Management of risks to prevent huge losses - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1419 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? In every business there is always risk and if the risk is not well managed by the company, it will lead to the huge losses and eventually will make the company bankrupt. Hence, the tool to manage the risk is introduced called derivatives. There are many types of derivatives and the most commonly use are options, futures and forwards. However, there are many cases of company incurred huge losses because of the derivatives. One of the popular cases on derivatives debacles is the bankruptcy of the Barings Bank in 1995. This is one of the popular cases since it is involve the oldest bank in London and the fall is cause by the action of only one employee base at the small office in Singapore. Barings Bank had suffered a loss of 827 million ($1.3 billion) plus the collapse cost which is 100 millions. The person who was responsible for the fall of Barings Bank is Nick Leeson. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Management of risks to prevent huge losses" essay for you Create order Barings bank was founded by Francis Barings and his silent partner, John which is his older brother at 1762. Barings bank had financed the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the Erie Canal and also helped the British government battle against Napoleon in finance aspect. In the battle of British and Napoleon, the bank gave loan and raise money to pay the armies, and buy the equipment for the battle. In 1992, the Barings have decided to send one of their employees to Asian to do the derivatives trading. Since derivatives are something new at that time, not many people know how to deal with it. So, the Baring chose one of their employees named Nick Lesson who had performed well in his job in Jakarta. Nick Lesson was sent to Singapore in 1993 as the general manager of Barings Futures (Singapore) and his job is to run the banks Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX) activities. Besides, he also had to manage the back-office which actually should be managed by different people. At the beginning of his job as a trader, he had done the arbitraging which is take advantages at the difference of equivalent underlying assets price between two exchanges- buy at the lower price and sell at the higher price. He took positions in Nikkei 225 and Japanese Government Bonds (JGB) as well as options on Nikkei. One year of his work as a general manager in Singapore, he gave the profit of 10 million to the Barings. This had made the trust of the Barings to become stronger than before. However, what Nick Leeson showed to the top management of Barings Bank is the profit only and he hid the loss he had incurred in the secret account. The 88888 account have been made by Leeson in order to cover the loss that have incurred. At first, this account is use to hide the 20, 000 loss made by one of his staff. But, this account later is use for him because in the year 1994 he is not lucky. The largest part of his losses is on the Nikkei 225 that he bought. By December 1994, the 88888 account have made a total loss of 200million but, he reported to the British tax authorities that he gain 102 million. Although, Leeson had stressed because of the loss, he still bets that the Nikkei index would rise and not fall below 19, 000. So, on 16th January, in the Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE) and SIMEX, he had placed a short straddle. However, his expectation that suppose to gift profit had turned to be a nightmare when Kobe, Japan got attack by an earthquake on 17th January 1995. Because of the 7.2 Ritcher scale of earthquake in Kobe, the Nikkei index had fall 7% in a week. Three days after the earthquake, he was not stopped taking positions in the Nikkei index. Unfortunately, the loss that he had incurred was too large and cannot be hidden anymore. The huge amount of losses had made no exit for the Nick Leeson. There is nothing he can do to cover all the losses. He took an action by left his job and went to Malaysia two days before his 28th birthday. He left a note said, Im sorry. The total loss he made was $1.3 billion twice from the amount of capital the Barings had. Approximately 2,000 of Nick Leesons staff have lost their job. On the 26th February 1995, the Barings have been declared as bankrupt. THE AFTERMATH. After the collapse of Barings Bank, their liabilities had increase up to 827 million. The Barings Bank enables to pay all the liabilities which make them collapse on 26th February 1995. In 1995, the ING, one of the Dutch Bank have purchased the Barings Bank for the nominal sum of 1 along with assumption of all Barings liabilities. In 2001, the ING has sold the United States based operations to ABN Amro for $275 million and folded the rest of ING Barings into it European Banking division. Then, Barings Bank was split and sold by ING to MassMutual which give the right to use the name Barings Asset Management (BAM) and acquiring BAM investment management activities. Therefore, Barings Bank has no longer a separate corporate existence, although the Barings name still lived on as the MassMutual subsidiary Barings Asset Management. The ING also sold Barings Bank to Northern Trust will acquire BAMs financial services group. In 1995, Nick Leeson has realized that his operation have incurred losses, so he try to escape with his wife by flying to London from Malaysia. He was arrested in March while on a stop-over in Germany. The reason that he gave where he said had been holiday. Singapore court have sentenced him to six and a half years in prison but nick was released from a Changi prison in Singapore after serving three and a half years of a sentence for fraud. At Changi prison, he was diagnosed a cancer and recover, at the same time was divorced by his wife. After he has release from Changi prison in 1999, he wrote an autobiography which called Rogue Trader. In this autobiography, it covering the events that have been leading up to the collapse. After that, Film maker James Dearden has dramatized the book in the film Rogue Trader. Last but not least, Nick Leeson has released a new book in Jun 2005 entitled back from the brink: coping with stress. It is about continued the story of rogue trader and including in the depth conversation with psychologist Ivan Tyrrell asserting that the prolonged periods of severe stress that affected Leeson mental and physical health that occur in many other people lives. THE LESSON LEARNT. Barings bank collapse can be a worth lesson to everyone that seek the message behind the tragedy. There is much lesson that can be learned in this incident especially by superiors of an organization. In Barings bank, we can see that there is a poor supervision of employees especially on Nick Leeson when his activities of trading not have been monitored directly which they (Barings bank headquarter in London) only hears the end report made by Leeson. Thus it causes the bank to lose all its assets to cover the losses made by Leeson. Therefore, we know that in an organization there should be more strict rule to do trading and the superior should monitor directly all trading that been done by their subordinate. Besides that, the top management of Barings bank has lack of understanding about trading business; this made them to give full trust on Leeson. Thus, the upper line of every organization must have the knowledge and understanding about trading and business they involve with. So they may realize their subordinate (in this case Leeson) is trying to gamble using banks assets as his bet, instead of helping the bank to hedge banks assets value. Other than that, in Barings bank there is also a poor segregation of work. This can be seen where Leeson has been assigned to be incharge in both dealing desks and back office. In the first place, the bank should be more detail with their employees job specification and should diversify the job to avoid fraud in the work place. One person should be incharge in one job or maybe more, but the jobs must have no correlation that may lead to fraud. Last but not least, the lesson is the employee himself must be honest in doing their job. The employee shouldnt be selfish and greedy to get easy wealth, they should be more innovative in their field to receive promotion or start their own business to be rich and successful.

The Rise Of The Middle Class - 1012 Words

For decades now, our political and economic policy have been constructed around one idea: that if taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down. This idea has been the backbone of Republican trickle-down Reagan-economics and has been scarcely challenged by Democrats. America’s economy as well as the global economy as a whole are facing extreme income inequality and this idea has only widened the gap. Our political system has been flooded with the money of the rich through lobbyists or super PACs, who then are the ones receiving the tax cuts and are garnering political favors by doing so, effectively moving us farther from a free and fair democracy, but rather towards oligarchy. The middle class has been fading away due to stagnating†¦show more content†¦Hanauer begins his argument by comparing the fallacy on hand to another fallacy we once believed, which turned out to be dead wrong: â€Å"For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of t he universe. It’s not and an astronomer who still believed it was, would do some lousy astronomy.† In doing this, Hanauer seeks to bring out the â€Å"duh!† response out of people and relate it back to the argument at hand. The argument being that if a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are â€Å"job creators† and therefore should not be taxed, would make policy equally as lousy. Although he incites the emotional response in the reader he also backs it up with facts and his experience as one of the plutocrats. He cites his experience as well as,going into some basic economic theory: â€Å"I have started or helped start, dozens of business and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would have all failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.† He uses this to pivot to his next point, which is the main point of the argument: â€Å"That’s why I can say wi th confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small.† He backs it up with his theory, which is a basic economic principle of demand when broken down: â€Å"What does lead to more employment is a ‘circle of life’ like feedback loop between customers and business.† Not only is it not the rich who create

Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot Claim Paper free essay sample

