Brief Review of Amistad essays

Brief Review of Amistad essays The story of Amistad began in the early 1800s when a group of enslaved men, women and children are captured and put aboard a slave ship, the Tecora. While, on the Tecora they endured brutality, sickness, and death. After a horrific journey to Cuba, they were sold as Cuban born slaves and then put on a ship by the name of La Amistad. While aboard Amistad a man by the man of Cinque manages to unshackle himself and his companions. Once freed they organize a revolt and reclaim the ship only sparing two men by the name of Jose Ruiz and Don Pedro Montez, Cinque orders them to set sail into the Rising Sun back to Africa little does Cinque know that the Spaniards would secretly change course. After more than six weeks at sea, the Amistad arrives off the coast of Long Island. A surveying brig notices the Amistad and seizes the ship. The slaves are taken to New Haven and imprisoned. Ownership issues of the Africans soon reach Queen Isabella of Spain, President Martin Van Buren, and a few other interested parties, all battling for the Africans. Lawyer, Robert Baldwin finds interest in the case and decides to fight to free the Africans alongside Lewis Tappan, Abolitionist leader. As the legal battle begins, Baldwin argues that the Africans were illegally bought to America and that they should be set free, Van Buren thought differently and decides to change the judge hoping for the case to be ruled in his favor. Fortunately for Cinque the new judge ruled that they were born in Africa and were to be set free and returned to their homes in Africa. The judge also ruled that Ruiz and Montez were to be arrested for slave trading. Again President Van Buren interferes and orders an immediate appeal, and the case went to Supreme Court. At this point it is clear to Baldwin that he is going to need additional help; he decides to write a letter to President John Quincy Adams to help on their behalf. John Quincy Ad...

Tense Use in Academic Writing Past, Present and Future

Tense Use in Academic Writing Past, Present and Future Tense Use in Academic Writing: Past, Present and Future While the dreary constraints of physical reality mean that we’re stuck in the present for all practical purposes, in speech or writing we can skip from past to present to future at will. To do this, you’ll need to master the past, present and future tense. These grammatical tenses are useful in all kinds of writing, but here we’ll focus on their use in academic work. What is Grammatical Tense? Before anything else, we need to quickly clarify what we mean by â€Å"grammatical tense.† The main thing you need to know is that the form of the verb in a sentence changes depending on when the action described occurs. As such, by modifying a sentence to adjust the tense, we can change its meaning: Present Tense: Alfred burns the cakes. Past Tense: Alfred burned the cakes. Future Tense: Alfred will burn the cakes. In the first example, the present tense verb â€Å"burns† suggests that it’s happening now. The past tense verb â€Å"burned†, however, shows that it has already happened. And by adding the helping verb â€Å"will,† we can instead suggest that the action is going to happen in the future. Looks like the dog will eat them anyway. The examples above are the simple forms of each of these tenses. There are many variations on these, however, so it’s worth checking how each form differs in practice. The Past Tense in Academic Writing In an academic paper, you could use the past tense to show that an idea is not widely accepted any more. In the following, for instance, the past tense â€Å"claimed† and â€Å"has since been disputed† both signal that the study no longer applies: Cook and Moore (1964) originally claimed that profane language is amusing, although this has since been disputed by many experts. Pete and Dud: Pioneering researchers in the profane. The past tense is also commonly used in academic writing when describing the methods used in an experiment that has already been conducted: The sample was tested using several techniques. Some colleges have specific instructions for how a methodology chapter should be written, though, so make sure to check for rules about tense use in your style guide. The Present Tense in Academic Writing The present tense is dominant in most forms of academic work, since it applies when writing about current events or states of being. This includes describing: Existing facts and theories (e.g., â€Å"Profane language is common among young people†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The findings of a study (e.g., â€Å"The results demonstrate that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The opinions or claims of other thinkers (e.g., â€Å"Cook and Moore argue that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) The present tense is usually correct even when describing a study that happened in the past, as long as the conclusions are still relevant in the present. The Future Tense in Academic Writing The future tense is less common in academic writing, but it still has a couple of important roles. One is in research proposals, since you’ll need to describe your research aims, predictions about results, and the methods you intend to use: This study will examine the role of profane language in comedy. We predict that profane language will be considered hilarious by the majority of respondents. The future tense is also useful when recommending fresh avenues of research or suggesting how the results of a study could be applied: Our study suggests that further research should be conducted into the increasing use of profane language in everyday life. The crucial thing is that the future tense is used when describing something that hasn’t yet happened or that is expected to occur in the future. Think of it as academic fortune telling. Or dont.(Photo: David Shankbone)

