Create a thesis and an outline on Hard-Path versus Soft-Path Energy Development. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required.

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I need help creating a thesis and an outline on Hard-Path versus Soft-Path Energy Development. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. To reduce energy use from conventional sources on the property, the first step is to insulate my house to improve heating and lessen the need for heaters. The next step is to install solar power cells on the roof of the house for electricity. A solar water heater (NREL) will also be installed to heat water. Larger insulated windows will be installed in strategic areas of the house to reduce the need for the use of electric light sources during daytime as the windows will serve to brighten the interiors of the house. A study of the direction of prevailing winds will be done and some trees will be cut down to clear wind channels in the forest towards windmills which I will construct near the house. These windmills can power generators and can be set-up to pump water from water wells. I will set aside an area where I can cut down trees to use for fuel in the winter months to power the heater and for cooking. Cut down trees will be replanted.

3. Environmental Impacts of Dam Construction

Construction of dams has associated environmental impacts such as loss of farmlands, loss of vegetation and biodiversity, sanitation and solid waste disposal, air, water and noise pollution, and impact on river ecology (Byaruhanga et al.). In order to minimize these effects, safeguards and mitigation measures must be applied during the construction phase. Some mitigating measures which could be undertaken during construction are the replanting of vegetation in other areas to minimize vegetation loss. avoidance of environmentally critical area (i.e. migratory paths and breeding areas of wildlife). maintaining the discharge of water from the dam to recreate the normal volume of water flowing in the rivers. establish flood control and erosion control measures in the construction sites. maintain proper sanitation and disposal of wastes. and other such measures as to reduce the levels of noise pollution in and around the construction site.

4. Relationship of the Global Water Shortage to Food Production

Rapid and growing changes in the natural ecosystem affect the hydrologic cycle and thereby affect water supply globally. Deforestation, massive land conversion, and other human activity affect climate and reduces the volume of the ground and other natural water sources. Combined with increasing population and conversion of lands for agricultural purposes, water resources are being diverted from human consumption to support the world’s hunger, with about 40% of the world population already competing for water (Sandford). Larger tracts of land are already being converted for food production use in order to support human food needs. This conversion leads to the destruction of natural vegetative cover which in effect affects the water cycle. Unless the population is controlled and more efficient food production technologies are developed, man will always be competing with agriculture for water usage.

writing homework on African American History: ETST 2155-002.

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Need help with my writing homework on African American History: ETST 2155-002. Write a 500 word paper answering; Response Paper Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography Assata Shakur’s autobiography describes her evolution from Joanne Deborah Byron, a child growing up in the segregated atmospheres of New York City and North Carolina, into a Black Liberation Army leader and political refugee. Themes within her autobiography relate to other works describing black militarist groups during this time period, and present interesting comparisons to other civil rights groups’ efforts to address widespread social, political, and economic discrimination. As a whole, Shakur’s work provides a compelling account of discrimination and its social effects as well as a look into the black radical movements attempting to address such issues during the 1960s and 1970s.

The work first describes Shakur’s upbringing in New York City and North Carolina by her parents and grandparents, focusing on the ideas instilled by her family and surroundings about race, segregation, and discrimination. She was particularly affected by discrimination in school, and suffered the emotional effects of segregation and discrimination in her educational sphere. After dropping out of high school, Shakur went to live with an educated aunt who exposed her to sources of culture and education that would influence her later in life. After obtaining a GED and entering Manhattan Community College, Shakur became interested in Black studies and the emerging black Nationalism movements. attending civil rights events, participating in Black student groups, marrying a student with similar interests, and giving herself a Muslim name to reflect her racial heritage.

She then joined the Black Panther Party and largely worked in service and care roles. ultimately leaving because she felt it didn’t provide strong enough belief systems to unite its members. Shakur turned to the Black Liberation Army, an even more radical militant group. After becoming integral to the party, Shakur was charged with many crimes attributed to the BLA that she did not commit. and while most of these charges saw no convictions, the murder of a New Jersey state trooper led to her arrest and incarceration. Shakur describes in detail the harassment and injury she underwent while in police custody, which she attributed in large part to racial discrimination within the justice system. Her pregnancy, discovered during the murder trial, did not improve her treatment, and she was kept in solitary confinement for much of this time. After the birth of her daughter, Shakur was found guilty of the state trooper’s murder. During a move between prisons, Shakur escaped with help from friends in the BLA and spent the next few years evading arrest despite being on the FBI’s most wanted list. Later, she received political asylum in Cuba, where she found racism much less prevalent.

This text is particularly interesting because of Shakur’s description of the social forces and trends that led her to a philosophy of radical black militarism. By alternating chapters between her childhood and the trial years, she makes the connection between the racism she experienced during her upbringing and that which she experienced while within the justice system. Not only does this enhance the personal nature of the narrative, it allows the reader to understand how the personal becomes political in aspects of racism and discrimination.

Furthermore, Shakur’s description of the Black Panther Party relative to the Black Liberation Army provides interesting comparisons to other autobiographies of black revolutionaries, like that of Malcolm X. While both the BPP and the BLA attempted to use forceful means to redress problems experienced by Black Americans (a strategy eschewed by nonviolent civil rights movements like the SNCC), the BLA used more underground strategies such as expropriation and violence to achieve social equity, and focused on socialism and class struggle as means through which to redress structural inequalities. For Shakur, the BPP’s lack of historical knowledge on Black issues, their isolation from other Black community groups, and the gender confinements of their organizational structure led to her joining the BLA instead.

