The importance of the industry Essays - Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong

The importance of the industry Essays - Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong The importance of the industry When it comes to Congress and Meeting Management there are many factors that play a role in making this industry a crucial part dealing with any type of business. Dealing with this industry in you're own country can be more simple in terms of logistics and cultural norms; than when it comes to dealing with people in other businesses from all over the globe. Some of the factors include but aren't limited to, cultural normedies from differing countries, religion backgrounds and cuisine pallets. It becomes the responsibility of the Congress and Meeting Management team to create a suitable environment that takes in all the cultures when the entire program comes together. This entire industry has a major importance because big organizations and businesses can come together to develop new ideas and expand their business both domestically and internationally. Congress and Meeting Management also involves, promotion of any conference, having the right social event at the conference whether it's dinners, networking, etc. Other tasks can involve hosting, transportation, administration needs, accommodation and sponsorships for the event. Then analyzing the financial side of the conference and choosing the right venue at a reasonable price. It is the congress and meeting management's job to make sure that all the necessary tasks are completed so the company or business using their services can have a accomplished and successful event. When it comes to our specific location Hong Kong there is a location known as The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. This is a suitable location where many different types of conferences, conventions and exhibitions from small scale to larger venues topping 20,000 people can be held. Choosing the correct venue is just as important as any convention or conference, because having the right venue and location can make or break a convention. Conventions and conferences is where people from all over the globe come together to discuss and examine the ways of doing things. The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center can do just that, for example they have held the IMF World Bank Conference of 1997 and the International Trademark Association 2014 Annual Meeting. Most important factors in congress and meeting industry in Hong Kong (government, business company users, event organizers) Hong Kong is growing in business sector and thus becoming more popular in meeting and congress industry. As many international businesses have operations in Asia and China, Hong Kong is convenient with its location to gather. Hong Kong's infrastructure is reliable as it has a good airport and world-class hotels to accommodate congress visitors easily. Hong Kong Is steadily safe place to travel to and in. Keeping the internationality in mind, English is spoken widely in Hong Kong and citizens of over 170 are free to visit and stay visa free for between 7 to 180 days, making congress visitors arrangements easier. When organizing an event in Hong Kong there is many experienced organizers available for help. Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK) provides free advice and support in helping making the event happen from start to finish. The biggest meetings and congresses held in Hong Kong Amway ANZ Achievers 2015 Last year, Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) appointed Hong Kong to be the host city for its bi-annual event. More than 8,500 attendees representing 35 countries attended the premier association for financial professionals. Bringing a one-of-a-kind experience to members and non-members, executives from the MDRT committee took the stage to share cutting-edge strategies and sales ideas for those in the life insurance and financial services business. This is the second time this globally recognized conference was held in Hong Kong since 2004. With Hong Kong's position as a financial center and its strategic location, the three-day event concluded with a great turnout of attendees. BlackBerry Jam Asia 2013 Telecommunications and wireless equipment maker BlackBerry was seeking the perfect host city for its 2013 BlackBerry Jam Asia developer conference. The annual event is one of three such occasions held around the world each year to provide advice and training for the application development community. The main aim for the 2013 location was to facilitate BlackBerry's expansion efforts in Southeast Asia and China by serving as a convenient

