Deception Point Page 61

The chamber looked like a walk-in closet whose ceiling, walls, and floor had been completely covered with foam spires jutting inward from all directions. It reminded Rachel of a cramped underwater cave where stalagmites had run wild, growing off every surface. Most unsettling, however, was the apparent lack of a floor. The floor was a taut, meshed chicken-wire grid strung horizontally across the room like a fishing net, giving the inhabitants the feeling that they were suspended midway up the wall. The mesh was rubberized and stiff beneath the feet. As Rachel gazed down through the webbed flooring, she felt like she was crossing a string bridge suspended over a surrealistic fractalized landscape. Three feet below, a forest of foam needles pointed ominously upward. Instantly upon entering Rachel had sensed the disorientating lifelessness to the air, as if every bit of energy had been sucked out. Her ears felt as if they'd been stuffed with cotton. Only her breath was audible inside her head. She called out, and the effect was that of speaking into a pillow. The walls absorbed every reverberation, making the only perceivable vibrations those inside her head. Now the captain had departed, closing the padded door behind him. Rachel, Corky, and Tolland were seated in the center of the room at a small U-shaped table that stood on long metal stilts that descended through the mesh. On the table were affixed several gooseneck microphones, headphones, and a video console with a fish-eye camera on top. It looked like a mini-United Nations symposium. As someone who worked in the U.S. intelligence community-the world's foremost manufacturers of hard laser microphones, underwater parabolic eavesdroppers, and other hypersensitive listening devices-Rachel was well aware there were few places on earth where one could have a truly secure conversation. The dead room was apparently one of those places. The mics and headphones on the table enabled a face-to-face â€Å"conference call† in which people could speak freely, knowing the vibrations of their words could not escape the room. Their voices, upon entering the microphones, would be heavily encrypted for their long journey through the atmosphere. â€Å"Level check.† The voice materialized suddenly inside their headphones, causing Rachel, Tolland, and Corky to jump. â€Å"Do you read me, Ms. Sexton?† Rachel leaned into the microphone. â€Å"Yes. Thank you.† Whoever you are. â€Å"I have Director Pickering on the line for you. He's accepting AV. I am signing off now. You will have your data stream momentarily.† Rachel heard the line go dead. There was a distant whirr of static and then a rapid series of beeps and clicks in the headphones. With startling clarity, the video screen in front of them sprang to life, and Rachel saw Director Pickering in the NRO conference room. He was alone. His head snapped up and he looked into Rachel's eyes. She felt oddly relieved to see him. â€Å"Ms. Sexton,† he said, his expression perplexed and troubled. â€Å"What in the world is going on?† â€Å"The meteorite, sir,† Rachel said. â€Å"I think we may have a serious problem.† 71 Inside the Charlotte's dead room, Rachel Sexton introduced Michael Tolland and Corky Marlinson to Pickering. Then she took charge and launched into a quick account of the day's incredible chain of events. The NRO director sat motionless as he listened. Rachel told him about the bioluminescent plankton in the extraction pit, their journey onto the ice shelf and discovery of an insertion shaft beneath the meteorite, and finally of their sudden attack by a military team she suspected was Special Ops. William Pickering was known for his ability to listen to disturbing information without so much as flinching an eye, and yet his gaze grew more and more troubled with each progression in Rachel's story. She sensed disbelief and then rage when she talked about Norah Mangor's murder and their own near-death escape. Although Rachel wanted to voice her suspicions of the NASA administrator's involvement, she knew Pickering well enough not to point fingers without evidence. She gave Pickering the story as cold hard facts. When she was finished, Pickering did not respond for several seconds. â€Å"Ms. Sexton,† he finally said, â€Å"all of you†¦ † He moved his gaze to each of them. â€Å"If what you're saying is true, and I cannot imagine why three of you would lie about this, you are all very lucky to be alive.† They all nodded in silence. The President had called in four civilian scientists†¦ and two of them were now dead. Pickering heaved a disconsolate sigh, as if he had no idea what to say next. The events clearly made little sense. â€Å"Is there any way,† Pickering asked, â€Å"that this insertion shaft you're seeing in that GPR printout is a natural phenomenon?† Rachel shook her head. â€Å"It's too perfect.† She unfolded the soggy GPR printout and held it up in front of the camera. â€Å"Flawless.† Pickering studied the image, scowling in agreement. â€Å"Don't let that out of your hands.† â€Å"I called Marjorie Tench to warn her to stop the President,† Rachel said. â€Å"But she shut me down.† â€Å"I know. She told me.† Rachel looked up, stunned. â€Å"Marjorie Tench called you?† That was fast. â€Å"Just now. She's very concerned. She feels you are attempting some kind of stunt to discredit the President and NASA. Perhaps to help your father.† Rachel stood up. She waved the GPR printout and motioned to her two companions. â€Å"We were almost killed! Does this look like some kind of stunt? And why would I-â€Å" Pickering held up his hands. â€Å"Easy. What Ms. Tench failed to tell me was that there were three of you.† Rachel could not recall if Tench had even given her time to mention Corky and Tolland. â€Å"Nor did she tell me you had physical evidence,† Pickering said. â€Å"I was skeptical of her claims before I spoke to you, and now I am convinced she is mistaken. I do not doubt your claims. The question at this point is what it all means.† There was a long silence. William Pickering rarely looked confused, but he shook his head, seeming lost. â€Å"Let's assume for the moment that someone did insert this meteorite beneath the ice. That begs the obvious issue of why. If NASA has a meteorite with fossils in it, why would they, or anyone else for that matter, care where it is found?† â€Å"It appears,† Rachel said, â€Å"that the insertion was performed such that PODS would make the discovery, and the meteorite would appear to be a fragment from a known impact.† â€Å"The Jungersol Fall,† Corky prompted. â€Å"But of what value is the meteorite's association with a known impact?† Pickering demanded, sounding almost mad. â€Å"Aren't these fossils an astounding discovery anywhere and anytime? No matter what meteoritic event they are associated with?† All three nodded. Pickering hesitated, looking displeased. â€Å"Unless†¦ of course†¦ â€Å" Rachel saw the wheels turning behind the director's eyes. He had found the simplest explanation for placing the meteorite concurrent with the Jungersol strata, but the simplest explanation was also the most troubling. â€Å"Unless,† Pickering continued, â€Å"the careful placement was intended to lend credibility to totally false data.† He sighed, turning to Corky. â€Å"Dr. Marlinson, what is the possibility that this meteorite is a counterfeit.† â€Å"Counterfeit, sir?† â€Å"Yes. A fake. Manufactured.† â€Å"A fake meteorite?† Corky gave an awkward laugh. â€Å"Utterly impossible! That meteorite was examined by professionals. Myself included. Chemical scans, spectrograph, rubidium-strontium dating. It is unlike any kind of rock ever seen on earth. The meteorite is authentic. Any astrogeologist would agree.†

Character Education and Me Essay

After reviewing all of the materials for the course, I am convinced that character education is something that must have a presence in schools. Students of all grade levels can benefit from learning how to become civilized members of society. I agree with Lickona (1992) as far as the family being the first and foremost teacher of morals. As adults, we continue to reflect on our morals and virtues with hope of continually improving ourselves, especially when we become parents. I as well as many other new parents ran out to get a parenting manual to assist me in raising my children the best I could. Character education should be incorporated into the lessons daily in context. As the School Family video showed us, it should not be done through bribing, rewarding and punishing students without a lesson involved. After the school adopted the Conscious Discipline program, it appears that they have students use their words to talk out their issues with one another. I feel this has a better impact on the students in the long run. They will be better able to handle conflict in the future because of the lessons their teachers have helped them to understand. Kohn (1997) explained the side of character education with which most teachers are familiar. He explains, much like the Fern Creek video states, that students are most frequently drilled and rewarded through the character education programs. I do not necessarily agree that the values should be taught out of context. As a language teacher, I can tell you first hand that rote memorization does not show understanding of a concept. In addition, any person who has raised a preschooler can tell you that one of the first questions a child asks is â€Å"Why? † Children do not learn from simply being corrected or told what to do. They learn when they can explain why something is the way it is. Good character is completely developed by knowing ones morals and wanting to abide by the virtues by which we all live. If more parents were sensitive to the information that Lickona discussed in the Raising Good Children video, schools would have an easier time with character education. I agree that parents and schools need to form a partnership. Parents typically do not line their children up and drill right or wrong. They teach their children virtues in context. If my son steals his brother’s toys and a fight breaks out, I am not likely to say â€Å"that’s not right! † and end the conversation there. Young children are more likely to stop the bad behavior if they know why it was wrong or hurtful. I would explain to my son, â€Å"It hurts your brother’s feelings when you take his toys. Do you like your feelings hurt? Please ask him next time. † Incorporating the â€Å"do unto others† ideal does not make an impact unless the child can relate directly to the situation. I have noticed the times I had forgotten the explanation of why to stop; my son would repeat the misbehavior a short time later. Many of the virtues I have learned have come from my mother and my grandmother, since they were around me the most as a child. Through gentle reminders from these women I learned a set of standards to live by, my virtues. By knowing this information and using the good moral judgment that my family taught me, I have developed my character. Some children come to our classrooms without the opportunity to learn the way I did. Therefore, I need to be sensitive to their needs and help them to focus on how to change their behaviors. By treating students fairly and with compassion on a consistent basis, hopefully I can encourage students to intrinsically want to have good character.

