Free Essays on Culture

American culture is many things. It is what we were, have been and will be. There are many things that make up the definition of culture. Shared learning, ideas and values are just a few examples of what American culture is. Where a persons identity lies is based on the geographical surroundings of that individual. American Indian culture originated in the Southwest. In early Texas history The Caddo Indians lived in what is present day Collin County. They came for water as well as fertile land. The nomadic and aggressive Comanche Indians roamed and raided The Caddo settlers and the English settlers. The last known fight among settlers and Indians happened along what is known in the Allen area as Rowlett Creek. A lot of settlers began to move and settle in the Collin County area and push the Comanche as well as the Caddo westward. The city that is now Allen was part of the Republic Texas Land Grant The city was part of what was known as Peters Colony. The county grew until 1861 when Texas supported the Confederacy. I am from Allen, Texas so when I learned of the history of Allen as well as Collin County, I was very interested in the information. Many of the settlers had fought against Mexico in order to be free from Mexico. Many Mexican Americans moved to the United states until the treaty of Guadeloupe. Many of the Mexicans moved to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Mexico, and Nevada. When Mexico succeeded their territory, they automatically became citizens. Also, take in to account that several Germans came into the United States most of these immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. Many Irish began to move here, as well as Italians and Jews. The Filipinos as well as the Chinese and Japanese also came over. In earlier times in the United States many men and women from Africa were being brought over from their home and sold to White male land owners beginning in the 1620’s. The A... Free Essays on Culture Free Essays on Culture American culture is many things. It is what we were, have been and will be. There are many things that make up the definition of culture. Shared learning, ideas and values are just a few examples of what American culture is. Where a persons identity lies is based on the geographical surroundings of that individual. American Indian culture originated in the Southwest. In early Texas history The Caddo Indians lived in what is present day Collin County. They came for water as well as fertile land. The nomadic and aggressive Comanche Indians roamed and raided The Caddo settlers and the English settlers. The last known fight among settlers and Indians happened along what is known in the Allen area as Rowlett Creek. A lot of settlers began to move and settle in the Collin County area and push the Comanche as well as the Caddo westward. The city that is now Allen was part of the Republic Texas Land Grant The city was part of what was known as Peters Colony. The county grew until 1861 when Texas supported the Confederacy. I am from Allen, Texas so when I learned of the history of Allen as well as Collin County, I was very interested in the information. Many of the settlers had fought against Mexico in order to be free from Mexico. Many Mexican Americans moved to the United states until the treaty of Guadeloupe. Many of the Mexicans moved to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Mexico, and Nevada. When Mexico succeeded their territory, they automatically became citizens. Also, take in to account that several Germans came into the United States most of these immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. Many Irish began to move here, as well as Italians and Jews. The Filipinos as well as the Chinese and Japanese also came over. In earlier times in the United States many men and women from Africa were being brought over from their home and sold to White male land owners beginning in the 1620’s. The A...

US Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts

US Presidential Assassinations and Assassination Attempts In the history of the U.S. presidency, four presidents have actually been assassinated. Another six were the subject of assassination attempts. Following is a description of each assassination and attempt that has occurred since the founding of the nation. Assassinated in Office Abraham Lincoln - Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a play on April 14, 1865. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth escaped and was later shot and killed.  Conspirators who helped plan Lincolns assassination were found guilty and hung. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865. James Garfield - Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed government office seeker, shot Garfield on July 2, 1881. The president did not die until September 19th of blood poisoning. This was related more to the manner in which the physicians attended to the president than to the wounds themselves. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. William McKinley - McKinley was shot two times by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while the president was visiting the Pan-American Exhibit in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901. He died on September 14, 1901. Czolgosz stated that he shot McKinley because he was an enemy of working people. He was convicted of the murder and electrocuted on October 29, 1901. John F. Kennedy - On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was mortally wounded while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. His apparent assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed by Jack Ruby before standing trial. The Warren Commission was called to investigate Kennedys death and found that Oswald had acted alone to kill Kennedy. Many argued, however, that there was more than one gunman, a theory upheld by a 1979 House Committee investigation. The FBI and a 1982 study disagreed. Speculation continues to this day. Assassination Attempts Andrew Jackson - On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was attending a funeral for Congressman Warren Davis. Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot him with two different derringers, each of which misfired. Jackson was incensed and attacked Lawrence with his walking stick. Lawrence was tried for the attempted assassination but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum. Theodore Roosevelt - An assassination attempt was actually not made on Roosevelts life while he was in the office of president. Instead, it occurred after he had left office and decided to run for another term against William Howard Taft. While campaigning on October 14, 1912, he was shot in the chest by John Schrank, a mentally disturbed New York saloon keeper. Luckily, Roosevelt had a speech and his spectacle case in his pocket that slowed down the .38 caliber bullet. The bullet was never removed but allowed to heal over. Roosevelt continued with his speech before seeing a doctor. Franklin Roosevelt - After giving a speech in Miami on February 15, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara shot six shots into the crowd. None hit Roosevelt though the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, was shot in the stomach. Zangara blamed wealthy capitalists for his plights and those of other working people. He was convicted of attempted murder and then after Cermaks death due to the shooting he was retried for murder. He was executed by electric chair in March, 1933. Harry Truman - On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationals attempted to kill President Truman to bring attention to the case for Puerto Rican independence. The President and his family were staying at the Blair House across from the White House and the two attempted assassins, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, tried to shoot their way into the house. Torresola killed one and wounded another policeman while Collazo wounded one policeman. Torresola died in the gunfight. Collazo was arrested and sentenced to death which Truman commuted to life in prison. President Jimmy  Carter freed Collazo from prison in 1979. Gerald Ford - Ford escaped two assassination attempts, both by women. First on September 5, 1975, Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, pointed a gun at him but did not fire. She was convicted of attempting to assassinate the president and sentenced to life in prison. The second attempt on Fords life occurred on September 22, 1975 when Sara Jane Moore fired one shot that was deflected by a bystander. Moore was trying to prove herself to some radical friends with the assassination of the president. She was convicted of attempted assassination and sentenced to life in prison. Ronald Reagan - On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot in the lung by John Hinckley, Jr. Hinckley hoped that by assassinating the president, he would earn enough notoriety to impress Jodie Foster. He also shot Press Secretary James Brady along with an officer and a security agent. He was arrested but found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to life in a mental institution.

The Reasons for the Collapse of WorldCom in 2002 Coursework

The Reasons for the Collapse of WorldCom in 2002 - Coursework Example Corporate governance is known to entail associations amid the board, other bodies involving an indirect form of engagement with the organization, management and stakeholders of the organisations. The mentioned aspect is even supposed to present a comprehensive composition from which the intentions of that particular organization are believed to descend. However, it becomes imperative to mention the procedure through which the behaviours of the directors in a particular organization are supervised and controlled. The process is also learnt to entail the factor of decision making, supervision and responsibility and is termed as corporate governance on the whole (Monks & Minow, 2011: 433). Brief Background of WorldCom WorldCom was founded in Mississippi. The nature of its business operations was telecommunications and the company was learnt to have surfaced from murkiness in a period of rage in relation to corporate behaviour with regard to the mentioned sector. The rage was measured to be let loose as a result of deregulation in the telecommunications sector in the United States (US). ... It i worth mentioning that Bernard Ebbers was selected as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company in the year 1985 and was considered to be majorly responsible for the progress as well as for the downfall of the company. The progress of WorldCom attained its zenith with the acquirement of MCI Communications in the year 1998 which was recorded to be the biggest and most noteworthy corporate merger (Ngoda, 2011). The Reasons behind the Collapse A huge amount of accounting misstatements was identified as the major reason that triggered the collapse of WorldCom. The accounting misstatements were found to conceal the progressively grave situation of the mentioned company. Fake or rather unproven accounting entries involving a huge amount were learnt to be made in the financial methods of the company with the intention of attaining the aspired record of financial results. The major contributor to trigger such a fraudulent activity was stated to be the pursuance of a particular bus iness strategy by the CEO, Bernie Ebbers. During the period of 1990s, the only focus of the CEO was supposed to be on the attainment of remarkable progress with the help of acquirements. The company was learnt to be making aggressive moves towards acquiring other companies with the aid of the stocks held by the company. The stocks of the company called for the requirement to record a constant rise in terms of their worth in order to carry out the acquiring spree. However, this particular aggressive strategy followed by Bernie Ebbers witnessed a halt when the company was compelled to discard a planned unification with Sprint owing to antitrust oppositions (Berglund, n.d.). This definite halt triggered a strong influence over the CEO to project a picture

