Sunday, April 19, 2020

JPMorgan Chase Co. Essay Sample free essay sample

JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. is the taking fiscal services house in the universe with operations in over 50 states. It was founded and based in the United States where its corporate central office is located in New York City. It has six nucleus concerns: Investing Banking. Retail Financial Services. Card Services. Commercial Banking. Treasury A ; Securities Services. and Asset Management ( JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. ) . This bank came to be JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. in 2000. when the Chase Manhattan Bank. originally founded in 1799. merged with J. P. Morgan A ; Co. . originally founded in 1871. It besides had many predecessors such as Chemical Bank. Bank One. and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. ( JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. ) . Over the old ages. JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. played major functions in certain minutess and events. For illustration. this bank was involved in the First World War where it helped the British and the Gallic by set uping a $ 500 million Anglo-French loan which was. We will write a custom essay sample on JPMorgan Chase Co. Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page at the clip. the largest foreign loan in Wall Street history ( JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. ) . It besides supported the European Allies by going their buying agent. Furthermore. many of its predecessors helped revolutionise banking throughout the old ages. For case. they introduced automated Teller machines ( ATM ) . helped in the formation of electronic banking webs. and helped open up the earliest signifiers of on-line place banking services ( JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. ) . Furthermore. there were cardinal amalgamations and acquisitions that shaped the company. Some acquisitions include Bank One ( 2004 ) . Washington Mutual ( 2008 ) . and Bear Stearns amp ; Co. Inc. ( 2008 ) . Although JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. succeeded in going a planetary leader in many countries of concern. it late suffered a steep ruin due to derivative trading. Derivative Debacle Overview In May 2012. Jamie Dimon. CEO of JPMorgan Chase amp ; Co. . announced a trading loss of $ 2 billion on man-made recognition places ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) . The unit chiefly responsible for this loss was the Chief Investment Office ( CIO ) . This London-based unit oversees the company’s investing exposure and is hence to a great extent involved with hazard direction such as covering with involvement and foreign exchange rate hazard. It besides manages certain types of recognition hazards that result from day-to-day operations of different lines of concern ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) There were several people who were straight involved with the derivative fiasco. Jamie Dimon played a cardinal function since he was responsible for reconstituting the CIO in a manner to make a larger accent on doing net incomes by covering with much riskier fiscal derived functions. Within the CIO. there was Ina Drew who was hired by Jamie Dimon to be the caput of the CI O. She was pressured by the CEO to exchange places from being a equivocator to a speculator for the company in order to seek net income. Therefore. Drew had created the trading schemes for the unit to transport out ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) . While pull offing the CIO. Drew hired Achilles Macris as a trading supervisor in the London office. Working aboard Macris was Javier Martin-Artajo. who was the pull offing manager. Both were responsible for transporting out Drew’s schemes and oversaw the trades ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) . Reporting to Mr. Martin-Artajo was Bruno Iksil. a cardinal bargainer in the CIO. He is known as the â€Å"London Whale† since he would take on big and hazardous places when trading. As a effect of the derivative fiasco. all four persons of the CIO left the house shortly after the loss was reported ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) Probes of the trading loss are still being performed today by establishments such as the U. S. Securities Exchange Commission ( SEC ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) ( Henry A ; Viswanatha. 2012 ) . Since of May 2012. the trading loss has escalated to at least $ 5. 8 billion ( Seligson. 2012 ) . Some analysts believe that this l oss can increase to upwards of $ 9 billion ( Seligson. 2012 ) . â€Å"Final losingss will depend on assorted terra incognitas. such as the proportion of the suspect trades that have non been liquidated or unwound. future motions of the indexes. the velocity at which the bank tries to wind off those trades. and the size of the subsequent losingss from the staying places. † ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) . Events Leading Up to the Debacle The determination devising that led to JPMorgan’s major derivative loss can be traced back several old ages to the fiscal crisis of 2008. JPMorgan. being one of the largest Bankss in the universe. issued one million millions of dollars in corporate debt. Due to JPMorgan’s planetary presence. a important part of this debt was issued to European corporations. After the 2008 subprime-mortgage fiscal crisis blew over. the planetary economic system was left in a hapless province. Global markets were weakening and had experienced important year-over-year diminutions. In order for JPMorgan to protect against the default of its huge sum of European loans. a fudging scheme was needed. One of the ways JPMorgan protected itself from the hazard of corporations defaulting on their loans was through the usage of Credit Default Swaps. JPMorgan’s European Chief Investment Office. led by Ina Drew. purchased one million millions of dollars worth of Credit Default Swaps backed by a basket of corporate bonds ( Seligson. 2012 ) . In theory this fudging scheme has the potency of protecting bondholders from prolonging the ruinous losingss associated with non-payment. Unfortunately for JPMorgan. the abuse of these derived functions combined with an inauspicious motion in their value can besides take to drastic losingss. Credit Default Swaps and their Use In its purest signifier. a recognition default barter can be seen as a sort of insurance policy issued by Bankss and taken out by investors in order to protect against the failure of their investing ( Clark. n. d. ) . CDSs may be used for both fudging and theorizing intents. From a fudging point of view. ( as JPMorgan entered into anterior to the fiasco ) the purchaser of the barter owns the implicit in plus ( such as a bond ) in which the barter value is based upon. The purchaser so pays the marketer a semi-annual fee which is called the spread in return for coverage against a recognition event. Defaulting on a payment or declaring bankruptcy are two common types of recognition events. If a recognition event were to happen. the marketer is so required to pay the purchaser the face value of the plus in exchange for the plus itself ( or the difference can merely be settled in hard currency ) . Therefore from a fudging point of view. we see that a bondholder may buy a CDS in order to v ouch that they receive their quoted voucher payments and face value or a