Upholding Peace in the International Community Essay Example for Free

Upholding Peace in the International Community Essay For many years, the United Nations have been the main international organization which is responsible for most of the conflicts and issues which had been present in the international community. From the year 1945, the United Nations is the foremost organization which is capable of uniting all nations in concerns with regards to attaining peace and security for all nations. In the international community, many nations have experienced conflicts and problems due to many different types of matters such as wars, terrorism, and etc. Thus, there is a need to have a mediating actor for the issue to be resolved. In the past, many nations had been representing as a mediator/s in order to resolve issues however, the World Wars had been an evidently one situation in which the world needed one institution that would be able to apply the best interest of every nation. The United Nations is the only entity that is run by the whole global community in order to handle all types of threats that may diminish peace and security among nations (United Nations, 2008). The duties of the United Nations to uphold the international law and maintain neutrality through protecting every nation is also an obligation which the organization is striving to attain. Therefore, the United Nations is responsible in the mediation of nations in terms of conflicts and misunderstandings which is usual occurrence in the international community due to reasons of territory, terrorism, religion, politics, human right violations and the likes. Thus, the United Nations is upholding the international law through keeping the traditional ways of prevailing peace. In accordance to the abilities and responsibilities of the United Nations. , for many decades the organization had been active in peace keeping. Many nations have and are participating in this kind of activity for they believe in the ability of military forces to resolve variety of conflicts. The peacekeeping missions of the United Nations had been present in different parts of the world such as Africa, Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the likes. During conflicts such as civil wars, wars and terrorism the United Nations are often the first international organization to be brought in the war zone. Some of their duties are to provide the medical needs of the people most especially those that are weak due to sicknesses and the hostile activities done with in the parameters of war. In refugee camps, the United Nations peace keeping teams together with other international organizations such as the Red Cross are present in maintaining sanitations in the location to lessen the possibilities of having an epidemic in the place. In addition to these, the United Nations peace keeping (United Nations Peacekeeping, 2009) is also responsible in rebuilding the devastated placed which had been tremendously hit by the war. There are times in which the United Nations peace keeping teams are assigned to different tasks such as rebuilding nations through construct buildings and facilities, feed children and people who are devastated by the war, fight the groups that sustain atrocities towards civilians and the likes. Hence, the United Nations peacekeeping is immersed in the task of helping nations and its people in times of need. It is not only with mediating and creating policies must be the organization present its active participation with maintain the peacefulness of the international community but also in creating vivid actions that will create a difference most especially for the people who are facing such difficult times. Reflecting on the events which had happened for the past decades, it is evident that the United Nation has been the most active in promoting peace and security. Reflecting on the wars which had been participated by the United Nations, it is evident that the troops being brought to most of the war zones creates a difference through bringing peace in the state. In the movie Hotel Rwanda, the civil war conflict has arisen during the 1990’s. The government did not have control with the people or the government offices, the militants were the ones that have the power amongst all the control which must be given to the government leaders. Thus, the whole Rwanda was already uncontrollable. Thus, there was a need for an international intervention which could only be done by the United Nations and countries that are related to the country of Rwanda. Due to the huge impact of the civil war many people were devastated and needed to move outside of their homes which then make them refugees of the war. In such situations, the United Nations is also responsible in creating a list and saving these people in being displaced. These refugees are given temporary homes providing camps which could provide all their needs such as medication, food and security from the grave dangers of the wars and the militants. Until this very day, the United Nations is still the foremost institution that holds the power in promoting peace and security through the help of the international law. Although there is a great need for the international law to be updated, and revised (United Nations, 2009). in order to fit the modern times, it is still the United Nations that has the capability to hold and attract the whole global community to maintain peace and security. Through similar goals of attaining peace and security for the whole world, every nation will attain its desire to have harmony with all nations. In the end, the United Nations will still be the main organization to uphold the peace and security in the world. Through the active participation of different members states and the perseverance to follow all the policies and the written laws, declarations, and agendas, the harmonious relationship will all nations will be attained. If only every state is able to know the importance of having one goal and unity amongst states, then the world will not need any type of mitigating factors to stop all the hostilities. However, in the current state of the world it is seemingly impossible to attain this kind of situation. It is only through cooperation that peace is attained. Thus, all nations must amass and address the problem through the United Nations and its means. References United Nations. (2009). â€Å"Reform at the United Nations. † Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://www. un. org/reform/. United Nations. (2008). â€Å"UN Action to Counterterrorism. † Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://www. un. org/terrorism/. United Nations. (2009). â€Å"United Nations Peacekeeping. † Retrieved April 10, 2009 from http://www. un. org/Depts/dpko/dpko/.

