Youth and Sports Essay Example for Free

Youth and Sports Essay Raising children in today’s society is not for the faint of heart. Raising children has never been easy, but it is especially difficult in youth sports today. Coaches and parents are putting a lot of pressure on our young sons and daughters. The pressure to succeed in sports at such a young age is taking the fun out of the sport by making it all about winning. A Personal Perspective My own interaction in youth sports has been many: As a parent, participant and an observer. My experiences as a child in youth sports were mostly positive. In my early days of sports in school, all children were encouraged to play for their school, skill level did not matter. There were no tryouts and no one got cut. We all were equal no matter what our overall ability. Sports were an enjoyable competition between schools and were simply for fun. I remember playing on my elementary schools basketball team. My coach was the school science teacher and my teammates were my friends and classmates. Our practices would be right after school and we would only practice for one hour. I remember the practices as an extended gym class. We would just run around, laugh, have fun and learn a few plays. I do not ever recall a coach yelling at me when I made a mistake or made a bad play. I remember the coach saying, â€Å"that’s ok, shake it off, you’ll get it next time. † I never worried about being pulled from a game if I made a mistake. We all played our fair share. We played the game as a game, with an opportunity to learn skills, compete, increase confidence, and have fun, we were able to go with the flow, relax and play for the sake of playing. Even our parents back then would just sit and enjoy the game. They didn’t yell at us to run faster or play harder. They didn’t even yell at the referee for making a bad call. I remember my parents telling me before every game, â€Å"Have fun and do the best you can† and after the game no matter how I played they would say, â€Å"You played a great game†. They always asked me if I had a fun time playing. I always did. I didn’t remember the losses. I remember playing with my friends and laughing about how bad we played some days. It seems like in youth sports today, the emphasis is no longer on developing skills through competition, with others and with yourself, but on the win-loss record, points scored, etc. Youth sports are run by adults. Adults tend to focus on the wins. When an adult arrives at end of the game, as the kids come off the field or court, what are the first words out of their mouth? Its usually Who won? or Did you score any points, get any hits, etc.? The children, meanwhile, are talking about whose mom brings the biggest candy bars for snacks! If, we as adults, teach our kids to focus on the winning, scoring, and scholarships, rather than skill improvement and having fun than mistakes or losses are not seen as opportunities to learn, but as occasions of failure and are to be avoided at all cost. If children think only in terms of winning, the pressure is on. Over the years I have seen how the youth programs are turning. Burned-out teenage athletes, coach-parent conflicts and abusive parents are indicators of a deep and continuing problem in youth sports. Youth sports programs have become the focal point of many families. The increased interest in sports over the past two decades have promoted the increased promotion of these programs, as well as developed interest on the part of parents to encourage participation by their children. It is disturbing to look behind the facade and to realize that children participating in organized sports are often pressured; they feel the pressure to fit in; they worry that they will only fit in if they are athletically talented; they feel the pressure that they need to win, to please their parents and coaches. Children develop their sense of fair play and their perceptions of ethical behavior in part within the context of these programs. These programs can also make a significant impact on the development of a childs self- perception, self-esteem and emotional health. If the messages displayed by adults in reference to the sporting events have a decidedly negative tone, the impact of youth sports programs on the emotional development of children will not have positive outcomes. There are a number of factors that can impact the influences of organized youth sports programs on the participants, and studies have shown that the results of the full picture of youth sports is not always a positive one. Some of the influencing factors include: the participation of parents in youth sports programs, the suggestion by coaches, parents and observers that winning is more important than the game itself, and the nature of sports, that lends itself to competitive and aggressive behavior. It is difficult to develop a concrete perspective about the impacts of youth sports programs without considering these influences. A Child’s Perspective Many children simply want to participate in sports programs to have fun, have a recreational activity and work together with friends towards a common goal (Kohl and Nelson, 1990). It has been recognized that competition can foster mistrust between children, when winning serves to dismiss losers, creates envy of the winners and leads children away from the focus of the game (Kohn and Nelson, 1990). It is also clear that the pressure that parents place on their children to compete and win creates its own set of inherent psychological dilemmas. Pressure to play on an elite team is an issue that should really boil down to what your child wants. A parent needs to read the signs indicating that a child wants to be on an elite team. If a child needs prodding to get ready and go to practice, the child who consistently does not want to go may not be suited for an elite team. Sometimes, the kids who complain about doing things outside their comfort zone just need a little push to discover they enjoy whatever it is they are so adamantly opposed to doing. But, after a season of being on an elite team, it should be apparent whether or not the child wants to continue with the sport at a higher level. I always make it clear to my son that he can play whatever sport he wants and at whatever level he wants. In his fifth year of hockey, he decided that he didn’t want to continue to play travel hockey despite his obvious skill level and the prodding of several teams trying to convince him that he â€Å"needed† to continue or he would fall behind. We laughed about the coaches who had told him this. I asked, â€Å"fall behind in what? † I had never been a parent who thought my son was going to be a professional hockey player. My goal was to involve him in sports that he enjoys and that would allow him to grow and experience the life lessons that sports can teach. At that point he loved hockey, but just didn’t want to have it take up so much of his social time. The following year the travel hockey flame was rekindled and he was more enthusiastic than he had ever been about playing. He still loves the game, and despite the fact I really believed he may be able to play at a collegiate level if he really wants to put in the work, he plays for fun and most likely will play for the rest of his life. The bottom line is, a family should not be pressured into anything, especially when it comes to their children. Ultimately, our children should have the biggest say in what they want to be involved in and at what level. Children who have been pressured by their parents in youth sports activities often display increased amounts of anxiety along with an increased level of awareness about the importance of the game (Weider, 1993). In other words, one child may be able to perceive the game as simply a game, but another child, under increased pressure from his parents, may only be able to relate to the game in terms of the amount of pressure created. This difference in perceptions puts children against each other; the children most likely to succeed and win the game are those who are least prepared to deal with any other option. It creates a scary reality for those children who perceive that they are unbeatable, but also are beaten by another team. When childrens self perceptions are directly related to their ability to win, there is clearly evidence that their inabilities then feed their lowered self-perceptions (Kantrowitz, 1996). A Coach’s Perspective and Its Unintended Effects Coaches are also putting negative pressure on our young athletes and not even realizing it through their approach and attitude towards kids. A coach’s words may carry a different message to the child hearing them than to the coach who is saying them. It is easy for a coach to phrase things in ways that are a lot harsher then they intend. Here are a couple of phrases that tend to have a negative impact on a child: â€Å"what’s wrong with you today? † â€Å"Why can’t you play like your brother? † â€Å"How long have you been playing this sport? † â€Å"Did your dad teach you that? and the list goes on and on. Here is an example of how a coach making a comment to a young athlete has a negative impact. My nephew was in his first year of football. He was nine years old and small for his age. They only had a few games left. But at practice one night the coach grabbed my nephews face mask and said â€Å"is that the best you can do? † What had happened was he had missed a tackle. My nephew