Ethical Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethical Theories - Essay Example The researcher will analyse this case using Consequentialist (Utilitarian) and Deontological theories of business ethics; also I would provide a discussion over possible decisions that could be taken in the light of arguments raised by proponents about the importance of these two ethical theories. The key stakeholders in the above mentioned case Star Alpha Medicines, a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in the UK and a leading supplier of insulin for diabetics, are the organisational customers, top management and employees, shareholders, government authorities of country X (southern-European country), industry analysts and governments of all nations where Star Alpha Medicines is operational other than country X. In addition, there are two main ethical issues as revealed in this case. The first issue is whether Star Alpha Medicines should withdraw its easy-to-use insulin pen injection product from country X to avoid financial losses and put lives of diabetes patients at stake. The second main ethical issue is whether governments of other nations (other than southern-European country) would use 25% price cut as a basis for setting drug prices and force Star Alpha to reduce the prices in all nations as well to provide relief to customers. It is worthwhile to point out that Utilitarian theory is actually developed by Consequential school of thought. This theory, in fact, talks the consequences / outcomes of various solutions and alternatives developed by organisations, individuals, governtments etc. to resolve the ethical dilemmas and scenarios. For instance, Utilitarian principle endorses the idea of providing greater welfare to greatest number in society by conducting a cost – benefit analysis. Consequentialists also use point system to analyse viability of different alternatives and to conclude which choice may lead to greatest good for society (Faculty Washington, n.d). As far as the implementation of Utilitarian ethical

