Correct this essay...

The tragedy of Syrian Refugees’ Children

In order to gain money for his family, a child has to wake up early and go directly to work for long hours, often in hazardous conditions, using dangerous machinery in factories, getting abused by employers, and spending the whole day under the hot sun. After an exhausting day like that, the one thing that the child will do when he returns home is to fall asleep, but unfortunately, that was also not enough simple for him. Hence, every night the same nightmare will come chasing him and a scene of a terrified child trying to run away from the bombs that a warplane is dropping next to him will be played. He wishes he could bring a psychological to address every emotional wound he is suffering from or just go to school and play with children from his age. He just wishes an ordinary life; a life that a child should have to grow in. That wish was from a Syrian refugee child, but in fact, about 5 million child share the same dream and hope to be a student that is building his future. Therefore, these children should be afforded with education to erase the bleak image that is stored in their eyes and to not lose a generation of talent and mind.

            To begin, many Syrian refugees are finding difficulties affording their children education fees following the hard situation they live in, losing all their goods in their homeland and desperate to find a good earning job . The crisis of Syrian refugees affected the children’s education negatively. Recent statistics studies show that the number of refugees between the age of 3 and 18 is approximately 500 000, with only 150 000 of them getting educated due to the lack of funds some Syrian refugees suffer from (World Bank, 2016, 1:06). On the same matter, the lack of funds leads most refugees over the age of 18 to be unable to continue their higher education. According to Martin Trow, almost two percent of the capable age series have entered universities in Africa (as cited in Peterson, 2010, p.11). In order to solve these problems, NGOs offered free non formal education schools next to camps in order to help those unable to attend schools get a primary education (World Bank, 2016, 1:34). Solutions as these could give hope to refugees, motivating them to work harder in order to educate themselves.

Furthermore, many young Syrian refugees are obliged to work in risky places with acceptance of low wage salaries. The children’s parents are in a financial crisis and they are always wandering and searching for an income that can only satisfy their primary needs. In addition, legal standards are too tough for the Syrian youngsters to handle. For example, if a Syrian child wants to access the school, he/she must have an ID that reveals who they are and where they come from, but most of these refugees lost their ID in their hometown during war. This can be an enormous problem that these poor young-Syrian refugees might face. In the magazine” The Importance of Education for Refugees “(2017), it was reported that refugee students that are accessing schools are quitting because legal standards are tough for them because some things can not be provided or adapted. Since they are not allowed to work, all members of the family must work with low budgets in order to live or survive (para.6). Moreover, young Syrian boys are seen weak and many people think that they are able to handle abuse and violence so many work places demand them to work in their work place with very low income that can make the parents accept the offer.

The third reason is there are some refugees suffer from lack of English language. Almost all countries in the world use the English language in teaching their students while in Syria the government uses Arabic language in their curriculum. In addition, each day the number of Syrian refugees increases due to the unstoppable war in Syria which leads to raise the problem of language. For example, in Lebanon, the government use the English language in their curriculum to teach students which affect directly the achievements of refugees and may cause to have uneducated children due to the difficulties of language. For confirmation, according to a recent statistics, almost 2% of the capable age series have entered universities in Africa due to the difficulties that face them in school (as cited in Peterson, 2010, p.11). Therefore, as a solution, the governments should either insure new schools especially for Syrian refugees or make a second shift in one school with a Syrian teachers. For confirmation, “it is possible to assist teachers in developing strategies that incorporate the background knowledge of their refugee children” (“The importance of education for refugees”, 2017, para.6).

Syrian refugees face many issues in host countries, their lives became hard and in risky conditions. Recent statistics showed that the number of refugees that are enrolled in schools are 150000 students, and these students need help an support as they live in poor health conditions. Many of the Syrian refugees live in cold situations, for example in Bekaa the temperature is too low, and some refugee schools have no heating tools. In addition, many of the diseases they suffer of appear in schools and camps Syrian refugees live in and without undergoing any treatment (Word bank,2016,1:06).

Last but not least, the schools that are afforded for Syrian refugees are not formal departments which end up not rewarding these children with their right to own a certificate. A statistical report stated that the number of refugees between the age of 3 and 18 is approximately 500,000, with only 150,000 of them getting educated (World Bank, 2016, 1:06). For example, in Bekaa, a non formal school was established for Syrian children next to the refugee’s camp. Teachers were dealing with war children that are negatively affected with every hazardous situation they went through which are somehow hard to deal with accepting the fact of dead uneducated minds. So, it was a challenge for these teachers to bring children back to their normal life. Moreover, teachers are waiting for somebody to answer their call on finding a solution to insure refugee’s right of quality education by giving these children certificates helping them achieve their bright goal in an appropriate way ( hawerunesco, 2016, 3:50).  

To sum up, education will solve the problems that Syrian refugees are suffering from which consist of high fees, labor, English language problems, unhealthy environment, and no quality education. These children are waiting for an open door that will be opened by achieving the solutions stated above.

Wall Street Journal

- July 11, 2011

By

ALEXANDRA BERZON

"Red Carpet for the Chinese - Hotels Add Menu Items, Translators, Other Services for

Growing Travel Segment"

The traditional Chinese rice porridge, called congee, will soon become a staple of hotel

breakfast buffets in America and abroad as U.S.-based hotel chains compete for

growing numbers of Chinese travelers.

The Chinese dish is part of a set of broader initiatives to attract Chinese travelers at

hotel giants Hilton Worldwide Inc. and

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

. This summer, both hotel companies are rolling out hospitality standards centered on items

that cater to Chinese guests in hotels across the world

Congee breakfast is among the Chinese-style

amenities at the Hilton in San Francisco's

financial district.

