Stop the texts , Stop the the Wrecks free essay sample

Testing has become a big part of communication in the past 4 years. Its a great way of communication, but can be miss used in a dangerous way. Testing and driving is a huge problem in this world today. Its growing bigger each day with every accident. To prevent testing and driving its going to take a lot of work. Statistics prove testing while driving Is a growing dilemma and very hazardous. 1 1 percent of all drivers under the age of 20 are Involved In fatal accidents that were due to distracted drivers. For example, Savannah Nash, 16, died after she pulled out In front of a tractor on Missouri Highway. UT of 3 distracted drivers deaths, come from experienced drivers. People may think experienced drivers can multi-task, but In reality they really cant. Anyone, Inexperienced or experienced can really Injury themselves or other people. Even though testing and driving is an obstacle, there are alternatives to fix this problem. We will write a custom essay sample on Stop the texts , Stop the the Wrecks or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page One very simple way is to just simply turn of your phone or put it on airplane mode. With a touch of a button you can save your life or someone elses life. By simply putting your phone on airplane mode, you Just created a hassle free drive.Another great way to help stop testing while driving is to simply ask the passenger to reply or make calls or you. By doing this, the driver can concentrate on the road. Testing while driving is a big hazard while on the road. It can cause unexpected accidents in different places in many different ways. Where ever or whenever, testing while driving is really dangerous. By doing simple things, A big change will start to appear on the roads. Together as a community we can spread the word and help prevent testing while driving.