hard currency colony from the barter if these payments were to all of a sudden be halted. From a theorizing point of view. a purchaser would come in a Cadmium if they believe a recognition event will happen while a marketer would make so if they felt the antonym. In this scenario. the purchaser does non have the plus being covered by the barter and the derived function is being used strictly for prognostic intents. Recognition default barters were developed in the early 90’s by Bankers Trust ( presently owned by Deutsche Bank ) and JPMorgan. They were created for Bankss to utilize in order protect themselves against exposure to the default hazard of big corporate loans they made to their clients. This was a really of import invention because it now allowed Bankss to distribute big hazards amongst other Bankss in order to forestall ruinous losingss. Timess have changed and although they are still used by some as a agency of fudging. Cadmiums are overpoweringly used for bad intents because recognition derived functions â€Å"often allow speculators to acquire the benefit of high purchase for really small initial outlay† ( Koszeg. 2012 ) . This phenomenon is one of the chief grounds CDS use ( as measured by gross fanciful sum ) has increased by about 150 times between 1998 and 2011 ( ISDA CDS Marketplace. 2011 ) . Like most derived functions. recognition default barters have a great sum of hazard associated with them. One issue that separates these ‘exotic’ derived functions from the typical hereafters contract is that they have really minimum ordinance such as the fact that recognition default barters are non required to be purchased or settled through a clearinghouse. This deficiency of ordinance is the ground for the great sum of â€Å"counterparty risk† . in other words. the hazard that the â€Å"counterparty will non populate up to its contractual obligations† ( Investopedia. n. d. ) . Two investors may come in into a CDS understanding. nevertheless. there is ever a opportunity that either the purchaser will discontinue the spread payments or that the marketer may non supply the insurance in the event of a trigger. One ground for this is due to the fact that the CDS â€Å"remain extremely concentrated in the custodies of a little group of dealers† and if one of the traders exits the market ( ex. Lehman Brothers ) . a big figure of the outstanding CDS may immediately be worthless due the absence of a clearinghouse ( European Central Bank. 2009 ) . Another hazard that is rather alone to recognition default barters relative to other derived functions is the â€Å"jump-to-default risk† due to the â€Å"possibility of a recognition quality deteriorating all of a sudden. existent market value can increase ( or lessening ) comparatively rapidly† . ( Deutsche Bank Research. 2009 ) In other words. a CDS marketer may travel from a steady watercourse of dispersed income to holding a million or even billion dollar duty in a really short sum of clip. Although these are merely two of the many hazards involved with recognition default barters. it is clear that a combination of hapless jud gement and inauspicious market motion can do even a company the size of JPMorgan to prolong disabling losingss. Why did JPMorgan Lose Nearly $ 6 Billion? Everything starts about six old ages ago. when â€Å"JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon changed the authorization of the CIO map to seek profit† . which means they are willing to take more hazard than usual ( Seligson. 2012 ) . And high-risk-taking bargainer like Bruno Iksil and Achilles Macris were hired. As an international bank. JPMorgan made a batch of loans to European corporations and they forecast that the planetary economic system is get downing to deteriorated. Due to this. the bank became disquieted about its loan exposure and a solution to this hazard is to fudge by purchasing recognition default barters. During the planetary recession. a batch companies had defaulted or went bankruptcy and JPMorgan’s hedge portfolio generated about $ 2 billion in additions from 2007 to 2010 by having par value from CDS’s marketer ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) . Leading up to 2011. CIO had bought a CDS on an index called the IG 9 maturing in December 2012. This Cadmium included up to 121 assorted companies on the index ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) . But by early 2011. European corporate recognition recovered back from planetary recession and became healthier. The sudden betterment in European market reduced the value of having CDS since default hazard was reduced. As a consequence. JPMorgan quickly lost over $ 1 billion on the hedge side of the trade ( Seligson. 2012 ) . To countervail this loss. the Chief Investment Office decided to alter its place and get down selling CDS contracts on a similar index maturing in December 2017 ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) . As they forecast that planetary economic system is making good after the recession. Mr. Iksil and his group decided to go more bullish on corporate recognition and Mr. Iksil began selling even more Cadmiums on the same contract ( Fitzpatrick A ; Zuckerman. 2012 ) . This was an aggressive stake and risk-taking. JPMorgan was no longer fudging ; they became speculator because of their power in the derivative market and its monolithic CDS’s sell. It became so immense in the spring of this twelvemonth that made some hedge financess and others to take opposing places Merely after they sell recognition default protection. the European economic system did non go on to turn as they forecast but alternatively got back into another deep fiscal crisis. The bank starts to lose even more money . By the first hebdomad of May. JPMorgan announced it could lose up to $ 2 billion. The losingss keep on increasing and the company found it difficult to go out the trades because its places were so large. Some experts predict the losingss could exceed $ 9 billion ( Seligson. 2012 ) . We observe three majors’ issues within CIO that lead to this immense loss. The first 1 is the monolithic sell of CDS. Second 1. Mr. Macris has stopped utilizing the risk-control caps. which had required bargainers to go out places when their losingss exceeded $ 20 1000000s ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) . And eventually. CIO’s switching they Value at Rick theoretical account to a more optimistic one during the first one-fourth of 2012 in order to conceal consciousness of the degree of hazard that they was taking on. They changed from a theoretical account demoing the unit at hazard of losing every bit much as $ 129 million a twenty-four hours to $ 67 million ( Shorter. Murphy. A ; Miller. 