Holiday Greetings from Bob & Erika --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/XMAS2002.htm

Quotes of the Week

From the Wow Topic of the forthcoming edition of New Bookmarks in Year 2003

Why does this matter? Because we are asking our students to learn more and more from a monitor. Getting clear thoughts across on the printed page has always been a challenge. Doing it with a computer is harder, even with the unique attributes it has over the static page. But clear thinking visually is not just good teaching, it can be a matter of life and death.

The Challenger disaster, for instance, could have been avoided if the visual representation of quantitative data had been clear. The engineers knew there was a problem nearly 12 hours before the launch and voted to postpone it. But when challenged to justify their argument, the contractors presented tables and charts, none of which brought the essential point to light: the causal relationship between temperature and O-ring damage at launches.

The sad fact is that had the data been ordered by temperature, it would have shown a direct correlation with O-ring damage. The Challenger launch temperature was six standard deviations outside the range for which they had actual engineering data. It was, as they say, a disaster waiting to happen.

Phillip D. Long --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpVisual/000DataVisualization.htm

Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do.
Oscar Wilde

"By concocting elaborate schemes of so-called 'structured finance' with no legitimate business purpose other than tax and accounting manipulation, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase helped Enron deceive the investing public," claimed Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, ranking Democrat on the panel, in a statement.
Reuters, December 9, 2002

Trouble Tree --- http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/5078/merrychristmasupdate.html

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse, had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

"Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again."

He paused. "Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there ain't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Work makes for a shorter day and a longer life.
Diderot Denis

Let us run the risk of wearing out rather than rusting out.
Theodore Roosevelt

It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit goes to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the one hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
Jacob A. Riis

I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.
Sara Teasdale

This thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down.
Mary Pickford

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. The 'hard' is what makes it good.
Tom Hanks in a movie titled A League of Their Own

I'm in a wonderful position: I'm unknown, I'm underrated, and there's nowhere to go but up.
Pierre S. Dupont IV

In the three years that I played ball, we won 6, lost 17, and tied 2. Some statisticians ... calculated that we won 75% of the games we didn't lose.
Roger M. Blough

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
Wayne Gretzky

God made the world round so that we would never be able to see too far down the road.
Isak Dinesen

I never lost a game. I just ran out of time.
Bobby Layne

They ask me 'What are you on?' I tell them, I'm on my bike 6 hours a day busting my ass. What are you on?
Lance Armstrong

I believe I have found the missing link between animals and civilized man. It is us.
Lorenz Konrad

Dear Santa: Forget Mattel, and bring on Nokia.
http://www.wired.com/news/holidays/0,1882,56784,00.html
Little kids in the modern age grow up so fast. Now even third-graders want their own Nokias, Kyoceras and Ericssons.

In this world there are only two tragedies; one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it.
Oscar Wilde
This seems to be a variation on the ancient (Chinese?) proverb: "Be careful what you wish or pray for, because you may get it."

WHAT MAKES AMERICAN CAPITALISM SURVIVE?

See Bob Jensen's December 31, 2002 updates on the accounting and finance scandals can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud123102.htm

Believe it or not, while the accounting industry news from Wall Street has run the gamut from bad to horrible this year, the news from Main Street, USA is actually very encouraging. http://www.accountingweb.com/item/96763

. . . 68 percent of small business owners say they are very satisfied with the service they receive from their CPAs (another 25 percent say they are satisfied) makes it evident that CPAs have worked hard to earn the trust of their small business clients, and translates into increased opportunity for CPAs.
Main Street accountants are obviously perceived much differently than the handful of financial professionals at the center of the maelstrom on Wall Street. Despite the Enron scandal, 88 percent of small-business owners say they have not lost confidence in their own accountants and will continue to trust them for counsel. But while CPAs have worked hard to earn the trust of their clients, small business owners must also do their part to maintain this trust and continue growth. This is why it’s also important for them to do their homework when looking for the right accountant for their business:

Find out what experience an accountant has in your industry

Know who will be your principal contact

Call other clients for references

Find out how the accountant stays abreast of current trends in your industry

Ask if they are actively pursuing CPE credits to maintain accreditation

Are they informed about the latest financial technology?

How will they work with you on an individual level to share information?

The optimism and confidence of small business owners is best seen in the fact that by yearend Americans will have launched approximately 575,000 new businesses that employ workers other than the owners. (Even more will hang their shingles as one-person shops.) Two-thirds of these fledgling firms will still be open for business two years down the road. Wall Street may be under a dark cloud of suspicion these days, but the American dream is alive and well on Main Street, and America’s accounting professionals are helping more people realize that dream than ever before.

Check out the top ten trends for 2003 with quotes from luminaries such as the creator of Dilbert, the CTO of GM, authors of top business books and executives from companies such as: HP, Cable & Wireless, CSC, Salesforce, Nielsen/Netratings, Bowstreet, divine, Zapthink and Infravio: http://ecnow.com/2003Top10TrendsArticle-withQuotes.pdf

Top ten trends for 2003 --- http://vms3.info/Dec2002/feature.article.htm

Top level news stories via the lenses of the Value Framework(tm) --- http://vms3.info/Dec2002/management.perspective.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on electronic business are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce.htm

My jaw dropped when I received a very authentic bank note for $10 million in "Hell Money" as a Christmas gift from Paul Pacter. There was no explanation until I asked him about it in an email message. Paul is a former doctoral student who now lives in Hong Kong. I think I'll take his gift with me when I pass on, although in my case it's probably not enough. Paul explains "Hell Money" as follows:

Hi Bob,

It was $10,000,000! I felt very generous this year.

Actually the Chinese Buddhists call it Hell Money. Most of us do not do sufficient good works on earth to immediately get reborn into a new life. So we are buried with Hell Money to tide us over until then. I think there are up to 7 stages of Hell to go through depending on how poorly we did on earth.

December 18, 2002 reply from Dee

Hi Bob

Hold on to that note. It's a collectible item. see http://www.luckymojo.com/hellmoney.html
Have a warm and wonderful Holiday Season.

dee davidson
Accounting Systems Specialist
Marshall School of Business
Leventhal School of Accounting
University of Southern California 213.740.5018 dee.davidson@marshall.usc.edu

Paul Pacter actively maintains the best international accounting site on the Web --- http://www.iasplus.com/index.htm
The top paragraph of his latest news announcements contains the following:

18 December 2002: New Journal of International Accounting Research
The International Section of the American Accounting Association has published the inaugural edition of its new annual journal, The Journal of International Accounting Research. The journal aims to publish articles that increase understanding of the development and use of international accounting and reporting practices or attempt to improve extant practices. International accounting is broadly interpreted to include the reporting of international economic transactions; the study of differences among practices across countries; the study of interesting institutional and cultural factors that shape practices in a single country but have international implications; and the effect of international accounting practices on users.
Click for More Information ( http://www.iasplus.com/resource/aaajournal.pdf ). Click here to go to American Accounting Association Web Site ( http://accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aaa/index.html )

I recently joined up with Gerald Trites from Canada to present a workshop at the Asian-Pacific annual meetings. Jerry focused on Internet Reporting of financial data. Two links of interest provided by Jerry are shown below:

Financial and Business Reporting on the Internet --- http://iago.stfx.ca/people/gtrites/webrep/WEBREP.htm

Audit Implications of e-Business --- http://iago.stfx.ca/people/gtrites/ebusaudit/EBIZAUD.htm

Jerry put a lot of work into these topics.

His homepage complete with audio of "Dueling Banjos" is at http://iago.stfx.ca/people/gtrites/
Bet you can't sit still if you click on the above link!

The world's largest and best-loved search engine owes its success to superior technology and a simple rule: Don't be evil. But Google is finding that moral compromise is the cost of doing big business --- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/google.html

Google owes its swelling popularity to deft algorithms that quickly divine what's useful on the Web. But there's more to it than that. At Google, purity matters. Over the years, Brin and Page have resisted pressure to run banners, opting instead for haiku-like text ads and unintrusive sponsored links. They've taken a stand against pop-ups and pop-unders and refused ads from sites they consider to be overly negative. All the while, they've stubbornly kept the Google homepage concise and pristine. On just a faint whisper of a marketing campaign, the company pulled in an estimated $70 million last year (a third from licensing fees and the rest from ads).

The Google strategy appeals to every engineer's sense of The Way It Should Be. Build the best entry in the science fair. Do not tart it up. Do not make it more clever than it needs to be.

But a funny thing is happening on the way to Internet adulthood - Google's awkward teen years. The company's growth spurt has spawned a host of daunting questions that no data-retrieval system can easily answer. Should Google play ball with repressive foreign governments? Refuse to link users to "hate" sites? Punish marketers who artificially inflate site rankings? Fight the Church of Scientology's attempts to silence critics? And what to do about the cache, Google's archive of previously indexed pages? In April, the German national railroad threatened legal action to remove an obsolete site containing sabotage instructions.

Most major companies refer to a detailed code of corporate conduct when considering such policy decisions. General Electric devotes 15 pages on its Web site to an integrity policy. Nortel's site has 34 pages of guidelines. Google's code of conduct can be boiled down to a mere three words: Don't be evil.

Continued at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/google.html

Wow Topic of the Week

Visual representation of multidimensional data should be of particular interest in accountancy in modern times as we move toward improved networking of data with OLAP, XBRL, EDGAR, and other advances in reporting of financial and non-financial measures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/XBRLandOLAP.htm

"The Visual Display of Data," by Phillip D. Long, Syllabus, December 2002, pp. 6-8 --- http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6987

The computer has provided a revolutionary tool to represent information visually. Its power is clearly demonstrated by the captivating power of today's video games. While usually describing a narrative of mayhem and destruction, the stunningly seductive rendering of 3D imagery in video games draws the gamer into new visual worlds. It also has the power to bring forward data from multiple dimensions to render information.

One of the most stunning multidimensional graphical representations of human folly was created 141 years ago by Charles Joseph Minard, a French engineer and general inspector of bridges and roads. Sometimes called the "best statistical graphic ever produced," and a work that "defies the pen of the historian," Minard drew a flow-map depicting the tragic fate of Napoleon's Grand Army in the disastrous 1812 Russian campaign. Using pen and ink, Minard captured on the two-dimensional page no fewer than six dimensions of descriptive data.

Edward Tufte, an information designer who, for over three decades, has cultivated the art and science of making sense of data, has eloquently described Minard's map.

The thick band in the middle describes the size of Napoleon's army, 422,000 men strong, when he began the invasion of Russia in June of 1812 from the Polish-Russian border near the Niemen River. As the army advances, the line's thickness reflects its size, narrowing to reflect the attrition suffered during the advance on Moscow. By the time the army reached Moscow (right most side of the drawing), it had been reduced to 100,000 men, one-quarter of its initial size. The lower black line depicts the retreat of Napoleon's army, and the catastrophic effect of the bleak Russian winter. The line of retreat is linked to both dates and temperature at the bottom of the graphic. The harsh cold reduced the army to a mere 10,000 men by the time it re-crossed into Poland. In addition to the main army, Minard characterizes the actions of auxiliary troops who move to protect the advancing army's main flanks.

Minard's map is a tour de force of data representation, an escape from flatland. He conveys a central reality about the world: Things that are interesting are multidimensional. Minard captures and plots six variables: the size of the army (1); the army's location on a two-dimensional surface (2, 3); direction of the army's movement (4); the temperature on various dates during the retreat from Moscow (5, 6).

The truth is nearly everything is multidimensional. Consider giving directions. Telling someone how to get from Logan airport to Cambridge at different times of the day requires the traveler to juggle information in four dimensions.

Continued at http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6987

Visual display of multidimensional data has been a special interest of mine over the years. I devoted an entire chapter to this topic in a research monograph that I wrote in 1976. This is included in the document at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpVisual/000DataVisualization.htm

Wow Topic for the Beginning of Year 2003
I have a working draft of a document on data visualization that will be featured in the first edition of New Bookmarks in the Year 2003 ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/352wpVisual/000DataVisualization.htm

Distance Education in the First Two Years of Engineering Studies in North Carolina
"Partnerships Increase Access to Engineering Education: North Carolina's Two+Two Experience," by Catherine E. Brawner, et al., T.H.E. Journal, October 2002, pp. 30-36 --- http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4183.cfm

North Carolina State University (NC State), The University of NC at Charlotte (UNCC) and NC A&T State University (NC A&T) have the three colleges of engineering in the 16-campus University of NC system. These colleges of engineering provide access to engineering education throughout the state, including to those citizens in the more remote and less wealthy areas. For more than 20 years, NC State has partnered with The University of NC at Asheville (UNCA) in a Two+Two engineering program in which students take their first two years of general education at UNCA, and then transfer to NC State's College of Engineering for upper division courses and their degree.

In 1998, NC State began to offer UNCA students the lower division engineering courses through live distance education in lieu of site-based delivery by local, adjunct or traveling faculty members. Then in 1997, NC State proposed that the Two+Two program be expanded to include the University of NC at Wilmington and Lenoir Community College (LCC). With approval of the funding came a request from the legislature that NC State partner with UNCC and NCA&T in the implementation of the two new Two+Two engineering programs. These two sites began to offer the program in spring 2000.

Distance education supports the Two+Two programs in the larger disciplines, namely electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering and civil engineering. Courses offered include statistics, engineering dynamics, electric circuits, an introduction to logic design, and solid mechanics. Students interested in other disciplines, such as chemical engineering, complete their general education requirements during the first two years, and then transfer for all of their engineering coursework and the completion of their degree.

Continued at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4183.cfm

Prepaid college-tuition plans were once regarded by parents as rock-solid bets, but slumping investments and soaring tuitions mean some programs might not make the grade --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1040087291317375553,00.html?mod=todays%5Fus%5Fmarketplace%5Fhs

"Academic Publishing in the Digital Realm: An Interview with Clifford Lynch," Syllabus, December 2002, pp.10-13 --- http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6983
Syllabus interviews Clifford A. Lynch, executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI).

CL: There are two rather separate things going on, that occasionally get jumbled together under the guise of electronic publishing even though they have rather different characteristics. On one side of the fence we see the changes in the traditional business of scholarly publishing—which includes the journals, monographs, and other kinds of materials that we are all familiar with—this is the incremental evolution of print publishing to the digital world.

On the other side, we have new works of digital authorship and truly new electronic publishing models. Here is where we see an investigation of the transformative potential of digital media. Both sides can be legitimately talked about as electronic scholarly communications, but often, discussions of scholarly publishing in the digital realm focus too narrowly on one side or the other.

S: Why don't we talk first about what's happening on the traditional scholarly publishing side—are we seeing a major movement toward electronic publication?

CL: These materials are moving on a large scale now, from print to digital form. But the conceptualization of the work is still very much rooted in print. Indeed, you will often see people printing these materials out in order to read them. So, rather than producing paper and shipping it to a library, what you'll see is a publisher setting up a Web site that people browse, reading some things online but printing out what they really want to study carefully.

This move to electronic publishing has happened largely with journals. It's happened to a lesser extent with books and monographs, the sorts of things that would be read in rather large chunks, in part because they are awkward to print out on demand for readers.

S: Are the authors of these materials creating different versions of their works digitally? What are the authority considerations?

CL: When you look at how people author for these kinds of works, they are mostly still writing things which could appear equally in digital or paper form. But it's interesting that journal publishers in particular take the position that the authoritative version is the digital version. I think that is an important intellectual step, but it's one that their authors have not entirely caught up with yet. Virtually all of these authors are still producing articles for which the digital and the print versions are essentially equivalent.

So, while the editorial decision that the digital version is definitive opens the door to things like interactive simulation models or datasets that can be navigated and analyzed by readers, in practice, the tradition of scholarly authorship is still very strongly based on a print model.

S: And what about indexes and reference materials?

CL: Indexing and abstracting services, encyclopedias, dictionaries—these things have a more natural existence in the digital world as databases, so they have really gone off on their own separate trajectory and are no longer particularly recognizable from their origins as printed volumes.

S: What about the publishers? Are there new business models?

CL: This move to digital formats has been driven primarily by the same groups who were the major players in the print publishing world. The scholarly societies, the university presses, and the commercial journal publishers—particularly in the scientific, technical, and medical areas.

Obviously there have been some perturbations in business models. For instance, we now typically see site licensing, particularly for journals, giving all members of an institutional community unlimited, concurrent access to that journal—rather than adhering to the convention in the print world, where a large institution would subscribe to multiple copies of a journal to house in different libraries around the campus. With site licensing, some publishers have moved to a pricing structure that figures in the size of the institution.

S: But this is really incremental progress on the traditional scholarly publishing side.

CL: That's what's happened with the traditional publishing industry so far. They are using electronic publishing as a way to disseminate and deliver, but generally, they are disseminating and delivering things that are rather strongly rooted in print. Note, however, that this is a generality. There are some experiments going on among these publishers—but they are mostly experiments rather than large-scale change.

S: Then let's talk about the other side—the new works of digital authorship and the newer electronic publishing models.

Continued at http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6983

"The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What's it All About?," by Trent Batson, Syllabus, December 2002, pp. 14-18 --- http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6984
(Including Open Knowledge Initiative OKI, Assessment, Accreditation, and Career Trends)

The term "electroThenic portfolio," or "ePortfolio," is on everyone's lips. We often hear it associated with assessment, but also with accreditation, reflection, student resumes, and career tracking. It's as if this new tool is the answer to all the questions we didn't realize we were asking.

A portfolio, electronic or paper, is simply an organized collection of completed work. Art students have built portfolios for decades. What makes ePortfolios so enchanting to so many is the intersection of three trends:

Student work is now mostly in electronic form, or is based on a canonical electronic file even if it's printed out: papers, reports, proposals, simulations, solutions, experiments, renditions, graphics, or just about any other kind of student work.
The Web is everywhere: We assume (not always true, of course) that our students have ready access to the Web. The work is "out there" on the Internet, and therefore the first step for transferring work to a Web site has already been taken.
Databases are available through Web sites, allowing students to manage large volumes of their work. The "dynamic" Web site that's database-driven, instead of HTML link-driven, has become the norm for Web developers.

We've reached a critical mass, habits have changed, and as we reach electronic "saturation" on campus, new norms of work are emerging. Arising out of this critical mass is a vision of how higher education can benefit, which is with the ePortfolio.

We seem to be beginning a new wave of technology development in higher education. Freeing student work from paper and making it organized, searchable, and transportable opens enormous possibilities for re-thinking whole curricula: the evaluation of faculty, assessment of programs, certification of student work, how accreditation works. In short, ePortfolios might be the biggest thing in technology innovation on campus. Electronic portfolios have a greater potential to alter higher education at its very core than any other technology application we've known thus far.

The momentum is building. A year ago, companies I talked with had not even heard of ePortfolios. But at a focus session in October, sponsored by Educause's National Learning Infrastructure Initiative ( www.educause.edu/nlii/ ), we found out how far this market has come: A number of technology vendors and publishers are starting to offer ePortfolio tools. The focus session helped us all see the bigger picture. I came away saying to myself, "I knew it had grown, but I had no idea by how much!"

ePortfolio developers are making sure that their platforms can accept the full range of file types and content: text, graphics, video, audio, photos, and animation. The manner in which student work is turned in, commented on, turned back to students, reviewed in the aggregate over a semester, and certified can be—and is being—deeply altered and unimaginably extended.

This tool brings to bear the native talents of computers—storage, management of data, retrieval, display, and communication—to challenge how to better organize student work to improve teaching and learning. It seems, on the surface, too good to be true.

ePortfolios vs. Webfolios

Since the mid-90s, the term "ePortfolio" or "electronic portfolio" has been used to describe collections of student work at a Web site. Within the field of composition studies, the term "Webfolio" has also been used. In this article, we are using the current, general meaning of the term, which is a dynamic Web site that interfaces with a database of student work artifacts. Webfolios are static Web sites where functionality derives from HTML links. "E-portfolio" therefore now refers to database-driven, dynamic Web sites, not static, HTML-driven sites.

So, What's the Bad News?
Moving beyond the familiar one-semester/one-class limits of managing student learning artifacts gets us into unfamiliar territory. How do we alter the curriculum to integrate portfolios? How do we deal with long-term storage, privacy, access, and ongoing vendor support? What about the challenge of interoperability among platforms so student work can move to a new campus upon transfer?

In short, how do we make the ePortfolio an enterprise application, importing data from central computing, serving the application on a central, secure server, and managing an ever-enlarging campus system? Electronic portfolios have great reach in space and time so they will not be adopted lightly. We've seen how extensively learning management systems such as WebCT, Blackboard, and Angel can alter our campuses. ePortfolios are much more challenging for large-scale implementations.

Still, ePortfolio implementations are occurring on dozens if not hundreds of campuses. Schools of education are especially good candidates, as they're pressured by accrediting agencies demanding better-organized and accessible student work. Some statewide systems are adopting ePortfolio systems as well. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the University of Minnesota system have ePortfolios. Electronic portfolio consortia are also forming. The open-source movement, notably MIT's Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI), has embraced the ePortfolio as a key application within the campus computing virtual infrastructure.

Moreover, vendors, in order to establish themselves as the market begins to take shape, are already introducing ePortfolio tools. Several companies, including BlackBoard, WebCT, SCT, Nuventive, Concord, and McGraw-Hill, are said to either have or are developing electronic-portfolio tools.

ePortfolio Tools and Resources

Within the National Learning Infrastructure Initiative is a group called The Electronic Portfolio Action Committee (EPAC). EPAC has been led over the last year by John Ittelson of Cal State Monterey Bay. Helen Barrett of the University of Alaska at Anchorage, a leading founder of EPAC, has been investigating uses of ePortfolio tools for years. MIT's Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) has provided leadership and consulting for the group, along with its OKI partner, Stanford University. The Carnegie Foundation has been active within EPAC, as have a number of universities.

What follows is a list of ePortfolio tools now available or in production:

• Epselen Portfolios, IUPUI, www.epsilen.com

• The Collaboratory Project, Northwestern, http://collaboratory.nunet.net

• Folio Thinking: Personal Learning Portfolios, Stanford, http://scil.stanford.edu/research/mae/folio.html

• Catalyst Portfolio Tool, University of Washington, www.catalyst.washington.edu

• MnSCU e-folio, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, www.efoliomn.com

• Carnegie Knowledge Media Lab, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, www.carnegiefoundation.org/kml/

• Learning Record Online (LRO) Project, The Computer Writing and Research Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~syverson/olr/ contents.html

• Electronic Portfolio, Johns Hopkins University, www.cte.jhu.edu/epweb

• CLU Webfoil, California Lutheran University, www.folioworld.com

• Professional Learning Planner, Vermont Institute for Science, Math and Technology, www.vismt.org

• Certification Program Portfolio, University of Missouri-Columbia and LANIT Consulting, https://portfolio.coe.missouri.edu/

• Technology Portfolio and Professional Development Portfolio, Wake Forest University Department of Education, www.wfu.edu/~cunninac/edtech/technologyportfolio.htm

• e-Portfolio Project, The College of Education at the University of Florida, www.coe.ufl.edu/school/portfolio/index.htm

• PASS-PORT (Professional Accountability Support System using a PORTal Approach) University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Xavier University of Louisiana, www.thequest.state.la.us/training/

• The Connecticut College e-Portfolio Development Consortium, www.union.edu/PUBLIC/ECODEPT/kleind/ conncoll/

• The Kalamazoo College Portfolio, Kalamazoo College, www.kzoo.edu/pfolio

• Web Portfolio, St. Olaf College, www.stolaf.edu/depts/cis/web_portfolios.htm

• The Electronic Portfolio, Wesleyan University, https://portfolio2.wesleyan.edu/names.nsf?login

• The Diagnostic Digital Portfolio (DDP), Alverno College, www.ddp.alverno.edu/

• E-Portfolio Portal, University of Wisconsin-Madison, http://portfolios.education.wisc.edu/

• Web Folio Builder, TaskStream Tools of Engagement, www.taskstream.com

• FolioLive, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, www.foliolive.com

• Outcomes Assessment Solutions, TrueOutcomes, www.trueoutcomes.com/index.html

• Chalk & Wire, www.chalkandwire.com

• LiveText, www.livetext.com

• LearningQuest Professional Development Planner, www.learning-quest.com/

• Folio by eportaro, www.eportaro.com

• Concord (a digital content server for BlackBoard systems), www.concord-usa.com

• iWebfolio by Nuventive (now in a strategic alliance with SCT), www.iwebfolio.com

• Aurbach & Associates, www.aurbach.com/

Continued at http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=6984

Bob Jensen's threads on education technology are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/0000start.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on assessment are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm

Bob Jensen's bookmarks for education are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob.htm

The home page of the European Accounting Association --- http://www.eaa-online.org/home/index.cfm

From the December 2002 EAA Newsletter

Interview with Professor Serge Evraert, incoming President of IAAER and past President of EAA
For the first issue of this new newsletter we have approached, and been granted, a short interview with Professor Serge Evraert, Professor of accounting at the University of Bordeaux. Serge is not only a longstanding supporter of the EAA, including acting as Chair of the EAA following the 20th Annual EAA Congress in 1998 held in Bordeaux, but has just become the President of the IAAER. It seemed appropriate therefore to question him on the relationship between the EAA and other national accounting associations and the role of the IAAER. Does it make sense for us to be members of both organisations?
Editor : Serge, you have been elected for a two years term as President of the IAAER at the 9th World Congress of Accounting Educators in Hong Kong in November. What are you first impressions of your new role?
Prof. Evraert: I would say that, given the quality of the organizers, this 9th Congress of the Association since its creation fourteen years ago was a success both from a research and education perspective with participation of more than 450 colleagues from 50 countries and the active involvement of the delegates of the professional institutions members of the Association. Eleven technical panels and seven educational panels were held and 150 papers were selected, 130 of them for main session presentations and about 20 for research forum presentations. Also of special interest were the joint IAAER/AAA Globalization Roundtable held just before the opening of the Congress which evoked the setting of priorities for improvement of Accounting Education in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe and the Seminar for Directors of Education which addressed advanced topics in accounting education such as multimedia and distance learning, computer based professional examinations, multi disciplinary cases studies , technical versus non- technical professional education for accountants.
Editor: It sounds like this was an excellent event but could you briefly introduce the IAAER and some of its achievements for the education and research community?
Prof. Evraert: IAAER is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote excellence in accounting education and research on a worldwide basis. It is the only global association in the area of accounting education and research. Current membership includes nearly 700 individuals, schools and institutions and 48 Accounting and Practitioners' regional or national academic and professional associations - including the EAA. The Executive Committee usually meets twice a year at the EAA and the AAA annual meetings. This network also acts as a federation of accounting associations on a worldwide basis and we wish to extend its role by promoting joint programs and conferences on a national or regional level.
Editor: Perhaps you could give us some specific examples of recent achievements for the education and research community IAAER has undertaken?
Prof. Evraert: We have had task forces on several projects whose reports are available on our web site www.IAAER.org . One such task force was devoted to developing an implementation plan for IFAC IEG N° 9, another to developing a global code of ethics for accounting educators. We also have a task force devoted to participation in the global competencies project and the last so far was the project on "The impact of Globalization on Accounting Education" which has been conducted by Gert Karreman of the Netherlands and supported by the IASM. The results of this study have been published by the International Accounting Standards Board. Our website is also very useful to the network and of course the Cosmos Accountancy Chronicle is delivered twice a year to our members giving them full details of our activities as well as other information.
Editor: What are you hopes for the future role of IAAER ?
Prof. Evraert: Recently, financial scandals have seriously impacted public confidence on the alleged benefits of a self-regulated free market economy and it is fair to say that, as accountants, we are concerned about this. Also the move towards global accounting standards for certain type of companies is underway. Thus, our academic and professional organizations have a unique opportunity to act together, pulling in the same direction, but taking advantage of their distinctive competencies, to join our efforts together to think out of the box and foster ethical and innovative attitudes for the benefits of our students, scholars and the whole accounting profession. IAAER provides a wonderful environment in which to take this global view and I would very much encourage EAA members to consider becoming involved in what we do in addition to their membership of the EAA and its corporate involvement in IAAER.

