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Biopsychosocial Assessment and the Mental Status Examination

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Part A: Basic Information

Identifying information

The client is a 27-year-old Caucasian female. She is currently unemployed, although actively searching for employment. She has a daughter, with whom they used to live with her boyfriend Sean. However, Alex chose to leave her house with her daughter in order to get away from Maddy’s father, Sean, who is an alcoholic.

Referral

Alex was referred by the management of a shelter where she had gone to seek assistance. Alex was seeking a place for her daughter to be accommodated as she tried to figure out how she could provide for herself and her daughter after leaving her alcoholic husband.

Presenting problem

Alex has presented with relationship challenges. She feels that her relationship with Sean, whom she cohabits with is toxic and that it puts her daughter at risk. According to Alex, Sean frequently drinks alcohol, under the influence of which, he gets violent. Although he has never hit her or his daughter, Maddy, he has thrown items at her including glass objects which end up getting shuttered against the wall and littering the floor. Although it had happened for a while, Alex decided to leave the house when it became apparent that Maddy was not growing up in a healthy environment. While she was living with Sean, he provided for the bills and utilities. She now had the challenge of finding a job that she could use to sustain Maddy.

Sources of Data

The referring agency provided much of the preliminary information about the client. However, for each fact that was reported by the referring agency, the client was asked to confirm during interviews.

General Description of Client

During a presentation for the biopsychosocial assessment and the mental status examination, the client was distressed. Her anxiety seemed to be caused by running or hiding from someone that the client feared would eventually catch up with them. Even though she was running from Maddy’s father, she was protective of his behavior. She tried to make it apparent that the relationship was toxic in terms of creating an unhealthy environment for Maddy. However, she was very clear to mention that Sean was a good dad that was loved by Maddy and that she did not think that Sean was likely to ever physically hurt them.

Part B: Background and Current Functioning

Family Composition and Background

Alex is part of a nuclear family, composed of herself, her daughter Maddy, and her husband Sean. Maddy is 2 years, which means she is totally dependent on her parents for her all-around well-being, including psychological well-being. Alex’s husband owns the trailer that they used to reside in. Sean was also responsible for taking care of the family’s needs since Alex had not been currently employed. However, Sean has a drinking problem whereby he becomes violent after consuming alcohol. Alex has no siblings and the only family member whom she keeps in touch with is her mother. However, Alex and her mother have never had a good relationship. Alex’s mother has a diagnosable mental health condition but she has not embraced treatment or taken any medication.

Educational Background

Alex’s education life was not smooth. Even though she completed her high school education, she frequently transferred to new schools. After completing his high school education, Alex was eligible to join college. However, she did not enter college and instead preferred looking for employment as she sought freedom and independence from her mother.

Employment and Vocational Skills

The client, Alex, is currently unemployed. However, she has tried house cleaning jobs in the past as a maid. Earlier on before she got pregnant with Maddy, she used to do waitressing in a restaurant.

Religious/Spiritual Involvement

The client has not disclosed her identity with any religion or spiritual practices that she engages in. Since religion is an important aspect of culture, in its absence, other personal beliefs and attitudes influence her biopsychosocial wellbeing.

Military Service History

The client was never in the military.

Physical Functioning, Health Conditions, and Medical Background

The client seemed a little bit pale, weak, and distressed. Her presenting problem explained the distress. The paleness and weakness were explained by the client as a result of poor feeding. Alex did not report having any underlying health conditions. However, she noted a genetic predisposition to mental health conditions.

Substance Abuse, Psychological, Psychiatric Functioning, and Background

Alex did not report any history of having psychiatric problems. Although she consumes beer, it is on a few occasions and only to a limited degree. Alex has never considered herself an alcoholic. In terms of her psychological well-being, Alex has suffered an unhealthy relationship. Her husband, Sean, is an alcoholic who gets violent when he is drunk. Sean punches things when he is drunk as well as throws objects against the wall.

Social Community and Recreational Activities

The client does not have a good support system. Her mother has an unstable life which makes her unable to provide the support that her daughter needs. However, Alex does have a friend whom she can turn to when she needs help. When her friend cannot provide help, Alex does not have anyone else who can provide her with social support. IN terms of her hobbies, Alex enjoys writing, reading, and narrating in front of crowds.

Basic Life Necessities

Due to her unemployment status of Alex, she is currently finding it very hard to afford basic life necessities such as housing and food. As a result, she has to turn for help from a domestic violence shelter. As Maddy’s mother, Alex feels responsible for her wellbeing. She, therefore, believes that Maddy must be under custody. However, her husband Sean has petitioned to be granted full custody of Maddy. Since Maddy is Alex’s strongest motivation for living, she urgently requires legal representation in the litigation process.

Current Legal Concerns/History of Incarceration

The client does not have a history of the previous incarceration. The client is a documented citizen currently pursuing separation from her husband.

Other Environmental Psychological Factors

The client’s condition may be exaggerated as a result of her gender. For example, it is clear that Sean believes that a woman should be controlled and that they cannot support themselves without getting help from men. Similarly, the fact that she is from a low socioeconomic class, she receives bad treatment from the high-class citizens.

Client Strengths, Capacities, and Resources

The client is motivated by her daughter. She knows that she has to do everything that she can in order to provide for her daughter. This makes her consider seeking help as well as trying to resolve the situation on her own. She has even tried to look for employment in order to cater to her needs and those of her daughter.

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Maid. Dir. Smith Metzler Molly. Netflix. 2021. TV Series.

A report on the monetary policy of the Fed during the economic crisis between 2007 and 2009

Introduction

Monetary policy is a process by which the central bank of a country controls the money supply in that country. The fundamental goals of the monetary policy are to stabilize prices and reduce unemployment rates among others. The monetary authority often uses tools of monetary policy to adjust the supply of money in a country. These tools mainly target the interest rate in pursuit of promoting economic growth and stability in the country. Depending on the situation on the ground, the monetary policy applied can be expansionary or contractionary. Expansionary policies aim at reducing unemployment rates by increasing money in circulation whereas contractionary policies aim at lowering inflation rate by reducing money in circulation. The Fed refers to the central bank of the United States (U.S), and is the body that controls monetary policy in the U.S. This is mainly done by the Federal Open Market Committee (FMOC). During the summer of 2007 financial crisis came up in the U.S. The reasons that led to the crisis are traceable as pointed out by Brunnermeir (77). According to Gourinchas (27) there was excess demand for safe debt instruments which made the financial sector to come up with pseudo triple-A assets which are vulnerable to financial crisis. Crisis in 2007-09 “reflected panic in wholesale funding markets that left banks unable to roll over short-term debt” (Wheeler 89). Once the crisis hit, it also became rapidly obvious that the policy interest rate was not a sufficiently powerful instrument to offset the contraction in aggregate demand and stabilize output. With federal funds rate rapidly approaching the zero nominal bound, traditional monetary policy had to be supplemented by vigorous fiscal policy as well as non-conventional monetary policy. Aggressive reaction to financial crises should be taken by the central banks (Wheelock 89). President Obama nominated Ben Bernanke for the second term as the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Fed to assist in preventing the economic crises.

