Saturday, August 17, 2019
Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action Essay
Affirmative action is a policy in which the previously disadvantaged due to discrimination receive priority. It came to existence as a remedy toward discrimination and then became a problem all by itself according to some theorists, who are opponents to it. Supporters believe affirmative action should be adopted to provide equal employment opportunity, but facts show that it does not. Affirmative action is a very controversial issue, which has been debated for more than thirty years.  Unlike discrimination, there are not so many laws against affirmative action, but opponents are indeed working on banning it wherever it is possible for them to do so. TABLE OF CONTENTS Brief Overview of Affirmative Action Origin of Affirmative Action Views of Affirmative Action People who benefit from Affirmative Action Employment and Affirmative Action Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Legal Issues of Affirmative Action How to Stop Affirmative Action from Being Taken Pros and Cons of Affirmative Action Brief Overview of Affirmative Action     Affirmative Action is usually defined as an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and women or one to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged people. (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002)     In practice, affirmative action is taken by giving women and people from a minority group priority. For instance, a company has an opening for a bookkeeper. On determining who should be hired, the company gives women and people from a minority group priority. This could also happen with promotion: only women and people from a minority group are likely to be promoted, and with education: women and people from a minority group have better chances of obtaining grants and scholarships that would enable them to attend college.     Another way of illustrating how affirmative action is taken would be with a classroom in which some students receive a great deal of unfair punishments. One day it is brought to the teacher’s attention that she will be dismissed unless unfair practices are stopped. In an attempt to correct the past unacceptable behavior, the teacher starts treating those students with some kind of preference. In the beginning this will be certainly appropriate, as those students will need to feel that they are not ill-treated anymore. Origin of Affirmative Action     Affirmative action is believed to have come about as a remedy to the awful discrimination that regrettably used to take place. As a matter of  fact, according to T.H. Anderson, (2004) in 1940 discrimination was tradition and in some states it was even law. Sad though it might now sound to us, the most educated and refined African-American did not have the rights the most illiterate and indecent white individual did (p. 2). Therefore, when discrimination became illegal in the United States, affirmative action started to take place.     By the mid-1970’s minorities and women were winning significant victories, which could be seen on construction sites, exemplified by the Metro in Washington D.C. Mayor Walter E. Washington took a dramatic step, mandating a strong affirmative action program in which all private companies doing business or having contracts with city hall would have to submit plans with goals to advanced minorities and women. (J.H. Anderson, 2004, p. 142)     A valid affirmative action plan is one means of trying to undo the effects of past illegal discrimination. Under such a plan, an employer makes employment decisions based on race or sex factor that ordinarily can’t be considered, in order to restore equal opportunity employment for groups that have faced discrimination. When a court finds that a business has discriminated and there are no other effective means to remedy the discrimination, the court may require the business to take affirmative action. For example, a court may order a company to hire one African-American employee for every two white ones hired until the company’s workforce resembles the racial mix of the community.  (F.S. Steinhold, 2007, p. 156)     A business may also have to set up an affirmative action plan as part of voluntary settling a court case or the proceeding of E.E.O.C. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Any voluntary program must meet the E.E.O.C.’s Guidelines on Affirmative Action Plans. (F.S. Steinhold, 2007, p. 156) Views of Affirmative Action     Because it appears that originally valid plans of affirmative action became in a way corrupted or abused, there have been some opponents to it. Affirmative action is a subject that has been debated and analyzed by philosophers, legal scholars, social scientists, politicians, journalists, editorial writers, and common citizens for three decades.     Basically, the debate has two sides: the Right and the Left. The Right, which is totally against it, states that Affirmative action only causes people to obtain what they desire not because they deserve it, but because they belong to a group that was discriminated in the past. According to this site, affirmative action is unmeritocratic, leads to reverse-discrimination, and is an un-American guarantee of equal results instead of equal opportunity. The Left, which supports it, states that affirmative action is a compensation for past injustices and a guarantee of a fair share of the economic pie. (J.D. Skrentny, 1996, p. 1 & 2)     To reconcile the two views, it could perhaps be said that an affirmative action plan might be proper in the beginning of a non-discriminatory period of time; women and people from minority groups should feel that they are not discriminated anymore. On the other hand, there is no reason for this period of time to last forever. For instance, in the United States discrimination became illegal a very long time ago, so previously discriminated people should not be given any kind of priority because of what it used to happen in the distant past.     When it became vital to take the affirmative action in the turbulent period of 1964 to 1971, a careful consideration of the cultural and historical circumstances became absolutely necessary in its debate and an explanation for why it happened was needed as well. (Clayton & Crosby, 1992, p. 2) Nowadays, more than thirty years after that period, affirmative action would simply be against logic and no explanation could possibly be given as a result.    Affirmative Action is believed to be one of the most controversial policies in the United States. â€Å"The issues are complex, they stir strong feelings, and in the media everyone seems to have an opinion on the topic (Clayton & Crosby, 1992, p. 1). This implies that a great deal of understanding is needed.     The complexity of affirmative action as a topic is illustrated by the controversy of whether the version of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 required or prohibited quotas – George Bush’s belief versus his proponents -, the appointment of Clarence Thomas – an affirmative action beneficiary who surprisingly opposed it -, and the apparent shift in the Supreme Court. (S.D. Clayton & F.J. VanDeVeer, 2000, p. 4)     Opponents of affirmative action are believed to come from a variety of quarters: Supreme Court Justice Thomas – an African-American who opposes it – Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, and Glenn Lowry – African-American critics who gained national attention speaking about the policy -, and Stephen Carter – William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale University. Their reactions to affirmative action seem very intriguing. (S.D. Clayton & F.J. VanDeVeer, 2000, p. 4)      Why people who benefit from affirmative action oppose to it deserves the amazement of whoever learns of the fact. It could perhaps be interpreted that they want to be equal – neither better nor worse.  The fact that they are now granted more rights because they were once deprived of the ones they should have in the first place is likely to make them feel inferior. In other words, their equality should be put in force and they should only obtain what they rightly deserve regardless of their background.          Affirmative action became a major issue in state courts in California and in Pennsylvania, where it was indeed claimed that its almost inevitable effect was reverse discrimination. People who benefit from Affirmative Action     In general, belonging to a minority group is due to an inborn or inherited matter, like women, African Americans, and people from different origins. On the other hand, there are some groups of people who willfully joined a minority group. For instance, many people learned one religion at home and later converted to a different one. Homosexuality and bi-sexuality is debatable: some theorists believe uncommon sexual orientations are in the genes, whereas some other ones believe they are a matter of option. Regardless of which theorists are right, homosexual and bi-sexual people were victims of discrimination in the past and later became beneficiaries of affirmative action.      As we all know, African Americans were virtually the worst victims of discrimination. Without any right whatsoever, people were taken from Africa and brought to America to be sold as slaves. The awful slavery was abolished a few hundred years later, but African Americans were still unable to obtain what the average person usually could. In the middle of the twentieth century, discrimination against African Americans became illegal and the law started to call for a total equality, and affirmative action was taken as a remedy. Employment and Affirmative Action          Before focusing on the fact of whether or not affirmative action should be adopted to provide equal employment opportunity, we need to understand thoroughly the basic concepts or employment.     P. K. Edwards (2003) states in his book Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice that the employment relations has two parts: market relations and managerial relations. The former is more obvious because it covers price of labor, which embraces not only the basic wage but also hours of work, holidays and pension rights. In this respect, labor is like any other commodity, with a price which represents the total cost of enjoying its use. Yet labor differs from all other commodities in that it is enjoyed in use and is embodied in people. A machine in a factory is also enjoyed in use and for what it can produce. Yet how it is used is solely up to the owner. The ‘owner’ of labor, the employer has to persuade the worker, that is, the person in whom the labor in embodied, to work. (p. 9)     Most companies have employees nowadays, given that it simply becomes impossible for the owner to do everything all by him- or herself. On hiring a new employee, companies have their own criteria. We see quite often that the same employee who does not qualify for one company does for another one. Employees are chosen based on the companies’ budget and needs. In general, a large, profitable business is likely to choose a better skilled worker than a small business that operates at low budget.     