Questions
What is the literal definition of Googol? (the source of the trade name Google)
Who were the two Stanford University graduate students who invented Google?
How does Google make its profits by providing a free search engine to the world? Hint: It's not the advertising revenue.

Answers:
“Googol” is the mathematical term for the number one followed by a hundred zeros.

The geeks who invented Google were the following 22-year old graduate students at Stanford University:

Larry Page was an all-American type (geek variety) whose dad taught computer science in Lansing, Mich.

Sergey Brin, with the dark brooding looks of a chess prodigy, emigrated from Russia at the age of 6: his father was a math professor.

The main source of revenue is from licensing fees to huge companies like Yahoo and AOL who in turn use Google's licensed corporate services.

"The World According to Google," by Steven Levy, Newsweek, December 16, 2002 --- http://www.msnbc.com/news/844175.asp?0dm=-118K

THE DESKTOP ORACLE OF DELPHI
     Internet-search engines have been around for the better part of a decade, but with the emergence of Google, something profound has happened. Because of its seemingly uncanny ability to provide curious minds with the exact information they seek, a dot-com survivor has supercharged the entire category of search, transforming the masses into data-miners and becoming a cultural phenomenon in the process. By a winning combination of smart algorithms, hyperactive Web crawlers and 10,000 silicon-churning computer servers, Google has become a high-tech version of the Oracle of Delphi, positioning everyone a mouseclick away from the answers to the most arcane questions—and delivering simple answers so efficiently that the process becomes addictive. Google cofounder Sergey Brin puts it succinctly: “I’d like to get to a state where people think that if you’ve Googled something, you’ve researched it, and otherwise you haven’t and that’s it.” We’re almost there now. With virtually no marketing, Google is now the fourth most popular Web site in the world—and the Nos. 1 and 3 sites (AOL, Yahoo) both license Google technology for their Web searches. About half of all Web searches in the world are performed with —Google, which has been translated into 86 languages. The big reason for the success? It works. Not only does Google dramatically speed the process of finding things in the vast storehouse of the Web, but its power encourages people to make searches they previously wouldn’t have bothered with. Getting the skinny from Google is so common that the company name has become a verb. The usage has even been anointed by an instantly renowned New Yorker cartoon, where a barfly admits to a friend that “I can’t explain it—it’s just a funny feeling I’m being Googled.”

. . .

THE GOOGLE MYSTIQUE
      When Judge Richard Posner wrote a book recently to identify the world’s leading intellectuals, he used Google hits as a key criterion. When the Chinese government decided that the Web offered its citizenry an overly intimate view of the world outside its borders, what better way to pull down the shades than to block Google? (Within a week the Chinese changed direction; Google was too useful to withhold.) Companies that do business online have become justifiably obsessed with Google’s power. “If you drop down on Google, your business can come to a screeching halt,” says Greg Boser of WebGuerilla, an Internet consultancy. And if two clashing egos want to see whose Google is bigger, they need only venture to a Web site like GoogleFight to compare results.
        Google was the brainchild of two Stanford graduate students who refused to accept the conventional wisdom that Internet searching was either a solved problem or not very interesting. Larry Page was an all-American type (geek variety) whose dad taught computer science in Lansing, Mich. Sergey Brin, with the dark brooding looks of a chess prodigy, emigrated from Russia at the age of 6: his father was a math professor. Brin and Page, who met as 22-year-old doctoral candidates in computer science in 1995, began with an academic research project that morphed into an experiment on Web searching.
        Their big idea was something they called PageRank (named after Larry), which took into account not just the title or text on a Web site but the other sites linked to it. “Our intention of doing the ranking properly was that you should get the site you meant to get,” says Page. Basically, the system exploited the dizzyingly complex linking network of the Web itself—and the collective intelligence of the millions who surfed the Web—so that when you searched, you could follow in the pathways of others who were interested in that same information.

. . .

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
      For researchers, of course, Google is a dream tool. “I can’t imagine writing a nonfiction book without it,” says author Steven Johnson. Some even wonder if Google might be too much of a good thing. “I use it myself, every day,” says Joe Janes, assistant professor in the information school of the University of Washington. “But I worry about how over reliance on it might affect the skill-set of librarians.”

        New uses emerge almost as quickly as the typical 0.3 seconds it takes to get Google results. People find long-lost relatives, recall old song lyrics and locate parts for old MGs. College instructors sniffing for plagiarism type in suspiciously accomplished phrases from the papers of otherwise inarticulate students. Computer programmers type in error-code numbers to find out which Windows function crashed their program. Google can even save your life. When Terry Chilton, of Plattsburgh, N.Y., felt a pressure in his chest one morning, he Googled heart attacks, and quickly was directed to a detailed list of symptoms on the American Heart Association site. “I better get my butt to the hospital,” he told himself, and within hours he was in life-saving surgery.

        Eleven years ago computer scientist David Gelernter wrote of the emergence of “mirror worlds,” computer-based reflections of physical reality that can increase our understanding and mastery of the real world. Google is the ultimate mirror world, reflecting the aggregate brilliance of the World Wide Web, on which is stored everything: cookie-bake results, Weblogs, weather reports and the Constitution. And because Google is now the default means of accessing such information, the contents of Google’s world matter very much in the real world.

The Google advanced search page is at http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Bob Jensen's search engine helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on Weblogs are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm#WeblogBlog

J. EDWARD KETZ is associate professor of accounting in Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration ---
http://finance.pro2net.com/x36098.xml

There's another Bob Jensen in the world who seems to find a whole lot more time for fishing.

Forensics software on display at an annual gathering of IT and security pros gives corporations more powerful tools to track workers' electronic exploits -- and even predict who's most likely to break the rules --- http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,56826,00.html

Selected Articles from The Fall 2002 Edition (Volume 3) of the Journal of the Academy of Business Education (these are not online). You can join the Academy and obtain this journal by contacting Jean Heck at Villanova --- http://www.cf.villanova.edu/faculty/jheck.html
The Academy meets once each year in some very attractive site (Bermuda, Grand Tetons, Key West, etc.).

Assessing Marketing Journals: A Mission-Based Approach pp. 70-86
by Jon M. Hawes and Bruce Keillor
This article has some nice comparative tables.

Work Hours and Academic Performance pp. 99-105
by Marilyn Dutton and Omer Gokcekus

Bridging Liberal And Professional Education: Management Studies And The Liberal Arts pp. 1-7
by Kathy Gardner Chadwick and Mary Emery
Jensen Note: This article describes a very limited management studies concentration in a high quality liberal arts college (St. Olaf in Northfield, Minnesota) that consists for three basic courses chosen from four options (basic economics, basic accounting, basic management, and basic finance) and two elective courses outside of business and economics.

Marilyn's Errors in Probabilities, Finance, and Education

Forwarded by Mark Shapiro

Marilyn Vos Savant publishes the popular "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade Magazine, which is distributed with the Sunday morning editions of many major newspapers. Marilyn's claims to fame are her high score on IQ tests that she took as a child (she claims to have the highest IQ on record), and her knowledge of probability theory. She frequently provides answers to counter intuitive probability questions posed by her readers, and her answers are almost always right. But like a lot of very intelligent people she sometimes overreaches when providing answers to questions where a correct response requires a knowledge of the facts as well as a keen intellect. In fact, software engineer Herb Weiner has made a specialty of catching errors in the columns that Marilyn has published. Here is recent pedagogical gaff by Marilyn.

Commentary of the Day - December 16, 2002: Don't Ask Marilyn! Marilyn Vos Savant publishes the popular "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade Magazine, which is distributed with the Sunday morning editions of many major newspapers. Marilyn's claims to fame are her high score on IQ tests that she took as a child (she claims to have the highest IQ on record), and her knowledge of probability theory. She frequently provides answers to counter intuitive probability questions posed by her readers, and her answers are almost always right. But like a lot of very intelligent people she sometimes overreaches when providing answers to questions where a correct response requires a knowledge of the facts as well as a keen intellect. In fact, software engineer Herb Weiner has made a specialty of catching errors in the columns that Marilyn has published. Here is recent pedagogical gaff by Marilyn.

In Marilyn's December 15, 2002 Parade Magazine column, reader Zina Yost Ingle of Vineland, N.J. asks the following:

On a geometry test, Mary devises a set of steps to solve a problem. Her solution is shorter and more elegant than the method taught in class. If you were her teacher, how would you score her answer?

Marilyn responds: I'd ask her to solve the problem by the method that was taught. If she could, I would give her full credit plus extra credit for the extra solution. If she could not, I would give her no credit at all: She doesn't understand what was taught in class. Methods of teaching are not necessarily the shortest and most elegant. Instead, they may simply be a good way for students to learn the principles of the subject. Marilyn's knowledge of probability theory may be vast, but her understanding of teaching and learning is only half-vast. Mary clearly deserves full credit for her answer to the problem that the teacher posed; and, she should be praised for coming up with a shorter, more elegant solution. The reason is that the teacher did not ask that the problem be solved by any particular method, at least as far as the reader's question indicates. To be sure, a teacher may want to see if his or her students understand how a particular method works. In that case the question should be posed appropriately: "Using Gauss's Law show that ........". And, sometimes the teacher does want to check that the student is learning material covered in the course. In that case, the question can be posed as follows: "Using one of the methods that we have discussed in class, show that .......". However, in absence of such caveats, it seems to the IP that we advance Mary's education far more by praising her correct (and creative) answer than by punishing her because she dared to walk outside the lines of a rigid pedagogy.

Note from Bob Jensen Herb Weiner's links to genuine calculation errors by Marilyn are at http://www.wiskit.com/marilyn.html
This is highly educational reading. I thank my lucky stars that Herb Weiner does not take out after Bob Jensen's stuff.

December 16 reply from Patricia Doherty [pdoherty@BU.EDU]

Unfortunately, Marilyn's answer to this reflects the "memorize and regurgitate" school of thought in education. Give them a long list of material to memorize, put a part of the list on the exam, and if they pass, they've "learned." I would have expected someone who is supposed to be "intelligent" and "creative" to have recognized that education is more than that, but I guess I gave her too much credit. Despite the efforts many, many educators have made to turn education into a collaboration, and into an exercise in thought and analysis, I guess some people still "don't get it." Those with young children still going through "the system" can only hope for a few of this latter in their children's future - hopefully in time so the children's minds aren't "turned off" to the process.

December 16, 2002 reply from Speer, Derek [d.speer@auckland.ac.nz]

This story reminds me of something which happened to my daughter Amanda earlier this year. She is extremely bright and has a MA (Honours) and was studying for a grad Teaching Diploma (basically a requirement for licensing as a high school teacher). She had an assignment which, in part, required demonstrating to a freshman French class the difference between sur (on) and sous (under). The lecturer in charge, an experienced 60ish former high school teacher had suggested using a drawing showing one child standing on a table and another one under it. My daughter, who is not good at drawing, elected to do a demo using puppets instead, and got an F for her pains. She then drew the poster as suggested and got an A on resubmitting it. Obviously this guy, like Marilyn, is a natural stifler of creativity. Amanda learned one thing from this, when Jim says "jump though a hoop" you jump through it, not decide that you may have a better way.

Derek

Question
What are the CERIAS programs in assurance services?

Answer
Certified Public Accountants over the past decade have be actively promoting the branching out of financial attestation services (especially auditing) into wider ranging "assurance services." Especially noteworthy is the new service SysTrust where pubic accountants in the U.S. and Canada have partnered to extend assurance services into the areas of computing services and information systems. For details and links, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#AssuranceServices

I mention this because, unlike auditing services by public accountants, where there is an SEC-mandated monopoly under SEC rules, there is no such monopoly on extended assurance services. In assurance services other than auditing, CPAs face increasing competition from other professional bodies. One such area is in the entire area of Information Assurance and Security. I mention this, because an education and training center at Purdue University is generating courses and graduates in a program that is not a part of the Accounting Department or the School of Business. I will now briefly summarize the CERIAS Center at Purdue University --- http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/

What I found interesting is the extent to which students can get both MS and PhD degrees in Information Assurance and Security.

The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, or CERIAS, is the world's foremost University center for multidisciplinary research and education in areas of information security. Our areas of research include computer, network, and communications security as well as information assurance.

Mission Statement
To establish an ongoing center of excellence which will promote and enable world class leadership in multidisciplinary approaches to information assurance and security research and education. This collaboration will advance the state and practice of information security and assurance. The synergy from key members of academia, government, and industry will promote and support programs of research, education, and community service.

Vision Statement
The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security will be internationally recognized as the leader in information security and assurance research, education, and community service.

Internal Vision
Build a well-supported community of scholars actively involved in: Evolution and offering of educational programs in information assurance and security. Solving fundamental questions of science, engineering and management as they relate to information security and assurance. Transfer of expertise and technology to organizations with real world needs. Assuming leadership roles in appropriate community and government organizations. Activities to enhance the public's understanding and acceptance of information protection. To accomplish this, the Center promotes research, education and community service programs in conjunction with various key groups. It also brings synergy to these diverse groups (consisting of members from academia, government agencies and industrial partners) to advance the philosophy of information security and assurance.

Education

K-12
We have compiled resources for students, parents, and teachers on a host of topics including copyright, safe surfing, acceptable use, cryptography, and much more; we also offer teacher and student workshops on a variety of security topics, at a variety of levels.

Graduate Program
Information about our graduate studies, including the Scholarship for Service program.

Post-Secondary Education
The post-secondary education site contains information about formal and informal information security and assurance educational initiatives, including workshops, multimedia product offerings, certification and faculty development efforts, and awareness activities.

Indiana Information Security Web
A site created by CERIAS and several partners to raise awareness of Information Security in the state. Includes information for K-12, Home Computing, and Business and Industry.

Infosec Graduate Program --- http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/education/graduate_program/

Introduction to CERIAS
So, you are interested in graduate studies in Information Security at Purdue University? That's great! You can take advantage of the infosec expertise present at Purdue and associated with CERIAS, but you can't actually get your degree from there. CERIAS is a research center, and not an academic department. However, there are other ways to get your degree and be associated with CERIAS.
There are currently 3 different approaches to graduate study in infosec here:

The interdisciplinary MS specialization
A standard MS in one of the involved departments, with a focus on infosec topics
A PhD course of study in one of the involved departments, with a dissertation topic in infosec

Interdisciplinary MS
We are currently offering an interdisciplinary Master's specialization in InfoSec. This is offered as an MS through a participating department, not CERIAS. While the program is multidisciplinary and requires (and recommends) courses in Computer Sciences as well as other fields, admission to the program is handled administratively by a participating department. The specialization on your diploma will, however, read "Information Security," independently of what department handles the admission. As of September 2000, the only department ready to admit students to the program is Philosophy. Computer Sciences, Education, and Electrical & Computer Engineering are all in the midst of the administrative process to join the program.
You can apply for the Program electronically for future sessions. Please select "Philosophy" on the application and indicate "Information Security" as your area of interest. Your default contact professor in the next field of the application is Eugene H. Spafford, Director of CERIAS and of the Program. Feel free to mention in that field any other professor in information security that you would like to work with if you have established such a contact already. You will eventually be contacted by the graduate school about your admission status.

Standard Grad Programs
Students can also receive graduate degrees in existing programs with a specialization in infosec areas. To do this, the students enroll in a traditional major, take a core of common courses, and then are able to take electives related to their interests. Masters students may choose to research and write a Master's thesis that involves further study in a particular area of interest, or they may simply take 30 or more credit hours of coursework. PhD students must choose a specialized topic for their dissertation research. The most common major for students interested in information security is Computer Sciences, but degrees are also associated with Electrical & Computer Engineering, Management, Philosophy, Political Science, and many other departments associated with CERIAS.
Note that specific requirements for individual department degrees are given in the course catalogs and on some departmental WWW pages. What follows is a summary of the requirements for a CS graduate degree, serving as an example of what is expected. You need to consult one of the definitive references to get the whole picture. (CS graduate degree requirements are available on the WWW; information on other graduate programs can be found by starting at the main Purdue WWW page.)

MS in CS Program
MS students are required to take a course in operating systems or networks (CS 503 or CS 536), one in programming language design or compilers (CS 565 or CS 502), and algorithm analysis (CS 580), plus another 7 courses of electives, or 5 courses and the thesis option. Normally, for infosec study, MS (and PhD) students would take CS 502 and CS 503, plus the courses in computer security (CS 526) and cryptography (CS 555) as electives, and consider taking the advanced security (CS 626) and cryptanalysis courses (CS 655), too.
There are many electives available to graduate students, including graphics, databases, numerical methods and distributed systems. Each year, several faculty also offer special topic courses in their areas of interest. Opportunities for directed reading or research courses are also available. In the last few years, we will have had seminars in Intrusion Detection and Incident Response, Penetration Analysis, Firewalls, Electronic Commerce, Network Security, and Security Tools. Additionally, we have had seminar courses in Wireless Networks, Advanced Operating Systems, and Internetworking.

PhD in CS Program
Normally, a PhD program starts with 2 years of graduate study and passing a series of general exams in the area of study (the "qualifier exams"). The candidate then decides on an area of study, chooses an advisor, and takes an in-depth exam in the area of specialization (the "preliminary exam"). Next, the candidate performs in-depth research under the guidance of the advisor for a period of time ranging from 6 months to as many as 5 years. Finally, the candidate writes a detailed scientific account of his or her research (the dissertation) and defends it in a public exam before a committee of faculty, visitors, and members of the community. The average time to complete a PhD in CS at Purdue (assuming the student already has a good undergraduate background in CS) is 5 years.
Required courses for PhD students in CS include courses in operating systems, algorithm analysis, compilers and programming languages, numerical analysis, and theory of computation; this is a superset of the courses required for the MS degree, and almost all PhD candidates obtain their MS degree during their candidacy for the PhD.

MS & PhD Research
Currently, there is a large range of projects being conducted in information security at Purdue. We have almost 40 projects involving over 30 faculty in a dozen different academic departments. You can get a more complete picture of the faculty and research projects via the CERIAS WWW pages. These projects are normally open to graduate students and can be used to satisfy research requirements towards MS and PhD thesis work. Not all infosec projects are offered through CERIAS, either, and there is no requirement that students work on a CERIAS project to get an infosec-related degree.

Special Notes for CS
Students coming in to the graduate program are expected to be ready to pursue the degree upon arrival. There are limits as to how many semesters may be spent in residence before completing each of the steps towards the degree.
In particular, students are expected to:

have strong, basic skills in mathematics, including working knowledge of statistics, calculus and linear algebra
know how to write programs in some advanced computer language (C/C++/Java are languages of choice; Perl is also encouraged)
have mastery of spoken English sufficient to understand lectures and presentations, and to discuss assignments with faculty and TAs
have mastery of written English sufficient to document programs and write grammatical research papers. This is especially critical for MS and PhD
students who need to write a thesis and research papers

Students without adequate preparation, or who fall behind in assignments, may be tempted to take "shortcuts" on assignments to keep up. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsifying work are severe violations of both the student code of conduct and academic honesty, and discovered incidents are dealt with particularly harshly by faculty in the infosec arena. Graduate students in violation of these rules are routinely recommended to the dean of students for expulsion from the university; foreign students in this situation will lose their visas. Thus, it is strongly recommended that applicants be sure they have mastery of these basic skills prior to applying to graduate school at Purdue.

Financial Aid
Financial aid for graduate students is based on both scholarship and need. Some fellowships are available to exceptional incoming students. Others are supported by the departments or by research projects. It is unusual that a new student will get support from a faculty member's research funding; indeed, most faculty do not support students prior to their completion of some of the qualifying exams. Some incoming students qualify for selection as teaching assistants, however. Other information about financial aid is in the graduate student information documents.
For financial aid, contact the admitting department and not individual faculty members.

Purdue Graduate School Admissions --- http://www.purdue.edu/GradSchool/Admissions/admissions.html

Disclaimer
The above is not an official document of Purdue University, but Professor Spafford's interpretation of Purdue policy. Interested parties should consult official University documents, available through the graduate school.

From Syllabus News on December 10, 2002

Compsec Firm Funds Purdue Info Assurance Degree

Internet security firm Symantec Corp. has endowed a fellowship for a student pursuing a degree at Purdue University’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS. The Symantec Fellowship will provide up to $50,000 to cover the full tuition costs for two years and a stipend for a degree-seeking student enrolled at Purdue and working with CERIAS, a center for multidisciplinary research and education in information security. Applications will be accepted immediately with a deadline of March 1, 2003. The Fellowship recipient will be announced April 8, 2003 at the annual CERIAS Spring Symposium held on the West Lafayette, Ind., campus of Purdue University. The Fellowship will begin during the 2003-2004 school year and will be expanded to include a second student beginning the Fall of 2004.

December 11, 2002 reply from J. S. Gangolly [gangolly@CSC.ALBANY.EDU]

Bob,

I wanted to brief AECMers on the happenings, with respect to Information Assurance in Albany.

The Department of Accounting & Law at SUNY ALbany is starting with the Fall semester 2003 an MBA track on Information Assurance (IA) based on our earlier efforts in AIS in the MS program in Accounting with an emphasis in AIS. When we have prepared the materials about the program, I'll post them on this listserv.

We have re-engineered all courses in AIS to have security/assurance permeate throughout the curriculum. This is now receiving the last review by us to ensure compliance with the curriculum recommendations of the National Security Agency.

The above is a part of our campus-wide forensics initiative (Departments of Accounting & Law, Management Science & Informatrion Systems, Department of Computer Science, School of Information Science & Policy, and in the future hopefully our very well regarded School of Criminal Justice) which has already received funding from the US Department of Education and is in partnership with the New York State Police, and CERIAS is also our partner in the efforts.

We are hoping to apply and receive next year the designation of Center of Excellence in Information Assurance Education. We hope more Accounting Departments will be hospitable to this "diversion" from our perceived central mission of educating future CPAs (currently there is no curriculum on IA in any Accounting Department that I am aware of).

It is important for me to brief the AECMers on the issue of "accountingness" of the curriculum in this respect, particularly since it became quite an issue even at Albany where our Department has traditionally been hospitable to off-the-wall curricular innovations. 'Accounting content' in much of the Information assurance curriculum usually is (and probably should be) expected to be very meager even though the assertions-based philosophy is rather similar.

I had a quite difficult time convincing my dyed-in-the-wool accounting colleagues (specially in Financial Accounting) that Information Assurance education can coexist peacefully in our Department. (Many Financial Accounting colleagues rightfully asked: since accounting content is minimal, why not have it in the MSIS or some other Department? My arguments were: 1. Such other departments do not have the tradition of scepticism that we in accounting/auditing have, and 2. we were better poised to offer a computationally intensive Information Assurance curriculum in the department because of the sophistication of our existing AIS curriculum). Ultimately, we did win the confidence of the department faculty, though in some instances it might have been grudging acceptance because of what we would lose in the long run if we chose to not have the program.

Jagdish S. Gangolly,
Associate Professor (j.gangolly@albany.edu)
Accounting & Law and Management Science & Information Systems
State University of New York at Albany, Albany, NY 12222.
Phone: (518) 442-4949 Fax: (707) 897-0601
URL: http://www.albany.edu/acc/gangolly

December 11, 2002 reply from Bob Jensen

Hi Jagdish,

I appreciate your informative reply. It appears that Albany has avoided the vexing problem that Notre Dame and the University of Virginia faced with their Masters of Assurance Services Programs for Ernst & Young employees --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#ErnstandYoung

The vexing problem arises when one of the goals is to have the graduates of the assurance services program also be eligible to sit for the CPA examination. It appears that assurance services masters programs at Albany and Purdue have no CPA examination goal. Hence there can be very little accounting, tax, and auditing in those programs. This was not the case for Notre Dame and the University of Virginia where a major goal is for the graduates to be eligible to sit for the CPA examination in most states.

This begs the question about what career paths students will take after graduating from assurance services programs. It would seem that Albany and Purdue University are envisioning graduates joining consulting firms, computer systems companies, etc. Graduates of the Notre Dame and UVA programs already work for the accountancy divisions of Ernst & Young.

It seems to me that for a career path in the accountancy divisions of a public accounting firm, there is very little future without becoming a CPA.

Hence, I anticipate two types of assurance services degree programs. One type is more focused on computer science and information systems. The other type is more focused on accountancy and accounting information systems.

I think there's room for both types of emerging programs.

Bob Jensen

December 12, 2002 reply from Calderon,Thomas G [tcalder@uakron.edu]

Our entire grad program (at the University of Akron) is built around an IT security and assurance theme. Each course taught by acct dept faculty has security and assurance content and we attempt to tie everything together in our capstone IS Audit & Control Project (a hands-on project organized as a mini-internship and supervised by a faculty member and a "competent" professional in the field.)

Courses, 3 hrs each, in the program are: 1. Business Application Development (taught by MIS) 2. Applications Development for Financial Systems (taught by accounting -- uses skills learned in BAP to address assurance type problems) 3. Enterprise Resource Planning & Financial Systems (uses Oracle 11i to expose students to architecture, business process issues, & security and assurance issues in ERP environments) 4. Financial Data Communications & Enterprise Integration (focus on XML, XBRL, and security/assurance issues associated with enterprise integration) 5. Advanced Information Systems (database/data warehouse design/assurance issues; use Oracle 8i) 6. e-business foundations (general management issues in a distributed network environment--taught by MIS) 7. e-business technologies (exposure to networks, internet technologies, and application development for a web environment; use Windows OS, Cold Fusion, Oracle--taught by MIS) 8. e-business risk, control & assurance (business risk assessment, security, & assurance for entities that use distributed networks such as the Internet for business critical activities) 9. Assurance Services with Data Warehousing & Data Mining (a hands-on course that uses Classification & Regression Trees (CART), Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), neural networks, and ACL to identify red flags in quantitative data). 10. IS Audit & Control Project (the capstone hands-on project, structured as a mini-internship with a very specific deliverable).

All students admitted into the program must take the following courses if not taken in their undergrad program: 3 hrs of accounting information systems 3 hrs of intermediate accounting 3 hours of auditing 3 hours of cost & management accounting (beyond principles)

We encourage students to prepare for and take the CISA exams and CITP. The program does not attempt to prepare students for any specific professional examination.

