One of the most effective tools that can aid in a successful climb up the corporate ladder is a graduate degree. In order to further their careers, many business men and women are pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate degree. In times past, colleges and universities have been restricted to traditional, classroom only settings for students. However, with the advent of technological advances such as the internet, colleges and universities can now offer degree programs online. Since most online programs allow students to work at their own pace, men and women in the workforce can have flexible class schedules while earning their degree.

While there are many online MBA programs available, it is important to make certain that the college or university from which the degree is being earned is an accredited institution. Accredited online MBA programs are available from a number of colleges and universities; however, the accrediting agencies may differ between schools and programs. Prior to beginning a degree program, the student may wish to ensure that the college or university and the corresponding MBA program have the preferred accreditation. Students will also want to determine if the college or university offers a specialization or concentration in their area of interest.

Northeastern University offers an MBA degree that is 100 percent online. This university is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Students are taught managerial skills and are taught the fundamentals in all areas of business enterprise. This program consists of 17 courses, with 9 core courses and 5 elective courses. Elective courses include areas such as: finance, general management, high technology management, marketing, and international management.

Walden University offers what they refer to as a comprehensive range of online programs including the MBA program. Walden is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association. Students learn how to understand and deal with issues that arise and are unique to a global economy. The MBA program can be completed in less than 2 years. Areas of specialization include: finance, human resources, marketing, technology, entrepreneurship, and project management.

The University of Phoenix offers and MBA program in which students learn theoretical and analytical concepts to assist them in finding alternative solutions to business issues. This university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the North Central Association, and the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs. Concentrations offered include: accounting, global management, technological management, and marketing.

Penn State offers an online MBA program that can be completed in 2 years. This program requires the completion of 20 online courses, and the student must complete 2 one week residence experiences. This program is accredited by the AACSB. Penn State’s online MBA can be pursued by both business and non-business degree students. The Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) is required, and students need to have previous coursework or be knowledgeable in accounting, economics, math and statistics.

The number of courses required, the requirement of the GMAT, the length of time needed to earn the degree, and the concentrations or specialization areas offered by each school will vary.

Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) survey of 280 corporate CEOs and directors found that “only one of three directors felt that they were highly effective in ensuring legal compliance”.

Ethics in Business

Most companies realize that they need to develop and implement a business ethics and compliance program.

An effective program can:

o Establish a code of conduct that reduces risk of criminal behavior

o Detect wrongdoing, foster quick investigations, minimize consequences

o Demonstrate company’s ethical/legal philosophy during an investigation

o Reduce fines if company is found guilty of wrongdoing

o Enhance company reputation and stature

Looking at the Options

But how do you build an effective program? Companies find themselves with three options to build the program:

o Develop in-house from scratch

o Hire an external consultant

o Use a pre-written manual

And most of these companies learn a few lessons – sometimes the hard way.

Making a Strong Company Policy

Developing a program from scratch can be very time consuming and costly. Also, the company might not have the knowledge or understanding of the complexity involved. But hiring an external consultant is not always a cost effective option either. So what’s left?

Developing Your Business Ethics Program

By using a pre-written template or manual, many companies have found it easier to develop their business ethics program. And to do this, they look for what a strong program needs.

A highly effective tool for creating, organizing and implementing a sound business ethics and compliance program should provide:

o Sample policies and procedures

o Step-by-step instructions for the development of a program

o A business ethics training program outline with classroom materials and a detailed session leader’s guide

o Business ethics and compliance officer position description

o Templates for employee involvement

o Sample code of conduct

Implementing Your Business Ethics Program

If the company board has committed to a strong business ethics and compliance program, the next step is to put the manual in the hands of corporate executives responsible for implementation. Used properly under advice of legal counsel, this efficient tool will yield a solid program that the board can understand, endorse, and monitor for effectiveness.

With step-by-step guidelines and accompanying examples of policies, procedures, training program, and employee survey, an effective tool provides an excellent road map for implementing an ethics and compliance initiative.

Maintaining a Culture of Ethics

Companies should make certain that their ethics compliance manual provides fully editable MS Word files with sample policies, surveys, forms and training session outlines. Also, businesses should ensure their ethics compliance system manual is fully endorsed by The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as a tool to maintain a culture of integrity.

A program can be termed as a set of instructions that help in running things. For a computer to perform certain required tasks, it requires an appropriate program. When correct instructions are fed to the computer, then its performance will at most times be at optimum, whereas the opposite is likely to mess things up.

