Cirque Du Soleil Essay

1. Cirque du Soleil does not have a product, they have a diverse, creative, critical thinking, artist works company; a circus without animals. Within this company, this show allows their featured unique artists, to tap into their creative side and create magic for an audience. Cirque du Soleil aims to create the greatest shows onstage all around the world. The core for a functioning Cirque du Soleil is behind the scenes, with artists and staff. Recruiting these people seems to be a challenge for this ever diverse world we live in. Recruiting and hiring these staff members for Cirque du Soleil is difficult because not many people will just run away to the circus. This lifestyle is an ever changing one, with artists of different cultures and diverse backgrounds. It cannot always be an easy mix for everyone to get along. It takes a special kind of person with that magic in their eyes, that will keep evolving and keep being an asset to the ever changing show. Although it is the same lifestyle these employees will be part of, they service two completely different jobs. Artists perform for the audience, whereas staff is simply there to serve the artists needs. Recruiting for this job takes time, the director Cantin has even traveled to twenty countries in search of local talent. In terms of recruiting and hiring staff, again asking someone to uproot themselves, for little pay, to cater to extremely unique artists demands can be a challenging proposition. Creating extensive rewards for these employees is key. The owners of this company have taken time to understand what the needs are of their staff and artists. Compensation such as free meals and board, as well as the opportunities to improve a talent or passion are aspects of this company where they continue to grow positively. From this article I would say that this company takes extensive time to evaluate and understand the needs of everyone they have on board. In the small market Cirque du Soleil services, it is essential every performer or staff member is â€Å"fit† for the company. This market seeks out individuals who are qualified mentally, and physically for the strenuous changing show and lifestyle. They search for people who are ready to hit the ground running and jump into shows. Here employees are encouraged to discover their magic and embrace their talents, in fact Cirque provides outlets to bring your talents to the next level. They want employees to be able to continuously develop as well as have clear heads of stereotypes. % quit: %15 %quit x current population : 15% x 475 = 71.25 = 72 Artists left: 475-72=403†¨Future demand: 500†¨Needed (500-403= 97) Keeping employees happy enough to stay is and will continue to be a problem for Cirque du Soleil. This problem will affect retention because, if employees are not happy, they will leave. If employees leave, there may not be enough staff to sustain the upcoming show, but the show must go on. This problem could potentially lead to a default product, a poor performance. Cirque provides an environment with different experiences constantly with no fixed structure but to allow artists to tap fully into who they are. By designating a heavy amount of time for managing the artists needs and analyzing what what would make there experience even better. Cirque du Soleil aims to create an environment with the best possible conditions that you don’t want to leave. By retaining employees core artists to the Cirque shows have and can obtain more hands on experience out in the world. Recruiting employees cost money and time. When artists are better at their job they provide stability within the company for a better transitional environment for new employees. Employees will effectively be able to teach each other the ropes, or provide support for one another. The concept is for artists to learn together. With the wide diversity of ethnicity, or gender it can be problematic to find employee who are non stereotype. Those who are open to all cultures. Compensation and benefits however is variable because income becomes an issue. Cirque has a variety of shows and venues that do not always provide steady pay. With that being said its hard to keep up with the rewarding benefits Cirque boasts about, such as providing new experiences. By giving the artists more say, a greater employee output is achieved, with higher job satisfaction, keeps employees. To solve its retention problems Cirque’s benefits heavily outweigh their drawbacks. Ultimately providing the best work environment than anyone in their competing market. Finding talent i is the second current problem Cirque is facing. Cirque du Soleil has created a name for themselves serving as a business that lets you play to your full potential as an artist. In doing so they created an even more diverse product that makes it hard to find that diamond in the rough in cities and continents. This problems affects staffing mostly because they have created a name for themselves that their brand is a luxury good, possibly making artists perceive their company as unachievable. Perspective employees want to work with the best performers around. Now that the company has made a name for themselves, they are hiring staff with more direct experience instead of performers with potential. With a changing and diverse work force this poses a problem within staffing. In creating diversity, gaps in language and background quickly becomes an issue. Training and development problems are solved by having current employees that have open mindsets about other cultures, providing a more welcoming environment. People coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds I would imagine feel secure in knowing they at least have paid meal and board. The shows performances cannot continue to increase levels of diversity without new talent. The current employees care about quality of their product. By having varying levels of skill and ability this could be exciting for new artist morale. Also by having a good training system to develop and articulate performances would provide a great benefit to perspective employees. The movement to keep the excitement alive is on!

