Digital Commons Network^™

Domestic Hub Airfares: An Analysis Of Domestic U.S. Passanger Airline Fares From The Consumer's Perspective, Robert I. Ward

Theses

Deregulation of the U.S. passenger airline industry has resulted in a few large carriers that have been successful in dominating the market, including dominance of selected routes originating from, or traveling through, key airports that have been designated as hubs. This investigation researched the simplified industry fares that were in place in the summer of 1992 and found that airfares for certain sub categories of industry routings were consistently above average industry fares. The implications of these findings are reducible to simple measures that are meaningful to the flying public.

The Food Sanitation And Foodhandling Training Of Employees In Chinese Restaurants In Rochester , New York: A Pilot Study, Jing-Jing Wu

Theses

Foodborne illness outbreaks in the foodservice industry are a continuing health problem. An official statistical report published by the CDC(1988) about foodbome disease from 1983 to 1987, foodservice establishments accounted for 77 percent of the reported foodborne illness outbreaks. This report also listed Chinese food and fried rice as two major vehicles of foodborne illnesses. The main reason for all reported foodborne bacterial illness was improper temperature control of food. Public perception of poor sanitary conduction in Chinese restaurants is an ever present problem. The purpose of the study was to survey Chinese restaurants in Rochester area to access the …

The Language Of Group Travel: An Evaluation Of Group Tours And Group Travel Texts, John P. Spare

Theses

Group Travel has evolved over a century and a half since Thomas Cook first organized a temperance tour by train for over 500 participants. Various modes of transportation, from the stage coach to the motorcoach have affected the way worldwide citizens react to group travel preparations. Multiple skills have been developed and adapted to facilitate the various operator and supplier levels within the group travel industry. Since the advent of international jetliners in the early 1960 's, a wide variety of college level courses have been designed to prepare the modern day student for entrance into the tour and travel …

A Case Study: The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, Nongluk Pongcharoenkiat

Theses

In the past, most of the meetings and conventions were held in convention centers in the luxury hotels in Bangkok because Thailand had no independent convention centers or facilities that offered the same range of services as the hotels. The Thai government decided to construct a convention center named "The Queen Sirikit National Convention Center" (QSNCC) when Thailand got approval from the World Bank committees in 1989 to be the host in holding the World Bank and the International Mutual Fund meeting in October, 1991. The purpose of the QSNCC is currently to encourage the growth of the meetings and …

A Study On The Servicing Of Culturally Different Guests For The Hotel Industry In The U.S., Ivan Shiou-Herng Chen

Theses

Since the increasing number of foreign visitors in the U.S. incites the hotel industry to be more competitive, hotels need to expand services to meet the foreign guest's needs and wants in order to stay in the business. Most often foreign guest complaints occur when the hotel services can not satisfy the guests. Misunderstandings and communication barriers occur when the hotel staff is not familiar with foreign guest's culture and does not speak the guest's language. This research was done to help hotel management explore the various cultural characteristics, identify the most frequent complaints of foreign guests, and discern the …

The Early Days Of Hotel Sales: A Historical Look At The Development And Growth Of Hotel Business Promotion, David C. Dorf

Theses

The art and science of business promotion (later called sales promotion - and in contemporary usage, now a component of marketing) is comparatively new to the lodging industry, as far as being a formalized and accepted management discipline. The processes of attracting business to a particular establishment is as old as the industry; but until the middle of this century, they were generally looked down upon by most of the industry and in most cases were not considered key functions by those responsible for the operations of their properties. And other industries similarly looked at hotel sales promotion as a …

The Identification Of Criteria Essential For The Promotion Of Housekeepers: A Pilot Study, Natalie Daniels Smith

Theses

The motivation and concentration for this research was partially funded by Commonwealth College of Virginia Beach, Virginia to help in the fulfillment of that college's mission: To serve the needs of it's students and it's community by providing quality collegiate Educational programs in careers with positive impact on it's society and environment. The issue of Housekeeping manpower is a primary concern of Hoteliers and a constant human resource need. This research project was designed to illicit primary data from area convention hotels to determine where the need for training exists germane to entry-level and mid-management positions in housekeeping. The results …

