Advice on Writing an Effective Personal Statement

Advice on Writing an Effective Personal Statement Definition A personal statement is an autobiographical essay that many colleges, universities, and professional schools require as part of the admissions process. Also called a  statement of purpose, admissions essay, application essay, graduate school essay, letter of intent, and goals statement. The personal statement is generally used to determine a students ability to overcome obstacles, achieve goals, think critically, and write effectively. See Observations and Recommendations below. Also see: Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal StatementCritical ThinkingIllustrationNarrationPersonal EssayPersonal LetterRevision and Editing Checklist for a Narrative Essay Observations and  Recommendations Get good advice[T]he essay or personal statement began as a gauge of student enthusiasm (Why in particular do you wish to attend Bates College?). Over the years, it has been called upon to do other work: to capture how the applicant thinks; to reveal how he or she writes; to uncover information about values, spirit, personality, passions, interests, and maturity. . . .Admissions officers, counselors, teachers, and students in my survey rated what matters most in an application essay. All four groups agreed that the most important criteria are correctness, organization, specific evidence, and an individual style. . . .As an applicants best chance to plead his or her own case, the essay is a valuable piece in the admissions puzzle. Students need the advice of someone who knows them well to put together a convincing case, and parents are great resources, with their firsthand information about and commitment to their children.(Sarah Myers McGinty, The Application Essay. Chronicle of Hig her Education, January 25, 2002) Get startedIts difficult for most people to write about themselves, especially something personal or introspective. The following suggestions may help your creative juices to flow.Consult friends and relatives for ideas. . . .Take inventory of your unique experience, major influences, and abilities. . . .Write an experimental creative essay in which you are the main character. . . .Assemble your applications and determine how many essays you must write. . . .Get feedback from others before completing your final draft.(Mark Allen Stewart, How to Write the Perfect Personal Statement, 4th ed. Petersons, 2009) Keep it realAuthenticity is what matters in personal statements, in my experience. Strong writing and scrupulous proofreading are essential, but most of all, the topic and the expression must bring alive in the minds and hearts of the readers some aspect of the real teenager writing the statement. . . .Writing a strong personal statement calls upon you to observe your real life, a s it is, and get it on paper. Your best writing will emerge when you slow down to notice and record not just what happened, but also the small sensory details that make up the important and challenging events of your life. In a nutshell: Keep it real; show, don’t tell.(Susan Knight, director of college placement at the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in Brooklyn. The New York Times, September 11, 2009) Make it relevantWith so many students getting similar grades, personal statements are often all that universities have to go on, says Darren Barker of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas). That’s why we advise applicants to take them seriously. . . .â€Å"You need to express yourself concisely and give thought to what universities are likely to regard as relevant, he says. If you have done work-shadowing in the field in which you have chosen an academic course, that’s obviously a plus. But even extra-curricular things on your CV can be worth including. . . .Personal statements are just that, personal. . . . This is about youwho you are, where you have come from and where you want to go. Bluff, spin a line, pretend you are something you are not and you will be found out.(Julie Flynn, Ucas Form: A Very Personal Statement of Intent. The Daily Telegraph, October 3, 2008) Be specificA possible area of discussion in your personal statement might be around what led you to pursue medicine as a career. You could discuss the courses, people, events or experiences that have influenced you and why. Discuss your extracurricular activities and why you participated. Tell about your educational experiences and summer internships. When doing so, write chronologically. . . .Be specific and do not exaggerate. Be philosophical and idealistic, but be realistic. Express your concern for others and share your unique experience that had a profound effect on your career choice. Express all of these things, but show your sense of value, partnership, independence and determination.(William G. Byrd, A Guide to Medical School Admission. Parthenon, 1997) FocusStatements may be weak for several reasons. The most foolish thing you can do probably is not to proofread what you write. Who wants to hire someone who turns in a statement with spelling, grammatical, or capitalization errors? An unfocused statement is also not likely to help you. Hiring institutions like to see focus, clarity, and coherence, not a stream-of-consciousness approach that seems incoherent to the reader, however coherent it may seem to you. Also, do not just say what you are interested in. Say what you have done about your interests.(Robert J. Sternberg, The Job Search. The Portable Mentor, ed. by M. J. Prinstein and M. D. Patterson. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2003) Know yourselfAdmissions officers say the most successful essays show curiosity and self-awareness. Says Cornells [Don] Saleh: Its the only thing that really lets us see inside your soul. While theres no one right formula for soul baring, there are many wrong ones. Its disastrous to write, as a Rice applic ant did, of what he could bring to the University of California. A self-absorbed or arrogant tone is also a guaranteed turnoff. Exhibit A: a Rice essay beginning, I have accumulated a fair amount of wisdom in a relatively limited time of life. Exhibit B: a Cornell applicant who set out to describe the indescribable essence of myself.(Jodie Morse et al., Inside College Admissions. Time, October 23, 2000)

Dividend Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dividend Policy - Essay Example Various analysts have examined that the dividend policy could highly affect shareholders’ wealth (Gul et al., 2012). The ability of a firm to distribute cash and increase the wealth of shareholders depends on the earnings capability of the firm and its capacity to raise fund from the external sources (Brealey, 2012). There are two ways of raising funds which are debt and equity (Kelly, 2012). Debts are the instrument where the holder gets a fixed payment along with interest (Denis and McKeon, 2012). On the other hand, the equity holders are the owner of the company to the extent of their holding (Hillier et al., 2011). However, as per the Modigiliani and Miller (M&M) model, the dividend policy of an organization has negligible or no effect on the shareholder’s wealth because the firm value is independent of its dividend policy. Moreover, in the accounting process, the dividend paid or received is calculated in cash flow which is very important for calculating the enterp rise value through discounted cash flow method (Brooks and Mukherjee, 2013). Policy Structure of Tesco PlcTesco Plc is one of the largest retailers globally. It is a British multinational, founded in 1919 and is headquartered in England. The payment of dividend has been consistent for 5 years. Nevertheless, in recent days, the wealth of shareholders has been weak as the profit generation of Tesco has been low, but it recovered in 2013-14 as the dividend paid is  £1,193m in comparison to  £1,186m in 2012-13.

