Psychology Adolescent Depression Essays - Abnormal Psychology

Psychology Adolescent Depression The Under Acknowledged Disease Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because children are not always able to express how they feel. Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm. Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety (Oster & Montgomery, 1996), eating disorders (Lasko et al., 1996), hyperactivity (Blackman, 1995), substance abuse (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996) and suicide (Blackman, 1995; Brown, 1996; Lasko et al., 1996; Oster & Montgomery, 1996) all of which can hide depressive symptoms. The signs of clinical depression include marked changes in mood and associated behaviors that range from sadness, withdrawal, and decreased energy to intense feelings of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. Depression is often described as an exaggeration of the duration and intensity of normal mood changes (Brown 1996). Key indicators of adolescent depression include a drastic change in eating and sleeping patterns, significant loss of interest in previous activity interests (Blackman, 1995; Oster & Montgomery, 1996), constant boredom (Blackman, 1995), disruptive behavior, peer problems, increased irritability and aggression (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) proposed that formal psychologic testing may be helpful in complicated presentations that do not lend themselves easily to diagnosis. For many teens, symptoms of depression are directly related to low self esteem stemming from increased emphasis on peer popularity. For other teens, depression arises from poor family relations which could include decreased family support and perceived rejection by parents (Lasko et al., 1996). Oster & Montgomery (1996) stated that when parents are struggling over marital or career problems, or are ill themselves, teens may feel the tension and try to distract their parents. This distraction could include increased disruptive behavior, self-inflicted isolation and even verbal threats of suicide. So how can the physician determine when a patient should be diagnosed as depressed or suicidal? Brown (1996) suggested the best way to diagnose is to screen out the vulnerable groups of children and adolescents for the risk factors of suicide and then refer them for treatment. Some of these risk factors include verbal signs of suicide within the last three months, prior attempts at suicide, indication of severe mood problems, or excessive alcohol and substance abuse. Many physicians tend to think of depression as an illness of adulthood. In fact, Brown (1996) stated that it was only in the 1980's that mood disorders in children were included in the category of diagnosed psychiatric illnesses. In actuality, 7-14% of children will experience an episode of major depression before the age of 15. An average of 20-30% of adult bipolar patients report having their first episode before the age of 20. In a sampling of 100,000 adolescents, two to three thousand will have mood disorders out of which 8-10 will commit suicide (Brown, 1996). Blackman (1995) remarked that the suicide rate for adolescents has increased more than 200% over the last decade. Brown (1996) added that an estimated 2,000 teenagers per year commit suicide in the United States, making it the leading cause of death after accidents and homicide. Blackman (1995) stated that it is not uncommon for young people to be preoccupied with issues of mortality and to contemplate the effect their death would have on close family and friends. Once it has been determined

Personal Law Essay on Hate Crimes

Personal Law Essay on Hate Crimes Free Online Research Papers The first amendment of the United States Constitution states that, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.† The only argument to this amendment nowadays is what words are and aren’t classified in these two categories. The new law, under the Historic Hate Crimes Legislation signed by governor George E. Pataki in July of 2000, defines a hate crime being committed when a person intentionally commits a specified offense, such as intimidation, violence, assault, kidnapping, arson murder, or other crimes, against an individual because of his or her race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability, religion or religious practice or sexual orientation. Also addressed in this legislation are the penalties for committing a hate crime, which can be enhanced now. However, the enhancement law only applies to criminal acts such as selecting a victim to commit a crime towards. It does not apply to cases dealing with speech or actions, otherwise known as â€Å"hate speech†, because they are protected by the first amendment. While someone is guilty if he or she performs one of the specified offenses above, this law also insures that only people who are found truly motivated by hatred will be prosecuted. This is an important part of the law to enforce because if the defendant and the victim are two different races it doesn’t automatically mean the crime was committed through hatred. The prosecutor would be able to find the defendant guilty if they had evidence such as the defendant would have committed the same crime to the next person of the discriminated race, among other things. This information is crucial because an easy way for certain people of a discriminated race to get a quick settlement is by simply filing that a hate crime was committed against them and twisting the story of what really happened. Convictions go as far as the crime committed does. There are no special penalties or punishments for committing hate crimes. In some states there are reform groups such as the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s JOLT (Juvenile Offenders Learning Tolerance) Program. Since a high percentage of hate crimes are committed by teenagers and younger people, this program focuses on intervening with youths that have engaged in bias-motivated misconduct or low-level hate crimes. Programs like JOLT are productive, strategic ways to teach the young people of America the evils of hate crimes before it’s too late. It is proven that teenagers tried as adults and sent to prison have a much higher chance of recommitting their crimes than teenagers who are put in juvenile delinquency centers and programs. Although there aren’t any specific punishments for hate crimes, the government is cracking down and taking them completely serious now; especially with the sentencing of convicted offenders, hoping to send a message to others, who think about committing hate crimes, that they won’t just get a slap on the wrist anymore. Research Papers on Personal Law Essay on Hate CrimesCapital PunishmentUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenHip-Hop is ArtRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

