Ethical Decision Making Constructing the Wonthaggi...

Ethical decision making constructing the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant Executive Summary Water Forever is a media group writing for a business journal. The group has an interest in how desalination directly benefits the various stakeholders. The Victorian desalination plant (WDP) located in South Victoria off the coast line of Wonthaggi located has received much criticism. Many controversial and ethical issues have been expressed by various stakeholders. Despite these concerns, a decision has been made to go ahead with the multibillion dollar project and build Australia’s largest desalination plant. The Victorian government’s target was to deliver drinking water that is amongst the best in Australia and to ensure that Victorians no†¦show more content†¦Today, desalination is a common process thats used in seaside cities and towns worldwide. There are more than 15,000 desalination plants around the world providing freshwater from salt and brackish water alike (Planet Green 2011). This number continues to grow as researchers work to improve the proc ess, both in terms of cost effectiveness and energy efficiency (DSE 2011). But countries such as Australia, Israel and even the United States are continually adding desalination plants of various sorts into their water-management portfolios. The facilities are common in North Africa and the Mideast, where freshwater is scarce (Chandler 2008). Desalination is a proven technology; we know it works as we can see from other countries that have desalination plants. We know it will produce water no matter the weather rain, hail or shin. The Victorian Government believes that it’s a good insurance policy, and has given the all go for the WDP. The Victorian Government has said it will buy renewable energy credits to offset the plants power requirement - about 3.5 kilowatt hours for each 1000 litres of drinking water, plus almost half as much again to pump it to Melbourne (DSE January 2009). Dr Tim Fletcher, director of the Institute for Sustainable Water Resources at Monash

Technological Lazieness Essay - 1336 Words

Technological Laziness By David Smith Why are people so lazy? Could it be from the rapid development of technology? It seems these days that people do things the easiest way possible. With all the modern day advances that we’ve had people spend more time on the couch and less time at work or play. Is technology making us lazy? Has technology made life too easy? Some may argue that technology is suppose to make life easier, but technology is crippling are way of life. Technological advances are making people lazy. The more technology people have the lazier they become. Technology makes it easy enough for us to go through life without even setting a foot outside. In today’s life you don’t need to go anywhere you can order everything over†¦show more content†¦Not just cooking food makes us lazy. The invention of cropping machines revolutionized the farming industry in the 1800’s by being able to mass produce goods (Wikipedia). Before we had supermarkets most people grew their own food. T his helps to show how technology is making us lazy. We don’t have to work to hard at all to get what we want anymore. As crop technology increased by the cultivation of plants, people could grow the same amount of plants but have a higher yield of crops (Wikipedia). Meaning you could do the same amount of work and get nearly twice as much crop as before. As said before laziness is doing less work when capable of doing more. Another source of technology that is making us lazy is the television. TV’s are everywhere nowadays. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years watching television (TV Free America). Clearly people just can’t go without missing their favorite shows. There may be some TV related material that is informational or important, such as the news or government debates. But, all that can also be read about in the newspaper or listened to on the radio. Television is making people lazy by causing them to spend more time inside and less time socializing. Laundry is another

