Maruti Suzuki Essay Example

Maruti Suzuki Essay Maruti Suzuki India Limited (Hindi: ) (NSE:Â  MARUTI, BSE:Â  532500) a partial subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, is Indias largest passenger car company, accounting for over 45% of the domestic car market. The company offers a complete range of cars from entry level Maruti 800 and Alto, to hatchback Ritz, A star, Swift, Wagon-R, Estillo and sedans DZire, SX4 and Sports Utility vehicle Grand Vitara. [3] It was the first company in India to mass-produce and sell more than a million cars. It is largely credited for having brought in an automobile revolution to India. It is the market leader in India and on 17 September 2007, Maruti Udyog Limited was renamed Maruti Suzuki India Limited. The companys headquarters are located in New Delhi. [1] Contents| Type Public Traded as BSE:Â  532500 NSE:Â  MARUTI Industry Automotive Founded 1981 (as Maruti Udyog Limited) Headquarters New Delhi, India [1] Key people Mr. Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO Products Automobiles Revenue US$4. 8 billion (2009) Employees 6,903 [2] Parent Suzuki Motor Corporation Website MarutiSuzuki. om [edit] Profile The old logo of Maruti Suzuki India Limited. Later the logo of Suzuki Motor Corp. was also added to it To Munsiyari on a Maruti 800, Uttarakhand Himalayas Maruti Suzuki plant in Gurgaon Maruti Suzuki is India and Nepals number one leading automobile manufacturer and the market leader in the car segment, both in terms of volume of vehicles sold and revenue earned. Until recently, 1 8. 28% of the company was owned by the Indian government, and 54. 2% by Suzuki of Japan. The BJP-led government held an initial public offering of 25% of the company in June 2003. We will write a custom essay sample on Maruti Suzuki specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Maruti Suzuki specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Maruti Suzuki specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer As of 10 May 2007, Govt. of India sold its complete share to Indian financial institutions. With this, Govt. of India no longer has stake in Maruti Udyog. Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in February 1981, though the actual production commenced in 1983 with the Maruti 800, based on the Suzuki Alto kei car which at the time was the only modern car available in India, its only competitors- the Hindustan Ambassador and Premier Padmini were both around 25 years out of date at that point. Through 2004, Maruti Suzuki has produced over 5 Million vehicles. Maruti Suzukis are sold in India and various several other countries, depending upon export orders. Models similar to Maruti Suzukis (but not manufactured by Maruti Udyog) are sold by Suzuki Motor Corporation and manufactured in Pakistan and other South Asian countries. The company annually exports more than 50,000 cars and has an extremely large domestic market in India selling over 730,000 cars annually. Maruti 800, till 2004, was the Indias largest selling compact car ever since it was launched in 1983. More than a million units of this car have been sold worldwide so far. Currently, Maruti Suzuki Alto tops the sales charts and Maruti Suzuki Swift is the largest selling in A2 segment. Due to the large number of Maruti 800s sold in the Indian market, the term Maruti is commonly used to refer to this compact car model (Maruti is another name of the Hindu god, Hanuman). Maruti Suzuki has been the leader of the Indian car market for over two decades. Its manufacturing facilities are located at two facilities Gurgaon and Manesar south of Delhi. Maruti Suzuki’s Gurgaon facility has an installed capacity of 350,000 units per annum. The Manesar facilities, launched in February 2007 comprise a vehicle assembly plant with a capacity of 100,000 units per year and a Diesel Engine plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 engines and transmissions. Manesar and Gurgaon facilities have a combined capability to produce over 700,000 units annually. More than half the cars sold in India are Maruti Suzuki cars. The company is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan, which owns 54. per cent of Maruti Suzuki. The rest is owned by public and financial institutions. It is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India. During 2007-08, Maruti Suzuki sold 764,842 cars, of which 53,024 were exported. In all, over six million Maruti Suzuki cars are on Indian roads since the first car was rolled out on 14 December 1983. Maruti Suzuki offers 14 models, Maruti 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, A-star, Ritz, Swift, S wift DZire, SX4, Omni, Eeco, Gypsy, Grand Vitara, Kizashi. Swift, Swift DZire, A-star and SX4 are manufactured in Manesar, Grand Vitara and Kizashi are imported from Japan as completely built units(CBU), remaining all models are manufactured in Maruti Suzukis Gurgaon Plant. Suzuki Motor Corporation, the parent company, is a global leader in mini and compact cars for three decades. Suzuki’s technical superiority lies in its ability to pack power and performance into a compact, lightweight engine that is clean and fuel efficient. Nearly 75,000 people are employed directly by Maruti Suzuki and its partners. It has been rated first in customer satisfaction among all car makers in India from 1999 to 2009 by J D Power Asia Pacific. [4] [edit] Partner for the joint venture Sanjay Gandhi owned the Maruti Technical Services Limited, which ran into trouble and was liquidated. After the death of Sanjay Gandhi, the Indira Gandhi government assigned a delegation of Indian technocrats to hunt for a collaborator for the project. Initial rounds of discussion were held with the giants of the automobile industry in Japan including Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Suzuki Motor Corporation was at that time a small player in the four wheeler automobile sector and had major share in the two wheeler segment. Suzukis bid was considered negligible. While the major companies were personally represented in the initial rounds of discussion, Osamu Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of the company ensured that he was present in all the rounds of discussion. Osamu in an article writes that it subtly massaged their (Indian delegations) egos and also convinced them about the sincerity of Suzukis bid. Suzuki in return received a lot of help from the government in such matters as import clearances for manufacturing equipment (against the wishes of the Indian machine tool industry then and its own socialistic ideology), land purchase at government prices for setting up the factory Gurgaon and reduced or removal of excise tariffs. This ensured that Suzuki conscientiously nursed Maruti Suzuki through its infancy to become one of its flagship ventures. [5] [edit] Joint venture related issues Maruti Suzukis A-Star vehicle during its unveiling in Pragati Maidan, Delhi. A-Star, Suzukis fifth global car model, was designed and is made only in India. [6] Besides being Suzukis largest subsidiary in terms of car sales, Maruti Suzuki is also Suzukis leading research and development arm outside Japan Relationship between the Government of India, under the United Front (India) coalition and Suzuki Motor Corporation over the joint venture was a point of heated debate in the Indian media till Suzuki Motor Corporation gained the controlling stake. This highly profitable joint venture that had a near monopolistic trade in the Indian automobile market and the nature of the partnership built up till then was the underlying reason for most issues. The success of the joint venture led Suzuki to increase its equity from 26% to 40% in 1987, and further to 