Acc202 Mod3 Case Essay

ACC202 Module 3 Case Pg.1 ACC202 Module 3 Case James Davis Trident University ACC202 Module 3 Case Pg.2 Explain the main differences between the absorption and contribution (behavioral, variable) income statements. Will net income always be the same under the two approaches? If not, explain the difference. Under absorption income statement, the cost of per unit of inventory is inclusive of direct material, direct labor, variable manufacturing overhead and fixed manufacturing overhead. on the other hand, in case of variable costing income statement, cost per unit of inventory is inclusive of direct material, direct labor, variable manufacturing overhead. In case of absorption costing income statement, the gross margin is computed by deducting the cost of goods sold from the sales. On the other hand, in case of variable costing income statement variable expenses are deducted from sales to arrive at contribution margin and the fixed expenses are deducted from the contribution margin to arrive at sales. In case of absorption costing, the inventories are always valued at full costs. On the other hand, under variable costing, inventories are always valued at variable costs. The net income under two approaches will be the same if the production equals sales. In case the production is more than the sales, then absorption costing will show more profit than the variable costing income statement because the closing stock is valued at high cost per unit compared to variable costing because of inclusion of fixed manufacturing cost in the cost per unit. See more:  The 3 Types of Satire Essay Comment specifically on why companies feel the need to create yet another income statement in a different format. What information can the company  gleam from this approach which is helpful as a tool in the decision making process. Managers need more ,and often times different, information than does outside organizations. The managers are the ones making the decisions that will affect the future of the company. The income statements that are created show much more detail and are formatted for specific reasons that are beneficial to the organization. ACC202 Module 3 Case Pg.3 Explain situations in which break-even analysis can be a useful tool. Provide a specific example. The goal of a break-even analysis is to show when a product is going to profitable. It allows managers to see what affects different cost changes have on the profit margin. An example of this is when Company A is developing product B. The break-even analysis shows all costs associated with producing that product. It also shows how much of the product must be sold in order to recoup the total cost of production. It will also allow managers to tweak things such as sell price to influence the outcome.

How does Miller initially present Rodolpho? Essay

Miller initially presents Rodolpho through the use of description, dialogue, stage directions, structure and punctuation. Miller uses these techniques to present Rodolpho as a transgressive, ‘unsicilian’ feminine character. Miller initially presents Rodolpho as a transgressive character through the use of dialogue. Miller attempts to draw the audience’s attention towards Rodolpho’s appearance when the character Catherine states; â€Å"How come he’s so dark and you’re so light†. Miller contrasts Rodolpho’s appearance with a traditional Sicilian man, Marco, suggesting that Rodolpho is ‘an outsider’ in Sicilian culture. Miller’s notion is emphasised when Catherine, again, childishly states; â€Å"He’s practically blond!†, the repetitive physical description suggests Miller’s desire for to audience to be drawn to Rodolpho’s ‘Unsicilian’ characteristic, furthered even more by Catherine’s dramatic reaction to Rodolpho’s appearance, possibly indicating Rodolpho is the first blonde man she has seen, despite living in the overpopulated town of Red Hooke. Miller presents Rodolpho through the use of stage directions. Miller possibly compares Rodolpho’s feminine characteristic to Catherine’s when â€Å"He [Rodolpho] helps B set out the coffee]†, compared to â€Å"[Catherine] continues ladling out the plates†. In a patriarchal society, this behaviour was frowned upon, much to Eddie’s dismay. Miller could be using this comparison as prolepsis to when Eddie shouts â€Å"He’s not right† later on in the play, with the quote symbolising Rodolpho’s feminine character. Another stage direction associated with Rodolpho; â€Å"(Smiling)† suggests Miller is content with presenting Rodolpho as a feminine character, as Miller appears to present emotion with connotations of feminine behaviour, much like Rodolpho is consistently presented. Miller here utilises the technique of dramatic irony, the audience understands that Rodolpho’s feminine behaviour is frowned upon by Eddie, whilst Rodolpho himself is unaware, because of this tension builds up and one can argue that Rodolpho’s role in this play is to build tension. Whilst Rodolpho’s appearance differs from a traditional Sicilian man, Miller presents the initial impression that Rodolpho’s behaviour is indecorous; through the use of structure and stage directions. Rodolpho’s utterance length is consistently longer than Marco’s, and even the patriarch Eddie. In contrast, Marco, an example of a true Sicilian man speaks short Mono-syllabic sentences. Not only does the logorrheic Rodolpho have a long utterance length, Miller often punctuates Rodolpho’s sentences with exclamation marks .This subtle use of punctuation highlights Rodolpho’s ‘emotion’ and ‘passion’, arguably a stereotypical Italian quality but when contrasted to the emotionless â€Å"suspicious, quite-voiced† Marco, an example of transgressive behaviour. Miller confirms Rodolpho’s behaviour is indecorous in Sicilian culture when Eddies is â€Å"coming to address Marco more and more†, the patriarch of the house does not approve of Rodolpho’s behaviour but in comparison accepts the directly contrasting character, Marco. To conclude, Rodolpho is initially presented as a transgressive character through the use of dialogue, description, structure, punctuation and finally stage directions. Miller possibly choses to contrast Rodolpho with Marco to highlight the differences between American and Sicilian culture, Rodolpho’s behaviours maybe perceived as wrong in Sicilian culture but acceptable in an American society. On the other hand, Miller maybe equally trying to educate the, mainly American, audience about Sicilian culture. I think that the use of description was especially effective at indicating to the audience that Rodolpho was ‘the outsider’ and possibly the centre of any drama. I do not think that Miller’s use of punctuation and stage directions are effective for a modern day audience because in an ‘Americanised’ society, Rodolpho’s behaviour is acceptable whereas when the play was shown to its original audience, Miller’s use of stage directions would have been more effective. Overall, though, I think Miller has presented Miller initially as a transgressive character, and has done so very effectively.

An Essay

Even though Romans is not a complete worldview r a Christian worldview it certainly directs us in the right way of how we should view the world. What does Romans inform us regarding Creation When we look at Romans chapter 8: 19-25, believe here Paul is talking about Adam and Jesus. Everybody thinks that God knows everything going to happen, and the truth is I believe he knows. The one thing I really believe that God knows everything, but he does give us free choice and maybe just one time he's hoping he doesn't know that were going to, and maybe instead of choosing the wrong we would choose Him.The curse is Adam when he first mined not just for his self but also for every birth from then on. Jesus then comes as the sacrificial sheep. One man to curse all of mankind and one man to save all Of mankind. Natural Creation There is no doubt about finding God's creation in Romans. In chapter 1:20-21 proves of his existence and power, verse 20 states that since the creation of the world God' s invisible quality -his eternal power and divine nature. God has no doubt that this is his creation and God is always made himself available to us. God created verse man and woman to have a natural relationship, which man and woman.Man started to make idols out of gold, of birds and animals and reptiles. Man's heart was not in the right place for the creator it was for sinful lust, since their heart was not right with God and instead had all this unnatural lusts God let it happen. Men started having sex with men and even their women was having sex with other women. Their acts were unnatural from one God one God wanted of the most one man one woman until the end of time. Sins in Roman Sin is mention several times in Romans, Paul tells us that we all have sin and we all fall short of the glory of God.Paul also explained to us that through the away no one will be saved, but the law lets us recognize what sin is. 6:23 tells us that that the punishment for sin is death. Whereas if we el ect to serve Jesus, we are promised eternal life. This is a condition that cannot be fixed by any man, that only Jesus dying on the cross for us was the only way we as mortal humans and sinful by nature could be saved. Salvation In Romans Paul talked to us about salvation and the only way that we could ever be saved with salvation was through Jesus dying on the cross for us.We know that Jesus was a descendent of David, and the one thing that he as supposed to do was to be the sacrificial sheep for our sins. So without Jesus we would never found salvation because we were not covered under the first covenant, but under the new covenant we were accepted because Jesus gave his life for us. So this was the nature and mission of Jesus Christ and justification by faith is believing and Jesus the son of God. Because of our faith and our believe Christ the moment that we accepted Jesus we were given the Holy Spirit which would sanctify us and give us empowerment to do the things that Jesus d id himself.Eschatology In Romans 5:20 we see were Paul is saying that because of the law being added was so that basically trespasses might increase. You would think of Paul is against on is that we have no hope, but he is also that were sin increases grace will increase also. God has new mercies for us every day in new Hope always be there no matter what we've done we can go and repented God because Jesus made a way for us to live that one day we may have eternal life. When we look at Romans 8:18-25 Paul is telling us that we should not compare are suffering to the glory that will be ours when the time moms.The glory Will be greater than any suffering we have ever been subject to. Romans 13:11-14 Paul is telling us that our Christian worldview and the obedience that we have Jesus through our faith one day we will be victorious against Satan, death and sin Ethics In Romans 8:8-21 we will find that Paul bases the ethics on love. In verse eight Paul is telling us that no matter what w e do we need to do it cheerfully, delicately and we need to show mercy follows is all up in nine telling us that love must be since. That anything evil we should hate, we should cling to what is good.And the next versus is instructed how we should, and we should never commit adultery we should always respect with love. Chapter 8 sums up the things that we should do we love and not be afraid to do them. Theology There are several verses in here were Paul talks about God even though his letter is non-about God its more about justification. When we look at 1:17 here Paul is trying to tell us that there is a righteousness that is revealed from God. Paul states it is from first to last the righteousness will live by faith.

Marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing communication - Essay Example Recent studies show that the public over-attributes poverty to characteristics such as character flaws of the poor and under-attribute situations beyond the poor’s control. (Bolitho et al. p. 14). The studies also show that the wealthier the individual and the more opportunity the individual is afforded, the more likely that individual is to blame the poor for their own plight. (Bolitho et al. p. 14). This study is important, as it illustrates a challenge that organizations that help the poor must face – if people are predisposed to blame the poor for their own plight, they are less likely to give. (Bolitho et al. p. 14). Another trend that is related to the above phenomenon is known as the â€Å"stereotype rebound effect.† Kennedy and Hill (2008) argue that typical advertising campaigns, in which the poor are depicted as â€Å"helpless, passive and destitute†¦desperately awaiting handouts from aid agencies† contribute to this phenomenon, in which ind ividuals, upon seeing these helpless poor, attempt to suppress the stereotypes that they are feeling about these people, and this suppression leads to a â€Å"stereotype rebound effect† that leads to fewer donations. (Kennedy and Hill, 2008, p. 112). Profile of the campaign audience The individuals who will be targeted will be those that display the characteristics of conspicuous compassion, donors who are peer driven, donors who are community driven, self-driven donors and corporations. The profiles of these donors are explained in the next section below. As explained below, each of these donors would be the most likely to give to this campaign, because of the psychographic profiles of each of these groups. Audience Perception This section discusses the key attitudes and perceptions of the different psychographic profiles that will be targeted in this campaign. The first psychological trend is what is known as â€Å"conspicuous compassion† (Grace and Griffin, 2006, p. 147). This refers to a particular behavior in which an individual participates in charitable work, or displays charitable symbols, such as ribbons, for ostentatious reasons as opposed to altruistic ones. â€Å"Conspicuous compassion† is related to the term â€Å"conspicuous consumption†, in which an individual purchases an expensive car or house, because to not do so would imply failure. As with â€Å"conspicuous consumption†, the individual is interested in his or her image, and how this image is supposedly enhanced through public emoting. This person does not care about the charity, he or she just cares about how being associated with the charity enhances his or her image. (Grace and Griffin, 2006, pp. 147-148). â€Å"Conspicuous compassion† is a logical extension to other studies that show that donors are often motivated by intrinsic benefits, such as â€Å"increased self-esteem, public gratification, satisfaction and fulfillment through meeting oneà ¢â‚¬â„¢s obligation.† (Grace and Griffin, 2006, p. 148). If a donor’s motivation is â€Å"conspicuous compassion†, then that donor is looking to the charity to enhance his or her social standing. Grace and Griffin (2006) argue that conspicuous compassion is the reason why people wear empathy ribbons, and, presumably, empathy bracelets, such as the yellow bracelets offered by The Livestrong Foundation. Further, the individuals who are

Law of Succession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Law of Succession - Essay Example The witness must not only sign at the bottom of each page but also in the place indicated as â€Å"witness to sign† along with name, address, occupation, the date and the place. (www.wills-scotland-co.uk0. n this case ,Harold should sign the Will at Maria’s office or at Barbaras house and both the witnesses namely Barbara and her husband Paul should sign the Will immediately after Harold, and they should not leave the room before the signing the Will. Further , Barbara and Paul should not sign at the back of the will and should sign at the bottom of each page but also in the place indicated as â€Å" witness to sign† along with name , address , occupation , the date and the place. Only two. Both the witnesses must be present at the same time when a testator signs the Will. In Re Bravda (1968), it was held that where the Will was witnessed by four witnesses and two of them were beneficiaries and hence the Will was declared as void. (www.funtriva.com). Revocation of a Will includes rules relating to how a valid Will is made unmade or invalid. Section 18 and 20 of the Wills Act 1837 deal with revocation of a Will. However, in case of any dispute, the courts will interpret the rules which offer some quiet challenge and interest in the subject. It is normally revoked ipso facto due to a latter or subsequent marriage. Section 18(1) of the Wills Act 1837 states that though a voidable marriage makes a Will invalid but a void marriage does not revoke a will as held in Re Roberts.1 Under Wills Act 1963, the second instrument is effective to cancel the first Will, if the second Will adheres with any law concerning the legality of the first one, though not effective by the law concerning its own validity. (Collier & Collier 275). In general, a revocation clause will cancel all earlier testamentary aspirations, If intended or worded to act so, but may not be effective if a divergent intention is apparent as

Creative writing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creative writing - Term Paper Example Now 32, he has talked to Carla about starting a family. She finds the thought appealing, but wonders what things the couple should know before having a baby. They decide to consult her family doctor for advice. Starting a family is a major life step for any couple, and understanding and having reasonable expectations can make it a very happy and joyous experience. Frankly, there are some things in our lives that are not very healthy. Think about your pregnancy like a recipe that has steps that are very important, as a matter of fact, some of the steps are critical. Those critical steps are stages during your pregnancy that directly impact your baby. If you make wise decisions and change just a few aspects of your lifestyle now, there will not be any problems during the pregnancy. Now, there are some very basic things to understand about a pregnancy that are totally out of our control. Your body is made up of over 30,000 Genes that basically determine things like eye color and hair color. They also can determine if the baby is going to have a certain disease, like Down syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis. These genes and what they do are called Heredity Factors. Both parents contribute to the genes that the baby will have, and help determine how important those Heredity Factors are. There are tests that can help determine that the baby is going to be healthy, but we cannot change the baby’s genes and how they affect their development. There are things that directly affect the baby, these are called environmental factors. The environmental factors are things that we live with every day, and unlike the Heredity Factors, we can change our environmental factors. A good example of an environmental factor that can and should change is Anthony’s chemical exposure at his work. Anytime Anthony sprays or mixes a chemical he uses, he exposes himself to small trace amounts of those chemicals that he

Marketing & Entrepreneuriship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Marketing & Entrepreneuriship - Essay Example In order to critically evaluate the factors which determine entrepreneurial success, it is imperative to begin by explaining the meaning of entrepreneurship in order to gain a clear understanding of the whole concept. Entrepreneurship is loosely defined as the emergence and growth of new businesses. Timmons believes that entrepreneurship is the process of creating or seizing an opportunity and pursuing it regardless of the resources currently controlled. Small to medium businesses are the dominant forms of business developed by entrepreneurs in the economy and is going to be discussed below, the success of this kind of business can be attributed to many factors. For instance, venturing into a mobile business which offers fast foods is a good example of entrepreneurship given that an entrepreneur can capitalize on the opportunity of satisfying the needs of the customers who do not wish to visit restaurants. However, it is not an easy feat to successfully operate in this venture withou t taking into consideration some of the following factors. Creativity and innovation are the major factors that can lead to the success of small business. Creativity can involve the adjustment or refinement of existing procedures or products, the identification of opportunities and the identification of solutions to problems. Basically, creativity involves new ideas and every person who establishes an enterprise, adds value and strives to ensure that the enterprise continues to exist and this person is involved in economic creation.

Business problem analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business problem analysis - Assignment Example An effective business plan should take factor in its calculations the costs, revenue, and flow of cash on a regular basis. This is used to calculate the business’s profitability or discover incidents of loss. Such a plan can be used to project future expenditure plans and guide managers’ decisions about such decisions. The task of understanding such accounting techniques should not be left solely to accountants as managers’ knowledge is critical. Information on the business plans can be presented on a number of models in excel such as charts, graphs, tables, and other presentational formatting. These are further divided into sub-models such as frequency distributions, cumulative frequency distributions, scatter grams and time series distributions. Such presentations provide the selling points for one’s ideas, therefore, they have to be accurate and self-explanatory and simple to understand. The mode of presentation depends on the audience and channel of presentation to be used. Business planning is a strategy that all managers need to learn. Basic accounting techniques are a requirement for all managers and they cannot afford to leave all the accounting to the accountants. Business planning is crucial for a business’s survival and sustenance as it elaborates the business’s future, making vivid aspects that have great impact on the business such as unforeseeable

Geology of Venezuela Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Geology of Venezuela - Research Paper Example On the other hand, Angel Falls is an important geographical landmark of Venezuela since it ranks as the largest waterfall worldwide. Another geographical feature like Lake Maracaibo in South America is found in Venezuela. Archeologists also carried out studies and found that Venezuela has the oldest rocks in the world (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Nonetheless, the rich biodiversity finds its basis from the tropical climate that favors many wildlife habitats like mountains, plains, and islands. Venezuela’s geographical features explain its importance to tourism activities (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Apart from one of the longest rivers in the continent, the countrys coastline is the longest along the Caribbean region. Natural resource wise, Venezuela is rich in oil reserves as well as natural gas. Studies show that Venezuela’s oil reserves are some of the largest in the world. In 2011 for instance, the country’s government confirmed that Venezuela has a lot of petroleum reserves above significant oil reserves of the Middle East Delta (Miller, Vandome, & Mcbrewer, 2009). Oil reserves also exist along the Orinoco River in the form of oil sands as conventional form of oil reserves. In terms of biodiversity, the country is among the top 20 high-diverse countries in the world. An outstanding 40% of the country is protected areas (Silvano, 2008). Therefore, research seeks to discuss some of the natural resources present in Venezuela as well as geogr aphical features that add to the importance of the country to the South American continent. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the West Hemisphere (Silvano, 2008). As at 2011, the country’s oil reserves were valued at 297.6 barrels activities (Padoan, Rossetti, & Rubatto, 2014). Some of the economically important natural resources in Venezuela include natural gas and petroleum. Mining of these natural resources accounts for a good percentage of the countrys GDP. On the other

Global Communication and Propaganda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Global Communication and Propaganda - Essay Example A classical example is the use of the terms â€Å"collateral damage† during the Vietnam War. This approach was used as a way of distorting the fact that innocent people had been killed in the war zones or the notion that the warfare technology employed was unsophisticated (Vincent, 2006, p. 246). Image transfer refers to an attempt to tap positive public image portrayed by a concept or entity and share or transfer this publicity by associating with another product, group or program. The images or symbols are used with to create positive emotions surrounding the issue. The US employs this technique through advertising to transfer its cultural products across the globe through motion pictures, film, music, and fashion (Vincent, 2006, p. 247). Testimonial refers to the use of famous or familiar but unpopular individual to depict a product, group or program in a positive or negative manner. President George W. Bush used this technique on March 2012 accompanied by Bono, a U2 rock musician, in a speech delivered at the Inter-American Development Bank. This approach sought to garner support for his foreign policy and support (Vincent, 2006, p. 248). Plain folks are employed by communicators to convince their target audience that their ideas are valid or correct because they resonate with the views of other commonplace citizens. President Bush Jr., used the image of the image of the â€Å"Mission Accomplished† photo following the successful duty in Iraqi to depict the notion of a commander in chief that is fully in control (Vincent, 2006, p. 250). Card stacking employs selective presentation of facts, misrepresentation of information and a combination of confusing, logical and illogical statements with the intention of hiding the truth from the audience and discouraging informed decision-making. Hitler employed the â€Å"Big Lie† approach in attributing the defeat of Nazi Germany in the First World War by the Jews to the influence of the media (Vincent, 2006,

