How to Answer “Can I Contact Your Current Employer”

How to Answer â€Å"Can I Contact Your Current Employer† If anyone asks where you were today, you were at a dentist’s appointment. Right? The vague â€Å"appointment,† always in the middle of the day, is a classic tactic for interviewing for new jobs while you’re still at your current one. You just put up your â€Å"out of office† message and hope no one notices that you’re awfully dressed up for a Wednesday. However, your slick cover story could be blown if the interviewing company contacts your current one. How does one avoid this potential explosion of awkwardness?Look, everyone understands that the sneaky interview is kind of the dirty little secret of the working world. Everyone does it at some point, in hopes of trading up their current position, or pursuing a new opportunity. That doesn’t mean you want your intentions broadcast across your current company- especially if you don’t get the new gig. Ideally, the interviewer will accept your list of non-current-boss references without que stion. But there’s a chance he or she might ask you the dreaded question: â€Å"Hey, do you mind if I contact your current employer?†DO understand that they’re not trying to double-cross you.No one is snitching†¦the person interviewing you merely wants to get a sense of what you’re like as a current employee. He or she knows it’s awkward, but it’s a valid question. After all, your current boss might know you’re interviewing for a variety of reasons (like your job is ending due to a layoff, your job is temporary, etc.)- so it certainly can’t hurt to ask.DON’T panic, and assume that everyone will soon know about your secret interview.It’s definitely okay to say that you’d like to keep your job search under wraps for now.DO have some current colleagues in mind that you could include as a reference.If you have a trusted coworker who has a clear sense of your abilities as an employee, but who can also be tr usted with a secret (and who has been told ahead of time that you’re on the hunt), then offer them as an alternative reference. That way, you can say to the interviewer that you’re not comfortable if she talks to your current boss yet, but that you have another reference at your current company whom she could talk to in the meantime.DON’T act cagey, like you have something to hide.Be up-front that you’re not comfortable offering up your current boss as a reference at this time. Emphasize that your available references are well aware of your abilities as an employee, and let the interviewer know that they’re happy to talk to him or her in the meantime.DO leave the door open for the future.After you say that you’re not comfortable with the interviewer talking with your current manager, make sure they know that it’s not a final â€Å"no.† Let him or her know that when the timing is right, you’d be open to them contacting yo ur current company.If all goes well, you can sneak back into your office with a spring in your step, and secure in the knowledge that your secret is safe for now.

A Training Camp for Aspiring Book Authors

A Training Camp for Aspiring Book Authors A Training Camp for Aspiring Book Authors A Training Camp for Aspiring Book Authors By Daniel Scocco I met Jonathan Fields last year. We were both speaking at the Blog World 2010 conference, and he also attended a small meetup I had organized for online entrepreneurs. During that meetup I was quite impressed with his business and marketing ideas, so I started following his work. Last week he sent me an email saying hes about to launch a training camp for aspiring book authors, and I figured it could be the right program for some of our readers, especially because I know his success stories. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur and marketing consultant, and a couple of years ago he decided to write a book. He figured that the traditional book publishing model was broken, though, so he went on to develop new strategies to promote his. By leveraging the Internet and his innovate marketing methods he managed to reach a #1 Amazon rank for his category, keeping it for over one month after his book launch. If you want to check it out for yourself heres the Amazon link to his boo, called Career Renegade. He also got featured on many mainstream publications, include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and NewsWeek. The program hes launching is called Tribal Author Camp, and it runs from August 1st until September 29th. During the first 3 weeks youll learn how to create an online presence, which will be the foundation of your book launch. The following 6 weeks cover all the tactics and strategies you need to know to promote and sell your book. Heres the structure: Weeks 1 3: Digital Author Platform 80/20 your online platform-building efforts to get the biggest return for your efforts Choose your tribal home base and core evangelist channels Mine social media to make your book more buzzable WHILE you’re still writing it Choose between WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, Posterous, Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, forums, podcasts, webcasts, teleseminars, and more Understand the pros and cons between email lists, RSS, followers, fans and friends Learn the unwritten rules of online social communities; break ‘em and you’re dead in the water Weeks 4 6: Building Pre-Launch Buzz Conditioning the market – how to build interest months in advance Developing your pre-order campaign to drive advanced amazon sales, brick mortar pick-up and early buzz Finding and recruiting high-likelihood amazon reviewers Creating your advance copy reviewer list – what metrics guide this critical task How to get big name people to blurb your book – who to ask, who never to ask and why How to integrate traditional PR into the mix (working long and short-lead media and how much not to spend) Creating time-bomb flagship/viral content to drive advance buzz/pre-orders Laying the foundation for mass-exposure blog-coverage and engaging blogger reviews and interviews Weeks 7 8: Launch and Building Critical Mass Compressing coverage into your Critical Window, so that the marketing energy begins to feed on itself and get the world talking and buying books Driving the digital media blitz – coordinating social media mentions, reviews, interviews and emails. What to work like crazy to accomplish and what to avoid like the plague The pros and cons of contests, live streaming launch promotions and the critical mistakes to avoid Creating evangelist contests – what do do, who to include and what never to do Repositioning your book as an irresistible â€Å"key to the castle† buy – how to stack an irresistible offer around your book to sell way more books and build your list a lot faster Limited-time bulk sales launch offers and bundles – do they really work? Week 9: Sustained Growth Getting hyper-creative and keeping your momentum alive Bundling speaking and bulk book orders for maximum sales effect Weekly strategies to fuel ongoing sales and continued buzz Piggybacking major monthly news stories Partnering with organizations causes Negotiating bulk and specialty sales going forward, how to tap the corporate premium market As you can see its quite comprehensive. As I mentioned above the training camp starts on August 1st (i.e., this Friday), so click here to check the official website if you are interested. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should Know44 Resume Writing Tips50+ Words That Describe Animals (Including Humans)

