The Destructive Power of the Media Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive T

The Destructive Power of the Media      Ã‚  Ã‚   I have the most adorable little cousin named Alexandra, whom I love with all my heart. One day I was very disturbed when she told me that she was fat. She was 4 years old at the time. I was stunned and had no idea what to say to her, so I just told her that she is a healthy little girl and that she needs to not to worry about that. I tried to think of where she would come up with this thought, and after a while I remembered a conversation that her mother and I had. We were talking about how nice it was when we were younger and we did not have to work at being thin. Her mother said something about being fat and Alexandra must have been listening. This got me thinking about how I came to be self conscious about my body. I came to the conclusion that it is just something that every woman has to go through at least one time in her life. But why, what is it that makes every woman want "the perfect body?" I pondered this question for a while, but I was baffled. Later that day I began to read the "Cosmopolitan" and I began paying attention to the advertisements in this very popular woman's magazine; I was amused at the angle the advertisers use to try to get women to buy their product. One advertisement was for an alcoholic drink called Tequiza. The advertisement compared the calories and the fat content of that drink to the calories and fat content in another popular alcoholic beverage. I am under age, but I am a college student so I will not lie and say that I do not drink on occasion, but when I do drink I do not worry about how much fat or how many calories I am taking in. To me this advertisement was completely ridiculous and instead of making me want to buy the product I have now vowed... ... by showing us how happy it will make us. They shape our culture by telling us that we want to be married because the people advertisements are and they are incredibly happy. They also shape our culture by setting the standard for the way we look. All women at one point in their life are self-conscious because they do not look like the models in advertisements. Advertisements are the reason why women obsess about their weight and the way they look. I do not know about most people, but I do know that I do not want to live in a world where advertisements tell me what I want or how I should look.      Works Cited    "Super Bowl Clutter." Editor & Publisher. Vol. 127, Issue 6 (1994): 6. Signorielli, Nancy and Douglas McLeod. "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. Vol. 38, Issue 1 (1994): 91.

Essay --

The cations (Na+, K+ and Mg++) were estimated in the gut contents, fresh tissue of midgut epithelia and heamolymph of uninfected and Bacillus inoculated silkworm. The sodium level was declined from gut contents to heamolymph. The level of sodium content further showed a gradual decrease from the midgut tissue to the heamolymph in the infected silkworm as compared to the uninfected silkworm. The potassium content initially decreased from the gut contents to the midgut tissues in both the uninfected and infected silkworm (Table-1, Fig. 2). Later on, a slow gradient in the potassium content was observed from the midgut tissue towards the heamolymph in the infected larvae. But incase of the uninfected larvae the potassium content gradually declined from the midgut tissue to the heamolymph. In the present study the levels in sodium content was high and potassium concentration was low in tissue than reported earlier. The adult larvae of silkworm, showed a steep gradient for magnesium betwe en lumen and heamolymph, with higher concentration in the heamolymph (Table-1, Fig. 3). Table - 1. Ionic concentration in lumen content, fresh tissue and heamolymph of silkworm Bombyx mori V instar (meq/L). The ionic concentrations were changed in the Bacillus infected larvae. Flacherie resulted in the non-significant decrease of intracellular sodium in midgut cells. Potassium being the major cation in the silkworm diet showed a significant decrease in midgut cells in diseased larvae (p ...f silkworm Bombyx mori Electron micrographs illustrate the midgut of silkworm B. mori. The globlet cell (Plate - 1) wherein the multiplication of pathogen occurs and these cells are slightly elongated with a centrally located cavity. Their ill defined microvillae project into this cavity and these cells are placed in between columnar cells. Dominant cell in midgut epithelium is the columnar cell. The apical surface of the columnar cell is thrown into numerous folds and often appears as finger like projections (microvillae). A cross section of the microvillae, are presented (Plate - 2). The microvillae are located with mitochondria (Plate - 3), vacuoles at the base of microvillae are prominent. Excess of plasma membrane folds at the tip of the microvillae were observed in all the sections scanned. The midgut epithelium is richly supplied with trachea (Plate - 4).

