‘Billy Liar’: Which of Billy’s three girlfriends is best suited to him?

The play ‘Billy Liar' concerns a nineteen-year-old boy who has three girlfriends. The Fisher family live in a typical lower middle class house in an industrial town in the north of England. The furniture is quite new but of dreadful taste. The Fisher family is very dysfunctional. The family consists of: Billy, a compulsive liar, who uses sarcasm to try and show his intelligence. He seems to be confused about life in general and is also very lazy. Billy is very intelligent. We know this, as there is evidence of this throughout the play. Billy has three girlfriends, I think this a signs of irresponsibility and that he is not very mature. Billy's mother, Alice, is a housewife. She is constantly fussing over Billy and mothering him. An example of Alice mothering Billy is ‘how do you mean? A job in London? What job in London? ‘ questioning Billy because she worries about him. Maybe this is one of the causes of Billy's many dilemmas. Alice seems very easy going. Geoffrey, Billy's father, does not have a good word to say about Billy. He does not trust his son one bit and has no faith in him. Geoffrey has his own business and he also has an obsession to saying the word ‘bloody'. Finally, there is Florence. This is Billy's Grandmother, Alice's mother. She is extremely racist and also forgetful. She is forgetful. She is almost senile and throughout the play she is found rambling to herself. She blames Alice for Billy being spoilt. At the beginning of the play when Billy is discussing Barbara with Arthur, he seems unbelievably sexually frustrated. He has had a plan to seduce Barbara by using a ‘passion pill'. Barbara is a girl of about nineteen who is large and well built. This gives the impression that Barbara is relatively old fashioned and prudish. Barbara has strong morals and refuses to have sex before marriage. We know this as in one part of the play Billy puts is hand on Barbara's knee (after she has taken the passion pill) and Barbara says ‘it seems†¦ indecent, somehow' this certainly makes Billy sexually frustrated. Barbara is very gullible. We can tell this because she believes all of Billy's lies. Also Billy's mother approves of Barbara and thinks she looks respectable. When Billy greets Barbara her reply ‘hallo, pet. ‘ Is spoken callously and flatly. This gives the impression that her feelings for him are not as strong as she believes them to be. Billy also tells Barbara more lies such as ‘Oh yes, I made all the furniture', and ‘ she might have to have her leg off' (talking about Florence) which Barbara again believes. One thing that Billy and Barbara have in common is that they fantasize extensively. Evidence of this is the way that they plan together their dream cottage in Devon with a little Billy and a little Barbara. They have really planed this in minute detail, down to the colour schemes and garden plans. My personal opinion is that Barbara has a greater passion for oranges than for Billy and is constantly eating them. Barbara and Billy address each other using pet names such as ‘pet' and ‘darling'. This shows some sense of relationship between them. Billy gets so frustrated at Barbara's addiction to oranges and lack of passion that he picks up her bag of oranges and, in total fury, throws it across the floor. Barbara is exceptionally helpful when she visits the Fisher household. She does the dishes and is egger to help Alice. This makes her seem incredibly domesticated. Alice thinks really highly of Barbara. I know this because she says ‘I'm glad he's found himself a nice sensible lass for once. I think Barbara and Billy are suited in one way because they both fantasize but in many other ways they are not. Barbara has some direction and plan to her life while Billy has no direction at all. Barbara has very strong morals; she does not believe in sex before marriage or in mixed sex holidays but Billy certainly does. I do not think that Barbara and Billy are well suited at all.. The y obviously do not love each other. Rita is first introduced in a phone conversation between herself and Billy. In the conversation Rita is being very forceful and she puts Billy on the defensive. While this phone call takes place Barbara is in the house. Rita wants her engagement ring back, the ring Billy has given to Barbara! This shows that he does not have respect for either of the girls. He is desperately trying to get the ring back off Barbara to return to Rita who is very annoyed. Rita is a small girl with blonde hair. She is seventeen years old but ‘dresses to look much older'. She is ‘common and hard' and works in a snack bar. When Rita is first seen she is coming to claim her ring back from Billy. As soon as she enters the garden, she instantly insults Billy, saying to him ‘look what's crawled out of the cheese'. This gives the impression that they do not really have any affection towards each other. When Billy tells her one of his extravagant lies Rita is not as gullible as Barbara. Billy and Rita do not have mutual respect in their relationship. You can tell this in their language and tone of voice. Despite all the negative points in their relationship, there is definite sexual chemistry and physical attraction. I know this because Billy attempts to quieten down Rita by kissing her passionately and, sure enough, Rita responds to this by kissing him back. Yet Rita threatens Billy by saying that her father is not happy that she has not got her ring back. I think she is trying to blackmail Billy here. Rita eventually leaves extremely angry and without a ring. She has left Billy in a predicament because has threatened that her father will come and sort him out! Later that day Rita returns to the Fisher house. She is now furious. She does not knock before going in. This is extremely rude. Rita is not intimidated by older people we can see this in the manner in which she talks to Billy's mother. While talking to people Rita frequently mocs the way they talk. She comes up with some amazing insults and dishes them out, one being ‘squint eyed, bow legged, spotty snotty nosed streak of nothing'. She directs this insult Barbara. She does not think much of Barbara at all. She says that Barbara needs to wash her ears because she has got ‘carrots growing out of them'. This means that she thinks that Barbara is naive and stupid. She is probably right in thinking this. I do think that Rita and Billy are suited because there is a definite sexual attraction between them. Yet that is all they have in common because they are both from different back rounds. Rita comes from quite a rough back round and this is probably the cause for her acting in the way that she does. Billy comes from a lower middle class up bringing. Billy's mother definitely would not like Billy marrying Rita as she would not fit in with their family. We do not meet Liz until the very end of the play. I like this aspect of the play because we hear about Liz very near the beginning of the play so this leaves a bit of mystery surrounding her character. At the beginning of the play Arthur makes a remark about Liz's skirt. He says ‘it's about time somebody bought her a new skirt'. He refers to her as ‘scruffy Lizzie' that agrees with comments that Alice makes about her. She says ‘that scruffy one' and also ‘her in that mucky skirt'. The play ‘Billy Liar' was written in the 1960's. We can see evidence in the way that society's view of women in the way that people think through the play; Alice's opinion of Liz's skirt which now seems to be a very old fashioned view. Also we can see how society has changed in the way Barbara views sex before marriage and mixed sex holidays. This also fits with the class Barbara comes from. Liz is a free spirit who travels around the country from job to job. Maybe this is why people cannot relate to her or regard her as a threat. During the time of which the play was set, people tended to stay within their own locality. Despite everyone making rude remarks about Liz, Billy seems to have genuine feelings. During one part of the play Barbara is talking to Alice about Liz and she says that ‘she used to put a lot of ideas into his head'. Possibly she is jealous of Liz, because she knows that Billy still has feelings for her. So she is trying to ensure that Alice does not like Liz. Right at the very end of the play Liz enters the scene with Arthur. Although Liz is about the same age as Barbara and Rita she has maturity and ‘self-possession'. She is dressed casually and is, infact, not as scruffy as we have been led to believe. She is not particularly pretty but is obviously a girl of ‘strong personality'. When she comes into the scene they just make polite conversation and Billy asks Liz when she got back. He seems hurt that Liz had not phoned him. After Liz and Billy have been talking for a while, Liz gets the idea of going away to London with him. Billy gives the impression that he definitely wants to go to London with Liz. When Billy tries to lie to Liz he cannot quite go through with it. Liz is a very good judge of Billy's character. Despite this it does not stop her from loving him. Liz gets the bizarre idea that she wants to marry Billy. She does not want to get engaged and she does not care about getting a ring, unlike Barbara and Rita. Billy and Liz seem to share the same dream. Billy loves talking to Liz. We can see this in the length of his of his speeches. At the end of act three, we can see that Liz is more optimistic than Billy. She makes her mind up about going London. She is sure but Billy is unsure and to some extent pessimistic about going. Liz just makes her decisions on impulse. Liz and Billy get along really well and enjoy each other's company. They have interesting conversations in which they are both fully involved. It seems as if they are sole mates. But maybe they would be suited better as just good friends. I do not think any one of the three girls is really suitable for Billy. Billy has things in common with each of the girls. Barbara and Billy both fantasize, Billy and Rita have a lot of sexual chemistry between them while Billy and Liz can talk to each other very well. But Billy has big relationship issues. He cannot commit in a relationship; he shows this in the way that he decides not to go to London at the end of the play. He cannot make decisions; he shows this numerous times throughout the play and one of his main goals should be to stop lying! I think Billy could learn to love each of these girls. But I am unsure he would be able to live with them or get married. Billy cannot keep still; he cannot stick to one girl; he cannot make a sensible decision. Billy is highly intelligent but his inability to make decisions stops him getting anywhere in life.