Open market operation

This is a monetary policy tool that uses government securities to solve the problems money supply in an economy. The Fed buys or sells U.S treasury securities in the secondary market which ensures a desired level of bank reserves has been produced. Buying of securities from the public serves as an expansionary monetary policy as it increases the amount of money in the banks. This increases the amount of money in circulation. Selling treasury securities on the other hand decreases the amount of money in circulation since people will now hold their wealth in terms of securities and not cash balances.

The Fed increased the level of temporary open market operations on 9th August 2007. This helped in increasing money in circulation which stimulated economic activities (tobias and Hyun 1). The Fed further announced its intention to repurchase of securities ‘repos’ in 28 days cumulating to $100 billion (Thornton 16). It also created Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) with an intention to lend $200 billion worth of treasury securities to primary dealers.

Reserve requirement

This implies the fraction of demand deposit accounts and fixed deposits that must be held as reserves at the Federal Reserve Banks. They are non-interest bearing reserves. An increase in reserve requirements discourages borrowing by banks hence individuals thereby restraining economic activities. A decrease in reserve requirements ratio encourages borrowing by the banks. This avails enough cash to banks for lending to individuals which in turn stimulates economic activities.

The Fed decided to reduce the reserve ratio to encourage borrowing.

Discount rate

This is the interest rate at which the Fed lends money to the financial institutions as their lender of last resort. These are secured short term loans which aim at providing money to the depository institutions which require them. Increasing the discount rate will discourage borrowing from the Fed. This will translate to low amounts of cash that could be used to lend to the general public. As a result, the banks will increase their lending rates which will discourage borrowing by the public. This restrains economic activities. To stimulate the economic activities, the Fed should lower the discount rates which will make the bank to offer cheap loans to individuals.

On the onset of financial crises in August 2007, the FOMC reduced the discount rates and extended term loans to banks. This was to encourage borrowing by institutions from discount window. Credit terms were extended to 30 days in August 2007 and further increased by 60 days by March 2008 (Ceccetti 19). The Fed reduced the federal funds target and the discount rate. By December 2008, the target had decreased to 0%-0.25% which is the current range.

Figure 3, which plots the monetary base, the federal funds rate, and the FOMC’s federal funds rate target weekly over the period January 2006 through April 2012, shows that the massive increase in the monetary base was accompanied by a decline in the federal funds rate to near zero long before the FOMC reduced its federal funds rate target to that level. Indeed, the 10last three reductions in the FOMC’s federal funds rate target were the endogenous responses of the FOMC to a supply-induced decline in the federal funds rate. This is illustrated in Figure 4 which shows the effective federal funds rate, the federal funds rate target, and the 1-month OIS rate daily from January 2, 2007 through February 28, 2009. The vertical line denotes September 15, 2008. Prior to that date, the federal funds rate declined immediately on the announcement of a target change—reflecting the open mouth operations discussed in Section 2. Moreover, the 1-month OIS rate declined ahead of the target change, reflecting the fact that target changes were anticipated somewhat before they occurred. After Lehman, however, the federal funds rate declined in advance of target changes and the OIS rate lagged rather than led changes in the federal funds rate.

Conclusion

During the summer of 2007 the U.S. experienced severe financial crisis. This was characterized by increased home prices levels and decline of mortgage quality as well as spread of asset-backed security beyond its usual levels. Banks had held few asset-backed securities whose valuation posed difficulties to bankers. Due to large losses by the banks, they became reluctant in lending. Some financial intermediaries had difficulties in getting short-term financing which is essential for their daily operations. Policy makers had to intervene and try to make things work better for the economy. They created Term Auction Facility to change the way they used to lend to commercial banks since traditional interest rate instruments were not effective (Ceccetti 26). They went ahead to offer loan on Treasury securities in exchange for lesser grade instruments. In addition, they started making loans directly to investment banks. As a result of these interventions, the economy began to grow again by the second half of 2009, thanks to the Fed.

References

Brunnermeier, Markus, 2009, “Deciphering the Liquidity and Credit Crunch 2007-2008,”

Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(1), pages 77-100, winter.

Ceccetti, S. Monetary Policy and the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008, April 2008. Retrieved from http://fmwww.bc.edu/ec-j/Sems2008/Cecchetti.pdf

Tett, Gillian, “US banks quietly borrow $50bn from Fed via new credit facility” Financial Times, 19 February 2008, pg. 1.

Thornton, Daniel. The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Financial Crisis: What It Did and What It Should Have Done. Working Paper 2012-050A http://research.stlouisfed.org/wp/2012/2012-050.pdf

Tobias Adrian and Hyun Song Shin. “The Changing Nature of Financial Intermediation and the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009.” (2010): Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, no. 439, Revised April.

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BIPOC Research Paper

Introduction

Background Information: Hamilton’s American musical portrays a post-racial perception of America’s society. The musical achieved this by intentionally using non-white characters in parts where the production group should have used white casts. By using this strategy, the musical has received numerous reviews from its viewers to be the best musical ever made, further indicating the public’s acceptance of intentionally avoiding the use of white casts and a shift to a post-racial society.

Relevant History: Hamilton was produced by Broadway Production Company that has historically supported white supremacy with its premium pricing, indicating the company’s acceptance of a post-racial society.

Relevant History: the production of the musical aligns with the then-president Barrack Obama’s re-election, further dwelling on the country’s acceptance of a post-racial society

Hypothesis or thesis: This paper shall counter the argument that Hamilton depicts a post-racial society by analyzing reviews, literature, and music from the performance, hoping to shed light on why Americans continue to pursue the post-racial narrative, the impact of minority representation in art on larger political discourses, and the importance of inspiring future “Hamiltons” in contemporary American culture through Hamilton: An American Musical and contemporary research.

Main Idea: Continued racial discrimination within post-racial societies.

Supporting Topic: Continued racial discrimination in cinemas despite claims of the existence of post-racial societies.

Even though Broadway has been called “The Great White Way” without reference to race, scholars have given it a second connotation owing to its high cost (Umehira 3). In the United States, white people have the most direct and indirect access to that level of wealth.

This historical trend has persisted until the current day. Caucasians bought 77 per cent of all tickets sold in 2015–2016 (Umehira 4). B.

Supporting Topic: Struggling Acceptance of non-white performers in cinemas

Lin-Manuel Miranda used non-white performers in white parts on purpose, so non-white actors portray white people in Hamilton. African-American performers Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, and Leslie Odom Jr. played Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Aaron Burr, the Marquis de Lafayette. Miranda played Alexander Hamilton, while Ramos played John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton. Both Miranda and Ramos are of Puerto Rican heritage. Hamilton’s earlier productions, including those on Broadway, have employed a non-white casting technique

There is still outrage following the casting call for “non-white performers,” Hamilton producers declared they would continue to cast the production with the same ethnic diversity that had been employed up to that point

Supporting Topic: Importance of Inspiring Future “Hamiltons” in Contemporary American Culture

Diggs and many others depend on rap, or “the voice of [his] generation and people of colour,” as the show’s dominant musical style (Mead, 23). Diggs, an African-American, understands the importance of these images in the lives of ethnic minorities. It is vital for people of colour to claim and identify with a tale that they were previously excluded from since this produces a more inclusive narrative for everyone.

However, as per the arguments, the past is crucial and may influence how people of colour perceive historical tales like Hamilton’s.

Supporting Topic: Americans continue to pursue the post-racial narrative.

It is vital for people of colour to claim and identify with a tale that they were previously excluded from since this produces a more inclusive narrative for everyone. Therefore, as per the arguments, the past is crucial and may influence how people of colour perceive historical tales like Hamilton’s.