The Vampire Diaries: The Fury Chapter Eight

â€Å"Who-? Oh, it's you!† Bonnie said, starting at the touch on her elbow. â€Å"You scared me. I didn't hear you come up.† He'd have to be more careful, Stefan realized. In the few days he'd been away from school, he'd gotten out of the habit of walking and moving like a human and fallen back into the noiseless, perfectly controlled stride of the hunter. â€Å"Sorry,† he said, as they walked side by side down the corridor. â€Å"S'okay,† said Bonnie with a brave attempt at nonchalance. But her brown eyes were wide and rather fixed. â€Å"So what are you doing here today? Meredith and I came by the boardinghouse this morning to check on Mrs. Flowers, but nobody answered the door. And I didn't see you in biology.† â€Å"I came this afternoon. I'm back at school. For as long as it takes to find what we're looking for anyway.† â€Å"To spy on Alaric, you mean,† Bonnie muttered. â€Å"I told Elena yesterday just to leave him to me. Oops,† she added, as a couple of passing juniors stared at her. She rolled her eyes at Stefan. By mutual consent, they turned off into a side corridor and made for an empty stairwell. Bonnie leaned against the wall with a groan of relief. â€Å"I've got to remember not to say her name,† she said pathetically, â€Å"but it's so hard. My mother asked me how I felt this morning and I almost told her, ‘fine,' since I saw Elena last night. I don't know how you two kept-you know what-a secret so long.† Stefan felt a grin tugging at his lips in spite of himself. Bonnie was like a six-week-old kitten, all charm and no inhibitions. She always said exactly what she was thinking at the moment, even if it completely contradicted what she'd just said the moment before, but everything she did came from the heart. â€Å"You're standing in a deserted hallway with a you know what right now,† he reminded her devilishly. â€Å"Ohhh.† Her eyes widened again. â€Å"But you wouldn't, would you?† she added, relieved. â€Å"Because Elena would kill you†¦ Oh, dear.† Searching for another topic, she gulped and said, â€Å"So-so how did things go last night?† Stefan's mood darkened immediately. â€Å"Not so good. Oh, Elena's all right; she's sleeping safely.† Before he could go on, his ears picked up footfalls at the end of the corridor. Three senior girls were passing by, and one broke away from the group at the sight of Stefan and Bonnie. Sue Carson's face was pale and her eyes were red-rimmed, but she smiled at them. Bonnie was full of concern. â€Å"Sue, how are you? How's Doug?† â€Å"I'm okay. He's okay, too, or at least he's going to be. Stefan, I wanted to talk to you,† she added in a rush. â€Å"I know my dad thanked you yesterday for helping Doug the way you did, but I wanted to thank you, too. I mean, I know that people in town have been pretty horrible to you and-well, I'm just surprised you cared enough to help at all. But I'm glad. My mom says you saved Doug's life. And so, I just wanted to thank you, and to say I'm sorry-about everything.† â€Å"That's all right,† he said. â€Å"How's Chelsea today?† â€Å"She's at the pound. They're holding the dogs in quarantine there, all the ones they could round up.† Sue blotted her eyes and straightened, and Stefan relaxed, seeing that the danger was over. An awkward silence descended. â€Å"Well,† said Bonnie to Sue at last, â€Å"have you heard what the school board decided about the Snow Dance?† â€Å"I heard they met this morning and they've pretty much decided to let us have it. Somebody said they were talking about a police guard, though. Oh, there's the late bell. We'd better get to history before Alaric hands us all demerits.† â€Å"We're coming in a minute,† Stefan said. He added casually, â€Å"When is this Snow Dance?† â€Å"It's the thirteenth; Friday night, you know,† Sue said, and then winced. â€Å"Oh my God, Friday the thirteenth. I didn't even think about that. But it reminds me that there was one other thing I wanted to tell you. This morning I took my name out of the running for snow queen. It-it just seemed right, somehow. That's all.† Sue hurried away, almost running. Stefan's mind was racing. â€Å"Bonnie, what is this Snow Dance?† â€Å"Well, it's the Christmas dance really, only we have a snow queen instead of a Christmas queen. After what happened at Founders' Day, they were thinking of canceling it, and then with the dogs yesterday-but it sounds like they're going to have it after all.† â€Å"On Friday the thirteenth,† Stefan said grimly. â€Å"Yes.† Bonnie was looking scared again, making herself small and inconspicuous. â€Å"Stefan, don't look that way; you're frightening me. What's wrong? What do you think will happen at the dance?† â€Å"I don't know.† But something would, Stefan was thinking. Fell's Church hadn't had one public celebration that had escaped being visited by the Other Power, and this would probably be the last festivity of the year. But there was no point in talking about it now. â€Å"Come on,† he said. â€Å"We're really late.