Tidbits on April 20, 2010
Bob Jensen
It snowed (lightly) over the weekend
I'm tired of posting snow pictures
And springtime is a month away in these mountains
So I will forward pictures sent to me by my friends in Texas
I lived in San Antonio for 24 years
The springtime Texas flowers are the best springtime flowers in the world
Here's a horny guy in Texas heaven (picture
forwarded by Bill Spinks)
The pictures below were forwarded by Jim
Kirk in San Antonio
The sorry pictures below were mostly
forwarded by Auntie Bev, Paula, and Maureen
Old Lucky Strike Commercial ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/LuckyStrikeCommercial.wmv
Must be watched at the very end for a very good laugh.
But today we would say that he who laughs last --- er laughs last.
1940's Happiness Button ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/1940MillerMood.pps
Dilbert on the Happiness Button (not
humor) ---
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/happiness_button/
2012 Happiness Buttons (beautiful
tech futures slide show) ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/TechFutures.pps
Bob Jensen's threads on ubiquitous computing ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ubiquit.htm
Professor James Martin's Savanna
Photographs (Springtime Blossoms)
Set 1
http://maaw.info/Photos/Savannah.htm
Set 2
http://maaw.info/Photos/Savannah2.htm
Main Photos Page ---
http://maaw.info/Photos/PhotosMain.htm
MAAW Home Page ---
http://maaw.info/
Endangered Vacations ---
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/78/endangered-vacations.html
Endangered Mountains ---
http://www.ilovemountains.org/endangered/
Photos From Above --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/PhotosFromAbove.pps
Birds and Sayings ---
http://www.slideshare.net/ronaldl/birds-and-sayings
Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on April 20,
2010
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2010/TidbitsQuotations042010.htm
Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
Tidbits on April 20, 2010
Bob Jensen
For earlier editions of Tidbits go to
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For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron"
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Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations
Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page is at
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CPA
Examination ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
Cool Search Engines That Are Not
Google ---
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/coolsearchengines
World Clock and World Facts ---
http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf
U.S. Debt/Deficit Clock ---
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Free Residential and Business Telephone Directory (you must listen to an
opening advertisement) --- dial 800-FREE411 or 800-373-3411
Free Online Telephone Directory ---
http://snipurl.com/411directory [www_public-records-now_com]
Free online 800 telephone numbers ---
http://www.tollfree.att.net/tf.html
Google Free Business Phone Directory --- 800-goog411
To find names addresses from listed phone numbers, go to
www.google.com and read in the phone number without spaces, dashes, or
parens
Daily News Sites for Accountancy, Tax, Fraud, IFRS, XBRL, Accounting
History, and More ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm
Cool Search Engines That Are Not
Google ---
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/06/coolsearchengines
Bob Jensen's search helpers ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Searchh.htm
Education Technology Search ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm
Distance Education Search ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/crossborder.htm
Search for Listservs, Blogs, and Social Networks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListservRoles.htm
Bob Jensen's essay on the financial crisis bailout's aftermath and an alphabet soup of
appendices can be found at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
The Master List of Free
Online College Courses ---
http://universitiesandcolleges.org/
149 Interesting People to Follow on Twitter (but I don't have time to follow
them) ---
http://ow.ly/1sj5q
-
- I see from my house by the side of the road
- By the side of the highway of life,
- The men who press with the ardor of hope,
- The men who are faint with the strife,
- But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
- Both parts of an infinite plan-
- Let me live in a house by the side of the road
- And be a friend to man.
Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)
For earlier editions of Tidbits go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New
Bookmarks go to
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Video on IOUSA
Bipartisan Solutions to Saving the USA
If you missed Sunday
afternoon CNN’s two-hour IOUSA Solutions broadcast, you can watch a 30-minute
version at
http://www.pgpf.org/newsroom/press/IOUSA-Solutions-Premiers-on-CNN/
(Scroll Down a bit)
Note that great efforts were made to keep this a bipartisan panel along with the
occasional video clips of President Obama discussing the debt crisis. The
problem is a build up over spending for most of our nation’s history, It landed
at the feet of President Obama, but he’s certainly not the cause nor is his the
recent expansion of health care coverage the real cause.
One take home from
the CNN show was that over 60% of the booked National Debt increases are funded
off shore (largely in Asia and the Middle East).
This going to greatly constrain the global influence and economic choices of the
United States.
By 2016 the interest
payments on the National Debt will be the biggest single item in the Federal
Budget, more than national defense or social security. And an enormous portion
of this interest cash flow will be flowing to foreign nations that may begin to
put all sorts of strings on their decisions to roll over funding our National
Debt.
The unbooked entitlement obligations that are not part of the National Debt are
over $60 trillion and exploding exponentially. The Medicare D entitlements to
retirees like me added over $8 trillion of entitlements under the Bush
Presidency.
Most of the problems
are solvable except for the Number 1 entitlements problem --- Medicare.
Drastic measures must be taken to keep Medicare sustainable.
I thought the show
was pretty balanced from a bipartisan standpoint and from the standpoint of
possible solutions.
Many of the possible
“solutions” are really too small to really make a dent in the problem. For
example, medical costs can be reduced by one of my favorite solutions of
limiting (like they do in Texas) punitive damage recoveries in malpractice
lawsuits. However, the cost savings are a mere drop in the bucket. Another drop
in the bucket will be the achievable increased savings from decreasing medical
and disability-claim frauds. These are important solutions, but they are not
solutions that will save the USA.
The big possible
solutions to save the USA are as follows (you and I won’t particularly like
these solutions):
-
Extend retirement age significantly
(75 years maybe?).
When Social Security was enacted, life expectancy was slightly over 65 years
of age.
Now it is well over 75 years of age.
-
Hit Medicare retirees like me with
higher fees for physicians, hospital services, and Medicare D drug payments.
Perhaps this should be on a scale based upon wealth/income levels such that
people, like me, who can afford to pay more must pay more.
-
Greatly curb the biggest cost of
Medicare --- keeping dying people alive in expensive hospitals for a few
weeks or maybe even a few months. Sometimes dying people must be kept alive
in ICU units costing over $10,000 per day when there is no hope of recovery.
There was not any hint of suggesting euthanasia as an alternative. But dying
people can be allowed to die more naturally and pain free.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5737437n&tag=mncol;lst;3
(wait for the commercials to play out)
-
Limit the National Debt is some way.
It’s now more common in Europe to limit national debt to 60% of GDP. Various
other means of constraining our National Debt were discussed in the CNN
longer version of the IOUSA Solutions video.
Watch for
the other possible solutions in the 30-minute summary video ---
http://www.pgpf.org/newsroom/press/IOUSA-Solutions-Premiers-on-CNN/
(Scroll Down a bit)
Here is the original (and somewhat dated video
that does not delve into solutions very much)
IOUSA (the most frightening movie in American history) ---
(see a 30-minute version of the documentary at
www.iousathemovie.com )
The CNN Two-Hour
Production
On April 11 I suggested that as many people as possible divert their attention from the Tiger
Woods at the Masters Tournament today (April 11) to watch bipartisan proposals
(‘Solutions”) on how to delay the Fall of the United States Empire. By the way,
Bill Bradley was one of the most liberal Democratic senators in the History of
the United States Senate.
Watch the World Premiere
of I.O.U.S.A.: Solutions on CNN
Saturday, April 10, 1:00-3:00 p.m. EST or Sunday, April 11, 3:00-5:00 p.m. EST
|
Featured Panelists
Include:
-
Peter G. Peterson, Founder and Chairman, Peter G. Peterson
Foundation
-
David Walker, President & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
-
Sen. Bill Bradley
-
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible
Federal Budget
-
Amy Holmes, political contributor for CNN
-
Joe Johns, CNN Congressional Correspondent
-
Diane Lim Rodgers, Chief Economist, Concord Coalition
-
Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer and columnist for CNNMoney.com
|
Watch for
the other possible solutions in the 30-minute summary video ---
http://www.pgpf.org/newsroom/press/IOUSA-Solutions-Premiers-on-CNN/
(Scroll Down a bit)
CBS
Sixty minutes has a great video on the enormous cost of keeping dying people
artificially alive:
High Cost of Dying ---
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5737437n&tag=mncol;lst;3
(wait for the commercials to play out)
U.S. Debt/Deficit Clock ---
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
On May 14, 2006 I retired from Trinity University after a long
and wonderful career as an accounting professor in four universities. I was
generously granted "Emeritus" status by the Trustees of Trinity University. My
wife and I now live in a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
(Also scroll down to the table at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ )
Global Incident Map ---
http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php
If you want to help our badly injured troops, please check out
Valour-IT: Voice-Activated Laptops for Our Injured Troops ---
http://www.valour-it.blogspot.com/
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
574 Shields Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
- With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting
Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
- With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors
Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
- With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of
Accountancy Ignores TAR
- With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research
into Undergraduate Accounting Courses
Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available
free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Old Lucky Strike Commercial ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/LuckyStrikeCommercial.wmv
Must be watched at the very end for a very good laugh.
