April Raintree Essay Essay Example

April Raintree Essay Essay Example April Raintree Essay Essay April Raintree Essay Essay Chapter 1 1. How is the setting depicted in Chapter One What was your reaction In April Raintree, we first get introduced by the words of April†a 24 year old girl who is fairly content with her family, considering the different types of skin color and mixed blood. She begins to explain her unique family, and the approach towards where they live is suggested as well. Norway House, a small northern Manitoba town is a fairly low maintenance place, where you will find families living in poverty quite common. Aprilâ„ ¢s family move around a lot, from place to place. She claims that she can only remember one street†and thatâ„ ¢s Jarvis Avenue. This was a bit surprising to me at first, since the story takes place close to where I live as well. Itâ„ ¢s also exciting, since the words of April are something that I can relate to, because of how she lives in Manitoba. Aprilâ„ ¢s family continues to struggle with problems regarding money and relationship issues. Since their house is small, it is hard for her to relax or find the time to talk to their family, which consists of a mother who is usually quiet and calm, and a clumsy father who can get loud at times. Chapter 2 2. Quote and discuss three significant events in this chapter. As the story progresses, there are a lot of important events that the reader will take notice. For example, we get introduced to the scenario of Cheryl and Aprilâ„ ¢s separation between each other and being placed into different foster homes.

In Absentia Used As An Adjective

In Absentia Used As An Adjective â€Å"In Absentia† Used As An Adjective â€Å"In Absentia† Used As An Adjective By Maeve Maddox A reader has asked me to comment on the following uses of the Latin phrase in absentia (â€Å"in his/her absence†) in The Harvard Crimson: Headline: FAS Relaxes In Absentia Rules Text: Undergraduates studying abroad in spring 2007 will be able to take their fall exams early- if their instructors approve- rather than having to lug their books overseas for in absentia exams. The reader feels that the phrase should not be used to describe a noun: This usage looks incorrect to me. M-W describes [in absentia] only as an adverb. Regardless of what it says in the dictionary, in absentia is often used as a qualifier in academic and legal contexts: Fallows intended his in  absentia  program as a vehicle for reaching adults, not as  an option for the conventional, youthful collegiate audience. All degree requirements must be completed or in progress before the student can begin the in absentia graduation process. The in absentia registration fee is $25. If a defendant takes off during the pretrial phase, however, he may be able to elude an  in absentia conviction. In general usage, there’s no reason to use in absentia as anything but an adverb phrase: The degree was conferred upon the deployed soldier in absentia. The man was condemned in absentia. The new program chairman was elected in absentia. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Synonyms for â€Å"Meeting†Social vs. Societal20 Slang Terms for Law Enforcement Personnel

Literal Comprehension - Reading Strategies Essay

Literal Comprehension - Reading Strategies - Essay Example Each page and chapter may encompass a tedious load for the student hence command in the subject of discussion is key and rivets a methodological loom involving a number of steps. There is a myriad of textbook reading systems, many of which have three stages in common: a pre-reading stage, a reading stage and a post reading stage. Exposing learners to these systems empowers them to culture a system of critiquing issues, strategic approach to reading and establishing a student centered textbook study system. A proper reading system should entail the learner combing through a given text to unearth its gist. Skimming through the titles and sub headings to decipher issues of uttermost interest, problems highlighted and queries posed. Desist from overemphasis on analysis of pieces. This is encouraged to jumpstart the learners’ innate prowess to overcome torpor and gain impetus for reading. The major discrepancy between an excellent student and poor students is the mode of study. Inadequate students highlight points in textbooks and hope that they will be able to comprehend it later while excellent students use a learning system. A study system enables the student to filter the key ideas under test, and provides a way of settling them through generation of solutions The main difference between good students and poor students is the way they study. Poor students read their textbooks, underline, and hope that the significant points stick in their memories. Good students use a study system. A study system helps you choose the key ideas that are likely to be on a test, and it gives you a way to memorize them. There are many study systems. Some students outline chapters and memorize their outlines. Some students make chapter summaries. But the most efficient study system of all is SQ3R, which stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. SQ3R was designed for textbook reading, and it is

Letter to Executive of Local Network Research Proposal

Letter to Executive of Local Network - Research Proposal Example These two principles are: Undertaking initiatives that lead towards promotion of a high level of responsibility towards the environment. Encouragement of adopting, developing and diffusing technology that is friendly to the environment. This submission will review and present a selection of business practices and/or approaches from Chevron, as well as other companies in the similar industry, which may be applicable in the effort to achieve the compliance to both of the mentioned principles of the Global Compact. Additionally, it will discuss lessons learnt from these approaches. It will, as well, develop business practice recommendations that will lead to an improvement in complying with the Global Compact principles. Finally it will provide discussions of the advantages, disadvantages and implications for key stakeholders, in case implementation of these recommendations is successful. Business practices and approaches that may be used Chevron is a multinational energy corporation th at bases its principles on promoting high levels environmental responsibility. At Chevron, we are committed to satisfying the world’s energy requirements while at the same time, taking appropriate measures to protect the environment. It is our belief that protecting the environment is the right thing to do especially in a world which needs a clean, healthy, and safe environment with regards to energy sources. As a consequence of this, we opted to make the task of reducing pollution and waste, conserving natural resources, and minimizing potentially negative environmental effects of our operations and tasks, our priority (Jakobeit 2008). The first practices we incorporate to ensure compliance to the two principles of the Global Compact is protecting the environment by making sure we use safe, reliable, healthy, efficient, and environmental friendly processes. We also respect and conserve biodiversity because we know about the significance of the complexity of nature. In additi on, we are keen on preserving fresh water resources because we are familiar with the importance of fresh water as a primary social, economic, and environmental resource. Finally, we have invested in the production of alternative energy sources that have no environmental effects such as solar, bio-fuel, and wind, and other renewable energy ventures (Johnson 2101). Positive and negative lessons learnt from these business practice and approaches The practices we have in play have a crucial role in helping us comply with the two principles of the Global Compact. The use of safe, reliable, healthy, efficient, and environmental friendly processes in protecting the environment has significantly improved our ability to identify and establish conservation areas (Rashce and Kell 2010). On the other hand, respecting biodiversity has helped us to protect habitats, by preventing the introduction of insidious mammal species and spread of weeds, as well as protecting endangered species. Preservati on of fresh water resources has enabled us partner with local communities where we have plants for the benefit of those people as well as our business. In doing so, we developed a working strategy that ensures water resources have the first priority in our operations (Rashce and Kell 2010). When it comes to the use of alternative energy sources, we have realized a significant reduction in cost of production meaning that it is cheap to use renewable and natural energy sources. Of all the positive lessons learn

