New Bookmarks
Year 2000 Quarter 1:  January 1-March 31 Additions to Bob Jensen's Bookmarks
Bob Jensen at Trinity University

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For the January 1-March 31, 2000 Additions and Summaries scroll down this document 
For the other editions go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm
For the full set of Bob Jensen's Bookmarks go to http://WWW.Trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob.htm
    (The full set is never up to date with the latest additions to my New Bookmarks.)
Click here to go to Bob Jensen's home page http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

Choose a Date for Additions to the Bookmarks File

March 22, 2000        March 15, 2000        March 7, 2000   

February 29, 2000    February 22, 2000    February 15, 2000    February 8, 2000       February 2, 2000 

January 24, 2000      January 17, 2000       January 11, 2000       January 4, 2000    

For the other editions of my New Bookmarks go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookurl.htm

Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
This search engine may get you some hits from other professors at Trinity University included with Bob Jensen's documents, but this may be to your benefit.

March 22, 2000

Quotes of the Week:  
The following is taken from my essay at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm.

What is the most frustrating aspect of modern technology? 

My Answer:  The pace of change in scholarship that we should be teaching.  In the past, scholarly publications came out at discrete points in time such as every three months.  If we put learning materials on library reserve at the beginning of the semester, the materials probably were relevant for the entire semester.  Now thousands upon thousands of scholarly publications are put on the web every day.  There are search engines to help us and electronic media to signal what appears where, but each morning we awaken to a whirling blizzard of new happenings in our discipline.  All academic documents should be subject to change at any time.  What was posted yesterday to the web may be changed if and when you assign it for your students to read.  Unless we accept being stamped "blissfully out of date," we will perpetually live at a pace that ruins our fingernails, harms our families, impairs our diets with fast foods, reduces friendships to email messages, creates encounters as fleeting as passing trains, and bewilders our students because what we taught last week is out of date this week.

 

The other point of view on life!
I am afraid that the following advice has never been heeded very well by Bob Jensen.  The  quotations below are contained in a commencement address at Villanova University by Anna Quindlen (Pulitzer Prize Winner).  You can read more of her advice if you scroll down to near the bottom of this week's edition of New Bookmarks.  

My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first. Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: "If you win the rat race, you're still a rat." Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

. . .

So here is what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?

One of Bob Jensen's limericks that I'd forgotten writing until I stumbled upon it under "Promotions, Tenure, & Risk-Taking by Daring Educators" at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ideasmes.htm 

The binary scorer comes to write against your name, 
He writes only ones or zeros, 
To him the unread articles are all the same

From Anjetta McQueen, AP Education Writer  http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2564988477-231 

In just a year, the number of colleges offering online degrees doubled, said the report from Market Data Retrieval, a Dun & Bradstreet educational research company. But the study showed colleges also spent more money on technology and added computers to dorms and classrooms.

Researchers, who surveyed 4,000 institutions, found that seven in 10 colleges now offer some form of distance learning, including courses, lecture notes, and online study groups. For 1999-2000, 34 percent of two- and four-year colleges offered degrees via computer, compared to 15 percent a year ago.

What this says is that education no longer solely belongs in the university, and we've seen that coming for some time,'' said Joani Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, a San Jose, Calif.,-based group that advises institutions on governing and finance. "Technology has made access to the best thinkers in the world available without college."

There will not be another edition of my New Bookmarks until early in April.

Please do not send me messages between March 22 and April 2.  I will be making a couple presentations along with "getting a life" at the European Accounting Association annual meetings on the campus of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich http://www.bham.ac.uk/EAA/eaa2000/.  If any of you attending the conference want to contact us, Erika and I will be staying a hotel near the campus called Platzl Ringhotel Munchen, Sparkassernstr 10,D-80331 Munchen --- Phone 089 23 70 30

For those of you interested in teaching materials and an overview of FAS 133 on Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments and Hedging Activities, I will conducting a morning workshop at the IMA/Kent meetings on the Kent State University campus on April 27.  See http://www.ohioima.org/workshop.html 

Norman Meonske and I will be playing very small roles in the IMA/Kent April 27 afternoon workshop on technology.  However, we are turning over most of our time to Chuck Hickman (see the University Access section below) and Glen Gray.  Glen will be discussing the paradigm shift in business reporting on the Internet.  He will also discuss the extremely important role of the AICPA's XFRML.  Karen Pincus asked if Glen would be discussing XFRML.  Glenn replied as follows:

Since I'm a member of the XFRML steering committee and I just returned from a steering committee meeting in Tampa that stressed the importance of getting the word out about XFRML, I would be shot if I did not include it.

The IMA/Kent Conference itself begins on April 28.  The program can be downloaded from http://www.ohioima.org/mainpage.htm 

I was invited to write an essay for new faculty. Because of the timing of this request, I placed a copy of a letter that I sent to The Wall Street Journal at the end of my essay. That letter is not very optimistic about the use to which Michael Saylor's $100 million gift to bring a free education to the world.  That large gift could go a long way to starting a serious knowledge base.  However, I am afraid the money will be wasted in shooting video frozen in time.  Knowledge should never be frozen in time.  The essay can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm 

If you have any comments that will help improve my essay, I would certainly appreciate the help. My email address is rjensen@trinity.edu 

After reading my essay, Tom Omer added the following advice for new faculty.

Hi Bob,
For those with some tech skills learn how to politely say "No" or "I don't know" when asked by older non-tech faculty or non-tech faculty in general the following question(s).   Insert the following words as needed:

Dial-up Networking
FTP
Word
Excel
FrontPage
WebPage
Laptop
Desktop
Audio
Video
Courseware
Classpage

Will you help me with__________

My ________ won't________(failure supplied by questioner), do you know why?

For new faculty with low tech skills (probably few relative to older faculty).

Learn to ask

Insert words listed above as needed

What University office provides instruction and support for___________.

While this may sound rather harsh and anti-older faculty (maybe nontech faculty), new faculty need to devote their time to things that will have the best chance of getting them tenure. Being polite keeps you from making people mad, learning to say no keeps you from being the support person at the expense of your own career and learning where the University support office is keeps you from spending time learning something inefficiently by the seat of your pants along with your colleagues. Not something I would put in your essay but a hard learned lesson that that might make a difference to a few.

Tom

Professor Thomas Omer [tcomer@uic.edu]  
Accounting Department 
College of Business Administration University of Illinois at Chicago 
Voice 312-996-4438 FAX 312-996-4520

To my knowledge, Mark Garrison is the only Trinity University faculty member teaching a distance education course where remote  students receive college credits.  I asked Dr. Garrison for an informal update on his reactions to date.  (This course was a funded project from the Associated Colleges of the South).