Formal linkage mechanisms Essay

Formal linkage mechanisms such as mergers and joint ventures are supposed to reduce transaction costs in a business enterprise. However, sometimes companies can experience increased cost if the management fails to lay down proper strategies (Jones, 2006). It is worth noting that joint venture refers to two or more parties coming together to carry out business activities. In this case, these parties agree to share revenues and expenses. On the other hand, mergers entail two or more companies joining but each maintains their identity. The likely causes of increased costs In both mergers and joint ventures, there is the possibility of â€Å"double running of the departments†(Jones, 2006). This comes about by failure of the companies to do away with similar operating departments. For instance, when the joined and merged companies each maintain their human resource department, the results are increased expenses in running the departments. Increased company cost can also result from uncertainty about the future by the trading partners. In this regard, the resulting merger or joint venture has to cater for the associated risks. For instance, the possibility of one or more parties pulling out will result to increased cost since the ratio of sharing cost changes. Conclusion and Recommendations The above factors would contribute to an upward trend in the company’s transactions costs. Therefore, it would be of significance for the computer company to consider the following recommendations. The companies should review their former organizational structure by joining departments that perform similar functions to avoid duplication. Moreover, the companies in the merger should work out a plan towards reducing uncertainty costs such as increasing the number of partners in the merger (Jones, 2006).

