Beethoven- family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Beethoven- family - Essay Example This placed a lot of pressure on Beethoven at the young age of 17 because he took it upon himself to look after his two younger brothers. Because there was little family income, Beethoven began playing viola in the court orchestra; this provided him with enough to take care of himself, his alcoholic father, and his two younger brothers. A few months after Beethoven left the family home to once again pursue his music career, he learned of his father’s death. Later on in his life, Beethoven’s younger brother, Carl, died from tuberculosis. Beethoven had contributed a great deal while Carl was ill. After his brother died, Beethoven attempted to gain custody of his nephew (Carl’s son), Karl, but Carl’s wife, Johanna, refused to allow Beethoven to do so. A long and bitter legal dispute followed, with Beethoven eventually granted sole custody. Beethoven was very controlling of Karl’s activities. Perhaps as a result of this treatment, Karl attempted suicide but did not succeed. After this, Karl recuperated under the care of his mother, and Beethoven had little contact with Karl until his death in March of

Carl Robins Case Study Essay Example for Free

Carl Robins Case Study Essay The position of campus recruiter for a company is one of importance. The recruiter is the person who makes sure the company has access to the best candidates available. The first order of business for any recruiter is to set up job fairs, develop a list of possible candidates, and conduct on-campus interviews of those applicants. There are many skills needed by a campus recruiter, and for someone that is new to the position, training and guidance are keys to successfully learning the necessary skills that will help prevent or solve issues in a satisfactory manner. In April, ABC, Inc. decided they were in need of new employees, ones that could be ready to work by July. Carl Robins, the new campus recruiter for the company, is in charge of finding the necessary people. He successfully hired 15 new people to work for the Operations Supervisor, Monica Carrolls. Carl had six to eight weeks to coordinate the necessary activities, so that the new hires could begin working by July. Despite prompting from Monica, Carl did not realize the amount of effort required to set up the large training session required for the quantity of people he had coming for orientation. If Carl had thought to use a timeline for specific tasks, or even written a list of all requirements waiting for completion, he could have avoided the frustration and confusion he encountered. Carl Robins has been at his job for only six months and is excited by the success of his first recruitment effort. Unfortunately, Carl had no guidance to know exactly what tasks needed prompt completion to ensure that the new employees would be ready to start work on time. Monica Carrolls contacted Carl on May 15, and tried to guide him in the right direction by asking if he had all the necessary tasks organized – completed paperwork and drug tests, orientation manuals, policy booklets, and training space reserved. Carl assured her that things were running smoothly and would be ready on time, and that she would have all of her new employees when needed. It is hard to tell, based on the information  given, if Carl was over-confident or just did not realize the urgency required to get things completed on a timely schedule. Because of procrastination and his lack of skill, Carl has found several problems that managed to sneak up on him. There are several key issues facing Carl that need some serious attention. Due to the lack of proper time management, Carl has lost at least a month worth of time in which to get things organized. When Carl started to finalize all the necessary paperwork, he discovered several disturbing problems. One main responsibility for any campus recruiter is to â€Å"ensure that all required paperwork is completed appropriately during the interview process: applications for employment, indexes, and appropriate authorizations† (C.E., 2010). As he started to look through all the applicants’ paperwork, Carl discovered that many applications were incomplete, others were missing transcripts, and none of the new hires had completed drug testing. When he went to look at the necessary orientation manuals, he could not find one complete book, only three books with various pages missing. He then discovered that the training room was already booked for the entire month of June, so that Joe could conduct the computer training seminars. The first task that Carl needs to complete is all the incomplete applications and missing transcripts. He needs to contact the applicants to get the necessary missing information, and contact the college campus to get a rush on all the missing transcripts. The second task needing completion is the mandatory drug testing for all 15 people. Carl should know the company policy concerning the drug testing and should be aware of where the employees need to go to get the testing done. Carl was responsible for letting the applicants know â€Å"the circumstances under which testing will be required†¦ as part of a pre-employment screening, a random screening, as part of an incident investigation and reasonable suspicion† (Brown, 2010, pg. 2). As part of his job requirements, Carl needs to get all 15 people scheduled for testing immediately, so there will be no issues, legal or otherwise, by the time orientation starts. The third and fourth issues go hand-in-hand. Carl has to find a complete manual that he can get copies printed from, and find an available meeting room in which to conduct the orientation, since he did not reserve the training room early enough. For the manuals, he has two options to pursue. The first would be to contact the human resources department to see if there is a digital copy  available to take to a print shop, which would be the most cost-effective method. Otherwise, he will have to try to piece together one complete manual from the three incomplete ones he found. This option is more time consuming, for him and the print shop, because they have to deal with individual pages. Without knowing the exact process used at a print shop, the reader has to make assumptions that printing from a digital copy is easier than scanning individual pages into a computer before printing. As for the meeting room, even though Joe beat him to the ‘official’ training room, many