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10 point plan to improve oversight of financial reporting process. 10 point plan to improve oversight of financial reporting process The New York Stock Exchange and The Blue Ribbon Committee saw a need for improvement in corporate auditing. They released a report of IO far-reaching recommendations intended to improve the quality of corporate financial reporting, Point # 1. Revise the definition of independent director. They say the definition should read as follows * Members of the audit committee should be independent and have no relationship with the corporation that may interfere with the exercise of their independence from management and the corporation. Point # 2 Require an independent audit committee. This point states that * (NYSE) and the (NASD) Should require companies meeting the size criteria (large) should have an audit committee made up of independent directors. Point # 3 Mandate minimum audit committee sizes and increased financial literacy. Companies that meet the size criteria (large) should have an audit committee comprised of a min imum of three directors. Furthermore, at least one of the members should have accounting or related financial management expertise, Point # 4 Mandate written charter detailing responsibilities and duties. Adopt a formal written charter approved by the full board of directors that specifies the scope of the committee's responsibilities, and to review and reassess the adequacy of the audit committee charter on an annual basis. Point # 5 Mandate annual i3ublic disclosure of audit committee activities The (SEC) should require proof from the committee that it has adopted a formal written charter, and to see if the committee satisfied it responsibilities under the charter. These findings also should be disclosed in the annual report to the stockholders. Point # 6 Clarify oversight responsibility for outside auditors. It should be specified that the outside auditor is ultimately accountable to the board of directors and the audit committee as representatives of the shareholders. Point # 7 Mandate discussion with outside auditor regarding independence. The rules should require that the audit committee is responsible for ensuring the receipt from the outside auditor of a formal written statement delineating all relationships between the auditor and the company, that is consistent with (ISBS) And to make sure there is no foul play. Point # 8 Require outside auditor to discuss quality of financial reporting-. (GAAS) Should require that a company's outside auditor discuss with the audit committee the auditor's judgments about the quality.

Tet in Vietnam

New Year is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year base on the Luna calender. Vietnamese New Year commonly known by formal name Tet Nguyen Dan. The name Tet Nguyen Dan is Sino-Vietnamese for the Feast of the First Morning, derived from the Han nom characters. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking special holiday foods and cleaning the house. There are a lot of customs practiced during Tet, like ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year’s greetings, giving lucky money to children and elderly people,etc. Tet in the three Vietnamese regions can be divided into three period, known as Before New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Eve and the New Year, representing the preparation before Tet, the eve Tet, and the days of and following Tet, respectively. All of these customs are to celebrate Tet in Vietnam. Vietnamese people avoid doing bad things and try to do good things during T?t holiday. * DOS – One should sprinkle lime powder around the house to expel evil. – One should return all things borrowed, and pay debts before Tet. * DON’TS One should not say or do bad things during Tet. – One should not hurt or kill animals or plants but should set them free. The reason for this originates from Buddhism’s causality. – One should not sweep the house or empty out the rubbish to avoid luck and benefits going with it, especially on the first day of the new year. – One should not have duck meat because it brings unluckiness. – One should not have shrimp in case on would move backwards like shrimp, in other words, one would not succeed. – One should not refuse anything other give or wish you during Tet. New Year, my favorite holiday, is one of the most celebrated days in the world. The day is shaped by different customs and traditions. Each culture celebrates this holiday in its own unique way. We live in a rapidly changing world both culturally and linguistically, so culture is very important thing. People who know about other cultures are more able and adept at working in today’s world. They can communicate effectively, solve problems creatively, and keep an open mind when others shut down. Happy New Year!

