The Provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley essays

The Provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley essays Richtermeyer, Greller, and Valentine (2006) believe that accounting and finance professionals, though knowledgeable regarding the measurement of corporate performance in many dimensions, may know less about the manner in which companies are evaluated from an ethical standpoint. In light of the provisions of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Public Law No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745), accounting and finance professionals and the companies with which they work are now subject to more rigorous reporting, accountability, and regulatory oversight than ever before (Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2006). The Sarbanes-Oxley Acts major provisions include the requirement that public companies evaluate and disclose the effectiveness of their internal controls as they relate to financial reporting and that independent auditors for such companies attest (agree or qualify) to such disclosure. Additionally, a major thrust of the Act is to institute enhanced criminal and civil penalties for violations of securities law and to create the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) (Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2006). Certainly, the creators of this legislation were responding to devastating ethical failures that rocked corporate America in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Had the companies generating these scandals used an instrument such as the CEV and had they then chosen to act to eliminate unethical behaviors, it is quite possible that some of these scandals could have been avoided. It is an unfortunate commentary on the American corporation that the government needed once again to step in and create new regulatory systems and enhanced criminal penalties to punish the very individuals in corporate America and in the accounting and finance professions who ought to adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct. ...

4 Strategies to Raise Your GPA in High School Fast

4 Strategies to Raise Your GPA in High School Fast SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It can be difficult to improve your GPA quickly, especially if you’re in the latter half of high school already. With your previous grades working against you, you’ll have to put in even more effort to overcome lower averages. However, there are some measures you can take to have a better chance of raising your GPA quickly and effectively. In this article, I’ll give you different strategies that may help you raise your GPA even if you don’t have much time left in high school. How Hard Will It Be to Raise Your GPA? If you’re feeling a sense of urgency about raising your GPA before college admissions, it’s important to understand how difficult it will be to make changes based on how far along in high school you are. If You're a Freshman: You've most likely only completed one semester of high school so far, so there's plenty of time (five semesters!) left for you to raise your GPA. The majority of your classes are still ahead of you. If you make wise changes to your study habits now, you shouldn't have a problem improving them. It's important to take action as soon as possible if your GPA is especially low so that you don't get stuck trying to climb out of a much deeper hole your sophomore or junior year. If You’re a Sophomore: At this point, you’ve completed two or three semesters of high school and have three or four more to go before you apply to college.This means that at least half of the grades that will make up your final GPA for college are still ahead of you, so you have a pretty strong chance of making improvements.If your GPA is currently, say, a 2.7, by putting in more effort over the course of the next year or so you can most likely raise it above a 3.0. If You’re a Junior: You’ve completed four or five semesters of high school now and have one or two semesters left to go before you send out college applications.Even if you’re still in the beginning of junior year, your grades this year will only comprise a third of your cumulative GPA.You will have to improve drastically in order to make a positive impact on your GPA before you apply to college.You may still be able to make small changes, but a major increase in your GPA is likely to be out of reach. You might decide to focus on standardized test scores over GPA at this point if you’re nearing the end of your junior year. If You’re a Senior: You will already be starting the college application process at this point, so you can’t improve your GPA before you send in materials to schools.The only thing you can do is try to improve your standardized test scores.Raising your scores is your best bet for getting accepted into a selective college despite a GPA that’s on the lower side.You should be able to take the SAT as late as January and the ACT as late as February if you're looking to submit your scores along with regular decision applications. High School Musical 3: It's Senior Year and We Were So Busy Believing in Ourselves That We Forgot to Take Standardized Tests Strategies on How to Raise GPA, Fast Here are some measures you might take to quickly raise your GPA before you apply to college.Keep in mind that if you’re a junior or senior, it may be too late to implement these strategies and make a strong impact on your GPA.If that’s the situation you’re in, you should focus on the final strategy listed here, improving your standardized test scores, to get the most out of your efforts before college applications are due. Strategy 1: Take Less Difficult Classes This isn’t something I would normally advocate, but if your GPA is really suffering because of a low grade in a high-level class, it may be time to cut your losses.It can help both your GPA and mental health.You may be able to get a significantly better grade in a lower-level class very quickly, thus raising your GPA much faster than if you continued to struggle in a difficult course. For example, if you’re getting a C in Honors Calculus, it will require a lot of effort to improve that grade, and the change in your GPA will be minor or nonexistent.If you decided to drop down to a lower-level math class, you might be familiar with some of the concepts since you already