History of the Cherokee Indians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of the Cherokee Indians - Essay Example Unlike other Native American tribes, Cherokees built cabins out of woods rather than living in teepees. Their language derives from the language of another Native American ethnic group, namely, the Iroquois. This language was so strikingly different from the languages of other Native American tribes that it made some linguists assume the very name of Cherokee means "people who speak another language". Cherokees have always been a highly spiritual tribe with unique traditions and values. An owl and cougar could be called a cultural archetype of the Cherokee Indians. Cherokees treat these animals with particular respect as they believe an owl and cougar were the only creatures that had been staying awake for seven days during which the world was created and, hence, saw how humans were made. Today Cherokee Indians are divided into many subtribes but under the official federal classification they fall into the following acknowledged categories: the Cherokee Nation, the Keetoowah Band (reside in Oklahoma), the Cherokee tribes and the Eastern Band of Cherokees residing in North Carolina (Hodge).Before the USA appeared on map, the Cherokee Indians used to live on the territory of the present-day Georgia, parts of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina (Stewart 9). Originally, Cherokee tribes lived in the Midwest of the lands that later formed the USA near the Great Lakes, but with the passage of time they drifted closer to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, which, in turn, they were forced to leave either.

Enlightenment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enlightenment - Essay Example Three modernists, Nietzsche, Freud, and Kafla, will show how personal feeling or interpretation dictated the modernist period in contrast to an enlightenment point of reality. Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. Nietzsche promoted nihilism by proclaiming â€Å"God is dead† (Morgan, 36). Instead of interpreting God as an all powerful creator, Nietzsche believed God was used to create a society of morality without a purpose. While an individual from the enlightenment might reason that God and morality must exist for society to function smoothly, Nietzsche believed morality needed to be examined without the excuse of God. Nietzsche’s reality was looking into philosophical arguments that are still up for debate to this day. Unlike the reasoning of the enlightenment age, Nietzsche’s views are debatable. They cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Franz Kafka was a modernist writer. He was born in Germany. Instead of using reasoning in reality, Kafka wrote stories that today would be considered science fiction. An example is The Metamorphosis. In this story, Kafka had a traveling salesman turn into a huge insect (Kafka). An Enlightenment influenced thinker would never think of this plot, because humans cannot turn into huge insects. Kafka would have probably responded to this line of thinking by replying â€Å"not yet†. Modernists believe that not everything can be explained by human reasoning yet. The modernist keeps theorizing until the day their thoughts are proven. However the modernist does not stop thinking just because they cannot prove their theories. Sigmund Freud was a German doctor that pioneered psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. He theorized that every human has an id, ego, and superego. Freud also laid out different theories about human development like the anal complex, Oedipus complex, penal envy, and so forth. All of these theories, at the time, could not be proven. Today they cannot be proven, but the

Metabolism and Stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Metabolism and Stress - Assignment Example Adrenalin acts on fat cells thereby converting them to glucose for energy. Cortisol also increases amount of glucose in blood. Both these functions are at peak during stress conditions. Therefore, prolonged stressed conditions lead to excess release of energy and glucose. If the stress is not physical then this energy is not used, which eventually gets converted to fat and is deposited within the body. Excess fat also causes obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions, which in turn impact the mental status of the individual. These symptoms precede depression, anxiety disorder and eating disorders (Tafet, 2001). Metabolic dysfunction caused due to stress leads to higher glucose levels in the body, and the normal body may not be able to metabolize high levels of glucose through the available insulin in the body. This eventually leads to insulin resistance, causing diabetes. High levels of adrenalin and cortisol are also associated with thyroid dysfunction which is responsible for the metabolic functions of various other organs and glands. Combating these issues requires mobilization of the constantly produced glucose and energy in case of chronic stress. This requires physical activity in the form of exercise, meditation or other regulative physical activity which help in expending the excess glucose and fat produced as a result of increased adrenal activity in stressed conditions (Haskell et al,

History of the Cherokee Indians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of the Cherokee Indians - Essay Example Unlike other Native American tribes, Cherokees built cabins out of woods rather than living in teepees. Their language derives from the language of another Native American ethnic group, namely, the Iroquois. This language was so strikingly different from the languages of other Native American tribes that it made some linguists assume the very name of Cherokee means "people who speak another language". Cherokees have always been a highly spiritual tribe with unique traditions and values. An owl and cougar could be called a cultural archetype of the Cherokee Indians. Cherokees treat these animals with particular respect as they believe an owl and cougar were the only creatures that had been staying awake for seven days during which the world was created and, hence, saw how humans were made. Today Cherokee Indians are divided into many subtribes but under the official federal classification they fall into the following acknowledged categories: the Cherokee Nation, the Keetoowah Band (reside in Oklahoma), the Cherokee tribes and the Eastern Band of Cherokees residing in North Carolina (Hodge).Before the USA appeared on map, the Cherokee Indians used to live on the territory of the present-day Georgia, parts of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina (Stewart 9). Originally, Cherokee tribes lived in the Midwest of the lands that later formed the USA near the Great Lakes, but with the passage of time they drifted closer to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, which, in turn, they were forced to leave either.

