An Economic Analysis of Groundwater Development vis-à-vis Resource Use Efficiency in Tank Command Areas.

An Economic Analysis of Groundwater Development visvis Resource Use Efficiency in Tank Command Areas. Free Online Research Papers ABSTRACT: Out of total farmers 75 per cent were cultivating rice in tank command areas. The rest of the farmers cultivated other crops and hence resource use efficiency has been estimated for rice crop alone. Among the rice growers 27 per cent of farmers have raised rice with tank water alone while the rest applied both tank water and well water. The analysis was done for two situations i) tank water alone and ii) tank cum well water application. The total cost of rice cultivation using only tank water was Rs 16016/- per hectare and tank cum well water situation, the total cost of rice cultivation was Rs 24628/- per hectare. The Mean Technical Efficiency (MTE) was calculated to be 0.3996 for only tank water using farmers. It indicated that the technical efficiency of rice farmers were only 39.96 per cent and yield of rice could be increased by 60.04 per cent more by adopting a technically efficient plan without any increase in cost. The Mean Technical Efficiency (MTE) was calculated to be 0.6248 for tank cum well water users. It indicated that technical efficiency of rice farmers was only 62.48 per cent and yield of rice could be increased by 37.52 per cent more by adopting a technically efficient plan without any increase in cost. Introduction The important factor in agricultural development in India is going to be efficient use of available water resources for crop production. The increasing need for crop production due to growing population led to the rapid expansion of irrigation throughout the world. Historically, groundwater is an important source of irrigation of India. Its contribution in enhancing agricultural production was better realized during the green revolution period. However, in the race for increasing agricultural production, its over–exploitation and mismanagement had resulted in several problems like fluctuations in water table and increase in depth of wells. Indian agriculture received the highest priority in irrigation development in successive Five-Year Plans. The irrigated area increased from 20 million ha in 1950-51 to 57.3 million ha in 1999-2000. With the advent of new agricultural technology in mid 1960s, several incentives (like electrification, bank credit, etc.) were given to the groundwater development. The area under groundwater irrigation, which was less than six million ha in 1959-60, went up to 18 million ha in 1980-81 to 33 million ha in 1999-2000. More than half of the total irrigation is done through groundwater. The share of groundwater in total irrigated area increased from 30 per cent in 1960-61 to 58.77 per cent in 1999-2000. Most of the groundwater development came through private investment. The area under groundwater is increasing progressively as this is the most reliable and cost-effective source of irrigation (Joshi, 2002). This paper is based on the MSc (Agri.) of the first author. Thesis was submitted by the author (Venkatesh.G. 2003) to the Department of Agricultural Economics, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore. The major sources of irrigation in India are tanks, canals and wells. The tanks have existed in India from time immemorial, and have been an important source of irrigation, particularly, in South India where it accounts for about one-third of the rice irrigated area. (Palanisami et al., 2001) The recent estimate places the actual number of tanks in Tamil Nadu at 34,000, the remaining 5,000 plus has just disappeared over the past 15 years, so because of a variety of reasons during the 1980’s. Though there are several studies on tank irrigation and its problems, studies on groundwater development and resource use efficiency of rice in tank command areas are limited. However, in this paper we attempt to study the resource use efficiency in rice cultivation and returns to supplemental irrigation in tank command areas. In particular, we employ the stochastic frontier production techniques to measure technical efficiency of rice. The study proceeds as follows Section I explains the methodology used in the study. Data, model and variables are discussed in section II. Section III provides the empirical results and the final section (IV) summarizes the findings and suggests policy implications. Section I Methodology The measurement of efficiency was the main motivation for the study of frontier. The technical efficiency literature begins with Farrell (1957), employed a deterministic approach in which he estimated a cost frontier by using linear programming (LP), requiring all observations to lie on or above the frontier. Aigner and Chu (1968) translated Farrell’s cost frontier into a production frontier, since outlier observations under a deterministic approach seriously affect the problem, by using a probabilistic frontier function. This approach deletes outlier observations, one at a time, to avoid spurious errors due to extreme observations, until the estimated coefficients stabilize. Then, Timmer’s (1971) approach yields a frontier, which is probabilistic rather than deterministic or stochastic. Later Aigner et al., (1977) developed a stochastic frontier model and key feature of the model was that the disturbance term is composed of two parts, one symmetric and the other â₠¬Ëœone-sided’. A symmetric disturbance term is normally distributed component permits random variation of the frontier across firms and captures the effect of measurement error, other statistical noises and random shocks outside the firm’s control. A one-sided error component captures the effect of inefficiency relative to the stochastic frontier. Parameters of the stochastic frontier may be estimated by the Maximum Likelihood Estimate (MLE) or Corrected Ordinary Least Square (COLS), method if the probability function for symmetric and one-sided components of the error term is specified. A number of comprehensive literature reviews are available, such as Battese (1992), Kalirajan Shand (1994), Mythilli Shanmugam (2000), Tim Coelli et al., (2002) and Shanmugam K.R (2003) A (linear) stochastic frontier model is specified as Y = f (X1,X2,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Xn) + (v ? u) Where, v is the symmetric error component causing the deterministic part of the production frontier f (X1, X2†¦Xn) to vary across the firms. Technical efficiency relative to the stochastic production frontier is captured by the one-sided error component (? depending on whether one specifies a production or cost frontier), u?0. Given the density functions for u and v the frontier function defined above may be estimated by maximum likelihood techniques. While several distributions can be considered for the term u, the statistical estimation of the frontier model combining both u and v usually leads only to the estimation of average technical efficiency of the sample observations since their combined effects could not be separated under such general assumptions. However, individual observation specific-technical efficiency measures are more useful from a policy viewpoint. The approach to identify firm specific technical efficiency requires some estimators that allow for separating the effects of the one-sided error term u from the combined effects of u and v using the estimated frontier functions. Therefore, the problem is to predict ui under the assumption that ui+vi is known. The best predictor of an unknown random variable (ui) under the value of the combined random variables ui+vi is the minimum mean squared error predictor given by the conditional expectation of ui. Assuming a half normal distribution for ui and normal distribution for vi, the frontier model becomes Y=f (X1,X2,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Xn) + (v ? u) where, u = ? u ? and u ?N ?0, ?2u ? and v ? N ?0, ?2v ? The components of the disturbance term are assumed to be independent and the frontier is assumed to be linear in above case. (In case of multiplicative models the ?