companies have conference rooms large enough to hold a sizeable group of people. If ABC, Inc. does not have a conference room large enough, the only other option is to look at renting an outside meeting room. Many restaurants and hotels have rooms available for fairly decent prices, and even some local banks tend to have meeting rooms available, free for use by just about anybody. By having the issues sufficiently identified, along with some options to correct them, the first recommendation is for Carl to receive complete training for the job he needs to do. If he had been aware from the start of the amount of effort required in hiring a large group of people, and the activities required to get everything set up for orientation, Carl would have realized that he needed to be more aggressive in his efforts. Proper training would have shown him that applications had to be complete before the campus interview, and â€Å"following the campus interview, transcripts should be requested for all [new hires]†¦ preferably before the recruiters leave campus† (Indiana, 2011, pg. 1). Carl could have avoided the first issue completely, just by having all applications and transcripts complete before he offered jobs to the applicants. The second recommendation is to improve communications between Carl and the other departments, especially the human resources department. Better communication will help alleviate the other problems because the department heads could help Carl design an appropriate timeline for task completion. They could also have informed him that others would need access to the training room, giving him ample time to make other arrangements if necessary. By talking to other recruiters within the company – if there are any – Carl would have had access to the knowledge the others could have contributed. A more experienced recruiter could act as a mentor for Carl, showing him the exact processes used to coordinate all the required  activities. This would have helped Carl get things done in a timely manner. A third recommendation to help ease the burden on Carl, until he is well trained and completely comfortable with his job, is for him to focus on recruiting smaller groups of people at one time. A large group is too much for a new person to handle at one time. Many companies would rather have smaller groups of well-trained individuals than a large group that knows only the basics. This ultimately saves money on training costs while preventing the possibility of on-the-job accidents due to incomplete training. Because Carl had been at his job for only six months, he did not have a good grasp on the skills required by a campus recruiter, and this is what led to his frustration. To be an effective recruiter, Carl needs to develop these skills quickly, especially those pertaining to â€Å"strong time management, follow-through, and organizational skills, [along with] the ability to multi-task, resolve problems, and determine an appropriate course of action in a timely manner† (C.E., 2010). A mentor to oversee his training would have helped Carl recognize the areas he needed help in, thereby preventing any issues with incomplete paperwork, no manuals, and the lack of training space. Even though Carl faced many issues with his first recruitment effort, critical thinking and calm reasoning will allow him to learn from his mistakes, so that his next effort shows serious improvement. References Brown, A. (2010, April). Employee Drug Testing: Implement Policy to Save Money, Manage Risk. Alaska Business Monthly. Vol. 4, Article 21. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Alaska+Business+Monthly/2010/April/1-p5643 C.E. (2010). What is a Corporate Recruiter Job Description? Retrieved from http://www.constructionexecutive.com/article_details/1691/What-is-a-Corporate-Recruiter-Job-Description.html â€Å"Campus Recruiter Responsibilities.† June 2011. Indiana University, 16 Sept. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~jobtalk/HRMwebsite/hrm/articles/recruit/response.pdf,

Dividend Payment Impact on Common Stock Prices

Dividend Payment Impact on Common Stock Prices Abstract The main goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of dividend payments on common stock prices using a panel of listed firms in Tunis Stock Exchange for a period from 2000 to 2008. Our empirical investigations reveal that Tunisian investors reward firms paying cash dividends. This result is very interesting because it begs the question on the intention of Tunisian managers to pay dividend when investors put a stock price premium on payers as the catering theory suggests. 1. Introduction In efficient and perfect market, Modigliani and Miller (1961) have demonstrated that there is no difference between the value of the firm paying dividends and that of nonpayer. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) argue that the investor demand for dividend-paying stocks depends on either psychological or institutional factors. They argue that managers tend to pay dividends when investors put higher prices on payers, and they omit dividends when payers are at a discount. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) suggest that this catering behavior explains the difference documented between the average market-to-book ratios of payers and non-payers and that managers rationally initiate dividends to exploit an apparent market mispricing. They find that when the rate of dividend initiation increases, the future stock returns of payers are lower than those of non-payers. This result supports the hypothesis that firms initiate dividends when the payers are overvalued. In this paper, we attempt to investigate whethe r cash dividend payments affect positively share prices. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews the literature on dividend payout policy. Section 3 provides a description of the data used in the empirical analysis and presents regression results for the determinants of stock prices. Section 4 concludes. 