US History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

US History - Essay Example post-war foreign policy, maintaining that the Soviet Union was â€Å"relentlessly expansionary† and that the ebb of â€Å"the flow of Soviet power† required a â€Å"firm and vigilant commitment† (Kennedy 554). And it was from this principle, to be known as the â€Å"containment doctrine,† that much of the post-1945, anti-Soviet foreign policy of the United States arose in a crescendo of increasing intensity. The application of the containment doctrine began with a series of policies designed to avert war and Soviet dominance. First, in March of 1947, President Harry S. Truman appeared before Congress to request military equipment and advisers to strengthen the defenses of Greece and Turkey against the communist threat (Brinkley, 782, Kennedy 554-55, Palmer 844-45). In his request, Truman pledged the support of the United States to those â€Å"free peoples . . . resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures† (Kennedy 555). This rhetoric, historically known as the â€Å"Truman Doctrine,† formed the basis for further acts of Soviet containment and, indeed, committed the United States and its foreign policy to a comprehensive, international battle against communism. To be sure, a fundamental element of the containment policy was the recognized need to aid in the economic recovery of Western Europe, where some countries, particularly France, Italy and Germany, were still afflicted with the social and economic turmoil stemming from World War II and were thus susceptible politically to communist exploitation (Brinkley 782, Kennedy 555, Palmer 845). Consequently, in June of 1947, then-Secretary of State George C. Marshall offered economic aid to all European countries, hoping to reconstruct the economy of Europe and thereby strengthen its resolve against Soviet influence (Kennedy 555, Palmer 845). The Marshall Plan, as it became known, dedicated 12.5 billion

Cultural Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Studies - Essay Example 84). The preceding quote very explicitly identifies several forms of essentialism, those being biological, social and cognitive essentialism, and holds as universal to all women. In other words, gender is not just an inherently biological characteristic but it is equally so a matter of cognitive perception and social attribute. Grosz’s definition or understanding of feminism emerges from within her understanding of essentialism and its correlation to gender. Equality feminism is somewhat at odds with the essentialist representations of the female gender. As Genovese (1996) explains, this feminist ideology highlights the similarities between men and women, irrespective of biological differences, and argues gender equality on the basis of the similarities. This stance may be interpreted as a negation of essentialism, insofar as it only concedes to biological differences but does not acknowledge the inherent importance of social and cognitive essentialism. In direct comparison to equality feminism, feminism of difference emphasizes the differences between the genders. As Ebert (1993) explains, difference feminism argues that the sexes are fundamentally different but that differences, whether cognitive or social, do not negate the equality of the sexes, or make one more equal than the other. This feminist ideology is reflective of essentialism. In the final analysis, and speaking from a subjective viewpoint, essentialism is an inescapable reality. The sexes are not just different because of biology but because of cognitive and societal perceptions. Equality feminism, insofar as it fails to acknowledge the aforementioned, is weak. Its weakness is rooted in its assumption that equality is only applicable to those, or that, which are alike. Difference feminism, on the other hand, draws its strength from its recognition of essentialism and its understanding of the fact that equality does not have

Strategic Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Project - Essay Example Finally, after analyzing the necessary secondary information, we have concluded that the company should go for value added prompt service offerings and globalization strategy through strategic alliance with foreign company. In case of any organization it is very important to follow a good strategy as the success of any organization depends upon how effectively the management works on that. Now there are few parameters on the basis of which analysis has to be conducted and then the strategies of the managements are to be determined. Those are discussed below- The first and the foremost factor that is needed to be analyzed is the analysis of the industry environment. The industry in which the business lays it is very important to analyze its core factors and its changes what are happening in current time. S.W.O.T analysis is that type of environmental analysis which helps in determining the strategies of any company by analyzing the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as the external factors like opportunities in the industry and the threat existing in the form of competitors. According to the given guidance for analyzing any particular company’s management strategy the oil industry has been selected of UAE. The reason why this particular industry has been considered is Oilindustry is counted as the most lucrative industry in the present scenario of the business world. The few items which have the power to influence the economy of the entire world among them the crude oil comes first. Among this industry The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has been selected for analyzing the management strategies of it. The company was started in 1971 and since then till now ithas established itself in the top ten positions in the industry. At present the company manages to produce more than 2.7 barrels of oil per day. In the last three decades this particular company has expanded its business so

Issues Proposal Guidelines Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Issues Guidelines - Research Proposal Example The issue reflects across all races and ethnicities, as well as, the countries since the causative agents are diverse. Child labor also has adverse effects on the health and individual development of the child, in addition to the impact on the larger society and nation as a whole. According to the International Labor Organization conventions, child labor entails the activities of work in which children participate yet they should not be doing so since they are too young to work. Further, it also covers the aspects such as dangerous work, which is unsuitable for the children even when they are old to work (Choppara 11). It is notable that not all work is child labor as children particularly the adolescent have the obligation to assist in the work at home setting, as part of their personal and individual development into responsible beings. Thus, the issue of child labor occurs where there is exploitation of the children, with maltreatment as either slaves or involvement in activities that endanger their lives (Choppara 21). Consequently, the issue proves remarkably grave in regions where it combines with related social issues such as insecurity, lack of peace and stability and poverty. It is notable that child labor continues to reflect as a major concern in m any parts of the world. The issue of child labor in its entirety deprives the children their childhood, their potential and their dignity and is harmful to the physical and mental development of the child. The child labor activities are mentally, physically, socially and morally negative and dangerous to the child, and it interferes with the normal development environment expected for the child (Schmitz, Elizabeth & Desi 27). It deprives the child many of their childhood rights, including the major right to get an education. A key concern about the issue of child labor is that it denies the child the opportunity to go schooling

Research report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research report - Essay Example versal view of their connection list that are constructed in the system.† Information and technology bequeath the present society with numerous interactive segments with the help of internet and gadgets of communication. Numerous interactive segments are provided by the social network sites depending on the motives of their founders. There are for example business, academics, sports, political, social, religion, and romantic platforms. It can be said that these sites are in position to entertain, inform, educate, and to create very strong feelings on their followers. Ever since they started, social sites such as twitter, Skype, MySpace, and Facebooks, among others have reportedly become ‘attention-grabbers’ for majority of those who use them as they have taken them as part and parcel of their day to day routine (Pedrycz, W., & Chen, S.-M. 2014). Presently there are numerous sites with varying features geared to suit their followers’ interests, and can be accessed through gadgets that have internet access. Basically social network sites are online services or platforms that aim at reflecting and building people’s relationship socially those for instance that have or share common activities and interests. The fame of social network sites increases as each second unfolds. They have become important tool of communication to their users and because of this trend learning institutions are now increasing using them to interact with learners as well as member of the teaching staff. Because of their continued use of social network sites drastic steps are being outlined by institutions to enlighten their students on social network sites usage and most so psychological dangers, legal issues, socio-economic and privacy issues. It also encourages students to live together and in harmony, bringing workload and additional responsibility, and collaborating and sharing which may appear to be forced and inflexible to some students (Naidu, 2005). In his studies, Gross

Arguments Participation Paper 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Arguments Participation Paper 2 - Assignment Example (2) line numbers 60- 74 is an example of a testimony that speaks of the effect on individual Jews who suffered inhuman treatment during the Nazi holocaust; Charles Reznikoff, though a Russian, was born in the Jewish ghettos in New York. â€Å"Holocaust†, published in 1975, captures the poet’s interest in the Nazi holocaust and the yearning to present the realities naked to the world. A huge controversy surrounded the court room trials of the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. During the Eichmann Trial, there was a controversy that Israel had political motives behind it. In this historical context, Charles worked as a typesetter for a labor Zionist publication, which showed interest in this controversy and the trials. The poem presents chosen testimonies in the courtroom, but devoid of the courtroom setting. Each testimony presents an exclusive image and speaks for itself. There is total objectivism in the narrative style as they are not in the first person but in the third person narrative voice. The tone is neutral as seen in the examples cited above. The poem speaks through the multiple testimonies and through the main ac tors and characters that are part of it. History unfolds for the readers to see the truth for themselves. The reader can arrive at conclusions on what he/she witnesses. There is an eerie silence that follows each testimony to avoid any interpretations or judgment; rather it helps evoke the picture of reality. Holocaust by itself is one of themes and the testimonies represent the events. The poem is devoid of any metaphor or rhetoric. This narrative style develops a close connection with the reader and bridges the gap between literature and common man. The narrative style is a testimony to the truth that historical facts should be listened to and not interpreted. As an Imagist poet, Charles has employed objective voice and has used the reality as an image that speaks for itself. This could be a document of history, but presents pictures within

A Case Study of Southwest Airline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A of Southwest Airline - Case Study Example Southwest Airline has been one of the companies with highest growth rate for the last more than forty years since it was found (Bundgaard, Bejjani & Helmer, 2006). This has been due to its ability to sustain growth and maintain profitability despite the challenges of the aviation industry and has resulted mainly due to increase in the demand of its low price structures and high quality services. According to Keller (2010), it is always the objective of this company to meet the customer demand. Since the customer demand has been increasing, Southwest airline has been forced to increase its number of flights and to even acquire other Airline companies. One recent acquisition is acquiring of Air Tran Holding, which it used to expand its operation (Keller, 2011). According to Drake (1998), Southwest Airline has been experiencing growth on annual bases since it was found. The airline started with three aircraft operating in three planes only. Since then, the airline has grown to the capacity of operating more than 400 planes throughout the United States. This growth has been because of the increase in demand that has resulted to Southwest airline increasing number of flights in each of the airport hubs. This has led to presence of more aircrafts and more schedule flights in all the airport hubs selected by Southwest Airline. Another cause of this congestion is increase in competition in the aviation industry and emergence of new companies. In the recent years, there has been emergence of other low cost companies in the airport hubs selected by Southwest Airline.

