I moved inside our cottage because it was beginning to get cold mornings in my outdoor studio. Besides I like the foliage views better from our cottage. I took the above picture a few weeks ago from my "winter desk" inside the cottage. This is a view of Mt. Lafayette about ten miles away in the Kinsman Range.  Lincoln Mountain can be seen between Lafayette and Cannon. Only Cannon Mountain has ski trails and an aerial tramway. Between Lincoln and Cannon is a mountain pass called the Franconia Notch State Park. After he retired my father took on another job managing the Kossuth County State Liquor Store in Algona, Iowa. The ear of corn next to my monitor was one of his collected Jim Beam bottles of bourbon. Just to the right outside the picture is another bottle in the shape of an Iowa hog.

Above is my outdoor studio where I work about half of the year in warmer weather. Believe it or not, I was too busy this summer to play the golf course behind my fence. What's this thing called "retirement?" You cannot see them very well in this picture, but some of the Green Mountains of Vermont are visible beyond the golf course. They're "green" because of those mountains are actually Vermont's mountainous piles of tax dollars.

This is my outdoor studio from a different angle late in the autumn. A cute family of chipmunks lives under the studio. The trees are now bare except for the conifers. My white barn is slightly visible behind the trees. I'm not much of a carpenter, but I'm proud of the bookshelves I built from floor to ceiling in my studio. My computer's connection to the world is an underground buried cable that Adelphia gratefully dug in last May.

Above you can see my messy desk inside the studio. I will return to this office when the weather warms again in the spring. I have a gas stove inside the studio, but like I said above I prefer to look toward the closest mountains in the foliage season (that's now ended as the cold winds are bringing in rain and snow). The lamp bases (there's an identical one outside the picture to the left side of the sofa) are Trinity University football helmets. Trinity University is a leader in NCAA Division III (non-scholarship) athletics --- http://www.trinity.edu/departments/athletics/index.htm

 

Tidbits on November 20, 2006
Bob Jensen

For earlier editions of Tidbits go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/TidbitsDirectory.htm
For earlier editions of New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm 

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
For example if you want to know what Jensen documents have the term "Enron" enter the phrase Jensen AND Enron. Another search engine that covers Trinity and other universities is at http://www.searchedu.com/.


Bob Jensen's past presentations and lectures --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/resume.htm#Presentations   

Bob Jensen's Home Page is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Bob Jensen's blogs and various threads on many topics --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
       (Also scroll down to the table at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ )

Online Video, Slide Shows, and Audio
In the past I've provided links to various types of music and video available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

My real hero on fighting legislative fraud is a Republican from Arizona named Jeff Flake. While it is still free, I recommend that everybody watch the video of an interview with Jeff Flake on CBS Sixty Minutes ---
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/02/60minutes/main2145860.shtml

Master of Illusion:  This one gets really interesting near the end when he pushes his hand through an aquarium --- http://www.glumbert.com/media/cyril

Watch a penguin have fun writing your first name in the snow --- http://www.star28.net/snow.html

YouTube and the Cultural Studies Classroom --- http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2006/11/13/conway

Science Animations: Movies & Interactive Tutorial Links --- http://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/animatio.htm
Bob Jensen's links to science learning helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob2.htm#050421Science%20and%20Medicine

Digital Duo Video Helpers With Technology --- http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/000611.html
Click on the third sentence beginning with "Here's a link to our PCWD2 section ... "

African Union --- http://www.africa-union.org/

Friendship Puzzle --- http://www3.telus.net/public/a7a55952/friendship-puzzle/friendship-puzzle.htm

"IRS Agent Finds Key to New Life in 'Stranger',"  by Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News via SmartPros, November 13, 2006 --- http://accounting.smartpros.com/x55486.xml

Stranger Than Fiction (a new movie) begins with a narrator describing the waking hours of a fastidious IRS auditor who lives alone in his appallingly clean, super-organized Washington, D.C., apartment.

Within a few minutes, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) comes off as a poster boy for anal retention. Harold rises at the same hour every day and brushes his teeth a proscribed number of times before heading off to catch the bus that never fails to carry him to his office at precisely the same time.

At this point, my eyes were beginning to glaze over. I'm sick of movies with narrators. Narration in movies, even at its most literate, can be a terrible cheat, alleviating the need for a screenwriter to create any real drama.

OK, enough about the perils of narration. The point here is that I was developing an attitude about Stranger Than Fiction just when something happened to upset the apple cart of my emerging discontent.

I won't tell you what it was, but I will say that Stranger Than Fiction quickly establishes itself as a movie that plays around with ideas in ways that can be amusing and smart. It also allows Will Ferrell to give his best performance yet, and makes room for the always enjoyable Emma Thompson, who plays Karen Eiffel, a tormented writer who's trying to figure out how to bring her latest novel to a close.

Director Marc Forster, who directed Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland but who stumbled with his last movie, Stay, returns to form, bringing a gentle touch to proceedings that revolve around Crick's increasing awareness that his life needs a jolt. Said awakening arrives in the form of a woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) whose tax returns Harold has been asked to audit.

Ms. Gyllenhaal's Ana Pascal, a baker, conscientiously has refused to pay the portion of her taxes that funds defense-related matters. As a result, she faces big penalties.

When Crick begins to realize that there's more to life than a sharpened pencil and a keen knowledge of tax law, his behavior modifies. Among other things, he teaches himself guitar, satisfying a long-held, secret ambition to rock out.

The supporting performances are all quite sharp. Dustin Hoffman shows up as a professor of literary theory. These days, Mr. Hoffman seems to have taken nearly all the angst out of his work, and it serves him well. Queen Latifah also distinguishes herself in a small role: She plays an assistant who's sent by Eiffel's publisher to help the stalled author overcome her writer's block.

In this moment of mostly crude comedies and overwrought drama, it's refreshing to find a movie that creates tension by keeping us guessing about whether it's going to wind up as tragedy or comedy. Mr. Forster gives this somewhat cerebral notion just enough life, providing steady amusement along the way.

If the movie suffers a bit, it's probably because screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) has made us a little too familiar with clever comedies of the self-conscious kind. Still, Mr. Forster's sweetly engaging concoction bends our minds without too much strain, and even those moments that feel mildly familiar never breed anything close to contempt.