2012 ) . It made a large different since it’s about twice. What Did we Learn from this Debacle? To sum up. the study started with a brief company overview. followed by an isolation of the crisis’ causes. Not all of JPMorgan’s system was at mistake for their derived functions crisis. Surely. non every section. Nor every employee. It is hence of import to nail responsible persons and sections for this crisis non to reiterate itself. The study so developed to discourse recognition default barters and their usage. Which in bend leaded to reply why the derived functions crisis occurred. Finally. the last portion of this study examines critical lessons for JPMorgan and the fiscal industry as a whole. The Chief investing office should turn to a figure of challenges for JPMorgan non to see large losingss occur once more. First of which. the CIO direction has to put clear aims and reexamine them on a consistent footing. Directors have to be more involved in the day-to-day trades that take topographic point. Directors have to repeatedly study JPMorgan places and verify that aims are being met. That is a important undertaking for bargainers to follow specific instructions and put to death them accurately. Another challenge for direction is to â€Å"hire to right adult male for the job† . CIO bargainers proved to be underqualified for their occupations. In fact. â€Å"An internal reappraisal found that some of the CIO bargainers appear to hold intentionally ignored the monolithic size of their trades — and the trouble in neutralizing them — when valuing their places. The consequence was non describing the full diminutions in the value of positions† ( Horowitz. 2012 ) . This transition. taken from an article written by David Henry and Jed Horowitz from Reuters. besides demonstrates that CIO bargainers need to describe equal information to upper direction. Traveling on to the Risk direction commission. The smaller hazard commissions and the caput hazard commission should run into more to decide issues. Why bother raising such an issue? Well here is how the system works at JP Morgan: you have on one manus the Head hazard commission which is located in JPMorgan’s central offices in New York. and on the other manus you have the smaller hazard commissions which are distributed around a figure of subdivisions. T o calculate out a manner where hazard commissions distributed across the universe study with no problem to the caput hazard commission is non easy. Members of the hazard direction commission should be hired based on their experience in the derived functions field. Harmonizing to a recent study. when Iksil. besides known as the London Whale. searched for blessing for his bad schemes. directors â€Å"were happy to subscribe off on the trades† ( Martin. 2012 ) . In fact. three managers that oversee hazard at JPMorgan were â€Å"a museum caput who sat on American International Group Inc. ’s administration commission in 2008. the grandson of a billionaire and the main executive officer of a company that makes flight controls and work boots. † ( Abelson. 2012 ) . harmonizing to an article from Bloomberg. The lone member with believable Wall Street experience was James Crown who was out of the industry for 25 old ages. JPMorgan made hapless judgement when utilizing Credit Default Swaps. Traders bought CDS when the market was making good and sold them when the market was making severely. In other words. it was roll uping losingss from both activities. JPMorgan brought it on itself. The CEO. Jamie Dimon. said: the trades traveling through the Chief Investment Office were â€Å"flawed. complex. ill reviewed. ill executed and ill monitored. † ( Ehrenberg. 2012 ) . JPMorgan sought a bad scheme because when purchasing the CDS. JP Morgan really did non have the plus. Last but non least. JPMorgan has to reinstate risk-caps for bargainers non to travel â€Å"wild† on trades. JPMorgan is one of the biggest Bankss in the universe. For some bargainers to really merchandise in such inexpert manners is non characteristic of JPMorgan or for direction to poorly reappraisal and supervise its schemes. Plants Cited Abelson. D. K. ( 2012. May 25 ) . JPMorgan Gave Risk Oversight to Museum Head With AIG Role. Retrieved from Bloomberg: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. bloomberg. com/news/2012-05-25/jpmorgan-gave-risk-oversight-to-museum-head-who-sat-on-aig-board. hypertext markup language Clark. J. ( n. d. ) . What are Credit Default Swaps? Retrieved November 26. 2012. from How Stuff Works: hypertext transfer protocol: //money. howstuffworks. com/credit-default-swap2. htm Deutsche Bank Research. ( 2009. December 31 ) . Credit Default Swaps – Heading to a More Stable System. Retrieved November 25. 2012. from Deutsche Bank Research: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. dbresearch. com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000252032. pdf Ehrenberg. R. ( 2012. May 11 ) . Jamie Dimon Failed Crisis Management 101. Retrieved from CNN Money: hypertext transfer protocol: //finance. luck. cnn. com/2012/05/11/jamie-dimon-jpmorgan/ . European Central Bank. ( 2009. August ) . Credit Default Swaps and Co unterparty Risk. Retrieved November 25. 2012. from European Central Bank – Eurosystem: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. ecb. int/pub/pdf/other/creditdefaultswapsandcounterpartyrisk2009en. pdf Fitzpatrick. D. . A ; Zuckerman. G. ( 2012. May 14 ) . Three to Exit J. P. Morgan. Retrieved November 24. 2012. from The Wall Street Journal: hypertext transfer protocol: //online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577402500885560924. hypertext markup language Henry. D. . A ; Viswanatha. A. ( 2012. July 13 ) . U. S. Investigates Whether JPMorgan Traders Hid Losses. Retrieved November 24. 2012. from Reuters: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. reuters. com/article/2012/07/13/us-jpmorgan-earnings-idUSBRE86C0G420120713 Horowitz. D. H. ( 2012. Jul 13 ) . JPMorgan bargainers may hold hidden derived functions losingss. Retrieved from Reuters: hypertext transfer protocol: //in. reuters. com/article/2012/07/13/jpmorgan-loss-restatement-idINDEE86C07R20120713 Investopedia. ( n. d. ) . Counterparty Risk. Retrieved November 25.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Networking Principles essays

Networking Principles essays One problem that I see with people today is that they are unaware what a computer network is. They might have heard of a computer network, but they are clueless as to how it works or why it works. People have basic questions that need to be answered. My goal is to give basic network information that will hopefully answer those questions. To give people an understanding about computer networks there are several areas that I must focus on. I will give definitions of some network jargon. Many people may have heard or seen these words, but never knew what they meant. Another part that is important is the history of networking. By giving a brief history of networking, this will give the reader a good foundation to start on. They need to know how networking came around and why it is such a big part of our lives today. Also, I will explain why it is important to understand networking. I will then explain what a network is made up. There is a lot of confusing hardware in a network, but it is relatively simple. Finally, I will tie everything together and explain how the network works. Before I go into detail about networking and all the hardware that networks are made up, I must define a few terms. I want people to know what a word means when they see it. Here are a few terms that I will have in my report as well as several other important ones. You can find these terms in the glossary of this report. The next thing that I am going to talk about is the history of networking. I am going to tell how networking came about and who was the first to experiment with it. I will also show some statistics about the Internet and it's growth. In the 1950s, there was no interaction between the users and their programs while they were running on the computers. No direct communications were involved. Jobs were brought to the machine to be run in a batch. In the 1960s, time-sharing brought about the first interactive access ...