AVIATION LAW

AVIATION LAW This highly specialized field of law encompasses most facets of air travel, as well as the operation and regulation of business issues relating to air travel, which requires a comprehensive knowledge of FAA regulations, specific laws regarding flight, and an in depth understanding of aviation. It governs the operation of aircraft and the maintenance of aviation facilities. Aviation law pertains to nearly all individuals connected to the operation and maintenance of aircraft. Air traffic regulation polices, in both federal and state government, has created laws and administrative agencies with certain restrictions preventing states from regulating routes, services, or the rates of all air carriers authorized to provide interstate air transportation by the Federal Aviation Acts. Through Laws, aviation industry been organized in terms of their activities and professionalism prohibiting all acts that may endanger airplanes, airports or any facility related to aviation services. The law obligates aviation workers to obtain permit or license from recognized bodies, with penalties and fines to be imposed for violations. The law has been utilized to assess and screen all aviation exercises and aeronautics specialists, and may additionally characterize any demonstrations that constitute hazard on aviation facilities, air operations, aeroplanes, air travellers and air traffic. To cut it short, the law that has to do with aviation is Aviation law and this is the branch of law that governs the legalities and business aspects of flight and air transport, such as air traffic rights, aviation safety and security, economic regulations of airlines, and the operation of airports. 2.1 Aviation Safety A remarkable means of mobility is one of the skeletal make up of a modern society. Every means of transportation connects with each other. They perform a same function at different dimensions. Out of all the means of transportation, air transport is the safest in regards to the ratio between the number of accidents and that of passenger/kilometers. Another issue is that when incidents or accidents occur such as plane crash, with casualties, all ears are aware about it and this gets the attention of the government. It is therefore not new or surprising that every State government priorities and give attention to it more than other means of transportation. One of the key elements to increase the public confidence in air transport is put in place a standard impeccable level of safety in the Aviation Sector through law. Aviation safety is not an agenda of a group or a sect of people; it s a universal concern that needs an international attention and enforcement. It is just simply the very important issues on a world stage. Being able to critically interpret the word safety in the aviation is very important. What does safety means? According to Merriam-Webster definition, safety itself means the condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss. This definition, if applied to the aviation world, would totally picture the idea of do not go against the fundamental principle of nature since the law of gravity is universal and machines (which is prone to technical fault) are not human. Another definition made it clear that safety is a mechanical device designed to prevent inadvertent or hazardous operations. This could mean that if we go against the laws of nature, devices with high technological concepts can be used to carry out operations of high risk with the tendencies of circumventing inevitable catastrophes. A source gave another definition of safety as a complete understanding of your work and knowledge of every step that must be taken and the realization that mistakes could be costly to yourself and to the company. This in actual sense could mean that every personnel in the (aviation) industry must be completely learned and adequately trained always towards every operation going on in the industry and not having believe in luck but having the right mind to handle any sudden hitches that may come up briskly. More so, safety could mean remembering the safety rules set up by a company and applying them every minute when on the job. It can be finally concluded, with the understanding of air transportation, according to the definition given by ICAO Air Navigation Commission that aviation safety is a state of freedom from unacceptable risk of injury to persons or damage to aircraft and property . This meaning is very comprehending as it indicates that mistake(s) that lead to fatal accidents would become an intolerable hazard, for lessons must be learnt and since safety is not a rigid concept, it has to be flexibly and exposed to changes in synchronism with technological and innovative advancement. What caused power failure, wire sparks, o r technical problem in last year s crash must not repeat itself in the present year. According to the ICAO definition of aviation safety, everything must be put or set right and there must be a zero or insignificant risk before operations. However, marriage between safety and security cannot be sundered. No matter the highest precautions put in place to ascertain safety in a situation, such situation must be secured. The September 11, 2001 attack on US was not as a result of default in safety, it was the ability of the terrorists to bye-pass the security instruments, which nullified the effective safety mechanisms that was put in place. To make aviation safety at its optimal level, aviation security must be kept and treated as a subset to it. Every airline company has a duty to comply with the rules and regulations of the States Aviation Regulatory Bodies. Likewise, no State Aviation Authority is autonomous, they must be under the international body, which gives and determines rules that all aircrafts and airlines must comply with before flying. The role of aviation safety is but not limited to prevention of accidents but covers all scopes but this study will focus on just the legal dimensional aspect of it. It has been noted that safety is not limited to accident prevention, but should be considered in a broader term as risk management. Keeping the aviation industry safe is just the law, which sets right the right things to put in place to ensure safety. For example, the Federal Aviation Agency which is saddled with the responsibility to regulate airlines in US has embraced safety as its core mission with the statement Our mission is to provide the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world and our mantra is to improve the safety and efficiency of aviation, while being responsive to our customers and accountable to the public . Equally in, the EU, the European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, which is the centrepiece of the European Union’s strategy for aviation safety has its mission, which states that t o promote the highest common standards of safety and environmental protection in civil aviation. They mainly draft legislation that centres on aviation safety and works hand in hand with the national authorities, which continue to carry out many operational tasks, such as certification of individual aircraft or licensing of pilots. Additionally, in Nigeria, the most populated black nation in the world, has Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, as its highest aviation regulatory body that ensures that all stakeholders in the sector comply with the aviation safety regulations. Where safety rules are breeched, the NCAA takes strong corrective actions to enforce compliance which may include sanctions. As it is conspicuous that every democratic government must have a 3-arm component, which constitute of the executive, legislature and judiciary, it is also not new that they must function as a sovereign entity. They can make laws that would solely affect them and form ties with friendly nations with treaties of economic and political importance. As it is extremely pertinent for states to be free of any form of external aggression, its will be disturbing and dangerous to leave some issues in the hands of States to regulate fully without some international bodies influencing them. In as much that citizens of State A can have the freedom to chose another State of interests to visit for any good reasons, then safety doctrines that is regimented by international bodies would save State B from the possible safety negligence from State A s aviation sector. Since law is a product of drafting of bills, passing the bills and giving assent to it and implementing it, it can be seen that when laws dealing with aviation industry, having in mind that there are rules of international standards which binds all, every legislative arm of a State have the duty to marry the national laws with the international rules such that the world will have a safe air transport system. 2.2 Civil Aviation It is among the most widely controlled sector in the world. Every single technical personnel, equipment and airport must be certified and monitored by competent regulatory agencies known as Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs). Indeed, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other global bodies thus evaluate even the CAAs themselves. The working standards, rules and measures used in civil aviation have Standards And Recommended Practices (SARP) of ICAO and stipulated National laws and regulations as there working template. 2.3 History of Aviation Safety It is very important to always have a fine connection between the past, present and the future. Aviation safety did not just become an issue of concern today. It can be dated back to when humans began to add air to the means of transportation. History of airplane can be traced to the age of the Wright Brothers who went against all odds to air-control an aircraft that was engine-powered for 12 seconds in 1903. However, the ideas of these brothers were tailored to meet the aims of victory that spelt doom to the generations in the World War I (1914 – 1918). This ushered in a new era of flight. There came into existence the invention of flights instruments, airplanes were equipped with radar, the first jet engine was already in production. Technological advancement bringing about improved aerodynamics, high-powered engines and aircraft (fabric) metals enabled these flying machines to go on high cruising altitudes and bringing about transoceanic flights. After the ending of the World War II, jet airliners began. Airline companies such as Pan Am and airplane manufacturers, for example, Boeing are into air transporting meeting the fast mobility need of uncountable number of passengers all over the world. Fear was an element that gripped people in regards to their safety. In course of making sure that public confidence is buffered, aviation safety became the channel by which the establishment of ICAO came into being. Regulations were put in place, which happens to be the earliest form of legislation, to make sure that everyone on the ground not aboard is safe from the aircraft impact on the ground. This however became or was seen as a biased legislation, which did not consider those on-board. Aviation Law that has to do with safety got a new face when in 1819, France enacted a law which required that man-flight balloons be equipped with parachutes which can be seen as to incorporate not only safety on the ground but also safety on board aircraft. In Paris, the year 1889 gave birth to first international aeronautical congress in which Brazil, Mexico, France, United Kingdom and United States were in attendance. In this convention, issues such as aeronauts certificates; liability of aeronauts towards passenger, the public and landowners; salvage; and the use of aircraft in war were discussed. Another conference was held in 1910 in France attended by nineteen states but suffered no adoption of a single convention due to the fact that the participants could not agree on the kind of treatment to be extended to foreign and national aircraft in regards to over flight freedom. This convention happens to be the first international air law conference that displayed the very much eagerness to make provision for a regulatory regime of global standard for civil aviation. However, in 1913, precisely, July 26 1913, France and Germany signed the first bilateral agreement, which allowed for airships from Germany to enter French airspace and remained in France. The first legal instrument to enter into force in the world of aviation was the Paris Convention of 1919, which is enclosed with a recognised comprehensive and exclusive sovereignty of states over the airspace. This convention enjoyed a ratification by 32 nations. Few of the features of this convention was the generally acceptable definition of aircraft; CINA, the Commission Internationale de la Navigation Aerienne , was established in Article 34, which got a far-reaching regulatory powers chiefly directed towards technical matter. ICAN, the International Commission for Air Navigation was established by this Paris Convention, which dealt exclusively with the regulation of international air navigation and in particular public international air law. In law the ICAN was placed, and remained, under the direction of League of Nations, in practice direction was replaced by friendly cooperation. The League never attempted to exercise any authority on the ICAN, and the ICAN never attempted t o break away from the League; cooperation was mostly carried on through the League s Committee on Transit and Communications. This Committee and the ICAN were represented at each other s meetings, when any question of common interest was under discussion. It also provided for innocent passage of the aircraft of other jurisdictions in times of peace and prohibited aircraft from carrying explosives or weapons. The Paris Convention was starved with universal acceptance, which should have been the desired goal that coloured aviation safety. Like it was said above that this Convention got a 32-state-ratification, however, giant states; Russia, Germany, China, United States were absent in this States ratification of the Convention. In Madrid, the Ibero-American Convention on Air Navigation (which is also referred to as Convenio Ibero Americano de Navegaci n AÃÆ' ©rea, or CIANA, also called the Madrid Convention) was formed which seems to succeed the Paris Convention. This Convention came up due to the growth of aviation activity between Spain and South-America and as a result of the failure by the USA and most Central and South American States to adhere to the Paris Convention, Spain decided to initiate a diplomatic counteraction and invited all Latin American and Caribbean States and Portugal to the Ibero-American Conference to be held in Madrid from 25 to 30 October 1926. This Convention suffered neglect because at no point in time was it registered with any international body. It was labelled unsuccessful; reason being that at the time it was being formed, aircraft of the period were not sufficiently developed to tie together Iberia and Latin America. Another factor that made this Convention to lack succe ss was Spain s political environment during the period was very unsettled, deteriorating into Civil War and the change of focus of Latin America energies on North America keeping them distracted away from Iberia. 