The festival that Ashland built Essay Example For Students

The festival that Ashland built Essay Business is booming at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Is everybody happy? Sort of. Ashland, Oregon sits at the foot of the Siskyou Mountains like a favorite pair of boots at the foot of a bed, 20 miles outside of Medford, a cow patties toss from Interstate 5. The nearest major metropolitan area is Portland, more than 300 miles away, and the nearest professional baseball team resides 400 miles to the south in San Francisco. Certainly there are more convenient places to produce Shakespeare, but none more popular. We will write a custom essay on The festival that Ashland built specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Back in 1970, 172,334 people made the trip to see the Bard performed under the stars on Oregon Shakespeare Festivals outdoor stage, most of them coming from more than 150 miles away. Then, the town of Ashland was little more than a gas stop buffeted by a couple of restaurantsand modest ones at that. Outside under a gibbous moon in Ashland, seeing Shakespeare was a matter of sweating (if the 100-plus daytime temperature lingered too long) or shivering (when the cold night wind whistled down the mountains and cut through your skin like a lance). City Shakespeare it was not. Nineteen-seventy was also the year the 600-seat Angus Bowmer theatre was christened, paving the way for an entirely new era of theatre in Ashland. Indoors, air-conditioned, versatile and modern, the Angus Bowmer opened with a production of Tom Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, thus whetting the OSF audiences appetite for new and more challenging non-Shakespearean work. OSF has been growing like a well-tended weed ever since. More than 400,000 people attended the festival last year, bringing close to $68 million in revenue to the tiny town of Ashland. The much-anticipated $7.6-million Allen Pavilion of the outdoor Elizabethan stage was also unveiled last summer, and new artistic director Henry Woronicz took the creative reins from the companys long-time overseer Jerry Turner, who held the position for 21 years. To be sure, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is poised at the end of one era and the beginning of another, as it was in 1970, and has been many other times in its venerable history. Business is booming, and the popularity of the festival is at an all-time high. But success has come at a price. The economic growth that was so vital and welcome during the 1980s has arguably reached a point of diminishing returns. Because their fates are so symbiotically linked, both OSF and the city of Ashland are discovering that too much of a good thing can be a strain. As OSF has grown, so has the city of Ashland. Once upon a time the venerable Mark Antony Hotel was virtually the only place in Ashland where you could get a room and a meal. Ashland has since swelled to the point where it now has more than 100 restaurants and, according to the most boastful of Chamber of Commerce brochures, the highest number of bed and breakfasts per capita in the nation. So many upscale clothing stores, restaurants, wine shops, boutiques and espresso bars have opened in the last five years that locals euphemistically refer to the phenomenon as the Carmelization of Ashland. Indeed, while many of the 14,000 people who live in Ashland year-round still drive overhauled Volkswagen Beetles, one now finds a conspicuous overrepresentation of Lexuss, Jaguars, BMWs and Mercedes Benzs parked along the main drag during the summer. Predictably enough, real estate in Ashland has also skyrocketed. Land in and around Ashland is now the most expensive in Oregon. Though the relationship between the city and the festival is reportedly very amicable, longtime residents still occasionally wake up bewildered that the festival and its hundreds of thousands of patrons have virtually taken over their town. A sign posted by Citizens for a Poodle-free Ashland in one of Ashlands more renegade countercultural hangouts hints at the tongue-in-cheek tolerance of the locals for the yuppification of their city, but the perception of who actually owns Ashland depends entirely on who you ask. PATRONS OF THE OREGON SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL tend to think fondly of Ashland as their town, but most of them visit only for four or five days per year, so the feeling isnt necessarily mutual. To the Deadheads and politically correct hippie wannabes who play frisbee in the park and busque for quarters on the streetcorner, the festival itself is viewed as a kind of cultural Disneyland where upper-middle class white people come to have their sense of Western cultural superiority reaffirmed. To the people who descend on Ashland for the ski season after the festival closes on Nov. 1, Ashland is a ski town, period. Festival crowds are something they are happy to avoid. Students of Southern Oregon State College, located a mile outside of Ashland, can hardly wait for festivalgoers to leave so that they can reclaim what they see as their turf. To be sure, Halloween partygoers during the late 1980s bid the festival such an enthusiastic farewell that the police had to intervene. And to the businesspeople who live and work in Ashland, of course, those same festivalgoers are the backbone of their existence, earning them an average of $53,000 per year of the $68 million per anum the audiences unload on the local economy. Indeed, one of the great and mysterious charms of Ashland is how it can possibly be so many things to so many different people. Visitors tend to see in Ashland exactly what they want to see, and the contradictions are staggering. Like so many small American towns that have been discovered by urban professionals looking for a bucolic getaway, the great challenge of the future is whether Ashland can continue to grow and embrace the contradictory forces that sustain it without destroying the very character that makes it such a wonderful place to visit. .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .postImageUrl , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:hover , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:visited , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:active { border:0!important; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:active , .