50% in 1992. In 1982 both the venture partners had entered into an agreement to nominate their candidate for the post of Managing Director and every Managing Director will have a tenure of five years[7] Initially R. C. Bhargava, was the managing director of the company since the inception of the joint venture. Till today he is regarded as instrumental for the success of Maruti Suzuki. Joining in 1982 he held several key positions in the company before heading the company as Managing Director. Currently he is on the Board of Directors. [8] After completing his five year tenure, Mr. Bhargava later assumed the office of Part-Time Chairman. The Government nominated Mr. S. S. L. N. Bhaskarudu as the Managing Director on 27 August 1997. Mr. Bhaskarudu had joined Maruti Suzuki in 1983 after spending 21 years in the Public sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited as General Manager. Later in 1987 he was promoted as Chief General Manager, 1988 as Director, Productions and Projects, 1989 Director, Materials and in 1993 as Joint Managing Director. Suzuki Motor Corporation didnt attend the Annual General Meeting of the Board with the reason of it being called on a short notice. [9] Later Suzuki Motor Corporation went on record to state that Mr. Bhaskarudu was incompetent and wanted someone else. However, the Ministry of Industries, Government of India refuted the charges. Media stated from the Maruti Suzuki sources that Bhaskarudu was interested to indigenise most of components for the models including gear boxes especially for Maruti 800. Suzuki also felt that Bhaskarudu was a proxy for the Government and would not let it increase its stake in the venture. [10] If Maruti Suzuki would have been able to indigenise gear boxes then Maruti Suzuki would have been able to manufacture all the models without the technical assistance from Suzuki. Till today the issue of localization of gear boxes is highlighted in the press. [11] The relation strained when Suzuki Motor Corporation moved to Delhi High Court to bring a stay order against the appointment of Mr. Bhaskarudu. The issue was resolved in an out-of-court settlement and both the parties agreed that R S SÂ  L N Bhaskarudu would serve up to 31 December 1999, and from 1 January 2000, Jagdish Khattar, Executive Director of Maruti Udyog Limited would assume charges as the Managing Director. 12] Many politicians believed, and had stated in parliament that the Suzuki Motor Corporation is unwilling to localize manufacturing and reduce imports. This remains true, even today the gear boxes are still imported from Japan and are assembled at the Gurgaon facility. [edit] Industrial relations For most of its history, Maruti Udyog Limited had relatively few problems with its labour force. Its emphasis of a Japanese work culture and the modern manufacturing process, first instituted i n Japan in the 1970s, was accepted by the workforce of the company without any difficulty. But with the change in management in 1997, when it became predominantly government controlled for a while, and the conflict between the United Front Government and Suzuki may have been the cause of unrest among employees. A major row broke out in September 2000 when employees of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL) went on an indefinite strike, demanding among other things, revision of the incentive scheme offered and implementation of a pension scheme. Employees struck work for six hours in October 2000, irked over the suspension of nine employees, going on a six-hour tools-down strike at its Gurgaon plant, demanding revision of the incentive-linked pay and threatened to fast to death if the suspended employees were not reinstated. About this time, the NDA government, following a disinvestments policy, proposed to sell part of its stake in Maruti Suzuki in a public offering. The Staff union opposed this sell-off plan on the grounds that the company will lose a major business advantage of being subsidised by the Government. The standoff with the management continued to December with a proposal by the management to end the two-month long agitation rejected with a demand for reinstatement of 92 dismissed workers, with four MUL employees going on a fast-unto-death. In December the companys shareholders met in New Delhi in an AGM that lasted 30 minutes. At the same time around 1500 plant workers from the MULs Gurgaon facility were agitating outside the companys corporate office demanding commencement of production linked incentives, a better pension scheme and other benefits. The management has refused to pass on the benefits citing increased competition and lower margins. [13] [edit] Services offered [edit] Current sales of automobiles Maruti Omni Indias Corps of Military Police personnel patrolling the Wagah border crossing in the Punjab in a Maruti Gypsy. Maruti Alto Maruti Suzuki Swift Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo Suzuki SX4 5th Generation Suzuki Alto is sold as Maruti Suzuki A-Star in India. Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire Suzuki Splash is sold as Maruti Suzuki Ritz in India. [edit] Manufactured locally 1. 800 (Launched 1983) 2. Omni (Launched 1984) . Gypsy (Launched 1985) 4. WagonR (Launched 2002) 5. Alto (Launched 2000) 6. Swift (Launched 2005) 7. Estilo (Launched 2009) 8. SX4 (Launched 2007) 9. Swift DZire (Launched 2008) 10. A-star (Launched 2008) 11. Ritz (Launched 2009) 12. Eeco (Launched 2010) 13. Alto K10(Launched 2010) [edit] Imported Suzuki Grand Vitara 1. Grand Vitara (Launched 2007) 2. Kizashi (Launched 2011) [edit] Discontinued car models 1. 1000 (1990–1994) 2. Zen (1993–2006) 3. Esteem (1994–2008) 4. Baleno (1999–2007) 5. Zen Estilo (2006–2009) 6. Versa (2001–2010) 7. Grand Vitara XL7 (2003–2007) *Source edit] Manufacturing facilities Maruti Suzuki has two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in India. [14] Both manufacturing facilities have a combined production capacity of 1,250,000 vehicles annually. [edit] Gurgaon Manufacturing Facility The Gurgaon Manufacturing Facility has three fully integrated manufacturing plants and is spread over 300Â  acres (1. 2Â  km2). All three plants have an installed capacity of 350,000 vehicles annually but productivity improvements have enabled it to manufacture 700,000 vehicles annually. The Gurgaon facilities also manufacture 240,000 K-Series engines annually. The entire facility is equipped with more than 150 robots, out of which 71 have been developed in-house. The Gurgaon Facilities manufactures the 800, Alto, WagonR, Estilo, Omni, Gypsy and Eeco. [edit] Manesar Manufacturing Facility The Manesar Manufacturing Plant was inaugurated in February 2007 and is spread over 600Â  acres (2. 