Ferguson & Son Manufacturing Essay Example for Free

Ferguson Son Manufacturing Essay Ferguson Son Manufacturing company is attempting to increase efficiency and reduce cost by introducing monthly performance reports for each department. Robert Ferguson Jr is trying to introduce this new type of accounting system and when you try something like this you will always run into some problems, but Robert is creating a culture of resentment. Robert Ferguson is using a static planning budget to analyze the performance of each department. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a planning budget as a budget â€Å"prepared before the period begins and is valid for only the planned level of activity (p. 385)† Robert is using a budgeted level of activity and comparing it to the actual level of activity as the basis for the evaluations. The information that is received from an evaluation done in this manner is going to be misleading. The budgeted level of activity is not always going to be the same as the actual level of activity, so a true comparison is impossible. For example my company manufactures safety belts for motor vehicles and the budget is based on an activity level of 5000 units for the period. The actual level of activity for the period is 4000 units and in result costs and revenue are lower than the budget amount. If our company compared the costs are going to be different simply because the activity level is different then the unchanged planned amount and the results will not provide conclusive data for performance and efficiency because there is no true controlled factor. Garrison, Noreen Brewer describe this as comparing apples to oranges. This type of system is going to provide incorrect data for performance, in result the company will not be able to understand their costs and true revenue potential. The planning budget system is going create discrepancies in the spending variance. According to Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) the spending variance is â€Å"the difference between how much a cost should have been, given the actual level of activity, and the actual amount of the cost (p. 91)† The spending variance can be evaluated as favorable or unfavorable, and this could effect how the product is priced or even purchasing new high tech equipment. You can not effectively utilize a spending variance in a planned budget system because you do not use the same activity level to compare cost. These are big decisions that can make a big impact on a companies revenue and if the system is not using the actual activity level and costs and comparing to the actual levels, the spending variance will be evaluated incorrectly. The planning budget system is going to effect the morale of the supervisors and employees dramatically. Robert Ferguson Jr is evaluating the performance of the supervisors and departments monthly based on amounts and activities that they have budgeted. This budget could be completely unrealistic and this will cause the entire staff to feel hopeless and bitter. Once people begin to feel hopeless, their work performance will fall, production and efficiency will naturally follow. Their work performance will take into consideration the quantity of their work, but more importantly the quality of their work. If your employees feel they have to cut corners to meet budget to keep their jobs, they will do so and the company could begin to alienate their customers. To continue the seat belt example, if my company had to produce 5000 units and this was impossible unless the workers cut a few corners; now the company has faulty seat belts going to car companies. This could cause a large recall on the cars that our clients produce and those clients are going to find a new company to work with for these products. In this example, my company just lost a tremendous amount of money due to an accounting system that demands so much of their workers that the quality of their work has to be sacrificed. This is all due to notion of increasing efficiency without comparing the activity levels and costs in the same manner. Ferguson Son Manufacturing should adapt a flexible budget system to improve efficiency. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a flexible budget as â€Å"an estimate of what revenues and costs should have been, given the actual level of activity for the period(p. 385). Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) go on to say that â€Å"when a flexible budget is used in performance evaluation, actual costs are compared to what the costs should have been for the actual level of activity during the period rather than to the static planning budget (p. 385). † The activity level will change each period, through out the period as the business activity increases and decreases. Emory says, â€Å"those reports dont tell the whole story. We always seem to be interrupting the big jobs for all those small rush orders. All that set up and machine adjustment time is killing us. This is an example of the type of activity that is going to happen and needs to be taken into consideration when one is evaluating efficiency. The flexible budget will take into consideration this activity and compare the costs to the same level of activity. The current planned budget does not take this into consideration and these are issues that the supervisor has no power over. With the knowledge from the flexible budget, Robert Ferguson Jr may decide that if they purchase a new machine they could complete these rush orders, not have any idle time and in result increase efficiency. In the flexible budget system, Robert will be able to effectively evaluate the spending variance and assess the performance of his workers. The flexible budget is going to make the supervisors and other workers feel they are being measured fairly and can have a positive sense of accountability. During each accounting meeting supervisors like Tom and Jim will be able to walk in confidently, look at the activity of their departments, what their costs should have been based on the activity, what it was actually and see where they can improve. Tom and Jim have been working at Ferguson Son for a very long time and understand what they and their teams can accomplish. They have been praised for the quality of their work by Robert Ferguson Sr and their expertise can be the most efficient tool Robert Ferguson Jr has in the factory. Flexible budget system will create realistic goals for the workers and in turn relieve the negative stress being placed on them. The quality of work will not be sacrificed to cut costs, Tom and Jim will incorporate new work practices to increase efficiency. Activity-based costing could be a great tool for Ferguson Son Manufacturing f used properly. Activity-based costing is defined by Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) as â€Å"a costing method that is designed to provide managers with cost information for strategic and other decisions that potentially affect capacity and therefore â€Å"fixed† as well as variable costs. Activity-based costing is ordinarily used as a supplement to, rather than as a replacement for, a companys usual costing system (p. 273). † Activity-based costing takes into consideration all different types of costs as they relate to the activities, so managers can make more effective decisions. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) state the implementation process for activity-based costing breaks down into five steps and these steps are define activities, activity cost pools, and activity measures; assign overhead costs to activity cost pools; calculate activity rates; assign overhead costs to cost objects using the activity rates and activity measures, and finally prepare management reports. The first step is going to require the company to interview supervisors of each department to understand the activities, activity cost pools and activity measures. This will involve the supervisors and give the company a better grasp of the activity, but make the supervisors feel they are a part of the process and team. This will in turn improve their confidence and overall morale. Once they have interviewed the supervisors and understand the activities, they will be able to assign overhead costs to activity pools such as the rent for the factory to production or the salaries of the marketing managers to the marketing department. The next steps will have them assign rates and costs to certain objects. Activity-based costing will allow Ferguson Son Manufacturing to become more efficient by giving them the ability to see what areas need the most improvement. Activity-based costing breaks down the costs for each department and activity in a way that Robert Ferguson Jr can assess the report and use the theory of constraint to locate the department that needs to improve and effectively take the steps to improve that department. As the system is continued to be used the company will see their efficiency rise and in results so will the company profits. Individuals are always working towards a purpose or some type of goal and that is what a budget can provide. I would utilize a budget to create a sense of urgency, competition and direction in the work place. I would utilize a responsibility accounting system. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define responsibility accounting as â€Å"a system of accountability in which managers are held responsible for those items of revenue and cost—and only those items—over which they can exert significant control. The managers are held responsible for differences between budgeted and actual results (p. 337). † This type system will allow the managers to be held responsible for the items they can directly control, by involving them in the process and not automatically penalizing them for not meeting their goals immediately. Everyone wants to feel there are part of a team and involved in the process of creating their own goals. I would implement a self-imposed budget system to help create a sense of control for all workers and managers of the organization. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define a self-imposed budget as â€Å"a method of preparing budgets in which managers prepare their own budgets. These budgets are then reviewed by higher-level managers, and any issues are resolved by mutual agreement (p. 338)†. I would create a budget committee that includes the managers to provide everyone in the organization this sense of unity. Once a budget is created and the workers have a sense of control and unity I would create an incentive program to encourage workers to accomplish and exceed their goals. I would implement a bonus incentive plan for my workers. This system would utilize the budget created by the organization and further inspire the workers to excel. People are motivated by many different things and most of them involve factors that are not directly related to the work place. People work to provide financial security for their family, prestige outside of work and pride for the work they do. A bonus program will give each individual the opportunity to accomplish any or all of these personal goals and contribute to the success of the organization. If each person in the organization is striving to surpass their goals, the organization will do the same and the results will be evident to the shareholders. Garrison, Noreen Brewer (2012) define return on investment as the â€Å"net operating income divided by average operating assets. It also equals margin multiplied by turnover (p. 475). † The return on investment is the profit of the organization. Activity-based costing allows larger companies to understand what their costs are, where they are coming from and how to effectively reduce them to create the largest return possible. Activity-based costing systems do have start up costs associated with them. The organization must train personal to understand the process and systems in order to properly accomplish these activities. The organization must interview staff to research their departments properly to get the accurate information vital to the success of activity-based costing. These costs are the reason many smaller organizations can not apply this system. Activity-based costing provides the organization with the ability to dissect their departments activities and costs. This will allow the organization to see what areas need improvement, what costs can be avoided, in result increase profits and free cash flow for possible expansion or upgrades. If Robert Ferguson Jr can see what departments are costing the company excessive amounts of money, he can lower or eliminate those costs. Once Robert reduces the cost of production, the revenue will rise and the return on investment will grow.