Supporting Topic: Questioning post-racial trends in cinemas

While Hamilton’s efforts to hire non-white individuals are commendable, the program as a whole has flaws. In my perspective, Hamilton’s portrayal of American History was typical of whitewashed History. Hamilton’s characters are entirely white, despite the reality that the bulk of the cast members is black. Research portrays Hamilton’s advantages as a white man deepen this difference.

Miranda claims that Hamilton can “write his way out of his circumstance in the documentary Hamilton’s America.” His song “Hurricane” has him sending a letter about the storm that destroyed his Caribbean house and convincing community members to donate money to let him study in the North American colonies. Throughout the Revolutionary War, George Washington wrote love letters to Eliza as well as the Federalist Writings, legislation, and other papers explaining his financial and banking goals for America.

Supporting Topic: White community is still more socially privileged than black communities

The capacity to “write his way out” was, in my opinion, a combination of privilege and chance. Research contends that Hamilton benefited from both the late-eighteenth-century and contemporary white privilege regimes. Racial, social, and other political and cultural barriers may prohibit Hamilton from achieving professional success in a broad range of fields, including politics.

People of colour encounter challenges in their personal, professional, and political lives. The persistence of these obstructions undermines the post-racial concept that barriers to people of colour have been removed.

Supporting Topic: Masquerading of racism within post-racial societies.

But white privilege isn’t the only distinction between white and black life. Hamilton avoids many awful difficulties. The drama portrays Hamilton as an enthusiastic abolitionist, which is false. In “Cabinet War #1,” a rap battle between Hamilton and Jefferson, Hamilton proposes allowing the federal government to buy state debts. “Hello neighbour, here’s a civics lesson from a slaver,” the slaver says (Miranda, 44). This is how John Laurens explains his new position in the American Revolution: We publish anti-slavery articles, and every day is a test of our friendship and fortitude. (Miranda, 44). In these songs, Hamilton is portrayed as a staunch anti-slavery activist, which he was not (Scherr, 34).

Slavery was a political and personal concern for Hamilton, which revealed slaves were purchased and exchanged (Scherr, 26). Hamilton’s desire to climb the social ladder overshadowed his fervour for abolition, according to Michelle DuRoss, a lecturer at the University of Albany (“Somewhere in Between”). According to her, he was able to fit into the wealthy slaveholding milieu he desired by marrying into the aristocratic Schuyler family.

Supporting Topic: People of colour denied political coverage in America’s political History

In “The Chamber Where It Happens,” Burr conveys his wrath and desire to be in the “great old room” with Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson. “Only the two Virginians and the foreigner were in the room,” Burr adds. To be fair, Slaves did serve and prepare the meal in “The Room Where It Happened,” which Jefferson hosted.

Slave-talking characters are removed from the musical’s historical tale. Slavery was abolished by Hamilton, confirming the Anglo-centric History taught in public schools. The absence of colour characters in Hamilton perpetuates the myth that people of colour have no stories to tell, no part in American History, and no place in today’s society (Scherr).

Supporting Topic: Racial discrimination against immigrants

In a harsh political climate, Hamilton’s immigrant status is frequently cited, empowering immigrants. Hamilton went to America to study. Being Born in Saint Kitts, in the West Indies. For Miranda, “Hamilton’s America” means “working twice as hard to go half as far”. “Immigrants / We get the job done,” says Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette in the musical’s most iconic moment.

According to Emory University sociology professor Frank Lechner, Hamilton shows that even immigrants may achieve the American Dream, counteracting current anti-immigration and anti-Latino propaganda.

Supporting Topic: Unequal distribution of people enjoying the American dream

Miranda’s depiction of Hamilton’s immigration experience is uplifting for Latinos. Until Hamilton, she had never pictured herself in a Broadway musical or identified with American History in the way that many minorities do. In her Hamilton review, Ariana Quiónez remarked, “With a Latino actor portraying an immigrant on Broadway.”

However, such encouraging replies feed the post-racial narrative. In reality, the portrayal of white people vs black people is unequal.

Supporting Topic: Conflicting political interests on race in post-racial societies

The musical’s depiction of people of colour went beyond Broadway. The appearance of Vice President Mike Pence at the musical was remarkable (Mele and Healy, 24). Brandon Victor Dixon, who portrayed Aaron Burr that night, sent Pence a note from the cast expressing concern about Trump’s leadership (Mele and Healy, 26).

On social media, many Trump fans, including Trump himself, criticized the ensemble for making a statement after Trump’s triumph. The performers stressed their issues as persons of race, which drew much criticism (Mele and Healy, 27). Characters like Hamilton’s would not exist in a post-racial society; much alone face racist public criticism.

Supporting Topic: Racism is used as a financial tool in the post-racism society

Broadway is no longer indicative of the “diverse America” of 2015 and 2016. In the next two years, Titanic and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will have all-white casts on Broadway. Miranda referred to the 2015–2016 Broadway season’s diversity as an “accident of time” (Seymour, 50).

Despite apparent success in the entertainment industry for minorities in 2016, there was no visible movement in minority representation and appreciation in the media in 2016. More than 95% of Tony Award nominees are Caucasian, which is somewhat less than the total number of Oscar nominations (Seymour). Only a few new musicals, television shows, and films have a significant minority cast (Hallemann, 45). Racial barriers have not vanished, but they are developing and being analyzed more rigorously than in the past.

Supporting Topic: Discrimination in visual minority art.

There is a continued comparison of minority art with other visual parts perpetuating the notion that they are dissimilar art pieces. Like minorities in art, Hamilton stood out in the media when contrasted to other works of visual art.

The media industry as a whole is used to “othering” movies, theatre, art, and other visual works that include a substantial proportion of minorities. Art that is deemed “diverse” or “pioneering for minorities,” such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, is sometimes lauded exclusively for that distinction.

Supporting Topic: Supporting topic: Distinction of Art as Minority art

Minority art is a term that is often used. According to writer Erica Hunt, although most people do not identify art with the artist’s race when the artist is white, this is not the case when the artist is non-white. Miranda, a Puerto Rican, wrote Hamilton to reflect the cultural diversity he encountered growing up as a Latino. Miranda, his non-white co-stars, and the show as a whole were labelled “diverse.” Hamilton’s “otherness” adds to the “diversity” of the show.

While neither harsh nor pejorative, this term indicates why Hamilton is not representative of a post-racial America. Such a phrase does not exist in a post-racial society. Today’s “diversity” is seen as usual rather than deviant. A post-racial society would, in theory, dismiss the word “diversity” is redundant.

Supporting Topic: Continued pursuit of post-racial narrative

With its exceptional racial representation and controversial re-telling of American History, Hamilton emphasizes the necessity of diversity on Broadway and in American culture (Quiñónez, 68). As the musical shows, it is vital to include individuals of color in historical tales. The musical’s paradoxes and obstacles, as well as the public’s view, cast doubt on the idea that Hamilton represents post-racial accomplishment. Irrespective of its critical and economic success, the argument that Hamilton depicts the US resolving racial tensions is definitely wrong. 

A post-racial America does not mean that all injustices and structural barriers are gone for people of colour. The necessity for additional “Hamilton’s” and the need of sharing people of color’s tales alongside the Founding Fathers’ stories is highlighted in Hamilton (Walsh). Hamilton is a notable historical landmark along the way, but the goal is yet unknown.

