Strategic Directions of Hotel Industry Expectations

A factor analysis is presented which indicates that among 20 potential strategic issues reated by hotl industry executives three fundamental strategic directions exist. The author summarizes an empiracle study that queried these individuals\u27 beliefs regarding strategic issues they rated at most important

Which Came First, Slavery or Racism?

Which came first, slavery or racism? This has been a long debated question with a plethora of evidence supporting each side

Abundance data change geographic estimates of terrestrial invasive plant risk in the contiguous United States

Invasive plants pose severe threats to ecosystems worldwide. Geographic invasion risk is often assessed using occurrence-based species distribution modeling, which estimates where species can occur but cannot represent variation in abundance, a crucial component of impact. I assembled an ordinal abundance dataset for 155 terrestrial invasive plant species in the contiguous United States based on reports to the Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System, a georeferenced invasive species data repository. I used maximum entropy models to estimate range boundaries and ordinal regression to estimate abundance within ranges. I predicted the areas where establishment is possible (potential establishment ranges), and where high abundance is likely (potential impact ranges) for each species, and compared where many species may establish (richness hotspots) to areas where many species may achieve high abundance (abundance hotspots). The potential impact range encompasses a small portion of the potential establishment range for many species (median: 9%). High abundance populations have not yet been observed across much of potential impact ranges for each species, indicating substantial risk for expansion. Forty-seven percent of the richness hotspots were overlapped by the abundance hotspots. Eastern Temperate Forests constituted large portions of both hotspots (80% of richness hotspots, 49% of abundance hotspots), but abundance hotspots included large areas not identified by richness hotspots, particularly in western U.S. ecoregions. The delineation of impact ranges within establishment ranges can facilitate the prioritization of management to species and geographic areas associated with the highest impact risks. Using establishment ranges alone could over-estimate geographic invasion risk in areas where many species can establish but few are likely to be abundant, and under-estimate geographic invasion risk in areas where not many species can establish, but high abundance is likely for many of the potential establishers. Given the potential for abundance data to refine estimates of geographic invasion risk, more spatial analyses of invasive plants should include abundance data, and more abundance data should be collected to allow additional comprehensive analyses with greater numbers of species

An Investigation And A Plan To Alleviate Grade Inflation In Multi-Sectioned Science And Mathematics Courses Of Community College

Edison Community College, Fort Myers, Florida, has experienced difficulty in the area of grade, inflation, comparable to other institutions. institutional and academic division policy changes on grading have resulted in changes in grading practices. One purpose of this project was to examine these changes and historic trends in grade inflation with multi-sectioned courses of the Division of Basic Science and Mathematics for academic year 1979-1980 through academic year 1989-1990. The other purpose of this project was to develop a plan to alleviate grade inflation in multi-sectioned courses. Accomplishment of this purpose required a determination of the impact of policy changes on grading practices, an analysis of whether or not grades conformed with the college definition of average, and determination of the extent to which grading practices in multi-section courses differed. The research methodology utilized in this study was historical and quantitative. Generally the division experience are declining Groene average throughout the study period. However, the mean grade point average remained above the nationwide values. During the period study nearly forty thousand students enrolled. Out of this forty thousand, 21.0 percent withdrew. Completing students had a great point average of 2.85, the most frequently occurring grade was a B. Institutional policy changes, In particular the abandonment of “none– punitive” A through D scale, and the adoption of a traditional through F scale, lowered averages to a more reasonable level. This scale apparently encourage more rigorous, grading practices faculty members. However, grade point averages remained well above nationwide averages. Faculty grading practices in multi-section courses appear to differ significantly. Apparently, extremes in faculty grading practices do exist as indicated by studies of high and low grade sections within each course. This suggests that enrolling students may phase grading outcomes in consistent with their efforts. Improvement of grading practices should begin with a restructuring of the grade distribution report. Currently, this report is arranged to report grade distribution on individual sections and does not address aggregate course grade point average. As such, this instrument is less than satisfactory for analyzing grading practices. The report should be modified to display aggregate averages for each course and section. At the end of each semester, grade point averages and grade distribution should be posted in the division office. This will ensure that each faculty member is aware of the results of his or her grading protocols. Semi- public posting of grades may also interject peer review aid help alleviate extreme grading practices. The establishment of a faculty committee on grading within the division is also recommended. The purpose of this committee would be to act in an advisory capacity to the dean on appropriate grading guidelines. Particular attention should be placed upon informing adjunct and new full-time faculty members of grading guidelines. In addition, grading guidelines should be publicly discussed at division meetings. Overall, the spirit of implementation of this program should remain non-invasive. Assessment of this program should be done utilizing historical records of the division and results from grades awarded after implementation. Ideally, guidelines should be published and introduced during faculty duty days prior to the beginning of the tall semester. Meetings with faculty members normally scheduled at this time should be utilized to introduce the program. After the completion of the academic year, data should be collected and compared to similar material from previous year. Should the program appear to be functioning smoothly, no further action would be required with the exception of those required to keep the program operating. In the case that further intervention become necessary, they should be accomplished through the faculty committee on grading and take the form of further guidelines

Strategic Approach to Smoking Bans: Delaware Gaming Industry

A study of Delaware’s statewide smoking ban suggests that it may have had a significant negative economic impact on the state’s gaming industry. However, such impact may vary in different segments of the hospitality industry, and therefore, must be examined strategically and on a case-by-case basis. The specific market environment, including both demand and competition of each state or each municipality, should be carefully analyzed by both governmental decision makers and by hospitality operators who influence these decision makers

Photographic Color Printing

It was the purpose of this study to (1) determine the process that is necessary for dye formation in a colored negative; (2) to investigate the process of .making a color print; (3) to evaluate a color print in regard to density and color balance; and (4) to enable one to correct the color balance of a colored print

Establishing a Metric in Max-Plus Geometry

Using the characterization of the segments in the max-plus semimodule Rnmax, provided by Nitica and Singer, we find a class of metrics on the finite part of Rnmax. One of them is the Euclidean length of the max-plus segment connecting two points. This metric is not quasi-convex. There is exactly one other metric in our class that does possess this property. Each metric in our class is associated with a weighting function, which is concave and non-decreasing

Serious Leisure, Home Brewing, and Satisfaction: Developing a Theoretical Model to Measure Satisfaction Factors and Predict Future Behavioral Intentions

The purpose of this study was to adapt an accepted and tested general leisure scale measuring satisfaction to the serious leisure activity home brewing. The development of a quantitative scale to be applied to serious leisure represents an original and much needed contribution to this subject. The secondary research purpose was to glean an understanding of the participant’s future behavioral intentions toward home brewing to gain insight into the strength of future growth in the craft beer market, which is strongly driven by this group. In general the goals of the study were achieved. The correlation scores reported indicate very high satisfaction, and provide support for the notion that craft beer and ales will continue to be an important segment for both F&B and retail beverage sales. The confirmatory factor analysis indicates that the theoretical model is approaching goodness of fit. Further qualitative effort is indicated to fully fit the model

A Field of Dreams: Independent Writing Programs and the Future of Composition Studies

One of the first collections to focus on independent writing programs, A Field of Dreams offers a complex picture of the experience of the stand-alone. Included here are narratives of individual programs from a wide range of institutions, exploring such issues as what institutional issues led to their independence, how independence solved or created administrative problems, how it changed the culture of the writing program and faculty sense of purpose, success, or failure.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1134/thumbnail.jp