Night World : Dark Angel Chapter 2

Everything was freezing confusion. Her head was under water and she was being tumbled over and over. She couldn't see, couldn't breathe, and she was completely disoriented. Then her head popped up. She automatically sucked in a huge gasp of air. Her arms were flailing but they seemed tangled in her backpack. The creek was wide here and the current was very strong. She was being swept downstream, and every other second her mouth seemed to be full of water. Reality was just one desperate, choking attempt to get enough air for the next breath. And everything was so cold. A cold that was pain, not just temperature. I'm going to die. Her mind realized this with a sort of numb certainty, but her body was stubborn. It fought almost as if it had a separate brain of its own. It struggled out of her backpack, so that the natural buoyancy of her ski jacket helped keep her head above water. It made her legs kick, trying to stand firm on the bottom. No good. The creek was only five feet deep in the center, but that was still an inch higher than Gillian's head. She was too small, too weak, and she couldn't get any kind of control over where she was going. And the cold was sapping her strength frighteningly fast. With every second her chances of surviving dropped. It was as if the creek were a monster that hated her and would never let her go. It slammed her into rocks and swept her on before her hands could get hold of the cold, smooth surfaces. And in a few minutes she was going to be too weak to keep her face above water. I have to grab something. Her body was telling her that. It was her only chance. There. Up ahead, on the left bank, a projecting spit with tree roots. She had to get to it. Kick. Kick. She hit and was almost spun past it. But somehow, she was holding on. The roots were thicker than her arms, a huge tangle like slick, icy snakes. Gillian thrust an arm through a natural loop of the roots, anchoring herself. Oh-yes; she could breathe now. But her body was still in the creek, being sucked away by the water. She had to get out-but that was impossible. She just barely had the strength to hold on; her weakened, numb muscles could never pull her up the bank. At that moment, she was filled with hatred- not for the creek, but for herself. Because she was little and weak and childish and it was going to kill her. She was going to die, and it was all happening right now, and it was real. She could never really remember what happened next. Her mind let go and there was nothing but anger and the burning need to get higher. Her legs kicked and scrambled and some dim part of her knew that each impact against the rocks and roots should have hurt. But all that mattered was the desperation that was somehow, inch by inch, getting her numb, waterlogged body out of the creek. And then she was out. She was lying on roots and snow. Her vision was dim; she was gasping, open-mouthed, for breath, but she was alive. Gillian lay there for a long time, not really aware of the cold, her entire body echoing with relief. I made it! I'll be okay now. It was only when she tried to get up that she realized how wrong she was. When she tried to stand, her legs almost folded under her. Her muscles felt like jelly. And †¦ it was cold. She was already exhausted and nearly frozen, and her soaking clothes felt as heavy as medieval armor. Her gloves were gone, lost in the creek. Her cap was gone. With every breath, she seemed to get colder, and suddenly she was racked with waves of violent shivers. Find the road †¦ I have to get to the road. But which way is it? She'd landed somewhere downstream-but where? How far away was the road now? Doesn't matter†¦ just walk away from the creek, Gillian thought slowly. It was difficult to think at all. She felt stiff and clumsy and the shivering made it hard to climb over fallen trees and branches. Her red, swollen fingers couldn't close to get handholds. I'm so cold-why can't I stop shivering? Dimly, she knew that she was in serious trouble. If she didn't get to the road-soon-she wasn't going to survive. But it was more and more difficult to call up a sense of alarm. A strange sort of apathy was coming over her. The gnarled forest seemed like something from a fairy tale. Stumbling†¦ staggering. She had no idea where she was going. Just straight ahead. That was all she could see anyway, the next dark rock protruding from the snow, the next fallen branch to get over or around. And then suddenly she was on her face. She'd fallen. It seemed to take immense effort to get up again. It's these clothes†¦ they're too heavy. I should take them off. Again, dimly, she knew that this was wrong. Her brain was being affected; she was dazed with hypothermia. But the part of her that knew this was far away, separate from her. She fought to make her numbed ringers unzip her ski jacket. Okay†¦ it's off. I can walk better now†¦ She couldn't walk better. She kept falling. She had been doing this forever, stumbling, falling, getting up. And every time it was a little harder. Her cords felt like slabs of ice on her legs. She looked at them with distant annoyance and saw that they were covered with adhering snow. Okay-maybe take those off, too? She couldn't remember how to work a zipper. She couldn't think at all anymore. The violent waves of shivering were interspersed with pauses now, and the pauses were getting longer. I guess †¦ that's good. I must not be so cold—– I just need a little rest. While the faraway part of her brain screamed uselessly in protest, Gillian sat down in the snow. She was in a small clearing. It seemed deserted-not even the footprints of a ground mouse marked the smooth white carpet around her. Above, overhanging branches formed a snowy canopy. It was a very peaceful place to die. Gillian's shivering had stopped. Which meant it was all over now. Her body couldn't warm itself by shivering any longer, and was giving up the fight. Instead, it was trying to move into hibernation. Shutting itself down, reducing breathing and heart rate, conserving the little warmth that was left. Trying to survive until help could come. Except that no help was coming. No one knew where she was. It would be hours before her dad got home or her mother was†¦ awake. And even then they wouldn't be alarmed that Gillian wasn't there. They'd assume she was with Amy. By the time anyone thought of looking for her it would be far too late. The faraway part of Gillian's mind knew all this, but it didn't matter. She had reached her physical limits-she couldn't save herself now even if she could have thought of a plan. Her hands weren't red anymore. They were blue-white. Her muscles were becoming rigid. At least she no longer felt cold. There was only a vast sense of relief at not having to move. She was so tired†¦ Her body had begun the process of dying. White mist filled her mind. She had no sense of time passing. Her metabolism was slowing to a stop. She was becoming a creature of ice, no different from any stump or rock in the frozen wilderness. I'm in trouble†¦ somebody†¦ somebody please†¦ Mom †¦ Her last thought was, it's just like going to sleep. And then, all at once, there was no rigidity, no discomfort. She felt light and calm and free-and she was floating up near the canopy of snowy boughs. How wonderful to be warm again! Really warm, as if she were filled with sunshine. Gillian laughed in pleasure. But where am I? Didn't something just happen-something bad? On the ground below her there was a huddled figure. Gillian looked at it curiously. A small girl. Almost hidden by her long pale hair, the strands already covered in fine ice. The girl's face was delicate. Pretty bone structure. But the skin was a terrible flat white-dead looking. The eyes were shut, the lashes frosty. Underneath, Gillian knew somehow, the eyes were deep violet. I get it. I remember. That's me. The realization didn't bother her. Gillian felt no connection to the huddled thing in the snow. She didn't belong to it anymore. With a mental shrug, she turned away- -and she was in a tunnel. A huge dark place, with the feeling of being vastly complicated somehow. As if space here were folded or twisted-and maybe time, too. She was rushing through it, flying. Points of light were whizzing by-who could tell how far away in the darkness? Oh, God, Gillian thought. It's the tunnel. This is happening. Right now. To me. I'm really dead. And going at warp speed. Weirder than being dead was being dead with a sense of humor. Contradictions†¦ this felt so real, more real than anything that had ever happened while she was alive. But at the same time, she had a strange sense of unreality. The edges of her self were blurred, as if somehow she were a part of the tunnel and the lights and the motion. She didn't have a distinct body anymore. Could this all be happening in my head? With that, for the first time, she felt frightened. Things in her head†¦ could be scary. What if she ran into her nightmares, the very things that her subconscious knew terrified her most? That was when she realized she had no control over where she was going. And the tunnel had changed. There was a bright light up ahead. It wasn't blue-white, as she would have expected from movies. It was pale gold, blurred as if she were seeing it through frosty glass, but still unbelievably brilliant. Isn't it supposed to feel like love or something? What it felt like-what it made her feel-was awe. The light was so big, so powerful†¦ and so Just Plain Bright. It was like looking at the beginning of the universe. And she was rushing toward it so fast-it was filling her vision. She was in it. The light encompassed her, surrounded her. Seemed to shine through her. She was flying upward through radiance like a swimmer surfacing. Then the feeling of motion faded. The light was getting less bright-or maybe her eyes were adapting to it. Shapes solidified around her. She was in a meadow. The grass was amazing- not just green, but a sort of impossible ultra green. As if lit up from inside. The sky was the same kind of impossible blue. She was wearing a thin summer dress that billowed around her. The false color made it seem like a dream. Not to mention the white columns rising at intervals from the grass, supporting nothing. So this is what happens when you die. And now†¦ now, somebody should come meet me. Grandpa Trevor? I'd like to see him walking again. But no one came. The landscape was beautiful, peaceful, unearthly-and utterly deserted. Gillian felt anxiety twisting again inside her. Wait, what if this place wasn't-the good place? After all, she hadn't been particularly good in her life. What if this were actually hell? Or †¦ limbo? Like the place all those spirits who talked to mediums must be from. Creatures from heaven wouldn't say such silly things. What if she were left here, alone, forever? As soon as she finished the thought, she wished she hadn't. This seemed to be the kind of place where thoughts-or fears-could influence reality. Wasn't that something rancid she smelled? And-weren't those voices? Fragments of sentences that seemed to come from the air around her? The kind of nonsense said by people in dreams. â€Å"So white you can't see†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"A time and a half†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"If only I could, girl†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gillian turned around and around, trying to catch more. Trying to figure out whether or not she was really hearing the words. She had the sudden gut-trembling feeling that the beauty around her could easily come apart at the seams. Oh, God, let me think good thoughts. Please. I wish I hadn't watched so many horror movies. I don't want to see anything terrible-like the ground splitting and hands reaching for me. And I don't want anyone to meet me-looking like something rotting with bones exposed-after all. She was in trouble. Even thinking about not thinking brought up pictures. And now fear was galloping inside her, and in her mind the bright meadow was turning into a nightmare of darkness and stink and pressure and gibbering mindless things. She was terrified that at any moment she might see a change- And then she did see one. Something unmistakable. A few feet away from her, above the grass, was a sort of mist of light. It hadn't been there a moment ago. But now it seemed to get brighter as she watched, and to stretch from very far away. And there was a shape in it, coming toward her.

