Management Theories and Success in Business

Introduction For any kind of business to be successful, different kinds of management theories must be implemented. In today’s changing business organizations, the major functions of business management need to change as well in order to suit the managerial role. This means that there should be coordination between organization, planning, coordinating and leading roles in any business management set up.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management Theories and Success in Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Management theories The first management theory is the scientific management theory which was developed under a classical point of view considering the large industrialized business organizations. This theory focuses on such organizations which manufacture a variety of products repeatedly. Considering the expenses involved in scientific methods and other technical operations as well as the reluctance on the part of the workers, this theory was developed to control these two situations. Firstly, a large organization needs to divide its operations into small sections to ensure that all employees are aware of their duties. Selection and training of competent personnel for all sections is equally required to ensure quality execution of duty. Monitoring of the operations in all sections should then be done effectively for assurance purposes. Consistent practice of these measures should also be ensured (Heller, 2006, p. 1). Another very important management theory is the administrative bureaucratic theory which defines all the principles of management. It emphasizes on division of labor where specific sections of an organization have their qualified personnel to concentrate on them. Since there is specialization in the different fields, production tends to increase. It also identifies the need of authority going hand in hand with responsibility where leaders are required to effective ly carry out their duties besides giving orders. Respect between employees and the management should as well be ensured. For instance, employees should seek approval from their leaders in a wise and disciplined manner and the leaders should as well respect the employees (Sinha, 2010, p. 1). For any organization to be successful and enjoy full profitability, supervision of its operations should be unified such that only one superior gives instructions. This helps prevent corrupt dealings in the organization. Employees working under a certain section of the firm should be unified and work towards achieving a one goal. Additionally, the employees should put the organization’s interests before theirs all the time. Employees are only loyal and dedicated to their work when they are paid well. It is, therefore, the duty of the management team to distribute fair wages to the employees. Consolidation of power within the organization to ensure that maximum returns are received is as we ll very important. Effective communication from the highest authority to the lowest is very essential is promoting success of any organization (McNamara, 2010, p. 1).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another management theory is the contingency theory where decision making should always be based on the situation that the organization is at during that specific time. It basically involves taking actions depending on the situations at hand. The final and very important aspect of any business organization is the systems theory which unifies a whole organization with the aim of achieving a specific goal for the benefit of all those who are involved. The idea of the system theory is to bring together different units, which may be referred to as raw materials, in an organization such as machinery in order to produce quality outputs. Through provision of quality products, the organi zation is able to maintain its customers and markets (Shah, 2010, p. 1). Conclusion The most important aspect of any organization’s success is the consolidation and cooperation between its management and the employees both aiming at achieving a universal goal. Reference List Heller, R. (2006). Management Theories. Web. McNamara, C. (2010). Brief History of Management Theories. Web. Sinha, R. (2010). Management Theories. Web. Shah, K. and Shah, J. P. (2010). Theories of Motivation. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management Theories and Success in Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on Management Theories and Success in Business was written and submitted by user Damon P. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

