English and English Literature Coursework Dubliners Essay Example for Free

English and English Literature Coursework Dubliners Essay These stories are all about escape and how characters are unable to escape. In the light of this quotation, I am going to discuss Dubliners, with close detailed reference to two of the stories, Eveline and The Boarding House. There are many similarities between these two stories, as well as contrasts. In Eveline, her father is a drunkard and is also the head of the house, whereas in The Boarding House, Pollys father, was a shabby stooped little drunkard who lives separated from his family. Pollys father has been cut-off from her life, and Evelines mother is dead. The similarity here, is that each child has had one of their parents cut off from a period of their life. Eveline wants to escape to Buenos Aires, to get away from her poverty in Dublin. Mr Doran wants to escape from the prospect of marriage. This brings us to one of the main points of the book, the characters inability to escape. Eveline has been given the chance to escape from her life, where she had to work hard both in the house and at business. Poor Eveline, however, finds that she is unable to move forward. She lacks the courage and strength to make that leap that will free her of her oppressive situation. . Shes sees her lover as a possible source of danger: All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her. Instead of an uncertain but hopeful future, her paralysis will make a certain and dismal future that may well repeat her mothers sad life story. In Mr Dorans case, the theme of powerlessness is conveyed his situation. As with many other characters in Dubliners, various social pressures, like his job and his reputation, combine to rob him of choice. Mrs Mooney wants her daughter to escape her current poverty and the possibility of a working life for marriage, while Mr Doran wants to escape the tying down of marriage and enjoy his free life. Mr Doran nonetheless cannot escape. At the end of The Boarding House, Mrs Mooney tells Polly, Come down, dear. Mr Doran wants to speak to you. The reader is struck by the tremendous irony of the situation, since it is clear that Mr Doran does not really want to speak to Polly. He has been bullied and terrified into proposing marriage to her. These simple words are the hallmark of Mrs Mooneys accomplishment. Frank wants to take Eveline away, but Eveline is unsure. It was hard work-a hard life-but now that she was about to leave it she did not find to a wholly undesirable life. Polly wants to settle with Mr Doran, but Mr Doran is unsure, however he does not have a choice: What could he do now but marry her or run away? He could not brazen it out. Mr Doran has the choice to run away, but this is not an option for Dublin is such a small city: everyone knows everyone elses business. Both Frank and Mr Doran can be seen as saving the two girls from poverty. Mr Doran and Eveline are both described as helpless. Mr Doran himself says, I felt helpless, while Eveline is described as passive like a helpless animal. At the end of each story, an iron railing is mentioned. Eveline gripped with both hands at the iron railings, using them as an anchor, preventing her from drowning into the seas of the world. The railings help Eveline think of thoughts which keep her from leaving. Polly uses the iron railings as an anchor to clear her thoughts. There was no longer any perturbation visible on her face. Both Mr Doran and Eveline feel that it is their duty to stay and face the consequences. Mr Doran longed to ascend through the roof and fly away yet a force pushed him downstairs step by step. Eveline finds that she is paralysed by the needs of her father and her promise to her mother to keep the home together as long as she could. Eveline starts a series of stories dealing with various kinds of marriage and courtship. In Eveline, marriage presents the possibility of escape. The Boarding House gives us marriage as a social convention and a trap. Two Gallants reduces marriage and courtship to its animal. Two Gallants gave us men taking advantage of a young woman. The Boarding House gives us a more respectable social setting, but the basic cynicism about love and relationships between the genders remains. The economic conditions are also expressed in Eveline and The Boarding House. To save money in The Boarding House, pieces of broken bread are collected to help make Tuesdays bread-pudding. The sugar and butter is kept safe under lock and key. In Eveline, there is an invariable squabble for money on Saturday nights. Evelines dead mum controls her while Mr Doran is controlled by Mrs Mooney. Mrs Mooney and Evelines mum are both very different people in the sense that Mrs Mooney is strong and independent and Evelines mum is weak and dependent. Evelines love for Frank leads her to escape whereas Mr Dorans love for Polly leads him to confine his life with marriage. Eveline is forced into making her decision to stay by duty to her family. Mr Doran has put himself into his situation and it driven further by Mrs Mooney. Both Eveline and Mr Doran have occupational restrictions. Mr Doran had been employed for thirteen years in a great Catholic wine-merchants office and publicity would mean the loss of his sit. All his hard work would be gone for nothing. Eveline, however, is oppressed by her employer and would not cry many tears at leaving the Stores. One of the striking elements of The Boarding House is Mrs Mooneys silence. Her daughters respect is not really a concern, because she knows about the affair from the start. What matters to her is trading on her feigned outrage to get a social arrangement that will benefit her daughter. Mrs Mooney manipulates the weaker Mr Doran, using his concern for his job and his fear of scandal. The story concludes with the fact that Mr Doran has spoken to Mrs Mooney and now wants to speak to Polly. This probably suggests a proposal of marriage, and the trap is implied in the final line: Then she remembered what she had been waiting for. Marriage is the price which Doran must pay in order to keep his job, since Dublin is such a small city: everyone knows everyone elses business The stages-of-life structure continues in Eveline. In previous stories like The Sisters and Araby, children had been main characters. Eveline is an adult, a young woman old enough to get married. Joyce gives us the terrible poverty and pressure of her situation. The weight of poverty and family responsibilities bear down on this young woman heavily and her financial situation is far worse than that of the three boy narrators of the previous stories. She is trapped in an ugly situation, responsible for her siblings and the aging father who abuses her. In conclusion, it can be said that Joyce presents the themes of escape and paralysis in Dubliners. They show how Joyce sees the city of Dublin.

