Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay Example for Free

Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair Essay This media article is about the accomplishments and achievements of Kevin Stevenson regarding his retirement from Chairman of the Australian Accounting Standards Board on 30th June 2014. (Media releases, 2014) While Kevin Stevenson was in his position, he ensured the long traditions of financial reporting was being supported both internationally and domestically and that counseling was provided for the issues raised about FRC. (Media releases, 2014) Mr. Stevenson was the first to research, develop and create Accounting Standards Advisory Forum which is dealt within International Accounting Standards Board. The AASB’s Research Centre was established while Stevenson worked as the Asian-Oceanian Standard Setters Group’s chair. His leadership focus was mainly on the interest of the public. This was stated by Lynn Wood, FRC’s chair and trustee of the IFRS Foundation. Ian Mackintosh, the former Chair of the PSASB of Australia and Deputy Chair of IASB was in agreement with this statement. (Media releases, 2014) According to Mackintosh, Mr. Stevenson has largely contributed to have Asian countries to join IFRS, like Nepal and Korea. From the beginning of the 1970s, Stevenson has put all his attention in setting principal based standards and developing a Conceptual Framework to be used in financial reporting. Mr. Stevenson supported accounting regulations as it was evidenced by his organisation and also by Australian Accounting Research Foundation. He has also been appointed as a director of AARF while watching AARF grew with it’s development of regulations. He was a leader and was in the most important position when setting the international pace to develop the common accounting standards for both the public and the private sectors. (Media releases, 2014) Stevenson has contributed in the formation of the Public Sector Accounting. He took a significant role in the establishment of International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005 and this Standard has widely been used in Australia and the entire Europe. (Media releases, 2014) Concepts, ideas and facts There are two important components that need to be satisfied to offer accounting services exhibiting high efficacy and quality. These are teamwork and leadership. Management models in accounting services need to employ strategic human resource techniques to teams in accounting teams and leadership positions in order to provide high-quality services in the shortest time possible. The operation of accounting services operates under a clear and concise manner and performs its measurement. Therefore, to provide the best accounting services and not get involved in fraud accounting, there needs to be an ultramodern investigation that uses scientific leadership when working as a team with major stakeholders (Topic 2, 2014). Stevenson was leading in the right direction by using new techniques in accounting. These techniques of accounting were important steps which need leaders with efficient skills to apply concepts like efficacy, cost benefit analysis, economies of scale and cost-effectiveness analysis that will progressively measure improvement. To resolve a core issue of the organization and get a competent solution, it is important to acquire efficient leadership. Strategic leadership in accounting provides quality and up to date accounting services to an organization. Leadership like that of Stevenson, brings together all of the incomplete system consisting of thousands of accountants working within a fragmented system of organizations. (Topic 7, 2014) Advanced fraud investigation is developed through effective teamwork and leadership in accounting. Leaders’ decisions are encouraged to be made by considering social and moral implications so it will have a positive effect on the shareholders and customers of the organization, such as the leadership of Stevenson’s. (Topic 7, 2014) Every employee bears an ethical responsibility to act in an ethical manner and make sure that their company does is tax compliant and allows reasonable deductions. Employees should ensure that the company appropriately allocates the importance of the business activities. The Accounting Issue The best way to improve the truthfulness in accounting and financial reporting is by ensuring that ethical standards are used through efficient manners of reporting, sufficient financial management and a strong system of governance. Maintaining a right to the truth is an ethical practice in financial reporting and accounting. Both the clients and stakeholders of an organization have the right to information that is true and accurate when making any investment discussions. It is the legal obligation of any accountant to provide services that are professional and competent and this should be done within their required skills. It is a common argument that a large number of accountants do not have the ability to recognize and solve ethical dilemmas in an ethical manner. This has made it necessary to incorporate ethics education as a key element in the accounting profession. Early initiation of the inclusion of professional values and ethics should be emphasized in the accounting profession. Major issue of the article Stevenson clearly shows that ethical management and taking responsibility to act in the best interest of the company that they are providing accounting services for, relates with providing accurate and truthful records. This beneficial not only to the organization, but also to the society in general (Media releases, 2014) Management should be ethical by being honest, accurate and complete when dealing with financial data and have ethics held in place. Every employee bears the responsibility to make decisions that are wise and up to date for the future well-being of the company. The accounting standards are useful in financial reporting and accounting as they are critically examined when processed. (Topic 2 , 2014) In order to uphold the highest code of ethics, organizations should emphasize on the major functions because shareholders and customers often make their decisions based on financial and accounting reports. Mr. Stevenson’s case is a clear demonstration of the importance of legal and ethical factors in accounting and financial reporting. It is through these two issues that Mr. Stevenson was able to establish effective departments of accounting and financial reporting and design specific rules that govern general functioning of any company. Relevant topics and theories Positive Accounting Theory plans for the future and gives information of what is currently not known. Financial reporting has its history with Positive Accounting Theory applied. It has focused its major interest on various aspects of accounting techniques which has provided an informative background with in depth details of the functionality of accounting in financial reporting (Topic 2, 2014) The application of financial reporting and accounting is concerned with all the future business of a company that relates to any economic unit. There are four main ethical elements involved in accounting and financial reporting. These elements are truthfulness, objectivity, autonomy and competence and they require employees in the accounting and financial reporting profession to act independently towards the clients to whom they offer their services. They should ensure that their desire to attain better living and to acquire more wealth should not be an obstacle to their financial responsibilities. Obligations of ethics greatly affect the decisions of accounting and financial reporting. Also helps solving unfair situations that may alter information symmetry. (Topic 2, 2014) The decision by Nepal and Korea to join the IFRS was based on the financial guidelines that govern accounting and financial reporting. Every employee in the accounting and financial reporting profession, whether in a private or public company bears an ethical responsibility to act in a manner that is loyal and impartial to his or her obligation when reviewing both the financial or individual reports of an organization. It is quite normal for accountants and financial reporters to encounter possible ethical violations when working. As a result, one should maintain carefulness and desist from manipulation of financial records as this is a violation of ethical guidelines. The important elements of normative accounting theory are the integrity and being open to public scrutiny. For some companies to maintain