Bob Jensen's threads on assurance services are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#AssuranceServices

Teaching Cases

December 9, 2002 message from George Lan

Teaching cases to undergraduate students can sometimes feel like pulling teeth. Like you, I spend first some time on the techniques of case analysis and then do a couple of cases in class as examples. I've debated about how much structure or how many guiding questions I should be giving them in subsequent case analysis. I find that if they are given guidelines, many of them tend to follow the guidelines to the letter. I've tried role playing (dividing the class in auditors, managers etc..) and they seemed to work well. However, I find that role playing works well when the case is not too complicated and there are not too many issues to discuss. I would be interested in how much much structure you or other AECM members, who are using the case analysis method, provide the students and other techniques w.r.t. case teaching that have worked well for you. Also, which casebook do you use and do you have to change your cases every semester in case the students have the solutions to the cases?
George Lan
University of Windsor

December 10, 2002 reply from Paul Polinski [pwp3@PO.CWRU.EDU]

George: Thanks for the note. I've also used role-playing with some success; other formats that have worked well include formal debates (which brings out the most in students' oral participation) and group exercises, in which students brainstorm on alternative ideas to achieve objectives from the case, and must make short presentations on their ideas. The other groups then evaluate and discuss the ideas (hopefully without too much prejudice).

There's a fine line to walk with respect to structure. They need just enough to be able to understand what is required of them, but not so much that they have limited freedom to think and present their thoughts. On occasion, I've been on either side of the line a bit too much, but that's part of the learning process for me.

I have used mostly Harvard cases and some short ones I developed based on work-related experiences. When I use the same cases from term to term, I'll change the assigned tasks so that they can't rely too much on their predecessors. Most cases seem rich enough that they allow lots of flexibility in what can be discussed each time they're used.

Paul

Life on the edge
The geek-driven world of new "decentralized" technologies like Wi-Fi, blogging and Web services is more about cutting out the middleman than finding a business model --- http://www.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2002/12/13/supernova/index.html?x

Stock Option Valuation Research Database

From Syllabus News on December 13, 2002

Wharton School Offers Stock Data Via the Web

The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school is offering financial analysts access to historical information on stock options over the Internet. The data, supplied by research firm OptionMetrics's Ivy database, covers information on all U.S. listed index and equity options from January1996. The Ivy database adds to the 1.5 terabyte storehouse of financial information from a range of providers now available through Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS). The university said that by making data from the Center for Research in Security Prices, Standard & Poor's COMPUSTAT, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the New York Stock Exchange, and other data vendors accessible from a simple Web-based interface, WRDS hopes to become the preferred source among university scholars for data covering global financial markets.

Note from Jensen: the Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) home page is at http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/research/wrds.html

Wharton Research Data Services, a revolutionary Internet-based research data service developed and marketed by the Wharton School, has become the standard for large-scale academic data research, providing instant web access to financial and business datasets for almost all top-tier business schools (including 23 of the top 25 schools as ranked by Business Week magazine).

Subscribers to Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) gain instant access to the broadest array of business and economic data now available from a single source on the Web. From anywhere and at any time, WRDS functions as an application service provider (ASP) to deliver information drawn from 1.2 terabytes of comprehensive financial, accounting, management, marketing, banking and insurance data.

Launched in July 1997, the unique data service's client list of over 60 institutions now includes Stanford University, Harvard University, Columbia University, Yale University, Northwestern University, London Business School, INSEAD, University of Chicago, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and dozens of other institutions. Subscribers to WRDS need only PCs or even less-expensive Web terminals to endow their units with supercomputer capabilities and tap a massive, constantly updated source of data. Users click on the WRDS database and interactively select data to extract. The requested information is instantly returned to the web browser, ready to be pasted into a spreadsheet or any other application for analysis.

To learn more about WRDS or to get licensing information, contact: Nicole Carvalho, Marketing Director Wharton Research Data Services 400 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall 3620 Locust Walk Philadelphia, PA 19104-6302

1-877-GET-WRDS (1-877-438-9737)

Knowledge@Wharton is a free source of research reports and other materials in accounting, finance, and business research --- http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory.htm

From Syllabus News on December 13, 2002

Web Survey: Recent College Grad Hiring Anemic

Planned entry-level hiring of recent college grads is up 4 percent for 2003, according to an annual survey released last week by CollegeGrad.com. The bad news is that the results are only marginally better than 2002, which was the worst year for entry-level hiring in 20 years. The results profile future hiring plans for more than 500 entry-level employers representing more than 100,000 entry-level positions. While most of the largest employers (over 10,000 employees) are hiring the same or fewer college grads, many medium-sized employers (1,000-10,000 employees) and small employers (under 1,000 employees) are showing increases for 2003, which accounts for the net increase. "It is often the small to medium companies that spur initial hiring demand coming out of a recession, so this is a very good sign of future growth," said CollegeGrad.com president Brian Krueger.

2002: Industry Progress (Electronic Business, e-Comomerce, e-Business)
by Jeffrey Graham, December 11, 2002
http://www.clickz.com/mkt/emkt_strat/article.php/1554901

As survival is a necessary precondition for prosperity, I consider 2002 a good year. No matter what the numbers might indicate, we've grown. The industry matured, and the media environment continues to evolve in ways that suggest an even brighter future.

This column, my last this year, describes what I think were the most important issues that emerged in 2002. In my next column, which will appear after holidays, I will make some predictions for 2003.

In my view, the following are the most important trends of 2002.

Continued at http://www.clickz.com/mkt/emkt_strat/article.php/1554901

Bob Jensen's threads on electronic business are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce.htm

LEARN2 GUIDES ARE BACK --- http://www.tutorials.com/catalog/catalog_item_n.asp?showprice=1&ugid=dHV0b3JpYWxz&pid=1977&csid=24&showprice=1

Plagued by both pessimism and hype, can nanotechnology grow up? --- http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1477445

In many new technologies, it is common to overestimate what can be done in five years' time, and to underestimate what can be done in 50 years' time. Dr Eigler and other optimistic nanotechnologists must hope this rule of thumb applies to nanotechnology as well. However, there is a huge technological gap between molecular cascades and fully-functional nanobots. The rest of the world, then, should not hold its breath.

Bob Jensen's threads on Bob Jensen's Threads on Invisible Computing, Ubiquitous Computing, and Microsoft.Net --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ubiquit.htm

December 12, 2002 message from Bill Spinks.

This AAUP salary database is searchable and fairly comprehensive -- lots of interesting data. You might want to bookmark it:

http://chronicle.com/stats/aaup/2002/

happy grading...................

billspinks ____________________________________
mailto:cspinks@trinity.edu

From Syllabus News on December 10, 2002

CREN Board Votes to Dissolve Net Organization

The trustees of the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), the higher-education technology association, have voted to dissolve the organization. Under the directorship of Judith Boettcher, CREN provided a range of services focusing on networking and network security issues to more than 220 universities and colleges in the U.S. CREN was known for its "TechTalk" series of webcasts featuring expert speakers on technology subjects. The Board's decision to recommend shutting down the organization came as a result of a significant decline in membership revenues, together with steadily rising operating expenses. "The decision wasn't easy to make, but it was the responsible thing to do," said Ira Fuchs, President of the Board of Trustees. "The business model wasn't sustainable, so we felt it was in the best interest of the member institutions to close our doors."

For more information, visit: http://www.cren.net

Gateway Teams with Hispanic Higher Ed Group

Computer maker Gateway, Inc. has teamed with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to provide technology solutions and educational opportunities to HACU's 300 member institutions, including discounted PCs and a rebate program. HACU member institutions enroll over 1 million of the 1.5 million Hispanics in higher education today. HACU signed the agreement with Gateway at its national conference last month in Denver, Colo. Dr. Antonio R. Flores, HACU President and CEO, said, "Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States, but continue to have less access to technology than other groups. By providing significant discounts on computers for our member institutions and students, Gateway is not only helping Hispanics gain access to much needed programs and services, but is helping to assure a well-prepared workforce for America's next generation."

For more information, visit: http://www.hacu.net

ONLINE BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS COURSES FROM FATHOM as of December 11, 2002

* Short e-Course
* BUILDING AND MANAGING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS from eCornell teaches Human Resources professionals how to develop a strong employee relations program that inspires people to deliver maximum levels of performance and carry out company strategy. Next 5-week session begins January 8: http://www.fathom.com/course/75813002/1310

* Short e-Course
* INTRODUCTION TO ACCOUNTING FOR BUSINESS from SkillSoft provides business managers, prospective managers, and any other employees seeking competency in the area of accounting, with an understanding of basic accounting concepts and methods. Enroll anytime: http://www.fathom.com/course/42704496/1311

* Semester-Length Course
* INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS MANAGEMENT from New School University covers concepts of business organization, communication, decision-making, planning, motivating, controlling, group dynamics, leadership, and change. Class starts February 3: http://www.fathom.com/course/14701533/1312

NEW BUSINESS & ECONOMICS FEATURES

* Hong Kong as Catalyst: The Future of Business and Trade in China Robin Chiu, regional director of the Americas for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, explains Hong Kong's role as a catalyst and instigator, as well as a global marketplace with the second largest stock market in Asia, as an essential factor to China's economic growth: http://www.fathom.com/feature/190248/1/1313

* The Venture Law Firm Defined Following the high-tech revolution in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s, many law firms remodeled themselves along the lines of venture capital firms. David Lukens, a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University Law School, describes the evolution of such firms that exist at the crossroads of business and law: http://www.fathom.com/feature/121929/1/1314

ONLINE COURSES IN EDUCATION FROM FATHOM

* Short e-Course
* HOW TO CREATE A COMMUNITY ORAL-HISTORY PROJECT from Columbia University offers detailed instruction on how to organize and operate a community oral-history project, with audio and text examples from the rich archives of Columbia's Oral History Research Office: http://www.fathom.com/course/52705001/1317

* Semester-Length Course
* COMPUTERS FOR EDUCATORS LEVEL I from the University of San Diego is designed to provide teachers with the opportunity to learn and practice computer skills so that you can excel in today's technologically advanced world while integrating technology into your K-12 curriculum. Next session begins January 6: http://www.fathom.com/course/12701078/1318

* Semester-Length Course
* APPLIED METHODS IN TEACHING ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT from UCLA Extension considers the theories and methods of bilingual and English language developments. Next session begins January 7: http://www.fathom.com/course/3048/1319

ONLINE COURSES IN HISTORY AND SOCIETY FROM FATHOM

* Free Seminar

* ISRAEL AND THE ARAB COALITION IN 1948 from Cambridge University Press author Avi Shlaim re-examines the traditional narrative about the birth of Israel and suggests that it is time to reassess the portrayal of Jews as victims of the Arab coalition. The seminar is free; simply follow the checkout process to enroll: http://www.fathom.com/course/72810001/1337

* Semester-Length Course
* CONCEPTUALIZING THE 'OTHER': A CRITICAL HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY from New School University examines major ideas and interests that have informed Western anthropological inquiry and knowledge. Through analysis of readings, films, and museum exhibits, students develop a critical lens through which to identify the assumptions, perspectives, and motivations implicit in the construction of anthropological knowledge. Class begins February 3: http://www.fathom.com/course/50705922/1338

* Semester-Length Course
* WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST from New School University considers the cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Canaan by examining the woman's position, from queen to commoner (and occasionally pharaoh!). Class begins February 3: http://www.fathom.com/course/76816069/1339

Question
What is deed swapping and why is it becoming a serious scam?

Answer
You think you own the property, but it is unlikely that you will ever really own it. The scam is that balloon payment at the end that the borrower has less than 1% chance of paying. The lender is virtually assured of having his cake and eating it too.
WFMY News Consumer Alert: Deed Swapping Web Producer: Dawn Murphy Modified: 11/30/2002 --- http://www.wfmynews2.com/2wk/2wk.asp?ID=878

Anna Duboise was the perfect target a single mom with three kids, who was desperate for a chance to call somewhere home.

"I always figured if I had the opportunity, just one little opportunity to get me a home, that's what I was going to do."

That opportunity came when Joe Seeman entered her life He had a home to sell and he was even willing to provide Anna a loan.

"I thought it was great, he was like a little God, ya know, thank you very much."

Seeman is a realtor, he says "she was given quite a sweetheart deal."

Seeman's 'deal' offered Anna monthly payments of just under $475 a month. He charted how at that rate, it would take her 30 years to pay off the loan.

But that was not the case. The actual mortgage he sold her expired in just five years at which time Anna's balance was due in full;a balloon payment that totaled more than $40,000.

"It's not fair, it's not right."

It was a financial impossibility right from the start.

"She wasn't that good of a buyer in terms," says Seeman, "of what, for example, a bank would say. "

Simply put: Anna was a high risk borrower. So Seeman found a way to make the deal virtually risk free...to himself.

He had Anna sign the deed of the house back over to him; in effect, retaining control of the house, in case she couldn't make the payments.

It's called 'deed swapping.' "It was a way to protect me."

Anna's attorney calls it something else. "Deceptive. Highly highly deceptive. Ownership is never delivered. It's a phantom idea."

And an idea that's growing in popularity. The Federal Trade Commission now lists 'deed swapping' among the most popular predatory lending schemes. It means every legal right you have as a homeowner is lost. In short the borrower becomes a tenant; and the lender, becomes a landlord."

So when Anna started falling behind in her payments Seeman simply took the house back. "At that point I told her, hey, you no longer own the house, and you have to leave or you're going to be evicted."

Leaving Anna with nothing but questions: "It was never mine in the first place. So what am I striving for? What was it that I got into? Why didn't I pay attention?"

A mistake that may cost Anna everything she's put into her home and leave the lender in a position to put the house on the market again.

Hi David,

You are correct in that deed swapping is not a scam if the buyer has a decent probability of making the monthly payments and the ending balloon payment. But the FTC contends that this is becoming one of the nation's rising scams due to the nature of the lenders and the targeted buyers. With the newer type of "buyer" (typically a person who is very poor, uninformed, and lacking in hope of home ownership under a conventional mortgage), deed swapping becomes a way for a sneaky landlord to extract higher rent.

The scam is that a portion of the payment is supposedly a reduction of the amount owed as in a conventional mortgage. However, the targeted "buyer" never really has a recorded deed to the property (thereby making foreclosure easy) and never really has a chance of making the ending balloon payment. Hence, the monthly payments are really artificially-inflated rental payments because the "buyer" is led to believe that he or she is really "owns" the property. The "buyer" also becomes responsible for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance normally paid by the landlord in a rental situation. When the "owner" cannot make the enormous balloon payment at the contracted time, the property remains with the land "lord" who really had title all along.

I learned about this because of the above story on CBS television. The problem is that deed swapping is a very difficult "scam" to prosecute for the very reasons you state in your message. It can be a very legitimate way of purchasing property when the buyer has a reasonable probability of making all payments.

A somewhat related ploy (but where the buyer has a recorded deed) is reported as follows by the Federal Trade Commission --- http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/homes/eqscams.htm

*********************************************
Hidden Loan Terms: The Balloon Payment
You've fallen behind in your mortgage payments and may face foreclosure. Another lender offers to save you from foreclosure by refinancing your mortgage and lowering your monthly payments. Look carefully at the loan terms. The payments may be lower because the lender is offering a loan on which you repay only the interest each month. At the end of the loan term, the principal-that is, the entire amount that you borrowed-is due in one lump sum called a balloon payment. If you can't make the balloon payment or refinance, you face foreclosure and the loss of your home.
*********************************************

The above warning is only one of various home equity scam warnings described by the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/homes/eqscams.htm

By the way, I highly recommend the FTC site for warnings about scams and deceptive trade practices. Like most Federal Government Websites, it is outstanding --- http://www.ftc.gov/

Bob Jensen

December 10 reply from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

-----Original Message-----
From: David R. Fordham [mailto:fordhadr@JMU.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 8:00 AM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: Re: Why deed swapping is a growing scam?

This is the first I've heard of "deed swapping", but I wonder if it is similar to what Virginia calls, "Deed of Trust", where the deed is in the name of the lender, "in trust", to be tendered to the buyer once the loan is paid off.

If that is the case, then, I'm not sure I'd call it a scam. I used one of these when I purchased some mountain property with a vacation home on it, a few years ago. The seller sold me the property for a pittance down payment, with a five year balloon loan, using a 30-year amortization to calculate the monthly payment. The monthly payment was tiny. Of course, over 95% of the purchase price would be "due" in five years. Again, this sounds just like what the lady in the WFMY article had.

Unlike the "victim" in the example, however, I made the monthly payments I had agreed to make. The loan was at 8%, which was under the market rate at the time I purchased. Before the balloon payment came due, however, I refinanced the loan, at 5.75%. (Now I wish I'd held off a little longer and gotten a 5.25% rate like I just got on refinancing my primary house!) The new deed of trust is in the name of a new lender, but I've got a 15-year fixed-rate standard mortgage now.

This sounds like the "deed swapping" in Bob's example. If it is the same thing, I'm not sure where the word "scam" comes in. ? This seems like a legitimate, ethical, above-board, financing arrangement. I think of a "scam" as a situation where one of the parties lies, cheats, or steals. In this case, the WFMY article sounds like the buyer should have made out like a bandit because of the precipitous drop in mortgage rates over the past few years. What is the difference between "deed swapping" and "foreclosure", which would happen when the buyer failed to make payments on a traditional mortgage? In fact, it sounds like 'deed swapping' is the same thing as foreclosure, except that that attorneys might not make as much money.

I don't pretend to be a lawyer, and if a lawyer has determined that this practice is illegal or someone lied, well, then, I guess I must have missed something. But in my mind, I can't see where the scam is. Except perhaps that a realtor sold a person some real estate that she couldn't have afforded in the first place, knowing that she couldn't make the payments. But that could happen with a traditional mortgage just as easily, so I still don't see the distinction, or why the financing arrangement is in question? Bob, can you help me out? What am I missing?

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University

Bob Jensen's threads on fraud and scams can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm

The Museum of Broadcast Communications --- http://www.Museum.TV/index.shtml
(Includes the Radio Hall of Fame for us old timers)

The above site has free audio and video downloads. I downloaded a free video of Steve Allen highlights..

Bob Jensen's threads on museums are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm#History

When They Were Young (Photography, History, Children, Cultures) --- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/young/
(Some of the photographs are fantastic.)

Since the birth of photography in 1839, the camera has been used to capture the human experience. For many photographers, childhood, so short-lived in terms of time but lasting in impact and memory, has been an inspiring subject. Preserving fleeting moments of youth on a glass plate or negative film allows them to be remembered and reconsidered. The pictures in this exhibition recall the spirit, vulnerability, playfulness, unpredictability, restlessness, and dignity of children throughout generations and in diverse parts of the world. From the tarnished silver surfaces of early nineteenth-century daguerreotypes, youngsters emerge like miniature adults, straining to remain motionless while their likenesses are preserved. A Civil War era carte de visite glorifies a small boy's role in that very adult conflict. At the turn of the twentieth century, studio portraits of Native American children romanticize a culture in danger of extinction, and in the early to middle decades of the 1900s, prints of children laboring in fields and factories proclaim the unjust burdens inflicted on innocent youth.

These pictures, selected from among thousands of images in the Prints and Photographs Collections of the Library of Congress, capture the experience of childhood as it is connected across time, different cultures, and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Whether encumbered by poverty or born into privilege, boys and girls look unflinchingly at the lens and toward the future. Their honest gazes reveal who these children are and how they view themselves and their world—with implications of the vast roads that lie ahead.

Animated Atlas (History Timeline, American History, and links to historical maps) --- http://www.animatedatlas.com
(Includes a free ten minute movie on The Growth of a Nation)

Yin Yu Tang: A Qing Dynasty Chinese Merchant's Home --- http://www.pem.org/yinyutang/

This is a marvelous site from the standpoint of the animations, photography, history, architecture, culture, and art.
Click on the starting link to "Explore the House."

December 18, 2002 reply from sfield@trinity.edu

Thanks Bob,

I was aware of the site but had not taken the time to view it. What a great resource! The Chinese name of the house means “Hall of Surplus Shelter,” but the word “shelter” (literally “shade”) has fengshui implications. It can mean the “blessings” conferred on descendents by the ancestors. Clearly, the original Merchant Huang was well-tutored in the arts of fengshui.

Merry Christmas to you and Erika!

Stephen Field
Professor of Chinese
Trinity University

New Online Services for Texans --- http://www.texasonline.com/
My secretary, Debbie Bowling, renewed her driver license online. She did not need an eye test for this renewal.

Driver License and ID Card Renewals Online --- http://texasonline.state.tx.us/NASApp/rap/apps/dpsdl/jsp/eng/welcome.jsp

Vehicle Registration Online --- http://rts.texasonline.state.tx.us/NASApp/txdotrts/common/jsp/txdot_vtr_main_menu.jsp

Pay Taxes Online --- http://www.texasonline.com/category.jsp?language=eng&categoryId=10.8

Occupational and Professional Licenses Online --- http://www.texasonline.com/category.jsp?language=eng&categoryId=10.5

More Online Services for Texans --- http://www.texasonline.com/category.jsp?language=eng&categoryId=10

Bob Jensen's helpers for San Antonio visitors and residents are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/sanantonio.htm

Unhappy Reports forwarded by The Happy Lady

National Pollen Reports --- http://www.pollen.com/Pollen.com.asp
In San Antonio, there's always some type of pollen in the air. We are now entering the dreaded Cedar season.

Where did Canada get it right?
John's Switch to Canada --- http://bantha.cjb.net/john/
(Of course one reason was for John to erase his credit history.)
His Top 10 reasons (aside from his Canadian girlfriend) are at http://bantha.cjb.net/john/switch/whyswitch.htm
There's a lot of Michael Moore in John Bender. For some Michael Moore stuff go to http://www.bowlingforcolumbine.com/

Where did Canada get it wrong?
John does not mention the dark side of Canadian politics and economics.
Economics 304, Canadian Economic Problems from Robin Neill, PhD --- http://www.upei.ca/~rneill/canecpro/canec_syl.html
State of the Canadian Economy --- http://www.nelson.com/nelson/harcourt/economics/state.htm

In any case, we love our Canadian neighbors and their clean, beautiful, and very friendly nation of hope and refuge.

Now that I'm moving into deep snow mountains, I guess I'll have to trade my 1980 Ford Stationwagon in for a 4X4 --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/four-wheel-drive.htm

Photographs of Record Covers --- http://www.317x.com/

Question
What is the biggest waste of money on your book shelves?

Answer
Probably the books on how to do things such as make repairs, find credit reports, find a good diet, raise your kids, etc. The books are hard to find in the jumble of all your books. The topics are hard to find within a given book. The books are out of date. The books cost you a fortune.

A better solution is to electronically search the free Wow Site of the Week. It is probably better to give a friend this link for Christmas than to buy some expensive “how to books.”

Wow Site of the Week --- How Stuff Works! --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/
What is really neat is that the search engine works very, very well!

I've known about this site for years, but I generally forget to use it. While grading term projects this semester, I was amazed how often my students cited it when answering technical questions about computer and information systems. It is a great site for kids, adults, novices, and experts.

Explanations range from trivia to complex engineering questions. A few examples are shown below:

How does Christmas work around the world? http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas-tree.htm

When, how, and where did kissing under mistletoe begin? http://www.howstuffworks.com/mistletoe.htm

How does the U.S. Social Security System work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/question385.htm

What and how do diseases affect your body? http://www.howstuffworks.com/category.htm?cat=Dis

How does AIDS work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/aids.htm

What is a nervous breakdown? http://www.howstuffworks.com/question653.htm

How does diabetes work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/diabetes.htm

How do your eyes work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/eye.htm

How does brain death work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/brain-death.htm

What can you learn about good and bad nutrition? http://www.howstuffworks.com/category.htm?cat=Nutr

When, how, and where did tipping begin? http://www.howstuffworks.com/tipping1.htm

How can you pick a lock? http://www.howstuffworks.com/lock-picking.htm

How do mortgages work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/mortgage.htm

How do credit reports work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/credit-report8.htm

How do banks work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/bank.htm

How do DVD players work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/dvd.htm

How does symmetric-key encryption work? http://www.howstuffworks.com/encryption.htm

What are the most popular topics and answers?

TOP 10 ARTICLES

How Car Engines Work
How PCs Work
How Lock Picks Work
How CDs Work
How Cell Phones Work
How Jet Engines Work
How Airplanes Work
How Networks Work
How Television Works
How Dieting Works
30 more top articles

What a great site --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/

December 16, 2002 reply from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

Bob, while I disagree with your premises in the first paragraph under “Answer”, I cannot in any way dispute that the “howstuffworks” site is positively absolutely great and worth having at the top of your bookmark file. I use it extensively, and point it out to all my students the very first week of class in my technology courses.

One “book” that I’ve also found to be very much worth the asking price is the “Computer Desktop Encyclopedia” by Alan Freedman. I got hold of this back when it was a hardcopy paper publication (the Computer Glossary), back in the 1980’s. It is now on CD, and is just what the title says: an encyclopedia of computer and technology terms, including major telecomm and networking terms. I require it as a reference in my tech courses.

In fact, it is so useful, I put it in my startup file. I like having it minimized, so when I come across a new term or acronym having to do with technology (such as ABAP4, CKO, or EFF), I can type it in and read about it.

The two things I like so well about it are: (1) It has practically every acronym you can imagine, such as T3, PSTN, SMA, or even FUBAR. (!) and (2) it is up-to-date, thanks to the quarterly updates: if you buy the CDE, you get a new CD every three months for a year! The website is: http://www.computerlanguage.com and they have a telephone number to call to order. I’m not affiliated with them at all, but it would be nice if you tell “Irma” that David Fordham at JMU sent you! My students report that she is giving them a discount on shipping for mentioning my name! Again, I put my hand on the Bible and say that I’m not affiliated with them at all! I get no commission or anything. I just think this CD is one of the greatest inventions since the Bob Jensen Bookmark page! Certainly more useful than the books which I have on my shelf, even though I find them quite useful and worth the money, too! (Bob, I shop at the Green Valley Book Fair … I hardly ever pay more than a couple of dollars for a book! Which says a lot about the CDE, since it is more than a couple of dollars but still well worth the price!

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University

Where did these crooks go to college?

In the latest iteration of the Nigerian e-mail swindle, scammers pose as buyers interested in big-ticket items for sale on the Net. Thanks to a little-known U.S. banking loophole, they're bilking Americans out of thousands --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56829,00.html

Bob Jensen's threads on fraud are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm

Frequent Flier Nostalgia
Stewardess Uniforms --- http://www.uniformfreak.demon.nl/

Cable executives smack their lips over the potential of video on demand: It includes the chance to take back market share from satellite television services and eat into video rental stores' business --- http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,56729,00.html

December 10, 2002 message from Mbemap, Mamouda [mmbemap@kpmg.com]

Dear Professor Bob Jensen,

I am writing to inform you that a Journal which will be published quarterly in London by Routledge Taylor and Francis and specifically dedicated to derivatives accounting and disclosures issues is is currently in preparation. It will address a wide audience ranging from Academics, standard setters and financial market professionals and will have an international reach.

The Journal of Derivatives Accounting --- http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/

[A portion of this message is not reproduced here.]

I thank you very much for your time and attention and I hope to hear from you soon about being on the Editorial Board.

