agganis arena Essay -- essays research papers

Agganis Arena   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The multi-purpose arena that I have chosen to evaluate is Boston University’s Agganis Arena. This arena is considered to be the next generation of Boston sports and entertainment by incorporating the latest multimedia technologies and providing the finest possible sight lines and views of the action. The arena is located within Boston University's new $225 million John Hancock Student Village, a 10-acre hub of activity designed to be the thriving center of student life and athletics, Agganis Arena is a state-of-the-art, multipurpose sports and entertainment center scheduled to open in January 2005. A 290,000-square-foot premier venue with 6,300 seats for hockey and ice shows, the Arena is expandable to over 7,200 seats for concerts, sporting events, and family shows. Including hockey action, Agganis Arena will host Boston University events, concerts, family shows, sporting events, trade shows and conferences throughout the year. It look forward to welcoming everyone to a beautiful, clean, comfortable, safe, and exciting environment. There are excellent sight lines, inviting food and beverage selections, and first-class Guest Services will make your experience with Agganis Arena so memorable that you will want to come back again and again. The arena has many features to it to make very state of the art environment. The Box Office for the arena includes a fully integrated online ticketing system and also has seven ticket windows along the Southeast Arena main entrance and lobby. The luxury seating in the Agganis arena includes 29 Loge Suites and Premium Seats with great services and has a 5,600 square-foot Private Club Room with flexible floor plan options that can have room for up to 600 guests. To provide these luxury suites and club rooms there is a 4,250-square-foot full service kitchen and 300-square-foot Club Room kitchen. If fans are hungry during the game there are six concession stands throughout the arena that offer over 44 menu items. The facility includes 15 restrooms spread through the arena for men and women which are all handicapped assessable. Plenty of parking within great walking distance to the arena has been provided to all patrons. There are 1,400 parking spots right next to the arena. The ice hockey rink has the greatest technology to keep it looking nice. The measurements of the sheet of i... ...y standard printer. The Arena meets all Massachusetts State Accessibility and Federal ADA requirements, with at-grade entries, 44 wheelchair positions at the concourse level with 44 adjacent companion seats, 13 wheelchair positions at ice level with 13 adjacent companion seats, flexibility in all private suites to provide a wheelchair, accessible restrooms, assisted listening devices at grade entry, and 4 passenger elevators. The Arena has three public pay phones adjacent to the main lobby ticket box office. All the public pay phones are accessible to Guests in wheelchairs and one is equipped for TTY/TDD use. Service animals that assist Guests with disabilities are welcome into the Arena. Service animals must remain on a leash or in a harness at all times. Please contact the Arena Box Office if you intend to bring a service animal to an event so an aisle seat may be reserved for you. Agganis Arena fully complies and exceeds all requirements as set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you req uire disabled seating while at an event, you can contact the Agganis Arena Ticket Office directly at 617-358-7000 to order your tickets so that they can best accommodate your needs.

Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried”, and His Writing Style

In his story â€Å"The Things They Carried† O’Brien depicts casualties of Vietnam war through evolution of characters’ emotional and psychological state. Psychological pressure is caused by war, but O’Brien portrays it symbolically through material and emotional things the soldiers carry. He gives a detailed list of everything soldiers take. The evolution of emotional perception of the world and values is depicted through the character of Lieutenant Jim Cross.His negligence, passion for a girl and narrow-mindedness causes a death of one of the soldiers, and this event forces his to revise his values and ethical code of a soldier. O’Brien uses a simple language, but symbolism and stylistic devices helps him to unfold the message of the story. The short story â€Å"The Things They Carried† was published in 1990. It describes the events of Vietnam War and analyzes deep personal feelings of the main heroes, and things they were faced with during wartime. Soldiers carry different â€Å"things† with them.Under â€Å"things† O’Brien means weapons and ammunition as well as terror, love, personal values and beliefs, but â€Å"almost everyone humped photographs† (p. 4). This story vividly depicts inner state of the characters during wartime and their living essentials such as fear, kindness, love, and uncertainty. These things are so important for them as ammunition during wartime, because they help the main heroes to overcome depression and difficulties they face with. It is important that â€Å"a set of things† has been changed, and at the end of the story the heroes carry a completely different â€Å"things† with them.As Kaplan characterizes war stories: â€Å"Almost all of the literature on the war, both fictional and nonfictional, makes clear that the only certain thing during the Vietnam War was that nothing was certain† (Kaplan, 1993, p. 43). The main character of the book i s Lieutenant Jim Cross, a man who falls in love with a girl who does not return his feelings. Jim suffers greatly and can do nothing but dreaming about close relations with this girl. His negligence of duties costs life one of his soldiers, and after this terrible event, he puts an end to his false dreams, and rethink most of his values and views.It was really difficult to him to change his worldview but he was strong enough to cope with emotional burden, and re-sort his â€Å"things†. The main idea of the text is that wartime has a great impact on feelings and views of people. When one person's actions begin to affect another person, we have moved from personal ethics to social ethics and often have to place some limits on human behavior (Bowen, Weigl, 1997). The story morality states that everyone is responsible for his own actions, and it is useless to blame everything on the people around you.Jim Cross is depicted as the person who is full of life experience, but still ha s not found the truth of life. The story â€Å"The Things They Carried† portrays that for some soldiers their burden is too heavy and they cannot carry it any longer. At the beginning of the story O’Brien describes things they carry: â€Å"what they carry was partly a function of rank, partly a field spatiality† (O’Brien, p. 5). Further, for most of them it is difficult to change their attitude towards life, but the rat-trap of war has an great influence on their outlook.For instance, Jim Cross has burned all pictures of Martha and shifts his attention to duties. â€Å"These burdens – the supplies the men carried to stay physically alive – are placed on the same level in terms of description as the objects carried that provided emotional sustenance to the men of the platoon† (Posek, 1997). The other main characters, Ted Lavender, Kiowa, Lee Strunk, and Henry Dobbins, are also carry their â€Å"things† which differ because they have different life experiences and expectations. Nevertheless, war forces them to carry the same psychological things as scary and hope.They need to adapt to war, but the only way for them is to change their habits and personal values. Some of them like Ted Lavender’s conditioned to this reality using their own way, but fails. Subconscious persuasion and mind-altering drugs have no effects. This causes lack of coincidence between war and personal feelings, since many of the characters struggling to develop their emotions while everyone else struggles to suppress their feelings. O’Brien depicts that when fear starts to dominate, people usually act in their own interests, they degrade as the keepers of customs and morality.It remains disappointing that the social issues that are generally identified as pertaining to deal with questions of individual choice, rather than of communal responsibility. Besides, material things the characters carry emotion burden: â€Å"Grief , terror, love, longing these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. † (O’Brien p. 6). The remarkable feature of O'Brien’s style is very exact descriptions: â€Å"As a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a . 45(c) caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds full loaded. † (O’Brien p. 4). Detailed list of material things the soldiers carried helps O’Brien to force a reader to understand a burden they carried. O’Brien goes far beyond a simplistic description given a weight of each item the soldiers carries. â€Å"The weapon weighed 7. 