John Marx And Ivan Turgenev s Views On Human Life And...

Mankind The article How and How Not to Love Mankind introduces the writer s perspectives of the welfare for humankind, especially the poor in the society. 1 The author presents two great men who had contrasting suppositions on the prosperity of mankind in the early times.The two extraordinary men were great European authors, and they are Karl Marx and Ivan Turgenev (Dalrymple, 1). The way that both men were conceived around the same time does not make them have indistinguishable perspectives on human life and suffering because they depict great irreconcilable differences. As indicated by the creator, Turgenev held the perspective of people as people who had distinct feelings sentiments, characters, cognizance, and good moral strengths and qualities, and also, weaknesses, All things considered, Turgenev had a passionate as well as emotional approach towards the human lives and enduring, particularly the misery that was available in the times of serfdom in Russia. 1 On the other hand, Marx is portrayed by the author as an individual who held no appreciation for the human lives and enduring in light of the fact that he saw people as the reason for their conditions amid those times. Marx does not acknowledge any efforts made by the workingmen in that period, and he holds anger to their loss of culture and their present situations. Both writers started their professions by composing sentimental sonnets before they embraced to expound on the human lives and enduring at that

Children cannot grow up as solitary individuals Free Essays

â€Å" Our kids ‘s jobs begin in the place, and can be solved at place. † Rearing is cardinal to the endurance and success of the human race. Everyone who has of all time lived has had parents, and most grownups in the universe become parents. We will write a custom essay sample on Children cannot grow up as solitary individuals or any similar topic only for you Order Now Opinions about rearing abound, but surprisingly small solid scientific information or considered contemplation exists about rearing. Rearing is a occupation whose primary object of attending and action is the kid. Children do non and can non turn up as lone persons but parenting is besides a position in the life class with effects for parents themselves ( Femmie Juffer, 2007 ) 5. â€Å" Children Begin by loving their parents ; as they grow older they judge them ; sometimes they forgive them. † – Academy award Wilde ( English humourist ) Since Mary Ainsworth and John Bowlby discovered that kids use their parents as a secure base to carry through their fond regard and geographic expedition demands, an impressive organic structure of empirical research has been devoted to the hunt for the beginnings and effects of ( in ) secure child-parent attachment relationships. Secure attachment relationships have been associated with better societal competency and with more optimum parent and peer relationships than insecure fond regards. The construct of secure attachment relationships and the related construct of parental sensitiveness appear to be extremely important for the clinical field, including the development and rating of attachment-based intercessions for at-risk and clinical households. The most of import portion of parenting is love and seting in clip and energy to back up kids. Although love is the most of import demand, it is non plenty. Unless parents understand their kids ‘s unique demands, they are unable to give their kids what kids today need. Parents may be giving love, but non in ways that are most helpful to their kid ‘s development. â€Å" Without an apprehension of their kids ‘s demands, parents can non efficaciously back up their kids. † On the other manus, some parents are â€Å" willing † to pass more clip with their kids, but do n’t because they do n’t cognize what to make or their kids reject their attempts. So many parents try to speak with their childs, but their childs merely shut up and state nil. These parents are willing, but do n’t cognize how to acquire their childs to speak. Some parents do n’t desire to shout at, hit, or penalize their kids, but they merely do n’t cognize another manner. Since speaking with their kids has non worked, penalty or the menace of penalty is the lone manner they know. â€Å" To give up old ways of parenting, new ways must be employed. † The universe is sing a crisis in rearing. Every twenty-four hours, there are increasing studies of kid and adolescent force, low self-pride, Attention Deficit Disorder, drug usage, adolescent gestation, and self-destruction. Almost all parents today are oppugning both the new and old ways of rearing. Nothing seems to be working, and our kids ‘s jobs continue to increase. Some parents believe that these jobs come from being excessively permissive and giving kids excessively much, while others contend that out-of-date patterns of parenting, like paddling and shouting, are responsible. Others believe that these new jobs are caused by negative alterations in society. Excessively much Television, advertisement, or excessively much force and sex on Television and in films are pegged by many as the perpetrators. Surely society and how it influences our kids are portion of the job, and some helpful solutions can be legislated by the authorities, but the biggest portion of the job starts at place. Our kids ‘s jobs begin in the place and can be solved at place. Besides looking to alter society, parents must besides recognize that they hold the power to raise strong, confident, concerted, and compassionate kids. To get by with the alterations in society, parents need to alter their parenting attack. During the past two hundred old ages, society has made an historic and dramatic alteration towards greater single freedom and rights. Even though our modern Western society is now organized by the rules of freedom and human rights, parents still use rearing accomplishments from the Dark Ages. Parents need to update their parenting accomplishments to raise healthy and concerted kids and teens. Businesss know that if they are to remain competitory in the free market, they need to maintain changing and updating. Likewise, if parents want their kids to be able to vie in the free universe, they must fix their kids with the most effectual and modern attacks to rearing ( John Gray, 2007 ) 11. Several societal tendencies are now disputing parent-child relationships. Single parent households may be the most at hazard. Although, there ever have been individual parents in the United States, the causes of lone parenting have changed. Single parents of old coevalss were chiefly widows and widowmans. Parents are now more likely to be individual because of divorce or ne’er being married. Individual parents in today ‘s society may be more stray and possibly more disillusioned than the individual parents of the yesteryear. The concluding study of the National Commission on Children, approximately 25 per centum ( more than 16 million ) kids lived with merely one parent in 1989, twice every bit many as in 1970. Parental employment places a great strain on parent-child relationships. Parents may hold to depend on other health professionals, for illustration, to put bounds and supply counsel during their kids ‘s formative old ages. Between 1970 and 1990, the proportion of female parents with kids under age six who were working or looking for work outside their places rose from 32 per centum to 58 per centum. Today, about 10.9 million kids under six have female parents in the paid labour force ( National Commission on Children, 1991 ) 74. Three facets of rearing have been highlighted as cardinal to kids ‘s early linguistic communication and acquisition: ( 1 ) the frequence of kids ‘s engagement in everyday acquisition activities ( e.g. , shared book reading, storytelling ) ; ( 2 ) the quality of caregiver-child battles ( e.g. , parents ‘ cognitive stimulation and sensitivity/responsiveness ) ; and ( 3 ) the proviso of age-appropriate acquisition stuffs ( e.g. , books and plaything ) . Early on and consistent engagement in everyday acquisition activities, such as shared book reading, storytelling, and learning about the letters of the alphabet, supply kids with a critical foundation for early acquisition, linguistic communication growing and emergent literacy. A overplus of surveies besides indicate that the quality of parent-caregiver interactions play a formative function in kids ‘s early linguistic communication and acquisition ( Tamis-LeMonda, 2009 ) 52. In the yesteryear, psychologists analyzing the development of kids focused about entirely on kids ‘s relationships with their female parents. Today, they have come to hold that male parents play a unique and important function in fostering and steering kids ‘s development. Many experts now believe that male parents can be merely as nurturing and sensitive with their babes as female parents. As their kids turn, male parents take on added functions of steering their kids ‘s rational and societal development. Even when a male parent is ‘just playing ‘ with his kids, he is fostering their development ( Ross Parke, 2006 ) 25. Need FOR THE STUDY The National Commission on Children ‘s national study titled Speaking of Kids ( 1991 ) studies that a bulk of American grownups, irrespective of age, race, matrimonial, or parental position believe that it is harder to be a parent today than it used to be ( 88 per centum ) and that parents today frequently are unsure about what is the right thing to make in raising their kids ( 86 per centum ) . Compared to ten old ages ago, respondents believed kids today are worse off with regard to their moral and spiritual preparation ( 53 per centum ) and the supervising and subject they receive from their parents ( 56 per centum ) . Children themselves wished that their parents were more persevering in puting and implementing regulations. Thirty-nine per centum of kids 10-17 said they â€Å" sometimes † wished their parents were stricter or maintain a closer ticker over them and their lives. Another 8 per centum said they wish this a batch. Merely about 1 per centum said they â€Å" ne’er † wanted their parents to be stricter or more attentive. Because of the rapid gait of alteration in our society and an increasing consciousness of and esteem for cultural and values diverseness, parents will go on to be challenged to spread out on traditional manners of childrearing. The wellbeing of our state ‘s kids is clearly at hazard. Harmonizing to the National Commission on Children ( 1991 ) , one in four striplings prosecute in societal behaviours that can take to serious longterm trouble ; many more are vulnerable for future jobs ( National Commission on Children, 1991 ) 72. Most parents do their best to supply a loving and nurturing atmosphere for their kids. Poor rearing includes the undermentioned behaviours: Maltreatment An environment where there is a batch of reasoning and struggle Ignoring the kid Some parents are overwhelmed by their ain personal state of affairss and are unable to look after their kids ‘s demands suitably. The kids who were ignored or who lived in high-stress families had problem showing themselves verbally. They besides had problem with societal accomplishments. Sharing plaything was hard for them, and they had problem playing. The British survey concluded that the deprived kids really started preschool with developing encephalons. The kids who were holding problem with their societal accomplishments could be helped if they received intensive aid from their instructors. Unfortunately, instructors are busy caring for the full category and have problem happening the clip to give the kids who are behind the degree of attending they need ( JC Redmond, 2009 ) 66. A survey by UNICEF of 21 industrialised states, An Overview of Child Wellbeing in Rich Countries ( 2007 ) , came to the singular decision that there is no strong relationship between per capita GDP and kid well-being. A government-funded reappraisal in Britain of research crossing 25 old ages found that the incidence of many mental wellness jobs in kids had doubled since the 1970s. Today, one in 10 British kids – that ‘s more than a million – suffers from a clinically recognizable upset, such as depression, anxiousness, anorexia or terrible anti-social behavior ( Tom McGurk, 2009 ) 71. â€Å" Surveies have shown that kids who go through their parents ‘ divorce have more behavior jobs, symptoms of psychological maladjustment, lower academic accomplishment, Social troubles and debatable relationships with both parents. In United States of America, reported statistics Tells that Children from fatherless places are: 5 times more likely to perpetrate self-destruction 32 times more likely to run off from place. 20 times more likely to hold behavioural upsets 14 times more likely to perpetrate colza. 9 times more likely to drop out of high school. 10 times more likely to mistreat chemical substances ( become drug nuts ) 9 times more likely to stop up in a state-operated establishment 20 times more likely to stop up in prison. 