High School Grades Dont Always Accurately Reflect Your Ability

High School Grades Don't Always Accurately Reflect Your Ability A college interview can provide you with an opportunity to explain grades that arent reflective of your true academic ability. Just be careful to use the opportunity effectively. When Should You Explain a Weak Grade? Some interview questions provide you with an opportunity to explain a bad grade or weak spot in your academic record. Nearly all highly selective colleges have holistic admissions, so the admissions officers want to get to know you as a person, not just as a list of grades and test scores. Your interviewer knows that you are human and that extenuating circumstances can sometimes affect your academic performance. That said, you dont want to sound like a whiner or grade grubber. If you have mostly As, dont feel that you need to come up with an excuse for that one B. Also, make sure youre not blaming others for your academic performance. The admissions folks wont be impressed if you complain about an unreasonable teacher who doesnt give out easy As. However, if you did have circumstances outside of your control that hurt your grades, dont hesitate to explain what happened. Many events can affect grades: your family moved, your parents divorced, a close friend or family member died, you were hospitalized, or other serious events.   Weak Interview Question Responses All of these responses will backfire and paint you in a bad light rather than bring context and understanding to your grades. Im very good at math, but my teacher didnt like me. Thats why I got a C.  This response suggests that you arent mature enough to own up to the grade you earned. Was your math teacher that biased and unprofessional? And if so, why didnt you address the unethical behavior with school officials? Even if your teacher didnt like you, this isnt something you want to highlight in your interview. Are you unlikable?I worked really hard, so I dont know why my grades werent higher. This response makes you sound clueless. Students who dont understand the low grades they earned are risky prospects for a college to admit. Successful students know what went wrong, and they work to address the problems.I would have put more effort into my classes, but I was too busy with my job and sports. While this response may be honest, it will not create a good impression. Its wonderful that you are busy with work and athletics, but successful college students have strong time management skills, and they give academics a top priority. I didnt have to work hard to get all those As. Shhh. Sure, we all had classes that were easy As, but dont draw attention to this fact during your interview. Good Interview Question Responses So, how should you answer a question about the relationship between your record, your effort, and your ability? In general, take ownership of your grades and justify low grades only if you have truly extenuating circumstances. The responses below would all be appropriate: My parents got divorced at the beginning of my sophomore year, and Im afraid I was too distracted to put in my best effort at school. Fair enough. Big upheavals at home- divorce, death, abuse, frequent moves- can certainly make it difficult to devote 100 percent of your effort to academics. If a large domestic issue did affect your grades, your interviewer will want to know about it. Ideally, however, your academic record shows that the dip in grades was short-lived. If your grades never recovered, the admissions officers will wonder if you have gotten your act together enough to do well in college.I had surgery in 9th grade and was on a lot of pain medications. Serious illness or surgery can certainly disrupt your academic efforts, and it is worth mentioning this type of disruption if it had a negative impact on your grades. Here, as with the response above, your record should show that the dip in grades was temporary. Make sure you are talking about serious health issues. Your inte rviewer will not be impressed if you try to blame that weak semester on the sniffles. Yes, my record does reflect my effort. I didnt work as hard as I should have in 9th grade, but by 10th grade, I had figured out how to be a successful student. The honesty of this response is refreshing. Some students figure out how to succeed later than others. There is nothing wrong with this. In general, colleges will be pleased to see that your grades have trended upwards throughout high school. A downward trend will raise red flags. Again, dont be tempted to explain every little aberration in your academic record. The interviewer is looking to see if you had any major extenuating circumstances that affected your grades. More on College Interviews A successful college  interview requires some preparation, so make sure you have thought of responses to some of the most common interview questions. Youll also want to be careful to avoid common interview mistakes. Keep in mind that interviews are usually friendly affairs, and you should view them as an opportunity to chat with someone about the college you are considering. Interviewers arent trying to trip you up; rather, they want to get to know you better, and they want to help you get to know their school better.

Possible Approaches in Counseling People Dealing With Bereavement Article

Possible Approaches in Counseling People Dealing With Bereavement - Article Example Death is not a mystery to those who have died. The people living are the ones who struggle to find meaning in it. As far back as 60,000 years ago, prehistoric people observed special ceremonies when burying their dead. Many early cultures believed that people continued to exist after death and had the same needs that they did in life; hence they buried their loved ones with food, dishes, weapons, and jewels. Some religions, such as Christianity, believe that the dead will rise again; to them, the burial of the body is symbolic, like the planting of a seed in the earth to await rebirth. Many Eastern religions share the belief that death marks the end only of physical existence and of the limited view of reality that human beings can grasp. Death itself is a remote experience in most lives today, something that takes place off-stage in a hospital or nursing-home. In earlier times, dying was a much more visible part of daily living. Families, friends, and other loved ones in a community would share in caring for those at the end of life (Schulz et al., 27 June 2001) Most deaths occurred at home, often following a brief illness and unaffected by the limited medical care available. Today, the process of dying almost has become invisible, but it still summons pain among the loved ones left (Bern-Krug et al., February 2001). Coping with loss is a process with an individual course, tem... There are others who benefit from, and still others who continue to require the assistance of, qualified psychotherapists in confronting the void left by death. There is no single ideal time point for therapeutic intervention. As practiced today, bereavement counselling is a valuable and non-stigmatizing method of assisting the bereaved who have difficulty entering, traversing or exiting the grief and mourning process. Review of Literature Throughout history, numerous writers and researchers have articulated their views of what constitutes the bereaved state and its associated actions, particularly since 1970. The earliest conceptualizations was done by Freud (1957), where he related it to loss situation-specific depressive syndromes, and he spoke of restitution of cathected or invested energies, particularly those of id origin. Later formulations bore the hallmark of attachment theory grounding, wherein the broken bond with the lost object/person is the subject and object of a universal psychosocial process leading to eventual reconciliation of painful feelings and reattachment to life, living and, for some, even new relationships. Colin Murray Parkes (1972) also cited stigma and deprivation as key features of the bereavement experience. These authors based their findings largely on studies of widows in Britain, Australia, and North America. Many of these seminal works on bereavement brought about a linear stage model of progression to some better state post-loss. Examples include the popularized views of Elisabeth Kbler-Ross (1969), who wrote of movement from denial, through anger, to bargaining, then to depression, and finally to acceptance. This often misrepresented and misused description none the less has

