Nursing Board Examinations Scam: Impact to Practice

The â€Å"American Dream† is in the hands of all nurses around the globe as the U.S. is now facing a chronic nursing shortage with a projected RN shortage of more or less 800,000 in year 2020 (Buerhaus et al., 2000). The shortage of nurses that the U.S. healthcare industry needs to fill up hits hundreds of thousands as the shortage continues despite rising wages of nurses. The health care industry has bemoaned the nursing shortage for more than a decade, and that more will be needed for additional patients as the Baby Boom generation ages. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected in 2005 that more than 3.1 million registered nurse jobs would be available by 2014, which would add an additional 700,000 new jobs for nurses (Moore, 2007). The United States has ramped up its importation of foreign-trained nurses mainly sourced from Africa (mainly Nigeria and South Africa), India, Canada and the Philippines (Vujicic, 2004). U.S. hospitals and health care agencies choose the Philippines because the country is a former American colony with school curriculum based on the American education system, classes are taught in English and nurses earn a four-year bachelor's degree, sometimes more than what American nurses obtain. Thus, the learning curve for Philippine-trained nurses in the United States is minimal (Jenkins, 2003). The Filipino nurses’ work ethics is the primary reason why they comprise 83 percent of foreign nurses in America and are the most preferred by hospitals, doctors’ clinics and care homes according to U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) (Bondoc, 2007). The Philippine Nurses Association of America (PNAA) reported that there are around 90,000 Filipino nurses in the United States. Every year 12,000 to 14,000 Filipino nurses migrate to the U.S. (OPS, 2007). Nurses’ licensing examinations is offered abroad to bring more foreign-born nurses to the U.S. and help alleviate the acute nursing shortage that is crippling American health care. Most of the foreigners taking the mandatory U.S. licensing nursing exam came from the Philippines, India, Canada, Nigeria, Korea, United Kingdom and Commonwealth of States (formerly USSR) according to National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Of those, more than half were from the Philippines, which educate thousand more nurses than what the country needs (Friess, 2002). The U.S. is a net importer of medical and nursing professionals from the Philippines. The issue on the June 2006 nursing board exam leak in the Philippines has snowballed, settling on a query to Filipino nurses’ credibility and ability in the provision of health care and safety to American Community, not only to solve nursing shortage crisis in America. This paper discusses the important issue of irregularities in nursing board exams. After introducing the topic, a discussion on the essence of nursing ethics is made. The next section briefly presents the recent Philippine Nursing Board exam to the U.S. nursing practice, followed by a critical analysis on this issue. The summary, conclusions and recommendations are presented in the last section. In Respect to the Nursing Insignia The nursing insignia, although it disappears, the meaning still embarks the true identity of the nurse in the nursing practice as a health care provider with caring attitude possess knowledge symbolizes by the nursing cap, the crowning glory of intelligence and the uniform is a picture perfect of purity and cleanliness living with ethics and morale which are molded inside the nursing school. Although the profession of nursing is as ancient as medicine, and may have the greatest right to the Cup of Hygieia as its symbol, most of the nursing tradition use a lamp or candle, which is not only in memory of Florence Nightingale, but which represents the light of knowledge, the central emblem of quality health care. The level of knowledge of nursing graduates is measured by nursing board exams—a licensure examination to eligibly practice the nursing profession. The exam regulates the legal nursing practice as a profession by assessing the basic nursing level competency which considers the objectives of the nursing curriculum, the broad areas of nursing and other related disciplines and competencies. The integrity of foreign licensing systems ultimately affects the health and safety of patients in the United States, a primary consideration of CGFNS in its role in evaluating candidates under U.S. immigration law (The Manila Times, 2007). Impact of Philippine Nursing Board Exam Leakage to U.S. Nursing Practice The Philippines is the leading source of nurses to the United States, with several thousand Filipino nurses migrating there each year. However, the U.S. National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) delayed their approval for the Philippines’ accreditation as a testing center of the U.S. National Commission on Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nurses. The shelved application is caused by the direct repercussion of the nursing board exam leak scandal. It capped two hours of grilling earlier on Philippine assurances of exam security and housecleaning after fraud marred its own nursing board tests last June 2006 (Bondoc, 2007). The United States Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) obliged all Filipino nurses with 2006 licenses, who wished to work in the US, to retake the two sets of tests that investigators said were leaked to several nursing review centers in Manila, the Philippine capital (Cabreza, 2007). The retake of the tests is to allow nurses who passed the leak-tainted 2006 nursing board and are wishing to work in the United States to secure UV Visa-Screen certificates as required by the CGFNS (Rodis, 2007). The Philippines’ status as one of the world’s top producers of nurses could be threatened as it significantly tainted the credibility of Filipino nurses abroad due to the recent examinations irregularities. The scandal allegedly involved leakage materials of the June 2006 Philippine nursing board examinations of at least 200 questions. Some members of the nursing board were accused of receiving bribes from the owners of nursing review centers in exchange for leaking some test questions (Asian Pacific Post, 2007). Sometime after the board exam was held, the whistleblowers who exposed the said irregularity wrote to the PRC in June 2006 to report that handwritten copies of two sets of examination were circulated among examinees who took their review at a particular review center during the actual examination period (Cabreza, 2007). The initial charges were made by students who said that the president of the Philippine Nurses Association, who apparently is the owner and director of a nursing review center and a nursing school, had given the exam questions to students who had taken his coaching classes with the final coaching   at SM Cinema in Manila (The Filipino Express Newspaper, 2007). Many of the whistleblowers who exposed cheating have decided to take a new licensure test to remove the stigma of the scandal (Cabreza, 2007). Only 68.96% (9,198) have passed the nursing board retake out of 13,338 nurses who voluntarily retook, concluded that the quality of education is becoming a real issue, especially in light of the recent cheating/leak in the said board exams (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2007; Rodis, 2007). After the said disclosures were made, officials and industry experts cautioned that the country's status as one of the top sources in the world for nurses would inevitably be adversely affected (Conde, 2006). In fact, this scandal has already demonstrated far-reaching impact on Filipino nurses—aside from some untoward incidents regarding racial discrimination in primetime American shows—indicating that such scandal inevitably involved the entire Philippines. For one, one episode of the hit ABC series â€Å"Desperate Housewives† involved Teri Hatcher insulting the Filipino community when she malignly depicted that Philippine medical schools are producing substandard, inferior and—worse—inept medical practitioners. Another is Jay Leno’s similar remark on his late night show â€Å"The Tonight Show†. Unfortunately, the above incidents gave rise to some political humors across America. A Critical Analysis The nursing board exam leak scandal in the Philippines brought legal, ethical and political issues confronting professional nursing today, including in the U.S., as the Philippines is its prime source of manpower to address the ever-escalating shortage of nurses. Better compensation packages—or simply a better life for the nurse and her/his family—have been achieved notwithstanding ethical and moral of standards of nurses everywhere. The Philippines has had a long history of corruption and low standards of ethics especially in politics and business. The Philippine nursing schools’ â€Å"diploma mills† and review centers, for years, have been earning significantly, capitalizing on the nursing shorted in the developed world. In a country where cheating with impunity has become the norm rather than the exception and where remittances from â€Å"exported† skilled professionals literally keep the economy afloat, the leaks that marred the last nursing board exam and the desperate effort to preserve the examination's credibility in the aftermath were bound to happen. The issue of the scandal is the issue of pathetic dreamers who damage the long-untainted credibility of the nursing institutions in the new era in spare for some cheap dollars. That there was a leak in the Board of Nursing exams is nothing more than a symptom of the nation's deep cancers. However, the response of the academe, the Board of Nursing, the NCLEX, the CGFNS, the hospitals, the physicians and the other professionals abroad could form part of the cure. In fact, indications are that there is a collective effort of many quarters to do directly address the issue. For one, the resignation of the president and the vice president of the Philippine Nursing Association and the Board of Nursing would properly set the tone for reforms within the nursing practice as well as in the academe. The report that some prestigious hospitals, clinics and recruitment agencies around the globe would not accept Nursing graduates from 2006 unless steps were taken to ensure that they indeed are worthy of the title of ‘Registered Nurse’, and the battle being waged by deans of prestigious nursing schools to stop the Philippines’ Professional Regulation Commission from administering the professional oath to â€Å"successful examinees† until the issue is resolved, all provides some sense of hope that there are still many among who refuse to allow precious nursing institution from prostituting itself. This is not an accident that this resolve has come from those involved in caring for people's health. It reflects a sentiment now sweeping across the country and other concerned countries among health professionals. It has little to do with dollar remittances and the promise of a good life. Hence, this battle to preserve the integrity and credibility of the nursing board exam is much more than that. It goes beyond making sure that the nurses who assist in the operating room or administer medicines to patients don't end up doing harm, although this is a big part of the issue. The battle is but a part of a bigger struggle to restore decency, integrity, and honor in country long-plagued by political instability and economic woes. The nursing insignia is being deprived of its cleanliness and purity of morale and intelligence. The white uniform is being stained with the filth of dishonesty and devious acts of betrayal to the nursing profession as the profession of cleanliness and purity. The light of knowledge taught by nursing schools has been diminished with darkness and blindness in the search for greener pastures. The real oppression is to the successful examinees who did not cheat, the hardships should not been paved with shame just because they are being called to participate in something beyond themselves. The only way cheating can be avoided in the future would be if those investigating the leak could pinpoint those who benefited from them and have only these persons retake the subjects. Needless to say, the perpetrators must be punished. It was Gandhi who said that â€Å"our values become our destiny.† What will happen to the destiny of those nurses with prejudiced values and what will happen if those nurses will hold the health of the American community? What will be the destiny of the American health care system if the healthcare provider’s credibility remains a big question? The nursing exam scandal is an opportunity to rediscover and reclaim the values that have been forced to be denied and even discarded—just for the sake of surviving. This unfortunate scandal can, however, prove to be one of the greatest blessings for this nation, because it might finally drive home the point that there can be no true progress and success unless they have their hearts in the right place. Call it a counterculture of sorts, or simply a natural reaction to anything in excess. But the fact is that all over the Philippines, doctors, nurses and other health professionals are starting to heed the call to be more than just healers. There is a growing realization that Filipino nurses must use their professions to help begin a revolution of the heart from the bottom up. It might be the only way to eventually force genuine change at the top. Summary, Conclusions & Recommendations The American Dream, the reverie of greener pasture in the land of milk and honey, has driven the perpetuators to commit the crime against nursing profession and the morality. The opportunities brought about by nursing shortage and nursing exodus has forced the nursing system failures. The quality of nursing education is becoming the real issue as there are 460 nursing schools in the Philippines and 50 of which have already been ordered by the Professional Regulation Commission of the Philippines to be closed down as nothing more than diploma mills (Rodis, 2007). The exam fraud was but a part of the bigger problem of nursing. And there is also the issue of poor education. Schools, cashing in on a surge of enrolments from news of a nurse shortage in America, were churning out around 80,000 graduates per year. But only 32,000 or so are able to pass the board test, and only 2,000 easily get jobs in top hospitals (Bondoc, 2007). The nursing shortage is not the number one problem in America, but if one takes a closer look, this may arise to a greater problem of hiring half-baked nurses. The illicit release of exam questions in the Philippines is an indication of deeper problems plaguing the Philippine health care system. Desperate to pass the nursing exam and work abroad, many students easily fall victim to such scams.   Diploma mill nursing schools and review centers have exploited this desperation and will do anything to compete for more students and more profits. In the end, the quality of nursing education, profession and the whole health care system suffers. Nurses in the United States involved directly or indirectly in the recruitment of nurses from the Philippines should consider only candidates with a minimum two- to three-year work experience and completely desist from hiring fresh graduates. By doing so, the Filipino nursing community in the United States would help ensure the continued flow of only qualified and well-trained professionals into the American healthcare system. References Asian Pacific Post. (2007). Filipino Nurses' Exam Scandal. Bondoc, J. (2007). NCLEX in Manila Open by Mid-Year. ABS-CBN Interactive. Buerhaus, P.I., Staiger, D.O. & Auerbach, D.I. (2000). Implications of an Aging Registered Nurse Workforce. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 2948–2954. Cabreza, V. (2007). Whistleblowers in 2006 Nursing Test Leak Take New Exams. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Conde, C.H. (2006). Cheating on Exam Taints Standing of Philippine nurses. International Herald Tribune – Asia Pacific. Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2007). Results of June 06 Nursing Board Retake Out. Friess, S. (2002). U.S. Looks Abroad for Nurses. USA Today. Jenkins, C. (2003). Filipino Nurses Make a New Life in a New Place. St. Petersburg Times. Moore, J.L. (2007). Nursing Wages Rise, Shortage Continues. The Morning News. Office of the Press Secretary, Philippines. (2007). Declaration of RP as NCLEX Testing Site Hailed as a Triumph for Filipino Nurses. Rodis, R. (2007). The Nursing Scandal. Philippinenews.com. The Filipino Express Newspaper. (2007). Court Asked: Stop Nurses’ Oath-taking. The Manila Times. (2007). U.S. Nixes VisaScreen Papers for June ’06 Nursing Board Passers. Manila: The Manila Times. Vujicic , M., Zurn, P., Diallo, K., Adams, O. &   and Dal Poz, M.R. (2004). The Role of Wages in the Migration of Health Care Professionals from Developing Countries. Human Resources for Health, 2, 3.