Chapter 1 Systems Analysis and Design Thesis (Resort) Research Paper Example

Chapter 1 Systems Analysis and Design Thesis (Resort) Research Paper Example Chapter 1 Systems Analysis and Design Thesis (Resort) Paper Chapter 1 Systems Analysis and Design Thesis (Resort) Paper CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND THE REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE INTRODUCTION A resort is like a small community composed of buildings and facilities located in a scenic area that provides lodging, entertainment, and a relaxing environment for people on vacation. Basic accommodations offered by resorts nowadays are swimming pools, cottage and room rentals, and restaurants. The resort business is becoming popular nowadays due to the growing demand of people for a convenient one-stop-place of leisure and comfort. The resort is a business in which they offer enjoyable moments to visitors to make them feel that something worth noticing happens. Vacationers enjoy significant moments and the charm they feel also rewards the organization with genuine monetary gain in lieu of the staffs’ persistent efforts to make such places heavenly. Villa Concepcion Wet Wild Waves, Inc. is a growing resort business located in Masuso, Pandi, Bulacan. If people want to avoid the crowded areas especially during the hot summer season, this resort is definitely their choice. It has seven pools to choose from and a variety of affordable cottages and rooms available for the guests. They allow telephone reservations and accept walk-in guests. In today’s world, information technology is becoming a necessity. It helps in doing things easier, faster, and more convenient. It is beneficial to individuals and organizations such as business enterprises, companies, institutions, and the government. One big contribution of the information technology is the computer. A  computer  is a machine which can take instructions, and perform computations based on those instructions. Computers are fast becoming our way of life and one cannot imagine life without computers in today’s world. You go to a hotel for reservation, you buy a ticket for a cinema, you go to a library, or you go to a bank, you will find computers at all places. Almost all business entities use computer systems in dealing with their transactions and storage of their files. Computer has made the work easy with its speed, memory, reliability in computing, and ease to retrieve data. The study is made for the VCWWWI that deals with day-to-day operations transaction systems, room and cottages reservation, property management system, conference and banqueting system, and stock-control system. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE History of Resorts Roman Empire: Baths The origin of resorts can be traced back to the second century B. C. to the public baths of Rome. The first baths were small, modest and separated the genders. Eventually, the baths became larger, more elaborate and were opened to both men and women. These baths were large buildings built at the public’s expense. Some were even built by wealthy emperors who wanted to make a statement. Most baths were free but few had small entrance fees. Baths were much like resorts of today because of all the amenities offered at their location. After bathing there was always plenty to do. Most baths included gyms, libraries, snack bars, restaurants, shops, lounges, taverns, museums and theatres. The facilities were used for health and social purposes. Europe: Mass Follows Class The first noteworthy resort area was developed in Belgium in 1326 in a town now called Spa. An ironmaster, named Colin le Loup, was cured of a long-term illness when he bathed in the iron-rich waters near Liege. He opened a shelter there and the town surged in popularity. Spa means fountain. The popularity of spas and resorts in England is a result of King Charles II visiting trendy hot spots in the 1600s. Today, royalty and superstars still seem to set trends of where the best places to go are. Many English spas are unique because they have gambling and dancing. Spas also became popular because of the medical benefits that were attributed to them such as waters that were rich in certain minerals and could cure ailments. The Swiss resort industry was developed in the 1800s to aid the need of private resort facilities for more prosperous people. At the time, travel was not simple. People who traveled to resorts stayed for long periods of time – up to two months to get the best value for their travel expenses. This led to resort facilities being built to accommodate a guest better than your average inn. Hotel Baur au Lac, built in Zurich, was the first resort to utilize the value of a scenic view. At first, Switzerland resorts were seen as summer places, but soon skiing became popular as well as gambling. North America: Spas Like Europe, North American hotels were developed around spas in the late 1800s. The first resorts were built first in the east in Virginia, New York and West Virginia. Shortly after, seaside resorts became popular. It was not until later that beach resorts were built in the south and mountain-based resorts were developed out west. The first luxury resort was built in 1829 in Boston. It was called the Tremont House and featured bellboys, gaslights instead of candles and marble and private rooms with locks for each family. The first ‘big’ hotel was built by Gideon Putman in Saratoga Springs, New York centered   on the hot sulfur spa there. http://iml. jou. ufl. du/projects/Spring05/Osterer/history. html Water-based Resorts While mountain-based and golf and tennis-based resorts are geared toward people that are relatively athletic, water-based resorts target people with all abilities. One can relax on a beach for hours without lifting a finger. Another could swim or jet ski until they are exhausted. Water-based resorts serve different ability levels of people and all ages. Many resorts design their facility around the natural environment that surrounds them. This allows them to frame their recreational activities to the natural land. This enables them to create amenities unique to their property. Often resorts use water for a variety of recreational activities that cater to a wide range of people. These include: * Natural beaches that may be used for sunbathing, swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, sandcastle building, jet skiing, kayaking, etc. * Trails and open spaces can be designed around lakes and wetlands. These areas can be used as fishing or camping sites. * Golf courses built on coast lines are growing in value and popularity. In the United States, many resorts highlight the views to promote their golf course. Marinas bring tourism to resorts as sailboats, motorized crafts and wind surfing stop to refuel or rest. When it comes to beach resorts, many variables come into play. A good beach should have a gentle uniform slope of about 7 percent. This creates a comfortable incline for sunbathers, walkers, joggers and sand-castle builders. The water purity and sand color are vital to an aesthetically  pleasin g area. In developing a beach-based resort, the designer should also consider the back beach which offers a view to both the sea and inland. Rooms with a scenic view are more profitable than rooms without it. Additionally, the surrounding area should be assessed to ensure access to major roads and other basic needs of guests that the resort cannot support. Other resorts use pools as a major source of entertainment. Using heated pools in winter assures that the facility is year-round friendly. Activities such as water bingo, log rolling and relay races may all be performed in the pool. Resorts can also host fitness classes in pools. A creative way to use water in northern resorts is to build indoor water parks. Safety should be a major concern for water-based resorts. Staff should be Red Cross trained if guarding pools and beaches. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury related to children ages 14 and under. http://iml. jou. ufl. edu/projects/Spring05/Osterer/water. html Hotel Definition Origins of the term The word hotel derives from the French hotel, which referred to a French version of a townhouse, not a place offering accommodation (in contemporary usage, hotel has the meaning of hotel, and hotel particulier is used for the old meaning). The French spelling (with the circumflex) was once also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the s once preceding the t in the earlier hostel spelling, which over time received a new, but closely related meaning. Services and facilities Basic accommodation of a room with only a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with en-suite bathrooms and, more commonly in the United States than elsewhere, climate control. Other features found may be a telephone, an alarm clock, a TV, and broadband Internet connectivity. Food and drink may be supplied by a mini-bar (which often includes a small refrigerator) containing snacks and drinks (to be paid for on departure), and tea and coffee making facilities (cups, spoons, an electric kettle and sachets containing instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, and creamer or milk). In the United Kingdom a hotel is required by law to serve food and drinks to all comers within certain stated hours; to avoid this requirement it is not uncommon to come across private hotels which are not subject to this requirement. However, in Japan the capsule hotel supplies minimal facilities and room space. Classification The cost and quality of hotels are usually indicative of the range and type of services available. Due to the enormous increase in tourism worldwide during the last decades of the 20th century, standards, especially those of smaller establishments, have improved considerably. For the sake of greater comparability, rating systems have been introduced, with the one to five stars classification being most common. http://reservation. travelaffiliatepro. com/content/hoteldefinition. tml The History of Hotels: From Economic To Extravagant Evidence of hotels and the hospitality industry have been recorded as far back as biblical times when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem during the census. As the Bible depicts, Mary and Joseph were refused accommodations because there was no room at the inn. Since the beginning of time, people have traveled for commerce, religion, family, health, immigration , education and recreation. As cited by Texas Tech University, the word hospitality comes from the Latin root meaning host or hospice. The university further noted that the first hotels were nothing more than private homes opened to the public. Most, unfortunately, had poor reputations. Under the influence of the Roman Empire, inns and hotels began catering to the pleasure traveler in an effort to encourage visitors. The first inn located in America was recorded in the year 1607 and lead the way with many other firsts in the hospitality industry. The first publicly held hotel (the City Hotel) opened in New York in 1792. The first modern hotel (the Tremont) opened in Boston in 1809 and the first business hotel (the Buffalo Statler) opened in 1908. From there a surge of hotels flooded American and the rest of the world with prominent names such as Radisson, Marriot and Hilton. Price, Service, Amenities Hotels (as well as other forms of accommodations) are generally segmented by the services and amenities offered. These two factors, along with location, also have a bearing on the price range. * Budget hotels  offer clean albeit simple rooms that provide the basics of places to sleep and shower. Usually budget hotels are designed for travelers looking to maximize their funds and minimize expenses. Prices can range from $20US per night to $70US per night. Business hotels  offer a high standard by providing rooms equipped with what business travelers would consider necessities. Usually found in business-class hotel rooms are high speed Internet connections, alarm clocks, comfortable beds, irons and ironing boards, coffee makers, complimentary newspaper delivery and hairdryers. Rates can range from $80US per night to $250US per night. * The facility of a business hotel would also offer an in-house restaurant, bar, exercise room and shuttle service to nearby airports. Limit concierge assistance is often included as well as room service, laundry and dry cleaning and wake-up calls. Luxury hotels  are known for their lavish decor and extraordinary service. With superior amenities, accommodations at luxury hotels are designed to thoroughly pamper and impress guests. According to a Business Week Online article, those in the luxury market are getting harder to please stating that luxury goods and service providers cant afford to blunder with the level of service and customer experience they provide. For this reason, many luxury hotels go far beyond the norm by providing a lifestyle experience equal to or better than what guests have become accustomed to at home. Luxury hotels frequently offer full-service day spas, five-star restaurants staffed by world-class chefs, ballrooms, lavish pools, golf packages and gu est services that are unsurpassed by any other class of hotel. In addition, luxury rooms generally include those amenities found in business class hotels plus in-room safes, goose down comforters and pillows, marble showers and tubs, larger rooms, separate sitting or living area and fog-free bathroom mirrors. Rates can range from $129US per night to $2,000US per night. Rates vary greatly depending on location and proximity to popular events and attractions. There are other classifications of hotels, however, most will fall into one of these three or a combination of these three. With the lines between business and personal becoming more blurred, many entrepreneurs and business executives will attend conferences or embark on business trips with family in tow. Hotels are aware of this common occurrence and have become adept at providing facilities and service both business and recreational travelers enjoy. searchandgo. com/travel/hotels-history. php Definition of Information Technology Information technology has been defined by the Information Technology Association of America, or the ITAA as being the study, design, development, implementation support and/or management of any computer based information systems. This relates particularly to software applications and computer hardware. Information technology deals with using electronic computers and software to convert, store, protect, process, retrieve with security or transmit any information. What began many years ago as a term that many had no awareness of to a term that has skyrocketed to include several aspects of computing and technology. IT is a wide based term and encompasses many areas. Professionals in information technology may perform a wide variety of tasks that range from installing computer applications to designing widely complex computer networks and information databases. Everything from data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, software design, database design and management and administration of systems is included in the term of information technology. When covering the aspects of IT as a whole, the use of computers and information are typically associated. The history of IT goes back several years. In order to perform the functions associated with the field of technology the modern field will use computers, servers, database management systems and cryptography. It was not very long ago that the field of IT only consisted of a single computer operator who stored data on a magnetic tape and then placed it in storage. Times have changed drastically in the field of technology from its inception several years ago. The field today typically includes a Chief Information Officer and several individuals who work together to achieve their goals. Years ago there was simply a single operator who performed all the tasks related to this form of technology. Today the job outlook for people interested in this field is very good. With data security and server specialists among the highest paid in the field, those with the needed skills and a keen interest in IT stand to earn a substantial annual income. With the increasing concern for data storage and management, along with the security issues that most companies and corporations are facing, a career in IT is an excellent choice or those who possess mathematical and strategic planning skills. Since 1961 the Information Technology Association of America has been working to enhance the interests of US technology and electronics industries. This association provides leadership training in areas relating to business development, public policy, market forecasting and standards of development to a large number of corporations. The ITAA provides a grassroots approach to global networking for companies, market and government from the smallest local level to a global audience. It currently represents more than 16,000 information technological related companies throughout the world. Based in Washington, DC, the Information Technology Association of American is the only organization of its kind that helps to unite local, state, national and global businesses in the area of technology. While technology today encompasses a wide range of individual focuses, it is becoming increasing clear that the IT field of the future will include many more topics and more demand than ever before. For those interested in becoming part of this rapidly growing field the time is now. Getting in on new developments could prove to be a very exciting and lucrative choice. http://ezinearticles. com/? Definition-of-Information-Technology;id=1109986 Advantages of Information Technology in the Business World Not only is information technology a fascinating and rewarding field for those with an interest in programming or computer systems, workers in nearly every other industry benefit from the advantages of information technology. From high-speed communications systems to complex, specialized databases to customized internal computer networks,  information technology  is inseparable from the modern business world. In industries as diverse as health care, government, education and manufacturing, IT professionals work to meet a wide array of technology demands. IT professionals choose hardware and software appropriate to the requirements of a particular organization, and then they take charge of its installation, maintenance, security and efficiency. In many cases, their management skills and business acumen are just as important as their ability to work with computing technology. allbusinessschools. com/business-careers/article/advantages-of-information-technology Hotel and Catering Software Applications Vertical-market software for the hospitality industry can be divided into three broad categories: hotel, catering and back-office An important concept when discussing hospitality-related software is integrated hotel system, which is a set of computer applications that, together, assist in managing and controlling all aspects of hotel operations. Such a system helps management to better satisfy the needs of the guests, and should be capable of handling every transaction from the guest’s initial telephone inquiry to their final billing. An integrated hotel system is composed of many different systems linked together, which include the following: * Reservation systems. Many authors include the reservation function within the property-management system. However, with the growing importance of central reservations system (CRS) and other forms of electronic distribution, and the development of techniques such as yield management, reservations system must now be discussed separately. A reservation system has two primary functions: to display room availability and to manage bookings. Other functions can include the ability to track guest deposits and travel agent commission, and the ability to provide important management and operational information. * Property-management systems (PMS). Sometimes referred to as front-office systems, these track which rooms are currently occupied or vacant in the hotel, and maintain the guests’ folios by recording details of sales and payment transactions. A PMS is now a necessity for most hotels and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to manage a hotel of 100 bedrooms or more without one. * A multitude of ancillary systems used to support the hotel’s PMS. For example, electronic door-locking systems generate a unique electronic key each time a new guest is registered, thus helping to increase security. Energy-management systems help to reduce heat and power costs by automatically turning off heating or air conditioning in rooms or sections of the hotel which are unoccupied. In-room entertainment systems provide extra services such as information screens, films, or computer games to guests while at the same time generating additional revenue for the hotel. Telephone systems record data on each call made from the direct-dial telephone in the guest’s room. Several computer systems from the catering area also interface with the PMS. For example, electronic point-of-sales (EPOS) systems record the transactions that occur in the hotel’s bars and food outlets, while mini-bars are used to provide drinks and small food items in the guestroom. In the last three cases, integration between the systems allows charges to be posted automatically to the guest’s account folio, thus helping to increase security and ensure that the guest does not depart without paying for all services received. * Catering information systems (CIS). These manage and control all aspects of food and beverage productions and sales. A CIS is also composed of several separate systems linked together to exchange data. Recipe-costing systems accurately cost food and beverage items and automatically update costs when ingredient prices change. Stock-control systems track inventory movements, record deliveries and issues, and identify variances between actual and theoretical stock. EPOS systems transfer orders electronically from the service area to the kitchen, and ensure that guest bills are legible, accurately priced and up to date. Conference and banqueting systems manage and control the complex tasks of function reservations, organization and billing. Other examples of catering-related software packages focus on specialist areas such as beverage control, nutritional analysis and menu engineering. Integration is very important for the efficient operation of these systems. For example, the recipe-costing system uses up-to-date prices from the stock-control system to calculate the cost of various recipes, which are then combined to form menus. These menus are sold to the customer through both the conference and banqueting system and the EPOS. They are also used, together with the sales data from the EPOS to detect variances in stock levels by the stock-control system. * Back-office systems. Software is also