Vodafone Group Management of Market Risks

Vodafone Group Management of Market Risks What is the role played by options, futures and forward contracts in managing market risks? The research critically analyzes this through the case study of Vodafone Group Plc. It first identifies the various factors that determine these risks since market risk includes different types of risks like commodity price risks, interest rate fluctuations risks and currency risks. Through the case study, it further aims to evaluate the effectiveness of using above derivatives, in managing market risks. By considering the portfolio of company designed to hedge a particular amount of risk; the research also aims to critically evaluate the individual contributions of each of the above in risk management and also of the portfolio as whole. Introduction: Oxford dictionary defines risk as a situation involving exposure to danger or expose (someone or something valued) to danger, harm, or loss (Oxford Dictionary). For a business entity Risks are connected to possible uncertainties that can result in negative effect on the entity. With the emergence of World Markets and various types of risks, risk management has become an integrated part of firms today. Different types of risks require different methods to handle, prevent or sometimes to absorb and benefit from risks. The downfall of risks has always been highlighted however they do have some arbitrage that results in potential gains. The Basel Committee that was formed in 1974 laid the regulatory framework for Financial Risk Management. (McNeil, Frey and Embrechts, 2005). Basel II (2001) defines Financial Risk Management to be formed of 4 steps: identification of risks into market, credit, operational and other risks; assessment of risks using data and risk model; monitoring and reporting of risk assessments on a timely basis and controlling these identified risks by senior management.'(Alexander, 2005). It thus determines the probability of a negative event taking place and its effects on the entity. Once identified risk can be treated in following manners: Eliminated altogether by simple business practices. These are the risks that are detrimental to the business entity. Transferred to other participants. Actively managed at firm level. (Alexander, 1996). The risks basically depend on the time value of assets. Moreover with the increased level of multinational functioning of business entities and the highly volatile nature of markets, risk management has now become a critical part of running the business. It therefore becomes essential to understand as well as analyze the various factors that determine risks and the preventive measures implemented against them. Also the hedging techniques being considered do not always ensure profits. The research would thereby include a detail study of the effectiveness of the methods implemented. One more important factor is the cost incurred. Risk management incurs certain costs and the process would therefore prove to be futile if the costs incurred don’t offer proportionally benefits. Literature Review: Market Risk constitutes of commodity risk, interest risk and currency risks. Commodity price risk includes the potential change in the price of a commodity. The rising or falling commodity prices affect the producers, traders and the end-users of the various commodities. Moreover if they are traded in foreign currency, there arises the risk of currency exchange rate. These are normally hedged by offering forward or future contracts at fixed rates. This is especially important for commodities like oil, natural gas, gold, electricity etc whose prices are highly volatile in nature. (Berk and Demarzo, 2010) Interest Risk relates to the change in interest rates of bonds, stocks or loans. A rising rate of interest would effectively reduce the price of a bond. Increased interest rates result in increasing the borrowing costs of the firm and thereby reduce its profitability. It is hedged by swaps or by investing in short term securities. Currency risks arise from the exceedingly volatile exchange rates between the currencies of different countries. For e.g. Airbus, an aircraft manufacturing company based in France requires oil for its production. Oil being traded in US dollars and the company doing trading in Euros, has a foreign exchange risk. It would be therefore beneficial for Airbus to enter a forward contract with its oil suppliers. Options are another way of hedging against currency risks. (Berk and Demarzo, 2010). Forward contracts, Futures and Options are called the Financial Derivatives and are used largely to reduce market risks. Walsh David (1995) explains that if two securities have same payoffs in future, they must have same price today. Thus the value of a derivative moves in the same way as that of underlying asset. This is called arbitrage. Hedging of risks is nothing but the holder of an asset has two positions in opposite directions. One is of the derivative and opposite position is on the under-lying asset respectively. As such if the value if the asset decreases then value of the derivative will also decrease. But the change in value is off-set by the opposite