College Graduates Suffering From Excessive Financial...

â€Å"Over the past decade, the total volume of outstanding student loan debt has tripled and is now over $1 trillion† (Jaquette and Hillman). This alarming trend illustrates the immediate need to address the issue of college graduates suffering from excessive financial burden as a result of student loan debt. According to Ozan Jaquette, Ph.D., assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Educational Policy and Practice, and Nick Hillman, Ph.D., assistant professor of Educational Leadership Policy Analysis, â€Å"When borrowers default, they face a wide range of additional penalties, including lower credit scores, garnishing of wages and tax refunds, and the payment of collection agency fees.† Not all graduates are faced the†¦show more content†¦College enrollment skyrocketed as a direct result of the expansion of financial aid programs. Initially, the federal government’s involvement was restricted to providing financial aid to veteran s pursuing higher education. By 1965, the federal government solidified its involvement within the realm of student financial aid by enacting the Higher Education Act. Title IV of the Act provided for â€Å"a guaranteed loan program that carried with it the full promise of the U.S. government to repay private lenders if a student defaulted on their loan.† The creation of this title lead to the creation of government subsidies, and eventually subsidized loans (Fuller). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a subsidy is defined as â€Å"a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public.† The greater the amount of subsides that the government pays to lending institutions, the greater the guarantee that those lending institutions will continue to provide financial assistance to borrowers. Private lending institutions are guaranteed to turn a profit as a result of government subsidies, even if borrowers d efault on their loans. In the 2010 State of the Union Address to Congress, Obama asked the Senate and House to work together in executing a new bill that would â€Å"revitalize community colleges.† President Obama then said, â€Å"To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the

Portfolio Management Theory and Applications Assignment

Essays on Portfolio Management Theory and Applications Assignment The paper â€Å"Portfolio Management Theory and Application" is an informative example of an assignment on finance accounting. Particularly, it concerns the expected return on the new portfolio including the ABC stock. The total amount invested is equal to $900000 +$100000 = $1000000. Proportion of fully invested amount = (900000/1000000) = 0.9. The ABC invested proportion = (100000/1000000) = 0.1. The expected return for the investment will be computed by taking the proportion invested then multiply by the expected monthly returns (0.9*0.67) +(0.1*1.25) = 0.728%ii). The covariance of the ABC stock returns alongside the returns of the original portfolio.The aggregate covariance is found by multiplying the correlation coefficient of ABC stock and original returns of the portfolio which is 0.4 with the monthly standard deviations of returns of the original portfolio which is 2.37 and ABC stock which is 2.95. The covariance  = 0.4(2.95*2.37) = 2.79.iii). The expected standard deviat ionThe standard deviation is computed by adding the standard deviation of ABC stock adding to the standard deviation of the diversified portfolio then adding the total to the covariance between the diversified portfolio and ABC stock.(4.5497+0.0870+0.504)^1/2 = 2.27%B.i). the new expected return on risk-free government security(0.9*0.67)+ (0.1*0.42) = 0.645%ii). The expected covariance of government security is zero since government security is risk-free.= (0.37*0) = 0iii). The expected standard deviation of government security(4.5497+0+0)^1/2 = 2.13%In portfolio management, beta is used to measure the volatility that certain security has in relation to its risk likelihood. The government securities are risk-free since there is no default of the government to the investors. The risk-free securities have a zero standard deviation that is used to lower the uncertainty of the investors. In the computation of beta, the standard deviation is one of the key variables. The higher the stand ard deviation, the higher the beta value whiles the lower the standard deviation, the lower the beta. The new portfolio of the government securities will, therefore, have a lower beta than the original portfolio.The husband’s comment is incorrect. In the decision whether to invest or not is justified by the evaluation of the expected returns that a given investment opportunity will yield and on the other hand determination of the variations or possible deviations of a given investment. In a scenario where Grace will invest in the common stock, the expected return on the investment will be (0.1*1.25) = 0.125%. The standard deviation will be (0.1*2.95) =0.0295. Considering that she will keep the money. The standard deviation for such will be zero. Therefore it would have been wise for the husband to advice Grace to keep the money because there is no possibility of a loss being occurred than to simply say it does not matter. This is in some loose sense called a reckless statemen t that has no grounds to sustain the validity.The weakness of using standard deviation is that it is incapable of quantifying the behavioral facet of investing risk.   The standard deviations are calculated at one point at a time and therefore, affected by stochastic business factors that affect the portfolio. Additionally, the standard deviation is computed based on historical data and hence cannot be used to make future decisions as far as risk and returns are concerned.I will not believe that the diagram is an efficient frontier of the group of shares he analyzed. Pursuant to the Markowitz efficient frontier theory, it should be a graphical representation of a set of portfolios that give the highest returns expected with varied expected risks. Such a diagram lacks one combination of the shares that yield the highest returns expected and this is inconsistent with the efficient frontier theory. The graph does not guarantee the selection of a portfolio that can give the highest re turn. Though the diagram is curved as the theory dictates, such a curve does not give light to know how the diversification can let an investor enhance the reward-risk proportion. The diagram is somehow misleading and cannot be based on investment decisions.

