Management Accounting Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Management Accounting Report - Essay Example Therefore, while running a business, the management has to focus both on overcoming the current economic hurdles as presented by the existing business environment, as well as focusing on how the anticipated future challenges can be overcome. One of the most vital tools for enhancing business survival in a challenging and competitive business environment is enhanced marketing/outreach efforts (Hoque, 2005 p472). This strategy ensures that a business keep reaching new customers and markets, while ensuring that it still keeps the current market base well informed on its product or service range. Promotion and advertising are strategies that helps a business to remain relevant and competitive, considering that the more the number of people who knows about the existence of the business and its products, the higher the chances of such a business getting more customers. Considering that enhanced marketing/outreach efforts covers both the existing and the prospective clients, a business that advertises and promotes its products is better placed to overcome competition, than a business that does not make any efforts to make more people know about its existence and its offerings (Cullen, et al., 2013, p12). Therefore, in order for organizations to increase both customer and organizational value, enhanced marketing/outreach efforts, aimed at both the current customer base and the potential customer zones, in essential. Knowing and focusing on business Niche Competition in the business environment serves to disorient many business organizations, leaving most of them unsettled on the products or services they would actually offer, or the main client base they are targeting to serve. This is because, the business try to evade the competition by shifting to a different market or product/service offering, where they feel that they may not be faced by stiff competition (Matt, Chenhall, & Euske, 2007 p17). However, considering that the business environment is very dynamic; they end up being faced by the same competitive challenges, thus disorienting the business even further. However, when a business focuses on knowing and serving its niche market, it will understand fully the needs of the customers, and thus tailor-make its products or services to match the specific needs of the niche market (Cullen, et al., 2013, p7). This way, the business is able to cultivate customer loyalty and goodwill, which in turn enhances the repeat purchase from the customers, and thus helps the business to overcome the forces of competition that could face the business (Kloot, 1997 p47). Development of supplier/vendor retention and recruitment programs While the customer is the most important focus for any business organization, the suppliers and the vendors play a very pivotal role in enhancing the success of a business (Matt, Chenhall, & Euske, 2007 p21). The competition in the modern world is not only for the markets and customers, it is also about the sources of cheap and efficient raw materials for a business, and also about a smooth channel of distribution, since all these aspects plays a vital role in enhancing the success of a business, while determining how effective such a business is in the market. Therefore, through

Organize and discuss the elements and procedure for conducting a Essay

Organize and discuss the elements and procedure for conducting a research project - Essay Example From the conclusions, recommendations are made and a course of action is taken (Denscombe, 316). With matters dealing with criminal justice, the method is not much different. First, the issue has to be stated, then it is discussed, and conclusions are drawn. Where steps look like they may have been skipped, the research objectives are within the job description of solving crime, and methodology and data collection is done during the discussion of the issue if it has not been done already. The matter at hand for this discussion is that of charging children as adults for the crimes they commit. When children are charged as adults for crimes, it can leave a permanent mark on their record that they will never be able to outlive. It is believed by some that this method of criminal justice will serve as a warning to those who would otherwise do harm to others, saving untold numbers of people from harm and homicide. Others believe that the children who are sentenced to these kinds of charge s are from states of disenfranchisement, with matters only made worse by the fact that where they once did not believe they would overcome their situations, they are now supported in their own conclusions, guaranteeing them a life of less opportunity than those who may commit the same crimes, but do not suffer the same consequences as a result of the advocacy they receive from their community. In conducting researching for issues in the criminal justice system, the two most common methods are quantitative and