The Way Out of the Global Financial Crisis Essay Example

The Way Out of the Global Financial Crisis Essay The global recession is the cause for this, and that is a generally accepted fact. Not only the business contraction, but also the increases in unemployment and shrinking government revenues are also newsworthy. However, it is accepted that, large economies have started recovering from the crisis, unemployment is a problem that has been solved yet, (Nanto, 2009). Numerous banks and individual households still face problems in restoring their balance sheets.As a definite remedy, industrialized as well as emerging economies (developing countries) constitute financial rescue packages such as, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P. L. 111-5), (Nanto, 2009). This note details about one of the fundamental dilemmas which discussed all over the world at present. Simply stated, this is the world economic crisis, which is also known as the world financial crisis which began in the latter part of 2007. More specifically, this was known as many economists to be the worst economic cri sis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.Mainly, the collapses of large corporate and countries, as well as downturns in economies in economic growth, increasing unemployment, and collapses of the trade can be highlighted as the fundamental causes for the crisis. Given that, many large economies have turned into chaos as an awful repercussion of the crisis. However, many economists as well as countries as whole addressed remedies to prevent those so called negative repercussions; it is a generally accepted fact that, those remedies were not totally successful.This note discusses the above addressed issue in detail. Thus, we structured this note elaborating the notion of World Economic Crisis at the outset, and we postulates some of the major corporate collapses in the world. Thereafter, we detail about the major downturns of the economic growth as well as high unemployment problems occurred as causes for the core discussion. More focally, we develop facts about the impacts of the crisis toward the Sri Lankan economic and the financial sector as well.Finally, we strive to postulate, the feasibility of the remedies addressed to the phenomenon (Global Economic Crisis) discussed and we build an argument with a critical justification where, â€Å"there is no way Sri Lanka can keep away from the effects of economic recession but certainly the authorities could think and act sensibly towards finding ways of minimizing the impact by adopting proper policies. Most of all, the important thing is to adopt proactive policies†. Introduction – The Global Economic CrisisIn this section we intend to talk about how the world economic crisis emerged and some of the major players in this crisis. Perhaps most notably, this section does not encompass all the incidents about the crisis; we bring out the most important aspects to develop the core argument of the note. Many are suggesting that the major cause or the trigger for the financial crisis is the United Stat es housing bubble which peaked in the periods of 2005-2006. In the early 2006, housing prices peaked and started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reached new lows in 2012.Adding to that on December 30th, 2008 Case-Shiller home price index reported its largest price drop in its history (See figure 01, annexes: Median and Average Sales Prices of New Homes Sold in United States 1963-2008). As a repercussion, the mortgage house pricing was also started gradually rising. To economists, it all seems painfully simple. Especially in Asian countries, more focally from China foreign money started flowing to the United States. This scenario was allowed people to borrow more and more properties that could not affordable.This is mainly due to the availability of free flow of money. Thereafter, bankers tend to bundle up in terms of loans and sold to investors. Obviously these investors did not understand the inherent risk of these bundles of money. Further, some and the majority of the investors tend to start defaulting on their mortgage payments, and they lost their houses and investors all around the world, including banks and hedge funds, lost their investments. Government of the US was not able to regulate the activities of the banking behemoths as well.Further weak and fraudulent underwriting practices of corporate are also vulnerable to the economy at that time. When we are discussing with the phases of the crisis, basically, there are four basic phases in the process of coping with the crisis by countries across the globe, (Nanto, 2009). First step details to contain the contagion and restore confidence of the system. Secondly, it can be suggested to coping with secondary effects of the crisis. The third phase of this process is to make changes in the financial system to reduce risk and prevent future crises.The fourth phase of the process is dealing with political, social, and security effects of the financial turmoil. The global economic crisis, which is also known as the financial crisis, (Nanto, 2009) started quickly spreading to emerging economies as well. Investors started pulling investments capital from countries, even those investments are with small quantities they perceived a high risk, consequently, plunging started in the value of stock as well as domestic currencies. Also, export prices started gradually declining with a dramatic slow of the economic growth. Major corporate bankruptcies and country collapsesIn this section, we expect to detail about the importance of prediction of financial distress as well as some of the major corporate as well as country collapses followed by the global economic crisis. Perhaps most notably, we are compiling about financial distress, because the improper financial prediction has become a