Starwood plans to announce a program

Monday called "Starwood Personalized

Travel," which will require the company's

1,051 hotels—including the Sheraton, Westin

and W chains—to offer a set of specific

services for Chinese travelers, including in-room tea kettles, slippers and translation

services, in addition to new menu items.

The program will start at 19 hotels in cities such as New York, London, Mexico City,

Seoul and San Francisco, where Chinese business is rapidly growing. The program will

cover all Starwood hotels by the end of next year, the company said.

Hilton on Monday plans to announce a program for its Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand

called "Hilton Huanying"—from the Chinese word for "welcome." Hilton hotels can opt

into the program. Those that do—30 so far—must provide a front desk worker fluent in

Mandarin and a Chinese television station, as well as a full Chinese breakfast including

dim sum, congee and fried dough fritters, among other items. It will begin in August.

"Chinese travel is going to provide one of the great opportunities that we'll ever see in

the business," said Hilton Chief Executive Chris Nassetta.

Marriott International

Inc., meanwhile, is planning a new Chinese breakfast program in

the U.S. this fall that will include information for hotels on how to create a Chinese

breakfast.

Chinese foreign travel is still a small segment of overall global travel. But these moves

by hotel companies signal the growing importance that Chinese travelers are expected

to have in the coming years for the travel industry. They reflect both the leap in China's

economy and the loosening of restrictions on travel since as recently as a decade ago,

when Chinese were not allowed by their government to visit most countries.

"Outbound travel from Chinese is the next wave," said Starwood CEO

Frits van

Paasschen

.

The changes in part follow a script from the 1980s. As Japan's economy boomed, hotels

in many cities in the U.S. and around the world added Japanese breakfast items such

as rice, dried seaweed, pickled vegetables and miso soup to their menus.

The Starwood and Hilton Chinese programs are more formal and reach across their

portfolio of hotels. Attracting the new travelers is also urgent priority as growth in travel

dollars from many markets softens.

Global hotel brands have seen significant pick-up this year following deep declines

during the downturn. However the boost has been far greater in Asia than other regions,

reflecting in large part the growth of travel among Chinese.

In the first quarter of 2011, for example, Marriott saw revenue per available room in Asia

increase 17.2% compared to 5.8% in North America.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, 802,000 mainland Chinese residents visited

the U.S. in 2010, a 53% increase over the prior year. In 2005 just 270,000 Chinese

people visited the U.S. The Department of Commerce expects those numbers to reach

994,000 in 2011. The U.S. received $5 billion from Chinese visitors, according to the

Association, a 40% increase over 2009.

Japanese visitation in 2010 was much larger—around 3.1 million. Yet the trends are

divergent. From 2006 through 2009 travel from Japan declined each year, finally in

2009 reaching the lowest point since 1988, according to the Travel Association.

After Starwood executives noticed an enormous recent jump in the number of Chinese

subscribing to Starwood's loyalty program, a team led by Matt Gaghen, Starwood's vice

president of brand management, spent the last year researching the Chinese market

and discovered that language and food were two of the most important issues for

Chinese travelers.

As such, all Starwood hotels are to beginning efforts to hire at least one person on staff

who speaks a Chinese language. Chinese guests will receive a note from the general

manager translated into Chinese that offers the amenities available to them, such as tea

kettles, razors, toothbrushes and combs.

Since Starwood generally doesn't own hotels but sets standards for them, the changes

could mean a cost increase for hotel owners in some places that don't yet see many

Chinese travelers.

"We're planning and investing in this to get ahead and to appeal to Chinese at the

outset," Mr. Gaghen said.

Questions

25 possible points, 5 points per question.

1.

What services are hotel chains adding to cater to Chinese travelers? Identify 2-3

services that you can think of that are not mentioned in the article.

2.

What types of marketing research would you recommend to hotel chains to better

understand the services that Chinese travelers will want and expect?

3.

Besides hotels, what other firms could benefit from the increase in Chinese

travelers, and how should they tailor their services for this market?

4.

If your future employer is a firm that targets Chinese consumers, what skills and

experience will you need to contribute to your employer's efforts?

5.

Which aspect(s) of the business environment (economic, technological,

sociocultural, political/legal) are being affected the most in this article? Provide

specific examples.

Hello! I'm trying to write a code that will either encrypt/decrypt a message from an inputed text. I'm having the absolute hardest time getting stared and figuring out how to identify in the code if the input needs to be encrypted/decrypted and identifying the string to encrypt/decrypt with. These are the instructions:

Objectives

• Command line input
• File input and output
• Rethrowing exceptions

Program Description

Gaius Julius Caesar encoded his battle messages so that the opponent could not read them should they intercept them. The cipher required that both Caesar and the recipient knew the key to the cipher.

You are to write a program that reads in a message from a text file, encodes the message with a Caesar cipher, and then outputs the message to another file. Your program should also be able to read in an encoded message and decode it.

1. Define What this program must do. We did this in class. Check your class notes!

2. Outline How this program will accomplish the task. Your solution should be modularized.

Specifications

Input

The program should read, in order, command line arguments.
- The filename of the text file to open
- The cipher key for encryption/decryption
- A digit: 1 to encode or 2 to decode

*Using an IDE, look for "Run configurations" to set arguments. The IDE arguments needed are only the filename, cipher key, and encode/decode digit. You don't need the "java Cipher" portion that would be required if truly running from the command line.

Example of full command line input to encrypt:

 java Cipher messageFile secretword 1    
 The result is a new encoded file called "messageFile.coded"  

Example of full command line input to decrypt:

 java Cipher messageFile.coded secretword 2  
 The result is a new decoded file called "messageFile.decoded"

Note that the decoded message in "messgeFile.decoded" should be identical to the original file "messageFile"

Errors and Exception handling

• If the file does not exist, or the user somehow provides bad input data, the program should "crash", that is, rethrow the error to allow the default handler take care of it. (In the second version, this program will handle the errors with try/catch constructs.)
• Only the digit 1 or 2 is allowed. Any other integer value will result in an error message and the program will terminate. For example, if the arguments are messageFile secretword 3, the error message will be:
  Option 3 is not valid
• You may assume the cipher key is a single word of alphabet characters only.
• You may assume the text in the message file has alphabetic characters and punctuation characters (spaces, exclamation points, periods) only.

