Nora Helmer of A Dolls House, a Play by Henrik Ibsen

Nora Helmer of 'A Doll's House,' a Play by Henrik Ibsen One of the most complex characters of 19th-century drama, Nora Helmer prances about in the first act, behaves desperately in the second, and gains a stark sense of reality during the finale of Henrik Ibsens  A Dolls House. In the beginning, Nora exhibits many childish qualities. The audience first sees her when she returns from a seemingly extravagant Christmas shopping excursion. She eats a few desserts which she has secretly purchased. When her condescending husband, Torvald Helmer, asks if she has been sneaking macaroons, she denies it wholeheartedly. With this minor act of deception, the audience learns that Nora is quite capable of lying. She is most child-like when she interacts with her husband. She behaves playfully yet obediently in his presence, always coaxing favors from him instead of communicating as equals. Torvald gently chides Nora throughout the play, and Nora good-naturedly responds to his critics as though she were some loyal pet. Nora Helmers Clever Side However, Nora has been leading a double life. She has not been thoughtlessly spending their money. Rather, she has been scrimping and saving to pay off a secret debt. Years ago, when her husband became ill, Nora forged her fathers signature to receive a loan to save Torvalds life. The fact that she never told Torvald about this arrangement reveals several aspects of her character. For one, the audience no longer sees Nora as the sheltered, care-free wife of an attorney. She knows what it means to struggle and take risks. In addition, the act of concealing the ill-gotten loan signifies Noras independent streak. She is proud of the sacrifice she has made. Although she says nothing to Torvald, she brags about her actions with her old friend, Mrs. Linde, the first chance she gets.  Basically, she believes that her husband would undergo just as many hardships, if not more, for her sake. However, her perception of her husbands devotion is quite misplaced. Desperation Sets In When the disgruntled Nils Krogstad threatens to reveal the truth about her forgery, Nora realizes that she has potentially scandalized Torvald Helmers good name. She begins to question her own morality, something she has never done before. Did she do something wrong? Were her actions appropriate, under the circumstances? Will the courts convict her? Is she an improper wife? Is she a terrible mother? Nora contemplates suicide in order to eliminate the dishonor she has wrought upon her family. She also hopes to prevent Torvald from sacrificing himself and going to prison in order to save her from persecution. Yet, it remains debatable as to whether or not she would truly follow through and jump into the icy river. Krogstad doubts her ability. Also, during the climactic scene in Act Three, Nora seems to stall before running out into the night to end her life. Torvald stops her all too easily, perhaps because she knows that, deep down, she wants to be saved. Nora Helmers Transformation Noras epiphany occurs when the truth is finally revealed. As Torvald unleashes his disgust towards Nora and her crime of forgery, the protagonist realizes that her husband is a very different person than she once believed. Torvald has no intention of taking the blame for Noras crime. She thought for certain that he would selflessly give up everything for her. When he fails to do this, she accepts the fact that their marriage has been an illusion. Their false devotion has been merely playacting. She has been his child-wife and his doll. The monologue in which she calmly confronts Torvald serves as one of Ibsens finest literary moments. The Controversial Ending of A Dolls House Since the premiere of Ibsens A Dolls House, much has been discussed regarding the final controversial scene. Why does Nora leave not only Torvald but her children as well? Many critics and theater-goers questioned the morality of the plays resolution. In fact, some productions in Germany refused to produce the original ending. Ibsen acquiesced and grudgingly wrote an alternate ending in which Nora breaks down and cries, deciding to stay, but only for her childrens sake. Some argue that Nora leaves her home purely because she is selfish. She does not want to forgive Torvald. She would rather start another life than try to fix her existing one. Or perhaps she feels that Torvald was right, that she is a child who knows nothing of the world. Since she knows so little about herself or society, she feels that she is an inadequate mother and wife. She leaves the children because she feels it is for their benefit, painful as it may be to her. Nora Helmers last words are hopeful, yet her final action is less optimistic. She leaves Torvald explaining that there is a slight chance they could become man and wife once again, but only if a Miracle of miracles occurred. This gives Torvald a brief ray of hope. However, just as he repeats Noras notion of miracles, his wife exits and slams the door, symbolizing the finality of their relationship.