positions to each other. Thus risk is reduced. This is called hedging. Long Hedge refers when an investor anticipates increase in market price and therefore buys future contracts. Short Hedge is when an investor already has a futures contract and expects the value of asset to fall and therefore sells it beforehand. (Dubofsky and Miller, 2003) Long Hedge Short Hedge Change in value of position Change in price Change in value of position Change in price Fig.1 Hedging (Dubofsky, D and Miller, T. Jr. 2003) Forward Contracts- These involve buying or selling specific asset at a specific price at a specified time. It is basically a contract between two parties to trade a particular commodity or asset at a particular rate on a specified time. The buyer is said to be in ‘long position’ while the seller hols the ‘short position’. These are Over the Counter (OTC) Derivatives. These are used for locking-in the price and require no cash transfers in the beginning, thereby involve credit risks. Their main feature is the flexibility as forward contracts can be tailored as per the requirements of the traders. They are typically used to hedge the exchange rate risks. (Claessens, 1993) Futures- These are more standardized than the Forward contracts. They are traded at Foreign Exchanges. The standardized contract specifying the asset, price and delivery time is either bought or sold through broker. The delivery price depends on market and determined by the exchange. The default risk in futures is minimized due to clearinghouse. It acts as centred party and does the ‘marking to market’ of traders’ account; by doing profit-loss calculations daily. Initial margin amount is required and futures hence involve margin calls. Minimum credit risk is involved; but being standardized contracts, these cannot be tailored to individual demands. (Hinkelmann and  Swidler, 2004). Futures could be contracts on real assets for e.g. gold, oil, corn etc. or they could also be contracts of financial nature for e.g. currency, interest rates etc. (Tamiso and Freedman, 1995). Fig.2: Hedging through Futures. (Walsh, D. 1995) Options- The holder can buy from or sell to, the asset at a strike rate at a future maturity date. However the holder of the option has no moral obligation to do so. The cost of buying the option involves a premium which is to be paid up front. The option that enables the holder to buy an asset is called Call option while in Put option the holder is able to sell the asset. (Claessens, 1993) These can be bought Over the Counter (OTC) at a bank or can be exchange traded options. An American option could be exercised at any time before it expires. On the contrary, a European option has to be exercised on maturity. Option is normally executed when its strike price is less than price of the stock. However, is the price of the stock is less than the strike price; the holder will not execute the option. Black and Scholes (1973) gave the formula to determine the price of a European option. According to the formula, the value of Call option is given by: where The value of Put option is given by: P = Ke-r (T-t) – S + C = N(-d2) Ke-r (T-t) – N(-d1) S. Where N (.) is a cumulative normal distribution function s- standard deviation of the share price, rf- risk-free interest rate per annum and t- time to expiry (in years). The above formula, also known as the Black-Scholes option pricing model; is based on the assumptions that the stock doesn’t pay any dividends, it is possible to buy or sell even a single share, there are no costs incurred in these transactions and that arbitrage opportunity doesn’t exist. According to Black and Scholes (1973), the option value as a function of the stock price is independent of the expected return of the stock. The expected return of the option, however, will depend upon the expected return of the stock. Hence as the price of underlying asset increases, the price of option will also increase owing to their linear relationship. Black and Scholes (1972) further carried on various empirical tests to validity of the formula. They observed that price paid by the buyers of the option was higher than that shown by the formula. This was mainly because the transaction costs that are incurred are always paid by the buyers of the options. These costs were found to be high for options of high risks and vice-versa. The sellers of options thus got the price that was predicted by the formula. The case study would make use of this formula to determine the value of options held by the company. Walsh David (1995) explains that options have a non-linear relation with payoff. Its payoff increases with the price of the asset if it is in-the-money and has a constant payoff which is the option premium if it is out-of-the-money. On the contrary, futures and forward contracts have a linear relation with the payoffs in both, profit as well as loss. Therefore options might be preferred over futures and forwards for hedging. He further highlights the difference between hedging through futures and forward contracts. While in forward contracts, the company merely sets up a rate for future trading, it doesn’t involve any monetary transfer. Futures however make