Dear Bob,
Hi, and apologies for not getting back in touch with you after our conversation. There are two home pages for the ACS Archaeology Project: http://www.colleges.org/~turkey/.  This is teaching end of the project, really the home page for the on-line course. It has the original proposal to Mellon and all information about the course (with links to our WebBoard, where we post lectures and discussions). http://www.choma.org/.

This is the research end of the project, where we are developing web-based tools for publication of our data. The most interesting aspect is the query forms for the various databases. Still very much under development.

Bob Jensen's questions to Dr. Garrison:
How the materials were developed, nature of the students?
Good news and bad news about the course to date?

 We do not have anything on either of the sites about the specific issues mentioned by you. I can tell you that we do much experimentation as regards materials, software and hardware. This semester we have a stable live audio streaming technology; we plan to have live video streaming by the end of the semester. We use a RealAudio streaming server, production is done with RealProducer, and students access the stream with RealPlayer. For the last two we use the free versions available at the RealAudio web site.

Students run the gamut of majors and levels. They obviously are highly motivated, since they are committing a large chunk of their summer to the field school.

Good news:
This course works great and I think that we are doing something no one else is doing. This is not a "distance course" in the traditional sense of the word. We are expanding the curricular offerings at all schools that are involved (not simply providing a more "efficient" means to distribute a course that already exists at various institutions). In addition, we are creating a unique teaching and research vehicle for students and faculty in the consortium. The project also allows students to work with faculty at the level of a true research partner; to my knowledge, it is one of the few examples of collaborative undergraduate student-faculty research in the humanities.

Bad news:
It takes a lot of time and energy on my part, and I have to teach the course as an overload to my normal teaching load.

Hope this is of some use.
Best,

Mark B. Garrison 
Associate Professor Department of Classical Studies 
Trinity University San Antonio, Texas 78212 
210-999-7648 210-999-7305 (fax) mgarriso@trinity.edu 

I might add that during a campus walk with Dr. Garrison he elaborated that he thought that, relative to traditional courses on campus, students in the "distance education" course tended to be more enthused and performed at a higher level.  He admitted, however, that some of this is due to Hawthorne effects coupled with their desire to make this thing work.  

I added Dr. Garrison's message to my Daring Professor document at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ideasmes.htm 

Congratulations to Dr. Boyd for receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES)

Dear Dr. Jensen,

I believe that you asked me for additional information on the award that George received this fall. I have tried to include as much information as possible in this message. If you have other questions, please contact me.

The IES award that George received was the Lifetime Achievement Award. The criteria for selection were:

* a minimum of 15 years in the study abroad and/or international education field 
* someone who is currently working in the field 
* someone who has served as a leader on their home campus to promote study abroad 
* someone who has consistently volunteered to participate in and serve IES through various activities 
* someone who has served as a mentor to others in the field 
* someone who has been courageous about speaking out on important issues in the field via offering constructive criticism and solutions 
* someone who has supported IES programs consistently and successfully on his/her home campus
* someone who has made substantive contributions to the field at the regional and/or national level as evidenced by published books or articles, presentations at regional state and/or national conferences, special training sessions and special honors earned.

The nominations were brief and made directly to IES. I do not have a copy. However, George was also honored by the Institute for Study Abroad at Butler University for his years of dedicated service. I was asked to present the award and did so using the following:

I think that this last document is the one that was quoted by Dr. White, although he referred to the IES award.

Both IES: Institute for the International Education of Students and the Institute for Study Abroad at Butler University are major study abroad programs with whom Trinity has had an affiliation for many years. Both are nationally respected and their membership includes many of the best colleges and universities in the US.

Additional information on IES is available at: www.iesabroad.org  Butler's website is: www.butler.edu/www/isa 

I hope this is what you wanted.

Sincerely, Nancy Ericksen, 
Counselor Study Abroad and Off Campus Study Trinity University (210)999-7313 phone (210)999-7305 fax nerickse@trinity.edu 

AccountantsWorld.com wins Forbes coveted Best Site on the Web Award 
http://www.forbesbest.com/asp/tearsheet.asp?section=Personal+Finance&reviewNO=724&category=Taxes&ToUse=Personal+Finance  

If your vision of an accountant's world is a place filled with endless details and a lot of small type, than the AccountantsWorld site won't disappoint. It's hard to find more exhaustive lists of links to tax, accounting and even financial planning sites. But you'd be well advised to approach AccountantsWorld's endless lists with lots of time and--if need be--your bifocals. One nice feature is that visitors to the site--presumably accountants--have actually rated some of the sites.

You can read the following at http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

The AccountantsWorld.com site features a unique, keyword search capability that allows time-pressed accountants to instantly search over 1.3 million specially indexed, accounting-related web pages. If necessary, accountants can supplement the AccountantsWorld.com search capability by accessing other Internet search engines such as AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, and Yahoo directly from the AccountantsWorld.com home page.

The AccountantsWorld.com website is at http://accountantsworld.com/ 

The AICPA Special Report: The top 10 technological issues in 2000, Journal of Accountancy, March 2000, pp. 20-21 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2000/news_sr.htm 

• E-business. The group put this all-encompassing subject at the top of its list because e-business can optimize return on investment and speed growth. But what aspects of it are most important to CPAs?

• Information security and controls. Exposure to online security threats grows as CPAs and their clients depend more on technology to perform daily business tasks, Gioseffi observed. “Larger practices have staff to address it,” he said. “But in a small firm, there’s not always someone assigned to security and control.”

• Training and technology competency. There’s never enough time for training, Gioseffi said, and many state societies don’t grant CPE credits for courses in technology.

• Disaster recovery. According to Roman H. Kepczyk, a technology consultant who works with CPA firms, disaster recovery is an issue that everyone talks about, but few act upon.

• High availability and resiliency of systems. According to Zollars, this is disaster recovery’s little brother. Systems must be available when a firm, its clients or customers need them, he said. Twenty years ago, not being able to do something for an hour may have been an inconvenience; today it can be a major business problem.

• Technology management and budgeting. As Wayne E. Harding, who specializes in business process outsourcing (BPO) software, sees it, CPAs have no time to waste in this area. “I’ve been talking to a lot of non-CPAs who provide BPO services on the financial accounting side,” he said, “and this market is going to explode.”

• Electronic financial reporting. “People look to the accounting profession for reliable financial information,” Gioseffi said. He noted that the AICPA’s XFRML project addresses this issue by improving the tools and processes used to create online financial reports.

• Internet issues. According to IDC Corp., in 2000, 137 million people—half the U.S. population—will use the Internet. “That’s a wake-up call for firms to develop the expertise they need to participate in this market,” Gioseffi said.

