The Various Legal Aspects Associated with the Warwickshire College Essay

The Various Legal Aspects Associated with the Warwickshire College - Essay Example The college as a whole has been formed as a result of the merger of few other colleges and was established in the year1996. In the backdrop of this, the essay intends to produce an informal report considering the legal aspects of Warwickshire College. Discussion This section generally describes the type of legal status that gets associated with a firm or even an educational organization depended on its types. Since property ownership can be of multiple types and thus the associated legal aspects also vary accordingly. Examples of ownership model include government ownership, cooperative ownership, private ownership, public ownership, collective ownership and other types of ownership. Warwickshire College is an autonomous Corporation with exempt charity status incorporated under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 (Warwickshire College, n.d.). Additively, the college corporation appears to be made up of the membership of the local community business, stakeholder partners, local authorities and the staff-student members. This organization also abides by the general ‘employment’, ‘diversity’, ‘equality’, ‘health’ and ‘safety’ laws as established by the UK government. Depending on these health and safety principles, the college provides a clean and safe environment for the students and the employees to work. The pricing policy in context to this college generally refers to its fee structure. Concerning fee structure, the college demands a full payment of the course fee before it issues the Visa letter to its students. In certain cases where college fails to issue the Visa letter to students, it provides a complete refund of the submitted course fee to the student after deduction of certain percentage as administrative charges. This refunding process needs to be carried out within three months from the date of refusal of the visa. The variation within the yearly course fee completely depends on t he decision of the college.

Challenges in College Recruiting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Challenges in College Recruiting - Essay Example This aspect at times has resulted in use of illegal methods to recruit athletes (Howard, 2010). NCAA is one of the well-organized associations, which is utilized in preparing varied types of athletic programmes for numerous colleges (Keene & Wharton, 2011). It attracts various skilled and unskilled athletes, resulting in attainment of desired success in intercollegiate athletic programs. It helps in amplification of the corporate image and identity of the college among other renowned institutions in the region. However, unfortunately, in this era of modernization, the procedure of recruitment acts as a condemnation for the young athletes, which needs to be stopped by the higher authorities (Howard, 2010). The objective of the paper is to identify and to highlight the aspect of illegal recruitment of athletes within the intercollegiate team of sports. It also includes a brief introduction about the recruitment procedures of the athletes. Moreover, it also discusses varied illegal processes of recruitment by the authorities of sports department. In addition, it also embraces the aspect of paying high salary to the high profile athletes as compared to others. Along with these, the negative impact of obtaining high compensation payers over the society is also described in this assignment. The requisite features, which can attract the best athletes into the sports college teams, resulting in augmentation of the image of the university among other reputed institutions in the region, have also been taken into consideration. In recent era of modernization and industrialization, college sports have expanded as a multi-dollar industry due to the evolution and development of a number of sports institutions. However, the illegal procedures employed in recruitment have created a huge impact over the high school athletic