major cause for corporate collapses. Actually, the notion of bankruptcy prediction models started way back in 1930s in terms of ratio analysis and it has evolved into various methodological grounds as well, (Bel lovary et al. , 2007). Moreover, given the importance of predicting financial distress, Campbell et al. (2011) write, ‘Although probably quite accurate, it may not be useful to predict a heart attack with a person clutching their hand to their chest’ (p. 02) The above empirical justification elaborates us the importance of predicting and implementing precautionary actions in advance for a problematic situation. Likewise, better prediction of corporate failures gives an utmost importance. Having a brief introduction about the financial distress and bankruptcy prediction, following discussion provide somewhat a detailed elaboration pertaining to the corporate and country collapses.At the outset, it can be stated that, the majority is not concerned about the excessive executive compensation which is also played pivotal role for the global financial crisis. Wall Street became a magnet for the brightest Americans who wanted to make a large amount of money very quickly. Most companies rewarded short-term performance without much regard for market fundamentals and long-term earnings. Executives were given stock options, which they could manipulate to earn more money. The more an executive could drive up his or her company’s stock price or its earnings per share, the more money he or she would get.Frank Partnoy argues that a mercenary culture developed among corporate executives. They merged with or acquired higher-growth companies and, in many cases, committed accounting fraud. This fraud led to the bankruptcy of companies such as Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom. Many executives received long prison sentences. Enron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 and was one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion in 2000.For six consecutive years Enron was named as the â€Å"America’s Most Innovative Company†. At the end of 2001 it was revealed that its reported financial condition was sustained substantially by institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud, known as the â€Å"Enron scandal†. The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world.In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron undoubtedly is the biggest audit failure. Global Crossing is an American telecommunications company based in Bermuda, providing computer networking services throughout the world. It maintains a large backbone and offers transit and peering links, VPN, leased lines, audio and video conferencing, long distance telephone, managed services, dialup, colocation and VoIP, to custome rs ranging from individuals to large enterprises and to other carriers.The result of this bankruptcy was said to be the loss of 9000 jobs. WorldCom’s bankruptcy filing in 2002 was the largest such filing in U. S. history. The WorldCom scandal is regarded as one of the worst corporate crimes in history, and several former executives involved in the fraud faced criminal charges for their involvement. Most notably, company founder and former CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and former CFO Scott Sullivan received a five-year jail sentence, which would have been longer had he not pleaded guilty and testified against Ebbers.Rising unemployment It is a generally accepted fact that, as a result of the economic downturn, millions of workers have been laid off from companies, at the same time, many of them experienced in cut working hours, and enterprises were seeking to reduce wages and other employee benefits constantly. Although there is some evidence that the global economy has reached a trough, history shows that synchronized and global crises, like the current one, result in recessions that are more severe and longer in duration (International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2009).These ongoing destructions of jobs increasing jobless hours started ensuring unemployment rates across the world. Particularly these downturns affected severely to many parties in the economy as well. More focally, those segments were defined in terms of age and gender, (Verick, 2009). Due to the lack of skills possessed, work experience, job search abilities, and the financial resources to find employment were considered as problems associated with the youth in marginalizing the labor market, (Verick, 2009). As a remedy the youth tend to employed with contract employments.More specifically, youth employment rates are far more sensitive than the adult population in the business cycle, (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2008). Indeed, since the end of 2007, an additional 2. 1 million young men and 1 million young women have become unemployed in a large sample of countries considered in this paper consisting of most European countries, Australia, Canada and the United States, which together represent almost 60 per cent of the global economy. Over this period, the unemployment rate in the European Union member countries increased by 6. and 3. 5 percentage points for young men and women, respectively, while it raised by a lower margin for prime age men (2. 