Bally?s Total Fitness :: essays research papers fc

Bally total fitness originated as an average health and tennis club in 1962. Who would have thought they would be where they are today. Like many other major companies sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Today they are one of the major companies in a 14 billion dollar health club industry. â€Å"They are the third biggest health care chain behind Curves for women and the YMCA†.Currently they have around four million members and 420 facilities. They currently have operations in 29 states including Asia, the Caribbean, and Canada. You may be wondering why you don’t see that many Bally Fitness Clubs; the reason for this is because they run the business under 6 different names. The other clubs they own include â€Å"Bally Total Fitness, Crunch Fitness, Sports Clubs of Canada, Pinnacle Fitness, Bally Sports Clubs, and Gorilla Sports†. Bally total fitness currently employs 23,500 staff members, 6,700 group instructors, and 3,500 personal trai ners. These numbers are including the clubs they own that are under different names.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What many people don’t realize is Bally’s Sports clubs is only apart of the company. Along with fitness centers they also have their own products. They have an extensive line of exercise equipment ranging from medicine balls to free weights. However it does not end there they also have a full line of supplements including weight management products, performance supplements, and energy enhancers. There exercise equipment is only available for sale online however there supplements can be purchased at super markets and nutrition stores.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is not uncommon today to see companies misstate their earnings. As we know this is an illegal activity that has put companies under such as Enron. This is not something that makes your company look good and is not worth getting caught for. Well â€Å"Bally’s got into the mix in early 2003 when they were forced to restate their earnings for the current period†. Their stock price collapsed and needed help in a hurry. They decided to get a new CEO which was a well traveled man known for reviving companies. That man was Paul Toback , he knew something had to be done quickly, so he decided to come up with new advertising efforts in 2004. Those advertisements proved to be extremely successful and they will continue these same types of advertisements in 2005. During this time they have also created strong partnerships with some of the biggest companies in the world.

Highschool Dropouts

Vanessa Siegning Professor Dutterer EGL 1010 March 19, 2013 High School Dropouts Going to school has always been seen as one of the most important occupations in our life. All categories of ages can go to school; kids, young people and even adults. School is defined as a place where people get an education. By going to school, people can acquire knowledge and skill that are not only important for the society but also for them. However, getting out of the educative system has become a big phenonem nowadays. It mostly affects students from high school. They usually get out of school without earning at least a High School Diploma.Isn’t too early for those young students to drop out of school? The answer is that sometimes, they have problems that make them get out of school. While dropping out of high school is due to problems such as the financial situation, the family circumstance faced by students, and their difficulty to get adapted to the school system, it also produces effec ts such as the limited access to jobs, the exposition to juvenile delinquency and the lack of education. The major cause that motivates students to get out of high school is the financial situation of their parents.Not all students come from a rich family. Because of a lack of money, some parents cannot afford their children’s need such as school supplies, transportation or nutrition. Regularly, they just have a low rate job or maybe they are on the status of unemployment. It becomes impossible to take care of their family and even themselves. Poverty is a better word to describe their financial situation. It’s automatically clear that a student who lives in such conditions will drop out of school and will try to find a job in order to get some money.Additionally, some students from high school have a lot of difficulties to get adapted to the school system. To provide a better education, schools are always established on a strict system that imposes students to follow some rules in order to get satisfactory results. For example, the school system requires students to be present every day of class and on time, to do their homework and to study or to make research. However, some students find that difficult and unattractive. They do not feel motivated or interested for school. As a result, they fail in class.As long as they get bad grades in class, they always keep in mind that they are wasting their time by going to school. Therefore, the only possibility available for them now is to drop out of school. Another point that causes young students to get out of school is their family circumstance. The majority of high school students are adolescents. We all know that adolescents are sensible, so they are most of the time affected by their family condition. In a family where parents are always fighting or arguing, it gets obvious that students won’t concentrate in their education.Generally, parents who are in trouble in their couple cannot focus anymore on their children’s education. This could lead students to fail in class, and then drop out of school. The same thing applies on a family where parents are separated or divorced. It cannot be easy for single parents to take care of their children; furthermore, to pay attention to their school work. This means children are neglected as well as their education. It‘s certain that when students get out of high school, they have significant causes, but this situation of course generate many effects.First of all, non-graduated high school students have limited access to jobs opportunities. Even when they get one, it’s a low pay job. Knowledge, skill and ability are the first qualities that attract all employers. To stabilize or to develop their society, employers need help from qualified people. The better way to get knowledge is to go to school. The more someone goes to school, the more he earns knowledge. Secondly, when adolescents drop out of high school, t hey are likely exposed to juvenile delinquency. They don’t go to school anymore, so they have enough free time.Habitually, they have nothing to do, and they spend their time by staying in the street with friends. During this period, they might get involved into bad things such as crime, violence and vandalism. Actually, they become a danger for the society. Some of them run away from their family and turn to become homeless. Finally, students who drop out of high school are not educated enough. When people stop going to school early, they don’t have a possibility to be educated enough. They don’t behave correctly and they are not instructed.They cannot debate correctly like people who go to school. Sometimes, those people cannot even speak and write well. For example, it’s impossible for an illiterate person to give some pertinent ideas on a subject concerning the development of a country. They don’t have an ability to think enough. In conclusion, high school dropouts are due to many causes such as the financial situation, the family circumstance and the difficulty of students to get adapted to the school system; however, that situation produces long term effects.While some students stop going to school because of a lack of money and because of their family condition, some of them are just lazy. They don’t want to provide any efforts. As consequences, they have a limited access to jobs, they are exposed to the juvenile delinquency and they are not educated enough. To avoid students of dropping out of school, the government can help parents by providing school supplies to their children.