Mamouda Mbemap

Editor
Frankfurt, Germany

Bob Jensen's tutorials on accounting for derivative financial instruments and hedging activities are at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm

From The Risk Waters Group on December 6, 2002

JP Morgan Chase is preparing to launch what will become the largest synthetic collateralised debt obligation (CDO) managed by an Asian fund manager. Singapore's UOB Asset Management will manage the $1.7 billion deal, which will be the third synthetic CDO to be managed by an Asian fund manager and the second to be managed by UOB following its $1.33 billion deal arranged by Deutsche Bank in September. Lehman Brothers launched a $500 million synthetic CDO managed by Hong Kong-based PCI Investment Management in November. Officials at JP Morgan Chase declined to comment on the matter, but an investor said the transaction is likely to close next week.

The Institute for Management Accountants is celebrating a milestone of sorts this month - the thirtieth anniversary of the first testing to award the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation. http://www.accountingweb.com/item/96822

The ICMA Board of Regents announced a change in the educational requirement for certification as a CMA and/or CFM. The ICMA will maintain its bachelor degree requirement for certification as a CMA or CFM, but non-U.S. bachelor's degrees will now also be accepted. The bachelor's degree would not need to be equivalent to a 4-year U.S. bachelor's degree. Whatever the candidate's country of origin defines as a bachelor's degree would be acceptable (e.g., Indian BCom). In acknowledgment of the different cultural and educational systems in foreign countries, the regents decided to adopt this policy change effective immediately --- http://www.imanet.org/template.cfm?Section=IMANews&NavMenuID=79

WILL NEW PHONES BOOST NOKIA'S SIGNAL?
The Finnish giant is hanging next year's fortunes on a big product launch. But gaining market share in a crowded field won't be easy http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2002/pi20021211_3617.htm?c=bwtechdec13&n=link5&t=email

Will Microsoft Develop For Linux?
It's the time of the year when psychics make apocalyptic and outlandish predictions. Analyst firm Meta Group has an eyebrow-raiser of its own: Microsoft will debut Linux apps in '04. http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eJ2M0BcUEY0V20BoAk0Af

AccountingWeb Book Recommendation on December 12, 2002

Follow the expert advice in this book--the fourth in The Ultimate Consultant Series--and you won't fall victim to the success plateau that undermines many consultants. If you feel that your work has become easier, it may be that you're not climbing "up" but rather moving laterally. And, sooner or later, your plateau will begin to erode and you'll find yourself on a decline. In How to Acquire Clients, Alan Weiss, internationally recognized consultant and author of the best- selling Million Dollar Consulting, shows you how to continue to move "up the mountain." http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0787955140/accountingweb

Bob Jensen's related threads on this issue are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fees.htm

Personally, I never cared for these soup strainers. But Hercule Perot prized his moustache. (History, Photography)
The Handlebar Club --- http://www.handlebarclub.org.uk/

Mergers and Acquisitions forwarded by Auntie Bev

1. Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush and W.R.Grace Co. will merge and become Hale,Mary,Fuller,Grace.

2. Polygram Records, Warner Bros. and Zesta Crackers join forces and become Polly,Warner Cracker.

3. 3M will merge with Goodyear and issue forth as MMMGood.

4. Zippo Mfg., Audi Motor Car,Dofasco and Dakota Mining will merge to become, of course, ZipAudiDoDa.

5. Federal Express is expected to join its major competitor, UPS, and consolidate as FedUP

6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become Fairwell, Honeychild.

7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become Poupon Pants.

8. Knotts Berry Farm and the Nat'l Org. of Women will become Knott NOW!

otherjokes070.htm

(True Story)

An elderly lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle.

She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at them at the top of her voice, "I have a gun and I know how to use it! Get out of the car you scumbags!"

The four men didn't wait for a second invitation but got out and ran like mad, whereupon the lady, somewhat shaken, proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and get into the driver's seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.

She tried and tried and then it dawned on her why. A few minutes later she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down.

She loaded her bags into her car and drove to the police station.* The sergeant to whom she told the story nearly tore himself in two with laughter and pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale white males were reporting a car jacking by a mad elderly woman described as white, less than 5' tall, glasses and curly white hair carrying a large handgun.

No charges were filed.

True Doctor Stories

A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs, and I was in the wrong one.
Dr. Mark MacDonald, San Antonio, TX
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," I instructed. "Yes, they used to be," remorsefully replied the patient.
Dr. Richard Byrnes, Seattle, WA
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a "massive internal fart."
Dr. Susan Steinberg, Manitoba, Canada
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was performing a complete physical, including the visual acuity test. I placed the patient twenty feet from the chart and began, "Cover your right eye with your hand." He read the 20/20 line perfectly. "Now your left." Again, a flawless read. "Now both," I requested. There was silence. He couldn't even read the large E on the top line. I turned and discovered that he had done exactly what I had asked; he was standing there with both his eyes covered. I was laughing too hard to finish the exam.
Dr. Matthew Theodropolous, Worcester, MA
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

During a patient's two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications. "Which one?" I asked. "The patch. The nurse told me to put on a new one every six hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!" I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn't see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.
Dr. Rebecca St. Clair, Norfolk, VA
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, "How long have you been bedridden?" After a look of complete confusion she answered . "Why, not for about twenty years -- when my husband was alive."
Dr. Steven Swanson, Corvallis, OR
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was caring for a woman from Kentucky and asked, "So, how's your breakfast this morning?" "It's very good, except for the Kentucky Jelly. I can t seem to get used to the taste," the patient replied. I then asked to see the jelly and the woman produced a foil packet labeled "KY Jelly."
Dr. Leonard Kransdorf, Detroit, MI
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And Finally . . . . .
A new, young MD doing his residency in OB was quite embarrassed performing female pelvic exams. To cover his embarrassment he had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle aged lady upon whom he was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassed him. He looked up from his work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?" She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was 'I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener'."

An Elderly Woman Gets a Wedding Proposal --- http://www.internet-tips.net/Jokes/otherjokes400.htm

Will You Marry Me?

This is the story of two elderly people living in a Florida mobile home park. He was a widower and she a widow. They had known one another for a number of years.

Now, one evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her, "Will you marry me?"

After about six seconds of 'careful consideration,' she answered. "Yes, Yes, I will."

The meal ended and with a few more pleasant exchanges, they went to their respective places. Next morning, he was troubled. Did she say 'yes' or did she say 'no'? He couldn't remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.

With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained to her that he didn't remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of her, "When I asked if you would marry me, did you say 'Yes' or did you say 'No'?"

He was delighted to hear her say, "Why, I said, 'Yes, yes I will' and I meant it with all my heart." Then she continued, "And I am so glad that you called, because I couldn't remember who had asked me."

Mothers Dictionary

AMNESIA: Condition that enables a woman who has gone through labor to Make love again.

DUMBWAITER: One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

FAMILY PLANNING: The art of spacing your children the proper distance Apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster.

FEEDBACK: The inevitable result when your baby doesn't appreciate the strained carrots.

FULL NAME: What you call your child when you're mad at him.

GRANDPARENTS: The people who think your children are wonderful even Though they're sure you're not raising them right.

HEARSAY: What toddlers do when anyone mutters a dirty word.

IMPREGNABLE: A woman whose memory of labor is still vivid.

INDEPENDENT: How we want our children to be as long as they do everything We say.

OW: The first word spoken by children with older siblings.

PUDDLE: a small body of water that draws other small bodies wearing dry Shoes into it.

SHOW OFF: a child who is more talented than yours.

STERILIZE: what you do to your first baby's pacifier by boiling it and to your last baby's pacifier by blowing on it.

TOP BUNK: where you should never put a child wearing Superman pajamas.

TWO MINUTE WARNING: when the baby's face turns red and she begins to make those familiar grunting noises.

VERBAL: able to whine in words

WHODUNIT: none of the kids that live in your house

Actual Excuses Written By Cool Parents --- http://www.internet-tips.net/Jokes/otherjokes693.htm

~ Dear School: Please excuse John from being absent on Jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and also 33.

~ Please excuse Johnnie for being. It was his father's fault.

~ Chris will not be in school because he has an acre in his side.

~ John has been absent because he had two teeth taken off his face.

~ Excuse Gloria. She has been under the doctor.

~ Lillie was absent from school yesterday because she had a going over.

~ My son is under the doctor's care and should not take fizical ed. Please execute him.

~ Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hit in the growing part.

~ Please excuse Joyce from P.E. for a few days. Yesterday she fell off a tree and misplaced her hip.

~ Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

~ Maryann was absent Dec. 11-16, because she had a fever, sore throat, headache, and upset stomach. Her sister was also sick, fever and sore throat, her brother had a low-grade fever. There must be the flu going around, her father even got hot last night.

~ Please excuse Blanche from jim today. She is administrating.

~ George was absent yesterday because he had a stomach.

~ Ralph was absent yesterday because he had a sore trout.

~ Please excuse Lupe. She is having problems with her ovals.

~ Please excuse Sara for being absent. She was sick and I had her shot.

Out of the Mouths of Young Children --- http://www.internet-tips.net/Jokes/otherjokes517.htm

Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the boy aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently, "means carrying a child."

Her 7-year-old grandson surprised a grandmother one morning. He had made her coffee. She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there was three of those little green army men in the cup. She said, "Honey, what are the army men doing in my coffee?" Her grandson said, "Grandma, it says on TV- "The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup."

Susie Sunshine asked her Sunday School class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Jimmy's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent. "The Flight into Egypt," said Jimmy. "I see...and that must be Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus," Ms. Susie said, but who's the fourth person?" "Oh", said Jimmy, "that's Pontius-the-Pilot."

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting! into mischief finally asked him, "how do you expect to get into heaven?" The boy thought it over and said, "well, I'll just run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, "for heaven's sake, Jimmy, come in or stay out."

A Nursery School Teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one. youngster. "No," said another "he's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close saying, "They use the dogs, "she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrant."

Little Johnny watched, fascinated, as his mother smoothed cold cream on her face. "Why do you do that, Mommy?" he asked. "To make myself beautiful," said his mother who then began removing the cream with a tissue. "What's the matter?" asked little Johnny, "Giving up?"

Kids in Church

A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages.

"Mommy, look what I found," the boy called out.

"What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked.

With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered: "I think it's Adam's suit!"

***************************
Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had enough. "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church."

"Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."

**************************
One Sunday in a Midwest city a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"

*************************
And this particular four-year-old prayed: "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

**************************
During the minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one of the back pews. Gary's mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence, and after church, asked: "Gary, whatever made you do such a thing?"
Gary answered soberly: "I asked God to teach me to whistle...And He just then did!"

***************************
One night Mike's parents overheard this prayer. "Now I lay me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow's test, if I should die before I wake, that's one less test I have to take."

**************************
A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if You can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am!"

Forwarded by Barbara

Subject: Church Gossip

Sarah, the church gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know that he was an alcoholic. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He said nothing. Later that evening, George, quietly parked his pickup in front of Sarah's house............... and he left it there all night.

Some great things about getting older

Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
If you've never smoked, you can start now and it won't have time to hurt you.
Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
Your eyes won't get much worse.
Things you buy now won't wear out.
No one expects you to run into a burning building.
There's nothing left to learn the hard way.
Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

Forwarded by George Lan

Why God Never Received Tenure at any University

01. He had only one major publication.
02. It was in Hebrew.
03. It had no references.
04. It wasn't published in a refereed journal.
05. Some even doubt he wrote it himself.
06. It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done since then?
07. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
08. The scientific community has had a hard time replicating his results.
09. He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects.
10. When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects.
11. When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he deleted them from the sample .
12. He rarely came to class, just told students to read the Book.
13. Some say he had his son teach the class.
14. He expelled his first two students for learning.
15. Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests. 16. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE PSYCHIATRICALLY CHALLENGED

SCHIZOPHRENIA:
Do You Hear What I Hear?

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
We Three Kings Disoriented Are

DEMENTIA:
I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

NARCISSISTIC:
Hark the Herald Angles Sing About Me

MANIC:
Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Busses and Trucks and Trees and Fire Hydrants and......

PARANOID:
Santa Claus is Coming to Get me

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER:
Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

PERSONALITY DISORDER:
You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll tell You Why

OBSSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER:
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

Memo forwarded by the Happy Lady

To: All Concerned
From : Santa Clause
December 24, 2002

I regret to inform you that, effective immediately I will no longer serve the States of Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas on Christmas Eve. Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North American Fairies and Elves Local 209. As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind. However, I'm certain that your children will be in good hands with your local replacement, who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences between us.

Differences such as:

1.
There is no danger of the Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads:"These toys insured by Smith and Wesson."

2.
Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave an RC cola and pork rinds [or a moon pie] on the fireplace. And Bubba doesn't smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an empty spit can handy.

3.
Bubba Claus' sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flyin' coon dogs instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my reindeer one time, and Blitzen's head now overlooks Bubba's fireplace.

4.
You won't hear "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen.," when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you'll hear, "On Earnhardt, on Andretti, on Elliott and Petty."

5.
"Ho, Ho, Ho!" has been replaced by "Yee Haw!" And you also are likely to hear Bubba's elves respond, "I her'd dat!"

6.
As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus' sleigh does have a Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words "Back Off."

7.
The usual Christmas movie classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" will not be shown in your negotiated viewing area. Instead, you'll see "Boss Hogg Saves Christmas". And Finally,

8.
Bubba Claus doesn't wear a belt. If I were you, I'd make sure you, the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put presents under the tree.

Sincerely Yours,
Santa Claus
Member of North American Fairies and Elves, Union 1225

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

New Rules for the Holidays!

I hate this time of year. Not for its crass commercialism and forced frivolity, but because it's the season when the food police come out with their wagging fingers and annual tips on how to get through the holidays without gaining 10 pounds. You can't pick up a magazine without finding a list of holiday eating do's and don'ts. Eliminate second helpings, high-calorie sauces and cookies made with butter, they say. Fill up on vegetable sticks, they say. Good grief. Is your favorite childhood memory of Christmas a carrot stick? I didn't think so. Isn't mine, either. A carrot was something you left for Rudolph. I have my own list of tips for holiday eating. I assure you, if you follow them, you'll be fat and happy....

1. About those carrot sticks. Avoid them. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnogaholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? Remember college?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. You can't leave them behind. You're not going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. And one final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips. Start over.

But hurry! Cookieless January is just around the corner. May your holidays be filled with goodness and cheer!!

Forwarded by Barbara

Speed Trap A state trooper spied a car puttering along at 22 MPH. So he turned on his lights and pulled the driver over. Approaching the car, he noticed that five old guys were inside, and they looked wide-eyed and terribly pale. The driver pleaded with him, "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"

"Sir," the officer replies, "You weren't speeding, but driving slower than the speed limit can also be dangerous."

"I beg to differ, Officer, I was doing the speed limit exactly: twenty-two miles an hour!" the old man said.

The trooper, chuckling, explained to him that "22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the man grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out his error.

"But before I let you go, Sir, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car ok? These guys seem awfully shaken."

"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute," the old man said. "We just got off Route 119."

Christmas has been cancelled and it is all your fault because you told Santa you had been good this year.

He died laughing!

Rudolf does this if you give an honest answer --- http://www.jingandmike.com/pages/xmas.html

This is me in retirement when I shift to writing novels.
NotWriting.com --- http://www.notwriting.com/

Happy New Year!

Animated Holiday Card --- http://www.castlemountains.net/flashdec/xmas_house.swf

Musical Holiday Card (Click on each deer) --- http://web.icq.com/shockwave/0,,4845,00.swf

Holiday Greetings from Bob & Erika --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/XMAS2002.htm

And that's the way it was on December 31, 2002 with a little help from my friends.

Paul Pacter maintains the best international accounting standards and news Website at http://www.iasplus.com/

Professor Robert E. Jensen (Bob) http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen
Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business Administration
Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Voice: 210-999-7347 Fax: 210-999-8134 Email: rjensen@trinity.edu

Holiday Greetings from Bob & Erika --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/XMAS2002.htm
Anyone interested in buying our nice San Antonio home my read about the details at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/house.htm

Quotes of the Week

After 10 years of sustained economic growth, a 4-year bubble where salaries, expectations, and retirement dreams increased dramatically, and a number of decades of relative 'safety', a number of Americans are trying to find the meaning of life.
Mitchell Levy, Author, E-Volve-or- Die.com --- http://ecnow.com/2003Top10TrendsArticle-withQuotes.pdf

Employees will become increasingly disgruntled because the sluggish economy reduces their employment options. Managers will have more power and will become more overtly evil.
Scott Adams, Dilbert Cartoonist --- http://ecnow.com/2003Top10TrendsArticle-withQuotes.pdf

The recent events, unfortunate as they are, clearly demonstrate the value of straight-arrow accounting and highly skeptical auditing. Leaders are now talking about the "value" of an audit for the first time in years, rather than implying that an audit is a necessary compliance-oriented evil, and other services are the "value added services." Many leaders seem to understand the need to rebuild confidence and trust in the profession through high quality work; that rhetoric won't do it.
David Pearnson, Case Western Reserve University --- http://ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf/US/EY_Faculty_Connection

The preface is the most important part of a book. Even the critics read it.
Guedalla Philip

Opulence is the ruin of the rich and augments the misery of the poor.
Diderot Denis

Highlighting Texas' $800 billion economy, a print ad declares "Texas is between Italy and Canada. (Thanks in part to CPAs.)"
Part of an advertising campaign in Texas to restore faith in CPAs --- http://www.smartpros.com/x36169.xml

A politician needs the ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen.
Winston Churchill

What is past is prologue.
William Shakespeare

You will have plenty of time if you don't waste it.
Bernard de Fontenelle

Yale Law School Professor Proposes Reform, Repeal of Income Tax
http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/02-11-21-02.all.html (Forwarded by Scott Bonacker)

Bob Jensen's December 15, 2002 updates on the accounting and finance scandals can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud121502.htm

It is important to encourage whistle blowing.
The AccountingWeb now provides a free report that can help with your training process by providing you with crucial legal information and perspectives on whistleblowing and how it can be both a godsend and a curse to your business. http://www.accountingweb.com/item/96760

Petition for a Change of Leadership in the AICPA --- http://www.petitiononline.com/AICPA/petition.html

The FASB issued Interpretation No. 45 to improve disclosure requirements for guarantees. This interpretation may help investors avoid surprises like the sudden revelations of executive loans at Adelphia. http://www.accountingweb.com/item/96787

Check out the top ten trends for 2003 with quotes from luminaries such as the creator of Dilbert, the CTO of GM, authors of top business books and executives from companies such as: HP, Cable & Wireless, CSC, Salesforce, Nielsen/Netratings, Bowstreet, Zapthink and Infravio: http://ecnow.com/2003Top10TrendsArticle-withQuotes.pdf

Top ten trends for 2003 --- http://vms3.info/Dec2002/feature.article.htm

Top level news stories via the lenses of the Value Framework(tm) --- http://vms3.info/Dec2002/management.perspective.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on electronic business are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce.htm

"Now Here This: Wall Street's Research Stinks. Here's How to Fix It.," by Bill Alpert, Barron's, December 2, 2002, pp. 23-26

. . . Wall Street, and the institutions that issue its analysts their MBAs and CFAs, have trained stock analysts to discount future earnings four different ways. But they have failed to teach them skills like how to design financial models that can be proved or disproved with real-world research. Analysts make detailed forecasts for a company's products, for example, in the mistaken belief they're supplying the reasons for their stock-price target. But given their paltry real-world data on those products, analysts can't possible show why their forecast is more reasonable than any number of contradictory forecasts. The phony precision in most 2010 sales estimates, for example, betrays how few analysts understand what inferences their data will bear.

.We suggest improvements in research methods that would be clearly visible in an investment report. That way, investors need not rely on the assurances of Wall Street--and its regulators--that analysts have gone straight; investors will be able to look directly at the report for evidence of good work.

. . .

The Morgan Stanley analysts wouldn't talk to us, so they did not explain to us how they--or anybody--could make so many simultaneous estimates. Using algebra or astrology, it is simply impossible to pin down so many answers with so little input. "People who try to predict so many variables fall into a trap," says Wharton finance professor Simon Benninga. "They think that more detail is actually going to clarify the picture, when sometimes the best picture is a very sketchy picture." Benninga didn't review the Morgan Stanley report, but he counsels his students to keep their models simple enough, so as not to miss the forest for the trees.

. . .

Instead of overloading spreadsheets with variables plucked from the air, stock analysts should spend some time collecting original data on the few things that matter. Brokerage firms leave their analysts little time to go out in the field. The analysts are too busy marketing stocks and publishing research tomes.

The above quotations are only excerpts from the article.

"Accountancy Firms Face Grim 2003: KPMG Warns That Growth Will Suffer in Wake of Financial Scandals," Financial Times, December 3, 2002, Page 1 --- http://news.ft.com/home/us/

Accountancy firms are facing a grim 2003 as the auditing profession struggles to maintain growth following the wave of financial scandals in the US, KPMG warned yesterday.

Mike Rake, KPMG chairman, said the days of regular double-digit revenue increases were over for now. The accountancy firm, one of the four biggest in the world, announced 3.9 percent revenue growth to $10.8bn, down from 9 percent last year. "I would be overwhelmed with joy if we saw 5, 6 or 7 percent growth in this coming year," he said.

The figures come at the end of a turbulent year for the accounting profession, which has been fighting to restore its reputation.

Andersen collapsed after being found guilty of obstructing justice in the Enron scandal. The US passed legislation to overhaul regulation and the integrity of audit work has come under scrutiny amid a record number of financial restatements.

The biggest firms, under client and regulator pressure to eliminate potential conflict of interests, have split off or are about to break out the bulk of consultancy operations--for years the fastest-growing and most lucrative parts of their business.

Mr. Rake said the lack of consultancy was making growth hard. Uncertainty over a po ssible war with Iraq and low customer confidence added to the gloom.

"Growth has been stymied by the separation of consultancy but I still see enormous opportunities in selling non-audit services to non-audit clients and in mid- and small-sized clients."

Mr. Rake also said there were high-growth regions, such as eastern Europe and China, that were promising.

But the environment had worsened in the past three months, he said, pointing out that KPMG's financial year to the end of September stood up well against competitors whose financial years ended earlier and whose figures had therefore not captured the latest slowdown.

PcW's revenues were up 1 percent to the end of June while Deloitte Touche Thomatsu posted the same growth to the end of May. Ernst & Young was up 2.7 percent to the end of June.

Mr. Rake said KPMG was becoming more reform-minded. "All accountancy firms should be very open and transparent. They have to ensure consistency and quality across their global operations. We need better independent oversight... and we can't let the relationship people override the technical people [on audit opinions]."

However, the drop in consulting revenue (due to new regulations and laws on auditor independence) is not as great as most people think. There will still be heavy consulting revenue rolling in after the economy pulls out of the current slump.
"Even Without Consulting Arms, Accounting Firms Still Consult," by Cassell Bryan-Low, The Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2002, PAGEC1 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1032736856302232033.djm,00.html
You can see a summary (with a graph) of the above article by scrolling down deeply into http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraudVirginia.htm

Battelle: Technology Forecasts --- http://www.battelle.org/forecasts/default.stm

Accounting education research has never been a priority in curricula of accounting doctoral programs vis-à-vis the typical topics of capital markets, behavioral, and analytical research.

I am forwarding David's request to my good friends to see if something turns up. I am asking them to reply directly to David with a copy to me.

David's email address David.Stout@villanova.edu
David Stout is a former Editor of Issues in Accounting Education

Bob Jensen

-----Original Message-----
From: David E. Stout [mailto:David.Stout@villanova.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 3:40 PM
To: Jensen, Robert
Subject: Ph.D. seminar in accounting education research?

Hi Bob.
Hope all is well. Are you aware of anyone who will be offering a doctoral seminar on accounting education research next semester (Spring 2003)? If so, please forward to me this information. If you are unaware of anyone doing this, can you post something on your website, asking anyone who fits this description to contact me? I would be most appreciative.

Best regards. ----------------
David E. Stout
Villanova University
(610) 519-4048 (tel.) (610) 519-5204 (fax)

Are accounting researchers really seeking truth?

Richard Sensing wrote:

>The trend toward more joint work has several possible explanations.
>The most obvious one is technological. Electronic file transfer has
>made joint work with colleagues at different institutions much
>easier than before. Joint work also probably increases with
>experience, as one gets to know more potential co-authors over
>time. Is the average research faculty member more or less
>experienced than the average research faculty member 30 years ago?

Richard C. Sansing

Reply from Bob Jensen

I agree with everything Richard said about co-authoring trends in this age of networking.

However, when I did two (co-authored) studies about accounting research publication trends, it seemed that the co-authorship trend was virtually zero before 1950 and then rose steadily to where it became over 50% by the late 1980s. I suspect it is much higher in this decade, but I’ve not studied authorship in this decade.

Figure 1 on Page 212 of the Part 1 paper is shown below:

Source: "An Analysis of the Contributors to Accounting Journals, Part I: The Aggregate Performances," by Jean Louis Heck, Robert E. Jensen, and Philip L. Cooley, International Journal of Accounting (University of Illinois), 1990, pp. 202-217.

Part 2 is entitled "An Analysis of the Contributors to Accounting Journals, Part II: The Individual Academic Accounting Journals, 1991, pp. 1-17.

Note that in the above graph, computer networking did not exist (e.g., the World Wide Web did not commence until 1990) for most of the growth years of co-authorship. I think the real explanation for the explosion of co-authorship was that criteria for tenure and promotion changed dramatically after the Ford Foundation’s Gordon and Howell Report (Columbia University Press, 1959) significantly raised expectations that business schools have higher concentrations of researchers with doctoral degrees. To be respectable within the total university culture, business schools in the 1960s and especially in the 1970s then forced doctoral faculty to be more prolific in publishing in research journals. Pressures mounted every year thereafter.

More importantly, faculty were held accountable for research performance each year! Thus began the trend for getting more research publication “hits” each and every year. Co-authorship made it possible to get credit for more papers and more frequent papers. Having more submissions increased the odds of journal acceptance. For example, rather than have a 10% chance for publishing a solo paper, the odds increased when three authors submitted three joint papers where each paper had a 10% probability of acceptance.

That was game we played in the Gordon and Howell Report aftermath, a game in which the number of publications counted more than the quality of publications in performance evaluations. Although this was not necessarily the case when building an academic reputation (i.e., quality counts among your all-knowing peers), article counting was the case among administrators allocating the small bundles of faculty raises each year. The game was to get a paper published in a top journal no matter how many authors were on the paper and no matter what the real contribution was in all honesty.

For example, in the 1970s, operations research papers were sometimes printed in accounting journals even when the contributions were entirely esoteric and/or technical rather than substantive for accountancy. For example, some papers on finer points of mathematical optimization appearing in accounting journals had no business being in accounting journals.

The other game was to get a top accounting journal to publish an economics/behavioral paper that top economics/psychology journals would not accept. In my personal opinion, this game is much harder to play these days where editors prefer more direct linkage to accountancy (but not necessarily practice).

The sad part in all of this is there will never be another Carl Devine in the 21st Century. Carl Devine was a professor who spent most of his life writing accounting essays without being pressured annually for “hits” in journals. He could spend years on an essay and not be pressured by annual “countings” of the number of hits. He could focus on quality of deep scholarship over his lifetime rather than the annual average number of journal hits.

