Ethics Article Review Essay Example for Free

Ethics Article Review Essay Ethics in accounting and financial decision-making has received increased attention due to large corporate scandals such as WorldCom and Enron in recent years. Legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has attempted to make corporations more transparent to internal and external stakeholders. After analyzing the 2005 article by Richard Bernardi and Catherine LaCross, Corporate Transparency: Code of Ethics Disclosures, recommendations will be made to improve ethical foundations at the San Quentin State Prison based on the parameters outlined by Sarbanes-Oxley. In the Corporate Transparency article, the key point is made that along with changes in the accounting practices, disclosing a code of ethics to the public will ensure better internal compliance with ethical practices. Those organizations that did not publicly disclose codes of ethics were less likely to truly conform to ethical practices required in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 was legislation enacted in response to large corporate scandals. The Act calls for public corporations to publicly disclose all financial statements, store all electronic records for five years and these rules are governed by the SEC (Spurzem, 2006). Sarbanes Oxley has impacted organizations in that accountants and financial decision makers are open to public scrutiny based on the public financial statement disclosures and IT departments must adequately create and maintain corporate archives that are cost effective and in compliance with legislation (Spurzem, 2006). Organizations have been impacted financially by having to add extra resources to maintain compliance and avoid fines. According to Bernardi and LaCross, â€Å". . . one example of a ‘best practice’ in transparency is a corporation making its code of ethics readily available for public scrutiny on its website (par 1). † Corporations increase legitimacy with openly stated code of ethics and websites are an economically feasible avenue for making a particular code available to the public. The article argues that organizations that go beyond the basic requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley and declare a universal code of ethics show that the organization is willing to ‘walk the talk’ of ethics. SEC chairman Donaldson is quoted as saying â€Å". . . going beyond mere adherence or conformity to new dictates and of Sarbanes-Oxley: responsibilities that rest at the very heart of their obligation to create a corporate culture of transparency and accountability (Bernardi, 2005, par 6). † Integrating ethics into a corporate culture is extremely effective in ensuring strong ethical compliance within organizations. At the San Quentin State Prison, ethics are important in many aspects of business including accounting, financial decisions, inmate treatment, medical care, and general work environment. There are many opportunities for unethical practices to take hold in a prison facility. Since the facility is closed off to the general public, self-monitoring is a crucial part of maintaining an ethical environment in all aspects of the prison business. San Quentin has the responsibility to use public tax dollars wisely and ethically as well as to maintain a corporate culture with high integrity. Based on the research findings by Bernardi and LaCross, the recommendation for a San Quentin State Prison public code of ethics will focus the entire prison cultural towards walking the ethical talk. All prison employees would be held individually responsible for maintaining the highest code of ethics across all job functions from accounting and financial decision-makers to medical employees. Ethics in business span larger than just accounting and financial-decision making. While these areas are extremely important, developing a code of ethics for all job functions in an organization is essential to maintaining an ethical corporate environment. At San Quentin Prison, an official code of ethics would guide the organization to best practices to ensure success. References http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci920030,00.html

Effects of Cost Reduction Strategies

Effects of Cost Reduction Strategies 1. Background of the study The selected organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at suburb area of the country. Factory has capacity to provide employment opportunities for over 80 skilled labours. Since year 1995 factory is being manufacturing garments Shirts, Trousers, Jackets, Blouses, Night wear, Babies garments etc for local and foreign market. In order to earn profits, the factory organizes the factors of production to produce garments that meet the demand of local and foreign market. To maintain the profitability of the organization it has become necessary to reduce the cost of the product and increase the quality of the garments. For most purpose of this study is to practically preview cost reduction practice of organizations and effect of the practices in the organization. Cost reduction measures became most significant and prioritize topic in current business strategy due to the prevailing global economical crises. Cost reduction measures address questions about the efficient and effective management. A comprehensive study of practice of cost reduction measures of garment factory and effect of the measures in factory was difficult because of data limitations and managers reluctance to provide data. Inadequacy of available data makes it difficult to state precisely practice of cost reduction measures and effect of that. This is further complicated by the fact that managers hide some information purposely by thinking this information will go to their competitors. 2. Cost Reduction Techniques Cost reduction strategies helped the organization to match its capabilities with opportunities in the market place to accomplish its objectives. To maintain the profitability of the organization and to get the competitive advantage, the management has introduced some cost reduction methods during last two years. Although indirect costs are relatively small percentage of total cost, management equally introduced cost reduction measures for both direct and indirect cost sources. Revealed data proven that organization was able to save over seven millions of rupees during last year. The implemented cost reductions measures as follows, List of cost reduction approaches implemented by the selected organization Production process redesigning Waste management Overtime work reduce Staff reduce Cut off of medical insurance facility Cut off of food facility Suspension loan and salary advance facility Reduce transportation facility Electricity saving measures Cost reduce through limiting Telephone facility Reduce office maintenance cost Stationary and documentation cost reduction Introduction of new production Product development Suspension of organizations annual trip Time saving measures Cost reduces through inventory controlling. 