1927 marked the year when the United States commenced the drafting of an air navigation Convention for the Americas identified as Pan-American Convention. It was not signed until 1928 at Havana. It can be said that the modelling of the Pan-American Convention was after Paris Convention being applicable to not government aircraft but only Private aircraft. Mutual freedom of air passage was orchestrated by this Convention with stone-rules for aerial traffic as the principal structures lacking technical standards of uniformity and Annexes. This Convention however did not help ICAN but weakened it. Unfortunately, after the World War II, it became out-dated due to the mammoth improvement of aerial transport in the period of war. On 7th of December 1944, some 50 states signed the Chicago Convention couple with two agreements annexed to it, which are the International Air Services Transit Agreement, and the International Air Transport Agreement. This Convention was a replacement for the Paris Convention and became an heir to the safety framework set by the Paris Convention, in fact, Chicago Convention would not have been what it claimed to be if not for the residues of previous conventions, conferences and all-important statement of aerospace sovereignty. Even though there is no such Convention that is stable and universally accepted, Chicago Convention seems to be a package of agreements that is use today. It is widely known formally as Convention on International Civil Aviation (CICA). Without mincing words, it created an independent agency known as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which succeeded International Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN). This Convention is pregnant with sub-ag reements listed below: The right to fly across another’s territory without landing; 1. The right to put down passengers and cargo taken on in the territory of the aircraft’s nationality; 2. The right to take passengers and cargo destined for the territory of the aircraft’s nationality; and 3. The right to take on passengers and cargo, and to drop-off passengers and cargo destined for, or coming from the territory of any state signatory to the Chicago Convention The right to land for non-traffic purposes (such as to re-fuel). 2.4 Aviation safety Regulatory agencies With a specific end goal to meet the prerequisites for safe air transport benefits, various organisations and foundations have been set up at worldwide, regional and national levels to create basic guidelines, regulations, benchmarks and methods on safety and administer their execution over all aviation jurisdictions. The administrative system and safety necessities have been developed over decades and are persistently being changed or amended and upgraded to accomplish a perpetually expanding safety execution and to meet future difficulties postured by the usage of new air navigation ideas and the need to guarantee manageable advancement of civil aviation. Before distinguishing the three basic layers of safety regulations, it is important to state that all administrative regulatory agencies perform the functions of making of rules, enforcement of the rules, or adjudication. The rulemaking function is very much like the legislative process performed by the Congress; enforcement is the same sort of process performed by the executive branch of government and adjudication is essentially the function performed by the judiciary. The three basic levels of aviation safety regulations are: 1. International regulatory arrangements and requirements, established and promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), 2. Regional regulatory arrangements and requirements, 3. National regulatory arrangements and requirements, promulgated in national legislations and other normative acts by the designated State authorities. 2.4.1 International Regulatory Arrangements The standard global aviation regulatory organ is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO is an agency of the United Nations and was set up in 1944 through the Convention on International Civil Aviation, identified as the Chicago Convention. Through the cooperation of complying states, ICAO creates Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) that cover all parts of aviation, incorporating safety. SARPs give the establishment of all safety organizational administrations at a worldwide scale. There are currently over 10,000 SARPs reflected in the 19 Annexes to the Chicago Convention which ICAO oversees, and it is through these provisions † as well as ICAO s complementary policy, auditing and capacity-building efforts † that today s global air transport network is able to operate close to 100,000 daily flights, safely, efficiently and securely in every region of the world. By being a signatory to the Chicago Convention, a state concurs that the entrenched standards will be effected in its own constitutional domains, and if there is any conflict or variance, ICAO must be aware of it. As a matter of fact, ICAO does not concern itself with military aviation, which embodies combatant and non-combatants aircraft and facilities, which are solely operated by member States military force. As of late the aviation service provider organ and aircraft administrators have stretched the ICAO provisions out to necessitate usage of a formal safety management. ICAO directs the advancement of safety regulatory structures by Member States through the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP) that was set up in 1999 to guarantee the uniform use of ICAO standards. These safety regulatory structures are the International Standards and Practices which stands to be of advantage and profit to member States. According to the United Nations Charter Articles 57 and 63, through the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ICAO was declared an autonomous Intergovernmental organisational. Members States who are having membership in ICAO are 191 at present. Based on the institutional structures, ICAO consist of a plenary body, the Assembly; a permanent body responsible to the Assembly, the Council; and the Secretariat headed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Organization, the Secretary General. The Council has 36 member States, which is responsible to the assembly. One of the required functions of the Council in connection to safety is the selection and correction of the Annexes to the Chicago Convention, which contain inter-national standards and recommended practices. The Annexes are continually looked into and corrected to keep pace with new improvement and propelled innovation. At the flip side of the range, ICAO has seen solid regional and national activities to re-uphold the safety administration for civil aviation. 2.4.2 Regional regulatory arrangements Considering the topography, environmental conditions, climatic situations, natural disturbances and other salient factors, there must be needs to be flexible with measures to ensure safety. ICAO as the international body that regulates all aviation industry of all States Aviation Sectors has delegated responsibilities to regions, which allows or gives room for regions to come up with regulations in accordance with ICAO doctrines that would facilitate safety in the air and on the land. These regional regulatory organizations are directly under ICAO and they are: (1) African Civil Aviation Commission This is an ICAO African branch, which was set up by the Constitutive Conference, convened by the ICAO and the Organization of African Unity, OAU, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 1969. It was established primarily to handle Civil Aviation matters in Africa in collaboration with ICAO. The OAU itself is a body that embodies African States. They are made up of Head of States/Governments, which occupies the highest decision making component of the organization. It also has Council of Minsters, which constitutes Ministers responsible for Civil Aviation. They predominantly recommend high profile policies for the OAU Summit. They have a commission named African Civil Aviation Commission , (AFCAC) which is a specialized agency of the AU responsible for coordinating aviation activities in Africa and is also the Executing Agency of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD). The Commission understands that to boost business capacity of Africa, influx of tourists, cultural and social structures of Africa, there must be a need for a save aviation sector. One of the most remarkable objectives of this body has to do with adopting or and promoting the implementation of ICAO Standard and Recommended Practices for safety, security, environmental protection and regularity of aviation sector. They make this happen by marrying and sustaining the harmony between ICAO rules and regulations couple with the States in areas that has to do with safety, security and other areas clustering around the integrity of the aviation sector. They do not give less attention to the balancing of advocacy and defenses of common locus of member States at international levels when the agendum revolves round civil aviation. This body has been known to examine specific challenges that can destabilize the growth and optimal functioning of African Civil Aviation sector with the ever-prompt actions to correct and or prevent any member State going out of the recommended standards. Africa has been known for higher accident rates due to the fact that, upon placing safety as a paramount issue, they still have an oversight mechanism, which is very ineffective for safety. This is one of the biggest problems in Africa s aviation sector. To ensure that aviation industry is coloured with safe operations, AFCAC have come up with cooperative and collaborative mechanisms that will orchestrate safety oversight which is however inline with the vision statement of the African Civil Aviation which states that to foster a safe, secure, efficient, cost effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly civil aviation industry in Africa . It is imperative to state that not only humans need to be the potential victims of ineffective safety in the aviation industry; the natural environment can be affected as well. Environmental degradation takes diverse forms, ranging from pollution and destruction of ecosystems to degraded fresh water supplies and arable land. The Aviation sector has contributed to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer in its own capacity through pollution. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development adopted Agenda 21 that called States/governments to work together with appropriate UN bodies to solve this environmental problem posed towards the aviation industry. In fact, one of the relevant UN bodies, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCC, gave recognition to ICAO as a primary body responsible for the regulation of aviation-related environmental issues on aircraft engine emission, and which calls upon developed countries to pursue limitation or re duction of greenhouse gases from aviation bunker fuels working through ICAO. In other words, under the guidance of ICAO, all African States have a duty to have contribution to the protection of the environment via a safe aviation industry. It has been clearly stated that all aviation laws, regulations and practices shall be based on the Chicago Convention and its Annexes that make up the bedrock of international air law which regulates the conduct of international civil aviation, coupled with the air law instruments and guidance provided by ICAO. It is however expected that every Member State must ratify her key aviation legislation such that it would empower the civil aviation activities, which involves conducting, and over sighting within the jurisdictions of the State which must not fall outside the provisions of the Chicago Convention. States shall also adopt adequate regulations to address, at a minimum, national requirements emanating from the primary aviation legislation and providing for standardized operational procedures, equipment and infrastructures including safety management and training systems as well as enforcement mechanisms, in accordance with ICAO SARPs (Standards and Recommended Practices). These R egulations in standard terms cover all instructions, rules, edicts, directives, and sets of laws, requirements, policies, and orders. To further enhance safety in Africa, member States are allowed through the legislative system to make aviation safety laws, which must be in consonance with international aviation laws, rule and regulations. These laws must be appraised and modified to accommodate existing ICAO SARPs. When these are done, the Civil Aviation Authorities, CAAs, are authorized by their member States to implement and put to force all the international Conventions, protocols and resolutions. Meanwhile, each CAAs of member States must be autonomous with legitimate power and devoid of interference when carrying out enforcement of safety laws and over sighting over the aviation industry so as to easily realize safe air transportation in all the African regions involved in aviation. The oversight in aviation safety actually means adequately putting in place safety measures via the effective implementation of the safety-related Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in civil aviation. The CAAs exercise there oversight obligations on aircraft operators, maintenance and repair organisations, Airports/Aerodrome and Air Navigation Service Providers, Aeronautical Meteorology, Aviation Training Organisations, handling companies, aviation fuel suppliers, among others. All licences issued to personnel involved in the aviation sector are under the logistical approach of CAAs in ensuring safety as well. The member States also have the role of conducting training and orientation programmes for all safety inspectors. Such programmes includes ICAO s Train the Trainers courses, seminars, workshop, conferences and so on which help to update aviation stakeholders towards embracing all the safety cultures and practices. The AFCAC under the discretion of OAU allows Member State to create Regional/Sub-Regional Aviation Safety Oversight Organisations (RSOOs), which helps the involved Member States to improve the regulatory, and oversight proficiencies. Examples of the RSOOs include Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) of the East African Community (EAC) and the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organisation (BAGASOO). (2) Federal Aviation Administration The F.A.A. (Federal Aviation Administration), is an aviation authority of the United States of America, which was founded in 1958. It concerns itself with the airspace glitches; most of the glitches they are concerned with are on the runways of aerodromes coupled with extra-terrestrial life. Since the year this body was established, regulation of air commerce for the promotion of Aviation safety and development had been a centerpiece of their duty. FAA rules are known as Federal Aviation Regulations ( FAR ), and are published annually in the Code of Federal Regulations ( CFR ). FAA regulations are extensive, comprising many thousands of separate sections, which touches areas of both commercial and general aviation. This includes design of aircraft and certification, airspace design, procedures involved in air traffic control, rules involved in carriers operations, implementation of administrative rules and so on. The agency, established as an independent authority with a civilian administrator, is combined with the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Airways Modernization Board, and the Civil Aeronautics Board to carry out their functions. It was made a division of the Transportation Department in 1967. One of the responsibilities of FAA which is stated under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C.A.  § 106) is to regulating air commerce to promote its development and safety and to meet national defense requirements and also in addition to their responsibility is the development and implementation of programs and regulations to control aircraft noise, sonic booms, and other environmental effects of civil aviation. According to the mission, vision and values of FAA, safety seems to be the core key of there existence. Between 2001 and 2007, with the influence of FAA, aviation industry has witnessed one of its safest periods for scheduled air carriers. According to statistics, rate of accidents has dropped drastically. In the world today, FAA has delivered the safest and reliable transport system in this industry. In the civil aviation, not only FAA is involved, there are other federal entities that are worth noting. It includes National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This body has safety programmes that emphasize not only accident reduction, but also a decrease in injuries when accidents do occur. The program has to do with research to reduce human-error-caused accidents and incidents, predict and prevent mechanical and software malfunctions, and eliminate accidents involving hazardous weather and controlled flight into terrain. These programmes additionally will utilize information technology to set a more safe aviation framework to bolster pilots and air traffic controller. Another entity is National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which basically support FAA as regards making provision for research and operations for the forecasting of weather. Also, is Transportation Security Administration in the Department of Homeland Security, which exercise authority over civil a viation security and consequently, the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates aviation accidents and makes safety recommendations to FAA and proposals for additional regulations. In addition, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) is saddled with the responsibility of aviation security. The FAA is additionally actualizing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), a progression of technological and system abilities to propel air carrier operations by improving safety, lessening travel delays, saving fuel and diminishing flight’s ecological effect. The FAA Office of Aviation Safety (AVS) governs compliance with FAA safety regulations and directives. Perhaps a FAR violation is conveyed or noticed, the FAA will conduct an investigation and may introduce prosecution action. In the shape the violation takes, the FAA might enforce civil fine charges or suggest the issue to be prosecuted criminally. The FAA Office of Aviation Safety (AVS) oversees compliance with FAA safety regulations and orders. On the off chance that a FAR infringement is accounted for or found, the FAA may carry out investigation and may lay down enforcement action. Depending on the infringement, the FAA may force a common fine or elude the matter for criminal indictment. The immediate and precise reporting of mishaps and occurrences in the field is a vital part of safety and accident preventive actions. Keeping in mind the end goal to assemble this data, the FAA has initiated the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), which is a voluntary reporting system of safety issues and occasions that is intended to improve safety and avert accidents. The FAA likewise obliges carriers, owners, operators and others to make available report that has to do with failures, technical malfunctions or anomalies to a Service Difficulty Reporting System. These reports, which are freely accessible through the FAA’s website, are implied to recognize patterns or issues with administration, and alarm the FAA and relevant unit of the aviation sector. FAA has issued new necessities with respect to qualification standards for first officers, for the most part obliging that they meet the same certification minimum training and experience prerequisites as airline captains. FAA is revamping regulations regarding airline-training programs for flight crews and dispatchers, and air carrier safety management systems to provide comprehensive, process-oriented programs for managing safety throughout an airline organization. It additionally plans to put up some adjustments to air carrier training programmes to address mentoring, leadership, and expert improvement of less experienced pilots. (3) European Aviation Safety Agency EASA is an Agency of the European Union. As a Community Agency, EASA is a body governed by European public law; it is distinct from the Community Institutions (Council, Parliament, Commission, and so on.) and has its own legitimate identity. EASA was set up by a Council and Parliament (Regulation (EC) 1592/2002 cancelled by Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 and corrected by Regulation (EC) 1108/2009) and was given particular to ensure a high and uniform level of safety in civil aviation, by the implementation of common safety rules and measures. EASA has assumed control over the obligations of the previous Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) framework, which ended on 30 June 2009. On the other hand, it is not a successor body in lawful terms since it works straightforwardly under EU statute. The primary distinction between EASA and the JAA is that EASA is Regulatory Authority, which uses NAAs to actualize its Regulations while the JAA depended upon the active involvement of NAAs to apply its orchestrated regulations without having any intensity of law at source. Since it is self apparently difficult to make another Regulatory System â€Å"overnight† EASA has needed to acknowledge expansive parts of the JAA framework as its own particular whilst it builds up the new blended framework needed under EU statute. EASA is, in addition, actually responsible to giving of advice to the EU when new laws that concern aviation are drafted. The entire safety rule, which does not exempt inspecting EU member States, are developed, implemented and monitored by the EASA. They are known for Certification of organisations located outside the territory subject to the EC law and responsible for providing ATM/ANS services or ATCO training in the Member States where EC law applies; and the Safety analysis and research, including publication of an Annual Safety Review. EASA is also an agency that helps the Community legislature to design common standards to guarantee the most elevated conceivable levels of safety and protection of the environment. They guarantee that all the standards are complied with in Europe and that any important safety measures are all carried out and it ensures the adoption of these standards around the world. Since the inception and operation of the Basic Regulation, EASA is the equipped and eligible Community Aviation Authority to see into the safety in air transport. Aftereffects or outcome of air incidents and accidents investigation is to be treated and followed up on as an issue of direness, specifically when they have connection with inadequate aircraft design or plan and/or operational matters, keeping in mind the end goal to guarantee public confidence in air transport without ill reference to the Community law; consequently, EASA is the beneficiary of safety suggestions within its remit. Under international and community law, all safety recommendations must be given full acknowledgement by the element to which they are directed to. At whatever point the investigation is carried out in an EU Member State, EASA displays an advisory role to guide the Investigator in control. Outside an EU Member State, EASA also advise the European Accredited Representative delegated by the State where the vital spot of business of the aircraft producer is. 2.4.3 National regulatory arrangements and requirements A national safety regulatory capacity is built up in every state. There is an extensive variety in the execution of the international safety regulations at the national level. This takes into consideration flexibility at all regional levels but it as well amounts to some irregularities. Numerous safety regulatory requirements seem hard to execute, both in states with restricted pre-existing safety regulation and those with well-grounded regulatory systems. Making sure that national regulatory structures are consistently in line with each other is difficult to achieve most times. Despite all this, there is still broad consensus that the matter of safety is global in nature, and that ICAO should remain the world regulatory authority for the safety of civil aviation. It is also noteworthy to say that before there can be in existence an international service airline operation to a destinated State, the State with the airline must enter into treaty with the government of the destinated State. This type of treaty is termed as Bilateral Air Service Agreements. 2.5 Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) This treaty facilitates cooperation between States, standardization of regulations and harmonization of these regulations on matters that has to do with aviation safety. Under the Chicago Convention, it was clearly stated that no scheduled international air service may be operated over or into the territory of a contracting state without their permission. Since the need for movement across borders is just too inevitable, and destination country would want a situation whereby there standards for safety is not compromised, there came up the need for States to enter into agreements with each other which appeared in the form of bilateral air service. Under the Appendix 5 ICAO Template Air Service Agreement (TASA), which is an ICAO guidance material for agreement negotiation with parties entering into agreement, it was stated that each party grants to the other party the right to fly without landing across the territory of the other party and the right to make stops in the territory of the other party for non-traffic purposes. The selected airlines of each party can take on board, in the territory of the other party, passengers, cargo, mail and still go on operating for other reasons within the territory of the party. For safety reasons, each party, according to this Appendix, have the right to, in written, select the appropriate airlines that is worth operating and also the right to withdraw or change the airline if the part designating the airline fails to comply with the safety provisions. Any designated airlines for operation within the territories of each party has the discretionary right to reject or accept this designation.