The Las Vegas Hotel And Casino Industry Tourism Essay

The Las Vegas Hotel And Casino Industry Tourism Essay Commercial Casino Industry has been occurring in United States over 75 years since Nevada legalizing it. When Chef Wolfgang initiated to out fine dining restaurant in commercial casino, this is the beginning of food and beverage revolution in industry in 1992. In 1995, American Gaming Association was created. MGM Mirage acquired Mandalay Resort Group, Harrahs Entertainment Inc. and Caesar Entertainment in 2005 and the commercial casino industry started booming and other states started legalize opening casinos since then. The international gaming industry is expanding. Many U.S. casino companies expanded or planned to expand to other countries such as Macao, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The international casino industry tends to have rapidly growth as gross gaming revenue in Macao has been more than gross gaming revenue in Las Vegas strip since 2006. Know your enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never be defeated. (Sun Tzus The Art of War Writings). This Chinese wisdom of warfare probably helps companies deploy a better strategy in many business situations. The MGM Mirage Inc. is the largest company in the Hotel and Casio industry by revenue in the U.S., but MGM financial statement showed that company bottom-line in debt. The company was facing bankruptcy code in the early 2010. In this project, the report had been organized and presented MGM Mirage Inc. or MGM Resorts International in 4W framework: (1) Who are we? (Company profile, Hotel and Casino industry profile), (2) Where are we? (Sophisticated tools in Management, Technology, Marketing, Financial and Accounting were used to analyze the company position with competitor in the industry.), (3)What are problems? (SWOT analysis) and (4) What are solutions? Who are we? : Know yourself MGM History The Beginning of Las Vegas Race: 2005: MGM Merged Mandalay Bay Group. MGM Profile in 2009 Organization Structure Company Strategy The MGM Mirage Inc. strategy is to generate sustainable, profitable growth by creating and maintaining competitive advantages and through the execution of our business plan, which is focused on: Owning, developing, operating and strategically investing in a strong portfolio of resorts; Operating our resorts in a manner that emphasizes the delivery of excellent customer service with the goal of maximizing revenue and profit; and Leveraging our strong brands and taking advantage of significant management experience and expertise. (Source: MGM Mirage 2010 Form 10-K) Current Operation As of 2009, the MGM Mirage reported that the company has completed control of 14 casino resorts and hold 50% of investment in 5 casino resorts. In addition, the MGM Mirage also owned 3 golf courses in Las Vegas, Mississippi and California.(Source: MGM Mirage 2010 Form 10-K) Casio Resort ( Completely owned) Nevada MGM Grand Las Vegas Mandalay Bay The Mirage Excalibur Monte Carlo Railroad Pass, Henderson Gold Strike, Jean Luxor Bellagio New York New York Circus Circus Las Vegas Other MGM Grand Detroit Beau Rivage , Biloxi, Mississippi Gold Strike Tunica ,Mississippi Casio Resort ( hold 50% in stock) Nevada City Center (Joint Venture with Dubai World) Circus Circus Reno Siler Legacy Other Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ Gran Victoia , Elgin, IL MGM Grand Macau, China Industry Analysis Industry Analysis process is an essential assessment tools for every company to deeply understand industry current trends and opportunities. In fact, company will gain a better position and achieve a competitive advantage when it truly understanding marketplace. In the complex marketplace, the U.S. government is categorized industry with 4-digits Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. In addition to SIC, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a new standard for the industry. The NAICS with 6-digits code contains more details than the SIC system. The purpose of SIC and NAICS are economy analysis. The MGM Mirage Inc. has been classified with SIC into three major categories: Hotels and Motels (SIC 7011), Coin-Operated Amusement Devices (SIC 7993) and Amusement and Recreation Services, Not Elsewhere Classified (SIC 7999). In addition, the MGM Mirage inc. also has been classified with NAICS into two categories: All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries and Hotels (except Casino Hotels) (713990) and Motels (721110). To thoroughly understand MGM Mirage Inc. marketplace, the hotel industry and casino industry had been analyzed. Hotels and Motels Industry (SIC 7011) The U.S. government defined a company in Hotels and Motels Industry as Commercial establishments, known to the public as hotels, motor hotels, motels, or tourist courts, primarily engaged in providing lodging, or lodging and meals, for the general public. Hotels which are operated by membership organizations and open to the general public are included in this industry. Hotels operated by organizations for their members only are classified in Industry 7041. Apartment hotels are classified in Real Estate, Industry 6513; rooming and boarding houses are classified in Industry 7021; and sporting and recreational camps are classified in Industry 7032. Recession impacts hotel industry In May 2010, Standard Poors industry report stated the hotel industry is still in an unstable condition. The industry will require a longer period to recover from the 2008 recession. Currently, the industry is operating in a difficult situation. The hotel industry is facing drastic competition that forces hotel businesses to lower room rates, which in turn results in lower profit. Figure 1: Hotel Industry Fact Sheet 2001 Forecast 2011 The data from Smith Travel Research (STR) Inc. indicated that on average the hotel industry has lost its Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) since 2008. The 2008 recession has also brought the hotel occupancy rate down from 60% to 55%. In addition, average daily roommate also dropped significantly 8.8% in 2009. Moreover, room demand dropped 6% in 2009. In contrast, the supply of rooms rose 3.2% in 2009 (refer to figure1). While the U.S. government is making their way out from 2008 recession, SPs forecasted that the hotel industry will not return to the same pre-recession level for the next eight to ten years. Figure 2: Percent Change in Room Supply and Demand in the U.S. from 1989 April 2009 Real GDP helps the hotel industry in predicting room demand In the hotel industry, a high accuracy in room demand elasticity estimation provides CEO with essential information for a long term planning and deploying strategies. In 2009, the research by Dr. Hanson from Global Hospitality Group Hospitality Lawyers shows approximately a 1-to-1 relationship that holds between the U.S. Real GDP and room demand until the 2001 economic crisis. The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total output of goods and services produced in a country and adjusted for priced change. The demand is more elastic when the greater the proportion of income spent on the good. After the 2001 recession, the demand retract and continue to grow in a slower pace when compare with the real GDP. The GDP is increasing 4 times faster than the room demand does. The 5 factors that researcher believes that might have an influence GDP and room demand relationship are: Long-term deterioration in consumer confidence, Higher consumer saving rate, consumers trying to recover lost investment, new pattern of behavior and proposed levels of tax increase affecting disposable income. Moreover, in the 2008 recession, the researcher also believes that the recession might create an additional snap back for room demand. Figure 3: The relationship between GDP and Room Demand U.S. Business and group travel The hotel industry profitability can be influenced by a demand from business travel. According to a member survey, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) reports hotel expense represents, on average, 40% of all business travel expense. In addition, American Express stated that airfare will increase from 2% to 10% in 2011, and hotel rates will increase 1% to 10% (Paurowski, 2010). The survey also indicated that 35% of its member strongly considered optimizing hotel expense in 2011 and 50% of its member expressed concern regard increasing in expenses. Passenger Name Record (PNR) in Computer Reservation System (CRS) showed that cooperate travelers have shifted booking methods from Travel Management Companies (TMCs) to Online Travel Agency (OTA). In fact, 30% of its members stated that online hotel rates offered are lower than negotiated rates. The complementary items that are preferred by the majority corporate travelers are: complementary cocktails, free WiFi-internet ac cess and comfort. In conclusion, the demand for business and group travel will likely be for cheaper rooms at lower rates with free complementary. (Michael Boult, 2010). Domestic and international travelers Shifts in airline schedules and passenger booking have a direct impact on hotel occupancy. According to the data from Air Transport Association (ATA) 2010 annual report, the static in figure 3 shows that domestic capacity had a declining trend since 2000, and the data also showed that passenger enplaned has dropped significantly from 743 million passengers in 2008 to 703 million in 2009 reflecting a 5.3% decrease of airline industry capacity. In fact, profit margin in the airline industry has been on the negative side. Airliners cut back routes and canceled destinations. For international travelers, The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) expect the industry growth in 2010 and gradual increase to approximately 6-9% through 2015. Five countries, excluding Canada and Mexico, that rank highest in number of visitors to the U.S. in 2010 by volume are: China (40%), Brazil (35%), Korea (35%), Hong Kong (27%), New Zealand (24%) and Australia (19%). A weakening in U.S. currency helps the hotel industry by stimulating the demand from international travelers. Figure 3: Domestic Demand Trend, Profitability among Airline, Passenger Yield Trend Medical tourism -a little hope for the hotel industry In the economic downturn, hotel industry needs a stimulant plan to boot-up its occupancy rate. In 2009, Reuters Health section provided some interesting facts about medical tourism in the U.S. The report indicated that U.S. health providers have lost 650,000 patients to hospital oversea such as Thailand, India, and Singapore. In addition, the health providers are predicted to lose as much as $67.7 billion in revenue in 2010. Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas, foresee the opportunity for the hotel industry in Las Vegas. Mayor encourages a local business to support the idea of medial tourism. The medical tourism will be an alternative business in the area, the national public radio reported. Casio Industry Casinos are the largest revenue generator in the gambling industry. The industry provided approximately 350,000 jobs in the U.S. market. The American Gaming Association and the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) are the main organizations in the U.S. casino industry. The AGA encourages its members and their employee to be aligned with updated law and regulations. Moreover, AGA is a realizable source for a gaming industry providing gaming history, educational program, and statistic data on the Casino industry. In addition, the NIGA under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has provided Native Americans opportunities to legally run casinos. U.S. casino trends The casino industry has been hard-hit by the recession. According to the United States department of labor, the Mass Layoff statistics (MLS) program showed that the hotel-casino industry eliminated 13,000 jobs in 2008 (Labor, 2010). The revenue trend in the casino industry has been on a downturn for the last two consecutive years. The SP expected a slow recovery from the casino industry. Las Vegas, Nevada As of 2009, the American Gaming Association reported that Las Vegas with $5.55 billion in revenue was a dominant U.S. market. According to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the statistic in figure 5 showed a 2.4% increase in the number of visitors from 2009. The Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue was increased by 4.3%, but the downtown area gaming revenue was decreased by -7.3% from 2009. In 2009, the 14% unemployment rate in the state Nevada plummeted the economic trail. On a carryover impact from the economic crisis in 2008, the number of attendees at conventions, and a number of scheduled conventions and number of meetings held remained on the decline with decreases of -1.1% and -6.7% respectively. According to the Las Vegas Visitor Profile, Market Segment reported by LVCVA (2009) that 76% of Casino guests were most likely to be traveling in a party of two and average stay in Las Vegas is 4 nights. Casino guests on LVCVA survey stated that 87% of visitors called the hotel-casino directly to book their accommodation. In 2010, SPs industry report estimated casino revenue on the Strip to be 35%-45% of total revenues, and the revenue from hotel rooms was 20-30% of the total revenue. A total enplaned and deplaned air passenger continued to decline. The number of air travelers accounts for 42% of all visitors. (LVCVA visitor profile: ir visitor version). The SPs report indicated strong growth from Las Vegas. Figure 4: U.S. Casino Industry Gaming Revenue Figure 5: Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority (LVCVA) : Executive Summary Atlantic City, New Jersey The Atlantic City is a second large of the U.S. casino marketplace. The static in figure 4 shows that casinos in the area have been losing revenue -5.7%, -7.6% and 13.2% in three consecutive years. According to SP, casinos in Atlantic City are facing heavily competition from New York and Pennsylvania. Macau, China: New Era of Asia Gold rush Macau is a special administrative region of China. The CIA The World Factbook reported that, in 2006, Macaus gaming revenue surpassed that of the Las Vegas strip, and gaming-related taxes accounted for more than 70% of total government revenue. The Macau market attracted many casino operators from Las Vegas to come and establish a new home-based outside the U.S. In 2010, the profit in Macau market increased 9.7% in revenue from its loss in 2009. The gaming industry in Macau was expected to rise, but, SP reported a concern about the room surplus of 40% in 2011 and 2012. In the long-term, SP still believes that the Macau gaming industry will generate a significant profit for China. Singapore: A hidden dragon Singapore is the one of the most strategic locations in South-East Asia. According to Economy Watch and World Bank, Singapore is considered to be a very attractive country for new business. Sources in the Wall Street Journal on October 7, 2010 reported that the Marina Bay Sands project is a 8-billion dollar casino in Singapore, known to be the cleanest city in the world. The casino includes three 50-story structure with approximately 2,500 rooms; a casino, retail stores, dining and 800,000 square feet entertainment complex. The SP 2010 industry report predicted that the top five markets for Singapore casinos are: Indonesia, China, Australia, India and Malaysia. In addition, the Marina Bay Sands should have no effect on Macau market because the hotel presents a more family-orientated appeal. Legal and Regulation Internet/Online gambling Online gambling is illegal in the U.S. as of November, 2010. Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2266)  was introduced to congress in May 2009 by Frank, Barney  (Rep). The bill is aimed to Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which prohibits internet gambling operators from receiving money related to any online gambling that violates State or Federal law (Frank, 2010). Online gambling is also on a serious debate among AGA members regarding a safety and government regulation. The concerns regarding an online gambling are a security technology such as firewall to protect million online users. Summary Key Fact from Industry Analysis Room demand dropped because economic recession. Occupancy rate dropped because dropped in demand and increasing room surplus. Real GDP could be used as atool for the hotel industry to future demand. Business Travel booking trends changed from Travel agency to online travel agency. China is a number one inbound visitor by volume from oversea. Medical tourism could be an alternative route for simulating demand. Gaming on Las Vegas Strip continues generating profit. Atlantic City market for casino is not pleasant after loss in profit of 3 consecutive years. Macau is growing and generated more revenue than Las Vegas Strip. Singapore could be a new growing casino market in South-East Asia. Legalize an online gambling is an ongoing process. Casino Market: Oligopoly Market Competition In 2009, the casinos industry had revenue in total of $US 21.8 billion. To determine an economic competitive type of market in the industry, the company uses a four-firm concentration ratio as the indicator. The ratio is the percentage of total industry sales made by the four largest firms (Fig. 4). The four-firm ratio for the casinos industry is approximately 70%, which had created an oligopoly form of market competition. In oligopoly, one firm decision can have a direct influence on demand, price, and profit of competitor in the industry. Figure 5: Companies in the casino industry by revenue Furthermore, external assessment of the industry is a critical process for management in decision making. The Porters Five-Forces Model, competitive analysis tool, has been utilized for in-depth industry analysis. The model analysis is provided five perspectives in assessing the industry: Rivalry among competing firms, Potential entry of new competitor, Potential development of substitute products, Bargaining power of suppliers, and Bargaining power of consumers. Porters Five-Forces Model Analysis Rivalry among existing competitors: MGM : Rivalry among existing competitors : HIGH Same-size competitors High exit barrier Indifferent in product and service among competitors Table x: Threat of existing competitors The competitive atmosphere in hotel industry is high.   There are a lot of competitors in industry.   Furthermore, it seems that competitors compete in same dimension because in commercial casino industry, customers are not much diverse. Therefore, players in this industry found it hard to target different customers with different needs   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are a lot of competitors with equal power and size.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Exit barrier in commercial casino industry is high because a company invests huge amount of money, especially, building cost. Even a company wants to exit from the industry, sometimes it force to stay in because exit costs are high.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Product and service in commercial casino industry are identical. Moreover, there is no switching cost for buyers. Thus, competitor might cut price to attract buyers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fixed costs are high. In order to compete in hotel industry, a casino manager adopts revenue management. The process allows buyers to stay in same type of room in different price. Even a hotels products and service are not rapidly become outdated but competitive atmosphere in commercial casino industry is hot, therefore, companies cannot make high profit from this industry. Threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants for hotel and motels industry is low. The industry has significant barriers to entry which include: MGM : Threat of new entrants : LOW Supply-side economies of scale Demand-side benefits of scale Customers switching costs Capital requirements Restrictive government policy Position advantages independent of size Unequal access to distribution channels Table x: Threat of new entrants Supply-side economies of scale:   In commercial casino industry these economies hardly appear. Even a company built more rooms or more recreations in its casino, these economies will not appear. Moreover, the company has to carry more cost, more maintenance cost and more employees cost. Demand-side benefits of scale (network effects): These benefits occur when the numbers of buyer patronize the company. However, these benefits might not occur in commercial casino industry. In commercial casino industry, a company will find advantages in location, facilities and characteristics of personal working in direct contract with customers. Therefore, having a lot of customers patronize a company will not provide huge demand-side benefits of scale. Customers switching costs: In commercial casino industry, when customers purchase service from a casino, it is one time use. Therefore, there is no switching cost. Capital requirements: In order to enter commercial casino industry, a company needs to finance huge budget and the industry return is not attractive. Thus this industry has high barrier. Position advantages independent of size: These advantages are not depends on a companys size, incumbents can have competitive advantages that not available to competitors. These advantages in commercial casino industry can stem from locations, brand identities and service. Unequal access to distribution channels: It is not hard to establish or find distribution channels in commercial casino industry. A company could use agents or let customer books rooms via its websites. Restrictive government policy: There might be some restriction related to commercial industry such in some area government do not allow a company to build a building that higher than 2 floors or in some countries, a company has to has citizens hold more than half of a companys shares to operate in that country. In U.S., commercial casino industry is the most regulated and monitored industry. The threat of substitutes: MGM : Threat of substitutes : HIGH Competitor Table x: Threat of substitutes There are some substitutes for commercial casino such as hostels, apartments or houses. Customers can stay in hostel, apartment or houses and go to gaming or using recreation facilities at casinos. If buyers concern convenience, they might prefer casino. Because they will have maids clean their room and casinos always locate in a convenience location. If buyers concerns price, they might stay in hostel. However, if buyers concern privacy, they might prefer house.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no cost of switching to substitute. Buyers can change to substitutes anytime if they would like. Hostels, apartments and house can be substitutes for casinos. They perform similar products and service to casinos, if you concern only hospitality part. However, there are some differences which made substitutes have huge different from hotels. Buyers have to determine trade-off between hotels and substitutes. In this industry, the threat of substitutes is not high because substitutes have too many differences in facilities and service from casinos. Thus, industrys profitability is not suffered from substitutes. The power of suppliers: If suppliers have power over a company, suppliers might set its price higher, limit quality of service and shift its cost to other parties. In commercial casino industry, a company uses wide range of different suppliers such as supplier for construction, supplier for food and beverages and supplier for hotel equipment. There is almost no monopoly in hotel suppliers. Moreover, only a few supplies that have switching cost such as securities equipment and suppliers did not differentiate their products. The company has to differentiate itself by choosing good location, providing well-maintenance facilities and providing supreme service. Furthermore, the company can easily find substitute suppliers. Therefore, the power of suppliers in commercial casino industry is low. The power of buyers: MGM : The Power of Buyer : Table x: The power of buyer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are various customers in commercial casino industry. However, there are some buyers that have ability to negotiate such as group tour.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Products and service in commercial casino industry are not much different. If customers find that a hotel that they always stay in is full, they have to stay in other hotel. They have to purchase products and service in some hotel anyway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Buyers have no switch cost. If buyers want to change from a hotel to a hotel, they can just check-in to another hotel without any switching cost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Buyers cannot produce industrys product if buyers found that a hotel is too profitable. Buyers can switch to other hotels but they cannot produce it by their selves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In commercial casino industry, buyers do not stick with brands. Buyers might concerns about quality of product and service. If they find another casino that cheaper but quality and facility are same, they will switch to another casino. In sum, in commercial casino industry, buyers are relatively price sensitive. From analysis given above, buyers in commercial casino industry have high power and seem to be price sensitive. They can press companies to lower their price and can ask for more quality and service. Financial and Accounting Analysis The financial information was published annually to external and internal users. MGM Mirage Inc. financial statements had been analyzed using financial ratio analysis and information in management discussion. The median number of industry ratio in 2009 is used in this report. By the nature of hotel business, MGM contains a high fix-cost in normal business operation and profits are driven by tourism and business travel demand. MGM requires a large capital to run its hotels and casinos. In 2010, MGM is in process of development a City Center, a capital intensive driven project. The delayed of City Center project has enormous impact on MGM financial statement. Liquidity and Financial Position Liquidity Ratios Industry 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 Current Ratio 1.1 1.28 0.51 0.68 0.92 0.66 Quick Ratio 0.8 1.02 0.2 0.48 0.5 0.48 Credit Risk: Facing Bankruptcy As of December 31, 2009, MGM is in a weak financial position because of its indebtedness. MGM with credit rating of CCC+ operated the business with 39% on the long-term debt. The management team declared unpleasant statement about the $1.1 billion senior credit facility debt which might be defaulted on maturity date in 2010. The management suggests that MGM must extent the payback period by negotiating with their creditors. Also, management has predicted that future revenue from operation and tax refunds would help reducing MGM debt. The current and quick ratio indicated that MGM has had insufficient fund to operate its casino since 2005. With the ratio less than 1 and below the industry average in both current ratio and quick ratio, MGM has been operated on the line of bankruptcy if the company defaults on its debt. Revenue base and mix MGM primary source of revenue came from Las Vegas Strip. As December 31, 2009, the majority of MGM revenue came from three sources: casino (44%), hotel room (23%), and food beverage (23%). Casino revenue dropped 12% from 2008 and it had been on decline trends since 2007. In 2009 MGM financial statement, revenue from casino had been divided into three sub-categories: Table games (36% of total casino revenue), Slots (60% of total casino revenue), and Other revenue. The table game revenue decreased 11%, even though there is 33% increases in demand for baccarat. Sustainability of revenues and earning As of December 2009, MGM **Reasonable Analysis *focus on MDA *Risk and Factor * Note Analyzing financial statement Accounting item to review Cash Flow Profitability ratios MGM profitability ratios are negative in 2010 and 2009 for some ratios. ROA in both 2009 and 2010 are negative. We can break ROA to net profit margin multiply total assets turnover to deepen our analyzing.   Assets turnover ratio shows MGMs ability to use assets generate revenues. MGMs assets turnover ratio decreases from 2007 to 2009. Even this ratio does not decrease much during 3 year period, it made ROA go down. The main factor that has impact on ROA is net profit margin. The MGM has very low net profit margin since 2008. MGMs bad signal shows since 2008. After its net profit margin ratio plunge to -11.86% in 2008 and -21.61% in 2009 which a major factor lowing ROA. From analyzing ROA, we can see that MGM has a problem with maintaining its profit margin. MGMs revenues in 2008 are not much different from 2007, however, MGM cannot control operating expenses, operating expenses in 2007 exceeds revenues. In 2009 MGM revenues decreases by 17%, further, MGMs ability to control its op erating expense decreased. MGMs operating expenses in 2009 is 114.65% from revenues. The major increase in operating expenses in 2008 and 2009 is property transactions. MGMs ability to fulfill its short term obligation is getting better in 2009. Both quick and current ratios go up. The reason both quick and current ratios increase because in 2009 MGM carries more cash. However, MGM debt management ratios worsen. Long term debt to equity ratio increases from 2007 to 2009 results increase in total debt to equity ratio. These ratio shows MGM has larger portion of debt compare to equity. Even MGM carries more long term debt recently; MGM has interest coverage ratio high enough to pay back its interest. But this ratio trend increase in recent year. Hotel operating statistics Asset values Balance sheet ratios Book Value Off-balance-sheet commitments or liabilities Valuation measures Leverage ratios Debt Management 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 LT Debt to Equity 3.35 3.12 1.84 3.38 3.82 Industry Ratio Total Debt to Equity 3.63 3.39 1.84 3.38 3.82 Industry Ratio Interest Coverage 1.66 2.06 1.95 1.93 Industry Ratio Activity ratios Asset Management 2009 2008 2007 2006

