Lost in the Digital World

Lost in the Digital World Technology is everywhere in today’s society. It is how we communicate with others, sense of communication and even how we turn in our essays for an English class. It is beneficial to the world in so many ways but at the same time it also has many negative effects. In the article â€Å"Can You Hear Me Now? † by Sherry Turkle, she explores how technology is affecting our daily lives, especially communication. Before the article even begins there is a quote â€Å"Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected—or more alienated† (270).The author explains that through technology our bond with communication is getting weaker and more people rely on technology to control their lives, rather than having control of their own lives. First gives the example of her being at a conference and not a single person can get off technology to even pay attention to what they even came to the conference for. In my personal opinion it show s that we have lost respect for people and have gained more respect for technology and what is going on with the digital world more than the real world. Every once in a while audience members give the speaker some attention, lowering their laptop screens in a kind of digital curtsy† (270). How can we expect someone to listen to us if we cannot even pay attention to them in person? Technology is often the easy way out and it shows through business meetings, families, and how kids are being raised in society in this time. A business meeting is a very personal thing. It is not just what you talk about but it is also how the person looks, communicates in person, and just that vibe you get when you know how to handle people. Consultants used to talk to one another as they wanted to give presentations; now they spend that time doing email† (271). Technology is so impersonal that it makes people unconnected personally. I agree with the author as she criticizes the technology wo rld. â€Å"We are connected, tethered, so important that our physical presence is no longer required† (272). The fact that we do not communicate with people on a deeper level can cause makes trusting people too easy.Texting and emailing a coworker is so convenient for the life of a business person, but are you really going to get the same response or conversation when you could just do it in person? Not only are our careers getting taken over by technology, but our entire lives. The first thing I do whenever I wake up every morning is to check my cell phone to see who had texted me last night while I was sleeping. It never was brought to my attention on how horrible this habit is until I read this article by Turkle. â€Å"I look at my watch to see the time. I look at my BlackBerry to get a sense of my life† (273).A sense of life should not be a hand-held-size of internet and the people that consume your life. A sense of life is how you live it and the decisions and cho ices that you make. The personal connections that you have with the people you love and respect and most of all trust. I am also guilty of texting my mom when we are in the same house. Even though these ways of communication are so easy and most of the time effective; we lose a personal connection and reflect on just pure laziness. A cellphone gives someone a source of protection because they know someone is just a click away. Kids get cell phones from their parents. In return they are expected to answer their parents’ calls. On the one hand this arrangement gives teenagers new freedoms. On the other they do not have the experience of being alone and having to count on themselves; there is always a parent on speed dial. † (275). There are so many reasons why kids would need cell phones but if the world got by without them before, can they do it again? Technology with adolescents is such a touchy subject just because of how easy it is to abuse that power of connecting wi th the entire world.With being so impersonal in the world we have less fear of what we are showing to the public. Even though we are not communicating with people, they can simply get on a website to see what you have been doing for the past twenty-four hours of your life because of how little privacy is online. â€Å"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear† (277) this quote is so impersonal because you are â€Å"hiding† something or simply do not want other people to know your personal life should not mean that you have anything to fear.In the past ten years technology has advances tremendously at a rapid rate and it will be crazy to see where it takes us in the next ten years. I am one to hope that it can become more personal and things more like Skype come into play. Reliance on technology has come too far out of hand and society would be a much better place if more people focused on how to run their lives versus who texted us. We need to focus on buil ding stronger connections with the people around us instead of the connection with the devices in our hands. ?

Ethnic Literature and Postcolonialism In Barta’s Essay

The definition of ethnic literature â€Å"is literature like any other, except that it contains ethnic references. † (Reilly p. 2). Another definition of ethnic literature is when there is a literature work that contain religious beliefs, racial issues, linguistics, or cultural heritage. In another word, ethnic literature is the literary work that includes particular culture, beliefs, or linguistics distinction. Postcolonial literary theory draws attention in the issue of cultural difference emerging in the society. One of the issues which may often appear during the class discussion is hybridity. It seems that people who have been faced by the fact that they are living in a ‘hybrid world’ tend to be confused by their real status. They realize for their interest, but they can not avoid the possibility becoming ‘in between’. Although , they are included into one part, the native part, but on the other hand they can not deny the deep feeling to be pleasant considering themselves different with the other. There is a kind of more value they have compared with their surround, and they think it is worthy to be kept. Of course, this feeling comes into their mind by some reasons. There must be an additional value added into their original culture. The additional value may be in the form of a new ideology, belief or view which are brought by the dominating. The dominated rarely conscious with the impact. They usually only feel that it is a natural process which become the impact of daily social interaction they are engaged in. Another issue which emerges in postcolonial discussion is about dominated-dominating one. We can not expect who actually take the role as ‘dominating’ or ‘dominated’. The practice may turn over, the dominated may become the dominating in the same time toward different object, vice versa. We are also introduced by ‘Otherness’ theory. It makes someone consider that she or he are different from the other, and other people is not the same with her or him. Gadis Tangsi tells a story about a girl life, namely Teyi. She is a Javanese girl who grew up in the Javanese tradition. She lives with his parents and sibling in tangsi area. She was taught to become an obedient girl by her mother with many limitations as a girl. She helps her mother to sell fried bananas every day. Teyi finds herself limited by some rules which are considered as the right rules for her mother. She even does not know how ‘love’ or how to be ‘loved’ by a man. She was taught to be a polite woman. She finally finds who she is when she is introduced to Putri Parasi by Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi who has helped her. That is the beginning of her new experience to recognize a new world, the world that she has never imagined before. Putri Parasi teaches her everything to be ‘a good lady’. Putri Parasi likes Teyi for her politeness. She more likes Teyi after being saved when her disease comes immediately. Putri Parasi expects to teach her how to behave well. She even teaches Teyi to speak Dutch. Teyi starts to be able to read and write. Putri Parasi really wants to prepare her to be taken to Surakarta Keraton and introduced her to a man who will be married with her. She plans to make Teyi deserve to have a husband from Keraton families. In the novel Gadis Tangsi written by Suparto Brata, we can see some unexpected phenomenon occur. It makes me realize that actually there are still many things covered even by what Javanese people considered as ‘budaya adiluhung’. The word ‘politeness’, ‘hospitality’ and ‘dignity’ which come into people mind when they heard about Javanese culture become blur after they read this novel. Javanese woman who is considered as an obedient woman and become a mercy for whom takes her as a wife may be surprised by what Suparto tells about Teyi and Dumilah. He brings them in this novel as representative of Javanese woman character, in different point of view. However, the story about them, for me, is far from the stereotype of common Javanese women (may be just a few). The feeling of ‘in between’ seem to be experienced by Teyi. She starts to know about how the way the higher status people behave since she meets Putri Parasi. Teyi realizes that her life style is quite different from her, and she is glad when she knows that Putri Parasi does not mind introducing this new culture to her. From this intentional interaction, after she is taught how to behave like ‘putri bangsawan’, Teyi starts to consider she has a chance to be the same with them. Even she lives with her parents, she starts to consider that she is better than them. She has been raised from the lower part. She has more power than the people in the house. The very obvious impact of this teaching actually appears when Teyi has been left by Putri Parasi. After she passed away, Teyi become independent from the influence of Putri Parasi. Although, there are still some traces of her teaching inside Teyi which reflect in the way she behaves. She seems take the dominating position over her husband, Sapardal. Sapardal feeling about his lower position when they have been married becomes the cause of the divorce. Only two days of marriage, and Teyi considers that she has a right to sue divorce, while Sapardal can only keep silent without any comment. In this relationship, Sapardal as a man who actually considered as ‘the dominating’ take the role as ‘the dominated’. He does not feel on the same level with Teyi. He admits that he has no power compared to Teyi. He even has no courage to touch her in their first night of marriage. Here, we can see the role between man and woman has shifted. Brata seems to show us that the role of people in the society is like running on the moving wheel. The dominating and dominated are only a symbol of someone position, which also can be shifted based on where we are standing. Sapardal may fail in maintaining his position as superior in front of Teyi. The cultural change also appears in this novel. Sexual intercourse is not considered as a sacral any longer for almost all the women in this novel. During my reading, I wonder if I read Indonesian culture literary work, especially belong to Javanese one. However, Brata wrote the novel using the Indonesian condition in the past, in the colonial occupation. In this situation, it is not easy to determine which one who still hold the original value since the influence of other ideology come into the life in that simple way. The force of a new ideology input is not directly felt in this novel. The indigenous people enjoy the acculturation between the dominated and the dominating. It also happens in the shifting of the way they see sexual intercourse actually is. What we call as a taboo becomes commonly conducted by the people. Teyi is defined as a free woman, even she has been married and becomes a wife of Sapardal, and she breaks the rule by having intercourse with Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi. It seems that she wants to take a revenge to Dumilah who is considered had cheated her by having romantic affair with her master. Sapardal can not do anything. He has failed to become a good husband. This thinking is from his own side. When we look at this phenomenon, again, Teyi proves that she has had a power over a man from her own society. She starts to have a right to consider a man like Sapardal is not at the same level with her. However, in my opinion it will not happen if Sapardal never has the way of thinking. Actually, he has thought that she is great and different from the other woman in his environment before they are married. That makes he has no courage to touch her at their first night. It also makes Teyi feels not being regarding or respecting as a wife. She thinks that Sapardal has no desire toward her, and she thinks that it is better to ask divorce. What a short way of thinking! I found that Teyi has put a wrong way of thinking about what Putri Parasi had taught to her. It seems that she does not consider marriage as a sacral relationship any longer. ‘Love’ relationship has been considered as a ‘real’ relationship when we have passion to have sex with our couple. Is that so simple? That is the way Teyi think about love basically. It is shown also when she does not mind to have sex with her ex-master, Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi, and then she starts to love someone else, Ndara Mas Kus. There is no any guilty feeling. Finally, we can conclude that there are three aspect of postcolonial reading for Gadis Tangsi has been discussed above. First, hybridity appears when Teyi finds herself has involved and being a part of Putri Parasi’s society, Keraton environment since she has been able to behave and speak like her, so she considers that she is a part of Putri community. While she has that feeling, she still can not avoid other people consideration about her who is only becoming a servant and will not become like them. Second, dominating feeling toward Sapardal comes into her mind. There is dominating-dominated in shifting model between them. It seems a denial for a man who usually considered as the dominating one, while Teyi proves that it can be shifted. Last, ‘Otherness’ theory also emerges in this novel. After having taught to have attitude and behave like Putri Parasi model, Teyi finally considers herself different with other woman in her society. It appears in the way she treats Dumilah who is her old friend. She thinks that Dumilah has no right to become ‘a munci’ of Ndara Tuan Kapten Sarjubehi because she is not at the same level with her or Ndara. Reference Ashcroft, Bill, et. al. 1946. The Empire Writes Back. London : Routledge Barry, Peter. 1824. Beginning Theory. Manchester : Manchester University Press Brata, Suparto. 2004. Gadis Tangsi. Jakarta : Kompas Reilly, John. 1978. Critical Approaches to Ethnic Literature. London : Oxford University Press

Outline and Evaluate theories and research explaning institutional aggression Essay

Institutional aggression is a form of aggression which is present in institutions such as the police, armed forces and security services, as well as criminal and terrorist groups (i.e. those who are bound together by a common purpose to be aggressive). There have been a number of theories developed to try and explain the cause of institutional aggression. The theories fall into two categories which are situational factors (referring to factors present in social situations), and dispositional factors (referring to characteristics of the individual e.g. personality). The first theory trying to explain intuitional aggression is based on situational factors was Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment. In this experiment a sample of 24 male participants (pps) was used and each pps was given a full physical and mental evaluation to ensure full health. Pps were randomly allocated into roles as guards or prisoners. As the pps started to get into their roles the guards became more and more controlling. Guard Hellman was found to be one of the most aggressive officers. Before Hellman had entered the experiment he had described himself as someone who loves all people. Zimbardo concluded that it was the ‘situation’ that had made Hellman behave the way he did. See more: outline format for essay This research supports the situational explanation of aggression because it emphasises how people will act aggressively when they are in a certain situation. A strength of this study is that cause and effect can be established. This is because Zimbardo’s had control and by removing extraneous variables such as pps being at the same levels of aggression as each other and being given a psychological and mental evaluation before they started the study. This would suggest that the being in the prison environment made the pps to behave more aggressively as they were simply trying to fulfill their roles as prison guards. However the guards were consistently aware that they were in a prison study. If they were aware that they were in a study they may have believed that their behavior was punishable. If their behavior had become extreme they would have been stopped but as Zimbardo was the one undertaking the study, the guards may have thought that he would be responsible if anything went wrong, (agentic shift). This suggests that the guards were not responsible for their actions as they were acting as directed. So therefore this study does not support the situational explanation of aggression as the pps were aware that this was a study and may have only been acting in the way they thought they were expected to act. The study of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was not a study and it was a real life scenario so this would be a better example to I=use for explaining situational factors to aggression. Abu Ghraib was a prison in Iraq where US troops kept Iraqi prisoners of war (POWs). The prison came after fire after US soldiers took pictures showing how them dehumanizing and degrading the POWs. Zimbardo was a key witness at the trial of these soldiers and argued that their behavior was merely the product of situational factors associated with being a soldier and being a guard in such a unique environment. He continued to argue that a lot of US soldiers were being murdered in Iraq and the situation within the prison was enough to turn a good soldier bad. Zimbardo stated some key factors that may have resulted in the behavior at Abu Ghraib. He noted that the status and power of those involved was a factor that may have contributed to the behavior of the soldiers. Those who were involved were usually low ranking officers, by doing this they may have thought that would move up in status. Also deindividuation may have caused the soldiers to act in the way the did as they may have been deindividuated because they were wearing a uniform and also because they were in a large group. This may have caused them not to feel as though they had a personal identity. This scenario is hard to retest or generalise because of the unique nature of the situation. Can these findings even be applied to other soldiers behavior in other wars? The soldiers may have felt that since they were in a seemingly lawless country that there would be no repercussions. So therefore it may have been this unique situation only where this kind of behavior would be seen also as it can not be replicated it is not reliable. Dispositional factors can not be ruled out. To become a soldier you have to be a certain kind of person and have certain traits within that would relate to the job so the soldiers could have certain qualities within them that may have caused them to act in the way they did.