† He was right. Alaric Saltzman was at the chalkboard when they walked in, as he had been the first day he'd appeared in the history classroom. If he was surprised at seeing them late, or at all, he covered it faultlessly, giving one of his friendliest smiles. So you're the one who's hunting the hunter, Stefan thought, taking his seat and studying the man before him. But are you anything more than that? Elena's Other Power maybe? Elena. Stefan's hand clenched under his desk, and a slow ache woke in his chest. He hadn't meant to think about her. The only way he had gotten through the last five days was by keeping her at the edge of his mind, not letting her image any closer. But then of course the effort of holding her away at a safe distance took up most of his time and energy. And this was the worst place of all to be, in a classroom where he couldn't care less about what was being taught. There was nothing to do but think here. He made himself breathe slowly, calmly. She was well; that was the important thing. Nothing else really mattered. But even as he told himself this, jealousy bit into him like the thongs of a whip. Because whenever he thought about Elena now, he had to think about him. About Damon, who was free to come and go as he liked. Who might even be with Elena this minute. Anger burned in Stefan's mind, bright and cold, mingling with the hot ache in his chest. He still wasn't convinced that Damon wasn't the one who had casually thrown him, bleeding and unconscious, into an abandoned well shaft to die. And he would take Elena's idea about the Other Power much more seriously if he was completely sure that Damon hadn't chased Elena to her death. Damon was evil; he had no mercy and no scruples†¦ And what's he done that I haven't done? Stefan asked himself heavily, for the hundredth time. Nothing. Except kill. Stefan had tried to kill. He'd meant to kill Tyler. At the memory, the cold fire of his anger toward Damon was doused, and he glanced instead toward a desk at the back of the room. It was empty. Though Tyler had gotten out of the hospital the day before, he hadn't returned to school. Still, there should be no danger of his remembering anything from that grisly afternoon. The subliminal suggestion to forget should hold for quite a while, as long as no one messed with Tyler's mind. He suddenly became aware that he was staring at Tyler's empty desk with narrow, brooding eyes. As he looked away, he caught the glance of someone who'd been watching him do it. Matt turned quickly and bent over his history book, but not before Stefan saw his expression. December 5-I don't know what time, probably early afternoon. Dear Diary, Damon got you back for me this morning. Stefan said he didn't want me going into Alaric's attic again. This is Stefan's pen I'm using. I don't own anything anymore, or at least I can't get at any of my own things, and most of them Aunt Judith would miss if I took them. I'm sitting right now in a barn behind the boardinghouse. I can't go where people sleep, you know, unless I've been invited in. I guess animals don't count, because there are some rats sleeping here under the hay and an owl in the rafters. At the moment, we're ignoring each other. I'm trying very hard not to have hysterics. I thought writing might help. Something normal, something familiar. Except that nothing in my life is normal anymore. Damon says I'll get used to it faster if I throw my old life away and embrace the new one. He seems to think it's inevitable that I turn out like him. He says I was born to be a hunter and there's no point in doing things halfway. I hunted a deer last night. A stag, because it was making the most noise, clashing its antlers against tree branches, challenging other males. I drank its blood. When I look over this diary, all I can see is that I was searching for something, for someplace to belong. But this isn't it. This new life isn't it. I'm afraid of what I'll become if I do start to belong here. Oh, God, I'm frightened. The barn owl is almost pure white, especially when it spreads its wings so you can see the underside. From the back it looks more gold. It has just a little gold around the face. It's staring at me right now because I'm making noises, trying not to cry. It's funny that I can still cry. I guess it's witches that can't. It's started snowing outside. I'm pulling my cloak up around me. Elena tucked the little book close to her body and drew the soft dark velvet of the cloak up to her chin. The barn was utterly silent, except for the minute breathing of the animals that slept there. Outside the snow drifted down just as soundlessly, blanketing the world in muffling stillness. Elena stared at it with unseeing eyes, scarcely noticing the tears that ran down her cheeks. â€Å"And could Bonnie McCullough and Caroline Forbes please stay after class a moment,† Alaric said as the last bell rang. Stefan frowned, a frown that deepened as he saw Vickie Bennett hovering outside the open door of the history room, her eyes shy and frightened. â€Å"I'll be right outside,† he said meaningfully to Bonnie, who nodded. He added a warning lift of his eyebrows, and she responded with a virtuous look. Catch me saying anything I'm not supposed to, the look said. Vickie Bennett was entering as he exited, and he had to step out of her way. But that took him right into the path of Matt, who'd come out the other door and was trying to get down the corridor as fast as possible. Stefan grabbed his arm without thinking. â€Å"Matt, wait.