Advantages of Discovery Learning

Advantages of Discovery Learning Jump to: Advantages of Discovery Learning Discovery learning was first put into writing by Jerome Bruner in the 1970’s. In part II of his book titled â€Å"The Quest for Clarity†, Bruner discusses his views on â€Å"the Act of Discovery†. Bruner states his belief that to successfully educate, the educator must first assess what is already known. In this essay Bruner summarizes the basic principles of discovery learning, their benefits, its process, and a set of experiments that Bruner used which according to him, proved his theory. This essay will use research that supports Bruner’s theory in an attempt to prove that discovery learning is more effective than direct instruction and explain how educators should teach in result of the research. What is discovery learning? Discovery learning is an approach to learning that can be facilitated by specific teaching methods and guided learning strategies. For this essay the term discovery learning will refer to learning that takes place within in the individual, the teaching and instructional strategies designed by the teacher, and the environment created when these strategies are used. Direct or traditional instruction are strategies used in teacher led classrooms, including lectures, drill and practice, and expository learning. Bicknell, Holmes, and Hoffman (2000) describe the three main attributes of discovery learning as 1) exploring and problem solving to create, integrate, and generalize knowledge, 2) student driven, interest based activities in which student determines the sequence and frequency, and 3) activities to encourage integration of new knowledge into the learner’s existing knowledge base. The first attribute to discovery learning is a very important one. By exploring problems, and coming up with their own solutions, student’s are taking an active role in creating integrating, and generalizing knowledge. Student’s are not passively taking in information , as they would during a lecture, but are coming up with broad applications for skills by taking risks, solving problems, and examining unique, but useful experiences (Bicknell-Holmes & Hoffman, 2000). This attribute of discovery learning dramatically changes the role of students and teachers, which some traditional teachers find hard to accept. The second attribute of discovery learning is that it encourages students to learn at their own pace (Bicknell-Holmes & Hoffman, 2000). This attribute allow students learning to progress freely as the student is ready to learn new material. Students must obtain a high level of motivation and take ownership in their learning for this attribute to be met. The third major attribute of discovery learning is that it is based on the principle of using existing knowledge as a basis to build new knowledge (Bicknell-Holmes & Hoffman, 2000). Students must be encouraged and provided with knowledge they already know to extend this knowledge and build ne w ideas. A good example of this is when students discover how to multiply a three digit number by a three digit number, by using their knowledge of multiplying a two digit number by a two digit number. The student would build on what they know about multiplication to come up with a new way of multiplying three digits by three digits.