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1 .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubed583199675af4ae9cd9b7d247f26e1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: First Act of 'The Crucible' EssayTHE FESTIVAL IS CAUGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE of that challenge, and the theatres administration is all too aware of the pitfalls. The new Allen Pavilion was built as much to keep increasing traffic and party noise out as to keep the actors voices in, and the street adjacent to the pavilion is still blocked off during showtime to keep the noise level down. For many years, OSF enticed people to become dues-paying members of the festival by offering preferential treatment on ticket reservations. Now it is impossible for OSF to promise good seats to everybody exactly when they want them because membership has become so popular. Tickets for sh ows in the tiny 140-seat Black Swan theatre are particularly difficult to reserve, with a limit of two per customer, creating what OSF management calls the Black Swan problem, their biggest public relations bugaboo to date. Though staff people say there is still room for the festival to market its shoulder seasons in spring and fall, the festival already plays to 95 percent of capacity and is rapidly reaching the audience saturation point. Those who have been around the festival for a while say that growth has always been a mixed blessing in the festivals 57-year history. And now that the Allen Pavilion has been built and the companys new Portland branch is in full swingPortland Center Stage was launched in 1988 with a five-play October-to-March season and a separate administrative and production staffexecutive director William W. Patton is inclined to think that enough is enough. In fact, he says, Nobody wants to grow any larger than we are now. Our primary concern at the moment is to deepen the artistic integrity of the work. Patton was the festivals first paid employee back in 1953, when fewer than 16,000 people per year made the pilgrimage to Ashland. For him, change has been a constant, and the new multimillion dollar Allen Pavilion is a perfect metaphor for the direction in which he wants the festival to move. The pavilion was built largely to solve problems that had grown along with the city of Ashland itself. Noise from traffic and the park behind the former Elizabethan Theatre had gotten so bad that people sitting in the back third of the theatre could only decipher about half of the words. Actors were forced to shout their lines in order to be heard, straining their voices even in the most intimate scenes, to the point where people up front began complaining that the productions were looking more and more ridiculous. Actors were becoming reluctant to accept parts on the outdoor stage, and many people were beginning to feel that the viability of outdoor Shakespeare in Ashland was being threatened. The idea was to create a sound barrier to the encroaching world outside while simultaneously improving the acoustics and intimacy inside. The futuristic stadiumlike structure wraps around the seating area, and the back third of the seats have been raised into a secondtier balcony, creating an acoustic shell that reflects sound back into the theatre. An entirely new lighting system housed in the perimeter of the shell has quintupled the technical capabilities of the theatre, the stage itself was extended by three-and-a-half feet, and two new vomitorium entrances have doubled the number of entrances and exitsall of which have turned the formerly beleaguered space into a directors playground. Its like a microwave oven, actor Mark Booher tells people on his backstage tours. Now that we have it, we cant remember how we got along without it. In keeping with the festivals current growth-control thinking, no new seats were added when the pavilion was constructed, though it would have been a perfect opportunity to do so. We built this to improve the quality of our productions, not the quantity, reminds Patton, and the pavilion has done just what he and other advocates of the project promised it would. In fact, the acoustics are so good inside the Allen Pavilion that not only can the actors be heard, but so can every cough, sniffle, rustle, slurp, sneeze, whisper and crackle of a cellophane candy wrapper. In the past, nobody cared if people talked to their neighbors or popped cans of soda in the middle of a scene, but veteran Ashland theatregoers now find themselves having to be on their best behavior in these sensitive new surroundings. The problem was so noticeable last year that management is considering banning soft drinks and food in the future to minimize distractions. Except for a few people reluctant to give up their view of mountains silhouetted by stars, reactions to the pavilion during its first year were mostly positive, especially from people who remember how bad the noise problems were getting. Mention the new pavilion in the OSF members lounge and faces beam with enthusiasm. Its wonderful, says Audrey Bernstein, a member from San Diego who has been coming to Ashland for more than 12 years. When you walk in, it just feels more like I imagine things must have felt in Shakespeares day. Its very exciting. The wind doesnt come down the mountain and smack you in the cheek like it used to, either, adds Carol Tomas, another longtime OSF member. But the flipside to added wind protection is that the pavilion traps more heat on sweltering midsummer days, taking longer to cool down at night. THE OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE RESPONSE TO THE Allen Pavilion is also good news to fledgling artistic director Henry Woronicz, not only because he was the one who advised the board of directors six years ago to build the structure, but because now that most of the problems associated with the outdoor stage have been solved, Woronicz can turn his attention to other more pressing issues facing him as artistic directornamely the fresh artistic vision he wants to implement. .