Safe State vs. Swing State

Ben Mason Eng. 1001 sect. 38 9/26/12 The Voting Playground: Play it safe? Or swing? This is a concern that arises for presidential candidates every four years as we approach presidential elections. First, there are two terms to be recognized: â€Å"safe state† and â€Å"swing state†. In a â€Å"safe state† the presidential candidate of a particular party has the vast majority of support of that state's voters, regularly, so that he/she can safely assume the favorable outcome of the state's electoral college votes. Some ell-known safe states are California for democrats, and Texas for republicans. On the contrary, there are states that are not like safe states and no single candidate or party has overwhelming support of the votes. These are called â€Å"swing states† or â€Å"battleground states†. Some examples of swing states of this election are Florida, Iowa, Colorado, and others. In the voting world, the president is decided through representativ e votes by the states. This is called the electoral college. A presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election. For 48 states, it is a inner-takes-all election which means that whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate), takes all of the state's electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that use a proportional vote system. In these states, there could be a split of electoral votes among candidates. (Dugan) The electoral college plays a huge role on the topic of safe states and swing states by effecting the behaviors of presidential candidates. For instance, safe states that re known to vote a certain way will not receive near as much attention or campaigning as swing states during the times close to elections. This is why candidates fight over swing states that may only have as little as 4 electoral votes, instead of fighting for states wit h a lot more. (Dugan) An example of this would be Romney and Obama spending large amounts of money campaigning in a swing state such as Iowa with 7 electoral votes and very little in a safe state like California with 55 electoral votes. (Politico) Candidates do not put a lot of effort into afe states because it is unlikely that he/she can change the minds of the people there. Also, one will not spend time and money campaigning in safe states because he/she may already have the support of the people in those states. As you can see, the electoral college is key to understanding how safe states and swing states work. There is a kind of two party dictatorship in today's American politics and the vast majority of voters fall into these two categories or parties: Republican or Democratic. Every election period there are two candidates unning for these parties. In order for the candidate to get the vote of a particular state he/she must run a campaign. The aggressiveness and frequency of t he campaigns might vary due to the status of a party's influence over certain states. Sometimes the candidates have to modify there stance or ideals on certain issues to fit to that particular state. An example would be that some candidates may want to position themselves to appeal to a certain ethnic group of that area. Obama has tried to appeal to the Hispanic vote in Colorado due to the growing umber of Hispanic immigrants. (Larcinese) This may be a smart move because he is usually popular among minority groups. In return, Romney has tried to address people in rural areas. Recent polls show that he is 14 percent more popular with people in rural areas than Obama is. (Gruber) Also, issues that are a big concern in an area may be emphasized. Things like restoring the health of a declining ecosystem may be brought up in an area that is suffering from deforestation or pollution to secure the votes of people concerned about that subject.Other factors play into campaigning in swing sta tes as well. Many times instead of stretching the truth, a candidate will just neglect to bring up the matter, whatever it may be. The sensitive issues of a certain state might be avoided in order to sound better on a vague level. Slogans are made short and vague for this reason to get anyone to jump on the band wagon. Making the issues fit the political views of the people in a certain area or background is imperative to getting favorable votes. Candidates do whatever it takes to look good or appeal to people.This sometimes means mud-slinging or making the opposing candidate look bad. This has been going on since the beginning of presidential runoffs. A great example of this would be â€Å"Romney's war on women† as said by Obama because of Mitt Romney's stance on issues for women. This gives the allusion that Romney doesn't care about women's health issues so that Obama would be favorable to women. (Politico) In return, Mitt Romney has attacked Obama's healthcare plan saying that Obama wont cover people with preexisting conditions. This is an ongoing thing that will never stop.There will always be differences in views that candidates will trash each other with. There are a vast array of ways to advertise to capture the hearts and minds of would-be voters. The key to it all is appealing to the people that have the most stake in the situation and convincing them to vote a certain way to decide the victor of the presidential race. As you can see, the role of swing states and safe state are crucial to how things are done and the way that American politics play out. Works Cited Larcinese, Valentino. â€Å"Allocating the U. S. Federal Budget to the States. The Journal of Politics. Wiley Library. , 27 Apr 2006. Web. Vol. 68 May 2006 Gruber, Jonathan. â€Å"Rural Favor and Polls† Hastings Center Report. Wiley Library. , 8 Feb 2012. , Sep,Oct 2006 Politico. org. , â€Å"News, Analysis, Candidates, and Polls. † Real Clear Polls. Swing state view. , Sep 26 2012 archive. fairvote. org/e_college. htm. , â€Å"Maine and Nebraska. † â€Å"Center for voting and Democracy. †, copyright 2002. , Dec 10 2009 Dugan, Andrew. Gallup. com/poll/swingstate. htm. , â€Å"Swing State Voters. † Washington D. C. , â€Å"Race Track 2012† Sep 9 2012