Exploration of a Surrealist theme Essay Example for Free

Exploration of a Surrealist theme Essay Jonathan Safran Foers first novel Everything is Illuminated is yet another artistic interpretation of reliving the memory of the Holocaust – which to younger generations of men and women over the world has moved into the domain of folklore and history, progressing from the living memory of people of yesteryears. In assessing the surrealistic component of his work, we would first define surrealism as an art form and how it has played an important role in modern literature and movies first. Although surrealism as a movement started in 1924, it still influences artists, writers and critics even to this day. At its core, surrealism taps into our unconscious through powerful symbols and abstractions, and according to the author of the book The Surrealist Manifesto Andre Breton(1924), surrealist writers express the passage of actual functioning of thought rather than describing thought itself. The tool that Foer uses in his work is automatic writing which is essentially a popular surrealist tool according to Breton, which implies writing without thinking. This aimed to break down the barriers between the conscious and subconscious, thus providing a clearer picture of the actual awareness and mental processes of the writer. There are numerous elements of Foers work in Everything is Illuminated which is unmistakably surrealistic, and exposes the automatic writing process that Foer employs. In a way this is a new angle way to explore the Holocaust as Alex Perchov, the naive Ukrainian translator writes letters to Foer in a stylized Russo-English tone that reads : It is mammoth honor for me write for a writer, especially when he is American writer, like Ernest Hemingway; or It is bad and popular habit for people in Ukraine to take things without asking are the norm. Interspersed with these letters are the fragments of the real novel by Foer which he exchanges with Alex the interpreter, which describes in a real yet magical account of Foers imagined life in the Shetl, where his grandfather came from, before the Nazis destroyed it completely. An important surrealist theme is this interface between reality deconstructed through Jonathan Foers journey as he traces his familys connections to Trachimbrod ( a fictional representation of the real town Tachenrod) between 1791 and 1942. There are clearly absurd situations and unique personalities and fascinating philosophies depicted in the process, which bring out the intended surrealism. In Chapter two, The Beginning of the world Never Comes, like all traditional Jewish stories it opens with a conditional : Trachim Bs double-axle wagon either did or did not pin him against the bottom of the Brod River. The wagon may or may not have belonged to Trachim, and in truth he may or may not have been killed. This implicit ambiguity and uncertainty is a dominant surreal element – nothing is ever sure when it comes to Trachimrod, and the legend surrounding Trachim who is the real source of the lore. But as a good story is better than no story at all, and Everything is Illminated explores the interface between fact and fiction all along, with the boundaries often merged. To this end, it is a unique narrative art form applied to the pre-history of the Holocaust as someone from a succeeding generation explores its quasi-magical communal origins, now lost. Returning to the theme of automatic writing, much of Alexs perspective as it is presented does not have any line breaks or any semblance of literary organization : They burned the synagogue. They burned the synagogue. That was the first thing they did. That was first. Then they made all of the men in lines' (P. 185). While Alex is literally translating the old womans narrative about the Nazi atrocities, he gives us the surreal impression that he is not lifting his pen from paper as he records a continuous stream of thought. The repetitions reinforce the thought process turning gradually somber and dark, as the novel progresses from its earlier light-hearted beginnings. Towards the end of the novel, it becomes an established theme as the thought process sounds incoherent at times depicting the grim reality of the situation. For instance, when the Nazis march through Kolki, Alex records : It was not forever before he was the only Jew remaining outside of the synagogue the General was now in the second row and said to a man because he only asked men I do not know why who is a Jew and the man said they are all in the synagogue because he did not know Herschel or did not know that Herschel was a Jew (Page 250). Putting no punctuation in this section, as if to rush through the stream of thought is an attempt to get the reader to focus on the text, despite any obvious demarcation between the sentences, as a literary device to bring out the angst and anxiety in the Grandfather as he barely manages to move from one thought to another. The tragedy of the situation, as exemplified by this method of automatic writing, is very distinct from a comprehensively described historical narrative which has been the norm of many historical novels depicting the terror that the Nazis perpetrated. As a surrealist literary tool, this is powerful in evoking subconscious patterns of the mind. Under pressure or fear, as our mind gets cluttered, it gets entwined with the deepest physiological motives of fight or flight – as the mind just processes the bare facts, repeats those which are essential to deconstruct the crucial elements that separate life and death, the bare essentials so to speak. Even love is under strain under such circumstances, and the literary tool of automatic writing that Jonathan Foer uses does