Small businesses, which are usually constrained by the pressure of not exceeding their low budget, might also be selective in their own way. A very unskilled person, however economical he or she might be, is likely to be of no significant assistance to the company. As a result, the company might end up loosing money because of him or her.     When a person is to be hired by a company, it is imperative that it be done under the equal employment opportunity basis. The best candidate should be the one taking over the position. Failure to do so would be an unfair practice that might eventually lead to some significant problems.  F.J. Crosby and C. VanDeVeer (2000) wrote in their book Sex, Race and Merit: Often, when a problem has been identified, hiring or promotion goals are instituted. In classical affirmative action programs (where the employer monitors to make sure that qualified people are hired and promoted) the goals are derived from close study of the organization and are based on realistic appraisals of the labor market. (p. 4) From the above, we see that classical affirmative action is a way in which equal opportunity employment is achieved, and supporters of affirmative action indeed focus on the remedy of unfair acts of discrimination performed in the past. Everybody believes that the employer is to monitor to make sure that qualified people are hired and promoted.     In fact, the goal of affirmative action when it came to existence was equal employment opportunity. Nonetheless, its practice later on became corrupted and its present goal is to give priority to people who belong to a minority group that was discriminated in the past. Many opponents of affirmative action would indeed oppose to discrimination and would agree to a policy in which only qualified people are hired and competent employees are promoted.          J.M. Bernbach (1998), who so much disapproves of discrimination wrote: In 1996, affirmative action (the practice, fostered by federal government, of providing preferential treatment and / or opportunities to specified groups of persons in hiring or promotion, etc., as a means of correcting the present effects of past discrimination) received a good deal of negative attention. (p.3) On certain occasions, affirmative action seems necessary or appropriate to remedy past injustices, but there is no reason to believe that everybody, including people who were always against discrimination, must follow suit. Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity     As the name implies, equal employment opportunity is the right of every single person to be employed regardless of his or her background, i.e. race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, or reprisal. In the United States there is an organization called Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that focuses on how this right is actually granted to every individual. Burstein in his book Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics (1998) states: In order to form a satisfactory picture of what public wanted on EEO, members of the congress would, ideally, want to know about three aspects of constituents attitudes: first, whether their constituents favored EEO, second, whether they wanted the government to do anything about it; and third, whether they felt strongly about the issue. (p. 42)     We see that the government is very much concerned about fair hiring and promotion practices. It is indeed a fact that everybody wants equal employment opportunities; nobody favors priority on the basis of discrimination or affirmative action. People want the government to ascertain the equal employment opportunities are in effect and they do feel strongly about the issue. The answer of most people is that the right person should take over the position he or she rightly deserves     Antidiscrimination programs are believed to be inefficient and costly. The reason might be the stagnant economy that has apparently not permitted to continue with them. Government pressures to employ or promote women and minorities may force firms to misallocate labor and thus suffer production losses. Keeping with the current concern over productive efficiency can rather be an antidiscrimination effort. (P. Burestein, Equal Employment Opportunity, 1994, p. 85)     Better production in a company as a whole could rather achieve equality. For instance, a company has been in business for many years and, on analyzing their activities, they come to see that their production was better when they had people with more skills in the engineering department. As a result they decide to hire a high-skilled engineer. When doing so, they carefully evaluate every candidate regardless of their background until they end up hiring the most suitable one. One year later, the company analyzes their activities and see some remarkable improvements.     One might want to ask how it is possible for someone who is not so skillful to become skillful in the future. The answer would be quite simple: more education or training, and, as we all know, education is very easy nowadays. There are many ways online that would enable one to obtain it, and there are many regular schools that could help.     Some people take their not being hired as a lesson to get more education or training. Inevitably, when the person being hired is from a majority group, some people accuse the company of being discriminatory, and, when someone from a minority group is hired, the company might also be accused of having taken affirmative action. When something alike happens, the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) needs to be contacted, and they need to investigate the situation.      The beginning of antidiscrimination and or against affirmative action is perhaps freedom. One might question what freedom has to do with either discrimination or affirmative action, and the answer might be the actual explanation of what freedom means. Freedom is the right to share fully and equally in American society – to vote, to hold a job, to enter a public place, to go to school. It is right to be treated in every part of national life as a person equal in dignity and promise to all others. (Curry, G.E. &West, C. , 1996, p. 17)      In a society in which freedom is in existence, the equal opportunity employment practice is easier to put in practice. Some people might use this freedom in an abusive form, ending up in discrimination or affirmative action. That is why it is necessary that a commission EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity) exist. The goal of this organization is to establish rules and regulations and, whenever a case of discrimination or affirmative action is reported, this organization needs to study it thoroughly and then determine how it could be corrected. In some occasions, it is even necessary to take legal action. Legal Issues of Affirmative Action     Unlike discrimination, which is so clearly against the law and there is a great deal of coverage both constitutionally and statutorily, it has not become possible to have affirmative action at the same level. No one constitutional or statutory provision covers all the many different varieties of affirmative action. (C. Wolf-Devine, 1997, p. 182) As a result, it becomes very intricate for both judges and attorneys to deal with a case of affirmative action.     If a man that does not belong to a minority group is not hired solely because that company is currently taken affirmative action when hiring, he would first report the incidence to Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. If the E.O.E.C. determines that the individual has brought prima facie evidence, they might decide to take legal action against that company. The judge and the attorney are likely to regard the whole case as a reverse-discrimination and by doing so, the same sources of law that are used in a discriminating case can be used for this particular one. After all, the individual that was hired was only successful to obtain this job because he or she belongs to a minority group, not because he was the best qualified for it. If the case had been just the opposite – the individual that was hired did not belong to a minority group, whereas the one that was not hired did – it would have been a regular discrimination case, which would have had a great deal of coverage in the American legal system.      The very same situation would have been with someone who has been working at a company for a very long time and, due to his valuable qualifications, would deserve promotion. Besides the fact that promotion is not given to him, two other co-workers – a woman and an African American – do become promoted in an attempt to take affirmative action. Given that promotion is also controlled to E.E.O.C., the individual contacts them immediately and they determine that the matter is to be brought in front of a judge. This case would also be treated as a discriminating case, and it indeed is a case of reverse discrimination.      According to Herman Belz, in his book Equality Transformed (1991): Affirmative action lacks consistency and coherence insofar as the Supreme Court applied two antithetical theories of employment discrimination, upheld quotas in hiring and promotion while prohibiting them in layoffs, and used some form of strict scrutinity review to analyze discrimination under the Constitution while forsaking such reviews under Title VII – and only then asking whether a race conscious measure promoted the goal of minority employment. (p. 225 & 226) The above shows up to what point affirmative action is to be treated like discrimination when it comes to legal matter. However, the fact that when affirmative action is taken does not at all mean that there has in fact been discrimination put judges and attorneys in a cumbersome situation.     