No Child Left Behind Policy Essay

People have been used to announcements of various highly contagious diseases like the H1N1 influenza. A closer look at the course of the events shows that various public policies are instituted or strengthened to enhance control and mitigation of these diseases. What are the implications of these policies to a state like Georgia and Catoosa County in particular? On the same level there are various communication policies that have been instituted or even strengthened to enhance the human development especially with respect to freedom of speech and communication in general (Peterson & West (2003). Education has also been affected in a number of ways by various policies. This paper attempts to assess the impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind† policy on the state of Georgia with an emphasis on the Catoosa County. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† is a public policy that was established to enhance education and academic development in the United States across all the states. In Georgia, one of the effects of the policy was the formation of charter schools. These are institutions that receive public funding just like other public schools in the public schools system. However, they have considerable reliance on the support of the communities in Georgia. The impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ can therefore be looked at in several ways as a multifaceted aspect in the sense of a Georgia community perspective. Given their nature, it would help to look at the financial implications of this policy (Wood & Meier 2004). The fact that these schools have been built because of the policy explains, in part, the positive impact of the policy. Thus, if it can be put in terms of Cost-Benefit Analysis, it would not be difficult to conclude that the force of the positive impact (which is the general development acquired from the more established schools) overweighs what would be though of as a burden (Olivert 2007). These effects are felt throughout Georgia including Catoosa County as small a county as it might be. NCLB are the most recent standard based education reforms that have been legislated by the government towards the No child left behind policy in order to provide measurable goals and high standards to improve productivity of individuals through proper education. Assessment of basic skills is supposed to be conducted by the state to determine the grade standards of educating and funding of education for each student and the school as a whole (Peterson & West (2003). Congress increased funding to education after the inception of the No child Left behind policy by about 40% to make the course more practical and to reach a wider population of students. The local governments were seen to be lax, failing students leading to the intervention of the federal government to push the course for No child Left behind in education to address issues like teachers teaching areas distant from their profession and failure to cater for special education. . Another impact of the policy is on governance. With the implementation of the policy, there were various objectives and targets each community had to achieve. These objectives and targets could only be met if the mode of governance was transformed to match the requirements of the policy (Wood & Meier 2004). While assessing the problems facing the efficiency and effectiveness of the charter schools as a response to the ‘No Child Left Behind’, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation noted that there are problems in governance and financing. This is because it is important that those who are engaged in organizing the charter schools, for instance, must have good knowledge of realms of education and must also be equipped with knowledge in finance (Wright et al 2004). If this is not the case, then they must be in a position to put a team together which is proficient in both aspects. Failure to meet standards of fiscal management will automatically qualify a charter for closure. There has been increased accountability in public schools after the enactment of the NCLB that have in deed significantly contributed to the no child left behind Policy and to improve the standards of education. The students in a particular public school can move to a higher performing school if the assessment finds that they have undergone an adequate yearly progress in consecutive years (Olivert 2007). The policy therefore brings a direct economic connotation to Georgia given that the established charter schools rely on the local governance to survive. Even though there is an economic burden put on the local communities, the policy itself has enabled more development to be achieved. A number of notable ends come from the No child left behind policy including: students outcomes being linked to the state academic standards in regards to the policy framework, the performance of students and their progress in math and reading measured annually to determine if they are within the set standards, parents receive adequate information as this is required of the state and school district and a foundation for parental involvement in the district and state schools affairs is consequently laid (Wood & Meier 2004). Parental involvement is important in promoting proper administration of and improvement of schools as well as check against any misappropriation of funds The No Child left behind is in deed a noble course championed by former president Bush to facilitate the achievement or even surpass the achievement of state standards in line with the federal standards mathematics and reading in the coming decade. Progress is significant in this policy that actually measures the achievement by a state assessment. Reference: Peterson H. & West M. (2003). â€Å"No child left behind? The politics and practice of school accountability,† Brookings Institution Press: New York. Wood H. & Meier D. (2004). â€Å"Many children left behind: how the No Child Left behind Act is damaging our children and our schools,† Beacon Press: New York. Wright D et al. (2004). â€Å"No child left behind,† Harbor House Law Press: New York. Olivert D. (2007). â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act: text, interpretation and changes. † Nova Publishers: New York.

