Microboilogy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Microboilogy - Essay Example 5. a.) Melted agar should be cooled to 45-47 degree Celsius before pouring to the agar plate since pouring it in a higher temperature might kill the organisms and thus falsely decrease the microbial count. c.) Aseptic technique should always be employed in order to prevent other microorganism from contaminating the set-up. Any contamination would lead to difficulty, if not, production of erroneous microbial count. 6.) Used media may contain harmful and infectious organisms; moreover it should always be treated as biologically hazardous waste. Required waste disposal can be costly; nevertheless used media can never be disposed directly into the waste basket. To date, autoclaving serves as a cheap but effective way to sterilized waste materials in microbiology laboratory. The fact that most microorganisms can not withstand autoclaving, this simple technique would conveniently address the issue on the proper disposal of used media. An autoclave must be available for the laboratory and must be operated by properly trained personnel. On a regular basis, biological indicators or spore strips should be included in autoclave loads as to verify its functionality and efficiency of sterilization. Temperature-sensitive tape, thermograph, or other biological indicators should also be used to monitor each autoclave. Scientist have investivated microbial behavior in area such as Clostridium botulinum in modified atmospheric processing, Escherichia coli in apple processing, Salmonella and E. coli in vegetable seed sprouting etc. Some studies shows that bacteria converts food

Mining Engineer Essay Example for Free

Mining Engineer Essay 1. Introduction Concerning the development of field of study, this paper will elaborate several issues regarding the mining engineer. They include the background of mining engineering, the requirements needed to be mining engineer, earnings for mining engineer professional and many others. 2. Education/Training Mining engineering like other engineering degree requires the mastery of several subjects such as mathematics including trigonometry, geometry calculus, and algebra; general science (physics, chemistry, and biology), and also social and humanities studies, information technology, and some courses in English since jobs in mining usually involve many people from different cultural background and languages (Daub, 2006). The course to obtain bachelor degree in mining engineering usually takes about 4-5 years. While the first two years, students learn about mathematics and genera science, the specialization of mining engineering occurs in the last two years in which students learn about geology, mine management, physical mineralogy and petrology, and explosive engineering. Some universities that provide mining engineering include University of Arizona, University of Utah, and West Virginia University in the U.S (Daub, 2006) and University of Exeter and in the U.K. in the University of Exeter (2007), the undergraduate students will have extensive course in mathematic and physics in order to arm the students with problem solving capability. 3. Job Skills, Talents, and Experience Mining engineering not only requires technical expertise but also physical fitness since jobs in mining engineering involves hiking, working in variety of condition such as daylight, rainy, windy etc (Daub, 2006). Particular jobs in mining engineering involves open-pit or underground mines, construction supervisory, safety issues, equipments operations and maintenance, information processing, to name a few (Sloan Career Cornerstone Center, 2007). Table 1 shows the comparison of several mining engineers in terms of required skills and talents in which each has different required capabilities. Table 1 Comparison of Skills and Talents between Mining Engineers No. Type of Engineers Required Skills/Talents 1 Blasting Engineer ï‚ § Develop blasting schedule and technique to intensify long-term goals in production 2 Sr. Mining Engineer ï‚ § Capable of developing and applying economic models to geological information system 3 Mine Engineer ï‚ § Performing routine activities in the operation and maintenance of mining equipment and systems 4 Senior Project Geologist ï‚ § Capable of designing and operating drilling programs to examine exploration potential in a location Source: (Sacrison Engineering, 2007; Kinross Gold Corporation, 2007) 4. Earnings Salary or earning for mining engineering jobs varies based on experiences, skills, industry, and job types. However, general mining engineers typically earn about $46,000 annually at minimum. However, for engineer who works in coal exploration may earn at least $50,000 per annum (Daub, 2006). Meanwhile, according to 2005 salary survey that conducted by National Association of Colleges and Employers, typically, mining engineers may expect starting salary about $48,643 per annum. Table 2 shows salary distribution in 2004 (Daub, 2006). Table 2 Distribution of Mining Engineer Salary in 2004 Distribution of Engineers 10% 25% 50% 75% 90% Salary $39,700 $50,500 $64,690 $83,050 $103,790 5. Benefits/Health Factors In addition to attractive salary packages for mining engineers, they also receive several allowances such as travel, overtime, and medical allowances that not only cover the engineers but also their family (wife/spouse, children) (Daub, 2006). 6. Employment In the U.S., the employment of mining engineer span from west to east coasts. However, there are concentrations of minerals in several areas such as Northern Michigan and Northern Minnesota for iron, Southwest for copper, and West Virginia for coal exploration (Daub, 2006). The purpose of jobs in mining engineering is to gather natural resources as raw materials for further processed that performed by other companies in order to produce final products or services (Sloan Career Cornerstone Center, 2007). 7. Typical Day There are two general job types for mining engineers: office and on site jobs. For office jobs, the working day is typically from Monday to Friday. However, for on site jobs, they may conduct various working days that differs from one company to another. For example, a company may set rules 2:1 that means 2 month of full time jobs in exploration sites and 1 month for the breaks (Sloan Career Cornerstone Center, 2007). 8. Conclusion Mining engineer is an attractive job since the occupations are often associated with high-wage jobs. However, as a rule, higher jobs mean higher risks. Therefore, we find that the underlying reasons of high-wage jobs for mining engineers are that they face high risk and require special skills. Works Cited Daub, Travis C. â€Å"Mining Engineering.† 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://www.graduatingengineer.com/futuredisc/mining.html Kinross Gold Corporation. â€Å"Senior Project Geologist.† 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://www.miningusa.com/employ/Kinross/KINROSS12.htm Minova USA Inc. â€Å"Mining Employment – Southwest.† Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://www.miningusa.com/employ/sw.asp Sacrison Engineering. â€Å"Mining Employment – Southwest.† 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://www.miningusa.com/employ/sw.asp Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. â€Å"Mining Engineering Overview.† 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2007 from http://www.careercornerstone.org/pdf/mining/mining.pdf University of Exeter. â€Å"BEng Mining Engineering (UCAS code J110).† 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2007 from http://www.uec.ac.uk/csm/undergraduate-study/mining-engineering/

The Politics of Poe :: Essays Papers

The Politics of Poe Edgar Allen Poe is known as the pioneer of the American short story, as well as a brilliant artist in poetry. His works are often tragic, or have a dark theme. Two often overlooked facets of Poe as a writer, however, are the political aspect of his works, and how far ahead he was of his time, with some material being applicable to present day situations, as exemplified by Sonnet to Science, The City in the Sea, and The Masque of the Red Death. The City in the Sea tells of a great city, with â€Å"†¦shrines and palaces and towers†¦ [which] †¦resemble nothing that is ours† (6-8). This may be a representation of metropolises at the time, for instance Philadelphia or New York City, or more likely Baltimore, where he lived at the time the poem was originally published, 1831. The description given of the city, with â€Å"†¦the good and the bad and the worst and the best†(4) and â€Å"Up domesï‚ ¾up spiresï‚ ¾up kingly halls†(17) along with multiple descriptions of a dismal atmosphere and the sea, are reminiscent of present day Manhattan Island, or Seattle. A tale of doom warns of â€Å"Hell, rising from a thousand thrones/ Shall do it reverence.(52-53) for the city. This is how many people today feel about New York City, Los Angeles, and other megalopolises. This could be a warning to the nineteenth century cities. The proverbial calm before the storm is vividly, yet tragically depicted when â€Å"†¦no ripples curl, alas!†(36), â€Å"No swellings tell of winds may be/[†¦] on seas less hideously serene.†(38-40). â€Å"But lo, a stir is in the air!/ The waveï‚ ¾there is a movement there!†(42-43). The storm has hit! The repeated use of exclamation marks in an otherwise relatively â€Å"serenely† punctuated poem gives an even more dramatic effect to the storm, strengthening the idea of peril. Though the â€Å"era of good feelings† was still prevalent during the time when the poem was first written, the civil war was beginning to brew. A division was beginning to form over the issue of slavery. This calm before the storm, and the storm that hits, as well as the built up city depicted, sings a premonition of the civil war. The Sonnet-To Science not only tells of the dangers in Poe’s time, but could easily be applied today.

Characters in Lord of the Flies Essay

The power struggle, egocentric and intolerance in society today is ruining human relationships and Golding shows this through his characters in Lord of the Flies. Through the characters Jack, Roger and Ralph, Golding shows this interaction. Jack symbolises the struggle and silent fight for power over other people, Roger represents people who easily gives up in relationships and walk away and Ralph helps demonstrate mans reliance on appearance to create and keep relationships. The island emphasises these relations and shows Goldings view of relations among people. The relationships between humans is emphasised throughout the novel, and Golding has given his views on these relations through characters in the novel. Jack is a very strong, dominant character who feels the need to gain superiority over everyone else to feel power and control. He represents the power and hunger for dominance over others and Jack shows this through scaring others and demanding them to do jobs that put Jack on top which is emphasising the silent fight for dominance in human relationships today. Jack says â€Å"I ought to be chief†¦ because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I and sing C sharp†. This narcisstic dialogue shows how Jack wants escalate the idea of how important and better he is than Ralph and all the other buys, by saying this he is showing the boys how much better he is and scaring him with his range of talents. This affects the way that the reader understands and develops Jack’s character which then shows his egotistic approach to dominance over the other boys. Golding is using the character Jack and his silent fight for dominance over the boys to show how society is constantly trying to gain superiority in relationships. This is showing how the power struggle in society is ruining human relationships. Roger in Lord of the Flies is a character developed by Golding to comment of how humans too easily give up on relationships. Roger throughout the novel develops into one of the savage followers of Jack, which brings out and dramatises the human characteristics and actions in relationships. Piggy died by being hit by a falling boulder that was pushed from the side of a cliff by Roger. This action of pushing the boulder to stop Piggy talking and complaining is how Golding showed us how human relationships are easily given up. â€Å"storm of sound†¦incantation of hatred†¦Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever†. This imagery and hyperbolic language emphasises how Roger found the easy way to escape the relationship all the boys had with Piggy as they were in a disagreement. The imagery gives a picture which makes the reader feel the tension and the hyperbolic language helps emphasise the tone of aggression that humans use today to escape relationships easily. Golding has used the character Roger to show the intolerance in relationships in society today, which is running human relationships. There are many purposes to Ralph’s character in Lord of the Flies, one is that he gives a emphasised view on mans reliance on appearance to create and keep relationships. In the beginning of the novel when the boys first arrive on the island they elect Ralph instead of Jack because of his appearance and characteristic demeanour, this reflects the attitudes of humans in society today. Golding describes Ralph through the perspective of the boys by saying â€Å"could see not that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders†, this imagery and comparison to the features needed to be an athlete gives the reader an image of what Ralph would look like and why he is looked up to by the other boys. This means the boys would rather have a fit good looking leader that they would aspire to be like, which is close to the way many people decide on their relationships with others. This is what Golding is trying to show through the character Ralph that in society h uman relationships are becoming ruined by creating relationships based on the appearance of others. Golding uses the characters in Lord of the Flies to demonstrate the power-struggle, intolerance and dependence on appearance to create and keep relationships. This is through Jacks power struggle over the other boys, Roger’s intolerance towards Piggy and how through the boys choosing Ralph to be their chief in the early hours of landing on the island it shows how his strong, built appearance was more appealing that Jack which demonstrates how appearances have a big effect on human relationships.