not stop at simply removing line breaks and punctuation, he even obliterates the spaces between the words, often repeating them in succession, to bring out the flow and rush of emotion and thoughts. Without stopping to think what he is writing, as if it is a work-in-progress, Foer also introduces the idea of temporality, or the passage of time in his writing. This example of the Grandfathers narrative brings out the idea of a powerful flow : I looked at Grandmother and shekissedmeontheforehead and I kissedheronthemouth and our tearsmixedonourlips and then I kissedyourfather many times I secured him from Grandmothers arms and Iheldhimwithmuchforce so much that he started crying I said I love you I love you I love you I love you I loveyou I loveyou I loveyou I loveyou Iloveyou (Page 250). The use of these new works, cluttered and jumbled, bring out the inherent tragedy of the situation powerfully, as the readers are almost compelled to think outside their normal sphere of reasoning as to why this cluttering has been left unedited in the book. This crazy, quilted patchwork of writing styles that Foer has created perfectly suits the backdrop of the Holocaust, and the use of words like Iloveyou and tearsmixedonourlips seem to express the sentiment that conventional use of English words is inadequate to express the pathos and poignancy of the moment. The presentation of the text itself in Everything is illuminated is another example of surrealistic techniques used in the book. A vivid example is provided in the Book of Antecedents, where after the last entry on Brods list of 613 sadnesses (page 212), the text continues : we are writing†¦ we are writing †¦we are writing for a full one and a half pages. While critics may interpret this somewhat idiosyncratic use as monotonous text in many ways, there is a surrealist explanation that appears plausible. Throughout the interplay of facts, myths and legends seen in Everything is illuminated this was one place in the novel where the reader is powerfully reminded that after all, this is a written piece of work, where writing can be a monotonous activity, when writers have to put pens on papers (or hammer at typewriter keyboards) as part of a daily routine to capture their thought flow. Artistically, this is the equivalent of a painter including a picture of his paintbrushes within a landscape or still portrait to convey the message that it should be interpreted as a work of art, as the artists own rendition of reality. The use of periods to leave out large portions of text is used by Foer in other instances as well, notably towards the end, between the section describing Trachimday and the dream of the end of the world. (pg 272). This was celebration, unmitigated by imminent death. They stayed Without actually describing the bombing of Trachimbrod, Foer powerfully describes the emptiness and tragedy of the impending bombing, as the residents prepared for it stoically, and when the bombing took place they fled the city. These long spaces are the surrealist equivalent of time being frozen, as thought flowed in slow motion. Without adequately expressing the details of the bombing these mental spaces indicate Foers deliberate style of a work-in-progress, as if he intended to fill in these spaces later. In another sense, this surrealistic theme implies the overall mission of the story, as a few characters set out to discover something far bigger than themselves. This surrealist element of describing the function of thought as defined by Breton is evident through out the novel, often with the deliberate misuse of words, as is an artificially distorted surrealist artwork aiming to describe the process rather than reaching literary perfection. For instance, Alex, whose English is not very good confessedly has a thesaurus by his side when writing and picks out inappropriate word alternatives as evident form this line : I have girdled in the envelope the items you inquired, not withholding postcards of Lutsk, the census ledgers of the six villages from before the war, and the photographs you had me keep for cautious purposes†¦ I must eat a slice of humble pie for what occurred to you on the train. I know how momentous the box was for you, for both of us, and how its ingredients were not exchangeable†¦. (Page 23) The inept use of thesaurus-derived synonyms and clumsy phrases remain an important part of the book, as well as the film directed by Liev Schreiber (Carlson 2006) as Alex explains that his friends find his full name Alexander â€Å"more flaccid to utter†. Again in leaving Alexs letters unedited, it is an attempt to depicts the process by which Alex himself matures throughout the book as a researcher and writer, as his initial efforts to prove that he is knowledgeable in English is a surrealistic statement about setting out on the journey to self-discovery through learning. As Alex best describes this process at the end â€Å"Everything is illuminated in the light of the past, which is inside us looking out,† (Carlson 2006) this book is about deconstructing the past using a surrealist technique. Reference Breton, Andre (1924) Le Manifeste du Surrealisme. Translated to English in : Patrick Waldberg, Surrealism (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971), pp. 66-75. Carlson, Daniel (2006) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Decent. Pajiba 2006. Retrieved from the Internet on 15 March, 2008 from : http://www. pajiba. com/everything-is-illuminated. htm

The Role of External Auditor in Corporate Governance

