American Literature and Research

Society affects the lives of people who live in it. It dictates how they should behave and establishes norms that are expected to be obeyed otherwise people who do not fulfill the expectations are considered as deviant, rebellious and society’s outcasts. Society, however, is susceptible to change, as it is highly shaped by the events and its resulting pervasive ideas, occurring in certain periods of time.The three stories, â€Å"The Vanishing American Hobo† by Jack Kerouac, â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut and â€Å"Soldier’s Home â€Å"by Ernest Hemingway clearly illustrates how society changes and how it affects the people in it and how people attempts to suppress deviance. The story â€Å"Soldier’s Home† is a story of a young man who returns as a changed man to Oklahoma in 1919 after the First World War. This story was first published in 1925. The young soldier Harold â€Å"Krebs† enlisted in the Marines and goes to war f or two years.When he returns home it is very obvious that he is not the same hopeful, slick, religious young man in the picture who goes to a Methodist College and enjoys college lives with fraternity brothers anymore. Now he is passive and refers to himself as not part of the â€Å"Kingdom†. Moreover, it seems he does not want to be involved with life in general, the reason is that,† He did not want consequences †¦. he wanted to live along without consequences,† therefore he withdrew (Hemingway 2007).Around him there is an air and sense of loss, he even has to lose his own war stories as he had to tell lies about his experiences since people in his town decided they have had enough of the stories of atrocities related by the soldiers who came home earlier than him. Moreover, there are so many things that he does not want to take part anymore even courting as it states, â€Å"He did not want to have to do any courting† (Hemingway 2007). It is pretty ob vious that the war had changed Krebs, and the line â€Å"he couldn’t make her see it†, when he comforts his mother after telling her that he does not love her, hinted to the reason (Hemingway 2007).The war had taught him a lot of things including stifling his emotions. And most importantly, he could not explain to his mother what he had gone through in the war, he could not make her understand and see the horror the war has exposed him. But his family, especially his parents, could not see why he has to act that way while the other soldiers in the neighborhood had clearly moved on, having good jobs and getting married, and so they pressured him to go back to the normal society. The First World War brought many countries into a global armed conflict that was considered the first devastating and horrible event in all of human history.People died by the thousands and many suddenly find themselves losing their family and friends. The soldiers, especially, are daily exposed not only to the hardships of war but the terror and anxiety that accompanies it. Trench warfare specifically exposed the soldiers to a very harsh, stagnant and extremely dangerous environment. Right before their eyes skulls and brains were blown away. An example of a horrible incident is when a man who had the top of his head blown away was groaning like an animal for three hours before he died (Hemingway Lecture Notes).Soldiers surrounding him cannot avoid being affected by such painful human torture, as they were helpless to ease his pain. No wonder that an incident like this made many soldiers who return home after the war broken, without hope and suffer emotional numbness and disbelief like Krebs did. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs it is normal that soldiers experiences a kind of trauma (shellshock and post traumatic stress disorder) after the war since it is indeed a very shocking human experience.Soldiers feel somehow dissociated from what they know is  "normal life†. It is possible that the other soldiers like Charley Simmons who easily adjusted to normal life in Oklahoma did not suffer as much as Krebs did. Studies revealed that soldiers do not experience the same kind of trauma as not all of them are exposed to more â€Å"prolonged, extensive, and horrifying† situation as Krebs probably was. However, society put pressure on them by expecting them to move on, to forget the war (â€Å"National Center† 2007).The short story â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† reflects the 1950’s conformity lifestyle and the rebellious protestation of a young boy against it. It was published in 1961. The story describes the hopeful and desperate attempts of that society to eliminate differences and to achieve equality especially in terms of intellect and physical appearance. If any man has above normal average intelligence, they put a metal handicap radio in his ear which in every 20 seconds, a noise from the government transm itter will interrupt his thinking, so that he cannot use his intelligence for his advantage.If a woman is beautiful, a hideous mask covers her face to conceal her beauty. Moreover, people are burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot to keep them from being graceful in their movements or to reduce their strength. The point is, anything that can make them look as superior from every body else are made into a handicap. They do not want â€Å"to go back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else† (Vonnegut 2005).Moreover, the idea of disobeying the law, when Hazel suggested that they made a hole to take out some lead balls from the birdshot canvas bag, was an unthinkable thing for according to George, â€Å" The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society†( Vonnegut 2005)? They believe that cheating on laws brings social upheavals that they do not like. The strange thing is that Hazel and George and the peop le around them seem to get used to the idea of conformity, as George states,† I don't notice it any more. It just a part of me† (Vonnegut 2005).However, their son, Harrison, is put into jail and eventually killed for rebelling against it. As the Handicapper General attacked their son on TV, parents of Harrison were not able to help him. Two are several forces that led into the conformity of the 1950†s: the Korean conflict and the threat of communism. But the underlying root cause of it all is the fear of the terrors of war that they previously experienced in the Second World War. Therefore to avoid any conflict, social conformity is encouraged since they believed that conformity is unity.The place of men and women in society were clearly defined: women stay home while the men go out to work and achieve the American dream. This is being depicted by Hazel and George Bergeron: Hazel stays at home while George works. Men are especially drawn to the collective idea of à ¢â‚¬Å"organization man†; they were expected to work in corporations, to put on flannel suits and pursue the American dream. The American dream is like the Handicapper General that dictates the ideas and dreams of the people. Every one is encouraged to think and act alike and was preoccupied with the lure of consumerism and materialism.Conformity are also seen in the sameness of house designs , like the one in Levittown and the sameness of appetite, as Americans began to be obsessed with fast foods. Conformity was especially achieved with the aid of Television. As in the story, all of the action occurred in front of the Television (Costello 2007). However, the young generations are beginning to rebel, as symbolized by Harrison, but the force of conformity was so strong that parents are in bondage to it, unable to extend the necessary psychological and emotional help that their children desperately needed.The â€Å"Vanishing American Hobo† was published in 1960. It tells of the experiences of the hobos as they travels like vagabonds from place to place across America usually with back packs on their backs. They are a people who choose to live as exiles of society, who sleep just anywhere, to experience the freedom that they desire, â€Å"There's nothing nobler than to put up with a few inconveniences like snakes and dust for the sake of absolute freedom† (Kerouac 2008). But freedom from what?Obviously from their restrictive society who dictates what they should do or have. According to Kerouac, the hobo â€Å"is born of pride, having nothing to do with a community but with himself and other hobos and maybe a dog† (Kerouac 2008). This means that they are proud of their lifestyle or subculture, that they deliberately do not want to associate with society and maintain little intimate interest with other people, aside from the hobos like them. The author laments that they are quickly becoming a vanishing lot because of the police and the m edia.The police, riding in their tax-paid police, cars searches for them everywhere suspecting them as possible spies against the government while the media, on the other hand, portray them as â€Å"the rapist, the strangler, and child-eater† so that adults and children stay away from them and no longer provides them with the food that they need (Kerouac 2008). This shows clearly the attempts of the government to suppress the subculture that they symbolizes and to force them back to what is â€Å"normal†.In the wake of the conformity of the 1950’s arises the Beat generation. â€Å"Beat generation† is attributed to Jack Kerouac. Though it could mean being defeated or weary of life â€Å"like being pushed up against the wall† or implying a sense of being used or raw Jack would also like it to refer to what is beatific (The Beat Generation Lecture). Jack and his friends, in ushering in the beat generation, encourages the protest of the 60’s aga inst the established society of materialism, where everyone are encouraged to own cars and decent homes.The generation, having experienced uncertainties of the Depression and the terror of war in childhood, is a disillusioned lot who desperately wants to hold on to something that they can believe in(Beat Generation Lecture Notes; Abieva [no date]). They do not find such meaning in the collective conformity of the 1950’s, the generation of their fathers. In fact, they do not trust this collective society who was responsible for the bad circumstances of depression and global wars.The hobos, particularly, are glorified as people who defy the restrictive and demanding norms of society in pursuit of freedom. They symbolize the solitary desire of that generation, to be left alone, to figure things out for themselves, to search for meaning. As the period was compounded by hysteria of the rise of communism, it seems that the right thing to do in that generation, to preserve ones indi vidual identity, is to quit that society.Attempts were made to discourage this deviance (subculture) as what McCarthy did in his pursuit against communism. The media and police were effective tools for suppression (Abieva, [no date]). The three stories therefore clearly give an insight into the societies in the periods of American history following just after turbulent struggles. The horrors and uncertainties of the Wars and Depression molded the consciousness of the people, and as they try to cope with the challenge of their era, it therefore changed their way of thinking and lifestyle.People become united for certain causes and also united in their sufferings. However, some people do try to get out of its safe mold, to carve a life according to the dictates of their own minds. To be different is what scares most people so that society always attempts to suppress this deviance back to conformity by exerting force or pressure. Works Cited Abieva, Natalia. Protest and Experiment in t he Literature of the Beat Generation. Fairfield University. [no date]. Accessed November 4, 2008 Costello, Mr. Conformity Notes: 1950s Lecture On Society. Canfield Foundation Website. March 2007. Accessed November 4, 2008 < http://servtlc. access-k12. org/ achievement/Fifties_Conformity. htm> Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Soldier’s Home†. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 2007. Accessed November 4, 2008 Kerouac , Jack. â€Å"The Vanishing American Hobo†.Cloud Bird Trail Home. 2008. Accessed November 4, 2008 â€Å"National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder â€Å". United States Department of Veterans Affairs. May 2007. Accessed November 4, 2008 Vonnegut, Kurt. â€Å"Harrison Bergeron†. West Valley College. September 2005. Accessed November 4, 2008