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .postImageUrl , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:hover , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:visited , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:active { border:0!important; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:active , .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u5eabfd87a20bd3945ffd6bc8b20958cd:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Henry V Play Review EssayHiring Woronicz to pick up where Jerry Turner left off is considered by many OSF observers to be an extremely conservative move, if only because Woronicz has spent most of his adult life performing Shakespeare. Woronicz has been a beloved member of the acting company in Ashland for years, but some worry that, if he doesnt know anything else, he cant do much more than maintain the status quo. Woronicz himself gets a mischievous twinkle in his eye when the charge of conservativism comes up, because he knows why people say it and isnt very comfortable with the reasons. Woronicz agrees that relatively traditional productions will continue to be staged outdoors under his reign, though he will try to entice more diverse and prestigious directors to Ashland (a record four women directed plays in Ashland last year, and more than 10 percent of the acting company were people of color, a distinct change in the companys cultural diversity over past years). But where Woroniczs artistic touch will be felt most is in the Angus Bowmer and tiny Black Swan theatres. Speculation runs rampant about what exactly Woroniczs vision might look like, but at least a few clues about where he intends to guide OSF can be gleaned from last years program of plays, which he co-produced with Turner, particularly La Bete, the first non-Shakespearean play he chose to direct in his new role as artistic director. La Bete bombed on Broadway in 1991, but Woronicz was attracted to the language of the playwit-laced rhyming couplets mimicking Moliereand thought it would perfectly complement the festivals Shakespeare. He also thought that 32-year-old playwright David Hirson deserved a second chance, and liked the fact that the play took not-so-subtle satirical jabs at the staid arts-patron establishment, including the National Endowment for the Arts and OSFs own loyal but conservative supporters. I was looking for something that would jump out at peoplesomething with a little more bite to it, says Woronicz. On opening night, with Ray Porter playing the lead role of Valere, a bombastic pseudo-genius hired to add some zest to a lackluster 17th-century acting troupe, La Bete received one standing ovation at the end of Valeres monumentally self-absorbed 22-minute opening soliloquy in the middle of the first act, and another at the final curtain. Critics didnt embrace the play as warmly, but critics dont go unscathed in La Bete either. THOUGH DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PLAYS WILL NEVER be a main focus of the festival, Woronicz intends to keep challenging OSF audiences with increasingly adventurous work by up-and-coming playwrights. During the Turner era, OSF audiences were often treated to Turners own translations of his favorite playwrights, Ibsen and Strindberg. Eager to put his own stamp on OSF, Woronicz rattles off names such as Caryl Churchill, Steve Tesich, Steven Dietz and John Guare as examples of the kind of work he wants to produce. Woronicz is all too aware of OSFs lingering national reputation as a place that does safe plays for vacationing, relatively unsophisticated, middle-class audiences, and has made it his personal mission to see that theatre in Ashland gets the respect he thinks it deserves. Its easy for us to get lulled into complacency here, says Woronicz. People will come to whatever we put up, and thats both a blessing and a curse. As artists, we want to take this opportunity to breathe some life into some areas of the operation that may have gotten stale. For a theatre thats arguably the largest regional theatre in the country, with a $12-million budget, a company of 65 actors, four theatres in two cities producing 16 plays a year, we should be able to find some room to support new writers. Keeping his word, Woronicz has made sure that in addition to a full slate of Shakespeare next year, OSF audiences will also have the opportunity to see Caryl Churchills latest play, Mad Forest, written in response to the fall of Romanias Ceausescu regime, as well as Light in the Village by John Clifford, The Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel, Tony Kushners adaptation of Corneilles The Illusion, Georges Feydeaus A Flea In Her Ear, and in Portland Lips Together, Teeth Apart by Terrence McNally, and Spunk by George C. Wolfe. The largely white artistic staff will also take a multicultural microstep forward this year when Clinton Turner-Davis, only the second African-American can ever to direct an OSF production, directs August Wilsons Joe Turners Come and Gone. Privately, under his breath, Woronicz also whispers about the possibility of finding a small fourth theatre somewhere in Ashland where his more esoteric side can be indulged. For now, however, his pet solution to the Black Swan problem is to use it as a venue for more experimental, artistically adventurous work, since it will be packed to the gills no matter what goes up, making the popularity factor almost irrelevant. Somewhere between managing, directing, holding hands and sleeping, Woronicz also wants to get back onto Ashlands outdoor stage and have a go at Hamlet once more before he turns 40. Like the festival and the city of Ashland itself, Woronicz is in the midst of a middle-age transition. He has gotten where he is by stretching himself to the limit, as have OSF and Ashland. Ten years from now, neither the festival or Ashland will be same as they are today. Continuous growth has been relatively kind to them in the past, and one can only hope that future change will be managed intelligently to preserve the magic and character of both. As almost half a million people a year can attest, Shakespeare and sage-brush have never gone so well together. With any luck, the Bard will be able to kick his boots off and hang out in the hills of southern Oregon for a long time to come.