widely used in what could be described as the normal business areas of the hospitality industry. For example, accounting systems track debtors and creditors and generate final accounts and management reports periodically. Payroll systems automate the process of calculating wages and salaries, as well as maintaining period-to-date balances. Software is also used in the marketing area for data warehousing and database marketing. Each of the above hospitality systems can be (and often is) used separately. However, the systems are much more effective if integrated and allowed to communicate with each other. For example, recipe-costing is much more accurate if the recipe-costing system can access the latest purchase prices from the stock control system. Similarly, security and control are greatly increased if ancillary systems such as electronic door locks and EPOS are linked directly into the property-management system. It is integration at this level that has given rise to the concept of the integrated hotel system- a suite of software packages which are linked and assist in managing and controlling all aspects of a hospitality establishment’s operations. Hotel Central Reservations Offices The growth of travel in the 1960s, which prompted the airlines to develop computerized reservations systems, put similar pressures on the hotels. Individual properties were receiving growing numbers of telephone calls, letters and telexes from potential customers wanting to book accommodation. Large clerical squads were needed to sort mail, type letters, send telegrams and handle other requests. Bottlenecks were frequent, administration costs skyrocketed and experienced staffs were in short supply. An opportunity for rationalization was recognized by many of the US hotel chains. They noted the inefficiencies of the existing system and determined the best way to serve the customer, and at the same time provide a valuable service to their member hotels, were to centralize the reservations function into central reservations offices (CROs). These functioned in a similar manner to the reservations offices operated by the airlines, except, of course, the product being sold was hotel rooms, not airline seats. The CRO kept track of the rates, availability, special packages, negotiated rates and descriptions of each property, and allowed customers to book any room in the chain by contacting a single central location. The booking process was further simplified by the introduction of toll-free telephone services in the United States in the mid-1960s, which allowed potential customers to make a single free telephone call to inquire about or book any of the chain’s hotels anywhere in the world. The UK-based budget hotel group Travelodge provides a very good example of how a CRO can operate efficiently. In all its marketing, the group publishes only a single free number that connects the customer (be it a travel agent or independent traveler) to the central reservations office. Individual reservation numbers for each property are not published and individual lodges do not handle advanced reservations, referring all inquiries to the CRO. In this way, reservations staff and operating costs on a group basis are kept to the minimum. Particularly interesting is its philosophy of never being full. Should the particular lodge requested not have rooms available, accommodation is automatically offered at a nearby alternative. Centralizing the reservation function also bring other advantages. Bottlenecks are reduced while, at the same time, reservations agent are used more intensively than they would be at unit level as centralization helps to average out the busy and slack periods. A more professional level of customer service is possible because of the use of dedicated, well-trained staff, and service quality is also more consistent as centralization makes it easier to monitor and control. Overall, the lesson is clear: a centralized booking environment is faster, more efficient and, if well-designed, far more economical to operate than unit level reservation offices. Only two major costs remained: telecommunications, as the CRO had to pay for the provision of the toll-free service; and the labor cost of the reservations agents needed to answer phones and process other inquiries. It didn’t take companies long to figure out that these, too, could be reduced by allowing customers direct access to their systems electronically. The incremental cost of processing a booking electronically is dramatically less expensive than processing a free call to a CRO. For example, a recent estimate claims that a voice booking, through a CRO, costs hotels between ? 12 and ? 15, while the cost of processing it electronically can be as low as ? 3. 50 (HSMAI, 1995). Computerized Reservation Systems Initially, central reservations agents processed booking by checking on ‘Availability Blackboards’ displayed on the walls of the center, or in massive books which were updated by hand. However, as booking volumes grew, these manual operating methods were quickly overwhelmed and hotel companies introduced computers to help manage the increasing workload. By developing their own systems, hotel companies gave themselves both the opportunity and the flexibility to make the systems more closely match the requirements of the hotel product. Free from the constraints of the GDS, the new systems were capable of incorporating extensive product details written in full, bbreviation-free English, along with an unlimited number of rates and room types. These developments made the system far more effective as both an informative and marketing tool, as it gave the hotelier the opportunity to differentiate based on product quality and features, as well as on price. Travel agents also benefited from the development of CROs and CRSs. Traditionally, they had used published travel guides such as the ABC Guide to find information when looking for a hotel to meet a guest’s needs a nd budget. While these provide considerable information on the facilities, etc, they rarely show room rates, as they are published infrequently and would become outdated too quickly. As a result, travel agents had to contact the hotel directly to determine rates and availability, which usually involved expensive long-distance telephone calls. Thus the advent of the CRO, which provided a free number to find information about and to make bookings in any hotel in a chain, greatly helped to reduce costs and encourage the booking of hotel rooms by the travel agents. However, as travel agents were already familiar with the use of computer systems for information search and booking purposes because of their use of the airline systems, the increasingly began to demand that hotel rooms be made available in the same way. From the travel agent’s perspective, the cost of finding information and processing a booking is much lower electronically. Using an electronic system, a travel agent with a client flying to Glasgow can check availability in hotels in the area on the required date, see what room rates each is offering, and make a booking in seconds and at a minimal cost. Making the same booking manually would involve several long-distance phone calls and possibly a fax to confirm the details, which together with the time expended would probably make the transaction unprofitable. In monetary terms, Thomas Cook estimate that the cost of making a hotel booking over the telephone is approximately ? 3, as opposed to 76 pence to reserve the same room electronically. As a result, many agencies actively discourage their staff from using manual search and booking methods, and operations not available on their computerized systems will lose out. Reservations Systems Operation Irrespective of whether the reservation is being made at the unit or the central level, the method of actually processing the reservation is relatively standard. The process starts with an Availability Inquiry. The date of arrival needed is entered, along with the type(s) of room and the number of nights required. The system will respond by displaying room availability for the requested period and, on some systems, the rate to be offered to the client. If the requested accommodation is unavailable, the system may allow overbooking up to predetermined limits. If rooms are available, the client’s name, address, and telephone number are entered, along with details such as method of payment, the source of business and any special requirements. Utilities to help speed up the reservation process may be provided. For example, some systems allow the postal code to be entered first; from this most of the address can be filled automatically by the computer, and only minor details such as the street number need to be edited. Similarly, if the guest has stayed in the hotel before, or is a member of the chain’s loyalty club, such details may be automatically drawn from the guest history system. When all the details have been entered, a confirmation number is generated by the reservation system, which the guest can quote if the reservation needs to be changed at a later date. An individually addressed letter, fax, or e-mail, confirming the details of the reservation, is later generated as part of the night audit. Most systems also accept group reservations, which operate in a slightly different manner. First of all, a master reservation is set up with the group details and a block of rooms is allocated to the group. A special rate for the group may be offered and programmed into the system. Special accounting instructions (such as billing a master folio for all accommodation and breakfast charges and the individual room folios for all other charges) can also be setup at this stage, thus helping to eliminate unnecessary work for the front-office staff. Individual group members can then make their own reservations, and are allocated rooms from the reserved block. Property Management Systems The front-office is often described as the center of all hotel activities. It not only acts as the main contact point between the hotel and the guest, but also provides information to and receives information from practically very other department in the hotel. A property management system (PMS) helps manage these interactions, and at the same time acts as an information hub for the other computer systems. These functions of the PMS may be broken down into the following different categories: * Registration – allocating vacant rooms to incoming guests and marking those rooms as b eing occupied. * Housekeeping – tracking which rooms are occupied, waiting to be cleaned, waiting to be inspected, or ready to be passed back to the front desk for allocation to incoming guests. Guest accounting – tracking all guest charges and payments and producing the final guest bill. * Night audit – automatically performing end-of-day routines such as posting room charges to each guest folio. Stock-Control Systems A stock-control system helps manage and control the flow of stock through an organization by recording the value of each stock item in different locations (such as the central stores, the dry stores, and the kitchen) and tracking stock movements into, out of and between each of these locations. The concept of stock control is based on the accounting principle that the item’s opening stock, plus its purchases must be equal to its closing stock plus the amount consumed. If these are not equal, then what is known as a variance exists, which means that some of the stock is missing. However, carrying out stock control manually is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. For example, to check a single product, the amount of that product delivered and issued over the period has to be calculated by totaling the delivery dockets and requisitions, respectively. The previous period’s closing stock period would then have to be found, and the theoretical closing stock figure calculated. Then the quantity of the item actually in stock would have to be established by performing a stock take and physically counting the number of the product in each storage location. Lastly, theoretical and actual figures would have to be compared to see if any variance existed. All the effort for just a single stock item! In any reasonably sized catering operation, the same process would have to be performed for hundreds, if not thousands of products on a regular basis. Using a computerized system, all the boring, repetitive and error-prone calculations are carried out automatically. Most of the data needed (apart from the actual stock figures) is already available on the system (for example, opening stock is available from the previous period, purchases from the records of deliveries and returns, and issues from the record of requisitions from the sales units) and the calculations can be carried out in seconds by the computer. As a result, the likelihood of errors is reduced and the stock-control process can be carried out more frequently with little extra effort. O’Connor, 2000) REVIEW OF RELATED MODELS System Development Life Cycle The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide th e processes involved including the waterfall model (the original SDLC method), rapid application development (RAD), joint application development (JAD), the fountain model and the spiral model. Mostly, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely particular plan was followed. startvbdotnet. com/sdlc/sdlc. aspx Waterfall System Development Life Cycle Model The simplest software development life cycle model is the waterfall model, which states that the phases are organized in a linear order. A project begins with feasibility analysis. On the successful demonstration of the feasibility analysis, the requirements analysis and project planning begins. The design starts after the requirements analysis is done. And coding begins after the design is done. Once the programming is completed, the code is integrated and testing is done. On successful completion of testing, the system is installed. After this the regular operation and maintenance of the system takes place. freetutes. com/systemanalysis/sa2-waterfall-software-life-cycle. tml; Prototyping System Development Life Cycle Model The goal of prototyping based development is to counter the first two limitations of the waterfall model discussed earlier. The basic idea here is that instead of freezing the requirements before a design or coding can proceed, a throwaway prototype is built to understand the requirements. This prototype is developed based on the currently known requirements. Development of the prototype obviousl y undergoes design, coding and testing. But each of these phases is not done very formally or thoroughly. By using this prototype, the client can get an actual feel of the system, since the interactions with prototype can enable the client to better understand the requirements of the desired system. Prototyping is an attractive idea for complicated and large systems for which there is no manual process or existing system to help determining the requirements. In such situations letting the client plan with the prototype provides invaluable and intangible inputs which helps in determining the requirements for the system. It is also an effective method to demonstrate the feasibility of a certain approach. This might be needed for novel systems where it is not clear that constraint can be met or that algorithms can be developed to implement the requirements. freetutes. com/systemanalysis/sa2-prototyping-model. html Spiral Life Cycle Model This is a recent model that has been proposed by Boehm. As the name suggests, the activities in this model can be organized like a spiral. The spiral has many cycles. The radial dimension represents the cumulative cost incurred in accomplishing the steps dome so far and the angular dimension represents the progress made in completing each cycle of the spiral. The structure of the spiral model is shown in the figure given below. Each cycle in the spiral begins with the identification of objectives for that cycle and the different alternatives are possible for achieving the objectives and the imposed constraints. The next step in the spiral life cycle model is to evaluate these different alternatives based on the objectives and constraints. This will also involve identifying uncertainties and risks involved. The next step is to develop strategies that resolve the uncertainties and risks. This step may involve activities such as benchmarking, simulation and prototyping. Next, the software is developed by keeping in mind the risks. Finally the next stage is planned. The next step is determined by remaining risks. For example, its performance or user-interface risks are considered more important than the program development risks. The next step may be evolutionary development that involves developing a more detailed prototype for resolving the risks. On the other hand, if the program development risks dominate and previous prototypes have resolved all the user-interface and performance risks; the next step will follow the basic waterfall approach. The risk driven nature of the spiral model allows it to accommodate any mixture of specification-oriented, prototype-oriented, simulation-oriented or some other approach. An important feature of the model is that each cycle of the spiral is completed by a review, which covers all the products developed during that cycle, including plans for the next cycle. The spiral model works for developed as well as enhancement projects. freetutes. com/systemanalysis/sa2-spiral-model. html SYNTHESIS Even long ago, resorts existed but not as extravagant as those made today. Resorts started from simple public baths in ancient Rome and developed into spas in Europe around the 1300s. In North America, people started on building hotels and inns nearby the spas. Not long after that, Americans had started to develop beach resorts and mountain-based resorts. There started the wide variety of services and amenities offered by the resort management. Services and amenities offered by the resorts mainly depend on what kind of resort they are. There are different kinds of resorts and one of the most popular types is the water-based resort. Swimming pools and beaches are popular in this type. There are many activities that can be done in water-based resorts. In beaches, you can do parasailing, jet skiing and other popular extreme and fun endeavors. These activities attract the prospect customers, but the location and design is also important in marketing the resort business. Good facilities are also appealing to the guests like Jacuzzi, scenic views, and safety devices. Resorts and hotels became popular alongside each other. Hotels developed not long after public baths in Rome and spas in Europe and North America became popular. It was actually cited in the Bible that during the ancient times, there were rooms for rent or traveler’s inn existing way back then. Usually, rooms contain basic necessities for the guests, but as time went by, the conveniences offered became diverse. As the facilities became more varied, cost also raises up to a certain price, depending on what rate of hotel it is. In order to provide more quality and more effective services to the consumers, information technology has been widely used. Computer literacy and awareness is all over the world and technology has been dominating since then. Business establishments have discovered the convenience that information technology brought and therefore becoming almost a necessity for every enterprise. There are many advantages conveyed by technology to different industries. These range from high-speed communications systems to complex, specialized databases to customized internal computer networks. These days, information technology and business became inseparable. There are many similarities between the computer systems used by resorts and hotels. It is because they have similar services offered to their consumers mostly in the reservations of the rooms and checking its availability. To be able to serve their guests better, clear information regarding the rooms available for booking must be seen by them. More systems were particularly made for hotels that are also applicable for the resort operations. Examples of these are property management system, stock-control system and reservation system. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Planning Phase Analysis Phase Design Phase Coding Phase Testing Phase Implementation Phase Maintenance Phase Figure 1. 5 Eclectic Model Maintenance Phase Implementation Phase Testing Phase Coding Phase Design Phase Analysis Phase Planning Phase STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Planning Phase 1. What are the resources available to the researchers? 2. What are the requirements needed for the study? Study Phase 1. What articles are needed and relevant to the study? 2. What models can be used in the study? Analysis Phase 1. Is there an existing computer system being used in the organization? 2. Will a new system make the service of the company more effective and more efficient? Design Phase 1. What are the different factors to consider in developing a new system? 2. What is the most efficient design for the proposed system? Testing Phase 1. How does the new system work? 2. Does the new system work properly? 3. What are the errors encountered by the new system? 4. Can the system handle the volume data and incoming transactions easily? Implementation Phase 1. How can the actual implementation of the new system be simulated in order to detect possible errors? 2. How can the person-in-charge ne trained to use the new system? Maintenance Phase 1. How can the new system assure the accuracy of the information about the process? 2. What are the possible improvements in order to enhance the new system? HYPOTHESIS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The significance of the study and the proposed system is to have a more efficient and effective handling of daily transactions and operations of the company. This study is assigned to create a system that will be more convenient and will make more accurate reports. Villa Concepcion Wet and Wild Waves, Inc. ’s manual recording of transactions shall be replaced by the use of a new computer system. The system proposed shall make the guests at ease and transact more conveniently. It shall also lessen the work of the personnel by minimizing the labors they have to do. The projected computer system is deemed more reliable, accurate, and efficient. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS The study focused on the following proposed systems: reservation system, and payroll system. It is mainly for the front-desk operations which consist of billing, payments, and reservations. Interview of the management and the personnel of VCWWI shall be held inside their premises. Figure 1. 1 System Development Life Cycle Figure 1. 2 Waterfall System Development Life Cycle Model Figure 1. 3 Prototyping System Development Life Cycle Model Figure 1. 4 Spiral Life Cycle Model