2. Literature Review Baker and Wurgler (2004b) show that the disappearance of dividends can be explained by lower market valuations of payers during such periods. They find that the propensity to pay increases when a proxy for the stock market dividend premium is positive and decreases when it is negative. These empirical results suggest that the distribution of dividends responds to patterns of market timing. Companies pay dividends in order to raise the stock prices of their shares above their fundamental values. However, we wonder why the demand for shares paying dividends changes over time? Baker et al. (2007) argue that this time-varying can be attributed to changes in income tax rates of shareholders. Baker and Wurgler (2004a) note that the increase in the value of a company paying dividends reflects the risk assessment by investors. Indeed, dividend-paying firms are considered less risky than non-payers ones since this dividend premium disappears in periods of expansion and reappears in recession periods. Thus, investors who prefer cash dividend payments during gloomy period as an indicator of the firms safety and therefore are more willing to pay dearly to buy dividend-paying stocks. Ferris et al. (2006) conclude that the decline of the number of dividend-paying firms in UK can be explained by a shift in catering incentives. Li and Lie (2006) suggest that changes in corporate payout ratios of US firms depend on the market dividend premium. Ferris et al. (2008) find that investors place high value on dividend-paying firms. By contrast, Eije and Megginson (2008) investigate dividend policies in fifteen European countries over the period 1989-2003 and conclude that their findings do not support the catering hypothesis. Denis and Osobov (2008) find that reductions in the percent of dividend-paying stocks occur in countries where the dividend premium is largely positive. Tsuji (2010) finds that Japanese corporate managers do not cater to investors in either their dividend initiation decisions or their continuation decisions. 3. DATA and Methodology To form our main Tunisian sample, we start with all listed firms appearing at any point between 2000 and 2008. We restrict the sample to exclude financial firms  [1]  . The final sample covers 24 publicly traded Tunisian firms. Data were collected from Tunis Stock Exchange and completed from firms web sites. 3.1 Definition and measurement of variables The evolution of stock prices can be explained by variables specific to the firm such as cash dividend and profitability, by macroeconomic variables such as interest rates and inflation, and a variable which reflects the stock market performance. 3.1.1 Dividends According to the model of Gordon and Shapiro (1956), the current stock price equals the present value of its future dividends. Gordon and Shapiro assume that the dividend is a constant fraction of the profits carried out by the company. The expected receipt of dividend income is an incentive for investing in a given stock, particularly if the yield on the investment exceeds the return offered on other alternative investments like savings accounts. Investors may pay a premium for shares in issue. Tsoukalas and Sil (1999) find a strong correlation between the stock prices and dividends paid by U.K firms. 3.1.2 Profitability An improvement in profitability leads to an increase in stock price because investors become more optimistic about future performance of the firm. Demand increases for the shares that have a high prospect for growth (blue chip shares). Prices of such shares rise much faster than those of companies whose growth prospects are bleak. Vuolteenaho (2002) finds that firm-level stock returns are mainly driven by cash-flow news. By contrast, Kothari et al. (2006) show that stock prices are unrelated to past earnings and depend negatively on concurrent earnings. In this paper, Profitability is defined as earnings before interests and tax reported to total assets. 3.1.3 Inflation The impact of inflation on the stock price is not obvious. If households expect higher prices, they can increase their consumption and therefore reduce their savings. This behavior will lower stock prices. By contrast, if households choose to keep the value of their heritage, they will be more likely to invest in shares in order to hedge against a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services. Indeed, inflation erodes the purchasing power of money and other financial assets that have fixed values. Therefore, if households have a hedging purpose, inflation will have positive effects on share prices. Alagidede and Panagiotidid (2010) provide evidence of a positive long-run relationship between stock prices and inflation in five African countries (Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria) and they conclude that common stocks in these countries represent a hedge against rising consumer price. Geyser and Lowies (2001) examine the relationship between share prices and inflation within a sample of firms listed in Namibian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges. Their findings reveal a strong positive correlation between inflation and stock prices of Namibian firms. In South Africa, companies belonging to the mining sector cannot be served as an inflation hedge since stock prices of these firms are negatively correlated with the evolution of the Consumer Price Index, whereas stock prices of firms in other sectors (financial services, information technology and food and beverage) are slightly positively correlated with inflation. Bodie (1976) finds that in the U.S during the period from 1953 to 1971 common stocks failed to serve as hedges against either anticipated or unanticipated inflation. The inflation rate is defined as the percentage rate of change in consumer price index. 3.1.4 Interest rate The impact of changes in interest rates on stock prices is mixed. If rates rise, bonds become less expensive which encourages shareholders to arbitrate for bonds by selling shares that they hold and therefore stock prices fall. By contrast, a significant decrease of interest rate makes shares more profitable and persuades investors to buy back equity and pushing up prices. Cifter and Ozun (2008) find that stock prices in Turkey are negatively affected by the interest rate changes. represents the money market annual average rate for Tunisia. 3.1.5 Stock market performance A bull market is characterized by higher valorizations and a bear market is characterized by lower stock prices. In this paper, we used annual return rate of the index TUNINDEX to measure the performance of Tunisian stock market. 