That leads me to my main criticism of the “hits” that we read in accounting journals and to editorial policy. Two weeks ago I conducted a workshop on accounting for electronic commerce at the annual Asian-Pacific Accounting Conference (which was in California this year).

The BAMBERs

I was responsible for an afternoon workshop and enjoyed the privilege to sit in on the tail end of the morning workshop on journal editing conducted by Linda and Mike Bamber. (Linda is the current Editor of The Accounting Review).

I have great respect for both Linda and Mike, and my criticism here applies to the editorial policies of the American Accounting Association and other publishers of top accounting research journals. In no way am I criticizing Linda and Mike for the huge volunteer effort that both of them are giving to The Accounting Review (TAR).

Mike’s presentation focused upon a recent publication in TAR based upon a behavioral survey of 25 auditors. Mike greatly praised the research and the article’s write up. My question afterwards was whether TAR would accept an identical replication study that confirmed the outcomes published original TAR publication. The answer was absolutely NO! Accounting research journals do not publish replications unless they have contradictory outcomes or approach the problem with more interesting methodologies.

Now think of the absurdity of the above policy on publishing replications. Scientists would shake their heads and snicker at accounting research. No scientific experiment is considered worthy until it has been independently replicated multiple times. Science professors thus have an advantage over accounting professors in playing the “journal hits” game for promotion and tenure, because their top journals will publish replications. Scientists are constantly seeking truth and challenging whether it’s really the truth.

Thus I come to my main point that is far beyond the co-authorship issue that stimulated this message. My main point is that in academic accounting research publishing, we are more concerned with the cleverness of the research than in the “truth” of the findings themselves.

Have I become too much of a cynic in my old age? Except in a limited number of capital markets events studies, have accounting researchers published replications due to genuine interest by the public in whether the earlier findings hold true? Or do we hold the findings as self-evident on the basis of one published study with as few as 25 test subjects? Or is there any interest in the findings themselves to the general public apart from interest in the methods and techniques of interest to researchers themselves?

Bob Jensen

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard C. Sansing [mailto:Richard.C.Sansing@DARTMOUTH.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 9:29 AM
To: AECM@LISTSERV.LOYOLA.EDU Subject: Re: Hours students spend studying

--- Bob Jensen wrote:

>What was interesting is that their performance reports claimed that 50%
>of their time was spent on research when in reality the study concluded
>that less than 10% of their time was spent on research.
>I mention this because my gut feel is that this is also the case today,
>especially in this era of joint projects and co-authorship. I know I
>save a considerable amount of time by pawning off work on research
>partners relative to my early years in academe in an era when solo
>efforts were much more the norm than in research since the 1980s.

An interesting issue. One question is what you do with the time you save due to co-authorship. I think I spend about the same time on research now that I did ten years ago, but I have a lot more papers in the pipeline due to "pawning off work on research partners" as you put it.

The trend toward more joint work has several possible explanations. The most obvious one is technological. Electronic file transfer has made joint work with colleagues at different institutions much easier than before. Joint work also probably increases with experience, as one gets to know more potential co-authors over time. Is the average research faculty member more or less experienced than the average research faculty member 30 years ago?

Richard C. Sansing
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
email: Richard.C.Sansing@dartmouth.edu

A December 5, 2002 reply from David Stout about the replications thing --- an AAA journal editor’s inside perspective!

Note that I think that a big policy weakness is that the policy of accounting research journals to not publish confirming replications (even in abstracted form) is that this policy discourages efforts to perform confirming replications.

But the most serious problem is that the findings themselves may not be interesting enough for researchers to perform replications whether or not those replications will be published. Are the findings so uninteresting that researchers aren’t really interested in seeking truth?

Bob Jensen

-----Original Message-----
From: David E. Stout [mailto:david.stout@villanova.edu]
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002
To: Jensen, Robert
Subject: Re: Are we really interested in truth?

I read through the material you sent (below)--one thing caught my eye: the issue of REPLICATIONS. This is a subject about which I am passionate. When I assumed the editorship of Issues, I had to appear before the AAA Publications Committee to present/defend a plan for the journal during my (then) forthcoming tenure. One of my plans was to institute a "Replications Section" in the journal. (The sad reality, beyond the excellent points you make, is that the lack of replications has a limiting effect on our ability to establish a knowledge base. In short, there are not many things where, on the basis of empirical research, we can draw firm conclusions.) After listening to my presentation, the chair of the Publications Committee posed the following question: "Why would we want to devote precious journal space to that which we already know?" To say the least, I was shocked--a rather stark reality check you might say. The lack of replications precludes us, in a very real sense, from "knowing."

I applaud your frank comments regarding the whole issue of replications, and their (proper) place within the conduct of "scientific" investigations. You made my day!

------
David E. Stout
Villanova University

Making a Profit from Unrealistic Consumers In agreeing to things like a cell phone contract or an introductory credit card interest rate, most consumers overestimate how much self control and common sense they have. The result, say Ulrike Malmendier (GSB) and Stefano Della Vigna (Haas), is that they may make some questionable economic decisions. November 2002 http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/finance_unrealconsumers.shtml

Question
U.S. productivity keeps growing -- right through the bust. So what's wrong with Europe?

Answer
See http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/view.html?pg=5

Important notice for accounting students:
The CPA Examination now tests current FASB, AICPA, IRS, and SEC pronouncements within the six months of issuance of the pronouncements. Are your instructors making you access current pronouncements electronically via such services as FARS from the AICPA or Comperio from PwC? Are they making you track current summaries in the Journal of Accountancy (which is free online at http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/joahome.htm )?

I think that accounting instructors sometimes focus too much on textbooks that can be years out of date even for current editions because of delays in the publication and revision process. Your instructors should be assigning monthly readings from latest pronouncement summaries in the Journal of Accountancy. Also they should be recommending that students frequently access their textbook's supplemental online service provided by the publisher.

This advice may sound obvious, but I think that instructors sometimes need reminders to build the free Journal of Accountancy and textbook publisher Websites into their syllabi. This is becoming more evident to me while I scan online syllabi that often only assign chapters from a textbook. Remember that it only takes six months for the latest pronouncements to commence appearing on the CPA examination. The latest pronouncements are not likely to be covered in published textbooks.

Trinity University students can request free access to Comperio by sending me an email at rjensen@trinity.edu

A monster that lurks behind funny accounting, ready to pounce on unsuspecting investors!

Question
Where is the next black hole sucking up corporate profits? (I apologize for mixing my metaphors.)

Answer
"Beware of the Pension Monster," by Janice Revell, Fortune, December 9, 2002. pp. 99-106 --- http://www.fortune.com/fortune/investing/articles/0,15114,395147,00.html

Like the unseen menace that stalked Elm Street, the pension monster has been hidden in the shadows. Now it's stepping out into the light. And is it ever one mammoth ugly creature: Big corporate pension plans in America owe some $1.2 trillion to their current and future retirees, and for the first time in years companies don't have enough money stashed away to pay for those benefits. The size of the current shortfall? $240 billion. To put that in perspective, that's more than half of what they're expected to earn this year.

It's the day of reckoning in corporate America. You've probably read that companies are restating their pension assumptions and will take a hit to earnings as a result. You've no doubt seen how the stocks of some huge, widely held companies like General Motors, Ford, and American Airlines' parent, AMR, have been pummeled, in no small part because of concerns about their underfunded pension plans. But what you may not realize is the extent of the havoc this monster can wreak. The debit is not just an accounting mirage; companies will have to start pumping cash--some $29 billion next year alone--into pension funds. That's real money. Money that won't be going to dividends or research or new plants. In other words, the monster is going to suck the blood out of those corporations.

That loss of blood could be enough to push ailing companies over the edge into bankruptcy. Exhibits A and B: Bethlehem Steel and TWA. It's quite possible that more companies will follow. Even the most optimistic scenario assumes dozens will be forced to redirect billions in cash from shareholders to retirees. And as in any edge-of-the-seat horror flick, you can expect more hair-raising scenes before the final credits.

How did we get to this point? At the root of today's problem was a historic advance for American workers: the widespread adoption of so-called defined-benefit pension plans. First flourishing in the industrial boom of the 1950s, when corporations were flush with cash but short on workers, defined-benefit plans give employees a guaranteed annual payment upon retirement--$2,000 a month, say, for an employee with 25 years of service. The company put up all the money, and workers gained real retirement security.

Today, with many companies opting for much cheaper pension alternatives, such as 401(k) plans, in which employees themselves put up cash, many people think of defined-benefit plans as a quaint relic of a more paternalistic era. But in fact the plans are still a huge presence in publicly traded companies. According to a recent study conducted by Credit Suisse First Boston, 360 of the companies that make up the S&P 500--more than 70%--offer defined-benefit pension plans or are obligated to pay retirees the proceeds of legacy plans. While that's great for employees, it's becoming an increasingly risky financial proposition for corporations.

Here's why: Companies are required by law to set aside money for pensioners. If a pension plan's assets don't generate enough income on an annual basis to pay for those retirement benefits, the company must make up the shortfall. Thanks to the double whammy brought about by the unrelenting bear market and falling interest rates, much of corporate America is now faced with the prospect of doing just that--in a big way. An estimated 90% of those pension-paying corporations in the CSFB study now have underfunded plans (that is, the value of the assets has sunk below the estimated cost of the pension obligations). That's 325 big American companies, four times the number in 1999.

Why are the funds in such distress? The same reason, no doubt, that your own 401(k) is: the punishing stock market. Most plans hold about two-thirds of their assets in stocks, and they have been no more successful than individual investors in avoiding the carnage of the past three years. Even factoring in the plans' bond holdings, most analysts estimate that pension-plan assets have lost, on average, about 10% of their value in 2002 alone. In total, some $300 billion of pension assets have been wiped away since the bull market ended in 2000, according to David Zion, a research analyst who co-wrote the CSFB report. Those companies with the largest plans, including GM, IBM, and Verizon, have been hit the hardest--each has lost an estimated $15 billion or more since the end of 2000.

As if the hit to assets weren't bad enough, falling interest rates have also hammered companies on the liability side of the pension equation--that is, the money they owe to current and future retirees. To figure out how much money needs to be in the pension plan, a company's financial officers must calculate the present value of its obligations, or what it would cost in today's dollars to make good on its promises to workers when they retire. To determine this minimum funding level, companies factor backward using a so-called discount rate. In other words, if you know you'll owe $1,000 in 20 years and you assume you'll get interest of x% on the money you salt away each year, x is the discount rate. For pensions, companies generally use a rate that tracks the yield on high-quality corporate bonds.

Simply put, the lower the discount rate, the more a company must set aside today. Trouble is, as interest rates have plunged, so too has the discount rate. The current yield on investment-grade corporate bonds, for example, has dropped to 6.5%, down roughly half a percentage point since the end of 2001. If you're drifting off right about now, lulled to sleep by all the math, this number may wake you up: $80 billion. That's the extra "balance due" that S&P 500 companies inherited merely from that half-point decline in the discount rate, says Ron Ryan, president of New York-based asset management firm Ryan Labs.

The article below runs counter to the argument that we are stressing out students with work outside the classroom.

"Homework? What Homework? Students seem to be spending less time studying than they used to," by Jeffrey R. Young, The Chronicle of Higher Education, December 6, 2002 --- http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i15/15a03501.htm

The tip given most consistently by professors and college officials is that students should simply do their homework. The most commonly prescribed amount is at least two hours of class preparation for every hour spent in the classroom -- meaning 25 to 30 hours a week for a typical full-time student. The idea is that students should consider college their full-time job, and that class time and preparation should take about 40 hours each week. That's long been the conventional wisdom.

But many students across the country say they don't come close to following that study regimen. Results from the latest National Survey of Student Engagement, released last month, found that only 12 percent of last year's freshmen at four-year residential colleges reported spending 26 or more hours per week preparing for classes, while the majority, 63 percent, said they spend 15 or fewer hours on class preparation, which the survey defines as "studying, reading, writing, rehearsing, and other activities related to your academic program."

"Students are studying about one-third as much as faculty say they ought to, to do well," said George D. Kuh, director of the survey and a professor of higher education at Indiana University at Bloomington.

The most striking statistic: Nineteen percent of full-time freshmen say they spend only 1 to 5 hours per week preparing for classes. Many education experts say that is well below the minimum needed to succeed. And seniors who answered the same survey reported studying even less than freshmen, with 20 percent studying 1 to 5 hours per week.

Are students today studying less than those of past generations? It's difficult to say, in part because the student-engagement survey, the most comprehensive source of data on the topic, is only three years old.

Continued at http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i15/15a03501.htm

Wow Technology of the Week --- I'll Take a New One if You Don't Mind

Face Transplants "Possible Within the Year" --- http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?d=ns99993118

Identity Theft Made Easy

"Lax Security: ID Theft Made Easy," Wired News, December 2, 2002 --- http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,56623,00.html

The people charged last week with stealing the identities of at least 30,000 Americans weren't criminal masterminds.

They simply took advantage of sloppy security practices that allowed them easy and unrestricted access to sensitive data.

Security experts worry that the slipshod safety measures haven't been corrected, and warn that unless companies get serious about security, identity thefts will continue to rise.

Investigators in Manhattan said they have identified about 12,000 additional people whose credit reports may have fallen into criminal hands during the almost three years that the New York-based identity fraud ring was active. The scam was first detected eight months ago.

But victims and potential victims wonder why it took authorities so long to nab the criminals, whom federal prosecutors described as "brazen" and "sloppy."

Consumers suggest the credit bureaus that failed to protect their personal data from the criminals are equally at fault.

"Credit report companies act like they own the data they collected about me and can use it however they want," said Nicholas Pastore, a New York graphic designer who was a victim of identity fraud two years ago.

"I've had a hellish time fixing their screwup, and have lost a job and been turned down by a landlord due to my wrecked credit," Pastore said. "Shouldn't the credit report companies have notified me before they released my data? Shouldn't they bear the cost of fixing the problems they caused?"

"Consumer privacy and corporate accountability are the major issues here," said Harvey Jacobs, a Washington, D.C., attorney. "The credit bureaus have to reevaluate how they release information, and they have to be held financially and legally accountable if the information is misused."

Some also see a conflict of interest in the fact that credit bureaus profit from consumers' security concerns. The three major credit-reporting bureaus each sell consumer services they promote as protection against identity fraud.

For $80 a year, Experian's Credit Manager, for example, scans a subscriber's credit report daily and sends alerts of "potential fraudulent items and other critical changes" in the report. Credit bureaus Equifax and TransUnion offer similar services.

"It's kind of like an e-commerce site that stores my credit card number, and then offers me a fee-based service to protect that information," fumed Tina Bechon, a secretary in Illinois who was a victim of identity theft last year.

Bechon said she's spent about $1,000 "in registered mail, notary and phone fees," but her fraud-impaired credit report still haunts her.

"The first bit of advice you get is to put a fraud alert into your credit bureau records," Bechon said. "But once you do that, all your credit accounts are frozen for a few months, and it's insanely difficult to get new credit for a few years after."

Story continued at http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,56623,00.html

"Some Simple Solutions to Identity Theft Credit agencies must be more vigilant. A first step: quickly and routinely alerting consumers that their credit histories have changed," by Alex Salkever, Business Week, November 27, 2002 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2002/tc20021127_4748.htm

So it has come to this. On Nov. 25, federal prosecutors charged three men with operating an identity-theft ring that had stolen credit reports of more than 30,000 people -- the largest case in history. The defendants include a computer help-desk employee at a Long Island software outfit who had access to sensitive passwords for banks and credit companies. The ring allegedly emptied bank accounts, took out loans with stolen identities, and ran up fraudulent charges on credit cards.

The most appalling part of the whole mess? Most of the damage could easily have been prevented if the credit agencies adopted the common-sense practice of directly notifying individuals whenever a change on his or her report occurs, and whenever a third party accesses their credit report. Yes, it might cost the credit agencies more in overhead. But credit agencies spread such costs around to customers, banks, car dealerships, and others that pay to access consumer credit ratings. How hard is that?

GLARING HOLES. This criminal case has many security experts worried because it points up some glaring weaknesses in credit reporting. Your credit information -- in effect, your financial identity -- can easily be stolen by alert thieves with access to sensitive information. Yet, credit agencies don't share with individuals what's going on with their credit reports -- unless consumers ask. This anomaly will become a national economic issue as identity theft grows.

That's the bad news. The good news is that the solution is pretty simple. Tighten up internal handling of credit information, while making individual reports even more transparent to consumers -- in real time if possible, with password-protected access, just like banks and other financial institutions.

Truth is, identity theft remains more an offline problem. Someone steals your mail. A restaurant worker double-swipes your credit card. That's theft, pure and simple, and not the stuff of a national crisis. But when identity thieves get sophisticated and use the power of the digital revolution to leverage their operations, such fraud could become massive. Many financial institutions pull thousands of credit reports each day. And most of them have Web access to credit reports. So if a thief were able to score a password from a big bank, it would be fairly simple to write a computer program allowing someone to log in with the bank's ID and download thousands of these reports in a heartbeat.

INEXCUSABLE RESISTANCE. Identity theft's direct cost is already considerable -- police estimated that the latest ring defrauded victims of at least $2.7 million, and investigators aren't done counting. Indirect costs could be even higher in lost productivity. If the problem isn't checked, many thousands of victims over the next decade will have to take on the equivalent of a second full-time job cleaning up their credit histories. This latest case had 30,000 victims -- that's the size of Cisco Systems' workforce.

Consumers can now pay between $70 and $80 a year to receive timely e-mail updates of any activity on their credit report. An important step toward fuller disclosure, yes, but more should be done. There are three main credit agencies today -- TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. As anyone trying to get a credit card these days can attest, credit approvals and denials are coming faster and faster thanks to high-speed data links.

A savvy thief could do a lot of damage by applying for a credit card or loan and using a report through, say, TransUnion, but not Equifax or Experian. Even if you're paying Equifax for the updates, you might not find out until it's too late. Yet, the three credit agencies have resisted creating a unified format to allow consumers to easily observe changes in any of the three profiles. If credit agencies won't act, then the federal government should step in and mandate changes.

Then, there's the issue of snail mail vs. e-mail for notifying consumers of suspicious activity involving their credit history. More than half the U.S. population now has an e-mail address, and such correspondence is free. The rest of the country could be contacted via regular mail -- an expensive process, but one that should be considered a cost of doing business.

On their Web sites, each of the three credit-reporting agencies should offer to send consumers an e-mail notification whenever their credit reports change. They could even charge a nominal fee for the service. The fees that Equifax and Experian now charge for timely updates are way too high. This shouldn't be a profit center. In the Digital Age, this should be a universally available service, just like a dial tone.

SECURING ACCESS. As I have pointed out in past columns, American Express provides an ideal model. Whenever someone makes an account change, Amex sends a letter informing its customer of it. If the customer changes address, Amex sends a letter to both the old and the new addresses. That would tip off a customer to any untoward changes. Applied to e-mail, the same principle works beautifully. Yet credit agencies don't collect e-mail addresses. That, too, should change. All credit agencies would have to do is send out letters to consumers requesting their e-mail address. A consumer response would be voluntary.

None of this is to say the credit-reporting outfits aren't concerned. Equifax played a major role in helping to break up the Long Island identity-theft ring. After years of consumer complaints and government prodding, they're allowing individuals easier access to their credit histories than ever before. But the age of ubiquitous connectivity and high-speed information movement means high-speed identity crime will likely become more damaging. The best way to combat this scourge is by making access to credit histories tougher for thieves -- and easier for individuals.

December 2, 2002 reply from Linda Kidwell [lak@NIAGARA.EDU]

Having been a victim of small-scale identity theft myself, I always use the experience as a teaching tool in auditing. It points out the dangers of using social security for identification and the cost of poor internal controls for banks. If you like war stories, read on . . .

When I applied for a mortgage in 1996, I was told there was an $8,000 charged off account on my credit record. I did some detective work and figured out the story. While a faculty member at LSU-Shreveport in 1994, I went to LSU-Baton Rouge to visit the library. Seeing that we honored their faculty tags in Shreveport, I incorrectly assumed that Baton Rouge did the same. Of course I got a parking ticket, which I threw away in disgust. Because I had been a doctoral student, though, they had my license in their system and began sending bills to my old address. The problem? I didn't live there anymore, my forwarding order had expired some three years before, and worst, the billing contained my student i.d., which was my social security number.

At about the same time, Capital One (I still won't do business with them, and tell my students so) started sending credit card applications to that same address. Whoever lived there got both pieces of mail, put two and two together, and got a credit card in my name. She ran up several thousand dollars of debt and skipped out on the bill. I never heard of the account until I started applying for a mortgage here in New York.

So what were the internal control lapses at Capital One? First, they used severely outdated mailing lists, as I had not been living there for 3 years. Second, they obviously did not do a credit check on my social security number, as my name changed in 1991 and I had taken out a mortgage in Shreveport earlier that same year. This information was clearly stated on my credit report. Third, they made no effort to find me to collect the bill, since there were no records on my credit report that they had checked my report in the period following the fraudulent application. Fourth, after I had filed my affadavit disclaiming the debt and received a letter from Capital One absolving me (so I could get that mortgage here), they started trying to collect the debt from me. I received about five phone calls at work and at home from their collections department.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been, but as an accountant I was stunned by the compounding of fundamental failures of internal control at Capital One.

Of course now I staunchly refuse to give my social security number to anyone who does not have an absolute need to know, and I will not allow anyone to use it as the basis of an i.d. number for me.

And how about LSU? Did they get paid for the parking ticket? Once their bills found me in 1995, I wrote to dispute the bill three times and never heard back. I finally paid it to get a transcript! But I'm saving my snide letter to their development office until I know they've spent at least that much money trying to get some out of me. I save my alumna contributions for Smith College.

Whew! It always feels good to get that off my chest!

Linda Kidwell
Niagara Unversity

Bob Jensen's threads on identity theft are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm#IdentityTheft

December 3, 2002 message from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

I am constantly entertained by the whimsy exhibited by the designers of "internal controls" and "security measures" at major corporations.

Using "mother's maiden name" as a security measure is laughable. Give me an idea of what part of the country they are from, and give me ten minutes in a public library in that part of the country, and I can get you the maiden name of almost anyone you want. And for the last 10% of the population that I can't get from a public library, $5 at a state department of health will get it for me in less than 15 minutes. The time goes down if the individual in question (not his/her mother!) has an unusual last name. Foreign-born nationals might be a bit harder, however, but being near Washington DC, I still believe that within a day or two, I could get it if they have become U. S. Citizens in the last 50 years. If I had evil intent, I'd surely be willing to spend the 10 minutes or day or two it would take to abscond with someone's mother's maiden name.

Ditto with previous addresses. Most Americans are unaware of a reference book titled, "City Directory", which used to come out every year or two, for every single city in the country of any size. (Even Hagerstown Maryland!)

This series of directories started back before the turn of the century, and practically all public libraries have their old copies in their archives. The City Directory lists every house, by street and number, and gives the owner, renter, and current occupant, their occupation(s) and employer(s), children's names, and in many cases, lots of other information, too.

Most city directories are cross-indexed by name. I have used city directories in Savannah GA, Hagerstown MD, Statesboro GA, Atlanta, Greensboro NC, Spartanburg SC, and Jacksonville FL to ascertain a LOT of information about my ancestors. Baltimore Maryland even has their 1864 city directory on-line... I used it a few days ago to discover that my great-great grandfather was a "hatter" whose haberdashery was located at 329 Broadway in 1864. On the Internet! Take a look at: http://www.bcpl.net/~pely/1864/

By using city directories in sequence, you can discover the approximate dates (year) your relatives moved, married, divorced, had children, and died. With the approximate dates, you can then go to state offices and get copies of the certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorcement, and other stuff. You can find deeds, property transfers, liens, loans, judgments, and wills at the courthouses. You can look in newspapers for

announcements of births, marriages, movements, etc. Many old

newspapers' society columns even reported on vacations, trips to Europe, kids going to college (including which college and what major) and lots of other neat stuff.

(The public libraries keep microfilm copies of newspapers, in some cases, all the way back to the 1700s!)

As I've said before, so-called "Privacy advocates" in general, make me laugh (or scoff would be a better word) at their ignorance, not because I don't value privacy, but because the "information" they want to "keep secret" isn't secret at all. The analogy is that of "closing the barn door after the horse is gone." Depending on the city, lots of city directories are available right up to last year! You don't have to prove relations to get a copy of vital statistics certificates, either.

And calling from the home phone to ascertain identity is just as laughable. How many "tombstones" (or "pedestals") are there in your neighborhood? These are the little green boxes sticking up out of the ground containing telephone connections. Buy a $10 phone from radio shack, cut off the end of the modular cord, and put alligator clips on the red and green wires. Then, go to the tombstone nearest your "Target's" home, and under cover of darkness, use a screwdriver to get into the tombstone. If you are lucky, your target's phone wire pair will be identified. If not, it might take a couple of tries to find the right one. Clip your alligator clips onto the connection, and presto, you are "calling from the target's phone". (It helps if you drive a white minivan and dress in coveralls!) This is trespassing, and it is against the law. But it is almost as easy as running a red light, if you have criminal intent and blatantly disregard the laws, as do most individuals bent on stealing identity, stealing credit cards, and stealing other things!

I'm reporting this tongue-in-cheek. I don't actually do any trespassing, and I definitely do not suggest you try it. I merely want to make everyone aware of how easy it is for a rogue evil-doer to overcome the farcical "controls" which today's companies are passing off as "security measures".

Teaching our information security class is so rewarding because so many people take these "security measures" at face value and assume they are being protected when in fact, their environment is full of situations, like in the Snow White movie, where Dopey locks the vault and then hangs the key on a nail beside the door. Only by being aware of the ease with which an evil-doer can operate can we begin designing workable protections and controls.

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University

The University of Wisconsin is the site of the first higher education program in "product management" --- http://www.bus.wisc.edu/centerforproductmanagement/default_f.asp

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A December 1, 2002 message from one of my students on the topic of privacy on the Internet

I'm not sure if you've ever been to their site or not, but Double-Click is one of the companies that records the things people do and sites they visit. They claim that they don't actually record names or anything to allow them to identify you specifically. I think they use IP addresses. But on their website ( http://www.doubleclick.com/us/corporate/privacy/privacy/default.asp?asp_object_1=& ) they give you the ability to "opt-out" and no longer have your activities monitored by Double-Click and it's partners. I stumbled upon this a few years back and just thought I'd share it. Hope you had a good holiday.

Lonnie

Bob Jensen's threads on network security are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#SpecialSection

December 5, 2002 message from Jianwei Wang gta@chinagtait.com

Dear Prof. Robert E. Jensen :

Re: China Accounting, Finance, and Economic Research Databases and Customized Research Service

I am pleased to inform you a series of China-related accounting, finance (stock markets and banking), and economic databases for researchers have been developed by China Shenzhen GUOTAIAN Information Technology Co. (GTA), a specialized data supplier. GTA's databases are developed according to international standards with full consideration given to the peculiarities of the China environment.

