Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Life Did Get Better for Many Americans in the 1930s Essays

Life Did Get Better for Many Americans in the 1930s Essays Life Did Get Better for Many Americans in the 1930s Essay Life Did Get Better for Many Americans in the 1930s Essay The New Deal was put into place in 1933; it was a government scheme to create jobs, by spending money on work schemes such as building roads and dams, and also to help the unemployed and poor. The scheme was based on the idea that once people were earning wages, they would begin to buy goods, businesses would begin to revive, they would then employ workers, theses workers in turn would earn money and therefore spending it in the economy, and so on. Thus meaning that the downward spiral caused by the depression would be changed into an upwards spiral, boosting the lives of U.S. citizens. The New Deal helped many Americans; the Federal Emergency Relief Act (FERA) provided $500 million in benefits to the poor and the unemployed. Another scheme, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) helped the economy revive in two ways, it employed young men and some women between the ages of 18 25. The money they earned helped to revive the economy when they re-invested in it, as well as this, the work they did helped the agricultural market, since it included things such as planting trees to stop soil erosion. Another way in which the New Deal helped the Agricultural economy was through the agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933, it meant that crops were destroyed and animals slaughtered, in order to make prices rise, therefore enabling farmers to sell at a profit again, thus improving the conditions of farmers lives. A further technique by which the New Deal helped farmers and people living in farming valleys was via the Tennessee Valley authority. The scheme was intended to provide cheap electricity, stop floods and make the soil fertile. The scheme worked, by 1943, 80% of valley farms transferred from kerosene lamps to electricity. The Second part of the new Deal, which began in 1935 greatly worked to improve the lives of ordinary U.S. citizens. It included the Social Security Act (SSA), this began the first national system for helping old citizens through a pension scheme, it also provided benefit for the unemployed, and this improved the lives of ordinary citizens. Other policies of the New Deal which improved the lives of many Americans during the 1930s were the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which provided employment, by schemes such as building schools, hospitals and roads, as well as finding assignments for writers artists and photographers. This improved lives by providing jobs, and therefore money to citizens, as well as good schools and hospitals to increase their living standards. Also the Wagner act of 1935 improved lives for workers living in the 1930s, it gave every worker the right to join a union, in order to enhance their working standards. The act also set up the National Labour Relations Board to punish employers who did not recognise workers rights. Still, despite this there were many limitations to the New deal, which refrained the lives of many Americans from getting better. Despite authorities such as the CCC, TVA and WPA helping in getting Americans back to work unemployment still remained high and women and black workers were not given as fair a chance as white male workers. This was mainly due to the fact that the majority of black workers were neither skilled nor unionised, so the policies of the New Deal did not affect them very much, though the black workers it did affect, it mainly did so in a negative way. For example when crops were destroyed through the AAA the compensation given only reached the people at the top the land owners, the workers mainly blacks lost their jobs in exchange, since the less crops there were the less work their was to be done. 20, 000 blacks lost their jobs due to taking land out of production. Also black people, and women were still paid less than men, even if they did the same job as men . They were only used because they received a lower pay. Another example of the limitations of the New Deal was that despite the Emergency Banking ACT (EBA), which helped to re-open banks, trust in banks was not yet fully restored, and investment still only reached 75% of former levels. The greatest limitation of the New Deal was the opposition to its policies, it received opposition from campaigners for States Rights, which objected to schemes like the TVA that forced them to co-operate in the Federal Governments plan to build dams across seven states, it believed that the right of states to make their own laws was being taken over by the state government. Opposition such as this slowed down the policies of the New Deal from coming into place. Other objection came from the Supreme Court, it decided that many of Roosevelts deals were unconstitutional this meant they were illegal. When Roosevelt threatened to retire judges even the general public turned against him, they thought he was interfering too much, so the idea was abandoned. Fortunately for the New Deal some judges retired anyway, and new younger judges supported Roosevelt. This delayed many policies, but it was overcome eventually. One major group, which made a strong barrier against policies of the New Deal, was rich business men such as Al Smith and John Davis and wealthy organisations such as the American Liberty League, they did not like the interference of the New Deal, they opposed it for giving support to workers, and also for choosing to help the poor although he was rich himself. Although Roosevelt challenged big business it remained very powerful and was able to undermine the policies of the New Deal. The consequences of opposition groups were that after the problem with the Supreme Court in 1936 Roosevelt became more cautious, and in 1937 since prosperity seemed to be returning Roosevelt cut the New Deal budget, this was exactly what Conservatives wanted. Many workers employed by the New Deals own organisations were laid off, this cut in spending triggered cuts throughout the economy, and the downward spiral in the economy began once again. This recession meant that Roosevelt was badly affected, in the1937 congressional elections the Republicans did well, this meant that it became much harder for Roosevelt to push his reforms through congress. Still, Roosevelt was still popular with ordinary elections, he was re-elected with a big majority in 1940, but now Americas attention became focused on the outbreak of war in Europe. The war helped to improve peoples lives and the economy through providing jobs to a large majority of Americans, men to fight in the war and women to work in factories making ammunition, this helped greatly to reduce unemployment and revive the economy For those people whose lives did change in the majority of the 1930s it was due to the New Deal, although the new Deal did not help everybody. Still it was not the only factor contributing to the improved living standards, the war played an important role in improving the economy and the lives of US citizens towards the late 1930s, and in the early 1940s.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