experienced a more fast-paced class,andyou could get a much higher grade fairly easily.If your school uses weighted GPAs, a C in a high-level class might translate to a 3.0.If you drop down to a low-level class and start getting As, those grades will translate to a 4.0. That’s a big difference in a short period of time! Strategy 2: Take More Classes This is a way to raise your GPA quickly that some people don’t really think about because it seems somewhat counterintuitive.Why would you take more classes if you’re struggling? The thing is, it’s not just core classes that make up your GPA.Electives also play into GPA. If you have a free period right now, you might consider taking an elective that you find interesting to fill up the space and raise your GPA. Many of these classes won’t present a big challenge, and they can be a fun break from your regular classes where you won't have to put in as much effort to get good grades.This is a strategy to be used with caution. I’m not trying to say â€Å"just go for the easy A and you’ll be fine.†Keep in mind that this may be a viable strategy to raise your GPA fast, but it’s not necessarily a good way to ensure that you’ll get accepted to a great college. Colleges will be able to see your grades in specific classes and exactly how you ended up with your current GPA. Taking an easy elective will raise your GPA quickly, but it's kind of like putting a band-aid on a stab wound. It absolutelydoesn’t mean you should stop trying to raise your grades in core classes.To make really meaningful changes in your chances at college admission, you will need to address deeper issues with grades in the main subject areas. Taking an easy class and seeing a quick positive change in your GPA may put you in a better mindset to tackle more daunting problems that you face in your core classes. You can create a positive mental feedback loop that will help you to keep up the motivation to work hard in your classes even if an A in â€Å"Foods 1† or something isn’t going to persuade selective colleges to admit you. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. This is a pluot, a weird fruit that's a cross between a plum and an apricot. They probably won't even tell you about it in Foods 1. This is very advanced material, probably at least Foods 4 (you can thank me later). Strategy 3: Work on Doing Better in Weighted GPA Classes If your school uses weighted GPA and you’re in some AP or Honors classes where less than perfect grades will translate into impressive GPAs, you should focus your efforts on raising your grades in those classes. On weighted GPA scales, GPAs often go up to a 5.0 rather than a 4.0 to account for more difficult classes.This means that a B in an Honors class translates to a 4.0, and an A translates into a 5.0. The potential for your grades to lead to a very high GPA is greater in these classes, so they have a better chance at raising your overall GPA.It makes sense to devote a significant chunk of your energy to these classes because they naturally require more time and effort if you hope to get good grades. If you’re choosing to avoid the work in favor of easier assignments, that might be a big part of your problem. It’s also more impressive to colleges if you can manage to improve your grades in high-level classes.Raising your grades in a lower level class the same amount might give you the same GPA, but it won’t necessarily look as good to admissions officers.You should channel the majority of your energy into the most challenging courses. Strategy 4: Focus on Standardized Test Scores Technically, this isn’t a strategy for raising your GPA.However, if it’s too late to raise your GPA before you apply to college, improving standardized test scores is your best bet for stronger admissions chances.For students headed into their senior year with a less than stellar GPA, improving standardized test scores can make a huge impact on how they fare in the college application process. With, say, a 400 point improvement in your SAT scores, you will have a chance at getting into literally hundreds more colleges. This isn't an easy feat, but it's certainly achievable with a few months of concentrated studying. To use an example, let's say you're interested in attending University of Texas at Austin and have a 2.9 GPA and an 1800 SAT score. If you managed to raise your score from an 1800 to a 2200, you would have a 20% chance of admission with the higher score as opposed to a 5% chance with the lower score. And that's with no change at all in your GPA! Sometimes the most practical thing to do is to focus on scores rather than grades, especially if you’re already in your second semester of junior year.You can retake the SAT and ACT up until the winter of your senior year if you’re applying to college regular decision. Who doesn't want to spend another Saturday morning in a hot room full of stressed people? Conclusion The fact is that GPAs don’t lend themselves to quick solutions.If you’re a junior or senior, you may not be able to do much to improve your GPA before you start the admissions process.If this is the case, try to focus on improving your standardized test scores to maximize your chances at getting into selective colleges. Other measures you might take to improve your GPA if you’re still a sophomore or early in your junior year include dropping down a level in your classes, taking additional courses where you might be able to get better grades, and focusing your attention on your most difficult classes.Raising your grades is very hard work, but if you can get yourself into better habits and use some of the quick fixes here, you may be able to see some improvement before you apply to college. What's Next? Now that we've figured out the answer to "how do I raise my GPA fast," you may be interested in learning how your GPA will be perceived in the admissions process. Read this article to find out whether colleges use weighted or unweighted GPA in making their decisions. Worried about getting into college with a low GPA? Here's a list of colleges with low GPA requirements to give you some potential options. Are you just not sure if your GPA is considered good enough for your goals? Learn more about what might constitute a good or bad GPA for your circumstances. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points 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:

