Mexican Relations Essays - Geography Of The United States

Mexican Relations Militarization of the U.S. Mexico Border By Joan J. Jaimes June 22, 2000 ?Corranle, all? viene la migra!, translated into English, this means Run, there comes immigration! This is what illegal immigrants shout everyday when they are about to cross the Rio Grande in search for better lives. Unfortunately, not many get through alive because of the militarization that has developed on the U.S. border with Mexico. Operation Rio Grande continues a process put in motion over a century ago by the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. It tries to erase the reality of a social geographical order that defies neat national divisions and impose a narrow notion of citizenship on people on both sides of the international boundary. In the process, the U.S., like all countries to varying degrees, elevates national citizenship to a position of primacy and lessens the inherent humanity of those on the wrong side of the social and territorial boundaries. Operation Rio Grande, launched in August 1997, in Browns ville, Texas, was a special multi-year operation designed to gain and maintain control of specific border areas through a combination of new technology and additional staffing. At the start of the operation, 69 Border Patrol agents were detailed to Brownsville to intensify existing enforcement effort. In September of that same year, the Border Patrol deployed special response teams to those ports-of-entry where increased numbers of fraudulent entry was expected. In the Fiscal Year of 1998, 260 new Border Patrol agents were added to the McAllen Sector and 205 to the Laredo Sector. An important feature of Operation Rio Grande has been the integration of a broad range of INS enforcement operations. Studies show that the crime rate in Brownsville alone dropped by more than 20% in 1998. (U.S. INS) The origins of the U.S. Mexico boundary are to be found in the imperial competition between Spain, France, and Britain for possessions in North America. Lack of agreement between the three impe rial powers over the location of the boundaries separating their territories in North America led to disagreement between Mexico and an expansionist U.S. After Mexico gained its independence in 1821, many U.S. leaders argued for taking part or all of Mexicos territory. Numerous prominent U.S. politicians, driven by the ideology of Manifest Destiny, considered taking Mexico a divine right. (Acuna, 1988) As tensions mounted between the U.S. and Mexico over Texas, the U.S. deliberately provoked Mexico by sending troops into territory claimed by Mexico in early 1846. Battles between U.S. and Mexican troops ensued, quickly resulting in full-scale war. The war raged on for two years, largely in favor of the U.S., and ended with the U.S. taking over Mexico City. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed, and Mexico was forced to cede half of its territory to the U.S. Under the treatys terms, the U.S. annexed a territory equivalent in size to that of Western Europe, an d absorbed 100,000 Mexican citizens and 200,000 Native Americans living in the territory. (Herzog, 1990) The decades following the imposition of the new U.S. Mexico boundary saw widespread violence as U.S. authorities and non-State actors established their dominance. The Mexican Revolution and the accompanying socio-political turmoil between 1910, and 1920, caused great concern for U.S. authorities. Tension along the boundary with Mexico quickly subsided thereafter. (Griswold, 1990) Pacification did not mean control by the U.S. Migration between the U.S. and Mexico long preceded the imposition of the modern day boundary. Mexican migration to the U.S. was not really significant in scale or in geographical extent until the 20th Century. In 1942, the Bracero (Bra-zeh-roh) Program was implemented. It was a contract labor program in response to labor shortages brought about by the U.S. entry into World War II. (The Bracero Program, 1996) Furthermore, the INS practice of legalizing unaut horized migrants and turning them into braceros, or drying out the wetbacks, increased unauthorized immigration from Mexico as the news spread that the easiest manner to obtain a bracero contract was to enter the U.S. illegally. When the U.S. Congress officially ended the program in 1964, the previously legal migratory flow simply went underground. As the 1970s approached, calls to enhance enforcement along the U.S. and Mexico boundary