certain public image they may receive pressure from management. Most companies in the public sector are faced with the pressure to be seen as highly successful. Consequently, it becomes an ethical concern for the company to maintain ethical reports of the company assets because the pressure from management could fail them to resist the temptation (Topic 2, 2014). Management should not manipulate the company’s financial records and alter the figures in an effort to create an image that falsely portrays the company as successful. This is often temporary because it only portrays the prosperity of the company on a short term basis before the fraud is detected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (Topic 2 , 2014). Such manipulation, which is often based on poor decision making skills aims at putting up a false image of the financial status of the company and only has negative effects on the well-being of the company. Accounting professional should by all means disregard such practices. Despite the temptation associated with manipulating financial records, management should act as the last defense tool against accounting fraud. For these reasons, accounting theories assert that companies should maintain their ethical vigilance in order to avoid any potential breach of conduct (Callahan, 2014). Every individual engaging in any activity relating to financial reporting and accounting should uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior. It is through these standards that guidelines and rules are set to guide employees in performing their professional responsibilities. Question 2 In comment letter 1, the Financial Reporting Committee of the IMA wrote this letter to express its opinion on financial accounting standards, to simply the income statement presentation by eliminating the concept of extraordinary items. The FRC is in charge of several accounting books of different companies. This basically means that FRC has the responsibility of making timely responses to statements, pronouncements, research legislation, proposals and pending legislation. Their main concern in this comment letter is the complexion of financial statements within FASB. They support the simplified financial statements adopted by the board which is easier for common people to understand CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). Their support is on the elimination of very unusual items as in most times this criterion is not satisfied. Their proposal to simplify the income statement gets rid of the tedious work in the preparation of financial documents. Their support is based on the fact that the allocation of time in preparing income tax reduces to a great extend by eliminating the occurrence of other income items. They thus advocate for a thorough examination of the details of this suggested proposal CITATION Sch l 1033 (Schroder, 2014). In comment letter number 2, Marcum Accountants and Advisors write to the FASB to simplify the income statement by eliminating the concept of extraordinary items regarding the proposed accounting standards. Their letter is generally a response to several questions regarding the process of simplification of the income statement. They support the concept of elimination of extra ordinary items from the General Accounting principles. Their argument is based on where the extra ordinary items make the application difficult in accounting practice CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014). They thus support the application for extra ordinary items in previous accounting periods. A sudden change of the rules would otherwise lead to confusion in the accounting practice CITATION Top14 l 1033 (Topic 2 , 2014). The ease of application with the proposed update makes it easy to make these recommended changes to adopt. They thus suggest the immediate adoption of the proposed update. They agree with the decision made by the board which was to comply with the principle of separate disclosure of infrequent transactions. They also suggest the importance of offering guidance on deciding the unusual item. CITATION Giu14 l 1033 (Giugliano, 2014) Proper definitions should be provided of the unusually occurring items. In comment letter 3, Ford Motor Company also writes supporting the simplification of financial report assessed and initiated by FASB. Their agreement is based on the reasonable evaluation, identification and improvement of the generally accepted accounting principles CITATION Cal14 l 1033 (Callahan, 2014). This thus means that by reducing the complexity and simplifying the income statement, it will possibly reduce the cost of application. They are also in agreement with the board that such an update would not lead to data loss. The overall benefit would be to the end users of such financial statements. References Callahan, S. (2014). Comment Letter No. 6 (1st ed.). FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Callahan, S. (2014). Comment Letter No. 6 (1st ed.). FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Giugliano, G. (2014). Comment Letter No. 5 (1st ed.). MARCUM LLP. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Media releases,. (2014). Kevin Stevenson retires as AASB Chair. Proposed Accounting Standards Update. (2014) (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org Schroeder, N. (2014). Comment Letter No.2 (1st ed.). IMA/FRC. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/jsp/FASB/CommentLetter_C/CommentLetterPagecid=1218220137090project_id=2014-220 Topic 2 The role of ethics in accounting. (2014). Topic 6 International Accounting. (2014). Topic 7 Normative Accounting theories. (2014). Source document

Planning and threat management Essay Example for Free

Planning and threat management Essay A planned performance which brings better results compared to unplanned one. A Managers job is planning, monitoring and controlling. As a head security official, todays day work, Planning and goal setting are very important traits of a work. The job here of mine is to give full security to the principal from home and back again from the court to house which is located at Laguna Beach. To do this work, proper and perfect planning is required. It is done at all levels of the security organization. The thought plan process should have actions, and implementation. Planning gives more power over the future and is decided in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It bridges the gap between the two. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in logical order. A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan here is applicable for only two hours because the distance between the court and the home is a very short distance. I have with me the top graded eight security personal and they can able to handle any situation at any point of time as per the security is concerned. I have taken the best eight because the city has been terrorized by a series of related homicides of white supremacist followers and the brutal beating of his chief assistant. The newspapers and media have speculated that several of the victims have been linked to your principal and the police suspect a rival white supremacists group is vying for political power within the movement. Here the plan is the most important and key is to do the successful operation. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will, almost certainly, ensures failure. (King, 2006) In this case the threat is possible attack on the professor, both at home and at court. Furthermore there is a chance of threat on the one hour driveway too. Alongside, looking at the physical condition of the subject it is essential to arrange medical assistance during the outdoor operations such as period of the court and in transit. Therefore, the planning would involve four main parameters to secure. Medical assistance It is obvious that there would be logical medical assistance at home but during the course of transit and at the court it is essential to arrange medical facilities as the subject is extremely ill. To worsen matter the attendance at the courthouse will be new organizations, fundamentalist religious groups, white supremacist groups, and civil rights groups, all picketing what promises to be a very emotional trial. This could take a toll on the subject. The checkpoint security screening procedures for persons with disabilities and medical conditions have not changed as a result of the current threat situation. All disability-related equipment, aids, and devices continue to be allowed through security checkpoints once cleared through screening. Thus it is important