Applied Portfolio Management Planning and Control Techniques

Question: Discuss about theApplied Portfolio Management for Planning and Control Techniques. Answer: Introduction: The project emphasizes on the subject area of providing a workflow status report as per the timeline provided by the management. The project needs to be completed between started from 17th August 2016 to 18th November 2016. The status report is usually based for the month of October. The project is carried on the introduction of new online method of fixing an appointment at Emanuel Medical Center. The study is mainly focused on the evaluation of scope of the current project along with this evaluating the deliverables of project, basic assumptions and criteria for accepting this project. The project is aimed to satisfy and meet the needs of more than 50% of the patients who shows up for check-up at Emanuel. However, there are several patients who cannot get an appointment from the doctors of Emanuel and with the help of online appointment, the organization can assist the patients to book an appointment through online appointment procedure. Project Status: The name of the project is Project Portfolio Management and the name by which the business will be recognized is Emanuel Medical Center. The project is currently evaluated at the halfway stage on 20th October to determine the progress made in the activities undertaken by the organization. Project view map Progress Particulars August September October November Webpage designing and development Creating Payment Gateway Setting up the medical Center Scheduling Webpage developer Resource development and cost allocation Gene Technology Act Home and Community Care Act 1985 Specification for service and Fee structure Developing the team of appointment maintenance Developing the team of service provider Legends: Legends Within two months Within three months Exceeding four months Analysis of Project Performance: It is evident from the project view map that the work of webpage designing and development along with creation of payment gateways was wrapped up during the month of August and September respectively. Setting up of medical center and scheduling of webpage has progressed in the month of October and are in their completion stage. Implementation of Green Technology Act was rapidly wrapped up within two months and it was completely covered in the month of September Implementation of home and Community Care Center Act 1985 was considerably long and it took a period of three months for its implementations Development of specified teams was arguably most challenging aspect of this project as it requires diversification of projects by developing the team of appointment maintenance and service providers (Gido Clements, 2014). Issues Identified: Cost factor- One of the prime issues that has been identified, which is associated with this project, is the allocation of project cost. Since the resources are limited, it is difficult for the management to manage and consider cost associated with the project (Hill, 2013). Difficulty in handling demands: It should be noted that cost must be controlled properly in order to handle and manage demand. With the growing number of patients, it is difficult for the management to handle demands of this growing number of patients. Organizational systems management: Another issue that is identified is that the management must provide better quality of service to the patients while on the other hand it also needs to handle organizational systems (Fitzsimmons Fitzsimmons, 2013). With huge amount of demand, it is difficult for the management to properly administer the online booking systems. Flexibilities issues: With huge amount of demand, it is noteworthy to denote that doctors may not be available at the desired time when an appointment is fixed through online mode. This reflects the issues of flexibility of availability of doctors and patients may be deprived of proper services. Timeline Details Milestone Report for the preparation of Emanuel Medical Center Task No. Project phase Start Completion 1 Webpage designing and development phase 17.08.2016 26.08.2016 2 Creation of the payment options 27.08.2016 06.09.2016 3 Scheduling of webpage developer 06.09.2017 14.09.2016 4 Establishment of the medical center 15.09.2016 30.09.2016 5 Development of the existing resources and allocating the cost 1.10.2016 18.11.2016 6 Implementation of the Gene Technology Act 16.09.2016 28.09.2016 7 Designing infrastructure as per home and community care Act 1985 19.10.2016 26.10.2016 8 Creation of the structure for the fees and specification of the service level agreements 29.09.2016 30.09.2016 9 Development of the team for appointment and the maintenance of the existing facilities 27.10.2016 30.10.2016 10 Development of the team of the service providers 01.11.2016 18.11.2016 (Rowley, 2015) The timeline details are prepared according to the Gantt chart analysis. On the basis of the above of the above From the above chart, we can clearly observe that the company Emmanuel medical centers infrastructural development for the setting up of the medical, center is schedule to take the highest amount of time. Form the timeline line analysis we can also find that certain tasks such as the Development of the team for appointment and the maintenance of the existing facilities and