Media Violence Essay

Television, magazines, radio, movies, and music are all forms of today’s modern media. Is it possible that our modern media could be causing crime rates to rise? Back in the 1920’s, these media’s came out so that people could stay connected with what was going on around the world. Soon, the media became a form of entertainment. Over the last five decades, the rules and guidelines of media have changed dramatically. When the media first came out, it was completely prohibited to even say something small like â€Å"pregnant† on TV, or cursing in music. However, eventually the new entertainment became old, and the producers of the media had to find ways to keep our interest. Therefore, the media starting making the previous prohibitions, non-prohibited so that they could keep our interest. In result, today the producers the media are showing mass murders and other violent things on TV, like showing murders and crimes. Music artists sing about violent actions. In many people’s eyes, the world we know as media has left a state of innocence and entertainment, to a world of violence and indecency. A plethora of people would say that change in the media has created new issues. Often times, people blame our media for crime rates that have been skyrocketing in the last five decades, especially in adolescences. In fact, violent crimes in adolescence living in America have more than doubled since the 1990’s. For this reason, we must ask, is media violence the reason for this aggressive behavior? After reading many essays, such as Mike Males essay, â€Å"Stop Blaming Kids and TV,† and Sissela Bok’s essay, â€Å"Agression:The Impact of Media Violence,† I realized that people cannot just pinpoint violent media as the cause of this new epidemic, because in reality the environments that kids live in nowadays plays a much bigger role. Therefore, through these essays, it became very clear that media violence is not the biggest issue for violence, but perhaps these children’s homes and families. The first essay I read, â€Å"Stop Blaming Kids and TV,† by Mike Males, explains to the reader that the new profound aggressive behaviors of children have little to do with our new media and more to do with their home environments. To begin Males’s essay, he starts by stating that many people believe that media violence is the cause of the new crime rate increase. Males then starts to list various groups that are strong believers of media violence being bad for kids and gives us many examples such as, â€Å"Progressives are no exception. Mother Jones claims it has proof that TV makes kids violent. And the institute of Alternative Media emphasis, the average American child will witness 200,000 acts of (TV) violence by the time that child graduates from high school† (253). Males then goes on to argue that point by stating, â€Å"None of these varied interests not that during the eighteen years between a child’s birth and graduation from high school, there will be fifteen million cases of real violence in American homes grave enough to require hospital emergency treatment† (253). He then continues by telling us that the Department of Health and Human Services said that there are over 500,000 cases of abusive parents reported each year. After the Department reported this fact, this report disappeared from the news completely after only one day (253). Another point that Males argues is that the Japanese and European kids have media just as violent as ours here in America and yet their crime rates are not nearly as high as ours. In fact, it is said that their crime rate are so low that their 17 year olds create less crime than our 77 year olds in America. Furthermore, Males then tells about his own personal experiences and what he has watched over his years of working with children. Through his own studies, he found that many of the kids who showed any acts of aggression or violence had an unstable or bad home life. For example: kids who have parents in jail or kids who have alcoholics in their families. Next, he tells us about the survey that he conducted in los angles from 400 middle school students. From this study he got that most kids’ parents are there biggest influence. Thus, when a kid sees his/her parents doing something, or acting some way, they are far more likely to act just like their parents did. To back this statement, he provided us with yet another study from the Centers for Disease Control, where they found that â€Å"75 percent of all teenage smokers come from homes where their parents smoke† (255). Males then goes on to conclude his essay by stating, â€Å"Millions of children and teenagers face real destitution, drug abuse, and violence in their homes†¦. Yet these profound menaces continue to lurk in the background†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (256) Males’s main purpose of this essay was to persuade the reader that violent media such as TV is not the only cause for why kids are violent. This essay was very effective because he used many outside sources besides himself. He used a lot of logical appeals and even a few emotional pieces throughout his essay. For his logical appeals he used university, departments, and programs that deal with the youth. These sources tend to be very credible and reliable. As the reader that makes us feel like what he is saying is very factual because he got his information from good sources. In addition He researched other countries and media violence in their countries, which was really good because what he found in those countries, was that even though those countries play the same violence and aggression on their TV’s, they have a lower crime rates which really helps back up Males’s point. Thus, for these reasons this essay was very effective in persuading the reader that TV is not to blame for this aggression. The second essay that caught my attention, â€Å"Aggression: The Impact of Media Violence,† by Sissela Bok, also explains how there is not just one thing that affects why kids are so violent but a myriad of things. As Bok begins her essay she states, â€Å"Even if media violence were linked to no other debilitating, it would remain at the center of public debate so long as the widespread belief persists that it glamourizes aggressive conduct, removes inhibitions toward such conduct, arouses viewers, and invites imitation. † (224). Next, she goes on to tell about how 21 percent of the American public blames television more than any other factors for teen violence. It is said that the media makes up for 5-15 percent of the societal violence. Furthermore, she then writes about Centerwall’s study which was published in 1989 which states that if television had not been created he believes we would have 10,000 less homicides each year (227). However, Sissela fights back to this statement by addressing that Mr. Centerwall did not take into consideration of other things that were going on at the time, like shifts in policy and population. Therefore, she persuades us that media is not a for sure topic to blame for the increase homicide rate. She continues her argument against blaming media violence by writing, â€Å"We may never be able to trace, retrospectively, the specific set of television programs that contributed to a particular persons aggressive conduct†¦. How can anyone definitively pinpoint the link between media violence and the acts of real life violence? †(228). Nevertheless, Mrs. Bok tells about her research on homicides in America and how the children homicide rates have escalated greatly, and then concludes her essay by saying: America may be the only society on earth to have experiences what has been called an â€Å"epidemic of children killing children,† which is ravaging some of its communities today. As in any epidemic, it is urgent to ask what is it that makes so many capable of such violence, victimizes so many others, and causes countless more to live in fear. Whatever role media are found to play in this respect, to be sure, is part of the problem. Obviously, not even the total elimination of media violence would wipe out the problem of violence in the United States or any other society. The same can be said for the proliferation and easy access to guns, or for poverty, drug addiction, and other risk factors. As Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith puts it not an either or. It’s not guns or media or parents or poverty. (228-9) Bok’s main purpose was to persuade the reader that media violence is not the only contributing factor into this new profound violence in children. She explains that there are many other factors like these kids’ home environments. This essay was effective because Bok used a lot of really good sources such as associations, psychologists, and studies, as well as many statistics that she provided for us. She also made it very clear that she had researched this topic quick deeply by going way back into the history of children’s violence in previous decades. She provided us with a very well displayed argument and even showed some of the opposing side. However, she always fought back with the opposing arguments with a better argument really building her argument into a good one. In consequence, Bok’s essay was a very effective essay and does persuade the reader into believing that media violence is not the main cause of aggression in children. Overall, Mr. Males and Mrs. Bok both had very good arguments. They both expressed their opinions and the found facts and proof to help back there thesis. While these essays did not completely take the same stand, these authors had similar views to an extent on media violence. In both of essay’s they uses logical and credible sources. In addition, in Mr. Males essay he also included a few emotional pieces, about his work with the children. Both of these essays specifically focused on the outcome of the kids and how media violence has affected them. However, both essays would like to say that media violence is not the pinpoint cause of why kids are being more violent nowadays, as opposed to in the recent decades. After reading these essays I do have to say that now I don’t believe that media violence is the may cause for aggression in adolescence. Furthermore, so who is to say that media violence is causing this aggression since there is no evidence? Better yet, why aren’t we looking at other oppositions such as children’s home environments? Either way this is an epidemic now, and it’s time we learn how to change it. It’s time for the community’s to get involved in helping to stop this epidemic. Perhaps this could be through offering more rehab programs for parents, or counseling to the children with deep levels of anger and hatred. Maybe it’s through offering anger management programs through schools, or spreading awareness, because in any situation, no matter the cause, this violence is happening, and we can’t stop it until we try. So like Sissela Bok and Mike Males, let’s look at other oppositions, and learn how to stop this violence before it gets even more out of control.