Encryption and Decryption

• To encrypt a message, each letter in the message is shifted right by a number corresponding to the distance of the cipher key letter from the first letter in the alphabet. The cipher key is reused over and over until the message is encrypted. Punctuation and spaces are not encrypted but still appear in the encoded message. Uppercase should be converted to lowercase. Letters "wrap" around from 'z' to 'a'.

• Message: the ships sail
  Cipher key: swiftly
  Output: ldm lsgho xttj wb wluf

Other examples:

• Message: the ships sail at dawn
  Cipher key: secretword
  Output: llg waedj kekc tp udor

• Message: the ships sail at dawn
  Cipher key: aaa
  Output: the ships sail at dawn

Output

• Output is written to a text file which is named same as the input file plus the extension:
  .coded if being encrypted or
  .decoded if being decrypted .

Helper Methods

You will want to add methods to shift up and down.

And this is the template provided:

/*
* Fix me
*/
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.IOException;

public class Cipher {

   public static final int NUM_LETTERS = 26;
   public static final int ENCODE = 1;
   public static final int DECODE = 2;

   public static void main(String[] args) /* FIX ME */ {

// letters
String alphabet = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";
  
// Check args length, if error, print usage message and exit
if (args.length...

// Extract input args to variables
       String inputFilename =
       String key =
       int action =
       String outputFilename = getOutputFilename(inputFilename, action);
       Scanner input = openInput(inputFilename);
       PrintWriter output = openOutput(outputFilename);

// Read in data and output to file
// Convert all letters to lowercase for output

       // Close streams

   }

   /**
   * Open input for reading
   *
   * @param filename
   * @return Scanner
   * @throws FileNotFoundException
   */

  
   /**
   * Open output for writing
   *
   * @param filename
   * @return PrintWriter
   * @throws FileNotFoundException
   */

/**
* Encode letter by some offset d
*
* @param c input character
* @param offset amount to shift character value
* @return char encoded character
*/
   public static char shiftUpByK(char c, int distance) {
       if ('a' <= c && c <= 'z')
           return (char) ('a' + (c - 'a' + distance) % NUM_LETTERS);
       if ('A' <= c && c <= 'Z')
           return (char) ('A' + (c - 'A' + distance) % NUM_LETTERS);
       return c; // don't encrypt if not an ic character
   }
  
   /**
* Decode letter by some offset d
*
* @param c input character
* @param offset amount to shift character value
* @return char decoded character
*/

   /**
   * Changes file extension to ".coded" or ".decoded"
   *
   * @param filename
   * @return String new filename or null if action is illegal
   */

   public String getInfo() {
       return "Program 3, Student's name here";
   }

}

If someone could please help and use the template to code this in JAVA in the next couple of days it would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!

Evaluate the characteristics of the top-level management in the MWM organisation at the end of the simulation. Develop a managerial succession plan for the blue buddies organisation. justify your responses and discuss disadvantages.

1.Introduction to the MWM Organization

MWM was originally a family business and the Dexter family is still the largest single shareholder even though their shareholding is under 5%. Their presence on the external board is largely honorary now. Frank Dexter was a solid state physics graduate who specialized in the development of hard drive storage and access protocols. Both his son and nephew, best friends from their earliest years, had graduated with majors in mathematics and physics respectively. These two, Marc and Stephen, were among the earliest gamers in the late 1970’s and had a vision for the industry. They built the company into a profitable and successful one and largely liquidated their shareholding in the mid-1990s.  

The organization still holds strongly to the values of fairness, integrity and innovation that the original founders had. MWM appears to new employees as an organization which can achieve good outcomes but can be rather sloppy and unsystematic in the way that it got there: it marches to its own drum. In the past, new console launches have been delayed by up to 6 months. When it has mastered something as an organization, it can be quite good at ongoing execution. However, when it needs to do something quite different from ‘business as usual’ it struggles. It lacks a ‘project management’ discipline which is usually taken for granted in most organizations in the technology industry.

MWM employs over 5500 staff. 85% are in the Roundland continent, the majority being located in three factory sites linked to distribution hubs – East Coast, Mid-Continent and West Coast. Head office consists of 500 people, and the Research Centre 800 people. The remaining Roundland employees are in Sales, spread across the Roundland continent. The 825 employees located in the Starland continent are mainly in Sales with some minor local support functions.

A– CEO

A has been with MWM for 15 years, previously playing the role of marketing manager. An enthusiastic gamer himself, he is often on the front cover of industry magazines and always willing to give opinions on the industry to journalists, many of whom he would count as his personal friends.  

His office wall is lined with trophies and citations awarded at the annual video gaming awards ceremony held in mid-January every year – just after the high winter sales period. A is a capable businessman and manages to keep the profits of MWM steady when those of competitors have been declining, although even he has been unable to stem the downward trend in profits experienced over the last 3 quarters. He has given his word that he will remain at the helm of MWM for as long as the shareholders still need him. It is well known that he is privately very wealthy and wishes to spend more time fishing.

B – CFO

B has only been with MWM for 6 months. He was previously a partner in a medium-sized accounting firm and had long wanted the chance to be part of an organization with tangible products and services. An active and sophisticated gamer himself, he leapt at the chance to join MWM when he noted the position advertised in a gaming industry magazine.  