History of Bar Code and Bernard Silver

History of Bar Code and Bernard Silver What is a bar code? It is a  method of automatic identification and data collection. History of Bar Codes The first patent for a bar code type product (US Patent #2,612,994) was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on October 7, 1952. The Woodland and Silver bar code can be described as a bulls eye symbol, made up of a series of concentric circles. In 1948, Bernard Silver was a graduate student at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. A local food chain store owner had made an inquiry to the Drexel Institute asking about research into a method of automatically reading product information during checkout. Bernard Silver joined together with fellow graduate student Norman Joseph Woodland to work on a solution. Woodlands first idea was to use ultraviolet light sensitive ink. The team built a working prototype but decided that the system was too unstable and expensive. They went back to the drawing board. On October 20, 1949, Woodland and Silver filed their patent application for the Classifying Apparatus and Method, describing their invention as article classification...through the medium of identifying patterns. Commercial Use of Bar Codes Bar code was first used commercially in 1966, however, it was soon realized that there would have to be some sort of industry standard set. By 1970, the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code or UGPIC was written by a company called Logicon Inc. The first company to produce bar code equipment for retail trade use (using UGPIC) was the American company Monarch Marking in 1970, and for industrial use, the British company Plessey Telecommunications was also first in 1970. UGPIC evolved into the U.P.C. symbol set or Universal Product Code, which is still used in the United States. George J. Laurer is considered the inventor of U.P.C. or Uniform Product Code, which was invented in 1973. In June of 1974, the first U.P.C. scanner was installed at a Marshs supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The first product to have a bar code included was a packet of Wrigleys Gum.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release Essay - 6

Knowing Your Audience Paper and Communication Release - Essay Example After about two weeks, the first borehole reached the survivors (Malone, 1986). According to the Reuters, all the thirty three workers were alive. These people are able to receive emergency lights and rations to stave off the darkness. The company rescue workers are making efforts to getting to a way in which they can pull one by one of the trapped miners to the service. They have estimated the period to about just four months. These miners are supplied with tuna, milk cracks and morsel. Their extreme discipline as the company’s employees has made them survive the incident (Rosssou, 2012). The company is putting efforts to establishing safety measures to the employees. The global press coverage centers put their efforts to rescuing the trapped miners alive, the Chilean mining authorities and al over the world mining authorities; they are trying to put the workers lives at great peril by systematically cutting safety corners. Additionally, the government is aiming at controlling the private mining to ensure safety and health risks to their employees. Generally, the government agencies are working to promote mining investments in our company. On the other hand, the owner of the company has taken an action by taking some short dangerous shortcuts for the safety of the workers. The local worker unions through the introduction of ventilation ducts tunnel reinforcement emergency exits and safety lodges have been enforced for the safety of the employees. The company president has come out with various authorities and the state agency has taken the responsibility for the mini ng safety in the Chilean mining company. The mining minister has also called out for a full investigation of the Chilean collapsing accident (Rosssou, 2012). In that case, there is enough safety for the employees within the Chilean mining company. This shall be done by both the company and the government. There would be more

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Education - Curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education - Curriculum - Essay Example Research though different than evaluation is a necessary component of curriculum evaluation. Curriculum evaluation is an ongoing process that does not begin at the end of curriculum delivery; instead formative and summative evaluations are used conjointly to create a comprehensive view of the curriculum. Likewise, all those in contact with the curriculum from the teachers to the curriculum design specialist enact curriculum evaluation. This model provides a functional example of curriculum evaluation in which all aspects of the curriculum are evaluated and analyzed for program improvement. Asking the right questions requires understanding of the desired goals in each area of the curriculum. Evaluating educational goals complete with their objectives in each area are the first step in assessment of the curriculum. Curricular components that should be addressed are; is the curriculum relevant, is there a balance in the curriculum, is the curriculum integration desirable, is the curriculum properly sequenced, is there a continuity of programs, are learning’s transferable, is the scope of the curriculum adequate, realistic, and are curricula well articulated between levels (Oliva, 2003)? Understanding the goals for curriculum and students in these areas is the first key to curriculum evaluation. The curriculum specialist must know the key component goals in order to evaluate effectiveness and areas of needs. Asking questions requires research and evaluation. It is important to note that although closely related, evaluation and research, in the curriculum evaluation process are separate tools that combine to create a functional analysis of a program. Evaluation is the process, which determines the effectiveness of a program. Evaluation answers questions such as; is the scope of the curriculum realistic, is the sequence appropriate, is the curriculum age-appropriate, is the curriculum relevant

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Categorical imperative Essay Example for Free