Conflicts in Measuring Progress - Megacity in Asia (Seoul) Essay

Conflicts in Measuring Progress - Megacity in Asia (Seoul) - Essay Example The city’s rapid expansion and transformation comes with challenges in addition to the positive impacts. It is therefore worthwhile to explore impacts of urbanization in the city of Seoul considering issues of sustainability, effects to the environment, housing, transport systems and the overall quality of life. Though it was originally a phenomenon of cities from the west, urbanization has invaded even cities in Asia. According to (Clark, 2003), the world society is fast become urban in characteristic and this can now be applied to Seoul. As a result of an explosion in population, Seoul’s urbanization impacts are unique as compared to has been observed elsewhere such as in America and Europe. The periods from 1960 through the 1970s have seen South Korea grow at a rate of 10% economically. Per capita income was $76 in the year 1970 and has grown to more than $19,000 in just forty years; overall GDP is close to $ one trillion. Being the country’s biggest city and trade hub, the population of Seoul has increased by more than 500% since the year 1960; rural urban migration especially to Seoul has been on the rise. Though it sits on just 0.61% of South Korea’s total area, 84% of institutions and agencies of government, 88% of the country’s biggest companies and 75% o f major universities are hosted by Seoul. An excess of 65% in terms of financial/bank transactions are done in this city (Jeon, 2005 P.5). There is no other city across the globe taking an economic burden matching that of Seoul. Only 20sq.m of residential space is available per individual at the moment, this is extremely low as compared to other developed cities like New York, London and Paris. Tokyo has 55sq.m per person even though is considered highly populated. Basing on square kilometers, Seoul’s is 23,908 which is denser than Tokyo’s 7,099 persons. On the Gini index of income inequality Seoul scores 0.36,

MGMT455 U1 IP Theory X & Y Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGMT455 U1 IP Theory X & Y - Research Paper Example This theory tends to adopt the authoritarian style of management. Whereas, Theory Y assumes that individuals take responsibility and they do not need control and direction on each step, they are active, motivated and consider the work as the natural part of their lives, and are capable of achieving higher goals in their jobs. This theory is considered is the participative style of management. One style cannot be used in all situations. It totally depends on the circumstances and conditions of the environment and employees. The management can be authoritative in some cases and can also be practical in other cases while a mix of both the theories can result better. The practices of Theory Y can turn out with better results as this will develop confidence and courage among the employees to work in a relaxed and a comfortable environment. For-example, well and high structured call center operations can get a certain amount of benefits by allowing their employees to perform and respond to customers on their comfort and knowledge level. So, by adapting to Theory Y practices they can appreciate and encourage the overall knowledge sharing processes. The difference between Theory X and Theory Y management is quite noticeable. In my opinion, the management of Theory Y is much more effective and productive than Theory X, as the authoritarian management of Theory X is much adopted in most of the huge firms and organization and leaves less comfortable environment for the employees, whereas most of the organizations allow participative management of the employees which prefer self motivation and appreciate new ideas from the individuals. Considering Theory Y management, many of the organizations use decision making processes, in which each employee has the opportunity to share his thoughts and ideas. There are basically two major types of democratic decision making, including, persuasive democratic management and consultative

Financial Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Management - Assignment Example ..13 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 Part I 1 Cash 60000 Common Stocks 60000 2 Cash 32000 Bank Loan 32000 3 Truck 12000 Notes payables 2000 Loan payables - truck 10000 4 Office equipment 6000 Cash 6000 5 Office equipment 400 Cash 400 6 Office equipment 3600 Cash 3600 7 Inventory 60000 Cash 60000 8 Cash 340000 Account Receivables 60000 Sales 400000 CGS 240000 Inventory 240000 9 Inventory 200000 Cash 200000 10 Advertising expenses 20000 Cash 20000 11 Rent expense 7200 Utilities expense 4800 Telephone expense 1200 Employee salaries 112000 Cash 125200 12 Loan 3333 Interest expense 699 Cash 4032 13 Loan 8000 Interest expense 4160 Cash 12160 Cash Common Stocks 60000 60000 32000 6000 Bank Loan 400 32000 3600 8000 60000 Bal. 24000 340000 200000 Loan payable – Truck 20000 10000 125200 3333 4032 Bal. 6667 12160 Truck Bal. 608 12000 Office Equipment Notes Payable 6000 2000 400 3600 Bal. 10000 Inventory 60000 Account receivables 240000 60000 200000 Bal. 20000 Advertising expenses 20000 Sales Utilities expense 400000 4800 Rent expense Employee salaries 7200 112000 Telephone expense Interest expense 1200 699 4160 Cost of goods sold Bal. 4859 240000 Projected Income Statement Revenues 400000 Cost of goods sold 240000 Gross Profit 160000 Expenses Interest expense 4859 Telephone expense 1200 Employee salaries 112000 Utilities expense 4800 Rent expense 7200 Advertising expense 20000 Total expenses 150059 Net Income 9941 Projected Balance Sheet Current Assets Cash 608 Account receivables 60000 Inventory 20000 Total current assets 80608 Equipment, machinery Truck 12000 Office equipment 10000 Total equipment, machinery 22000 Total Assets 102608 Liabilities & Stockholders equity Current liabilities Notes payable 2000 Long-term liability Bank Loan 24000 Loan payable – Truck 6667 Total liabilities 32667 Common stocks 60000 Retained earnings 9941 Total equity 102608 The projected income statement of Garden Place showed the company is going to have good profitability during the upcoming year. The projected net income of the company is $9,941. The gross profit of the company is $160,000, while its gross margin is 40%. Gross margin is calculated dividing gross income by total sales. The gross margin is a measure of broad profitability (Garrison & Noreen, 2003). The net margin of the company is 2.48%. Net margin is a measure of the absolute profitability of the company. The net margin ratio is calculated dividing net income by total sales. The return on assets of Garden Place is projected to be 9.68%. Return on assets measures how profitable is a firm in relation to its assets (Investopedia, 2012). The return on equity of Garden Place is projected by be 14.21%. â€Å"Return on equity reveals how much profit a company earned in comparison to the total amount of shareholder equity found on the balanc e sheet† (Kennon, 2012). The total assets of the firm are projected to reach $102,608, while its total equity is projected to be $69,941. The current ratio of the company is projected to be 40.34. The firm’s current ratio is outstanding considering the fact that a good current ratio is one that is above the 1.0 threshold. The purpose of the current ratio is to demonstrate the ability of the company to pay off its short term debt (Investorwords, 2012). The formula to calculate current ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities. The debt

Deferent between men and women in media IN American culture Essay

Deferent between men and women in media IN American culture - Essay Example For example, a woman might purchase a car because it shows a baby well placed and secure in it. Decision making during advertisements distinguishes men and women Men usually make decisions through an elimination process because they choose the aspects of advertisements that matter. Consequently, they usually eliminate aspects that are non-beneficial and unlikely to affect how they view products. For example, a man might purchase a Volkswagen Golf regardless of its small size because it has a powerful engine compared to most Toyotas. Women make decisions after comprehensively examining the various variables and attributes. For example, a woman’s choice to purchase a Volkswagen Golf will be dependent on the size, engine capacity, face value and cost. It is crucial to acknowledge that gender identification, advertising and decision-making usually distinguish men and women. It determines their attitude and outlook towards advertisement. It also determines their perception and ability to

English class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English class - Essay Example Even the quadratic formula would beat this. One day as I was sitting there, observing people, I noticed two guys walking quickly away from the cafeteria, looking around like they were going to escape from prison or something, and then quickly disappear into the woods. I had no idea where they had gone but I was curious. The next day at lunch I looked for them again. It seems like they saw me looking, and one of them approached me. We had a brief conversation and he told me that they had been hanging out in the woods behind the school to skip class. He asked me if I wanted to join them. While it was out of character for me to skip class a number of things went through my mind. I had experienced a difficult time making friends at the new school and I believed that skipping classes with these individuals might help develop a friendship with them. On a deeper level I also had begun to become frustrated at my current situation and school environment. At not being able to fit in to the sch ool and meet people I had begun to neglect my studies and feel that school was not important. I had started to fail seeing the ways that school would contribute to my long-term benefit. With these thoughts in mind I entered the woods scaled the fence surrounding the school and skipped class with the two people I had just met. As we made our way back towards the school and climbed the fence we had originally gone over, I glanced in front of me and the school’s resource officer was standing there watching us. He later claimed that he had followed us since the moment we entered the woods. I thought we would only get in trouble for skipping, but after we had climbed the fence we had entered private property and the owner had called the school complaining. The officer arrested us for trespassing. I sat in the front office for a long time, outside and watched the other students walk through. Eventually we went into see the school resource officer. It was a terrifying experience as I had never been in serious trouble before. The others actually stuck up for me and one of them even said that it wasn’t my idea and that they convinced me to do it. It didn’t make much difference though, we were all caught together and that was what mattered. Since I had no prior problems in school I only received community service and a two-day suspension. The two guys I went with were expelled. They had to transfer to another school and I haven’t heard from them since. As I sat in the lobby of the discipline office I learned that my frustration with life wouldn’t be overcome with stupid rebellious activities, and that I needed to accept personal responsibility for my own life and stop looking to others to give it meaning and save me from frustration. From then on I learned and understood that life is what you make it. When considering stories such as this that shaped my personal development I learned that the story we tell ourselves is constantly chang ed in ways that coincide with recent developments in our lives. However, there was something about this instance that not only shifted my perceptions towards a different, or ‘better’ path, but also removed so much of the elements of my past life. It was this experience that expanded my

Dominant Ideology in British News Broadcasting Essay

Dominant Ideology in British News Broadcasting - Essay Example The answer lies between the lines that bring out the news of the war in both Britain and the US. Steven was a victim of terror - no doubts about it. But his being American was just half the story. His murder is only an attempt by a pagan enemy to a nation of soldiers and newsmongers called the US, an attempt by the people to tell the world that these men did not report the brewing of the soup as much as they cry about the murderous soup called the war on terror being served on the platters of international diplomatic circles. It was not what the press said that lead to the murder of Steven, but what the press did not say that led to his killing. Or rather does the silence of the press intend to say more than they said in words. Do the gloomy looking news readers on channels in the UK say more than they could express in words Should that really have been the scenario Did that silence warrant the murder of a promising journalist Where do we go from here They are perceived as independent commentators by the people and in many cases - such as the Iraq war, their independence has turned out to be a spook rather than truth. Independent reporting is a thing of the pastor is at least as fictitious as Jack and his Bean Stalk. What is most obvious from these reports is that it has sidelined human rights largely in countries where western armies are operating. In most cases, the despots are simply terrorists that need to be done with and in certain countries, the despots are the best available choices and friends of these nations. Press in the west has made this mistake time and again. The recent examples are President Suharto of Indonesia and his mass murder venture in East Timor which was largely underplayed by the western media. This process went on for a substantial period of fifteen years.