Economic event ( read steps down ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic event ( read steps down ) - Essay Example In brief, the Reagan Tax Reform Act of 1986 was passed by a bi-partisan majority in both house and senate and signed into law by the President. What this affected was lowering the top individual income tax rate from 50% to 28% (Cebula 132). Although this was a vast reduction, it was in fact revenue â€Å"neutral† as the tax burden that was created from the savings was merely passed off onto businesses. President Bush further passed legislation that reduced the tax burden down from 28% to 20%. This has caused an ever increasing budget deficit as Washington is both unable to curtail spending and seemingly obsessed with further tax cuts. It is this cycle of ever increasing budgets and the inability to raise taxes on any group due to the political pressures that have evolved into the unique situation that both political candidates face. Further complicating the issue is the fact that Mitt Romney’s plan intends on keeping the Bush era tax cuts and extending them indefinitely. Similarly, his tax plan claims that although no additional percentage tax increases will be affected, additional revenue will be generated by reducing itemized deductions and other special benefits that the wealthy typically enjoy on their taxes. Analysis by independent think tanks and tax analysts have proven that this particular maneuver will not even come close to closing the revenue gap that further reduction in the highest individual rates will have (William 4). Furthermore, if Mr. Romney will be able to meet the same level of tax revenues while reducing the tax revenues generated from the wealthy, this will invariably be dependent upon the plan’s ability to cover the shortfalls of tax revenue/generation. Likewise, a primary issue that one quickly realizes when analyzing Mitt Romney’s tax plan is the fact that he is interested in: cutting the

American History 1865 to Present. Native Americans Essay

American History 1865 to Present. Native Americans - Essay Example However in the later years, i.e. during the end of the nineteenth century several attempts were made by the U.S. government to compensate the natives for their loss by way of reformative laws which included abolishment of the restrictive policies and introduction of measures to assimilate them within the mainstream American society. Thus, while a significant duration of the nineteenth century was plagued with wars and hostility among the two groups, the early and mid twentieth century in contrast paved way towards a more inclusive form of governance which aimed at rehabilitation and reformation of the Native Americans. 1866: The Powder River Indian Expedition The Powder River Indian Expedition refers to a full scale offensive launched by the American Army against a group of Native Americans namely the Sioux, Cheynne, and the Arapaho Indians, during the gold rush (Clodfelter, 1998). The Native Indians were pushed back from their newly assigned territories by a group of explorers and g old hunters and were left with no other alternative but to fight back in a bid to defend their territories. Comprised of a group of volunteers the Native Indians waged sporadic war against the raiding army of white Americans by mostly attacking isolated farms and eventually, transportation routes. As a result the white population living in and around Denver, fearing attacks from the Native Indians, pleaded protection from the governor which led to dispatch of the First and Third Colorado Cavalry to the Indian reservation in Sand Creek (Hampton, 1964). The massacre at Sand Creek by the Army and brutalities unleashed by the Cavalry regiments who raided and... American History 1865 to Present. Native Americans It depicts the series of events which led them to flee their land restricting them to reservations with limited access to or authority for self-governance. The history of Native Americans during the course of the nineteenth century highlights the manner in which the tribe was forced to move westwards through military might; a succession of failed treaties and laws and regulations governing crucial elements of their lives including the right to education, practicing religion, and other cultural observances. As the U.S. geared for its aggressive expansion policy, the native tribes were pushed further away losing not only their land status and identity as a whole. This study traces the history of the Native Americans through six key events between the period 1865 to present beginning from the Powder River Expedition in the year 1865 to the Termination of the Reservations and its consequences and implications on the Native Americans in present day America. It also includes a comprehensiv e discussion on the various laws, treaties, and policies implemented from time to time including the Dawes Act and the Indian New Deal during the mid nineteenth century to the various federal congressional laws introduced over the years with a view to assimilate the tribe into the mainstream society. The history of Native Americans is indicative of the various struggles, fears, endurance, and hopes experienced by various tribes during their encounter with the white Americans.