Simple Stimulus Learning Essay Example for Free

Simple Stimulus Learning Essay In this paper, this author will analyze forms of simple stimulus learning. He will examine the concept of habituation, analyze factors that affect perceptual learning, and examine the effects of stimulus exposure. He will give some examples of real life situations and the application of simple stimulus in those situations. Definitions and explanations will be discussed and analyzed. According to Terry (2009) â€Å"stimulus learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior, or behavior repertoire which occurs as a result of experience.† Habituation According to Terry (2009), â€Å"Habituation is a simple form of learning. Habituation is the decrease in size or frequency of the orienting reaction to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented.† â€Å"Habituation, a decrement in response to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without ill effect, can be identified in almost all animals† (Marland, 2009). The concept of habituation is studied through responses to stimuli. Some stimuli could be noises, such as a clap. A clap can be used to see if a person responds to the sound with a blink or some other reaction. A reaction or response could be from some other reason and not learning. The person could have a problem with one or more of his or her senses. This is why repetitive stimulation is used in research of habituation. An example of habituation is a person who lives by an airport. When the person first moves in, he or she probably is annoyed by every plane taking off. After living there for a while, the person does not really hear the planes anymore. He or she has become used to the sounds of planes taking off and landing or flying over head. The longer a person is around a stimulus, such as the planes, the less the stimulus affects him or her. Perpetual Learning According to Terry (2009), perpetual learning is â€Å"exposure to a stimulus leads to learning about that stimulus.† Some factors that affect perpetual learning are presenting contrasting stimuli, attention and feedback, and transfer from easy to difficult stimuli. Because stimuli can be different, presentation of positive and negative instances is important. It will allow the person to decide which stimuli are relevant. With transfer from easy to difficult stimuli, starting with easy stimuli can help in learning more difficult stimuli. An example of this is school subjects. A student does not start off doing calculus. Students start off with numbers, then addition subtraction, multiplication, and division. They progress through math until they learn about letters and numbers in algebra and eventually learn how to do trigonometry and calculus. According to Terry (2009), â€Å"perceptual learning occurs in the absence of experimenter feedback about performance.† The subject does need to pay attention to learn. However, learning can occur without intent. Stimulus Exposure â€Å"Some of the most interesting recent paradigms for exploring learning have exploited the fact that prior exposure to stimuli can affect the rate at which associations between those stimuli are subsequently learned† (Myers, et al, 2000). Stimulus exposure can reveal other behavioral outcomes. Some people can have an increase liking or preference to stimuli. An example of this would be a person who works in a bakery enjoys the smell of cookies baking. The person may visit other bakeries more often than a person who does not like the smell of cookies baking. Another example would be a student likes to read and write. The student will enroll in classes that involve reading and writing. Stimulus exposure can lead to memories involving the stimulus. An example would be a song from a happy event in a person’s life may be heard again and the person will remember that happy event. Stimulus exposure can also have negative effects where the stimulus causes a negative response. Examples of negatives would be phobias, anxiety, or fears. This happens when a person associates a stimulus to a negative or traumatic event. Another form of stimulus exposure is priming facilitation. â€Å"Priming occurs when one presentation of a stimulus facilitates the processing of a closely following repetition of the same or a related stimulus† (Terry, 2009). An example would be multiplication cards. The student is shown multiplication card and is to say the answer. The student knows that 4 times 5 is the same as 5 times 4. The stimulus has been primed and the student can identify the common multiples and answer the cards faster. Application of Simple Stimulus Learning The author works as an automotive technician. He has been doing it for 20 years and it took time to learn the things about fixing automobiles. He started off in trade school and then was hired by an automotive repair shop. He started off doing easy repairs and preventative maintenance on vehicles. As he became more comfortable with the repairs, he was given harder repairs. He progressed from easy to difficult repairs. Now, there is probably not a repair that he has not had to perform in his 20 years of experience. He learned by watching and doing. He also learned by making mistakes. Another example would be a little girl who gets her ears pierced. At first she is playing with the earrings and knows they are there. After a while she gets used to the earrings and forgets that she even has them in. Another example would be a bell that indicates lunch at a workplace. The people learn that the bell indicates that it is lunchtime. When the bell rings people stop working and take their lunch break. People learn in many different ways. Some people may learn by doing something once and other may learn it by doing it repetitively. Other may use perception to learn. They may associate certain stimuli to certain processes. There are times that people learn without the intent to learn. Habituation is simple form of learning. A person is around a stimulus long enough and they get used to that stimulus. Perpetual learning is exposure to a stimulus leads to learning about the stimulus. Some factors that affect perpetual learning are presenting contrasting stimuli, attention and feedback, and transfer from easy to difficult stimuli. Stimulus exposure can reveal other behavioral outcomes. There may be a positive or negative behavior or response to a stimulus. Examples of negatives would be phobias, anxiety, or fears. There are many things that can affect the learning process. Attention to detail and feedback can help a person in the learning process and will also help psychologists to understand learning and behavior better in the future. References Marsland, S. (2009). Using Habituation in Machine Learning. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Volume 92, Pages 260-266 Myers, C., Oliver, L., Warren, S., Gluck, M. (2000). Stimulus Exposure Effects in Human Associative Learning. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Volume 53B (2), Page 173-187 Terry, W. S. (2009). Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn Bacon.

