The Absolute Power of Men in a Patriarchal Society

The time setting of the short story â€Å"The Birth-Mark† was the eighteenth century, a quite difficult era for the lives of women. In a journal published by Helga Madland, it was mentioned â€Å"Since the Graeco-Roman period, women had been perceived as inferior to males in the social hierarchy;..†(pg167). The low status of women in the society has been a big issue in the eighteenth century as reflected in the story â€Å"The Birth-Mark† written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this story, the unevenly distributed power between male and female eventually result in tragedy of women. â€Å"The Birth-Mark† by Hawthorne clearly proves that masculine power always dominates. Hawthorne started the story by introducing the protagonist Alymer as a â€Å"man of†¦show more content†¦Opposed to the scientific authority that Alymer used to express the masculine power, Georgiana’s natural birthmark provided a chance for people to see the extremely low social status of women. When Alymer wants Georgiana to remove the birthmark on her cheek, she was angry at first. Her tears rolled down and she was angry. However, she was not able to defend herself or argue with her husband and this showed some sort of weak feminine status. Although she really loves Alymer, she was still resisting the idea to remove the birthmark. Nonetheless, when she saw the expression on Alymer’s face grew more serious, she was willing to risk her life to have this birthmark removed. Through the force of nature exerted on Georgiana, which is further reflected on her birthmark, we can also see the dominant power of men that women are afraid to react against. The conflict between science and nature is shown from the relationship between Alymer and Georgiana. Alymer is a symbol of science, whereas Georgiana is a symbol of nature. Her beauty, including her inborn birthmark are all creations of nature. Alymer planned to use a series of scientific inventions to chall enge the nature. He was trying to change the only imperfection in Georgiana’s face that was created by the nature. He invented potions to erase defects and imperfections on women’ faces. He also invented poison that can shorten the natural life span of a person. When he persuaded Georgiana to remove herShow MoreRelatedThe Bloody Chamber By Angela Carter1565 Words   |  7 Pageswas published in 1979, a time when distinct patriarchal roles were present, and women were treated as objects in society. Carter demonstrates these gender roles in her collection, which undoubtedly deals with dark themes of sexuality and violence. Carter does not exhibit the patriarchal representations of gender in a black and white method; rather it is quite ambiguous. 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Introduction All over the world women from various cultural and social backgrounds have a long tradition of rights and responsibilities to live in society with respect and dignity. Though there are difference between men and women in specific aptitude, powers and functions they have to be regarded as complementary to each other. We can’t deny that one sex is making up what other lacks acting in specific sphere in different roles. But throughout the historyRead MoreHow Shakespeare Dramatically Presents Power and Authority in the Relationship Between Men and Women in Much Ado About Nothing1582 Words   |  7 PagesHow Shakespeare Dramatically Presents Power and Authority in the Relationship Between Men and Women in Much Ado About Nothing One of the key explorations of power and authority in â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing† is the relationship between Hero and Leonato as father and daughter. 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Classic literary works should always be relatable and to this day, this play is still engaging people with issues prevalent in modern day society. During Shakespearean and Elizabethan times, women were not seen as equal and were treated like property, traded like cattle and sold off with a dowry during marriage. They had to be subservient to the men in their lives, whether it be towards their father or their husband. The man was seen as stronger, more able to do everyday tasks and providingRead MoreWomen Role in Christianity and Islam996 Words   |  4 Pagesworld practiced in different societies and cultures around the world. When we deal with the subject of Women in Christianity we need to understand that Christianity as that exists today is a mix of different denominations with Catholics and Protestants being the principle denominations. Further it would be prudent to delve into the history of Christianity to understand the role of women in this religion. 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Upon Westminster Bridge and Kensington Market Free Essays

The Kashmir earthquake happened on Saturday October 5th 2005, at 8:50am local time which had a magnitude of 7. 6. 74,500+ were dead and 106,000+ were injured in the Kashmir region of Northern Pakistan which was the 14th deadliest earthquake of all time. We will write a custom essay sample on Upon Westminster Bridge and Kensington Market or any similar topic only for you Order Now Its focus was 26km down and the shaking lasted for 60 seconds (1 Minute). The most badly affected area was in the Epicentral area around Muzaffarabad which is the capital of the Pakistan administered region of Kashmir. It is 80km north-east of Islamabad. 20 aftershocks were followed after the earthquake. It is said to be the strongest earthquake to hit the region in a century. The primary effects of the Kashmir earthquake included: Several trains on minor lines were derailed, 3. 3 million homes were destroyed, 79,000 people were killed and 100,000 injured. Secondary effects included: Electricity, gas and water supplies were disrupted, an outbreak of diarrhea spread from contaminated water supplies, respiratory infections such as pneumonia and people died of cold and starvation during the harsh winter season especially homeless people. Longer term effects of the Kashmir Earthquake included: The overall cost of the damage was $1000,000, 3. 3 million people had to live in temporary accommodation until rebuilding could start and in rural areas the crops mostly survived and so did the animals living there. Short term responses were: Supplying food and water, rescuing trapped people, rescue and medical teams arriving from other countries, tents supplied. Medium Term responses are: Re-establishing water supplies, building temporary, prefabricated houses, providing money for temporary housing. Long term responses are: Preparing disaster plans and carrying out regular practices, training emergency services, setting up an efficient earthquake warnings and information system using the media There are many similarities and differences from the Kashmir earthquake compared to other earthquakes such as Kobe earthquake/Great Hanshin. The Great Hanshin Earthquake occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 in Japan. The focus was about 19km below the sea whilst the Kashmir earthquake was 26km down. This will have an immense effect on the earthquake, Also, The epicentre was between Kobe and Awaji Island whilst Kashmir`s was around Muzaffarabad. For the Kobe earthquake nearly 200,000 buildings were destroyed whilst for Kashmir there were at least 1 in very 10 buildings were destroyed which will be higher than the buildings collapsed in Kobe earthquake. 5,500 people were killed and 40,000 were injured and an estimated 230,000 people were made homeless in the Kobe earthquake. In the Kashmir Earthquake, 74,500+ were killed and 106,000+ were injured which is more than double the people who were affected from the Kobe Earthquake. Other reasons for Kashmir Earthquake being more severe are: It is a mountainous area, it is in a collision zone. These stats tells us that The Kashmir earthquake was stronger and more severe and had a bigger impact to the society, economy and physical effects. Another difference is that the Kobe government made a slow response and lack of an emergency plan when the earthquake hit. In Kashmir earthquake, the government reacted instantly. Many good and bad things happened after the quake, 1 week after the quake: the death toll continued to rise, bulldozers began to clear streets and knock down unsafe buildings, some shops and schools reopened. After 2 weeks: Overcrowding in makeshift shelters became a health hazard, cold weather led to a flu epidemic, people needed help to cope with the stress and shock of the quake. How to cite Upon Westminster Bridge and Kensington Market, Papers

Marxism in Metropolis free essay sample

The movie has multiple themes and implies many things about modern day theories and views. The movie entails many views on Marxism, capitalism, Industrialism, and organized religion, mostly. Marxism is supported in the movie, capitalism is not supported in the movie, Industrialism is partially supported, and Organized Religion is not supported. Marxism is shown is supported in Metropolis by showing the horrid results of what could have been prevented if Marxism had been used. Marxism is the theory that the working class deserves respect, because without them, nothing would be possible. It is essentially sympathy for the working class. Johann Frederson, the leader of Metropolis, doesn’t care at all about his workers. He cares more about the business than the health and welfare of his workers. For example, when the â€Å"M-Machine† explodes in the movie, the employers bring in new workers to keep the machine running before taking care of the men wounded or killed in the accident. We will write a custom essay sample on Marxism in Metropolis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another example is the scene in which a worker faints. He later awakens to find that no one had even noticed that he fainted and is forced to return to work. Marxism is portrayed as good in these situations because later in the movie, the working class and the workers revolt because of the conditions they live in everyday. If Marxism had been applied, and the workers were treated well, they wouldn’t have revolted, thus showing Marxism is good. Capitalism is opposed in Metropolis. It is represented through Frederson, Freder’s father, who tries to bend his workers for his own self-benefits as if they are simply assets that he owns. The movie portrays capitalism as a overall bad force that takes advantage of the workers. Capitalism itself is the exact opposite of Marxism as shown in the movie. Capitalism as already explained harms the workers and exploits them whereas Marxism helps the workers and works in their favor. Industrialism is also a big theory in shown in Metropolis, and because it also relates to industry, it relates to capitalism. In the movie, industrialism is partially advocated because without technology and industrialization the world would still be in the Stone Age. Phones, calculators, and computers are needed for a functional society, and that is where the partial support comes from. Industrialization is partially opposed because in the movie, it goes too far. The machine is needed for the society to function in the movie but eventually, people are needed to make the machine function. So in the end, Frederson ends up making workers work for the machine, so the machine could benefit the world, negating the whole point of the machine (not having to do human labor). Lastly is Metropolis’s view of organized religion. The movie opposes organized religion. Organized religion refers to organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity. In relation to the movie, the legal entity would be Maria. This is because the workers are obsessed with Maria with almost slavish devotion. Hel, a robot that resembles and replaces Maria, starts sparking violence in the workers. The workers listen to Hel’s revolutionary talks of revolting and follow its directions. The slavish devotion causes uproar and flood before the workers realize that Hel was utterly and completely wrong. This is against organized religion because it is saying that complete faith in one thing or person is not right. Metropolis is a movie that has many implications about ideals. Four main ideals presented in the movie were Marxism, capitalism/Industrialism, and organized religion. In conclusion, Marxism is supported in the movie, capitalism is not supported in the movie, Industrialism is partially supported in the movie, and organized religion is not supported in the movie.