qualitative (Maxfield; Babbie, 23). Quantitative analysis is that which deals with concrete facts, or quantities. The number of traffic citations a police officer gives would be quantitative as would his or her hours. Qualitative analysis is less concrete as it deals with areas that cannot be measured. Satisfaction from those who receive tickets with the demeanor of the ticketing officer would be qualitative. This, however, is not easy to determine as dissatisfied citizens are more likely to call in about an officer than those who had a pleasant experience. Countering this, though, is the common practice of placing cameras on vehicles, allowing supervisors to review their subordinates to ensure that proper procedure is followed. Another resource for qualitative analysis about an officer would be hours of community service, and recognition received as a result by way of certificates of appreciation or good press. When dealing with research of the topic at hand, quantitative analysis would pertain to the crime rate patterns of people within a certain age range. For instance, if gun crimes are on the rise for children ages 8-12 over the past five years in the state of Texas, then various courses of action will need to be considered after other quantitative research is conducted. For example, are the gun crimes related to gang violence? Are the children American citizens, or are they from South or Central America? If they are from Mexico, should they be prose cuted or deported? If they are deported, what is the likelihood of them returning and committing similar acts later? Qualitative research would look into other areas that include profiling to accompany the quantitative data that is gathered. Multi-cultural conflict models as well as psychological and personality studies may be formed in order to assist with the data collection (Pogrebin, 113). Quantitative resear

Leadership Skills Personal Development Plan Essay

Leadership Skills Personal Development Plan - Essay Example a detailed analysis of my leadership style on the grounds of strength, weakness, opportunity, threats, along with discussion on improving them in order to be a more effective leader. I have also discussed the SMART(ER) goal setting technique to set the goals for my followers and for myself. All the discussions made in this study are backed up by relevant theories. According to my perception, the concept of leadership is based on the idea of how one individual can guide a group of people to follow his instruction so that they can be driven towards a common goal. At often times the term â€Å"leader† is used synonymous with the term â€Å"manager†. I think that a leader and a manager possess quite a different set of characters (Davis 8). A leader develops a new trend or a set of rules to follow, whereas a manager makes sure that the rules are properly being followed. Most importantly a manager controls his subordinates by relying on his power of authority, but a leader influences his followers by establishing a strong trust (The Wall Street Journal, â€Å"What is the Difference Between Management and Leadership?†). This makes me believe that a leader is a person who takes the right decisions and sets goals for himself and for his followers as well. I have followed a leadership style which binds my team in with strict rules and regulation. I thought that setting up straight forward rules are necessary in order to make sure that there is deviation from the goal. I laid down a series of strict rules for my team and instructed them to follow those rules down to every word. In order to avoid confusion in decision making, I took the responsibility of making all the major decisions myself. I commanded my team to abide by my decisions at all times, so it can be ensured that the progress is directed in the desired way. This style of leadership can be termed as the Autocratic leadership style (Johnson, â€Å"5 Different Types of Leadership Styles†). Strength: The autocratic

Fossil Story Essay Example for Free

Fossil Story Essay Northeastern Illinois has a great deal of geological history hidden beneath the surface. If you just take a trip to the Larson Quarry or even Pit 11 you can find some interesting rock formations as well as fossils in them. But, if you cannot get to these areas, this paper can tell you what you can find in 5 different locations in Northeastern Illinois. We will be looking at Larson Quarry, Thornton Quarry, Mazon River, Pit 11, and the Glacial Drift which is at Palos Hills and throughout the surface of the Chicago area). The first stop is the Larson Quarry. This is located near DeKalb, Illinois. The specific coordinates are 42? N, 88? 