Bulgaria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Bulgaria - Essay Example The President of the republic is the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief. The Prime Minister on the other hand heads and bears responsibility for the overall policy of the government. After a period of political instability in the mid 1990s, there has been a gradual stabilization since 2001 with the election of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, son of Tsar Boris III, and heir of the royal family, as prime-minister (Library of Congress, 2005). The focus of the governmental power of several consecutive governments has been the EU accession process requiring substantial reforms in the legislative, judiciary, administrative and other spheres of economy. In 2004 Bulgaria's population was estimated at 7,518,000 with a negative growth rate of -0.92 percent per year. About 70 percent of the population is urban; the capital Sofia has population of 1.1 million. Since 1990s migration to Western European countries has increased significantly, with estimated 200,000 residents leaving the country between 1992 and 2002. This movement is expected to accelerate as Bulgaria becomes an EU member state. Concerning ethnic groups, approximately 83 percent are Bulgarians, 9 percent Turks, and 5 percent Roma. In the 1980s during the communist period there was a campaign to assimilate the Turkish population. Today the only ethnic issue is discrimination of Roma who have even lower living standards and are generally regarded as second-class citizens (Library of Congress, 2005). By 1990s during the communist period Bulgaria had strong industrial and agricultural productivity and export within the Soviet and ex-communist countries. Political concussions and the fall of the communist regime resulted in economic shocks, Bulgaria lost many of its markets, because of increased competition and decreased political backup. Productivity levels dropped, many industrial factories were destroyed and plundered, agricultural structures were abolished. This, combined with instability in the political situation, led to a severe economic crisis in 1997-1998. Economical recovery involved the establishment of a currency board and structural changes in all sectors of economy (Library of Congress, 2005). Since that period the country has a slowly developing economy, with lowering inflation rates, improving investor confidence, tax-reducing policies etc. Today the country is facing one of the greatest challenges in its recent economic development - forthcoming EU accession in 1997. EU accession process is as much a political issue, as it is an economical issue. Ever since 1993, when the European Union announced its expansion policy towards Central and Eastern Europe, consecutive governments have adjusted their national programs with view to Bulgaria's prospective accession in the EU. Now, that the principal date of the accession was determined months ago, the government has to overcome many problematic areas, addressed by the EU Commission as areas of specific concern that have to be dealt with beforehand, or else the accession can be postponed. And while the Currency Board pegging the Bulgarian currency (leva) to the euro has contributed to economic stability, increased domestic consumption,

Freudian Reading on Othello Essay Example for Free

Freudian Reading on Othello Essay Freudian Reading on â€Å"Othello† Is it possible for other people to act as our superegos? What are the effects of never resolving your oedipal complex? And when a situation becomes to over whelming, do we project our thought and feelings on to our peers? I am using â€Å"Through the Literary Looking Glass: Critical Theory in Practice† by Sian Evans and â€Å"Othello† by William Shakespeare to analyse the characters Othello and Iago as well as the major theme jealousy through a Freudian lens. The aim of this psychoanalysis is to try and give a better understanding of the character’s motivations and unconscious, narcissistic desires. The theme jealousy is revealed by both these characters throughout the play shows us how we need to be well rounded people, and the effects this has if we are not. The opening act of â€Å"Othello† begins with the marriage of Desdemona and Othello in Venice, Italy. Here we see a black, middle aged man, marry a fair, young, Venetian woman in front of an upper class white society. (This was highly frowned upon at that point in history). As the play proceeds Iago suggests to Othello that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio, and tries to corrupt their marriage. This behaviour seems somewhat childish coming from a grown man and shows us how Iago doesn’t use his superego to control his id, as well as displaying his immense jealousy of Othello. However Othello believes what Iago is saying, as he has a reputation of being an â€Å"honest man†. Iago continues to insinuate Desdemona’s dishonesty to Othello and provides fake evidence. Othello gets increasingly â€Å"green-eyed† by the â€Å"poison† that Iago is telling him and becomes so overwhelmed by this jealousy that he goes back to his natural instincts, resolving issues through murder. This is a result of him joining the army at 7 and since then all he has known is war. The play ends with Othello acting on impulse and under the influence of his violent superego, murdering Desdemona, and then Iago after he realises Desdemona was innocent. He then proceeds to commit suicide as he believed this act would be considered noble, restore his reputation, and relieve his conscious mind of his violent actions. Othello is a mentally and emotionally frail character in the play. He joined the army at a young age and gradually became recognised in society as something other than a then a â€Å"middle aged†, â€Å"black moor†, due to his high rank in the army and then marrying Desdemona. However  when a supposedly