buy custom IFRS Implementation in the US essay

buy custom IFRS Implementation in the US essay IFRS is a set of accounting principles and standards, which are developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB, 2009). It has been applied by over 12,000 companies in more than 120 countries worldwide. It is ever becoming a globally agreed system for the preparation of all financial statements for all public companies worldwide. In the US, US.GAAP is majorly used by companies. Recently, however, the G20 group of leaders had decided for an application of significant direction towards the use of one universally accepted accounting standard. US president Obama also reiterated the fact that it is vital for all nations to adopt a single accounting standard. Therefore, the Stock Exchange Commission is busy designing the road plan or roadmap for propelling USA towards the adoption of IFRS. I will discuss the pros and cons of IFRS implementation in the USA and also its costs and benefits almost simultaneously. On the pro side, I will be touching on the fact that with the implementation of IFRS standards in the USA, success in the development of high quality and comprehensive accounting standards have been achieved. The con side will be costs related; whereby there is an underlying concern the financial reporting principles have been drastically pushed downwards and later concealed by obscure uniformity. The conclusion that the uniform financial reporting will enhance inter-firm and cross border comparisons seems immature as it ignores the existing economic and political factors that greatly affect the financial statement preparers incentives, which will then affect the eventual reporting practices (D'Atri Braccini, 2010). The IFRS implementation in the USA is mandatory after the SEC officially reviewed all the regulations and made them to be part of the reporting standards. The accounting standards reviewed have focused on the determinants of relevance, reliability, and quality. The existing accounting standards FASB and IASB are laying strong emphasis only on reliability but IFRS cuts through all the determinants. The first pro of the adoption of IFRS in the US has direct positive effect on both institutional and local investors. This is because IFRS will promote a more comprehensive, accurate and timely information concerning the financial statement, relative to the accepted accoutnitng standards. To the point that these financial statements are not sourced elsewhere, it should enhance a comprehensive valuation of all equity markets hence, making investors to have low risks. Small institutional investors, unlike the professional ones, would be able to confirm the financial statement reports from external sources. Enhancing reporting quality enables these investors to compete favorably with the established investors and thereby reducing risk that they may be engaged with (Jameson, 2010). Through the elimination of global differences in accounting standards and standardization of all reporting formats, the IFRS will eliminate many changes and re-evaluations, which the financial analysts have made in the past to make the companys financial reports comparable internationally. The implementation of IFRS in the US, therefore, will reduce the costs incurred by investors in preparing the financial information. An added gain is that, lowering the costs of preparing the financial reports will increase the efficiency in which the stock markets can incorporate them in prices. Investors are thus expected to benefit from enhanced market efficiency. IFRS implementation will also lower international differences in accounting policies and standards, which aids in the removal of barriers existing in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as they in theory, reward investors with enhanced takeover premiums. Generally, IFRS implementation offers increased and rewarding comparability and thus lowering the information costs due to asymmetric information. It is very important to discuss its evolution from the time it was first implemented. This will enable individuals to appreciate how these accounting standards have transformed the business picture in the US and the rest of the world. Something worth noting is that all companies are supposed to have strict compliance to universally accepted accounting principles (Thomas et al, 2008). The eventual transition of US accounting policy from US.GAAP is basically a factor to be highly regarded by most individuals in the corporate world. The road map to IFRS was initially an idea of Stock Exchange Commission. More than 200 professional letters were eventually handed over to the SEC from users, preparers, analysts, academia, auditors, professional organizations, and other people. Facts and opinions relating the IFRS issues like implementation costs, compatibility, quality, and convergence versus adoption were laid across the spectrum, despite the fact that most individuals realized the importance of quality financial reporting standards for both domestic and external reporting (Wolfgang Piera, 2010). The roadmap reveals a vision or target, that if achieved, would result to the recommended use of IFRS for all US issuers before 2014. This year, the SEC has decided to move with the 2009s proposed plan, which was based on the eventual achievements of marked milestones. During that year, the SEC published many articles revolving around possible effects of IFRS adoption and addressing critical issues raised by academia and authors concerning the mode of implementation. A single set of accounting principles will enhance greater comparability of performance between firms and can enable companies from different locations in the world to use the same standards (Thomas et al, 2008). It also increases transparency, encourages cross-border investment activities, which come with greater liquidity and low capital costs. Adoption of IFRS will also reduce time and costs accrued when preparing financial statements using different standards and policies hence achieving huge savings of investment ca pital in the end. The implementation of the IFRS will remove the inconsistency of accounting information as a result of applying different accounting standards. This will help investors to continue pursuing various strategic policies like global investment diversification. Detailed explanation of these benefits will be handled when I will be dealing with the weight of cost benefit analysis of the implementation of IFRS in the USA.IFRS have varied indirect merits to investors. Since greater information details reduce all risks accruing to less informed investors and those owning shares, it eventually lead to the reduction of the companys cost of capital. This willthen increase share prices and make new firms investments to be attractive, keeping all other factors constant. These indirect advantages come from increasing the usefulness of the financial statements in two or more contracting parties. Enhance level of transparency makes managers to act in consistency with the shareholders interests and aspirations. Moreover, timely recognition of losses in the prepared financial statements enhances the managers incentives to pay attention to the unsuccessful or unprofitable but operational investments more quickly, and thus reduce the undertaking of firms with negative NPVs in future like trophy acquisitions and pet projects. The enhanced transparency and timeliness in loss recognition enabled by IFRS thus, raise the efficiency and suitability of contracting between managers and firms, reducing the agency costs existing between shareholders and managers therefore, ensuring that corporate governance is enhanced (Wolfgang Piera,F2010). The investors gain arises from the fact that managers are improving on their welfare. The indirect demerits accruing to inve stors come from enhancing the usefulness or utility of the financial statements in some firms, which have entered into a contract with other third parties. Adoption of IFRS will lead to positive cash flows to investors. The positive cash flow effects include contracting costs and lowered cost of managerial rent extraction, which is associated with enhanced financial reporting transparency. Investors will be able to get convergence benefits. This will lead to the firms reducing forecast errors and satisfying investor confidence. The more improved transparency assured by the implementation of IFRS would lead to increased efficiency of firms and lenders under contract. This will ensure a constant efficiency of operations in the intra-firm and inter-firm developments (Barry Eva, 2010). On the costs-benefits analysis, IFRS seems to have more benefits than costs if implemented. First, IFRS increases the liquidity of capital markets. Moreover, it reduces the firms capital costs by ensuring the provision of comprehensive information to shareholders about corporate governance. Nevertheless, most scholars argue that the above point is only applicable if the adoption of the IFRS rules and standards will lead to the improvement of reporting quality and the comparability of all reporting practices world wide. Finance and accounting scholars suggest that it is less certain that a transition to the IFRS will bring about substantial effects on the quality of reporting in the USA. US companies have a required obligation to report their figures in a procedure or a given format that is not determined by the accounting standards but also determined by the countrys enforcement effects and legal institutions. All these issues have resulted in high quality reporting in the US. If the factors will not be changed, it is less likely that most US companies reporting issues would become better due to IFRS adoption. The scholars have also concluded that it is not so certain that transition to IFRS will adversely affect the quality and standard of reporting by the American companies since the other forces will take effect (Bruggemann, 2001). The proponents of IFRS implementation suggest that upon the adoption of IFRS in the US, it will result in better comparability of financial reports with other companies in the world. However, the accounting standards are among the factors that influence the companys reporting incentives, hence it will become more doubtful if the implementation of IFRS would lead to tangible economic benefits. If some factors within the firm are different across countries and firms, then the firms reporting policies will be different in some aspects either with or without the implementation of the IFRS standards. Evidence got from other countries and firms shows that there exists a wide difference in the way firms apply and use IFRS and that most firms show a likelihood to use their local GAAP when dealing with accounting formulations and judgments. What is interesting ,however, is the fact that US companies have tried so much to harmonize the difference existing between US/GAAP and IFRS thus, enabling them to make comparisons with other countries financial reporting activities (Commerce Clearing House, 1984). When it comes to costs side, the implementation of IFRS will need support from auditors, regulators, investors, and investors. At the transitional stage, most firms usually make their accounting procedures and policies and provide financial information, which are comparative in nature between the previously used US/GAAP report and the adopted IFRS compliant financial reports. Moreover, companies usually train their employees and other stakeholders like investors and analysts in the preparation and use of the financial reports. The financial contracts with the elements, which are tied to accounting figures would be revisited. In the economic situation prevailing currently, most companies are unwilling to incur all these expenses and costs. One should also consider the long run benefits of IFRS implementation. For instance, most US firms operational world wide would economize a great deal of money by avoiding the costs and expenses of translating all the financial reports into many accounting languages. Therefore, transition to IFRS would ensure that multinational firms belonging to the US maintain and follow a single class of accounts. Even though US multinational firms would reap a lot of benefits due to the implementation of IFRS, it is not so certain that all domestic US firms would garner a great cost savings if they agree to implement IFRS. Additionally, most large firms would be able and willing to absorb all the costs of implementation or adoption of IFRS because these costs are part of fixed component. Firms with the Big Four auditing team will gain because these auditing firms have vat experience in the formulation and implementation of IFRS reports and they rely mostly on global professional network. Having indicated all these factors, determining the overall effect of IFRS implementation in the US reduces to a trade off between costs of implementing the new system and the recurrent benefits or gains of having the ability to do comparison of financial reports over different countries. It also includes the recurrent cost savings got from using a one-line reporting standard for some companies. Scholars show that it is not very clear what the impact of the cost-benefit trade-off will be for a specific company. To some scholars, IFRS implementtation in the US is the right course of action to take if the companies are given choices or a transition criterion that is very dynamic and flexible. The scholars also devised two adoption processes or stages whereby the first stage involves a company voluntarily opting to transits to IFRS or maintain the previous standards. The second stage is where there is a mandatory and universal adoption of IFRS policies and stipulated framework. All the companies are required to switch to this policy(IASB, 2009). The multi-stage process enables companies having low net costs of implementing the IFRS to quickly take the lead and this will furnish investors, regulators, companies and auditors a good opportunity to observe, learn and conclude about how the switching to IFRS affect their performance. For example, auditors or auditing firms will understand how to switch firms to adopt IFRS, which will alternatively lower the costs and expenses for firms that adopt the given standards in future. With time, a host of companies may find it rewarding to make transition, thereby making it less hard to ensure that all firms have followed suit (Barry Eva, 2010). The networks of benefits of one-line accounting standards will be fully achieved if large number of firms adopts the required standards. Thus, scholars observe that Stock Exchange Commission proposals that require a small number of companies to apply the required standards is self defeating, since most economies of scale together with network effects will not be clear for small groups. Given that global markets are ever interacting, the need for clearer and more consistent accounting standards become inevitable. The conversion of US accounting standards to IFRS will benefit the country in a global market perspective. It will enable companies to improve their processes, streamline accounting systems and prevent parallel accounting over the cross border jurisdictions. The greatest concern, however, that arises from the implementation of IFRS is that both the institutional and external investors will be given misleading information to believe that there is a consistent uniformity in the reporting standards, which is not the case. Uneven implementation will lead to increase in the costs of processing the demands of multinational investors (Barry,2010). Another effect of cost-benefit analysis of the implementation of IFRS in the US is that of the implementation costs. According to Stock Exchange Commission, it will cost the government almost $ 8 billion dollars to implement IFRS nationwide. This cost is not reflective of the economic gains to be received as the infant companies who are new to the policies will have to incur recurrent costs to keep the system working. From the cost-benefit point of view, some scholars believe that convergence is more important or is advisable than adoption. IFRS implementation will present many challenges to the US ec onomy as it would result in cost- push inflation. Enforcement of IFRS in the USA and in other countries could pose a serious challenge due to different political and economic settings. Different countries in the world have different political and economic factors and reporting standards hence, harmonizing these factors will be costly and time consuming. Investors look at the introduction of IFRS to be negatively affecting the quality of reporting. This can happen if investors believe that IFRS will not succeed in reflecting regional disparities in economies or maintain the countries varying economic and political features, which can lead to existing disparities in internal domestic standards. Some investors will also believe that upon the implementation of IFRS it may lead to rise in managerial discretions (Krishna Palepu, 2007). The pronounced effects of IFRS implementation in the US have lead to the redistributing consequences cutting across all firms. The effects of comparability of different financial statements prior to the implementation of IFRS will also pause a great challenge. Despite all the costs and cons I have explained, the US willingness to adopt IFRS shows that the country is willing to corporate with other countries for a common good (Abbas,2011). The cost, which could arise here, though insignificant, is that most countries in the world employ different financial reporting standards, which will give problems to harmonization of reporting policies. For nations that have not implemented these policies, it will be very difficult for US multinational firms to operate in these countries because of the existing financial reporting disparity. When the IFRS is implemented in the US, it will increase or enhance corporate decision making. IFRS will lower the existing asymmetry of information, which could have otherwise negatively affected sourcing of external capital. Implementation of IFRS will reduce agency issues as it will provide a trustworthy benchmark, which enables the foreign investors to evaluate the efficiency of the firm(Barry et al, 2010). What needs to be understood is the transition costs incurred. USA will incur a great deal of expenses when formulating policies that will eventually result in the implementation of IFRS. Much as there are existing recurrent benefits, it is worth mentioning that for firms who initially were not conversant with IFRS principles, recurrent costs would also be incurred. This will cause a substantial financial drain to most US companies. Companies will need to adjust their internal accounting framework, train all their accounting officers and ensure that the existing investors and shareholders are notified concerning the changes in accounting standards. For firms, which may not be able to catch up so easily, what is required is that they will have to outsource firms capable of preparing their financial reports commensurate to the IFRS rules and regulations(Krishna et al,2007). The projections indicate that the transition costs per firm average 0.31% of their sales revenue and the bigger firms average stands at approximately $ 700 million dollars. From these figures, it can be concluded that transition costs could average $ 8 billion nationally. These costs are bound to rise if the Stock Exchange Commission reports the data inclusive of all US/GAAP reconciliation costs (Wolfgang,2010). In conclusion, the reflective idea is that US should consider adopting the IFRS policies since not only will it enable firms to have increased investment returns but makes the country to pose financial statistics, which are comparable to those of other countries. This will ensure that there is harmonization of all the accounting principles in order to ensure effective and efficient financial reporting. Buy custom IFRS Implementation in the US essay