Color in the Examples of Art Deco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Color in the Examples of Art Deco - Essay Example Art Deco Movement was introduced to the world by the collective effort of various artists and designers, who converged together to present the world with new vision of future. The experiment and avant-garde process of modern designing was organized in the form of an exhibition which was then called as Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes hosted in the City of Lights, Paris in the year 1925. Moreover, the Tutankamun Exhibition held in Paris in the year 1922 gave rise to cross fertilization of ideas between various sects of designers such as architects, artists, fashion designer, etc. The treasuries during his exhibit had large impact all over and the colors and design of the jewelries were bold and rich and launched a mania for Egyptian, Turkish and various other exotic styles of ornamentation. The art deco examples present modernistic and stylistic work, which was vastly recognized and which laid the foundation of transition of cultures and mindset. I t is from this era that women started to occupy the men’s apparel and spread the new style statement. This rapid shift of style during this era raises eyebrows as how the various forms of colors were identified and the avant-garde shift in designs of furniture, interior, textiles, clothing, architecture, etc. This paper presents the identification, importance and significance of colors used in Art Deco Expo through collection of data and views from various renowned artists and architects, fashion designers, models and consumers.... ris in the year 1925.1 Moreover, the Tutankamun Exhibition held in Paris in the year 1922 gave rise to cross fertilization2 of ideas between various sects of designers such as architects, artists, fashion designer, etc. The treasuries during his exhibit had large impact all over and the colors and design of the jewelries were bold and rich and launched a mania for Egyptian, Turkish and various other exotic styles of ornamentation. The art deco examples present modernistic and stylistic work, which was vastly recognized and which laid the foundation of transition of cultures and mindset. It is from this era that women started to occupy the men's apparel and spread the new style statement. This rapid shift of style during this era raises eyebrows as how the various forms of colors were identified and the avant-garde shift in designs of furniture, interior, textiles, clothing, architecture, etc. This paper presents the identification, importance and significance of colors used in Art Deco Expo through collection of data and views from various renowned artists and architects, fashion designers, models and consumers of specified area so that crystal clear views can be formed. The history of Art Deco goes back to 1912 when Louis Se founded the Atelier Francais in Paris and attempted to make modern style statement relating to French tradition. The manifesto for making of Art Deco style was presented by Louis Se associates, Andre Vera, which was later published in L'Art dicoratiff.3 It was mentioned in the manifesto that contrasts of rich and bold should be used for decoration. Paul Follot created a design using all the characteristics of Louis Se, which is considered to be as the first Art Deco work. (Campbell, 2006: 42) Art Deco shifted the importance from historic

NaCl solutions Essay Example for Free

NaCl solutions Essay The different concentrations of NaCl solutions led to the net movement of water molecules in the samples through osmosis. The samples soaked in higher NaCl concentrations, 0. 75 M and 1 M, slightly increased in mass due to less absorption of water. Samples soaked in less NaCl concentrations, on the other hand, became bulky due to considerably high absorption of water. As discussed by Bowen (2000), water molecules flow from the solution with low solute concentration to the part with higher concentration of the solute. Thus, there was a higher net water movement towards the fruit in solutions with low NaCl concentrations than in solutions with high NaCl concentrations. Therefore, water flows in response to the differences in molarity across a samples’ membrane. When sufficient water molecules moved to equalize the NaCl concentration on both sides of the membrane, equilibrium is reached and the net flow of water ceases. The Effect of Solute Concentration on Plant Cells The process of substance’s diffusion across the cell membrane is called osmosis. Osmosis is important to plants because low water content in their cells causes withering. This happens when water moves out of the cells by osmosis. Without enough water there is little pressure inside the cells (turgor pressure) through the vacuoles, thus, the plant sags. By, watering the plant, its cells become engorged with water, giving a firmer body for the plants. The Effect of Solute Concentrations on Red Blood Cells When red blood cells were placed in distilled water, it rapidly absorbed water until it bursts (plasmolysis), hence, cloudy appearance was observed. The distilled water represented hypotonic solution, hence, its molecules moved into the cells. This is the reason why plasma, the liquid portion of our blood is made of water with dissolved salts and proteins to prevent the unnecessary gain or loss of water by our blood cells. Discussion and Conclusions Diffusion in a Solid and in a Liquid Based on the results of this experiment, the rate of diffusion of solid particles is affected by its molecular weight. Since methylene blue has a higher molecular weight than KMnO4, it diffused slowly. The medium on which the particles diffuses, also affect the rate of diffusion. Liquid medium favors diffusion more than hardly vibrating solid particles. This is the reason why KMnO4 diffuses faster in liquid medium than in agar. Moreover, the temperature which denotes kinetic energy of the particles affects the particle movement. Particles in high temperatures or with high kinetic energy, move and diffuse faster that particles in low temperature. The Effect of Solute Concentration on Plant and Animal Cells The net movement of materials in and out of the cell is affected by the concentration of the solute. Based on concentration gradient, water flows from area of low solute concentration to region of high solute concentration. Thus, when the plant cells were exposed to a solution of low solute concentration (hypotonic), water flowed into the cell. The swelling of elodea plant in distilled water is an indication of the high solute concentration in its cells. Meanwhile, the cloudy appearance of the red blood cells in distilled water indicates plasmolysis or bursting due to the excessive absorption of water. The cell membrane protected the plant cells from bursting. References All About Agar. (n. d. ). Science Buddies. Org. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.sciencebuddies. org/mentoring/project_ideas/MicroBio_Agar. shtml Bowen, R. A. (2000). Osmosis. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://arbl. cvmbs. colostate. edu/hbooks/cmb/cells/pmemb/osmosis. html McCandless, Jr. J. R. (1997). Diffusion, Osmosis and Cell Membranes. Science Education Connection. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://biology. arizona. edu/sciconn/lessons/mccandless/reading. html Senese, F. (2007). Matter. General Chemistry Online. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://antoine. frostburg. edu/chem/senese/101/matter/index. shtml