Mulimedia :: Essays Papers

Mulimedia Introduction Below are the results of research taken out to access different multimedia designs and their internal components that enable them to compete in an aggressive environment Question One Internet Site – The National Bank (www.nationalbank.co.nz) Methodology When creating a website for a large company the use of the waterfall methodology is required. The Steps involved in the waterfall development are: Â · Planning (identify scope, plan development strategies and goals.) Â · Requirements analysis (what the website should do) Â · Design (How the website is going to work) Â · Implementation & Testing (Using the website and seeing if it works) Â · Support (correcting errors, improving and enhancing) This methodology was used because in order to produce an effective computer based application, particularly where the project is large and/or complex, schedules need to be met, costs controlled, quality maintained and specifications adhered to design methodologies will need to be followed. (Vehaart 2000) This is evident because of the online banking that is provided by the National Bank and there need for relevant up to date information at there website which is a large project to control without the use of Planning, Analysis and Design. Essential components Essential components for a website (Ruth Kastenmayer Webmaster and style guide editor at Judson College (http://home.judson.edu/styleguide/contents.html)) are: Â · Web page independence (Who, What, When, Where) Â · User-centered design (target audience) Â · Ease of navigation (clear easy to follow navigation) Â · Access speed (provide users with information they want in fewest steps) Â · Simplicity and consistency (easy to understand, similar setup) Â · Page context, and (where you are and where the next link is going to take you) Â · Functionality (ensuring things ‘e.g., links’ always work) On the above components I will access the National Bank website. When you first enter the homepage for the National Bank you are greeted with a large banner explaining what site you have entered, a list of click able links explaining what is held within, down the bottom of the page it has when the website was created but no sign of updates, all though you hope they do, and it has a tab header frame at the top of every page to take you to there homepage or other pages within their site. This site has its target audience in mind they are Mr and Mrs Joe Bloggs and students. This is apparent through their use of image cycling on their homepage where it cycles through images of couples, singles and students and the tailor made accounts that they offer for them. The even better part is when you click on these images it takes you to the information about that account.

High School vs College Essay

Having a good education is the key to becoming successful in life. It is a proven fact. This achievement requires not only graduating from high school, but also from college. Moving from high school to college may be an exciting transition, but it is also a very difficult one. It is a challenge that the student will struggle with and eventually adjust to over time. Although there are many differences between high school and college, one should not think that they are tow completely different worlds. They have their similarities, too. Being a college student requires a lot of responsibility, lots more than is required in high school. In college you won’t have your teacher to remind you of a test coming up or to do your homework. They give you a syllabus with all the due dates on it and expect you to go by it. Also, you’re mom isn’t with you in college to make sure you are awake and ready for class in time either. All of this, my friend, is up to you. The first few weeks of college, I slept in and missed my 8 o’clock chemistry lab class. In high school my mom always made sure I was awake and ready for school. College also has fewer rules than high school does, but this freedom is not all that it’s cut out to be. If you get into a fight, don’t look to just be sent to the principal’s office for a lecture. Instead, you should be well prepared to put your hands behind your back and be escorted away in a car driven by a uniformed police officer. In high school there are rules for dress code. In college, expect to see anything, because there are no dress code rules. Most people in college are mature enough to wear what is appropriate. However, there are always those few exceptions to this generalization. The ratio of similarities between college and high school is almost equal to that of the differences. In the first few years of college, the type of classes is similar if you took the challenging ones offered in high school. You’ll always be taking math, english, science, and social studies. If you thought you were going to avoid these classes, then you thought wrong. I thought I was done with english and history. My high school guidance counselor pulled up VSU’s core curriculum and proved me wrong. Just like in high school, college students have to take a certain amount of classes from each subject in order to get a degree. In high school there are many cliques that form. The rich students bond together in the preppy clique. There are also cliques for those that are involved in sports. Cliques form in a wide variety and every student is in some way or another involved in at least one. College also has cliques that are very similar. As soon as you â€Å"warm up† to the college life, you will find yourself involved in one and there’s nothing wrong with that. It will help you meet new people and ease the transition from high school to college. These cliques help the school year pass quicker and make it more memorable when you are doing things with friends as compared to being alone the whole year. In college you will find the structure of classes to be the same as the one used in high school. Semester systems are used to divide up the year into at least two grading periods. In addition, everyone has classes to attend or else they wouldn’t be considered a student. Each student also has a certain grade requirement that they must meet in order to pass the course. In college if you don’t make a certain grade, you may lose your financial aid and end up paying for it out of your pocket and maybe even your parents. Among the many similarities and differences, the most significant is the difference between the institutional cultures, or how the school is run and the atmosphere that is created in it by the administrators. Many of you will agree that high school has the atmosphere of a prison. Everything is regimented. You have a strict schedule that fills your day from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon and there’s no way to get out of it. By the time you get home, you don’t want to study after being in school and doing school work all day. Also, even though you’re considered to be a young adult, you still get treated like a child. Teachers monitor everything the students do and act as if they need to be contained. Students are told what they can and cannot wear. Some high schools have even implemented uniforms. Basically your ways of expressing yourself is limited. Everything you do or say is restricted to the school’s Code of Conduct, which is so refined there will be no loop holes, I promise you that. Many of these rules even take away some of your Constitutional rights. You have no freedom of speech. And the only way you have a sense of freedom of opinion about something or someone you don’t like is if you keep that opinion to yourself. College is where all of that changes. You decide when your classes are and what subject they will be based upon your major. If you prefer to get your classes over with in the mornings, you can. You can even schedule classes for late in the evening. Many college students tend to space out their schedule to give them free time in between classes. You can even pick your professors. Furthermore, the atmosphere is more laid back and heterodox. There are hardly any rules and none of them violate your Constitutional rights. College consists of many different students from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. Since college is so diverse, students are actually encouraged to express their point of views, whether it be by what they decide to wear or just by their actions and speech. If cussing is how you express yourself, then there are no rules opposing it like in high school. In addition, at the end of every semester you can even express your opinions on your professor(s), whether it’s negative or positive. No rules are in place that affects what you say about your professor. There are rules, don’t get me wrong, but the administrators or faculty members don’t stand by and watch your every move. If you violate a rule the majority of the time no one pays attention. However if a person reports it, rest assured that you will be notified of the consequences pretty soon. In a sense it is unfair to compare and contrast these two forms of education. There are so many different things that each person does to define their period in high school and college. These branches of life are what you make them. The similarities and differences that I have told you are the most basic ones. Each university and high school is different just as its students are. To find more of the similarities and differences, you must experience both yourself.