Development of the team of the service providers is in a critical stage. The Emmanuel medical center needs to put an augmented focus for the purpose for the development of these facilities (Mohammad et al., 2016). Budgeted Expenses Budgeted expenses Particulars Amount (in $) Expense for webpage designing and development 350 Salaries to the respected staffs 150 Webpage maintenance 200 Expense for equipments 200 Gene Technology Act 150 Home and Community Care Act 1985 100 Total Expenses incurred 1150 (Botn Vergara, 2015) The above-mentioned table forecast the budgeted expenses, which will incur in undertaken project. The anticipated expense that is most likely to incur is $1,150. It is to be noted that some of the cost has already been incurred such as the cost incurred for the designing of webpage development and webpage maintenance cost has been incurred out of anticipatory budget of $1,150 for the month of October. Whereas, cost related to lawfully implementation of Gene Technology Act and Home Community Care Act 1985 is yet to be incurred, however, those cost has been identified for the budgeted expenses (DRURY, 2013). Planned Deliverables/Activities for the Next/or Remaining Time Periods Based on the various types of the planned deliverables we can see that the medical center needs to put more focus for the purpose of the development of the Setting up the medical Center, Scheduling Webpage developer, infrastructural development through Home and Community Care Act 1985 and developing the team of appointment maintenance. From the time line analysis, we can further state that Resource development and cost allocation has the possibility if missing the project deadline assigned in the initials project preparation state. The medical center should involve in setting up of a dedicated team for Developing the team of service provider who will be responsible for the sole purpose of the provided an improved service to the customer. The customers will be able to gain an advances knowledge from beforehand and the various types of the facilities offered but the project. In this way the medical, center will be able to complete the project within then assigned dead line. The health center needs to prioritize the remaining tasks on the basis of the Gantt chart prepared for the purpose for the project evaluation. Review of the Risks Emanuel Medical Center needs to take in account then several type of the risks factors associated with the implementation of the project. Some of the risks involve are related to the unavailability of then services to the rural patients and in several areas where the patients may be able to access the internet facilities. This will be able to then customer expansion only in the semi urban areas and the developed cities (Kim, 2016). The doctors may also find it difficult to access then various regions of the rural, areas and the then rural patients able be completely deprived of the health services in the remote locations. The service is also at the verge of the risk as the knowledge of the technological constraints may be limited to only to then people with the availability of the internet knowledge. The service is limited to risk due to the work pressure of the doctors and of the various types of the staff members visiting the doctors (Zhang et al., 2012). Conclusion The analysis of the various stages of the project stats about the different types constraints related to the timeline required for the completion of the project. The project not only helps us to priorities the various types of the tasks but it also provides the time required for then individual tasks. The project also states about the various types of the service level agreement that is required for the efficient of the medial center and make the most out of the services of the project. The later part of the report also suggest about the various the risks associated with online appointment process which requires the people to apply the technological background of the people in order to get the appropriate level of the service. Reference List Botn, J. A., Vergara, M. A. (2015). A cost management model for economic sustainability and continuos improvement of mining operations. Resources Policy, 46, 212-218. Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques.New Jersey, USA. DRURY, C. M. (2013). Management and cost accounting. Springer. Fitzsimmons, J., Fitzsimmons, M. (2013).Service management: Operations, strategy, information technology. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Gido, J., Clements, J. P. (2014).Successful project management. Nelson Education. Hill, G. M. (2013).The complete project management office handbook. CRC Press. Kerzner, H. R. (2013).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Kim, H. (2016). A Study on the Effects of Online Appointment Systems on Patients and Hospitals. International Journal of Applied Engineering Research, 11(14), 8213-8216. Mohammad, I., van den Broek, H., Boots, M. L., Wong, R. (2016). U.S. Patent No. 9,336,502. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Rowley, K. (2015). LAIS 2: Final Milestone Report. Sharp, S. (2014). Introduction to Project Management. Zhang, X., Yu, P., Yan, J., Hu, H., Goureia, N. (2012). Developing an online patient appointment scheduling system based on web services architecture. In APAMI Conference Proceedings