Bis Case Study

com) was taking another crack at replacing its legacy business systems. The Oakland, New Jersey–based distributor of toys and gifts ? nalized plans to roll out J. D. Edwards Co. ’s OneWorld Xe suite of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management, and ? nancial applications. The multimillion-dollar project was scheduled to be done in phases over the next 18 months. Russ Berrie CIO Michael Saunders said that the company, which had sales of $225 million during the ? rst nine months of 2001, hoped the OneWorld System would help it reach $1 billion in annual revenue in the coming years. Within the next 12 months, he said, Russ Berrie planned to begin installing the applications one department at a time, starting with a stand-alone implementation in purchasing. â€Å"We’re not going big bang,† Saunders said. â€Å"We’re mitigating implementation risks by taking a phased-in approach. The company had reason to be cautious. Three years before, a Y2K-related migration from its homegrown distribution, ? nancial, and customer service systems to packaged ERP applications experienced major system failures. Saunders said the problems were severe enough for Russ Berrie to take many of the new applications off-line and return to their old systems. Saunders wouldn’t identify the software vendors that were involved in the failed impl ementation, but sources said that SAP AG’s applications were part of the 1999 project. A spokesman at SAP con? rmed that Russ Berrie was one of its customers, but he declined to offer further details because of pending litigation between the two companies. Joshua Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting said it appeared that Russ Berrie â€Å"bit off more than they could chew† on the 1999 project. Companywide rollouts are especially risky for midsize businesses like Russ Berrie, Greenbaum said. T he good news is that Agilent Technologies Inc. (www. agilent. com) says its enterprise resource planning applications are stable. The bad news is they got that way only after a rocky ERP migration project that cost the company $105 million in revenue and $70 million in pro? ts. In mid-August 2002, the multinational communications and life sciences company, formerly a part of HewlettPackard Co. , said problems with the ERP components in Oracle’s e-Business Suite 11e software froze production for the equivalent of a week, leading to the massive losses. The Oracle system handles about half of the company’s worldwide production of test, measurement, and monitoring products and almost all of its ? ancial operations, as well as functions such as order handling and shipping. Agilent was in the process of migrating as many as 2,200 legacy applications that it inherited from HP to Oracle. As part of the switchover, approximately 6,000 orders in the internally developed legacy systems had to be converted to an Oracle-friendly format, an Agilent spokeswoman said from company headquarters in Palo Alto, Califo rnia. She said the con? guration process had problems requiring correction. In a statement last week, Agilent President and CEO Ned Barnholt said the disruptions to the business after implementing the ERP system were â€Å"more extensive than we expected. † An Agilent spokeswoman said the issue wasn’t the quality of the Oracle application, but rather the â€Å"very complex nature of the enterprise resource planning implementation. † For its part, Oracle Corp. said it’s working closely with Agilent. â€Å"At Oracle, we are fully committed to all of our customers for the long haul and support them in any way necessary,† the company said in a statement. We have a strong relationship with Agilent, and both companies believe the implementation is stable. † Agilent also had a takeaway lesson: â€Å"Enterprise resource planning implementations are a lot more than software packages,† the company said in a statement. â€Å"They are a fundamental transformation of a company’s business processes. People, processes , policies, the company’s culture are all factors that should be taken into consideration when implementing a major enterprise system. † According to one analyst, ERP disasters are often caused by the user company itself. Joshua Greenbaum, an analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting, said 99 percent of such rollout ? ascoes are caused by â€Å"management’s inability to spec out their own requirements and the implementer’s inability to implement those specs. † Russ Berrie and Co. After a three-year saga that included a $10. 3 million ? nancial hit from the failed installation of packaged applications, teddy bear maker Russ Berrie and Case Study Questions 1. What are the main reasons companies experience failures in implementing ERP systems? 2. What are several key things companies should do to avoid ERP systems failures? Explain the reasons for your proposals. 