Aci Financial Statement Essay

The companies are now preparing this statement as an integral part of their financial statements. This paper examines empirically the current practices followed by sample companies in preparation of cash flow statement and concludes that the sample companies are in line (with few exceptions) with the requirements of International Accounting Standard (IAS)-7 or Bangladesh Accounting Standard (BAS)-7. It also proposes some suggestions for improving the presentation of the statement Key words: Cash flow statement, IAS/BAS, Listed Company, Disclosure. Introduction The purpose of a cash flow statement is to provide information on the cash flow from a company’s operating, investing and financing activities to enable the users of its financial statements to evaluate the ability of the company to generate cash and to use the historic cash flows to predict future cash flows. The cash flow information enhances the comparability of the operating performance by various companies, because it eliminates the effects that arise from the use of different accounting treatments for the same transactions and events. The use of cash flow information is gaining importance in the analysis of financial statements (Epstein 1991; Yap 1997; Jones and Widjaja 1998; Previts and Bricker 1994). Cashflow information is considered less open to manipulation than information on earnings, because it is based on the actual receipt and payment of cash only and not on the accrual and other accounting principles. Rees (1995:75) adds that the cash flow statement can be more informative than the other statements. However, he literature on the cash flow statement indicates that there are grey areas in cash flow reporting that are open to various interpretations (Everingham and Watson 2002). The perceived simplicity of the cash flow statement may therefore create synthetic confidence in the reliability of companies’ cash flow reporting and the comparability of various companies’ cash flow information. The acceptance of IAS-7: The Cash Flow Statement has added a new dimension to the preparation and present ation of financial statements in Bangladesh. This paper is an attempt to investigate into the state of cash flow reporting by the listed Bangladeshi * Lecturers, Department of Business Administration, ASA University Bangladesh 210 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Textiles and Clothing companies in general. The focus is not on the quality of the reporting of the companies but rather on what the reporting levels are in general. Objectives of the study The major objectives of the study are as follows: 1. to identify the current practice of cash flow statement of Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. 2. o provide present cash flow statement format, structure and reporting on the basis of information provided in the annual reports of the selected listed Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh. Methodology of the study The study was conducted in accordance with secondary information obtained from various sources. The overview of standardization of financial reporting and the regulatory framework has be en based on laws, regulation, and guideline and also on various published sources of information taken from International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and Bangladesh Accounting Standard 7 (BAS 7). A limited survey has also been made covering a total of 12 Pharmaceutical companies’ annual reports (2009) enlisted in Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). These are selected on the basis of convenience sampling procedure. In order to make the study more revealing it also covers some research articles, textbooks, publications and web sites of various accounting bodies. Limitations of the study 1. Applied non profitability techniques have been used. 2. Due to limitation of the extensive materials, books and previous studies in Bangladesh literature review could not be extensive. 3. This study consists of only 12 listed Pharmaceutical companies due to time and resources constraints. Literature review Cash flow statement: A historical surroundings/background Cash flow Accounting (CFA) was the main system of accounting up to beginning of the 18th century (Watanabe, Izumi: The evolution of Income Accounting in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain, Osaka University of Economics, Vol. 57, No. 5, January 2007, p. 27-30). Till then, accounting allocation and profit measurement were relatively unimportant; the profit and loss account being used to close off ledger accounts at each period end. However, with the advent of concept and practices of business continuity, periodic measure and statement of financial position began to grow. Thus the basis of cash transaction becomes foundation for the allocation based systems of accounting today. Although there has been a reasonably sustained interest in fund flow statements (based on allocated accounting data) since the beginning of the twenty century, CFA appears to have received little or no support from accountants until the early 1960s. At that time there was little concern over the use of ‘cash flow’ data in the financial analysis- cash flow being interpreted as ‘profit plus depreciation (. Winjum, J. o, 1972). In 1961 AICPA recognized the importance of fund statement by publishing Accounting Research Study (ARS) Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 211 NO 2â€Å"Cash flow analysis and fund statements†. Before that, accountants had prepared funds statements primarily as management report. The Accounting Principles Board (APB) responded in October 1963 by issuing APB Opinion NO. : â€Å"the statements of and application of funds†, which recommended that a statement of sources and application of funds be presented on a supplementary basis. Because of the favorable response of the business community to this pronouncement, the APB issued Opinion No. 198: â€Å"Reporting changing in Financial Position† in March 1971. This opinion required that a statement of changing financial position be presented as a basic financial statement and be covered by the auditor’s reports. In 1981 the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB) reconsidered fund flow issues as part of the conceptual framework project taken in 1976. At this time the FASB decided that the cash flow reporting issues should be considered at the standard level. Subsequent deliberation resulted in Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (SFAS) No. 95: ‘Statement of cash flows’ in Nobember1987 (Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel 1998: 1936). Fund flow statement Vs Cash flow statement Both fund flow statement and cash flow statement serve as a fundamental parts of the financial statements. In 1961, the AICPA issued ARS No. 2, â€Å"Cash Flow Analysis and the Fund Statements† which recommended that a fund statement covered by auditor’s opinion be included in companies financial reports. According to paragraph 5 of Preface to Statement of International Accounting Standard [approved by the IASC Board in November1982 for publication in January 1983 and supersedes the preface published in January 1975 (amended March 1978)], â€Å"the term ‘financial statements’ covers balance sheets, income statement or profit and loss accounts, statements of change in financial position, notes and other statements and explanatory materials which are identified as being part of financial statements† (IASC, 2000:32). As per paragraph 7 of framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements (approved by IASC Board in April 1989 for publication in July 1989): â€Å"A complete set of financial statement normally includes a balance sheet, an income statements, a statements of change in financial position (which may be presented in a variety of ways, for example as a statement of cash flow or a statement of fund flows) and those notes and other statements and explanatory materials that are an integral part of the financial statements† (IASC : p. 3-44). As per paragraph 4 of the previous IAS 7 (October 1977), statements of change in financial position, the term ‘ funds’ referred to cash, cash and cash equivalents or working capital (IFAC, 1992: p. 813). Funds provided or used in operation of an enterprise should be presented in the statements of changes in financial statement separately from other sources and uses of fund. Unusual items, which are not part of ordinary activities of the enterprise, should be separately disclosed (IASC: Para 21). But many users of financial statements consider current practices of reporting fund flows as confusing because too much information is compressed in the statements of change in financial position, and because no single definition has been established (Mosich and Larsen, 1982; p. 935). In order to develop a conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting, the FASB issued in December 1980 a discussion memorandum â€Å"reporting Fund flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility† which was issued for the following reasons: (1) for assessing future cash flow, and (2) current practices regarding the reporting of funds flow information are not entirely satisfactory. As a result of deliberation, FASB issued SFAS NO. 95 ‘Statements of Cash Flow’ in 1987. The statements require the inclusion of statements of Cash Flows rather than a statement of Change in Financial position when issuing a complete set of financial statements 212 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 which was made effective for annual periods ending after July 15, 1988. The major requirements of the statements are of the following two areas: Basis of Presentation: The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. Classification of cash flows: Cash flows are to be classified according to operating, investing and financing activities. The basis of such classification is derived from the financial theory, which state that the enterprise derives the cash used for investing activities and settlement of outstanding financial obligation in an accounting period from internal and external sources. Internal cash sources emanate from the net cash generated from current operation and perhaps disinvesting and depletion of cash resources at the start of the period. External cash sources come from financing activities such as borrowing and receiving cash from the sale of equity shares to existing and new shareholders (Wallace et,al). Benefits of Cash Flow Information – The information in a cash flow statement helps investors, creditors, and others to assess the following aspects of the firm’s financial position. – Such statements serve as a mechanism for predicting the ability to generate future cash flows for the investors, creditors and others. – This enables managers or management to plan coordinate and control financial operation in an effective manner. It gives an indication of the relationship between profitability and cash generating ability thus of the quality of the profit earned. – It furnishes information to the management regarding the entities’ ability to pay dividend and meet obligations. – Analyst and other users of financial information often, formally or informally, develop models to assess and compare the present value of the future cash flow of entities. Historical cash flow statements could be useful to check the accuracy of past assessment (ACCA Text book part 2. P. 324). It is free from manipulation and is not affected by subjective judgments or by accounting policies. – Such a statement dictates situations when a business has made huge profit but has run out money or it has sustained loss but has enough cash availability. – The extent of cash generated from operational activity and external finance in order to meet capital, tax, and dividend requirements can be obtained from such statements (Lee, T. A: 1972:27-36). – It aids in the evaluation of risk, which includes both the expected variability of future return and probability of insolvency or bankruptcy ( Hendrickson, Eldom. S, 1982: 237). – Such statements reveal the capability of an enterprise to pay its short obligation as and when due to the lenders. – A cash flow statement in conjunction with a balance sheet provides information on liquidity, viability, and adaptability. The balance sheet is often used to obtain information on liquidity, but the information is rather incomplete for this purpose as the balance sheet is prepared at a particular point of time. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 213 It may assists users of financial statements in making judgments on the amounts, timing and degree of certainty of future cash flows. – This statement provides information that is useful in checking the accuracy of past assessment of future cash flows and in examining the relationship between profitability and net cash flow and the impact of changing price (IAS 7: Para 3 & 4). – Information on cash flows classified by three groups of activities (Operating, investing and financing) that allow users to assess the impact of those activities on the financial position of the enterprise and the amount of its cash and cash equivalents. This information may also be to evaluate the relationship among those activities (IAS 7: Para 11). – This statement is of special importance in assessing future cash flows, quality of income operating capability, financial flexibly and liquidity, and information on financing and investing activities. Using cash flows from operating activities from the cash flow statements, different ratios such as liquidity, ratio, solvency ratio, and profitability ratios can also be calculated to evaluate an enterprise’s liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Aziz uddin and Bala, 2001: p. 14) Overview of Cash flow statement The cash flow statement explains the changes that have occurred in the company’s cash and cash equivalents during the year by classifying the cash flows in its operating, investing and financing activities. The statement must focus on cash receipts and payments and must explain the change in cash plus cash equivalents. The classification is done in a way tha t is most appropriate to the company’s business. The following are the definitions of the components of the cash flow statement: Cash: cash on hand and demand deposits Cash equivalents: short term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of changes in value. Operating activities: the principal revenue-producing activities of the enterprise and other activities that are not investing or financing activities Investing activities: the acquisition and disposal of long-term assets and other investments not included in cash equivalents. Financing activities: activities that result in changes in the size and composition of the equity capital and borrowings of the enterprise (Epstein, p. 93). Objective and Scope of IAS 7 Information about the cash flow of an enterprise is useful in providing users of financial statements with a basis to assess the ability of the enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and the needs of the enterprise to utilize those cash flows. The economic decision taken by users requires an evaluation of the ability of an enterprise to generate cash and cash equivalents and timing and certainty of their generation. The objective of IAS 7 is to require the provision of information about the historical change in cash and cash equivalents of an enterprise by means of a cash flow statement that classifies cash flows during the period from operating, investing and financing activities. An enterprise should prepare a cash flow statement in accordance with the requirements of IAS 7 and should present it as an integral part of its financial statements for each period for which financial statements are prepared. Users of an enterprise’s financial statements are interested in how the enterprise generates and uses cash and cash equivalents. This is the case regardless of the nature of the enterprise activities and irrespective of whether cash can be viewed 214 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 as the product of the enterprise, as may be the case with a financial institution. Enterprises need cash for the same reason however different their principal revenue- producing activities might be. They need cash to conduct their operations, to pay their obligations and to provide return to the investors. Accordingly this standard requires all enterprises to present a cash flow (Para 1 & 3). Presentation of Cash flow statement under IAS 7 Cash and cash equivalent: The definition of cash and cash equivalent are central to the preparation and interpretation of cash flow statements. Cash consists of cash in hand and demand deposits, coins and notes of an organization, etc. In our country deposits in postal accounts may be termed as cash (Cooper and Ijiri, 1984: 88; Ghosh, 2001). Cash equivalents are short-term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible into known amount of cash and which are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to the definitions of paragraph 6 of IAS 7 cash comprises cash in hand and demand deposits; usually ‘cash on hand’ includes currency, notes, and coin in the cash box of the enterprise. It also includes prize bond, negotiable money orders, postal orders, and under posited checks, bank drafts or pay- order. Demand deposits refer to deposits in checking accounts in banks and other financial institutions that may be withdrawn without notice usually subject to deduction of outstanding check. Thus cash equivalents – 1. are short-term investments but the ‘term’ ‘short’ not clearly specified, although a period of three months and less is suggested to be taken as short term period. 