A final issue brought up by the text is that of the political and legal tools utilized by the police and justice system during the 1970s to attack Black power organizations. Racial profiling and the emergence of COINTELPRO contributed to unjust, targeted attacks on such organizations that, as Angela Davis points out in her introduction, present comparisons to today’s use of incarceration as both an economic development and crime control strategy (p. ix).

This text was powerful because of the deep connection Shakur makes between the social and the political aspects of racism and discrimination. Her descriptions of life both before and after her arrests are rife with the daily inequalities experienced by Black Americans. inequalities that, as she demonstrates, lead to differential access to social, economic, and political resources. Though she avoids discussing many of the details of the crimes she is accused of committing, I found her attempts at addressing these issues through Black Militarism inspirational and poetic.

‘Jenny Cochran, a graduate of The University of Tennessee with 4 years of experience as an equities analyst, was recently brought in as assistant to the chairman of the board of Computron Industries, a manufacturer of computer components. During the previous year, Computron had doubled its plant capacity, opened new sales offices outside its home territory, and launched an expensive advertising campaign. Cochran was assigned to evaluate the impact of the changes. She began by gathering financial statements and other data. (Data Attached) What effect did the expansion have on sales and net income? What effect did the expansion have on the asset side of the balance sheet?  What do you conclude from the statement of cash flows? What is Computron’s net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT)? What are operating current assets? What are operating current liabilities? How much net operating working capital and total net operating capital does Computron have?

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Question 1

‘Jenny Cochran, a graduate of The University of Tennessee with 4 years of experience as an equities analyst, was recently brought in as assistant to the chairman of the board of Computron Industries, a manufacturer of computer components.

During the previous year, Computron had doubled its plant capacity, opened new sales offices outside its home territory, and launched an expensive advertising campaign. Cochran was assigned to evaluate the impact of the changes. She began by gathering financial statements and other data. (Data Attached)

  1. What effect did the expansion have on sales and net income? What effect did the expansion have on the asset side of the balance sheet?  What do you conclude from the statement of cash flows?
  2. What is Computron’s net operating profit after taxes (NOPAT)? What are operating current assets? What are operating current liabilities? How much net operating working capital and total net operating capital does Computron have?
  3. What is Computron’s free cash flow (FCF)? What are Computron’s “net uses” of its FCF?
  4. Calculate Computron’s return on invested capital (ROIC). Computron has a 10% cost of capital (WACC). What caused the decline in the ROIC? Was it due to operating profitability or capital utilization? Do you think Computron’s growth added value?
  5. What is Computron’s EVA?  The cost of capital was 10% in both years.
  6. Assume that a corporation has $200,000 of taxable income from operations. What is the company’s federal tax liability?
  7. Assume that you are in the 25% marginal tax bracket and that you have $50,000 to invest. You have narrowed your investment choices down to municipal bonds yielding 7% or equally risky corporate bonds with a yield of 10%. Which one should you choose and why? At what marginal tax rate would you be indifferent?

 

Question 2

James Madison was brought in as assistant to Computron’s chairman, who had the task of getting the company back into a sound financial position.  Madison must prepare an analysis of where the company is now, what it must do to regain its financial health, and what actions to take. Your assignment is to help her answer the following questions, using the recent and projected financial information shown next. Provide clear explanations, not yes or no answers.

  1. Why are ratios useful? What three groups use ratio analysis and for what reasons?
  2. Calculate the profit margin, operating profit margin, basic earning power (BEP), return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE).  What can you say about these ratios?
  3. Calculate the inventory turnover, days sales outstanding (DSO), fixed assets turnover, operating capital requirement, and total assets turnover.  How does Computron’s utilization of assets stack up against other firms in its industry?
  4. Calculate the current and quick ratios based on the projected balance sheet and income statement data. What can you say about the company’s liquidity position and its trend?
  5. Calculate the debt ratio, liabilities-to-assets ratio, times-interest-earned, and EBITDA coverage ratios.  How does Computron compare with the industry with respect to financial leverage?  What can you conclude from these ratios?
  6. Calculate the price/earnings ratio and market/book ratio.  Do these ratios indicate that investors are expected to have a high or low opinion of the company?
  7. Use the extended DuPont equation to provide a summary and overview of Computron’s projected financial condition.  What are the firm’s major strengths and weaknesses?
  8. What are some potential problems and limitations of financial ratio analysis?
  9. What are some qualitative factors analysts should consider when evaluating a company’s likely future financial performance?

 

Submit your answers in a Word document.

 

Compose a 1500 words assignment on genetically modified crops.

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Compose a 1500 words assignment on genetically modified crops. Needs to be plagiarism free!

Some have termed the genetically manipulated crops ‘frankenfoods’ and have questioned the potential harm to people and the environment that could come from their production. This discussion will answer these questions regarding the safety of these foods and present an overview of bioengineered foods.

Bioengineering food involves “splicing a gene from one organism, such as a bacterium, into a plant or animal to confer certain traits” (Muth et al, 2002). These traits, developed for agricultural crops such as corn, soybeans, canola and cotton include increasing nutrients, tolerance to herbicides and drought, resistance to fungus and insects and reduced spoilage.

Bioengineered corn and soybeans have become increasingly widespread among farmers during the last decade and the products can be commonly found in most grocery stores. Companies that engineer and produce bioengineered foods as well as manufacturers that choose to use these foods in their ingredients are faced with a stringent and ever-developing regulatory oversight by three government agencies. the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture), the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

Which agency regulates a particular product is determined by the intended use of the crop. Very often, a product is regulated by multiple agencies. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a division of the USDA monitors products and organisms that affect plants. Products and organisms derived from bioengineering methods introduced to or manufactured in the U.S. require USDA identification. This agency then determines if the item in question is a ‘regulated article’ or a possible disease.