Rubidium Facts - Rb or Element 37

Rubidium Facts - Rb or Element 37 Rubidium is a silver-colored alkali metal with a melting point slightly higher than body temperature. The element is atomic number 37 with element symbol Rb. Here is a collection of rubidium element facts. Fast Facts: Rubidium Element Name: RubidiumElement Symbol: RbAtomic Number: 37Appearance: Grey metalGroup: Group 1 (Alkali Metal)Period: Period 5Discovery: Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff (1861)Fun Fact: The half life of the radioactive isotope Rb-87 is 49 billion years or more than three times the age of the universe. Rubidium  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 37 Symbol: Rb Atomic Weight: 85.4678 Discovery: R. Bunsen, G. Kirchoff 1861 (Germany), discovered rubidium in the mineral petalite via its dark red spectral lines. Electron Configuration: [Kr] 5s1 Word Origin: Latin: rubidus: deepest red. Isotopes: There are 29 known isotopes of rubidium. Natural rubidium consists of two isotopes, rubidium-85 (stable with 72.15% abundance) and rubidium-87 (27.85% abundance, a beta emitter with a half-life of 4.9 x 1010 years). Thus, natural rubidium is radioactive, with sufficient activity to expose photographic film within 110 days. Properties: Rubidium may be liquid at room temperature. It ignites spontaneously in air and reacts violently in water, setting fire to the liberated hydrogen. Thus, rubidium must be stored under dry mineral oil, in a vacuum, or in an inert atmosphere. It is a soft, silvery-white metallic element of the alkali group. Rubidium forms amalgams with mercury and alloys with gold, sodium, potassium, and cesium. Rubidium glows red-violet in a flame test. Element Classification: Alkali Metal Biological Effects: Rubidium carries a 1 oxidation state, like sodium and potassium, and displays biological activity similar to that of potassium ions. Rubidium concentrates inside cells within the intracellular fluid. The biological half-life of rubidium ions in humans is 31 to 46 days. Rubidium ions are not particularly toxic, but rats die when over half the potassium in heart muscle is replaced by rubidium. Rubidium chloride has been tested as a therapy for the treatment of depression. Researchers found dialysis patients suffering from depression tended to experience depleted rubidium levels. The element is not considered to be essential for human nutrition, although it is present in small quantities in nearly all human and animal tissues. Rubidium Physical Data Density (g/cc): 1.532Melting Point (K): 312.2Boiling Point (K): 961Appearance: soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metalAtomic Radius (pm): 248Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 55.9Covalent Radius (pm): 216Ionic Radius: 147 (1e)Specific Heat (20 °C J/g mol): 0.360Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 2.20Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 75.8Pauling Negativity Number: 0.82First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 402.8Oxidation States: 1Lattice Structure: Body-Centered CubicLattice Constant (Ã…): 5.590CAS Registry Number: 7440-17-7 Rubidium Trivia Rubidium melts just a little above body temperature.Rubidium was discovered using spectroscopy. When Bunsen and Kirchoff examined their sample of petalite, they found two red spectral lines deep into the red part of the spectrum. They named their new element rubidium after the Latin word rubidus meaning deepest red.Rubidium is the second most electropositive element.Rubidium can be used to give fireworks a red-violet color.Rubidium is the 23rd most abundant element in the Earths crust.Rubidium chloride is used in biochemistry as a biomarker to track where potassium is taken up by living organisms.The hyper-fine electron structure of Rubidium-87 is used in some atomic clocks to maintain accuracy.The isotope Ru-87 was used by Eric Cornell, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Carl Wiemen to produce a Bose-Einstein condensate. This earned them the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics. Sources Campbell, N. R.; Wood, A. (1908). The Radioactivity of Rubidium. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 14: 15.Fieve, Ronald R.; Meltzer, Herbert L.; Taylor, Reginald M. (1971). Rubidium chloride ingestion by volunteer subjects: Initial experience. Psychopharmacologia. 20 (4): 307–14. doi:10.1007/BF00403562Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 4.122. ISBN 1439855110.Meites, Louis (1963).  Handbook of Analytical Chemistry  (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.Weast, Robert (1984). CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.

Trichomoniasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Trichomoniasis - Essay Example This sexually transmitted disease is not reportable, so the epidemiologic data remains very difficult to obtain. However, it has been estimated that there are 5 million new cases in the United States each year, which is more than the sum of all cases of Chlamydia and gonococcal infections. The World Health Organization estimates that there is incidence of 173 million new infections of Trichomoniasis worldwide per year. This is also known as Trichomonas vaginitis. It is caused by the sexually transmitted, flagellated parasite, Trichomonas vaginalis. The transmission rate is high; 70% of men contract the disease after a single exposure to an infected woman, which suggests that the rate of male-to-female transmission is even higher. The parasite, which exists only in trophozoite form, is an anaerobe that has the ability to generate hydrogen to combine with oxygen to create an anaerobic environment. It often accompanies bacterial vaginosis, which can be diagnosed in as many as 60% of pat ients with Trichomonas vaginitis (Cates, Jr., 1999, S2-S7). Risk Factors: There are certain risk factors that are associated with Trichomoniasis. These include all the risk factors for sexually transmitted infection acquisition. ... There is generally a longer duration of infectiousness and a high level of asymptomatic infections, especially in men. Many women with annual Pap smear examination have asymptomatic infections. This is responsible for 25% of all cases of clinically diagnosed vaginitis. More than half of infected women and nearly 90% of infected men are asymptomatic, which increases the reservoir of people spreading the infection. Trichomoniasis increases the risks of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission and HIV acquisition (Horowitz, Mrdh, eds., 1999). Infection: The primary mode of transmission of T. vaginalis is through sexual contact. Transmission by fomites is possible, but is rarely the cause of a symptomatic infection. An inoculums of at least 10,000 organisms is needed to establish a clinically significant infection. Male-to-female transmission rates are higher than female-to-male rates; about 85% of exposed women will contract the infection. Female-to-male transmission rates are more variable, but may be as high as 70% within 48 hours of exposure. Incubation period varied between 4 to 28 days. T. vaginalis resembles anaerobic bacteria more than eukaryotic behavior in that it ferments large amounts of carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases, causing bubbles. Its presence in the vaginal vault changes the vaginal microbiology-the lactobacilli disappear and anaerobic bacteria predominant. T. vaginalis swims freely in the vaginal discharge but can also attach to the vaginal wall. The cell membranes of the parasite a nd those of the host interdigitate. Trichomonas adhere to vaginal and cervical epithelial cells. T. vaginalis also infects the urethra, Skene's glands, and Bartholin glands. The

Drug Wars in Ciudad Juarez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Drug Wars in Ciudad Juarez - Essay Example Official figures released indicates that as of the close of 2008 there had being close to 1,500 cases of criminal assassinations linked to the feuding drug cartels (Ellingwood, 2008). It is against this background that the thrust of this essay will be addressing the scope of the escalating drug related violence that have engulfed the city of Ciudad Juarez in the recent past. It is no exaggeration to say that violence in its various forms is a common feature in Mexico, yet the situation in Ciudad Juarez is an exceptional case of extreme gangster inspired barbarism and carnage that has left an otherwise peaceful population terrified due to the terrorism unleashed on every body without regard for designated targets. This assertion is proven by the increasing number of innocent victims who are made sacrificial lambs in the heated drug related violence between the feuding gangs on the one side and the federal government forces on the other side. In mincing no words, the ongoing violence in Ciudad Juarez is a clear reflection of the extent to which the looming crisis has degenerated to appalling depths. There is no part of the city of 1.3 million inhabitants that is immune to the catastrophe. Almost one third of all the recorded assassinations in Mexico in 2008 occurred in the city of Ciudad Juarez, a clear indication of the state of affairs there; more frigh tening is the bleakness of the prospects of bringing these acts to a permanent end. In a rather unconventional style, almost anybody can be a target either through accident or design. There have been reports of innocent children who have been caught up in the crossfire as rival cartels exchange gun fire in open broad day light in street corners. This does not include members of the security forces who have also being targeted by the gangs in a series of assassination as a means of sounding signals to