Today many businesses require computers to ensure smooth running of business. Therefore, the computers should have programs that are user friendly and easy to understand. A few things will tell if a program is good enough.

Is it readable

If the program is in writing that makes it easy for a user to understand and follow the logic, then it can be termed as good. It should also have a systematic arrangement that will make it easier to troubleshoot the computer if anything goes wrong.

Efficiency

Your program should save you time. For you to process instructions you will need time and will certainly use up some memory. A good programming is that which works with less processing time and a small amount of memory. This proves efficient as you realize less waste.

Flexibility

A good program should be able to accommodate different platforms, without having to make major changes to coding and software. It is common phenomenon today to see different platform changes.

Therefore, having a portable program will not be affected if the user decides to change the operating system. When good computer programming is done, your system is able to handle modification, which happens due to many reasons like change of administration.

It should only have simple codes that facilitate different amendments needed over time.

Proper structure

For a program to be developed, the major tasks that are required to run the different systems should be broken down. A developer can also develop them independently in order to accomplish the job assigned to them without having to rely on other subtasks.

Proper documentation

Every program has to have good documentation especially if the author will not be around for long. This is so that the other person handling it will find it easy to comprehend.

Many people make computer programming their career. These are the best people to get good programs from. Having a reliable source for the program will give you the satisfaction that the vendor will be there in case any concerns arise. Having one specialist like this in your business especially in the IT department will ensure that your systems run efficiently.

The School Lunch Program

Healthy food makes healthy kids, right? Right, but in order for kids to eat healthy foods, they have to have access to them first. Unfortunately healthy food is hard to come by in today’s school lunch program. School cafeterias are woefully underfunded even with assistance from the Child Nutrition Act. Passed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963, the Child Nutrition Act is a federal law that stemmed from the National School Lunch Program which is responsible for feeding over 30 million children each day in over 101,000 public and private schools. However, with inflation and cutbacks in school budgets, it only provides schools about $1 per student. Cafeterias simply cannot afford the fresh healthy food that kids need. Sometimes schools have no choice but to take part in the Department of Agriculture’s commodities program for items like meat and cheese. These items come from farmers’ surplus stock and, although it may be a cost effective method for obtaining pricier food items, it can be disastrous as proven in 2008 when one of the largest suppliers of meat for the National School Lunch Program was caught slaughtering ill cows.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

The good news is there is a bill up for vote in the House of Representatives that would add $4.5 billion over the next 10 years to help feed America’s school children. It would be the first non-inflationary increase in funding of the school lunch program by the federal government in 30 years. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act was passed unanimously by the Senate in August, 2010 and was scheduled for a House vote by the end of September. It seemed like a no-brainer especially since the Senate passed the bill by a process called unanimous consent where they agreed to pass it without a voice vote. The bipartisan bill has since been delayed in Congress and will not be voted on by the House until after the November 15 elections. This legislation is near and dear to the heart of First Lady, Michelle Obama, who is looking to Congress to pass this bill as a crucial part of her Let’s Move campaign. Her goal is to end childhood obesity within a generation and allocating more money for healthy food in our kids’ schools will go a long way in meeting that goal.

This bill also addresses the lack of proper funding for low-income students. U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, explained that this legislation “invests heavily in new initiatives designed to automatically enroll more eligible low-income children with our National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and includes a major expansion of afterschool feeding programs.”

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act will also increase nutritional standards in schools by allowing the Secretary of Agriculture to establish nutritional standards. The Department of Agriculture continues to modify and improve the nutrition standards for school meals by including more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less sugar and processed food. In fact, this legislation could mark the end of the junk food vending machine era in schools.

The Future of the School Lunch Program

Assuming Congress passes the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in November, school kids nationwide will benefit from healthier food options, as cafeterias will have enough funding to buy higher quality food. The $4.5 billion will be distributed over the next 10 years and it should put us on track to lower childhood obesity rates. However, school administrators need further help in order to make good use of these additional funds. Since they are used to buying mostly bulk frozen food, they will need to establish relationships with distributors who also deal with fresh food. Matching local farmers to schools can help bridge the gap between meat and produce, and the hungry kids who will eat it for lunch. Unfortunately, fresh and healthy food tends to cost more than frozen processed food so it’s important for schools to know how to get this food without breaking their budgets. If schools are encouraged (or forced) to remove their junk food vending machines, they need ideas on what types of machines to replace them with. Vending machines that offer healthy items like baked chips, nuts and dried fruit are available as well as drink machines that dispense milk, juice and water as opposed to sugar and chemicals. A few helpful hints, as well as a list of farmers and distributors willing to participate in the school lunch program, will help school administrators make good use of their new funds.