Works Cited

Hallemann, Caroline. “How the Cast of ‘Hamilton’ Made Giving Back Their Mission.” Town & Country, 8 June 2016, www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/news/a6439/hamilton-cast-gives-back/.

Herrera, Patricia. “Hamilton: An American Musical by Lin Manuel-Miranda.” Theatre Journal, vol. 73, no. 1, 2021, pp. 83–85, https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2021.0014.

Mele, Christopher, and Patrick Healy. “‘Hamilton’ Had Some Unscripted Lines for Pence. Trump Wasn’t Happy.” The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/mike-pence-hamilton.html?_r=0.

PBS. “Hamilton’s America ~ about the Documentary | Great Performances | PBS.” Great Performances, 7 June 2016, www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/hamiltons-America-documentary/5048/.

Quiñónez, Ariana. “The Cultural Significance of ‘Hamilton’s Diverse Cast.” Hypable, 10 Oct. 2015, www.hypable.com/hamilton-diverse-cast/.

Scherr, Arthur. “Alexander Hamilton and Slavery: A Closer Look at the Founder.” The Historian, vol. 83, no. 2, Apr. 2021, pp. 130–70, https://doi.org/10.1080/00182370.2021.1933693.

Seymour, Lee. “The Tonys Are Just as White as the Oscars – Here Are the #TonysSoWhite Statistics.” Forbes, 4 Apr. 2016, www.forbes.com/sites/leeseymour/2016/04/04/the-tonys-are-just-as-white-as-the-oscars-here-are-the-tonyssowhite-statistics/#77032c1f50a4.

Walsh, Shannon. “Hamilton: An American Musical Dir. By Thomas Kail.” Theatre Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, 2016, pp. 457–59, https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2016.0081.

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A report of the song México Lindo Y Querido by Jorge NegreteMéxico Lindo Y Querido is a song that was composed in the year 1921 by Chucho Monge. The song title translated into English means “Beautiful and beloved Mexico. This song has been made famous by Jorge Negrete, who is a famous actor and musician in Mexico. Jorge Negrete is the performer in this song, since he is the one singing the lyrics written by Chucho. The performer is seen to give the song a characteristic sense of nostalgia (Yarza, 2011).

The singing style in this song is the Traditional rancheras, which is a traditional style of singing Mexican songs. The decision by the performer to use guitars and violins in his performance plays a big role in making the music sound indigenously Mexican. The performer indeed is heard to be breathing properly and manages to maintain a constituent vocal by placing the vowels appropriately as he sang up to the end (Eimbcke, 2010).

There was actually use of falsetto in the song. The singer is heard singing notes higher than their normal and that is how I am sure that falsetto is well used in the song. The lyrics of the music seem to have quit some repetition which brings out the emphasis on the love for the Mexican land. For instance the line that says México Lindo Y Querido is often repeated in various stanzas of the music. The song is passionately sung and brings out the feeling of patriotism as well as pride in the land of Mexico by the Mexicans.

Imagery has been used in the song to bring out a better visual depiction in the song’s lyrics. For instance, there is a line that says, “que son como talismanes “that when translated in English, means “Yes, They are like talismans.” The comparison is what brings out the imagery in the song. The message in the song is that of patriotic love for Mexico and the will to always be associated with the land of Mexico. The type of instrumental accompaniment used by the performer is Acoustic accompaniment.

Works Cited

Eimbcke, Fernando. Revolución 10.10. 1. ed. México, D.F.: Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía , 2010. Print.

Yarza, Francisco. México lindo y querido. 1a. ed. Barcelona: Astri, 2011. Print.

A Report on the Occupation of a Registered Nurse

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A Report on the Occupation of a Registered Nurse

Job Description

The job of a registered nurse is one of the most important roles in the healthcare sector. Registered nurses carry out many tasks ranging from being at the frontline of the health workforce to delivery of hands-on patient care in numerous settings. The job description of a registered nurse entails carrying out physical exams to assess health problems and needs. A nurse’s responsibility is also to review and keep medical records. They also perform treatments, administer medication, implement physician orders, and interpret special tests. Another task carried out by a registered nurse is administering care to the disabled, injured, and the ill (Cupit, Stout-Aguilar, Cannon, & Norton, 2019). Nurses also develop and implement nursing care plans. They order diagnostic tests to determine the needs and condition of a patient. It is also the work of nurses to supervise licensed practical nurses, nursing assistants, and aides. Registered nurses are also tasked with educating patients about their treatment plans and medical conditions. It is also the responsibility of registered nurses to maintain a hygienic working environment. Nurses also prepare medical equipment, rooms, and decontaminate instruments (Coffey & White, B2019). Moreover, registered nurses are tasked with providing psychological and emotional support.

Education and Certification

To become a registered nurse, a person is required to have either a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or an Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN) from an institution accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing or Commission n Collegiate Nursing Education (Gazza, 2019). The main educational qualification for becoming a registered nurse is a Bachelor or master’s degree. Different AND programs are available at vocational or community colleges. These programs take 2-3 years. The program combines classroom learning with practical training in clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare settings. Some common courses studied when studying for an Associate Degree in Nursing include Human development, Pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, adult and family health, and psychiatric nursing.

Employment

Regarding availability, there are tons of jobs available for registered nurses. By 2030, the employment of registered nurses is expected to grow to nine percent. This is as fast as average for other occupations. Throughout the decade, it is projected that there will be about 194, 500 job openings. The states that have the highest demand for nurses include Texas (207, 810), California (274, 650), Florida (174, 710), New York (180, 730), and Pennsylvania (139, 480). For this career, the experience depends on the field and specific position. The average registered nurse makes $77 460 a year. In 2020, registered nurse made a median salary of $75 330 and on average, registered nurses make $33.85 every hour (White, Aiken, & McHugh, 2019). However, the pay rate depends on education, geographical location and experience. There are numerous career advancement opportunities for a registered nurse. Once a person the registered nursing level in their career, more specialized options such as flight nurse or cardiac care nurse emerge. A person can also decide to become a case management nurse. Other advancements have to do with becoming a nurse manager, an educator, or a practitioner.

Professional Activities

Common professional organizations for registered nurses include the American Heart Association, the American Nurses Association, the National Student’s Nurses Association, The National League for Nursing and the American Academy of Nursing. The National Student Nurse Association is the official professional organization for nurses-in-training across the United States (Spector, Hooper, Silvestre, & Qian, 2018). The cost of a student to join the National Student Nurse Association (NSNA) goes up to $20 in addition to state dues, while individual students renewing their membership have to pay up to $30 in addition to state dues (Sveinsdóttir, Blöndal, Jónsdóttir, & Bragadóttir, 2018). Professional journals for nursing include the Journal of Clinical Nursing, Journal of Advanced Nursing, International Journal of Nursing Studies, among others. Just like any other career, an individual must continuously invest in advanced education if they want to do well and flourish in the nursing career. If a person wants to in the future hold positions such as director f nursing or chief nursing officer, they should advance their education. Positions such as these require a minimum of a doctorate. As such, if a person wants to practice nursing at a greater length or holds leadership positions that come with the field, they should consider advancing their education. Without a doubt, continuing education units are a requirement for the nursing profession. Registered nurses are expected to earn credits throughout their career after every couple of years as it is a pre-liquisite for their license.