Bob Jensen's threads on accounting humor are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#Humor

Free music downloads --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/music.htm

I'm increasingly listening to free online streaming classical music from Arizona State University's FM station ---  http://www.kbaq.org/listen/ontheweb/

The politically correct Iwo Jima --- http://www.goodolddogs3.com/If-IwoJima-Happened2day.html

Art Tatum: A Talent Never to Be Duplicated (Jazz Pianist) ---
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6434701

A Classical Pianist Who Never Showed Off --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6412084

From Janie
Boot Scootin' Boogie --- http://jbreck.com/bootscootinboogie.html

Music4You --- http://www.music4you.it/detect_start.html

What was No.1 on the day you were born (provided you were born after 1955) --- http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/member/birthdayno1.php

Frank Loesser --- http://www.frankloesser.com/

American Routes (Jazz) --- http://www.americanroutes.org/

The Black Keys, Black Angels in Concert (full concert of hard rock) --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6424079

Photographs and Art

World War II Memorial --- http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/PASSINGOFGENERATION.HTML

Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color in Northern Renaissance and Baroque Engravings, Etchings & Woodcuts --- http://artbma.org/exhibitions/online2.html#

Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design --- http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1384_leonardo/

The Mind of Leonardo: The Universal Genius at Work --- http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/menteleonardo/ 

The Wit and Wisdom of Donald Rumsfeld (from Time Magazine) --- Click Here

Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives --- http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/eyewitness/

Wild Landscape --- http://www.wild-landscape.com/galery/a_gal_66/cechy/cechy16.html

Great photographs in spite of the small grammar error --- http://home.att.net/~hideaway_fun/415/world.htm

ARTscape --- http://www.pem.org/artscape/index.php

Vidor, Texas, has a reputation as a "Klan town," and that's what drew photographer Dave Anderson --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6442777

Cane River National Heritage Area --- http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/caneriver/

Some really impressive 9/11 photographs (I've never seen anything like these) --- http://www.zombietime.com/wtc_9-13-2001/
 

Online Books, Poems, References, and Other Literature
In the past I've provided links to various types electronic literature available free on the Web. 
I created a page that summarizes those various links --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ElectronicLiterature.htm

Air Force Link (history) --- http://www.af.mil/history/

Old Poetry --- http://oldpoetry.com/

Classical Short Stories --- http://www.classicshorts.com/

Ohio History Central Online Encyclopedia http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/

Domesday Book (William the Conqueror, UK National Archives) --- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/domesday.asp

Roderick Hudson by Henry James (1843-1916) --- Click Here

Hap-Frog by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) --- Click Here

Mellonta Tauta by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) --- Click Here

A Tale Of A Tub by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) --- Click Here

Tono-Bungay by H.G. Wells (1866-1946) --- Click Here

William James --- http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/james.html#odds

Creative Quotations by Milton Friedman --- http://thinkexist.com/quotes/milton_friedman/
Also see http://www.memorable-quotes.com/milton+friedman,a446.html  and http://creativequotations.com/one/977.htm


  • All eyes are presently on the newly empowered Nancy Pelosi to clean up the most out-of-control frauds in Congress  --- those fraudulent legislative "earmarks" that President Bush lets slip by in astounding numbers without ever raising a veto pen
    The Congressional Research Service counted some 16,500 earmarks in spending bills in 2005, at a cost of nearly $50 billion. Senator Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) says the "real cost" is "probably ten times" greater, because these goodies are the "currency" that Appropriators use to buy the votes to pass bills that might otherwise fail as too costly. Ms. Pelosi can do something about all this by enacting earmark reform sponsored by two Democrats, Rahm Emanuel of Illinois and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Mr. Emanuel ran the Democratic campaign committee this year and talked up his reform all over the country as a way to embarrass Republicans.
    "Pelosi and Pork," The Wall Street Journal,  November 16, 2006; Page A18 --- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116364609532624696.html?mod=opinion&ojcontent=otep
    Jensen Comment
    My real hero on fighting earmarks is a Republican from Arizona named Jeff Flake. He's definitely not flakey and reminds us of of the heroic Jimmy Stewart (in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). While it's still free, I recommend that everybody watch the video of an interview with Jeff Flake on CBS Sixty Minutes ---
    http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/02/60minutes/main2145860.shtml
    I'll vote for Jeff Flake any day of the week!!! Why can't there more honest politicians like him?

    Why doesn't this come as a surprise now that the 2006 aftermath is a time for broken promises?
    After railing against Congressional corruption under Republican rule, Democrats are divided on how far their proposed ethics overhaul should go . . . None of the measures would overhaul campaign financing or create an independent ethics watchdog to enforce the rules. Nor would they significantly restrict earmarks, the pet projects lawmakers can anonymously insert into spending bills, which have figured in several recent corruption scandals and attracted criticism from members in both parties. The proposals would require disclosure of the sponsors of some earmarks, but not all.
    David D. Kirkpatrick, "Democrats Split on How Far to Go With Ethics Law," The New York Times, November 19, 2006 --- Click Here

    There is a sense the nation's culture and politics are and have been changing, shifting, and agreement that the election was not a realigning one but could yet prove to be if, among other things, Republicans fail to step back, refind and rethink their philosophy, style, priorities and meaning. They must develop a conservatism that speaks for and to the times. And stop being pigs--i.e., earmarking careerists who started with belief and wound up with hunger.
    Peggy Noonan, "Who'll Claim the Center? Republicans and Democrats adjust to last week's power shift," The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2006 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110009255

    As for Democrats, they have a unique opportunity, one they haven't had in 14 years, to redefine for the public what their party is. It is their chance to change their public label. Now, with the cameras of the country trained on Capitol Hill, they can throw off the old baggage of the 1960s and '70s and erase the cartoon version of their party, which is culturally radical, weak in its defense of America, profligate, McGovernite, bitterly devoted to the demands of its groups as opposed to the needs of America.
    Peggy Noonan, "Who'll Claim the Center? Republicans and Democrats adjust to last week's power shift," The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2006 --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110009255
    Jensen Comment
    The Democrats will have two huge advantages if they regain control over all three branches of government. The New York Times and The Washington Post might then stop publishing classified national security secrets.

    If I Did It, Here's How It Happened.
    O.J. Simpson describing how he would have carried out the murders of two victims in his new book and TV movie --- Click Here
    Jensen Comment
    His publisher claims it is actually a confession in The New York Times on November 17, 2006. On the heels of the Rodney King fiasco, I doubt if Simpson's jury would've punished him had he confessed. The TV special will carried by Fox Network during the final week of the November. It will air around Thanksgiving because OJ's purportedly the world's best carver. Fox News is hoping he'll carve up the Democratic Party over the next two years.

    Airlines have misplaced more bags — up to 92 percent more than last year — since a ban on liquids took effect.
    Jeff Bailey, The New York Times, November 12, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/business/12baggage.html?ref=business

    The market is a place where men may deceive one another.
    Anacharsis (499-428 b.C.) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacharsis

    Mothers, food, love, and career. the four major guilt groups.
    Kathy Guisewite as quoted by Mark Shapiro at http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-10-30-06.htm

    More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
    Woody Allen (1935) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Allen

    Be careful who you choose for an enemy because that is who you become most like.
    Friedrich Nietzsche as quoted in recent email messages from Pat Doherty

    It's this love I have for books that's made me the smartest idiot in the world.
    Louise Brooks (1667-1745) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brooks

    Language is an anonymous, collective and unconscious art; the result of the creativity of thousands of generations.
    Edward Sapir (1884-1939) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Sapir

    Iran Press News translated Iranian press reports that admitted that major bribes had been paid to European countries to attract their support and cooperation with Tehran’s regime.
    Free Republic, November 12, 2006 --- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1737641/posts

    The patron saint of accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, security guards and tax collectors is Saint Matthew of Apostle fame, and he also was the author of one of the Gospels. Before becoming an Apostle, however, he started out as a Jewish tax collector at Capernaum. Little is know about him, outside the seven references he has in the Gospels. In medieval art, Saint Matthew is represented under the symbol of a winged man, carrying in his hand a lance as a characteristic emblem - his artistic calling card if you will. He is one of the originals in the pantheon of patron saints.
    "Honoring the Patron Saint of Accountants on All Saints' Day," AccountingWeb, November 1, 2006 ---
    http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=102756