2. are highly liquid investments. Here ‘liquid’ means having in a situation where cash equivalents are available in sufficient amount to meet obligation of payments. . are investments that are both: (a) readily convertible, to known amounts of cash and (b) subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. According to SFAC No. 95, the risk categorically refers to risk of change in interest rate. The short-term investments are so near their maturity that they represent insignificant risk of changes in interest rate. Examples include treasury bills, commercial papers, a nd money market funds purchased with cash that is in excess of immediate needs. However, although by definition, cash equivalents refer to short term highly liquid investments, they are usually held for the purpose of meeting short term cash commitments rather than for other purpose. For an investment to qualify as a cash equivalent it must be readily convertible to a known amount of cash and be subject to insignificant risk of change in value. Therefore an investment normally qualifies as a cash equivalent only when it has a short maturity of, say, three months and less from the date of acquisition. Equity nvestments are excluded from the cash equivalents unless they are, in substance, cash equivalents, for example in the case of preferred share acquired within a short period of their maturity and with a specified redemption date (Para 7). Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 215 Preparation of Cash flow statements IAS 7 requires cash flows to be classified into operating, investing, and financing activities. Example of cash flows by cate gory Operating Activities Inflows Receipts from customers Outflows Payments to suppliers Advance deposits from customers Wages and salaries to employees Income tax refunds Income tax payments Interest received on customers’ notes or Other tax payments accounts Dividends and interest received from Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and investments and included in determining net included in determining net income income Investing Activities Cash received from sale of capital assets Payments for purchase of capital assets Cash from sale of debt or equity investments Cash flows capitalized as intangible assets, such as:  · development costs  · start-up costs  · capitalized interest  · exploration Costs Collection of principal on loans to others Purchase of debt or equity securities of others Interest and dividends received on investments Loans extended to others and not included in determining net income Financing Activities Net proceed of issuing debt or equity securities Payment of principal on bonds or bank loans Cash proceeds received from ba nk loans Purchase of the entity’s own shares Interest paid on bank debt or bonds outstanding and not included in determining net income Dividends paid to shareholders Variations in Reporting activities for Cash flows A. Operating or Financing activities Transactions with different categories included in cash flows are classified in a different manner. According to IAS 7, Para 12, â€Å"A single transaction may include cash flows that are classified differently. For example, when the cash repayment of a loan includes both interest and capital the interest element may be classified as operating activities and the capital amount is classified as financing activities†. B. Operating or investing and financing activities Some cash flows may be classified as arising from any activities such as ‘interest’, ‘dividend’ ‘income tax’. The detailed provisions of these types are as follows. 216 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Interest: a. For a financial institution, interest paid and interest received are usually classified as operating cash flows (para 33). b. For other enterprise, interest paid and interest received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively, interest paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Interest received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). Dividend: a. For a financial institution, dividends received are usually classified as operating cash flow (Para 33). b. For other enterprise, dividends received may be classified as operating cash flows because they enter into the determination of net profit or loss. Alternatively dividend received may be classified as investing cash flows, because they are returns on investments (para 33). c. Dividend paid may be classified as financing cash flows, because they are costs of obtaining financial resources. Alternatively dividend paid may be classified as component of cash flows from operating activities in order to assist users to determine the ability of an enterprise to pay dividend out of operating cash flows (para 34). Income tax: a. Taxes on income arise on a transaction that gives to the cash flows that are classified as operating, investing, and financing activities in cash flow statement. While tax expense may be readily identifiable with investing or financing activities, the related tax cash flows are often impracticable to identify and may arise in a different period from the cash flows of the underlying transactions. Therefore taxes paid are usually classified as cash flows from operating activities. However, often it is practicable to identify the tax cash flow within individual transaction that gives rise to cash flows that are classified as investing or financing activity as appropriate. When tax cash flows are allocated over more than one class of activity, the total amount of taxes paid is disclosed (Para 36). In the light of SFAS 95, â€Å"Transaction that enter into the determination of net income† are defined as operating activities and hence, interest received or paid, dividend received and taxes on income are rigidly treated to arise from operating activities. Dividend to stakeholders are treated as cash outflows classified as financing activities (Keiso and Weygandt, 1998: 1275-76) Cash flow statement Practices in Bangladesh Regulatory Framework, in the eyes of the Companies Act 1994 (Act no. 18 of 1994): According to Section 183 of the Companies’ Act 1994 (which came into effect from 1 January 1995), a company is required to present balance sheet, profit and loss account (income and expenditure account, in case of non profit companies). Under section 185, the balance sheet and the income statement have to be prepared according to the forms set out in Part –1 and Part –2 of Schedule XI respectively under which information on consecutive two years (concerned year and Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 217 preceding year) are to be provided. However according to note (g) of the general instruction for preparation of balance sheet (given in part –1 of schedule XI after the horizontal format of the balance sheet), â€Å"a statement of change in financial position shall be included as an integral part of the financial statements, and shall be presented for each period for which the profit and loss account is prepared†. However no specific format of cash flow statement has been prescribed in Companies Act 1994. In the light of the Security and Exchange Rule 1987 (S. R. O No. 237-l/87 dated on 28 September 1987): Under the provision of rule 12 (1) of the Securities and Exchanges Rules (SER) 1987(amended by the section notification No. SEC/ Section 7/SER/03/132 dated 22 october1997 published in the official gazette on 29 December 1997), the annual report to be furnished by an issuer of listed security shall include â€Å"a balance sheet, profit and loss account, cash flow statement and notes to the accounts collectively hereinafter referred to as the financial statement’. In the part III of the Schedule of the SER 1987, issues relating to interest paid on short-term borrowing, interest and dividend received income taxes are clearly guidelined. For example, interest paid on short-term borrowing shall be a cash outflow under operating activities; ‘interest and dividend received’ shall be a cash inflow under investing activities. And ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ shall be a cash outflow under financing activities. Under paragraph 35-36, ‘taxes on income’ should be treated as operating cash outflow unless they can be identified in financing and investing activities. Findings of the study To know the extent of cash flows statement reporting practices by Pharmaceutical companies, a survey has been conducted covering twelve annual reports (2009) (For detailed the name of the companies see Appendix-1). The major findings of the study are given below in terms of general variations in reporting and voluntary disclosure. General findings It includes the current format and structure of cash flow statement and the extent of compliance of IAS-7, followed by sample Pharmaceutical Companies in Bangladesh. All the sample companies prepare cash flow statement as required by IAS-7/BAS 7 adopted by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Bangladesh and present it as an integral part of the financial statements. Notes to cash flow statement have been presented as part of the financial statements i n case of all the sample companies.  · The sample companies prepare cash flow statement in vertical form and shows figure of cash flows of the current year and the previous year.  · All the sample companies’ cash flow statement contains a classification of operational, investing, and financing activities.  · The sample companies did not illustrate the policy dopted in determining the formulation of cash and cash equivalents although this is required by paragraph 36 of IAS 7. 218 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 Variation in Reporting Another objective of the survey was to determine which alternatives, permitted by IAS-7, are used most in practice by Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies. It is found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accoun ting treatments. The results are set out in table 1. Table-1 Variations in reporting [Cash flow statement (CFS)] Factors 1 Notes to CFS Options Separately, following the CFS Part of the notes to the financial statements Incorporated in the CFS Total Direct method Indirect method Total Operating activities or no interest Financing Investing activities Total Financing activities or no dividends Operating activities Investing activities Total Part of accounting policy note Nothing disclosed Total Operating activities or no tax Financing activities Investing activities Total Number of companies 0 12 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 0 12 12 0 12 12 0 0 12 2 Operating activities 3 Interest received and Interest paid 4 Dividend received and Dividend paid 5 Definition of cash and cash equivalents 6 Income tax Notes to table 1  · Refer to point 2 of Table 1. According to IAS-7 and SEC Rule 1987, the enterprises are encouraged to report cash flows from operating activities using the direct method. The direct method provides information which may be useful in estimating future cash flows which is not available under the indirect method. All the sample companies followed the direct method in reporting operating cash flows. One company (Pharmaceutical Mithun Knitting & Dyeing Ltd. ) discloses cash flows from operating activities under indirect method in notes of financial statements as additional information. Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies  ·  · 219 Refer to points 3 & 4 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown ‘interest received and paid’ under operating activities and ‘interest paid on long term borrowing’ and ‘dividend paid’ under financing activities. Refer to points 5 & 6 of Table 1. All the companies studied have shown â€Å"definition of cash and cash equivalents† in the notes of accounting policy and â€Å"income tax† under operating activities. Voluntary disclosure The survey also included an examination of any additional information that is disclosed regarding the company’s cash flow which is not required by IAS-7, but which may be helpful to the user. For example, separate disclosure of cash flows increases operating capacity and cash flows that maintain operating capacity, disclosure of segmental cash flows, cash flow per share etc. The survey found no company to disclose such additional voluntary information in its cash flow statement. Conclusion and Recommendation A materially misstated cash flow statement, whether it is in terms of incorrect classification in the categories or numerical accuracy, can be misleading to the user and can lead to wrong decisions taken by the users of the statement. The survey has revealed that although sample companies prepare cash flow statement according to International Accounting Standard-7 (BAS-7), there is also a degree of non-compliance. It is, however, found that there are not many differences between companies in their reporting of cash flow information. This is expected because the preparation of cash flow statement does not allow for many choices, differences of interpretation or different accounting treatments. To make cash flow statement more informative and useful for users, the companies should disclose additional voluntary information such as cash flow per share in their cash flow statements. Items consisting of cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities should also be clarified in the notes of the financial statements. Due to the limited scope of the present study, a large number of research issues have not been attempted but are identified in the course of the study. Disclosure practices of additional items other than operating, investing and financing activities, disclosure practices differences between listed and unlisted companies, disclosure practices differences between financial and other institutions are some such potential issues for future research. 220 ASA University Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, July–December, 2012 References Annual Reports of Sample Pharmaceutical Companies Listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange 2009. Aziz Uddin, A. B. M and Bala. , S. K. ( 2001), â€Å"Cash Flow Reporting in Bangladesh†, The Cost & Management, Nov- Dec. ICMAB, p. 13. FASB Discussion Memorandum (1980), Reporting Funds Flow, Liquidity and Financial Flexibility, FASB, Stanford. Thomas H. Beechy. Joan E. D. Conrod, Intermediate Accounting, second Edition, Chpter 5, Exhibit 5-1 pp. 91 Ghosh, Santi N. (2001),â€Å"Workshop Material on IAS # 7 : Cash Flow Statements† compiled under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)Project, Development of Accounting and Auditing Standards in Bangladesh, The World Bank. Government of Bangladesh (GOB) (1994), The Companies Act 1994 (Act No. 18 of 1994). Gup, B. E. & Samson, W. D. 1993. An analysis of patterns from the statement of cash flows. Financial Practice & Education, 3(2):73-79. Hendrickson, Eldom. S(1982), Accounting Theory, Richard D. Irwin, Inc. , Illinois, p. 236. Hertenstein, J. & McKinnon, S. 1997. Solving the puzzle of the cash flow statement. Business Horizons, 40(1):69-76. International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) (2000), International Accounting Standards 2000 International Accounting Standards Committee, London, â€Å"International Accounting Standard IAS 7 (revised 1992): Cash Flow Statements† in pp. 139165. International Federation of Accounting (IFAC) (1992), IFAC Handbook 1992: Technical Pronouncements (New York: IFAC). â€Å"IAS 7 (October 1977): Statement of Changes in Financial Position† in pp. 812- 816. Khan, M. H. & Akter, M. S. & Ghosh, S. K (2005), â€Å"Cash Flow Statement Disclosures: A Study of Banking Companies in Bangladesh†. Available at www. pcte. edu. in/site/OJMR/Finance/cashflow. pdf Keiso, Donald, E. and Jerry. J. Weygandt (1998), Intermediate Accounting, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 9th Edition, pp. 1275-76. Lee, T. A. 1982. Cash flow accounting and the allocation problem. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 9(3):341-352. Lee, T. A (1972), â€Å"A Case for Cash Flow Reporting†, Journal of Business Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 27-36 as quoted in Studies of Accounting Theory, Steyn, B. W. & Hamman, W. D. 2003. Cash flow reporting: are listed companies complying with AC 118? Meditari, 11:167-180. Weygandt, Kieso, Kimmel, Accounting Principles, 9th edition, John, Wilely and Sons, Inc, pp. 732-733 Wallace, R. S. O. and Choudhury, M. S. I. And Pendelbary, M. 1997), â€Å"Cash Flow Statements: An International Comparison of Regulatory Positions†, The International Journal of Accounting, Vol. 32, No, 1, pp. 1-22 Cash Flow Statement Disclosures in Pharmaceutical Companies 221 Appendix-1 List of the twelve Pharmaceutical companies studied. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. GlaxcoSmithKline Bangladesh Limited (2009) The IBN SINA Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd. (2009) BEXIMCO PHARMACEUTICAL LTD. (2009) ORION INFUSION LTD. (2009) ACI Formulation Limited (2009) Ambee Pharmaceutical Limited (2009) Square Pharmaceutical Ltd. (2009) Libra Infusions Limited (2009) BEACOM Pharmaceuticals Limited (2009) Rahman Chemicals Limited (2009) Renata Limited (2009) Therapeutics (Bangladesh) Limited (2009)

