Final Papers

TECHNICAL COM340

Books Cost Proposal for Ashford University

As we all know, the expense for books for college courses can go well into the hundreds of dollars for certain classes. Some students can find themselves in a peculiar position when they have a new class coming up and they do not have the money to pay for the books required to do the class work. Online students are very prone to this problem due to the fact that there is no bookstore to go to as buying online is the only way to purchase the book or books that are needed (The College Board, (2011).

Students receiving financial aid in the form of government grants or student loans should have the option of having the cost of their books taken out of financial aid just as the cost of the classes are taken out then whatever money is leftover can go into an account or sent directly to the student in the form of a check just as it is set up now to send students their money after their tuition is taken out (Goldman (2010).

Since the major part of this process is already in force, the changes that need to take place should only accrue minimal costs to get it implemented and made into another part of the process. There should not be a need to hire additional staff for this very reason so it should keep the costs down.

The benefits to this part of the program can be nothing but good in the long run for the college as well as the student due to the student will not have to put a hold on his or her class due to the fact that they do not have the money on hand to pay for the new class and so for this reason the college will not have to reschedule the students class or classes which in the long run should balance itself out.

Another reason is that some students who do not have the funds for their books that are available through the bookstore on the college campus have to search elsewhere in order to get a good deal on their books. This has shown to be a bad thing to do for the student because a lot of the places that the student has to go to get these books are not Ashford oriented so the student is not able to keep up with the class or is having to really go deeper into the chapters just to find where the appropriate lesson is for the particular school week. It proves to be hard enough on the student that he or she is sometimes not willing to have to go to such great lengths and will end up dropping the class which not only costs money for the college but then puts the student into a bad situation with themselves not to mention with the college.

Putting the aforementioned proposal into action will prove itself well worthwhile in a lot of areas for the school and for the student. The student will feel worthwhile because he or she will have the needed criteria for class and will pursue more to learning and the college will not lose out by a student dropping out and leaving. In most cases, if the student does end up leaving with the pretense that he or she will return at a later date once they get their finances in order, they will never return.

This can only prove to be a win win situation for both the college and student, so we are asking that Ashford University implement this and at least give it a try and see if it does not prove to be a benefit in both cases.

References

Goldman, E. (2010). Reference Service Press. Financial Aid Information. Retrieved on August 29, 2011 from http://www.rspfunding.com/index.html.

The College Board (2011). Pay for College. Break Down the Bill. College Expenses to Consider. Retrieved on August 29, 2011 from http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/482.html.

MEDIA COM345

Going Up is the Only Way

Aerial lift manufacturer Genie Industries is always on the way up with their lift trucks and other lifting equipment.

Residing in two towns in Washington State, Moses Lake and Redmond, Genie has continually been on upward swing with the business and it has proven to be the right way to go considering it has just been announced that Genie has boosted their production by 60 percent in the 2011 year.

Being high in the sky is starting not to look so bad and it seems to be the place to be since the economy has started picking up again. It was sure touch and go for a while there. After laying off numerous of people on more than one occasion, it seems that the crews that are in place now and working hard might get to stay employed for a while, as long as they do not let their heads get to far into the clouds with this new sense of security.

It is not unusual to be driving down the road and out of the corner of your eye you see something that almost reminds you of a ride at the fairgrounds or even more than that you think someone might be bungee jumping, so you try to rubberneck it and take a look to just to make sure it is not a ride in town that you have not heard about when you realize it is a man lift from Genie, the color gives it away, and it is someone either working on a light, radio tower or even painting the wonderful name of my town on the side of a water tower on the far end of town. It is almost disappointing after thinking there might be a carnival in town.

The last few years were not a good time to be in the rental business, during the 2008-2011 recession there was not a lot of rental activity going on, but Genie has proven itself to be a very resourceful company.

The growth was driven primarily by North American equipment rental companies replacing their equipment, said Matt Fearon, vice president and general manager of Terex Aerial Work Platforms, Americas Region, on Thursday. Genie is a Terex company.

Having been in business for several years, they have built up their fleet to an amazing size even to the effect that the age of the fleet marks yet another point for Genie.

Genie sells its products globally, with about 40 percent of its sales done internationally and the other 60 percent domestically.

            Moses Lake is also known as the Oasis in the Desert. Being part of the Columbia Basin project, which means that it is very close to Grand Coulee Dam and the life source that is produced by that dam makes the power a cheap commodity to have.

As Genie ramps up production, company suppliers are seeing Moses Lake as a large chunk of their manufacturing footprint, Fearon said.

            But Genie isn't aware of suppliers opening any major production facilities for them, he commented.

Genie is now in the middle of adding a large amount of investment into Moses Lake. The company is developing new products and retooling one of the initial bays they set up 14 years ago in Moses Lake."We're basically staying in the footprint we have, but investing in infrastructure," Fearon said.

Genie signed a 15-year lease with the Port of Moses Lake last year, with a five-year renewal option.

This was definitely a day to celebrate as it was not too long ago that the doors were wavering with the thought that they might close for good to end up with this kind of security.

References

Lynch, L. (2012). Columbia Basin Herald. Genie Boots Production in 2011. Retrieved

March 5, 2012 from http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/business/article_069014e8-6493-11e1-aaa7-0019bb2963f4.html.