From Atlas to Atlanticists

From Atlas to Atlanticists From Atlas to Atlanticists From Atlas to Atlanticists By Mark Nichol Intrigued by a reference to the political term Atlanticism, heretofore unbeknownst to me, I researched the history of the name of the ocean that separates the western and eastern hemispheres. This post defines and discusses these and related terms. Atlanticism, a term coined in 1950, refers to the concept of cooperation between the United States (and, to a lesser extent, Canada) and the countries of Europe, an idea that developed during World War II and was codified in the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. An advocate of the belief that this relationship is fundamental to geopolitical stability is an Atlanticist. The term, of course, is based on the name of the Atlantic Ocean, the body of water that separates North America and Europe. But where does Atlantic come from? That word, in reference to the seas beyond the Pillars of Hercules (a poetic name for the portal of the Mediterranean Ocean), dates to the classical Greek era and derives from the name of Atlas, a Titan who is said to have been condemned by the Olympic gods to hold up the heavens in perpetuity. (Titan is often depicted bearing Earth on his shoulders, but this image is based on confusion of the sky as a celestial sphere with a planetary globe.) This myth is associated with the Atlas Mountains, located in northwest Africa and flanking the southern side of the Pillars of Hercules, which metaphorically brace the sky. Because illustrations of Atlas were often prominently featured on illustrated maps during the Age of Exploration (starting in the fifteenth century), bound collections of maps came to be called atlases. (The origin of Atlas’s name is disputed; it is said to be either from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning â€Å"uphold† or a Berber word for mountain.) Another name derived from Atlas, by way of Atlantic, is Atlantis. This was the name Plato gave to an imaginary island employed allegorically in one of his philosophical commentaries. Unfortunately, later readers misinterpreted this fictional location as a real one, and pseudoscientific speculation has run rampant ever since, to the point that Atlantis is held up as a psychically and spiritually fueled utopia that tragically met its end by divinely caused inundation. (The name for an inhabitant of Atlantis is Atlantean.) Transatlantic (compare transpacific) describes something pertaining to a connection between the western and eastern hemispheres. Atlanta, the name of the capital of Georgia, resulted from the originally suggested designation Atlantica-Pacifica, inspired by the names of the oceans bordering the United States. (The name of the Pacific Ocean is from the adjective pacific, meaning â€Å"peaceful,† ultimately from the Latin word pax, meaning â€Å"peace.†) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before WordsSocial vs. SocietalThrew and Through

Station Nightclub Fire Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Station Nightclub Fire - Research Paper Example The video footage reveals that the smoke of the fire acted as the disincentive for the crowd to break through and the exit blockade acted as the catalyst (NIST Engineering Laboratory, 2011). The first flames were thought to be the part of the act. When the flames reached the ceiling and the smoke began to spread all throughout the club, people realized that the fire is not under control. Within a few seconds after the polytechnics ended the band stopped to play and most band members took the escape route through the west. The fire alarm of the club acutely made everyone aware of the danger while most tried to take the way through which they entered. The massive crowd led to stampede and the exit got completely blocked. This resulted in deaths and severe injuries for the staffs. After the tragedy the Governor declared a moratorium on the displays of pyrotechnic for the venues that can hold less than 300 people. After five months of the accident, the band started a benefit tour. A portion of the generated proceeds were forwarded to the Station Family Fund. The site was cleared and the relatives left a multitude of crosses for the deceased. The members who managed to survive intended to acquire the site and place a permanent memorial. Since the month of May, 2003, nondenominational services started at the fire site on monthly basis. The members of the affected families and the friends who lost their dear ones gathered to take part in the memorial. The Station Fire Memorial Foundation was formed in June, 2003. The purpose of the foundation was to purchase the property and take care of the memorial. The Foundation is still continuing the services on yearly basis. Investigations started to dig out the cause of the fire. The investigation included local and the f ederal agencies. The investigators interviewed the witnesses and visited the scene. The scene was divided

Economic concepts to my personal experience Essay

Economic concepts to my personal experience - Essay Example This paper looks at how some of the microeconomic concepts can be applied to personal life and how they relate to our everyday usage regarding the goods and services. Micro economics is mainly helpful for me in making the decision on switching between the alternatives available for a particular satisfaction. To draw a balance between my budget and prices of the commodity. It certainly helps in buying decision in my personal life. For starters, let us consider the simple fact of buying and selling goods and services. When we want to buy a particular good, there are a host of factors that determine our decision and influence our purchase right from the price of the good to the quality of the good and the competitors for the brand of the product. We measure the utility of the good against the price and then take a decision regarding whether to buy it or not. If we compare the utility value of a good against the price, we would come to a fairly reasonable conclusion about maximizing utility and thus contributing to our decision to buy the good. This applies in the case of many household goods and services and can be used to determine whether a particular good ought to be bought or not. The Microeconomic theory helps in finding answers to the three basic fundamental questions for any business entity in any economy–(1) what to produce, (2) how to produce and (3) for whom to produce in order to utilize the available scarce resources efficiently. That is why the Price theory, Demand concepts and theories of Market structure are the important elements of micro economics. Microeconomic theory studies the economic behavior of individual decision-making units such as consumers, resource owners (i.e. households who provide services to the business entities in exchange of the income) and business firms in a free-enterprise economy. Proper analysis of all these 3 areas of concern helps the business entity to perform efficiently. If the business