4Â  km2). Initially it had a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles annually but this was increased to 300,000 vehicles annually in October 2008. The production capacity was further increased by 250,000 vehicles taking total production capacity to 550,000 vehicles annually. The Manesar Plant produces the A-star, Swift, Swift DZire and SX4. [edit] Sales and service network As of 31 March 2011 Maruti Suzuki has 933 dealerships across 666 towns and cities in all states and union territories of India. It has 2,946 service stations (inclusive of dealer workshops and Maruti Authorised Service Stations) in 1,395 towns and cities throughout India[15]. It has 30 Express Service Stations on 30 National Highways across 1,314 cities in India. Service is a major revenue generator of the company. Most of the service stations are managed on franchise basis, where Maruti Suzuki trains the local staff. Other automobile companies have not been able to match this benchmark set by Maruti Suzuki. The Express Service stations help many stranded vehicles on the highways by sending across their repair man to the vehicle. [16] [edit] Maruti Insurance Launched in 2002 Maruti Suzuki provides vehicle insurance to its customers with the help of the National Insurance Company, Bajaj Allianz, New India Assurance and Royal Sundaram. The service was set up the company with the inception of two subsidiaries Maruti Insurance Distributors Services Pvt. Ltd and Maruti Insurance Brokers Pvt. Limited[17] This service started as a benefit or value addition to customers and was able to ramp up easily. By December 2005 they were able to sell more than two million insurance policies since its inception. [18] [edit] Maruti Finance To promote its bottom line growth, Maruti Suzuki launched Maruti Finance in January 2002. Prior to the start of this service Maruti Suzuki had started two joint ventures Citicorp Maruti and Maruti Countrywide with Citi Group and GE Countrywide respectively to assist its client in securing loan. 19] Maruti Suzuki tied up with ABN Amro Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Limited, Kotak Mahindra, Standard Chartered Bank, and Sundaram to start this venture including its strategic partners in car finance. Again the company entered into a strategic partnership with SBI in March 2003[20] Since March 2003, Maruti has sold over 12,000 vehicles through SBI-Maruti Finance. SBI-Maruti Finance is currently available in 166 cities across I ndia. [21] Maruti Finance marks the coming together of the biggest players in the car finance business. They are the benchmarks in quality and efficiency. Combined with Maruti volumes and networked dealerships, this will enable Maruti Finance to offer superior service and competitive rates in the marketplace. — Jagdish Khattar, Managing director of Maruti Udyog Limited in a press conference announcing the launch of Maruti Finance on 7 January 2002[19] Citicorp Maruti Finance Limited is a joint venture between Citicorp Finance India and Maruti Udyog Limited its primary business stated by the company is hire-purchase financing of Maruti Suzuki vehicles. Citi Finance India Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank Overseas Investment Corporation, Delaware, which in turn is a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Citibank N. A. Citi Finance India Limited holds 74% of the stake and Maruti Suzuki holds the remaining 26%. [22] GE Capital, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki came together in 1995 to form Maruti Countrywide. [23] Maruti claims that its finance program offers most competitive interest rates to its customers, which are lower by 0. 25% to 0. 5% from the market rates. [edit] Maruti TrueValue Main Article: Maruti True Value Maruti True service offered by Maruti Suzuki to its customers. It is a market place for used Maruti Suzuki Vehicles. One can buy, sell or exchange used Maruti Suzuki vehicles with the help of this service in India. As of 31 March 2010 there are 341 Maruti True Value outlets. [edit] N2N Fleet Management N2N is the short form of End to End Fleet Management and provides lease and fleet management solution to corporates. Its impressive list of clients who have signed up of this service include Gas Authority of India Ltd, DuPont, Reckitt Benckiser, Sona Steering, Doordarshan, Singer India, National Stock Exchange and Transworld. This fleet management service include end-to-end solutions across the vehicles life, which includes Leasing, Maintenance, Convenience services and Remarketing. [24] [edit] Accessories Many of the auto component companies other than Maruti Suzuki started to offer components and accessories that were compatible. This caused a serious threat and loss of revenue to Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki started a new initiative under the brand name Maruti Genuine Accessories to offer accessories like alloy wheels, body cover, carpets, door visors, fog lamps, stereo systems, seat covers and other car care products. These products are sold through dealer outlets and authorized service stations throughout India. [25] [edit] Maruti Driving School A Maruti Driving School in Chennai As part of its corporate social responsibility Maruti Suzuki launched the Maruti Driving School in Delhi. Later the services were extended to other cities of India as well. These schools are modelled on international standards, where learners go through classroom and practical sessions. Many international practices like road behaviour and attitudes are also taught in these schools. Before driving actual vehicles participants are trained on simulators. [26] We are very concerned about mounting deaths on Indian roads. These can be brought down if government, industry and the voluntary sector work together in an integrated manner. But we felt that Maruti should first do something in this regard and hence this initiative of Maruti Driving Schools. — Jagdish Khattar, at the launch ceremony of Maruti Driving School, Bangalore [edit] Issues and problems On February, 24, 2010, Maruti Suzuki India, announced recalling of 100,000 A-Star hatchbacks to fix a fuel leakage problem. he company will replace the gaskets for all 100,000 A-Star cars. [27] [edit] Exports Maruti Exports Limited is the subsidiary of Maruti Suzuki with its major focus on exports and it does not operate in the domestic Indian market. The first commercial consignment of 480 cars were sent to Hungary. By sending a consignment of 571 cars to the same country Maruti Suzuki crossed the benchmark of 300,000 cars. Since its inception export was one of the aspects government was keen to encourage. Every political party expected Maruti Suzuki to earn foreign currency.

Diabete Type 1 and 2 essays

Diabete Type 1 and 2 essays Diabetes is a very serious disease that attacks millions of people around the world. Diabetes is recognized as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States. (Medical Surgical Nursing) It can strike at any age and can happen to anyone. Although we are not exactly sure about the causes of diabetes, it is known to be a metabolism disorder. It is believed that it has to do with the body's own immune system attacking and destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. A metabolism disorder affects the digestion of food in the body. (McHenry, Robert) After eating, most food is broken down by glucose, which is the main fuel for the body. Cells use glucose for energy after it moves into the bloodstream. (Channing L.) Insulin, which is a hormone produced by the pancreas, allows the glucose to pass into our cells. The pancreass job is to produce the right amount of insulin so the glucose can pass from the bloodstream into cells. (Channing L.) Without insulin the glucose that we need in order to live has a hard time entering the cells of the body that need it. If too much glucose builds up in the blood, then a diabetic may begin to have headaches or blurry vision. They may become very thirsty and have dry, itchy skin. ( McHenry, Robert) If glucose levels go too low, it is called hypoglycemia, which makes a person nervous, shaky and confused. (McHenry, Robert) Personal judgment may also be impaired. If glucose levels go to high, it is called hyperglycemia. This condition can be life threatening. Doctors who specialize in diabetes are called an endocrinologist or diabetologist. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. Some symptoms of diabetes include: excessive thirst, constant hunger, sudden weight loss for no reason, rapid hard breathing, sudden vision changes or blurry vision and drowsiness or exhaustion. These symptoms can occur at any time. If they are not diagnosed and tre...