Price Competition between online retailers and High St shops Essay

Price Competition between online retailers and High St shops - Essay Example ive stores went up by 18 percent while those that practiced online sales along with convectional shop keeping experienced 2 percent decline in growth (Passingham 2013). In spite of the increase in demand for online transactions, the amounts customers have to pay for the products keep dropping; the mean value at the checkout is estimated to have reduced by over 10% since 2011. This is evidence that the online customers are using the convenience of online stores to shop for deals. Online shops have a competitive edge in that they can afford to sell their goods for considerably less than their high street counterparts do (Kelsey 2013). The latter have to account for the cost of; lease, security, staffing and myriad other costs of doing business and the higher overheads ultimately weigh in on their competitive advantage. For online stores, there is the added convenience of transcending geographical boarders; a clothing shop in London will be mostly out of bounds for customers living far from the city but the online one is open to anyone anywhere. This way, the customer base for online stores is significantly larger than that of high street ones (Kelsey, 2013). Firm’s like ASOS, which deals in both men and women’s clothes, have capitalized on the online marketing sector. Today, it is one of the most profitable clothing stores in the UK because of its online presence, which allows it to cater for the needs of next generations shoppers. Many of these are used to getting everything online and as a result, ASOS provides an opportunity for them to easily and conveniently access fashion accessories. They also provide services, which allow customers to â€Å"try on† the clothes online virtually which makes them even less likely to go for a high-end street shop. High street stores on the other hand have also upped their efforts to remain competitive in the quickly digitalizing market, one of the main methods applied is the opening of websites and online stores so they

Prescrption with controlled medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Prescrption with controlled medicine - Essay Example Similarly, legislation on the drugs and medicine practices is divided based on commonwealth and the states. The commonwealth laws are classified into schedules. There are various schedules, which, are based on their effects on the public and which, control both the production and distribution of the products (Chaar, et al., 2005). Focusing on the discussion, schedule eight provides rules and regulations on prescription of controlled medicine by practitioners (Australia, 2010). Under the same, it is important for the medical practitioners to prescribe medicine for a genuine therapeutic person affected. In this case, a valid approval number is essential in validating the scripts. Lack of approval number may result into penalties on the side of pharmacists. According to Bessell & Silagy (2002), the chief health officer has to approve the script for patients who have been either under controlled drugs for a period of about 2 months or more. The same applies to patients considered drug dependant. Pharmacists that operate within the stipulations of the code of conduct by ACT are exposed to the risk of severe punishment. Penalties apply to those who do not adhere to the guidelines on prescribing medicine to patients. It is obvious that prescribers have to prescribe the medicine with a number authorized by the chief health officer. To avoid any penalty, the pharmacist is supposed to comply with the rules and regulations set by ACT. He or she has to give medicine that has a recognition number from the chief health officer (society, 2012 p. 200). The number is meant to validate the medicine. On the side of the patients, it will be important for one to confirm that the prescription is accompanied with a valid number from the chief officer. Though there are no penalties on the side of patients, use of such medicines may have an impact on their health (Australia, 2010). Secondly, the relevant authority may conduct several checklists in

Home Nursing reflection on maternal death Dissertation

Home Nursing reflection on maternal death - Dissertation Example But with the knowledge, skills and experience I had amassed, I was able to patiently navigate and resolve issues dealing with nursing responsibilities and those arising from various personality conflicts. I soon gained respect as a proven and dependable manager and after two years was made Head Nurse. At my Maternal Child Health Care Clinic (MCH) I presently manage a staff of 10 female staff nurses and two female attenders. This dissertation concerns prevailing issues that have arisen from my experience concerning home nursing during postnatal period. The study will use the methods of reflective practice to analyse the problems that nurses face during the postnatal home nursing period. The main duties provided by the maternal and child health nurse include screening of antenatal and postnatal patients; making assessments and giving immunization to children under 5 years of age; providing specific women services such as pap smears and distribution of the family planning pill; home vis iting and home nursing, and providing school health services. Specific duties of the latter include giving health talks to the public school and village or community groups. The Problem I want to research the theme of home nursing due to an incident that occurred a few years ago and that has remained powerfully within me as a memory. One of our postnatal patients died because of what I thought was ultimately due, but not mainly because of, deficiencies in our home care operation. Proper nursing procedure requires that postnatal care be provided everyday for the first four days after delivery and then on day 6, 8 and 10, and lastly on day 20. After birth, this patient had somehow disappeared in the communication lines of our hospital system. She had received no follow-up or home visiting and because of this, had died. This particular patient had been diagnosed in the antenatal period as well and fit. However, she was quite obese. It was later found she had placenta praevia, a low lyi ng placenta, and that she was experiencing bleeding antepartum haemorrhage type iii where the placenta was covering only part of the top of the cervix. She received a lower segment caesarean section (LSCS) in one of the specialist hospitals. But her birth had not been reported back to the specialist hospital. I don’t feel this patient had received the best medical attention that she could have had. I believe the system had broken down for her. UK Background Compared to other developed nations, the UK has had a good record over the years in keeping maternity and infant mortality low. Infant mortality rates per 1000 averaged 6 for 2000 and 5 for 2008 for infants under 1 (WHO, p. 55). For infants under 5, the figures were 6 for 2000 and 2008. Compared to the United States, the figures were 7 and 7, and 9 and 8 (p. 55). The lowest figures were for Japan at 3 and 3, infants under 1, and 5 and 3, for infants under 5 (p. 51). Developing countries typically display figures broaching above 50 deaths reaching to well over 200 deaths in both categories. UK maternity ratio per 100,000 live births averaged 7 between 2000-2009, with interagency figures showing 8-15 in 2005 (WHO, p. 54). The United States averaged 13 (p. 54), Sierra Leone averaged 857, showing 800 to 3,700 in 2005 (p. 54); and Canada averaged 9 and 7 to 13 in 2005 (p. 50). The infant and maternity mortality rates in developed countries have been low,