3 million teenage misss have sexually transmitted diseases At least 1 out of 4 adolescents ( between 14years to 19years ) suffer from sexually transmitted diseases ( CRISP, 2009 ) 73. Some of the rough worlds faced by kids in India are presented below: Less than half of India ‘s kids between the age 6 and 14 merely go to school. 95 in every 1000 kids born in India do non see their 5th birthday. Amongst married adult females in India today, 75 % were under age at the clip of their matrimonies. 58 % of India ‘s kids below the age of 2 old ages are non to the full vaccinated. And 24 % of these kids do non have any signifier of inoculation. More that 50 % of India ‘s kids are malnourished. More than 50 per cent of misss fail to inscribe in school ; those who do are likely to drop out by the age of 12. CHILD LABOR 19 % of kids are employed for domestic aid. 25 % of the victims of commercial sexual development in India are below 18 old ages of age. Large Numberss of kids work merely because there is no alternate – since, they do non hold entree to good quality schools. Poor and bonded households frequently â€Å" sell † their kids to contractors who promise moneymaking occupations in the metropoliss and the kids end up being employed in whorehouses, hotels and domestic work. Many run off and happen a life on the streets ( Sharanam Centre, 2007 ) 75. Everyone knows good parenting is good for the wellness of kids, but surveies show that good parenting besides consequences in kids who grow up to be healthier grownups. Research indicates that grownups who had nerve-racking relationships with their parents in childhood are more likely to endure from disease in midlife. â€Å" Since parents are normally the most meaningful beginning of societal support for much of early life, the perceptual experience of parental lovingness, and parental loving itself, may hold of import regulative and prognostic effects on biological and psychological wellness and unwellness † ( Claudia M. Lenart, 2009 ) 55. Joint detention and shared parenting ( i.e. , joint physical and legal detention ) have been studied for more than a quarter-century, with the bulk of surveies bespeaking important benefits for kids. When parents cooperate and minimise struggle, kids do better with shared parenting/joint physical detention. Rearing Can Overrule Effect of Genes in How Babies Respond to Stress, the survey found both cistrons and rearing were of import to the development of how babies ‘ encephalon which helps to modulate cardiac responses to emphasize. The findings suggest that although cistrons play a function in the development of physiological responses to emphasize, environmental experiences such as female parents ‘ sensitive care-giving behaviour can hold a strong influence, adequate to alter the consequence that cistrons have on physiology really early in life ( W. Roger Mills-Koonce, 2008 ) 68. It has been known for a long clip that life in poorness amendss kids ‘s rational abilities. Good Rearing Raises Kids ‘ Mental Skills. Survey Shows Better Parenting Skills Sharpen Minds of Kids in Poverty ( Martin Downs, 2008 ) 62. Babies need predictability and security, which they get when their female parent and male parent respond systematically, quickly, and suitably to their calls, smilings and other signals. As a babe develops a relationship with his or her female parent and male parent, he comes to prefer them to other grownups, in a procedure known as fond regard. Psychologists agree that babes with secure fond regards to their parents have better opportunities to develop into happy, successful, and well-balanced kids and grownups. The research worker had personal experience about the effects of rearing both its ailment effects and good effects. Investigator being specialising in the field community wellness nursing felt the demand and was motivated to carry on the survey on cognition sing the parenting roles among the twosomes of urban and rural community and learn them about rearing functions with the aid of multimedia bundle. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM â€Å" A comparative survey to measure the effectivity of multimedia bundle on cognition sing rearing functions among the twosomes of selected urban and rural community † . Aim To measure the bing degree of cognition sing rearing functions among twosomes of the urban and rural community. To measure the effectivity of multimedia bundle on cognition sing rearing functions among twosomes of the urban and rural community. To compare the pretest and posttest degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the twosomes of urban and rural community. To compare the pretest and posttest degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the male and female parent of urban and rural community. To compare the pretest and posttest degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the male parent of the urban and rural community. To compare the pretest and posttest degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the female parent of the urban and rural community. To tie in the average betterment of cognition mark on rearing functions with the selected demographic variables. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Effectiveness Refers to the result of the multimedia bundle sing rearing functions among twosomes of urban and rural community, which will be evaluated by the structured cognition questionnaire prepared by the research worker. Multimedia Package Refers to logically designed information ‘s with the usage of modern media to discourse and learn sing rearing functions. This bundle consists of learning stuff in the signifier of ocular literacy and picture in a sequence which explains the parent ‘s function in general parenting, developmental mileposts, cognitive development, moral development and acquisition disablements. Rearing It refers to the public presentation of assorted functions and activities of raising a kid instead than the biological relationship by the parents. Rearing Functions It refers to the function of the parents in raising the kid. Roles included in this survey are about General Parenting which includes significance and constructs of Responding, Preventing, Monitoring, Mentoring and Modeling ; Developmental Milestones which includes significance, designation of age specific undertakings of the kids, ways to assist the kid to achieve mileposts ; Cognitive Development which includes significance, phases of cognitive development and ways to better the cognitive development ; Moral Development which includes significance, phases of moral development and ways to better the moral development of the kid and Learning Disabilities which includes significance, causes, early warning marks and ways to take attention of kid with such job. Cognition Refers to the ability of twosomes to understand and reply the inquiry on rearing functions as elicited by structured cognition questionnaire. Couples Husband and married woman of selected urban and rural community with 1-6 year of married life holding kids. Premise Couples may hold some cognition sing rearing functions. Adequate cognition on rearing functions may assist the twosomes to supply effectual parenting. Adequate cognition sing rearing functions may forestall many childhood jobs. NULL HYPOTHESES NH1: There is no important difference between pre and station trial degree of cognition sing rearing functions among the urban and rural twosomes at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 NH2: There is no important difference between pre and station trial degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the urban and rural twosomes at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 NH3: There is no important difference between pre and station trial degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the male and female parent of urban and rural community at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 NH4: There is no important difference between pre and station trial degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the urban male parent and rural male parent at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 NH5: There is no important difference between pre and station trial degree of cognition sing rearing functions between the urban female parent and rural female parent at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 NH6: There is no important association between the average betterment cognition mark on rearing functions and selected demographic variables of the urban and rural twosomes at the degree of P lt ; 0.05 Boundary line The survey is delimited to a period of four hebdomad. The survey is delimited to the twosomes populating under the same roof. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK A conceptual model or theoretical account is made up of constructs that are mental image of a phenomenon. These constructs are linked together to show their relationship between them. The conceptual model is based on TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL/ SOCIAL CHANGE MODEL ( JAMES.O.PROCHASKA ) . This model consists of the undermentioned elements. PRECONTEMPLATION: The theory says that the Individual has the job ( whether he/she recognizes it or non ) and has no purpose of altering and goes through the procedure of Consciousness raising ( information and cognition ) , Dramatic alleviation ( function playing ) and Environmental reevaluation ( how job affects physical environment ) . In this survey the research worker perceives the importance of the job and prepares the multimedia bundle with extended reappraisal of literature and expert ‘s sentiment to better the cognition of twosomes in selected urban and rural community sing the parenting functions on general parenting, kid ‘s cognitive development, developmental mileposts, moral development and acquisition disablements. Contemplation: This phase involves the Individual ‘s acknowledgment of the job and he/she is earnestly believing about altering and goes through the procedure of Self-reevaluation ( measuring one ‘s feelings sing behaviour ) . In this survey the research worker approaches the twosomes of selected urban and rural community and obtains their consent to take part in the survey after supplying equal information sing the demand for the survey and benefits thereby makes the twosomes to go cognizant of the job. Preparation: In this phase the single recognizes the job and intends to alter the behaviour through the procedure of Self-liberation ( committedness or belief in ability to alter ) . In this survey the research worker conducts the pre trial appraisal of cognition sing rearing functions among the twosomes of selected urban and rural community with the aid of the structured questionnaire. The structured interview agenda consists of demographic variables like age, gender, educational position, business, household income per month, faith, type of household, no of old ages of married life, no of life kids, age of the kid, topographic point of life, manner of acquiring information about parenting and structured questionnaire incorporating inquiries sing rearing functions on general parenting, kid ‘s cognitive development, moral development, developmental mileposts and larning disablements. The research worker prepares the twosomes for deriving the cognition sing rearing functions. Action: In this phase the Individual has enacted consistent behaviour alteration through the procedure of Reinforcement direction, Helping relationships, Counterconditioning and Stimulus control. In this survey the research worker by supplying the multimedia bundle which consists of talk in the signifier of pictural and picture shows sing rearing functions on general parenting, kid ‘s cognitive development, moral development, developmental mileposts and larning disablements provides a assisting relationship to derive equal cognition to supply good parenting to their kids. Care: In this phase single maintains new behaviour. In this survey the research worker conducts the station trial appraisal of cognition after one hebdomad from the twenty-four hours of intercession utilizing the same structured questionnaire which was used for pre trial to cognize the betterment in the cognition. If twosomes had equal cognition support was given by supplying brochure as care of cognition and twosomes with unequal cognition reappraisal was done. OUTLINE OF THE REPORT Chapter I: Dealt with the background of the survey, need for the survey, statement of the job, aims, operational definitions, void hypotheses, premises, boundary lines and conceptual model. Chapter II: Deals with the reappraisal of related literature. Chapter III: Presents the methodological analysis of survey and program for informations analysis. Chapter IV: Focuss on informations analysis and reading. Chapter V: Enumerates the treatment of survey. Chapter VI: Gives the sum-up, decision, deductions, recommendations and restrictions. The study ends with selected Bibliography and Appendices. How to cite Children cannot grow up as solitary individuals, Essay examples