Sustainability Challenge Associated with Urban Dynamics Essay

Sustainability Challenge Associated with Urban Dynamics - Essay Example Urban sprawl did not start recently. It started a long time ago. Here, we find that the rich had a desire to seek the pleasure of living in secluded areas with low population densities. The Chinese and the Romans historically practiced this habit of the rich living in suburbs with protective walls (Karen & J. Marshall, 2009 p 2). The sprawl in cities and towns always occur when the city has reached peak economic growth. Therefore, at first population density in the city center is normally high. As the city develops, this density reduces as people move away from the center due to improved services such transportation.Scholars, planners, public officials and community activists have offered many possibilities that cause urban sprawl. These causes include lack of comprehensive planning, rapid population growth, consumer preferences and subsidized infrastructure improvements.Lack of comprehensive planning is one of the principal urban sprawl causes. Poorly planned developments in the out skirts of urban centers often happen due to officials planning in a densely populated urban area without consulting nearby communities (Chiara et al, 2010, p 3). The resultant less densely populated regions demand high expenses for infrastructural development. Rapid population growth is another key factor responsible for urban sprawl especially in the Southern and Western United States regions (Klaufus, 2010, p 5). When the population of a city increases, people will tend to move spreading. further from the city centres. When communities in the urban fringes enjoy subsidies of roads, sewers and water from municipalities, unplanned developments easily sprawl in the regions. Some people prefer living in isolated places with much space for large homes, large yards and more bedrooms. This desire means movement of people away from densely populated city centres. The movement results in spreading of cities and progressively reduction in population density away from the city centre. A lack of understanding of unplanned growth consequences may also lead to urban sprawl. The government in most cases has not taken a consideration of the implications of urban sprawl. The government’s action of allowing developers to do as they wish may also cause urban sprawl. When people over depend on automobiles for transportation, urban sprawl may also result. Developments in the urban areas involve the use of materials such as stone, cement and asphalt. Subsidies on automobiles play a critical role in the spreading of urban sprawl. This, according to Hanson (1992), enables automobile owners to incur low costs of

Descartes and Elisabeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Descartes and Elisabeth - Essay Example In her letters, Elisabeth displays her interest in natural philosophy by asking Descartes how something immaterial- Descartes definition of the mind- could influence something immaterial in the form of the body (Clarke 328). She seeks for clarification in regard to the interaction as she notes that for motion to occur there must be impulse which requires contact or extension. Descartes reply to Elisabeth’s question intimated that the interaction was not to be thought of as between two bodies. To Descartes, this interaction could be likened to that interaction which exists between gravity and bodies. Descartes response to Elisabeth was inadequate. His correspondence on the union of the body and mind does not seem to answer the objections raised by Elisabeth. He seems not to have an exact definition and understanding of how the soul and body could interact. Descartes works on the mere assumption that the soul had the capability to do so. He does not substantiate how it does so. He appears to contradict himself by stating that the mind and body are distinct yet the union of the mind and body provides human beings with their

The consequances of divorce on parents and children Research Paper

The consequances of divorce on parents and children - Research Paper Example The first stage is shock. When a spouse decides to divorce his or her partner, the partner may feel numb at first because such numbness protects him or her from the pain. When the truth sinks in, that is when he or she would feel the enormous emotional pain. Next is the denial stage. When the truth is too hard to accept, the partner being divorced may choose to deny it and live life as if nothing happened. However, he or she would need to be constantly reminded of the truth, and if necessary, even be provoked to face it just so he/she can move on. The next stage is anger. This is the outpouring of emotions that the partner may have repressed in the earlier stages and vent it out to anyone. Constant questioning and lamenting about how unfair it is to be in such a situation accompanies the anger. As soon as the anger is let out, clarity of mind may be expected after. When the anger has been expressed and dissipated, the bargaining stage comes next. The partner being divorced may ask fo r a second chance or the. If the bargaining is unsuccessful and nothing can be done to stop the divorce from happening, he/she may fall into the depression stage. He/ She can be hopeless, devastated and unable to continue living normally. He/She may also tend to withdraw from their personal relationships with other people and keep to themselves. Although still in a state of depression, grieving people may come to a point when they realize they cannot be helpless forever and try some things that may be more proactive. It has been identified to be the initial step towards the acceptance stage. People in the testing stage now look into the practical things that could be done while there is still an opportunity. Finally, they come to the stage of acceptance and readiness to move on to the next phase of their lives. This may take a while longer depending on their capacity to heal from the emotional hurt that the divorce has caused. B. Children The children may feel abandoned and at a los s when their parents decide to divorce. Some may blame themselves and believe it is their fault that their parents’ marriage did not work out as it should. They may be torn between which parent they would prefer to be with and undergo strong ambivalent emotions toward one or both parents. For some children, loss of self-confidence and self-esteem will affect their productivity especially in school. Some children will display rebellious behaviour while others will be overly solicitous of the parent they are left with. The children may also go through the stages of grief discussed above and try all means to get their parents back together and strive to be a whole family again. It is a very emotional period in their lives. II. Social Consequences of Divorce A. Economic Espenshade (1979) explain that divorce affects the family’s economic standing but since families’ needs for income may differ according to the family size and composition, the economic effect may be not be standard. A study by Hoffman (1977) conclude that women are at a much greater disadvantage economically than men as they experience a reduction in living standards whereas their former husbands experience a gain. This may be due to the fact that wives mostly have

Asian Indians Community of US Personal Statement

Asian Indians Community of US - Personal Statement Example Then, there are other Hindu important festivals Holi, Durga Pooja, Ganesh Chathuri which I celebrate with the rest of Hindu community while Christmas, Id, Easter, Hanukkah etc with the global community that resides in United States. But it is difficult at times, when we face discrimination at work place or called with funny names for our complexion, accent etc. However, these discriminatory acts were rare before 9/11 and even after the terrorist attacks on Twin Towers; we haven't been victim of any serious racism or prejudice compared to what our fore parents encountered when they moved first to the United States in early 1900s. The history of my community, Asian Indians, goes back to early 20th century when the first group of Indians from the province of Punjab arrived in America and worked as millers and farmers in California and Washington. They were mainly "Sikhs"-followers of Sikhism, a religion originated by Guru Nanak. They faced much difficulties and racist attacks because of their illiteracy and poor English-speaking skills. Associations such as Asiatic Exclusion League made serious efforts to prevent further immigration and property ownership of Indians.( Vinay Lal, 1999) The Sikhs were followed by large number of Indian students who demanded Indian independence overtly. They even formed their own political party to promote and forward their political ideas and demand for Independence. However, America who was strong and old ally of British, saw it as conspiracy of the Germany to overrule the British power in India-a colony within the British Empire. Thus organized attacks were made on these Indian students and successful prosecution of Indians took place. To add to the woes of Indian community, in 1923 the Supreme Court of United States ruled that Indians were ineligible for citizenship of the United States and that citizenship was only reserved for "whites" with European origins. They were also subjected to the Alien Land Law which prevented them from owning and leasing land and forced them to transfer their lands to the white Americans. As a result, the number of Indians sharply dropped from 10,000 in 1914 to 1,476 in 1940 in California alone.(Vinay Lal, 1999) But different Indian organization in America continued to fight for their rights to immigration and naturalization. By 1946, President Truman returned the right to immigrate and naturalize through Luce-Celler Act 1946. ("Indian American") After that, Indians actively participated in politics fighting for the end of British power in India. The most prominent among these politicians was Dalip Singh Saund who was also elected for US House of Representatives from California in 1956 and was also reelected for a 2nd and 3rd term. ("Indian American") Soon the number of Asian Indians grew well above 175000 (1975) and they demanded for minority status within American population. The Census Bureau declared them as a new category of minority group known as "Asian Indians". However, the conditions and performance of the existing Indian community wasn't impressive, to say the least. Unemployment and poverty was prevalent with most Indian employed for odd jobs as taxi drivers, gas-stations workers