Wellness Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wellness Management - Essay Example They also include medical screening as well as on-site fitness programs and many more. The bottom line of these wellness plans is that healthy employees are considered to more productive and better for companies. Employees are considered to be the most valuable possessions of the company. (Treacy). The companies improve wellbeing and job satisfaction by conducting these wellness programs such as Zippos and Google are doing. In these programs, companies provide different facilities to the employees. For example, a company facilitates them with health regarding facilities, also allows time for the exercise and different healthy activities. The company gives the facility of the on-site kitchen and eating bar to promote healthy food consumption. For the sake of wellness program, the company also offers financial and other incentives as well. Wellness program also consists of various effective workplace programs and also maintains a health-focused environment that significantly benefits e mployers, employees, and their families. Wellness programs are not supposed to be costly at all as they can be designed using various low cost activities and regimes. It states that by practicing a wellness program, the company does not only get productive employees but it also drives the company towards achieving long-term benefits. Collectively, it can be stated that wellness programs are the fundamental need of any company’s strategy. These programs are based upon different activities such as health education and weight management programs.

Structure paper of presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Structure paper of presentation - Essay Example At a sore of 30 China features a low score on uncertainty shunning. Truth could also be relative although within the immediate social circles theres concern for Truth with a capital T and rules (but not essentially laws) abound. At a score of twenty China could be a extremely collectivist culture wherever individuals act within the interests of the cluster and not essentially of themselves. In-group considerations have an effect on hiring and promotions with nearer in-groups (such as family) are becoming discriminatory treatment. Worker commitment to the organization (but not essentially to the folks within the organization) is low. Whereas relationships with colleagues are cooperative for in-groups theyre cold or maybe hostile to out-groups. Personal relationships prevail over task and company. At sixty six China could be a masculine society –success minded and driven. The necessity to make sure success may be exemplified by the actual fact that a lot of Chinese can sacrifice family and leisure priorities to work. People are influenced by formal authority and sanctions and are normally optimistic regarding people’s capability for leadership and initiative. Individuals must not have aspirations exceeding their rank. The justice system ought to even have effective mechanisms for reducing, or altogether eliminating, scoundrel and corrupt parts of enforcement agencies. (Hedging against currency risk will add tier of safety to your offshore investments (Charles, 2002). Traditions are often custom-made to suit new conditions. Chinese folks acknowledge that government is by men instead of as within the Low LTO countries by an external influence like God or the law. Thinking ways in which specialize in the total or no confidence, contrastive with low LTO countries that suppose in probabilistic ways. There is abundant labour in