Instructional Design Analysis free essay sample

I have recently noticed an instructional problem in the elementary school that I work at. Several of the teachers seem to have problems aligning their instruction with the curriculum they teach. I have witnessed numerous times, teachers incorporating activities into lessons that don’t even relate to the curriculum concepts being taught. The activities being incorporated into the lessons do not align with the objectives specified in the lessons. Therefore, the students are not learning what the objective claims that are. For example, I once observed a kindergarten teacher using a color by number activity to help her teach number order. I believe this was an ineffective way to instill the desired knowledge into her students. Color by number activities are fun and do require students to have number recognition skills, but they do not require the students to put the numbers in number order. Current vs. Desired Conditions Currently, several teachers in an elementary school are ineffectively teaching curriculum concepts they are required to teach. In return, students are confused, frustrated, and falling behind. When students are confused by what their teacher is trying to teach them, they become frustrated. When they become frustrated, they give up and end up not learning what the teacher wanted them to learn. This in turn causes them to make bad grades and fall behind grade level expectations. Desirable, if the teachers described above were incorporating activities into their lessons that actually related to the lesson objectives/curriculum concepts, a lot less students would be considered below grade level. When lesson activities relate to the lesson objectives/curriculum concepts, the students will gain a deeper understanding of the content being taught and will be able to use that content effectively. This will make for a less confused/frustrated classroom of learners. The students will become more confident in their abilities and will use that newly gained knowledge appropriately. Then there would be a lot less students making poor grades. This means that fewer students would be considered below grade level. Data Collection Classroom observations and teacher interviews were good ways to collect data in relation to the identified instructional problem. Tally sheet and antidotal notes were beneficial during the classroom observations. For teacher interviews, questionnaire sheets were a good way to collect data. (See Attached Examples) During the classroom observations, the tally sheet allowed me to identify the number of teachers I observed and allowed me to keep track of how many of the teachers I observed were/weren’t aligning their curriculum based lesson objectives and activities. Each classroom observation is equivalent to one lesson observed being taught. Each teacher observed was only observed one time. Therefore, each teacher was only observed teaching one lesson. There were a total of fifteen teachers observed and fifteen classroom observations total. The antidotal notes allowed me to take notes and make comments in relation to what I observed. I could use this to refer back to my observations as needed without getting my information mixed up between what I witnessed during each of the observations. I took note of what the curriculum standard was the teacher was teaching a lesson for. I took note of what the lesson objective(s) were. I took note of what the activity task was that was incorporated into the lessons. My results from the tally sheet and the antidotal notes showed me that nine of the teachers taught lessons that did not have appropriate alignment of activities and curriculum based objectives. Six of the teachers taught lessons that did have appropriate alignment of activities and curriculum based objectives. During the teacher interviews, I found using a questionnaire sheet to be an effective way to collect data. It allowed me to ask each teacher the same set of specific questions in relation to the lessons I observed them teach. This made it possible to get the teacher’s thoughts on their own teaching/lessons and it made it possible to address the major points on the lessons being taught. It even helped make the teachers reflect on themselves and their own lessons. Results from the teacher interviews indicated that seven of the nine teachers who did not align their lessons appropriately did not realize that they had made this mistake. When they were made to think about in the teacher interviews, they were able to reflect back. Their reflections made them realize their mistakes. The other two teachers from the nine who did not align their lessons appropriately did not think they had made a mistake. They honestly seemed to believe that their lessons did align. I tried to describe the nonalignment to them, but they just did not seem to understand what I was trying to tell them. This shows me that trainings or workshops about lesson alignments would be appropriate. As already stated, when teachers don’t align their lesson objectives and activities to the curriculum appropriately, student end up not making good grades become below grade level. Once lessons were taught, I kept a copy of the finished work performed by several students. This could have been activity results, or assessment copies. I could use these to see how students comprehended the lessons and were able to apply the knowledge gained. These are the items the students were graded on for completing. I could use those scores as examples of student curriculum concept understandings. These scores are used to give students grades. These grades are what determine if the students are at or below grade level. Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used to conduct this instructional design analysis. In this situation, tally sheets and activity/assessment scores were quantitative. Antidotal notes and questionnaires were qualitative. Data Analysis I used the constant comparison/Grounded Theory technique of data analysis in this instructional design analysis. â€Å"The constant comparative method is a method for analyzing data in order to develop a grounded theory. The goal of the Grounded Theory approach is to generate theories that explain how some aspect of the social world works. The goal is to develop a theory that emerges from and is therefore connected to the reality the theory is developed to explain. (Glaser Strauss, 1967)† Mainly, after I identified an instructional design problem, I compared occurrences of the problem. I compared instances of teacher lessons aligned lessons vs. teacher lessons that were not aligned. I compared student’s scores on assigned tasks related to lessons that did and did not align appropriately. Teacher Aligned Objectives/Activities/Curriculum Average Student Task Scores NOT ALIGNED lllllllll = 9 72% ALLIGNED llllll = 6 81% 1 tally mark (1) = 1 classroom observation Student scores on assigned tasks were gathered by each classroom observation. A total of the student scores from the activities that did not align with the lessons taught were averaged together. A total of student scores from the activities that did align with the lessons taught were averaged together. The two different averages were then compared to show a difference in student achievement. Needs Analysis The data analysis determines that teachers that do not align their lesson objectives, activities, and curriculum concepts, have students that perform at lower levels. Teachers that align their lesson objectives, activities, and curriculum concepts, have students that perform on higher levels. It also shows that there are more teachers that actually don’t align the curriculum with the objectives and activities that they teach. The results of this instructional design analysis show a great need for workshops, classes, trainings, etc. that will increase teacher’s abilities and knowledge of how to align their instruction appropriately. Then, teachers will be more likely to teach appropriately designed lessons that will actually impact the knowledge of their students. Student performance scores will go up and less students be performing below grade level. Goal Statement After be provided with detailed instruction on how to align curriculum with lesson objectives and activities, classroom teachers will be able to write appropriate aligned lesson plans and teach those lessons to students who will then be at least 60% closer to grade level expectancy levels then they were pre teacher instruction.

Lord of the Flies Summary

'Lord of the Flies' Summary William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a deserted island. They develop rules and a system of organization, but without any adults to serve as a civilizing impulse, the children eventually become violent and brutal. In the context of the novel, the tale of the boys descent into chaos suggests that human nature is fundamentally savage. Chapters 1-3 The novel opens with a young boy named Ralph and a chubby, glasses-wearing boy as they walk onto a lagoon wearing their school uniforms. We soon learn that they are part of a group of boys who were evacuated during the war and who survived the plane crash that followed what they suspect was an enemy attack. As Ralph and the other boy that there are no adults around, they decide they must attract the attention of any other surviving children. Ralph locates a conch shell and begins to blow into it, summoning the other boys with the noise. The chubby boy reveals that the other children used to call him Piggy. Ralph believes rescue is imminent, but Piggy argues that they must get organized because they may be stranded for some time. The other boys choose Ralph to be their leader, although the choice is not unanimous; the choir boys, led by Jack Merridew, do not vote for Ralph. Ralph gives them permission to form a hunting group. Ralph quickly establishes a rough form of government and order, exhorting the boys to enjoy their freedom, work together for their mutual survival, and maintain a smoke signal on the beach to attract any potential rescuers. The boys in turn agree that anyone holding the conch gets to speak without interruption. Ralph, Jack, and a boy named Simon are the popular leaders and begin a tense partnership. They explore the island and confirm it is deserted, but locate fruit trees and a herd of wild pigs that Jack decides he and his friends will hunt. The boys use Piggy’s glasses to spark a fire, but Piggy quickly finds himself an outcast despite his friendship with Ralph. Simon begins overseeing the construction of shelters, concerned for the younger boys- referred to as ‛littluns.’ Chapters 4-7 The initial burst of organization doesn’t last long, however. Without adults, most of the boys refuse to do any sort of work and instead spend their time playing and sleeping. At night, rumors of a terrible monster in the trees sparks a panic. Ralph insists monsters do not exist, but Jack says otherwise. He claims that his hunters will find and kill the monster, which boosts his popularity. Jack gathers a group of boys for a hunting expedition, which takes them away from the job of maintaining the signal fire. The fire goes out. Shortly after, a boat moves past the island, but does not spot the boys thanks to the lack of fire. When Jack and the other hunters return in triumph with a pig, Ralph confronts Jack, complaining that they missed their chance at rescue. Jack, angry at his moment being ruined, knows he cannot fight Ralph, and so beats up Piggy, breaking his glasses. As the boys cook and eat the pig ravenously- ignoring warnings about eating undercooked pork- Ralph tells Piggy he wants to stop being the leader, but Piggy convinces him to stay on. Piggy is terrified at what might happen if Jack took over completely. One evening, there is a dogfight between planes near the island, and a fighter pilot ejects. Killed in the air, his body floats down to the island and becomes entangled in the trees. A boy sees his corpse and parachute and is terrified, convinced that he has seen the monster. Jack, Ralph, and a boy named Roger head off to hunt the monster, and all three boys see the corpse and run in terror. Chapters 8-12 Now convinced that the monster is real, Ralph calls a meeting. Jack attempts a coup, but the boys refuse to vote Ralph down, and Jack leaves in a anger, saying he will start his own tribe. Roger sneaks away to join him. More and more boys begin to sneak away to join Jack’s tribe, lured by the roast pigs that Jack and his hunters are able to provide. Jack and his followers begin to paint their faces, and behave in an increasingly savage and primitive manner while Ralph, Piggy, and Simon try to maintain a semblance of order at the shelters. Simon, who sometimes suffers mental attacks, goes off into the woods frequently to be alone. Hiding, he observes Jack and his tribe perform a ritual designed to satisfy the monster- they impale a pig’s head on a sharpened stick and leave it as a sacrifice. It quickly becomes swarmed with flies, and Simon hallucinates a dialog with it, referring to it as the Lord of the Flies. The Pig’s Head tells Simon he is foolish to imagine the monster is a flesh-and-blood thing; it is the boys themselves who are the monster. The Lord of the Flies then tells Simon that the other boys will kill him, because he is the soul of man. As Simon walks away, he comes across the dead pilot and realizes that he has found proof that the monster does not exist. He runs back to the other boys, who have begun to dance in a crazed ritual. When Simon begins crashing through the trees, the boys believe he is the monster, and all the boys- including Ralph and Piggy- attack him in terror, killing him. Meanwhile, Jack has realized that while the conch is a symbol of power, the true power lies in Piggy’s glasses, which is the groups only means of starting a fire. Jack has the support of most of the boys, so he conducts a raid on Ralph and his remaining allies in order to steal Piggys glasses. Ralph goes to their home on the other side of the island, a rock formation known as Castle Rock. He takes the conch and is accompanied by Piggy and just two other boys, twins named Sam and Eric. He demands that Jack return the glasses. Jack’s tribe ties up Sam and Eric, and Ralph and Jack engage in a fight. Piggy, alarmed, takes the conch and attempts to address the boys, pleading for order. Roger sneaks up above Piggy and drops a heavy rock on him, killing the boy and destroying the conch. Ralph flees, leaving Sam and Eric behind. Jack hurts the twins until they agree to join his tribe. Jack orders the hunters to go after Ralph, who is told by Sam and Eric that they intend to kill him and impale his head on a stick. Ralph flees into the woods, but Jack sets fire to the trees to drive him out. As the flames begin to consume the whole island, Ralph desperately runs. Hitting the beach, Ralph trips and falls, only to find himself at the feet of a British naval officer. A ship spotted the flames and came to investigate. All of the children, including Ralph and Jack, suddenly begin to cry, collapsing in exhausted grief. The officer is stunned and expresses disappointment that good British boys would fall into such a state of misbehavior and savagery. Then he turns and studies his own warship contemplatively.