Econometrics Project- Tax income in the United State and United Dissertation

Econometrics Project- Tax income in the United State and United Kingdom - Dissertation Example Strong support for Keynesian model in US data. Insignificant coefficient of interest rate in UK data. Unit root test of residuals indicate possibility of these being spurious. Engel and Granger (1987) error correction model pursued to utilize co-integrated nature of data. Only the dynamics of output seems to matter for growth in investment. Interest rate changes does not have any significant impacts. Accelerator model performs substantially better in both economies. However, unit root tests reveal these results may be spurious. Null hypothesis of non-cointegration could not be rejected. So, we could not proceed with Engel and Granger error correction methodology. Instead ran regressions in differences. The growth in lagged real output turns out to be significant for growth in investment. There is a direct relation. ... Further, any model is yet to be convincingly validated empirically. However, till date the best performance in terms of fitting the data is credited to the actual and variants of the acceleration principle. The objective of the present paper is to utilize co-integration techniques to estimate a particular model of investment. In particular we are interested in exploring the empirical validity of the acceleration principle. The fundamental contribution of this paper is two fold. First, we shall utilize co-integrated nature of the data. Additionally, we shall use this model to examine the similarities and dissimilarities in US and UK investment trajectories and its determinants. Since investment is a key macro economic variable for growth and development, the inherent motivation is to derive instructive results that are relevant to macro-economic policy formulation. The paper is structured as follows: in section 1 we do a literature review of the theories and empirical work on investme nt. In particular we initiate the discussion by looking at the Keynesian ideas regarding investment. Then we shall look at the advances in the literature since then. In the subsequent sections we shall evaluate the performance of the models in regards to US data and then UK data using co-integration, error correction and differencing techniques. Finally, the last section will summarize the findings and conclude. Â   2. literature review The central feature of the neoclassical renaissance post 1870 was the distribution theory based upon marginalist principles (Fisher, 1930; Marshall, 1890; Walras, 1874). Essentially the theory implies a negatively sloped demand for capital. The idea was that entrepreneurs would go on

Unethical Status (Ageincy Problem) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Unethical Status (Ageincy Problem) - Case Study Example Unethical Status (Ageincy Problem) Agency relationship occurs when shareholders (principals) hire another person or persons (agents) to undertake certain duties on behalf of them (principals). Agency theory portrays the firm as a nexus of contracts between the holders of resources. This paper explores the type of conflict in the case, effect on stakeholders, type of costs involved and how to minimize the conflict. Shareholder-Management Conflict: The case involves agency conflict between shareholders and the management. When managers hide some information from shareholders, an agency problem arises. A conflict ensues between shareholders and the managers of the organisation. Managers will most often try to pursue self-interest gains at the expense of shareholders in an imperfect market. According to agency theory, agency problem arises when managers put their self-interest goals before those of shareholders.The asymmetric flow of information in an imperfect market makes it possible for managers to pursue their self-interests rather than that of the organisation (Bhabatosh, 2008). For example, managers are usually in a better opposition to know the ability of the organisation to meet shareholders expectations than the shareholders. Because of uncertainties in the market, managers can always influence the outcome of the performance of the organisation. They can manipulate the results to be posit ive or negative in pursuit of self-interests. The conflict between shareholders arises when managers seek for deals that reduce the profit of the firm. For example, when managers seek for perquisites and pay rise, there may be a conflict between shareholders and the managers because this would most likely reduce the shareholder value. Another example is when managers try to avoid optimal risks contrary to the expectations of shareholders (Bhabatosh, 2008). Effect of the Conflict on Stakeholders When managers avoid certain risky investment opportunities for which shareholders would most likely prefer to venture in because of high gains involved, there is likely to be a clash between the management and shareholders of the company. When outside investors realise that the decision of the company is contradicting their own expectations and, thus not in their best interest, the result is discounting the prices that they can willingly pay for the shares of the company. Agency Costs Unethic al behaviour where managers take make unobserved actions courtesy of the inability of the shareholders to monitor all managerial actions leads to a morality crisis that demands shareholders to incur certain agency costs in order to keep managers on check (Kapil, 2011). Agency costs are those that are borne by shareholders in attempts to motivate managers to act in the best interest of the organisation rather than pursuing their individual interests. There are usually three main agency costs incurred by shareholders. First, shareholders are faced with the cost of monitoring the actions of the management (Kapil, 2011; Jensen & Meckling, 1976). Monitoring cost include audit cost to check on possible unethical behaviour of the management over a given financial period. Second, shareholders will have to incur structuring costs in a bid to establish organisational structure that will diminish the possibility of unethical behaviour among the management of the company (Kapil, 2011). These co sts may include the appointment of independent persons outside the company to the board of directors or reducing organisational hierarchy. Lastly, shareholders also incur the agents’

Importance of Time in Chinese Culture Essay Example for Free

Importance of Time in Chinese Culture Essay The importance of time is always dependent on the different perspectives of people’s origin, particularly culture. â€Å"Time is one of the most important bases by which culture rests and all other activities revolve† (Riggs et al 31). Different cultures handle time differently. In the past, time was measured in daylight, darkness, or in seasons; however, nowadays, time has become more important and more complicated. Yet, no matter how complicated it has become, it always boils down to the influence of culture, just like China, one of the countries with a very rich culture. The impact of modernization in China on the changes of Chinese’ behavior is significant. However, these changes in their behavior have had a more significant impact on their values. Indeed, Chinese seem to have never given up one of their most important cultural characteristics, Guanxi, which up until now, remains as an important Chinese business element. In the advent of globalization, Chinese has kept and reinforced this unique characteristic even in the most important socio-cultural changes. Yes, China has indeed undergone substantial cultural changes; nonetheless, with regards to the thinking and dealing process, modern China remains rooted to its traditional Yin Yang approach, and this is reflected on their shrewd use of time to keep their relationship intact. Because Chinese people value relationship more than anything else, as they believe that this could lead them to success, it is logical to expect that the Chinese society concentrates on fluid/multi-focus time value. Chinese people are both famous and infamous in different negotiations for their wise use of time as their bargaining tool. Chinese are known to have adept ability to run down the clock because they prioritize their relationships with their associates or business partners first. This way, they know that the value of relationship or guanxi continues. Moreover, Chinese can afford or stand to play the waiting game, provided that there is always someone left to invest and spend for them. Cultures around the world have developed their own way of responding to time. The dimension for time orientation is based on two aspects; the relative significance the culture gives to its past, present, and future, and its way of approaching the time. China has indeed embraced globalization since the last three decades. Despite this, its stronghold to its culture is still very evident. This is because China is considered as a past-oriented culture country. Countries that fall under this category have a culture that is largely leaned towards the past; they see their future as a repetition of their past experiences. Moreover, they have high respect and regard for their collective historical experiences and their ancestors. As per David Thomas’ description of the country, China embraces its tradition and culture of ancestor worship and has strong pride of its customary and cultural persistence for over thousands of years (73). The Chinese society holds the perspective that their past is their guide on how to live their lives in the present. According to an old Chinese proverb, â€Å"Consider the past and you will know the present† (Quotations). Work Cited Riggs, James, et al. Industrial Organization and Management. Manila, Philippines: McGraw-Hill, Inc. , 1980. Lo, Vincent. Chinese Business Culture: Guanxi, An Important Chinese Business Element. 17 March 2005. 01 May 2009 http://chinese-school. netfirms. com/guanxi. html Thomas, David. Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts Second Ed. California: Sage Publications. 2008. Quotations. 14 February 2008. 01 May 2009. http://www1. bbiq. jp/quotations/past. htm