Impact of Great Depression on British and German Policies Essay

Impact of Great Depression on British and German Policies - Essay Example This was characterized by many detrimental consequences, including a decline in the global industrial output. However, different governments developed ways of dealing with the Great Depression, mainly through policy responses. Nonetheless, as compared to the present times, the policy responses adopted by governments in the Great Depression period are considered to have quite helpless, as compared to what the contemporary governments are capable of. Most of the policy changes undertaken by both Germany and Britain did not turn out to be fully effective in combating the effects of the Great Depression between 1929 and 1932.The Great Depression spread from North America to other European nations, including Britain and Germany, mainly because of the close relationship the United States had with some developed nations in Europe (Wrigley 2008). After the World War I, the United States was a key financier and creditor of most European nations. This was after their economies had been severel y devastated by the war. In the case of Germany, the country had lost in the WWI, thus was required to pay reparations to the European nations that won the war, in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Germany also needed to undertake industrial reconstruction, following the devastating effects of the war. This situation forced Germany to borrow money from the United States in order to accomplish the demands. However, when the economy of America experienced the Great Depression.... Germany also needed to undertake industrial reconstruction, following the devastating effects of the war. This situation forced Germany to borrow money from the United States in order to accomplish the demands. However, when the economy of America experienced the Great Depression, the country had to recall its loan from Germany, and this was the major cause for the collapse of the banking system in Germany, which marked the beginning of the Great Depression in the Germany. The Great Depression had major effects on both Germany and the Great Britain. This affected the economic, social, as well as political spheres of these countries. As compared to the Great Britain, Germany was hit most by the Great Depression. In Germany, the rate of unemployment rose sharply. Beginning 1929, Germany started to experience increased unemployment rates, and this was felt until 1932. Overall, it is estimated that by 1932, 6 million of Germany’s workforce was unemployed. This represented 25% of t he workforce. On the other hand, the effect of the Great Depression in Britain was highly experienced in its industrial and export sectors. The effects on these sectors in Britain were felt until the period of the WWII (Wrigley 2008). In order to alleviate the severity of the Great Depression, all the affected countries, including Germany and Britain, adopted various measures, which they considered effective to address the situation. In all those strategies adopted, a major aim was to protect the domestic production of the country. This included the imposition of tariffs, setting quotas on foreign imports, and raising existing tariffs, among others. Nonetheless,

Emotions In The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

Emotions In The Things They Carried Essay In his story â€Å"The Things They Carried†, Tim O’Brien, enlightens the reader with the many faces and emotions of men. Although men are normally thought upon as the stronger of the two sexes; physically and emotionally, O’Brien lets us realize that this is not so. Men are weak in even the strongest of situations. And in this case, the situation is war. War is the main theme of the story. Masculinity in the story The ‘soldiers’ mentioned are victims of many emotions, for example, love, hatred, stress, depression, etc. They realize how important love and real-life relationships are. Most men who are prey to long lost love, try to let go of their past and focus only on their duties in vain. As they walk through the streets of Vietnam, they carry with themselves the basic necessities of survival and souvenirs to remind them of home. During these marches, they dispose of some of their supplies because they are aware that they will soon gain much more. War is like a game to the soldiers, there are always winners and losers. It can be played with many different tactics. It is all a matter of luck and strategy. But it is not all that bad. Some of the soldiers, who leave, return soon because the peace ‘hurts’ them too much. And for some, the war is far too much to handle. This is mainly due to the losses they experience. Death is a frightening incident which occurs most often bringing with it tears of pain and stress. The soldiers are afraid of killing as well. The first kill is always the hardest to bear. These soldiers imagine what kind of a life their enemies led before getting involved into such a situation. Deep, dark marks are left within the hearts of these soldiers as they spend endless days on the battlefields. Voegele quotes OBrien as talking about fear, In many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down. (Voegele). The soldiers have dreams about escaping the brutal nature and reality of war because they are unable to remove fear from their hearts. Most of the time, there are petty quarrels that take place, some leading to physically fights, which soon lead to renewed friendships, trust and written pacts, and then ending in death and sorrow. Voegele quotes OBrien provides the weight of the objects which the soldiers carry by saying The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full 20 round magazine. The riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazinesadding on another 8.4 pounds at minimum, 14 pounds at maximum. (Voegele). The story above portrays the masculine romance of the soldier as it portrays the tough and brutal nature of their experience in war. These soldiers have to be tough and brave in the battlefield in order to prove that they are worthy males. Experience of war OBrien gives a graphic portrait of the experience of war by mentioning the weight of the things which the soldiers carry. The soldiers also have to face other external factors like the weather during the time of war They carried the sky. The whole atmospherethey carried gravity. (Voegele). However according to OBrien the soldiers have several emotional problems which are much heavier for them than the physical things they carry. Grief, terror, love, longing these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weigh. (Voegele). Many different stories are discussed and the lust for women is often brought up during camp talks. But many stories of lost and dead soldiers are never spoken of. Sometimes out of fear, sometimes out of respect, and sometimes out of sheer disappointment and misunderstanding. These stories, burdened by the soldiers sometimes drive them into a negative attitude. Most of these soldiers tend to commit suicide. That night when Kiowa got wasted, I sort of sank down into the sewage with him (O’Brien, pg. 156). The author describes his feelings of when he lost a true friend due to a sudden attack. Kiowa had drowned into the depths of the sewage during this attack. Although O’Brien had tried to help, the smell was excruciating to him. In the story, there is also specifically rumors of a girl smuggled into Vietnam by a soldier are brought up. This ‘soldier’ had to spend a large sum of money into getting his girlfriend there. He warned about how dangerous it was. All the men are duly jealous of the young couple. Superstition is common among the men. They keep certain ‘things’ with them at all times, believing these items may bring them luck. To a few of them, they actually do bring luck! But religion is also a big part of these soldiers’ lives. They chat about how one day; they would like to be monks and priests, and about how they would like to help people and be kind to them instead of killing anyone and anything that came in their way. As the war wages on, the soldiers try to find amusement in the harshness around them. The camps they set around for themselves are of unpleasant surroundings. From the ruthless weather, to the creepy crawlies and even then unbearable stenches, these soldiers have witnessed it all. They joke about the times they had almost died or had cried out of fear of facing death during combat. Most of these men undergo many changes, especially in their personalities. Some of the soldiers like Norman Bowler were decent and law abiding citizens when they were civilians. But this man transformed himself into a heartless creature and around his neck he carried a thumb which had been removed from the body of a Viet Cong guerilla fighter. The Viet Cong guerilla fighter was only a teenager. Bowler was very proud of his first kill. But there were also others, like Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who had been sensitive during their civilian life. But the effects of war do not change them into animals. They stay the same, lovable humans, hoping for an escape into the arms of their loved ones. But when they face their enemies, regardless of their age or gender, these soldiers are emotionless beasts. They even torture human babies, mostly orphan infants, brutally. O’Brien refers to the babies as a ‘young water buffalo’. Readers will find the story to be devoid of any emotions as the American soldiers engage in torture and brutality for sports and recreation. However, these men tend to feel awful afterwards. They think over what they have done and regret these events so much that they end up hurting themselves in order to finally escape this reality. While some, make all the killing seem like child’s play. And later, all these men share and relate their own life stories to the people they kill during the war. This, according to O’Brien, brings them back to life. He based his life on one motto, Once youre alive, you cant ever be dead (O’Brien, pg. 244). Tim O’Brien does not believe in death. The soldiers, even tough are fighting day and night for their country; feel that it is useless to wage this war. They cannot find any real reasons as to why they are there, except that they were appointed to this duty without any consideration. This lack of purpose also drives the men into insanity. When finally, the war comes to an end, the soldiers return home to again lead a ‘normal civilian’ life. But the bitter memories of Vietnam prevent these men from ever being sane again. The war has cast a heavy shadow over the hearts of these once good-willed, god-fearing men. Although, most of the story is fictional, Tim O’Brien portrays to his readers the cruelty of war. He wants people to understand how it felt to experience death, so that they could finally accept it. He tries to share his feelings and the feelings of his fellow soldiers through detached words. He talks of the torture and pain, the crying and screaming, the innocent civilian families watching their loved ones being put to death in front of their eyes aware that their turn is soon to come. The experience of war is romanticized in the novel as the author provides an account of the experiences of soldiers. These soldiers are living in hell but they have a clear concept of the culture of war. They know that they are making history by becoming participants of war. Conclusion This story clearly states that even men are feeble creatures who fall victim to emotions no matter what they do. The life of a soldier may seem to be filled with hardships and killing. But no one really knows the truth behind the lifeless eyes. We, civilians wonder what it might be like out their on the battlefield and how these soldiers live their lives without emotion. When, in reality, they share as much emotion as any normal human being would. They fear the blood shed around them. Some display their feelings and confess their love and fears, while others decide to hide themselves by displaying a merciless attitude. Every experience is hard for them. Every new day is a bigger challenge. If the cards are not played right, there is a loss, sometimes many losses. The story is an important reminder about the horrors and brutalities of war. It tells us how war changes the experiences of soldiers. Works Cited O’Brien. Tim. The Things They Carried. Broadway. (1998) Voegele, Jason. Thoughts on The Things They Carried. Copyright  © Jason Voegele Retrieved 16th August 2008 http://www.jvoegele.com/essays/things.html