A Streetcar Named Desire Essays - English-language Films

A Streetcar Named Desire ERiN GiLLESPiE Tennessee Williams is known for his powerfully written psychological dramas. Most of his works are set in the southern United States and they usually portray neurotic people who are victims of their own passions, frustrations, and loneliness. The play represents the conflict between the sensitive, neurotic Blanche DuBois and the crude, animalistic Stanley Kowalski. Blanche visits the home of her sister, Stella, in New Orleans and that is when Stanley started picking at her, almost testing her. Before she had met Stanley, she told her sister of how their plantation had been lost due to the costs of paying for the funerals of many family members. There was not enough money for her to keep the plantation. While Blanche bathed after her arrival, Stanley came home. Stella had told him what had happened and he immediately insisted that Blanche was swindling them. He hinted that Blanche had sold the plantation in order to buy beautiful furs and jewelry. He went through Blanche's trunk while she bathed, Stella insisted he stop. He was looking for sale papers from the plantation. After Blanche was finished bathing, Stella was outside, so Stanley started questioning Blanche. She insisted that she had nothing to hide from him and let him go through all historical papers from Belle Reve, the plantation. While living with Stella and Stanley, Blanche had met a man named Mitch, who she started dating. She liked him a lot but she hid many things from him. Firstly, she hid secrets of her first lover, her husband Allan Grey. Every time she thought of him, she thought of how he killed himself and she heard the polka which played in the background. She did not want to speak of this to Mitch. After Allan's death, Blanche used to go to the Tarantula Arms hotel where she would have intimacies with strangers. She did it because she felt it would fill her empty heart. She did not want to tell Mitch because she wanted him to respect her. Blanche was very careful to hide her looks too. She felt that she was old looking and tried to avoid bright lights from glaring down on her. She covered a light in Stella's house with a Chinese paper lamp to keep it from being so bright she hid her looks from Mitch, he never saw her in the day. Finally, one day, Stanley tried to find out many of Blanche's secrets and told them to Mitch so he would not fall for her, even though he was considering marrying her. He told Mitch of her intimacies, and told him of when she had a relationship with one of her students. Mitch felt deceived, she lied to him about many things, her age, her past. Stanley taunted Blanche until he attacked her in violent passion. When Blanche tried to tell her sister what Stanley had done to her, she does not know what to think. Blanche retreats into a private dreamworld. She tells Stella and Eunice, a friend, of how she is going to die. She says she will die from eating an unwashed grape. Grapes are a symbol with sexual overtones. Stanley represents the unwashed grape that will kill her. Blanche says that she will die with her hand in the hand of a young ship's doctor and she will be buried at sea. She will be dropped into an ocean as blue as her first lover's eyes. Blue is used in this play as a symbol of sadness. It represents her husband's death. Her husband, to her, was different than other men, he had beautiful blue eyes and she compared him to a seahorse. The male seahorse is different because it id him that gives birth unlike other creatures, as her husband was unlike other men. Stella does not believe her sister after she tells her wha t Stanley has done, instead, she has her sent to a mental institution. She cries as Blanche is taken away, perhaps she knows she has made a mistake but Stanley soothes her, telling her everything will be back to normal, as he is opening her blouse. Stanley has won, Blanche was gone, things would be like before, he