Descriptive Study Of Trinidad As A Tourist Destination, Leslie Desiree Schurland

Theses

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the way in which travel agents who are members of the Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA) in the United States perceive Trinidad as a tourist destination as compared to the other Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas and Bermuda. The Republic of Trinidad is the southernmost of the Caribbean Islands and lies off the northeast coast of Venezuela, on the South American mainland. Trinidad's lack of identity, as perceived by the travel agents in the United States, results from not being well known as an unique tourism destination. The sample consisted of …

The Effect Of Natural Disasters On Tourism A Study Of Mount Saint Helens And Yellowstone National Park, Maureen A. Beattie

Theses

This study examines the relationship between natural disasters and natural resource based tourism. Natural disasters are a basic part of the workings of nature and therefore, will always be with us. The tourism industry contributes enormously to the U.S. economy. Regardless of their reasons for traveling, tourists spend money. Natural disasters and tourism are two elements that play significant roles in the world today and will continue to in the future. This study addresses the question of what happens when these two elements intersect. It was assumed that natural disasters and tourism are on opposite sides of the spectrum and …

An Evaluation Of The Culinary Arts Curriculum At The Schenectady Community College, David Brough

Theses

This study is an evaluation of the culinary arts curriculum at Schenectady County Community College, in Schenectady, New York. The purpose of the evaluation is to investigate the efficiency of the culinary arts program, and its ability to prepare the graduate for success in the hospitality industry. Using the Delphi Technique, each alumni of the program was asked to respond to a questionnaire. This data was then reviewed to determine the results of the survey. The review of literature was most helpful in obtaining additional insight from authorities in culinary education and the hospitality industry. The review of the data …

Build It And They Will Come, Charles Edward Simon

Theses

The main thrust of this study was to decide if certain strategies exist that have significant impact on profit in a lodging establishment. In reviewing the literature it did not contain any conceptual plan for operating a lodging facility completely. However, as noted in the literature review, there are many articles discussing one strategy or another. It is pointed out in chapter two that most of these strategies are more correct by definition "tactics." Tactics that if implemented may contribute to success, but not be solely responsible for success. This study also attempted to identify some differences between the service …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Group Leader Trade Shows, James L. Watson

Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop a system for evaluating the costs and benefits of exhibiting in a group leader trade show, while additionally determining the return on investment for the host destination. The population was defined as the 39 tour operators from North America, and the 13 6 exhibitors from New York State, who were in attendance at Travel Expo '90 held in Sullivan County, New York. An initial survey was distributed to all the attending tour operators and exhibitors from New York State. A follow-up evaluation was distributed to all tour operators and exhibitors who returned …

Damping Of Elastic-Viscoelastic Beams, Ray A. West

Theses

The subject of this investigation is the dynamic behavior of a composite beam consisting of a main elastic core and two viscoelastic layers. The viscoelastic layers provide increased damping of vibrations. When the beam vibrates, damping is caused by energy dissipation in the viscoelastic layers due to their shear deformations. Thus, the goal of this investigation is the development of a method to assess the dynamic characteristics, including the effectiveness of damping, in the layered elastic-viscoelastic beam. Analysis of the resulting sixth-order partial differential equation along with the appropriate boundary conditions is the key to the dynamic characterization of the …

Functional Teapots, Michael R. Hughes

Theses

My thesis project was about teapots and the various ways they can be used. I choose three different settings in which people use teapots. I attempted to alter the character of the pot to be appropriate for the situation in which it was intended. In simple terms, the three kinds of teapots were: a large teapot for a group of people, a teapot for a single person for private time, and a breakfast teapot.

