Geddes Eva, 2009). The main reason was to test the judgements made by students and to determine how education influence peoples moral judgement. The two groups of students were present ed with a moral dilemma and were tested on how they will respond in such a situation. It was concluded that, DIT scores in the western culture increased while the DIT scores in the Islamic culture remain constant over time. Therefore, education can influence peoples judgement in a western culture where there is no specific religious background but not for people who are all associated with one religious body. Religion becomes the main factor in shaping morals because the students were still confined to the morals of their religion and even education could not change their judgments in anyway (Larin, Geddes Eva, 2009). In relation to the previous study, this study is also a cross-cultural study which also discusses morality based on the concept by Shweder, known as â€Å"the Big 3 Moral Ethics (CAD)† (Guerra Sorolla, 2010). Ethic of Community, Ethic of Autonomy and the Ethic of Divinity has been used in so many researches in countries like India, Brazil, Japan, Philippines and United States and there have been many different responses (Guerra Sorrolla, 2010). The participants were British-born students across different ages, and Western European students, where the research focuses on how people in similar settings respond differently on moral judgements. However, they introduced a new â€Å"novel approach by also measuring how ethics relate to approval of moral actions as right† (Guerra Sorrolla, 2010) and how effective Shweder moral ethics proposed. Different students and their responses were categorized under the Community, Autonomy and Divinity Scale that Guerra Sorrolla devel oped. The scale was designed in horizontal and vertical lines, where horizontal represented equality, whiles vertical was hierarchical system. Autonomy falls under both individualism and collectivism horizontal because each of them is associated with the notion of equality. Another relation was between divinity and community which is associated with vertical collectivism and the prediction was that British student will fall more on the individualism horizontal than the western Europeans who are more collective. The results were valid and that the study they proposed was proven and consistence across culture (Guerra Sorrolla, 2010). In addition, another study was conducted among students in Kuwait University, in order to know the effect of gender and education on moral reasoning. According to AL- Ansari, many literature reviews have mainly certified morals development as a result of education and in his study, 3 questions was constructed. First, what is the overall moral reasoning pattern for the students in Kuwait? Secondly, are the gender differences in moral reasoning? And lastly, are there differences in the moral reasoning of students in higher or lower educational levels? Students were randomly selected in ages ranging from 18-24 and were categorized under freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors (AL- Ansari, 2002). The method used in this study was the short form of DIT and before the study all the participants were registered in a short semester at the university. In order to consider different cultures, 3 different stories were used in the testing the moral reasoning of the student. Ultimately, the sta ge at which the students in Kuwait reason in making moral judgements is at the conventional level of Kohlberg’s theory (AL-Ansari, 2002). There was also no difference in making moral judgements between the females and male, and lastly, there is an effect on moral judgement when there is an introduction of formal education (AL-Ansari, 2002). When all the reviews are put together, the main focus is how morality has been influenced by the introduction of formal education. PROPOSED STUDY The introduction of formal education into people’s lives has influenced their responses on making moral judgement. The development of the mind into different cultural practises as a result of higher education, the more similar judgement a person has with his or her other mates. However different cultures have different morals but as a person mingle with other cultures and study these varieties, the more open-minded they become in making judgements. This study is about how individual from different cultures become similar in making moral judgements as a result of education. METHOD Furthermore, I assembled about 20 immigrants from different cultures, such as Africans, Indians, Europeans and others who have been introduced to formal education but with different curricular. Their education was mainly based on their cultural activities and they were based on scholarships to continue their education in the higher. I was able to gather these people based on a class I took at York know as English as a second language. The incentive for this research was to help them learn English language, so we meet at the end of every semester to discuss our experiences and as a result I developed this study. It is a longitudinal study which is studying the same group of participants across a long period of time. HYPOTHESIS Introduction of formal education influence peoples moral judgements in a similar context. STUDY The participants were given a questioner to answer after reading a moral dilemma. These participants were new in Canada and still had their morals associated with their cultures. The questions were what would you do if you were in such a situation and what do you think about the behaviour of person in the situation. Their answer was characterised under the 3 stages of Kohlberg’s moral reasoning. Level 1: Preconventional, what is bad is determined by the physical consequences, Level 2: Conventional where morality is based on external standards such as what maintains the social order in relation to the family and society and lastly, Level 3: Post conventional where moral reasoning is based on internalised standards of abstract ethical principles regarding justice and individual rights. These students were studies across time with the similar moral dilemmas, thus during their first, second, third and final years. The study was very effective and there were tremendous results. RESULTS In the first year there was a variety of responses between the participants but as more educated they became, the more similar they thought in their moral reasoning. In their final years most of the participants gave answers which focussed more on the conventional level of moral reasoning regardless of their backgrounds. CONCLUSION The hypothesis was proven to be right, thus the moral educated people become; the more alike they are in making moral judgements. This research might not be valid because there might be other factors that influenced the responses of the participants. References Al-Ansari, E. M. (2002). Effects of gender and education on the moral reasoning of Kuwait  University Students. Social Behavior And Personality: An International Journal, 30 (1),  pp. 7582. Guerra, V. M. Giner-Sorolla, R. (2010). The community, autonomy, and divinity scale  (CADS): A new tool for the cross-cultural study of morality. Journal Of Cross-Cultural  Psychology, 41 (1), pp. 35-50. Larin, H. M., Geddes, E. L. Eva, K. W. (2009). Measuring moral judgement in physical  therapy students from different cultures: a dilemma. Learning In Health And Social Care,  8 (2), pp. 103113.