Club It Part 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Club It Part 3 - Assignment Example In spite of a strong clientele, owners are always thinking innovative strategies to expand business. During my internship at the club, I have learned day to day club operations and the night as well. The report will categorize business information and demographical data along with an IT based technological solution to automate day to day operations and address issues that may arise. Moreover, the technological solution will also enhance customer experience to the next level that will portray a positive impact on overall business profitability. Business Statistics The primary objective for Club IT is to provide an exciting and desired environment for young as well as old people. The demographics for the visitors of different age groups may be between 21 years to 35 years of age. The club demonstrates a unique high energy environment with traditional dining options along with live music acts incorporated with a revolving door. A large majority of clienteles are associated with the digi tal age and are quite familiar with latest computing technologies. Likewise, the awareness of Information Technology in the employees and the customers will facilitate the club to deliver value. The expansion of the business will be sustainable by integrating the social environment of the customer with social networking modules integrated with the Club’s website. Moreover, the website will also provide product information, different food deals, dates of live music events all one a single graphical user interface i.e. on a website. The website must be designed to demonstrate dynamic information, as it will maintain interest for the online visitors. As the owners seek opportunities for improving the business model of the club on a continual basis, they are now showing interest for enhancing business operations via acquisition of information systems. Likewise, these information systems will be utilized for automating several business functions including finance, human resource a nd marketing. Moreover, the purchases and deliverables can be monitored and tracked from different vendors associated with supply chain management. Currently, the club is already providing intranet services to the employees. Intranet demonstrates many advantages, as it provides a robust communication platform that can be utilized easily. Likewise, scheduled work hours and calculated wages can be computed on week to week basis. However, a storage medium i.e. a database is required for storing the required information. Moreover, if strategically aligned with the business strategy, the system can also address the future expansion and workload management of day to day operations of the Club. New Requirements The new plan empowered with IT enabled services will enhance customer experience in the club. Likewise, one of the prime features of these services will be a Wireless hotspot, as it will provide Internet access within the premises. These services will portray impact on business and will help the club to host corporate events. After the introduction of corporate events, food and drink requirements will increment. Moreover, with the help of wireless Internet, customer will use online club IT portals to order food and drinks. As the service time will be decreased, staff productivity will automatically augment. Consequently, a robust communication with the staff will be achievable, as the customers can easily

Social struggles in The Melting Pot and America Essay

Social struggles in The Melting Pot and America - Essay Example The poems ‘The Melting Pot’ and ‘America’ are poems that both portray different characters. These characters seem unsatisfied or displeased with the current state of affairs in the country. In the poem America, the narrator identifies a boy who describes America in a way that shows his negative attitude towards the state of affairs in the country. The second poem, ‘’The Melting Pot’ also talks about the problem of identity of immigrants. It talks about discriminations experienced by the immigrants in a cynical way. The poem is also narrated by an ‘observer or outsider’. The narrator of ‘America’ is not also directly involved with the activities and events in the poem. He/she is a third party in the setting. These two similarities between the poems is also a notable one and brings the authors’ feelings without having a biased approach on either of them. In ‘America,’ Tony Hoagland helps the rea der to visualize and clearly see how Americans have a liking for material things. These material things are not necessary in their lives by specifically using nouns. In the line where he says ‘Then one of pupil with blue hair and a tongue stud, claims that America for him is for a maximum security prison.’ In this line, he portrays a young person, who represents a future generations, who has literally lost hope in his country, and views it as a prison, rather than a home. This is dangerous as the young generation is responsible for the future social wellbeing of people (Hahn, 2003). He goes on to say that ‘Whose walls are made of Radio Shacks, Burger Kings and MTV episodes.’ In this line, he clearly depicts a society that has lost its traditions and dependent on contemporary aspects of life. He also indicates people that indulge in unnecessary and socially unfriendly aspects of life, like fast food restaurants, luxury by mentioning the 70 inch TV and a lack of culture by sarcastically mentioning MTV episodes. Nouns used above help the to visualize the amount of â€Å"purchasing† that consumes American lives. Looking at the poem ‘The Melting Pot’, the cultural study theory is one that applies by looking at the large societal context. The poem reveals that there is a culture that the society revolves around in America. Near the beginning of the poem is a line that says ‘Can step in Czech or Greek or Scot. Step out American’. This demonstrates the strength the American culture on immigrants who come to America. Do they not only become Americans by law, but also evolve and change culture wise. Hoagland metaphorically shows the American people’s obsession with money. He also says that money ruins people’s lives, although this statement is questionable. He writes that ‘And I remember when I stabbed my dad in the dream last night, it was not blood but money.’ He retorted, â€Å"Tha nk God-those Ben Franklins were clogging up my heart-and, so I perish happily freed from that which kept me from liberty.’’- The writer shows that the money was preventing the stabbed man from living a happy life. It was as if the money had blocked the flow of life into his heart, and it was a relief that his son had stabbed him. Although money is good, it also has a bad side (Reese, 2004). In this case, id does not bring any good to this man but brings him sorrow. On the contrary, in ‘The Melting Pot’, there is an indication of different social and economical classes with different political ideologies. It is evident that due Sam’s low economic class, he was not given a chance to demonstrate his equality in America. Basing one's argument on Sam’s race, we can see the reason for his stagnation in the social ladder. African Americans (blacks) were not allowed to work to move up the social class ladder. They had

Change & Change Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change & Change Management - Term Paper Example This is a fiction with an artistic approach Cheese as a word. Cheese has been used in the text to mean something that the company or organization holds dear (Spencer 14), hence why I chose this fictional text for analysis. The Cheese in this case refers to the livelihood, status and way of life that the four characters had in their environment (Spencer 14). For a company, the Cheese would be the status in the industry, the market size, the customers as well as the profits that they earn from their operations. When the Cheese is exhausted in the original station the four characters have to look for other ways to survive, just like how it happens when change occurs in any company. The mice are able to detect change before it happens and find ways to deal with it, while the little people wait for the change to happen before they can find ways to deal with it (Spencer 36). The intention of Spencer is to teach managers and anybody else interested in moving well with changes in an organiza tion. Most of the time, individuals would want to maintain the status quo because they are very comfortable with the current situations and would not like to put in more efforts to have a different status. Change is simply the alteration of the status quo or making things look differently from their original look. In organizations, change refers to the alteration of the overall work environment. Change can occur due to external or internal forces which disturb or force the status quo to be disturbed. Change caused by internal forces is called proactive change while that which is caused by external forces such as competition is referred to as reactive change. In Who Moved My Cheese, the writer uses four characters to describe how people react to change. Sniff and Scurry the mice are non judgmental and non-analytical. All they needed was cheese and were willing to do whatever it takes to get it. For the two little humans; Haw and Hem, cheese has a different meaning. It is a means of l ivelihood and helps them attain some sense of worth. When change occurs, a reaction to the change is in most cases involuntary and unplanned because most people fear change because they lack control over it. Change happens either to the individual or by the individual (Moris & Neering 76). It is because of this reason that Spencer shows us that what really matters the most, when it comes to change, is the attitude. It is important for an organisation to find ways of adopting to change. For example, big companies like IBM and Microsoft must craft ways of maintaining a competitive edge in the market and for them to do so they must embrace change in and outside (Moris & Neering 769). Introducing change is difficult and the process leaves different individuals with emotions and hatred for their managers and change agents. The best way of introducing change is aligning the company’s objectives with those of individuals (Yongmei & Pamela 265). Spencer’s allegory in Who Moved My Cheese, in this case is seen when the cheese is exhausted in one station and the two little people had to adopt a change; they had to craft other means of getting their daily bread (Spencer 36). As their way of adopting to change, Sniff and Scurry used try and error tactics. They searched one corridor after the other without assuming those corridors where they had never found cheese. Sniff, who is gifted with the skill of finding the direction of cheese, does so and scurry, goes ahead. Like managers in a company that is looking up for a positive change, they sometimes got lost but they retrace their direction and find their way (Spencer 34). This is not true for the mice alone; Denial in the process of adopting change is common in organizations.