† â€Å"Let go of me.† Matt's fist came up. He looked at it in apparent surprise, as if not sure what he should be so mad about. But every muscle in his body was fighting Stefan's grip. â€Å"I just want to talk to you. Just for a minute, all right?† â€Å"I don't have a minute,† Matt said, and at last his eyes, a lighter, less complicated blue than Elena's, met Stefan's. But there was a blankness in the depths of them that reminded Stefan of the look of someone who'd been hypnotized, or who was under the influence of some Power. Only it was no Power except Matt's own mind, he realized abruptly. This was what the human brain did to itself when faced with something it simply couldn't deal with. Matt had shut down, turned off. Testing, Stefan said, â€Å"About what happened Saturday night-â€Å" â€Å"I don't know what you're talking about. Look, I said I had to go, damn it.† Denial was like a fortress behind Matt's eyes. But Stefan had to try again. â€Å"I don't blame you for being mad. If I were you, I'd be furious. And I know what it's like not to want to think, especially when thinking can drive you crazy.† Matt was shaking his head, and Stefan looked around the hallway. It was almost empty, and desperation made him willing to take a risk. He lowered his voice. â€Å"But maybe you'd at least like to know that Elena's awake, and she's much-â€Å" â€Å"Elena's dead!† Matt shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the corridor. â€Å"And I told you to let go of me!† he added, oblivious of their audience, and shoved Stefan hard. It was so unexpected that Stefan stumbled back against the lockers, almost ending up sprawled on the ground. He stared at Matt, but Matt never even glanced back as he took off down the hallway. Stefan spent the rest of the time until Bonnie emerged just staring at the wall. There was a poster there for the Snow Dance, and he knew every inch of it by the time the girls came out. Despite everything Caroline had tried to do to him and Elena, Stefan found he couldn't summon up any hatred of her. Her auburn hair looked faded, her face pinched. Instead of being willowy, her posture just looked wilted, he thought, watching her go. â€Å"Yes, of course. Alaric just knows we three-Vickie, Caroline, and I-have been through a lot, and he wants us to know that he supports us,† Bonnie said, but even her dogged optimism about the history teacher sounded a little forced. â€Å"None of us told him about anything, though. He's having another get-together at his house next week,† she added brightly. Wonderful, thought Stefan. Normally he might have said something about it, but at that moment he was distracted. â€Å"There's Meredith,† he said. â€Å"She must be waiting for us-no, she's going down the history wing,† Bonnie said. â€Å"That's funny, I told her I'd meet her out here.† It was more than funny, thought Stefan. He'd caught only a glimpse of her as she turned the corner, but that glimpse stuck in his mind. The expression on Meredith's face had been calculating, watchful, and her step had been stealthy. As if she were trying to do something without being seen. â€Å"She'll come back in a minute when she sees we're not down there,† Bonnie said, but Meredith didn't come back in a minute, or two, or three. In fact, it was almost ten minutes before she appeared, and then she looked startled to see Stefan and Bonnie waiting for her. â€Å"Sorry, I got held up,† she said coolly, and Stefan had to admire her self-possession. But he wondered what was behind it, and only Bonnie was in a mood to chat as the three of them left school. â€Å"But last time you used fire,† Elena said. â€Å"That was because we were looking for Stefan, for a specific person,† Bonnie replied. â€Å"This time we're trying to predict the future. If it was just your personal future I was trying to predict, I'd look in your palm, but we're trying to find out something general.† Meredith entered the room, carefully balancing a china bowl full to the brim with water. In her other hand, she held a candle. â€Å"I've got the stuff,† she said. â€Å"Water was sacred to the Druids,† Bonnie explained, as Meredith placed the dish on the floor and the three girls sat around it. â€Å"Apparently, everything was sacred to the Druids,† said Meredith. â€Å"Shh. Now, put the candle in the candlestick and light it. Then I'm going to pour melted wax into the water, and the shapes it makes will tell me the answers to your questions. My grandmother used melted lead, and she said her grandmother used melted silver, but she told me wax would do.