What extent is it accurate to claim that Australians

Australians are committed to a ;fair go' and that they belong to a classless society? Since Australia opened its doors to the rest of the world it has been widely regarded as a land of ‘golden opportunity well endowed in resources with a small population; it appeared to be an escape from the rigid aristocratic ruling of European nations (Furze, 2008: 349). For such a long time many Australians have been reluctant to recognize that social classes do in fact exist within our society and that these classes perpetuate inequality.To claim that all Australians are committed to a fair go' would be ignorant, and I will explore in this discussion the barriers that prohibit Australians from being equal. I will begin by providing an understanding of class constructs and stratification, I will then go on to highlight the Inequalities Inherent in different spheres of Australian society and how these Inequalities are products of a class hierarchy. I have chosen to concentrate on healthcare; education and the legal system for these are resources that all citizens should have equal access to.Class is a significant force in all societies, understanding class is crucial if we are to see how groups of people within our society have different experiences. Social stratification refers to the way society is organized within hierarchical layers (Furze, 2008:320). It is impossible to live in Australia without coming to realize that these different social classes are employed in deferent types of Jobs, live in different suburbs, attend different schools, receive different incomes and experience crucial differences in privilege and inequality (McGregor, 1997: 2).As we begin to investigate how social, lattice and economic resources are distributed the disparities between groups becomes apparent- the nature of stratification creates a systematic and enduring pattern of Inequality. (Habits & Walter, 2009:2) The Inequalities that arise from class differences are largely based on const raints to access of resources; one of these resources is healthcare. It is evident that health disparities within Australia are linked to different income groups.Lifestyle factors attributed to ill health such as poor diets, drugs and alcohol are most prominent in low income groups and minorities such as the Indigenous. These groups are socially disadvantaged and therefore have limited access to resources such as housing, health information and education. For these reasons, studies have found that pregnant aboriginal women are at a high risk of birthing underweight babies- contributing to a higher infant mortality rate, high rates of morbidity with 20 years less life expectancy than non Indigenous Australians and higher rates of alcohol abuse and self harm (Furze, 2008: 314).Health risks are not just limited to minority groups however, blue collar workers also experience significant occupation related Issues; mining and Intensive Barbour as well as exposure to toxic substances Is li kely to cause subsequent Illness. Contested due to its inaccessibility. The Federal, State and Territory governments share the responsibility of publicly funded healthcare and also provide Medicare- a healthcare system that all wage earners pay a levy toward. Recently however, there has been a growth in private health care investment illustrated by a rise in private hospital beds from 24439 in 2003 to 26988 in 2006 (Furze, 2008:317).Citizens are being encouraged to take out private health care for better and quicker treatment, forever, this causes an ethical debate as public waiting lists are profoundly long and yet private health care is unaffordable by many. It is evident then, that class placement determines opportunity and creates barriers to achieving equal access to healthcare. Another sphere of Australian society divided by class stratification is education and schooling. In many ways education and knowledge are the keys to a prosperous and successful life; however it is not possible for everyone to access this valuable resource (Habit's and Walter, 2009:149).The shift of government funding room public schools to private schools means that a child's class background easily distorts their educational path. As private schools began to emerge, upper class parents would send their children to private school due to the preferred prestige and elite status they were associated with. More recently however, the decision to enroll children in private educational institutions reflects the decline the educational quality provided by public schools.The government have turned to ‘economic rationalism' where their focus is no longer on committing to maximizing general elf through the development of public resources but by operating on economic efficiency (Furze,2008:255). For this reason, private schools have been advantaged and public schools left behind. What is most significant about this change is that it generates socioeconomic inequality; parents with lowe r incomes cannot afford to send their children to private school and this subsequently reproduces the stratification system.Socioeconomic status has further implications within the education system; this is particularly evident within the low socioeconomic groups and indigenous community. Education attrition rates for these groups are as low as 14. 5%; this is significantly low compared to a 76. 4% obtained by higher socioeconomic groups (Furze, 2008:252). Students are sorted by ability and performance indicators through standardized testing; these tests routinely consign Aboriginals to a hard competition for Jobs, income and social mobility (Furze, 2008:261).Aboriginal children concentrated in rural areas suffer inequitable access to education, particularly as schools in remote areas have low achievement levels and staffing problems. In 2004 only 39. 5% of Aboriginals progressed to year 12 whilst 6. 8% of non indigenous students did (Furze, 2008: 263). Social inequalities and class implications are reproduced academically as wealthy schools continue to be subsidized and children of lower socioeconomic status remain disadvantaged.Substantial evidence of class related inequality also exists within the political sphere, lower socioeconomic groups and minorities possess limitations to accessing and actively participating in this sphere in comparison to upper class citizens who are able to actively participate. Great controversy surrounds the overrepresented of Indigenous and lower class citizens in Australia; discriminatory attitudes are prevalent toward these groups due to their higher rates of unemployment.Low levels disenfranchisement and a lack of knowledge (McGregor, 1997; 76) Relative poverty, poor health standards and a lack of educational and social opportunities have underpinned greater Aboriginal representation amongst criminal offenders. â€Å"Aborigines, it is said, make up one per cent of the general population, but nearly 30 per cent of prison in m ates,† (Wolcott & Dowse, 2004: 253). This statement is echoed by statements of the Australian Law Reform Commission which claims the Aborigines re 29 times more likely to be imprisoned that non Aborigines. Wolcott & Dowse, 2004: 256) As laws of a society are connected with the dominant cultural attitudes of society, it seems the inherent bias of Australian Judicial system is ethnocentric. The ALARM have also alluded to the, ‘many instances [that] exist when Aboriginals have been imprisoned, fined or otherwise sentenced without having understood their rights,' (Wolcott & Dowse, 2004: 259). This can be attributed again to the lack of education available to this community and the lack of access to legal aid due to financial constraints.For Australia to be committed to a fair go' all citizens should possess the same standard of access and equity in the legal system, however, the implications of class inequality prevent this from occurring. We can be certain that class divisi ons do exist in Australian society, and that these divisions limit one's entitlement to a fair go. ‘ Myths of equality aside, the evidence is quite clear that in Australia, as in every other capitalist system, success depends very strongly on one's socioeconomic status (Hillier, 1981 :214); it plays a pivotal role in determining access to political, social and economic resources .