35’ W at 920 feet. This site contains specimens from 450 million years ago which include trilobites like Flexicalymene, brachiopods like platystropia, rafnesquina, leptaena, the horn coral streptelasma, an unnamed bivalve, bryozoans, various crinoid stem parts, the cephalopod endoceras, and the gastropods cyclonema and malcurites. The rock types and formations that were found around these fossils were Cincinnatian Maquoketa Shale and Galena Dolomite. â€Å"The Maquoketa shale, which contains seams of argillaceous dolomite†¦and ranges from highly to slightly weathered, with the highly weathered portions having the consistency of a stiff clay and are extremely fissile† (Preber). These fossils were preserved by replacement as well as mold and cast. The Mazon River, which is near Morris, Illinois is located at 41? 20’N, 88? 30’W at 525 feet. This site had fossils from 290 million years ago and included seed ferns like alethopteris and neuropteris, true fern Pecopteris, horsetail rush parts calamites (trunk), and annularia (leaf whorl), lycopod tree (club moss) parts and bark lepidodendron, and leaf lepidophylites. The rock types were shale and sandstone as well as coal and the formation was Francis Creek. The Illinois State Museum writes in an article about how Francis Creek formation is formed: â€Å"Much of the area that we now call Illinois was a mixture of swampy lowlands and shallow marine bays. From the northeast flowed at least one major river system. The river(s) built large deltas through the low swamps and into the shallow bays. The mud that the river(s) carried was deposited in these deltas and bays. This mud turned into a rock called the Francis Creek Shale†. The preservation type was impressions in concretions. Next is Pit 11 which is the Mazonia/Briadwaood State Fish and Wildlife area at 41? 15’N, 88? 15’W at 590 feet. These specimens were found from 290 million years ago. The fossils include the same basic plants as the Mazon River. They also include jellyfish like the essexella, the shrimp belotelson, clams like edmontia and aviculopectin, an unnamed marine annelid worm, a possible fish fossil coprolite, the infamous Tully Monster: tullymonstrum, and the echinoderm sea cucumber holothurian. The rock types that held these fossils were shale and sandstone, as well as coal. These were in a Francis Creek formation. These fossils were preserved by impressions in concretions. It becomes quite apparent that there are certain biases in how and what fossils are preserved. Some species, notably Pecopteris unita, are found with fertile structures nearly half of the time while others like the more common true fern, Pecopteris acadica, are rarely seen with fertile structures being preserved at all† (Mazon Creek†¦). This tells us how these fossils were formed. Thornton Quarry, at coordinates 41? 35’ N, 87? 35’ W at 590 to 250 feet, is located on the south side of Chicago. This Quarry was formed 420 million years ago and includes fossils such as the trilobite calymene, brachiopod pentamerus, corals like favosite and halysites, an unnamed crinoid stem and the cephalopod moorecoceras. The rock types that were here were limestone-dolomite in Niagaran Racine Dolomite with fossils in mold and cast. â€Å"The most famous reef unearthed in the Chicago area is the coral reef†¦Debris from the growing reef began to be deposited and cemented. The reefs contained sea lilies, animals resembling horseshoe crabs, and ancient ancestors of squids and octopuses up to ten feet long. The ashy, gray-white limestone mined from the Thornton Reef contains the fossils of these animals† (Herweck). The reason that there are multiple types of coral is because this area was at the bottom of the Silurian Sea and molded well into the limestone. Lastly, we visit Palos Hills which includes the Glacial Drift. This area was from ~15,000 years ago and showed deposits of unconsolidated pebbles, sand, silt ad clay which contain mixed rocks of 400 million to 1 billion years old at 41? 41’N, 87? 50’ W at 772 feet. The fossils found here are mammoth or mastodon remains that are preserved as unaltered hard parts. There are also mixed marine fossils including crinoid stems, brachiopods, corals like hexagonaria (Petosky Stone) and trilobite parts, where were preserved as mold and cast r replacement. The glacial till include striated rocks composed of a mixture of many types including sedimentary (limestone/dolomite), igneous (granite, basalt) and metamorphic (gneiss). The formation was Valparaiso Moraine. â€Å"At this time, glacial ice covered the entire Chicago region†¦. the active ice sheet retreated into the Lake Michigan basin, although stagnant, melting ice remained behind. The ice then rapidly re-advanced to the†¦Valparaiso moraine in the western Chicago region† (Grimm). The glaciers that were in Chicago made a big impact on picking up rocks and sand and dirt from other regions and bringing it into the area, which is a reason why you may find interesting things in the area and that rocks age from 400 million to 1 billion years ago. The areas that we can find an assortment of fossils and rock formations are abundant in Illinois and have a wide variety of ages. From this summary, you can see what type of rock are around Northeastern Illinois and what type of animals, plants, and rocks were around from different periods and what type of environment they must have lived in.