    The only economic lever that Mr. Friedman would allow government to use was the one that controlled the supply of money — a monetarist view that had gone out of favor when he embraced it in the 1950s. He went on to record a signal achievement, predicting the unprecedented combination of rising unemployment and rising inflation that came to be called stagflation. His work earned him the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1976 . . . “His thinking has so permeated modern macroeconomics that the worst pitfall in reading him today is to fail to appreciate the originality and even revolutionary character of his ideas,” said Ben S. Bernanke, now chairman of the Federal Reserve, in a speech honoring Mr. Friedman in 2003.Professor Friedman also a leading force in the rise of the “Chicago School” of economics, a conservative group within the department of economics at the University of Chicago. He and his colleagues became a counterforce to their liberal counterparts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, influencing close to a dozen American winners of the Nobel prize in economics.
    Holcomb P. Noble, "Milton Friedman, a Leading Economist, Dies at 94," The New York Times, November 16, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/business/17friedmancnd.html?hp&ex=1163739600&en=b22d188423a336e8&ei=5094&partner=homepage 
    Friedman's Sampler:  A selection of writings from The Wall Street Journal --- http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009267
    Creative Quotations by Milton Friedman --- http://thinkexist.com/quotes/milton_friedman/
    Also see http://www.memorable-quotes.com/milton+friedman,a446.html  and http://creativequotations.com/one/977.htm
    Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm

    So the question is, do corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, have responsibilities in their business activities other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible? And my answer to that is, no they do not.
    Milton Friedman's most famous and most controversial quotation.
    Jensen Comment
    This quotation is often misrepresented by academic liberals. Dr. Friedman never argued that corporate social responsibility and employee relations initiatives were necessarily contrary to optimal business management. The question is whether or not these initiatives help or harm shareholders. Such initiatives may be extremely valuable for long-term survival and profitability. What's bad, however, is when corporate executives view themselves as primarily responsible to constituencies other than shareholders. Executives were not selected or elected to serve constituencies at the expense of shareholders. These controversies are especially prevalent in current economic globalization when countries like India and China are offering lower cost alternatives for labor and quality products that benefit consumers but not U.S. plant workers.

    Question
    What do students in accounting and religious studies have in common?

    Answer
    They both encounter the great divide in higher education. You can substitute the word "religion" with "accounting" in most of the following article.

    "The ‘Great Divide’ in Religious Studies," by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, November 20, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/20/religion

    When it comes to introductory courses in religion and theology, the big division isn’t a question of faith, but of priorities.

    Students want lots of discussion in class sessions and they want to learn facts about religious groups. They also want to become better people. Professors aren’t opposed to any of those things, but they are much more interested in teaching critical thinking. While the numbers vary, the gap between students’ and professors’ goals for these courses is evident at both religious and non-religious institutions.

    These are among the results of a national survey of introductory courses in religion and theology. The study will be published in book form next year, but the lead investigator — Barbara E. Walvoord of the University of Notre Dame — gave a preview of the findings Sunday to a standing-room-only audience at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion. She spoke of the “great divide” between what professors want to accomplish and what students want to achieve — and a panel of professors who teach intro courses offered their take on dealing with the divergence.

    Walvoord’s study involved surveys of students and faculty members in 533 introductory courses at a wide range of colleges. More than 12,000 students participated. For Sunday’s presentation, Walvoord presented data from 66 courses whose instructors had been identified by their institutions as “highly effective.” Walvoord said that the data on course goals was consistent with the larger group.

    Both students and professors were asked whether certain goals were important. The percentages below are those who said that those goals were either “essential” or “important” for the introductory courses. The secular college category includes both public colleges and private nonsectarian colleges. In most cases at religious colleges, the courses were required and at secular colleges, the courses were not required but were one way to fulfill a general education requirement or enter a major.

    Faculty and Student Priorities for Intro Religious Studies Courses

    Goal Faculty at religious colleges Students at religious affiliations Faculty at secular colleges Students at secular colleges
    Develop critical thinking 84% 65% 92% 59%
    Develop students’ moral and ethical values 52% 73% 25% 54%
    Develop students’ own religious beliefs 42% 70% 8% 51%
    Consider or strengthen students’ commitment to a particular set of beliefs 29% 63% 17% 43%

    Walvoord noted that the statistics are surprising for many kinds of institutions — noting the low percentages of professors at religious institutions with moral and religioius agendas for their students, and the high percentages of students at secular institutions with hopes for such an experience in class.

    Among other findings:

    The findings presented at the meeting Sunday are part of an unusual effort on pedagogy. Participants are helping to gather information, but they are also receiving breakdowns on the surveys of their own students — so professors are trying to apply some of the findings to their own courses, even before final results are out. The project is sponsored by Notre Dame, the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, and the IDEA Center at Kansas State University. The work comes at a time of considerable discussion on the role of religion in the academy and students’ interest in developing spiritually while they are in college.

    In the discussion at the session, some professors noted that those at public institutions may have lines that they can’t cross. “I teach at a public community college. I can’t care about the religious development of my students,” said one professor in the audience.

    Walvoord stressed that the purpose of the project was not to suggest that there was one “correct” model — and she acknowledged that much depends on institutional mission. But she said it was important to talk about the assumptions students and professors bring to the courses. In response to the community college professor’s question, Walvoord also said that in her interviews with study participants, she has found that many have “official” course goals for the syllabus and “sub rosa goals” that are important and not expressed.

    Those sub rosa goals are all over the place, she said. Some professors at secular institutions do see themselves playing a role in students’ moral development. Some professors at religious institutions have goals of teaching their students to be more tolerant of others’ beliefs or to rely on sources other than the Bible to make arguments.

    In the Classroom

    Professors from both religious and secular institutions spoke at the session about how they try to balance the issues raised by the study. One common issue about which professors spoke was trying to help students see that that the role of professor isn’t the same as the role of a clergy member — even when the professor is ordained.

    David C. Ratke is an assistant professor of religion at Lenoir-Rhyne College, a North Carolina college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in which Ratke is an ordained pastor. One of the things he does on the first day of his introductory course is talk about his own religious and intellectual development, and to talk about his overlapping but not identical interests in his students. As a Lutheran, he said, he feels “jubilant” when a student embraces the faith or comes to a deeper understanding of it. But as a professor he is focused on intellectual development — and strives to help students understand the subject matter regardless of their faith.

    Across the country, James K. Wellman teaches religion in a very different environment at the University of Washington, a public university where most of his students do not profess any religion. While he is frank in class, Wellman said he also sets up a space where he and his students can be even more open. He holds weekly “coffee hours” where the ground rules are that nothing he says can be held against him and that he can’t hold against a student anything he or she says.

    In class, Wellman said he’s constantly trying to challenge students’ assumptions, asking them what religious bias may be involved in terms like “war on terrorism” or what lessons about the religious right can be learned from the fall of Ted Haggard, the Colorado evangelist who was until recently campaigning against gay marriage while having a relationship with a male prostitute. But in between those challenges, Wellman said that he’s also very conscious that what students want is information and values: “They want to learn about differences. Tell us who the Muslims are. They want to overcome their prejudices,” he said.