Use of IT in the Construction Industry Research Paper

Use of IT in the Construction Industry - Research Paper Example Most businesses have switched over to IT enabled communication and sharing of Information and taken advantage of the new software available through IT for managing their work. Relatively, the Construction Industry had been lagging behind others in adopting these innovations in management. However the industry is making up for its late entry by accelerating the rate of adoption of IT in their work. 1.1 Statement of purpose This paper aims at exploring of importance of IT in the construction industry, and for this purpose, the significant applications of IT utilized by the construction industry are reviewed. Further, the challenges posed by the adoption of these IT technologies are studied in brief followed by suggestions for the future. 1.2 Importance of IT in the Construction Industry The association between design and construction in the industry is of significant interest to the study. Design and Construction personnel’s in an integrated team rely heavily on real time and ra pid exchange of information during the execution phase. Also, the project construction team available on-site faces many challenges with regards to proper information management, like documentation and record keeping. Many I.T. innovations have become available which facilitate such rapid exchange of information. These technologies can: Provide current updated drawings and related documents to every member of the team, thus reducing the chances of errors and eliminating the need for re-working. Reduce the time involved in the consultation and approval process through real time transmission of drawings and documents Facilitate communication of changes on real-time basis during design and construction phases of the Project. Maintain all past and current drawings and files in chronological... Today Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facilities Management are heavily dependent upon I.T. for their mutual interaction as well as for own functions. Innovations in technology that helps sharing and transmitting data have brought about major changes in the industry through research and development in the areas of linking and sharing of information, (Pena-Mora, Vadhavkar, Perkins, and Weber, 1999). Interoperability is defined as the capacity for making the information flow from one point to other. Development and use of standardized information structure form the foundation on which Interoperability is based. For a highly fragmented industry like Construction (AEC/FM), the emerging inter-operability will hinge on web-based collaboration. The following section presents a study on the topic of web based systems and their utility in the industry. Most of the evolution of Electronic Data Interchange had emerged from internal needs of organizations. Naturally, the software pos ed problems and lacked effectiveness when applied to inter—organizational exchange needs of the Construction Projects. The advances in Web-based exchange of information, currently applied to the Industry, facilitates the exchange of documents as also the sharing of construction data among participants. Its versatility allows documents to be created, dispatched and received, stored and removed through the medium of the Web. Web based systems offer the use and application of XML for documentation requirements.