The Relationship between Stress and Middle Adulthood Essay Example

The Relationship between Stress and Middle Adulthood Paper Stress and Middle Adulthood Relationship Stress affects individuals physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally on every level of human development. This essay will focus mainly on stress during middle adulthood and discuss how stress affects individuals at this stage during human development. This stage spans from 40 years of age to 65. Individuals do not possess the strength, coordination, and stamina that we had during our twenties and thirties. But during this period we remain pretty stable, there is only a slight physical decline. Personality development and adjustment theories, such as Erikson’s give a way of defining life crisis of the middle years. He regarded this level as generativity versus stagnation. A period of striving to having and raising our children well and making our mark in the world or we do things that are worthwhile. We do this to enhance and maintain our self-esteem. With Eriksonians it is the ideal of shaping the new generation. This could be the raising of their children or working to make the world a better place. Levinson’s theory, midlife transition, is a dramatic shift in psychological perspective. This is a marked time of thinking how much time we have left. Individuals will think more of what they could have accomplished rather than what the future can bring (Cronin Mandich, 2005). Whatever the theory they may be experiencing the crisis that arises produces stress. Defining stress is â€Å"the mental and/or physical strain resulting from adjustive demands or challenges† (Abascal, Brucato Brucato, 2001). Most people must adjust to a life that is less than perfect. We need to adapt to stress not just the stress of crises or unexpected good fortune, but also the stress of everyday minor demands. We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Stress and Middle Adulthood specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Stress and Middle Adulthood specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Relationship between Stress and Middle Adulthood specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Every adjustment is an attempt to balance our desires against the demands of the environment, to weigh our needs against the reality of achievement. How we adjust to the stress that we endure is crucial to our health and the quality of our lives. Stress can hurt you psychologically and physically. All major life changes involve a certain amount of stress. This is because major life changes typically bring strong emotions, and even joy or elation that can cause arousal in the body and begin to take a toll on its resources (Johnson, 2000). Major life events are stressful because any new experience requires some adjustment. Change is one of the most common event that causes stress. Middle adulthood has middle life crisis for dealing with this stressor. Most people crave order, continuity and predictability in their lives. So anything that disrupts this order, good or bad, will cause stress (Cronin Mandich, 2005). But there are other factors to look at when looking at stress. Pressures, Frustrations, conflict and self-imposed stressors are events that give individuals stress. Pressures happen when we feel forced to speed up, intensify, or shift directions in our behaviors. It can happen when we feel compelled to meet a higher standard of performance. This can come internally or externally. Frustration happens when a person is prevented from reaching a goal because of something or someone who might stand in their way. Individuals must adjust to this by modifying goals or finding a way around the block. Conflict is the most common. Conflict arises when we face two or more incompatible demands, opportunities, needs or goals (Cronin Mandich, 2005 p. 481). These conflicts can never be resolved completely so individuals must give up some of their goals, modify them, or delay going after them. And sometimes individuals create problems for themselves apart from stressful events in their environment. Many people carry with them a set of irrational, self-defeating belief that adds unnecessarily to the normal stresses of life as with mid-life crisis. The transition to midlife can cause a crisis that is referred to as mid-life crisis and entrapment and loss of purpose is marked by this point in life. The midlife crisis is composed of feelings of personal mortality, emotional instability, loss of meaning, and dissatisfaction with life at home and on the job (Johnson, 2000). Cognitive interaction is continuous between the physiological, emotional, and cognitive aspects of human nature. Emotions include physiological, emotional and cognitive â€Å"components† (Abascal, Brucato Brucato, 2001). High levels of bodily arousal in response to stress heighten our emotional responses and influence our cognitions. Even the emotional effects of stress can cause physical symptoms in individuals. Positive emotions such as love and desire can fill us with pleasure, but negative emotions like those induced by stress can cause problems. There are three emotional responses that come from stress Anxiety, anger and depression. Anxiety is in response to threats, anger to frustration and social provocation. Depression, something middle adulthood sees more often, arises to the response of stressors like death, failure, inactivity or lack of stimulation (Cronin Mandich, 2005). Health psychology has become a big topic when dealing with stress. The relationship between psychological factors and prevention and treatment of physical illness has become big business for pharmaceuticals and middle adulthood. Many studies point to a correlation of stress and certain illnesses including cancer (Johnson, 2000). Science is looking at how stress and the immune system interact and this has helped with relief for physical disorders ranging from headaches to heart disease. Examining the ways in which our behavior patters, like smoking, contribute to or can help us prevent and cope with physical disorders with many affecting us in middle age. One thing that has been shown to reduce or buffer the effects of stress is social support. Research shows that social support moderates the impact of stress in situations ranging from problems at work to disasters† (Johnson, 2000). It is useful for people who have stress to get together and talk about their feelings or ideas to support one another are useful. And studies of Alameda County, California have found that people who receive social support may even live longer (Cronin Mandich, 2005). So when looking at stress and middle adulthood one should keep in mind the effects of stress and how it relates to them and their level of development.

A History of gangs in the USA essays

A History of gangs in the USA essays Although it is not fair and certainly not warranted to connect any ethnic group with organized crime, it is a fact that the massive immigration of the early 1900s fueled the creation of the early gangs, particularly in New York City. As more and more immigrants began to land unload into New York harbors they began to complete with each other for houses, jobs and most importantly respect. Many of the immigrants who arrived in New York were often struggling financially in their home country and had come to America in order to escape the harsh realities of their lives. Of these immigrants who came to America searching for a better life, many eventually turned to crime. These immigrants are quickly condemned by many historians as being destructive and violent and of knowing nothing but crime. Herbert Asbury wrote in the main the gangster was a stupid roughneck born in filth and squalor and reared amid vice and corruption. He fulfilled his natural destiny (Intro GONY). This is the view ta ken by many historians that the members of these early gangs were simply bad apples who destined to become criminals, however it is important to remember that many of these immigrants were simply searching for a better life in America and were often denied the opportunity because of their ethnicity. During the flood of immigrants from Ireland around the turn of the century they were greeted with signs saying, no Irish need apply at many of the places where they would search for employment. Later Italian and Eastern European immigrants received much the same treatment. It is no wonder then that these immigrants surrounded themselves with people of their own ethnicity and that they eventually turned to crime. Immigrants had come to America to make something of themselves, with rock hard resolve and determination many fought to succeed in the American work place. Unfortunately many failed because they were denied the opportunities given...

Accounting Theory And History Accounting Essay

Accounting Theory And History Accounting Essay Accounting has evolved since it was first developed and has continued to evolve. The aim of this essay is to explore and discuss why accounting, both financial and management has changed over the last millennium. In order to achieve this aim an in-depth approach will be taken into the origins of accounting, its purpose and need. This will mean examining history papers which are evidence-based but are intertwined with value judgement. Many alternative theoretical and practical explanations are offered in literature for the development of accounting over time. These course literatures will be evaluated and there theories will subsequently be accepted or rejected. In order to explore the question and because the definitions provided by accounting bodies are themselves are subject to change, it is crucial to first define accounting and its purpose. The purpose of accounting is to provide information based on relevant data that aids users in making economic decisions. Financial accountin g is designed mainly to produce financial reports which provide information regarding the firm’s performance to external users such as Tax authorities, Investors, Customers and Creditors. Financial Accounting is highly regulated in order to ensure they have certain characteristics. These characteristics enhance the usefulness of the financial reports to users. These characteristics are relevance, comparability, timeliness, fairness and objectivity. Management accounting is used to prepare accounts and reports that provide accurate and up to date information that allows management to make decisions. Accounting developed as people needed a method of recording their assets and property. If property was recorded and accounted for, it would be easy to prove legal ownership. Accountancy has been around for thousands of years. Professor L. Plunkett of the College of Charleston calls accounting the â€Å"oldest profession† In this millennium there have been countless changes a nd developments in accounting. From more primitive methods of simple accounting for property and assets, in order to record for evidence of legal ownership to a complex regulated form. Management Accounting â€Å"British Entrepreneurs and Pre-Industrial Revolution Evidence of Cost Management† a paper by Richard K. Fleischman and Lee D. Parker examines the use and developments of cost accounting in 1760 to 1850. The four main areas looked at in cost management will be: cost control techniques, accounting for overhead, costing for routine and special decision making, and standard costing. These firms used cost data to control raw material input materials. The iron firms broke down costs using raw material controls, whilst taking into account the differential costs of mining and smelting. Textile firms were concerned about the profitable raw mixtures and the cost of raw materials input. Marshall textile firm employ the practise of using performance cards, which is an effective m ethod and is still used by firms today. Performance cards are used daily to monitor and control expenses.. These management accounting practises benefited the business greatly. It allowed marshal to be cost effective and efficient by minimising costs. Gregs was another textile firm which kept wage and expense books to calculate control costs. This helps to identify trends, weaknesses and areas for improvement. For example they experienced losses in 1829 and where able to identify and attribute these to heightened production costs and outdated machinery.

Financial modelling Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial modelling - Assignment Example This diversification was given a priority in the study and thus the tests were carried out on 10 different stocks. The study was very important in that it would assist economists and even future ones to understand the magnitudes and signs such as the relationship of beta to the prevailing market returns. With the understanding, they would be able to balance them and with this, the market force would be at a balance. The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) was very influential in that it provided us with the required resources for the study. In the review of the previous literature in the provided topic, the Capital Assets Pricing and Markets model it was identified that the relationship between the beta and the average return is minimal that what is provided. This is opposed to the major notion that the relationship between the beta and the expected return is explained by the difference in the beta (Pahl, 2009, 27). It was also identified that when carrying out the calculations of the expected returns for small or rather low business markets, the Capital Assets and Pricing Model may not be the best method to use. With regard to the previous studies carried out in the topic, our hypothesis and results are superficial. This is due to the fact that there has been the inclusion of the Fama and French’s three factor model. When this model is put alongside the Capital Assets Pricing Model, it tends to show the benefits and the limitations of the model. The CAPM model has it that a linear relationship is provided between the lone assets and the accompanying risk. This is the major problem associated with the model. The Three Factor Model has an upper hand in this case as the returns are distributed in two groups (Bringham, 2009, 47). There are those that major on the big stocks and there are those that major in small stocks measured using ratios. The model also adds two more factors that are not included in the CAPM.

The concept of net present values can be used in this situation to Essay

The concept of net present values can be used in this situation to advise Harriet on the most appropriate action to take - Essay Example The most suitable payment option of the two can be chosen with the help of present value concept. Harriet should choose the option which provides the lowest cost to be paid for the purchase of TV. The first option involving a complete payment of 899 today is to be compared with the second option suggesting payment of 50 in the beginning with 40 to be paid every month for the next 2 years. The present value of 899 to be paid today is simply 899. However, the present value of 50 today + 40 monthly for 24 months needs to be calculated. For this purpose the values of monthly payment needs to be discounted back at the rate of return Harriet expects to earn on an alternative investment. This would provide the present value of that series of payment that the purchase of TV requires. Because of the fact that there is equal monthly outflow, the NPV can be calculated with the help of the following formula: The above calculation suggest that Harriet will actually be paying 981 as the total cost of purchasing the TV if she decides to accept the second option i.e. 50 plus equal monthly payment for the next 2 years. However, if Harriet decides to pay the cost of TV today, she would only be paying 899. This illustrate that Harriet will have to pay 80 in excess of the cost of TV if she agrees to pay in future instalments. Hence, on the basis of the abov... Hence, on the basis of the above calculations, it is advised that Harriet should pay the cost of TV today i.e. 899 because of the fact that she will have to bear higher cost if she pays in instalments. Part 3: Limitations of NPV as a Method of Investment Appraisal Despite the fact that Net Present Value or NPV serves to be the most important of all the available investment appraisal techniques, there happen to be several limitations of this method. The first drawback of using NPV as investment appraisal is this method's reliance on discount rates which should represent the opportunity cost of capital. This opportunity cost of capital might be the cost of funds employed in the investment, rate of return on alternate investment and inflation etc. The determination of a correct discount rate is very important in the calculation of NPV as it is the rate which is used to discount back the value of future cash inflows to their present values. An inaccurate estimation of discount rate will lead to acceptance of a wrong project or rejection of a right one. Another important point to be considered in calculation of NPV is that the method does not consider risk involved in accepting a project. It just evaluates a project on the basis of time value of money. However, there are several risks that are involved in starting a new project other than the time value of money such as business risk, financial risk, market risk, industry risk etc. A high NPV project might be having huge risk as compared to a low NPV project. The decision criteria made solely on the basis of NPV with no consideration for project risk can be misleading. Even if a risk premium is added to the discount rate, NPV will assume that the risk rate

Discuss how society viewed the ideas of love and marriage in the early 1800s Essay Example for Free