How alignment between the values of an organization Essay Example for Free

How alignment between the values of an organization Essay Create a presentation in a common format (PowerPoint or a similar program) with a minimum of twenty (20) slides and corresponding speaker notes in which you: 1. Determine which statistical technique you will employ to measure the quality characteristics of your organization. Provide examples to support the rationale. 2. Analyze the current facility location, and then use the three-step procedure to determine a new location. 3. Analyze the key concepts related to capacity planning and facility location for the new location. 4. Examine the current work system design, and determine your organization’s selected feasibility in the job design (i. e., technical, economic, behavioral). Assess key elements of the rationale in the work design competitive advantage. 5. using the method analysis described in the textbook, defend the new change implementation process and the rationale for the change of method. 6. Develop a diagram showing network planning techniques, in which you use the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the critical path method (CPM). 7. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

The Audit Risk Model Accounting Essay

The Audit Risk Model Accounting Essay The Audit Risk Model (ARM) is defined as: Inherent Risk is the auditors measure of assessing whether material misstatements exist in the financial statement before considering of internal controls. Ignoring internal controls, if the auditor assesses that the likelihood of material errors is high, the auditor will assume that the Inherent Risk is high. As the Control Risk constitutes a separate component of the Audit Risk Model, it is ignored here.   Control Risk is the auditors measure of assessing the likelihood that the clients internal control system is unable to prevent or detect material misstatements exceeding a tolerable level. In assessing the level of the Control Risk, the auditor will assess the effectiveness of the firms internal control system during his audit, e.g. through questionnaires. The lower the effectiveness of internal controls the greater the frequency of error. Detection Risk is the auditors measure of assessing the likelihood that the auditor  wont detect material misstatements. Auditors will carry out more audit work to increase the detection rate if  Internal Risk and Control Risk are too high in order to meet the Audit Risk target. When applying the Audit Risk Model, the auditor has to determine a target level of Audit Risk that is in accordance with providing reasonable assurance. The Internal Risk and Control Risk can be pooled together as Occurrence Risk (OR), i.e. the risk of the existence of  misstatements before the actual audit. The Detection Risk on the other hand is the risk of the existence of misstatements during the actual audit. The first step in applying the Audit Risk  Model is to determine a tolerable level of Audit Risk. In the next step the Audit Risk is decomposed into its three components. The auditor has no control over the Internal Risk and Control Risk but must assess their levels in order to determine the level of Detection Risk that is sufficient to achieve the target Audit Risk. The Detection Risk can be influenced by the extent of testing. Applying the formula of the Audit Risk Model, the auditor will need to perform more testing, that is collect more evidence, and thus reduce the Detection Risk, in case the level of Internal Risk and/or Control Risk is high in order to achieve (maintain) the target. The Detection Risk  can be influenced by the nature, timing, and extent of the audit procedures. 2. One of the components of the audit risk model is inherent risk. Describe typical factors that auditors evaluate assessing inherent risk. With the benefit of hindsight, what inherent risk factors were present during the audits of the 1989 through 1992 Comptronix financial statements? Internal Risk is the auditors measure of assessing whether material misstatements exist in the financial statement before considering the effectiveness of internal controls. Besides factors related to the peculiar assertion, the auditor needs to take external circumstances into account that might influence the Internal Risk. Those can comprise the nature of business and industry, the integrity of management, the size of account balances, the existence of related  parties, the lack of sufficient working capital to continue operations, etc. Taking into account those numerous factors, professional judgment has to be applied by the auditor. Examples of accounts that pose low Internal Risk comprise traded securities or fixed assets in contrast to accounts with high Internal Risk such as those for which estimates have to  be used or complex calculation have to be conducted. With hindsight the following inherent risk factors were present: Fictitious purchases of equipment An audit that would have included a physical inspection of Comptronixs equipment might have revealed that certain recognized assets do not exist or  that considering the age of and thus the depreciation for the equipment that certain pieces of  equipment are not worth their book values. Fictitious accounts payments for the equipment Besides auditing in a manner that would have revealed the nonexistence of certain purchases of equipment the auditors could have also audited check records and bank statements to see where and by whom the checks were cashed in. This would have revealed that the checks were never cashed in by a third, outside party, but were cashed internally. Fictitious sales and accounts receivables In the same manner as with the fictitious accounts for equipment, the auditor could have checked the inventory to verify the decrease in inventory of goods for sale as well as the payments by the customers. The former would have revealed the lack of sales while the latter would have revealed the lack of external customers for no outside  party deposited money in Comptronixs account. Another approach would have comprised matching the sales with the order papers and invoices. Here the auditor would have realized that there are no records for the bogus sales and hence no sales were realized. 3. Another component of the audit risk model is control risk. Describe the five components of internal control. What characteristics of Comptronixs internal control increased control risk for the audits of the1989 1992 year-end financial statements? Control risk is an auditors ¶ assessment of the internal control systems of a company. This also includes the attitude and expertise directors and management have towards internal controls. If  control risk is high then the amount of substantive procedures that have to be conducted increases accordingly. The internal control: Integrated Framework published 1994 by COSO breaks effective internal control into five interrelated components: control environment risk assessment control activities information and communication monitoring The control environment encompasses the internal control framework and is considered a foundation for all other elements. Included factors are integrity, ethical values, competence, managements philosophy, operating cycles, assignment of authority and the attention and direction provided by the board. Generally the control environment materializes in a written statement being the code of conduct. The risk assessment is best described as the means of identifying and analyzing internal and external risks to the achievement of financial reporting control objectives. Control activities are developed to address each control objective and to minimize risks identified. Information and communication from management to personnel must be clearly stated and should stress that control responsibilities must be taken seriously. The personnel must understand its role in the internal control system. Thus the company identifies methods and procedures by which right information is provided to the right people. Finally, monitoring is the process (internal or external) to evaluate the performance of the internal control system over time. At Comptronix various factors increased the control risk for the company. First, the loss of one of the major customers is a circumstance that increases control risk as management has an incentive to misstate earnings and other accounts to stay profitable. Second, the accounting system could be bypassed by management with factious manual entries. This increases control risk as it grants unlimited authority to top management for changing and manipulating accounts. Also cash disbursements could be approved by management based solely on an invoice. Finally the computerized accounting system in the shipping department, which constitutes a good internal control device, could be accessed and manipulated by the controller. In summary management had too much authority to enter and change the electronic accounting systems of the company, while there were no double checks in place to verify and control manual changes in the system. 4. The board of directors, and its audit committee, can be an effective corporate governance mechanism .a) Discuss the pros and cons of allowing inside directors to serve on the board. Describe typical responsibilities of audit committees. Inside directors on the board can facilitate its effectiveness by establishing strong connections  between the board and day to day business. However, inside directors can also comprise the independence of the board when it comes to personal interests. For example, the ability of the  board to set bonuses that are tied to performance and salaries of management is an important argument against inside directors. Another common topic in research is that adding insiders to the board of directors reduces board monitoring. On the other hand, a study by George Drymiotes shows that a less independent board, one that also looks after the agents interests to some degree, can sometimes fulfill its monitoring role more effectively than a board that is completely independent. A fully independent boards inability to commit to a specific level of  monitoring effort makes monitoring ineffective. Having insiders as part of the board, however, shifts the boards interests closer to those of the a gent and mitigates the boards incentives to short-change the agent (Drymiotes, 2007). The paper also suggests that any other mechanisms that align the boards interests, to some extent, with those of the manager may be beneficial to organizations. For instance, board and management interests can become more aligned when management owns a portion of the firm. Giving management a share of the firm means that a group of shareholders is managing the firm. Importantly, this particular group of shareholders finds ex post monitoring desirable, the same way inside directors do. Thus, a board representing shareholder interests may have stronger incentives to monitor the agent ex post. The audit committees responsibilities can be summarized as assisting the board of directors in verifying: the integrity of the companys financial statements the independence, integrity, qualification and performance of the external auditors the performance of the companys internal audit functions the appropriateness of the internal control systems the monitoring of compliance with laws and regulatory requirements and the code of conduct b) What strengths or weaknesses were present related to Comptronixs board of directors and audit committee? First of all the CEO and COO of Comptronix represented management of the board which constitutes already for 28.6% of the board of directors. Despite the evidence above and considering that the managers engaged in fraud, the high percentage of inside directors on the  board is a considerable weakness. Moreover, the remaining five outside board directors, rather  undermined than strengthened the boards independence: Two of them had close affiliations with management, the other maintained relations that were not that apparent at first glance, but nevertheless substantial. One, for example, was the partner in the venture capital firm that owned over 5% of Comptronix. Finally four annual board meetings seem to not have been sufficient to exert control over management. Concerning the audit committee it can be maintained that it was neither independent nor  qualified. The committee members, two outside and one gray director, were drawn from the  board of directors which was already evaluated as not being independent. Furthermore, not any of the members had accounting or financial reporting backgrounds, therefore lacking crucial expertise and experience in their function as an audit committee. 5. Public Companies must file quarterly financial statements in Form 10-Qs, that have been reviewed by the companys external auditor. Briefly describe the key requirements of  Auditing Standards (AU) Section 722, Interim Financial Information. Why wouldnt all companies (public and private) engage their auditors to perform timely reviews of interim financial statements? The SEC requires all public companies to have quarterly financial statements reviewed by the external auditor on a timely basis. SAS No. 71 provides guidance on the nature, timing, and extent of procedures to be applied by the independent accountant in conducting a review of interim financial information. The objective of a review of  interim financial information is to determine whether material modifications should be made for such information to conform to GAAP. A review of interim financial information consists principally of inquiries and analytical procedures. It does not include (1) tests of accounting records, (2) the evaluation of corroborating evidential matter in response to inquiries, or (3) other normal procedures ordinarily performed during an audit. Thus, the accountant does not obtain reasonable assurance that would serve as the basis for an opinion on that financial information. In performing a review of interim financial information, the accountant needs to have sufficient knowledge of a clients internal control as it relates to the preparation of  both interim and annual financial statements. That knowledge assists the accountant in identifying the likelihood of potential material misstatements in interim financial information and in selecting the inquiries and analytical procedures that will provide the accountant a basis for reporting whether material modifications should be made to the interim financial information in order for it to conform to GAAP. Non-public companies are not required to engage independent accountants to  perform a review of interim financial statements. Thus, a private companys decision to engage an independent accountant to conduct a review of interim financial information is a cost-benefit decision. The services associated with obtaining such a review require time and money. If top executives and the board of directors do not believe the related  benefits exceed the costs, then they are not likely to engage independent accountants. The guidance in SAS No. 71 applies to interim financial information that is included in a note to the audited financial statements of a non-public company. If the interim financial Information for the non-public company is presented in a separate complete set of interim financial statements, the accountant should comply with the AICPAs Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services. Recently, there has been increased attention on interim reviews because of alleged financial reporting fraud involving interim financial statements. The SEC requirement for timely interim reviews for public companies was sparked by the February 1999  Report and Recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Improving the  Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees (The Blue Ribbon Report). That report included a recommendation that the SEC require a reporting companys outside auditor to conduct a SAS No. 71 interim review prior to the companys filing of its Form 10-Q with the SEC. According to the Blue Ribbon Panels report, the  ³increased involvement by the outside auditors and the audit committee in the interim financial reporting process should result in more accurate interim reporting. 7. Provide a brief summary of each of the three fraud conditions. Additionally, provide anexample from the Comptronix fraud of each of the three fraud conditions. 1) I ncentive or pressure to perpetrate fraud  ± Bonus for superb performance. Company awardstock incentive to key employees2) An opportunity to carry out the fraud  ± Executive positions that may bypass existing accountsystem. I nternal controls are insufficient. Board of directors composes of mostly internaldirectors and acquaintances.3) Attitude or rationalization to justify the fraudulent action.  ± helped company avoidingreporting net losses. 8. Auditing Standards (AU) Section 3 16, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial StatementAudit, notes that there is a possibility that management override of controls could occur inevery audit and accordingly, the auditor should include audit procedures in every audit toaddress that risk.a) What do you think is meant by the term  ³management override ´? Management override can be defined as the possibility for management to circumvent internalcontrols that appear to work efficiently, in order to manipulate accounting records and preparing fraudulent financial statements directly or indirectly. As the internal control system is expectedto function properly, the ways in which management can override controls are unpredictable. b) Provide two examples of where management override of controls occurred in theComptronix fraud The executives were able to bypass the existing accounting system. They could record fictitious  journal entries of sales and purchases manually inventing some customer order numbers andquantities that did not exist and obviously were not cross-checked with other internal systems,like the customer order- or inventory system.  Next to that it was possible to record fictitious purchases of equipment without creating thenecessary documents accompanying such purchases. The internal control failed to detect thisirregularity.Another example is the possibility of overriding control systems over cash disbursements. With afictitious vendor invoice it was possible to make an accountant payable clerk prepare a check  without the necessity to crosscheck whether the delivery of the goods actually took place or anorder number generated by the vendor existed that should have been found on the invoice later  on. c) Research AU Section 3 16 to identify the three required auditor responses to furtheraddress the risk of management override of internal controls Paragraphs 58  ± 67 in Section 316 of the Auditing Standards by the PCAOB describe proceduresthat should be performed to further address the risk of management override of controls. Thethree main responses that should be undertaken by the auditor are as follows:1. Examining journal entries and other adjustments for evidence of possible materialmisstatement due to fraud.Material misstatements due to fraud mostly occur by:a. recording inappropriate or unauthorized journal entries throughout the year or at periodend or  Ã‚  b. making adjustments to amounts reported in the financial statements that are not reflectedin formal journal entries due to consolidating adjustments, report combinations andreclassifications.Therefore, the auditor should test the appropriateness of journal entries recorded in the generalledger and other adjustments. I n particular, the auditor should:à ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Obtain an understanding of the entitys financial reporting process and the controls over  Ã‚  journal entries and other adjustments à ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ I dentify and select journal entries and other adjustments for testingà ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Determine the timing of the testingà ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ I nquire of individuals involved in the financial reporting process about inappropriate or  unusual activity relating to the processing of journal entries and other adjustments2. Reviewing accounting estimates for biases that could result in material misstatement due tofraud.The assumptions and resulting accounting estimates that management has to make to prepare thefinancial statements affect the underlying accounting techniques and figures. Therefore, a lot of  fraudulent financial reporting is done by intentional false estimations of management. Theauditor ¶s task is to consider retrospectively whether single estimates are supported by auditevidence and whether the ones that underlie the reported financial figures widely diverge and, if  so, investigate whether the assumptions and accounting estimates were intentionally biased in  part of management. Thereby, the auditor should test those accounting estimates that are basedon highly sensitive assumptions or are otherwise s ignificantly affected by management  judgements. I f single management estimates were biased, affecting the financial figuresmaterially, the auditor should investigate whether there have been circumstances that led to this  bias and if these circumstances can constitute a risk for financial statement fraud. Also theestimates taken as a whole should then be re-considered by the auditor.3. Evaluating the business rationale for significant unusual transactions.Transactions that are outside the normal course of business for the company or entityinvestigated or that appear to be unusual should be investigated by the auditor . I t should also beevaluated whether there is an underlying rationale behind those transactions or whether they are  possibly an indication of fraudulent financial reportingTo understand the underlying rationale for the transactions in question, the auditor shouldinvestigate:à ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Whether the form of such transactions is overly complex (e.g. whether it involves multipleentities within a consolidated group or unrelated third parties)à ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Whether management has discussed the nature of and accounting for such transactions withthe audit committee or board of directorsà ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Whether management is placing more emphasis on the need for a particular accountingtreatment than on the underlying economics of the transactionà ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Whether transactions that involve unconsolidated related parties, including special purposeentities, have been properly reviewed and approved by the audit committee or board of directors à ®Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Whether the transactions involve previously unidentified related parties or parties that do nothave the substance or the financial strength to support the transaction without assistance from theentity under audit