What extent do the news media fulfil Habermas definition of the public sphere Essays

What extent do the news media fulfil Habermas definition of the public sphere Essays What extent do the news media fulfil Habermas definition of the public sphere Essay What extent do the news media fulfil Habermas definition of the public sphere Essay The concept of the public sphere has had a long tradition, both in philosophy and also social sciences. The main understanding of the term is based on the work of the German sociologist Jurgen Habermas, whom provided a comprehensive analysis of the nature of the public sphere and also its historic transformations. Habermas defines ldquo;the public sphere as the network for communication and points of view, the streams of communication are, in the process, filtered and synthesised in such a way that they coalesce into bundles of topically specified public opinionsrdquo;. The public sphere is situated between households and the state. It is a space where free and equal citizens come together and share their opinions and information and also discuss their common concerns. Habermasrsquo;s social theory is interpreted as moving over the years from a Hegelian Marxist orientation to a sort of Kantian orientation, thought not without truth; this view underestimates the unity in his intellectual project. Kant occupies a central place as the theorist who offered the fullest articulation of the ideal of the bourgeois public sphere. However, in this public sphere practical reason was institutionalized through norms of reasoned conversations in which arguments or traditions were to be decisive. Even though, Habermas rejects Kantianrsquo;s theories, and its collary historical exaltation of philosophy as arbiter and foundation of all science and culture. In his current work he argues that something remains crucial from the Kantian view of modernity. nbsp;The notion of the public sphere is at the centre of participatory approaches to democracy. The public sphere is the arena where citizens come together and exchange opinions regarding public affairs, discuss and therefore form a public opinion. This arena can be a specified place where citizens gather for instance, town halls where they meet and deliberate these issues they feel needs looking into. This can also be a communication infrastru cture through which citizens send and receive information and their opinions. The public sphere can also be good governance, and without a good public sphere, government officials cannot be held accountable for their actions and citizens will not be able to assert any influence over political decisions. Moreover, the idea of a public sphere is normative since it is an ideal of good and accountable governance. Some historical roots of the public sphere will include the ancient Greeks where citizens directly participated in political discussions. The public life was tied to a specific local where their citizens will discuss and exchange their opinions on certain issues. European monarchies where the royal court was the public sphere and only the king would determine what should be said in public. Today, the public sphere is even more strongly tied to the media; it is also defined in relation to the mass media, since the mass media permits the circulation of information and also offers the conditions were forums can function. Internet and The Public Sphere; the internet is the single most important communication breakthrough of the latter half of the last century. It has revolutionalised how individuals communicate, access information including the mass media and how they respond to and comment on social and political issues. It has been argued that the internet facilitated the philosopher Jurgen Habermas. The internet is singularly the most important development in contemporary communication, which has produced a global public sphere. Every individual has direct access to global forums where they are capable of expressing their personal opinions and arguments without mediation or censorship. nbsp;Facebook and a vast number of blogs, chat rooms and discussion boards could fulfil the conditions of a public sphere as a forum for rational and critical debates. One of the theoretical perspectives is that Habermas argues that publicness or publicity of representation was not constituted as a social realm that is a public sphere; rather it was a status attribute. nbsp;Representation in the sense in which the members of a national assembly represent a nation. (Habermas, 1962). nbsp;Habermas goes on to argue that European society in the Middle Ages showed no indication of a public sphere as a unique realm distinct from a private sphere, and each stratum of power acted as mere spectators of the authority greater than theirs However, changes in the Europersquo;s political structure in the eighteenth century largely embodied in capitalist modes of production and the enlightenment philosophy culminated in the collapse of feudalism heralding the entry of the bourgeois into the centre stage. Whereas the feudal system which made no differences between the state and the society, private and public, the new social order defined the boundaries of state and private lives. More accurately a bourgeois public sphere where members of a property owning, educated reading public were engaged in rational debates on issues primarily relating to politics and literature (Habermas, 1989). Furthermore the bourgeois public sphere worn once again through structural and economic changes paving the way for what Habermas calls the modern mass society of the social welfare state, were critical debates the life blood of the public sphere has been replaced by leisure. In order words the state and society have become in twined into each otherrsquo;s sphere. Horkheimer and Adorno both argue that the change is the direct result of the mass produced, and the mechanically reproduce culture, which have been manufactures through structural changes in cultural industries. Horkheimer and Adorno suggest that the man with leisure have to accept that the cultural manufacturers offer him (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1995). Horkheimer and Adorno views are simply based on Marxist arguments which suggest the ideas of a ruling class are in every period the ruling ideas (Marx and Engels, 1976). These arguments suggest that the class which controls the means of material production also would control the means of mental production therefore the ideas of those who lack the means of production are subjected to it. Another sociologist called Antonio Gramsci argued the social groups attain hegemony; this is the dominance by inducing consent of the majority of the subaltern classes, the classes in the subordinate political position within a given social theatre. Horkheimer and Adornorsquo;s views on contemporary culture suggest the cultural industries treatment of culture as commodity and the mass media as a product filtered and packaged for customers based on the market statistics. This has created a media culture where every individual response has been carefully planned by the cultural manufacturers, since as this limits the possibility for any critical though outside of a prearranged equation. The contribution of cultural manufacturers including advertising and also public relations. Habermas arguments have manifested into refeudalisation of the public sphere, where the people in the public have been reduced to the status of spectators whilst the expert opinions have taken over the true public opinions. Every aspect of culture has been subjected to commercial imperatives of advertising entertainment and public relations and also the mass media to such an extent that any attempts of even creating the illusion of a public sphere by the mass media continue to be governed by bottom lined finances, therefore failing to conform to the broadest notions of public opinion in the public sphere. Moreover, public opinions published in mainstream media continue to be influenced by a series of commercial needs from availability of column space to consideration of possible increases to circulation figures. The internet is a freely accessible medium of mass communication; it has been introduced to this heavily commercialised theatre of mass communication and sparking great expectations in the publicrsquo;s minds that support the reinvigoration of the public sphere. Furthermore, it also should be stressed that while mass media have largely failed to create a public sphere, mass in itself at times play a very significant role in gaining and retaining democracy in numerous political threatens. It can also be argued that the internetrsquo;s potential in creating the public sphere can be and has to be harnessed by the public intellectuals, if the internet is to fulfil its potential as a forum for public spheres, this arguments can be presented in spite of the risk of over generalization as need for cyber analogues with the cafes and taverns which brought the intellectuals together, however creating an environment favourable for the sharing of ideas and hence the nourishment of a public sphere.