â€Å"honest Iago† starts suggesting Othello’s wife is unfaithful, he is easily able to mentally control Othello through him never having resolved his oedipal complex. Othello had never resolved his oedipal complex because we see him give his mother’s handkerchief to Desdemona. Freud describes this as a method of transference and Othello is transferring his repressed love for his mother on to Desdemona. Iago then acting as Othello’s id then reveals Othello’s murderous superego which was caused by decades of warfare. We visually see this in the play when he says â€Å"How shall I murder him Iago† when Iago implies Cassio is sleeping with Desdemona. Here, Othello is also showing that his oedipal complex is still not resolved by transferring his repressed emotions on to new objects through his desire to murder Cassio (being the father) in order to be closer to Desdemona (being the mother). Later in the play we see hi s superego again when Desdemona (the woman he loves) becomes his enemy and he kills her. This act of murder was purely out of jealousy and the fear of him losing his reputation he has worked so hard for. â€Å"Yet she must die, else shell betray more men,† Shows us how Othello is subconsciously protecting his soldiers. Though a Freudian perspective it appears that Shakespeare has used Othello as a character to show us that if you are brought up with murder or warfare when you are young, you might never be able to overcome your violent superego as you get older and the detrimental effects this has. Shakespeare has also shown us how sublimation is applied through Othello, as he is someone that has the urge to hurt and kill and thus joined the army, so that the act of killing is morally justified by protecting their country or soldiers. He may not kill the person he wants to kill necessarily, but they will release their feelings by killing the enemy, if unless these feelings are manipulated by an external factor (Iago). Although many years have passed since â€Å"Othello† was written, people can still relate to it because human nature does not change. We all question those who are close to us, and whether or not they are honest and loyal. Shakespeare is using Othello to warn us of disastrous co nsequences that may arise when you are manipulated by a person (Iago) that capitalises on the jealous nature of another human. Iago is an extremely jealous character in the play. He is envious of Othello’s reputation, higher rank in the army, wife, and that he is more respected in a white society than him; even though he is middle aged and  black. This shown through the quote; â€Å"But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"He has done my office†. Reputation means to a lot to Iago, and overall that’s all he cares about most, which shows narcissism and racism in his character. He believed that Othello robbed him of his reputation. We see this through the quote; â€Å"But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed†. Iago doesn’t use his superego to control his id so his urges and desires are unrestrained. This is shown throughout the play in his successful attempt to corrupt Othello’s marriage. Nearly one hundred per cent of the time when Iago is with Othello he is using reverse psychology to act as Othello’s superego and make him more jealous of Cassio; â€Å"O beware, my lord, of Jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster†. This is displaying two perspectives on Iago’s physiological state. Either Iago has zero control over his id, and just lets his jealous mind run wild. Or, he chooses not to control his psychopathic mind with his superego. This results in him tricking Othello into consciously thinking he’s jealous when he unconsciously isn’t. For example, when Othello asks for living reason (proof) that Desdemonas been disloyal, Iago tells him about an erotic dream that Cassio supposedly had one night while he was lying in bed next to Iago. In slee p I heard him say â€Å"Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our loves†. After Iago tells these rumours he then covers his tracks by deceiving Othello. An example of this is when he says; â€Å"Men should be what they seem† which is ironic coming from him, as he is not what he seems. He is deceptive and believable, and for Othello that is bad news for someone who is so easily jealous and mentally frail. â€Å"He hath a person and a smooth dispose, to be suspected, framed to make women false. The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest but that seem to be so† This quote is reinforcing how Iago believes Othello will be easy to manipulate and deceive. Through this psychoanalysis we have a greater understanding of Iago’s motivations and unconscious desires. We see how he projected an overwhelming amount of jealousy he had for Othello on to him, and even though he thought he was in control of the situation and that he would come out on top, it led to both of their demise. For Iago jealousy played on the trust he developed in his relationship with Othello and whether Othello would believe him. However even though Othello did believe and trust Iago, Shakespeare still shows us  that jealousy destroys relationships and consumes the mind. My psychoanalysis of â€Å"Othello† has given me a new understanding of the play for a different perspective from what I would normally view it from. Iago and Othello both had major flaws in their characters which ultimately lead to their demise. Iago couldn’t control his id, which meant he was always acting on impulse without control of the superego and there was only a matter of time before he slipped up. Then Othello never resolving his oedipal complex meant someone like Iago could easily manipulate and mentally corrupt him. Both these characters have shown us as readers how we need to be well rounded people so we are not as easily susceptible to jealousy, and the effects this has if we are not.