While discrimination has the same principles, is clear and can be carefully considered, affirmative action – in general regarded as the opposite of discrimination – is never clear enough to be handled by a judge and attorneys. As we know, affirmative action is sometimes taken as a remedy, whereas discrimination comes as a matter of opinion. For instance, a company that never hires African American is sued for discrimination. The basis of this type of discrimination will always be the same; the accused will try to deny the fact. Someone that is sued for taking affirmative action will rather try to justify his attitude. How to Stop Affirmative Action from Being Taken      Affirmative action is definitely not an effective diversity or opportunity policy; it is merely reverse discrimination. Given that a person obtains what he or she wishes because he or she belongs to a minority group – not because he or she deserves it, the policy is very unfair indeed. A fair policy would be one in which the best-skilled individual takes over a position at a company or someone who qualifies for a grant or scholarship to attend college obtains it.      On some occasions, there might be a court order for a company to take affirmative action. When this happens, it is usually in an attempt to settle a lawsuit that was placed because discriminatory policies were adopted by that particular company.     When affirmative action is taken on a voluntary basis without any good reason whatsoever, it becomes a legal transgression that is just as awful as discrimination. Obviously, a court cannot order a company taking affirmative action to be discriminatory from now on, as this would only be an awful crime.     The solution toward the problem of taking affirmative action is quite simple: the company should make their hiring and promotion decision based on the workers skills and qualifications, not based on the fact that that particular individual belongs to a minority group.      The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should come up with some guidelines to prevent companies from taking affirmative action altogether. Those guidelines should be brought to the attention of the U.S. Senate in order for them to become laws. As we know, when a company is accused of taking affirmative action, judges and attorneys find it difficult to handle the case, because there are not enough laws against it.     Copying the laws of discrimination would not be an option, because a court would never order a company to discriminate, whereas it might order a company to take affirmative action as a remedy for past discriminatory activities. New laws need to be put in force, as laws against affirmative action were in some occasions questioning.     It is very painful to pinpoint that extreme affirmative action is widespread in the United States, and there does not seem to be any solution at first sight.  Under the assumption that affirmative is taken as a remedy toward discrimination, the number of individual that claim to suffer from affirmative actions exceeds the number of the ones who suffered from discrimination in the past and now benefit from the policy.     Empirically the official case for affirmative action is weak and conceptually it is loose. Believing that the policy has been â€Å"good for America†and that it has been an instantaneous move to â€Å"color-blindness†would be ill-advised.     Equal opportunity is supported by everybody, but it would be inappropriate to the extreme to believe that the way to achieve it is phasing out affirmative action. Michigan, a state in which there are many opponents, is one of the ones that have intended to ban affirmative action altogether, and such a measure is believed to be one of the harshest attacks on affirmative action to come to a vote anywhere in the country. This movement has been called â€Å"Michigan Civil Rights Initiative†and it deserves to be called the Michigan Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative. It was also intended to add language to the Michigan state constitution to disallow â€Å"preferential treatment†based on gender, or race. Other states following suit are California, Washington State, and Florida.      The passage of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative would specifically ban public institutions from using affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to people from minority groups and prohibit public institutions from discriminating against groups or individuals that do not belong to those groups.     The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is indeed very appropriate and the whole country, as well as the whole world, should follow in their footsteps. Anderson, T.H. (2004). Pursuit of Fairness: A History of Affirmative Action. Oxford University Press, (p.2, 3 & 142) Belz, H. (1991) Equality Transformed, Transaction Publishers (p225 & p226) Bernbach, J.M. (1998). Job Discrimination II, Voire Dire Press (p. 3 & 4) Burestein, P. (1994). Equal Employment Opportunity, Aldine Transaction (p. 85) Burestein, P. (1998). Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics. University of Chicago Press (p. 42) Clayton, S.D., & Crosby, F.J. (1992). Justice, Gender, and Affirmative Action. University of Michigan Press (p. 1 & 2) Clayton, S.D., & by F.J. &, VanDeVeer, C. (2000). Sex, Race, and Merit. University of Michigan Press (p. 4) Curry, G.E. & West, C. (1996). The Affirmative Action Debate, Basic Books (p. 17) Edwards, P.K. (2000). Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Blackwell Publishing (p. 9) Skrentny, J.D. (1996). The Ironies of Affirmative Action: Politics, Culture, and Justice in America. University of Chicago Press (p. 1 & 2) Steinhold, F.S. (2007) The Employee’s Legal Handbook, Nolo, (p. 156) Wolf-Devine, C. (1997) Diversity and Community in the Academy, Rowman & Littlefield, (p. 182) Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002
Friday, August 16, 2019
International Financial Reporting Standards Essay
1. Introduction: With the announced adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for publicly accountable starting 2011 by the Canadian’s Accounting Standards Board (AcSB), issues about the effect on the usefulness of financial statement need serious attention starting on knowing the similarities and differences between Canadian GAAP and IFRS. Some critics have argued that IFRS will  give up too much reliability in order to achieve relevance, while others have argued that the increased relevance and comparability will promote usefulness of the financial statements. This paper attempts to address some of these issues as is seeks to analyze the potential effects of Canada Adoption of IFRS by making an opinion as to whether the change will result in more or less decision useful information, thus making securities markets either more or less efficient. 2. Analysis and Discussion 2.1 What is IFRS and its advantages if adopted? IFRS is being promoted by its supporters as a â€Å"single set of globally accepted, high quality accounting standards†(KMPG Canada, 2007), that is adopted by over a hundred countries, including five of the G8 countries (KMPG Canada, 2007). It appears to have gained the support of a number of countries and with announced adoption in Canada, starting 2011 by AcSB, there is good ground to believed about the benefits of the said set of international accounting standards in Canada compared staying on with the present Canada GAAP. To cite names of countries, it could be asserted that as early as 2005, publicly listed companies in European Union member countries , Australia, Hong Kong, and South Africa and have used IFRS (KMPG Canada, 2007). In the absence of these countries’ plan or indication of returning to where they came from, with more reason and interest it is to know about the improvement from IFRS adoption in the financial statements of Canadian comp anies. Given therefore the similarities of the two standards under Canadian GAAP and IFRS, there is basis to state that Canada has had considerable input and influence in the development of IFRS over the years (KMPG Canada, 2007). Therefore, Canada’s decision to join the many countries in adopting IFRS carries with it the intention to benefit enterprises in Canada.  That it would provide better access to international capital, funding and investment opportunities should not come as a big surprise. The realities of samurai bonds or Eurobonds (Hill, 2009) could be asserted to have strong support from the presence of IAS or IFRS in the countries where bonds are floated as companies seek cheaper sources of capital as finding the same outside each homo country helps in minimization of cost of capital as an objective (Brigham and Houston, 2002). The improved information in terms of comparability of financial reports across countries could just be easy to accept as many c ompanies pursue international business. Another advantage of using the IFRS is the belief that it should also more cost effective for the accounting information compared with maintaining a separate and isolated set of Canadian accounting standards (KMPG Canada, 2007). This could be the same reason for the move by the US to eventually adopt harmonization of its accounting standards with the IFRS since non-US companies, which want to list their stocks in the US stock exchanges, are required still to make translation of IFRS based financial statements into US GAAP based. From the practical sense of view, it would be easy to see the added cost for companies making still translations in the same way that non-Canadian companies may be required to make the translation when they go to Canadian stock exchanges. Another advantage of adoption is to make financial results more transparent and consistent for user globally, which will mean using more judgment and providing more disclosure in the short term (KMPG Canada, 2007). For this reason,  persons involved in the public company financial reporting of Canada will have to expect to pass under  a steep learning curve (KMPG Canada, 2007).  IFRS and Canadian GAAP compare in just few important lines  but since IFRS standards are comprehensive and principles-based, it is expected that its application would require greater use of professional judgment than Canadian GAAP. The availability of more accounting policy choices under  IFRS would take companies longer time now to evaluate these choices for each organization and is expected to result in valuable outcomes in the long-term (KMPG Canada, 2007). 2.2 The impact of the IFRS adoption It is believed that the first and most obvious impact of IFRS adoption would be in the effect on the presentation of the financial position of an entity as set out in its financial statements (Romano and Grewal, 2009). Since IFRS represents a statement of principles that must be applied based on judgment and assumptions given the facts at hand, it is expected that many principles will change including possibly modifying the many rigid prohibitions or rules that have become part of Canadian GAAP over time  via either practice or prescription (Romano and Grewal, 2009).  