Performance Management Poverty and Injustices

Question: Talk about thePerformance Managementfor Poverty and Injustices. Answer: Presentation Oxfam New Zealand is a non-benefit association guided by its standards and targets to offer enduring answers for neediness and shameful acts. The organization centers around vision and missions of more secure, reasonable and a practical world for all to appreciate in the breath of expectation and opportunity. The association's battle for equity and neediness destruction gave to its vigorous presentation framework. Oxfam New Zealand has improved in the job execution and genuine fulfillment perhaps of the hierarchical procedure embraced by the element and representatives. Associations relying upon the most adaptable and versatile exhibition the board appreciate not exclusively representatives' presentation yet additionally high laborers maintenance. Representatives are more than persuaded to proficiently and beneficially convey their obligations with dear ingenuity and commitment. Or maybe its entitlement to express that Oxfam New Zealand puts the positive and committed framework to helps the work power in that accomplish the best exertion and aptitudes to association's advantage. Associations rehearsing sufficient execution acknowledges the significance of each progression of the framework and their commitment to the organizations' powerful maintenance and inspiration of workforce (Buckingham Goodall, 2015). They exalt the arranging idea, checking, advancement and progression arranging stage as a segment of a successful execution the executives. Meaning of Performance Management Organizations rely upon execution the board to style up their hierarchical procedure to make a workplace that engages representatives to perform at the best of their capacities. The best execution the executives takes a thought of gatherings adding to the business development and advancement (Wolpert et al., 2014). Nonetheless, associations display distinctive execution the board frameworks. Despite the fact that the essential objective authored on the objectives setting, assessment, and prizes. Both scattered by the instructing of the gatherings. The gatherings incorporate; Officials and senior pioneers Administrators Human asset administrator Workers The Process of Performance Planning The phase of arranging is worried about the defining of accomplishment objectives for the workers and their administrators. The directors are relied upon to talk about the normal degrees of execution for the activity (Wolpert et al., 2014). The desire for every representative is intended to accommodate its departmental job. While arranging the worker and the administrator must come into terms on the normal. The set objectives are reachable inside the depicted time of activity, most likely a year. Representatives at that point work with the intention of accomplishing the set objectives inside the predefined period. They keep the track and remain conveying on routinely to their administrators just as taking a full moral duty regarding their development both expertly and profession shrewd. Under the stage, the organization deliberately characterize every specialist's objectives and adjust them to with the system of the corporate (DeNisi Smith, 2014). The procedure is normally community oriented in nature. After the making of the arrangement, the organization characterizes the essential employment capacities and duties through an objective structure of SMART examination. The Performance Monitoring The stage is worried about the representative observation and evaluation by the mindful director. The relegated chief stays concentrated on the worker's advancement towards objectives. The strategy hits the desire for the training prerequisites (Wang Sarkis, 2013). The director guarantees either a money related or non-fiscal awards to a worker that hits the objective. The Oxfam New Zealand can enough continue the procedure by keeping the supervisors likewise on oneself advancement following. The administrators are likewise expected to keep tabs on their development on the set objectives. The checking procedure collects dependable data for examination purposes. Representatives are, thusly, urged to rouse themselves through progress and difficulties trusting from the improvement. The supervisors, then again, perceive and fortify the representatives' jobs and exhibitions by keeping up persevering just as unlimited discussions on their exhibitions (Kerr Hayward, 2013). The Performance Development It fuses the chief's job and the laborer responsibility on proficient development and improvement. Chiefs' characterize the unmistakable and quantifiable desires just as give an atmosphere helpful for progress. They control execution and guide consistence of elevated level improvement after some time just as unquestionably make worker undertakings to add to the departmental objectives fulfillment (Kerr Hayward, 2013). Additionally, they decide the issues of execution and set a reasonable course to right just as improve the difficulties. The workers are given useful conditions on enhancements to continue their development. They too considered mindful and responsible to meet their presentation objectives through an unmistakable correspondence methodology by the chiefs. Regularly, strategies about exhibitions are all around set, and preparing and conferences caught. The imparted administration's direction through the prescribed procedures in execution to workers. On the off chance that