B has become increasingly concerned by the drop in unit sales, although

he realizes that this is mostly due to the trend in the industry overall. He

believes that what the industry needs most is novelty, a new technological breakthrough which will “wow” customers to such an extent that they will be happy to replace their existing consoles, as they have done for each new generation of gaming console in the past.

C – Marketing Director

C is a well known figure in the video gaming world. She began her career in marketing at a well known consumer goods organization. After a thorough training in marketing, she made an industry switch to become the managerial assistant to Stephen Dexter. She is an avid gamer and extremely knowledgeable about the industry and its customers, and is deeply respected for this knowledge within MWM and the industry. She was the first person in the industry to accurately segment the market and to point out that gamers now ranged from under ten to over 40 and comprised 3 separate demographic and psychographic groups. Many of the competitors had adopted her classifications of the different customer segments. She had encouraged the other major players to subscribe to a panel which collected and distributed monthly information on certain vital customer purchasing and usage patterns. She is a popular conference speaker, often headlining industry events.

D – Operations Director

D has been with MWM for over 20 years, longer than A who he remembers inducting into the organization all those years ago.   D is a real devotee to the gaming industry. At home he has installed an impressive home cinema, complete with 7.1 surround sound and a $25,000 projector. When the MWM research laboratories want to test their latest graphics and sound systems, D is their number one test customer – if he likes it, it will be good enough for anyone in the market. D has seen the market develop from the first colored blocks moving on a screen to the massively impressive and realistic 3D pictures and great sound being offered today. After an early career in the mail distribution center and then in sales, D worked his way up through the business and took over the helm of Operations two years ago. His main challenge has been to deal with balancing staffing at the factories with the unpredictable demand pattern for consoles. The patterns that existed with peaks during the winter season and just before the summer break no longer occurred.   

E – Sales Director

E was seen as a strategic hire when she joined MWM just under a year ago from a major global computer giant, where she was deputy Global Sales Director. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and was a prominent researcher before her management career development led her to doing a stint in Sales. Following MWM’ struggles to change its culture, E was seen as the right person with the intelligence and initiative to make a real impact at MWM.

Write a review on this article

For more than two years, my school employer in Thailand had been trying to terminate me with forced retirement. In a January 2013 meeting with my supervisor, I was politely informed that my teaching contract for the new school year beginning in May of 2013 was not being renewed. The sole reason for this was my age. Although I was 68, my health was still good, and I hadn't missed one day of teaching during the past year. Furthermore, my mind was still very sharp, and teachers and students alike regarded me as one of the better teachers at school. Upon appealing this unfair action to the school's principal, I was given a contract for the upcoming school year but with a frozen salary, and the stipulation that both the school and I mutually agreed on my retirement in April of 2014. After an appeal and assistance from a third party, I was finally given a lawful due pay increase for my final year at the school.

Why, then, was my school so intent on forcing me into retirement? The answer lies in age discrimination or ageism which I will examine in this hub. After defining age discrimination and forced retirement, I will present the pros and cons of age discrimination and forced retirement in the workplace.

What is Age Discrimination?

Age discrimination or ageism may be defined as treating a person less favorably because of age. This is often reflected in the hiring, promotion, and forced retirement policies of businesses and governments. Whenever they can get away with it through loopholes in the law, businesses and the government will hire younger people in preference to senior citizens. A lot more younger than older persons will be promoted as seen during my career with the government.

Age Discrimination at Work

What Is Forced Retirement?

Forced retirement is the involuntary ending of a person's career usually through age discrimination. This can happen to an individual who is still in his or her 50s when a company is downsizing. Under the guise of early retirement with a few benefits, an employee who is still productive is coerced into a forced retirement. Forced retirement can also happen to an older employee in his or her 60s. This is done by making the workplace job so unpleasant that the employee eventually gives up and accepts a forced retirement.

Forced Into Retirement - What You Should Do

Arguments for Age Discrimination and Forced Retirement

What, then, are the arguments for and justifying age discrimination and forced retirement in the workplace?

1. The Employer Saves Money

It is a fact that older employees receive a much higher salary than younger employees. In the case of my employment at a school, wouldn't it make good business sense to replace my salary with that of a younger teacher who will earn half as much as me?

If a person is working for a business or government in the United States, the employer will contribute much less to retirement benefits for a younger employee than for an older one.

2. The Older Employee Is Less Productive

Some people have made the case that a worker's productivity declines rapidly after the age of 65. This is many times reflected in the increased number of sick days taken, and the slower reaction time both mentally and physically of older workers. Older workers are often challenged by new technology and find it very difficult to learn new office computer applications such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, Word, and Office. In competitive professional sports such as baseball, basketball, and football, the older athlete most times in his mid or late 30s is not as good as the younger athlete.

3. More Opportunities For Younger People

If a company or the government has too many older employees, it will not be able to hire new blood in the form of younger employees. It is a fact that younger employees are more energetic and generally more able to adapt to change than the older. By examining what is reflected in today's media, it is, in fact, a young person's world. Trends and changes in business and society are initiated by younger people. In professional sports, most people recognize that it is a young person's sport. Consequently, teams are built around the younger athletes rather than the older.

Arguments Against Age Discrimination and Forced Retirement

Now for the arguments against age discrimination and forced retirement which are as follow.

1. It's Unfair and Against Most Laws

In many western countries, age discrimination and forced retirement are against most laws. In Thailand, forced retirement is allowed; however, according to labor laws, the employee forced to retire from his job is entitled to severance pay. I personally feel that if an older employee is in good health, and has a good flexible mind to his or her job, it is unfair to force retirement.

