ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The research question is “How does falling unemployment affect college enrollment?” To answer this question, it is necessary to analyze the general background of the problem, which will help to understand the larger issue. It is common to associate the relationship between unemployment and college enrollment with the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the Great Recession on the border of the 2000s-2010s. Brown and Hoxby (2015, 1) note that the times of crises serve as an opportunity for new research endeavors. Although an economic crisis does not seem suitable for education research, it performed that function in the stated period (Brown and Hoxby 2015, 1). Scholars remark that the situation was especially surprising for higher education institutions because they had used to relish a long period of “economic prosperity and steady endowment growth” (Brown and Hoxby 2015, 1). Thus, the research question aims to cover two aspects of college enrollment: the economic situation in colleges and universities and the general state of higher education. Apart from that, the research will investigate the role of falling unemployment rates in enrollment reduction. Unemployment rates are believed to be the main determinant of college enrollment. According to Johnson (2015), the size of the enrollment market is contingent on the number of alternatives existing for prospective students. Selective colleges can regulate their classes’ size by adjusting admission criteria, and they focus their enrollment efforts not on whether to enter a college but on the location (Johnson 2015). Meanwhile, community colleges readily accept anyone who has graduated from high school. The problem is that low-income students have to choose between education and work. This phenomenon is known as the opportunity cost: the money one might have earned by finding a job instead of studying (Johnson 2015). When unemployment is high, the opportunity cost is zero for many young people. As a result, their joining a college does not bring many difficulties. Thus, it is possible to state that falling unemployment is positively associated with decreased enrollment. Research is motivated by the intention to analyze the link between unemployment and college enrollment since such an analysis will promote an understanding of economic processes prevailing in the country. As a result, it will become possible to predict college enrollment, which will encourage both educational institutions and potential students to collaborate. Thus, answering the defined research question will help comprehend larger economic issues through research and analysis of relevant literature. The hypothesis of the research project is “Falling unemployment decreases college enrollment.” The rationale for this hypothesis is based on relevant sources authored by prominent scholars, statisticians, analytics, and researchers. In particular, articles by Brown and Hoxby (2015) and Long (2015) discuss the effect of low employment on
Unemployment can be termed as the period when individuals actively search for a job but still remain unhired. Recession is said to be the period when an economy is experiencing slow but steady GDP growth until a certain point when it reaches negative. At this point unemployment increases, businesses stagnate and generally the economy grows at a decreasing rate. This is mainly observed over a period of about two quarters of a year. In the U.S and Europe, recession mainly follows increase in oil prices. Since most industries, if not all, depend mainly on oil as their main source of energy, experience decrease in business activities thus leading to laying off employees and a reduction in output. Economists consider this as stagflation since prices increased persistently due to the increased demand yet the supply is low. Another cause of recession is stringent monetary policy and increased cost of oil imports which tend to lower the rate of demand in the economy. These policies may cause a decline in the rates of interest for a prolonged period which causes consumer confidence to fall (Dow, 2000). The Federal Reserve plays the major role in promoting recession by the actions it undertakes to control the amount of money stock in the economy through money supply policies. Another problem is that some events may harm some particular firms of a certain industry and not affect the economy as a whole. This may be due to some innovation or price change of a key item that is most important and commonly used. This forces the firm to lay off workers and relatively leads to reduction in production affecting the industry as demand is adversely reduced. Comparatively, other firms are hiring more labor and are being assisted by the recession. In Europe some firms or industries have been doing well in times of recession unlike others which have been badly affected (Kindleberger, 1986). Many jobs especially in manufacturing industries and factories are always the most vulnerable since production decreases. Service jobs such as restaurants, travel industries and store personnel follow. Sales positions are cut off since sales reduce due to the decline in production. Government service positions such as police and fire personnel are also cut to safeguard the remaining funds. Advertising and PR was not spared too as many were laid off due to the less consumer spending habits. These jobs never come back because since some firms may be affected leading to close down of the firm or even the industry especially in boom periods. For others high paying jobs in finance may not be available to them due to high qualifications or even due to lack of funds and fall in profits. Innovations especially in the information technology sector have led to the elimination of many positions such as the clerks and secretaries (Vedder and Lowell, 1993). The western countries must remain competitive by ensuring that the undertake ways to handle themselves during recession. Governments to lower taxes which will increase money supply in the economy, reduce business