The United Nations Organization Essay Example for Free

The United Nations Organization Essay The United Nations Organization emerged out of the ashes of the Second World War. Its predecessor, the League of Nations which was created out of the crises of the World War I, obviously failed to prevent the occurrence of another worldwide military crisis. In the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, its first stated objective is to â€Å"to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Charter). Surprisingly, the word â€Å"peacekeeping† does not appear anywhere in the Charter of new organization. It, however, became very apparent that in order for the United Natons to carry out its first objective of saving humanity from the scourge of war, peacekeeping would be necessary. Since its first peacekeeping mission in 1948, the objectives of peackeeping have evolved and have sometimes been defined by the conflicts (Peacekeeping). â€Å"Although the military remain the backbone of most peacekeeping operations, the many faces of peacekeeping now include administrators and economists, police officers and legal experts, de-miners and electoral observers, human rights monitors and specialists in civil affairs and governance, humanitarian workers and experts in communications and public information† (Peacekeeping). Given the conceptual diversity of peacekeeping, any measurement of operational success must go back to the Charter to see if the activities of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission has contributed to the prevention of the scouge of war and its collateral effects. In this paper, two cases of the the U. N. Peackeeing activities, one each in Europe and Africa, would be examined with reference to the first stated objective in the preamble to determine the failure or success of peacekeeping operations. First of all, the very important distinction between peace-making and peacekeeping has to be made. Peace-making is the process of resolving armed conflicts between nations or within a nation. The United Nations limited in its ability to act because of the principle of territorial sovereignty. â€Å"During much of the cold war †¦ most non-Western countries raised the banner of state sovereignity to protect themselves from the unwanted interference of larger states, and the United Nations repeatedly upheld this principle in Security Council resolution† (Holmes, 1993). This preventing the United Nations from getting involved in internal conflicts. On the other hand, the United Nationns only peace-making efforts were limited to diplomacy, a process that did not appy in intra-nation conflicts. Most importantly, the United Nations does not have a standing military to enforce peace. As a a consequence, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force did not get involved in conflict resolutions or making peace. This was left to the Security Council. When, through diplomtic efforts, participants in an armed conflict reach terms of peace, then the United Nations Peacekeeping Force moves in to monitor and not enforce the peace. Even with the end of the Cold War and the U. N. getting involved in resolving intra-nation conflicts, its Peackeeping Force is still a monitoring force. â€Å"The end of the Cold War has brought many changes to the field of United Nations peacekeeping. However, most of the changes have been changes in size and quantitymore operations and bigger operationsrather than different types of operations† (Gibson, 1998). Any measure of the success of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces must be interpreted in light of its limitations and objectives. As the Soviet Union dissolved, old ethnic rivalries were revived as nation-states began to form along ethnic lines in Eastern Europe. This was certainly the case in the dissolution of Yugoslavia. The uniqueness of the Yugoslavian situation was that Yugoslavia had ceased to exist as a nation. So the issue of territorial sovereignty could not be claimed since there was no government with a recognized territory. In 1991, Croatia and Slovenia broke away from the rest of the country and declared independence. The dissolution of Yugoslavia had begun. The Serbian-controlled government supported the Serbs in Croatia who opposed Croatia’s independence. This resulted in a civil war which was also a war of independence. Sanctions and diplomacy brought about a cease fire. The United Nations sent in a peacekeeping force with the mandate to ensure that the society did not move into total anarchy and that the conditions for peace were in place. The United Nations Protection Force or UNROFOR, as the peacekeeping force was called, was sent into Croatia in 1992. While UNPROFOR was in Croatia, several massacres occurred. UNPROFOR was stationed in Croatia because the Croats were at a disadvantage against the Serbian controlled military of the former Yugoslavia. Yet, the Serbian military killed many Croat civilians and prevented humanitarian aid to Croatia in 1993. Deaths were increased by inhumane conditions created by the Serbs (UNROFOR, 1996). United Nations passed Resolution 819 which made Srebrenica a United Nations â€Å"Sate Area†. This meant that any attack on Srebrenica would be an attack on the United Nations. The Security Council passed another resolution, Resolution 836, to extend this mandate to UNROFOR itself. Unfortunately, UNROFOR was poorly equipped and its non-combat mandate did not allow it to prevent the Bosnian forces from using Srebrenica as the staging grounds for anti-Serbian attacks. The attacks from Srebrenica angered the Serbs and they responded by attacking UNPROFOR and obstructing humanitarian aid into Srebrenica. When the United Nations forces cannot protect themselves, how can they protect even less unarmed civilians? The situation deteriorated in 1993 when war broke out between the Bosnians and the Croats. Serbs and Bosnians were in Ahmici were massacred (UNROFOR, 1996). The situation had deteriorated to the point where one group’s atrocities were met by atrocities by from the other group. The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in the former Yugoslavia were completely ineffective to the point where their operations were limited to United Nations Save Areas. It took a threat from the Croatian Government to get the Security Council to change the mandate of UNPROFOR to include military action (UNROFOR, 1996). In 1994, more atrocities occurred while UNROFOR was present. The Serbs attacked Gorazde, a United Nations Safe Area, and hundreds of civilians were killed. NATO bombed Serb positions and the Serbs captured UNPROFOR personnel and used them as human shields, placing them in locations that they NATO could possibly bomb. No matter what standard of measurement is used, it can be said that the United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia was a dismal failure. UNPROFOR failed in its mission to protect the Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats from the scourge of war. As a matter of fact, UNROFOR could not even protect itself from the scourge of war. In this situation, peacekeeping failed by any metric. Consider another case in Africa. Genocide in Rwanda has been dramatized in the movie Hotel Rwanda. Many of the worst mass murders occurred while the United Nations had peacekeepers on the ground. First, let us get some background information. Civil war broke out in Rwanda in 1990. The parties were the Hut-dominated government and the opposition Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front or the RPF (Rwanda, 2001). The United Nations got involved in this arena about three years after the war began. At the request of the governments of Rwanda and Uganda, the United Nations sent military observers in the border area between the two countries. The force was called United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda or UNAMIR. According to the United Nations own web site, â€Å"UNAMIRs mandate was: to assist in ensuring the security of the capital city of Kigali; monitor the ceasefire agreement, including establishment of an expanded demilitarized zone and demobilization procedures; monitor the security situation during the final period of the transitional Governments mandate leading up to elections; assist with mine-clearance; and assist in the coordination of humanitarian assistance activities in conjunction with relief operations† (Rwanda, 2001). The United Nations forces were in Rwanda when nearly one million people were massacred by the government supported Hutu forces. The deaths are estimated to be between 500,000 to one million (Des Forges, 1999). All this occurred within a very brief period, April to July. How did this happen? The catalyst for the genocide was the deaths of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi in a plane that was shot down as it about to land in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. The crash was blamed on Tutsi-led RPF (Des Forges, 1999). The next day, the wife of the Rwandan president was assassinated and the ten UNAMIR soldiers that were protecting were found dead. Hutu militias and the military went on a murder binge, killing every Tutsi that could found regardless of age, gender, or political affiliation. The world could not have been ignorant about these atrocities. As the situation deteriorated in Kigali, western countries evacuated their citizens and left the Tutsi to fend for themselves. Mass rapes, mutilations, and murders quickly spread nationwide. UNAMIR was ineffective to respond at the onset of the genocide because of resistance by members of the Security Council. UNAMIR failed in every respect to meet its own mandate. There was no capital to secure, no peace agreement to monitor, and no security situation at all. The western nations did not want to get involved in Rwanda mainly because it was not popular with their governments for their citizens to placed in harms way in Africa. United Nations Peacekeeping activities have to be measure in terms of the objectives of the United Nations Charter and the mandates given by the United Nations. If these objectives and mandates cannot be met, then the United Nations ought not to be involved at all. False peacekeeping is just as bad as no peacekeeping. References Charter of the United Nations. An Internet publication retrieved on May 8, 2009 from: http://www. un. org/aboutun/charter/preamble. shtml Des Forges, Alison (1999). Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved on May 8, 2009 from. http://www. hrw. org/reports/1999/rwanda. Gibson, Susan S. (1998). The Misplaced Reliance on Free and Fair Elections in Nation Building: The Role of Constitutional Democracy and the Rule of Law. Houston Journal of International Law. Volume: 21. Issue: 1. Page 1 Holmes, Kim R. (1993). New world disorder: a critique of the United States. Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 46, 1993 Peacekeeping. United Nations Peackeeping. An Internet publication retrieved on May 8, 2009 from http://www. un. org/Depts/dpko/dpko/ Rwanda (2001). Rwanda: United Nations Assistance Mission For Rwanda –UNAMIR- October 1993- March 1996. UNPROFOR (1996) – United Nations Protection Force. Former Yugoslavia UNPROFOR. Prepared by the Department of Public Information, United Nations as of September 1996. An Internet publication retrieved on May 8, 2009 from http://www. un. org/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/unprof_b. htm

Hitler :: essays research papers

Feeling that all was lost, Hitler shot himself on April 30, 1945. By orders formally given by him before his death, SS officers drenched Hitler's body in gasoline and burned it in the garden of the Chancellery†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Soon after the suicide of Hitler, the German forces surrendered. The war was officially over; however, the world was only beginning to realize the extent of its horror. The rise and sudden fall of Hitler had an immense effect on people and nations around the world. On Easter Sunday April 20, 1889, at an inn called the Gasth of Zum Pommer, the wife of an Austrian Customs official gave birth to a son, Adolf Hitler. He was the fourth child to the parents of Alois and Klara Hitler of Austria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. During his schooling days, Hitler was a good student. He took singing lessons and sang in the church choir. But when he hit an adolescent age, he began to rebel. When Hitler's dad acquired a top ranking job in the military, he wanted his son to work hard so that he might become a civil servant. Hitler wanted nothing of it. He wanted to become an artist like he always dreamed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ One of the teachers in his high school classified young Hitler as "notorious, cantankerous, willful, arrogant, and irascible. He has an obvious difficulty in fitting in at school."†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ He did well enough to get by in some of his courses but had no time for subjects that did not interest him. Years later, his former school mates would remember how Adolf would taunt his teachers and draw sketches of them in his school notebooks. Forty years later, in the sessions at his headquarters which produced the record of his table talk, Hitler recalled several times the teachers of his school days with contempt. "They had no sympathy with youth. Their one object was to stuff our brains and turn us into erudite apes themselves. If any pupil showed the slightest trace of originality, they persecuted him relentlessly"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Adolf saw no real reason to stay in high school. He left school at age sixteen without a leaving certificate. In September 1907, Hitler left home taking with him all the money left to him by his father, who had died a few years earlier. The money would be enough for tuition and board at the art school in Vienna. The Vienna School of Fine Arts had strict entrance requirements†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Hitler :: essays research papers Feeling that all was lost, Hitler shot himself on April 30, 1945. By orders formally given by him before his death, SS officers drenched Hitler's body in gasoline and burned it in the garden of the Chancellery†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Soon after the suicide of Hitler, the German forces surrendered. The war was officially over; however, the world was only beginning to realize the extent of its horror. The rise and sudden fall of Hitler had an immense effect on people and nations around the world. On Easter Sunday April 20, 1889, at an inn called the Gasth of Zum Pommer, the wife of an Austrian Customs official gave birth to a son, Adolf Hitler. He was the fourth child to the parents of Alois and Klara Hitler of Austria†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. During his schooling days, Hitler was a good student. He took singing lessons and sang in the church choir. But when he hit an adolescent age, he began to rebel. When Hitler's dad acquired a top ranking job in the military, he wanted his son to work hard so that he might become a civil servant. Hitler wanted nothing of it. He wanted to become an artist like he always dreamed†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ One of the teachers in his high school classified young Hitler as "notorious, cantankerous, willful, arrogant, and irascible. He has an obvious difficulty in fitting in at school."†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ He did well enough to get by in some of his courses but had no time for subjects that did not interest him. Years later, his former school mates would remember how Adolf would taunt his teachers and draw sketches of them in his school notebooks. Forty years later, in the sessions at his headquarters which produced the record of his table talk, Hitler recalled several times the teachers of his school days with contempt. "They had no sympathy with youth. Their one object was to stuff our brains and turn us into erudite apes themselves. If any pupil showed the slightest trace of originality, they persecuted him relentlessly"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Adolf saw no real reason to stay in high school. He left school at age sixteen without a leaving certificate. In September 1907, Hitler left home taking with him all the money left to him by his father, who had died a few years earlier. The money would be enough for tuition and board at the art school in Vienna. The Vienna School of Fine Arts had strict entrance requirements†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.