The Art of Decadence Essay -- Literary Analysis

In the late 19th century decadence was a tremendously popular theme in European literature. In addition, the degeneracy of the individual and society at large was represented in numerous contemporary works by Mann. In Death in Venice, the theme of decadence caused by aestheticism appears through Gustav von Achenbach’s eccentric, specifically homoerotic, feelings towards a Polish boy named Tadzio. Although his feelings spring from a sound source, the boy’s aesthetic beauty, Aschenbach becomes decadent in how excessively zealous his feelings are, and his obsession ultimately leads to his literal and existential destruction. This exemplifies how aestheticism is closely related to, and indeed often the cause of decadence. Although the narrative is about more complexities, the author’s use of such vivid descriptions suggest the physical, literal aspect of his writing is just as important to the meaning of the story. The first and most obvious instance of aestheticism and decadence as correlating themes in this story is the title, Death in Venice. By fore-grounding the name of the city in the title, Mann is highlighting the city's key role in the unfolding narrative. Mann aligns the word 'Venice' with the word 'death' in the title. This creates a relationship between these two words - the word 'death' strongly infuses the word 'Venice' with all its connotations. Death and decay are important ideas within the context of decadence. By shear nature the title relates the concepts of death and dying to the city of Venice, which implies that the location is where a death will occur. However, this is paralleled by the opening of the story when Mann drearily tells of Aschenbach’s stroll through Munich. In the reading of this passage it ... ...ut to be the scene of a crowded, stifling city filled with cholera that eventually leads to his demise. Before this can occur however, he becomes internally decadent through his indulgence in Tadzio’s appearance. He then changes his appearance to please his idol which in turn corrupts himself by turning him into the type of decadent man he once despised. These themes of aestheticism and decadence, not in juxtaposition but in duality, are used frequently by Mann throughout the novella. Works Cited Mann, Thomas, and Clayton Koelb. Death in Venice: a new translation, backgrounds and contexts, criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1994. Print. Ritters, Naoimi, and .Jeffrey B. Berlin. "the Tradition of European Decadence." Approaches to teaching Mann's Death in Venice and other short fiction. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1992. 86-92. Print.