The Role of External Auditor in Corporate Governance External Auditors check companys accounts and report to the company based on the accounts. Basically, the concern is how external auditors conduct these duties effectively. Legislations, such as The Companies Act 1965, have made great efforts to ensure external auditors conduct their duties and obligations effectively. The Code of Corporate Governance in 2001 and the amendment in 2007 have further enhanced the effectiveness of audit in the interests of stockholders and shareholders. In light of the recent scandals involving external auditors in the world, there is a growing concern for corporate governance globally as there is increased reliance by the stockholders and shareholders on external auditors. This study examines the role of external auditors in the corporate governance framework. The study then reviews the financial scandals involving auditors occurred in the world and investigate the role of external auditor in the collapse of the companies. Introduction Corporate governance is a central and dynamic aspect of business. It is very important for corporate success and social welfare. In the wake of Enron, HIH Insurance and other similar cases, countries around the world have reacted quickly by pre-examining similar events domestically. As a speedy response to these corporate failures, the USA issued the Sarbanes-Oxly Act in July 2002, and in UK, the Higgs Report and the Smith Report were published in January 2003 (Solomon, 2007). Nowadays corporate governance is a globally debated topic with many characteristics (Nobel, 1998). However, the concern is whether auditors play an important role in the framework of corporate governance. Corporate Governance Corporate governance is the relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations. The main participants are the shareholders, the management and the board of directors. Corporate governance is the process whereby directors of a company are monitored and controlled. There are two areas considered to be fundamental to corporate governance, one is supervision and monitoring of management performance and the other is ensuring accountability of management to shareholders and other stakeholders (Marianne, 2009). Till now, probably the two most important basic elements of good corporate governance have been full disclosure and the presence of independent directors and auditors, who each has their own ways to confirm that the data provided by the corporation are true and fairly stated. The contents of full disclosure are listed out in regulatory demands and professional pronouncements, and companies are expected to fully comply. The independence of the outside director and external auditor means the directors and auditors will have to distance themselves considerably to assure shareholders that they have conducted their tasks (Bavly, 2004). Role of External Auditors in Corporate Governance External auditors play a key role in the corporate governance framework. They conduct one of the most important corporate governance checks that help to monitor managements activities. The audit of financial statement makes disclosures more reliable, thus increasing confidence in the companys transparency. The role of external auditors is to make sure that Board of Directors and the management are acting responsibly towards the shareholders investment interests. By keeping objectivity, the external auditors can add value to shareholders by ensuring that the companys internal controls are strong and effective. And by working with the audit committee and liaising with internal auditors, external auditors can help to facilitate a more effective oversight of the financial reporting process by the Board of Directors (Hassan, 2004). However, the audit expectations gap needs to be acknowledged, as the audit function can only do so much on the fraud. The external auditor can not be expected to find every fraud and error during an audit. In accordance with the Cadbury Report, it is important to know that the external auditors role is not to prepare the financial statements, nor to provide assurance that the data in the financial statements are correct, nor to guarantee that the company will continue as a going concern, but the external auditors have to state in the annual report that the financial statements show a true and fair view. The Cadbury Report highlighted that there was no doubt on whether there should be an audit but rather how the audit could be ensured to conduct effectively and objectively by the external auditors (Solomon, 2007). Auditor Independence External auditors are expected to be independent of the company and report on the company objectively. Actually, auditors can only play their role effectively if they are independent (Peel ODonnell, 1995). They have to conduct their tasks in the most independent and reliable manner to provide investing public with the level of assurance to make their decisions based on the financial statements. According to the Cadbury Report, auditor independence could be affected due to the close relationship between auditors and company managers and due to the auditors intention to develop a constructive relationship with their clients. There are a number of threats to auditor independence, one of which is to provide non-audit services since non-audit services are lucrative. Auditors can obtain the contracts for non-audit services only if they maintain a good relationship with the management. The Cadbury Report stressed that a balance is needed to be achieved in such way that external auditors will work with, not against, company management, but in doing so they need to serve shareholders. This is a difficult path. The easiest way to ensure this balance being attained is suggested to establish audit committees and develop effective accounting standards. The Cadbury Report recommended all companies to establish