An Eye for Eye Makes the Whole World Blind Essays

An Eye for Eye Makes the Whole World Blind Essays An Eye for Eye Makes the Whole World Blind Paper An Eye for Eye Makes the Whole World Blind Paper An eye for an eye revenge, believing doing something back to someone who has wronged you in some way as the way forward e. g if someone kicks you, its only fair you kick them back. If a country bombs you, you bomb them back. If a religion kills some of your people, you kill them back. If someone takes your eye, you take theirs Makes the whole world blind this is the important bit of the statement. You are left blind because you are so consumed in hatred and revenge for someone who has wronged you, you cannot SEE the only way out is to forgive/break away/etc so you are just left in a constant circle (as someone has to see there is no way forward, thats the play on words, no can SEE that, as they are BLINDED ) thats the metaphorical explanation for it B)An eye for an eye refers to vengence, and its reference is loosely taken from the Bible, you take my eye, Ill take your eye, you take my tooth, you get the picture. While people use this as justification for vengence, scripture teaches vengence is Mine referring to the Lord, but thats another question. When Ghandi said this he was living in a very vengeful, hate filled troubled time and he was trying to focus people in a different direction. One of the ways he did that was to point out the irony of the mentality that thinks first of vengence and not of forgiveness. If every body gets even, after a while there wont be any one. If we all take an eye for every eye we lose, pretty soon we cant see at all. Vengence makes losers of us all †¦. 2. First the meaning means if you think about it an eye for an eye in itself is a meaning for revenge. The last part Makes the whole world blind just helps elaborate that as revenge is so constant and happens so much it makes the world blind.

Work of Art Titles

Work of Art Titles Work of Art Titles Work of Art Titles By Maeve Maddox When a freelance magazine writer asked me how the title of a sculpture should be written, I went to The Chicago Manual of Style to find out if it should be italicized, enclosed in quotation marks, or left plain. Here is the advice I found and passed on to the writer: Titles of paintings, drawings, photographs, statues, and other works of art are italicized, whether the titles are original, added by someone other than the artist, or translated. The names of works of antiquity (whose creators are often unknown) are usually set in roman. Though major works of art are generally italicized, some massive works of sculpture are regarded primarily as monuments and therefore not italicized. According to this advice, one should italicize Kindred Spirits (oil painting), Shore Lunch (non-monumental sculpture), and Rose and Driftwood (Ansel Adams photo), but leave the Venus de Milo (work of antiquity) and the Statue of Liberty (monumental) in roman type. After the fact, I checked to see what The AP Stylebook has to say about italicizing titles. The AP editors are against it: italics: AP does not italicize words in news stories. According to AP guidelines, the titles of just about everything are enclosed by quotation marks: book titles, computer game titles, movie titles, opera titles, play titles, poem titles, song titles, television program titles, and works of art. Exceptions are the Bible and books that are â€Å"primarily catalogs of reference material.† I decided to explore a few publications, American and British, to see how they do it. Two (both British) write the titles without italics or quotation marks. Four (all American) enclose the titles in quotation marks. Only one (also American) italicizes art titles, including works from antiquity. Here are seven of the examples I gathered: The Telegraph (British) I can hardly bear to look at a horrible little painting of a cloyingly sweet faced little girl entitled The Strawberry Girl, where the paint texture and layers of discoloured varnish were flattened during an early re-lining resulting in the ruin we see today The Independent (British) His giant sculptures, many of them human figures, include Yellow, a man ripping open his own chest and spilling out Lego innards (11,014 pieces make up the work), and a blue swimmer, as well as interpretations of masterpieces including the Mona Lisa The New York Times (American) The show includes works on loan as well as some of the gallerys recent acquisitions that have not been on view before, such as Frantisek Kupkas Organization of Graphic Motifs and Yves Tanguys The Look of Amber. The Sacramento Bee (American) Immediately you are struck by the rich and evocative figurative abstraction â€Å"Martyr With a Red Arm.† Boston Globe (American) Works like â€Å"Patina,† from 1975, and â€Å"Clavichord,† from 2002, feel like classic Ihara. The New Yorker (American) The sixth lot, â€Å"The Little White House,† a 1919 landscape by Willard Metcalf, sold for just over a million dollars. The Smithsonian Magazine (American) The  Venus de Milo  is the most famous sculpture and, after the  Mona Lisa, the most famous work of art in the world. Best advice: Consult the style guide of the publication for which the article is intended. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowDifference between "Pressing" and "Ironing"How often is "bimonthly"?

Mcdonald- chose one branch in london Coursework

Mcdonald- chose one branch in london - Coursework Example The huge advertisements and promotions of the fast food restaurants are the major factors that raised the fast food market. Through fast food people can gain many competitive advantages which are suitable for existing economic condition (Bagwell & Doff, 2009). The Following Table Shows the Ranking of McDonald’s with respect to Market Share in the UK Source: (Government of Canada Publications, 2011). In this context, the Oxford Street branch, situated in London of McDonald’s will be analysed for the study. Demand Factors of Fast food in London This segment describes the nature of fast food demand and relative factors that influence the demand of fast food products in London. The fast food market is monopoly in nature. The demand for fast food is not completely elastic. Any restaurant can increase the cost of fast food products without diminishing the demand to zero. There is a certain demand curve for each fast food restaurants. A restaurant can sell more products by min imizing their products cost or sell less by increasing the cost of the products. However, no restaurant can make excess profit because there are substitute products in other restaurants (Baker, 2001). 0 In the above graph, the demand curve of fast food products is D1 and it is downward sloping because as the price of fast food products increase, the quantity i.e. sales decreases. The shift in demand is shown as D2 curve when the demand for fast food products will increase. London’s Oxford Street is known as the most famous and developed area in the city. People who reside in Oxford Street are quite modern including those who have comparatively lower income than others. There and many professionals and students there who have busy lifestyles and many people even perform two jobs. Thus, they are busy in their jobs for considerable amount of time of a day. Thus, many households have limited time to prepare foods for day and/or night. Therefore, the people have less cooking tende ncy and is of the belief that eating fast food is comparatively better value for money. Table Showing Frequency of Consuming Food of People in the UK Source: (Bagwell & Doff, 2009). From the above table, it can be seen that young people of age group between 15–24 years prefer to eat in fast food restaurants. They are the largest portion of fast food customers. Men are most frequent customers of fast food restaurants compared to woman. There is inverse relationship with consuming fast food and age because as the age increases the preference of eating fast food decreases. The following chart shows the spending on fast food products in London in the year 2006. Chart Showing Spending on fast Food in London Source: (Bagwell & Doff, 2009). The above chart depicts that majority of customers spent minimum ?3 on fast food at Oxford Street branch. Young school students have a high demand for fast food. It has been found that young students spend average ?1.01 and 74 pence on fast food while going to school and coming back from school. In the year 2007, ?82 was spent per person for fast food. There are various reasons for high demand of fast food. The factors which influence the demand of fast food products are speed of delivery, taste, inexpensiveness and availability. Besides, there are other factors such as convenience, scarcity of time and comfort which drive

Managing Creativity and Changes in Organizations Essay

Managing Creativity and Changes in Organizations - Essay Example The management of intellectual capital will require skills that nurture creativity and innovation in the workforce rather than compliance as in the past.† The case of Apple Incorporated is sheer evidence that hierarchical management structures will be less evident in the future. Instead, nurturing creativity and innovation in the workforce will be a must rather than doing a requirement of compliance for hierarchical management. What Apple exactly did is a depiction of innovation, a significant change that opens the door for the more innovative business approach in the future. Apple Incorporated has primarily dealt more with specialization, leading to the progress of its product offerings in terms of technological advancement. However, what is clear in its case is the ability to promote creativity and innovation concerning the skills of the manpower to develop something new. At Apple Incorporated, it does not matter who the boss is, for as long as everybody has something new inn ovative to offer that is in line with the firm’s vision to go for a change and lead in the industry. Aside from the fact that Apple has been producing new innovative products in the market and has become the leader in its industry due to this approach, it has also successfully made an innovation in its business model, and together these have called for effective management of skills prior to creativity and innovation. In other words, the company’s business culture is more of a deviation from the traditional business model.  