3. Why do you think ERP systems in particular are often cited as examples of failures in IT systems development, implementation, or management? Source: Adapted from Marc Songini, â€Å"ERP Effort Sinks Agilent Revenue,† Computerworld, August 26, 2002, pp. 1, 12; and Marc Songini, â€Å"Teddy Bear Maker Prepares for Second Attempt at ERP Rollout,† Computerworld, February 4, 2002, p. 16. Reprinted with permission from Computerworld. Bis Case Study com) was taking another crack at replacing its legacy business systems. The Oakland, New Jersey–based distributor of toys and gifts ? nalized plans to roll out J. D. Edwards Co. ’s OneWorld Xe suite of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management, and ? nancial applications. The multimillion-dollar project was scheduled to be done in phases over the next 18 months. Russ Berrie CIO Michael Saunders said that the company, which had sales of $225 million during the ? rst nine months of 2001, hoped the OneWorld System would help it reach $1 billion in annual revenue in the coming years. Within the next 12 months, he said, Russ Berrie planned to begin installing the applications one department at a time, starting with a stand-alone implementation in purchasing. â€Å"We’re not going big bang,† Saunders said. â€Å"We’re mitigating implementation risks by taking a phased-in approach. The company had reason to be cautious. Three years before, a Y2K-related migration from its homegrown distribution, ? nancial, and customer service systems to packaged ERP applications experienced major system failures. Saunders said the problems were severe enough for Russ Berrie to take many of the new applications off-line and return to their old systems. Saunders wouldn’t identify the software vendors that were involved in the failed impl ementation, but sources said that SAP AG’s applications were part of the 1999 project. A spokesman at SAP con? rmed that Russ Berrie was one of its customers, but he declined to offer further details because of pending litigation between the two companies. Joshua Greenbaum of Enterprise Applications Consulting said it appeared that Russ Berrie â€Å"bit off more than they could chew† on the 1999 project. Companywide rollouts are especially risky for midsize businesses like Russ Berrie, Greenbaum said. T he good news is that Agilent Technologies Inc. (www. agilent. com) says its enterprise resource planning applications are stable. The bad news is they got that way only after a rocky ERP migration project that cost the company $105 million in revenue and $70 million in pro? ts. In mid-August 2002, the multinational communications and life sciences company, formerly a part of HewlettPackard Co. , said problems with the ERP components in Oracle’s e-Business Suite 11e software froze production for the equivalent of a week, leading to the massive losses. The Oracle system handles about half of the company’s worldwide production of test, measurement, and monitoring products and almost all of its ? ancial operations, as well as functions such as order handling and shipping. Agilent was in the process of migrating as many as 2,200 legacy applications that it inherited from HP to Oracle. As part of the switchover, approximately 6,000 orders in the internally developed legacy systems had to be converted to an Oracle-friendly format, an Agilent spokeswoman said from company headquarters in Palo Alto, Califo rnia. She said the con? guration process had problems requiring correction. In a statement last week, Agilent President and CEO Ned Barnholt said the disruptions to the business after implementing the ERP system were â€Å"more extensive than we expected. † An Agilent spokeswoman said the issue wasn’t the quality of the Oracle application, but rather the â€Å"very complex nature of the enterprise resource planning implementation. † For its part, Oracle Corp. said it’s working closely with Agilent. â€Å"At Oracle, we are fully committed to all of our customers for the long haul and support them in any way necessary,† the company said in a statement. We have a strong relationship with Agilent, and both companies believe the implementation is stable. † Agilent also had a takeaway lesson: â€Å"Enterprise resource planning implementations are a lot more than software packages,† the company said in a statement. â€Å"They are a fundamental transformation of a company’s business processes. People, processes , policies, the company’s culture are all factors that should be taken into consideration when implementing a major enterprise system. † According to one analyst, ERP disasters are often caused by the user company itself. Joshua Greenbaum, an analyst at Enterprise Applications Consulting, said 99 percent of such rollout ? ascoes are caused by â€Å"management’s inability to spec out their own requirements and the implementer’s inability to implement those specs. † Russ Berrie and Co. After a three-year saga that included a $10. 3 million ? nancial hit from the failed installation of packaged applications, teddy bear maker Russ Berrie and Case Study Questions 1. What are the main reasons companies experience failures in implementing ERP systems? 2. What are several key things companies should do to avoid ERP systems failures? Explain the reasons for your proposals. 3. Why do you think ERP systems in particular are often cited as examples of failures in IT systems development, implementation, or management? Source: Adapted from Marc Songini, â€Å"ERP Effort Sinks Agilent Revenue,† Computerworld, August 26, 2002, pp. 1, 12; and Marc Songini, â€Å"Teddy Bear Maker Prepares for Second Attempt at ERP Rollout,† Computerworld, February 4, 2002, p. 16. Reprinted with permission from Computerworld.