    Some of this material may be ‘boring” to professors, he said, but the study has reminded him of its importance.

    In many cases, professors said, general education skills of critical education can be combined effectively with subject matter instruction. Martha Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, has students write religious autobiographies in which they are encouraged to start with older relatives, preferably grandparents, and trace the evolution of their own religious beliefs.

    Many of her students are from the area and have families who have lived in the area for generations, and they may think of religious belief as unchanging. Reineke said that these multi-generation reports get students thinking about the evolution of religious belief, as they learn about era when Protestant-Roman Catholic intermarriage would have been unthinkable, for instance. In another exercise, she uses an essay about the significance in Hinduism of where in the home certain religious objects are located, and then has students shift gears and think about the significance of the location of religious objects in their homes.

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    What professors face today is that knowledge bases of their disciplines are approaching infinity in modern times relative knowledge archives in prior to the 20th century. Some rightly prefer to not to teach in the same way professors taught before the 20th century. Others in search of higher teaching evaluations give in to student demands to teach the facts --- "just the facts mam." In accounting many of the leading research professors do not even want to sacrifice their own time learning the exceedingly complex rules (principles, standards) for complicated contract accounting requirements. These professors prefer study of research methods, techniques, and critical thinking. Accounting students want to learn more about the complex rules. Reasons vary --- Complex rules appeal to our great memorizing students who migrate toward accounting; Complex rules are on the dreaded CPA examination; Knowledge of complex rules can lead to higher job performance evaluations.

    I think that in professions like medicine, law, accounting, and engineering that it is unwise to teach at either extreme of facts versus critical thinking. I would most certainly hate to rely on a brain surgeon who's only learned how to think critically. I want my attorneys to know a tremendous amount of facts about statutes. I certainly want my bridge builders to know a lot of facts about materials and structural forces. But I also want these professionals to be able to think critically and reason creatively when encountering situations not covered in existing knowledge bases. But mark of a professional scholar still lies in knowing a huge amount of the facts in the knowledge base of the profession. The rhetorical question is how much of that should be learned in college courses. Students most certainly want to graduate with a significant understanding of the knowledge bases of their chosen disciplines.

    Greater clinical focus ahead for law schools?
    Clinical work, along with a professional ethics course, are the only two requirements in years two and three at Stanford Law. Kramer said he would like to make the clinical programs more central to the curriculum. When the law school switches to its quarter schedule, Kramer said he would like to make quarter-long clinical training an option. He said clinical rotations could take students outside of Stanford to other universities.
    Elia Powers, Beyond the First Year, Inside Higher Ed, November 8, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/08/stanford

    Bob Jensen's threads on the theory versus clinical issue, particularly in doctoral programs, can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#DoctoralPrograms

    Redesigning an MBA Curriculum Toward the Action: 
    Why Aren't Accountants Headed on the Same Paths?

    "Wall Street Warms To Finance Degree With Focus on Math," by Ronald Alsop, The Wall Street Journal,  November 14, 2006; Page B7 --- Click Here

    Just a few years ago, the University of California, Berkeley, found its master's degree in financial engineering a hard sell. Wall Street had cut back sharply on hiring, and many recruiters were still fixated on M.B.A. graduates.

    "The doors were shut on us at the human-resource level on Wall Street," recalls Linda Kreitzman, executive director of the financial engineering program at Berkeley's Haas School of Business. "I had to go directly to managing directors to get our students placed after we started the program in 2001."

    Now, in a turnabout, it's often the banks and hedge funds that are calling on Dr. Kreitzman and offering her graduates six-figure compensation packages. "They have come to realize they really need students with strong skills in financial economics, math and computer modeling for more complex products like mortgage- and asset-backed securities and credit and equity derivatives," she says. This fall, all 58 financial engineering students seeking internships found spots at such companies as Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. Their projects will include credit portfolio valuation, artificial-intelligence trading models and structured fixed-income products.

    While the master's in business administration certainly remains in high demand, companies are increasingly interested in other graduate-level credentials, including Ph.D.s and master's degrees in specific business fields. Deutsche Bank, for example, has hired Ph.D. and master-of-finance graduates in Europe for some time and is now recruiting more in the U.S. as well.

    "We are continually looking for strong quantitative skills," says Kristina Peters, global head of graduate recruiting. With a master's degree in finance, "there tends to be more applied finance knowledge such as derivatives pricing."

    Continued in article

    Jensen Comment
    The big question is where will auditing firms find accountants that can handle the exotic contracts written by the financial engineers?

    The U.S. is Racing Downhill in Mathematics
    The changes are being driven by students’ lagging performance on international tests and mathematicians’ warnings that more than a decade of so-called reform math — critics call it fuzzy math — has crippled students with its de-emphasizing of basic drills and memorization in favor of allowing children to find their own ways to solve problems. At the same time, parental unease has prompted ever more families to pay for tutoring, even for young children. Shalimar Backman, who put pressure on officials here by starting a parents group called Where’s the Math?, remembers the moment she became concerned.
    Tamar Lewin, "As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics," The New York Times, November 14, 2006 --- Click Here

    Forensic statisticians hunting for hidden messages in digital images
    What you don't see in a picture may hurt you
    Two Iowa State mathematicians have developed software that will detect secret files in seemingly innocent digital images. Jennifer Davidson and Cliff Bergman, both professors in the math department, are fine-tuning the artificial neural net (ANN). When plopped into a computer, the ANN will work like radar that culls out suspicious images.
    "Forensic statisticians hunting for hidden messages," PhysOrg, November 9, 2006 --- http://physorg.com/news82313809.html

    Three Cheers for a Courageous Rep. Rangle:
    He teams up with Senator Kerry to raise the intelligence level of the Army
    Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 if the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has his way. Rep. Charles Rangel D-N.Y., said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars and to bolster U.S. troop levels insufficient to cover potential future action in Iran, North Korea and Iraq.
    "Rep. Rangel will seek to reinstate draft," Yahoo News, November 19, 2006 --- http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_go_co/military_draft
    Also see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53022
    Jensen Comment
    Yellowed though it is, I still carry my Kossuth County Registration (Draft) Card. I may need it since Rep. Rangel will be all-powerful as the new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that controls spending legislation. I think this is one of the few strong moves, possibly the only strong move, by the newly empowered Democrats that courageously flies into the face of political correctness. Now if Rep. Rangle would put an end to earmarks and lobbyist corruption of lawmakers. Nothing on earth, however, is strong enough to put a majority of honest men and women in Congress.