Responsibility :: essays research papers

Responsibilities are more important than Rights Everyone has rights and responsibilities. Rights are things that people are aloud to do. Responsibilities are things that people are expected to do. In this essay, I will be telling you some facts why responsibilities are more important in the society of Waknuk. The first point is David's father; Joseph Storm hates offences and blasphemies because of his religion. Next is Old Jacob thinks that rules should be changed in Waknuk because he wants it to be like when his father was around. Lastly Alan Ervin detects the thoughts and shapes group and that Sophie has a sixth toe. The people in Waknuk believe in responsibilities over rights. David's father, Joseph Storm, hates offences and blasphemies because of how he was brought up by his parents. David is talking about the people in his family. He is talking about his father and particularly about his strong religious beliefs. He said that offences are animals or plants that are deformed. His father hates offences and he kills them in a disgusting way because of his religion. David was explaining the process of how his father dealt with offences. "That was because an occurrence of an offence was sometimes an impressive occasion. Usually the first occasion that one happened was that my father came into the house in a bad temper. Then in the evening he would call us all together including everyone who worked on the farm. We would all kneel while he proclaimed our repentance and led prayers for forgiveness. The next morning we would be up for daylight and gather in the yard. As the sun rose we sang a hymn while my father ceremonially slaughtered the two headed calf, four legged chicken or whatever kind of offence it happened to be. Sometimes it would be much queerer than those†¦" (The Chrysalids Pg. 18) David's father thinks that it is a responsibility to kill any offences. He does this because that is what his religion has taught him to do and based on how he was raised by his parents. He therefore, has these feelings and does not know of any other way of thinking. At the same time he mentions that a blasphemy is a deformed human. His father hates blasphemies because they are similar to an offence; they are not animals or plants, but humans instead. "And if it happens among people it was a blasphemy.

Nike Wacc Case Study

Financial Management Agenda 1. What is the WACC and why is it important to estimate a firm’s cost of capital? Do you agree with Joanna Cohen’s WACC calculation? Why or why not? 2. If you do not agree with Cohen’s analysis, calculate your own WACC for Nike and justify your assumptions. 3. Calculate the costs of equity using CAPM, the dividend discount model, and the earnings capitalization ratio. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? 4. What should Kimi Ford recommend regarding an investment in Nike? 2 Case Overview Nike, Inc. NorthPoint Group Investment Decision Current share price of USD 42. 09 ? Declining market share for the period 1997-2000 ? Strategy for revitalizing the company under consideration ? Plan to boost revenue and optimize costs ? Highly experienced management team ? Mutual fund management firm ? Emphasis on large-cap value stocks ? Has been outperforming the market for the past 18 months ? Kimi Ford – portfolio manager seeking to identify undervalued stocks, consistent with the fund’s investment strategy ? Stock valuation based on forecasting future cash flows over a ten year period ? Discounting the UFCFF using a predetermined WACC value ? Calculating the discount factor based on the CAPM approach ? Considering sensitivity analysis 3 Understanding the WACC ? The Weighted Average Cost of Capital is the interest rate (minimal return) at which investor-supplied capital (equity and interest bearing loans) has been provided. Therefore, it is the weighted average minimum expectation, which shareholders and creditors require for their respective investments made with the company under consideration. The WACC reflects both, the cost of equity and the cost of debt. Different sources of funds have different costs and therefore, depending on the capital structure of the organization, the weightings of debt and equity are calculated and assigned. ? The WACC is calculated using the following equation: WACC = [E/(D+E)] x Ke + [D/(D+E)] x Kd (1-t) ? The minimum required return on shareholders’ investment. ? CAPM method has been widely used in calculating the cost of equi ty. ? Ke = Rf + b. (Rm – Rf) ? Risk level and volatility are calculated based on historical data. Cost of Equity Cost of Debt ? The interest rate at which a company can acquire new debt. ? Any fixed rates on outstanding debt are not relevant, since the investors are concerned with what it will cost the company to generate cash from any future investments, which would occur at market rates rather than historical ones. ? After tax cost of debt = (1-t)Kd, since interest is tax deductible. 