Helping Young Students Achieve Success Essays -- Teaching, education,

I believe that all children should have an opportunity to be educated within a diverse setting and individualized teaching. Each student should be treated as an individual and using positive interaction with each individual. The importance of education was a part of my family culture. My personal experience of promoting child development began in Head Start, Las Vegas, Nevada, while attending school. Implementing what I was learning in my classroom curriculum was a learning experience for me and my students. I learned that the more knowledge I imparted on my students, their learning process became easier. I believe in children having hands-on experiences. I learned to build relationships with family and communities to understand the dynamics of individualize teaching. Enculturation is learned at home as well as the school. As an educator, I believe student need to have exposed to the community and different aspects of jobs to acquire into working adults. The younger a child begins bu ilding knowledge it will grow exponentially. There are sensitive periods that are critical for a child’s learning. I understand the significance of evaluation where the children are at on an individual bases. From my observance, when students have difficulty, it is harder for them to catch up with their peers. I believe all students can learn, not all at the same rate. The teacher environment should be inviting and students encouraged communicating through verbal, pictures, artwork or play. Students come in with different experiences and values. The classroom should offer various teaching style to individualize as much as possible for the students. The teacher should foster security and self-worth to their students, setting them up for success. Teac... ...nce area for children to explore and learn about plant life. I feel that material selected for the science area should actually give the children a concept of what science defines. The science will build knowledge and vocabulary. Most teachers are intimidated by science because of a lack of knowledge. As an educator, I will prepare my materials for any and all activities for my students to experience. On the other hand not all knowledge needs to be detailed. This is a learning experience for the students to record and predict. The reading and writing center is important for students to being their writing and reading skills. Optimal discovery and learning in the early years of students. The vast material that helps a student engage is important I believe in assessing students in a variety of ways, with pictures, written observances, running records and portfolios.

Explain Different Sociological Approaches Essay

When it comes to defining what health is it can be difficult, people can have a positive outlook to define health or a negative, for example a positive definition of health could be- feeling well in many ways; feeling physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially well, etc. A negative definition of health could be that you are healthy so long as you don’t have a disease. As well as there being positive and negative approaches to health, there is also a holistic approach to health, holistic means ‘relates with a complete system rather than looking at individual parts’ (Webster, 2014) – so for example if one concept of our health is affected it will affect all the other parts in some way, the concepts are- spiritual health; physical health; environmental health; psychological health and sociological health. If somebody’s physical health is poor such as becoming ill with a disease like cancer it is thought to effect all other concepts of health for example the environmental health may become dirty and unclean as the individual is weak to be able to keep on top of tidying it up; the sociological health is effected as you will be socially seen as an ill person rather than a person; the spiritual health could be the individual may feel they are being punished by god or for something they have done and the psychological health will be effected as the individual will feel extremely depressed and though they are waiting for their death to come. The world health organisation, which founded in 1948 has the definition of health that health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO, 2003). Finally, Mildred Baxter (1990) as both a positive definition of health, negative and functional – the positive definition regards health as feeling fit and well, the negative definition regards health as being free from pain and discomfort and the functional definition regards health in terms of being able to perform day to day tasks. There are four different social perspectives which have views on both health and ill-health, these social perspectives are functionalist; marxist; feminist and interactionist. The functionlists believe that for our society to be able to function  properly the individuals in society need to be healthy, and the idea of someone being ill is them having a form of social deviance. Talcott Parsons who is a functionlist has the view that when a person falls sick they become apart of ‘the sick role’ – this is when someone is sick they behave a certain way, such as not going to work, staying in bed, hot water bottles†¦ etc. Sick people in society are thought to have rights and responsibilies, we have the right to be able to be cared for and not go into work so we can rest our bodies and we have the responsibility to get ourselves better by going to visit the doctor, etc. The marxist view towards health and ill-health belives that the reason we have health and social care services in place such as the doctors is to serve the rich and the powerful in the society, the reason this is thought to serve the rich and powerful is to be able to get employers back to work so that no buisness is lost. The marxists have they theory that depending on the level of illness is related to the differences in social class, for example the poor are more likely to suffer from poor diets, etc. Feminists also have there own view towards health and ill-health , the femanists are more focused on the male domination in the medical field, such as why is it more money is not spent on the male contraceptive pill? There are thought to be less side effects however it is still up to woman to take it. There is an increasing number in woman who are suffering from mental health illness’ which is down to the reason that woman are expected to live as a certain poisition in society, such as the double day – this is where a woman is expected to go out to work to help provide for their family home and when the working day is over to come home and cook tea and care for the children, clean, etc. Finally, the interactionists say that if you are ill it all depends on if the individual is ill and wanting to admit that they are ill, as some people do not like to admit defeat and admit they’re ill whereas others will say they are ill when it is very minor. In conclusion there are all different views on what health is, and what ill health is†¦ as well as this we can see that depending on the individual and there beliefs and views on being ill depends on how they will accept the change.