Valuation at acquisition (operational assets) Essay

Valuation at acquisition (operational assets) - Essay Example Tangible operational assets generally include assets that may be covered under the broad category of ‘Property Plant and Equipment’ like land and buildings, machineries and equipments, vehicles, and others. Such assets may be acquired by purchase or gift, or the entity may construct its own assets. Regardless of the method of acquisition, decisions need to be made as to which costs should be capitalized and which cost which should be expensed with. In addition the amounts at which such assets should be capitalize is not clear. Intangible assets have the main characteristic is that they lack physical substance. It is generally difficult to estimate the value of intangibles and there is high degree of uncertainty regarding the length of time over which they will provide revenue or future benefits to the entity. â€Å"In general, the value of an intangible asset lies in its future use, and can be estimated from the incremental profits that such use will through off.†(Farok J. Contractor,2001, page 10)1 The initial accounting for intangibles is largely dependent on whether they are purchased or developed internally. Intangible assets include patents, goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, franchises, organizational costs and others. The general rule to capitalized costs is that the purchase price of an asset and all costs incurred in preparing the asset for its intended use are capitalized as part of cost of the asset. Let us examine the capitalization aspect under both tangible (Property Plant and Equipment) and intangible assets Cost of Land that needed to be capitalized is all the expenditure on its acquisition that is incurred for getting it ready for its intended use. Such costs are purchase price and the closing costs like legal fees, fee of the attorney and registration charges. Some time an old structure exists on land being acquired. Then costs of demolishing such structure and also the expenditure relating to clearing, filling, and

Valuation Financial statement analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Valuation Financial statement analysis - Essay Example The company manufactures and distributes different brands specializing in consumer products including hygiene, nutritional and personal care products. Further, its portfolio has items such as Lipton, Knorr, Magnum, Hellmann’s, Lux, Dove, Omo and Axe. Notably, the company product retails in more than 170 countries around the globe. Financial statement trends Table 1: Unilever financial data from 2008-2012 Â   Â   2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Â   Â   Â   EPS 1.79 1.21 1.51 1.51 1.58 r 15% DPS 0.73 0.77 0.80 0.85 0.89 g 0.05 Residual Earnings 38,785.00 35,354.00 37,924.00 38,813.00 41,625.00 Â   g in RE 0.05 0.07 0.02 0.07 0.06 Â   discount factors 0.87 0.786 0.675 0.592 0.497 Â   Income 39,523.00 39,823.00 44,262.00 46,467.00 51,324.00 Â   Â   Average EPS growth rate5.4% Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Table 2: Unilever PLC financial projections from 2013-2017 Â   Â   2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Â   Â   Â   EPS 1.67 1.76 1.86 1.97 2.09 r 15% DPS 0.93 0.98 1. 03 1.08 1.13 g 0.05 Residual Earnings 44,123.00 46,770.00 49,576.00 52,551.00 55,704.00 Â   g in RE 0.05 0.07 0.02 0.07 0.06 Â   discount factors 0.87 0.786 0.675 0.592 0.497 Â   Income 54,403.00 57,668.00 61,128.00 64,795.00 68,683.00 Â   Average EPS growth rate5.4% Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Â   Forecasting Forecasted Earnings Earning are the net proceeds that a firm gets from its operations. As such, Unilever PLC has reported increased retained earnings from the year 2008 to 2012. The growth in earning ranges from 2% to 7%. Therefore, to forecast future probable earning, the company can use a model of the form:Y= a+bxa, where Y is the forecasted earning, a represent the prior year’s earning, b is the average growth rate, x is the expected earnings. Forecasted Dividends Dividends are issued based on the company’s financial performance. As such, the directors pay dividends when companies make profits. Nevertheless, directors may resolve to pay divide nd from the retained earnings of the prior years.1 Based on the information derived from Unilever PLC financial statements, the company has consistently made profits from the year 2008 and the directors have paid dividends consecutively for all the five years. It is apparent that the dividends have been growing at a rate of 5% every year and as such, the 2012 dividend payout can be forecasted at the same rate to determine the probable dividend to be paid in future. Forecasted cash flows Cash flows are gross revenues that an organization receives from its operations. The information derived from the financial statements shows that Unilever cash flows have been on the increase. The forecasted cash flows can be given by a model of the form: Y=a+bx where Y is the forecasted cash flow, A is the cash flow from the prior year, b is the expected growth rate and x is the expected cash flows. Estimation of parameters of the model The parameters of the model include variables used to determine forecasted earning, dividends and the cash flow. These include; cost of capital, growth rate and any other cost incurred. To start with, the cost of capital is estimated based on the prevailing interest rates at which British financial institution were lending capital. The market

‘Mirror’ & double-layered poem Essay Example for Free