Antigone (1372 words) Essay Example For Students

Antigone (1372 words) Essay AntigoneIn Sophocles Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo characterchanges. During the play the audience sees these two characters attitudeschange from close minded to open-minded. It is their close minded, stubbornattitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a seriesof deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who laterbecomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices,Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive afuneral with military honors because he fought for his country. However,Polyneices, who broke his exile to spill the blood of his father and sellhis own people into slavery, will have no burial. Antigone disagrees withCreons unjust actions and says, Creon is not strong enough to stand in myway. She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of theunderworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brotherand her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Herintent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that shewill follow the laws of the gods. Antigone knows that she is in danger ofbeing killed for her actions and she says, I say that this crime is holy: Ishall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me.Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creons law placed againstPolyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneiceswithout the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall behating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me myfoolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not bethe worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason withAntigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refusesto listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions andthe consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime isjust, yet she does regret being forced to commit it. Antigone now has theability to consider her consequences because her action of burying her brotheris complete. She knows her crime is justified, but her new open-mindedness leadsher to consider the alternative. Even though she knows she will die with honorshe is grieving for the way she was forced to commit a crime to take an actionshe believes is justifiable. This is seem when Antigone says: Soon I shall bewith my own again . . . To me, since it was my hand That washed him clean andpoured the ritual wine: And my reward is death before my time! And yet, asmens hearts knows, I have done no wrong, I have not sinned before God. Or ifI have, I shall know the truth in death. But if the guilt Lies upon Creon whojudged me, then, I pray, May his punishment equal my own. Antigones statementshows open-mindedness because she says she does not believe she has sinned butif she has she will know in death. Before Antigone believed that her actionswere not sinful, but how she shows an open mind. She is also saying if it isCreons fault that she will die then may he die also for sending her unjustlyto her death. Antigone says: Thebes, and you my fathers gods, And rulers ofThebes, you see me now, the last Unhappy daughter of a line of kings, Yourkings, led away to death. You will remember What things I suffer, and at whatmens hands Because I would not transgress the laws of heaven Come: let uswait no longer. She comes from a long line of kings that were fated to diebecause of a curse placed on them. She willingly leaves to die knowing that itis an honorable death. Antigone hangs herself, in the tomb she was placed in byCreon, using a noose of her fine linen veil. Creon, Antigones uncle,experiences a change of close-mindedness to open-mindedness with his actionsthroughout the play. Creons close-minded attitude can be seen when he says:This is my command, and you can see the wisdom behind it. As long as I am king,no traitor is going to be honored with The loyal man. But whoever shows by wordand deed that he Is on the side of the state, he shall have my respect while Heis living, and my reverence when he is dead. Creon is saying that as long as heis king that this is the way it will be, and you can see wisdom behind it. .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .postImageUrl , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:hover , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:visited , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:active { border:0!important; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 { 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; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:active , .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .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; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7 .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue35e4259648e2b375209c5bfb719eeb7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: What Drives History? EssayUnfortunately he is convinced that this is the right way to rule, and it is thisattitude that leads to Creons decline. When Choragos tries to explain whyPolyneices is now buried Creon says: Stop! Must you doddering wrecks Go our ofyour heads entirely? The gods! Intolerable! . . . Is it your senileopinion that the gods love to honor bad men? A pious thought! Creon does notaccept that a higher being could possibly judge Polyneices differently then hehas. This example of close-mindedness shows that Creon compares his views withthose of Greek gods. After learning that Antigone is the person who defied hislaw he says: She has much to learn. The inflexi ble heart breaks first, thetoughest iron Cracks first, and the wildest horses bend their necks At the pullof the smallest curb. This is ironic because he is saying she has an inflexibleheart when in fact he is the one who is stubborn or inflexible. When asked byhis niece what he wants more than her death he says, Nothing. That gives meeverything. The audience gets a continuous look at Creons close-mindedattitude. When he says Antigones death gives him everything he meanseverything in a positive sense. In actuality her death brings him everythingnegative. This is how his close-minded, stubborn attitude leads to his decline. As a result of his inflexibility, he loses Antigone, Haimon, and Eurydice. Afterthe loss of his niece, son and wife, Creons change is sudden. While talkingto Choragos, he tells Creon to, Go quickly: free Antigone from her vault andbuild a tomb for the body of Polyneices. Creons response is contrary tohis earlier stubbornness, It is hard to deny the heart! But I will do it: Iwill not fight with destiny. Creon is now becoming open-minded. He says thathe will no longer fight destiny and this shows that he was not right to punishAntigone in the first place. Another example of Creons change is shown whenthe Messenger says: Take the case of Creon: Creon was happy once, as I counthappiness: Victorious in battle, soul governor of the land, Fortunate father ofchildren nobly born. And now it is all gone from him. This illustrates Creonsdecline due to his stubborn, inflexible attitude. He has lost all of hishappiness, explained by the Messenger, leading towards his decline because ofhis stubbor n personality. The Messenger says, Haimon is dead; and the handthat killed him is his own hand. Choragos response is, His fathers?or his own? The Messenger replies, His own, driven mad by the murder hisfather had done. Haimons suicide is being placed on Creons stubbornmurdering. He also admits to this later when he says, I have killed my sonand my wife. Choragos attempts to explain Creons newfound open mind whenhe says: There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but insubmission to the gods. Big words are always punished, And proud men in old agelearn to be wise. This statement illustrates that Creons big words arepunished by the deaths of his niece, son and wife. Creon learns to be wise or tobecome more open-minded after he is too late to stop the deaths in his family. Creon was a proud man, but with time and consequences he learned to be wise. Antigone is a tragedy that involves the changing attitudes of two characters. Itis through the changes made by Antigone and Creon from close-minded toopen-minded characters that the play becomes a tragedy. With Creons stubbornlaws and Antigones stubborn opinion in the beginning of the play, the tragedymay take place.