Discuss how society viewed the ideas of love and marriage in the early 1800s Essay Jane Austen was born in 1775 and spent most of her life in the countryside in a village called Steventon, Hampshire. She was the daughter of a clergyman, Reverend George Austen and her mother was called Cassandra Austen. She had a brief education starting at the age of seven and ending at eleven, when she settled at home. Like women in Austens society, she had little education due to the beliefs at the time; the only education she would have received would likely have been to up her social status, through marriage. She wrote Pride and Prejudice to portray societys views of love and marriage to the reader and to shoe that marriages take place for different reasons. We see throughout the novel the excessive number of marriages and courtships that take place. The opening sentence Its a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in the possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife introduces the theme of love, marriage and money in an ironic way. The irony is contained in the fact that marriage is meant to be about love and happiness but clearly revolves around wealth and social standing. In the novel we see two established marriages take place; The Bennets and the Gardiners. Throughout the novel four other marriages take place; Lydia and Mr Wickham, Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins, Elizabeth and Darcy and Jane and Mr Bingley. The marriage between Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas is purely based on financial and social security not love or appearance, It was extremely common fro women in Austens era to marry and save themselves from spinsterhood and social security and to gain, the above mentioned, financial and social security. In this type of marriage Austen illustrates that women who submit themselves are largely willing to suffer emotional distress in silence. Mr Collins to be sure neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome and his attachment to her must be imaginary. But still he would be a husband This reflects the social beliefs of, at least, the middle classes at the time. Evidently all that Charlotte wants out of life is a comfortable home and enough wealth to sustain this. Im not a romantic girl you know. I never was, I only ask for a comfortable home . The use of the word only emphasises the fact that Charlotte wants this and nothing else. The consequences of her not marring well would be to severely limit her options i.e. she would have to become a governess or an old maid for a wealthy couple, but this would not support her once she had reached an age at which, she could no longer work. When Charlotte Married Mr Collins she seemed happy in their relationship, even though its not based on love :- she has all that she wants out of marriage. She does however ignore her husbands silliness and does not have any bad words to say about him. When Mr Collins said anything of which his wife might reasonably, which certainly was not unseldom once of twice she could discern a faint blush; but in general Charlotte wisely did not hear. From this we gather that the orthodoxy of society has been embedded in her behaviour. She possibly perceives that she is happy because society deems that now she is married she should be happy. The marriage of Mr and Mrs Bennet was a stereotypical marriage of the time. The marriage was based on initial beauty and physical attraction plus the fact that they where matched financially. The family life, was also typical of the 1800s, they had five daughters, and Mrs Bennets aim in life was to marry her daughters of in as quick a time as possible, this compares with Charlottes views of marriage as a step up the social ladder. A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls! Showing that she is considering the monetary aspects of a possible marriage. It is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes Mrs Bennet mentions fleetingly but without conviction, she is mostly interested in trying to marry of at least one of her 5 daughters. Mr Bennet however constantly mocks his wife. We are made aware of this in their first dialogue Do you not want to know who has taken it? cried his wife impatiently. You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hear it. This is a perfect example of Mr Bennets sarcasm and unconcerned attitude towards his wife and their family affairs. Mr Bennet is the complete opposite to Mrs Bennet in the way in which he thinks, about the new gentleman in town for example How so? How can it affect them? Mrs Bennet is immensely annoyed by this but does not possess enough wit to retort. For Mr Bennet this mockery of his wife seems his way of dealing with being stuck in a loveless marriage. In Janes era divorce was not an option, people had no choice, they were devoted to that one person fro life. The Bennets estate is entitled to the nearest male heir which, was common practice at the time, leading to very limited options for the daughters in the family. The marriage between Lydia and Mr Wickham was mainly for desire and attraction even though they were not financially matched. This itself was frowned upon by society and exacerbated by the fact that their courtship was very short, unorthodox and kept a secret. Marriage of their type shows the results of not following societys rules. Society viewed this as dishonesty and because of this their reputation would be severely tarnished. That the loss of virtue in a female is irretrievable and that she cannot be too much guarded in her behaviour towards the understanding of the other sex. Lydias damaged reputation would also affect her families reputation, unless they disown her. she has no money, no connection, nothing that can tempt him she is lost forever. The word no emphasises the fact that she has absolutely nothing and no-one. For Wickham, on the other hand, the slight on his reputation is less so, although still noticeable; She was a surprise- all astonishment that Wickham should marry a girl whom it was impossible he could marry for money; and how Lydia could ever have attached him, had appeared incomprehensible. Here we see that what would have been scorn when aimed a Lydia is mere surprise when directed at Wickham, this is due to the fact that in Jane Austens era the gentleman naturally had a higher social standing; just because of their sex. The Gardiners, along with the Bennets are the established marriages of the novel; but unlike the Bennets the Gardiners are a sensible, lively and intelligent couple who love each other and work well together. They always agree in talking over their route the evening before, Mrs Gardiner expressed an inclination to see the place again. Mr Gardiner declared his willingness. Jane Austen here is being an omniscient narrator . The Gardiners are in a harmonious relationship, a marriage that creates a positive image towards its readers. They are described as a sensible-gentle like man and an amiable intelligent women who are encouraging role models fro the Bennet children due to the poor quality of Mr and Mrs Bennets marriage. As we can see this is an example of one of the rare happy marriage of the time. In general people strove towards this, but most did not find it due to the fact that society dictated that once married you were in love. Jane and Mr Bingley engage in a courtship that occupies the central place in the novel. They first meet at Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual attraction. They are spoken of as potential couple throughout the book, long before anyone imagines Darcy and Elizabeth might marry. Their marriage was one for physical attraction and love, Jane is the most handsome of the five Bennet daughters who looked for a man who is sensible, humorous and lively. Is he married or single? this shows an automatic interest in young wealthy men. Women in the early 1800s married mainly for wealth and social status however this marriage illustrates that that is not always the case. Bingley love for Jane is strengthened by her beauty and the love between is equal. Janes idea of marriage is to find someone who loves her and respects her as much as she does him. The marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley set s a standard for the rest of the Bennet daughters, It was moreover, such a promising thing for her younger daughters, as Janes marrying so greatly must throw them in the way of rich men. Here their marriage is reflecting societys views of love and marriage as if a member of the family is married into a family of a higher status, then the rest of the daughters would be regarded as more eligible to be associated with higher status, wealthy, respectable men. The word greatly show that Mrs Bennet believes that Jane had chosen accurately and it displays societys beliefs as to what constituted a very good match for Jane. Elizabeth is an intelligent and spirited women who passes a keen wit and enjoys studying peoples characters; on the other hand Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy, proud man with a generous, thoughtful nature beneath his somewhat stiff demeanour. Elizabeths pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of poor social standing blinds him, for a time, to her many virtues. Darcy and Elizabeths realization of a mutual and tender love seems to imply that Austin views love as something independent of these social forces, as something that can be captured if only an individual is able to escape the warping effects of hierarchical society. In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. Here he speaks well however, there are other feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed. The narrator relates Elizabeths point of view of events more often then Darcys, so Elizabeth often seems a more sympathetic figure. The reader eventually realises however, that Darcy is her ideal match. Intelligent and forthright, he too has a tendency to judge too hastily and harshly, and his high birth and wealth make him overly proud and overly conscious of his social status. When he proposes to her, for instance, he dwells more on how unsuitable a match she is than on her charms, beauty, or anything else complimentary, not handsome enough. Here Darcy is reflecting societys views of love and marriage because many people married for higher social status and financial status rather than for love and beauty. Pride and prejudice is a love story but does not reflect the romantic side. It gives the reader a sense of all the different kinds of relationships, none of them are the same. It shows that the ideal couple is difficult to find, the established marriages in the book being The Bennets and the Gardiners.

Revelations of Mans Dark Self in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness lighthod

Heart of Darkness: Revelations of Man's Dark Self  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In Joseph Conrad's book Heart of Darkness the Europeans are cut off from civilization, overtaken by greed, exploitation, and material interests from his own kind.   Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice.   His book has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale - mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack.   The book is a record of things seen and done by Conrad while in the Belgian Congo.   Conrad uses Marlow, the main character in the book, as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it out of his own philosophical mind.   Conrad's voyages to the Atlantic and Pacific, and the coasts of Seas of the East brought contrasts of novelty and exotic discovery.   By the time Conrad took his harrowing journey into the Congo in 1890, reality had become unconditional.   The African venture figured as his descent into hell.   He returned ravaged by the illness and mental disruption wh ich undermined his health for the remaining years of his life.   Marlow's journey into the Congo, like Conrad's journey, was also meaningful.   Marlow experienced the violent threat of nature, the insensibility of reality, and the moral darkness.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We have noticed that important motives in Heart of Darkness connect the white men with the Africans.   Conrad knew that the white men who come to Africa professing to bring progress and light to "darkest Africa" have themselves been deprived of the sanctions of their European social orders; they also have been alienated from the old tribal ways.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Thrown upon their own inner spiritual resources they may be utterly damned by their greed, their sloth, and their hypocrisy into moral insignificance, as were the pilgrims, or they may be so corrupt by their absolute power over the Africans that some Marlow will need to lay their memory among the 'dead Cats of Civilization.'" (Conrad 105.) The supposed purpose of the Europeans traveling into Africa was to civilize the natives.   Instead they colonized on the native's land and corrupted the natives.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Africans bound with thongs that contracted in the rain and cut to the bone, had their swollen hands beaten with rifle butts until they fell off.   Chained slaves were forced to drink the white man's defecation, hands and feet were chopped off for their rings, men were lined up behind each other and shot with one cartridge , wounded prisoners were eaten by maggots till they die and were then thrown to starving dogs or devoured by cannibal tribes. Revelations of Man's Dark Self in Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness lighthod Heart of Darkness: Revelations of Man's Dark Self  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      In Joseph Conrad's book Heart of Darkness the Europeans are cut off from civilization, overtaken by greed, exploitation, and material interests from his own kind.   Conrad develops themes of personal power, individual responsibility, and social justice.   His book has all the trappings of the conventional adventure tale - mystery, exotic setting, escape, suspense, unexpected attack.   The book is a record of things seen and done by Conrad while in the Belgian Congo.   Conrad uses Marlow, the main character in the book, as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it out of his own philosophical mind.   Conrad's voyages to the Atlantic and Pacific, and the coasts of Seas of the East brought contrasts of novelty and exotic discovery.   By the time Conrad took his harrowing journey into the Congo in 1890, reality had become unconditional.   The African venture figured as his descent into hell.   He returned ravaged by the illness and mental disruption wh ich undermined his health for the remaining years of his life.   Marlow's journey into the Congo, like Conrad's journey, was also meaningful.   Marlow experienced the violent threat of nature, the insensibility of reality, and the moral darkness.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We have noticed that important motives in Heart of Darkness connect the white men with the Africans.   Conrad knew that the white men who come to Africa professing to bring progress and light to "darkest Africa" have themselves been deprived of the sanctions of their European social orders; they also have been alienated from the old tribal ways.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Thrown upon their own inner spiritual resources they may be utterly damned by their greed, their sloth, and their hypocrisy into moral insignificance, as were the pilgrims, or they may be so corrupt by their absolute power over the Africans that some Marlow will need to lay their memory among the 'dead Cats of Civilization.'" (Conrad 105.) The supposed purpose of the Europeans traveling into Africa was to civilize the natives.   Instead they colonized on the native's land and corrupted the natives.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Africans bound with thongs that contracted in the rain and cut to the bone, had their swollen hands beaten with rifle butts until they fell off.   Chained slaves were forced to drink the white man's defecation, hands and feet were chopped off for their rings, men were lined up behind each other and shot with one cartridge , wounded prisoners were eaten by maggots till they die and were then thrown to starving dogs or devoured by cannibal tribes.