3.2 Descriptive statistics  ¶ Table 1 reports descriptive statistics for the dependant and explanatory variables. We note the higher level of the money market annual average rate that can be explained by the important rising consumer price Tunisia. The mean of the natural logarithm of dividend is negative suggesting that Tunisian firms pay annually on average less than 1 TND as cash dividend. Insert table-1 here Table 2 reports the correlations matrix for explanatory variables. The coefficients of correlation of explanatory variables are generally low. Using a test of Farrar-Glauber (1967), we can accept the hypothesis of the absence of multicollinearity among our independent variables. Insert table-2 here 3.3 Estimation methods The study was conducted on panel data. Using panel data can enhance the quality and quantity of data. It allows us to identify some effects that cannot be detected using time-series analysis. Panel data regression provides three estimators; pooled OLS, fixed effects, and random effects models. A pooled estimator takes as the same across all cross-section units. The fixed effects model assumes as a group specific term. The random effects approach takes as a group specific disturbance. Testing the significance of the group effects To choose between these three approaches we compute a test of homogeneity. The hypothesis of homogeneity of constants across all cross-section units can be formulated as follows: This test of Fisher is computed as follows: Where: : Residues square sum of the individual effects model : Residues square sum of the model Pooled. : Number of firms : Number of explanatory variables (constant not included) If calculated F is lower than tabulated F (p-value Hausmans test for fixed versus random effects If the effect is assumed to be individual, the Hausman specification test is carried out in order to decide whether the fixed or the random effects model should be used. The Hausman test compares the fixed and random effects estimates of coefficients. The tested hypothesis concerns the correlation of the individual effects and the explanatory variables. Under the null hypothesis, the individual effects are random and we then have to choose the estimator of GLS. Under the alternative hypothesis, the individual effects are correlated to the explanatory variables and we then have to choose the model to fixed effects. The test of Hausman compares the matrix of variance-covariance of two estimators: The statistic H is asymptotically distributed as with K degree of freedom, where K is the number of explanatory variables. If calculated H is lower than tabulated (p-value 3.4 Findings Table 3 reports regression results. We provide Pooled OLS, fixed effects and random effects results. The Hausmans test confirms that the estimator fixed effects is the proper one. Insert table-3 here Cash dividends have a significantly positive impact on stock prices of Tunisian firms. This result indicates that Tunisian investors reward cash dividend-paying firms by adding a positive premium to their shares prices. The profitability has a positive impact on stock prices. Highly profitable firms have higher stock prices. If the firm releases new positive results, investors will be more optimistic about its prospects and expected future cash flows and therefore they will be willing to pay dearly to buy its securities. The variable MARKET that measures the performance of Tunis stock exchange presents the expected sign. This result indicates that stock prices follow the overall trend of the market. Inflation affects negatively and significantly stock prices suggesting that common stocks of Tunisian firms cannot provide a hedge against inflation. The plausible explication for this result is that an increase of the consumer price index reduces the marginal propensity to save. Our result confirms findings in Geske and Roll (1983). 4. Conclusion This paper investigates the impact of cash dividend payments on stock prices of listed non-financial Tunisian firms. Our empirical results reveal that Tunisian investors reward cash dividend-paying stocks. This finding begs the question on the existence of a catering behavior as suggested by Baker and Wurgler (2004a). Future academic studies with larger datasets should investigate whether Tunisian firms behave according to the prediction of the catering theory by comparing the value of payers and non-payers firms.

Richard Floridas The Rise of the Creative Class :: Architecture Design Essays

Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class gives a very interesting look into the science behind creativity and a thorough understanding of the creative process. According to Florida, creativity is a cognitive ability separate from other mental functions and all aspects related to intelligence. Creative potential does benefit from intelligence though but creativity is still a capacity inherent to all but in varying degrees for each person. Creativity requires self-assurance and the ability to take risks, however, because people utilizing creativity are usually going up against orthodox ideas about things and are challenging the norm and receiving a lot of criticism for these innovations. One must be sure of their self to maintain belief in their innovation through all this criticism and must be willing to take a risk in introducing their product of creativity to the market in the face of all this criticism. Florida claims there are four steps to the creative pr ocess. The first is preparation in which the person intently studies the task at hand getting a good grasp of the concept in their mind. The next step is incubation which is still a relatively unknown process of how this works in the mind but what is known is that one must consciously and subconsciously study the concept in their mind. The next step is illumination in which the person sees a new synthesis for this concept. The final step is verification or revision which include all work after the illumination step. I found it interesting that creativity is largely based on experiences and creativity favors people with an intellect with diverse experiences and perspectives because of this. This is because creativity requires the synthesis of different perspectives to create something new and useful. I also found it interesting that many highly creative environments in the past such as China and the Islamic world have died out because of social and economic conditions and thes e places now are not thought of as creative and intellectual centers anymore. I also found the concept of New Growth Theory to be very interesting in that it is essentially the empowerment of every person through the power of ideas and intellectual property although this theory seems slightly optimistic when it is compared to Karl Marx's goal of the proletariat overthrowing the upper classes.

