Evaluating the Impact of a New Resort Amenity on Gaming Business Volumes

Using performance data from an Atlantic City hotel-casino, theoretical models are advanced to estimate the effects of a new indoor pool/nightclub on both daily coin-in and table game drop. This study represents the first attempt to estimate the indirect gaming contributions of a new nongaming amenity. The pool/nightclub variable was found to significantly increase table game drop at a rate of $150,500 per day, but it failed to produce a significant effect in the coin-in model. The core model, design, and results described herein are critical to operators and developers alike, as estimating the impacts of new nongaming amenities on key gaming volumes has been a guessing game to date. Thus, this paper offers a way to substantially improve return-on-investment calculations for new nongaming amenities. Although constructed with gaming in mind, the core model could be easily adapted to a variety of leisure service businesses

Ancient Roman Libraries: Culture, Access and Patronage at Play

My ancient studies capstone explores the society and culture surrounding ancient Roman libraries as well as their development and evolution. This topic is a difficult one due to the small number of surviving archaeological sites, as well as the limited number of primary sources referencing book collections. However, through analysis of the remaining literary and physical records, this paper examines how ancient Rome mimicked, expanded and stole Greek and Egyptian concepts of libraries, assimilating and reinterpreting them into something that became inherently Roman. Private collections transformed into quasi-public, quasi-private libraries and eventually resulted in the consistent establishment of imperial public libraries throughout the empire. Imperial power, Roman strength, culture and learning were all projected within these buildings and their collections, enabling libraries to truly represent the empire around them and the era in which they were created. Following this, an analysis of accessibility and patronage is conducted, examining the physical and social implications of the libraries. Construction, layout, literacy rate, user makeup and censorship are all considered when studying how the Roman book collections were used and accessed by the general public and social and intellectual elite. The rapid creation and evolution of libraries within antiquity displays the Roman and inherently human inclination to quickly confront problems, implement solutions, and claim entities and information as their own. This offers a hope for the current transformation that modern libraries are currently undergoing, as they also encounter new issues of technology, censorship, and accessibility, much like their Roman predecessors. Therefore, through examining the development of ancient Roman libraries, it becomes apparent that the human desire for the collection and storage of knowledge is extremely tenacious and will continue to survive for many more millennia, providing hope for lovers of literature and knowledge

With Brave Wings She Flies: Women Pilots in World War II

My senior honors thesis examines the role of women pilots during World War II in America, the United Kingdom and the USSR. Each nation employed the use of women in the field of aviation for the American Women Air Force Service Pilots, the British Air Transport Auxiliary and several regiments in the Soviet Union for combat fighters and night and day bombers. All of these women smashed gender barriers and overcame societal boundaries through their patriotism and desire to make a substantial contribution to the war effort. Some even made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, including the thirty Russian, fifteen British, and thirty-eight American women who died during their service. Sadly, most of the nations have forgotten or overlooked these women\u27s contribution to history. This subject is compelling and passionate for me personally as a female history student with strong ties to aviation. The thesis analyzes the history of each program including its organization, training, responsibility and historical impact. It will compare and contrast each unit with its international counterparts, particularly in regards to societal barriers, gender roles, contribution to the war effort, and their post-war reception. Overall, through an exploration and discussion of the similarities and differences of each unit, the project will present a comprehensive and detailed look at the connections of gender and aviation within the military atmosphere of World War II in the USSR, UK and the USA. This topic is crucial, as even today, aviation is an extremely male-dominated field and the role of women within it is growing, albeit at a slow pace. Acknowledging and celebrating the crucial contributions made to the war effort by these brave women pilots in three of the Allied nations is a step towards equalizing the role of all genders in the world of aviation and beyond

The Primacy of Narrative Agency: A Feminist Theory of the Self

Current debates in feminist theory struggle to retain a robust concept of agency in light of the rejection of an independent and sovereign subject. The purpose of my project is to articulate a feminist concept of agency for a self that is relational and non-sovereign (i.e. one that does not equate agency with autonomy) and yet one that remains committed to a conception of the self as both powerful and unique. Narrative agency, which I understand as the capacity to say 'I' over time and in relation to others, meets the challenge of attending to both the inter-relational and the individually empowering aspects of action. The identity of the ‘I’ is a fleeting configuration of narratives that differs from moment to moment; but the capacity to say ‘I’ is constant. This definition of agency is able to account for the extent to which a subject may be constituted by power relations but is still invested in the subject’s unlimited emancipatory potential. In other words, a subject, even at the most basic level, may not be free to choose the content of certain identity-determining narratives, such as gender narratives; however, she always has the capacity to confront and change those narratives. This project draws on the work of Hannah Arendt to provide a feminist politics based on this account of narrative agency. Arendt’s political theory is chiefly concerned with appearance: agency, for Arendt, involves appearing to another member of a plurality through speech or action. This basic schematic is relevant to the analysis of several key aspects of a feminist theory of narrative agency: especially identity, mutual recognition, solidarity, and judgment. For Arendt, identity is not reducible to a series of markers such as race or gender but is, instead, indefinite—composed of a mutable set of interests, or narratives. A subject is constantly negotiating the articulation of these interests, and yet she appears to, and is recognised by, others as a unique being. Solidarity, by these lights, arises not through pre-determined similarities but, rather, interests actively held in common. Conversations about these shared interests allow individual agents to articulate and negotiate judgments and opinions. Bringing together these resources from Arendt and reading them alongside problems of contemporary feminism allows me to endorse mutual recognition, solidarity, and conversation as vital attributes of an emancipatory feminist politics.«br /» «br /