to arrange liquid medications and other liquids needed by the principal. These include all prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including KY jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for med ical purposes; Liquids including water, juice, or liquid nutrition or gels for passengers with a disability or medical condition along with life-support and life-sustaining liquids such as bone marrow, blood products, and transplant organs would be present. There would also be items used to augment the body for medical or cosmetic reasons such as mastectomy products, prosthetic breasts, bras or shells containing gels, saline solution, or other liquids. It is also important to arrange gels or frozen liquids needed to cool disability or medically related items used by persons with disabilities or medical conditions. However, if the liquid medications are in volumes larger than 3 ozs each, they may not be placed in the quart-size bag and must be declared to the Transportation Security Officer. Declared liquid medications and other liquids for the principal and medical conditions must be kept separate from all other property submitted for x-ray screening. This is an extra step that I have taken because He is confined to a wheelchair and requires attendance by a nurse 24/7 due to respiratory and other medical conditions. He is an extremely high profile white supremacist, and is outspoken thus it is important to control his tension and emotions. (Eldelman, 2005) Transit assistance The one hour distance travel between the court and his home in Los Angles should be well protected as 6 of the 8 personnel deployed for the job would be accompanying him. The other 2 would be staying back at the subject’s home to counter any possible threats on the property during his absence. During transit there would 3 cars altogether with smoked glasses to minimize identification. The subject’s car would be juxtaposed between the other 2 cars with security personnel. All 6 personnel would be divided into 3 groups or 2 personnel for each car. (Kar, 2006) Home security It is already mentioned that there would be 2 persons securing the subject’s estate during his absence however, during his stay all 8 would be available for the subject’s security. There would be CCTV installed at strategic locations all over the estate with extra focus on the physical security of the subject. For this purpose it is essential to have a personnel to assist and secure the subject most of the time he is awake. During his resting period there would be a personnel guarding outside his bedroom. There would be other personnel who would guard the windows during this time. 5 of the security would be located all over the estate and home at strategic locations. The eighth personnel deployed for the subject’s safety would be instrumental in screening each person who ever is willing to meet the subject. (Lamb, 2004) Court Security This is the important aspect of the planning and the personnel should always be on their high alert. For that reason it is important to have complete physical protection all the while. There should be a human cordon of security personnel during the passage from parking space to court room and back as this is the area where the subject would be most vulnerable as the demonstrators would have opportunity to come in close proximity with the subject. At the courtroom too the human cordon would be applied with 4 of the personnel always encircling the subject. The remaining 2 would stand at a distance keeping a keen eye on the proceedings and scanning the crowd at the courtroom and always ready to intervene if needed. (Fletcher, 2005) Conclusion These are the Security arrangements that I will like to have at the principals estate because of threats on his life, but the principal will not face any difficulty while he likes to speak his mind to everyone, including and especially the press. He will have a grand entrance to court and if he wants to speak or meet with the press and others on the courthouse steps. References: Edelman, S; (2005); Evaluation Techniques in Risk Management; Bloemfontein: ABP Ltd Fletcher, R; (2005); Principals: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing; Dunedin: Howard Price Kar, P; (2006); History of Threat Management and Related Applications; Kolkata: Dasgupta Chatterjee King, H; (2006); Management Principals Today; Auckland: HBT Brooks Ltd Lamb, D; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; Wellington: National Book Trust

What Are Presidentialism And Parliamentarism Concepts Politics Essay

What Are Presidentialism And Parliamentarism Concepts Politics Essay Different countries in the world have got their own political system in order to have their countries run and organized and most of them belong to two major systems, namely presidential and parliamentary system and with their own unique characteristics. The presidential and parliamentary systems have lots of different characteristics in their nature and practical running, and each of them have their own virtues and vices. Facing the change of the world political situation and the new democracies, they have got their own advantages to the development of the new democracies; however, there is no universal answer for all the countries in world of which system is more suitable for their new democracies. For presidentialism, it is a system which gives the president the most power in the ruling of the country.((((Find sources / define))). The president usually centralized the political power and symbolic power in his own hand.(CITATION) For political power, he has got a cabinet who is responsible for him and helping him to make various kinds of decisions in different matters, including both daily routines decisions and some important decisions like declaring wars and appointing the government officials, he has got the highest power in executing the policies in a country. For the symbolic power of the president, he represents a state.(CITE) He would be responsible for most of the external issues, like expressing the stand point and the view of a country towards a specific issue, receiving the foreign ambassadors and visiting the other countries in order to promote the country and establish different kinds of networks, including the strategic and economic ones. Like for the president of the United States, the country which is the representative of the presidentialism, Obama, he has been viewed as the symbol of United States nowadays. He has to represent the United States to attend different international conferences like the G20 Seoul Summit in 2010(Cite) and he has recently visited 4 countries in Asia and India. He has to do these visits in order to promote the States interests and establish links and relationships with other countries. The most significant characteristic of the presidential system is the separation of power. The power of legislative and executive is separated and they are independent from each other. There are different elections for electing the members of the executive and legislative branches respectively and hence the two branches may be controlled by different political parties. The parliamentary system is another major political system accounting for around 30% of all the governments (p.42) in the modern world and the assembly is allowed to remove the government (p.34). The parliamentary system has major characteristics of the fusion of power which the legislative and executive power was hold by the same body. The symbolic and the political power in the parliamentary system is, unlike the presidential system, separated in two separate individuals and the two individuals are usually called the head of state and chief executive and the title is subject to change in different countries.(Cite). The example of head of state in the modern states include the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, the Emperor of Japan, Akihito (cite?) and their function is to symbolize the state and responsible for the external issues like receiving ambassadors and performing many of the ceremonial tasks. Some of the head of state is chosen by succession and the others are usually chosen by a governmental body like the legislature.(Cite) The chief executive is responsible for the other part of the country management, he is the chief of the executive branch, and he is responsible for the policymaking and also the daily operation of the government. The chief executive is usually come from the majority party in the parliament, however when there is not a majority political party, there may be a coalition government governing the state, like in Britain. Not 100% of the democratic form of government is of parliamentary and presidential system. In 2000, around 20% of the government in democratic systems is of mixed system, containing both the characteristics of parliamentary and presidential system.