Tap Dance in America Essay Example for Free

Tap Dance in America Essay According to Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, â€Å" tap dance [is a] style of American theatrical dance, distinguished by percussive footwork, [which] marks out precise rhythmic patterns on the floor.† Also, â€Å"Tap is an exciting form of dance in which dancers wear special shoes equipped with metal taps. Tap dancers use their feet like drums to create rhythmic patterns and timely beats,† Treva Bedinghaus, graduated from Holli Barrons School of Performing Arts and The Ballet Academy, writes in Tap for beginner, â€Å"The term tap dancing is derived from the tapping sound produced when the small metal plates on the dancers shoes touch a hard floor or surface. † In 125 Years of Tap, Jane Goldberg, a dancer-writer who is considered as one of the most prolific voices in the filed of tap dancing, writes: â€Å"What distinguishes tap [dancing] from most other dance forms is that it is two arts in one: music and dance. The dancers are ‘playing their feet’ and moving at the same time.† In another article The Art of Tap Dancing, Amy Brinkman-Sustache, artistic director of Dance-works on Tap (DOT), describes, â€Å"A step is a word. You put steps together to make a sentence. Questions are raised and answered through rhythm. It’s like listening to a conversation.† Literally, tap is America’s unique contribution to dance. â€Å"Tap history is mostly an oral tradition,† Kikelly, performer/scholars from Virginia Tech, says, â€Å"and a single definitive history has not yet been written.† Still, Kikelly and many other people like her are working hard to reveal the truth about how this art form developed. Tap is believed the double of diversity. â€Å"The history of tap has been a story of survival, revival, renaissance and innovation,† Jane Goldberg indicates in her 125 Years of Tap article, â€Å"the controversial roots of which arc still being debated, though the primary sources are usually considered to be Irish and African-American.† According to Constance Valis Hill, Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University, â€Å"tap dance is an indigenous American d ance genre that evolved over a period of some three hundred years. Initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America, tap emerged in the southern United States in the 1700s. The Irish jig (a musical and dance form) and West African gioube (sacred and secular stepping dances) mutated into the American jig and juba. These in turn became juxtaposed and fused into a form of dancing called â€Å"jigging† which, in the 1800s, was taken up by white and black minstrel-show dancers who developed tap into a popular nineteenth-century stage entertainment.† Furthermore, â€Å"early styles of tapping utilized hard-soled shoes, clogs, or hobnailed boots. It was not until the early decades of the twentieth century that metal plates (or taps) appeared on shoes of dancers on the Broadway musical stage,† Hill summarizes, â€Å"in the late twentieth century, tap dance evolved into a concertized performance on the musical and concert hall stage. Its absorption of Latin American and Afro- Caribbean rhythms in the forties has furthered its rhythmic complexity. In the eighties and nineties, tap’s absorption of hip-hop rhythms has attracted a fierce and multi-ethnic new breed of male and female dancers who continue to challenge and evolve the dance form, making tap the most cutting-edge dance expression in America today.† Yet, according to theatredance.com, â€Å"no one really knows when the phrase ‘tap dance’ was first used – perhaps as early as 1900 – but it didn’t appeared in print until around 1928.† â€Å"Unlike ballet with its codification of formal technique, tap dance developed from people listening to and watching each other dance in the street, dance hall, or social club where steps were shared, stolen and reinvented. ‘Technique’ is transmitted visually, aurally, and corporeally, in a rhythmic exchange between dancers and musicians. Mimicry is necessary for the mastery of form,† Hill points out. Moreover, she continues indicating, â€Å"The dynamic and synergistic process of copying the other to invent something new is most important to tap’s development and has perpetuated its key features, such as the tap challenge. [†¦] The oral and written histories of tap dance are replete with challenge dances, from jigging compe titions on the plantation that were staged by white masters for their slaves, and challenge dances in the walk-around finale of the minstrel show, to showdowns in the street, displays of one-upsmanship in the social club, and juried buck-and wing-contests on the vaudeville stage.† Indeed, Jane Goldberg also writes, â€Å"one documented fact is that many tap legends began performing any place they could — especially street corners — before the discipline Invaded vaudeville shows and, eventually, the silver screen. In a contest by the performers to outdo one another, tap kept evolving, transforming into an art form of self-expression as well as highly stylized production numbers.† For such a long time, tap was considered â€Å"a man’s game† or even â€Å"a largely black, male-dominated form.† People easily notice various famous male tap dancers in history like Bill Bojangles Robinson (1878-1949), John W. Bubbles (1902-1986), or Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990). Female dancers, in contrast, were not very honored in history books. Yet, Jane Golden presents, â€Å"a number of young white women got into the act starting in the mid-1970s. These women studied and often performed with their male mentors,† even though the fact Stacie Strong has noted in History, Herstory, OUR STORY article: â€Å"While male tap dancers acted as headliners, women tappers filled out the chorus lines. Though many of their names have been lost, these women were incredibly versatile and talented. Headliners often did the same act week after week (or even year after year), but the chorus had to learn a new routine every few weeks, often working with props and in outlandish costumes, performing as many as four shows a day.† Professor Constance Valis Hill’s inclusive history is the first to also highlight the outstanding female dancers, she wrote in Tap Dance in America: A Very Short History, â€Å"In 1986, La Mama presented Sole Sisters an all woman, multi-generational tap dance show directed by Constance Valis Hill that brought together high-heeled steppers and low-heeled hoofers, the veteran grande dames of tap and younger prima taperinas.† Next, she indicates, â€Å"Soul Sisters was not the only production to open the door for the recognition of female jazz tap dancers. On the West Coast Lynn Dally, who founded the Jazz Tap Ensemble in 1979, combined her extens ive experience in modern dance with jazz tap to organize a group of dancers that insisted on performing and interacting with a live jazz ensemble. On the East Coast, singer, jazz and tap dancer Brenda Bufalino, formerly a partner of Honi Coles, founded the American Tap Orchestra, and set about experimenting with how to layer and orchestrate rhythmic groups of dancers on the concert stage.