† When Meredith had lit the candle, Bonnie glanced at it sideways and took a deep breath. â€Å"I'm getting scareder and scareder to do this,† she said. â€Å"You don't have to,† Elena said softly. â€Å"I know. But I want to-this once. Besides, it's not these kind of rituals that scare me; it's getting taken over that's so awful. I hate it. It's like somebody else getting into my body.† â€Å"Anyway, here goes. Turn down the lights, Meredith. Give me a minute to get attuned and then ask your questions.† In the silence of the dim room Elena watched the candlelight flickering over Bonnie's lowered eyelashes and Meredith's sober face. She looked down at her own hands in her lap, pale against the blackness of the sweater and leggings Meredith had lent her. Then she looked at the dancing flame. â€Å"All right,† Bonnie said softly and took the candle. Elena's fingers twined together, clenching hard, but she spoke in a low voice so as not to break the atmosphere. â€Å"Who is the Other Power in Fell's Church?† Bonnie tilted the candle so that the flame licked up its sides. Hot wax streamed down like water into the bowl and formed round globules there. â€Å"I was afraid of that,† Bonnie murmured. â€Å"That's no answer, nothing. Try a different question.† Disappointed, Elena sat back, fingernails biting into her palms. It was Meredith who spoke. â€Å"Can we find this Other Power if we look? And can we defeat it?† â€Å"That's two questions,† Bonnie said under her breath as she tilted the candle again. This time the wax formed a circle, a lumpy white ring. â€Å"That's unity! The symbol for people joining hands. It means we can do it if we stick together.† Elena's head jerked up. Those were almost the same words she'd said to Stefan and Damon. Bonnie's eyes were shining with excitement, and they smiled at each other. â€Å"Watch out! You're still pouring,† Meredith said. Bonnie quickly righted the candle, looking into the bowl again. The last spill of wax had formed a thin, straight line. â€Å"That's a sword,† she said slowly. â€Å"It means sacrifice. We can do it if we stick together, but not without sacrifice.† â€Å"What kind of sacrifice?† asked Elena. â€Å"I don't know,† Bonnie said, her face troubled. â€Å"That's all I can tell you this time.† She stuck the candle back in the candleholder. â€Å"Whew,† said Meredith, as she got up to turn on the lights. Elena stood, too. â€Å"Well, at least we know we can beat it,† she said, tugging up the leggings, which were too long for her. She caught a glimpse of herself in Meredith's mirror. She certainly didn't look like Elena Gilbert the high school fashion plate anymore. Dressed all in black like this, she looked pale and dangerous, like a sheathed sword. Her hair fell haphazardly around her shoulders. certainly didn't look like Elena Gilbert the high school fashion plate anymore. Dressed all in black like this, she looked pale and dangerous, like a sheathed sword. Her hair fell haphazardly around her shoulders. â€Å"You could go somewhere else,† Bonnie suggested. â€Å"I mean, after this is all over, you could finish the school year someplace where nobody knows you. Like Stefan did.† â€Å"No, I don't think so.† Elena was in a strange mood tonight, after spending the day alone in the barn watching the snow. â€Å"Bonnie,† she said abruptly, â€Å"would you look at my palm again? I want you to tell my future, my personal future.† â€Å"I don't even know if I remember all the stuff my grandmother taught me†¦ but, all right, I'll try,† Bonnie relented. â€Å"There'd just better be no more dark strangers on the way, that's all. You've already got all you can handle.† She giggled as she took Elena's outstretched hand. â€Å"Remember when Caroline asked what you could do with two? I guess you're finding out now, huh?† â€Å"Just read my palm, will you?† â€Å"All right, this is your life line-† Bonnie's stream of patter broke off almost before it was started. She stared at Elena's hand, fear and apprehension in her face. â€Å"It should go all the way down to here,† she said. â€Å"But it's cut off so short†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She and Elena looked at each other without speaking for a moment, while Elena felt that same apprehension solidify inside herself. Then Meredith broke in. â€Å"Well, naturally it's short,† she said. â€Å"It just means what happened already, when Elena drowned.† â€Å"Yes, of course, that must be it,† Bonnie murmured. She let go of Elena's hand and Elena slowly drew back. â€Å"That's it, all right,† Bonnie said in a stronger voice. Elena was gazing into the mirror again. The girl who gazed back was beautiful, but there was a sad wisdom about her eyes that the old Elena Gilbert had never had. She realized that Bonnie and Meredith were looking at her. â€Å"That must be it,† she said lightly, but her smile didn't touch her eyes.