5 pounds unloaded, 8. 2 pounds with its full 20 round magazine. The riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazines†¦ adding on another 8. 4 pounds at minimum, 14 pounds at maximum. † (O’Brien, p. 5). O’Brien is a keen observer of people, historical and w ar events which is manifested in his style of writing.O’Brien depicts that a battlefield is the most terrible place he has ever seen. In this collection of the short stories he portrays the futility of soldiers deaths and sufferings of men who are still alive, but know that death is â€Å"around the corner†. The message of his stories is that war is senseless, war brings only grief and constant tension to be killed. In the story O’Brien rings up questions concerning moral health of people, and in spite of all the negative life lessons soldiers understand what it is to be an individual.Throughout the story there is a definite blame unmoral behaviour of the people, but it is most poignantly and symbolically demonstrated with the rejection of previous life. O’Brien shows that the inner state of soldiers has changed, and the readers cannot find a cynical man as most of them were before the war. On the other hand, war causes people to become insensitive. Obrie n depicts that the psychological state of Jim Cross has changed. He has not a â€Å"a love man† as he was depicted at the beginning of the story.To some extent, the moment of death caused the awakening of many characters in the story. For instance, Jim Cross sees the truth of life only when the soldier dies because of his negligence. O’Brien depicts that fear applied to love leads to individual degradation. Tolerance protects that diversity and demands respect. Jim Cross is a person who fights with his own imperfection changing his personal views after Ted Lavender’s death. When fear starts to dominate, people usually act in their own interests, they degrade as the keepers of customs and morality.It remains disappointing that the social issues that are generally identified as pertaining to deal with questions of individual choice, rather than of communal responsibility. The most impressive and powerful is the last scene of the story, when after the death of Lave nder Jim burns Martha’s letters and photographs promising never have fantasies. The facts mentioned above prove the idea that only in difficult situations people show their real nature and values. Toughness stems not from insensitivity but from a strict persona; code which functions as the characters' sole defense against the overwhelming chaos of war.O’Brien possesses a unique style of writing which appeals to readers mind and emotions. Writing of the author is filled with meaning and symbolism, hidden in plain sight beneath a seamless narrative style that breathes not a word of agenda, of dogma, or of personal belief. In this way, his writing contains knowledge that is hidden to all, but give only hints to be comprehended. Also significant in the writing style of O’Brien is a tendency to take on the character point of view in the narrative. The representation of the material is very affective.The structure of the piece is aimed to compel readers to think the p roblem over. Clear representation underlined the author’s awareness of the issues under discussion. The vocabulary is mostly neutral. Style and choice of words create a sophisticated tone, but, as the most important, unprepared readers understand the message of the chapter without difficulties, because the O’Brien’s language is very vivid and clear. He appeals to such universal virtues as equality and faith, and gives insight look into the root of the problem.The most important that the second chapter provides it readers, especially those who are not familiar with the reality of war. There are no romantic and lengthy descriptions in the short stories, but description of events and emotions ae very concise and brief. O’Brien depicts that our ordered and organized world one feels sometimes the need of a change. He â€Å"draws the reader into the text, calling the reader's attention to the process of invention and challenging him to determine which, if any, of the stories are true† (Calloway, 1995, p. 249).The repetition technique helps to shift logical stress and draws the readers attention to some key elements of the sentence structure, helping to shape authors message: â€Å"That's what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story. † (O'Brien p. 40). The collection of his stories can be called a â€Å"true† war story as it describes casualties of life experienced by soldiers.O†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Brien states â€Å"that war is Hell† potraying â€Å"in-depth and sensitive exploration of soldiers’ hearts and minds† (Literary Encyclopedia. 