audit committees. Audit committees serve as representative of shareholder interests. They are not only responsible for monitoring financial reporting process to support good corporate governance, they are also considered to be able to ensure an appropriate relationship exists between the external auditor and the management whose financial statements are being audited (Hassan, 2004). The Smith Report issued in 2003 highlighted that the audit committee needs to be proactive and raise the concern with directors rather than brush them under the carpet. The Report also stressed that all members of audit committee should be independent non-executive directors. Companys annual reports should disclose detailed information on the role and responsibilities of their audit committee. Lessons from Financial Scandals 4.1 Collapse of Enron Enron, the energy trading company based on Texas is the first scandal shaking up the auditing profession. It has led to a crisis to the confidence on auditors and the reliability of financial reporting (Holm Laursen, 2007). The audit quality and the independence of external auditors were questioned. In this case, Enrons audit and accounting function were fraudulent. Arthur Andersen, the auditor of Enron, has been involved in Enrons fraudulent accounting and auditing. Failure of the audit function is one of the key factors contributing to the companys collapse. Enron created The Raptors, four special purpose entities (SPEs). SPEs are established in order that a company can form a joint venture with other interested parties to conduct a specific transaction. This transaction will not subject the other parties to the risks more generally associated with the companys operations. U.S Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAPP) allows companies to record the gains and losses of SPEs without reporting their assets and liabilities in certain instances. In this way, Enron avoided adding more than $1 billion debt to its balance sheet without consolidating certain SPEs (Jenkins, 2003). But the problems are, when the losses of these entities quickly rose into billions of dollars, these entities were brought into the core financial statements. It then became clear that Enron itself had great losses. The corporations stock price dropped sharply, and the company went into bankruptcy in December 2001 (Brown, 2005). Examples of Enrons devious accounting exist widely in the corporation. The company recorded profits, for example, from a joint venture with Blockbuster Video that was never materialized (The Economist, 7 February 2002). In 2002, Enron restated its accounts, which is actually a process that reduced reported profits by $600 million (The Economist, 6 December 2001). In fact, the process resulted in a cumulative profit decrease of $591 million and a rise in debt of $628 million for the financial statements from 1997 to 2000. The difference between the profit figures was mainly attributed to the earlier omission of three off-balance sheet entities. Such profit inflation enabled the company to raise its earnings per share (EPS). The company not only manipulated the accounting figures to inflate the earnings, but it also was found to remove substantial amounts of debt from its accounts by setting up a number of off-balance sheet entities. Such special purpose entities can be used to hide a companys liabilities from the balance sheet, in order to make the financial statements look much better than they really are (The Economist, 2 May 2002). It means substantial number of liabilities did not have to be disclosed on Enrons financial statements, because they were mainly attributed to another legal entity. All these issues raise the question, why did Enrons auditor allow this type of activity? This is because the conflicts of interest exist between the external auditor and the management. Conflicts of Interest Conflicts of interest are a frequent problem in the audit profession. Although independent appointment of external auditors by companys shareholders is regularly replaced by subjective appointment by the company management, the auditor is all too often appreciated to the companys senior management. Further, conflicts of interest arise from interactive functions of audit and consultancy. Arthur Andersen has been blamed to apply loose standards in their audits because of conflict of interest over the subatantial consulting fees collected from Enron. In 2000, Andersen collected $25 million for auditing Enrons books in addition to $27 million for consulting services. In 2001, Arthur Anderson earned US$55 million for provision of non-audit services (Brown, 2005). Although Arthur Andersen reported on the companys accounts, they did not report fraud to the shareholders. This is because the fraud was committed by the management. Kenneth Lay, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from Feb 1986 until Feb 2001, took home US$ 152 million although the company was facing a loss. If Andersen were to report, they probably will not be appointed in the following years or be engaged in non-audit services (Krishnan, L, 2009). Especially, close relationships are established over time between companies and their external auditors. It can again affect independent judgment and impact on the auditing function. In this case, there are regular exchanges of employees within Enron from Arthur Anderson. Such conflicts of interest affect the corporate governance function. Serious conflicts of interest have also arisen among members of Enrons internal audit committee, which causes the internal audit committee did not perform its functions of internal control and of checking the external auditing function. For example, Lord Wakeham, a member of the audit committee, was at the same time having a consulting contract with Enron (The Economist, 7February2002). This shows that people in responsible positions should have detected fraudulent activities if they were independent. Enrons board of directors was composed of a number of members who have been shown to be willing to conduct fraudulent activity. It is also because the non-executive directors were compromised by conflicts of interest. 