Broadcasting of Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Broadcasting of Science - Essay Example In essence, the information given only exists in a temporary media hence the audience cannot go back on the content once aired. When viewed from the scientific point of view, Britain is the third largest research contributor globally after the U.S and Japan. In addition, the United Kingdom’s economy has technology and science contribute a third to it. Overtime, broadcasting of science related issues has proven to be a tricky affair, but reporters have tremendously stridden towards the achievement of the same. Essentially, this paper will examine the differing positions regarding the creation of a balance in being effective in the reporting of science related events with a major focus on BBC news channel. Mainly, many newsreaders and reporters tend to shy away from the broadcast of science, as it requires critical research and extensive munching of figures. A science related story is factual and not fictional therefore; it is not easy to cook figures or distort the facts. Therefore, a slight misrepresentation of the facts may lead to critic from the science fraternity, which may not be advantageous to the broadcasting company leave alone the reporter. However, if society does not get plenty of science information it becomes a scientific illiterate society. This proves highly detrimental, as the society may be unable to tackle the easiest of science related challenges due to its ill-informed state. Arguably, many scientists tend to view mass media as a not so powerful tool for conveying science related information. On the contrary, BBC stood out in Britain as its science related content was above that of the other channels. On average, it broadcasted 4.6% of science items while BBC rad io had the most number of shows doing coverage on these issues. In addition, the technology aspect got most coverage by the BBC News Channel, which had more science content. In contrast, the time allocated for science issues in daytime shows was relatively lower as compared to those broadcasted during the late hours. On the other hand, the BBC internet site displayed relatively similar proportions of science aspects just like the other tools of broadcasting. The News Front page of their site gave at least five percent linkages to science items. Additionally, a hundred and thirty out of the six hundred and forty queer items found were also science related in this site and a further forty-one to science-affiliated topics. Moreover, the length of the internet articles was up to 520 words, with the ones with origin to environmental science being longer with an average of five hundred and eighty three words (Mellor et al 12). In comparison, the science coverage given by BBC news is almos t equivalent to that given to other news channels. This was as per the year 2010. However, this would mean that there has been either an improvement or plunge in the coverage of the same since then. In essence, the days of the week also draw the amount of time allocated to the reporting of science and its affiliates. The weekends do not give coverage of such as dedication on these days goes to human-interest stories. However, for BBC broadcast of science was high on Friday and relatively low on Mondays. This scenario was due to the weekly Thursday journal with which with its release gave topics to which coverage could base upon. On the other hand, two percent of the BBC airtime went to broadcast of programs on the non-news schedule. In essence, radio

Childhood vaccinations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Childhood vaccinations - Essay Example Describing her helplessness, another polio sufferer writes, â€Å"I found it very frustrating to have an active mind in a permanently disabled body† (Gillan 1). Many individuals suffer from completely preventable diseases that could have been avoided if they were vaccinated in childhood. The very fact that a disease as preventable as polio was allowed to ruin so many lives makes it unbearable. Despite the awareness on immunizations and vaccinations, the multi-million dollar investments made by governments on vaccinations, the free camps and vaccination drives organized every day, there are many who fail to get their children immunized or are too scared to do so. Failure to get children immunized puts them at risk of innumerable life-threatening or permanently disabling diseases that would otherwise have been completely preventable. It is argued here that children should get immunized and that vaccination is the right of every child, as much as is his right to living. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a Millennium Development Goal 4 for reducing child (under five years of age) mortality by up to two thirds by the year 2015 (â€Å"10 facts on immunization† who.int). According to reports, millions of children die every year from diseases that could have been prevented through immunization. Vaccination is also a key strategy for the prevention of emergence of pandemic infections. The WHO reports that vaccination results in the prevention of about 2-3 million deaths all over the world each year (â€Å"10 facts on immunization† who.int). Deaths in all age groups from pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, measles and polio have been prevented through vaccination, which is â€Å"one of the most successful and cost-effective public health interventions† (â€Å"10 facts on immunization† who.int). However, many individuals fail to get their children immunized, resulting in morbidity or

Analysis of Pepsi Company Limited Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Pepsi Company Limited - Assignment Example The strategy used by the company indicates that the management is in the process of creating action plans that try to augment the market share and take the lead competitor position in the soft drinks industry. The company tries to do this by increasing operations in all major cities of the world to rival the global presence of Coca-Cola Company. b) The annual report also points out the fact the company uses the straight line on both depreciation and amortization, a factor which means that the company does not use reducing balance method (PepsiCo, 2010). When the different depreciation methods are compared, it can be seen that the straight-line method is the best for this type of company. This is because the straight-line method allocates the usefulness of the assets to the most productive life of the asset, meaning that when the asset is near obsolete, the depreciation allocated to the asset is small compared to the earlier life of the asset. Conversely, the reducing balance method of depreciation allocates depreciation according to the value of the asset, which ends up allocating depreciation even when the asset is near obsolete. The company also uses the straight-line method to amortize assets, loans and allocate capital expenditure. c) From the annual reports released in the fiscal year ended December 2010, the par value of Pepsi Company common stock is 1 2/3 pence per share (PepsiCo, 2010). This par value reflected by the financial statements of the company indicates that the value has remained constant since the company announced a stock split in 1996, which means that the share data have been adjusted to reflect the stock split. The par value of the shares has remained constant since the period, and capital in excess of the par value is reduced to reflect the increase in par value occasioned by the value of additional shares issued.