Chemunity.Com Case Study Analysis

Take Home Exam Questions Question 1 When ChemUnity. com began, Herman Rijks was a 37 year old, Masters of Science graduate from the Technological University of Delft, Netherlands. He was born in South Yemen and grew up in Africa. Rijks had experience in green-field chemical distribution start-ups, and general management experience in various chemical companies. He worked for HCI, a chemical company for three years, and prior to ChemUnity. com, he was part of the HCI corporate e-commerce task force. Mark-Jan Terwindt was a 34 year old graduate from Nijenrode Business School in Netherlands.He worked for eight years in the chemical distributions in countries such as: Ecuador, El Salvador, and Venezuela. Later, he went to the Czech Republic to manage HCI Operations, and before ChemUnity, he was in South Africa managing the integration of an acquired company. Both the founders spoke Dutch, English, Spanish, and a working knowledge of German, and additionally, Herman spoke French. Also, th e founders shared similar interests, like sports and traveling (flying), and both have wives and children. The founders have a good amount of experience in business, e-commerce and the general industry to succeed.They both have several years tenure in companies related to the industry. Also, they are highly educated in areas that are important to the company (for example, Business and Science). The linguistic abilities of the founders allow them to understand and communicate with partners and customers in Western Europe, improving communication channels and service quality. The shared interests they have could mean that they understand each other more, have a good friendship, and allow them to work together on the company more frequently than just regular founders.Alternatively, this could mean that they will reinforce each other’s ideas without truly considering all the factors involved. Question 2 The product that ChemUnity provides fits extremely well with an online exchan ge because it’s a commodity. Meaning that all variables (grade, concentration & packaging) can be standardized and price is the determinate factor. The system used protects the buyers and sellers, and creates a serious and profitable environment for all, and makes buying and selling easy.A buyer’s order has a preferred and highest acceptable price, and only the preferred price is transferred to the suppliers. Potential suppliers within the right geographical region are forwarded the message via email and SMS. The supplier has 25 hours to respond with a bid, and this only happens once to avoid price erosion of auction-like bids. ChemUnity compares the bid, informs the buyer and supplier who got the deal, and they take care of the transaction. Additionally, no parties can withdraw from the deal, and inquiries are very serious.The simplicity in the variables makes commodities easy to trade in an online exchange and the business model developed by ChemUnity creates a profi table, safe, and easy buying & selling environment. The characteristics of the products fit, and can be successfully sold online in an online exchange. Question 3 Steps (1) through (5) explain the trading process at ChemUnity and are listed below. (1) An inquiry is posted from a buyer on the ChemUnity website that includes the name, grade, concentration, and packing of the commodity based on a predetermined list, delivery date, geographical region of the buyer, and a price indication. price indication includes preferred and highest acceptable price, and the preferred is given transferred to suppliers) (2) Potential suppliers, determined by information given by companies, are forwarded the inquiry. (Both supplier and buyer can exclude parties or regions outside of their scope to trade. ) (3) Once an email or SMS message is received by the supplier they have 25 hours to respond with its bid. (Which only can be made once to prevent price erosion) (4) ChemUnity compares the bids, inform s the supplier who got the deal, and connects the buyer and seller where the transaction is managed between the two parties. transaction is binding and because of credit insurance, supplier payment is certain) (5) The supplier ships the product and the buyer receives it. The trading process is streamlined and simplified in a concise number of steps. This seems like a very efficient process that does not even revision and it serves its purpose. Question 4 Value Proposition for Both Buyers and Sellers * Time efficiency in buying & selling products. * Access to good buyer & seller track records. * Emotion free deals with no room for confusion. * Multiple ways to access: internet or WAP phone capability. Clear legal framework adds simplicity. * No time zones. * Future linkage to your order entry. * Credit insurance. * More efficient supply chain. * Optional usage and ability to react whenever needed. * Higher margins as non-value added middlemen are eliminated. Value Proposition for Buy ers * No need to contact multiple sellers with each purchase of products. * Quick responses to requests. * Proactive & filtered information with no overload or irrelevant postings. * Post your preferred price. * Able to source from new companies more efficiently and at lower prices. Value Proposition for Sellers Receive only interesting requests from buyers that are profitable through filtering of information based on seller’s profile. * Possibility of serving smaller customers and reaching customers in new geographical markets. * Freedom in making bids. * Set your own prices. * Payment coverage and easy credit checks. * Ability to exclude regions or parties in a buyers list. * Ability to do normal business and travel as bids only needed to be checked once a day. * Eliminate regional boundaries and ability to reach the whole market. * Other sellers in market will not dump products. No Price erosion from auction like bids. There are several advantages for both parties at what would seem like little to no cost to either party. ChemUnity assists these companies in making transactions while they focus on their respective specializations. This allows for much more buying and selling efficiency. The value proposition is extremely strong. The value proposition seems great on paper, but in fact could be improved greatly. As the alternative ChemUnity. com Case (2002) suggests the chemicals market is large one and has a long inefficient supply chain.A consortium might not wipe out all the companies, and classifications and regulations in Europe is still far from consistent across all countries. A very large part of customers do not use a Complete Tender Management system, they use catalogues. A large addition to the value added for a supplier and buyer would be to have one of these systems implemented. Sourcing/access to the information will give value added and not just a yellow pages approach to the system. Question 5 There are several major threats to the Chem Unity Business model and four of them are summarized below.Potential price collusion between suppliers One threat to ChemUnity business model is the collusion of prices between suppliers. If they decided to set all the prices high it could affect the ability for the company to create value for the buyer. Also, even if these prices weren’t high, it would affect the ability for ChemUnity to negotiate prices. This threat is strong because it would eliminate the value added, but is very unlikely to happen as the suppliers want to compete naturally in sales and would require some type of elaborate conspiracy. Supplier and buyer post purchase relationshipAnother threat to the ChemUnity business model is if the buyers and sellers decide to keep makings transactions after the first sale without ChemUnity in the picture. This would probably increase seller margins and make products cheaper for the buyers. ChemUnity would not have control over the situation as much, due to the fact the y bring the buyer and seller together and let them take care of the transaction. Competing websites (Catalogue, Aggregator and Auction) Catalogue, aggregator, and auction site business models are in direct competition with the ChemUnity business model.They can take away