The Story Only Goodness by Jhumpa Lahiri

People usually have strong opinions and differences when it comes to problems that face intercultural marriages. Most of the people I know my brother, dad and some of my friend married from different culture and each one has a story to tell. However, some of the problems that face intercultural marriage are culture difference, religion, and last but not the least identity conflicts. Some people think culture difference is not an issue and they can adapt to a new culture very easily, but that is not true. It is number one problem that faces every intercultural marriage. There are a lot of things that we do that are normal to us, which are not normal to others. For example, in my community a man is known as the breadwinner while a woman is caretaker of the children and has nothing else to do, so she cannot ask her husband to change diaper, or help her clean the house. In America something like this is normal. Another example of culture difference that leads to a lot of problems is a woman having a male friend. In most of the communities a woman should not have a male friend besides her husband, but in America it’s normal for her to have friends regardless of their gender. All of this culture difference leads to problems in intercultural marriage and makes understanding each other difficult. Religion is one of the main problems that faces intercultural marriage. Despite the upswing in the religious fundamentalism in all part of the world, very few couples can speak of their religious conflicts freely in their marriage. However, people normally think they can address their religious differences thoughtfully before marriage, realizing that what people believe affects not only how they worship, but also how they live their daily life. A good example is a marriage between a Muslim and Christian. A Muslim person has a lot of restrictions he is not allowed to drink alcohol or eat pork meat, which is normal in most part of the world, but not to a Muslim person and will lead to a lot of problems because some people can’t live with out alcohol. Another problem is, a child borne into this kind of marriage get confused which way to follow because the father and mother have different religion and they each want their child to follow their footsteps and they get caught in the middle. Finally, another problem that faces intercultural marriage is identity conflict. Children borne out of two races for example black and white or different nationalities have difficulties in stating their races because mostly they face rejection from both sides, some time they call themself half white or half black or fifty fifty. A good example is our president Barack Obama. Some people think he is black while others think he is white because of his mother, and most blacks don’t like him for that. I have a half brother who is still trying to figure out whether he Arab or African because his mother is an Arab and lives in Dubai and our father is African. Last year when he came to the USA we met each other he couldn’t speak any other language except Arabic and we couldn’t communicate each other well because of that, but he did not think of me as a brother, but a stranger he just met. His mother got divorced from my father long time ago when he was a child and took him along with her. All these are problems that face intercultural marriage. In conclusion intercultural marriage has many problem such as culture difference, religion, and identity conflict. But all of these are how nature is and nobody can change it. It doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t marry; they still do get married from different community and live together happily ever after. Even I want to get married to a white girl and let’s hope things will never change for us and remain the way it is now and tomorrow.