World Trade Center: Bathtub

One of the famous structures ever built in the entire history of mankind is the World Trade Center. The said structure is said to have hold numerous offices and institutions that plays a vital role in running the economy of America and even to other nations. Moreover, the World Trade Center is also one of tallest buildings ever erected making it attractive to many people around the world. This might also be the reason why the said structure was attacked and was brought down by the alleged terrorists in the year 2001. The structure then was totally destroyed and what only remained was its mere foundation. A Brief History. In the year 1946, the New York state planned to build a structure that would serve as the center for trade and commerce in the said U. S state. Manhattan was chosen to be the location of the planned structure in the year 1962. Numerous professionals were tapped to facilitate the construction of the World Trade Center including Japanese architects and engineers leading the design and construction team. The construction started in the year 1966, starting with the first tower located in the northern part of the site. The north tower was completed after six years and the center accepted tenants even before the tower was totally furnished. A year after the construction of the north tower, another building finished its construction located in the southern region of the site. It was on the same year that the dedication of the World Trade Center commenced. During that time, the World Trade Center was considered as the tallest structure ever built with 110-storey with more than a thousand and three hundred feet in height. Structural Foundation The foundation of the World Trade Center twin towers was constructed with one of the deep foundations ever made. A deep basement was made to support the entire structure of these towers and all of the loads the structure handles. The said basement is also called as the bathtub. This refers to as the underground foundation area not only of the World Trade Center but also of the adjacent buildings located in New York. The bathtub is a distorted rectangle in shape with dimensions equal to almost a thousand feet by five hundred twenty feet with a depth of about seven-storey building. The bathtub is situated down to the rock layer of earth’s foundation. It is then further supported by strong, solid walls that served as the barriers to impede water from the Hudson River to enter the foundation. The said walls are also called as slurry walls. This foundation was made due to the fact that the site where the World Trade Center was erected was man-made. Moreover, the bathtub was built underground and submerged into water. The bathtub designers used pre-fabricated steel as framework of the main foundation of the building. The amount of steel used totaled about two hundred thousand tons to supply the needs for the foundation of the World Trade Center. Braces were placed to support the slurry wall aside from the supplemental support provided by the bedrock. The Foundation Design of the World Trade Center Source: www. wc7. net The Bathtub The foundation designed by the architects and engineers was seen to be massive, just as what should be considering the height of the buildings to be erected on top of the said foundation. It is a must for any gigantic structure to cling its foundation on the solid rock located beneath the earth’s ground. To attach the foundation to the bedrock, the construction workers dug enormous mass of soil and brought it up on the earth’s surface. Another challenge that was faced by the builders is that the site is near a body of water. The water coming from the river may interfere in the construction of the foundation of the World Trade Center. To resolve this problem, the workers used digging machines to create channels down to the solid rock area of earth. As they dig troughs, the workers placed a slurry wall made up of bentonite. Bentonite is an expensive type of clay that is effective in impeding water from flowing. The said material would go within the dug channels, which would effectively block the water coming form underneath the surface. Pictorial Representation of the Foundation for the World Trade Center Source: www. deepexcavation. com Slurry Wall Slurry walls, also known as diaphragm wall is a type of structure created and casted in a certain trough or channel. The trench was hinged by an expensive type of clay called as bentonite that is specified to impede soil erosions into the foundation. In other terms, slurry walls refer to a wall that is utilized to obstruct stream flow. There are equipments that are being used in applying the slurry walls in building foundations. Some of the tools used include hydromills, hydraulic clamshells and other trenching equipment. Slurry Wall History The first slurry wall that was constructed was in the year 1950 in Italy. Four years earlier, slurry walls undergone series of tests to assess its capabilities as a part of foundation of a big structure. In the year 1960, this technology was introduced in the United States of America by the European building designers. Various buildings in the US were built using the slurry walls which includes structures located in New York and California. It was only after the said structures were built that the World Trade Center was erected and used the slurry walls in its foundation. Other key states utilized the technology like Boston and Washington D. C. Slurry Wall Construction Slurry wall construction can be summarized into four steps, as shown in the figure below. The first procedure is to create a trench and applying the clays used in forming the slurry walls (A). After this procedure, a steel cylinder is inserted at the ends of the excavated areas (B). After that, a fortification cage is placed down the trench to add more support in the foundation (C). The last procedure is the concreting of pipes where the buildings would be attached. Pictorial Presentation of Slurry Wall Construction Source: www. deepexcavation. com Slurry Wall Applications There are numerous applications that can be associated with the utilization of slurry walls. One of its major applications is to serve as earth retention barriers for tunnels, subterranean vaults, and excavations. Another application of slurry walls is for blocking water penetration onto the foundation. Increasing the strength of the foundation of any structure is also one of the major applications of these slurry walls. Moreover, contamination prevention is also one basic application that is used by many architects and engineers. A gas leakage prevention form landfill is also one application that can be associated with the slurry walls. However, there are also limitations in using slurry walls in the construction of foundation. Construction of slurry walls requires heavy equipments that consume a lot of space in the construction site. Operational costs are also expensive because of the materials needed in the construction of slurry walls. Slurry Wall: After 9/11 Attack The attack made on the twin towers of the World Trade Center caused severe damage into the structure. Furthermore, after the fall of the entire structure down to the ground, many people worried about the possible damage on the slurry walls and the bathtub of the World Trade Center which can possibly affect the adjacent structures built near the vicinity of the World Trade Center. Water penetration from the Hudson River can provide damages on other structures and can also bring flooding in the nearby areas. Because of these concerns, a team of experts was sent to check the status of the said walls and inspected the entire foundation site continuously using various equipments like inclinometers and other monitoring devices. Rehabilitation of the said walls were made in order to maintain the strength of the foundation of the World Trade Center and to avoid recurring problems that might bring more harm to the people and properties in the said region.

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Sonny's blues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

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Quantitative risk assessment Essay Example for Free

Quantitative risk assessment Essay Monte-Carlo simulation is carried out using a large number of computations, using a computer, with random inputs. This method is particularly useful when it comes to â€Å"predicting† the outcome a complex eventuality. Typically, the Monte-Carlo simulation is useful when predicting the outcome of a large number inter-related factors that are â€Å"uncertain†. Predictivity using Monte-Carlo simulation is far more accurate where variables under consideration are many, uncertain and random. For this particular reason, using Monte-Carlo simulation for this study is the best choice as there are many uncertain factors that need to be analyzed for computing a risk assessment. In this study, the first step begins with the production of meat and ends with health effects that meat can probably induce in consuming subjects. There is a large interplay of uncertain factors, and the entire food chain model proposed in the study has inherent variability across most levels. 2. What comment would you make about the source of data used for the concentration of E. coli in cattle feces? Prevalence and concentration of E. Coli in cattle fecal matter was used to assess the level of contamination of the meat. The level of contamination of the meat is a pointer to the probable exposure that a consuming subject could possibly have, to E. Coli. Concentration of E. Coli in cattle fecal matter is directly related to factors like seasonality, geographical properties, and feeding practices. However, the data related to concentration of E. Coli in the cattle fecal matter was constructed without consideration for these factors. Data used for concentration of E. Coli in fecal matter was obtained using enrichment methods. The results show a wide bipolar variation, from as low as undetectable E. Coli levels to as much as 5. 0 log10 CFU/g. The data for prevalence of E. Coli in cattle fecal matter was obtained from previously held studies. However, only data from those studies was used, that primarily aimed at detecting E. Coli prevalence rates in cattle fecal matter for beef that was supposedly slated for human consumption. 3. What comment would you make about the following: †¢ modeling the distribution of feces on carcass as Uniform? Slaughtering invariably causes the fecal matter to come in contact with the meat. Skinning a carcass will lead to contamination of exposed meat due to contact with the hide. Although, fecal matter is the main source of bacterial reservoir, the nature and number of agents that can directly or indirectly participate as contaminating agents is uncertain. However, the concentration of E. Coli in fecal matter is directly proportional to the extent of meat contamination. The distribution of fecal matter on carcass surface is uneven. A dilution factor was used as a model simplification. †¢ modeling fecal contamination only on the carcass surface? As a fact, E. Coli are present in the fecal matter but not inside red meat. Contamination of red meat, therefore, occurs only when fecal matter comes in contact with it. This will usually happen during slaughtering, and the following processes like packaging and trimming. For this reason fecal contamination has been modeled only on the carcass surface. 4. Briefly (less than 500 words), discuss the practicalities and likely success of implementing each of the proposed hypothetical mitigation strategies in the paper. The author has proposed three hypothetical risk mitigation strategies for risk reduction. However, the strategies have been proposed to reduce risk as per mentioned figures, assuming that the strategy is being implemented and the desired goal is being achieved. 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Coli fecal load) need to considered, before a definite â€Å"control† level can be instated to rule out slaughters for animals that have more than a certain level of bacterial fecal concentration. The consumer information program, although with a risk reduction of 16%, is certainly a very important level wherein proper intervention can dramatically decrease E. Coli related health morbidity. Even though anticipated risk reduction is only 16%, simple measures like adequate promotional tools, could significantly increase risk reduction through mass communication; the biggest limitation however, is that compliance in this case cannot be ascertained, nor enforceable. Keeping in mind the practical limitations of each of these strategies, a prudent approach would involve application of all the three strategies in conjunct, to ensure greater risk reduction. A good reason for this approach is that due to the uncertain nature of all the factors involved in E. Coli contamination and delivery to consuming host, it appears quite difficult to determine the individual potency of each of these factors, and they would easily remain relative values. ‘Evaluation of MRSA Select, a new chromogenic medium for the detection of nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus’ 1. What is the ‘gold standard’ used to assess the sensitivity and specificity etc. of the different diagnostic tests? The sensitivity and specificity of a particular diagnostic test needs to be estimated before the test under consideration can be employed for practical purposes, to ensure that the results obtained are accurate, and of consequence. A â€Å"gold standard†, hence, is an absolute, against which results from a particular diagnostic test are compared. The gold standard, also called as the standard frame of reference, is a perfect test for the given condition, and is 100% sensitive and specific as well. 2. Is the ‘gold standard’ the same for all of the tests? Within the context of this paper, the gold standard used is same for all the tests. The gold standard used is identification of methicillin resistant S. Aureus, from nasal swabs of patients, confirmed for the mecA gene using PCR. 3. Can the tests be compared in this way? Yes, the tests can be compared this way. The same samples (n) were subjected to different growth mediums, to ascertain the presence of MRSA. All these media were specifically designed to promote the growth of MRSA. Hence, depending on the growths shown by these different media, results can be drawn and compared. 4. Are the authors’ conclusions valid? I think that the author’s conclusions are valid. Although, PCR will remain the gold standard in ascertaining presence of MRSA, the application of this procedure, to remain practically enforceable, is quite limiting. For instance, considering the sheer number of samples that an urban community hospital has to handle on a daily basis, using PCR for all instances may not be feasible all the times. In this circumstance, using simple tissue culture techniques would definitely prove to be more desirable, especially with faster results and low costs; like using the MRSA Select that will give results within 24 hours with a sensitivity and specificity over 99%. Moreover, simplicity of the test requires no complex skill set, especially compared with handling PCR techniques. References 1. Fishman, G. S. (1995). Monte Carlo: Concepts, Algorithms, and Applications. New York: Springer 2. Bell, B. P. , Goldoft, M. , Griffin, P. M. , Davis, M. S. , Gordon, D. C. , Tarr, P. I. , Bartleson, C. A. , Lewis, J. H. , Barret, T. J. , Wells, J. G. , Baron, R. , Kobayashi, J. , (1994). A multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7-associated bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome from hamburgers: the Washington experience. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 3. Vose, D. , (1996). Quantitative risk analysis: A guide to Monte Carlo simulation modelling. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester England. 4. USDA:APHIS:VS. , 1994a. E. coliO157:H7 issues and ramifications. Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO. 5. Gehlbach SH. (1993) Interpretation: sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value. In: Gehlbach SH, ed. Interpreting the medical literature. New York: McGraw-Hill 6. Apfalter P, Assadian O, Kalczyk A, et al. (2002) Performance of a new chromogenic oxacillin resistance screen medium (Oxoid) in the detection and presumptive identification of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis;44:209–11. 7. Murakami K, Minamide W, Wada K, Nakamura E, Teraoka, H, Watanabe S. (1991) Identification of methicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol;29:2240–4. 8. Safdar N, Narans L, Gordon B, Maki DG. (2003) Comparison of culture screening methods for detection of nasal carriage of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a prospective study comparing 32 methods. J Clin Microbiol;41:3163–6.