But today we would say that he who laughs last --- er laughs last.
The Bear (Film by Jean-Jacques Annaud) ---
http://www.flixxy.com/bear-animal-nature-film.htm
Must be watched
to the very end to appreciate.
Video forwarded by Denny Beresford
This is a video of an act from 1944 - a sister act called the Ross Sisters ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BNR74UCidBI&feature=player_embedded
Must be watched
to the very end to appreciate.
Space Station Tour --- http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=H8rHarp1GEE
C-SPAN: American History TV ---
http://c-span.org/Series/American-History-TV.aspx
Video: What My 2.5 Year-Old's First Encounter With An
iPad Can Teach the Tech Industry ---
http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10006827/what-my-25-year-olds-first-encounter-with-an-ipad-can-teach-the-tech-industry/
These singers are all Anesthesiologists in Minnesota and they
can really sing. They are also funny. Here they sing "Waking up is hard to do."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOrjcLJ2IE0&feature=related
National Portrait Gallery: The Struggle for Justice [Flash
Player] ---
http://npg.si.edu/exhibit/struggle/index.html
American Abroad Media [Real Player, iTunes]
http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/
American RadioWorks: Bridge to Somewhere
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/infrastructure/
Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art [Flash Player]
http://pilgrimage.asiasociety.org/
Free music downloads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm
Suds And Sensibility: Barber's Violin Concerto
(full concert) ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124372493
Rafal Blechacz's Single-Minded Chopin ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125011821
Ravi Shankar At 90: The Man And His Music ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125507150
Lieberson's 'Songs Of Love And Sorrow' And New
Life ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125194412
Web outfits like
Pandora, Foneshow, Stitcher, and Slacker broadcast portable and mobile content
that makes Sirius look overpriced and stodgy ---
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc20090327_877363.htm?link_position=link2
TheRadio (my favorite commercial-free
online music site) ---
http://www.theradio.com/
Slacker (my second-favorite commercial-free online music site) ---
http://www.slacker.com/
Gerald Trites likes this
international radio site ---
http://www.e-radio.gr/
Songza:
Search for a song or band and play the selection ---
http://songza.com/
Also try Jango ---
http://www.jango.com/?r=342376581
Sometimes this old guy prefers the jukebox era (just let it play through) ---
http://www.tropicalglen.com/
And I listen quite often to Soldiers Radio Live ---
http://www.army.mil/fieldband/pages/listening/bandstand.html
Also note U.S. Army Band recordings
---
http://bands.army.mil/music/default.asp
Bob Jensen listens to music free online (and no commercials)
---
http://www.slacker.com/
Photographs and Art
Tattoos in History (especially Egypt) ---
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Photographic History
---
http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/digilib/milrep/index.cfm
Michael Poliza Photographs ---
http://images.michaelpoliza.com/selectsi
Richard Throssel Photographs ---
http://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu:8180/luna/servlet/ahc-throssel~1~1
Chicago Urban League Photos ---
http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_uic_cul.php?CISOROOT=/uic_cul
Photos From Above the Earth ---
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/PhotosFromAbove.pps
Endangered Vacations ---
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/78/endangered-vacations.html
Endangered Mountains ---
http://www.ilovemountains.org/endangered/
24 Amazing Photographs of Japan ---
http://ow.ly/1woOK
Other Great Photographs (Click on "Gallery")
2010 Found Math Gallery ---
http://www.maa.org/FoundMath/FMgallery10.html
Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art [Flash Player]
http://pilgrimage.asiasociety.org/
Bob Jensen's threads on history, literature and art ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History
Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various
types electronic literature available free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Delaware Notes (various historical themes, including poetry
and literature) ---
http://dspace.udel.edu:8080/dspace/handle/19716/4445
Nettleton Civil War Letters at the Electronic Text Center ---
http://etext.virginia.edu/civilwar/nettleton/
Free Online Textbooks, Videos, and Tutorials ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Free Tutorials in Various Disciplines ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Tutorials
Edutainment and Learning Games ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#Edutainment
Open Sharing Courses ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Now in Another Tidbits Document
Political Quotations on April 20,
2010
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2010/TidbitsQuotations042010.htm
Bob Jensen's health care messaging updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm
Dilbert on the Happiness Button
(not humor) ---
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/happiness_button/
A lot of rumors are flying about, including the dredging up
of Katla’s statistics.
When Katla went off in the
1700s, the USA suffered a very cold winter," says Gary Hufford, a scientist with
the Alaska Region of the
National Weather Service.
The Mississippi River froze just north of New
Orleans, and the East Coast, especially New England, had an extremely cold
winter. Depending on a new eruption, Katla could cause some serious weather
changes.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-04-19-1Avolcano19_CV_N.htm
"Iceland Volcano Won't Cool the Planet: The emissions are too small,
so far, to slow global warming," by Kevin Bullis, MIT's Technology Review,
April 16, 2010 ---
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/25064/?nlid=2906
Revolutionary Theory On the Causes of Earthquakes
A SENIOR Iranian cleric has claimed that dolled-up
women incite extramarital sex, causing more earthquakes in Iran, a country that
straddles several fault lines, newspapers reported today. "Many women who dress
inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite
extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," Ayatollah Kazem
Sedighi told worshippers at overnight prayers in Tehran. "Calamities are the
result of people's deeds," he was quoted as saying by reformist Aftab-e Yazd
newspaper. "We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers." The
Islamic dress code is mandatory in Iran, which has been...
"Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes, warns Iran cleric," The
Australian, April 17, 2010 ---
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/extramarital-sex-fuels-earthquakes-warns-iran-cleric/story-fn3dxity-1225854907773
Richard Sansing provided links to two other proposed revolutionary causes
of earthquakes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gixWSojcUkE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOQrcg9y1iA&feature=related
Jensen Comment
Skeptics doubt that the cause has to be extramarital. The earth can sometimes
move while having sex with your legal spouse.
Profitability: Based on 300,000 companies, most with annual sales
under $10 million. One takeaway: Specialization pays off
What a great Rank 1 slide for college recruitment of accounting majors
---
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/15/most-profitable-small-businesses-entrepreneurs-finance-sageworks_slide_21.html
The most profitable niche of the bunch (CPA bunch)
enjoys a nice mix of pricing power (everybody needs accountants, no matter
how the economy is doing), low overhead and marketing scale, thanks to
plenty of repeat clients.
Other Accounting Services comes it at Rank 3 ---
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/15/most-profitable-small-businesses-entrepreneurs-finance-sageworks_slide_19.html
Various accounting, bookkeeping, billing and tax
preparation services in any form, handled not necessarily by a Certified
Public Accountant (see No. 1 on our list).
And at Rank 5 are Tax Preparation Services (one rank below dentist
offices) ---
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/15/most-profitable-small-businesses-entrepreneurs-finance-sageworks_slide_17.html
Who likes doing their taxes? Exactly.
"The Most Profitable Small Businesses," by Brett Nelson and Maureen
Farrell, Forbes, April 15, 2010 ---
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/15/most-profitable-small-businesses-entrepreneurs-finance-sageworks.html?boxes=entrepreneurschannelinentre
The 20 Most Profitable Slide Show (The top line has a Next button) ---
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/15/most-profitable-small-businesses-entrepreneurs-finance-sageworks_slide.html
Bob Jensen's threads on careers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#careers
Questions
Was she really so tough as to be removed from classroom teaching by LSU?
Should she teach in a way that improves the odds that guessing can lead to a
better course grade?
Note that she is a tenured faculty member at LSU. She probably wouldn't dare
be so tough if she did not have tenure.
Louisiana State U. removes a tough grader from her
course mid-semester, and raises the grades of her students. Faculty leaders see
a betrayal of values and due process.
"Who Really Failed? April 15, 2010 Dominique G. Homberger won't apologize for
setting high expectations for her students," by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher
Ed, April 15, 2010 ---
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/15/lsu
The biology professor at Louisiana State University
at Baton Rouge gives brief quizzes at the beginning of every class, to
assure attendance and to make sure students are doing the reading. On her
tests, she doesn't use a curve, as she believes that students must achieve
mastery of the subject matter, not just achieve more mastery than the worst
students in the course. For multiple choice questions, she gives 10 possible
answers, not the expected 4, as she doesn't want students to get very far
with guessing.
Students in introductory biology don't need to
worry about meeting her standards anymore. LSU removed her from teaching,
mid-semester, and raised the grades of students in the class. In so doing,
the university's administration has set off a debate about grade inflation,
due process and a professor's right to set standards in her own course.
To Homberger and her supporters, the university's
action has violated principles of academic freedom and weakened the faculty.