The Complete Guide to AP US Government FRQs

The Complete Guide to AP US Government FRQs SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Free-response questions on the AP US Government exam are more straightforward than those on some other AP tests, but they can still be tough if you're not ready for them. In this guide, I'll lay out a step-by-step method for answering AP Government FRQs, go through a real example, and tell you where you can find additional practice resources. AP Government Free-Response Section Format The free-response section has four questions total, each of which is worth an equal percentage of your score.You’ll have an hour and 40 minutes to answer these questions, which means you should spend no more than 20-25 minutes on each of them.Each question is typically worth between 5-7 raw points, and the free-response section as a whole makes up 50 percent of your score.All the free-response questions have pretty much the same format, so it's one of the simpler AP free-response sections overall. Free-response questions on this exam will ask you to integrate your knowledge of the various content areas covered by the course.This includes analyzing political events in the US, discussing examples, and demonstrating your understanding of general principles of US government and politics.You'll also be asked to examine data from charts, define key terms, and explain the roles that different parts of our government play in the political system. AP Government FRQs: Step-By-Step Solution Process This section provides a step-by-step process for answering any question on the AP US Government exam.Here’s a sample question that I’ll reference throughoutso that you can see how these steps might work in practice: Step 1: Read the Introduction to the Question Most questions on this test will have an introductory sentence or two before they break down into parts that you need to answer.This will give you background information and a general sense of what to expect in the rest of the question.Some questions are accompanied by images or charts (as we will see in the example section).If that’s the case, you should also take a second here to review the graphics and make sure you understand what they’re showing. If you want, you can read the intros to all the questions before choosing where to begin. It may help to build your confidence and improve your efficiency to start with a question that’s easier for you.In the sample question, you would note from the introduction that the question is going to be dealing with the role of political parties in US government.The intro also tells us that political parties have recently gained influence in Congress while losing influence in the actual election process. Step 2: Identify (and Underline, If You Want) the Command Verb For each part of each question, you’re given specific instructions on the type of answer that is expected.These instructions include verbs like â€Å"identify†, â€Å"explain†, â€Å"describe†, â€Å"define†, and â€Å"compare.† It’s important to be aware of exactly what the question is asking you to do so that you can earn full points.These command verbs are the first words you should zero in on as you read.If you think it will help keep you focused, you can even underline them as you go through the question. In part a of the sample question, the command verb is â€Å"describe.†This indicates that you need to do more than just state an important function of political parties; you need to expand on exactly what it is.In parts c and d, the command verb changes to â€Å"explain†, which means you’ll need to include even more elaboration in your answer on how certain factors have affected party politics. Step 3: Address All the Potential Points After finding the command verb in the part of the question you’re answering, take note of how many examples or descriptions you need to provide.Each of them will almost always correspond to a point in your raw score for the question.Be careful to answer the question thoroughly but directly, addressing all of these points in a way that will make it easy for graders to assess your response.You don’t need to write an essay for these free-response questions. Just go straight for the answer to avoid ambiguity. For part a of the sample question, you’re asked to describe two important functions of political parties, which means that part a is almost certainly worth two points.You need to make sure you provide two distinct functions and make it easy for the grader to award points foryour answer.If you go through the rest of the question, it looks like there are five raw points available in total:two for part a, one for part b, two for part c, and one for part d.Write your answer carefully so you can scoop up all of them! Step 4: Reread Your Answer Finally, reread what you wrote to ensure that it makes sense and addresses the question completely.Did you give the correct number of descriptions/examples/identifications? Does your answer directly respond to what the question is asking overall?If you’re satisfied, move onto the next part of the question and return to step 2! AP Government FRQ Example Now, I’ll go through the answers to a real AP Government free-response question from the 2013 exam to show you what your responses should look like: First, let’s consider the chart and the introductory sentence for this question.It looks like we’re comparing the distribution of judicial appointments by gender and ethnicity for two different presidents. For part a, you are asked to describe one way in which the judicial appointments of Obama and Bush were similar.You might say that in both cases more than half of the appointees were white, with Obama at 59 percent and Bush at 82 percent white.You could also say that the percentage of Hispanic nominees was similar for each president or that in both cases Asian American nominees were the rarest of all the ethnic groups.You would earn one point for this part of the question if you included either of those responses. For part b, you are asked to describe two differences between the presidents in their judicial appointments.One difference you might point out is that a significantly larger percentage of Obama’s nominees were women - almost half compared to Bush’s mere 22 percent.A second difference is that Obama appointed a greater percentage of candidates from racial minorities. For example, 22 percent of his appointees were African American as compared to Bush’s 7 percent.You could earn two points for part b, one for each difference between the two sets of nominees. Part c asks you to explain how party affiliation impacts judiciary nominations.You might say that the President often chooses nominees with similar views who will adhere to his policy preferences.This typically means people who belong to the same political party as the President.You could also say that the President tends to choose nominees who will make his party’s electoral base happy and lead to victories in future elections.Part c was worth one point. Finally, part d asks you to describe what a President can do to increase the likelihood that his federal court nominees will be confirmed.Possible answers to part d include: Consulting with the Senate/using senatorial courtesy Selecting a moderate candidate in the first place Properly vetting candidates and choosing people who are highly qualified You would earn one point for this part of the question if you described any one of these methods.Notice that this question was worth a total of five raw points, which is probably the lowest raw point value you’ll see on any of the AP US Government free-response questions.However, a lower raw point value doesn’t mean it’s worth any less in your final scaled score; each free-response question is equally important on this test. Even people who make extremely important decisions, like federal judges, are appointed partially based on their political favorability. How to Practice AP US Government Free-Response Questions There are several resources that you can use to hone your skills in answering AP Government FRQs. Official College Board Resources The College Board site hosts free-response questions from previous tests that you can use for practice.Questions that come from tests administered between 2004 and 2015 are accompanied by scoring guidelines, so you can check your answers and tally up how many points you would have earned.These are the best sample free-response questions you can get because you know for sure that they accurately represent what you’ll see on the real test.The questions from 2002 and 2003 don’t have scoring guidelines, so be aware that you won’t be able to check the official answers if you choose to use them. Review Books Review books can also be good resources for free response practice although they tend to vary in quality.The Princeton Review book for AP Gov includes five full practice tests, so there should be plenty of free response questions that you can use to practice your skills.The Barron’s review book also has a couple of practice tests and extra free response questions that may be useful for practice. If you don’t want to buy the book, you can also takeBarron’s free online practice test for AP Gov, which includes free-response questions and scoring guidelines.If you use these free-response questions for practice, just be sure to intersperse them with official questions from the College Board so that you maintain an accurate sense of what to expect on the real test. Review books can be great resources for free-response and multiple-choice practice questions and for test-taking strategies that you may not have discovered on your own. Conclusion The four free-response questions on the AP US Government exam can be approached methodically to earn the maximum number of points. Read the introduction to the question first so you can get your bearings. Then, for each of the separate parts, identify the command verb, address all aspects of the question, and double check your answer for missing pieces and careless errors. I'd suggest practicing at least a few free response questions before heading into the exam. The best resource to use is the College Board website, which has an archive of past questions accompanied by answer guidelines. These questions are pretty simple compared to the free-response questions on other AP tests once you get the hang of them! What's Next Not sure where to begin in studying for the test as a whole? Read our five-step plan that will help you prepare to take on any AP test. If you're missing some of your notes that you need to study for AP Gov, check out this article with links to all the content you need to know for the test. Do you have a target score in mind for this exam? Learn more about what it takes to earn a 5 on an AP test and whether you should aim for one yourself. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

MGT Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MGT - Coursework Example The character David Bunzik does not perfectly fit in this type of personality. But he exhibits some traits of this personality during the argument on the plane which gets him sent to rehab. He however has a boss who exhibits all the traits of an abrasive personality. In the movie has several conflict handling styles are employed especially between David Bunzik and Doctor Buddy. The job responsibilities are clarified so as to reduce the conflicts. The two parties also find ways of coming together in order to foster an understanding amongst them. The two characters result in changing their focus to much larger goals so as to minimize the level of conflict between them. These methods do work since they are able to get through with the therapy and achieve the desired results. I have learnt that there is need to understand the different characters that exist in the work place. Another lesson from the movie is that conflicts which are a part of human interaction can be resolved to enhance coexistence. Managing Teams The team in the movie â€Å"Remember the Titans† went through all the stages of group development. First the team underwent formation, a period during which Washington was hired to take over as the coach of the T.C. Williams High School. During this period Washington decides to honor his predecessor (Yoast) with an assistant coordinators position. Patton declines this position at first. During the storming stage, the white players of the team pledge to boycott their team if Yoast does not accept the offer. The athletes are also involved in racial-related conflicts in their camp. After seeing how bad the situation had gotten Yoast decides to accept the offer and at this point the team enters the norming stage. The conflicts are resolved following the rigorous coaching by William. The team enters the performing stage as demonstrated in the scene where even after the loss of their star player, they still go ahead and win the championship. One of the s trategies that were employed by the two coaches was that of helping the members of the team to stay together and to view matters as a team. The two coaches were instrumental in creating the rules for the team in order to establish team spirit. The issues that plagued individual members did not escape the two coaches who ensured that they dealt with them firmly. The coaches also celebrated the team’s success. All these actions help in ensuring that a team mentality is developed among the different members of the team. I believe the two coaches handled their team in a very professional manner. If I had been managing the team, I would have sort to grant the team members more autonomy much earlier so as to facilitate the members to develop a sense of responsibility towards the team. The lesson here is that teams are usually built through the tactful use of skill. For the team to achieve its goals, all the members need to play their part. Organizational Culture The organization cu lture in Enron Corporation that is the subject of the movie is very wanting. The values held by the organization do not uphold upright integrity. This is evident since the management team diverts the corporation’s money to offshore accounts. The lack of integrity is also evident as the executives end up with criminal cases. The executives are also involv