Arthur Miller ‘s presentation Essay

By focusing on three or four scenes, examine Arthur Miller ‘s presentation of John Proctor’s moral journey. A crucible is defined in the dictionary as ‘a severe test or trial’. Throughout this play, John Proctor’s morals and beliefs are challenged to a great extent as we watch his character develop and admire his strength to do what is right whatever the consequences. A moral journey is the development of someone’s morals and beliefs as they are tested by certain situations and react to them in different ways. I wouldn’t say it was a mapped out journey, more one that is likely to change without warning. Salem was a very religious and close-knit community. The strict creed meant that its inhabitants lived very monotonous lives and continuously feared doing wrong by God. Many people found they could not live with the pressures forced upon them by the church as religion was preached so vigorously and people were discouraged from forming their own opinion on life. This caused the community to become very repressed. The way everyone reacted to the accusations of witchcraft stem from this. People suddenly became very paranoid of everybody else’s actions and also became suspicious that they may be a witch. They also used the right to call somebody a witch as vengeance. The fact that Proctor was willing to go against the church and the rest of the community to follow his views of descent conduct makes him stand out. I will be studying several extracts of the play to illustrate Proctor’s moral journey. John Proctor is often seen as the main character in the play and the first point where we are given any information about him is in the early stages of Act 1. Here, Miller directly intervenes and provides us with a lengthy passage on John Proctor giving us information on his background and character. This is essential, as otherwise, we have no knowledge of his values before he enters the stage. Miller’s script: â€Å"But as we shall see, the steady manner he displays does not spring from an untroubled soul. He is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time, but against his own vision of descent conduct. † This quote also backs up the idea that John does not need to be punished for sins he has committed, as he is his own worst critic. At first Miller portrays him in a harsh light. When he enters in the first act, he reprimands his servant for not being at home helping Elizabeth and orders her to go immediately. The stage directions here allow us to see the effect of John on others. He obviously has a sense of authority as Miller describes Mary Warren’s reaction when he enters the room as follows: ‘She can barely speak for embarrassment and fear’ After the departure of Mary, John is then left alone with Abigail and Miller presents us with a scene full of hurt, desire and tension. Abigail is a very useful character when analysing John’s morals. She is very manipulative and tests his will power to reject her. John, at first, is not aware of Abigail’s determination to win his love. He says impulsively some things that Abigail interprets in her own, yet wrong, way. She then seems very confident about what she is saying and feels she is being lead on. Proctor: â€Å"Ah, you’re wicked yet, aren’t y’! (A thrill of expectant laughter escapes her, and she dares come closer, feverishly looking in his eyes)† The stage directions at this point are very important, as they are essential in the understanding of how Abigail is feeling. After this move of Abigail’s, John realises that she is serious and is still holding hope for him. He decides to put this right by making it quite clear to her that he is not willing to continue their relationship. Proctor: â€Å"Abby I may think of you softly from time to time but I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again. † This shows that Proctor has learnt from his mistakes and although he is tempted, he is not willing to commit the same sin again. This is quite extreme for him to state and shows that he is serious about what he is saying. It is also evident from the stage directions that John is ‘(angered-at himself as well). ‘ This shows that he has admitted to himself that he was wrong and now he is feeling guilty and angry with himself for all the trouble he has caused in his relationship with Elizabeth. The stage directions are very powerful in this extract as they show the characters emotions and they explain the situation well. This extract shows a very important part of John Proctor’s moral journey as he manages to resist Abigail’s advances. It must have taken a lot for him to do this, as it would be hard both mentally and physically for him. This shows how his character is starting to develop as he has learnt from previous experiences and is beginning to face and correct his sins rather than just ignoring them. The next extract I will be examining is in the early parts of Act two. This is set eight days on from the last scene and there is a very different atmosphere. Instead of passion and heat, this scene is awkward and tense. It shows how Proctor is not being honest with his wife, Elizabeth, and instead there is a lot of pretence. This is an important time in Proctors moral journey as it shows us how he is coping with his relationship with Elizabeth. It is evident that Proctor is still in denial and is not facing up to his actions. He doesn’t realise that the lies and secrets he is keeping will affect so badly what happen in future events. At the beginning of this Act, Miller sets the scene effectively using stage directions. He describes the room as ‘low, dark, and rather long living-room of the time’. This immediately changes our mood and calms us down in anticipation of a more sombre and serious scene. In this scene dialogue, as well as stage directions, play a very important part in portraying the characters feelings. The stage directions especially help us to interpret how certain lines should be said (as this is a play) and how characters should act. Proctor is not truthful to Elizabeth in this scene. He firstly lies about his interview with Abigail as he feels she won’t understand. He tells her that he has been working on the farm in hope that he will sympathise with him. This is part of his moral journey as it shows he is still in denial and feels that time will sort his problems out. He is prolonging the consequences of his actions that he knows one day he’ll have to face.

Laptop You Can Hold in Your Hand essays

Laptop You Can Hold in Your Hand essays To keep in track with the latest developments in the industry of hi-tech gadgets, Microsoft launched the Origami project. The main purpose of this work project was to develop a new product that would revolutionize the computer industry. And they have! Microsoft's Origami project came up with the Q1, or the Ultra Mobile Personal Computer. The Q1 is a computer with considerably decreased sizes, portable, lightweight and configured to connect on the go.1 Not larger than the average notebook, the mini laptop uses wireless connections. As the computer has support for touchscreen and keyboard input2, the user can send out commands towards the computer through a special stylus by simply writing down the commands on the display. Also, the mini computer offers the users the ability to connect it to the keyboard (also of small size) and type in the commands. According to Microsoft programmers, the Q1 was developed to go anywhere and do anything. This is possible due to the incorporated powerful processor, big and bright displays, easy input options and support for the latest connectivity standards.3 The hand held laptop possesses almost all features of the large size computers: it can read any sort of encrypted data, it can modify documents and files, it can run games, it can play films and music and it can be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. Featuring full Microsoft Windows XP functionality and the ability to touch, write, or type, the Ultra-Mobile PC is a powerful companion that lets you communicate, accomplish your tasks, and stay entertained and informed wherever life takes you.4 To name but a few of the technical features that make the Q1 revolutionize the Information Technology market, one might consider interesting the: seven inch diagonal display, a resolution of minimum 800 x 480 pixels, incorporated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, all these weighting not more that 2 po...

Radiation Definition and Examples

Radiation Definition and Examples Radiation and radioactivity are two misunderstood concepts. Here is the definition of radiation and a look at how it differs from radioactivity. Radiation Definition Radiation is the emission and propagation of energy in the form of waves, rays or particles. There are three main types of radiation: Non-ionizing radiation: This is the release of energy from the lower-energy region of the electromagnetic spectrum. This includes light, radio, microwaves, infrared (heat), and ultraviolet light.Ionizing radiation: This is radiation with sufficient energy to remove an electron from an atomic orbital, forming an ion. Ionizing radiation includes x-ray, gamma rays, alpha particles, and beta particles.Neutrons: Neutrons are particles found in the atomic nucleus. When they break off the nucleus, they have energy and act as radiation. Examples of Radiation Radiation includes emanation of any portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, plus it includes the release of particles. Examples include: A burning candle emits radiation in the form of heat and light.The Sun emits radiation in the form of light, heat, and particles.Uranium-238 decaying into Thorium-234 emits radiation in the form of alpha particles.Electrons dropping from one energy state to a lower state emit radiation in the form of a photon. Difference Between Radiation and Radioactivity Radiation is the release of energy, whether it takes the form of waves or particles. Radioactivity refers to the decay or splitting of an atomic nucleus. A radioactive material releases radiation when it decays. Examples of decay include alpha decay, beta decay, gamma decay, neutron release, and spontaneous fission. All radioactive isotopes release radiation, but not all radiation comes from radioactivity.