Global Inequality Caused by Consumption

Core issue: consumption causes global inequality. Global inequality is the inequality in distribution of income and wealth between rich and poor countries. A concentration of wealth is in the hands of very small number of people. A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. The bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.According to the wealth concentration theory, those who already hold wealth have the means to invest in new sources of creating wealth or to otherwise leverage the accumulation of wealth, thus are the beneficiaries of the new wealth. Over time, wealth condensation can significantly contribute to the persistence of inequality within society. This correlation between being rich and earning more is also contributed by plutocracy: t he ability of the rich to influence government disproportionately to their favor thereby increasing their wealth. This unjust global trade regime as a primary cause in increasing global inequality ————– Wealth and poverty make life different in a host of ways. health, education, literacy, child labour, employment, gender, political participation, higher level in countries with higher income Compare their economic productivity–>classify countries.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) & Gross National Income (GNI) The World Bank uses GNI per person to classify countries. Low income (P559) For example, workforces in China, much of which is well trained and educated and now receive extremely low wages-sometimes less than one-twentieth of hat workers earn in comparable jobs in the developed countries. These institutionalised inequalities result in greater marginalisation within society. The report emphasises the inevitable social disintegration, vi olence and national and international terrorism that this inequality fosters. Ironically, the diversion of social development funds to national/international security and military operations produces further deprivation and marginalization, thus creating a vicious cycle.