I recently read â€Å"Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot† by Robert Butler which is written in first person narrator form. Writing this story in first person narrator form makes this particular story very interesting and much better of a story, and keeps the reader very interested in the story. When Butler writes this story he sets the story up from the beginning when he recognizes his wife, this places the reader in a zone to try and figure out how exactly the story is going to play out. In the story Butler uses the parrot as the first person narrator in the story which turns out that the parrot was once the husband of the lady that buys, and takes home the parrot from the pet store. At the beginning of the story the parrot is sitting on his perch in the pet store cage and sees a lady come close to him, at that point he realizes that this lady was once his wife. The parrot says to himself in the story â€Å"Holy Shit, It’s you† (Butler) this is referring to looking at a lady that was once the parrots wife, before when the parrot was human. Butler goes on to describe in the story by first person narrator the parrot on how the wife is touching or petting him, the parrot is once again thinking to himself â€Å"For a moment I think she knows it’s me† (Butler) without Butler writing this story in the first person narrator form, he would not be able to take the reader into the parrots, or the once husbands thoughts, and be able to make the reader feel like they are inside the story and not a person from the outside looking into the story. The parrot starts thinking about his last day on earth as a man while he is playing with the toys in his cage; he looks back at that day relating to the toys in his cage now. In this flashback that he Has he gives the reader a picture of how the wife was, and how jealous he may have been when he was married as a man. He describes how when checking up on his wife, he fell from a tree, and if he was a parrot he could have just flown to safety, and not actually died. He explains how he was a very jealous husband, and that his wife gave him every reason for that jealousy, describing how his wife would talk about other guys at her work, their cars, etc. Now that he was brought home from the pet store the wife puts him in a large cage just down the hallway, but unable to see into her bedroom. He know gets even more jealous seeing strange men come and go, and noises coming from the bedroom of his once wife by the following excerpt from the tory. â€Å"My cage sits in the den. My pool table is gone and the cage is sitting in that space and if I come all the way down to one end of my perch I can see through the door and down the back hallway to the master bedroom. When she keeps the bedroom door open I can see the space at the front of the bed, but not the bed itself. That I can sense to the left, just out of sight. I watch the men go in and I hear the sounds but I can’t quite see. † (Butler) By Butler writing in the first person narrator form he makes the story much better because he is able to bring the reader into the story without having to continue to describe and explain the situation, instead he writes directly into the storyline making the reader understand where he is coming from. During the story he tells that he looks out the window when these strange men come into the house where he once lived as a human, before he was a parrot, he gazes outside at the beautiful Back yard and the weather that is just right there. There is a point where he actually tries to fly to this beautiful place, but once in flight he only remembers being in pain, and dizzy only to find out that he has flown into the glass of the sliding glass door that separates him, from the beautiful outside. He depicts that he knows that this can be very dangerous for a bird by saying â€Å"I remembered eventually about the glass, and I knew that I had been lucky, I knew that for the little fragile-boned skull I was doing all this thinking in- it meant death† (Butler) with this statement he knew that striking the glass could be death for him. During the remainder of the story while in his cage he gets irritated about the scores of different men that come to the house and disappear in the bedroom, with his wife to the point where he bashes around in the cage and screams during all this. At the end of the story he sees his wife naked and she comes to him in the cage and picks him up and starts talking to him, during this time he is just remembering how much he loved his wife and how jealous she made him on occasions with talking about all the other guys that she worked with, he also starts to realize if she is like this now that she was probably like this while he was a human, so once she puts him down on the cage she leaves the door open. He gazes at the beautiful day it is outside he says â€Å"And I spread my wings. I will fly now. Even though I know there is something between me and that place where I can be free of all these feelings, I will fly. I will throw myself there again and again† (Butler) Butler is describing in the first person narrator that the parrot has had enough and know that there is glass there, and knows that it could mean death but that what he wants to be free of all this jealousy. If Butler would have written this story in any other form than the first person narrator form, the story would not have kept the reader in the story, and would not have been able to help the reader actually visualize the story. Being written in this form did make this story a much better story.

Why did North Vietnam embrace Communism Essay Example

Why did North Vietnam embrace Communism? Essay The evolution of Vietnamese culture over the last 4 millennia had facilitated adoption of the concept of nation-state. The notion of a sovereign nation with its own identity had taken shape through these years. Hence, Vietnamese history is â€Å"the history of the constitution of the nation, with its clearly delineated territory, its own language, its specific culture, which needed to be protected against all external aggressions† (Nguyen 123). Although such traits do not lead to Communism as the form of government, it nevertheless leaves the field open for scientific political ideas to be applied. And Communism is one such ideology. Although invaded and occupied through the major part of its recent history, the Vietnamese managed to retain an identity that is uniquely theirs. The common threads that made this possible were the internal and foreign wars, coping with hostile natural elements, etc. During the onset of the 20th century, the country was much exploited and war ravaged. However, it was united and resolute. This proved the perfect climate for the Communist revolution that was to follow. And the conception by many historians that Vietnamese people did not possess a uniform social structure in order to form a national consciousness does not hold up. We will write a custom essay sample on Why did North Vietnam embrace Communism? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Why did North Vietnam embrace Communism? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Why did North Vietnam embrace Communism? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer After being subject to foreign invaders from time immemorial, the peasant assumed the role of the defender of his land. This elevated him to a warrior. If we look at precedents for Communist revolutions – Russia and China, we can see the undeniable part the populous peasantry played. They, in short, act as the backbone of such revolutions. â€Å"The revolutionary tradition, finding its expression through the continual resurgence of agrarian revolts, has taken root deeply in the very structure of Vietnamese society, as the hardships of the peasants became increasingly acute while they were increasingly deprived of their rice fields. During their fights, the peasants have acquired the knowledge of revolutionary methods, of what should be done in a revolutionary situation, and they have handed down this knowledge from generation to generation. The same process of peasant revolts has repeated itself throughout the centuries, under different forms and different historical circumstances.†(Nguyen 127) Adding to such a political climate was China’s never ending hostility towards Vietnam. It is in the policy of every traditional ruler to resist the invaders indefatigably. This antagonism helped form a sense of community among the struggling peasants, who were later to turn revolutionary. That such a concept could persist even after 10 centuries of Chinese occupation is quite remarkable indeed. A comprehensive research project carried out by the Institute of Archaeology describes Vietnamese history as â€Å"a brilliant civilization in the basin of the Red River, which developed unceasingly during the whole Bronze Age and climaxed in the Dong-son culture in the last millennium BC† (Kelley 69). This evidence of an endogenous culture helps explain the originality of the Vietnamese culture and their resistance to foreign invasions. The early decades of the twentieth century were the most tumultuous in the political history of Vietnam. This was a period of introspection and transition. The exploitative nature of the imperial economic systems â€Å"gave birth to new social forces, while aggravating the situation of the rural masses.† (Kelley 70) This combination of extreme poverty and the tradition of resistant peasantry set forth the endeavors that addressed these imbalances. The decisive moment of the national movement came with the founding of the communist party in February 1930. The party was based on sound scientific theory that had the potential to guide the popular masses in their struggle for liberation in a systematic and organized manner. The communist party would eventually seize power fifteen years after its inception. The party’s central committee brought forward â€Å"Theses on Vietnamese Culture† in the year 1943. This policy statement called for â€Å"a new culture possessing exclusively nationalistic, scientific, and mass traits† (Nguyen 128). All subsequent activities were measured by the magnitude to which such qualities were stimulated. Thus, the foundations were laid for the impending socialist revolution. The document contained the intellectual and cultural policy of the party. â€Å"Vietnamese communism was therefore a product both of the development of the social movement of the workers and the peasants, and of the extension of the national movement. In contrast with the bourgeois parties confined in their powerlessness and their contradictions, the communist movement was the only one to understand that the independence of the country was inseparable from a social and political solution to the misery of the peasant and laboring masses, and to know how to mobilize the vital forces of the nation into the service of the movement of national liberation by linking clearly the land problem to the national question.† (Nguyen 129) Another critical event in the Vietnamese communist movement was the Geneva Conference of 1954, which led to the Peace Accords. Accordingly, Vietnam was divided into two, north and south of the 17th parallel. China and Russia accepted this compromise, because they were jolted by the Korean War and did not want another confrontation with the United States so soon. Ho Chi Minh, though suspicious of American intentions, signed the accord. Meanwhile, Minh’s popularity was growing across the divide. It was becoming clear to the United States that if an election was conducted, Ho Chi Minh would easily win and thereby establish Communism. For this reason the US refused to reunify the country and created the Republic of South Vietnam, with Ngo Dinh Diem as its head. In fact, Ngo Dinh Diem2 was selected for no other reason than that he was anti-communist. The United States’ intervention further deepened when it started providing aid to South Vietnam. Diem made unsuported claims that his government was attacked by the Communists and compelled the United States to intervene3. This further escalated the combat operations from both sides. The atrocities of the Diem regime coincided with the ascendancy of the communist movement headed by Ho Chi Minh (Ruane 17). The Vietnamese Communist movement and the enigmatic leader Ho Chi Minh were intricately linked. Born in a small village Kim Lien in Nghe An Province in May 1890, Ho was the son of a poor Scholar from a peasant background. Minh’s early education was about the classical Confucian tradition. When he was in his late teens, he worked as a teacher and then went to Saigon to take a course in navigation. On successful completion, he joined a French ship crew as a kitchen assistant. The ship traveled across continents and this gave Minh a broad perspective of the world. In 1919, he tried unsuccessfully to meet President Woodrow Wilson at the Versailles Peace Conference, so that he could present a proposal. During this period, Minh was particularly impressed by Marxist-Leninist literature and this led to his becoming a member of the French Communist Party. He also read, wrote, and spoke widely on the difficulties ailing Indochina. In 1925, he formed the Revolutionary Youth League in Gua ngzhou. Here, he was involved in training Vietnamese cadres in revolutionary techniques. He incorporated the ideas of such leaders as Marx, Lenin, Sun Yat-Sen and Gandhi in his instructions. He published Duong Cach Menh (The Revolutionary Path) in 1926, which is regarded by many as a masterpiece on revolutionary methods. Later on, he also formed the Communist Youth League (Thanh Nien Cong San Doan). The league’s main activity was the printing and distribution of the journal Thanh Nien. The publication brought â€Å"communist theory into the Vietnamese independence movement† (Brigham). Ho Chi Minh had to flee to Moscow after the 1927 coup by Chiang Kai-shek as it led to the suppression of Communists in south China. Subsequently in December of the same year the Vietnamese Nationalist Party4 was formed in Hanoi. This is another landmark event in the communist movement. Its activists were largely students, factory workers and soldiers. The party received financial aid from the Chinese Nationalist Party. The party adopted putschist-style activities to unsettle and topple the French. Various uprisings by these independent groups were promptly crushed by the imperialist forces. These groups also suffered due to poor preparation and communication. Most notably, the Yen Bai uprising was a complete disaster. This resulted in the execution of most of the top leaders. The villages harboring party workers were also shelled and destroyed. At the beginning of 1930, there were actually three communist parties in French Indochina, all competing for the same members. The formation of Indochinese Communist Party urged the rest of the Thanh Nien members to transform the Communist Youth League into a full-fledged party – the Annam Communist Party. The Tan Viet Party members made a similar change by renaming their group the Indochinese Communist League (Dong Duong Cong San Lien Doan). These developments concerned the Comintern, which â€Å"issued a highly critical indictment of the factionalism in the Vietnamese revolutionary movement and urged the Vietnamese to form a united communist party† (Suter 352). Later, the Comintern leadership sent a message to Ho Chi Minh, asking him to make endeavors in unifying all the groups. Minh’s first action was a speech he delivered to the delegates from various factions. This meeting culminated in the formation of the unified Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP) or the Vie t Nam Cong San Dang. It was subsequently renamed Indochinese Communist Party, thus reclaiming the name of the first party of that name founded in 1929. Various community based organizations like unions, peasants’ associations, women’s associations, etc were to be organized under the banner of the new party. â€Å"Minh drew up a program of party objectives, which were approved by the conference. The main points included overthrow of the French; establishment of Vietnamese independence; establishment of a workers’, peasants’, and soldiers’ government; organization of a workers’ militia; cancellation of public debts; confiscation of means of production and their transfer to the proletarian government; distribution of French-owned lands to the peasants; suppression of taxes; establishment of an eight-hour work day; development of crafts and agriculture; institution of freedom of organization; and establishment of education for all.† (Suter 354) The founding of the Indochinese Communist Party came at a crucial phase in the country’s history. It coincided with the declining economic conditions and general civil unrest. Factory workers were going on strikes and wages were falling sharply. Due to the economic depression around the world rice exports came to a grinding halt. Of all those who suffered these conditions, the peasants were the most unfortunate. Adding to their woes were famines, floods and riots. In such an atmosphere the Communist ideology was perceived as a blessing. It brought hope amid all pervading gloom. The protracted U.S. led Vietnam War only consolidated the resolve of the Communist groups and further alienated the masses from the Diem regime. And when the United States finally withdrew its forces, it had already suffered heavy losses, human and economic. After the war, Vietnam became a Socialist Republic embracing Communism. Works Cited: Ambrose, Stephen E. â€Å"Trapped by Success: The Eisenhower Administration and Vietnam, 1953-61.† Foreign Affairs 72.n4 (Sept-Oct 1993): 160(2). Brigham, Robert K. â€Å"BattleField Vietnam: A Brief History.† Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved: 9th March 2006. â€Å"Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Movement.† U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved: 7th March 2006 Kelley, Liam. â€Å"Vietnam as a ‘domain of manifest civility’ (Van Hien chi Bang).† Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 34.1 (Feb 2003): 63(14). Nguyen The Anh. â€Å"Historical research in Vietnam: a tentative survey.† Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 26.n1 (March 1995): 121(12). Ruane, Kevin. â€Å"The USA in Asia Vietnam: America’s allies kept out and President Johnson wanted to concentrate on reform at home. So why did America let itself get sucked into an agonising war it could not win?.† Modern History Review 14.4 (April 2003): 13(4). Suter, Keith. â€Å"Vietnam: yesterday, today and tomorrow.† Contemporary Review 286.1673 (June 2005): 351(6). The evolution of Vietnamese culture over the last 4 millennia had facilitated adoption of the concept of nation-state. The notion of a sovereign nation with its own identity had taken shape through these years. Hence, Vietnamese history is â€Å"the history of the constitution of the nation, with its clearly delineated territory, its own language, its specific culture, which needed to be protected against all external aggressions† (Nguyen 123). Although such traits do not lead to Communism as the form of government, it nevertheless leaves the field open for scientific political ideas to be applied. And Communism is one such ideology. Although invaded and occupied through the major part of its recent history, the Vietnamese managed to retain an identity that is uniquely theirs. The common threads that made this possible were the internal and foreign wars, coping with hostile natural elements, etc. During the onset of the 20th century, the country was much exploited and war .