Australia Essay Example for Free

Australia Essay The downturn in the international financial crisis has compounded Australias tourism industry. Relevant departments recently predicted that Australia will be reduced by inbound tourists this year, more than 4% the past 20 years Australian tourism industry is facing the most severe blow. Australian Bureau of Statistics data released ,2007-2008 Australian tourism contribution to gross domestic product was 3.6%, while this proportion was 4.7% previously. Therefore, the tourism industry downturn will inevitably affect Australias economy as a whole. The largest source of tourism is the lack of trouble. Australian Tourism and Transport Forum executive director Ã¥ ¥ ¥Ã¥Ë† ©Ã§ » ´Ã¥ ¨â€¦Ã¦ ²Æ' thinking recently pointed out that the traditional source countries as Australia and the tourism industry of the United States, Britain, Japan and South Korea economy continues to decline, resulting in significantly reduced visitors to Australia, the situation in the future may continue to deteriorate. According to relevant departments of Australia forecasts, in addition to visitors from New Zealand will increase in times of adversity, the next six months, tourists from other countries will be the number of tourists fell by double-digit rates. Australias tourism industry suffered a downturn has begun to transfer to the related industries. According to statistics, about 48.3 million people in the Australian tourism practitioners, but this number is shrinking. So far, Australias hotels, motels, apartments and other services have been cut more than 3,000 jobs, 63% of the Australian main tourist services may be further layoffs. Solidarity of the aviation industry and tourism will naturally be immune. Australia and Australia Airlines 14 announced, as expected full-year profit will be significantly lower than previously expected, the company will cut as many as 1,750 jobs. Qantas also said the same day, has been postponed to buy 4 Airbus A380 and 12 other aircraft. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said Qantas no choice, only to make large adjustments to ensure that the company weather the storm. He also said that if economic conditions continue to deteriorate, the company may be further layoffs. Some economists believe that Qantas job cuts and other measures related businesses will have a negative impact on the Australian economy. However, Australian Treasurer Huaiensiwang said the Australian governments economic stimulus plan is to gradually play a buffer role. Immediate challenge for the Australian Tourism Export Council head é © ¬Ã§â€° ¹Ã¦ ¬ £Ã¦   ¼Ã¨â€™â€š that the Australian tourism industry has experienced many times before the fight, but later achieved a rapid recovery. He said he believed a rainbow after the storm. Australias tourism resources are very rich, exotic natural beauty, the unique ecological environment, cultural diversity and contrast the developed economy is the basic condition for the rapid development of tourism. (A) of the inbound tourism 1968 Australia received only 24 million foreign tourists, 81 million U.S. dollars, tourism foreign exchange earnings. Into the 90s, the Australian economy each year for the tourism industry to bring the output value of more than 200 million Australian dollars, worth of 80 billion Australian dollars. Number of Foreign Tourists in 1996 reached 416.? 50000 visits, tourism, foreign exchange 87. 0.3 billion U.S. dollars, tourism foreign exchange earnings has more than wool, coal, iron ore and wheat, and other traditional export products, became the countrys fastest growing, most foreign exchange industry. According to the World Tourism Organization, Australia in 1998 a world where international tourism receipts, international tourists all over the continents of the world, Japan has become the largest source country of Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Britain and continental Europe, its traditional source markets. In recent years, tourists from China and Koreas rapid growth. Purpose of travel to the main tourist resort, followed by visiting friends and relatives and business travel. (B) Outbound Tourism Australias rapid economic development after World War II one of the countries? Per capita GDP in 1997 to $ 20,540 of the world high-income areas. 1990 Australian tourists going abroad for the first time broke the 200 million people in 1996 to 273.2 million overseas tourist arrivals. According to the World Tourism Organization, Australia study tour in 1991, the total expenditure reached 38. 800 million U.S. dollars, foreign travel destination ranks No. 1 in Asia, especially Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and mainland China and other areas, and this is Oceania, Europe and North America also followed suit. (C) of the domestic tourism Tourism has become Australias an important part of peoples lives, the domestic tourists in 1990 reached 58.446 million people, equivalent to the total population of more than 3 times, entertaining vacation spot. According to statistics, vacation and pleasure trips accounted for 42%, 29% visiting friends, meeting business accounted for 15%; the main way to travel with their drive to account for 3 / 4, the time spent traveling an average of 4.? 6 days. In the summer in Australia in January this year, every Christmas, New Year, but also a time when the school summer holidays, the Friends have brought people to his family or vacation, the formation of the annual peak travel. 7-8 two months in winter, is the low season In the economic crisis environment, still won the Australian Hotels recognized international tourists. According to the Global Online Travel Group the data presented, there are more this year than last year, Australias most popular hotel into the Global 1000 list of hotels. The third consecutive year, Expedia Insiders Select List will be in Adelaide Majestic Roof Garden Hotel named best hotel in Australia, and the 24th highest in the world.

The Deterioration of Romero in El Tonto Del Barrio Essay -- Tonto Del

The Deterioration of Romero in El Tonto Del Barrio  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   After reading Jose Armas’s story, "El Tonto Del Barrio," I was greatly touched by this simple yet effective story of how the village idiot is used to teach a lesson to the audience. However, after researching the topic, I found that there had been no literary discussion concerning Armas or "El Tonto del Barrio." I was shocked to find this out, and I believe this is an interesting and important story which should be looked into. "El Tonto del Barrio" is not just a story about a college-bound young man named Seferino who tries to help the community "idiot" Romero, but it is also a story about a man who slowly deteriorates when his pride is taken away and his dignity not acknowledged. First, to understand how Romero deteriorates, we must look at how life for Romero was before Seferino tried to pay him wages for sweeping. Romero seemed happy, and he was always whistling and singing. In the first line of the story Armas even states, "Romero Estrado was called El Cotoro (The Parrot) because he was always whistling and singing" (1137). Armas at first makes no obvious remarks that Romero was a moron who should be avoided; in fact, the story discusses only the respect that people of the town had for Romero. Romero is even called "a respected citizen" (1138). It is interesting to note that Armas mentions that "Not even the kids made fun of him. It just was not permitted" (1138). This point lets the audience know that Romero was respected enough that even parents taught their children to respect him despite his faults. It is apparent that the town knew Romero was a little "touchy" (1138), but the citizens choose to overlook his faults. The citizens of the town and Romero... ...nd Kathleen Wilson. Cumulative Index. Michigan: Gale Research, Inc., 1998. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Index. Michigan: Gale Research, Inc., 1991. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Frank N. Magil. Cumulative Index. California: Salem Press, 1993. Frenandez, Roberto G. Bibliographical Index of Cuban Authors. Miami: Edidones Universal, 1983. Hispanic Writers. Bryan Ryan. Vol. 1. New York: Gale Research, Inc., 1991. Modern Latin America Literature. Ed. David William Foster. Vol. 2. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1975. Reference Guide to World Literature . Ed. Lesley Henderson. Vol. 2. New York: St. James Press, 1991. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Shelia Fitzgerald. Cumulative Index. Michigan: Gale Research, Inc., 1989. , World Literature Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 6. Michigan: Gale Research Inc., 1992.      