use of margin account and marking to market is done daily. Hence the results of futures over their time span vary greatly with those of forward contracts. Hence the individual contributions of each to risk management would be calculated during the research. The case study would also include a study the similarities and diff erences in futures, forward contracts and options and their individual effects on risk management. Data and Methodology: Objectives: The research aims to: Increase the understanding of the factors that determine market risks. Understand the haven provided by financial derivatives against these risks. Have a clear understanding of the methods or risk management techniques. Understand the process of risk management. Understand the intricacies of derivative markets. Data and Methodology: The Research is essentially a case study of Vodafone Group Plc. Primary data would include the information of the forward contracts with service providers, options and futures of the company in the market. Secondary data would be Qualitative in nature, comprising online journals, relative case studies and books. The research would be carried out in the following steps: Depending upon the nature of company, determine that factors that would affect the risk faced by the company. Evaluate the percentage of risk faced by the company. Determine the amount of this risk, which the company would want to hedge. The data would then be utilised to determine the amount of risk hedged by each of the above and then determine the total risk hedged by portfolio as whole. Calculate the cost of hedging the risk. Compare and contrast the findings with the defined ‘Effective Risk Management.’ Critically analyze the results. Suggest improvements if any, in the portfolio. Calculate the risk hedged with the suggested changes. Proposed Timetable: Date Activity 6th May, 2011 Submission of final proposal (By) 20th June, 2011 Collection of data as required by case study and start working on calculations. 1st July, 2011 Define the parameters for ‘effective risk management’ and complete calculations. Complete the initial declaration pages of report. 15th July, 2011 Complete the literature review pertaining to case study. Finish report writing till that part. (up to 5000 words) 1st August, 2011 Compare and contrast the findings to the established parameters. Evaluate results. Some more relative literature review. 15th August, 2011 Finish writing the calculations, explaining results. Complete up to 10,000 words of report. 1st September, 2011 Complete the report and submit the first draft for feedback. 15th September, 2011 Redraft using the suggested changes. Final draft for submission 19th September, 2011 Final submission of the report. REFERENCES Alexander, C. (1996). The Handbook of Risk Management and Analysis. West Sussex: John Wiley Sons. Alexander, C. (2005). ‘The Present and Future of Financial Risk Management.’ Journal of Financial Econometrics, 3 (1), pp. 3-25. JSTOR (Online). Available at http://jfec.oxfordjournals.org/ (Accessed: 8th March, 2011). Berk, J and Demarzo, P. (2010). Corporate Finance. 2nd edn. Boston: Pearson. Black, F. and Scholes, M. (May Jun., 1973). ‘The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities.’ The Journal of Political Economy.81 (3) pp. 637-654. JSTOR (Online). Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/1831029.pdf?acceptTC=true (Accessed: 5th May, 2011). Black, F. and Scholes, M. (May 1972). ‘The Valuation of Option Contracts and a Test of Market Efficiency.’ The Journal of Finance.27 (2) pp 399-417. JSTOR (Online). Available at http://www.jstor.org/stable/2978484 (Accessed: 5th May, 2011). Claessens, S (1993). World Bank Technical Paper no 235.Washington DC: The World Bank. Dubofsky, D and Miller, T. Jr. (2003). Derivatives: Valuation and Risk Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hinkelmann, C  Ã‚  Swidler, S.  (2004). ‘Using futures contracts to hedge macroeconomic risk in the public sector.’ Derivatives Use, Trading Regulation.  10(1),  pp. 54-69. ABI/INFORM Global (Online) available at http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0did=679304171SrchMode=2sid=1Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1304643921clientId=18060 (Accessed: 21st March, 2011). McNeil, A.J., Frey, R., Embrechts, P. (2005) Quantitative Risk Management. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. Oxford Dictionary (Online) available at http://oxforddictionaries.com/?attempted=true (Accessed: 21st March, 2011). Tamiso, R. Freedman, R. (1995). ‘Confronting Uncertainty: Intelligent Risk Management with Futures.’ Artificial Intelligence in the Capital Markets: State-of-the-Art Applications for Institutional Investors, Bankers and Traders, Probus Publishing, Chicago. pp. 209-222. Available at http://www.inductive.com/RMR-FUT.pdf . (Accessed: 4th May, 2011). Walsh, David.   (1995). ‘Risk management using derivative securities.’  Managerial Finance.  21(1),  pp. 43. ABI/INFORM Global (Online).  Available at http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=6did=4708471SrchMode=2sid=3Fmt=6VInst=PRODVType=PQDRQT=309VName=PQDTS=1301258415clientId=18060 (Accessed: 27th March, 2011).