Conclusion/Reflection

Without a doubt, I foresee myself in the future working as a registered nurse. I see myself as a registered nurse working in the healthcare profession. In my exploration of this healthcare field, I have gathered that nursing is a demanding career that needs long hours of study and practical training. While training is not easy, the work of a nurse tends to be rewarding and fulfilling. The work of a nurse is one of the most significant jobs of the 21st century. It is a position of power to be in as it involves making hard decisions that, at times, the difference between life and death. I discovered that we never give nurses and other health care professionals enough appreciation and recognition. Nurses should be paid more money and given better working benefits. What stood up as most striking is how affordable it is for nursing students to join professional organizations. While most nursing students might not realize this, joining professional organizations as a student prepares them for practical work after graduation and helps them grow their connections.

References

Cupit, T., Stout-Aguilar, J., Cannon, L., & Norton, J. (2019). Assessing the nurse manager’s span of control: A partnership between executive leadership, nurse scientists and clinicians. Nurse Leader, 17(2), 103-108.

Coffey, J. S., & White, B. L. (2019). The clinical nurse educator role: A snapshot in time. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 50(5), 228-232.

Gazza, E. A. (2019, April). Alleviating the nurse faculty shortage: designating and preparing the academic nurse educator as an advanced practice registered nurse. In Nursing Forum (Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 144-148).

Spector, N., Hooper, J. I., Silvestre, J., & Qian, H. (2018). Board of nursing approval of registered nurse education programs. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(4), 22-31.

Sveinsdóttir, H., Blöndal, K., Jónsdóttir, H. H., & Bragadóttir, H. (2018). The content of nurse unit managers’ work: a descriptive study using daily activity diaries. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 32(2), 861-870.

White, E. M., Aiken, L. H., & McHugh, M. D. (2019). Registered nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction, and missed care in nursing homes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(10), 2065-2071.

LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY

By (Student’s name)

Code+ course name

Professor’s name

University name

City, State

Date

Introduction

There is continued struggle by the oil and gas industry to find a complicated balance between the rising global demand or diminishing resources and maintenance of manageable operating and distribution costs. This coupled with recent economic downturn has made oil and gas industry to experience a challenge in controlling costs. This has therefore presented service providers in this industry to offer industry specific outsourcing solutions basically across the entire value chain. Even though mergers and consolidation still continues, oil and gas management, in a bid to recover their base lines have used other approaches such as business process outsourcing in their operational mix (Batson 2012). This reorientation has been greatly necessitated by the fact that operational processes have progressively become more complicated and more costly especially in terms of managing numerous business functions (Mangan, Lalwani & Butcher, 2008; 66). Businesses have therefore handed parts of their core work, for instance, engineering services to outside service providers. However, they have maintained sensitive parts such as accounting and finance. This report investigates the extent of outsourcing, why oil and gas operators use outsourcing, the option to manage supply chain and logistical operations, and decisions regarding outsourcing and in sourcing from strategic and operational perspective.

The Current Major Outsourcing Deals

By meeting more than two-thirds of the world’s energy demand, oil and gas industry is arguably the world’s most important sector. Given the large scale global operations, oil and gas companies basically represent a significant portion of the world’s economy. According to a list released by Fortune in 2009, oil and gas companies ranked seven out of ten top positions. In order to maintain high performance and maximize their efficiency taking their large in consideration, oil and gas companies have entered into many outsourcing deals. The IT infrastructure service deal between Shell and EDS is one example of such mega outsourcing transactions. This deal costs US$1 billion in total. In addition, PWC and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation have entered into a five year outsourcing deal in September 2008 to manage the supply and logistics support on behalf of the corporation (Milberg, William & Winkler, 2013; 212).

Key Industry Challenges

Oil and gas industry faces several challenges. Issues faced by the industry include high volatility of the price of oil products, talent shortage, aging infrastructure, and compliance requirements that change constantly. Others challenges that relate to broader macro economy include low reserves, rising consumption and declining production (Giunipero & Eltantawy, 2004; 700).

1. Uncertain Energy Policy

Oil and gas companies face uncertain energy policies particularly those relating to how overseas businesses are conducted hence complicating matters for them energy companies are required to be global in their execution despite their inflexible and less automated processes. These companies therefore face huge risks when they try to make operational changes because the costs are high (Bidgoli 2003; 530-31).

2. Aging Oil and Gas Infrastructure

Oil and gas industry relies heavily on large volumes of physical assets like IT systems, refineries, and drilling rigs. These physical assets are not easily changed owing to their complexity and enormous size hence subject to wear and rear (Collier & Evans 2010). This therefore poses a great challenge on the companies as they urgently need to replace them with newer asset components.

3. Volatility of Oil and Gas Prices

Management of these companies find it very difficult to manage their profitability targets and forecast sales values because of the constant fluctuation of oil and gas prices basically in the global market. Trends in oil prices have become harder to predict because supply and demand can no longer explain them (Barrar & Gervais 2006). Further, increasing speculative behaviors by hedge funds and investment banks outside energy industry has also made them harder to predict.

4. Talent Shortage

Oil and gas companies are experiencing huge skill gap in their human capital requirements basically due to imminent retirement of some of their workforce, relatively unskilled labour supply and limited educational opportunities. This condition has necessitated them to increasingly invest in the knowledge management and training hence transferring knowledge to the younger generations that enter the industry. The greatest challenge is the lack of interest in the industry by the younger workforce (Coyle et al., 2013; 71).In order to address these challenges, oil and gas companies have managed to outsource a significant amount of their value chain. Outsourcing provides the following benefits.

Advantages of Outsourcing/Benefits of Outsourcing

1. Stronger Focus on their Core Competencies

By outsourcing significant amount of their value chain and logistics, the company’s management is able to focus on the strategic decision making because they have more energy, time and efforts. They are therefore able to add value to their projects through forecasting, analysis, budgeting and strategic planning (Collier, at el., 2012; 231). In addition, they are able to re-evaluate and reengineer outdated business processes because they have enough objectivity, time and focus. Outsourcing is very relevant to the oil and gas industry because they considerable time is needed in the company’s strategic exploration initiatives. Further, outsourcing enables the companies to avoid some cots which may be associated with the physical assets hence reducing distractions from the core competencies (Slack, Chambers & Johnston, 2013).

2. Minimal Overall Costs and Cost Reduction

Outsourcing enables the companies to use the knowledge, expertise and connections of a professional organization hence reducing its overall expenses. This organization work on logistics together with other resource providers in a way that enables them to come up with a plan that is most cost-effective as possible. The changes necessary to achieve this includes better management of inventory, transportation optimization and by obtaining less expensive materials for the company. The company’s savings are boosted more should the organization decide to go offshore (Jacoby 2012; 99).

3. Increased Access to New Technologies and Talent Pool

The challenge of talent shortage and diminishing talent shortages experienced by oil and gas industry is overcome by outsourcing particularly offshoring. Offshoring offers the methodologies, proficiency, tools and solutions that are required by the unique and evolving requirements of an upstream company (Giunipero & Eltantawy, 2004; 692). Outsourcing therefore enables these companies to access the required labour pool at a lower and reduced cost.