1 percentage points). In the United States, unemployment rates have surged by a greater amount, especially for young men. Downturns in economies in economic growth and collapses of the trade To elaborate this section in more focus, we intend to adopt findings from Reinhart et al. , (2008) studies. We adopted, Past and Ongoing Real House Price Cycles and Banking Crises (see figure 02, annexes).Thus, we begin, at the outset, many of the dominat countires in the globe faci ng banking crisis. Particularly, countires like, Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Ongoing crisis are in dark shading and the past crisis are in the light shading in the figure. The most severe real housing price declines were experienced by Finland, the Philippines, Colombia and Hong Kong. Notably, the duration of housing price declines is quite long-lived, averaging roughly six years. This simple illustration depicts the vulnerabilities facing by the top economies at present and faced in the past.Thus, we can postulate that, above mentioned United States housing bubble which peaked in the periods of 2005-2006 has significant impacts on the respective country’s economy as a whole. And it corresponds with long lasting vulnerabilities as well. Impact on Asian Countries and Sri Lanka Particularly, Asian policy changes in recent years including Japan’s banking reforms, Korea’s opening of its financial market, China’s dramatic economic transformation, so on and so forth elaborates us the Asian region corresponds with vulnerabilities of the Global Crisis.Thus, we state that if dominant Asian countries get affected from the crisis, a developing country like Sri Lanka will no longer be able to escape from the vulnerabilities. Also, the impacts will depend varying the sectors of the country. For example, there will be less tourist arrivals from European countries and that will affect the all ready troubled sector. Rising interest rates and inflationary pressure, US dollar appreciating at the expense of the rupee coupled with a war budget and high public sector expenditure will make things difficult for Sri Lanka.Central Bank (CBSL) released more than US$ 22 million into the market in order to defend the rupee. Less and less dollars coming into the market causes pressure on the rupee thus making it difficult for the (CBSL) to defend the rupee, (Weerakkody, 2008). The way out of the crisis Given all the reperc ussions, causes and effects of the global crisis, in a nutshell, we strive to postulate that, as a country, we cannot avoid the negative consequences overnight. For an example, Sri Lanka’s textile and garment exports will adversely impact due to the continuation US and the Eurozone economic downturn.This is because, nearly half of the textile is exported to the US in 2007 meantime another, 45 percent was exported to the Eurozone. In fact, this sector contributes substantially high proportion to the foreign exchange earnings in Sri Lanka. As a definite remedy we suggest opening Treasury Bills and Bonds to the Sri Lankans and implementing precautionary actions with friendly central banks in terms of SWAP agreements would be vital decisions to be made. Adding to that, prudent policies also indispensable as a country to implement, these are important to minimize the impacts of external shocks on the domestic financial market.Further, stable interest rates maintenance is also impo rtant in this regard and implementation of actions on undisciplined lending by banks pays a greater emphasis. Finally, we conclude stating that, In every probability, there is no way Sri Lanka can keep away from the effects of economic recession but certainly the authorities could think and act sensibly towards finding ways of minimizing the impact by adopting proper policies. Most of all, the important thing is to adopt proactive policies. Works Cited Bellovary, J. , Giacomino, D. amp; Akers, M. 2007. A review of bankruptcy prediction studies: 1930 to present. Journal of Financial Education, 33. Campbell, J. Y. , Hilscher, J. amp; Szilagyi, J. , 2011. Predicting financial distress and the performance of distressed stocks. Journal of Investment Management, 9(2), pp. 1-21. International Monetary Fund (IMF), 2009. From recession to recovery: how soon and how strong? Chapter 3 in IMF. World Economic Outlook (WEO) Crisis and Recovery, Washington, D. C.. Nanto, D. K. , 2009. The Global F inancial Crisis: Analysis and Policy Implications. Online] Congressional Research Service Available at: www. crs. gov [Accessed 01 May 2013]. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2008. OECD Employment Outlook. OECD, Paris. Reinhart, Carmen, M. , Kenneth, S. amp; Rogoff, 2008. Is the 2007 U. S. Subprime Crisis So Different? An International Historical Comparison. American Economic Review, 98(2), pp. 339–44. Verick, S. , 2009. Who Is Hit Hardest during a Financial Crisis? The Vulnerability of Young Men and Women to Unemployment in an Economic Downturn. Institute for the Study of Labor, IZA DP No. 359. Weerakkody, D. I. , 2008. Global financial crisis and Sri Lanka. [Online] Available at: http://www. dailynews. lk/2008/10/13/bus27. asp [Accessed 1 May 2013]. Annex 01: Figure one: Median and Average Sales Prices of New Homes Sold in United States 1963-2008 Source: Wikipedia, Financial crisis of 2007–2008 Annex 02 Past and Ongoing Real House Price Cycles and Banking Crises: Peak-to-trough Price Declines (left panel) and Years Duration of Downturn (right panel) Source: Reinhart, Carmen, M. , Kenneth, S. amp; Rogoff, 2008. Is the 2007 U. S. Subprime Crisis So Different?An International Historical Comparison. American Economic Review, 98(2), pp. 339–44. [ 2 ]. The United States housing bubble is an economic bubble affecting many parts of the United States housing market in over half of American states. [ 3 ]. Case-Shiller Home Price Indices monitors and evaluates the house price indices for the United States. [ 4 ]. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt) [ 5 ].Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City [ 6 ]. Frank Partnoy is the George E. Barrett Professor of Law and Finance at the University of San Diego School of Law. [ 7 ]. This type of organizational culture is char acterized by a low degree of sociability and a high degree of solidarity. [ 8 ]. A swap is a derivative in which counterparties exchange cash flows of one partys financial instrument for those of the other partys financial instrument.