Liberty in the history of America Essay

Liberty is defined as the manner in which one or groups of people or organism are let free from oppression, starvation, slavery or disturbance of what ever kind. However, there are different definitions and perspectives of the term as used by different personalities, communities, and groups of people. In the history of America, liberty has been used differently to express different ideas. If you tethered a cow on a green pastureland to feed you would be surprised at it when it feeds a little then starts to stretch away from the green pasture. If it is untied, it begins to feed just around the same spot. It wants to be free. There is good pasture. Why is it that the cow can not just feed and wait to be driven home in the evening? If a toddler was given an interesting play toy and left in a locked room with plenty of light, it would stop playing and start to fight its way out of the locked room. Why would it begin to cry and stop playing yet it is not tethered, it is not sick or uncomfortable? We must look for freedom even when we are not pressed down so hard. In fact, liberty according to Lincoln’s observation in 1864 is a term that is used to refer to different things or terms when used by different groups of people. Lincoln emphasizes that liberty means differently in the South as well as in the North. He says that though liberty is the same word for all, it has different implications for different persons and regions. In other wards, the meaning of the term liberty is depends on the context within which it is used by the speaker. This essay focuses on the different perspectives of the term liberty as used by different personalities, at different situations, and at different times or seasons. The North, for example, has its own understanding of the term victory. More so, Douglass differs with Lincoln, in the opinion of what liberty is. On the other hand, the factory owner and the planter have different definitions of the term liberty. Douglass feels that freedom from slavery would be best known as liberty. He came up with a new idea on what slavery entailed. Although in most cases slavery was only associated with offering services in cotton farms of in America, Douglass felt that it was wide spread to as far as the rice farms in South Carolina. He also talks of slavery being exercised in the household services offered to the elites of Boston. In addition to this, Douglass feels humiliated by lack of freedom in the carting services in Manhattan as a means of transportation of goods. He calls this slavery. He is disappointed by the manner in which Black Americans were mistreated, how the freed slaves were mishandled along the streets as well as the interaction of the white reformers, slaves and freed blacks. At this point in life, Douglass decided to recapture the drama of their fighting interaction with a focus on the black Americans, some of whom he recaptured dramatic experiences as they fought for republican slogans fulfillment. Douglass wrote very moving stories on slavery and liberty thus describing what freedom would have meant to the enslaved. In his text entitled, ‘Death or Liberty,’ Douglass highlights the plight of African American Slaves and the experiences with their masters. For example, Qouk Walker, a freedom fighter and a slave who is said to have taken his master to the court. Jones who was enslaved at Delaware house and had to purchase liberty, is also described as a freedom fighter by Douglass. For sure slavery is inhuman since some of the slaves lost there lives due to ignorance of the masters, some were mistreated and had poor health besides working so hard. Some slaves went through a revolutionary act in order to buy their freedom. Although the revolution was a good way to demand for freedom, Douglass argues that the plotters had little or no courage to pursue it as effectively as to gain the liberty they wanted. However, it is undisputed that the activists in the Northern States got their freedom through the battle. Nevertheless, they would not have found equality. It was a matter of death or liberty. Freedom from slavery had to be obtained through a revolution in America. Liberty, according to Abraham Lincoln, is defined differently from the north. Eric Foner says that civil war in America was a source of freedom blessings. Thus the civil war was paramount. â€Å"Civil war resulted in a new birth in freedom,† remarked Lincoln. The United States fight for independence in the civil war is seen to have been very necessary since it resulted in new forms of liberty. Liberty is not only found in the lack of enslavement but also in politics, economics and civil strives in America. Independence Declaration in America underscores the most fundamental human right of Americans. More so, the constitution publicizes its rationale in securing the good fortune of freedom. In fact, President Roosevelt declared that the United States of America fight for the Civil War was not to be taken for granted since it brought with itself different forms of freedom. To emphasize on liberty, the president said that America’s liberty is symbolized by liberty caps, the legal â€Å"statutes of liberty,† and the liberty poles. In Americas expression of freedom they burnet draft cards, escaped from slavery, exercising the voting rights, as well as the burn of stamps. In this way Roosevelt expressed contentment in the four kinds of freedom achieved by the end of Civil War. To confirm the result of the war as a source of freedom, Bunch Ralph authored a text in the year 1940 stating that all persons within the streets of U. S were aware of the fact that America was well known as â€Å"land of the Free. † The term liberty in America did not stop growing after the civil war. It has been growing and changing with the history of the country. Freedom will be used in economic terms as freedom of economy where there is a misconception of the freedom to the access to fire arms by different individual and anti-government militia who claim to be oppressed in different ways. They argue that the right to own arms should be prioritized. According to modifications of the of the 1776 modern America’s â€Å"Declaration of Independence† some economic freedoms have been expressed. Today, Freedom from different forms of taxation, United Nations membership by the U. S. , welfare declarations and regulation of economies, encompasses freedom. Globalization is a form of economic freedom which comes along with heated debates over who to trades with who and how? In reality, freedom has changed from just the mere decline of the civil wars’ blessings to economic and political terminology. That is why Lincoln thinks that freedom in the North is different from freedom in the South. Yes, the â€Å"new birth of freedom† as described by Lincoln defines the widening of freedom contents. Freedom in the South meant independence towards governance of self, assurance of property security and economic independence for more valuable and innovative opportunities. The freedom from slavery was one of the main intentions of the participation in the civil war by the Southern Whites. Majority of the Southern Whites strangled for independence in order to eliminate slavery since they felt that slavery had been used as a means of getting freedom. Although many where fighting to end slavery, Thomas Jefferson owning more than 100 slaves authored a text on â€Å"the inalienable right to liberty. † In one way or the other he was right since the ownership of slaves meant security and prosperity in economic status of an individual during the 19th century. Unfortunately, one would ask, whether the slaves were not entitled to freedom of movement and self expression and individual security. In addition, it was easy then to ask, whoever was entitled to freedom and what the meaning of freedom was. The Northern Whites on the other hand fought for the security of Union as one way of gaining liberty. This entailed the ending of slavery for liberty to prevail. Lincoln further evoked the masses in the Northern by telling them that freeing slaves would be like freeing the free. The 1862 December was the Emancipation Proclamation Congress, in which Lincoln was moved to stir up the understanding of freedom in terms of freeing slaves. The termination of slavery would help to free the whole society, the rich and the poor. It was emphasized that freedom of the United States Whites would signify freedom to the entire globe. With reference to Lincoln, the term liberty provoked different understanding of from different personalities. He said, â€Å"†¦but using the same word we do not mean the same thing. † This was an observation he made in 1864. According to his observation, he states that in the North, freedom is a term used to refer to personal ability to enjoy the fruit of his sweat. The motive in the Northern residents was to work for good product and enjoying it. While in the south the move towards freedom referred to the ability to become a master and enjoy the result of other persons work. The advocated for slavery. This was against the principles of work as per Lincoln’s understanding. Lincoln feels that it slavery reflects theft of some kind since slavery stole other person’s of their hard work. The master enjoys the fruit of slaves’ hard work. Furthermore, it is from the First World War that the rights of voting are granted to women who attained the age of 18 year. The 1865 Union’s victory evoked the debates on nationality of Americans. Victory meant national norm. The redefinition of who an American citizen was became of paramount importance to incorporate different races of America as citizens. The fight for citizenship and voting rights as well as property ownership soon became a source of freedom to the enslaved. Union victory became symbolic of war freedom in terms of empowerment and equal opportunity to all American citizens. As mentioned earlier in this text that Douglass felt that freedom came only if the Black American was fully freed from slavery. He insisted that unless the black American had the right to vote then he was not free. The black American was allowed to vote. Nonetheless, by1890’s the South scraped off their voting rights thus emancipation of the Africa Americans. Liberty as defined by the Southern Planter class, did not allow African Americans on the choice to work on plantations. After the civil war most Southern Whites expected to continue with plantation farming at the expense of African American’s freedom. This meant that African Americans would only receive some form of wages for the labor they offered. Conversely, they were not free to choose on whether or not to work in the plantations. By 1865, Freedom had not yet come to the former slaves in the South even after the end of slavery. Freedom to the Black was confined within limited boundaries which meant advanced slavery. In this context, a planter wrote that beside a man being free, they may lack independence, which implied that African Americans needed not be given the right to vote nor the ownership of land. It was later on discovered that the African American slaves’ freedom implied freedom from forced labor. The reconstruction of 1865- 1866, came up with a rules and regulations governing their freedom limits. The African American former slaves were forced to sign labor contracts and start working on the plantations in the South. This was a rule under the president Johnson who as a result was impeached for the violation of human rights. The question on citizenship was so disturbing that even in the 1940s it was not easy for Asians to gain citizenship by naturalization although their children born in America automatically became citizens. There was still lack of freedom for American residents. Racial discrimination resulted from the barriers of citizenship. While Southern economy was based on agriculture, the northern economy was based on industrialization. Many factories were growing fast and making enormous profits in the North where freedom was experienced in transport systems. There was freedom of economy with factories making maximum profits. Unfortunately, that the immigrants of America within the cities especially in the factories worked under stressful and dangerous working conditions. Although some factory owner created habitable places for their workers most of them failed to acknowledge the need for hospitable working and living conditions for their workers. There was need for freedom from poor working conditions. Factory owners needed to be reminded on the need for clean working conditions. The cotton gin increased production at the expense of slave labor. Women fell victims of enslavement and needed to be freed. There was great desire to broaden freedom quotations for African Americans in the U. S factories. Despite the constant strive to gain liberty in different perspectives; White Americans have sluggishly accepted the African and Asian American as equals. It has take centuries to even have African American be recognized as people who need equal constitutional rights. Nevertheless, the situation is changing with modernity to extend of electing a Black American president as recently Barrack Obama was. Non whites have had to fight uncontrollably to gain that position. Numerous reconstruction presidential reconstruction amendments have been put in place in the fight for liberty. Women were termed as unequal; men took a superior position in all domains of learning and economics as well as politics. In conclusion, there are different definitions of the term freedom depending on the region or the speaker. Lincoln discussed freedom in the South as economical in which masters had power over their servants. The servants were basically slaves. He also described freedom in the North as one that set slaves free from all aspects of forced labor, taxation any form of mistreatment. The planter also describes freedom as the one in which a freed slave would only need to get some wages but have no choice of whether or not to work in the whites plantations. It was mandatory for the slave to work for the master in order to ensure freedom of the Southern masters in terms of economic development. Finally citizenship and freedom of the union victory were form of freedom for the U. S residents. However, it is undisputed that most of the early African Americans bought their way to freedom and citizenship through slavery or even participating successfully in the civil war. Some African American had to take part in revolution in the fight for freedom. We still have to reexamine the meaning of freedom in more fields in the U. S where there is discrimination and racial prejudice. References Donald & Herbert D. (1995). Lincoln. New York: Simon and Schuster Eric J. (1993). To wake the Nations: Race in the Making of American Literature. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Eric F. (1995). Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology Of the Republication Party Before Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press. Herman B. (2000). A New Birth of Freedom: The Republican Party and Freedmen’s Rights, 1861-1866. New York: Fordham University Press. Neely M. E. (1991). The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties. New York: Oxford University Press. Paul C. N. (1971). The Sacred Trust: American Nationality 1798-1898. New York: Oxford University Press.