4. More Flexibility

By outsourcing, companies are able to have access to the resources of the third party organization which help it create a more extensive infrastructure. Outsourcing supply chain management gives a company an opportunity to pick and select the organization to work with hence able to make its adjustments along the way with ease thus, increasing the overall efficiency of the company (Bozarth & Handfield 2013). A right choice of the organization reduces stress, makes life easier and gets more things done. Further, it raises customer satisfaction, fuel growth and drive high profit margins for the company.

5. Improved Regulatory Compliance and Conformity

Oil and gas firms face substantial compliance and organizational burden as a result strict government laws and complex business planning. By offshoring, oil and gas firms are able to access specialists having more exhaustive knowledge to handle the complex tax systems, industry standards and reporting policies (Gadde, HaKansson & Persson 2010; 185). Outsourcing brings about scale and leverage. It involves the use of global network to deliver services.

6. Meet Customer Demand

Companies may plateau due to insufficient or lack of resources thus being able to supply its customers with a finite volume of products. When this case happens, the growth and building of the company’s brand equity can be nearly impossible (Close 2006). However, outsourcing can help in this department simply because a third party organization will take the necessary steps t acquire or obtain the needed number or quantity of products to the company’s customers. Outsourcing therefore acts as a catalyst for major growth hence propelling the business into the future. In addition, they are able to provide constant coverage for their consumers who actually require 24-hour support, particularly when other competitors (foreign and domestic) are also doing the same.

The Better Option for Managing the Supply Chain and Logistical Operations

According to me outsourcing proves to be the best option for managing the supply chain and logistical operations even though currently, many companies are shifting to in-sourcing. Many firms argue that cost reductions would not be actually experienced if outsourcing is used however, if well managed, cost reductions would be realized (Oshri, Kotlarsky & Willcocks, 2011; 58-60). Outsourcing being a strategic partnership requires that all parties work for common objective basically with mutual interest. The parties should establish transparency by disclosing all the required information to one another. This will ensure that costs are reduced, for instance, CAPGEMINI 2010 report reveals that companies that outsourced reported 11 percent reduction in inventory, 25 percent reduction in the deployed capital and 15 percent cost savings (Flynn, Morita & Machuca, 2011; 253). This disputes the claims that outsourcing does not lead to cost reductions.

However, some argue that logistical operations are too important to be outsourced. Logistic function has some activities that are mundane in nature. These ones can be outsourced so that logistics or supply chain manger can be allowed to focus on activities that add value rather than day-to-day routine functions. It is therefore necessary to develop an outsourcing strategy to enable identify those activities that are not core. A SWOT analysis should also be developed so that weaknesses and threats of outsourcing can be understood. In my opinion, warehousing and transportation are non-core functions and should therefore be outsourced so that costs can be saved (Jenster, Pedersen & Plackett 2005; 62). It would be close to impossible, in the current economic conditions, to develop infrastructure globally. Thus, it is advisable for companies to form strategic alliances and partnerships through outsourcing to expand globally and save cost at the same time.

A proposition that control over outsourced activities or functions would diminish is a myth according to me. Even though it is true that a shipper may lack transactional control, overall control may not diminish because the responsibility lies with them. Just like in-sourcing, outsourcing safeguards control. This is true because it is the transactional operations that are outsourced and not control (Cinquini, Di-Minin & Varaldo 2012; 77). Companies in this industry may not lose control because the shippers are in a position to develop and regularly monitor the key performance indices (KPIs) for all the outsourced functions and activities.

It is argued that logistics is a firm’s core competency and should therefore be in-sourced instead of outsourcing it because core competencies are managed internally. However, when this operation function is maintained at higher levels, the organization maintains a high cost infrastructure compared to when it is outsourced (Barrar & Gervais 2006; 54). In addition, rapid globalization demands that organizations form strategic alliances to be able to compete in a global platform. In my opinion, logistics being a core competency is myth and it should therefore be outsourced so that costs can be reduced. 

Conclusion

The essay established that increasing need for globalization coupled with key industry challenges have necessitated companies in the oil and gas industry to outsource parts of their core work and the non-core functions to outside service providers. The expansion of logistics landscape has presented the companies with more opportunities to get more value than before particularly from their supply chain operations. A firm begins by analysing their requirements and expectations then selecting the right outside service provider to meet their customer demands, reduce costs, access new technologies and talent pools and focus on their core competencies to be able to add value to their projects. Further, it optimizes total value that is provided to the oil and gas industry because they integrate with the core business in a manner that maximizes the overall benefit to the organization.

Reference List

Top of Form

Barrar, W & Gervais, R 2006. Global outsourcing strategies: an international reference on effective outsourcing relationships, Aldershot, England, Gower. Pg. 54-57.

Batson, C 2012. Shale Oil and Gas: Revitalizing Inland Transportation Networks, [Online]. [Accessed 17.04.13]

Bera, 2006. Transportation & Storage, [Online] [Accessed 17.04.13]

Bidgoli, H 2003. The Internet encyclopedia. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons. pp. 525-535.

Bozarth, CC & Handfield, RB 2013. Introduction to operations and supply chain management, (3rd ed). Harlow: Pearson. Chapters 7 and 8. (e-book)

Christopher, M 2011. Logistics & Supply Chain Management, (4th ed). Harlow: Prentice Hall. Chapter 10. (e-book)

Cinquini, L, Di-Minin, A & Varaldo, R 2012. New business models and value creation a service science perspective, Milan, Springer. Pg. 75-77.

Close, D 2006. Building the High-Performance E&P Company. Journal of Petroleum Technology, [Online]. [Accessed 17.04.13]

Collier, DA & Evans, JR 2010. OM2. Mason, OH, South-Western Cengage Learning. Pg. 381-383.

Coyle, JJ, Langley, CJ, Novack, RA & Gibson, BJ 2013. Managing Supply Chains: A Logistics Approach, (9th ed), Mason OH: Cengage Learning.

Flynn, BB, Morita, M & Machuca, J 2011. Managing global supply chain relationships: operations, strategies, and practices, Hershey Pa, Business Science Reference. pp. 253-255.

Gadde, LE, HaKansson, H & Persson, G 2010. Supply network strategies, Chichester, Wiley. Pg. 185-187.

Giunipero, LC & Eltantawy, RA 2004. Securing the upstream supply chain: a risk management approach, International journal of physical distribution & logistics management, 34(9), 698-713.

Jacoby, D 2012. Optimal supply chain management in oil, gas, and power generation, Tulsa, PennWell Corp. pp.99.

Jenster, PV, Pedersen, HS & Plackett, P 2005. Outsourcing-Insourcing Canvendors make money from the new relationship opportunities? Chichester, John Wiley & Sons. pp. 15-22.

Mangan, J, Lalwani, C & Butcher, T 2008. Global logistics and supply chain management, Chichester, England, John Wiley & Sons. Pg. 65-68

Mcivor, R 2005. The outsourcing process strategies for evaluation and management, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Pg. 21-23

Mentzer, JT 2007. Handbook of Global Supply Chain Management, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 13. (e-book)

Milberg, William S, & Winkler D 2013. Outsourcing Economics: Global Value Chains in Capitalist Development, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 210-214.

Oshri, I, Kotlarsky, J & Willcocks, L 2011. The handbook of global outsourcing and offshoring. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, Pg. 25-62

Rushton, A, Croucher, P & Baker, P 2010. The Handbook of Logistics & Distribution Management, (4th ed). London: Kogan Page. Chapter 22. (e-book)

Slack, N, Chambers, S & Johnston, R 2013. Operations Management (7th ed). Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. Chapter 13.