market share because we all compete for the same customers. If users have no problem searching through the catalogues and finding the deal they want, there is no value added for the searching and time costs that ChemUnity offers. Aggregator business models can add huge amounts of leverage to the buyer as they are all working together to get the best prices. They go to the supplier, speak for the buyers and get the best deal. Auction sites can but a lot of pressure on suppliers and can support dumping practices and price erosion. It is very attractive to a buyer when he can get much lower prices as a result of these effects.Traditional Distributers These traditional distributers could be considered indirect competitor s as they do not compete online, but have a presence in the industry. They could have strong relationships with buyers especially in their local geographical areas. They could compete on convenience and logistics with the buyers, especially if it was a convenient automatic replenishment system, where the traditional distributers handled everything. This is based off of the idea that managing something might have more costs than it’s worth, especially if it’s in small quantities or cost values.Consortiums According to the alternate ChemUnity. com case study (2002), ChemUnity could encounter problems if a company’s grouped together to start their own market place. This is known as a consortium, and ChemUnity could â€Å"find it [hard] to get suppliers and buyers to go on-line, and this is a drawback compared with a consortium. † It further explains that if key suppliers were to launch a consortium it would crush the market place credibility of ChemUnity. Ov erall Threat Analysis There are several threats that the ChemUnity business model faces in this environment.Potential price collusion between suppliers eliminates the value added by the company and supplier & buyer post purchase relationship prevents revenue from repeat purchases. Catalogue, Aggregator, and Auction sites – the direct competition for the company, threaten the business model as they compete for the same customers. Traditional distributers – our indirect competitors, still have a presence in the industry through customer relationships, convenience, and time saved. Consortiums are future competitors; they can crush the credibility of the company if created.ChemUnity can meet its threats as it a differentiated service than can add a lot of value, but if it cannot meet its threats it will have huge problems with market penetration. Question 6 Below you will find a Porter’s Five Forces analysis used to find the attractiveness of the industry. Bargainin g Power of Buyers (-) Bargaining power of buyers is very high, because buyers are not dependant on this way of purchasing a product. They can use multiple other channels to purchase it. There is a high availability of substitute services, so buyers have a lot of power in terms of options.Buyer switching costs are nothing compared to firm switching costs, buyers can choose to go anywhere and this service has a small amount of buyers (because of the large size of orders). In addition, there is high buyer price sensitivity and buyer information is extremely high. They can search a lot of places to find information on prices. Lastly, the products do not have uniqueness, they are simplistic in the amount of variables and standardized. Overall, bargaining power of buyers is high and I rated this as negative for the attractiveness of the industry.Bargaining Power of Suppliers (+) In general, there are there are several suppliers who offer similar products so there are a lot of alternatives for the firm to work with other suppliers who want the demand. There is also a high presence of substitute inputs for these chemicals as other manufactures can create identical chemical products. There is also a very weak distribution channel so the suppliers may rely some of the companies’ services. Overall, the bargaining power of suppliers is low and I rated this as positive for the attractiveness of the industry. Threat of New Entrants (-)A website with a similar business model could easily be implemented at a very low cost. Similar software that the company uses could easily be imitated because of the very simplified variables in commodity products and intuitive idea. Websites can be up in a matter of weeks or days, and overall it is very easy for new entrants to start a company. Alternatively, the exit barriers are very low as well, as a website can be shut down at any moment and the company holds no inventory or major facilities. Overall, the threat of new entrants is high and I rated this as negative for the attractiveness of the industry.Threat of Substitute Products or Services (-) The threat of substitute services is very high. Any company could come up with a similar idea and there are several substitute business models that threaten the market share. Catalogue, Aggregator, and Auction sites can easily be substitutes for the service. Traditional distributers can also easily service anyone in this market. In addition, key suppliers could create a consortium and take over instantly while killing the market credibility of this service. Overall, the threat of substitute services is high and I rated this as negative for the attractiveness of the industry.Intensity of Competitive Rivalry (-) Intensity of Competitive Rivalry is high in the industry, as the case noted – there were a lot of players in the market place that established operations and gathered customer base. These companies, along with us compete for the same customers. There a re several firms in the industry competing (high firm concentration ratio). Strong competition between online and offline service offerings mixed with difficulty in maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage leads to a high intensity of competitive rivalry.Overall, the intensity of competitive rivalry is high and I rated this as negative for the attractiveness of the industry. Overall the attractiveness of the industry as seen in the above Porters Five Forces analysis is one out of five which leads me to believe the industry isn’t very attractive. The bargaining power of buyers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, and intensity of competitive rivalry were all negative in terms of attractiveness in our analysis. The buyers have power, entrants can easily get in, there are many substitutes, and it is very competitive.The only attractive part is that supplier power is not that high, even though they are still very important to the firm. Questi on 7(a) As indicated in the case, the major categories of ChemUnity’s costs were related to marketing, people, and IT. Also, in the beginning marketing was the biggest cost at 60%, leaving 30% to people, and 10% to IT. Later, the people costs were assumed to rise and the marketing costs were assumed to go down. I estimate this would leave us at 50% marketing, 40% people and 10% IT. It was noted in the case that there were two venture capital companies providing early financing in the amount of â‚ ¬1. million (27. 5% of the company). Using this number, marketing would cost â‚ ¬750,000, people would cost â‚ ¬600,000, and IT would cost â‚ ¬150,000. Question 7(b) As noted in the case, the average size of a deal was estimated to be â‚ ¬5,000 to â‚ ¬10,000. Using the 2% transaction fee, and the most conservative deal estimate, you get â‚ ¬100 per transaction (â‚ ¬5000 ? 2%). This would mean that you would require 1,500,000 transactions to break even with the early financing that was made. This could be attainable over time but is not likely to happen quickly, especially with the low amount of buyers the business serves.Question 7(c) Using the 3000 daily customers to the website from the case, the 1995 click through rate of 2. 1% , and a estimate of â‚ ¬0. 19 per click ( high pay-per click estimate is due to the fact that these customers are very focused), the website could generate â‚ ¬11. 9 daily (3000 ? 2. 1% ? â‚ ¬0. 19), and â‚ ¬359. 