Decision Making and Enron’s Control Essay

Introduction – Students, analysts and critics of modern business practice will always consider the colossal Enron collapse as an important text book case about how a lot of different things inside the company can trigger a nearly overnight downfall of a once prestigious company. If there was any Cinderella story in the world of blue chip trading and high portfolio business, Enron was the ultimate opposite, if not the witch herself who was killed by her own lethal potion. The Enron collapse resulted in the formulating of many different opinions pointing to the many different possible reasons why Enron – with all the promise and potential that it has a few years before it went south – made the nosedive that made it one of the worst disasters in the history of trade, commerce and business. There is no doubt that most of the opinions that surfaced explaining the reason why such an eventuality befell Enron placed the blame on the wrong things that the top management echelon did for the company; they are after all the one which is responsible for the present and the future of Enron. Critics looking at the Enron debacle scrutinized what happened leading to the collapse using many different perspectives and considering many different factors, both in the professional capability of the company’s leaders as well as the impact of the surrounding factors beyond Enron’s control. One of the most important facets in the debate regarding the fall of Enron is decision making. Evidently, a lot of wrong decisions were made, with one every wrong decision acting as a building block that eventually became an insurmountable wall of consequences all borne out of wrong or faulty decision making processes that yielded results that did the company more harm than good. Indeed, the decision making linchpins significant to the establishment of the case that the Enron collapse was due in some extent to the decision making aspect of the leadership strata of the company can be identified easily as it is scattered throughout the timeline of Enron’s very near and not so distant past leading to the eventual fall of the company that hid behind the faà §ade of the building the ugliness created by the qualities of its leaders that caused the chaos that burned down Enron down to meager, worthless ashes. This paper will pick the significant moments wherein the decision making capabilities and abilities of its top management leaders were at play and use these moments to establish the ethical and other considerations coming to play during the analysis of the decision making efforts of the leaders and why the outcome of such exercises led to the fall of Enron and not towards the company’s betterment, which is the main task of the company’s top executives. The paper will utilize these occasions to stress its argument regarding the role of effective, ethical and sound decision making of top executives leading to either the success or bankruptcy of companies, in this case that of Enron, and discuss key aspects of this line of thought. The paper will not criminalize the actions of the executives of Enron; rather, it will infuse inputs from other professionals regarding important aspects in the discussion of corporate decision making (ethics, result-orientation, etc). Background – Various angles have already been explored by many different individuals every time the topic of analysis is Enron and its collapse. Because of this, the paper is moving to focus on an aspect that is focused more on Kenneth Lay and the rest of his top executive clique’s personal characteristic that could have played an important role in the outcome of Enron’s operation. Decision making is both a personal characteristic as it is a professional credential, even an asset. Some people are being paid handsome amounts of money for their ability to transform decision making moments into an opportunity that provides a positive result and expected outcome for the company. Ehringer (1995) puts it simply: ‘The ability to make good decisions is the defining quality of our lives’ (Ehringer, 1995, p. 1). When Lay, Skilling, Fastow and other Enron bosses were placed in their respective positions, they were expected to exercise a high level of intuitiven ess, business acumen and professional foresight so that every decision making opportunity is met with the company’s best interest long term and short term in mind. They were where they were because those who placed them there believed that they can make decisions to which the company can benefit from. When Enron collapse, many people and organizations criticized the questioned the decision making capabilities of the top executives – was the collapse an effect of the result of the decision that they made? Was the decision made putting the benefit of the company and the employees first, or are the decisions shaped so that it benefited them first? How bad was the breach in the ethical considerations that a professional should take every time he or she makes a decision that puts the future of the company on the line? These are just some of the questions that may also be present in the minds of those who followed the Enron case. Sure there were varying degrees of deception and fraudulent acts from the part of many select individuals who sinned against Enron and its employees, but these cases would have been minimized or even averted altogether if the important decision making privileges was limited to a select few, or if the future-altering decision making capability is disseminated largely among a huge group of people that can provide a check and balance system for Enron. Roberts (2004) explained that ‘ if it is possible for others to make the decisions for a unit, then new options arise to design the decision-making process as well as the incentive schemes to get better performance on both dimensions. For example, the design might specify that a decision about a project arising in one unit that affects another would be implemented if and only if both units agree to it,† (Roberts, 2004, p.151). Enron is an energy trading firm which was performing well in the early part of its existence. By the s tart of the 21st century, the problems that the bosses were trying to hide from the public and from the employees started to stank. Soon, events unfolded like dominoes falling one after the other as a consequence of information spilling out into the public’s attention. Before 2004, the public already had a clear idea about how Enron bosses were supposedly the one responsible for the defrauding of the employees and their company shares and other benefits, as well as the one responsible for the bankruptcy of Enron. One by one, key company officials stepped out of the light and implicated a new name, which will in turn implicate a much bigger name, until the dragnet sent out to see who was accountable for the fraudulent acts in Enron caught its top bosses, including Lay, Skilling and Fastow. Many individuals faced criminal charges, and many more simply went home not just jobless but are robbed of lifetime investments which Enron bosses manipulated and soon lost because of the wrong decisions they made on how to run the company and make it prosper and grow. Examples of how Enron management made wrong decisions during decision making moments abound in the history of the company. Take for example what happened in 1987 – instead of declaring the $190 million loss the company experienced, they concealed it instead, leading to criminal charges. This habit of Enron for opting to conceal losses instead of declaring it became a dangerous vice; when Fastow was aboard Enron, the same outlook affected the decision making of Enron, leading to increase in pile of cases wherein Enron through its top management consciously made actions that defraud the employees and the public. There was also the case of poor public relations by Enron which fanned the flames of panic that removed any possible opportunity for Enron to remedy the financial situation without creating hysteria that saw many stockholders selling their stocks due to the continued falling of the stock value of Enron. Statement of Problem – The most important decision that Enron’s executives faced was not the decision on whether or not to publicly announce about the bankruptcy; in fact, there was no decision making factor during that instance since the predicament of the company has already been decided regardless of what the top executives might have opted for: they were flat out broke and the public needs to know about this, that was the situation. The true decision making moment for Enron’s bosses was the time when they were deciding what the best option to take is with regards to the financial aspect of the company, including taxes, earnings and financial loses. It was a matter of facing a decision making task that provided the Enron bosses with two options – to do the right thing, or to opt for something that is morally and ethically inappropriate. The decision reached in this particular decision making instance was laced with the hope that the option they took would be free from serious repercussions and give them enough time to fix it all up again. Unfortunately for Enron, things did not work out as planned, and the criminal liability of the Enron bosses stemmed from the fact that they decided to do something which they consciously knew was detrimental to the welfare of the Enron company and its employees. During that particular instance, Lay could have opted to do the right thing and faced the consequences – by coming clean, he may have a more sympathetic public to support him in whatever efforts he may wish to undertake to revive Enron, and not be faced with the collapsing stock value since those who can sell theirs sell it in a frantic phase to rid themselves of the stock of the company which is nearing imminent bankruptcy. This showed how the people do not give second chances to those who squander their decision making privileges by making decisions bereft of the consideration of the good of the greater many. Decision making – John Hintze (2006), in his discussion about making smart decisions during decision making, used the case of the Enron collapse to open his discussion and establish the fact that problems are something that is foreseen, something that happened nonetheless owing to bad decision making. Hintze wrote, ‘should we have seen 9/11 coming? What about the Enron collapse? The Signs were there; people pointed them out, but the appropriate steps were not taken by those in a position to do something. Why is this? Politics? Greed? Those certainly contributed, but there was something else at work here, too: A failure of common sense in decision making’ (Hintze, 2006, p. 123). Enron: Bad decision making – Nothing can prove more about how bad the decision making went inside Enron camp more convincingly than the fact the company transformed from prosperous to poor overnight. This was the general characteristic of Enron through the traits shown by its leaders that reflect the Enron personality. There were earlier discussions in the paper about snippets on instances pointing to Enron’s penchant for making bad decision or for going to the resolving of a problem utilizing an option that is more questionable. Fox (2004) explained that ‘Enron believed that its expansion into international projects were positive initiatives simply because they put the company in more potential markets. In truth, Enron made bad business decisions that weren’t supported by the deal’s economics. The bad business decisions piled up, stretching from India to Brazil, pressuring the company to do something about its finances’ (Fox, 2004,p. 307). At least at this point, Fox is not pointing at the unethical aspect of the Enron decision making machinery, just the fact that they made decisions that were bad for the future of the company, but not to the extent of deliberately sabotaging the company or putting the company in danger with all known risk for personal gain. For Fox, it was a bad call plain and simple. But the matter of the fact is that not everyone sees it the way Fox does, and there are those who believe that there were ethical breaches in the decision making in Enron among its top bosses. The (absence of) Leaders in decision-making – Decision making in retrospective is one of the common line of thinking used when investigating events that led to growth or debacle. It is because decision making played an important part in shaping the future of the company; it is here where the foundation, or lack of it, was created via the decisions the bosses made or failed to make. To trace the problems or mark significant actions resulting from decision making which eventually resulted to either the success or failure of the company, it is not only the decision making events that are looked back to; the persons that made them were also put under the microscope, and among the qualities scrutinized is their decision making ability and their other characteristics that affect their decision making attitude and behavior. Professionals debate about the idea of a good decision, a bad decision, good intentions and bad intentions and how the good and bad effect that comes into play afterwards account for the overall accountability of a person wielding the power to make decisions that will have a tremendous impact on the future of the company, something which happened in Enron via Lay, Skilling, Fastow and the rest of the top figures of the company. Acuff (2004) explains that ‘if they make a decision that might not have been the decision I would have made, and the y come and talk to me about it, we look at it and discuss it. There are a lot of different ways to skin the horse. I don’t go saying my idea is the only one that will get you where you want to go. I hold people accountable for good decision-making. If a bad outcome results from a bad decision – that’s a problem. But if a bad outcome results from a reasonable decision, then that’s business, and it could happen to anyone† (Acuff, 2004, p. 187). This was the predicament of those who are trying to evaluate the decision making actions of Enron top executives – did they make decisions, even bad decisions – with the sake of the company in mind, and gambled with their careers because they know that if their plans and actions go well, it is extremely beneficial for the company, in a very Machiavellian approach towards getting things done regardless of the means by which they did it, or were they just plain guilty of fraudulent actions? People who are burdened by the decision that impacts a lot of people is not always amenable to taking the high and moral grounds, that is why the adage about the end justifying the means, about getting things done at what ever cost, about delivering against the odds became popular because of people like the Enron bosses who (probably) acted upon their decision making duties by risking what can be a popularly bad decision. Indeed, it may be easy or even convenient for most people adversely affected by the Enron collapse to attribute the colossal corporate debacle to the top management figures of the company by criticizing their decisions as well as their faculty for sound decision making. While it is true that Enron’s top executives are responsible for the collapse of the company, it is not that easy to measure the level of ethical decision making attributes of Enron’s top brass. Goethals et al (2004) pointed out that â€Å"the complexity associated with ethical decision making and behavior, especially as it applies to leadership and the workplace, makes the construct extremely difficult to research†, adding that â€Å"Measuring an individual’s level of ethical decision making is challenging, particularly because the measurement instruments that are available have problems with priming and social-desirability effects; that is, questionnaires or other similar modes of data collection cue respondents to give answers that they believe are socially acceptable rather than answers that truly reflect their own actions or opinions (Goethals et. al., 2004, p. 461).† Proof of which is the fact that all of these executives in question are career corporate leaders even before they joined Enron; their credentials played an important role regarding their selection for a corporate position as high as theirs. Because of this, as well as the factors that affect the credibility of the ability for identification of the real public pulse regarding the persons involved in the issue, ethical decision making levels of the persons involved is hard to ascertain, making claims for questionable ethical decision making consideration of the people lose important ground and stand on insufficient set of stable legs for proof and justification. Still, there are those who believe that the level of ethics that influences the decision making capabilities of the Enron bosses are without a doubt questionable, and this includes Mimi Swartz and Sherron Watkins who was quoted in the book edited by Kathy Fitzpatrick and Carolyn B. Bronstein. In the article, it mentions about how Swartz and Watkins â€Å"blame Ken Lay, former CEO of Enron, and other company executives for privileging greed and arrogance over ethical business decisions† (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, p. 179), the gist of the published work co-authored by the two individuals. Nalebuff and Ayres (2006) wrote that ‘the problem often arises because people ignore the costs and benefits that their decisions have on other people. We call this approach â€Å"Why don’t you feel my pain?† The more technical term for these effects is externalities. Decision makers who ignore externalities are bound to make bad decisions† (Nalebuff and Ayres, 2006, p. 67). This explanation greatly tarnishes the ethical value of the decision making ethics of Enron bosses because it shows that they are prone or inclined to make decisions even if the result of such decisions lead to negative effects that other people will experience. Niskanen (2005) believes that Lay, one of the top bosses of Enron, â€Å"should be judged on the basis of his personal actions, directions to subordinates, or the actions of subordinates that he implicitly condoned by knowing about it without attempting to correct – not on the basis of what he should have known† (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Lay’s condoning of actions is a result of a personal and professional decision that he made – or failed to make – and because of that, Niskanen believes that Lay is answerable for any criminal charges that would result from that particular action (or inaction). Watkins was thinking of the company and its employees and their future and hers as well, when she made the decision to let her superiors, particularly Lay, know about the possible accounting problems and the making public of the current and real financial and trade status of the company. This clearly illustrates the difference in ethics when it comes to decisio n making. Decision making, ethics and public perception – Decision making in business is not merely a power or a privilege that one can use at will without thinking of the consequences that might happen should the decision resulted into something that is considered as adversely negative and detrimental to the welfare of the employees, their jobs and the company they work for. Those who are provided with such amenity to go along with their job description should consider that it is also their responsibility to make sure that their employees and subordinates do not think that they are squandering away their decision making privilege and everything that goes along with it. This was the prevailing attitude or outlook of the Enron employees especially nearing the imminent collapse of the company. The absence of ethical consideration resulted to the losing of the credibility of the bosses of Enron because they were not careful with how they undertake their decision making tasks. While bankruptcy is something that is very difficult to accept and impacts greatly in the lives of the employees especially the rank and file blue collar workers, there is a sense of adding insult to injury during occasions wherein the employees are starting to realize that all of the unfortunate things that happen in the company and in their careers are all a result of the faulty, incompetent and unethical decision making of the top management echelon and not because the company was helpless in the onslaught of a devastating economic problem, like how companies closed down during the Great Depression despite the efforts of American businessmen to keep the different industries alive and breathing. During the collapse of Enron, the US is experiencing a very stable economy far from that which characterized US economy during the Great Depression, and is shielded securely from the impact of whatever it was that was happening in the global economic and business landscape, and so during the Enron collapse, the collective finger was pointing an accusing index digit to Enron bosses and majority of the cause of their indignation originates from the sloppy decision making capabilities of Enron bosses who lost their credibility the moment they lost Enron. Brazelton and Ammons (2002) wrote in the book they co-wrote: â€Å"The Ethics Resource Center conducted a survey in 2000 in which it learned that 43 percent of respondents believed that their supervisors are generally poor examples of honest managers, and the same number were pressured to compromise their own integrity or that of their organization during decision making. The survey also identified a strong connection between employees’ perceptions of their supervisors and their own ethical behavior (Brazelton and Ammons, 2002, p. 388).† Enron decision making: the two-pronged factors – It can be pointed out that one of the problems that happened to Enron is the ineffective of decision making among top executives – first, their top executives failed to make correct decisions when they are required to do so, and second, Enron was not fully complimented with a set of professionals which could have contributed to the decision making process, and in the process provided the possibility of infusing new or different ideas that could have altered the outcome of the decision making process. Fitzpatrick and Bronstein (2006) did not look exclusively on Enron’s bosses and the decisions they made in the management of Enron and the company’s money and asset, rather, the two editors focused on the absence of a key top managem ent personnel and took the presence of such a void as a sign that Enron is not even prioritizing the welfare of the company and its employees. The book Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy, which includes the Enron case as one of the important case studies to point out the importance of the role of public relations, explains that â€Å"perhaps the governance of these companies was such that they did not care about their publics, and did not want the advice of senior-level public relations officer playing an active or dominant role in organizational decision making† (Fitzpatrick and Bronstein, 2006, pg 179). Conclusion – Niskanen (2005) summed up the Enron case on its characteristic of thriving in bad decisions made by its corporate leaders by saying in the book that ‘the most important lesson from the Enron collapse, however, is that Enron failed because of a combination of bad business decisions, not because its accounts were misleading’ adding that ‘the major business decisions that most contributed to its collapse were a series of bad investments, most of which were in the tra ditional asset-rich industries; the failure to reconcile two quite different business models; and the decision to focus management objectives on reported revenues and earning rather than on the present value of future cash flows’ (Niskanen, 2005, p. 6). Are they poor in decision making, or was the decision making adversely affected by other concerns and priorities outside of Enron that the results of the decision made for Enron looks like those who made the call did not even think about how this course of action will affect Enron? There are no sufficient proofs to point that the case was the latter; for a company that became seventh all in all in the Fortune 500 at least once, it is unthinkable how there will be conscious efforts to sink the company by making wrong decisions, deliberately or not. The point of the paper is not the assertion of the guild of Skilling, Lay or even Fastow, it’s the establishing of the point that decision making, when not handled properly, can turn even the most profitable company into a nose-diving wreck in a short period of time, that decision making plays an important role in how a person defines his or her life and how he or she leads a company and that because of these factors, no one should have an excuse why decision making was taken lightly and without much thought or care. All the people can see is a group of people who made wrong decisions several times, the resulting web and how they got trapped in that web, that is assuming that there was no malice or hidden agenda that the bosses perpetrated in lieu of Enron’s collapse. In the end, only Lay (now deceased) and the elite circle of the Enron executive clique will be the ones who would really know about the truth regarding ethics and the decision making in Enron leading to th e collapse of the company. Many would ask, and some would presume, the reasons as well as the level of guilt of these leaders when it comes to breaching the ethical requirements needed when undertaking decision making for a company. Regardless, the decisions they made created far reaching ripples and altered the lives of many individuals who invested not just their time, strength and life’s savings into the company but as well as their but as well as their faith and trust, which are not in shattered pieces because of the bad decisions that Enron executives made. Crawford (2006) further elaborated on the pointed by explaining that ‘bad decisions by a major company, however, cause major disruptions for all of the company’s stakeholders’. He pointed at the case of Enron as one of his examples, saying that ‘the Enron disaster, as one example, certainly had devastating impacts on the lives of most of Enron employees (including the middle managers and professionals who invested in the company-sponsored Enron 401[K] plans) and also caused suffering for many individual investors who purchased Enron stock on the open market. Thousands of other Enron stakeholders, including Enron’s suppliers and customers, also suffered,’ (Crawford, 2006, p. 26). Indeed, Enron’s decision making had a hand in how the company turned out to be. References: Acuff, Jerry and Wood, Wally (March 2004). Relationship Edge in Business: Connecting with Customers and Colleagues when It Counts. Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated. Brazelton, Julia K. and Ammons, Janice L. (September 2002). Enron and beyond: Technical Analysis of Accounting, Corporate Governance and Securities Issues. CCH, Incorporated. Crawford, Curtis J. J. (November 2006). Compliance and Conviction: The Evolution of Enlightened Corporate Governance. XCEO, Incorporated. Ehringer, Ann G. (June 1995). Make up Your Mind: Entrepreneurs Talk about Decision Making by Ann G. Graham. Silver Lake Publishing. Fitzpatrick, Kathy, Bronstein, Carolyn B. (May 2006). Ethics in Public Relations: Responsible Advocacy. SAGE Publications. Fox, Loren. (2004). Enron: The Rise and Fall. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from http://www.wiley.com. Fusaro, Peter C., Miller, Ross M. and James, Tom (2002). What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone’s Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S History. John Wiley and Sons. Goethals, George R., Burns, James MacGregor and Sorenson, Georgia (March 2004). Encyclopedia of Leadership. SAGE Publications. Hintze, John. (May 2006). Making Smart Decisions. Harvard Business School Press. Nalebuff, Ian Ayres (November 2006). Why Not?: How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small. Harvard Business School Press. Niskanen, William A. (June 2005). After Enron: Lessons for Public Policy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Roberts, John. (May 2004). The Modern Firm: Organizational Design for Performance and Growth. Oxford University Press, USA.