Distinctively Visual Essay

Distinctively visual imagery can either entice or distance us from the world of the characters. Through language and rhythm, the readers become absorbed in the action and dynamics of the narrative or empathetic observers of the struggles of others. Henry Lawson’s short stories ‘The Drover’s Wife’ and ‘In a Dry Season’ evoke a harsh, arid landscape but also sympathetic characters that struggle to survive. In contrast, the ballad ‘The Man From Snowy River’ by A.B (Banjo). Patterson entices us in a world of action, excitement and mountain beauty that draws the audience into the world of the ballad. Thus images absorb us but we may feel that we are spectators or participants in the world of the text. Henry Lawson uses different language techniques in his short story, ‘The Drover’s Wife’, to convey the struggle of living in the Australian outback. Lawson’s techniques paint a scorched and barren landscape, which conveys to the audience, the characters battle to live in such conditions. These techniques that Lawson has skillfully used include repetition, colour imagery and irony. Lawson uses the repetition of â€Å" Snake! Mother, here’s a snake!† so the audience would feel the urgency and the traumatising experience that the character is going through. This gives the audience an understanding of the struggle of every day life in the Australian outback. Lawson also uses colour imagery to draw a distinctively visual image of the dog, Alligator. ‘Black, yellow-eyed dog-of-all-breeds’ Lawson describes the dog as if it is mutant-like and a terrifying out of the ordinary dog. This shows us that the dog has had to adapt to the country and become abnormal just to live through every day. This makes the audience feel scared of the bizarre dog, but also they also sympathize with it as it is living in such severe conditions. The repetition of ‘She fought’ emphasizes how the mother must fight to keep her home and children safe. She does not stop fighting to survive in the Australian outback for herself, her children, her dog and her home. The audience is meant to feel sympathetic towards the mother as she gets no rest and everyday she must work and fight to survive. The audience is given a feeling that this is not home for the faint hearted. They are intrigued, however, they do not want to partake in the world of the text.  The irony of, ‘She loves her children, but has no time to show it. She is harsh to them.’ Gives the effect of the mother being the strong woman type and doesn’t show affection. But this doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to show her children affection, it merely means that with all the work that is required of her in the Australian outback, she does not have the time. This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards the mother and her childre n. They feel sorry for the children that they cannot spend as much family time with their mother as most families would. ‘The Drover’s Wife’ gives a negative feel of the outback and allows you to stand by the story but you are not invited in. The audience does not want to experience the harsh outback. One technique that is used is long sentences. Similarly, the short story ‘In a Dry Season’ by Henry Lawson uses techniques to convey the struggle of living in the Australian outback and also makes the audience feel intrigued by the story but do not want to participate in the world of the text. Lawson uses imperative, minimalist descriptions and a stereotypical setting to make the audience spectators in the world of the text in an unromanticised fashion. ‘Draw a wire fence’ this technique that Lawson uses is demanding our attention and involvement of the story. He is forcing the audience to draw the story and by doing this, they cannot participate in the world of the text. However, since the outback is so rough and unforgiving, the audience does not feel they want to participate anyway. ‘A wire fence†¦ Few ragged gums†¦ Scattered sheep running†¦ Train’, this use of minimalist description reduces the landscape to just 4 key characteristics. By doing this, Lawson emphasizes the monotony of the bush. This makes the audience to feel the harsh ruggedness of the dull landscape. This then pushes them away from the world of the text and forces them to stay observers of the short story. The stereotypical setting that Lawson draws emphasizes the sameness of the bush. He draws the landscape broadly repeating, â€Å"it is safe to†¦Ã¢â‚¬  encouraging the audience to assume that most towns share the same features. This shows that majority of the Australian outback is the same with their stores, pub, houses and the bush area. With the audience thinking this commonality between many small towns, they feel as though they want to stay observers rather than just being forced observers. Alternatively, ‘The Man From Snowy River’, a ballad written by A.B. (Banjo) Patterson, entices the audience and draws them into the story to live it out. He romanticises the Australian outback making the audience believe that the outback is a beautiful place to live with little worries. Banjo Patterson constructs this view of the Australian outback through its use of techniques. These techniques that Banjo Paterson has masterfully used throughout the ballad are alliteration, rhyming and rhythm. One technique used by Banjo Patterson is alliteration, ‘And they charged beneath the stock whip with a sharp and sudden dash’ and ‘thunder of their tread’, which is used to make the ballad more intriguing and enticing for the audience. This then has the effect of making the audience want to participate in the world of the text as the outback is romanticised and seems enjoyable. Rhyming couplets such as the following were used throughout the ballad to give it flair and rhythm: â€Å"Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash, But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view, And they charged beneath the stock whip with a sharp and sudden dash, And off into the mountain scrub they flew.†Ã‚  The rhyming and rhythm throughout the ballad gives the audience a jubilant feel and also romanticises the Australian outback. Because of this, the audience feels that the outback is a joyful place to live; they feel intrigued and are drawn into the world of the text and want to participate in the story. Therefore, the short stories ‘Drover’s Wife’ and ‘In a Dry Season’ by Henry Lawson induce the monotony of the Australian outback and the sympathetic characters that struggle to survive everyday life. Audiences feel as though they as observers of the unromanticised short stories and are not a part of the world of the text. In contrast, the ballad ‘The Man From Snowy River’ by A.B. (Banjo) Patterson shows a romanticised view of the Australian outback. Banjo Patterson writes of the action, excitement and the mountain beauty seen in his view of the outback. This entices the audience and makes them feel as though they are participants in the world of the ballad. Consequently, images engage us but we may either feel that we are spectators  or participants of the world of the text.