4 Critique of Joanna’s Calculations Calculating Ke Since Joanna’s FCF forecast reflects a ten year period, it could be argued that, for the sake of consistency, the yield of a risk free ten year security should be used instead. ? An arithmetic mean estimation of the risk premium is generally accepted as an appropriate approach by the investment community. * ? Since Nike is a multinational company, its revenue stream bears additional risk based on the specific allocations to various countries. This should reflect additi onal risk premium such as exchange rate risk, political risk etc. Such calculation goes beyond the scope of this case but it should not be ignored. Beta has been calculated as a historic average but the included value YTD 06/30/01 should be excluded not only since it is not consistent in terms of period length, but the apparels business is seasonal with great portion of the revenues coming during the months of Dec. and Nov. Historic betas prior to 1996 should not be excluded. Calculating Kd ? Cost of debt is not properly calculated since potential shareholders and creditors are not concerned with interest on outstanding debt, but rather the current market rate at which the company could borrow to finance its operations and potential expansion. The technique used by Joanna is useful only to get some rough insight on what Nike is paying on its existing debt. ? Joanna has undertaken an appropriate approach in calculating the after tax cost of debt, since debt is tax deductible. ? Joann a is right to consider debt denominated in foreign currency, however her approach is flawed since she is once again looking at outstanding debt, which arrangements that occurred some time in the past might significantly differ from the current market reality. ? Since existing Nike bonds are trading at discount, we already know that the market yield exceeds the coupon rate. 5 Strong arguments exist for using the geometric mean under certain circumstances. This point will be further elaborated Agenda 1. What is the WACC and why is it important to estimate a firm’s cost of capital? Do you agree with Joanna Cohen’s WACC calculation? Why or why not? 2. If you do not agree with Cohen’s analysis, calculate your own WACC for Nike and justify your assumptions. 3. Calculate the costs of equity using CAPM, the dividend discount model, and the earnings capitalization ratio. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? 4. What should Kimi Ford recommend regardin g an investment in Nike? Calculating Cost of Equity ? Rf = 5. 39% based on the current 10 year yield for the sake of consistency with the forecasted 10 year FCFF. ? Calculating risk premium based on arithmetic average vs geometric mean: ? Arithmetic average assumes no serial correlation and thus could be overstating the premium. ? Arithmetic average ignores estimation error and available data is limited. ? Arithmetic average works best for forecasting short term periods where long term periods seem to be better captured by the geometric mean. Cost of Equity Yield on 10-year Treasuries Risk premium – developed market (geo. Risk premium – developed market (arit. ) 5. 39% 5. 90% 7. 50% Average risk premium Risk premium – country specific Levered ? Unlevered Cost of Equity 6. 70% 0. 00% 0. 82 0. 77 10. 91% ? Both methods are acceptable and even though the arithmetic mean is widely accepted as the proper method, we are using an average of both since we are dealing wi th a long term period and the geometric mean could be potentially more representative. ? No additional country risk premium is assumed due to lack of data. ? Unlevered beta has been calculated in order to reflect only the amount of business risk. For any future beta projections it will be more appropriate to calculate relevered beta based on the targeted capital structure. Beta 1996 1997 1998 0. 