(v-u) component is expressed as exp (v-u)). Now, the firm or observation specific ui can be estimated as E? u i? ( ui + vi )?= ?u ?v /? ? f(.) / (1-F(.) -?( ui + vi ) / / (1-? )? 1/2? Where f(.) and F(.) are standard normal density and distribution functions evaluated at ?(ui+vi) / ? ? ? ? /1-? ? 1/2, ? = ?2u / ?2 and ?2= ?2u+?2v Alternatively, E (u? e) =/ (1+?2)? ? f (E? / ?) / F (E? / ?) E? / Where ?=?2u / ?2v One advantage of estimating the frontier production that is possible to find out whether the farmers deviation of yield from frontier is mainly because they did not use the best practical technique or due to external random factors. Thus, one can say whether the difference between the actual yield obtained and the frontier yield, if any, occurred accidentally or not. Following Battese and Coelli (1988), when output is measured in logarithms, the farm-specific technical efficiency can be estimated as: TEi = Exp (-ui) i = 1,2,3†¦n, 0 ? TEi ?1 The variance ratio ?, explaining the total variation in output from the frontier level of output attributed to technical efficiencies, can be computed as: ?= ?2u /?2 Where ?2 = ?2u+?2v and 0 ? ? ? 1 ? is an indicator of relative variability of ui and vi met differentiates the actual yield obtained from the frontier. There are two interesting points about ? 1) When ?2v is tends to zero, which implied that vi is the predominant error, then the ?=1. This means that the farmer’s yield difference from the maximum feasible yield mainly because he did not use the best practice technique. 2) When ?2u are tends to zero, which implies that the symmetric error term vi the predominant error, ? is tending to zero. This means that the farmer’s yield difference from the frontier yield is mainly because of either technical error or external factors not under his control. Direct estimates of the stochastic production function frontier model may be obtained by Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) method. In this study MLE method is used to estimate (as was used by Olsen et al., (1980): and Banik Arindam (1994)). Measurement of technical efficiency has been attempted across crops such as Rice (e.g. Kalirajan Shand 1994; Mythili Shanmugam 2000); tea (e.g. Hazarika Subramanian 1999); rice, groundnut and cotton (Shanmugam 2003); and coffee, orange, banana and pepper (e.g. Venkatesh et al., 2005). Section II Data model and variables used in the study The study area was Sivaganga District, Southern Region of Tamil Nadu, which has more number of tanks, has been purposefully selected as study area. Multi-stage Stratified Random sampling was used. In study area Sivaganga District, Sivaganga Taluk (Stage I) was selected and in that taluk four tanks were selected from PWD management and two were selected from PU maintenance based on command area of the tank (Stage II). So, six villages are benefited by the chosen tanks, namely Namanur, Kovanur, Panaiur, Mudikondon, Valuthani and Salur. Twenty farmers from each of the mentioned villages were randomly selected (Stage III). On the total 120 respondents were interviewed. Rice was the major cereal crop in this district. Therefore, rice crop was chosen for further analysis. The survey was conducted during the year 2002-2003. The empirical model consists of single stage. In that stage, the stochastic frontier production function was estimated. For that purpose, the Cobb-Douglas production function was employed and which is given by: Cobb-Douglas production function was used to estimate the resource use efficiency. Y = bo X1b1X2b2X3b3X4b4 X5b5U Where, Y = Rice yield in quintals per ha X1 = Area under rice in ha. X2 = Fertilizer applied (N+P+K kgs per ha) X3 = Labour mandays per ha X4 = Expenditure on bullock, machinery power, seeds and pesticides (Rs. per ha) X5 = Irrigation (ha cm) bo = Intercept bi = 1,2,3,4, and 5 are production elasticities. U = Error term Section III Empirical Results Distribution of Land Holdings of the Sample Farmers in the Study Area It could be seen from the Table 1 that out of 120 sample farmers 56.7 per cent were marginal farmers, while 32.5 per cent were small farmers and the remaining 10.8 per cent belonged to big farmers’ group. Table 1. Distribution of Land Holdings of the Sample Farmers in the Study Area Name of the Village Category of farmers Marginal (2.5ha) Namanur 6 10 4 Kovanur 15 3 2 Mudikondum 10 7 3 Panaiyur 11 8 1 Valuthani 9 8 3 Salur 17 3 0 Total 68 (56.7) 39 (32.5) 13 (10.8) Figures in parentheses indicate percentage to total Distance of Sample Farms from Sluice of Tanks Distance from sluice is very important to get water for field and also the distance decides the number of supplemental irrigation to be applied. The requirement of supplemental irrigation is less if the fields are nearer to head of the Tank and vice versa. The distances of farmers’ field from sluice of tanks are presented in Table 2. The distribution of farmers among the head, middle and tail end reach of the tank sluices were 38, 37 and 45 respectively. This clearly showed that majority of the farmers field were located at tail end of the tank sluice and the rest were equally distributed between head and middle reach from sluice. Table 2. Distance of Sample Farms from Sluice of Tanks Villages Head (< 400 m) Middle (401-800 m) Tail (> 801 m) Namanur 5 5 10 Kovanur 6 7 7 Mudikondum 8 7 5 Panaiyur 4 6 10 Valuthani 9 6 5 Salur 6 6 8 Total 38 37 45 Well Details of Sample Farmers Details about wells owned by farmers are furnished in Table 3. Generally farmers owned open wells and open cum bore wells. Namanur village had more number of open wells numbering 10, while it was only one in Mudikondum village. The open cum bore wells were maximum in Salur village and they were least in Kovanur village. The average depth of wells was the highest in Salur village (18.8 m) and the least in Mudikondum village (12.7 m) Average pumping hours of irrigation water from wells was the highest in Salur village (8 hours) during monsoon season and the least in Panaiyur village (5.10 hours per day). During non-monsoon season, the average pumping hours were the highest in Mudikondum village with 3.10 hours per day while it was the least in Panaiyur village (2.05 hours per day). The difference in pumping hours between monsoons was the highest in Salur village (5.50 hours per day) and the least in Namanur village (3.00 hours per day). Table 3. Well Details of Sample Farmers Name of the Villages No of Open wells No of Open cum bore wells Total no