To illustrate since IFRS allows for more fair value accounting policy choices, this would open to a greater degree of interpretation and professional judgment. The new principles underlying the presentation of financial measures will change both the way in which things are measured and what is included in the measurement as wells timing of measurement and needed disclosure (Romano and Grewal, 2009). The impact of the adoption of the IFRS would be in the allowing greater freedom to exercise professional judgment on which will make the financial statements to have greater relevance that will enhance the usefulness of the accounting information. It may be recalled that the qualitative characteristics of accounting include both reliability and relevance of the accounting information for decision-making (Meigs and Meigs, 1995). A financial information may therefore be too reliable as to approximate a high a degree of objectivity but may no longer be of significance to decision makers since the decision is already done. To illustrate, a person buying a car  or any typical product may be interested to know what is the estimated cost of production for a car that he or she wants to buy for the buyer for comparing it with the actual price of the product. On the other hand, another buyer may not really know what is the actual cost but he or she has information that the production possess so much value that is it relevant and unique about the product being sold and could be used for commercial production. The second buyer may not have the actual objective cost of production for the product but he or she has a good and businesslike assessment of the situation because of familiarity of relevant information which can generates value and could make a reasonable estimate of the values of possible input cost of the product. He is therefore more strategically positioned than the first buyer is. Thus, relevance at this point may be more advantageous than having greater reliability of information. Adoption of IFRS is however not expected to amount of total loss of reliability of information. The adoption of IFRS is criticized by the fact that it would provide too much management flexibility or the freedom of interpretation that may be adopted with the concurrence of the independent auditors, thus it would reduce the quality of financial reporting. There is however, no strong evidence to believe that feared consequence of the adoption on these ground. In fact, this feared consequence remains to be seen (Romano and Grewal, 2009).  On the hand, one great inducement of adoption is for greater international comparability due from a perspective of globalized-investment market place. There is now movement towards the implementation of the adoption and there are now plans to effect a successful transition (Romano and Grewal, 2009). 2.3 Sample Partial Application of IAS or IFRS to Business about Fair value Accounting One sample interesting effect of adoption of IFRS is the eventual effect International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39. It is asserted that IAS 39 is  partial application of fair value accounting since the said standard gives institutions the possibility of irrevocably applying fair value valuations to any financial instrument starting from the concept of â€Å"fair value option†(Enria, et al, 2004). It is argued that one fundamental building block of developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the present makers of standards under the IFRS based in UK, is to bring the financial statements up to day with market developments hence, a working group on the issue has proposed the use of Full Fair Value Accounting (FFVA) for all financial instruments. (Enria, et al, 2004). While adoption of the IFRS by Canada would not immediately result to adoption of fair value accounting, it will open the great possibility because as stated earlier, the use of international accounting standard would give more flexibility to company’s management and accounting professionals and fair value accounting is part of the IFRS. If it feared that FFVA could produce effects on financial stability of banks, the same arguments could be made applicable to the Canadian companies, which are just to co-exist with other international and global companies in the use of IFRS. The analysis of authors found confirmation about concerns on the potential wider application of fair value in unduly increasing the volatility of banks’ balance sheets, which could reduce possibly ability of companies to react to adverse shocks. The adoption of fair value could also result to the pro-cyclicality of the bank lending especially if the application of fair value happens simultaneously with other developments under a new accord. Thus, one of possible consequence is for encouraging banks to react if values change by use of FFVA through panic selling and tightening lending standard (Enria, et al, 2004). The effect could be far reaching as it could bring a possible financial crisis at the worst case possibly. From deeper tests, however, the researchers have found no significant impact on volatility by the introduction of FFVA standards for companies studied in the 1980s and 1990w. However, they cautioned about the need to be interpret the result with caution for several reasons and call for further research citing as one reason the lack of clear-cut choice of the cut-off dates on which banks change from one accounting standard to the other (Enria, et al, 2004). 3. Conclusion To conclude, this researcher believes that the adoption by the Canadian Accounting Standard Board of IFRS for companies concerned starting in 2011 will result to more useful information that would make securities markets either more or less efficient than not adopting the said international; accounting standard. The adoption, while could result to possibly losing some reliability,  is expected bring  greater relevance of the financial statements and increased comparability which would then it more useful for Canadian companies and the users of these information. The possibility of losing some reliability may possibly be counter checked by user still requiring from these companies from which they would like to deal with the production of financial statements prepared under the present Canadian GAAP but they could run the risk of losing the benefit of a decision that would be based on relevant grounds. The mere fact that CASB has announced the adoption should signal there the advantages could outweigh the disadvantages of IFRS adoption.
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Vampire Academy Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN A FEW DAYS LATER, LISSA found me outside the commons and delivered the most astonishing news. â€Å"Uncle Victor's getting Natalie off campus this weekend to go shopping in Missoula. For the dance. They said I could come along.†I didn't say anything. She looked surprised at my silence. â€Å"Isn't that cool?†â€Å"For you, I guess. No malls or dances in my future.†She smiled excitedly. â€Å"He told Natalie she could bring two other people besides me. I convinced her to bring you and Camille.†I threw up my hands. â€Å"Well, thanks, but I'm not even supposed to go to the library after school. No one's going to let me go to Missoula.†â€Å"Uncle Victor thinks he can get Headmistress Kirova to let you go. Dimitri's trying too.†â€Å"Dimitri?†â€Å"Yeah. He has to go with me if I leave campus.†She grinned, taking my interest in Dimitri as interest in the mall. â€Å"They figured out my account finally – I got my allowance back. So we can buy other stuff along with dresses. And you know if they let you go to the mall, they'll have to let you go to the dance.†â€Å"Do we go to dances now?†I said. We never had before. School-sponsored social events? No way. â€Å"Of course not. But you know there'll be all kinds of secret parties. We'll start at the dance and sneak off.†She sighed happily. â€Å"Mia's so jealous she can barely stand it.†She went on about all the stores we'd go to, all the things we'd buy. I admit, I was kind of excited at the thought of getting some new clothes, but I doubted I'd actually get this mythical release. â€Å"Oh hey,†she said excitedly. â€Å"You should see these shoes Camille let me borrow. I never knew we wore the same size. Hang on.†She opened her backpack and began rifling through it. Suddenly, she screamed and threw it down. Books and shoes spilled out. So did a dead dove. It was one of the pale brown mourning doves that sat on wires along the freeway and under trees on campus. It had so much blood on it that I couldn't figure out where the wound was. Who knew something so small even had that much blood? Regardless, the bird was definitely dead. Covering her mouth, Lissa stared wordlessly, eyes wide. â€Å"Son of a bitch,†I swore. Without hesitating, I grabbed a stick and pushed the little feathered body aside. When it was out of the way, I started shoving her stuff back into the backpack, trying not to think about dead-bird germs. â€Å"Why the hell does this keep – Liss!†I leapt over and grabbed her, pulling her away. She had been kneeling on the ground, with her hand outstretched to the dove. I don't think she'd even realized what she was about to do. The instinct in her was so strong, it acted on its own. â€Å"Lissa,†I said, tightening my hand around hers. She was still leaning toward the bird. â€Å"Don't. Don't do it.†â€Å"I can save it.†â€Å"No, you can't. You promised, remember? Some things have to stay dead. Let this one go.†Still feeling her tension, I pleaded. â€Å"Please, Liss. You promised. No more healings. You said you wouldn't. You promised me.†After a few more moments, I felt her hand relax and her body slump against mine. â€Å"I hate this, Rose. I hate all of this.†Natalie walked outside then, oblivious to the gruesome sight awaiting her. â€Å"Hey, do you guys – oh my God!†she squealed, seeing the dove. â€Å"What is that?†I helped Lissa as we rose to our feet. â€Å"Another, um, prank.†â€Å"Is it†¦dead?†She scrunched up her face in disgust. â€Å"Yes,†I said firmly. Natalie, picking up on our tension, looked between the two of us. â€Å"What else is wrong?†â€Å"Nothing.†I handed Lissa her backpack. â€Å"This is just someone's stupid, sick joke, and I'm going to tell Kirova so they can clean this up.†Natalie turned away, looking a little green. â€Å"Why do people keep doing this to you? It's horrible.