"This is terrible. It undercuts all of what we do,"
said Brooks Ellwood, president of the LSU Chapter of the American
Association of University Professors, and the Robey H. Clark Distinguished
Professor of Geology. "If you are a non-tenured professor at this
university, you have to think very seriously about whether you are going to
fail too many students for the administration to tolerate."
Even for those who, like Homberger, are tenured,
there is a risk of losing the ability to stick to your standards, he said.
Teaching geology, he said, he has found that there are students who get
upset when he talks about the actual age of the earth and about evolution.
"Now students can complain to a dean" and have him removed, Ellwood said. "I
worry that my ability to teach in the classroom has been diminished."
Kevin Carman, dean of the College of Basic
Sciences, did not respond to requests for a phone interview Wednesday. But
he issued a statement through the university's public relations office that
said: "LSU takes academic freedom very seriously, but it takes the needs of
its students seriously as well. There was an issue with this particular
class that we felt needed to be addressed.
"The class in question is an entry-level biology
class for non-science majors, and, at mid-term, more than 90 percent of the
students in Dr. Homberger's class were failing or had dropped the class. The
extreme nature of the grading raised a concern, and we felt it was important
to take some action to ensure that our students receive a rigorous, but
fair, education. Professor Homberger is not being penalized in any way; her
salary has not been decreased nor has any aspect of her appointment been
changed."
In an interview, Homberger said that there were
numerous flaws with Carman's statement. She said that it was true that most
students failed the first of four exams in the course. But she also said
that she told the students that -- despite her tough grading policies -- she
believes in giving credit to those who improve over the course of the
semester.
At the point that she was removed, she said, some
students in the course might not have been able to do much better than a D,
but every student could have earned a passing grade. Further, she said that
her tough policy was already having an impact, and that the grades on her
second test were much higher (she was removed from teaching right after she
gave that exam), and that quiz scores were up sharply. Students got the
message from her first test, and were working harder, she said.
"I believe in these students. They are capable,"
she said. And given that LSU boasts of being the state flagship, she said,
she should hold students to high standards. Many of these students are in
their first year, and are taking their first college-level science course,
so there is an adjustment for them to make, Homberger said. But that doesn't
mean professors should lower standards.
Homberger said she was told that some students had
complained about her grades on the first test. "We are listening to the
students who make excuses, and this is unfair to the other students," she
said. "I think it's unfair to the students" to send a message that the way
to deal with a difficult learning situation is "to complain" rather than to
study harder.
Further, she said that she was never informed that
administrators had any concerns about her course until she received a
notification that she was no longer teaching it. (She noted that the
university's learning management system allowed superiors to review the
grades on her first test in the course.)
And while her dean authorized her removal from
teaching the course, she said, he never once sat in on her course. Further,
she said that in more than 30 years of teaching at LSU, no dean had ever
done so, although they would have been welcome.
"Why didn't they talk to me?" she asked.
Homberger said that she has not had any serious
grading disputes before, although it's been about 15 years since she taught
an introductory course. She has been teaching senior-level and graduate
courses, and this year, she asked her department's leaders where they could
use help, and accepted their suggestion that she take on the intro course.
In discussions with colleagues after she was
removed from the course, Homberger said that no one has ever questioned
whether any of the test questions were unfair or unfairly graded, but that
she was told that she may include "too many facts" on her tests.
Ellwood, the campus AAUP chapter president, said
that his group had verified that no one informed Homberger of concerns
before removing her from the course, and that no one had questioned the
integrity of her tests. He also said that the scores on the second test were
notably better than on the first one, suggesting that students were
responding to the need to do more work. "She's very rigorous. There's no
doubt about that," he said.
Based on its investigation, the AAUP chapter has
sent a letter to administrators, arguing that they violated Homberger's
academic freedom and due process rights and demanding an apology. (No
apology has been forthcoming.)
Cary Nelson, national president of the AAUP, said
that the organization has always believed that "an instructor has the
responsibility for assigning grades," and that the LSU case was "disturbing
in several respects." He noted that "the practice of assigning tough grades
in an early assignment as a wake-up call to students is quite common" and
that "the instructor made it clear that she had no intention of failing that
many students when it came time for final grades."
If administrators were concerned, he said, they had
a responsibility to "discuss the matter fully with the instructor" before
taking any action. And he said that "removal from the classroom mid-semester
is a serious sanction that requires all the protections of due process."
Nelson said that the incident "raises serious questions about violations of
pedagogical freedoms."
Stuart Rojstaczer, a former Duke University
professor who is the founder of
GradeInflation.com,
a Web site that publishes research on grading,
questioned whether LSU was really trying to help students. "How many times
has Dean Carman removed a professor from a class who was giving more than 90
percent As?" he asked.
LSU's public affairs office did not respond to
follow-up questions about the statement it issued, and to the criticisms
made by various faculty members.
Homberger declined to give out the names of
students who have expressed support, saying that to do so would violate her
confidentiality obligations. But she released (without student names)
answers to a bonus question on the course's second test. The question asked
students to describe "the biggest 'AHA' reaction" they had had during the
course.
Many of the reactions were about various issues in
biology -- with evolution as a major topic. But a number dealt with grades
and work habits. One was critical: "When I found out my test grade, I almost
had a heart attack."
But many other comments about the course standards
were positive, with several students specifically praising Homberger's
advice that they form study groups. One student wrote: “My biggest
AHA‐reaction in this course is that I need to study for this course every
night to make a good grade. I must also attend class, take good notes, and
have study sessions with others. Usually a little studying can get me by but
not with this class which is why it is my AHA‐reaction."
Jensen Comment
Only four students have complained about her to date on RateMyProfessor, which
is not enough to base any kind of an opinion. One student reports that a grade
of 70 on a quiz gave him a rank of 20 out of 217 students. This kind of thing
happened to me all along, but I curved the results such that a 70 could actually
be an A grade. Another student complained that she did not give them the answers
on Moodle in advance. Say What?
Get better teaching evaluations in Lake Wobegon by grading everybody above
average no matter what. Give all A grades and keep keep them happy at LSU.
Grade Inflation is the Number One Scandal of Higher Education (in my
viewpoint)
Bob Jensen's threads on grade inflation are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor
Five years after Donald
Trump
opened an online university --
called Trump University,
of course -- New York State's Education
Department is taking a dim view of the tycoon's
venture into higher education,
The Daily News
reported today. The university, which promises
to teach would-be plutocrats how to make
themselves rich if they will only make Mr. Trump
a bit richer first, is not a university at all,
say state officials. In a letter obtained by the
News, one official demanded that Mr.
Trump drop "University" from the unaccredited,
non-degree-granting institution's name. "Use of
the word 'university' by your corporation is
misleading and violates New York Education Law
and the Rules of the Board of Regents," the
letter says. Michael Sexton, president of Trump
U., told the News that, if necessary,
"we will change our name to Trump Education."
Interestingly, the word
“accounting” does not appear in the course catalog --- not even the traditional
first course in accounting ---
http://www.trumpuniversity.com/learn/index.cfm
The “courses” appear to be
mostly sales pitch seminars like con men/women put on in hotel conference rooms.
Bob Jensen's threads on more legitimate
distance education training and education alternatives are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/crossborder.htm
"U.S. Falls Short in Measure of Future Math Teachers," by Sam Dillon,
The New York Times, April 14, 2010 ---
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/education/15math.html?hpw
America’s future math teachers, on average, earned
a C on a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other
countries, significantly outscoring college students in the Philippines and
Chile but placing far below those in educationally advanced nations like
Singapore and Taiwan.
The researchers who led the math study in this
country, to be released in Washington on Thursday, judged the results
acceptable if not encouraging for America’s future elementary teachers. But
they called them disturbing for American students heading to careers in
middle schools, who were outscored by students in Germany, Poland, the
Russian Federation, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan.
On average, 80 percent to 100 percent of the future
middle school teachers from the highest-achieving countries took advanced
courses like linear algebra and calculus, while only 50 percent to 60
percent of their counterparts in the United States took those courses, the
study said.
“The study reveals that America’s middle school
mathematics teacher preparation is not up to the task,” said William H.
Schmidt, the Michigan State University professor who was its lead author. To
improve its competitiveness, Dr. Schmidt said, the nation should recruit
stronger candidates into careers teaching math and require them to take more
advanced courses.
The 52-page report provides the first international
comparison of teacher preparation based on a test given to college students
in a significant number of countries, he said.
In the study, a representative sample of 3,300
future math teachers nearing the end of their teacher training at 81
colleges and universities in the United States were given a 90-minute test
covering their knowledge of math concepts as well as their understanding of
how to teach the subject.
There were two distinct tests, for those preparing
to teach in elementary schools and for candidates for middle school.
The same tests, developed by an international
consortium, were given to college students in 15 other countries, including
advanced nations like Germany and Norway as well as underdeveloped ones like
Botswana.