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Patti Smith calls the book, Just Kids, a memoir rather than an autobiography. Her book is almost poetic in nature and written in a beautiful and engaging way. From the first pages, the reader is drawn to her words and imagery. In describing one of her first memories, that of a swan on a pond, she says, â€Å"the river emptied into a wide lagoon and I saw upon its surface a singular miracle. A long curving neck rose from a dress of white plumage.†There are, of course many facts about her life as a young, starving artist but generally speaking she is giving the reader many impressions about her life rather than a chronology of the events in her life. The author, Dave Thompson, has written a more factual biography of Patti Smith in the book, Dancing Barefoot: The Patti Smith Story. In analyzing an excerpt from this biography, the reader is left with a somewhat different picture of Patti Smith. In it he describes fairly vividly and in almost a clinical way a less romanticized fami ly life.Here the reader finds out that her father was almost non-existent when she was growing up because he was out working to support his family. Her mother, one learns, is a serious Jehovah Witness. This is a very important point because it gives an important insight into how religion may have shaped her poetry and art in the future. It is interesting that in Just Kids, Patti Smith is very clear in mentioning how her partner, Robert Mapplethorpe is very influenced and almost traumatized by his devout Roman Catholic family.This religious aspect of her own life is not as clearly defined in her memoir. Dave Thompson also mentions how many of the facts about Patti Smith’s early jobs are distorted in her memoir and lets the reader conclude that perhaps the facts are not quite the facts in her own book. Dan Lieberfeld, on the other hand, in his essay, â€Å"Artistic Apprenticeship and Collaboration- Looking Back with Patti Smith,† emphasizes the profound impact that Rober t Mapplethorpe had on Patti Smith.In it, he describes how deep their connection was. In those early years in New York City, they were crucial to each other’s survival. They literally kept each other from starving by saving every penny they had from their poorly-paying jobs. His essay describes them as â€Å"apprentices† to each other as they each sought to become artists. As they supported each other, they also helped each other achieve their dreams of becoming true artists.The essay reflects many of the points and themes that Patti Smith describes in her memoir with great feeling and seems true to her descriptions of events that happened in her life. Patti Smith’s memoir gives an impression of her life with Robert Mapplethorpe and how they both emerged as artists and gives a great picture of the bohemian life they led in the 1970’s. Dan Lieberman’s essay confirms the fundamental principles underlying Patti Smith’s memoir – that Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe were great friends who influenced each other.Dave Thompson’s book puts into question some of the details of Ms. Smith’s life. Does that make her contributions to the world of art and music any less important? Does it make the vivid descriptions of the chaotic art world any less real? The answer is a clear â€Å"no. † The reader may not agree with her lifestyle and even her art. The beauty of her words is real and really describes who she is. Whether she has embellished the facts or omitted some of them, it doesn’t really seem to matter.