MW corporation

Structure and execute a DCF valuation of all the MW reserves using APV. How much are the reserves worth? Is your estimate more likely to be biased high or low? What are the sources of bias? Answer: The DCF valuation of all the MW reserves using APV Indicates that the net worth of the portfolio is around $516. 30 million. The estimate Is more likely to be biased on the higher side. The data for the projections was collected by Morgan Stanley and Amoco. Thus, the probable undeveloped and possible reserves estimated may be different from the ctual reserves.Amoco can get higher valuation by projecting higher reserves. Also, Amoco and Morgan Stanley projected that the price of a oil barrel will continue to rise for the next 15 years from the current price of S 20. 4 per barrel to S 443 per barrel. This increasing value of per barrel can significantly increase the valuation of the oil fields. COSTS: The costs In the projections were estimated based on the historical costs and cash overhead savings that Amoco expected to save from the sale of MW petroleum. However, Apache had very low costs and was an efficient operator of properties.Also, since the MW fields were operated by Amoco; this would result In more potential savings to Apache. likely to biased on the higher side. The DCF valuation using APV is shown in the next page. Interest tax shields: Assumed coupon on debt 12. 32% Assumed initial debt 182. 7 Year 1 interest 22. 5 Tax rate 36% Year 1 tax shield 8. 1 Assumed cost of debt 12. 00% Growth rate -4. 06% Value of tax shield (perpetuity) 50. 4 Value of â€Å"Additional assets† 25. 0 Total value of MW 516. 3 2. How would you structure an analysis of MW as a portfolio of assets-in-place and options?Specifically, which parts of the business should be regarded as assets-in- place and which as options? The whole portfolio of MW consists of 5 parts: i. Proved developed reserves it. Proved undeveloped reserves iii. Probable reserves ‘v. Possible reserves v . Other opportunities options as capital expenditures are associated with proved undeveloped reserves, probable reserves and possible reserves, and the company can choose whether to make these expenditures basing on the then prevailing prices of oil and natural gas.

Free Essays on T.s Eliot

T.S. Eliot In his article, â€Å"Prufrock, J. Alfred Prufrock,† Christopher Ricks talks about one of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.† T.S. Eliot wrote the poem in 1910 at the mere age of twenty one till 1911. The same thing is said about â€Å"The Waste Land.† in Helen Vendler’s â€Å"The Poet T.S. Eliot† â€Å"Seriously eclipsed by fiction.† These author’s points of views are about T.S. Eliot’s well written poems that made an impact in writing. T.S. Eliot’s full name is Thomas Stearns Eliot. Born in 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri from an old New England family. A businessman and poet, Henry and Charlotte Eliot. He was educated in English, European Literature and Eastern and Western philosophy and religion. In his mid twenties he moved to England, leaving behind his career in philosophy at Harvard. He then got married to a woman by the name of Ezra Pound. It was then he brought out his famous work†Prufrock† around 1917, which was about the unfulfilled yearning for love, for a love. But Christopher Ricks questions the poem. The voice of someone, not â€Å"the poet† but the voice that the poet has called into being. Who is the â€Å"You and I†? Is T.S. Eliot speaking to another, and if so to whom? Mr. Ricks supposes that the title of the poem will make us believe that the â€Å"you† is the loved one the one at least hoped for in love, as a lover, but who is it? Every one that reads it will have his or her opinion on the poem and say who might be it. â€Å"The Waste Land â€Å" however has a different tone to it. T.S. Eliot had a nervous breakdown 5 years after Prufrock and stayed in a Swiss Sanatorium in Laubanne. Not many people were impressed by it and thought of it as a piece of rhythmical grumbling. It has a turn of religious beliefs and unpleasant straight forward feelings from T.S. Eliot as some would understand it as. Its up to the reader to decide on what their aspects a... Free Essays on T.s Eliot Free Essays on T.s Eliot T.S. Eliot In his article, â€Å"Prufrock, J. Alfred Prufrock,† Christopher Ricks talks about one of T.S. Eliot’s famous poem, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.† T.S. Eliot wrote the poem in 1910 at the mere age of twenty one till 1911. The same thing is said about â€Å"The Waste Land.† in Helen Vendler’s â€Å"The Poet T.S. Eliot† â€Å"Seriously eclipsed by fiction.