Ender and Valentine

Ender and Valentine Ender and Valentine Relations are really important to have in life, as it lets you share your life with someone. Without relations a person doesnt have an identity and becomes very lonely. In the book Enders Game by Orson Scott Card, a story has been told about a young man named Andrew Wiggin a.k.a. Ender. Being a third child wasnt easy for Ender, because people around him always misunderstood or underestimated him, which caused problems in his relationships. In these situations, his sister, Valentine, was the only one who supported him. Throughout the book he faced many problems, mainly isolation. In these times he would look up to no one but her sister. Valentine always supported, cared and fought for Ender, and thats what made their relationship grow stronger. Since Valentine cares for Ender very much, she acts like Enders mother throughout the book. Whenever there is a fight between Ender and Peter, his older brother, Valentine is the one who brings the fight to an end just like a mother. Everyone in the novel thinks that Valentine is the caretaker of Ender because when Ender gets his monitor removed, Valentine acts as his monitor. Valentine protects Ender from Peter by being Enders shadow. Noticing this behavior, Peter threatens Valentine, â€Å"You are his mother now, you better watch him, day and night. You better be there.† (Card 13) This scene takes place in chapter 2, when Peter, Ender and Valentine are playing games and Peter beats up Ender. Valentine always supported and fought for Ender. She is the only person Ender was related to. But their relationship becomes weaker when Ender decides to go to the battle school. The distance between earth and the battle school was now visible in Enders and Valentines relationship. This distance in their relationship, on the bright side, was a good idea because it helps Ender concentrate at battle school and make it to the command fleet. Valentine was never able to forget Ender and therefore writes letters to him every time. She celebrates Enders birthdays all by herself. This proves her one hundred percent commitment towards their relationship. On the other hand, Ender little known about his sister didnt think about Valentine that much. Due to his own problems at the battle school, he couldnt write back letters. Few years passes, they see each other again. This is when Ender is sent to earth for his vacation. While in the lake talking about their childhood, Valentine questions Ender, â€Å"So were strangers now? (Card 235)† Ender answers, â€Å"Arent we, Valentine? (Card 235)† They are completely unaware of each others lives but they still remember their childhood. This is the beauty of Enders and Valentines relationship. After some time spent together they were closer than before. Since Ender sees Valentine as his caretaker he obeys her and returns to the battle school. The gap in their relationship once again increases until the destruction of the buggers. Valentine towards the end gets very manipulative towards Ender and their relationship, â€Å"I know what youre thinking, Ender youre thinking that Im trying to control you just as much as Peter or Graff or any others. (Card 280)† This scene occurs when Ender is done with bugger world and wants to go back to the earth, but Valentine refuses to go because Peter was now in charge of the earth. Valentine knew that she would never see Ender again, if Ender went to the Earth and she went to the first colony. And thats why she tries to convince Ender to stay with her. This proves that she really cares about her little brother and loves him dearly. Valentine is also very cunning and manipulative like Peter. She tries to show Ender that she is not controlling, but she is. Due to Enders compassion for people, Valentine wants Ender to be with her forever after the destruction of bugger world. After discovering bugger queen, Ender decides to publish a book based on the story said by the bugger queen. Ender had full support of Valentine in publishing Speaker of the dead. She helped him inform people of earth that buggers werent really harmful. Valentine plays a very important character when it comes to Ender and his relationship, because Ender always obeys her. Valentine is the only person Ender has a good relationship with. The ups and downs always occur in a relationship, but thats what made their relationship grow stronger. Supporting each other was the key factor in their relationship. In this way Ender and Valentines relationship survives through the obstacles.

British Romanticism versus American Romanticism :: essays research papers

I bet since you read the topic of my paper that you think that this will be a â€Å"kissy kissy, lovey gooey† story about two British and American lovebirds. Well, the truth is that it’s not, in fact, it is totally different! The word â€Å"romance† has changed very much since our ancestral fathers had defined it. Unfortunately, I cannot write about Valentines Day, and things pertaining to that, but I will tell you how romance used to be and what exactly romance was like before modern day life changed the definition. So now, I’ll explain the differences, as well as the similarities between the British and American Romance. First, let’s give a little bit of overview about the British and American romance definitions. The British defined Romanticism as â€Å"a fascination with youth and innocence as well as a questioning of authority.† Also, â€Å"changing tradition for idealistic purposes and an adaptation to change.† p. The American poets defined Romanticism as â€Å"a school of thought that valued feelings and intuition over reason.† p. 143. â€Å"A Journey away from the corruption of civilization and the limits of rational thought and toward the integrity of nature and the freedom of imagination.† p. 142. American romance also showed a great respect to youth and innocence, just like that of the British. One of the very active British poets of this time, William Blake, wrote a very good poem called â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence†, and the following is a quote from the poem, â€Å"Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm, So if all do their duty they need not fear harm†As you can see, the trait of youth and innocence is easily visible in this poem. The child thinks that if he follows the strict laws of his keepers, that he will be treated well. Unfortunately, these are the thoughts of an innocent and naive mind. So he doesn’t have the experience to realize this though. It is probably likely to say that British and American romance originated from two different places. There were two primary events that caused the creation of British Romanticism. The primary was the French Revolution. The two major Romantic writers of this time were all for the expansion of ideas from the French, however, the English didn’t want this. This whole period made many stories and poems possible. The American Romanticism developed from a totally different string of events, however.

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games

Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to. Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Essay -- Video Games Violence and Sexuality in Video Games Unlike popular belief, the first violent video game was not Mortal Kombat. The killing started with a game called Death Race 2000 released in 1976 by Exidy Software. It was based on a B movie by the same title and features the main theme of the movie in the game: to run people over. You control the car to run over people, and the people you have killed become a cross. Needless to say, the game was quick to draw attentions towards it. The criticism from Americans all over the nation eventually got the game pulled off the market. One would think that the game must have been pretty intense and gruesome if it attracted such a response. Nope†¦not a bit†¦in fact, this is how the game looks: Things stay quiet until the 1980’s in which the Atari 2600 debuts. Out of the flood of titles being produced, someone decided that sex sells, even in videogames (geez†¦what a concept†¦). So a company by Mystique released Custer’s Revenge. The game had the player control a man named General George Custer going after a Native American maiden named Revenge, hence the title, Custer’s Revenge. Unfortunately, this game did not involve anyone saving a Native American princess; instead, the player has to control Custer and help him cross the playing field safely, while dodging cactus and arrows from Native Americans. Awaiting Custer on the other side of the field is Revenge, and the reward was that Custer gets to have sex with Revenge, on the screen, depicted by a group of flesh colored pixels (as shown on the left). The game received heat from women’s advocate groups and the Native American communities. Custer’s Revenge was so bad that many retailers refused to car... ...t that a 9 or 10 year old can have easy access to games such as Grand Theft Auto is just scary. I found option number 3 to be too extreme. Regulations are necessary, but option 3 would leave companies very restricted in terms of creativity and set a sense of fear in the game developers. Also, option 3 will impede one’s right to purchase the game one wants, without the eyes of big brother watching. Overall, option 2 is the most balanced, it deals with the weakest part of the rating system, and that is the enforcement of the ratings. Most retails now do not enforce the ESRB’s rating system; almost anyone can buy whatever game they want without fail. With option 2, the retailers are now more responsible than before in watching what their customers buy. This way, we can keep Mature games out of the hands of young children, yet adults can buy them if they wish to.

Eleanor Roosevelt and her Accomplishments Essay example -- People Roos

Eleanor Roosevelt and her Accoplishments As the wife of a popular United States president, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in New York City, October 11, 1884, and died November 7, 1962. She was an active worker for social causes. She was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt, and was raised by her maternal grandmother after the premature death of her parents. In 1905 she married her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They had six children, but one of them died in infancy. Although she was extremely shy, Eleanor worked hard and became a well known and admired humanitarian. (Webster III, 100). When her husband became the President, Eleanor Roosevelt made herself a strong speaker on behalf of a wide range of social causes, including youth employment and civil rights for blacks and women. She also had compassion for the Jewish and helped them go through the time when Hitler had power. She did all of her work with self-confidence, authority, independence, and cleverness. Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the greatest women who ever lived because of her accomplishments, her benefits to mankind, and her motives to accomplish her goals. Helping other people was what Eleanor Roosevelt lived for. There were many accomplishments made by this woman in social and political matters. For one thing, she spoke out for women to make them more equal to men. In 1928, she helped originate the nation-wide web of active units of Democratic women (Lash, 49). Eleanor believed that women could do just as much as men, especially in politics. The League of Women Voters was where she was "grounded in citizenship and government" (Benton, 237). Because of her experiences with men and other women, Eleanor had been able to make speeches and talk to other women about their rights. Another social matter in which she was concerned about was the treatment of the Jewish. The idea of Hitler wanting to exterminate all Jewish people brought up strong emotions in Eleanor. Her compassion towards the survivors of those concentration camps and gas chambers, made her take part in a memorial service of protest about it. She did what she could to help the survivors of the holocaust escape death, including getting visas for the refugees who managed to get to Spain and Portugal. The issuance of visas to children was another thing that she tried to do to help the younger people escape the violence... ...women, Jews, and Negroes were just some of the many things she believed in and worked for. With more equality between the different kinds of people, there can be more peace and happiness in the world without all the discrimination. Her accomplishments brought about increased unity in people, which was what she did to benefit mankind. All of her experiences and determination motivated her to do what she did, and it was a gift to humanity. Thesis: Eleanor Roosevelt benefited mankind by accomplishing her goals to help others be equal and unified with one another. Her motives helped her achieve this, and made her someone who has done a great deal for humanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Premises: 1. Accomplishments 2. How she benefited mankind 3. Motivation to accomplish goals Works Cited: Benton, William. "Roosevelt, Eleanor." Encyclopedia Britannica. 1968 ed. Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor: The Years Alone. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1972. Roosevelt, Eleanor. You Learn By Living. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishing, 1960. Webster III, Orville. 50 Famous Americans. Los Angeles: JBG Publishing, 1991. Wilson, H.W. "Roosevelt, Eleanor." Current Biography. 1940 ed.

To what extent is ”Frankenstein’ concerned with the theme of education and what does it have to say about the advantages and disadvantages of this?