‘Mirror’ double-layered poem Essay ‘Mirror’ is a double-layered poem: The mirror, personified and equipped with senses, sees and depicts its world in the most honest terms; then we see our own world from the mirror’s perspective—how raw and tormenting it is. Why the author chooses to personify a mirror as the poem’s narrator is firstly because it is an object most closely associated with a woman who seeks to see â€Å"what she really is† (11). When she is young, the mirror cheerfully reflects and praises her youthful beauty, letting her contemplate on her own appearance. When she is old, it cruelly reminds her of time’s meddling in her fading beauty and how life has passed and left her behind. Secondly, the mirror reflects the world just as it is—it cannot lie to us—and faithfully shows us all signs of aging, sorrow, pain and sickness that appear in our face. The theme of the poem is the effects of time reflected in the mirror, how it â€Å"has drowned a young girl† and makes a woman become â€Å"an old woman†. Adverbs depicting the motion of time are employed throughout the poem: â€Å"most of the time† (6), â€Å"so long† (7), â€Å"over and over† (9), â€Å"Now† (10), â€Å"Each morning† (16), â€Å"day after day† (18). The irony is deliberated in the difference between the mirror’s reflection and cognition of changes in the outside world. The woman who looks at the mirror is sad because her beauty and youthfulness are fading while her tears and agitation are considered â€Å"rewards† by the mirror. In the first stanza, the mirror simply tries to define its existence and introduce the reader to its world using its own language register. In the opening line, the mirror describes its appearance and unique quality, â€Å"I am silver and exact. I have no preconception. †(1). The word ‘swallow’ demonstrates Plath’s sensitivities and playfulness in her personification and imagery: everything is instantly reflected inside the mirror as if the mirror has devoured them. Next, mirror immediately explains its ‘non-discriminatory’ behaviours as being truthful rather than cruel. In the last four lines of stanza 1, the mirror honestly describes its bounded world. Ironically, even though the mirror reflects everything truthfully and exactly with no preconceptions or prejudice, it seems to live in self-created illusions, that the opposite wall is â€Å"a part of my heart†. Line 8 presents the mirror with human characteristics, not â€Å"the eye of a little god, four-cornered† as it describes itself. Nevertheless, its world constantly collides with the world outside it—our world: â€Å"it flickers. //Faces and darkness separate us over and over. † In the first stanza, the use of caesura in most of the sentences interrupts the flow of the poem but gives the mirror its own tone: emphatic and meditative. The enjambment between line 2 and 3 as well as between line 7 and 8 allow the mirror to reflect on itself naturally and coherently. In stanza 2, the mirror ironically creates another illusion, â€Å"Now I am a lake† (10), which is in contrast with its claim to be â€Å"only truthful†. It proudly demonstrates its usefulness in helping a woman to see â€Å"what she really is†. The images of the â€Å"candles† and â€Å"moon† (12) may symbolize fragility, inconstancy and instability which contrast with how faithfully it serves the woman (13). The connection between the mirror and the woman strengthens by day: it is important to her and she brightens its existence. Nevertheless, its unintended cruelty is shown in its being â€Å"only truthful† (4). The simile ‘like a terrible fish’ is consistent with the mirror’s illusion that it is a lake but it shows Plath’s grotesque and tormenting view of aging—as a destructive and dehumanizing process. The poem is structured as narrative prose poetry, with the use of caesura to create an emphatic tone, to present the mirror as a misunderstood, proud and honest object. The mirror exactly and dutifully reflects what appears before it and considers the changes shown in it others’ doing and completely out of its power: â€Å"she drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman//Rises toward her day after day† (17-18).

Ghost Story of the Mirror in the Castle :: Ghost Stories Urban Legends

This story was told to a friend of mine by his father. My friend was 10 years old when he first heard the story and is 20 years old now. He grew up in northern Oklahoma and his family moved to Maryland when he was eight. His father, his younger brother and he were on a road trip and my friend and his brother asked their father to tell them a story to help them pass the time. My friend does not recall what his father said about where he heard the story from, but it goes more or less as follows: Once upon a time (chuckles), there were two brothers. These two brothers loved to play outdoors and one day, as it was getting on into evening, they wandered into a graveyard and met another little boy who wanted to play with them. So, they played with the boy for a while and eventually the little boy asked if the brothers would like to [see] the castle. The brothers agreed to go along and off they went following behind the little boy. The boy took them to a castle in the middle of the graveyard and took them inside to a room with big mirror on one wall. (In a really weak and timid voice:) â€Å"Follow me,† said the boy. â€Å"Let me show you where I live.† (Begins speaking more intensely:) At that, he stepped through the mirror and into the castle on the other side and disappeared around a corner. The two brothers shared a concerned look, but in the end stepped into the mirror and came out the other side. Whereas the castle they had been brought to at first seemed aban doned for centuries, this castle felt and looked as though it were currently inhabited. (Speaking with a sense of awe or wonderment:) They wandered out of the bedroom and after a time found them selves in a dinning room with a table set for many people and food laid out like a feast. At that table sat a number of ornately dressed adults. Some in very fine robes or very flashy dresses, all enjoying the feast and each others' company. (Changes to a concerned or anxious tone:) The brothers tried to ask the person nearest them what the occasion of the feast was , but the person utterly ignored [them]. In fact, when one of the brothers tried to tug at the adult’s sleeve he found that his hand went straight through it.