Sociological Explanations for Gender Differences in Crime

Sociological Explanations for Gender Differences in Crime Outline and assess sociological explanations for gender differences in patterns of crime. In recent years, based on the official statistics collected and recorded by the police, the number of people committing crime has increased rapidly. There are striking gender differences in the patterns of recorded crime. Women appear to commit fewer crimes than men and, when they do offend, women tend to commit different kinds of crime from men. The question is, does women really commit fewer crimes than men? Or men were born to have a criminal instinct inside them? From functionalists perspective, women do not commit crime because of sexual theory and differences in the socialisation. For example, women perform the expressive role in the home where they take the responsibility for socialising the children while men are socialised to be tough, rough and risk taking and this mean they are likely to commit acts of violence or take advantage of criminal opportunities when they present themselves. In addition, functionalists argue that gender differences in patterns of crime are due to the control theory. For example, women are controlled and more likely to be at home, they are not in the pubs or clubs getting drunk which makes them hardly exposed to commit crimes. While Interactionists refuse official statistics on crime and believe they are socially constructed. What is classed as crime or deviance is based on subjective decisions by agents of social controls (e.g. police and jury) which is also called as labelling theory. For instance, based on labeling theory, men get labeled as being violent and a criminal while women do not. Feminism, on the other hand, disagrees with both functionalism and interactionism, feminists theory is a radical theory. They accept that women do commit crime but they commit crime because of different reasons in comparison with other sociologists.There are a number of feminist perspectives. First and foremost, according to Marxist feminists, they claim that women are under oppression of a dominant power structure (patriarchal society). Marxist feminists argue that men often take advantage and greater control over women which indirectly reduces women opportunities to commit crime.We can see women are controlled by men not just in a wider society but also at home and work.For example, housewives are required to spend most of their time at home taking care of the children and do all the house chores which impose severe restrictions on their time and movement and indirectly minimise their opportunities to offend.Women who try to reject their role as housewives may find that their partners will force them to do it through domestic violence. As Dobash and Dobash (1979) show, many violent attacks result from mens dissatisfaction with their wives performance of domestic duties. These automatically shows that domestic violence are mostly committed by men. While at work, womens b ehaviour are controlled by male supervisors and managers and keep women in their places as most of them only given the opportunity to be in subordinate position.However, eventhough they are only given the lower position compare to men at work, women reduces their opportunities to involve in major criminal activity at work. Women are also controlled in public spaces by the threat or fear of male violence against them, especially sexual violence.Frances Heidensohn (1996) notes that sensationalist media reporting of rapes add to womens fear and frighten them into staying indoors. For example, Women are more likely to stay at home before night as they are afraid something will happen if they are outside.Furthermore, women are controlled in public by their fear of being defined as not respectable. These eventually prevent women from committing crime such as prostitution as it will deviate them from the norms of the society. In general, these patriarchal restrictions on womens lives mean they have fewer chances for crime. However Heidensohn recognizes that male dominated society can also push women into crime.For example, women are more likely to be poor as they did not get the opportunity to get a job in a higher position due to inequalities in gender. As a result, they will commit crime such as being a dru g dealer or prostitution for them to live in a decent life. Next, based on the results of unstructured interviews carried by Pat Carlen (1988) most convicted serious crime female criminals are working-class. People will turn to crime if they do not believe the rewards will be forthcoming and if the rewards of crime appear greater than the risks.Women are generally led to comform through the promise of two types of rewards or deals.Firstly, women will find a job which will give them material rewards with a comfortable standard of living and leisure opportunities which also called the class deal.Secondly, the gender deal for example, men promises their wives with material and emotional rewards if they conform to the norms of a traditional domestic gender role such as taking care of the children and doing housework. In return, if these rewards are not available or worth the effort women will choose to commit crime to replace the rewards. However in terms of class deal, women in working-class are more likely to offend than middle-class women.So even if working-class women put on efforts more than middle-class women do, they still have a limited way or could not even find an allowed way of earning a decent living and this will bring them to commit crime as a way for them to run from poverty. In terms of gender deal, because of the patriarchal family norms, most of the women either not had the chance to make the deal or saw few rewards and many disadvantages in family. As example, some of them might be subjected to domestic violence by partners.Many women cocluded that crime was the only route to a decent standard of living. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain, which is the reason why they do offend. Carlen conclude that, for these women, poverty and oppressive family life were the main causes of their criminality.In general, Heidonsohn shows that male dominated society which control women helps to prevent w omen from deviating while Carlen shows that the failure of patriarchal society in delivering the promised deals to some women removes the controls which prevent them from offending. Last but not least, according to liberation feminist which is the closest type of feminism to the consensus view of society, nowadays women has become liberated from patriarchy and led to a new type of female criminal and eventually rises the crime rate. As now women get the same opportunities received by men which have become more equal, such as in education, employment, and political activity they are now more likely to commit more serious crime such as violence and white-collar crimes. Women no longer commit traditional female crimes such as shoplifting and prostitution because they now have greater opportunities in the society.However, not all women got liberated, most of female criminals are working class who still commit traditional crimes.Liberation feminist point of view shows us the importance of investigating the relationship between changes in womens role affects changes in patterns of women offending.

Cultural Imperialism Theory Analysis

Cultural Imperialism Theory Analysis What is the ‘cultural imperialism’ thesis and how valid is it today? Discuss with reference to relevant theory and examples. The best way to understand what cultural imperialism is, is by analysing its difference from the traditional modes of imperialism. This theory has been developed through a long line of historical events, especially ones that developed around the relationship of the west with the rest of the world and led to our contemporary society and whether or not this society is a big global culture due to cultural imperialism. In this essay I intend to explain the difference between imperialism and cultural imperialism, present the multiple forms it can be discussed and understood based upon and go through some historical events, important to define its concept. The second part of the essay will be more focused on the global perception of western media within non-western countries and several globalization and cultural globalization developments, in order to understand whether or not cultural imperialism is valid in our modern society, as far as these globalization developments are concerned. Imperialism, as a concept we have come across through history, is the policy of expansion of control or authority exercised in foreign entities as a means of obtaining and/or maintaining an empire (Hopper,2007, Ritzer,2011). This term is usually used to describe the political domination of one, usually stronger, nation to other countries, whether that domination is practised with direct territorial conquest or indirect methods of political and economic controlling. This political or traditional imperialism though is quite different from cultural imperialism, although the lines of distinction are usually blurred (Harvey,2003). Even though imperialism is usually used in conversations about politics or wars, cultural imperialism thesis describes the process within which a dominant culture penetrates the modern world system and how its dominating stratum, values and attitudes are spread to foreign cultures, creating unequal relationships between them, favouring the more developed and pow erful one (Hopper,2007, Schiller,1976). In other words, it is the concept within which certain dominant cultures, mainly western ones, threaten to overcome other more vulnerable ones (Tomlinson,1993). This term therefore is usually associated with globalization processes and deterritorialization, where culture seems to not necessarily be related only to geographical and social territories (Ritzer,2011). The fact that some cultures appear to be subordinate to others, within the concept of cultural imperialism is a natural social phenomenon which occurs at a later stage of a long historical chain of colonialism (Hopper,2007), that allowed western cultures to force their beliefs and values on areas, such as Africa or Asia, that were not traditionally inhabited by populations same as the metropolitan authority that conquered them. Since at some point in history West Europe controlled most of the world, they had easily penetrated societies for centuries, introducing the western civilisation to them and undermining their local heritages. All those undermined localities and cultures resulted to a modern world system, where West Europe does not rule most of the world anymore but has left its fundamental characteristics there, only to be re-enforced by the contemporary Trojan horse ‘for penetrating foreign cultures’, the media. After the Second World War and the end of the tradi tional European colonization, the two superpowers that emerged, the USA and the USSR, realised early enough their benefits from cultural imperialism and, more specifically, media imperialism to promote their authority along with their ideals. Media imperialism is the theory which suggests that smaller nations are in risk of losing their traditional cultural identities due to western mass media dominance (Ritzer, 2011). The USA’s use of cultural imperialism and the mass media then, empowered their position as the most powerful and, consequently influential, country in the world, enabling them to lead the way in terms of food or drink ( McDonalds, KFC, Coca Cola) or film and entertainment industry (Hollywood cinema). The promotion of American culture therefore has become another layer of cultural imperialism and the mere exposure of western media to other nations has created a sense of American superiority in the world, resulting to individual and traditional cultural identitie s to risk being forsaken forever (Hopper, 2007). Debates on media imperialism as a sub-category of cultural imperialism appeared first during the 1970’s when unequal media flows and absolute control over them by dominant nations increased over developing countries. By the time new and more powerful media appeared, during the 1980’s-1990’s, it became much more difficult for smaller nations to resist them and for local media outlets to survive (Boyd-Barret, 1998). This new form of imperialism did not only affect developing countries’ media but also the shaping of their local cultures, receiving also a lot of criticism over the years, since according to Ritzer, ‘it undermines the existence of alternate global media from developing countries, as well as their influence of the local and regional media’ (2011). Also, it considers the audience to be passive and ready to accept and interpret the same medium exactly the same way as everyone else in the world. This is problematic since audiences aroun d the world have many, big or small, differences between them which cause them to interpret things their own way. For example, The Simpsons is a very popular show throughout the world, translated in several languages and shown in many countries. However it contains various references of drugs, sex and drinking which make it difficult for the show to be shown as it is in every country, since references like that may cause offence in certain places, like Pakistan for example. That is why it is edited to be suitable for its target audience, which proves that audiences can interpret the same medium in lots of different ways. Another reason why media imperialism is criticised, is the fact that most media flows from developed countries to developing ones are controlled entirely by one company or owner, who decides what gets to be shown or gets censored. Those media therefore, could be very biased and untrustworthy and since they create a type of cultural dependency between the developed a nd developing countries, being biased means that the smaller nations would be completely controlled and exploited. Moreover, capitalism came to re-enforce media imperialism and the contemporary, capitalist driven system it creates as ‘the primary driving force behind cultural globalization’ (Ritzer, 2011). Despite the debates and arguments against media imperialism though, the existence of new global media which subsequently allowed several cultural characteristics to flow easily all over the world, creating a more global culture, is a fact. Culture, as in the shared sense of habits, traditions and beliefs of a country, society or a group of people (Cambridge Learner’s Dictionaries) is usually associated and defined within specific geographical barriers. For example, there is Cypriot culture in Cyprus, French culture in France and so on. The possibility though, that cultural and media imperialism create for a globalized culture to exist is mostly based on the deterritorialization theory. Based on this concept, the growing presence of social forms of control and involvement goes beyond the limits of a specific territory (Giddens, 1990). Deterritorialization therefore, is the transformation that occurs on local cultures from the impact the media and communications have on them, ca using them to no longer be as defined with local geography as they once were (Tomlinson, 2007). Deterritorialization then has become a general cultural condition, re-enforcing the idea that more and more cultures throughout the world are the same. Examples of instantaneous global communications, such as television or the internet, support the formation of a globalized culture, along with the English language considered to be the world’s global and information language. Another example of how traditional cultures can easily be derived from globalization and deterritorialization concepts, is how the residents of Fiji, particularly women, changed their traditional preferences of robust, full figure bodies and started dieting for the first time, resulting in health problems like anorexia or bulimia, after being introduced to television and western media in 1995 (BBC News). This influence of the USA or other western countries on smaller nations, as far cuisine, technology, busines s practises, political techniques, entertainment, fashion or food are concerned is known as Americanization or Westernization and is one of the effects of cultural imperialism (Hopper, 2007). Another theory is the cultural hybridization theory, which emphasizes on how the world seems to have become a smaller place and also on the interaction between the global and the local that has created new types of unique hybrid cultures that are neither global or local (Hopper,2007, Ritzer, 2011). In other words, it describes the ways in which different cultures create new forms and connections with each other, developing new types of cultures from the blending of their individual characteristics. A specific term about cultural hybridization came out of Roland Robertson’s (2011) work on the interaction of the global and the local and how the first, instead of eliminating the second, combines itself with it resulting to new forms of localities, based on the global. This term is glocalization and an example of it could be how internationally known companies slightly alter some of their products based on their locations and audiences. More specifically, Pringles’s flavour s in the USA range between original, salt or vinegar while in Asia you can find flavours such as seaweed or peppered beef. Due to phenomena like this and according to Ritzer (2011) ‘globalization leads to increasing sameness throughout the world’, resulting in cultural convergence, with the McDonaldization theory as a main example of it. McDonaldization theory was first introduced by George Ritzer in 1993 and uses the principles of the fast-food restaurant company as its model, to prove how some specific principles ‘are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society, as well as the rest of the world’ (Rtizer, 2011). With five principles, McDonaldization theory shows how the world can become more globalized, exactly the same way the fast-food restaurant became globally known and successful, with restaurants built in almost every country in the globe. The five dimensions, according to Ritzer, are efficiency, as in the way of finding the best possible method for accomplishing a task, calculability, which means emphasizing on the quantity rather than the quality of products, so that customers get more amounts of product in less period of time; predictability, as in the stereotypical way in which employees and customers are expected to behave in everywhere in the world and control, as in the con trolling or even replacement of employees by technology. The fifth dimension, is the so-called irrationality of rationality, which refers to when something that is normally considered to be rational is in fact exactly the opposite and sometimes can also be described as dehumanization, for the employees and/or the customers. These principles have Mcdonaldized many aspects of contemporary society, emphasizing the convergence even more. The modern trend of ‘speed-dating’ for example, is a McDonaldized way of the traditionally time-consuming process of meeting new people, since in this case potential partners gather up for short face-to-face meetings with each other. Also, the use of the Internet as the standard tool for the process of getting and exchanging information, making libraries more and more obsolescence is another example. Based on the aforementioned aspects of globalization and global culture in relation to cultural imperialism, there appears to be a general view that one cannot adequately grasp the relevance of globalized culture through the cultural imperialism thesis alone. That is because it oversimplifies the process of information flow, which is normally complex and unpredictable, by suggesting there is only a one-way flow of imperialism, from stronger nations to less powerful ones. Such a suggestion could not possibly be absolutely valid, especially nowadays, when more non-western countries, such as India, have started to grow into powerful, out-sourcing exporters, e.g. Bollywood movies (Hopper, 2007). It also overlooks the importance of the international relations between developed and developing countries, since the influence of the western media on non-western societies is somehow bound to them. Where those relations are not as good, then it is obviously unlikely that the influence of the me dia will affect the local population. This, in addition, is proven by the national media systems and protectionism applied by some European countries, like Canada and France as a form of rejection and protest against the American domination in the European film market. This form of resistance to Americanization is overlooked by the cultural imperialism thesis, as well as Stuart Hall’s (1973) encoding and decoding theory, which suggests that there are various different ways in which audiences can decode the same media text. To conclude, it is understandable that cultural imperialism is a very vague concept which can be understood in specific forms regarding specific contexts of imperialism, media and globalization processes. It establishes connections between developed and developing countries for print media, television, radio, film or consumer goods, creating a new form of imperialism in its core, the media imperialism, which allows western media and therefore culture to easily spread the information they want to convey the world and continue being a superpower. That makes cultural imperialism an expansion of cultural values re-enforcing a dominating ‘global’ culture through products or commodities diffused with cultural values that are strengthened by media imperialism. The media are after all a very important part of people’s daily lives. The cultural imperialism thesis though has created several debates and arguments over the years, about whether or not it is the right thesis to describe and evaluate our contemporary culture, as far as globalization processes are concerned. Due to all the critiques about how it overlooks important aspects of society, information flow and media theories in general, it is mostly considered to be a negative way of understanding media globalization and global culture and therefore it is not as valid as it seems to be in our contemporary society. Bibliography CAMBRIDGE Learners Dictionary 2007 Giddens, Anthony. The Consequences Of Modernity. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1990. Hall, Stuart. Encoding and Decoding In The Television Discourse. Birmingham [England]: Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Birmingham, 1973. Harvey, David. The New Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Hopper, Paul. Understanding Cultural Globalization. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2007. Lenin, Vladimir IlÊÂ ¹ich. Imperialism, The Highest Stage Of Capitalism. New York: International Publishers, 1982. News.bbc.co.uk,. BBC News | Health | TV Brings Eating Disorders To Fiji. N.p., 1999. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. Robertson, Roland. Globalization. London: Sage, 1992. Schiller, Herbert. Communication and Cultural Domination. New York: International Arts and Sciences Press, 1973. Oliver Boyd-Barret, Media and imperialism reformulated In Thussu, Daya Kishan(ed.) Electronic Empires: Global Media and Local Resistance. London: Arnold, 1998. Tomlinson, John. Cultural Imperialism. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. Tomlinson, John. Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX: Continuum, 1991. Tomlinson, John. Internationalism, Globalization And Cultural Imperialism In K. Thompson(Ed.) Media And Cultural Regulation. London: Open University/Sage, 1997. Tomlinson, John. The Culture Of Speed. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2007.