Pearl Harbor and September Attacks Essay Example for Free

Pearl Harbor and September Attacks Essay The Pearl Harbor and the September 11 attack are two events that changed the United States to a great deal. December 7th 1941 and September 11th 2001 are two dark days that will never be forgotten in the history of the United States. They are the two major attacks against the United States that have occurred in history. Although the intentions of the enemy in both cases were to tear the United States apart, the responses by the administration have resulted into the opposite. Although many innocent lives were lost in both attacks, it is important to note that the attacks left the people of America more united and more prepared for future attacks. However, the most important issue that has come into the picture as a result of the two attacks is the effectiveness of the United States intelligence. Immediately after the infamous 9/11 attack, many commentators linked the attack to the Pearl Harbor attack. There have been arguments that there are similarities in intelligence failures when the two attacks are compared. Commentators have claimed that just as the United States was not prepared for the Pearl Harbor attack in the Second World War, it failed to defend itself against attack by terrorists leading to the infamous September 11 attack (Griffin, 2004). It is not a surprise that the two events are similar in many ways. They were both surprise attacks which had far reaching national and international implications in relation to the United States intelligence community. This is despite the fact that the happening of the two events took place over half a century apart. However, the actors in the surprise attack, the motives, sequence of events and the consequences of the two attacks are different. In both attacks, the United States intelligent community has been accused of ignoring signs prior to the attack that could have been essential in protecting the Americans against the attacks. Despite there being visible warning signs, the intelligence has maintained that the two events were unanticipated. There is no doubt that before the Pearl Harbor attack, the relationship between Japan and the United States had gone sour. President Roosevelt’s administration had placed embargos against Japan and had supported China against the Japanese. The economic sanctions had affected the Japanese economy and they had no option but to destroy the American fleets. The Japanese intention was to seize American lands in the Far East which would force Roosevelt’s administration to negotiate a settlement. Although the American administration recognized the magnitude of the crisis with the Asian power, they did not anticipate any danger of attack until it was too late. The intelligence made a wrong assumption that the Japanese did not have military ability or economic power to attack the United States. Unfortunately, the Japanese proved them wrong by attacking Pearl Harbor and shattered the United States plans in the pacific (Borch, 2003). In the September 11 attack, the warning signs were even clearer. There were various studies that had concluded that the war against terrorism by the United States towards the end of the 20th century made it clear that it was certain the United States would have a major terrorist attack. In the 1990s, the United States was involved in war against terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and retaliation was not unexpected. The 1995 and 1996 attacks in Riyadh and Dhahran respectively and the august 1998 attacks on American embassies in East Africa by the al Qaeda were clear signs that the continental America would certainly suffer terrorists attack. The American response to the attack by bombing suspected al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and Sudan should have also been carried out with necessary caution. Moreover, the al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had declared his commitment to launching an attack against the Americans in 1998 while Bush’s administration had published the political agendas of Taliban in Afghanistan, its alliance with al Qaeda and their terror campaign against the United States in 1999 (Tobias Foxman, 2003). When the intelligence pertaining to the attacks is considered, technological advancement comes into the picture. In both incidences of attack, the technology used by the enemy surprised the United States intelligence community. The enemies in both attacks maximized the use of technology against the Americans to the surprise of the intelligence. The technological surprise in this case is the manner in which the enemy used a hardware that made it difficult or impossible for quick counter attack by the efficient United States military. In this case, the United States intelligent community was beaten in their own game. In the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese efficiently demonstrated the full abilities of aerial attacks by integrating new aviation in their military attack. They were able to contract the torpedo that could operate in the shallow waters very efficiently. Although aviation technology was not a secret in the Second World War, the Americans were surprised by the ability of the Japanese to incorporate the technology so efficiently and perfect their military powers. This made it impossible for the US’s intelligence to estimate the magnitude of the threat by the Japanese because they were unaware of their technological abilities (Borch, 2003). Similarly, although the use of passenger plane for suicidal missions was not a new phenomenon, the September 11 terrorist attack also achieved technological surprise. It is interesting to note how the al Qaeda utilized modern technology and globalization of the world to plan and execute their attack. They were able to easily launch their attack without the use of conventional hardware and expertise that could have been used for intercontinental attack. The al Qaeda had operatives in all parts of the world including the United States with well established communication networks to the surprise of the US intelligence. They used the internet, satellite telephones and international money transfer in the United States and other parts of the world without attracting any attention (Griffin, 2004). There is no doubt therefore, technology played an important role in the Pearl Harbor and September 11 attack. However, there are two surprising aspects of technology use in the two attacks. First, the technology used in the Pearl Harbor as well as the September 11 attack was not new or a secret. The technology was actually well known if not used by the United States security systems prior to the attack. Secondly, the United States had been the greatest beneficiary of technological advancement in the 20th century and had the leading experts in the development and harnessing technological development. However, they were unaware of the desperation of their enemies which prompted creativity. Thus they underestimated the capability and determinations of the enemy to circumvent their technological superiority and launch a technological surprise (Hulnick, 2004). It is also surprising to note how the enemy exploited the structural vulnerability of the United States defense and intelligence to launch their attack. The confusion between the US Army and the US Navy created by the war warning to the military in Hawaii from Washington prior to Pearl Harbor attack exposed the vulnerability of the United States military intelligence giving the enemy a room for surprise attack. The army concentrated on guarding the aircrafts and ammunitions against possibility of sabotage while the navy thought that the alert had prompted vigilance in air patrols by the army. While the army was guarding the aircrafts and ammunitions, they thought that the naval intelligence was monitoring the Japanese fleets. The army did not realize that the US Navy had lost track of the enemy leading to the surprise attack. The structural vulnerability was evident when the army and the navy operating on Oahu did to clear the air on the responsibility of each group. Even if both the Naval and Army officials cooperated to guard the island, there were no efficient structures to disseminate the intelligence information collected to the respective commanders. Although there is no evidence of the Japanese knowledge on the structural weaknesses of the United States military, there is no doubt that the structural and organizational vulnerability is an important lesson from the Pearl Harbor attack (Borch, 2003). Though at a different level, the organization weaknesses in the United States intelligent service and security systems prior to the September 11 attack may have increased the vulnerability of the United States, the military had a unified command outside the United States such as in the gulf war, but that was not the case in the continental America. The department of defense and the CIA concentrated on external threat while the FBI focused on crimes within the United States. The terrorists could have realized the structural weakness in the intelligence service. Moreover, security in the international airports all over the United States was under the responsibility of the airport management and airline companies who hired private security firms. In other words, other than concentrating on the structural and organizational solutions to the current problems, the United States intelligence concentrated on technological solutions which possibly resulted into the two attacks (Hufschmid, 2002). There is no doubt that the September 11 terrorist attack and the Pearl Harbor attack had numerous effects on the United States intelligence and society. More importantly, the two events changed the United States interests in the world affairs. The isolationism policies of the United States were abandoned after the Pearl Harbor attacks while the Bush administration took punitive measures against terrorists. Although after every attack, there was an improvement in the United States intelligence, it is important to put in proper mechanisms that would not result into a repeat of yesteryears mistakes. The US intelligence should be aware of the desperation of their enemies irrespective of their economic and military abilities. This will enable the integration of the intelligent community in the United States into an effective organizational structure that aid collaboration. This will go a long way in eliminating the mentality of technological solutions to the security threats facing the continental America and the world.

Intriguing Use of Plot in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay

Intriguing Use of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily The plotline of standard narratives would most aptly be diagramed as a triangle, with the rising action on one side, the falling action on the other side, and the climax marking the angle at the apex. The diagram of the plotline of William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," however, would look like a simple line with a positive slope. The story's chronology is abandoned in favor of a simpler and more effective geometry. Faulkner discards the method of unfolding events in the order of their occurrence. Instead, he raises tension in the reader and creates a climate of curiosity through revealing events in ascending order of intrigue. The beginning of Faulkner's story is the end for Miss Emily. Faulkner presents images of the townspeople dutifully attending the funeral of this fallen fixture. As soon as the reader becomes acclimated to this setting, however, Faulkner subtly takes the reader back in time: "Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Satoris, the mayor, [. . .] remitted her taxes" (Faulkner 75). Faulkner inserts exposition into the middle of what was a section of falling action. Rather than returning the reader to the scene of Miss Emily's funeral, Faulkner trudges forward from 1894, bringing the reader up to date on the issue of Miss Emily's taxes. While explaining the exemption from taxes in Jefferson that Miss Emily enjoyed, Faulkner craftily incorporates the fact that Miss Emily "ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten years earlier" (76). Miss Emily is now dead, having refused to pay her taxes and having retired from her china-painting t... ...horrifying truth of Miss Emily's murder of Homer Barron for the final section of the story, and introducing Emily's necrophilia in the story's closing sentence, speaks volumes about Faulkner's abilities in his craft. He has successfully arranged the events of a disturbed woman's life to present them in order of interest and excitement rather than in traditional chronological order. This use of plot enables Faulkner to write a great ghost story, because a ghost story needs to end on this kind of high note. Faulkner creates a plot line that resembles the upper line of a crescendo, a graph of emotional tension that starts at the lowest of points and travels steadily upward to the highest of human horrors. Works Cited Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Comp. Michael Meyer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 75-81.