appropriately followed, an organization appreciates high representative inspiration and maintenance. The Performance Evaluation It assesses the laborers' exhibition by organizing inputs from workers to directors. The supervisors think about the remarks by appropriate perception. It asses the earlier year's assessment in contrast with the current exhibitions ((DeNisi Smith, 2014). It implements the adequate exhibition limits by advancing powerful correspondence and staff acknowledgment just as rousing workers to play out the best of their everything. Whenever done reasonably and impartially, the laborers' spirit rises and desires level improve. A decent assessment doesn't asses just the activity exhibitions yet additionally the representatives' persuasive abilities and offers directional correspondence methodology to settle the issues. The proper assessment allows representatives to catch on their occupations and related desires. Their commitments are esteemed on the bigger image of the association's prosperity. They wind up achieving their goas just as accomplishing extra advantages (Rabl et al., 2012). The objectives of execution assessment cut over representatives' objectives and yields, advancement and authoritative development, execution and documentation and non-separating worker execution evaluation forms. The Oxfam New Zealand can improve its exhibition by applying an evaluative framework engaging representatives' vocation and expert achievement. Progression Planning In centered organizations, progression arranging decides the eventual fate of business on the off chance that an official or a representative leaves or gets terminated. A definitive objectives of the arranging factor the truth in constant of the association's activity paying little heed to work issues (Rabl et al., 2012). An association natures and build up its workforce through educative and preparing projects to improve their abilities, information, characteristics and involvement with significant regions of specialization. The very much prepared representatives fit the empty positions left by the organization. Through the procedure, the current and future needs of the business are resolved dependent on the objectives and goals. The perceived open doors are coordinated dependent on the characteristics and capacities of the accessible representatives just as building up an arrangement proper for hole the board (Wang Sarkis, 2013). The Oxfam New Zealand can effectively accomplish the progression plan by ceaseless providing qualified and spurred laborers with a thought process to take over from the current ranking staff after they leave the association. The five phases basically upgrade the exhibition the board that best suits the organization's requests to hold and persuade workers. PART B The Progressive Warning System for Oxfam New Zealand The organization may have issues with its workforce due to resistance with the guidelines. To emotionally play out its disciplinary advances while dealing with such cases, the organization can decide on the framework. The dynamic framework advocates for a reasonable and best practice to terminate a worker just as lies with the lawful contemplations (Van Dooren et al., 2015). The Oxfam New Zealand Organization can utilize the model as sketched out in the stages; The Oral Reprimand The issuance of verbal censure endless supply of the laborer's presentation issue by the manager. The manager ought to inquisitively decide the issue and the restorative measures to take (Buckingham Goodall, 2015). The total duplicate of the conversation is kept to help for recovery reason in the event that future fundamental advances are required. The Written Reprimand In the persevering of the issue, a chief furnishes a specialist with a composed notice enumerating the conduct and related outcomes. The composing traces the guidelines of conduct and judgment standards upon inability to improve the exhibition (Van Dooren et al., 2015). The director connects the duplicate of the composition on the representative's work profile. The Final Written Warning Inability to improve invites the last composed admonition containing the probation status of the representative. The connected are the duplicates of the past admonitions just as the characterized time of progress (Seuring Gold, (2013). The Termination Review Subsequent to neglecting to improve inside the predetermined period, the administrator tells the Human Resource Manager on the persevered issue. The stage takes a gander at the issues of legally binding relationship guarantee by a worker, remuneration case, and matters of sincere trust and reasonable managing before affecting the progression (Seuring Gold, 2013). The Termination Stage The stage gets actualized if there are sufficient confirmation that a worker had adequate chance to improve however fizzled. The duplicates of the past admonitions either oral or composed recorded for the wellbeing of the organization on the off chance that the case goes to a court. The Purpose of Pe

Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control

Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control Building total custom segments can be an exceptionally propelled venture. Be that as it may, you can fabricate a VB.NET class that has huge numbers of the upsides of a tool stash part with considerably less exertion. Heres how! To get a kind of what you have to do to make a total custom segment, attempt this investigation: - Open another Windows Application venture in VB.NET.- Add a CheckBox from the Toolbox to the structure.- Click the Show All Files button at the highest point of Solution Explorer. This will show the records that Visual Studio makes for your task (so you dont need to). As a verifiable reference, The VB6 compiler did a ton of very similar things, however you never could get to the code since it was covered in accumulated p-code. You could create custom controls in VB6 as well, however it was much increasingly troublesome and required an exceptional utility that Microsoft provided only for that reason. In the Form Designer.vb record, you will find that the code beneath has been included consequently in the correct areas to help the CheckBox segment. (On the off chance that you have an alternate adaptation of Visual Studio, your code may be marginally unique.) This is the code that Visual Studio composes for you. Required by the Windows Form Designer Private parts _ As System.ComponentModel.IContainerNOTE: The accompanying methodology is requiredby the Windows Form DesignerIt can be altered utilizing the Windows Form Designer.Do not change it utilizing the code editor.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough() _Private Sub InitializeComponent() Me.CheckBox1 New System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox() Me.SuspendLayout() CheckBox1 Me.CheckBox1.AutoSize True Me.CheckBox1.Location New System.Drawing.Point(29, 28) Me.CheckBox1.Name CheckBox1. . . etc ... This is the code that you need to add to your program to make a custom control. Remember that all the strategies and properties of the genuine CheckBox control are in a class provided by the .NET Framework: System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox. This isnt part of your venture since its introduced in Windows for every single .NET program. Be that as it may, theres a great deal of it. Another point to know about is that if youre utilizing WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the .NET CheckBox class originates from a totally extraordinary library named System.Windows.Controls. This article just works for a Windows Forms application, however the principals of legacy here work for any VB.NET venture. Assume your undertaking needs a control that is a lot of like one of the standard controls. For instance, a checkbox that changed shading, or showed a small upbeat face as opposed to showing the little check realistic. Were going to construct a class that does this and tell you the best way to add it to your venture. While this may be helpful without anyone else, the genuine objective is to exhibit VB.NETs legacy. Lets Start Coding To begin, change the name of the CheckBox that you just added to oldCheckBox. (You should quit showing Show All Files again to disentangle Solution Explorer.) Now add another class to your undertaking. There are a few different ways to do this including right-tapping the undertaking in Solution Explorer and choosing Add at that point Class or choosing Add Class under the Project menu thing. Change the record name of the new class to newCheckBox to keep things straight. At last, open the code window for the class and include this code: Open Class newCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Red Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint( ByVal pEvent _ As PaintEventArgs) Dim CenterSquare _ As New Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor ), CenterSquare) End If End SubEnd Class (In this article and in others on the webpage, a great deal of line continuations are utilized to keep lines short so they will fit into the space accessible on the website page.) The primary thing to see about your new class code is the Inherits catchphrase. That implies that all the properties and techniques for a VB.NET Framework CheckBox are naturally part of this one. To acknowledge how much work this spares, you must have had a go at programming something like a CheckBox segment without any preparation. There are two key things to see in the code above: The first is the code utilizes Override to supplant the norm .NET conduct that would occur for an OnPaint occasion. An OnPaint occasion is activated at whatever point Windows sees that piece of your presentation must be remade. A model would be the point at which another window reveals some portion of your showcase. Windows refreshes the showcase naturally, however then calls the OnPaint occasion in your code. (The OnPaint occasion is additionally considered when the structure is at first made.) So on the off chance that we Override OnPaint, we can change the manner in which things look on the screen. The second is the manner in which Visual Basic makes the CheckBox. At whatever point the parent is Checked (that is, Me.Checked is True) at that point the new code we give in our NewCheckBox class will recolor the focal point of the CheckBox as opposed to drawing a checkmark. The rest is what is called GDI code. This code chooses a square shape precisely the same size as the focal point of a Check Box and hues it in with GDI strategy calls. The enchantment numbers to situate the red square shape, Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12), were resolved tentatively. I simply transformed it until it looked right. There is one significant advance that you need to ensure you dont keep separate from Override methodology: MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) Supersede implies that your code will give the entirety of the code to the occasion. Be that as it may, this is only sometimes