Case Study: Rogers’ Choclates

CASE 9: Rogers' Chocolates Strategic Management INTRODUCTION Rogers' Chocolates is the oldest chocolate company in Canada based in Victoria, British Columbia. Rogers' Chocolates focuses on the premium chocolate market and differentiates itself by delivering award winning quality products at a fair price; this combination creates a good value for its customers. They also have expertise at creating an outstanding customer experience within their Victorian themed retail locations that have also won awards. The company is privately held and currently focuses its business in four market areas, direct retail , online/mail order , wholesale, and sales from a restaurant in Victoria. The company also produces and sells a line of premium ice cream. The company employes 130 people, the majority of which are in retail. Sales from the company's retail establishments account for 50% of revenue. Production takes place on a one-shift operation in a 24,000 square foot facility and is labor intensive. There are currently no measurements in gauge productivity and efficiency in the plant. The past president focused a growth strategy in the wholesale market and current order fulfillment strategy is to give priority to online and mail-order business, followed by wholesale accounts, leaving the retail locations last to be serviced internally. Sales have seasonal swells during the holidays and demand forecasting has been an issue; they have increased inventory to deal with these sales patterns but still encounter out of stock situations. The new president has been given a goal by the board of directors to double or triple the size of the company within 10 years. PROBLEM STATEMENT The focus on the wholesale market does not inline with the strengths of the company. Furthermore, the issues in operational efficiency with regard to production capabilities and demand forecasting are hindering the company from increased growth potential. ALTERNATIVES Focus on strengthening current retail operations. Focus growing the retail business into new geographic markets. Continue to grow complementary business lines (ie. Ice Cream) Develop core competence in operations management to drive efficiencies and reduce inventories. Upgrade technology in production to increase capacity Create new product lines and packaging to broaden the customer base. Franchise Sam's Deli. Franchise retail chocolate stores. ANALYSIS In 2006, the chocolate market size for Canada was US$167 million with the premium chocolate market growing at a rate of 20% annually. Competition within the premium market is a broad mix of small local niche players to large multinational corporations and is growing as larger traditional manufacturers enter the market via acquisitions or new product launches. Product differentiation is healthy and there are no indications of a price war starting between rivals. Product innovation appears limited, mostly focusing on new flavor introductions and variations in molding and coloring. Seasonal demands, especially the eight weeks prior to Christmas, can create demand that can challenge small companies with low production capacity and/or inadequate forecasting and inventory management. Competitors vary in the level of vertical integration and companies with large-scale operations and distribution networks enjoy a competitive advantage through economies of scale. Rivalry among competing sellers is active and fairly strong due to the following conditions: There is little to no cost for buyers to switch brand. There is a fair amount of product standardization in the industry. The products in the chocolate market have large seasonal swells and are perishable causing some price competition. Higher fixed production costs adds to this pressure. The addition of new competition by established companies such as Hershey's and Cadburys. Competitive pressure from potential new entrants is medium as most of the major players in the industry are already in the premium chocolate market; the projected growth rate in the market will strongly attract new upstarts but they will have challenges developing distribution and retail penetration with little to no brand awareness. Firms in other industries will have little impact in this market as there aren't any strong substitutions to premium chocolate. Competitive pressures stemming from supplier bargaining is mixed; large-scale manufacturers will enjoy less pressure from suppliers due to economies of scale while smaller niche companies will not have as much influence, especially in the area of organic and fair trade raw materials. Pressure from the buyer community is fair; demand is high but so is the ability to switch brands. Growing demand for socially responsible products, such as fair-trade and organic will increase pressure from the buyers. The current driving forces in the market are the high growth rate in the premium market and the entrance of new major firms; consumers' emerging interest in fair-trade and organic products is also a force to be considered. Key success factors in this market include a well known and respected brand and strong direct sales and/or wholesale distribution; quality and efficient production capabilities are also key success factors. Although profit margins are down, Rogers' Chocolates is in a strong financial position. Retail accounts for 50% of the company's revenues although the two new stores in the company's portfolio are not performing to expectations. Ice cream sales, although small compared to retail, show a strong contribution to overall sales. The key financial indicators are shown below; one area of concern is the major increase in the â€Å"days of inventory† and the accompanying decrease in â€Å"inventory turnaround†. This is a concern due to the perishable nature of the product and the negative affect on customer quality perception when product is sold past the expiration date which has occurred with some sales via wholesale accounts. {draw:frame} A SWOT analysis of the company has turned up the following points: STRENGTHS: a distinctive competence in retail, specifically the â€Å"customer experience† a strong financial base to grow the business a strong regional brand and company reputation to build upon better product quality relative to rivals ood customer service capabilities in retail and online sales. WEAKNESSES: weak wholesale network brand/company awareness is poor outside of the region weak supply chain competences in forecasting problems with operational efficiencies with old technology and high cost changeovers. OPPORTUNITIES: expansion into new areas entering into alliances or joint ventures to expand market coverage continued expansion of complementary products (premium ice c ream) explore new technology within production THREATS increased competition by new entrants in the market slowdown in market growth hift in buyer needs and tastes RECOMMENDATIONS I believe that Rogers' Chocolates should implement a combination of the following alternatives: Focus on strengthening current retail operations. Focus growing the retail business into new geographic markets. Continue to grow complementary business lines (ie. Ice Cream) Develop core competence in operations management to drive efficiencies and optimize inventories. The Rogers' Chocolates brand has been built based on a high quality product and the retail experience of their Victorian themed shops and packaging. This is their core competence and strength and it should be the focus of their growth. By solidifying the performance of the current locations and then opening additional stores in new areas the will expand their brand recognition while preserving the quality of their product. There ice cream line is complementary to the business and should be further developed and sold in the stores. Internally, and operational strategy to improve efficiencies in production and demand forecasting will reduce costs, preserve product quality and optimize production and inventory capabilities.