of wells Average depth of well (m) Average pumping (in hours/day) Monsoon Season (Sep-Dec) Non season (Jan-Aug) Difference between Monsoon and non-monsoon seasons Namanur 10 6 16 13.0 5.15 2.15 3.00 Kovanur 5 1 6 13.6 6.00 2.00 4.00 Mudikondum 1 8 9 12.7 7.20 3.10 4.10 Panaiyur 7 4 11 13.6 5.10 2.05 3.05 Valuthani 7 2 9 13.6 7.15 2.33 4.82 Salur 0 13 13 18.8 8.00 2.50 5.50 Periodicity of Digging of Wells It could be seen from the Table 4, that during 1980-90’s 38.1 per cent of wells were dug by the farmers. Twenty-four wells out of 63 wells were dug during this period. Next to this 31.7 per cent of wells were dug during 1970-80’s. During 1990-2000, 20.6 per cent of wells were dug and the rest were dug before 1970’s. There was no well digging activity after 2000. Thus, two third of wells were dug during 1970 to 1990 and thereafter there had been a slow down in well digging activity. Table 4. Periodicity of Digging of Wells (No. of wells) Name of the Village Before 1970 1970-1980 1980-1990 1990-2000 After 2000 Total Namanur 2 6 5 3 16 Kovanur 3 1 2 6 Mudikondam 3 5 1 9 Panaiyur 2 3 4 2 11 Valuthani 1 2 5 8 Salur 1 3 4 5 13 Total 6 20 24 13 63 Per cent (9.5) (31.7) (38.1) (20.6) (100.0) Average Annual Decline of Water Table It could be seen from the Table 5 that the average annual decline of water table was the highest in Salur village, with 0.396 m which indicated that more number of farmers resorted to groundwater use in that village. In Panaiyur and Kovanur villages the annual decline in groundwater table was 0.280 m. The least groundwater decline was recorded in Mudikondum with 0.163 m during the reference period. Table 5. Average Depth and Decline of Water Table Name of the Village Water Table (in mm) Average annual decline of water table (in meters) 1990 1995 2003 Namanur 9.7 11.2 13.0 0.256 Kovanur 10.0 10.9 13.6 0.280 Mudikondum 10.6 11.2 12.7 0.163 Panaiyur 10.0 11.5 13.6 0.280 Valuthani 10.2 11.2 13.6 0.221 Salur 13.6 15.8 18.8 0.396 Sample Households’ Participation in Groundwater Sales It could be seen from Table 6 that in all the selected villages, own well water users were more in number because of demand for water for own-cultivation. Groundwater sellers sold it to neighbours because of the following reasons. 1) The lands belonging to small and marginal belonged to the poor farmers’ category do not have wells, in such a situation; well owners sold water to them. 2) The sellers reduced their own demand for water by reducing the number of irrigations, and the water thus saved was sold to other farmers. Cost of well water varied among the villages. Also, it depended on whether the well water was pumped with electric motor or oil engine. It ranged from Rs. 20/- to Rs. 50/- for wells fitted with electric motor and oil motor. The price of well water per hour was high in Namanur village, (Rs.25/-) and low in Salur village (Rs.15/-). In wells fitted with oil motor, the farmers sold well water for Rs. 35/- to Rs. 50/- per hour which was the highest in Namanur village (Rs.50/-) and the least in Salur village (Rs. 35). There was neither selling nor buying of well water in Kovanur and Mudikondum villages because of high salt content in water. Table 6. Sample Households’ Participation in Groundwater Sales Name of the Village Own users Sellers Buyers Water charge of irrigation water with Electric motor (Rs/hr) with Oil motor (Rs/hr) Namanur 9 7 4 25 50 Kovanur* 6 Mudikondam* 9 Panaiyur 7 4 8 15-20 40-50 Valuthani 9 4 6 20 40 Salur 5 5 7 15 35 * No groundwater market emerged Resource Use Efficiency Out of 120 farmers, 100 were cultivating rice in tank command areas. The rest of the farmers cultivated other crops and hence resource use efficiency has been restricted for rice crop alone. Among the rice growers, 27 per cent of farmers have raised rice with tank water alone while the rest applied both tank and well water. The Cobb-Douglas production function was estimated as specified for rice growers with tank water alone as well as tank water plus well water and the results are presented in Table 7. In case of tank water users alone, the co-efficient of multiple determinations was 0.897 which indicated that 89 per cent of variations in rice yield have been attributed by the independent variables included in the function and it was significant at one per cent probability level. Among the independent variables included in the function, area under rice and tank water application had significantly influenced rice yield at one per cent probability level. The partial regression coefficients revealed that elasticity of production for area under rice was 6.039 and 0.0393 for tank water application respectively. The production function estimated for rice growers applying both tank and well water revealed that 77.80 per cent variation in rice yield was explained by independent variables included in the function and the function as a whole was significant at one per cent probability level. Among the explanatory variables included, the area under rice and well water application significantly influenced the rice yield at one per cent probability level while the other expenditures significantly influenced the rice yield at five per cent probability level. This showed that the availability of well water had encouraged farmers to spend more on seed, pesticides and machineries. The estimated partial regression coefficients showed the elasticity of production due to land; well water application and other expenditures were respectively 2.598, 0.276 and 0.0007. The elasticities of production indicated that tank water, well water and other expenditures were less than one and were operating in the second zone of production. On the other hand, the elasticity of production for area under rice was more than one for both tank water users and tank and well water users. This showed that there is scope for increasing rice production through expansion of area in Sivaganga district provided the water is made available either in-sittu conditions or water application deliberately and crop management methods. Table 7. Cobb-Douglas Production Function for Farms using Tank Water alone and Tank cum Well Water Sl.No. Particulars Estimated partial regression co-efficients Tank water alone Tank and well water 1 Constant 5.4868 (10.2229) 5.6996 (6.2736) 2 Area under rice in ha 6.0359* (1.3542) 2.5984* (0.6899) 3 Fertilizer (N+P+K) in kg per ha 0.1090 (0.0398) 0.0934 (0.0189) 4 Labour man days per ha 0.2045 (0.1731) 0.1324 (0.173) 5 Expenditure on bullock, machine power, seeds and pesticides (Rs per ha) 0.0019 (0.0007) 0.0007** (0.0003) 6 Tank Irrigation (ha cm) 0.0393* (0.0454) 0.0289 (0.130) 7 Well irrigation (ha cm) NA 0.2762* (0.0906) N 27 73 R2 0.897* 0.778* Figures in parentheses indicate standard errors * Significant at 1 % level of probability ** Significant at 5% level of probability Resource Use Efficiency of Rice Growers Resource use efficiency of rice growers have been worked out for the resources which had significantly influenced the rice yield (Table 8). The ratio of VMP of resource to their price indicated that for farmers using only tank water, both of the area and tank water resource are over utilized. The ratio of VMP of resources to their price estimated for farmers using tank cum well also indicated the over utilization of land and other expenditures whereas underutilization of well water. Table 8. Resource Use Efficiency of Rice Growers A. Tank water alone VMP Px VMP/Px Land 4.57 1500* 0.003 Tank Irrigation 0.99 4 0.25 B. Tank cum well water Land 2.5 1500* 0.002 Well Irrigation 15.16 15 1.01 Other expenditures. 