† These author’s points of views are about T.S. Eliot’s well written poems that made an impact in writing. T.S. Eliot’s full name is Thomas Stearns Eliot. Born in 1888 in St. Louis, Missouri from an old New England family. A businessman and poet, Henry and Charlotte Eliot. He was educated in English, European Literature and Eastern and Western philosophy and religion. In his mid twenties he moved to England, leaving behind his career in philosophy at Harvard. He then got married to a woman by the name of Ezra Pound. It was then he brought out his famous work†Prufrock† around 1917, which was about the unfulfilled yearning for love, for a love. But Christopher Ricks questions the poem. The voice of someone, not â€Å"the poet† but the voice that the poet has called into being. Who is the â€Å"You and I†? Is T.S. Eliot speaking to another, and if so to whom? Mr. Ricks supposes that the title of the poem will make us believe that the â€Å"you† is the loved one the one at least hoped for in love, as a lover, but who is it? Every one that reads it will have his or her opinion on the poem and say who might be it. â€Å"The Waste Land â€Å" however has a different tone to it. T.S. Eliot had a nervous breakdown 5 years after Prufrock and stayed in a Swiss Sanatorium in Laubanne. Not many people were impressed by it and thought of it as a piece of rhythmical grumbling. It has a turn of religious beliefs and unpleasant straight forward feelings from T.S. Eliot as some would understand it as. Its up to the reader to decide on what their aspects a...

Essay on How Insurance Works

Essay on How Insurance Works Essay on How Insurance Works This is a free example essay on Insurance: In August of 2003 I took a position with AdminOne Corporation located in Bentonville, Arkansas as a Financial Services/Systems assistant. AdminOne is a privately owned and operated Third Party Administration that provides all of its clients virtually all their benefit needs. We work directly with employers representing a wide variety of industries to provide a comprehensive assortment of services with hassle-free Customer Service. For organizations determining that the high cost of health care requires alternate methods of funding, plan design, and plan management, AdminOne can provide many different functions. Some of these functions include: preparing all communication material, assisting in the implementation of the plan, recommending cost containment procedures and plan document changes, analyzing existing plan benefits and funding methods. Additionally, AdminOne also provides a wide variety of other products and services at the client’s demand, such as life insurance, long term disability, short-term disability, 401K plans, etc. As like many organizations, AdminOne feels that our customers deserve the highest quality of service and administration of their benefit plans. In keeping this our main focus, we have acquired the highest quality, technologically advanced claims adjudication system available on the market. AdminOne use the RIMS (Resource Information Management System, Inc.) system. RIMS began their business in 1981 and are still the dominant leader in claims adjudication systems. There are over 400 insurance companies across the United States that use the RIMS system, however, they haven’t seen the advantage of AdminOne. We believe we have an advantage over other insurance companies because we have built in the technology and automation functions to provide the maximum opportunity to pay claims accurately, timely, and in the most cost efficient manner for our clients. Our system is way more advanced than other insurance companies in many ways. First of all, it has the ability to link multiple fee schedules to single providers. Second, unlimited note screens can be used to aid in the documentation of every inquiry. Third, every customer who comes through us can doesn’t have to worry about fraud or abuse to their benefit plans. This is because we have installed a security system that will detect any hacking or abuse to any benefit programs. We believe this added on feature should keep clients knocking on our door for service. A new addition to our RIMS system is our customized client access website. This website is actually connected with our RIMS software so that clients can actually view their current claims. This is another advantage for us in that it keeps the phones from ringing all of the time. For example, if Allen Canning Co. wanted to access their current claims and make an adjustment because of termination of one of its employees, they could easily visit our website and make the adjustments themselves. This keeps our clients from having to call in and requiring us to make the manual adjustment. Moreover, to keep our system up to date and working efficiently, it was imperative that AdminOne recruit a systems team. There were five positions that needed to be filled and I was one of the recruits for the position. My primary responsibility, as a systems assistant, is to help my supervisor, Angie Baker, with client billing functions, implementation procedures for new clients and new computer systems and training on new systems. I actually talk to clients, such as Allen Canning Co, and help them decide how they want their claims invoices to look like. This usually takes thirty minutes to an hour to complete. Following the interview, I take their claims information and input the data in to RIMS. However, the process of inputting the data can be very extensive because every piece of information about each customer of the organization must be inputted. Then I go through a huge amount of modules and processes to produce the desired result, the invoice. Each invoice has its own number and group name associated with it. For instance, if I see AC802 in the top right corner of the plan document, I know that am working on Allen Canning Company’s invoice. Another responsibility of mine is