2. The Older Employee Has a Wealth of Experience

Older employees have a wealth of experience to contribute to businesses and the government. The United States persuades some of its older employees to accept an early retirement by promising them part-time contractor jobs after they retire. As a part-time contract worker, the retirement annuitant gets to mentor junior employees, and the government saves money by not keeping the older employees on as full-time workers. Unless businesses agree to keep their experienced older employees on as part-time workers and mentors, they would be foolish to let this wealth of knowledge and experience go.

3. Older Employees Have Better Work Habits and Loyalty than Junior Employees

Many older employees have much better work habits than younger workers. A senior dedicated employee will not miss much work time and will always be on time. Because the senior is not interested in upper mobility and only looking out for himself or herself, he will be more dedicated to his job with the government or a business.

It is completely understandable why my school forced me to retire with age discrimination. The school could save money, and maybe the school and students' parents prefer seeing a younger and more handsome face in the classroom. Just the same, I challenge the school to hire a younger teacher who is more dedicated, more experienced, and a better teacher than me.

1.   Define each of the following fundamental concepts

1. Interpreted vs. Compiled Languages
2. Interpretive Overhead
3. Scripting (Procedural) vs. Object Orientation vs. Logic Programing vs. Event Driven Programming Paradigms
4. Programming Libraries/Modules
5. Command Line (Prompt)
6. ASCII
7. Functions
8. Control Flow
9. Hashes/Dictionaries
10. List Comprehension

True or False

2.   A dictionary is a random-access data structure.

3.   An array is a sequential access data structure.

4.   Using functions to isolate code is a good programming practice.

5.   Lexicographical ordering starts by comparing the first letters of two strings to determine the order.

6.   Standard Input in Perl and Python is the keyboard.

7.   Standard Output in Perl and Python is the printer.

8.   The character "!" comes after "M" in the ASCII table.

9.   Regular expressions are used to process text.

10. In Perl, the last calculation performed in a subroutine is returned by the subroutine, unless an explicit return value is provided with the return keyword.

11. Python numpy arrays are homogenous data structures.

12. A Python list is a mutable, random access data structure of mixed type.

13. Dictionaries are useful to store pairs of data sets which are related and of the same length.

Basic Statistical Functions

14. Come up with a function in Python to compute the sample mean of a list of numbers. The return value should be the sample mean and the input value should be the list of numbers. Do not use a built-in function for the mean. Show an example of your function in use.   

The sample standard deviation s_N is defined as the square root of the sample variance of a set of N values.

15.  come up with a function in Python to compute the sample standard deviation of a list of numbers. The return value should be the sample standard deviation and the input value should be the list of numbers. Do not use a built-in function for the standard deviation. Show an example of your function in use.   

Basic Text Processing

16. Come up with a function in Python to take in a piece of sample text via a long string (you pick the string) and to output a dictionary with each word as a key and it's frequency (the number of times it occurred in the original string) as the value. Show an example of your function in use. Be sure to strip out any punctuation.

17. Come up with a function in Python which removes a set of common words from a long piece of text. Be sure to strip out any punctuation. The common words to be removed are:

                    a, an, as, at, by, for, in, is, it, of, that, this, to, was, will, the

These are typical words which are considered to have low semantic value.

Process each paragraph provided below individually. Your end result for each paragraph should be a string or list containing the processed paragraph with the common words and punctuation removed. It is not required to put the text samples into a file (you can simply copy and paste into a string variable inside your Python script).

For the text samples to process, use the following (taken from the official Python tutorial):

If you do much work on computers, eventually you find that there's some task you'd like to automate. For example, you may wish to perform a search-and-replace over a large number of text files, or rename and rearrange a bunch of photo files in a complicated way. Perhaps you'd like to come up with a small custom database, or a specialized GUI application, or a simple game.

If you're a professional software developer, you may have to work with several C/C++/Java libraries but find the usual write/compile/test/re-compile cycle is too slow. Perhaps you're writing a test suite for such a library and find writing the testing code a tedious task. Or maybe you've written a program that could use an extension language, and you don't want to design and implement a whole new language for your application.

You could come up with a Unix shell script or Windows batch files for some of these tasks, but shell scripts are best at moving around files and changing text data, not well-suited for GUI applications or games. You could come up with a C/C++/Java program, but it can take a lot of development time to get even a first-draft program. Python is simpler to use, available on Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix operating systems, and will help you get the job done more quickly.

Python is simple to use, but it is a real programming language, offering much more structure and support for large programs than shell scripts or batch files can offer. On the other hand, Python also offers much more error checking than C, and, being a very-high-level language, it has high-level data types built in, such as flexible arrays and dictionaries. Because of its more general data types Python is applicable to a much larger problem domain than Awk or even Perl, yet many things are at least as easy in Python as in those languages.

Python allows you to split your program into modules that can be reused in other Python programs. It comes with a large collection of standard modules that you can use as the basis of your programs — or as examples to start learning to program in Python. Some of these modules provide things like file I/O, system calls, sockets, and even interfaces to graphical user interface toolkits like Tk.

Python is an interpreted language, which can save you considerable time during program development because no compilation and linking is necessary. The interpreter can be used interactively, which makes it easy to experiment with features of the language, to write throw-away programs, or to test functions during bottom-up program development. It is also a handy desk calculator.

21. Install a Python module that is not included with the Anaconda Distribution. Explain how you installed the module and take a screen shot of the install.  