Jonathan Edwards the Great Preacher Essay examples -- Theologians

He was a man whose very words struck fear into the hearts of his listeners. Acknowledged as one of the most powerful religious speakers of the era, he spearheaded the Great Awakening. â€Å"This was a time when the intense fervor of the first Puritans had subsided somewhat† (Heyrmen 1) due to a resurgence of religious zeal (Stein 1) in colonists through faith rather than predestination. Jonathan Edwards however sought to arouse the religious intensity of the colonists (Edwards 1) through his preaching. But how and why was Edwards so successful? What influenced him? How did he use diction and symbolism to persuade his listener, and what was the reaction to his teachings? In order to understand these questions one must look at his life and works to understand how he was successful. In his most influential sermon, â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God†, Jonathan Edwards’ persuasive language awakened the religious fervor that lay dormant in colonial Americans a nd made him the most famous puritan minister of the Great Awakening in North America. In order to understand Edwards use of language however, one must look at his early life and formative influences. His family undoubtedly shaped his religious career because â€Å"[H]e was the only son among the eleven children of Rev. Timothy Edwards and Esther Edwards, the daughter of influential puritan clergymen Solomon Stoddard† (Wachal 1). Growing up in a religious family must have influenced his career path. Then â€Å"Edwards attended Yale School of theology at 13 years of age† (Paposian 1). This is important because at Yale, Edwards would create his own â€Å"unique style of preaching† (â€Å"Jonathan Edwards† Dictionary 1). Here â€Å"his theology which soon came to be known as Edwardseanism had developed in hi... ...l, 1989. 68-69. Print. Paposian, Edward M. â€Å"Jonathan Edwards America’s Theologian- Preacher.† In Faith of our Fathers: Scenes from American Church History. Ed. Mark Sidwell. 33-39. Greenville: BJU Press, 1991. Print. â€Å"Revival and Renewal.† American Eras. Vol. 3. The Revolutionary Era, 1754-1783. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 315-321. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 May 2012. Stein, Stephen J. â€Å"Edwards, Jonathan.† Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. Vol. 4. Detroit: Macmillan, 2005. 2698-2701. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 May 2012. Tulley, Stephen Richard. â€Å"Awakened to the Holy.† Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God! In Ritualized Context. â€Å"Christianity and Literature.† 57.4(2008): 507+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 May 2012. Wachal, Barbara Schwarz. â€Å"Edwards, Jonathan (1703-1758).† Colonial America. Sharpe. Web. 16 May 2012.

Discuss in detail Shakespeare’s presentation of women in Much Ado About Nothing

The role of women in the 1600's was to be submissive, passive, to obey men and to be seen rather than heard; as is depicted in the female characters in many of Shakespeare's plays such as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Queen Gertrude in Hamlet. However, the characters in Shakespeare's plays are predominantly male, they include very few female characters and Much Ado About Nothing is no exception. Each of the female characters in this play represents a different role of a 16th century woman. The reason for the relatively small number of female character's in Shakespeare's plays is for both practicality, as all female roles in Shakespeare's plays were performed by men, but can also be seen as a reference to women's relatively insignificant status in society. A woman's virginity and chastity were what her reputation was solely based on. Her status was gained by marriage and women in this time were raised to believe they were inferior to men, this status is reflected in the character of Hero. Shakespeare seems to portray the conventional role of a Shakespearean woman through Hero. Her silent and submissive nature is what shows her weakness to being controlled by other characters. This is predominantly men; however, Beatrice also speaks over Hero, challenging the male chauvinistic stereotype by placing characteristics commonly associated with males, in a female character. This is most noticeable in act 2 scene1, where Leonato, Beatrice, Hero and Antonio are discussing the topic of Hero's future. Shakespeare uses Hero's lack of a response to anything the other character's are saying in deciding her fate to emphasise society's expectancies of Hero, and girls like Hero, in Shakespearean times. Shakespeare uses the character Beatrice to represent a less conventional 16th century woman, independent and outspoken. By contrasting the roles of Beatrice and Hero against each other in this way Shakespeare more effectively presents the differences between these two characters. Shakespeare also mirrors the role of Beatrice in Margaret. Beatrice unlike Hero does not have a prestigious reputation to maintain. Other characters refer to Beatrice, often by name, in comparison to Hero as ‘niece', ‘daughter', and ‘cousin'. The way in which Beatrice talks to the male characters is unusual for her time, she is outspoken and does not hold back on voicing her opinions. In the 16th century women could be punished by law for having such mannerisms as this. Beatrice is particularly bitter towards Benedick, to whom she is rude, ignorant and seems to take great delight in mocking at every available opportunity. In this respect Shakespeare challenges the male chauvinism of the time by matching Beatrice and Benedick, who both, at times, appear both as witty and stubborn as one another, despite Beatrice being a woman and therefore, supposedly (in accordance to society's hierarchy at the time) an inferior match to Benedick. Beatrice's stubborn nature is introduced from the very beginning of the play, in Act 1 Scene 1 where Beatrice makes no attempt to be subtle with her feelings towards Benedick. She promises â€Å"to eat all of his killing† calling him weak and challenging the praise he is receiving from the messenger who is saying â€Å"he