3. Categorization of cost reduction measures 1. Product process related cost reduction approaches Cost reduction by production process redesigning Cost reduction through waste management Cost reduces through inventory controlling. 2. Employee related cost reduction approaches Cost reduction by overtime work Cost reduce by Staff reduce Staff welfare cost reduction Cut off of medical insurance facility Suspension of interest free loan facility and salary advances Cut off of food Suspension of organizations annual trip Cut off of transport facility Time saving measures 3. Administration and office maintenance related cost reduction approaches Electricity saving measures Telephone Reduce office maintenance cost Stationary and documentation cost reduction 4. Customer related cost reduction approaches Introduction of new production Product development 4. Evaluation and Analysis of Cost Reduction Techniques 1 Product process related cost reduction approaches 1.1 Cost reduction by product process redesigning To reduce cost, the organization had redesigned production process. Sequentially to optimize the all manufacturing process, Manufacturing, sample testing, procumbent handling, delivery service and repairer had been redesigned with the concern of best cost, quality, safety, customer satisfaction etc. Designers had been encouraged to watchfully specify part quality by taking into consideration the cumulative effect of part on product quality. Production time was saved by quickly assembling few parts with better quality. Parts are ease of production and commonality with other designs. This method support standardization of parts, minimum use of purchased parts, modular design and standard design features. It has reorganized the building to order and gathering customization. All parts keep available at all point of use, makes it easier for parts to be pulled into assembly which eliminate the unnecessary movements. By ordering less type of parts in large qualities it reduced material over head cost. Organization was able to reduced cost and improves flexibility by redesigning. According to the management, overtime payment amount at the same time as nearly 20% of salary during past few years. It shouldered around 5% of total direct cost. Organization was able to meet customer deadline without doing overtime works as a results of process redesigning. In order to redesign manufacturing process, organization had used expert process development team and paid them amount at the same as 9.5% of annual overtime amount. By parts keep available at all point of use, and eliminating unnecessary movements, one store helpers duty had wipe out without any effecting. Organization was able to save amount at same time as 10.5% of salary and one store helpers salary valued Rs.5, 900/- by process redesigning. This redesigning of the process ensure that how well the features work and had significantly influence on quality, reliability and how quickly new product can be introduced into the market. Consequently cost benefit of the redesigning is much higher than the overtime sav ing and one labour salary. 1.2 Cost reduction through waste managing Increase productivity by eliminating many types of waste. Such as excess inventory and unnecessary handling, time wasting, defects, reworking, material wastage. Waste materials had been sold to domestic producers at very low prices. Organization had started to produce new dresses by using west material especially for the local market instead of selling to the domestic. Theses product are providing at very cheap price and it is good opportunity for the customers. Organization was able to additionally earn at least fifty thousand per month. Because of this decision the domestic people loss their live hood. In order to save time, introduced token system for workers to minimize away from work station ( if any worker wants to go out of work station even to go to toilet or any other emergency they should get permission token from supervisor and when employee back to workstation he should immediately return to the supervisor), and get rid of unnecessary process ( Ex: reduced double stretch to one stitch in some products). To prevent unnecessary interruption organization had introduced proactive equipment / machine maintenance method. On that organization had enter in to service agreement with third party organization which cost was around Rs. Hundred and fifty thousand per annum. With this agreement, servicing organization randomly come and does necessary service to all machines without interruption to normal process. As a result of no any machine take away from process during last year where which frequently experiences early. This decision accelerates production and optimized labour consumption. To ensure the optimum use of machine tool and workstation, one piece flow lines balanced to do the required tasks at each station. This may also help to meet deadlines without doing overtime and terminate the supervisory staff. 1.3 Cost reduces through inventory controlling Inventory controlling is another important cost reduction source. Materials comprise of the 60 to 70% of the total production cost. The various techniques have been introduced to controlling inventory handling cost. Organization had removed non moving stock because non moving stock goes on adding overheads for a period of years and it becomes a blocked inventory. Organization uses classification system. This helps to reduce stock handling cost and organization was able to reduce one store helper service. Cost benefits of these techniques are particularly high. 2. Employee related cost reduction approaches 2.1 Cost reduce by stopping overtime work As it is explained by the Sri Lankan law overtime work is one and one-half times or doubles size payment. Though overtime is high cost source organization had used overtime works for provide high quality products to customers and meet their target. According to the management, overtime payment amount at the same time as nearly 20% of salary during past few years. It shouldered around 5% of total direct cost. The management has stopped over time work and payments. This decision is effected to factory and office employees. This factory had used to pay overtime payment for managerial staffs as well. Top Management has consecutively introduced flexible working hours for the management staffs to success in overtime payment suspension procedure. The organization was able to save money as at least 20% of salary due to the overtime suspension decision. As per managers, no any order or job has been delayed due to this measure and they are getting same output as they got early by working overtime. Employees ware adherent to work overtime and receive additional payment. Consequently staffs misery and labour turnover is increased in the factory. Overtime work is more costly and it significantly effect to the organizations cost structure. In other hand, Humans cannot continually work long hour and their output gradually reduces as they are tired of working long hours. Therefore cost benefit of overtime work rather low. However, organization was able to save at least money same as 20% of monthly salary. As management there is no such a big deference of output comparatively overtime work period and non overtime period. Organization was able to get maximum use of human resources during working hour. One reason for that may be by limit ed employees working hours to 8, employees may give their contribution without exhausted. Though hiring cost increased this is a good cost reduction method. 