Metabolism and Stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Metabolism and Stress - Assignment Example Adrenalin acts on fat cells thereby converting them to glucose for energy. Cortisol also increases amount of glucose in blood. Both these functions are at peak during stress conditions. Therefore, prolonged stressed conditions lead to excess release of energy and glucose. If the stress is not physical then this energy is not used, which eventually gets converted to fat and is deposited within the body. Excess fat also causes obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions, which in turn impact the mental status of the individual. These symptoms precede depression, anxiety disorder and eating disorders (Tafet, 2001). Metabolic dysfunction caused due to stress leads to higher glucose levels in the body, and the normal body may not be able to metabolize high levels of glucose through the available insulin in the body. This eventually leads to insulin resistance, causing diabetes. High levels of adrenalin and cortisol are also associated with thyroid dysfunction which is responsible for the metabolic functions of various other organs and glands. Combating these issues requires mobilization of the constantly produced glucose and energy in case of chronic stress. This requires physical activity in the form of exercise, meditation or other regulative physical activity which help in expending the excess glucose and fat produced as a result of increased adrenal activity in stressed conditions (Haskell et al,

Slavery in the 1840s Essay Example for Free

Slavery in the 1840s Essay Slavery was always a controversial issue in America. Many people saw slavery as an essential part of life in every aspect, while others saw it as immoral and an injustice to humanity. In the 1840s when Manifest Destiny started to thrive, things began to heat up. New territories meant a possibility for a new slave or free state in America. Because the new territories were allowed the right of popular sovereignty to determine whether they would have slaves or not, abolitionists and non-abolitionists were at a constant battle to gain a new state. Abolitionists wanted slavery diminished in America all together. They gave several arguments to prove their point on why slavery should be abolished. Firstly they stated that slavery was un-Christian. The book of Genesis stated that man was created in the image of God, so all men were created equal. Thus they claimed that anyone that owned slaves would go straight to hell for not adhering to the rules of God that all were equal. Another argument they came about was from a patriotic standpoint from which America was created. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, but with slavery and a flee for freedom in the nation, it was easily contradicted. As such, Abolitionists called slavery un-American. Another point made by the Abolitionists was that slavery gave unlimited power to slave holders. They could treat slaves however they chose because there were no laws protecting slaves. This is turn corrupted their moral values, according to Abolitionists. In economic viewpoints, slavery was still cruel and wicked to Abolitionists. They argued that free labor would be more beneficial because it would inspire competition and foreign investments and that it would appeal to immigrants. Abolitionists also said that it interfered with free and open trade to the north, which were anti-slavery states and businesses. Another point made was that slavery was politically dangerous because there was always a likelihood that salves could rebel. A massive slave rebellion would lead to a racial war in the United States that no one wanted. While Abolitionists argued their points, Pro-slavery groups gave very good rebuttals. Economically they argued that the end to slavery would kill the economy in the south. Without slaves in the fields collecting and caring for the produce, everything would collapse. Cotton, tobacco, and rice would all fail in the economy and the south would be in economic ruin. Another point pro-slavery people argued was what would happen if slaves were to be let free. They stated that if they were freed, unemployment would rise and there would be an abundance of chaos. All of this would lead to uprisings and bloodshed. Yet another argument that the defenders of slavery used was influenced with history. They claimed that slavery had been a part of history for so long and had become a natural state of mankind. History showed that Greeks, Romans, and English (until recently) had slaves and as such it was a part of human nature. Pro-slavery groups, like Abolitionists, also used religion and the bible as an argument. According to the bible Abraham had slaves, Paul returned a run-away slave in the New Testament, and Jesus never spoke out about slavery though it was widespread. Also non-Abolitionists argued that slaves were better cared for compared to factory workers in the North and the poor people of Europe. They indicated that slave owners would protect and help their slaves when they became sick or aged, unlike others who were left helplessly to fend for themselves once they were fired or released. The slave revolt of 1831 led by Nat Turner gave pro-slavery groups a lift in their arguments. It showed that slavery should be continued to keep the slaves in check and keep a watchful eye on them, to prevent any other chaotic events, which no one sought for. As is shown, slavery was a notorious issue that couldn’t be ignored and slowly spiraled out of control. The issue really started to get out of hand in the 1840s with new territories and the revival of religion in the Second Great Awakening. Both Abolitionists and Pro-slavery groups had arguments that caused a lot of uncertainty throughout the country, and especially in the new territories which were given the choice of slaves or no slaves. All of these arguments, issues and uncertainties that were widespread in the nation were the underlying cause of severe disunity between the North and South and eventually the Civil War.