interpreted that saying as, â€Å"you’re too small, bigger kids would have made that tackle. † What the coach should have said was, â€Å"you need to move quicker to have an impact during the play. A Parent’s Perspective and Its Unintended Results How does a parent know when theyre over-doing it from the sidelines? One thing that has helped a lot of parents and coaches supporting athletes is an understanding of their roles. In fact theres a push by several national organizations to know your role. Youre an athlete, coach, official, or a fan pick one then support and respect the others. (Koehler, Your Kids Sports). There are some theorists who even believe that these youth sports programs that focus on winning or losing are dangerous (Leo, 1993). Children of parents who push them in sporting events often feel they cannot ever lose because of their parents’ expectations. This process of parental control and the childs self-perception can lead to humiliation and despair (Leo, 1993).? Here is an example of parental pressure on a young athlete to win. At one of my son’s youth hockey games I observed a father berating his son after a game. The boy had had a breakaway shot with only a few seconds left in a hockey game. The young athlete skated up to the net and fired a rocket of a shot. It was a really hard shot, and it barely missed the net. Needless to say the game was over and it ended in a tie. The father ran down to the ice and waited for his son to skate off to the locker room. As the boy came off the ice the father pulled him aside and started yelling at him in front of the other players and parents. The father continued to tell the boy how lousy of a player he was and that anyone else on the team would have made the shot. This went on for about three minutes, until the boy trying to hold back his tears slumbered into the locker room. This is a perfect example of the parent putting the pressure on his son to be better than he is capable of being and winning is everything. A Society’s Perspective Most of the current literature on children and sports develops around the theory that children are negatively impacted by the competitive nature of sports programs in conjunction with the influence of observers, coaches and parents. Little League, in particular, has been the focus of a number of studies into the impact of the program on the social and emotional development of the children involved. Though Little League has been touted as a sport focused on fun for children, the competition pushed on children by the parent’s expectations turns potentially healthy fun into competitive battles pitting friend against friend (Verdi, 1990). Though the basic premise of youth sports is to encourage the enjoyment of sports activities, the focus on winning has reshaped the program (Rosen, 1996). Team sports can also be a great experience. Kids get to improve their skills and feel that team spirit as they work together toward a common goal. If youve had a bad experience with a team, maybe its time to try a new sport or a new league. Some leagues and programs emphasize skill building over competition. Many of the programs developed encourage healthy levels of competitive and cooperative behavior, help children develop a sense of fair play, and help children find self-esteem by rewarding physical activities. Programs like Little League have been recognized as a stepping-stone in the development of major baseball players, as well as presidents and successful business people. The competitive nature of sports does not necessarily mean that children will develop unhealthy asocial competitive behaviors. Over the past 30 years, a basic outline of the rules of sports competition, even as they refer to youth sports programs, has been widely accepted by coaches, parents and sports supporters in general. These rules include basic precepts like: team matters more than the individual; achievement comes from preparation, not fun; control calm under pressure, and perseverance are the necessary to win the game; criticism is more valuable than praise (Rosen, 1996). With guidelines like these as the basics for youth sports, it is no wonder that parents and players have learned that the game is more significant than the process or lessons learned while playing. ? Many people believe that one of the most valuable lessons developed from youth sports is the development of a conceptualization of fair play, in a way that young children can perceive and apply. Though the basic definition of fair play suggests justice applied to interpersonal actions, it takes on a slightly different and more specific outline when considered in terms of youth sports programs (Covrig, 1996). Fair play has been described as a very lofty set of virtues, including things like: truthfulness, self-respect, consideration for others, self-control, courage, courtesy, as well as fairness (Covrig, 1996). With these virtues as the basis, one would be led to believe that any child participating in a youth program that claims a focus on fair play could do nothing but benefit from these programs. But one of the major discrepancies in youth sports exists in the difference between the message and the messenger. Though fair play is a major focus of the premise for youth sports, the individual who create, develop and coach these programs do not often embrace these virtues in practice (Covrig, 1996).? In the same respect, parents who hope to develop a sense of fair play in their children by encouraging their participation in sports frequently display behaviors that do not reflect the same virtues. The major problem with this situation is that parents often impose the expectations relative to adult competitive sports on their children, who have not yet learned to embrace the American idealization of winning (Martin, 1986). This transference of parental expectations onto their children can result in a number of damaging psychological problems, including: burnout, injury, and feelings of rejections, causing lowered self- esteem, when children cannot meet the expectations of their parents (Martin, 1986). With over a million children participating in a wide variety of programs, the success of youth athletics cannot be attributed only to the enthusiasm of parents. Children, too, must perceive benefits of the programs in order for retention levels to be as high as they are (Rumpf 1992). Children, who can compete fairly, congratulate the winners with sincerity and accept victory with grace benefit from the structure and the healthy competition created within these programs (Rumpf, 1992). The most significant problems occur not because of the structure of the games, the programs developed or the basic ideals behind youth sports programs. Instead, it is clear that the disastrous effects of youth sports programs come as a result of the interaction between children, parents and coaches (Rumpf, 1992). The literature studies supports the thesis that youth sports programs can negatively impact the development of children in respect to self-esteem, self-perceptions and emotional health, though it is also clear that the impact has a direct relationship to adult interactions. Though the programs developed often support fair play and healthy competitiveness, the expectations of parents, coaches and spectators often transform seemingly friendly games into competitive battles with little respect for teammates and other players. Children who can succeed within these programs do so with the help of coaches and parents who do not impose difficult, if not impossible expectations on their childrens participation. Examining Our Perspectives Yet at what price does success come? Out of 19,000 young athletes, about 356 children will get a scholarship. Out of all those kids, only four will go pro. † (Koehler, Your Kids Sports). We just love it. Its our social life. We just love sports. And whats not to love, after all, more youth leagues are catering to the elite athlete, where winning and rankings are top priority and championships and scholarships are all the talk. I understand wanting your child to do well. College is expensive and it might seem like a full tuition sports scholarship is the way to go. However, there is a psychological price that the young athlete may pay. In order to realize the most benefits from these programs, parents must recognize the impact of their personal expectations on their childrens emotional stability. There is way too much pressure today on children. I think most parents who involve their children in several activities have forgotten how great it was to sit outside during a summer day and read a book or just daydream. Someday when these children are adults, they are not going to know how to use their imaginations, occupy themselves in a constructive manner, or just how to have fun. Are we teaching our children at a young age how to have a nervous breakdown? What happened to just playing a sport for fun? I remember when I was a kid, after school or during the summer. I would just walk out the back door, grab a baseball bat or a hockey stick and I headed out to the street or to the neighborhood park to find my brothers or other kids from the neighborhood to play with. We played for hours with no uniforms, no refs, no parents on the sidelines. Sure, I wanted to win. We all did. But if we didn’t it wasn’t the end of the world. The pressure to succeed in sports today is taking the fun out of the sport by making it all about winning.