10 monthly. This is not a very significant amount of money. The pros of this kind of income is that it is basically free, as long as you have a website and takes not much management of the ads to generate the revenue.The cons are that there is a very small amount of money per click, and with only 3000 customers daily you are very limited to how much you can make. If you had for example a hundred thousand or so a day, this would be much better. Question 8 Short-Term Challenges The main short -term challenge was to test the concept with a couple of products to see if the company is on the right track. Successful implementation starts from marketing and the company needs to make sure suppliers are aware of the exchange and get product leaders. The belief at the time was that the buyers would come as soon as the sellers were onboard.Once buyers and sellers are established, the company needs to activate them to get the market liquidity up. Once the company is known for these products, they have succeeded in the first challenge. The second short-term challenge was a human resources issue; they needed people a chemical history background. These people would communicate with suppliers and buyers and should bring enthusiasm and belief in the business idea. The third short-term challenge was an IT issue – the technology needed to work flawlessly in its execution.The service is not perfect at the moment the company is working towards improving it. Long-Term Challenges The major long-term challenge was expansion of operations. By targeting a couple of strategic suppliers and many fragmented buyers in each product, they believed they could have a total of 200-500 suppliers, and up to 10,000 buyers. They believe they need to proceed with one product at a time, giving them the ability to test the concept and concentrate efforts on a focused segment. The real challenge was to pick the right products.They could also expand their service portfolio, by providing more financial services to gain revenue. They could also get involved with transportation, but would be a difficult avenue as they need to choose the right services, good partners and the proper expansion location. Cash flow has been an issue so the company needs to raise more financing. A second round of financing was timed for a couple months after launching the service. The company wants to raise another â‚ ¬5 – 10 million from banks, venture capital, and market players. Meeting Short-Te rm ChallengesThe company needs to begin testing the concept as soon as possible. Successful implementation begins with marketing efforts – the company needs to raise supplier awareness of the exchange and get product leaders onboard. The next issue is raising market liquidity, and it can be done by activating the sellers and buyers by contacting them. Once the company raises awareness about its products, they have succeeded in the first short-term challenge. The second short-term challenge can be solved by using a headhunter to find the best people the company can find.This would require some funding but will easily be worth the cost. These people would need to be educated on the concepts of the company and know how to communicate well with suppliers and buyers about the service, and have enthusiasm and a strong belief in the business. The final short-term challenge can be solved by rigorously testing and improving the technology to work flawlessly. Meeting Long-Term Challeng es The expansion of operations should be done by targeting more suppliers and buyers for more potential revenue.I believe these need to be higher than the estimates given in the case– 200 suppliers and maybe 5000 buyers is not adequate enough. It is possible they can try targeting an additional geographical location, perhaps in South/Central America or Africa where the founders worked. Either way, with the market they have now, they need to test a concept and concentrate efforts on a focused segment and pick the right products. One option for expansion was to provide financial services, or get involved with the transportation of the product.Personally, I am not a fan of this idea because they are losing focus on what they specialize in. But if they were to do these options, they would need to hire consultants and rework the business model entirely. Also, with transportation they need to choose the right type of services, good partners, and a good expansion location. Finally f or their cash flow problems, they will need to ensure they get that financing by fully disclosing information, addressing the problems they have, and working with venture capitalists to perhaps negotiate the share of the company for a given amount of funding.Question 9 As the alternate ChemUnity Case Study (2002) suggests, it’s easy to multiply figures and play around revenues and market volume on paper, but it does not address the habits of a given industry. Experience has shown that many internet service providers have failed due to the fact that many of them were not focused enough, spent too much money before making any, and didn’t bring enough value to its users. The main challenge lies in the art of change management.ChemUnity has this challenge for both buyers and seller, but it remains that these groups would benefit from a multitude of significant strategic advantages (if it had the ability to support change management processes) Also the case suggests that fo r the company to potentially succeed, the platform they develop must be flexible and characterized by short development cycles that will match the needs of the market and increase the functionality for its end users. They also need the right mix of employees with experience in the field and who are used to driving change along with a highly skilled sales team.If they had an online complete tender management system, they could save time and money and access more efficient markets. This is a great opportunity for the company to drive change in the company – along with a complete business process reengineering of their buying and selling process. If the company followed these steps, they would have potential success in the market. I personally don’t think they can be successful unless they do these things, and it seems like a big changes are needed. Question 10 (a) The three options for business model changes are below:Status Quo This option would be to remain the same bu t focused on its specialization. Transportation Addition to Business Model This option would be to introduce transportation into the model to create more value for customers. Financial Services Addition to Business Model This option would be to introduce financial services into the model to create more value for customers. The criteria we used to assess which business model to use includes the following: Cost, Value Added, Revenue, Expenses, Ease of Change, and Adaptability.I decided to use a decision matrix and estimate the values from 1-10 using subjective data from the case and intuition. The best alternative according to the criteria is Added Financial Service to the business model. It would not cost a very high amount to implement, would add a decent amount of value and revenue to the business. The expenses are fairly high, seeing as you need more cash on hand and you need to develop this business model, and be able to setup a good financial plan for customers.The ease of chang e is pretty fair, is pretty easy to adapt into it, and has a moderate amount of risk involved. Finally, the market share is would increase a lot compared to status quo. The next close business model would have been transportation, it’s just a more risky and more rewarding model because it requires large capital investments, but hard to adapt and change into. References Petri Lehtivaara (2002) ChemUnity. com Case Study. Retrieved From http://www. supplychain-forum. com/documents/articles/ACF41. df Nielsen Norman Group (2000) Methodology Weaknesses in Poynter Eyetrack Study. Retrieved from http://www. nngroup. com/articles/methodology-weaknesses-poynter/ Wikipedia (2012) Pay Per Click. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Pay_per_click ——————————————– [ 2 ]. Nielsen Norman Group reports a 2. 1% click through rate in 1995. [ 3 ]. Wikipedia reports that in 1997 the pa y-per-click was from $. 005 to $. 25 (â‚ ¬0. 003 to â‚ ¬0. 19 using March 26,2013 exchange rates)