Independent Music Labels and Their impact on theMusic Industry Essay

Independent Music Labels and Their impact on theMusic Industry - Essay Example In recent times – fortunately or unfortunately we don’t know whether to call it a boon or a bane, there has been a sudden splurge of new private music companies which have given the existing scenario a total make-over by branding themselves on a different plane altogether. Besides the four major recording companies –i.e. Warner, Universal, Sony BMG and EMI, there are what are called â€Å"Indie† labels. The most common or widely used description of â€Å"independent† labels is that they are not connected with any major or corporate label. Such labels give more freedom and control, than what is allowed by major labels. They also extend support on the business aspect of music, though not on a very large scale. Independent labels face a downside in the fact that they lack the finance needed to make an artist or album popular. They are not capable of good advertisements or promotions for artists or albums. Most of these small labels are run by musicians from their home or garage. If it becomes a success, eventually it is taken over by a major label. The current scenario is pretty clear, both consumers and artists have spectacular opportunities from digital download technologies, as long as the artists are fairly compensated and major labels don’t interfere with it. Obviously, technology is changing the face of the Music industry.

The Cool Web Essay Example for Free

The Cool Web Essay In their respective poems, the poets examine language and the importance of it in our life and culture. Robert Graves uses a metaphor of a web to depict language, one that gives form, structure and release to daily events. The image of language being constructed like a web is reflected in the structure of the poem, in iambic pentameter form. Graves describes in the first stanza how children are unable through words to describe how hot the day is. They are completely dumb and unable to express their discomfort, and in this manner lessen its intensity. The black wastes of the evening sky alludes also to the negativity and oppression that daily living inflicts. How dreadful the tall soldiers drumming by reinforces this, suggesting war, reinforcing also the feeling of conflict and negativity. The second stanza turns the poem around, starting with But. Graves explains how we have speech to chill the angry day, to dull the roses cruel scent. The philosophical proposition of speech as a release, as a poultice or panacea, is amplified through the poets use of repetition.  But we have speech, to chill the angry day, And speech, to dull the roses cruel scent.  We spell away the overhanging night,  We spell away the soldiers and the fright. The second half of the stanza, on a conspicuous level, describes the craft of a poet. It also insinuates language as a form of magic, as if poets are magicians who have power over the natural world. The third stanza links directly back to the title of the poem, describing language as a cool web that winds us in. It also carries a warning of withdrawing too much from emotion, joy or fear:  We grow sea-green at last and coldly die  In brininess and volubility. Language is here described as an Ocean, one that if we immerse ourselves too deeply in, we drown in brininess and volubility. Graves choice of elaborate words demonstrates the power of language. The final stanza is also a warning, a warning that without words and language to provide rationalisation, form and structure to our thoughts and emotions we shall go mad no doubt and die that way. The poet is ambivalent in his viewpoint, arguing that we need a balance between verbosity and losing self-possession of our tongues, that without the escape language and poetry offers we are like children, dumb to express ourselves. In Edward Thomas poem, Words, he suggests that eloquence and language are not voluntary. The poem uses enjambment, reflecting the flow of inspiration and free thought. Addressing words directly in his poem, he asks for inspiration:  Will you choose  Sometimes   (.) Choose me,  You English words? Thomas insinuates that words choose the poet or writer, contrasting with Graves opinion (as suggested in his poem The Cool Web) that we have control over our use of language. Thomas compares inspiration coming to the poet as wind, whistling through as if through a crack in a wall, or a drain. The imagery of words being weightless and almost supernatural is amplified by their comparison to light as dreams. The reference to words being as precious as poppies can be interpreted perhaps as opium dreams, and corn is the basis of bread. Through these comparisons the poet implies that language and words are a basic need of human culture, as necessary as bread and dreams the allusion to dreams being an escape from reality, and also a source of inspiration. An old cloak implies familiarity. The majority of the second stanza appeals heavily to the senses, using aural imagery:  Sweet as our birds  To the ear,  As the burnet rose  In the heat  Of Midsummer  Thomas also describes the mystery of words and language by comparing them to the races of the dead and unborn. The similarities between words and the dead and unborn alludes to the idea that there are poems and books not yet written, the dead implying potentialities not reached and the unborn suggesting poems and inspiration growing and developing within poets. The verse describes natural beauty, depicting roses, yew trees, hills, and streams after rain implying that words are also natural beauty. In the third stanza, Thomas alludes to the different dialects of Wiltshire, Kent and Herefordshire, drawing attention to the diversity of the English language. From the names, and the things / No less.  The final stanza eulogizes the act of writing a poem, addressing inspiration directly as you again.  Let me sometimes dance  With you,  Or climb  Or stand perchance  In ecstasy,  Fixed and free  In a rhyme,  As poets do.  Thomas personifies language and inspiration a tactile being, Let me sometimes dance / With you, also reflecting back on his previous description of poetry being dream-like, Or stand perchance in ecstasy. Fixed and free describes the rigid backbone of a poem, the technical structure and form, but also the freedom the language gives it.