Corporate Law For Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Law For Managers - Essay Example In the past, this type of contract was considered as rather risky – the completion of the incorporation procedure was not always guaranteed - a phenomenon also common in modern market. The introduction of the Companies Act 2006 led to the increase of the safety of the specific type of contract – in the section 51 of the above Law it is noted that the person who acted in behalf of the firm or as its agent is considered responsible for the performance of the specific contract; the successful incorporation of the company in the name of which this person acted is not of particular importance regarding the protection of the interests of the party that signed this agreement along with the company’s agent. In this paper the role of the section 51 of the Companies Act 2006 in relation to the problems of pre-incorporation contracts is critically examined; it is proved that the above provision had offered an important framework for the protection of the rights of interests of the parties (individuals or firms) that enter a pre-incorporation contract. In order to identify the problems related with the pre-incorporation contracts it would be necessary to refer primarily to the concept of incorporation; in accordance with Cross et al. (2007, 13) ‘the incorporation process requires the development of articles of incorporation (sometimes called the corporate charter or certificate), which is publicly available and becomes something like the constitution that governs the corporation’; the founders of the corporation are free to choose the terms of the corporate charter – however, they are bound by the law as the application of specific rules, usually represented by the commercial ethics; moreover, it is required by the law that the corporate charter addresses specific issues; the rest of the content of the corporate

The relationships between billionaire agribusinessmen in the US and Essay

The relationships between billionaire agribusinessmen in the US and new immigrant farmworkers from Mexico - Essay Example Knowing the present economic structure and the availability of these workers, this created a rift between the owners of the industries who is literally addicted to using â€Å"cheap† and illegal (undocumented) workforce and to the requirement of the American commoners to security. In this article, we will deal into the major issues strongly intertwined with illegal undocumented migration such as labor and unemployment issues (i.e. workforce rights’ violations) and illegal drug trade both in the United States and Mexico; furthermore we will also look into the government interventions and the changes it has extended to the labor sector not only to resolve the pressing conflicts between American and Mexican (as well as other minorities) workers but to entirely â€Å"improve† and restructure the present labor condition of the United States. During the post-World War II period, the United States government invested millions of dollars in agriculture reform and sponsored many farms to improve their technologies such as irrigation system and development of farm machineries. It was also during this period from 1942 to early 1960s that the United States encouraged these workers from Mexico, China, Japan and other parts of Asia to migrate in the U.S and work in their farms for cheap labor. Along with these workers are their families therefore starting up a steady enormous volume of migrants to reside along the agricultural lines of California and Washington. With the increasing number of migrants, the competition for labor between them and the native Americans became steeper to the point where unjust labor practices were implemented to curb, streamline and permanently impede the surge of migrants into key agricultural cities in America. These practices involved massive lynching of migrant workers from their job with barely j ustifiable reasons, deportation due to lack of appropriate documents and permits, lack of work benefits – all conditions are almost similar

There Is Still Time To Save Revolution Essay Example for Free

There Is Still Time To Save Revolution Essay It has been the scientists’ consensus: the world is undoubtedly warming (Pew Center). Thorough researches have proven that this warming is primarily the result of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), in its February 02, 2007 report has found a strong link of these emissions on human activities which include industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and changes in land use.   The report further said that the world shall experience an increase in temperature for about 2. 5 ºF to 10.4 ºF by 2100 if the current emission trends continue. The good news however is, the scientists believe that there is still time to slow global warming and to lessen many of its most severe consequences if we act quickly. Since it is primarily the human beings who are held responsible for global warming, the future of the world’s temperature is in our hands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Greenhouse gases like Carbon Dioxide, methane, halocarbons and tropospheric O3 come from burning of fossil fuels, landfills and CFCs (D. Carpenter). From here, we can clearly see what we can do. Carbon dioxide makes up 60% of the total amount greenhouse gases and it primarily comes from the combustion of fossil fuels. If this is the case, an individual can contribute to the world’s effort of reducing carbon dioxide emission by reducing the usage of cars. Transportation has been the major source of this emission so by reducing car usage, we can reduce carbon dioxide emission. Walking to reach short distance destinations is one good step. The use of bikes, as that of Vietnam is also a good thing. Anyway, it is a good form of exercise. As ordinary citizens, we all the power to elect able lawmakers who would be concerned enough with the environment and the human health. As with nitrous oxide emission, we can do something with the reduction of use of trash incineration as its major source. Simple means of waste segregation and composting are of good contribution. Proper waste disposal can reduce the use of garbage incinerations. Recycling and reuse are also good steps. Let us reduce the use of disposable plastic containers because burning of plastics contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases. If we can reuse these plastic containers, then we can consequently reduce the amount of plastics to be burned. We can use paper bags instead of plastic containers in our daily routine. If we can reduce the use of fertilizers as enhancers to our mini orchidarium and gardens, then it will be of great help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We can also contribute with the reduction of Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) and other Halocarbons. At home, we can reduce the use of artificial products that uses refrigerant and propellants as that of aerosol cans. There are already products available in the markets which are water-based. Of course, air conditioners and refrigerators have been our buddies at home and in the office. They are almost in everyone’s house. If we can get rid of using them, we can probably choose the products or brands that make use of lesser amount of CFCs. We almost all have our television sets, the access to internet and the daily papers. We can learn from these media on how to choose products that are environment-friendly. Primarily, we should be one who are to be environment-friendly because it is us who have the ability to think and feel and to distinguish friendly ones from that of the harmful stuffs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is also a direct correlation between global warming and deforestation (T. Socha). Research also shows that decline in forest cover adds up to 20% of greenhouse gases buildup. It means the lack of shaded areas has allowed higher surface temperatures. Because trees are natural consumers of carbon dioxide and in turn a natural source of oxygen, their presence in the environment is vital.   With lesser trees, there will be lesser consumers of carbon dioxide and consequently will lead to more emissions. Though it is a fact that it takes years before a tree is full grown, it does not necessarily mean that our hope of reducing the effects of global warming is gone forever. We still have the chance of planting more trees. Of course, it will be impossible to reconvert deforested areas that have already been converted to industrial areas. But we still have acres and acres of land that we can utilize as vegetation areas. There is no better time to start planting than now. Now is the right time to help in tree-planting projects that are sponsored by the government and even non-government organizations. Let us find time to participate in these activities. If time is what we lack, we have the opportunity to share our financial resources to support such projects. Moreover, we have current policies as with the routine harvest of trees. What we can best do is to adhere with government policies concerning the environment. If we find violations, we all have the media to coordinate with authorities. If we are financially capable enough to play golf or to operate golf courses, then it is our responsibility to re-consider its unhealthy effects in the environment. The operation of golf courses requires deforestation, then the use of vast amount of fertilizers in the maintenance of the grass areas. Voluminous water used to water the grass areas run through areas with the pollutants that is contained in the fertilizers. In general, a golf course is environmentally unhealthy. For all these facts, we can see that even ordinary citizens have the power to reduce the impact of global warming by the reduction of the usage of products that are the main sources of greenhouse emissions. We don’t need to be lawmakers and scientists or even be in the government seats in order to help. Even in our daily routine, we all have the chance to make this world a better place to live in. WORKS CITED Carpenter, David. â€Å"Health Effects of Global Warming† Institute of Health and the Environment University. Albany Socha, Thomas. â€Å"The Potential Effects of Global Warming† Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.cato.org/pubs/books/climate/069-88.pdf â€Å"Global Warming Basics† Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990). Working Group II. â€Å"Potential Impacts of Climate Change†. 6-3,6-4,6-9. BIBLIOGRAPHY Carpenter, David. â€Å"Health Effects of Global Warming† Institute of Health and the Environment University. Albany Cross, Eleanor and Kenneth Hyams. â€Å"The Potential Effect of Global Warming on the Geographic and Seasonal Distribution of Phlebotomus Papatasi in Southwest Asia.† â€Å"The Environmental Health Perspectives. Vol. 104. July 1996. pp. 724-727 Gorman, Christine. â€Å"How It Affects Your Health† Time Magazine. March 26, 2006. Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.time/magazine/article/0,9171,1177002,00.html Lashof, D. (1989). â€Å"The Dynamic Greenhouse: Feedback Processes that may Influence Future Contractions of Atmospheric Trace Gases an Climatic Change.† pp. 213 Moore, Curtis (1997) â€Å"Warming up to Hot New Evidence† International Wildlife. Vol. 27. pp24-27 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990) Working Group II. â€Å"Potential Impacts of Climate Change† pp. 6-9 Patz, Jonathan. â€Å"Alarming Health Effects of Global Warming† Medical News Today. November 19, 2005. Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=33768 Rauber, Paul (1997). â€Å"Heat Wave: If WE Continue to Ignore the Danger Signs, the World of the Future will be Hotter, Poorer, Deadlier Place; Here’s What It Might Look Like.† Vol. 82. pg. 34-38 Socha, Thomas. â€Å"The Potential Effects of Global Warming† Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.cato.org/pubs/books/climate/069-88.pdf Thompson, Dick (1997). â€Å"Climate: Melt Away Future the Ice Caps are shrinking†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Time International. Vol. 11. p. 38 West, Larry. â€Å"Global Warming is Unstoppable and Humans are to Blame, says UN Report† Retrieved on April 17, 2007 from http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/ipcc_report.htm    Cooler Heads Coalition. â€Å"Potential Health Effects of Global Warming; Urban Heat in Atlanta; CBS Climate Hype† April 20, 2000. Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.globalwarming.org/article.php?=225    National Resources Defense Council. â€Å"Consequences of Global Warming† Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/fcons.asp U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. â€Å"Global Warming-Impacts† Retrieved on April 13, 2007 from http://yoshemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ImpactsHealth.html      Ã¢â‚¬Å"Strongest Evidence Yet of Human Link to Global Warming, Expert Says† The Science Daily. February 5, 2007. Retrieved on April 17, 2007 from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/2070204111643.htm