Emergency Department Essay

I am a senior staff nurse working in the Emergency Department in an Acute General Hospital in Singapore. I have been assigned by my senior nurse manage to mentor Susan, a third year student nurse. As Susan was observed to be underachieving, I aim to use the Gibbs reflective cycle (1988) to guide me to identify the issues that have arisen during the placement and plan strategies to help Susan achieve her expected competencies at this stage of her clinical placement. Upon completion of the reflective cycle, mentor should be able to come up with methods that can help to resolve the student’s identified problems. It is important that windows of learning opportunities are created for reflection to be done and thus help both the mentor and mentee for future progression. Stage 1: Description Susan, a third year student nurse, is in her penultimate clinical placement of her three years training course. She had just reached the end of her second week of placement and has another four weeks to completion. The ward staff had observed that she was not entering patient’s vital signs, at times, into the system. The hospital uses the electronic system of entering patients’ charts. In addition, it appears that Susan did not inform any staff when there were abnormal readings, for example: there were two occasions where a raised temperature in a patient receiving blood transfusion and a head injury patient with an altered level of consciousness. Whilst having a weekly debriefing session as agreed during the first day of Susan’s clinical posting, the mentor was aware that Susan did fail to achieve the basic competency, which was required of her. The mentor had to stress to Susan on the importance of recording vital signs as it determines the patient’s prognosis. Thus, the mentor decided to develop an action plan (SMART) template (Kerry, 2012, & Appendix 3), to aid Susan’s progression. Stage 2: Feelings Given a mentor’s role, it was a concern to me that I did not pick up Susan’s problem until my colleagues’ feedback. As Susan was proceeding to her third week of posting, it was crucial to speak to Susan and find out more in depth what might have led her to the behavior seen. I felt that Susan may not have the theoretical knowledge regarding what were the implications if fever occurs during

Self-Verification

Self-verification is a social psychological theory that asserts people want to be known and understood by others according to their firmly held beliefs and feelings about themselves, that is self-views (including self-concepts and self-esteem). Because chronic self-concepts and self-esteem play an important role in understanding the world, providing a sense of coherence, and guiding action, people become motivated to maintain them through self-verification. Such strivings provide stability to people’s lives, making their experiences more coherent, orderly, and comprehensible than they would be otherwise.Self-verification processes are also adaptive for groups, groups of diverse backgrounds and the larger society, in that they make people predictable to one another thus serve to facilitate social interaction. To this end, people engage in a variety of activities that are designed to obtain self-verifying information. According to self-verification, people prefer feedback that i s consistent with their self-concept even when that feedback is unflattering. They will not accept feedback that is at odds with their self-concept.In our hypothesis, men who chose to use urinals for urination are meant to be more confident and have a stronger self-esteem than those who chose to use toilet bowls. They have a stronger self-concept and hence stronger self-verification. They would consider that they did a good job and deserved a more positive feedback. Therefore, a more positive feedback would increase their motivation and performance. If less positive feedback is given to this group of people, they would not receive this feedback as the less positive feedback did not match with their self-concept.For those chose to use toilet bowl, which showed that they had less confidence and lower self-concept, a less positive feedback would cause a higher motivation and performance since they think they deserved less positive feedback. They would accept it and hence it satisfied t heir self-esteem. Once their self-esteem is satisfied, they would promote to a higher hierarchy: self-actualization. P. s. I dun know when to use self-concept, self-esteem, self-verification these suck words. Since I only got the fucking old both without these suck words and definitions.