History Of Oslo Essay Example for Free

History Of Oslo Essay Oslo is Norway’s capital city. Oslo came from the Old Norse word â€Å"†¦os meaning mountain and lo meaning plain or river â€Å". In other words, Oslo can be described as a place beneath the mountains (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). People of German origin may have settled in the settlements along the Oslo Fjord who moved up to the north from mainland Europe (Zelko 63). The first evident settlement in Oslo was in the 8th century. (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). The first people of who inhabited Oslo lived in â€Å"humble wooden houses with turf roofs† that was surrounded with pens or sheds for goats, sheep and cows (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). Like all the other settlers of Norway, the people were grouped together in the form of a tribe and those who were landowners met with his other landed neighbors in a public assembly called Thing. Legislative assemblies were called Lagtings (Zelko 63). During the Viking age, AD800-1000 Oslo settlers grew rapidly as it had become the center for trade and shipbuilding activities and later it earned the name the† Viking Capital† (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Viking means â€Å"a man from â€Å"Vik†, a huge bay between the Cape Lindesnes in Norway and the mouth of Gota River in Sweden (Britannica 1033). Norwegian Vikings, like other Vikings of Denmark and Sweden, were feared all over Europe as they had â€Å"superior ships and weapons as well developed military organization†. They were basically endowed with extraordinary hunger for adventure (Britannica 1034). Norwegian Vikings were known to be ruthless and brave fighters who killed their victims and greedily loots their conquered settlements and when they were done plundering destroyed the place with fire. They changed the face of Europe as they engaged in raiding and trade and then finally attracted by their conquered lands settled to live there. Their target places were mostly western European countries such as England, Scotland, and Iceland. Their active participation in trading had renewed the neglected European commerce of the middle Ages. Their contact with Western Europe was instrumental for their Christianization and eventually unification of Norway (Britannica 1033). In 885 the first Viking Monarch, Harold the Fair-haired united Norway (Halsey 239). During his reign the settlers of Norway, including Oslo, were commonly engaged in blood feuds, fightings that involve almost, if not all, disagreeing families. Even minor disputes can trigger the killing and maiming of both members of the quarreling families and if not settled can start an endless round of retaliation. The violence can be finally stopped when offending families pay the wronged families which they called â€Å"bot†. Sometimes family feuds were brought to the attention of the Lagtings who will decide the outcome of the disputes and impose penalties. The worst penalty they can give at that time was known as outlawry—a sentence that regarded the offender as if he died already. All his goods were taken away from him and he cannot exercise or claim any legal rights. In fact, anyone can kill him without facing the risk of penalty. These condemned people were left with no choice but to leave their homeland or live in the forest as an outlaw (Tseng 24). In 1050 Harald Hardrade or King Harald III officially founded Oslo and made it the center of southern Norway. This site was located at the eastern side of the harbor on the left bank of the small Akers River (Halsey 239). Harald died in 1066 and his death ended the Viking period as raidings stopped (â€Å"Norway† 2007). Oslo experienced a great era during the reign of Haakon V who was crowned in 1299. He decided to build the Akershus fortress in Olso to serve as his home with his wife Euphemia of Rugens, a Northern German princess (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). He made Oslo the capital of Norway replacing Bergen. This time Oslo and the rest of Norway enjoyed relative peace (â€Å"Norway† 2007). In 1318 Norway was united with the kingdom of Sweden when Duke Erik of Sweden married Princess Ingebjorg, daughter of Queen Euphemia and Hakon V Magnusson. The unification of both countries was officially signed in the Bishops castle; now presently know as Oslo Ladergard (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). The saddest event that occurred in the early history of Oslo was the Black Death that terrorized the world in 1349. It was estimated that half of Oslo’s population died during the time of the Black Death or â€Å"bubonic† plague. Bubonic plague was carried by fleas in rats from England (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Because of the loss of its inhabitants and damage to agriculture Norway united together with Denmark and Sweden via the Union of Kalmar 1397(â€Å"Norway† 2007). During this time Copenhagen, instead of Oslo, was selected as the actual capital of Norway. Consequently Oslo lost it political importance and was only regarded as a provincial administrative center while the kings lived in Copenhagen and Stockholm from 1400-1500 (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). In 1523, however, Sweden dropped out of the union, and weaker Norway was left in the care of Danish Kings(â€Å"Norway† 2007). Part 2 Modern Era Reformation Period Like the rest of mainland Europe, Oslo was greatly affected by the Lutheran Protestant Reformation of 1537 when the German Monk Martin Luther questioned the laws of Roman Catholic Church and sought to reform the religious beliefs of the Europeans. Oslo citizens were engaged in religious conflicts(Thodock 2003). The catholic bishop of Oslo, Hans Rev was converted to Protestantism despite the reluctance of the citizens( â€Å"Oslo:City† 2006). Since Oslo had slightly lost its political and economic importance as a city at this time as it was being ruled by Denmark most of the buildings constructed there was only made of wood so that the city was easily destroyed by fire in 1624. King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway decided to move the town to the right bank of the Akers River and rebuild it near the Akershus Fortress. The city buildings were constructed in a Renaissance city style with rectangular blocks and renamed it Christiania (Halsey). Scientific Revolution The scientific revolution changed the world’s beliefs entirely, and Norway is in the heart of it Religious beliefs were proven to be wrong and questions were answered. Copernicus first with his opinion on the heliocentric theory, Galileo second with proof of Copernicus theory, and Newton third with the laws of gravity to explain how and why the planets revolved around the sun. Enlightenment During the 1700’s the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment flourished in Europe particularly to the Norwegian trading partners of Great Britain and Holland. In these places people were trying to improve their lives with the use of reason instead of following traditional religious or accepted beliefs. Contact with the â€Å"enlightened† British and Dutch affected the daily life of the inhabitants of Christiania. Norwegian traders brought home with them not only the prized cargoes of tobacco, coffee, tea and spices but also enlightened ideas. They constructed luxurious houses with magnificent gardens in accordance with the style western Europe (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). Napoleonic wars At first, Denmark and Norway attempted to remain neutral in the Napoleonic wars between France and England and their respective allies in 1805. However, England attacked the entire Danish fleet in 1807 as a result Denmark joined with France against Britain (Britannica 1034). Britain cut-off trading with Norway and set up a continental blockade against Denmark and Norway wherein British navy prevented the goods from both Norway and Denmark in reaching its trading partners . This action greatly affected the economy of Norway. The export of fish and timber from Christiania as well as the import of grain from Denmark were blocked. As a result, citizens of Christiania faced an economic crisis and suffered hunger. To end their trouble, Britain loosened up its blockade against Norway in 1810-13(â€Å"Oslo† 1991). In 1814 the king of Denmark was forced to give up Norway to Sweden in a Treaty of Kiel when Napoleon I was defeated (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Eager to rebuild their government the Norwegian created its first constitution on May 17 the same year and Christiania became the capital city. In time, Christiania replaced its rival Bergen as Norway’s largest city. The people celebrated with joy as Christiania was expected to reclaim its old glory without giving much thought at first that they were still under the control of a foreigner, Sweden. As a capital city, Christiania once again becomes important politically and economically. For its newly acquired role, new monumental buildings were erected as a venue for important functions. . They were the Royal Palace, Bank of Norway and the stock exchange Oslo Bors. Later, most Christiania citizens joined with the rest of Norway in demanding for a complete control of their own affairs. They did not want to recognize the provisions of the Treaty of Kiel and instead preferred a Danish King to rule them. Because of the political unrest , Sweden was forced to make the Act of Union of 1815,that gave Norway the privilege of having its own army, navy and parliament(Storting) and was permitted to control their own internal affairs in exchange for their strict compliance to the Treaty of Kiel(â€Å"Oslo† 2006). Renaissance Period Because of their internal independence, Christiania’ economic and political power rose. By mid 1800’s, Christiania grew into a major administrative, economic and military center. The economic success brought about by the shipping and agricultural industry made Christiania a dominant economic city of Norway (World Book 1981). The site of rapid industrial revolution in Oslo started at the Aker River around 1840. The development of Industries relied in the electricity provided by this River. Old buildings along the River were demolished and replaced with concrete large textile industrial buildings . Because of the increased jobs offered by industries the population of Christiania increased as peasants and rural populace moved to the cities hoping find work. In the beginning of the Industrial Revolution Christiania’s industrial workers, like most of European industrial cities, lived in poverty since income was low. They mostly lived in crowded houses meant for workers in which sanitation was bad. As a result, sickness was common and spread easily. To augment family income, the children aged below ten were forced to work in the industries, an environment that was not conducive for their well-balanced growth. In fact, industries were noisy and dusty. They caused water and air pollution. Because of this, the health of the children suffered and their resistance to sickness decreased as they lacked the time to play and sleep. In fact, schoolwork was unavoidably neglected (â€Å"Off â€Å"2007). Revolutions of 1848 The political revolutions in Europe in 1848 had increased the desire of Norway to demand for independence from Sweden. In the late 1800’s popular Norwegian playwrights Henrik Ibsen and Bjornstjerne Bjorjornson staged a play in Christiania’s theater with a theme about political hypocrisy, rights of women and social problems. These plays helped Norwegians develop a sense of nationalism. In 1901 the city of Christiania was selected by the notable Swedish inventor, Alfred Nobel to be the site for the awarding of the most prestigious Noble Peace Prize (Lundestad 2001). By 1905 Sweden granted independence to Norway and Christiania at last was freed from foreign interference that began 1300’s (Halsey 240). Industrial Revolution World War One was inevitable due to industrialization and the desire each country had to become supreme. Firstly, relationships between the nations of the world were dramatically altered by the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. Tensions between the industrial powers began to rise. The intensity between the industrial powers grew more and more as each country sought to expand its sphere of influence at the expense of others. Secondly, there was a growing desire by ethnic populations within the larger countries to become independent nations. Norway separated from Sweden and revolts occurred in colonies such as China, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Ireland. War broke out in the Balkans in 1912 and again in 1913, as Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, and Greece fought first the Ottoman Empire and then Austria-Hungary. Lastly, Colonies around the world were a valuable asset for supporting the host countrys economy. The great European powers needed raw materials and outlets for their goods. They wanted to expand into new colonies while still protecting the ones they already had. World War I The economy of Christiania steadily grew until before World War I. When the First World War broke out in 1914 Norway declared its neutrality. However, Christiania benefited economically from the war by carrying British cargoes inspite the loss of Norwegian lives and ships that were caught in the war (Compton 610). After the war Christiania settled back to its normal life. In 1924, Christiania was renamed back to Oslo (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). World War II. On April 9, 1940 Oslo was defeated by the Germans almost with only a slight resistance due the betrayal of Norwegian Officer and Fascist politician Vidkun Quisling who collaborated with the Nazis. As a result, the city was only slightly damaged during the war (Halsey 239). In 1942 Germany installed a puppet government in Norway under National Union leader Vidkun Quisling. However, the Norwegians resisted the Germans and its puppet regime. Oslo became a place of opposition strikes. Other citizens were secretly involved in the large-scale industrial sabotage and espionage on behalf of the allied powers. (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). During their occupation of the city the Nazis used Akershus as a prison and place of execution for those convicted of allied conspiracy and today its the site of Norways Resistance Museum, which provided a detailed account of German takeover and the Norwegian struggle against it (Thodock 2003). The German forces that overrun Norway surrendered in May 8, 1945 enabling the exiled King Hakon VII to return to Norway from London in June. Oslo then began to rebuild its ruin buildings while at the same time prosecuted â€Å"about 90,000 alleged cases of treason and defection†. Convicted traitors faced execution foremost of which was Vidkun Quisling (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). War had been going on for a very long time when it came to The Cold War, the postwar to World War II. After World War II, as the Cold War began two major alliances were created. Although, in World War I a systems of alliances did not work, the systems of alliances that formed after World War II were bigger and they werent buddy-buddy alliances. These two alliances were formed to bring peace throughout the world, to end The Cold War, and to prevent anymore future high scale wars. Toward the end of the war, hostility between Norwegians and the German occupying forces grew considerably stronger. A prime cause was the German withdrawal from all fronts. Retreating German units from the fronts in the north, the USSR and Finland, withdrew to Norwegian territory. In the autumn of 1944, the Red Army followed the Germans into Finnmark, where it liberated Kirkenes and the northeastern areas. As the occupying troops retreated, they ordered an evacuation of the entire Norwegian population in Finnmark and in Troms south to Lyngen. In Lyngen, three German army corps dug in. Then the entire region north of Lyngen was burned and destroyed. The destruction included 10,400 homes, bridges, power stations, factories, fishing vessels, telephone facilities and other types of infrastructure. The scorched earth area was much larger than all of Denmark. After the Soviet Red Army crossed into North Norway, a Norwegian military mission and a small number of Norwegian soldiers from Great Britain and Sweden followed. The Russians withdrew from Norway in September 1945, a few months after the German capitulation.

Beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

In the heroic epic Beowulf, there are various examples of religious beliefs, both Christian and pagan. These examples play a major role in the tale, and include things such as God’s love (Christian) and making sacrifices to several gods (pagan). Explanations of these beliefs are necessary to understand this epic and here six of these beliefs will be discussed, three Christian and three pagan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the many Christian beliefs is expressed at the beginning of the tale, when the creation of the earth is explained. The epic describes creation by saying that The Almighty (God) made and shaped the earth. The explanation given matches that of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. This belief is used to help introduce Grendel and where he came from.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another Christian belief is used when king Hrothgar’s throne is described as being protected by God. Royal possessions, and even royal members themselves, were ordained, therefore pure, clean, and protected. Such practices still exist today. However, only royalty and religious figures are said to be â€Å"ordained†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One last display of a Christian belief is shown at the end of the tale, in which the men are said to have praise to God for the souls of the fallen to be able to make it to Heaven. Many Christians give praise and prayer to God at their beloved’s funeral to help in their healing and give assurances that the souls of the dead will be safe and protected on their journey to Heaven.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only are Christian beliefs displayed in Beowulf, but also pagan practices are used. A first of these is the ritual of sacrificing to the stone gods, the making of heathen vows, hoping for Hell’s support, and the Devil’s guidance in driving the warriors’ affliction off. This affliction was Grendel. Such actions were resorted upon when none of their prayers to God were seemingly answered.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A second pagan exercise is done when Grendel attacks the first Geat, and drinks the Geats’ blood from his veins, and then snaps his mouth shut, killing the Geat. Pagan practices such as drinking of another’s, or a victim’s blood, are believed to give the drinker all the unfortunate’s powers and knowledge. Even more, some believe this act gives the drinker the victim’s soul. Pagans believe this deadly beverage makes them stronger, and in some cases godly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the biggest and final pagan beliefs is given at the end of the epic, when Beowulf’s body is burned. Beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays In the heroic epic Beowulf, there are various examples of religious beliefs, both Christian and pagan. These examples play a major role in the tale, and include things such as God’s love (Christian) and making sacrifices to several gods (pagan). Explanations of these beliefs are necessary to understand this epic and here six of these beliefs will be discussed, three Christian and three pagan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the many Christian beliefs is expressed at the beginning of the tale, when the creation of the earth is explained. The epic describes creation by saying that The Almighty (God) made and shaped the earth. The explanation given matches that of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. This belief is used to help introduce Grendel and where he came from.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another Christian belief is used when king Hrothgar’s throne is described as being protected by God. Royal possessions, and even royal members themselves, were ordained, therefore pure, clean, and protected. Such practices still exist today. However, only royalty and religious figures are said to be â€Å"ordained†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One last display of a Christian belief is shown at the end of the tale, in which the men are said to have praise to God for the souls of the fallen to be able to make it to Heaven. Many Christians give praise and prayer to God at their beloved’s funeral to help in their healing and give assurances that the souls of the dead will be safe and protected on their journey to Heaven.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only are Christian beliefs displayed in Beowulf, but also pagan practices are used. A first of these is the ritual of sacrificing to the stone gods, the making of heathen vows, hoping for Hell’s support, and the Devil’s guidance in driving the warriors’ affliction off. This affliction was Grendel. Such actions were resorted upon when none of their prayers to God were seemingly answered.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A second pagan exercise is done when Grendel attacks the first Geat, and drinks the Geats’ blood from his veins, and then snaps his mouth shut, killing the Geat. Pagan practices such as drinking of another’s, or a victim’s blood, are believed to give the drinker all the unfortunate’s powers and knowledge. Even more, some believe this act gives the drinker the victim’s soul. Pagans believe this deadly beverage makes them stronger, and in some cases godly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the biggest and final pagan beliefs is given at the end of the epic, when Beowulf’s body is burned.