Democrat and Republican Political Strategy in an Upcoming Election :: essays research papers

Based on current polls, the outcome of the upcoming election is leaning towards disaster for the Republican parties. This is partially due to the lack in competence on national security. Despite the forecasted outcome, the Republicans are remaining calm and confident about the upcoming election. Contrary to the polls, republicans are expecting a triumphant election session. If they succeed with their campaign plans they could ultimately cause a political upset. Unlike the Democrats, the republicans are massively investing in their campaign. They are actively preparing for the â€Å"toughest election in at least a decade,† (Mehlam). Unlike previous years there are only a handful of house seats available this election, compared to the almost 100 available in 1994. To handle the escalated election the Republicans have taken a different approach to wining voters over as well as getting registered voters motivated to go out an actually vote. They have developed â€Å"Special Teams†, whose focus is motivating and recruiting voters. These new teams are taking a more personal approach this time around, which the republican parties believe will be responsible for overturning the election. From several experiments and trials, the Republican Party has developed new strategies and advantages. First, they discovered that phone calls and door nocks persuade a voter to go to the polls. As well as using that same approach to drawing in new voters to their party, by focusing on the â€Å"increasing importance of person – to – person appeals. Second, they are investing their money differently than in previous years. Rather than pay for excessive overpriced television ads, they are paying for people to make phone calls and go door to door recruiting. This increased presence of republican recruiters and volunteers has already been shown to be more effective than the high paid democratic employees. Finally, the biggest advantaged that the Republican Party has developed is their massive financial investment in the campaign, they spare no expense, which will leave the underinvested Democrats in the financial dust. These new developments are inflating the Republican’s confidence and it is beginning to look like their â€Å"secret weapon† this election. The final advantage of the republicans is the reliability of their voters. As well as, they are counting on the unhappiness of the democrat voters with their party, which is encouraging when focusing on this upcoming election becoming favored for the republican parties. As far as the author is concerned I agree with his assessment of the Republican Party.

Social Media: Bane or Boon?

SOCIAL MEDIA: BOON OR BANE? Roberto M. Macatuggal, Ph. D. Web 2. 0 has enabled web-based services, such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, etc. , that emphasize collaboration and sharing among users. This platform (Davis, 2012), described simply as the read/write web, allows users to be both consumers and producers of online content. It is an interactive two-way web; a place where everyday folks with Internet access can create and edit stuff. Davis compares Web 1. 0 and Web 2. 0: Web 1. 0 was a place to go and get, while Web 2. 0 is a place to be and do.Gregory (2011) clarifies further that Web 2. 0 allows for participating and sharing in the production of resources. It is about communities, participation, and peering. A social network (Wikipedia) is a theoretical construct that is used to study the relationships between and among individuals, social units, or even whole societies. Georg Simmel pioneered in early structural theories in Sociology and Jacob Moreno is credited for having developed the first sociograms in the 1930s to study interpersonal relationships. Web 2. 0 social networking working capabilities have spawned the development of social media tools.What is social media? According to Parker (2011) social media are the uses of Web technology to spread messages through social interaction that happens online. Rean John Uehara (Webdesigner. com) defines social media as a combination of human interaction through web applications where people produce their own content, mold their own experience, and define their online presence. A loose definition of social media is that it’s like a country, people gather and interact with massive amounts of people from their area and abroad. It’s really a broad place, both wonderful and terrible depending on its use.Two of the most popular social media are Facebook (visited at http:// blog. facebook. com/blog. php? post =287542130) which claims to have more than 400 million users and T witter (http://blog. twitter. com/2010/02/measuring-tweets. html) receiving around 50 million updates a day from users, which is an average of 600 tweets per second. Parker (2011) differentiates the following social media tools: 1. Blogging – an informal conversational medium for writing and publishing content online on regular basis. (e. g. , Blogger, Typepad, WordPress). 2. Microblogging – a short form of blogging where posts are usually limited in length and format. e. g. , Twitter, Friendfeed) 3. Social Networking – a way to engage and interact with a specific online community by way of a fan or profile page. 4. Social Bookmarking – a central location for posting links to useful resources which can be seen and shared by other users. (e. g. , Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious). 5. Multimedia – Sharing rich media such as video, images, and presentation online. (e. g. , YouTube, SlideShare, Flickr). 6. Reviews and Opinions – a way for customers to share opinions and reviews of products and services online. (e. g. , Yahoo! Answers, Epinions, eHow). 7.Wikis – a central repository designed to be edited by a group rather than one person. (e. g. , Wikipedia, Wikia, Wikitravel, Dealipedia, Wikimapia). What are the benefits of social media? Nakul Arora wrote in his blog that in today’s fast growing world, social media is the latest thing which has made its presence felt virtually across all the sectors. Facebook and Twitter are two big players having majority control within social media. Thus, it becomes very important for any organization today to be present in some form or the other on these networks so as to connect with the wide following these networks have.These networks have also taken individualism to another level altogether with each person having a considerable say over his friend group. Thus if any educational institution at all succeeds in winning over a student to avail of its educational services, the chance of influencing his friends also increases. According to Arora, there are 5 things that educational institutions can do to tap into the students on Facebook and Twitter: 1. Forming a dedicated team. This aspect involves creation of a dedicated team for the sole purpose of managing the social media setup for the institution.This is very important in the present environment there being more than one department in an institution. It is also important to ensure the smooth functioning of the online groups with the social media team managing and ensuring a proper sync between all the different aspects of the institution. An example here to show the need of such a team would be to simply take a case wherein an ex-student of the university sends out a job opportunity to a group of present students online. Now, the social team would keep track of this and forward it to the respective department which an then ensure that the opportunity is properly utilized by the students. This dedica ted team would also ensure that the institution’s updates are well planned and organized instead of doing them at random. This would thus, cater well to the different groups of ex, current and prospective students. 