MBA Waitlist Strategies for Business School Applicants

MBA Waitlist Strategies for Business School Applicants When people apply to business school, they expect an acceptance letter or a rejection. What they dont expect is to be put on an MBA waitlist. But it happens. Being put on the waitlist is not a yes or a no. Its a maybe. What to Do If Youre Put on the Waitlist If youve been put on a waitlist, the first thing you should do is congratulate yourself. The fact that you did not get a rejection means that the school thinks you are a candidate for their MBA program. In other words, they like you. The second thing you should do is reflect on why you did not get accepted. In most cases, there is a particular reason why. It is often related to lack of work experience, a poor or lower than average GMAT score, or another weakness in your application. Once you know why youre waitlisted, you need to do something about it other than wait around. If youre serious about getting into business school, its important to take action to increase your chances of getting accepted. In this article, well explore a few key strategies that might get you off the MBA waitlist. Keep in mind that not every strategy presented here will be right for every applicant. The appropriate response will depend on your individual situation. Follow Instructions You will be notified if you are put on an MBA waitlist. This notification usually includes instructions on how you can respond to being waitlisted. For example, some schools will specifically state that you should NOT contact them to find out why you have been waitlisted. If you are told not to contact the school, do NOT contact the school. Doing so will only hurt your chances. If you are allowed to contact the school for feedback, it is important to do so. The admissions rep may be able to tell you exactly what you can do to get off the waitlist or strengthen your application. Some business schools will allow you to submit additional materials to supplement your application. For example, you may be able to submit an update letter on your work experience, a new recommendation letter, or a revised personal statement. However, other schools may ask you to avoid sending in anything extra. Again, it is important to follow instructions. Do not do anything that the school specifically asked you not to do.   Ã‚   Retake the GMAT The accepted applicants at many business schools commonly have GMAT scores that fall within a particular range. Check the schools website to see the average range for the most recently accepted class. If you fall beneath that range, you should retake the GMAT and submit your new score to the admissions office. Retake the TOEFL If you’re an applicant who speaks English as a second language, it is important that you demonstrate your ability to read, write, and speak English at the graduate level. If necessary, you may need to retake the TOEFL to improve your score. Be sure to submit your new score to the admissions office. Update the Admissions Committee If there is anything that you can tell the admissions committee that will add value to your candidacy, you should do it through an update letter or personal statement. For example, if you recently changed jobs, received a promotion, won an important award, enrolled or completed additional classes in math or business, or accomplished an important goal, you should let the admissions office know. Submit Another Recommendation Letter A well-written recommendation letter may help you to address a weakness in your application. For example, your application may not make it obvious that you have leadership potential or experience. A letter that addresses this perceived shortcoming could help the admissions committee learn more about you. Schedule an Interview Although most applicants are waitlisted because of a weakness in their application, there are other reasons why it can happen. For example, the admissions committee might feel like they just dont know you or they aren’t sure what you can bring to the program. This problem could be remedied with a face-to-face interview. If you are allowed to schedule an interview with alumni or someone on the admissions committee, you should do so as soon as possible. Prepare for the interview, ask smart questions about the school, and do what you can to explain weaknesses in your application and communicate what you can bring to the program.