Age of Enlightenment and How It Affected Art Essay

Age of Enlightenment and How It Affected Art - Essay Example As the paper highlights Painting revolved during this time following the emergence of Rococo art that replaced the then popular baroque art. It was mainly concerned with the emphasis on airy grace and refined pleasures of boudoir and the salon, porcelain and delicate jewelries, artful dances, wooded scenes and women, especially women in the nude. Moreover, rococo painters specialized in other areas like portraiture, displaying aristocratic subjects in their finery, beautified and idealized on their canvas. An example of a rococo painting was that of Watteau Antoine that blended a lot of fantasy with heightened observations of nature. The painting conveyed and portrayed the ease, as well as, the lavishness of French court life. Watteau was succeeded in the painting job by several other Europeans. Jean Fragonard and Francois Boucher were his French successors. There were also Italian painters like Giovanni Tiepolo who also displaying rococo influences. There were some paintings, mainly from England, which lacked rococo frivolity. However, most English painters were influenced by the style; among them were Thomas Gainsborough and Reynolds Joshua. One of the current examples of early painting is the London Street scenes done by one of the English painters, William Hogarth. Another one is Francisco Goyas court portraits existing in Spain. In conclusion, art, as part of science, developed during the enlightenment age. It was facilitated by individuals and the societies which knew the importance artistic works.

Cloud Computing Service Models Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cloud Computing Service Models - Assignment Example Likewise, the services provided over the Internet are referred as (Software as a Service) ‘SaaS’. There are few sellers who use the term (Infrastructure as a service) ‘IaaS’ and (Platform as a service) ‘PaaS’ in order to demonstrate their products and services. However, these terms are avoided and not accepted globally, due to variation. The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have illustrated some helpful definitions that focus on three concepts (Reese 2009): Cloud infrastructure as a service ‘IaaS’ consists of provisioning elementary computing resources. Cloud software as a service ‘SaaS’ access software application that operates on a cloud infrastructure. Cloud platform as a service (PaaS) provides the accessibility to users for implementing and developing applications with programming language and tools supported by the providers. The core components of a cloud consist of the data center hardware and software. When these resources are publicly available, they are referred as public clouds and the service provided by the cloud is called as utility computing. Moreover, private clouds are only available to private organizations and are not accessible by the public. Accordingly, cloud computing is the combination of ‘SaaS’ and utility computing (ARMBRUST, FOX et al. 2010). There are three service models for cloud computing i.e. infrastructure as a service, platform as a service and software as a service (Wilshusen 2011). Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is comprised of three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure. Organizations only provide software and platform and infrastructure is provided by a third party cloud computing vendor. The second service models i.e. platform as a service (PaaS) also comprises of three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure. Organizations only provide a software or application that will be executed on the third party or the vendor’s platform and infrastructure. The third service model also includes the similar three components as mentioned before and called as software as a service (SaaS). Organizations only utilize the services provided by the vendors in terms of applications that can be accessed by the Internet. All the three components i.e. software, platform and infrastructure are the property of the vendor (Wilshusen 2011). In figure 1.1, cloud deployment models are demonstrated Figure 1.1 (Retreived from :Wilshusen, G. C. (2011). INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional guidance needed to address cloud computing concerns. GAO Reports, , 1.) Cloud computing four service models are shown in Fig 1.2 Figure 1.2 (Retreived from :Wilshusen, G. C. (2011). INFORMATION SECURITY: Additional guidance needed to address cloud computing concerns. GAO Reports, , 1.) ‘Business Cloud’ must choose the relevant client model, as it will be proportional to t he business or customer requirements and may differ from organization to organization and business types. The first service model is called as the ‘Private Cloud’. A private cloud is solely a property of the organization i.e. software, platform and infrastructure is the property of the organization (Wilshusen 2011). The second service model is called as the community cloud that is accessible to several organizations that may be