Managerial Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managerial Decision Making - Essay Example Retribution: The first R is by far the most detrimental; the managerial application of retribution is little more than threatening. Managers in some situations resort to direct threats of punishment to create coercion. They may also utilize indirect threat’s to create an implied rather than stated punishment or coercion; this is a common form of intimidation. The major pros to utilizing retribution are the immediate effect and delivery of the manager’s task as specified. On the Con side retribution almost always creates resistance, resentment, & alienation. It also within the organization stifles innovation. Effective managers should very rarely resort to retribution as a tool; it should be reserved for crisis situations where direct action is required. Reciprocity: By definition reciprocity is nothing more than compliance by satisfying the needs of both parties. Reciprocity allows the manager to get results without creating resentment. The major pros revolve around mutual benefit. This enables the manager to achieve objectives without having to bargain or justify the objective with the employee. The Cons are the very basic prerequisite of trust and the inevitable negotiation process with the employee. From the stand point of the organization reciprocity undercuts group commitment. From the management standpoint it takes time to initialize and cannot be used effectively in a crisis situation. Reason: Reason creates a rational articulation of the management concept; subordinates recognize the value of the plan and are more supportive and positive about the manager’s task. The pros are seen as a higher group compliance and greater commitment to team principle. While reason is the most positive management tool it takes the longest period to initialize and requires the cohesion of a unified group trust and belief in the individual manager. Superiors usually rate managers that utilize reason as highly effective. Unfortunately,

BUSINESS LAW College Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BUSINESS LAW College - Case Study Example If this indeed is the actual reason for Pat's removal, the company could have instead asked Pat to be more circumspective on his observations since they could hurt the company's interests and leave the matter thereat. The company's action is ill-advised and it is putting itself in a difficult position. If Pat decides to file a suit against the firm, there will be consequences which may not be in the company's favor. The company is big and fair enough and this must have been the reason for Pat to quit his earlier job and travel 300 miles for the new job. His spouse has also sacrificed her job in order to accommodate Pat's new arrangement. Pat's three months at Newcorp is a learning period and the lack of information on any clear reason for his discharge is a pointer to the fact that some reason other than deficiency at the workplace is responsible for the company's decision. Be that as it may, the company has enough powers to terminate Pat's services. However, the reason that they are quoting for their action is nave and the severance pay they are handing him is grossly inadequate. It would have been better had Newcorp waited for more time till they are capable of analyzing Pat's performance in proper light. By resorting to a knee-jerk action they are only making their position untenable in legal standards. In case Pat does not sign a release of claims and files a suit for higher compensation, the company will have a difficult time in disproving the suit (Severance Pay). Legal Encounter 2 What liability, if any, does Newcorp have in this situation What can and cannot Newcorp do In your answer, identify what legal principles (statutory or case law) support your belief. The liability that Newcorp has in this situation is that it can find itself involved in a case of sexual harassment. Newcorp can heed Sam's argument that the chemicals used in wire coatings could harm an early-state fetus being carried by a newly-pregnant woman. However, there is no information that Paula is pregnant or is likely to be in the near future although she is dating someone. Paula may choose not to be pregnant for a couple of years. Newcorp can still heed Sam's argument and decline Paula's application for transfer to the wire-coating section. They are acting in good faith although they do not know the underlying reason for the transfer. In case they knew the true reason, they would be bound to act differently. If Paula decides to file a suit of sexual harassment, the company will find it difficult to disprove the suit. Even if they do not respond positively to her application for transfer, they will have the embarrassing case of sexual harassment facing them. In such eventuality, they not only will be forced to part with substantial amount of money as compensation but also take disciplinary measures against Sam. This is as good as an open-and-shut case. Paula is trying to get away from a difficult situation by