Barcelona FC History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Barcelona FC History - Essay Example However, despite the many challenges in the initial years of FCB foundation, the club did not take long before it started to enjoy success on various strategies and also in field activities. During the time of Spanish war, the team was faced with a financial crisis in addition to having a unsupportive government system that frustrated many initiatives taken by the club. According to Barcelona.de, the period of the 1940s was a blessing to FCB for having attained membership of around 25,000 people and won 21 Catalan matches in addition to getting 9 trophies (n.d). It is the continued success of the club in field activities that continued to attract additional members to join the club hence relieving the FCB financial burden. In addition, the increased membership and growth of the number of fans necessitated the construction of a larger stadium that would host a larger number of spectators allied to the club. Therefore, the FCB initiated the construction of stadium Camp Nou that took ab out three years for completion.Additionally, the FCB motto has contributed significantly to the success of the club since it was founded. The club motto, "Mà ©s que un club", meaning more than a club, was proclaimed by Narcà ­s de Carreras, a onetime FCB president, in 1968 (Barcelona.de, n.d). During the reign of the authoritarian leader, Francisco Franco, the FCB had been given a lot of restriction pertaining the club operations also membership because of the perceived association to a radicalization of the Catalans.

Human Resource Problems in Roanoke Branch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resource Problems in Roanoke Branch - Essay Example In order to fully determine the human resource problems in the Roanoke Branch, I have spent two weeks with the company’s employees. Since the branch is relatively small, I have administered a conference with them in order to hear their complaints and grievances. During this forum, all of them participated in clarifying the issues that they are facing. I have also conducted a survey in order to gain their consensus on issues of compensation, reward, workload, and their interrelationship with other colleagues and superiors. In summary, the Roanoke branch of Phoenix Advertising is challenged with low employee morale. The branch employees are not sufficient in order to accomplish the heavy workload. The mounting customer demand requires overtime which are unpaid. Aside from these, the Roanoke branch is paying relatively low compensation compared to the industry rates. Artists also feel rejected and almost everyone is not motivated to excel in their positions. All these result to o perational inefficiencies and substandard output. There is also a threat from workers that they might resort to other business organizations which can better give them the better benefits and working condition. Recommendations 1. Employee empowerment can boost employee morale. This can be done by including artists in decision making. Before starting a project, the company's account supervisor should closely coordinate with the artists in order for them to know the customer's requirement. With this, artists will not feel that their creative efforts are rejected. This also helps in eliminating reworks. 2. A new compensation package should be designed. The Roanoke Branch should see to it that it is pays employees for their overtime and holiday works. It is recommended that the branch based its compensation package on industry rates. 3. The branch should hire two more artists in order to efficiently allocate the workload. 4. Evaluation of employee performance should be conducted on a quarterly basis. 5. The new compensation package should also include non-monetary rewards. This includes recognition for the jobs well done in the form of spa and leisure packages for exceptional employee performance. 6. The Roanoke branch must establish a program where employees can air their complaints and grievances. This will enable the branch to improve its dealings with employees.

The Press and Presidential Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Press and Presidential Politics - Essay Example With an indication of a descriptively "too close to call" presidential election according to a majority of opinion polls, focus shifted on the effect of a tiny fraction of the voters conceivably vital for both camps: the undecided electorates. Evident from the strategic positioning of both candidates in the final stretch, these were indeed the folks with the power to ether re-elect President Barack Obama or to elevate former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to the highest office on the hill. From the oscillating manner of polls up to the very last minutes, there was no doubt whatsoever that the key to unlock the answer to the United States’ stewardship over the next four years was firmly in the hands of these â€Å"special voters†. The question, however, was how to these groups could possibly be REACHED. This paper analyses the effectiveness of New York Times’ and the Wall Street Journal’s news coverage with regard to how explicit they were in informing the undecided voters about the candidates and what they stood for over the final 10 days of the 2012 presidential campaign. From the beginning, the two camps projected different theories of the race to the public—from Romney, the 2012 election was precisely a referendum on Obama’s unpopular administrative style; to Obama, it was all about comparative choice between slipping back to extreme conservatism, which