Skillstreaming free essay sample

Examines theory techniques of program teaching social skills to preschool kindergarten children. The value of developing positive social skills for students at all grade levels cannot be underestimated, as Elksnin and Elksnin maintain, social competence is related to peer acceptance, academic performance and career success. Even more significant, is that the lack of social skills is associated with mental health problems in later life and problems arising from a lack of them worsen over time. Skillstreaming is a technique used to develop prosocial skills in students, developed by Arnold P. Goldstein and Dr. Ellen McGinnis

How to Return a Value in JavaScript

How to Return a Value in JavaScript The best way to pass information back to code that called a function in JavaScript is to write the function so the values that are used by the function are passed to it as parameters and the function returns whatever value it needs to without using or updating any global variables. By limiting the way in which information is passed to and from functions, it is easier to reuse the same function from multiple places in the code. JavaScript Return Statement JavaScript provides for passing one value back to the code that called it after everything in the function that needs to run has finished running. JavaScript passes a value from a function back to the code that called it by using the return statement. The value to be returned is specified in the return. That value can be a  constant value, a variable, or a calculation where the result of the calculation is returned. For example: return 3;return xyz;return true;return x / y 27;​You can include multiple return statements into your function each of which returns a different value. In addition to returning the specified value the return statement also acts as an instruction to exit from the function at that point. Any code that follows the return statement will not be run.function num(x, y) {if (x ! y) {return false;}if (x 5) {return 5;}return x;} The above function shows how you control which return statement is run by using if statements. The value that is returned from a call to a function is the value of that function call. For example, with that function, you can set a variable to the value that is returned using the following code (which would set result to 5). var result num(3,3); The difference between functions and other variables is that the function has to be run in order to determine its value. When you need to access that value in multiple places in your code, it is more efficient to run the function once and assign the value returned to a variable. That variable is used in the rest of the calculations.

Malaria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Malaria - Essay Example According the research of Wolfe team, the parasite that infects chimpanzees is named as, P. reichenowi. This parasite is consisting of more genetic variability in comparison to those species which target humans. Generically, the older parasites demands more time to evolve variants; hence the diversification form of humans is far less as compared to the chimpanzees. After considering the detailed research on genomes, Stephen Rick found that the human malaria parasites are actually nested inside the parasites of chimpanzees. Meanwhile, the genetic data states P. falciparum as a mutated form of P. reichenowi. There are no such examples found either, which can relate the human malaria originated from a bird or a chicken other than chimpanzees. Stephen Rich’s theory also states that, a mosquito which feds on a chimp first and then on human, is apparently introducing the parasite into our lineage. The recent consistent observation declares that, malaria is less toxic on a chimp rath er than human. According to Stephen Rich, chimpanzees have been around longer than human hence; the host and parasite balance their relationship with each other having lots of time in hand. Greg Lanzaro states that, to solve this puzzle of origin, the malaria, human genetics, mosquito spreading malaria and the parasite should all be put together. Stephen Rich’s investigation of malaria affecting chimps and passing over to humans is still in process, through more genomes details. (Peeples, 2009) Malaria disease has been highlighted on the surface of the earth for over 4000 years ago. First, the Chinese medical writing illuminated the symptoms of malaria. These symptoms were characterized in Nei Ching, in 2700 BC. The Emperor Huang Ti was the editor of Nei Ching. The first recognition of malaria was done in Greece, during the 4th century BCE. It resulted in the decline of the population of several states

GOVT 480 Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GOVT 480 Final - Essay Example Today, international terrorism has become a major threat to the security of the United States. Domestic terrorism in the United States has been a big threat in the 20th century. The Los Angeles Times Building and the Wall Street bombing are examples of bombings that happened early in the 1920s. In the later 1990s, there was evidence of Unabomber attacks that used sophisticated technology. For instance, a mathematics professor Theodore was involved in the design of letter bombs that exploded on opening. However, the government has put enough efforts to disarm bombers and to contain the threat. The counter terrorism body has remained all eyes in containing domestic violence and has intercepted such actions with great efficiency. Clancy (2012), the deputy assistant director of the counter terrorism division stated that although the risk stills persists the public has little to worry as domestic violence is no longer a threat in America. However, the US government has a new problem to handle. In the recent past, the United States has had friction with hostile groups such as the Al-Qaeda, resulting into new threat of international terrorism. International terrorism is a greater reason to worry than domestic violence due to the severity of these attacks. For instance, in 11th September, 2011, the Al-Qaeda attacked the twin towers in United States killing over 3,000 citizens. Although various efforts have been launched to end the tension between US and Al-Qaeda, it is clear that there is likelihood of a revenge mission following the US involvement in the war in Iraq. The US president Barack Obama has put efforts to apply diplomacy in neutralizing the threat but since Al-Qaeda is a violent group, international terrorism remains a major threat whose solution is yet to be found (Clancy, 2012). On this ground, neutralizing domestic violence has been a great leg for America but the challenge of international terrorism is st ill