Services and the marketing strategies Essay Example for Free

Services and the marketing strategies Essay Qns: Discuss the 4 major characteristics of services and the marketing strategies available for the service organization. Qns: What are the primary differences between product and services? Give examples that highlight these differences between product and services. Give examples that highlight these differences and provide examples of hybrid offer. Qns. Using a service example of your choice, explain how the service company can deal with intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. Four Major characteristics of services:1) Intangibility 2) Inseparability 3) Variability 4) Perishability Intangibility *Lack of tangible assets which can be seen, touched, smelled, heard or taste prior to purchase. E.g., education, air travel, sporting events, highly intangible *Purchasing movie ticket, buy you an experience, services subjectively evaluated *Own set of perceptions and expectations, opinions differ regarding value of experience *Customer returns home with a memory of experience and obtain physical ownership Tangibility *Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need *Tangible assets; seen, felt, tasted or touched *E.g. shoes, objectively evaluated before actual purchase *Take shoes home, have ownership and physical possession of a tangible object Hybrid Offer *Offer a tangible product with their service, service is still intangible because consumer are purchasing the service, not the good *Restaurant, consumer are paying the restaurant to prepare the food for them *Evaluation of service is based on how well the restaurant prepared the food *To reduce intangibility, an airline company feature tangible assets such as their airplanes, pilots, flight attendants, or other personnel in an advertisement Inseparability *Refers to the service providers physical connection to the service being provided *Involve customers involvement in the service production process *Service is performed and consumed at the same time, with the quality of service highly dependant on the ability of the service provider and quality of interaction between the service provider and the customer *E.g., getting a haircut, customer will go to the hair stylist and being  present while the service is being produced Separability *In contrast, products are produced and sold at a later time *E.g., television is produced at the factory and sold at a later time Hybrid Offer *Is in the case of getting medical services. Dentist is using filling to fill cavities for the customer while the customer is present *To reduce inseparability or the dependence on the customer-employee interaction, an airline company can sell its air tickets through the internet where customers can buy air tickets directly from their website. Variability *Unwanted at random levels of service quality customers receive when they patronize a service *Primarily caused by human element, although machines may malfunction causing a variation in the service *Various employees will perform the same service differently and even the same service *E.g, commercial window cleaning, the outcome will differ if the firm uses different employees each time a business is services Contrast *Goods are mass-produced by factories and as such their features, ability and usage are the same *E.g. telephone are mass-produced in the factories and sold to customers offering the same features, abilities and usage Hybrid Offer *Fast food restaurant, the hamburgers, French fries and other food are mass produced and put in warming bins. Customers are served with hamburgers, French fries and other food when they ordered and served by service staff at the counter *To reduce variability, the airline company can put their service staff through intensive training or customize the service based on the customers specific instructions by asking the customers to fill in details on how they expect to be treated and what they want from the service staff when they purchase the air tickets from the company Perishability *Refers to the trait that services cannot be saved, their unused capacity cannot be reserved and they cannot be inventoried *Most services consumed at a point of production *E.g. Hotel rooms that go unoccupied for the evening cannot be stored and used it at a later date *Caused the reverse to occur where the demand is greater than supply. E.g. Airline does not have enough seats for everyone Contrast *Products can be mass produced and stored in the warehouses until consumer are ready to purchase *The ability not creates an inventory of the good that will eventually be purchased by the consumer means that production and consumption of the good can be separated in time and space. E.g., in the case of a pair of jeans does not sell today, a retailer can store it and sell it at a later time Hybrid Offer *In a fast food restaurant, they can inventory part of their service process example, inventory hamburgers for a limited period of time *However, the outlet cannot inventory the entire service experience, the counter staff still need to serve the customers with the hamburgers and the hamburgers cannot be saved for the next day *To reduce perishability, the airline must develop strategies to cope with fluctuating demand. This goal can be accomplished by making simultaneous adjustments in demand, supply and capacity *One method of adjusting the demand is that the airline company can reduce the price or offer promotions during the low peak season to attract customer to travel and utilize the airline seats during the low peak season instead of the peak season. *Supply can be adjusted by increasing the number of in flights departing the country during the peak season. To increase capacity, the airline company can arrange to increase the number of flights departing at the same time. Marketing Strategy It is defined as the process of adjusting controllable marketing factors to cope with or exploit uncontrollable environment. Four strategies that are available for the service organizations are so follows: 1.Three additional Ps 2.Managing service differentiation 3.Managing Service Quality 4.Managing Service Productivity Three Additional Ps The traditional four Ps marketing approaches work well for goods, but additional elements require attention in service business. Three additional Ps for service marketing: 1.People Most services are provided by people. Therefore, the selection, training and motivation of employees can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction. Ideally, employees should exhibit competence, a caring attitude, responsiveness, initiative, problem-solving attitude and goodwill. E.g. At Marriot, their front-line personnel are empowered to spend up to $100 to resolve a customer problem. 2.Physical Evidence Companies also try to demonstrate their service quality through physical and presentation. A hotel will develop a look and style of dealing with customers that realizes its intended customer value proposition, whether it is cleanliness, speed or some other benefit. 