Final Exam Acc/291

————————————————- 1) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that all publicly traded companies maintain a system of internal controls. Internal controls can be defined as a plan to A. safeguard assets B. monitor balance sheets C. control liabilities D. evaluate capital stock ————————————————- 2) The purchase of treasury stock A. decreases common stock authorized B. decreases common stock issued C. decreases common stock outstanding D. has no effect on common stock outstanding ————————————————- ) Marsh Company has other operating expenses of $240,000. There has been an increase in prepaid expenses of $16,000 during the year, and accrued liabilities are $24,000 l ower than in the prior period. Using the direct method of reporting cash flows from operating activities, what were Marsh's cash payments for operating expenses? A. $228,000 B. $232,000 C. $200,000 D. $280,000 ————————————————- 4) Where would the event purchased land for cash appear, if at all, on the indirect statement of cash flows? A. Operating activities sectionB. Investing activities section C. Financing activities section D. Does not represent a cash flow ————————————————- 5) In performing a vertical analysis, the base for cost of goods sold is A. total selling expenses B. net sales C. total revenues D. total expense ————————————————- 6) Blanco, I nc. has the following income statement (in millions): BLANCO, INC. Income Statement For the Year Ended December 31, 2011 Net  Sales †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ $200 Cost of Goods Sold †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 20 Gross Profit †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 80 Operating Expenses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 44 Net Income †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ $ 36 Using vertical analysis, what percentage is assigned to Net Income? A. 100% B. 82% C. 18% D. 25% ————————————————- 7) Dawson Company issued 500 shares of no-par common stock for $4,500. Which of the following journal entries would be made if the stock has a stated value of $2 per share? A. Cash †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. $4,500   Common Stock 4,500 B. Feature Article Fin 486 Final ExamCash †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ $4,500 Common Stock 1,000 Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par 3,500 C. Cash †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $4,500 Common Stock 1,000 Paid-In Capital in Excess of Stated Value 3,500 D. Common Stock †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. $4,500   Cash 4,500 ————————————————- 8) Andrews, Inc. paid $45,000 to buy back 9,000 shares of its $1 par value common stock. This stock was sold later at a selling price of $6 per share. The entry to record the sale includes a A. credit to Paid-In Capital fromTreasury Stock for $9,000 B. credit  to Retained Earnings for $9,000 C. debit to Pain-In Capital from Treasury Stock for $45,000 D. debit to Retai ned Earnings for $45,000 ————————————————- 9) Which of the following is a fundamental factor in having an effective, ethical corporate culture? A. Efficient  oversight by the company’s Board of Directors B. Workplace ethics C. Code of conduct D. Ethics management programs ————————————————- 10) Two individuals at a retail store work the same cash register. You evaluate this situation as A. violation of establishment of responsibility B. a violation of segregation of duties C. supporting the establishment of responsibility D. supporting internal independent verification ————————————————- 11) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act imposed which new penalty for ex ecutives? A. Fines B. Suspension C. Criminal prosecution for executives D. Return of ill-gotten gains ————————————————- 12) Hahn Company uses the percentage of sales method for recording bad debts expense. For the year, cash sales are $300,000 and credit sales are $1,200,000.Management estimates that 1% is the sales percentage to use. What adjusting entry will Hahn Company make to record the bad debts expense? A. Bad Debts Expense †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $15,000   Allowances for Doubtful  Accounts †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $15,000 B. Bad Debts Expense †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $12,000   Allowances for Doubtful Accounts †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $12,000 C. Bad Debts Expense â⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. $12,000   Accounts Receivable †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. $12,000 D. Bad Debts Expense †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15,000   Accounts Receivable †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. $15,000 ————————————————- 13) Using the percentage of receivables method for recording bad debts expense, estimated uncollectible accounts are $15,000. If the balance of the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts is $3,000 credit before adjustment, what is the amount of bad debts expense for that period? A. $15,000 B. $12,000 C. $18,000 D. $8,000 ——————————â €”—————- 14) Intangible assets A. should be reported under the heading Property, Plant, and Equipment B. hould be reported as a separate classification on the balance sheet C. should be reported as Current Assets on the balance sheet D. are not reported on the balance sheet because they lack physical substance ————————————————- 15) Intangible assets are the rights and privileges that result from ownership of long-lived assets that A. must be generated internally B. are depletable natural resources C. do not have physical substance D. have been exchanged at a gain ————————————————- 16) The book value of an asset is equal to theA. asset’s market value less its historic  cost B. blue book value relied on by secondary m arkets C. replacement cost of the asset D. asset’s cost less accumulated depreciation ————————————————- 17) Gains on an exchange of plant assets that has commercial substance are A. deducted from the  cost  of the new asset acquired B. deferred C. not possible D. recognized immediately ————————————————- 18) Ordinary repairs are expenditures to maintain the operating efficiency of a plant asset and are referred to as A. capital expendituresB. expense expenditures C. improvements D. revenue expenditures ————————————————- 19) When an interest-bearing note matures, the balance in the Notes Payable account is A. less than the total amount repaid b y the borrower B. the difference between the maturity value of the note and the face value of the note C. equal to the total amount repaid by the owner D. greater than the total amount repaid by the owner ————————————————- 20) The interest charged on a $200,000 note payable, at a rate of 6%, on a 2-month note would be A. 12,000 B. $6,000 C. $3,000 D. $2,000 ————————————————- 21) Costs incurred to increase the operating efficiency or useful life of a plant asset are referred to as A. capital expenditures B. expense expenditures C. ordinary repairs D. revenue expenditures ————————————————- 22) If a corporation issued $3,000,000 in bonds which pay 10% annu al interest, what is the annual net cash cost of this borrowing if the income tax rate is 30%? A. $3,000,000 B. $90,000 C. $300,000 D. $210,000 ————————————————- 3) Hilton Company issued a four-year interest-bearing note payable for $300,000 on January 1, 2011. Each January the company is required to pay $75,000 on the note. How will this note be reported on the December 31, 2012 balance sheet? A. Long-term  debt, $300,000. B. Long-term debt, $225,000. C. Long-term debt, $150,000; Long-term debt due within one year, $75,000. D. Long-term debt, $225,000; Long-term debt due within one year, $75,000. ————————————————- 24) A corporation issued $600,000, 10%, 5-year bonds on January 1, 2011 for 648,666, which reflects an effective-interest rate of 8%.Interest is pai d semiannually on January 1 and July 1. If the corporation uses the effective-interest method of amortization of bond premium, the amount of bond interest expense to be recognized on July 1, 2011, is A. $30,000 B. $24,000 C. $32,434 D. $25,946 ————————————————- 25) When the effective-interest method of bond discount amortization is used A. the applicable  interest rate  used to compute interest expense is the prevailing market interest rate on the date of each interest payment date B. the carrying value of the bonds will decrease each period C. nterest expense will not be a constant dollar amount over the life of the bond D. interest paid to bondholders will be a function of the effective-interest rate on the date the bonds were issued ————————————————- 26) I f a corporation has only one class of stock, it is referred to as A. classless stock B. preferred stock C. solitary stock D. common stock ————————————————- 27) Capital stock to which the charter has assigned a value per share is called A. par value stock B. no-par value stock C. stated value stockD. assigned value stock ————————————————- 28) ABC, Inc. has 1,000 shares of 5%, $100 par value, cumulative preferred stock and 50,000 shares of $1 par value common stock outstanding at December 31, 2011. What is the annual dividend on the preferred stock? A. $50 per share B. $5,000 in total C. $500 in total D. $. 50 per share ————————————————- 29) Manner, Inc. has 5,000 shares of 5%, $100 par value, noncumulative preferred stock and 20,000 shares of $1 par value common stock outstanding at December 31, 2011.There were no dividends declared in 2010. The board of directors declares and pays a $45,000 dividend in 2011. What is the amount of dividends received by the common stockholders in 2011? A. $0 B. $25,000 C. $45,000 D. $20,000 ————————————————- 30) When the selling price of treasury stock is greater than its cost, the company credits the difference to A. Gain on Sale of Treasury Stock B. Paid-in Capital from Treasury Stock C. Paid-in Capital in Excess of Par Value D. Treasury Stock

Personal Change Essay

Every day I hear people talking about how they do not like this or how they want to change that. Oddly enough, I do not often hear someone say I really need to make a personal change. The thought that people point fingers at others and take not fault weighted on my mind for quite a while. So I decided if I could change one thing about myself in a positive way, it would be to stop being so self-centered. This change would not only be beneficial to me, but also the people around me. They would be a lot happier around me, it would open my eyes to a new perspective on life as a whole, and last but not least, I would not be as irresponsible. From my experience nobody likes to be around a selfish inconsiderate person. Making this change in my life would transform me from that selfish guy, to a caring, considerate and positive individual. Socially my world would sky rocket almost instantly. When someone is fun and considerate, they are easy to be around. This means I would attract more peop le, which leads me to my next point. The more people we meet in life, the more we learn. I feel that if I do not meet new people and experience new things, I will have that same old one tract mind. It is ok to be wrong and do what someone else wants to do from time to time. This will allow me to explore not only the world differently, but myself as well. A basic outlook on life is the direct product of being self-centered and hard to be around. Part of having a new perspective means, seeing that my old self interpretation or old opinion of myself may change. Ultimately this could lead to me looking at how I act and do things honestly. After looking at myself and how I actually am, there is no doubt in my mind I would come to the conclusion that I am not the most responsible person in the world. As a result, the logical thing for me to do next is to fix that problem. If I were more responsible I could take a lot more control of my life. Open new doors for myself in my school life, work life, and social life. Responsibility is the glue that holds a successful life together . All I really want in the end is to be successful anyway, so being responsible would defiantly be a great trait to have. All in all the change to stop being so self-centered would only change my life for the better. I can not think of any other change that would benefit me more. So I say to myself and anyone who will listen â€Å"Don’t let yourself hold you back.†

How does Willy Russell explore the theme of conformity in Terraces Essays

How does Willy Russell explore the theme of conformity in Terraces Essays How does Willy Russell explore the theme of conformity in Terraces Essay How does Willy Russell explore the theme of conformity in Terraces Essay Essay Topic: Literature The title Terraces implies two of the most important themes in the play. They are the football terraces houses. Football terraces are a group of houses joined together side-to-side, they were built in the industrial revolution. In this community everyone knows each other business, it is very much like a soap opera. The neighbours get together and have a drink in their local pub; the pub is the centre of their community. In the opening scene we are in a pub and introduced to Eddy, Joey, John and Joyce. The men are acting to their sexual stereotype. The men are shouting loudly about the latest results of the football. They hack him down the language used to describe the game is typically exaggerated imagery is connected with violence. The second scene in which Danny is introduced contrasts with scene 1 because they are in a noisy pub. In this scene they are in a quiet family scene with a wife, husband and child. Its relaxed, there sitting still and not drinking alcohol. Danny (the husband) is immediately set apart, he is first shown reading a novel, which indicates that he is intelligent, sensitive and quiet. Danny is different and doesnt want to go to the pub but his wife encourages him to do so, he agrees and they go to the pub. All the other men are presented as members of a group. Whereas Danny is a loner, he described as considerate if you want to go out, well go out he responds to the needs of his wife Susan. Eddy is the leader of all the other men, john directs what he says towards him what I think Eddy. When they have something to say they speak to Eddy. The group regards Danny as the clever ideas man to solve their problems. John says surely you can think of something Danny inadvertently suggests the street painting projects not something you go out and paint the streets for Eddy and all the other men take the quote seriously and decide to paint all the houses and the street yellow. Willy Russell wants Eddy and the men to seem like a clan, their language, behaviour and interests achieve this. Firstly they speak in a dialect you dont need to do that. Secondly they all go to the pub and buy each other rounds of drinks a toast for the glorious lads in yellow, who toady created history. To the lads. Thirdly they swear a lot It was friggin offside Danny refuses to paint his house yellow because he does not think supporters should go so far the enjoyment is in watching the game Eddy cannot accept Dannys point of view because he believes in the team look at them, there all getting stuck in now Eddy sees football as the reason of his life, whereas Danny sees football as just a game. Eddy is a big bully and wont take his friends turning away from him if a feller doesnt want to join in with me, all right. Thats o. k. But if hes not willing to join me in all things, then hes not with me at all. Eddy will not accept rejection come on The pressure put upon Danny begins when his wife makes him go with her to the pub. Danny just wanted to read his book but his wife makes him go. Are we going there or not? Hes put under enormous pressure when hes offered a drink; the whiskey comes with strings attached. If he accepts the drink he will paint his house Danny says but I wont paint my house and Eddy replies with Well y wont drink with me either The third type of pressure put on Danny is persuasion, John comes to the house the next day he says Weve been a bit rash, Danny. They offer to paint his house for him. At this time Susan starts to put pressure on him. She suggests that he mad, not normal, she says, your warped! Did you know that? Warped, thats what you are. Theyre your friends. Fourthly Joey creeps inside the house to give him a final chance. Next the pressure takes a sinister turn; a threat is delivered through the letterbox of his house this is a warning! Paint or finds somewhere else to live! Danny responds by getting so angry, he hurls the paint across the street and down the drain. To make matters worse Susan threatens to leave the house until it has been painted Well hed better do something about it or hell be the only one living here. When his friends start painting his house. In scene sixteen the pressure reaches a climax, Susan leaves and says Ill come back Danny when its painted. Eddy and his friends tie Danny to a kitchen chair and start painting his house. Danny sits in the chair, slaughtered This means he is devastated by what his mates have done to his house. Finally the play ends with this dramatic climax. The audience know that he is broken. But Eddy is totally unaware of the affect of his behaviour. He says, dont forget your pint Danny lad. The theme of madness runs throughout the play. He is constantly called mad or warped through the play, this is very hard for him to keep his sanity.