Introduction Despite all concerted efforts to the contrary, reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) failed to take off in the 110 th congress. The Act is basically a commitment by the federal government to provide healthcare services to Indian and Alaskan citizens within the US. With its reauthorization, the overall health of the Native American would improve. In view of this, there’s amplified effort to authorize the act in 2009. The main driving force for this effort is the National Congress for American Indians and the National Indian Health Board (Ncai, N.D.). Benefits of the IHCIA Reauthorization of the IHCIA is expected to greatly improve health care delivery to the American Indians. It’s also expected to mainstream and pave the way for other programs to address the health care problems of the communities. The elderly will benefit from a customized in-home care provision. IHCIA provides for a greater adaptation of the health services to local conditions. All these will result in improved prospects for the American Indians, while reducing the burden on the federal administration. On a grand scale, the wide disparity between the mortality rates of American Indians and the Caucasians is expected to narrow down. So will the five year difference between the life expectancy of the two groups. Suicide cases amongst Indians and Alaskans should also progressively reduce (Ncai, N.D.). The IHCIA is expected to achieve its objectives through several inherent mechanisms. The improved efficiency it will bring about will feasibly reduce backlogs of health facility needs. It will directly tackle the glaring disparity in the health status of the Indians and their Caucasian counterparts. It is also expected to be a perpetual source of health care through the main prevention and treatment avenues. Tribal populations are likely to benefit from the enhanced and more efficient decision-making processes that IHCIA will provide. IHCIA will also integrate all the health care provided by such bodies as the Indian Health Service, Tribal Organizations and Urban Indian Organization (Ncai, N.D.). IHCIA and the Snyder Act Reauthorization of the IHCIA would fall in with US’s custom of evaluating and modifying every major law every five to seven years. The process involves analyzing the present law and optimizing it to the changing conditions and needs. Without this process, the mainstream laws can very soon become obsolete and unworkable. The IHCIA last underwent a comprehensive reevaluation in 1992. Since then, proposals to reevaluate it have failed to be passed. Fiscal fundi
Advertising may be both strongly persuasive and nudging, depending on the chosen audience and the main idea a new advertising campaign wants to implement. Advertising is a strategy which applies to customers’ emotions. It is persuasive when it is directed at the switchers, people who either have never used the products of a specific company, or who do not use it constantly. The same advertising campaign may be nudging for those who have been using the products of the company constantly. It is obvious that two different kinds of customers, loyals and switchers, should be influenced by means of advertising in two different ways. The research conducted in the sphere of customer attitude to different brands with the purpose to understand companies’ price promotional decisions has allowed us to make a number of important conclusions. First of all, when brands have high number of loyal customers, they offer high range of price and higher regular price. Second, in case when a number of switchers are low, the strong brands use higher average proportional depth and vice versa. Third, having low customer loyalty, brands try to promote their products more frequent (Jing & Wen 2008). Segments of Loyal Customers It will be correct to say that most customers are multibrand buyers, but, at the same time, it has been noticed that many people claim that they buy the products of a specific brand. If to consider the loyal customers’ segmentation from the time perspective, it can be stated that almost all appear to be 100% loyals in a week and even in a month. About 10% remain 100% loyals in a year time perspective (Barnard & Ehrenberg 1997, p. 3). Considering loyals’ segmentation, we should touch the issue of loyalty conceptualization. Customers become loyal in three reasons, (1) positive primary attitude, (2) revealed behavior, and (3) purchase situation (Uncles, Dowling & Hammond 2003, p. 295). Segment of Switcher Customers Switcher customers’ segmentation is a difficult affair, there is no clear literature evidence which shows that such segmentation is systemic, still, it is possible to create three different subsegments which create switchers segmentation.  1. Deal sensitives. People who buy different things without being dedicated to a specific label.  2. Price sensitives. Price is the main activity for choosing an item. Switching from one brand to another, customers just try to buy the item they can afford.  3. Private labels. Buying private labels, these people still use manufactured products without differentiating brand names due to their unimportance for them (Barnard & Ehrenberg 1997). Reference List Barnard, N & Ehrenberg, ASC 1997, ‘Advertising: Strongly persuasive or nudging?’, Journal of Advertising Research , January/February, pp. 1-10. Jing, B, & Wen, Z 2008, ‘Finitely loyal customers, switchers, and equilibrium price promotion’, Journal of Economics and Manageme