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Two problems related to Climate Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Two problems related to Climate Change - Essay Example Although this problem is a global issue, the impacts vary across the globe since some areas experience more adverse effects than others do. Social and environmental versions problems of climate change are the most notorious, as they not only pose a threat to food security and survival of organisms, but also affects the surrounding and lifestyle of human beings. Thus, social and environmental problems share several similarities, but also differ in some instances. Social and environmental issues are similar since they both have adverse effects on human health. Climate change is a problem because it causes environmental harms such as increased and severity of heat waves resulting from global warming, which leads the loss of lives (McNall 5). Modest warming of the earth that has been occurring since 1970s is responsible for many deaths annually. On the social front, health systems are stretched as they attempt to cope with the increasing incidences of heat-related problems. Additionally, adverse climatic conditions such as strong winds and drought damage health infrastructure and buildings in the society. As a result, the outcome undermines the provision of quality health services to the community. Drought is also directly responsible for changes in the human health system, as it causes starvation and deterioration of health in human beings. In addition, both issues result in food problem. Increased temperatures in the atmosphere caused by climate change create an opportunity for various disease causing organisms to contaminate food. The cases of bacteria borne disease are frequently high during summer months. Additionally, climatic changes result in social issues such as poverty. Poverty is the primary reason for inequalities in the society. The poor, who survive on less than $2, are the most affected. These people cannot cope with the climate shocks since they lack money. Due to this, in case of drought they have no alternative, but to cut down

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Thin film lab Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Thin film lab - Essay Example Introduction: This experiment involves the usage of a physical vapor deposition technique known as evaporation. Physical vapor deposition, or PVD for short, is a term used to denote vacuum deposition processes where the coating material is passed into a vapor transport phase by a physical mechanism such as evaporation, sputtering or others, and the coating material then gets deposited onto a substrate surface to which it is transported (Thornton, 1988). Evaporation is one of the PVD techniques which have been used for film deposition since Faraday’s (1857) time. The age of this technique dictates clearly that a lot of work has been done in this field, specifically on developing coatings on glass. This involves substrate cleaning, followed by choosing a method for evaporation of target, and running the test under vacuum for a calculated time to obtain a certain thickness of film growth (Bach and Krause, 1997; Jackson and Ford, 1981). The intricacies of the method and the theory behind it are discussed in the next section. Theory: Evaporation deposition technique involves three essential steps (Pulker, 1999): 1. Evaporation of target material to obtain vapors for deposition. 2. Transport of vapors to substrate for deposition. This requires very low pressures as high mean free paths are required to assure the close-to-linear deposition of the film. 3. Adsorption of vapors on substrate surface leading to heterogeneous nucleation film growth. This section will deal with the theory behind the methods used to conduct the above mentioned three steps in the experiment that we conducted in the lab. The first step, evaporation, was carried out through Joule heating using a tungsten filament. Joule heating, in simple terms, is resistance heating, done through using wires of high resistance R which generate heat Q when current I is passed through them for time t. They follow the mathematical relation (Weisstein, 1996-2007) given below: This heat is utilized for heati ng our target material. The choice of the heating wire depends on resistance, which needs to be high for high heat generation. Tungsten filaments are usually used for this purpose, though tantalum or molybdenum may also be used (Ohring, 1992). Special purpose evaporation techniques also use electron beam evaporation. The target to be evaporated is wrapped around the filaments or shaped in hollow cylinders to place the filament inside them. Once the evaporation is carried out, the next important step is to get the material transported to the substrate surface. This depends on the mean free path of the gas molecules in the chamber. Mean free path is the average distance that a molecule travels in a gas chamber between two consecutive collisions (Nave, 2010). This is mainly dependent on the pressure and the kinetics of flow of the gas. Both pressure and temperature adversely affect the mean free path of a gas. For uniform deposition, we require high mean free path, so that the particle s can get transported to the surface of the substrate evenly (Ohring, 1992). Adsorption of the transported species on the substrate surface is a very interesting science, involving both thermodynamics and kinetics, indicating how the type of the growth of the surface layer, its morphology, the nucleation rate, the growth rate and the microstructure can be influenced by small changes in the conditions. These may involve surface cleanliness, substrate preheating, plasma

Friday, January 31, 2020

The Battle of Mogadishu Essay Example for Free

The Battle of Mogadishu Essay The Battle of Mogadishu took place in the narrow streets of Mogadishu, Somalia October 3-4 1993 over 17 hours. 160 United Nations combatants under the command of US General William Garrison fought an estimated 2000 supporters of the warlord, General Mohammed Farah Aidid, head of the Somali National Alliance. The Battle generated considerable public interest and debate, impacting US foreign policy and future UN missions. Among many books on the incident are those by Mike Durant, a combatant and Mark Bowden, who conducted extensive interviews. Parker’s Military History online contains useful data. The background was the outbreak of civil war after dictator Mohammed Siad Barre had been ousted by clan chiefs in January 1991, who set their differences aside long enough to topple him. Their unity did not survive and civil war began. Two parties emerged, one under Aidid and one under Ali Mahdi. The civilian population, caught in the middle, experienced severe hardship. More than 300, 000 died from starvation (Durant 2). Thousands crossed into neighboring states as refugees. When the international community responded with food aid, warlords hijacked supplies to use them to purchase