Statistics on Child Sexual Abuse

Statistics on Child Sexual Abuse Child sexual abuse is a devastating crime whose victims are those least able to protect themselves or speak out and whose perpetrators are most likely to be repeat offenders. Many pedophiles follow career paths that provide steady contact with children and earn them the trust of other adults. Priests, coaches and those who work with troubled youth are among the professions that child molesters have gravitated toward. Unfortunately, child sexual abuse is also a significantly under-reported crime that is difficult to prove and prosecute. Most perpetrators of child molestation, incest and child rape are never identified and caught. The following 10 facts and statistics, drawn from the National Center for Victims of Crime Child Sexual Abuse fact sheet, reveals the scope of child sexual abuse in the U.S. and its devastating long-term impact on a childs life: The almost 90,000 cases of child sexual abuse reported each year fall far short of the actual number. Abuse frequently goes unreported because child victims are afraid to tell anyone what happened and the legal procedure for validating an episode is difficult. (American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry)An estimated 25% of girls and 16% of boys experience sexual abuse before they turn 18 years old. Statistics for boys may be falsely low because of reporting techniques. (Ann Botash, MD, in Pediatric Annual, May 1997.)Of all victims of sexual assault reported to law enforcement agencies67% were under age 1834% were under age 1214% were under age 6Of offenders who victimized children under age 6, 40% were under age 18. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2000.)Despite what children are taught about stranger danger, most child victims are abused by someone they know and trust. When the abuser is not a family member, the victim is more often a boy than a girl. The results of a three-stat e study of reported rape survivors under age 12 revealed the following about offenders:96% were known to their victims50% were acquaintances or friends20% were fathers16% were relatives4% were strangers(Advocates for Youth, 1995) Often, a parents connection (or lack thereof) to his/her child puts that child at greater risk of being sexually abused. The following characteristics are indicators of increased risk:parental inadequacyparental unavailabilityparent-child conflictthe poor parent-child relationship(David Finkelhor. Current Information on the Scope and Nature of Child Sexual Abuse. The Future of Children, 1994)Children are most vulnerable to sexual abuse between the ages of 7 and 13. (Finkelhor, 1994)Child sexual abuse involves coercion and occasionally violence. Perpetrators offer attention and gifts, manipulate or threaten the child, behave aggressively or use a combination of these tactics. In one study of child victims, half were subjected to a physical force such as being held down, struck, or violently shaken. (Judith Becker, Offenders: Characteristics and Treatment. The Future of Children, 1994.)Girls are the victims of incest and/or intrafamily sexual abuse much more frequently than boys. Betwe en 33-50% of perpetrators who sexually abuse girls are family members, while only 10-20% of those who sexually abuse boys are intrafamily perpetrators. Intrafamily abuse continues over a longer period of time than sexual abuse outside the family, and some forms such as parent-child abuse have more serious and lasting consequences.(Finkelhor, 1994.) Behavioral changes are often the first signs of sexual abuse. These can include nervous or aggressive behavior toward adults, early and age-inappropriate sexual provocativeness, alcohol consumption and the use of other drugs. Boys are more likely than girls to act out or behave in aggressive and antisocial ways. (Finkelhor, 1994.)The consequences of child sexual abuse are wide-ranging and varied. They can include:chronic depressionlow self-esteemsexual dysfunctionmultiple personalitiesAccording to the American Medical Association, 20% of all victims develop serious long-term psychological problems. They may take the form of:dissociative responses and other signs of post-traumatic stress syndromechronic states of arousalnightmaresflashbacksvenereal diseaseanxiety over sexfear of exposing the body during medical exams(Child Sexual Abuse: Does the Nation Face an Epidemic - or a Wave of Hysteria? CQ Researcher, 1993.) Sources Medline Plus: Child Sexual Abuse.  U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.  Child Sexual Abuse Statistics. National Center for Victims of Crime. Raising Awareness About Sexual Abuse: Facts and Statistics. Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 71

Assignment Example The defendant and the plaintiff agree under the supervision of the court to implement the decree. An example of a consent decree is in divorce situations where the couple decides to settle under the supervision of a court. Disparate impact is the discrimination against a class that occurs due to the employer’s neutral employment practice, when the employer has a disproportion along the protected line. Disparate treatment is discrimination against an individual in a protected group that occurs due to unequal treatment from the employer, compared to the others. Using the four-fifths rule, the rate of selection of each group is calculated by dividing the number of the selected persons in a group by the number of total applicants in that group, and the group with the highest selection is observed. The impact ratios are then calculated by comparing this selection rate with the highest group. Any group with a substantially less selection rate than that of the highest group is observed. The employer defences against discrimination charges include job relatedness, business necessity, BFOQ, and BFSS. In job relatedness the employer argues that the employee does not work effectively. In the business necessity, the employer argues that the protected employee must have a given business necessity. The BFOQ will be based on their qualifications while the BFSS will be based on the selection criteria or a ratio. A hostile working environment is an offensive working environment that is characterized by unlawful physical or verbal harassment that shows hostility towards an individual basing on color, religion, race, gender, national origin, age, disability, his or her relatives, friends, and associates. Organizations can have policies that describe the constituents of a hostile working environment, and what is an inappropriate behaviour. It can also inform and educate employees on the organizational policies. They should investigate all

Indifference curve analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Indifference curve analysis - Essay Example The indifference curve is a particular selection of such combinations of goods, from out of the plot area, and all combinations on an indifference curve represent the fact that the consumer derives the same amount of total utility from consumption. Since utility derived from variously combined two goods on an indifference curve is same; the consumer is said to be indifferent between various combinations of two goods and the curve carrying all such combinations is termed as the indifference curve. Normally, with desirable goods on both axes (say, apples and oranges) the curve has a certain shape, further from the origin when both quantities are positive than when one is zero. (Definition,2006)Convexity to the origin of the indifference curves is explained by the fact that as one consumes more of one good its overall utility diminishes and tendencies to replace it with other increase. An example could illustrate this construct: It has been stated above that indifference curve carries mostly hypothetical pairs of goods combination ,amongst which the consumer is indifferent.However,the consumer cannot purchase quite a few of these combinations due to two factors. One is the prices of the two goods and the other is his income or budget available for expenditure on these two goods. Budget is an unalterable constraint while prices can be taken care of by moving from one good to the other. Continuing with the example above, suppose each apple was priced at $2 and each orange at $2.5 and given the fact that the consumer had an unalterable budget allocated for purchasing these two goods at $ 50 we observe that the consumer could either purchase 25 apples and no oranges or 20 oranges and no apples in two situations of exhausting the entire budget. However in neither of these situations the consumer maximizes his utility as he is away from his indifference curve despite exhausting his budget. In fact these two point s represent the two extremes of the budget line and lie on the horizontal and vertical axes respectively. In the figure below the line formed by joining the points (0, 20) and (25, 0) is the budget line. Budget line forms a triangular area with the two axes. This triangular area is the area of feasible purchases. The budget line, and everything inside it, is called the "feasible set" or the "consumption opportunity set."(Modern,2006).All combinations of apples and oranges plotted in this triangular area can be purchased from out of the given budget. This area is depicted by red lines. All goods combinations falling out of this triangular area cannot be purchased as they would not fit in with the budget constraint. This are is depicted with blue lines.Thus budget line narrows down the choice available to the consumer. In case the consumer increases his budget for the two goods across the board (say consequent to

Globalizing the Central Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Globalizing the Central Asia - Essay Example As the American war efforts in Afghanistan comes to its end, the central Asia has started fading away from the public eyes, but the central Asian region remains a key area of the globe. The region is still not yet settled, as it is the neighborhood of both the South Asia and the eastern Asia. The region also borders Russia in the southern part. The region is being done justice by Peyrouse and Laruelle through the belief and a clear survey on how they can keep along with the outside powers (Laruelle, 27). While considering ways in which the central Asia consider themselves after going through a rough time in terms of relationship with the outside powers that surrounds them. While considering the challenges of globalization that faces the global nations that have an interest in the central Asian states. The countries that are interested in the central Asia stakes secured the states from the current recap of the great game in the nineteenth century that is between the United Kingdom and Russia. Rather than this, they give light to the little games, which are more complicated. A number of actors play the â€Å"little games† from different parts of the globes such as the American, Chinese, India, Iran, the European Union, the Russian, and the states of the Arabs that are found in the Middle East.

Case Study-Ethical Decisions Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

-Ethical Decisions - Case Study Example As Crank (2003, pp. 329-331) points out, the first point of ethical formalism is that one should act in such a way that the behavior could be considered as universal. Now it becomes evident that it is not possible for Robert to further relax the parole criteria as he is convinced that further relaxation will result in the release of potentially dangerous criminals. So a further relaxation is not the right way because releasing dangerous criminals in order to empty correctional facilities is not a universally acceptable principle. The second principle is that one should not treat others as a means to an end. In this particular case it becomes evident that Robert and his parole board are being utilized by the government as a means to an end, thus, the act is unethical; the government tries to reduce overcrowding in prisons by forcing Robert to take unethical steps. If Robert decides to relax parole criteria trying to empty prisons, he will use the general public as a means to meet his own end. It is obviously so because in the case of further relaxation of the parole criteria the safety of public is compromised. The third principle is that one is free to choose how to behave and his autonomous behavior is to be independently judged on basis of Ethics and Moral Codes. In this case one can see that Robert will not decide to relax parole criteria if he takes a decision independently as he is sure that such a step will negatively affect public safety. So an autonomous action in this case would result in a decision not to relax the criteria. Admittedly, the responsibility of the parole board is to make judgments about the suitability of prisoners for their coming back to society. If this is the...Thus, the benefits of taking a decision to release inmates for community-based work on the ground of security guess work are plenty. First of all, it satisfies the existing security officers as they feel that William can protect their security and dignity. That means they wil l not take unnecessary leaves because of the perceived threat for their lives; firstly, due to the reduced inmate population and, secondly, due to th...

Training needs analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Training needs analysis - Essay Example Training needs analysis involves assessing the needs of the Hospital Services Advisors, through a training programmme and evaluating the training needs analysis. The organisation which will be the focus of such a process is Ramsay Health Care UK. RAMSAY HEALTH CARE UK The founding of Ramsay Health Care (RHC) was back in 1964. The company has developed, and has over 117 hospitals. Furthermore, it has day surgery amenities in France, Australia, Indonesia, and United Kingdom. This made the organisation assume the status of a global private healthcare operator. In England, the company obtained Capio UK and its group of hospitals in 2007. By September 2010, RHC had employed more than 3500 employees, making it the top health care providers in the UK. This achievement provided a solid foundation for expansion. The company benefits from its established trade name because of its wide spread network. It competes effectively with regional players. Currently the RHC is in a lasting affiliation with the National Health Services (NHS), where it provides surgical and diagnostics services to both private and self-sponsored patients. In the year 2010, RHC had a 10% augmentation of revenue after getting revenue of 350.2 million in the 2009 financial year. During the Medibank Private Menders’ Survey, RHC was ranked among those who had the top honors. Moreover, RHC was also among the five finalists of the best Health and Wellbeing Strategy in the Australian Human Resource Award. Furthermore, it has an excellent ability to satisfy its customers’ needs. For this reason, it has constantly emerged the top three after rating the two hundred service companies in the private and public sectors. There has been an escalation of birth rates, growth of outpatients’ treatment and the increase of the ageing people. Consequently, the economic environment and the demand for private health care are steadily escalating. This forces the RHC to expand its hospitals in the UK so as to succeed in catering the needs of the public. Additionally, RHC has successfully maintained satisfaction for its staff by ensuring that the proper work place health and protection risks are on check. Consequently, RHC has had a reduction of the time wasted because of injuries. The aim of RHC is to be at the top in offering the highest quality clinical services among the private healthcare hospitals. Furthermore, the organisation responds to the requirements of its patients by providing the best customer services. For them to meet their objectives, the RHC conducts an operation measure every year toward improving the patients’ experiences, and clinical effectiveness. Additionally it acknowledg es the importance of investing in human capital. Therefore, this has been the reason for its current achievements and developments. Moreover, the RHC offers scholarships to its staff who wishes to further their studies. For example, the company recently offered sixty thousand dollars for the staff to pursue postgraduate at its will. The strengths of the organization incorporate its wide network since it has several outlets that offer the necessary services to the clientele base. This enhances its ability to compete within the health industry. Furthermore, its personnel are well versed with operational processes making it simple to embrace emerging technologies that enhance their skills. An additional strength pertains to the organization’s ability to attain increased revenues as illustrated in the financial outcomes. The most significant weakness arises from the inability to determine the patient’