was rather unpalatable to women and the young elite, and moving forward with the regime’s reform agenda. Surprisingly enough, the 2012 election was about arguments advanced by both sides, and the message appeared to have sunk well on both camps in the final days: a challenger seeking to oust an incumbent making a case for himself and the incumbent seeking to convince voters that the alternative would be much worse. Contrary to the 2008’s message of hope that attracted comparatively much enthusiasm and support, Obama found himself in the traditional p osture of an incumbent under siege—a wiser fighter with experience, not the hitherto conciliator. With the polls oscillating between a possible tie and a negligible win with an error of a striking distance for both candidates, the undecided voters became a fertile ground for both camps to make their final appeals. The "undecided voter" was no longer unavoidable in the final days’ coverage of the campaign preceding the 2012 US presidential election with both candidates fashioning their appeals to woo a winning support on their sides. Avowedly, there were high odds that the undecided women and young elites in general, probably without jobs, will waffle before cameras when confronted with a very simple, but hitherto difficult, straightforward question: Whom will you vote for on the November 6th?  Although the exact number and place of residence of the "uncommitted voter" population were rather unknown, a single type of voter, presented by a diverse number of news outlet s as comprising of young, lightly educated, lower income and white women, was enough representation of the electorates "on the fence" whose influence could not be taken for granted. Noteworthy, the demographics mentioned herein is not inclusive and conceivably overlooks a huge number unsure of which candidate they

Theory Mild Steel Material

Theory Mild Steel Material Mild steel or so-called carbon steel was the most common  types of steel  being used nowadays in almost all forms of industrial applications and industrial manufacturing. Basically, it refers to a group of low carbon steel with relatively low tensile strength, malleable and cheap which consist the maximum composition of Carbon between 0.15% to 0.3%. Furthermore its surface hardness can be increased through carburizing. Apart from the cheapest types of steel, it was widely used in every type of product created from  steel because of its weldability, good strength and hardness and although it has the tendency to rust, it is very durable to build materials. Plus, it had the ability to be be magnetized and used in almost any project that requires a lot number of metal. 2.1.2 Types of Mild Steel There were many types of Mild Steel that had been discovered until recently, among them were A36, High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) Steel, Abrasion Resistant (AR), Pressure Vessel Quality (PVQ), 4140, 8620 ,1045,1018 and Free Machine Steel (FM 45). The most popular mild steel specification for carbon steel is A36 which normally comes in shapes of plates and bars for bolted and welded construction. High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) Steel usually contain more than 15% composition of carbon and it is stronger than any ordinary plain carbon steels. HSLA normally comes in the appearance of Corten and Exten material. They are widely used in cars, cranes, bridges and other structures to handle stress at low temperatures. Abrasion Resistant (AR) is commonly used in truck and hopper bodies, shoots, and wear as it is a very hard mild steel that is abrasion or wear resistant. While for the Pressure Vessel Quality (PVQ), because of its properties which are high strength and low weight mild steel it wa s commonly used in earth moving, transport equipment such as booms, buckets, and pressure vessels. Among the example of PVQ are A514 and T1. 4140 and 8620 perform well under high heat, heavy load wear-resistant material and was used for dyes and molds. 1045 is a standard mild steel which is more durable than A36 though it is harder to machine and weld. It is commonly used for axles, bolts, connecting rods, hydraulic rams and etc. 1018 is the most frequently available of the cold-rolled steels and chemically similar to A36. It come generally in round rod, square bar and rectangle bar. It have good edges such as strength, ductility and ease of machining. Last but not least, Free Machine Steel (FM 45) is a mild steel that has average durability in strength and easy to machine. 2.1.3 Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel In materials science, the strength phrase can be assumed as a high resistance to breakage. Mild steel was well known because of its high resistance to breakage and therefore its mechanical properties can be considered as very strong due to the low amount of carbon it contains. Mild Steel also was recognized as having a high tensile and impact strength compared to the High Carbon Steel due to the fact that it can be easily malleable even when in cold. Another distinguished differences of mechanical properties between high carbon steel and Mild Steel was mild steel bends or deforms if being subjected under stress while a high carbon steels usually shatter or crack. This cause Mild Steel was widely preferred in the construction area in the interest of its weldability, machiniability, malleablility and high strength. As a result of its high strength and easy to malleable, the former is actually quite soft which cause its easy to machine and welding both to itself or to other types of ste el. Nevertheless, the former cannot be hardened through heat treatment processes unlike the latter. Mild steel usually contains few other alloying elements other than Carbon to give them certain desirable mechanical properties. For example, lets take a look at 1018, a common type of mild steel. 