arms. The UN launched Operation Provide Relief (United Nations Operation in Somalia – I) in April 1992. This did little to halt the crisis because hardly any food actually fed anyone. The United Nations then requested members to send combat troops to Somalia, to protect the food convoys. President George H. W Bush of the United States agreed to deploy 250,000 US troops. Known as Operation Restore Hope, or UNITAF (United Nations Unified Task Force) the mandate, dated December 3 1992, was restricted to supporting the humanitarian effort. This mandate was extended in March 1993 to include â€Å"nation building†- ending the war, establishing a stable state and a democratically elected government. When Bill Clinton became President, he reduced the level of US involvement to 1200 combat and 3000 support troops. Italy, Pakistan and Malaysia also joined the UN force, now called UNOSOM-II, established in March 1993. UNOSOM-II consisted of 15,000 military and police personnel. Fifteen of the sixteen clans agreed to cooperate with the UN force. Aidid refused. The UN subsequently ordered its forces to disarm Aidid’s militia. On June 5 1993 a contingent of Pakistani soldiers engaged in this task clashed with Aidid’s troops in Mogadishu, suffering 24 casualties (Bowden 427). The UN responded by ordering the apprehension of those responsible for their deaths, so that they could put on trial. US troops received intelligence that Aidid’s foreign affairs advisor and chief political advisor were at the Olympic Hotel in Mogadishu to attend a high level meeting, possibly with Aidid himself. Based on this intelligence, a US led strike code named Operation Gothic Serpent was planned for October 3, 1993. The force consisted of 160 men drawn from Delta Force (US Special Operations Force), Rangers from the 75th Regiment, Navy SEALS and from the Air Force, supported by 19 M H-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The plan involved personnel fast-roping down from the helicopters, securing the targets so that they could then be retrieved by ground vehicles (12 in number) then transported back to the US headquarters. The Humvees were due to reach the Hotel shortly after the operation began. Under Captain Michael Steele, four Rangers secured the perimeter to prevent anyone entering or leaving the Hotel. Another Ranger blocked the road, while the Delta team entered the Hotel at 15: 32 (Bowden 4). Colonel Danny McKnight commanded the ground convoy, whose SEALS were meant to assist the assault team (Bowden 59). At 15: 42, the first Delta operatives hit the Hotel, capturing both men and 22 other senior Aidid aids. One Ranger, Todd Blackburn lost his grip and fell 70 feet, injuring himself (Bowden 4). By 15: 47 Somalis had crowded the area around the Hotel, impeding the progress of the ground convoy, making it impossible to keep to schedule. At 16: 20, an enemy rocket hit Black Hawk Super 61, which crashed five blocks North of the Hotel. Both the â€Å"ground assault element† and the â€Å"exfil convoy† were â€Å"ordered to re-group† at the crash site (Durant 20). Although the supporting helicopter crews tried to send warnings about roadblocks and detour information to the convoy, the communication system was too slow. The helicopters could not speak directly to the convoy but had to do so via their commanders. By 16: 35, the convoy had lost its way. Search and rescue teams were dispatched to assist the stricken helicopter, which resulted in the US switching â€Å"the point of attack† from the Hotel where the prisoners and their Delta force captors were waiting to be retrieved to â€Å"three hundred yards West† (Stevenson 94). At 16: 40, Black Hawk Super 64 was brought down a mile to the southwest of the Hotel. Again, a rescue team was sent to retrieve the crew. As soon as the aircraft hit the ground, hundreds of armed Somalis, some civilian some members of militia, appeared at the scene. 99 US personnel were surrounded at the first crash site. At 16: 42, two members of Delta force volunteer to lower themselves to the second downed helicopter to help defend the injured crew. At 17: 40 both were killed, together with all members of the helicopter crew except the commanding office, Mike Durant who was dragged away by militia. The ground convoy and a rescue convoy failed to reach their targets, returning to HQ at 17. 45. At 19. 08, Black Hawk 66 dropped supplies and ammunition to the soldiers trapped at the first crash site. A new rescue squad, including Pakistani and Malaysian soldiers, left HQ at 23. 23, reaching the trapped men at 1. 55 October 4. At 5. 30, the troops are able to begin to leave the city on foot heading for the Pakistani compound. By 6. 30, it had been confirmed that 13 US soldiers were dead, 73 injured with six missing. The final toll was 18 dead. Durant was released on October 14. March 24, 1994 all US troops left Somalia, followed by all UN troops the following year. Between 200 and 500 Somalis died. Subsequently, the US and the UN became reluctant to commit forces where little real agreement exists on the ground between rival parties. Washington became reluctant to commit troops to situations that present no direct security threat to the US itself. In addition, strategic lessons have been learned from the battle. These are especially relevant in situations where insurgents blend with local populations. First, intelligence – the US did not know that Aidid possessed rocket propelled grenades. Aidid planned to neutralize US air support, then flooded the battle zone with superior numbers. He was also prepared to use civilians as â€Å"human shields† (Stevenson 94). Claims have been made that Italian soldiers tipped Aidid off about the operation, which would explain why militia with rockets reached the scene so quickly. Also, better knowledge of â€Å"Somali city streets† would have helped the ground forces reach their targets (O’Hanlon 119). The Somalis had the advantage of local knowledge. Second, direct communication from air support to ground may have prevented convoys from getting lost. Thirdly, too few troops were deployed against a much larger foe – albeit crack troops against irregular and poorly trained insurgents. The basic plan, though, was sound, the type of extraction for which the forces involved were well trained. Technically, too, the operation was successful, since 24 insurgents were taken into custody. References Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999. Durant, Michael J. , and Steven Hartov. In the Company of Heroes. New York: G. P. Putnams Sons, 2003. OHanlon, Michael E. Technological Change and the Future of Warfare. Washington, D. C. : Brookings Institution Press, 2000. Parker, Larry. The Battle of Mogadishu. Military History Online http://www. militaryhistoryonline. com/general/articles/mogadishu. aspx Accessed April 25 2009. Stevenson, Jonathan. Losing Mogadishu: Testing U. S. Policy in Somalia. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1995.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Color Blindness and Testing in Children Essay -- Vision Sight Disorder