If Congress does not pass this important legislation, it is crucial that we teach our kids which types of foods are healthy and which foods will make them grow big and strong. Schools can also help in this effort by removing junk food vending machines on their own. Replacing them with healthy vending machines is a giant step forward in limiting the sugar and empty calories kids consume when allowed to make their own snack decisions. School administrators and food service workers do the best they can with their budgets but there are ways to improve kids’ health even without $4.5 billion in help from the government.

Balance beam is the most critical competition event for women because of the relative ease of falling off and the harsh deductions for a fall. A single fall can eliminate gymnasts from winning a medal in the beam event and often also in the All-around. Beam medallists are often the All-Around winners.

Complete Beam Basics in One Training Program

Because beam is different from the other gymnastics events, gymnasts and coaches find the need to work on a special and complete basic training program for balance beam that is designed to build strength for beam, develop balance, completely eliminate falls, and improve balance beam skill consistency.

Beam Basics are Critical to Future Beam Success

Successful mastery of such a program can allow gymnasts to acquire more complex beam skills with less effort, more confidence and in a shorter period of time. Mastering such skills and drills has short and long term benefits. Skipping the basic beam building blocks puts a gymnast in a position where at some point their bad habits can stop them from having success in staying on beam.

Train Basics Before Trying to Learn Advanced Skills

As with building sufficient strength and flexibility for the skills that need to be learned, working on this basic beam training program before attempting to learn more difficult skills will pay the biggest dividends.

Continue with the Beam Training Program Throughout Your Career

Every level of gymnast, from beginner to advanced, will want to continue this training throughout their career to prevent bad habits from seeping in and to reinforce beam techniques and landings and to further improve their beam capabilities. A program like this is not only a supplement for an advanced team training beam program but can and should serve as the major part of the basic development of younger and lower level beam basic training, even in a recreational program.

Romanian Beam Complex

A relatively well-known program that accomplishes some of these goals is the Romanian Beam Complex which is specifically designed to build the necessary habits of balancing on the feet and with proper foot and body position.

Soviet Beam Complex

A relatively unknown program is the Soviet Beam Complex, which emphasizes becoming comfortable on your hands in the handstand position and on increasing and developing specific strength for beam skills.

Build In a Margin of Error for Beam Landings

There is an additional need to develop a series of good skill landing habits for both front and back (and side) beam tumbling skills. When landings are practiced and done in a particular way, it can create a margin of error to avoid falls. This additional margin of error can be utilized to stabilize landings and eliminate falls.

Have to Expand Original Beam Complexes

Both the Soviet and Romanian Beam Complex systems will have to be significantly expanded to deal with new and more difficult skills and to train for skills that are now popularly done to comply with the updated difficulty requirements.

The Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (VASAP) is a statewide program with 5 main components designed to decrease the dangers of Virginia DUI and alcohol-related hazards. This program has spawned 24 local programs in counties across Virginia to help with education and prevention of Virginia DUI cases.

The Beginnings of the VASAP

In 1966 the state of Virginia established the MANN Commission to help comply with the Federal Highway Safety Act of 1966. The commission established 4 alcohol countermeasure activities which would form the basis of the VASAP in later years. Federal funding would eventually establish a state highway safety division which later became the Department of Transportation Safety.

In 1972 Fairfax County established a pilot program, one of 35 national programs that began through funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in support of the FHS Act. In 1975 the Virginia Department of Transportation Safety had the program expanded statewide. This enabled the local VASAP programs to become self-supporting through the collection of a fee authorized by the general assembly.

The 5 Components of the VASAP

There are specific objectives that the VASAP strives to attain through its 24 local programs and efforts. They are:

• Enforcement – enhancing law enforcement to reduce DUI and drug-related crashes. This includes training of officers and use of state of the art equipment to assist in detection and apprehension of DUI offenders.

• Adjudication – cooperation between the VASAP, prosecutors and the courts to ensure efficient processing of those convicted of DUI. VASAP also assists the courts to develop appropriate probation procedures, including dealing with revocation procedures.

• Case Management & Offender Intervention – ensures each Virginia DUI offender’s case is managed by a case manager who helps determine the appropriate education and/or treatment needed.