Underdetermination and holism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Underdetermination and holism - Coursework Example This fact from the history of the growth of science shows us that the issue that the problem of undeterminism of scientific theories raises is a real issue that cannot be merely dismissed as a case of philosophical doubt. 2. A critical look at Laudan’s proposed dissolution of undeterminism shows that the Laudan’s dissolution can be used in defence of scientific realism. In his critique of undeterminism, Laudan argued that scientists and philosophers use the term undeterminism in a very loose manner. Laudan went on to argue that due to using the term undeterminism in a loose manner, the scientists and philosophers magnify the problem of undeterminism in science than the problem is. For Laudan, scientific theories are not undetermined in the sense that the theories are wholly undetermined as undeterminism hold, but scientific theories are undetermined only in the sense that the theories cannot be absolutely verified by any set of evidence. For Laudan, although, scientific theories are not absolutely verifiable by any set of evidence, scientific theories, however, are testable and their conclusions are tentative. For this reason, Laudan concluded that scientific theories can give us object ive, but tentative knowledge. A critical look at this view shows that Laudan’s dissolution of undeterminism can be used in defence of scientific realism. This is because scientific realism hold the view that scientific theories are tentative and scientific knowledge, therefore, is tentative; Laudan holds the same view. 3. A critical look at Dunhem’s problem shows that the problem doesn’t really extend to the Quinean holism about about logic, mathematics and science. This is because Dunhem holds that scientific theories are undetermined because it is impossible to test a scientific hypothesis or theory in isolation since scientific theories are interrelated and the test of any scientific

Training needs analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Training needs analysis - Essay Example Training needs analysis involves assessing the needs of the Hospital Services Advisors, through a training programmme and evaluating the training needs analysis. The organisation which will be the focus of such a process is Ramsay Health Care UK. RAMSAY HEALTH CARE UK The founding of Ramsay Health Care (RHC) was back in 1964. The company has developed, and has over 117 hospitals. Furthermore, it has day surgery amenities in France, Australia, Indonesia, and United Kingdom. This made the organisation assume the status of a global private healthcare operator. In England, the company obtained Capio UK and its group of hospitals in 2007. By September 2010, RHC had employed more than 3500 employees, making it the top health care providers in the UK. This achievement provided a solid foundation for expansion. The company benefits from its established trade name because of its wide spread network. It competes effectively with regional players. Currently the RHC is in a lasting affiliation with the National Health Services (NHS), where it provides surgical and diagnostics services to both private and self-sponsored patients. In the year 2010, RHC had a 10% augmentation of revenue after getting revenue of 350.2 million in the 2009 financial year. During the Medibank Private Menders’ Survey, RHC was ranked among those who had the top honors. Moreover, RHC was also among the five finalists of the best Health and Wellbeing Strategy in the Australian Human Resource Award. Furthermore, it has an excellent ability to satisfy its customers’ needs. For this reason, it has constantly emerged the top three after rating the two hundred service companies in the private and public sectors. There has been an escalation of birth rates, growth of outpatients’ treatment and the increase of the ageing people. Consequently, the economic environment and the demand for private health care are steadily escalating. This forces the RHC to expand its hospitals in the UK so as to succeed in catering the needs of the public. Additionally, RHC has successfully maintained satisfaction for its staff by ensuring that the proper work place health and protection risks are on check. Consequently, RHC has had a reduction of the time wasted because of injuries. The aim of RHC is to be at the top in offering the highest quality clinical services among the private healthcare hospitals. Furthermore, the organisation responds to the requirements of its patients by providing the best customer services. For them to meet their objectives, the RHC conducts an operation measure every year toward improving the patients’ experiences, and clinical effectiveness. Additionally it acknowledg es the importance of investing in human capital. Therefore, this has been the reason for its current achievements and developments. Moreover, the RHC offers scholarships to its staff who wishes to further their studies. For example, the company recently offered sixty thousand dollars for the staff to pursue postgraduate at its will. The strengths of the organization incorporate its wide network since it has several outlets that offer the necessary services to the clientele base. This enhances its ability to compete within the health industry. Furthermore, its personnel are well versed with operational processes making it simple to embrace emerging technologies that enhance their skills. An additional strength pertains to the organization’s ability to attain increased revenues as illustrated in the financial outcomes. The most significant weakness arises from the inability to determine the patient’

Themes in Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Themes in Romeo and Juliet Essay The story of Romeo and Juliet continues to interest and engage viewers and readers to the present day. One of the reasons for this may be that it explores universal themes which are still of interest and concern to everyday people. The play makes us think about issues, such as love, loyalty to one’s family and friends, authority, and fate. Each of these themes is discussed below in relation to the play. Loyalty Romeo and Juliet contains many examples of loyalty of one person or group to another person or group. Loyal actions in the play do not always have positive results and cannot always be seen to have been the best course of action. At times, as we see in the opening of the play, loyalty can lead to violence and people behaving dishonestly or wrongly. Student Tasks 1. In your groups, discuss and decide on a definition of loyalty. In your answer consider the following: What is loyalty and how does a loyal person behave? Where does loyalty start and stop? 2. Think of at least three examples of when a person or group shows loyalty in Romeo and Juliet. Write down: a. Who was loyal to whom? b. How they were loyal—what did they do that showed loyalty? c. What the result of their actions—did their loyalty have positive or negative outcomes in the end? 3. Using the scenes of Romeo and Juliet that we have studied in class, find three quotations that show that a character is feeling torn or pulled in two directions by their loyalties. Write down the quotation and explain what it shows about the character and to whom they are loyal. Authority Authority is illustrated and explored in Romeo and Juliet. In Shakespeare’s time, authority was very closely linked in people’s minds to the natural  order of the world and to the will of God. For example, the authority of the king or queen was believed to be given to them by God. Therefore, anyone who went against the authority of the king or queen would be considered to be committing a crime or sin against the wishes of God. People who went against authority were seen as going against the natural order and many people believed that this could only end in disaster. Student Tasks 4. There are many other words related to the word ‘authority’. For example: authoritarian, authorize, authoritative. Look up each of these words and find out what form of word that they are, for example, noun, adjective, adverb. Write a brief definition for each of the words including the word ‘authority’. 5. Find and write down three examples from the play where one person or group has authority over another group. 6. Describe three situations in the play when a person or group disobeys authority. What is the end result in each situation? Which of these examples of disobedience are the most serious ones in your opinion? 7. Are there any situations in Romeo and Juliet where people in authority do not do their jobs properly? For example, do the people in authority always carry out their jobs as carefully and as well as they should? 8. What message or idea do you think Shakespeare might have wanted to say in Romeo and Juliet about the nature of authority and about obeying authority? Love Love in Romeo and Juliet is presented almost as a disease that makes you physically ill and that makes you behave in a foolish way. Student Tasks 9. Read the two statements about the theme of love in Romeo and Juliet. As  a group, choose the statement that you agree with more and find quotations and examples from the play to support your opinion. Be prepared to contribute your ideas to a class discussion. a. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† is one of the greatest love stories of all times.† b. â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† is more about passion, hate, and the importance of obedience than it is about love.† Fate versus free will In Shakespeare’s time, fate was seen as your personal fortune or destiny that was predetermined by God. You could escape or avoid it. Your fate was said to be aligned with the stars (that is why astrologers have such importance for some people). On the other hand, there is free will. This is where a person takes control and makes his or her own destiny thereby changing the will of God. This was seen as a sin. Student Tasks 10. Write down three examples of fate or free will from Romeo and Juliet. 11. What message was Shakespeare trying to convey about fate and free will?