Managerial Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managerial Accounting - Assignment Example The company also was awarded with wine award and a gold medal in the wine competition at Sydney in 2011and with medal of gold at an Award function in New Zealand in 2010. With respect to 2010 the EBITDA of the company grew from $29.6 million to $57.1 million in 2011. This resulted in their earnings per share of the company rising from 0.20 cents to 32.6 cents. The rise in the net assets of the company by 10% over the year is a commendable achievement for the company under the ever changing market conditions. Planning Control and Decision making process Management accounting is related to the system of accounting information used by the managers within an organisation. The management accounting provides the managers with the basis of information essential in the decision making of the company so that the resources of the company can be better utilised and functions are in control. At present management accounting has a dual reporting relation in the corporation. The management account ants are the strategic partner responsible in providing decision related to the operational and financial information. Thus it is the responsibility of the managerial accountants in managing the business team along with submission of report in relation to the corporation’s finance. The management accountant portrays planning and forecasting, monitoring and reviewing cost inherent to the business and performance variance analysis of the company. However the three main areas of a management accountant that helps in the planning and decision making of managers are strategic management, performance management and risk management (Bamber, Braun & Harrison, 2009, pp.4-7). Delegat’s Group has adopted the strategy of identifying the â€Å"value growth markets† and â€Å"growth markets† which has proved to be a success in the favour of the company. The strategy thus adopted by the company has resulted in delivering improvement in the profitability of the company. The performance management of the company can well be depicted from the financial performance of the company. A stable growth rate of 10% of operating net profit after tax has been observed from 2007 to 2011 except in 2008 which are due to the global economic downturn. The major improvement in the performance of the company was due to biological assets contribution, net harvest provision and the derivative instruments of the company implemented to hedge the company’s interest rates and foreign currency exposures. Lastly the risk performance of the company is diverted by the use of the options and forward currency contracts. This helps in the economic hedging of the risks associated with the interest rate swaps and foreign currency fluctuations. Thus the management accounting helps in the detection of the variances of the company through which the managers of the company can plan out the strategies of the company; based on which further decisions are taken. Skills of a Managem ent Accountant Skills that are required for a management accountant to efficiently carry out the process of accounting are to have a sound knowledge of both managerial as well as the financial accounting. The management account should have an analytical skill along with the knowledge of how the business of the company is functioning. Good oral and written communication skill is a must for the

Conference and Banqueting Management Assignment

Conference and Banqueting Management - Assignment Example This is through catering to the conference and banqueting purposes of corporate entities. Also the same has become inevitable when it comes to weddings and other gatherings in general. Hence, the conference and â€Å"banqueting† (Sales Coordinator/Executive. n.d) business in itself have developed into a profitable and pioneering industry with a whooping scope of advancement. The UK and European economy has overcome certain fragilities in the recent years accountable to the global financial crisis and the government’s austerity measures and has mounted a powerful and sturdy recovery over the recent years. Investments in terms of restoring, i.e, transferring a business to its country of origin, favors the services and manufacturing industries the most in the recent future. Hence, predominantly the hospitality sector, in particular, the conference and banqueting sector forecasts colossal changes in the years to come. Conference and business events are worth â€Å"18.8 billion† (Koss et al, 2012).every year in the UK economy. Being the third largest to provide employment in the UK, the hospitality sector categorizes labor to various provisions as per functionalities namely corporate and individual businesses. Around â€Å"10 percent† (Murphy, n.d). of the UK workforce comprises of those engaged in the hospitality sector as per statistics of 2014. The hospitality industry remains a significant sector of the economy, with an annual turnover of around  £40billion (Trends & Statistics, 2008, British Hospitality Association). The conference and banqueting sector embraces the idea of self-development to flourish as a responsible business by building brand power and customer loyalty. This can be achieved by delivering innovation, value, and quality of the tasks involved. The success of any given event relies on several factors, the role of conference and banquet catering being paramount of them all.