• Public Information – informs the public about the dangers of Virginia DUI and the consequences of a conviction.

• Evaluation and Certification – evaluates and certifies local alcohol safety action programs.

VASAP Impact on Virginia DUI Cases

Under the VASAP direction, a DUI offender is placed on probation by the court and in some cases given a restricted license. Part of the conviction involves reporting to the local VASAP office within 15 days or face returning to court as noncompliant. The court may then subject the Virginia DUI offender to license revocation and the imposition of previously suspended jail sentences and fines.

Virginia DUI offenders under VASAP direction may mandate that the offender participate in many of their local VASAP programs. These programs range from driver education, routine chemical testing, and other initiatives designed to reduce repeat offenses.

The VASAP programs have given DUI attorneys access to more options for their clients beyond the standard jail and fines. Participation in the VASAP programs has reduced the number of unnecessary incarcerations of DUI offenders through alternative education and prevention programs. The program continues to work on Virginia DUI prevention, as well as alternative probation methods.

If you are one who follows Grant Cardone you will quickly learn all about his life and how he began many of his businesses. That man needs NO introduction. He takes a very powerful in your face approach at everything he does. He is loud, dramatic, brutally honest, and passionate, but he also cares and REALLY wants to help others succeed. I have been personally following grant for the better of the last 4 years. I can honestly say I have followed from a far, and not fully engaged in his content up until the last 12 weeks. Covid-19 has really sent many into depression, and anxiety. People are worried about what’s next and how they are going to get through this. Being a 31 year old guy really lays out more perspective on what people were feeling back on 9/11, and the crash of 2008, 2009, and 2010. I was a 12 year old kid at the time and didn’t know what to think. Today I realize how brutally demoralizing it must have been, and how deep the depression went. Anyway getting back to the point I was surfing through Facebook a few weeks ago and one of Grants ads continued to pop up. Time and time again I saw his ads. It’s like they were following me around. He was doing a brilliant job at “retargeting” campaigns. The ad read something along the lines of “Recession Response Training”. Grant was marketing to the times we were going through. The word recession made me cringe every time it popped up. I must have passed it 10-15 times before I told myself to take action and commit. I did just that, and today, 13 weeks later have no intention of looking back. Covid really caused me to dive into a dark whole. I was depressed, my anxiety was going through the roof, and the whole world was shut down. Our businesses were in shambles. Today we have lost over 300K, and finally were told we can start back this week. There is NO making up the 300K, but I decided I can move forward, and learn to navigate in this new economy. After all if we refuse to figure it out we will be left in the dust. Some say we will just become “AVERAGE”. If you know anything about Grant Cardone, you will quickly understand that “AVERAGE IS A FAILING FORMULA”, and “if it can be done, it must be done”! As I previously said I have been following Grant for along time, so I was aware of the door I was beginning to open. I went ahead and signed up for his mentoring program and the amount of knowledge and expertise I have learned is priceless.

• Grant & the 10X team WILL hold you accountable.
• They will provide weekly assignments
• They will call you out, and pull you out of your comfort zone
• You will gain tremendous value during each call.

I have learned so much over the last several weeks. In order to be great you must be willing. If you don’t have the determination, and drive to be a better you and be more, the mentoring program may be a shot in the dark for you. The Marketing Mentoring Program will provide you with the skills grant uses on a daily basis to market his business, and get noticed. You will learn the following

• How to get noticed in a crowded world/market
• Social media platforms you should be using, and what to post, and how often to post
• You will go through a “Who are You” exercise
• The proper way to structure a landing page “that works”
• You will learn not to compete, but to dominate

The bottom line is Grant Cardone’s Marketing Mentoring Program is top notch. You will learn to win, and you will become part of Grant Cardone Inner Circle, where you have no option other than to work towards success as long as success is what you’re after. Grant will bring you in and welcome you as apart of his family. You can even pay him and his team a visit at his office in Miami if you wish. He does many events in his on site classroom. You should take a look and consider joining him at one of those life events. Grant has been a powerhouse of a mentor, and coach to me over the last several weeks, and I’m certain he would be the same to you. In summary Grants Mentoring Program is a must if you are in a business that needs help with any type of marketing. I put together a video review talking a little more about what you will learn and exactly who Grant Cardone is. Go check it out and remember “an investment is only a bad investment if you stop investing in it”. Take a second and think about that.