The Blame for the Cold War Essay Example

The Blame for the Cold War Essay Example The Blame for the Cold War Essay The Blame for the Cold War Essay The blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on one person it developed as a series of chain reactions as a struggle for supremacy. It can be argued that the Cold War was inevitable, and therefore no ones fault, due to the differences in the capitalist and communist ideologies. It was only the need for self-preservation that had caused the two countries to sink their differences temporarily during the Second World War. Yet many of the tensions that existed in the Cold War can be attributed to Stalins policy of Soviet expansion. It is necessary, therefore, to examine the role of Stalin as a catalyst to the Cold War. Stalins foreign policies contributed an enormous amount to the tensions of the Cold War. His aim, to take advantage of the military situation in post-war Europe to strengthen Russian influence, was perceived to be a threat to the Americans. Stalin was highly effective in his goal to gain territory, with victories in Poland, Romania, and Finland. To the western world, this success looked as if it were the beginning of serious Russian aggressions. The western view of the time saw Stalin as doing one of two things: either continuing the expansionist policies of the tsars that preceded him, or worse, spreading communism across the world now that his one-state notion had been fulfilled. It also must be mentioned that Stalin is seen as wanting unchalleged personal power and a rebuilt Russia strong enough to withstand caplitalist encirclement.'1 Admittedly, the first view of Stalin, as an imperialist leader, may be skewed. The Russians claim, and have always claimed, that Stalins motives were purely defensive. Stalins wished to create a buffer zone of Communist states around him to protect Soviet Russia from the capitalist West. In this sense, his moves were not aggressive at all they were truly defensive moves to protect the Soviet system. His suspicions of Western hostility were not unfounded: the British and U.S. intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918-1920) were still fresh in Stalins memory when he took power. Furthermore, Stalin was bitter because he was not informed of U.S. nuclear capabilities until shortly before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Compounding tensions was the fact that Stalins request that Russia be allowed to participate in the occupation of Japan was denied, even though Russia had declared war on Japan on 8th August (the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 10th August) and had been respon sible for annexing south Sakhalin as agreed to at Yalta. This failure to be included in the Western worlds politics created an even deeper rift between the two superpowers. Clashes between Stalin and the West first appear at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences in February and July 1946, respectively. Though the mood at Yalta was more or less cooperative, Stalin agitated matters by demanding that all German territory east of the Rivers Oder and Neisse be given to Poland (and thus remain under Soviet influence). Both Roosevelt and Churchill refused to agree to these demands. The Soviet Union responded bluntly, saying ..the Soviet Government cannot agree to the existence in Poland of a Government hostile to it.2 The atmosphere at the Potsdam Conference was noticeably cooler, with Truman replacing Roosevelt as the representative from the United States. Trumanhad been kept in complete ignorance by Roosevelt about foreign policy,3 which meant that Truman was not aware of the secret assurances of security Roosevelt had made to Stalin. His policy towards Soviet Russia, then, was much more severe than that of Roosevelt. He was quoted as saying We must stand up to the RussiansWe have been too easy with them.4 Both Truman and Churchill were annoyed because Germany east of the Rivers Oder and Neisse were being occupied by Russian troops and were being run by the pro-communist Polish government, who expelled over five million Germans. This went directly against the agreements made at Yalta earlier in the year. The west viewed this as an act of aggression on the part of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union responded with a statement saying Poland broders with the Soviet Union, what [sic] cannot be said of Great Britain or the United States.5 From this point, the Cold War truly becomes a chain reaction. In March of 1946, Churchill presented his Iron Curtain speech at Fulton, Missouri, in response to the spread of communism in eastern Europe. He called for a western alliance to combat the threat. Stalins response was hostile: rather than trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement, Stalin continued to tighten his grip on eastern Europe. Communist governments were installed in every area of eastern Europe (barring Czechoslovakia) by the end of 1947. These governments were implemented by guerrilla tactics: elections were rigged, non-communist members of the governments were expelled, with many being arrested or executed, and eventually, Stalin dissolved all non-communist political parties. Stalin began to implement a reign of terror using the Russian Army and his secret police force. Moreover, Stalin had increased his influence in the Russian zone of Germany as if it belonged to Russia. He allowed only the communist party and drained the area of its vital resources. The West reacted. It appeared to them that Russias attitude went against all of the promises that Stalin had made at Yalta namely, that Stalin would permit free elections in the eastern European states. Russia argued that it needed to maintain a sphere of influence in the area for security reasons: to this, even Churchill agreed in 1944. Further, Russia argued that the areas had never had democratic governments, and that a communist system would allow these backward countries to progress and flourish. Stalins policy of expansion worried the West: in response, the West introduced the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, both of which sought to arrest the spread of communism. Stalins aggressive tactics did not end with creating a sphere of influence. Stalin re-established Cominform in September 1947. Cominform represented a union of all of the communist states within Europe, including representatives from the French and Italian communist parties. Even within this communist structure, Stalin had to exert his influence. It was not enough for a state to be merely communist: it had to adopt the Russian-style communism. Furthermore, the states within Cominform were expected to keep trade within the Cominform member states, and were discouraged from making any contact with the Western world. Russia strengthened the ties with the Cominform countries through the Molotov plan, which offered Russian aid to the satellite states, and the establishment of Comecon, which served to coordinate the economic policies of the communist states. These actions on the part of Stalin only increased the rift between the capitalist and the communist systems, and made future comprom ise and negotiations more difficult. Perhaps the most aggressive move that Stalin made, however, was the takeover of Czechoslovakia in February 1948. Several key issues arose in this conflict. First, the U.S. felt alienated when Czechoslovakia rejected Marshall Aid, which the U.S. blamed on the influence of the communist party. Second, the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia was a communist, the President and Foreign Minister were not. Finally, the fact that the communists took power in Czechoslovakia by means of an armed coup sent waves of fear through the western world, causing the iron curtain to fall even further. The U.N. had its hands tied, because there were free elections (the candidates were all communist) and there was no proof of Russian involvement. While it cannot be proved that Stalin ordered the coup, the signals were clear: Stalin had likely encouraged the coup, and it was not coincidental that Russian troops in Austria were moved up to the Czech border. Czechoslovakia was the final east-west bridge, and wi th the fall of it, the iron curtain was complete. The final hostile movement of Stalin of importance was the Berlin blockade and airlift. When Russia grew dissatisfied with the economic disparity that had developed in Berlin, it responded by closing all road, rail and canal links between West Berlin and West German. The goal was to force western powers from West Berlin by reducing it to the starvation point. While the blame for the Cold War cannot be placed on a single man, Stalins expansionist policy was clearly an ever-present catalyst in the war. Certain Truman was not blameless, but the U.S. was not expanding its empire the Soviet Union was. Whether the expansion was for self-preservation, or whether it was merely imperialistic expansion, is relatively immaterial. What Stalins actions unarguably did was start a string of chain-reactions within the western powers, and therefore, a good deal of the blame must rest with him.

high court of australia essays

high court of australia essays ita) How has the high court of Australia changed the balance of power between the commonwealth and the states? The High Court of Australia has the authority to decide matters relating to the Australian Constitution, that is it interprates the meanings of constitution when used in legal cases, and in using this power has influenced the balance of power between the states and the Commonwealth. Cases in which the High Court has exercised the power of interpreting the Constitution include the Uniform Tax Case in 1942, the Koowarta Case in 1982, and the Franklin Dam Case in 1983. Prior to the uniform tax case in 1942 income tax was payable to the Commonwealth and State Governments. In 1942, the Commonwealth Government passed a law assuming exclusive control over income taxes. The scheme had two main points: The use of Commonwealth taxing power to impose an income tax at a rate equal to the previous total of State and Commonwealth income taxes combined. The second, was the use of the grants power contained in Section 96 of the Constitution. Each State was to be granted an amount of money approximately equal to that which it would have raised through the imposition of its own income tax, but on the condition that the State itself imposed no such tax. The States challenged the Commonwealth and lost. The court upheld a Commonwealth legislative scheme that had the practical effect of excluding the States entirely from income tax. It was the greatest blow to the States' economic independence since Federation, creating the situation of vertical fiscal imbalance, whereby the States are financially dependent on the Commonwealth to carry out their constitutional responsibilities. So in this example the high court took away the states power to collect revenue on income tax instead the Commonwealth may make grants to the States in any manner it sees fit. It may attach almost any conditions it likes to thes...

Fangtooth Fish Facts

Fangtooth Fish Facts Fangtooth fish are part of family Anoplogastridae and mainly thrive in depths between 1,640 and 6,562 feet in temperate and tropical waters. Their genus scientific name, Anoplogaster, is derived from the Greek words meaning unarmed (anoplo) and stomach (gaster). Ironically, fangtooth fish don’t appear unarmed at all due to their disproportionately large jaws and sharp teeth. Fast Facts Scientific Name: Anoplogaster cornuta, Anoplogaster brachyceraCommon Names: Common fangtooth, ogrefish, shorthorn fangtoothOrder: BeryciformesBasic Animal Group: FishDistinguishing Characteristics: Lower jaw that extends outwards with long sharp teethSize: Up to 3 inches (Anoplogaster brachycera) and up to 6-7 inches (Anoplogaster cornuta)Weight: UnknownLife Span: UnknownDiet: Small fish, squid, crustaceansHabitat: In temperate/tropical waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, and off the coast of Australia and the British IslesPopulation: Not documentedConservation Status: Least Concern Description The fangtooth is a small fish with a laterally compressed body. Despite their small size, fangtooths have large heads and disproportionately long sharp teeth. Two sockets have developed on the sides of their brains to make room for the teeth when their jaws close. Large teeth enable the fangtooth to kill fish much larger than itself. Common fangtooth, Anoplogaster cornuta, on ice. Anette Andersen/iStock/Getty Images Plus Fangtooth fish colors range from black to dark brown as adults and are light gray when young. Their bodies are covered with prickly scales and spines. They can be found at depths anywhere from 6 feet to 15,000 feet but are most commonly found between 1,640 and 6,562 feet. When fangtooth are young, they tend to live in shallower depths. Habitat and Distribution The common fangtooth is found around the world in temperate marine waters. This includes the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, appearing off the waters of Australia and from the central to Southern British Isles. The shorthorn fangtooth lives in tropical waters from the western Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico to the western Atlantic. Diet and Behavior The fangtooth is a carnivorous and highly mobile fish, feeding on small fish, shrimp, and squid. When they are young, they filter zooplankton from the water and migrate closer to the surface at night to feed on crustaceans. Adults either hunt alone or in schools. Unlike other predators that ambush their prey, fangtooth fish actively seek out food. Fangtooth Fish (Anoplogaster cornuta) close-up of head showing teeth, from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. David Shale / Getty Images Their large heads allow them to swallow most prey whole, eating fish one-third their size. When fangtooths’ mouths are full, they can not pump water over their gills as efficiently. Thus, they produce large gaps between their gills and use their pectoral fins to fan water over their gills from behind. To find prey, fangtooths have lateral lines along each side of their bodies, which are important for detecting changes in temperature and movements of potential prey. They also rely on contact chemoreception, where they find prey by bumping into them. Reproduction and Offspring Not much is known about fangtooth fish reproduction, but they generally reach reproductive maturity at 5 inches for the common fangtooth. From June to August, males will latch on to females with their jaws and fertilize the eggs the females release into the ocean. Fangtooth fish do not guard their eggs, so these young are on their own. As they grow, they descend to deeper depths. As larvae, they appear close to the surface and by the time they are adults, they may be swimming at depths of up to 15,000 feet. Overlapping of depth and habitats occurs across stages of maturity. Species Fangtooth (Anoplogaster cornuta), illustrated view of a deep sea fish with a small body and disproportionately large head, and large teeth. Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images There are two known species: Anoplogaster cornuta (the common fangtooth) and Anoplogaster brachycera (shorthorn fangtooth). Shorthorn fangtooth fish are even smaller than common fangtooth fish, reaching sizes of just short of 3 inches. They are most commonly found at depths between 1,640 and 6,500 feet. Conservation Status The common fangtooth is designated as least concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, while the shorthorn fangtooth has not been assessed by the IUCN. Due to their appearance, they do not have any commercial value. Sources Baidya, Sankalan. 20 Interesting Fangtooth Facts. Facts Legend, 2014, https://factslegend.org/20-interesting-fangtooth-facts/. Common Fangtooth. British Sea Fishing, https://britishseafishing.co.uk/common-fangtooth/.Common Fangtooth. Oceana, https://oceana.org/marine-life/ocean-fishes/common-fangtooth.ï » ¿Iwamoto, T. Anoplogaster Cornuta. The IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species, 2015, https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18123960/21910070#population.Malhotra, Rishi. Anoplogaster Cornuta. Animal Diversity Web, 2011, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anoplogaster_cornuta/.McGrouther, Mark. Fangtooth, Anoplogaster Cornuta (Valenciennes, 1833). The Australian Museum, 2019, https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/fishes/fangtooth-anoplogaster-cornuta-valenciennes-1833/.