Discuss the lecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discuss the lecture - Essay Example She also discusses what challenges she had to face while writing the poems and researching for the book. The lecture is more of a personal story of how Rita Dove’s inspiration and journey that ended up in the form of this book. She tells it very much like a personal story of intrigue and research to find out about Bridgetower. She sprinkles her lecture with light humor every now and then to save the listeners from monotony and reads out from her book to help us actually see how her research on Bridgetower was employed to weave poems. Being a black American wed to a white man, and having a child she can totally relate to Bridegtower’s story. Being the son of an African prince and a Polish mother, Bridegtower was ‘different’ as Rita Dove calls it, his father helps him ‘exploiting the difference’ and that is explained by Rita Dove when she reads out ‘The wardrobe’. Similarly we notice that Dove virtually goes back in time and gets into Bridgestone’s shoes to explore what it felt like being him back then. The way Rita Dove tells the story of her research and inspiration behind the book, and then when we listen to those recitations of poems from Sonata Mulattica, we can easily see how she went into every small detail for writing her poems. Like she tells how Thomas Jefferson was there in one of Bridgetower’s concerts. And then the way she tells how being black or mixed or ‘different’ was treated differently back then if compared with todayâ€⠄¢s world. She calls this story ‘More than a story’ and her treatment of it proves that she has indeed turned it into more than a story, breathing life into it. Rita Dove loves playing music and her interest in music and classic compositions takes her at a totally different level to be able to understand and appreciate Bridgetower’s lost talent. She celebrates it

Identify the Differences Between a Cash Flow Statement and a Profit and Loss Account Essay Example for Free