In Frankenstein, education cannot simply be considered as an ordinary theme, because there are so many differing angles which are represented throughout. It primarily depends however on what actually counts as education in the first place; does it have to be necessarily formal, or does it also count if it is information passed on from one family member to another, or even if it is simply something gleaned from the environment that surrounds us. This is the question that must be answered, as well as deciphering what methods Shelley uses to convey the fact that education is essential for the books' events to occur. In Frankenstein from the very beginning, whenever Victor is mentioned, it is in the context of learning, or of having learnt something crucial. This is in comparison to Walton, whose knowledge appears to come from his exploration, from his search for a true companion who can accompany him throughout the rest of his life, someone who will truly understand him. Walton's knowledge is not just from experiences, but also from studying, from academia, as well as from his perceptions of the world around him, and from what his morals command him to either do or not to do. However, despite all of his academia, he is still astonished when he is told about Frankenstein's creature, and even more so when he views it for himself. This proves that despite formal education, there will still be gaps of knowledge, and the power to surprise will always exist. Victor relates to Walton all about how his education was formulated, what exactly he had learnt from his bad experiences with books and at Ingolstadt, and by focussing on outdated science such as those ideas thought of by Cornelius Agrippa and Albertus Magnus. The point blank refutation by his father of these theories and ideas did not mean that Victor realised they were hopelessly incorrect; on the contrary, he ‘continued to read with the greatest avidity'. This reading eventually led to the creation of the creature, which although being a tremendous achievement in its own right, is something which directly contravenes the natural order of things, and is therefore a sin. By studying such ‘wild fantasies' and not instead reading something far more ‘real and practical', he allowed himself to be taken into the world of unnatural occurrences, where he would be able to achieve incredible things, but at the same time ‘terrible'. At Ingolstadt, Victor was further mislead from the path of true science by Krempe who did not capture his imagination, and possessed a ‘repulsive countenance' and instead continued to strive towards conquering death through reanimating and creating his own perfect being. It does bring up questions of who ought to be able to control life and death, which the creature then follows through killing, through controlling the manner and time of death of those that Victor held dear. However, despite the creature's education through learning from his surroundings, there is still some quality to him which is not human. This is indeed the lack of any sort of moral structure; he is not able to empathise, or realise that what he does is wrong. This can be shown by ‘you belong then to my enemy-to him towards whom I have sworn eternal revenge; you shall be my first victim.' Perhaps in some way he acknowledges it as wrong, but due to his previous experience with the people in the cabin, he now no longer wishes to be like them, and wants to separate himself from society. This separation means he then becomes particularly cold blooded, but he does know that it will prove effective in affecting Frankie. Due to the creature describing his ‘heart swelling with exultation and triumph', it demonstrates that to some extent the creature has developed sophisticated planning, because it was not spur of the moment (the fact that there is no regret mentioned proves this). The creature has learnt to be cold from his ‘father's' abandonment of him, and the people in the cabin rejecting him solely on the basis of physical appearance. Therefore he has learnt that to cause emotional suffering is the best way to commit revenge; the preferred method of hurt is to destroy someone's heart. The creature's knowledge did not turn out to have a positive effect on anyone's life, but rather ended up causing several deaths and miserable lives for many. Whether or not the creature deserved to be given a full education is still unclear, but it shows that knowledge can be very harmful. However it did not appear to be so for Safie, who was also learning at the same time as the creature, albeit it not as surreptitiously as it, because Safie simply learnt the language and was not mentioned as having later committed acts of evil. The creature learnt from afar, much as an infant does, by listening to language and eventually picking up the ability to manipulate it in one's own way, although he evidently learnt from books as well for research and insight. Despite all this, he still isn't an intellectual, and primarily learns about his strength, about others and about others' perceptions of him through trial and error. There is the question of whether or not the creature was solely spurred on by William's being such an unpleasant child or whether it was simply in the creature's blood. Nevertheless, this proves that to some extent, people learn behaviours from what they experience of what occurs around them, and it is not just pre-learned behaviour. It raises the question of whether the creature would have been more docile if either Victor had directly cared for him, or provided a creature as a friend. He has learnt to become so disillusioned with humanity, that now they are now worthless to him, even a defenceless young child. This heinous crime doesn't mean anything to him, in the same way that it didn't technically mean anything to Victor to about the creature; only disgust about what he had created was realised. This disgust can be easily understood, because he has managed to reanimate dead flesh; who is to say that there might not be some imprint of the personality of the old owner of these body parts existing still? Despite the addition of ‘luxuriances' such as ‘lustrous black, flowing hair', it is still a crime against nature, and also raises the moral question of whether or not the creature learns from scratch with his blank slate of a ‘child brain', or whether he simply possesses the mind of the old brain. How a new creature made from death can still have life, particularly have its own mind is uncertain, especially when we consider that the creature must suddenly have had a consciousness emerge out of oblivion, but all we know is that there must be something real about it for it to be able to affect the lives of real humans. Whether or not education is simply learning how to live by gathering and experiencing simple pleasures, having sufficient food, and utilising fire depends on what and who is being asked, but surely anything that is learnt counts as a sort of education in its own way. Learning through experience means that on the plus side, you know what you have learnt is true, and you know what will work best in a certain set of circumstances, but when you arrive at something new and unfamiliar, trial and error (error being the key point) is the only way forward. Frankenstein in a way is all about education, particularly when it comes to the misuse of formal education, and mistakes made, but because not all of the plot details in the end come down to a matter of education, it therefore cannot be deemed to be the key theme of the novel.

Effective and Ethical Leadership Essay

Page 2. Throughout the evolution of modern business, leaders have strived to be effective and profitable. However, due to unprecedented business scandals throughout the past decade, strict adherence to the principles of business ethics has become more prominent and expansive than ever before. In light of scandalous and unethical business practices, as exuded by Enron and WorldCom for example, business leaders and governing agencies realize the importance of ethical behavior. Although there is not a clear cut or standard set of attributes that constitute an effective and ethical leader, there are several common aspects that can be identified. The most important attributes of an effective and ethical leader are trustworthiness and accountability. Employees must feel that they can trust their managers in any and every situation. Team members must believe that a manager has immaculate intentions for the well-being of the project and the team. Employees will work harder towards the goals of the organization as well as towards the goals of individual assignments if they feel that management is looking out for their best interests. Team members should not look at business management as an entity of oppression. Employees should be able to approach managers without intimidation or prejudice. In other words, workers should feel free to address concerns and express opinions. Experienced front line workers are more privy to minute details regarding the daily operations of the business. A worker that trusts his or her superior is more likely to express opinions and concerns that can enhance business activity or correct errors. Employees that trust the management of the organization will be more willing to work diligently towards the company’s goals. Employees that do not have a trustworthy management team can suffer from a reduction in morale. Overall, a lack of trust leads to a distant and less productive work environment. Page 3. Another equally important attribute of an effective and ethical leader is accountability. Effective managers should not be afraid to admit when they are wrong. Even the best managers make mistakes. In essence, a manager with a strong ethical track record will be able to address tough questions with realistic answers. Transcending departmental and hierarchal barriers, accountability promotes communication throughout the entire organization. For example, after years of slumping car sales coupled with rigid hierarchal divisions, Ford Motors decided to embark in a new direction with Alan Mulally as CEO in 2006. Throughout its century of existence, Ford â€Å"developed a very tall hierarchy, composed of managers whose main goal was to protect their turf and avoid any direct blame for its plunging car sales (Jones 2010). Even the COO Mark Fields stated that â€Å"at Ford you never admit when you don’t know something (Jones 2010). † New CEO, Alan Mulally, diligently worked to demolish the communication barriers between the divisions of production and to develop new ethical norms. For instance, he instituted weekly meetings where department heads were encouraged to openly share problems. Mulally promoted a new culture that was more accepting and open about mistakes. Moreover, sharing all a spects of production information through a universal lens can help to promote decreased production costs on a company-wide level. Organizations will prosper under a management that promotes and radiates accountability and trustworthiness. Employees are more prone to open lines of communication with trusted superiors. Managers that can accept responsibility for errors while co-piloting new plans of attack on pertinent issues can help to eliminate unnecessary depletion of organizational resources. A corporate culture that is built upon these attributes will be poised for future success. Page 4. Works Cited Jones, G. R. (2010). Organizational Theory, Design, and Change (6th ed. , p. 14). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Politics/Amendment Essay