(Cite)(p.43). Both the parliamentary and presidential system has its own virtues and vices and it explain why there are different countries supporting different system based on their situation and their historical background and real needs. However, they do not have absolute virtues and vices, there are only comparatively advantages. The first virtue of the parliamentary system is the enforceability of its promises to their supporters and citizens. The parliamentary government has a structural advantage hence it could pass its decision more quickly. As mentioned above, the executive cabinet was chosen within the parliament and it is usually dominated by a majority party. Hence, whenever the government proposes some new policies, the legislators which most of them are in the same party or same line with the government will support and vote for the policies, the policies proposed by the parliamentary government would have a much higher chance and less resistance to be executed. (cite?) However, the parliamentary system has a vice which is also because of its structure. Since the government is elected and chosen by the parliament, the power of parliament is strong enough to turn over the government. The parliamentary system offers no job security (cite). The chief executive will lose his position if the policies he proposed is not favored by the legislators, hence, the policies made by the parliamentary government would be more conservative if there is not an absolute majority party. Also, the quality of the policies does not have promise since they are less challenged and discussed by the legislators. The fast pace of making decision cannot ensure the quality of the decisions made. On the other hand, the presidential system has also got its own virtues and vices. The virtue of the presidential system is that there is separation of powers and hence the legislative branch would be able to check the power and the acts by the executive branch. Hence, there will be less chance for the executive branch to carry out policies which do not get public consensus and high popularity. The legislative branch can act as a defendant of the public when the government exercises unreasonable policies. The discussion and challenges from the legislature would also bring more opinion and thoughts to the government and higher quality and more rounded policies can be made. Secondly, the presidential system ensure the stability of the executive branch since the two branches are separated and independent to each other, hence, the legislature cannot dissolve the cabinet as in the parliamentary system. Both the legislators and president have fixed term and this encourages them to plan for longer terms of policies since there is certainty. However, there are also vices for the presidential system which is because of its characteristics of having check and balance. The check and balance can achieve better policies; on the other hand, it takes much more time to pass. Since the challenges and discussion in the legislature usually takes a long time. Moreover, since there are different elections for electing the legislators and the cabinet, there may not be a party able to control both branches. Hence, it will be difficult for policies to be passed in the legislature if there are not enough allies. This also hindered the development of the country to a certain extent which the discussion will slow down the pass of some urgent policies. The virtues and vices of both of the political systems are not absolute and they may change over different time and different situation. Under the globalization process and the influence of countries among each other, there are now new democracies emerging in the world politics and they often face the dilemma of choosing a right political system. The parliamentary system will be more suitable for the new democracies because of the following points. Firstly, the newly developed democratic countries would usually have a common characteristic which there would be a variety of interests in the public. For example, there may be a lot of different clans or races, different opinions over how should the government implement its economic and public policies. The parliamentary system would be more suitable in this situation since there will be more voices able to speak for their own interest in the parliament and also the government which is elected from the parliament. The members in the parliament who share the executive power may have different backgrounds and hence would be able to reflect their supporters opinion. The prime minister would not be able to bias for his own interest since he will be put off if he does not content the legislature especially when there is not a dominant party. More different voices can appear in the political system in parliamentary system. Secondly, the executive branch in the parliamentary system is elected and chosen by the legislators and they gain certain extent of support from the legislators, in the new democratic countries, the prime minister and the legislators may have promised the voters and supports a lot in order to gain their support and also to strengthen the newly developed countries. Through the parliamentary system and its characteristics, the promises made by the politicians in the campaign can be easier realized since the policies proposed by the prime minister will get support from the legislators who have certain extent of consensus with the government. The system can also ensure the prime minister to carry out his promises since the parliament was given enough power to dissolve the cabinet; hence the prime minister will act according to his promise or in the legislators favor in order to gain support. Moreover, the new democratic countries are usually underdeveloped or developing countries like countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. These countries, other than developing a new democratic society in their land, also have to develop their economic and diplomatic strength in order to occupy a place in todays world. Under these circumstances, these countries need a strong and efficient government to lead the people and also the country to catch up the developed countries in the world. In terms of efficiency, the parliamentary system will be much better than the presidential system. The law making and policy making process would be much smoother and shorter in time since there are much larger consensus between the legislative branch and the executive cabinet than that in the presidential system, which has to go through a long period of debate and challenges. Now in the parliamentary system, the good relationship between the two branches enable the government to p ass some urgent policies which may be crucial for the countrys development and can be more flexible in policy and law making in order to cope with this fast-changing world. Lastly a small but practical point, the parliamentary system requires fewer resources in holding elections. As mentioned above, the new democratic countries are usually developing countries which are limited in money and other resources like professionals for conducting and monitoring the elections. There is usually only one election for electing the parliamentary members and hence the members would form a government. It requires fewer resources when compared with the presidential system which usually requires two elections for electing the legislative and executive branch respectively. The resources saved can be used for developing the country in other aspects and they are important for a developing country. The parliamentary suits the new democracies more in a general situation like in the situation mentioned above. However, different countries have their own situation and other factors affecting which political system is better for themselves, like the historical background and the existence of monarchy and the influence of the major political figure. There is no universal answer for all countries in the world in which the presidential system could also be efficient; it all depends on the different situation and characteristics of the country and its people. It is a must to closely examine the countrys background in order to decide which political system is better for it and would help its democratic development in the future.