On the elementary test, students from Singapore,
Switzerland and Taiwan scored far above their counterparts in the United
States. Students from Germany, Norway, the Russian Federation and Thailand,
scored about the same as the Americans, and students from Botswana, Chile,
Georgia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland and Spain scored well below, the
report said.
On the middle school test, American students
outscored students in Botswana, Chile, Georgia, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, the
Philippines and Thailand, the study found.
The study found considerable variation in the math
knowledge attained at different American colleges, with students at some
scoring, on average, at the level of students in Botswana, the study said.
“There are so many people who bash our teachers’
math knowledge that to be honest these results are better than what a lot of
people might expect,” said Hank Kepner, professor of mathematics education
at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, who is president of the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “We show up pretty well here, right in
the middle of the pack.”
Gage Kingsbury, a senior research fellow at the
Northwest Evaluation Association, which administers math tests in many
states and in 60 countries, called the study ambitious but faulted it
because of the limited number of advanced countries that participated.
“They don’t have most of Europe,” Dr. Kingsbury
said. “And to suggest that you can’t be a good middle school math teacher
unless you’ve taken calculus is a leap, because calculus isn’t taught in
middle school. So I think they overreach a bit.”
Jensen Comment
In this era of free online tutorials and videos, it may be difficult for some
math teachers to keep up with their best students.
Bob Jensen's threads on free math tutorials and videos are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics
Jerry Trites called my attention to the new "Babbage" blog from my
favorite magazine The Economist (I read it cover-to-cover every
week.) ---
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage?fsrc=nlw|pub|03_30_2010|publishers_newsletter
From Trites E-Business Blog on April 1, 2010 (no fooling) ---
http://www.zorba.ca/blog.html
Babbage - A New Blog
The Economist Magazine has launched a new blog
called Babbage.
Named after Charles Babbage, the father of the
computer, our new blog aims to understand the world through the technology
that now impacts our lives and reveals so much about us. Recent posts
investigate the role of geeks (they are now officially cool, running
companies and making millions), mourn the demise of the analog car, and ask
just who Apple's iPad is for. Answer: no one knows, not even Apple.
The blog is at this URL. It's worth bookmarking, as
the Economist is always on point.
Feminist Philosophers Blog ---
http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/ways-women-are-excluded/
Bob Jensen's threads on listservs, blogs, and social networks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/listservRoles.htm
Accountancy News Sites ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/accountingnews.htm
How to Print and Not Print From an iPad
"How not to print from an iPad," Babbage Blog (from The Economist),
April 18, 2010 ---
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2010/04/hacking
The iPad can do many things, but supporting
printers directly is not one of them. As Andrew Sullivan notes:
"There's not an App for that." Form, a design
company,
suggests a simple if inelegant solution (in other
words, a hack): stick the iPad on a photocopier and press copy. Presto! A
hard copy of whatever is on its screen. But does it work?
A couple of us in the London office decided to give
it a try. It doesn't. We used a rigorous sample of two photocopiers in the
research department. One produced a solid black page; the other produced
barely legible black text on a very dark grey background, even with the
photocopier set to its lightest possible setting. This is because LCD
screens are not designed to work this way. The light is meant to come from
the back (the backlight), not the front. Other
display technologies, such as the transflexive
Pixel Qi screen found on the OLPC $100 laptop, might photocopy better, but
might also be incompatible with the iPad's touch-screen.
So what can iPad owners do? There are a few apps
that support printing, though none seems to be ideal. You can e-mail stuff
(including a screen-grab) to a PC or Mac and print from that. Or you can
simply try to do without printing.
This is all very silly, but it does raise a wider
point. The iPad can't print directly (yet) and it doesn't work out of the
box until it's been docked with a PC or Mac running iTunes. It is, despite
all its cleverness, still a companion device for a "proper" computer. If
Apple wants the iPad and its successors to be taken seriously as
alternatives to existing desktops and laptops, rather than occasional
adjuncts, then those things will have to change.
iPad may have the media hype, but the sales volume is still in the Mac
Apple sells estimated 1.4M Macs in US to capture 8% market share
http://twitter.com/RobertRHarris/status/12186969818
Jensen Comment
And Windows 7 hardly gets noticed in the media for its nearly 100 million units
of sales to mostly happy customers (at least happier than with previous Windows
versions).
"Microsoft's Unsung Success: Windows 7 is a Smash Hit," by Daniel Lyons,
Newsweek, April 12, 2010, Page 22 ---
http://www.newsweek.com/id/235725
"Apple Confirms iPad Wi-Fi Problems; Try These Fixes," by Samara Lynn,
PC Magazine, April 6, 2010 ---
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362319,00.asp
The Apple iPad has enjoyed a successful launch, with
over
300,000 units moved over a single weekend, but
there appears to be a dark cloud hanging over Cupertino's wonder-tablet.
Apple's support forum is being bombarded by user
complaints centering on the iPad's inability to maintain a full, steady
Wi-Fi connection.
Athread entitled "Weak Wifi Pages" already has over
10,000 views – remarkable since it's only been 48 hours since the official
iPad launch. Here are a couple of user statements:
I have also noticed very weak wifi signal in my
16GB iPad. Even when standing in front of the wlan router the signal
fluctuates from strong to very weak. The router has very strong signals
as every other computer here has full signal strength, even 20-30 meters
from the route[r].
and:
Let me add my voice to the
throng. I'm getting one or two bars on my iPad in rooms where my iPhone,
iPod touch, both Macbook Pros, Apple TV and Playstation all get full
service.
Users are speculating that the weak
signal strength may be caused by poor placement of the
Wi-Fi antenna; others
ponder if the problems are the symptoms of a software issue. The latter
appears to be the culprit evidenced by the fact that most users on the forum
who are running completely Apple-based networks are not having the same
issue:
I noticed that this was happening at my mother in
law's with the ActionTec Verizon FiOS router. However, here at my house,
where Time Capsule and Airport Extreme rule the house, I have 0
problems.
No problem here either, my wireless network is run
by apple devices too.
Yet
there are also grumblings about weak signals from those using Apple's
Airport Extreme routers.
Another issue being reported is the
iPad's continuous request for re-authentication to a secured wireless
router, even after a successful, initial connection to it.
Apple Weighs In:
On
Monday, Apple posted a
Knowledge Base
article, pertaining to these issues. Not only does the
article make suggestions for a remedy, it gives legitimacy to the fact that
Apple considers this a very real issue. The article states that having a
third-party Wi-Fi router that supports both the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands may
be subject to a connectivity problem. It suggests that users can setup
different SSID's for each band's network and to ensure that each network
uses the same security type (WEP, WPA or WPA2.)
What You Can Do:
If you're an early adopter
experiencing connectivity issues there are a few things you can do to until
Apple comes up with a more definitive explanation and fix for this problem:
- Update Your
Router's Firmware. Before attempting to connect an iPad to a home
network, make sure that you have the latest version of the firmware to
ensure that the router is functioning at full capability. This is
usually done within the router's included software.
- Change The
Router's Location. Do you have your router positioned in close
proximity to equipment that could be causing interference? Microwaves,
cordless phones, baby monitors, wireless keyboards, and Bluetooth
devices can muddy a W-Fi signal.
- Set Your
Router To Operate On One 802.11 Standard. Most current routers
support not only 802.11n, but a, b, and g as well. Set your router to
operate exclusively on the greatest standard available, and do the same
with the
wireless devices
on your network. The iPad ships with support for 802.11n, so you should
have your router match that if possible.
- Change Your
Router's Security Encryption. Typically, security isn't something
that should be experimented with, but when attempting to boost
network performance,
it may be necessary. There's no question that WPA and WPA2 encryption is
more secure than WEP, but the jury's still out about which encryption
method can slow a network down more (some believe it's WEP and others
WPA). If you have either currently deployed in your home network, try
changing to a different encryption setting and see if that makes any
difference in your connectivity. Apple also recommends that you use the
same security settings across the entire network.
- Rename Your
Networks. Apple makes the somewhat odd suggestion that users rename
their networks. "Create separate Wi-Fi network names to identify each
band. This can be done easily by appending one or more characters to the
current network name. Example: Add a G to the 802.11b/g network name and
an N to the 802.11n network name."
This is surely the so-called pea in
the princess' mattress, at least where the iPad's launch is concerned. It's
hard to know where the blame lies at this time. While it's understandable
that Apple is bearing the brunt of the complaints for their device's
perceived connectivity issues, the problems could very well be an issue with
third-party router vendors not releasing or pushing out firmware updates in
time for the iPad's release. Here's hoping for a true fix from router
vendors and/or Apple in the immediate future. In the meanwhile, try the tips
above, and let us know if they helped you.
Learning to Live with Windows 7 and Office 2007
First you might check some of Stanley Zarowin’s “Technology Q&A” helpers in the
monthly free issues of the Journal of Accountancy ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/
Stanley is a really cool helper. And you can send him email questions.