• The virtual office. For Gioseffi, a workplace that can exist anywhere poses special challenges to those who occupy it. “You’ve got to have a superior work ethic if you’re going to succeed in a nontraditional workspace,” he said.

• Privacy. Kepczyk quoted a rumored remark of Sun Microsystems’ Chairman Scott McNealy: “There is no privacy; get over it.” But Kepczyk himself feels privacy standards must be developed.

Taming your Television --- http://www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,914945,00.html 

21ST CENTURY TELEVISION! --- http://cgi.zdnet.com/slink?26123:2700840 

Who are the prestige professors from prestige universities who are now lending their services to both their home universities and online learning corporations?  What do they teach and how do they teach it.  

This week I will feature a few of the University Access instructors from http://www.universityaccess.com/.  Also see the FAQs at http://www.universityaccess.com/courses/faq/general.htm.

Readers may read more about the trends in prestige university online partnerings at
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

The former AACSB executive who is now the Academic Vice-President of University Access, Chuck Hickman, will be presenting a workshop in the afternoon of April 27 --- http://www.ohioima.org/workshop.html 

A sampling of the courses at University Access were developed by the following prestige-university professors.  Some still have full time appointments at prestigious universities.  Others were former full-time faculty.  Chuck Hickman (mentioned above) helped line up many of these professors and courses.

To begin with, I will feature Mark Albion!

Mark Albion's Making a Life, Making a Living online seminar consists of five to six hours of self-paced lessons organized into four modules:

Who Are You? What Do You Want? What Can You Do? Where Are You Going? The seminar is rich with video clips featuring Dr. Albion and interactive exercises and activities that challenge you to think about what you really want out of life. Anchored by an online journal in which participants answer provocative questions, as well as a facilitator-led discussion board, the online seminar offers you a community of peers with whom you can discuss your thoughts.

Making a Life, Making a Living culminates in a long-term personal strategy to help you achieve balance in your life --- http://www.universityaccess.com/resources/cdc/albion/ 

 

Credit courses and instructors at University Access include the following:

Business Traveler Online ---  http://www.btonline.com/ 

 The Scout Report stated the following (with emphasis added):  Whether you agree or not, it is an interesting economic and social theory topic of debate as to whether income and work can be "uncoupled" in a dynamic society worth living in over the long haul (i.e., in general equilibrium). 

Citizen's Income Online http://www.citizensincome.org/index.shtml 

Citizen's Income (CI) is "an unconditional, non-withdrawable income payable to each individual as a right of citizenship." According to this site, "Three strands of thought come together in CI. They are: the right of every individual to a minimum standard of existence; the uncoupling of income and work; and the concern for an individual's freedom." Citizen's Income Online is the Website for the London-based organization Citizen's Income Study Center (CISC), which examines issues relating to poverty and unemployment. The front page of the site showcases breaking news and information, as well as linking to some of CISC's ongoing projects. The site also includes research articles from CISC and other organizations; FAQs about citizen's income, with each short answer linking to a more involved explanation; the CISC's quarterly newsletter; and related links.

Marxists Internet Archive --- http://www.marxists.org/ 

New Economy Index http://www.neweconomyindex.org/ 

But for those of us that think we will still have to grub for grub, life may get more mobile.  The Scout Report also tells us about the following:

You Can Work From Anywhere http://www.youcanworkfromanywhere.com/ 

You Can Work From Anywhere is an online resource dedicated to extolling the joys of telecommuting. Aimed at the professional community, You Can Work From Anywhere strives to educate businesses on "how to better manage your mobile work force and realize the benefits and flexibility of remote collaboration for team projects." The section entitled About Telecommuting offers solid, basic information about this business practice including the helpful "Top 7 Myths" and FAQs. Resource Centers provides articles from popular business magazines, an index of free and subscription-based online and print publications, and related links. This section also includes telecommuting case studies and statistics, organizations, job listings, and training resources. Interested users may subscribe to _Road Work_, You Can Work From Anywhere's free online newsletter.

Every once in a while I dig up a gem while mining the web.  This gem from a philosophy professor weighs about two karats.
Online Guide to Ethics and Moral Philosophy Version 0.9 Robert Cavalier, Carnegie Mellon University --- http://www.lcl.cmu.edu/CAAE/80130/Syllabus.html   
This is a sample of a hypertext course in philosophy.

Part I History of Ethics

Preface: The Life of Socrates

Section 1: Greek Moral Philosophy

Section 2: Hellenistic and Roman Ethics

Section 3: Early Christian Ethics

Section 4: Modern Moral Philosophy

Section 5: Recent Moral Philosophy

Part II Concepts and Problems of Ethics

Section 6: Ethical Relativism

Section 7: Ethical Egoism

Section 8: Utilitarian Theories

Section 9: Deontological Theories

Section 10: Contractarian Theories

Section 11: Contemporary Discussions

Part III Applied Ethics

Section 12: Theory, Practice, and Casuistry

Section 13: The Topic of Euthanasia

Multimedia Module: A Right to Die?

Section 14: The Topic of Abortion

Multimedia Module: The Issue of Abortion in America

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY RESOURCES: Relevant online materials from the Internet can be accessed through Episteme Links and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Of special importance for the area of Moral Philosophy is Larry Hinman's Ethics Updates site.

The U.S. Marines are laying the groundwork for learning management systems that deliver education any time, anywhere --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003151/2458370/ 

The Corps and its technology partners have made a series of strategic and tactical decisions that should help the Corps storm the LMS beach when the time is right.

First, the Corps is building an infrastructure to deliver interactive learning capabilities anywhere, any time. Second, the Corps and its partners have developed a sophisticated testing methodology to quickly assess a product's suitability and a vendor's reliability. Third, they have committed to using standards-based products to maximize their ability to share resources.

PC Week Labs visited the Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, Calif.—the Marine Corps is a branch of the Department of the Navy—to assess the progress of the Marine Corps Distance Learning Branch's evaluation of leading commercial LMSes. The Distance Learning Branch is working closely with Mitre Corp. and the Naval Postgraduate School's Institute for Defense Education and Analysis (see related story).

Despite the shifting vendor landscape, the Corps understands that Corps-wide distributed learning will lessen the cost of training and benefit every Marine. "Our goal is to reduce average resident training time for Marines by 30 percent," said Lt. Col. George Whitbeck, deputy director of the Marine Corps' Distance Learning Branch, or DLB.

. . . 

The Marine Corps' distributed learning initiative must mesh with solutions used by other branches of the U.S. military. The Marines have taken standards seriously and have incorporated into their evaluation criteria not only industry standards such as those from Educause's Instructional Management Systems and the Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee, but especially the new Version 1.0 of the Department of Defense's Shareable Courseware Object Reference Model specification.