Summary of Behavioral Genetics :: Science, Technlogy, Psychology

Behavioral Genetics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Behavioral Genetics is a new field of study. The purpose of Behavioral Genetics is to investigate the affects of genetics and environment on individual human behavior. Behavioral Genetics is a quite complex field of study and the path towards the understanding the relation of genetics and environment to individual human behavior is a long and difficult one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are instances that support the theory that behavior has a biological basis. Behavior is often reproduced in consecutive generations of a species. Drugs that chemically alter the brain have been shown to also alter the behavior of an individual; furthermore, behaviors such as mental illness have been known to run in families. Many studies have shown many different things.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In fact, Behavioral Genetics is studied in many different fashions. In the traditional fashion, a researcher might use a set of twins to conduct an observation in which the biological and environmental effects are determined and sorted through. In a more complex nature, the presence of the 21st chromosome is associated with mental retardation; however, the brain processes that affect it are not clear yet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many researchers have determined that genetics are the cause for many physical behaviors. A growing concentration on genes and behavior has many more considering the belief that genetics is a great factor in determining human behavior. Yet, there are many problems in simply using a blanket correlation between genome and behavior. It is extremely difficult to completely identify all other possible causes for a certain condition and prove that it is caused solely by genetics.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Genes do affect behavior; however, not single genes.

The Death of a Moth Essay -- Literary Analysis, Virginia Woolf

What started out as an ordinary day turned out to be one if the worst tragedies in the history of Bangladesh – the fire at Nimtoli in Dhaka. I sat in shock as I saw the news reports of the tragic incident showing numerous buildings on fire burning mercilessly, people running in havoc with no idea where loved ones are and yet others trapped inside the buildings, screaming, being burned alive. However, nothing seemed to have any effect on the ruthless fire which kept on burning, claiming as many lives as it could, turning a deaf ear to the desperate cries of hundreds of people. The blazing flames simply devoured everything in their path, burning them to ash. It finally subsided in the early hours of dawn, but the damage it left behind was monumental – piles of debris and dead bodies scattered in buildings which were burned charcoal black. As the police and firemen recovered countless bodies from the ruins, I wondered about the strange nature of life and death. In her essay, â€Å"The Death of a Moth†, Virginia Woolf contemplates how life and death are separated by a single thread of â€Å"energy† and how eventually the force of death snaps the thread, overpowering life and proving its superior strength (385). Woolf reflects how life and death are two mutually exclusive forces of nature, yet they are intertwined by the law of nature itself. In the essay, Woolf observes a moth, an â€Å"insignificant creature† at his attempts to â€Å"[enjoy] his meager opportunities† of a particularly vibrant morning bustling with life, energy and activity (385). However the moth is soon faced with a force which Woolf deems to be far superior to life’s energy. It is a force â€Å"which would, had it chosen, have submerged an entire city, not merely a city, but masses of hu... .... They are also echoed by humans in an attempt to delay death. However, as Woolf claims, death indeed is the ultimate destination of all living things. It is how we reach that destination that matters the most. All rational living creatures â€Å"diverge ever more widely from [their] original course of life and to make ever more complicated detours before reaching [their] final aim of death† (Freud 32). Robert Frost in his poem â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† writes: â€Å"Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.† The fact that life is a â€Å"hue† that we want to hold questions Woolf’s supposed claims; if death is indeed the stronger force of nature and life the weaker, then why do all living beings choose the weaker force? Perhaps there is a force stronger than the force of life and death, one that governs life and death, and that I believe is the force of nature.