Peculiarities of Movies' Promotion as Intangible Products Assignment

Peculiarities of Movies' Promotion as Intangible Products - Assignment Example Movies are deemed intangible or experiential because they appeal both to the senses and the emotions. Movies, unlike tangible products such as toothpaste, have experiential attributes like â€Å"the original movie’s storyline, its genre, and memorable scenes. These attributes are typically featured in movie trailers and television ads; hence, they should be relatively easy to recall. In contrast to physical goods, we suggest that experiential attributes such as the storyline and genre tend to satiate such that consumers prefer to experience something different in the sequel; hence, dissimilarity is preferred to similarity†   (Sanjay Sood). There are three studies completed in the research article to examine four hypotheses. If you were planning the marketing strategy of a sequel, which hypothesis would be the most interesting to you? Which study? Why? The most interesting fact for someone planning a marketing strategy is Hypothesis 2: There will be an interaction between naming strategy and order of presentation in sequel evaluations. Numbered extensions will be rated more favorably when the title is presented after the description that when the title is presented before the description. There will be no significant difference in sequel evaluations when a naming strategy is used. This hypothesis is highly confirmed by Study 2. The study has the following findings: The pattern of interactions between presentation order and naming strategy suggests that numbered-sequel evaluations involved a greater degree of assimilation, indicating a greater reliance on the original movie as a basis for evaluations. When the numbered title was shown after the sequel description, respondents took longer to evaluate the sequels, they recalled more about the sequels, and they evaluated the numbered sequels more favorably. On the other hand, Consistent with a more piecemeal processing strategy, named sequels took longer to evaluate, and recall of sequel information was higher relative to a numbered sequel   (Sanjay Sood).

European Human Rights Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

European Human Rights Protection - Essay Example The security of the European Union member country may be justified to restrict individual human rights at time even derogating from some of them. This may take effects under the following circumstances. (Boyles, 2005) European Union member nations can apply derogations in the abolishing of a peaceful licensed demonstration if they feel that the demonstration is going to be a menace to the well being of the society or the nation at large. European Member countries have power to deport a person (foreigner) on the ground that their presence in Europe is a threat to the national security. But the law provides that the individual can be deported after a certain time. European member countries can ignore the issue of time and deport that person immediately if they feel the person (foreigners) is a threat to their country. In cases of terrorism act like in the case of September 11th 2001 terrorism attack European member countries can employ their military machinery to help them in wiping out the terrorist. European member countries can also detain people who are being suspected to be terrorist while interrogating them without taking into account the number of days stipulated in the law that a suspect is supposed to take before being taken into a court for prosecution. (Mokhtar, 2004) Guarantee of some fair tr... (Mokhtar, 2004) . Guarantee of some fair trails, as long as it is not conflicting with other human treaties. However only situation should be the only driving factor that should determine weather a person will be granted a fair trail or weather he won't. Proportionality principle calls for a reasonably light abolition of obligations that is to emergency situation in a country. A suspect can be denied is right to access his lawyer or family during detention. The right of liberty is amongst those which are usually ignored during emergency In order to respond to a crisis or a threat to the citizens, member countries may 'shy away' from the rights of the individual, that are recognized by the law. For example when an individual has committed an act of terrorism, the Government may hold him for a long time as long as they want before bringing to the court. (Boyles, 2005) European member states may derogate when facing situations which poses a danger that put the life of the country in danger. Putting life of the nation in danger implies that: the situation is affecting the entire population or a very large part of the country which cannot be neglected, the situation poses a serious threat to the integrity of the citizens of the members of the European countries, the independence (political) of the member country or interfere with the functioning of public utilities or institutions. Before applying Derogation, the member country has to access the situation on the ground. The situation should meet the standards set down by the European Union like being a threat to the member countries citizen before declaring Derogation state. The declaration has

Business Plan for Introducing Erythritol in Indonesia Assignment

Business Plan for Introducing Erythritol in Indonesia - Assignment Example Unlike other sugar substitutes, it is made from naturally occurring substances and hence is largely free from side-effects. Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,367 islands with a total land area of 1,907,950 square kilometers. The reforms undertaken by Indonesian government since the 1997 economic crisis have resulted in very conducive environment for establishing a new business. The low cost of labor in Indonesia makes setting an Erythritol production factory a very profitable enterprise. Besides, with increasing consumer awareness in Indonesia, it will also be profitable to market and sell this zero-calorie, no side-effect sugar substitute in Indonesia. Although Indonesia is not an easy place to start a new business Indonesian government encourages foreign investment in Indonesia. Considering the low cost of labor, it would be cheaper to setup a factory in Indonesia rather than importing Erythritol from outside. According to www.doingbusiness.org, it takes an average of 97 days and a minimum capital of IDR 20,000,000 (USD 2500) to obtain the required licenses to launch a new business in Jakarta. Another 40,000,000 (USD 5000) is needed to obtain the required permits and registrations for a warehouse. Hence the main costs would be of building the factory and buying/leasing equipments. Unfortunately, in Indonesia this cost could be prohibitive. Another hurdle in setting up a factory in Indonesia is the long time it takes to get all the requir... Glucose can be obtained from a number of high starch crops. Since corn is readily available crop in Indonesia and has high glucose content, it is the first choice for raw material for production of Erythritol. The crop is mainly grown on the island of Java. So it is best to locate the factory on the island, near the raw material. While deciding the location of the factory, we have to consider the cost of land. In the urban areas and in major cities, including Jakarta, there is limited land area and hence the price is extremely high. In fact, many cities have forbidden setting up of new factories within their municipal limits. Hence it would be better and cheaper to locate the factory in the rural area where there is plentiful of land and adequate manpower. Raising Capital Due to the huge benefits of Erythritol as a sugar substitute and the cheap cost of labor in Indonesia, setting up a factory in Indonesia represents a low-risk business. Capital is needed for buying real estate, building factory, buying corn from farmers, buying equipment, labor and marketing. There are several options for raising capital. However, the best and the cheapest option is a bank loan. With a low-risk strategy and a solid business plan, getting a bank to finance the new business should be easy. The land and factory can be used as collateral in the bank loan. Company Operations The company will be hiring local population for all major positions, including the Chief Executive Officer. The local people understand the local customs better and thus will be in a better position to handle the day-to-day operations. The low labor cost in Indonesia also makes this proposition an attractive one. The raw material, corn in this case can be easily obtained from

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words - 1

History - Essay Example Most important, however, was institutionalization, a further component of ‘religion-building’, to give these fledgling belief systems stability and resilience. Thus Buddhism underwent this process in India, well into the second decade of its existence, from where it emerged a world religion and in the case of Christianity and Islam, Constantine and the Abbasids performed this function. 2. 2Older religions were more localized and lacked the institutional underpinning that can be found in Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Each of these religions in turn facilitated its broad geographical spread through institutional mechanisms, such as monastic communities in the case of Buddhism, the church for Christianity and an efficient communication network along the trade routes, based on merchant networks, for Islam and Buddhism. In addition, older religions were elite structures, excluded the masses from their power structure and usually had a large number of gods that need to be satisfied. In contract, the three big religions facilitated a more direct access to one God via easy to understand rituals. In the case of Hinduism, the attraction of Buddhism also included a departure from the caste system. 3. 3Rulers often used religion to underpin their power with divine approval. By claiming divine endorsement, they were able to obscure the boundaries between secular power and divine sanction. By claiming to derive power directly from God, the ruler was not accountable to anyone else, not subject to criticism by any other than God. More significant was that critique of the ruler amounted to critique of God and was therefore heresy. This royal absolutism began with Constantine and Theodosius but references can be found as early as Peter 2:13-17 in the New Testament. 4. 4An anthropological view of the Japanese religious structure points out that Japanese society operates a

Guantanamo Bay Closing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Guantanamo Bay Closing - Essay Example In 2002, more than hundreds of Afghani prisoners were detained in this prison and did not have any rights, which were defined by the Geneva Conventions. However, they were given minimum rights in the year 2006 (Londras, 52). This paper seeks to analyze and investigate the 'Guantanamo Bay closing", it impact on U.S security and international security, in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. After the September eleventh attack on United States, detention camp was made at Guantanamo base for detainees who were believed to be terrorists. After the U.S invasion in Afghanistan, majority of the suspected Afghani terrorists were move into Guantanamo detention camp(Fletcher, 125). These prisoners were considered to be the associated with Al Qaeda. Guantanamo Bay served as a detention center, where these prisoners were interrogated in order to get information on future terrorist attacks and to track down other terrorists groups. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary, had authorized special interrogative methods which were used to compel the detainees to give information regarding terrorist groups and their activities. This was done in order to prevent international terrorism. However, methods such as invading prisoner's privacy, chaining them, exposing them to humiliation, etc were used for interrogation (Fletcher, 129). These acts were subjected to severe criticism. Media, human rights activists and peacekeepers severely criticized these methods and declared them inhumane practices, which violated human rights. In the year 2006, former President George Bush declared that suspected terrorists would be held at Guantanamo Prison. However, minimum rights were given to these prisoners (Mariner, 312). In 2009, President Barack Obama became the President of United States and took measures to close the Guantanamo Bay's prison (Brophy-Baermann & Conybeare, 200). United States of America is considered to be the country, which believes in liberty and human rights. According to critics, the methods devised by Donald Rumsfeld in order to break silence of the prisoners were inhumane and barbaric and they violated basic human rights. Prisoners were forced to wear female underwear on their heads, chained, lashed or exploited sexually so that they break their silence (Fletcher, 131). The military had the authority to use these methods in order to gain information on terrorists groups and activities. According to media reports, these strategies were specially devised for these detainees and were considered to be general procedure for interrogators. Reports also indicate these interrogators threatened detainees if they didn't cooperate with them. Several human right organizations believed that this was violation of human rights. Arguments against Guantanamo Bay Closing Although more than billion of innocent people are subjected to inhumane treatment and tyranny by governments of different countries such as Sudan, China, Somalia, etc, majority of human rights organization have concentrated on Guantanamo Bay Prison. It has been subjected to severe criticism because it had introduced special methods for interrogation. Although it has violated human rights, proponents have failed to articulate a rational and practical rationale for its closing.