The Character of Mama in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use Essay -- essays r

â€Å"I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands† Mama describes of herself in the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Mama, who additionally takes the role of narrator, is a lady who comes from a wealth of heritage and tough roots. She is never vain, never boastful and most certainly never selfish. She speaks only of her two daughters who she cares deeply for. She analyzes the way she has raised them and how much she has cared too much or too little for them, yet most of all how much they value their family. Mama never speaks of herself, other than one paragraph where she describes what she does. â€Å"My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing† (Walker, 60). She does not need to tell readers who she is, for her descriptions of what she does and how her family interacts, denotes all the reader needs to know. Although Mama narrates this story rather bleakly, she gives readers a sense of l ove and sense of her inner strength to continue heritage through â€Å"Everyday Use†. Regretfully, though readers can see how Mama has had a difficult time in being a single mother and raising two daughters, Dee, the oldest daughter, refuses to acknowledge this. For she instead hold the misconception that heritage is simply material or rather artificial and does not lie in ones heart. However, from Mama’s narrations, readers are aware that this cultural tradition does lie within ones heart, especially those of Mama’s and Maggie’s, and that it is the pure foundation over any external definition. One situation in particular that Mama brings up is the time when she offers to Dee to bring some of the ancestral quilts with her to college. She claims, â€Å"I had offered Dee a quilt whe... ...rn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece . . . that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War" (Walker, 65). These quilts, which have become an heirloom, not only represent the family, but are an integral part of the family. A concept in which Dee, could just not possibly understand. Mama then grasps the quilts out of Dee’s clutch and places them on Maggie’s lap, for Maggie knows that the quilts are personal and emotional rather than by any means financial (p.66). These quilts are for â€Å"Everyday Use.† In this last scene, Mama proves to herself that you do not need an education, or generation knowledge to be able to posses strength. For Mama had inner strength all along, she just needed her true rich and beautiful beliefs of her heritage to shine through, and they did. The Character of Mama in Alice Walker’s Everyday Use Essay -- essays r â€Å"I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands† Mama describes of herself in the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker. Mama, who additionally takes the role of narrator, is a lady who comes from a wealth of heritage and tough roots. She is never vain, never boastful and most certainly never selfish. She speaks only of her two daughters who she cares deeply for. She analyzes the way she has raised them and how much she has cared too much or too little for them, yet most of all how much they value their family. Mama never speaks of herself, other than one paragraph where she describes what she does. â€Å"My fat keeps me hot in zero weather. I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing† (Walker, 60). She does not need to tell readers who she is, for her descriptions of what she does and how her family interacts, denotes all the reader needs to know. Although Mama narrates this story rather bleakly, she gives readers a sense of l ove and sense of her inner strength to continue heritage through â€Å"Everyday Use†. Regretfully, though readers can see how Mama has had a difficult time in being a single mother and raising two daughters, Dee, the oldest daughter, refuses to acknowledge this. For she instead hold the misconception that heritage is simply material or rather artificial and does not lie in ones heart. However, from Mama’s narrations, readers are aware that this cultural tradition does lie within ones heart, especially those of Mama’s and Maggie’s, and that it is the pure foundation over any external definition. One situation in particular that Mama brings up is the time when she offers to Dee to bring some of the ancestral quilts with her to college. She claims, â€Å"I had offered Dee a quilt whe... ...rn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece . . . that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War" (Walker, 65). These quilts, which have become an heirloom, not only represent the family, but are an integral part of the family. A concept in which Dee, could just not possibly understand. Mama then grasps the quilts out of Dee’s clutch and places them on Maggie’s lap, for Maggie knows that the quilts are personal and emotional rather than by any means financial (p.66). These quilts are for â€Å"Everyday Use.† In this last scene, Mama proves to herself that you do not need an education, or generation knowledge to be able to posses strength. For Mama had inner strength all along, she just needed her true rich and beautiful beliefs of her heritage to shine through, and they did.

Stereotypes and Stereotyping in Susan Glaspells Trifles :: Trifles Essays

Stereotypes in Trifles I like this play quite a lot. It's got murder, mystery and deceit. It's interesting that the play bases a lot on stereotypes. The men are the sheriff, deputy and the attorney sent out to discover the details of the murder of a man found hanged in his bed. They look carefully in the bedroom and outside in the barn for clues and the women are sent in, I think initially, to gather some things for Mrs. Wright. The women are mocked at by the men. Worrying about things like jelly freezing and sewing. Mrs. Hale "Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire'd go out and her jars would break"; Hale "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." They are not taken seriously. They are women and are not intelligent enough to understand the concept of solving a murder. The men forgot, it's the little things that bother people the most and for Mrs. Wright, it must have been death of her canary. I think the canary symbolized Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale describes her; "She -- come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself - real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and - fluttery. How - she - did - change"; and like a bird, Mrs. Wright even sang in a choir. But after she got married, every thing stopped. She didn't sing anymore or attend social functions. Like a bird, her house became her cage. The only happiness that she appears to have is with this bird. The bird probably sang when she could not. He was probably a companion to her, she had no children. And like her, he was also caged. Because we do not know, we can only guess that her husband killed her bird. If he killed the bird then he would have killed the only thing that was important to her. He killed her once when he married her and caged her in that house, and he killed her again when he destroyed her bird. "No,. Wright wouldn't like the bird - a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too." When Mrs. Wright was used to its singing and her world became quiet again, it was too much for her take.