Reality of stress Professor Ramos Blog

Reality of stress In today’s society, stress is becoming more of a normal thing to always experience. Stress is caused by your body responding to demands. College student are a main focus when it comes to stress. The four main types of stress are Acute Stress, Episodic Acute Stress, Chronic Stress and good stress. Anyone can get stressed, but the most common age group to experience it is between 18-47 years old. Acute stress is typically the more common stress. It is caused by reactive thinking. Negative thoughts are a major influence. An example is if you have any deadlines coming up, or recent arguments. If the stress meets the DSM-5 criteria, the individual will be diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder. The DSM-5 stands for The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It is a book of 10 years’ worth of research done by hundreds of international experts who work in different departments of mental health. They put this together in hopes of understanding how these disorders work. Acute Stress usually is temporarily, doesn’t last for too long but it will still cause your body to release the chemical cortisol which has your body shaken up a bit. There are ways for the individual to help their body relieve the stress. This can be done by breathing exercise, cognitive reframing, progressive muscle relaxation, and mini-meditation. But Acute stress can easily turn into Episodic Acute Stress. Acute Disorder and Episodic Acute Stress Disorder mirror each other but one has ongoing suffering and damage. Episodic Acute Stress is when people who are already diagnosed with Acute Stress, start to have a change in their reactions. They become short-tempered, irritable, anxious, tense or have uneasy energy. One can also have frequent triggers of stress. People who often display these emotions are ones who live in chaos or crisis. Most of them are occupied with many responsibilities and cannot stay organized in a timely manner. Their minds are at the brink of a stress overload! Their personal relationships start to become progressively worse and work becomes a place of hell. Many of these symptoms can become a health concern as it creates a challenge for their body in many ways. Heart disease, muscle distress, intestinal issues, head aces, and high blood pressure are the main health issues but there are an additional 30 health concerns. Intensive therapy for several months can help this situation. It takes a while because these daily habits are engraved in their minds and they see nothing wrong with what they do because they are accustomed already. But most patients will not be open to change. While this is a pretty serious disorder, Chronic stress out weights Episodic Acute Stress. Chronic Stress is the most harmful type of stress. It destroys their lives, mind, and body. a lot of the physical and mental damage is irreversible. This stress can most often lead to anxiety and depression as their symptoms are alike. The individual feels like they have no control over their thoughts and emotions. Long term changes can turn into a mental illness. While the mind is working double, the body has no intensions of slowing done either. The body takes a tole as physical issues start to rise. Long term problems for the heart and blood vessel, increasing heart rate, elevated levels of blood pressure and stress hormones are deteriorating the body. chronic stress is the leading cause of sudden death, mostly influenced by heart attacks, arterial disease and a stroke. Exercise and a change in diet would be a big help when trying to get rid of chronic stress. Although these all seem bad there is actually good stress as well. Psychologist refer this Good stress as â€Å"Eustress†. We feel this when we are eager and excited. This stress keeps us feeling alive and well. Some examples for this is when the individual is going on a first date, a roller coaster or Doing things that makes one happy. But too much stress can become bad stress so one must limit their activities to make sure a lot stress isn’t triggered. As a college student one must find a balance between these 4 types of stress. A study was done by The American Psychology Association to see what age group had highest levels of stress. 18-47-year-olds reportedly were the most stressed. But this is combing millennials (ages between 18-33) and Gen Xers (ages between 34-47). On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the highest level of stress, millennials and Gen Xers had a high score of 5.4 compared to the Boomers (ages between 48-66) who had a score of 4.7. it is clear that college age students have the highest stress. 43% of college students suffer from either Acute Stress, Episodic Acute stress, or Chronic Stress. This does not include good stress. As a college student there are ways to help alleviate the stress. According to the American Association of Stress an article written by Dr. Ronald L. Rubenzer has a top ten test taking tips to help college student feel less stressed with their work. TOP TEN TEST-TAKING TIPS (THREE MONTHS PRIOR TO TEST) Left-brain training to become Fact-Smart: 1) Teach Positively: Students learn more when they like the teacher (William James-Harvard, 1899). 2) Teach memory mechanics. The basic rule is repetition, repetition, repetition. 3) Require students to develop their own flashcards and stack the deck with only the memorized facts. 4) Answer the core question, without being tripped up by â€Å"word traps† (irrelevant details) or generalizations (always, never, everywhere). Both-brain training to become Test-Smart: 5) Be Clerically Correct: For the young, when in doubt, check their skills out (attention, handwriting, reading skills). 6) Provide â€Å"Test Rehearsals† (if approved). All great performances start with rehearsal. Right-brain training to become Stress-Smart: 7) Test for Test-Anxiety. â€Å"Stress is sand in the machinery of thought.† All classes will have â€Å"test-anxious.† â€Å"Testanxious† or â€Å"math-anxious† underachieve on tests. As adults they avoid rewarding jobs requiring many tests or using complex math. â€Å"Computerphobics† short-circuit their own growth by just plain refusing to acquire 21st century skills. The â€Å"anxious† resist change. 8) Consume â€Å"Food for thought† just before the test session. Eat fruit, followed by a drink of water. 9) Relax: See your mental health professional on test-anxiety reduction tips. Use humor to relax. See a movie the night before the â€Å"big event.† 10) Learn from those who do Best on-tests. Test-Prep can boost test scores by 10%! (Scruggs Mastropieri, Purdue University, 1992). One won’t be completely alleviated from stress with these tips but it can help. The signs of Acute Stress, Episodic Acute stress, and Chronic stress should not be avoided. Those that are affected should seek help before the mind and body are too damaged and cannot be repaired. Work cited spacioustherapy.com By: Shawna Freshwater January 17, 2018 verywellmind.com By: Elizabeth Scott April 3, 2018 apa.org By: Lyle H. Miller, PhD, Alma Dell Smith, PhD. stress.org By Dr. Ronald L Rubenzer 2008 heartmdinstitute.com By: Stephen T. Sinatra