In addition to developing and providing standardized products, GTA also offers a customized research service (CRS) for researchers around the world. Especially for PHD or Master student, we provide data and analysis according to your thesis's requirement with low costs in line with international standards. GTA provides all types of customized research data - from stock price data and the financial data of listed and non-listed firms to micro- and macro-economic data - according to specific requirements or needs. With high efficiency and very reasonable costs, GTA can become your RESEARCH ARM or ASSISTANT in China. Over 1100 professors, researchers, and Ph.D. students have been extensively used GTA's database and services. Quality and credibility are the most important commitment that we offer to all of our clients.

The example GTA standard databases include:

1. China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) Trading databases

The CSMAR databases provide comprehensive trading and financial statement data of all listed companies in China since their IPOs (1990-2002), and rigorously follows international standards. All of the source data have been rigorously checked and validated to ensure accuracy. Real-time tracking and updating ensure the continuity and comprehensiveness of the databases. The CSMAR databases were developed in co-operation with the CAFR Center of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The CSMAR Trading Database is comparable to CSRP, and has the following special characteristics:

(a). It provides the rate of return for individual stocks, the market rate of return, and the comprehensive market rate of return.

(b). It provides detailed changes in share capital for individual stocks.

(c). It details the allocation of individual stocks after listing.

(d). The trading data have been adjusted for the effects on share prices due to rights offerings and cash dividends, etc. The comparability and consistency of trading data are guaranteed.

2. China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) Financial Statement database

This database is comparable to Compustat, and contains the following special characteristics:

(a). It takes into consideration the peculiarities in development of accounting standards for China listed companies.

(b). Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy, reliability, compatibility, and user friendliness of the database.

(c). It records the detailed history of all data adjustments.

3. China Securities Investment Fund Research (CSIFR) Database

CSIFR database contains all of the useful data of China's investment funds, such as trading (volume and prices), financial data, fund holders, portfolios, returns on individual funds, daily (monthly) market returns adjusted in line with international standards, and premium (discount) ratio.

4. China's IPOs Research (CSIPOR) Database

CSIPOR database contains all of the detailed information and data items that are associated with over 1,000 China IPOs (compiled from over 1,000 original prospectuses).

5. China Listed Firms' Corporate Governance Research Database

The database covers executive compensation and ownership, changes of shares outstanding, changes of executives, and basic information about executives and board directors, etc.

6. China Disclosure System (CDS)

CDS system covers all of the annual reports, interim reports, list announcements, prospectuses, and temporary announcements of listed companies, as well as securities law and regulations. The system divides temporary announcements into 11 categories and 28 sectors.

7. China Mergers and Acquisitions Database

China mergers and acquisitions database provides detailed information that is associated with mergers and acquisitions, equity acquisitions, assets acquisitions, equity transfers, asset divestitures, swaps, and debt restructuring.

Other databases are: China commodity futures, stock market intra-day data, and various macro-economic and banking data. We can collect any data (if legal) requested by you. We can also conduct surveys and field studies in China for you according to your request. Or help you arrange interviews in China.

GTA has been serving over 1,100 international scholars and researchers from more than 70 prestigious educational and professional institutions, such as Shanghai Exchange£¬ Yale University, New York University, University of California at Irvin, University of Reading(UK), San Francisco State University, University of Pittsburgh, the National University of Singapore, University of Waikato(NZ), Sydney University£¬the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Open University of Hong Kong£¬City University of Hong Kong£¬Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhongshan University, Jilin University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, South Western University of Finance and Economics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xiamen University, Jinan University, Sichuan University, Nanjing University, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Hunan University, Guangzhou University, Fuzhou University, Jiaxing Collegue, Tianjin University.

For free sample databases, manuals, brochures, and more information, please contact us or visit our website: http://www.chinagtait.com/

Sincerely yours,
Mr. Jianwei Wang
Vice President for Marketing and Customized Research Service Shenzhen Guotaian IT Co.
Tel: 86-755-83940081
Fax: 86-755-83940070
Email:gta@chinagtait.com

Online greetings were once considered a free and relatively harmless alternative to paper cards. Now companies are charging users to send them, and recipients have to worry about fake e-cards that carry viruses --- http://www.wired.com/news/holidays/0,1882,56462,00.html

Nearly two weeks after posting a faulty patch for several security vulnerabilities in its RealPlayer and RealOne software, Real Networks has yet to release a working fix for the problems. And a security researcher says he has discovered five more vulnerabilities in the media players --- http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,743296,00.asp

A new global index dishes the dirt on government dishonesty. Can the Net help clean it up? --- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/view.html?pg=4

Merely passing laws won’t wash away the grime. Effective local ordinances scatter seeds of crime offshore, sprouting child porn in Japan (7.2), email scams in Nigeria (1.6), and desktop gambling everywhere from the UK (8.7) to Trinidad and Tobago (4.9). And “Internet ordinances” is an oxymoron.

The only antidote to bad information is good information coupled with the tools to tell one from the other. In this respect, the Net can hobble the slouching beast even as electronic communication extends its reach. Whistle-blowers who stand beyond the reach of repression can call the finance chief an extortionist – and they can do it on the Internet, for all to see. Internal reforms can also take advantage of the Net. In 2000, Chile started letting companies bid for government contracts online. Initial cost savings ranged from 2 to 10 percent, and everyone knows who’s supplying what to whom, and for how much.

Sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant. We may see a new arsenal of tools for civilized retaliation invented on the Net, for the Net. Not just Transparency.org (a good start), but online bribe tallies, Web-based maps that redline corrupt districts, and sweatshop databases keyed to product barcodes so consumers can make informed choices. Corruption has become globalized – but so has the power to defeat it.

Hi Bill,

Here are a few quotes and links on double swiping scams:

Waiters and store clerks can buy "skimming" devices to wear on their belts for purposes of "skimming" your credit card number and name on the way to a cash register --- http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/print/0,23102,2583624,00.html

The world is a swipe away --- http://www.spectacle.org/497/auren.html

Unscrupulous store owners can also double swipe your card. Look for "double swiping", which may indicate you will be charged twice for an item, or that your credit card's magnetic stripe is being copied for counterfeiting ---- http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/globe.16feb98.html

Nor is the creation of counterfeit credit cards. Through a technique known as double-swiping, a crooked merchant can duplicate the data on a credit card through an illegal device the size of a cigarette lighter that transmits the information and allows it to be copied. --- http://www.efc.ca/pages/media/globe.10dec99.html

Unscrupulous merchants have been "double swiping" cards or using other unsavory methods to rip-off debit card holders --- http://www.langleyadvance.com/01201/top5.htm

Hultquist said, citing the more-real possibility of a waiter double-swiping a Visa. He noted that most out-of-the-box servers have a built-in capacity for stringent security --- http://www.bcbr.com/dec3199/ereport2.htm

There are countless other such stories on the Web.

Bob Jensen

I read Bob's identity theft piece and it raised a question. How does double swiping of your credit card leave you vulnerable? It happens to me all the time. Usually with the excuse "it didn't read."

William.Mister@colostate.edu

The AccountingWeb offers the following advice to protect your identity --- http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=86179

Don't carry your Social Security card, birth certificate, passport or extra credit cards. Carry only what you absolutely need.

Make sure your mail box is secure. If it isn't, rent a P.O. Box and have your new checks and credit cards sent to that location.

Cancel all credit cards you do not use. Keep a list or photocopy of all your credit cards so you can contact the company if the card should become lost or stolen. Remember, never give your credit card information out over the telephone unless you initiated the call and it is a company you trust.

On the back of your credit cards write the words 'Show ID' instead of signing them.

Order a credit report once a year. Study it! Make sure you know each company listed.

Add security fraud alerts to your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus.

Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits Statement once a year. Review it for any fraud.

Shield that screen when using an ATM machine. Criminals may be watching with binoculars or a camera. CAREFULLY select your PIN. Don't use obvious numbers like birthdays, social security numbers or consecutive numbers.

Ask your financial institution for extra security on your account. Pick a special word or code that only you would know (no, not your mother's maiden name).

Never print your Driver's License or Social Security number on your checks.

Review credit card statements and phone bills (including cell phone bills) for any unauthorized use.

Shred or tear into small pieces all of those pre-approved credit offers. If you fill out credit or loan applications, find out how the company disposes of those forms. You would be amazed how many businesses and banks don't shred documents that are filled with your important information.

When filling out checks, use a fine-point permanent marker. This prevents check washing, which erases your writing and allows the criminal to write his own check that has already been signed by you.

Pay your bills by electronic bill payment. They are assured to be paid on time without ever having to write a check.

Bob Jensen's threads on identity theft are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm#IdentityTheft

Good Teaching is Like Healthy Eating

Hi XXXXX

My threads on learning and assessment are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm

You have asked an extremely difficult question. It is difficult mainly because success of any pedagogy is about 95% dependent upon context and instructor interaction with the pedagogy. Take the case method to the extent that it is the dominant pedagogy at the Harvard Business School. Harvard generally will hire and retain only business professors who are masters at the case method (virtually no lectures). In general Harvard professors can pull off the case method pedagogy that may fail miserably with more than half of the other business professors around the world. One reason is the mature age and business experience of the typical business student at Harvard. Another reason is the tremendous support staff at Harvard for both developing cases and helping professors do a better job teaching via use of the case method.

My point is that use of any learning and teaching technology, including PowerPoint, depends upon both the context and the instructor. A great lecturer may pull of use of PowerPoint as an aid, but the lecture may contain only about ten slides, particularly slides with graphic images. It is very difficult for students if the instructor presents a succession of many slides such as 20 or more slides, especially slides filled with text. There is evidence that occasional images in a lecture, including short video clips, help student retention in long-term memory. Rapid succession of PowerPoint images or long video clips in the classroom may destroy this retention advantage.

My own experience is that lectures and PowerPoint aids are things that I increasingly want to get away from in the classroom. Fortunately, I teach in an electronic classroom where each student has a computer. I try to only lecture for a bit and then put the students to work to show me what they have learned. Instead of PowerPoint, I usually teach from Excel, Internet Explorer, or some other software relevant to the class topics for the day. Increasingly I try to devote class time to active rather than passive learning.

But reduced lectures in the classroom do not mean that I do not lecture more than ever. I do lecture using Camtasia. I assign my Camtasia video lectures before class, but most of my video lectures are optional. Students can play the videos before or after class at their own discretion and learning paces. I have a Camtasia tutorial and some sample lectures available online at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm

There is very little evidence that technology improves grades, although there is evidence from some serious experiments like the SCALE project at the University of Illinois that students who never meet in traditional classrooms perform as well (and sometimes better) using distance education technology than students who are assigned to traditional classrooms (where the same instructors teach both the online and live classrooms). See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#Illinois
You can also listen to Dan Stone's MP3 audio evaluation and download his PowerPoint slides about the SCALE experiments --- http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000cpe/00start.htm

There is some evidence that technology includes the pace of learning. If highly motivated students know what is expected of them for high grade, they will generally learn by any means at their disposal such that it becomes very difficult to conduct double blind studies showing that students consistently get higher grades under one pedagogy versus another. Even if such results were found for Professor X teaching Class Y under alternative pedagogy, it is extremely difficult to extrapolate the research outcomes to any other professor or any other course.

If anything can be said about technology aids to learning it is that, when properly used, technology aids tend to increase the pace of learning such that students may learn faster but not necessarily perform better on examinations for the course. But overuse of a good thing may destroy the benefits. For example, PowerPoint may be a terrific lecture aid as long as it is not used to a fault. Lectures themselves can be a good thing as long as they are not used to a fault. Cases can be a good thing as long as the students have the backgrounds and resources to solve the cases on their own. Camtasia and other video aids can be a good thing as long as they are high quality and students have access to computers that can play the videos.

I suspect that what I am saying is that good teaching is like healthy eating --- all good things in moderation. Variety can make the mind and the body more healthy and fulfilled. You are correct in thinking that PowerPoint can improve your lectures and help students retain what you are teaching providing you use both the lecture method and the number of slides in moderation. Do consider putting more of your live lectures and PowerPoint shows into Camtasia such that students use these lectures outside the classroom at their own learning paces. Consider using more classroom time for student feedback where students show you and other students what they have learned before class on very technical issues.

And lastly, I want to warn you that good teaching is not always popular teaching. Good teaching generally requires that professors pass more and more of the learning responsibilities to the students, i.e. by forcing students to learn more and more on their own. Students prefer that their instructors do all of the hard work.

Popular teaching generally requires more spoon feeding. Spoon feeding increases the probability of high student evaluations and worse long-term knowledge retention --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/265wp.htm

My advice to teachers is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm

Hope this helps!

Bob Jensen

-----Original Message-----
From: XXXXX
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 9:40 PM
To: Jensen, Robert Subject: Information

Looking for articles on the effectiveness of power point presentations in the classroom (community college/nursing) I am being highly critized by my supervisor for using power point and furnishing my students with hand outs of the presentation as well as emailing my students lecutres ahead of class. In a environment that would rather make the students write every thing that the lecture says than have them highlight important concepts or information. Some students like the power point, others are bored with handouts and power point

So I am looking for information that might help me with meeting the needs of all my students as well as get my supervisor off my back.

If you don't mind and would have the time, could you give me some suggestions. Attaching a presentation for your review.

Found your web site and articles on line in my search.

XXXXX

December 3, 2002 reply from Professor XXXXX (Repeated here because it is informative about the culture of higher education.)

Yes, your words of wisdom do help. I can see it from an objective view point. If anything I want to be the good teacher not the popular one and constantly strive to improve and make the necessary adjustments. I entered the community college teaching at a late age in life. I have been teaching 3 1/2 yrs at the CC level and prior to that the high school level. I have learned so much in the last three years. What works well at one school doesn't necessarily mean it will work at the next. Have taught in Miami, Hawaii and now here in Gainesville Fl. You would think being in a university town that the cc would be more progressive but not so, at least not in the school of nursing. Some faculty will not even open their email unless forced to do so. They simply don't like computers. Most have been here for 25 to 30 yrs. Looking back I kind of wished I never left Miami. The campus I was on was very progressive with technology and urged the faculty to reach for the sky. Now find myself in a non progressive environment. You would think at my age (57) when one should be retiring I would be glad but I am only getting started and get excited with leaning how to use technology in the classroom. Have been looking into the Capella and Nova programs for Instructional Design for ONline learning. Don't know which program I will go with. I would very much like to teach online courses. Guess I will be walking across the stage with my cane when I finally earn the PhD. I will check out your web sites that you mentioned in the email and will reevaluate my use of PowerPoint. Honestly have become so comfortable with it (kinda like a security blanket) to keep me on tract when I lecture. Again thanks for the words of wisdom.

December 9, 2002 reply from Paul Polinski [pwp3@PO.CWRU.EDU]

Bob:

Your thoughts brought to mind a column from the most recent issue of MIT's Technology Review about Innovation and Teaching. A snippet of this column (the only part of it that is "free" content for nonsubscribers at this point in time) appears below. The snippet clearly summarizes the tone of the column: Innovations are not successful and aren't widely adopted without training on how to use that innovation.

This seems to apply equally to innovations in teaching itself. Good teaching indeed does require that students take on more of the effort and responsibility in learning. However, when using innovative methods that enable students to do this, we tend to have to do much more work up front. As with the palm pilot, this is effectively done when we enable students to learn by providing the richness of class environment needed for such learning and effective use.

In my experience, students realize that using innovative and more effective teaching methods involves an investment from teachers, and reward the effectiveness where it is warranted. When I first tried to teach cases to students who hadn't seen much of them, I simply required students to read the case, and then tried (in vain) to induce discussion. My evaluations were quite low. The second time around, I took the time to introduce the learning method to the students and introduce different structures to the discussions that "magically" turned similar students into interested discussants. Evaluations for that term were much better.

"In the Weeds" column By Michael Schrage December 2002/January 2003
MIT Technology Review --- http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/schrage1202.asp

Ease of Learning: An innovation isn't any good if it's a bad teacher.

My cell phone has taught me nothing. On the other hand, my Palm personal digital assistant has been an excellent tutor. Both gadgets are loaded with features I have yet to tap. Both come with instruction manuals thicker than the devices themselves.

But unlike my phone, the Palm helps me learn how to use it better. The cleverly designed Graffiti training function encourages me to practice my digital penmanship so that I can enter data faster. My cell phone gives me virtually no cues or clues for using it. I have to read the poorly written manual or badger friends. I am sure that I use less than 20 percent of the phone’s capabilities.

December 2, 2002 message from http://ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf/US/EY_Faculty_Connection

Welcome to the second issue of EY Faculty Connection-an electronic newsletter distributed to faculty and business school administrators at Ernst & Young's strategic campuses.

As you may have seen in our first issue, sent in June 2002, our goal is to present information that's relevant to you and your colleagues. If we could "hit closer to home" on a subject of interest to you, please let me know by replying to this e-mail.

To launch your copy of EY Faculty Connection, click on the link below, or copy and paste the address into your Internet browser.

http://ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf/US/EY_Faculty_Connection

There are other Ernst & Young resources available to you as well--at your fingertips. For up-to-date information that you might find useful in working with your students, planning your curriculum, mentoring or counseling, or just keeping up with what's going on around Ernst & Young, please visit our Web site: http://www.ey.com. You will find a wealth of information there.

As always, we appreciate your interest in Ernst & Young and look forward to working with you and your university.

All of us here hope you have a fulfilling and successful academic year.

Best regards,

Lisa P. Young
Americas Director of Recruiting
Ernst & Young

A pioneering -- and maligned -- Internet-only law school debuts its first graduating class. Despite the school's lack of bar association accreditation, its grads look forward to practicing law.

"Law Grads Online, Bar None," by Julia Scheeres, Wired News, November 21, 2002 --- http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56512,00.html

Despite the traditionalists who pooh-poohed its very existence, the country's pioneering Internet law school will debut its first class of Juris Doctorates on Thursday at a graduation ceremony in Los Angeles, where the virtual institution has a physical office.

The event marks the third time the students and faculty of Concord Law School have met face-to-face in four years. Ten of the 14 graduates are expected to attend the ceremony, which will feature media mogul Barry Diller as the keynote speaker and will be webcast on Concord's website.

Both the American Bar Association and the California Bar Association have refused to accredit the school, charging that law students can't get a proper education online. This lack of recognition means that Concord students can only ply their trade in the handful of states that don't require attorneys to graduate from ABA-accredited schools.

But that impediment didn't phase Roberto Lee, a 62-year-old general surgeon from Wytheville, Virginia, who studied law at night after long days stooped over operating tables, often subsisting on three hours of sleep.

Like many Concord students, Lee plans to use his legal knowledge to complement an existing career, counseling patients on handling tight-fisted insurance companies.

"This is a dream come true," said Lee, who will attend the graduation with his wife and four kids, two of whom are lawyers themselves. "Hopefully this will allow me to help my patients get the care they need."

Concord students convened in California to take the First Year Students' Law Exam (aka the "baby bar") and to attend a career forum. In February, they'll meet a final time to take the state's grueling three-day General Bar Exam. (California is unusual in that the state doesn't require law students to attend an accredited school to take the exam.)

Continued at - http://wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56512,00.html

Note: The following paragraphs are only excerpts from the entire article.

Those of us in U.S. colleges and universities have had the luxury of experimenting with new ways to use these technologies to engage students in academic activities, and we have learned a great deal. But I believe there are several trends that will influence the next stage of what we do with these technologies. Because of radical shifts in the economy and because of the flexibility offered by e-learning, both students and the institutions that serve them are approaching education differently. This suggests that we need to rethink some of our fundamental practices and we need to consider the most critical roles of e-learning in the mission of the U.S. educational system.

Although I do not anticipate immediate radical changes, right now higher education expenditures are being reduced at both public and private institutions. Most states are facing either revenue shortfalls or projected overspending in areas like Medicaid. Some states are facing both. The most vulnerable areas for state cuts in spending are typically transportation and higher education. In a survey conducted by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (http://www.sheeo.org) in June 2002, only twenty-three states had finalized budget information available. Of these twenty-three states, 39 percent had cuts to the postsecondary budgets from the levels of the previous year. Another 30 percent had a less than 1 percent increase in the appropriations. Though the survey did not reflect information on what will happen in the other twenty-seven states, it is unlikely to be very good for higher education budgets. To make matters even more interesting, historical precedent suggests that the cuts could keep coming. In an audio briefing, staff at the National Conference of State Legislators (http://www.ncsl.org/) pointed out to WCET members¹that even though the recession of the early 1990s was declared over in 1991, the effects on state budgets were most profound in 1992.

It is not only the public higher education institutions that are being affected by the current economy. Dartmouth University announced that it will be cutting its budget for the next fiscal year to make up for losses in its endowment.² The endowment investments lost money, whereas the budget planners had assumed a reasonable return on those investments. Smaller private institutions are seeing their costs rise, and many are finding it difficult to raise their fees at a concomitant rate while competing for the best students.

Sharing Academic Materials

The current economic situation may well push those in higher education to be more creative in how they develop new electronically mediated learning materials. Colleges and universities may be reaching a point where not everyone can afford to do everything. Not every member of a faculty needs to develop and support electronic course materials. Campuses need to find ways to share electronic courses. Although faculty members have experience using the same textbook at several campuses, few have experience using imported electronic course materials. A couple of decades ago, the Annenberg/CPB Projects developed an impressive array of electronic course materials, some of which have been updated and are still in use at institutions through arrangements with their public broadcasting stations. These materials supplement textbooks, instructors' guided support of students, and their assessment. The creation, dissemination, and support for these course materials were centralized.

Banding Together

Another response to the economic realities of designing and supporting electronic learning resources has been the formation of consortia. Over the last five years, there has been an explosion in the number of institutions that are working together to share resources in e-learning. These consortia are taking many forms. Many are based on state geographical boundaries. Some are designed to assist the institutions in the availability of on-line services. Some are focused on ensuring that the citizens of the particular state have all the services they need. For example, a Connecticut consortium was formed to help institutions save resources as they entered the e-learning world. Among other activities, the consortium staff arranges collective buying services from vendors so that each institution saves some money but also a lot of time by not having to go through individual procurement processes.⁸

Shifts in Student Mobility

Even a decade ago, about half of U.S. students did not take all their classes from a single institution. By 1994, almost half of students who had begun college in 1989 had enrolled in more than one institution.⁹ Examining national transcript data only a few years later, Clifford Adelman found that 54 percent of those students who ultimately earned baccalaureate degrees had attended two or more institutions; 19 percent had attended three or more. He also found many instances of simultaneous enrollment at multiple institutions and of "reverse transfer" from four-year to two-year institutions.¹⁰ This tendency to move among institutions has been called "swirling," and the colleges and universities through which such students "swirl" may not even be aware of one another. The phenomenon is hard to track because most of the data on student enrollment behavior in higher education come from institutions, not students. But it seems highly unlikely that the trend has slowed in recent years.

Critical E-Learning Goals

In his report for the academic year 2000-2001, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Charles M. Vest, considered the following question: "How is the Internet going to be used in education, and what is your university going to do about it?" Part of his answer was to declare that "inherent to the Internet and the Web is a force for openness and opportunity that should be the bedrock of its use by universities." Vest added: "We now have a powerful opportunity to use the Internet to enhance [the] process of conceiving, shaping, and organizing knowledge for use in teaching. In so doing, we can raise the quality of education everywhere."¹²

MIT responded to this opportunity by beginning the OpenCourseWare (OCW) project (http://www.web.mit.edu/ocw/index.html). Through OCW, over the next ten years MIT will post on the Web the substance of more than two thousand courses. It will make the course materials available to anybody, anywhere in the world, at no cost thanks to support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. OCW will not, however, offer online courses. The typical content for a course will consist of lecture notes, course outlines, reading lists, assignments, and similar course elements, as well as experiments, demonstrations, and students' work. A critical aspect is that the course materials will be in their context of course sequences and programs. MIT's academic offerings will be fully exposed to the world.

Summary

There are three critical trends on the state, national, and international educational horizon. The first trend relates to the level of e-learning activity in colleges and universities: it seems to have reached a threshold point. Institutions have moved way beyond a few courses being available at a few campuses. Crossing the threshold has resulted in serious attention being paid to e-learning by state and national policy-makers. They are expressing concerns about quality assurance and fiscal accountability. The U.S. Congress will be considering new higher education reauthorization legislation and may open up financial aid to e-learners in ways not previously available. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has education services, including e-learning, on its negotiation docket.

In the second trend, institutional planners are beginning, just beginning, to sort out the complexities of using Web tools to restructure many campus services. This is true not just of the academic programs but of all the nonacademic as well. Campus leaders are beginning to rethink the whole support structure for students, requiring some serious adjustments of traditional management systems.¹⁵

The final trend involves the growing interest in finding a way to share online academic materials. Replicating everything that has been done online not only is costly but also makes very little sense. Planners at smaller or less-well-financed institutions are seeking ways to get access to these materials through partnerships, consortia, and licensing agreements. In several developing countries, college and university personnel are already passively using Web-based academic materials, created by individuals who never envisioned that particular use of their materials. The international academic community is starting to find ways to create interactive relationships around these resources.

Each of the above trends has implications for how colleges and universities "do business." As in all times of radical change, many different approaches are being tried. Some will fail, but some will show promise and will suggest steps beyond the ones now being contemplated. I feel certain that in twenty years, the U.S. higher education system will look quite different. I suspect that overall, it will be more diverse in scope, offering students more options. I also think that individually, most institutions will have a narrower set of activities. Finally, I anticipate that institutions will have much more formal sharing relationships, which I hope will not be limited by national boundaries. I will check back in 2022.

Notes

¹    WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications) was founded by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in 1989. WCET's members are higher education institutions, state agencies, and non-profit and for-profit organizations from forty-six states and six countries.

²    Martin Van Der Werf, "Endowment Losses Force Dartmouth to Cut Its Budget," Chronicle of Higher Education, August 26, 2002.

⁸   Rhonda Epper and Myk Garn are currently developing a report on these statewide "virtual universities." The study, jointly sponsored by SHEEO and WCET, should be available early in 2003.

⁹    Alexander C. McCormick, Transfer Behavior among Beginning Postsecondary Students: 1989-94, OERI Publication #NCES 97-266 (Washington D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

¹⁰    Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Toolbox: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment (Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 1999).

¹²    Charles M. Vest, "Disturbing the Educational Universe: Universities in the Digital Age--Dinosaurs or Prometheans?" Report of the President for the Academic Year 2000-01 (MIT, 2001), <http://web.mit.edu/president/communications/rptoo-01.html> (accessed September 12, 2002).

¹⁵    For further information about campus restructuring of student support services, see "Beyond the Administrative Core: Creating Web-Based Student Services for Online Learners," developed from a U.S. Department of Education, Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnerships (LAAP) grant to WCET, <http://www.wiche,edu/telecom/projects/laap/index.htm> (accessed September 13, 2002).

From Syllabus News on November 29, 2002

Vanderbilt Holds MBA eHealth Strategy Contest

Vanderbuilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management opened its 2003 eStrategy Contest last week, a competition to award $25,000 to a team of MBA students which develops the best e-health care strategy based on a select case. The contest, co-sponsored by Roche Diagnostics, an Indianapolis company specializing in diagnostic systems, is open to graduate students around the world. The winner will be announced during the final round of competition in Nashville in February 2003. Bill Christie, dean of the Owen school, said e-Health was chosen as the focus on the contest this year, “due to the rapid speed with which the Internet is transforming the healthcare industry. We believe the healthcare industry can benefit from the strategic insights from graduate students who truly understand the future of the Internet.”