0.58 912.0 0.0007 * Rental value of land was taken as the price of land Marginal product=Elasticity* Geometric mean VMP valued at output price of rice Maximum Likelihood Estimator Method for Production Function for Farms using Tank Water alone and Tank cum Well Water It could be seen from the Table 9 that the estimated discrepancy parameter (?) was 0.9703 and 0.9521 for tank water alone and tank cum well water application respectively. This implied that deviation in the output from the frontier yield was mainly due to technical inefficiency at the farmers’ level. The Mean Technical Efficiency was 0.3996 and 0.6248 respectively for tank water alone and tank cum well water applying farms. This implied that yield was 60 percent less than the maximum possible output for only tank water using farmers and 38 per cent less than the maximum possible output for tank cum well water using farmers. The low technical efficiency was due to inadequate water during crop period in the former category. Besides uncertainty in rainfall and poor filling of tanks had led to these problems. Table 9. Maximum Likelihood Estimator Method for Production Function for Farms using Tank Water alone and Tank cum Well Water Sl.No. Particulars Estimated partial regression coefficients Tank water alone Tank and well water 1 Constant 6.5177 (7.1483) 6.2553 (4.7527) 2 Area under paddy in ha 4.9367* (1.1734) 2.6494** (1.1245) 3 Fertilizer (N+P+K) in kg per ha 0.1035 (0.0246) 0.0604* (0.0156) 4 Labour man days per ha 0.1126** (0.0578) 0.0232** (0.0093) 5 Expenditure on bullock power, machine power, seeds and pesticides (Rs per ha) 0.0009 (0.0007) 0.0013* (0.0005) 6 Tank Irrigation (ha cm) 0.0429* (0.0129) 0.0304 (0.0689) 7 Well irrigation (ha cm) NA 0.6742* (0.1603) 8 ?2u 1.7776 0.6788 9 ?2v 0.0544 0.0342 10 ?=?u / ?v 5.7153 4.4559 11 ?=?2u/ (?2u +?2v) 0.9703 0.9521 12 MTE=1- ?u?2/? 0.3996 0.6248 Figures in parentheses indicate standard errors * 1% level of significant level ** 5% level of significant level NA : Not Applied Technical Efficiencies of Rice Growers The farm specific technical efficiency is furnished in Table 10. It was found that a majority of farmers (55.6 per cent) using only tank water were operating at 40-50 per cent technical efficiency level. On the contrary, majority of the farmers (52.1 per cent) using tank cum well water, were operating at 70-80 per cent technical efficiency and 15.1 per cent of farmers were operating most efficient category (80-90 percent). This indicated that there is scope to improve the productivity of the rice farmers. Identification of farms, which lead to variation in the farm specific technical efficiency, is an important issue for formulating strategies to increase the productivity. Farms Irrigated by Tank water alone Figure 1 Technical Efficiency of Tank water alone irrigated Farmers Farms Irrigated by Tank water and well water Figure 2 Technical Efficiency of Tank and well water irrigated Farmers Table 10. Technical Efficiencies of Rice Producing Farmers (in numbers) Sl.No. Technical efficiency of Rice growers Only tank water using farmers Tank and well water using farmers 1

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Supply and Demand Simulation Essay Supply and demand is considered a basic economic concept, as well as a vital part of a free market economy. In whereas supply is the amount of something, such as a product or service, demand is the amount of the product or service that buyers want to purchase. The relationship between supply and demand has a good deal of influence on the price of goods and services. In the scenario, a number of factors, including price increases or decreases, cause change in supply and demand. For example, a decrease in the rental price of two roomed apartments caused an increase in the demand of houses by a significant margin. A rise in the population of Atlantis led to a greater demand for housing which in turn contributed to the rise in rental prices as demand-outstripped supply. As a consequence, the suppliers were eager to supply more units at improved rental prices. When the population decreased, the demand for housing fell and the available units were leased out at low prices. Naturally, the suppliers were not very keen to supply all their units to the market at depressed prices. Available substitutes affect the demand and supply of a commodity. A number of people in Atlantis owned homes in the suburbs and did not need to rent houses in the town. The demand for houses dropped and this forced the suppliers to cut back on supply or reduce rents in bid to attract more clients. Consumer tastes and preferences affect the supply and demand of goods and services in the market When consumer trends shifted from two roomed apartments to detached houses, the shift in demand for apartments fell while the demand for detached houses rose. As a result, suppliers increased the supply of detached houses. Under free market conditions, a negative shift in demand results in lower quantities demanded and as such, suppliers are inclined to reduce supply. A positive shift in demand leads to a rise in quantities demanded and a positive shift in supply as supplier’s position themselves to take advantage of higher prices. As a supplier, the lower the price, the less I will supply to the market in a bid to push up prices when demand increases. With a rise  in demand, supplying more units to the market would make more profits by charging higher rents. The simulation focused on the following key points: The equilibrium price and quantity, Shifts in demand, Shifts in supply, and Changes in price. The concepts of demand and supply, as demonstrated in the simulation, instruct one how to respond to changes due to shifts in market fundamentals. Whenever there is a change in demand due to any of the factors affecting it, an entrepreneur should be quick to respond appropriately to maintain one’s share of the market. This may involve lowering of the price and a reduction in the number of units supplied. In the event that demand rises, the supplier should increase supply to realize higher profits from increased sales at higher prices. When government authorities impose price restrictions, a supplier should only supply that number of units that correspond to the restricted price as determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. In regards to my results of the simulation, my vacancy rate was constant 12 % that generated total revenues of $ 1.8 million. Battling the rise and demand, I opted for those rents that equaled the equilibrium price as determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. With the imposition of a price ceiling, I chose the quantity supplied that equaled that quantity determined by the intersection of the supply and demand curves at the predetermined price. The underlying criteria I adopted for deciding on a particular price was the concept of equilibrium; I decided that the market forces of demand and supply are the best determinants of what is optimal for both producers and consumers.