How Much Do AP Tests Cost

How Much Do AP Tests Cost SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Curious about how much it costs to take an AP Test? Learn here how much your AP exams are going to cost you in 2015-16. We’ll also cover how to get financial aid if you need it. So read on for maximum AP test cost saving! AP Exam Cost for 2015-16 The fee for each AP Exam in 2015-16 is $92. This is a slight increase from the $91 fee in 2014-15. In general, the cost for AP exams tends to rise by a dollar or two each year. If you’re curious about the price for future years, you can expect the fee to rise slightly – maybe up to $93 or $94 in the next year or two. Don’t worry about a massive price jump happening anytime soon. Also, international students take note: the fee for exams at schools outside of the United States, U.S. territories and commonwealths, and Canada is $122 per exam. Since College Board is based in the U.S., it costs extra money to handle international testing. In short, AP exams definitely cost quite a bit! But there is finacial aid available. Read on to learn about College Board's fee reduction program. Can I Get Financial Aid for AP Exams? College Board provides a $30 fee reduction for each exam taken by students with demonstrated financial need. That $30 reduction brings down the total cost to $53 per exam ($30 + a $9 rebate from College Board). How the financial need for the fee reduction is determined depends on your state, and whether your district participates in a program called the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). We’ll get into the nitty-gritty details below. Basically, the darker blue your state is, the bigger chance there is your district participates in CEP. But as we'll discuss below, the easiest way to find out is to talk to your guidance counselor. Map courtesy of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The CEP is a program for schools and districts with high percentages of low-income children to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. If a district already uses CEP, College Board simply allows students who are eligible for CEP to also qualify for AP fee reduction. If your district does not participate in CEP, then College Board uses the eligibility standards for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch program. We’ll go over exactly what those eligibility requirements look like below. If Your School Participates in CEP The guidelines for qualifying for the AP fee reduction in CEP districts are as follows: Either your family’s income is at or below 185 percent of the poverty level issued annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or You qualify as an "identified student" because you are: in foster care or Head Start, or homeless or migrant, or living in households that receive SNAP/Food Stamps, TANF cash assistance, or the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations benefits If Your School Doesn’t Participate in CEP For schools and districts that do not participate in CEP, enrollment in or eligibility to participate in the federal Free or Reduced Lunch program can be used to qualify for AP Fee reduction. The qualifiers for free and reduced lunch are pretty much the same as CEP: Your family’s income is at or below 185 percent of the poverty level issued annually by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or You are directly certified without application for free school meals because you are: in foster care or Head Start, or homeless or migrant, or living in households that receive SNAP/Food Stamps, TANF cash assistance, or the Food Distribution on Indian Reservations benefits You can read more about College Board's fee reduction policies to learn more. But what if you don’t meet those criteria? Or you do meet those criteria, but $53 per exam is still too expensive? Some states have additional funding that may be available for AP exams. This could lower that $53 price even more. Find those guidelines here. In addition, your school or district might have its own fee reduction guidelines or programs. So how do you find out exactly how much financial aid you can get for AP? Actionable There are quite a few channels to getting funding for your AP tests, but those channels vary by where you live. You could get money from College Board, from your state, or even from your school. To find out exactly how much financial aid you qualify for, go to your guidance counseling office and ask about AP Exam fees at your school. The guidance counselors can help determine if you qualify for College Board’s fee reduction, and furthermore, they’ll tell you about any additional funding programs your school or state might have. The guidance counseling office should have experience helping students get funding for AP exams, especially if your school has a pretty wide AP course selection. Is $92 Per Exam Worth It? If you’re anything like I was in high school, you may be getting a case of sticker shock right now. $92 per exam is a lot of money! Even if you qualify for College Board’s fee reduction, you could still be paying $53 per exam. So is the price worth it? Well, that depends on if you pass the exam and how your score translates to college credit and/or admissions competitiveness. If you pass an exam that is eligible for college credit at the school you end up attending, the cost can definitely be worth it – that $92 could pay for a course that runs in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Some students are even able to enter college as sophomores and save a whole year of tuition based on their AP credit. In for a penny, out for a pound, as the old saying goes. The $92 fee can also be worth it if you get a good score that helps you get into a selective college, even if that school doesn’t take AP credit. For example, I took nine AP classes over the course of high school. While many of them didn’t end up getting me course credit at Stanford, those classes – and the high scores I got on AP tests – certainly strengthened my application. For my family, the money spent on AP exams ended up being worthwhile, especially since I received a generous financial aid package from Stanford. This means you have to make a judgment call for each AP class and test – does the class add a meaningful challenge to your schedule, or are you just piling on AP classes? You're more likely to pass each AP exam you take if your schedule isn't jammed with them. Think carefully about this. As we’ve said before, don’t feel pressure to load up on AP classes just to have them. Only take the classes you are confident you can do well in and/or have strong personal interest for. Finally, the fee is absolutely not worth it if you fail the exam, because you won’t get college credit and that $92 is essentially wasted. Furthermore, a score of 1 or 2 does not look impressive to colleges, even if you get good grades in the AP class (in fact, that may just signal to the colleges the AP classes at your school are too easy). Again, make sure not to overload on AP classes! What’s Next? Learn even more about AP classes: how colleges use AP credit, the hardest and easiest AP classes, and whether the AP program is doing a good job. Also studying for the SAT/ACT? Learn how to develop a target score for the SAT/ACT based on your dream schools. College applications on the brain? Learn everything you need to know about the college essay and watch out for deadlines you can't miss. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The importance of XML Labelling Schemes in Managing XML data Case Study