4.2 Collapse of HIH Insurance In Australia, the collapse of HIH Insurance Ltd was observed as the beginning of the reflection into external auditors role. HIH is one of Australias biggest insurers, comprising several separate government-licensed insurance companies, including HIH Casualty General Insurance Ltd, FAI General Insurance Ltd, CIC Insurance Ltd and World Marine General Insurances Ltd. On 15 March 2001, HIH went into provisional liquidation with losses of A$ 800 million (Peursem, Zhou, Flood Buttimore, 2007). HIH is one of the largest corporate collapses in Australian history. Similar issues arise as in the Enron case. HIH is claimed to mislead investors by providing incorrect financial reports to the market and HIHs auditor, Arthur Andersen, may have played a part in its collapse. Andersen conducted the external audits for HIH from 1971 until its collapse in 2001. Their contribution to the failure of HIH is considered in the following sections: Audit Practices As part of audit process, auditors will conduct a risk assessment to determine the structure and plan of the audit. Andersen assessed the risk of HIH and deemed it a maximum risk client, however, the engagement team of Andersen had not prepared the risk management plan and therefore the senior management team at Anderson did not review and approve the plan (Peursem, Zhou, Flood Buttimore, 2007). At the end, the auditor simply drew the wrong conclusions. Andersen signed off HIHs annual report for the 30th June 2000 and stated that it was a going concern with net assets of $939 million. Nine months later, HIH collapsed with debts of $5.3 billion (Peursem, Zhou, Flood Buttimore, 2007). Andersen used HIH management reports and forecasts and did not obtain sufficient evidence to get the conclusions they did. The liquidator could not find the documentation on the reasons for considering HIH as a going concern. This implies that Anderson failed to produce sufficient working papers to prove that the audit actually is conducted. Auditor Independence Andersen had a close relationship with HIH. By the time of liquidation, three former Anderson partners who had conducted HIH financial audit work held positions on the HIH board of directors. This obvious lack of independence between the board of directors and the auditors indicated that the best interests of HIH may have not always be a priority. Andersons failure in producing adequate working papers or in obtaining adequate evidence to support their findings have serious concerns on the quality of the audit they did. A significant independence issue is also reflected in the form of Andersons payment to HIH Chairman, Geoffrey Cohen for consultancy fees. These fees totaled $190,887 in nine years and included the use of Andersons office and secretary. These fees were not disclosed to the remaining board members in the annual general meetings (Peursem, Zhou, Flood Buttimore, 2007). The close and complicated financial relationship between the auditors and HIH chairman raise further questions in this case. Finally, the threat to auditor independence is that Andersen provided both audit and non-audit services to HIH. It raises a question on how can an auditor provide an independent opinion on the financial statements when he may play a role in guiding the preparation of the statements? The Royal Commission in Australia, which investigates the collapse of HIH, has found that the largest corporate collapse in Australia was not due to fraud but the result of attempting to cover the cracks on the overpriced acquisition. Andersons role in it appeared to be substantial. Modern Approach to External Auditors Role in Corporate Governance External auditors now have to take a much stricter approach to their clients (Bourne, 1995). There is an increasing view to support that external auditors should take on a more proactive role (Baxt, 1970). The Companies Act has set the stipulation on appointment, eligibility, qualification, disqualification and removal of external auditors (Davies Prentice, 2003). The intention is to ensure that auditors are able to carry out audit in an impersonal, objective and professional way. It is also to ensure that auditors are independent of the company. The reason for such emphasis is to ensure the external auditors are not in a position of conflict of interests. When there is conflict of interest, disclosure must be made to shareholders and stakeholders. Alternatively, there should be prohibition to the provision of non-audit services to the company where they act as auditors. To ensure auditors are truly independent and not in a conflict of interest, auditors should be rotated every year. Thereafter there should be a gap of five years before the same auditors are appointed by the company. Conclusion External auditors have an essential role in corporate governance through their involvement and their examination of financial statements. The external auditors role in corporate governance is a fundamental complement to achieve the desired objective of corporate governance. Therefore, the duties and obligations of external auditors must be expanded for the rights and interests of shareholders and stakeholders. There must be a modern approach to the auditors role in the corporate governance framework.