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Financial Management - Essay Example The companys fortunes have improved since the launch of a recovery programme by CEO Justin King in 2004. It is apparently closing in on ASDA with its improving market share of 16.22 per cent (ASDA:16.6 per cent). One of the three leading distributors of consumer goods in the UK, the Sainsbury group runs 350 supermarkets and 300 shops branded Sainsburys Local and Bells Stores, offering a range of articles from food to health care products, of which under half are sold under the companys own brand. The company also owns real estate and a bank, Sainsburys Bank, which offers such services as loans, insurance, fund management, and credit cards. It is headquartered in London, England. This paper shall discuss the financial management policies of Sainsbury PLC with regard to three aspects of its operations: Capital Asset Pricing Model, the Weighted Average Cost of Capital, and Dividend Policy. In order to apply the Capital Asset Pricing Model, it is necessary to find a method to estimate the future beta, a component of a security’s risk which cannot be eliminated through diversification, which can applied in estimation of future returns. The least squares regression can be used to develop a linear equation to explain the relationship between return on the stock and return on the market. The characteristic line is usually used to describe the relationship between the rate of return of a market portfolio and the rate of return of a security. It is derived by using regression analysis that summarizes a particular security or portfolios systematic risk and rate of return. The rate of return is dependent on the standard deviation of the assets returns and the slope of the characteristic line, which is represented by the assets beta. A characteristic line of a stock is the same as the security market line. The slope of the line, which is a measure of systematic risk, determines the risk-return trade-off. According to this metric, the more risk you take on -

Special Education Teacher Essay Example for Free

Special Education Teacher Essay Passion and compassion two words with very different meanings, but for me, one is the driving force behind my determination to teach. It’s been a long and winding road for me to reach this point of my life, and for me to discover my true destiny to be a teacher. It is now that I realize that my compassion for children is what will strengthen my teaching aptitude and the combination of my education and compassion make me a qualified candidate for any teaching position. In short, my compassion for children is what drives my passion to teach. As I consider the road that is ahead of me, I am thrilled with excitement and eager to explore the many opportunities that lay ahead of me. Most of all, I am passionate about the structure of my future classroom and objectives I plan to tackle in my future career. I feel I owe my students the best possible upbringing and education. They deserve a stimulating and supportive environment that brings out the best in them. I want to encourage my students to broaden their imaginations and reach for goals they considered unattainable. I will strive to instill morals in my students and encourage them to treat each other and their community with respect and understanding. My students will be my primary responsibility their needs will be placed before my own and their development will be my priority. Before we can know where we are going, we must first know where we came from, and the same is true for the educational field. While I am striving for excellence in my career, I must educate myself on the strides my field has made throughout history. Vital lessons can be learned from our nation’s history and the mistakes made in the past. I must reflect on these past strides the educational field has made and continue to look forward. At the same time, I will be able to identify potential regressions the field is trending. I know I can make not only make an impact in the lives of my own students, but in the lives of students everywhere if I stand firm in my beliefs and fight for equality and justice of all children and demand that they be granted all the opportunity to achieve their dreams. Following current political and economic issues affecting education will allow me to understand the direction the field is heading and make educated opinions and allow me to make a stand for what I so passionately believe in, and my involvement in these issues will ensure the educational field will continue to progress. At the same time, identifying and addressing current issues confronting education will empower me to make the proper steps in my quest and further educate me. These current issues will explain to me which groups of children are being neglected or offended by our public education system and pinpoint which matters I need to fight for or against. The important key is education; I need to be educated in education. To do this, I will continue my education after receiving my bachelor’s degree. If I fail to do so, I will be failing innocent children and depriving them of their right to a quality education. I will also attend all school board meetings and be voice for these children in my community. I will also continue to vote in state and federal elections in hope that I may make a difference concerning these issues and so I can change the lives of children nationally. One of the issues confronting education that I am most passionate about is the amount of government involvement allowed in our school systems. Since education is a major focus in the nation’s politics and recipient of federal and state funding, the government naturally enforces strict regulations and guidelines on our school systems. While the degree of this federal involvement varies, the most common obstacle teachers are forced with in this regard is standardized testing. Personal opinion on the matter aside, the fact of the matter is that today’s children must be able to show their knowledge and understanding through this type of assessment. Elected officials have deemed these topics and concepts vital to the development of our nation and the assessment of my students will essentially become the assessment of my school and most importantly, myself as a professional. One of my main focuses in the classroom will be to prepare my students for these standardized tests, academically and mentally. I will vary my approaches in teaching these central concepts in anticipation of reaching a greater sense of understanding for all my students in hopes that they will then succeed on such assessments. While not all will positively respond to the method of testing, I must encourage them to do their very best and attempt to prepare them for this method of testing. I will practice this method of assessment with my students prior to the official testing so they may feel comfortable with the method of assessment and feel less stressed on test day. Regardless of the result of the tests, I will determine what makes a successful school year and I will continually support my student’s learning and be proud of them for all of their already tremendous accomplishments. I will provide each student with the level of support and understand they will need to guarantee an overall successful school year. Furthermore, to become more experienced and a more informed student of education, I dedicate myself to a minimum of thirty hours to participating in K-12 classroom field experience. I will partner with the leaders in the career field and analyze their instruction, relationships and classroom management strategies to gain insight into the field and take away from the experience their best practices so I may be better prepared for my students. I will approach each day with my mentor as the exceptional opportunity is it. I will enter the classroom each time with a new objective I intend to accomplish and will cherish each second I’m able to spend in the classroom. Not every career enables their freshmen professionals the ability to have immediate hands-on experience; this opportunity is truly a rarity and such a blessing. This allows me the chance to learn from quality observation of senior educators and interactions with children in the same setting I expect to one day teach in. I will also be able to share in the instruction of these students and experience the joy when they grasp new concepts and understand the fundamentals. This precious time will provide me with a background that no classroom can provide me and allow me to refer back to these moments when I have a classroom of my own. In addition to analyzing my mentor teacher’s classroom management and relationships, I will also evaluate his or her usage of modern technology in the classroom. After all, modern technology has taken this country by storm; virtually every profession has been influenced by technology and education is no exception. To be successful educator in the twenty-first century, I must be willing to embrace technology and explore options as to how I can incorporate technology into my classroom and lesson plans. My students will benefit from my use of new tools such as smart boards or PowerPoint presentations or Webquest online lesson plans I will prepare for them. My main goal in teaching is making my students respectable and productive members of society, and in order to be productive in today’s age, my students will need to have some technological literacy. While I don’t anticipate them word processing homework assignments, I do expect to explore advances in technology together and I will teach them how to use these advances to their advantage. I must remain up-to-date in the latest developments and learn how I can effectively incorporate technology into my classroom and still remain a student focused atmosphere. I need to able to showcase my ability to embrace technology and my creativity and organization to potential employers so they may be able to develop a firm understanding of my capabilities. One ingenious way to do just this is to create a website portfolio to demonstrate these abilities, along with my teaching philosophy, experience, growth and potential as an educator. I intend to treat this portfolio as a working resume and will constantly keep it current. However, to set my portfolio apart, aside from my extraordinary qualities and capabilities, I plan to entitle a section of my portfolio specifically for the parents of my students to track their child’s activities, learning and progress in my classroom. I welcome as much parental involvement in my classroom as possible, and so I am always considering any additional ways I can allow my parents to be in touch with their child and I think a special section on my website portfolio is perfect. This way the parents can learn more about me personally as a person and teacher so they may feel more comfortable with me and my position as their child’s educator. My biggest challenge in all this will be balancing all my aspirations to become a well-rounded and successful teacher. I will never be perfect and will continuously be learning to better myself for the sake of my students. I plan to grow and develop just as much as my students do each year. I bravely accept this challenge and believe I am more than capable to conquer any obstacle that comes my way. I refuse to allow anything to inhabit my students from becoming successful citizens or degrading my classroom climate, and I am fully prepared to fight for my students’ futures. It is this compassion for my students and my passion for their success that makes me an asset to any school district and a blessing to a child and above all, an exceptional teacher.