Identify the Differences Between a Cash Flow Statement and a Profit and Loss Account Essay There is undoubtedly, a clear difference between what is termed â€Å"cash† and what â€Å"profit† is and by extension a cash flow statement and a profit and loss statements. Notwithstanding these differences, each statement gives a different yet important view of organisational performance. Cash according to Holmes et al 2005:166 is â€Å"cash in hand and deposits repayable on demand less overdrafts repayable on demand; i.e. they can be withdrawn at any time without penalty. Cash includes cash and deposits denominated in foreign currency. † Once, accounts were comprised of just the balance sheet and the profit and loss statements. However in the late 1960’s, a period characterised as a high inflationary period, it was felt that historical costing convention which is indicative of the profit and loss account, provided information that was outdated and as such provided little insight on the current market value of companies and by extensions their profits. Therefore, there became a need for an additional statement- the cash flow statement. â€Å"A cash flow statement is a statement produced either for management or external reporting purposes showing, by broad categories cash receipts and payments in a period† (Leicester, 2001. 10.3), and is intended to supplement the profit and loss account and the balance sheet. The cash flow statement therefore, assists creditors, investors and generally all stakeholders in evaluating the liquidity and solvency of a business or rather, shows changes in cash be it negative or positive i.e. cash outflows and cash inflows. The Cash flow statement is divided into three main sections: 1.Core operations (operating activities) 2.Investing 3.Financing A typical cash flow statement can be seen in Appendix B. Cash flows from operating activities generally include transactions that are associated with the calculation of income. It also includes items which are involved in the production or purchase of merchandise, the sale of good and/or services to the organisation’s customers and expenditure relating to the general administration of a business. Under the broad heading of investing activities, are found important element relating to cash flow in an organisation. These transactions involve making and collecting repayments on loans, purchasing and selling of plant assets and other productive assets. All other investment activities are generally classified under this heading. â€Å"Changes in debt, loans or dividends are accounted for in cash from financing. Changes in cash from financing are ‘cash in’ when capital is raised they’re ‘cash out’ when dividends are paid. Thus if a company issues a bond to the public, the company receives cash financing. However, when interest is paid to bondholders, the company is reducing its cash.† (Heakal, 2004) It is now important that the issue of profit and the profit and loss account be examined. Profit by definition is the excess of revenue over expenditure. Revenues are increases in the company’s assets from its profit-driven activities, resulting in positive cash flows (inflows). Conversely, expenses are decreases in the company’s assets from its profit-driven activities, which results in negative cash flows (outflows). Net income/profit is therefore, the difference between the two. According to Williams et al 2002:54 if a company’s expenditure exceeds income then the difference is a net loss, suggesting that the enterprise has suffered a loss. Alternatively if the company’s income exceeds its expenditure the difference is a net profit. â€Å"The profit and loss account is a financial statement which shows the profit (loss) made by a business during a defined period of time (normally one year). The account also shows the uses to which the profit has been put (or how losses were financed).† (Jewel 1998:327) Sometimes referred to as the revenue account, the profit and loss statement is divided into four parts: 1.How the profit (loss) was earned 2.The expenditure for the period under review 3.How much was taken by taxation 4.What happened to the profit (or loss) that was left after taxation Appendix A shows a typical profit and loss account. It is a truism that a business must make a profit in order to be successful. This is imperative since profits are needed to pay out dividends to shareholders in the case of a company and to reward partners of proprietors in the case of a sole trader or a partnership. Irrespective of the form of business organisation, â€Å"some profits are retained within the business as reserves or as proprietor’s funds, to finance the development and growth of the business† (Leicester 2001, 3.45). Consequently, although a business can experience occasional losses, it is imperative that it be profitable in the long run. A loss signifies that the value of resources used up in a period to generate sales/revenue is more than the sales/revenue generated in that period. These lose as a result, cause a reduction in the overall value of a business and can eventually lead to the collapse/liquidation of the organisation. When an organisation publishes its profit and loss accounts and a profit is shown, users of the statements may think that the business has â€Å"cash† and in turn expect different benefits. The Shareholders for example, might believe that if the company makes a profit after tax of say $200,000 then the company is in a position to pay out dividends. Similarly, employees might believe that the company can afford an increase in wages in the subsequent year. The fact is â€Å"profit does not always give a useful or meaningful picture of a company’s operations. Readers of a company’s financial statements might even be misled by a reported profit figure† (ACCA, paper 1. 1 Study text June 2003, 360). The fact is that profit does not necessarily mean an increase in cash. For example, an oil company on presenting its final accounts may show a large profit figure primarily because of large amounts of stock which it holds. Although the company may be profitable, it may be experiencing serious cash flow problems. Too much stock therefore according to many writers is tied-up cash and should be avoided as much as possible. Cash therefore according to Larson and Miller 1992:726 â€Å"is the lifeblood of a business enterprise. In a sense, cash is the fuel that keeps a business alive. With cash, employees and suppliers can be paid, loans can be repaid and owners receive dividends. Without cash, none of these things can happen. In simple terms, a business must have adequate amounts of cash to operate.† Hence, profits/losses shown by the profit and loss account and net cash inflow/outflow shown by the cash flow statement do not represent the same thing. Therefore, when businesses are profitable, which is a long-term requirement; it must pay in cash, its goods and services, capital equipment, the workforce and for that matter, all expenses incurred in the line of the business’ operation. If cash is not available to pay these expenses when the fall due, the business will slowly lose its goodwill, employees, suppliers and it will be forced into liquidation as was previously suggested. 1.If a non-current asset is purchased an outflow of the full amount is shown under Investing Activities in the cash flow statement for that period but only depreciation, which is part of the cost of that asset, is shown in the profit and loss account. This depreciation amount is not shown in the cash flow statement since it is not an actual movement of cash. The profit and loss statement therefore, attempts to spread the cost of the assets over its estimated useful life by a depreciation charge every year until it is expensed. By so doing the cost of the asset is not absorbed in the accounts in one year as is done by the cash flow statement, but over a period of time. 2.When shares are issued and cash is received from the sale, the cash flow statement will show this as a source of cash i.e. a cash flow under Financing Activities but this transaction does not have any effect on the profit and loss account. Similarly, if a loan is obtained, this is reflected as a cash inflow under financing activities but has no effect on the profit and loss account until subsequent interest charges have been made then it is shown. The same is also applicable for businesses which enjoy the overdraft facilities accorded to them by commercial banks. 3.After the sale of a non-current asset the profit or loss which is the difference between the sale price and the net book value of the asset is recorded in the profit and loss account while the entire proceeds is recorded in the cash flow statement as an increase in cash inflow under investing activities. Thus, while the cash flow statement shows inflow of cash, the profit and loss account may show a loss on disposal of the non-current asset simply because the asset was sold less than the net book value consequently representing a loss which the company has made. 4.The profit and loss account reports the total value of sale in a year less the cost of sales (â€Å"the costs directly associated with making or acquiring your products. Costs include material purchased from outside suppliers used in the manufacture of your product, as well as any internal expenses directly expended in the manufacturing process.†BusinessTown.com 2003) which is profit. Operational cash flow is the difference between cash received and cash paid from trading. If there are credit sales (receivables), cash received will differ form the value of the sales and conversely cash paid will differ from the cost of sales if there are credit purchases (payables). The difference therefore, between sales and cash received is because of changes in the amount of debtors and the difference in cost of sales and cash is because of changes in the amount of creditors. It is worthy to note that operational cash flow in the cash flow statement differs from profit in the profit and loss account. Because business accounts are prepared on an accruals basis and not on a cash basis, a sale or purchase is accounted for in the year in which it was made even if cash is exchanged in subsequent years. This practice is exercised in most businesses who, if they do not sell on credit may purchase on credit and if cash accounting is used, the accounts would not represent a â€Å"true and fair picture† of the business activity in a given period. The accounting convention when used is an application of the accrual concept. Therefore there is recognition that while the profit and loss account is affected by the accrual concept, the cash flow statement is not as was previously stated. It should be noted also, that profit, which is shown in the profit and loss account (Net profit before taxes†¦Appendix A) is really a reflection of future cash for the company because the entries recorded are from transactions done based on the accruals concept. This can be illustrated by means of a cash flow statement done using the indirect method. Using the indirect method of preparing a cash flow statement, â€Å"net profit or loss is adjusted for the effects of transactions of a non-cash nature e.g. depreciation, any deferrals or accruals of past or future operating cash receipts or payments and of income or expense associated with investing or financing cash flows† (ACCA, paper 1.1 Study text June 2003, 365). Appendix A confirms that the net profit of $ 3,390 million reported in the profit and loss account after adjustments became $ 410 million, the same cash amount reported in the balance sheet in Appendix C, extract under current assets. Users of the profit and loss account therefore as was established earlier may be missed by the profit figure reported. However, cash reported in the cash flow statement is authentic and represents the actual liquid position of a business organisation as at the balance sheet date. There have been frequent arguments that profit does not give an authentic view of the organisation’s performance as has been established thus far. Since the making of a profit will not necessarily result in an increased cash balance, one can conclude that a company’s performance and prospects depends not so much on profits earned in the period but more realistically on cash flow or rather the company’s liquidity. Bearing this in mind, many investors now find the profit figure reported in the profit/loss account less reliable than the cash balance reported in the cash flow statement because it is felt that the profit figure can be manipulated to reflect the producer’s bias. This notion is supported by Joseph Bernardino former chief executive of Anderson quoted in The Economist. Bernardino argued that â€Å"our financial reporting system is broken† with â€Å"many investors now believing that companies can manipulate their accounts more or less at will, with the aim of producing profits that increase steadily over time. Provisions are bumped up in goods years and later released; or the value of an acquisition is slashed; there are plenty tricks. The solution in the meantime may be to look at the cash, which is harder to disguise or invent.† The cash flow statement is therefore, unambiguous and provides information which is additional to that already provided in the other final accounts. Additionally the cash flow statement provides information based on activity instead of by balance sheet classifications and shows changes in actual cash, thus, providing additional information over the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts. The dilemma as a result becomes fairly simple: there is cash or there is no cash. For this reason, the cash flow statement has several advantages which give shareholders and investors an idea as to how the funds of a company are being managed. These advantages include: 1.Cash flows allow for better comparisons and an understanding of various companies financial performance as it reports on how the cash was earned and spent as well as the reason for the difference between reported profit and related cash flows. 2.It allows for easier preparation of cash flow forecasts which is more useful than profit forecasts. 3.Cash flow reporting satisfies the needs of its users. It provides the information that enables management to make well informed decisions. It also assists shareholders with stewardship accounting while better serving the information needs of employees and creditors on the company’s liquidity status. 4.Cash flow is easily understood than profit which is based on accounting conventions and concepts such as: accruals convention or the matching concept and therefore, is easier for the layman to understand. 5.Creditors are more interested in a business’s ability to repay their debts than its profitability. Profits may indicate that cash may be available at later date, while cash flow suggests a direct view of the business’s cash situation i.e. how much money is readily available. 6.Cash flow accounting directs management’s focus on the optimum use of company assets in order to generate positive cash flows bearing in mind that cash is essential for the survival of an enterprise. In any organisation, a strong financial position is one which shows that a business has relatively little debt and large amounts of liquid assets in comparison to its current liabilities. Additionally, a strong cash balance generating with ease and efficiency from its operating activities further indicate financial strength. Large companies are therefore, mandated by law to prepare financial statements and it is in these that their performance is assessed. The users of financial statements are interested in solvency, the ability to pay debts and profitability, which creates equity. Management is also interested in these statements as it will assist them in improving the areas where performance is weak. Despite the argument presented thus far, it must be noted that â€Å"no man is an island.† This suggests that in isolation, a true understanding of a business’ performance cannot be attained by an examination of only the cash flow statement. When used in conjunction with the profit and loss account and the balance sheet, the cash flow statement gives shareholders and the other users of the financial statements the required information on viability, solvency, liquidity and the financial flexibility of a company at a specific time, essentially at the balance sheet date. Furthermore, the conjunctive use of the cash flow statements give an indication of the relationship between profitability and a company’s ability to generate cash, consequently, defining the quality of the profits reflected in the profit and loss account. Should one therefore, require an overall well calculated view of an organisation, no statement, be it profit and loss account, balance sheet or cash flow statement should be looked at in isolation. For example, in St.Lucia a new shopping plaza is on the verge of opening. Needless to say that Blue Sky Limited is now investing heavily in the refurbishment of the building in which it is to be housed. A close examination of Blue Sky Limited’s accounts would reveal large outflows with little inflows. It therefore becomes necessary to examine Blue Sky Limited’s cash flow accounts in conjunction with the profit and loss account and the balance sheet so that a more wholesome picture can be obtained. Simply put, â€Å"the cash flow statement is simply a part of the puzzle. Analysing it with the other statements can give you a more overall look at a company’s financial health† (Investopedia.com 2005). This notion is supported by Aharony et al 2003 in their study who posits that in order to understand which statement gives a better view of organisational performance, it becomes imperative to look at the â€Å"life cycle status† (LCS) of the of the business in question. Aharony et al therefore argue: Previous researchers identify four LCS’s: Start-up, maturity and decline or stagnation. At the start-up stage there are normally only a few assets in place. Growth opportunities constitute the major asset of the firm at that stage. Cash flow operation and the earnings are low, and there is a relatively great need for cash to finance the realization of these growth opportunities. At the growth stage there are more assets in place and some income is generated (Black, 1998). Sales and revenue growth rates are higher than average in the growth stage and so are investments in production facilities (Anthony and Ramesh, 1992). At the maturity stage firms experience low or no cash and needs are mostly satisfied by internal sources and at the decline or stagnant stage growth opportunities, if any, are likely to be limited, competition intensifies, and the firm’s financing costs are more expensive.(Aharony et al 2003) The implication of Aharony et al’s argument is that the cash flow statements may not necessarily be the best statement to look at a particular point in a business’ LSC because at certain points, liquidity and solvency may be low. At such points, therefore a business’ performance can be better understood by introspection of the profit and loss statement which relies heavily on accrual accounting or a combination with the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Consequently the stage of a business’ life cycle plays an important role in the understanding of a business’ performance. Despite its limitations e.g. its inability to express opinions whether or not expenditure was necessary of will be profitable, or fail to report on the cause of an increase in the firm’s receivables due to poor stock control or changes in policy, the cash flow statement remains the most detailed and accurate statement when reporting on a company’s liquidity/solvency. Therefore, in comparison to the profit and loss account, the cash flow statement definitely gives a better view of organisational performance, if for example, each statement; the cash flow statement and the profit and loss statement, is to be examined in isolation.