The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children :: Essays Papers

The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children Children are spending an increasing amount of time playing games. Research shows that as much as 92% of children between 4 and 17 years of age play video games (Zvezdan, 1). Most of these video games are violent and cause physical and mental problems in children. Computer games that are played excessively can damage a person’s health. They can cause epilepsy, damage to a child’s posture, and damage to joints, skin irritation and sight deterioration. Flashing of lights and the radiant energy of the images from the screen can trigger seizures (Randall, 1). Seizures can lead an individual to develop epilepsy. Epilepsy causes a kind of electrical storm in the brain. The most common type of epilepsy is called grand mal (â€Å"Epilepsy,† 194). It causes a sudden loss of consciousness and wild jerking of arms, legs and other parts of the body. Another adverse effect of playing computer games is crooked posture. Crooked posture is one of the most common medical problems connected to playing video games. In fact there is a huge number of children in junior high and high schools that have a crooked posture as a result of playing computer games (Zvezdan, 1). Having a crooked posture can lead to permanent spinal damage. D amage to joints or tendonitis is just another factor that comes with playing computer games excessively. The constant repetition of the same movements to hands induces damage to joints and skin irritation (Zvezdan, 1). Another effect of playing computer games is deterioration of eyesight. Hours staring at the screen, which displays rapidly flashing pictures, can impair sight. Some other physical problems caused by computer games are lack of exercise and psychomotor disorders (Setzer, 3). With lack of exercise, the buildup of fat increases causing a person to become obese. Recent news articles claim, â€Å"some children addicted to electronic games spoke too fast with limited sense, feeling or contents in their speech.†(Setzer, 3) Unable to speak properly would hold children back from excelling in their studies. The mental effects of playing violent games are just as numerous as the physical effects. Excessively playing violent computer games over along period of time can contribute to â€Å"obsessive, addictive behavior,† the player will be dehumanized, and feelings will be desensitized (Setzer, 1). The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children :: Essays Papers The Effects of Violent Computer Games on Children Children are spending an increasing amount of time playing games. Research shows that as much as 92% of children between 4 and 17 years of age play video games (Zvezdan, 1). Most of these video games are violent and cause physical and mental problems in children. Computer games that are played excessively can damage a person’s health. They can cause epilepsy, damage to a child’s posture, and damage to joints, skin irritation and sight deterioration. Flashing of lights and the radiant energy of the images from the screen can trigger seizures (Randall, 1). Seizures can lead an individual to develop epilepsy. Epilepsy causes a kind of electrical storm in the brain. The most common type of epilepsy is called grand mal (â€Å"Epilepsy,† 194). It causes a sudden loss of consciousness and wild jerking of arms, legs and other parts of the body. Another adverse effect of playing computer games is crooked posture. Crooked posture is one of the most common medical problems connected to playing video games. In fact there is a huge number of children in junior high and high schools that have a crooked posture as a result of playing computer games (Zvezdan, 1). Having a crooked posture can lead to permanent spinal damage. D amage to joints or tendonitis is just another factor that comes with playing computer games excessively. The constant repetition of the same movements to hands induces damage to joints and skin irritation (Zvezdan, 1). Another effect of playing computer games is deterioration of eyesight. Hours staring at the screen, which displays rapidly flashing pictures, can impair sight. Some other physical problems caused by computer games are lack of exercise and psychomotor disorders (Setzer, 3). With lack of exercise, the buildup of fat increases causing a person to become obese. Recent news articles claim, â€Å"some children addicted to electronic games spoke too fast with limited sense, feeling or contents in their speech.†(Setzer, 3) Unable to speak properly would hold children back from excelling in their studies. The mental effects of playing violent games are just as numerous as the physical effects. Excessively playing violent computer games over along period of time can contribute to â€Å"obsessive, addictive behavior,† the player will be dehumanized, and feelings will be desensitized (Setzer, 1).

GraduateWriters.net Mission to Help Students Achieve Academic Excellence Essay

PHOENIX, AZ, JUNE 24, 2014 /PRESSRELEASEPING/ – ACADEMIC WRITING IS AN IMPORTANT ACTIVITY done by every student, at all level of education in order to satisfy course work requirement. â€Å"Students are required to undertake a variety of academic writing task that could range from short essays, assignments, SAT, IELTS or lengthy term papers, dissertations and thesis. This type of writing could be done either under time demanding pressure or syllabus requirement. As a result students are expected to output a number of papers at the end of each day, week, semester or term. But such time demanding output doesn’t always guarantee quality of resultant paper†, says Peter Wartson consultant at GraduateWriters. net. In fact a research by National Academic Council for Academic Excellence found that many students resort to borrowing or stealing the work of others in order to beat deadlines and as result the rate of plagiarism has become so common place, that if every student who plagiarized was to be flunked, the rate of dropout will be worse than that massive open online learning courses (MOOC). â€Å"With this in mind many students sort the services of freelance  academic writers, who are seen as the first level examiners. They guide students on how to structure their research papers, perform proof reading and help students to avoiding mistakes related to grammar, spelling, phrasing and plagiarism. † states Peter, â€Å"Freelance academic writers, should not be confused with people who helps students achieve shortcut by doing their assignments, no they are honest writers who guide students the way a teacher will do†. While this may help students reduce stress related to academic demand, some concerns has  been raised concerning the qualification of writers who handle students’ academic work. Mary White an academic consultant at GraduateWriters. net, stated that â€Å"Students should look at the pool of writers a freelance company has, example GraduateWriter. net, is comprised of only graduate writers who have various qualification in their field of interest that range from MSc, MBA, MRes, EM, LLM, MEng, MA, Phd, and DS. At that company, writers undergo series of test approved by our senior writers to ascertain academic prowess and professional skills in writing and research. The advantage of this pool of workforce is that clients are always guaranteed the best quality writing and editing service, which cannot be found elsewhere on the Internet. Writers are specialist, with background in Education, Medicine, Nursing, Finance, Communication, Media, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, IT, Law etc. † Other qualities that prospective student should look at before selecting an academic writing company include privacy and security, originality, timeliness, quality, revision policy, orders tracking, support and response to queries. A lot of emphasis should be placed on privacy as it is not only a right but a demand that every users online should be guaranteed of. â€Å"If an online company published a student paper online, without their formal approval, it could lead to plagiarism and dismissal from school. Therefore students should look for companies that adhere with privacy policies and not let third party have access to their client papers. † articulates Peter. ABOUT GRADUATEWRITERS. NET Graduate Writers is an academic editing and writing company that help student in carrying out  research work, gives advice on writing, referencing and proof reading. The company is composed of Graduate writers with specialties in field which can be advantageous to students. PO Box 89670 Phoenix, AZ Peter Wartson Graduate Writers LLC +1-480-409-1822 support@graduatewriters. net http://graduatewriters. net Source URL: http://pressreleaseping. com/graduatewritersnet-mission-help-students-achieve-academic- excellence.