Categorical imperative Essay The Golden Rule- Do unto other as you would have them do unto you. Yes, corny as hell, but it works. If you make a decision and think of yourself as suffering the potential outcome; it will often help to make a wiser and more considerate and ethical decision. EXAMPLE: if you are using a pirated software then think being in shoes of a person who has developed that software. All of his hard work is going in vein and he is getting nothing from you. 2. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative- Yes, take a note from a philosopher. If a action is not right for everyone, then it is not right for anyone. A bit idealistic and unrealistic for most scenarios; but hey, it might keep you from EXAMPLE: While using pirated software if you think that it doesn’t make any difference to developer’s income but, you think that if everyone started using pirated software then developer will get nothing from his software and then no one will develop any software because there is no income from that, which ultimately hurts the world as a whole†¦ 3. Descartes’ Rule of Change- Principle that states that is an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is not right to be taken at any time. Yes, another philosopher, how grand life is. Of course this should not surprise us considering that morality is one of the major areas of study of philosophy. EXAMPLE: if you are downloading songs from unauthorized sites for free and you think that let me do it once next time I will download it from authorized sites. Thus you think that doing this repeatedly is unethical then doing it once is also unethical. 4. Utilitarian Principle- This is where one takes the action that achieves the higher or greater value. This of course assumes that values can be put in rank order and understand the consequences of various courses of action. Pretty far away from the Golden Rule, Hugh? EXAMPLE: in critical situation rather categorizing action in ethical or unethical you should categories or rank them into more unethical to less unethical. For example keeping track of every email of every citizen might harm privacy of people so it is unethical but it is useful to avoid any terrorist activity so tracking email of every citizen of country is less unethical 5. Risk Aversion Principle- The principle that one take the action that creates the least harm or incurs the least cost. This assumes that all actions have some harm, and our job is to take the action with the least amount of harm. EXAMPLE: hacking is considered as unethical practice but in war-situation through hacking if you can get access to warehouse of firearm manufacturing company then it is useful to save your country by using that firearms thus in this case we are selecting an action which harm a firearm manufacturing company but saving whole country. 6. No Free Lunch Rule- This states that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If something someone else has created is useful to you, it has value and you should assume the creator wants compensation for this work. EXAMPLE: In India lots of people are using pirated windows 8 operating system thus they are not paying any compensation to Microsoft so this action is unethical.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Screening Ticks from Different Counties and Comparing Them Essay

Ticks will be collected from areas in the five counties in the state where Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections are prevalent. Trapping sites will be set in known tick habitats in the five counties to help in trapping and collecting small animals, including the target pests. Sherman live-traps baited with oatmeal and peanut-butter will be set at the sites to ensnare the ticks. All captured animals will be regularly and carefully examined to allow the researchers to extract as many ticks as possible. The trapping of animals and extraction of ticks from the captured animals will take about four weeks. All ticks collected will be placed in vials containing 75% ethanol and sent to parasitology laboratories. The screening process will be done through MasTag polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a multiplication method, which is known for its fast and economic screening of tick-borne pathogens. PCR is also known for efficient and accurate screening of ticks for polymicrobial contagion. Before beginning the PCR procedure, the ticks will be removed from the vials, washed with saline containing phosphate buffer, and then homogenized with Tri-reagent LS. The next step will involve nucleic acid extraction, where total RNA will be suspended in about 30ml of H2O. The generation of cDNA will then follow where 20ml of the solution and 15ml of total RNA will be reacted using Superscript 11 Reverse Transcriptase as a catalyst. The MassTag PCR procedure will then be done using the tick panel, with primers added to the reactants to help detect the Borrelia species responsible for relapsing fever and the Powassan virus. All the MassTag PCR assays that will be done in the experiment will utilize 3ml of cDNA. The final PCR products wi... ...tology 140.1 (2006): 143-147. Print. Koch, KR, and JG Burg. â€Å"Relative Abundance and Survival of the Tick Amblyomma americanum Collected from Sunlit and Shaded Habitats.† Medical and Veterinary Entomology 20.1 (2006): 173-176. Print. Teel, Pete, HR Ketchum, DE Mock, RE Wright, and Otto Strey. â€Å"The Gulf Coast Tick: A Review of the Life History, Ecology, Distribution, and Emergence as an Arthropod of Medical and Veterinary Importance.† Journal of Medical Entomology 47.5 (2010): 707- 722. Print. White, Stephan, and Donald Mock. â€Å"Ixodus scapularis (Ascri: Ixodidae) in Kansas: A New Distribution Record.† Journal of Medical Entomology 28.6 (1991): 872-873. Print. Williams, Christopher, William Davidson, Scott Lutz, and Roger Applegate. â€Å"Health Status of Northern Bobwhite Quail (Colinus virginiaus) in Eastern Kansas.† Avian Diseases 44.1 (2000): 953-956. Print.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Intro to Security Final Project Essay