Dunbar’s Identification with Indians in the Film, Dances with Wolves :: Movie Film Essays

Dunbar’s Identification with Indians in the Film, Dances with Wolves In the film Dances with Wolves, the settlers view the Indians as primitive and uncivilized creatures. Dunbar, played by Kevin Costner, needs a change of pace so he decides to go to the "furthest outpost." Upon arriving at his post, he gradually realizes that the Indians are just as scared of him as he is of them. Soon Dunbar identifies with their way of life and in the end has to choose to live either as a settler or as an Indian. The first scene in which we are introduced to the Indians, Timmons and Dunbar are making their way to the post. Along the way they find a human skeleton with an arrow protruding from it. The next morning when Dunbar wakes up Timmons, he jabs him in the rear with an arrow. The irony in it is that when Timmons is returning to town he is attacked by Indians and the first arrow that makes contact with his body hits him in the rear. Kicking Bird is the first Indian that Dunbar comes in contact with. After bathing one day Dunbar sees an Indian (Kicking Bird) trying to steal his horse. Dunbar, not realizing that he doesn't have any clothes on, runs after Kicking Bird to try to rescue his horse. Needless to say both Dunbar and Kicking Bird were scared of the other. This scene is followed by, several braves attempting to steal Dunbar's horse, but every time his horse returns to the post. After a period of time, Dunbar decides it is time to meet the Indians. On his way to their camp he runs into a woman who has slit her wrists and is bleeding to death. The woman, who he later finds out is Stands with a Fist, is scared of the white men because she believes that the white men will take her captive. The irony in this is that when she was a child, Indians had killed her parents, taken her captive and raised her as their own. Out of exhaustion and blood loss Stands with a Fist collapses and Dunbar carries her on his horse to the Indian village. Upon entering the village, Dunbar attempts to convey to them that he means no harm by stopping his horse and carrying Stand with a Fist to the man who appeared to be the chief.