21st Century :: essays research papers

In A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking There were very many interesting theories and facts that were brought up about physics. A couple of these theories and fact help lead me to deciding on my opinion about the future of physics in the 21st century. My opinion is that in the 21st century a couple of things will happen in the way of physics. First I think scientist will continue work on old experiments and make new theories. Another one of my thought are that scientist will prove previous theories wrong. The continuation of scientist finding out more theories and furthering previous experiment is a big possibility. This is likely to happen because since about 200 BC scientist and philosophers have been making theories about Earth and how things on Earth work as well as in the Universe. One of the earliest examples of these theories was Aristotle. Aristotle thought that the Earth was stationary and that the sun, the moon, the planets and the stars moved in circular orbits around the earth. Then in the 2nd century ad , Ptolemy made a model which elaborated the theory made by Aristotle. In his model "The earth stood at the center, surrounded by eight spheres that carried the moon, the sun, the stars and the 5 planets known at the time. Years and years after all these first theories of how the universe was setup scientist found that all the planets revolve around the sun. This is an example of how was seems so simple now like how the planets work was so complicated to our predecesso rs, and as for what I think, what we find so complicated right now will be so simple in later decades. I also believe that in the 21st century scientist will prove that previous theories that were made by scientist are false. Stephen Hawking sums this up by saying "At the beginning of this century, it was thought that everything could be explained in terms of properties and continues matter which shows how quickly things can change in the world of science, because of this Max Baron put it this way "it is possible for physics as we know it to be over in six months" because theories change so quickly that physics may not be where it is now in six months.

Psychological study: “Geenie the Wild Child!” Essay

The development of language comes naturally for most people; as they grow from an infant to a child. Noam Chomsky believes that languages are genetically pre-programmed by a language acquisition device in the brain. The deep structure of language and words is not learned. Yet the surface structures, such as phonetic sounds are learned. A few children do not master the basic foundation of language like in Genie’s case. Genie (and her mom) was victims of abuse and neglect inflicted upon them by Genie’s father. In November, 1970, Genie’s [a.k.a. â€Å"The Wild Child†] horrible plight was documented and this is my personal assessment of it†¦ I would think that Genie can one day master English (or another language) because of one specific reason: Genie’s brain, as slow and below average for a 13 year old as it was, did show some progression. Genie did have a 20-word vocabulary. She could correctly identify colors, she knew her mom and could say things like, â€Å"walk, door and No more.† However, this was not the case. After over 6 years of being observed, poked and researched by scientist, Genie never did master the English language. Also, Genie had a most bizarre and unfortunate life starting at the very moment she was born. In the beginning she was constrained and not given any attention. When she was discovered by the world, she was bombarded with attention from many researchers. From the multitude of research done on her, one bit of information that held true to Lenneberg’s theory is the inability to produce speech after puberty even when exposed to it. However, in the end the researchers became insensitive and overlooked Genie’s own well-being for scientific research.