Letter to the editor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Letter to the editor - Essay Example In essence, the tax forced energy raise in energy prices and also costs job. Many businesses have to strain their resources and change business operation techniques to compete well in the marketplace. In essence, exaggerated carbon taxes have been attributed the rapid lose of competitiveness of Australian products in the global market. This is especially due to an increase in the product prices to be able to cover the production costs emanating from the introduction of the high carbon tax. On commencement of the carbon tax, Australian carbon prices tripled those of the European countries. The European Emission Trading Schemes generates $23 million as compared to $77.3 million per week in Australia. As such, Australian exports are higher in prices. These high taxes increases the cost of production and the weight laid on consumers who in turn consume fewer products. The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) find it tricky to monitor prices or take action against organizations that try to exploit consumers or other business by charging unjustly high prices. Notably, businesses and households use price signal as an explanation for lowered consumption of particular products. According to statistics, consumers are likely to turn to using up cheaper imports. This has built uncertainty for investment; hence, companies prone to emission of carbon will be afraid to invest further considering the high tax payment. This also renders high competition from other energy plants. As a result, some industries will end up withdrawing from business; hence, an economic downturn. From above perspective, the controversial carbon policy is both beneficial and detrimental. In line with the set standards on climate change in the Kyoto Protocol, Australia must be committed to trimming down the emission of greenhouse gases. However,

Guantanamo Bay Closing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Guantanamo Bay Closing - Essay Example In 2002, more than hundreds of Afghani prisoners were detained in this prison and did not have any rights, which were defined by the Geneva Conventions. However, they were given minimum rights in the year 2006 (Londras, 52). This paper seeks to analyze and investigate the 'Guantanamo Bay closing", it impact on U.S security and international security, in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. After the September eleventh attack on United States, detention camp was made at Guantanamo base for detainees who were believed to be terrorists. After the U.S invasion in Afghanistan, majority of the suspected Afghani terrorists were move into Guantanamo detention camp(Fletcher, 125). These prisoners were considered to be the associated with Al Qaeda. Guantanamo Bay served as a detention center, where these prisoners were interrogated in order to get information on future terrorist attacks and to track down other terrorists groups. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary, had authorized special interrogative methods which were used to compel the detainees to give information regarding terrorist groups and their activities. This was done in order to prevent international terrorism. However, methods such as invading prisoner's privacy, chaining them, exposing them to humiliation, etc were used for interrogation (Fletcher, 129). These acts were subjected to severe criticism. Media, human rights activists and peacekeepers severely criticized these methods and declared them inhumane practices, which violated human rights. In the year 2006, former President George Bush declared that suspected terrorists would be held at Guantanamo Prison. However, minimum rights were given to these prisoners (Mariner, 312). In 2009, President Barack Obama became the President of United States and took measures to close the Guantanamo Bay's prison (Brophy-Baermann & Conybeare, 200). United States of America is considered to be the country, which believes in liberty and human rights. According to critics, the methods devised by Donald Rumsfeld in order to break silence of the prisoners were inhumane and barbaric and they violated basic human rights. Prisoners were forced to wear female underwear on their heads, chained, lashed or exploited sexually so that they break their silence (Fletcher, 131). The military had the authority to use these methods in order to gain information on terrorists groups and activities. According to media reports, these strategies were specially devised for these detainees and were considered to be general procedure for interrogators. Reports also indicate these interrogators threatened detainees if they didn't cooperate with them. Several human right organizations believed that this was violation of human rights. Arguments against Guantanamo Bay Closing Although more than billion of innocent people are subjected to inhumane treatment and tyranny by governments of different countries such as Sudan, China, Somalia, etc, majority of human rights organization have concentrated on Guantanamo Bay Prison. It has been subjected to severe criticism because it had introduced special methods for interrogation. Although it has violated human rights, proponents have failed to articulate a rational and practical rationale for its closing.

Marks and Spencer, Method of Operation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marks and Spencer, Method of Operation - Essay Example It is currently an international company with a whopping over 840 stores in more than 30 countries in the world. This joint venture was not without its challenges especially with its growth and expansion to various other countries other than Britain. It has experienced periods of financial crisis owing to poor sales to a point where they had to sell some of their stores off to other parties among other tough decisions they have been made to make to save the company from crumbling. Nevertheless, they have also had periods of high sales which in turn translated into great profitability and expansion. Their have adopted various strategies in an attempt to maintain and expand their customer base as both external and internal forces are threatening the very core of this business with a history of a long time in operation. Part of these strategies includes the adoption of new marketing strategies that are powerful enough to retain their customers and attract more customers to themselves. Notable also is the expansion of the products they sell where in addition to the traditional engagement in the sale of cloth and food, recent additions to the products base include technological products as well as furniture and homewares. Following is a PEST analysis of the company that will undertake to elaborate the current economic standing of this company and the prospects that are available to it. Marks a Political factors Marks and Spencer have adopted an international inclination towards the attracting of customers to the purchasing of their products. This means that the political factors that affecting their businesses depends on the political environment found in the countries where their stores are based for example the stores based in Britain will operate under the political environment found in Britain while those based in china will operate under china's political environment. Considering that the greatest number of the Marks and Spencer stores (600 out of the approximately 840 in the world) are based in Britain, then I will undertake the pest analysis of the Marks and Spencer stores based in Britain. The political environment in Britain is stable in the sense that Britain is relatively peaceful with no major identified or reported cases of violence making the establishment, growth and expansion of business units realistic and favourable. This contributed greatly towards the establishment and the eventual success of the Marks and Spencer stores as they were offered the chance to grow. It should however be noted that the period of the Second World War gave the growth of this business unit enough challenge. The taxing policy in Britain is relatively low thus allowing for a conducive environment for the establishment and maintenance of a business unit since the business units are hardly suppressed by overtaxing. Adoption of friendly taxing policies is a real plus in the development of business enterprises (Bevan 2001 pp 56-58). Britain is a member of a number of trade unions and other organizations with whom they carry out trade. It is a member of the European Union therefore trades under minimal restrictions with all the other members of this union. This is good for the development of international trade for the business units found in the geographical area covered by it (Richardson 2002p42). At the same time, Britain has developed diplomatic relationships with a great number of nations globally- a stint that makes her