Thorn Queen Chapter Eight

Kiyo was gone the next morning, as I'd suspected he would be. We'd stumbled inside to my little-used bedroom once it started raining, and his side of the bed was cold, telling me he'd left some time ago. I sighed, trying not to let the knowledge of him being with Maiwenn get me down, and headed out to see what was going on in Queen Eugenie's domain. The first thing I picked up on was that everyone was really excited that it had rained. We'd returned to normal sunny conditions this morning, but last night's rain had brought the land to life. Cacti bloomed. The trees seemed stronger. And while there were no ostensible signs of excess water, I could sense it in the ground and even slightly in the air. Had having sex caused it? Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, I was pleased with my good deed. I made motions to leave, but Rurik stopped me. â€Å"Don't you want to question the prisoners?† I paused. What I wanted was to go home, shower, and change into clean clothes. â€Å"Can't you do that?† I asked. He frowned. â€Å"Well, certainly, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But it should be my job. That was the unspoken message. I suspected Aeson would have never done such a thing. He would have left it to thugs. I knew if I delegated it to Rurik, he'd do it without (much) complaint. There was something in his eyes, though, that told me he expected more of me than an ordinary monarch. I'd never expected to gain such regard from him-or to feel so uneasy about it. Rurik had pissed me off to no end in the past, but suddenly, I didn't want to disappoint him. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"Let's do it.† I'd interrogated plenty of monsters, gentry, and even humans in my day. But there was something weird about interrogating prisoners. It was strange enough to learn that I actually had a dungeon in the castle. There were even shackles on the wall, but thankfully, our two prisoners weren't bound. They were a man and a woman, both ragged and sullen. He looked my age; she looked older. I entered the bronze-barred cell, Rurik and another guard behind me. I crossed my arms over my chest and swallowed my misgivings. I was Eugenie Markham, badass shaman and slayer of Otherworldly miscreants. This was no different from any of my other jobs. â€Å"Okay,† I told the prisoners, my voice harsh. â€Å"We can make this easy or hard. Answer my questions, and it'll go a lot faster and smoother for all of us.† The woman glared at me. â€Å"We don't answer to you.† â€Å"That's the funny thing,† I said. â€Å"You do. You're in my land. You're under my rule, my jurisdiction.† She spat on the ground. â€Å"You're a usurper. You stole the land from Aeson.† Considering the way power was always shifting in the Otherworld, I found that statement ludicrous. â€Å"Everyone's a usurper here. And in case you haven't heard, I didn't steal the land from him so much as blow him up.† Her face remained hard, but I saw the slightest flicker of fear in the guy's face. I turned to him. â€Å"What about you? You going to be reasonable? Are you going to tell me where the girls you kidnapped are?† He nervously glanced at his companion. She gave him a hard look, its message easily interpretable: Don't talk. I sighed. I didn't want to resort to torture. All-powerful ruler or not, it was just an ugly thing I didn't want to dirty my hands with. I had a feeling my iron athame pointed at their throats would go a long way to get them to communicate. Instead, I opted for another solution. Producing my wand, I stepped away from the others and spoke the words to summon Volusian. The momentary cold descended upon us, and then the spirit stood before me. Rurik and the guard were growing accustomed to this, but the prisoners gasped. â€Å"Volusian,† I said. â€Å"Got a task for you.† â€Å"As my mistress commands.† I gestured to the prisoners. â€Å"I need you to put muscle on them. Get them to talk.† Volusian's red eyes widened slightly, the closest he ever came to looking happy. â€Å"But you can't kill them,† I added hastily. â€Å"Or hurt them-much.† The pseudo-happiness disappeared. â€Å"Start with the guy,† I said. Volusian sidled across the cell and was only reaching his hand out when the guy cracked. â€Å"Alright! Alright! I'll talk,† he cried. â€Å"Stop, Volusian.† The spirit stepped back, his glum expression growing. â€Å"I don't know anything about girls disappearing,† the man said. â€Å"We aren't taking them.† â€Å"You've been preying on people,† I pointed out. â€Å"And girls have been vanishing near your base of operation. Seems kind of suspicious.† He shook his head frantically, eyeing Volusian warily. â€Å"No, it's not us.† â€Å"Have you heard of them disappearing?† â€Å"Yes. But it's not us.† His words were adamant. â€Å"Yeah, well, I find it hard to believe they're all running off. If it's not you, then who is it?† â€Å"You're a fool,† the woman snapped. â€Å"What would we do with a group of girls?† â€Å"The same thing men usually use girls for,† I replied. â€Å"We can barely feed our own people! Why would we take on more mouths to feed?† That was kind of a good question. â€Å"Well, you still haven't really given me another explanation.† â€Å"We heard a monster's doing it,† the man blurted out. â€Å"A monster,† I repeated flatly. I looked over to Rurik who simply shrugged. I turned back to the prisoners. â€Å"Any details on this monster?† Neither responded. It was strange, particularly considering how some prejudiced part of me still regarded most gentry as dishonest, but I believed them about not taking the girls. I thought the monster explanation was bullshit, but they might honestly have believed it to be true. Volusian took a step forward without my command, and the guy hastily spoke. â€Å"The monster lives in our land. In the Ald-Thorn Land, that is.† â€Å"How do you know that?† I asked. â€Å"Because only girls from the Thorn Land have disappeared,† the woman said. â€Å"Westoria borders the Rowan Land, and two of their villages are very close. Skye and Ley. But they've had no one go missing.† â€Å"You guys seem to know a lot about this for allegedly not being involved.† â€Å"We don't need to be involved. We raid both sides of the border-word gets around.† She spoke of her raiding as a matter of pride, and I tried not to roll my eyes. â€Å"Okay. Let's put the girls on hold. Where did the fire demons come from?† No answer. I sighed again. â€Å"Volusian.† Volusian swiftly moved forward again and wrapped his hand around the guy's throat. Most spirits had little substance, but with his power, Volusian was as solid as any of us, his touch cold and deadly. The man screamed and crumpled to the ground. â€Å"Stop! Stop!† yelled the woman. â€Å"I'll tell you.† I halted Volusian and looked at her expectantly. The man remained on the floor, rubbing his throat and moaning. The skin on his neck bore bright red marks. The woman looked angrier than ever. â€Å"It's our leader who summons them. Cowan.† â€Å"You expect me to believe some vagrant has that kind of power?† I asked. â€Å"Why isn't he off working for a noble?† â€Å"He was a noble, one of Aeson's advisors. He preferred to live a rough life, rather than work for someone like you.† â€Å"Aeson did have a noble named Cowan,† Rurik said. â€Å"Her story isn't implausible.† I suddenly felt weary. None of these were the answers I wanted. No leads on the girls, and now I had a rogue noble who could summon demons. â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"That's all I've got for now.† â€Å"What are you going to do with us?† the woman demanded. â€Å"Another excellent question,† I murmured. â€Å"Aeson would have killed them,† said Rurik. â€Å"And you know I'm not Aeson.† Would setting them free accomplish anything? Much of what they'd done had been from hunger and desperation, not that that justified robbing and potentially killing and kidnapping. If I freed them out of guilt, I doubted they'd learn their lessons and go on to become upright citizens. I certainly wasn't going to kill them, though. I didn't even want to hold them in this cell much longer. The guard who'd accompanied Rurik cleared his throat. â€Å"Your majesty, you could sentence them to a work detail.† â€Å"A work detail?† â€Å"There are others like them, other criminals, who serve a term doing labor as punishment for their deeds.† â€Å"Like digging your aque†¦whatever,† said Rurik. That didn't sound so bad. And hey, it might actually be useful. I gave the order and was assured the two prisoners would be transported to their work site. The whole thing felt a little strange. Here I was judge, jury, and-if I chose-executioner. No one argued with my decision. No one questioned the time I set-six months. Although, Rurik's arched eyebrow made me think he would have sentenced them to life. â€Å"Okay,† I said when we'd emerged out of the lower levels of the castle and I'd sent away Volusian. â€Å"Now I'm going home.† Shaya suddenly rounded the corner. â€Å"There you are,† she said anxiously. â€Å"I've been looking for you.† â€Å"I'm leaving.† Her face turned confused. â€Å"But Prince Leith is here to see you.† â€Å"Who†¦oh.† The image came back to me. The moderately cute guy from the party. The Rowan Queen's son, who hadn't been all that annoying. â€Å"Why is he here?† â€Å"After your last visit, I dispatched those with any affinity for metal out to search for copper. They found a lot of it-thought it's been difficult to extract-and I sent out word that we'd be in a position to set up trade for it soon. Leith is here to negotiate on behalf of his mother.† â€Å"Man,† I said. â€Å"You guys move fast.† Her looked turned wry. â€Å"Well, yes, but there's also the fact that you invited him to visit sometime. He's taking you up on the offer. In fact, I suspect seeing you is more important than the trade negotiations.† â€Å"Good thing. Because I'm not so good in the way of negotiations.† I never wore a watch and had left my cell phone back in Tucson. I had no idea what time it was, only that I was spending more and more time in the Otherworld. Seeing Leith was only going to delay me further. â€Å"I'll see him. But it's going to be fast.† Shaya looked relieved. I think she'd worried I would bolt, which was a very good fear to have. As we walked to the chamber Leith was waiting in, she gave me a curious look. â€Å"Perhaps you'd†¦like to change and clean up first?† I looked at my clothes. They were pretty badly wrinkled, and I didn't doubt that I had grass in my hair from last night. â€Å"No,† I said. â€Å"The less appealing he finds me, the better.† Unfortunately, that proved impossible. When we entered the room, Leith leapt up, face aglow with delight. â€Å"Your majesty! It's so wonderful to see you again.† He swept me a half-bow and kissed my hand. â€Å"You look amazing.† He was apparently into the grunge look. â€Å"I hope you don't mind me arriving like this. When my mother heard the news of your find, she wanted to make sure we could get in on it as soon as possible.† â€Å"Sure,† I said, taking my hand back. â€Å"No problem.† The room was a comfortable parlor that still bore the signs of Aeson's tastes in decorating. Tapestries, lots of velvet, and dark colors. Everyone waited for me to sit on one of the plush sofas and then followed suit. I made a point of kind of sprawling on mine. It wouldn't have been out of the range of gentry etiquette for Leith to come snuggle up beside me. As it was, he was still beaming at me and seemed a bit put out when Shaya jumped right in. â€Å"So, your highness. We'd like to discuss trading our copper for your wheat.† As they began to talk, I had a sudden flashback to that god-awful board game my mother used to make me play, Pit. I let my mind wander as the two of them hashed out the finer details of matters I didn't entirely understand. My thoughts drifted to some upcoming jobs I had, the mystery of the demons and the missing girls, and of course, Kiyo. Always Kiyo. Leith and Shaya wrapped up their negotiations fairly quickly. From the happy look on her face, I took it our team had come out ahead. With a polite bow in my direction, Shaya rose, holding some papers to her chest. â€Å"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to have these written up and formalized so that the prince can sign them before he leaves.† I took this as my cue to entertain him, but nothing readily came to mind. I couldn't really talk to him about reality TV or American politics. Finally, lamely, I said, â€Å"Thanks for your help. I mean, with the trade and everything.† He grinned. â€Å"We're getting as much out of it as you. Maybe more.† â€Å"Shaya didn't seem to think so,† I said, speaking without thinking. This made him laugh. â€Å"She's a good negotiator. You're lucky to have her.† He leaned forward. â€Å"Especially since I'm guessing this really isn't your†¦well, let's just say it's not one of your normal pastimes.† The frankness caught me by surprise. I'd expected him to remain starstruck and silly, like most of the guys around here who wanted to hit on me. Leith's current expression wasn't lecherous or adoring now, just knowing and sympathetic. â€Å"No, it's really not. This is a kind of a big life change.† â€Å"And yet, you knew you'd be taking this on when you defeated Aeson.† I hesitated. Both Shaya and Rurik had hinted to me on a number of occasions that I really shouldn't elaborate on the totally unexpected-and unwanted-nature of my queen-ship. Even if I hadn't fought Aeson with the specific intent of supplanting him, the point remained now that I was stuck with this. Coming across as weak and whiny to those outside my inner circle could create more problems. â€Å"Well, yeah,† I said brightly. â€Å"We just didn't anticipate this many problems when the land changed.† â€Å"But this is how your world is?† â€Å"The part I live in. But we've had a long time to get used to it and figure out ways to survive and get water in. I gave Shaya books on how to construct some of that stuff, so hopefully she'll find someone to do it.† His brow furrowed. â€Å"Is there any way I could take a look? I might able to help.† For a moment, I wondered if this was his new ploy to schmooze me-until I recalled what Shaya had said about him having a brilliant mind for technology, inasmuch as the gentry could. If he could parse diagrams and whatnot, it might be worth getting closer to him. â€Å"Sure,† I said. â€Å"We could certainly use it.† He smiled again, and as it lit up his face, even I could acknowledge he was pretty good-looking. Not like Kiyo, of course. Or even†¦well, like Dorian. But pretty cute. â€Å"I'll set to it as soon as I can. If there's anything else I can do to make this easier for you, I'll do it.† There was an enraptured look on his face. Yeah, he definitely had a crush, but he didn't irritate me in the way so many other more obnoxious suitors did. An odd thought occurred to me. â€Å"Leith†¦here's something you might be able to help with. Have you ever heard of girls disappearing from the Rowan Land? In the areas that border my land?† The look on his face showed that this was the last question he'd expected from me. â€Å"I†¦beg your pardon?† â€Å"Girls have been disappearing from my land, right near your borders.† What were those names? â€Å"Skye and Ley. But the people I talked to say nothing's happening to your girls. Do you know anything about this?† He shook his head, utterly confused. â€Å"No†¦I'm afraid I don't know very much about the lives of those people.† Leith's words weren't contemptuous by any means, but there was an implication that villagers and peasants just weren't people he associated with. It reminded me of Rurik's comments about how Aeson would have never troubled himself to investigate bandits or missing girls unless they directly affected him. Leith wasn't as much of an asshole as Aeson, but he and his mother were likely just as out of touch as any other noble. I think a fair amount of disappointment must have shown on my face because he suddenly grew eager to make me feel better. â€Å"But I swear, I'll look into this when I return. I'll ask Mother, and we'll send messengers out to report back. I'll find out everything I can for you.† I smiled at his enthusiasm. â€Å"Thanks, Leith. It's really great of you to help.† â€Å"Helping a pretty queen is no trouble at all. By the way, have you ever thought about getting a crown?† We talked a little longer, and I found he actually was a really nice guy, given to moments of humor and intelligence. It wasn't enough for me to jump into bed with him, but I appreciated finding someone else to connect with in the Otherworld. Shaya returned at last with the paperwork-hand-printed on scrolls, of course-and while Leith signed, we got a hold of the engineering books for him. His eyes widened with delight, and I swear, he probably could have sat down and started reading then and there on the floor. Instead, he took the hint that I had other things to do, and after many more compliments and hand kisses, he took his leave. â€Å"You've given him another open invitation,† Shaya pointed out. â€Å"Yeah, I know. But he's harmless. I like him.† â€Å"None of them are harmless, your majesty.† I couldn't entirely tell if she was joking or not. â€Å"Well, it'll be worth the hassle if he can solve our water problem and help with the girls.† â€Å"The girls?† I gave her a quick recap of my interrogation with the prisoners. Her face turned thoughtful as she processed my words. â€Å"Skye and Ley†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Do you know those towns?† She nodded. â€Å"They and Westoria are configured in a way that places them equidistant from a gateway. A crossroads.† â€Å"What, to my world?† She nodded again. â€Å"Huh. I wonder if that's a coincidence. I wonder†¦I wonder if it's possible that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  One of my crazier ideas came to me. â€Å"Do you think those girls could be leaving and going to my world?† â€Å"I don't know. Shining ones do often cross over. It's not unheard of.† â€Å"Yeah, I know. To cause trouble. Or to steal women.† I had to fight a scowl on that one. My own mother had been one such woman, abducted and forced to be my father's mistress. â€Å"You think these girls are going to go kidnap guys so they can have kids?† The easy ability to conceive was why so many humans got kidnapped. Usually, it was gentry men taking human women. Shaya's smile turned wry. â€Å"I somehow doubt it would come to that. Women have been known to cross over, spend time in your world, and return pregnant. They don't need to bring the men back.† Fair point. Well, this was certainly a weird development. I'd have to wait and see what Leith reported back, but I supposed if these girls weren't actually being abducted†¦well, there was little for me to do. Admittedly, I'd always fought adamantly against gentry sneaking to the human world, but I wasn't sure where the right and wrong of this situation lay. â€Å"I guess that'd be easier to deal with than a monster taking them. Still leaves that stupid demon problem.† I sighed. â€Å"Well, one issue at a time, I guess.† â€Å"Are you leaving now?† â€Å"Yes. Finally. Thanks for handling this today.† â€Å"Of course,† she said. She actually sounded like she meant it. Her pleased expression turned momentarily hesitant. â€Å"Although†¦there's something you should know. Someone else responded right away to the trade offer.† â€Å"That's good news.† â€Å"It's Dorian.† â€Å"Oh.† Of course Dorian would respond. How could he stay away from an opportunity to put me at his mercy? â€Å"You can deal with it, though, right?† â€Å"Well, that's just it. He's specifically requested that you talk to him. At his home.† â€Å"What?† I stared. â€Å"He†¦he can't do that.† That wry smile of hers returned. â€Å"He's a king. He can do anything he wishes.† â€Å"Yeah, but Leith came here! Dorian just wants me to go to him so that he can taunt me.† And no doubt flaunt Ysabel in front of me. â€Å"Leith's kingdom needs copper more than Dorian's. I suspect Dorian is doing this as a personal favor to you.† â€Å"That's not exactly how I'd put it.† She shook her head, the amusement now warring with exasperation. â€Å"I know there's tension between you, but I suspect if you could be nice to King Dorian, he might make us a very generous deal. One that could help us immensely.† A generous deal. The Oak Land was flourishing. I didn't doubt they had all sorts of food and other items we could use. I thought about those poor people in Westoria and even about my prisoners who'd spoken of having too many mouths to feed. I sighed. â€Å"Fine. I'll talk to him. And I'll even be nice.† I started to turn away, needing more than ever to get back to my own home. Then I glanced back behind me. â€Å"But Shaya? Just to be safe, you might want to keep looking for more trade partners.†