hath done good service, lady, in these wars. † It can be interpreted, however, that Beatrice is perhaps trying too hard to convince the other characters of how much she dislikes Benedick, suggesting her stubborn and cruel nature is all just an act, Shakespeare uses Beatrice's intense bitterness towards Benedick to provide the audience with sufficient evidence to suspect that something has happened between these two characters in the past to leave Beatrice with these thoughts. Shakespeare mirrors Beatrice in the character of Margaret. He seems to portray Margaret as a less powerful and dirtier minded Beatrice. She, like Beatrice, is outspoken and often seen as rude. However as Margaret is just a servant, Shakespeare uses this character for the lines that Beatrice could not get away with saying. The audience can more easily accept this rude and often suggestive (particularly when talking to male characters) humour. The suggestive aspect can be seen in act 5 scene 2. In which Margaret flirts with Benedick by saying â€Å"will you write me a sonnet in praise of my beauty? Shakespeare tries to make it known to the audience that Margaret is aware of her lowly status, by writing lines for her that are jokes at her own expense, such as in act 5 scene 2 â€Å"why shall I always keep below the stairs? â€Å", this can be interpreted however, as either Margaret's acceptance of her role, or as a crude joke used to flirt with Benedick. Margaret's comedy contrasts t he intelligent wit Shakespeare writes for Beatrice. The character of Margaret's purpose is to provide a different kind of humour in the play, perhaps as a relief from the witty and sarcastic banter between the other characters. Margaret talks back to Beatrice without any hesitation, as is seen in act 3 scene 4, where she mocks Beatrice in saying â€Å"a maid and stuffed†, this reinforces Margaret's ill mannered nature, being used as a source of entertainment for the audience. This kind of talk would not be acceptable from the other characters, but Shakespeare builds up the character of Margaret to represent a more ill mannered and crude aspect of the play. Shakespeare does this both through Margaret's main purpose – as an accomplice in the shaming of Hero – and the way in which she acts around the other characters, who are predominantly richer and more powerful than her. Margaret's main purpose is to contribute to the shaming of Hero, which causes great controversy and outrage. It's possible that Shakespeare involves Margaret in this event as a way of informing the audience that Margaret is of a far lower status than the other character's and introduces the idea that it is acceptable for her to do many things that for the other characters it is not. The prime example being that even suspicion alone that Hero could be involved in such affairs causes outrage, and yet when it is discovered that it was in fact Margaret, not much more is said about the incident. In Act 2 scene 1 Beatrice compares marriage to a â€Å"scotch jig† giving a very bleak outlook on the subject by saying â€Å"for, hear me, Hero: wooing, wedding, and repenting, is a scotch jig†. By referring to the aftermath of the wedding as ‘†repenting† Beatrice makes her opinions on marriage very clear. The expectancy of women of this time was to get married and have children, and so by portraying such a passionate disdain towards the subject through Beatrice, Shakespeare challenges the stereotypical role of a woman. It is this attitude that likens Beatrice more so than Hero, to a modern day audience, the opinion that women's sole purpose is not to marry and reproduce. Beatrice also makes a joke when Leonato says to her â€Å"well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband† by responding with â€Å"Adam's son are my brethren; and, truly, I hold it a sin to match in my kindred† this joke can be taken either at face value, as something Shakespeare has built up to be ‘typical Beatrice', or seen as a way of avoiding what Leonato was really trying to say to her, as a way of covering her real feelings in case there is a lapse in her tough outer exterior. And yet when in Act 3 scene 1 when Hero, Margaret and Ursula try to gull Beatrice she seems, to a certain extent, to believe them. Shakespeare's sudden portrayal of slight naivety in Beatrice can be interpreted as a way of showing the audience Beatrice has a more compassionate side, and that really she wants to believe this is true such as when she says â€Å"and, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee†. Another moment in which Beatrice shows compassion is when Benedick proposes his love to her, and her immediate reaction is to tell him to kill Claudio for what he has done to her cousin, Hero. She uses Benedick's love for her cruelly as a way of forcing him to kill Claudio against his will when she says â€Å"you kill me to deny it. Farewell†. In some respects, the character of Beatrice is there to show an independent and opinionated woman, representative in some aspects as an early feminist and as a way of challenging the conventional role of a Shakespearean woman. However in the final scene even Beatrice the independent, witty and intelligent heroine succumbs to the persuasive ways of men, love and society. The character of Hero can be interpreted in one of two ways. Critics say that Hero is ‘conventional, not at all deep, but ladylike and deserving of sympathy' this could be to uphold the reputation expected of her due to her father and as a result of this, her high social status which can be seen in act 2 scene 1. But Hero can also be interpreted as an intelligent young woman that simply knows the right, and similarly the wrong, times to speak; as can be seen in act 3 scene 4, a scene with only female characters in which Hero speaks of her own free will for herself. In Act 2 scene 1, Leonato makes it clear that it is his decision whom Hero marries; and not Hero's. Yet Hero says nothing throughout. This is what can make the character of Hero so hard to relate to for a modern day audience, as this kind of behaviour is not as common or typical in a modern day girl of Hero's age as it was in Shakespearean times. Although Hero's lines in the play