Apollo 13 Essays -- American History

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crewmembers aboard the ship were James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr. Before the launch, there had been a few problems. Thomas K. Mattingly was supposed to fly on the Apollo 13 but he was exposed to the measles. He didn’t have the antibodies to fight the disease, causing him to not be able to go into space. Swigert took his place. Right before the launch, one of the technicians saw that the helium tank had a higher pressure than expected. Nothing was done to fix this. During liftoff, the second-stage engine shut down, causing the other engines to run longer than planned. Apollo 13 was off to a rocky start. During the flight, the second oxygen tank exploded. The oxygen tank contained liquid required for fuel and oxygen. Liquid oxygen has to be handled very carefully. The astronauts need to constantly stir the oxygen to prevent it from separating. The wires in the device needed to stir the oxygen were damaged, causing a big fire when electricity was passed through them. The explosion caused the number one oxygen to be critically damaged. This was bad because it left the ship with little power. Clueless about the real reason for the explosion, the crew thought a meteoroid had hit them. There was a large amount of damage caused by the explosions. Lovell looked out of the window, thirteen minutes after the explosion. He noticed that the ship was venting some gas out into space. Oxygen gas was leaking out of the spacecraft. Reacting on impulse, the astronauts closed the hatched between the Command Module and Lunar Module. Slowly, the crew and ground controllers began to realize that Apollo 1 3 was losing oxygen. Ap... ... to be separated from the ship. The Command Module had to be powered up again after being shut down for a long time. Mission Control had to write new documents for this new action. Normally, documents are written in three months before being performed. Mission Control, obviously, did not have that amount of time, causing them to have to write new documents in three days. Next, the crew got in the command module and let the lunar module go. The hard part was over. The ship landed safely in the South Pacific Ocean. The crew was rescued and brought onto the USS Iwo Jima. All three astronauts were returned to Earth unharmed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13 http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_13/overview/ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-13/apollo-13.html http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS13/a13sum.htm

Tinbergen’s Four Questions Regarding Orca Behaviour

Introduction The type of communication used to transmit information is closely related to the animal’s lifestyle and environment. This can be seen in most terrestrial mammals which are nocturnal so use olfactory and auditory which work as well in the dark as they do during the day. Visual communication would be relatively ineffective in this lifestyle. In contrast humans are diurnal and use primarily visual and auditory signals for communication, but miss many chemical cues which many other mammals base their behaviour upon.Marine mammals often need to communicate great distances, and the water does not support visual cues over great distance. This is why whales and dolphins use primarily auditory signals. Auditory signals can travel great distances and travel four and a half times faster in water than in air (Ford, 1984). Killer whales or Orca (Orcinus orca) are very social dolphins and live in pods often consisting of family members from between four up to fifty for resident ial whales while transient pods normally are only between two and five animals (Ford, 1989).These pods communicate with each other by use of echolocation clicks, tonal whistles and pulsed calls (Deecke et al. , 2000). The three main noises have very different uses from each other. Clicks can either be produced as a single click or produced in rapid succession. Single clicks are generally used for navigation and collection of clicks and whistles are thought to be used for communication amongst members of the pod. Pulses are believed, with the assistance of single clicks, to be the method used by orcas to distinguish objects and discriminate prey (Barrett-Lennard et al. 1996). Residential orcas feed on fish, and can be frequently heard communicating with the clicks, whistles and calls because the fish have very poor hearing abilities (Wilson, 2002). The vocal behaviour of transient killer whales is quite different with the vocal communication consisting of occasional clicks and pulses (Deecke et al. , 2000). The only occasion where transient orcas display significant amounts of vocal activity is when they are active on the surface or recently after a kill.The reasons for this reduction of noise could be due to many factors which can be seen in other species interactions and behaviour. Using ‘Tinbergen’s four questions’, I will explain what necessity for this behaviour and what the origins of the silent behaviour may have been. Tinbergen’s Four Questions In 1963 Nikolaas Tinbergen published a paper â€Å"On aims and methods of ethology†. In this paper he discussed how he believed any question regarding animal behaviour should be broken down into four different questions.These