A Study Of The National Politics Of Malaysia Politics Essay

A Study Of The National Politics Of Malaysia Politics Essay Since the formation of its constitution in 1956 Malaysia has been a federal parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch. In theory this would mean Malaysia is indeed a democracy because the king largely only has symbolic functions. In reality the political process has been dominated by one party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), thereby making Malaysia a semi-democracy [2]. In this chapter, a portrayal of the politics of Malaysia will be presented. This description will begin with an explanation of the distribution of power in the political system, followed by a short history of Malaysias nearly all-powerful political party, the UMNO, and the latest elections in which the UMNO was dealt a decisive blow. Finally, a sketch of Malaysias political freedom, civil liberties and corruption will be given Political system Malaysia is nominally headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is also called the king, and a bicameral parliament. The parliament consists of a Senate, the Dewan Negara and a House of Representatives, the Dewan Rakyat. The king elects 44 members of the Senate; the other 26 are elected by the assemblies of the thirteen states of Malaysia. Members of the Senate are chosen for three years and those three years are normally extended by another three years, making for a total of six years in-office. Each five years, the 222 members of the House of Representatives are chosen by national elections via a single-member-district system similar to the United States. Executive power is held by the cabinet, led by the prime minister. The cabinet is chosen from the parliament by the prime minister, with approval from the king. The prime minister himself is selected from the House of Representatives according to who commands the most support by the members from the House. On more local level, nine of the states are each headed by a sultan; four Melaka, Pulau Pinang (Penang), Sabah and Sarawak are each headed by a governor. While sultans are hereditary, governors are chosen by the state governments. All of the thirteen states have assemblies, and a government elected by the population of the state [3], [4]. The political system is visualised in Figure 1. Figure 1 Head of state For Malaysia is the king, or Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the official head of state. Aside from being a largely symbolic function, the king does have a few official powers. For instance he chooses 44 of the 70 members of the Senate, he gives approval to the appointment of the cabinet and he signs all laws. The king is also the nominal head of the armed forces and the leader of the Islamic faith in Malaysia. Each five years, the sultans choose the next king from among themselves, but in practice the post is rotated among the sultans. This system was made by the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, in order to spread the power among all the sultans who had ruled over fiefdoms on the peninsula of Malaysia prior to its independence. The current king is Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin (Figure 2), who is the 13th king and was installed in December 2006. Being made king at an age of 44 makes the former ruler of the oil-rich Terengganu state one of the youngest heads of state yet [3], [5], [6]. Figure 2 Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Prime minister The prime minister is selected from the House of Representatives according to who commands the most support by the members from the House. Because the UMNO has been the largest party since Malaysias independence, as an unofficial rule the UMNOs leader becomes prime minister. Figure 3 prime minister is Najib Abdul Razak The current prime minister is Najib Abdul Razak (Figure 3). He is the son of Abdul Razak, Malaysias second prime minister. Mr. Najib has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Nottingham and has worked for the national petroleum cooperation, Patronas. Upon the death of his father in 1979 he was elected to take the place of his father in parliament. As a member of parliament he has been a prominent member of the UMNO. Mr. Najib has served in several cabinets, among which as minister of finance and minister of defence. He was deputy prime minister since 2004 till he became prime minister in 2009. Najib Abdul Razak succeeds Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who resigned in April 2009 after disastrous elections for the UMNO in March 2008. The current prime minister came to power promising radical reforms, a more transparent government and a fairer treatment of ethnic minorities. Besides this, one of the main problems Mr. Najib faces is the global economic crisis, which has had a dramatic impact on the countrys economy. Though he promised much improvement, Najib Abdul Razaks government has allegedly tried to stifle the opposition with a heavy hand [5], [7]. The United Malays National Organisation and the National Front The most powerful party of Malaysia, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) has its roots in the independence of Malaysia. As Britain prepared Malaya for independence they decided to transform their earlier administrative system, which was riddled with inequality, into a more even arrangement. This took form in the Malayan Union, where the power of the sultans would be reduced and the disadvantaged Chinese community would be given equal rights. This did not go well with the Malay aristocracy and civil servants, fearing reduction of their power. The result was a series of meetings and mass rallies and led to the formation of the UMNO. The British, surprised by the social uprising, changed the Union to a federalist system where the power of the sultans and the Malays were improved. After that, the UMNO became a political party that exclusively drew