are often merely functional and slightly lacking, it is this; her lack of speech, that most effectively represents her character and role in society. The only time the audience is shown Hero's wittier and more relaxed side is when she is surrounded by only female company. Beatrice in Act 2 scene 1however, does not hold back with her opinions, when Antonio says â€Å"well, niece, I trust you will be ruled by your father† Beatrice speaks for Hero by saying â€Å"yes, faith; it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy and say ‘Father, as it please you'† This can be seen as Beatrice either mocking Hero, or taking pity on her. But at the same time rather aptly sums up Hero's purpose. Hero has functional lines in the play and only really speaks when given permission, such as in act 2 scene 2 when she says â€Å"I will do any modest office, my lord† modest being the crucial word in this line. The first time we hear Hero speak for herself is at the masked ball. However, it can be interpreted that Shakespeare uses this opportunity for Hero to hide behind a mask to grant her the freedom to speak for herself, and in normal circumstances this would not be the case. In act 3 scene 1, we see a very different side to Hero than Shakespeare has previously portrayed. In this scene there are no men and so Hero is free to say as she ‘pleases', this freedom is furthered by Ursula and Margaret, both servants, both females, and both, therefore, below Hero in terms of social status, being the only other characters in the scene. In this scene Hero is given more lines than she has throughout the rest of the entire play. The scene opens with Hero giving Margaret an order â€Å"run thee to the parlor; there shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice†¦ whisper her ear and tell her, I and Ursula walk in the orchard and our whole discourse is all of her† up until this point this kind of assertiveness and power is completely unexpected of Hero to the audience. Hero then goes on to give Ursula clear and precise orders of what she must do â€Å"when Beatrice doth come† however, in act 3 scene 4, where the characters present are again all female, Hero is not as outspoken and forward. However one of the characters present is Beatrice, this suggest that's Beatrice overpowers Hero, and although Hero is technically more powerful and important than Beatrice, as she is Leonato's daughter, her lines are still functional and infrequent such as â€Å"these gloves the count sent me; they are an excellent perfume†. Hero is mirrored – in a similar way to how Beatrice is mirrored in Margaret – in Ursula. Out of Margaret and Ursula, Margaret is – as it is between Beatrice and Hero – the more loud and opinionated one, as opposed to Ursula who is more quiet and reserved, and like Hero is given functional lines â€Å"madam, withdraw: the prince, the count, Signior Benedick, Don John, and all the gallants of the town, are come to fetch you to church†. In act 3 scene 4, Margaret is the dominant speaker, mocking Beatrice and talking back to Hero â€Å"troth, I think your other rabato were better. . Hero's response to this â€Å"no pray thee, good Meg, I'll wear this† is uncharacteristically sure of herself, showing that she didn't really care about Margaret's opinion, and chooses to ignore it. This suggests that Hero is perhaps not a pushover as she is made out to be, but rather knows her place and what is expected of her, and so, when she is around certain com pany (i. e men) she is more reserved, so as not to get herself into trouble, giving reason to suspect Hero is perhaps smarter than a modern day audience would give her credit for. The other character's, in particular Claudio and Leonato's, expectancy of Hero is really emphasised when Margaret and Borachio set her up to be shamed. As even suspicion of Hero doing such causes great controversy and trouble, and is near enough the sole cause of the rest of the problems in the play from then onwards. Whereas, when it is found out that it was in fact Margaret, the act is completely overlooked. This reinforces the importance of social status within the play. Shakespeare both challenges and supports male chauvinism at times by exploring the social boundaries of women. This is done through the characters of Beatrice and Margaret, with their outspoken nature and Beatrice's seemingly unconventional outlook on life, but he does not cross these boundaries. As is seen in Act 4 scene 1 in which Shakespeare reflects and reinforces the separate roles 16th century society has created for males and females when Beatrice proclaims â€Å"O that I were a man! With Beatrice being the main character to challenge the conventional role of a woman, she – of all characters – being the one to say this, shows that there are still restraints put in place by society on things seen as acceptable for women to do. Beatrice repeats this line several times, interrupting Benedick with more of her self pitying rant every time he tries to defend his reasons for objecting to killing Claudio. This can be seen as giving Beatrice, an heir of ‘damsel in distress' a conventional and necessary role in romantic comedy, which contrasts with her character's less conventional role as a woman in the society she is in. Also in this scene, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony, when Claudio says â€Å"you seem to me as Dian on her orb† saying that Hero seems innocent, and pure, but he continues to say â€Å"but you are more intemperate in your blood† saying that he has realised Hero is not as she first appears and sees her more as someone who sleeps around. The audience, of course, knows this is not true. But the use of the dramatic irony here portrays the two sides of a woman, and shows how much Leonato's reputation lies on Hero's actions and status. Hero is a character that at first glance seems insignificant in the sense that she is rarely given opinions or a chance to speak. However the role that she plays is vital to romantic comedy as the young, innocent, female. This necessity of female characters to the plot and genre of the play despite their portrayal as being inferior to men is what is ironic in Much Ado About Nothing.