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Meet the Xenarthrans - Armadillos, Sloths, and Anteaters

Meet the Xenarthrans - Armadillos, Sloths, and Anteaters Armadillos, sloths, and anteaters, also known as xenarthrans (Greek for strange joints), can be distinguished from other mammals by (among other things) the unique joints in their backbones that endow them with the strength and support they need to pursue their climbing or burrowing lifestyles. These mammals are also characterized by their extremely few (or even no teeth), their relatively small brains, and (in males) their internal testicles. As youll know if youve ever seen a sloth in action, xenarthrans are also some of the slowest mammals on earth; they are technically warm-blooded, like other mammals, but their physiologies arent nearly as robust as those of dogs, cats or cows. Xenarthrans are an ancient group of placental mammals that once roamed across the expanse of Gondwana, before this giant continent of the southern hemisphere split up to form South America, Africa, India, Arabia, New Zealand, and Australia. The ancestors of modern armadillos, sloths and anteaters were initially isolated on the newborn continent of South America, but in the ensuing millions of years spread northward into areas of Central America and southern parts of North America. Although xenarthrans didnt make it into Africa, Asia, and Australia, these regions are home to unrelated mammals (like aardvarks and pangolins) that evolved the same general body plans, a classic example of convergent evolution. One little-known fact about xenarthrans is that they were prone to gigantism during the Cenozoic Era, at a time when many mammals achieved dinosaur-like sizes thanks to temperate climates and an abundance of food. Glyptodon, also known as the Giant Anteater, could weigh up to two tons, and its hollowed-out shells were sometimes used by the early human inhabitants of South America to shelter from the rain, while the giant sloths Megatherium and Megalonyx were about the size of the largest bears on earth today! There are about 50 species of xenarthrans extant today, ranging from the screaming hairy armadillo of South America to the pygmy three-toed sloth of the Panamanian coast. Classification of Xenarthrans Armadillos, sloths, and anteaters are classified within the following taxonomic hierarchy: Animals Chordates Vertebrates Tetrapods Amniotes Mammals Armadillos, sloths and anteaters In addition, armadillos, sloths, and anteaters are divided into the following taxonomic groups: Anteaters and sloths (Pilosa)Armadillos (Cingulata)