Sports and Recruitment for Colleges Essay -- Recruiting Process Colleg

Every Saturday, college campuses all across the nation are a buzz with activities. The football team prepares for this week?s game. The girl?s soccer team and volleyball teams play on Saturday and Sunday. The boy?s soccer team travels for an away game. Colleges and universities everywhere depend on various sports as a way of recruitment, entertainment, and physical activity for students. However, before 1972 women did not share the same opportunity to participate in intercollegiate sports. Up until 1972 there were no rules governing sexism in intercollegiate sports. Then, when President Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments Acts, part of the new law was called Title IX. This part of the new law abolished sexism in intercollegiate sports. Since its inception, Title IX has lead to giant steps in women?s sports. Understanding what Title IX is will help to understand how Title IX has helped bring on gains for all women. The Education Amendments Act of 1972 was signed into law on June 23, 1972 by President Richard Nixon (Wulf, 79). Part of this larger bill was an amendment called Title IX. This part of the bill called for an end to sexual bias in institutions that receive federal funds. Though Title IX did not have any specific correlation to intercollegiate sports, on the playing field is where it has been used most. In 1975, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare extended Title IX?s boundaries to athletics, saying recipients of federal funds must provide ?equal athletic opportunity?(Guenin 35). Now extended to athletics, there are three major stipulations colleges must cover to satisfy the Title IX laws. These three stipulations are government set regulations. Congress never approved the po... ...rown claimed that females had the chance to equal the ratio, but failed to attempt to fill the teams (Guenin 37). Brown spent over one million dollars defending themselves in court. This money could have been used to possibly expand female?s athletics.. The school ended up losing the court battle almost four years later. Like all laws, how one interprets them determines their effectiveness. Since President Richard Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act of 1972, women?s sports have taken a giant leap. Part of this new law, Title IX, outlawed sexual discrimination in intercollegiate athletics. This gave women the necessary step to reach the same level as men. ?Women don?t have to have 50% of the varsity positions to succeed in athletics. They need equal opportunity.?(Mahoney 78). Title IX started the process of ending sexual discrimination everywhere.

The Life and Sensibility of Jane Austen :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Life and Sensibility of Jane Austen        Ã‚   Jane Austen has often been considered a woman who led a narrow, inhibited life and who rarely traveled. These assertions are far from the truth. Jane Austen traveled more than most women of her time and was quite involved in the lives of her brothers, so much that it often interfered with her writing. Like most writers, Jane drew on her experiences and her dreams for the future and incorporated them into her writing. Her characters reflect the people around her; the main characters reflect parts of herself. In Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park, Elinor Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, and Fanny Price all reflect aspects of Jane Austen and dreams she had that were never fulfilled.    Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, the sixth of seven children, to a rector and his wife. Jane was raised among books and began reading and writing at an early age. Her brother Henry said "her reading started very early," and it was difficult to say "at what age she was not intimately acquainted with the merits and defects of the best essays and novels in the English language" (Tomalin 67). Her earliest works date to age twelve, although she most likely wrote pieces before then. Her family often read Shakespeare together in the evenings. Her mother enjoyed writing verse and often wrote poetry to celebrate happy occasions. Jane grew up with an appreciation for writing and literature.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The biographies about Jane Austen describe the facts of her life in a step-by-step manner. They tend to be repetitive since she did not leave behind a rich fabric of day-to-day life. Yet Jane Austen is known not because of the factual details of her life; she is not remembered two hundred years after her death because she had six siblings and was a wonderful aunt to her nieces and nephews. Rather, Jane Austen is remembered because of what she wrote, her "ouvre." Only through reading her literature does one get a taste of the real Jane Austen, the Jane Austen who dreamed and made plans for the future that failed to materialize. Therefore, I have attempted to describe the life of Jane Austen by interpreting her novels and picking three main characters who I feel most closely serve as her alter ego. A writer writes from his or her own experiences; only by analyzing Jane Austen's characters do we get an understanding of the true author.