Social And Political Factors: National Curriculum

Social And Political Factors: National Curriculum In understanding the factors that led historically to the formation of the Education National Curriculum, it is important to understand the position of Britain troughout history in the past three centuries in terms of socio-economical structure, political trends, religious climate as well as the position of the country in the international arena, both economically and socially. With these three aspects together, and the different historic events and legislations that took place during the XIX and XX century, it becomes clear the reasons, motivations and necesities that led to the establishement of such curriculum within the already established education structure of the country, as well as its objectives and purposes. The British Government attached little importance to education until the end of the 19th century, however there is evidence of the change in mentality before the end of the century. It all began on 1807 when Samuel Whitbread, a champion of religious and civil rights, and a proponent of a national education system he proposed the abolition of slavery, (1) proposed a new poor law , establishing a free educational system -two years of education for those unable to pay- the measure was of course seen too radical for the time and thus easily defeated in the house of common. (2) This thinking is nurtured mainly to the climate of the time, where higher classes of society had no interest in cultural developement, the relationship that Britain had with other countries was totally vertical, Britain had a reputation and status and has always been more concetrated in colonial adquisitions, external growth and power, Britain was leading the world in industry and commerce, there was a laissez-fair e feeling that education would somehow take care of itself.(3) The Idea of education for the masses remained within the spirit of the times, but it only started to gain real interest on the second half of the 19th century when the commercial and manufacturing supremacy of Britain was in decline in comparisson to other european counterparts (4) it now seemed financiable viable to have educated workforce. At that time, the Church of England was responsible for most schools, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Before 1870, education was largely a private affair, with wealthy parents sending their children to fee-paying schools, and others using whatever local teaching was made available (5). It became clear that education needed to (surpass) that frontier of elite, and be more centrered towards the masses, In the second half of the 19th century, not only Britains supremacy was in decline, but crime, pauperism and social distress increased as well, as a sign of lack of a developed education system, political and social stability were now linked with education of the peo ple (6) It is only until 1870 that we can see real State intervention in the education field, The Education Act of 1870 drawn by William Edward Foster, and thus known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾the Foster Act , gave birth to the modern education system in England (4,6) (5), at the time the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe, remarked that the government would now have to educate our masters. (7) It can be seen clearly that there was an advancement in mentality towards education of the people and the future of the country; this act stressed four main points : first, the country will be divided into School districts. Second, School Boards were to be elected by ratepayers in each district. Third, School Boards were to examine the provision of elementary education in their district, and make arrangements if necessary. And fourth, school Boards could make their own by-laws, allowing them to to charges fees if necessary. It was an establishement of elementary schools nationwide, not replacing those s chools run and/or erected by the Church or any other independent body, but it supplemented them. (8) Following to the Foster Act, many others followed such as :The Free Education Act 1891 , The , The Voluntary Schools Act 1897, which stresses in areas such as funding and compulsory age leaving, started to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾modernised and forge the education system that we know, Later acts such as The Education Act 1902 , abolished school boards and created Local Education Authorities (LEA) and the 1918 Fischer Act which concentrates on compulsory age of leaving school for Secondary. (5) A well structured Education system was being born in england, driven by the need to have skilled and qualified work force, what followed is the 1944 Education act also know as the Buttler Act which changed the education system for secondary schools implementing a tripartite eduation system and secondary education free for all pupils (9). And thus replacing all previous legislation. 1944 Education Act was an attempt to create the structure for the post-war British education system (10) It only took effect until 1947 after WWII. WWII played an extremely important role in the vision that politicians had on education. In effect, the example set by other european countries in terms of political and social balance everyone else seemed to be doing better than England, mainly because they had better education systems, what stroke the most was the advancement in technology that Germany showoff during the war(13), the astonish organization of its people, the loyalty to the Nazi cause, and the fact that they were all pursuing the same goal. This opened the eyes, not only of the British but to the world. The Nazis were aware that education would create loyal Nazis by the time they reached adulthood, schools were to play a critical part in developing a loyal following for Hitler indoctrination and the use of Nazi propaganda. The sole purpose of this educational structure was to create a future generation that was blindly loyal to Hitler and the Nazis. (11) This historic event let to favouring the formation of a natio nal curriculum, not to follow Hitlers steps per se, but learn from the education experience, however, there is the doubt and fear of political indoctrination, in the formation of such curriculum. There was however a strong motivation to educate the people, produce better citizens and better workers, the British were now more concentrated in quality of the labour rather than quantity. (12) The real revolution in education legislation came in 1988 with the education reform act, which is so far the most important since Butlers act, with this reform was born the National Curriculum(14), so far the most important provision, giving an estatury entiletlement to learning for all, regardless of gender, race, or special situation, determining what should be taught, how, and when, it also sets attainment targets for learning and how this should be asses. (15) The British goverment finally understood that it is important to organize education in the country without letting anyone out, they also understtod the need of educated people, not only in the workforce but as well educated persons, nurturing with moral and values, education became the reflexion of a whole society and society is what makes a country, We have seen the past of Education in the British society and how little importance it had in times when power and wealth seemed the most important, we have also seen how a laissez-faire policy on education did not bring any strengh to society or feeling of collectivity, it is seen as well the different motivations and changes in mentality towards education for the masses throutout history, many pieces of legislations and acts have been drafted in order to secure educated generations to come. Knowing as well the position of power, influence and wealth that England has always represented in the global arena, and following the repercusions and experiences from WWII, it was just a matter of time for England to start thinking in investing in its people, in creating a society that reflects the wealth and power that it endevours, and that society is built throughout education, and the creation of the National curriculum sets the criteria to the delivery of such education aware and responsi ve to changes in society and the economy, aware of the need to nourrish a multi-ethnical society in the spiritual, moral, social and cultural areas adapting to the needs and demands of the time. Society reflects a nation, and a nation reflects society, the National curriculum allows today to educate both, the future nation, and the society to come. B- demonstrate understanding of the National Curriculum by showing how it makes provisions for meeting the holistic needs of all learners. The art of holistic education lies in its responsiveness to the diverse learning styles and needs of evolving human beings. (16) Having an holistic approach means taking into account and consideration the complete person, both, physically and