Malaysian Legal History Essay

The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its south-east Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War. The Straits Settlements consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca,Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island), Singapore (with Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands). The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was also incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. With the exception of Singapore, Christmas Island, and the Cocos Islands, these territories now form part of Malaysia. The Island of Penang in highligh was under the governance of Sultan of kedah however its noted that after the esthablishment of English East India company an agreement was penned by the Ruler of Kedah and the company for penang. Now in judging what is the â€Å"’lex loci† of the island will require answers to two questions as below: i) Was the Island a â€Å"settled† or â€Å"ceded† colony?. ii)Was the law of Kedah to be applied to island of Penang on ground that the island was â€Å"ceded†? For the first 20 years after esthablishment , it was noted that the only law in place was â€Å"Regulations of 1794† or â€Å"nature of law†. On March 1807, the English Crown granted the first charter of justice, which resulted in the esthablishment of Court of Judicature in Penang. The effect of this charter could be seen in Kamoo v Basset, In re Goods of Abdullah and Reg v Willans. The Kamoo v basset (1808) case, notes that the plaintiff a native of Bengal, had agreed to be an employed by the defendent who was an army officer in the Bengal Native Infantary. However upon severe mistreatment by the employer an Police Majistrate complaint was made by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed and action for assault,battery and false imprisonment against the defendent,claiming damages for $600. The verdict in short noted payment to plaintiff in $150 with cost. In the Goods of Abdullah (1835) is noted the principle issue is whether a Muslim,who died in Penang,device his entire property by means of will? However it was decided that the will of Abdullah being esthablished as a valid instrument. In the case of Fatimah Ors v Logan Ors it was noted that since 1786 , Penang being then a desert and uncultivated island,inhabited except by few intinerant fisherman and without any fixed institution was ceded by the Rajah of Kedah to Captain light,an office of EIC,for and on behalf of the company. This fact was important in this case in view of the platiff’s petition to obtain a decree of the court declaring that the deceased died intestate. Three preliminary question arised in this case which were, i) Wheter the capacity of the deceased to make a will is to be decided by Mohamedan or by English law. The verdict was given as the deceased’s capacity to write a will will be decided by â€Å"lex loci† and not by Mohamedans law. Other Important cases in aspect of the â€Å"lex loci† includes Choa Choon Neoh v Spottiswodde, Isaac Penhas v Tan Soo Eng, Shaik Sahied v Sockalingam Chettiar. Reception of English Law in Malay States. As noted earlier common law and equity was applied in the straits settlements by virtue of the three charter of justice. The charters however did not apply to the Malay states. The introduction of the Resident system in Perak according to the Pangkor Treaty 1874, allowed the introduction of english styled courts by the Sultan and english judges were appointed. It should be noted that beggining with the civil Law Enactment No 3 of 1937,such judicial practise received the official stamp of approvalby legislature. Section 2 (i) of the enactment provides that â€Å"save in so far as other provision has been or may hereafter be mada any written law in force in the federated Malay states,the common law of england,and the rules of equity,as administrated in england at the commencement of this Enactment shall be in force in the Federated Malay states. On case which can be disscussed in terms of â€Å"common law† are the Goverment of Perak v A.R Adams (1914) , which concerns damage to the plantiff’s land by the defendent. The question which was arised was wheter the defendant is exempt from liability on the ground that he was without wilfulness or negligence using his land on the principle that a man must use his own land and not to damnify another. The court found the defendent guilty under all circumstances he is liable for the damage caused. In re the will of Yap Kwan Seng, which the deceased gave direction in his will that his hose and land be held in trust for ever for a family house for ancestral worship and as family burial ground in accordance with chinese customs. The Issue before the court was whether such a custom was valid a not. The arguments made were (1) That the rule against perpetuities does not excist in and should not be adopted in the federated malay states, (2) That even if the rule be applied,the trust are saved from offence agaist it, (3) That having regard to chinese customs the trust should be regarded as religious and charitable and therefore without offence to the rule. During the proceeding of this case it was noted that the rule agaisnt perpetuities has never been applied in the states. However it was concluded that to regard these trust either as trust for religious purposes or as trust concerning or benefitting the community at large or any portion of it,it follow that there is no way to be sa ved or excepted from repugnancy to the rule of perpetuities and are therefore void. In the case of permodalan plantations sdn.bhd v Rachuta sdn.bhd (1985) can be discussed as legal set off which is based on english statute is not included in the expression â€Å"the common law of england†. Only equitable set –off is part of the local law and consequently the court can only deal with and equitable set-off.

Women in india

Objectification of women in India â€Å"You can tell the condition of a Nation by looking at the status of its Women. † Jawaharlal Nehru, Leader of India's Independence movement, and India's first Prime Minister. According to a global poll conducted by Thomson Reuters, India is the â€Å"fourth most dangerous country† in the world for women and the worst country for women among the 620 countries. Today's India offers a lot of opportunities to women, with women having a voice in everyday life, the business world as well as in political life.Nevertheless India is still a male dominated society, where women are ften seen as subordinate and inferior to men. In Ancient India, scholars believe that in ancient India, women enjoyed equal status with men in all aspects of life. Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as PatanJali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period. Rigvedic verses suggest that women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their own husbands. So, what happened in the middle age/ Medieval Period of Indian civilization?Indian women's position in society further deteriorated during the medieval period, when Sati, child marriages and a ban on emarriage by widows became part of social life in some communities in India. India's Patriarchal Traditions Dowry Tradition: Much of the discrimination against women arises from India's dowry tradition, where the bride's family gives the groom's family money and/or gifts. Dowries were made illegal in India in 1961, however the law is almost impossible to enforce, and the practice persists for most marriages.Women as a Liability: The Indian constitution grants women equal rights to men, but strong patriarchal traditions persist in many different societal parts, with women's lives shaped by ustoms that are centuries old. Hence, in these strata daughters are often regarded as a liability, and conditioned to believe that they are inferior and subordinate to men, whereas sons might be idolized and celebrated. Discrimination against Women: It should be noted that in a vast country like India – spanning 3. 9 million sq. km, where cultural backgrounds, religions and traditions vary widely – the extend of discrimination against women also varies from one societal stratum to another and from state to state – some areas in India being historically more inclined to gender bias than others. Present scenario Women are becoming unprotected day by day both at their homes and outside. The NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau) states in its report that every hour in India 18 women are raped.There has been recorded 700 per cent phenomenal increase in cases of rape from 1971 data's, whereas in other areas of crime against women this increase is 300 per cent. Evidently, this heinous crime against women reflects the taltering moral and mental state ot men in society . There nas been a marked increase in crimes against women in rece nt years. Every year around 6000 women are prey to dowry deaths. Bride burning is the major means of dowry death. Rural areas are witness to more violations of women's human rights. This is more concerning because more than 70 per cent of Indian population resides in the rural areas.In rural areas women are prey to molestation every 26th minute, rape every 34th minute, sexual abuse every 42nd minute, kidnapping every 43rd minute and dowry death every 93rd minute. While in the educated, urban middle class women's rights continue to improve, there remains a strong bias against gender equality in those societal parts of India, where patriarchal traditions prevail. Consequently, in these strata any inheritance of a deceased husband or father would be passed down to the oldest son, while his wife or daughters would not receive any financial benefit.There are laws in place to ensure legal protection for women's right to inheritance, but the enforcement of the law is challenging, when the woman is refused her right by the family, and when she is not confident or educated enough to claim her right. Bollywood The narratives of Hindi cinema have undoubtedly been male dominated and male centric. Themes have been explored from the male audience's point of view. The heroine is always secondary to the hero. Her role is charted out in context of any male character which is central to the script.It may be the hero, the villain, the father, the boss, an elderly male figure etc. She is devoid of any independent existence and her Journey throughout the film is explored in relation to the male character. This kind of straightjacketing limits the women's role to providing glamour, relief, respite and entertainment. For eg: Priyanka Chopra†s character in Agneepath (2012) is not of any significance to the story as such. It is only to give the audience a reak from the tedious scenes of violence and drama. She is there only as a romantic partner to Hrithik Roshan who is busy in avenging his father's brutal murder.Chronicling the male†s experiences, dreams, stories, revenge, angst, ambitions etc has been the essence of Hindi films. In the action genre of films popularized by the likes of Akshay Kumar, Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty; the heroine is abruptly placed in the romantic track as a distraction for the viewer from monotonous bouts of violence. It is unusual to witness a strong female character in an action movie even if she indulges in some fghts and punches. Where are the Charlie's Angels of Bollywood (2000) and where can we find a character that Angelina Jolie played in SALT (2010)?Bollywood has so far dished out such female characters that the audience has almost been tamed into accepting women in certain kinds of roles only. Conclusion It is difficult to come to a uniform conclusion on the portrayal of celluloid women. Considering the fact that women in India are not a homogenous group – they belong to different religions, castes, class , and socio-economic status and have different kinds of ambitions and desires as a result of which they lead different lives, it is mproper to conclude that women on Indian silver screen have been portrayed in an identical manner.The portrayal ot course nas to be sensitive to the category to which they belong. For e. g. : An urban middle class woman's story would be entirely different from that of a woman in a village. Films thus have to be responsive towards the context in which they locate women characters. Women characters should possess agency to dismantle the existing power structures as well as be able to negotiate their own position within this structure. It is time that cinema seeks a redefinition of women as objects of male gaze. Women's experiences and dilemmas as points of narration are the need of the hour.Going beyond the stereotypes will do a great help to the cause of women in Indian society. Cinema has to create a separate and independent space for Indian women to he lp them realize their dreams. Cinema's only end is not to entertain. It must begin a quest for social change through entertainment. As a media product, identified to accelerate the process of modernity, cinema should not stick to the ?formula film†6; it should come up with more progressive representations of women. Such portrayals would do Justice to women and their role in the society.