An Analysis of Women’s Mindset About Plastic Surgery Essay

Based on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia stated that beauty is a value that related to emotional aspect that mean vitality, fertility, health, happiness, goodness, and love. â€Å"Beauty is commonly defined as a characteristic present in objects, such as nature, art work, and a human person, that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, joy, and satisfaction to the observer, through sensory manifestations such as shape, color, and personality. Beauty thus manifested usually conveys some level ofharmony amongst components of an object† (New World Encyclopedia). Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274), wrote on the essence of beauty. He thought that beauty was the result of three prerequisites: wholeness (lat. integritas) or perfection, harmony (lat. proportio) and clarity or brightness† (Pentti Rautio, 2007). For many centuries, people and philosophers have expressed their definition of beauty. They show their own argument with different definition. However, nowadays we can not get the really means of beauty, because beauty has been lost over time. It just leaves a word ( Nancy Etcoff, 1999, p. 69). Everyone want to be beautiful, especially for women. They make themselves as beautiful as they can. For being beautiful, they have an icon to be followed. They use a Barbie dolls as a fashion icon because they think that Barbie is the image of beauty woman. Barbie has thin and tall body, flawless skin, long hair and big eyes. It shows that Barbie is perfect creature. Because of it, Barbie has affected a lot of women through its beauty. Barbie become the image of beauty by its history. Barbie is named by Ruth Handler which comes from his daughter’s name Barbara. Barbara is the same as another child that play with a toys but she always use a paper to make a dolls. During a trip to Europe with her child Barbara in 1956, Ruth Handler came across a German and found a doll called Bild Lilli. The Bild Lilli doll was very popular at that time, it was made based on a character in a comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. In 1955, The Bild Lilli doll was initially sold to adults and became popular with children who enjoyed dressing up. On her return to the United States, Ruth Handler tried to redesign the Bird Lilly doll with help from Jack Ryan that works as an engineer. Moreover, the doll that was redesign by Ruth handler was given a new name ‘Barbie’, after Ruth Handler’s daughter Barbara. The Barbie doll made its first debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is also used as Barbie’s birthday. The Bird Lilli doll production was stopped in 1964 and the first Barbie doll wore a black and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature topknot ponytail. The doll was marketed as a â€Å"Ten-age Fashion Model† with her clothes created by Charlotte Johnson. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese home workers. Around 350,000 Barbie dolls were sold during the first year of production. Barbie was the first toy that has a marketing strategy on television advertising. It is estimated that over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold out in over 150 countries and every second three Barbie dolls are sold. Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a large range of Barbie branded goods such as books, apparel, cosmetics and video games. Barbie has appeared in a series of animated films and is a supporting character in â€Å"Toy Story 2† and â€Å"Toy Story 3†. Barbie has been given honors and become cultural icon that is rare in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week. In 2009, Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday. The celebrations included a runway show in New York for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and others event that used Barbie as the icon (James Penn, 2001). Barbie became a popular toy in America and the figure that was used by Mattel dolls and accessories. For five years, Barbie has been an important part of toy fashion doll market. However, behind its popularity, Barbie also became controversies because its life style. From a young age, children play with toys like Barbie dolls and burly action figures, with bodies that are physically impossible to achieve. Exposure to these â€Å"ideals† is damaging to the self-esteem of youths† (MelodyBee, 2008). Usually, most of children play Barbie, especially for girls. They make Barbie as beautiful as they can. However, playing a Barbie doll can give bad influence for children. The Barbie’s clothes or the other things in Barbie’s world have affected the girls who playing Barbie think how importance of physical appearance. Barbie has affected them in terms of fashion. They be dressed precocious because the influence of Barbie. Without realizing it, they are growing-up skipper. According to Marilyn Ferris Motz, he suggested, â€Å"Barbie has other messages for us and that the doll’s influence is more problematic, especially for children. † It means that Barbie has bad side effect for children. Not only children, but nowadays the girls or women also make Barbie as woman figure that they want. Because of the figure of Barbie and other figures of beauties, women are convinced to believe that one must look like these images to be beautiful. The easiest way to achieve this is by having plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is a type of surgery that can involve both women’s appearance and ability to function. Society today has influence women to believe that in order for a person to look beautiful, they must look like the images that are seen on television, in movies, and on the cover of magazines. Some of them are even willing to suffer in order to achieve their desired beauty. Although plastic surgery can improve women’s appearance, but it can induce a lot of detriments which may lead to dangerous risk, even death. From the description, I will analyze women’s mindset about plastic surgery.

“Poetry” by Marianne Moore Essay

â€Å"Poetry† by Marianne Moore: the craft for the Sisyphus in all of us Slate poetry editor Robert Pinsky gives readers Marianne Moore’s widely anthologized†Poetry†Ã‚  as a topic discussion a few months ago. It was a a joy to read again/It shouldn’t be a mystery as to why this poem among the hundreds she wrote is the one that an otherwise indifferent audience remembers: it’s a poem about poetry. She rather handily summarizes an array of cliches, stereotypes and received misgivings about poetry a literalistic readership might have ,feigns empathy with the complaints, and then introduces one crafty oh-by-the-way after another until the opposite is better presented than the resolution under discussion. This is not a subject I warm up to in most circumstances–poets, of their accord, have demonstrated the sort of self-infatuation that many of them, left to their means-to-an-end, would remove themselves from the human scale and assume the ranks of the divine, the oracular, the life giving, IE, develop themselves into a priesthood, the guardians of perception. Moore’s poem, though, presents itself as a contracting string of epigrams that seem to quarrel, a disagreement between head and mind, body and spirit, and a larger part of her lines, as they seemingly across the page away from the statements preceding the line before it, is that no really knows what to make of poetry as a form, as a means of communication, as a way of identifying oneself in the world. It frustrates the fast answer, it squelches the obvious point, poetry adds an ambiguity that would rile many because of lines that start off making obvious sense but which leave the reader in a space that isn’t so cocksure. Little seems definite anymore once a poem has passed through the world, and the reassembling of perception required of the reader to understand a bit of the verse (the alternative being merely to quit and admit defeat) is bound to give a resentment. It’s a headache one would rather not have. Moore’s poem seems to be a response to Dorothy Parker’s ironic declaration declaration â€Å"I hate writing. I love having written†. The reader may hate not understanding what they’ve read, but love the rewards of sussing through a poem’s blind alleys and distracting side streets. The agony, the contradictions, the dishonest sleights of hand that deceive you in the service of delivering a surprise, an irony, an unexpected image , all of this is worth resentments a readers suffers through. One is , after all , made better, made stronger by the exercise of the will to read and confront the poem on it’s own terms. Moore is a shrewd rhetorician as well as gracefully subtle poet.Clever, witty, sharp and acidic when she needs me, Moore is clever at playing the Devil’s Advocate in nominally negative guise, saying she dislikes it but mounting one exception to the rule after another until we have an overwhelming tide of reasons about why we as citizens can’t exist without it’s application. It works as polemic, indeed, crafted as she alone knows how, and it adds yet another well-phrased set of stanzas that want to turn poets into more than mortal artists, but into a priesthood, a race of scribes attuned to secret meanings of invisible movements within human existence. It sort of stops being a poet after the first jagged stanza, not unlike all those pledge breaks on PBS that tirelessly affirm that network’s quality programming while showing little of it during their pleas for viewer money. It’s not that I would argue too dramatically against the notion that poets and artists in general are those who’ve the sensitivity and the skills to turn perception at an instinctual level into a material form through which what was formally unaddressable can now find a shared vocabulary in the world– egalitarian though I am, there are geniuses in the world , and those who are smarter and more adept than others in various occupations and callings–but I do argue against the self-flattery that poems like Moore’s promotes and propagates. I wouldn’t regard this as a polemic of any sort, nor a manifesto as to what the writer ought to do or what the reader should demand. Reading it over again, and again after that makes me think that Moore was addressing her own ambivalence toward the form. After one finishes some stanzas and feels contented that they’ve done justice to their object of concentration, some lines appear contrived, other words are dull and dead sounding aligned with more colorful, more chiming ones,an image seems strained and unnatural, an analogy no longer seems like the perfect fit. She too dislikes it, I think, because poetry will always come up short of getting to the world without our censoring buffers; Wallace Stevens solved the problem of cutting himself from the gravity of his real life by no attempting to launch his persona , via metaphor, through the imagined barrier between our perception of events and what is there, sans a mediating ego, and landed himself among his Ideal Types, his Perfect Forms and Arrangements, but the strength of his language. The metaphor he would have used to address qualities otherwise unseen of a thing her perceived became, in his method, the thing itself, a part of his Supreme Fiction. William Stevens voided the decorative phrases and qualifiers that he felt only added business to the world a poem tried to talk about and made a verse of hard , sharp, angular objects. Moore, though, seems to insist in Poetry that however grand , beautiful and insightful the resulting poems are in a host of poetic attempts to resolve the problem the distance between the thing perceived and the thing itself, we still have only poems, words arranged to produce effects that would appeal to our senses that are aligned with this world and not the invisible republic just beyond our senses. Poetry is a frustrating and irritating process because it no matter how close one thinks they’ve come to a breakthrough, there is the eventual realization of far one remains from it. Poetry as Sisyphean task; one is compelled to repeat the effort, and not without the feeling that they’ve done this before. The commotion of the animals, the pushing elephants, the rolling horses, the tireless yet immobile Wolf, seem like analogues to restless mind Moore at one time might have desired to have calmed by the writing of poetry. There is the prevailing myth, still fixed in a good number of people who go through various self help groups, that the writing of things down–poetry, journaling, blogging, writing plays or memoirs–is a process that, in itself , will reveal truthful things one needs to know and thereby settle the issues. Writing, though, doesn’t â€Å"settle†, finalize or cement anything in place, it does to set the world straight , nor does it resolve anything it was addressing once the writing is done with. It is, though, a useful process, a tool, one may use as a means to get one out of the chair, away from the keyboard, and become proactive in some positive way. The expectations of what poetry was supposed to do–create something about the world that is permanent, ever lasting, reveal a truth who’s veracity does not pale with time, whether a century or hour– are crushed and a resentment when realizes that the world they’re attempting to conquer, in a manner of speaking , will not bow to one’s perception, one’s carefully constructed stage set where the material things of this earth are props to be arranged on a whim, and that the mind that creates the metaphors, the similes, the skilled couplets and ingenious rhyme strategies is not calmed, soothed, serene. The world continues to move and change, language itself changes the meaning of the words it contains, the mind continues to tick away, untrammeled. Moore’s animals, in the restless paradise , are themselves restless, non contemplative, instinct driven toward species behavior that is about propagation and survival, creatures distinct from the contemplative conceit of the poet who thinks he or she is able to sift through the underbrush for secret significance. I’ve always heard a weary tone in Moore’s poem; a mind that in turn wrestles with matters where poetry doesn’t reveal what’s disguised but only what the poet can never get to. Her poem echos Macbeth’s famous speech rather nicely: She seems not a little dismayed that poetry is only part of our restless species behavior and that the language we write and expound to bring coherence to the waking life are only more sounds being made in an already noisy existence. Rebecca Steele January 14, 2013 Poem Analysis Analysis of â€Å"Poetry† by Marianne Moore In the poem, Moore dissects the meaning and understanding of poetry. She tries to make a point of the importance and usefulness of poetry to a person. There is the mention that most people do not take the time to appreciate something of they do not understand it. From research on this poet I have discovered that she has a unique writing style that she is  referencing in the poem. There are a few images in her poem like when she writes, â€Å"Hands that can grasp, eyes that can dilate, hair that can rise†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Another example of imagery is, â€Å"elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf under a tree†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are also other poetic elements in this poem as well as images. This poem really contains the main theme of the nature of people. She describes a stereotypical view that people do not take the time to appreciate and understand things. The poem honestly causes me a lot of confusion, which is why I picked it. I do not know how to get a full understanding of anything in this poem, especially things such as themes and allusions so I do not really have anything to say about either of those things so I am going to move on. There is one piece of irony I found in this poem. Her first line, â€Å"I too dislike it; there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle,† is an example of irony in her poem. For she is a poet sharing her negative opinion of poetry, I am assuming. The tone of this poem seems to be slightly melancholy for most of it.