psycologicaly, in education sector this is based in giving sense to identity to every learner, a purpose in life and connections to a collectivity. The National Curriculum in Enlgand promotes develoment in many different areas that can be qualified as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾holistic in the sense that their purpose is to foster a balanced education in the knowledge or academic field and the pastoral or more psychological care of each pupil as well. The National Curriculum makes various provisions to meet this holisctic needs such as the promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural attitudes and understandings, also promoting key skills, thinking skills and other important aspects(17) that will enable every pupil to develop independent reasoning and thinking, in order to make decisions and be an active and correct member of this society, both intelectually and moraly. We will go throught this provisions to demonstrate how the National Curriculum aim to meet the holistic needs of every learner regardles . In a rapidly changing society, it is important to have a curriculum that will adapt to its sudden cahnges, that is why the four main purposes of the curriculum are set in a way that will enable everyone to be responsive to the needs of the time, these four main purposes are, first: to establish an entitlement of areas of studies and develop of knowledge. Second, establishing standars of performance and assesment in order to examine the learning progress. Third, promoting continuty and coherence that will enable learners to facilitate transitions in a fast moving society and fourth, promoting public understanding leaving to the public the right to discuss about educational issues, giving the collectivity confidence in the openensees of its work. By this, it is intendend to guarantee to the collectivity effective ways to meet the individual needs of every child by clearly and transparently establishing this four main purposes in education. Being a very important aspect taking into account the age of the learners, the National Curriculum has been developed in a cognitive style, this is with the porpuse of creating a more balanced and relaxed way of learning, meeting the needs of each pupil at the correct stage of their developement. That is why the National curriculum its organized and establishes key stages, every Children develop at different rates and this is important to not let anyone behind, and also to ensure the same standards of teaching and learning across the nation. This rigourous aspect of the Curriculum intends to meet the needs of the learners holistically, by being aware of the external and internal influences of a whole generation in a country, giving coherence in what is being taught and taking into account the aging factor. Anotherimportant component of the National curriculum is Religious education; on despite of the fact that parents are free to withdrawn their children from these, it remains a basic component of the curriculum it is considered to make a distinctive contribution to the School curiculum by developing the pupils knowledge and understanding of religious beliefs, by which pupils will consider and respond to a variety of important questions related to thier own spiritual developement, develop identity and comon belongings and values in the comunity(17). Great britain has been mainly christian, but other principal religions presented in Britain and must be taken into account. The spiritual aspect of a human being plays an important role in its developement and the National curriculum provides guidelines to foster this, in a multiethnic society. Other Aspects that promotes the national curriculum are the developent of skills. In effect, the National curiculum promotes Key skills and thinking skills as part of the learning experience. Key skills are intended to help learners in understanding how can they improve and perfom better in their own education, these are embeded in the National curriculum, in all subjects, pupils will be taught skills such as : communication, Application of numbers, information and technology, working with others, improving own learning and problem solving. Skills that will not only nurture their academic education but will enrich their interaction with the outside world. Thinking skills, on the other hand complement the latter and will give pupils all the tools to have creative and analytical thinking, reasoning deducting and evaluating skills, allowing pupils to understand the why and how of their environment. The National Curriculum promotes financial aspects, as is important nowadays to be aware of the changes in the economy and be aware and informed costumers, to make inteligent financial decisions aware of the responsabilities and rights as knowledgeable costumers. In order to do it so, the national curriculum Promotes the adquisition of, financial capability knowledge, entreprise and entreprenual skills that will enable pupils to have some foundation knowledge if they consider as a career path, and the promotion od education for sustainalbe development, which encourage pupils to understand and value the taking part in how we do things individually and in collectively. We have seen how in order to adapt to a changing environement the National curriculum has set criteria to meet these changes and how the age factor is an important issue in the delivering of the education that the national curiculum promotes, being aware that as human beings we develope at different rates. It also takes into consideration Religious education, which enlighten mind and soul in the understanding of ourselfs as beings. With all this clear and set up as a statury entitlement for pupils in england, it is clear that the National curriculum aims to the delivery of an academic and pastoral education in a balanced style and thus having an holistic approach, giving chnces to all learners to develop at thier rate and providing order and criteria to educators in order to deliver such education, the face of the nation relies on the developemtn of their students, and its important for a nation to have educated people in knowledge and sound in mind, ready to make part of a multiethn ical society. C- Understand the strenghts and weaknesses of the National Curriculum The National Curriculum is the most essential and important tool for teachers and it has been a revolutionary approach to education in this nation. Delopping Differentiated lesson planning skils: Learning outcome a) :In demonstrating understanding of the key areas of a lesson plan, A lesson plan is a teachers detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson, it should encourage learners to progress and motivate them to improve in their work, it should also excite interest and commitment and willing to continue the learning. To achieve this results, it is very important to have a clear understanding of the key areas of a lesson plan, their purpose, their significance and impact in the lesson itself and very importantly, be proactive in the adaptation of varied approaches in addressing all learners needs in each key area of the lesson in order to differentiate every learning need, creating an environment conducive to learning for all. A quality lesson plan must be a reflection of the school vision as well as philosophy and obviously integrating the National Curriculum guidelines both in the pastoral and academics, making provisions for pupils different learning needs, these should not be time-consuming and should become a teachers second nature. A well composed lesson plan allows any person educated in the subject to deliver a lesson without any further details, just using the lesson plan as a guide. There are six key areas in a lesson plan. 1) General Background: is the detailed information about the lesson, such as : date, Year group, classroom number, unit of work, subject, support available, number of SEN pupils, risk assessment, links to National Curriculum and type of pupils (mix-abilities, mono ethnical, multi-ethnic, etc) all these information will enable the teacher to know, What, Where, and Who, is he going to teach and by knowing these details, the teacher can then adapt or create teaching resources accordingly. 2) Lesson Objective: What do you want your students to learn as a result of the lesson? In a nutshell, the answer to this question is a lesson objective. A Lesson objective should be clear, realistic and measurable, always be aware of what grade level the lesson plan is being put in place for.(page 20) it shows the keywords of the lesson, the teacher must know; where the students are heading, how are they reaching there and know when they have arrived (page 34) A lesson objective is what the teacher wants to achieve with the pupils, these must be coherent and always within the framework of the National Curriculum programme of study. 