to train clients on our custom designed client access website. I travel at least once a week to the surrounding cities and train our clients on how to use our website. Most of the time I meet with managers and other users of the system to insure they know how to input the data correctly. Most of the users have a general idea on how to use the system, but there are a few that don’t and I have to start from scratch. Furthermore, after the managers and current users understand how our website works, I give them user names and passwords which RIMS already assigns to their group name. After all this, they are now ready to view their claims and make any adjustments where they are needed. However, the clients only have limited access to our website. For instance, they cannot go into our system to change billing rates or selecting a different plan. That is something that only AdminOne has access to and there cannot be any debate. The client access website is one part of our system that I tend to a lot of the time. At the end of every day, I log in to the RIMS website and download any changes that went on in the system. For instance, if A.G. Russell Knives hired some new employees and added them to their plan, then I would extract that data and save it to our main server, which contains all of our client information. However, we do back up the server weekly to prevent loss of information in case of a fire or something along those lines. Moreover, I deal a lot with marketing materials, presentations, and proposals when necessary. For instance, whenever AdminOne has the opportunity to acquire a new client, our company will have meeting with that client in person or via videoconferencing. Sometimes I will join my team and participate in these meetings. The topics usually discussed in these meetings range from new ideas on administrative software to potential clients that we could obtain in the future. The meetings are normally 30 minutes to an hour and are very beneficial to our company. In addition to working for AdminOne as a systems assistant, I also do a number of job duties for the financial side. My primary responsibility is to update our RIMS system whenever we receive payment from our clients or when we have to cut checks to our re-insurance carriers. This is the more complicated area of my job and requires a lot more number crunching. I actually assist our accountant in keeping AdminOne’s books balanced and make sure that the money we receive goes in the correct account. My favorite part of the financial services assistant is the monthly billing, which we generate through our RIMS software. The process for calculating invoices and printing them from our server can actually be quite tedious. For example, whenever we get a new client, it is my duty to input their plan information into our system as soon as possible. I do this by creating a new table in RIMS that is specifically for our new client. Then I give them a group number, which is generated by RIMS, so that we can distinguish them from other clients. After all this is completed, RIMS will calculate their invoice based on what I input. However, since AdminOne is a third party insurance provider, we do not get all of the money that comes from paying the invoice. We have to pay other PPO carriers and re-insurance carriers based on a percentage that I enter. This is where the hard stuff comes into play because every client we have has a completely different plan. Some companies prefer to use a brok er and some clients prefer to use re-insurance carriers. Whatever the client’s decision may be; the point is that we actually enter the disbursement of payment into RIMS and it calculates the fees for us. That is the awesome attribute about RIMS because everything is automated. In addition to using the RIMS software, I also use many other software applications to complete my duties as a financial services assistant. Microsoft Excel and Quick Books are the main two that I use quite often. These applications are used to record payments whenever we receive them and aid in the accounts payable process. For instance, after I receive payment from Allen Canning Co, I open Allen Canning’s folder in Excel and update their information. This information includes the current number of people that is on their plan, which PPO carriers they used, and if they used a broker. Next I print out all of their sheets on Excel and match them to the printouts that RIMS generated. If all is correct then we are ready to cut the checks to the appropriate providers. Following the update of Excel, I then turn my attention to Quick Books. First, I prepare all of the paperwork, which was generated by RIMS and Excel, to enter the exact dollar amount. This part is very crucial because if I make one mistake it will throw off our balance sheet and income statement. Then we could possibly cut too much money or not enough. Second, I take the dollar amounts that I just entered and create a balance sheet that is generated by Quick Books. These balance sheets are then matched with our projected balance sheets that we generate earlier in the month. Sometimes the balance sheets don’t match up, but that doesn’t mean that there was an error entering the dollar amounts. It could mean that their head count had changed