Boston University Summer Challenge Should You Go

Boston University Summer Challenge Should You Go SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In this guide, I'll be discussing the Boston University Summer Challenge, a summer program for high school students at Boston University.Duringthe program, students take non-credit college-level courses, live on campus, and explore all that BU and Boston have to offer. While you can read aboutthis programon the BU Summer Challenge website, the information available is somewhat spotty and what is there can be difficult to dissect. For this reason, I spoke to the program coordinators and gathered everything you need to know about the program into this easy-to-read guide. I’ve created a Table of Contents so you can find the specific infoyou need, but I suggest reading the entire article in order: What Is the BU Summer Challenge? What Do You Do? Why Should You Attend? How To Apply and Application Requirements How Much Does It Cost? Tips on How to Get In FeaturedImage:ViaWikipedia What Is the Boston University Summer Challenge? What Activities Do Participants Do? The Boston University Summer Challenge is a two-week program for rising high school sophomore, juniors, and seniors that offers a preview of college life.During each of the three summer sessions, between 100 and 300 high school take two non-credit seminars and live on BU’s campus in the dorms. As a participant, you choose a morning seminar and afternoon seminar. In between your morning and afternoon seminars, you have lunch in one of BU's dining halls.After your afternoon seminar and on weekends, youparticipate in organized social activities such as exploring areas of Boston, shopping, seeing improv shows, and more. The exact social programming will vary from year to year. You also have plenty of free time to do your seminar assignments, explore Boston on your own, and explore BU's campus (you'll have free access to the libraries and canpurchase a short-term membership to Boston University's Fitness Recreation Center). In yourseminars, you'll be expected to attend lectures, engage in discussions, attend field trips, and completeindividual work,group work, and project-based assignments. The seminars have small class sizes (10 to 24 students)to ensure that you get sufficient attention from your experienced college instructors as you arechallenged with the college-level material taught in your seminar. Each seminar ends witha final in-class presentation. At the end of the summer (typically, in August/September), a certificate of completion and letters of evaluation from both seminar instructors will be sentto you. Listed below are the seminars that were offered in Summer 2015. (Summer 2016 seminars have not yet been announced.) Morning Seminars Abnormal Psychology Business: From the Ground Up Chemistry of Medicine Creative Writing Electrical Engineering The History of Boston International Politics Journalism Nutrition Visual Arts Afternoon Seminars Abnormal Psychology Business: From the Ground Up Communication Computer Science Economics Infectious Diseases Law Persuasive Writing Philosophy Photography Who’s Eligible for the BU Summer Challenge Program? The basic application requirements for all applicants are: Be a rising high school sophomore, junior, orsenior If you’re an international student, you also must meet the following qualifications: Have a valid passport Have health insurance While these are the only requirements needed to apply, there are more qualifications that will help you get in. Read those below in our Tips on How to Get Insection. What Are the Program Dates for Summer 2016? The programs dates for Summer 2016 are: Session 1: June 19 - July 1, 2016 Session 2: July 10 - July 22, 2016 Session 3: July 24 - August 5, 2016 Why Should You Attend the BU Summer Challenge Program? I’d highly recommend doing the Boston University Summer Challenge if you can afford it and it works in your summer schedule. I participated in a similar program at UCLA, and the program helpedme figure out whether I was interested in attending UCLA (which I found out I wasn’t) and what kind of coursework I wanted to pursue. I’ve broken down the pros and cons of attending the programbelow. Pros of BU Summer Challenge Test out BU to see if it’s the right college for you. Take non-credit college coursesto helpfigure out what you might be interested in majoring in (you could find out you hate art and want to study biology or vice versa). It's better to figure this out in high school rather than halfway through college when you've already spent a lot of time and money on classes you ended up not liking. Receive two letters of evaluation(one from each of your seminar teachers) at the end of the program, which could be used as supplementary letters of recommendation for college. As a residential student for twoweeks, you get to test out living away from home for the first time. My friends and I who did the UCLA summer program struggled a lot less with homesickness once we started college than our peers. Have a college program on your resume for your college applications. While there is no guarantee of admissions and no guarantee that participating will better your chances of admission, the BU admissions office likes to see that you’ve shown a significant interest in the university. Doing this program will show them your interest. Cons of BU Summer Challenge Expensive (I discuss the exact cost below). You can't get college credit while some similar programs such as the Emory Pre-College Program do offer classes for credit. No financial aid available while at some other programs such as the Emory Pre-College Program, there is financial aid available. How To Apply and Application Requirements Applications are accepted on a rolling basis beginning in the January before the summer session.You typically receive aresponse via email within threeweeks of submitting your application. The application deadline for summer 2016 has not yet been posted. It will be posted on the BU Summer Challenge website after December 15th. However, as the website says, students who apply earlier "are more likely to receive the session and seminar selections of their choice," so you should submit your application ASAP. To apply, you must: Pay a $50 non-refundable application fee paid by credit card. Complete an online application that includes a 500 - 750-word personal statement describing why you want to attend the BU Summer Challenge Program. Email a copy of your complete high school transcript, including your fall grades, to summerhs@bu.edu. Additionally, international studentsmust: Complete an international student form. Submit a copy of your passport. If the primary language of instruction at your high school is not English, you will likely be asked to provide proof of proficiency such as a TOEFL score (though this is on a case by case basis). How Much Does BU Summer Challenge Cost? The feefor the BU Summer Challenge includes tuition, housing, and all meals in the dining hall. It also includes textbooks and all sponsored activities during the two-week program.The program cost for the BU Summer Challenge in 2015 was $3730.This may be changing for Summer 2016, but it hasn’t yet been announced.Additionally, as I mentionedearlier, there is a $50 non-refundable application fee (which will stay the same in 2016). Is There Financial Aid? Unfortunately, there is no financial aid available for this program. However, I have some advice for quick ways to raise money if you're hoping to attend but can't afford tuition: Try using an online crowdfunding platform such as Go Ennounce (which is specifically for students looking to fundraise), Go Fund Me, or IndieGoGo. Write lettersto friends, family, employers, local businesses and churches asking for support. Reach out to civic organizations in your area, such as Rotary and Kiwanis, to see if they could offer ascholarship. 3 Tips onFundraising Your BU Summer Challenge Tuition Tip #1: When you write your explanation on the crowdfunding platform, write your letters tothe community, or reach out to civic organizations, make sure you share your personal story and explain why the BU Summer Challenge program is important to you and will help you achieve your future goals. This explanationshould be similar to your personal statement for the program (which, as I said above, asks you to describewhy you want to attend the BU Summer Challenge Program). Tip #2: Share your fundraising campaign on social media and ask your friends and family to share your campaign on their social media if they're unable to donate. Tip #3: Write a thank you note for every donation you receive. Tips on How to GetAccepted If you’re hoping to attend the Boston University Summer Challenge, your high school transcript and personal statement need to show you off in a positive light. While there is no specific GPA required for admission, the program coordinators said they preferred applicants with at least a 3.0 unweighted GPA.To have the best shot of being accepted, you should try to get your unweighted GPA at or above a 3.0.While you may not have a lot of time before applying, there are ways to raise your GPA fast. The BU Summer Challenge Programdoes not tell the public itsacceptancerate, but the program website says they look for "motivated high school students who are taking a college preparatory curriculum. Your high school transcript and personal statement are both taken into account when admission decisions are made." Additionally, I spoke to the program coordinators who indicated that most students with a 3.0 or higher are accepted into the program. For your personal statement, make sure you show off your personality, explain your love for BU, and explain why you want to be a part of the Summer Challenge. If you need help writing the personal statement, read our other great guide with tips on writing a personal statement. What’s Next? Learn about the college application process: How To Do College Research Right: Step-By-Step Guide Complete Strategies: Common App Essay Prompts (2015-16) How to Pay for College: A Complete Guide Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Period Goes Inside Quotation Marks