3) Learning outcomes: is what the learner will be able to do as a result of the learning experience. They vary depending on the pupils ability, learning outcomes are a tool to examine learning process in certain pupils and know where to improve, they should be differentiated and always tailored in what the pupils will achieve, it is important to use formats such as: all pupils will be able to Most pupils will be able to Some pupils will be able to. Teachers should prepare or adapt resources beforehand at different levels to allow pupils to advance at their rate, also encourage students and share the objectives in the classroom so that they can make decisions about their own improvement, the teacher must of course apply many different strategies to achieve differentiation. According to Bloom Learners should benefit from: cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domains, that is why is very important for teachers to prepare a large variety of resources to enable a benefit learning, thinking about the learning styles of the pupils and adapting all of these thoroughly. The teaching should focus on the particular intelligences of each person (multiple intelligence H.Gardner) . 4) Starter: it can be defined as an attention grabber, teachers as part of their lesson delivery must be creative and think in ways to grab and incite attention to the lesson, a starter is defined by many as a fun based activity that will ignite curiosity. Creativity can be in any form, the starter should be brief, allowing pupils mind to get interest in the subject making them want to know more. Starters can be linked as well with previous subjects to carry on continuity of the lesson, always bearing in mind to use as much as possible all learning styles, also keeping in mind strategies to grab the attention of SEN pupils who might not be as excited as his peers in knowing more about the lesson, always have differentiation as a second nature. 5) Main Lesson: Is the period of time in which learners are taught about a particular subject or taught how to perform a particular activity, In other words, is the delivery of the lesson by the teacher; the transfer of knowledge, it should be in an oderly fashion, using as much teaching methods and ressources as possible in order to integrate all learning styles and learning intelligences (H gardner). It is the duty of the teacher to build some kind of motivation from the part of his pupils into the lesson and thus, enabeling an enthusiastic learning. The main lesson can include: Videos, peer talk, debates, discussions, visits from people into the classroom. There should be a variety of student activities, they should be engaged, active, not passive in order to reinforce the learning experience, this activity part takes place soon after the learning experience. 6) The Plenary: The plenary helps Students to have an overall picture of what they are learning; What have we learned today from this/these activities? Pupils usually reflect their difficulties and doubts, these can be discussed and help clear common difficulties; Summary notes can be given at the end. After completion of work it is important to go over any common difficulties with the group, it is important to ask for feedback from the class as a whole in order to summarize what has been learned, the plenary can be a very interesting part of a lesson for inexperience or new teachers as own teaching performance can be asses to see if the primary lesson objective is being met, teachers can then realize what is going wrong in the delivery of their own teaching through the plenary. Lesson plan is a rigorous method to structure what is going to occur in the lesson. Lesson plan is an art not a Science, (442 teaching today) Which lead to the conclude that a lesson plan is the key for a succesful lesson, planning carefully and thourufully each lesson, taking into account the needs of the students, encounter unexpected situations, always thinking in preparing too much because at the end of the day: fail to plan is plan to fail. B) Explain how a lesson plan can meet the needs of individual learners: Inclusion, differentiation, diversity, entitlement, equal opportunities, special needs, personalised learning, ensuring equal opportunities All of these concepts are highlighted strongly to trainee teachers and always brought up as if it was the most important concepts in teaching; and the reality is indeed that those concept are the most important and the first that should be bared in mind at all times when wanting to teach in an UK classroom, concepts that must become an automatism in the teaching profession. The UK is hitherto a multi-ethnic and cultural society that has put equality of rights at the top, reason why education must reflect the same vision and values. But how can a lesson plan meet the needs of individual learners in a classroom where every individual might have a learning need? It will be illustrated the issue of inclusive education and mix abilitiy in the classroom and how a well prepared lesson plan can meet the needs of individual learners and have an inclusive approach. In 1978 Baroness Warnock in the early 1980s laid the foundation for the Statement of Special Education Needs: a legally binding assesment guaranteeing ressources for children with severe needs, she denounced as well segregation in the schools and coined the term SEN. The principle of Inclusion is that children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or a Disability have the right to be educated in Mainstream Schools alongside other children from their community rather than being educated in Special Schools(cita). Main education needs are the following: Cognitive and learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia) Autistic spectrum difficulties Behavioural, social and emotional difficulties Sensory and physical (Visual and hearing impairments) Interaction difficulties (EAL-English) Inclusion can be seen as a top up for integration, is about removing all possible barriers that avoid development, learning and participation in the school, and that includes drafting every lesson plan in this fashion. Teachers can always consider his pupils special needs and integrate appropiate strategies and resources on his lesson plans, they should not be necessarirly time or money consuming and should be, of course effective. There are however situations in which the need of the pupil is severe and such an approach can be inadequate in meeting certain pupils needs, in these cases, special provisions and IEPs Individual Education Plan, can help the concerned pupil in achieveing identified targets in his learning, and thus ameliorating by identifying his learning style. IEP will be explained more in depth in section (D) of this module. As a result of inclusion, integration and diversity in the classroom, teachers face themselves with the challenging task of delivering lesson to mix-abilities pupils. Education in the UK is dealt in a cognitive progression (citacion), The National Curriculum sets targets and attainment levels, their porpuse is to differeantiate that pupils have different abilities, they all have differences in learning styles, different ways of thinking and preferences, Hence the reason why teachers must integrate sustainable and measurable learning challengeces, integrating a variety of activiy for each learning and ability group in order to extend their abilities. An example would be as illustrated in annex where, as shown in this lesson plan for year 3, teacher introduce all VAK learning styles into his lesson plan, making as well provisions and arrangements for students who might demonstrate a lack of inclusion to the mainstream lesson, the teacher had the previous acknoledgemt about his classroom, knowing that he has two statemented pupils, an autistic and an ADHD. Teacher has made provisions for a rich lesson in ressources and VAK styles (citacion), taking into account the fact tthat they will be pushed to develop their way of learning and understanding, challenged to carry on their learning in mainstream at the same time that their peers , this will give confidence to them, encouraging, making them part of the lesson as a whole, inluding them, integrating them into the lesson, which is exactly what the National Curriculum says. Teachers should understant of course, how far to push and how, understand the limitations of the learners. When a teacher sees a sign of alarm e.g, a pupil left behind and lost in the lesson, is the teachers duty to have made previous provisions and take inmediate action to help metting that particular pupils learning need. Teacher can first, as part of his lesson, expect this situations arising and have a back up plan to support, they should be effective but not exhausting and consuming that would distract the teacher from the rest of the pupils (see annex special provisions) drafting an IEP in cases where there is a genuine strong difficulty, its the tool will allow us in identifying the rot of these difficulties as well as in understanding how to reach this learner, what is his learning style ? and the special provisions that will be done for him, would be