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics Abstract Organizational performance has attracted scholarly attention in corporate finance literature over the several decades. However, in the context of insurance sector, it has received a little attention. Current study examines the impact of firm level characteristics (size, leverage, tangibility, risk, growth, liquidity and age) on performance of listed life insurance companies of Pakistan over seven years from 2001 to 2007. The results of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis indicate that size, risk and leverage are important determinants of performance of life insurance companies of Pakistan while ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with growth, profitability, age and liquidity. Keywords: performance, firm level characteristics, life insurance companies. Introduction The performance of any firm not only plays the role to increase the market value of that specific firm but also leads towards the growth of the whole industry which ultimately leads towards the overall prosperity of the economy. Measuring the performance of insurers has gained the importance in the corporate finance literature because as intermediaries , these companies are not only providing the mechanism of risk transfer but also helps to channelizing the funds in an appropriate way to support the business activities in the economy . Insurance companies have importance both for businesses and individuals as they indemnify the losses and put them in the same positions as they were before the occurrence of the loss. In addition, insurers provide economic and social benefits in the society i.e. prevention of losses, reduction in anxiousness, fear and increasing employment. Therefore, the current business world without insurance companies is unsustainable because risky businesses have not a capacity to retain all types of risk in current extremely uncertain environment. For the past six decades, Pakistani life insurance companies have shown the impressive progress which not only creates the employment opportunities but also enhances the business activities in the economy. Financial statistics reported the phenomenal growth of Pakistani life insurance companies as these companies comprise 52% and 69% share of entire (life plus non-life) insurance market in terms of net premiums and assets (Insurance Year Book, 2007). In addition, the premium of these life insurers increased by 36% in 2007 (Insurance Year Book, 2007) shows the remarkable progress of life insurance sector of Pakistan. Therefore, what determines the performance of the life insurance industry is an important discussion for the regulators and policy makers to support the sector in achieving the excellence so that desirable economic fruits could be reaped from the help of the life insurance sector of Pakistan. Literature Review The Determinants of performance have been extensively studied in corporate finance literature from the last several decades. For instance; by selecting the sample of US banks, Berger (1995) investigated the impact of capital asset ratio on return on equity. He concluded that capital asset ratio has a positive relationship with profitability. Anghazo (1997) examined the impact of firm level characteristics on US bank net interest margin. The results documented that bank interest margin positively related with leverage, opportunity cost, and default risk and management efficiency. Neeley and Wheelock (1997) explored the determinants of profitability of commercial banks and find that profitability positively related with changes in per capita income. To investigate the performance of banks (Naceur Goaied, 2001)used the sample of Tunisian banks over the period of 1980 to 1995. They advocated that the banks who tried to maintain their high deposits and improve their capital and labor productivity are performed well. Guru et al. (2002) examined the determinants of performance of Malaysian banks over the 10 years period from 1986 to 1995. For this purpose, they selected both micro and macro level characteristics. The results revealed that inflation positively while efficient expense management and high interest rate negatively related with profitability. The results of Goddard et al. (2004) showed that Profit is an important prerequisite for future growth of banks and the banks that maintain a high capital assets ratio tend to grow slowly. A study conducted by the (Sufian Parman, 2009)to investigate the determinants of profitability by selecting the non-commercial banks financial institutions. The findings indicated that credit risk and loan intensity negatively related with profitability while large size and financial institutions with high operational expenses tended to high profitability ratio. (Hakim Neaime, 2005) Observed that liquidity, current capital and investment are the important determinants of banks profitability. (Aburime, 2006) Identified the firm level determinants of profitability