Risk factors in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

Risk factors in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Association of selected risk factors and the number of grafts at Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery: A preliminary study E M S Bandara1, S Ekanayake1*, A D Kapuruge2 and C A Wanigatunge3 Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is associated with multi-factorial risk factors; i.e. family history, hyperlipidemia, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, environmental and life style variables. The study attempted to find the association of some selected risk factors (family history, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetic) and the number of grafts (> 3 or à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 by considering the middle point as the maximum number of grafts bypassed at surgery is five) of the patients (n=73) who underwent CABG at Cardiothoracic unit of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (Ethical Approval No.635/12). Data on family history, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes were gathered by using an interviewer administrated questionnaire. The patients were categorized into two groups depending on the number of coronary artery bypass grafts as those who have hadà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 grafts (n=38) and > 3 grafts (n=35) irrespective of the gender. The prevalence of family history, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetesof patients with à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 grafts were 63%, 71%, 79% and 50% respectively. The prevalence of above risk factors in patients who had > 3 grafts was40%, 51%, 62%, and 54%respectively. From the total group 4% of patients did not have any of the above risk factors.The results indicate that hypertension was the most prevailing risk factor in both the groups. However, a significant difference was seen only between family history and number of grafts (p 2 = 3.9).The odds ratio of >3 grafts being bypassed at surgery for patients with any of the four risk factors were 2.6 (95% C I: 0.96-6.88), 0.4 (95% CI: 0.16-1.23), 2.0 (95% CI: 0.67-6.0), 1.2 (95% CI: 0.67-6.05) respectively compared to those without above risk factors. Even though not significant, those who have a family history of CAD and hypertension as risk factors are more likely to (2.6 times and twice respectively) have > 3 grafts bypassed at CABG irrespective of the gender or age. According to the above results contribution of hyperlipidemia to augment the number of grafts is less. Early detection and treatment for hypertension thus may contribute to reduce the number of grafts being performed at CABG. Therefore, CAD patients should be made aware of the contribution of above risk factors to contribute to increase the number of grafts at surgery. Keywords: Coronary Artery Diseases, Risk factors, Grafts Association of selected risk factors and the number of grafts at Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery: A preliminary study Introduction A high incidence of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) has been observed in South Asian countries including Sri Lanka. According to a recent estimation 524 deaths from 100 000 in Sri Lanka were from cardio- and cerebro-vascular diseases. Hospitalization due to non communicable diseases and ischemic heart disease has increased significantly over the past 10 years. Hypertension, smoking, diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia, age and family history are established risk factors for cardiovascular disease. According to previous studies prevalence of hypertension was 63.7% in, over 70 years and it was 28.4% in over 20 yrs [1]. High prevalence of dyslipidemia is also reported in a study of Sri Lankan individuals > 18 years [2]. No data were found on the prevalence of above risk factors in patients with confirmed CAD or number of grafts performed and their association to the CAD risk factors. The study attempted to find the association of some selected risk factors (family history, hyperlipidemia , hypertension and diabetic) and the number of grafts (> 3 or à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 by considering the middle point as the maximum number of grafts bypassed at surgery is five) of the patients who underwent CABG at Cardio-Thoracic unit of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital. Methodology This descriptive study was carried out with patients (n=73, male- 48, female 25) who underwent CABG at Cardio-Thoracic unit of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (Ethical Approval No.635/12). An interviewer administrated questionnaire was used for gathering data on family history, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. Patients were categorized in to two groups, considering the middle point (03 grafts as the maximum number of grafts bypassed at surgery is five) and those who have had à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 grafts (n=38) and > 3 grafts (n=35) irrespective of the gender and age. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16 statistical package. Result and Discussion The prevalence of family history, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes of the study population is summarized in table 01. Table 1. Prevalence of risk factors Hypertension was the most common risk factor among both groups. Hyperlipidemia and diabetes were second common risk factors among groups of à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 and > 3 grafts respectively. Prevalence of diabetes is comparatively low in the patients that have had à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 grafts. According to Wijewardene et al (2005) the total prevalence of hypertension in Western, North central, Uva and Southern provinces of Sri Lanka was 18.8% for males and 19.3 % for females among age group of 30 – 65 yrs [3]. Katulanda et al (2010) reported the prevalence of hypertension as 28.4 % for males and 27.7 % for females of > 20 yrs among adults from seven provinces in Sri Lanka [1]. In the current study the patient’s age ranged from 38 to 80 years and also all of them were confirmed as having CAD. Sri Lanka diabetes and cardiovascular study, carried out in 2005 – 2006 period have concluded that high prevalence of dyslipidemia among Sri Lankan adults (> 18 years) [2]. In this study among confirmed patients of CAD hyperlipidemia was the second common risk factor among patient who had à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ £ 3 grafts (71 %) and 51 % in patients who had > 3 grafts. According to Fernando et al (1994) prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was 15% and 61% for males and 18% and 41% for females in suburban community of age range 30 – 64 years respectively [4] which agrees with present data among CAD patients. A significant difference was observed between the family history and number of grafts bypassed (à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ £2 = 3.9, p Table 2. The odds ratios related to risk factors According to Veeranna et al (2010) diabetes mellitus was the only predictor of obstructive CAD in elderly (> 65 years) and lipid levels had no correlation or a weak correlation with obstructive CAD [5]. According to present data hyperlidemia had the lowest odds ratio while diabetics had 1.2 time risk of having > 3 grafts. However, those who have family history and hypertension are twice likely to have > 3 grafts performed at the surgery irrespective of the gender or age. However, according to this study contribution of hyperlipidemia to increase the number of grafts is comparatively less. Early detection and treatment for hypertension thus may contribute to reduce the number of grafts being performed at surgery (CABG). Therefore, CAD patients should be made aware of the contribution of above risk factors to contribute to increase the number of grafts at surgery. Referances Katulanda, P., De Vas Gunawardena, A.N.P., Constantine, G.R., Sheriff M.H.R., Matthews, D.R.: Prevalence and correlates of hypertension in Sri Lanka. In: 42nd Anual Academic Sessions of College of Physicians, pp. 43 (2009) Herath, H.R.I.S., Katulanda, P., Matthews, D.R., Sheriff, M.H.R., Constantine, G.R., De Vas Gunawardena, A.N.P., Katulanda, G.W.:Prevalence and patterns of dyslipidaemia among adult Sri Lankans. In: 123rd Anual Scientific Sessions of Sri Lanka Medical Association, pp. 15 (2010) Wijewardene, K., Mohideen, M.R., Mendis, S., Fernando, D.S., Kulathilaka T., Weerasekara, D., and Uluwitta, P.: Prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and obesity: baseline findings of a population based survey in four provinces in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Medical Journal. 62–70 (2004) Fernando, D.J.S., Siribaddana, S.H., De Silva D.R., Perera S.D.,: The prevalence of obesity and other coronary risk factors in a suburban Sri Lankan community. Asia Pacific J Clin Nutri, pp. 155–159 (1994) Veeranna, V., Pradhan, J., Niraj, A., Fakhry H.,and Afonso, L.,: Traditional Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Severity of Angiographic Coronary Artery Disease in the Elderly. Preventive Cardiology, pp. 135-140 (2010)