Fusion :: essays research papers

Fusion reactions are inhibited by the electrical repulsive force that acts between two positively charged nuclei. For fusion to occur, the two nuclei must approach each other at high speed to overcome the electrical repulsion and attain a sufficiently small separation (less than one-trillionth of a centimeter) that the short-range strong nuclear force dominates. For the production of useful amounts of energy, a large number of nuclei must under go fusion: that is to say, a gas of fusing nuclei must be produced. In a gas at extremely high temperature, the average nucleus contains sufficient kinetic energy to undergo fusion. Such a medium can be produced by heating an ordinary gas of neutral atoms beyond the temperature at which electrons are knocked out of the atoms. The result is an ionized gas consisting of free negative electrons and positive nuclei. This gas constitutes a plasma.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plasma, in physics, is an electrically conducting medium in which there are roughly equal numbers of positively and negatively charged particles, produced when the atoms in a gas become ionized. It is sometimes referred to as the fourth state of matter, distinct from the solid, liquid, and gaseous states. When energy is continuously applied to a solid, it first melts, then it vaporizes, and finally electrons are removed from some of the neutral gas atoms and molecules to yield a mixture of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons, while overall neutral charge density is maintained. When a significant portion of the gas has been ionized, its properties will be altered so substantially that little resemblance to solids, liquids, and gases remains. A plasma is unique in the way in which it interacts with itself with electric and magnetic fields, and with its environment. A plasma can be thought of as a collection of ions, electrons, neutral atoms and molecules, an photons in which some atoms are being ionized simultaneously with other electrons recombining with ions to form neutral particles, while photons are continuously being produced and absorbed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Scientists have estimated that more than 99 percent of the matter in the universe exists in the plasma state. All of the observed stars, including the Sun, consist of plasma, as do interstellar and interplanetary media and the outer atmospheres of the planets. Although most terrestrial matter exists in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, plasma is found in lightning bolts and auroras, in gaseous discharge lamps (neon lights), and in the crystal structure of metallic solids.

Government and Politics - The Original Constitution Did Not Have Many D

Government and Politics - The Original Constitution Did Not Have Many Democratic Traits In two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, Americans fought and died so that democracy would prevail around the world. In the minds of many Americans, America is the bastion of democracy. But how democratic is America? Today’s America was â€Å"born† with the signing of the constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, it was determined how democratic America would be. And every American should ask himself how democratic America was made at that constitutional convention in Philadelphia. Before pondering the extent of democracy one must determine what the term â€Å"democracy† means. Democracy is a â€Å"means of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to citizens’ preferences.†i[i] The traditional democratic theory further explains the ideas behind democracy. The five aspects of this theory are that one man equals one vote, there is good voter-turnout, citizens can obtain knowledge through free speech and press, the general public controls government agenda, and an extension of all rights to all citizens.ii[ii] From this, one could say a true democracy would submit every bill to the public for a popular vote, like the traditional town meetings of old New England where all eligible voters met to have their say in governmental agenda.iii[iii] One could also say that democracy implies protection of rights and equal rights for all. Or, as Abraham Lincoln said, a democracy is â€Å"gover nment of the people, by the people, and for the people.†iv[iv] The people make the government, they have a say in the agenda, and the government governs by the people’s consent. This ... ...rm Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 18. xv[xv] Roche, John P., â€Å"The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 10 & 12. xvi[xvi] Roche, John P., â€Å"The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 14. xvii[xvii] â€Å"The Constitution of the United States of America† from American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999) pgs 566-572. Article I, Section 2, Clause 1. xviii[xviii] Rakove, Jack, â€Å"A Tradition Born of Strife,† American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), 6.