2.2 Cost reduce by Staff reduce It is observed that salary denoted nearly half of organizations cost. By redesigning production process and introducing production team concept, it was able to eliminate unnecessary job. Organization has terminated 5 labours, one office peon, two supervisors, one assistant manager and two clerks service. Organization was able to save nearly hundred and fifty thousand per month by reducing employees. This decision was a considerable damage to the high job security which was experienced by the employees during last ten fifteen years. This decision adversely effect to the employees moral and face uncertainty. Sri Lankan labour law is not a flexible law and it always facilitate the employee and it gives poor aid to employers. This organization falls to reduced staffs to protect many other employees and the organization. Terminated staffs have been paid one month salary additionally and gratuity. Some of terminated staffs have taken legal action against to the organization on their termination. Organization occurs to pay additional payments for legal officer. Though organization is able to save considerable saving on this measure, addition cost source was initiated as a result of. This situation was raised as a result of unorganized implementation. If prior approval was taken from legal authority this cost sources may not be occurred. Therefore organization was unable to success in cost as expected due to wrong implementation. High job security enhanced staff loyalty and builds a healthy and happy working environment and promoted good relationship among the staff but with this decision empl oyees experienced uncertainty. This may also a motive to increase labour turnover. 2.3 Staff welfare cost reduction Performances of the organization depend on employees enthusiasm and satisfaction with their jobs; all affect the productivity, reputation and survival of the firm. Employees are the main driving force of the organization. Organization believes that employees are their most valuable asset. To enhance staff loyalty and ensure they have an excellent working environment organization had provided verity of facilities for them. Few of them are medical insurance coverage, transport facility, pleasant working environment, Interest free staff loan facility, payment for residual leave, fifteen minis religious memorial period for every day, salary advance if necessary, annual trip and etc. All these facilities help to build a healthy and happy working environment and promoted good relationship among the staff. But organization was urged to cut off these facilities to be success in increasing market competition and global economical crises. 2.3.1 Cut off of medical insurance facility All level employees experienced medical insurance facility. They were paid all their medical expense including hospitalization charges. Medical insurance coverage helps to increase employees satisfaction and promote healthy relationship among employees and employer. Medical insurance coverage was gaining in popularity with staff grade employers and not that much popular within labours. As Sri Lanka is a country which provides free medical service to its nations cut off of medical insurance coverage is not such a big issue for the labours. But that decision was badly affected to the managerial staffs enthusiasm. Organization was able to save over five hundred thousand rupees yearly on this decision. Organization was able to save considerable amount of money which less affected to labours and significant effect to staff grade motivation. However this is a comparatively good cost reduction method of a factory. 2.3.2 Suspension of interest free loan facility and salary advances Organization had provided interest free loan for permanent employees which not more than employees one year salary. Inference period is three year. Other than to the staff loan salary advance also suspended. Management has planned to invest company money in to business promotion. This decision helps to shield the business and it helps to increase stability of the organization. Suspension of staff loan facility is not considerable affect to the managerial staff as majority of the staffs had already taken loan and managerial staffs are more secure in economically than labours. But the suspension of salary advance is badly effect to labours enthusiasm and it may also act to increase labour turnover. Cost benefit of this technique is comparatively low. It is observed that organization was unable to save considerable saving on account of. 2.3.3 Cut off of food Organization provided breakfast, lunch and tea to all level of employees. Majority of employees are poor female. This meal facility helps to maintain their body nutrition level and helped to increase enthusiasm. Some poor girls may come to work without meals and others may have to weak up early morning to prepare their meals as a result of cut off of food facility. Any employees can work on their maximum capacity if theyre mentally and physically fit. Therefore cut off of food expenses can be adversely affected to the output. Organization was able to save at least one hundred and fifty thousand and other hand it may badly affect to the employees effort and moral. Organization experiences comparatively high level of absenteeism after implementing the decision. It can be identified as not good cost deduction method to factory which employed majority female low income employees. 2.3.4 Suspension of organizations annual trip Employees are the most important resources of the factory. The annual trip is corporate team building exercises which helps individuals work better on individually and together. Getting to know each other is a great way for staff to form stronger working relationships. Staffs who are not usually working together have opportunity to bond and is good opportunity for new and shy members to get involved focused task. Further rewarding staff with a fun day out employees feel valued by the employer and more likely to be happy at working and loyal. Getting away from the everyday tasks can gives employees a fresh feeling. It helps to identify staff strength and weaknesses and it helps to provide right opportunities for staff back at the office for them to develop. Build relationship among co-workers. Additionally, staff themselves will learn more about theirs and others strengths and weaknesses. Organization saved around hundred thousand yearly but the saving benefit is comparatively low con sidering the benefit of this team building event. 