3.Process Service companies can choose among different processes to deliver their service. For example, restaurants to develop different formats such as buffet candlelight dinner and fast food. Service marketing requires not only external marketing but also internal and interactive marketing. External marketing describes the normal work to prepare, price, distribute and promote the service to the customer. Internal Marketing describes the work to train and motivate employees to serve customer. Interactive marketing describes the employees skills in serving the client. Client judges service not only by technical quality but also by its functional quality, therefore service providers must deliver high touch as well as High tech. Managing Service Differentiation In these days of intense price competition, service marketers often complain about the difficulty of differentiating their services from those of competitors. If customers view the services of different providers as similar, they care less about the provider than the price. The solution to price competition is to develop a differentiated offer, delivery and image. The offer can include innovative features that set one companys offer apart from their competitors offers. What the customer expects is called primary service package; the provider can add secondary service features. E.g. airlines have introduced innovation such as advance seating, sleeping compartment, hot showers to differentiate their offers. The major challenge is that most service offerings and innovations are easily copied. However, the company that regularly introduces innovations will gain a succession of temporary advantages over competitors. Service companies can differentiate itself by designing a better and faster delivery system. There are three levels of differentiation. The first is reliability: Some suppliers are more reliable in their on-time delivery, order completeness and order cycle time. Second is resilience: some suppliers are better at handling emergencies, product recalls and answering inquiries. The third is innovativeness; some suppliers create better information systems, introduce bar coding and mixed pallets and in other ways to help the customer. An example is banking system, a bank might offer its customers electronic home banking as a better way to deliver banking services thank having to drive, park and wait in line. Service companies can work on differentiating their images through symbols and branding. E.g. Merill Lynchs bill. Managing Service Quality One of the ways that a service firm can differentiate itself is by delivering consistently higher quality than its competitors do and meets or exceed customer expectations. Customers form service expectations from past experiences, word of mouth and advertising. Customers compare the perceived service with expected service. If the perceived service falls below the expected service, customers are disappointed. If the perceived service e meets or exceeds their expectations, they are apt to use the provider again. Service provider need to identify the expectations of target customers concerning service qualities. Although greater service quality results in greater customer satisfaction, it also results in high costs. Still, investments in service usually pay off through increased customer retention and sales. 5 determinants of service quality: 1. Reliability The ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. 2. Responsiveness The willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service 3. Assurance The knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence 4. Empathy The provision of caring, individualized attention to the customer. 5. Tangibles The appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and communication materials. Even though the companies have invested heavily to develop streamlined and  efficient service-delivery systems, problems will inevitably occur. However, even though the company cannot always prevent service problems, it can learn to recover from them and good service recovery can turn angry customers into loyal ones. In fact, good recovery can win more customers purchasing and loyal than if things had gone well in the first place. Therefore, companies should take steps not only to provide good service every time but also to recover from service mistakes when they do occur. The first step is to empower front-line service employees where authority, responsibility and incentives are given to the employees that they need to recognize, care about and tend to customer needs. Studies of well-managed service companies show that they share a number of common virtues regarding service quality. First they are customer obsessed. They have a distinctive strategy for satisfying customer needs that wins enduring customer loyalty. Second, they have top management commitment to quality. Management such as Ritz-Carlton looks not only at financial performance but also at service performance. Third, the best service providers set high service quality standards. They dont settle for good service, they aim at 100% defect-free service. Forth, the top service firms watch service performance closely. Both their own and competitors. They use methods such as comparison-shopping, complaints from and etc. Fifth, the service companies replaced person-to-person service interactions to self-service technologies, e.g. self-pumping at gas stations. Even though not all self-service technologies improve service quality, they have the potential of making service transactions more accurate, convenient and faster. Every company needs to think about how it might improve its services using SSTs, Sixth, excellent service companies know that positive employee attitudes will promote stronger customer loyalty. Service companies must attract the best employees they can find; they need to market a career rather than just a job. They must design a sound training program and provide support and rewards for good performance. They can use intranet, internal newsletter, daily reminders and employee roundtables to reinforce customer-centered  attitudes. It is important to audit employee job-satisfaction regularly. However, a company must be careful in training its employees to be friendly. In additional, good service companies should communicate their concerns about service quality to employees and provide performance feedback. Managing Service Productivity With the rising costs, service firms are under pressure to increase productivity. They can do so in several ways. First the company can hire and foster more skilful workers through better selection and training. Second the service firms can also increase the quantity of their service by giving up some quality, e.g. doctors working fro some HMOs have moved towards handling more patients and giving less time to each patient. Third Industrialize the Service by adding equipment and standardizing production. E.g. Macdonalds assembly-line approaches to fast food retailing, culminating in the technological hamburger. Fourth reduce or make obsolete the need for service by inventing a product solution. E.g. the wash-and-wear shirt reduced the need commercial laundries. Fifth the company can design a more effective service. E.g. The hiring of paralegal workers reduces the need for more expensive legal professionals. Sixth the company can present customers with incentives to substitute their own labor for company labor, E.g. banks have turned their customers into tellers Seventh the service provider can harness the power of technology. E.g. therapists can call up the information on hand-held computers, which pluck the data from a central computer. As a result, they can spend more time working directly with patients. However, companies must avoid pushing productivity so hard that quality is reduced. Some productivity steps help standardizes quality, increasing customer satisfaction but others might lead to over-standardization and can diminish customized service. Companies should also try to enhance the quality.