Color Blindness and Testing in Children In a world of many technological advances, color perception has become a very important issue. One of the main advances pertains to color technology. An increased emphasis on color technology has raised awareness of the issue of color blindness. Many people are not aware of the origins of color blindness and the different types, although many people are affected by it. One in two hundred females have this defect while in males the defect occurs in one and twelve ( Lewis, Reitzammer & Amos, 1990). That is about two percent of the female and eight percent of male populations (Sewell, 1983). It is important to look at the prevalence of colorblindness in children and identify the problems associated with it. Color deficiencies can take many forms but are generally grouped together and known as colorblindness. The different types of color blindness include protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia. Individuals with protanopia perceive short-wavelength light as blue, and when the wavelength is increased, the blue becomes less and less clear until it is perceived as gray at 492 nm (Goldstein, 1999). Deuteranopia causes a person to perceive blue at short wavelengths and see yellow at long wavelengths with a neutral point at 498 nm. The most rare form of color blindness is tritanopia. These individuals perceive blue at short wavelengths and perceive red at long wavelengths with a neutral point at 570 nm (Goldstein, 1999). Protanopia and deuteranopia are commonly referred to as red-green blindness. These forms of colorblindness are sex linked; the gene responsible is on the X-chromosome, with the dominant gene passed by the mother. With the female (XX), the anomalous locus on one X chromosome.. . ... Psychology, 14, 196-218. Goldstein, B. E. (1999). Sensation & Perception, Fifth Edition. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole Publishing. Knowlton, M., & Woo, I. (1989). Functional color vision deficits and performance of children on an educational task. Education of the Visually Handicapped, 20, 56-62. Lewis, B.A., Reitzammer, A., & Amos, J.F. (1990). color vision defects: what teachers should know. Reading Improvement, 27, 31-33. Pease, P.L. & Allen J. (1988). A new test for color screening color vision: concurrent validity and utility. American Journal of Optometry and Physiological optics, 65, 729-738. Sewell, J.H. (1983). Color counts too! Academic Therapy, 81, 329-37. Waggoner, T. L. (2000, February 6). New pediatric Color Vision Test for Three to Six Year Old Pre-School Children. [Online], Available. http://members.aol.com/nocolorvsn/color5.htm

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Introduction to Social Sciences

Topic of study – Sociologist and Psychologist â€Å"Do people from deferent background Influence they choice of school they go to? † This topic Is derived from the article, which states: â€Å"What we are seeing Is that the students who are going to some of the more brand-name schools, they're all coming from a certain background†¦ Expanded financial help for students who are keen to enter top independent schools but are put off for fear they cannot afford it or fit in. This might be of interest to both sociologist and psychologist, looking at the activities/ behavior of small groups at ground level, both will then examine whether what is mound on small scale applies on large scale. 1. 1 Sociologist Approach For sociologist, the question they might ask could be: â€Å"How did this social idea comes about? ‘ Sociologists study the social norms and values, and also social processes like formation of power and status relationship. In this case, they may be int erested to find out how come most students that are enrolled In elite schools are from better background.The social function for hilling practice might derive from schooling. It might be believed that students that graduated from an elite school have higher neighborhood school. This would then drive the parents who have adequate financial ability to enroll their children into a better school so that their child may have a better chance of getting employed in the future. As a result, students from better background will end up in top independent school as their parents can afford to put them through the education. 1. 2 Psychologist Approach As for psychologist, they may ask: â€Å"How do groups influence human behavior? They are interested in how it will develop one's belief system. In this case, it is said that students from better background are enrolled in top schools. That being said, what ill happen if a student from normal background were to be awarded with study grant to be e nrolled in the elite school? If students from top schools are mostly from better background, they will start thinking that because they come from better background, they are entitled to go into this school. Consequently, will a student from normal background choose to enroll into the elite school, if given study grant?There could be fear of being ostracizes and not being able to fit in due to the differences. While both disciplines are concerned on the same topic, the emphasis on sociology is the individual in interaction with others. On the other hand, psychology focuses on the individual, which explains human behavior. 2. Topic of study – Political Scientist and Economist â€Å"How effective is introducing niche program able to accommodate multiple pathway of success? † This might be of interest to both political scientist and economist as it both consists of decision making.The topic is derived from the article that mentioned: â€Å"†¦ Opportunity arises becau se we have been committed to this philosophy of many alternative ways of success. † 2. 1 Political Scientist Approach For political scientist, they study on who gets what, when and how. In short, they decide how the society should operate. They analyses the forms the institution takes and the process that emerge. Political scientists look at how the policy introduced will impact the situation. In this topic, the policy is introduced and time is taken to find out how effective is the proposed policy. . 2 Economist Approach For an economist, usually it decides on how to allocate scarce resources, deciding what to produce, how and for whom. In this case, they will be interested to know if the policy introduced will affect the labor market. With the program introduced, will it eve any significant impact on how the distribution, production, and consumption of might be an increase in new businesses emerging from graduates since the school they attended focuses on personal interest a nd competencies, rather than academic standing of school.On the other hand, there is also a concern whether Singapore will have enough Jobs to support the increase in graduates. 3. Social Science Discipline, Chosen Topic of Study and Hypothesis The social science discipline chosen to discuss in this essay will be sociology and the selected above topic: â€Å"Do people from different background influence they choice of school they go to? † 3. 