Who Is Jesus Essays - Christology, Prophets Of Islam, Free Essays

Who Is Jesus Essays - Christology, Prophets Of Islam, Free Essays Who Is Jesus Lee Bell Mr. Motes Religion 105 November 3, 2000 Who is Jesus? Hundreds of years before Jesus' birth, the Old Testament of the Bible recorded the words of the prophets of Israel predicting His coming. The Old Testament, written by many people over a period of 1,500 years, contains more than 300 prophecies describing His appearance. All of these details came true, including his miraculous birth, His sinless life, His many miracles, His death and His resurrection. The life Jesus led, the miracles He did, the words He spoke, His death on the cross, His resurrection, His ascent to heaven - all point to the fact that He was not merely man, but more than man. Jesus claimed, I and the Father are one (John 10:30), He who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9), and I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6). As we study Scripture and the life of Jesus, we realize that His Life and Message Cause Change. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the south of Palestine. He grew up in a very ordinary town, named Nazareth, located in Galilee, which was in the north of Palestine. Jesus was a carpenter, but at the age of 30, He became a religious teacher, moving from town to town. In Luke 4:14-22, we read what happened when Jesus began teaching. He went to the synagogue, which was the local place of worship. Although He probably had no more religious education than the average Jewish man, people wanted to hear Him. He was asked to speak at the synagogue in Looking at the life and influence of Jesus of Nazareth throughout history and you will see that Jesus Christ was in fact the living Son of God. He and His message always produce great changes in the lives of men and of nations. Wherever His teachings and influence have gone, the holiness has flowed. In my life he has been the biggest influence in my life and the people around me. I have never gone wrong when I have followed his teachings , and I never will as long as I live. He works in big ways and most of the time I dont understand but it is always for the good.