History J5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History J5 - Essay Example In Burkes political career, he mercilessly defended constitutional limitation of the Crowns authority. He ignored the religious persecution of Catholics in his native land of Ireland. He aired the grievances of Britains American colonies. He contributed in American Independence and vigorously followed the impeachment of Warren Hastings, who was the General Governor of British India, for abuse of power and corruption. In his Reflections, Burke stated that the French Revolution would come to an end in very damaging way because its abstract foundations, being rational, ignored the importance of human nature and society. French Revolution was caused by the following claims, Internal struggle for leadership and empire outstrips for financial resources of the state, Political misunderstanding between the Monarchy and the nobility, over the restart of the tax system that they claimed, led to poverty and bankruptcy. The enlightenment, that is the impulse for reform intensified political conflicts and reinforcing traditional aristocratic constitutionalism. The introduction of new ways of good government and the prestige of being popular sovereignty has also led to bankruptcy. The attack on the catholic regime and advantageous class by the Literary Underground of the broadening influenced the of public opinion. Social differences between two rising groups, the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. Removal of the ineffective leader Luis, economic hardship, especially the agrarian crisis of 1788-1789, generated general discontent and disorders caused by food shortages. This reflection was written immediately after the French Revolution. Burke’s primary antirevolutionary book questioned the motives of the actors and warned against the removal of all, which would prove amazingly prophetic. Edmund Burke expressed his views against the French revolution by criticizing it. The first was the Constitutional Society Edmund criticized this by saying that

Disclosure of fair value information in the corporate annual report Essay

Disclosure of fair value information in the corporate annual report - Essay Example The manner in which businesses are run in the UK markets is monitored and controlled through policies that touch on ethical business relationships, fair representation of financial statements, and fair valuation of company’s worth. While corporate operations are regulated in order to attain an ethical business environment, various other regulations are conducted to ensure that financial and accounting approaches of the business are transparent to attract genuine interest from investors and other stakeholders (Martinià ¨re, 2007). Within the UK marketplace, IFRS 13 is considered the law governing fair value information which is a vital set if information required to value a business entity. The IFRS 13 is responsible for fair value measurement and provided guidelines on how companies should measure their fair value (Deloitte UK, 2013). However, since the financial and accounting field has various approaches to valuing assets and business’s net worth, the IFRS 13 conside rs fair value at the exit price and makes use of fair value hierarchy to value an entity. Valuation using the fair value hierarchy is market-based and is not entity-specific (Demski, Lin, & Sappington, 2008). Entity specific measures tend to consider the type of business and the owner of the business. However, fair value hierarchy makes use of market-based approach to value assets and business’s worth. Additionally, the approach of considering the exit price aims at showing how much the business entity or company would be worth in its current market if were to close at the moment of valuation (Song, Thomas, & Yi, 2010). Under the UK regulations, fair value is defined as the prices acquired from an asset sale or in transfer of liability in a systematic transaction among market participants at the date of measurement. Based on the market value, fair value considers active markets which are defines as

Daniel Richter's Facing East from Indian Country. Book Report Essay

Daniel Richter's Facing East from Indian Country. Book Report - Essay Example In the course of this era, some of the aboriginal groups changed to try to fit in the American society, and although Indians changed, they did not forget their language and their traditions. This essay will discuss how initial contacts involving the Europeans and Native Americans occurred in earlier days. Christopher Columbus, an American author, was born in 1451 and died in 1506. Columbus reputation has for long had controversies, with the fact that his achievement in navigation cannot be alienated from violence that represent the European contribution to the new world. Columbus discovery of America led to destruction of most of the native groups found in America at the time of discovery. Columbus arrived in America while trying to explore the Asian markets, north Americas native people, populated most part of the continent. The connecting of the eastern and western regions marked the foundation of an organized history, a process known as Columbian exchange. This involved a substitu tion of goods, for example, crops across the Atlantic Ocean. This distorted the economies of the world; Native Americans approved animals such as, horses and cattle. Foods such as, tomatoes, potatoes, and corn were brought in by these populations and have so far been embraced worldwide. Jacques Cartier came from the French court to explore North America, and in Chaleur Bay, he encountered aboriginal people who were the Micmac people. Their meeting was the first time the French and the natives traded furs. At first, the aboriginal people were friendly, but they changed their attitude and became hostile when they realized that the foreigners had come to interfere with their existence. Cartier tried to establish peace among the people since his arrival. Prior to the coming of Christopher Columbus, it was thought that the aboriginal people did not have any history. In contrast, these people had developed a culture, which was not written; they displayed their culture through song, dance and other artistic performances. Though Columbus claimed to have discovered America, many inhabitants had already settled in for many years. Columbus’s arrival marked an era of contact Europeans and Native Americans that went on for an unusually long time. Captain John smith’s interactions with Indians were because of his relationships and dealings with their most influential leader, Powhatan. He had earlier been captured by Powhatan; this led to the progress of their relationship. They formed an alliance in which smith would provide the colonists with food, this later developed to hostility of the highest degree. By the time John Smith, left Virginia there was a conflict between the English and Powhatan. As compared to other Europeans at that time, John Smith seemed to be open-minded about the natives, referred to them as social, and referred to their leaders as kings. John smith, was welcoming and persuasive, he even tried to integrate into the communities he visited , learned their language. His ability to persuade changed the attitude of Powhatan towards him. In his speech, Powhatan pleads with John Smith for peace, his words indicate anxiety and doubt surrounding the arrival of white settlers, and foretell conflict between the Native Americans, and Europeans that would have influence on the history of both groups. He wants the uneasiness and

Economic growth Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economic growth - Math Problem Example This is important for an organization gets to understand the weakest links in the organization and deals with them appropriately. Provided I have all information, regarding the average output per worker and the physical capital per worker for each of the countries, it is possible to calculate the relative productivity of the country. Considering: It is thus appropriate to state dividing the quarter root of the stated output per worker and dividing by physical capital per worker offers the relative productivity per worker for a each of the countries. The differences in the levels of production in a particular country mainly depend on output per-worker in the various organizations in the country. There are different organizations that let their workers operate without following up on the attitudes expressed by employees while working. Employees that perform poorly under supervision are the main reason why the output per worker is usually low (Weil, 2013). The consequent of this is the entire country having a low Gross Domestic Product and thus low productivity levels in some countries. However, there are some countries that are strict with regard to the performance of the organizations and as expected the result of this is having hard working people, this raises the Gross Domestic Product. With a high GDP, the productivity levels are normally high. Government policies can lead to high productivity if for example they focus on the rights of workers and ensure that they receive fair treatment. This leads to workers with increased m orale and consequently high productivity levels. Another example is having policies that seek to ensure that politicians do not interrupt economic processes and let the actual experts, economics, focus on these

Investigating Recruitment And Selection At Starbucks Commerce Essay

Investigating Recruitment And Selection At Starbucks Commerce Essay This report will imply on the discussion between internal and external recruitment, as well as the methods and sources being used generally which involves the advantages and disadvantages of having to recruit candidates either ways. Furthermore, discussions are made between two organizations that is chosen by our group on how they do their recruitment and what conflicts they face in doing so. What is recruitment? Recruitment is a process of identifying and hiring the best- qualified candidate for the job vacancy or for the right job, this may either come from within the organization or outside of the organization. Why an organization does need to recruit? Basically, an organization needs to recruit due to vacancies that will be needed to be occupied by new applicants or candidates with the right skill for the certain job available. Why do vacancies occur within an organization? In general, vacancies occur due to certain circumstances, firstly, when a person is being recruited for a vacancy, the most likely needed to work as, can be either, temporarily or permanently. Also, due to economical crisis which is currently happening in many organization, furthermore, applicants are needed to be newly recruited because of maternity leaves, paternity leaves or if one of the employees may be suffering from an illness for quite a long time, to do so, they will need someone to cover the vacant position in an organization. This will occur as part of a temporary contract. Sometimes, vacancies occur due expansions of organization where they will need additional employees provided with resources and trainings, as well as employees may suddenly change jobs for the better of salary, benefits being offered or just simply because of the extra work that are being handed to them. In addition to the reasons of vacancies, may include retirements. Types of recruitments and its methods. There are two main types on how to recruit an applicant, such as internal recruitment and external recruitment. Internal recruitment is a method of hiring an employee from within the organization itself, which will include the knowing of the required skills that will be needed for the certain job they will be recruited for, and also they already know the organization that they are working for, particularly if its training and development program is effective. In other words, where existing employees are selected rather than employing from outside. Internal vacancies are usually advertised within the business via a variety of media, this consists, the use of verbal advertisement within the organization (word of mouth), staff notice boards, meetings, in-house magazine or newsletter or intranets. External recruitment is a method of hiring candidates for the right job. It is when the new applicant comes from outside of the organization. Frequently, most business engages on this method of recruiting, particularly those that are growing strongly or that operate in industries with high turnovers. Fortunately, its sources enables them for recruiting a candidate from outside, like, referrals or existing contacts, career service which registers high number of applicants, employment or recruitment agencies who are specialized in recruitment and selection, helping candidates to look for a job and also be connected with a number of companies, which as well often supply interim employees. In particular, they even use the source on Headhunters or recruitment consultancies, who provides a more specialized approach to the recruitment of employees and or senior management, and rather approach on individuals with a good reputation instead of relying on long lists of applicants. However, this source is costly. Also, external recruitment includes the sources of using internet and advertisement, example, classified ads, magazines, posters, etc. Advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment and external recruitment. First of all, internal recruitment process is less time- consuming into recruiting and not expensive. Also, itll be easier in such a way, that the organization will not have any difficulties to have a background check, and train the applicants as they are known on what capability they can present at the same time, they already know the organization theyre working in. in addition, it gives the existing employees to advance their career in the business, helps to retain staff who might otherwise leave, reduces the risk of selecting an appropriate candidate and even have the chance of getting promoted. Also there will only be smaller number of applicants. However, there are likely to have a limited number of applicants for the job and another vacancy will be created that has to filled, therefore another recruitment plan has to be planned to fill another vacancy. Furthermore, there will also be a failure in generating new ideas. In contrast, the advantages of external recruitment is that it has wider audience that can be reached out which also increases the chance that the business will be able to recruit applicants with the required skills for the job, and helps to generate new ideas. However, this process will likely to be time- consuming. This is as well expensive due to the sources that they will be using, example: employment and recruitment agencies it is not a 100% ideal method because normally it will cost the organization money and even charge the candidate as well as the company that can be equal to the sum of his/her salary and another disadvantage, is not being definite with the qualifications that will be needed for the position that is applicable, lastly, they will not be considerate enough. Starbucks coffee company Starbucks coffee company is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain which was founded in Seattle, Washington on 1971. It is the largest coffeehouse in the world. Recruitment methods of Starbucks- Internal and External Internal Methods Starbucks uses these methods of recruiting internally: Intranet Starbucks announces its company vacancies through the website wherein only the staff and employees can access and look-up. Staff meetings These usually consist of the managers and supervisors organizing a meeting wherein they select the right employee for the right job internally. Career Development It is a method wherein staffs can get promoted to a higher level in the company. This usually uses the method of recommendation. External Methods Advertisement Starbucks usually put up ads in the newspaper or posters in their shops to attract candidates to apply for the company. Internet With its world wide web, people all around the world would be a able to access Starbucks site and find if there are any vacancy available. Word of mouth As staffs from the company may refer the vacancies available through friends and peers which are legible to apply for the position. RSA (Royal Sun Alliance Insurance Company) Royal and Sun Alliance Group is an insurance company which was founded on 1996 in London, England, UK which is still their headquarters up to date. It is a joint venture of Royal Insurance and the other Sun alliance. It is Britains leading insurance company. Recruitment methods of RSA- Internal and External Internal Methods RSA uses these methods of recruiting internally: Internal vacancy announcement When vacancies occur managers or supervisors tend to announce the position that is available to the employees. Promotions within department An applicant from a certain department of a company may be promoted to a higher level of work. Bulletin boards Almost the same as the internal announcement, here vacancies are posted to bulletin boards for when employees pass by they would see the notice. Internal emails As for RSA they use internal email which they call Lotus notes. Here every employee of the company receives emails as to which vacant positions are open or available. External Methods RSA uses the methods of recruiting externally: Advertisement in paper Advertising in the newspaper is one of the best recruitment methods there is. People read the news papers and would see the advertisement of the company and if interested they would send their application. Agencies RSA also uses the method of contacting agencies. Company website In the companys website, people who visit this site would see what job vacancies those are available. Conclusion In our opinion, nowadays, recruitment plays a vital role in ones organization and company. Searching, Attracting, and employing may take a lot of process but all this hard work in searching for the best candidate may lead to the success of the organization. Recruiting internally and externally may have different ways, but both have the same goal, that is to fill the spot or vacancy that the company has put up. In other words, we have learned that its a mandatory in every organizations. Furthermore, enabling us to know the possible outcomes and conflicts between internal and external recruitment. Henceforth, without this process in an organization, their organization will not be able to grow and produce high quality work. Bibliography Starbucks Coffee Company http://www.peerpapers.com/essays/Environmental-Mission-Vision-Values-Starbucks-Corporation/119728.html?topic http://www.helium.com/items/1738974-internal-external-recruitment-company-employees-experience-knowledge-retention Recruitment http://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/recruitment_internal.asp http://www.tutor2u.net/business/people/recruitment_external.asp http://www.hrmadvice.com/hrmadvice/hr-processes/recruitment-and-selection/internal-or-external-recruitment.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment RSA (Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Company) http://www.rsadirect.ae