†Lissa and I exchanged looks. â€Å"I have no idea,†I said. Yet as I walked to Kirova's office, I started to wonder. When we'd found the fox, Lissa had hinted that someone must know about the raven. I hadn't believed that. We'd been alone in the woods that night, and Ms. Karp wouldn't have told anyone. But what if someone actually had seen? What if someone kept doing this not to scare her, but to see if she'd heal again? What had the rabbit note said? I know what you are. I didn't mention any of this to Lissa; I figured there were only so many of my conspiracy theories she could handle. Besides, when I saw her the next day, she'd practically forgotten the dove in light of other news: Kirova had given me permission to go on the trip that weekend. The prospect of shopping can brighten a lot of dark situations – even animal murder – and I put my own worries on hold. Only, when the time came, I discovered my release came with strings attached. â€Å"Headmistress Kirova thinks you've done well since coming back,†Dimitri told me. â€Å"Aside from starting a fight in Mr. Nagy's class?†â€Å"She doesn't blame you for that. Not entirely. I convinced her you needed a break†¦and that you could use this as a training exercise.†â€Å"Training exercise?†He gave me a brief explanation as we walked out to meet the others going with us. Victor Dashkov, as sickly as ever, was there with his guardians, and Natalie practically barreled into him. He smiled and gave her a careful hug, one that ended when a coughing fit took over. Natalie's eyes went wide with concern as she waited for it to pass. He claimed he was fine to accompany us, and while I admired his resolve, I thought he'd be putting himself through a lot just to shop with a bunch of teenage girls. We rode out the two-hour trip to Missoula in a large school van, leaving just after sunrise. Many Moroi lived separately from humans, but many also lived among them, and when shopping at their malls, you had to go during their hours. The back windows of the van had tinted glass to filter the light and keep the worst of it away from the vampires. We had nine people in our group: Lissa, Victor, Natalie, Camille, Dimitri, me, and three other guardians. Two of the guardians, Ben and Spiridon, always traveled with Victor. The third was one of the school's guardians: Stan, the jerk who'd humiliated me on my first day back. â€Å"Camille and Natalie don't have personal guardians yet,†Dimitri explained to me. â€Å"They're both under the protection of their families' guardians. Since they are Academy students leaving campus, a school guardian accompanies them – Stan. I go because I'm Lissa's assigned guardian. Most girls her age wouldn't have a personal guardian yet, but circumstances make her unusual.†I sat in the back of the van with him and Spiridon, so they could dispense guardian wisdom to me as part of the â€Å"training exercise.†Ben and Stan sat up front, while the others sat in the middle. Lissa and Victor talked to each other a lot, catching up on news. Camille, raised to be polite among older royals, smiled and nodded along. Natalie, on the other hand, looked left out and kept trying to shift her father's attention from Lissa. It didn't work. He'd apparently learned to tune out her chatter. I turned back to Dimitri. â€Å"She's supposed to have two guardians. Princes and princesses always do.†Spiridon was Dimitri's age, with spiky blond hair and a more casual attitude. Despite his Greek name, he had a Southern drawl. â€Å"Don't worry, she'll have plenty when the time comes. Dimitri's already one of them. Odds are you'll be one too. And that's why you're here today.†â€Å"The training part,†I guessed. â€Å"Yup. You're going to be Dimitri's partner.†A moment of funny silence fell, probably not noticeable to anyone except Dimitri and me. Our eyes met. â€Å"Guarding partner,†Dimitri clarified unnecessarily, like maybe he too had been thinking of other kinds of partners. â€Å"Yup,†agreed Spiridon. Oblivious to the tension around him, he went on to explain how guardian pairs worked. It was standard stuff, straight from my textbooks, but it meant more now that I'd be doing it in the real world. Guardians were assigned to Moroi based on importance. Two was a common grouping, one I'd probably work in a lot with Lissa. One guardian stayed close to the target; the other stood back and kept an eye on the surroundings. Boringly, those holding these positions were called near and far guards. â€Å"You'll probably always be near guard,†Dimitri told me. â€Å"You're female and the same age as the princess. You can stay close to her without attracting any attention.†â€Å"And I can't ever take my eyes off her,†I noted. â€Å"Or you.†Spiridon laughed again and elbowed Dimitri. â€Å"You've got a star student there. Did you give her a stake?†â€Å"No. She's not ready.†â€Å"I would be if someone would show me how to use one,†I argued. I knew every guardian in the van had a stake and a gun concealed on him. â€Å"More to it than just using the stake,†said Dimitri in his old-and-wise way. â€Å"You've still got to subdue them. And you've got to bring yourself to kill them.†â€Å"Why wouldn't I kill them?†â€Å"Most Strigoi used to be Moroi who purposely turned. Sometimes they're Moroi or dhampirs turned by force. It doesn't matter. There's a strong chance you might know one of them. Could you kill someone you used to know?†This trip was getting less fun by the minute. â€Å"I guess so. I'd have to, right? If it's them or Lissa†¦Ã¢â‚¬ â€Å"You might still hesitate,†said Dimitri. â€Å"And that hesitation could kill you. And her.†â€Å"Then how do you make sure you don't hesitate?†â€Å"You have to keep telling yourself that they aren't the same people you knew. They've become something dark and twisted. Something unnatural. You have to let go of attachments and do what's right. If they have any grain of their former selves left, they'll probably be grateful.†â€Å"Grateful for me killing them?†â€Å"If someone turned you into a Strigoi, what would you want?†he asked. I didn't know how to answer that, so I said nothing. Never taking his eyes off me, he kept pushing. â€Å"What would you want if you knew you were going to be converted into a Strigoi against your will? If you knew you would lose all sense of your old morals and understanding of what's right and wrong? If you knew you'd live the rest of your life – your immortal life – killing innocent people? What would you want?†The van had grown uncomfortably silent. Staring at Dimitri, burdened by all those questions, I suddenly understood why he and I had this weird attraction, good looks aside. I'd never met anyone else who took being a guardian so seriously, who understand all the life-and-death consequences. Certainly no one my age did yet; Mason hadn't been able to understand why I couldn't relax and drink at the party. Dimitri had said I grasped my duty better than many older guardians, and I didn't get why – especially when they would have seen so much more death and danger. But I knew in that moment that he was right, that I had some weird sense of how life and death and good and evil worked with each other. So did he. We might get lonely sometimes. We might have to put our â€Å"fun†on hold. We might not be able to live the lives we wanted for ourselves. But that was the way it had to be. We understood each other, understood that we had others to protect. Our lives would never be easy. And making decisions like this one was part of that. â€Å"If I became Strigoi†¦I'd want someone to kill me.†â€Å"So would I,†he said quietly. I could tell that he'd had the same flash of realization I'd just had, that same sense of connection between us. â€Å"It reminds me of Mikhail hunting Sonya,†murmured Victor thoughtfully. â€Å"Who are Mikhail and Sonya?†asked Lissa. Victor looked surprised. â€Å"Why, I thought you knew. Sonya Karp.†â€Å"Sonya Kar†¦you mean, Ms. Karp? What about her?†She looked back and forth between me and her uncle. â€Å"She†¦became Strigoi,†I said, not meeting Lissa's eyes. â€Å"By choice.†I'd known Lissa would find out some day. It was the final piece of Ms. Karp's saga, a secret I'd kept to myself. A secret that worried me constantly. Lissa's face and bond registered complete and utter shock, growing in intensity when she realized I'd known and never told. â€Å"But I don't know who Mikhail is,†I added. â€Å"Mikhail Tanner,†said Spiridon. â€Å"Oh. Guardian Tanner. He was here before we left.†I frowned. â€Å"Why is he chasing Ms. Karp?†â€Å"To kill her,†said Dimitri flatly. â€Å"They were lovers.†The entire Strigoi thing shifted into new focus for me. Running into a Strigoi I knew during the heat of battle was one thing. Purposely hunting down someone†¦someone I'd loved. Well, I didn't know if I could do that, even if it was technically the right thing. â€Å"Perhaps it is time to talk about something else,†said Victor gently. â€Å"Today isn't a day to dwell on depressing topics.†I think all of us felt relieved to get to the mall. Shifting into my bodyguard role, I stuck by Lissa's side as we wandered from store to store, looking at all the new styles that were out there. It was nice to be in public again and to do something with her that was just fun and didn't involve any of the dark, twisted politics of the Academy. It was almost like old times. I'd missed just hanging out. I'd missed my best friend. Although it was only just past mid-November, the mall already had glittering holiday decorations up. I decided I had the best job ever. Admittedly, I did feel a little put out when I realized the older guardians got to stay in contact through cool little communication devices. When I protested my lack of one, Dimitri told me I'd learn better without one. If I could handle protecting Lissa the old-fashioned way, I could handle anything. Victor and Spiridon stayed with us while Dimitri and Ben fanned out, somehow managing not to look like creepy stalker guys watching teenage girls. â€Å"This is so you,†said Lissa in Macy's, handing me a low-cut tank top embellished with lace. â€Å"I'll buy it for you.†I regarded it longingly, already picturing myself in it. Then, making my regular eye contact with Dimitri, I shook my head and handed it back. â€Å"Winter's coming. I'd get cold.†â€Å"Never stopped you before.†Shrugging, she hung it back up. She and Camille tried on a nonstop string of clothes, their massive allowances ensuring that price posed no problem. Lissa offered to buy me anything I wanted. We'd been generous with each other our whole lives, and I didn't hesitate to take her up on it. My choices surprised her. â€Å"You've got three thermal shirts and a hoodie,†she informed me, flipping through a stack of BCBG jeans. â€Å"You've gone all boring on me.†â€Å"Hey, I don't see you buying slutty tops.†â€Å"I'm not the one who wears them.†â€Å"Thanks a lot.†â€Å"You know what I mean. You're even wearing your hair up.