Relationship Between Building, Dwelling and Notion of Home

Relationship Between Building, Dwelling and Notion of Home Discuss the relationship between building, dwelling and the notion of home, drawing on ethnographic examples, Understanding building as a process enables architecture to be considered as a form of material culture. Processes of building and dwelling are interconnected according to Ingold (2000), who also calls for a more sensory appreciation of dwelling, as provided by Bloomer and Moore (1977) and Pallasmaa (1996) who suggest architecture is a fundamentally haptic experience. A true dwelt perspective is therefore established in appreciating the relationship between dwelling, the notion of home and how this is enframed by architecture. We must think of dwelling as an essentially social experience as demonstrated by Helliwell (1996) through analysis of the Dyak Longhouse, Borneo, to enable us to harbour a true appreciation of space devoid of western visual bias. This bias is found within traditional accounts of living space (Bourdieu (2003) and Humphrey (1974)), which do however demonstrate that notions of home and subsequently space are socially specific. Life activities associated with dwell ing; sociality and the process of homemaking as demonstrated by Miller (1987) allow a notion of home to be established in relation to the self and haptic architectural experience. Oliver (2000) and Humphrey (2005) show how these relationships are evident in the failures of built architecture in Turkey and the Soviet Union. When discussing the concept of building, the process is twofold; The word building contains the double reality. It means both the action of the verb build and that which is builtboth the action and the result (Bran (1994:2)). With regards to building as a process, and treating that which is built; architecture, as a form of material culture, it can be likened to the process of making. Building as a process is not merely imposing form onto substance but a relationship between creator, their materials and the environment. For Pallasmaa (1996), the artist and craftsmen engage in the building process directly with their bodies and existential experiences rather than just focusing on the external problem; A wise architect works with his/her entire body and sense of selfIn creative workthe entire bodily and mental constitution of the maker becomes the site of work. (1996:12). Buildings are constructed according to specific ideas about the universe; embodiments of an understanding of the wo rld, such as geometrical comprehension or an appreciation of gravity (Lecture). The process of bringing structures into being is therefore linked to local cultural needs and practices.[1] Thinking about the building process in this way identifies architecture as a form of material culture and enables consideration of the need to construct buildings and the possible relationships between building and dwelling. Ingold (2000) highlights an established view he terms the building perspective; an assumption that human beings must construct the world, in consciousness, before they  can act within it. (2000:153). This involves an imagined separation between the perceiver and the world, upon a separation between the real environment (existing independently of the senses) and the perceived environment, which is constructed in the mind according to data from the senses and cognitive schemata (2000:178). This assumption that human beings re-create the world in the mind before interacting with it implies that acts of dwelling are preceded by acts of world-making (2000:179). This is what Ingold identifies as the architects perspective, buildings being constructed before life commences inside; the architects perspective: first plan and build, the houses, then import the people to occupy them. (2000:180). Instead, Ingold suggests the dwelling perspective, whereby human beings are in an inescapable cond ition of existence within the environment, the world continuously coming into being around them, and other human beings becoming significant through patterns of life activity (2000:153). This exists as a pre-requisite to any building process taking place as part of the natural human condition.; it is because human beings already hold ideas about the world that they are capable to dwelling and do dwell; we do not dwell because we have built, but we build and have built because we dwell, that is because we are dwellersTo build is in itself already to dwellonly if we are capable of dwelling, only then can we build. (Heidegger 1971:148:146, 16) (2000:186)). Drawing on Heidegger (1971), Ingold (2000) defines dwelling as to occupy a house, a dwelling place (2000:185). Dwelling does not have to take place in a building, the forms people build, are based on their involved activity; in the specific relational context of their practical engagement with their surroundings. (2000:186). A cave or mud-hut can therefore be a dwelling.[2] The built becomes a container for life activities (2000:185). Building and dwelling emerge as processes that are inevitably interconnected, existing within a dynamic relationship; Building then, is a process that is continuously going on, for as long as people dwell in an environment. It does not begin here, with a pre-formed plan and end there with a finished artefact. The final form is but a fleeting moment in the life of any feature when it is matched to a human purposewe may indeed describe the forms in our environment as instances of architecture, but for the most part we are not architects. For it is in the very process of dwelling that we build. (2000:188). Ingold recognises that the assumptive building perspective exists because of the occularcentristic nature of the dominance of the visual in western thought; with the supposition that building has occurred concomitantly with the architects written and drawn plan. He questions whether it is necessary to rebalance the sensorium in considering other senses to outweigh the hegemony of vision to gain a better appreciation of human dwelling in the world. (2000:155). Understanding dwelling as existing before building and as processes that are inevitably interconnected undermines the concept of the architects plan. The dominance of visual bias in western thought calls for an appreciation of dwelling that involves additional senses. Like the building process, a phenomenological approach to dwelling involves the idea that we engage in the world through sensory experiences that constitute the body and the human mode of being, as our bodies are continuously engaged in our environment; the world and the self inform each other constantly (Pallasmaa (1996:40)). Ingold (2000) recommends that; one can, in short, dwell just as fully in the world of visual as in that of aural experience (2000:156). This is something also recognised Bloomer and Moore (1977), who appreciate that a consideration of all senses is necessary for understanding the experience of architecture and therefore dwelling. Pallasmaa (1996) argues that the experience of architecture is multi -sensory; Every touching experience of architecture is multi-sensory; qualities of space, matter and scale are measured equally by the eye, ear, nose, skin, tongue, skeleton and muscleArchitecture strengthens the existential experience, ones sense of being in the world and this is essentially a strengthened experience of the self. (1996:41). For Pallasmaa, architecture is experienced not as a set of visual images, but in its fully embodied material and spiritual presence, with good architecture offering pleasurable shapes and surfaces for the eye, giving rise to images of memory, imagination and dream. (1996:44-45). For Bloomer and Moore (1977), it is architecture that provides us with satisfaction through desiring it and dwelling in it (1977:36). We experience architecture haptically; through all senses, involving the entire body. (1977:34). The entire body is at the centre of our experience, therefore the feeling of buildings and our sense of dwelling within them arefundamental to our architectural experience (1977:36).[3] Our haptic experience of the world and the experience of dwelling are inevitably connected; The interplay between the world of our bodies and the world of our dwelling is always in fluxour bodies and our movements are in constant dialogue with our buildings. (1977:57). The dynamic relationship of building and dwelling deepens then, whereby the sensory experience of architecture cannot be overlooked. It is the experience of dwelling that enables us to build, and drawing and Pallasmaa (1996) and Bloomer and Moore (1977) it is buildings that enable us to hold a particular exper ience of that dwelling, magnifying a sense of self and being in the world. Through Pallasmaa (1996) and Bloomer and Moore (1977) we are guided towards understanding a building not in terms of its outside and the visual, but from the inside; how a building makes us feel.[4]Taking this dwelt perspective enables us to understand what it means to exist in a building and aspects of this that contribute to establishing a notion of home. Early anthropological approaches exploring the inside of a dwelling gave rise to the recognition of particular notions of space that were socially specific. Humphrey (1974) explores the internal space of a Mongolian tent, a family dwelling, in terms of four spatial divisions and social status; The area away from the door, which faced south, to the fireplace in the centre, was the junior or low status halfthe lower halfThe area at the back of the tent behind the fire was the honorific upper partThis division was intersected by that of the male or ritually pure half, which was to the left of the door as you enteredwithin these four areas, the tent was further divided along its inner perimeter into named sections. Each of these was the designated sleeping place of the people in different social roles. (1974:273). Similarly, Bourdieu (2003) analyses the Berber House, Algeria, in terms of spatial divisions and two sets of oppositions; male (light) and female (dark), and the internal organ isation of space as an inversion of the outside world. (2003:136-137).[5] Further to this, Bourdieu concentrates on geometric properties of Berber architecture in defining its internal as inverse of the external space; the wall of the stable and the wall of the fireplace, take on two opposed meanings depending on which of their sides is being considered: to the external north corresponds the south (and the summer) of the insideto the external south corresponds the inside north (and the winter). (2003:138). Spatial divisions within the Berber house are linked to gender categorisation and patterns of movement are explained as such; the fireplace, which is the navel of the house (itself identified with the womb of the mother)is the domain of the woman who is invested with total authority in all matters concerning the kitchen and the management of food-stores; she takes her meals at the fireside whilst the man, turned towards the outside, eats in the middle of the room or in the courtya rd. (2003:136). Patterns of movement are also attributed to additional geometric properties of the house, such as the direction in which it faces (2003:137). Similarly, Humphrey (1974) argues that individuals had to sit, eat and sleep in their designated places within the Mongolian tent, in order to mark the rank of social category to which that person belonged,; spatial separation due to Mongolian societal division of labour. (1974:273). Both accounts, although highlighting particular notions of space, adhere to what Helliwell (1996) recognises as typical structuralist perspectives of dwelling; organising peoples in terms of groups to order interactions and activities between them. (1996:128). Helliwell argues that the merging ideas of social structure and the structure or form of architecture ignores the importance of social process and overlook an existing type of fluid, unstructured sociality (1996:129) This is due to the occularcentristic nature of western thought; the bias of visualism which gives prominence to visible, spatial elements of dwelling. (1996:137). Helliwell argues in accordance with Bloomer and Moore (1977) who suggest that architecture functions as a stage for movement and interaction (1977:59). Through analysis of Dyak peoples lawang (longhouse community) social space in Borneo, without a focus on geometric aspects of longhouse architecture, Helliwell (1996) highlights how dwelling space is lived and used day to day. (1996:137). A more accurate analysis of the use of space within dwelling can be used to better understand the process, particularly with regard to the meanings that it generates in relation to the notion of home. The Dyak longhouse is a large structure built at up to three and a half metres above ground with a thatched roof stretching up to eight metres in height. Within the longhouse are a number of apartments side by side. These are seven names spaces running the length of the longhouse which are described as the inner area of the longhouse; the cooking, eating and sleeping area. An outer gallery are can be used by anyone, freely at anytime. (1996:131-133). Previous structuralist categorisation of these inner and outer areas as public and private domains have led to misrepresentation of relations between individual households and the wider longhouse community (1996:133). Spatial separation lies between us the longhouse community (lawang) and those outside of the longhouse community them. (1996:135). Helliwells recognition of the lack of spatial division within the longhouse community is the primary indicator of a more fluid type of sociality for the Dyak people. She highlights that previous structural approaches denoting each apartment as private has left little awareness of social relationships that operate between apartments, and considers the longhouse as a single structural entity, regardless of the single apartments that it is composed of; relationships are clearly marked: neither the seven spaces, nor the wall between swah (the world out there) and lawang, stop at the edges of any one apartment. Rather, they continue in identical form, into those on either side and so on down the entire length of the longhouse. (1996:137).The partition between apartments in the longhouse marks the edge of one apartment from another which visually appears to separate. However, Helliwell points out that they are composed of weak bark and materials stacked against one another, leaving gaps of all sizes in the partitions. Subsequently, animals pass through, people hand things back and forth and neighbours stand and talk to one another (1996:137-138). She describes the partitions as a highly permeable boundary: a variety of resources moves through it in both directions. (1996:138). It is the permeable partition that is therefore the core of longhouse sociability; its properties stimulate sharing in accordance with a flow of light and sound from one end of the longhouse to the other. (1996:138). A community of voices exists within a longhouse, flowing up and down its length as invisible speakers appear in monologue. The Dyak people, although invisible to one another, speak to their neighbours through these permeable boundaries in continual dialogue; they are profoundly present in one anothers lives. Through the sounds of their voices, neighbours two three, four or five apartments apart are tied into each others worlds and each others company as intimately as if they were in the same room. (1996:138). These voices create what Helliwell describes as a tapestry of sound, containing descriptions of a days events, feelings of individual women shared whilst they are alone in her apartment, subsequently affirming and recreating social connections across each apartment and reaffirming their part within the longhouse community. (1996:138-139). In addition, Helliwell highlights that their voices were not raised; (their) very mutedness reinforced, the sense of membership in an intimate, privileged worldgentle and generous in their reminder of a companionship constantly at hand. (1996:139). Here we begin to see Helliwells notion of fluid sociality and the experience of dwelling as a whole a social one. In addition to sound, the social fluidity of dwelling in a Dyak longhouse is reinforced by light from individual apartments and their hearths flowing up and down the longhouse at night. Each person is aware of their neighbours presence, with the absence of light from an apartment provoking concern. (1996:139). In essence, Helliwell stresses the sociality of dwelling, aside from spatial appreciations of the architecture in which it takes place. Although partitions mark the space of a Dyak household, they concomitantly incorporate a household into the wider longhouse community; It is this dual flow (sound and light) which constitutes each independent household as coterminous with all others and with the longhouse community as a whole. (1996:138). This creation of community brings to light the ways in which people use architecture, not just to mark divisions of space, but to implement and enable sociality. This is highly relevant for a true anthropological appreciation of dwelling and in particular its relationship with the notion of home. Dwelling is inevitably connected to the process of homemaking through its aspects of sociality as a physical and bodily experience within the built (Brand 1994:2) and as a fundamentally social experience. Architecture as a physical form of shelter that enfr ames the process of homemaking; what Ingold (2000) terms life activities (2000:185) and the coming together of people. Through acknowledgement of the social aspects of dwelling we can establish notions of home, which are primarily constructed on the dynamic relationship of building and dwelling and the aspects of sociality that occur through the dwelling process; life activities (Ingold (2000:185) and home-making, involving, kinship, memory, play, eating, ritual, and birth among other anthropological themes. A relationship emerges then, between dwelling and the notion of home, a dynamic relationship facilitated by the built, (Brand (1994:2)) taking place within architecture. Houses are defined by Carsten and Hugh-Jones (1995) as places in which the to and fro of life unfolds, built, modified, moved or abandoned in accord with the changing circumstances of their inhabitants. (1995:1). Home emerges as an architectural space which enframes the processes and characteristics associated with dwelling. Ingold (2000) suggests that a house is made, not constructed (2000:175). More specifically, Miller (1987) draws attention to the process of home-making through which the built becomes a home by a process of consumption and appropriation by tenants on a London council estate in England. He argues that through consumption and appropriation of their domestic space, tenants are able to develop and establish a sense of self (1987:354). This is in response to feeling like passive recipients of housing, alienated from society by being perceived as a particular class and at a level of poverty. (1987:357). Miller argues; on the wholethere was considerable evidence to suggest that the white population felt a deep unease about their household consumption status as tenants, reflected in resentment and feelings of being stigmatised. Furthermore they clearly associated the fitments provided in the kitchen with the council, as objects embodying in their materiality the intrusive signification of their status. (1987:365-366). In response, tenants transformed and changed their kitchens in different ways after having been given the same basic facilities by the council. (1987:356). This included alterations and renovations to fitted cupboards, standard plumbing and energy supplies and original black lino floors in addition to decorations, curtains and new white goods (1987:357). For Miller, kitchens became canvases (1987:360) for the tenants; The largest cluster comprised kitchens where substantial changes had been made to the decorative orderthese kitchens retained the original plain white surfaces. Instead, a large number of additional objects had been brought in and used, as it were, to cover the cupboards up.teatowels, breadboards, teacosies and trays were very common and often associated with a particular aesthetic of large bold flowers, cats, dogs and bright patterns. As well as being placed on surfaces, breadboards and trays were typically placed vertically against the walls with their face forward to emphasise their decorative nature. Post-cards, souvenirs, cuttings from magazines and pictorial calendars might be hung or stuck on the wallsthere was also the biographical patterneach piece appeared to be a momento of family or holidays, as in the commercial nostalgia style in which the relation between objects was maintained in the memories of the occupants but not expressed visually. (1987:361-362). Tenants properties subsequently became personalised, replacing and diverting attention from aspects of their kitchens they saw as indicators of their negative housing status (1987:362).[6] The implementation of kitchen aesthetics and other modes of creativity is one way of home-making, establishing a notion of home in accordance with establishing a sense of self. Connected to this, is the sociality of home making; aspects of marriage and kinship also highlighted by Miller, with females directing and viewed as recipients of expenditure and males undertaking renovations; In two cases i t was particularly clear that the couples were seen as coming together to overcome their status as tenants, and affirming the power of kinship and marriage in this struggle. (1987:367).[7] The notion of home reaffirms the concept that space is socially specific; the process of homemaking as an aspect of dwelling, related to how we live within time and space. When professional architects and builders ignore the needs, obligations and beliefs of socially specific people, the notion of home becoming disrupted, the result is an unsuccessful dwelling place. Oliver (2000) underlines that when the Kutahya Province in Turkey suffered an earthquake in 1970, fifty thousand homeless people were accommodated in fifteen thousand newly built dwellings. (2000:121). He comments that the accommodation, designed by architects, was suitable for the British 2.2 nuclear family as three room, single storey houses, quite unsuited to the extended peasant families, who were used to living on the upper floors of large two storey houses, storage, crops and cattle underneath them.(2002:121). A maximum of eighteen people lived in a house at one time, parents occupying one room, sons, their wives a nd children in others. The sofa was a communal space for meals, and privacy was strictly guarded. (2002:121). The emergency housing was small and unsuitable for the large peasant families; large windows caused them to be on show, there was no sofa and the living room opened on to the bedrooms. The toilet was external and public even though the people were discrete about bodily functions. (2000:121-122). In providing unsuitable buildings inconsiderate towards socially specific ideas of space, earthquake victims had no choice but to accept the offered housing or receive no other help. (2000:122). Oliver (2000) shows the architects failure, who; may design responsibly, but the process fails when he ignores the values, morals, building skills, experience and wisdom of the cultures whose housing needs are to be met. (2000:125). Notions of home can be varied,[8] but home and dwelling are inevitably connected through experiences and particular conceptions of how to dwell in terms of appropriate space and related activities. Other state built homes have caused the notion of home and its relationship with dwelling and architecture to be affirmed. Soviet construction of communal dwellings during the 1920s onwards attempted to impose meaning on inhabitants; that of socialist infrastructure to produce socialist men and women devoid of individuality and a bourgeois way of life (Humphrey (2005:40)). The result was unsuccessful, inhabitants not adopting socialist ways of being, but the meanings the architecture was intended to impose being subverted in Russian fiction and memoirs; example s of Russian imagination.(2005:43).[9] This Soviet example illustrates that meaning cannot be made through architecture and emphasises Miller (1987) and the process of home making. It is the process of home-making; the activities associated with dwelling and the sociality that it generates that establishes a home, a building being merely a container in which this takes place. The relationship between building and home therefore involves how we live in time and space, the process of homemaking challenging the structures that we build. Ingold (2000) suggests that dwelling is something that enables building. The opposite standpoint would be that it is building that enables human beings to dwell within architecture. Whatever ones view, it is inevitable that dwelling takes place, and eventually continues to take place within architecture, whether this is in vernacular form; a cave, hut or a barn, or provided by the nation state. It is a social fact that human beings build and dwell. Building and dwelling are inevitably interconnected, existing in a dynamic relationship with one another. Understanding this from a standpoint lacking in western visual bias, it is the process of dwelling; life activities (2000:185), its sociality and inevitable connection with building that exists in relation to the notion of home. Meaning is not made in the structure of a building it is dwelling; activities and social relations that creates and enables a meaning of home to be established in accordance with the self through haptic archit ectural experience and the home-making process. Pallasmaa (1996) argues that the meaning of a building is beyond architecture; The ultimate meaning of any building is beyond architecture; it directs our consciousness back to the world and towards our own sense of self and being. (1996:42). The relationship is evident when socially specific conceptions of space and inevitably particular notions of home are ignored; the architecture being unsuitable for dwelling, or failing in its primary purpose of imposing meaning. It can be said that building, dwelling and notions of home are united in an overarching relationship between human beings and their lived environment; the search for meaning and establishment of the self, in this case through forms of architectural experience. Bibliography Bloomer, K. Moore, C. (1977) Body, Memory and Architecture, Yale University Press   Bourdieu, P. (2003) The Berber House, in Low, S. Lawrence-Zuniga, D. (eds.) The Anthropology of Space and Place Blackwell, Oxford Brand, S. (1994) How Buildings Learn: what happens after theyre built. Phoenix, London Carsten, J. Hugh-Jones, S. (1995) About the House, Cambridge University Press Heidegger, M. (1971) Building, Dwelling Thinking in Poetry, language thought, trans. A. Hofstadter. New York, Harper and Row in Ingold, T. (2000) The Perception of the Environment Routledge, London. Helliwell, C. (1996) Space and Sociality in a Dyak Longhouse in Jackson, M. (ed.) (1996) Things as they are Bloomington: Indiana University Press Humphrey, C. (1974) Inside a Mongolian Tent in New Society 235-275 Humphrey, C. (2005) Ideology in infrastructure: architecture and Soviet imagination, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11 (1) 39-58 Ingold, T. (2000) The Perception of the Environment, Routledge, London. Kahn, L. (1973) Shelter, Bolinas, Shelter Publications. Miller, D. (1987) Appropriating the State on the Council Estate, in Man (NS) 23, 353-372 Oliver, P. (2000) Ethics and Vernacular Architecture, in Fox, W. (ed.) (2000) Ethics and the Built Environment, Routledge, London. Pallasmaa (1996) The Eyes of the Skin, Academy Editions

japanese religion :: essays research papers

Japan Religious and Philosophical Traditions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The values described in the preceding section are derived from a number of religious and philosophical traditions, both indigenous and foreign. Taken together, these traditions may be considered the Japanese worldview, although the personal beliefs of an individual Japanese may incorporate some aspects and disregard others. The Japanese worldview is eclectic, contrasting with a Western view in which religion is exclusive and defines one's identity. Contemporary Japanese society is highly secular. Cause and effect relations are frequently based in scientific models, and illness and death are explained by modern medical theories. Yet the scientific view is but one of the options from which an individual may draw in interpreting life's experiences. The Japanese worldview is characterized also by a pragmatic approach to problem solving, in which the technique may be less important than the results. Thus a Japanese who is ill may simultaneously or sequentially seek the assistance of a medical doctor, obtain medication from a person trained in the Chinese herbal tradition, and visit a local shrine. Each of these actions is based on a different belief in causation of the illness: the physician may say that the illness is caused by a bacterial infection; the herbalist regards the body as being out of balance; and the basis of the shrine visit is the belief that the mind must be cleansed to heal the body. In the West, these explanations might be viewed as mutually exclusive, but the Japanese patient may hold all of these views simultaneously without a sense of discord. Similarly, a student studying for university entrance examinations knows that without extraordinary hard work, admission is impossible. Yet the student will probably a lso visit a special shrine to ask for the help of the spiritual world in ensuring success. The roots of the Japanese worldview can be traced to several traditions. Shinto, the only indigenous religion of Japan, provided the base.