Research Paper: CalREN Systems

Research Paper: CalREN Systems Introduction: The Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) projected that they the state of California can achieve greater heights if they give it a better and more improved internet. On April 9, CENIC announced that they had talked with the technology giants and are working on the same project and those partners are going to provide all the hardware and communication technology to create a more robust network for California known as CalREN-2 which would be high performance internet for the California. The high-speed networking hardware such as routing and switching equipment will be provided by Cisco System, Pacific Bell Communications. California Research and Education Network (CalREN) is amongst the most powerful technology tool California has in its sleeves. The network infrastructure is a multitiered network with around 3,800 miles of fiber optic connecting over ten thousand educational and research institutes and universities like California State, Stanford, USC and community colleges to 58 counties of California. The CalREN system is completely owned and monitored by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), a non-profit organization which was established in 1996 by the various education and research communities from California to create a very high bandwidth and efficient solution to networking that would meet the needs of the faculty and all students which belong to these various schools and universities. Goals: CalREN is completely monitored by the CENIC now and has new goals to achieve high quality video conferencing to the classes to let students receive high quality education in real-time at all levels even if the faculty is not currently present in the city, state or nation. This would also connect many scientists around the globe to this existing high bandwidth network. With CalREN, various artists could take live stream classes of the production house from institution like San Francisco Opera from any part of the world. The San Francisco would create an online video classes to students throughout the world and would share these libraries so that all the musicians could learn music via special software or any streaming media. Recently, Los Angeles has also been added to CalREN system in 2016. Backbone: The CalREN backbone provides various capabilities to the network as follows: CalREN-DC: The Digital California is presented for everyday applications like video conferencing, emails, web browsing etc with a bandwidth of 10 Gbps to the students and faculty. CalREN-HPR: The High-Performance Research network which is used for applications with high data needs. This is a high-end network with a speed of 40Gbps. CalREN-XD: The eXperimental/Developmental network is a support network to other services for network research in universities like University of Southern California, Advanced Computing Research at Caltech etc. This is to have a focused perspective on research and innovation on the network.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Backbone image from, http://cenic.org/network/network-maps The Central Valley Next Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project (CVNGBIP): The Central Valley Next Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project (CVNGBIP) was implemented to provide internet connectivity in 18 counties. Only 8% of the nations agricultural output is produced by the central valley. This kind of a strong and robust infrastructure network was implemented because central valley was still not completely connected to the internet. This was possible because of a vision in mind next generation connectivity where people living in those counties can learn things in a different way leaving the traditional way of learning behind where people used to ask each other for tips and methods. This is when two organizations CENIC and Central Valley Independent Network (CVIN) came together forming a joint venture making this like a dream come true and provide a better future to the people. The service also aims to keep the cost of the internet service as low as possible to help the schools, universities hospitals etc. to take as much as profit they can. The project was funded by NTIA (70%), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)s CAS Fund (10%) and the rest form other parties and the total amount is to be estimated at around 66 million involving 1,371 miles of cabling and connecting businesses together. California Library Initiatives: There are various initiatives by the California libraries. Video conferencing, emailing, and public research to schools and colleges are enhancing the learning possibilities at higher level. Many benefits and innovative ideas are initiated at the Public libraries making them abundant possibilities to achieve more in the coming future. Therefore, merging these libraries with CalREN would be an addition to the feature and service provided in digital age where everything and everyone is connected. Pacific Research Platform (PRP) initiative: Pacific Research Platform (PRP) is an initiative carried forward by UC San Diego and Berkeley which would help the college network for data access to be much faster than it is today within a few years. There is also a 5 million dollars funding for the initiative from the National Science Foundation (NSF). this would help the PRP with this grant. Quality of Service (QoS): Quality of Service (QoS) is the service provided by the network service provider that would affect the overall accessibility of the computer while performing certain task related to the internet connectivity. It is generally used to measure overall network performance over few characteristics like bandwidth, transmission delay etc. CalREN is a very high bandwidth network that provides is vital services to various research institutes throughout California hence, making quality of service a very important aspect to CalREN system. 100 Gigabit Ethernet connections: To achieve superfast speed for faster data travel, we need a higher capacity bandwidth. This is all possible by implementing and installing 100 Gigabit Ethernet connections that support lightning fast transmission over fibers or over the air. This is achieved with framerate of 100 gigabits per second bandwidth providing services to laboratories and research centers where there are supercomputers that can use this huge capacity bandwidth along other big facilities. A supercomputer in San Diego is using this speed and is connected to CalREN system. Network Operations Center (NOC): Network Operations Center is a building or a place where all the network connections are monitored, managed and if possible or need arises are also troubleshoot so that to avoid any possible chances of network failure or unavailability of the service. CalREN uses a multitiered network as we discussed earlier that allows access to many universities and research centers throughout California. This is where NOC would play important role in the system to manage and troubleshoot the network in any such cases. Applications for CalREN: On march 2006, at the CENIC workshop, iGrid showcased and important application of CalREN to the people. It was an experimental real-time broadcast of very high quality 4K video that was very much improved over our conventional televisions. They were also awarded networking innovation award. There was an issue with the video over the internet protocol on the CalREN-DC network. To trouble shoot the problem they adapted the new codec for the video broadcast throughout the CalREN system. Since the new codec was transmitted through packets, high quality of service was a concern which can be overlooked if we use the CalREN systems high speed network. K20 Video: CalREN is supporting this project by providing high speed internet connections. K20 video is an adaptation of video conferencing technology throughout the state with the collaboration of all K12, University of California and California State University sites. This is achieved by improving the distance learning scheme by providing high quality video services to all the students and faculties. End-sites connected to CalREN-DC network: There are 34 end sites to the CalREN-DC network. Everyone are using optical fiber for their access technology. The capacity provided to the end-sites is more than sufficient as we can see that some of the sites are underutilized and need proper resource management as most of the resource are wasted. End-sites connected to CVNGBIP network: There are many things that are carried forward in the fields of health care, business and residential with more than 63000 access lines. they are also using optical fibers for their access technology. SLA performance guarantees of CALREN: The SLA performance guarantees are as of November 2006. Implementing ticketing system to the educational institution