discovered, and easier to implement in the future. See IEP (section d of this module) We must not forger that as teacher, we will have the opportunity to encounter many gifted and talented pupils, who themselves, happened to have a learning need, in fact, if as teacher we concentrate too much in delivering a lesson objective without preparing more in depth ressources and knowledge, these students will not be benefeting of and appropriate education, these pupils demonstrate leadership, initiative, creativitenes, high level of practical skills, so there must be provisions done to meet these demanding needs as the group is achieveng as well in its many different abilities. Research and observations from educators has led to a large variety of teaching methods, research done by Professor John Hattie concluded that successful methods share three caractheristics: They set challenging tasks, students and teacher get informative feedback and that the teaching was constructivist. Concluding that after all the teaching procces should include both parties constatntly evolving (Student Teacher) and have a dialogue approach. Learning from studies done about education will enable teachers in many different ways about delivering an inclusive education.Teachers must make sure to adquire as much academic knowledge regarding inclusion as possible and apply in many different ways, being an energetic proactive person willing to enthusiastically and objectively deliver a lesson plan with the solely objective in mind (in the mind of the teacher), of making that lesson objective for the day create great learning outcomes from the part of the pupils, and repeat that every day. c. Be able to adopt an inclusive lesson plan for a mix-ability group. D) Be able to demonstrate understanding of an IEP. When do we write an IEP? More than just understanding an IEP, knowing when to apply one is the real challenge. When the expected results in the pupil learning are not met, and there are signs of alarm, an IEP is an early intervention. IEPs are working documents for all staff that must be written in a jargon free language understandable for all. In it, a structured planning documentation to help students achieve identified targets. It ditacte what should be teach and the criteria; setting realistic targets that should be assessable and understandable. They should be teaching and learning plans setting out what, how and how often particular knowledge, understanding and skills should be taught. Using additional or different activities from the mainstream lesson. It contains the steps and teaching requirements needed to help students achieve identified targets.(inclusive edu) Porpuses of IEPs are mostly ocused in addresing an identified learning need in order to discover proper ways on how to meet the pupil;s learning need, and how to address it. As a result of an IEP, teachers have two tools: early action plus and school action plus. The former, focuses on what provisions can the school make to help the pupil using internal resources in the school, the latter, is intervention of external parties from the school that can address more appropiately e.g psychologists, police, etc (cita) An IEP should include: Short term targets, teaching strategies, provisions, revision date, succes or exit criteria, outcomes. Everything should be realistic and integral to classroom and curriculum planning. Targets should be achievable for both pupil and teacher, they should be in small steps so that the succes is clearly visible to the pupil as he will become more self-confident, the challenges will be made rigourous. Parents should always be informed and communicate with them, they are a great source of information and help. Pupils informaito nshould be communicated to all staff inless issues of confidentiallity should be considered. However if the need is severe or complex, all staff should be informed, record progress and share with parents al the information. Its important to note that one-to-one tuition will not always be the best way: an alternative and most appropitate way will be providing differentiated or additional learning material, equipment, peer or adult support. As a result of an IEP, concerne pupils will be monitored and will benefit from differentiated or additional learning that in some cases led the educators the task to make the pupil achieve targets, an IEP is the first step in cases when educators are identifying a genuine learning difficulty requiring a statementing process, informaton about the 5- Classroom behavious management A) Understand different strategies for dealing with childrens behaviour in the classroom and their link with different theories on behaviour. Classroom management is how the teacher delivers the curriculum and the environment at which students will learn (cita pag55 mana). Throughout time, q lqrve variety of theories and strategies about behaviour have been made available, thanks

Hugh Prathers Notes to Myself :: Notes to Myself Essays

Sometimes mankind has to ask the question ‘what is it that makes up the actions and determines the type of interaction that we display when around other people?' Notes to Myself is the contemporary world's way of questioning the value of putting on facades. The novel also questions things we know as ‘ trivial' such as watching a cat sleep on our belly or staring at clouds in the sky. The author used an interesting form for writing his collection, omitting page numbers and leaving no indication as to what subject the reader should expect to be encountering upon reading sections. His views are interesting to say the least. Focusing on self meditation and self reliance, he proceeds to describe human interaction and what he really is thinking when exposed to different situations. For instance, he describes a conversation with a young lady in which she wanted to ‘just be friends' while he being ‘male' can do nothing about the fact that he may be sexually aroused by her whether they were ‘just friends' or not. This type of unconventional expression of human emotion is the color of all of the selections. The author does not wish to conceal feeling nor put on different faces in different situations but be himself and be happy being himself at all times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interesting stands on happiness are also expressed. Boredom is vaguely related to happiness by the rationalization that one can be happy simply by picking lint off of the floor. While his thoughts are genuine, one can almost comprehend the randomness of human thought. There is a wrinkled cellophane wrapper on my desk and it reflects my image just as water does. Randomness is definitely one of this books strong points. (That random sentence beforehand was a personal example of the wandering mind).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is the type of book that you would not want to read between commercials but one that warrants a good hour and a half (at least) of quiet Hugh Prather's Notes to Myself :: Notes to Myself Essays Sometimes mankind has to ask the question ‘what is it that makes up the actions and determines the type of interaction that we display when around other people?' Notes to Myself is the contemporary world's way of questioning the value of putting on facades. The novel also questions things we know as ‘ trivial' such as watching a cat sleep on our belly or staring at clouds in the sky. The author used an interesting form for writing his collection, omitting page numbers and leaving no indication as to what subject the reader should expect to be encountering upon reading sections. His views are interesting to say the least. Focusing on self meditation and self reliance, he proceeds to describe human interaction and what he really is thinking when exposed to different situations. For instance, he describes a conversation with a young lady in which she wanted to ‘just be friends' while he being ‘male' can do nothing about the fact that he may be sexually aroused by her whether they were ‘just friends' or not. This type of unconventional expression of human emotion is the color of all of the selections. The author does not wish to conceal feeling nor put on different faces in different situations but be himself and be happy being himself at all times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interesting stands on happiness are also expressed. Boredom is vaguely related to happiness by the rationalization that one can be happy simply by picking lint off of the floor. While his thoughts are genuine, one can almost comprehend the randomness of human thought. There is a wrinkled cellophane wrapper on my desk and it reflects my image just as water does. Randomness is definitely one of this books strong points. (That random sentence beforehand was a personal example of the wandering mind).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is the type of book that you would not want to read between commercials but one that warrants a good hour and a half (at least) of quiet