Elie Weisel Night :: Essays Papers

Elie Weisel Night The advice the young polish prisoner gave seemed to be very sound advice. He told them that they needed to remember they were all in it together, and that they had to help each other out when they could. He also told them not to loss hope, they needed to have the faith to keep going everyday. This advice is good because as long as they still care for each other then when they are released they will still have their humanity. Also by helping each other they made the work easier for everyone. He tells a story of a young man and his father as they are leaving Buna for Gliewitz. The young man sees his father falling behind because he can’t keep up, but the son doesn’t stop to wait. Later that night the father asks Elie Wieselif he has seen his son, Elie Wiesel says no he has not before he remembers that he saw the man leave his dad behind. This shows that it was easy for people to start just considering themselves and ignoring everyone including, their loved ones. The advice certainly would not be easy to fallow. But it does seem like good advice and Elie Wiesel seemed to have fallowed it and it did help him. Elie worried about his father and helped him on the march, in return him and his father worked as a team. Elie’s dad would bring him extra rations when he could and when they worked together elie would try to help his father out with any work he could. The other part of the advice was that they keep their faith. This is helpful because if they gave up and lost faith then they would no longer have a reason to live. They needed to be able to believe that the war would end and they would be free. Elie started to lose his faith in god and he felt there was a

Importance of Ignatius of Loyola Essay

In the year 1491, the future founder of the Jesuits was born in northern Spain. He would soon be known as Saint Ignatius of Loyola. By the time that he was fifteen he was already interested in to religion. When he got older he became a soldier. He would end up crushing his leg in battle by a cannon ball in the battle of Pamplona. Ignatius would soon go to college to be a teacher. And he achieved that goal. He would soon invent the Jesuits who were priests that would teach and go on missionaries. Ignatius’s goals were to become a strong church and to bring people back to Catholicism. He would soon accomplish it. Ignatius in order to become a strong again, you must have education to do that. That is when his spiritual exercises came into affect. He would teach the priests and the priests would teach the students. He would also create a constitution, so that everyone would stay good. And in 1556 he would be laid to rest. Ignatius of Loyola was important because, he founded the Jesuits, that would soon put their focus on education and missionary work. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus in 1540; these members would soon be known as the Jesuits. The Jesuits were a group of priests that believed education was key to being successful. Ignatius was so high on education that every Jesuit had to be trained to be a scholar and clerics in case someday they would take over the Catholic Church (Simon 105). Ignatius wanted the Jesuits so well educated that he started his own school for the Seminarians since there were no Universities with high enough academic standards (Simon 105). Seminarians are professors that teach students. Ignatius of Loyola taught the Seminarians through his spiritual writings. So Ignatius decided that he would build a college that would meet his standards in grammar and human relations that is when he founded the Roman College in February 1551. He also had as many as 300 students sign up for the college the following year, and in 1552 Loyola also established the German College (Dalmases 355). Loyola does this so that he can show that the Jesuits are a good order of monks. He is trying to get more people to come and join the Jesuits. Ignatius made the Jesuits go to school for ten years before they could go and teach. They also had to go to mass once a day and were required to listen to seminars that were spoken in Latin. Loyola did this so that when they went out to be professors they were equipped with the right knowledge and they would know what they were doing. Ignatius did such a good job of teaching his students that people heard about them around the world. The Jesuits were so well known, that universities and schools recruited them. They ended up taking over the teaching in many universities teaching (Simon 105). The Jesuits liked to teach so much that by the 1600’s they had over eighty percent of the Jesuits being teachers. Therefore, Ignatius is an important man because of his works in education and his beliefs that knowledge is an important aspect in the Catholic Church. Another reason that Ignatius of Loyola is important is through his missionaries. Missionaries are people who are sent out to preach about what they believe in and try to get people to switch to their religion. In order to become a Jesuit you had to be willing to do what you told by your superiors. All the missionaries had to go to class to learn about what they  are to preach about (Broderick 904). â€Å"Part of Ignatius’ inspiration was his vision of the Society as carrying out the mission of Christ to defend and extend his kingdom throughout the world† (Meissner 211). Loyola had the missionaries go to many foreign areas such as Africa, Asia, India and many other countries. On of the best-known missionaries was Francis Xavier who traveled all around the East. Loyola knew so well what he was doing that by 1749 he had 3,276 people out being missionaries teaching about the Jesuits. That is one-seventh of the Jesuits. The Jesuits had such good missionary work that that they spread throughout five continents (Broderick 904). Ignatius and the Jesuits had one of the best orders, he not only sent missionaries around the world but he started orders that stayed in the countries and preached about the Jesuits and converted them over to the Catholic Church. Thus Ignatius of Loyola wanted to create a dominant order that would bring Catholicism back to order. The second point that makes Ignatius of Loyola important are his Spiritual writings, he did this by writing the Spiritual Exercises and Constitution. Loyola started writing the Spiritual Exercises after the battle of Pamplona. He started writing the book in 1521 and ended the book twenty-seven years later in 1548 (Lewis 578). Once the book was finished was printed out and used by all the Jesuits. â€Å"The first week in concentrated on with the sinful condition of man and the three other are taken up with the consideration of the life of Christ: His hidden life and public life, His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension† (Lewis580). They would be told how to use the Spiritual Exercises. The way that they taught the Exercises were that they needed to give the students a summary explanation on what they were learning about. This would help the students to remember the material easier. Therefore, Ignatius made the Spiritual Exercises so that the Jesuits could learn and improve the knowledge of the Christ. The last reason that makes Ignatius of Loyola important was the Constitution. Ignatius created the Constitution after he founded the Jesuits in 1540. The Constitution is made up of a series of laws that consist of obedience, loyalty and respecting the Pope. When Ignatius set up the Constitution he knew that there would be changes in society and that the laws couldn’t stay  the same. So in 1558 the General Constitution made the law that you can adjust or modify the law, as long as there is no disagreement with Papal law (Ignatius 276). The Constitution ended up traveling allover the world with the missionaries and would set the standard for the Catholic Church. Consequently, Loyola wrote the Constitution so that if you became part of the Catholic Church that you would have to the follow the rules that were set. He also wrote them because if you wanted to be a Jesuit you needed to act in an orderly fashion. Ignatius founded the Jesuits and they would soon put their focus on the education and missionaries. Ignatius also was important through his spiritual writings; he did this by writing the Spiritual Exercises and Constitution. This is why Ignatius of Loyola was important because, he not only founded the Jesuits in 1540 but he emphasized on education. He was so interested in education that he started universities. The Jesuits were a major contribution in education around the world. Ignatius of Loyola thought that they needed to spread Catholicism, which is when he sent Jesuits on Missionaries. He would finally get job done by creating orders of monks around the world. He also has contributed the writings of the Spiritual Exercises and the Constitution. The Jesuits for knowledge and discipline look upon these two books. Works Cited Lewis, J. â€Å"Spiritual Exercises.† New Catholic Encyclopedia. 1967. De Dalmases, C â€Å"Saint Ignatius of Loyola.† New Catholic Encyclopedia. 1967. Meissner, W.W. Ignatius of Loyola. New Haven: Yale University Press 1992. Simon, Edith. The Reformation. New York: Time-Life Books, 1996 Ignatius. Ignatius of Loyola. Trans. George E. Ganass. New York: Paulist Press, 1991.