with 99% availability. Various means of deployment would be assigned and operations to be performed to avoid outages. The jitter form central point to Los Angles for round-trip time should not be over 80 ms in 5 minutes. SLAs will be forced in all regions of network deployment such as fibers, routers etc. and use third party equipment to solve the problem.The problem can also be rectified by mailing to [emailprotected] to choose appropriate actions necessary. All the performance guarantees seem reasonable as there is a definite time to resolve any issue and rectify the problem using the ticketing system that is very efficient everywhere in communications business. Hierarchy in CalREN: CalREN is a multitiered network with 3 tiers. CalREN-XD with experimental or developmental abilities, CalREN-HPR for big applications and CalREN-DC with 10gbps bandwidth for research institutes and video conferencing uses. The CalREN-DC would consist of 3 level hierarchy network as a final design. One will be hub sites following with level two as nodes sites and all these node sites connected to CalREN infrastructure where all the schools, colleges and universities will be connected to each other for information Backbone Locations: The backbone locations for the CalREN are Corning, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Fergus, Sunnyvale, Fresno, Soledad, Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Tustin, and San Diego. Most of the sites are reasonable but Tustin could be dropped as it can share resources from either of the two Los Angeles or Riverside. In future, maybe we can add San Jose or Palo Alto as it is booming in I.T infrastructure and the data availability would be much more and easy to troubleshoot. CSUEB to CalREN: Following are the links that connect CSU East Bay to CalREN: Link Speed Average Utilization [eb-csu] 10G DF to svl-agg4 Te0/7/0/4.212 CLR 6378 10 Gbps 9.8% [eb-csu] 10G DF to oak-agg4 Te0/4/0/7.208 CLR-6366 10 Gbps 10.3% To take full advantage of the bandwidth we could start features like online classes where a student could also attend classes if he/she is sick and cannot be physically present at the lectures or this could be also helpful to the students who need accessibility services. Also, keeping the bandwidth use in mind, we could also upload our video presentations over the network that could be asked to be rated or grades accordingly by our classmates. Comparing CalREN2 with SoX: Southern Crossroads (SoX) is an organization that provides high capacity internet service with global connectivity in Atlanta. It serves with internet2 to provide international research access.by the help of its supporters, SoX can implement a very low cost internet service in the whole Atlanta area. Comparing it to CalREN, SoX supports k-12 education as well as federal agencies in the united states. Similarly, CalREN is also powering research in various field in networking and development for the institutes. Conclusion: The CalREN system is an excellent design and the robust characteristic makes it a strong and better solution to form of higher level learning with technology. Few Strengths of CalREN is that the infrastructure is focused on various educational institutes and research facilities. Helping public libraries join CalREN is a brilliant step towards achieving that goals per the situation. CalREN also has few weaknesses amongst itself. We have seen that the backbone supports the CalREN which is a good thing but most of the links are underutilized which can be improved drastically over a period. Few of the resources could also be shared among sites which are close to each other saving expensive resource. References: http://www.cvngbip.org http://cenic.org/network/library-initiative http://cenic.org/files/publications/2011-13CENICAR.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Gigabit_Ethernet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_operations_center http://www.sunnycv.com/steve/local/pacific/art980408.html http://cenic.org/network/network-maps http://cenic.org/network/service-level-expectations http://prp.ucsd.edu/ http://www.sox.net/about-us/ https://intermapper.engineering.cenic.org/CENIC%20-%20DC%20Backbone%20Overview/document/_/full_screen.html

Huck Finn 10 :: essays research papers

Huck Finn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since the beginning of time people have been living on their own. They have been relying on themselves to survive for centuries. In many books the characters also must rely on themselves, as Huck Finn does in Mark Twain’s book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Huck Finn is a book about a boy growing up , and his flight down the Mississippi River. Through his actions and thoughts Huck is able to survive the dangers of the river and in doing so develops self reliance and independence as well as non-conformity to what is acceptable to society. Huck Finn is definitely a non-conformist in the truest sense of the word. Non-conformity means to go against what all other people think and do. In the book Huck chooses not to go to school,. and therefore it makes him a non-conformist because everyone else goes to school. Another example of non-conformity that Huck shows is running away with Jim. No one ever would think about running away with a black man. It is absurd ,because it is going against the rest of society and what they believed about slavery. Huck’s actions definitely makes him a non-conformist. A third example of non-conformity in Huck is not wanting to be civilized. Huck says,†Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before.† (294) This quote shows that Huck doesn’t like to be civilized like the rest of society making him an outcast and non-conformist. Huck Finn is a very self-reliant person and he shows it in his thoughts and actions throughout the book. Self reliance is to use your mind on your own to be able to do things. Just as Emerson said, â€Å"A weed is a plant with wise virtues which have not yet been discovered.† Huck throughout the book is a boy searching for himself. Huck is self reliant because he does not know what he wants but through testing situations he discovers what he likes. Huck tries school but realizes it isn’t for him. He is self reliant because he is able to make choices on his own without any help.. Another example of self reliance in Huck is his ability to use what ever means he can, to get out of tight situations. Throughout the book Huck uses elaborate tales and lies to help him get through life.

Plot of The Return of The Native :: essays research papers

A reddleman is traveling with a young woman, across Egdon Heath on a November day, when he crosses the path of a stranger on the road and keeps the woman’s identity a secret. The two talk and eventually depart when they split paths to rest at night. From there the reddleman notices many figures on a hilltop and later finds out that these people are the heath folk who have come to start a fifth of November bonfire. The Reddleman safely returns Thomasin Yeobright, to her aunt, Mrs. Yeobright. Thomasin Yeobright was to be married to Damon Wildeve that day. Mrs. Yeobright takes Thomasin with her to see Wildeve at the inn he owns, to ask for an explanation of why the two did not get married yet. The heath folk, after the bonfire, come to congratulate the supposed newlyweds. After a while, Wildeve gets rid of them and then goes off to see Eustacia Vye. Eustacia Vye watches for Wildeve and sets up a signal fire near her grandfather’s house. Wildeve, who was once her lover, finally arrives. The Reddleman accidentally learns of the meeting between Eustacia and Wildeve. The Reddleman then purposely overhears the conversation of Wildeve and Eustacia the next time they meet. Then he tries to get Eustacia to help Thomasin, and finally tells her that he knows about the meeting between her and Wildeve. He also tells Mrs. Yeobright that he wants to marry Thomasin. Though he is rejected, Mrs. Yeobright uses him to put pressure on Wildeve. Wildeve goes immediately to Eustacia to convince her to leave with him, but she will not answer right away. The news of Clym Yeobright’s arriving during the Christmas holidays is widely talked about on the heath, even in Captain Vye’s house (Eustacia’s grandfather). Eustacia hears a lot about Clym, while Mrs. Yeobright and Thomasin make preparations for his arrival. After getting a glimpse of him, Eustacia is very interested in Clym because she wants to get away from Egdon Heath and live in Paris. At a party in Mrs. Yeobright’s house, she is successful in meeting Clym, but she is wearing a costume. Because she becomes interested in Clym, she tells the Reddleman that she would like to see Wildeve married to Thomasin. They do marry and Eustacia serves as witness. Mrs. Yeobright, who had once opposed the marriage, does not attend, and Clym finds out about it after it has been done.