Kate Chopin Gives a Womans Voice to Realism Essay -- essays papers

Kate Chopin Gives a Womans Voice to Realism Kate Chopin succeeded in giving a woman's voice to realism. While doing this she sacrificed her career. This seems to be a "higher order of feminism than repeating the story of a woman as victim...Kate Chopin gives her female protagonist the central role, normally reserved for the man, in a meditation on identity and culture, consciousness, and art." (Robinson 3) "The role of woman in the society Chopin creates is of special interest and relevance. (Robinson 6) Introduction to Kate Chopin Before Kate Chopin came onto the writing scene, women had an insignificant role in society. Women never did anything that would cause some sort of controversy. All literature focused around a male main character as well. Most stories being written at the time were about male characters and their stories, not the women. Kate Chopin changed that. Kate Chopin was born Katherine O'Flaherty. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1851. Her father was an Irish immigrant and her mother was of French descent. They introduced Kate to music and writing at an early age. (Elements of Literature 481) At nineteen she married Oscar Chopin, who was a French Creole from New Orleans. They had six children together. After her husband's sudden death IN???, she moved back to ST. Louis and began to write. In 1890 she published her first novel. Her stories concerned the life of French Creole in Louisiana and were praised for their accurate portrayal of the French. Her themes are a much more controversial matter: it was the repression of women in Victorian America. This theme was presented in her famous novel The Awakening. (Robinson 15) The Awakening Kate Chopin's most well... ...s. She accomplished her goals, and made a major impact on writing. Kate Chopin influenced many other women writers today. She was "a pioneer of her own time, in her portrayal of women's desires of independence and control of their own sexuality." (Toth 481) Bibliography: 1. Allen, Priscilla. "Old Critics and New: The treatment of Chopin's The Awakening." The Authority of Experience: Essays in Feminist Criticism, eds. Arlyn Diamond and Lee R. Edwards. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997. 2. Chopin, Kate. "A Pair of Silk Stockings" Elements of Literature. Orlando, Florida: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1993 481-484 3. Moers, Ellen. Literary Women: Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976 4. Q. Arpin, Susan Allen Toth. Elements of Literature, 5th Course. Orlando, Florida: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Inc., 1993

What do you think is the most important emerging issue in the design of work?

In my opinion, some of the most important issues that are emerging in the design of work are the specific aspects of a job. Telecommuting, alternative work patterns, technostress and skill development are some of these issues. (Cengage Learning, 2010, p. 228) Upon reading the case study for the Coca-Cola Company, I think that they are already addressing the issue of skill development. Coca-Cola appears to be looking for individuals who are motivators, innovators and competent enough to do the job. By implementing the core values and the mission of their company, Coca-Cola seems to have a staff of professionals that have bought into the happiness and optimism of the company. Building the company brand and allowing staff the power of autonomy is an influential factor of empowerment for any organization. This is what makes Coca-Cola so successful. Discuss the most likely organizational design for Coca-Cola Company. The most likely design is having a formal structural dimension with a decentralized decision making authority. The company seems to have a machine bureaucracy structural configuration. It would need to have strong formalization in order to maintain its product line globally at a high quality level. The design would also need to be specialized and standardized in order to decentralize the decision making locally. The vision at Coca-Cola serves as the framework for their Roadmap and guides every aspect of their business by describing what they need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth. People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy people's desires and needs. Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value. Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities. Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving organization. (The Coca-Cola Company, 2006-2011) By integrating this vision into the design process, Coca-Cola has goals that are not only attainable, but rewarding to the employees, customers and stockholders. From a job design perspective, how would you interpret what these seven employees of The Coca-Cola Company say about the secret ingredients that make their jobs so refreshing? My interpretation of these seven employees comments are that Coca-Cola uses a job characteristic theory in approaching the hiring of employees. The employees see the value of their job performance. They also understand their responsibility within the company and the effect that their job performance has on the mission. I think that Coca-Cola has effectively designed the jobs within the company to motivate the employees. Based on their responses, the level of employee engagement seems high. What information contained in the seven employees' comments about their jobs relates to the core job characteristics of skill variety? Skill variety is defined as â€Å"the degree to which a job includes different activities and involves the use of multiple skills and talents of the employee. † (Cengage Learning, 2010, p. 223) Coca-Cola showcases the skills and talents that the employees bring to the job. They do this by giving the employees opportunities to learn and grow both personally and professionally. The company also encourages employees to bring their unique ideas and expertise to the forefront and act upon them; this allows the employees to express more of their personality at work.