How to Find Trustworthy Sources

How to Find Trustworthy Sources Whether youre conducting research for a book report, an essay, or a news article, finding trustworthy sources of information is essential. This is crucial for a few reasons. First, you want to be sure that the information youre using is based on fact and not on opinion. Second, your readers are placing their trust in your ability to gauge a sources reliability. And third, by using legitimate sources, youre protecting your reputation as a writer. An Exercise in Trust It can be helpful to put the topic of trustworthy sources into perspective with an exercise. Imagine that you are walking down a neighborhood street and you come upon a disturbing scene. A man is lying on the ground with a leg wound and several paramedics and police officers are buzzing around him. A small spectator crowd has gathered, so you approach one of the bystanders to ask what happened. This guy was jogging down the street and a big dog came running out and attacked him, the man says. You take a few steps and approach a woman. You ask her what happened. This man was trying to rob that house and a dog bit him, she replies. Two different people have given different accounts of an event. To get closer to the truth, youll have to find out if either person is connected to the event in any way. You soon discover that the man is a friend of the bite victim. You also realize that the woman is the dogs owner. Now, what do you believe? Its probably time to find a third source of information and one who is not a stakeholder in this scene. Bias Factors In the scene described above, both witnesses have a big stake in the outcome of this event. If the police determine that an innocent jogger was attacked by a dog, the dogs owner is subject to fines and further legal trouble. If the police determine that the apparent jogger was actually involved in an illegal activity at the time he was bitten, the wounded man faces a penalty and the woman is off the hook. If you were a news reporter, you would have to determine whom to trust by digging deeper and making an assessment of each source. You would have to collect details and determine if your witnesses statements are trustworthy or not. Bias can stem from many causes: Stakeholders ambitionsPreconceived beliefsPolitical designsPrejudiceSloppy research Every eyewitness account of an event involves points of view and opinion to some degree. It is your job to assess each persons trustworthiness by scrutinizing their statements for potential bias.   What To Look For It is nearly impossible after an event has occurred to determine the exactness of every detail. The following tips will help you determine the trustworthiness of your sources: Every writer, lecturer, reporter, and teacher has an opinion. The most reliable sources are straightforward about how and why they are presenting their information to the public.An Internet article that provides news but does not provide a list of sources is not very trustworthy. An article that lists its sources, either in the text or in a bibliography, and places those sources into context is more reliable.An article that is published by a reputable media organization or reputable institution (such as a university or research organization) is also trustworthy.Books are generally considered more trustworthy because the author and publisher are clearly stated and they are held responsible. When a book publisher publishes a book, that publisher takes responsibility for its truthfulness.News organizations are generally for-profit businesses (there are exceptions, such as National Public Radio, which is a non-profit organization). If you use these as sources, you must consider their man y stakeholders and political slants. Fiction is made up, so fiction is not a good source of information. Even movies based on real events are fiction.Memoirs and autobiographies are nonfiction, but they contain a single persons point of view and opinions. If you use an autobiography as a source, you must acknowledge that the information is one-sided.A nonfiction book that provides a bibliography of sources is more trustworthy than a book that does not.An article that is published in a scholarly journal is usually scrutinized for accuracy by a team of editors and fact-checkers. University presses are particularly good sources for nonfiction and scholarly works.Some sources are peer-reviewed. These books and articles go before a panel of non-stakeholding professionals for review and assessment. This body of professionals acts as a small jury to determine truthfulness. Peer-reviewed articles are very trustworthy. Research is a quest for truth. Your job as a researcher is to use the most trustworthy sources to find the most accurate information. Your job also involves using a variety of sources, to reduce the chances that you are relying on tainted, opinion-filled evidence.