The importance of XML Labelling Schemes in Managing XML data - Case Study Example 2008: 5). XML labelling schemes refer to tools which are basically used to assign unique codes to the nodes in the tree such that the constant time is taken in the determination of the relationship between two nodes from the codes. The basic binary encoding and the enhanced binary encoding can be used for labelling the XML tree. A label consists of labelling schemes which can be compared with the structural join performance of other labelling schemes (Min, Lee, & Chung 2009: 505). A good labelling scheme is, therefore, determined by how well it determines the relationship between XML elements and how it quickly it offers access to the desired data. Counting odd division values of a label is used to determine the level of the optimized prefix compression scheme; where the prefix-based labelling scheme lends itself of a name directory with (potentially) all element names occurring in the XML document (Haustein & HÃ ¤rder 2007: 515).Labelling schemes in existence can be categorised as either in terval labelling or prefix labelling(Sexton 2009:160). For interval labelling scheme, a pair of numbers are assigned to label each node in the tree, with the first number being the pre-order number and the second one the post-order number (Wu, Lee & Hsu 2004:68).This labelling scheme supports XML query processing of the XML efficiently but has the shortcoming of processing the dynamic updates of the tree structure (Bouganim, Ngoc, & Pucheral 2004: 87). Therefore, insertion or deletion of new nodes requires relabeling of the existing nodes (Ma & LI 2010: 107). In prefix labelling on the other hand, a path from the root is used to label each element and therefore the label of the parent node is the prefix for all the descendants (Kaplan, Milo, & Shabo 2002: 958). Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics).This labelling scheme is advantageous in that it is dynamic and therefore

Discussion 2 Week 11 Best Practices Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 2 Week 11 Best Practices - Assignment Example nagerial economics provided the theoretical frameworks for understanding the concept of demand and supply; as well as illuminating practitioners on differences in market structures (McGuigan, Moyer and Harris). From the experience in Katrina’s Candies, it was revealed that there are pricing strategies that should be applied depending on the market structure that the organization is in: either in an oligopoly or monopolist structure. Likewise, forecasting tools are analytical techniques which provide insights to the organization’s decision makers in terms of evaluating options according to anticipated results. The value of forecasting lies in the accuracy of identifying factors which could significantly affect the plans of the firm. As such, it is best practice to apply it and it helps in making responsible decisions based on projected goals. Finally, globalization takes into account increasing pressures for more competitors. As such, there is a need to undertake market research to discern the most-likely reaction and response of competitors should external factors affect the industry. The recession that affected the global market required application of transformed strategies to adapt and adjust to changes in demand and supply. As such, the reactions of competitors are useful inputs to work