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Evaluating the indirect impact of resort casino amenities on gaming revenue

In order to meet customer needs, casinos must provide amenities such as restaurants, concerts and shows. However, in most casinos gaming remains the main source of casino profitability and in some markets, amenities do not produce any direct profits. Operators often assume that amenities attract customers and stimulate gaming. However, evaluating the indirect impact of amenities on gaming can be a challenge. The current research develops a process for evaluating indirect gaming impacts and applies it to one type of amenity, namely restaurants

Opinions and perceptions of Indigenous mental health applications from service providers and youth samples: a pilot study

Objective To evaluate opinions and perceptions around managing mental health and the relevance of available mental health applications (apps) for Indigenous youth populations by surveying values of Indigenous service providers and youth samples in a regional area, in order to better target online mental health information. Method Participants were 15 Indigenous youths (6 males, 9 females) with a mean (SD) age of 16.93 (2.37), and 30 Indigenous service providers (6 males, 24 females) with a mean age (SD) of 34.59 (12.26). Participants were recruited through a Queensland regional Indigenous community organisation, and given a face-to-face survey, (developed with Indigenous community members) during a social event. The survey asked how participants improve their mental health, their knowledge of current Indigenous mental health applications, and their perceived importance of values presented in those applications. Results Although Indigenous youth were not familiar with existing mental health apps, overall, participants agreed with the values presented in available mental health apps. Compared to Indigenous youth, service providers overall perceived presented values as significantly more important, and specifically found ‘Nature in the design’, ‘Themes of strength’, and ‘Themes of community’ to be most important. Regarding content, service providers and youth had different strategies for bolstering mental health with Indigenous sports stars the least popular in both groups. There were no statistical gender differences in thematic importance for bolstering mental health. Conclusions Mental health applications are little utilised by Indigenous youth so awareness needs to increase. In addition, these are viewed differently between service providers and youth. This may have relevance for uptake and usage of these apps within the mental health service delivery

Enhancing self-efficacy to enable entrepreneurship: The case of CMI’s Connections

Enhancing levels of innovation and entrepreneurship to grow a more competitive economy is the focus of much government effort. Attention is paid to changing a culture seen as antagonistic to entrepreneurship through initiatives designed to promote an entrepreneurial spirit. Universities, aware of the importance of developing entrepreneurial potential, are focusing on equipping students with the skills and abilities to contribute to innovation within organisations they join upon graduation, while also providing opportunities for the development of student aspirations. Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI) has developed a one week event designed to influence deep personal values and the underlying motivations of potential entrepreneurs. This paper reports on the Connections course content as it was offered at the University of Strathclyde in 2003, content premised on the belief that students are motivated to start new enterprises through enhancement of self-confidence in their entrepreneurial skills. Measures of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and other outcomes are offered, followed by a report of the results found at the end of the event and then six months later. The programme is found to have created enduring improvements in entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and a related strengthening of pre-entrepreneurial awareness and exploration of ideas for starting companies. Other assessment results are presented suggesting the need to include explicit course content on entrepreneurial career paths. The implications of the Connections findings for entrepreneurship teaching in general are discussed

Flourishing Mindfully: Mindfulness Moderates the Associations of Stress, Psychopathology, and Grit with Flourishing

Dispositional mindfulness includes greater present-moment attention and lower maladaptive responses to experience. Thus, theory proposes that dispositional mindfulness may be related to functional flourishing through greater engagement in valued activities, as well as less reactivity to the states that interfere with them (e.g., stress). This cross-sectional study tested the concurrent relationships proposed in these hypotheses. A random sample of 394 undergraduate students completed a survey that included the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale Revised, the Perceived Stress Scale, The Patient Health Questionnaire for Anxiety and Depression 4, the Short Grit Scale, and the Flourishing Scale. We used multiple linear regression to analyze a single combined model in which functional flourishing was predicted by mindfulness, stress, anxiety/depression, grit’s subfactors, and the interactions of mindfulness with each predictor. Higher mindfulness was significantly associated with higher functional flourishing. Higher mindfulness also significantly moderated the influence of stress and anxiety/depression on flourishing, weakening their negative associations. Lastly, mindfulness significantly strengthened the positive association between flourishing and perseverance, a grit subfactor. As theorized, mindfulness may be 1) associated with higher functional flourishing, 2) weaken the negative influence of aversive experiences on flourishing, and 3) strengthen the positive influence of beneficial traits on flourishing