98 0. 84 0. 84 1999 2000 Average 0. 63 0. 83 0. 82 7 Sources: Ibbotson Associates, Aswath Damodaran Calculating Cost of Debt ? To calculate the appropriate yield to maturity we need to take into account that the settlement date (05/07/2011) falls between coupon payments, meaning that the first period will be shorter than the remaining 40 (20 years of semiannual payments). ? We calculate a transaction price (dirty price) of USD 98. 9 using a YTM of approximately 7. 17%. After adjusting for the accrued interest we get the quoted price of USD 95. 60. ? We are not considering the effective YTM for the cost of debt since it is not clear whether the returns could be reinvested at the same rate due to the following reasons (list not exhaustive): ? The yield curve is usually not horizontal. ? The shape of the curve is dynamic and changes over time. ? Some premium should be considered on debt issued in foreign currency, but this goes beyond the scope of this assignment and no debt breakdown has been provided for that matter. Cost of Debt Coupon Years to maturity Periods within one year Total periods Face value of c-bond Market price of c-bond YTM* Effective YTM 6. 75% 20. 03 2 40. 05 100. 00 95. 60 7. 17% 7. 30% Yield to Maturity Days from last coupon date Days to next coupon date Days between coupon dates Transaction price Accrued interest adjustment Quoted price Yield to maturity 171 10 181 98. 79 3. 19 95. 60 7. 17% 8 * Calculations have been made based on a 360 day year Calculating WACC 10. 26% WACC †¢ Calculations of the weightings †¢ We use book value of debt since not Weightings Ke / Kd onsider the market value of equity based on the current price per share and the diluted shares outstanding. 89. 87%* 10. 13%** all interest bearing debt is in the form of bonds maturing on 07/15/21 with a current YTD of 7. 17%. However, since the company has low leverage and is not under financial distress, there should not be a significant difference between the current market and book value of the outst anding debt. Cost of Equity After Tax Cost of Debt 10. 91% †¢ Calculations are based on revised 4. 44% †¢ Before tax cost of debt has been assumptions previously described. †¢ Cost of equity is not to be adjusted reviously calculated at 7. 17%. †¢ After applying tax rate of 38% the for taxes. after tax cost of debt amounts to 4. 44%. 9 * Market capitalization as of 05/07/2001 is USD 11. 5 bn. ** Total interest bearing debt (current + non-current) as of 31/05/2001 is USD 11. 3 bn. Figures as of 05/07/2001 are not provided for a better estimate. Agenda 1. What is the WACC and why is it important to estimate a firm’s cost of capital? Do you agree with Joanna Cohen’s WACC calculation? Why or why not? 2. If you do not agree with Cohen’s analysis, calculate your own WACC for Nike and justify your assumptions. 3. Calculate the costs of equity using CAPM, the dividend discount model, and the earnings capitalization ratio. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? 4. What should Kimi Ford recommend regarding an investment in Nike? 10 Other Methods for Calculating Cost of Equity ? Po = Do(1+g)/(r-g) ? Could be used for mature companies, which pay dividends on a constant basis, and it is reasonable to expect that they will also do so in the foreseeable future. ? The DDM model is overly sensitive over the value of assumed growth (g), however it is a very simple and straight forward method of calculating the fair value of a mature company. Since Nike is expected to undergo cost optimization over the next years, as well as shift in sales strategy, we should consider a high growth period of the expected dividends, after which constant growth could be assumed. ? For the purpose of this case, however, we are given than dividends increase by 5. 50% on an annual basis, even though Joanne predicts a CAGR of NOPAT for the period 2002-2011 equal to approximately 10. 4%. Dividend Discount Model Earnings Cap. Ratio ? Po = EPSo(1+g)(1-b)/(r-g), where b is the retention ratio. ? EPS is an accounting figure. The ratio depends on dividend policy. ? Useful and simple approach for mature firms with easily predictable future EPS and constant growth rate and retention ratio. ? For simplicity, we are assuming g = 5. 50%, just like in the DDM method. 11 DDM and Earnings Capitalization Ratio Calculations ? D1 has been calculated as of 30/06/2002, assuming 5. 