The Misuse of Torture in Rendition Essays -- Film Analysis

What if someone you love just disappeared? The United States used this same idea to install a program known as the extraordinary rendition. It was put in place during the Clinton administration, but became publically recognized after 9/11. In the context of the movie, Rendition, rendition refers to the transfer of suspected terrorists outside of the United States to a foreign country, where harsh interrogation and torture takes place. Although Rendition was installed to protect the United States from terrorist attacks, the rendition of Anwar El- Ibrahimi represents the government’s misuse of the program. In the movie, Rendition, a terrorist bombing occurs in a foreign country and an American envoy is killed. An investigation is then dispatched, which leads to an Egyptian who has been living in the Unites States for many years and who is married to a United States citizen. This man, Anwar El- Ibrahimi, is then apprehended on his way home from a business meeting in Egypt. As Anwar El- Ibrahimi is now a terrorist suspect and is appeared to have gone missing on his flight back to the United States, his wife, Isabella El- Ibrahimi and a CIA analyst are trying to figure out where he is. The U.S government wants to find the mastermind who committed such terrorist attacks so they can prevent future attempts like these. In the movie, Alan Smith, CIA Analyst, confronts Corrine Williams, CIA’s Head of Operation Rendition, on human rights and she replies, â€Å"Honey, this is nasty business. There are upwards of 7,000 people in central London alive tonight, because of information that we elicited just this way. So maybe you put your head on your pillow and feel proud for saving one man while 7,000 perish, but I got grandkids in Londo... ...of. The fact that Anwar El- Ibrahimi is abducted under reasons not justified by the cause is crossing the line. The movie Rendition exemplifies the misuse of torture as a way to show us the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Although someone seems like a terrorist, the U.S government cannot abduct such person solely on that assumption. One must look at the background and analyze their entire lives. Torture and rendition are a very sensitive and extremely controversial issue, but one must take a step back and realize what stops the government from torturing oneself. Works Cited "Rendition Quotes." Movie Quotes - Subzin.com. Web. 22 Dec. 2010. . "Rendition (2007) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 22 Dec. 2010. .

Contemporary Issues in Nursing Essay

In today’s world of nursing, there are efforts to improve patient care at hospitals. Severalstates across America are considering implementing nursing ratio laws. This ratio law wouldrequire hospitals to have strict nurse-to-patient ratios enforced at all times. Only California hasimplemented nursing ratios so far and it has been the subject of mixed reviews. Steps the legislation went throughThroughout the 1990’s, health care labor unions in California tried to implement nursestaffing laws through legislation and ballot initiatives. The California Nurses Association (CNA)campaigned for several years to constitute a mandated nurse-to-patient ratio system in California. The first endeavor was in 1993 when Assembly Bill (AB) 1445 was introduced into theAssembly. Unfortunately, the bill did not succeed. The nurse-to-patient ratios were also a part ofProposition 216, the health care reform initiative introduced by CNA in 1996. Governor PeteWilson vetoed another version of the ratio bill, AB 695, which was passed by the legislature in1997 (Institute for Health, 2001). The CNA organized a rally of nurses and patients throughoutCalifornia to win enactment of AB 394. More than 10,000 letters, post cards and phone callswere made to the governor in support of the bill. Registered nurses (RN) and senior citizens bythe thousands assembled on the Capitol Steps in support of the bill in September, 1999 (Dumpel,H. 2003). Description of issue and recently enacted legislationAB 394 was passed and signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999. This bill â€Å"directs theCalifornia Department of Health Services to establish minimum, specific, and numerical licensednurse-to-patient ratios by licensed nurse classification and by hospital unit† in acute carehospitals. Although it passed in 1999, it was not implemented until January 1, 2004 due to thefact that the California Department of Health Services could not base deductive evidence onwhich to base the actual ratios (Coffman, J., et al, 2002). The implementation was frozen as anemergency by California Governor Schwarzenegger due to the severe nursing shortage and highcosts. California courts upheld the Governor  and enforced tougher standards (Anonymous,2007). Under the legislation enacted, acute care hospitals in California need to have a minimumof one licensed nurse for every two patients in intensive care units, one nurse for every operatingroom patient and one nurse for every five patients on a medical surgical floor. The legislationcalls for half of the licensed personnel working in intensive and coronary care units to belicensed as an RN. The consequence of the nurse ratio law on quality and access to patientcare is still a subject of debate in California (Coffman, J., et al, 2002). Impact of nursing practiceThe CNA claims that â€Å"ratios have been successful in creating safer workingenvironments in hospitals†. The CNA believes that having the ratio laws in effect will attractRNs that have left the field. Data obtained from the CNA shows that since the ratio law wassigned, the number of actively licensed RN’s in California have grown by more than 60,000,with an additional 60% increase in RN new applications. Turnover vacancy rates in California’sbiggest hospital systems have fallen below 5% as a result of this ratio law (CNA, 2005). Supporters of the ratio law believe that staffing ratios help improve working conditions andattract more young people to the nursing profession. Working conditions within acute carehospitals have an impact on the number of RNs that choose to practice there (Coffman, J, et al,2002). Impact on quality of health care delivery to the patientThere is a strong correlation between nurse-to-patient staffing ratios compared to lowrates of medication errors and patient deaths. Nurse staffing is key to influencing patientoutcomes. In a study of orthopedic and vascular surgery patients discharged from 168Pennsylvania hospitals, the risk of adverse outcomes were 31% higher in the hospitals thatstaffed 1 nurse to 8 patients, compared to 14% higher with