2.3.5 Cut off of transport facility The organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at suburb area. Public transportation facility of the area is in very poor level comparatively to the urban area of the country. Organization had provided office maintains vehicle for managerial staffs and separate vehicles to transport workers and office staff. There was a not implemented cost reduction measure for managerial staffs transport facility. Organization has employed two buses to transport all employees including staff and workers instead of two busses and van which employed early. Organization was able to reduce transportation cost by Rs. 40,000/- per month by this decision. 2.3.5 Time saving measures It was introduced token system for workers to minimize away from work station ( if any worker wants to go out of work station even to go to toilet or any other emergency they should get permission token from supervisor and when employee back to workstation he should immediately return to the supervisor). This method more scientific and in long run this will effect to staff frustration. It was unable to save considerable saving. Cost benefit of the method is very low. It was advised staffs to warship or prays before working hour which was used to done by the staff after working hour early. By allowing memorize employees to their religion before start the duty management expected to create peaceful and harmonious working environment. This may also directs to meet costumers target without overtime work. This is good time saving method. By adjusting transport vehicle time accordingly, management was able to facilitate employees to continue this exercise. Organization was able to save 350 man hours monthly valid nearly twenty thousand without influencing to employees and devoid of harm their objective. 3. Administration and office maintenance related cost reduction approaches 3.1 Electricity saving measures The use of air conditioners within office premises has been stopped and circular had issued to all staffs by advising electricity saving measures, on that staff have been advised how they can assist to save electricity while working. (Staff switches off computers and lights when they go outside of the work station). As this factory located at damp whether area this issue is not effected to the staffs productivity. Organization was able reduce electricity bill by at least five thousand per month without effect to the output. 3.2 Telephone All telephones unites have been locked and introduced upper limit of monthly telephone charges and if it exceeded particular employee is responsible for the excess. There was no considerable deference between before and after introduced of the policy. As telephone facilities has provided to management staff and they all use that facility for the official mater. Whether limits are exceeded it all uses for the business requirements. 3.3 Reduce office maintenance cost Office and factory cleaning service providers service had stopped and assigned to office peons and helpers. Part time worker has recruited for sanitary service by paying Rs.2,000 per month. Organization was able to save twenty thousand of rupees which they paid to cleaning service organization. Due to this decision labor turnover has increased. Organization was unable to the attained that they maintained early on cleaning and sanitary facility. This is not a good cost reduction measure to the organization. 3.4 Stationary and documentation cost reduction Organization started to use Low price stationeries and strong stationary controlling methods have been introduced. Organization was able to reduce around five hundred rupees per month from this measure. 4. Customer related cost reduction approaches 4.1 Introduction of new production Factory manufacturing garments Shirts/Trousers/Jackets/Blouses /Night wear/Babies garments etc for local and foreign market. It is introduced low material and labour consumption garment to the local market. Organization has been involved in the development of garments for low-price. As revealed it is marketed low cost product with low price. This is a good opportunity for the customers. This is a good accomplishment for organization to win the customers. 4.2 Product development Organization had introduced new dresses by using west material especially for the local market instead of selling to the domestic. Theses product are providing at very cheap price and it is good opportunity for the customers. Organization was able to additionally earn at least fifty thousand per month. The organization always targeted to win the upper income level customers and they had ignored lower income group by producing high quality high price garments. With this development organization was able to catch the low income group by producing high quality garments at cheap price. Organization was able to expand the market rather than limited in to the high income customer group. 5. Conclusion The long-term practicability of an organizations business plan depends on supporting its competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is usually attained through developing new products to improve quality and reduce costs. For most purpose of this study is to practically preview cost reduction practice of organizations and effect of the practices in the organization. The selected organization is a medium scale garment manufacturing factory located at out of metropolitan city. Cost reduction strategies helped the organization to match its capabilities with opportunities in the market place to accomplish its objectives. To maintain the profitability of the organization and to get the competitive advantage, the management has introduced some cost reduction methods during last two years. Although indirect costs are relatively small percentage of total cost, management equally introduced cost reduction measures for both direct and indirect cost sources. Revealed data proven that organizat ion was able to save around one million of rupees during last year. The exercised cost reductions measures were, employee related, production process related, customer related and administration and office maintenance related cost reduction. It is observed that organization had implemented cost reduction techniques without doing proper cost benefit analysis. However revealed data proven that organization was able to save over seven millions of rupees during last year. Reducing overtime work, Staff welfare cut off, Production improvement, Introduction of new production, Production process related, Productivity increasing measures, Wastage reduction measures, Electricity saving measures have been successively accomplished the organization goal while employee reducing, office maintenance measures ineffective.