† â€Å"Today the type of tap that mostly closely resembles the style current during Robinsons era is jazz or rhythm tap. These dancers concentrate on improvisation and choreography that incorporate the complicated rhythms of classic jazz music. Often they look crouched over, listening to their feet — and thats exactly what theyre doing. While some rhythm tappers have begun choreographing for their upper bodies, the emphasis is still on the dancers hearing themselves. The mentors of todays leading rhythm tappers have often been called ‘hoofers’,† writes Jane Goldberg. In addition, The Basic Characteristics of Tap Dancing shows, â€Å"Tap dancers make frequent use of syncopation. Choreography typically starts on the eighth or first beatcount. Another aspect of tap dancing is improvisation. This can either be done with music and follow the beats provided or without musical accompaniment, otherwise known as acappella dancing.† This article also points out another major variations on tap dance, besides rhythm tap: â€Å"Early tappers like Fred Astaire provided a more ballroom look to tap dancing, while Gene Kelly used his extensive ballet training to make tap dancing incorporate all the parts of the ballet. This style of tap led to what is today known as Broadway style, which is more mainstream in American culture.† Specially, the article give some examples of common tap steps and how professional tap dancers make their new steps: Common tap steps include the shuffle, shuffle ball change, flap, flap heel, cramp roll, buffalo, Maxi Ford, single and double pullbacks, wings, Cincinnati, the shim sham shimmy (also called the Lindy), Irish, Waltz Clog, the paddle and roll, the paradiddle, stomp, brushes, scuffs, and single and double toe punches, hot steps, heel clicks, single, double and triple time steps, riffs, over-the-tops, military time step, New Yorkers, and chugs. In advanced tap dancing, basic steps are often combined together to create new steps. Timesteps are widely used in tap and can vary in different areas. These consist of a rhythm that is changed to make new timesteps by adding or removing steps. The images of tap dancer and their shoes has also changed, especially for female dancers: â€Å"Boundaries have shifted dramatically since the 1970s, when high-heeled tap shoes were reserved for Broadway-style tap and flat oxford-style shoes were associated with rhythm tap,† according to Darrah Carr MFA from New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. Additionally, Carr notes that â€Å"Introductory high-heeled taps range from 1†³ to 1 ½Ã¢â‚¬ ³ high, while more advanced heels can be up to 3†³ high. [†¦] Dancing in heels also forces you to hold your body more upright, which can change your stage presence. [†¦] ‘Heels encourage you to incorporate your hips and your shoulders into your dancing and wearing heels makes you think about extending the line of your leg’. In contrast,  "many tap dancers find that nothing beats the comfort of flats,† Carr reveals, â€Å"Flat tap shoes are made in the same oxford style for women and men, and many dancers feel that the shoe looks best when paired with pants or jeans. And flats have larger metal taps than heels, so the sound produced is a deeper, heavier bass tone. (The smaller metal taps on high-heeled shoes create sounds that are higher in tone.)† Another ideas showed by Carr are: â€Å"A dancers body placement in flat tap shoes is centered between the toes and heels. [And] certain steps, such as side shuffles and toe stands, are easier to execute in flats because your weight is more evenly distributed.† Still, â€Å"Whether youre a heels lover or forever committed to flats, its important that you become comfortable with both shoe styles,† she advises. Indeed, according to Elena North-Kelly, â€Å"High heeled, low heeled, soft leather, hard leather, split soled, and full soledall tap shoes are not created equal. Different styles of tap shoes facilitate different styles of tap dancing. When shopping for a shoe, you need to consider comfort, flexibility, aesthetic, shape, and, of course, sound.† Also, North-Kelly quotes a statement from Lynn Schwab, who teaches tap at New York Citys Steps on Broadway, to help people with choosing tap shoes: While part of a tap dancers sound is a product of technique, it also relates to the material of the shoe. For rhythm tapping, the best sound comes from a harder shoe with a wider heel. Finally, North-Kelly says, â€Å"Dancers hoping for a career on Broadway, however, have a little more leeway, partly because most Broadway dancers use different tap shoes for performance, classes, and auditions.† Briefly, with a relatively brief but rich history, the tap tradition is growing bigger, better and broader every year. In fact, holding an enormous respect for the past, Jason Samuels Smith, the first tapper to win an Emmy award for choreography since Hermes Pan in 1958, used to say: â€Å"Tap culture is all about celebrating the past and accumulating its vocabulary over time. If we don’t maintain our history, we lose what’s valuable about tap.† He is not the only person who thinks that way, Donna-Marie Peters – professor at Temple University, also express her ideas in Passing On: The Old Head/Younger Dancer Mentoring Relationship in the Cultural Shpere of Rhythm Tap: Respect for the artistic tradition of tap is the value that humbles even the most seasoned performers. This value demands subservience to the art that is seen as bigger than the individual and takes a lifetime to master. By honoring the art over the individual, the tap dancers become servants to the art, working to the best of their ability to execute it well. The long-term survival of this struggling art form is dependent on a cot munity of individuals with a sense of purpose, dedicated to keeping the art form alive and moving forward. Works Cited TAP DANCE. (n.d.): Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Bedinghaus, Treva. Tap for Beginners. About.com n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://dance.about.com/bio/Treva-Bedinghaus-32821.htm Carr, Darrah. Heels vs. Flats. Dance Spirit 14.8 (2010): 98. MAS Ultra School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Hill, Constance. â€Å"Tap Dance in America: A Very Short History.† (2002): n. pag. Web 26 Oct 2011. http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/55/node/70581 Holmes, Vance. All ABout Tap Dance. TheatreDance.com n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://www.theatredance.com/tap/. Goldberg, Jane. â€Å"125 Years of tap.† Dance Spirit 7.5 (2003): 34. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. North-Kelly, Elena. Tap Shoes Meet These Dancing Feet. Dance Magazine 79.3 (2005): 68. MAS Ultra School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Peters, Donna-Marie. â€Å"Passing On: The Old Head/Younger Dancer Mentoring Relationship in the Cultural Shpere of Rhythm Tap.† Western Journal of Black Studies 34.4 (2010): 438-436. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26.Oct.2011. Schneider, John. â€Å"The Art of Tap Dancing.† n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-11832-the-art-of-tap-dancing.html Strong, Stacie. â€Å"History, Herstory, OUR STORY,† Dance Spirit 11.10 (2007): 62. MAS Ultra – School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct 2011. The basic characteristics of tap dancing. Ballet Shoes n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://shoes-collection.net/2011/10/05/tap-shoes-capezio/.