of Nigerian banks over the five years period from 2000 to 2004. He concluded that credit portfolio, size, capital size and ownership concentration are important determinants of Nigerian banks. (Kosmidou, 2008) showed that money supply growth has insignificant impact on profitability while GDP and stock market capitalization to assets are significant and have negative relation with the ROA. (Asimakopoulos, Samitas, Papadogo nas, 2009) illustrated that Firms profitability is positively affected by size, sales growth and investment. On the other hand, leverage and current assets negatively related with profitability. Severeral studies also have been conducted to measure the performance of the insurance compnies. For instance; Sloan, A and Conover, J.(1998) deduced that functional status of insurers do not affect the profitability of being insured but public coverage have significant impact on profitability of insurance companies. Chen and Wong ( 2004) examined that size, investment, liquidity are the important determinants of financial health of insurance companies. Chen et al.( 2009) examined the determinants of profitability and the results showed that profitability of insurance companies decreased with the increase in equity ratio. In addition, insurance companies must have to diversify their investment and use effective hedging techniques which help them to create better financial revenues. Research Methodology Sample and Data Currently, there are five life insurance companies operating in Pakistan and all these five companies are selected to measuring their performance over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, financial data has been collected from financial statements (Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss a/c) of insurance companies and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Insurance Year Bookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which is published by Insurance Association of Pakistan. Model PR = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ ²1 (LG) + ÃŽÂ ²2 (TA) + ÃŽÂ ²3 (SZ) + ÃŽÂ ²4 (LQ) + ÃŽÂ ²5 (AG) + ÃŽÂ ²6 (RK) + ÃŽÂ ²7 (GR) + ÃŽÂ µ Where: PR = Performance (Net income before interest and tax divided by total assets) LG = Leverage (Total debts divided by total assets) TA = Tangibility (Fixed assets divided by total assets) SZ = Size (Log of premiums) LQ = Liquidity (Current assets divided by current liabilities) AG = Age (Difference b/w observation year and establishment year) RK = Risk (standard deviation of ratio of total claims to total premiums) GR = Growth (Percentage change in premiums) ÃŽÂ µ = the error term Descriptive Statistics Table 4.1 presents descriptive analysis of the firm level characteristic associated with life insurance sector. This study considers performance as dependent variable whereas leverage, size, growth, tangibility, liquidity, age and risk as independent variables. The industry average is provided by mean along with are the minima and maxima for respective year while standard deviation indicates the inter-industry variation of the variables value within the respective year. Table 4.1 indicates that the minimum value of industry mean of leverage is 0.79 in 2004 and 2007 while the mean value is at its maximum level in 2006 at 0.84.The maximum variation in leverage is observed in 2007 valuing at 0.30 and minimum is found in 2003 at 0.19. The variable size constantly shows the increasing trend from year 2001 to 2007. The mean value of size is at maximum level in 2007 i.e. 7.51 whereas minimum mean value for size is observed at 6.02 in 2001. In addition, the inter industry variation is minimum in 2001 at 2.12. Table 4.1 also shows that growth of Pakistani life insurance companies is not consistent in all seven years and mean value of growth is reached 34.84 in 2007 from 11.53 which is observed in 2001. The mean value of performance (dependent variable) is maximum in 2007 valuing at 0.07 and the minimum value is observed in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 at 0.02. The standard deviation is also not very high i.e. around 0.02 as compare to other variables except in the year 2007 in which it touches it maximum of 0.07. Table 4.2 also provides descriptive results of tangibility, liquidity, age and risk for the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007 for the life insurance sector of Pakistan. The mean values and standard deviations of tangibility is around 0.03 and 0.02 respectively in all seven years from 2001 to 2007.The mean values of liquidity are indicating an increasing trend from the minimum of 1.70 in 2001 to the maximum value at 6.36 in 2007. The standard deviation is also establishing an increasing trend from a minimum value of 0.76 in 2001 to a maximum value of 8.63 in 2007.The mean value of risk is at its lowest level in 2003 at 0.58 with a minimum standard deviation of 0.45 while these values have reached their maximum level in 2007 i.e. 6.35 and 6.51 respectively. Analysis Table 