for their plan, such as firing someone or hiring someone. Next, after we have matched up the balance sheets, and everything looks good, we then cut the checks to the other providers. These checks are actually produced through Quick Boo ks and contain the dollar amounts for which I entered earlier in the process. Finally, after all the checks have been cut I immediately take them to our mailbox so that they can be mailed to the providers. One additional thing I did learn from my co-op experience was the act of confidentiality. This doesn’t play a big role in all organizations, but it is huge at AdminOne. It is imperative at insurance firms to keep all customers’ information kept suppressed. For instance, if I accidentally sent Allen Canning’s invoice to the wrong company, that firm could view their rates and what they are billed. This could pose a huge problem because the other firm may view their rates as being higher than Allen Canning’s and get very frustrated and we could possibly lose their business. Because everybody knows that insurance rates and premiums are based on whether the client is more risky or less risky. If they are more risky, then they will have to pay a higher premium and if they are less risky, they will pay a lower premium. Another example of keeping information suppressed is our internal network, or intranet. AdminOne has their own private network within the company that holds only accounting information and billing information. These records are to be kept suppressed at all times and AdminOne employees make sure that it does. That is why we install firewalls and blockers to keep outsiders from hacking into our system. There has been never been an occasion where anyone has tried to hack in, but there is always a first time for everything. So I guess you could see how keeping information suppressed is a must in an insurance organization. Upon joining AdminOne in early August, I really didn’t know what to expect since this was my first job in a real work environment. So I decided to come up with three objectives, or goals, that I could try to achieve throughout my co-op experience. The first goal that I set for myself was to obtain a better understanding of how internal business procedures actually work. Because I learn about them all of the time from the classes that I take and I really want to see if that is how it actually is in a real environment. The second objective that I came up with was to learn how to implement new systems in a real work setting. I believe that this is important for all ISYS majors for the simple fact that computer systems are always changing. New hardware and software hits the market all of the time and it is important as an ISYS major to become familiar with as much as you can. My third and final objective was to learn how to prioritize my duties so that I could be more efficient. S ince this was my first real job, I thought that this would be a good objective because it would definitely look good to my employer if I got a lot of work done in a short amount of time. I believe that it makes a person look good and motivated if they can prioritize and get more things done in a small amount of time. In conclusion, I would like to say that this co-op experience has really helped me in many ways. I am very fortunate I received a job that had something to do with my major and it has encouraged me to keep pursuing a career in this field of study. Since I have been working for AdminOne, I have learned so much more about my job than I ever could from a textbook. Not saying that the classes I have taken haven’t helped me, but I actually got some hands on experience while working there. For example, I have learned how to use many more software programs than I ever had while taking my ISYS classes. However, there are a few classes that really helped me out and can now see what they were talking about all this time. My Organizational Behavior class is one of the main classes where I developed a strong foundation. In that class we learned about the roles and norms of certain organizations and how they all differ depending on the organization in which you work. And on the first day o f my job I could see with my own eyes what they were talking about. I saw how all of my co-workers conducted themselves in the work environment and outside the work environment. I also leaned about our dress code while working at AdminOne, which is norm itself. In addition, my Business Statistics class was another key factor. I believe if I hadn’t taken that class, I wouldn’t be where I am because the job that I have right now requires a lot of number crunching. That is basically all we learned in Business statistics. Overall I am very pleased with my co-op experience and believe it will be very beneficial for my future. I enjoyed telling you about my organization and I hope you now have a better understanding of what we do. ______________ is a professional essay writing service which can provide high school, college and university students with 100% original custom written essays, research papers, term papers, dissertations, courseworks, homeworks, book reviews, book reports, lab reports, projects, presentations and other assignments of top quality. 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