Sustainable life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sustainable life - Essay Example I should use low energy appliances in my home. I should make use of empty containers instead of throwing them in the dustbins. I should do wise shopping. I should reserve a bag for carrying things. Whenever I go shopping, the bag should be with me and I should put everything in that bag instead of plastic bags. Long story short, I have to make sure that nothing gets wasted. 3. Principal challenges that hinder the tendency of cities to become sustainable are the citizens’ huge reliance on the depleting natural resources. The biggest challenge in front of government is to improve the standard of living of the poor population in the urban areas. As the population in a city increases and its economy strengthens because of growing businesses, so do the complexity of management of these cities and administration of business. 4. Oil is America’s biggest problem. In order for US to become sustainable, it is imperative that all efforts are focused at minimizing consumption of oi l. Alternative energy sources like wind and solar energy should be used. In order to make US sustainable, cities should be made more compact.

Effect of Stress on the Immune System Research Paper

Effect of Stress on the Immune System - Research Paper Example Increased stress could make the immune system weaker and could lead to death. Aging Immune System The immune system changes a lot during the aging process. The numbers of cells that are associated with the immune system reduce significantly. The remaining cells may not be able to handle all the immune related responsibilities leading to low immunity. The immune system is comprised of two systems; the Innate Immune system and the Acquired Immune system. Innate Immunity in Aging The innate or natural immune system is made by the bone marrow and the thymus. Scientists have consistently claimed that the size of the thymus reduces in size a person’s age. This is characterized by the loss of the thymus epithelia cells, which are important for the production of immune cells. This leads to a decrease in the number of T cells including the CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ and the B cells. There is an increase in production of the Natural Killer Cells (NK) with the comprehensive cytotoxic function. The decline in especially the CD8+ leads to the vulnerability of bacterial and viral infections. CD95 cells become exhausted as people age and the remaining virgin CD95 cells are replaced by large clonal expansions of the CD28 cells, which lead to less proliferative capacity. Inflammatory cytokines, which are produced by the persistent viral and bacterial infections increase during the aging process. They increase the cases of inflammatory pathogenesis. In fact, most of the elderly have inflammations at some parts of their body.i Acquired Immunity in Aging Acquired immunity is the responsibility of the spleen and the lymph nodes. The spleen produces the B cells which are associated with the production of the antibodies. Aging has been found to alter the expression of the system responsible for the production of these cells. One, there is a decrease in the number of cells produced. Secondly, there is impaired induction f E47 and activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) which are i mportant for class switch recombination (CSR) leading to defects in production of secondary isotopes of IgG1, IgG2a, IgG3, IgE antibodies. Aging has also been associated with the overproduction of the Id2 which regulates the E47 negatively.ii Another theory of acquired immunity change in aging points out that the B cells produce antibodies but they have low affinity. Usually, aging leads to change in isotypes related to production of the various antibodies. At the same time, there are few naive B cells in the elderly people meaning that there not many antibodies that can be produced. The already recruited B cells do not have good memory making it a challenge for them to detect previous pathogens detected in the past. Low affinity and low production of the antibodies cannot detect the pathogens effectively showing that the immune system is weak. The body is therefore unable to respond to infections accordingly. iii Effect of Nutrition on Immunity in Aging The elderly people, especial ly those above sixty years, do not take nutrition seriously. According to Gorczynski and Terzioglu (2008),iv most elderly people lack important nutrients. They claim that most of these people have deficiencies in zinc, iron, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C, Ubiquinone and selenium. Zinc is important in the activation of the immune system; iron plays a role in oxidative reaction immunity, vitamins are important in the modulation of cytokines and Ubiquinone influences the

Appendicitis and its Symptoms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Appendicitis and its Symptoms - Essay Example Xuix, a Chinese citizen has been admitted to hospital with having pain in the abdomen. Currently, he is in Australia and his English understanding is limited. Consequently, he is not able to interpret the problem efficiently as well as other useful information needed for further treatment. Furthermore, it is ascertained that he has been suffering from appendicitis and he need to undergo emergency surgery. Xuix is also unable to communicate his medical history appropriately to the medical practitioners. Eventually, the problem is that the medical practitioners are unable to communicate him the risks associated with the surgery and obtain valid consent from him in order to proceed with the surgery. Consequently, an online interpreter’s help was sought, however due to certain issues related to funding the person could not be consulted. In contrast, a cleaning staff who could communicate at a moderate capacity in Chinese as well as in English was employed as an interpreter. Unfort unately, the staff did not have proper knowledge of the medical terminologies. The basic information relating to his surgery was communicated to him and with his consent; he was taken to operation theatre for emergency surgery. ... Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). Slowly the swelling of appendix increases and the pain gets shifted into the lower abdomen. Appendicitis is an emergency situation which might create a medical scenario that requires the appendix to be removed urgently as soon as possible to alleviate the pain felt by the patient. If it is left untreated or swelling continues to persist, appendix may get ruptured or burst. Once the appendix is burst, it may lead to peritonitis and other serious abdominal problems that can be fatal unless it is treated quickly and efficiently (WebMD, LLC, 2012). The diagnosis of appendicitis is conducted by patients’ history and examinations. In modern medical field, appendix can be removed in two ways, the traditional open surgery or the laparoscopic surgery. The surgery procedure nearly takes an hour (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2011). However, there are certain complications relating to surgery. Complications may result from anaesthesia, breathing problem, or side effects caused by surgery (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2011). The possible complications of the surgery may comprise excessive bleeding, or any kind of infection in incision part within the body. Notably, infection may tend to be mild or severe. Contextually, in mild infections, patient may have to suffer from mild tenderness and redness in the area of incision. At the same time, moderate infections may require patient to take antibiotics to prevent any complications while severe infections may cause patient to undergo another surgery along with antibiotics. The complications possibility is rare in terms of laparoscopic procedures. However, the surgery may also have long-term effects which may result in diagnosis of other diseases

Response 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Response 3 - Essay Example Bernice didn’t care that no one approved of her choice, or that it tore her family apart; she just wanted to achieve her goal of flying as a woman in the Air Force service. I also admired Jeff, though, because, as mentioned above, he had a lot of heroic qualities. Also, I used to be a painter, so I related to this aspect of the character, and also, I used to like to read adventure books and comics that had the same sort of subplot as Jeff’s. After the commencement of extermination of the Jews by the Nazis, there were many responses to Nazi persecution by the Jews in various forms both collective and individual. There were factors that encouraged both rebellion and the inhibition of rebellion and resistance. For example, in a Jewish ghetto, often resistance would be held back by community leaders because of the fear that any Jews caught gathering weapons or planning escape would bring down punishment on the whole community. This was not outlandish thinking, either, because this is exactly how the Nazis meted out justice for individuals: against the whole community. On the other hand, there were organized rebellions and resistance, bolstered by internal support as well as a reaction to external reasons. This is why I think it is important to focus on characters like Jeff, who were very active and heroic in resistance. One thing that may have hindered Jewish resistance during this time was that there was the problem that Jews who did fight back or escape often faced an ambivalent setting in other nations. After the early twentieth century, and arguably long before this as well, the climate in Europe was changing towards a status quo which was turbulent, to say the least, towards those of the Jewish faith: â€Å"at the end of World War I†¦ groups blamed the Jews for the social disruption, political instability, and economic crises that ensued† (Leventhal 2008) At this time, around 1934, the Nazis also began to persecute Jews. Laws were passed

Strategic Plan and Power Point (Community Coffee) Research Paper

Strategic Plan and Power Point (Community Coffee) - Research Paper Example If the way we make the products will be unique, then it is likely to establish a presence in this competitive market. The next tactic will be making the products adopt to the market by ensuring we put into consideration the rules that exist in our area of operation. From this, we will position our brands in such a manner that they can be explained as one big idea, hence leaving an impact to the mind of the consumers (Nieuwenhuizen, 2007). The final steps will be the maintenance of the brand by making sure the consumers never lose interest in it. The second objective in place is to make community coffee go national in the shortest period possible. This might seem as a drawback since it will stress financially, but it is a tactic of its own, and might prove to be rather successful. However, before the business evolves to be national, we must first ensure that a good reputation has been built in the present area of operation. This will make it easier to capture the market as the business will have its own personality established. The third objective is dynamic modes of service provision, depending on the area of operation. In areas that the customer is rather busy and have less time, community coffee will adopt on-the-go service provision, while a slower pace for the rural coffee shops that require a friendlier and slower pace for everyone there is community (Nieuwenhuizen, 2007). The first marketing method is through the media. This involves both television and print media such as daily and weekly newspapers. Although they may be old school methods, they are the most widely used and the most effective tool. On the television, an advertisement that portray the new range of products, and dynamic modes of operation. The second method will be through the use of websites such as those of social media. This is because they are the most accessed websites by both teenagers and adults. An