A written overview of the amendment in question. What does it say specifically?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution provides, â€Å"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence† (Sixth Amendment, U.S. Constitution). The rights enumerated under this amendment refer to the codified rights of the accused in criminal prosecutions. Generally the Bill of Rights was incorporated in the Constitution on account of the belief that it was necessary to limit the investigatory and prosecutorial powers of the federal government (Oxford Companion, 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rights of the accused in criminal prosecution are: â€Å"1) right to a speedy trial; 2) right to a public trial; 3) right to a trial by jury; 4) notice of the accusation; (5) right to confront the opposing witnesses; 6) right to compulsory process for obtaining favorable witnesses; and (7) the assistance of counsel or right to counsel† (Oxford Companion, 2005). The right to a speedy trial prevents oppressive incarceration before trial and ensures defense by the accused of his cause. The right to a public trial acts as a safeguard against abuse of judicial power. Moreover, it also assures the accused that he is informed of the charges against him. This is part of due process (Oxford Companion, 2005). The right to confront opposing witnesses refers to the right of the accused to cross examine said witnesses. He is also entitled to subpoena witnesses in his behalf (Oxford Companion, 2005). Finally, the accused is also entitled to be represented by counsel or a lawyer. This shall be lengthily discussed in another section of this paper. When did it become part of the Constitution?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This amendment was ratified and adopted in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution in 1791 (Oxford Companion, 2005). It was part of the first ten amendments included in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights was actually proposed by James Madison. The group known as Anti-Federalists threatened that if these rights were not included in the Constitution, their states will not ratify the new Constitution. They needed clear safeguards against the vast powers of government. After a compromise was agreed upon, the Constitution was ratified in 1789 but the Bill of Rights was incorporated later and went into effect after it was ratified on December 15, 1791 (National Archives web site, n.d.). 3. What cases have come before the Supreme Court in which this particular amendment was applied?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before the ratification of the Sixth Amendment, two statutes were enacted which in effect accorded the assistance of counsel to those accused (USGPO web site, 2005). The Judiciary Act of 1789 allowed the defendant to plead his case in a federal court either personally or by counsel. On the other hand, the Act of 1790 allowed the defendant charged with treason or other capital crime to be defended by counsel which the court will assign to him (USGPO web site, 2005). Even with the ratification of the Sixth Amendment, the right to counsel has limited application. It was only in the 1930s that the Supreme Court developed and enlarged the scope of the Sixth Amendment by virtue of jurisprudence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the case of Powell v. Alabama, the Court set aside the convictions of eight youthful offenders since the trial was conducted in a hasty manner and the defendants were not assisted by counsel. The Court further ruled that there was denial of due process considering that the right to be heard is meaningless if it did not entail the right to be heard by counsel [287 U.S. 45 (1932)]. The Court succinctly explained that even if a man is intelligent and learned he may not be skilled in the science of law and may be indicted on an erroneous charge or be convicted based on incompetent evidence. More so, the defendants who are young, indigents, illiterates and are faced with an atmosphere of hostility away from their relatives [287 U.S. 45 (1932)]. Thus, it was stressed that it is imperative to be represented by counsel and it imposes a duty upon the Court, whether requested or not to appoint and assign a counsel otherwise, it becomes tantamount to a denial of due process [287 U.S. 45 (1932)]. In the case of Johnson v. Zerbst, the Court enunciated the absolute rule of appointing counsel for all federal criminal defendants. Moreover, it ruled that a waiver of such right must be clear and cannot be presumed from silence of the defendant [304 U.S. 458 (1938)].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the case of Betts v. Brady and Progeny, the Court ruled that â€Å"the appointment of counsel is not a fundamental right essential to a fair trial† [316 U.S. 455 (1942)]. It laid down the principle that the right to be represented by counsel is not necessary in state cases involving non capital offenses except in special circumstances. This ruling was held later on after criticisms, to apply only to the incompetents such as the illiterates and retardates or to grant relief in cases of judicial abuse of power [316 U.S. 455 (1942)].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Hamilton v. Alabama, the rule was in capital cases, the Court must appoint a counsel for the defendant even without proof that defendant may be prejudiced without such appointment or even if the defendant failed to request that one be appointed as his counsel [368 U.S. 52 (1961)].The â€Å"special circumstances rule† was held to apply only in non capital offenses [368 U.S. 52 (1961)].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the cases, Moore v. Michigan, 355 U.S. 155 (1957) and Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 350 (1963), the Court has laid down the three categories which may be deemed as prejudicial and thus, necessitating the appointment of counsel, namely: â€Å"(1) the personal characteristics of the defendant which made it unlikely he could obtain an adequate defense of his own, (2) the technical complexity of the charges or of possible defenses to the charges, and (3) events occurring at trial that raised problems of prejudice† (USGPO web site, 2005).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The ruling of the Court in the Betts case was overturned in the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright.   The Court in abandoning the Betts reasoning held that the right to assistance of counsel is imperative, basic and fundamental and that the Fourteenth Amendment requires that the same be available and applicable in state courts. In 1972 this ruling was held to apply to misdemeanor and serious misdemeanor cases provided that it carried a penalty of imprisonment [Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972)]. Additionally, the Gideon ruling was also held to apply to youthful offenders in juvenile delinquency litigation in the case of   In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967). What, if any connection is there between this constitutional issue and education?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The constitutional issue of the right to assistance of counsel is related to education. The study of law requires knowledge, skill and experience in trial proceedings. Even an educated and intelligent man who is not properly educated and trained in law is considered incompetent and unable to defend himself. Courts are created to punish and deprive the guilty of their liberties through imprisonment and other imposable penalties. Thus, it is imperative that if a person is charged with an offense in court he must be able to put a defense and be heard by a properly trained counsel. To deprive him of this would be tantamount to depriving him of due process and would render nugatory the basic tenets of the Bill of Rights. A person charged of an offense would need the expertise of a counsel so that he does not risk himself of being convicted even if he be innocent simply because he does not know how to establish his innocence. More so an uneducated man, a feeble minded person or an indigent. Consequently, it becomes the duty of the court to appoint counsel so that such person may not be denied due process.   References    Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972) Betts v. Brady and Progeny, 316 U.S. 455 (1942) Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 350 (1963) Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U.S. 52 (1961) In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967). Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938) Moore v. Michigan, 355 U.S. 155 (1957) National Archives and Records Administration web site. ‘Bill of rights.’ Retrieved on November 16, 2007, from http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights.html Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Oxford University Press, 2005. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932) U.S. Government Printing Office web site. ‘Sixth amendment: Rights of the accused in criminal prosecutions† 2002. Retrieved on November 16, 2007, from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/pdf2002/024.pdf