What I Think Of The New Beetle :: essays research papers

â€Å"What's there to dislike about the New Beetle?† It's a car that makes people smile wherever it goes. It stands out like an orange life raft in a grey sea of auto-anonymity. Even if they don't immediately recognise the Beetle connection - and not everyone does - expressions of affectionate interest are instant and heartfelt. What's there to dislike about the New Beetle? Almost everything. Its cartoonish design perhaps, which compromises its practicality in a way that the original's designer would surely never have countenanced. Or maybe the fact that it's a profoundly ordinary car to drive. But let's begin at the beginning... When Ferdinand Porsche sketched the outline of the Beetle in the 1930s he ignored existing conventions of small car engineering in an attempt to create something better than anyone had hitherto managed. He proceeded logically, step by step. So successful was the car that it became the foundation of a company that is now one of the world's five largest car-makers. Now comes the New Beetle, a retro design draped over parts that belong to the fourth generation Golf. This isn't design Ferdinand Porsche-style. The Golf, as ever, has an in-line four cylinder engine at the front, driving the front wheels. It's not an easy fit with the shape of the original Beetle, a car with a flat-four engine at the rear, driving the rear wheels. The exterior style of the New Beetle makes its interior an odd environment. The base of the windscreen is so distant and the dash so deep that it feels like driving a people mover. Except, of course, that there's a distinct absence of roomy accommodation aft. Many adults will find the New Beetle's two-place rear seat unbearable. Head room is tight for those of average height, impossible for anyone taller. The front seats, unlike those in the rear, are very comfortable. Firmly supportive and generously proportioned, both are equipped with lever-operated height adjustment. The quality of the materials used in the New Beetle's cabin is very impressive. So, too, is the way they fit together. Like the Golf on which it's based, the interior furnishings are one of the most impressive things about the car. Visibility from the driver's position isn't brilliant - the A-pillars are very thick. Because they sweep so far forward they create - with the aid of the external mirrors - a sizeable blind spot. Luggage space in the New Beetle is meagre.

Audience analysis Essay

1. Identify several controversial issues debated in your workplace, community or on campus. -The issue of the legitimacy of homosexual marriage is certainly on people’s minds.   It relates to questions of personal liberty and civic requirements imposed by the state, the right to choose, as well as fundamental issues related to marriage as an institution. -Universal health insurance is talked about and people are pretty strong divided about whether it would work and even be effective. -Whether we’re in a depression is argued pretty strongly, a lot of people don’t think that this is a problem because they talk about cycles and just about being on the wrong point on the cycle.   Other people are increasingly worried and predict that the situation will get much worse and that it is a depression but we only act like it’s not a depression due partially to increased credit availability. 2.Identify a policy or practice you would like to see changed at your workplace, community or on campus. -The equal employment act is kind of an issue because it’s successfully manipulated by a few people with access to good lawyers but is detrimental to people just entering the work force because the act makes it harder to fire someone.   Also, there’s possibly an increase of bias because employers will selectively fire people who would not sue and often times they deserve to sue more than people who do sue.   It’s a great abstract idea but it’s very variable and at times promotes both inefficient hiring and firing practices. 3.Select one issue, policy or practice as the topic for your persuasive speech. Should social security be privatized?(Yes) 4.Describe the rhetorical situation for your public speech. What features of the speech setting are important to consider in preparing your speech? The rhetorical situation is that I’d have to be convincing with sharp arguments that are crisply delivered.   As it’s a public speech the language would have to be very conventional and not have regionalism driven in too much in case it would be too distracting for various members of the audience.   Engagement is crucial, balancing myself with the surroundings is helpful.  Ã‚   It’s usually extremely useful to be very aware of where the speech will be delivered because extreme clashes or even minor clashes are disruptive and distracting. If my speech setting is a classroom the language could be more informal and include more jokes.   If it’s in a space where movement is very free and people could walk out anytime it would have to be much more planned out and well-executed.   Visual engagements are often times critical and knowing about the audio-visual equipment is extremely helpful so that preparations can be made to have everything run as smoothly as possible. 5.Identify your audience and discuss the demographic factors that may influence how you address your topic. My audience is my peers.   They are just entering the work force or have entered it on a more informal basis.   Most of my peers have faced a lot of frustrations related to jobs and their extreme inaccessibility.   During tough economic times young adults are usually the hardest hit because they have the least security and are given far fewer social services than the elderly. 6.Make a list of the questions you would like to ask members of your audience. 1. Would your grandparents fund a public school or would they move someplace where they wouldn’t have to? 2. If you grew up in a family-oriented neighborhood where schools really mattered did you come into contact with elderly volunteers who seemed to care about you? 3. How would you feel if you found out that social security operates exactly like a pyramid scheme and that most people under the age of 40 do not expect to receive anything from social security? 4. Would you voluntarily pay for other people’s retirements if you had a choice? 5. Have you noticed that your social security tax on your paycheck is often higher than your monthly cell-phone bill every month? 7.Why is it important to conduct an audience analysis? It’s essential for being prepared enough to give useful information and what’s useful depends on what they’re concerned about.   What truly interacts with their life and what really does have a formative impact on the choices they would make and the motivation they would have towards a lot of important life-steps. If I don’t do an audience analysis I could also risk alienating the audience if I talk about something they’re completely unfamiliar with or if I talk about something that is extremely disturbing or boring for my audience.   For example, if I talked about social security privatization to an older audience about to benefit or already benefiting I would not mention a lot of things that I would mention to people in my peer group.   An offended audience is probably one of the worst-case scenarios that could result and it’s a bad experience for both parties involved. To think about what the audience would have to deal with on a daily basis, what relates to issues that impact them in a significant way, and last of all, what would help them listen to what I have to say.   The audience never pays attention in an automatic way and a lot of competency needs to be earned, speeches are critical because they’re a great job-skill to have and also necessitate that more thought is given to how I present myself and what even persuades me.   If I choose a topic that’s unappealing to me it will most likely be the case that it will be infectious. If I properly try to analyze my audience at least I’d be better cued towards sensitivities and preferences.   Both are extremely important to be aware of as one relates to things I could say that could result in insult and the other is important because to be a truly persuasive speaker there’s a lot of interaction.   The audience also enjoys interaction and sitting still is often hard to many people, particularly when a speech is too irrelevant.   Audience awareness would in most situations allow for a speaker to feel prepared and to also have prompted a motivation to prepare.

Environment Issues Essay

The case â€Å"Environment Issues† presents how environmental issues have shifted from the margins to obtaining central place on the international agenda. In particular, John Vogler touches the issues of climate change, sustainable development, environment degradation, and the importance of international cooperation. Contemporary world is experiencing environment degradation because of continuing environment pollution and global clime changes. Global warming is the major concern of researchers. Moreover, new forms of transnational pollution appear as, for example, acid rains. Such problems, as global climate change and thinning of the ozone layers, are truly global in scale. The author stresses that in the late 19th century environment politics was strictly limited, but since 1960s the issues has gained international concern meaning that environmental problems have acquired transnational and global dimension. The process of environmental protection was stimulated by three UN conferences of 1972, 1992 and 2002 that stressed the importance of international cooperation in fighting global environmental challenges. The key function of international cooperation is argued to regulate transnational environment problems and to sustain global commons. In other words, international cooperation doesn’t simply established governance regimes; moreover, it embraces agreements between states concerning the major environment issues. Nonetheless, international cooperation often neglects the pursuit of power and status in their discussion, although international meetings often reflect struggles for national and international advantage. It means that many organizations are seeking ways to maintain their financial and staff resources and to ensure better place within UN system. The problem is that international cooperation meetings may become just a way to issue declarations aimed at persuading the government and people that something is being done. However, the reality is that environmental conditions are deteriorating and it seems that nothing is done to fight climate change and to decrease air and water pollution. Transboundary trade is related to pollution control. Thus, the long-term function of international cooperation is to regulate transnational environment problems as animals, water and pollution are crossing frontiers. Joint efforts are promoted by multilateral and regional agreements as it gives an opportunity to manage resources and to control water and air pollution. The most important functions of the state are taxing and promoting trade. Thus, imposing restrictions on international trade may be used as one of instrument of nature conservation. Relations between international trade and environmental deterioration are broader than they are presented in researches. For example, green activists claim that international trade damages environment, destroys agriculture and encourages environmentally damaging transportation of goods. International cooperation is needed for developing environmental norms and for assisting participation of developing countries. The role of international cooperation is crucial to contemporary world as it provides governance regimes and regulations for the global commons. Further, the author underlines the problem of global climate change, especially the challenge of global warming and ozone layer problem. Scientists have been long debating over the problems of ozone layer thinning and greenhouse effect, but only in the end of the 20th century international consensus started to monitor the issue. Scientists have failed to come to an agreement whether human-induced changes in mean temperatures have led to global climate changes. Vogler says that greenhouse effect negatively affect the life on the Earth because greenhouse gases are insulating the surface by trapping solar radiation. Industrial revolution has negatively affected environmental. See, before industrial revolution the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was not more than 280 parts per million, whereas the concentration has significantly grown because of burning of fossil fuels. One more negative consequence is that methane emissions have grown exponentially with the growth of agriculture. Vogler stresses â€Å"if nothing is done to curb intensive fossil fuel emissions, there will be a likely rise in mean temperatures of the order of 2. 4-6. 4 grad C by 2099†. (p. 361) Turbulent weather conditions and seal level rise are expected. The results of climate change are presented as following: melting glaciers, increasing flood risks, reducing water suppliers, declining annual crop yields, rising sea levels, increasing vulnerability of ecosystems, etc. It is argued that the warmer the world gets the faster the climate changes as higher temperatures are associated with increases chances of triggering abrupt and large-scale changes. Climate catastrophe can be avoided in case the temperature increase is held below 2 grades. Moreover, concentration of carbon dioxide should be kept below 550 ppm. Scientific community fears that the 21st century will be marked by unusual weather patterns, melting of polar ice sheets and stormy events. If not managed, climate change will cause threatening changes in living conditions and will challenge patterns of energy use and its security. Kyoto protocol appeared to be the first step on the long road to preventing further climate change. Kyoto protocol bound most of developed and developing countries to set emission cuts, although some scientists argue that Kyoto protocol is not wholly adequate in terms of global warming problem. The USA refused to sign the Kyoto protocol and scientists argue it is impossible to proceed without the USA as the country produces more than 25% of carbon dioxide emissions. The Kyoto target may be achieved by 2012, and even this figure remains uncertain. Climate change is characterized by all-embracing nature and is claimed to be rooted in essential human activities. Climate change challenges international environment cooperation. Vogler admits that environmental scientists are interested in identifying conditions under which international environmental cooperation has emerged as a response of environmental challenges. Of course, the scientists’ arguments differ in their attitudes towards international environmental regime, shared scientific knowledge and impact of non-government actors. Scientists relate environmental changes to armed conflict stressing that traditional thinking about environmental security should be defined in terms of attacks upon the state. Vogler concludes that climate change, especially global warming and greenhouse effect, remains the most painful problem of the 21st century. The rise of environmental issues is associated with globalization, resource depletion, increased consumption levels, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Globalization has contributed developing transnational green policies and intervention programs. International environment tries to respond to climate changes by establishing global environmental governance through international environmental cooperation. Environmental Issues: Opinion I think that environmental issues raised in the paper are very important to contemporary world as environmental conditions are still deteriorating and it seems that nothing is actually done to regulate global warming, greenhouse effect and sea level rise. When reviewing the issues, Vogler is persuasive and valid as all the arguments are supported with real-life examples, in-depth economic analysis and Vogler cites viewpoints of respectable researchers. Thus, I can say I agree with most of author’s ideas as the problem of global warming and greenhouse effect is shaking the world. Poverty rates are increasing, income in developing and undeveloped countries is decreasing. The situation can be hardly called promising. We see the author combines theoretical research with practical application offering recommendations and strategies to respond to environmental challenges. Vogler is very persuasive in defending position that international environmental cooperation is the only possible way to develop solutions to increased poverty, global warming, greenhouse gases emissions, unusual weather patters and stormy events. I agree with the author that international cooperation will positively affect society and will show that something is being done to improve the situation. Even the slightest changes in the world’s temperatures will result in dangerous and abrupt changes in world’s well-being and well-being of every human. Thus, the problem of climate change should be not simply talked about; it should be properly responded and addressed. I think that Vogler’s tendency towards international cooperation is the only effective way to fight global crisis. As far as the crisis is transnational, only global measures should be undertaken to address them. As far as climate change is international, it requires international collective action to make measures driving and effective. In my opinion, climate change management should consider long time horizons, economic risks and uncertainties, possibilities of non-marginal changes, etc. Nowadays it is necessary to consider physical effects of climate change on environment, economics and human health. Different technologies should aim at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Economic models should be involved to estimate economic effects of climate change and global warming, as well as to assess efficiency of low-carbon economics. Moreover, global warming results in sudden shifts in weather patterns and may lead to consequences which affect water availability and flooding threatening millions of people in tropical and subtropical regions. Fighting climate change is an urgent challenge calling for building collective action. It includes shared understanding and requires promoting leadership and trusting with others in collective work. Clear perspective is needed to stabilize and to stop concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Even collective action will hardly be sufficient to meet the desired goals and objectives. Summing up, collective action is needed to reduce negative effects of climate change. Possible steps are cooperation between countries, shared goals and objectives, cooperation between private and public sectors, etc.