Buy or Build a Successful Internet Business :: Sell Websites Buy Web Sites

Buy or Build a Successful Internet Business Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com Many people who don’t make their living online believe that the Internet has become very crowded. They are convinced that there are now few opportunities to develop a hugely successful online business. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have launched several websites that were late comers in very crowded niche markets. These websites now dominate their perspective niches and each generates a six figure profit – before the government takes their huge share for contributing nothing. Of course, there are mainstream areas that have become extremely saturated. These markets are easily identified by the absurd pay per click (PPC) costs for keyword phrases targeted at these markets. To succeed you will have to cater products or services to a niche market. The majority of people who start an online businesses do so with little thought and no planning. They find a wholesaler who dropships products directly to customers and then they build a web site. The barriers to entry are non existent. Any a high school student with a parent’s credit card can quickly build a web site, pay for keywords on PPC engines and have a sale all within a few hours. This works because that student comes in at the lowest price and is thrilled making 10% margins or $200 dollars a week. If you wish to develop a successful eCommerce business then it is very helpful if you can create high barriers to entry. As an example, having the exclusive right to distribute a product over the Internet or distributing a product you manufacturer would create high entry barriers. If you don’t currently have access to any exclusive products or services then consider approaching companies who do not market their goods via the Internet and secure an exclusive right to offer their products or services online. Another method of creating high barriers to entry is just plain hard work. When I developed my website for schools there were already many similar websites on the internet. Each of these websites provided information on ten to thirty different schools. I launched my website with information on over 600 schools and within a few months I was the highest ranked website in this category. In general, if I can’t offer ten times what is being offered by established websites in a market niche then I don’t enter an established market.

Maze Learning

MAZE LEARNING 1 MAZE LEARNING Ana Iqbal Mirajkar Bahria University BS-04 MAZE LEARNING 2 Abstract This experiment was conducted to uncover the underlying principles of transfer of training in maze learning. The aim was to see if transfer of training facilitated maze learning. It was assumed that practice of one maze would assist the chances of transfer in another and that participants who had prior knowledge of mazes would perform better. A sample of 56 students was chosen conveniently from Bahria University.All participants performed the same experiment on maze A and B, which is they traced a maze twice with the experimenter’s help, had a break of ten seconds and then had five minutes to find the goal. The results were analyzed using percentages. The findings of the results indicated that practice of one maze assists transfer of training on the other and that participants with prior knowledge had more successful trials than the ones who did not. Thus, both hypotheses were pro ved. Key words: maze, learning, memory, cognitive mapping MAZE LEARNING Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience (Feldman, 2009).Peter Gray, a psychologist, defines learning as any process through which experience at 3 one time can alter an individual's behavior at a future time. Hence learning can be anything that brings about a change in one’s behaviour, or another definition common to all theories of psychology would describe simply a stimulus that generates a response(S-? R) (Herbert Terrace). Learning has been an important area of research in psychology; psychologists have done extensive research on how human beings acquire learning and what factors facilitate learning.One such experiment is done by Ivan Pavlov where he introduced the concept of classical conditioning and concluded that learning occurs gradually through pairing and association (Pavlov). Whereas a gestalt psychologist by the name of Wolfgang Kohler concluded that n ew behaviour is learned due to insight. According to Frederic Vestor there are four types of learning. The first being auditive learning which is learning by using the auditory channels that is using the ear to listen and mouth to speak. Second is visual learning that is learning using the eyes.Haptic learning is the third type of learning which occurs by touching and feeling and the fourth type is learning through the intellect. Training is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. Areas that use training extensively are job training such as worker endowment and physical training for sports. Transfer of training was originally defined as the extent to which learning of a response in one task or situation influences the response in another task or situation (Adams, 1987).While Thorndike and Woodworth (1901) predicted that transfer would occur as long as the aims, method, and approaches used for the learning task were similar to the transfer task. They found support for the generalization of responses when there was similarity in the stimuli and responses in the learning and transfer environment. Types of transfer of training are positive which means previous training facilitates new training such as learning to add numbers in math courses helps when one learns multiplication.Negative transfer occurs when previous training hinders new training, whereas zero transfer is when previous trainings have no effect on new ones. Wolfgang Kohler would say that learning occurs through sudden insight while Thorndike would contradict by saying that it happens gradually over a long period of time. Generally it is noted that learning is both intentional and unintentional and has no specific time requirements. That is MAZE LEARNING one can learn in a day or can take months. Whereas training is usually intentional and there are certain time bound aries for training.Furthermore, learning focuses on achieving permanent 4 changes in behaviour while training focuses on the acquisition of new skills and knowledge with training interventions being event driven. Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve information (Kendra Cherry). The process of forming a memory is composed of three components encoding, storage and retrieval. In order for pieces of information to make sense the brain encodes all the information to form memories and stores it.A memory, when brought into consciousness is known as retrieved memory. Memories can be of three types; sensory memory that is collected from the first hand experiences and is very brief. Short term memory is what is in the conscious awareness, whereas long term memory is what is not in the conscious awareness and might have to be retrieved, according to Freud short term memory would be the conscious and long term memory the unconscious. Ebbingha us, who was a pioneer of the experimental study of memory, did extensive research on memory, memory formation and memory decay.Through his experiments he devised the forgetting curve of memory which revealed a relationship between forgetting and time. He suggested that information, initially, is often lost very quickly after it is learned but after a certain point the amount of forgetting levels off. This indicates that information stored in long-term memory is surprisingly stable. (Hermann Ebbinghaus) Labyrinth is a term in Greek Mythology, which basically denotes a maze in which the Minotaur was confined (The Free Dictionary).The most ancient of labyrinths are Cretan labyrinths that are surrounded by an aura of mysticism and skepticism, this was the elaborate structure designed to hold Minotaur. Next are the Egyptian Labyrinth and the Leminian Labyrinth which are more densely routed and complex than the Cretan Labyrinth. Although the true origins of the mazes and labyrinths probab ly go back to Neolithic times, the earliest mazes were actually parts of architectural monuments built in Egypt and on Crete about 4000 years ago (Christopher Berg).Edward Chase Tolman, a pioneer in the areas of learning and motivation, claimed that everything important in psychology can be investigated in essence through the continued experimental and theoretical analysis of the determinants of rat behavior at a choice-point in a maze. A maze is defined by Webster as a confusing, intricate network of MAZE LEARNING 5 winding pathways; specifically with one or more blind alleys. Furthermore, one could perceive a maze as a complex structure with a series of interconnecting pathways that eventually has to be solved by pursuing a goal.The term is also used to refer to a graphical puzzle that replicates the maze on a two dimensional medium (S. E. Smith). Mazes, in psychology, have contributed greatly to understanding complex human behavior. Moreover, maze studies have helped uncover asto unding principles about learning that can be applied to many species, including humans. The fact that researchers have even used mazes to figure out if men and women are different in the way they perceive suggests the important role mazes have played throughout. In this context a study was carried out by B.Jones that looked at trial and error learning in humans using a virtual maze and at looked at the gender differences where the participants were tested using the Online Psychology Laboratory Maze. Another study which attempted to uncover if multiple trials allow a researcher to determine how ability can develop and change over trials and that the importance of task components fluctuates during the stages of learning (O'Neill, 1978). The findings gave the impression that repeated trail can help the participant develop the knowledge of the maze and make fewer errors.Yet one more research finding on mazes indicated that no matter how well the maze is learned, the subject will never a ble to dispense with sensory guidance and that there is throughout this type of functioning a close cooperation between sensory and motor adjustments (Ailene Morris). There are two main categories of mazes which are then further subdivided into various types. A Unicursal maze is without branches, it has no dead ends and there is one path that leads to the end whereas, a multicursal maze is one with branches and dead ends. Among the various types of mazes are Blind Alleys are mazes that have a branch that is a dead end.Simply-connected mazes have pathways that never re-connect with one another, so every path leads to additional paths, a fork, or to a dead end and there is only one solution to a simply-connected maze. A multiplyconnected maze contains one or more passages that loop back into other passages, rather than leading to dead ends. A more complex form of the multiply-connected maze is the braid maze. A weave maze has pathways that go under and over each other and can be in mu ltiple dimensions, while a logic maze must be navigated by adhering to logical rules in addition to following its passages such as symbols or following colour schemes.A Plainair maze, however, is a maze on something other than a flat surface. For example, a maze painted on the outside of a cube or sphere. MAZE LEARNING A principle that is derived from the extensive study of mazes is known as cognitive mapping; 6 making a mental picture of one's physical or spatial environment (APA). A cognitive map allows one to construct and accumulate spatially defined images whose function is to enhance recall and learning of information. This type of spatial thinking can also be used in non-spatial tasks. Chaining is a behaviour technique that involves breaking a task down into smaller components.The simplest or first task in the process is taught first, and then after this has been learned, the next task can be taught. This continues until the entire sequence is successfully chained together (K endra Cherry). Maze learning is an example of a successive chaining, when animal runs down a maze it chains the route through the subsequent goals and dead ends all in all the entire stimuli present in the environment gives the animal clues and make his cognitive map (Terrace). The aim of this study is to see if transfer of training facilitates performance.It is assumed that the practice of one maze will facilitate the chances of transfer of training on the second maze and that participants having knowledge of practical will have more successful trials than participants who do not have any prior knowledge. Method Participants: There were two groups of participants that participated in the study. Group 1 composed of 28 people who had no prior knowledge of maze leaning. While Group 2 composed of 29 participants who had prior knowledge of maze learning. The total sample was that of 56 students who were chosen conveniently from Bahria University.The design of the experiment was independ ent measures design. Materials: Match box, scissor, glue, mazes A, stop watch and a blindfold. Two mazes were extracted from the internet and the participants of group 2 constructed the entire maze using match sticks to cover all the branches and boundaries of the maze. It was later discovered that both mazes were multicursal and simply connected. Procedure: The experiment was conducted in the experimental lab, with controlled conditions. In the first phase of the experiment participants from group 1, who had no prior knowledge of maze learning, were tested.The experimenter blindfolded the participant and traced their finger, twice, along maze A (in some cases a thin object such as a pen or pencil was used). During the whole procedure it was tediously made sure that the participant did not see the mazes. Following MAZE