The process of break-even analysis examines the relationship between revenue and costs for different factors of production. The main emphasis is in determining the number of units and the sales volume at which the company will recover its costs. At this level of production and sales the company's profits are zero. By examining this initial break-even point companies can analyze the risk of a particular project as well as any potential profits that can be garnered.
In a spreadsheet analysis of break-even problem, the advantage is that many "what if" scenarios can be examined without lengthy computation times and fear of computational errors are virtually eliminated. In addition, by taking advantage of the graphical capabilities of spreadsheet programs, the results can be shown graphically as well as numerically.
A well designed spreadsheet would accommodate cells for the input data such as fixed costs, variable cost per unit, price per unit, etc. It is possible to even provide for raw observational data to be used such as sales volume, total cost, and quantity. However, we will leave that model for a subsequent analysis. In addition, the model should provide an output range to include relevant factors like break-even quantity, break-even dollars, and target profit, etc. The model should be designed such that as the input values are changed the corresponding output values are automatically modified to reflect these changes. This process involves setting up relative formulas for the computation of break-even quantity, break-even dollars, and projected profits. Finally, the model should provide a graphical representation of the problem. This would best be represented as a linear graph of revenue, cost, and profit displayed as a function of quantity.
Some useful hints for creating a well-designed break-even computer model include:
1. The basic computational equation for break-even quantity is: Break-Even Quantity = Fixed Costs / (Price per unit - Variable Cost per Unit) 2. Break-even dollars can be computed using the revenue or cost formula evaluated at the break-even quantity. 3. Projected profits can be evaluated using the profit function evaluated at the planned production level. 4. Each of the above formulas should be written with relative references to the cells of the spreadsheet that contain the input data of price per unit, variable cost per unit, fixed costs, and planned production level.
Break-Even Analysis Project - Saint Francis Hospital
Saint Francis Hospital has an operating room used only for eye surgery. The annual cost of rent, heat, and electricity for the operating room and its equipment is $275,000, and the annual salaries for the people who staff this room total $1,270,000. These costs are the same

Page 2 of 2

regardless how many surgeries are performed. Each surgery performed requires the use of $1,375 worth of medical supplies and drugs. To promote goodwill, every patient receives a bouquet of flowers the day after surgery. In addition, all patients require dark glasses, which the hospital provides free-of-charge. It costs the hospital $55 for each bouquet of flowers and $25 for each pair of glasses. The hospital receives a payment of $3,500 for each eye operation performed. Last year the hospital performed 950 operations and plans to continue at this level of production.
Identify the revenue per case (price per unit) and the annual fixed and variable costs for running the operating room. Set up your spreadsheet so that theses inputs can readily be changed. Set up an output range to calculate the break-even quantity and dollar amount for total revenue and costs. Also, set up an output range to display the projected profits resulting from different levels of production. How many eye operations must the hospital perform each year in order to break even? What would the annual profits be if they perform 950 operations each year?
One of the nurses has just learned about a machine that would reduce the cost of medical supplies needed by $580 per patient. It can be leased for $475,000 annually. Keeping in mind the financial costs and benefits, advise the hospital on whether or not they should lease this machine. Use the spreadsheet to identify the break-even point and the level of profit associated with 950 operations per year. Modify the fixed and variable costs as appropriate and examine the break-even quantity and profits again.
An advertising agency has proposed to the hospital's president that she spend $10,000 per month on television and radio advertising to persuade people that Saint Francis Hospital is the best place to have any eye surgery performed. The advertising firm estimates that such publicity would increase business by 30 operations per month. If they are correct, what impact would this advertising have on hospital's profit? What would happen to the break-even point? In case the advertising agency is being overly optimistic, what would the decision be if the advertising campaign only increased the number of operation per month by 5? What is the maximum amount the Hospital would be willing to pay for the advertising if the ads generated 30 additional operations each month? Consider this option independent of the machine purchase described above.
Assuming the hospital decided to use the advertising program, should the hospital then also purchase the machine? What impact do these decisions have on profits and risk for the hospital?
Prepare a written report summarizing your results and recommendations. Include an explanation of the effects of changing the price, variable cost, and fixed costs on the break-even point and profits. The report should include printouts of the various spreadsheets and graphs to support your conclusions.
Deliverables
1. Executive summary report to address relevant problem definition, assumptions, alternative solutions, and optimal solutions selection. A Microsoft Word file entitled, Project1.docx 2. Detailed numerical analysis with appropriate calculations and charts for the various scenarios. A Microsoft Excel file entitled, Project1.xlsx

Jan Northcutt, owner of Northcutt Bikes, started business in 1995. She notices the quality of bikes she purchased for sale in her bike shop declining while the prices went up. She also found it more difficult to obtain the features she wanted on ordered bikes without waiting for months. Her frustration turned to a determination to build her own bikes to her particular customer specifications.

She began by buying all the necessary parts (frames, seats, tires, etc.) and assembling them in a rented garage using two helpers. As the word spread about her shop’s responsiveness to options, delivery, and quality, however, the individual customer base grew to include other bike shops in the area. As her business grew and demanded more of her attention, she soon found it necessary to sell the bike shop itself and concentrate on the production of bikes from a fairly large leased factory space.

As the business continued to grow, she backward integrated more and more processes into her operation, so that now she purchases less than 50% of the component value of the manufactured bikes. This not only improves her control of production quality but also helps her control the costs of production and makes the final product more cost attractive to her customers.

The Current Situation

Jan considers herself a hands-on manager and has typically used her intuition and her knowledge of the market to anticipate production needs. Since one of her founding principles was rapid and reliable delivery to customer specification, she felt she needed to begin production of the basic parts for each particular style of bike well in advance of demand. In that way she could have the basic frame, wheels, and standard accessories started in production prior to the recognition of actual demand, leaving only the optional add-ons to assemble once the order came in. Her turnaround time for an order of less than half the industry average is considered a major strategic advantage, and she feels it is vital for her to maintain or even improve on response time if she is to maintain her successful operation.