Lumumba: Race and Revolution :: essays papers

Lumumba: Race and Revolution In the French film entitled Lumumba, director Raoul Peck recreates the revolutionary struggle of Patrice Lumumba, the newly elected Prime Minister of The Congolese Republic. In the movie, we do not see much of the independence struggle against the Belgian government, but we begin to see the reconstruction of the African state in African hands. While no one ever claimed that decolonization was easy, maybe this particular example can best be explained by Fanon’s simplified little quip â€Å"decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. † In this paper, I will seek to locate where this post-colonial violence is located in discourses regarding race, class and gender. Particularly, I will look at the representations of race and class, and the lack of the representation of gender, in order to draw conclusions about the nature of representation and the effects this has on anti-colonial film. Locating the violence within the anti-colonial struggle may be harder than it seems. One can easily note the physical and sexual violence brought upon the people (black and white) of Congo after independence, but we must locate the other forms of violence in order to bring the entire story of Patrice Lumumba to light. The director’s attempt at bringing the story of Patrice Lumumba to the â€Å"silver screen† had political intentions. It had intentions of breaking post-colonial hegemonic forces that portrayed Lumumba as a nationalist dictator. In regards to race and class in Congo, I will refer to the work of Franz Fanon, in particular his book entitled The Wretched of the Earth. In this book Fanon develops a theory of â€Å"dual citizenship† required by the colonizers in order to validate the colonization process. We have to view the movie Lumumba as being part of the anti-colonial discourse in the history of the Congo but also as a historical fiction produced in 21st century France. In viewing this movie, we must locate race and class and the intersection between the two, as this is constantly the case in post-colonial states. We must also understand the exclusion of gender from revolutionary discourses as being part of patriarchy that is not challenged in certain revolutions. The exclusion of gender equality from what Lumumba struggled for is where there is a certain patriarchy, and this kind of patriarchy is evident in almost all revolutionary anti-colonial writing.

Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS Essay

The American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) is offering cultural exchange programs for American students and High School pupils throughout the world. Their customers have the possibility to go abroad while the AIFS organises the whole trip for them. Due to their business model the revenues of the company are denominated only in USD, since the offer is for American students who pay in USD. Meanwhile the costs of the company is mostly denominated in foreign currency because AIFS has to pay the transport, the hotel and much more in the countries in which their customers are travelling, hence the firm has to pay in the local currency of these countries. In consequence of the fluctuating exchange rate of USD against foreign currencies and the fact that AIFS fixes the price for their services before the costs can be estimated, the firm faces an inevitable currency exposure. In order to limit or eliminate this risk, AIFS has to hedge their currency exposure. At the moment the company hedges 100% of their exposure using forward contracts and currency options. Now Becky Tabaczynski, CFO of one of the main divisions, is creating a model, including different scenarios, with the goal of identifying which proportion of the exposure should be hedged at all and in which proportion forward contracts and currency options should be used for hedging. Not hedging at all could have disastrous consequences for the whole company because in the case of a weak dollar the costs could rise drastically while the revenues remain fixed. Suppose the company has fixed the prices for the current season and now the costs in Europe are one million euros, while the exchange rate is at 1.20 USD/EUR. This means the firm’s costs are 1.2 million dollar. If the dollar weakens against the euro and the exchange rates rises to 1.32 USD/EUR, costs for AIFS would increase by 10%. Thus costs would increase by The higher the costs turn out, the higher this negative effect would be in nominal amount. The biggest stake of the costs are in euro and pound sterling, hence these two currencies are of major concern. In case of a strong dollar the company would profit the most without hedging but due to the downside trend of the dollar against euro and sterling simultaneously in short and medium term (Exhibit 6 & 7) there is  reasonable evidence that AIFS s hould be prepared to cover their currency exposure. If the company would use 100% forward contracts to hedge their costs, they would fix the costs, no matter what happens to the exchange rates of dollar to foreign currencies. An advantage of this strategy is that AIFS does not have to bear any costs entering the forward contracts, but on the other hand, it will neither make a profit in case the dollar strengthens nor will it suffer a loss in case the dollar weakens. A more flexible but meanwhile more expensive strategy to hedge is only using currency options. That means AIFS would have to pay the option premium in any case but this strategy allows to profit from unlimited favourable movements while limiting losses by the premium. So if the spot rate at expiry is higher than the strike price, AIFS can exercise their option and buy foreign currency for the lower strike price. And if the spot rate at expiry is less than the strike price, AIFS can forget about the option and buy for the lower spot rate. In any case the option premium has to be added to the costs. The possible outcomes in the two described strategies and a scenario with no hedge at all are summarized in the table below. % Cover 100% 100% 0% Contracts 0% 100% – Options 100% 0% – 1.01 -3,725,000 0 -5,250,000 1.22 1,525,000 0 0 1.48 1,525,000 0 6,500,000 The table is based on a sales volume of 25,000 and average cost of â‚ ¬1,000 per participant. That means, with the current spot rate of 1.22 USD/EUR the costs would be $30,500,000 (â‚ ¬25,000,000 * 1.22 USD/EUR). The option premium in this case is 5% of the USD notional value that is hedged and three scenarios are examined: The dollar strengthens (1.01 USD/EUR) The dollar remains stable (1.22 USD/EUR) The dollar weakens (1.48 USD/EUR) In the first column the proportion of the hedged amount is given and in the second and third column of the table the proportions of forward contracts and currency options used to hedge are listed respectively. The fourth fifth  and sixth column show the nominal effect on the costs in each scenario relative to the ‘zero impact’ scenario (exchange rate remains stable at 1.22 USD/EUR) while it is assumed that in each hedging strategy the strike price is the current spot rate of 1.22 USD/EUR. Comparing the results of the table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy. If 100% of the currency exposure is hedged only using options, the costs rise by $1,525,000 (which is exactly the option premium $30,500,000 * 5%) both in the ‘zero impact’ scenario and in the scenario of 1.48 USD/EUR, since in both cases the option will be exercised. In the case of a strong dollar (1.01 USD/EUR) the option will not be exercised since euros can be bought to the lower spot rate but the premium is lost. In total the costs still sink by 3,725,000 because the effect of the lower spot rate compensates the premium. Using only forward contracts to hedge results into no impact on the costs in any case since the exchange rate is fixed no matter what happens and there is no initial cost entering the contract. In case AIFS does not hedge at all, the costs either decrease by $5,250,000 if the exchange rate is 1.01 USD/EUR, or remain unchanged in the ‘zero impact’ scenario or increase by $6,500,000 if the exchange rate is 1.48 USD/EUR. The impact on the cost if nothing is hedged arises merely from the difference in the spot rate and is much stronger than in the hedged case. Since the company is highly affected by news of war, terrorism and political instability, events which are impossible to predict, I would suggest to alter their hedging policy and use mainly options for hedging. In case of such terrible news the forecasted volume of 25 thousand could drop up to 60%. That means in the worst case of a 60% drop, the companies costs decrease by 15 million euros but AIFS would be obliged to buy this amount if they are only hedged with forwards. Options instead would give the company more flexibility, which is a major issue since not only the exchange rates fluctuate but also the volume of participants. In my opinion AIFS should use proportions of 75% options and 25% forward contracts. In this way AIFS would fix the costs for a quarter of their exposure and still be flexible enough to react to different market circumstances and unforeseen events. Moreover AIFS should keep covering 100% of their exposure because they have already experienced a loss of $700,000 in 1995 while they only hedged 80%. In addition the company should continue to deal with 6 different banks to reduce the counterpart risk. In the following table the impact on the costs in different scenarios are summarized using the same methodology as in the table above. In the worst case scenario with 10,000 participants and in the scenario with 30,000 participants the currency exposure decreases to â‚ ¬10 million and increases to â‚ ¬30 million respectively but the impact on the costs using different proportions of forward contracts and options remains the same relatively speaking. Instead of derivatives, an alternative possibility for AIFS to hedge their currency exposure would be to set up accounts abroad in foreign currency up to a certain amount. This would simplify the hedging approach and it would be reasonable the business model of AIFS forces them to keep foreign exchange every year.