hospitals that staffed 1 nurse to 4patients. Hospitals that staff 1 nurse to less than 5 patients also have a lower incidence of patientfalls, medication errors and nosocomial infections (MacPhee, M., et al, 2006). Improved RN topatient ratios also have a reduced rate of  pneumonia, urinary tract infections, shock, cardiacarrest, gastrointestinal bleeding, and other adverse outcomes in acute care settings. Recentresearch indicates that the cost of the RN to patient ratio law is considerably lower than the costof basic safety interventions commonly used in hospitals such as PAP tests for cervical cancerand clot-busting medications to treat stroke and heart attacks. Shorter lengths of stay have alsobeen reported since the ratio laws took place (Needleman, J., et al, 2002)HistoryCalifornia became the first state to mandate minimum nurse staffing ratios. Suggestionsfor nurse-to-patient ratios have been specified in union contracts at hospitals in several otherstates. Since California passed AB 394, related bills were introduced in many other states suchas Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The cause for staffing ratios was aresult of average patient acuity in the state of California rising and projected increases for acuitylevels to keep increasing through the next 20 years (Institute for Health, 2001). AB 394 mayhave a major impact on demand for nursing personnel, the adequacy of nursing supply and thequality of nursing care provided to consumers. Nursing unions in California representing nursessaw this bill as an aid for improving patient and employee safety. Hospitals throughoutCalifornia were concerned that AB 394 would incr ease the difficulties they face in recruiting andretaining nurses (Coffman, J., et al, 2002). Position of various health organizations on the issueThe topic of nursing ratios seem to be a convincing tool in protecting patient safety andimproving working conditions for nurses. However, realistic thought must be taken inestablishing attainable and pragmatical ratio standards. It is expensive and difficult to attract andretain enough qualified nurses to meet these ratios. Many proponents feel there are not enoughnurses available to meet these requirements. Difficulties in recruiting and retaining hard-to-findnurses costs an estimated $422 million and is a factor in the closure of several hospitals and aleading cause for shutdowns of 11 ERs and psychiatric units throughout California (Leighty, J.,2005). California ranks 49th across all states in the number of nurses per capita. The stateEconomic Development Department states, â€Å"California will be short  more than 97,000 RNs bythe year 2010†. When the ratio law began in California in 2004, 85 per cent of hospitals were notable to be compliant with the regulations. The main contributing factor was not having enoughnurses to cover meal breaks (Anonymous, 2004). Medical surgical nurses see understaffing as a problem that contributes to nurse burnout. Three out of five nurses state that low staffing levels have a negative impact on patient care. Three out of five nurses also state they have thought about leaving the hospital floor nursingsetting in the past two years. Nurses across the country feel that ratio regulations would improveworking conditions (AFT Healthcare, 2003). Impact of this legislationThe CNA believes that nursing ratios protect patient’s safety and eliminatesdangers associated with patient overload. CNA President Deborah Burger strongly feels that theratio laws have alleviated the nursing shortage by attracting 30,000 RNs to the state. She feelsthat burned -out or retired nurses are coming back into the profession because of betterconditions in the workplace (Leighty 2005). From a nurse’s point of view, the ratio regulations are what has been needed to improvepatient care and nurse satisfaction. For each extra patient above 4 added to a nurses assignment,there is a 23% increase in burnout and 15 % increase in job dissatisfaction. Research has shownthat better staffing for nurses in hospitals is reflected lower levels of absenteeism and higher jobsatisfaction (MacPhee, M., et al 2006). Legal responsibilities and Ethical dilemmasThe recent ratio regulations have caused problems throughout California. Hospitals areat times unable to receive patients, ambulances are diverted to more far away hospitals andpatients are now waiting longer in the emergency rooms. Before the regulation was made inplace in California, many nurses felt they made  decisions about patient care and were able toplan his or her workday to meet their patient’s needs. Many feel now, that the regulation is a†numbers game†. (Leighty, J., 2005). Some hospitals may look to cut costs to keep up with thecost of the ratio laws. They may look to decrease other personnel such as unlicensed caregivers,ward clerks, transporters and housekeepers. This could make nursing jobs in the hospital lessappealing to RNs. Higher personnel costs can also sway hospitals from ordering new medicalequipment with state of the art safety features (Coffman, J., et al 2002). Although the ratios are a subject of mixed reviews, many nurses in California are happywith the regulation. As a newer nurse who recently entered the profession, I am overwhelmed attimes with my patient load of five patients. I am thankful to work in a state where nurse ratiolaws are in place. Adding more patients to my daily assignment would more than likely makeme leave the hospital setting due to burn-out due to high levels of job dissatisfaction. References AFT Healthcare (2003, April) Patient- to- Nurse Staffing Ratios: Perspectives from HospitalNurses. Retrieved February, 10, 2004 from http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/healthcare/HartStaffingReport2003.pdfAnonymous (2004). California Hospitals Express Disappointment Over Court Ruling on NurseStaffing Regulation: Ruling Jeopardizes Hospital’s Ability to Guarantee Access to Care. Retrieved February 13, 2007 from http://www.calhealth.org/public/press/Article%5C103%5CCHA%20News%20Release%20on%20Nurse%20Ratio%20Lawsuit%205-26-04.pdfAnonymous (2007). Does Nurse-To-Patient Ratio Legislation Help Patients or Harm Hospitalsin the United States? Retrieved February 10, 2007 from http://www. Globalinsight.com/Perspective/PerspectiveDetail6099.htmCalifornia Nurses Association (2005) RN to patient Ratios. Retrieved February 10, 2007 fromhttp://www.calnurses.org/nursing-practice/ratios/ratios_index.htmlCoffman, J., Seago, J., Spetz, J., (2002) Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratios in Acute CareHospitals. Health Affairs, 21(5), 53-64. Retrieved February 13, 2007, from Research LibraryDatabase.