Fresin Fries Bussiness Plan

Company Summary What is Fresin Fries? Fresin Fries sells  gourmet fries in a cone  with a   choice of sauce. We use the concept of Belgian Fries, where the fries are all made from fresh potatoes and fried twice. Our outlet also provides excellent and friendly customer service to support the ambience of fun, energetic and youthful lifestyle. Youthful and fresh surroundings We will imitate  successful establishments, such as Jamba Juice and Starbucks, which represent the majority of our core target market, between 18 to 35 years of age. Our store will feature display cooking of our featured Belgian Fries from cutting to frying. Our customers will also be able to read our in-house brochures in regards to all knowledge about Belgian Fries and our featured sauces. Our store will be decorated with fast food setting, such as a bright counter and display menu on the wall. Quality food Each  store will  offer nothing but freshly fried Belgian fries, sandwiches and variety of unique blend sauces, all served with old-fashioned home-style care. Open everyday Our store is open everyday from 10 am to 9 pm. Variety, variety, variety A different selection of sauces will be featured every three months and we will also change our Italian soda flavors to accompany our fries. . 1 Company Ownership Fresin Fries is a privately held company. It will be registered as a Limited company, with ownership 25% – Guy Fry, 25% – Sam Sauce, 25% – Carl Cone, 25% – Harry Hip. Guy Fry and Sam Sauce have more than 10 years of experience in the food industry. Both are currently employed as Corporate Staff of Co mpany A. Sam Sauce holds an MBA degree from University V. A true entrepreneur by heart, his latest entrepreneurial project is a diamond store in the heart of Singapore. Guy Fry holds a BA degree in Graphic Design from the Academy of Arts. His projects are widely varied from product design to brand development of several reputable companies. Harry Hip holds a MS degree from Institute Y. He completed several projects and served as project manager for multi-national companies in Singapore. Carl Cone holds a BS degree from University Z, majoring in Management and Information Technology. Prior to his return to Singapore, he has held several management positions in a U. S. -based IT company. 2. 2 Start-up Summary The retail outlet will be rented at one of the target location shopping malls. Our preference is Space A, for the main reason of reaching larger traffic. Startup requirements will be financed through owner investments. [pic] [pic] [pic] |Start-up | | | | |Requirements | | | | | |Start-up Expenses | | |Kitchen and Fixtures |$21,600 | |Furniture and Interior |$16,500 | |Legal |$3,000 | |Rent |$15,000 | |Packaging and Stationary |$8,500 | |Contingencies |$4,200 | Total Start-up Expenses |$68,800 | | | | |Start-up Assets | | |Cash Required |$50,000 | |Other Current Assets |$0 | |Long-term Assets |$0 | |Total Assets |$50,000 | | | | |Total Requirements |$118,800 | 2. 3 Company Locations and Facilities Fresin Fries locations will range in size from 50 – 70 meter square and will seat from  15 –  25 guests. Our first location will be on the larger end of this range. The location will feature its own originality in merchandise display and other brand building attributes. We will equip the outlet with modern furniture and  aim for  cleanliness  and an  open feeling. We are currently looking at several possible sites in shopping malls along Orchard Road. The space selection will be chosen based upon the following criteria: †¢ Community size: minimum of 800,000 people within a radius of 8 kilometers. †¢ Tourist destination. †¢ Easy access. †¢ Large percentage  of teenagers in the community. All of these qualities are consistent with Fresin Fries' goal of providing a top quality fast food experience. We want â€Å"word-of-mouth† to be our best form of marketing, where our customers value our brand as something exciting and cannot wait to tell their friends and neighbors. Fresin Fries will directly compete with several fast food joints inside the chosen shopping mall,  including Tori-Q (yakitori specialist), Bee Che Hiang (chinese sausages), Bread Talk (one of the most successful bakery franchises), and Pizza Walker (locally owned pizza chain). Products We want to focus only on selling fries. Alcoholic drinks will not be sold in our outlet, as Fresin Fries promotes a healthy and positive Singaporean lifestyle. Instead, we will offer Italian Soda  to complement the fries. In promoting  the  Fresin Fries  lifestyle, we will offer various merchandise  with our logo and colors, from hats to t-shirts to potato cutters to our signature sauces, so that our customers can enjoy Fresin Fries at home. Our signature sauce is exclusively manufactured by Company Q. They can be also purchased at selected retailers. 3. 1 Product Description Fresin Fries primarily sells fries and our  unique dipping sauces. Main products sold are: Belgian fries, Italian sodas and corporate merchandise. Belgian-style fries are available in large (choose 2 dips), small (choose 1 dip), with addition of garlic Fresin (add S$0. 25). The dips for Belgian style fries can also be served with sandwiches; they  are available in more than 20 flavors: †¢ Pesto Mayo †¢ Satay Sauce †¢ Teriyaki Sauce †¢ Thai Chili Ketchup †¢ Creamy Wasabi Mayo †¢ Roasted Pepper Mayo †¢ Lava Cheese †¢ Black Pepper Sauce †¢ Curry Ketchup †¢ Barbecue †¢ Jalapeno Ketchup †¢ Caribbean Islands Traditional Sambal †¢ Korean BBQ †¢ Hot Chili Sauce †¢ Garlic Dip 3. 2 Competitive Comparison Fresin Fries has several advantages over its leading competitors: †¢ Unique â€Å"fusion† concept of dipping sauce. †¢ We expect a high degree of enthusiasm and offer a fun store with friendly staff , that reflects the company's youthful and energetic culture. †¢ Supporting merchandise items that support the company's brand building. †¢ Our fried potato is made 100% fresh, compared to most fast food outlets that use frozen fries. †¢ Our dipping sauce is also made fresh without preservatives. Our innovative packaging will be more entertaining than our competitors; a single cone with a cup reserved for dipping sauce. |Company | | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |2008 |2009 | | |Potential Customers |Growth | | | | | |CAGR | |Young Singaporeans |15% |5,000,000 |5,750,000 |6,612,500 |7,604,375 |8,745,031 |15. 00% | |Working Singaporeans |10% |3,000,000 |3,300,000 |3,630,000 |3,993,000 |4,392,300 |10. 0% | |Tourists |20% |3,800,000 |4,560,000 |5,472,000 |6,566,400 |7,879,680 |20. 00% | |Total |15. 52% |11,800,000|13,610,000|15,714,500|18,163,775|21,017,011|15. 52% | 4. 2 Target Market Segment Strategy Fresin Fries intends to cater to the bulk of teenagers and youngsters in Singap ore. We have chosen this group for several important reasons. It is our goal to be â€Å"the extraordinary fast food place† and we believe that the age group from 15 to 25 is the primary age where brand building efforts could take place. They are on limited or fixed incomes and seek a value/price relationship that will not stretch their budgets. Our secondary target is  between the ages of 25  and 37, which are a heavy lounge/restaurant user group. They are more flexible in budgets and seek more than a value/price relationship. Our lunch strategy is dual purposed. First, we are featuring fresh fries to fill Singapore's craving for fast food as most ideas of lunch is a quick bite not a heavy meal. Second, we want to keep the price point at lunch as fair as possible to keep us in competition with other fast food outlets. At S$4. 00 for a medium size fries, we are only slightly above the segment, but we offer much more excitement than the rest of the competition. 4. 2. 1 Market Needs Fresin Fries sees our targeted market group as having many â€Å"makan† (eating) Singaporean Dollar needs. A recent Consumer Trend and Analysis by Euromonitor identified the following needs among our target markets. Our core group: †¢ Wants variety and flavor in its food, preferably something fried †¢ Looks for speed of service †¢ Wants an entertaining and fun experience Insists upon a clean, friendly, and attractive environment †¢ Adopts a global lifestyle †¢ Is computer literate †¢ Enjoys eating out †¢ Has an active lifestyle †¢ Comes from various ethnic backgrounds According to a GAIN Report published in 2000, potatoes are  the second largest commodity of US exports to Singapore after fresh fruit, valuing almost USD $13 million per annum. This is caused by the increasing ly younger demographic and rising incomes throughout Singapore that have led to lifestyle changes that are influencing consumer purchases, food, and entertainment choices. Some changes taking place include a larger professional class with more working women,  which means greater disposable incomes. 4. 2. 2 Market Trends In the past, Singaporeans preferred Western chain restaurants. This was the time when KFC, McDonald's, Long John Silver's  and Pizza Hut were dominating most of the chains. But the trend seems to have shifted in the last decade, with the success of the locally grown brands, such as Bread Talk and Bee Che Hiang. Many of these local brands grew to become  giant franchises  that dominate the Southeast Asia region. For instance, Bread Talk controls 55% of Indonesia's bakery market. The key to success for these foreign chains was mainly due to the popularity of Singapore as tourist destination for these countries. Tourists are the strongest â€Å"buzzer. † Usually after  they went back from vacationing in Singapore, they told friends and families about new things in Singapore, including new shopping malls, new boutiques, new restaurants, and new fast food joints. The fascination of Asian tourists coming to Singapore has positioned the city itself as an aspiration to modern life in the region. Many local entrepreneurs camouflaged their retail stores as an international brand in accordance to what they sell. For instance, there is a local entrepreneur who created a Japanese name to sell yakitori (Japanese BBQ meat skewers), and there is a fashion boutique named after an old Italian movie. 4. 3 Industry Analysis Despite the prolonged effects of the Asian Economic Crisis followed by political turmoil up to mid 2001, Singapore's food service industry witnessed growth over 2000/2001 at 4  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 5% in terms of units and transaction (Euromonitor). Much of this growth was contributed by the cafes/bars, fast food, and food retail sectors, whose wide appeal amongst a young population, for whom time is of a premium, led to high levels of growth. This growth is underpinned by market demand and lifestyle changes, such as seeing eating out as part of trendy lifestyle. Entry of major multi-national food service operators into major shopping destination in the late 1980s until the 1990s led to growth in competition in the marketplace, mainly from fast food chains. This stimulated the rise in the number of fast food units, both of international  and local chains, that started in the early 1990s. Although there was a  slowdown during the economic crisis in 1998,  the food service industry  recovered faster than others, particularly during 2000 and 2001. Recent bombing tragedies have also proven that  negative effects on this sector  are moderately short-term. Franchising became popular in the food service industry through the introduction and entry of multi-national food service brands, primarily U. S. -owned enterprises, such as KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's. Currently, there are many local chains that have also experienced growth by applying this system to their operations. 4. 3. 1 Trends in Food Service Retail According to government surveys, Singapore's spending on â€Å"eating out† is continuing to increase. Spending on cooked food as a percentage of total average food-spend reached 55% in 1998. The growth in spending in the food service sector arises from a number of factors: †¢ Increased affluence amongst Singaporeans, especially those under the age of 40 years. †¢ Increases in the number of expatriate residents, which has more than doubled since 1988. †¢ Increased convenience-seeking amongst younger Singaporeans who live in a hectic city today compared to the much slower pace of life that existed 20 years ago. When they want convenient cooked food, Singaporeans have long turned to the local hawker stalls, rather than prepared ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat processed convenience foods. As the numbers and variety of food service outlets has increased in Singapore, locals have adopted the convenient products of other food service outlets, especially the fast food outlets, as alternative sources of convenient cooked food. Younger middle and upper income group families and individuals are also frequent users of the full service restaurants, modern-style coffee shops and cafes that now exist all across Singapore. Over the past 5 years, there has been a general upgrading in the food service sector which has seen the establishment of more air conditioned food centers (food courts) that are considerably cleaner than the traditional hawker markets. At the same time, increased investment from foreign and local businesses in the sector has also produced an increase in the numbers of: †¢ Foreign chains, including chains such as Outback Steakhouse. †¢ Modern retail bakery/cafe outlets such as Bread Talk. †¢ Modern coffee shops such as Starbucks. 