"Currently, we offer several CD-ROM-based courses, such as ... Terrorism Awareness for Marines, that could take up to six weeks for a Marine to order and receive," said Maj. Jeff Forte, CIO of the Marine Corps Institute, in Washington. "Those same courses are available over the Web almost instantaneously."

 

Perhaps my old friend Joe San Miguel at the Naval Postgraduate School will tell us more about this someday.  Are you listening Joe?

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy --- http://plato.stanford.edu/ 

I have added the above link to my similar links at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm 

Copyright Resources Online http://www.library.yale.edu/%7Eokerson/copyproj.html 

Bob,
 I enjoyed scanning your long document at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245soft1.htm. Great comprehensive job.

I noticed that you have included the Oncourse system that I developed at Indiana University. FYI, I have developed the next version, Angel (A New Global Environment for Learning) as the third generation of course management environment. You may review the Angel site at http://angel.iupui.edu/angel/,   However, you may not see all the Angel's features and conceptual discussion on this site. Indiana University is in the final stage of patent protection for the Angel that should not be published before the final submission of the patent claims. I thought you might be interested to know about the Angle.

Ali Jafari, Ph.D. 
Director of CyberLab
Associate Professor of Computer Technology
School of Engineering and Technology
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, IUPUI 
Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA 
Homepage: http://www.iupui.edu/~jafari/  
OfficeCam: http://134.68.80.36/jafaricam/ 
CyberLab: http://CyberLab.iupui.edu  
Email: jafari@iupui.edu   Phone: 317-274-4565   Fax: 317-278-0241 

digitaldivide.gov - bridging the gap between the technological haves and have-nots --- http://www.digitaldivide.gov/ 

Secretary Daley's Harlem visit coincided with an announcement by President Clinton of further Administration efforts to close the digital divide. They included proposals to ensure that all new teachers can teach 21st Century skills and the creation of new technology centers to serve children, youth and adults in low-income communities. The President also announced tax incentives for private sector donations of computer equipment training and issued a call for investments in high speed networks for under served communities and greater innovative uses of the Internet.

What is Bill Graves up to these days?  Many of us have heard Dr. Graves speak on technology in education at some time or another.  He is one of the world's most popular speakers on that topic (along with his Yogi Berraisms).  He was the founder and long-time head of the Institute for Academic Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a long-time veteran at promoting newer learning technologies. The IAT shut down its server after IBM stopped funding the IAT.

I stumbled upon EDUPRISE that Bill Graves founded.  He is still active in that venture at http://www.eduprise.com/.  It appears that this corporation has been relatively successful in fund raising.  One of its main goals is to help faculty, college programs, and other persons and organizations adapt to new learning technologies.  

Eduprise.com is a leading applications service provider in the e-Learning market. Our e-Learning Solutions are built on:

• an infrastructure and technical support component (Core Services) to provide reliable and technologically advanced learning tools for end users, and 
  
• a strategic professional services component (Life-Cycle Services) to provide the client organization with experienced professional assistance in developing a roadmap for entering the e-learning market and driving the implementation of an enterprise-scale e-learning solution within 60-90 days - one that integrates with the organization's backoffice systems.

Mission to Mars (Science) - http://movies.go.com/m2m/ 

Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN) Techtalk Transcripts --- http://www.cren.net/know/techtalk/transcripts.html 

The Health Care Management Program at Towson State University has a good website for managing students on internships.  The website is at http://www.towson.edu/hcmn/.  Most of the information is password protected.  However, you can learn more about this program in Syllabus, March 2000, pp. 28-29.  The online version of the March edition of Syllabus is not yet available online, but will soon be posted to http://www.syllabus.com/.

What might happen if you let your students take over your course?  This is what James Anderson tried in a basic communications course at the University of Utah.  You can read more about his experiment in Syllabus, March 2000, pp. 32-33.  The online version of the March edition of Syllabus is not yet available online, but will soon be posted to http://www.syllabus.com/.  Professor Andersen's contact information is at http://www.hum.utah.edu/communication/general/faculty/anderson.html 

Traditional versus Technological:  Comparing motivation and learning performance
Technology may be more important for weak students than top students.  Southern Maine Technical College faced a stream of under prepared students and reports having great results with NovaNet according to a piece in Syllabus, March 2000, pp. 30-31.  The online version of the March edition of Syllabus is not yet available online, but will soon be posted to http://www.syllabus.com/.  

Menges says most of the students taking NovaNET courses really love them, but more importantly, show signs of succeeding where they failed before. . .  Out of 492 students who passed through CLS, 72 percent have succeeded in finishing the course, compared with 60 percent in a traditional classroom.

I previously illustrated and documented learning via non-traditional fiction (mystery novels, screen plays, poems, etc.).  Next comes the audio and the LiveMotion:

The Ears Have It Audible.com deals exclusively in spoken digital downloads, from John Grisham's latest novel to a half-hour of original comedy from Robin Williams. It has great potential, but several obstacles make Audible a little hard to hear.

Awesome Product of the Week: Adobe LiveMotion Watch out, Flash--there's a stronger player on the vector graphics playground. LiveMotion allows designers to create complete pages that incorporate motion, sound, and interactivity, all in an object-oriented, vector-based authoring environment.

From NewMedia Insider's Report on March 15, 2000
Find these stories and more at: http://www.newmedia.com 

From AccountingEducation.com
I added a section entitled Accounting in the Knowledge-Based Accountant from the Singapore Accountant --- See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cpaaway.htm 

Marketing on the Internet http://iws.ohiolink.edu/moti/ 

Dear Robert Jensen,

Adobe(R) Systems Incorporated has announced InDesign(TM) 1.5, which delivers the future of professional publishing today. And in a FREE special event, we would like you to be one of the first people to see the new and enhanced features of this publishing application that offers unprecendented creative freedom, productivity, and precision. Register your place now at http://www.adobe.com/indesignsat 

Adobe InDesign 1.5 demonstrates the flexibility of its new state-of-the-art software architecture, with this rapid delivery of customers' top feature and enhancement requests - over 60 in all! The powerful tools in InDesign 1.5 can help turn your creative ideas into high-impact page designs with ease and control.

We would like to invite you to see these exciting capabilities of InDesign 1.5 at a FREE one-off presentation - linked LIVE by digital satellite technology to 10 cities across North America.

WHEN: Wednesday March 29, 2000 WHERE: Boston, Chicago, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver TIME: Times vary. Check web site for more information.

To pre-register: Go to http://www.adobe.com/indesignsat  where you will also find location and time information. Arrive early! The first 200 people to arrive in each city will receive a FREE, limited edition, Adobe t-shirt!

VeriSign eyes e-commerce crown --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003131/2459217/ 

With security fears up and faith in online privacy down, VeriSign is hoping e-businesses will buy into its promise that it can bring trust to the Net.

From Internet World News March 15, 2000

U.S.-European Pact Blocks Gathering of Data Without Consent By Kathleen Murphy

In a move that will boost transatlantic e-commerce, the United States and the European Commission reached an agreement on data privacy Tuesday, according to the Department of Commerce. The accord means that U.S. e-commerce companies gathering information from European users must join a "safe harbor" program in which businesses would agree not to use or gather personal information without the users' consent. The European Commission is scheduled to vote on the agreement March 31, and the agreement is likely to take effect by July. Another agreement still being hammered out will cover the handling of data by financial institutions.

U.S. self-regulatory groups such as BBBOnLine will help enforce the agreement. The Federal Trade Commission also can take action against companies that fail to live by their privacy promises.

The two sides, led by U.S. undersecretary for commerce for international trade David Aaron and European negotiator EC director general John Mogg, have been trying to come to an agreement since October 1998 about how American companies would comply with an EU directive that called for banning the flow of personal data to countries without "adequate" privacy protections.

Commerce Secretary William Daley said in a statement that "the arrangement demonstrates that both the EU and the US recognize that a carefully constructed and well-implemented system of self-regulation, as advocated by the President and the Vice President, can protect privacy rights. I believe it also has important implications for developing self-regulatory models that could be useful in other areas."

History of American Business --- http://www.businesshistory.net/ 

Google and Netscape form directory:
The new Google Directory combines Google's popular search engine with Netscape Communications' Open Directory Project. http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003153/2468484/  

Marketplace for emerging artists and their work.--- http://www.itheo.com/ 

From Yahoo

Orinoco Online --- http://www.orinoco.org/ 

Proyecto Orinoco is "dedicated to preserving the legacy of the indigenous societies of the Venezuelan Amazon." Put together by Fundacion Cisneros, a philanthropic organization focused on Latin America, the site includes a collection of over 350 ethnographic objects from the diverse region. View highlights by culture (Hiwi, Hoti, Tsase, and others) or by object (blowpipes, masks, musical instruments, and more). It's a fascinating trip through a land precariously balanced between ancient, natural wilderness and modern development. Don't miss it.

From Yahoo

Journal E: Real Stories from Planet Earth --- http://www.journale.com/ 

Here's a magazine that taps the Web's multimedia potential to tell stories with artistry and originality. We stepped into "When Flowers Fall," a sad piece about aging in Japan, presented as a dynamic series of screens using haiku, kanji, images, and text. We visited an extraordinary gallery of photo portraits by Steve McCurry -- haunting images of hungry children, pre-pubescent warriors, painted bridegrooms, and pregnant waifs. Then we read about coffee, and listened to the Montana Logging & Ballet Co.'s madcap a capella song about the last millennium. It's culture and it's entertaining -- an online Arabian Nights.

Hi Dhia,

Accreditation is a tough issue that I have not researched fully. It is generally important to use one of the Federally-approved agencies. You can see a listing at http://ifap.ed.gov/85256508006391d1/005fd53d0d39dd4285256508006391ed/852565a7005d473f85256675004fbec9?OpenDocument

For general background, you can enter the search term "Accreditation" at http://ifap.ed.gov/dev_csb/new/srchsite.nsf/Web+Search+Simple?OpenForm

Accreditation processes have greatly delayed and frustrated some online programs. This is one of the major delay factors for Western Governors University --- http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/index.html

With respect to verification as to who is online, it is interesting to note that centuries ago in England, persons taking admissions tests to universities or qualifying examinations of various sorts had to have the examinations proctored by the village's vicar. I guess the vicar was deemed the most likely person in the village to be honest.

I have no easy solution for student identity verification until finger printing and eye scanning hardware become more prevalent. Even then, it might still be possible for a "friend" sit alongside and help a test taker to cheat.

My solution to reducing the odds of cheating is to assign two students (randomly) to partnerships each week. Each student must sign an attestation form that verifies that she/he proctored a partner during an online examination or quiz. The form also certifies that no unauthorized materials were used during the examination or the quiz. I still make my students take my main examinations in classes that I proctor. However, I do have weekly online quizzes that are taken weekly with partnership proctoring. Each week I re-assign the partnerships. I think this has helped reduce the odds of cheating a great deal.

If you have other questions, I love to help educators.

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

***************************************************************************

-----Original Message-----
From: Dhia D. AlHashim [mailto:dhia.alhashim@csun.edu]
 Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 8:42 AM
To: rjensen@trinity.edu 
Subject: Thank You!

Hi Bob:

I would like to thank you for keeping us posted on development related to "distance learning," through your web site. I do have two questions for you:

1. Is there anything new on "accreditation" related to distance learning programs?

2. How would an instructor access and secure that the person registered in a distance learning program is actually the one taking the tests?

Thank you again, and congratulations for a job well done.

Dr. Dhia D. AlHashim Tel: (818) 677-2427
* Professor of Accounting & MIS and Director FAX: (818) 677-4903
* Center for International Business E-mail: dhia.alhashim@csun.edu 
* California State University, Northridge * Northridge, California 91330-8245 ***************************************************************************

UNICEF: Puppets With a Purpose - bridging cultural gaps through puppetry --- http://www.unicef.org/puppets/ 

Free educational software:
WebWorks for mathematics and science educators was developed by the University of Rochester's "Outstanding Math Professor" Michael Gage and his colleague Arnold Pizer --- http://www.math.rochester.edu:8080/u/gage/.  WebWorks is free to educational institutions and can be used in most any course where homework is solved "in an algorithmic manner."  At Rochester, WebWorks is very popular in calculus and physics.  It received the Excellence and Innovation in the Use of Technology in Collegiate Mathematics Award from the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics.  Michael Gage also won the Mathematical Association of America's Regional Outstanding Teaching Award.  Professor Gage claims the following about WebWorks:

It increases the effectiveness of traditional homework as a learning tool by:

• Providing students with immediate feedback on the validity of their answers and giving students the opportunity to correct mistakes while they are still thinking about the problem. As one student said, “I can fix my mistakes while [the] problem is fresh in my mind. ”
• Providing students with individualized versions of problems which means that instructors can encourage students to work together; yet each student must develop an answer to his or her own version of the problem.

 It increases the efficiency of traditional homework by:

• Providing automatic grading of assignments.

Gendercide Watch --- http://www.gendercide.org/ 

Fleet Kids teaches how to buy low and sell high http://www.fleetkids.com/ 

Sleuthing women --- http://www.femaledetective.com/ 

Hundreds of reviews and mini-biographies ... complete book lists ... editor's choice of best novels ... and a whole lot more.

Ken Merwin sent the following information that a journal is seeking submissions for a special edition on the topic of teaching and learning among culturally diverse people.  You are encouraged to submit a paper for this special edition in May 2001.  You can read more of his message at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cultures/email.htm 

Volume 22, Issue 1, the May 2001 edition of Distance Education: An International Journal is to be devoted to an exploration of this topic as it pertains to online courses. Papers with the following focus are particularly welcome:

• Designing course content to minimize cultural misunderstandings;
• Assessment strategies for a culturally diverse student body;
• Encouraging online participation from non-native speakers of English;
• Advantages and disadvantages of a cross-cultural learning environment;
• Support structures for students from culturally diverse backgrounds;
• Organizational issues in managing global courses;
• Facilitating online discussions with culturally diverse groups of participants.

The Guest Editors for this Special Issue are:  
Dr. Robin Mason of the UK Open University, Institute of Educational Technology, 
The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK. Email: r.d.mason@open.ac.uk 

Dr. Lani Gunawardena of the University of New Mexico.
Associate Professor, Organizational Learning, Instructional Technology Program, COE
The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, U.S.A. Email: lani@unm.edu 

 

Election.com - hold your own straw poll --- http://www.election.com/ 

Perry Ellis - clothes make the man.--- http://www.perryellis.com/ (Like the Arthur Andersen web site, Perry Ellis makes us wait at the start while the opening animations unfold.  I find these irritating in repeat visits to a website.)

As a rule, I oppose censorship, but this is a no-brainer!
Date-Rape website taken down (a good thing too) --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34941,00.html 
Why would persons put up such a website?  This is not a laughing matter --- most especially it is sickening that it gave advice on drug use.

The site claimed to help men "get laid" by teaching them how to drug and rape women.

"DateRape.org vows to bring you the latest and greatest in date raping techniques," read the text on its home page.

The site also offered "DateRape in a Box" kits for $49.99, which include: "How-to Date Rape Properly Manual"; "Shut-the-Hell-Up-Bitch Duct Tape"; "Medical Prescription Guide" to check the side effects of certain drugs, and the DateRape.org "Quick and Easy Cookbook

Cyber Threats and the US Economy (security) ---  http://www.odci.gov/cia/public_affairs/speeches/cyberthreats_022300.html 

Furor over Virginia's new e-Business law --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34947,00.html  

"This increase in electronic transactions will perpetuate the Internet revolution, promote e-commerce, and foster the growth of Virginia's technology and manufacturing economies," Gilmore said when he signed the bill at a Global Internet Summit held at George Mason University.

Opposition to UCITA is fragmented and disjointed, but it appears to be gaining momentum.

Liberal activists like Ralph Nader's Consumer Project on Technology have condemned UCITA for allegedly giving more rights to businesses at the expense of consumers.

One major source of criticism has come from the Linux community, which fears UCITA will increase the legal liability of open-source software developers.

A popular speaker, Dr. Dede, speaks about technological immersion and learning in an audio clip --- http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/techgap/media/cdede.html 

Chris has a home page at http://www.gse.gmu.edu/profiles/new/cdede.htm 

Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation --- http://www.pcrf-kids.com/ 

Grist for the Dilbert Mill
Stupid management 101 for e-mail policies
If you can't allow business resources to be used for a reasonable amount of personal use, you've gone beyond hypocrisy into stupidity, says David Thompson.--- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003156/2456743/ 

They overlooked Bob Jensen (eahhh --- just sour grapes)
Forbes Celebrity 100 --- http://www.forbes.com/tool/toolbox/celeb100/ 

iHireAccounting.com is free for job seekers and will post job openings for a fee --- http://www.ihireaccounting.com/ 
iHireLegal.com is free for job seekers and will post job openings for a fee --- http://www.ihirelegal.com/ 

I hope the foundation, walls, floors, and roof are better than the windows --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,34999,00.html 

Mortgages by Microsoft Wired News Report 9:00 a.m. 16.Mar.2000 PST 
Microsoft Corp. isn't just doing Windows anymore. Now it wants to help sell you a whole house.

The software giant, best known for its ubiquitous Windows operating system, said Thursday it is launching a joint venture to cash in on the $1 trillion-a-year mortgage industry by simplifying the mind-numbing process of buying a home.

The venture, HomeAdvisor Technologies Inc., will not be just another real estate information site, Microsoft (MSFT) said. Majority-owned by the Redmond, Washington-based software company, HomeAdvisor is also backed by housing heavyweight Freddie Mac, an organization chartered by Congress that is one of the nation's biggest providers of mortgage loans.

Other backers include Bank of America, Chase.com (an online unit of bank holding company Chase Manhattan Corp.), General Motors' financial subsidiary GMAC-Residential Funding Corp., and Norwest Mortgage, the home lending division of Wells Fargo.

AICPA Smart Stops on the Web, Journal of Accountancy, March 2000, pg. 19
 http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2000/news_web.htm 

Online Articles Add Value --- www.businessvalue.com
Banister Financial, Inc.’s site offers articles from Fair Value, the company’s business valuation newsletter. Click on the article library banner for such topics as family limited partnership valuations, employee stock ownership plans and key business valuation trends.

A Source for Resources --- www.instbusapp.org
The Institute of Business Appraisers’ site has many resources even nonmembers will find useful. Included is a news section with feature articles on current topics as well as a list of links to business valuation sites.

Appraisers Abound --- www.appraisers.org
If you’re looking for an appraiser, this site has contact information for every chapter of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). It also provides an open forum for questions and answers concerning appraisal. Grant applications for the ASA Educational Foundation are available here too.

Information on Publications --- www.valuationresources.com
This site was created in association with Amazon.com, so you’ll find primarily books for business appraisers. You can link to search engines, free economic data and other sites with related information—appraisal associations, for example. Transaction data links are also available.

A Lot of Links! --- www.megafinancial.com
MegaFinancial.com’s sole function is to provide links to briefly described sites for financial and travel services. Such topics as commercial and offshore banks, mutual funds and investing, online stock trading, and financial planning and loans are offered under financial services. The site’s travel center includes air, land and sea information as well as links to travel agents and car rentals.

For Reference Purposes --- lcweb.loc.gov/rr/business/brs.html
The U.S. Library of Congress’s site has a section called Business Reference Services, which is a great starting point for researching topics in business, technology and economics. Indexes, bibliographies and links to other Internet resources such as the LC Business Research Project Directory of Small Business Information Providers, are available as well as a search engine for the library’s online catalogs.

E-Commerce Discussed --- www.ecommerce.gov
This site is devoted to U.S. government electronic commerce policy. Various presidential and vice-presidential reports, congressional testimony on Internet issues, meetings and discussions regarding e-commerce are listed as well as accompanying documentation, such as transcripts, press releases and government reports. Links to other government and related sites are available.

BBB Online --- www.bbbonline.org/businesses/code/index.htm
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) Online has posted the full text of an exposure draft, Code of Online Business Practices, which will be the BBB’s “newest self-regulation tool to provide Internet businesses with a well-respected means to foster consumer trust and confidence on the Web.” BBB Online invites comments on the draft via e-mail to BBBCode@cbbb.bbb.org.

Stats at a Glance --- stats.bls.gov/blshome.htm
At this Bureau of Labor Statistics site, a section called Economy at a Glance gives a statistical breakdown of the labor market in hours, earnings and productivity. Also included on the site are current national employment statistics and links to related programs.

More Stats at a Glance --- www.bog.frb.fed.us/releases
The Federal Reserve Board posts daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual statistical releases here, along with accompanying historical data. Typical of the weekly releases provided is H.8, Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the United States.

Site for Thought --- www.geocities.com/WallStreet/Bureau/9136
This site advocates creativity and innovation in firm practices. Topics include hiring tools, culture transformation and current marketplace innovations.

Links to Search Engines --- www.netstrider.com/search
This site not only offers links to various search engines but also evaluates them and lists the main features of each. Another useful feature is the site’s collection of links to Web-based directories, databases, indexes and libraries.

From InformationWeek Online on March 16, 2000

ERP vendors are adapting to the new IT environment in which businesses are betting on online exchanges, not enterprise resource planning solutions. Both SAP and J.D. Edwards & Co. made significant moves this week to host and develop online marketplace technology.

SAP on Wednesday revealed the formation of SAPMarkets, a subsidiary that, starting in May, will develop, market, and operate marketplaces using SAP technology. Hasso Plattner, co-chairman and CEO of SAP, will act as interim CEO until a permanent one is found.

The vendor's mySAP.com Marketplace efforts will be consolidated into the new company. One goal is to clear up the confusion the mySAP.com moniker created by encompassing the vendor's Internet strategy, software applications, and hosted applications under one name. "I applaud that SAP is finally resolving the confusion 'mySAP.com' brings to customers," says Byron Miller, VP at Giga Information Group. "But before they compete head-on with other companies in a new market, they need to resolve some functionality problems."

J.D. Edwards on Tuesday created a unit to focus on business- to-business solutions and expand development of its online- exchange technology. Michael Schmidt, former VP of worldwide sales and marketing, will head up the unit.

The above segment has been added to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245glosap.htm and to my Technology Glossary (look under SAP) at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Ernst & Young Division Will Focus On B-To-C Market

Global professional services firm Ernst & Young stepped further into the field of E-services on Wednesday with the launch of DareStep, a division that will focus on strategy, technology, and integration within the business-to-consumer E-business market.

DareStep will promote ease of site navigation, design, and structure, and it will eventually translate its processes to the business-to-business and business-to-employee markets, according to Mark Rankin, DareStep's managing director.

DareStep opens for business with 150 employees, 100 of whom come directly from Ernst & Young. Rankin predicts the number of consultants within DareStep will reach 300 by the end of the year.

I have added the above message to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cpaaway.htm 

Hi Bob
Jossey-Bass Publishers has reached an agreement to sell On the Horizon to Camford Publishing, effective April 20, 2000. Tom Abeles will edit OTH beginning with the 8-3 (May-June) issue. As befitting my founder status, I will move to an editor emeritus slot. OTH Online will be available on the Horizon site until April 20, 2000; it will then become available on the Camford Publishing site (http://www.camfordpublishing.com) when the sale is completed.

Tom, in his forthcoming editorial for 8-3, states that On the Horizon will have the following:

1) Global Coverage--In a wired world, campus and political boundaries are permeable. Institutions are forming relationships that function almost independent from time and space. We seek to identify those issues which impact higher education, internationally.

2) Broaden Institutional Definition--Content, certification, physical and virtual facilities, faculty, and economic models are rapidly evolving. Distinctions between profit models and educational models along with dual credits, non-credit programs and K-to-Gray are dissolving and reforming. OTH seeks to widen the scan of the horizon because of the rapidly changing world.

In addition, Tom notes that Camford will enable OTH authors to expand their thinking to lengths found in more traditional academic publications by publishing complements to their articles on the Camford Web site.

If you are interested in writing an article for OTH, please communicate directly with Tom via email at tabeles@tmn.com.

I know that you join me in wishing Camford Publishing and Tom success.

Jim

James L. Morrison morrison@unc.edu  
Professor of Educational Leadership CB 3500 
Peabody Hall Editor, On the Horizon UNC-Chapel Hill http://horizon.unc.edu  Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 Editor, The Technology Source Phone: 919 962-2517 http://horizon.unc.edu/ts  Fax: 919 962-1693

Forwarded by one of my best friends in life --- Dr. Wolff

The following is the Villanova Commencement Address given by Anna Quindlen (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

It's a great honor for me to be the third member of my family to receive an honorary doctorate from this great university. It's an honor to follow my great-uncle Jim, who was a gifted physician, and my Uncle Jack, who is a remarkable businessman. Both of them could have told you something important about their professions, about medicine or commerce. I have no specialized field of interest or expertise, which puts me at a disadvantage, talking to you today. I'm a novelist.

My work is human nature. Real life is all I know. Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first. Don't ever forget the words my father sent me on a postcard last year: "If you win the rat race, you're still a rat." Or what John Lennon wrote before he was gunned down in the driveway of the Dakota: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

You walk out of here this afternoon with only one thing that no one else has. There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. But you will be the only person alive who has sole custody of your life. Your particular life. Your entire life. Not just your life at a desk, or your life on a bus, or in a car, or at the computer. Not just the life of your mind, but the life of your heart. Not just your bank account, but your soul.

People don't talk about the soul very much anymore. It's so much easier to write a resume than to craft a spirit. But a resume is cold comfort on a winter night, or when you're sad, or broke, or lonely, or when you've gotten back the test results and they're not so good.

Here is my resume. I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent. I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen, I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows mean what they say. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today, because I would be a cardboard cutout. But I call them on the phone, and I meet them for lunch. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.

So here is what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?

Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water gap or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a cheerio with her thumb and first finger.

Get a life. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. Kiss your Mom. Hug your Dad. Get a life in which you are generous. Look around at the azaleas in the suburban neighborhood where you grew up; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black, black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is the best thing ever, and that you have no business taking it for granted.