4.2 reports the results of regression analysis in which seven independent variables are regressed by using the data of life insurance sector of Pakistan from 2001 to 2007. The value of R square (0.816) indicates that performance of life insurance companies is nearly 82% dependent on independent variables i.e. size, leverage, growth, tangibility, age, risk and liquidity. Therefore, performance is mainly defined by these seven variables of life insurers in Pakistan over seven years. Table 4.2 indicates that leverage is negatively and significantly related with the performance of the life insurance companies. This predicts that the performance of highly levered Pakistani life insurance companies is not up to the mark. Table 4.2 also shows that coefficient of variable size is positive and statistically significant at 1% level. This predicts that performance of large size life insurance companies is better than small size companies. The negative coefficient of growth indicates a negative relationship between growth and performance. However, this negative relationship is found to be statistically insignificant with the p-value of 0.809. Therefore, growth is not considered as a proper explanatory variable of performance in life insurance sector. The beta values of explanatory variables tangibility and liquidity are 0.507 and 0.001 respectively with the positive coefficient sign. However, tangibility and liquidity are not statistically significant with the large p-values. Therefore, tangibility and liquidity are not Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** considered a powerful explanatory variable to define the performance of life insurance companies in Pakistan over seven years. Negative coefficient of variable age specifies the Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level ______________________________________ negative relationship between performance and age of the Pakistani life insurance companies. However, the relationship between performance and age is statistically insignificant. Table 4.2 indicates that the coefficient of variable risk is positive and statistically significant at 10% level. According to the nature of insurance industry, ratio of total claims to total premiums (loss ratio) is used as a proxy to measure the risk of the life insurance companies in Pakistan. Positive sign shows a positive relationship between performance and risk of the insurance companies i.e. performance increases with the increase of loss ratio. Conclusion The current study investigates the impact of firm level characteristics on performance of the life insurance sector of Pakistan over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, size, profitability, age, risk, growth and tangibility are selected as explanatory variables while ROA is taken as dependent variable. The results of OLS regression analysis reveal that leverage, size and risk are most important determinant of performance of life insurance sector whereas ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with profitability, growth, tangibility and liquidity. TABLE 4.1: Descriptive Statistics Years Leverage Size Growth Performance Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.80 0.21 0.45 0.99 6.02 2.12 3.06 8.93 11.53 11.90 3.22 32.39 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2002 0.81 0.20 0.47 0.99 6.21 2.11 3.29 9.07 22.21 23.52 3.68 60.99 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2003 0.82 0.19 0.51 0.99 6.50 2.08 3.57 9.20 37.18 32.62 8.30 90.71 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2004 0.79 0.24 0.38 0.99 6.68 2.09 3.56 9.31 22.20 27.93 -1.78 61.16 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2005 0.83 0.21 0.47 0.99 6.95 2.03 3.96 9.53 31.18 10.30 24.97 48.98 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 2006 0.84 0.20 0.49 0.99 7.21 2.02 4.24 9.68 31.79 26.14 3.74 72.78 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 2007 0.79 0.30 0.26 1.00 7.51 2.06 4.50 10.03 34.82 9.25 22.44 45.66 0.07 0.07 0.00 0.17 TABLE 4.1 (Continued): Descriptive Statistics Years Tangibility Liquidity Age Risk Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.70 0.76 1.07 2.65 16.60 20.40 6.00 53.00 1.92 1.33 0.70 3.94 2002 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.73 0.86 1.14 3.01 17.60 20.40 7.00 54.00 0.83 0.47 0.40 1.34 2003 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2.18 1.11 1.22 3.72 18.60 20.40 8.00 55.00 0.58 0.45 0.18 1.34 2004 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 2.24 1.77 1.09 4.85 19.60 20.40 9.00 56.00 3.34 3.08 0.00 7.23 2005 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 3.02 2.26 1.15 5.94 20.60 20.40 10.00 57.00 4.70 2.15 1.23 6.36 2006 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 3.98 2.72 1.36 7.37 21.60 20.40 11.00 58.00 3.60 3.86 0.51 9.72 2007 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 6.36 8.63 1.33 16.33 22.60 20.40 12.00 59.00 6.35 6.51 1.78 16.00 Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level