Internal Control Essay

The LBJ Company is currently making a decision to go public or not and with that The LBJ Company will also need to become knowledgeable about their internal controls within their systems, specifically in regards to Accounting and also Human Resources and how it will affect them and their employees and of course how they conduct business. There have been some positive and negative issues arise in regards to their internal controls. However, the LBJ Company needs to be acknowledged for what they are doing right, but will also need to address the issues that are negatively affecting them and their business and will continue to negatively affect them if they decide to go public, which will drive down the cost of their shares etc. This case study will review these items as well as make recommendations for what the LBJ Company can do to tighten up their internal controls. Part 1: Internal Controls Requirements Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public. Internal controls are mechanisms, policies, and procedures used to minimize and monitor operational risks. In order to deter employees from committing a dishonest or fraudulent act the controls must be thorough and comprehensive. However, internal controls by themselves are not enough. They will be effective only if they are reinforced through culture, policies and procedures, information systems, training, and supervision of staff. * The primary objectives of internal controls are to: Internal controls help to provide reliable data by ensuring that information is recorded in a consistent way that will allow for useful financial reports * They also help prevent fraud and loss by safeguarding assets and essential records. * Internal controls promote operational efficiency by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort and guarding against misallocation of resources. * They encourage adherence to management policies and funding source requirements. Internal controls can be broke down into two categories- accounting and administrative controls, which is exactly what the issues are with the LBJ Company. (Internal Controls Checklist) According to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, all publicly traded U.S. corporations are required to maintain an adequate system of internal control at all times. As LJB Company President, he or she should be aware that a controlled environment must be present at all times, and â€Å"that unethical activity will not be tolerated.† The LBJ Company must identify and analyze the various factors that could create risk for the business and how the team can manage those risks. The overall internal control system needs to show and communicate all appropriate information within the organization, to ensure that the communicated information has reached the organization. According to the textbook, â€Å"It is very important to have testing and auditing of controls to build a long lasting organization. (Kimmel, 2009) Part 2: What the Company is Doing Right? Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. The company has been doing well by creating a balanced environment for employees, due to the long-term employees that are currently there is an excellent thing for LBJ Company. From what is being shown, the managers and employees have a great balance, which keeps good control and promotes a team oriented environment within the company. Another good thing is that the accountant is in charge of the checks and also stores them into safe in his office, but the manager should have the only key to the safe to increase the monitoring of the checks and would also create a checks and balance system. Plus if the accountant is not there for whatever reason and an employee needs their check, the manager can handle that and not violate any employment laws by not giving an employee their check in a timely manner. The President of LJB Company, has also done a good thing for wanting the employees to be aware of any new regulations required of the company if they decide to go public. It is incredibly important the President have different individuals serve as an Accountant, Treasurer and Controller which will help streamline many of their processes. This way, the Accountant will not be responsible for all financial dealings and again this will create checks and balances which are required to go public. Part 3: Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. (20 points) This situation for LBJ Company has shown that it is in clear violation of the internal control principle and is running significant risks by not including more oversight and checks and balances. First of all, that they have one accountant who plays the role of both Treasurer and Controller is an area of great risk. The Controller and Treasurer are meant to play opposite roles in which they provide oversight and checks and balances to the other. The two positions should be filled by separate employees, and this change should be implemented as soon as possible. In the current setup, the one accountant has too much power over the processes. Another issue is the cash drawer principle also leaves the company vulnerable to fraud and manipulation of funds. For example, even if a company employee were to act independently, an employee could easily remove a substantial amount of unauthorized funds, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find who did it as any of the company employees could have been culpable. An example of the problems that arise from the anonymity that company employees have within the organization, is clearly exemplified in the case of the worker who was fired for viewing pornography on the company computer. Not only does this introduce risks of damaging corporate reputation, and download viruses, but it also highlights how the lack of individual user accounts and accountability makes it so that one employee can hide their malicious actions with anonymity. Below are some recommendations for the LBJ Company. Recommendat ions: 1) To introduce a culture of corporate responsibility, the CEO should begin to implement individual user accounts for its computers, as well as a formal cash withdrawal system, that requires that company employees register themselves with another person or a computer system. 2) The role of the one accountant who acts as Treasurer and Controller must be separated into two so as not to violate the internal control principle, and in order to minimize the likelihood of fraud. 3) The checks should not just be left at the accountant’s office, but in a safe where only two people have access such as the accountant and the manager. That way more than one person is responsible. 4) The accountant taking checks home over the weekend is a security issue as well as introduces more opportunity for fraud. This practice must be stopped and more safeguards put in place. This also is an issue regarding personal identifying information on the checks of the employees and if the checks become lost or stolen, then that information is available to the public now. 5) The accountant also being involved in the interview process for new employees is disturbing because of the level of control he has over critical aspects in the company’s day to day business. If he were to hire an accomplice, he could easily use that individual and his position in order to manipulate accounts and withdraw significant funds from the company before he is ever caught. 6) The HR Departments should also run more thorough background checks as part of their hiring processes. (Bell, 2010) Conclusion Now that the LBJ Company has received the recommendations to fix the issues with their internal controls, they will no doubt be able to go public and be successful. The LBJ Company should also re-evaluate their processes every so often to make sure that these new systems for their internal controls are successful. They should re-evaluate every so often in case they need to make changes as well.