Lord of the Flies Chapter 4-6

————————————————- Chapter 4 Summary Life on the island soon develops a daily rhythm. Morning is pleasant, with cool air and sweet smells, and the boys are able to play happily. By afternoon, though, the sun becomes oppressively hot, and some of the boys nap, although they are often troubled by bizarre images that seem to flicker over the water. Piggy dismisses these images as mirages caused by sunlight striking the water. Evening brings cooler temperatures again, but darkness falls quickly, and nighttime is frightening and difficult.The littluns, who spend most of their days eating fruit and playing with one another, are particularly troubled by visions and bad dreams. They continue to talk about the â€Å"beastie† and fear that a monster hunts in the darkness. The large amount of fruit that they eat causes them to suffer from diarrhea and stomach ailments. Although the littluns’ lives are largely separate from those of the older boys, there are a few instances when the older boys torment the littluns. One vicious boy named Roger joins another boy, Maurice, in cruelly stomping on a sand castle the littluns have built.Roger even throws stones at one of the boys, although he does remain careful enough to avoid actually hitting the boy with his stones. Jack, obsessed with the idea of killing a pig, camouflages his face with clay and charcoal and enters the jungle to hunt, accompanied by several other boys. On the beach, Ralph and Piggy see a ship on the horizon—but they also see that the signal fire has gone out. They hurry to the top of the hill, but it is too late to rekindle the flame, and the ship does not come for them. Ralph is furious with Jack, because it was the hunters’ responsibility to see that the fire was maintained.Jack and the hunters return from the jungle, covered with blood and chanting a bizarre song. They carry a dead pig on a stake between them. Furious at the hunters’ irresponsibility, Ralph accosts Jack about the signal fire. The hunters, having actually managed to catch and kill a pig, are so excited and crazed with bloodlust that they barely hear Ralph’s complaints. When Piggy shrilly complains about the hunters’ immaturity, Jack slaps him hard, breaking one of the lenses of his glasses. Jack taunts Piggy by mimicking his whining voice. Ralph and Jack have a heated conversation.At last, Jack admits his responsibility in the failure of the signal fire but never apologizes to Piggy. Ralph goes to Piggy to use his glasses to light a fire, and at that moment, Jack’s friendly feelings toward Ralph change to resentment. The boys roast the pig, and the hunters dance wildly around the fire, singing and reenacting the savagery of the hunt. Ralph declares that he is calling a meeting and stalks down the hill toward the beach alone. Analysis At this point in the novel, the group of boys has lived on the island for some time, and their society increasingly resembles a political state.Although the issue of power and control is central to the boys’ lives from the moment they elect a leader in the first chapter, the dynamics of the society they form take time to develop. By this chapter, the boys’ community mirrors a political society, with the faceless and frightened littluns resembling the masses of common people and the various older boys filling positions of power and importance with regard to these underlings. Some of the older boys, including Ralph and especially Simon, are kind to the littluns; others, including Roger and Jack, are cruel to them.In short, two conceptions of power emerge on the island, corresponding to the novel’s philosophical poles—civilization and savagery. Simon, Ralph, and Piggy represent the idea that power should be used for the good of the group and the protection of the littlunsâ€⠀a stance representing the instinct toward civilization, order, and morality. Roger and Jack represent the idea that power should enable those who hold it to gratify their own desires and act on their impulses, treating the littluns as servants or objects for their own amusement—a stance representing the instinct toward savagery.As the tension between Ralph and Jack increases, we see more obvious signs of a potential struggle for power. Although Jack has been deeply envious of Ralph’s power from the moment Ralph was elected, the two do not come into open conflict until this chapter, when Jack’s irresponsibility leads to the failure of the signal fire. When the fire—a symbol of the boys’ connection to civilization—goes out, the boys’ first chance of being rescued is thwarted. Ralph flies into a rage, indicating that he is still governed by desire to achieve the good of the whole group.But Jack, having just killed a pig, is too excited by his success to care very much about the missed chance to escape the island. Indeed, Jack’s bloodlust and thirst for power have overwhelmed his interest in civilization. Whereas he previously justified his commitment to hunting by claiming that it was for the good of the group, now he no longer feels the need to justify his behavior at all. Instead, he