Ralph nader essays

Ralph nader essays Lawyer, consumer activist, author. Born February 27, 1934, in Winsted, Connecticut. The son of Nathra Nader, a Lebanese immigrant who owned a bakery and restaurant, and his wife Rose, the scholarly Nader attended Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1955. In 1958, he graduated from Harvard Law School and began practicing law in Hartford, Connecticut. His first book, Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), was an expos about the dangers posed by the design of the Chevrolet Corvair, a car produced by General Motors. The book inspired a good deal of public interest and sparked a veritable revolution in automobile safety. In its wake, the federal government passed the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, an unprecedented attempt to regulate the powerful auto industry. As a determined and eloquent advocate for consumers, Nader was also largely responsible for the passage of the 1967 Wholesome Meat Act, which imposed federal standards on slaughterhouses and required federal inspections of beef and poultry; the Clean Air Act; and the Freedom of Information Act. Among the consumer advocacy organizations Nader has founded over the years (most of which are still active) are Public Citizen, the Center for Responsive Law, the Center for Auto Safety, the Public Interest Research Group, the Disability Rights Center, the Clean Water Action Project, the Pension Rights Center, the Project for Corporate Responsibility. His disciples-known as Naders Raiders-have been active in Washington, D.C., since the early 1970s. Other books which Nader wrote or cowrote include Corporate Power in America (1973), Taming the Giant Corporations (1976), Menace of Atomic Energy (1977), Whos Poisoning America (1981), and Winning the Insurance Game (1990). A confirmed bachelor, Nader is extremely guarded about his personal life in the press. In 1992 and 1996, Nader mounted somewhat half-hearted campaigns for presid...

Definition and Examples of Advanced Composition

Definition and Examples of Advanced Composition Advanced composition is a university-level course in expository writing beyond the first-year or introductory level. Also called advanced writing. In its broadest sense, says Gary A. Olson, advanced composition  refers to all postsecondary writing instruction above the first-year level, including courses in  technical,  business, and advanced  expository writing, as well as classes associated with  writing across the curriculum. This broad definition was the one adopted by the  Journal of Advanced Composition  in its early years of publication (Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, 1994). Examples and Observations A good many educators use the term advanced composition to refer specifically to a junior- or senior-level composition course concerned more with writing in general than with how writing functions in particular disciplines...It is unlikely that compositionists will ever reach consensus about advanced composition, nor would most teachers want some kind of monologic, universal method and course. What is certain is that advanced composition continues to grow in popularity, both among students and instructors, and it remains an active area of scholarship.​  (Gary A. Olson, Advanced Composition. Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, ed. by Alan C. Purves. Scholastic Press, 1994)[T]eaching advanced composition should be more than just a harder freshman course. If advanced composition is to have any viability at all, it must be founded on a theory that (1) shows how advanced composition is different in kind from freshman composition and (2) shows how advanced compositi on is developmentally related to freshman composition. The harder approach achieves only the latter.​  (Michael Carter, What Is Advanced About Advanced Composition?: A Theory of Expertise in Writing. Landmark Essays on Advanced Composition, ed. by Gary A. Olson and Julie Drew. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1996) Students who enroll in advanced writing courses write with proficiency yet often rely on formulas; their prose is stuffed with too many words and weighed down with nominalizations, passives, prepositional phrases. Their writing lacks focus, details, and a sense of audience . . .. The goal of an advanced writing course, therefore, is to move students from proficiency to effectiveness.​  (Elizabeth Penfield, Freshman English/Advanced Writing: How Do We Distinguish the Two? Teaching Advanced Composition: Why and How, ed. by Katherine H. Adams and John L. Adams. Boynton/Cook, 1991) Sites of Contention My advanced composition courses currently function not only as skills courses but also as sustained inquiries into how writing functions (and has functioned) politically, socially, and economically in the world. Through writing, reading, and discussion, my students and I focus on three sites of contentioneducation, technology, and the selfat which writing assumes particular importance. . . . Although relatively few students choose to write poetry in my current advanced composition courses, it seems to me that students attempts at poetic composition are considerably enriched by their integration into a sustained inquiry about how all sorts of writing actually function in the world.​  (Tim Mayers, [Re]writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005) Explorations For most of my first eleven years at [Oregon State University]the years during which I taught both first-year and advanced compositionI wrote identical course descriptions for these two composition classes. The basic structure of the syllabi for the two classes was also similar, as were the assignments. And I used the same text as well . . .. Students in advanced composition wrote longer essays than first-year students, but that was the primary difference between the two courses...The syllabus for my fall term 1995 advanced composition class . . . raises new issues. The text that follows begins with the second paragraph of the course overview: In this class we will discuss questions such as these as we work together to become more effective, self-confident, and self-conscious writers. As is the case with most composition classes, we will function as a writing workshoptalking about the writing process, working collaboratively on work in progress. But we will also inquire together about what is at stake when we write: we will explore, in other words, the tensions that inevitably result when we wish to express our ideas, to claim a space for ourselves, in and with communities that may or may not share our assumptions and conventions. And we will consider the implications of these explorations for such rhetorical concepts as voice and ethos. (Lisa S. Ede, Situating Composition: Composition Studies and the Politics of Location. Southern Illinois University Press, 2004)