Corporate Finance AIG Accounting Scandal Essay

On February 9th, 2006, the SEC and the Justice Department settled with AIG for an amount in excess of $1. 6B related to alleged improper accounting, bid rigging (defined by Investopedia as a scheme in which businesses collude so that a competing business can secure a contract for goods or services at a pre-determined price), and practices involving workers compensation funds. Both the CEO and CFO of AIG were replaced amidst the scandal. This closure ended a 5-year period, beginning in 2001, which tarnished the 80-year old institution’s reputation that had become the world’s largest reinsurers, and included Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway as an owner. Several of fraud’s culprits were convicted of Conspiracy, Securities Fraud, False Statements to the SEC, and Mail Fraud. Each offender was handed various degrees of penalties, including jail sentences. AIG’s CEO Hank Greenberg was left unindicted and â€Å"pleading the 5th. What led these executives down a path that would forever change their careers and left many convinced that corporations are willing to go to any extent to satisfy their greed for profits? This paper will examine the intricacies of AIG’s accounting fraud, and discuss the hypothesis that accounting fraud and other unethical decisions focused on short-term profits are positively correlated to long-term value destruction. â€Å"The corporate scandals are getting bigger and bigger. In a speech on Wall Street, President Bush spoke out on corporate responsibility, and he warned executives not to cook the books. Afterwards, Martha Stewart said the correct term was to saute the books. † —Conan O’Brien While there are many techniques to distort the financial condition of a publicly traded company, the most frequent types of improprieties involve revenue recognition, cost or expense recognition, accounting for reserves, and accounting related to business combinations. Below are the laws that Elliot Spitzer’s prosecution based their AIG case on:  §?  §?  §?  §?  §? Using or employing manipulative devices, in connection the purchase or sale of securities Making untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state that a material fact Engaging in any practice or business which operates or would operate as fraud or deceit Falsification of accounting records and conformity with GAAP Conspiracy of two or more persons to commit offense or to defraud United States What does this mean in layman’s terms? Essentially, AIG improperly accounted for the reinsurance transaction to bolster reserves, and detailed numerous other examples of problematic accounting. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2009) For example, AIG booked as income $500 million in premium for the loss portfolio transfer and then added $500 million in reserves against future claims to its balance sheet. † AIG counted the transaction as an insurance deal, but later concluded that, â€Å"the Gen Re transaction documentation was improper and, in light of the lack of evidence of risk transfer, the transaction should not have been recorded as insurance. † (Hulburt, Ph. D. , H. , 2005) What turns the deal from mistake to blatant fraud was that no underwriting risk transferred in the deal. Instead, the loss portfolio transfer was effectively a $500 million loan from Gen Re to AIG that AIG would repay through $500 million in claims payments to Gen Re. (Hulburt, Ph. D. , H. , 2005) In the end, AIG’s revised financial statements lowered 2004 net income by $1. 3 billion, or 12%, and reduced 2004 shareholders’ equity by $2. 3 billion, or 3%. Details of the adjustments required 22 pages in the AIG 2004 10K, which was included into the Annual Report to Shareholders. The restatement reduced net income by more than 10% over the 5-year period. (Verschoor, C. , 2005) Ethics is recognition of the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. – Potter Stewart AIG’s culture and lack of ethical controls exemplify how the greed of few can impact the value of many. Some have attempted to use this case as an example to SOX’s failure to overhaul corporate accounting practices. However, in AIG’s first report mandated by the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, a number of material weaknesses in control were disclosed, emphasizing that the first and most extensive weakness was in the ethical culture of AIG or its control environment. The report states verbatim â€Å"Certain of AIG’s controls within its control environment were not effective to prevent certain members of senior management, including the former Chief Executive Officer and former Chief Financial Officer, from having the ability, which in certain instances was utilized, to override certain controls and effect certain transactions and accounting entries. In certain of these instances, such transactions and accounting entries appear to have been largely motivated to achieve desired accounting results and were not properly accounted for in accordance with GAAP. (McGee, S. , 2005) Specific overrides noted resulted in (1) creation of a special purpose entity to improperly convert underwriting losses to investment losses, (2) improper recording of reinsurance transactions, (3) improper â€Å"top level† adjustments and covered call transactions, and (4) unsupported â€Å"top level† adjustment of loss reserves. (Knowledge@Wharton, 2005) â€Å"Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. † – Bernard Montgomery Tom Lin’s article titled â€Å"The corporate governance of iconic executives. explored corporate governance challenges posed by iconic executives such as Hank Greenberg. To better understand the state of AIG, it is beneficial to discuss the iconic executive that led them to water. Hank Greenberg grew up on a New York dairy farm, joined the U. S. Army during World War II, became an Army Ranger, and stormed the beach at Normandy. He attended the University of Miami and New York Law School, where he earned his LLB. As a captain, he received a Bronze Star in the Korean War; Greenberg then entered the insurance business in 1952. He became the youngest person to be appointed vice president at the Continental Casualty Company. As president of AIG’s major subsidiary American Home Assurance Company, Greenberg was credited with developing substantial reinsurance facilities, which allowed insurers who were forced to take unwanted assignments, or â€Å"bad risks,† the opportunity to reinsure those risks. Greenberg’s strategy enabled American Home to write large quantities of major-risks policies and thus control the pricing of those policies. He established a bottom-line philosophy on underwriting only those companies that made profits. Greenberg’s business was successful, aggressive and profitable. Greenberg would acquire companies that were troubled