Stampfer and The Catharsis of King Lear Essay -- King Lear essays

Stampfer and The Catharsis of King Lear  Ã‚   At the end of King Lear, when the only characters left standing are Albany, Edgar, and Kent, is the audience supposed to come away from the play with any feeling other than remorse? This search for emotional release by the audience is one which J. Stampfer believes is the most profound problem in King Lear. The overriding critical problem in King Lear is that of its ending. The deaths of Lear and Cordelia confront us like a raw, fresh wound where our every instinct calls for healing and reconciliation. This problem, moreover, is as much one of philosophic order as of dramatic effect. In what sort of universe, we ask ourselves, can wasteful death follow suffering and torture? In his essay "The Catharsis of King Lear," Stampfer discusses sevearal readings of Lear’s death, proves them faulty, and, through analyzation of this and other Shakespearian texts, arrives at his own conclusion concerning Lear’s denouement and the audience’s reaction. The essay begins with Stampfer defining the relevance of Lear’s death to King Lear and the essay reader. Stampfer does not waste the time of the reader with an elaborate introduction. Instead, the first line defines the problem: The overriding critical problem in King Lear is that of its ending (361). Still in the first paragraph, he quotes the line from Lear that causes the interpretation problems, referring to it as Lear’s "desparing question" (361): Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, And thou no breath at all? (v,iii, 306-7) The rest of the paragraph discusses problems which, in Stampfer’s opinion, cannot be pushed aside, such as the source Shakespeare used to write King Lear, and the Christian referenc... ...ld, and abandons athiesm and attempts to save Lear and Cordelia. This creates a paradox for Stampfer: if characters such as Lear, Gloucester, and Edmund all go through some sort of awakening, why do they all die? Is there any justice in the universe? Stampfer examines Othello, Hamlet, and Romeo & Juliet, and concludes that in each of those tragedies, the play ends with the "reconciliation of the tragic hero and society" (371). Lear, in Stampfer’s opinion, is "the first tragedy in which the tragic hero dies unreconciled and indifferent to society" (371). So Stampfer finds it necessary to go over the plot of Lear again, and dervie what within the structure makes Lear different from the before mentioned plays, and attempt to find some sort of catharsis. Stampfer comes up with several key points. The first is Lear’s abandonment of everything he once knew.