Product Liability Theories of Recovery and Defenses

Product Liability Theories of Recovery and Defense In my opinion Wood would most likely win the law suit against either the peanut or the jar manufacturer on the basis of strict liability or negligence, which allows a person injured by an unreasonably dangerous product to recover damages from the manufacturer or seller of the product even in the absence of a contract or negligent conduct on the part of the manufacturer or seller (Bagley, 2013).Therefore, Wood should recover damages even if the seller exercised all possible care in the manufacture and sale of the product, because the defect in the product is the basis for liability (Bagley, 2013). Negligence claims could also be used in the attempt of recovery for damages, because there should have been practices put in place to ensure product safety. Negligence is considered any conduct that involves an unreasonably great risk of causing injury to another person or damage to property that requires all people to take appropriate care in any given situation (Bagley, 2013).Although it may not have been an intentional act of negligence the manufacturer had a duty to make sure that the products that they produce are safe for consumer use. The manufacturer should have taken reasonable measures to conduct product safety tests to determine the safety of the product before distributing it. I feel that extra precautions and tests should be done to ensure safety when manufacturing any products that will be used in food production or storage to make sure that there are no product defects.There are defenses that the manufacturers can use, which include showing that there is no basis for the claim based on product liability, the use of comparative negligence and liability, and unforeseeability of intentional injury using state of the art defense or preemption defense (Bagley, 2013). The state of the art defense shields a manufacturer from liability for a defective design if no safer product design is generally recognized as being possible (Bagley, 2013).The defense can state that there is no basis for the claim using state of the art defense, because the defendant should have been more cautious when closing the jar and should have used the same methods as he had used previously each time he had closed the jar, which could have prevented his injury on the basis that the safest design was used. Comparative negligence is also known as comparative fault, which can reduce the plaintiff ‘s damages depending on the degree to which his or her own negligence contributed to the injury (Bagley, 2013).Preemption defense is used in cases of product liability, because there are certain federal laws and regulations that set minimum safety standards are held to preempt state-law product liability claims, therefore this defense is used as an attempt to eliminate the possibility of state-law product liability claims in any sphere governed by federal safety law and regulation (Bagley, 2013).Ultimately it is the res ponsibility of the manufacturer, because manufactures are held strictly liable for its defective products regardless of how remote the manufacturer is from the final user of the product even when the distributor makes final inspections, corrections, and adjustments of the product (Bagley, 2013). Reference Bagley, C. (2013). Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the 21st (7th ed). South-Western. Retrieved from http://digitalbookshelf. southuniversity. edu/books/9781285404837/id.