Time Management Essay Example for Free

Time Management Essay Time Management skills are essential for successful people these are the practical techniques which have helped the leading people in business, sport and public service reach the pinnacles of their careers. The 80:20 Rule This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the 80:20 Rule. This argues that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently as to be the norm in many areas. If you work for an organization, calculate how much you cost it each year. Include your salary, payroll taxes, the cost of office space you occupy, equipment and facilities you use, expenses, administrative support, etc. If you are self-employed, work the annual running costs of your business. If you work normal hours, you will have approximately 200 productive days each year. If you work 7 ½ hours each day, this equates to 1,500 hours in a year. From these figures, calculate an hourly rate. This should give a reasonable estimate of how much your time is worth this may be a surprisingly large amount When you are deciding whether or not to take a task on, think about this value are you wasting your or your organizations resources on a low yield task? ________________________________________ Personal Time Management for Busy Managers by Gerard M Blair Time passes, quickly. This article looks at the basics of Personal Time Management and describes how the Manager can assume control of this basic resource. The Eff words The three Eff words are [concise OED]: †¢Effective having a definite or desired effect †¢Efficient productive with minimum waste or effort †¢Effortless   seemingly without effort; natural, easy Personal Time Management is about winning the Eff words: making them apply to you and your daily routines. What is Personal Time Management? Personal Time Management is about controlling the use of your most valuable (and undervalued) resource. Consider these two questions: what would happen if you spent company money with as few safeguards as you spend company time, when was the last time you scheduled a review of your time allocation? The absence of Personal Time Management is characterized by last minute rushes to meet dead-lines, meetings which are either double booked or achieve nothing, days which seem somehow to slip unproductively by, crises which loom unexpected from nowhere. This sort of environment leads to inordinate stress and degradation of performance: it must be stopped. Poor time management is often a symptom of over confidence: techniques which used to work with small projects and workloads are simply reused with large ones. But inefficiencies which were insignificant in the small role are ludicrous in the large. You can not drive a motor bike like a bicycle, nor can you manage a supermarket-chain like a market stall. The demands, the problems and the payoffs for increased efficiency are all larger as your responsibility grows; you must learn to apply proper techniques or be bettered by those who do. Possibly, the reason Time Management is poorly practised is that it so seldom forms a measured part of appraisal and performance review; what many fail to foresee, however, is how intimately it is connected to aspects which do. Personal Time Management has many facets. Most managers recognize a few, but few recognize them all. There is the simple concept of keeping a well ordered diary and the related idea of planned activity. But beyond these, it is a tool for the systematic ordering of your influence on events, it underpins many other managerial skills such as Effective Delegation and Project Planning. Personal Time Management is a set of tools which allow you to: eliminate wastage be prepared for meetings refuse excessive workloads monitor project progress allocate resource (time) appropriate to a tasks importance ensure that long term projects are not neglected plan each day efficiently plan each week effectively and to do so simply with a little self-discipline. Since Personal Time Management is a management process just like any other, it must be planned, monitored and regularly reviewed. In the following  sections, we will examine the basic methods and functions of Personal Time Management. Since true understanding depends upons experience, you will be asked to take part by looking at aspects of your own work. If you do not have time to this right now ask yourself: why not? Current Practice What this article is advocating is the adoption of certain practices which will give you greater control over the use and allocation of your primary resource: time. Before we start on the future, it is worth considering the present. This involves the simplistic task of keeping a note of how you spend your time for a suitably long period of time (say a week). I say simplistic since all you have to do is create a simple table, photocopy half-a-dozen copies and carry it around with you filling in a row every time you change activity. After one week, allocate time (start as you mean to go on) to reviewing this log. Waste Disposal We are not looking here to create new categories of work to enhance efficiency (that comes later) but simply to eliminate wastage in your current practice. The average IEE Chartered Engineer earns about 27,000 pounds per annum: about 12.50 pounds per hour, say 1 pound every 5 minutes; for how many 5 minute sections of your activity would you have paid a pound? The first step is a critical appraisal of how you spend your time and to question some of your habits. In your time log, identify periods of time which might have been better used. There are various sources of waste. The most common are social: telephone calls, friends dropping by, conversations around the coffee machine. It would be foolish to eliminate all non-work related activity (we all need a break) but if its a choice between chatting to Harry in the afternoon and meeting the next pay-related deadline Your time log will show you if this is a problem and you might like to do something about it before your boss does. In your time log, look at each work activity and decide objectively how much time each was worth to you, and compare that with the time you actually spent on it. An afternoon spent polishing an internal memo into a Pulitzer prize winning piece of provocative prose is waste; an hour spent debating the leaving present of a colleague is waste; a minute spent sorting out the paper-clips is waste (unless relaxation). This type of activity will be reduced naturally by  managing your own time since you will not allocate time to the trivial. Specifically, if you have a task to do, decide before hand how long it should take and work to that deadline then move on to the next task. Another common source of waste stems from delaying work which is unpleasant by finding distractions which are less important or unproductive. Check your log to see if any tasks are being delayed simply because they are dull or difficult. Time is often wasted in changing between activities. For this reason it is useful to group similar tasks together thus avoiding the start-up delay of each. The time log will show you where these savings can be made. You may want then to initiate a routine which deals with these on a fixed but regular basis. Doing Subordinates Work Having considered what is complete waste, we now turn to what is merely inappropriate. Often it is simpler to do the job yourself. Using the stamp machine to frank your own letters ensures they leave by the next post; writing the missing summary in the latest progress report from your junior is more pleasant than sending it back (and it lets you choose the emphasis). Rubbish! Large gains can be made by assigning secretarial duties to secretaries: they regularly catch the next post, they type a lot faster than you. Your subordinate should be told about the missing section and told how (and why) to slant it. If you have a task which could be done by a subordinate, use the next occasion to start training him/her to do it instead of doing it yourself you will need to spend some time monitoring the task thereafter, but far less that in doing it yourself. Doing the work of Others A major impact upon your work can be the tendency to help others with theirs. Now, in the spirit of an open and harmonious work environment it is obviously desirable that you should be willing to help out but check your work log and decide how much time you spend on your own work and how much you spend on others. For instance, if you spend a morning checking the grammar and spelling in the training material related to you last project, then that is waste. Publications should do the proofreading, that is their job, they are better at it than you are; you should deal at the technical level. The remaining problem is your manager. Consider what periods in your  work log were used to perform tasks that your manager either repeated or simply negated by ignoring it or redefining the task, too late. Making your manager efficient is a very difficult task, but where it impinges upon your work and performance you must take the bull by the horns (or whatever) and confront the issue. Managing your manager may seem a long way from Time Management but no one impacts upon your use of time more than your immediate superior. If a task is ill defined seek clarification (is that a one page summary or a ten page report?). If seemingly random alterations are asked in your deliverables, ask for the reasons and next time clarify these and similar points at the beginning. If the manager is difficult, try writing a small specification for each task before beginning it and have it agreed. While you can not tactfully hold your manager to this contract if he/she has a change of mind, it will at least cause him/her to consider the issues early on, before you waste your time on false assumptions. External Appointments The next stage of Personal Time Management is to start taking control of your time. The first problem is appointments. Start with a simple appointments diary. In this book you will have (or at least should have) a complete list of all your known appointments for the foreseeable future. If you have omitted your regular ones (since you remember them anyway) add them now. Your appointments constitute your interaction with other people; they are the agreed interface between your activities and those of others; they are determined by external obligation. They often fill the diary. Now, be ruthless and eliminate the unnecessary. There may be committees where you can not productively contribute or where a subordinate might be (better) able to participate. There may be long lunches which could be better run as short conference calls. There may be interviews which last three times as long as necessary because they are scheduled for a whole hour. Eliminate the wastage starting today. The next stage is to add to your diary lists of other, personal activity which will enhance your use of the available time. Consider: what is the most important type of activity to add to your diary? No:- stop reading for a moment and really, consider. The single most important type of activity is those which will save you time: allocate time to save time, a stitch in time saves days. And most importantly of all,  always allocate time to time management: at least five minutes each and every day. For each appointment left in the diary, consider what actions you might take to ensure that no time is wasted: plan to avoid work by being prepared. Thus, if you are going to a meeting where you will be asked to comment on some report, allocate time to read it so avoiding delays in the meeting and increasing your chances of making the right decision the first time. Consider what actions need to be done before AND what actions must be done to follow-up. Even if the latter is unclear before the event, you must still allocate time to review the outcome and to plan the resulting action. Simply mark in your diary the block of time necessary to do this and, when the time comes, do it. Scheduling Projects The most daunting external appointments are deadlines: often, the handover of deliverables. Do you leave the work too late? Is there commonly a final panic towards the end? Are the last few hectic hours often marred by errors? If so, use Personal Time Management. The basic idea is that your management of personal deadlines should be achieved with exactly the same techniques you would use in a large project: †¢check the specification are you sure that you agree on what is to be delivered †¢break the task down into small sections so that you can estimate the time needed for each, and monitor progress †¢schedule reviews of your progress (e.g. after each sub-task) so that you can respond quickly to difficulties Like most management ideas, this is common sense. Some people, however, refute it because in practise they find that it merely shows the lack of time for a project which must be done anyway. This is simply daft! If simple project planning and time management show that the task can not be done, then it will not be done but by knowing at the start, you have a chance to do something about it. An impossible deadline affects not only your success but also that of others. Suppose a product is scheduled for release too soon because you agree to deliver too early. Marketing and Sales will prepare customers to expect the product showing why they really need it but it will not arrive. The customers will be dissatisfied or even lost, the competition will have advanced warning, and all because you agreed to do the impossible. You can avoid this type of problem. By practising time management, you will always have a clear understanding of how you spend your time and what time is  unallocated. If a new task is thrust upon you, you can estimate whether it is practical. The project planning tells you how much time is needed and the time management tells you how much time is available. There are four ways to deal with impossible deadlines: †¢Get the deadline extended †¢Scream for more resources †¢Get the Deliverable redefined to something practical †¢State the position clearly so that your boss (and his/her boss) have fair warning If this simple approach seems unrealistic, consider the alternative. If you have an imposed, but unobtainable, deadline and you accept it; then the outcome is your assured failure. Of course, there is a fifth option: move to a company with realistic schedules. One defence tactic is to present your superior with a current list of your obligations indicating what impact the new task will have on these, and ask him/her to assign the priorities: I cant do them all, which should I slip?. Another tactic is to keep a data base of your time estimates and the actual time taken by each task. This will quickly develop into a source of valuable data and increase the accuracy of your planning predictions. There is no reason why you should respond only to externally imposed deadlines. The slightly shoddy product which you hand-over after the last minute rush (and normally have returned for correction the following week) could easily have been polished if only an extra day had been available so move your personal deadline forward and allow yourself the luxury of leisured review before the product is shipped. Taking this a step further, the same sort of review might be applied to the product at each stage of its development so that errors and rework time are reduced. Thus by allocating time to quality review, you save time in rework; and this is all part of project planning supported and monitored by your time management. Finally, for each activity you should estimate how much time it is worth and allocate only that amount. This critical appraisal may even suggest a different approach or method so that the time matches the tasks importance. Beware of perfection, it takes too long allocate time for fitness for purpose, then stop. Monitoring Staff Your Personal Time Management also affects other people, particularly your subordinates. Planning projects means not only allocating your time but also the distribution of tasks; and this should be done in the same planned, monitored and reviewed manner as your own scheduling. Any delegated task should be specified with an (agreed) end date. As a Manager, you are responsible for ensuring that the tasks allocated to your subordinates are completed successfully. Thus you should ensure that each task is concluded with a deliverable (for instance, a memo to confirm completion) you make an entry in your diary to check that this has arrived. Thus, if you agree the task for Tuesday, Wednesday should have an entry in your diary to check the deliverable. This simple device allows you to monitor progress and to initiate action as necessary. Long term Objectives There are many long term objectives which the good Manager must achieve, particularly with regard to the development, support and motivation of his/her work-team. Long term objectives have the problem of being important but not urgent; they do not have deadlines, they are distant and remote. For this reason, it is all too easy to ignore them in favour of the urgent and immediate. Clearly a balance must be struck. The beauty of Time Management is that the balance can be decided objectively (without influence from immediate deadlines) and self-imposed through the use of the diary. Simply, a manager might decide that one hour a week should be devoted to personnel issues and would then allocate a regular block of time to that activity. Of course if the factory is on fire, or World War III is declared, the manager may have to re-allocate this time in a particular week but barring such crises, this time should then become sacrosanct and always applied to the same, designated purpose. Similarly, time may be allocated to staff development and training. So if one afternoon a month is deemed to be a suitable allocation, then simply designate the second Thursday (say) of each month and delegate the choice of speakers. The actual time spent in managing this sort of long term objective is small, but without that deliberate planning it will not be achieved. Once you have implemented Personal Time Management, it is worth using some of that control to augment your own career. Some quiet weekend, you should sketch out your own long term objectives and plan a route to them. As you would any long term objective,  allocate time to the necessary sub-tasks and monitor your progress. If you do not plan where you want to go, you are unlikely to get there. Concluding Remarks. Personal Time Management is a systematic application of common sense strategies. It requires little effort, yet it promotes efficient work practices by highlighting wastage and it leads to effective use of time by focusing it on your chosen activities. Personal Time Management does not solve your problems; it reveals them, and provides a structure to implement and monitor solutions. It enables you to take control of your own time how you use it is then up to you.