Finance Case

CASESTUDY: Goodweek Tires, Inc. After extensive research and development, Goodweek Tires,Inc. , has recently developed a new tire, the SuperTread, and must decide whether to make the investment necessary to produce and market the SuperTread. The tire would be ideal for drivers doing a large amount of wet weather and off-road driving in addition to its normal freeway usage. The research and development costs so far total about $10 million. The SuperTread would be put on the market beginning this year and Goodweek expects it to stay on the market for a total of four years.Test marketing costing $5 mil-lion shows that there is a significant market for a SuperTread-type tire. As a financial analyst at Goodweek Tires, you are asked by your CFO, Mr. Adam Smith, to evaluate the SuperTread project and provide a recommendation on whether to go ahead with the investment. You are informed that all previous investments in the SuperTread are sunk costs and only future cash flows should be conside red . Except for the initial investment which will occur immediately; assume all cash flows will occur at year-end.Goodweek must initially invest $120 million in production equipment to make the SuperTread. The equipment is expected to have a seven-year useful life. This equipment can be sold for $51,428,571at the end of four years. Goodweek intends to sell the SuperTread to two distinct markets: 1. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Market The OEM market consists primarily of the large automobile companies (e. g. , General Motors) who buy tires for new cars. In the OEM market, the SuperTread is expected to sell for $36 per tire. The variable cost to produce each tire is $18. 2.The Replacement Market The replacement market consists of all tires purchased after the auto-mobile has left the factory. This market allows higher margins and Goodweek expects to sell the SuperTread for $59 per tire there. Variable costs are the same as in the OEM market. Goodweek Tires intends to rai se prices at 1 percent above the inflation rate. Variable costs will also increase 1 percent above the inflation rate. In addition, the SuperTread project will incur $25 mil-lion in marketing and general administration costs the first year (this figure is expected to increase at the inflation rate in the subsequent years).Goodweek’s corporate tax rate is 40 percent. Annual inflation is expected to remain constant at 3. 25 percent. The company uses a 15. 9 percent discount rate to evaluate new product decisions. The tire market Automotive industry analysts expect automobile manufacturers to produce 2 million new cars this year and production to grow at 2. 5 percent per year thereafter. Each new car needs four tires (the spare tires are undersized and are in a different category). Goodweek Tires expects the SuperTread to capture 11 percent of the OEM market.Industry analysts estimate that the replacement tire market size will be 14 million tires this year and that it will grow at 2 percent annually. Goodweek expects the SuperTread to capture an 8 per-cent market share. You decide to use the MACRS depreciation schedule (seven-year property class). You also decide to consider net working capital (NWC) requirements in this scenario. The immediate initial working capital requirement is $11 million, and thereafter the net working capital requirements will be 15 percent of sales. What will be the NPV, payback period, discounted payback period, AAR, IRR, and PI on this project?

Electrical Circuit

Electrical circuit  is a path which  electrons  from a  voltage  or  current  source flow. Electric current  flows in a closed path called an electric circuit. The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called the â€Å"source† of electrons. The point where the electrons leave an electrical circuit is called the â€Å"return† or â€Å"earth ground†. The exit point is called the â€Å"return† because electrons always end up at the source when they complete the path of an electrical circuit.The part of an electrical circuit that is between the electrons' starting point and the point where they return to the source is called an electrical circuit's â€Å"load†. ————————————————- Electrical-circuits Electrical circuits usually use  alternating current  sources. The load of an electrical circuit may be as simple as the electrical appliances like refrigerators, televisions, or microwave ovens. But the loads for electrical circuits can also be quite complicated, such as the load upon the output of a hydroelectric power generating station. ———————————————— Electronic circuits Electronic  circuits usually use low voltage  direct current  sources. The load of an electronic circuit may be as simple as a few  resistors,capacitors, and a lamp, all connected together to create the flash in a  digital camera. Or an electronic circuit can be complicated, connecting thousands of resistors, capacitors, and  transistors  to create the  microprocessors  that make computers possible. ————————————————- Circuit-and-wiring-diagrams Electrical and electronic circui ts can be complicated.Making a drawing of the connections to all the component parts in the circuit's load makes it easier to understand how circuit components are connected. Drawings for electronic circuits are called â€Å"circuit diagrams†. Drawings for electrical circuits are called â€Å"wiring diagrams†. Circuit diagrams and wiring diagrams are usually drawn by skilleddraftsmen, and then printed. But they can also be simple pencil sketches drawn by  technicians  or other workers. Wiring and circuit diagrams use special  symbols  recognized by everyone who uses the drawings.The symbols on the drawings show how components like resistors, capacitors,  inductors, motors, outlet boxes, lights, switches, and other electrical and electronic ————————————————- Circuit-breakers The current flowing in an electrical or electronic circuit can be suddenly i ncreased when a component part fails. The increase in current can cause serious damage to other components in the circuit. Or the failure can create a fire hazard. To protect the other components, or to prevent a fire hazard, a device called a â€Å"circuit breaker† can be wired into a circuit.The circuit breaker will open, or â€Å"break†, the circuit in which it is installed when the current in that circuit becomes too high. ————————————————- [change]Ground-fault-interrupt-(GFI)-devices The standard return for electrical and electronic circuits is the earth ground. When an improperly designed electrical or electronic device fails, it may open the return circuit to the earth ground. The user of the device could become a part of the device's electrical circuit by providing a return path for the electrons through the user's body instead of the circuit's earth ground.When the user's body becomes part of an electrical circuit, the user can be seriously  shocked, or even killed by  electrocution. To prevent the danger of electrical shock and the possibility of electrocution, ground fault interrupt devices detect open circuits to earth ground in attached electrical or electronic devices. When an open circuit to earth ground is detected, the GFI device immediately opens the voltage source to the device. GFI devices are similar to circuit breakers, but are designed to protect humans rather than circuit components.