2. Giving before receiving. A common rule of the internet is that you have to first give before you receive. Any person would only follow a particular group or institution if they are sharing things that are unique and beneficial in some way for the person.This is not a tough thing to achieve, for every institution is unique in its own aspect and thus, creation and sharing of unique things wouldn’t offer such a big problem. Also, the university can utilize its previously existing case-studies, problems, etc. for the purpose of engaging the prospecting and other interested students. It can also share newsletter articles about happenings in the institution with the people who are interested in keeping updated with the affairs of the school. 3. Forming and coor dinating student online groups.Students are any institution’s biggest asset and can be the best people to spread the message of the happenings and current life of the institution. Thus, any institution should maintain an online students group where it should form a dedicated team of student volunteers to share the latest things from the campus. This would give the prospective students a real glimpse of the actual life in the campus and also help them connect with the current students. The ex-students can also use this group to remain connected with their Alma Mater.Such groups can also be formed for specific purposes: a group can be formed solely for the purpose of sharing internship opportunities by the alumni with the current students. Another such group can be exclusively for the alumni and staff members to reconnect and be in touch. Also, smaller groups can be formed to influence students who have negative attitudes and perceptions about the school. 4. Presence of influen tial personalities on the networks. Every college has its heroes: professors or teachers who are famous for their service in a particular field of study.These are people who have a huge fan following and thus, any update that they make will be followed by a large number of people. The university has to ensure that professors of such repute have their presence in the social world as well and they also communicate on a regular basis with their followers. Many institutions have already initiated this with their chancellors and heads having an active Facebook or Twitter account. They can actually hold open forums, discussions or simply answer some queries occasionally on the social media. 5. Trying to create a better world.The institutions can also use the social media for their aims towards providing a good education to all. This can be done with the creation of free online courses which can be taken by anyone and everyone. The world has been propelled in that direction with the introd uction of Apple’s iUniversity which gives the universities an opportunity to provide a host of courses, either free or paid. This will go a long way in developing the reputation of the university while benefiting in the process due to development of good content and new courses.This will help towards creating a better world where quality education will be free and available to all. As the prevalence of social media continues to rise, organizations of all types and sizes are recognizing the ways in which social media can help them better understand, respond to, and attract the attention of their target audience. As a result, businesses are now jumping on the social media bandwagon at a rapid pace, embracing blogs, social networks, wikis, and other vehicles to achieve their marketing and public relations goals.The types of benefits that corporations achieve with an effective social media strategy (http://shiftcomm. com/social_media_benefits. html) are the following: 1. Get the message out faster – and to more people. Social media enables more rapid sharing of information. It may take hours, or even days, for a new announcement to reach the end consumer through traditional channels. Why? Because when a press release is issued, a journalist or writer must first wade through all the sales and marketing lingo to find the key points.Then, the content must be re-purposed in article format, and sent to an editor or proofreader before it is published. Social media vehicles, on the other hand, allow for instantaneous dissemination of not just news, but images, audio, video, and other multimedia content as well. And because releases geared toward social media outlets contain only key highlights, pertinent facts, and hyperlinks to related statistics and quotes, the information they contain can be immediately picked up and posted by bloggers and other online journalists.Social media also provides more widespread coverage, enabling breaking news to reach a much larger and broader reader base than standard media outlets alone. While magazine readership and the number of available print publications continue to decline, the number of consumers using the Internet to access and share information continues to rise sharply. For example, one recent study showed that almost one out of every four Internet users – over 41 million people total in 2006 – visits MySpace on a regular basis. 2. Improve branding.Social media, and blogs in particular, can be a highly useful tool for enhancing both awareness and image. Blogging can help â€Å"spread the word† about a company, its products, and its services to more people, dramatically increasing brand recognition and awareness. Additionally, social media can enable executives to gather input and feedback directly from their target audience, and use that intelligence for more effective reputation management. Insight into why people like – or hate – a brand is needed to hel p change and control audience perceptions and preferences. 3. Boost the impact of direct marketing.Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key component of today’s direct marketing and lead generation strategies, and social media has proven its ability to significantly complement SEO initiatives. Many social media techniques – such as frequent use of common jargon and key phrases, title tags, ticker symbols, and links to blogs and other relevant Web content – can dramatically improve search engine rankings. Additionally, while SEO relies on just a handful of popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo to drive target prospects to a site, social media expands the potential audience by creating alternate channels.For example, when content is published to a site, and that content is then linked to delicious or reddit, it can generate a tremendous boost in Web traffic. Many companies also find it much easier to generate compelling content that is likely to be pick ed up by bloggers, than it is to keep up with the â€Å"rules† required to rank high in today’s popular search engines Parker (2011) suggests five (5) steps in the effective use of social media in business: 1. Think of the bigger picture. Be consistent with the message you wish to convey across various tools. 