Due in Week Nine: Write 3 to 4 paragraphs giving a bottom-line summary of the specific measureable goals and objectives of the security plan, which can be implemented to define optimal security architecture for the selected business scenario. The objective of the Security Policy is to provide the basis of a secure information system within the Bloom Design Group. This policy will protect the information system from threats that exist in nature as well as disasters that exist from humans. The policy will also give consideration to the privacy, reputation, intellectual property and productivity of Bloom Design Group. The efficient operation of this company is dependent on being able to access and use resources within the building and being able to remote access with security. Each employees responsibility must be considered and appropriate access will be given to ensure that information is shared only with those who have the authority to have it. This policy will ensure the adherence to the Bloom Design Group policies but also with any government regulations. By limiting the access to certain groups of users, the security policy will guard against misuse of data and information. All processes that are within the system will be aligned with the policy and executed automatically to ensure that the policy is effectively protecting the information and resources in a continuous manner. Any disruptions or security risks will be dealt with immediately and automatically by means of the system software that has been established and configured for these purposes. 3. Introduction Due in Week One: Give an overview of the company and the security goals to be achieved. 3. 1. Company overview As relates to your selected scenario, give a brief 100- to 200-word overview of the company. The Bloom Design Group is an interior design business that offers services to clients globally. There is a corporate office in New York and a secondary office located in Los Angeles. The group’s website allows clients a virtual decorating tool, where they are able to get an idea of the design and color scheme they would like to see and how it may look after the design is completed. This is a great tool to aid the client in making decisions, backed up by consultation by experienced interior designers as well. The designers are able to access their client files and style guides utilized by the company. The designers will also be able to process orders for materials and furniture when accessing the website. Access is gained by a secure login and password. The employees and designers of this company conduct most of their business remotely and access the network via a secure VPN. 3. 2. Security policy overview Of the different types of security policies—program-level, program-framework, issue-specific, and system-specific—briefly cover which type is appropriate to your selected business scenario and why. For The Bloom Design Group, a program-framework policy would be appropriate. The corporate office would set the security policy as it pertains to network usage. The program-framework policy would cover the WAN, the entire organization would be covered by it and all decisions related to how data is accessed by the workforce. This would require an acceptable use policy, which pertains to all areas of access including remote access, authorized data retrieval and retention, and connections within the WAN. 3. 3. Security policy goals As applies to your selected scenario, explain how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability principles of information security will be addressed by the information security policy. 3. 3. 1. Confidentiality Briefly explain how the policy will protect information. Using the program-framework policy will help in making it possible that only those with authorized access to the company’s data will be the ones doing so. VPN technology will be utilized for these individuals and devices only. These will continue their privileges as long as the policy is complied with. The VPN will be maintained so as to minimize risk of unauthorized access, keep user and data confidentiality as much as possible over the internet, ensure the reliability of the company’s system as well as those systems of the authorized users of the network. 3. 3. 2. Integrity Give a brief overview of how the policy will provide rules for authentication and verification. Include a description of formal methods and system transactions. The program-framework policy will maintain the data and keep it secure, reliable, and free from corruption. The policy will keep unauthorized users from gaining, retaining, modifying, or deleting data of the company by means of firewalls, encryptions, and anti-spyware or anti malware tools. The VPN will be secured with using a tool that provides encryption and user authentication. Intrusion detection tools will also help protect the VPN. 3. 3. 3. Availability Briefly describe how the policy will address system back-up and recovery, access control, and quality of service. The program framework policy will maintain that authorized individuals, users, and systems will have access to information in its original format and at all times. The IT department will keep the business continuity plan up to date and and secure it in such case that there is a need for it due to emergencies. The company will create a business impact analysis which will evaluate risks to the company’s data and systems will be ready to be used for recovery of data if needed. A disaster recovery plan will also be created with step by step implementation to ensure recovery and continuation of business operations in the event recovery is needed due to loss. A risk analysis will be created to further identify and take steps to secure the company’s data. Full cooperation from each department and the administration of the company is needed for these plans to be effective. Training will be conducted in order to ensure that all are compliant to the plan. (Merkow & Breithaupt, 2006). 4. Disaster Recovery Plan Due in Week Three: For your selected scenario, describe the key elements of the Disaster Recovery Plan to be used in case of a disaster and the plan for testing the DRP. 4. 1. Risk Assessment 4. 1. 1. Critical business processes List the mission-critical business systems and services that must be protected by the DRP. The Bloom Design Group has the need of protecting their general support systems. These are the mission-critical systems and services to be concerned with. They are related to network connectivity, access to the internet and various resources through applications that will rest on the network that will aid in the daily productivity of the company. The following list of systems is includes the assets that must be protected by this plan.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