EFFECTIVE BALANCED LITERACY PROGRAMS FOR ELLS

Balanced literacy is a model designed to assist all pupils learn to read and compose efficaciously. Teachers no longer hold to utilize either whole – linguistic communication programming instructional schemes based preponderantly on phonics. Alternatively, balanced literacy involves non merely whole – linguistic communication and phonics, but several different positions and attacks ( Tompkins, 2003 p.15 ) . The plan stands steadfastly on the premiss that all pupils can larn to read and compose. This balance between reading and composing allows pupils to have the instruction needed in order to make grade degree position, while leting pupils to work at an instructional degree that is non thwarting for them. Balanced Literacy is a theoretical account for learning kids in a child-centered schoolroom, supplying many chances for existent life reading and composing experiences. It is originally based on the New Zealand Model for Literacy and Reading Recovery literacy theoretical accounts authored Marie Clay ( 1885 ) , studied and broadened by Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pennell ( 1999 ) . Children read and write each twenty-four hours independently and in group scenes ( both big and little ) . Balanced Literacy schoolrooms focus on four different types of reading experiences: a ) reading aloud, B ) shared reading – whole category, degree Celsius ) guided reading – little group, and vitamin D ) independent reading. Students besides participate in day-to-day authorship activities that coincide with their reading experiences. The four types of authorship experiences are: a ) shared composing – whole category, B ) interactive composing – whole category or little group, degree Celsius ) composing workshop – little or single, and vitamin D ) independent composing. Additionally, during many day-to-day reading and composing experiences, kids are taught about letters, sounds, words and how they work. Listening and talking are besides emphasized in this incorporate linguistic communication attack. All literacy direction and assignments are prepared utilizing appropriate methodological analysiss that allow instructors to guarantee fidelity of academic content criterions every bit good as linguistic communication aims for Language Arts Instruction. Surveies agree that balanced literacy should besides embrace phonics, including complete phonemic consciousness, along with vocabulary acquisition, reading eloquence and comprehension. Harmonizing to Froehlich ( 2009 ) , instructors implementing Balanced Literacy use an incorporate attack to learning linguistic communication humanistic disciplines. Balanced Literacy consists of a figure of elements that provide an copiousness of reading and composing on a day-to-day footing and are frequently implemented utilizing cross-curricular methodological analysis. These reliable chances for reading and composing are arranged on a continuum based on more or less teacher support. Some reading and authorship undertakings are modeled by the instructors and others are accomplished with the support of the instructor, taking to a few that are done independently by the kid. Not merely does balanced literacy encourage and increase kids ‘s reading and composing accomplishments, nevertheless, the primary aim is that pupils will larn to bask reading and authorship, therefore cultivating a deeper sense of the value of literacy. Harmonizing to Pressley ( 2001 ) , and was commissioned by the National Reading Conference, most reading plans in simple schools countrywide use a balanced attack to literacy, although due to be limitations, some instructors in smaller communities may hold small or no entree to published literacy scheduling. Reading Recovery/ Descubriendo La Lectura Harmonizing to Clay ( 1993 ) , Reading Recovery is an early intercession plan for first twelvemonth reading direction that focuses on tutoring the lowest 20 per centum of fighting readers. Reading Recovery is comprised of phonemic consciousness, phonics, vocabulary, eloquence, comprehension, composing, unwritten linguistic communication, motive, and independency instructional constituents. Phonicss, phonemic consciousness, vocabulary, eloquence, comprehension, authorship, and unwritten linguistic communication are indispensable for favourable literacy results. The Reading Recovery plan consists of day-to-day 30 minute lessons by a instructor trained in the technique. The plan includes reading known narratives, reading a narrative that was read the twenty-four hours before, composing a narrative, reading with sentence strips, reading new narratives, and appraisal. Assessment is an of import characteristic of this plan. Ashdown and Simic ( 2007 ) found assorted consequences when analyzing limited English proficient pupils utilizing Reading Recovery plan as a intercession. Ashdown and Simic ( 2007 ) found that pupils with limited English proficiency that used Rea ding Recovery for over six months did score higher on achievement appraisals. Descubriendo La Lectura ( DLL ) is merely the Spanish version of Reading Recovery and consists of the same instructional constituents and day-to-day lessons ( Chueng and Slavin, 2005 ) . Merely one survey Descubriendo la Lectura of was conclusive for effectual literacy patterns. Other surveies reviewed by Chueng and Slavin ( 2005 ) did non ensue in positive literacy consequences for pupils whose L1 was Spanish. Overall, as a consequence of these surveies, one can infer that Reading Recovery and Descubriendo la Lectura ( DLL ) may non be effectual balanced literacy plans for English linguistic communication scholars if merely implemented over a short sum of clip. Those pupils that used Reading Recovery and Descubriendo la Lectura ( DLL ) as an intercession for over several months had positive discernible results. Success for All Slavin and Madden ( 1999 ) studied the comprehensive reading plan Success for All and found it to be a structured and effectual course of study theoretical account for Kindergarten and First grade pupils. Success for All provides early literacy using direct reading comprehension direction, methodical phonics direction, concerted acquisition schemes every bit good as full support for instructors including considerable professional development. Success for All besides incorporates one-to-one tutoring for fighting pupils every bit good frequent pupil appraisals and grouping and regrouping by ability degree. Reading is specifically taught in one 90 minute block ( Slavin and Madden, 1999 ; Chueng and Slavin 2005 ) . For English linguistic communication scholars ( ELLs ) , Success or All has two instructional plans. Exito Para Todas is the Spanish bilingual theoretical account. This plan teaches reading to pupils in Spanish for classs one and two and in 3rd grade passages pupils to English-only direction ( Chueng and Slavin, 2005 ) . The other plan is an English linguistic communication development ( ELD ) method, which teaches pupils in English with a focal point on linked vocabulary from reading texts and extra supports ( Chueng and Slavin, 2005 ) . Harmonizing to Chueng and Slavin, ( 2005 ) surveies in California and Texas utilizing Exito Para Todas demonstrated important trial mark differences on the Spanish Woodcock Assessments for Word Attack, Word Identification, and Passage Reading Comprehension for indiscriminately selected pupils utilizing the bilingual plan compared to pupils from schools that used other reading instructional methods. The overall average reading degree addition was.41 of one class degree for those kids utilizing Exito Para Todas. the Success for All plans were positive. Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, and Texas conducted similar surveies with Success for All ELD reading plan and harmonizing to Livingston and Flaherty ( 1997 ) the average reading degree increased by 0.37 of a grade degree. Cheung and Slavin ( 2005 ) further province that other researcher findings did non show pupil accomplishment as systematically for English linguistic communication scholars, nevertheless, most of the reappraisals rated both reading plans as effectual and positive. Educators are aware of the fact non every literacy plan will be successful for every pupil. Therefore, it is indispensable that instructors entree balanced literacy plans that engage pupil acquisition by implementing diverse methods that address larning manner penchants ( Thompkins, 2003 ) . Direct Direction Cheung and Slaving ( 2005 ) every bit good as Dahl and Freppon ( 1998 ) evaluated Direct Instruction ( DI ) with respect to effectual literacy direction for English linguistic communication scholars. Direct Instruction ( DI ) has been around for many old ages and is by and large implemented by the instructor for all pupils in the schoolroom and non purely limited specifically to English linguistic communication scholars. Direct Instruction ( DI ) provides extended phonics, paced reading direction, and frequent pupil appraisal. It was originally designed for fighting readers. Direct Instruction ( DI ) is a systematic attack and as with a comprehensive plan provides teacher support and preparation. It often used with pupils whose primary linguistic communication ( L1 ) is non English and is frequently incorporated into reading plans by big companies such as Harcort School Publishers. Studies show that it is non a balanced literacy plan as DI overemphasizes phonics direction and frequen tly this can be hard English linguistic communication scholars. However, Direct Direction can be a successful attack when several other reading methods and schemes are used in concurrence with it and it is used for over a two twelvemonth period ( Abott, Greenwood, and Kamps, 2007 ; Chueng and Slavin, 2005 ; Slavin and Madden, 1999 ) . Phonicss Plans Reasonably Phonics uses phonics as its cardinal reading foundation. Reasonably Phonics intercession dressed ores on pupils larning missive formation, missive sounds, blending, placing sounds in words, and spelling words. This plan did non show effectual and balanced literacy for English linguistic communication scholars and it is non extremely recommended for pupils with limited English proficiency. Libros is another literacy intercession plan developed for usage kindergarten categories. Teachers would direct place narratives in Spanish after they previewed and discussed the narrative exhaustively with their category. Parents were besides shown a picture of to promote parents to read with their kids every bit good as discuss the narrative with them. Students would have books in Spanish to take place and read with their parents. Results for pupils utilizing Libros for the full school twelvemonth, scored higher on missive and word idenfication, nevertheless, reading comprehension tonss were non as positive ( Chueng and Slavin ; 2005 ; Slavin and Madden, 1999 ) . One can reason that Libros focuses on phonics direction because the reading comprehension tonss did non demo a pronounced addition among English linguistic communication scholars. Besides, this plan appears to be slightly limited, because the cardinal thought is the books the pupils take place to read and pattern. This seems like a slightly auxiliary reading plan, alternatively of complete balanced literacy for English linguistic communication scholars. Decision After analyzing all of the research about the aforesaid reading plans for English linguistic communication scholars, I conclude that balanced literacy plans are reading intercession plans that resulted in more positive information among several different research workers. Obviously, Clay, Fountas, Pennell, and Slavin are some of most good known literacy research workers in the field. Besides, Slavin has updated his original reappraisal of effectual literacy plans from his first in 1999 to the most recent and comprehensive reappraisal of literacy plans in 2005. One concluding idea about balanced literacy plans, is teacher entree. I think it is It is critical that instructors have every bit much information about effectual balanced literacy plans for English linguistic communication scholars. Previously, I had entree to the literacy plan Success for All and I truly saw mensurable betterment among the pupils who were English linguistic communication scholars. Unfortunately, we do non utilize Success for All at the school where I presently teach. I do believe it is indispensable for instructors and decision makers to retrieve that while one plan may work for a specific pupil, it will non needfully increase literacy accomplishments for another. Educators need to be aware to integrate as many reading schemes as possible in their direction. I besides believe that concerted acquisition schemes will heighten any literacy plan and by utilizing concerted acquisition with reading plans, balance and success will better and bring forth favourable litera cy accomplishments. Another indispensable scheme for learning English linguistic communication scholars is seeking on Internet web sites such as Frohlich ‘s ( updated 2009 ) that has so many different balanced literacy learning AIDSs that can be downloaded and printed for instructors to use.

A Handmaids Tale essays

A Handmaids Tale essays IN THE NOVEL THE HANDMAIDS TALE BY MARGRET ATWOOD, A SOCIETY IS CREATED WHERE GOD AND GOVERNMENT ARE JOINED;AND AMERICA WHICH IS NOW GILEAD,IS RUN WITH EXTREME STRICTNESS OF RELIGIOUS AND MORAL DUTIES.ATWOOD POSITS A FUTURE SOCIETY BASED ON SEXUAL REPRESSION.THERE IS A SOCIETY IN WHICH THE MAN IS ENFORCES RULERSHIP BUT THE WOMEN MAKE ALL THE OTHER DECISIONS.IT IS A SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVE LITERALLY ON GENISIS CHAPTER 30:1-6.THIS IS A VERY DISTURBING NOVEL IT SUGGESTS A FUTURE WHERE SOCIETY, AND THE RULERS ARE TYRANNICAL. ATWOOD POSITS A FUTURE SOCIETY BASED ON SEXUAL REPRESSION.IN THE BOOK HANDMAIDS ARE GIVEN NAMES LIKE OFWARREN AND OFGLEN WHICH ARE COMPOSED OF POSSESIVE PREPOSITION.(PAGE 19)THE NAMES WERE TAKEN BY THOSE WOMEN UPON THEIR ENTRY INTO THE HOUSEHOLD OF A CERTAIN COMMANDER.THE WOMEN OR THE HANDMAIDS MUST LISTEN AND OBEY THE COMMANDERS WIFE.MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO EACH OTHER EXCEPT WHENTHEY ARE TOLD.THE CLOTHING WORN BY WOMEN IN OUR MODERN TIME CANNOT BE WORN IT IS FORBIDDEN AND CONSIDERED DIRTY, THE WOMEN MUST BE FULLY CLOTHED EXCEPT FOR THEIR FACE AND THEIR THE FORMER UNITED STATES NOW REPUBLIC OF GILEAD,IS RUN WITH STRICT RELIGIOUS AND MORAL DUTIES.THE PEOPLE HAVE TO PRAY DAILY,IN THE MORNING AND IN THE NIGHT.IN THIS NOVEL THE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO FOLLLOW GOD BUT THEY DO NOT FOLLOW IT IN THE WAYS GOD WANTED US TO;THEY TAKE THE BIBLE LITERALLY.THE BOOK ALSO SHOWS THE HARSH REALITY OF THE WAY OUR SOCIETY IS LIVING ESPECIALLY WOMEN.IT SHOWS THAT WE DO NOT NOTICE THE WAY THAT OUR SOCIETY ACTS,DRESSES AND BEHAVES.DEEP FEELINGS OF OUR MORALITY AS HUMANS ARE PRESENTED. IN THIS BOOK,ATWOOD CREATES A SOCIETY WHERE MEN ENFORCE RULERSHIP, BUT WOMEN MAKE ALL OTHER CHOICES.IN THE NOVEL MEN ARE ...