A Summers Love Essays -- essays research papers fc

A Summer Love William Shakespeare wrote about many people, places, and things throughout his life. What he might be most remembered for are his writings about love. None might be better than his sonnet 18. Shakespeare uses imagery, personification, unusual techniques and remarkable feelings in this declaration. Few have matched such a task including himself. This short sonnet number 18 is one of the best known and most loved of all 154 poems. Mabillard states that â€Å"It is also one of the most straightforward in language and intent† (Mabillard). Shakespeare starts the sonnet by the praise of his lady friend without ostentation, but he slowly builds the image of his lady friend into that of a perfect being. Shakespeare illustrates that as history writes itself down in the books, his friend or loved lady, will become one with time. The poet's hope that as long as there is breath in mankind, his poetry too will live on. Shakespeare uses a vast amount of imagery in his sonnet. Each line adds to his feeling and thoughts through flowing visions and comparisons. â€Å"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, / And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.† (Kennedy and Gioia). This line down plays summer and shows the negatives of the season. Shakespeare gives the fact sharp winds attack what beautiful flowers the ground and trees put out in the spring. This asks the question; if summer is so nice and perfect, how could it do this to something so lovely as the small buds on a tree or a flower? The next line sugge sts summer is short and ends far to quickly for most people’s liking. Shakespeare’s love could never end like summer does. He knows there is no limit such as time to his feelings and thoughts. Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare combines personification and imagery to add to the effect on the mind’s eye and its view of his love. â€Å"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, / And often is his gold complexion dimmed† (Kennedy and Gioia) are two lines which show this perfectly. Ray says that â€Å"Complexion in line 6 refers only to physical appearance in the face and that it points to the face of the personified sun† (Ray). Shakespeare puts down the sun which is often a favorite part of most people during summer. He also states â€Å"Shakespeare certainly also assumes the other meaning of ‘complexion’ most c... ...akespeare indented them. Therefore, they stand out and are very prominent. Being at the end of the sonnet was not enough for Shakespeare final emphasis. He had to thrust them out of the page at all who can see. This shows he is completely and utterly serious about his love if the other lines did not prove it. A strong beginning and ending just like his love. This sonnet is the prototype for one’s feelings on love. Though it is not for sure who Shakespeare is writing to, one thing is certain: his love is everlasting and beautiful. He describes his feelings almost as well as he feels them and gives the same feelings to the audience. He outdid himself with his work and few things can match his words and heart he put into this sonnet. Works Cited Kennedy X.J. and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An Introduction. 9th ed. New York: Longman, 2005. pg 815-816. Ray, Robert H. "Shakespeare's Sonnet 18." The Explicator. Washington: Fall 1994. Vol. 53, Iss. 1, p 10-11. Mabillard, Amanda. "An Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18". Shakespeare Online. 2000. June 26, 2005. .