Ethics, as It Pertains to Information Technology Term Paper

Ethics, as It Pertains to Information Technology - Term Paper Example Ethics in information technology is a branch of philosophy that deals with how people should make decisions concerned with their professional conduct, when using information technology. Computers have dramatically changed information handling and communication, but have also caused ethical questions to be raised on standards that the users of information technology should uphold in order to be at par with the expectations from the society. The most theatrical abuse of computer technology is the rampant internet hackings of company websites and online theft of credit card numbers. Such cases are imperceptible, frequent and tied to everyday workings of ordinary, law abiding citizens and different situations are on the rise with great frequency due to computer hacking. Hacking is a situation where an individual referred to as a hacker, gains, or attempts to gain access to resources or services belonging to someone else from their computer databases, usually organizations or companies wi thout their prior authorization or awareness (Davis, Philipp and Cowen, 2005). Such activities lead to the disruption of services, loss of data as well as vandalism of data, software or even hardware resources. Hackers are motivated by a multitude of reasons, which include, getting profits, protests, or to gain recognition based on the enormity of the challenge. Hackers have different attitudes and aims. They use different terms to differentiate themselves from each other, or to exclude themselves from specific groups that they have disagreements with. Members of the computer underground should be referred to as crackers and not hackers. A cracker is someone who gains unauthorized access to a computer in order to commit crimes such as information theft. The amount of data and its confidentiality amplifies the concerns that are raised over information technology ethics, and why they should be maintained. Organizations are then forced to device come up with ethical standards that will guide their employees conduct while at the same time ensuring that they remain within the bounds of acceptable public ethics. However, there has been a disregard of societal ethics where companies have employed espionage tactics over rival companies to gain unfair competitive advantage by hacking into their information systems or purchasing information from hackers. In other cases, inquisitive minors have done hacking using a computer and an internet connection. A good example is that of a juvenile who, in March of 1997, sent a couple of computer commands from his personal computer effectively and disabled a telephone company services that was serving an airport in the United States. Such actions have drawn major attention from security agencies such as the F.B.I, and they have made fighting computer hacking be one of their priorities. In the recent past, there has been an accelerated increase in the number of organized hacker groups all over the world. Such groups gather occasiona lly in conventions such as DEF CON, HoHoCon, and SummerCon and such conventions provide information and a means to learn from other members. Hackers also gain credibility by affiliating themselves to elite hacker organizations. Public interest groups such as the computer Ethics Institute have been in the frontline in trying to lay down the ethical standards that computer users should uphold. Various security agencies have highly prioritized cases of hacking to the extent of setting up a