Cognitive Approaches to Language and Grammar

Cognitive Approaches to Language and Grammar 1. Introduction of This Section Cognitive grammar is a cognitive approach to language developed by Ronald Langacker, which considers the basic units of language to be symbols or conventional pairings of a semantic structure with a phonological label. Grammar consists of constraints on how these units can be combined to generate larger phrases which are also a pairing of semantics and phonology. The semantic aspects are modeled as image schemas rather than propositions, and because of the tight binding with the label, each can invoke the other. Cognitive Grammar belongs to the wider movement known as cognitive linguistics, which in turn is part of the functional tradition. Besides cognitive grammar, important strands of cognitive linguistics include construction grammar, metaphor theory, the study of blends and mental spaces, and various efforts to develop a conceptualist semantics. Among other major components of functionalism are discourse-pragmatic analyses, the study of grammaticalization, and universal-typological investigation via crosslinguistic surveys. Naturally, terms like cognitive linguistics and functionalism are fluid in reference and subsume a diverse array of views. There is at best a broad compatibility of outlook among the scholars concerned, certainly not theoretical uniformity. Cognitive Linguistics grew out of the work of a number of researchers active in the 1970s who were interested in the relation of language and mind, and who did not follow the prevailing tendency to explain linguistic patterns by means of appeals to structural properties internal to and specific to language. Rather than attempting to segregate syntax from the rest of language in a syntactic component governed by a set of principles and elements specific to that component. The principal focus of functional linguistics is on explanatory principles that derive from language as a communicative system, whether or not these directly relate to the structure of the mind. Functional linguistics developed into discourse-functional linguistics and functional-typological linguistics, with slightly different foci, but broadly similar in aims to cognitive linguistics. Language is traditionally considered to open the gate into the world around us. However, language is viewed by cognitive linguistics as the product of cognition as well as a means of cognition, a means that helps reveal human beings mental world and secrets of cognitive processes. Language structure is the product of our interaction with the world around us. The way we build discourses and develop linguistic categories can immediately be derived from the way we experience our environment and use that experience in speciesspecific communication (Heine, 1997) . As its name implies, Cognitive Grammar is first and foremost a theory of grammar. Rather surprising, therefore, are statements to the effect that Langacker doesnt believe in grammar- everything is semantics. Rest assured that cognitive grammar neither threatens nor denies the existence of grammar. Grammar exists. The issue is rather the natureof grammar and its relation to other dimensions of linguistic structure. 1.1. What is Cognitive Grammar? Cognitive Grammar belongs to the wider movement known as cognitive linguistics, which in turn is part of the functional tradition. Besides Cognitive Grammar, important strands of cognitive linguistics include construction grammar, metaphor theory, the study of blends and mental spaces, and various efforts to develop a conceptualist semantics. Naturally, terms like cognitive linguistics and functionalism are fluid in reference and subsume a diverse array of views (Langacker, 2008). 1.2. What is about Cognitive Grammar in general? Language is part of cognition and that linguistic investigation contributes to understanding the human mind-that much is shared by many approaches, both formal and functional. Within functionalism, cognitive linguistics stands out by emphasizing the semiological function of language. It fully acknowledges the grounding of language in social interaction, but insists that even its interactive function is critically dependent on conceptualization. In this part, Ive considered cognitive grammar as an approach to explain the phenomena of languages. As for cognitive grammar in particular, care is taken to invoke only well-established or easily demonstrated mental abilities that are not exclusive to language. We are able, for example, to focus and shift attention, to track a moving object, to form and manipulate images, to compare two experiences, to establish correspondences, to combine simple elements into complex structures, to view a scene from different perspectives, to conceptualize a situation at varying levels of abstraction, and so on. Can general abilities like these fully account for the acquisition and the universal properties of language? Or are specifi c blueprints for language wired in and genetically transmitted? Cognitive Grammar does not prejudge this issue. We are evidently born to speak, so it is not precluded that language might emerge owing to substantial innate specification peculiar to it. But if our genetic endowment does make special provisions for language, they are likely to reside in adaptations of mo re basic cognitive phenomena, rather than being separate and sui generis. They would be analogous in this respect to the physical organs of speech. 2. Some reasons for selecting cognitive grammar to explain the phenomena of languages 2.1. Cognitive Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics 2.1.1. What is Cognitive linguistics? Cognitive Linguistics is a new approach to the study of language which views linguistic knowledge as part of general cognition and thinking; linguistic behaviour is not separated from other general cognitive abilities which allow mental processes of reasoning, memory, attention or learning, but understood as an integral part of it. 2.1.2. The relationship between Cognitive Grammar and Cognitive Linguistics Idea from Cognitive Grammar now widely held in Cognitive linguistics. And Cognitive linguistics, provide good evidence that doing linguistics from a cognitive perspective leads to rich insights into many linguistics phenomena, ranging from studies in phonology, to those in semantics pragmatics, and psychological aspects of language use. In addition, language and culture are inseparable. Language is part of a certain culture, therefore acquiring a language, being a member of a language community, inevitably means absorbing certain cultural aspects of that community. Culture and the lifestyle of the community where one grows up influence their habits and world views and it was these factors that have decided awareness of the language of each individual, from which formed the phenomena of languages. Cognitive Linguistics, recognizing the mutual influence between cognition and language, naturally accords these crucial aspects of human life, and thereby cognition, their share of reciprocity with language. According toBielack and Pawlak (2013) suggested that in cognitive linguistics and cognitive grammar the relationship between language and cognition is considered to be dialectic; not only does human cognitive functioning tell us something about the language faculty, but also our insight into language provides important clues to understanding cognitive processes. Although this claim is reminiscent of the formalist understanding of the term cognitive as used with reference to language study, in cognitive linguistics this term is, as has just been explained by referring to the formative linguistic role of cognitive processes, understood much more broadly. In brief, cognitive grammar represents a specific practical and theoretical approach to language within the broader discipline of cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguists view all forms of language as rooted in the same basic cognitive mechanisms involved in other areas of experience in our wider encounters with the world. For cognitive linguists, language is embodied; it is grounded in our physical, bodily experiences as human beings. Furthermore, this embodied experience has an important social and cultural dimension. Cognitive linguists recognise the specific uses to which language is put within a sociological context, and their role in shaping the linguistic system. 2.2. The status of linguistic cognition For a cognitive linguist, linguistic cognition simply is cognition; it is an inextricable phenomenon of overall human cognition. Linguistic cognition has no special or separate status apart from any other cognition. This means that we expect patterns of cognition observed by psychologists, neurobiologists and the like to be reflected in language. Furthermore, the various phenomena of language are not cognitively distinct one from another. Although it is often useful and convenient for linguists to talk about various levels or modules of language, these distinctions are perceived by cognitive linguists to be somewhat artificial. The truth is that all the parts of language are in constant communication, and indeed are really not parts at all; they are a unified phenomenon operating in unison with the greater phenomena of general consciousness and cognition. Linguists have frequently observed that the borders between traditional linguistic phenomena can be crossed. Phonology, for exampl e, can be affected by morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics; and syntax has likewise been shown to be vulnerable to the workings of phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. The fact that these items are not pristinely discrete is perhaps not news, but for a cognitive linguist this type of evidence is expected, pursued, and focused on rather than being relegated to the status of something marginal and unimportant. 2.3. The status of meaning All the various phenomena of language are interwoven with each other as well as with all of cognition because they are all motivated by the same force: the drive to make sense of our world. Making sense of what we experience entails not just understanding, but an ability to express that understanding, and indeed these two projects inform each other: our experience is formative to expression, but it is also the case that our expressive resources have some influence on how we perceive our experiences. Of course language does most of the heavy lifting (and the finer handiwork) in this job of expression that is so important to cognition. All phenomena of language are mobilized for this task, and all are therefore driven by the need to express meaning. Meaning underwrites the existence of all linguistic units and phenomena, none of which are semantically empty. Meaning is therefore not tidily contained in the lexicon, but ranges all through the linguistic spectrum, because meaning is the very energy that propels the motor of language. Grammar is an abstract meaning structure that interacts with the more concrete meanings of lexicon. Grammar and lexicon are not two discrete types of meaning, but rather the extreme ends of a spectrum of meaning containing transitional or hybrid types (functor words like prepositions and conjunctions are examples of hybrids that carry both lexical and grammatical semantic freight). From the supra- and segmental features of phonology through morphology, syntax, and discourse pragmatics, all of language shares the task of expressing meaning. This includes even idioms and dead metaphors, which remain motivated within the system of a given language, and whose motivation can be made explicit. 2.4. The conceptualist view of meaning From a cognitive linguistic perspective, the answer is evident: meanings are in the minds of the speakers who produce and understand the expressions. It is hard to imagine where else they might be. A conceptualist view of meaning is not as self-evident as it might first seem and has to be properly interpreted. The platonicview treats language as an abstract, disembodied entity that cannot be localized. Like the objects and laws of mathematics (e.g. the geometric ideal of a circle), linguistic meanings are seen as transcendent, existing independently of minds and human endeavor. And more reasonable is the interactivealternative, which does take people into account but claims that an individual mind is not the right place to look for meanings. Instead, meanings are seen as emerging dynamically in discourse and social interaction. Rather than being fixed and predetermined, they are actively negotiated by interlocutors on the basis of the physical, linguistic, social, and cultural contex t. Meaningis not localized but distributed, aspects of it inhering in the speech community, in the pragmatic circumstances of the speech event, and in the surrounding world. 2.5. Foundation of meanings A considerable progress is that meanings are being made in cognitive linguistics,in the broader context of cognitive science. Conceptualization resides in cognitive processing. Having a certain mental experience resides in the occurrence of a certain kind of neurological activity. Cognitive grammar embodies a coherent and plausible view of conceptualization, allowing a principled basis for characterizing many facets of semantic and grammatical structure. Meaning is equated with conceptualization. Linguistic semantics must therefore attempt the structural analysis and explicit description of abstract entities like thoughts and concepts. The term conceptualization is interpreted quite broadly: it encompasses novel conceptions as well as fixed concepts; sensory, kinesthetic, and emotive experience; recognition of the immediate context (social, physical, and linguistic); and so on. Because conceptualization resides in cognitive processing, our ultimate objective must be to characterize the types of cognitive events whose occurrence constitutes a given mental experience. Cognitive semantics has focused on the former, which is obviously more accessible and amenable to investigation via linguistic evidence. Cognitive semantics claims that meaning is based on mental imagery and conceptualizations of reality which do not objectively correspond to it but reflect a characteristic human way of understanding. Thus, one of the basic axioms of cognitive semantics is that linguistic meaning originates in the human interpretation of reality. It is part of the cognitive linguistics movement. Semantics is the study of linguistic meaning. Cognitive semantics holds that language is part of a more general human cognitive ability, and can therefore only describe the world as people conceive it.It is implicit that there is some difference between this conceptual world and the real world. An imaginative phenomena prove essential to conceptualization and linguistic meaning. A primary means of enhancing and even constructing our mental world is metaphor, where basic organizational features of one conceptual domain usually more directly grounded in bodily experience are projected onto another. In (4), aspects of the source domain, pertaining to the manipulation of physical objects, are projected metaphorically onto the target domainof understanding and communicating ideas. (Riemer, 1972) (4) (a) I couldnt grasp what she was saying. (b) We were tossing some ideas around. (c) The message went right over his head. (d) He didnt catch my drift. A linguistically appropriate characterization of meaning should accommodate such differences. Cognitive grammar defines the meaning of a composite expression as including not only the semantic structure that represents its composite sense, but also its compositional path: the hierarchy of semantic structures reflecting its progressive assembly from the meanings of component expressions. For example, that the composite semantic values of pork and pig meat are identical. As an unanalyzable morpheme, pork symbolizes this notion directly, so its compositional path consists of the single semantic structure [PORK]. However pig meat is analyzable, that is, speakers recognize the semantic contribution of its component morphemes. The meaning of pig meut therefore incorporates not only the composite structure [PORK], but also the individually symbolized components [PIG] and [MEAT] together with the relationship that each of them bears to the composite value. The two expressions arrive at the s ame composite value through different compositional paths (a degenerate path in the case of pork), with the consequence that they differ in meaning. 2.6. Metaphor and metonymy and semantic domains in cognitive grammar The example discussed in this section returns to an issue raised earlier (section 2) and demonstrates that sameness versus difference of semantic domain should not be taken as the basis on which to distinguish metaphors from metonymies. Slap in (17) can be paraphrased as make move by slapping, which reveals its nature as a metonymic extension from the verbs basic meaning to the result of the verbal action: (Raymond W. Gibbs Steen, 1997) (17) Louise is coming to-night to see me slap the masked fellow to the dust. (OED slap 1b. vt. 1889 drive back, beat down, knock to the ground, etc. with a slap.) Slap here is analyzed as x make y move by slapping, but it is unlikely that a slap, or even a series of slaps, in the sense of a blow, esp. one given with the open hand, or with something having a flat surface (OED slap sb.) would be enough to achieve this result: in order to knock someone to the ground a more forceful type of P/I with a more rigid impactor than the hand, which is jointed and thus weakened at the wrist, would be necessary (except in the case of an exceptionally strong agent and an exceptionally weak patient). There is thus a mismatch between the inherent semantics of the verb slap and the context in which it appears. One way to describe this situation would be as understatement: slap in (17) plays down the effort needed to overcome the opponent. I propose that the understating effect of (17) derives from its nature as a metaphorical application of the initial metonymic extension. The physical actions needed to bring down the masked fellow presumably a whole repertoi re of aggressive moves taking place in the context of a struggle are represented as equivalent to a different class of physical actions, slapping. The effect of this metaphor is to treat the metaphorical target (the actions that do in fact take place) in a way that makes it seem minor and inconsequential. The present meaning of slap can therefore be derived through a two-step process. First, slap is extended metonymically from its root meaning to the meaning make move by slapping; secondly, this newly created meaning is applied in a metaphorical fashion to a situation which does not actually involve any slapping, but which is imagined as doing so in order to conceive of the event in a certain perspective (i.e. as unstrenuous and trivial). The fact that both the action really needed to down the opponent and the action of slapping are in the same general semantic domain of contact through impact or some such is not relevant and certainly does not make (17) an example of metonymy, as it would for those analysts who define m etonymy as intra-domain meaning extension. (17) counts as a metaphor (a metaphorical application of the initial metonymic extension to make move by slapping) because it uses one class of events as a conceptual model for another class, thereby imposing a particular understanding of the second class. The fact that both target and vehicle of the metaphor share the same general semantic domain issues not in a classification of the figure as metonymic, but simply as an understatement. Metaphor is an interesting linguistic phenomenon which has attracted the attention of many linguists. Metaphor has traditionally been viewed as one of the figures of speech, a rhetorical device, or a stylistic device used in literature to achieve an aesthetic effect. Metaphor in the light of cognitive linguistics is not only used in poems and prose but also in daily life language. In short, metaphor in cognitive linguistics is considered not merely a means of communication but also a means of cognition, reflecting the mechanism by which people understand and explain about the real world. In short, the meaningfulness of grammar becomes apparent only with an appropriate view of linguistic meaning. In cognitive semantics, meaning is identified as the conceptualization associated with linguistic expressions. This may seem obvious, but in fact it runs counter to standard doctrine. A conceptual view of meaning is usually rejected either as being insular entailing isolation from the world as well as from other minds or else as being nonempirical and unscientific. These objections are unfounded. Though it is a mental phenomenon, conceptualization is grounded in physical reality: it consists in activity of the brain, which functions as an integral part of the body, which functions as an integral part of the world. Linguistic meanings are also grounded in social interaction, being negotiated by interlocutors based on mutual assessment of their knowledge, thoughts, and intentions. As a target of analysis, conceptualization is elusive and challenging, but it is not mysterious or beyond the scope of scientific inquiry. Cognitive semantics provides an array of tools allowing precise, explicit descriptions for essential aspects of conceptual structure. These descriptions are based on linguistic evidence and potentially subject to empirical verification. Analyzing language from this perspective leads to remarkable conclusions about linguistic meaning and human cognition. Remarkable, first, is the extent to which an expressions meaning depends on factors other than the situation described. On the one hand, it presupposes an elaborate conceptual substrate, including such matters as background knowledge and apprehension of the physical, social, and linguistic context. On the other hand, an expression imposes a particular construal, reflecting just one of the countless ways of conceiving and portraying the situation in question. Also remarkable is the extent to which imaginative abilities come into play. Phenomena like metaphor (e.g. vacant star) and reference to virtual entities (e.g. any cat) are pervasive, even in prosaic discussions of actual circumstances. Finally, these phenomena exemplify the diverse array of mental constructions that help us deal with and in large measure constitute the world we live in and talk about. It is a world of extraordinary richness, extending far beyond the physical reality it is grounded in. Conceptual semantic description is thus a major source of insight about our mental world and its construction. Grammatical meanings prove especially revealing in this respect. Since they tend to be abstract, their essential import residing in construal, they offer a direct avenue of approach to this fundamental aspect of semantic organization. Perhaps surprisingly given its stereotype as being dry, dull, and purely formal grammar relies extensively on imaginative phenomena and mental constructions. Also, the historical evolution of grammatical elements yields important clues about the meanings of their lexical sources and semantic structure more generally. The picture that emerges belies the prevailing view of grammar as an autonomous formal system. Not only is it meaningful, it also refl ects our basic experience of moving, perceiving, and acting on the world. At the core of grammatical meanings are mental operations inherent in these elemental components of moment-to-moment living. When properly analyzed, therefore, grammar has much to tell us about both meaning and cognition. It fully acknowledges the grounding of language in social interaction, but insists that even its interactive function is critically dependent on conceptualization. Compared with formal approaches, cognitive linguistics stands out by resisting the imposition of boundaries between language and other psychological phenomena. 3. Conclusion In a nutshell, as their names suggest , cognitive linguistics and Cognitive Grammar view language as an integral part of cognition. Conceptualization is seen (without inconsistency) as being both physically grounded and pervasively imaginative, both individual and fundamentally social. Being conceptual in nature, linguistic meaning shares these properties. It fully acknowledges the grounding of language in social interaction, but insists that even its interactive function is critically dependent on conceptualization. Compared with formal approaches, cognitive linguistics stands out by resisting the imposition of boundaries between language and other psychological phenomena. Grammatical meanings are schematic. At the extreme, they are nothing more than cognitive abilities applicable to any content. The more schematic these meanings are, the harder it is to study them, but also the more rewarding. Grammatical analysis proves, in fact, to be an essential tool for conceptual analysis. In grammar, which abstracts away from the details of particular expressions, we see more clearly the mental operations immanent in their conceptual content. These often amount to simulations of basic aspects of everyday experience: processing activity inherent in conceptual archetypes is disengaged from them and extended to a broad range of other circumstances. In this respect, grammar reflects an essential feature of human cognition. References Bielack, J., Pawlak, M. (2013). Applying Cognitive Grammar in the Foreign Language Classroom. Heine, B. (1997). Cognitive Foundations of Grammar. Langacker, R. W. (2008). Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. Raymond W. Gibbs, J., Steen, G. J. (1997). Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics. Riemer, N. (1972). Cognitive Linguistics Research: The Semantics of Polysemy