four questions could be divided into two categories, evolutionary (ultimate) explanations and proximate explanations. The evolutionary explanations, which refer to the population, include evolution or phylogenetic determinants and survival value or adaptive significance. The phylogenetic determinants refer to all evolutionary explanations which are not covered by adaptive significance. These may include random processes including mutation and changes in the environment which could have impacts on the population resulting in a specific behaviour adaptation.The adaptive significance closely follows Charles Darwin’s work on natural selection where it is explained that an animal’s form has been altered to function better in the habitat and resulting in a increase in fitness for the individual. The proximate explanations are focused with dealing in terms of the individual as opposed to the population. The two different individual questions proposed by Tinbergen relate to causation and ontogeny. The causation for a display of behaviour relates to the mechanics of the body and which stimuli provides a cue for the animal to display this behaviour.Included in causation is control of hormones, motor control, central-nervous-system control and the ability to process the information obtained through senses. Ontogeny relates to the development of an individual, from conception til death. This may include a experience or a environmental factor which occurs and changes the behaviour of the animal, including learned behaviour from another individual. Causation ? Figure 1: An illustration of sound generation, propagation and reception in a killer whale. (WhalesB. C. com)The nasopharyngeal anatomy of cetaceans is strongly modified comparing with terrestrial mammals. They have one impair respiratory hole at the top of the head. It is closed near the surface by dense musculocutaneous crimps arranged so, that the salient of one of them enters into the dimple of another. They form a peculiar lock preventing the water from penetrating into respiratory tract. Above the skull around of nose passage there is a system of pneumatic sacs, connected with nose passage (Barrett-Lennard et al. , 1996).In 1964 A. V. Jablokov suppose d that sounds could be produced by forcing air through these nasal sacs. Air is forced past a set of finely striated muscular plugs or lips that vibrate or slap against each other as the lips are forced apart by the stream of air and then slapped shut by muscular tension (Ford, 1989). Transient killer whales are often very difficult to track when under water as they are typically silent. Often communicating with each other with just a single click, known as a cryptic click (Deecke et al. , 2000).The only time that the killer whales produce large amounts of vocal activity was when milling about on the surface or after killing a marine mammal. Transients have been found to only use four to six discrete calls which are not shared with the resident pods (Deecke et al. , 2004). Ontogeny Like other aspects of learning in mammalian society, I hypothesise that the newborn calves will be taught the ability for vocalisation by its parent or other pod members. There have been many studies on k iller whale vocalisations in different parts of the world including Canada (Ford, 1984), Alaska (Yurk et al. 2002) and Norway (Matkin, 1988). Each study showed that every pod has its own distinctive repertoire of discrete calls, often this phenomenon is referred to as vocal dialects. The differences in vocal repertoires can be the result of geographic isolation and when this occurs it is not dialects that are being represented but â€Å"geographic variations of vocal repertoire† (Ford, 1984). The use of repetitive calls and the specific number and type of discrete calls are what are used to classify and compare dialects. Pods often produce between seven and seventeen different types of discrete calls.Some pods share calls and are grouped together as a acoustic clan (Baird et al. , 1988). Different clans might represent different independent maternal lineages, which have persisted for many generations, developing their independent call traditions. Dialects are probably the mea ns by which pod cohesiveness and identity are maintained. Newborn calls manage to produce calls very comparable to their mothers, but the repertoire is very limited. With the arrival of a new calf to the pod, the calls of the pod and particularly the matriarch increase, especially the frequency of pod-specific calls (Ford, 1989).This is widely regarded as the method to which newborns learn the pods dialect. The majority of the learning done by the newborn is a process of imitation and trial and error. The calf does not always learn communication from a parent. In captivity a young whale was observed to have learned the calls of its tank mate, even though it had no relatedness. Survival Value I hypothesise that the because the mammalian predators can hear well under water is the reason why the transient killer whales adopt significantly reduced communication during periods of foraging.Acoustic communication can have great benefits such as organising groups for attacks and avoiding pr edation. As with all behaviour traits there is a trade off. There is a direct cost of energy required to producing the sounds and along with this is the loss of energy from lack of