Nursing as a career

Nursing as a profession has fascinated me as a child.   I derive a lot of inner satisfaction in helping people, especially the sick, the needy and elderly people.   I do feel happy once I am able to observe the reaction and the gratefulness they suggest to me in their own humble way, once they have received help.   I consider this to be the most beautiful thing about the nursing profession.   I feel that nursing is a combination of science and technology, and the art of caring. I was able to witness the distinctiveness of nursing frequently, when a family member or a friend was admitted in a nursing care facility.   I felt that the nurses who provided care did a great job.   They were able to give all the love and affection to their patients, which really helped quicken recovery.   Frequently, patients who received care admired their nurses for developing a positive attitude and relationship during their stay in the hospital.   This according to me is the greatest reward that nurses get for their work. Nurses develop a bonding with their patients within a very short period, through interactions and common emotions shared following medical problems.   This relationship usually ends on a positive note, with recovery and discharge of the patient.   The patients have long-lasting memories of their nurses who helped them during traumatic periods. Nursing is one of the noblest professions, and I am very excited that I am going to be a part of it.   Besides specialized training, knowledge and skill required for nursing, I feel that the most important thing is to develop compassion, kindness, patience, conscience and understanding while providing professional care.   These issues according to me remain the most important characteristics of nursing, and all other things come second. My goals in life include helping humanity to the best of my knowledge, skill and competence, particularly in my field of specialization that is nursing.   Once I am able to complete my undergraduate course, I would like pursue masters, and even do research work, along with nursing practice in a community hospital.   A degree in nursing would be a stepping stone at fulfilling my goals in life.   Through masters and higher education, I would be in a better position to provide care and assistance to my patients. References: Maryland Health Careers (2007). Nursing Careers. Retrieved 3 February, 2007, from Maryland Health Careers Web site: http://www.marylandhealthcareers.org/html/student/nursing.html         