Apple company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Apple company - Essay Example The following are financial ratios for APPLE INCLUSIVE for the year ending 2012, 2013, and 2014. Horizontal analysis compares how a company runs its operation across different segments in different years, and emphasizes on cash allocation and generation (Bull, 2008). While vertical analysis compares the amount allocated to an item against the total that was available in a given year. The current assets for APPLE INCLUSIVE rose by 27.1%; in 2013 and dropped to 18.8% in 2014. It was a result of decrease of short-term investments by 38.8%. Total liabilities increased by 44.2% in 2013 and rose by 107.9% in 2014. It was as a result of the abrupt increased current liabilities by 64.6%. The total stockholder’s equity rose by 5% in 2013 and decreased by 6% in 2014. The revenue for the year ending 2014 increased by 17% but the cost of production too increased by 27% making the net income to decrease by 6%. The value of current assets rose by 35% in 2013 and dropped to 32% in 2014. The value of long term investments decreased from 56% in 2012 to 52% in 2014. Current liabilities moved increased by 7%; this is because of increased account payable by 49%. Gross profit for APPLE INCLUSIVE decreased from 43.8% in 2012 to 38.5% in 2014. The reason to this can be blamed on the increased cost of goods from 56.1% in 2012 to 61.4% in 2014. The net income was impacted by the above increased in cost of production, resulting in a decrease by 5.1%. Profitability ratios are a reflection of how a company is efficient in generating income. These ratios are â€Å"seductive† to investors; an investor would like to know how profitable is the corporation before they decide to invest. Everyone expects to value for their money. From the above ratios, it might look contradicting how the two ratios give a different interpretation of the financial performance of APPLE INCLUSIVE. Profit margin shows the net

Parental Involvement in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Parental Involvement in Education - Essay Example The question is not whether parental involvement is a benefit to a student's educational experience as previous studies have often indicated. The measure of parental involvement is not the time spent or the test scores of the student, but is contextual to the student, the parents, and the school environment. The question is important primarily for parents to measure and assess their activity in relation to their child's school environment. The parent who spends additional time working with the student's homework or participating in school activities may be spending time that is counterproductive to their goal. Homework may prove to be frustrating for the parent. The student may resent the parent's intrusion into what they perceive as their private life. Parents require a measure of what parental involvement is beneficial and what aspect of it may be detrimental. Parental involvement in education needs to be viewed from the various aspects of age, motivation, and pattern of involvement. Crosnoe (2001) studied 692 freshmen and sophomore students of a mixed and diverse ethnic population (p. 214). The study was conducted by questionnaire by inquiring about the amount of time spent with the parents on homework and the parent's involvement with school activities (pp. 215-216). Crosnoe (2001) found that college preparatory students experienced an initially high amount of parental involvement, but was diminished as they progressed in school (p. 221). Crosnoe (2001) further noted that general and remedial students had a level of parental involvement that stabilized or increased over time (p. 221) This confirms the findings of Watkins (1997) when he reports, "Parents in this study were more likely to be involved when their children displayed low achievement". Parental involvement may be out of necessity to correct problems rather than an indicator of positive reinforcement for the student. The Watkins (1997) study was conducted on a group of 303 students with a racial mix of 64% white and 33% black. The parents were above average educated with 43% having at least a two-year degree. Watkins (1997) observed that there were patterns of involvement that differentiated the student's achievement. Watkins (1997) contends that parents become involved for one of four reasons. Involvement may be at the request of the teacher or due to low grades. They may also become involved because they want to raise the child's grades or they feel they are more equipped than other parents to elevate the child's learning. Watkins (1997) noted this effect was highest among minority parents and well educated whites. Similar to Watkin's (1997) findings were the results of a study by Domina (2005) The Domina (2005) study found that, "[...] after school and family background and child's prior academic achievement are controlled, the effect of each of these involvement activities on children's academic achievement is negative or nonsignificant (p. 245). The effect of the parental background also is highlighted in the Van Voorhis (2003) study evaluated middle school students to evaluate parental involvement effect on science students. The study examined the effect of parental help with homework. Van Voorhis (2003) found many negative effects of parental involvement (p.325). Parents may become frustrated or supply inappropriate

The female form superimposed onto a natural landscape can be seen as a Essay

The female form superimposed onto a natural landscape can be seen as a naturally beautiful,without connotations of sexism or sexual agenda - Essay Example As infants we all unconditionally love our mothers, we are tended by her hands, suckle on her bosom and kissed by her. The comeliness of women- her curves and shape are features that are characteristic of Nature as well. Across eastern cultures, the features of a woman have been compared to instances of Nature. In fact, Nature in itself is considered feminine because of being beautiful and hence, we can see that beauty and woman are synonymous to each other. To portray the real divine beauty of women, it was considered essential by artists to depict them raw and unclad i.e. naked. It is a movement since ancient times which is rampant even till this date. A classic example of a nude painting is Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon.1 In Picasso’s favorite cubist form, the painting shows a group of nude women where the shapes of the women are taken from multiple perspectives all conjoined together at once, providing a menagerie of angles to look from and admire the beauty of a woman. Through my paintings I have tried to bring both the beautiful creations together i.e. Woman and Nature. The portrayal of the nude female form in a natural landscape is beautiful many times over. In a world such as we live in today, sadly, nudity and sexuality have attained similar connotations. Deluged by ad-campaigns, movie clichà ©s and other forms of media, we believe that nudity is important for sex appeal. What shocks me is that women itself are blinkered and misled, tending to believe that nudity is a prerequisite for being attractive. Through my paintings, I have tried to depict the original concept of beauty which has permeated the world since ancient times and has inspired mankind to arts and culture. Like any other person, I am intrigued by both Women and Nature and through my paintings I have tried to elucidate myself and others of the real essence of pulchritudinous and have violated the current concept of the sexual imagery of a naked woman.

The Two of a Great Artworks of Georgia O'Keeffe Essay

The Two of a Great Artworks of Georgia O'Keeffe - Essay Example The form of art used is Painting. Not being the portrait paintings, these two pieces represent Creative Painting form of art, wherein O'Keeffe's has used her imagination. The Sky Above The Clouds puts on canvass her imagination to bring out how the sky looks from a height above 30,000 feet from the aeroplane. The painting uses very few colours giving it a sombre look and is one of the most appreciated art pieces of O'Keeffe. The Gray Line puts on canvass a feeling of serenity. It is an abstract painting leaving it for the viewers to understand what it tries to speak. Most of the reviews written on it link it with the beauty of women and the tenderness of women. Both are essentially two-dimensional artworks. It is to be noted here that graphic designs, drawings, paintings belong to the two-dimensional art forms whereas the three-dimensional art form has length, breadth, and height which include sculptures, statues etc. Both the artworks of O'Keffee under discussion belong to the Abstr act form of art. This is so because the art itself on its look does not depict anything in the natural world in particular. Instead, it is making use of colours in a non-representational way. It depicts real forms, keeping just an allusion of the original subject that it wants the viewer's mind to hit. These paintings carry an intrinsic quality of od abstraction making them â€Å"non-figurative† â€Å"non-objective" as well as "non-representational†. Both the art pieces belong to Fine Arts indicating a form of visual art and are concerned with beauty that appeals to the viewer's mind.

An analysis of variations in style in comparison to Standard English Essay Example for Free