Technical Skills For Packaging Sales, Duane P. Beck

Theses

This study addresses technical skills for packaging sales. Based on the results of the study, a training manual and course of instruction have been developed to introduce an innovative approach to packaging sales. "Technical Skills for Packaging Sales" defines the packaging sales professional, or PSP, a new kind of professional combining the skills of the salesperson with expertise of an engineer. Firmly grounded in the customer-- comes-first philosophy, the PSP is a problem solver, able to evaluate any packaging application to satisfy the customer's needs. "Technical Skills for Packaging Sales" explains an engineer's approach to packaging, including analyzing details, writing …

Context Sensitive Optical Character Recognition Using Neural Networks And Hidden Markov Models, Steven C. Elliott

Theses

This thesis investigates a method for using contextual information in text recognition. This is based on the premise that, while reading, humans recognize words with missing or garbled characters by examining the surrounding characters and then selecting the appropriate character. The correct character is chosen based on an inherent knowledge of the language and spelling techniques. We can then model this statistically. The approach taken by this Thesis is to combine feature extraction techniques, Neural Networks and Hidden Markov Modeling. This method of character recognition involves a three step process: pixel image preprocessing, neural network classification and context interpretation. Pixel …

Automated Knowledge Acquisition For Knowledge-Based Systems: Ke-Kit, John Parsons Scott

Theses

Despite recent progress, knowledge acquisition remains a central problem for the development of intelligent systems. There are many people throughout the world doing studies in this area. However, very few automated techniques have made it to the market place. In this light, the idea of automating the knowledge acquisition process is very appealing and may lead to a break through. Most (if not all) of the approaches and techniques concerning intelligent, expert systems and specifically knowledge-based systems can still be considered in their infancy and definitely do not subscribe to any kind of standards. Many things have yet to be …

Atomic Force Microscope: System And Applications, Yue Chen

Theses

The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has demonstrated its usefulness on a nanometer scale surpassing the resolution of conventional profilometers and optical microscopes. The principle of operation and the instrumentation design of the AFM, as well as some application aspects, are described. Emphasis is placed on the imaging mode of the force microscopy in the regime of attractive forces. A new method which is capable of stabilizing attractive mode operation is introduced, along with analysis of the detection mechanism and evaluation of the system performance. Numerous examples illustrate the applicability of attractive mode AFM to a wide variety of samples. The …

Green Design: A Guide To Environmentally Responsible Graphic Design, Jitinan Paisansathan

Theses

Not Included

Computational Techniques In Turan Problems, Jing Zou

Theses

A Turan set system, T(n, I, k), is a k -uniform hypergraph on n points, such that any subset of / vertices contains at least one edge. The Turan number T{n, l, k) is the minimal number of edges in any Turan set system T(n,l,k). The known nontrivial values of Turan numbers are rare. Using the algorithm turexp for extending T(n, I, k) systems to 7(n+1, I, k) systems and procedures nauty for determining the automorphism group of a graph, the new Turan numbers 7(13, 4, 3), 7(11, 5, 3), 7(12, 5, 3), 7(13, 5, 3) are determined, a new …

Steady-State Oscillations Of Linear And Nonlinear Systems, Christopher A. Tucher

Theses

In this paper, an efficient algorithm is developed for the identification of stable steady-state solutions to periodically forced linear and nonlinear dynamical systems. The developed method is based on mapping techniques introduced by Henri Poincare' and the theory of one-parameter transformation groups. The algorithm successfully identifies initial conditions which give rise to strictly periodic orbits. The technique is demonstrated on selected problems associated with linear as well as nonlinear systems.

Two New Ramsey Numbers, James N. Mcnamara

Theses

A graph with many vertices cannot be homogeneous, i.e., for any pair of integers (i,j) all large graphs must contain either a complete subgraph on i vertices or an independent set of size j. The Ramsey number for (i,j) is the smallest integer R such that all graphs with at least R vertices have this property. For example, the (3,3) Ramsey number is 6; if a graph has 6 or more vertices, then is must contain a triangle or an independent set of size 3. The (4,4) Ramsey number is 18, found in 1954 [GG] . The (5,5) Ramsey number …

Analysis Of Power Factor Correction Converters, Thomas Yeh

Theses

Power Converter with capacitive input filter is a non-linear load to the Utility AC power lines. There are widely used as Switch-Mode Power Supplies in office equipment applications ranging from Personal Computers to Office Printers and Copiers. The distorted input current waveform extracted by the capacitive input filter of the power converters produces unwanted harmonics which propagates to other line powered equipments. The harmonic pollutes the AC lines and interferes with the operations of sensitive line powered equipments. The distorted current waveform also leads to inefficient utilization of the available power from the AC outlet. This is because the AC …

User Characteristics In Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Michelle Buckenmeyer

Theses

The development of individualized educational environments, to facilitate learning for the diverse population of students in today's secondary school system, has become more prevalent with the increased ease of access to computers that many schools are now enjoying. The use of Computer Aided Instruction is becoming more common as a means for individual tutoring. This thesis explores the problem of individualizing this instruction by analyzing the relationship between preferred teaching methods and computer users" personality types, as defined by the Myers-Briggs type indicator and two other "unscientific" user characteristics. The preferred teaching method was analyzed using various criteria, including user …

A Simplified Drive-Reinforcement Model For Unsupervised Learning In Artificial Neural Networks, David B. Suits

Theses

Partly in response to the apparent limitations of explicit symbol processing used by traditional artificial intelligence research, there has been, within the last decade, a growing interest in artificial neural networks. This thesis focuses on the development and testing of a model for describing certain kinds of biological phenomena. The many artificial neural networks available may be classified into three types: (1) self-organizing networks, which have input but no feedback; (2) unsupervised networks, requiring minimal feedback (perhaps a signal indicating success or failure); and (3) supervised models, which employ far more extensive (and, I think, biologically implausible) feedback mechanisms. In …

Computer Improvisation Of Jazz Solos, Daniel Chen

Theses

This thesis discusses the possibilities of using a computer to create Jazz solos. Various implementations using stochastic and rule based approaches were created and applied to analyze the original melody as well as the chord progressions. Based on the melodies generated, a rule-based approach that considered the original melody and the chord progression was found to produce the most "musical"

Senior Japanese Tourists To Taiwan And Their Marketing Potential: A Case Study, Nai-Chieh Jessie Chen

Theses

For decades, Taiwan's tourism industry enjoyed the great number of Japanese visitors until a few years ago, when the growth rate slowed and even declined. This decline was caused by several factors such as rising price, high appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, inconvenient visa application procedures, limited airline seats, rising public disorder, and strong competition from neighboring countries. With much money to spend the Japanese tourists were the most welcome group to the world tourism industry. The senior (50 years and older) members among them, in increasing quantity and good financial ability, have become even more desirable among the …

Computational Analysis Of Boundary Layer Control By Suction In A Space Transfer Vehicle Engine Turbopump Diffuser, Brian Richard Yoshida

Theses

Future space missions planned by NASA will be more complex in nature than current missions scheduled as part of the Space Shuttle Program. Examples of future missions include the construction and inhabitance of space stations, orbital transfers, and Lunar/Mars transfers and descents. The Space Transfer Vehicles (STV's) that will perform these missions must have the capability to provide deep-engine throttling thrust. To accomplish this, the turbopumps used to propel the STV's in space must operate at off-design flow rates to provide a wide range of flow outputs. Current state-of-the-art cryogenic fuel and oxidizer turbopump designs can not perform efficiently at …

The Effect Of Cultural Differences On International Marketing, Lena M. Jones

Theses

This thesis will l focus on the influence that culture and environmental differences have on international marketing.

The world has gone through some major changes within the past several years, especially in the area of marketing. It has become an open marketplace . Even the very concept behind marketing has a different meaning today. For example , marketing was once viewed a s simply selling a product or service. In today's business environment, marketing is more customer oriented . Customer satisfaction is the key element.

Today many companies have ventured into t he foreign markets . Some have gone international …

Smoking Behavior Of Women In A Chemical Dependency Treatment Program, Bonnie L. Hoeckelman

Theses

The research question which will be discussed is smoking behavior in women who are participating in a treatment program for chemical dependency . The women subjects were between 18 and 40 years old . This study explored the relationship between smoking behaviors and substance abuse behaviors including alcohol usage . A sample, chosen at random, completed a personnel interview and a questionnaire. The research identified several areas that were similar between the smoking behavior and substance abuse. These areas included environment, personality, peer relationships and situational cues. The associated behaviors that began at the preadolescent age carried over into the …