In the April 2010 issue he shows how to fix corrupted Office 2007 files.
A listing of some of Stanley’s most recent tips is available at
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Search/Results.aspx?Topic=Technology%7cTechnologyQA
There are quite a few tips about Office 2007 and Windows 7
Create Your Own Lookalike Office 2003 Toolbar and Add It to
the Ribbon ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Issues/2010/Mar/TechQA1
Here are some other techie helpers that I’ve never tried myself:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx
Note the links in the table on the left.
The free tutorial videos do not necessarily answer you question, but you might
check on some of them for other tips.
It may be helpful to search for available YouTube tutorials on Office 7
For example, there are some PowerPoint 2007 tutorials:
Tutorial 1 ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnWU7e3Wim8
Tutorial 2 ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_8wu0OW7XE
Tutorial 3 ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhI2BQeLCek
Tutorial 4 ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nPwqkTr-Bk
Tutorial 5 ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4mfWlnDC3Q
There are tons of other free videos for PowerPoint, Excel, Word, etc.
I’ve never watched the tutorials that come with the Office 2007 package.
Please let me know which ones of these are the most helpful.
-----Original Message-----
From: AECM, Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia [mailto:AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU]
On Behalf Of Jerry L. Turner Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 10:04 PM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: Re: Embarrassingly stupid question about PowerPoint 2007 masters
I highly recommend downloading the free Office 2010
Beta.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/default.aspx
It's very stable and cleans up a lot of 2007
issues. It also adds some new features that are very helpful. A vast
improvement over 2007. Right now, I have 2003, 2007 and 2010 all on the same
drive (just in case) and they don't interfere with one another, but I use
2010 exclusively.
Jerry Turner
The University of Memphis
April 10, 2010 reply from Bender, Ruth
[r.bender@CRANFIELD.AC.UK]
Thanks to everyone who replied to this – here is
the solution (to the PowerPoint Slide Sorter problem).
First of all, you have to understand that Microsoft
in their wisdom think that this is a Good feature of the program! They
actually designed it in, which makes me think it unlikely that anyone at
Microsoft has ever been a lecturer….
See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/93224 9.
Now, this is what I did:
In Slide Sorter view [which may not be necessary] I
went into Insert and Header & Footer. I then clicked on the Footer box,
which brought up the existing footer text. I edited that text, and hit Apply
to All.
This changed it all to wording I wanted. I then
went into Slide Master and moved the Footer box from the middle of the slide
master (its default position on my slides) to the extreme left. This applied
itself to all of the slide pack, and so got it into the place I wanted.
Hurrah! Ruth
Bob Jensen's technology bookmarks are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob4.htm
A Nobel Laureate Talks About the 4% "Rule" in Personal Finance
Many retirees are advised to follow the 4% rule for managing spending and
investing. William F. Sharpe and his co-authors argue that following this advice
can lead to overpayments and surpluses. To avoid these pitfalls, retirees also
have to have a clear idea of how much risk they are willing to take.
Stanford Graduate School of Business News, April 2010 ---
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/sharpe_4percent.html
Concept Maps
The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them
Concept
Maps ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_maps
Concept Mapping Software ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm
Description:
Concept mapping (a method of brainstorming) is a technique for
visualizing the relationships between concepts and creating a visual
image to represent the relationship. Concept mapping software
serves several purposes in the educational environment. One is to
capture the conceptual thinking of one or more persons in a way that
is visually represented. Another is to represent the structure of
knowledge gleaned from written documents so that such knowledge can
be visually represented. In essence, a concept map is a diagram
showing relationships, often between complex ideas. With new
mapping software such as the open source Cmap (
http://www.cmap.ihmc.us/download/
), concepts are easily represented with images (bubbles or pictures)
called concept nodes, and are connected with lines that show the
relationship between and among the concepts. In addition, the
software allows users to attach documents, diagrams, images other
concept maps, hypertextual links and even media files to the concept
nodes. Concept maps can be saved as a PDF or image file and
distributed electronically in a variety of ways including the
Internet and storage devices. |
"The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them." by
Joseph D. Novak & Alberto J. Cañas, Florida Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition Pensacola Fl, 32502 ---
http://cmap.ihmc.us/Publications/ResearchPapers/TheoryCmaps/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.htm
Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and
representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles
or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a
connecting line linking two concepts. Words on the line, referred to as
linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the two
concepts. We define concept as a perceived regularity in events or objects,
or records of events or objects, designated by a label. The label for most
concepts is a word, although sometimes we use symbols such as + or %, and
sometimes more than one word is used. Propositions are statements about some
object or event in the universe, either naturally occurring or constructed.
Propositions contain two or more concepts connected using linking words or
phrases to form a meaningful statement. Sometimes these are called semantic
units, or units of meaning. Figure 1 shows an example of a concept map that
describes the structure of concept maps and illustrates the above
characteristics.
Another characteristic of concept maps is that the
concepts are represented in a hierarchical fashion with the most inclusive,
most general concepts at the top of the map and the more specific, less
general concepts arranged hierarchically below. The hierarchical structure
for a particular domain of knowledge also depends on the context in which
that knowledge is being applied or considered. Therefore, it is best to
construct concept maps with reference to some particular question we seek to
answer, which we have called a focus question. The concept map may pertain
to some situation or event that we are trying to understand through the
organization of knowledge in the form of a concept map, thus providing the
context for the concept map.
Another important characteristic of concept maps is
the inclusion of cross-links. These are relationships or links between
concepts in different segments or domains of the concept map. Cross-links
help us see how a concept in one domain of knowledge represented on the map
is related to a concept in another domain shown on the map. In the creation
of new knowledge, cross-links often represent creative leaps on the part of
the knowledge producer. There are two features of concept maps that are
important in the facilitation of creative thinking: the hierarchical
structure that is represented in a good map and the ability to search for
and characterize new cross-links.
A final feature that may be added to concept maps
is specific examples of events or objects that help to clarify the meaning
of a given concept. Normally these are not included in ovals or boxes, since
they are specific events or objects and do not represent concepts.
Concept maps were developed in 1972 in the course
of Novak’s research program at Cornell where he sought to follow and
understand changes in children’s knowledge of science (Novak & Musonda,
1991). During the course of this study the researchers interviewed many
children, and they found it difficult to identify specific changes in the
children’s understanding of science concepts by examination of interview
transcripts. This program was based on the learning psychology of David
Ausubel (1963; 1968; Ausubel et al., 1978). The fundamental idea in
Ausubel’s cognitive psychology is that learning takes place by the
assimilation of new concepts and propositions into existing concept and
propositional frameworks held by the learner. This knowledge structure as
held by a learner is also referred to as the individual’s cognitive
structure. Out of the necessity to find a better way to represent children’s
conceptual understanding emerged the idea of representing children’s
knowledge in the form of a concept map. Thus was born a new tool not only
for use in research, but also for many other uses.
Psychological Foundations of Concept Maps
The question sometimes arises as to the origin of
our first concepts. These are acquired by children during the ages of birth
to three years, when they recognize regularities in the world around them
and begin to identify language labels or symbols for these regularities (Macnamara,
1982). This early learning of concepts is primarily a discovery learning
process, where the individual discerns patterns or regularities in events or
objects and recognizes these as the same regularities labeled by older
persons with words or symbols. This is a phenomenal ability that is part of
the evolutionary heritage of all normal human beings. After age 3, new
concept and propositional learning is mediated heavily by language, and
takes place primarily by a reception learning process where new meanings are
obtained by asking questions and getting clarification of relationships
between old concepts and propositions and new concepts and propositions.
This acquisition is mediated in a very important way when concrete
experiences or props are available; hence the importance of “hands-on”
activity for science learning with young children, but this is also true
with learners of any age and in any subject matter domain.
Continued in article
"Using Cmap Tools to Create Concept Diagrams for Accounting," by Rick
Lillie, AAA Commons ---
http://commons.aaahq.org/posts/6d0b8c8402
There are many comments following this entry on the AAA Commons
activity type:
Using Cmap Tools to Create Concept
Diagrams for Accounting Classes
delivery method:
technology
author name:
IHMC (Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition)
topic(s):
This teaching tip explains how to use
Cmap Tools, a concept mapping software
program, to create concept maps.
Concept maps provide a way to visually
present complex concepts and rules.
Research suggests that NetGen students
are visually oriented. If true, concept
maps should prove to be a useful way to
present accounting concepts and rules to
today's NetGen accounting students.
Attached to this posting is a Cmap
diagram that I created for my ACCT 574
Intermediate Accounting class.
course type:
Intermediate Accounting
Also see
http://www.drlillie.com/Investments.jpg
April 9, 2010 replies from Paul Fisher and Steven Hornik
[shornik@BUS.UCF.EDU]
Paul gave me permission to serve up his Excel file
at
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/temp/ConceptMaps-PaulFisher.xls
His explanation is below.