Los Angeles Rams Football Club V. Cannon

Los Angeles Rams Football Club v. Cannon 185 F. Supp. 717 (S. D. Cal. 1960) Plaintiff prays for an injunction to restrain defendant playing football or engaging in related activities for anyone other than the plaintiff without the plaintiff’s consent during the term of a contract or contracts allegedly entered into by the parties on November 30, 1959, and an order declaring the existence of a valid written contract or contracts. Defendant denies he ever entered into a contract or contracts as alleged and further claims, as defenses to plaintiff’s claims, fourteen affirmative defenses.Cannon never formally accepted the contract offered, therefore it is only an offer. The Commissioner never signed the contract so this makes not valid. There did not come into existence a valid written contract or contracts binding upon plaintiff and defendant there is no basis upon which to consider plaintiff’s claims for equitable relief or defendant’s affirmative defenses i n opposition thereto. Specifically, therefore, I make no findings as to the issues of fraud and deceit, or any other of the equitable issues raised by defendant’s affirmative defenses.Judgment will be for defendant, with costs†¦. Sample v. Gotham Football Club, Inc. 59 F. R. D. 160 (S. D. N. Y. 1973) Defendant is the owner and operator of a professional football team popularly known as the â€Å"New York Jets. † On September 1, 1968, it entered into three separately executed written agreements with plaintiff under which plaintiff was required to render services as a professional football player for the 1968, 1969 and 1970 football seasons. Each document represents the agreement between plaintiff and defendant for a different year.The current dispute only pertains to the contracts covering the 1969 and 1970 football seasons. The New York court of appeals has stated that when the terms of a written contract are clear and unambiguous the intent of the parties must be ascertained from the language used to express such intent. Plaintiff argues that an injury was sustained during the performance of a three-year contract he is entitled to his salary for the remaining term of the contract. Defendant argues that they were three separate one year contract and would only be liable to pay for the season the injury took place.After determining that the exercise of the option clause had the effect of creating a new contract with the plaintiff, the Fifth Circuit concluded: [I]t follows that Hennigan was not entitled to compensation for the 1967 football season from the Chargers. He suffered no injury while in the performance of any services required of him after the option was exercised. Consequently, he is not entitled to payment under paragraph 15 (the injury provision) The result reached above concerning Sample’s second claim is thus on all fours with Hennigan.Reviewing the dispositions, the court denies plaintiff’s cross-motion for summar y judgment on both its first and second causes of action†¦. Eckles v. Sharman 548 F. 2d 905 (10th Cir. 1977) This is an action by the owner of a professional basketball team for breach of contract by a former coach and for the inducement of that breach by the owner of another professional basketball team. Judgment was entered on a jury verdict for $250,000 against the coach and for $175,000 against the inducing owner.We reverse and remand with directions. We have repeatedly held that a verdict may not be directed unless the evidence all points one way and is susceptible of no reasonable inference which sustain the position of the party against whom the motion is made†¦. On the record presented it may not be said, as a matter of law, that the option and pension clauses were unessential and hence severable. Neither can it be said, as a matter of law, that without the resolution of the controversy ver those clauses Sharman agreed to the assignment of the contract to the owner s of the Utah Stars. The pertinent intent questions required factual determination by the jury under proper instructions. The court erred in directing a verdict against Sharman and in favor of Mountain States on the liability issue. The judgments are severally reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial in accordance with this opinion. National Football League Players Ass’n v. National Football League Management Council 233 Cal. Rptr. 147 (Cal. Ct. App. 1986The Raiders and Management council content that the arbitrator exceeded his powers in that he made an error in law by failing to apply the doctrine of mitigation of damages. They further content that the award violates public policy and that the award was incorrectly calculated. We affirm the judgment. Pastorini’s dispute with the Raiders clearly falls within the ambit of section 301(a) of the labor Management Relations Act, which pertains to â€Å"suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a la bor organization representing employees in an industry affecting commerce†¦. Therefore, we must apply federal substantive law†¦. However; we may also rely on the state law if it is compatible with the purposes of federal law†¦. We conclude that offset is inapplicable in the instant case and that the arbitrator did not make an error of law. This court may reverse the arbitrator’s award only if there is a manifest disregard of the agreement, totally unsupported by principles of contract construction†¦. No such manifest disregard appears in the instant case. The judgment is affirmed.Alabama Football, Inc. v. Stabler 319 So. 2d 678 (Ala. 1975) Stabler filed a complaint on December 4, 1974, seeking a declaratory judgment and other relief, contending that the defendant had breached its contract with Stabler by failing to pay the balance due in 1974 under the contract between the parties; that the terms of the contract prohibited him from negotiating a contract w ith any other professional football club; and that irreparable damage would result to him if the contract was not held to be null and void.After a hearing, the trail court entered its judgment on January 6, 1975, holding that the contract between Stabler and Alabama Football, Inc. had been breached by Alabama Football, Inc. and that Stabler was free from any obligation under any terms of the contract. Since there was substantial evidence from which the trail court could have concluded that appellant was unable to perform its contract with Stabler, we find no basis for reversal on this point†¦.