4. 3. 2 Competition and Buying Patterns The competition in this arena is the fiercest  in all  other metropolitan areas in SE Asia. Singapore is a compact city, but has a lot to offer. Usually there are a minimum of two of the same outlets within  a radius of less than 300 meters. For instance, Bread Talk opens one outlet inside the Ngee Ann City Shopping Centre and another just across the street inside the Far East Plaza Shopping Centre. It is quite common for retailers to implement this kind of strategy, due to the high volume of people strolling around the main area of Orchard Road. Another reason is because many retailers do not want to lose sales opportunity, as the competitors are offering substitutions and similar product categories. This phenomenon has made Singapore the best place to shop. If you just missed Haagen Dazs waffle at CK Tang Shopping Mall, there is another Haagen Dazs across the street at the new Paragon Shopping Centre. 4. 3. 3 Main Competitors Our main competitors in this segment are any food outlets within the 300 meter radius along the Orchard Road. In our location, there are Tori-Q, Pizza Walker, Starbucks, Bread Talk, and Rotiboy. Tori-Q Tori-Q is locally owned franchise who sells Japanese BBQ skewers. Established in 1998, Tori-Q had expanded its operation into neighboring countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Tori-Q is popular among local teenagers as it offers fast service to its customers. Commonly, Tori-Q outlets are rather small,  and can only serve a maximum of 6 guests. It is a choice for those who are in a hurry and would like to grab a quick lunch on the way. Pizza Walker Pizza Walker is a joint venture positioned as gourmet pizza joint in Singapore. Most of its retail outlets are decorated with welcoming ambience, such as flowers and see-through kitchens. Pizza Walker is a good place to hang out, and the place is always full during lunch hour. It has more than enough tables to serve a maximum of 55 guests. Its specialty is all-you-can-eat pizza! Starbucks Starbucks' strategy entering the lunch market had made some impact in Singapore. Usually, a lunch menu in Singapore consists of â€Å"fried and BBQ stuff† such as roast pork with rice or the Big Mac. Starbucks is one of the first food retailers that popularized â€Å"light and healthy† alternatives such as salad or lean sandwich as an options for Singapore's lunch accommodations. Bread Talk As the most successful franchiser in Singapore, Bread Talk is surely becoming a threat for most food retailers. Bread Talk not only rented most of the retail space along Orchard Road, but now they are doing delivery to offices and apartments nearby. Bread Talk outlets usually consist of a huge see-through kitchen, and bread trays ready for pick-up by customers, with three or four cashiers at front, to speed up the queue. Rumor has it that Bread Talk sold more than 35,000 breads each day in just one of their retail outlets. Rotiboy A Malaysian franchise. Rotiboy is quite popular in the region as it is now expanding into several cities in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. Rotiboy offers simplicity for quick lunch franchiser, and often considered alternatives for its long queueing rivals. 4. 3. 4 Foreign Vs. Local Franchising Around 40% of the franchises operating in Singapore are foreign. Home grown franchises are still in their maturing stages as they start to expand globally. Franchises from the U. S. account for 65% of foreign brands, with big players such as KFC, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, etc. Due to high capital investment, Singapore conglomerates tend to dominate the industry. Home grown franchises are more  often sought more by young entrepreneurs than  are their Western counterparts, as  they offer greater flexibility and lower franchise fees to operate. Unlike Western license holders, home grown franchises  are more efficient in the overall supply chain management as the basic raw ingredients are commonly found anywhere in the region. Strategy and Implementation Summary At first, we will open one outlet inside the New Paragon Shopping Centre. This will become our â€Å"market testing area,† and as we go further, Fresin Fries is planning to open another in nearby shopping malls. In attracting customers to try our fries, we will provide a see-through kitchen, so that people will see how we are committed to freshness in our products. The kitchen will also let out an aroma of our freshly fried fries into the surroundings area, so that people will come and try our products. 5. 1 Competitive Edge †¢ Our unique dipping sauces blend local taste and international into one fusion recipe for the signature sauce. Enthusiastic and friendly staff †¢ Supporting merchandise items that support company's brand building. †¢ Our  fries  are made of 100% fresh potatoes, unlike the frozen fries used by competitors. †¢ Innovative packaging will position us at the same level with foreign fast food franchises. 5. 2 Marketing Strategy Our strategy is based on serving our markets well. We will start our first outlet a s a â€Å"market tester† that could become a model of the expanding number of outlets in the future. Concentration will be on maintaining quality and establishing a strong identity in the local market. A combination of local media and local store marketing programs will be utilized at each location. Local store marketing is most effective, followed by print ad. As soon as a concentration of stores is established in a market, then broader media will be explored. We believe, however, that the best form of advertising is still â€Å"buzz. † By providing a fun and energetic environment, with unbeatable quality at an acceptable price in a clean and friendly outlet, we will be the talk of the town. Therefore, the execution of our concept is the most critical element of our plan. We will actively build our brand, through the selling of supporting materials, such as merchandise, promotional items and other marketing gimmicks similar to those of other fast food franchises. 5. 2. 1 Pricing Strategy Our pricing strategy is positioned as â€Å"generic†, meaning that S$4. 00 is the average consumer spending for a snack or light lunch in Singapore. Leveraging the volume of fries, Italian Soda, and signature style sauces to be sold, we are serving the majority of Singaporeans. 5. 2. 2 Brand Challenges Fresin Fries must establish a distinct brand to stand out from the other Western-style fast food competitors. Our logo is distinct as fresh, energetic and playful with color elements that are eye catching. †¢ Product names are geared toward the target market (teens), with items such as â€Å"Frenzy Fresin† and â€Å"Uber Fresin† which are fun and easy to remember. 5. 2. 3 Marketing Programs We will deploy three different marketing tactics to in crease customer awareness of Fresin Fries. Our most important tactic will be â€Å"word-of-mouth† and in-store marketing. This will be by far the cheapest and most effective of our marketing programs  because of  the high traffic in targeted shopping locations. The second tactic will be local store marketing. These will be low-budget plans that will provide community support and awareness of our facility. The last marketing effort will be utilizing local media. Although, this will be the most costly, this tactic will be used sparingly as a supplement where necessary. †¢ In-Store Marketing o In-store brochures containing our concept and philosophy. o Wall posters. o Design concept. o In-store viewing of making fries process from cutting to frying. o Standing signage inside malls’ lobby/aisle. o Outdoor signage (if possible). o Grand opening promotion. o Party catering. o Merchandising items. †¢ Local Store Marketing o Brochures. Free occasional t-shirts at local stores events. †¢ Local Media o Direct mail piece – containing brochures sent to surrounding addresses. o Web page – containing company philosophy, history and news. o Local magazines that target our core customers, such as Free! Magazine. o Newspaper campaign – placing several large ads t hroughout the month to explain our concept to the local area. 5. 2. 4 Positioning Statement Our main focus in marketing will be to increase customer awareness in the surrounding community. We will direct all of our tactics and programs toward the goal of explaining who we are and what we are all about. We will price our products fairly, keep our standards high, and execute the concept so that â€Å"word-of-mouth† will be our main marketing force. 5. 3 Sales Strategy The sales strategy is to build and open new locations in order to increase revenue. However, this plan will be implemented when the one â€Å"market tester† outlet showed potential growth. As each individual location will continue to build its local customer base over the first three years of operation, the goal of each store is  S$104,250 in annual sales, with the original flagship store expected to earn almost S$200,000 per year. . 3. 1 Sales Forecast We anticipate the highest peak on the months of November and December in our sales forecast, due to the holiday seasons. In November, there is Ramadan, and for non-muslim Malaysians and Indonesians, it means vacation time. Approximately 1. 5 million  Indonesians visit Singapore each year, mostly for shopping and dining. Then in December, we anticipate m ore tourists coming into Singapore; this explains the jumped of sales in these last two months of the year. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] Sales Forecast | | |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Unit Sales | | | | |Belgian Fries |49,464 |98,928 |197,856 | |Italian Soda |27,692 |55,384 |110,768 | |Merchandising |3,889 |7,778 |15,556 | |Signature Packaged Sauces |3,356 |6,712 |13,425 | |Total Unit Sales |84,401 |168,802 |337,605 | | | | | | |Unit Prices |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Belgian Fries |$4. 00 |$4. 00 |$4. 00 | |Italian Soda |$1. 50 |$1. 50 |$1. 50 | |Merchandising |$8. 50 |$8. 50 |$8. 50 | |Signature Packaged Sauces |$2. 00 |$2. 00 |$2. 0 | | | | | | |Sales | | | | |Belgian Fries |$197,856 |$395,712 |$791,424 | |Italian Soda |$41,538 |$83,076 |$166,152 | |Merchandising |$33,057 |$66,114 |$132,228 | |Signature Packaged Sauces |$6,712 |$13,425 |$26,849 | |Total Sales |$279,163 |$558,327 |$1,116,654 | | | | | | |Direct Unit Costs |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Belgian Fries |$0. 80 |$0. 80 |$0. 80 | |Italian So da |$0. 15 |$0. 15 |$0. 15 | |Merchandising |$3. 83 |$3. 83 |$3. 83 | |Signature Packaged Sauces |$1. 00 |$1. 00 |$1. 0 | | | | | | |Direct Cost of Sales | | | | |Belgian Fries |$39,571 |$79,142 |$158,285 | |Italian Soda |$4,154 |$8,308 |$16,615 | |Merchandising |$14,876 |$29,751 |$59,503 | |Signature Packaged Sauces |$3,356 |$6,712 |$13,425 | |Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales |$61,957 |$123,914 |$247,827 | 5. 4 Strategic Alliances Our business requires a long relationship with raw suppliers as well as partner vendors. In Chinese, this relationship is called â€Å"guanxi,† meaning business bonding. We already have a long and good standing relationship with  Company V  in our previous ventures. For Company Y, Mr. Joe Shmo, the managing director,  is a prominent figure in the society and we hope to strengthen further our business relationship with him and  the company. 5. 5 Milestones During the initial set up of the company, the 4 founders (Guy Fry, Harry Hip, Sam Sauce, and Carl Cone) will conduct the planning and implementation in building the brand and the construction of our first outlet. The planning and construction will take approximately 8 months, in addition to the revision and refinement process that will take the rest of the 12 month period before our opening in early 2005. [pic] [pic] [pic] Milestones | | | | | | | | |Milestone |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Presentation materials for all |1/12/2004 |3/12/2004 |TBD |Carl Cone |Business | |stakeholders | | | | |Development | |Follow up with suppliers |1/21/2004 |3/22/2004 |$100 |Sam Sau ce |Business | | | | | | |Development | |Follow up with developers |1/21/2004 |9/8/2004 |$50 |Sam Sauce |Business | | | | | | |Development | |Printing materials |2/13/2004 |4/10/2004 |$8,000 |Guy Fry |Marketing | |Marketing communication program |2/21/2004 |6/23/2004 |TBD |Sam Sauce |Marketing | |Constructions |5/22/2004 |12/3/2004 |TBD |Harry Hip |Business | | | | | | |Development | |In store signage, POP |5/23/2004 |10/11/2004 |TBD |Guy Fry |Marketing | |Grand opening materials |6/2/2004 |10/13/2004 |TBD |Guy Fry |Marketing | |Hiring staff |7/14/2004 |8/12/2004 |$900 |Harry Hip |Human Resources | |Open second location |7/1/2005 |7/1/2005 |$10,000 |Carl Cone |Business | | | | | | |Development | |Open 3rd and 4th locations |1/1/2006 |6/1/2006 |$15,000 |Carl Cone |Business | | | | | | |Development | |Open 5th, 6th, and 7th locations|1/1/2007 |12/31/2007 |$20,000 |Carl Cone |Business | | | | | |Development | |Training staff |9/12/2004 |12/10/2004 |$1,000 |Harry Hip |Human Resources | |Totals | | |$55,050 | | | Web Plan Summary The website will, of course, show visitors everything about Belgian food culture, including the history of french fries over time. To make the website interactive, Fresin Fries will offer gift cards and promotions via the Internet, so our visitors can print the promotional coupon in PDF format and bring it when they visit Fresin Fries. Visitors can also download Fresin Fries' theme song as ring tones, or order potato cutters for delivery. Besides the traditional formats of customer service hotline and in-store form, customers can now write their comments and suggestions  on our website, which will be directed to one of our staff. So, the website itself will act as the medium between our company and our audience. In the future, our website will show information on franchising/licensing our brand name. 6. 