Bob Jensen
-----Original Message-----
From: AECM, Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia [mailto:AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU]
On Behalf Of Fisher, Paul
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 1:13 PM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: Re: The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use
Them
Here are some examples
from my classes. Three types of graphics are generally recognized.
Concept maps, mind maps, and graphic organizers, but they all require
the same type of mental discipline. I encourage my students to use EXCEL
because it is familiar and will probably always be accessible to them.
The other programs for mapping are pretty amazing, but there is the
extra layer of "learning" the program. I would also suggest that
graphics are becoming a larger part of successful practitioners and
institutionally we neglect to sufficiently expose our students to these
skills.
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: AECM, Accounting Education using Computers and
Multimedia [mailto:AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU]
On Behalf Of Steven Hornik
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 10:06 AM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: Re: The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and
How to Construct and Use Them
If anyone would like to
see some of the concept maps my students create (these are the best of
the best) click this link:
http://financialaccounting.wikispaces.com/StudentCmaps_Spring2008
I have my students use IHMC Concept maps, its free and a pretty nice
tool for creating maps, here's the link if you want to explore. And as
far as Statement of Retained Earnings, I couldn't agree more. It seems
textbook authors (or at least mine) try to make things simple, but the
simple way ends up being harder as they progress further in the book.
Anyway here is the link:
http://cmap.ihmc.us/
Steven
_________________________
Dr. Steven Hornik
University of Central Florida
Dixon School of Accounting
407-823-5739
Second Life: Robins Hermano
http://mydebitcredit.com
yahoo ID: shornik
April 10 reply
from Australia's Jim Richards
From:
AECM, Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia [mailto:AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU]
On Behalf Of James Richards
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 10:22 PM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: Re: The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and
Use Them
I am
not sure what Steve’s students use but 2 free ones I have used are VUE and
CMaps. My personal preference is VUE but I am sure that there are others
who prefer CMaps.
Jim
Richards
Phone (Home): (08) 9249 6874
Phone (Mobile): 0419-172-100
Bob Jensen's threads on Concept Maps ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/thetools.htm#ConceptMaps
Includes Panel Member Tom Hood from the Maryland Society of CPAs
"DigitalNow 2009 Panel Discussion with Clay Shirky - Part 2 of 12,"
YouTube ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAMrEG4pfJc&feature=youtu.be&a
The Worst Made Cars on the Road
The Worst Made Cars on the Road, According to Consumer Reports,
Are Mostly Expensive and Most Come from Two Manufacturing Companies ---
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109278/worst-made-cars-on-the-road?mod=family-home
Is Our IT Future in the Clouds?
April 15, 2010 message from John Anderson
[jcanderson27@COMCAST.NET]
Francine and Scott,
I am not trying to
cast either one of you as a straw man, but I have a very strong
point-of-view about many CISA's immediately writing-off anything
they can condemn as being Cloud-related.
Although I know today
that 99.9% of all IT Auditors (CISA's) would say "Nothing in the
Cloud is safe" ... and therefore this is the current conventional
wisdom about Cloud Security, I feel potentially we have a flat earth
society becoming all too comfortable with that pat answer these
CISA's dispense all too readily.
However, with 75% of
Microsoft's Engineers and Programmers currently working on
Cloud-related Applications, this one-size-fits-all response you are
receiving is going to have to change. In my opinion many IT
Auditors
(CISA's) are resisting
the Cloud as it doesn't fit their existing Governance Models, but if
we don't solve these problems, every IT auditor in the country will
be steamrolled very soon!
Here is the best Cloud
Security overview article I have found to date: ---
Click Here
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=224202319
The term "balanced"
isn't really appropriate, but I guess it is a pretty realistic
assessment of where we are currently at in this area at this time.
The article is right
on the money about the reticence of some Cloud Providers in sharing
their SAS 70's as I have a company which will not send me their SAS
70, but they want me to get behind their product!
The dirty little
secret is that unless you are looking at a Trophy Target like a
Fidelity Investments or an Intelligence Organization, a lot of
Commercial IT Security has chinks in its armor. Therefore, taking
an entity's data from the converted closet/Server Room and
transferring it to a
24/7 monitored and
hardened Cloud Computer Center with redundancy and a stand-by hot
Recovery Site with continuous and accessible offsite encrypted
backup is often a major step forward! After having attended many
meetings with CISA's who are vehemently opposed to the Cloud, at
least part of this opposition is due to the fear that this major
step will leave them behind!
Naturally if the Data
Center site is off-shore and you are not certain of the validity of
the SAS 70 or other appraisal, these are additional concerns.
The irony is that
higher we set the bar for IT Security the easier it will be to
justify outsourcing this security for most small installations
currently supporting some small IT Support Teams. Naturally to make
this new world possible, the people holding the SAS 70's will have
to have the gumption to send them out to clients.
Finally, the client
will have to have the SAS 70 (or its evolving replacement document)
competently reviewed in order to see that the Controls discussed are
adequate to cover the risks present.
Whenever I receive
this response from one of my fellow CISA's I always do them the
favor of asking them what area concerns them most in their specific
Risk Assessment. If they then persist in using the term "the Cloud"
... smile and slowly sidle away!
Best Regards!
John
John Anderson, CPA,
CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CITP Financial & IT Business Consultant
14 Tanglewood Road
Boxford, MA 01921
jcanderson27@comcast.net
978-887-0623 Office
978-837-0092 Cell
978-887-3679 Fax
Jensen Comment
Cloud Computing ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Computing
The cloud is already here for some CPA firms.
"Mike Braun Takes Paperless Accounting into the Cloud: Intacct CEO
reports performance gains of 50% at CPA firms," Journal of
Accountancy, July 2009 ---
http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/Web/MikeBraun
Microsoft Cloud Services ---
Click Here
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/businessproductivity/products/pages/cloud-services.aspx?CR_CC=100193171&WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=Search&CR_SCC=100193171&mtag=SearBing#fbid=wl3Qhjt1FVT
"Are Business School Students Under Too Much Pressure?" by Louis
Lavelle, Business Week, March 31, 2010 ---
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/blogs/mba_admissions/archives/2010/03/are_business_sc.html?link_position=link5
Bloomberg is reporting today that the young man who
leaped to his death from the Empire State Building yesterday (May 30)
was a Yale junior, Cameron Dabaghi. His death follows
six suicides at Cornell since September, including three in the last six
weeks.
In the immediate aftermath of the most recent
deaths at Cornell, campus police there have posted officers at the bridges
that span Ithaca’s famous gorges, and several other schools have begun
taking precautions against a “suicide contagion.” The Harvard Crimson is
reporting that University Health Services is educating students on how to
help depressed peers. Boston University has undertaken similar efforts. And
at the University of Pennsylvania, Bill Alexander, interim director of
counseling and psychological services, told the Daily Pennsylvanian: “We are
just checking and rechecking the system to make sure we don’t get rusty or
complacent.”
All the recent deaths involved undergraduates, and
the explanations offered by assorted experts have run the gamut, but one of
the big ones was the high-pressure atmosphere of the Ivy League. True
enough, I suppose, but it occurs to me that if any student group is subject
to serious, debilitating pressure it’s not undergrads…it’s graduate
students, particularly graduate business students.
Think about it. If you’re reading this blog you
probably have shelled out something close to $300,000 for a top-notch
education (including forgone salary) and you’re under intense pressure to
find a job that will make it all worthwhile—a job that right now may be a
figment of your imagination. When you entered your program, you were out of
school for five years or more, and suddenly you’re knee-deep in advanced
math, business jargon, and bad study habits. At some schools all the first
years might stand around singing Kumbaya, but let’s face it, the atmosphere
at many top schools (for jobs, internships, even classes) is one of intense,
even cutthroat competition.
All of which raises the question: how do you deal
with the pressure? Are mental health issues like depression—and yes,
suicide—a big concern at business school? And is enough being done to help
students? The suicides at Cornell are clearly a wake-up call. But what can
be done to help students as they struggle with issues like these?
Jensen Comment
We should of course seek solutions, but I don't believe in watering down
academic standards. Also, many of the pressures come from outside the academy
such as competition for a job opening, employer recruiting focus on grade
averages, and stress upon graduate admission test scores to get into top MBA
programs and doctoral programs.
The U.S. Labor Department's new ruling that bans unpaid internships will only
increase stress. Unpaid internships enabled students with lower grade averages
to both get on-the-job experience and to prove their employment merits beyond
their grade records.
Bob Jensen's threads on higher education controversies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm
"Distance Education's Rate of Growth Doubles at Community Colleges,"
by Helen Miller, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 13, 2010
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Distance-Educations-Rate-of/22540/?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Distance education is growing quickly at
community colleges, according to the results of a study published by
the Instructional Technology Council. For the 2008-9 academic year,
enrollment in distance learning at community colleges grew 22
percent over the 2007-8 academic year, up from a growth rate of 11
percent in the previous year.