national deficit :: essays research papers

As one of the top ten concerns in this years presidential election, the national deficit has been given some attention by both presidential candidates. But the candidates can only make promises to the public on this issue, stating that they will cut the national deficit in half , by 2009. Since both George W. Bush and John Kerry have the same goal, the examination begins on how each of them plan to achieve it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When President Clinton took office, he reduced the national debt by 10% in his last five years. But as Bush took the presidential seat in 2001, he reversed this progress and is now predicting that he will achieve the highest ratio of Gross National Debt to the Penny (GDP) in 50 years, if we re-elect him.(http://zfacts.com/p/318.html) â€Å"When Bush took office, there was a surplus of $236 billion, according to the Office of Management and Budget. By the end of 2004, a record $413-billion deficit is expected because of tax cuts, spending on national security, Iraq and Afghanistan and interest on the debt.† (http://www.freep.com/news/politics/taxgrid23e_20041023.htm) President Bush blames the deficit on the recession, the rise in military and homeland security spending, and tax cuts, which he believes were needed to encourage the economy. He has said holding off on â€Å"non-homeland security and non-defense spending combined with economic growth will make it possible to cut the deficit in half over the next five years.† He still plans to try and make his tax cuts permanent, which have â€Å"affected both businesses and individuals.† In respect to the budget enforcement rules affective in the 1990s, Bush is requiring annual limits on optional spending programs, and a pay-as-you-go requirement to force necessary spending programs to make budget cuts to make up for the increases payments. (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04284/392809.stm) Sen. John Kerry blames the deficit on â€Å"tax cuts and entitlement spending not paid for with savings elsewhere.† He has said that keeping the optional domestic spending on the same line as inflation, and paying for new proposals which will balance out savings, will make it possible to cut the deficit in half in his first term. Kerry also says he would bring back the traditional pay-as-you-go rules, but keep the right to raise taxes so as to offset spending increases if necessary, though Kerry has â€Å"vowed to put off spending increases or find offsetting cuts first.† Kerry plans to try and decrease tax cuts for households earning more than $200,000, and use other tactics that he estimates will raise â€Å"nearly $900 billion, much of which will go toward funding health care and other initiatives.

Feminist Ideas the Screwball Comedy Film Genre Essay -- Feminism Essay

The Screwball comedy is a film genre that found its way onto the screens in the early 1930s and lasted till the early 1940s. They were a consequence of the newly adapted censorship law in 1934 that restricted addressing adult content on screen. They therefore incorporated more comedic and creative ways of symbolizing topics such as sex and homosexuality. Screwball comedies were mainly based on plots that had conflict between social classes as their many premise and always had a happy ending which was almost always marriage. This consistent maintenance of the status quo of marriage is a major aspect of feminism depicted in screwball comedies (Heather 26). While advocating for marriage, screwball comedies highlighted the shift in the foundations of marriage and greatly highlighted the growth of feminism in light of a shift in roles and expectations surrounding this institution. Feminism is motivated by the need to establish equality between the genders since most feminists attribute women’s problems to inequality between the two genders. Therefore, by way of a collection of political movements and social theories, feminists seek to curb this inequality between men and women. It is important to note that the equality sought after by feminists is not just economic and political, but also social equality. According to Heather Gilmour, The institution of marriage during the pre-modern era or the Victorian era was based on inequality as the roles to be fulfilled by both genders for the success of the marriage were essentially different (Heather 26). As the roles kept changing over time due to different circumstances, so did the expectations of marriage and along with that, the rise of feminist movement. Screwball comedies such as It... ...r to be pragmatic and cautious when drawing lessons from screwball comedies. Works Cited Gilmour, Heather. â€Å"Journal of Film and Video.† Different, except in a Different way: Marriage, Divorce, and Gender in the Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998. 26 – 39. Print. It Happened One Night. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable. Columbia Pictures. 1999. DVD. Shumway, David, R. â€Å"Cinema Journal.† Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1999. 7 – 23. Print. Willet, Cynthia. â€Å"Cultural Critique.† Baudrillard, â€Å"After Hours†, and the Postmodern Suppression of Socio-Sexual Conflict. Minnesota: University Of Minnesota Press, 1996. 143 – 161. Print. Woman of the Year. Dir. George Stevens. Perf. Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. MGM. 1997. DVD. Feminist Ideas the Screwball Comedy Film Genre Essay -- Feminism Essay The Screwball comedy is a film genre that found its way onto the screens in the early 1930s and lasted till the early 1940s. They were a consequence of the newly adapted censorship law in 1934 that restricted addressing adult content on screen. They therefore incorporated more comedic and creative ways of symbolizing topics such as sex and homosexuality. Screwball comedies were mainly based on plots that had conflict between social classes as their many premise and always had a happy ending which was almost always marriage. This consistent maintenance of the status quo of marriage is a major aspect of feminism depicted in screwball comedies (Heather 26). While advocating for marriage, screwball comedies highlighted the shift in the foundations of marriage and greatly highlighted the growth of feminism in light of a shift in roles and expectations surrounding this institution. Feminism is motivated by the need to establish equality between the genders since most feminists attribute women’s problems to inequality between the two genders. Therefore, by way of a collection of political movements and social theories, feminists seek to curb this inequality between men and women. It is important to note that the equality sought after by feminists is not just economic and political, but also social equality. According to Heather Gilmour, The institution of marriage during the pre-modern era or the Victorian era was based on inequality as the roles to be fulfilled by both genders for the success of the marriage were essentially different (Heather 26). As the roles kept changing over time due to different circumstances, so did the expectations of marriage and along with that, the rise of feminist movement. Screwball comedies such as It... ...r to be pragmatic and cautious when drawing lessons from screwball comedies. Works Cited Gilmour, Heather. â€Å"Journal of Film and Video.† Different, except in a Different way: Marriage, Divorce, and Gender in the Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1998. 26 – 39. Print. It Happened One Night. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable. Columbia Pictures. 1999. DVD. Shumway, David, R. â€Å"Cinema Journal.† Screwball Comedies: Constructing Romance, Mystifying Marriage. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1999. 7 – 23. Print. Willet, Cynthia. â€Å"Cultural Critique.† Baudrillard, â€Å"After Hours†, and the Postmodern Suppression of Socio-Sexual Conflict. Minnesota: University Of Minnesota Press, 1996. 143 – 161. Print. Woman of the Year. Dir. George Stevens. Perf. Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. MGM. 1997. DVD.