Period Goes Inside Quotation Marks Period Goes Inside Quotation Marks Period Goes Inside Quotation Marks By Maeve Maddox Derrick Grant writes: Ive always been perplexed on whether the period goes inside the quotations or outside, when the sentence is not quoting someone. For example: They didnt describe it as a budget cut, they called it streamlining services. Does the period go inside the quote or outside? Ive seen it, in professional publications, done both ways, leading me to think that both are correct; however, I have the ALWAYS put a period INSIDE the quotes statement burned into my head from my old English high school teacher. If both methods are correct, Im inclined to think putting it outside the quotes, in the above example, looks more appropriate. Thoughts? The two most popular U.S. authorities agree with Derricks high school English teacher. AP Style book: Periods always go inside quotation marks. p 361 Chicago Manual of Style: Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks, whether double or single. This is a traditional style, in use well before the first edition of this manual (1906) Section 6:8 The CMS goes on to describe exceptions for textual studies and British usage, but for practical purposes, writers of American English can go with the ALWAYS put a period INSIDE the quotes mantra. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Bare or Bear With Me?15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their SynonymsEbook, eBook, ebook or e-book?

Analysis of U.S. Service Sector Grows Slow Essay

Analysis of U.S. Service Sector Grows Slow - Essay Example Many companies in the service sector are highly dependent on their marketing efforts to achieve further growth. Many experts are worried about the deceleration in growth in the service sector. Carl Leahey, a senior Economist at Senior Economist stated, â€Å"This survey shows a slow-moving service sector. That is pretty much in line with the market sense that though the economy has improved, it is still not growing very quickly† (Bond, 2011). Despite the worries of many scholars about the service sector there are other signs that showed major improvement in the U.S. economy such as the latest unemployment figures which showed a national unemployment rate of 8.6%. The labor market is finally growing. These are great news for all Americans as employers should be aggressively recruiting new personnel. The total exports in the U.S are also on the rise. Exporting is one of the primary expansion strategies used by marketers. The inventories of many companies are moving from contract ion to expansion. The movement of merchandise from the United States to other countries is a great sign. Most companies in today’s marketplace cannot survive by using solely a domestic strategy. International expansion is one of the most effective ways marketers are able to achieve growth. Despite slight decline in the service sector other important sectors such as the manufacturing industry showed positive signs. The ISM manufacturing report showed factory activity rising more strongly than expected in November. Some critical industries such as the auto industry showed tremendous results with a rise of 2.3% in comparison with the previous month. The Big 3 auto companies have been able to attract many customers due to their new innovative designs and fuel efficient vehicles. People are looking for value in their car purchases more than ever before. Despite the growth in manufacturing activity the commerce department claimed that the sales of overall manufacturing goods fell b y 0.4% in November. One of the sectors that showed continued growth during the past three months is the sale of durable goods. This article showed a lot of information regarding the economy of the United States and it emphasize in the importance of the service sector. Due to the importance of service jobs the United States as a whole has to do a better job of marketing its service industry. The U.S. has the potential to achieve a lot of growth by exporting services to other nations. There are many ways to increase the amount of service exports. One of the best ways is to take advantage of tools that have become available due to the rise of the broadband age. In 2010 U.S. ecommerce sales generated $152.1 billion and it is expected to rise to $223.9 billion by the year 2014 (Plunkett Research, 2011). Many services such as business consulting, technical support and engineering services could be exported easily with the help of the internet. The U.S Chamber of Commerce has to become mor e proactive in their initiatives in order to market better the services that the United States can offer to the rest of the world. In 2010 the United States was the world’s top exporter of services with $515 billion (Latimes, 2011). Despite this fact the U.S. still has a lot of room to grow considering the fact that 80% of the U.S economy is based on the service industry. It is also interesting to know that he