The Instructional Technology Council, which
is affiliated with the American Association of Community Colleges,
conducted its annual survey by e-mail and received responses from
226 community colleges. The 22 percent growth from 2007-8 to 2008-9
is somewhat higher than the 17-percent growth that the Sloan
Consortium noted for all distance education from fall 2007 to fall
2008 in a recent report. Overall enrollment in higher education grew
less than 2 percent during that time.
Fred Lokken, associate dean for the Truckee
Meadows Community College WebCollege and author of the
technology-council report, said he thinks that one reason distance
education has grown more quickly at community colleges than it has
in general is because community colleges are more enthusiastic about
it than universities are.
Most respondents cited the economic
downturn as the main reason for growth in online enrollment, and
other respondents said that the growth was typical or was a result
of new enrollment efforts. Community-college enrollment has
increased in general with the downturn, and Mr. Lokken said that
online courses are particularly appealing to people who are job
hunting.
“They now see the online classes giving
them the greatest flexibility, given the crises they’re facing their
lives,” Mr. Lokken said.
The survey also found that for
administrators, the greatest challenge in distance learning was a
lack of support staff needed for training and technical assistance.
In regard to faculty, the administrators who responded to the survey
said, workload issues were the biggest obstacle. For students, the
institutions' greatest challenge was preparing them to take classes
online.
When distance education first became common
about 10 years ago, completion rates for online courses were about
50 percent, but survey findings indicate that they are now up to 72
percent. For face-to-face learning, completion rates are only a
little higher, at 76 percent.
Mr. Lokken will
present the survey findings on April 18
at the American Association of Community
Colleges'
annual convention
in Seattle.
Bob Jensen's threads on distance education and training
alternatives ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Crossborder.htm
"Minnesota Businessman Petters Gets 50 Years for $3.7 Billion Ponzi Scheme,"
by Brian Bakst and Steve Karnowski, April 9, 2010 ---
http://ow.ly/171sJw
Bob Jensen's threads on Ponzi frauds ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#Ponzi
Question
What's is the difference between a John Meriwether hedge fund and a
Larry King marriage?
Answer
Larry King flamed out seven times whereas John's hedge funds have flamed
out only twice, but far more spectacular than any Larry King divorce..
"Long Term Capital Management Again? Wow
John Meriwether Has a Short Memory," by Dave Manuel, Simoleon Sense,
April 14, 2010 ---
http://www.simoleonsense.com/long-term-capital-management-again-wow-john-meriwether-has-a-short-memory/
In October of 2009, multiple news
organizations reported that John Meriwether,
formerly of Salomon Brothers/LTCM/JWM
Partners, would be forming his third hedge
fund.
Now, this wouldn’t normally be big news, but
it is when you consider that Meriwether’s
two previous hedge funds both flamed out,
one of which was in spectacular fashion.
John Meriwether founded LTCM (Long-Term
Capital Management) in 1994. This fund,
which included famous bond traders (John
Meriwether), two Nobel Memorial Prize
winners (Robert C. Merton and Myron Scholes)
and a Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve
(David Mullins), was an instant success due
to the incredible collection of talent that
comprised the fund’s team of partner
Bob Jensen's threads on the
spectacular Long Term Capital Management Trillion Dollar Bet that nearly
brought down Wall Street ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#LTCM
Images are from Bankruptcy Visuals Produced
by Lynn M LoPucki (for educational purposes only, I recommend ordering
the large size poster for your wall)
"Visualizing The Bankruptcy Process: Chapter 7, Chapter 11, Chapter
13," Simoleon Sense, April 15, 2010 ---
http://www.simoleonsense.com/visualizing-the-bankruptcy-process-chapter-7-chapter-11-chapter-13/
Jensen Comment
I think it is ironic that this article is dated on the date taxes are
due to the IRS for individuals.
Bankruptcy seems to be only slightly more complicated than a Raptor's
SPE formed by Andy Fastow for Enron ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen//theory/00overview/speOverview.htm
2010 Found Math Gallery ---
http://www.maa.org/FoundMath/FMgallery10.html
50 Great Examples of Data Visualization ---
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/50-great-examples-of-data-visualization/
Bob Jensen's threads on visualization of multivariate data
(including faces) ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpvisual/000datavisualization.htm
Joe Hoyle predicts Accounting Lite in place of Accounting Full Brew
revisions of accounting programs across the U.S., Teaching Financial
Accounting Blog, April 8, 2010 ---
http://joehoyle-teaching.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-predictions.html
Jensen Comment
A few things run counter to Professor Hoyle's predictions. Firstly, U.S.
accounting education programs will face huge pressures to add more IFRS as the
CPA Examination adds more IFRS. Secondly, there are increased pressures to teach
more intense auditing standards, particularly PCAOB rulings. Thirdly, there are
a whole lot of new technology topics to teach, particularly XBRL
We may see a shift toward building accounting topics into business, MIS, and
finance courses. I would applaud this move.
From the Scout Report on April 16, 2010
StatPlanet Map
Maker 2.2 ---
http://www.sacmeq.org/statplanet/
Interested in making
a map? Well, StatPlanet may be just the ticket for first-timers who
would like to do just that. The application is an interactive data
visualization and mapping tool used by a range of international
organizations and universities for a variety of purposes.
Visitors can use data
on over 250 world development indicators to create interactive maps,
graphs, and charts. The program also contains an extensive help file
and a tutorial. The installed version is compatible with computers
running Windows 95 and newer, and the web-based version requires
Adobe Flash Player (version 9) and supports Windows, Mac, and Linux
platforms.
Sonogram 3.0
---
http://www.christoph-lauer.de/Homepage/Sonogram.html
Scholars of speech
will appreciate this helpful application created by German developer
Christoph Lauer at the German Research Center for Artificial
Intelligence. Visitors can use the program and its visualization
features to look at sound spectrums and other technical aspects of
speech.
This version is compatible with computers running Windows, Mac OS-X,
and Linux operating systems. Java and Java 3D are also required.
"Tattoo for tacos" deal is revived by a San Francisco
eatery Free Tacos for the Price of a Tattoo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304370304575151861646999610.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_smallbusiness
Casa Sanchez restaurant offers customers free tacos for life if
they get a tattoo of their logo
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=7363877
San Francisco: The Mission
http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/mission/
Founding of the Mission Dolores
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist5/misdolor.html
The Cambridge World History of Food: Mexico and Highland Central
America
http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/mexico.htm
Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html
Free online textbooks, cases, and tutorials in accounting, finance,
economics, and statistics ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
Education Tutorials
2010 Found Math Gallery ---
http://www.maa.org/FoundMath/FMgallery10.html
Bob Jensen's threads on general education tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#EducationResearch
Engineering, Science, and Medicine Tutorials
University of California: Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Program ---
http://sarep.ucdavis.edu/index.htm
Exploratorium's Origins: From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's
Complexity ---
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/belize-london/index.html
Federal regulations cost a whopping $1.187 trillion last year in
compliance burdens on Americans. That’s the finding of a new report,
Ten Thousand Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal
Regulatory State, from the Competitive Enterprise Institute that
examines the costs imposed by federal regulations.
“Trillion-dollar deficits and regulatory costs in the trillions are
both unsettling new developments for America,” said report author,
Clyde Wayne Crews, CEI Vice President for Policy. “It is sobering to
note how both dwarf the initial $150 billion ‘stimulus package’ of
early 2008.”
The costs of federal regulations often exceed the benefits, yet
receive little official scrutiny from Congress. The report urges
Congress to step up and take responsibility as lawmakers to review
and roll back economically harmful regulations. “Rolling back
regulations would constitute the deregulatory stimulus that the U.S.
economy needs,” said Crews.
Among the report’s findings:
• 3,503 new regulations took effect last year. The burden of
government is heavier than ever.
• How much does government cost? Government is spending $3.518
trillion of our money and imposing another $1.187 trillion dollars
in the form of regulatory compliance costs.
• How much of our economic output should be eaten by regulatory
costs? Regulatory costs now absorb 8.3 percent of the U.S. gross
domestic product.
• What's the federal government's total share of the economy?
Regulations + spending combined puts the federal government's share
of the economy at over 30 percent.
• Regulations cost more than the income tax.
• New rules that cost at least $100 million increased by 13 percent
between 2007 and 2008.
The report urges reforms to make the regulatory costs more
transparent and accountable to the people, including annual “report
cards” on regulatory costs and benefits, and congressional votes on
significant agency rules before they become binding.