    The holiday season brings out more scam artists from all over the world
    This is an interesting set of links from the Federal Trade Commission

    Like the IRS site, the FTC site is one of the most helpful (and free) sites in the United States

    Consumer Information --- http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-prod.htm

    • Ads for International Drivers' Licenses or Permits Could Be a Dead End [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • After a Disaster: Repairing Your Home [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Aging Parents and Adult Children Together (A/PACT) [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Alaskan Native Art [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • All That Glitters... How to Buy Jewelry [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Auction Guides: Not So Hot Properties [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Beloved...Bejeweled...Be Careful: What to Know Before You Buy Jewelry [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Buying a Washing Machine? It's a Load-ed Question [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Buying, Giving, and Using Gift Cards [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Buying Gold and Gemstone Jewelry: The Heart of the Matter [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Buying Time: The Facts About Pre-Paid Phone Cards [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Can Anti-Snoring Claims Be Cause for Alarm? [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Caring for Your Clothes [TEXT]
       
    • Choosing a Career or Vocational School [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Cigars: No Such Thing As a Safe Smoke [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Clothing Care Symbol Guide [TEXT]
       
    • Continuity Plans: Coming to You Like Clockwork [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Cost of "Free" Adult Content Adds Up [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Diversity Visa Lottery; Read the Rules, Avoid the Rip-Offs [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Eco-Speak: A User’s Guide to the Language of Recycling [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Electronic Checkout Scanners Campaign [TEXT]
       
    • Entertainment Ratings: Pocket Guide [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • The Eyes Have It -- Get Your Prescription [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • 'Free Grants': Don't Take Them For Grant-ed [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • "Free" and "Low-Cost" PC Offers. Go Figure. [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • FTC Explains ‘Made in USA’ Standard To Confirm Cons. Confidence [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Funerals: A Consumer Guide [TEXT]
       
    • The Gifting Club "Gotcha" [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Gear Up for a Great Trip - Traveler Game [TEXT]
       
    • Green Card Lottery Scams [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Holiday Shopping: Is a Sale Price Your Best Deal? [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Home-Use Tests For HIV Can Be Inaccurate, FTC Warns [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Home Improvement: Tools You Can Use Campaign [TEXT]
       
    • Home Insulation Basics: Higher R-Values = Higher Insulating Values [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Home Sweet Home Improvement [TEXT] [PDF]
    • How to Buy Genuine American Indian Arts and Crafts [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • How to Right a Wrong [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • If You've Got "The Look" ... Look Out! Avoiding Modeling Scams [TEXT] [PDF]
    • Internet Auctions: A Guide for Buyer and Sellers [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Invention Promotion Firms [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Jingle Bells, Jingle Sells: Tips for Holiday Shopping [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Kitchen Gadgets Offer Food for "Thaw-t" [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Living Trust Offers: How to Make Sure They're Trust-worthy [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Long Distance Deals [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Lotions and Potions: The Bottom Line About Multilevel Marketing Plans [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Making Sense of Long Distance Advertising [TEXT]
       
    • Making Sure the Scanned Price Is Right [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • More Than Once Upon a Mattress: Used Bedding Labeling Rules [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Need a Lawyer? Judge for Yourself [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Now Consumers Can Tell It to the FTC - Toll-Free [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Paying Final Respects: Your Rights When Buying Funeral Goods & Services [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Personal Emergency Response Systems [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Petal Pushers: Is Your 'Local' Florist Really Long-Distance? [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Prenotification Negative Option Plans [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Problems With Holiday Purchases? [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Project CLEAN Campaign [TEXT]
       
    • Pump Fiction [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Radiation Shields: Do They 'Cell' Consumers Short? [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Resolving Consumer Disputes: Mediation and Arbitration [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • A Rose Is A Rose Is A Ruse? Campaign [TEXT]
       
    • Safe Shopping Tips (Holiday Shopping Tips) [TEXT]
       
    • Service Contracts [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Servicing Your Furnace (audio) [RAM] [MP3]
       
    • So You've Got a Great Idea? Campaign [TEXT]
       
    • Solving Consumer Problems [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Spotting Sweet-Sounding Promises of Fraudulent Invention Promotion Firms [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Sun-Protective Clothing: Wear It Well [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Sunscreens and Sun-Protective Clothing [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Taking the "Bait" Out of Rebates [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Thinking About a Home Improvement? Don't Get Nailed [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Tips for Making Environmental Marketing Claims on Mail [TEXT]
       
    • Trial Offers: The Deal Is in the Details [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Unordered Merchandise [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Up In Smoke: The Truth About Tar and Nicotine Ratings [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Using Internet Access Products [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Warranties [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Warranties for Newly Built Homes: Know Your Options [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Wash Daze: Laundry Gadgets Won't Lighten the Load [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Weathering the High Cost of Heating Your Home [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Weighing the Evidence in Diet Ads [TEXT] [PDF]
       
    • Who Cares: Sources of Information About Health Care Products and Services [TEXT]

    Business Information--- http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menu-prod.htm

    The Federal Trade Commission home page is at http://www.ftc.gov/

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

    Richard Campbell notes a nice white collar crime blog edited by some law professors --- http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/whitecollarcrime_blog/ 

    What is robbing a bank compared to founding a bank?
    Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertolt_Brecht

    Dirty Tricks the Banks are Trying to Pull on You:  Some Things You Can Do About It

    "Bank, ATM Fees Reach Record Highs," AccountingWeb, November 13, 2006 ---
    http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=102798

    The Fall 2006 Checking Account Pricing Study, a survey conducted by Bankrate.com, found that some customer fees and requirements hit record highs.

    "What makes these fees especially irritating is that they're avoidable," according to Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. "It's something that pops up and bites you when you're not careful."

    Average Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fees charged users of machines at banks where users do not have an account, were a record $1.64, up a dime in a year. Although six banks reduced fees, 22 banks increased the amount, bringing the number of banks with ATMs that charge users to a record 98.3 percent. A lower percentage of banks-77 percent- are assessing fees on their customers who use other bank's ATMs and maintain a minimum balance on an interest account. Using numbers from the General Accounting Office (GAO), Bankrate.com estimated that customers would pay a total of $4.2 billion for non-bank ATM withdrawals in 2006, a slight drop from 2005

    There is no better news concerning minimum opening deposits, which rose to record highs on both types of accounts, with interest accounts getting hit the hardest, at a 43 percent increase, up to an average $615.41. Non-interest account opening balances, although only $87.67, still posted a 21 percent increase, with an average $209.72 required minimum balance. This is the second lowest number ever found by the survey. Monthly fees for these accounts are also at a record low.

    The balance requirement to earn interest and avoid fees is a whopping $2,660. The recent string of rate hikes is not reflected in the dismal 0.34 percent yield. Bankrate.com states "there is no need to maintain a large balance in a low yielding account when so many checking accounts come without balance requirements or fees."

    Fees on bounced checks, non-sufficient fund (NSF) checks, hit a record high average $27.40, with 85 banks posting increases and 32 decreasing account fees. AccountingWEB contacted customer service agents at various banks and discovered that fee policies vary and it is wise to check the policy in the city and state in which the account was opened. If the account remains negative for a certain number of days, either a one time or a daily fee may be assessed, depending on the bank policy.

    To earn interest at an online bank and avoid checking fees, it costs about half the balance required at a regular bank, but the initial opening balance is higher, at $605. The monthly service charge is also about half, $5.50 compared to $10.74. Although the online interest rate is higher, Bankrate.com maintains neither rate seems worth tying up the money which could yield more invested in other places.

    The general advice to avoid fees is to shop around and check out all of the fees at a bank before opening an account, choose an account that fits individual needs, maintain minimum balances if required and keep track of balances, including checks written and any money withdrawn from the account through ATMs or account debit cards. This way the money will remain in your account and not on the banks profit statement.