Dynamic Domain Name Server Essay Example for Free

Dynamic Domain Name Server Essay The DNS is the IETF a standardized name service which enable the computer clients on a network to successfully register as well as resolve their DNS domain names. Such names are used in resource access by computers in a networked environment and from other connected networks. The Domain name space The DNS Name Server is a server that stores the domain name space and the related resource records. It also responds to queries requested by the DNS clients. The Domain Name Service query operation A query operation is issued by the DNS client to the DNS server to get either the entire or part of the resource record information that is associated to a certain domain. In case the domain and the resource record exist, the Domain Name Service responds to the query with required information in a form of query respond message. This replied query message changes the initial query and the response with the necessary records provided the DNS server is able to get the required resource record. The DNS query identified in the RFC 1034 is a typical query that comprise of the target domains name, the query class and the query type. A request for a particular resource record is submitted in the query for intended domain resolver. DNS Zones The DNS server that contains full information for a particular DNS name space is considered to have the authority on such name space. In addition, the authoritative information in the server is organized into smaller units referred to as zones that are the major units for DNS replications. The Domain Name Server administrator is responsible for the management and maintenance of DNS namespace, the DNS clients, the zone propagation, DNS zones, and the DNS servers. The administrator also maintains the network security through the anticipation and the control of the new security threats. The Domain Name Server administrator is concerned with the DNS integration with several other windows server services. Conclusion The Domain Name Server that stores full information for a particular DNS name space is considered to be authoritative on such a name space. References Mockapetris, P. , (2003). RFC 1034, Domain Names Concepts and Facilities. Atlanta . The Internet Society

Letter to Charlemagne Essay Example for Free

Letter to Charlemagne Essay His Majesty King Charlemagne:  With utmost diligence regarding the king’s instruction to go forth and inspect governments, administer justice, and reawaken all citizens to their civil and religious duties, herewith is the detail account concerning the outcome of this noble undertaking. Indeed, the kingdom under his majesty’s rule enjoys great peace and an enduring justice as the King’s officials such as the kingdom’s archbishops and abbot, the dukes and counts are doing their duties well, thanks to his majesty’s missi dominici which effectively performs their own duties of visiting every courts throughout the kingdom and to ensure that taxes were properly collected and that all the king’s decree were followed. His majesty’s victories against the Lombards and the Saxons as well as against the Avars have brought the kingdom stable peace (McDonald, p. 95) and genuine respect from the very citizens who were proud of his majesty’s victories. His majesty’s unexpected coronation by Pope Leo as â€Å"an Augustus† confirms his majesty’s â€Å"formidable power† (Brown 2004, p. 435), that certainly added much respect to the Kings court which prompted them to render their duties satisfactorily. However, despite of the general peace that the kingdom enjoyed as well as of the fine performance of civil duties, many people especially from the ranks of peasants and the nobility are poor and illiterate. In general, life was â€Å"brutal and harsh† (The History Guide) for the peasants as many of them were in abject poverty. Religion was less important as many of them were illiterate. This was also the case of the nobility who were mostly illiterate. Concerning religion, both the peasants and the nobility have little regard for religion for two reasons; the first one is that, since most of these groups were illiterate they cannot understand Christianity as their access to the Christian Bible were very limited. Second, most of the nobility spend their life in fighting. Given this problem, it is hereby presented to his majesty some solution to the problem in order that an enduring justice and peace will continue to flourish throughout the Kingdom. First is, the establishments of more schools so that everyone who can afford its cost whether they are peasants or nobility can have the opportunity to improve their condition. In matters of religion, the nobility were the most numbers of people who have no religious beliefs were in darkened by illiteracy because they spent much of their time in fighting. They mostly land less although compared to the peasants, they were quite better. With this situation, it is hereby noted that those soldiers who were given lands in recognition of their efforts in war were the most loyal of the king’s subjects and were ready to accept whatever is the king’s instruction, whether to encouraged them to embrace Christianity or to faithfully obey all the king’s decrees. In general, everything was under the king’s control although there also some isolated cases of dissatisfaction, everything were fine. The king should continue to promote religion as well as the establishment of more schools so that people can learn reading and writing in order for them to gain understanding which would open their minds to embrace Christianity and to their civil duties satisfactorily. References Brown, P.R.L. (2004) The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D†¦., Parts 200-1000 UK: Wiley Blackwell â€Å"Lectures on Ancient and Medieval European History† The History Guide http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture20b.html Macdonald, M.H. (1996) Europe: A Tantalizing Romance: Past and Present Europe for Students and the Serious Traveler USA: University Press of America

Financial Services Reforms Act

Financial Services Reforms Act SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION What are the main aims of the two financial services reforms from 2001—2012? There are two major reforms from 2001-2012 in the financial service industry, such as: Financial services reforms Act (2001) The FSRA introduced in October 2001, administrated by ASIC, become mandatory on 11th March 2002. The FSR amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) introduced three main changes which are: Licensing and conduct of financial service providers. The FSR amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act) introduced a single licensing regime for financial advice and dealings in relation to financial products. An entity that operates a financial services business must now hold an Australian financial services (AFS) license or be authorized by a licensee. Introduced the training policy Known as RG 146, required to get the new AFSL (Australian Financial service License). The Act also seeks to provide consistent and comparable disclosure in relation to financial products and services (including) advice. A single authorization procedure for financial markets and clearing and settlement facilities Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) reforms:- FOFA became mandatory on 1 July 2013 (and was voluntary from 1 July 2012). The objectives of FOFA are to improve the trust and confidence of Australian retail investors in the financial services sector and improve access to advice. The FoFA reforms key elements are: A legal requirement for financial advisers to act in the best interests of their clients. A ban on conflicted remuneration being monetary and non-monetary benefits given to a licensee or representative who provides financial product advice (personal and general) to retail clients which could reasonably be expected to influence the choice of financial product recommended or the financial advice given. On-going fee arrangements requiring the provision of fee disclosure statements and renewal notices to retail clients receiving personal advice. Increased ASIC powers to enforce elements of the FOFA reforms. What does the best interest of the client mean? From the July 1st, 2013, as per new legislation known as The Future of Financial Advice (FOFA), financial advisors and planners in giving advice to their retail clients gives priority to the best interests of the customers. Now advisors didnt only advise their clients about only the products they have on their approved product list (APL) but also refers to their retail clients to other advisors APL, if it is in their best interest. They should not focus on their own fees, but it’s their duty as per legislation (FOFA) to consider the client interest ahead of their own interest. ASIC has explained this duty in the ASIC Regulatory Guide 175 as: Acting in the best interests of the client: best interests duty (s961B) Advice providers must act in the best interests of their client in relation to the advice. One way an advice provider can demonstrate they have done this is by showing they have carried out certain steps in advising their clients. These steps, which act as a ‘safe harbour’ for complying with the best interest duty, are set out in s961B (2). To satisfy the steps for safe harbour in s961B (2), an advice provider must: 1. Identify the objectives, financial situation and needs of the client that were disclosed by the client through instructions. 2. Identify the subject matter of the advice sought by the client (whether explicitly or implicitly). 3. Identify the objectives, financial situation and needs of the client that would reasonably be considered relevant to the advice sought on that subject matter (client’s relevant circumstances). 4. If it is reasonably apparent that information relating to the client’s relevant circumstances is incomplete or inaccurate, make reasonable inquiries to obtain complete and accurate information. 5. Assess whether the advice provider has the expertise required to provide the client with advice on the subject matter sought and, if not, decline to provide the advice. 6. If it would be reasonable to consider recommending a financial product: conduct a reasonable investigation into the financial products that might achieve the objectives and meet the needs of the client that would reasonably be considered relevant to advice on that subject matter; and assess the information gathered in the investigation. 7. Base all judgements in advising the client on the client’s relevant circumstances. 8. Take any other step that, at the time the advice is provided, would reasonably be regarded as being in the best interests of the client, given the client’s relevant circumstances. The licensee or authorized representative will bear the financial liability for any breach of duty. Individual advisors may be subject to administrative sanctions, but not financially liable for any breach of the duty. Prepare a checklist of what documents you must provide to your clients as per the reforms. As per Financial Service Reform Act 2001 the financial planners must provide FSG (Financial Service Guide) to the existing as well as new expected retail clients. The FSG is an important disclosure document as it helps the clients to decide whether to get financial services from a licensed. FSG must be given to the client as soon as practicable after it becomes apparent that the client will or likely to acquire financial service and in any event before the financial service is provided. It is important to know that FSG is not required when the client is not a retail client and where no financial service is provided. As per section (942 C), FSG must include:- The title â€Å"Financial Service Guide †on the cover of or at or near the front of the Financial Service Guide document. The FSG must be dated. The name and contact details of the licensee and (their license number) and the authorized representative and the statement showing that the advisor is an authorized representative of the licensee. Information about the types of financial services (as authorized under the license) offered to retail client. Information that a (SOA) statement of advice (not required for general advice) and /or a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) may be provided to the client. Information about all the remunerations (including commission) and other benefits received or likely to be received on provision of financial services, including for referrals. Details of any associations/ relationships that may reasonably influence the licensee or the authorized representative in providing the services to the client. Information regarding client concern and the licensee dispute resolution systems. Details regarding the privacy of clients personal details and how such details will be used and handled (as per the privacy act regulation). Describes the different types of client leads? There are three types client leads:- Cold leads, generally referred to just name with little or no other information normally obtained from sources like database, phone book or third party. Their priority to contact is very low as they lack of qualifying information. When making contact with cold leads, it’s important to know that Hawking provisions may relate. Warm leads there is some prospect that contact will be productive and their detailed and specific information availability will ensure that they do not breach the hawking provisions must be specific. Hot leads are the ones where the prospect is known to be interested to take services of a financial planner. They may have asked directly for a product or service and these leads should be contacted at as early as possible. Which of the six basic steps in the financial planning would include lodgement of the paperwork and obtaining all the signatures necessary for the recommendations in the financial plan to be actioned? The six basic steps in the financial planning process are:- i. Preparation Fact Finding Data Analysis and developing a recommendation Preparing a written Recommendation Implementation Review On Implementation stage – Presenting recommendations and gaining agreement to proceed. At this stage after preparation of written recommendations, financial planner plan to take appointments from the client and well prepared financial planner at this stage have all the relevant documents ready for the clients signature. On completion of presentation, interview the paper work needs to be lodged promptly so that recommendations can be implemented and the plan commenced Why a financial plan may need to be reviewed? With the passage of time many things changes, so the financial plan also requires regular reviewing and change in order to make it more realistic. Here are a few reasons that call for to review and change of your financial plan. Variation in financial conditions: changes in the financial / economic condition in the economy have a greater effect on many investment decisions when you feel that your progress towards the achievement of planned goals becomes slow besides the required time lapsed because of changes in external conditions then you should modify /change your investment goals, make them achievable and profitable in present situations. Changes in income / Job: Because of uncertainty and unemployment in the market it is possible that any time may be you lose your job or your income not increase as expected, in both situations your contributions towards your financial goals will be reduced. On the other hand, if your salary increases beyond your expectations as because of promotion / bonus, this enables you to achieve your current financial goal earlier than planned or because of surplus funds you may look for new investments. Unexpected increase in expenses: Sudden medical / accident expenses rise in household expenses as overall prices of goods and services have increased may require to cut down your savings and if you have no other contingency fund in yours plan this can upset your financial goals and enforce to review and bring changes in your financial plan. New Goals: Trend in market change e as time passes like if you have invested in savings accounts, then you may want to invest your funds in building societies or credit unions or s unit trust if they are now offering better interest rates and lower tax benefit. Number of dependent: At the time when your children are small dependent on you then the yours financial goals will be to increase life insurance coverage, but as they grown up and settled in their life your priority changes and now you want to spend more for your health insurance, secondly no of children (dependent) or death of any family loved one also impact upon yours cash flows and yours financial plans Risk Tolerance Fator: When a person is young, he may take risky investments young and energetic and have less responsibilities, but as the time passes that person in older age will try to go for investments where the risk factor is very low as to safeguard his principal. What are the key recommendation areas? In developing the recommendations the key areas which the financial planner will consider are:- How the financial position can be improved - share, property, bonds, unit trust. Ways to accumulate funds for retirements. superannuation. Options to generate funds in retirement rollovers, pensions. Protection of beneficiaries will, life insurance, estate planning. How to protect lifestyles income protection, disability insurance. Protection of assets general insurance cover. Keeping in view the above mentioned key main areas, financial planner also follow the rule of â€Å"Know your client† which means trying to understand clearly what your clients want to achieve from investments of their fund. After clear understanding of the clients needs/ goals, following the rule ofâ€Å" Know your product† financial advisor determine by which available products or strategies the clients needs can be fulfilled in the planned time frame. Selection of different investment options /product advisors also keep in mind that there are certain external factors like economic and financial conditions in the economy, which may call for a change in investment strategies or increase in planned time frame of objectives. Finally, the advisors develop the actual recommendations of a financial plan and discuss these recommendations with the client so that at this stage they can be reviewed or altered as per client input. According to best business practice, how often should a client review interview take place? Financial advisors frequently review the financial plan to access its progress as it is still appropriate or required alteration with the consent of the client. Short term reviews normally take place in every six months on the basis of following reasons: Significant changes in the clients current life circumstances, such as get married, increases or decrease in dependents, change in income status or loss of job etc. Changes in the economic conditions like establishment of new monetary laws, inflation, changes in tax rates as these can affect the investments. Its clients own desire to have more frequent reviews However, routine reviews should take place about approx, every 12 months.