†It was true. I'd taken Dimitri's advice and wrapped my hair up in a high bun, earning a smile when he'd seen me. If I'd had molnija marks, they would have shown. Glancing around, she made sure none of the others could hear us. The feelings in the bond shifted to something more troubled. â€Å"You knew about Ms. Karp.†â€Å"Yeah. I heard about it a month or so after she left.†Lissa tossed a pair of embroidered jeans over her arm, not looking at me. â€Å"Why didn't you tell me?†â€Å"You didn't need to know.†â€Å"You didn't think I could handle it?†I kept my face perfectly blank. As I stared at her, my mind was back in time, back to two years ago. I'd been on day two of my suspension for allegedly destroying Wade's room when a royal party visited the school. I'd been allowed to attend that reception too but had been under heavy guard to make sure I didn't â€Å"try anything.†Two guardians escorted me to the commons and talked quietly with each other along the way. â€Å"She killed the doctor attending her and nearly took out half the patients and nurses on her way out.†â€Å"Do they have any idea where she went?†â€Å"No, they're tracking her†¦but, well, you know how it is.†â€Å"I never expected her to do this. She never seemed like the type.†â€Å"Yeah, well, Sonya was crazy. Did you see how violent she was getting near the end? She was capable of anything.†I'd been trudging along miserably and jerked my head up. â€Å"Sonya? You mean Ms. Karp?†I asked. â€Å"She killed somebody?†The two guardians exchanged looks. Finally, one said gravely, â€Å"She became a Strigoi, Rose.†I stopped walking and stared. â€Å"Ms. Karp? No†¦she wouldn't have†¦Ã¢â‚¬ â€Å"I'm afraid so,†the other one replied. â€Å"But†¦you should keep that to yourself. It's a tragedy. Don't make it school gossip.†I went through the rest of the night in a daze. Ms. Karp. Crazy Karp. She'd killed someone to become Strigoi. I couldn't believe it. When the reception ended, I'd managed to sneak off from my guardians and steal a few precious moments with Lissa. The bond had grown strong by now, and I hadn't needed to see her face to know how miserable she was. â€Å"What's wrong?†I asked her. We were in a corner of the hallway, just outside the commons. Her eyes were blank. I could feel how she had a headache; its pain transferred to me. â€Å"I†¦I don't know. I just feel weird. I feel like I'm being followed, like I have to be careful, you know?†I didn't know what to say. I didn't think she was being followed, but Ms. Karp used to say the same thing. Always paranoid. â€Å"It's probably nothing,†I said lightly. â€Å"Probably,†she agreed. Her eyes suddenly narrowed. â€Å"But Wade isn't. He won't shut up about what happened. You can't believe the things he's saying about you.†I could, actually but I didn't care. â€Å"Forget about him. He's nothing.†â€Å"I hate him,†she said. Her voice was uncharacteristically sharp. â€Å"I'm on the committee with him for that fund-raiser, and I hate hearing him run his fat mouth every day and seeing him flirt with anything female that walks by. You shouldn't be punished for what he did. He needs to pay.†My mouth went dry. â€Å"It's okay†¦I don't care. Calm down, Liss.†â€Å"I care,†she snapped, turning her anger on me. â€Å"I wish there was a way I could get back at him. Some way to hurt him like he hurt you.†She put her hands behind her back and paced back and forth furiously, her steps hard and purposeful. The hatred and anger boiled within her. I could feel it in the bond. It felt like a storm, and it scared the hell out of me. Wrapped around it all was an uncertainty, an instability that said Lissa didn't know what to do but that she wanted desperately to do something. Anything. My mind flashed to the night with the baseball bat. And then I thought about Ms. Karp. She became a Strigoi, Rose. It was the scariest moment of my life. Scarier than seeing her in Wade's room. Scarier than seeing her heal that raven. Scarier than my capture by the guardians would be. Because just then, I didn't know my best friend. I didn't know what she was capable of. A year earlier, I would have laughed at anyone who said she'd want to go Strigoi. But a year earlier, I also would have laughed at anyone who said she'd want to cut her wrists or make someone â€Å"pay.†In that moment, I suddenly believed she might do the impossible. And I had to make sure she didn't. Save her. Save her from herself. â€Å"We're leaving,†I said, taking her arm and steering her down the hall. â€Å"Right now.†Confusion momentarily replaced her anger. â€Å"What do you mean? You want to go to the woods or something?†I didn't answer. Something in my attitude or words must have startled her, because she didn't question me as I led us out of the commons, cutting across campus toward the parking lot where visitors came. It was filled with cars belonging to tonight's guests. One of them was a large Lincoln Town Car, and I watched as its chauffeur started it up. â€Å"Someone's leaving early,†I said, peering at him from around a cluster of bushes. I glanced behind us and saw nothing. â€Å"They'll probably be here any minute.†Lissa caught on. â€Å"When you said, ? ®We're leaving,' you meant†¦no. Rose, we can't leave the Academy. We'd never get through the wards and checkpoints.†â€Å"We don't have to,†I said firmly. â€Å"He does.†â€Å"But how does that help us?†I took a deep breath, regretting what I had to say but seeing it as the lesser of evils. â€Å"You know how you made Wade do those things?†She flinched but nodded. â€Å"I need you to do the same thing. Go up to that guy and tell him to hide us in his trunk.†Shock and fear poured out of her. She didn't understand, and she was scared. Extremely scared. She'd been scared for weeks now, ever since the healing and the moods and Wade. She was fragile and on the edge of something neither of us understood. But through all of that, she trusted me. She believed I would keep her safe. â€Å"Okay,†she said. She took a few steps toward him, then looked back at me. â€Å"Why? Why are we doing this?†I thought about Lissa's anger, her desire to do anything to get back at Wade. And I thought about Ms. Karp – pretty, unstable Ms. Karp – going Strigoi. â€Å"I'm taking care of you,†I said. â€Å"You don't need to know anything else.†At the mall in Missoula, standing between racks of designer clothes, Lissa asked again, â€Å"Why didn't you tell me?†â€Å"You didn't need to know,†I repeated. She headed toward the dressing room, still whispering with me. â€Å"You're worried I'm going to lose it. Are you worried I'll go Strigoi too?†â€Å"No. No way. That was all her. You'd never do that.†â€Å"Even if I was crazy?†â€Å"No,†I said, trying to make a joke. â€Å"You'd just shave your head and live with thirty cats.†Lissa's feelings grew darker, but she didn't say anything else. Stopping just outside the dressing room, she pulled a black dress off the rack. She brightened a little. â€Å"This is the dress you were born for. I don't care how practical you are now.†Made of silky black material, the dress was strapless and sleek, falling about to the knees. Although it had a slight flair at the hemline, the rest looked like it would definitely manage some serious clinging action. Super sexy. Maybe even challenge-the-school-dress-code sexy. â€Å"That is my dress,†I admitted. I kept staring at it, wanting it so badly that it ached in my chest. This was the kind of dress that changed the world. The kind of dress that started religions. Lissa pulled out my size. â€Å"Try it on.†I shook my head and started to put it back. â€Å"I can't. It would compromise you. One dress isn't worth your grisly death.†â€Å"Then we'll just get it without you trying it on.†She bought the dress. The afternoon continued, and I found myself growing tired. Always watching and being on guard suddenly became a lot less fun. When we hit our last stop, a jewelry store, I felt kind of glad. â€Å"Here you go,†said Lissa, pointing at one of the cases. â€Å"The necklace made to go with your dress.†I looked. A thin gold chain with a gold-and-diamond rose pendant. Emphasis on the diamond part. â€Å"I hate rose stuff.†Lissa had always loved getting me rose things – just to see my reaction, I think. When she saw the necklace's price, her smile fell away. â€Å"Oh, look at that. Even you have limits,†I teased. â€Å"Your crazy spending is stopped at last.†We waited for Victor and Natalie to finish up. He was apparently buying her something, and she looked like she might grow wings and fly away with happiness. I was glad. She'd been dying for his attention. Hopefully he was buying her something extra-expensive to make up for it. We rode home in tired silence, our sleep schedules all messed up by the daylight trip. Sitting next to Dimitri, I leaned back against the seat and yawned, very aware that our arms were touching. That feeling of closeness and connection burned between us. â€Å"So, I can't ever try on clothes again?†I asked quietly not wanting to wake up the others. Victor and the guardians were awake, but the girls had fallen asleep. â€Å"When you aren't on duty, you can. You can do it during your time off.†â€Å"I don't ever want time off. I want to always take care of Lissa.†I yawned again. â€Å"Did you see that dress?†â€Å"I saw the dress.†â€Å"Did you like it?†He didn't answer. I took that as a yes. â€Å"Am I going to endanger my reputation if I wear it to the dance?†When he spoke, I could barely hear him. â€Å"You'll endanger the school.†I smiled and fell asleep. When I woke up, my head rested against his shoulder. That long coat of his-the duster-covered me like a blanket. The van had stopped; we were back at school. I pulled the duster off and climbed out after him, suddenly feeling wide awake and happy. Too bad my freedom was about to end. â€Å"Back to prison,†I sighed, walking beside Lissa toward the commons. â€Å"Maybe if you fake a heart attack, I can make a break for it.†â€Å"Without your clothes?†She handed me a bag, and I swung it around happily. â€Å"I can't wait to see the dress.†â€Å"Me either. If they let me go. Kirova's still deciding if I've been good enough.†â€Å"Show her those boring shirts you bought. She'll go into a coma. I'm about ready to.†I laughed and hopped up onto one of the wooden benches, pacing her as I walked along it. I jumped back down when I reached the end. â€Å"They aren't that boring.†â€Å"I don't know what to think of this new, responsible Rose.†I hopped up onto another bench. â€Å"I'm not that responsible.†â€Å"Hey,†called Spiridon. He and the rest of the group trailed behind us. â€Å"You're still on duty. No fun allowed up there.†â€Å"No fun here,†I called back, hearing the laughter in his voice. â€Å"I swear – shit.†I was up on a third bench, near the end of it. My muscles tensed, ready to jump back down. Only when I tried to, my foot didn't go with me. The wood, at one moment seemingly hard and solid, gave way beneath me, almost as though made of paper. It disintegrated. My foot went through, my ankle getting caught in the hole while the rest of my body tried to go in another direction. The bench held me, swinging my body to the ground while still seizing my foot. My ankle bent in an unnatural direction. I crashed down. I heard a cracking sound that wasn't the wood. The worst pain of my life shot through my body. And then I blacked out.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