    The North Palm Beach online financial service surveyed 248 large banks and thrifts offering checking accounts, with 215 non-interest accounts and 247 interest accounts evaluated, using one non-interest and one interest checking account each, in 25 large U.S. markets.

    "Enhancing the Role of Competition in the Regulation of Banks," Federal Trade Commission, February 16, 1998 ---
    http://www.ftc.gov/bc/international/docs/compcomm/1998--Enhancing the Role of Competition.pdf

    The Independent Community Bankers of America is not the best place to search for the dirty secrets of banking, but the ICBA does have some helpful advice for consumers --- http://www.icba.org
    Especially note the consumer education resources at http://www.icba.org/consumer/index.cfm?ItemNumber=11331

    The American Bankers Association is not the best place to search for the dirty secrets of banking, but the ABA does have some very helpful advice for consumers at http://www.aba.com/Consumer+Connection/default.htm

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

    Banks are also victims of fraud. You can read more about fraud on both sides of the teller windows at http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/bank_fraud.htm

    Cheque Fraud

    Check fraud accounts for yearly losses of at least $815 million, more than twelve times the $65 million taken in bank robberies annually.

    Kiting

    Cheque kiting is when in-transit or non-existent cash is recorded in more than one bank account. The crime usually occurs when a bank pays on an unfunded deposit. 

    For example, a bum check is deposited into an account. Before the cash is collected by the bank, a check is written against the same account and deposited into a second account, or cashed. The increased use of wire transfers allows this type of scheme to be perpetrated very quickly.

    Uninsured Deposits

    At least two companies solicit uninsured deposits on the Internet. Netware International advertises itself as a "Constitutional" bank and FocusInternational.com, Ltd., is a West Indies company seeking deposits for an unidentified bank.

    They lure depositors by offering high rates of interest, or promising offshore secrecy. Neither company is authorized, supervised, or regulated by any U.S. State or Federal bank or financial institutions regulator. Deposits in these companies do not have the protection of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other state or federal deposit insurance.

    continue QuickTour

    Credit Card Theft and Fraud

    One con, while in jail serving a state prison term for credit-card theft, actually perpetrated yet another credit card scam over a seven month period, using a technique that allowed him to hide the fact that he was calling from jail.

    He would start off by calling the county-run nursing home saying he was a Bell Atlantic technician and that he needed the person to dial a special code to test the lines. When the person pressed the requested numbers, he would be connected to an outside line that he used to call businesses.

    When he called the businesses, he would tell them he was a credit-card representative and that he needed customers' names and phone numbers to verify recent transactions. With that information he then called the cardholders and posed as a credit company employee, saying he needed personal information to check for fraud.

    With this personal information and the credit-card numbers, he then requested and received more credit cards with which he made about $25,000 worth of purchases of such things as sports memorabilia, flowers, and gift certificates. He also bought calling cards so he could continue the scam.

    Some of the items were given to other inmates in exchange for helping with the fraud while other items were shipped to friends to be held for him until he got out of jail.

    Duplication of Card Information

    Credit card "double scan" machines can copy info from the magnetic strip of your card and create a new duplicate card for which your account will be billed for any purchases. Try to keep your card in sight when possible to avoid this problem. 

    While card issuers have fraud detection software which picks up unusual spending patterns, smaller purchase "skimming" can be subtle and prolonged, compared to the flurry of spending when a card is stolen outright.

    • Keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates, and the phone number and address of each company in a secure place.
    • Void incorrect receipts and destroy carbons.
    • Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
    • Open bills promptly and report any questionable charges promptly and also in writing to the card issuer.

    If you realize they've been lost or stolen, immediately call the issuer. Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with such emergencies.

    By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges. In any event, your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card. If you suspect fraud, you may be asked to sign a statement under oath that you did not make the purchases in question.

    Booster Checks

    A booster check is a non-sufficient fund (NSF) check used to make a payment to a credit card account.  One group used "booster checks" to "bust out" legitimate credit cards. They used credit card "convenience checks" issued by the banks and credit card companies to inflate their credit card limits; or to "bust out" the credit card to double or triple the established line of credit.

    Because banking laws require financial institutions to immediately post credit payments even before the check has been cleared, they would use the window of time between the posting of the credit card payment and the discovery of the bad check to go on a spending spree and purchase, among other things, large amounts of gold coins from legitimate coin vendors.

    They would also go to store owners who knowingly aided the bust out scheme, who would "swipe" the credit cards through point-of-sale credit card terminals located at their businesses. While these transactions would appear to be legitimate, no merchandise would actually be exchanged.

    Once a credit card company transfers funds to a store owner's bank account, a collusive merchant is able to dispense funds from the busted out credit card. The merchants in this case allegedly issued kickback checks to the card holder for the amount of the transaction, and they would then receive a kickback from the card holder which would amount to a small percentage of the transaction.

    The Secret Service estimates the total loss in this one case is between $10 million and $15 million.

    Falsification of Loan Applications

    While scheming to defraud four banks and a credit union, one con opened checking and savings accounts using a false name and a fraudulently obtained new social security number. He then applied for seven loans for the stated purpose of financing the purchase of motor vehicles.

    He also submitted false documents concerning his employment and income, including fake tax returns. By producing fictitious records including motor vehicle appraisals, insurance documents and invoices he obtained approximately $380,000 in loans for the purchase of a 1976 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, a 1978 Ferrari model 308 GTS convertible, a 1992 Mercedes-Benz model 300SE, a 1995 Mercedes-Benz model SL320 and a 1994 Mercedes-Benz model 500SL.

    He also applied for and was issued multiple credit cards and charge cards. In just seven months he ran up charges leading to losses of at least $460,000. 

    For example, he used an American Express account to pay $27,000 towards the purchase of an item of jewelry, used an MasterCard to place a $5,000 down payment towards the purchase of a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing with a purchase price of $203,000 and a 1964 Ferrari 250GT Lusso convertible with a purchase price of $153,000, and then used the American Express account to pay $320,000 towards the purchase of these two antique automobiles. He also used various VISA and MasterCard accounts to obtain substantial cash advances and used the American Express account to pay $93,600 towards the purchase of a Patek Philippe Moon Phase watch with a purchase price of $95,600.

    Laxity of Enforcement

    One of the problems with enforcing bank fraud laws is that it is often relegated to a low priority, or ignored altogether, because the activity can span several jurisdictions, involve many unidentified subjects, is non-violent and usually there are few leads.

    Normally, the typical bank robber nets $700 and is caught within 24 hours, yet the average check scam involves losses of more than $2,000, the perpetrators are seldom caught, and there are more than one hundred times as many cases as bank robberies.  Out of 10,000 cases the losses exceeded $60 million dollars.

    Many bank fraud suspects are able to elude arrest by furnishing false identification when cashing stolen, forged, or counterfeited checks. One effort to stop this crime is the "Check Print" program which requires non-bank customers to provide a thumb print, using a clear solution, on the negotiated check for identification purposes. With this positive identification, it has been much easier to identify, arrest, and successfully prosecute bank fraud scams.