1 Hypothesis With this topic, the hypothesis formed is: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of selecting top school†. 3. Variables They key variables are â€Å"better background†, â€Å"type of students† and â€Å"choice of top school† Independent variable, which can be changed during the study, is â€Å"Background†. Different type of background can be chosen to study anytime. Background is chosen as it can affect the type of school a student enrolls into. Having a better background means student can afford to study in independent school. Dependent variable, which would be measured and counted in the study is â€Å"Choice of top school†. Choice of top school means the results of what the student chosen.Will a student from better background choose to enroll into a normal school because of the extra-curriculum offered or will the student choose a top independent school because he/she knows that they can afford it? This is the variable that is observed during the study. Controlled variable, which is not changed throughout the study, is â€Å"type of students†. The same type of students (graduating students who is at the stage of choosing their schools) is used for this study. It will not be fair if the students used are of different age group as they may have different maturity level in their way of thinking.Choosing the same age group of graduating students to study on the choice of school chosen to enrolled into will be the most desirabl e. 4. Developing Research Design This is the stage after hypothesis is formed. Decisions must be made about how best to obtain the data through research methods. By personalizing variables, questioned are asked to covert them into a form which is measurable or testable. In this topic, we are discussing about: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of school†.Do student has siblings or friends in the school they are enrolled in? – This is to measure if the choice is affected by other factors such as peers. How many students enrolled in top independent schools come from better background? -This is to measure the past and existing patterns, whether the social structure is built in a way that it influences them to choose the school because ‘it's the way. 4. 2 Research Methods To test and bolster hypothesis formed, there will be research carried out and the 2 hat will be discussed here will be Survey and Secondary Data Research. 4. . 1 Sur vey Research This method is used for establishing facts and subjects of research will be a statistically valid sample of a population. A series of questions will be asked to collect the data needed. Questionnaires will be designed in a way that does not lead the subject. No. Question What is the top factor in mind when choosing a school? (a) Affordability (c)Friends/siblings state: 2. (b) Vicinity (d) Rank of school Others, please If given a choice to enroll in any school, will an elite school be your choice? (a) Yes (b) No For both answers, please explain why: 3.Do you think it is important to be in a school you feel socially accepted? (a) Yes Once these questions are designed, the next step is to survey the sample population. This survey can only be used at the point of time when the student is preparing to enroll 4. 2. 2 Secondary Data Research This method of research gathers relevant information on one's research topic. One will be able to discover what other researchers have wr itten related to that topic and what research methods they have used. It can also be used to obtain other research studies/methods backup or contradict one's findings.As extracted from Ministry of Education Singapore Preliminary Replies, it shows that there is higher percentage of students from better background in top independent schools. With this backed up from a credible source, it supports the hypothesis that students from better background tend to be influenced and choose a top independent school. 5. Possible outcome of study This study shows that there is a possibility of social gap between the rich and poor in Singapore. Due to the influence that because students that comes from better background are choosing to enroll in brand-name schools, they think they are entitled to enter this school.This is a concern, as this social gap will also affect other factors such as the economic in Singapore. The income between rich and poor might widen, as the poor never got the chance to s tudy in a good school for a better Job in the future. Policymaking is vital in Singapore as it maintain order in a country. It is a good effort to introduce niche program in schools and taking steps to tear down any walls that may reinforce elitism in Singapore. Definitely, there will not be instant results shown on how effect a policy is but people must be willing to accept and give it time to work. Introduction to Social Sciences Topic of study – Sociologist and Psychologist â€Å"Do people from deferent background Influence they choice of school they go to? † This topic Is derived from the article, which states: â€Å"What we are seeing Is that the students who are going to some of the more brand-name schools, they're all coming from a certain background†¦ Expanded financial help for students who are keen to enter top independent schools but are put off for fear they cannot afford it or fit in. This might be of interest to both sociologist and psychologist, looking at the activities/ behavior of small groups at ground level, both will then examine whether what is mound on small scale applies on large scale. 1. 1 Sociologist Approach For sociologist, the question they might ask could be: â€Å"How did this social idea comes about? ‘ Sociologists study the social norms and values, and also social processes like formation of power and status relationship. In this case, they may be int erested to find out how come most students that are enrolled In elite schools are from better background.The social function for hilling practice might derive from schooling. It might be believed that students that graduated from an elite school have higher neighborhood school. This would then drive the parents who have adequate financial ability to enroll their children into a better school so that their child may have a better chance of getting employed in the future. As a result, students from better background will end up in top independent school as their parents can afford to put them through the education. 1. 2 Psychologist Approach As for psychologist, they may ask: â€Å"How do groups influence human behavior? They are interested in how it will develop one's belief system. In this case, it is said that students from better background are enrolled in top schools. That being said, what ill happen if a student from normal background were to be awarded with study grant to be e nrolled in the elite school? If students from top schools are mostly from better background, they will start thinking that because they come from better background, they are entitled to go into this school. Consequently, will a student from normal background choose to enroll into the elite school, if given study grant?There could be fear of being ostracizes and not being able to fit in due to the differences. While both disciplines are concerned on the same topic, the emphasis on sociology is the individual in interaction with others. On the other hand, psychology focuses on the individual, which explains human behavior. 