Rhetorical Analysis Definition and Examples

Rhetorical Analysis Definition and Examples Rhetorical analysis is a form of criticism or close reading that employs the principles of rhetoric to examine the interactions between a text, an author, and an audience. Its also called rhetorical criticism or pragmatic criticism. Rhetorical analysis may be applied to virtually any text or image- a speech, an essay, an advertisement, a poem, a photograph, a web page, even a bumper sticker. When applied to a literary work, rhetorical analysis regards the work not as an aesthetic object but as an artistically structured instrument for communication. As Edward P.J. Corbett has observed, rhetorical analysis is more interested in a literary work for what it does than for what it is. Sample Rhetorical Analyses A Rhetorical Analysis of Claude McKays AfricaA Rhetorical Analysis of E.B. Whites The Ring of TimeA Rhetorical Analysis of U2s Sunday Bloody Sunday Examples and Observations Our response to the character of the author- whether it is called ethos, or implied author, or style, or even tone- is part of our experience of his work, an experience of the voice within the masks, personae, of the work...Rhetorical criticism intensifies our sense of the dynamic relationships between the author as a real person and the more or less fictive person implied by the work.(Thomas O. Sloan, Restoration of Rhetoric to Literary Study. The Speech Teacher)[R]hetorical criticism is a mode of analysis that focuses on the text itself. In that respect, it is like the practical criticism that the New Critics and the Chicago School indulge in. It is unlike these modes of criticism in that it does not remain inside the literary work but works outward from the text to considerations of the author and the audience...In talking about the ethical appeal in his Rhetoric, Aristotle made the point that although a speaker may come before an audience with a certain antecedent reputation, his ethical appeal is exerted primarily by what he says in that particular speech before that particular audience. Likewise, in rhetorical criticism, we gain our impression of the author from what we can glean from the text itself- from looking at such things as his ideas and attitudes, his stance, his tone, his style. This reading back to the author is not the same sort of thing as the attempt to reconstruct the biography of a writer from his literary work. Rhetorical criticism seeks simply to ascertain the particular posture or image that the author is establishing in this particular work in order to produce a particular effect on a particular audience.(Edward P.J. Corbett, Introduction to Rhetorical Analyses of Literary Works) Analyzing Effects [A] complete  rhetorical analysis requires the researcher to move beyond identifying and labeling in that creating an inventory of the parts of a text represents only the starting point of the analysts work. From the earliest examples of rhetorical analysis to the present, this analytical work has involved the analyst in interpreting the meaning of these textual components- both in isolation and in combination- for the person (or people) experiencing the text. This highly interpretive aspect of rhetorical analysis requires the analyst to address the effects of the different identified textual elements on the perception of the person experiencing the text. So, for example, the analyst might say that the presence of feature x will condition the reception of the text in a particular way. Most texts, of course, include multiple features, so this analytical work involves addressing the cumulative effects of the selected combination of features in the text.(Mark Zachry, Rhetorical Analys is from The Handbook of Business Discourse, Francesca Bargiela-Chiappini, editor) Analyzing Greeting Card Verse Perhaps the most pervasive type of repeated-word sentence used in greeting card verse is the sentence in which a word or group of words is repeated anywhere within the sentence, as in the following example: In quiet and thoughtful ways, in happyand fun ways, all ways, and always,I love you. In this sentence, the word ways is repeated at the end of two successive phrases, picked up again at the beginning of the next phrase, and then repeated as part of the word always. Similarly, the root word all initially appears in the phrase all ways and is then repeated in a slightly different form in the homophonic word always. The movement is from the particular (quiet and thoughtful ways, happy and fun ways), to the general (all ways), to the hyperbolic (always).(Frank DAngelo, The Rhetoric of Sentimental Greeting Card Verse. Rhetoric Review) Analyzing Starbucks Starbucks not just as an institution or as a set of verbal discourses or even advertising but as a material and physical site is deeply rhetorical...Starbucks weaves us directly into the cultural conditions of which it is constitutive. The color of the logo, the performative practices of ordering, making, and drinking the coffee, the conversations around the tables, and the whole host of other materialities and performances of/in Starbucks are at once the rhetorical claims and the enactment of the rhetorical action urged. In short, Starbucks draws together the tripartite relationships among place, body, and subjectivity. As a material/rhetorical place, Starbucks addresses and is the very site of a comforting and discomforting negotiation of these relationships.(Greg Dickinson, Joes Rhetoric: Finding Authenticity at Starbucks. Rhetoric Society Quarterly) Rhetorical Analysis vs. Literary Criticism What essentially are the differences between literary criticism analysis and rhetorical analysis? When a critic explicates Ezra Pounds Canto XLV, for example, and shows how Pound inveighs against usury as an offense against nature that corrupts society and the arts, the critic must point out the evidence- the artistic proofs of example and enthymeme [a formal syllogistic argument that is incompletely stated}- that Pound has drawn upon for his fulmination. The critic will also call attention to the arrangement of the parts of that argument as a feature of the form of the poem just as he may inquire into the language and syntax. Again these are matters that Aristotle assigned mainly to rhetoric... All critical essays dealing with the persona of a literary work are in reality studies of the Ethos of the speaker or narrator- the voice- source of the rhythmic language which attracts and holds the kind of readers the poet desires as his audience, and the means this persona consciously or unconsciously chooses, in Kenneth Burkes term, to woo that reader-audience.(Alexander Scharbach, Rhetoric and Literary Criticism: Why Their Separation. College Composition and Communication)