As the customer base have grown, however, the number of customers Jan knows personally has shrunk significantly as a percentage of the total customer base for Northcutt Bikes, and many of these new customers are expecting or even demanding very short response times, as that is what attracted them to Northcutt Bikes in the first place. This condition, in addition to the volatility of overall demand, has put a strain on capacity planning. She finds that at times there is a lot of idle time (adding significantly to costs), whereas at other times the demand exceeds capacity and hurts customer response time. The production facility has therefore turned to trying to project demand for certain models, and actually building a finished goods inventory of those models. This has not proven to be too satisfactory, as it has actually hurt costs and some response times. Reasons include the following:

- The finished goods inventory is often not the “right” inventory, meaning shortages for some goods and excessive inventory of others. This condition both hurts responsiveness and increases inventory costs.

- Often, to help maintain responsiveness, inventory is withdrawn from finished goods and reworked, adding to product cost.

- Reworking inventory uses valuable capacity for other customer orders, again resulting in poorer response times and/or increased costs due to expediting. Existing production orders and rework orders are both competing for vital equipment and resources during times of high demand, and scheduling has become a nightmare.

The inventory problem has grown to the point that additional storage space is needed, and that is a cost that Jan would like to avoid if possible.

Another problem that Jan faces is the volatility of demand for bikes. Since she is worried about unproductive idle time and yet does not wish to lay off her workers during times of low demand, she has allowed them to continue to work steadily and build finished goods. This makes the problem of building the “right” finished goods even more important, especially given the tight availability of storage space.

Past Demand

The following shows the monthly demand for one major product line: the standard 26-inch 10-speed street bike. Although it is only one of Jan’s products, it is representative of most of the major product lines currently being produced by Northcutt Bikes. If Jan can find a way to sue this data to more constructively understand her demand, she feels she can probably use the same methodologies to project demand for other major product families. Such knowledge can allow her, she feels, to plan more effectively and continue to be responsive while still controlling costs.

1. Plot the data and describe what you see. What does it mean and how would you use the information from the plot to help you develop a forecast?

2. Use at least two different methodologies to develop as accurate a forecast as possible for the demand. Use each of those methods to project the next four months demand.

3. Which method from question 2 is “better”? How do you know that?

For the short essay assignment you will compare Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” with Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “The Fish.” I would like your analysis to focus specifically on the poets’ use of figurative language (metaphor and simile, in particular). How does the speaker in each of the poems feel about the fish? How does the poet’s use of figurative language contribute to the poem’s tone? Your short essay needs to be 750+ words and written in MLA format. Your paper should consist entirely of analysis. Both poems are included below along with reading questions to help guide your analysis. Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market By Pablo Neruda & translated By Robin Robertson Here, among the market vegetables, this torpedo from the ocean depths, a missile that swam, now lying in front of me dead. Surrounded by the earth's green froth —these lettuces, bunches of carrots— only you lived through the sea's truth, survived the unknown, the unfathomable darkness, the depths of the sea, the great abyss, le grand abîme, only you: varnished black-pitched witness to that deepest night. Only you: dark bullet barreled from the depths, carrying only your one wound, but resurgent, always renewed, locked into the current, fins fletched like wings in the torrent, in the coursing of the underwater dark, like a grieving arrow, sea-javelin, a nerveless oiled harpoon. Dead in front of me, catafalqued king of my own ocean; once sappy as a sprung fir in the green turmoil, once seed to sea-quake, tidal wave, now simply dead remains; in the whole market yours was the only shape left with purpose or direction in this jumbled ruin of nature; you are a solitary man of war among these frail vegetables, your flanks and prow black and slippery as if you were still a well-oiled ship of the wind, the only true machine of the sea: unflawed, undefiled, navigating now the waters of death. Questions for “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market” by Pablo Neruda 1. Compile a list of words from the poem that deal with weapons or warfare. 2. Annotate all of the metaphors and similes in the poem. What do you notice of the balance of similes and metaphors? 3. What’s the subject of the poem? 4. Who is the speaker? 5. What’s the tone of the poem? 6. How does Neruda marry form and content in the poem? 7. Do you like the poem? Why or why not? THE FISH I caught a tremendous fish and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of his mouth. He didn't fight. He hadn't fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely. Here and there his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper: shapes like full-blown roses stained and lost through age. He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with tiny white sea-lice, and underneath two or three rags of green weed hung down. While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen - the frightening gills, fresh and crisp with blood, that can cut so badly- I thought of the coarse white flesh packed in like feathers, the big bones and the little bones, the dramatic reds and blacks of his shiny entrails, and the pink swim-bladder like a big peony. I looked into his eyes which were far larger than mine but shallower, and yellowed, the irises backed and packed with tarnished tinfoil seen through the lenses of old scratched isinglass. They shifted a little, but not to return my stare. - It was more like the tipping of an object toward the light. I admired his sullen face, the mechanism of his jaw, and then I saw that from his lower lip - if you could call it a lip grim, wet, and weaponlike, hung five old pieces of fish-line, or four and a wire leader with the swivel still attached, with all their five big hooks grown firmly in his mouth. A green line, frayed at the end where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine black thread still crimped from the strain and snap when it broke and he got away. Like medals with their ribbons frayed and wavering, a five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw. I stared and stared and victory filled up the little rented boat, from the pool of bilge where oil had spread a rainbow around the rusted engine to the bailer rusted orange, the sun-cracked thwarts, the oarlocks on their strings, the gunnels- until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go. Elizabeth Bishop The Noonday Press Elizabeth Bishop: The Complete Poems Questions on Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Fish” 1. Define the following words: venerable, barnacles, rosettes, sea-lice, entrails, peony, irises, isinglass, sullen, grim, swivel, fray, bilge, thwarts, oarlock, gunnels. 2. What is the subject of the poem and who is the speaker? 3. Find all of the similes (a comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as”) in the poem. Which of them, in your opinion, is the strongest and why? 4. Explain the following image: “Like medals with their ribbons/ frayed and wavering,/ a five-haired beard of wisdom/ trailing from his aching jaw.” What does she mean by “a five-haired beard of wisdom?” Why do you think Bishop chose to use the word “medals?” 5. Track Bishop’s use of color in the poem. Find the instances where she mentions specific colors. Why do you think that Bishop writes, “until everything/ was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!” towards the end of the poem? 6. Bishop repeats words and phrases throughout the poem. Choose an instance where she uses repetition and explains how it contributes to the poem. 7. Explain the tone (the speaker’s attitude about the subject matter) of the poem. Use evidence from the poem to support your answer 8. What, in your thinking, is the strongest aspect of this poem? Do you like the poem? Why or why not? 9. Fill in the outline of a fish with 15 details from the poem. Please label each of the details. Feel free to add to the area around the fish.