Advanced Auditing Case 2.3

The client’s assertions that accounts receivable confirmation can effectively address are existence, rights, and valuation. b) When performing year-end sales cutoff tests, auditors hope to accomplish the objective of obtaining evidence from third parties to evaluate the client’s assertions of sales recorded for the period under audit. The client’s assertions that sales cutoff tests can effectively address are completeness and presentation. 2. Coopers Lybrand made several significant errors of judgment in its effort to confirm the Wow Wee receivable at the end of 1995. These errors of judgment include ignoring or overlooking red flags including: the 69% change in the percentage of factored accounts receivable from 1994 to 1995, the $2. 4 million in sales to Wow Wee booked in the final day of fiscal 1995, the fact that Wow Wee is a manufacturing company, the fact that Wow Wee was left out of the top 25 customers list when it was among the top 5 based on recorded sales, and the clearly falsified bill of lading. Coopers Lybrand failed to make the appropriate modifications to their planned audit procedures to examine these irregularities. Coopers Lybrand also failed to follow up on the confirmation of the Wow Wee receivable that they accepted from Goldberg. These errors of judgment involve extreme negligence on the part of the auditors. I would classify these errors as reckless as there is no evidence to support that Coopers Lybrand were involved in the fraud. I think that the auditors did not suspect that fraud would occur at Happiness Express in 1995 as they had previously audited Happiness Express in 1994 and rightfully issued an unqualified opinion. I think that the auditors believed that these were simple mistakes that did not need to be further examined. The company’s revenue grew so significantly from 1994 to 1995 and because of this, I think that is was easy for the auditors to believe that the employees were simply overwhelmed by the company’s alarming growth and made mistakes as a result. . Yes Coopers Lybrand should have confirmed the receivable from West Coast Liquidators at the end of fiscal 1995 because it represented 13%, a clearly material amount, of the total accounts receivable. They also should have included one or more of the sales to West Coast Liquidators in their year-end sales cutoff tests for 1995 as many of these transactions were booked in the final month of the fiscal year. Sales transactions occurring close to the end of the fiscal year are much more likely to be suspicious in nature or fraudulent than transactions occurring earlier in the year. 4. The alternative procedures that can be applied to a large receivable of an audit client when a confirmation cannot be obtained include examination of subsequent cash receipts, the matching of such receipts with the actual items paid for, and examination of shipping, or other client documentation. The evidence provided by these methods may differ from the evidence provided by confirmation of a receivable depending on the client’s documentation of the transaction. Typically, in a company with proper internal controls and documentation, alternative procedures should be able to effectively address the same assertions that the confirmation of a receivable address. At very least, alternative procedures provide evidence for the existence assertion. 5. According to AU Section 317. 7, auditors should be aware of the possibility that illegal acts, such as insider trading, may have occurred however, an audit made in accordance with GAAS provides no assurance that illegal acts will be detected or that any contingent liabilities that may result will be disclosed. In the event that an auditor discovers evidence concerning the existence of possible illegal acts that could have a material indirect effect on the financial statements, they should apply audit procedures directed to ascer tain whether an illegal act has occurred. Advanced Auditing Case 2.3 The client’s assertions that accounts receivable confirmation can effectively address are existence, rights, and valuation. b) When performing year-end sales cutoff tests, auditors hope to accomplish the objective of obtaining evidence from third parties to evaluate the client’s assertions of sales recorded for the period under audit. The client’s assertions that sales cutoff tests can effectively address are completeness and presentation. 2. Coopers Lybrand made several significant errors of judgment in its effort to confirm the Wow Wee receivable at the end of 1995. These errors of judgment include ignoring or overlooking red flags including: the 69% change in the percentage of factored accounts receivable from 1994 to 1995, the $2. 4 million in sales to Wow Wee booked in the final day of fiscal 1995, the fact that Wow Wee is a manufacturing company, the fact that Wow Wee was left out of the top 25 customers list when it was among the top 5 based on recorded sales, and the clearly falsified bill of lading. Coopers Lybrand failed to make the appropriate modifications to their planned audit procedures to examine these irregularities. Coopers Lybrand also failed to follow up on the confirmation of the Wow Wee receivable that they accepted from Goldberg. These errors of judgment involve extreme negligence on the part of the auditors. I would classify these errors as reckless as there is no evidence to support that Coopers Lybrand were involved in the fraud. I think that the auditors did not suspect that fraud would occur at Happiness Express in 1995 as they had previously audited Happiness Express in 1994 and rightfully issued an unqualified opinion. I think that the auditors believed that these were simple mistakes that did not need to be further examined. The company’s revenue grew so significantly from 1994 to 1995 and because of this, I think that is was easy for the auditors to believe that the employees were simply overwhelmed by the company’s alarming growth and made mistakes as a result. . Yes Coopers Lybrand should have confirmed the receivable from West Coast Liquidators at the end of fiscal 1995 because it represented 13%, a clearly material amount, of the total accounts receivable. They also should have included one or more of the sales to West Coast Liquidators in their year-end sales cutoff tests for 1995 as many of these transactions were booked in the final month of the fiscal year. Sales transactions occurring close to the end of the fiscal year are much more likely to be suspicious in nature or fraudulent than transactions occurring earlier in the year. 4. The alternative procedures that can be applied to a large receivable of an audit client when a confirmation cannot be obtained include examination of subsequent cash receipts, the matching of such receipts with the actual items paid for, and examination of shipping, or other client documentation. The evidence provided by these methods may differ from the evidence provided by confirmation of a receivable depending on the client’s documentation of the transaction. Typically, in a company with proper internal controls and documentation, alternative procedures should be able to effectively address the same assertions that the confirmation of a receivable address. At very least, alternative procedures provide evidence for the existence assertion. 5. According to AU Section 317. 7, auditors should be aware of the possibility that illegal acts, such as insider trading, may have occurred however, an audit made in accordance with GAAS provides no assurance that illegal acts will be detected or that any contingent liabilities that may result will be disclosed. In the event that an auditor discovers evidence concerning the existence of possible illegal acts that could have a material indirect effect on the financial statements, they should apply audit procedures directed to ascer tain whether an illegal act has occurred.

Three Major Problems in Nigeria Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Three Major Problems in Nigeria - Essay Example Nigeria is one developing country, which faces diverse problems; however, the paper attempts to analyze three crucial problems including increasing inflation rate, rising living standard, as well as political instability. Political instability Most African countries have a characteristic of political instability. This underscores the depth of development leaving people midst abundant resources with little development. In the past, many years, stagnation remains evident among many African countries due to political instability creating a rising tide of poverty, poor infrastructure and decaying of public utilities (Mundt & Aborisade, 2004). Nigeria gets described by scholars as an unfinished state, and a truculent African disaster, this is because of the abundant natural resources present in the country, which instead of improving the economic condition of the country, has propelled the vicious cycle of poverty (Kay & Mazen, 2012). Nigeria is rich with enormous oil resources that warra nt it a name of a giant African country. On the contrary, it remains a minute country due to the political instability of parochial leadership, which considers personal survival rather that national development. Nigeria suffered a setback and was brought down into its knees by 20 years of corrupt military and brutal rule. The rule left power in the hands of powerful political bosses also called godfathers with vast patronage of the country. They viewed the country primarily through the lens of the personal fortification, amassing wealth for developing personal interest. The attempt to bring democratic consolidation got hampered by Nigeria political gladiators who used the slightest opportunity in power for personal cult. Political instability in Nigeria; therefore caused harm, as people vied to control vast spoils of office. This is a trend, which gave forth to undeserving leaders, who collected wealth grabbing everything they could lay their hands. In Nigeria, the centralized econo mic as well as political structure comprised of individual and the military, which controlled substantial parts of the country endorsed with resources (Adeseyoju, 2006). The political instability led to a major segment of Nigerian falling into poverty. According to research, the poor leadership forced 70% of people to fall into abject poverty. The brazen watch for the rule of law also made matters worse, as only people with power and influence had the ability to access facilities. It is a country, which made distant the aspect of serving its citizens. Consequently, Nigeria federation, which dominates the political stand, continue to build patronage networks, as the infrastructural standards remain dilapidated as it was in the watch of the military rule (Kay & Mazen, 2012). The besieged multitude of hostile military forces has spread to the present, whereby ethnic differences, form a source of instability. Chinua Achebe’s novel is an illustration of the political turmoil Niger ia faced during early 1990s when the British colonial power reigned. Current problems Nigeria face is still under the same trend of political instability with rising issues of segmentation of Nigeria. Muslims dominate the northern side of Nigeria while the southern mainly has Christians. The political instability has caused aggravating disputes between the two regions with each side attacking (Albert, 2005). The instability evidenced in Nigeria also caused the