How readily could terrorists can acquire nuclear weapons Essay

How readily could terrorists can acquire nuclear weapons - Essay Example different nations had the information about nuclear weapon empowerment of different terrorist organizations across the world, why adequate measures have not been taken to prevent such attempts? The reasons is that despite having knowledge about such devastating plans of the terrorists such attempts could not be stopped as terrorists are not some kind of creatures belonging to a particular species group who could be identified through their appearances. They are very much part of the society, of the mass and they are actually utilizing the brighter aspects of human innovations in wrong ways. The general course experimentation of nuclear weapons has showed them the avenues that nuclear weapons are great tools by which a great deal of mass destruction can happen and such attempts would definitely add to the purpose of the terrorists. Nuclear weapon empowerment of terrorists actually started due to the infamous Cold War between two global superpowers, United States of America and Soviet Union. As either of these nations was on the desperate attempt to prove them superior to the other that is why, for the purpose of making their respective economic as well social bonds weak they encouraged terrorism. In the process of such encouragement they actually trained those terrorists, who were actually mercenaries in the hands of both the countries, to use modern weapons properly and taught them about the use and invention of nuclear weapons. Use of such nuclear weapons by the terrorists actually belongs to the category of â€Å"non-conventional weaponry.† (Cameron, 1999, p. 1) Once of the most horrific instances of the recent day use of such â€Å"non-conventional weaponry† can be cited through the attack of Aum Shinrikyo, a terrorist organization in Tokyo. â€Å"On 20th March 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult released a lethal nerve agent, sarin, on the Tokyo underground. The attack killed 12 people and injured over 5,000 others, and was the first majo r sub-state use of a

Article Review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Article Review - Research Paper Example The members of the board are not answerable to the president; moreover, they have regulatory authority over each and every public company in the US. It is pertinent to note that with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Security Exchange Commission pegs the cost of â€Å"internal controls† for an average company in US at $91,000 per year. Commission also acknowledges the fact that the cost has increased substantially. In 2008, SEC surveyed thousands of corporations to assess the cost implications in the post SOX period and it was found that an average company needs to spend $2.3 million to comply with the provisions of Section 404. The disturbing part is that small companies have to bear the brunt of it in a much larger proportion relative to their assets. In this survey, only 19% companies confirm that the benefits of section 404 are significant to outweigh its costs. The author argues that investors are, to a large extent, skeptical about the benefits of this law. Legal Issues The section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act prescribes that senior management of the company needs to authorize the accuracy of the financial reports and section 404 is all about establishing ‘internal controls’ and reporting methods specifying the adequacy of these controls. This legality has enhanced the cost of compliance substantially of all listed companies in the US. Managerial Perspective The whole purpose of enacting the law is to restore investors’ confidence in the companies. However, SEC survey establishes that a large proportion of the respondents do not agree that Section 404 has been able to enhance confidence of the investors in their companies. Section 404 encompasses even minor issues that place a huge burden of cost on the companies while complying with the law. It is ironical that majority of the foreign companies are contemplating de-listing from US exchanges and many small foreign firms have abandoned the idea to enter into American Capital Ma rkets. This means that Sarbanes-Oxley Act works as a deterrent to the small and foreign firms. Though credit raters and securities analysts, in a separate survey done by SEC, give favorable view about section 404 but at the same time admit that the benefits from Section 404 cannot be quantified. The most troublesome part is that ever since the enforcement of law, US firms have reduced their investments on research and development and capital expenditures vis-a-vis firms of other developed countries such as Canada and UK. The reason being directors and senior managers are scared of criminal penalties involved while undertaking risky investments that are difficult and costly to monitor. This certainly does not augur well for the economy of the nation. Reference Freeman J. (2009). The Supreme Case against Sarbanes-Oxley. The Wallstreet Journal. Retrieved August 23, 2012 from