what you need. So VB gives an approach to run the typical .NET code that would have been executed for an occasion. This is the explanation that does that. It passes exactly the same parameter-pEvent-to the occasion code that would have been executed on the off chance that it hadnt been abrogated, MyBase.OnPaint. Utilizing the New Control Since our new control isn't in our tool kit, it must be made in the structure with code. The best spot to do that is in the structure Load occasion system. Open the code window for the structure load occasion methodology and include this code: Private Sub frmCustCtrlEx_Load( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles MyBase.Load Dim customCheckBox As New newCheckBox() With customCheckBox .Text Custom CheckBox .Left oldCheckBox.Left .Top oldCheckBox.Top oldCheckBox.Height .Size New Size( oldCheckBox.Size.Width 50, oldCheckBox.Size.Height) End With Controls.Add(customCheckBox)End Sub To put the new checkbox on the structure, weve exploited the way that there is now one there and simply utilized the size and position of that one (balanced so the Text property will fit). Else we would need to code the position physically. When MyCheckBox has been added to the structure, we at that point add it to the Controls assortment. In any case, this code isnt truly adaptable. For instance, the shading Red is hardcoded and changing the shading requires changing the program. You may likewise need a realistic rather than a check mark. Heres another, improved CheckBox class. This code tells you the best way to step toward VB.NET object arranged programming. Open Class betterCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Blue Private CenterSquareImage As Bitmap Private CenterSquare As New Rectangle( 3, 4, 10, 12) Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint _ (ByVal pEvent As _ System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then If CenterSquareImage Is Nothing Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor), CenterSquare) Else pEvent.Graphics.DrawImage( CenterSquareImage, CenterSquare) End If End If End Sub Public Property FillColor() As Color Get FillColor CenterSquareColor End Get Set(ByVal Value As Color) CenterSquareColor Value End Set End Property Public Property FillImage() As Bitmap Get FillImage CenterSquareImage End Get Set(ByVal Value As Bitmap) CenterSquareImage Value End Set End PropertyEnd Class Why The BetterCheckBox Version Is Better One of the principle upgrades is the expansion of two Properties. This is something the old class didnt do by any means. The two new properties presented are FillColor also, FillImage To get a kind of how this functions in VB.NET, attempt this straightforward trial. Add a class to a standard extend and afterward enter the code: Open Property Whatever Get At the point when you press Enter in the wake of composing Get, VB.NET Intellisense fills in the whole Property code square and you should simply code the particulars for your undertaking. (The Get and Set squares arent consistently required beginning with VB.NET 2010, so you need to at any rate disclose to Intellisense this a lot to begin it.) Open Property Whatever Get End Get Set(ByVal esteem) End SetEnd Property These squares have been finished in the code above. The reason for these squares of code is to permit property estimations to be gotten to from different pieces of the framework. With the expansion of Methods, you would be well headed to making a total segment. To see an extremely straightforward case of a Method, include this code beneath the Property affirmations in the betterCheckBox class: Open Sub Emphasize() Me.Font New System.Drawing.Font( _ Microsoft Sans Serif, 12.0!, _ System.Drawing.FontStyle.Bold) Me.Size New System.Drawing.Size(200, 35) CenterSquare.Offset( CenterSquare.Left - 3, CenterSquare.Top 3)End Sub Notwithstanding changing the Font showed in a CheckBox, this technique likewise alters the size of the case and the area of the checked square shape to represent the new size. To utilize the new strategy, simply code it a similar way you would any technique: MyBetterEmphasizedBox.Emphasize() Also, much the same as Properties, Visual Studio naturally includes the enhanced me

Orgo and physics and math, oh my

Orgo and physics and math, oh my Believe it or not, one of the most enjoyable experiences of my MIT career so far was simply planning my class schedule for this semester. For some reason, Ive always been fascinated with schedules, calendars, planners all the inventions that, artificial constructs though they may be, nonetheless help govern and organize our lives. Combine that fascination with the fact that I was taking classes I was genuinely interested in, plus a general excitement to begin my second semester at MIT (keep in mind this was back during IAP, before Id started having to actually do any work for these classes), and you can hopefully understand why I was so excited to finally set my schedule. The final product looks something like this. There are a few things I like about this schedule, and a few things I dont like. I like, for example, that its symmetric about Wednesday. I like that I always have an hour or half-hour break after 11 am, which is great for getting lunch, catching up on email, or working on a p-set. I mostly like starting class at 10 am. And I really like that my day ends at 2 pm on Monday and Friday, since that leaves me with a solid four-hour block of time before dinner, which is really fantastic for getting research done. On the other hand, notice how I have six hours of class on Wednesday? 