New York Times Paywall Strategic Considerations Essay

According to Chairman Sulzberger the goal of the paywall was to â€Å"build the Times’s digital subscription base and develop a new robust consumer revenue stream, while maintaining its significant digital advertising business.† Secondary to the constraint of maintaining the ad business was the requirement to maintain social buzz and branding. To begin, the NYT wanted to increase future revenues for the paper and offset the inevitable decline of its print revenue. This, in the short run, was a success. As described in Question #2; this added over $81 million in previously unexploited revenue in just the first year, indicating significant potential for future growth in digital subscription revenue. To maintain the ad business, the paywall could not significantly decrease the digital advertising revenue. For NYT Media Group, and by extension NYT, digital advertising increased by 5.3% in 2011, suggesting that the implementation of the paywall did not reduce digital adverti sing revenue in the short run. However, the NYT quarterly reports (shown in Appendix C) showed the paper’s digital ad revenue decreasing through much of 2012 and early 2013. Additionally, the paywall should not lead to a loss in readers or impressions. According to Exhibit 13 in the case, (and explained further in Question #2), the page visit drop equates to a 21 page per visitor ratio before the paywall to an 18.5 page per visitor ratio after the paywall, roughly a 11% drop in impressions. If the NYT has a pay-per-impression contract with its advertisers, this can mean up to a 11% drop in ad revenue in the long run, calling into question the overall success of the paywall. Finally, the NYT wanted to maintain the social buzz and branding for the paper. They did this by allowing unlimited access to articles if visitors came to the website via search engines or social media. This allowed people to read and be aware trending articles coming from the paper and keep their brand visible.. Overall, the paywall was working at the time of the case. It successfully registered significant numbers of readers willing to pay for the service. The paywall policy added a consistent revenue stream while maintaining leisure readers and promoting its online social presence. Whether the paywall will work in the long run will be determined by the revenue from subscriptions outpacing the loss of advertising revenue. 2. Is the New York Times paywall well-designed? Is it  priced right? Financially, paywall design is a basic supply vs. demand problem where the NYT optimizes revenues from online subscriptions against the advertising dollars lost. In the months before the paywall was instituted, the NYT site had approximately 715 million page views per month (adjusted to 30 day month). As soon as the paywall took effect, page views dropped to approximately 635 million as readers moved to other sites (Appendix A). This equates to an 11% drop in ad impressions within an industry seeing growing viewership. Therefore, we assume that online ad revenues decreased by approximately 11% after the paywall went into effect (decrease in online ad revenues of $23.68M off a base of $211.68M in 2011). Conversely, the 390,000 online subscriptions brought in $81M (at $4 per subscription), more than enough to make up for the loss in ad revenues. From this perspective, the paywall was a striking success. In addition, our team performed a conjoint analysis to help determine how customers value the various features and workarounds for the subscription paywall, and to evaluate whether the NYT could further optimize its pricing structure (Appendix B). In this analysis, we examined weekly subscription price ($8.75 vs. $3.75), paywall design (initial free article limit of 0 or 20), subscription leakiness (ability to access articles around paywall via social networks, etc.), and platform availability (subscription for all devices at once or tiered fee per device). This analysis confirmed our intuition that consumers are most sensitive to the price of the subscription. We also found that consumers are unlikely to value a subscription if they can get 20 free articles upfront. This is a much bigger determinant of whether and how much a customer will pay for a subscription than the possibility of getting free articles through their soci al network or other referral means. Based on this, the NYT would be able to charge an additional $2.37 if they were to stop offering 20 free articles per month and an additional $1.01 per subscription if they stopped allowing leaks to their paywall. However, making these changes would reduce page views and would have to be balanced against losses in ad revenues. Another way the NYT could raise revenues is to reduce the cost of an all device subscription. Based on the average subscription cost of $4.00, very few customers are opting for the all-platform subscription. However, our  analysis shows that customers are willing to pay $5.46 ($3.75 base subscription plus $1.71 in additional value) for a subscription open to all platforms. Making this change could add $29.6M in revenue if all customers took this deal while increasing subscriber page views due to increased access. 3. What is the long-term goal of the New York Times in creating the paywall? To understand the future of the NYT paywall, we looked at the newspaper’s recent trends in advertising and circulation revenues. In 2011, NYT Media Group derived 45% of its revenues from circulation and 49% from advertising (Exhibit 2). The NYT has seen a steady decline in print and digital advertising and recently reported that the paper â€Å"generated $900 million in ad revenue [in 2012], compared with $2 billion in 2002.† [1] Its print subscriber base is not faring much better. The Sunday Times saw a 10% drop in print subscribers by 0.15M from 2007 to 2011. The weekday NYT print circulation dropped 17.43% and the Saturday Times declined by 10% over the same period. Despite this, print subscribers still account for about 84% of the paper’s circulation revenue. [2] Digital subscriptions have seen strong growth since 2011. According to the Q2 2013 NYT earnings report, â€Å"Paid subscribers to The Times†¦ digital-only subscription packages, e-readers and r eplica editions totaled about 699,000.†[3] This represents a 35% year-over-year increase since 2012 and a 79% increase since Dec 2011. Based on these trends, we can conclude that digital circulation will play an important role in the future of the NYT. The long-term goal of the NYT paywall is to build a permanent digital subscription base. To make digital circulation effective, the NYT needs the paywall. Why would subscribers pay for digital access if they can get it for free? It is interesting to note that in March 2012, the NYT reduced the free access threshold from 20 articles to 10 – and in the following year, it expanded its digital customer base by 35%. Digital circulation cannot single-handedly support The Times going forward. The paper must rely on a mix of revenue streams and the print edition (and the decreased ad revenue it brings in) will continue to be a major source of income. The price of the print edition has skyrocketed in recent years from $0.75 in 2001 to $2.50 in 2013. We wonder if a more secure  paywall might also allow similar future price increases in the digital realm. 