Gun control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Gun control - Research Paper Example This paper will argue in favor of right to bear arms. Citizens should be allowed to bear arms because it leads to decrease in criminal activity, it can help in avoiding mass shooting events and will provide citizens to secure themselves from the threat of experiencing losses. Body Those who argue in favor of strict laws tend to defend their stance by stating that there is a positive relationship between the number of arms owned by the citizens of a nation and the number of gun related criminal activity. In another assertion, it can be said that the number of criminals can increase if they will be psychologically be consider themselves as much powerful over others. As per the lawful clauses of bearing a gun, it is important to make use of gun for self-defense following the clauses i.e. to shoot on the leg of the criminal or making use of it to warn at the first place. By bearing arms, it might be a common behavior to make use of it without following the clauses. ... Secondly it is not necessary that the criminal activity that is being conducted with the use of guns is performed while using legally obtained guns. If citizens are allowed to bear arms, they can help in reducing criminal activity taking place in a particular region. Lott states that right to bear arms help innocent, law abiding citizens to defend themselves from the criminals and he figured out that if one extra female is allowed to carry a gun, the probability of her getting killed decreases by more than 3 times (Lott 1). Statistics quoted by Lott in his research clearly indicate that right to bear arms allows law abiding citizens to protect themselves from the threat of being killed. By discussing the opposing view regarding bearing of arms, it can be well stated that by prohibiting the citizens from bearing the arms does not justify the possibility of completed eradication of criminal activities. There are many ways in which criminal activities are recorded without using guns. Cr iminals can be violent to the level that they can beat a person to death. There are no statistical base on which it can be proven that the countries where bearing arms is prohibited have actually been able to decrease the number of criminal cases. In addition, if criminals will get to know that their actions will be resisted by a person holding proper tool for self-defense then it is more likely that they will avoid committing crime because of the fear of being caught. Another reason due to which opponents of right bear arms promote strict gun laws because they believe that criminals are not rationale decision makers and once they decide to commit crime, they will do so without thinking about it for the second time. They

Interpretation of Statistical Tables and Testing Hypotheses Statistics Project

Interpretation of Statistical Tables and Testing Hypotheses - Statistics Project Example Therefore, there appears a difference in grade for unmotivated, motivated, and highly motivated diploma students that are there is difference in grade based on participation. The average grade for unmotivated scholarship students (23 to 32 years old) was about 78.89 (SD = 7.59), for motivated scholarship students was about 71.17 (SD = 6.05), and for highly motivated  scholarship students was about 76.80 (SD = 7.12). Therefore, there appears that unmotivated and highly motivated scholarship students grade is higher as compared to motivated scholarship students. The average grade for unmotivated government students (33 and above) was about 62.67 (SD = 4.32), for motivated government students was about 62.56 (SD = 5.03), and for highly motivated  government students was about 63.20 (SD = 9.63). The average grade for  diploma students was about 87.85 (SD = 5.66), for  scholarship students was about 76.05 (SD = 7.49), and for  government students was about 62.75 (SD = 5.93). Therefore, there appears difference in grade among three age groups of students. The average grade for unmotivated students was about 79.00 (SD = 13.09), for motivated students was about 72.68 (SD = 11.50), and for highly motivated  students was about 74.75 (SD = 11.00). Therefore, there appears difference in grade among three motivation (participation) groups of students. There was a significant main effect of age group on student grade, F(2, 4.06) = 39.92, p =.002, ÃŽ ·2 = 0.952. In other words, there is difference in student grade for different age groups. The result indicates a very strong effect of 0.952 as measured by ÃŽ ·2. There was nonsignificant main effect of participation (motivation) on student grade, F(2, 4.02) = 1.77, p =.281, ÃŽ ·2 = 0.468. In other words, there is statistically no difference in student grade for different participations