Psychology Development in Chine

History and Systems of psychology PSYC 331 Dr. Bihan Al Qaimari Midterm Paper â€Å"Development of Psychology in China† Name: Ahmad Shiber Student number: 1071843 Introduction: When we started this class, we started learning the history of psychology, its theories, and its development. I couldn’t help but notice that the course curriculum is focused on European and American psychologists and their theories, which gives us a very westernized view of psychology and the nature of humans and their humanity.Studying psychology from a western point of view also limits the horizons of applying psychology and how it explained since it will be connected to mainly western church ideologies and financial and political systems are in the west like capitalism and democracy. I developed an interest in far eastern cultures four years ago studying the common religions in that region basics of languages spoken there, and I even started studying the Japanese language as a second language .Thus, I was interested of how these cultures saw psychology and compare their psychological thinking with Greek and Islamic psychological thinking and philosophy which was covered in class. I was amazed by the sheer amount of knowledge these cultures had offered in psychology and I was disheartened on how it is almost never mentioned in psychology classes or when mentioned it gets marginalized. Of all the cultures that constitute the Far East, I chose China.In this paper I will discuss the development of psychology in this country from its historical roots till the modern day, along with all the ups and downs of this field. I hope to shed light on the amazing contributions to the psychology field in particular, and to humanity in general. Attachment: a brief description of Chinese culture of well being. The Historical Roots: Modern psychology was brought to China from the West in the late 1800s, but the study and discussion of psychological issues had a long history in ancient Chin a. Read also Memory – ForgettingEarly psychological thinking in China not only was contained in diverse philosophical, political, military, and other literature but was also expressed through various practices in education, medicine, and human resource management. The influence of Chinese culture on world psychology has been widely recognized in current literature in the field and is attracting more and more attention (Jing, 1994; Murphy & Kovach, 1972; Wang, 1993). In China a rich body of psychological thought existed in the writings of the ancient Chinese philosophers.One of the most important figures was Confucius (551-479 B. C. ) whose teaching has, for centuries, exerted a profound influence on the development of China's cultural history. Confucian thinking emphasized the discussion of human nature, education, human development, and interpersonal relationships. For example, when Confucius discussed human nature, he asserted that â€Å"human nature is the order of heavenâ₠¬  (Jing, 1994, p. 668). By this Confucius meant that our patterns of existence are determined by Nature or by God.He did not address this issue in order to differentiate whether human nature was good or evil but proposed it as a common heritage upon which personal and mental development could be based through education: â€Å"By nature close to each other, but through practice far from each other† (Analects 17:2, Dawson, 1993). This means that people are similar when they are born but that they become different as a result of social molding; hence the importance of learning. Confucius was a famous teacher as well as a philosopher; he advocated that all people should be educated, irrespective of their abilities.He categorized people into three types: superior, medium, and inferior and concluded that everyone should be educated according to their abilities. These ideas are in agreement with the modern idea of everyone's right to an education and the concept of individual diff erences and the need to provide education in a suitable form for all to benefit, whatever their abilities. With regard to human development, Confucius viewed this as a life-long process as stated in the summary of his own life:. At fifteen I set my mind on learning, at thirty I became firm in my purpose; at forty I was free from doubts; at fifty I came to know fate; t sixty I could tell truth from falsehood by listening to other people; at seventy I followed my heart's desire without trespassing the norm of conduct. (Analects 2:4; Tang, 1996). A distinctive feature of this outlook is an emphasis on the development of wisdom and social maturity at a later age. Contrary to some modern thinking that human development is primarily an early childhood process (as has been proposed by Freud or Piaget), Confucius gave new insight with the view that development is a life-long process. In addition to Confucianism, other Chinese philosophies such as Taoism and Zen Buddhism were also important. For instance, Chinese Taoist scholars considered that opposition exists everywhere in the universe and that the synthesis of contrary systems operates to form an integrated unity that is a manifestation of the power and operation of the Yang and the Yin, the alternating forces expressive of light and darkness, birth and decay, male and female. These powers, which in their combined operation form the Tao, the Way, the great principle of the universe, are the mainspring of every activity, the mechanism of constant change and balance, which maintains the harmony of the cosmos. (Fitzgerald, 1976, p. 220). According to Lao-tzu (570-490 B.C. ), the reputed founder of Taoism, nature keeps a proper balance in all its working. If any activity moves to an extreme in one direction, sooner or later a change occurs to swing it back toward the opposite. This thinking may have influenced Jungian psychology, for â€Å"Jung discovered the self from Eastern philosophy and characterized it ‘as a kind of compensation for the conflict between inside and outside † (Jung, as cited in Kuo, 1971, p. 97). In addition, recent findings indicate that the self-actualization theories of Rogers and Maslow bear certain similarities to concepts in Taoism and Zen Buddhism (e. . , Chang ; Page, 1991; Ma, 1990). The practice of naive psychology was widespread in ancient China, and many present-day psychology applications could trace their roots to thousands of years ago. For instance, in Medical Principles of the Yellow Emperor, the first Chinese encyclopedia of medicine, published about 2,000 years ago, links between brain pathology and psychological problems were described, and a bio-psycho-social model was the main approach to medical and mental treatment (Wang, 1993).Another famous ancient Chinese text, Sun-tzu's classic book The Art of War, was written 2,500 years ago. It is a treatise on strategies of warfare containing an analysis of human nature, organization, leadership, the effects of the environment, and the importance of information and may have influenced the development of modern organizational psychology. The most important contribution of Chinese culture to the application of psychology is that of mental testing. It is common to think of testing as both a recent and a Western development. The origins of testing, however, are neither recent nor Western.The roots of psychological testing can be traced back to the concepts and practices of ancient China for some 3,000 years (Anastasi, 1988; Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1993). Various methods for measuring talent and behavior were popular, such as observing traits from behavioral changes, identifying intelligence by response speed, eliciting personality across situations, and measuring mental attributes through interviews (Lin, 1980). The purpose of all these tests was to allow the Chinese emperor to assess his officials' fitness for office. By the time of the Han Dynasty (206 B. C. to A. D. 20), the use of t est batteries (two or more tests used in conjunction) was quite common in the civil service examination system (Zhang, 1988) with essay writing and oral exams in topics such as civil law, military affairs, agriculture, revenue, and geography. Tests had become quite well developed by the time of the Ming Dynasty (A. D. 1368-1644). During this period, there was a national multi-stage testing program that involved local and regional testing centers equipped with special testing booths. Those who did well on the test at the local level went on to the provincial capital for more extensive essay examinations.After this second testing, those with the highest test scores went on to the nation's capital for a final round of examinations. Only those who passed this third set of tests were eligible for public office. It is probable that the Western world learned about these national testing programs through exposure to the Chinese during the 19th century. Reports by British missionaries and di plomats encouraged the British East India Company to copy the Chinese system in 1832 as a method for selecting employees for overseas duty.Testing programs worked well for the company, and the British government adopted a similar system of testing for its civil service in 1855. Later, French, German, and American governments in succession endorsed it, and the testing movement in the Western world has grown rapidly since then (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1993). Testing was also well developed in ancient Chinese folk culture. An article written by a scholar, Yen (531-590), indicated that, the so-called â€Å"testing the child at one year of age† was a popular custom in southern China.On a child's first birthday, he/she would be placed on a large table full of food, clothing, paper, pens, jewelry, toys, books with, in addition, an arrow and sword for the boys, and needle and thread for the girls. The baby was encouraged to crawl freely and pick up the item he or she liked best. By observ ing what the baby grasped first, the proud parents projected the baby's intelligence, personality characteristics and aptitude by the things taken from the table. This custom lasted until the 20th Century. (Zhang, 1988, p. 02). Although clearly not a test by modern standards, it does illustrate a willingness to assess individual differences by concrete means. Zhang (1988) also noted that Lin Xie, a well-known 6th century scholar, designed what appeared to be the first experimental psychological test in the world. He asked people to draw a square with one hand and at the same time draw a circle with the other. His aim was to show that, with interference from the attempt to do the second task, neither task could be done correctly.Interestingly, Binet in the 1890s developed a similar test as part of the early psychological work on the effect of distraction (internal and external) on mental tasks (Pillsbury, 1929; Woodworth & Marquis, 1949). Binet may have been aware of the Chinese hist ory. This review is only a brief discussion of the historical background of Chinese psychology. However, psychology in China did not develop into a systematic discipline, despite the fact that the concepts of psychology have deep roots in Chinese civilization dating back almost 2,500 years.Furthermore, few empirical studies have been done in this area of knowledge in China, compared with studies done in the Western world. Thus, Chinese psychology has lacked a scientific basis because of the belief that Chinese scholars should only concern themselves with â€Å"book learning, literature, history and poetry–but not with science† (Fitzgerald, 1976, p. 274). When Chinese intellectuals began the reform movement in the early 1900s, they promoted an uncompromising rejection of Chinese traditions (especially those with Confucian roots) and advocated total or whole-hearted Westernization, in terms of science.Chinese psychology became a graft product of Western and Soviet psycho logy (Barabanshchikova & Koltsova, 1989). Early Chinese psychologists