Child prostitution in foreign countries

Child prostitution in foreign countries Prostitution refers to the act or practice of offering sexual services to another person in return for payment or other favors. Prostitution is illegal in most countries of the world but is still legal in some countries. Different countries treat prostitution and prostitutes differently and the legality of prostitution activities varies from country to country. In some countries, the governments prohibit prostitution and punish all people caught involved in these activities. In other countries, the governments are committed to abolish prostitution. Some allow prostitution but regulate its activities while in some other countries, there is decriminalization of prostitution and people carry out prostitution activities just like any other job. In any of these cases, prostitution is a crime and is associated with other crimes. Like any other form of prostitution, child prostitution is common in the world and children mostly enter into this business because they are forced by circumstance s or people especially their parents or guardians. Child Sex tourism is also common. In this type of tourism, tourists engage minors of the country they visit in sexual activity. People also traffic children across international borders for purposes of sexual exploitation. Both Child trafficking and sex tourism contribute to child prostitution in foreign countries. About 900, 000 children are trafficked across international borders each year and people hold them in brothels or in other places for sexual exploitation. The problem of sex servitude affects both male and female children. People prefer to practice child prostitution in foreign countries for various reasons. Child prostitution is a world problem that requires both national and international attention. Many factors lead to child prostitution in many countries of the world. These include misery, poverty, unemployment of either the child or the parent, human trafficking, dysfunctional family environment, deception, poor education, AIDS scare, drug abuse and addiction, incest, rape, early exposure of children to sexual activities, and internet. Some governments also use child prostitution through sex tourism to promote tourism thus gain foreign exchange. They do this either directly or indirectly. These governments are those that are struggling economically. They usually assume acts of child prostitution and thus allow this evil act to attract more tourists and boost their tourism industry. Internet and child pornography serves as a major marketing tool that promotes child prostitution. People post on websites the experiences about child sex in different places and the costs involved. They also share child pornography through such websites thus encouraging not only child sex tourism b ut also child trafficking for sexual purposes. Poverty ranks high as a major factor that forces children to be prostitutes. This is common in poor countries affected by poor economies and wavering politics. In this situation, voluntarily becomes prostitutes or their parents force them into prostitution to provide financial needs of the family. This is common in most developing countries. Lack of viable sources to support the rising needs of people in these countries makes the children vulnerable to such exploitation. The families in poverty-stricken areas also become easy targets for procurement agents who are seeking for children to sell them into sexual slavery in brothels or various homes in the world. Child labor in poverty-stricken areas also exposes the children to prostitution. When parents or other agents send children to streets to hawk items, they expose their children, especially female children, to sexual harassment and rape. Human trafficking and deception are other factors that cause child prostitution especially in foreign countries. Human trafficking is a criminal activity in which some people purport to send teenagers to foreign countries to work but end up becoming prostitutes in their new destinations. Some brothel owners or procurement agents sometimes deceive parents by paying them money and promising them that their children will work in domestic chores but these children end up in prostitution. The brothel owners control the childs activities and do everything they can to maintain those who help them earn a lot of money. Sometimes hard times hit and these children are deported back to their countries where they continue with their prostitution activities. Dysfunctional family environments also play an important role in forcing children into prostitution. Such children do not get sufficient parental care and wander around looking for places to find solace. Such children end up in night discos and in other places, which expose them to early involvement in sexual activities. In the end, these children end up trading on their own bodies in order to support themselves. Incest and rape generally changes the childrens outlook in life and make some children to give room for prostitution. Some children become rebellious and defiant of the instructions given by their parents and feel independent. They demand for freedom to do what they want with their bodies. This leads most of them into prostitution. Drug abuse by these children also aggravates the problem by subjecting the children to prostitution and making them compromise situations they cannot when they are in their sound mind. Some children also engage in prostitution due to pleasure and continue in it because of the pleasure they derive from these acts. Criminals organize the sex industry in the world and use children in prostitution for their own gain. The demand of young girls and boys in some countries also contributes to the growth of this problem as more children face trafficking to work in foreign countries as sex slaves. The increasing demand of foreign sex in many people aggravates this problem. Some customers also fear sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS and thus engage children in prostitution believing that they are of low risk. Poor law enforcement in other countries also aggravates this problem. Child prostitution is common in virtually all countries of the world. Pimps, brothels and other criminal networks collaborate to traffic about 900, 000 children across borders for sexual exploitation and servitude every year. This is not only the problem of poor countries but it is common even in rich and developed countries. Sex tourism also combines with child trafficking to make this lucrative business of child prostitution to flourish. People usually employ networks of small groups to carry out activities like recruitment, transportation, advertising and retail of trafficked children for the purposes of sex exploitation in foreign countries. These groups often achieve major success because they require little capital to start up and prosecution by the countries involved is relatively rare. The major sources and destinations of sex tourism and child trafficking for sexual exploitation in foreign countries include Thailand, Japan, Israel, China, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, Netherla nds, Nigeria, Italy, Brazil and Ukraine among others. Of these countries, Thailand and Brazil are the leading in perpetuating the business of child prostitution. Even though prostitution and child sex exploitation is illegal in Brazil, from 200, 000 to 2 million children aged between eight and sixteen years are forced into prostitution in this country (Charles, 2010). The children involved in prostitution face many challenges and there are many effects associated with this child prostitution. Mostly, the pimps and brothel operators direct the activities of these children and they do not give them freedom of choice. This makes the children to work against their wishes. They also rarely give these children rest from their work. The pimps also give the children little food and this coupled with the high amount of work they do makes these children weak and sometimes may lead to death of the children. Child prostitution is also economically unsound and causes the child moral and physical harm as well as psychological trauma. Those who use children in prostitution activities usually do not well address their health issues. The children also risk attack from many sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, syphilis, meningitis, anemia, tuberculosis, and others. This further weakens the health of these children and some lead to their death. Because child prostitution is an illegal business, some brothel owners or pimps fear taking the children to hospitals for treatment or regular checkups. In case they suspect a disease in any of the children, these brothel owners employ quark doctors who sometimes prescribe wrong medication for these children. As a result, the children live with a load of diseases and other health disorders, which give them problems throughout their lives. Such children especially girls are forced to enter into early child bearing and sometimes, family responsibilities. This makes those schooling to drop out of school and thus become less equipped for the labor market (Ringold, 2000). The gi rls used in child prostitution are forces to carry out frequent abortions. Unqualified doctors who also use poor methods and equipment in wrong environments often carry out these abortions. This further endangers the life of the child and deteriorates the childs health. Child prostitution also causes a lot of psychological and emotional stress to the children involved in these practices. Children in this case lose their self-esteem and give up in life. Some of the children get permanent physical damage, which they unwillingly live with. Such children do not have any confidence to engage in any other work except crime related jobs. Child prostitution is also associated with other crimes like drug trafficking and abortions. The more they get involved in other crimes, the more their morals deteriorate. They live in constant fear of raids by people and the police. Thailand has the worst record of child prostitution in the world. Even though prostitution is illegal in this country, it still takes place publicly or privately and sometimes the government regulates it. Large international criminal syndicates traffic children from other countries to Thailand and/or sends some children to other countries to work as prostitutes. Sex tourism in Thailand also contributes substantially to the problem of child prostitution. People coerce children from the age of 10 years into prostitution or some parents sell their own children into sex slavery knowingly or unknowingly. (Sorajjakool, 2003; Pusurinkham, n.d.). Poverty plays a major role in engaging minors into prostitution in Thailand. The children used in prostitution in this country come from Burma, Cambodia, Laos, China, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Thailand also traffics children to Japan, Malaysia, Australia, Europe, Canada, South Africa, Singapore and Bahrain for sexual exploitation. The children are kep t in brothels, which are sometimes surrounded by electric fence thus making it hard for the children to escape. Pimps give the girls harsh treatment and brutally beat those who are not cooperative sometimes to death. Ending child prostitution in Thailand has been a challenge because of lack of commitment from most of the stakeholders and the Thai government. Currently, having sex with girls below fifteen years of age is illegal under Thai law. However, child prostitution still exists in Thailand due to corruption of the government and political leaders. This issue makes the government and political systems to overlook or minimize the problem of child prostitution. The offenders often bribe police officers and politicians to protect them against prosecution. Even though this is the case, the government is striving to do away with child prostitution. It is doing this in association with nongovernmental organizations and other international organizations. The concern is to end sex tourism in Thailand and prevent child trafficking both into and out of the country for purposes of sexual exploitation and servitude. Brazil, China, Nigeria and Zimbabwe also have notable cases of child prostitution in foreign countries. These are destinations for child trafficking as well as sources of children trafficked to other countries for sexual exploitation. Sex tourists also find these destinations appropriate for their activities. Child prostitution in most countries of the world is illegal but still there are many instances of child sex molestation. Most governments are committed to end this problem of child prostitution both in their countries and in foreign countries. There are also many of non-governmental organizations and international organizations involved in reducing the practices of child prostitution in the world. These organizations include End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Tourism Organization, and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) among many other international, regional and national organizations. ECPAT is an international organization based in Thailand. This organization was founded in 1991 with the goal of eradicating child prostitution in the world. The organizations plan is to persuade governments to enact laws to protect children against both local and international prostitution. After the governments have enacted these laws, ECPAT then ensures that these governments enforce these laws. The organization also persuades parents through their local leaders not to sell their children into prostitution (Hancock, n.d). It also discourages sex tourism and convinces governments to accept extra-territorial laws that allow prosecution of foreign citizens who sexually abuse minors in the country where they commit the offence. This means that sex tourists who use children in any foreign country will face judgment in the country where they commit the crime while they are on their tour. Some other human rights organizations gives information to parents in poor, rural areas about the tr ibulations and molestations the children go through in the places they sell them. They do this by use of photos, videos, and/or radios. This is what takes place in Thailand. UNICEF is a United Nations organization concerned with the welfare of children. The organization works in many countries to help vulnerable children grow to early adulthood without many avoidable problems. The organization sometimes works with other NGOs in some countries to help it achieve its goals. UNICEF through its conventions sets principles and guidelines for countries to follow in combating child prostitution. The organization then asks and helps countries to commit to their action plans in protecting children. They do this regionally or in individual countries. For example, UNICEFs second World Congress against Commercial Exploitation of Children set out guidelines and some countries made commitments to develop national plans of action against commercial sexual exploitation of children. A number of countries in the Eastern and Central African region made commitments to this strategy. These countries include Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles, South A frica, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Angola (UNICEF, 2001). Many of these countries face the problem of child prostitution both in the local countries and in foreign countries. Taking an example of Kenya, this country committed itself to the development of a national plan of action on commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Through this commitment, the country has formulated policies, programs and activities to help it to achieve the goal (UNICEF, 2001). This has made the country to engage NGOs in the fight against child molestation and sexual exploitation. The NGOs have involved children in the production of drama on child sexual abuse to raise awareness about this issue. The country has also formed the children department in one of its ministries to protect children. The new constitution of that country has comprehensively covered and clearly outlined the rights of children. The countrys government with the help of children rights groups has established strong regional co-operation with other countries. This is helping in checking child prostitution in foreign countries in this region and the world at large. In conclusion, child prostitution is a common problem in many countries of the world. In this practice, the children engage in sexual activity for monetary gain especially by the adults who either are their parents or their caretakers. Some children enter into prostitution due to the hard situations they face while others ere sold into sexual servitude by their parents either consciously or unconsciously. Child prostitution in foreign countries is also a common practice. People do this through sex tourism and child trafficking. Most people practice child prostitution in foreign countries either because they want to avoid the laws of their countries by breaking law in foreign countries or because they misunderstand the people of the countries that they visit. Child prostitution is a multi billion business in the world that leads to wastage of many childrens lives. In some countries, cultural practices contribute to the involvement of children in prostitution. Large and small criminal groups arrange for Trans boundary transfer of children and clients involved in child prostitution. Even though many human rights groups are against this immoral behavior, some governments have not fully committed themselves to eradicating this problem from their countries. Still there is much demand of foreign children for sex in some countries making the business of child trafficking and sex tourism to flourish. In whichever the case, children prostitution is a criminal offence and all people and especially governments need to fight to eradicate this problem from the society.

The Darkness and Lightness of Choices :: Essays Papers

The Darkness and Lightness of Choices James Joyce has used his writing of Dubliners to clearly represent the aspects of the real life happenings in Ireland. In his writings, he uses many techniques that allow his audience to find constant themes. In stories such as â€Å"A Little Cloud† and â€Å"The Dead† these themes allow the audience to grasp Joyce’s reasoning and hard message to the Irish people. In Joyce’s Dubliners the light and darkness of the story reflects choices made by the characters. In â€Å"A Little Cloud†, the main character, Little Chandler, chooses to have a wife, and lead a responsible, family oriented life. This is a distinct reflection of a â€Å"light† in his life. â€Å"A little lamp with a white china shade stood upon the table and its light fell over a photograph which was enclosed in a frame of crumpled horn.† (78) Joyce uses the concept of light, when images of Little Chandler’s wife are present in the story. This is another symbolic message presented by Joyce. â€Å"Why had he married the eyes in the photograph?†( 78). The idea of family is important to Chandler, but he begins to question its value upon a visit from his old friend. Like in many other stories by Joyce, light represents something important and good that go hand in hand with the choices made. In this narration, the wife represents a life of success, a success that is achieved through responsible decisions and dedication. In a similar instance, the wife in â€Å"The Dead† also represents similar ideas. Even though Gretta had had a rocky past and demonstrates darkness, her choice to marry Gabriel is another image of light. During the process of the story, many secrets from the past are revealed about Gretta’s past. After listening to the songs of the evening Gretta’s character is portrayed as a very sad women. There was grace and mystery in her attitude as if she were a symbol of something. He asked himself what is a woman standing on the stairs in the shadow, listening to distant music, a symbol of.