Fruits and Seed Dispersal

Fruits and Seed Dispersal Nicole Saylor Meiko M. Thompson BIO 115 11/25/12 In this essay I will be answering questions about fruit and as to the reason why things are the way they are†¦ First up is some fruits are sweet and some are not is because, â€Å"Actually, the taste of a fruit depends on the compounds  present in it. Normally a fruit contains the  materials  like cellulose, proteins, starch, vitamins, certain acids,  fructose  or sugar. All these  materials  are found in mixed form inside the fruit and they have different proportions in different fruits.Fruits of  sweet taste have more  fructose  in them  whereas  the  fruits of  sour taste have more acids in them. † (Gemini Geek) so this means that the more or less acid a fruit has then more sweeter or more sour it will taste, and that all means something with no taste really to is to say to have no acid , or sugars that would give it a particular taste. The next in line is that the ri pening of a fruit and the seed dispersal go hand in hand in such a way that when a fruit ripens it is a signal from production mode of a seed to the dispersal of a mature seed that is ready to become another plant to create the dame cycle over again.To help explain this for example, â€Å"n dry fruits (cereals, nuts, dandelions) ripening consists of desiccation and is considered maturation. Ripening in fleshy fruits is designed to make the fruit appealing to animals that eat the fruit as a means for seed dispersal. Ripening involves the softening, increased juiciness and sweetness, and color changes of the fruit. Fleshy fruits are either climacteric or non-climacteric. Climacteric fruits produce a reparative burst with a concomitant burst in ethylene synthesis, as the fruits ripen. These include fruits with high degrees of flesh softening, like tomato, banana, avocado, peach etc. (Lecture 17)So we see that in this process of ripening and seed dispersal are that it is the plants way of making sure that the seeds that it produced to carry on and make more fruit plants or trees happens by making the fruit itself more appealing to animals which will at and then later disperse the seeds. The next question to address is how do we play a role in all of this and how do we effect it basically. Well we humans affect this natural process when we take over the land and granted that plants were here long before we were and before animals were.So plants have been able to grow without our aid if fertilizing the soil and etc†¦ For example, â€Å"Unlike colonist plants, the deep forests of our planet are largely independent from us. They don’t need us to prepare the ground or disperse their seeds. Plants, after all, colonized dry land well before animals did, and were doing quite well, on their own, before we arrived. Some kinds of trees need little help from animals of any sort. Because they don’t need our help, these trees have little to gain by feeding us. This is why we often find that there is relatively little food to be had in mature forests.You can’t eat wood. †(Kyle Chamberlain) So see plants were reproducing before animals and us but granted when animals came along it did make the seed dispersal process a lot easier. As far as I can see that a seed does not use sugar or starch for its metabolism unless it developing then yes. Because when a seed is developing it needs these to grow into a mature seed that can be dispersed, but since this seed has become mature and is dispersed then it start growing and producing its own sugars and starches from the light and dark process of photosynthesis.References The Gemini Geek (2012). Why Are Some Fruits Sweet While Others Are Sour? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www. thegeminigeek. com/why-are-some-fruits-sweet-while-others-are-sour/ Iowa State University (2012). Lecture 17 [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www. public. iastate. edu/~bot. 512/lectures/seed&frui t. htm Chamberlin, K. (2012). Disturbance Ecology – The Human Habitat Project [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://sites. google. com/site/humanhabitatproject/home/disturbance-ecology

Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Essays

Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Essays Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Paper Transportation in Elizabethan England Research Ppr Paper Woodward Academy Quotation Notebook Spring Semester, Second Quarter Huston T. Collings English 8H-2 March 29, 2010 Collings 1 Transportation is one of the most important parts of society today and even five hundred years ago. In Elizabethan England, travel was very basic, just feet, hooves, and wheels on cobblestone streets (Singman 86). Ships were also very important to travel and colonization, for England is an island nation (Time Life Ed. 132). Many towns were put on navigable rivers just to make travel easier because many people in this time used rivers and oceans for transportation and sometimes delivery of goods (Singman 85). The most important components of transportation in Elizabethan England were land travel, sea travel, and streets. The first, land travel, was not very effective. Usually people had no need to travel, so most travelling was for professional or military reasons; but, during the Elizabethan era, tourism had evolved, and many people started to travel for fun. Most people would just walk on foot to places nearby. Usually if one was traveling by foot, one would only make about 12 miles per day, and this is why people would use horses. Horses could travel up to four times more than walking alone (Singman 89-91). If one saw the average English family traveling by horse, the man would ride on a horse; and the women and children would ride on baby horses (Dodd 142). When people were in a hurry, they would travel by post. To travel by post, people had to rent Collings 2 horses at each post-house set up along their route. If they were traveling alone, they would also have to hire a boy to take the horse back to the last post-house. This was originally meant for royal business only, but many wealthy people liked to ride by post because they could cover up to seven imes more ground than they could with a horse alone (Singman 89). Only the very rich would rent coaches or carts (Dodd 143). This was not a very good means of transportation because the coaches had no springs and made an extremely rough ride with cobblestone streets and unpaved roads (Singman 89). Long rides in coaches were sometimes even described as a â€Å"bone-jarring experience [especially] on rough Elizabethan road ways. †(W agner 306-307) Since the roads outside London were so bad, coaches were mainly used in London for short distances because the ride was so rough (Wagner 306-307). One of the very important parts to land transportation was delivery of goods. This was very important to the economy as well as the well-being of the English people because if they did not receive needed goods, they could not survive. Carts could carry massive volumes of goods, but packhorses could only handle about two hundred pounds (Singman 89). Since the roads were very dangerous from highwaymen and footpads, or robbers on foot, many travelled in bands of men with weapons handy to protect their goods (Dodd 145). Overall, this all shows that land travel was not the best way to travel in Elizabethan England. Collings 3 Next, there was another way to travel for people in Elizabethan England that was much more effective and efficient, sea travel (Dodd 157). In fact, many towns were put on navigable rivers to make travel easier (Singman 85). Although only one fourth of the ships were general merchant and trading ships and the rest were military ships, they still vastly helped England get many exotic goods and more land. Before anyone did any exploration past the surrounding oceans of England, many told myths that one would be swallowed up by a whirlpool if one sailed past the English seas; and, if one made it past that, one would crash on an island infested with demons. Later, some found that these myths were false, but others still believed them (Dodd 157). During this period, affordable bridges had not been invented yet so the only way to get across the larger rivers, like the Thames, one had to ride â€Å"wherries† or boats that carried people across rivers (Singman 90). In medieval and Elizabethan England, there were few ships that the king or queen actually owned. When they needed to move troops across sea or fight wars on water, the king or queen â€Å"collected a navy from port towns that owed [them] ships as part of their feudal service and from merchants who leased [them] their trade vessels† (Wagner 205). Commercial ships of the time would mainly carry a few guns, and war ships were very similar except they were narrower, and some of the larger ones could get much bigger than any commercial ship (Singman 90). Most ships had three masts, but some could have one or two and were made for trade. There were hundreds of names for different ships including pinnaces, Collings 4 barks, and galleons. A merchant ship of about one hundred feet would have exceeded two hundred tons of carrying capacity. Most English ships were built in England, but some were acquired from abroad by purchase, capture, or legal seizure (Friel). Whenever a person had to travel across seas, there were no passenger ships so one would have to rent passage on a cargo ship. All ships were very slow if traveling by sail and would only go about four to six knots (Singman 90-91). Queen Elizabeth changed the boats for warfare and made them platforms for large guns instead of platforms for troops (Wagner 206). Life at sea was very hazardous. A person aboard a ship was always at risk of a pirate attack, a Spanish attack, and disease. Bigger ships were much better at surviving an attack because they had more guns and men. As for diseases, every man was at risk. In a ship, there were cabins for senior officers, and normal sailors had to sleep in tight and bad conditions. In warships there would be hammocks, but this was rare for any other type of ship. Kitchens were deep in the ship, extremely rudimentary, and sometimes known as the unhealthiest part of a ship. They only served salted beef, pork and fish, cheese, pease, a baked vegetable dish made with split yellow peas, spices, and ham or bacon, butter, and hardtack with a mug of beer. Rats were very common on ships even if the ship was kept as clean as it could get. When they died and Collings 5 secreted wastes, they made a horrible smell on board. The kitchen conditions and rats helped diseases spread rapidly (Friel). Overall, if one was willing to take the risks, sea travel proved to be much more effective than all other types of travel of the time. The last and arguably the most important part of travel in the Elizabethan era were streets. They were known as a right for people to go in the queen’s land. England had no national road system, just hopeful injunctions. Many streets were dangerous to travel on because of the highwaymen and footpads that were on the roads ready to attack (Dodd 140-145). Most streets were just gravel or dirt, but some were paved or cobbled. Dirt streets would become a sea of mud when bad storms came and made travel extremely hard. Cobbled and paved roads were very rare and mainly found in London. In 1543, the government wanted the streets to become better; therefore, they forced homeowners to pay for the pavement of the streets on which they lived (Picard 30-31). Many of the streets were narrow and crooked and evolved from footpaths in medieval towns. Some were carefully directed, but most were not wide at all. They became very murky at night, and some were lighted but only because of a homeowners concern, not the government. The street conditions were absolutely horrible, and the only way to get very far was by horse (McMurtry 95-110). On Leicestershire roads, â€Å"‘you enter the deep clays, which are so Collings 6 surprisingly soft, that it is perfectly frightful to travelers. ’†(Williams 2-3) Roads were noisome and tedious to travel on and were often just a foul and noyful slough (Williams 2-3). Streets were very hard to keep in an average condition. The English government left upkeep of roads up to a local parish according to the Act of 1555. Each parish was elected as a volunteer surveyor for a one year term. After the elections, each parish had to work on the roads within his or her area for eight hours a day, four days in a row. Every single owner of land had to fix their carts and keep up with their oxen and horses. Then they had to help the parish and fix up the roads with their own spades, picks, and mattocks, but they were allowed to hire two laborers to help them (Dodd 140). Streets were generally awful and hard to travel on but without them land travel would have been pretty much impossible. Land travel, sea travel, and streets are the most important factors of transportation in Elizabethan England. Even though land transportation was very basic, just feet, hooves, and wheels, it was important to the Elizabethan lifestyle (Singman 86). Sea transportation was even more important because without it and colonization, America would not have been discovered (Time Life Ed 132). Transportation has been in use ever since the first man could walk and has always played a major role in helping society. Collings 7 Dodd, A. H. Life in Elizabethan England. Ruthin: Jones, 1962. Friel, Ian. â€Å"Guns, Gales God. † Vol. 60 Issue 1 historytoday. com/MainArticle. aspx? m=33787. History Today, 2010. McMurtry, Jo. Understanding Shakespeare’s England. Hamden: Archon, 1989. Picard, Liza. Elizabeth’s London. London: St. Martin’s, 2003. Singman, Jeffrey L. The Life and Times of Elizabethan England. Westport: Greenwood, 1995. Time Life Ed. What Life was Like in the Realm of Elizabeth. Alexandria: Time Life, 1998. Wagner, John A. Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World. Phoenix: Oryx 1984. Williams, Penry. Life in Tudor England. New York: Capricorn, 1964.

Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program

I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire. I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure. Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was willing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that what he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time. In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda. A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough, ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities. Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authentic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressive marketing to ensure that its membership increased. The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud. This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To conceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of the Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence. WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few. I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of directors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them. I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience. 2.   What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program? I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary’s School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the third best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA. Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire. I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure. Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was willing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that what he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time. In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda. A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough, ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities. Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authentic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressive marketing to ensure that its membership increased. The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud. This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To conceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of the Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence. WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few. I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of directors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them. I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience. 2.   What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program? I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary’s School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the third best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA.