The Ethics of Citibank Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Ethics of Citibank - Research Paper Example As a means of understanding the ethical ramifications of the collapse and the contributing factors that ultimately led up to it, the analysis will first delve into something of a historical analysis of the collapse so that the key decisions that Citibank made leading up to and just prior to the collapse can be understood within a broader appreciation for the means by which successive ethical oversights and dependency behavior created the perfect something of a perfect storm that has affected untold millions around the world and cost untold trillions in loss to the global economy. Moreover, it is the hope of this author that such an analysis will help the reader to not only come to an appreciation for ethical factors and the impacts that they can have but to create a sense of urgency within the mind of the reader to integrate with ethical decision making at each and every step of the business process. As such, the forthcoming analysis will break down the financial collapse and subsequ ent ethical oversights into two main sectors; those dealing with the ethical oversights that existed prior to the crash and contributed to the global financial meltdown (evidenced within Citibank), and those ethical oversights that took place after the crash and fundamentally concerned appropriation and disbursal of stimulus funding. Taking the more recent situation first, it can be noted that in excess of 220 billion USD was allocated to Citibank by the Federal government as a result of TARP. The initial reason for this allocation was of course the fact that the Federal government and key decision makers within the Federal Reserve felt that without TARP stimulus it would be highly possible that the poor investment structure of Citibank could lead to its collapse. Due to the fact that Citibank and others were labeled as â€Å"too big to fail†, it was determined that it was vitally necessary to transfer this massive amount of money from the taxpayers into the coffers of some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Not surprisingly, Citibank and others were none to alarmed with such a rapid increase in the overall level of money that they could leverage to meet their liabilities. Unfortunately, rather than leveraging this money and immediately doing a thorough audit of their firm to ensure that k ey standards were being met and no such situation as had been witnessed the following year could ever occur again, the key ethical oversight of merely continuing to conduct business as usual was witnessed. Certainly, it can be noted that Citibank and others met minimum federal requirements; however, a proactive stance in seeking to maximize their shareholders utility and minimize any potential and lingering levels of ethical oversights was not engaged. Moreover, it can also be noted that one of the first major managerial decisions that was made after the financial collapse and subsequent federal disbursal of bailout funds was with relation to liberal bonuses for many of the top leadership positions within Citibank. This serves as perhaps the most visible ethical oversight that this brief analysis will analyze. The news media soon picked up on this revelation and broadcast the names and actual bonus levels that many of these upper

Wireless Lan Applications Areas Computer Science Essay

Wireless Lan Applications Areas Computer Science Essay G. Marconi invented the wireless telegraph in 1896. In 1901, he sent telegraphic signals across the Atlantic Ocean from Cornwall to St. Johns Newfoundland; a distance of 1800 miles. His invention allowed two parties to communicate by sending each other alphanumeric characters encoded in an analog signal. Over the last century, advances in wireless technologies have led to the radio, the television, the mobile telephone, and communication satellites. All types of information can now be sent to almost every corner of the world. Recently, a good attention has been focused on wireless networking. Early wireless LAN products, introduced in the late 1980s, were marketed as substitutes for traditional wired LANs. Wireless networking is allowing businesses to develop WANs, MANs, and LANs without cabling. A wireless LAN saves the cost of the installation of LAN cabling and eases the task of relocation and other modifications to network structure. The IEEE has developed 802.11 as a standard for wireless LANs. The Bluetooth industry consortium is also working to provide a seamless wireless networking technology. The impact of wireless communications has been and will continue to be profound. Very few inventions have been able to shrink the world in such a manner. The standards that define how wireless communication devices interact are quickly converging and soon will allow the creation of a global wireless network that will deliver a wide variety of services. 1.2 Over view As the name suggests, a wireless LAN is one that makes use of a wireless transmission medium. Until recently, wireless LANs were little used. The reasons for this included high prices, data rates, occupational safety concerns, and licensing requirements. As these problems have been now addressed, the popularity of wireless LANs has grown rapidly. 1.3 Wireless LAN Applications Areas: There are four application areas for wireless LANs: LAN extension, Cross- building interconnect, Nomadic access and Ad hoc networks. LAN Extension The motivation for wireless LANs was overtaken by events. First, as awareness of the need for LANs became greater, architects designed new buildings to include extensive pre wiring for data applications. Second, with advances in data transmission technology, there is an increasing reliance on twisted pair cabling for LANs and in particular, Category3 and Category 5 unshielded twisted pair. However, in some environments, there is a role for the wireless LAN as an alternative to a wired LAN. Examples include buildings with large open areas. In most of these cases, an organization will also have a wired LAN to support servers and some stationary workstations. Thus, this application area is referred to as LAN extension. There is a backbone wired LAN, such as Ethernet, that supports servers, workstations, and one or more bridges or routers to link with other networks. In addition, there is a Control Module (CM) that acts as an interface to a wireless LAN. The control module includes either bridge or router functionality to link the wireless LAN to the backbone. It includes some sort of access control logic, such as a polling or token-passing scheme, to regulate the access from the end systems. Cross- Building Interconnect Another use of wireless LAN technology is to connect LANs in nearby buildings, be they wired or wireless LANs. In this case, a point-to-point wireless link is used between two buildings. The devices so connected are typically bridges or routers. This single point-to-point link is not a LAN per se, but it is usual to include this application under the heading of wireless LAN. Nomadic Access Nomadic access provides a wireless link between a LAN hub and mobile data terminal equipped with an antenna, such as a laptop computer or notepad computer. Nomadic access is also useful in an extended environment such as a campus or a business operating out of a cluster of buildings. Ad Hoc Networking An ad hoc network is a peer-to-peer network (no centralized server) set up temporarily to meet some immediate need. For example, a group of employees, each with a laptop or palmtop computer may convene in a conference room for a business or classroom meeting. The employees link their computers in a temporary network just for the duration of the meeting. There are differences between a wireless LAN that supports LAN extension and nomadic access requirements and an ad hoc wireless LAN. In the former case, the wireless LAN forms a stationary infrastructure consisting of one or more cells with a control module for each cell. Within a cell, there may be a number of stationary end systems. Nomadic stations can move from one cell to another. In contrast, there is no infrastructure for an ad hoc network. Rather, a peer collection of stations within range of each other may dynamically configure themselves into a temporary network. Fig 1.1 Wireless LAN Configurations 1.4 Wireless LAN Requirements A wireless LAN must meet the same sort of requirements typical of any LAN, including high capacity, ability to cover short distances, full connectivity among attached stations, and broadcast capability. In addition, there are a number of requirements specific to the wireless LAN environment. The following are among the most important requirements for wireless LANs. Throughput: The medium access control protocol should make as efficient use as possible of the wireless medium to maximize capacity. Number of nodes: Wireless LANs may need to support hundreds of nodes across multiple cells. Connection to backbone LAN: In most cases, interconnection with stations on a wired backbone LAN is required. For infrastructure wireless LANs, this is easily accomplished through the use of control modules that connect to both types of LANs. There may also need to be accommodation for mobile users and ad hoc wireless networks. Service area: A typical coverage area for a wireless LAN has a diameter of 100 to 300m. Battery power consumption: Mobile workers use battery-powered workstations that need to have a long battery life when used with wireless adapters. This suggests that a MAC protocol that requires mobile nodes to monitor access points constantly or engage in frequent handshakes with a base station is inappropriate. Typical wireless LAN implementations have features to reduce power consumption while not using the network, such as a sleep mode. Transmission robustness and security: Unless properly designed, a wireless LAN may be interference prone and easily eavesdropped. The design of a wireless LAN must permit reliable transmission even in a noisy environment and should provide some level of security from eavesdropping. Collocated network operation: As Wireless LANs become more popular, it is quite likely for two or more wireless LANs to operate in the same area or in some area where interference between the LANs is possible. Such interferee may thwart the normal operation of a MAC algorithm and may allow unauthorized access to a particular LAN. License-free operation: Users would prefer to buy and operate wireless LAN products without having to secure a license for the frequency band used by the LAN. Handoff/roaming: The MAC protocol used in the wireless LAN should enable mobile stations to move from one cell to another. Dynamic configuration: The MAC addressing and network management aspects of the LAN should permit dynamic and automated addition, deletion, and relocation of end systems without disruption to other users. 1.5 The Trouble with Wireless Wireless is convenient and often less expensive to deploy than fixed services, but wireless is not perfect. There are limitations, political and technical difficulties that may ultimately prevent wireless technologies from reaching the other side with full potential. Two limiting issues are incompatible standards and device limitations. Device limitations also restrict the free flow of data. The small LCD on a mobile telephone is inadequate for displaying more than a few lines of text. In additions, most mobile wireless devices cannot access the vast majority of WWW sites on the Internet. The browsers use a special language, wireless markup language (WML), instead of the de facto standard HTML. Most likely, no one wireless device will be able to meet every need. The potential of wireless can be met but not with a single product. Wireless will succeed because it will be integrated into a variety of devices that can meet a variety of needs. 1.6 Fading in the Mobile Environment Perhaps the most challenging technical problem being faced by communication systems engineers is fading in a mobile environment. The term fading refers to the time variation of received signal power caused by changes in the transmission medium or path(s). In a fixed environment, fading is affected by changes in atmospheric conditions, such as rainfall. But in a mobile environment, where one of the two antennae is moving relative to the other, the relative location of various obstacles changes over time, creating complex transmission effects. 1.6.1 Types of Fading Fading effects in a mobile environment can be classified as either fast or slow. Referring to Fig 1.2, as the mobile unit moves down a street in an urban environment, rapid variations in signal strength occur over distances of about one-half a wavelength. The rapidly changing waveform is an example of the spatial variation of received signal amplitude. The changes of amplitude can be as much as 20 or 30 dB over a short distance. This type of rapidly changing fading phenomenon, known as fat fading, affects not only mobile devices in automobiles, but even a mobile phone user walking down an urban street. As the mobile user covers distances well in excess of a wavelength, the urban environment changes, as the user passes buildings of different heights, vacant lots, intersections, and so forth. Over these longer distances, there is a change in the average received power level about which the rapid fluctuations occur. This is referred to as slow fading. Lamp Post B D C A Fig 1.2 Mobile unit signal reflections Fading channel models are often used to model the effects of electromagnetic transmission of information over the air in cellular networks and broadcast communication. Fading channel models are also used in underwater acoustic communications to model the distortion caused by the water. Mathematically, fading is usually modeled as a time-varying random change in the amplitude and phase of the transmitted signal. 1.6.2 Slow vs. Fast Fading The terms slow and fast fading refer to the rate at which the magnitude and phase change imposed by the channel on the signal changes. The coherence time is a measure of the minimum time required for the magnitude change of the channel to become decorrelated from its previous value. Slow fading arises when the coherence time of the channel is large relative to the delay constraint of the channel. In this regime, the amplitude and phase change imposed by the channel can be considered roughly constant over the period of use. Slow fading can be caused by events such as shadowing, where a large obstruction such as a hill or large building obstructs the main signal path between the transmitter and the receiver. The amplitude change caused by shadowing is often modeled using a log-normal distribution with a standard deviation according to the Log Distance Path Loss Model. Fast Fading occurs when the coherence time of the channel is small relative to the delay constraint of the channel. In this regime, the amplitude and phase change imposed by the channel varies considerably over the period of use. In a fast-fading channel, the transmitter may take advantage of the variations in the channel conditions using time diversity to help increase robustness of the communication to a temporary deep fade. Although a deep fade may temporarily erase some of the information transmitted, use of an error-correcting code coupled with successfully transmitted bits during other time instances (interleaving) can allow for the erased bits to be recovered. In a slow-fading channel, it is not possible to use time diversity because the transmitter sees only a single realization of the channel within its delay constraint. A deep fade therefore lasts the entire duration of transmission and cannot be mitigated using coding. Flat vs. Frequency-selective Fading As the carrier frequency of a signal is varied, the magnitude of the change in amplitude will vary. The coherence bandwidth measures the minimum separation in frequency after which two signals will experience uncorrelated fading. In flat fading, the coherence bandwidth of the channel is larger than the bandwidth of the signal. Therefore, all frequency components of the signal will experience the same magnitude of fading. In frequency-selective fading, the coherence bandwidth of the channel is smaller than the bandwidth of the signal. Different frequency components of the signal therefore experience decorrelated fading. In a frequency-selective fading channel, since different frequency components of the signal are affected independently, it is highly unlikely that all parts of the signal will be simultaneously affected by a deep fade. Certain modulation schemes such as OFDM and CDMA are well-suited to employ frequency diversity to provide robustness to fading. OFDM divides the wideband signal into many slowly modulated narrowband subcarriers, each exposed to flat fading rather than frequency selective fading. This can be combated by means of error coding, simple equalization or adaptive bit loading. Inter-symbol interference is avoided by introducing a guard interval between the symbols. CDMA uses the Rake receiver to deal with each echo separately. Frequency-selective fading channels are also dispersive, in that the signal energy associated with each symbol is spread out in time. This causes transmitted symbols that are adjacent in time to interfere with each other. Equalizers are often deployed in such channels to compensate for the effects of the inter symbol interference. Fading effects can also be classified as flat or selective. Flat fading, or nonselective fading, is that type of fading in which all frequency components of the received signal fluctuate in the same proportions simultaneously. Selective fading affects unequally the different spectral components of a radio signal. The term selective fading is usually significant only relative to the bandwidth of the overall communications channel. If attenuation occurs over a portion of the bandwidth of the signal, the fading is considered to be selective; nonselective fading implies that the signal bandwidth of interest is narrower than, and completely covered by, the spectrum affected by the fading.

Free College Essays - Analysis of William Shakespeares Sonnet 19

William Shakespeare is considered to be one of the most significant English poets and dramatists of all time. Shakespeare is credited with writing 36-38 dramatic works and many sonnets. In most of the sonnets the form is of three separate quatrains and a closing couplet for emotional and dramatic climax. Some sonnets seem open and addressed to the world. Others are too cryptic and personal to be intelligible. Sonnets 18-125 deal gradually with many themes associate with a handsome young man. The poet enjoys his friendship and promises to immortalize him through his poems. â€Å"Sonnet 19" is addressed to time and is dedicated to a very special friend. In the first quatrain of the sonnet, the author talks about the devastating effects of time: it affects everything and nothing can escape its impact. The poet directly addresses time and vividly describes its effect on the sharp claws of the lion. Time wears away their strength, spoiling and eroding them. Shakespeare then writes that time forces the earth to â€Å"...devoure her owne fweet brood† (2). Everything that is born of the earth return...

Cartoon and Japanese Society Essay

Japan’s animation boom began in the summer of l977, when the movie Uchu Senkan Yamato (Space Cruiser Yamato) captivated teenagers and young adults to emerge as a major box-office hit. The success of this sci-fi â€Å"anime† prompted a fundamental shift in the cultural status of animation. Even before Space Cruiser Yamato, Japan had produced a considerable number of animated films, but they were generally regarded as children’s fare or, at best, family entertainment; the few adult-oriented animated movies were not successful commercially. Space Cruiser Yamato was the first anime to demonstrate that the medium need not restrict itself to kiddies fare. Following suit, from the late l970s, Japan put out a steady stream of animated films geared to young adults, including Ginga Tetsudo 999 (Galaxy Express 999) and Kido Senshi Gandamu (Mobile Suit Gundam). Most of these were commercial successes as well, although critics dismissed these as exploitation films pandering to teenage taste. The attitude of film critics changed abruptly, however, with the 1984 release of Kaze no Tani no Naushica (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), a film whose artistic quality was widely regarded as more than sufficient to hold the attention of adults. With this movie, writer-director Miyazaki Hayao overturned the conventional image of the anime director as a versatile hack, and was soon crowned as anime’s first genuine auteur. Of course, not all anime rose to the level of non-juvenile entertainment or art. In fact, in the late 1980s, with young adult anime showing signs of staleness, the focus began to revert to children’s films. Nevertheless, the genre never relinquished the commercial foothold it had gained during the young adult anime craze; furthermore, Miyazaki began to enjoy a large degree of freedom in his filmmaking, as did several other directors who subsequently achieved the status of anime auteur. The results of those efforts, particularly the anime produced by Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, are not simply movies with high box-office potential; they are in many instances artistically superior to the live-action films made in Japan, and they have won growing legions of fans overseas. During the 1990s, animation, spearheaded by the work of a few anime auteurs, emerged as the face of Japanese film, positioning Japan as the worlds undisputed â€Å"anime superpower. † And in 1997 — a full twenty years since anime took off — animation’s preeminence over live-action films in Japan was more apparent than ever. In a matter of months after its release, Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke), Miyazaki’s latest film to date which was then alleged to be his last directorial effort, broke every box-office record to become the biggest domestic movie hit of all time in Japan. In the languishing field of young adult anime, the avant garde sci-fi work Shin Seiki Evangerion (Neon Genesis Evangelion) scored a major box-office hit and won a huge cult following. Moreover, children’s anime are as popular as ever. In all, it appears that anime has taken center stage in the Japanese film industry, pushing live-action movies into the wings. Kenji (2002) opined that Animation became popular in Japan as it provided an alternative format of storytelling compared to the underdeveloped live-action industry in Japan. Unlike America, where live-action shows and movies have generous budgets, the live-action industry in Japan is a small market and suffered from budgeting, location, and casting restrictions. The lack of Western-looking actors, for example, made it next to impossible to shoot films set in Europe, America, or fantasy worlds that do not naturally involve Asians. The varied use of animation allowed artists to create characters and settings that did not look Japanese at all Now a bit about how animation gets to