Beginning The Audit Report Essay

Thank you for choosing Team D Auditing for your audit needs. This letter is to inform you on how we plan to begin the audit process for your company. We will be performing an audit on the financial statements for Apollo Shoes for the year ended December 31, 2007 in order to provide reasonable assurance that the statements are presented fairly and are presented in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Arens, Elder, & Beasley, 2012). We will begin the audit by reviewing the statements as well as your organizational charts and the prior five years of federal income tax returns. After careful review of all documentation, we will review risks so that we can identify any potential risks and can draft the audit plan (Arens et al., 2012). We will then ask to meet with management to determine the scope of the audit and answer any questions that management may have. After the meeting, we will finalize the audit plan and begin our fieldwork. Our field time will be spent speaking with staff members and management, reviewing documentation such as policy and procedure manuals, learning about the business, and performing tests. We will be testing internal controls, ensuring the business is in compliance with applicable financial regulations, and testing the materiality of the financial statements (Arens et al., 2012). We will be holding scheduled meetings with staff and management and hope that we will have full cooperation. We will try to interrupt the business as little as possible. Our fee schedule will be based upon the total time spent on each stage of the audit and we will be submitting invoices along the way. Our preliminary estimation of cost is $200,000 and we will notify you immediately of any changes that could exceed that estimation. Our formal engagement letter,  preliminary engagement checklist, and preliminary time frame estimate with audit milestones are included in the appendices for your review. References American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. (2014). General Audit Engagement Checklist. Retrieved from http://www.aicpa.org/interestareas/peerreview/resources/peerreviewprogrammanual/2013/downloadabledocuments/20400-gen-audit-check-interimguidance.pdf Arens, A. A., Elder, R. J., & Beasley, M. S. (2012). Auditing and assurance services: An integrated approach (14th ed.). New York, NY: Perason/Prentice Hall. Becker Professional Education/CPA Review (2014) Audit Reports; Devry/Becker Educational Development Corp. Boynton, W. C. (2006). Modern Auditing (8th ed.). Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Louwers, T. R. (2007). Apollo Shoes, InC. Auditing and Assurance Services. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. (2014). Auditing Standard No. 16. Retrieved from http://pcaobus.org/Standards/Auditing/Pages/Auditing_Standard_16_Appendix_C.aspx Raspante, J. F. & Vono, S. (2014). Engagement letters for the individual tax practitioner. Journal of Accountan cy, retrieved from: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2014/Jan/20137591.htm This letter is to confirm the agreement and to discuss the objectives for the  audit of Apollo Shoes, Inc. financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2007. We will be auditing the balance sheet, income statement, statement of retained earnings and cash flow. The financial statements and the effectiveness of the internal control is responsibility of management (Becker CPA Review, 2014). I want to clarify that we have to have an understanding of the company and the internal control in order to provide an opinion. Although an audit should provide reasonable assurance about that the financial statement are free of material misstatement we cannot provide absolutely assurance due to inherent limitation in the internal control (Becker CPA Review, 2014). We request that the company can provide us with adequate evidence necessary to perform the audit. It is critical that we have access to information and files including the minutes, besides to be able to inquire personnel and the observation of procedures as necessary. We have the responsibility that if a material weakness and or a significant deficiency are discovered in the performance of the audit, it should be communicated to the audit committee in writing (PCAOB, 2014). The management is also responsible to adjust the financial statements to correct material misstatements found during the audit; if the correction are not done because they are immaterial, it should be stated as part of the representation letter were management is confirming their responsibilities during the audit (PCAOB, 2014). Our out of pocket expenses and fees are estimating in $200,000, which covers the hours spent during the audit. If anything may affect this estimate we will let you know. Our fees are due when we complete the audit (Raspante & Vono, 2014). We are very enthusiastic to be your new auditors and we hope to fulfill your expectations. If you agree with this agreement, please sign in the space provided; keep a copy for your records and return us the original signed. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. October 29, 2007: Received accounting procedures manual from Karina Ramirez for fieldwork (Louwers, 2007, p. 32). January 7, 2007: Prepare working papers for Board Minutes of important events and transactions during the past year. Make notes in the audit working papers of matters relevant for the auditor for the 2007 financial statements. Use the reference ‘GA-3’ with the following headings and information in a table format: Information Relevant to 2007 and Audit Auction Recommended (Louwers, 2007, p. 36). January 3, 2008: selection by audit committee of Anderson, Olds, & Watershed as auditors ratified (Louwers, 2007, p. 39). January 3, 2008: $750,000 fee was approved for the 2007 audit (p. 36); January 8, 2008: Received Apollo’s 2007 year-end trial balance, along with 2006 audited trial balance (p. 40). January 8, 2008: Create 3 spreadsheets for a 2 year comparative balance sheet, income statements, and statement of cash flows (p. 40). January 9, 2008: Perform pr eliminary analytical procedures on the financial statements. This includes calculating common-size financial  statements and dollar amount, and percent changes—use recent spreadsheet created for comparative statements; calculate financial ratios with common stock at $24 million in current and prior periods; Compare Apollo’s numbers with closest competitors, such as Nike and Rebook at EDGAR for industry averages; write a brief memo highlighting potential problem areas with calculations (p. 43). January 9, 2008: Write a brief memo (GA-4) highlighting what you believe are potential problem areas. Include calculations to support (GA-4-1, GA-4-2, etc. (p. 43). January 9, 2008: Prepair a memo (GA-5) addressing materiality for Apollo Shoes. The workpaper documents must be following GAAP. Address the following: 1. Briefly describe indepdendent auditors concept of materiality; 2. Describe some commone relationships and other considerations used by auditors when assessing the dollar amount considered matieral. What are some common measures of materiality with respect to income, sales, and toal assets? 3. Based on professional judgement, determine an amount you consider to be a minimum material misstatement for Apollo Shoes and justify your recommendation in your memo (p. 45). January 10, 2008: Write a memo (GA-6) addressing the potential for fraud for Apollo shoes. This should include SAS 99 fraud guidance addressing the following: 1. Have you noticed any ‘red flags’ in either the minutes or analytical procedures so far? 2. Address fraud risk in general terms: types of risk (improper revenue recognition), significance of risk, likelihood of risk, pervasiveness or risk centralized to one function of or individual or is it throughout the organization? 3. How might fraud be perpetrated or concealed in the entity; 4. Suggest ways we might alter our audit approach to address the potential for fraud, such as assignment of personnel, predictability of auditing procedures, and examination of journal entries and other adjustments; Continued for memo—what we’ll need to get together with the entire audit team for brainstorming session next week. January 10, 2008: AOW was informed of the Apollo’s mid-year computer installation. How will the computer processing, for the last two quarters’ transaction affect our audit this year? How will we use our new laptops for the Apollo engagement? For example, correspondence, memos, auditing working papers, prepared and maintained on the new laptops (p. 46).

Essay Editing Service

Essay Editing Service Essay Editing Service The life of modern students is very busy. In addition to studying, non-academic activities, and working, modern students manage to find time for friends, parties, and other fun activities. Nevertheless, as studying becomes more and more pressing, students are forced to pay more attention to their homework assignments. The result is the opposite though: the more homework students get, the less time they have to devote to every assignment. How can you avoid this dilemma? Try professional essay editing service:http://.com/blog/online-essay-editing Professional Editing Service When you order professional essay editing service at our site, you get the following services: Content editing Our professional editor fine-tunes your essay for content requirements by answering the following questions: Has the student done everything required in the assignment? Are all statements logical and consistent? Are all statements supported with evidence? Is all data relevant to the assignment goals? Paragraph editing Our professional editor pays attention to the following aspects of your essay: Is there introduction and conclusion? Is thesis statement present? Is there logical arrangement/transition between the paragraphs? Is there a topic sentence in each paragraph? Sentence editing Our professional editor asks the following questions while editing sentences: Is every sentence logical and clear? Is the tense of verbs maintained consistently? Are there wordy or repetitive sentence? Does each sentence express the complete idea? Essay Editors Qualifications Undoubtedly, one of the most important concerns you have is related to the qualifications of our editors. We understand your concern and hire only the most successful editors. Thus, when you use our professional editing service, you can be sure that your essay is edited by truly experienced, qualified, and talented editor. Our professional essay editors are online 24/7 to assist you with making your written assignment perfect! We know how to turn your written essay into a masterpiece. Read also: Buying Essay Autobiographical Essays Writing a Rhetorical Analysis Writing a Critical Essay Synthesis Writing Steps

Introduction to the JavaScript If Statement

Introduction to the JavaScript If Statement The JavaScript if statement performs an action based on a condition, a common scenario in all programming languages.The if statement tests a bit of data against a condition, and then specifies some code to be executed if the condition is true, like so: if condition {  Ã‚  Ã‚   execute this code} The if statement is almost always paired with the else statement because usually, you want to define an alternative bit of code to execute. Lets consider an example: if (Stephen name) {      message Welcome back Stephen;} else {      message Welcome name;} This code returns Welcome back Stephen if name is equal to Stephen; otherwise, it returns Welcome and then whatever value the variable name contains. A Shorter IF Statement JavaScript provides us with an alternative way of writing an if statement when both the true and false conditions  just assign different values to the same variable. This shorter way omits the keyword if as well as the braces around the blocks (which are optional for single statements). We also move the value that we are setting in both the true and false conditions to the front of our single statement and embed this new style of if statement into the statement itself.   Heres how this looks: variable (condition) ? true-value : false-value; So our if statement from above could be written all in one line as: message (Stephen name) ? Welcome back Stephen : Welcome name; As far as JavaScript is concerned, this one statement is identical to the longer code from above. The only difference is that writing the statement this way actually provides JavaScript with more information about what the if statement is doing. The code can run more efficiently than if we wrote it the longer and more readable way. This is also called a ternary operator. Assigning Multiple Values to a Single Variable This way of coding an if statement can help avoid verbose code, particularly in nested if statements. For example, consider this set of nested if/else statements: var answer;if (a b) {   if (a c) {      answer all are equal;   } else {      answer a and b are equal;   }} else {   if (a c) {      answer a and c are equal;   } else {      if (b c) {         answer b and c are equal;      } else {         answer all are different;      }   }} This code assigns one of five possible values to a single variable. Using this alternative notation, we can considerably shorten this into just one statement that incorporates all of the conditions: var answer (a b) ? ((a c) ? all are equal :a and b are equal) : (a c) ? a and c are equal : (b c) ?b and c are equal : all are different; Note that this notation can be used only when all the different conditions being tested are assigning different values to the same variable.