An analysis of variations in style in comparison to Standard English Essay 1. Introduction As in every language there are many different dialect in British English. It has always been and continues to be a language of dialects. Wherever one goes in England there are very obvious differences between the ways in which people speak in different places. This is often a big shock for people who have been learning Standard English which is the variety of English that is held to be correct in the sense that it shows none of the regional or other variations that are considered by some to be ungrammatical, or non-standard English. Non-English school-kids learn SE at school and expect to understand every English person once they enter the country. But the English they learn at school differs from the language which is being spoken in Britain. Of course, SE is used in the media and by public figures, and therefore it has prestige status and is regarded by many as the most desirable form of the language.1 But the English do not speak like that linguistic reality is different. Not only the words which are being used sometimes differ from Standard English even the grammatical structures vary at times. This work tries to present the differences between Standard English which is being taught at German schools and the dialects which are spoken in England. Altogether these factors might lead to confusing situations at times. German school-kids could hear words in England which they were told not to pronounce in that way when they were learning English at school. Hughes and Trudgill2 speak of two ways of dealing with the problem of native Britons not being able to speak their own language correctly. They point out that for learners it is not relevant weather their hear correct English or not. The problem which their are confronted with is to understand what they hear from the native speakers and which language-features they can adapt into their own speech. The second point they speak of is if that the notion of correctness is not really useful or appropriate in describing the language of native speakers.3 To find those differences I will analyse German English books from a Orientierungsstufe4, literature about dialects in Britain as well as private sources. I will try to analyse the gap between German school English an find possible solutions for that problem. 11 At the beginning of my approach I will be presenting a selection of different accents regarding their regional usage. In the following point I will analyse Standard English which is being taught in German schools and compare these results with the accents mentioned beforehand. After that I will summarize my approaches and try to find explanations as well as possible solutions. 2. The main dialects I want to start off with the presentation of the main dialects of the English language. For this I will adapt the Dialectology of Baugh5 who differentiates between Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands and Southern. In Old English they were divided into Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon and Kentish6. Of course there are far more divisions of accents but this would exceed the length of this piece of work. Additionally, I will conclude Cockney7 in my analysis. 2.1. Northern English This dialect is also knows as Geordie8. The Northeast area contains the urban centres of Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesborough and neighboring areas. Trudgill9 defines some of the best-known characteristics of the modern Northeast pronunciation which include the following. According to him the accent, as we have seen, does not have the diphthongal pronunciations of the long a vowel in made, gate, face that are more typical of the south of England, and the same is true of long o as in boat, road, load. It can be defined as a certain kind of simplification. Instead of the Standard English Combination of two vowels in boat [bà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ut] only one vowel is being used: [oo] The same phenomenon can be found within the pronunciation of words like made, which are not being pronounced [mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½id] but simplified [mehd]. Trudgill also points out that words that have al in the spelling are pronounced with a vowel of the type ah, so that all is ahl and walk is wahk. A Geordie-joke makes this difference clear in a funny way: A non-Geordie doctor who asks his patient if he is able to walk makes the patient interprets as a query about work ans replies Wawk! I cannot even wahk yet! 11 The second part of the Northern area, the Lower North and Central North, covers, according to Trudgill, a large area stretching down from Carlisle to Sheffield and covering Cumbria, most of Yorkshire and parts of Lancashire. He points out that this dialect differs from the Northeast by not having ee in very. 10 Another remarkable factor he mentions is that he Central North also contains a sub-area in which an interesting type of consonantal change takes place in certain conditions. What happens is that the voiced consonants b, d, g, v, z and j change to their voiceless counterpart p, t, k, f, s, and ch if they occur immediately before any of these same voiceless consonants.11 The examples E wood goh (He would go) and E woot coom (He would come). They would pronounce the expression I dont know like I doont noo. Another point is that this dialect is quite similar to the accent Indians or Pakistanis have when they talk English. Many of these dialectal features also appear in their accent. These shared features could be analysed in future for the Asian community in Britain is increasing steadily is growing. Which words, expressions are being brought into English through them would be interesting to find out. 2.2. West Midlands The central town for this accent is Liverpool. for the accent is very distinctive for this area called Merseyside. It has been mainly influenced by Irish immigrants during the nineteenth century. Hughes/Trudgill12 describe the Liverpool accent defining several features of which I will be mentioning a few. 1. a) There is no contrast between pairs of words like put and putt, both being pronounced [put]. b) [à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] occurs in words like dance, daft etc. [] c) Words like book and cook have the vowel [u:] 2. Unlike in other northern urban accents (but in common with Newcastle), the final vowels of words like city and seedy is [i:] 3. A relative infrequency of glottal stop occurs. 4. [h] is usually absent, but is sometimes present (him an her) 5. The suffix -ing is [in] 11 2.3. East Midlands Based on own experience I can say that one of the clearest markers for the East Midland accent can be defined as a kind of parallelism to German which also appear in the Liverpool accent at times. The word bus, for instance, is not being pronounced [bas] but [bus]. Here, the vowel [u] is being pronounced the same way as in German. The same phenomenon can be found in words like. Another marker for East Midland accent is the pronunciation of the vowel combination [oe] like in shoes, where it is being changed to [à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] [shà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½z]. Speakers in this area may even have short e at the end of words like coffeh13. Trudgill mentions a diagnostic sentence for this area: Veri few cahs mayd it up the long ill.14 2.4. Southern English Some of these dialectal features of Southern English are similar to the welsh accent. Trudgill states that the Bristol speech is famous for the presence in this accent of a phenomenon called the Bristol I. He explains that in the Bristol area, words such as America, India, Diana, Gloria are pronounced with a final I. Undoubtedly, foreigners would be quite confused hearing words like Americal, Indial and Dianal. This feature might be a result of hypercorrection, according to Trudgill.15 In the South the glottal stop is very common as a pronunciation of t which can be found in words like better, water, bet and what. This feature can also be found in Cockney or Midland areas. Trudgill mentions the diagnostic feature of the South are the lack of y in few, which differentiates it from all other English regions except the Northeast, although today h is rapidly being lost.16 He also notes that it a typical factor for East Anglia is the lack of distinction between the vowels of here and there, so that peer sounds like pair, here like hair and deer like dare.17 2.5. Cockney Cockney can be counted as a very special dialect because it can only be found amongst people who live in and around the London area. Let alone the name for this accent is special because it does not refer directly to the region. 11 The term Cockney originally stems from the middles ages where it was applied to an effeminate person, simpleton or a particularly weak man from a town as opposed to a countryman who was regarded as tougher. In the 17th century the term changed and came to mean specifically a Londoner. The six most striking features of Cockney are18: 1. r is pronounced only when followed immediately by a vowel-sound. So, in the demonstration below, no r is pronounced in flowers. (Some New England accents and Southern U.S. accents have this same feature.) 2. h is usually omitted (home in the demonstration words); in self-conscious speech its articulated very strongly. 3. l is pronounced only when a vowel-sound follows (so no l is pronounced in hole, etc.). 4. Voiceless th is often, but not always, pronounced as f (breath, etc.). 5. Voiced th is likewise often but not always pronounced as v (breathe, etc.) This feature is also found in Southern U.S. lower social class speech. 6. The long vowels are all diphthongs, as one can hear from the demonstration words. Notice especially the difference between force etc. (spelled with r followed by a consonant, though the r is not pronounced) and poor etc. (spelled with r not followed by a consonant, though again the r is not pronounced). More examples for this would be: price [proià ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½] mother [mawa] little [liou] with a glottal stop in the middle note [no] with a glottal stop at the end bowl [bao] Cockney has another speciality. It consists of a special vocabulary which is called Cockney rhyming slang. It has been evolving in the East End of London since the sixteenth century. It is thought to have originated from the seamen and soldiers who used the London docks, from the Gypsies who arrived in the fifteen hundreds, from the Irish residents and the Jewish faction and from all the other ethnic minorities which have made up the population of the city.19 11 It is said to have started as a way for costermongers20 to communicate without letting their customers know what they were saying. The slang usually consists of two words, e.g. butchers hook = look but sometimes only the first word is used in conversation. For example, someone might say I had a butchers at her barnet and her titfer meaning I had a look at her hair (barnet fair) and her hat (tit for tat). One has to know, though, when to use the whole phrase and when to abbreviate. Another example: Would you Adam and Eve it? I was on me Jack Jones when I saw me old china half inching a whistle from the market. Well, I aint no grass and hes borassic, so I kept me north and south shut. Translation: Would you believe it? I was on my own when I saw my old mate (friend) pinching (stealing) a suit from the market. Well, Im not a nark (informer) and hes skint (got no money, hard up) so I kept my mouth shut. In the Internet a whole dictionary can be found consisting of old and new Rhyming-Slang. The freshest contribution was the expression Becks and Posh for food. Food is also called nosh which rhymes with the nicknames of the famous David and Victoria Beckham, nationwide known as Becks and Posh21. This last example makes it clear that the rhyming slang does not have and economical reasons behind. It is more or less result of playing with words which the English are very fond of (for example in newspaper headlines). Additionally it is of course, the sense of togetherness, a kind of linguistic fellowship by defining a secret language as a code of London residents whereas this point, regarding the high population rate, refers more to small groups of people. 3. Standard English English-teaching in lower-saxony English has the status of a global language nearly everybody applying for a good job needs to prove his or her English skills. The competition is getting harder and harder. This is one of the factors leading to the current discussion whether to introduce English to schoolchildren at an even earlier age then 10. Some primary schools offer this already. Another interesting fact is that more and more schools offer bilingual teaching. The Ricarda-Huch-Schule in Braunschweig, for instance, offers several subjects being taught in English to make the children learn both, biology and English, at once. 11 Like this English finds its way into our life in more and more ways. But coming back to education a problem arises. Of course, children cannot learn every single accent being spoken in England, so that is why there are set forms for the learning process. They are identical to the language understood by the term of Standard English. Different then in Germany there cannot be found any accent-free regions in England. In comparison to that you can find unofficial figures which tell us that Hanover is most likely to be accent-free. Standard English, on the other hand, is more of an indicator for an upper social status, it can be seen as a class-dialect, owing its origin in the main not to geographical but to socio-economic causes. At the end it is quite a thin border between the English which is being taught at foreign schools and the English which is meant to represent poshness. Wakelin22 marks that a distinction must be made between Standard English, which is a dialect in use by educated speakers of English throughout the world, and Received Pronunciation, which is the accent of English usually associated with a higher social or academic background, with the BBC and the professions, and that most commonly taught to students learning English as a foreign language.23 So one has to clearly differentiate between Received Pronunciation (RP) and Standard English (SE). So, why is Standard English so different from the other accents then? Wakelin defines that Standard English is the sort of language used when communicating beyond the family, close friends and acquaintances, whereas dialect is nowadays often kept for intimate circles.24 So it can be seen as the most relevant English accent which can be understood everywhere and is compatible to every region in England. This type of English as being called normal English by Randolph Quirk25 is being taught children and adults all around the world. The following graphic tries to illustrate the violation which arises when both Standard English and regional accents clash. 11 People with different mother tongues learn English as their first or as another foreign language. They all refer to the same Vocabulary, use the same grammar and expressions which have been set by the Standard English-norm. 3.1. Comparison to English accents The chapter of English Sounds prepares the learning schoolchildren with the explanation that English words are often being pronounced differently than they are written and defines some words by using the phonetical alphabet.26 I want to show the differences of Standard English and English accents by directly comparing several words to each other. Referring to the pronunciation I want to compare the word but which is being pronounced with a short [u] in South England and with a long [oo] in Northern England27 whereas schoolchildren learn to pronounce the word but with an [28? There is one area of England where the y sound has been lost as a result of a historical process. This can be found in words like beauty [booty], music [moosic] and few [foo]29 and is probably going to spread more with the years. 11 Whereas in foreign schools it is still being taught that music should be pronounced [mju:zik]30 and beautiful [bju:t?f?l]31. The pronunciation of milk also differs. Camden Market teaches the children to pronounce it [mà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½lk]32 but the pronunciation according to the modern dialectology says that in a large area of southeastern England this consonant has aquired a short oo-like vowel in fron of it, or, especially in London itself, has disappeared altogether, leaving only the oo behind.33 So in this case the word milk is being pronounced [mioolk] which is being defined as a quite a recent change but spreading rapidly through the country. Now shifting over to the less problematical field of lexical variations it can be said that there are several words with the same meaning but regionally fixed. Words like the Standard English term gymshoe are known as the general term but in England they have more expressions for that. In the southern region they are called plimsolls, in middle English they are called pumps and people living in and around Newcastle talk about sandshoes.34 The word ear has also has different regional variations. In the North they talk about lugs and around Nottinghamshire one can also hear them talking about tabs. The Eastern part of England also might use lug. Standard English, of course, only teaches ear. 4. Summary On the whole it there is a big gap to be found between the English which is being taught in schools and the English which is being spoken in England. My analysis makes it quite clear that several difficulties occur when a person who has been learning English for five years and thinks he is now prepared for the linguistic challenge in England. The reality is different, as my paper shows. There is nearly nobody who speaks accent-free English but on the other hand Standard English mixes into the accents more and more. The loss of pure dialects is being mourned about in the whole country. The dialects are no longer pure, if they ever were, but contain a large admixture of Standard English or pseudo-Standard forms, as Wakelin35 mentions. The main reason for this development might be the result of the following problem: 11 In England is that people often get discriminated because of their language. The dialect is a clear social marker these days. Many countries have problem with racism, but in England people sometimes get discriminated against if they sound different. For example: A Scouse accent refers to a very rough area and there are chances are that the speaker is a thief A Posh accent: If people talk like this then they are supposedly educated, and can be trusted. Others would think your a rich person, and that your stuck up and you went to a boarding school. A Brummie accent: If a person speaks like this, then chances are that people think he is stupid. A Geordie accent: For some reason, the geordie accent is more comforting to southerners in England out of all the northern accents. Even though a Geordie can live in just as much a rough area, than a scouser if not rougher. A Yorkshire accent: There is a saying about this dialect called Yorkshire born, yorkshire bread, thick in the arm and thick in the head? A Cornish accent: If somebody talks like this most people think they are a farmer. The significance of accents and their cultural and social associations is well represented in films and on television in Britain. The critically acclaimed 1964 file My fair Lady based on George Bernard Shaws 1912 play, Pygmalion is often referenced in linguistic discussions as a example of how social class and accent were, and are still, inextricably linked in Britain. Over the past years, numerous television series have also provided viewers with a glimpse of the lives and accents of the Cockney population of London. The Cockney English section talks more about the current, very popular long running television series EastEnders. This opposes my supposition that Standard English might not be the right form to teach people English or should only form the basis of the linguistic education. The fact that the dialects are slowly dying and Standard English is spreading all over the world questions this. Additionally, more and more immigrants from mainly the Asian region bring in a new Standard English which I have been mentioning in point 2.1. At the end, I would say that English language teaching should be more concerned about real life and the real speech avoiding throwing the young learners into a cold pool when they enter the country. 11 A possible solution for this could be to strengthen the bonds of international relations between schools. Pen-friendships and school-exchanges could provide the basis of a more reality-based teaching which would undoubtedly also have the effect of arousing the childrens enthusiasm of learning English. 5. Literature Baugh, A.C.: A History of the English Language, p. 235 Davis, Lawrence M.: English Dialectology. Alabama/USA: 1983, p. 8 Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects, London: 1996. p. 1 Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 51 Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 Quirk, Randolph: The Use of English. London: 1962, p. 95 Internet: http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/ http://www.derek.co.uk/cockney.htm http://www.geordie.org.uk/ http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/ http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/standard-english.html 1http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/standard-english.html 2Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects. London: 1996, p. 1 3s. a. 4Orientierungsstufe Westhagen/Wolfsburg 5Baugh, A.C.: A History of the English Language, p. 235 6Davis, Lawrence M.: English Dialectology. Alabama/USA: 1983, p. 8 7Most common accent in and around London 8http://www.geordie.org.uk/ 9Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 67 10Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 67 11see above 12Hughes, Arthur and Trudgill, Peter: English Accents and Dialects. New York (1996), p. 92 13Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 71 14see above, p. 72 15see above, p. 73 16see above, p. 72 17see above, p. 74 18http://www.derek.co.uk/cockney.htm 19http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/ 20= street and market sellers 21http://www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk/ 22Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977 23Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 24Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5 25Quirk, Randolph: The Use of English. London: 1962, p. 95 26Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 27Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 51 28Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 146 29Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 57 30Edelhoff, Christoph (Hrg.): Camden Market. Hannover: 1998, p. 179 31see above, p. 173 32see above, p. 178 33Trudgill, Peter: The dialects of England. Oxford: 1990, p. 60 34see above, p. 102 35Wakelin, Martyn F.: English Dialects. An Introduction. London: 1977, p. 5