indicates his new orientation toward savagery by painting his face like a barbarian, leading wild chants among the hunters, and apologizing for his failure to maintain the signal fire only when Ralph seems ready to fight him over it.The extent to which the strong boys bully the weak mirrors the extent to which the island civilization disintegrates. Since the beginning, the boys have bullied the whiny, intellectual Piggy whenever they needed to feel powerful and important. Now, however, their harassment of Piggy intensifies, and Jack begins to hit him openly. Indeed, despite his position of power and responsibility in the gro up, Jack shows no qualms about abusing the other boys physically. Some of the other hunters, especially Roger, seem even crueler and less governed by moral impulses.The civilized Ralph, meanwhile, is unable to understand this impulsive and cruel behavior, for he simply cannot conceive of how physical bullying creates a self-gratifying sense of power. The boys’ failure to understand each other’s points of view creates a gulf between them—one that widens as resentment and open hostility set in. ————————————————- Chapter 5 Summary As Ralph walks along the beach, he thinks about how much of life is an improvisation and about how a considerable part of one’s waking life is spent watching one’s feet.Ralph is frustrated with his hair, which is now long, mangy, and always manages to fall in front of his eyes. He decides to call a meeting to attem pt to bring the group back into line. Late in the evening, he blows the conch shell, and the boys gather on the beach. At the meeting place, Ralph grips the conch shell and berates the boys for their failure to uphold the group’s rules. They have not done anything required of them: they refuse to work at building shelters, they do not gather drinking water, they neglect the signal fire, and they do not even use the designated toilet area.He restates the importance of the signal fire and attempts to allay the group’s growing fear of beasts and monsters. The littluns, in particular, are increasingly plagued by nightmare visions. Ralph says there are no monsters on the island. Jack likewise maintains that there is no beast, saying that everyone gets frightened and it is just a matter of putting up with it. Piggy seconds Ralph’s rational claim, but a ripple of fear runs through the group nonetheless. One of the littluns speaks up and claims that he has actually seen a beast.When the others press him and ask where it could hide during the daytime, he suggests that it might come up from the ocean at night. This previously unthought-of explanation terrifies all the boys, and the meeting plunges into chaos. Suddenly, Jack proclaims that if there is a beast, he and his hunters will hunt it down and kill it. Jack torments Piggy and runs away, and many of the other boys run after him. Eventually, only Ralph, Piggy, and Simon are left. In the distance, the hunters who have followed Jack dance and chant.Piggy urges Ralph to blow the conch shell and summon the boys back to the group, but Ralph is afraid that the summons will go ignored and that any vestige of order will then disintegrate. He tells Piggy and Simon that he might relinquish leadership of the group, but his friends reassure him that the boys need his guidance. As the group drifts off to sleep, the sound of a littlun crying echoes along the beach. Analysis The boys’ fear of the beast becomes an increasingly important aspect of their lives, especially at night, from the moment the first littlun claims to have seen a snake-monster in Chapter 2.In this chapter, the fear of the beast finally explodes, ruining Ralph’s attempt to restore order to the island and precipitating the final split between Ralph and Jack. At this point, it remains uncertain whether or not the beast actually exists. In any case, the beast serves as one of the most important symbols in the novel, representing both the terror and the allure of the primordial desires for violence, power, and savagery that lurk within every human soul. In keeping with the overall allegorical nature of  Lord of the Flies,  the beast can be interpreted in a number of different lights.In a religious reading, for instance, the beast recalls the devil; in a Freudian reading, it can represent the id, the instinctual urges and desires of the human unconscious mind. However we interpret the beast, the littlunâ €™s idea of the monster rising from the sea terrifies the boys because it represents the beast’s emergence from their own unconscious minds. As Simon realizes later in the novel, the beast is not necessarily something that exists outside in the jungle.Rather, it already exists inside each boy’s mind and soul, the capacity for savagery and evil that slowly overwhelms them. As the idea of the beast increasingly fills the boys with dread, Jack and the hunters manipulate the boys’ fear of the beast to their own advantage. Jack continues to hint that the beast exists when he knows that it probably does not—a manipulation that leaves the rest of the group fearful and more willing to cede power