LEARNING 7 this the participant was given a ten second break and then told to complete the maze again with no help from the experimenter this time. After given five m inutes to complete this maze, the participant was told to stop and the blindfold was undone for two minutes.The same procedure was then followed for maze B that is tracing twice with the experimenter’s help, a break and then five minutes for the trial for maze B. Throughout the experimenter observed the errors made and the progress of the participant. In the second phase of the experiment the participants from group 2, who had prior knowledge of maze learning, were tested following the exact same procedure that is tracing twice maze A and then later maze B with an experimenter’s help, a break of ten seconds, then five minutes for the trial for maze A and later maze B.Results Table I Showing results of Maze A of Group 1 Participants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Successive Trials 1 3 3 2 4 0 1 1 4 2 5 0 1 4 Errors 0 4 7 3 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 5 14 0 MAZE LEARNING 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 4 5 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 0 3 10 4 2 4 0 3 10 8 20 20 7 10 8 8 Total 5 2 146 Table II Showing results of Maze B of Group 1 Participants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Successful Traits 5 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 Errors 10 0 4 4 0 3 5 2 0 MAZE LEARNING 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 5 0 8 4 3 2 2 5 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 3 2 1 4 13 0 15 0 9 0 20 0 11 3 2 2 25 1 3 2 9 Total 58 148 Table III Showing results of Maze A of Group 2 Participants 1 2 3 4 Successful Trials 5 0 3 3 Errors 1 2 3 3 MAZE LEARNING 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 3 1 1 7 7 3 4 3 5 4 3 4 3 1 1 4 1 2 2 2 3 2 0 0 8 4 2 3 1 12 4 1 0 2 2 7 4 5 4 1 1 14 0 1 1 5 0 10 Total 79 91 MAZE LEARNING Table IV Showing results of Maze B of Group 2 Participants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Successful Traits 5 0 0 6 4 8 10 1 10 11 7 5 3 7 7 2 8 5 1 4 4 2 1 3 2 4 Errors 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 1 5 7 0 3 0 0 3 3 0 2 0 2 1 0 5 0 1 MAZE LEARNING 27 28 0 5 3 0 12 Total 125 46 Calculations:- = 41. 7% = 58. 2% = 35. 03% = 64. 96% MAZE LEARNI NG Graph I Showing results of comparison between Maze A and Maze B 13 Comparison between both the mazes 42% Maze A Maze B 58% Graph II Showing results of comparison between Group 1 and Group 2 (c and d) Comparison between both the groups 35% Group 1 65% Group 2 MAZE LEARNING Discussion It was proved that practice of one maze facilitates the transfer of training on the second maze 14 hich meant that most of the participants performed well on maze B as compared to maze A. An interesting research by Edward Tolman on rats and mazes showed that once the rats knew where there goal in the maze was, they could find their way through the maze. Thus, Tolman’s and this research show that people form a cognitive map of the spatial layout of the situation rather than just leaning to make a series of responses. However, one single most undermining factor that could cause this is the carry over effects the participants might have carried over from maze A.Furthermore, there might been quite a many extraneous variables present in the environment that the experimenter failed to control; hence, they became confounding variables. These include noise distractions, the close seating arrangement of the participants and experimenter bias. It was further noted that even though both mazes were multicursal participants found maze B relatively easier and more straight forward than maze A, pointing more towards the fact that practicing on one maze improved their performance.Likewise, the participants who had prior knowledge of mazes performed better than the participants who did not. This meant that hypothesis 2 was also proved. David Ausubel a pioneer in educational psychology who emphasized on prior learning said â€Å"If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, I would say this: The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly. The results of this research highlight the importance of prior learning. Nevertheless, the participants of group 2 were also the ones who constructed the maze, which meant that they possibly brought forward transfer effects. Moreover, the participants in group two were in a more comfortable setting than the participants in group one who were not in their comfort zone. Besides, there were four students who were not from the psychology department and might have been anxious because of the new and unfamiliar place and setting.In addition to this some participants used a pencil, pen or a sharp object to complete the maze instead of their fingers, which meant less tactile experience and learning and might be a contributing factor as to why group 1 performed poorly. MAZE LEARNING References: American Psychological Association. (2013). Dictionary. com Unabridged. Retrieved from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/cognitive map Ausubel, D. (1968). Educational implications of concept mapping. Joseph D. Novak & D. Bob Gowin (2002 ). Learning how to learn (pp. 40). UK, Cambridge University Press. Berg, C. 2011). The History of Mazes and Labyrinths. Amazing Art. N/A. Retrieved from http://amazeingart. com/maze-faqs/ancient-mazes. html Cherry, K. (N/A). An Overview of Memory. Memory. N/A. Retrieved from http://psychology. about. com/od/cognitivepsychology/a/memory. htm Ebbinghaus, H. (1885). Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. Classics in the History of Psychology. N/A. Retrieved from http://psy. ed. asu. edu/~classics/Ebbinghaus/index. htm 15 Eddie, W. L. & Danny, C. K. (2001). A review of transfer of training studies in the past decade. Personnel Review, Vol. 0 No. 1, 102-118. Retrieved from http://www. owlnet. rice. edu/~ajv2/courses/12a_psyc630001/Cheng%20&%20Ho%20(2001)%20 PR. pdf Feldman, R. S. (2009). Psychological Approaches to Learning, 177. Retrieved from http://www. studymode. com/essays/Psychological-Approaches-To-Learning-730466. html Jones, B. (2011). Gender Difference-Mazes, 09. Re trieved from http://www. studymode. com/essays/Gender-Difference-Mazes-774551. html Morris, A. (1994). A Descriptive Study of Maze Learning, 67-69. Retrieved from http://digital. library. okstate. edu/oas/oas_pdf/v25/p67_69. df Terrace, H. (2010). The Comparative Psychology of Serially Organized Behavior. Comparitive Cognition and Behaviour Reviews, Vol. 5, 23-58. Retrieved from http://psyc. queensu. ca/ccbr/Vol5/Terrace. pdf MAZE LEARNING Tolman, E. C. (1953). Edward Tolman and cognitive maps. Douglas Mook (2004), Classic experiments in psychology (pp. 139-142). Westport, Greenwood Press. Vestor, F. (1998). Die Deutsche Schule, 93(2), 186-198. Retrieved from http://www. oecd. org/edu/ceri/34926352. pdf 16 MAZE LEARNING 17 Appendix A: Maze A & B MAZE LEARNING Appendix A 18 MAZE LEARNING 19