4. Will newspapers transition to all digital? How should the New York Times manage a transition to the new world of content provision? Despite the mainstream use of iPads and other electronics for consuming news, the printed newspaper is still in demand. In 2011, NYT newspaper sales made up 45% of the annual revenue. This is attributed to a strong segment of readers who still prefer the hardcopy of the paper. The overall trend still suggests that news is rapidly moving towards the digital form, perhaps eventually transitioning to an all-digital platform. The transition to fully digital will likely not happen within the next five years based on the print subscription trends from 2007 to 2011, but the NYT must be prepared to manage its revenue sources as circulation diminishes. The NYT has three main revenue streams – advertising (both digital and print), subscriptions, and other ventures. Together, advertising and subscriptions made up 94% of the revenue in 2011. In this largely digital age, only 28% of the advertising revenue stems from digital ads. To evaluate the NYT strategy to transition to digital news, we must determine the newspaper’s profitability today and in the future. Our analysis focuses on the NYT Media Group, rather than the whole company which includes other newspapers and ventures. In 2011, the Media Group comprised of 67% of the company’s revenues so we assume the operating costs are proportional. We also assume that operating costs include production costs and SG&A, and ignore depreciation and amortization for this analysis (Appendix F). Based on our scenario planning, which varied the percentage of print and digital subscriptions and ads, we conclude that the NYT is profitable today and will continue to be profitable despite the shift towards the digital platform. While overall revenues from ads and circulation decrease (as the rate of digital subscriptions cannot make up for the loss in print), the operating cost of running production decreases. If the news become completely digital in the future, the NYT must focus on driving online subscriptions and ads. 5. Would a paywall work for all newspapers? For other content providers? If not, what other strategies would work? The paywall may not work for all newspapers. In some cases like the NYT, the paywall model worked, but the same strategies may not apply to other newspapers. The successful was largely due to the NYT strategic positioning and ability to attract a large number of unique visitors (~33 million) and page views ( ~600-700 million) as compared to those of USATODAY.COM, WASHINGTONPOST.COM, WSJ.COM, etc. (~5-15 million, ~80-150 million respectively). Other key reasons for its success included the steady increase in the online newspaper traffic, past experience in digital subscriptions, low marginal cost in adding customers for its digital subscription, and external reasons such as launch of IPad in 2008 which improved the user experience for reading digital content. Other newspaper such as The Washington Post, Scientific American, and the Economist have succeeded with the paywall because of their specialized content. According to US newspaper industry report in 2009, 5000 players in this ind ustry operated for total annual revenues of $35 billion but the top 50 firms accounted for more than 75% of the revenue. For the remaining firms, implementing a paywall could be significantly destructive to their business as customers would go elsewhere. Therefore, a newspaper firm has to be strategic if it wants to introduce paywall in its revenue stream. Not every content provider can have successful paywall. Some strategies that have been defined earlier can work in their favor. Other strategies include the BostonGlobe vs. Boston.com strategy. One has high quality content with great user expereince (paid service of 99 cents for 4 weeks) and the other has free low quality content. Another model is the Metro; free widely distributed newspaper at metro stations. Hulu.com provides free content for a limited time and moves other content to Hulu Plus. Netflix.com allows access to TV shows and movies anytime with flat rate subscription cost. Appendix A – Chart describing data presented in Question 2 Appendix B – Output from Regression Analysis in Excel Appendix C – Selected NYT Financial Information from 2012-2013 The below excerpts came from the NYT Media Group’s investor reports found here: http://investors.nytco.com/investors/financials/quarterly-earnings/default.aspx Q213: Print and digital advertising revenues decreased 6.8 percent and 2.7 percent. Q113: Print and digital advertising revenues decreased 13.3 percent and 4.0 percent. Q412: Print advertising revenues decreased 5.6 percent and digital ad revenues rose 5.1 percent. Q312: Print and digital advertising revenues decreased 10.9 percent and 2.2 percent. Q212: Print and advertising revenues decreased 8.0 percent and by 4.0 percent. Q112: Print and digital advertising revenues decreased 7.2 percent and 10.3 percent. Q411: Print and digital advertising revenues fell by 8 percent and 5 percent. Appendix D – References for Question 3 [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/business/media/a-leaner-times-aims-for-global-growth.html?_r=0 [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/business/media/a-leaner-times-aims-for-global-growth.html?_r=0 [3]http://investors.nytco.com/investors/investor-news/investor-news-details/2013/The-New-York-Times-Company-Reports-2013-Second-Quarter-Results/default.aspx Appendix E – Forecast Figures on NYT Profitability based on % Figure 1: Forecast of the NYT Total Revenue, Total Operating Costs, and Operating Profit as digital circulation and advertising increase while paper circulation and advertising decrease. Assumptions are listed in Appendix F. Figure 2: Detailed breakdown of advertising revenue from digital and print as the NYT transitions towards all digital. The year 2030 was chosen to determine the NYT’s strategy to become an all digital news provider. Appendix F – Assumptions made to evaluate NYT profitability for the future 1. Depreciation and amortization were not included in calculating profitability. 2. Advertising revenues continue to decline at the same rate as 2008 – 2011. 3. Print subscriptions continue to decline at the same rate as 2008 – 2011, calculated by summing the Sunday and weekday subscriptions while subtracting out the Saturday subscriptions to make up the overlap. 4. The average cost of the paper subscriptions is $10.50 (unweighted by popularity of subscription type) and the average cost of the paywall is $5.80 (not discounted by sign up offers and one-time discounts). 5. The percentage of revenue from digital ads grows by 5% from 2012 to 2016 as the NYT shifts toward a digital platform. The assumed 5% growth is conservative based upon online readership and unique visitors on the site. 6. The cost of production is directly related to the number of paper subscriptions. The production can be scaled down when demand is reduced. 7. The revenue from circulation declines at 0.7% from 2012 to 2016 because the loss of print subscribers outweighs the increase of digital subscribers.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Mack Charles Parker essays