Play Snowball Fight to Break the Ice or Review Lessons

Play Snowball Fight to Break the Ice or Review Lessons Theres probably nothing more fun than a snowball fight, particularly at school. This paper snowball fight doesn’t send icy shivers down the neck of your jacket or sting your face. It’s just an effective icebreaker designed to let students get to know each other or help you review a particular lesson or specific content. This game works with a group of at least a dozen people. It can also work well with a very large group, such as a lecture class or club meeting. You can use the icebreaker with students individually or divide into them into groups. General Steps Gather paper from your recycle bin, so long as one side is blank, then follow these steps. Have students: Write  one sentence or question- the content depends upon the context- on a piece of paper.Ball up their paper.Throw their snowballs.Pick up someone elses snowball and read the sentence aloud or answer the question. Using the Activity as a Mixer If you use the paper snowball fight to help students become acquainted, give them one piece of paper each and ask them to write their name and three fun things about themselves, such as, Jane Smith has six cats. Alternatively, write questions to be answered by the reader, for example, Do you have pets? Have them crumple the paper into a snowball. Divide the group into two teams on opposite sides of the room and let the snowball fight begin. You can have players write appropriate questions, or write the questions yourself to avoid any embarrassment and speed the process. The second alternative is particularly effective with younger students. When you say, Stop, each student should pick up the nearest snowball and find the person whose name is inside. Once everyone has found their snowman or snowwoman, have them introduce him to the rest of the group. For Academic Review To use the icebreaker to review content of a previous lesson or for test preparation, ask students to write a fact or question regarding the topic you want to review. Provide each student with several pieces of paper so there is abundant snow. If you want to ensure that students cover certain issues, add some snowballs of your own. Use this icebreaker in a wide range of contexts and for many different purposes. For example: Write review facts on snowballs and have students read them aloud, such as, Mark Twain was the author of Huckleberry Finn. Write review questions on snowballs and have students answer them, for example, Who wrote Huckleberry Finn? Write conceptual questions for students to answer, such as, What is the role of the character of Jim in Huckleberry Finn? When the snowball fight is over, each student will pick up a snowball and answer the question in it. If your room can accommodate this, have students remain standing during this exercise since they’ll be picking up snowballs throughout the activity. Moving around also helps people retain learning, and it’s a great way to energize a classroom. Post-Activity Debriefing Debriefing is necessary only if you’re recapping or prepping for a test. Ask questions such as: Were all the topics covered?Which questions were the hardest to answer?Were there any that were too easy? Why is that?Does everybody have a thorough understanding of the subject? If youve reviewed a lesson on the book, Huckleberry Finn, for example, you might ask students who the author of the book was, who were the main characters, what was their role in the story, and how students themselves felt about the book.

Report on RIP CURL Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Report on RIP CURL - Assignment Example The report aims at comparing the business communication process of Billabong with Rip Curl, one of the leading organizations selling gifts items in different parts of the world. The business communication process of both organizations is on the similar line because of the impact of globalization and wide arrays of consumers across the world. Over the years, online communication has changed the communication by making it fast and affordable for the masses. It has also helped in reaching consumers of different parts of the world in an effective manner. It needs to be understood that both organizations have been operating in same economies. The Australian economy has been doing well and is considered as one of the highly sustainable economies. Australia has been considered as a hot tourist spot helping Billabong and Rip Curl to be successful in the past as well as in the present. Rip Curl can be considered as a primitive organization with strong focus on direct communication. It has a great mixture of conventional and modern approach towards communication. The information was garnered from wide arrays of sources and resources like journals, website and newspapers that confirmed the communication approach raising problems. Overall, it can be assumed that the organization can only be successful through effective business strategies embedded with an honest and transparent mode of communication. (Roger. (1997) Chap

Shiva Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Shiva - Research Paper Example The Denver Art Museum is famous for its rich Asian collection full of distinguished artifacts. More than five thousand objects of this prominent collection are exhibited in twenty two thousand square feet of gallery space. The large-scale Asian art collection occupies the galleries on the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museums North Building and contains objects that extend back over six thousand years ("Asian Art"). A thirteenth century bronze statue of Shiva Nataraja, known as the Lord or King of Dance, is one of the museums oldest high-profile exhibits. It depicts one of the most important of Hindu deities, Shiva, as a divine dancer. Shiva is translated from Sanskrit as "auspicious god", which is one of the primary embodiments of God in Hinduism. According to the Hindu mythology Shiva must destroy the world as we know it to cause the awakening of Brahma, another influential Hindu God responsible for the recreation of the universe (Gruenwald, and Marchand). Hindus believe that every thing that has a beginning must have an end. Thus, the statue of Shiva as a Lord of Dance is a bright illustration of this belief. They believe that Shiva is responsible for destruction of the illusions of individuality in the first place, thus Shivas dance has to be perceived as a catharsis for each and everyone. The abovementioned statue of Shiva has its origins in Tamil Nadu Province of India and was created 1100s during the rule of the Chola dynasty, which was one of the most powerful and long-lasting dynasties in the history of southern India ("Asian Art"). During the rule of Chola dynasty a number of magnificent Shiva temples famous for its exuberant architecture were built in southern India and numerous sculptures and bronzes of Shiva were created (Gruenwald, and Marchand). The sculpture of Shiva Nataraja is probably one of the most sophisticated artworks of exquisite beauty