Physics of Glacier Flow :: physics glaciers ice

How Glaciers Flow - Glaciers flow under the force of gravity as snow accumulates on the upper parts of the glacier and wants moves down slope. - The snow compresses to become ice and flows through the glacier into the ablation zone where it is lost. - If the accumulation equals the ablation than the glacier is said to be in equilibrium and its position will not change. This does not mean that the ice will not flow! Accumulation Zone The area where inputs occur into a glacier system. This usually occurs near the top of the glacier or ice sheet and such inputs to the system include snowfall, wind blown snow, rain and avalanches. Ablation Zone The region in which more mass is lost than gained in a glacier system. This usually occurs at the end and sides of the glacier. Forms of losses include wind ablation, avalanching, iceberg calving and melting. Glaciers flow through three different mechanisms: (1) by internal deformation; (2) by basal sliding; and (3) by subglacial deformation. Glacier Flow Mechanisms Internal Deformation Ice deforms under its own weight due to gravity and the movements of tiny ice crystals. Thicker and warmer ice deforms more rapidly although the overall movement is very slow, only around tens of meters a year. There are two main processes of internal deformation; creep, which forms fold structures, and faulting, which occurs when ice cannot creep fast enough and forms superficial tensional fractures. Basal Sliding Enhanced Basal Creep - Stress concentrations around the upstream side of an obstacle result in locally high strain rates which causes ice to accelerate around the obstacle. The basal ice continually modifies its shape to allow a continued sliding. This process works best when the obstacle is over 1m in size. Regelation - The process allows glacier ice to slide over rough beds by melting and refreezing on the downglacier side. It occurs as the most resistance to glacier movement is provided by the upstream side of obstacles. This results in locally high pressures and the consequent encouragement of ice melting immediately upglacier of the obstacle. The resulting meltwater migrates to the lower pressure area downstream where it refreezes. This process is most effective when objects are less than 1m in size. Subglacial deformation Sediment has a lower yield strength than rock and ice and so it is deformable. As the sediment deforms, it moves the ice sheet with it. Ice Velocites * The surface velocities of a glacier can be measured quite easily using GPS.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller :: Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible To what extent is John and Elizabeth’s relationship the main focus of the play? In this essay I am going to discus to what extent John and Elizabeth’s relationship is the focus of the Crucible. The play was set in 1962, in a small, American village called Salem. As Salem was governed by a Theocracy, the whole village was extremely religious. After reading the Crucible I think that John and Elizabeth’s relationship is the main focus of the play, we can see in each act how their feelings and emotions towards their relation ship changes and progresses throughout the play. In Act 1 we are introduced to John Proctor. We find out that he is a farmer in his middle thirties and that he is known, and respected throughout the village as a good, honest man. We also learn that John has committed adultery with his former servant – Abigail Williams, niece of Reverend Paris. John deeply regrets this, and, as we learn from act one he wishes to no longer peruse his relation ship with Abigail any further; â€Å"I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again!† Abigail responds to this remark in anger, not being able to bear the fact that John no longer wants her. She calls Elizabeth a â€Å"cold, snivelling woman† and accuses her of spreading lies â€Å"She is blackening my name in the village, she is spreading lies about me!† Immediately John responds in defence of his wife â€Å"You’ll speak nothin’ of Elizabeth!† We can see from this Act how John can’t bear the fact that he committed such a terrible sin against his wife who he loves and cares for. In At 2, we learn more about John and Elizabeth’s feelings towards each other. It begins with them having a civilised conversation, perhaps too civilised for a married couple, Elizabeth is keeping her answers short and blunt, for example; â€Å" That’s well† and â€Å"It must be.† John picks up on this, and asks Elizabeth if she is sad again. As we read further we find out that Elizabeth thought John had gone into Salem, as he was home so late. What she really means when she says â€Å"You come so late I thought you’d gone to Salem this afternoon†, is that she thought John had been to see Abigail. Elizabeth knows that John had an affair with Abby, and she still holds this against him. The fact that Elizabeth bought this subject up angers John and therefore, results in an argument. John hates it that Elizabeth cannot seem to forgive him â€Å"Spare me! You forgive nothin’ and forget nothin’

pollock Essay -- essays research papers

For centuries artist along with society have placed an emphasis on meaning in a piece of art. Art has always consisted of subject matters, motifs and other pre-concieved ideas or thoughts about what one should use as their focal point in a work of art. The very definition of art though, is an appealing or attractive object created through any of the fine arts. Nowhere does it say that a work of art must have a concentration point. Not until the advent of abstract expressionism was the idea of â€Å"painting from the unconscious,†1 brought into the art scene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This movement typically saw artist rapidly slinging, slapping and dripping paint onto large canvases with no emphasis on subject matters but rather spontaneity. Jackson Pollock who has been deemed the greatest american painter was one of the pioneers of this artistic movement. Pollock, the first painter to pour paint on the canvas with brushes instead of using brush strokes to apply it, circled his canvases which were placed across the floor, controlling the flow of the paint in a very rythmic matter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The project which I have created was based upon the stylistic nature of Jackson Pollock's work. The freedom of this form of abstract...