Bba Application Essay

Community is where one finds a place to belong and a purpose to pursue. It can mean the difference between soaring with greatness or simply floating along. It is where leaders find their passion to shine and their reasons to thrive. The Emory Concert Choir community is no different, and it is where I have found my own passion and purpose to grow and thrive. The Emory Concert Choir is a family of diverse individuals who join together to fill each other’s lives up with song and laughter. It is where each of us has found our identity and expresses our passion for music.Each precious breath that escapes between our lips echoes through the concert hall and is filled with our pride and joy. However, music is not a treasure to be guarded from others, but is instead a food for the soul that should overflow. Therefore, I have thusly devoted myself to let our music be known to the Emory community as our Publicity Chair. In order to increase our campus awareness and allow a larger number of students to enjoy our concerts, I have started a number of initiatives since being appointed.During my freshman year, I noticed a lot of listeners came up after our concerts to express their gratitude. Many claimed to have been overwhelmed with joy and loved the beautiful sounds. Yet, many of these faces were not seen during the following concert. I realized that the problem lies within the lack communication of information; many simply did not know the date of our next concert. In order to increase communication, I began collecting email lists after each concert for those who wished to be informed of our future concerts.Furthermore, our new YouTube pages and Facebook pages will now allow us to utilize social media to engage with the Emory community. These new tools will help us keep the Emory community informed of all our future ventures. However, awareness does not end with simply communicating information. It is equally important to develop and maintain an image and identity of our Choir as a whole. Just as a company advertises its brand image, we too plan on promoting our choir’s image.During the academic year of 2012-2013, one of my largest initiatives is to identify the key characteristics of our choir, and create a campaign to promote that image. We have already begun designing apparel for the choir and revamping our website. The efforts made here will help shape Concert Choir’s place in the Emory community for the years to come. Over the past year, Emory Concert Choir has transformed from a group of singing strangers, to a family of friends supporting a common goal. I now know my role in improving our Concert Choir family and I know I have the capacity to achieve such greatness.

Intoxication: Not a Defence for Crime

Intoxication: Not a Defence for Crime There has been too many times where intoxication was used as a defence in criminal cases where it should not have been considered as a defence. Intoxication in criminal cases and whether it should be considered or not considered as a defence is very controversial. Voluntary intoxication should not be considered as a defence of crime.The main arguments against using intoxication as a defence are: the degree of proof required to prove intoxication is not sufficient, it is unfair to the victim if the accused gets away with a lighter sentence or no sentence at all because of the defence of intoxication, and last, in the case of voluntary intoxication, the mens rea should be considered satisfied toward general intent crimes. Analyzing these arguments proves that voluntary intoxication should not be used as a defence for criminal cases.The degree of proof required to prove intoxication is not rigorous enough. The degree of proof required to prove intox ication is balance of probabilities. When dealing with a serious charge, such as murder or sexual assault, the degree of proof for intoxication should be beyond a reasonable doubt, just like the prosecution is required to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt to convict the accused. There can be cases where intoxication might have occurred post offence and used as a defence to avoid penalties or punishment.For example, Mr. X bought a bottle of alcohol at 5 PM and went home. He killed his wife with a knife at 7 PM. After killing his wife, he started drinking and became extremely intoxicated. At 9 PM, his son came home and found his mother (wife of Mr. X) dead and his father (Mr. X) unconscious with a bloody knife close to him. The son called the police and the father was arrested with police charging the father with murder. The accused, Mr. X, went on to claim intoxication as a part of his defence.The charge was reduced to manslaughter. This example shows that the degree of proo f required proving intoxication is not rigorous enough. Mr. X began drinking after he killed his wife, however because there was no witness, the claim of Mr. X that he was intoxicated at the time of his wife’s murder cannot be effectively refuted and he would be tried for a lesser charge. Mr. X was able to reduce his charge by making a false statement while not having to prove that statement. That is obstruction of justice and perjury. If ntoxication was not allowed to be used as a defence of intent of the crime, Mr. X would not be able to get his charge reduced and therefore he would be charged with the crime that he actually committed. If intoxication is used as a defence for crime and the accused receives a lighter sentence