The Debate of Proposition 8
Should sexual preference determine marriages? This is the ongoing debate our generation will have to address. California has been in the epicenters of this debate; as we witnessed voters oppose gay marriage in the elections of 2008. The success of Proposition 8 discriminated against those of homosexual orientation. Proposition 8 adjusted California’s marriage laws to prevent a change in language, favoring the majority of heterosexual America. As California’s constitution in article 1, section 7. reads, â€Å"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California†(California Marriage Protection Act). This perception of marriage adopted to be law is built upon gender identity ideals that men and women have to fulfill. Women are to marry that of the opposite gender and sex. Accordingly, the language used to describe marriage was contorted by gender ideals in the fight for Proposition 8. Those for Proposition 8 argued it would restore the defin ition of marriage. From this perspective, marriage is seen as a tradition that is natural and immutable. To the contrary, the argument against Proposition 8 states, â€Å"OUR CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTIONâ€â€the law of our landâ€â€SHOULD GUARANTEE THE SAME FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS TO EVERYONEâ€â€NO ONE group SHOULD be singled out to BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY†(Official California Legislative Information). Marriage is a right that cannot be exercised by all due to sexual preference. Gay and lesbians are discriminated based on societies resistance to amend the definition of marriage past sexual preference. Additionally, the language used to describe marriage and the roles of individuals, is a major outlining factor behind the issue itself. Analyzing the language used in both arguments allows us to delve further into this question and expose why Proposition 8 should have been abolished. Proposition 8 is simply a resistance to change in language in how we come to define marriage. â€Å"Typically, language changes as a result of social political and economic processes such as lifestyle changes, new experiences, counters with technologies and communication media, colonization, or migration†(Litosseliti 19). Although political action may try to slow down this historical ongoing change in language, just as the world changes, so will the language. Marriage will eventually cease to be defined by the standards of sexual preference. In such, the argument against Proposition 8 holds more validity than those in favor of it. Those opposed to Proposition 8 rely on California’s constitution promise for equal rights and freedom to every person, gays included. This allowed those opposed to use powerful words associated with civil rights such as, equality, dignity, freedom, and respect. These are portrayed to the audience from a gay language lending more of feminine like characteristics of care, nurture, and support. This gay language serves a purpose in relaying the message to oppose Proposition 8. As scholar Don Kulick believes, â€Å"†¦homosexual slang serves communicative functions, the most important of which is to ‘reinforce group cohesiveness and reflect common interests, problems, and needs of the population’ (Sonenschein 1969:289)†(Kulick 250). They used the gay slang as to draw attention from all gay and lesbians to feel connected. They refer to themselves as the â€Å"gay community†. This self maintained identity allows them to reach out to all gays and lesbians. For instance, there is a great example in YouTube, where the protest against Proposition 8 continues. In their advertisement they are promoting the Eve of Justice March for gay rights. In the video words displayed are â€Å"if you believe†¦Ã¢â‚¬ followed by the alternating words such as life, happiness, kindness, beauty, compassion, and love. These words of sentiment and support are a prime example of the gay language inducing activism throughout the gay community. â€Å"In constructing particular subject positions for the readers or viewers, advertisements play a role in constituting identities†(Litosseliti 108). The gay language so to speak allows them to create a desired identity for the gay community, which allows them to mobilize themselves within their civil rights movement. Additionally, the gay community has maintained a similar identity to heterosexual relationships on what role individuals play in a marriage. They believe in the similar manner as to what is expected out of a relationship. For instance in the official voters guide an example of daily interaction between spouses is descript as if to show they are not much different than a heterosexual marriage. The guide postulates, â€Å"When you’re married and your spouse is sick or hurt, there is no confusion: you get into the ambulance or hospital room with no questions asked. IN EVERYDAY LIFE, AND ESPECIALLY IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS ARE SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH†(Official California Legislative Information). The gay community displays the similarity of marriage interaction in daily life is the same as any other marriage would be. Marriage roles are portrayed to be similar, and the situation presented above uses words such as, hurt and sick. This invokes the audience to relate to the situation presented of care and nurture for one’s spouse. Although, there are some differences in the expected roles in a marriage, for only a single gender identity is shared between the spouses. For instance, in the role of a wedding usually both partners wear the traditional clothing used for their sex. Lesbians dress in wedding dress attire as the gay men wear the traditional suit. This infers that in a gay marriage their roles are different than that of traditional couples. It objectifies the image of two masculine or feminine figures in a relationship, demonstrating marriage is about love, and not fulfilling prescribed gender roles. The symbolic meaning of commitment is also displayed through the exchange of wedding bands. The gay community’s ideals on marriage are centered more around love than sexuality. Gays use this traditional wedding practice as a way to explicate the language of love, and equality in marriage. To the contrary, those in favor of Proposition 8 argue the need to restore the definition of marriage for the sake of protecting the children. They argue that marriage itself is traditional and the meaning needs to be reallocated for sexual preference. The argument is made that domestic partnerships give all the same rights as a marriage just the title is different. Further, the language used to describe gay marriage is severely negative. Gay marriages are described as â€Å"same-sex marriages†for the sole purpose of pointing out the sexuality of the marriage. We can distinguish this in the arguments presented that our children are to be protected from. The voter’s guide reads â€Å"It protects our children from being taught in public schools that ‘same-sex marriage’ is the same as traditional marriage†(Official California Legislative Information). The argument uses strong words such as protect and traditional as if gay marriage were a threat to our society. Those in favor of Proposition 8 question why they should have to deal with gay marriages when raising children. As I recall there was an advertisement on television during election warning people about societal issues our children will have to deal with. The commercial demonstrated a hild’s confusion as to why she had 2 daddies, yet mommies were the ones who made the babies. The child’s confusion of marriage sexual identities promotes gay marriage as a social issue in raising kids. Those in favor of Proposition 8 claim that gays are putting their adult desires first before the children. Derogatory terms are used in protests against those who oppose Proposition 8. In rallies across California supporting Proposition 8, such as the one on the left, implement the feeling of hate. The term fag implies a negative connotation upon the being homosexual. Additionally, the word depraved implies that the gay lifestyle is a social burden to America. Those who support the banning of gay marriage perceive this as a social problem of a minority group trying to change social culture. Gays should live private lives and not bring their lifestyle to the public arena and force society to change. Moreover, the argument against Proposition 8 holds a much stronger stand against those who support it. First, we must understand that language in society will always change and adapt to the needs of society. Marriage just as many other words will be redefined as society expands out of the two traditional gender roles. The gay community needs to be included as the law has to prescribe to everyone equally. As we see in the protest rallies, the movements’ association with civil rights of the blacks helps their argument gain solidarity. A popular slogan across protests was â€Å"Gay is the new Black†. I experienced protestors in Fresno, CA yelling this to supporters of Proposition 8. The correlation of the blacks civil rights display their desires and emphasize discrimination. In addition, supporters claim children will be confused as to sexuality preferences, yet sexuality preferences don’t usually profess themselves until puberty. In this adolescence the children will be able to cognate their own sexual preference. Those in support are simply trying to prevent gays from their prescribed rights. When have we ever heard of a vocabulary word that needed its definition restored? Marriage is defined differently by many societies and who are we to say that a minority group should be exempt from it. As the gay language further manifests itself with civil rights language, it will draw increasing support from the gay community as well as civil rights activists. Works Cited California Marriage Protection Act,  § 7. 5. Kulick, Don. â€Å"Gay and Lesbian Language. †Annual Review of Anthropology 29 (2000): 243-85. Litosseliti, Lia. Gender and Language Theory and Practice. New York: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 2006. Official California Legislative Information. 04 Nov. 2008. California Legislation. 05 Mar. 2009 .