Islam Essay

Field Study Research Karen Edmonds-Leach Professor Jonathan Pedrone REL212: World Religions-Summer September 4, 2011 Islam: Field Study Research After interviewing a member of the Islamic faith, I came to the realization that there are very many misconceptions about the religion of Islam and that these misconceptions are very hurtful, disrespectful, and inhumane. In this paper, I will first discuss several misconceptions that I had about the Islamic faith. I will then analyze how my prior understanding about the religion was altered through interviewing a member of the Islamic faith. Next, I will discuss my beliefs on misconceptions about other people’s religion being common or not. Lastly, I will recommend steps that can be taken to minimize misconceptions people have about religions that are not their own. I had many misconceptions about Islam before speaking with a member of the religion. The first was that Islam oppresses women. When I thought about women in Islam, I thought of the image of a woman wearing a veil, and other heavy, dark clothing, where no skin would be visible, even in the hot summer months. I thought about how women were forced to stay home, and were not allowed to drive vehicles. I also believed that the Muslim’s God, Allah, was not the same as the God in Christianity, and was a false god. I believed that Muslims worshipped Muhammad, and that Muhammad and Allah were the same thing. I did not think that Muslims believed in Jesus Christ. I also thought that Muslim men all married multiple wives. I thought that polygamy was something that was widely practiced in Islam, and was somewhat of a requirement. For those men who married one wife, I believed that they were merely â€Å"Americanized†. Another misconception I had was that all Muslims were Arabs. Not only did I think they were all Arabs, but I thought that being a Muslim and an Arab was the same thing. Lastly, just as the cross is something like a symbol of Christianity, I believed that the crescent and the star was the symbol of Islam. I had all of these misconceptions about Islam, as many other people who practice religions outside of Islam do, but speaking with a Muslim quickly changed my mind about these harsh misconceptions. Each one of my misconceptions about Islam count toward my overall understanding of the religion. My prior understanding was completely altered through my encounter with the Muslim woman I interviewed. I believed it would be a great idea to talk to a woman about how women are suppressed in Islam. I interviewed a friend of mine, named Kiran Masood. She was born and raised in the Islam religion, and continues to practice it today. She informed me that this is not necessarily the case. She stated that some Muslim countries do have laws that oppress women, but this practice does not come from Islam itself. Masood stated, â€Å"countries that have laws against women created these laws themselves. They may say that their basis is from the Qu’ran, but the Qu’ran does not suggest any oppression women† (Masood). Though this is true, there are some social constructions in Islam, where women and men are given different roles and equity. This is something that all religions accept, and is not a surprise to me in Islam. In addition, another common misconception is that a woman can be forced to marry against her will, and this is not the case at all. Masood informed me that â€Å"no one can force a Muslim girl to marry someone she does not want to marry; her parents may suggest she marry a suitable man, but by no means is this girl forced to marry someone that she may not want to marry† (Masood). I was also informed that divorce is not common, and it is used as a last resort. Masood also quickly refuted my second misconception, that Allah is a different God. â€Å"Allah is not a different God; Allah is simply the Arabic word for God† (Masood) which is something that I was not aware of. Allah is the same God worshipped by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The one difference in Islam and Christianity is that Muslims believe the God is the one and only. The religion does not accept Jesus as God’s son, and believes that He has no human-like attributions. In Christianity, Jesus is accepted as God’s son and was basically God in flesh when He was on earth. Also, Muslims do not worship Muhammad, as I was lead to believe. Muhammad was chosen to deliver messages, but is not the founder of Islam, and Muslims do not worship him, though they do honor him and respect him, as they do Jesus, Moses, Adam, and Noah (the other prophets of the Word). My third misconception, that all Muslim men marry multiple women, also came to be false. Masood informed me that polygamy, marrying multiple spouses, is not encouraged in Islam, and is not mandatory. She stated, â€Å"In the religion of Islam, marrying multiple women is permissible, but is not something that the religion requires† (Masood). If a man decides to marry multiple women, these women cannot be forced into it, meaning if they do not want to marry a man with other wives, then she does not have to. My fourth misconception was that Muslims and Arabs are the same thing. Masood simply told me that the two are different, but I decided to do more research on the subject. There are about 1. 2 billion Muslims in the world. Muslims reside in a variety of places, including Nigeria, the Philippines, and of course, the United States. Muslims also represent many races, cultures, and nationalities. About 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world, primarily in Indonesia (Isseroff). This is far from 100% of Muslims. Lastly, I believed that the crescent and star was the symbol of Islam, which is not the case. In the days of the Prophet Mohammed, Muslims did not have a symbol; instead, they used solid-colored flags. The Turks in fact introduced the crescent as a symbol. It was adopted due to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Constantinople. In turn, all of my beliefs about Islam turned out to be false. In fact, some of them turned out to be the complete opposite. I believe that misconceptions about other people’s religion are extremely common. No matter what religion someone practices, they always have certain beliefs about other people’s religions. This is not to say that people disrespect other people’s religions, but they simply have their own beliefs towards them. Most times, we do not know anything about other people’s religions. We are so set in our own mindset that the religion we practice is the only correct religion; that we fail to learn anything about other religions in the world. Because we lack knowledge of other religions, we use stereotypes and misconceptions to justify why we do not agree with the other religions’ practices. Even those who do not practice any religion, I believe they use stereotypes and misconceptions about all religions, because those people are so fixed in their own belief that no religion is true, and that they all are false. It is important for people of all religions to have an understanding of others’ religions, because sometimes, people have a lot more in common than they think they do. For example, I thought that my own religion, Christianity, was completely different from Islam, but in reality, the two religions share many similarities. I was surprised at the information I learned from Kiran Masood, and it was a shock that Islam has a lot of parallels to Christianity. Every religion has certain misconceptions. In this paper, I analyzed the misconceptions of Islam, but Christianity and other religions have misconceptions as well. We always are so quick to judge others that are different from us, but instead we should be interested in learning new things about other religions. The purpose of this is not to persuade someone to convert to a different religion, but to just be enlightened and educated about the different religions that exist in our society. One step that could be taken to minimize misconceptions people have about religions not their own is for people to let their guards down and to be more accepting to people’s differences. Not everyone will have the same beliefs, but instead of stereotyping and discriminating against other religions, we can learn from each other. Just having knowledge of new things is prideful, and is an asset that we all should have. If we take the time to learn about other people’s beliefs, these misconceptions would not exist. We should educate ourselves, instead of jumping to conclusions. One way I like to think about this is that I do not like when people of different religions criticize and stereotype against my own religion, Christianity. I wish that people would not be so quick to speak negatively about Christianity, because most times, they do not know what they are truly talking about. They jump to conclusions, and did not take the time to learn the truth behind Christianity. Because I have such strong feelings about this, I should in turn not treat other religions this way, since I know how it feels. I should take the time to educate myself about different religions. Though it will not cause me to convert from Christianity, just having basic knowledge about other religions can help me make a better judgment on certain topics. No one can make judgments or participate in a debate if they have not done research on the subject. Interviewing my friend Kiran Masood gave me a lot of enlightenment. I learned so much about the religion of Islam that I did not previously know. Though we have known each other for a while, I never thought to learn more about the religion she practices. I found it to be a rewarding experience, and learning about different religions is something that I will continue to practice. It is important for us to understand that we all have differences, whether it is race, culture, ethnic background, economic status, or religion. Amongst all these differences are many similarities between us. Instead of always focusing on the differences that separate us, we should look at the similarities that bring us together. Our differences make us special, and our similarities give us things in common. Learning about people’s differences is important because it is what makes that person unique. Though we all have a variety of differences, one thing we have in common is we all are human beings with feelings and beliefs. We should all value our beliefs, and be open to learning about others’ beliefs as well. References Isseroff, A. (n. d. ). A Concise History of Islam and the Arabs. Middle East: MidEastWeb. Retrieved September 1, 2011, from http://www. mideastweb. org/islamhistory. htm. Fisher, M. P. , & Adler, J. A. (2011). Living Religions (8th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, N. J. : Pearson Prentice Hall.

Who Has Been the Biggest Influence in My Life

As such, I am charged with the constitutional duty, which I am resolved to carry out, of serving the interests of the members of all groups of our people and doing justice to every man. It is in this spirit that I now come before you. For in administering the affairs of this nation, you and I share the common responsibility of providing the leadership, the guidance and the service that a democratic government owes to the people.You and I must provide for their enjoyment of those basic requisites for decent living and of those adequate opportunities for the attainment of material prosperity and spiritual fulfillment. Only thus will they be able to stand in dignity and freedom in the community of nations. We assume our joint responsibilities at a time when the Nation is faced with many serious problems. The eyes of the world are focused on us, anxious to see how this new Government will face the difficulties confronting it.Our performance will be judged not only by our own people but a lso by the other nations of the world, not only by the present but also by posterity. Because of the impelling and serious problems facing the country today, I should like to depart from the traditional practice of my illustrious predecessors of delivering an all-embracing State of the Nation message. I shall not burden you now with all the details usually embodied in such a message, especially those related to the customary and routinary activities of the government.While it is recognized that such functions deserve equal and proper attention, I believe it would be more in keeping with the exigencies of the moment to submit, at the proper time and in the hour of need, such special messages to Congress on these matters as may be warranted by circumstances. In the interest of priority of purpose, therefore, I beg leave to submit for the consideration of this Congress only the most paramount problems of the Nation which, in my considered opinion, require immediate and preferential att ention. STATEMENT OF OUR MISSIONIn my inaugural address, I set forth the goals of our Administration in the coming years, as follows— 1. The solution of the problem of corruption; 2. The attainment of self-sufficiency in the staple food of our people, namely, rice and corn; 3. The creation of conditions that will provide more income to our people—income for those who have none and more income for those whose earnings are inadequate for their elemental needs; 4. The establishment of practices that will strengthen the moral fiber of our nation and reintroduce those values that would invigorate our democracy; and 5.The launching of a bold but well-formulated socio-economic program that shall place the country on the road to prosperity for all our people. This five-fold mission may be carried out by resolving two major problems, namely—the need for moral regeneration and the problem of economic growth. Democracy on Trial In the accomplishment of our mission, we have chosen the freedom of democracy as the context for the solution of our problems. Democracy is truly on trial along with us in our social and economic travails.By our success or failure in leading the Nation from the abyss of want to the plateau of abundance, not only ourselves but also our way of life will be judged. If we falter, we shall fail democracy as well as our people and thus bolster communism’s boast that it is a superior political system. But if we succeed in laying a dynamic and permanent base for justice and prosperity in this country, we shall vindicate not only ourselves but democracy itself. Therefore, I first invite your attention to the decadent state of our public morality.Our efforts to achieve the goal of economic and social fulfillment will be more effective and the results we obtain more permanent only if we can suffuse them with a pervasive moral regeneration. At my inauguration, I stated that I would seek to strengthen the nation’s moral fiber through formal modes of reform, enforcement of the laws and the exercise of the tremendous persuasive power of the Presidency in setting the personal example of honesty, uprightness and simple living.The enforcement of the law is solely the responsibility of the Executive Department, but I invite all to join the Executive in wielding the potent power of moral example, and I particularly urge the Congress to assist in conceiving those reforms that will contribute to a moral renaissance of our people. Let me, however, add that it is wasted effort to steep the young in virtue and morality only to let them realize as they grow up that their elders are neither moral nor virtuous.We -must, therefore, see to it that the practices allowed by law in government and business, in the professions and labor unions, in field and factory—in every area of national endeavor—conform as much as possible with the moral and the ethical. Such practices can be sustained and upheld only if we can at the same time create a sthrong public opinion that will actively approve them and vigilantly condemn the contrary. In our actions, we should not be guided only by what is legal. We must go beyond legality into the demands of morality. Our acts must not only be legal but must be moral as well.