2. Topic of study – Political Scientist and Economist â€Å"How effective is introducing niche program able to accommodate multiple pathway of success? † This might be of interest to both political scientist and economist as it both consists of decision making.The topic is derived from the article that mentioned: â€Å"†¦ Opportunity arises becau se we have been committed to this philosophy of many alternative ways of success. † 2. 1 Political Scientist Approach For political scientist, they study on who gets what, when and how. In short, they decide how the society should operate. They analyses the forms the institution takes and the process that emerge. Political scientists look at how the policy introduced will impact the situation. In this topic, the policy is introduced and time is taken to find out how effective is the proposed policy. . 2 Economist Approach For an economist, usually it decides on how to allocate scarce resources, deciding what to produce, how and for whom. In this case, they will be interested to know if the policy introduced will affect the labor market. With the program introduced, will it eve any significant impact on how the distribution, production, and consumption of might be an increase in new businesses emerging from graduates since the school they attended focuses on personal interest a nd competencies, rather than academic standing of school.On the other hand, there is also a concern whether Singapore will have enough Jobs to support the increase in graduates. 3. Social Science Discipline, Chosen Topic of Study and Hypothesis The social science discipline chosen to discuss in this essay will be sociology and the selected above topic: â€Å"Do people from different background influence they choice of school they go to? † 3. 1 Hypothesis With this topic, the hypothesis formed is: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of selecting top school†. 3. Variables They key variables are â€Å"better background†, â€Å"type of students† and â€Å"choice of top school† Independent variable, which can be changed during the study, is â€Å"Background†. Different type of background can be chosen to study anytime. Background is chosen as it can affect the type of school a student enrolls into. Having a better background means student can afford to study in independent school. Dependent variable, which would be measured and counted in the study is â€Å"Choice of top school†. Choice of top school means the results of what the student chosen.Will a student from better background choose to enroll into a normal school because of the extra-curriculum offered or will the student choose a top independent school because he/she knows that they can afford it? This is the variable that is observed during the study. Controlled variable, which is not changed throughout the study, is â€Å"type of students†. The same type of students (graduating students who is at the stage of choosing their schools) is used for this study. It will not be fair if the students used are of different age group as they may have different maturity level in their way of thinking.Choosing the same age group of graduating students to study on the choice of school chosen to enrolled into will be the most desirabl e. 4. Developing Research Design This is the stage after hypothesis is formed. Decisions must be made about how best to obtain the data through research methods. By personalizing variables, questioned are asked to covert them into a form which is measurable or testable. In this topic, we are discussing about: â€Å"Having a better background can influence the student's choice of school†.Do student has siblings or friends in the school they are enrolled in? – This is to measure if the choice is affected by other factors such as peers. How many students enrolled in top independent schools come from better background? -This is to measure the past and existing patterns, whether the social structure is built in a way that it influences them to choose the school because ‘it's the way. 4. 2 Research Methods To test and bolster hypothesis formed, there will be research carried out and the 2 hat will be discussed here will be Survey and Secondary Data Research. 4. . 1 Sur vey Research This method is used for establishing facts and subjects of research will be a statistically valid sample of a population. A series of questions will be asked to collect the data needed. Questionnaires will be designed in a way that does not lead the subject. No. Question What is the top factor in mind when choosing a school? (a) Affordability (c)Friends/siblings state: 2. (b) Vicinity (d) Rank of school Others, please If given a choice to enroll in any school, will an elite school be your choice? (a) Yes (b) No For both answers, please explain why: 3.Do you think it is important to be in a school you feel socially accepted? (a) Yes Once these questions are designed, the next step is to survey the sample population. This survey can only be used at the point of time when the student is preparing to enroll 4. 2. 2 Secondary Data Research This method of research gathers relevant information on one's research topic. One will be able to discover what other researchers have wr itten related to that topic and what research methods they have used. It can also be used to obtain other research studies/methods backup or contradict one's findings.As extracted from Ministry of Education Singapore Preliminary Replies, it shows that there is higher percentage of students from better background in top independent schools. With this backed up from a credible source, it supports the hypothesis that students from better background tend to be influenced and choose a top independent school. 5. Possible outcome of study This study shows that there is a possibility of social gap between the rich and poor in Singapore. Due to the influence that because students that comes from better background are choosing to enroll in brand-name schools, they think they are entitled to enter this school.This is a concern, as this social gap will also affect other factors such as the economic in Singapore. The income between rich and poor might widen, as the poor never got the chance to s tudy in a good school for a better Job in the future. Policymaking is vital in Singapore as it maintain order in a country. It is a good effort to introduce niche program in schools and taking steps to tear down any walls that may reinforce elitism in Singapore. Definitely, there will not be instant results shown on how effect a policy is but people must be willing to accept and give it time to work.