or fighting off takeovers, buying controlling interests in the companies, and ultimately integrating them into the AIG corporate structure. When AIG’s founder and CEO Cornelius van der Starr died, Green was named to head the company. Two years later AIG went public with Greenberg as the CEO where he would reign with an iron fist, terrorizing underlings, intimidating a compliant board and delivering stunningly impressive earnings for the next 40 years. As Tom Lin described, Iconic executives are complex, bittersweet figures in corporate governance narratives. They are alluring, larger-than-life corporate figures who often govern freely. Iconic executives frequently rule like monarchs over their firms, offering lofty promises to shareholders, directors, and managers under their reign. But like many stories of powerful and influential figures, the narratives of iconic executives also contain adversity and danger resulting from excessive deference, overconfidence, and licentiousness. Lin, T. , 2011) â€Å"Money is like a sixth sense- and you can’t make use of the other five without it† – William Maugham Contemporary economic thought presumes that individuals in a society always act according to their self-interest or private economic incentives, while important ethical motivations for action, such as a concern for others and public interest, are largely ignored. (Kulshreshtha, P. , 2005) As is often the case in ac counting cases, the CFO tends to be a central enabler to the fraudulent activities. There are two primary schools of thought when attempting to understand the incentive for CFO’s to become involved in these ethical dilemmas. The first school of thought states that CFOs may instigate accounting manipulations for immediate personal financial gain. There also has been research indicating that CFO equity incentives are more important than CEO equity incentives in explaining earnings management, measured by accruals and frequency of meeting earnings benchmarks (Feing, M. , 2011). Corporate boards have reduced CFOs’ incentive compensation after passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in an effort to undermine this conduct. Bhagat, Sanjai; Romano, Roberta, 2009) Looking at AIG’s share price over the reporting time frame of these actions, the fraudulent accounting did not seem to have significant impact on its market valuation. Analyzing the share price over the months that AIG reported their annual statement in 2002, 2003, and 2004, AIG’s market share price moved approximately -4%, -3% and . 5% respectively. Although a hypothesis could be made that the fraud occurred as a defense against stock devaluation rather than an enabler of increased valuation. The second thought states that CFOs may become involved in accounting manipulations because of pressure from CEOs. As CFOs’ superiors, CEOs can exert pressure on financial reporting decisions through their influence on CFO’s future opportunities and compensation (Feing, M. , 2011). This aligns to what we understand of Hank Greenberg’s style of management. When the judge handed out sentencing to Elizabeth Monrad, the CFO of Gen Re, he made the following statements.  §?  §?  §? The fact that she did not benefit personally from the scheme, does not excuse her conduct. Her involvement in the fraudulent scheme was â€Å"central to its success. † There were many opportunities for her to shake this shady deal, but she never did†¦ Although these two schools of thought help one to better understand the drivers behind the accounting fraud in AIG and other cases academically, they are not mutually independent. In practice, pressure grows like a virus when it attaches to personal gain. Without personal gain, there is hardly a sustainable environment for pressure, which indicates some level of correlation to realizing a self-centered objective. Some of the best lessons are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom of the future. – Dale Turner One may never be able to understand the full extent of the motivations at AIG that resulted in over $1. 6B in penalties, $2. 3B in reduction of shareholder equity, and the destruction of lives and careers. There appeared to be a significant amount of both pressure and personal gain involved. In the end, the AIG case became another brick in the wall for opponents of capitalism pointing to the greed of executives and their boards. With the benefit of writing this in 2012, we know this was merely a minor speed bump in comparison to what would come for AIG in the future global financial crisis of 2008. We now live in a world where greed, profit, share price, and financial institutions are synonymous to each other. However tarnished the reputation of corporations are, there are glimmers of hope in the details. The numbers and results of these actions begin to illustrate a telling story that greed, fraud, and deception are destroyers of value rather than enablers. Cases such as AIG can be reference points to dissuade future decisions of unethical nature. In AIG’s case, their share price fell more than 30% from the period of 1/2/2001 to 5/22/2006 further strengthening our initial hypothesis. The announcement also caused Standard & Poor’s (MHP) to downgrade AIG’s debt rating from AAA to AA+, leading to higher funding costs and decreased long-term value. We may not be able to prove that all of the AIG’s value destruction is directly related to the case beyond a reasonable doubt, it can be arguably assumed that a significant portion is directly related. Even if that destruction is associated to confidence over financial health. (McGee, S. , 2005) In the time since this case, AIG has made considerable steps to prevent future occurrences of financial misrepresentation. The AIG management report on internal control related remediation efforts emphasizing the need for higher integrity and a culture of ethical values throughout the organization. The report notes: â€Å"AIG has taken, and is developing further plans to take, significant actions to improve its control environment, starting with a clear statement of the tone and philosophy set by its current senior management. The Corporate Governance Committee Report in the 2005 AIG Proxy Statement gives further details: â€Å"AIG enhanced its Code of Conduct for employees, mandated that all employees complete formal ethics training, and implemented a Director, Executive Officer, and Senior Financial Officer Code of Business Conduct and Ethics to provide reasonable assurance that all members of the Board of Directors, executive officers, and senior financial officers adhere to the stated principles and procedures set forth in that Code.  At the Committee’s recommendation, AIG is developing a corporate level compliance framework, including implementation of compliance programs at AIG’s major business areas. â€Å"