2005). The author depicts that war is a dangerous and tremendous evil which change emotion and feeling, views and customs of so ldiers. In spite of all the negative life lessons Jim Cross understands what it is to be an individual, and re-sorts his â€Å"things he carried†. It was the only way for all soldiers to survive during war. At the end of the story â€Å"things† form a strict ethical code which functions as the characters' sole defense against the overwhelming chaos of war.They set of things include the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic and always painful. The story teaches that a mature person acts in accordance with his own ethical code developing an approach to life that helps him get through the day. As O’Brien writes: â€Å"By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself† (O’Brien, p. 9). His characters are mature persons who act in accordance with their own morals developing an approach to life that helps them get through the day.The evolution of a character from a narrow-minded per son who does not care much about the consequences of his actions to a mature personality is another feature of style of writing: â€Å"I’d come to this war a quiet, thoughtful sort of person, a college grad, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude, all the credentials, but after seven months in the bush I realized that those high, civilized trappings had somehow been crushed under the weight of the simple daily realities. I’d turned mean inside (O’Brien, p. 9).To conclude, O’Brien uses different specific techniques and different stylistics devices to convey a message of the stories and appeals to emotions of readers and imagination. Evolution of characters, simple vocabulary and a deep emotional impact on the reader are the main writing features of O’Brien.Brainstorming IdeasWhy did O’Brien give detailed list of all things the soldiers’ carries?O’Brien depicts a death of Ted Lavender. Why did he select this character?Was it so impo rtant to â€Å"kill† someone?O’Brien uses the theme of love at the beginning of the story. Why?What material and emotional things the soldiers carry? What is their meaning?What is the link between morality of the characters and their actions? Did it affect the other characters? How?The war is not sweet for those people who suffer from it. O’Brien describes, explains and justifies soldiers in terms of a deep and ineradicable difference between â€Å"past† and â€Å"present†. In stories O’Brien uses emotional impact with the implication of uncertainty, hesitation and deliberation. At the end, O’Brien criticizes horrific and piteous nature of war which change people and their world perception.Symbols, metaphors, repetition helps to impress the reader and appeal to his emotions. Emotional burden should not be taken for granted at a causal explanation of death. However, a war giving special significance to the ‘uniqueness' led to a p articular concern about the common sense of reflecting the desire of individual to find relief from emotional pressure. For most of the soldiers a a sense of being in the army to be fully expressed and developed requires that the people enjoy the right to decide upon their destiny.Second, at a personal level, it obviously makes relationships with others possible, creating a world of meaning. War is a true journey for men: it helps to make choices, makes possible relationships with others, and gives strength and resilience. At the beginning of the story many characters were not prepared to rescue the life to save the life of others while at the end they became real soldiers ready to rescuer their life.Note Cards1. â€Å"One thing for sure, he said. The lieutenant's in some deep hurt. I mean that crying jag — the way he was carrying on — it wasn't fake or anything, it was real heavy-duty hurt (O'Brien 17).2. (about cowardice) â€Å"In many respects this was the heavies t burden of all, for it could never be put down.† (O'Brien 13).3. The emotions are the heaviest burden because we cannot throw it down.4. The death of Ted Lavender is a push, which forces soldiers to look for the truth (sense) of life.5. The death of Ted Lavender is a watershed between past and future, old values and new ethics of a soldier.6. â€Å"It was very sad†¦ the things men carried inside. † (O'Brien 10). 7. â€Å"By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself† (O’Brien, p.9).8. â€Å"They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment† (O’Brien, p. 3).9. Fear applied to love leads to individual degradation.10. Soldiers carried the burden of the world (war).11. â€Å"Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive† (O’Brien, p.11).Work Cited1. Bowen, K. , Weigl, B. Writing between the Lines: An Anthology on War and Its Social Consequences, University of Massachusetts Press, 1997.2. Calloway, C. â€Å"How to Tell a True War Story: Metafiction in the Things They Carried†, Critique, Vol. 36, 1995, pp. 249-257.3. Kaplan, S. â€Å"The Undying Uncertainty of the Narrator in Tim O'Brien's the Things They Carried†. Critique, Vol. 35, 1993, pp. 43-52.4. O'Brien, T. Literary Encyclopedia. 2005. Available at: http://www. litencyc. com/php/speople. php? rec=true&UID=33705. O’Brien, T. The Things They Carried. Broadway, 1998.6. Posek, J. â€Å"The Paradox of Necessity in Tim O'Brien's â€Å"The Things They Carried† Literature Seminar 180J, November 17, 1997.Available at: http://www. nd. edu/~frsw rite/mcpartlin/1998/Posek. shtml Draft Quotes: â€Å"As a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a . 45(c) caliber pistol that weighed 2. 9 pounds full loaded. † (p. 4). â€Å"The weapon weighed 7. 5 pounds unloaded, 8. 2 pounds with its full 20 round magazine. The riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazines†¦ addin