had adopted the Western ideas of behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and gestalt psychology, and the works of Pavlov, Bekhterev, and Komilov were translated from the Russian. Nowadays, however, more and more scholars taking the cross-cultural view of psychology (e. g. , Matsumoto, 2000) have realized that it is not appropriate simply to apply Western theories to explain the behavior of the Chinese or any other cultural group.Although the collection process has not been fully carried out, some Chinese psychologists (such as Gao, 1986) have started their exploration of the old studies and literature to search for the roots of Chinese psychology. Those valuable assets of the old civilization, when thoroughly explored, may give us new insights into the understanding of contemporary psychology. For example, researchers are studying early writings on traditional Chinese medicine and translating their conclusions into testable hypotheses of therapeutic effectiveness (Lee & Hu, 1993; Li, Xu, & Kuang, 1988; Tseng, 1973).This kind of work is also significant in cross-cultural studies and has particular relevance in the Chinese context. Development of Modern Chinese Psychology: Chinese psychology began a long time ago, but the modern scientific method is only recent. However, the era of modern Chinese psychology commenced in the late 1800s with the dissemination of Western psychology in China along with other Western influences. Chinese students who had studied in the West brought back ideas fundamental to modern psychology and translated Western books.In 1889, Yan Yongjing translated a Japanese version of Joseph Haven's Mental Philosophy (1875), which was regarded as the first Western psychology book to be published in China (Kodama, 1991). Psychology as an independent scientific discipline was first taught in some Chinese pedagogical institutions at the turn of this century. The Chinese educational reformer , Cai Yuanpei, who studied psychology at Wilhelm Wundt's Laboratory in Leipzig and who later became president of Beijing University, set up the first psychology laboratory at Beijing University in 1917 (Jing, 1994).In 1920, the first psychology department was established in South Eastern University in Nanjing (Li, 1994). In August 1921, the Chinese Psychological Society was formally founded. Unfortunately, its activities were interrupted by the Sino-Japanese war. Meanwhile, some Chinese scholars finished their studies in Western universities and returned to China to teach and do research in psychology. They played important roles in laying the foundation for the development of modern Chinese psychology. One of the most widely known Chinese psychologists from that period was R. Y.Kuo, who went to the University of California at Berkeley in 1918 and returned to China in 1929. As a behaviorist, his major contributions were in the field of the developmental analysis of animal behavior a nd the nervous system (Brown, 1981). Another influential figure was P. L. Chen, known as the founder of Chinese industrial psychology, who carried out field studies in Chinese factories after studying under Charles Spearman of University College London. Later, Chen's study on the G factor was translated and noted as an achievement in the developing understanding of intelligence (Wang, 1993).Another was S. Pan, who obtained his Ph. D. in Chicago in 1927, having worked with Carr on the influence of context on learning and memory. He later became president of the Chinese Psychological Society when it was re-established in 1955 after the People's Republic of China was founded. In short, from the 1920s through the 1940s, Chinese psychology was oriented mainly toward Western psychology and in fact was not different from the latter. Experimental approaches were emphasized, and Chinese psychologists were strongly influenced by the schools of functionalism, behaviorism, and the Freudians.Psy chology was basically an imported product whose general development was slow because of the unstable social environment in China during this period. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, psychology was reestablished under the auspices of the Communist Party. The new psychology took Marxism-Leninism and Mao's thought as the basic philosophy underlying its psychological theory. For instance, Marxism's materialist dialectics saw psychology (apart from experimental psychology) as entirely hypothetical and, therefore, not materialist and not permitted.Although the Western psychology of the 1930s was well known, it was rejected after 1949 because of its capitalist nature. Chinese psychology during the mentioned time period was guided by the slogan â€Å"Learn from the Soviet Psychology† (Barabanshchikova ; Koltsova, 1989, p. 118), and books by Soviet psychologists (Pavlov, Luria, Sechenov, etc. ) were translated into Chinese; Chinese students and postgraduates began to study in Russia rather than in the United States (Barabanshchikova ; Koltsova). Soviet psychology focused on the relationship between psychology nd the workings of the central nervous system, especially as shown in the work of Pavlov with animals, whereas Western psychology with its emphasis on individual differences was seen as a â€Å"tool of the bourgeoisie,† which contradicted the Marxist doctrine that states that people are primarily shaped by their social class. Jing (1994) noted that as in the Soviet Union in the 1940s and in 1950s, there were no independent departments of psychology in Chinese universities. Psychology was a secondary discipline in the departments of philosophy or education. It was only 30 years later, after the Chinese Cultural Revolution, that independent departments of psychology were reestablished in Chinese universities). (p. 670). Psychology had a preliminary development in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1958, the Institute of Psychology was se t up as a part of the Chinese Academy of Science, where, because it was classified as a science, its funding was more favorable than that of other social sciences. About half of the 3,000 Chinese psychologists then worked in normal universities or pedagogical institutes in the fields of developmental and educational psychology (Jing, 1994).Some basic psychological studies were also carried out on perception, conceptual development, memory, and physiological psychology. The publication of three important Chinese textbooks in the early 1960s reflected a significant development of teaching and research during that period: general psychology (Cao, 1963), educational psychology (Pan, 1964), and child psychology (Zhu, 1962). However, the development of psychology was not smooth because of the ebb and flow of political movements. Even though it is a science, psychology could be construed as an ideology and hence a threat to the doctrine promulgated by the ruling regime or by influential se gments of society,† noted Leung and Zhang (1995, p. 694). Jing (1994) gave an explanation for this statement. He described the 1958 campaign against the â€Å"bourgeois direction in psychology† that criticized the â€Å"globalization† and â€Å"abstractionism† of psychology. This criticism was aimed at basic research with controlled experiments. In China, confounding political matters with academic ones led to the suppression of certain subfields in psychology.For example, social psychology and psychological testing were abolished â€Å"on the grounds that the former ignored the class nature of social groups, and the latter stressed too heavily individual differences rather than social differences† (Jing, 1994, p. 671). The only social psychology articles then published were criticisms of the bourgeois and idealist values of Western psychology. As Brown (1983) noted, Western theories were viewed as a tool for exploiting the working class and a false bourgeois science, which contradicted the Marxist framework of historical materialism.Kuo (1971) gave some interesting examples of how Western-style psychological research was seen to be politically dominated. For example, Kretch and Crutchfield's proposed social psychology program for factory managers to help eliminate conflict between workers and factory owners was described as actually intended â€Å"to iron out the class struggle, to diminish the proletarian's fighting will for revolution, and to sacrifice the proletarian basic profits in order to meet the need of capitalists† (p. 100).For these reasons, between 1966 and 1976, during the period of the Cultural Revolution, psychology was attacked by the extreme leftist revolutionaries as a â€Å"bourgeois pseudo-science† and was uprooted completely as a scientific discipline. Leading psychologists were labelled as â€Å"reactionary academic authorities,† scientific research and teaching institutions were dis solved, and psychologists were dispatched to remote areas of the country to work on the farms. The disaster lasted until the termination of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. (Jing, 1994, p. 72). In a later article (1995) Jing commented that this was a â€Å"dark period† for psychology in China and lamented the â€Å"great price to be paid for political interference in science† (p. 719). Happily, Chinese economic reform launched an open-door policy to the outside world in the late 1970s, and psychology was rehabilitated as a scientific discipline. Both the Chinese Psychological Society (CPS) and Institute of Psychology have resumed their academic activities; research in, and application of, psychology is being carried out all over China.With increased international exchanges, new ideas and areas of research such as cognitive psychology and counseling psychology have become popular. For example major cities now have counseling telephone hot lines (Xu, Guo, Fang, & Yan, 19 94), many high schools have their own counselors, and cognitive behavior therapy is a popular new approach to psychiatric problems. Chinese counseling models have to adapt to the characteristics of Chinese clients and counselors (Wang, 1994). Many Chinese psychologists visited other countries, and psychologists from abroad visited China and lectured in China's universities.Thus began a more favorable environment for the present development of Chinese psychology. Wang (1993) gave a good picture of the current scene: By 1991, the CPS had more than 2,900 members, two thirds of whom were developmental and educational psychologists. The CPS has 11 special divisions of psychology, including educational, developmental, medical, general-experimental, industrial, sports, physiological, judicial psychology, and psychological measurement. Each province has its own psychological association such as counseling (Wang, 1993, p. 92).Because psychology restored its momentum in the late 1970s, Chines e psychologists have reached a consensus on building psychology with Chinese characteristics (Chen, 1993; Shi, 1989). Yue (1994) reflected on the need for Chinese psychologists to strengthen their theoretical roots and bind their work closely to life in China. Wang (1993) concluded that much recent Chinese psychological research has been closely linked with economic and social reform, technological developments, and applications of psychology (e. g. , the design of Chinese language computers, the effects of the single-child policy).Bond (1996) and the Chinese Culture Connection (1987) noted that Chinese society is still shaped by Confucian values such as filial piety and industriousness, the saving of face, and the networks of personal relationships. Even in 1922, Chinese psychologists were exhorted to unearth existing Chinese materials, investigate new materials from overseas, and based on these two sources, invent our own theories and experiments †¦ the content must be approp riate to the national situation, and the form, must insofar as is possible, be of a Chinese nature. Jing ; Fu, 1995, p. 723). In experimental psychology, the Chinese language with its ideographic characters