Evita Peron essays

Evita Peron essays My name is Evita Peron. I was born in Argentina on May 7th 1919. My father, who was rich, never married my mother and he left when I was very young. That hurt me a lot. When I was growing up my family was very poor. I went to school and liked poetry and singing. When I was fifteen years old I met a singer named Agustin Magaldi and fell in love with him. He took me to the capital of Argentina, which is Buenos Aires. I became an actress but I was still very poor and I hated rich people. I started to get better parts in movies and television and I changed my image. I started to dress better I wore my hair in a bun. In 1944, I met General Juan Domingo Peron at a festival. He worked for the government as Secretary of Labor. He was very tall and handsome. He was a very smart person. We started to date and he offered me a job in the government. We fell in love and moved into a very big apartment in a very rich area. One of the most famous designers made my beautiful dresses and suits. As soon as I started to work in the government I began to help workers in forming unions. I learned a lot from Peron and followed his ideas. Many people did not agree with them. In 1945 Peron was arrested. Some people hated us. Finally, when he was set free we got married. Peron wanted to become the President of Argentina and I helped him with that. I talked to the workers at the unions and I became very powerful. Even though Peron was very rich and I was his wife, rich people never accepted me because I came from a very poor family. Peron finally became President and I started my foundation. I started to help the poor like nobody else had done it before. I gave away hundreds of toys and bicycles to poor children and food and sewing machines to the workers. People came to me when they needed help. I visited schools and hospitals. Some people loved me. I was very beautiful and powerful. Some criticized me all the time. ...