Mack Charles Parker essays Mack Charles Parker was an African American born in 1936. He grew up in Poplarville, Mississippi, and at age 36 was murdered by a mob because he was accused of raping a white woman. Accusing black men of crimes, even when innocent, was common in the south at this time and many innocent men were punished by death for the deeds of white men. Mack Parker was arrested for raping and kidnapping Mrs. June Walters from Petal, Mississippi. Mrs. Walters claimed that she and her husband were driving through Lumberton, MS when their vehicle broke down. Mr. Walters went to get some help while June stayed in the vehicle. She stated that while her husband was gone, Mack Parker kidnapped her and her four year-old daughter at gunpoint and took them to Black Creek Ford Road where he proceeded to rape her. At the time of the rape, she was pregnant. Mrs. Walters went to the police but did not identify her alleged attacker by name, nor did she give a very detailed description of him - she only mentioned his race and approximate age. After hours of searching, Lumberton police were told by a local Baptist minister that Parker committed the crime. With that, Parker was arrested February 24. He was beaten by the sheriff and his deputies and then taken to jail. On April 13, Mack Charles Parker was made to appear before Pearl River County Grand Jury on one count of rape and two counts of kidnapping. A few days later Parker was brought back to Pearl River County so he could appear before Judge Sebe Dale, where he pled not guilty to all charges. Judge Dale set the trial date for April 27, and Parker was returned to his cell at the Pearl River County Courthouse. Two days before Mr. Parker was scheduled to return to court, he was dragged from his cell forcefully by a group of eight to ten men. A quote in "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin states that they went up to his cell -the bastards- and grabbed his feet and dragged him down the stair...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How the word Planet is Defined