to Jack and his hunters, more willing to overlook barbarism on Jack’s part for the sake of maintaining the â€Å"safety† of the group.In this way, the beast indirectly becomes one of Jack’s primary sources of power. At the same time, Jack effectiv ely enables the boys themselves to act as the beast—to express the instinct for savagery that civilization has previously held in check. Because that instinct is natural and present within each human being, Golding asserts that we are all capable of becoming the beast. ————————————————- Chapter 6 Summary In the darkness late that night, Ralph and Simon carry a littlun back to the shelter before going to sleep.As the boys sleep, military airplanes battle fiercely above the island. None of the boys sees the explosions and flashes in the clouds because the twins Sam and Eric, who were supposed to watch the signal fire, have fallen asleep. During the battle, a parachutist drifts down from the sky onto the island, dead. His chute becomes tangled in some rocks and flaps in the wind, while his shape casts fearful shadows on the ground. His head seems to rise and fall as th e wind blows. When Sam and Eric wake up, they tend to the fire to make the flames brighter.In the flickering firelight, they see the twisted form of the dead parachutist and mistake the shadowy image for the figure of the dreaded beast. They rush back to the camp, wake Ralph, and tell him what they have seen. Ralph immediately calls for a meeting, at which the twins reiterate their claim that a monster assaulted them. The boys, electrified and horrified by the twins’ claims, organize an expedition to search the island for monsters. They set out, armed with wooden spears, and only Piggy and the littluns remain behind.Ralph allows Jack to lead the search as the group sets out. The boys soon reach a part of the island that none of them has ever explored before—a thin walkway that leads to a hill dotted with small caves. The boys are afraid to go across the walkway and around the ledge of the hill, so Ralph goes to investigate alone. He finds that, although he was frighten ed when with the other boys, he quickly regains his confidence when he explores on his own. Soon, Jack joins Ralph in the cave.The group climbs the hill, and Ralph and Jack feel the old bond between them rekindling. The other boys begin to play games, pushing rocks into the sea, and many of them lose sight of the purpose of their expedition. Ralph angrily reminds them that they are looking for the beast and says that they must return to the other mountain so that they can rebuild the signal fire. The other boys, lost in whimsical plans to build a fort and do other things on the new hill, are displeased by Ralph’s commands but grudgingly obey. AnalysisAs fear about the beast grips the boys, the balance between civilization and savagery on the island shifts, and Ralph’s control over the group diminishes. At the beginning of the novel, Ralph’s hold on the other boys is quite secure: they all understand the need for order and purposive action, even if they do not al ways want to be bothered with rules. By this point, however, as the conventions of civilization begin to erode among the boys, Ralph’s hold on them slips, while Jack becomes a more powerful and menacing figure in the camp.In Chapter 5, Ralph’s attempt to reason with the boys is ineffective; by Chapter 6, Jack is able to manipulate Ralph by asking him, in front of the other boys, whether he is frightened. This question forces Ralph to act irrationally simply for the sake of preserving his status among the other boys. This breakdown in the group’s desire for morality, order, and civilization is increasingly enabled—or excused—by the presence of the monster, the beast that has frightened the littluns since the beginning of the novel and that is quickly assuming an almost religious significance in the camp.The air battle and dead parachutist remind us of the larger setting of  Lord of the Flies: though the boys lead an isolated life on the island, we know that a bloody war is being waged elsewhere in the world—a war that apparently is a terrible holocaust. All Golding tells us is that atom bombs have threatened England in a war against â€Å"the reds† and that the boys were evacuated just before the impending destruction of their civilization. The war is also responsible for the boys’ crash landing on the island in the first place, because an enemy aircraft gunned down their transport plane.Although the war remains in the background of  Lord of the Flies,  it is nevertheless an important extension of the main themes of the novel. Just as the boys struggle with the conflict between civilization and savagery on the island, the outside world is gripped in a similar conflict. War represents the savage outbursts of civilization, when the desire for violence and power overwhelms the desire for order and peace. Even though the outside world has bestowed upon the boys a sense of morality and order, the danger o f savagery remains real even within the context of that seemingly civilized society that has nurtured them.