feeding during times of communicating. There is also a indirect cost, especially for transient killer whales, which pass information on to eavesdroppers. Eavesdroppers may include competitors (Hammond et al. , 2003), predators (Hosken et al. 1994) or for transient killer whales alerting potential prey. Various studies have documented the costs from eavesdropping for prey in the case of predators who utilise echolocation. Bats have been documented preying on frogs performing mating calls by eavesdropping on them (Fenton, 2003). Insects have also been noted as being able to avoid predation from bats by listening to their acoustic projections (Rydell et al. , 1995). Communicative vocalizations are usually not essential for prey location unlike echolocation.This is the most likely reason that transient killer whales move in silence or considerably reduced vocal communication while foraging. Evolution I believe that the evolution of marine mammals from a common ancestor hinders the transient killer whales hunting due to the retention of excellent underwater hearing by marine mammals. In Pakistan the discovery of Ambulocetus was remarkable, a three metre long mammal which resembled a crocodile. It is thought to be the transitional fossil starting the mammalian movement towards an aquatic life.By 38 million years ago mammals had fully adapted to a aquatic life with the emergence of Basilosaurus and Dorudon. Although these large marine mammals resembled modern whales and dolphins they lacked the ‘melon organ’ which allows echolocation in their descendants (Ford, et al. , 2000). In the middle of the Oligocene (33 million years ago) a animal called Squalodon is thought to have been the first to use echolocation. With a cranium which was well compressed, and a telescoped rostrum i t displayed a skull similar to modern dolphins.A big problem with the hunting marine mammals is that they all have a common ancestor, and all have retained a common lineage of very good hearing. Fish have poor hearing which allows the residential killer whales to freely use communication when hunting. Transient killer whales have been forced to change this behaviour because of their choice of prey including seals, dolphins, porpoises and whales. With all mammals having good underwater hearing they have been required to adopt a reduced vocal communication when searching for prey. ConclusionI believe that the lack of acoustic communication between transient killer whales is due to the ability of their selected prey being able to hear the clicks, whistles and pulses they generate. These sounds can be heard from over seven kilometres away and marine mammals do react to these calls (Deecke et al. , 2002). In the study by Deecke in 2002, he played the sounds of killer whales near a harbou r seal colony which resulted in most of the seals displaying strong anti-predator behaviour of leaving the water. This suggests that they are able to clearly hear the calls and understand what is generating them.I believe that other marine mammals will react in a similar way. Guinet (1992) observed the vocal patterns of killer whales around the Crozet Archipelago and came to the same result as Deecke (2004) that the killer whales were silent throughout hunting and searching, but once a mammalian kill was made the pod would greatly increase in vocal activity. While it can be a risk to produce noise after killing a prey, for fear of drawing the attention of other predators or scavengers, killer whales are the apex predator and have no natural predators.Resources Baird, R. W, Stacey, P. J. , (1988). Foraging and feeding behaviour of transient killer whales. Whalewatcher vol 22, no. 1:11-15 Barrett-Lennard, L. G. , Ford, J. K. B. , Heise, K. A. , (1996). The mixed blessing of echolocati on: differences in sonar use by fish-eating and mammal-eating killer whales. Animal Behaviour, 51: 553-565 Deecke, V. B. , Ford, J. K. B, Sprong, P. (2000). Dialect change in resident killer whales: implications for vocal learning and cultural transmission. Animal Behaviour 60: 629-638 Deecke, V. B. Ford, J. K. B, Slater, P. J. B. (2002). Selective habituation shapes acoustic predator recognition in harbour seals. Nature 420: 170-173 Deecke, V. B. , Ford, J. K. B, Slater, P. J. B. (2004). The vocal behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales: Communicating with costly calls. Animal Behaviour 69: 395-405 Fenton, M. B. (2003). Eavesdropping on the echolocation and social call of bats. Mammal Review 33: 193-204 Ford, J. K. B. (1984). Call traditions and vocal dialects of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in British Columbia. Ph. D. hesis, University of British Columbia Ford, J. K. B. (1989). Acoustic behaviour of resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Can adian Journal of Zoology 67:727-745 Ford, J. K. B. , Ellis, G. M. , Balcomb, K. C. (2000) Killer whales the natural history and genealogy of Orcinus orca in British Columbia and Washington State. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press Guinet, C. (1992) Comportent de chasse des orques (Orcinus orca) autour des iles Crozet. Canadian journal of Zoology 70: 1656-1667Hammond, T. J. , Bailey, W. J. , (2003) Eavesdropping and defensive auditory masking in an Australian bush cricket, Caedicia (Phaneropterinae: Tettigoniidae: Orthoptera). Behaviour 140: 79-95 Hosken, D. J. , Bailey, W. J. , Oshea, J. E. , Roberts, J. D. (1994) Localization of insect calls by the bat Nyctophilus geoffroyi (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae): a laboratory study. Australian Journal of Zoology 42: 177-184 Matkin, D. (1988) Killer whales of Norway. Homer: North Gulf Oceanic Society Rydell, J. , Jones, G. , Waters, D. 1995) Echolocating bats and hearing moths: who are the winners? Oikos 73: 419-424 Wilson, B. , Dill, L. M. (2002) Pacific herring respond to stimulated odontocete echolocation sounds. Canadian Journal of Fisheries & Aquatic Sciences 59: 542-553 Yurk, H, Barrett-Leonard, L. , Ford, J. K. B. Matkin, C. O. (2002) Cultural transmission within maternal lineages: vocal clans in resident killer whales in southern Alaska. Animal Behaviour 63: 1103–1119 Vocal behaviour of mammal-eating killer whales A report on a unique behavioural characteristic By Michael Clark 83787877

Structured Report Example

A structured report is an essay that uses a certain structure in order to present a report on a particular issue. The use of structured data allows the reader to analyze the scale of a problem under discussion more precisely. As a rule, a structured report consists of the introductory paragraph, main body, and conclusion. Most commonly, a structured report is used in social studies, business, economy, or geography areas. The structured report example demonstrates the proper structure and use of data needed to be presented in most structured reports. Homelessness has been a hot issue throughout the whole US history. According to the US law, a person is considered homeless if he or she does not have a constant place for sleep. Such people have the right to stay in the public or private shelters. About 550 thousand people (one in the seven-hundredth resident of the country) in the US have been identified as homeless in 2015 (The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2016). The lack of affordable housing and assistance programs to the poor are the most significant causes of the homeless population growth in the US. Another important reason for homelessness is a domestic violence. According to the Ford Foundation research, approximately 50% of all homeless women and children were victims of beatings or other forms of violence in their own family (Zorza, 1991). However it is, the level of homelessness significantly decreased for the last 15 years, which shows that US social policies are on the right way now. Fifteen years ago, US social protection policy was not able to completely solve the problem of homelessness. A study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2001, reveals that in 27 major cities, among those people who asked for shelters about 37% have not received assistance since the shelters were overcrowded (Hunger and Homelessness Up Sharply in Major U.S. Cities, 2001). The number of such cases in 2001 increased by 11% compared with the previous year, while the number of places in shelters has changed slightly. The same indicators on the situation of homeless families were even worse that year: the administrations of shelters refused to lodge for about 52% of the families seeking help. The number of homeless people simply was much higher than the number of places in shelters. What is more, it is known that homeless shelters are the predominantly urban phenomenon. Outside the big cities, there almost were no shelters, although homeless people were present there as well. In fact, many homeless people were forced to seek temporary shelter among their relatives and friends, constantly changing their place of residence. This category of people is mostly not considered as homeless. According to the US Department of Education report, in 2000 only 35% of homeless children and young people were living in shelters; 34% lived alternately in the relatives or friends house, and 23% lived in cheap hotels (The U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Taking the given data all together becomes clear that the US were far from providing all the needed resources for decreasing the homelessness level 15 years ago. According to estimates of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, during the last few years, the number of homeless people in the US, is markedly reduced (The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2013). At the end of January 2013, about 610,000 homeless were registered in the US. It is 4% lower in than it was in 2012. The number of homeless veterans has decreased more significantly: by 6%, there were about 58,000 of them. The number of so-called chronic homeless people and homeless families reduced as well. References Hunger and Homelessness Up Sharply in Major U.S. Cities. (2001). usmayors.org. Retrieved 20 September 2016, from http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/documents/hunger_121101.asp The U.S. Department of Education,. (2004). Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program. Washington, DC. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,. (2016). The State of Homelessness in America (p. 7). Washington, DC: National Alliance to End Homelessness. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,. (2013). The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Zorza, Joan. Woman Battering: A Major Cause of Homelessness, in Clearinghouse Review vol. 25, no. 4, 1991.