    Check Security Features

    Check manufacturers help deter check fraud by making checks difficult to copy, alter, or counterfeit. Some useful security measures include:

    Watermarks. Watermarks are made by applying different degrees of pressure during the paper manufacturing process. Most watermarks make subtle designs on the front and back of the checks. These marks are not easily visible and can be seen only when they are held up to light at a 45-degree angle. This offers protection from counterfeiting, because copiers and scanners generally cannot copy watermarks accurately.

    Copy Void Pantograph. Pantographs are patented designs in the background pattern of checks. When photocopied, the pattern changes and the word "VOID" appears, making the copy nonnegotiable.

    Chemical Voids Chemical voids involve treating check paper in a manner that is not detectable until eradicator chemicals contact the paper. When the chemicals are applied, the treatment causes the word "VOID" to appear, making the item non-negotiable.

    High Resolution Microprinting. High-resolution microprinting is very small printing, typically used for the signature line of a check or around the border, in what appears to be a line or pattern to the naked eye. When magnified, the line or pattern contains a series of words that run together or become totally illegible if the check has been photocopied or desktop scanned.

    Three-dimensional Reflective Holostripe. A holostripe is a metallic stripe that contains one or more holograms, similar to those on credit cards. Those items are difficult to forge, scan, or reproduce, because they are produced by a sophisticated, laser-based etching process.

    Security Inks  Security inks react with common eradication chemicals. These inks reduce a forger's ability to modify the printed dollar amount or alter the designated payee, because when solvents are applied, a chemical reaction with the security ink distorts the appearance of the check.

    Cooperation between Check Manufacturers and Financial Institutions

    Participating financial institutions can report all checking accounts "closed for cause" to a central database, called ChexSystems. This program prevents people, who have outstanding checks due to retailers, from opening new accounts.

    You can use this information before opening new accounts to spot repeat offenders and you can also use MICR information from a check presented with the applicant's drivers license number to check the SCAN file for any previous fraudulent account activity.

    Bob Jensen's threads on the dirty secrets of credit card companies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudReporting.htm#FICO

    "FIVE YEARS LATER: USA PATRIOT ACT'S IMPACT ON BANKS"
    Fortent --- http://www.fortent.com/

    Summary from Accounting Education News --- http://accountingeducation.com/index.cfm?page=newsdetails&id=143852

    "Five years ago [last October], the regulatory environment for financial institutions was transformed virtually overnight," observes Sandy Jaffee, CEO of Fortent, a specialist in anti-money laundering, Know Your Customer, and fraud detection technology. "The passage of the PATRIOT Act in October of 2001 brought a whole new level of regulatory oversight to banks and other segments of the financial industry." The USA PATRIOT Act -- Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 -- has spurred these key developments in the financial services industry, says Ms. Jaffee.

    Signed by President Bush on October 26, 2001, the USA PATRIOT Act has "elevated compliance to a top-level issue for boards of directors," says Ms. Jaffee. "Directors and financial executives are increasingly concerned about reputational risk and have created demand in the market for new ways to solve their compliance problems."

    The USA PATRIOT Act -- Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 -- has spurred these key developments in the financial services industry, says Ms. Jaffee:

    New burden on smaller banks - Large banks, often the first focus of regulatory activity, have been able to develop compliance systems to meet the relatively measured pace of regulatory change since the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. But the PATRIOT Act has brought a new and urgent spotlight on mid-size and smaller banks as money launderers have shifted their schemes to financial institutions with the least internal enforcement capacity. Examiners are now applying the same standard of "zero tolerance" in detection and reporting requirements to both regional and global institutions. New to such intense regulatory oversight, smaller banks are facing huge implementation and cost challenges to put adequate compliance programs in place.

    Scrutiny beyond banks - The segments of the financial industry that fall outside the scope of banking regulators are also expanding their enforcement efforts to thwart money launderers seeking unregulated businesses. The PATRIOT Act expanded compliance requirements, previously mandated only for banks, to the broker/dealer community, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other financial entities. This year, in its first-ever enforcement action under the PATRIOT Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission sanctioned a broker-dealer for violating customer identification requirements.

    Demand for expertise - Changes in legislation as well as the specific needs for technology to address these compliance issues have created a demand for multi-dimensional professionals who combine expertise in banking, technology, and compliance. Banks are recruiting experts attuned to regulatory expectations, even hiring former policy-makers and examiners as key members of their compliance staff. But organizations have found such people in short supply, leading to stiff competition for those workers.

    Demand for efficient technology - Instead of installing compliance technology that slows operations, businesses are demanding that compliance systems be integrated into existing business processes to improve workflow and productivity.

    Trend toward integrated regulatory standards - The five biggest federal regulatory agencies are working more closely than ever to create common compliance standards for the financial businesses they regulate.

    Higher costs of non-compliance - The proven consequences of non- compliance - fines of up to $80 million, the personal liability of board directors and top executives in public companies, stiff penalties curbing business expansion, millions of dollars in remediation costs, and reputational damage - are forcing banks to rethink what compliance will cost.

    "What the changes of the past five years have shown are the depth and breadth to which the PATRIOT Act has affected every size financial institution," observes Ms. Jaffee. "Once seen as a routine, check-the-box issue, compliance is now regarded as essential to protecting reputational risk."

    Dilbert  has a blog --- http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/

    Untold Stories of Kindness:  Listen to this story
    As an Army medic in Iraq, Sgt. Ernesto Haibi has seen his share of violence and death. But despite his wartime experiences, Haibi believes mankind's goodness can foster a positive, more peaceful future.
    "Untold Stories of Kindness:  Listen to this story," by Ernesto Haibi, NPR, November 13, 2006 --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6479980

    Question
    Do students need more protection from their professors who expound political views?

    For all the fears about David Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights, the proposal ended up going nowhere in state legislatures last year. But in Pennsylvania, the House of Representatives voted to create a special legislative committee to investigate the state of academic freedom and whether students who hold unpopular views need more protection. The special committee held hearings — amid charges and countercharges from Horowitz, his allies, college presidents, faculty groups and others.
    Scott Jaschik, "Who Won the Battle of Pennsylvania?" Inside Higher Ed, November 16, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/16/tabor

    Bob Jensen's threads on free speech and academic freedom controversies are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies.htm#AcademicFreedom

    2006 Creativity Professors of the Year

    "Professors honored for creativity," by Marissa Levy, USA Today, November 16, 2006 --- Click Here

    The national winners are:

    Baccalaureate colleges

    Kenneth Brashier, 41, the bone-grilling professor of religion and humanities and scholar of Chinese studies at Reed College in Portland, Ore., says he strategically plans each of his lectures to capture student attention and maximize participation.

    "One thing I do all the time is try to envision myself in the (student's seat). I'm always asking myself, 'If I was a student taking my class, what would I have wanted out of me?' "

    Community colleges

    Mark Lewine, 60, professor of anthropology at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, says the award is a high point in his 35-year teaching career. Lewine earned the top-professor chops for his dedication to promoting community college education, the education council says.

    "A community college to me is a very magical place for anyone interested in interacting with a highly diverse group of people," Lewine says.

    Doctoral and research universities

    Alex Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California-Berkeley, won for a teaching style that goes beyond the traditional lecture to incorporate music, visual props and digital media.

    "For example, I jump from the floor to chairs to desks as I catch colored balls students toss at me to illustrate the change in atomic energy level by electrons absorbing photons," Filippenko says.