Using the Right Storage Device at the Right Time Essay Example for Free

Using the Right Storage Device at the Right Time Essay The advent of technology enabled us to have an easier and more comfortable life. Computers have been assisting us in almost all of our daily tasks, from typing to storing our files. Due to the ever developing computers and programs, files have evolved into different forms and sizes. This eventually led to the different forms of storage devices that are applicable to certain storage requirements. There are different classifications of storage devices depending on their access, memory retention and mode of data storage. The first classification is based mode of access by the central processing unit; and these are the primary and secondary storage. Primary storage, also called main storage or memory, is the part in a computer where data is kept for quick access by the CPU. In personal computers and laptops, it is most commonly called as the random access memory or RAM. Meanwhile, secondary storage, also known as auxiliary storage, is the data storage device not used as the primary storage. It is also known as external storage. Examples of this are hard disks, floppy disk, CD’s, DVS’s, magnetic tapes and flash drives (Search Storage, 2005). Another classification is based on memory retention. Volatile storage devices are those that do not retain data when the computer is shut down and an example of this is the common RAM. On the other hand, non-volatile storage devices are those that retain data even in the absence of a power supply and examples of these are hard disks and CD’s (MSD, 2006). The last type of classification is based on the mode of data storage and these are the magnetic and optical storage. Magnetic storage devices use magnetic disks that contain iron particles which can be polarized into a direction by a magnetic charge. The organization of the particles creates the data that is stored on that disk. Meanwhile, optical devices are high-capacity storage devices that uses reflected light in reading data. To store data, the metallic surface of the disc is covered with small dent (or pits) and flat (or land) spots. When the light is directed into a pit, the light is not reflected back thus there is a bit value of zero (or off) and when the light is directed to a land, the light is reflected, thus having a bit value of one (or on). The arrangement of these lands and pit determines the data stored (CM Lab). Due to the many forms of these storage devices, it is appropriate to know what situations are deemed fit of unfit for a specific type of storage device. In choosing a storage device for a certain job, it is important to take note of some items to ensure the use of the proper storage device. These include knowing how much data is needed to be stored, how fast data should be recovered, what storage devices are available, how automated the data storing process is and how fats the data could be stored (HP). These should be kept in mind in order to optimize your time and your back-up system. Random access memories or RAM’s are the primary memory of the computer. It is the memory used by the operating system of the computer when booting. After the boot, the other areas of the RAM unoccupied by the system become the conventional memory which the computer uses in running programs (MSD, 2006). The advantage of RAM is that if it is increased in a computer, it speeds up the processing of the computer enabling the user to use multiple applications. However, its disadvantage is that it is unusable once the computer is shot down. This means that RAM’s are applicable only in speeding up the processing of the computer and not in data storage. Hard disks are secondary storage devices that are used as the primary data storage of most computers. It is usually consisted of a number of inflexible platters that stores data electronically. The advantages of hard disks over other data storage devices include huge storage capacity and fast access time, cheaper on per megabyte basis and are more reliable since they are better protected and are made to be more durable. However, they still have disadvantages, such as non-portability (for installed drives), less security of data due to vulnerability to virus attacks and head crash due to contaminants and extreme shocks (Wong). This means that hard disks are efficient only on storing of huge data for relatively short periods of time. Floppy disks are flexible plastic disks that are coated with magnetic material use to store data magnetically. It is most commonly known as the diskette. They are very popular in the 1990’s, however, they not anymore considered standard today due to its more efficient alternatives (MSD, 2006). The advantages of diskettes include portability and cheapness, random access of data, write-protection feature and ease in transferring data from one computer to another. However, it also has its disadvantages, and these are its non-durability, slow access time and very limited storage capacity (Wong). This means that diskettes are appropriate only for small and temporary data storage. Compact disks are optical devices that stores data. They use microscopic pits and lands in storing data. Their advantages include portability, relatively large storage capacity, a relatively fast access time, and permanent data storage. Meanwhile, its disadvantages include its non-reusability and relatively slow writing time (Wong). This means that CD’s are more applicable in storing permanent data that requires no editing such as software installers and audio files for longer periods of time. Magnetic tapes are strips of plastic coated with magnetic material and are capable of storing huge amounts data. Their advantages include huge capacity, cheapness, reliability and universality; and its disadvantages include sequential accessing and frequent cleaning (MSD, 2006). This means that tapes are more appropriate for backing-up huge amounts of data for relatively long period of time. Flash drives are storage devices that used flash memories or chips to store electronic data. They are the new form of data storage devices. Its advantages include compactness, portability, fast data writing and access and consists no mobile parts. Its disadvantages include expensiveness and limited data storage (MSD, 2006). This means that flash drives are more appropriate in storing medium size data that needs to be transported or transferred to other computers.