Sport Obermeyer Minimum

Wally Obermeyer is facing a challenge in accurately forecasting the market response and demand for the upcoming season. Historically, the company founder, Klaus Obermeyer, relied minimally on forecast data, and more on intuition and artistic tastes. In comparison, his son Wally prefers to make decisions based on analytical techniques and information gathering.If Wally’s approach proves successful, it can change how Sport Obermeyer approaches its manufacturing processes, secure its position long-term as the middle- to high-end producer of skiwear, increase profits, and better meet the company’s objective of delivering matching collections to retailers at the same time and earlier in the season. Sport Obermeyer has many challenges to overcome. Forecasting is problematic since production commitments are required in November, but the bulk of the orders are not placed by retailers until the Las Vegas trade show in the following March.Also, the market trends are seasonal, cha nging frequently, and adding to the difficulty in forecasting. The company cannot postpone production completion dates due to the quota limit on importation of goods from China, where a bulk of its production occurs. Adding further complications to the manufacturing decisions, the company has a new manufacturing facility coming online in Hong Kong, and must determine what products, and how much of those products should be manufactured in each of the facilities. Issues with vendors of raw materials must be addressed.There are long lead times for some vendors, and because of that, excess inventory is maintained in the manufacturing facilities. The company must also maintain a competitive edge with the growing pressure from competitors, specifically Columbia. Sport Obermeyer has relied on a buying committee comprised of key manager to forecast production demands, and make decisions regarding production commitments. Historically, this committee has done fairly well in predicting which s tyles will be popular, and forecasting has been best for the styles on which agreement was greatest between the committee members.In order to take the greatest advantage of this committee, Wally Obermeyer is utilizing the Delphi method. This method will give Wally the opportunity to determine which members of the committee have the greatest accuracy. While it may not pay off in the immediate decisions, over several years, he will be able to determine which members’ opinions should receive the greatest weight when making production decisions. In the meantime, a decision must be made regarding the upcoming season.Wally should proceed with the minimum order necessary, one-half of the total expected demand for the season (10,000 units), to keep up with production demands. Since the minimum production quantity for a style is 600 units from the Hong Kong facility, Wally should initially only consider production of styles predicted to exceed this limit until the bulk of the order co me in following the Las Vegas show. In doing so, the risk of overproducing a style, and being forced to sell it at a deficit will be mitigated. Past data indicates the buying committee’s forecast is accurate within two standard deviations.Using these forecasts, Sport Obermeyer should delay production of the Isis, Teri, and Stephanie styles since they demand is forecasted to be low for them, and proceed with the remainder of the items in consideration (See Table 1 for quantities relating to each style). Forecasting also has difficulties due to the delay in information from retailers regarding which products are most popular. Long-term, and if financially feasible, Sport Obermeyer should consider providing retailers responsible for the majority of purchases of their good with software that will provide Sport Obermeyer with real-time data on sales of its product.By doing so, the company will better be able to predict what items are desired for replenishment orders, and greatly r educe goods sold to South America at prices below manufacturing costs. Furthermore, Sports Obermeyer can approach retailers sooner regarding replenishment orders based upon the data it has collected. If replenishment orders are received sooner, then the cost of shipment is greatly reduced since fewer will require air shipment. Lastly, the company should take an active role in influencing the demand of products it forecasts as being most popular to ensure these items are in high demand.Sport Obermeyer should pressure its sales force to promote these items by providing incentives, such as bonuses, to its personnel. If need be, the company can also provide discounts for large bulk orders to retailers. Lastly, the company should heavily promote these items via advertisements campaigns. Sport Obermeyer needs to be able to keep up with production demand, and in the case the company is overly successful in pushing the styles it predicts to be in highest demand, resulting in Sport Obermeyer needs to be able to meet the production demands generated.The manufacturing facility in China can produce goods much more cheaply than the facility in Hong Kong, but the quality and startup time are inferior to the Hong Kong facility. Obersport, a joint venture of Sport Obermeyer, is responsible for monitoring quality of the raw