For more information, visit: http://www.estrategycontest.com

Dreamer of the Week
A university professor wants to create a catalog of human ideas. Not just a few choice ideas, but all of them. He believes this "mental map" will help bridge the gaps between the world's cultures.

"Now Here's a Really Big Idea," by Kristen Philipkoski, Wired News, November 25, 2002 --- http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,56374,00.html

The scope of human ideas is infinite, some might say. But one researcher says he can count them, and he intends to do just that.

Darryl Macer, associate professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences at the University of Tsukuba in Japan, plans to create a human mental map -- a database that would contain a log of every human idea.

Macer formally proposed in the November 14 issue of Nature that researchers from various disciplines, including genetics, sociology and history, meet next year in Japan to discuss the project.

"If we define an 'idea' as the mental conceptualization of something -- including physical objects, an action or sensory experience -- then the number of objects in the universe of a living being is finite," Macer said in an e-mail interview from his Tokyo office.

But at least one expert believes Macer's premise is flawed. The notion that people can think of an unlimited number of ideas is part of what keeps humans -- and scientists, in particular -- going as they strive to understand the world around them, said Robyn Shapiro, director of the Center for the Study of Bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

"I think that's inaccurate and depressing and certainly not what drove us to move from Galileo to Jamie Thompson (the first scientist to isolate stem cells)," Shapiro said.

But Macer believes that the number of ideas is, in fact, finite and that they should be counted.

As globalization increases, the geographic, economic and cultural barriers between nations become less significant, while international agreements and treaties become more important, he said.

That's where he believes his mental map can offer help.

Continued at http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,56374,00.html

New books and other publications from EDUCAUSE --- http://www.educause.edu/pub/

December 5 message from Jianwei Wang gta@chinagtait.com

Dear Prof. Robert E. Jensen :

Re: China Accounting, Finance, and Economic Research Databases and Customized Research Service

I am pleased to inform you a series of China-related accounting, finance (stock markets and banking), and economic databases for researchers have been developed by China Shenzhen GUOTAIAN Information Technology Co. (GTA), a specialized data supplier. GTA's databases are developed according to international standards with full consideration given to the peculiarities of the China environment.

In addition to developing and providing standardized products, GTA also offers a customized research service (CRS) for researchers around the world. Especially for PHD or Master student, we provide data and analysis according to your thesis's requirement with low costs in line with international standards. GTA provides all types of customized research data - from stock price data and the financial data of listed and non-listed firms to micro- and macro-economic data - according to specific requirements or needs. With high efficiency and very reasonable costs, GTA can become your RESEARCH ARM or ASSISTANT in China. Over 1100 professors, researchers, and Ph.D. students have been extensively used GTA's database and services. Quality and credibility are the most important commitment that we offer to all of our clients.

The example GTA standard databases include:

1. China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) Trading databases

The CSMAR databases provide comprehensive trading and financial statement data of all listed companies in China since their IPOs (1990-2002), and rigorously follows international standards. All of the source data have been rigorously checked and validated to ensure accuracy. Real-time tracking and updating ensure the continuity and comprehensiveness of the databases. The CSMAR databases were developed in co-operation with the CAFR Center of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The CSMAR Trading Database is comparable to CSRP, and has the following special characteristics:

(a). It provides the rate of return for individual stocks, the market rate of return, and the comprehensive market rate of return.

(b). It provides detailed changes in share capital for individual stocks.

(c). It details the allocation of individual stocks after listing.

(d). The trading data have been adjusted for the effects on share prices due to rights offerings and cash dividends, etc. The comparability and consistency of trading data are guaranteed.

2. China Stock Market & Accounting Research (CSMAR) Financial Statement database

This database is comparable to Compustat, and contains the following special characteristics:

(a). It takes into consideration the peculiarities in development of accounting standards for China listed companies.

(b). Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy, reliability, compatibility, and user friendliness of the database.

(c). It records the detailed history of all data adjustments.

3. China Securities Investment Fund Research (CSIFR) Database

CSIFR database contains all of the useful data of China's investment funds, such as trading (volume and prices), financial data, fund holders, portfolios, returns on individual funds, daily (monthly) market returns adjusted in line with international standards, and premium (discount) ratio.

4. China's IPOs Research (CSIPOR) Database

CSIPOR database contains all of the detailed information and data items that are associated with over 1,000 China IPOs (compiled from over 1,000 original prospectuses).

5. China Listed Firms' Corporate Governance Research Database

The database covers executive compensation and ownership, changes of shares outstanding, changes of executives, and basic information about executives and board directors, etc.

6. China Disclosure System (CDS)

CDS system covers all of the annual reports, interim reports, list announcements, prospectuses, and temporary announcements of listed companies, as well as securities law and regulations. The system divides temporary announcements into 11 categories and 28 sectors.

7. China Mergers and Acquisitions Database

China mergers and acquisitions database provides detailed information that is associated with mergers and acquisitions, equity acquisitions, assets acquisitions, equity transfers, asset divestitures, swaps, and debt restructuring.

Other databases are: China commodity futures, stock market intra-day data, and various macro-economic and banking data. We can collect any data (if legal) requested by you. We can also conduct surveys and field studies in China for you according to your request. Or help you arrange interviews in China.

GTA has been serving over 1,100 international scholars and researchers from more than 70 prestigious educational and professional institutions, such as Shanghai Exchange£¬ Yale University, New York University, University of California at Irvin, University of Reading(UK), San Francisco State University, University of Pittsburgh, the National University of Singapore, University of Waikato(NZ), Sydney University£¬the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Open University of Hong Kong£¬City University of Hong Kong£¬Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University, Renmin University of China, the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhongshan University, Jilin University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, South Western University of Finance and Economics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xiamen University, Jinan University, Sichuan University, Nanjing University, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Hunan University, Guangzhou University, Fuzhou University, Jiaxing Collegue, Tianjin University.

For free sample databases, manuals, brochures, and more information, please contact us or visit our website: http://www.chinagtait.com/

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Mr. Jianwei Wang
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Tel: 86-755-83940081
Fax: 86-755-83940070
Email:gta@chinagtait.com

"Students Learning to Evade Moves to Protect Media Files," by Amy Harmon, The New York Times, November 27, 2002 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/27/technology/27SWAP.html

As colleges across the country seek to stem the torrent of unauthorized digital media files flowing across their campus computer networks, students are devising increasingly sophisticated countermeasures to protect their free supply of copyrighted entertainment.

Most colleges have no plans to emulate the Naval Academy, which last week confiscated computers from about 100 students who are suspected of having downloaded unauthorized copies of music and movie files. But many are imposing a combination of new technologies and new policies in an effort to rein in the rampant copying.

For our institutions this is a teachable moment," said Sheldon Steinbach, general counsel of the American Council on Education. "This is the time for them to step forward and demonstrate the value of intellectual property."

Some students may well emerge from educational sessions on copyright laws and electronic etiquette with a higher regard for intellectual property rights. But many of them are honing other skills as well, like how to burrow through network firewalls and spread their downloading activities across multiple computers to avoid detection.

"If you don't know how to do it, other people will just tell you," said Lelahni Potgieter, 23, who learned her file-trading techniques from an art student at her community college in Des Moines. "There's not much they can do to stop you."

Nevertheless, university administrators are trying, spurred on in part by a barrage of letters from entertainment companies notifying them of student abuses. Many entertainment concerns have hired companies to search popular file-trading networks for unauthorized files and track them to their source.

More pragmatic motivations, like the expense of large amounts of university's network bandwidth being absorbed by students' proclivity for online entertainment, are also driving the renewed university efforts.

Schools have closed off the portals used by file-trading services, installed software to limit how much bandwidth each student can use, and disciplined students who share media files. But nothing, so far, has proved entirely effective.

"It's an ongoing battle," said Ron Robinson, a network architect at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. "It's an administrative nightmare trying to keep up."

In a typical game of digital cat-and-mouse, Mr. Robinson said one of his first moves was to block the points of entry, or ports, into the network used by popular file-trading software like KaZaA.

But the newest version of the KaZaA software automatically searches for open ports and even insinuates itself through the port most commonly used for normal Web traffic, which must be kept open to allow some e-mail reading and other widely used applications to take place uninterrupted.

Even without KaZaA's help, students say they can easily use so-called port-hopping software to find a way past the university's blockades. So Mr. Robinson has rationed the amount of bandwidth that each student can use for file-trading activities.

Continued at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/27/technology/27SWAP.html

The KaZaA homepage is at http://www.kazaa.com/us/index.php

KaZaA Media Desktop is the number 1 peer-to-peer application which allows people around the world to share files.

Peer-to-peer (P2P)

Sharing and the P2P philosophy

How Kazaa Media Desktop works

Supernodes

Participation level

Security and viruses

Ratings and file integrity
Skins

Bob Jensen's P2P threads are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/napster.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on plagiarism are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/plagiarism.htm

November 29, 2002 message from CompAcct Solutions Ltd. [csl@COMPACCTSOLUTIONS.COM]

Our company has recently developed an entry level computer accounting program called Breeze Basic Bookkeeper. We have received a positive responce from educators who have tried the program. The program is designed around GAAP using an approach that you might find in a 1st year accounting textbook. The program was designed by an accountant to do basic bookeeping without the glitz and glitter that a lot of programs use to purposely hide basic accounting principles. You will see no flashy invoice or check screens in this program. Journal entries are made in standard Debit/Credit format in an easy to use Journal Form. The program has a Debit/Credit Helper to assist the beginner get orientated into the proper use of debits and credits.

You can download a Free Demo at http://www.compacctsolutions.com

The price of a single user license is US$69.95. However, Lab Discounts, which combine a volume and educational discount, are available by request for qualifying Educational Institutions. The lab discounts range from 45% to 65% depending on the number of users starting at a 5 user license. Send an email to csl@compacctsolutions.com for complete information on the discounts available and how to take advantage of the discounts.

Bryan

Bob Jensen's bookmarks on accounting software are available at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#010303Software%20and%20Instructional%20Aids

Microsoft seems to have gotten security religion, but its initiatives to convince users to blindly install every patch could create even more problems --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56490,00.html

Are Some Cognition Scholars Out of Control?

There's a smarter way to sell ketchup -- and cognitive scientists, la Jean Piaget, think they can show marketeers what it is --- http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/start.html?pg=2

Hitching all this academic horsepower to the commercial marketplace can seem pretty sinister, and some in the field are worried. Julie Sedivy, a professor of cognitive psychology at Brown, says her colleagues have gone too far into the pockets of advertisers and marketers – and she’s fighting back. She uses psycholinguistics to teach "critical thinking about language processing and advertising." The goal is to get students interested in the regulation of advertising, especially ads aimed at kids.

It’s not hard to imagine where cog-sci research may be leading us. Fieldwork at Ford dealerships? A Toys "R" Us Department of Cognitive Science? On a dark day not too far in the future, there may well be a team of academics monitoring the effect of Gogurt on the hippocampus. And you can bet KidLeo account executives will be taking notes.

Continued at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.12/start.html?pg=2

December 2, 2002 message from datamining@rti7020.etf.bg.ac.yu

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY's Director of Graduate Programs in Management & Systems at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Prof. Anthony R. Davidson, invites you to e-attend the next SYNCHRONOUS VoiceOverIP lecture in the "DISTINGUISHED e-LECTURER ON e-BUSINESS" series.

TUTORIAL ON DATAMINING FOR E-BUSINESS by PROF. DR. VELJKO MILUTINOVIC, Fellow of the IEEE, UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE, and associates.

AN NYU/SCPS CERTIFICATE WILL BE RECEIVED BY ALL WHO ATTEND

This tutorial is a must for all those who intend to use DATAMINING tools and algorithms to enhance the strategic management of their business. The lecture starts with introductory concepts and concludes with highly sophisticated solutions! Ideal for practitioners from the real world of business, as well as for students and teachers of any related subject. The only prerequisite is a rudimentary familiarity with the Internet. Prof. Dr. Veljko Milutinovic is known through his pioneering work on the 200MHz RISC microprocessor for DARPA, about a decade before Intel. He also created a number of novel algorithms and related accelerators (hardware, software, and system) for efficient datamining in e-business, and published over 20 books for major publishers in the USA.

Please, sign up for one of the following four identical 90-minute sessions (all times East Coast USA):

Section 1: DECEMBER 18, 2002 @ 6:00pm EST for East Coast USA Section 2: DECEMBER 19, 2002 @ 4:00am EST for Far East Section 3: DECEMBER 18, 2002 @ 12noon EST for EU Section 4: DECEMBER 19, 2002 @ 9:00pm EST for Pacific Coast USA

Please visit URL: http://www.scps.nyu.edu/departments/course.jsp?courseId=33791 for more information and to enroll. SPACE IS LIMITED TO 100 participants per session.

You will also be able to view the demo slides from the lecture, the demo learning text, and download 2 related papers of V. Milutinovic (from IEEE COMPUTER).

The full set of slides can be downloaded within 24 hours of the lecture.

IMPORTANT: SOUNDCARD AND SPEAKERS REQUIRED TO LISTEN TO THE LECTURE. IF YOU WISH TO ASK QUESTIONS THEN A MICROPHONE IS ALSO REQUIRED. YOU MUST HAVE A MINIMUM 56K CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET.

Deadline: December 13, 2002, at noon EST. After your credit card payment is processed, you will receive the URL for the session, your login/password, and the related cold-start guidelines.

If you have questions about the tutorial or for further details please reply to: datamining@rti7020.etf.bg.ac.yu

To call New York University in the USA: +212-998-9149

December 1, 2002 message from Dr. Mark H. Shapiro [mshapiro@irascibleprofessor.com]

"In time, the Cherokee would lose their Paradise to the settlers who came to the mountains of Appalachia. But long after they were gone, they would live on in the settlers hearts and minds and in the dark-brown eyes and the long black hair of mountain men and women.".... ...Tom Cordle, The Disappearing Cemetery (2002).

Cordle ... is a master story teller. Very few can make history come alive so vividly as Tom does. Read our review of his recently published book at:

http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-12-02-02.htm

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark H. Shapiro
Editor and Publisher
The Irascible Professor http://irascibleprofessor.com

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (American History) --- http://www.alincoln-library.com/Apps/default.asp

November 27, 2002 message from Tracey Sutherland [tracey@aaahq.org]

KPMG/THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BUSINESS MEASUREMENT AND RESEARCH PROGRAM http://accounting.rutgers.edu/raw/aaa/facdev/research/KPMG-UIUC2003.pdf

KPMG LLP, the KPMG Foundation, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) are pleased to invite research proposals to the Business Measurement Research Program (Program). The Program supports scholarly research on concepts, models, and practices in business measurement and assurance. KPMG LLP and the KPMG Foundation have pledged financial support for the Program's initial three-year term. The amount of the typical research grant awarded under the Program is expected to range from $50,000 to $100,000 (USD). The first submission period deadline is February 1, 2003.

As a part of the program, a number of teleconferences have been scheduled to facilitate the efforts of prospective authors. The second of the scheduled telephone conferences will take place on December 6th at 2:00 pm Eastern time. If you would like to participate, please contact Michelle Loyet at (217)333-4545 or mloyet@uiuc.edu to reserve a space. You will also be provided with a toll free number and a pass code to enter the call. For more information, see www.cba.uiuc.edu/kpmg-uiucresearch/index.htm .

"Three Criticisms of the Online Classroom: An examination of a higher education online course in computer-mediated communication,"
by Jennifer A. Minotti Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) Newton, Massachusetts, USA ---
http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/october2002/index.html#3

Learning Technology [ISSN 1438-0625] is published quarterly by the IEEE Computer Society Learning Technology Task Force (LTTF). It is available at no cost in HTML and PDF formats at http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/

Technological expertise, access to technology, additional time associated with participation, and the changing role of the instructor a just a few of the many issues the online classroom has changed (and often times inhibited) the ways students learn (Baym, 1995, Berge & Collins, 1996, Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, & Turoff, 1996). The three largest issues found to affect the way students participated in a single graduate level online course, are described below.

1. Large Time Commitment

Too much time was the biggest complaint heard by students. Nearly every participant in the class commented about the large time commitment the course required. Most all of the students also seemed surprised at how much more time the online class took up over traditional face-to-face courses. In addition, I observed that nearly every participant was late in completing at least one assignment. In fact, many students were late multiple assignments.

"Having taken previous online courses in addition to this one, I definitely feel that online courses, though they provide access otherwise not available, require much more of a time commitment than face-to-face classes. Not only do we have weekly assignments, but the added 'checking in,' dialoguing through the week, and often troubleshooting our technology is much more demanding than in a traditional classroom setting, where the class meets once or twice per week."

"…We might think it would be more convenient to participate in class wherever and whenever we wanted by means of the Internet. However…we are not free of having a location in learing--in fact we are more hinged to one spot (in front of the computer), because it is there that we must do all of our work for the class (course exploration of web sites, class projects, particpation in the newsgroup, reading of submissions to newsgroup). It does also seem to take more time to accomplish all that needs doing for an on-line course."

2. Dealing with Technical Problems

Technical and access issues remained the second largest criticism and a major challenge to students, despite the best laid plans for designing this course. In this class, students knowledge of and access to technology varied greatly. This presented huge obstacles to students, some of whom experienced trouble accessing the course right from the beginning. Other students experienced problems at different points in the class, which often made their learning experience frustrating.

"I'm a bit frustrated and caught by the technical setup and requirements. Feedback on the process of the course to date: We could have used the month of February to get this behind us. I have allocated 10 hours a week to this course, using a formula of three times the amount of face time, assuming a typical three hour per week class. My time has been eaten up by the technical setup. I'm having a technical glitch with my company firewall."

"Ugh…I feel like I have overcome some HUGE obstacles just by getting into this newsgroup. The frustration and anger levels have been high and I have recently caught myself yelling at my computer."

3. Lack of Facilitation by the Instructor

Lastly, a lot has been written about the critical role the instructor plays in ensuring online courses are successful (Baym, 1995, Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, & Turoff, 1996, Jones, 1995). In this class, students really wanted, needed, and valued an active instructor, one who was visible online providing feedback to their work, supporting and questioning their statements, encouraging participation, and keeping the class on track. When not online for several weeks at a time, several classmates become disheartened. In response to the survey question, "What were you most disappointed/surprised by?" two students wrote:

"The lack of interaction from the professor. We really only got 'guidelines' twice this semester which was odd. Given the topic of our class, computer-mediated communication with the professor should have been examined. …I never knew if I was 'wrong' or totally off-base."

"…It's lonely out here in VirtualLand. …I am missing our teacher in this space. I understand his desire for a logos however I'm not exactly sure that this group in in syn and heading toward the same goal."

Conclusion

Indeed, we have a long way to go before the higher education online classroom is as successful as our face-to-face classroom. This will of course take time and perseverance. It will also take a critical evaluation of what is working and not working in each course we design, deliver, and participate in.

References

Baym, N. (1995). The emergence of community in computer-mediated communication. In S. Jones, CyberSociety: Computer-mediated communication and community. California: Sage.

Berge, Z.L., & Collins, M.P. (Eds.) (1996). Computer mediated communiation and the online classroom, Volume III: Distance learning. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Harasim, L., Hiltz, S.R., Teles, L., Turoff, M. 1996). Learn/ing networks: A field guide to teaching and learning online. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Jones, S.G. (1995). CyberSociety: Computer-mediated communication and community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Jennifer A. Minotti Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) Newton, Massachusetts, USA jminotti@edc.org

Student Technology Assessment at the Global Level

Executive Summary

The goal of the Computer Literacy Project is to gain a better understanding of student perceptions on the nature of computer literacy. The Computer Literacy Project Survey was developed over the last three years as the foundation of research into advanced technology use in education research. I have been particularly interested in the nature of computer literacy at the university level and in differential notions of computer literacy across disciplines. The survey has been electronically distributed to universities in nine states in the U.S and five countries outside the U.S., see Table 1. This is the first time in the history of education research that such a systematic study on computer literacy has been carried out using the Internet and web-based technology that has reached international proportions. Reported here are preliminary results from two Australian universities, one university in Hong Kong and one university in the US.

Continued at http://lttf.ieee.org/learn_tech/issues/october2002/index.html#3

Bob Jensen's threads on the dark side of technology in education are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/theworry.htm

Fed's computers feebly protected (November 2002) --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56474,00.html

A server glitch makes internal Microsoft documents, including a massive database of customer names and addresses, accessible online (November 2002) --- http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,56481,00.html

Bob Jensen's threads on Internet security are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#SpecialSection

Kid Writers Writing Studio --- http://www.kidlink.org/KIDPROJ/Kidwriters/index.html

Although forecasters predict a lackluster holiday shopping season, many online retailers remain upbeat. Even if people are spending less, they predict a greater portion of dollars will be spent online --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56549,00.html

Everything is beautiful at the ballet --- http://ballet-ballett.com/

Murder Mystery

The Black Dahlia Solution --- http://blackdahliasolution.org

From Yahoo Picks of the Week on December 3, 2002

blo.gs http://www.blo.gs/

Weblogs continue to grow in popularity, no doubt in part to their immediacy. Denizens of the Internet enjoy the opportunity to drop by and catch an up-to-the-minute account on their favorite blog. However, nothing is more frustrating than encountering a cobwebbed blog that hasn't been updated in weeks. To remedy such situations, this site offers a minute-by-minute account of over 50,000 weblogs. It doesn't get fresher than this! For utility's sake, the site offers a tiny java applet that sits on your desktop and continually refreshes, keeping the weblogs whirring. You can also stop by the most popular blogs to see what kind of content is piquing the interest of others. Whether you're a neophyte or veteran blogger, you're sure to find an intriguing site or two to scour.

Bob Jensen's threads on Weblogs and blogs are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm

AbiWord 1.0.3 --- http://www.abisource.com/
A free open-source word processor that will run on virtually any computer.

"Teaching as a Clinical Profession: A New Challenge for Education," by Michael deCourcy Hinds, The Carnegie Corporation, 2002 --- http://www.carnegie.org/pdf/teachered.pdf

Facing the Challenge

In some ways, the timing could not be much better for remodeling the profession as a modern clinical one. Education remains a top public concern and, more than ever before, is considered both a key to the middle-class and a ladder out of poverty. At long last, the school reform spotlight is finally focusing on teaching. And with research clarifying the critical importance of teaching, it is no longer politically or morally acceptable to respond to the chronic shortage of qualified teachers by lowering standards for new teachers. Consequently, the urban teacher shortage and the very high attrition rate of beginning teachers nationwide are putting enormous pressure on policy- makers to raise teaching standards and salaries and improve working conditions.

President George W.Bush, in a recent radio address to the nation, put it simply:" The effectiveness of all education reform eventually comes down to a good teacher in a classroom. And America ’s teachers are eager to put higher standards into action, and we must give them the tools to succeed. My administration has set a great goal for our public schools: a quality teacher in every class- room."

The major barriers to an innovation of this scale include time, money, politics, public opinion and bureaucratic inertia. In addition,our highly decentralized education system —2.8 million teachers working in 90,874 public schools in 16,928 school districts —increases the magnitude and complexity of the challenge involved in remaking the teaching profession.

The challenge, of course, is greatest in poor urban and rural areas, says Levine at Teacher ’s College. To a limited degree, he says, affluent suburban school districts already treat teachers as modern clinical professionals, for these suburbs get their pick of the best prepared candidates and provide them with relatively good working conditions, supports and salaries. But poor rural and urban districts have the least to offer in terms of salary, working conditions and support —and consequently, they can ’t find enough well-qualified teachers. "Over the last 20 years of school reform," he says, "we have done a marvelous job of improving American suburban schools, but with a couple of debatable exceptions we have never succeeded in turning around any urban school system. We have a dual system of education, and the students who need the best teachers are faced with the least able teachers."

Unfortunately, inner city schools will not likely be staffed by modern clinical professionals until federal law requires it, Levine believes. "I ’ve come to favor an Education Bill of Rights that assures every child a qualified teacher, a safe school, a record for academic accomplishment and so on. Politicians know they need to talk about this issue, but don’t think they need to do anything about it, "Levine says. "People in the inner city don’t vote, and they are not on the street saying,‘I ’m mad as hell! I won ’t take it anymore! I won ’t send my kids to this school!’We need the same kind of response to inner city schooling that we had to voting."

Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that schooling is a state responsibility, there is a federal precedent for stepping in —the government requires schools to provide children with disabilities an adequate and appropriate education. Do children from disadvantaged families have a disability? Levine thinks so. No matter how change comes about, says Stanford ’s Darling-Hammond, the heart of the political problem is a lack of public understanding about the demands of teaching and the knowledge, skills and training that teachers need today. To change attitudes, she sees the need for lots of good research that stimulates public discussion about the impact of different policy choices and strategies. "Many policies have not been built on proof; we have got to have better data," she says. As an example, she says, "State and federal policymakers throw billions of dollars into quick fixes and silver bullets. If we spent as much on improving teacher quality as we currently do on expanding testing, we would have much higher student achievement. Not a single one of the top ten ranked states for student achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress had a high-stakes testing program in place during the 1990s,yet most of the states at the bottom of national rankings had high-stakes testing and it didn’t help them get out of the basement."

But teaching reforms of the kind advanced by Teachers for a New Era also require major investments. If beginning teachers, for example, start off with a lighter teaching load during their residency years, more teachers would have to be hired. If residency programs expand, schools of education would need to hire more faculty members. "It takes an enormous amount of faculty resources and there are already so many demands on people ’s time for running a good teacher education program, "says Elaine M. Stotko, chair of the Department of Teacher Preparation at Johns Hopkins University. "Steps for professionalization have got to be tied to more money. "And prospective teachers, she adds, can ’t be expected to pay any more, given what it already costs them to prepare for a generally low-paying profession.

Interestingly, Fallon, at Carnegie Corporation, believes the greatest obstacle to making teaching into a modern clinical profession will not be money, but bureaucracy. "I think there are enough funds in the system that could be reallocated for new priorities," he says. "The real challenge is to create a learning community where good practice gets replicated. Most school systems are not built to replicate success. Where there is innovation, these systems tend to stamp it out, even when that isn’t the intention. Innovation is threatening in a large bureaucracy."

In a similar vein, Fallon does not expect schools of education to swarm over Teachers for a New Era as a brilliant model for renewing the profession. More likely, Fallon says, if the initiative is successful, it will be because more and more K-12 schools seek to hire teachers in residency programs —as residents and their sponsoring institutions develop a record for improving student achievement. Over time, he says, residency programs could become commonplace if states require them as a component of teacher certification.

It ’s quite a challenge: remaking one of the nation ’s largest, most neglected and under-appreciated occupations into an elite, research-based profession capable of providing all children with a first-class education. Given the limited public understanding of what it takes to be an effective teacher today, the term "modern clinical professional "may strike many people as meaningless wordplay —and that confusion goes to the heart of the problem. Our misunderstanding about the value of teachers, and the demands and challenges they face, may be the biggest problem in American education. Solving it won ’t be easy, but an informed discussion is a good place to start. The strategy of strengthening colleges of education, as envisioned by Carnegie Corporation’s initiative, Teachers for a New Era,will help to focus the debate.