20.020 is pretty laid-back compared to my other classes, which is great, but still six hours is a long time for a college student! I mean, thats almost as much time as I spent in class in high school! Hopefully you found that last paragraph amusing, since I was being intentionally facetious (which is one my favorite words ever, by the way). But really, its true: even though you spend far less time actually in class as a college student, the level of intensity skyrockets. The professors move pretty quickly through the material, and sometimes even the most organized lecturers sometimes cant explain everything they would like to. If you dont know whats going on because you slept through a lecture or you didnt do the assigned reading, the professor simply cant go back and re-explain everything just for your benefit. Unlike high school, homework really is homework; you wont be given any time to do it during lecture and trying to finish a p-set while also taking notes is generally a bad idea. Thats not to say students dont get individual attention from professors at MIT. To the contrary, I think most professors really go out of their way to make sure theyre accessible to their students. After lecture, all professors stick around for at least a few minutes to answer any one-on-one questions people may have. Whether youre asking about a concept that you found to be unclear during lecture, bringing up an interesting additional point that wasnt raised at all during class, or maybe even asking for a UROP, the profs are definitely wiling to hear you out and help you in any way they can. Im not just saying that to make my professors look good I really do mean it. A case in point: last semester, Melis and I ended up having an awesome interview with Eric Lander who basically runs the Broad Institute, while also teaching 7.012 in his spare time an opportunity we seized simply because I took the time to ask Dr. Lander if hed be willing to do an interview one day after class. If youre interested, the transcript of the interview which Melis and I published in MITs Undergraduate Research Journal is available online here. Beyond the professors, MIT also has, like most colleges, teaching assistants (TAs). TAs are generally grad students, though in some classes theyre actually professors. In addition to generally helping out the lecturers and other course administrators with some of the grunt work that keeps classes running smoothly, TAs also run recitations. Recitations (which are limited to roughly 10-20 students) are basically your chance to review the material presented in lecture, run through some sample problems, and ask questions about the p-set in a relatively low-stress and personal zone. They also leave ample opportunity for general hilarity, but that sort of depends on the TA. Anyway, hopefully you found the last few paragraphs enlightening or, at least, interesting because Ive actually digressed quite a ways from my original goal of simply talking about my schedule. Since my classes are, basically, awesome. And now, here they are! (Presented, in true MIT fashion, by ascending numerical order.) 5.12 Organic Chemistry (5-0-7) In which we study Lewis dot diagrams, molecular structures, stereoisomerization, chirality, chair cyclohexanes, acid-base reactions, and much much more. Chemistry, biology, and the related engineering disciplines (a.k.a. Courses 5, 7, 10, and 20) all require this course, which also satisfies one of the GIRs. I enjoy the professors lecturing style, plus hes very organized and provides awesome lecture notes based on his PowerPoint presentations, which are in themselves very well done. The first test is Friday, so I guess Ill find out how much Ive learned pretty soon. [In case you were curious, the numbers X-Y-Z in parentheses indicate that the class entails X hours in lecture and/or recitation, Y hours in the lab or studio, and Z hours spent preparing outside of class (reading, p-seting, studying for tests). The sum C=X+Y+Z gives the total number of units each class is worth (usually 12).] 8.022 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism with Theory (5-0-7) The logical follow-up to Physics I: Mechanics, I like to think of 8.022 as 8.012s little cousin. So far its been much more math-based than 8.012 was, which suits me just fine. Weve raced through the first three chapters of our textbook, covering Coulombs Law; the electric field; the definitions of divergence, curl, and flux in Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinate systems; the electric potential; Gauss Law; Faraday cages; and other fun electrical things. The class also features three optional labs, the first of which I did last week; pictures perhaps to follow. The professor is pretty good; and, ironically enough, my 8.012 professor from last term is now my TA. Small world, eh? Although I was a little anxious about taking this class, given my experiences with 8.012, Im happy to report things seem to be going well. On the whole 8.022 does seem easier, plus I now have a much better understanding of how to prepare for MIT tests in general. Although I had been prepared to switch into 8.02 if I found the material too hard or the pace too fast, we took our first test this morning and I did quite well so Im happy to report that it looks like Ill be sticking with it. 18.03 Differential Equations (5-0-7) Ah, math. I like this course a lot, in large part because differential equations are incredibly useful for basically every science and engineering discipline; in that respect, 18.03 is my first real engineering course. Just to show you how important differential equations are, according to our professor, about 140 courses at MIT require 18.03 as either a pre-prerequisite or co-requisite. Thats a lot of courses. So far weve covered slope fields, first-order linear ordinary differential equations, Eulers method, integrating factors, complex exponentials and roots, sinusoidal functions, and input/output models. I havent quite made up my mind about the professor yet some of the lectures were mediocre, but some (like the one on complex exponentials, including my favorite formula ever) were really awesome. Our first test is Wednesday whos excited!? 