The Religion of Money in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby - Essay

The Religion of Money in The Great Gatsby      Ã‚  Ã‚   Near the beginning of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara, Mr. Undershaft exclaims in retort of another's question, "well, I am a millionaire, and that is my religion" (Shaw 103). Many people look toward the heavens in search of the power to enable them to live in the world. Others, like Shaw's Mr. Undershaft, look toward more earthly subjects to obtain their power and symbolize their status. Often these subjects, such as money, wealth, or physical beauty and ability, give their owners an overbearing sense of power and ability in all of that they do. Some people become so obsessed with their materialistic power that it becomes their religion and leads them in everything that they do. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the character of Tom Buchanan is introduced and portrayed as someone who has allowed his physical abilities, money, and wealth, become his religion and lead him in his actions, perceived thoughts and beliefs, and speech.    Nick, the first person narrator of The Great Gatsby, introduces Tom as a "national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterwards savours of anti-climax" (Fitzgerald 10). In college at New Haven, Tom relied on his physical abilities, as "one of the most powerful ends that ever played football" (Fitzgerald 10), as well as inherited wealth to give him the power and prestige to be perceived as better than the best. In the beginning of his college career, as Nick seems to suggest, it was this supreme physical ability on the football field that allowed Tom to have supreme reign over all off the field. But, after college, the football legacy ended, and with it, Tom'... ...lected to "make a short deft movement [that] broke her nose with his open hand" (Fitzgerald 41) rather than admit that the other party could do something without his explicit permission.    From his first introduction early in the first chapter of The Great Gatsby to the end of the second, Tom strives to constantly remind everyone around him of his power through his actions, thoughts, and speech. Like royal subjects loyal to their king, he believes that everyone is under him and should respect and obey his every wish. Through the mastery of Fitzgerald's poetic hand, a character has been created to which wealth has become a religion and god has become a personification of himself.    Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner-Simon, 1992. Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion and Major Barbara. New York: Bantom Books, 1992.