Review Of Thomas Paines Argument History Essay

Review Of Thomas Paines Argument History Essay Thomas Paine begins his pamphlet, Common Sense, by asserting that government is a necessary evil that is a part of society. Paine goes further in depth with his analysis for the need of government by criticizing Britains government. He believes that there is a less of two evils in terms of government and Britains government is the more evil one. He strongly disagrees with Britains monarchy and their complex government. He states that their government is corrupt and unjust and that their immoral way of governing is affecting the lives of colonists through unfair taxes and mistreatment. Paine argues that America needs to strive for absolute independence because no country will be able to mediate the dispute between America and Britain as long as America is seen as a part of Britain. Nor will any country help America if they think that their help will be used by America to reconcile with Britain in the future. By declaring independence, America could begin to gain the benefits of allian ces and trade as well. By gaining complete independence from Britain will America truly be free from wrongful taxes and exploitation. Paine makes it clear that he is not fond of government. For Paine, living without government is perceived as being ideal. Paine sees the idea of government even in its best state as a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one (Paine 3). He believes a governments existence is justified only to the extent that it mitigates problems between civil disputes. Other than ending civil quarrels, Paine believes that a governments purpose is to restrain our vices (3) and act solely as a punisher (3). Paine presents government as an institution whose function is to restrain the evil in man. If people were to act morally, government would not be necessary. However, since people are capable of committing sins, government is necessary for the protection of life and property. Governments fundamental purpose, therefore, is to provide security. If a government fails to improve society than it is not worth keeping or at the very least should be reformed. Common Sense  attacks Britains monarchy and all that comes with it. Paine presents his specific problems with the British monarchy, with his attack on hereditary succession and with the numerous complaints he makes against the king. In a country, where they believe all men are created equal Paine criticizes Britain for having kings, essentially being hypocrites. The idea of kings originates from the Bible when the Jews asked the prophet, Samuel, for a king. Samuel warned the Jews of the outcomes of having a king but the people did not listen. Therefore, Paine believes that the origin of a king comes from sin. Kings and the idea of sin might not be as important in todays society but including the argument of kings and religion in his pamphlet made a more significant impact on readers in Paines generation because they were strict on religion. Even in biblical times, kings were reasonable positions although they were viewed as coming from sin. Kings back then were often generals or ju dges; however, in England, a man would be puzzled to know what is his business (16). Paine is saying that there is no real reason to have a king because we have generals and judges; therefore the duties of a king are meaningless. Paine adds that hereditary succession of kings brings other evils. For example, people who see themselves as born into an elite existence are often ignorant and unfit (15). Paine believes that a king should not exist within a government because the king has too much power and their touch with society is lost. Lastly, Paine opposes the theory that hereditary succession reduces civil wars. At least nineteen rebellions and eight civil wars broke out in Britains past. Paine concludes that monarchy and hereditary succession have produced nothing besides a wrongful government and bloodshed. Paine argues that America will eventually be independent. Since many people in Paines time are uncertain about the idea of a  revolution, it is important to establish the grounds for American independence. He establishes American independence as being a necessity, not a choice, in order to escape from taxes. By convincing his audience that America will be independent some day, it is much easier for Paine to make the case for an immediate and full rebellion. Paine states clearly that America will, in the end, separate from Britain. It is not a matter of if, but when they will separate. Paine says the ideal time to separate from Britain is now. Paine states if the British continue to rule in America the country will weaken. Paine persuades his readers by stating that America has a large number of able men ready to retaliate. Additionally, Paine argues, the colonies are small enough to be united. If the colonists allow too much time to pass by, more and more people will flock to Ameri ca. With more people, Paine believes, it will be more difficult to work with everyone and organize a full rebellion. Another key point in Paines argument comes from the scenario if America were to make peace with Britain. Paine argues that if America was to repair relations with Britain, the problems they presently face will come back and begin an endless cycle. A cycle where America and Britain reconcile and then Britain breaks their part of the agreement by creating some other absurd taxes. The new taxes that would be imposed would interfere with the colonists lives. Paine supports his argument by pointing out the history of colonial relations with Britain, especially the events surrounding the Stamp Act. Paine references the Stamp Act of 1765, where Parliament imposed taxes on a variety of printed materials. After the colonists protested, Britain revoked the tax. However, by 1767, Parliament imposed a new round of taxes on a large range of goods in the colonies. These taxes are just an endless cycle that will continue to occur, unless America just ceases all relations with Britain. One of the key problems that had colonists doubting revolution was the British Navy. Even though, Britain appeared to be an all-powerful world empire, many could simply not believe the idea that the colonies could break free of the worlds largest empire. The colonists knew that the British Navy was one the strongest, if not strongest, naval forces of their time. Paine addresses this problem by stating that America can raise a navy of their own that will match up or even surpass the British Navy. He explains that this is possible because America currently has no national debt and can afford to construct a navy. Paine presents calculations, done by Mr. Burchett, Secretary to the navy, that show the cost of around 3,500,000 pound sterlings to build a navy. Paine shows with detailed calculations that the colonists could build a navy to rival Britain. Furthermore, Paine also adds that America has all the natural resources, such as tar, timber, iron, and cordage, (36) to construct a navy. Paine explains that it would cost even less because there are raw materials and natural resources conveniently available to them. By laying out a detailed plan of how America could build a navy to rival Britains, Paine makes a more convincing case that America can do what many would consider impossible. Another significant argument that Paine makes, in regards to the navy, is that Americas coasts are unprotected and vulnerable. Paine writes, The more sea port towns we had, the more should we have both to defend and to lose (34). By raising a navy it would both further expand business and trade of America and provide defense for their shores. In addition, Paine writes that the British Navy is too busy patrolling various colonies of the Empire, and that an American navy would need only concern itself with protecting their own coast. Paine concludes by stating, to expend millions for the sake of getting a few vile acts repealed, and routing the present ministry only, is unworthy the charge (34). Paine says that the cost of the war is justified if the result is complete freedom. However, Paine believes that it is not worth putting up a struggle if it is simply to repeal some tax laws. Paine wants absolute independence, and nothing less. There are counter-arguments that Britain protected America from the French and Indian; therefore, the colonists should be grateful. However, Paine points out the Britain only protected America for its own financial reasons. Britain did not protect America out of concern for the colonists. Furthermore, if America had not been a part of Britain in the first place, they would never have needed the protection. It is because America was a colony of Britain that they needed protection. Another counter-argument that Paine addresses is being of British descent. Paine argues that being of British descent does not matter. He uses an analogy that Britains population is made up by French. However, unlike the colonists, the French that live in Britain are not forced to pay French taxes while living in Britain. Paine uses this analogy to criticize the taxes imposed on America by Britain. If the British themselves do not pay taxes for the French, the colonists have the right not to pay either. Common Sense plays a pivotal role in the American Revolution because it forges the attitude of Americans. Common Sense is easy to comprehend, and that is Paines goal. He presents these arguments so that the common man is able to understand. He stresses that the time for independence is now and presents strong arguments as to why the time is now. With the importance of raising a navy and pointing out the corrupt government Britain has America under, Paine illustrates that independence is Americas top priority. Until America declare independence from Britain, the colonists will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is continually haunted with the thoughts of its necessity (44). Paine could not have explained the importance of haste for independence any better.

Tre Graffiti Paradigm: The Art of the Piece Essay -- Visual Art Artis

Tre Graffity Paradigm: The Art of the Piece It’s 11:00 p.m. on a Tuesday when three young men, barely high school age, slip through a chain-link fence and into a New York City trainyard. Each carries a duffel bag, from which can be heard the rattling and clanking of spray cans. Six hours later, they re-emerge, their hands stained with paint and their bags almost empty. What have they done? Inside the yard now stands a freshly painted mural, sixty feet wide and twelve feet high. The work is the result of weeks of designing and planning, and with luck it might last as long on the train as it already has on paper. What the boys have done, what has taken place inside that trainyard, is a work of art. [Let us begin with a basic assumption. One may object to graffiti on social or moral grounds, but only in the most conservatist terms can it not be considered â€Å"art.† Any idea of art which does not go out of its way to disinclude vandalism will, in fact, contain graffiti. We will, then, put aside social and moral considerations for the duration, and consider graffiti as art.] What does the work consist of? Who authored it, and how? What is it based on, and how does it relate? What is it, and what will become of it? The answers to these questions, collectively, form an important response to a bigger question: What is art? What does it mean to describe a piece as â€Å"a work of art†? AUTHORSHIP The young men have, in the course of this night, authored a â€Å"piece,† a work of graffiti. In the traditional sense, authorship is defined as the creation of the work. In such a sense, one of these young men is the author of the piece. One of the artists claims the piece as his own, and gives credit to the other two for â€Å"assis... ...ach style is in the distance between the previous styles and the style of the existing piece. Here, then, is the nature of art which graffiti exposes. Art is an activity, not an object; it is something which happens when foundations are developed upon and, most importantly, when new reference points are created. Each new reference point is a work of art; each new reference point is art. Works Used/Further References The quotes at the beginning are from New York City graffiti artists Bando and Seco, and came from Subway Art, by Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper. This book and another, Spraycan Art (by Chalfant and James Prigoff), have been invaluable resources. Another invaluable resource is the ArtCrimes web site, at http://graffiti.org/. The definitions above are taken from that site’s glossary, and I found my way to all the pictures from that site as well.

The Importance of Caliban in William Shakespeares The Tempest Essay

The Importance of Caliban in William Shakespeare's The Tempest    'This thing of darkness, I must acknowledge mine.' Although many seem baffled by Shakespeare's The Tempest, the plot is not the target to be deciphered. We understand The Tempest through understanding the character of Caliban. Many works highlight the virtuous side of human nature, failing to acknowledge the darkness that lives within the hearts of all. The Tempest is not one of these works. This story realizes that it is impossible to have the good aspect of human nature without the bad. Caliban helps the reader realize that the difference between good and bad people is the way in which the hidden dark side manifests itself to the outside world. Ostensibly, The Tempest is a play based around Prospero: his power to punish versus his power to forgive. ?Many scholars believe that this is a semi-autobiographical work, written towards the end of Shakespeare's literary career?(Davidson 241). This idea is reinforced throughout the play, especially towards the end and in the epilogue: '...my ending is despair, Unless I be relieved by prayer.' And 'I'll break my staff, Bury it in certain fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet sound I'll drown my book' (i.e. his tools that work the magic) Therefore, our understanding of Caliban's position in the play is of great import. Critics debate on whether his... ... Interpretation." In The Tempest: A Casebook. Ed. D.J. Palmer. London: Macmillan & Co. Ltd., 1968. 225-263. Kermode, Frank. Introduction. The Tempest. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1958. xlii. Palmer, D. J. (Editor) The Tempest - A Selection of Critical Essays London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1977. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans, et. al. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1974. Solomon, Andrew. "A Reading of the Tempest." In Shakespeare's Late Plays. Ed. Richard C. Tobias and Paul G. Zolbrod. Athens: Ohio UP, 1974. 232-265 John Wilders' lecture on The Tempest given at Oxford University - Worcester College - August 4th, 1999.

Outside Lies Magic

There are certain things in life that people take for granted. As technology advances, the people would struggle to go on and fit in the crowd, making sure that everything is played accordingly. Because of these changes, people sometimes oversee things and take for granted the simple pleasures of life. The book, Outside Lies Magic, shows people the simple things found around us that are taken for granted. As I was reading the book, I became open to more possible ideas around me.Although the book may sound like a textbook for many, this is one of the few literary works that people could actually appreciate. From everything that has been included in the book, two scenes stood out the most. The first part was when the author was discussing about wires and power. I became intrigued with the importance of the â€Å"wires† to the history of man and the possible contributions that they may have in society. Even if the history of mankind was quite difficult to explain, the author was able to do it in such a manner that the readers would become curious instead of being discouraged to read.The use of words was also something to be considered. The descriptive manner used would make the readers become interested to know how much information the author wants to share with everyone. Another part of the book that caught my attention was the chapter about mails. I was unaware of the history of the mailing system until I read this chapter. The demands of sending letter across the country and in the whole world increased as time passed by, making it more difficult for the postal services to fulfill their duties.Eventually, numerous people had to sacrifice their time and effort just to allow the mails to arrive on their preferred dates. I learned to appreciate the importance of my mailbox, and how it is accessible to me and to the whole world. However, this service was taken for granted and lacks the much needed appreciation. Thinking about it makes me thankful for all of the hard work taken away from me by such service. I just hope that someday, more people would be able to see and appreciate the little things that evolve around them. The last part was also something that I remembered greatly.Although the book was descriptive, the author was able to share with the readers how the simple things in life would mean the most. The readers are also given the impression that all things should be appreciated and given much importance. Regardless of the use of such descriptive words, the author was able to stick to the realities of life that many people try to escape from. And so, people should become open to committing mistakes, but still hope for the best in life. From everything that has been mentioned, I believe that the strongest part of the book is the first part.Talking about wires is not as easy as it may seem, because it is difficult to talk about wires and make them as interesting as possible. Reading the book allowed me to see a world that I was n ot aware of before. Taking the wirings for granted was something that people could relate to. I also became intrigued how people were able to organize all of the wires, and how these were identified. This allowed me to appreciate more people and things more, as each word was used. Reading the book came as a challenge for my end.English is not my first language, and some of the words used in the book were difficult for me to understand. However, the magic of words allowed me to explore and expand my knowledge further. For this, I was able to experience the magic of books, at the same time learn about the realities of life hidden from most people. Sometimes, it is not bad to look back and appreciate the humble beginnings of people and things. These are the essential things that would make the existence more worthy of the people’s appreciation. This is one of the few books that I would recommend for others to read.