wherever you are today. In the dusty yet not-so-long-ago time, when old cities began to get overweight and thus suburban areas started to be a new synonym for the term ‘eyesore’, the post-LSD generation of the Northern hemisphere imported anime from the Land of the Rising Sun at approximately the pace of a snail-mail package sent from Alabama to Tibet. The riotous 1970’s has just received enlightenment in this field of concern — the quicker-witted Americans in the industry started to stop calling non-human-non-nature-non-animal motion pictures ‘cartoons’ and have used the word ‘animation’. Naturally the content of slim boxes of taped animation movies embarking there was then called ‘Japanese animation, and for the convenience of those who tend to misspell anything more than three-lettered it was promptly squeezed into ‘Japanimation’, so no wonder that they still misspell it. Anyway, no derogatory wink was involved in the term ‘Japanimation’ — it’s just a matter of geoprofile for the product that has come in faster and in bulk during 1980’s. The malicious intent is not there, if you really are so paranoid about such things; it is for instance in the term ‘Japornimation’, for which the Yoshiwara might have had an influence (i. e. modern sexually explicit and repulsively bloody anime movies). Meanwhile, in 1990’s someone (probably the same person who snail-mailed from Alabama to Tibet) informed the Northerners that the Japanese themselves have always called the thing ‘animation’. From then on ‘animation’ often replaces ‘Japanimation’ in the lexicon, but it didn’t blast the old word out of circulation — usually attached to the ‘Old School’ of diehard, seasoned, loyal and zealous anime fans (‘otaku’) among the Americans, it is still valid to use ‘Japanimation’ today in any case of generally useless elaboration such as this, plus the term ‘anime’ is seen as too wide to refer to just the characteristic Japanese product — ‘anime’ could mean the entire baggage this planet must carry in the form of every kind of animation, including Beavis & Butthead.

Accomplished Senior Level Accountant Resume Essay

SENIOR ACCOUNTANT / AUDITOR Accomplished Senior Level Accountant with exceptional analytical skills and in-depth knowledge of internal controls concepts.   Expertise in conducting operational and financial audits and identifies and implements business process improvements.   Effectively writes recommendations to strengthen internal controls resulting in improved operational efficiencies.   Excellent communication skills. Fluent in English & Chinese   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   CORE KNOWLEDGE AREAS à ¼Ã‚   Internal Controls à ¼Ã‚   Superb Organizational /Analysis Skills à ¼Ã‚   Staff Development & Training à ¼Ã‚   Policies / Procedures à ¼Ã‚   Operational / Financial Audits à ¼Ã‚   Team Leadership RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, Chicago, IL  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2001-Present Auditor-in-Charge (2006-Present) Staff Auditor (2001-2006) As Auditor-in-Charge, conducts audits through formal walkthroughs of accounting processes, internal control evaluation and testing, risk assessments high level analytical review, business organization and strategy analysis, and consideration of fraud. Develops audit procedures. Developed and maintains the audit budget, tracking any deviation and reporting it to the Supervisor. Prepares audit summary reports with documented audit findings and recommendations. Facilitate information requests from audit team members to accounting personnel ensuring a smooth workflow process. Mentors new hires on career development through on-the-job training. In the capacity of Staff Auditor, conducted financial audits of large insurance companies such as Allstate Insurance Company, Zurich Life Insurance Company and Country Insurance Company. Successfully audited over 30 various companies and performed substantive audit procedures to test the validity of financial information. Documented audit procedures and testing conclusions. Analyzed/validated financial data regarding material assets, net worth, liabilities, income and expenses. Verified large amounts of asset and liability account balances in excess of $1 billion. Provided corrective actions for companies to avoid fines and license suspensions. ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE CENTER FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS, (City/State)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2003-Present Voluntary Tax Preparer Prepared federal and state income tax returns using TaxWise for hundreds of low income families. COMPUTER SKILLS Microsoft Word  ¨ Excel    ¨Ã‚   ACL   Ã‚ ¨ TeamMate Audit Management System EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHAMPAIGN, Champaign, Illinois Bachelor of Science, Accounting, 2001 CERTIFICATIONS Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), 2005 Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI), 2004 Certified Financial Examiner (CFE), 2004 Certified Public Accountant (CPA), 2003