Fiscal Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fiscal Policy - Essay Example However, fiscal policy is more effective in the short-run as in the long-run there is stabilizing economic forces that ensure the output moves back to its potential (Taylor, 2009). The fiscal policy involves increasing government spending or reducing taxes to stimulate aggregate demand or vice versa to reduce demand. Some countries focus on the supply-side of the economy to ensure a more permanent change. The paper will discuss the effects of fiscal policy on the economy. Taxation Expansionary fiscal policy involves cutting taxes and increasing government spending. Taxation is a source of revenue for the government to fund expenditure. If it decides to cut taxes, then it runs a budget deficit. A reduction in income tax leaves individuals with more disposable income to spend on consumption thus raising aggregate demand. As demand increases, the producers are forced to produce more and employ more factors of production. This leads to more output and employment and increased economic ac tivity (Sexton, 2008). However, income tax can only be adjusted annually on the budget hence it is difficult to apply this policy. It also depends on whether the households use extra income for consumption and not saving since savings is a withdrawal from the circular flow of income. The government can also increase transfers such as unemployment insurance, and in turn disposable income leading to more consumption (Riley, 2006). Lower taxes and increased transfers act as an incentive for workers to add more hours and increase productivity hence increased output and employment. Increasing taxes acts as a disincentive to work. If workers get less income by the end of the day compared to what they were getting, they would be dissatisfied and would not be willing to work extra hours. However, some would put more hours to cover the lost income but would lose their productivity due to low morale. There would also be low labour supply as not many individuals would be willing to work leadin g to low output in the economy (Taylor, 2009). Indirect taxes can also be used to discourage consumption especially of demerit goods. A government can impose duty on alcohol and cigarettes leading to lower demand for the items hence low output and employment. Tax incentives such as Subsidies to producers on the other hand lead to decline in cost of production hence reduced prices and consequently increased demand. Increased demand leads to production of more output hence increased economic activity (Creel & Sawyer, 2009). A decline in corporation tax attracts domestic and foreign investors’ hence increased fixed capital spending on technology, labour skills, infrastructure (Mankiw, 2008). Tax allowance on research and development encourages innovation and more business start-up thus increased employment and consequently increased aggregate demand. Government Spending Fiscal policy entails increasing government spending but a contractionary fiscal policy involves reducing gove rnment spending to curb excess demand. A government spends on infrastructure, and provision of essential services such as education and health. This adds directly to the aggregate demand of the economy hence stimulating economic activity. The government can finance its spending by borrowing from abroad or domestic market as raising taxes can lead to further weakening of the economy due to reduced demand. Improved infrastructure leads to more investments due to opening up of new markets and entry

Analysis of Organs for Sale Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of Organs for Sale - Essay Example ntries continue to writhe in harsh living conditions, sometimes even lacking food and shelter, rich people suffering from end-stage renal have more than enough money but lack proper mechanisms to acquire kidneys to save their lives. This is to say that rich people in urgent need of kidneys and have the resources to acquire them, but lack legal means to acquire kidneys speedily since they have to wait their turn in the long donor list (Mackay 2). On the other hand, poor people living in third world countries are largely willing to sell their organs such as kidneys for meager amounts if only to save them from starvation and bankruptcy. MacKay’s primary purpose is to articulate how a legal and regulated organ selling environment will allow both donors and recipients to benefit from organ sale, which is presently conducted illegally and without guarantees to both recipient and donor (Mackay 7). MacKay argues that a legal and regulated organ selling milieu will allow donors, whether in first or third world countries to gain financially from their courageous acts of parting with an organ of their bodies. At present, the organ selling business is tilted in favor of the recipients, doctors who perform the operations and agents who arrange for the operation, placing the donors at a disadvantageous position since they receive amounts as low as $1,000 for selling a vital part of their bodies. With regard to the quality of MacKay’s argument, it is evident that she is quite passionate regarding the topic of organ sale. MacKay effectively articulates her stance, using emotion to exemplify her key points and stances. The argument aims at instigating emotional responses such as compassion, empathy and sympathy towards both organ donors and recipients who suffer immensely in the current organ sale environment. The argument draws on the morality of allowing both kidney donors and recipients to benefit from a legal and fully regulated atmosphere in which they can purchase and