LAN and Network Mangements

Imagine yourself as a network administrator, responsible for a 2000 user network. This network reaches from California to New York, and some branches over seas. In this situation, anything can, and usually does go wrong, but it would be your job as a system administrator to resolve the problem with it arises as quickly as possible. The last thing you would want is for your boss to call you up, asking why you haven†t done anything to fix the 2 major systems that have been down for several hours. How do you explain to him that you didn†t even know about it? Would you even want to tell him that? So now, picture yourself in the same situation, only this time, you were using a network monitoring program. Sitting in front of a large screen displaying a map of the world, leaning back gently in your chair. A gentle warning tone sounds, and looking at your display, you see that California is now glowing a soft red in color, in place of the green glow just moments before. You select the state of California, and it zooms in for a closer look. You see a network diagram overview of all the computers your company has within California. Two systems are flashing, with an X on top of them indicating that they are experiencing problems. Tagging the two systems, you press enter, and with a flash, the screen displays all the statitics of the two systems, including anything they might have in common causing the problem. Seeing that both systems are linked to the same card of a network switch, you pick up the phone and give that branch office a call, notifying them not only that they have a problem, but how to fix it as well. Early in the days of computers, a central computer (called a mainframe) was connected to a bunch of dumb terminals using a standard copper wire. Not much thought was put into how this was done because there was only one way to do it: they ere either connected, or they weren†t. Figure 1 shows a diagram of these early systems. If something went wrong with this type of system, it was fairly easy to troubleshoot, the blame almost always fell on the mainframe system. Shortly after the introduction of Personal Computers (PC), came Local Area Networks (LANS), forever changing the way in which we look at networked systems. LANS originally consisted of just PC†s connected into groups of computers, but soon after, there came a need to connect those individual LANS together forming what is known as a Wide Area Network, or WAN, the result was a complex connection of omputers joined together using various types of interfaces and protocols. Figure 2 shows a modern day WAN. Last year, a survey of Fortune 500 companies showed that 15% of their total computer budget, 1. 6 Million dollars, was spent on network management (Rose, 115). Because of this, much attention has focused on two families of network management protocols: The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), which comes from a de facto standards based background of TCP/IP communication, and the Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP), which derives from a de jure standards-based background associated with the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) (Fisher, 183). In this report I will cover advantages and disadvantages of both Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). , as well as discuss a new protocol for the future. I will also give some good reasons supporting why I believe that SNMP is a protocol that all network SNMP is a protocol that enables a management station to configure, monitor, and receive trap (alarm) messages from network devices. (Feit, 12). It is formally specified in a series of related Request for Comment (RFC) documents, listed here. The first protocol developed was the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). It was commonly considered to be a quickly designed â€Å"band-aid† solution to internetwork management difficulties while other, larger and better protocols were being designed. (Miller, 46). However, no better choice became available, and SNMP soon became the network management protocol of choice. It works very simply (as the name suggests): it exchanges network packets through messages (known as protocol data units (PDU)). The PDU contains variables that have both titles and values. There are five types of PDU†s which SNMP uses to onitor a network: two deal with reading terminal data, two with setting terminal data, and one called the trap, used for monitoring network events, such as terminal start-ups By far the largest advantage of SNMP over CMIP is that its design is simple, so it is as easy to use on a small network as well as on a large one, with ease of setup, and lack of stress on system resources. Also, the simple design makes it simple for the user to program system variables that they would like to monitor. Another major advantage to SNMP is that is in wide use today around the world. Because of it†s evelopment during a time when no other protocol of this type existed, it became very popular, and is a built in protocol supported by most major vendors of networking hardware, such as hubs, bridges, and routers, as well as majoring operating systems. It has even been put to use inside the Coca-Cola machines at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California (Borsook, 48). Because of SNMP†s smaller size, it has even been implemented in such devices as toasters, compact disc players, and battery-operated barking dogs. In the 1990 Interop show, John Romkey, vice president of engineering or Epilogue, demonstrated that through an SNMP program running on a PC, you could control a standard toaster through a network (Miller, 57). SNMP is by no means a perfect network manager. But because of it†s simple design, these flaws can be fixed. The first problem realized by most companies is that there are some rather large security problems related with SNMP. Any decent hacker can easily access SNMP information, giving them any information about the network, and also the ability to potentially shut down systems on the network. The latest version of SNMP, called SNMPv2, has added some security measures that were left out of SNMP, to combat the 3 largest problems plaguing SNMP: Privacy of Data (to prevent intruders from gaining access to information carried along the network), authentication (to prevent intruders from sending false data across the network), and access control (which restricts access of particular variables to certain users, thus removing the possibility of a user accidentally crashing the network). (Stallings, 213) The largest problem with SNMP, ironically enough, is the same thing that made it great; it†s simple design. Because it is so simple, the information it deals with is either detailed, nor well organized enough to deal with the growing networks of the This is mainly due to the quick creation of SNMP, because it was never designed to be the network management protocol of the 1990†³s. Like the previous flaw, this one too has been corrected with the new version, SNMPv2. This new version allows for more in-detail specification of variables, including the use of the table data structure for easier data retrieval. Also added are two new PDU†s that are used to manipulate the tabled objects. In fact, so many new features have been added that the formal pecifications for SNMP have expanded from 36 pages (with v1) to 416 pages with SNMPv2. (Stallings, 153) Some people might say that SNMPv2 has lost the simplicity, but the truth is that the changes were necessary, and could not have been avoided. A management station relies on the agent at a device to retrieve or update the information at the device. The information is viewed as a logical database, called a Management Information Base, or MIB. MIB modules describe MIB variables for a large variety of device types, computer hardware, and software components. The original MIB for Managing a TCP/IP internet (now called MIB-I) was defined in RFC 066 in August of 1988. It was updated in RFC 1156 in May of 1990. The MIB-II version published in RFC 1213 in May of 1991, contained some improvements, and has proved that it can do a good job of meeting basic TCP/IP management needs. MIB-II added many useful variables missing from MIB-I (Feit, 85). MIB files are common variables used not only by SNMP, but CMIP as well. In the late 1980†³s a project began, funded by governments, and large corporations. Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP) was born. Many thought that because of it†s nearly infinite development budget, that it would quickly become in idespread use, and overthrow SNMP from it†s throne. Unfortunately, problems with its implementation have delayed its use, and it is now only available in limited form from developers themselves. (SNMP, Part 2 of 2, III. 40. ) CMIP was designed to be better than SNMP in every way by repairing all flaws, and expanding on what was good about it, making it a bigger and more detailed network manager. It†s design is similar to SNMP, where PDU†s are used as variables to monitor the network. CMIP however contains 11 types of PDU†s (compared to SNMP†s 5). In CMIP, the variables are seen as very complex and sophisticated data tructures with three attributes. These include: 1) Variable attributes: which represent the variables characteristics (its data 2) variable behaviors: what actions of that variable can be triggered. 3) Notifications: the variable generates an event report whenever a specified event occurs (eg. A terminal shutdown would cause a variable notification As a comparison, SNMP only employs variable properties from one and three above. The biggest feature of the CMIP protocol is that its variables not only relay information to and from the terminal (as in SNMP) , but they can also be used to perform tasks that would be impossible under SNMP. For instance, if a terminal on a network cannot reach the fileserver a pre-determined amount of times, then CMIP can notify appropriate personnel of the event. With SNMP however, a user would have to specifically tell it to keep track of unsuccessful attempts to reach the server, and then what to do when that variable reaches a limit. CMIP therefore results in a more efficient management system, and less work is required from the user to keep updated on the status of the network. CMIP also contains the security measures left out by SNMP. Because of the large development budget, when it becomes available, CMIP ill be widely used by the government, and the corporations that funded it. After reading the above paragraph, you might wonder why, if CMIP is this wonderful, is it not being used already? (after all, it had been in development for nearly 10 years) The answer is that possibly CMIP†s only major disadvantage, is enough in my opinion to render it useless. CMIP requires about ten times the system resources that are needed for SNMP. In other words, very few systems in the world would able to handle a full implementation on CMIP without undergoing massive network modifications. This disadvantage has no inexpensive fix to it. For that reason, many believe CMIP is doomed to fail. The other flaw in CMIP is that it is very difficult to program. Its complex nature requires so many different variables that only a few skilled programmers are able to use it to it†s full potential. Considering the above information, one can see that both management systems have their advantages and disadvantages. However the deciding factor between the two, lies with their implementation, for now, it is almost impossible to find a system with the necessary resources to support the CMIP model, even though it is superior to SNMP (v1 and v2) in both design and operation. Many people believe that the growing power of modern systems will soon fit well with CMIP model, and might result in it†s widespread use, but I believe by the time that day comes, SNMP could very well have adapted itself to become what CMIP currently offers, and more. As we†ve seen with other products, once a technology achieves critical mass, and a substantial installed base, it†s quite difficult to convince users to rip it out and start fresh with an new and unproven technology (Borsook, 48). It is then recommend that SNMP be used in a situation where minimial security is needed, and SNMPv2 be used Borsook, Paulina.