Survey of Research Literature – Identity Theft

Research Analysis Survey of Research Literature in Information Technology Management Infrastructure Abstract: Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. There are many definitions of identity theft, however this type of crime typically involves illegally utilizing somebody else’s personal information for both personal and or financial gain. Thieves acquire personal information through different methods ranging from stealing physical documents all the way to hacking into corporate databases.The field of Information Technology is one of the fastest growing fields in the world. Daily innovations and discoveries are flooding our lives. The continual strive for speed and efficiency make the world move faster into the new era of digital information.In addition to advances in computing, many other fields are forced to innovate and comply with the demands of the new 21st century consumer. However with all the convenience and access to this digital inform ation the world faces those who use the technology to destroy information and control others for their own benefit. The two most evident industries that face such challenges are the health industry and the financial industry. Both consists of billions of dollars in revenue each year and pose a lucrative target for the digital underground.The finance industry is a more interesting topic when it comes to identity theft since it involves the financial system for businesses, financial institutions and consumers. By looking at this industry directly we can see how these affects influence each other and what can be done to protect the consumer and the business sector. This paper will be separated into consumer and business parts and then further divided into sub parts where the focus would be on specific sections on what is closely related to or can result in identity theft.Once such threats and security issues are identified and thoroughly described, the paper will also cover some of the existing solutions that are currently being implemented by, businesses, financial institutions and even consumers themselves. Looking at all sides of the problem, identity theft touches upon a variety of issues such as tools that are used to identify ones credentials, information that is stored on computers of thousands or retailers, financial institutions as well as taking into account the technology that makes authentication and financial transactions possible.The spectrum of this is so large that only a small part of it can be analyzed and covered in this paper. What is Identity Theft? According to numerous sources, identity theft is a way to take someone else’s identity and utilize it for either financial or gains of being accountable for certain actions or consequences. The term identity theft has actually came from the word impersonation or cloning which describes a process of making an exact copy of something or in this case assuming an identity of another person.In t his paper there is only one side to the identity theft and it is the financial loss or gain that occurs during the process. Looking at the identity theft from several prospective and analyzing how it affects the consumer, business, or financial institution is what this analysis is attempting to identify. â€Å"Each year, millions of consumers are victimized by identity theft—the practice of using the identity of another to obtain credit. After the identity thief defaults, lenders and credit bureaus attribute the default to the impersonated consumer. Sovern 2004)† According to Sovern 2004, the default that occurs between the lender and the pretend consumer, in the end falls upon the innocent consumer whose information has been stolen in one way or another and misused for financial gain. Typically there are numerous parts to what results in identity theft. First of all identity thieves typically obtain personal information that is used to identify an individual, as well as credentials that can be used to authenticate themselves.Then, they would utilize the credentials to impersonate other individuals and proceed to gain access to financial documents and finally actual monetary assets. â€Å"Identity theft—the appropriation of someone else’s identity to commit fraud or theft (Milne 2003)—is a serious consumer problem (Sovern 2004)†. Identity theft is a commission of fraud that not only poses a serious threat to consumers but is a very serious crime that has unlimited consequences for everyone involved in the process.Although it is a serious crime and a wide spread problem there are many different ways that thieves can approach this type of method. The initial process of acquiring personal information that is needed to impersonate another individual can consist anywhere from finding the information in public records at the library, all the way to stealing financial documents like credit cards, checks, and digital informati on by hacking computer networks. The spectrum of this problem is endless and continues to grow on the daily basis, while financial information becomes ore widespread with the innovation of technology. Before looking at the specific areas of theft and their origins, identifying the meaning behind identity as being part of identity theft would be beneficial to the true understanding behind impersonating someone else. â€Å"Identity is a means of denoting an entity in a particular namespace and is the basis of security and privacy -regardless if the context is digital identification or non-digital identification ( Katzan 2010 )†.Unlike theft, identity is much harder to describe especially when looking at how it can be stolen and utilized for personal and financial gain. Katzan 2010 illustrates how an identity can also be referred to as a subject, which have several identities and belong to more than just one namespace. Identity is part of the management system which can establis h a process to another system and therefore result in a trust that is facilitated by a third party and acknowledges the basis for the digital identity in the computer-based information systems.Another side is the information that’s provided by a third party that claims the identity of a person but can be biased based on how that information came about, and therefore might require additional information to provide clear evidence and confirmation. † Identity is primarily used to establish a relationship between an attribute or set of attributes and a person, object, event, concept, or theory. The relationship can be direct, based on physical evidence, and in other cases, the relationship is indirect and based on a reference to other entities ( Katzan 2010)†.Thieves acquire such attributes of the identity through resource such as customer service representatives, Trojan horse computer programs, dumpster diving, corporate databases, and physically stealing computers. To prevent such occurrences the author suggests implementing reponsibilized and individualized forms of risk management where individuals are encouraged to incorporate informational security practices into their daily lives and care for their virtual self in the digital world. Phishing Attacks Moving forward beyond what both identity and theft really mean, identifying he most popular ways of gaining access to individual identity data is the first step to preventing consumers from being the victims of such thefts. The first most common approach to gathering the necessary information to impersonate an individual is a Phishing Attack. A Phishing Attack is a way to deceive a consumer into revealing personal information to the attacker through digital communication. â€Å"Phishing has been a major problem for information systems managers and users for several years now. In 2008, it was estimated that phishing resulted in close to $50 billion in damages to U. S. onsumers and businesses ( Wright, Marett, 2010). This obfuscation method of both email and Web sites is how thieves are able to convince users into fulfilling requests for personal information. Once that information is obtained it can be used to stage theft of either company or personal intellectual property. â€Å"In the most common phishing scam, the â€Å"phisher† sends an e-mail disguised to look like it is from a financial institution or e-commerce site. To appear credible and to attract the recipient's attention, the e-mail uses the company's logos and trademarks and employs â€Å"scare tactics† such as threats of account closure (Lynch 2005)†This method of obtaining identity information carries a relatively low risk in both legality and cost. The phisher who is carrying out the crime usually resides in an international location to avoid authorities which makes the apprehension and prosecuting of the fraud that is committed to be far more difficult. One of the studies that utilized analytical approach to find the reasoning behind the success of such a technique concluded that there are four phases in studying behavioral factors, which influence the replies coming from the consumer in regard to answering emails that request them to provide sensitive information.The study covered 299 subjects and analyzed the percentage of those who responded to different methods within the study of phishing. The final factor to the study is the awareness level that the communicator posses in regard to the security threats that are currently present in the digital world. Security awareness training is important in teaching Web users how to appropriately utilize both network and system resources. Complete review of security policies and their congruency with current threats is crucial in identifying noncompliance of both users and systems.Once systems are updated and users are aware of the different tactics that can be used against them and the different ways they can protect th emselves from becoming victims the world can move closer to eliminating phishing as an urgent threat. Driver’s License Moving past the phishing technique on the consumer side, taking an in-depth look at how identification has become an essential part of identity theft and what are the different tools that we use as consumers to present that trust between our identity and the business entity from which we want to acquire services.The first and probably the most widespread tool of identification in United States of America is a driver’s license. A driver’s license is an identification document that corresponds to a Department of Motor Vehicles database record, therefore is considered to be a legitimate identification document. It is very valuable and the most circulated picture credential that gives one the ability to operate a vehicle as well. One of the reasons behind counterfeiting driver’s licenses is due to the broad spectrum of different types of lice nses that exist in the USA.These counterfeits vary from simple laminates that are created on matrix printers, all the way to sophisticated and authentic, 45 degree hologram based laminates utilizing the same materials and even printing equipment that is used by the DMV. â€Å" The typical criminal would use fungible credentials as an instrument to defraud because it offers reduced risk, minimal effort, and increased effectiveness. Financial frauds, money laundering, and identity theft are three common exploits that typically rely on fungible credentials.Fungible credentials are useful precisely because they simultaneously obscure the criminal’s real identity and facilitate any authentication that may be required. (Berghel 2006) This type of credentials is a way to shield the thief’s real identity while still utilizing the facial identification with different credentials. Typically financial transactions are the most common way to utilize fungible credentials to gain a ccess to the victim’s assets. Since the process involves getting several versions of identification based on the verification process, in the end the original counterfeit documents are disposable.This means that the final identifiers that are obtained, such as the drivers license are legitimate due to its issuance from the government agency. This type of a scheme makes the detection of the final credentials impossible to detect since it was acquired from a legitimate source. The only way to really prevent this from happening is by having all government agencies and law enforcement to authenticate all documents no matter where they came from. However currently due to the extreme overhead for such process, this is currently not possible to achieve. A threat analysis of RFID PassportsThe second and most widespread tool in the world is the passport. A passport is a document that is issued by a national government for the sole purpose of traveling between countries and having the ability to identify the nationality of the traveler as well as the identity of the holder. Since 2007 all passports that have been issued in USA, contain an imbedded RFID chip, which is valid for a time period of ten years. The reason behind such change in passport policy is to provide a safer way to store critical identification data on the chip as well as encrypt such data and keep it safe.However in the last few years there have been approaches that defy the design and the security of the chip and permit the identification information to be stolen. â€Å"this individual used a small antenna connected to a computer in his backpack to eavesdrop on the radio communication between the security agent’s reader, which has the capacity to decrypt the highly sensitive and secured data on the passport, and the RFID-enabled passport itself(RAMOS, A. , SCOTT, W. , SCOTT, W. , LLOYD, D. , O'LEARY, K. , ; WALDO, J. 2009)†The process that is described above creates a way to find a nd obtain the information that is contained on the RFID chip, however in order to do so the proximity of the listening device and the timing of the transition are critical to its success. In addition to acquiring the data, the ability to decrypt the information before it can be utilized is a process in itself. â€Å"Six pieces of information can be stolen from the RFID chip on a U. S. passport: your name, nationality, gender, date of birth, place of birth, and a digitized photograph. Numerous problems of identity theft could arise from someone taking that information, but this article focuses on the financial risk. (RAMOS, A. , SCOTT, W. , SCOTT, W. , LLOYD, D. , O'LEARY, K. , & WALDO, J. 2009)† The information that is acquired during the intercept process is sufficient enough to create a duplicate passport and utilize it for financial gain. However due to the difficulty of this attack, cost of the equipment involved and the limited financial return as opposed to the high cos t of blank passports, this type of scenario is not very likely.As a solution to this possible downside of RFID chips, integrating basic access-control and encryption using the secret key that is integrated right into the passport help mitigate the risk of data interception. Another approach would be to control the RF signals that occur between the reader and the passport during the verification process. This would help minimize the chances for eavesdropping on the RF signals and interception of all identity information. Identity CardsIn order to go beyond the complications of the passport and the specialization of the driver’s license there is another way to identify a person and verify their credentials. This tool is called an Identity Card and is utilized on the government basis in several different countries. The idea behind the identity card is very similar to what a driver’s license does, however it only focuses on proving that the person who presents the card mat ches the credentials that the identity cards holds, without granting driving privileges as does the driver’s license.This new concept of identity card consists of two components, one is the database identity and the other is token identity. Database identity is the gathering of all information about a certain individual and recorded into databases, which is then accessible by the government. Token identity on the other hand only comprises of very specific information about the individual. This information consists of name, gender, date and place of birth, date of death, signature, photograph and biometrics.In addition biometrics consists of a face scan, two iris scans and ten fingerprints. In the context of identity theft, token identity is considered to be more than just information about an individual. â€Å"Unlike the individual pieces of information that comprise it, token identity has the essential characteristics of intangible property. Its misuse by another person not only infringes the individual’s personal right to identity, it infringes the individual’s proprietary rights in his/her registered identity, particularly in token identity. Sullivan 2009)† Utilization of token identity for transactional purposes constitutes an individuals’ identity which is all the information that the token holds. This is the information that is most useful for an identity thief since it is all that is required to enable a transaction. Not all of the information in the token is used for every transaction and therefore depends on the nature of the transaction, therefore the required information is automatically chosen from the token to match the transactional requirements. The phrase ‘identity theft’ is a misnomer, as identity theft does not actually deprive a person of their identity. The offence of theft or larceny traditionally involves an appropriation of the personal property of another with the intention to deprive him or her of that property permanently. Wrongfully accessing and using a person’s personal information or forging proof of identity documents, without taking any physical document or thing, would not deprive the person of the ability to use that information. (Sullivan 2009)Although wrongfully accessing or forging of the documents does not deprive the person of access to such information, it does however fundamentally damage the integrity of the individual token identity by denying exclusive use of the identity. Personally Identifiable Information Utilizing tools that identify oneself are needed to acquire, obtain and steal financial information, however in addition to that and the rapid innovation of the digital world, all the information that identifies us is freely available on the internet.In the last several years the internet progressed so rapidly that it is being used for social interaction, product purchases and financial transactions. In addition to that many companies a re continuously collect personal information utilizing social networks, service providers, and retail sites. These companies claim that under the customer license agreements information provided will be safe guarded and released in a non identifiable form. This means that the information will be de-identified by changing the fixed set of attributes that it currently resides in.Once it is de-identified it will become safe enough to release to the public and will prevent others from using it for marketing or advertising purposes. â€Å"The emergence of powerful re-identification algorithms demonstrates not just a flaw in a specific anonymization technique(s), but the fundamental inadequacy of the entire privacy protection paradigm based on â€Å"de-identifying† the data. De-identification provides only a weak form of privacy. (Narayanan, A. , & Shmatikov, V. 2010)†This type of technique is only part of the solution when it comes to privacy protection. The ability to deve lop effective technologies to protect private information is being developed on continuous basis and there is still no definite answer as to what the best approach really is. Utilizing the de-identifying approach is a step in the right direction but it only patches the problem instead of solving it. Currently there are limitation to the way privacy is preserved and protected, therefore a better method of protection needs to be build and implemented.Security through Technology Now that we covered the outstanding issues with the identity tools and even ways of how to protect the personal identifiable information, next step is to identify technology flaws that jeopardize the security of the process. The technology plays a crucial role in how secure the data is both inside and outside the primary location. When it comes to computer systems and security, the weakest components are the end users, especially when they are accessing corporate information from their home location.With progre ssion of wireless based network technology, the adaptation rate has been enormous and is justified by the convenience that wireless technology provides for both basic and business consumer. Numerous applications have been developed to utilize the convenience of working from home for employee and to have them access databases of their