HFHM 378 Research Paper

HFHM 378 Research Paper

Topic: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Each Student will pick an area of hospitality operations (hotels, restaurants, conference centers, private clubs, cruise ships, etc) and research what laws apply to the specific area of operations.  As an example: hotel reservations and what laws apply.  The student must not just list the laws, but must outline what laws apply and provide an analysis of the specific laws to the operations.

Each student is to research and prepare their own paper.  No two students will be researching the same topic.  I will approve the topics for each student.  Topics must be chosen by the date outlined in the class Syllabus.  The date to submit the topic for your research paper is October 9, 2017.

Length:

No more than 10 pages double spaced, but no less than 7 pages. If the paper is not at least 7 full pages, a passing grade will not be received. The font size must be 12 pt.  Times New Roman or Courier New.  I need to be able to read it to grade it. Please do not use endnotes, footnotes or a reference page for your citations to your authority for your facts and legal arguments.  Such pages will not count towards the 7-10 page length requirement.

Law:

You may use cases and statutes referred to in the text as a starting point of your research.  A research paper that relies mostly on cases and statutes referred to in the text will not receive a passing grade.  You may use statutes and regulations from the web.  As an example, if you want to research the Americans with Disabilities Act, you may want to look at www.ada.gov  If you want to research food safety you may want to take a look at www.fda.gov or similar sites that have regulations and statutes available.  A full legal library can be found on line at the Law Library of Congress at www.loc.gov/law  You can access several cases, statutes and rules as well as articles on various legal topics by using the online University Library.  If you go to the online University Library–right land lower corner of Beachboard for our class you will note the University Library.  From there, go to “Find Articles”. From there go to”lexis Web by Lexis / Nexis”.  Under the tab you will see several tabs for federal and California statutes and cases as well as be able to research specific topics.  May I suggest that you start researching or accumulating the law applicable to your topic early on as finding the law for some of you may not be easy.

If there is a specific area of law that you are having a difficult time finding, please see me for suggestions on where to find the applicable law.

Citation to the Law:

For cases, please provide the name of the parties and then the cite where the case can be found; i.e.; Thomas v Harrison, 21 US 451 (2012): Thomas and Harrison are the parties, the case can be found in book 21 of the United States Reporter at page 451 and was decided in 2012.  For statutes, just use the citation that is provided in the code.  The same for any regulations that you cite to, such as the ADA.

I expect that for each “fact” or “argument” that you provide in your paper that you should cite to the legal authority that supports the fact or argument.  The papers that provide facts and arguments without providing the citation to the legal authority will not receive a very high grade.  I need to know where you obtained your facts and arguments.

Grade:

A total of 40 points are available. What I am looking for is not an exhausted research of a specific area of the law.  What I want to see is your recognizing the legal issues involved in a specific area of hospitality management and your ability to analyze the law to the operations. Further, your discussion of the law and the application of the law to your subject.  I also want your recommendations on the law as applied to hospitality operations for the suggested topic of your choice.  As an example, if your topic is room reservations and the law applied, you may discuss how to make reservations more enforceable if necessary in a court of law.

We will discuss the research paper in more detailed during class.  This is simply an introduction to it, what is necessary and requirements.  I suggest that you do not wait to start your selection of a topic and research.  Finding the applicable law may be difficult for some of you and therefore I suggest that you start early as oppose to researching the topic at the last moment. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to see me during my office hours or before class.