How To Write Dates in Spanish

How To Write Dates in Spanish There is  a variety of subtle differences between writing common things in English and in Spanish. Such is the case with writing dates in the two languages: Where in English one might say February 5, 2019, a Spanish writer would express the date as 5 de febrero de 2019. Key Takeaways: Writing Dates in Spanish The most common way of writing dates in Spanish follows the form number de month de year.Names of the months are not capitalized in Spanish.With the exception of primero for first, the ordinal numbers are not used in dates in Spanish. Note that in Spanish the name of the month isnt capitalized. You can also spell out the number - as in cinco de enero de 2012 - but this is less common than using a numeral in the example above. However, in parts of Latin America, especially in areas with U.S. influence, you may also see the form abril 15 de 2018 in occasional use, and rarely you may see a period used in the year such as 2.006. Another important distinction is that in Spanish you should not imitate English by using ordinal forms such as tercero de marzo as a direct translation of third of March. The one exception is that you may say primero for first, so January 1st can be said as primero de enero. In numeral form, thats 1o, or a 1 followed by superscripted o, not a degree sign. Less commonly, the form 1ero is used. As in the examples below, dates are typically preceded by the definite article el in sentences. Sample Sentences Showing Use of Dates in Spanish El 16 de septiembre de 1810 era  el dà ­a de independencia de Mà ©xico. (Sept. 16, 1810, was Mexicos independence day.) La Epifanà ­a se celebras el 6 de enero de cada aà ±o en los paà ­ses hispanohablantes. (Epiphany is celebrated in Jan. 6 of each year in Spanish-speaking countries.) El 1 de enero es el primer dà ­a del aà ±o en el calendario gregoriano. (Jan. 1 is the first month of the year of the Gregorian calendar.) El proceso de recuento parcial comenzà ³ el 3 de mayo y todavà ­a continà ºa. (The partial recount process began on May 3 and still continues.) Desde el aà ±o de 1974, el primero de julio celebramos el Dà ­a del Ingeniero en Mà ©xico. (Since the year 1974, we celebrate the Day of the Engineer on July 1st.) Use of Roman Numerals and Abbreviated Forms In abbreviated form, Spanish typically follows a day-month-year pattern using a capitalized Roman numeral for the month. The units may be separated by spaces, slashes, or hyphens. Thus the abbreviated form of July 4, 1776, can be written in these ways: 4 VII 1776, 4/VII/1776, and 4-VII-1776. Theyre the equivalent of 7/4/1776 in American English or 4/7/1776 in British English. Common forms used for B.C. are aC and a. de C. -   for antes de Cristo  or before Christ - with variations in punctuation and sometimes the use of J.C. (Jesucristo) instead of merely using the letter  C. In scholarly writing, you may use AEC  as the equivalent of the English BCE, which means antes de la Era Comà ºn  or Before the Common Era. The equivalent of A.D. is despuà ©s de Cristo  or after Christ and can be abbreviated d. de C.  or dC  with the same variations as noted above. You also may use EC  (Era Comà ºn) for CE (Common Era). The abbreviations AEC  and EC  are even less commonly used in Spanish than their English equivalents are in English, mainly because they arent universally understood. They normally shouldnt be used unless demanded by the context, such as if writing for publication in an academic journal. Pronouncing the Years The years in Spanish are pronounced the same as other cardinal numbers are. Thus, for example, the year 2040 would be pronounced as dos mil cuarenta. The English custom of pronouncing the centuries separately - in English we typically say twenty-forty instead of two thousand forty - is not followed. Saying veinte cuarenta instead of dos mil cuarenta would strike native Spanish speakers as the mark of an English speaker. Using Prepositions With Dates Spanish does not use a preposition as the equivalent of on when indicating that something happens on a particular date. The date itself functions as an adverbial phrase, as it does in English when on is omitted. Such examples include la masacre ocurrià ³ el 14 de marzo wherein the phrase means The massacre occurred on March 14, with the Spanish word for on (en) not used. Similarly in English, one could correctly say The massacre occurred March 14.   During or throughout, on the other hand, can be added into the phrase by including the Spanish word for this, durante.  Such is the case in the Spanish version of the sentence Space exploration began during the 20th Century, which can be written as Durante el siglo XX dio comenzà ³ la exploracià ³n espacial.

Career Wheel Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career Wheel - Assignment Example Almost every organization or government agency has more than one financial managers responsible for overseeing the preparation of financial reports. There are more than 80 positions involving banking, insurance and finance. These positions are divided into six categories: accounting, banking and corporate finance, investment banking and securities, money management and supervisory agencies. Let us take the position of account executive for example. The duties involved in this position are: building broker network through networking, cold calling, soliciting residential mortgage loans originated by mortgage brokers and other financial institutions and prospecting. An alternate title which can be given to this person is Wholesale account manager, mortgage broker channel manager etc. The salary range is $50,000 to $100,000. The employment prospects are good as well as the advancement prospects (Fitch). For one to take up such a responsibility, a four-year college degree is required and three years of mortgage banking experience. The special skills required are: a detailed knowledge of mortgage origination process and a working knowledge of the pc programs. One is needed to work independently and he should have excellent communication skills. It is wonderful to shoulder the responsibilities of managing the national sales efforts of a mortgage broker network. The account executive acts as the primary liaison with mortgage brokers. The marketing industry is one that is diverse in many ways. Many people have taken up the marketing career. People like it so much because it is one of the careers that provides a good pay and it does not consume as much time as other careers such as medicine and engineering. However, this has made the industry to be a competitive one. It is hard to get a job in this sector. One has to be very determined. If one is not a

Career Counseling 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career Counseling 3 - Essay Example ring the statistics for the state in which I intend to work as a practicing counselor – Texas – the figures are generally similar to the national average, with Texas being slightly higher in most categories: the state median for wages is $28.18, with the state average for annual counseling wages is $58, 600, and the prospective job prospects for the future within the state increasing by 31% in 2018. The videos related to the counseling profession were enlightening in a number of regards; for instance, the mental health counselor video demonstrated to great regard how the profession functions by providing real life depictions of counselors in action, it also described the requirements to become a counselor in the specific field, as well as discussing benefits and disadvantages. The Bureau of Labor statistics site information on the counseling profession was perhaps the most comprehensive of all the information supplied; I greatly appreciated the detailed discussions on t he nature of the work, the potential future employment opportunities, and the necessary qualifications for the profession. I completely agree with your assessment of the information on the designated sites. I also agree that the sites were very impressive with the extent of information they contained regarding labor statistics. For instance, the information on the employment trends, including median wages and future employment opportunities for the specific profession were very enlightening material. I also agreed with you on the significant details these sites held in regards to the state specific information; while nationwide information is relevant, to gain a true understanding of the employment environment it’s necessary to have this state specific information to gain a more realistic perspective on the actual career potential within the counseling field. Ultimately, I completely agree with your assessment of the information on the labor sites. There are a great many ways in which career