1018 contains an approximately 0.6%-0.9% Manganese (Mn), 0.04% Phosphorus and 0.05% Sulphur. Varying these chemicals will affects certain properties such as corrosion resistance and strength. For instance, Phosphorus, Sulphur and Silicon are undesirable and can be considered as trace elements as they have negative impacts on the steel due to their bad effects on the steel and its properties. The reason why Phosphorus is consider as a trace element because it affects primarily the ductility and the toughness of steel mostly when the steel is in the quenched and tempered conditions. In fact, the Phosphorus has a tendency to react with the iron to form a compound known as ironphosphide (Fe3P) which has the particularity of being brittle. Hence, phosphorus renders steel less tough and ductile wh ile it increases brittleness. While for the Sulphur which also was a trace element, it has a great tendency to segregate (that is to isolate itself in the structure). It also reacts with iron to form iron sulphide which produces red or hot-shortness, since the low melting eutectic forms a network around the grains so that these hold but loosely together, and the grain boundaries may easily break up during hotforming. So, from here we can see that Sulphur plays a great role in the decline ability of steel such as weldability, impact, toughness and the ductility of the steel. Carbon is an element whose presence is imperative in all steel. Indeed, carbon is the principle hardening element of steel. That is, this alloying element determines the level of hardness or strength that can be attained by quenching. Furthermore, carbon is essential for the formation of cementite (as well as other carbides) and of pearlite, spheridite, bainite, and iron-carbon martensite, with martensite being the hardest of the microstructures. Carbon is also responsible for increase in tensile strength, hardness, resistance to wear and abrasion. However, when present in high quantities it affects the ductility, the toughness and the machinability of steel. Whereas element like Carbon and Manganese are desireable as it can enhanced the properties of steel. First, lets observe Carbon element. Carbon is an element whose presence is imperative in all steel. Indeed, carbon is the principle hardening element of steel. That means that the alloying element determines the level of hardness or strength that can be attained by quenching. Furthermore, carbon is essential for the formation of cementite (as well as other carbides) and not to mention pearlite, spheridite,bainite, and iron-carbon martensite, with martensite being the hardest of the microstructures. Carbon is also responsible for the increase in tensile strength, hardness,resistance to wear and abrasion. However, when present in high quantities it will affects the ductility, the toughness and the machinability of steel. Same as Carbon, Manganese also contributes greatly towards increasing strength and hardness, but to a less extent than carbon. To be more precise, the degree to which manganese increases hardness and strength is dependent upon the Carbon content of the steel. In fact, manganese contributes to the increasing the strength of the ferrite, and also toward increasing the hardness of penetration of steel in the quench by decreasing the critical quenching speed. Moreover, still consisting of a considerable amount of manganese can be quenched in oil rather than in water, and are therefore less susceptible to cracking because of reduction in the shock of the quenching. In addition, the latter enhance the tensile strength, the hardness, the harden ability, the resistance to wear and it also increase the rate of carbon penetrating in the coefficient of thermal expansion of steel whereas it is detrimental to both thermal and electrical conductivity. 2.1.4 Application of Mild Steel Nowadays, every objects that are fabricated of  steel  are using  mild  steel type of material which includes automobile chassis, motorcycle frames and most cookware product. Due to its poor corrosion-resistance, it must be painted or protected and sealed in order to prevent rust from damaging it. A light coat of oil or grease is able to seal this  steel  and aid in rust control.Unlike high-carbon  steel,  mild  steel  is easily welded. The properties of the  steel  allow the electrical current to travel through the metal without distorting the makeup of the material. Some types of high-carbon  steel such as stainless  steel, require special techniques in order to properly weld the material. Being less brittle than high-carbon steels, the  mild  variant is able to flex and give in construction projects where a higher-carbon version could simply break. Most of the pipeline in the world is created using  mild  steel. This allows the pipe to not only be easily welded into place, but also lets the pipeline flex and avoid cracking and breaking under pressure. The corrosive properties of the  steel  pipeline mean that it must be properly sealed through painting or a process often used on pipelines that involves wrapping the pipe with a corrosive-resistant material.Often in very cold climates, a warming type of insulating material is wrapped around the pipeline. This material helps keep the cold inside the pipe running smoothly. The wrap also prevents the soft  mild  pipe  steel  from becoming brittle and cracking. The constant expansion and shrinkage