organization using just the Internet browser. This scenario also works for those who are continuously traveling and therefore use wireless services at the hotels or other lodge places.Many of such systems only rely on passwords to authenticate users and pose a real threat when it comes to accessing corporate information. In such a case a hacker can intercept such credential information and utilize it to access the corporate databases and therefore conduct an intrusion which will go undetected since it relies on real user account information. â€Å"Hackers do not require specific hacking tools, as operating systems can find nearby routers and connect to them almost automatically.Hackers can then perform illegal operations such as hacking other computers, spreading viruses, organizing terrorist activities, and so on. (Loo 2008)† As the technology progresses and innovation takes place it would still be close to impossible to solve all security problems no matter what technology is in place. Security depends on several different factors including coordination between employers, end user and manufactures of the technology that is being used.It is up to the employees to be aware of security risks and protect the technology they are using no matter where they are. Investing time into learning about countermeasures is a worthy investment which can eventually prevent unrecoverable events such as an intrusion. Employers and providers of technology should focus on the usability and simplicity of the technology as well as establishing the necessary guidelines for usability and finding the right tools to address it. Protect Government I nformationIdentity theft has an enormous impact on both time and finance of a consumer who becomes the target of it; however it’s not only consumers that see the consequences of such thefts. Businesses are being impacted by this occurrence as well. Organizations need to protect their assets from cyber crime, web attacks, data breaches and fraud. Criminals utilize such attacks to harvest data through these means for financial, political and personal gain. Such actions are becoming firm motivators for adaptation of information system security approach to protect assets of companies.The ISS approach utilizes an accreditation process that mandates that all government agencies are complying with such standard. A unified security approach would have been ideal in the case of government agencies however even with proper accreditation and mandated requirements, more than half the agencies demonstrated resistance by their management to implement such rules. One of the reasons for such resistance was the norms and culture with the organizations which could not be unified by one system covering all the agencies.Secondly the management of the government branches that lacked the accreditation pointed out that it was due to the lack of resources that was being committed by Treasury to pay for the needed changes that were part of the compliance process. â€Å"The key lesson learned from this study was that a large-scale IS/IT project conducted across multiple government agencies and sites of varying sizes requires that the implementation be staggered and suited to agency size, thus breaking down the complexity of the tasks enabling resources (people and budgets) to be put in place and allocated to future project phases. Smith, S. , Winchester, D. , Bunker, D. , & Jamieson, R. 2010)† The authors point out that the failure of implementation was mostly due to the long term financial backing of the project and that adequate resources and senior management commitmen t is crucial to the success of ISS. Data Breaches and Identity Theft Data security is an ongoing process and affects both consumers and businesses, however retailers and financial institutions are responsible for storing and processing consumer financial data, and they are solely responsible for the security of it.One of the leading causes of identity theft is data breaches which are a process of loosing data due to a security or network flaw. This is why a proportionate combination of security vs. amount of data collected needs to be found. If there is too much data and not enough security than the potential cost of a data breach is very high. â€Å"Dollar estimates of the cost of identity theft do not by themselves indicate that too much identity theft is occurring.However, press accounts of data breaches suggest that personal identifying data (PID) is being stolen too frequently, and that the data thefts are unduly facilitating various kinds of identity theft. 2 (Roberds, W. , & Schreft, S. 2008)† Establishing policies that can ensure that the balance between data collection and security is properly maintained will be crucial in preventing data breaches. Data network can help prevent theft by securing its databases better as well as increasing the amount of PID compiled in order to identify possible fraudulent attempts on the network.The downside of over collecting is the spillover effect where the data can be stolen and used on another network, therefore breaching the other network. â€Å"†¦the approach here allows for explicit calculation of the efficient levels of data accumulation and data security, and for straightforward evaluation of policies meant to attain efficiency. More generally, it offers an illustration of how any such calculation should balance the costs associated with data misuse against the substantial gains afforded by the relaxation of anonymity. (Roberds, W. , & Schreft, S. 2008)†There are specific variables that nee d to be adjusted in order to achieve the highest possible degree of security and consider the costs that are associated with implementing this specific formula. Formal Identity Theft Prevention Programs As was already discussed previously, identity theft is a serious problem, and can take a very long time to even notice that it is taking place in our lives. Due to the amount of damage that is caused to the consumer’s life and financial situation, the government has taken steps to combat identity theft at federal, state and local levels therefore attempting to assist victims of this crime.There are several steps that have been taken in legislation, however there are still no laws in place that can regulate the general use of personally identifiable information in regard to government branches and both public and private sector. The key piece of information that is considered to be most valuable to the identity thieves is the Social Security Number (SSN), therefore one of the p revention initiatives is in regard to displaying and using Social Security Numbers in easily accessible laces. Other initiatives include securing the availability of personal information though information resellers, security weaknesses in the federal agency information systems, and breaches in data security. â€Å".. federal systems and sensitive information are at increased risk of unauthorized access and disclosure, modification, or destruction, as well as inadvertent or deliberate disruption of system operations and services. ( Bertoni, D. 2009)†.According to the GAO study it has been reported that federal agencies still experience a large number of security related incidents and that provides access to large amounts of personally identifiable information that reside in the federal records that could be utilized for identity theft purposes. Protecting personally identifiable information that is stored in the federal system is critical since its loss and unauthorized discl osure could result in devastating consequences for the individuals.The consequences could range from fraud, theft, embarrassment and even inconvenience in the cases of identity and financial related transactions. Results of identity theft have direct impact on the credit records of individuals and can also carry substantial costs related to this activity; in addition denial of loans and even convictions for crimes that an individual did not commit is a possible outcome of identity theft on the federal level. Solutions:Identifying all the sub categories of identity theft is outside the scope of this paper, however with a general understanding of how it affects consumers and business, as well as the severity of the issue; the next step is to see what can really be done to minimize the damage. One approach to combating identity theft is the implementation of smart cards into the financial system. These cards are designed to incorporate embedded computer chips that rely on encryption al gorithms to safe guard the information and aid in authorization of transactions and identity verifications.If the technology is properly implemented it can really aid consumers, merchants, banks and others in securing transaction and combating identity theft. In addition it will help lower the costs of fraud prevention and provide benefits in the form of creating a more efficient payment system. Such technology has already seen implementation internationally and have proven to be a much more secure and efficient method of payments. â€Å"Payment smart cards hold the promise to improve the security of payment authorization and help reduce the costs of identity theft and payments fraud.Smart cards allow a range of security options and some issuers have implemented the strongest upgrades, while others have not. (Sullivan 2008) The reduced infrastructure costs are yet another benefit that financial institutions can use in favor of implementing the system in United States. However there are some significant challenges moving forward with this system in regard to adaptation of smart cards by issuers, as well as having the whole industry agree on specific security protocols that will be used in the new smart cards.Identifying the true cost and both hardware and software limitation of the new product is also crucial in preventing adoption limitations. There is also the problem of having criminals shift efforts towards areas of weakness in the security of payments, however due to the lack of competitive advantage in the security standard there is a lack of willingness from the provider’s side in investing time and money. The complex network structure that is required to support the new standards is also a roadblock for implementation and development.Smart cards have the potential to become the new payment authorization standard but at this time they are facing a number of adaptation and development challenges that are discouraging financial institutions from mo ving towards them. Enforcement of physical identification cards to improve security is viable way; however a bigger issue of security and lack of it still takes places in many businesses. In the case of ID cards the outcome of implementing such a system would result in large databases of information that will utilize the technology for identification purposes.The problem here is what goes on behind the closed doors of the organization that houses such large amount of personal data. Part of it has to do with proper disposal of sensitive documents which most consumers don’t shred and even businesses that don’t properly take care of them. Once the information is housed in a database and is protected by firewalls and encryption routines, there is no clear process of how to prevent it from leaving the organization through unauthorized parties, computer theft, loss of physical media or records. †¦there is a significant need to widely implement measures for tracking and tracing identity thieves and fraudsters once a breach has occurred. There are various means of doing so, whether electronic or physical (Gregory, A. 2008). These undercover tracking and tracing agents can log all the activity that is taking place by phone or email and then can be used for verification purposes and zero out any anomalies or breach attacks. This type of tracking can help companies stay on top of the activities that are taking place and even intervene in the process in order to minimize the outcome of the breach or fraudulent transactions.It will also help prevent the amount of complains, loss of reputation and damage to the company and its brand. The database of personal data can become quite large and is continuously exposed to security threats and data corruption, that’s why companies hire consultants to investigate risk and exposures of the database information. Consultants check for compliance with Data Protection Act as well as other required transactional practices. In some cases the database can be subjected to quality assessment and data hygiene as to keep the information up to date and as accurate as possible.The results of the analysis can then be used to create an actionable strategy to manage the databases and maintain integrity and efficiency for both short and long term. An increasing amount of identity theft incidents have also provoked major changes in the financial industry, especially with banking applications and the way that they protect data and ensure legitimate transactions. To insure such security and integrity, financial institutions have integrated biometric technologies such as fingerprint and facial recognition that are mandatory for customers and ensure higher level of security. Biometric methods are based on physiological or behavioral characteristics. Since they take advantage of mostly unchangeable characteristics, they are more reliable than traditional methods of authorization (Koltzsch, G. 2006)† T he usage of such technology that can be so closely bound to a physical attribute of a person is very promising, especially in the financial sector and has been looked at it for the last 10 years. However due to the cost and the complexity on the implementation part as well as inconvenience to the consumer, it has not been as widespread as originally planned.Today this technology is mostly used for standalone applications, such as guarding vaults, high security areas and employee authentication. Customer oriented solutions are still in early development stages and are not fully implemented due to the fear of alienating customers and pushing them away from what they are used to. Another reason for the lack of implementation is the difficulty in standardizing this technology on the international scale. The fear of investing in technology that will not be supported by others is what is slowing the adaptation process down.However due to the rise in identity theft and phishing cases there has been a new movement towards the development of this technology to prevent loss of information and financial resources. Protecting the payment system depends on the adoption of industry standards for data security and implementation of the new digitally aware way to personally identify an individual. Currently the identification process depends on the Social Security Number as we discussed previously, which is one of the main reasons that identity theft still occurs.To be affective in protecting the payment system there needs to be a way to properly monitor the compliance of the system and enforce proper penalties in the case of its absence. Payment system participants can also hold each other accountable for the damage in the incompliance of contractual agreements in place. Due to high litigation costs in the event of identity theft, merchants are now implementing new policies that allow them to discard transactional information much faster in order to prevent its exposure to t heft. Another fairly recent step taken by the private sector is the development of insurance products to cover losses from identity theft. Coverage for consumers is available from several sources, at a cost of approximately $120 per year, and appears to provide minimal coverage against lost wages, legal fees for defending against lawsuits brought by creditors or collection agencies, and select out-of-pocket expenses (Schreft, S. 2007)†. The down fall of this type of coverage is its limitations. Neither type of uch insurances or proposed coverage will really protect against identity theft risk because the financial sector cannot ensure against systematic risk. This results in the loss of confidence in the system all together therefore creating the possibility of users accessing such services less frequently. Imperfections in the ability to protect the consumer against crime, results in having the government oversee the failures and driving it towards protecting the integrity an d efficiency of the financial system. Shortcomings of the SystemTo combat identity theft is an enormous task that even the government is struggling to achieve. The reason for this is time, money and consistency between financial providers and government levels. Several different attempts have been made to provide tools for consumers to identify theft and report it to the institutions. However even though such systems are in place, many consumers complain that even when such theft occurs and notices are placed on accounts, thieves are still able to steal money under fraudulent identities. They are even able to successfully apply for loans when there are errors in the information provided.In addition to that the Credit Bureaus have made it close to impossible for an everyday consumer to reach an actual human customer support representative due to the automated telephone systems that have been implemented. Another reason why the system just does not work the way it was proposed, is the cost that the credit bureaus are enduring with the escalation of identity theft cases. The actual costs of thefts are not reflected on the bureaus since they only provide credit reports and credit monitoring services which consumers buy in most cases even if they have been a victim of theft.The bureaus have no real incentive in helping consumers prevent identity fraud, which is in this case is a conflict of interest for one of the parties involved. This conflict of interests entails in the amount of early revenues that are generates from products such as credit reports and credit monitoring services. The latest offering from the bureaus is an email notification service that notifies the consumers if any changes in the credit records occur and charges a fee for it. One observer has estimated that credit bureaus received $600 million in 2003 from sales of credit reports, credit scores, and credit monitoring services (Hendricks 2003). In such a case the credit bureaus are profiting fr om the sales of preventive service that prevent the client from the theft that the bureau makes possible. Overestimation of losses is also a shortcoming of the system that is geared toward protecting the consumer in the business of financial transaction and identity information. A claim that identity theft is the fastest growing crime in U. S. is what the consumers are being told on the continuous basis.Lately the press coverage of this topic has grown significantly and provided a number of related events that claims an affected population of 4. 6% and losses of more than $60 billion dollars a year. What consumers need to take into account is the $50 maximum liability that is provided by the financial institutions, as well as the fact the media is taking into account information theft that did not result in financial losses to the institutions. Such overestimation are leading many consumers away from doing business on the internet and providing erroneous information, while forcing t hem to implement monitoring services that cost them money.As was covered before, smart cards is viable solution to the new identifiable information problem, however its shortcoming is the same problem as it exists with current financial tools. The exchange of personal information between the consumer and merchant can still result in letting an impersonator utilize the information to initiate a payment therefore making the smart card inefficient at securing the customer. Conclusion Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in United States, and the real reason behind that is the fact technology innovated at a much greater speed than businesses and consumers have been able to adapt to it.Because of that the tools that we use to identify ourselves are no longer safe and need to be updated. On the consumer side a variety of tools are available to protect oneself from identity theft. However the cost of such tools can be a draw back in their implementation. On the business side s tools such as high level encryption, RFID chips and transition standards are in development stages and are planned to be implemented in the near future. Identity cards and centralized databases can be the key to solving security epidemic but are not versatile enough and carry overhead cost during the implementation process.There are many viable solutions to protect both the consumer and the business; the path really depends on cost and time available to either one. Awareness is the best approach to keeping you data safe and secure.