materials, and coordinating production Sport Obermeyer products in the Far East. Obersport should implement and expand upon its current quality control and quality assurance practices.Sport Obermeyer should pare down the variation in its products to reduce the frequency in changing manufacturing lines resulting in the facility in China being able to complete orders faster. Sport Obermeyer needs to reduce the planning time required for each season. Currently, planning for a season must start two years in advance. This is a hindrance to the company since forecasting data improves as the start of the season being planned for becomes closer. Reducing the number of vendors for raw materials, as well as the variety of styles available will shorten the time for planning.Furthermore, Sport Obermeyer will be ordering more from a few vendors, giving them greater buyer power to negotiate discounts, resulting in increased profits. Reducing the variety in the raw materials used should increase quality in addition to speeding up production. Long-term, after lead time and vendor issues are resolved, Sport Obermeyer should consider spinning off another brand within the company to be marketed separately from its current line. As costs for manufacturing are reduced due to a more streamlined production process, Sport Obermeyer will be better able to compete at the same price point as Columbia.By creating a new brand, the company will not risk reducing the reputation for quality associated with Sport Obermeyer, but will be able to compete directly with Columbia and take part of its market share. This move will increase sales for Sport Obermeyer, as well as limit the growth of Columbia. Furthermore, Sport Obermeyer should consider producing street wear for both the current high-end brand and the lower-end brand that will compete with Columbia. This will expand the markets to which Sport Obermeyer is competing in, and increase visibility of the brands since the clothing will be worn year round.Sport Obermeyer places production orders three times each season. The first order is placed prior to the Las Vegas trade show, the second is placed the week following the trade show, and the third comes at the end of the season when replenishment orders are made. Short-term, until quality and vendor issues are resolved, Sport Obermeyer should place the first order with the Hong Kong manufacturing facility. The labor in the Hong Kong facility is significantly higher than the facility in China, but the quality is better in Hong Kong.Also, the Hong Kong facility is able to produce goods faster. The second order should be placed with the facility i n China to take advantage of the markedly reduced labor costs. The third order should be placed in Hong Kong since these orders need to be produced quickly to reduce the use of expensive air shipment in lieu of using an ocean carrier. Long-term, if Sport Obermeyer elects to pursue a spinoff brand, the lower quality product should be manufactured in China to take advantage of the reduced cost of production.The Hong Kong labor force should have increased labor skills by this point, and production output should be optimized. The Hong Kong facility should continue to produce the high-end Sport Obermeyer lines. Even though the cost of production will be greater in the Hong Kong facility, the revenues generated by this facility should be greater since the high-end clothing can be offered at a higher price point. Sport Obermeyer has many problems to address, but with just a few adjustments, they can be rectified. By paring down the variety of options in the lines, quality will be increased .Forecasting is improved by implementing the Delphi method in the Buying Committee, and adding a weighted accuracy measurement to the Committee members in future seasons. Reducing the number of vendors remedies the excessively long lead times, and provides Obersport with buyer power to negotiate discounts. Providing the primary purchasers of Sport Obermeyer products with free software for tracking sales allows Sport Obermeyer to better predict replenishment orders, and eliminates much of the use of air carriers, as well as eliminates overproduction of goods that are sold below manufacturing cost.By creating a second brand, Sport Obermeyer can compete directly with Columbia, and not tarnish the image of quality associated with its current lines. Lastly, Sport Obermeyer can drive sales toward the items it predicts will be popular by offering incentives to sales personnel, large customers, and launching advertisement campaigns to also eliminate overproduction and lost revenues. Table 1 : Recommendation of order quantity for each style of Parka considered by the Buying Committee.Since orders had to be placed in Hong Kong where a 600 unit amount is needed, the styles of Isis, Teri, and Stephanie were ignored in the order placement for the first phase of production due to uncertainty of need. Style| Average Forecast| 2SD| k=1| k=0. 9675| Gail| 1017| 388| 629| 642| Isis| 1042| 646| 396*| –| Entice| 1358| 496| 862| 878| Assault| 2525| 680| 1845| 1867| Teri| 1100| 762| 338*| –| Electra| 2150| 807| 1343| 1369| Stephanie| 1113| 1048| 65*| –| Seduced| 4017| 1113| 2904| 2940| Anita| 3296| 2094| 1202| 1270| Daphne| 2383| 1394| 989| 1034| Total| | | 9774*| 10001| | I