Succubus Blues CHAPTER 25

Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in someone else's dream. â€Å"If he wanted to carry me off and make me his love slave, I'd do it, so long as I got advance copies of his books.† My first words spoken to Seth as I passionately discussed his work. Seth's initial impression of me. Head held high, hair tossed over my shoulder. A flippant remark always at the ready. Grace under fire. A cool social confidence introverted Seth could never muster but envied. How can she do that? Never miss a beat? Later, my rambling explanation of the five-page rule, a goofy habit he found infinitely endearing. Someone else who appreciated literature, viewing it like fine wine. Smart and deep. And beautiful. Yes, beautiful. I saw myself now as Seth had seen me that night: the short skirt, the racy purple top, brilliant as a bird's plumage. Like some exotic creature, hopelessly out of place in the bookstore's dreary landscape. All of this was in Seth, the past of his growing feelings for me mingling with the present, and I drank everything up. Not just beautiful. Sexy. Sensual. A goddess made flesh whose every move hinted at passion to come. The dress strap slipping off my shoulder. Faint beads of perspiration on my cleavage. Standing in his kitchen, clad only in that ridiculous Black Sabbath shirt. No underwear on under that. Wonder what it'd be like to wake up with her next to me, messy and untamed. It all spilled into me. More and more. He would watch me at the bookstore. Loved watching me interact with customers. Loved that I seemed to know something about everything. The witty dialogue he pondered for his characters coming to my lips without hesitation. Amazing. Never met anyone who talks like that in real life. My bartering with the used book store owner. A charisma that drew in shy, quiet Seth, made me glow in his eyes. Made him feel more confident. Still his feelings rushed through me. I had never felt anything like it. Certainly I had felt attraction and fondness in my victims, but never such love, not directed at me. Seth thought I was sexy, yes. Desired me. But that raw lust juxtaposed with something softer too. Something sweeter. Kayla sitting on my lap, small blond head against my chest as I braided her hair. A brief shifting of the image as he momentarily considered his own daughter on my lap. Fierce and witty on one hand, gentle and vulnerable on the other. My inebriated state at his condo. A swell of protectiveness as he led me to bed, watching me hours after I'd gone to sleep. He thought no less of me for the weakness, for my lapse of control and judgment. It was a letting down of my walls for him, a sign of imperfection that made him love me more. Further and further I drank, my desperate and weakened state unable to stop. â€Å"Why doesn't she date?† Seth asked Cody. Cody? Yes, there he was, in the back of Seth's mind. A memory. Cody secretly giving Seth swing lessons, neither of them telling me, instead making up vague excuses for why they always had to be â€Å"somewhere.† Seth, trying so hard to make his feet obey so he could dance with me and be closer to me. â€Å"She's afraid,† the vampire replied. â€Å"She thinks love causes pain.† Love causes pain. Yes, Seth loved me. Not the crush I'd imagined. Not a superficial attraction I thought I'd dissuaded. It was more, so much more. I embodied everything in a woman he could ever imagine: humor, beauty, intelligence, kindness, strength, charisma, sexuality, compassion†¦ His soul seemed to have recognized mine, drawn uncontrollably toward me. He loved me with a depth of feeling I could not even begin to tap into, though believe me, I tried. I wanted it. I wanted to feel it all, to suck up that burning within him. To consume it. Set myself on fire with it. Georgina! Somewhere far away, someone called to me, but I was too into Seth. Too into absorbing that strength within him, that strength fused with his feelings for me. Feelings brought on, amplified even, by kissing. Lips soft and eager. Hungry. Demanding. Georgina! I wanted to become one with Seth. I needed to. I needed him to fill me up†¦ physically, mentally, spiritually. There was something there†¦ something concealed inside him I couldn't quite reach, hovering in the background. A tantalizing piece of knowledge I should have long since recognized. You are my life. I needed to get in farther, reach out for more. Find out what was hiding from me. That kiss was my lifeline, my connection with something bigger than myself, something I had been aching for all my life but never known. I couldn't stop. Couldn't stop kissing Seth. Couldn't stop. Couldn't – â€Å"Georgina! Let go!† Rough hands tore me away from Seth, like flesh ripping from my own body. I cried out in agony at the broken connection, fighting the hands that pulled me and held me. I clawed at my captor, needing to find out the secret lurking beyond that kiss, yearning for the completeness of that union with Seth – Seth. My hands dropped, and I blinked, bringing the world back into focus. Reality. I was no longer inside Seth's head; I was still in my apartment. A feeling of solidness settled in me, and I didn't have to look down to know my body had stopped its shifting, my form snapping back to a short, slim woman with honeyed brown hair. The girl I had been long ago was buried within me once more, never to come out if I could help it. Seth's life force now filled me to overflowing. â€Å"Georgina,† murmured Hugh behind me, letting his hands ease up on my arms. â€Å"Christ, you scared me.† Looking across the room, I saw Carter, bedraggled as usual, leaning over Seth's body. â€Å"Oh God – † I sprang up and moved to them, kneeling beside the angel. Seth lay on the floor, skin pale and clammy. â€Å"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Is he†¦ ?† â€Å"He's alive,† Carter told me. â€Å"Barely.† Stroking Seth's cheek, feeling the fine golden-red haze of his near-beard, I felt tears brimming in my eyes. His breathing came shallow and jagged. â€Å"I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to take so much†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You did what you had to do. You were in bad shape, could have died.† â€Å"And now Seth might†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Carter shook his head. â€Å"No. He won't. He'll need recovery time, but he'll pull through.† I drew my hand back, half-afraid my touch might harm Seth more. Glancing around, I became aware of the disheveled state of my apartment. It looked worse than Jerome's. Smashed china and glass. Broken tables. Overturned chairs and couch. The unstable bookshelf in pieces at last. From the kitchen, Aubrey hunkered down under the kitchen table, wondering what was going on. I wondered myself. The nephilim were nowhere in sight. What had happened? Had I really missed it all? The epic, divine battle of the century, and I had missed it for a kiss? Admittedly, a really good kiss, but still†¦ â€Å"Where is†¦ everyone else?† â€Å"Jerome's off doing, uh, damage control with your neighbors.† â€Å"That doesn't sound good.† â€Å"Standard practice. Supernatural battles aren't exactly quiet, you know. He'll do a little mind erasing, make sure no authorities get notified.† I swallowed, afraid to ask my next question. â€Å"What about†¦ what about the nephilim ?† Carter studied me, gray eyes holding me long and hard. â€Å"I know, I know,† I said at last, looking down, unable to return that gaze. â€Å"There's no ten years and parole, right? You destroyed them.† â€Å"We destroyed†¦ one of them.† I looked up sharply. â€Å"What? What about the other one?† â€Å"He got away.† He.My looming tears slipped out now; I could not control them. For you, I'll walk away. â€Å"How?† Carter laid a hand on Seth's forehead as though taking vital stats and then turned back to me. â€Å"It all happened really fast. He masked and went invisible in the confusion, while we were taking on the other one. And honestly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The angel looked at my closed front door, then at Hugh and me. â€Å"What?† I whispered. â€Å"I'm not†¦ I'm not entirely convinced Jerome didn't let him get away. He wasn't expecting two. I wasn't either, though I should have, in retrospect. After killing the first one†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Carter shrugged. â€Å"I don't know. Hard to say what happened. â€Å" â€Å"Then he'll be back,† I realized, fear and relief blending weirdly in me over the thought of Roman's escape. â€Å"He'll be back†¦ and he won't be happy with me.† â€Å"I don't think that'll be a problem,† the angel observed. Gently, he lifted Seth up and walked to my overturned couch. A moment later, it flipped over untouched, righting itself. Carter laid Seth on it and continued speaking. â€Å"He took a real beating – the other nephilim. A really bad beating. I can't believe he had the power left to hide himself from us; I still keep expecting to feel him again any minute. If he's smart, he's running as fast and far from us as he can right now, getting out of our range – out of any immortal's range – so he can drop his shields and rest.† â€Å"Then what?† asked Hugh. â€Å"He's in bad shape. It'll take him a long time to recover. When he does, he knows he doesn't have the backup to return here again.† â€Å"He could still take on me,† I noted, shivering as I remembered Roman's wrath toward me at the end. It was hard to believe we'd been wrapped in each other's arms, caught in the throes of passion, less than twenty-four hours ago. â€Å"He could take you on,† agreed Carter. â€Å"But he can't take me on. Or Jerome. He certainly can't take both of us on. That was what decided it, in the end. They didn't expect that. Us teamed together. It'll give him pause to just come bursting back here, even if you alone pose no threat.† I didn't find that reassuring in the least. I thought of Roman, passionate and rebellious, always eager to make a point against the system. That personality type lent itself well to revenge. I had tricked him, made love to him, and then betrayed him, resulting in the annihilation of his plans – and his sister. Thank God for my sister. She's the only one I have, the only mainstay in my life. He might pause, as Carter had suggested, but not for long. Of that, I was certain. â€Å"He'll be back,† I whispered, more to myself. â€Å"Someday he'll be back.† Carter gave me a steady look. â€Å"Then we will deal with him then.† My front door opened, and Jerome entered. He looked neat and prim, hardly like he'd just been in an apocalyptic battle with his own offspring. â€Å"Housekeeping all done?† asked Carter. â€Å"Yes.† The demon's eyes darted over to Seth. â€Å"He's alive?† â€Å"Yes.† Angel and demon locked eyes then, and a tense moment of palpable silence hung between them. â€Å"How fortuitously unexpected,† Jerome murmured at last. â€Å"I could have sworn he was dead. Well. Miracles happen every day. I suppose we'll have to wipe him now.† I stood up. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Nice to have you back with us again, Georgie. You look lovely, by the way.† I glared at him, angry at his joke, knowing it was Seth's energy giving me the succubus glamour now. â€Å"What do you mean you have to ‘wipe' him?† â€Å"What do you think? We can't let him walk away after everything he's seen. I'll diminish a little of his affection for you while I'm at it; he's a liability to you.† â€Å"What? No. You can't do that.† Jerome sighed, putting on the look of one who suffered long and hard. â€Å"Georgina, do you have any idea what he was just exposed to? He has to be wiped. We can't let him know about us.† â€Å"How much of me will you take from him?† Pieces of Seth's memories – my memories, now – glittered in my head like jewels. â€Å"Enough so that he forgets he has any more than a passing knowledge of you. You've been even more negligent with your job than usual these last few weeks.† I hardly thought that was Seth's fault; Roman had helped too. â€Å"Both of you will function much better if he finds some mortal woman to obsess on instead.† Don't you want to stand out in some way? Carter's taunting question from what seemed like an eternity ago whispered in my head. â€Å"You don't have to do this. You don't have to take me out with the rest.† â€Å"If I'm already in there, I might as well clear you too. There's no way he can just go on as usual after being exposed to denizens of the divine realms. Even you have to agree with that.† â€Å"Some mortals know about us,† I argued. â€Å"Like Erik. Erik knows, and he keeps it to himself.† In fact, I realized suddenly, Erik had kept Helena's secret to himself as well. He had figured it out after working with her over the years but had never revealed the full truth, only doling out small clues for me. â€Å"Erik is a special case. He has a gift. An ordinary mortal like this one couldn't handle it.† Jerome walked over to my couch, looking at Seth dispassionately. â€Å"It's better this way.† â€Å"No. Please,† I cried, running over to Jerome and pulling his sleeve. â€Å"Please don't.† The archdemon turned to me, dark eyes cold and shocked that I would dare grab hold of him like that. I knew then, cringing under that gaze, that something in our fond, indulgent relationship had changed forever – something small, but important nonetheless. I didn't know what had done it. Maybe it had been Seth. Maybe it had been Roman. Maybe it had been something else altogether. All I knew was that it had happened. â€Å"Please,† I begged, ignoring how desperate I must sound. â€Å"Please don't. Don't take me from him†¦ out of his head like that. I'll do anything you want. Anything.† I brushed a hand over my eyes, attempting to look calm and in control, knowing I was failing. One eyebrow shifted ever so slightly on Jerome's face, the only hint that I had piqued his interest. The term â€Å"deal with the devil† had not arisen lightly; few demons could resist a bargain. â€Å"What could you possibly offer me? The sex thing only worked on my son, so don't even think about trying it now.† â€Å"Yes,† I agreed, voice growing stronger as I plunged forward. â€Å"It worked on him. It works on all sorts of men. I'm good, Jerome. Better than you know. Why do you think I'm the only succubus in this city? It's because I'm one of the best. Before I hit this funk†¦ this, I don't know, whatever mood I've been in for a while now, I could have any man I wanted. And not just simply for their strength and life force. I could manipulate them. Make them do anything I asked, talk them into acts of sin they never would have dreamed of before meeting me. And they would do it. They'd do it, and they'd like doing it.† â€Å"Go on.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"You're tired of the ‘all lowlifes, all the time,' right? Me being negligent? Well, I can change that. I can raise your stock higher than you've ever dreamed. I've done it before. All you have to do is let Seth go. Let him keep his memories intact. All of them.† Jerome studied me a moment, mind working. â€Å"All the ‘stock' in the world won't do me any good if he runs around blathering about what he's seen.† â€Å"Then we'll see if he can handle it first. When he recovers and wakes up, we'll talk to him. If he doesn't look like he'll be able to cope with it all†¦ well, then you can erase his memories.† â€Å"Who will make the call if he can cope or not?† I hesitated, not wanting that decision in the demon's hands. â€Å"Carter will. Carter can tell if someone's telling the truth.† I looked at the angel. â€Å"You'll know if it's okay, right? Okay for him to know†¦ about us?† Carter gave me an odd look, one I could not interpret. â€Å"Yes,† he finally admitted. â€Å"What about your end?† asked Jerome. â€Å"Will you hold it up – even if Carter decides he's unsafe?† That was harsh. I had a feeling Jerome wouldn't negotiate on this one, but I was willing to risk it, so confident did I feel about Seth's capacity to process immortal activity. I opened my mouth, about to agree, when I caught Hugh shaking his head at me out of the corner of my eye. Frowning, he tapped his watch, mouthing something I couldn't understand at first. Then, it clicked. Time. I had listened to the imp talk about his job enough to know the rules of negotiation: never make an open-ended deal with a demon. â€Å"If Seth keeps his memories, I'll walk the succubus straight and narrow for a century. If they have to be erased anyway, then I'll still do it for†¦ a third of that.† â€Å"Half,† countered Jerome. â€Å"We aren't mortal. Even a century is nothing on the face of eternity.† â€Å"Half,† I agreed dully, â€Å"but no more than survival dictates. I'm not going to do this every day, if that's what you're thinking. I'll only get fixes as I need them, but they'll be strong ones. Very strong – loaded with sin. With men of good caliber, that'll be†¦ oh, every four to six weeks.† â€Å"I want better than that. Extra credit. Every couple of weeks, whether you need it or not.† I closed my eyes, unable to fight anymore. â€Å"Every couple of weeks.† â€Å"Very well,† said Jerome, a warning note in his voice. â€Å"But you will be held to this agreement unless I choose to terminate it for some reason. Not you. There will be no wiggling out for you.† â€Å"I know. I know, and I accept.† â€Å"Shake then.† He extended his hand to me. Not hesitating, I took it, and power crackled briefly around us. The demon smiled thinly. â€Å"We have a deal.†

Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts Essays

Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts Essays Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts Essay Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts Essay For the exclusive use of X. LIU CASE: A-165 DATE: 09/00 (REVD. 05/07) SEARS: ACCOUNTING FOR UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS Sarah Simons picked up the 1999 Annual Report for Sears, Roebuck and Co. , which had Just been delivered to her office. As an analyst for a major brokerage, she was responsible for providing investment advice regarding companies in the retail industry, including Sears. She looked over the income statement, noting that net income grew by 39 percent over the previous year, despite a slight decrease in revenues (see Exhibit 1). Before long, however, she turned her attention to the Companys credit card receivables and allowance for uncollectible accounts (see Exhibit 2). In recent years, Sears had suffered heavy write-offs from uncollectible credit card accounts, as well as an expensive scandal caused by illegal collections procedures. These problems had depressed Sears stock price substantially from its peak in mid-1998. Had Sears overcome their credit card problems? BACKGROUND Sears, Roebuck and Co. as founded in 1886 as a retail mail-order business and grew rapidly by providing a wide range of products to people in rural areas who did not have access to large, well-stocked stores. The Company began to diversify into financial services in 1931, when it established Allstate Insurance Company. This diversification continued in the 1980s, as it acquired Dean Witter Reynolds and Coldwell Banker, and launched the Discover card. By 1990, however, Sears was struggling and the investment community was critical of its business strategy, which was derisively characterized as socks and stocks. Shareholder discontent drove the Company to a massive restructuring to refocus on its retailing roots. According to former CEO Edward Brennan, 1992 was a disastrous year in which the Company lost 3. 9 billion, of which $3. 1 billion was a charge related to the restructuring. By 1995, Sears had divested its financial services businesses and largely restructured its merchandising operations. The transformation of Sears was largely credited to Arthur Martinez, the former chairman of Saks Fifth Avenue, who Joined the Company in 1992 as head of the merchandising group. His actions were swift and decisive. He immediately closed the unprofitable Sears Catalog, shut 113 Research Associate David Hoyt prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Karen K. Nelson as the basis for class iscussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright 2000 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, email the Case Writing Office at: [emailprotected] tanford. edu or write: Case Writing Office, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any torm or by any means lectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the permission of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This document is authorized for use only by XUEYONG LIU i n Financial Accounting taught by Yonca Ertimur from August 2013 to October 2013. Sears, Roebuck and Co. A-165 unprofitable stores, cut 50,000 Jobs, and launched a five year, $4 billion capital investment program to renovate and update the stores. In 1993, he initiated an intensive marketing campaign, Come See the Softer Side of Sears, which was a hugely successful move to call attention to changes in the apparel division and ttract women to the stores. Sears made a remarkable turnaround. From its massive 1992 loss, it recovered to post net income of $1. 8 billion in 1995. Martinez was named Sears CEO in 1995 and was also recognized as Financial Worlds CEO of the year. The stock price responded accordingly, increasing more than seven-fold from 1991 to mid-1997. 1 By the late 1990s, however, problems had surfaced and the financial press had become critical. They questioned whether some components of the Martinez turnaround had backfired, most notably his strategy related to the Sears proprietary credit card, the sears card. THE SEARS CARD AND CREDIT CARD RECEIVABLES Prior to 1993, the only charge card that Sears accepted was the Sears Card. In order to attract new customers and prop up sagging store sales, Sears began accepting other major charge cards in 1993. While this helped improve sales, Sears lost the opportunity to collect interest on purchases made with other cards. To avoid a drop in profits from its own credit operations, Sears aggressively marketed the Sears Card, mailing out pre-approved card offers, hawking the card at tables positioned at store entrances and paying incentives to sales clerks for opening new accounts. Between 1993 and 1996, Sears issued 24 million new credit card accounts. In his Letter to Shareholders in the 1996 Annual Report, Martinez commented on the importance of the credit card program, stating that the Sears Card is one of the most important ways we form an alliance with our 50 million customer households. The availability of credit is critical to the ability of moderate-income families to finance the purchases they require. Despite rising delinquencies in the industry, we have a very strong and profitable credit portfolio. However, the new Sears Card users were not necessarily he best credit risks. Sears marketing of their credit card tended to attract customers that had trouble paying their bills. Those that could get cheaper credit elsewhere used bank cards with low teaser rates and incentives. These factors, combined with an increase in delinquencies and average balances, were cause for concern (see Exhibit 3). By late 1997, the average Sears Card balance was more than three times that carried by J. C. Penny Co. cardholders and delinquencies exceeded the industry average by two percentage points. Sears drive to issue more cards, and the lax credit policies that were needed to ncrease cardholders at such a rapid rate, eventually caught up with them. Uncollectible receivables and charge-offs started rising in 1995. The Company responded by increasing the interest rate toa hefty 21 percent while at the same time lowering the minimum required monthly payment. This let cardholders continue to ring up purchases on their Sears Cards and also increased interest revenue on outstanding credit balances. To offset the impact of delinquencies, Sears raised late fees and other charges. However the quality of their credit card receivables was still questionable, as by 1997 Sears was a creditor in about one-third f U. S. personal bankruptcies. This case was prepared using public documents, including Sears Annual Reports and a variety of news accounts, including: Debra Sparks, Arthur Martinez: Financial Worlds CEO of the Year, Financial World, March 25, 1996; John McCormick, The Sorry Side of Sears, Newsweek, February 22, 1999; Joseph Cahill, The Softer Side: Searss Credit Business May Have Helped Hide Larger Retailing Woes, Wall Street Journal, July 6, 1999. Neither Sears nor any current or former employee participated document is authorized for use only by XUEYONG LIU in Financial Accounting taught y Yonca Ertimur from This in preparing this case. The problems went further, however. In January 1997, it was discovered that Sears had illegally coerced payments from cardholders who had sought bankruptcy protection. This resulted in a criminal conviction as well as restitution payments to 187,000 customers. In the end, the scandal cost Sears $475 million in fines, refunds, interest, and legal fees, which the Company charged against income in 1997. ACCOUNTING FOR UNCOLLECTIBLE ACCOUNTS Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) require that accounts receivable be ecognized in the balance sheet at net realizable value†that is, at the amount the company can reasonably expect to collect from its credit customers. Moreover, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 5 (SEAS 5) requires that an estimated loss from a contingency, such as uncollectible receivables, be accrued by a charge to income if two conditions are met: (1) it is probable that a loss has been incurred; and (2) the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. According to their Annual Reports, Sears reported credit card receivables net of an allowance for uncollectible accounts. The allowance was based on impaired accounts, historical charge-off patterns, and management Judgments. Until late 1998, uncollectible accounts were generally charged off automatically when the customers past due balance was eight times the scheduled minimum monthly payment, except that accounts could be charged off sooner in the event of customer bankruptcy. In 1998, Sears began phasing in a new system in which accounts were charged off automatically when the customer fails to make a required payment in each of the eight billing cycles following a missed payment. In the fourth quarter of 1998, 12 ercent of accounts were converted to this system, with the balance being converted in the first and second quarters of 1999. This new system was intended to help Sears better manage its collection efforts by identifying delinquent accounts earlier and enabling better c ontrol of uncollectible expenses. It also had the affect of charging off balances earlier than under the previous system. ARE THE PROBLEMS IN THE PAST? As she read the Letter to Shareholders in the 1999 Annual Report, Sarah noticed Martinezs comments regarding credit: In our credit business, we worked tirelessly to trengthen our portfolio quality, reduce our losses, and improve our collection processes. Sarah knew that the credit business was important to the overall performance of Sears (see Exhibit 4) and that the Companys stock price had been affected by credit-related issues (see Exhibit 5). Had Sears truly put its problems behind it? Was the allowance for uncollectible accounts adequate? What should she say to the investment community? EXHIBITS Consolidated Financial Statements Analysis of Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts Key Credit Portfolio Information Summary Segment Data Stock Performance This document is authorized for use only by XUEYONG LIU in Financial Accounting taught by Yonca Ertimur from August 2013 to October 2013. Exhibit 1 Income Statement (in millions) 1995 1996 1998 1999 Revenues Merchandise sales and services Credit revenues Total revenues Expenses Cost of sales, buying and occupancy Selling and administrative Provision for uncollectible accounts Other Total costs and expenses Operating income Other income, net Income tax provision Net Income $31 ,133 $33,752 $36,649 $36,957 $36,728 3,702 4,313 4,925 4,618 4,343 34835 38,064 41 ,574 41 ,575 41 ,071 23,160 7,428 589 1,953 33,130 1,705 703 1,801 24889 8,059 971 2,062 35,981 2083 834 $1,271 26,985 8,394 1,532 2,669 39,580 1 ,994 106 912 $1,188 27,444 27,212 8,384 8,418 1 ,287 871 2605 2,157 39,720 38,658 1 ,855 2413 (41) (56) 766 $1,048 $1,453 1997 Balance Sheet (in millions) Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 606 $ 660 Credit card receivables Allowance for uncollectible accounts (819) (801) Net credit card receivables 20,106 1903 Other current assets 5,729 8,484 Property and equipment, net Other assets Total Assets $ 358 20,956 (1,113) 19,84 3 10,042 495 $ 729 18,946 18,793 (974) (760) 17,972 18,033 10804 9,905 5,077 5878 6,414 6,380 6,450 1,612 1 ,842 043 2,024 1,837 $33,130 $36,167 $38,700 $37,675 $36,954 Liabilities Current liabilities Long-term liabilities Total liabilities Shareholders equity $14,607 $14,950 $15,790 $14,222 $13,701 14,138 16,272 17,048 17,387 16,414 28,745 31 ,222 32,838 31 ,609 30,1 1 5 4,385 4,945 5,862 6,066 6839 Total Liabilities and Equity Source: Sears, Roebuck and Co. s Annual Reports. Exhibit 2 Allowance, beginning of year Net credit losses Allowance, end of year $ 808 578 $ 819 989 $ 801 1 ,220 $1,113 1 ,426 $ 974 $974 1,085 $ 760 Source: Sears, Roebuck Co. s Annual Reports. Exhibit 3 56. 6% 4. % 5. 8% 55. 1% 2. 3% 51 1. 1% 47. % 1. 8% Sears Card sales as a % ot sales Comparable store sales growth (%) Merrill Lynch Broadline Retailers Index of comparable store sales growth (%) 2. 0% 3. 8% 5. 2% Average account balance ($) $ 914 $977 $1,058 $1,076 $1,121 Delinquency rates (%) 4. 16% 5. 40% 7. 00% 6. 82% 7. 58% Net credit charge-offs to average credit card receivables 2. 77% 5. 02% 6. 23% 7. 54% 6. 03% Sources: Sears, Roebuck and Co. s Annual Reports; Merrill Lynch Broadline Retailers Index for 1999 from Merrill Lynch Industry Report Retailing-Broadlines, January 6, 2000. Exhibit 4 Operating Income Retail Services Credit International