Research Paper Taxation Essay

Wage is the fixed amount of compensation for service rendered covering a fixed period of time, usually hours, or fixed amount of work. It is usually a compensation given to skilled and unskilled labor. Commission is usually a wage given to skilled and unskilled labor. Commission is usually a wage given to a salesperson based on the amount of his sales. This amount is usually added to basic salary. Bonus is given to simulate employees to work more efficiently and effectively (Valencia & Roxas, 2009) To make sure that employees comply with BIR regulation and local government laws, companies must include crucial employee and company information in their payroll systems. Setting up and running the different components that comprise a payroll system requires due diligence and adequate knowledge of tax legislation. Employee’s benefits In Philippine Accounting Standards (PAS) 19, paragraph 7 states that employees benefits are all forms of consideration given by an entity in exchange of services rendered by employees. These benefits may be paid directly to the employee’s or to their dependents, such as their children or spouses. These can be settled by payment in cash in form goods and services. Paragraph 4 of PSAS 19 enumerates the following four classes: (a) short term employee benefits; (b) post-employment benefits; (c) other term employee benefits; and, (d) termination. Employee information During the new hire process, companies must collect information such as medical insurance and W-2 forms to determine what should be deducted from an employee’s paycheck. These forms also provide employers which crucial information, such as the employee’s Social Security number and their withholding amount for government tax purposes. The systems must also track and process changes made to the employee’s tax exemption status, pensions, insurance plans or retirement funds. Salary information As part of the new hire process, payroll systems include a component that designates which employees are full time, part time and contractors. Classifying worker in a payroll system is important since the government levies high penalties on companies that categorize employees incorrectly. Applicable taxes and deductions The National internal Revenue Code (R. A 8424) requires the employer to withhold portion of the salaries earned by employees that will at least approximate an income tax due of the earner relative to the income earned. The monthly or semi-monthly withholding s taxable could be obtained from the BIR to serve as guide as to what amount to be withheld from the salary of the employee (http://www. ehow. com/list_6725482_components-payroll-system. html, 17 July 2010). In preparing a payroll, certain government mandated contributions needed to be deducted from the gross play of each employee. These include withholding taxes, PAG-IBIG, SSS (Social Security System) and PhilHealth contributions. Withholding taxes is remitted to BIR while PAG-IBIG is remitted to Home Development and Mutual Fund (HDMF) (Cabrera, Ledesma & Lupisan, 2009). Other payroll withholdings include employee contributions to benefits, retirement accounts, and charities, these are determined by the employee during the fringe benefits selection process offered by their employer and must be taken into account as well as any employer matches when reporting payroll . Methods of Payroll Computation A payroll system involves everything that has to do with the payment of employees and the filing of employment taxes. This includes keeping track of hours, calculating wages, withholding taxes and other deductions, thus appropriate methods must be applied in the computation to achieve a desirable output. More and more aspects of payroll are being handled electronically. Methods include direct paycheck deposit, debit cards, payroll and non-payroll, use Web-based information system to allow employees access, with a secure password, to their individual payroll records including pay stubs, an earnings record and in some cases, employer information, such as the company manual or health insurance plan overview (Banning, 2008) Giove (1993) stated the seven methods for computing payroll: Hourly Rate Plan Employees paid on an hourly rate plan receive a fixed amount for each hour they work. An employee’s regular earnings are equal to the employee’s hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours worked during the payroll period. Salary Plan Salaried employees receive a fixed amount for each payroll period, whether weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly. If an employee on the salary plan works less than the regular hours during a payroll period, the employer may deduct for the time lost, although in most cases the employer does not make such a deduction. Regular earnings would be determined by multiplying that hourly rate by the actual number of hours the employee worked during the payroll period. Overtime Pay All employees in all establishments and undertakings whether for profit or not are entitled to overtime pay for work rendered beyond eight (8) hours. But this does not apply to managerial employees, field personnel, and members of the family of the employer who are dependent on him for support, domestic helpers, person in the personal service of another, and workers who are paid by results. Employees in the government are also entitled to overtime pay but they are governed by Civil Service laws and rules. Only employees in the private sector are covered by the Labor Code. Guaranteed Wage It is a written agreement to pay an employee a guaranteed minimum amount regardless of the hours worked, with an extra half-hour premium for hours over 40. Piece – Rate Plan It is a compensation plan whereby employee earnings depend on the units produced. Commission Plan Sales commission plans vary greatly from company to company but are generally based on the sales made during payroll period. Combination Plan This is a compensation method whereby employees receive a fixed amount of salary for each payroll period plus an extra amount for production (piece-work) or sales (commission). Timekeeping Records Accurate timekeeping is an essential part of an efficient payroll system. Every business must have an orderly method of recording the hours employees worked during the payroll period. The time records show the date and the time the workweek starts, the number of hours worked each day, and the total hours worked during the week. Time records are filed after the payroll is prepared and, in accordance with the requirements of the law, retained up to three years. The most common methods of timekeeping use a time clock with timecards or a time sheet. There are two primary reasons to maintain accurate payroll records. First, is the collection of the data necessary to compute the compensation for each employee for each payroll period. Second, provision of information needed to complete the various government report-federal and state- required of all employees. All business enterprise both large and small are required by law to withhold certain amounts from employees’ pay for taxes, to make payment to government agencies by specific deadlines, and submit reports on official forms. (McQuaig & Bille, 2008). Other Aspects of Payroll Accounting System Payroll Register The payroll register summarizes employee earnings and deduction information in a journal entry that is inserted into the general ledger for accounting and general research purposes. Payroll registers are also used to create tax report. These documents are prepared by payroll staff or generated using payroll computer system. Payroll Services The meteoric success of payroll services is not accidental, but rather a reflection of the business community’s willingness to outsource the tedious and complex task of payroll accounting to outside specialists. The upside of outsourcing payroll is that payroll services ensure that the company complies with laws pertaining to payroll. That is a big deal considering the time investment it would take the payroll officer to stay current on payroll-related legislation. Another big plus is that payroll services are responsible for keeping track of each employee’s accumulated earning, tax withholding, and other information needed to issue W-2 forms at the end of the year. They also stay on top of things like direct deposits, salary adjustment, quarterly tax payments and all of the other details that can be distraction from the important job of leading the company (http://Gaebler. com/payroll-services, 8 Aug, 2010). In-house Payroll If contracting a payroll service does not sound like a good fit for a business, the management also has the option of doing it in-house. But if the management plans on saving money by personally administering the payroll, having more alternatives will be a better idea. Even if the company only has a few employees, dealing with payroll-related details can be a waste of time. Instead, designating the job to an employee who can give it the time it requires so precious time can be dedicated to other things (http://Gaebler. com/in-house-payroll, 8 Aug, 2010). Whoever ends up doing payroll in the company will be happy to know that there is a lot of software out there to help them. In fact, most accounting software solutions have payroll modules. Start by assessing the capability of their current accounting software program. If it does not have a built-in payroll function, chances are it is available from the manufacturer as an add-on. If it is not, then the company needed to decide whether to change accounting to one that does or attempt to find a payroll program that is compatible with the current system. Either way, it is worth the time to find a computerized system that meets the company’s needs rather than trying to do it the old-fashioned way. Internal Control A district’s accounting and payroll functions are critical for the maintenance of a solid financial foundation. Accurate and timely financial reports are crucial to administration and board decision-making. Payroll must be accurate, as it represents the district’s largest budgeted expenditure. Internal controls must safeguard the district’s assets from misappropriation. Payroll processing is an error prone activity. If organizations have just one or two employees it may seem relatively easy to compute salaries outstanding, taxes etc, but as small business starts adding employees they find spending more and more time in computation of salaries including variable pay. Errors are common in the full and final settlement and increases when employees join in the middle of a term as the processes are manual (http://ezinearticles. om/? expert=Mikael Anderson, 4 Aug, 2010). Waterhouse (2010) said in one of his studies that the objective of internal controls for payroll is to ensure that payroll disbursements are properly recorded and that related legal requirements (such as payroll tax deposits) are complied with. Segregation of duties is an effective internal control. The bank reconciliation clerk reconciles the bank accounts and is not involved in processing or approving items for payment. A payroll administrator, supervisor, specialist and six clerks perform the payroll function. The Human Resources Department (HRD) enters employee data into a database share by Personnel and Payroll and sets the rate of pay. The software system controls the ability of individuals to change information based on their access to the system. This prevents unauthorized individuals from changing this information (http://window. state. tx. us, 6 Aug, 2010). Gelinas, Sutton and Hunton (2005) included in their study some of the procedures that can be used to prevent or detect schemes. First is the direct deposit of payroll to eliminate alteration, forgery and theft of paper check. Second, is checking for duplicate names, addresses, and Social Security number in the employee data, finally is comparing actual to budgeted payroll. Expense Accounts are often an area of fraud and abuse. This include: (a) using legitimate documentation from personal expense for the business expenses; (b) overstating expenses by altering receipts; (c) submitting fictitious expenses by submitting copies of invoices. Such abuses can be minimized by formulating reasonable policies that compensate employees for their out-of-pocket expenses. Copies of invoices should only be accepted in extreme circumstances. Finally, expense account activities should be monitored on a regular basis to detect unusual patterns (Gelinas, Sutton & Hunton, 2005). Payroll Fraud Connection Payroll, similar to cash disbursements, is an area ripe with fraud potential. After all, large organizations will make thousands of payments to employees for payroll and expenses account reimbursement every payroll period. Firth (2006) expresses that Payroll Fraud is an important issue that needs to be addressed by both Finance and Payroll professionals. Some of the key activities need to be considered include: improving the quality of master file data, reviewing the end to end payroll process, and reviewing the people that are performing each step in the payroll function. It is worth remembering that improving each of these areas will not only reduce the risk of payroll fraud, it will also result in many other business improvements right across the organization. Here are some of the types of payroll frauds, along with the median loss for each to an employer: (a) Ghost Employee, employees do not actually work for the company but receives paychecks. These can be recently departed employees or made-up persons; (b) Falsified hours and salary, employees exaggerate the time that they work or are able to increase the salary in their employee date; (c) Commission Schemes, employees falsify the sales on which commissions are based or increase the commission rate in their employee date; and, (d) False worker’s compensation claims, employees fake injuries to collect disability payments (Gelinas, Sutton & Hunton 2005).