due to cold and warmth cycling in the pipe could create structural integrity problems, but these are held in check by the insulating wrap. On a much smaller scale, household pipes can be prevented from becoming cold and breaking by the use of electrical heating tape. 2.2 Theory Test 2.2.1 Tensile Test A  tensile test, also known as tension test is the most fundamental type of mechanical test one can perform on the material. This tests are simple, relatively inexpensive, and fully standardized. By pulling on something, one will determine how the material will react to forces being applied in tension. As the material is being pulled, one will find its strength along with how much it will elongate. The objective of conducting Tensile test until the material breaks or rupture is to obtain a complete tensile profile. A curve will result showing how it reacted to the forces being applied. The point of failure is of much interest and is typically called the Ultimate Strength or UTS on the Stress vs Strain diagram. The total of 4 samples of mild steel plate were prepared for this test purposed where all the samples were machined following the standardized dimension given. Stress vs Strain Diagram 2.2.2 Hardness Test Rockwell hardness testing is a general method for measuring the bulk hardness of metallic and polymer materials. Although hardness testing does not give a direct measurement of any performance properties, hardness correlates with strength, wear resistance, and other properties. Hardness testing is widely used for material evaluation due to its simplicity and low cost relative to direct measurement of many properties. This method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond cone or hardened steel ball indenter. Only 1 samples of mild steel material plate was prepared for this type of test as this test only required 1 samples indent 10 data on that 1 samples. 2.2.3 Impact Test The impact properties of samples were measured using the standardized dimension from the strength lab that had been acquired from the lab technician. Then the samples that had complete the machining process will have to undergo two test which are Charpy test and Izod test. These two test were meant to measure the the amount of  energy absorbed by a material during  fracture. This absorbed energy is a measure of a given materials notch  toughness  and acts as a tool to study temperature-dependent ductile-brittle transition. The only distinctive differences between the charpy and izod lies in the way that the specimen are supported in the apparatus machine. 2.2.4 Microstructure Observation In Microstructure observation, the samples of mild steel plate will be observed under the microscope in order to monitor the microstructure of the specimen. Before the observation start, the sample will have to be prepared by first grinding the sample with grit sand paper starting from 240, 320, 400, 600 and lastly 1200. After that the sample will be polished by using either powder or paste depend on which is more suitable. Only after all these process were done we can start observe the microstructure under the microscope starting from 5x, 10x, 20x, 40x, 50x and etc.

Mistaken Identities: Problems of Movie Discussion Boards :: Online Cyberspace Web Essays

Mistaken Identities: Problems of Movie Discussion Boards â€Å"There’s always another mind there. Its like having the corner bar, complete with old buddies and delightful newcomers and new tools waiting to take home afresh graffiti and letters, except instead of putting on my coat, shutting the down the computer, and walking down to the corner, I just invoke my telecom program and there they are. It’s a place† is how Howard Rheingold described online communities in his essay The Virtual Community (94). Is this what the world has come to? The fact that shutting down your computer is such a horrid thought that walking down the corner to a bar or a cafà © becomes unrealistic and almost an absurd thought? That this small task has become too much effort to put forth? I would like to believe that such a mind frame does not exist throughout the population. These were just a few of the thoughts that raced through my mind after reading this essay. With Rheingold’s continual praise of online communities and in reading articles that confirm that others agree with this new lifestyle, I became extremely interested and wanted to learn more. I decided the only way to know what these communities were about was to join one. I chose Internet Movie Database (ImDb) Message board as my starting point. The topic of general film talk caught my interest. I read the posts left by those who had visited the site and found their knowledge of movies to be overwhelming. Many of the members were even able to name characters of many movies. One post was called, â€Å" Name that tagline†. It proceeded to list ten quotes from random movies. Within minutes responses were given with the answers to each quote; it was amazing that people were this indulged in movies on a daily basis. Another point I found a bit odd was the language in which the po sts were written. It was not typical everyday talk, rather highly structured, as if each person was attempting to outdo each previous post. â€Å"I realized this afternoon that the reason I can't stand him is not because he is dividing up the movie audience into marketing niches and then pandering to them. What he is doing is glomming onto daring artistic statements and movie projects that might be unprofitable if done with integrity, and guaranteeing himself a profit by dumbing them down and star sucking them up to make Oscar bait for a mass audience.