William Gibson’s Neuromancer Fits the Definition of Cyberpunk :: Neuromancer

William Gibson’s Neuromancer Fits the Definition of Cyberpunk         What is cyberpunk? What criteria must be entailed to fall into this category? In hopes of coming to an understandable definition   this elusive category of cyberpunk I turned to the article â€Å"Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Science Fiction - Preface from Mirrorshades†, to illustrate how Neuromancer follows the cyberpunk category. The first part of the definition is the â€Å"certain central themes [that] come up repeatedly in cyberpunk. The theme of body invasion: prosthetic limbs, implanted circuitry, cosmetic surgery, genetic alteration. The even more powerful theme of mind invasion: brain - computer interfaces, artificial intelligence, neurochemistry - techniques radically redefining the nature of humanity, the nature of self† (346). Another aspect of cyberpunk that sets it apart from science-fiction is that â€Å"cyberpunk is widely known for its telling use of detail, its carefully constructed intricacy, its willingnes s to carry extrapolation into the fabric of daily life† (348). Lastly, to complete this definition is the use of â€Å"[m]any drugs, like rock and roll, are definite high-tech products† (346).   William Gibson’s Neuromancer fits this definition of cyberpunk because, there is extensive use of the theme of   body invasion, he uses explicit detail in the extrapolation of the matrix, and there is an important usage of drugs and music in the novel.   In the beginning of Neuromancer when Molly first enters into the story one of the first description he uses is her mirrorshades, â€Å" the glasses were surgically inset, sealing her sockets† (24).   The use of these glasses are an issue all the way to the end of the story when he realizes that, â€Å"I never even found out what color her eyes were† (268). I think that this is an important element in the story, because Molly is a very elusive character. The mere fact that her eyes remain hidden from virtually everyone signifies that she remains unattached and aloof. If the eyes are the doorway to your soul, then Molly was keeping the door shut. Maybe, this was to protect her from becoming too attached to anyone. In the article â€Å"Preface form Mirrorshades†, it is stated â€Å"[b]y hiding the eyes, mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous† (344). If that was the reason that Molly’s eyes were covered then it possibly was more of a way for her to fit the character of the bodyguard, and tough girl.

Pedro Paramo Essay

The novel Pedro Paramo is about a young man who loses his mother and decides to take a journey to a ghost town called Comala to find his father, but instead dies of fear and finds out his father is dead. A central theme that runs through Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Paramo is the nature of hope and despair in a person’s life, which Rulfo demonstrates by Pedro Paramo’s love for Susana, Juan Preciado’s journey to Comala for his father, and Susana San Juan’s desire for her deceased husband. Rulfo exhibits Pedro Paramo’s hope for a future with Susana as a sometimes- ositive nature followed by the negative nature of despair he experiences from her demise. Pedro talks about how he has hoped Susana would return to him after many years of being gone since they were children: â€Å"I waited thirty years for you to return, Susana. I wanted to have it all. Not just part of it, but everything there was to have, to the point that there would be nothing left for us to want, no desire but your wishes† (Rulfo 82). Pedro has been persistent about Susana’s return after a long thirty years. He has loved for Susana since their childhood when they flew kites together, and thinks she will come to ove him upon her return. He went through all the trouble to gain power and land out of the hope that Susana would return and he could meet any request she wished. Pedro is talking to Don Fulgor about the plan to get rid of Susana’s father Bartolome San Juan: â€Å"We need it to be so. She must be left without family. We’re called on to look after those in need. You agree with that, don’t you† (Rolfo 85)? Pedro still hopes that Susana will realize she needs to return to him and come to love him. He believes that it will be easier for her to realize this once Don Fulgor as an order kills her father in the mines. Once he is alone with Susana he plans to comfort her now that her father is not with her or a distraction anymore. Pedro is miserable because Susana has just died: â€Å"I will cross my arms and Comala will die of hunger. † (Rulfo 117) Pedro is mainly portrayed as a selfish man, but not when it comes to Susana. According to Dorotea Pedro really did love Susana and wanted the best for her. When she died he lost it, he plummeted into depression and did not speak to anyone, because Susana meant the most to him. He promised vengeance on the town of Comala for not caring enough about Susana’s death. He choose to sit down and watch Comala collapse, because no money would circulate through the town since he owned all of it. The character Juan is like Pedro because he based his choice to go on a journey on a ray of hope only to fall into the shadows of despair. Rulfo displays Juan Preciado’s search for his father in Comala is based on hope of finding answers to his questions about his father, but is greeted with melancholy news. Juan’s mother Doloritas has just died and she had asked him to go to Comala and make Pedro pay them back for not being there to be a husband or father: â€Å"But before I knew it y head began to swim with dreams and my imagination took flight. Little by Little I began to build a world around a hope centered of the man called Pedro Paramo, the man who had been my mother’s husband. That was why I had come to Comala† (Rulfo 3). Juan’s mother wanted him to go to Comala to get what he deserves from Pedro and receive payback, but Juan quickly changed his mind about why he was going to Comala. Juan has never seen his father so he is quite ecstatic to see who Pedro is and what he looks like. Juan hopes that he will arrive in Comala to find his father Pedro and start a ew life for himself, and that they will develop a father and son relationship. Juan has received some disappointing information about his father from Abundio: â€Å"You were mistaken about the house. You told me the wrong place. You sent me ‘south of nowhere,’ to an abandoned village. Looking for someone who’s no longer alive† (Rulfo 8). Juan is speaking to his mother aloud out of anger about why she sent him to a ghost town to look for someone who is not alive anymore. Abundio had told Juan that Pedro was dead and that he represented ‘living bile’ to him. Juan has been stripped of any hope he had about is plans to find his father Pedro and answer any questions. Juan is dead and is in a coffin talking with Dorotea: â€Å"You’d have done better to stay home. Why did you come here? I told you that at the very beginning. I came her to find Pedro Paramo, who they say was my father. Hope brought me here† (Rulfo 60). Juan reminds Dorotea that he came to Comala to find his father mainly because he had hope. It is tragic how Juan dies out of fear and without any hope but sorrow. Juan died with despair knowing that his father Pedro was a horrible man and a dead man. Juan has lost his own life and everyone close o him, just like Susana who has lost her lover and father only to loose her own life shortly after. Rulfo demonstrates that Susana San Juan hopes to reunite with her deceased husband due to her craziness, and that once she figures out he is dead she does not know how to live without him. Susana is in her home dreaming about her deceased husband Florencio: â€Å"And what I want is his body. Naked and hot with love; boiling with desire; stroking my trembling breast and arms. My transparent body suspended from his. My lustful body held and released by his strength† (Rulfo 100-101). Upon her return to Pedro Susana persistently hopes that her dead husband will return to her. She believes this because she was driven crazy by a series of grave robbing’s with her father at a young age. She hopes for his return so much that she often has intense dreams with detailed memories of her lover. Susana is in her bed thinking about her dream she just had: â€Å"What shall I do now with my lips without his lips to cover them? What shall become of my poor lips† (Rulfo 101)? Susana has now realized that her deceased husband Florencio will never come back to life. She has suddenly lost all of her hope and is now filled with espair and fear of what will come. She never plans on being with Pedro and worries about what will happen to her lips since her deceased husband is the only one she wanted kissing her lips. Pedro is thinking about Susana in his thoughts while she is sleeping: â€Å"But what world was Susana San Juan living in? That was one of the things Pedro Paramo would never know† (Rulfo 95). Susana might live in the normal world but does not act like it, because she has crazy thoughts and dreams. Pedro will never know what is going on with Susana. She is always thinking about her dead husband because she lives in denial and is on Fantasy Island. The novel Pedro Paramo was about a young man who lost his mother and decided to take a journey to a ghost town called Comala to find his father, but instead died of fear and found out his father was dead. Juan Rulfo used the concept of the nature of hope and despair in a person’s life as a central theme for Pedro Paramo, and demonstrated it by using Pedro Paramo’s love for Susana, Juan Preciado’s journey to Comala for his father, and Susana San Juan’s desire for her past husband. Rulfo’s novel Pedro Paramo is an insightful source of how quickly a person’s hope can be taken and turned into despair.