78733745: Long run forecast of the covariance matrix

Abstract4

Chapter 1: Introduction6

1.1 Introduction6

1.2 Background information and company context9

1.3 Problem Statement11

1.4 Rationale for the study12

1.5 Study objectives13

1.6 Scope of study14

1.7 Research design14

1.8 Limitations of the study15

Chapter 2: Literature Review

1 Introduction

The dynamics of the time-varying volatility of financial assets play a main

role in diverse fields, such as derivative pricing and risk management. Consequently,

the literature focused on estimating and forecasting conditional

variance is vast. The most popular method for modelling volatility belongs

to the family of GARCH models (see Bollerslev et al. 1992 for a review of

this topic), although other alternatives (such as stochastic volatility models)

also provide reliable estimates. The success of GARCH processes is

unquestionably tied to the fact that they are able to fit the stylized features

exhibited by volatility in a fairly parsimonious and convincing way, through

quite a feasible method. The seminal models developed by Engle (1982)

and Bollerslev (1986) were rapidly generalized in an increasing degree of

sophistication to reflect further empirical aspects of volatility.

One of the more complex features that univariate GARCH-type models

have attempted to fit is the so-called long-memory property. The volatility

of many financial assets exhibits a strong temporal dependence which is

revealed through a slow decay to zero in the autocorrelation function of

the standard proxies of volatility (usually squared and absolute valued

returns) at long lags. The basic GARCH model does not succeed in

fitting this pattern because it implicitly assumes a fast, geometric decay

in the theoretical autocorrelations. Engle and Bollerslev (1986) were

the first concerned with this fact and suggested an integrated GARCH

model (IGARCH) by imposing unit roots in the conditional variance.

The theoretical properties of IGARCH models, however, are not entirely

satisfactory in fitting actual financial data, so further models were later

developed to face temporal dependence. Ballie, Bollerslev and Mikkelsen

(1996) proposed the so-called fractionally integrated GARCH models

(FIGARCH) for volatility in the same spirit as fractional ARIMA models

which were evolved for modelling the mean of time series (see Baillie, 1996).

These models imply an hyperbolic rate of decay in the autocorrelation

function of squared residuals, and generalize the basic framework by still

using a parsimonious parameterization.

There has been a great interest in modelling the temporal dependence

in the volatility of financial series, mostly in the univariate framework1.

The analysis of the long-memory property in the multivariate framework,

however, has received much less attention, even though the estimation

of time-varying covariances between asset returns is crucial for risk

management, portfolio selection, optimal hedging and other important

applications. The main reason is that modelling conditional variance in

1An alternative approach for modelling long-memory through GARCH-type models is

based on the family of stochastic volatility (see Breidt, Crato and de Lima, 1998). An

extension of FIGARCH models has been considered in Ding, Granger and Engle (1993).

2 The multivariate modelling of long-memory

Although long-memory has been observed in the volatility of a wide range

of assets, the literature on the topic is mainly focused on foreign exchange

rate time series (FX hereafter). There exists a great deal of empirical

literature focused on modelling and forecasting the volatility of exchangerate

returns in terms of the FIGARCH models in the univariate framework.

An exhaustive review of the literature is beyond the aim of this paper.

Some recent empirical works on this issue can be found in Vilasuso (2002)

and Beine et al. (2002). On the other hand, the literature dealing with the

multivariate case is scarce.

The modelling of long-memory in the multivariate framework was firstly

studied by Teyssière (1997), who implemented several long memory volatility

processes in a bivariate context, focusing on daily FX time series. He

used an approach initially based on the multivariate constant conditional

correlation model (Bollerslev, 1990), which allows for long-memory ARCH

dynamics in the covariance equation. He also weakened the assumption

of constant correlations and estimated time-varying patterns. Teyssière

(1998) estimated several trivariate FIGARCH models on some intraday FX

rate returns. This author finds a common degree of long-memory in the

marginal variances, while the covariances do not share the same level of

persistence with the conditional variances. More recently, Pafka and Mátyás

(2001) analyzed a multivariate diagonal FIGARCH model on three FX timeseries

through quite a complex computational procedure. The multivariate

modelling on other time series has focused on the crude oil returns (Brunetti

and Gilbert, 2001). A bivariate constant correlation FIGARCH model is

fitted on these data to test for fractional cointegration in the volatility

of the NYMEX and IPE crude oil markets2. To our knowledge, there is

no other literature concerned with modelling temporal dependences in the

multivariate context.

The previous research affords a valuable contribution to the better

understanding of long-run dependences in multivariate volatility. A major

shortcoming in applying these approaches in practice, however, lies in

the overwhelming computational burden involved, which simply makes the

straightforward extension of these methods to large portfolios unfeasible

(note that only two or three assets are considered in the empirical

applications of these methods). The procedure we shall discuss is specifically

2.1 The orthogonal multivariate model

We firstly introduce notation and terminology. Consider a portfolio of K

financial assets and denote by rt = (r1t, r2t, …, rKt)????, t = 1, …,T, a weaklystationary

random vector with each component representing the return of

each portfolio asset at time t. Denote by Ft the set of relevant information

up to time t, and define the conditional covariance matrix of the process

by E(rtr????t|Ft−1) = Et−1 (rtr????t) = Ht. Denote as E(rtr????t) = Ω the (finite)

unconditional second order moment of the random vector. Note that only

second-order stationarity is required, which is the basic assumption in the

literature concerned with estimating covariance matrices of asset returns.

Other procedures proposed for estimating the covariance matrix require

much stronger assumptions (see, for instance, Ledoit and Wolf, 2003), as the

existence of higher-order moments and even iid-ness in the driving series.

As the covariance matrix Ω is positive definite, it follows by the spectral

decomposition that Ω = PΛP????, where P is an orthonormal K×K matrix of

eigenvectors, and Λ is a diagonal matrix with the corresponding eigenvalues

of Ω in its diagonal. Lastly, assume that the columns of P are ordered by

size of the eigenvalues of Λ, so the first column is the one related to the

highest eigenvalue, and so on.

The orthogonal model by Alexander is based on applying the principal

component analysis (PCA) to generate a set of uncorrelated factors from

the original series3. The PCA analysis is a well-known method widely used

in practice, and several investment consultants, such as Advanced Portfolio

Technologies, use procedures based on principal components. The basic

strategy in the Alexander model consists of linearly transforming the original

data into a set of uncorrelated latent factors so-called principal components

whose volatility can then be modelled in the univariate framework. With

these estimations, the conditional matrix Ht is easily obtained by the inverse

map of the linear transformation.

The set of principal components, yt = (y1t, y2t, …, yKt)????, is simply

defined through the linear application yt = P????rt. It follows easily that

E(yt) = 0 and E(yty???? t ) = Λ by the orthogonal property of P. The columns

of the matrix P were previously ordered according to the corresponding

eigenvalues size, so that ordered principal components have a decreasing

ability to explain the total variability and the main sources of variability.