Different Forms of Love Essay -- essays research papers

When looking at poetry it is easy to look at the structure of the poem for a better understanding. Many poets use rhyme, meter, and other forms of structure when configuring their poems. Some other poets use free verse. Free verse is when you don’t consider rhyme or meter into your work, instead it’s thoughts put together making a poem. Some of the poems that I will be looking at today do in fact use rhyme in most all of the verses. In both of the works I’m going to look at rhyme is clearly apparent. Most if not all of the lines in the two poems ends in continuing rhyme. The two poems I will be talking about are, My Papa’s Waltz and The Mother. Both of the poems have the same underlying theme, love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My Papa Waltz is a poem dealing with a daughters love for her father. The poem is told from the daughter’s voice. She shows how much love she has for her father even though he isn’t a perfect person. â€Å"The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. (451) This is the opening stanza to the poem. The poet is telling you that this father is dancing with his child but that he is so drunk; you can actually smell the booze on him. The line referring to the small boy makes you truly think and almost smell the booze for yourself. It makes you realize just how much a child can see and understand at a young age. The reference to holding on like death makes you almost think that this was a fast paced...

Animal Farm, by George Orwell :: Animal Farm Essays

One of the things I like about small presses is that they'll take chances on authors who write about things outside of the mainstream. III Publishing has been one of my favorite sources for libertarian/anarchist fiction and science fiction ever since I picked up and totally enjoyed The Last Days of Christ the Vampire. Now they bring us two fine contributions to anarchist SF literature. If you loved George Orwell's Animal Farm, you'll love this "sequel." Many who have read Orwell's classic missed the basic underlying anti-authoritarian message, instead reading it as an allegory about the Soviet Union. In Anarchist Farm we find an extension of the philosophies underlying Animal Farm, but this time with a more upbeat outcome. Contemporary concerns such as ecocide and animal rights are also woven into this readable book. In fact, it is written in a style appropriate for teenage readers. As in Animal Farm, the main characters here are animals and they talk. They also have cute names. Pancho is a pig who has escaped from the regime that has taken over the farm portrayed in Animal Farm. He is befriended by some wild animals, who are later revealed to be the "Forest Defenders." The Defenders turn out to be very similar to Earth First! Pancho eventually finds a farm whose owner has recently died. In response to the death of their benevolent owner, the animals turn the farm into a successful anarchist collective. As the months roll by, the animal start to worry about what might happen to them when the humans come to auction off the farm. The ending will surprise you. It should also be mentioned that the book also deals with monkeywrenching and its consequences. Anarchist Farm is funny, thought-provoking, and inspiring. It's an excellent sequel to Animal Farm. Let's hope that a few more readers "get it" this time. A.D. is a science fiction story set in the U.S.A. in the near future. Radical changes have altered the very political geography of the continent: the Klux Klan Klan and other white supremacists control what was the southern U.S., the Nation of Islam controls what was the Midwest, and the West Coast is all that remains of the old U.S. "liberal democracy." Fred Hampton Rush Sr. is a middle-aged black man living in Chicago, which is now the capital city of the Lost-Found Nation of Islam in North America.