Introduction Released in 2016, Brain on Fire can be considered one of the most important biographical movies in terms of medical practice. In fact, it is based on the true story from the life of Susannah Cahalan who was building her career as a journalist in a popular American tabloid newspaper. The movie demonstrates specific features of suffering from a mysterious illness at a young age. Initially, the movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it received a variety of positive reviews. Lately, numerous research studies were conducted with the intention to analyze and explore the disease discussed in the movie, which is anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Therefore, it is essential to note that the movie’s director, Gerard Barrett, has made a considerable contribution to the area of healthcare. Currently, medical staff, including nurse practitioners, have a high level of awareness when it comes to this kind of brain inflammation, which is the main achievement of Brain on Fire . Brief Overview of the Movie The movie begins with a general overview of the life of a 21-year-old Susannah before she was diagnosed with a rare health issue. After receiving the Master of Journalism degree, the young girl applies for a job as a writer at a daily tabloid newspaper in New York City (Barrett, 2016). In addition to building a career in this field, Susannah lives happily with a boyfriend Stephen who is seven years older than her. Despite the fact that the couple had been dating for around four months before the first symptoms of the disease were noticed, Stephen was supporting her throughout the entire process of treatment. As clinicians highlighted later, the presence of Stephen near Susannah was associated with the better overall well-being of the patient. Each day of the young writer had been starting with a smile and numerous plans for the future until she became suddenly ill. First, the main character has started experiencing episodes of mood swings (Barrett, 2016). Second, regular symptoms of the flu, including fever, cough, fatigue, and headache, affected the health of Susannah. Lastly, the girl faced a seizure, which was the reason that she was hospitalized at the treatment center. Some doctors diagnosed her with bipolar disorder due to unpredictable mood swings. Other clinicians stated that the well-being of a writer was affected due to physical exhaustion. As a result, they recommended improving nutrition and sleep, as well as reducing the impact of stress. However, none of the recommendations helped Susannah recover and improve her well-being. Even though clinical tests did not help to detect any health issues, the girl’s parents asked healthcare providers to hospitalize her due to another outburst. After being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, Susannah gets acquainted with a Syrian-American neurologist who takes appropriate measures to investigate her case. After performing several te
The last business meeting I attended was devoted to quarterly sales and possible ways of sales improvements. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and analyze possible problems, quality requirements and product characteristics. It had to be integrated into a firm’s pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies as well. In order to appeal to the target audience, it is important to take into account characteristics of the audience and use appropriate channels of communication. The main characteristics of the audience are determined by its professional knowledge and skills. Managers and sales people have professional knowledge in sales and management tools, so they do not need detailed explanation of terms and notions used in the report. In contrast, many customers have limited knowledge in sales terminology and cannot read financial information and graphics. For this target audience, the quarterly report should be simplified and involve less financial details and industry information. In order to meet requirements of all stakeholders, the sales manager should give a brief overview of the main problems and challenges faced by the company (Lesikar et al 2006). He/she should underline that following examples of other corporations, the company has done it effectively and has used the results to increase its share of world markets. In order to be more successful, the company needs an approach that helped replace or combine short-term orientation with a long-term one; discourages in-house competition for resources. Their vivid arguments helped the audience to grasp the idea at once (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004). For managers, the best channels of communication are verbal communication, visual information including financial graphics, tables and schemes. This audience can read and understand graphical representation of the financial data. Written communication will help the reporter to avoid duplication and repetition of facts and figures. In contrast, salespeople and customers need visual information presented in the form of images and pictures. In general, effective presentation is one of the most important elements of projects and human interaction at the organizational level. It determines overall success of the project or topic under discussion, and creates a certain image of the speaker (Lesikar et al 2006). The meeting was effective because it included effective information exchange based on clear goals and purpose of presentation. Both speakers selected information carefully in order to inform the audience about the main points of discussion. Correct timing was also essential and the use of the right technical language was vital. Non-verbal interaction with the audience (used by the speakers) was important because it guided the meeting. The main challenge of re