support from the Malay population. As a result other political parties followed suit, creating a political system with mono-ethnic parties. The Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) are two main examples. Multi-ethnic parties gained little following and it would take about 50 years any serious multi-ethnic political party would appear. The UMNO and MCA would gain a large majority in the elections and would form a coalition with the MIC called the Alliance, which later became the National front (Barisan Nasional). The political power would mainly reside with the Malays, where the Chinese had the economic power. The tension between the ethnic groups of Malaysia was highlighted during the May 13 incident. The UMNO dominance would be challenged on May 13th 1969, when, after being abandoned by a significant number of Malay voters, the UMNO would be left clinging to power. The Chinese and Indian parties had taken to the opposition fearing being left out as a result of laws favouring Malays. This also deteriorated the UMNOs delicate position. The Chinese mounted victory processions, which inflamed the Malays. This resulted in huge riots in Kuala Lumpur, where Malays clashed with Chinese and Indians. Two years of emergency rule by the UMNO-led government followed. The UMNO responded by restricting Chinese business activities and improving Malay standing by far reaching redistribution of wealth and power, called the New Economic Policy (NEP), thereby hoping to win back the support of the Malay population. UMNO restored its political power by getting most of the ethnic parties from the opposition into the coalition, which had been renamed the National Front. The UMNO then subordinated its coalition partners, making its standing in the National Front absolute. The result was single-party dominance, limitations of civil liberties and a complete forest of bureaucratic instances and state businesses that would implement the redistributions. This resulted in a near fusion of the UMNO with the state apparatus, thereby further increasing its power [8], [9]. The 2008 elections While the National Front used to have a two-thirds majority, making it possible to make amendments to Malaysias constitution and making for an image of all-importance among the population. This all changed in the elections of March 2008, when the government was dealt a decisive blow. The National Front was nevertheless able to claim 63% of the seats in parliament as can be seen in Figure 4, Figure 5, and Figure 6 yet short of the magical two-thirds. This is actually far more than the actual number of votes: 52% of the votes went to the government. The reason for the relatively large share of seats in parliament is the voting system, which heavily favours the sitting administration. Figure 4 Results of the 2008 elections [11]. Mounting government corruption, arrogance, rising inflation and high crime rates, coupled with the normal discontent over unfair treatment was cause for a record number of non-Malay voters to switch their vote to opposition parties. The last time the National Front was dealt such a setback was in 1969 and its response was to absorb most of the opposition parties into the National Front, but this time the opposition was more confident and formed its own coalition: the Peoples Pact (Pakatan Rakyat). It even pondered to replace the NEP with a more equitable welfare system which was not based on ethnicity. The opposition is composed of the mainly ethnic Chinese Islamic Party Of Malaysia (PAS), the secular and reformist Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the multi-ethnic Peoples Justice Party (PKR), but which has a large Malay following. Part of the reason for the confidence of the opposition is that these parties were able to form governments in five states, including two of Malaysias richest [10]. Figure 5 Election results for the National Front [11]. Figure 6 Election results for the opposition [11]. Political freedom Political freedom in Malaysia is, as one can expect from earlier descriptions, not of the same sort as in western countries. Its democratic process has even been described by the government as being different to the western democracies, although they are adamant that Malaysia is democratic, albeit using a different definition of democracy. Malaysias form of democracy includes a large arrange of repressive measure. For instance, the government has legal powers to deregister organizations, ban publications and impose preventive detention. The opposition has been no exception to the application of these powers and these have even seen action in conflicts between different government factions. The federal government also has large control of mass media, including television and radio. For instance both the country itself and the National Front are owner of all television and radio, making sure the UMNO policies and leaders are viewed positively by the media. Furthermore, restrictions on party activities are more in favour of the UMNO, hindering the opposition more than the dominant party. The UMNO also promises development projects and material benefits to local communities in order to ensure loyalty to the government among population. Malaysias version of democracy also includes a version of ethnic and religious favouring of the Malay and Muslim majority of the country. The UMNO managed implement a biased electoral system that heavily reduced the impact of the votes cast by ethnic minorities, even though many of these minorities were represented in the National Front. The UMNO did this by gerrymandering, a way to change the electoral impact of certain districts in favour of a particular political party- in this case the UMNO, where the states with a large amount Malay voters were given more impact on the elections. The country also features a first-past-the-post voting system which strongly favours the largest party. The result of this is a two-thirds parliamentary