What does David Miller mean by nationality What kind of nationality Essay

What does David Miller mean by nationality What kind of nationality does he support, and how far should we accept his views - Essay Example In this essay, I intend to discuss the implications of the concept of nationality as espoused by David Miller, and how it affects the modern economic and social environment of a country. I will use evidence as well as theories and opinions of other scholars to establish that David Miller’s concept of nationality cannot be acceptable in its entirety in the modern times. According to Miller, the idea of nationality comprises of a state that has claim to political determination and which is also ethical in nature1. The concept of an ethical nation is based on Miller’s presumption that justice is a pluralistic concept and it should be understood and practiced in the context of the situation. For an ethical nation, it is believed that social solidarity is the underlying justice principle, as this emulates the justice system of community level living, only on a much larger scale2. A community is tasked with ensuring that all members’ needs are met and that there is fairness in distribution of resources according to each individual’s need. Similarly, an ethical nation is the one that has a social welfare system aimed at providing facilities and resources to people who need it and cannot afford it otherwise owing to economic inequalities. In addition, Miller also contends that there is a need for affirmative action and active income re distribution to bring down the social and income disparities. According to him, nationality would mean that people should have a greater sympathy and willingness to help their co-nationals than they are with respect to the general humanity3. The concept of Miller’s nationality is an idealistic one as he seems to have over-simplified both the theoretical underpinnings as well as the practical implications of his theory. He uses the concept of nationality to mean support for a welfare state on the premise that a welfare state is the apt solution to ensuring justice. According to him, this justice is pluralistic and varied and depends on what is the context of the situation. His conclusion that a welfare state is the ultimate manifestation of justice is not supported by any empirical or factual information. He does not elaborate why any other approach to justice is not suitable for a nation, or how the welfare state metes out justice to the numerous and diverse sections of the s ociety4. The fact that pluralistic justice is given importance by Miller himself further traps him into detailing why he proposes only a welfare state as an ethical state, and why nationality should require a support for such a state alone. Next, the concept of nationality as envisioned by Miller is also contrary to the dynamics of a free market and freedom of opportunity – ideals that are incorporated in democratic states in the free world. For example, the notion of welfare state is based on the premise that the rich and the well-off people need to compensate for the poor who do not have the means or opportunities5. In order to maintain a welfare state, a differential tax system is employed which can be akin to penalizing the achievers and the rich people for their growth and progress. This inherently appears to be at cross-purposes to the free market concepts and the individual freedom to earn and self-determination. Also, it is also debatable that to what extent the conce pt of nationality should be used to support the welfare state. It is proposed by Miller that nationalism and citizenship should bring the onus of welfare and support to