Student Satisfaction in Jose Rizal University

Introduction Students’ opinions about all aspects of academic life are now sought by educational institutions worldwide, generally, in the form of a satisfaction feedback questionnaire. It is this student satisfaction survey, within the context of student satisfaction in JRU Jose Rizal University. In the Philippines, Higher Education (HE) students were considered to be the â€Å"primary customers† of a University ,even before they were liable for the payment of â€Å"up-front† tuition fees. Students are the direct recipients of the service provided.As if to confirm this status of the â€Å"student as customer†, the Commision on Higher Education (CHED) has introduced a National Student Survey. This survey is aimed at first year students to seek their views on a number of aspects of teaching, assessment and support provided by their university and its courses. The results will ultimately be used by the school to produce league tables of university performanc e. The position of a university in any league tables will impact ultimately on its image.Image has a strong impact on the retention of current students and the attraction of potential students. Indeed recruitment and retention of students has been moved to the top of most universities’ agendas by CHED due to their desire to increase the JRU student population in line with Government targets. Poor retention rates may have adverse funding consequences for University . This paper takes the view that student satisfaction, retention and recruitment are closely linked.Thus student satisfaction has become an extremely important issue for universities and their management. The aim is to try to maximise student satisfaction, minimise dissatisfaction and therefore retain students and so improve the institutions performance across a number of league tables. Taking these criticisms into consideration the questionnaire used in the satisfaction survey asked only for perceptions of performa nce of a range of service aspects (as well as importance) but did not aim to collect data associated with expectations.Indeed, the survey questionnaire was designed around the concept of the service-product bundle. This concept is discussed in the next section. The service-product bundle The outcome of service delivery is a tangible product, and a â€Å"bundle† of goods and services as the product offering . The service-product bundle refers to the inseparable offering of many goods and services including what Jose Rizal University has to offer its students. This bundle consists of three elements: (1) the physical or facilitating goods; 2) the sensual service provided – the explicit service; and (3) the psychological service – the implicit service. For a university the facilitating goods include the lectures and tutorials, presentation slides, supplementary handout documents/materials and the recommended module text. It also includes the physical facilities such as the lecture theatres and tutorial rooms and their level of furnishing, decoration, lighting and layout as well as ancillary services such as catering and recreational amenities.The explicit service includes the knowledge levels of staff, staff teaching ability, the consistency of teaching quality irrespective of personnel, ease of making appointments with staff, the level of difficulty of the subject content and the workload. The implicit service includes the treatment of students by staff, including friendliness and approachability, concern shown if the student has a problem, respect for feelings and opinions, availability of staff, capability and competence of staff.It also includes the ability of the university’s environment to make the student feel comfortable, the sense of competence, confidence and professionalism conveyed by the ambience in lectures and tutorials, feeling that the student’s best interest is being served and a feeling that rewards are consist ent with the effort put into course works /examinations. All of the above are based on students’ perceptions of the various parts of the service and the data is usually collected via some form of feedback questionnaire.Why collect student feedback? (1) to provide auditable evidence that students have had the opportunity to pass comment on their courses and that such information is used to bring about improvements; (2) to encourage student reflection on their learning; (3) to allow institutions to benchmark and to provide indicators that will contribute to the reputation of the university in the marketplace; and (4) to provide students with an opportunity to express their level of satisfaction with their academic experience.The last bullet point as the rationale behind the survey undertaken for the particular research project described in this paper. Keeping customers satisfied is what leads to customer loyalty. Research conducted by Jones and Sasser Jr (1995) into thirty orga nisations from five different markets found that where customers have choices the link between satisfaction and loyalty is linear; as satisfaction rises, so too does loyalty. However, in markets where competition was intense they found a difference between the loyalty of satisfied and completely satisfied customers.Put simply, if satisfaction is ranked on a 1-5 scale from completely dissatisfied to completely satisfied, the 4’s – though satisfied – were six times more likely to defect than the 5’s. Customer loyalty manifests itself in many forms of customer behavior. Jones and Sasser Jr (1995) grouped ways of measuring loyalty into three main categories: (1) intent to re-purchase; (2) primary behaviour – organisations have access to information on various transactions at the customer level and can track five categories that show actual customer re-purchasing behaviour; viz, recency, frequency, amount, retention, and longevity; and 3) secondary beha viour – e. g. customer referrals, endorsements and spreading the word are all extremely important forms of consumer behaviour for an organisation. Translating this into university services, this covers intent to study at a higher level within the same institution, how frequently and recently a student used ancillary services, such as the library, catering and IT services, and lastly the willingness to recommend the institution to friends, neighbours and fellow employees. Issues impacting on student satisfaction Price et al. 2003) recently reported on the impact of facilities on undergraduate student choice of university. They surveyed a number of universities over two years in order to determine students’ reasons for selecting a particular university. The average results for the two years were fairly similar – the top eight reasons being; it had the right course, availability of computers, quality of library facilities, good teaching reputation, availability of â€Å"quiet† areas, availability of areas for self-study, quality of public transport in the town/city and a friendly attitude towards students.Clearly, students’ perceptions of a university’s facilities are one of the main influences on their decision to enrol. Coles (2002) found that student satisfaction is decreased when class sizes are larger in earlier cohorts, and when students are taking compulsory core modules rather than optional modules. The quality of any of the service encounters, or â€Å"moments of truth† (Carlzon, 1989) experienced by customers forms part of their overall impression of the whole service provided, (Dale, 2003) and by implication, their impression of the organisation itself.As Deming (1982) commented, most people form their opinions based on the people that they see, and they are either dissatisfied or delighted, or some other point on the continuum in between. In order to deliver high quality services to students, universiti es must manage every aspect of the student’s interaction with all of their service offerings and in particular those involving its people. Services are delivered to people by people, and the moments of truth can make or break a university’s image (Banwet and Datta, 2003).In order to deliver total student satisfaction, all employees of a university should Ad here to the principles of quality customer service, whether they be front-line contact staff involved in teaching or administration, or non-contact staff in management or administrative roles (Gold, 2001; Low, 2000, cited in Banwet and Datta, 2003). In a recent survey conducted with 310 all male Saudi Arabian students attending the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Sohail and Shaikh (2004) found that â€Å"contact personnel† was the most influencing factor in student’s evaluation of service quality.However, physical environment, layout, lighting, classrooms, appearance of buildings and gr ounds and the overall cleanliness also significantly contributed to students’ concepts of service quality. Galloway (1998) studied the role of the faculty administration office in one UK University on student perceptions of service quality. He found that it impacted directly on students and influenced their perceptions of the quality of the whole institution. The office performance also had a direct impact on academic and technical staff within the faculty.These front-line staff in their turn had a direct impact on students, potential students and other clients. The main predictors of quality for students were found to be: . office has a professional appearance; . staff dress smartly; . never too busy to help; and . opening hours are personally convenient. Banwet and Datta (2003) believed that satisfied customers are loyal, and that satisfied students were likely to attend another lecture delivered by the same lecturer or opt for another module or course taught by her/him.In their survey of 168 students who attended four lectures delivered by the same lecturer, covering perceived service quality, importance and post-visit intentions, they found that students placed more importance on the outcome of the lecture (knowledge and skills gained, availability of class notes and reading material, coverage and depth of the lecture and teacher’s feedback on assessed work) than any other dimension.This supports the findings of Schneider and Bowen (1995) who deduced that the quality of the core service influences the overall quality of the service perception. For universities the core service delivery method is still the lecture. Overall Banwet and Datta (2003) found that students’ intentions to re-attend or recommend lectures was dependent on their perceptions of quality and the satisfaction they got from attending previous lectures. This is supported by the research of Hill et al. (2003) who utilised focus groups to determine what quality education meant to students.The most important theme was the quality of the lecturer including classroom delivery, feedback to students during the session and on assignments, and the relationship with students in the classroom. Research by Tam (2002) to measure the impact of Higher Education (HE) on student’s academic, social and personal growth at a Hong Kong university found that as a result of their university experience students had changed intellectually, socially, emotionally and culturally. This growth was evidenced as students progressed from one year to another as their university career developed.Is this also the case with student’ perceptions of service quality and satisfaction? A number of researchers have suggested that this might indeed be the case (Hill, 1995; O’Neil, 2003) although obtaining valid and reliable data to support such a stance is difficult. This study aims to determine if there are differences in those aspects of a university service that stud ents consider important, as well as their satisfaction levels, associated with their year/level of study, i. e. first, second and third. MethodologyA quantitative survey was designed to elicit student satisfaction levels across the University’s service offerings. The questionnaire consisted of __ questions informed by previous research studies and subdivided into the various categories of the service product bundle including, lecture and tutorial facilities, ancillary facilities, the facilitating goods, the explicit service and the implicit service. At the end students were asked for their overall satisfaction rating and whether they would recommend the University to a prospective student.The satisfaction questions were preceded by a series of demographic questions that would allow the sample population to be segmented. These included, interalia, questions regarding gender, age, level of study, mode of study and country of origin. Participation in the survey was entirely volu ntary and anonymous. The length and complexity of the questionnaire was influenced, in part, by the balance between the quest for data and getting students to complete the survey. The questionnaire was piloted among 100 undergraduate volunteers.The length of time it took them to complete the survey was noted and at the end they were asked for any comments regarding the validity and reliability of individual questions. They were also asked if there was anything â€Å"missing† from the questionnaire. Based on the feedback received a number of questions were amended and the design of the questionnaire altered slightly. It took on average 12 minutes to complete the questionnaire. In order to get as large and representative a sample as possible, we conduct survey question in first year student in all courses in were targeted.Staff teaching these modules were approached and permission sought to utilise for a few minuetes of their lecture time in order to explain the rationale behin d the survey and to persuade students to complete the survey in class. Generally this â€Å"personal touch† was successful in eliciting a good response. Over the course of the two weeks the survey was undertaken, only one person refused to complete the questionnaire. Researchers are divided as to whether or not determinants of satisfaction should be weighted by their importance because different attributes may be of unequal importance to different people.In this study both satisfaction and importance were measured. There is no such thing as the perfect rating scale. However, some produce more reliable and valid results than others. Devlin et al. (1993) determined that a good rating scale should have, inter alia, the following characteristics: . minimal response bias; . discriminating power; . ease of administration; and . ease of use by respondents. In order to accommodate these characteristics, the rating scale contained five points with well-spaced anchor points representin g the possible range of opinions about the service.The scale contained a neutral category and the negative categories were presented first (to the left). Thus, undergraduates were required to respond utilising a 5-point Likert scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very unsatisfactory, 2 is unsatisfactory, 3 is neutral (neither satisfactory or unsatisfactory), 4 is satisfactory and 5 is very satisfactory. This type of scale provides a common basis for responses to items concerned with different aspects of the University experience.The importance that students place on each criteria was measured utilising a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 is very unimportant, 2 is unimportant, 3 is neutral (neither important or unimportant) 4 is important and 5 is very important. Respondents were asked to tick the box next to the number that represented their opinion on each item. A sample of 865 students from a total within the Faculty of 3800 was surveyed. The questionnaires were analysed using SPSS v. 11 and Q uadrant Analysis conducted in order to determine those areas perceived as being the least satisfactory with the greatest importance rating.Finally, respondent focus groups were assembled to discuss some of the issues that required more in-depth analysis and which, due to constraints of space and time, were not explicitly asked about in the original survey. Results A total of — questionnaires were returned, although not all had complete data sets. Table I details the demographic mix of the respondents. Based on all student responses, the most important (i. e. list of the top ten starting from the highest value) and least important (i. e. ist of the bottom ten starting from the lowest value) aspects of the University service are shown in Table II. As can be seen from Table II the most important areas of the University services are those associated with learning and teaching. Interestingly, given the recommendations of a Government White Paper (HEFCE et al. , 2003) that from 200 6 all newly recruited university teaching staff should obtain a teaching qualification that incorporates agreed professional standards, the most important aspect of the service is the teaching ability of staff, closely followed by their subject expertise.The consistency of teaching quality irrespective of the teacher is also considered by the respondents as important, recognising that teaching quality can be variable. The students also recognise the importance of the lecture and tutorial, which is not surprising given that for most universities that is still the core service offering and is very much linked to the teaching ability and subject knowledge of staff. Teaching and learning support materials were Table 1. 1 Demographic mix of respondents GenderMale Female46 54 NationalityHome(Filipino)International89 4 Mode of StudyFull-time Part-time sandwich Level of studyLevel1 Level2 Level3 Note: Sandwich students are those whose program of study includes a year in industry Table 2. 2 Most important and least important aspects of service RatingMost ImportantLeast important 1Teaching ability of staffDecoration in lecture facilities 2Subject expertise of staffVending machines 3IT facilitiesDecoration in tutorial rooms 4LecturesFurnishings in lecture facilities 5Supplementary lecture materialsRecreational facilities TutorialsAvailability of parking 7Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 8White boardThe layout of lecture facilities 9The Learning Resources CentreThe on-campus catering facilities 10The approachability of teaching staffThe quality of pastoral support Note: Blackboard is a virtual learning environment that students can access off and on campus also ranked highly, particularly supplementary handout materials and the use of Blackboard for enhancing student learning.These are mostly associated with the explicit service delivered to the students and the facilitating goods. With regard to facilities, stude nts have ranked the importance of IT facilities very highly, reflecting the usefulness of connection to the Internet for research purposes and software packages for producing high quality word-processed documentation for coursework assignments and dissertations. This links well with the high ranking of the Learning Resource Centre where IT facilities can be accessed and books and journals ourced in â€Å"hard† copy or electronic copy. Table II also shows those areas of the service that students find relatively unimportant. These are mostly associated with the lecture and tutorial facilities and the ancillary services, for example, layout and decoration of lecture and tutorial facilities, catering facilities and vending machines. A further analysis was undertaken to determine whether different segments of the respondent population had similar or different rankings of the University services’ attributes with regard to importance and unimportance.With regard to mode of st udy, Table III shows the rankings for students studying full-time with the University. Whilst acknowledging the fact that 80 per cent of the sample population is full time students, the rankings of those service aspects considered most important are very similar to those for the sample population as a whole, the only difference being that â€Å"supplementary tutorial materials† replaces â€Å"approachability of staff†.Once again the majority of aspects considered least important are associated with the facilities and ancillary services When the views of Part-time students are considered, a number of interesting differences in their priorities are worthy of discussion. Table IV shows the rankings of service aspects for part time students. The IT facilities drops from third to tenth in their importance rankings, perhaps indicative of the fact that they have access to IT facilities at work and/or at home, thus rendering it less important relative to other aspects of servi ce.Blackboard (a virtual learning environment that allows teaching staff to make learning and other material available via the internet), on the other hand rises from 10th to 7th in importance indicating its usefulness as a teaching aid for students who do not attend the University on a daily basis and who may miss classes due to work or family commitments. Interestingly, the â€Å"helpfulness of technical staff† is considered unimportant, again reflecting their access to such help at work or a greater level of expertise on their part through working with IT on a daily basis. RankingMost importantLeast important Teaching ability of staffDecoration in lecture facilities 2Subject expertise of staffDecoration in tutorial rooms 3IT facilitiesVending machines 4LecturesFurnishing in tutorials 5TutorialsFurnishing in lectures 6Supplementary lecture materialsAvailability of parking 7Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherRecreational facilities 8The Learning Resources CentreThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 9Supplementary tutorial materialsThe on-campus catering facilities 10BlackboardThe layout of lecture facilities Table III. Most important and least important service aspects for full-time students RatingMost importantLeast important Teaching ability of staffRecreational facilities 2Subject expertise of staffVending machines 3Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherDecoration in lecture facilities 4Teaching and learning equipment in lecturesFurnishings in lecture facilities 5The Learning Resources CentreDecoration in tutorial rooms 6LecturesQuality of pastoral support 7BlackboardThe on-campus catering facilities 8Supplementary lecture materialsThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 9Supplementary tutorial materialsHelpfulness of technical staff 10IT facilitiesThe lecture facilities overall