Ladies Home Journal Sit-In of 1970 Feminsts Take Over

Many people hear the term â€Å"sit-in† and think of the Civil Rights Movement or opposition to the Vietnam War. But feminists held sit-ins, too, advocating for women’s rights and a variety of specific goals. On March 18, 1970, feminists staged the Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in. At least a hundred women marched into the Ladies’ Home Journal office to protest the way the magazine’s mostly male staff depicted women’s interests. Ironically, the magazines motto was â€Å"Never Underestimate the Power of a Woman. Taking Over the Magazine Feminists involved in the Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in were members of groups such as Media Women, New York Radical Women, NOW, and Redstockings. The organizers called on friends - including reporters, film students and law students - to help with logistics and advice for the day’s protest. The Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in lasted all day. The protesters occupied the office for 11 hours. They presented their demands to editor-in-chief John Mack Carter and senior editor Lenore Hershey, who was one of the only female members of the editorial staff. The feminist protesters brought a mock magazine titled the â€Å"Women’s Liberated Journal† and displayed a banner reading â€Å"Women’s Liberated Journal† from the office windows. Why Ladies’ Home Journal? Feminist groups in New York objected to most of the women’s magazines of the day, but they decided on a Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in because of its sizable circulation (over 14 million readers per month at the time) and because one of their members used to work there. The leaders of the protest were able to enter the offices with her in advance to scout out the location.   Glossy Women’s Magazine Issues Women’s magazines were often a target of feminist complaints. The Women’s Liberation Movement objected to stories that focused constantly on beauty and housework while perpetuating the myths of the patriarchal establishment. One of the most famous running columns in Ladies Home Journal was called Can This Marriage Be Saved?, in which women wrote in for advice on their troubled marriages and received advice from the magazines mostly male writers. Many of the wives writing in were in abusive marriages, but the magazines advice typically blamed them for not making their husbands happy enough. Radical feminists wanted to protest the domination of the magazines by men and advertisers (who were also mostly men). For example, women’s magazines made vast amounts of money from ads for beauty products; the shampoo companies insisted on running articles such as â€Å"How to Wash Your Hair and Keep it Shiny† next to the hair care ads, thus ensuring a cycle of profitable advertising and editorial content. Womens lives had changed significantly since the magazine debuted in 1883, but the content continued to focus on domesticity and patriarchal notions of female subservience. The feminists at the Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in had a number of demands, including: Hire a female editor-in-chief and an all-female editorial staffHave women write columns and articles, to avoid inherent male biasHire non-white women according to the percentage of minorities in the U.S. populationRaise the women’s salariesProvide free day care on the premises, since the magazine claims to care about women and childrenOpen editorial meetings to all employees, to eliminate the traditional power hierarchyStop running ads that degrade women or ads from companies that exploit womenStop running articles tied in to advertisingEnd the â€Å"Can this Marriage be Saved?† column New Article Ideas The feminists came to the Ladies’ Home Journal sit-in with suggestions for articles to replace the mythical happy homemaker and other shallow, deceptive pieces. Susan Brownmiller, who participated in the protest, recalls some of the feminists’ suggestions in her book In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution. Their suggested article titles included: How to Get a DivorceHow to Have an OrgasmWhat to Tell Your Draft-Age SonHow Detergents Harm Our Rivers and StreamsHow Psychiatrists Hurt Women—and Why These ideas obviously contrasted the usual messages of women’s magazines and their advertisers. Feminists complained that the magazines pretended single parents did not exist and that household consumer products somehow led to righteous happiness. And the magazines definitely avoiding talking about powerful issues such as women’s sexuality or the Vietnam War. Results of the Sit-In After the Ladies’ Home Journal sit in, editor John Mack Carter refused to resign from his job, but he agreed to let the feminists produce a portion of an issue of Ladies’ Home Journal, which appeared in August 1970 and included articles such as â€Å"Should This Marriage Be Saved?† and â€Å"Your Daughter’s Education.†Ã‚  He also promised to look into the feasibility of an on-site day care center. A few years later in 1973, Lenore Hershey became the editor-in-chief of Ladies’ Home Journal, and since then, all the editors-in-chief have been women: Myrna Blyth succeeded Hershey in 1981, followed by Diane Salvatore (ed. 2002-2008) and Sally Lee (2008-2014). In 2014, the magazine ceased its monthly publication and shifted to a quarterly special-interest publication.