The earth did not devour him by tomas rivera Essay

The earth did not devour him by tomas rivera - Essay Example The first and last stories construct the book as specifically starting and conclusively narration. . It depicts the migrant Chicano workers who are in no better condition than slaves; in fact they are probably worse off. Slaves were the property of owners who regarded upon whom they had invested money and accordingly were taken care of as â€Å"valued financial investments.† The migrant workers were not considered investments, and were living and working in conditions of slavery without even the basic reimbursement. (Tomas Rivera, â€Å"Remembering, Discovery and Volition in the Literary Imaginative Process,† in Tomas Rivera: The Complete Works (1975). The narration of Tomas Rivera’s books ‘the earth did not devour him† is about the predicament and patient survival of Mexican American farm workers, which has made prominent and strengthened the Chicano national perception. The narration is part of the author’s personal experience while working o n a farm during his youth, because his parents were migrant workers. The quality of the book is the way that the subject matter poses a challenge to readers and critics alike. The narration begins with the story â€Å"The Lost Year† and continues with thirteen short unnamed essays and twelve essays that are named and end with the story â€Å"Under the House†. ... .  Ã‚   With the expansion of American modernizing influences, the pressure on the migrant workers increased to become a part of American culture, which further exacerbated and makes worse the plight of the migrant’s already dismal state of affairs. This disorderly and turbulent state of affairs is accessed through the mind of a Mexican American boy, who evaluates his feelings of ethnic indecision by questioning his community’s customary way of life. Some of the short essays depict irregular attempts by the boy to congregate his thoughts and feelings towards successive development for rational intelligibility. In the course of his steady allusion to darkness, night, or sleep in all the essays, Rivera strengthens the boy’s succession from mental vagueness about his community’s knowledge to academic clarification regarding the community’s circumstances and the way of life. Although not linked to any particular change towards explanation, there are s everal referrals to darkness, night and sleep which intensify the book’s complete fascination with night and the darkness. The events in the narration consists of several essays of events that occur at night, such â€Å"what his mother never knew† as the water that his mother placed under his bed for the spirits and which he drank every night, or in the essay â€Å"She had fallen asleep† which tells about a fortune teller meeting with a family, or â€Å"Hands in His Pocket† a boy cannot sleep his first night in a bizarre, disconcerting room. This short essay again refers to the night when the same boy who cannot sleep in a strange room, has to drag a dead man to his grave when it gets very dark. Other essay such as the â€Å"The Night the Lights Went out† and â€Å"First Communion â€Å" also refers to night and sleep, when

Planting and maintaining trees in tough sites Term Paper

Planting and maintaining trees in tough sites - Term Paper Example One of the main researches that were made by this field was the identification and recognition of the characteristics of land that make it tough for trees plantation. A number of characteristics have been identified that make a land a ‘tough site’. CHARACTERISTICS OF TOUGH SITES: 1. POORLY DRAINED SOIL: The drainage of the soil is the main category to consider the toughness of a site for plantation purposes. A site is said to contain well-drained soil if it is capable of draining column of water of 24-inch in 24 hours or less. A test for this purpose is conducted through digging a 24-inch deep hole in the land and filling it with water. It is then examined whether the water is drained in 24 hours or not. If the water is not fully drained even after 24 hours, the soil is deemed to be poorly drained. 2. DROUGHTY SOILS: The soil is said to be droughty soil if the drainage rate is very high and a 24-inch water column is drained in very few minutes. The content of organic mat ter is also very less in droughty soils, sometimes lesser than 1%. This can be calculated by a laboratory test. 3. ALKALINE SOIL: The alkalinity of soil is also considered to determine the toughness of a site. A soil with higher value of PH (PH>7.0) is considered to be alkaline. It is important to note here that most of the trees grow better in acidic soil with PH

Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 22

Communication - Essay Example Paralanguage is a major factor in non-verbal communication. This is how the speaker’s voice comes out as he delivers the speech. The way the speaker delivers is believed to be as important as the actual message. This takes into consideration a number of factors involving tone, volume, emphasis, voice qualities, speech, and inflexion among others. Even though the message conveyed to the crowed is the same, the receiver understands and concentration is greatly improved when such items are well stressed. Kinesics is the body language of the narrator. Body movements are important concept in non-verbal communication. The viewer’s perception on eye contact, gesture and posture brings added concentration to the listeners. Experts in non-verbal communication field explained that people can pause up to 250,000 different facial expressions. Through this, we can understand intended message from the sender that number of times. A narrative was presented to the audience regarding a certain young man who went to the hospital with a problem in his leg and he needed an operation to enable him walk properly again. On getting to the hospital bed, the doctor starts surgery, unfortunately for him, the surgeon chopped off the wrong leg. The patient on waking up found the doctor surprised and did not know what was going on. He asked, â€Å"Doctor, what is going on?† the doctor replied to him, I have both good news and bad news for you. What is the bad news? The patient asked. I chopped off the wrong leg, but the good news is that the other leg is doing well, replied the doctor. This narrative uses a variety of non-verbal communication and the message was delivered appropriately. Observation is one of the major techniques of collecting data. A person attends any given function with only intention of collecting information on non-verbal communication which is used in those events. Questionnaires may also be formulated and distributed to practices