2. Use less rather than more media tools.It is important to consider your objectives as a basis for selecting the appropriate media tool. 3. Appoint a social media champion. The person would be responsible in engaging the clients / customers regularly; develops strategies to promote the business through social media. He/she would also be responsible in coordinating employees’ personal and social media activities. 4. Tracking the effect. Track the impact of social media efforts on the business such as increased traffic to the website of your business. 5. Take action. Retain the social media tool that gives you more business.Schools have likewise taken advant age of social media to reach out to as many students as possible. For universities competing to attract top students, it's no longer enough to have a glossy brochure and a sleek website. Schools like Johns Hopkins are reaching out to engage with applicants on Facebook and Twitter. They're also finding that a robust social media campaign, along with such creative features as student-run blogs, can lure prospective students while a stale online presence can turn them off. College admissions officers are indeed learning to interact with students where they hang out: online.According to a recent study by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 100% of universities surveyed use social media to communicate with students, up from 61% in 2007-08. The study found that 98% of the responding colleges have a Facebook page and 84% have a Twitter account. What are some of the misuses of social media? Social media, according to Prateek Shah, is as prone to m isuse as your computer is to virus. One of the misuses of social media is defaming people/groups/religions/communities. This is possible because of the anonymity of the person posting the derogatory statements.Celebrity fake accounts are being made and untrue stories about them are being spread. ‘Hacking at home’ has led to stealing of passwords and accessing the private lives of others, leading to relationship woes and even divorces. A survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) revealed that four out of five lawyers reported a growing number of divorce cases that cited evidence derived from networking sites. What is at stake when social media is misused and abused? Because of social media misuse and abuse, Uehara (posted at Webdesigner. om) says that you as a social media user may lose: 1. Your soul. If you have a huge audience and you make one little blunder, people will strike you with their pitchforks. 2. Your integrity. Huge claims, especially in public, can easily be cross-examined. 4. Your privacy. Often, people would share snippets of their personal lives on social media sites which is tantamount to loss of privacy. 3. Your job. People have lost their jobs because of a single tweet! 4. Your future. People remember. What you share now with people can haunt you several years from now.The future of social media Gregory argues that social networking through the web with sites such as Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, Second Life, YouTube, and Flicker is becoming a widespread if not dominant form of communication among Internet users, and most popular phenomena prognosticators forecast that this type of collaborating will continue and grow exponentially. Prateek Shah warns that regular attempts at curbing the freedom of social media will be made, but the truth is that it is leading us towards a new world where the lies will be trashed and the guilty will be charged.He says that It will not happen overnight but change has begun and i t is for the common good. In the Philippines, our legislators have crafted House Bill 3732, otherwise known as the Freedom of Information Bill. Social Media and the Internet will be among the enablers of the Freedom of Information Bill, which will boost transparency and minimize graft and corruption in the government. Maintaining ethics in the hyper-networked world of social media Tyler Pennock, Director of Social Media, Rude Finn Creative Edge formulated the following ethical guidelines in the use of social media: 1. Honesty: State nly what you know to be true – and be clear about opinion or conjecture vs. fact. 2. Transparency: Be straightforward about who you are – and who you’re representing online. 3. Respect: Respect for yourself, your peers, and even your adversaries. 4. Privacy: Treat the intimate details of others as you would your own personal information. 5. Relevance: Ensure that the content you’re posting is relevant to the audience and the v enue where it’s being posted. 6. Responsibility: Take ownership of your online activities, the content you’ve created, and any missteps you’ve made along the way.Conclusion Social media is man’s creation to respond to a need for expanding the network of social relationships, towards the realization of a real global village. However, the effectiveness of such social media depends on the selection of the tools that suit one’s purposes and objectives, including their proper use through the observance of ethical practices that respect the rights and uphold the dignity of the human person. References Arora, Nakul. 5 Ways Educational Institutions Can Use Facebook and Twitter For Studies And Coordination.Davis, Cheryl Ann Peltier. (2012). The Cybrarian’s Web. London: Facet Publishing. Gregory, Vicki L. (2011). Collection Development and Management for 21st Century Library Collections: An Introduction. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. Parker, Catherine . (2011). 301 Ways to Use Social Media to Boost Your Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill. Prateek, Shah. Use, Misuse and Abuse of Social Media. Posted at http://greensmyles. com/2012/06/the-use-and-misuse-of-social-media/ Uehara, Rean John. Social Media Misuse That Could Cost You Big Time. Webdesigner. com.

The Future of Cruise Industry

The Future of Cruise Industry Abstract Cruise industry has rapidly developing since 1990s; it becomes not only as transportation tool, but a modern way of travel and even lifestyle. It is regarded as ‘floating resorts’. This journal article focuses on the future development of cruising industry.It examines cruise industry on five main factors: the structure of the industry: high concentration and enter of Low-Cost cruise lines; the potential customers: whether aging population or young generation would be the major group of consumers; destinations and markets: define the most popular destinations and core markets, as well as the exploration of new markets and destinations; the new innovation of sea-based apartment, the safety and security issues, which significant raised concern recently; and whether the cruise industry is environmental sustainable.Three key sources are used to compare and contrast the viewpoints: Hospitality 2010, which is written by Dr. Cetron; Cruise Ship Tourism, written by Dr. Dowling; and the Cruise Ship Experience, written by Dr. Douglas. These key sources are very up-to-date and reliable, the key authors are admitted as experts whether in the business or academic field, their works are in line with the topic. This journal article identifies current situation and the future developing trends of the cruise industry. It concludes that he cruise industry