has become a subject of great interest (see Bond, 1986, for some examples). Extensive studies are being carried out in this field, including ideographic and sound characteristics of Chinese characters; the relationship between Chinese languages and Western languages; the hemispheric laterality of information processing of the Chinese language; and reading and comprehension of the Chinese language.Because of the importance of the application of these studies to school education, artificial intelligence, and industrial technology, many Chinese psychologists are collaborating in their research efforts in the hope of finding some answers, such as how to simplify the typing of Chinese characters on computers (Tan ; Peng, 1991; Yu, Feng, ; Cao, 1990; Zhang ; Shu, 1989; Zhang, Zhang, ; Peng, 1990). Developmental psychology is another area of intensive study.There are 300 million children in China, and any new knowledge acquired in the field would have important implications for the education of this next generation (Jing, 1994). For example, Mei (1991) demonstrated that the remote rural minority people's tradition of keeping their babies propped up in sandbags for most of their first 6 months resulted in lower IQ scores up to the age of 16. Much has been published on concept development, language development, the development of thinking, personality, and moral development, gifted children, and slow learners (see Dong, 1989; Liu, 1982; Zhu & Lin, 1986).These findings have been applied to improve the teaching and testing of children, such as the development of the standardized Higher Education Entrance Examination. In addition, since the national family planning and birth control program was implemented in the mid-1980s the characteristics of the only-child policy h ave been a hot topic (Chen, 1985; Falbo & Poston, 1993; Jing, 1995). For example, Ying and Zhang (1992) found that rural Chinese still expected their children rather than the government to support them in their old age. This will clearly be a burden on a single child with four dependent grandparents.Psychologists are concerned with the school achievement and social development of these only children as well as the social psychological effects and personality problems that may be encountered in the future. Within this area, cross-cultural psychology studies among China's minority groups offer an important new prospect (Hong ; Wang, 1994; Xie, Zhang, Yu, ; Jui, 1993). In the field of medical and clinical psychology, besides the introduction of Western psychotherapeutic methods (behavior modification, group therapy, psychoanalysis, etc. ), the demonstration of the effectiveness of some traditional Chinese medical treatments (e. . , acupuncture, see Ng, 1999a) and therapies (e. g. , qig ong ; taichi, see Ng, 1999b) has been a significant development (San, 1990; Sun, 1984; Wang, 1979). Moreover, many psychologists are also involved in the process of modernization in industrial, military, and educational areas, playing important roles in policy making. For example, psychometricians helped to initiate the standardization of college entrance examinations. In personnel selection for the Air Force, psychologists are widely consulted and are actively participating in the design of selection procedures (Hao, Zhang, Zhang, ; Wang 1996).Industrial psychologists also make their contribution to the establishment of color standards of industrial illumination as well as to the developments of signs and symbols for technical products. The role of psychology has become increasingly prominent in China's rapid modernization and economic and social development. Disadvantageous Factors that May Impede the Development of Psychology: Although psychology is recognized by the Chinese gove rnment and is enjoying apparent prosperity at the moment, its future status is questionable.The development of psychology is contingent on economic growth. Compared with the other natural sciences (such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry), the development of psychology depends especially on the resources and prevailing intellectual practices of that country. It was reported in the mid-1980s that there were well over 60,000 psychologists who belonged to the American Psychological Association (Mays, Rubin, Sabourin, & Walker, 1996), whereas there were fewer than 3,000 registered members in the Chinese Psychological Society by 1991 (Wang, 1993).The ratio of psychologists to the general population is higher in developed countries than in developing countries. China has fewer than 2 psychologists for every million people (Jing & Fu, 1995). A developing country has to provide for its people's basic needs–food, shelter, health–before it can afford to provide for their â⠂¬Å"higher† psychological needs. When a country is underdeveloped, the more important problems of developing industry, commerce, and agriculture receive more attention because of the need to improve basic living conditions for everyone.In China today, with its economic pressures and its huge population problem, the further development of psychology cannot be seen as a top national priority. However, the Chinese government has begun to recognize that economic progress ultimately depends on the talents of the managers and workers and now sees the value of investing in modern management selection and training (e. g. , the setting up in 1999 of the Beijing Senior Management Selection Centre; personal communication, Gu Xiang Dong, January, 1999). Because the Chinese Government employs almost all the psychologists in the country, the future of the profession depends n its support (Jing ; Fu, 1995). In practical terms, lack of funding in developing countries means that psychologists cannot afford to attend international conferences, buy expensive books and journals, or experiment with highly technical equipment. Jing and Fu noted,. As China's market-oriented reform continues, people in academic circles are adjusting their ways of making a living. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the main organizational body of scientific research in China, started its reform in the middle 1980s to satisfy the market need for applied technology. p. 721). In 1993, the CAS elected to move 70% of its staff into research related to economic development and thus more than 50,000 people began to conduct research in areas relevant to the market economy (Wang, 1995). It is also known that a further 10,000 of the original CAS staff have become businessmen or managers as a result of the expansion of private business enterprises (Jing & Fu, 1995). Budgetary difficulties are a more immediate problem for reform. In developed countries, psychology can rely on private funding.For example , the ratio of private to government funding in the United States was as high as 1 to 10 in 1990 (see Rosenzweig, 1992), whereas in China there is little private funding to which psychologists can turn. If such funding does exist, psychology is rarely on the list for support. The lack of funding for research has had an adverse impact on basic research. In an analysis of 2,274 studies between 1979 and 1988 in developmental and educational psychology involving 362,665 participants, Shi (1990) found that 48. 9% of the studies were applied research whereas only 8% were described as basic research. The rest were more or less repetitions or adaptations of previous studies or instruments. ) Psychologists in China are predominantly concerned with applied problems, and research that addresses economic and social problems. This situation was aptly described by Long (1987): â€Å"The pressing need †¦ was a technocrat in a factory, not a rat in a Skinner box† (p. 232). An applied or ientation is understandable in the light of the heavy emphasis placed on economic development. It may be expected that psychology will play an important role in the attainment of China's present goal to modernize industry, agriculture, science, and technology.The main problems for Chinese psychologists are how to help the nation accomplish these important tasks with minimal funding and lack of facilities (Jing ; Fu, 1995). The development of psychology is based on having a sufficient number of people with advanced training, and universities are the main source of training for psychologists. Bachelor degree courses in psychology are similar to those in the United States, but Chinese lecturers have far heavier teaching commitments than their Western counterparts, and they are often required to teach topics well outside their specialist areas.The lack of educational funding also limits access to leading journals and books in the field. Universities in China can afford to subscribe to o nly a few American and European journals, and most newly published English language books are not available in the library or if they are, their use may be restricted. Thus â€Å"psychological knowledge transmitted to China falls behind the times and is less sophisticated than that in the West† (Jing ; Fu, 1995, p. 725).At present, there are only six psychology departments and four psychology institutions among all the institutions of higher education, although all normal universities and teachers' colleges have psychology curricula and established psychology teaching and research groups. This provision is clearly inadequate for future needs. In addition, students often teach in the universities in which they received their degree, leading to a restricted perspective of the discipline. To a certain extent, China must depend on the developed world for the training of its psychologists (Jing & Fu, 1995).This dependence comes through the importation of foreign experts as well as the training abroad of Chinese psychologists at the postgraduate level and the subsequent brain drain, as many of the latter do not return to China. Another serious problem affecting the development of psychology is that there are no specific career paths for students who major in psychology. There is no organized postgraduate professional psychology training, and psychology graduates are often trapped in low-income jobs. Thus, uncertain career prospects have turned away many talented students.Unfortunately many students who chose psychology as a major have turned to unrelated professions on graduation. Future Perspective The field of psychology has a long road to travel before it will reach its maturity in China. Despite the difficulties mentioned here, recent developments have revealed some directions for the future. As we have seen, the development of Chinese psychology is closely linked with the social environment and with government policy, such as the influence of the family planning program and the open door policy. This link will continue and will orient most psychological research toward practical applications.Given the poor resources in research and the limited number of psychologists, the nationwide and collaborative approach will greatly facilitate research, teaching, and the practical application of psychology. Chinese psychology has attracted tremendous interest from all over the world in recent years. The reason for this sinophilia (Leung & Zhang, 1995, p. 696) â€Å"is because of the increasing importance of China world-wide, both politically and economically. † In the next few years, more emphasis will be put on the mutual communication and exchange of ideas with the rest of the world.Chinese psychology will certainly benefit from learning from Western advanced psychology. However, to interpret the mental phenomena and behavior of the Chinese people, attention must also be focused on the theoretical construction of China's ancient psyc hological heritage traced through traditional Chinese culture. It may be that this will eventually reflect Fairbank's view (1992, p. 258) when he stated, â€Å"Chinese learning for the substance the essential principles and Western learning for function the practical applications. 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