Polynesian Questions and Answers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Polynesian Questions and Answers - Essay Example allotted $15 million annually to aid them. This brought about the sudden change in the people and had significantly impacted on their culture but did nothing to enable them to implement a self-sustaining economy (Dunford and Ridgell, 1996, p. 60-62). The people came to be overly dependent on the financial aid extended to them and started the commotion fuelled by greed and disparity primarily because of the mismanaged resources that landed constantly on an ill-prepared group of people. The concept of family before the advent of dependency in Micronesia had drastically changed over the last decades. The social unit was characterized by nuclear families that lived together in a compound with harmonious relations with each other. Hezel describes this community where in Chuuk for example dwellings would be in a single cluster of land where extended family units live and in this area there would be what is called a fanang which is basically a cookhouse where the families would take turns i n cooking the meal enough for every member of the nuclear family. The will also be an uut which serves many purposes such as a meetinghouse or a dormitory for the unmarried men as well as a place for them to learn. Other islands would entail similar practices such as Chuuk where most would be centrally matrilineal such as Marshalls and Pohnpei. This would take its turn and change when Western imposition found its way to them (Hezel, 2001, p.9-10). It was in 1991 after having been bona fide member of the United Nations when the Federated States of Micronesia had to elect their own government officials in a legislature who will choose among themselves the person to represent them as president. The people were allowed to migrate to the United States of America where approximately 2,000 flocked to Guam, Hawaii and mainland United States, a great block settling in the two previously mentioned U.S. territories (Dunford and Ridgell, 1996, p. 90-91). The people found this mass migration to be a necessity in order to provide for their underprivileged families by sending them remittances from foreign land instead of staying in a direly impoverished country. With many of its productive citizens abroad labouring on foreign land, Micronesia suffered continued economic immobility for lack of effective economic policy carried over from its years as a trust territory. The islands became excessively dependent on the annual budget provided by the United States and they were not able to cultivate a sense of economic stability since aid regularly comes their way. Father Hezel maintains that though a great number of Micronesians have settled in U.S. soil, many still find themselves deeply rooted to their native land. â€Å"Anyone who thinks that Micronesian emigrants abroad simply vanish one day never to be seen again need only to scan the departure area of a return flight to the islands to discover that this is far from the case (Hezel, 2001, p.159). The mass of Micronesians who were able to immigrate to the United States affects health care and education in the sense that they add up to the government expenditure necessary to finance public education and health care. Most of them have found a permanent home far from their native land and this equates to additional families that rely on government support to live according to decent

Business Ethics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Business Ethics - Assignment Example Moral rights can be defined as right of any creative artist or author to protect ownership or integrity of their respective work. It was introduced by the Copyright Act in the year 1968 and deals with protection of work given to its creators. Human right on the other hand is a right that belongs to every individual. These are norms or moral principles that describe specific human behavior standards and are protected on a continuous basis as legal rights in international and national law (O’Sullivan, Smith & Esposito, 2012). All these four factors are inter-related and aim towards the same goal. A right, legal right, moral right and human right are based on the concept of ethics. This is the factor which binds all the four elements. All the four aspects guides human behavior and is a framework of morals and values. It can also be stated that ethics within an individual is formed on the basis of these elements. A right can be stated as an entitlement that is treated in a particular way. There are certain characteristics that define moral rights such as it is natural, equal and inalienable. It possesses the characteristics of being natural as it is discovered and not created by an individual. This is often regarded as moral realism. Moral rights can also be stated as equal and this factor differentiates this right from the rest. Equality in this right refers to no such discrimination being done at the time of distribution of this right amongst individuals. The other characteristic that defines moral rights is the factor of inalienable. This factor states that moral rights cannot be taken away from an individual without his or her consent. However these moral rights can be voluntarily surrendered by an individual. These characteristics states that in order to define a moral right it is important that possession criterion are analyzed well by an individual. The criteria should be relevant and aligned with the moral