has a very bright future if proper measurements and regulation are being introduced and well implemented.Nowadays, Cruise industry is concerned as the most rapid growing sector in hospitality industry, which the business is expanding by 8 percent annually. In some specific area such as Alaska and Caribbean, it remains the top industry that contributes to the economy. Cruising business is expanding and changing world-wide; however, the industry is little understood by the society. Today, ships are not viewed as a means of transport but as floating resorts. Mega ships were introd uced to carry more than 5,000 people; new ports on call and destinations are been discovered and on the way of developing the business.However, accomplished by the booming of the industry, several issues have been risen concerns on. This journal article will discuss six issues relate to the developing trends of cruise industry: the structure of the industry and further trends; the potential passengers; the existing and potential markets and destinations; the sea-based apartment—will it be popular; the concern of safety and security which is considered as primary factor due to the terrorist attacks; and the environmental issue: should corporations be self-guarded or forced to implement regulations.The thesis statement of the article is that cruise industry will overcome the difficulties and have a fortunate future. The secondary research is based on both quantitative and qualitative data, include case studies, statistics and in-depth interviews. To support the secondary data, a primary research was conducted in the form of questionnaire. The sample gathered fourty international students that majoring in hospitality and tourism management in Sydney. The sample was gained from the Carrick College, International College of Management, Sydney and Holmes College.The nationalities are varies, include Sweden, Norwegian, Australian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. The questionnaire combines ‘Yes or No’ questions, multiple choices and short answers. These questions are in line with secondary data that discussed in the journal article, identify whether people are interested and willing to experience cruising in the future. The aim of primary research is to explore whether the responses are support or against Dr Dowling (2006), Dr. Cetron (2006) and Dr. Douglas (2004)’ findings. Literature ReviewIdeas from two key sources are used to compare and contrast in this journal article. The first key source is chapter 8 from Hospitality 2010, which is wri tten by Dr. Marvin J. Cetron, who is a professional forecaster for over 40 years admitted both by corporate and American government. He is admitted as an expert in the fields of technological forecasting, strategic planning, technology assessment, R&D planning, resource allocation, economics, marketing, and the behavioral sciences. Dr. Cetron has written 36 books, numerous articles and papers.His most popular works are future orientated. Hospitality 2010 is written in the form of business report and is considered American biased (Hall, 2007); Chapter 8 explores most of the aspects of cruising industry briefly which brought out discussion. It examines potential trends and problems such as waste management, aging population and future destinations that are particularly useful for this journal article. Dr. Ross K. Dowling is Foundation Professor and Head of Tourism in the School of Marketing, Tourism and Leisure, Faculty of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Western Australi a.Professor Dowling is an international speaker, author, researcher and consultant on tourism with over 200 publications. He is passionate about Cruise Industry and he has lectured on board Silver Cloud around the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. The second source: Cruise Ship Tourism is the first comprehensive academic book to raise the awareness of cruise industry. It analyses current status of cruise industry and investigates a number of industry issues and predicts the future trends. This book gives clear direction from academic viewpoint. The third key source is The Cruise Experience written by Dr.Norman Douglas and Dr. Ngaire Douglas. Dr. Norman Douglas is Director of Pacific Profile and has taught at the University of New South Wales, the University of the South Pacific, Fiji and the University of Hawai’i. Dr. Ngaire Douglas is Associate Professor in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. The Cruise Experience examines cruising today, the economic impacts of cruising, and case studies from various perspectives. The Structure of Cruise Industry No doubt, three major companies control about 80% of the cruise market worldwide.The top three companies are Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean and Star Cruise. While the cruise industry’s capacity is increasing, the number of cruise companies is shirking. Douglas (2004) states that the move towards oligopoly will continually contribute to the disappearance of the mid-sized independent cruise companies which are rating from three-to-four star; only companies which have their own niche market or have strong economic background will survive. Furthermore, the Carnival Corporation aims not only the ‘world leading cruise lines’, but ‘the world only cruise line’.It means more cruise lines would likely be merged in the future; the concentration in the industry is possibly to increase even further (Dowling, 2006). Klein (2002) identifies bankruptcies as another reason for high concentration of the industry. In 2000 and 2001, seven cruise companies have ceased operations, include Premier Cruises, Commodore Cruise Line, Cape Canaveral Cruise Line and World Cruise Company, which eliminated more than 7,000 berths. Klein (2002) observes that the cruise industry’s expansion would be greater if the bankruptcies were not happened. Besides concentration that highly emphasised by experts, Dr.Dowling (2006) argues that Low Cost Cruising would make a significant growth of the industry. For example, Low Budget ‘no-frills’ style airlines had made a success in 2000s, such as Midway Airlines and SunJet Airlines. In 2005, the founder of one of the Low Cost airlines, EasyJet, has started a Low Cost no frills cruise line EasyCruise in Europe, targeted at younger generation between 20 and 40 years old; more than half of the customers are British, followed by Americans, Germans and the Swiss. Dr. Do wling (2006) asserts that there will be a rapidly growing niche market for low cost cruises. Potential PassengersAccording to Dr. Dowling (2006), a recent survey has shown that the passengers are becoming more youthful and are demanding more active itineraries. Take example of Alaska, the average age of passengers has fallen from 65 to 50 during 2004-2005. Furthermore, Dr. Dowling (2006) claims that family orientated cruises is becoming increasingly popular and will become a major niche market in future. Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA, 2004) showed 16% of cruisers bring children under age of 18 years sailed on their member line ships in 2004, which estimated number of more than one million. Dr.Cetron (2006) agrees that younger travelers form a profitable market for family cruising; to build up brand loyalty is one of the biggest advantages of catering them, cruise companies considered them as the most profitable cruisers for their later lives. Dr. Dowling (2006) observ es that compare to younger generation, the number of full-time retirees is declining due to the fact that mid-career baby boomers now make up the largest market for cruises of 42%. In contrast, Dr. Cetron (2006) strongly argued that due to the fact that people are living longer and growing older on average, these people make up a growing segment of the cruise market.According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, people over 65 were only 8% of the population in 1950 in the developed world, but 15% in 2000 and will be 27% in 2050. In some countries like Japan, the number will climb up to 37%. Secondly, senior generation take the longest and most luxurious cruises. Different from family and budget-minded passengers, elder people prefer small ships and regardless of the money just to have good times. They would be very profitable for cruise operators. Thirdly, Dr.Cetron (2006) believes that the growth of over 65 market will moderate the regular seasonality of tourism, because retirees can travel at any time; this can help cruise operators to adjust their cash flow. In addition, some cruise lines have already targeted retirees as core market and adjust their service to suit the market; Dr. Cetron (2006) recommends this market has potential consuming strength that could definitely increase revenue for the cruise company; others should follow their lead. New Markets and Destinations A number of new markets and destinations are rapidly recognised in the cruise sector.Dr. Cetron (2006) illustrates that by 2010, China is expected to be the single largest source of international tourists in the world, displacing Americans, Japanese and Germans. He predicts that 100 million Chinese will travel globally in 2020; even 1% of them take cruise trip, the market size will be more than doubled. In the meanwhile, although Dr. Dowling (2006) concerns China as a potential market as well, he suggests more studies should be conducted before enter of the market to und erstand and explore the possibility to develop cruise industry in China. Another emerging cruise destination both Dr.Cetron (2006) and Dr. Dowling (2006) have strongly emphasised is the Indian Ocean. South Africa and the Eastern African ports have already established some trade, 0. 2% of the world market, as Dr. Dowling (2006) states; the National Ports Authority is working on the development of the cruise industry in this region in order to ensure that efficient, effective services and facilities are provided to cruise liners to populate the South African coastline. As Dr. Cetron (2006) observes, cruise lines will begin to offer cruises and on board amenities suited native Indian’s taste and serve the local market.A New Innovation: Sea-based Apartment Dr. Dowling (2006) states that another area of potential expansion in the future is the rise of service apartment ships. These type of ships represent another type of community, the service include Clinique, swimming pools, sev eral restaurants, grocery stores tennis court, disco, book store, mini golf course and helicopter pad. Already there is one privately owned residential cruise liner, the world, which houses 110 apartments that have already sold out, running the business. The residents mainly come from Europe and the USA.However, some apartments usually being left empty and treated as holiday homes. Dr. Dowling (2006) concludes that the possibility of whether sea-based apartment is a new opportunity for cruise lines or just a short term fashion will be identified by time. Safety and Security Anderson (2005) described security issues facing cruise industry include piracy, terrorism, drug smuggling, sexual assault and stowaways (Dowling, 2006). Piracy is a form of terrorism that exists for a long time. However, it has been largely ignored by the community due to the frequency of attacks. Dr.Dowling (2006) demonstrates the main cruise ships routes of piracy include the Straits and Malacca, the Red Sea a nd Indonesian and Malaysian waters. Another issue which has continually raising the concern is terrorism, despite of the infrequency of attack of cruise lines. The Caribbean has been identified as a major area of terrorist attack. Dr. Dowling (2006) detected that terrorist incidents within the cruise industry has been very rare, which is less than 2% of all terrorist attacks in the last thirty years. It may due to difficulty of accessibility and the specialist skills compare the way to attack land-based targets (Chalk, 2002).Dr. Cetron (2006) argued that cruise ships are ideal targets for terrorists who are willing to sacrifice themselves as they can take large number of people with them. The second reason is, as the government facilities and land-based buildings are becoming harder to attack, cruise ships are currently facing great risk. Furthermore, 94 percent of American rate the hotel safety as a primary factor in order to decide where to stay (Cetron, 2006). Regarding cruises a s floating hotels, terrorism becomes a top concern for passengers. Both Dr. Cetron (2006) and Dr.Dowling (2006) mentioned the highjack of the Italian cruise liner â€Å"Achille Lauro† in 1985, which a US citizen was killed. Great emphasis of improving passengers’ safety and security was implemented immediately after the attack. Even though, bomb threats on board have never stopped, accomplished by people being killed. Recently, The International Ship and Port Safety (ISPS) Code was fully implemented in order to control the situation. Dr. Dowling (2006) emphasises US and Australia have higher security measures than other countries to prevent terrorist attacks on maritime targets.In addition, Australia has some of the most secure ports in the world including the USA. Dr. Dowling (2006) concludes that there is little the industry can do to prevent terrorism, however, it can be minimised through better security both at sea and in port. In addition, Dr. Cetron predicts that the legislation will be much tighter in the future regarding to the prevention of terrorism on board. Environmental Sustainability: Environmental Policy Challenges The question has been raised that whether cruise industry is environment sustainable or not. As the primary survey shows, environmental issues are not being realised seriously by society.Surprisingly, 74 percent of the sample responded with no clue of what environmental impact the cruise industry would cause, which is very shock. In fact, the destinations that located in biodiversity hotspots are being highly concerned as they have the most diverse and threatened environments on Earth. The destinations include the Caribbean, The Mediterranean, Western Mexico, the Panama Canal Zone and the South Pacific. Over the last 40 years, the governments have already made some progress and implementing environmentally responsible legislation and policy guidelines.However, Furger (1997); Freeman (1997); Luke (1997) and Sinclair (1997 ) argues that â€Å"current debate shows ongoing progress will not be accomplished by government intervention alone† (cited in Dowling, 2006). To examine whether self-regulation and voluntary guidelines or control regulation is more suitable for the cruise industry, two case studies from Juneau, Alaska, USA and Sydney, NSW, Australia are examined in the article. No doubt, the