Palms Hospital Analysis Essay Example For Students

Palms Hospital Analysis Essay | Palms Hospital| Memo To: From: CC: Date: Re:Ambulatory Surgical Center Executive Summary The Palms Hospital is considering an expansion project that would utilize land previously purchased. By expanding into ambulatory surgical services, the hospital has the opportunity to increase revenues and capture market share in this area. Investigation in the NPV of the project and a scenario analysis reveal that the project would be profitable. Debt Financing This project will most likely involve debt financing. This means that interest expense would occur and should be taken into account in the analysis of the project. Interest expense is a cash expense and is automatically included when the net cash flows are adjusted for the time value of money. If you added interest expense into the cash flows outlays, it would get counted twice. Interest expense affects the amount of income taxes; it must be used in calculating income tax expense before subtracting it from cash flow outlay. Thus, interest expense would be accounted for by the cost of capital since the interest expense would be a cost associated with borrowing money for the project. The 10% cost of capital includes the cost of debt financing. What to do with the Land The $150,000 that the hospital paid for the land five years ago should be considered a sunk cost because it is a cash outlay that already occurred. Since it has been irrevocably committed, it is an outlay that is unaffected by the current decision to accept or reject the proposed ambulatory surgery center. It is a non-incremental cash flow that is not relevant to the analysis. However, now that the land is valued by the market at $200,000, it is an opportunity cost of accepting this project. If the hospital uses the land for the project, it cannot sell the land and therefore $200,000 is foregone. Additionally, if the hospital uses the land for the surgical center, it cannot be used for another project. The value of the land should not be disregarded as there is an opportunity cost inherent in the use of the property. For Palms Hospital, the opportunity cost is the cash flow that could be realized from selling the property. Thus, the ambulatory surgical center should have an opportunity cost of $200,000 charged against it. Overhead Costs The overhead costs that should be included are incremental overhead costs for the hospital associated with the new surgical center. In this case, it states that the hospital’s cash overhead costs will increase by $36,000 annually. Thus, this would be the amount of overhead cost to be included. The case does say that an additional $25,000 would be allocated, but this is a re-distribution of administrative overhead costs and not an incremental addition. Therefore, it should not be included in the project analysis since it is not increasing the hospital’s overall overhead costs. Inpatient Surgery Cannibalization The effect of the surgical center project will have on other business projects should be considered. When the effect is negative, it is called cannibalization, because the project is expected to reduce other revenue sources within the business. The chief of medicine reported that the surgical center would negative impact up to $1,000,000 in cash revenues annually as patients used the new surgical center instead of other services offered by the hospital. This means that the incremental revenues from the new surgical center are the revenues attributable to the new center, less the revenues lost from forgone surgery services. However, expenses should also be considered. The costs saved due to the reduction in patient volume of other surgical services would be a benefit of having the new surgical center. Hence, these cost savings should be considered in the analysis. However, if it is believed that surgical patients would be lost to another entity entering the local ambulatory surgery market, then the loss of these patients would not affect the new surgical project at all because these losses would occur regardless of the project being accepted. Sensitivity Analysis Achondroplasia EssayAlso cash flows expected in the distant future are generally more difficult to forecast than near-term cash flows, so shorter payback projects are generally less risky than those with longer paybacks. Therefore, payback is often used as a rough measure of a project’s liquidity and risk. For Palms Hospital, the payback period is the quickest with best case, followed by the most likely case, then the worst case. Net Present Value, NPV, is a profitability measure that uses the discounted cash flow technique. An NPV of zero signifies that the project’s cash inflows are just sufficient to return the capital invested in the project and provide the required rate of return on that invested capital. If the NPV is positive, then it is generating excess cash flows, and these excess cash flows are available to management to reinvest in the firm. If a project has a negative NPV, its cash inflows will not ever recover the invested capital, so the project is unprofitable and acceptance would cause the financial condition of the business to deteriorate. For Palms Hospital, the NPV is the highest with best case, followed by the most likely case, then the worst case. Internal Rate of Return, IRR, is another profitability measure that yields the project’s profitability or expected rate of return as opposed to the project’s dollar profitability given by NPV. IRR is the discount rate that equates the present value of the project’s expected cash inflows to the present value of the project’s expected cash outflows. If the IRR exceeds the project’s cost of capital, a surplus remains after recovering the invested capital and paying for its use, and this surplus accrues. Reversely, if the IRR is less than the project cost of capital, then taking the project impose a cost on the organization. To have a positive NPV, the project’s IRR must be greater than its cost of capital, and a negative NPV signifies a project with an IRR less than its cost of capital. For Palms Hospital, the IRR is the highest with best case, followed by the most likely case, then the worst case. Projects that are deemed profitable by the NPV method will also be deemed profitable by the IRR method. Therefore, NPV and IRR are perfect substitutes for one another in estimating whether a project is profitable or not. In general, academics prefer the NPV profitability measure. This preference stems from two factors: NPV measures profitability in dollars, which is a direct measure of the contribution of the project to the value of the business, and both the NPV and IRR, because they are discounted cash flow techniques require an assumption about the rate at which project cash flows can be reinvested, and the NPV method has the better assumption – reinvestment at the cost of capital is a better assumption than reinvestment at the IRR rate, so NPV is a theoretically better measure of profitability than IRR. The returns from capital reinvested within the firm are more likely to be around the cost of capital than at the project’s IRR. Typically, an organization can obtain outside capital at a cost roughly equal to the cost of capital so cash flows generated by a project could be replaced by capital having this cost. This was also seen in the case with Palms Hospital and the ambulatory surgical center. Recommendation Upon analyzing the NPV, it is recommended to proceed with the project. The IRR and payback period also reveal the potential profitability of the project. A scenario analysis revealed that the NPV of the project is greatly dependent on the number of procedures performed by the surgical center. The Palms Hospital should ensure that appropriate assumptions were made as to how many procedures could be performed. If competitors are expected to enter, then the hospital should re-evaluate the number of procedure that could be performed and try to capture the bulk of the market. Management needs to be sure that bias hasn’t entered the analysis and overstated the forecasted number of procedures because this would exaggerate the profitability of the project.