Read the report: Ten Thousand
Commandments: An Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State
Bob Jensen's threads on free online science,
engineering, and medicine tutorials are at ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Science
Social Science and Economics Tutorials
OECD Factblog ---
https://community.oecd.org/community/factblog?view=overview
OECD Factbook eXplorer ---
http://stats.oecd.org/oecdfactbook/
African Development Bank Group ---
http://www.afdb.org/en/
American Abroad Media [Real Player, iTunes]
http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/
American RadioWorks: Bridge to Somewhere
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/infrastructure/
Exploratorium's Origins: From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's
Complexity ---
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/belize-london/index.html
Education Today: The OECD Perspective ---
http://www.oecd.org/document/57/0,3343,en_2649_33723_42440761_1_1_1_1,00.html
Bob Jensen's threads on Economics, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and
Philosophy tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Social
Law and Legal Studies
National Portrait Gallery: The Struggle for Justice [Flash Player] ---
http://npg.si.edu/exhibit/struggle/index.html
National Portrait Gallery: Thomas Paine ---
http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/paine/
Bob Jensen's threads on law and legal studies are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Law
Math Tutorials
2010 Found Math Gallery ---
http://www.maa.org/FoundMath/FMgallery10.html
Bob Jensen's threads on free online mathematics tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Mathematics
History Tutorials
Delaware Notes (various historical themes, including poetry and literature)
---
http://dspace.udel.edu:8080/dspace/handle/19716/4445
Milwaukee Repertory Theater Photographic History ---
http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/digilib/milrep/index.cfm
Nettleton Civil War Letters at the Electronic Text Center ---
http://etext.virginia.edu/civilwar/nettleton/
C-SPAN: American History TV ---
http://c-span.org/Series/American-History-TV.aspx
National Portrait Gallery: The Struggle for Justice [Flash Player]
---
http://npg.si.edu/exhibit/struggle/index.html
National Portrait Gallery: Thomas Paine ---
http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/paine/
Chicago Urban League Photos ---
http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_uic_cul.php?CISOROOT=/uic_cul
Chicago History Museum [Flash Player]
http://blog.chicagohistory.org/
Richard Throssel Photographs ---
http://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu:8180/luna/servlet/ahc-throssel~1~1
Exploratorium's Origins: From Jungle to Lab: The Study of Life's
Complexity ---
http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/belize-london/index.html
Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art [Flash Player]
http://pilgrimage.asiasociety.org/
A cleverly-constructed timeline on the history of the
world's great religions ---
http://www.mapsofwar.com/images/Religion.swf
Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html
Bob Jensen's threads on history tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#History
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Language Tutorials
Bob Jensen's links to language tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#Languages
Music Tutorials
Bob Jensen's threads on free music tutorials are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Music
Writing Tutorials
Bob Jensen's helpers for writers are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob3.htm#Dictionaries
Updates from WebMD ---
http://www.webmd.com/
April 9, 2010
April 10, 2010
April 12, 2010
April 13, 2010
April 14, 2010
April 15, 2010
April 16, 2010
April 17, 2010
April 19, 2010
Drug and product
warnings, alerts, and
recalls
Forwarded by Maureen
How to get to Heaven from Ireland
I was testing children in my Dublin Sunday school class to see if
they understood the concept of getting to heaven.
I asked them, 'If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale
and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into heaven?'
'NO!' the children answered.
'If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the garden, and kept
everything tidy, would that get me into heaven?'
Again, the answer was 'NO!' By now I was starting to smile.
'Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave sweets to all the
children, and loved my husband, would that get me into heaven?'
Again, they all answered 'NO!' I was just bursting with pride for
them.
I continued, 'Then how can I get into heaven?' A six year-old boy
shouted out:
"YUV GOTTA BE FOOKN' DEAD...."
Voters pick dead man for mayor over the incumbent in Tracy City, Tennessee
---
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/04/voters-pick-dead-man-for-mayor-over-the-incumbent/1?csp=34
Jensen County
In some counties in Texas it could've been the graveyard voters that
pushed the dead candidate over the top.
Tidbits Archives ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter ---
Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron"
enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and
other universities is at
http://www.searchedu.com/
Shielding Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
-
With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review
(TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
- With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors
Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
- With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of
Accountancy Ignores TAR
- With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research
into Undergraduate Accounting Courses
What went wrong in accounting/accountics research?
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral
Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most Accountants ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH
CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW: 1926-2005 ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1
Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory
---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm
Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and
Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So
Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the
vegetable nutrition paradox) that probably will never be solved ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews
World Clock ---
http://www.peterussell.com/Odds/WorldClock.php
Facts about the earth in real time --- http://www.worldometers.info/
Interesting Online Clock
and Calendar
---
http://home.tiscali.nl/annejan/swf/timeline.swf
Time by Time Zones ---
http://timeticker.com/
Projected Population Growth (it's out of control) ---
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/worldpopulation.htm
Also see
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/P/Populations.html
Facts about population growth (video) ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U
Projected U.S. Population Growth ---
http://www.carryingcapacity.org/projections75.html
Real time meter of the U.S. cost of the war in Iraq ---
http://www.costofwar.com/
Enter you zip code to get Census Bureau comparisons ---
http://zipskinny.com/
Sure wish there'd be a little good news today.
Free (updated) Basic Accounting Textbook --- search for Hoyle at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm#Textbooks
CPA Examination ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cpa_examination
Free CPA Examination Review Course Courtesy of Joe Hoyle ---
http://cpareviewforfree.com/
Rick Lillie's education, learning, and technology blog is at
http://iaed.wordpress.com/
Accounting News, Blogs, Listservs, and Social
Networking ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/AccountingNews.htm
Bob Jensen's Threads ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Online Books, Poems, References,
and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available
free on the Web.
I created a page that summarizes those various links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm
Some of Bob Jensen's Tutorials
Accounting program news items for colleges are posted at
http://www.accountingweb.com/news/college_news.html
Sometimes the news items provide links to teaching resources for accounting
educators.
Any college may post a news item.
Accountancy Discussion ListServs:
For an elaboration on the reasons you should join a
ListServ (usually for free) go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
AECM (Educators)
http://pacioli.loyola.edu/aecm/
AECM is an email Listserv list which
provides a forum for discussions of all hardware and software
which can be useful in any way for accounting education at the
college/university level. Hardware includes all platforms and
peripherals. Software includes spreadsheets, practice sets,
multimedia authoring and presentation packages, data base
programs, tax packages, World Wide Web applications, etc
Roles of a ListServ ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ListServRoles.htm
|
CPAS-L (Practitioners)
http://pacioli.loyola.edu/cpas-l/
CPAS-L provides a forum for discussions of
all aspects of the practice of accounting. It provides an
unmoderated environment where issues, questions, comments,
ideas, etc. related to accounting can be freely discussed.
Members are welcome to take an active role by posting to CPAS-L
or an inactive role by just monitoring the list. You qualify for
a free subscription if you are either a CPA or a professional
accountant in public accounting, private industry, government or
education. Others will be denied access. |
Yahoo
(Practitioners)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xyztalk
This forum is for CPAs to discuss the activities of the AICPA.
This can be anything from the CPA2BIZ portal to the XYZ
initiative or anything else that relates to the AICPA. |
AccountantsWorld
http://accountantsworld.com/forums/default.asp?scope=1
This site hosts various discussion groups on such topics as
accounting software, consulting, financial planning, fixed
assets, payroll, human resources, profit on the Internet, and
taxation. |
Business Valuation
Group
BusValGroup-subscribe@topica.com
This discussion group is headed by Randy Schostag
[RSchostag@BUSVALGROUP.COM] |
Many useful accounting sites (scroll down) ---
http://www.iasplus.com/links/links.htm
Bob Jensen's Sort-of Blogs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/JensenBlogs.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called New
Bookmarks ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called
Tidbits ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
Current and past editions of my newsletter called Fraud
Updates ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Some
Accounting History Sites
Bob Jensen's
Accounting History in a Nutshell and Links ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#AccountingHistory
Accounting
History Libraries at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) ---
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/accountancy/libraries.html
The above libraries include international accounting history.
The above libraries include film and video historical collections.
MAAW Knowledge Portal for Management and Accounting ---
http://maaw.info/
Academy of Accounting Historians and the Accounting Historians Journal ---
http://www.accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aah/
Sage Accounting History ---
http://ach.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/11/3/269
A nice timeline on the development of U.S. standards and the evolution of
thinking about the income statement versus the balance sheet is provided at:
"The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional
Standards (1930-1973)," by Stephen A. Zeff, CPA Journal, January 2005
---
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/105/infocus/p18.htm
Part II covering years 1974-2003 published in February 2005 ---
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/205/index.htm
A nice
timeline of accounting history ---
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2187711/A-HISTORY-OF-ACCOUNTING
From Texas
A&M University
Accounting History Outline ---
http://acct.tamu.edu/giroux/history.html
Bob
Jensen's timeline of derivative financial instruments and hedge accounting ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm#DerivativesFrauds
History of
Fraud in America ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/415wp/AmericanHistoryOfFraud.htm
Also see
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud.htm
Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob)
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
190 Sunset Hill Road
Sugar Hill, NH 03586
Phone: 603-823-8482
Email:
rjensen@trinity.edu