Find out who is accessing your Website!

NetChimes --- http://download.birnamlabs.com/index.php#netChimes
This is a free download!

The British Library: Turning the Pages --- http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/digitisation.html#
(Note the clever animations.)

Use these pages to discover more about the British Library's award winning interactive display system Turning the Pages:

About Turning the Pages: find out more about this project
Treasures: information about British Library treasures currently available in Turning the Pages.
History: a brief history of the Turning the Pages project.
Turn the pages online in Shockwave, with examples from Sultan Baybars' Qur'an and the Sherborne Missal.
(Download the latest version of Shockwave.)
News: the latest developments in Turning the Pages.

US Banking in the Last Fifty Years: Growth and Adaptation (History, Finance, Economics) --- http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/econ/archive/wp2002-19.pdf

DJs' Favorite Old Platters
Record Check --- http://www.turntablelab.com/features/record_check/rcmain/rc-main.html
(Navigate from the bottom of the screen.)

Geographic Gets in the E-Picture Society to Sell Its Images Online --- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38826-2002Nov25.html

Celebrating Twenty Years of Frontline (PBS Television) --- http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/twenty/

You can listen to free rock music if you're into that junk (am I getting old or what?)
Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music --- http://www.ishkur.com/features/music/guide.htm

The men accused of stealing thousands of Americans' credit reports and selling them to crooks who then looted bank accounts and racked up debt, apparently didn't know to stop when they were ahead --- http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,56593,00.html

Harvey Jacobs, a Washington, D.C., attorney, said the case highlights the need for major changes in the way credit bureaus handle consumer information.

"The fallout should certainly be much, much tighter controls over this information and who is allowed to access it," he said.

Jacobs suggested that all credit bureaus be required to fund an ombudsman-type consumer panel in each state to hear and try to resolve all credit-related fraud cases. The industry also needs to take responsibility for security breaches, he said.

"Without some form of major monetary incentive for credit card and/or credit bureaus to safeguard our credit info, like major fines and/or being held liable for the damages they cause, this is likely to happen over and over again," Jacobs said. "Yesterday's arrests prove how easy it is to access consumer credit information."

According to subpoenas released on Monday, Phillip Cummings (PDF), a help-desk worker at TCI, a company that provides hardware and software to credit reporting bureaus, was allegedly contacted in the summer of 2000 by a suspect (PDF) who introduced Cummings to the idea of accessing and then reselling consumer credit reports.

Under the guise of helping the customers work through software and hardware problems, Cummings obtained the codes companies used to request credit records.

Cummings is charged with selling those records to 20 "individuals of Nigerian descent living in New York," according to court documents.

Cummings left TCI in March 2000, but was still able to download credit reports using the codes he had obtained as an employee.

At one point Cummings set up at least three laptops with lists of purloined access codes and passwords, and passed the computers on to at least one cohort. Those who had access to the laptops could use the codes to easily request consumer credit records stored by the three major credit bureaus.

This easy access -- no longer did the criminals have to wait for Cummings to download and then pass along credit reports -- apparently encouraged them to get sloppy. The first crack in the case came when more than 15,000 credit reports were ordered over a very short period of time, ostensibly by Ford Motor Company.

Continued at http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,56593,00.html

Warning
"Identity thieves strike eBay," by Paula Festa, Wired News, November 22, 2002 --- http://news.com.com/2100-1017-966835.html

When Deborah Fraser's credit card number was stolen, the thief didn't use it to buy a new car or a high-end laptop. Instead, the number was used to buy something potentially much more valuable--a domain name with the word "ebay" in it.
In Fraser's case, that was the domain name "change-ebay.com," a scam Web site where an unknown number of eBay users may have been tricked into handing over their eBay username and password.
"Somebody fraudulently used my credit card (Thursday) to buy the domain name that ended in 'ebay,'" said Fraser, a pharmacy technician in Lockport, N.Y., who until midday Thursday was listed as the registrant and administrative contact for the domain. "It's very upsetting to think that someone had my credit card. I don't know if I'm ever going to go on eBay again, because I don't know if it had anything to do with purchasing something there, or what."

While Fraser's credit card number could have been filched anywhere, the fact remains that con artists are using stolen numbers to set up a growing number of increasingly convincing scams intended to part eBay buyers and sellers from their usernames and passwords.

Once a con artist has commandeered an account, the process of defrauding buyers out of potentially tens of thousands of dollars while evading detection becomes that much easier.

While many of the eBay spoof sites are intended just to take over an eBay identity, others appear designed to grab the whole identity kit and caboodle.

One site attempts to glean not only the eBay user's name and password, but the visitor's complete credit card information, billing address, phone numbers, bank account routing number, checking account number, social security number, debit card PIN, mother's maiden name, date of birth, and driver's license number.

One expert in the area of identity theft said that the eBay scams fit a classic mold of identity theft schemes. Other organizations that have dealt with the problem include PayPal, the IRS, America Online, and other Internet service providers, said Linda Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego.

"It's not just eBay," Foley said. "Nor are people in danger of just having their credit card account taken over. The moment you release your social security number (SSN), you have put yourself in danger of identity theft. The SSN is the golden key."

Continued at - http://news.com.com/2100-1017-966835.html

Antarctic Meteorology Online --- http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/met/metlog/

"Copyright test in San Jose Russian expected to take stand in Adobe E-book code case," San Francisco Chronicle, December 2, 2002 --- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/02/BU206051.DTL

After a year of delays, the government is finally set to try in San Jose this week the first criminal case stemming from a law designed to bring copyright into the 21st century.
The United States of America vs. ElcomSoft Ltd. pits the need to protect intellectual property in the age of Internet file-trading and CD burning against the public's traditional right to use media they buy any way they want to.
The defendant, ElcomSoft, is a Moscow softwaremaker accused of violating Adobe Systems' intellectual property rights, by writing a computer program that disables the copy protection on the San Jose company's electronic books.
When the case was first brought in July 2001, it garnered international attention because it was the first criminal test of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 law eagerly sought by entertainment and software companies and bitterly opposed by cryptography researchers and free-speech advocates.
The case also grabbed headlines because the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California actually jailed a Russian graduate student, Dmitry Sklyarov, for allegedly writing a computer program that violates the law.
To many, locking up a skinny, pale-faced student for writing a computer program was as ridiculous as incarcerating people who tear the "Do not remove" tags off mattresses. But to protesters who surrounded the San Jose jail, Sklyarov's incarceration was no laughing matter. His supporters believed -- and still do -- that Sklyarov's program represents free speech protected by the First Amendment.
Now, Sklyarov, 27, is expected to serve as the government's star witness.
In December 2001, Sklyarov agreed to testify in the case in exchange for having the charges against him dropped. Actually, he is expected to testify for both the plaintiff and the defendant, said Judy Trummer, spokeswoman for both Sklyarov and ElcomSoft.
"He has a single story to tell, and it doesn't differ with who calls him to the stand," Trummer said.

Continued at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/12/02/BU206051.DTL

The suspect in the slaying of a California police officer surrenders in New Hampshire after the FBI uses his online confession to track him down --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56616,00.html

"Risk of Internet Collapse Rising, BBC News, November 26, 2002 --- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2514651.stm

Simulated attacks on key internet hubs have shown how vulnerable the worldwide network is to disruption by disaster or terrorist action.
If an attack or disaster destroyed the major nodes of the internet, the network itself could begin to unravel, warn the scientists who carried out the simulations.
The virtual attacks showed that the net would keep going in major cities, but outlying areas and smaller towns would gradually be cut off.
The researchers warn that the net has become more vulnerable as it has become more commercialised and key net cables are concentrated in the hands of fewer organisations.
Cutting the ties
The simulations were carried out by a trio of scientists from Ohio State University led by Tony Grubesic, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr Grubesic compared the net to US air traffic system.
"If weather stops or delays traffic in a major airport hub, like Chicago's O'Hare, air passengers throughout the country may feel the effects," said Dr Grubesic, "even if they are not travelling to Chicago."

In its early days the net was as decentralised, as possible with multiple links between many of the nodes forming it. If one node disappeared, traffic could easily flow to other links and route traffic to all parts.

However, said the researchers, the increasing commercialisation of the net has seen the emergence of large hubs that act as key distribution points for some parts of the web.

As a result, the net has become much more vulnerable to attack.

"If you destroyed a major internet hub, you would also destroy all the links that are connected to it," said Morton O'Kelly, Professor of Geography at Ohio State University.

"It would have ripple effects throughout the internet"

Small worlds

US cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago and Washington DC are large net hubs and have several connections to the web.

An attack on one hub could have ripple effects

As a result any attack would bump up traffic levels on these links, but the larger cities would probably maintain net services.

By contrast, warn the researchers, smaller cities that rely on the large hubs to keep them connected cut see their links severed by an attack on their routing centre.

The researchers said the attack on the World Trade Centre revealed how disruption could spread.

Continued at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2514651.stm

From InformationWeek Daily on December 6, 2002

The Wireless Way To Do Business
Three industry powerhouses--AT&T, IBM, and Intel--are betting that a wireless LAN technology will fundamentally change business communications. http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eJxX0BcUEY0V20BnmU0AN

Home Depot Adds Self-Checkout To IT Initiatives
The home-improvement retailer says the time for more IT investments is now. http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eJxX0BcUEY0V20BnmV0AO

Microsoft Targets Small Business Accounting Market
Small Business Manager 7.0 offers more than basic accounting without forcing users to lay out big bucks. http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eJxX0BcUEY0V20BnmW0AP

City Stories (History, Sociology, Culture)--- http://citystories.com/
You can choose the city that you want to read about.)

December 1, 2002 message from TIME Magazine [editor@newsletter.time.com]

The Age of Arthritis:
Doctors expect that osteoarthritis will affect 40 million Americans by 2020, up from 20 million affected at present, TIME's Christine Gorman and Alice Park report. TIME's cover package looks at the coming "Age of Arthritis" and the latest treatments involving drugs, surgery, exercise and alternative therapies. TIME also offers tips on keeping joints healthy, such as avoiding high-stress exercise, keeping slim and building muscle. It's almost as if we were watching the formation of an epidemiological perfect storm. First you have the demographic bulge of the baby-boom generation heading into its 50s-prime time for arthritis. Add five decades of jogging, high-impact aerobics and fast-breaking sports like football, soccer, tennis and basketball, whose quick stops and sharp pivots do maximum damage to the knees and hips. Gen Xers can look forward to the effects of videogames on the thumbs, another body part that's particularly prone to osteoarthritis. Finally, top it all off with a generation of Americans who are heavier than ever and whose weight is literally squeezing the life out of their joints, TIME reports.

December 1, 2002 message from Michael Gasior [newsletter@afs-seminars.com]

Yesterday as I began to sit down to write this month's edition I scanned Yahoo for the "most popular" stories to be certain I wasn't missing anything obvious.

Well yesterday morning, THE most popular story was:

"Handcuff Sales to Women Booming"

According to the story, one of the largest adult chains in Europe, Beate Uhse, which was founded in 1946 and recently went public on the Frankfurt stock exchange, opened 5 shops catering primarily to women. Well starting the very first day, the shops struggled to keep handcuffs in stock daily.

With all the negative stuff I read every single day, what a wonderful story for me to hear. Although you might be thinking I'm being sarcastic I'm actually not. Just the idea that there might be scores of women walking around with a newly purchased pair of handcuffs in their purse is a terrific distraction from the daily grind for me. This is true barring any sudden correlating increase in the purchase of stun guns, baseball bats or hammers by women of course.

A PRETTY DECENT BRAIN TEASER

I got MANY fewer complaints last month that the brainteaser was too easy which pleased me. This month the premise seems simple enough, but you need to give this once fair consideration.

How many parts can you split a circle into using only 4 lines?

Give yourself a chance to figure it out yourself before going to look at the answer. You will find the solution at the following URL.

http://www.afs-seminars.com/brainteaser_Nov2002.shtml

Frustrated Germans are sending their chancellor the shirts off their backs in response to an e-mail campaign launched after a post-election tax hike --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,56690,00.htmlb

HUMOR

The creator of Roger & Me and Bowling for Columbine predicted in an online essay a resounding victory for Democrats in the Nov. 5 elections. But the piece has since been taken down, and critics are having a field day --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56524,00.html

Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel --- http://www.vivalasvegasweddings.com/

You might be a redneck if (with music) --- http://www.angelfire.com/tx/DUK23/yamightbe10.html
Other redneck jokes --- http://4laughs.members.easyspace.com/rednecks.htm
Reasons you might be a redneck --- http://www.hehe.at/funworld/archive/jokes14.php?view=1391

BillySolEstes.com (thanks Tom) --- http://billiesolestes.com/

You might be a (an) __________ if --- http://www.youmightbe.com/
In particular try filling in the blank with "accountant" --- http://www.youmightbe.com/pages/accountant.html

your idea of trashing your hotel room is refusing to fill out the guest comment card.
you refer to your child as Deduction 214 3.
you deduct Exlax as "Moving expenses"
at the movie Indecent Proposal you did a NPV calculation.
you decide to change your name to a symbol and you choose the double underline "=========="
you had no idea that GAP was also a clothing store
you consider it normal not to see your spouse or children from February to April 15th. (Laura Cole)
you've ever made a joke about a double-entry bookkeeping method. (Alicat, alicat@aeneas.net )
you know what the acronym MACRS stands for. (Alicat)
you have a petty cash box at home and actually refer to it as such (Amy R.).

Other pages:

Dull Men's Club --- http://www.dullmen.com/account.htm

Arthur Andersen . . . changing light bulbs

How many Arthur Andersen accountants does it take to change a light bulb?

Eleven.

One to reach up and change the light bulb.

Ten to try to find out why they didn’t know until now that the bulb was burned out.

Arthur Andersen . . . good new, bad news from Saddam Hussein

Good news: Saddam Hussein says he'll let arms inspectors back into Iraq.

Bad news: He says they must come from Arthur Andersen.

[Overheard at the World Economic Forum in New York, February 2, 2002, according to CNN]

What's the definition of an accountant?

Someone who solves a problem you didn't know you had in a way you don't understand.

Songs Accountants Like
"Don't Be Accrual",
"Account Your Many Blessings", and
"Adjust Called to Say I Love You"

What are the two types of accountants?

Those who can count . . . and those who can't. [Kelvin, thanks for this.]

What does an accountant use for birth control?

His personality.

When does a person decide to become an accountant?

When he realizes he doesn't have the charisma to sell insurance.

What's an extroverted accountant?

One who looks at your shoes instead of his own shoes when he's talking to you.

What's an auditor?

Someone who arrives after the battle and bayonets all the wounded.

Why did the auditor cross the road?

Because he looked in the file and that's what they did last year.

There are three kinds of accountants in the world.

Those who can count and those who can't.

How do you drive an accountant completely insane?

Tie him to a chair, stand in front of him and fold up a road map the wrong way.

What's the definition of a good tax accountant?

Someone who has a loophole named after him.

An accountant is having a hard time sleeping and goes to see his doctor. "Doctor, I just can't get to sleep at night."

"Have you tried counting sheep?"

"That's the problem. I make a mistake and then spend three hours trying to find it."

Peter Masullo --- http://www.cpa-taxlawyer.com/Accountant_humor.htm

Bob Jensen's threads on Enron-related humor are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm#humor

Forwarded by Dick Haar

The Harvard School of Medicine did a study of why Jewish women like Chinese food so much. The study revealed that this is due to the fact that WonTon spelled backwards is Not Now.

There's a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until after it graduates from medical school.

Q: Why don't Jewish mothers drink?
A: Alcohol interferes with their suffering.

Q: Have you seen the newest Jewish-American Princess horror movie?
A: It's called "Debbie Does Dishes."

Q: Why do Jewish Mothers make great parole officers?
A: They never let anyone finish a sentence.

Q: What's a Jewish American Princess' favorite position?
A: Facing Bloomingdales.

When the doctor called Mrs. Liebenbaum to tell her that her check came back, she replied, "So did my arthritis."

A man calls his mother in Florida. "Mom, how are you?"
"Not too good," says the mother. "I've been very weak."
The son says, "Why are you so weak?"
She says, "Because I haven't eaten in 38 days."
The man says, "That's terrible. Why haven't you eaten in 38 days?"
The mother answers, "Because I didn't want my mouth to be filled with food if you should call."

A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he's been given a part in the school play.
"Wonderful. What part is it?"
The boy says, "I play the part of the Jewish husband."
The mother scowls and says, "Go back and get a speaking part."

Q: Where does a Jewish husband hide money from his wife?
A: Under the vacuum cleaner.

Q: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?
A: "(Sigh) Don't bother, I'll sit in the dark, I don't want to be a nuisance to anybody."

Q: What's the difference between a Rottweiler and a Jewish Mother?
A: Eventually, the Rottweiler lets go.

Jewish telegram: "Begin worrying. Details to follow

Forwarded by Dr. D.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --- George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. --- G. Gordon Liddy

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. --- Douglas Casey (1992)

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. --- P. J. O'Rourke

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. --- Ronald Reagan (1986)

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free. --- P. J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. --- Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you. --- Pericles (430 B.C.)

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. --- Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. --- Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. --- Mark Twain

There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences. --- P. J. O'Rourke

We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. --- Winston Churchill

And my favorite....

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. --- Edward Langley

Forwarded by Dee Davidson

LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman may have discovered the ultimate in car security when she started her vehicle with a hi-tech electronic key -- lodged inside the belly of her one-year-old son.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that 34-year-old Amanda Webster called for roadside assistance when her car refused to start after a shopping trip near her home in west London. Her son Oscar had been sucking on the key.

A patrolman sent to help noticed that part of the key -- a pill-sized radio transponder that acts as a security device -- was missing and guessed that Oscar might have swallowed it.

"She sat him on her lap and made sure that his tummy was pressed up against the wheel," Keith Scott told the Telegraph.

"She turned the key and the car started," he said. "I guess this was the ultimate in car security."

The paper reported that Oscar was none the worse for wear and the chip was recovered after nature had taken its course. It still worked.

Forwarded by Dick Haar

The good old days!

Subject: HOW DID WE SURVIVE??

Looking back, it's hard to believe that we have lived as long as we have. As children we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat. Our baby cribs were painted with bright colored lead based paint. We often chewed on the crib, ingesting the paint.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors, or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. We played dodge ball and sometimes the ball would really hurt. We played with toy guns, cowboys and Indians, army, cops and robbers, and used our fingers to simulate guns when the toy ones or the BB gun was not available. We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank sugar soda, but we were never over weight; we were always outside playing. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren't as smart as others or didn't work hard so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. That generation produced some of the greatest risk-takers and problem solvers. We had the freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), the term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now. Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Every year, someone taught the whole school a lesson by running in the halls with leather soles on linoleum tile and hitting the wet spot. How much better off would we be today if we only knew we could have sued the school system. Speaking of school, we all said prayers and the pledge (amazing we aren't all brain dead from that), and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention for about the next two weeks. We must have had horribly damaged psyches. Schools didn't offer 14 year olds an abortion or condoms (we wouldn't have known what either was anyway) but they did give us a couple of baby aspirin and cough syrup if we started getting the sniffles. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, PlayStation, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital cable stations. I must be repressing that memory as I try to rationalize through the denial of the dangers could have befallen us as we trekked off each day about a mile down the road to some guy's vacant 20, built forts out of branches and pieces of plywood, made trails, and fought over who got to be the Lone Ranger.

What was that property owner thinking, letting us play on that lot. He should have been locked up for not putting up a fence around the property, complete with a self-closing gate and an infrared intruder alarm. Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played king of the hill on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites and when we got hurt, mom pulled out the 48 cent bottle of mercurochrome and then we got butt-whooped. Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics and then mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got butt-whooped (physical abuse) there too... and then we got butt-whooped again when we got home.

Mom invited the door to door salesman inside for coffee, kids choked down the dust from the gravel driveway while playing with Tonka trucks (remember why Tonka trucks were made tough... it wasn't so that they could take the rough berber in the family room), and Dad drove a car with leaded gas.

Our music had to be left inside when we went out to play and I am sure that I nearly exhausted my imagination a couple of times when we went on two week vacations. I should probably sue the folks now for the danger they put us in when we all slept in campgrounds in the family tent. Summers were spent behind the push lawnmower and I didn't even know that mowers came with motors until I was 13 and we got one without an automatic blade-stop or an auto-drive. How sick were my parents?

Of course my parents weren't the only psychos. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop just before he fell off. Little did his mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead she pick him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have know that we needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!

How did we survive??????????

More Wonderings Forwarded by Auntie Bev

There are three religious truths:

1. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
2. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith.
3. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?

Why do we say something is out of whack? What's a whack?

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts" and you put your two cents in... what happens to the other penny?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?

Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?

"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?

What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

No one ever says, "It's only a game" when their team is winning.

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?

Auntie Bev forwarded these.

Especially note the last item in this time of controversy between the women versus The Augusta National GOLF Club. I emphasize the word “GOLF.”

I really do not know if any of these are actually true or whether they are just clever plays on words.

Did you know....

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
      Spades - King David,
      Hearts - Charlemagne,
      Clubs -Alexander, the Great
      Diamonds - Julius Caesar

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the
air,
the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air the person
died as a result of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs on the ground,
the person died of natural causes.

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed
firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight."

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England,
when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their
own pints and quarts and settle down.
It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the
rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they
used the whistle to get some service.
"Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

In Scotland, a new game was invented.
It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden
and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Reply from an English professor at Trinity University

Actually the OED thinks the term "golf" come from the word for "club" but it notes the "origin is obscure."

See http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/golf.htm for information on the urban legend of this rather conveniently gendered acronym

back to grading papers................. thanks for the diversion....

billspinks

Reply from Dan Stone at the University of Kentucky

HI Bob,

From Golf History and Antiques, http://www.home.aone.net.au/byzantium/golf/golf.html#origin

The Origin of the word "golf" This is the most common question I get asked. It is not, as is widely supposed, an acronym for "Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden"! Here's the story:

The word "golf" is recorded as long ago as 1457, in the statutes of the Scottish Parliament, when the sport was banned because it interfered with archery practice. The word was also spelled "gowf", reflecting the way the Scots pronounced it. Some say the word derives from an Old Dutch or Old German word "kolb, kolven" meaning club, clubs.

Best,
Dan Stone

But what Bill and Dan don't know is that it was a "Gentlemen's Club."

Not a Good Year for the Dallas Cowboys

Q. What do the Dallas Cowboys and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 60,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ."

Q. How do you keep a Dallas Cowboys player out of your yard?
A. Put up goal posts.

Q. Where do you go in Dallas in case of a tornado?
A. Texas Stadium - they never get a touchdown there.

Q. Why doesn't Fort Worth have a professional football team?
A. Because then Dallas would want one.

Q. Why was Dave Campo upset when the Cowboys playbook was stolen?
A. Because he hadn't finished coloring it.

Q. What's the difference between the Dallas Cowboys and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q. What do you call 47 people sitting around a TV watching the SuperBowl?
A. The Dallas Cowboys.

Q. What do the Dallas Cowboys and possums have in common?
A. Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.

Q. How can you tell when the Dallas Cowboys are going to run the football?
A. Emmitt leaves the huddle with tears in his eyes.

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

If you know the Bible-even a little-you'll find this hilarious! It comes from a Catholic elementary school. Kids were asked questions about the Old and New Testaments. The following statements about the bible were written by children. They have not been retouched or corrected (i.e., incorrect spelling has been left in).

1. In the first book of the bible, Guinessis, God got tired of creating the world, so he took the Sabbath off.
2. Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark. Noah built an ark, which the animals come on to in pears.
3. Lot's wife was a pillar of salt by day, but a ball of fire by night.
4. The Jews were a proud people and throughout history they had trouble with the unsympathetic Genitals.
5. Samson was a strongman who let himself be led astray by a Jezebellike Delilah.
6. Samson slayed the Philistines with the axe of the Apostles.
7. Moses led the Hebrews to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread which is bread without any ingredients.
8. The Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten amendments.
9. The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.
10. The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery.
11. Moses died before he ever reached Canada. Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.
12. The greatest miracle in the Bible is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him.
13. David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Finklesteins, a race of people who lived in Biblical times.
14. Solomon, one of David's sons, had 300 wives and 700 porcupines.
15. When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carta.
16. When the three wise guys from the East Side arrived, they found Jesus in the manager.
17. Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
18. St. John the blacksmith dumped water on his head.
19. Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you. He also explained, a man doth not live by sweat alone.
20. It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.
21. The people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels.
22. The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
23. One of the opossums was St. Matthew who was also a taximan.
24. St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.
25. Christians have only one spouse. This is called monotony.

Forwarded by Auntie Bev

25 Signs You've Grown Up

01. Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
02. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
03. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
04. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
05. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
06. You watch the Weather Channel.
07. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
08. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
09. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10. You're the one calling the police because those darn kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 PM.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff."
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to," replaces, "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You no longer drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you.

Holiday Greetings from Bob & Erika --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/XMAS2002.htm

And that's the way it was on December 10, 2002 with a little help from my friends.

In March 2000, Forbes named AccountantsWorld.com as the Best Website on the Web --- http://accountantsworld.com/.
Some top accountancy links --- http://accountantsworld.com/category.asp?id=Accounting

For accounting news, I prefer AccountingWeb at http://www.accountingweb.com/

Another leading accounting site is AccountingEducation.com at http://www.accountingeducation.com/

Paul Pacter maintains the best international accounting standards and news Website at http://www.iasplus.com/

How stuff works --- http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Bob Jensen's video helpers for MS Excel, MS Access, and other helper videos are at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/video/
Accompanying documentation can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/default1.htm and http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HelpersVideos.htm

November 30, 2002

Bob Jensen's New Bookmarks on November 30, 2002
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

We're moving to the mountains on July 15, 2003 --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/NHcottage/NHcottage.htm
Anyone interested in buying our nice San Antonio home my read about the details at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/house.htm

For earlier editions of New Bookmarks, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
This search engine may get you some hits from other professors at Trinity University included with Bob Jensen's documents, but this may be to your benefit.

For date and time, try The Aggie Digital Clock --- http://yugop.com/ver3/stuff/03/fla.html
Time anywhere in the world http://www.worldtimeserver.com/

Bob Jensen's Dance Card
Some of My Planned Workshops and Presentations --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations

A sad song for the anniversary of September 11 --- http://www.link4u.com/littledidsheknow.htm
U.S. flag lovers should note the animated cartoon at http://www.beetlebailey.com/images/flag.swf
Awesome fireworks over the Statue of Liberty (Click on the Black Sky) --- http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm
Some nice midi music forwarded by Don and LaDonna --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/audio/nice01.mid

Super Granny:* Defender of Justice --- http://www.internet-tips.net/Jokes/otherjokes070.htm

Will You Marry Me?

Mothers Dictionary

Actual Excuses Written By Cool Parents --- http://www.internet-tips.net/Jokes/otherjokes693.htm

Kids in Church

Some great things about getting older

See also