Communications

Students Name

Institution of Affiliation

Course Title

DateMedia Literacy Concepts

According to the journalists featured on the TIME’s 2013 list of the best Twitter feeds, various media personalities stood out from their twits due to humor, knowledge as well as their character. One of the twits which stood out is that of Kevin Rose

‘Hello! For the next few months, I’ll be covering a big and (I think) critical story: social media and the 2018 midterms. Get in touch (email in bio, DM for Signal) if you:

• work on a campaign digital team

• research social disinformation

• see something sketchy on your feeds’

Various tricks are used by the media to attract my attention from the message Kevin Rose message. The first trick to attract attention from the reader is through the use of a shouting greetings Hello! The word hello has not only been used to greet the reader but also make sure he or her attention has been caught through the use of an exclamation mark. Another trick that has been used to catch the reader’s attention is the use of suspense in the phrase “for the next few months’. The phrase is made in such a way that the reader would like to know what is coming next and therefore an aspect of suspense is created in the reader’s mind. Besides, Kevin Rose has used points to separate the message and therefore the content is not squeezed but rather evenly distributed making the reader have an easy time to pick the main content of the message. Besides the formatting of the message, the whole message has been kept small and simple to understand. The use of fewer and meaningful words makes it easier to read and as well as understand the content.

Despite the skillful use of the words in the context of the message, a majority of the people might understand the message differently from me. There are as well factors that may seem unattractive to other people despite being appealing on my side. Some individuals may deem the use of the exclamation marks as being commanding rather than welcoming to read the post. The incomplete messages may also deter people from making the full understanding of the message but rather remain hanging. Furthermore, the individuals who have not been following Kevin Rose and read his previous twits may not be able to understand what exactly he is talking about and thereby may end up obtaining and interpreting the message differently from me.

Despite the message being attractive, the lack of certainty from the twit has been omitted. , on the other hand, has been used to owe the people read the message. The author of the message Cleary outlines the criteria of the individuals who have to get in touch with him in his inbox and therefore have made it easy to choose a lot of people targeted by the message. In addition to the criteria, not all individuals have been asked to get in touch, and therefore they have wasted their precious time reading the message to which I can consider being an omission.

In conclusion, the reason as to why the message was sent is to inform the prospective followers of an upcoming event. The awareness is done to prepare the readers to expect something the in the days to come and therefore it would not be a surprise to them. Another issue as to why the message was sent was so that the author of the message could achieve publicity and make his event or product more popular by having more subscribers.

Work Cited

Poynter. Journalists featured on TIME’s 2013 list of ‘Best Twitter Feeds’

by Mallary Jean Tenore · March 25, 2013: Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/kevinroose

Name

Professor

Course

Date

Media Resource Assignment 1

Franz Boas was born in an era where Western culture was considered superior to any other culture in the world. This idea propagated the exclusion of other cultures and the moral justification behind it. However, Franz Boas did not subscribe to this notion but instead worked to change this view. He works to develop scientific knowledge of people that would dismiss the idea that any culture was grander to another. This earned him the title father of American Anthropology. During his studies, Boas found that all people believed that their culture was superior to all others. This discovery contributed to his definition of cultural relativism, a theory which states that the only culture one has interacted with is their own. This definition made sense of why other cultures were inferior in the eyes of the West and explained their bias. His four field approach rejected the bias of unilineal social evolution. Social evolution defined universal evolutionary stages that classified some societies as barbaric, savage, and others civil. Boaz did not believe that Darwinian theory applied directly to culture and historical phenomena. Data he found contrasted every opinion held by social evolutionists or was a result of profound misrepresentation of data.

Media Resource Assignment 2

Franz Boas and Malinowski differed mostly on how they collected data and the varied methodologies they used in their studies. Although these two people shared views on the importance of collecting data, they differed on the methodology. Boas paid more attention to the history of a culture. He believed the recreation of a culture from a historical perspective properly explained the cultural phenomena. Malinowski, on the other hand, believed that the reconstruction of history was unnecessary and took the time off more important things. He believed living among people and engaging in their daily activities was the best way to explain a culture. Through experiencing a culture, a person could carry out an unbiased and totally impartial study of it. During the early stages of his career, Boas’ ideas on culture did not pay attention to the individual on the whole, which directly opposed Malinowski’s views. However, with time Boas added more importance to the individual in society. The most stand out the difference, however, was the American view fronted by Boas, which regarded culture from a historical perspective and reconstructed it hypothetically where there was no historical data. Malinowski’s view was associated with the British, viewed each culture as a functionally interrelated system, and considered social change as something to be studied by actual observation.

Media Resource Assignment 3

Marxist theory’s perspective on society is that of material structure and focuses on economic determinism while functionalism considers society a source of shared culture and cultural determinism. Marxism interprets culture as a tool for social control and a source of power for the ruling class. Functionalism, on the other hand, interprets culture as a way of institutionalizing communities into shared values and beliefs. Marxism is about benefiting the dominant class through capitalism. Functionalism believes socialization is a means by which people form a value consensus, creating an environment for social order and stability. French Structuralism was born from functionalism and fronted by Claude Levi-Strauss. Structuralism perceived the world as a logical pattern with a production of ideas and that the society created individuals and individuals did not create the society. Marxism, on the other hand, believed that structure was not similar to visible relations and expounded on the hidden logic.

Media Literacy in Understanding Media Messages

Student’s Name

Institution of Affiliation

Date

As the Media Literacy textbook states, people do not typically prefer media messages that are too far removed from their own experiences.

What are the personal implications of this?

Individuals do not prefer media messages that are too far removed from their experiences; this is true in that individuals are more likely to support a conclusion that aligns with their beliefs and values while rejecting messages that they believe are far-fetched from what they stand for (Lanette et al., 2018). The preferred media messages with individuals’ experiences are quite similar in regard to the personal, social, and cultural implications. From an individual’s perspective, an individual can miss out on a beneficial media message merely because they believe that the message does not relate to them directly. These individuals believe that since the media messages are too far removed from their personal experiences, there is no need to pay attention, and this reduces the effectiveness of the media messages. Based on this, media messages need to be tailored according to what relates to the intended audience.

What are the social and cultural implications of this?

Media messages that are too far removed from individuals’ personal experiences have both social and cultural implications that are almost similar. One of the implications is that it creates a divide in society, with individuals trying to avoid media messages that are too far removed from their personal experiences (Oliveira, Araujo & Tam, 2020). This has the implication of avoiding the chance to learn something new and different away from their culture. As a result, this may have the implication of reduced diversity in the society as ideas from other cultures are denied – less absorbed. This can be dangerous to society as it may widen the racial/ethnicity gap, increasing the rate of discrimination in society.

How can you engage with media in a more globally responsible way if the messages don’t align with your own cultural experiences?

One of the major ways that an individual can engage with media in a more globally responsible manner, especially if the messages do not align with a person’s cultural experiences, is through being media literate. Media literacy involves being receptive to all messages regardless of personal experiences (Kellner & Share, 2019). Whether the media messages are derived from personal experiences or not, I believe that everyone can benefit from learning about new cultures, providing an opportunity to increase knowledge through diversity.

References

Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2019). The critical media literacy guide: Engaging media and transforming education. Brill.

Lanette, S., Chua, P. K., Hayes, G., & Mazmanian, M. (2018). How much is’ too much’? The role of a smartphone addiction narrative in individuals’ experience of use. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2(CSCW), 1-22.

Oliveira, T., Araujo, B., & Tam, C. (2020). Why do people share their travel experiences on social media?. Tourism Management, 78, 104041.