Project management is an integral part of running an organization that aims to bring a change that would be beneficial to the organization itself and other stakeholders. Managing projects involves allocating the necessary amount of resources, updating objectives, assessing risks, maintaining documentation, and performing many other tasks to ensure the delivery of the product by the specified deadline. Therefore, precise and efficient management is essential for the successful completion of projects in a cost-effective manner. As noted by Schwab (2019), the world is currently going through the Fourth Industrial Revolution spearheaded by digital technologies, which is why companies producing software should pay particular attention to project management. This paper outlines the issues faced by BioWare, a Canadian videogame developer owned by Electronic Arts (EA), a US videogame distributor, in the development of its recent projects. It will demonstrate that BioWare, as controlled by EA, demonstrates the ability for resource integration and continuously updated development but has issues with over-optimism, failures to provide clear scope and intent, and customer understanding. Background Information BioWare is a videogame development studio with headquarters in Edmonton, Canada. It was founded in 1995 and quickly found its niche in making detailed, immersive role-playing games with complex plots. The studio’s breakout hit was Baldur’s Gate , a role-playing game issued in 1998 and based on the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game (Schreier, 2017). After that, the studio issued more products based on Dungeons and Dragons and worked with other major franchises, as when making Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic in cooperation with Lucas Arts (Schreier, 2017). In the 21 st century, the studio created two significant franchises of its own – the space opera series Mass Effect and a dark fantasy series Dragon Age , with the first games for both being
Synopsis and challenges the characters face The movie is a tragic story about a sixteen year-old black girl in Harlem. It occurs in the 1980s when the AIDs epidemic was rife, and stark poverty was a harsh reality. The lead character –Precious Jones – is the object of many misfortunes. She bore two children from incestuous, paternal abuse. As if this is not enough, she lives an isolated life with her mother who uses her child to get welfare and abuses her in the process. Precious must also deal with undesirability within her neighborhood and school. She gets pregnant by her father for the second time and joins an alternative school. It is at this institution where she meets a mentor who builds her confidence. One challenge the lead character faced was living with a mother who made her feel valueless. She bravely endures physical abuse from her mother. Sometimes this causes her to behave dishonorably as was the case when she stole a bucket of chicken. The long term effect of that domestic situation was that she believed what her mother told her. Another challenge that Precious encounters is living in a world where conventional standards of beauty differ from her appearance. She believes that the only way she would gain validation is if she were famous and had a light-skinned boyfriend. Two characters The first character that is quite impressive in the movie is the lead actor Gabourey Sidibe. Precious is an engaging character who convincingly displays the dynamics of her life. At some point, she steals a bucket of chicken from a local fast food restaurant. In another situation, she fights and engages with other people. When she wanders off into fantasy land, one enjoys the experience together with her. Perhaps, her most moving experience occurs at the end of the movie when she summons the courage to leave her mother and take care of her children. She is ideal for the role both physically and emotionally. The second convincing character in the movie was Monique who played Mary –Precious’s mot
Introduction Even before the global financial crisis that is currently ravaging the economies of the world, the welfare of the child was already in trouble in Toronto. The rate of poverty of persons below the age of 18 years started to increase at alarming rates in 1990; and since 1995, the trend has been that of constant increase. In 1990, about 24% of the children in Toronto were living in poverty as measured by the Low Income Cut Off (LICO); this translated to about one in every 4 children (Hughes, 2001). These figures changed to one child in three (about 36%) by the year 1995. The number of children living in poverty had increased from 74,000 in 1990 to 176,300 in 1995; this was a 73% increase. However, despite the current economic downturn, the period from 1995 has been that of steady economic growth in Toronto; unfortunately, this has not seen a corresponding betterment of the welfare of the child in the same period; in fact, the level of child poverty has remained more or less the same and the number of children living in poverty has increased. In 1995, there were approximately 94,300 families living in poverty; three years later, in 1998, this number had increased to 99,940, a 3% shift. During this period, about 25% of all families in Toronto were living below the poverty line; with a higher prevalence of poverty among single-parent families with 49% (about half) of all single-parent families living in poverty (Hughes, 2001; 2008). Now that the economic crisis has hit, it is scary to think what its effect will be on the levels of child poverty in Toronto if the trends showed a steady increase even during periods of average economic growth in the city. In this light, child poverty is top on the in-tray of social workers in Toronto since it not only makes the children suffer, it also robs them of their future potential of being all they can be; and robs the nation’s future productive citizens (Rothman, 2007). Toronto; the Chil