The Judiciary role in the Criminal Justice System Term Paper

The Judiciary role in the Criminal Justice System - Term Paper Example The criminal justice system is comprised of three major components that work together in tandem to see the criminal justice process through from beginning to end (Torres, eHow.com). The three major components in the criminal justice system are: 1) the law enforcement, 2) the courts, and 3) the corrections. The law enforcement component is considered the head of the system since its divisions are the ones responsible for finding and capturing individuals who defies the constitution. The judiciary comes in next as they make sure that offenders or suspects are given fair trial until proven guilty. They are the ones who balance the evidences submitted by the prosecution and defense for their own arguments. They are the ones who face the dilemma on deciding the verdict for certain circumstances. â€Å"In the courtroom judges have a vital role in creating a forum where those finding themselves in the justice system recognize the Court provides the framework within which individuals will g et protection, redress and resolution of disputes and conflicts that cannot be effectively and peacefully settled elsewhere.† It is also said that the judiciary's foremost role as the third branch of the government is to defend and uphold the United States Constitution and assure the rule of law prevails (Ladner, 2000). The judiciary’s role in the criminal justice system is to be fair, firm and calm. Fair because they will be hearing 2 sides of a story which they need to decide who is telling the truth. They should be unbiased and not let their emotions dictate what they should think towards certain issues. Everybody should be treated equally. Sometimes amongst all the factors that are present, the emotional factor is the one that affects the fairness of a judge which should not be the case. This is where the judges or jurors should be firm on their decisions. They should disregard their emotions and be firm on their decision. This should be done so that they can uphold what is in the constitution and not give verdicts that are just dictated by one’s emotions or gut feel. Calmness should also be present so that information would be properly presented and discussed. The judiciary makes sure that the constitution is being implemented correctly. The constitution is not to be used to abuse anybody or to be violated by anyone. Seems to be easy yet it is a tough job. There are certain people who believe that they are above the law. The judiciary system is the one who put their egos back to the ground and make them realize that they are not above the law. A member of the judiciary should always be like Themis, the Roman goddess of Justice, blindfolded so that political or class status of the people involved in a trial cannot affect the decisions made. In addition, equality should be strictly practiced as symbolized by the scales that the statue is holding. Let the facts that are presented be the ones put on the scale to judge whether one is guilty or not. It is not the role of the judiciary to be on one side against the other. Upholding the constitution is believed to be the primary role of the judiciary. Reform starts in the judiciary. It may convict or acquit suspects from the most celebrated cases to the simplest ones. Yet the main role remains the same which is making sure that what has been written by law should be followed by

Construction Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Construction Marketing - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that some of the similarities between the marketing processes used by construction companies and companies selling consumer goods would be the structured process of strategic marketing followed, the approach to branding, profits and pricing strategies used, segmentation and differentiation of customers and understanding customer needs. Understanding customer needs and experiences would be related to marketing orientation and both the construction companies and consumer goods companies would be focused on providing the best services to the customer. Within the construction marketing framework and the consumer marketing framework, there is a need for delineating company vision, customer segmentation, and focus, benchmarking and identifying distribution channels. The construction and consumer goods companies also go through the process of external audit or market research and market analysis along with competitor analysis as well to understand the marketing processes and dynamics of business. Construction and consumer goods are marketed in accordance with an analysis of processes, profit margins, organizations, product life cycles, as well as strategic plans such as branding and market re-engineering. All these processes of strategic marketing, market orientation, customer focus, benchmarking, distribution and following company vision seem to be the similarities identified between construction marketing and consumer goods marketing. Strict monitoring and control, quality and customer services improvement are also some of the similar marketing objectives. This would bring us to the differences in marketing between the two types of products and the related companies. The construction companies will have to specifically focus on the economic conditions, market orientation, and business cycles as for such companies, business seems to follow a pattern. The staff recruitment and retention strategies, relationship marketing, an d budgeting methods would differ from that of companies selling consumer products. Thus even if the basic approach to marketing does not change between the two types, the elements of marketing seem to differ between construction marketing and consumer goods marketing. This is exemplified by a study in which the influence of marketing policies is seen on corporate performance. Bennett studied 119 businesses in the UK construction industry and suggested that firms that adopted a long-term approach to marketing management tended to attain superior performance. Although short-term approaches are more common. The study showed that the construction industry responds in a certain way to the market conditions. Unlike most consumer goods companies, marketing in this case is long-term whereas for consumer goods, marketing approaches are based on short-term goals and targets. Instead of mission and long-term vision followed by construction companies, consumer goods companies are focused on sho rt-term goals and objectives. Construction marketing is more directly based on the concept of relationship marketing than consumer goods marketing as building trust with long-term customers would be the primary tool for success in any construction endeavor. It has been found that the level of marketing orientation is rather low in the construction industry and in this industry, unlike the consumer goods industry, marketing strategies are developed and followed with only superficial knowledge of the marketing process. The consumer goods industry seems to be more well versed on the dynamics of marketing strategies used than the construction industry.

Explaining the role of Analytical Review Procedures in the audit of Essay

Explaining the role of Analytical Review Procedures in the audit of financial statements - Essay Example These include the use of analytical review procedures. In this paper, we will specifically focus on analytical review procedures; define what they are, examine their role in the process of financial audit, highlight examples and lastly give their merits and demerits. Analytical review procedures or techniques can be generally be defined as the most important and valuable tools of trade an auditor possesses. Specifically, they can be defined as vital processes auditors use to give a precise evaluation of financial data presented to them by a business client. They are used to offer a comprehensive review of business financial information. This is through the analysis of relationships that exist between the business’s financial and nonfinancial data (Rodgers, 2012:45). The primary role of analytical review procedures is to act as an early warning to the business under audit review. This means the primary role of these procedures is to identify risks, which are inherent and specific to the business. These risks are identified throughout the audit process, but mostly in the first stage of an audit process, referred to as the risk assessment procedure (Rodgers, 2012:56). The audit process normally has three stages. The other two stages involved are the substantive analytical procedures stage and the final analytical procedures stage (Johnstone, 2013:30). In all the three audit stages, analytical review procedures are used. In order for analytical review procedures to be effective in any audit process, they need to follow certain guidelines and best practices. These include being able to give a determination of the trends that are useful to the business and developing sensible relationships derived from historical operations of the business that will serve as guidelines in identifying future changes. Examples of these analytical procedures include the comparison of business revenue for a period of ten years and the

Communication and Ethical Issues Summary Essay Example for Free

Communication and Ethical Issues Summary Essay The first example of the SWAT Team raiding a suspected meth house showed no ethics at all. The officers probably assumed no one was home since they pulled over their suspect away from his home, When they see a man coming down the stairs they should have noticed a golf club un his hand not a gun. The use of their power in this case was not justified even if he resisted non of the officers would have been hurt by the helmet and body armor they wear. Their use of power was unjustified (Balko, 2013). The second example where a homeless man is carrying a knife and would not drop it was shot. It was legal for him to have and carry the knife and if a bystander has to ask a police officer why he shot him tells me that he was not doing anything threatening with the knife. He was shot because he did not drop it. This is the shortcomings of the officer culture of leadership in his department because the officer was cleared of any wrong doing. His use of power was unjustified (Balko, 2013). The third example is where the police raid a recording studio thinking there are a large quantity of drugs located there. They only find personal consumption quantity and they try to decide what equipment in the recording studio they will take on asset forfeiture grounds. The police conversations were recorded because the equipment was left on when they raided the home. This is clearly an ethical problem within their agency with the leadership and the culture they have developed. Their use of power was unjustified (Balko, 2013). When you see your own leadership in your own agency does things that are not quite by the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), it can give you the understanding that if you copy what they do or their wrong you would be justified. The author of this paper watched a correctional sergeant spray a can of pepper spray into a cell just to mess with the inmate that was inside, no other reason. An investigation  was held and the sergeant was given a verbal reprimand. The officers who worked directly for this sergeant also felt that if they broke the SOP, this sergeant would have their back and help in justifying their actions like not pulling inmates out of their cells for showers during their shower time, purposely dropping their food trays on the floor or spitting in their food. This action happens and in the report that is turned in it gets justified by that sergeant signing off on the action. Reference Balko, R. (2013, September 10). Radley Balko on the 3 Worst Cases of Police Abuse in 2011 [Video file]. Retrieved from University of Phoenix Media Library website: https://portal.phoenix.edu/medialibrary/videodetails.05V110608001512139.html