1 Website Marketing Strategy We will leverage the visibility of our shopping mall's website by getting them to include a link to ours. We will also post  banners on an official Singapore tourism website. 6. 2 Development Requirements To adequately serve our audience, the front end strategy of our website should be parallel with our corporate color. The front end design of our website will be entirely trusted  to Mr. Guy Fry. The diversity of founders' background in our company has enabled a cost efficient development in our venture. As Mr. Harry Hip and Mr. Carl Cone are experts in Information Technology, the back end of our website will be developed by  these gentlemen. Management Summary The initial management team depends on the founders themselves, with little back-up. As we grow, we will take on additional help in certain key areas. Part of our basic philosophy will be able to run our executive management as a â€Å"knowledge sharing† fellowship. We will not add additional overhead until absolutely necessary. This will mean that the initial staff support team will have to work extra. By doing this, we will keep our overhead as low as possible, allowing us to adequately staff our outlets. This will also allow us and future business partners to recoup investments as quickly as possible and enjoy a higher return. At present time, Fresin Fries is being owned by its 4 founders. Others that have helped on the development of this business venture will be offered an opportunity to grow together with the company at the appropriate time, and when the time comes, the 4 founders’ share will be consolidated as one entity. 7. 1 Management Team Fresin Fries is currently the creative idea of its four founders. As the company is small in nature, it only requires a simple organizational structure. Implementation of this organization form calls for all four individuals to make all major management decisions in addition to monitoring all other business activities. As we expand into multiple locations, each location will have a primary site manager. 7. 2 Organizational Structure Future organizational structure will include a director of store operations when the store locations exceed four units. We hope that this individual will come out of the ranks of our stores’ management. This will provide a supervisory level between the executive level and the store management level. Current plan is to have our accounting and payroll functions done by an in-house bookkeeping. Mr. David Lu will be responsible for accounting and business development of Fresin Fries, helped by Mr. Harry Hip, acting Head of Human Resources Division. Possible positions might be added at a later date include marketing manager, purchasing manager, controller, human resources, R&D and administrative support team. 7. 3 Personnel Plan Our initial employees will  include two  cashiers, two cooks and two bus boys per location, with one of each on the premises during open hours. This is considered an ideal personnel number for a food outlet the size of our own. Each employee will work for 38-40 hours per week. In the long run, as we expand our product category and retail outlets, we will employ more people in the middle management to ensure the focus of our work, including site managers. [pic] |Personnel Plan | | |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Site Managers |$0 |$60,000 |$96,000 | |Cashiers |$36,000 |$80,000 |$144,400 | |Cook |$28,800 |$66,000 |$115,200 | |Busboy |$23,400 |$56,000 |$94,000 | |Total People 12 |26 |40 | | | | | | |Total Payroll |$88,200 |$262,000 |$449,600 | Financial Plan The company is now privately held by Harry Hip, Guy Fry, Carl Cone, and Sam Sauce. Future shares will be offered after two consecutive years of operating in Singapore. 8. 1 Projections 8. 2 Start-up Funding Currently, the company is owned by the original 4 founders, who each will contribute $200,000 for the same amount of share, 25%. This will more than cover start-up requirements, and provide the business with a cash cushion to use for expansion over the first thre e years. [pic] Start-up Funding | |Start-up Expenses to Fund |$68,800 | |Start-up Assets to Fund |$50,000 | |Total Funding Required |$118,800 | | | | |Assets | | |Non-cash Assets from Start-up |$30,000 | |Cash Requirements from Start-up |$50,000 | |Additional Cash Raised |$681,200 | |Cash Balance on Starting Date |$731,200 | |Total Assets |$761,200 | | | | | | | |Liabilities and Capital | | | | | |Liabilities | | |Current Borrowing |$0 | |Long-term Liabilities |$0 | |Accounts Payable (Outstanding Bills) |$0 | |Other Current Liabilities (interest-free) |$0 | |Total Liabilities |$0 | | | | |Capital | | | | | |Planned Investment | | |Eric Yam |$200,000 | |Martin Ng |$200,000 | |David Lu |$200,000 | |Sagita Suwandi |$200,000 | |Additional Investment Requirement |$0 | |Total Planned Investment |$800,000 | | | | |Loss at Start-up (Start-up Expenses) |($68,800) | |Total Capital |$731,200 | | | | | | | |Total Capital and Liabilities |$731,200 | | | | |Total Funding |$800,000 | 8. 3 Break-even Analysis Our break-even analysis shows that we need unit sales over 9,700 per month to break even. We do not expect to begin turning a profit until year three. [pic] [pic] [pic] |Break-even Analysis | | | | |Monthly Units Break-even |9,706 | |Monthly Revenue Break-even |$32,104 | | | | |Assumptions: | | Average Per-Unit Revenue |$3. 31 | |Average Per-Unit Variable Cost |$0. 73 | |Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost |$24,979 | 8. 4 Projected Profit and Loss As the Profit and Loss shows,  Fresin Fries will run at a loss f or the first two years, using up some of the cash reserves initially invested by the founders. As sales increase, we will expand into new locations to aggressively spread brand recognition. This increase in visibility will allow us to take up less expensive locations off of Orchard Road, while maintaining our flagship operation, the first store, in a  prime spot. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] Pro Forma Profit and Loss | | |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Sales |$279,163 |$558,327 |$1,116,654 | |Direct Cost of Sales |$61,957 |$123,914 |$247,827 | |Other Costs of Sales |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Total Cost of Sales |$61,957 |$123,914 |$247,827 | | | | | | |Gross Margin |$217,207 |$434,413 |$868,826 | |Gross Margin % |77. 81% |77. 81% |77. 81% | | | | | | | | | | | |Expenses | | | | |Payroll $88,200 |$262,000 |$449,600 | |Marketing/Promotion |$10,000 |$10,000 |$10,000 | |Depreciation |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Rent |$174,000 |$248,000 |$298,000 | |Utilities |$2,550 |$5,000 |$8,000 | |New locatio n setup |$25,000 |$50,000 |$50,000 | | | | | | |Total Operating Expenses |$299,750 |$575,000 |$815,600 | | | | | | |Profit Before Interest and Taxes |($82,543) |($140,587) |$53,226 | |EBITDA |($82,543) |($140,587) |$53,226 | |Interest Expense |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Taxes Incurred |$0 |$0 |$0 | | | | | | |Net Profit |($82,543) |($140,587) |$53,226 | |Net Profit/Sales |-29. 57% |-25. 18% |4. 77% | 8. 5 Projected Cash Flow The following chart and table show the Projected Cash Flow for Fresin Fries. [pic] [pic] [pic] |Pro Forma Cash Flow | | |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Cash Received | | | | | | | | | |Cash from Operations | | | | |Cash Sales |$279,163 |$558,327 |$1,116,654 |Subtotal Cash from Operations |$279,163 |$558,327 |$1,116,654 | | | | | | |Additional Cash Received | | | | |Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Received |$0 |$0 |$0 | |New Current Borrowing |$0 |$0 |$0 | |New Other Liabilities (interest-free) |$0 |$0 |$0 | |New Long-term Liabilities |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Sales of Other Current Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Sales of Long-term Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |New Investment Received |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Subtotal Cash Received |$279,163 |$558,327 |$1,116,654 | | | | | | |Expenditures |2005 |2006 |2007 | | | | | | |Expenditures from Operations | | | | |Cash Spending |$88,200 |$262,000 |$449,600 | |Bill Payments |$244,265 |$430,245 |$599,286 | |Subtotal Spent on Operations |$332,465 |$692,245 |$1,048,886 | | | | | | |Additional Cash Spe nt | | | | |Sales Tax, VAT, HST/GST Paid Out |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Principal Repayment of Current Borrowing |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Other Liabilities Principal Repayment |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Long-term Liabilities Principal Repayment |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Purchase Other Current Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Purchase Long-term Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 |Dividends |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Subtotal Cash Spent |$332,465 |$692,245 |$1,048,886 | | | | | | |Net Cash Flow |($53,301) |($133,918) |$67,767 | |Cash Balance |$677,899 |$543,981 |$611,748 | 8. 6 Projected Balance Sheet Fresin's projected company balance sheet follows. We expect to run at a loss for the first two years, decreasing our net worth slightly. As the operation becomes more profitable in the third year, our net worth rises again. [pic] Pro Forma Balance Sheet | | |2005 |2006 |2007 | |Assets | | | | | | | | | |Current Assets | | | | |Cash |$677,899 |$543,981 |$611,748 | |Other Current Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Total Current Assets |$677,899 |$543,981 |$611,748 | | | | | | |Long-te rm Assets | | | | |Long-term Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Accumulated Depreciation |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Total Long-term Assets |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Total Assets |$677,899 |$543,981 |$611,748 | | | | | | |Liabilities and Capital |2005 |2006 |2007 | | | | | | |Current Liabilities | | | | |Accounts Payable |$29,242 |$35,911 |$50,452 | |Current Borrowing |$0 |$0 |$0 | Other Current Liabilities |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Subtotal Current Liabilities |$29,242 |$35,911 |$50,452 | | | | | | |Long-term Liabilities |$0 |$0 |$0 | |Total Liabilities |$29,242 |$35,911 |$50,452 | | | | | | |Paid-in Capital |$800,000 |$800,000 |$800,000 | |Retained Earnings |($68,800) |($151,343) |($291,930) | |Earnings |($82,543) |($140,587) |$53,226 | |Total Capital |$648,657 |$508,070 |$561,296 | |Total Liabilities and Capital |$677,899 |$543,981 |$611,748 | | | | | | |Net Worth |$648,657 |$508,070 |$561,296 | . 7 Business Ratios The following table outlines some of the more important ratios from the  Fast Food Restaurants and Stands  in dustry. The final column, Industry Profile, details specific ratios based on the industry as it is classified by the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code 5812. [pic] |Ratio Analysis | | |2005 |2006 |2007 |Industry Profile | |Sales Growth |0. 00% |100. 00% |100. 00% |8. 7% | | | | | | | |Percent of Total Assets | | | | | |Other Current Assets |0. 00% |0. 00% |0. 00% |37. 31% | |Total Current Assets |100. 00% |100. 00% |100. 00% |45. 97% | |Long-term Assets |0. 00% |0. 00% |0. 00% |54. 03% | |Total Assets |100. 00% |100. 0% |100. 00% |100. 00% | | | | | | | |Current Liabilities |4. 31% |6. 60% |8. 25% |17. 94% | |Long-term Liabilities |0. 00% |0. 00% |0. 00% |22. 26% | |Total Liabilities |4. 31% |6. 60% |8. 25% |40. 20% | |Net Worth |95. 69% |93. 40% |91. 75% |59. 0% | | | | | | | |Percent of Sales | | | | | |Sales |100. 00% |100. 00% |100. 00% |100. 00% | |Gross Margin |77. 81% |77. 81% |77. 81% |59. 05% | |Selling, General & Administrative Expenses |107. 37% |102. 99% |73. 0 4% |39. 24% | |Advertising Expenses |0. 00% |0. 00% |0. 00% |1. 96% | |Profit Before Interest and Taxes |-29. 57% |-25. 8% |4. 77% |1. 92% | | | | | | | |Main Ratios | | | | | |Current |23. 18 |15. 15 |12. 13 |1. 04 | |Quick |23. 18 |15. 15 |12. 13 |0. 66 | |Total Debt to Total Assets |4. 31% |6. 60% |8. 25% |50. 2% | |Pre-tax Return on Net Worth |-12. 73% |-27. 67% |9. 48% |6. 90% | |Pre-tax Return on Assets |-12. 18% |-25. 84% |8. 70% |13. 87% | | | | | | | |Additional Ratios |2005 |2006 |2007 | | |Net Profit Margin |-29. 57% |-25. 18% |4. 77% |n. a | |Return on Equity |-12. 73% |-27. 7% |9. 48% |n. a | | | | | | | |Activity Ratios | | | | | |Accounts Payable Turnover |9. 35 |12. 17 |12. 17 |n. a | |Payment Days |27 |27 |26 |n. a | |Total Asset Turnover |0. 41 |1. 03 |1. 83 |n. | | | | | | | |Debt Ratios | | | | | |Debt to Net Worth |0. 05 |0. 07 |0. 09 |n. a | |Current Liab. to Liab. |1. 00 |1. 00 |1. 00 |n. a | | | | | | | |Liquidity Ratios | | | | | |Net Working Capital |$648,6 57 |$508,070 |$561,296 |n. a | |Interest Coverage |0. 00 |0. 00 |0. 00 |n. | | | | | | | |Additional Ratios | | | | | |Assets to Sales |2. 43 |0. 97 |0. 55 |n. a | |Current Debt/Total Assets |4% |7% |8% |n. a | |Acid Test |23. 18 |15. 15 |12. 13 |n. a | |Sales/Net Worth |0. 43 |1. 10 |1. 99 |n. a | |Dividend Payout |0. 00 |0. 00