Comparing Benjamin Franklin to Mary Rowlandson Essay

The literature written during this time period reveals the important part the supernatural (God) played during those changing times. The new world was struggling for a new identity. Were these individuals also defining the role of God to themselves? In this discussion the lives of Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin will be compared. Each penned a narrative of their life experiences. There are marked contrasts and comparisons between these two individuals in relation to their perceptions of God. Religion was a dynamic part of life in Colonial America. A shift from faith to deism was occurring. The Puritans of this time were escaping the Church of England. Their hope was to return to the more primitive ways, to reject the churches hierarchy and ritual. Mary Rowlandson, a puritan in Lancaster, Massachusetts was seized by Indians, along with three of her children in 1676. In her narrative she recounts the story of her survival in the wilderness for a period of three months. She is tak en away from her home and husband, â€Å"all was gone (except my life); and I knew not but the next moment what might go too. Benjamin Franklin’s The Autobiography is an account of his life and begins with his boyhood in Boston. He later flees to Philadelphia to escape his brother’s rule over him. He relates how he was â€Å"dirty†, â€Å"fatigu’d†, and â€Å"Want of Rest†. In these depictions we can see a similarity. Both individuals are removed from their homes and families. Although Benjamin Franklin’s removal was of his own free will. They each suffered as they no longer had the comforts of which they were comfortable. Rowlandson’s faith was amazing considering all that she endured. Throughout the narrative she must rely on her faith in God. She includes numerous verses from the Bible to offer explanations for all that she has suffered, â€Å"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the Lord†. It is also noted that she was able to use her trade to survive, â€Å"knitting a pair of white cotto n stockings for my mistress†. This is also a parallel to Franklin in that he also used his trade to survive. But one must ask what is moving Rowlandson? Is she writing for posterity or is she simply egocentric? Rowlandson has portrayed herself as the ultimate Puritan. Was the glory to God or to herself? She also relates here â€Å"how many Sabbaths I  had lost and misspent†. It is fascinating to note that toward the end of the narrative she begins to see that her fate is in God’s hands, â€Å"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee†. At the end she recounts her old ways, â€Å"I have seen the extreme vanity of this world†. Franklin, states, â€Å"I had been religiously educated†, I rarely attended any Public Worship†. Some of the doctrine he described as â€Å"unintelligible†, â€Å"others doubtful†. He saw a need to center authority for our lives not in God but in oneself. He also noted â€Å"My conduct may be blamable, but I leave it without attempting farther to excuse it†. Franklin is explaining his behavior but not making apologies. It is also noted that he reveals that he had undertaken â€Å"the bold and arduous Project of arriving at moral perfection†. He had also written a â€Å"Form of Prayer for my own private use†. In Franklin’s â€Å"Thirteen Names of Virtues†, He lists the qualities he deems â€Å"Desirable†. Originally there were only 12 but â€Å"a Quaker friend kindly inform’d me that I was generally thought proud†. The last virtue is humility, and his statement â€Å"imitate Jesus and Socrates†, reflect deism. Although Franklin does state that he was not able to achieve this virtue, he reveals, â€Å"I had a good deal with regard to the Appearance of it†. Franklin also had a â€Å"Memorandum Book†, in which he kept track of his virtues. The book was lined in red ink and his faults were marked in black, â€Å"which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge†. Could this possibly be an analogy to God? Franklin is establishing his own destiny in relation with his deist beliefs. The ideas he projects are decency, justice and belief that happiness may be found in secular values. Near the end Franklin journals his â€Å"Scheme† and communicates it â€Å"was not wholly without Religion† but it did not necessarily reflect any â€Å"particular sect†. An illusion of the America to come? A new world which offered religious freedom? This America in its infancy was establishing an identity free from the mother land. Breaking the tie that binds is never easy. In his Autobiography Franklin was seeking to establish a new identity for the new world. This parallels Rowlandson in that she at the end of her captivity has evolved into a new person. Although Rowlandson has placed her fate more in the hands of her God. Franklin suggests that man controls his own destiny but also makes reference throughout to God. He must deal with his excessive pride, even as Mary Rowlandson has dealt with her own vanity. Hence the supernatural (God) did help to shape our  country to what it is today. Our beliefs reflect what our purpose is, what our identity is. Mary Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin were setting the standards for Americans to aspire to be. Mary Rowlandson contributes to a young American nation searching for its identity the power of survival without conforming to the behaviors and acts of others. Her faith and trust in God sustained her from becoming like the savagely, as she first perceived, people who took her by force into captivity. At the end of her journey dependence on the grace and providence of God was displayed. In my opinion this is a great contribution to any nation seeking its identity. Benjamin Franklin contributions were/are remarkable. He advocated personal responsibility, intellectual curiosity, honesty, persistence, and prudence—principles that have helped people everywhere lift themselves up. He encouraged an entrepreneurial culture which creates opportunity and hope through peaceful cooperation. He affirmed that by improving yourself and helping your neighbors you can make a free society succeed. His most glorious invention was—and is—the American dream.

All The President’s Men

Alan Pakula's All The President's Men is set in 1972, around the events of the Watergate scandal. The Democratic Party headquarters has been burglarized, and famous reporters Woodward and Bernstein are on the case for the Washington post. They have to wade through waters of government secrecies, to reach their investigation all the way to the White House. Robert Redford plays Woodward well off of Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Bernstein.Redford effectively uses minimalist expressions to convey the sense of an honest reporter observing the facts, while Hoffman seems comfortable in the skin of a charming, energized journalist, that is true to the integrity of his calling, despite his tendency to ruffle feathers—as in one of the opening sequences, where he plucks Redford's copy up without permission, to give it some polished touches.Redford reacts defensively, and Hoffman presses with his side of the disagreement—but ultimately, both convey amiable personalities that are on the overall balanced and fair examples of honest, stubborn and incorruptible journalists from America's past. Redford and Hoffman unravel the facts that result in Nixon's resignation, in a tense, constant train of dialog and drama, that draws the audience forward, quickly and steadily, toward inevitable events of political disgrace.Beside being a gripping and well-paced piece of dramatic cinema, however, President's Men also reinforces its authenticity as a representation of the workings of journalism, through its own correct correlations to the facts of one of the greatest scandals in American politics. Even though the movie acts as a sensational thriller of investigative reporting, it also stands as a unique copy of trustworthy investigation itself, staying so close to the facts. As John Berkowitz notes in his article All The President's Men: This scandal is widely renown and remembered by historians and people who lived through it.What’s so captivating, though, is Pakula revealing a behind-the-scenes look at how the story broke, as one clue after another was uncovered. From the first anomaly, and traveling further down the rabbit hole, we are so engaged that we can’t look away. So, indeed, the film is a work of art, and not just a act-by-act mirror of real-life events, but also, it can be seen that, just as the narrative unfolds like an onion, and rolls out ever faster as the plot progresses—also, the through-lines go in circles, as the reporters chase several leads at once, and the true story details are chronicled in a faithfulness to repetitive investigation..In his 1976 review, Roger Ebert notes: For all of its technical skill, the movie essentially shows us the same journalistic process several times as it leads closer and closer to an end we already know. The film is long, and would be dull if it weren't for the wizardry of Pakula, his actors, and technicians. What saves it isn't the power of narrative, but the success of techniq ue. Still, considering the compromises that could have been made, considering the phony â€Å"newspaper movie† this could have been, maybe that's almost enough.(Ebert) So, while the action mounts in ever-rising tension and even greater consequences of revelation, the story also takes time to recount the details of what really happened in a way that also pushes the piece past being just a virtuoso of cinematic excellence, into the realm of being a half-documentary, where we are left with a serious look back on a significant period in the politics of America, where justice would rain down, and powerful people would fall.It is true, for instance, of course, that one of the central pivot points of the film, the Watergate break-in, really happened, but that fact also lends to the plot a certain augmentation, whereby the craft of the story must abide by the facts, yet still deliver the cinematic recipe of entertainment, toward the end of audience enlightenment. It is also true, in fact, as another main gate of the film's framework to reality, that Nixon was re-elected that same year—but despite the credibility of fidelity to the truth, again, there comes with that design a certain sharpening of the tools of audience engagement.Ebert suggests that the film suffers from its sticking to the true story too much, but regardless of the aesthetic interpretation of the way the movie was made, it must at least be conceded that the melding of history and storytelling creates a unique fusion, where in some senses the best of both worlds can be explored—while some restraints of narrative execution might be acknowledged.Most of the details in the film vacillate between uncovering the truth, and chasing down false leads, all toward the inevitable denouement of the Watergate scandal—creating a great tension in the audience. Indeed, almost all of the highlights of interest, including the illegal intelligence gathering, and the in-depth expose of politica l corruption—were all true elements of this period in history–for little poetic license was required to embellish the work.The facts as they happened, embedded in the cinematic experience, seem a natural fit for informative entertainment. The true force and character of the work stems from its journalistic feel, which in turn, I feel, arises from it being mired in the medium of the very subject matter to which it referred. In other words, the film often acts as more of a documentary than a movie at times, while at other moments you feel as if you are caught up in the resolution of a climax or suspenseful scenario that only true cinematic excellence can deliver.In this sense then, I would disagree with Ebert's assessment that the film suffers from its faithfulness to the standards of journalism, but rather it benefits from this homogeneity, and in turn allows the viewer to be drawn even further into the events—being more trusting in their verisimilitude–an d therefore more committed to the outcome of the story. The audience's investment in the piece is heightened by the way the film breaks down the plot at times, to allow for dead-end leads and frustrating sources to be explored.The way that Redford and Hoffman seem to be going in circles in some scenes, or to be standing too still in one of the political storms of the century, lends to the believability of the drama–and therefore our attention to how it all plays out. References Berkowitz, John. (2008). All The President's Men. [online]. Available:http://thecelebritycafe. com/movies/full_review/12666. html Ebert, Roger. (1976). All The President's Men. [online]. Available:http://rogerebert. suntimes. com/apps/pbcs. dll/article? AID=/19760101/REVIEWS/601010301/1023