majority of Malay votes compared to a close absolute majority of Malay voters. These measures described above have made sure the UMNO has stayed in power with a two-thirds majority until the elections of March 2008. We can conclude that Malaysia can at best be called semi-democratic by western standards, but seeing as the latest electoral has diminished the all-powerful UMNO there is perhaps a chance Malaysia may be on a path to more political freedom [2], [10], [12]. Civil Liberties Officially Malaysia grants its citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression, but as can be concluded from the above section, there is little freedom of the media in Malaysia. The reason for this is the possibility of exceptions to this right. For instance, the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) requires publishers to have an annual operations permit, which can be withdrawn by the prime minister without judicial control. Similarly, the Broadcasting Act gives the information minister the power to decide who can own a broadcast station. The Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Sedition act and defamation laws allow the government to impose restrictions on press and dissidents. Although there were hopes the elections of 2008 might change the media climate, it actually deteriorated as a result of crackdown instigated by the Prime Minister. Online media received many of the restriction and censorship that were already in place on traditional media like newspapers and television. The reason for this development was the role blogs and online news played in promoting the opposition and criticizing the government. The Official Secrets Act also curtails the publication of publication of politically sensitive information and reduces the freedom of information in Malaysia [12], [13]. Instigated as a measure to combat terrorism, the Internal Security Act has made it possible for the government to detain suspected terrorists or, more generally, people suspected of connections to terrorist groups. According to Human Right Watch and Amnesty International, these detainees are held for long times lacking a legal process and are grossly mistreated in prison [14], [15]. Malaysia also makes discrimination state policy with the NEP and government backed affirmative action policies, which called for far reaching redistribution of businesses, property and education to Malays [10],[15]. The country also has the death penalty and has voted against a moratorium of the UN against the death penalty [15]. Corruption Even though the prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi promised a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign in the 2007 elections, corruption actually increased for his coalition. Several cases of corruption at high levels of government occurred and the third-highest police official was arrested on the charge of concealing large sums of money. The police inspector general and the deputy minister for internal security also accused each other of corruption [12]. According to Transparency International a lot of corruption takes place on the negotiation of contracts, where bribes were paid to government officials to speed up trade licences (sic), for police protection and for loan transactions [16]. Further, the Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 of Transparency International rates Malaysia the 56th least corrupt country with Somalia the most corrupt country at rank 180 [17].

The Alaskan wilderness :: Environment, Fishing, Hunting

The Alaskan wilderness is one of the most controversial topics discussed in the United States today. There are many different opinions and regulations pertaining to certain topics affecting the natural landscape of Alaska. One such topic is hunting for brown bear. While these massive animals face no current danger of being wiped out as a result of hunting, it is still a controversial and constantly debated issue. Over ninety-five percent of the United States’ brown bear resides in Alaska. Brown bears are one of the more appealing attractions for visitors to Alaska. According to the Alaskan Outdoor Journal, there are places all throughout Alaska that are designated brown bear viewing areas (Alaska Outdoor Journal, 2010). However many who come to Alaska for the brown bear don’t simply come to observe. Instead, they come for the hunt. These animals are constantly hunted for sport, and since they reproduce at a very low rate, this has the potential to jeopardize the total p opulation of the brown bear. Overall, I believe that brown bear hunting should remain legal. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the brown bear is located all throughout Alaska, mostly in areas that allow them to seasonally hunt salmon (Alaska Fish & Game, 2010). This allows them to become larger and live in higher concentrations than the grizzly bear. The traditional brown bear and the grizzly bear are actually both classified as brown bears, despite having several differences in appearance. Brown bears are one of the most fascinating and powerful species in the Alaskan wilderness. Cubs are usually born during January or February, usually in groups of one to four (Alaska Fish & Game). A fully grown, male brown bear can weigh up for 1,500 pounds and be over 10 feet in stature (Alaska Fish & Game, 2010). Brown bears also have the ability to run at speeds up to 40 mph for short bursts of time (Alaska Fish & Game). All of these unique characteristics make many people upset that it is legal to hunt them. There are several groups that are working to conserve the brown bear population, particularly in Alaska, such as The Northern Forum’s Brown Bear Working Group (Fish & Wildlife Journal, 2010). The bear population in Alaska is thriving and is classified as a status of least concern, by the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2010). Overall, the brown bear population faces no danger whatsoever.

Covent Garden Essay

In this quadrangle the Abbey or Convent of St. Peter, Westminster, maintained a large kitchen garden throughout the Middle Ages to provide its daily food. Over the next three centuries, the monks’ old â€Å"convent garden† became a major source of fruit and vegetables in London and was managed by a succession of leaseholders by grant from the Abbot of Westminster. This type of lease eventually led to property disputes throughout the kingdom, which King Henry VIII solved in 1540 by the stroke of a pen when he dissolved the monasteries and appropriated their land. King Henry VIII granted part of the land to John Russell, Baron Russell, Lord High Admiral, and later Earl of Bedford. In fulfilment of his father’s dying wish, King Edward VI bestowed the remainder of the convent garden in 1547 to his maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset who began building Somerset House on the south side of The Strand the next year. When Seymour was beheaded for treason in 1552, the land once again came into royal gift, and was awarded four months later to one of those who had contributed to Seymour’s downfall. Forty acres (160,000 m? ), known as â€Å"le Covent Garden† plus â€Å"the long acre†, were granted by royal patent in perpetuity to the Earl of Bedford. [edit] 1600s to 1800s The modern-day Covent Garden has its roots in the early seventeenth century when land (â€Å"the Convent’s Garden†) was redeveloped by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford. The area was designed by Inigo Jones, the first and greatest of English Renaissance architects. He was inspired by late 15th Century and early 16th century planned market towns known as bastides (themselves modelled on Roman colonial towns by way of nearby monasteries, of which â€Å"Convent† Garden was one). The area rapidly became a base for market traders, and following the Great Fire of London of 1666 which destroyed ‘rival’ markets towards the east of the city, the market became the most important in the country. Exotic items from around the world were carried on boats up the River Thames and sold on from Covent Garden. The first mention of a Punch and Judy show in Britain was recorded by diarist Samuel Pepys, who saw such a show in the square in May 1662. Today Covent Garden is the only part of London licensed for street entertainment. In 1830 a grand building reminiscent of the Roman baths such as those found in Bath was built to provide a more permanent trading centre. [edit] Modern day period By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion in the surrounding area had reached such a level that the use of the square as a market, which required increasingly large lorries for deliveries and distribution, was becoming unsustainable. The whole area was threatened with complete redevelopment. Following a public outcry, in 1973 the Home Secretary, Robert Carr, gave dozens of buildings around the square listed building status, preventing redevelopment. The following year the market finally moved to a new site (called the New Covent Garden Market) about three miles south-west at Nine Elms. The square languished until its central building re-opened as a shopping centre and tourist attraction in 1980. Today the shops largely sell novelty items. More serious shoppers gravitate to Long Acre, which has a range of clothes shops and boutiques, and Neal Street, noted for its large number of shoe shops. London’s Transport Museum and the rear entrance to the Royal Opera House are also located on the Piazza. The marketplace and Royal Opera House were memorably brought together in the opening of George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, where Professor Higgins is waiting for a cab to take him home from the opera when he comes across Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the market. In the mid 1950s, before he directed such films as If and O Lucky Man, Lindsay Anderson directed a short film about the daily activities of the Covent Garden market called Every Day Except Christmas. It shows 12 hours in the life of the market and market people, now long gone from the area, but it also reflects three centuries of tradition in the operation of the daily fruit and vegetable market. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 film, Frenzy, likewise takes place amongst the pubs and fruit markets of Covent Garden. The serial sex killer in Frenzy is a local fruit vendor, and the film features several blackly comic moments suggesting a metaphorical correlation between the consumption of food and the act of rape-murder. Hitchcock was the son of a Covent Garden merchant and grew up in the area; and so, the film was partly conceived (and marketed) as a semi-nostalgic return to the neighbourhood of the director’s childhood. Supermodel Naomi Campbell was also discovered by a model scout at the age of 15 whilst walking through the streets of Covent Garden.