    Master's universities and colleges

    Donna Boyd, professor of anthropology at Virginia's Radford University, was honored for her dedication to forensic anthropology and providing students with hands-on practice in the field, including trips to crime scene investigations and case studies on human remains.

    "The power of knowledge is most relevant when applied outside of the classroom," Boyd says.

    The Causey of It All --- At Long Last

    Of all the Enron accounting executives (Fastow was the CFO who knew epsilon about accounting) I wanted Rick Causey sent up river. Causey was the Chief Accounting Officer who worked out most of the accounting fraud and was the closest conspirator with David Duncan, Andersen's manager of the less-than-independent audit. Causey mysteriously was not called on to testify in the trials of Lay and Skilling, purportedly because he was "not a rat." It appears that he was a bit more of a rat than previously reported.

    "Ex-Enron Officer Given 5½ Years in Prison," The New York Times, November 16, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/business/16enron.html

    Richard A. Causey, the last of the top Enron executives to learn his punishment, was sentenced Wednesday to five and a half years in prison for his role in the corporate accounting scandal.

    Mr. Causey, 46, the company’s former chief accounting officer, pleaded guilty in December to securities fraud, two weeks before he was to be tried along with the founder of Enron, Kenneth L. Lay, and the former chief executive, Jeffrey K. Skilling, on conspiracy, fraud and other charges related to the company’s collapse.

    Mr. Causey had agreed to serve seven years in prison. Prosecutors said they could have recommended it be reduced to five if they were pleased with his cooperation.

    Mr. Causey also agreed to pay $1.25 million to the government and to forfeit a claim to about $250,000 in deferred compensation as part of his plea deal. Unlike some others at Enron, he did not skim millions of dollars for himself.

    Prosecutors dropped their plan to seize Mr. Causey’s home, a $950,000 two-story red-brick house in a Houston suburb.

    Mr. Causey had faced more than 30 counts of conspiracy, fraud, insider trading, lying to auditors and money laundering.

    In his guilty plea, made in Federal District Court, he admitted making false public findings and statements.

    He did not testify in the Lay-Skilling trial this year, though he was on the defense witness list.

    Mr. Skilling and Mr. Lay were convicted in May of conspiracy and fraud. Mr. Lay’s convictions were wiped out with his July death from heart disease. Mr. Skilling was sentenced last month to more than 24 years in prison.

    Andrew S. Fastow, Enron’s former chief financial officer, whose schemes helped doom the company, was sentenced in September to six years.

    Mark E. Koenig, Enron’s former director of investor relations, and Michael J. Kopper, an Enron managing director and Mr. Fastow’s top aide, are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

    Enron collapsed into bankruptcy in December 2001 after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable.

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

    Why white collar crime pays for Chief Enron Accountant: 
    Rick Causey's fine for filing false Enron financial statements:    $1,250,000
    Rick Causey's stock sales benefiting from the false reports:     $13,386,896
    That averages out to winnings of $2,427,379 per year for each of the five years he's expected to be in prison
    You can read what others got at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm#StockSales 
    Nice work if you can get it:  Club Fed's not so bad if you earn $6,650 per day plus all the accrued interest over the past 15 years.

    Creative Accounting by Creative Michael Dell
    Dell said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission had started a formal investigation into its accounting practices, but provided no other details of the inquiry that began in August. As a result, the computer company said it was delaying the release of its third-quarter financial results until the end of the month. It had planned to announce them today after the markets closed. The company said the delay was not because of the new status of the investigation, but rather because of the difficulty of answering government queries, conducting its own inquiry and quickly compiling complex financial information.
    Damon Darlin, "Dell Accounting Inquiry Made Formal by S.E.C.," The New York Times, November 16, 2006 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/technology/16dell.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

    Dell's independent auditor in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#PwC

    The 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement, released November 13, 2006, for the first time offers a close look at distance education, offering provocative new data suggesting that e-learners report higher levels of engagement, satisfaction and academic challenge than their on-campus peers --- http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2006_Annual_Report/index.cfm

    "The Engaged E-Learner," by Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed, November 13, 2006 --- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/11/13/nsse

    The 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement, released today, for the first time offers a close look at distance education, offering provocative new data suggesting that e-learners report higher levels of engagement, satisfaction and academic challenge than their on-campus peers.

    Beyond the numbers, however, what institutions choose to do with the data promises to attract extra attention to this year’s report.

    NSSE is one of the few standardized measures of academic outcomes that most officials across a wide range of higher education institutions agree offers something of value.Yet NSSE does not release institution-specific data, leaving it to colleges to choose whether to publicize their numbers.

    Colleges are under mounting pressure, however, to show in concrete, measurable ways that they are successfully educating students, fueled in part by the recent release of the report from the Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which emphasizes the need for the development of comparable measures of student learning. In the commission’s report and in college-led efforts to heed the commission’s call, NSSE has been embraced as one way to do that. In this climate, will a greater number of colleges embrace transparency and release their results?

    Anywhere between one-quarter and one-third of the institutions participating in NSSE choose to release some data, said George Kuh, NSSE’s director and a professor of higher education at Indiana University at Bloomington. But that number includes not only those institutions that release all of the data, but also those that pick and choose the statistics they’d like to share.

    In the “Looking Ahead” section that concluded the 2006 report, the authors note that NSSE can “contribute to the higher education improvement and accountability agenda,” teaming with institutions to experiment with appropriate ways to publicize their NSSE data and developing common templates for colleges to use. The report cautions that the data released for accountability purposes should be accompanied by other indicators of student success, including persistence and graduation rates, degree/certificate completion rates and measurements of post-college endeavors.

    “Has this become a kind of a watershed moment when everybody’s reporting? No. But I think what will happen as a result of the Commission on the Future of Higher Ed, Secretary (Margaret) Spelling’s workgroup, is that there is now more interest in figuring out how to do this,” Kuh said.

    Charles Miller, chairman of the Spellings commission, said he understands that NSSE’s pledge not to release institutional data has encouraged colleges to participate — helping the survey, first introduced in 1999, get off the ground and gain wide acceptance. But Miller said he thinks that at this point, any college that chooses to participate in NSSE should make its data public.

    “Ultimately, the duty of the colleges that take public funds is to make that kind of data public. It’s not a secret that the people in the academy ought to have. What’s the purpose of it if it’s just for the academy? What about the people who want to get the most for their money?”

    Participating public colleges are already obliged to provide the data upon request, but Miller said private institutions, which also rely heavily on public financial aid funds, should share that obligation.

    Kuh said that some colleges’ reluctance to publicize the data stems from a number of factors, the primary reason being that they are not satisfied with the results and feel they might reflect poorly on the institution.

    In addition, some college officials fear that the information, if publicized, may be misused, even conflated to create a rankings system. Furthermore, sharing the data would represent a shift in the cultural paradigm at some institutions used to keeping sensitive data to themselves, Kuh said.

    “The great thing about NSSE and other measures like it is that it comes so close to the core of what colleges and universities are about — teaching and learning. This is some of the most sensitive information that we have about colleges and universities,” Kuh said.

    But Miller said the fact that the data get right to the heart of the matter is precisely why it should be p