Nucor – Porter’s 5 Forces

NUCOR AT A CROSSROADS CASE ANALYSIS NUCOR’S SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE RECORD PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS †¢ Supplier Power: With the eventual exit of integrated steel companies from buying scrap, the options available with suppliers to sell, reduced. Nucor started several small plants that were close to suppliers ; customers, thereby reducing transportation costs. Also, the sites chosen had inexpensive electricity. Their employee-centric policies resulted in them having lowest attrition levels ; a steady supply of new employees. Thus the supplier power was moderate-low. Buyer Power: Although Nucor employed the latest technology ; competitive prices, with imported steel available, the buyers had more options to choose from. However, Nucor’s customer service was a differentiator that buyers were willing to pay for. Hence, the Buyer power was mildly unattractive. †¢Barriers to Entry: Minimill business was a capital-intensive business for a new player. Also, for existing integrated steel makers, their reluctance to adapt to newer technology ; smaller scale discouraged them to get into the market of the minimills. Thus it was mildly attractive from Nucor’s point of view. Threat of Substitutes: With wide availability of substitutes such as aluminum, plastics ; advanced composites, the demand for steel had stagnated. Hence, the threat of substitutes in the future was highly unattractive. †¢ Degree of rivalry: The integrated steel makers didn’t threaten Nucor’s business. Nucor always had the cost advantage ; efficiency coupled with superior technology ; innovation. However, this was challenged by the global steel makers which resulted in lowering of prices ; lower margins. The only differentiation for Nucor was its highly sought-after customer service.Thus the degree of rivalry was high. Thus overall, Nucor had sustained performance so far, due to its technology innovation, lean operations, high efficiency, strong emp loyee relations ; superior customer service. However, going ahead, with availability of substitutes ; growing threat of equally good foreign steel makers, the sustainability is in question unless Nucor innovates ; strategically aligns itself to the changing demands of its customers. FUNCTIONAL FIT †¢ Low Cost Focus Strategy: Nucor adoption of organic growth helped in bridging the gap between the company and its customers.Mills were set up near the Vulcraft operations and Vulcraft in turn ensured speedy delivery of the products to its customers. The company was also able to bring down the fixed order processing costs by using computerized order entry and billing systems. With the help of competent distribution and other measures, the company was successful in raising the willingness of the customers to pay even if the price was increased. Also, the company focused on the low end segment. †¢ Organizational systems / Procedures: Nucor had a flat organizational structure. They decentralized the plant-level decision making to the respective plant managers.This led to a lot of autonomy ; faster decision making thus providing them an advantage over the competitors. The performance measurement was more quantitative in nature for the plant managers, where they had to meet specific revenue targets. The Nucor management supported creativity ; risk taking as they firmly believed in innovation ; improvisation. There was a relatively high degree of inter-plant communication vis-a-vis consolidation of orders, sharing of deliverables, etc. Thus the plants didn’t entirely work in isolation, although the structure was decentralized.At the plant level, there were conscious efforts to treat all levels of employees at par ; make all of them feel equally important ; relevant to the organization. †¢ Performance Measurement: The performance of the plant manager was more quantitative in nature. However for those of the other employees, it was a mix of qualitative as well as quantitative. This is because of their emphasis on productivity ; quality. The reward / compensation were more group based rather than individual based, encouraging teamwork. †¢ Values / Culture Review: Employee focus was the hallmark of Nucor.They encouraged risk taking, creativity ; innovation. Their policies didn’t allow for much differentiation between different cadres. Their flat structure had decentralized decision making, they provided employees a sense of belonging / ownership with the organization. The all-cash incentives were regularly doled out ; were directly performance linked – quality ; quantity-wise. Their strong employee-bonding started right from the time the plant was constructed, till retirement. They didn’t believe in firing ; during lean times, would rather cut back on working hours, than fire people.The end result was that they not only had a highly productive, motivated, experienced ; non-unionized work force, but their e mployee turnover was much below the industry average ; they had many people willing to work for them. Their high human capital was a clear differentiator ; advantage over the competition in the steel industry. Thus, Nucor’s approach of controlled growth, focus on technology ; innovation, high employee productivity coupled with a dedicated workforce, decentralized ; quick decision making, have resulted in a sustained growth ; success of Nucor.For sustainability in the future, Nucor will have to continue to focus on technology ; innovation as it has been its point of differentiation among its competitors. TETRA-THREAT FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS: Threat of Imitation: †¢ The advantage it derived from a flatter decentralized structure ; a motivated workforce, was hard to imitate, as it would mean reorganizing the organization ; it would take much longer to be effective. †¢ Nucor constantly innovated ; used latest technology. Hence, even though a competitor cop ied its technology, it would take time for it to implement it ; in that while, Nucor would have moved n to a newer technology. †¢ Costs of imitation in this case are the capital investments that would have to be made ; the economies of scale that will have to be achieved. Threat of Substitution: †¢ The internal threat of substitution by means of resource substitution is very little, as the employee attrition rate is very low compared to industry level ; the services offered to customers is of high value for the customers. †¢ External threat of substitution is high due to emergence of aluminum, plastics, etc as cheaper substitutes for steel.But as Nucor is focused on innovation, it can counter this by itself moving towards these substitutes or coming up with further innovative ways to make steel which can