Essay --

Segregation, the separation of individuals by their race, was something that many African American experienced in their life after their freedom from slavery until the end of segregation around the mid-1900s. Southerners were less accepting of African Americans than their Northern counterparts. Southerners were often extremely cruel to African Americans, referring to them with demeaning names and physically hurting them, sometimes to the point of critical injury or death. During this time, James Meredith, a civil rights leader was born. James Howard Meredith was born as one of ten children on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi on June 25, 1933. He was not exposed to racism until a train ride from Chicago, where he had to give up his seat for a white man. This train ride was his catalyst for fighting for civil rights. He spent nine years in the Army Air Force following high school. After his service, he enrolled in the all-black school, Jackson State College in Mississippi. The beginning of his work started in the year 1961, when he applied for University of Mississippi, which back then was an all-white school that had been segregated and should have been integrated with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The Brown v. the Board of Education, taking place in 1952, was a case that overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that legalized segregation. This case brought about after an African American man from Topeka filed a lawsuit saying that black and white schools were not legal. This parent was Oliver Brown. This case was taken care of by Thurgood Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The court ruled in favor of Brown and segregation became considered illegal and in violation of ... ...aces, however, when they look at the same classroom about sixty years ago they will find it less diversified. Now, people can see African American children play with the children of white people. There are children who are of mixed race, when back then these children would be shunned by both sides. The children are able to play, become friends, and be happy. They are able to have a life where they do not have to worry about getting off the street just because a white person is passing by. They do not have to worry about moving to the back just because a white person has arrived. This would not have been the case sixty years ago. This place where children of all races are able to enjoy each other’s company was the result of many years of effort and blood, not only by one person but by many courageous individuals who wanted to create a better future for their people. Essay -- Segregation, the separation of individuals by their race, was something that many African American experienced in their life after their freedom from slavery until the end of segregation around the mid-1900s. Southerners were less accepting of African Americans than their Northern counterparts. Southerners were often extremely cruel to African Americans, referring to them with demeaning names and physically hurting them, sometimes to the point of critical injury or death. During this time, James Meredith, a civil rights leader was born. James Howard Meredith was born as one of ten children on a farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi on June 25, 1933. He was not exposed to racism until a train ride from Chicago, where he had to give up his seat for a white man. This train ride was his catalyst for fighting for civil rights. He spent nine years in the Army Air Force following high school. After his service, he enrolled in the all-black school, Jackson State College in Mississippi. The beginning of his work started in the year 1961, when he applied for University of Mississippi, which back then was an all-white school that had been segregated and should have been integrated with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. The Brown v. the Board of Education, taking place in 1952, was a case that overruled the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that legalized segregation. This case brought about after an African American man from Topeka filed a lawsuit saying that black and white schools were not legal. This parent was Oliver Brown. This case was taken care of by Thurgood Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The court ruled in favor of Brown and segregation became considered illegal and in violation of ... ...aces, however, when they look at the same classroom about sixty years ago they will find it less diversified. Now, people can see African American children play with the children of white people. There are children who are of mixed race, when back then these children would be shunned by both sides. The children are able to play, become friends, and be happy. They are able to have a life where they do not have to worry about getting off the street just because a white person is passing by. They do not have to worry about moving to the back just because a white person has arrived. This would not have been the case sixty years ago. This place where children of all races are able to enjoy each other’s company was the result of many years of effort and blood, not only by one person but by many courageous individuals who wanted to create a better future for their people.

Difficulties of Studying Abroad Essay

The benefits of studying abroad do justify the difficulties due to being new to the country and not knowing where to start from and the difficulty of the foreign language that the student may face. My advice to the student is that to be familiar with the country that he/she is applying for, so they can be able to communicate with others easily without having to go through a hard time looking through a dictionary to explain themselves and not to feel lost. Mostly the difficulties that the student goes through is the travel and living costs may be considerably higher than a comparable period at your home institution, even if you are receiving a grant to cover some of the costs. Another difficulty that you may face is the academic performance in the foreign language you are aware of could be limited and your understanding wouldn’t be the same as your own language. Also you might find the type of teaching unproductive; especially if you are going from an environment with lots of teacher/student contact to one with lectures and large classes. Adapting in the social environment, habits, and customs could be difficult. Although all the the difficulties that were mentioned, you can benefit from them by experiencing another educational system that can be instructive and insightful, and an opportunity to get to know and travel around a country in a way that is not possible on a holiday or short visit. Also acquiring advanced language skills can be personally enriching and an asset for your future. As I mentioned before about the benefits and difficulties of studying abroad, I hope I have helped you with my advice with being more familiar in choosing where you will end up in the future.