20.020 Introduction to Biological Engineering Design (3-3-3) This is easily the most unconventional course Im taking this semester, as well as one of the most fun. The first 3 up there refers to two 1.5-hour lectures held every week, except that lectures in 20.020 are really more like conversations between the two instructors and the other 25 or so students in the course. Each lecture starts off with a fun but thought-provoking challenge or workshop on the first day, for example, we built model airplanes. On the second day, we were supposed to deconstruct an ordinary tape recorder into as many individual components as possiblethen put it together the next day. It almost seems silly, but each challenge is supposed to make us think about how the real world applies to biology, ways we can make biology easier to engineer, how nature cleverly solves physical problems, and so on and it seems to work. In addition to lecture, we also have a three-hour studio period on Wednesdays (denoted by the second 3), which are designed to allow for sustained and/or creative thought on a particular topic. In the first week of class, for instance, we watched presentations from the iGEM Competition (2006 and 2007); in the third week, we gave presentations on the problems and issues that mattered most to us. Coming up with solutions to some of these problems is going to be the major focus for the rest of the course, so thats pretty exciting. 21W.746 Humanistic Perspectives on Medicine (3-0-9) Finally, we come to the humanities section of my life. Because MIT requires all students to take 8 classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, most students fulfill that requirement by taking one HASS class each semester theyre here. Last semester, though, I took four science classes (5.112, 7.012, 8.012, and 18.02) and no humanities, which turned out to be a pretty interesting experience. Its definitely doable, but even so, I wouldnt really recommend taking four science classes your first term unless youve given it a great deal of thought. Anyway, Im actually pretty happy to finally be taking a humanities class again, since it gives me an opportunity to exert parts of my brain that didnt get a ton of use during the first term, particularly my creative urges (general chemistry doesnt usually involve writing poems) and my forensic facilities (you cant really argue with a line integral). I consider the class Im taking right now to be a bit of a hybrid between a class on the history of medicine and a general survey of how doctors think, work, and act. 21W.746 has no formal lecture component; instead, we have two 1.5-hour discussions where we sit in a circle and discuss various topics as a group, sort of in the Socratic fashion. Outside of class, much of the focus is placed on completing the assigned readings since if you dont, you wont have anything productive to say during discussions (and will just sound like a fool when the professor inevitably calls on you to talk). There are no tests or p-sets; instead, our grade is determined by three major essays (the first, which required us to rewrite the Hippocratic Oath and justify our changes, was due last Thursday), peer review of each others writing, revising our essays based on our classmates reviews, a book review, an oral report, an oral presentation, and (of course) class participation. If that sounds like a lot, in some respects I guess it is but you have to understand that all of these assignments are spread out across the semester, so its pretty manageable if you work at it consistently. This entry is getting ridiculously long, plus I have quite a bit of work to do (i.e. studying for those 18.03 and 5.12 tests I mentioned) so Ill cut things off here. Before I go, though, a few miscellaneous thoughts, from most important to least: Decisions are about three weeks away! If your mental state is anything like mine was last year, I imagine that news is simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. The release date has not been set yet, though (as usual) it should be around March 15th. Im sure Matt or Ben will make an announcement on the blogs as soon as they know for sure. I know its tough, but hang in there Im rooting for you guys. :) Although MITs online course catalog has a pretty decent course planner utility, I used a website called ATLAS instead. ATLAS is the brainchild of Scott 08, a Course 5 junior whos graduating a year early (!) and also happens to be pretty good at cooking up computer code. One of my fraternity brothers, Scott is known around the house for enjoying the finer things in life especially good food, sleeping in, and the scent of vanilla. Give ATLAS a whirl and see what your class schedule might look like next year! This comic pretty much sums up my life. xkcd knows me so well.