compete with the substitutes. However this would mean further investments in technology ; infrastructure ; training of employees. Threat of Holdup: †¢ Nucor has a strong vertical integration ; the market for the suppliers is limited as the integrated steel makers are no longer in its market. So threat of holdup from suppliers is low. †¢ It also adds value with superior customer service, which the buyers are willing to pay for.But the buyers do have option to opt for imported steel. Thus, Nucor will have to sustain the additional value it generates for its buyers. Threat of Slack: †¢ Nucor has optimized the technology that is available for manufacture. It also has a dedicated skilled workforce. However it has not fully exploited these to venture into newer steel markets or into a Joint Venture with foreign steel makers who could provide newer technology. However its organizational structure ; policies are suited for sustained growth. UNCERTAINITIES AND RISKS ASSOCIATED 1.Technological threat: CSP would become obsolete in 10-12 years time, as new technology of casting even thinner slab was already under way. This posed risk and unce rtainty to Nucor’s heavy investment in CSP, but adoption of this technology could give it the first mover advantage also. 2. Quality: SMS’s pilot plant ran only 7 minutes and produced 12 tons per charge due to space constraints. It wasn’t clear if it could take the load from continuous operations and sustain the wear and tear. The components had to operate with more than 96% reliability for it to be cost-effective. 3.Raw Material: Nucor used scrap as its raw material, and the uncertainty of the scrap prices could make the project not viable. If scrap prices rose above $ 140 per ton, Nucor might have to shift to Direct Reduced Iron as raw material which would require major changes in facility and operations. 4. Competition: Other minimills will also adopt CSP in a few years and hence Nucor may not be able to bask in the glory of first mover advantage. It wasn’t even clear if first mover advantage would offset the huge costs this project entails. 5. Company : They didn’t have the expertise in flat rolled products which had to be acquired.Integrated mills adopting CSP were a major threat as they already had the expertise in flat rolled production. 6. Operations: CSP plant was very large and more complex. It couldn’t have been located in rural areas, where Nucor have till now established their plants, hence would require new strategy to cater to these plants. 7. Growth: Nucor was concerned that it would have to enter the high end market if it plans to build more plants with CSP technology and that would require products with superior quality ; reliability of delivery, which CSP did not guarantee for such products.Moreover the high end market demanded relationship based marketing which involved the customers at early level of development of product, which would be difficult. 8. Resources: If Nucor pursued both the projects i. e. CSP and joint venture with Yamato Kogyo, then it would have to stretch its financial resources an d raise equity or debt for huge capital expenditures for the initial years. But, according to its policies, Nucor restricted its debt/equity ratio to less than 30 % and did not issue new stock. So the problem of raising funds for the two projects is a matter of concern.PROJECT FEASABILITY ? Financial Decisions Assumptions: †¢ The new project technology will become obsolete in 10 to 12 years of time, so assuming that this project will last for 12 years of time including 2 and half years of startup time and two years for full capacity utilization. Assumed that 50 % of capacity will be utilized in 3rd yr, 80% in 4th yr and full from 5th yr onwards. †¢ The capital expenditure of $280mn takes place in phase wise manner with $70mn today, $170mn in first year and $40mn in second year with additional $30mn in second year for startup cost.Working capital of $30mn will also be divided in 3 years based on their capacity utilization. †¢ The revenues and costs are adjusted with an inflation of 3. 5% each year. †¢ The rising scrap prices are also taken into consideration. †¢ Assuming that reduction in labor costs and savings in energy will be absorbed by inflation. †¢ Depreciation taken around 13% w. r. t. given data (Done by WDV method). †¢ Tax rate taken around 44%. †¢ Assume salvage value equal to the book value at the end of the project life. †¢ As the industry is stable, so taken beta value (=0. 95) around market beta (=1). Keeping the Debt/Equity ratio to be around 15%, according to existing capital structure policies. The Capital budgeting of the project leads to the following analysis: IRR=11. 8%, NPV =$18mn and ROC=26. 5% The Expected rate of return of the project is more than the WACC (10. 19%) and NPV;gt;0, though it is not very high. The project is therefore financially viable and can be adopted. ? Industry Opportunities: †¢ As the market for low end products was beginning to reach saturation, CSP was a great opp ortunity for Nucor to enter into flat rolled products.It could easily enter into the low end of the flat sheet market, consisting mostly of construction applications, where low price was key differentiator. †¢ Its internal sales (Vulcraft division) could be 100,000 tons of flat sheets each year to produce steel deck. †¢ Moreover, it could enter into the high end market after some years by expanding its capacity, which will make it possible for Nucor to compete with US integrated mills and capture their market share. †¢ The threat of ocean freight imports could be mitigated by the reduced costs. Construction industry offers good opportunity as it takes high priced products from the integrated steel mills and CSP will give Nucor the cost advantage to charge lesser price and hence be able to sell its products. ? Operations: †¢ CSP would lead to savings in casting operations, labor costs and energy costs. †¢ Nucor would be able to achieve economies of scale at a reduced output as compared to the US integrated mills. The yields will be higher and the operating costs will reduce. ? Technology: †¢ Nucor had the drive to embody technological advances.It invested heavily in upgrading its capacity. Its investment levels were 2. 9 times its depreciation charges, wherein the three largest integrated firms had a ratio around 1. 6. Through CSP, Nucor will gain the first mover advantage for atleast a few years. †¢ Hazelett Caster wasn’t as effective as CSP. Also, there were some operational constraints with Hazelett approach like expensive conveyor belts, reduced product quality and increased maintenance costs. Conclusion: Taking all the business and financial aspects into consideration, Nucor should go ahead with this technology.