The debate between essentialism and social construction

The debate between essentialism and social construction is a very complicated one. Since both essentialists and social constructionists have different perspectives on matters, in order to be able to decide whether or not there was a presence of homosexual persons over time and place certain aspects have to be taken into consideration. Such as, was it biologically inherited, was it brought about with a preference on acts and desires or overtime influenced by religion, culture, beliefs, social norms, and acceptance has a define answer is a tough decision to make. Essentialists are stereotypical; they choose to have a set definition of a homosexual, whereas a social constructionist would have variations in their idea of what makes a homosexual. A social constructionist would disagree with whether the presence of homosexual persons over time and place have a set thought as to homosexuality was biologically inherited because they would feel that, that would be limiting the thought of other aspects influencing homosexuality. Social constructionists would feel that there is not just one set category or definition that makes you a homosexual. For example, an essentialist would say that a homosexual is someone who has black hair; therefore everyone who has black hair to an essentialist would be a homosexual. Whereas, a social constructionist would say black hair, brown, yellow, purple it doesn't matter it is in fact what that person felt that made him a homosexual. So taking an essentialist point of view stating that there was homosexual persons throughout time and place would discriminate other homosexuals who had different sexual desires, preferences, and acts that transcended through time due to other influencing matters. Matters such as culture, social norms and acceptance, beliefs, and backgrounds are good examples. Whereas Gordon and Abott state, â€Å"Social Constructionism usually has to do with categorizing. † This statement could be viewed as someone stating that religion is a deciding factor to whether someone is homosexual and someone else saying that background is a deciding factor to deciding homosexuality. There are two ideas or theory's stated here that both do influence homosexually. A social constructionist would be able to figure out what is means to be influenced by religion and what is meant to be influenced by background, and be versatile between the two the groups allowing homosexual individuals themselves to decide which factor influenced them even if it was both religion and background.. While an essentialist would simply state those definitions and state which category he/she would fall into there would be not switching into groups. (Gordon and Abott). In the article the Hijras of India by Serena Nanda, the Hijras of India are viewed as a separate group just like gay, lesbian and bisexual people in any other cultures, countries, religions, etc, just because their differences are not viewed as a social norm. They are also treated differently in every aspect because of different influences such as births and weddings. Hijras are a religious group of men who dress and act like women either because they are men who are bisexual and gay, or because when they were young boys they were castrated because of religious beliefs. The Hijras that were castrated when the where young boys are neither men nor women and cannot reproduce so they are viewed as powerful, able to curse those who disrespect them, yet outsiders in their contribution to this India society. Considering gay, lesbian and bisexual lives are not accepted in this culture, would it be reasonable to say that these men who started this religious belief where gay or bisexual men are looking for a way to express there emotions in this non accepting society? This would be a social constructionist view because over time actions and desires have changed in this society because acceptance, beliefs, culture, etc have become more accepting and understanding of the true meaning behind this religious belief. Some other things that came up were are these acts still being performed to younger boys and is this against their religion to deny a human being the right to be male and reproduce (source: Nanda)? In Class on Tuesday September 23, 2003 we had a class discussion on biological differences or mishaps that happen to babies that make it confusing to decide what sex that baby really is. In this class discussion we looked at different examples of baby girls who had their chromosomes in tact but their ovaries were inside of them and had larger clitorises. Should they have been men? We also looked at many other different situations pertaining to that subject. This could also relate back to the Hijras because they could not help what was done to them and this was only done because of social norms and social acceptance. This being an essentialist point of view there was a need for order and meaning. A social constructionist would just simply say that they could fall into many categories and find out what it means to be an XYYY baby or an XX baby with no vagina hole. â€Å"Thus, social constructionists spend much time â€Å"deconstructing† things: demonstrating that a group of categories have no truth and showing how they are socially accomplished (Gordon and Abbott)† Instead of the doctors, parents or the Hijra men who decided what sex a child should be a social constructionist would not follow the social norm in a need to have order and find an answer they would except the difference and make it a category with meaning. Ancient Greece provides another example of how there has always been a presence of homosexuality with an influence from culture. There was presence of homosexuality then and still is today but it has been influenced throughout time by culture, acceptance, social norms etc†¦ , because over time religion, cultures, etc have become more important and more needed for order to place people by the essentialists (Vance). Social constructionist views are more acceptable to differences and variations form the social norms of order and judging. They have shown that there has been a presence of a homosexual person over time and place but not just one type of homosexual person variations of unique homosexual persons. Social constructionism proves that there is not just one way to be but many ways and many categories we can all fit in not judging upon sexual orientation.

Answers to Questions About Articles

Answers to Questions About Articles Answers to Questions About Articles Answers to Questions About Articles By Mark Nichol 1. I found the follow information about the indefinite article a in The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: â€Å"used before uncountable nouns when these have an adjective in front of them, or phrase following them. For example, â€Å"a good knowledge of French†; â€Å"a sadness that won’t go away.† I dont understand the information. The dictionary says that the a is used before uncountable nouns when these have an adjective in front of them. But, as far as I know, the indefinite article a cannot be used in front of uncountable nouns. Does the information mean that we can always use the indefinite article a in front of uncountable nouns that have an adjective in front of them? Is it a rule? Mass, or noncount, nouns can be preceded by the indefinite article a when they are modified by a preceding adjective or a subsequent phrase: For example, though you would refer to bravery as courage, not â€Å"a courage,† you can write of â€Å"an uncommon courage† and â€Å"a courage like no other.† However, the passage from the resource you mentioned refers only to the possibility of the former type of usage, not to its ubiquity; it is rare. 2. Something I would like some clarification on is the use of a or an before the word holistic. I have been taught an, but this doesn’t seem to make sense to me, as there are many instances when a word beginning with h is preceded by a rather than an. Are you able to shed some light on this? Use a or an before a word that begins with the letter h depending on whether the h is pronounced: â€Å"a historic occasion,† but â€Å"an honest mistake.† 3. I don’t know what to do with the names of institutions when they call themselves a name with the in the title for example, â€Å"the Open Door.† In the middle of a sentence, do you have to capitalize the? Would you say, â€Å"We met at The Open Door†? The direct article should be lowercase even when it is integral to an entity’s name (as in â€Å"the American Automobile Association,† when it would not be referred to, minus the, as American Automobile Association†), but many entities insist on capitalizing it as part of a branding identity. (And it’s best to do so for indirect articles, as in, for example, the name of a community center called A Place for Teens.) If you work for the Open Door or it’s giving your organization money or other consideration and management at the Open Door wants the name treated as â€Å"The Open Door,† treat it as â€Å"The Open Door.† Otherwise, style it â€Å"the Open Door.† 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 Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsRules for Capitalization in TitlesComment, Suggestion, and Feedback