How the word Planet is Defined What is a planet?  Astronomers get this question a lot.  It seems like a simple-enough thing to ask about, but in reality  the definition of the term planet seems to be a moving target. Its also at the heart of a controversy that continues to spur debate in the astronomy community. To answer the question what is a planet? it helps to look back at the event that brought the issue to a head in 2006: the seeming demotion of Pluto  from planet to dwarf planet. Pluto: Planet or Not? In 2006, the International Astronomical Union  demoted a small ball of rock and ice out in the outer third of the outer solar system from planet status. Pluto became known as a dwarf planet.  The outcry, both from within and outside of the scientific community, was astounding and the subject is still under intense discussions today. The planetary science community, which is probably the best equipped to help define the term, was overruled by astronomers (not many of them planetary scientists) at an IAU meeting where the issue came up for discussion and a vote.   Why Define Planet At All? The argument of course, is that our current clumping of all the round, non-star, non-moon  objects in our solar system was not ideal. Clearly Mercury and Jupiter dont share much in common, yet they are classified as planets. In 2000, the New York Hayden planetarium was renovated, and one of the exhibits grouped the planets by similar features. This made them easier to study and understand. It also created a more coherent display with greater educational potential. However, it put Pluto as the odd world out.   That by itself didnt change the definition of planet, however. The idea of planet was under discussion for a long time before that. It continues to be an issue as scientists discover more and more worlds out there.   The 2006 decision by the IAU has been steeped in controversy among scientists, particularly those in planetary science who had not attended the meeting where a scant few astronomers voted on planetary status. However, beyond that gaffe, the  greater point of contention is that the definition as arrived at by the IAU committee frankly doesnt even make sense. What is the Definition of a Planet? Lets look at what the IAU thinks a planet is. There are three requirements:   a planet is a world that orbits the Sun and not another object;a planet is an object with sufficient gravity to become round;a planet is a world that has cleared its orbital path of debris. This last one was thought to be a problem for Pluto, although recent discoveries by the New Horizons spacecraft show that theres not much to clear around Pluto,  not even a ring!   One could argue that  Earth has not been able to completely clear its path of debris.  However, no one is arguing with the classification of Earth as a planet. Effectively the IAU was placing a distance cap on how far a planet can be from its host star. And this just doesnt make sense. So What Should the Definition Be? OK, so  the IAUs definition has problems, but its still clear that the definition of planet needs more thought and work. It is important to classify objects, its simply part of the scientific endeavour. Biologists classify life, while chemists classify compounds, and so on. But the means by which you classify the objects in a system needs to be cohesive and non-conditional. So what about the planets, and Pluto specifically? What if we just took the first two conditions laid forth by the IAU and let it go at that: massive enough to be round, but not so much that it ignites nuclear burning? That would leave the eight objects that we already consider planets and add in the ones that we currently call dwarf planets. It just so happens that Pluto is large enough that it formed itself into a sphere under the pressure of its own gravity.  And, this fact is at the heart of the IAUs third condition for planet-hood. But that isnt the end of the debate either, and for now, officially,  Pluto remains a dwarf planet.   Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Managing Budgets and Financial Plans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Budgets and Financial Plans - Essay Example II. Objectives that are important to Kitchens2Go: Ultimately, it appears that the Manager is concerned with the profitability and long term prosperity of the firm, so all of the objectives that are important to the Manager should be important internally as well. III. Measuring the Objectives: The objectives can be measured by the use of Statement of Financial Performance, cash flow analyses, analysis of cost of goods sold, expense analysis, etc. All of these will show how much revenue is being generated as well as how much the firm is spending. Ultimately, the Statement of Financial Performance shows whether or not a profit is being generated, and exactly how much profit, or the lack thereof. IV. Integration of the Objectives: These objectives could be integrated into budget and reporting systems by performing a given analysis as it relates to a specific department, as well as an overall analysis of the entire operation. It appears that the Bank Manager would like copies of Kitchens2Go's financial statements every year in order to monitor expenses, revenue, and profit or loss, so that a clear picture of the health of the firm can be examined. The most useful calculations that the bank can be doing on these statements are calculations of the cost of the goods sold, value of inventory on hand, labor

Friday, November 1, 2019

The Most Important Contributors to Health Compromising Behaviors Essay

The Most Important Contributors to Health Compromising Behaviors - Essay Example One in five of all deaths every year in the United States have been credited to smoking, killing more than AIDS, suicide, alcohol, car accidents, homicide, and illegal drugs combined (American Cancer Society, 2004). Smoking is badly affecting the society. It is the most common addiction all around the world. In developing and countries where literacy rate is nil or less are more addicted to smoking and hence their behavior towards their relatives, education, society and future changes. With the adverse affect on health they face mental sickness. To decrease the rate of smoking many coutries are taking necessary steps as Bishop and Yoo (1985) declared that a surgeon's general report in 1964, regarding the knowledge of severe health affect of smoking, showed a diminution in cigarette sales. Before the provision of this report, taxes fixed on cigarettes were intended just to raise the revenue on the sale of cigarettes. However, after the provision of the Surgeon General's report, the ta xes fixed on cigarettes had an additional purpose of discouraging cigarette smoking (Meier & Licari, 1997). However, a great amount of people are addicted to alcoholic drinks, which are also a chief cause of ill-health nowadays. Drug abuse not only affects an individual but harm the whole society or community. The people who are addicted to alcohol consumption not only waste their money and precious time due to intoxication but also leave a bad impact on their young ones. Research explains that increased sales law enforcement can decrease the selling of alcohol to individuals. Plainly, setting up enforcement of lowest alcohol buying age laws is desired to make them more efficient (Grube, 1997). Drinking is harmful for the social and cultural values of a person. Intoxicated drivers do not just harm their own life but may also create risk for the other drivers and people around. Alcohol users being well aware of these problems do not quit it. Extreme drinking is really terrible for physical and mental conditions. Alcohol increases the risk of serious illness like heart disease, liver disease, reproductive problems and memory loss. It is declared in journal of the American medical association, the death rate of Alcoholic women is comparatively greater than Alcoholic men. This journal also declares that the danger of breast cancer rises with the regular use of alcohol. Although alcohol use is ordinary among a greater part of college undergraduates (Kuther & Timoshin, 2003; Ziemelis, Bucknam, & Elfessi, 2002), a division of students busy in a type of drinking behavior that occupies great levels of alcohol use which may put them at danger for communal, mental, emotional and physical troubles. This specific type of drinking behavior has been identified in the literature as binge drinking and includes the extreme use of alcohol in short periods (Murgraff, White, & Phillips, 1996). Current approximation discovers that about 44 percent of college students are resulted to be involved in binge drinking behavior (Torr J.D., 2002). Excessive drinking is a severe problem found in numerous colleges. To tackle this problem, study has swung towards knowing why college students use alcohol at height well over secure limits on sole drinking occasions (Murgraff et al.). More