Theme of Self Confidence in Literature Essay -- Literature Theme Analy

Theme of Self Confidence in Literature Spirit of self shows self confidence. In the stories of "The Life of a Slave" by: Frederick Douglass and "The Invisible Man" (The Narrator, The Battle Royale) by: Ralph Ellison with shorts stories of Black Elk Speaks (High Horse, Crazy Horse and Pipe Boyhood) Translated by: Jim Neidhardt all have characteristics of self confidence. Self Confidence comes from the spirit of self which is the belief of what you have, the essence that keeps you going and the ability to persevere when others do not. These stories contain a narrator and a story of their past experiences. In Black Elk Speaks, several of his short stories (Crazy Horse, Early Boyhood and The Offering of the Pipe) tells us about Black Elks experience as a Native American and how his Native tribe has gone through a lot to fight against their enemy, the wasichus. They've been fighting for their right, their freedom except in the offering of the pipe, he tells the story of how a beautiful lady gave a pipe to the chief and it co ntains nothing but good coming out of it. Another short story called "High Horse Courting" is about how High Horse is deeply in love with a beautiful Native American and to get the girl in any possible way. "The Life of a Slave" is about the life of Frederick Douglass and how Mr. Covey treats him as a slave when he is young. Lastly, the Narrator from the "Battle Royale" is about the Narrator wanting to achieve his dream to orate his speech to the people and get a scholarship to a college where he achieves his dream for his future, but first he is told to fight in a ring with a bunch of strong, tall people being blindfold and win in order to get his wish. All of these stories contain characteristics which h... ...he definition of Spirit of Self. These stories show perseverance, a belief of purpose. They show Self Confidence, belief of yourself and your own abilities and Lastly, they show essence, to characterize or identify something. These characteristics all achieves their dream and never wanting to stop. There are people in the world try to stop on what you want to do in life but their soul, mind and imagination; they drive to be where they want to be. Its not all about having everything in the world nor having money and success that a certain person don't deserve. Its about you gaining your goal, achieving your dream and drive to get where you want to be. That's how Spirit of Self concludes. It'll always remain its placed definition: the belief of self confidence you have in you, your essence that keeps you going in the world and the ability to persevere when others don't.

Case Study-Carlsbad Essay

QUESTION #1 Prior to the Public works department merging to become a part of a Major Service Area (MSA), the employees often performed work assignments that were redundant in different department which is a waste of the City of Carlsbad’s financial resources. This redundancy in work was contributed to the lack of cohesiveness in the entire Public works departments except for the water department. Lack of leadership is also a hindrance to the department’s mission and the employee’s guidance because the Public Works director is also the City Engineer. With too many employees performing job duty functions that require supervision, leadership in the Public Works department has been lacking the necessary guidance employees should expect. The employee tenure ratio varied between long and short assignments which could be an issue for training and coordination of day to day work without the proper leadership. QUESTION #2 I would introduce myself to the employees within the different departments of the Public Works department to clarify how we will be looking to make the organization better and offer an outline of what we may require from them. I will have discussed this conversation with management prior to speaking with the employees. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, â€Å"Before collecting diagnostic information, practitioners need to establish a relationship with those who will provide and subsequently use it. Because the nature of that relationship with those who will provide and subsequently use it† (pg. 121). I would use collection methods such as observation of employees at work, surveys and questionnaires. Because the Public Works department services the residents of Carlsbad, I would also include them in random questionnaires to find out how their service is working and how it can be improved. This will allow the department to receive feedback from those they work daily to service. Through interviews with the employees in small groups or individual sessions, I would like to pose direct questions such as â€Å"What do they need to succeed in their position?†, â€Å"Do they feel as if they are provided enough direction in their day to day?†, or â€Å"What they feel the vision of the organization is?† Cummings & Worley (2008) states, â€Å"Further probing and clarifications is, therefore, possible as the interview proceeds. This flexibility is invaluable for gaining private views and feelings about the organization and for exploring new issues that emerge during the interview† (126). QUESTION #3 I would recommend interventions for the Public Works department such as a process consultation with the open-systems method intervention. Performing the process consultation prior to offering the department any solutions to make any changes will allow us to identify where the disconnect in communication with the employees while providing the ground work for establishing the organizations goals. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, † Rather the process consultant works to help managers, employees, and groups assess and improve human processes, such as communication, interpersonal relations, decision making, and task performance†(pg. 253). Because the Public Works department has been comprised of so many different groups providing a variety of services to the residents of Carlsbad, I would recommend the open-systems method to the intervention. Through this intervention, we will be able to narrowly focus of the core mission of the organization and its purpose while creating an ideal future of how the Public Works department can progress with the inclusion of its employees. Because employees were often doing redundant work, we will use this time to assess how many people are needed on a task and what areas is not being taken care of due to mismanagement of assignments. QUESTION #4 I would begin the implementation of the action plan by interviewing and meeting with employees individually to introduce the goals of the OD intervention and perform interviews during this discussion. I would also perform random interviews with the residents of Carlsbad who rely on the Public Works service to discern their likes, dislikes and suggestions for improvement. I would then reveal the discrepancies of what the employees and management believe they are doing to what is actually happening. This will allow everyone to gauge the disconnect in their services as well as a starting point for improvement. During this time, we can refocus the employees on the vision of the Public Works department. Cummings & Worley (2008) states, † Generally, a vision describes the core values and purpose that guide the organization as well as an envisioned future toward which change is directed. It provides a valued direction for designing, implementing, and assessing organizational changes† (pg.169). Through the establishment of a communications plan, daily assignment check-ins and training the employees will be able to garner a more focused work day and reduce redundant work being duplicated. During the intervention a separate amount of time will be devoted to assess the leadership of the department. With the supervisor splitting duties as the City engineer, we may assess the need for an assistant to properly manage the employee’s daily. Anonymous surveys and observation will be used to garner feedback on how well the action plan works. References Cummings, T. & Worley, C. (2008). Organization Development & Change. (Pgs. 121, 126, 169, 253) Cengage Learning. Mason, OH.

The Jade Peony

Thesis: one’s personal culture and sense of tradition will always be a strong part of the self, regardless of external factors which can have a profound influence on one’s life. Subtopic 1: one’s value, habits and loyalty to his culture and tradition are not easily changed. Example:â€Å" But we collect for the heart, Kiam-Kim,† Father said. â€Å"We help all the people of China. † I was puzzled. â€Å"Even those who kill other Chinese? † â€Å"Yes,† Father said. â€Å"Of course. † â€Å"But never help the Japanese? † â€Å"Never. †(Page 208) Explanation: This discussion is between Kiam-Kim and his father, which is a Chinese family in Canada for a long time. At that time, there is just a war between China and Japanese, and Kiam-Kim, who is the main character in the novel, is collecting money for the donation of Chinese soldiers. Kiam-Kim thinks this money is for blankets, medical supplies, food for orphans but not for bullets or guns. Because at that time, Kiam-Kim just 9 years old, his child’s mind wants everyone in peace but not in war. But in fact, there are so many wars in China. Not only between Chinese people but also between China and Japan. When he asks his father about what these denotation is for, his father tells him that is for all Chinese people including the people who is fighting with another Chinese people. Because of the hatred of Japan, his father never wants to give anything to Japan. That proves that he will never help his country’s enemy because of his loyalty of China . Subtopic 2: One’s culture can have a profound hold on one’s personality, gravity influencing a course of behavior. Example: â€Å"Teach Jung-sum how to kick and pass the ball,† Father said to me. â€Å"Canada never need soldiers. † â€Å"Need soldiers in China,† Poh-Poh said, slapping the last bandage on my arm. She poured her stinging homemade lotion on one of Jung’s battle wounds. â€Å"Fight the warlords!Fight the Japanese! †(Page 230 ) Explanation: Poh-Poh is an old lady from old China; she used to be in China for such a long time so the impression of China’s culture has a important part in her life. Although she is in Canada, but she still memorizes the Old China and cares about the things happening here. When the war between China and Japan is broken out, she is always worried about the Old China’s situation although there is not any war in Canada, so no soldiers are needed. But Kiam-Kim’s father said â€Å"Canada never needs soldiers†. Poh-Poh thinks about her country, the old China, which needs so many soldiers to attend to the war. So she said â€Å" Need soldiers in China! † because the culture of China has such a influence to her. Subtopic 3: We are all placed in a category and perceived in a certain way become of our background’s culture, and the human aspect of prejudgment will probably never changed. Example: Overnight, the news ran through Chinatown. Perfect Meiying had given herself to a Japanese boy. She had to do something and failed terribly. She had bled to death. Two ambulance arrived, and a crowd gathered to watch them take away the bundled body. Explanation: When the war between China and Japan becomes more and more intensely, every Chinese people including the aboard hate Japan because Japan invade their land and attack their compatriots. But Meiying, who is a wonderful girl in Chinatown, has a boyfriend as a Japanese people. In that time, it is such a terrible thing because the Chinese people believe that people who has communication with Japanese is a traitor. Meiying keeps the secret for such a long time but finally it is exposed so she can not be under this hard pressure and also don't want to Implicate her parents so she decides to kill herself. So at that time, people think all Japanese people are bad and harmful and attribute them into a category which is bad. So whether the people is good or bad, if he is a Japanese, he will be judged into a harmful people.