Instructions:

**Must use formulas and link to cells throughout Excel file. Please name your project; i.e. Your Last Name_302 Project & Your Last Name_302 Memo. See Project Scoring Rubric for additional detail related to grading.

                        A. Record the journal entries for the December transactions.**Must show formulas in cells.

B. Record the adjusting journal entries for 12/31/18.**Must show formulas in cells.

                        C. Set up a worksheet using Excel to:

• Prepare the Unadjusted Trial Balance as of December 31, by making the December adjustments (separate columns). **Must link cells to journal entries.
• Enter the adjusting journal entries into worksheet (separate columns). **Must link cells to journal entries.
• Prepare the Adjusted Trial Balance as of December 31. **Use formulas.
• Complete the Income Statement and Balance Sheet columns of the worksheet. **Use formulas.

                        D. Prepare a multiple step income statement including calculation of weighted average shares and earnings per share. **Must link to worksheet.

                        E. Prepare a retained earnings statement. **Must link to worksheet.

                        F. Prepare a balance sheet (both years presented). **Must link to worksheet.

                        G. Prepare a cash flows statement. **Must link to comparative balance sheets and income statements.

                        H. Compute the following (**Must link to income statement and/or balance sheet):

• Current ratio
• Acid test ratio
• Debt to Equity
• Inventory Turnover
• Accounts Receivable Turnover
• At least 5 other ratios of your choosing

Using the memo format located in Microsoft Word, compile a memo incorporating the following information:   

• Based on the financial statements and ratios, describe the financial health of this company.
• Would you invest in this company? Why or why not? What would your advice be to the president of the company?
• Memo must include what other information would be helpful in making your decision.
• Memo will be graded based on content, correct grammar & spelling and the student’s ability to summarize financial data in a logical manner indicating the student’s general understanding of the financial data. See Rubric for additional details.

Record the following entries in general journal form for December, 2018:

December 1: Purchased Land for a future building site for $500,000, paying $100,000 down and signed a 5%, 90-day note for the balance.

December 3: Recorded sales on account of $45,000, 2/15, net 30. Cost of inventory was 23,500. JPJones using the net method for accounting for sales.

December 4: Bought back 5000 shares of stock for $20 per share.

December 4: Purchased 40,000 worth of equipment, 5 year life, $5,000 salvage value, for cash. Equipment will be depreciated using the straight-line method of depreciation.

December 5: Issued 5000 shares of restricted stock to its CFO. The stock has a fair value of $72,000. The service period related to this restricted stock is 3 years. Vesting occurs if the CFO stays with the company for 3 years. The par value of the stock is $1.

December 8: Purchased inventory of $44,000 on account and paid $30,000 on separate account.

December 15: Recorded cash sales of $24,000, cost of merchandise inventory was $14,900.

December 16: Issued 1,000 shares of common stock at $16.00 per share

December 17: Received payment related to sale on December 3.

December 20: Recorded sales on account of $113,000, cost of merchandise inventory was $75,000

December 24: Sold 2500 shares of Treasury Stock for $23 per share.

December 26: Wrote off 3,500 in bad debt.

Record the following adjusting entries in general journal form as of December 31, 2018:

1. Supplies on hand at the end of the year: $450
2. Equipment shown on the 12/1 TB was purchased on 1/1/17, has a 8 year life, no salvage value and company uses double-declining balance method for its depreciation.
3. Included in the truck balance is a fully depreciated truck for $6,500 and a new truck valued at $50,000 which was purchased on 1/1/17. The new truck has a 9-year life, no salvage value and the company uses the sum-of-the-years digits for its depreciation method on this asset.
4. The patent was purchased on 1/1/2013 for $100,000 and its useful life is 20 years.
5. $18,600 was paid on September 1, 2018 for six months rent
6. On 3/1/18, paid $22,500 for a 12-month insurance policy.
7. Declared dividends of $15,000 on December 31
8. The fair market value of the securities (classified as marketable) is $19,500.
9. 4% of Accounts Receivable is estimated to be uncollectible. Company uses the allowance method for estimating its uncollectible accounts.
10. Accrued salaries expense of $6,000 and recorded Payroll tax expense on account of $2300.
11. Had issued $200,000 of 6%, 10-year bond, dated 1/1/17 for $215,589 when the market rate was 5%. Interest is paid on June 30 and January 1 using the effective interest rate method. The June payment is included in the Dec. 1 TB. (Additional credit awarded if amortization table is included)
12. One month has passed since the issuance of restricted stock.
13. Interest on 30 days of note payable should be accrued. (Assume 360 days in a year for calculation)
14. Income tax rate is 25%

Additional Information:

During 2018, the following additional transactions occurred: (Hint: these are already included in 12/1/18 TB, but may be needed for the Statement of Cash Flows)

1. Issued 5,000 shares of common stock, $1 par, for $35,000 on June 30, 2018.
2. Some equipment was sold (original cost $10,000, book value $6,000) for $5,000 (do not consider in your #2 AJE)
3. All amortization and depreciation is recorded once a year on December 31.