5% increase in annual dividends paid in both 2001 and 2002. Do captures the period 30/06/2000-30/06/2001. ? Based on the DDM and Earnings Capitalization Ratio, we obtain a cost of equity of approximately 6. 7%-6. 8%. Both estimates seem unreasonably low. ? This is significantly lower than the calculated cost of equity using the CAPM model. Due to the flaws of both the DDM and Earnings Capitalization Ratio methods described above, we should hold the CAPM approach as most reliable in calculating the cost of equity. ? The calculation of the cost of equity using both the DDM and and Earnings Capitalization Ratio methods has been based on assumed constant growth in perpetuity, which will most likely not be the case, especially considering Nike’s new sales strategy and cost optimization over the next few years. Therefore, we are more likely going to observe a higher growth period followed by a stable growth period. Dividend Discount Model g Po 5. 50% 42. 09 Do D1 r 0. 48 0. 53 6. 77% Earnings Cap. Ratio g Po b (retention ratio) EPSo EPS1 r 5. 50% 42. 09 77. 75% 2. 16 2. 28 6. 70% 12 Agenda 1. What is the WACC and why is it important to estimate a firm’s cost of capital? Do you agree with Joanna Cohen’s WACC calculation? Why or why not? 2. If you do not agree with Cohen’s analysis, calculate your own WACC for Nike and justify your assumptions. 3. Calculate the costs of equity using CAPM, the dividend discount model, and the earnings capitalization ratio. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? 4. What should Kimi Ford recommend regarding an investment in Nike? 13 Investment Decision Based on the calculated WACC value, using the CAPM approach, and the predicted UFCFF for the period 2002-2011, Nike’s stock appears undervalued Since the purpose of the assignment was to calculate the WACC value only, we have taken all predicted UFCFF levels as given, even though certain adjustments could be appropriate to better reflect the expected boost in sales resulting from the new sales strategy, and the expected cost optimizations. Based on the predicted NPV of UFCFF, we are given that the current price of USD 42. 09 suggests a 11. 17% discount rate. Since our calculations reveal that the actual discount rate ought to be 10. 26%, Nike’s share price is trading under its intrinsic value. Therefore, Kimi Ford should recommend a buy on the stock. 14

The Importance Of Without Music, Life Would Be A Mistake

â€Å"Without music, life would be a mistake.† Friedrich Nietzsche was born many years after the great composer Wolfgang Mozart, however, both men share one common ideal: their love for music. Mozart was a revolutionary composer of his time that continued to astound the public of the classical time. His fantastic ability to be so versatile in his writing allowed him to write in every popular form of music of his classical time; he even developed and popularized the piano concerto. The music conveys his grace, spontaneity, balance and ease he has when composing his musical pieces. Mozart was also able to compose with great speeds, one such example being he wrote his entire last three symphonies in six weeks. With his keen senses honed into music by birth, the prodigy we remember today lived a life filled with many complications and conquests. A young couple, Leopold and Anna Maria had their only surviving son on January 27, 1756. Wolfgang was born in the family’s permanent residence in Salzburg, Austria; however, little did his mother and father know, they had just given birth to one of the world’s greatest musical prodigies. At age five, Mozart accompanied his father and sister on their first tour around Europe as child prodigies and by age six Mozart was performing regularly to the public. With this early grasp of music Mozart continued to learn all he could and even started composing in his teenage years. He wrote Ascanio in Alba at age fifteen and Lucio Silla at sixteen. As anShow MoreRelatedMusic Lessons Improve Life Essay1540 Words   |  7 Pagesthe way down to slow, peaceful, or gloomy songs. Music can make people calm and relaxed, and also get them pumped up and full of energy. The piano produces music that is different from every other instrument. It has a wide range of sound going from low to hig h and from soft to loud. Put those sounds in combinations and it could produce music. 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