Capital Asset Pricing Model and International Research Journal

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 4 (2006)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2006 http://www. eurojournals. com/finance. htm Testing the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): The Case of the Emerging Greek Securities Market Grigoris Michailidis University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: [email  protected] gr Tel: 00302310891889 Stavros Tsopoglou University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: [email  protected] r Tel: 00302310891889 Demetrios Papanastasiou University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: [email  protected] gr Tel: 00302310891878 Eleni Mariola Hagan School of Business, Iona College New Rochelle Abstract The article examines the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) for the Greek stock market using weekly stock return s from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002.In order to diversify away the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities where grouped into portfolios. The findings of this article are not supportive of the theory’s basic statement that higher risk (beta) is associated with higher levels of return. The model does explain, however, excess returns and thus lends support to the linear structure of the CAPM equation. The CAPM’s prediction for the intercept is that it should equal zero and the slope should equal the excess returns on the market portfolio.The results of the study refute the above hypothesis and offer evidence against the CAPM. The tests conducted to examine the nonlinearity of the relationship between return and betas support the hypothesis that the expected return-beta relationship is linear. Additionally, this paper investigates whether the CA PM adequately captures all-important determinants of returns including the residual International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) variance of stocks. The results demonstrate that residual risk has no effect on the expected returns of portfolios.Tests may provide evidence against the CAPM but they do not necessarily constitute evidence in support of any alternative model (JEL G11, G12, and G15). Key words: CAPM, Athens Stock Exchange, portfolio returns, beta, risk free rate, stocks JEL Classification: F23, G15 79 I. Introduction Investors and financial researchers have paid considerable attention during the last few years to the new equity markets that have emerged around the world. This new interest has undoubtedly been spurred by the large, and in some cases extraordinary, returns offered by these markets.Practitioners all over the world use a plethora of models in their portfolio selection process and in their attempt to assess the risk exposure t o different assets. One of the most important developments in modern capital theory is the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) as developed by Sharpe [1964], Lintner [1965] and Mossin [1966]. CAPM suggests that high expected returns are associated with high levels of risk. Simply stated, CAPM postulates that the expected return on an asset above the risk-free rate is linearly related to the non-diversifiable risk as measured by the asset’s beta.Although the CAPM has been predominant in empirical work over the past 30 years and is the basis of modern portfolio theory, accumulating research has increasingly cast doubt on its ability to explain the actual movements of asset returns. The purpose of this article is to examine thoroughly if the CAPM holds true in the capital market of Greece. Tests are conducted for a period of five years (1998-2002), which is characterized by intense return volatility (covering historically high returns for the Greek Stock market as well as signifi cant decrease in asset returns over the examined period).These market return characteristics make it possible to have an empirical investigation of the pricing model on differing financial conditions thus obtaining conclusions under varying stock return volatility. Existing financial literature on the Athens stock exchange is rather scanty and it is the goal of this study to widen the theoretical analysis of this market by using modern finance theory and to provide useful insights for future analyses of this market. II. Empirical appraisal of the model and competing studies of the model’s validity 2. 1.Empirical appraisal of CAPM Since its introduction in early 1960s, CAPM has been one of the most challenging topics in financial economics. Almost any manager who wants to undertake a project must justify his decision partly based on CAPM. The reason is that the model provides the means for a firm to calculate the return that its investors demand. This model was the first succe ssful attempt to show how to assess the risk of the cash flows of a potential investment project, to estimate the project’s cost of capital and the expected rate of return that investors will demand if they are to invest in the project.The model was developed to explain the differences in the risk premium across assets. According to the theory these differences are due to differences in the riskiness of the returns on the assets. The model states that the correct measure of the riskiness of an asset is its beta and that the risk premium per unit of riskiness is the same across all assets. Given the risk free rate and the beta of an asset, the CAPM predicts the expected risk premium for an asset. The theory itself has been criticized for more than 30 years and has created a great academic debate about its usefulness and validity.In general, the empirical testing of CAPM has two broad purposes (Baily et al, [1998]): (i) to test whether or not the theories should be rejected (ii ) to provide information that can aid financial decisions. To accomplish (i) tests are conducted which could potentially at least reject the model. The model passes the test if it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that it is true. Methods of statistical analysis need to be applied in order to draw reliable conclusions on whether the 80 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) model is supported by the data.To accomplish (ii) the empirical work uses the theory as a vehicle for organizing and interpreting the data without seeking ways of rejecting the theory. This kind of approach is found in the area of portfolio decision-making, in particular with regards to the selection of assets to the bought or sold. For example, investors are advised to buy or sell assets that according to CAPM are underpriced or overpriced. In this case empirical analysis is needed to evaluate the assets, assess their riskiness, analyze them, and place them into th eir respective categories.A second illustration of the latter methodology appears in corporate finance where the estimated beta coefficients are used in assessing the riskiness of different investment projects. It is then possible to calculate â€Å"hurdle rates† that projects must satisfy if they are to be undertaken. This part of the paper focuses on tests of the CAPM since its introduction in the mid 1960’s, and describes the results of competing studies that attempt to evaluate the usefulness of the capital asset pricing model (Jagannathan and McGrattan [1995]). 2. 2.The classic support of the theory The model was developed in the early 1960’s by Sharpe [1964], Lintner [1965] and Mossin [1966]. In its simple form, the CAPM predicts that the expected return on an asset above the risk-free rate is linearly related to the non-diversifiable risk, which is measured by the asset’s beta. One of the earliest empirical studies that found supportive evidence fo r CAPM is that of Black, Jensen and Scholes [1972]. Using monthly return data and portfolios rather than individual stocks, Black et al tested whether the cross-section of expected returns is linear in beta.By combining securities into portfolios one can diversify away most of the firm-specific component of the returns, thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates and the expected rate of return of the portfolio securities. This approach mitigates the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in beta estimates. The authors found that the data are consistent with the predictions of the CAPM i. e. the relation between the average return and beta is very close to linear and that portfolios with high (low) betas have high (low) average returns.Another classic empirical study that supports the theory is that of Fama and McBeth [1973]; they examined whether there is a positive linear relation between average returns and beta. Moreover, the authors investigated wheth er the squared value of beta and the volatility of asset returns can explain the residual variation in average returns across assets that are not explained by beta alone. 2. 3. Challenges to the validity of the theory In the early 1980s several studies suggested that there were deviations from the linear CAPM riskreturn trade-off due to other variables that affect this tradeoff.The purpose of the above studies was to find the components that CAPM was missing in explaining the risk-return trade-off and to identify the variables that created those deviations. Banz [1981] tested the CAPM by checking whether the size of firms can explain the residual variation in average returns across assets that remain unexplained by the CAPM’s beta. He challenged the CAPM by demonstrating that firm size does explain the cross sectional-variation in average returns on a particular collection of assets better than beta.The author concluded that the average returns on stocks of small firms (those with low market values of equity) were higher than the average returns on stocks of large firms (those with high market values of equity). This finding has become known as the size effect. The research has been expanded by examining different sets of variables that might affect the riskreturn tradeoff. In particular, the earnings yield (Basu [1977]), leverage, and the ratio of a firm’s book value of equity to its market value (e. g.Stattman [1980], Rosenberg, Reid and Lanstein [1983] and Chan, Hamao, Lakonishok [1991]) have all been utilized in testing the validity of CAPM. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 81 The general reaction to Banz’s [1981] findings, that CAPM may be missing some aspects of reality, was to support the view that although the data may suggest deviations from CAPM, these deviations are not so important as to reject the theory. However, this idea has been challenged by Fama and French [1992].They showed that Banz’s findings might be economically so important that it raises serious questions about the validity of the CAPM. Fama and French [1992] used the same procedure as Fama and McBeth [1973] but arrived at very different conclusions. Fama and McBeth find a positive relation between return and risk while Fama and French find no relation at all. 2. 4. The academic debate continues The Fama and French [1992] study has itself been criticized. In general the studies responding to the Fama and French challenge by and large take a closer look at the data used in the study.Kothari, Shaken and Sloan [1995] argue that Fama and French’s [1992] findings depend essentially on how the statistical findings are interpreted. Amihudm, Christensen and Mendelson [1992] and Black [1993] support the view that the data are too noisy to invalidate the CAPM. In fact, they show that when a more efficient statistical method is used, the estimated relation between average return and beta is p ositive and significant. Black [1993] suggests that the size effect noted by Banz [1981] could simply be a sample period effect i. e. the size effect is observed in some periods and not in others.Despite the above criticisms, the general reaction to the Fama and French [1992] findings has been to focus on alternative asset pricing models. Jagannathan and Wang [1993] argue that this may not be necessary. Instead they show that the lack of empirical support for the CAPM may be due to the inappropriateness of basic assumptions made to facilitate the empirical analysis. For example, most empirical tests of the CAPM assume that the return on broad stock market indices is a good proxy for the return on the market portfolio of all assets in the economy.However, these types of market indexes do not capture all assets in the economy such as human capital. Other empirical evidence on stock returns is based on the argument that the volatility of stock returns is constantly changing. When one c onsiders a time-varying return distribution, one must refer to the conditional mean, variance, and covariance that change depending on currently available information. In contrast, the usual estimates of return, variance, and average squared deviations over a sample period, provide an unconditional estimate because they treat variance as constant over time.The most widely used model to estimate the conditional (hence time- varying) variance of stocks and stock index returns is the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedacity (GARCH) model pioneered by Robert. F. Engle. To summarize, all the models above aim to improve the empirical testing of CAPM. There have also been numerous modifications to the models and whether the earliest or the subsequent alternative models validate or not the CAPM is yet to be determined. III. Sample selection and Data 3. 1. Sample Selection The study covers the period from January 1998 to December 2002.This time period was chosen because it is c haracterized by intense return volatility with historically high and low returns for the Greek stock market. The selected sample consists of 100 stocks that are included in the formation of the FTSE/ASE 20, FTSE/ASE Mid 40 and FTSE/ASE Small Cap. These indices are designed to provide real-time measures of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). The above indices are formed subject to the following criteria: (i) The FTSE/ASE 20 index is the large cap index, containing the 20 largest blue chip companies listed in the ASE. 82 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) ii) The FTSE/ASE Mid 40 index is the mid cap index and captures the performance of the next 40 companies in size. (iii) The FTSE/ASE Small Cap index is the small cap index and captures the performance of the next 80 companies. All securities included in the indices are traded on the ASE on a continuous basis throughout the full Athens stock exchange trading day, and are chosen according to pr especified liquidity criteria set by the ASE Advisory Committee1. For the purpose of the study, 100 stocks were selected from the pool of securities included in the above-mentioned indices.Each series consists of 260 observations of the weekly closing prices. The selection was made on the basis of the trading volume and excludes stocks that were traded irregularly or had small trading volumes. 3. 2. Data Selection The study uses weekly stock returns from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002. The data are obtained from MetaStock (Greek) Data Base. In order to obtain better estimates of the value of the beta coefficient, the study utilizes weekly stock returns. Returns calculated using a longer time period (e. g. onthly) might result in changes of beta over the examined period introducing biases in beta estimates. On the other hand, high frequency data such as daily observations covering a relatively short and stable time sp an can result in the use of very noisy data and thus yield inefficient estimates. All stock returns used in the study are adjusted for dividends as required by the CAPM. The ASE Composite Share index is used as a proxy for the market portfolio. This index is a market value weighted index, is comprised of the 60 most highly capitalized shares of the main market, and reflects general trends of the Greek stock market.Furthermore, the 3-month Greek Treasury Bill is used as the proxy for the risk-free asset. The yields were obtained from the Treasury Bonds and Bill Department of the National Bank of Greece. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill is specifically chosen as the benchmark that better reflects the short-term changes in the Greek financial markets. IV. Methodology The first step was to estimate a beta coefficient for each stock using weekly returns during the period of January 1998 to December 2002. The beta was estimated by regressing each stock’s weekly return against the market index according to the following equation: Rit – R ft = a i + ? ? ( Rmt – R ft ) + eit (1) where, Rit is the return on stock i (i=1†¦100), R ft is the rate of return on a risk-free asset, Rmt is the rate of return on the market index, ? i is the estimate of beta for the stock i , and eit is the corresponding random disturbance term in the regression equation. [Equation 1 could also be expressed using excess return notation, where ( Rit – R ft ) = rit and ( Rmt – Rft ) = rmt ]In spite of the fact that weekly returns were used to avoid short-term noise effects the estimation diagnostic tests for equation (1) indicated, in several occasions, departures from the linear assumption. www. ase. gr International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 83 In such cases, equation (1) was re-estimated providing for EGARCH (1,1) form to comfort with misspecification. The next step was to compute average portfolio excess retur ns of stocks ( rpt ) ordered according to their beta coefficient computed by Equation 1. Let, rpt = ?r i =1 k it k (2) where, k is the number of stocks included in each portfolio (k=1†¦10), p is the number of portfolios (p=1†¦10), rit is the excess return on stocks that form each portfolio comprised of k stocks each.This procedure generated 10 equally-weighted portfolios comprised of 10 stocks each. By forming portfolios the spread in betas across portfolios is maximized so that the effect of beta on return can be clearly examined. The most obvious way to form portfolios is to rank stocks into portfolios by the true beta. But, all that is available is observed beta. Ranking into portfolios by observed beta would introduce selection bias. Stocks with high-observed beta (in the highest group) would be more likely to have a positive measurement error in estimating beta.This would introduce a positive bias into beta for high-beta portfolios and would introduce a negative bias into an estimate of the intercept. (Elton and Gruber [1995], p. 333). Combining securities into portfolios diversifies away most of the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the estimates of beta and the expected rate of return on the portfolios on securities. This mitigates statistical problems that arise from measurement error in the beta estimates. The following equation was used to estimate portfolio betas: rpt = a p + ? p ? mt + e pt (3) where, rpt is the average excess portfolio return, ? p is the calculated portfolio beta. The study continues by estimating the ex-post Security Market Line (SML) by regressing the portfolio returns against the portfolio betas obtained by Equation 3. The relation examined is the following: rP = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? P + e P (4) where, rp is the average excess return on a portfolio p (the difference between the return on the portfolio and the return on a risk-free asset), ? p is an estimate of beta of the portfolio p , ?1 is th e market price of risk, the risk premium for bearing one unit of beta risk, ? is the zero-beta rate, the expected return on an asset which has a beta of zero, and e p is random disturbance term in the regression equation. In order to test for nonlinearity between total portfolio returns and betas, a regression was run on average portfolio returns, calculated portfolio beta, and beta-square from equation 3: 2 rp = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? p + ? 2 ? ? p + e p (5) Finally in order to examine whether the residual variance of stocks affects portfolio returns, an additional term was included in equation 5, to test for the explanatory power of nonsystematic risk: 2 rp = ? + ? 1 ? ? p + ? 2 ? ? p + ? 3 ? RVp + e p (6) where 84 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) RV p is the residual variance of portfolio returns (Equation 3), RV p = ? 2 (e pt ) . The estimated parameters allow us to test a series of hypotheses regarding the CAPM. The tests are: i) ? 3 = 0 or residual risk does not affect return, ii) ? 2 = 0 or there are no nonlinearities in the security market line, iii) ? 1 > 0 that is, there is a positive price of risk in the capital markets (Elton and Gruber [1995], p. 336).Finally, the above analysis was also conducted for each year separately (1998-2002), by changing the portfolio compositions according to yearly estimated betas. V. Empirical results and Interpretation of the findings The first part of the methodology required the estimation of betas for individual stocks by using observations on rates of return for a sequence of dates. Useful remarks can be derived from the results of this procedure, for the assets used in this study. The range of the estimated stock betas is between 0. 0984 the minimum and 1. 4369 the maximum with a standard deviation of 0. 240 (Table 1). Most of the beta coefficients for individual stocks are statistically significant at a 95% level and all estimated beta coefficients are statistical signifi cant at a 90% level. For a more accurate estimation of betas an EGARCH (1,1) model was used wherever it was necessary, in order to correct for nonlinearities. Table 1: Stock beta coefficient estimates (Equation 1)Stock name beta Stock name beta Stock name OLYMP . 0984 THEMEL . 8302 PROOD EYKL . 4192 AIOLK . 8303 ALEK MPELA . 4238 AEGEK . 8305 EPATT MPTSK . 5526 AEEXA . 8339 SIDEN FOIN . 5643 SPYR . 8344 GEK GKOYT . 862 SARANT . 8400 ELYF PAPAK . 6318 ELTEX . 8422 MOYZK ABK . 6323 ELEXA . 8427 TITK MYTIL . 6526 MPENK . 8610 NIKAS FELXO . 6578 HRAKL . 8668 ETHENEX ABAX . 6874 PEIR . 8698 IATR TSIP . 6950 BIOXK . 8747 METK AAAK . 7047 ELMEK . 8830 ALPHA EEEK . 7097 LAMPSA . 8848 AKTOR ERMHS . 7291 MHXK . 8856 INTKA LAMDA . 7297 DK . 8904 MAIK OTE . 7309 FOLI . 9005 PETZ MARF . 7423 THELET . 9088 ETEM MRFKO . 7423 ATT . 9278 FINTO KORA . 7520 ARBA . 9302 ESXA RILK . 7682 KATS . 9333 BIOSK LYK . 7684 ALBIO . 9387 XATZK ELASK . 7808 XAKOR . 9502 KREKA NOTOS . 8126 SAR . 9533 ETE KARD . 82 90 NAYP . 577 SANYO Source: Metastock (Greek) Data Base and calculations (S-PLUS) beta . 9594 . 9606 . 9698 . 9806 . 9845 . 9890 . 9895 . 9917 . 9920 1. 0059 1. 0086 1. 0149 1. 0317 1. 0467 1. 0532 1. 0542 1. 0593 1. 0616 1. 0625 1. 0654 1. 0690 1. 0790 1. 0911 1. 1127 1. 1185 Stock name EMP NAOYK ELBE ROKKA SELMK DESIN ELBAL ESK TERNA KERK POYL EEGA KALSK GENAK FANKO PLATH STRIK EBZ ALLK GEBKA AXON RINTE KLONK ETMAK ALTEK beta 1. 1201 1. 1216 1. 1256 1. 1310 1. 1312 1. 1318 1. 1348 1. 1359 1. 1392 1. 1396 1. 1432 1. 1628 1. 1925 1. 1996 1. 2322 1. 2331 1. 2500 1. 2520 1. 2617 1. 2830 1. 3030 1. 3036 1. 3263 1. 3274 1. 4369The article argues that certain hypotheses can be tested irregardless of whether one believes in the validity of the simple CAPM or in any other version of the theory. Firstly, the theory indicates that higher risk (beta) is associated with a higher level of return. However, the results of the study do not International Research Journal of Finance and Economics â €“ Issue 4 (2006) 85 support this hypothesis. The beta coefficients of the 10 portfolios do not indicate that higher beta portfolios are related with higher returns. Portfolio 10 for example, the highest beta portfolio ( ? = 1. 2024), yields negative portfolio returns.In contrast, portfolio 1, the lowest beta portfolio ( ? = 0. 5474) produces positive returns. These contradicting results can be partially explained by the significant fluctuations of stock returns over the period examined (Table 2). Table 2: Average excess portfolio returns and betas (Equation 3) rp beta (p) a10 . 0001 . 5474 b10 . 0000 . 7509 c10 -. 0007 . 9137 d10 -. 0004 . 9506 e10 -. 0008 . 9300 f10 -. 0009 . 9142 g10 -. 0006 1. 0602 h10 -. 0013 1. 1066 i10 -. 0004 1. 1293 j10 -. 0004 1. 2024 Average Rf . 0014 Average rm=(Rm-Rf) . 0001 Source: Metastock (Greek) Data Base and calculations (S-PLUS) Portfolio Var.Error . 0012 . 0013 . 0014 . 0014 . 0009 . 0010 . 0012 . 0019 . 0020 . 0026 R2 . 4774 . 5335 . 5940 . 6054 . 7140 . 6997 . 6970 . 6057 . 6034 . 5691 In order to test the CAPM hypothesis, it is necessary to find the counterparts to the theoretical values that must be used in the CAPM equation. In this study the yield on the 3-month Greek Treasury Bill was used as an approximation of the risk-free rate. For the R m , the ASE Composite Share index is taken as the best approximation for the market portfolio. The basic equation used was rP = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? P + e P (Equation 4) where ? is the expected excess return on a zero beta portfolio and ? 1 is the market price of risk, the difference between the expected rate of return on the market and a zero beta portfolio. One way for allowing for the possibility that the CAPM does not hold true is to add an intercept in the estimation of the SML. The CAPM considers that the intercept is zero for every asset. Hence, a test can be constructed to examine this hypothesis. In order to diversify away most of the firm-specific part of returns, thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities were previously combined into portfolios.This approach mitigates the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in individual beta estimates. These portfolios were created for several reasons: (i) the random influences on individual stocks tend to be larger compared to those on suitably constructed portfolios (hence, the intercept and beta are easier to estimate for portfolios) and (ii) the tests for the intercept are easier to implement for portfolios because by construction their estimated coefficients are less likely to be correlated with one another than the shares of individual companies.The high value of the estimated correlation coefficient between the intercept and the slope indicates that the model used explains excess returns (Table 3). 86 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 3: Statistics of the estimation of the SML (Equation 4) Coefficient ? 0 Val ue . 0005 t-value (. 9011) p-value . 3939 Residual standard error: . 0004 on 8 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 2968 F-statistic: 3. 3760 on 1 and 8 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1034 Correlation of Coefficients 0 ,? 1 = . 9818 ? 1 -. 0011 (-1. 8375) . 1034However, the fact that the intercept has a value around zero weakens the above explanation. The results of this paper appear to be inconsistent with the zero beta version of the CAPM because the intercept of the SML is not greater than the interest rate on risk free-bonds (Table 2 and 3). In the estimation of SML, the CAPM’s prediction for ? 0 is that it should be equal to zero. The calculated value of the intercept is small (0. 0005) but it is not significantly different from zero (the tvalue is not greater than 2) Hence, based on the intercept criterion alone the CAPM hypothesis cannot clearly be rejected.According to CAPM the SLM slope should equal the excess return on the market portfolio. The excess ret urn on the market portfolio was 0. 0001 while the estimated SLM slope was – 0. 0011. Hence, the latter result also indicates that there is evidence against the CAPM (Table 2 and 3). In order to test for nonlinearity between total portfolio returns and betas, a regression was run between average portfolio returns, calculated portfolio betas, and the square of betas (Equation 5). Results show that the intercept (0. 0036) of the equation was greater than the risk-free interest rate (0. 014), ? 1 was negative and different from zero while ? 2 , the coefficient of the square beta was very small (0. 0041 with a t-value not greater than 2) and thus consistent with the hypothesis that the expected return-beta relationship is linear (Table 4). Table 4: Testing for Non-linearity (Equation 5) Coefficient ? 0 Value . 0036 t-value (1. 7771) p-value 0. 1188 Residual standard error: . 0003 on 7 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 4797 F-statistic: 3. 2270 on 2 and 7 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1016 ? 1 -. 0084 (-1. 8013) 0. 1147 ? 2 . 0041 (1. 5686) 0. 1607According to the CAPM, expected returns vary across assets only because the assets’ betas are different. Hence, one way to investigate whether CAPM adequately captures all-important aspects of the risk-return tradeoff is to test whether other asset-specific characteristics can explain the crosssectional differences in average returns that cannot be attributed to cross-sectional differences in beta. To accomplish this task the residual variance of portfolio returns was added as an additional explanatory variable (Equation 6). The coefficient of the residual variance of portfolio returns ? 3 is small and not statistically different from zero.It is therefore safe to conclude that residual risk has no affect on the expected return of a security. Thus, when portfolios are used instead of individual stocks, residual risk no longer appears to be important (Table 5). International Research Journal of Fi nance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 5: Testing for Non-Systematic risk (Equation 6) Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 Value . 0017 -. 0043 t-value (. 5360) (-. 6182) p-value 0. 6113 0. 5591 Residual standard error: . 0003 on 6 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 5302 F-statistic: 2. 2570 on 3 and 6 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1821 ? 2 . 0015 (. 3381) 0. 7468 ? 3 . 3503 (. 8035) 0. 523 87 Since the analysis on the entire five-year period did not yield strong evidence in favor of the CAPM we examined whether a similar approach on yearly data would provide more supportive evidence. All models were tested separately for each of the five-year period and the results were statistically better for some years but still did not support the CAPM hypothesis (Tables 6, 7 and 8).Table 6: Statistics of the estimation SML (yearly series, Equation 4) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 Value . 0053 . 0050 . 0115 . 0134 -. 0035 -. 0149 . 0000 -. 0057 -. 0017 -. 0088 t-value (3. 7665) (2. 231) (2. 8145) (4. 0237) (-1. 9045) (-9. 4186) (. 0025) (-2. 4066) (-. 8452) (-5. 3642) Std. Error . 0014 . 0022 . 0041 . 0033 . 0019 . 0016 . 0024 . 0028 . 0020 . 0016 p-value . 0050 . 0569 . 2227 . 0038 . 0933 . 0000 . 9981 . 0427 . 4226 . 0007 Table 7: Testing for Non-linearity (yearly series, Equation 5) 1998 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 Value . 0035 . 0139 -. 0078 . 0030 -. 0193 . 0135 -. 0129 . 0036 -. 0083 . 0092 -. 0240 . 0083 -. 0077 . 0046 -. 0059 t-value (1. 7052) (1. 7905) (-1. 1965) (2. 1093) (-. 7909) (1. 3540) (-3. 5789) (. 5435) (-2. 8038) (1. 2724) (-1. 7688) (1. 3695) (-2. 9168) (. 139) (-2. 7438) Std. Error . 0020 . 0077 . 0065 . 0142 . 0243 . 0026 . 0036 . 0067 . 0030 . 0072 . 0136 . 0060 . 0026 . 0050 . 0022 p-value . 1319 . 1165 . 2705 . 0729 . 4549 . 0100 . 0090 . 6037 . 0264 . 2439 . 1202 . 2132 . 0224 . 3911 . 0288 1999 2000 2001 2002 88 International Research Journal of Fi nance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 8: Testing for Non-Systematic risk (yearly series, Equation 6) 1998 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 Value . 0016 . 0096 -. 0037 3. 0751 . 0017 -. 0043 . 0015 . 3503 -. 0203 . 0199 -. 0185 2. 2673 . 0062 -. 0193 . 0053 1. 7024 -. 0049 . 000 -. 0026 -5. 1548 t-value (. 7266) (1. 2809) (-. 5703) (. 5862) (1. 4573) (-. 0168) (. 0201) (2. 2471) (-4. 6757) (2. 2305) (-3. 6545) (2. 2673) (. 6019) (-1. 0682) (. 5635) (. 4324) (-. 9507) (. 0054) (-. 4576) (-. 6265) Std. Error . 0022 . 0075 . 0065 1. 9615 . 0125 . 0211 . 0099 1. 4278 . 0043 . 0089 . 0051 . 9026 . 0103 . 0181 . 0094 3. 9369 . 0052 . 0089 . 0058 8. 2284 p-value . 4948 . 2475 . 5892 . 1680 . 1953 . 9846 . 9846 . 0657 . 0034 . 0106 . 0106 . 0639 . 5693 . 3265 . 5935 . 6805 . 3785 . 9959 . 6633 . 5541 1999 2000 2001 2002 VI. Concluding Remarks The article examined the validity of the CAPM for the Greek stock market.The stu dy used weekly stock returns from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange from January 1998 to December 2002. The findings of the article are not supportive of the theory’s basic hypothesis that higher risk (beta) is associated with a higher level of return. In order to diversify away most of the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities where combined into portfolios to mitigate the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in individual beta estimates. The model does explain, however, excess returns.The results obtained lend support to the linear structure of the CAPM equation being a good explanation of security returns. The high value of the estimated correlation coefficient between the intercept and the slope indicates that the model used, explains excess returns. However, the fact that the intercept has a value around zero weakens the above explanation. The CAPM’s prediction for the intercept is that it should be equal to zero and the slope should equal the excess returns on the market portfolio. The findings of the study contradict the above hypothesis and indicate evidence against the CAPM.The inclusion of the square of the beta coefficient to test for nonlinearity in the relationship between returns and betas indicates that the findings are according to the hypothesis and the expected returnbeta relationship is linear. Additionally, the tests conducted to investigate whether the CAPM adequately captures all-important aspects of reality by including the residual variance of stocks indicates that the residual risk has no effect on the expected return on portfolios. The lack of strong evidence in favor of CAPM necessitated the study of yearly data to test the validity of the model.The findings from this approach provided better statistical results for some years but still did not support the CAPM hypothesis. The results of the tests conducted on data from the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002 do not appear to clearly reject the CAPM. This does not mean that the data do not support CAPM. As Black [1972] points out these results can be explained in two ways. First, measurement and model specification errors arise due to the use of a proxy instead of the actual market International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 89 ortfolio. This error biases the regression line estimated slope towards zero and its estimated intercept away from zero. Second, if no risk-free asset exists, the CAPM does not predict an intercept of zero.