Cost Estimation for Meeting Perths Water Needs

Cost Estimation for Meeting Perths Water Needs (a) Introduction 2.1 This career episode is based on my engineering activity at the University of Western Australia. It is about an assignment I carried out during the second semester of my masters degree in the unit Process synthesis and design, worth 25 % of the overall grade. The assignment was released on 11 August 2015 and was due on the 18 September 2015.Thus the entire task was completed in just five weeks time. (b) Background 2.2. The project on Cost Estimation for Meeting Perths Water Needs was carried out as an assignment for the unit Process Synthesis and Design. I was part of a group of six people. The project required the calculation of CAPEX and OPEX for two different scenarios and comparison of both to determine the suitable one for real life implementation. This assignment involved several design stages along with the study of flow in a pipeline in order to select the appropriate piping and the length required to meet the water requirement over a 50 year lifetime. The project was completed successfully under the guidance of Prof. Mike Johns, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering at the University of Western Australia. 2.3 Decreasing annual rainfall and subsequent decrease in water supply had become the talk of media and local government in Perth. This has caused an interest in techniques to supply fresh water to Perth. The project aimed at evaluating two different scenarios to meet with Perths increasing water demands. The first scenario considered in the project was a two stage RO Desalination plant that would intake seawater and produce fresh water at 1000 à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿/à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦. The second scenario was the design construction of a 2435 km Kimberly pipeline from Argyle dam to Perth capable of meeting the same fresh water requirement per day. 2.4 Some of the core duties I was involved in are as follows: I performed literature reviews and referred several materials to understand various prospects of the project. I divided the task among my team members and ensured that they accomplished their assigned tasks effectively. I estimated the CAPEX and OPEX for two different scenarios. I contributed to the discussion with the members of my team on the merits and demerits of each case of the project. I attended meetings with my supervisor and team members to discuss the progress of the project and to exchange our contributions. I also compared and validated certain theoretical results with that of my calculated ones using appropriate approaches to suit the requirements of the project. I welcomed the challenge in completing a cost breakdown analysis by selecting the appropriate material based on its mechanical properties, pressure head, volumetric flow rate, velocity and followed by certain significant assumptions throughout the project. I prepared charts and tabulations of selection and cost analysis for different equipment and materials. I also prepared a report on the comparison of CAPEX and OPEX of two different scenarios and contributed more towards the design of reverse osmosis desalination plant and its functions. (c) Personal Engineering Activity The assignment required the comparison of CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) and OPEX (Operational Expenditure) for two scenarios. The first scenario given was the reverse osmosis desalination plant. This process consists of several stages. I analyzed the process to determine the amount of feed required to produce 1000 à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿/à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦ of fresh water. I discovered that from the 45% recovery of the RO membrane system, a 2222.2 à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿/à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦ of salt water feed will provide the required 1000 à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â€š ¬Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿/à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦ of fresh water to Perth. Figure 1: Reverse Osmosis design selection block diagram 2.6 In order to determine the OPEX, all the steps involved in the process had to be accounted. In order to do so, I broke down the process into independent steps. The first step was the pre-treatment of feed water to avoid fouling in the membrane system. Managing membrane fouling with pre-treatment methods reduces the replacement rate of membranes and lowers the ongoing OPEX costs. The next step involved in the process was coagulation. I chose Ferric Salts as a coagulant because of its tendency to disinfect microorganisms, partially degrade and oxidize the organic and inorganic impurities, and remove suspended particulate materials in a single dosing and mixing unit process. The next step in the process was the passage of feed water through Dual-filters. After extensive research, I decided that the Anthracite bed on silica sand was best suited to remove suspended solids and colloids formed in the ferric salt treatment. Lastly the feed was passed through micron cartridge filters to re move fine particles and bacterial matter before it was processed through a high pressure pump to the membranes. 2.7 The final and the most important step of the process was the selection of membrane. Referring to a number of papers, I found out that the best suited membrane for the specific purpose was the Toray TM820-440 membranes. These membrane elements had a high salt rejection percentage, large flux, low cost and are efficient on energy use to minimize OPEX costs. Before distribution, the permeate needs to be treated to maintain pH and remove corrosion potential. Lime contactors can increase hardness, alkalinity and pH while preventing calcium to leech from pipes into the distribution system. 2.8 I prepared the CAPEX by scaling up the capacity of an existing desalination plant to match the desired capacity. I considered The Perth Seawater Desalination Plant in Kwinana which has a capacity of 45à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ºÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¿/à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¸ and incurred a capital cost of $387 million AUD. I also took Southern Seawater Desalination Plant into consideration in Binningup which had a capital cost of $1400 million AUD and produces 100 GL/year. Of the two, I selected the Binningup desalination plant as it was built much more recently compared to that of kwinana. From calculations, I found that the proposed plant is 3.65 times larger than the Binningup plant and as such, the CAPEX could be approximated to $5110 million AUD. 2.9 Operating Costs can be classified as fixed or variable. Figure 2: Operating expenditure classification used in the project The table below summarizes the OPEX estimation for the Desalination plant. Table 1: Summary of RO Desalination OPEX Cost Components 2.10 The second scenario to be considered was the Argyle Dam Pipeline. The solution costs were based on quotes from two Australian companies:   Steel Mains and Flowserve. I selected these two companies based on a background study that I carried out. From the research, I learnt that these companies have been involved in numerous Australian water transport projects and abide by Australian standards. The final solution that I selected was based on Steel Mains cement mortar lined pipe model DN2200 and custom made pumps designed by Flowserve with an operating head value of 250 metres with inlet and outlet valves equal to the diameter needed. The 250 metres operating head was chosen as the pipes are designed to work at 2.7MPa. After discussion with the team members, two solutions were proposed: a real pipeline with outer diameter of 2159mm, 3 pipelines with 3 pumps per pipeline, and the other one having theoretical pipelines with outer diameter 2520mm, 2 pipelines with 3 pumps. The CAPEX estimation for the proposals is as follows: Table 2: Summary of Pipeline CAPEX Cost Components The OPEX estimation has been limited to the power requirements of the pumping stations and the personnel required to run the pipeline. Table 3: Summary of Pipeline OPEX Cost Components I compared the CAPEX and OPEX along with the advantages and disadvantages of both the scenarios to determine which of the two would be more suitable for real life application. For the Kimberley pipeline, the CAPEX cost ($36.6 billion AUD) heavily exceeds the desalination plant. This large CAPEX cost comes from the cost of purchasing DN2200 pipes which have an estimated lifetime of 100 years. The major factor contributing to the OPEX value from the pipeline is maintenance (77.7%). On the proposed desalination plant solution, the CAPEX cost is relatively low compared to the pipeline ($6.275 billion AUD). The majority of this cost comes from the installation of high pressure pumping station, and a seawater desalination system with energy recovery devices which are a long term investment to save on high energy costs of up to 50-60% associated with desalination. The majority of OPEX estimates come from the cost of power to run the plant (81%). Considering all the facts, I decided that the desalination plant should be selected over the Kimberley project. This is because the desalination plant is more economically feasible over a large time span. Even though the pipeline has been designed to facilitate this increase in demand, CAPEX estimates are too expensive to justify this project. I also carried out several calculations to determine the velocity of water running through the selected pipelines and was found to be 1.08 m/s. Table 4: Information summary of real (calculated values) and theoretical pipeline options Parameters such as Reynolds number, relative roughness, pressure drop, volumetric flow rate and pipeline elevation were also determined when selecting the appropriate pipeline for this project. Estimating the appropriate number of pumping stations at remote areas along the length of the pipeline was one of the tedious task in the project as it involved a lot calculations and literature reviews. A different approach to this project was the consideration of solar technology over wave supply to be the best present day strategy at remote areas as the supply of power to pumping stations was not be a viable option by the latter. Unfortunately, these winds are not a reliable option in the interior parts of Western Australia and so would not be a feasible selection for power supply to a potential pipeline. Overall, I was able to achieve all the objectives of the project successfully within the specified time and prepared a final report incorporating all the necessary design calculations, ide as and suggestions which could have improved the overall outcome of the project. A peer review was also submitted at the end of the project as a reflection on how each team member contributed individually for the project. (d) Summary 2.15 This project provided me with a valuable experience and great insight into an industrial project. I gained profound knowledge on process economics and also helped boost my confidence. During the course of the project, I understood the importance of team work and team management. I utilized my engineering knowledge for the successful completion of the project and as a whole, this project served as a stepping stone into the industrial world.