Congoleum Corporation Essay

In valuing the target company Congoleum after an LBO by First Boston found the expected free cash flows generated by this firm from 1980 to 1984. These numbers were based on values provided in the case. From there, we employed the Adjusted Present Value method to discount these cash flows because we assumed that Congoleum was varying its Debt to Equity ratio during those years. We discounted these cash flows by the required return on assets that was in turn calculated through use of the Modigliani-Miller unlevering formula (to derive the Asset Beta) and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. The required return on Congoleum debt was calculated by the expected return of the average CCC-company’s debt and the expected return of debt under default. Then, the present value of financial side effects was taken into account by discounting the interest tax shield by the required return on debt. Finally, we calculated the terminal value of cash flows by assuming a constant 4.14% growth rate in perpetuity and a constant D/E ratio for the years after 1984. Thus, these cash flows were initially discounted under WACC-ME. From there, we factored in prior debt and cash that Congoleum had generated to calculate the total equity value of the firm after the LBO had taken place. Background Congoleum is a firm active in three product market segments: home furnishings, shipbuilding, automotive, and industrial distribution. In the summer of 1979, First Boston Corporation with the help of Prudential Insurance Company proposed a purchase of Congoleum by private and institutional investors. The day before the issuance of the tender offer, Congoleum closed at $25.375 per share with 12.2 million shares outstanding. Assumptions: During the preparation of this case, multiple assumptions have been made in order to facilitate the analysis requested. Below is a list of the assumptions made and our reasoning for their validity. * Tax rate of 48% * The D/V ratio from 1979 to 1984 and was best estimated through the mean of the expected D/V ratios of Congoleum’s separate divisions by the metric of percentage of total identifiable assets provided in this case * The D/V ratio from 1984+ was assumed to be constant and could be estimated via one of two methods: * It could be estimated by looking at the D/V ratio of comparable, BB rated companies * It could be estimated by looking at the D/V ratio of firms that are comparable to the various â€Å"subsets† of Congoleum (home furnishing, ship building, and automotive) and taking the average of those companys’ D/V ratio * The return on debt from 1984+ can be assumed through two methods: * The arithmetic average of comparable BB rated companies’ returns on debt * The weighted average of the returns on debt * The market risk premium was expected to be 8.6% and the risk free rate was assumed to be 9.5% as provided in the case * The risk of default for Congoleum is expected to be 15.25% and the expected return to debt holders in case of default is 6% (we assume that at least some payments to debt holders have occurred prior to default) * The growth rate of cash flows after 1984 is expected to be 22.50% over 5 years as provided in exhibit 9 of this case and that growth rate is expected to continue in perpetuity Discussion of Figures Figure 1 Figure is the actual income statement for Congoleum in 1978 and estimates of its income statement from 1980 to 1983. The free cash flows used in the calculation of the NPV of this company was the Free Cash Flow to All Capital because the cash flows employed by APV/WACC assume no interest. Thus, our interest expenses had to be added back to the cash flows to shareholders to make them free cash flows. From purchasing Congoleum, investors receive outstanding cash from the company, a term not from a bank, strip-securities, and equity from First Boston and Congoleum Management. Its outflows include its purchase of Bath Iron works, Congoleum’s other assets and executive stock. It also includes general LBO expenses. Additionally, attached is our sensitivity analysis that looks at how our assumptions regarding the growth rate and D/V ratio of our firm in years post 1984 impacts our calculations of the firm’s value Post-LBO. Figure 2 Figure 2 shows the value of the long-term debt and equity for the firm from 1974 to 1978. The total value of the firm in at any time is equal to the sum of the debt and equity for a given year. The D/E and D/V ratios for the firm over those 5 years were then averaged in this figure. Figure 3 This table displays the D/V ratio of firms that are representative one of the three â€Å"subsets† of Congoleum (Furnishings, Ship Building, or Automotive). Each of these ratios was then averaged to get the weighted average debt to value ratio of comparable companies; this was performed by using the ratio of Identifiable Assets per division to Total Identifiable Assets. Finally, the average D/V ratio of the firms representing each subset was also listed. Alternatively, the Debt to Value ratio of the provided BB firms is listed and those ratios were then averaged to get the mean Debt to Value ratio that could be used for the target Debt to Value ratio for Congoleum post-1984. Figure 4 The equity beta for the firm was provided in the case. We also are making the assumption that the Debt Beta is 0 (i.e. risk free). The Debt to Equity ratio was also calculated in Figure 2. Through the Modigliani-Miller unlevering formula, we then were able to derive our Asset Beta. Then, using our calculated Asset Beta and the provided market risk premium and risk free rate, we were able to calculate the required return on assets with the Capital Asset Pricing Model. From there, we employed the Miles-Ezzell cost of capital formula with the Debt to Equity ratio derived by looking at comparable â€Å"BB-rated firms† to derive our WACC. Additionally, the expected cash flow growth is forecasted to be 22.50% over the 5 years following 1984. Hence, we expect an annual growth rate of 4.14%. Figure 5 The free cash flows (calculated in figure 1) are listed from between 1980 and 1984. They are each discounted at the required return on assets calculated in figure 4 because are calculating the APV of cash flows from between 1980 and 1984. The required return on debt was then calculated by looking at the returns of comparable debt of other CCC firms. The average return on the debt of those firms was 15.19%. We then had to factor in the 15.25% probability of default by Congoleum and its expected return of 6% on debt in the case of default. The expected return on weight weights these two potential returns on debt by their probability of occurring. The side effects of financial distress were then calculated from between 1980 and 1984 by multiplying the annual interest expense by the tax rate and then discounting the interest tax shield by the required return on debt calculated above. Figure 6 Next, we had to calculate the present value of terminal value. We did this by first calculating the expected 1985 cash flow by multiplying the 1984 cash flow by the expected 4.1% growth rate (calculated in figure 4). Given, we expect the generate cash flows that grow at 4.1% in perpetuity, we calculated the present value of those cash flows by taking our 1985 cash flow and discounting by the WACC-ME (calculated in figure 4). This was performed by using the Gordon Dividend Growth Model because the firm would now be a publicly traded equity and the free cash flows are representative of the firm’s dividends. This gave us the value of the TV at 1984, so we then discounted by the return on assets to receive the present value of the TV. Figure 7 The value of the firm post LBO is thus equal to the sum of its discounted terminal value, tax shields, and free cash flows from 1980 to 1984. However, to calculate the total equity value of the firm, we must also factor in the cash and debt that Congoleum held prior to the LBO. That includes adding in 95.10 million in cash and subtracting out 15.6 million in debt and 34.5 million in previous pension liabilities. If you divide the equity value pre and post LBO by the number of shares outstanding, you then receive the companies’ price per share pre and post LBO. Figure 8 Shareholders thus gain the difference between the initial share price and the post-LBO share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. Debt holders are paid off entirely with no gain or loss.