Mendelevium Facts - Element 101 or Md

Mendelevium Facts - Element 101 or Md Mendelevium is a radioactive synthetic element with atomic number 101 and element symbol Md. It is expected to be a solid metal at room temperature, but since it is the first element that cant be produced in large quantities by neutron bombardment, macroscopic samples of Md have not been produced and observed. Here is a collection of facts about mendelevium: Mendelevium is a synthetic element that has not been detected in nature. It was produced in 1955 by bombarding the element einsteinium (atomic number 99) with alpha particles to produce mendelevium-256. It was produced by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Gregory Robert Choppin, Bernard G. Harvey, and Stanley G. Thompson at the University of California at Berkeley in 1955. Element 101 was the first element to be produced one atom at a time.According to Glenn Seaborg, the naming of the element was somewhat controversial. He said, We thought it fitting that there be an element named for the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who had developed the periodic table. In nearly all our experiments discovering transuranium elements, wed depended on his method of predicting chemical properties based on the elements position in the table. But in the middle of the Cold War, naming an element for a Russian was a somewhat bold gesture that did not sit well with some American critics. Mendelevium wa s the first of the second hundred chemical elements. Seaborg requested and received permission to name the new element for a Russian from the U.S. government. The proposed element symbol was Mv, but the IUPAC changed the symbol to Md at their assembly in Paris in 1957. Mendelevium is produced by bombarding bismuth targets with argon ions, plutonium or americium targets with carbon or nitrogen ions, or einsteinium with alpha particles. Starting with einsteinium, femtogram samples of element 101 may be produced.Mendelevium properties are largely based on predictions and on the activity of homologous elements on the periodic table because bulk preparation of the element isnt possible. The element forms trivalent (3) and divalent (2) ions. These oxidation states have been shown experimentally in solution. The 1 state has been reported, as well. The density, state of matter, crystal structure, and melting point have been estimated based on the behavior of nearby elements on the table. In chemical reactions, mendelevium behaves much like other radioactive transition metals and sometimes like an alkaline earth metal.At least 16 isotopes of mendelevium are known, which have mass numbers ranging from 245 to 260. All of them are radioactive and unstable. The longest-lived isotope is Md-258, which has a half-life of 51.5 days. Five nuclear isotopes of the element are known. The most important isotope for research, Md-256, decays via electron capture about 90% of the time and alpha decay otherwise. Because only small amounts of mendelevium can be produced and its isotopes have short half-lives, the only uses for element 101 are scientific research into the elements properties and for the synthesis of other heavy atomic nuclei.Mendelevium serves no biological function in organisms. Its toxic because of its radioactivity. Mendelevium Properties Element Name: mendeleviumElement Symbol: MdAtomic Number: 101Atomic Weight: (258)Discovery: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - USA (1955)Element Group: actinide, f-blockElement Period: period 7Electron Configuration:  [Rn] 5f13  7s2  (2, 8, 18, 32, 31, 8, 2)Phase: predicted to be a solid at room temperatureDensity:  10.3  g/cm3  (predicted near room temperature)Melting Point:  1100  K  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(827  Ã‚ °C, ​1521  Ã‚ °F)  (predicted)Oxidation States:  2,  3Electronegativity: 1.3 on the Pauling scaleIonization Energy:  1st:  635  kJ/mol (estimated)Crystal Structure: face-centered cubic (fcc) predicted Sources Ghiorso, A.; Harvey, B.; Choppin, G.; Thompson, S.; Seaborg, G. (1955). New Element Mendelevium, Atomic Number 101. Physical Review. 98 (5): 1518–1519.David R. Lide (ed),  CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida, 2003; Section 10, Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics; Ionization Potentials of Atoms and Atomic Ions.Hulet, E. K. (1980). Chapter 12. Chemistry of the Heaviest Actinides: Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium, and Lawrencium. In Edelstein, Norman M.  Lanthanide and Actinide Chemistry and Spectroscopy.

Co-education and singl-education Research Paper

Co-education and singl-education - Research Paper Example The same is discussed at length in the paper, to arrive at a logical conclusion, regarding the viability and credibility of single-sex education as the most preferred and beneficial environment for learning. Various articles reviewed as a part of this study point to the fact that single-sex education is increasingly preferred as the most feasible strategy in terms of enhancing student performance, offering the best possible opportunities for students, encouraging them to take up leadership roles, reduce gender bias and instances of sexual abuse, increase and improve career preferences by encouraging students to take up gender-dominated occupations, and breaking gender stereotypes by introducing unconventional educational courses which focus on all round development of the students. Historically, educational institutions have been essentially gender specific, where there were separate schools for boys and girls. This study begins with the history of single-sex education in the U.S. and eventually traces the benefits, criticisms and comparison of learning outcomes across various fields, with regard to studies conducted world-wide, to trace the impact and influence of type of educational setting on the students’ learning outcome – not only academically but with respect to their long term benefits as well. According to Bracey (2007) the American educational framework was predominantly oriented toward single-sex education. Such a framework was an outcome of inherent societal structure which was largely patriarchal in nature, where the expectations, opportunities and attitudes towards education of girls varied largely from that of boys. Boys were believed to be more in need of a formalized education since they were naturally assumed to head their families and hence take up more important jobs which required professional training, while girls on the other hand, were assumed to take up family responsibilities and take care of their domestic lives, hence