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Issues on Airport Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 12500 words
Issues on Airport Security - Essay Example However, the human element posits a problem. 4 2.7.3. Screeners’ Performance Problems 4 2.7.2. Investments In Equipments And Technologies Despite the screening procedures in place, there are still some cases where tragedies occurred because there were opportunities, which allowed some passengers to carry weapons or other items that may be used as a tool for hijacking the plane. Thus, various checkpoints and screenings were set up to deny such opportunity to present itself. Using a metal detector, travellers are screened quickly. Some airports invested in more advanced explosive detection machines such as X-ray machines and Puffer Machines. These machines are used for both carry on and checked baggage. A technology of gas chromatography to detect compounds given off from explosives is also being utilized. There are also machines developed to scan for hidden weapons and explosives on passengers. Such devices, on the other hand, use Compton scattering and necessitates passengers to stand flat on a panel in order to produce a high-resolution image. Moreover, Israel introduced a technology in 2008 that will allow travellers to pass through metal detectors without having to take off their shoes. Shoes are often removed because walk-though gate detectors are not reliable enough in detecting metals on the lower parts of the body whereas this technology will allow security officials as well as passengers to do away with such inconvenience since the machine can detect in less than two seconds metals as small as a razor blade (Dillingham, 2000). In general, passengers are screened through airport security into the concourses located at the exit gates that is often referred to as the secure or sterile area. Travellers are discharged into the sterile area so that they will not be subjected to the same security checks they already went through before the flight; however, they may still be subjected to such checks whenever deemed necessary. Not only are the aircrafts a djusting but also the whole airport, including the business establishments in it such as the restaurants and other eateries. Eating establishments discontinued the use of glasses and utensils made of glass and substituted its plastic alternatives to decrease the probability that these will be used as a deadly weapon (GAO, 2004). In the United States, the concourses are usually open for non-passengers who want to welcome relatives and friends on their arrival. However, due to heightened terror threats and activities, such is no longer allowed. It is now required that non-passengers secure a gate pass so that they can enter into the secure area of the airport. The most accepted valid reasons for securing a gate pass is for the purpose assisting children or attending a business meeting in the secure area since businesspersons would opt to hold it there for safety. For such business meetings in the secure area, a 24-hour notice is required in the case of the United States (GAO, 2004). I n other countries, non-passengers are not yet prohibited to access the secure area. In Australia, non-passengers are also subjected to the similar security checks to those of the passengers. However, there are sensitive information that is not released for public viewing such as information on the sensitive areas of the airports, airport ramps and operational spaces. These areas called the Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) are the spaces, which require special qualifications before being entered upon (GAO, 2004) The
Suicide Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
Suicide Assessment - Essay Example The biological factors are familial risk and other health indicators. Predisposing factors are major psychiatric syndromes, substance use and abuse, his personality profile, abuse syndromes and severe mental or neurological illness. Proximal factors are the primary result and reaction of experiencing either familial or predisposing factors. They are hopelessness, intoxication, impulsiveness and aggressiveness, negative expectancy and severe chronic pain. Immediate triggers are those reactions that instantly make the individual change his made towards suicide. These are public humiliation or shame, access to weapons, severe defeat, major loss and worsening prognosis. Once the periods of risk are identified, a specific suicide evaluation will be done to know the degree or magnitude of risk the person is in. The interference that will be done, then, depends on the degree of risk. Identifying the periods of risk in a subject’s life is the predicting part. The assessment part is in response to the identifying part. If there are identified periods of risk and an increase of these periods, then the next step would be evaluation and prevention. There are certain risk factors present in a subject’s period of risk that makes him a primary candidate of a suicide attempt. When one has been in a near lethal suicide attempt already, availability of firearms, written suicide notes are the signs of highest risk people. Having a major mental illness or psychological disorder creates a higher risk. Strong predictors of a suicide in the period of risk in depression are hopelessness, mood cycling, turmoil, unusual thinking and no belief improvement. Weak predictors are those factors that a person may experience but may or may not result to depression, and eventually, suicide. Suicide ideation, on the other hand, is a poor predictor since intent has hidden information still that one must coax out to be understood. A prior suicide attempt is also a poor predictor
Monday, August 12, 2019
Evaluation to population genetics data Assignment
Evaluation to population genetics data - Assignment Example The genetic variants identified accounted for small part of heritability. The genome wide association of the wider sample was used to determine the remaining data set. The small part of the unrelated gene shows the proportion of the total variance in the polymorphism. Allele frequency was calculated by power stats v 12 application. Hardy Weinberg equilibrium was analyzed using the Chi square x2. Significance level was 0.05 in all the 15 Loci. The sampled population was compared to Turkey, Iraq Iranian, Pakistan and Russian populations. The Fst values were calculated and Bonferroni correction test done in order to confirm the significant differences in the analysis. The estimated haplotypes frequencies from the data show there is 56 haplotypes and estimated 107 with no missing genotypes. The estimated result show haplotype frequencies are identical. Implementation of Stephen Al’s Bayesian method is used since the haplotype frequencies is not to be included in the reporting phase.(Czarny 2005). The analyzed genotype showed that data sets with 200 subjects and 132 STRs contained in one gene. Allelic diversity which provides unbiased estimates of the expected heterozygote frequency was computed. The genotype data was used to estimate the power of discrimination (Pakstis&Castiglione 1997).Allele frequencies distribution for 15 PCR based Loci D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSFIPO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S137, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, FGA) for a sample of 200 unrelated individuals as it shows in the table below. The observed allele frequencies and statistical parameters based on the 15STR as summarized in the above table show allelic frequencies ranging from 0.0021 to 0.4077 with number of alleles ranging from 6 (THO1, TPOX and D5S818) to 17 (D21S11, D18S51 and FGA). The 15 STR are highly polymorphic. The new allele is underlined while most common alleles are indicated
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