state of Alaska has the strictest regulations for cruise ships in the world, as the state regards the industry as primary factor that contribute to the local economy.The sewage and grey water discharge are especially strict in Juneau. Dr. Dowling (2006) states The Clean Water Act in the USA allows sewage to be dumped into the ocean beyond 3 miles of shore but not navigable water. Grey Water can be discharged anywhere in the USA but Alaska and the Great Lakes. Once the legislation has set, cruise companies responded voluntarily and showed their enthusiasm to go beyond compliance, which effect their market ing, reputation and economic value. Their strategies include best practice management, eco-labelling and green marketing.In the meanwhile, innovative technology in the form of advanced on-board wastewater treatment facilities was introduced by the cruise industry that is commonly applied to the cruise ships today. However, Dr. Klein (2002) argues that environmental responsibility can never voluntarily assumed due to the disappointed history. Dr. Klein (2002) describes the pattern that most industry innovations follow is, deny their faulty behaviour, persuade government to not implement regulations, resist enforcement, and after being caught, announce new company’s regulations.He maintains that self-regulation is the way cruise companies to escape from being caught. The situation in Sydney is a reverse of Juneau, where ‘regulation stifles innovation and discourages beyond compliance behaviour’ (Dr. Dowling, 2006). The legislation of ‘no-discharge’ in Sydney has made shipping agents frustrated. In Juneau, those ships with the state-of-art wastewater systems can discharge continuously cannot make exceptions from no-discharge policy applies at Sydney Harbour.To reply these unhappy operators, Sydney ports argue that even advanced wastewater system installed in cruises, produce still excess nutrients (Sydney waterways, 2003). However, no-charge policy has made the new system become a financial liability to cruise companies. They have to afford the cost of installing and operating the system but still have to pay for sewage disposal. To reduce the cost, cruise companies use older ships with older technologies instead of new ships in Australia; they argue that the no-charge policy is actually posing a degree of harm to the environment, which because older ships poses even more environmental hazards.In summary, experts support various viewpoints: Sinclair (1997) noted that mix of policy mechanisms and technological innovation should be involved; Klein (2002) asserts the industry requires strong legislations to control the corporations’ behaviour; on the other hand, Rondinelli (2000) believes more industry self-regulation would work. The key author Dr. Dowling (2006) concludes that due to the failure of corporations to build up their credibility and continually being caught and charged, cruise companies should not be trusted by self-regulation; Dr.Dowling (2006) observes strong legislation would best control the disposal issue and maintains environmental sustainability efficiently. Conclusion It is obvious cruise industry is big business; not only for cruise operators, but valuable for many nations, cities, ports and communities. Just in North American region in 2004, it provided 135,000 jobs and contributed US$30 billion on the US economy, which increased more than 18% over the previous year.The business structure will be very similar to the current airline industry, which dominate by oligopolists but small growing sector for Low Cost cruises; and these large companies might implement predation strategy, increase the frequency of sailing routes and depress the prices to drive Cost cruises out, like what American Airline did in 1990s. Secondly, the passengers will not only be concentrated on elder generation, but involved all age groups; different cruise lines will particularly target different groups when considering purchase new vessels and planning market strategies.Thirdly, the progress of developing cruise industry in developing countries is on their ways, the future markets and destinations will not be only in developed nations, but spread globally. Next, the trend of sea-based apartment is difficult to predict, but due to the luxury and extremely high price of purchasing, one thing cannot deny that it is entertain for upper class only. Furthermore, due to the continue impact from terrorist attack and risen concern from passengers, the policy of safety and security will be increa singly tighter with new detecting technology involved.Lastly, the environmental sustainability issue will never be finished the discussion. In my opinion, doesn’t matter what action people take into account, when there is human activities, it will be no longer sustainability. However, due to the fact that it is merely impossible for human being to stop discovering the Earth, what government and non-profitable orgnisations can do is to minimise our influence to the environment, establish more policies to regulate and strict activities with monitoring, because I believe deeply that self-regulation will never work, as long as the improper discharge of wastes can save their cost.At the very end, I strongly believe the cruise industry will have a very bright future, for the cruise operators, the consumers, the employment, the society and the governments. References Cetron, M. (2006). Hospitality 2010— the Future of Hospitality and Travel. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall D owling, R. K. (2006). Cruise Ship Tourism. London: CABI. Douglas, N. & Douglas, N. (2004). The Cruise Experience – Global and Regional Issues in Cruising. London: CABI. Ebersold, W. B. Business Briefing: Global Cruise– Cruise Industry in Figures. 2004). [Online]. Available: http://www. touchbriefings. com/pdf/858/ebersold. pdf [Accessed 2008, April 1]. Klein, A. R. (2002). Cuise Ship Blues—The Underside of the Industry. Canada: New Society Publishers Ye, W. China’s Cruise Economy is Ready to Bloom. (2007). [Online]. Available: http://www. ccyia. com/english/News_View. asp? NewsID=154 [Accessed 2008, March 31]. Choi, C. Q. (2007, March 25). Cruise Lines Face More Policing of Waste Disposal. The New York Times. P5. Appendix Survey on Cruise Industry 1. Have you ever been taken a cruise trip?Yes No 2. Are you willing to take a cruise trip in the future? Yes No Not sure 3. Which type of cruise do you prefer? A. Small luxury ships with personalised service B. Big ships, 1000 – 2000 passengers, probably need to Queue for amenities/facilities C. Budgeted cruise trip 4. Who would you likely to travel with? A. Friends B. Family C. Alone 5. How many days do you prefer to spend on cruising? A. 3 days B. 3 to 7 days C. 14 days D. A month 6. What is your spending expectation during the stay on a cruise?A. AU$50 to 100 B. AU$100 To 300 C. More than AU$300 7. Is there any destinations you wish to visit? Eg, the Caribbean, Alaska, Australia round trip, Antarctic, Malaysia/Indonesia, China 8. Why you choose cruise trips but not land-based hotels/resorts? Give one or more reasons. 9. What is the most important factor that you consider when choosing a route or cruise line? 10. Do you know the cruise lines are damaging the environment especially the marines? If yes, what things should be done to prevent/reduce the impact of cruise industry?