or no sentence at all, it is unfair to the victim. If a person has been sexually assaulted by someone who was intoxicated, is it not the victim’s right to see justice being served? R. v. Daviault, [1994] 3 S. C. R. 63 is a case where Mr.Daviault sexually assaulted an elderly woman with a disability during extreme intoxication. This is a controversial case because of the argument made by Justice Cory that if Daviault had only been a â€Å"little† drunk, he may have had the mental ability to make the decision that he should not sexually assault the victim. In this case, it was established that the defence of intoxication could only be used in cases of â€Å"extreme† intoxication such as this. This case is an example of exceptional circumstances where extreme intoxication was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.The disabled elderly woman who was the victim of this case still suffered and does not even have the satisfaction of knowing that the person that wronged her may not be punished. The degree of intoxication may not even matter in most sexual assault cases. Research suggests that intoxication is merely used as an excuse to get away with the crime. On Canlii. org (Canadian Legal Information Institute), only a sm all percentage of sexual assault cases involved incest while intoxicated. Canlii. org showed the difference in search results of sexual assaults due to intoxication and incest due to intoxication. 490 cases were found of sexual assault while intoxicated and 121 cases were found of incest while intoxicated. One could question that if a sexual offender, while intoxicated, has the mental ability to distinguish between a related and unrelated person, then that offender has the mental ability to have the reasonable mind set to know the consequences of sexual assault and that it is illegal. Further to the research on Canlii. org, the use of intoxication as a defence encourages crime while being insensitive to the needs and rights of the victim.For example, a victim of sexual assault may be labelled as â€Å"available† or worse, hurtful words that may lead to psychological issues. A lighter sentence to the perpetrator would not help the psychological damage that victim has to deal w ith. Instead it might be worse because the victim may feel that they have been wronged for the second time; the second time being by the justice system. There are always precautions that can be taken to avoid situations when one is voluntarily intoxicated. R. v. Mascarenhas, [2002] 60 O. R (3d) 465 (C. A. ) is a case of driving under the influence.In this case, Mascarenhas was driving under the influence and killed two pedestrians. This is a general intent crime where a mens rea is not required. The proof of the act, actus reus, is required. Mascarenhas may not have intended to kill the pedestrians but nevertheless, two lives were taken. Mascarenhas cannot use the defence of intoxication for this crime. Precautions could have been taken to avoid the accident. If Mascarenhas had taken reasonable care of himself or possibly had someone to take care of him in voluntary intoxication, driving under the influence would have been avoided and therefore the pedestrians might still be alive.T his connects to criminal negligence. Mascarenhas disregarded the safety of others and therefore was also sentenced for being criminally negligent. During voluntary intoxication, a person should be responsible his or her own actions. Mascarenhas was convicted with criminal negligence, impaired operation of a motor vehicle as well as other convictions. This case is a good example of when the justice system made the right decision. The mens rea of an intoxicated person was not taken into consideration since the law does not require mens rea as a part of a general intent crime.Other crimes should also be dealt in the same manner and consider mens rea satisfied if the person was voluntarily intoxicated. Based on the analysis of the arguments that voluntary intoxication does not require a sufficient amount of proof, that it is unfair to the victim, and that the mens rea is considered to be satisfied in the case of intoxication in general intent crimes, it is safe to say that voluntary int oxication should not be used as a defence in criminal offences. Criminals who are voluntarily intoxicated and commit a crime deserve the original sentence that comes with the act.The sentence should not be reduced. Voluntary intoxication means that one has the control to decide whether he or she wants to be intoxicated or not. They have the responsibility of reasonable care. Therefore, voluntary intoxication should not be used as a defence of crime. Works Cited: Section 33. 1: Criminal Code (R. S. C. , 1985, c-46) Section 219. 1: Criminal Code (R. S. C. , 1985, c-46) R. v. Mascarenhas, [2002] 60 O. R (3d) 465 (C. A). R. v. Mascarenhas, 2002 CanLII 41625 (ON CA) R. v. Daviault, [1994] 3 S. C. R. 63 R. v.Daviault, 1994 CanLII 61 (SCC), [1994] 3 SCR 63 Lamb, W. Kaye. â€Å"Defence of Intoxication. †Ã‚  The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation, 2007. 1 Sep 2007. http://www. thecanadianencyclopedia. com. Souper, M. â€Å"General defences – intoxication†. Sixth Form Law. 2000-2008. http://sixthformlaw. info. â€Å"Intoxication and legal defences† Advances in Psychiatric Treatment. The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2013. http://apt. rcpsych. org. Weaver, Rheyanne. â€Å"The Mental Health Consequences of Rape†. EmpowHER, 2012. http:empower. com.