I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my druthers, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. I learned to look at all the good in the world and to try to give some of it back because I believed in it completely and utterly. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived. Just keep your eyes and ears open the classroom is everywhere. The exam comes at the very end. No man ever said on his deathbed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island maybe 15 years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless survive in the winter months. He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amidst the Tilt a Whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides. But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them. And I asked him why. Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for detox? And he just stared out at the ocean and said, "Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view."

And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. And that's the last thing I have to tell you today, words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. You'll never be disappointed!

AccountingStudents Newsletter: March 14, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Advanced Education: Preparing the CPA of Tomorrow 
2. Three Out of Four College Students Want to Dress Down 
3. Will You Be Working With the World Wide Web? 
4. Survey Results: Do you read Web sites' privacy policies? 
5. Site of the Week: Grassroots.com 
6. Tip of the Week: Taking the CPA Exam? Be Prepared for Federal Taxation

The Grassroots.com web site noted above is located at http://www.grassroots.com/ 
This is a good website for political news and an interactive channel for voters.

Political community, states Grassroots.com, is "a two-way interactive communication channel between voters, candidates, elected officials and interest groups." To ensure such interaction, the site provides great features, such as Take Action! This section of the site allows you to contact your representatives, join a chat or discussion group, make a proposal (still in development, due to launch in March), join a group (from defense to media), form a group, and donate to the groups you support.

March 18th edition of the Internet Essentials 2000 http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html

1. SportsPages.com: One Stop Source for Sports Junkies 
2. Noncredited.net Gains a Place on Talk City 
3. Computer Always On? .....What are the Risks? 
4. 485,000 Credit Card Numbers Stolen 
5. CD Universe E-mail (security)and My Response 
6. AccountantsWorld.com earns Forbes' 'Best of the Web' Award 
7. What Users Do To Entertain Themselves Online 
8. The Top e-Merchant Sites From Business 2.0 (Iconocast) 
9. CFO Magazine's Mid-Range Accounting Software Review; The Year of the Internet

Pro2Net Accounting (formerly AccountingNet) Update http://accounting.pro2net.com  For the Week of March 20, 2000 

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Sharpen Your Recruiting Skills 3
. Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Swamped During Tax Season? 
5. This Week's Forum Spotlight 
6. Are You an Accountant AND a Writer? 
7. Survey Results: Which search engine do you prefer? 8. Our Tip of the Week

*Counterfeiters \kown-ter-fit-ers\: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets.

*Subdued \sub-dood'\: like a guy that works on one of those, like, submarines, man.

Debbie's Corner

From IWon.com's web page:
March 14, 2000
The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires.
           - William Arthur Ward

This was something that I wanted to share with you. It was one of those "forwarded" along 
type of stories, but this one touches the heart...Debbie

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know 
someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my 
shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that 
lit up her entire being. She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty seven years old. 
Can I give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!" and she 
gave me a giant squeeze. "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked. 
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, 
and then retire and travel." "No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to 
be taking on this challenge at her age. "I always dreamed of having a college education and now 
I'm getting one!" she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a 
chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Everyday for the next three months we would 
leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" 
as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. Over the course of the year, Rose became a 
campus icon and easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled 
in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the 
semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet and I'll never forget what she taught us. 
She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, 
she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned 
into the microphone and simply said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this 
whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know." 
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began: "We do not stop playing because we are old; 
we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, 
and achieving success: #1...."You have to laugh and find humor every day. #2...."You've got to have 
a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are 
dead and don't even know it!" #3...."There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. 
If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will 
turn twenty years old. If I am eighty seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything 
I will turn eighty eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to 
grow up by always finding the opportunity in change." #4...."Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't 
have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are 
those with regrets." She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose." She challenged each 
of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree 
she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two 
thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example 
that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
Robert Harris
C.F.O. & V.P. Finance

Andrews University 

ACCOUNTING, ECONOMICS, AND FINANCE
The Department of Accounting, Economics, and Finance offers majors that are intellectually 
stimulating, professionally challenging, and rewarding. We endeavor to provide the best preparation 
possible for careers in business, government, academia, and the church. The faculty seeks to provide 
students with training and education which will qualify them for employment in a multicultural and 
global environment. A Christian education encourages an awareness of moral and ethical responsibilities 
in one's personal and professional life. It is in this context that the department holds up Jesus Christ as the 
best model for personal responsibility and development and seeks to encourage its students to follow His example.

Accounting

Accounting is the key to financial success and unlocks the door to today's business world. An accountant is the
 cornerstone of any enterprise, small or large. The Andrews University accounting major is designed to equip
 young business minds with the savvy to categorize and evaluate financial data and act as an information channel
 to management.
ACCT476: Accounting Information Systems
The planning and operation of electronic data processing systems in accounting and the use of the information
 generated for financial reporting and control.
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: ACCT113 and junior class standing.

AREA ATTRACTIONS:
Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council 

Antioch University Santa Barbara
Here's a fun course...Debbie
Integrative Yoga
MASTER OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY - INTEGRATIVE YOGA
Teachers and practitioners of yoga have long understood the relationship between the mind and the body. 
Western researchers are now corroborating and expanding many of those ancient psychological insights.
 The result is a deeper understanding of the relationship between western psychology and yoga psychology for
 the development and maintenance of health and wellness. The integration of yoga and psychology provides a
 methodology for supporting wellness and strength in the physical body, balancing the mind and the emotions,
 and awakening the spirit.

Appalachian State University
Undergraduate course
ACC 3570. Accounting Systems and Internal Control (3). F;S.
An in-depth treatment of internal control and related accounting procedures; authorization and documentation; flowcharting, data flow diagrams, and scheduling. Design of information systems that process financial transactions for financial and management accounting, and to meet legal requirements for adequacy of accounting records and internal controls. Development of skills and expertise required for the study of contemporary accounting systems and internal auditing. Knowledge of a computer programming language is desirable but not essential.
Prerequisite: ACC 3100 with a minimum grade of C-. (COMPUTER)
Graduate Program:
The MBA degree is a professional degree program which prepares graduates for management 
positions in a technologically oriented, diverse, dynamic and global environment. High-quality 
instruction, the core mission of the College, seeks to develop a command of common skills 
and competencies of all graduates; analytical, communication, interpersonal, decision-making, 
knowledge about business practice, professional presence and ethical responsibilities. The MBA 
program also prepares students for doctoral study leading to careers in teaching and research.

Nice links....

Boone Community

Performing Arts

Arizona State University 

Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information Systems
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information 
Systems is to prepare scholars for careers at leading educational institutions. This program allows 
students to develop the capability to review, analyze, conduct, and publish research through a series 
of research seminars and additional supporting course work. Ph.D. students are encouraged to work 
on on-going research projects with faculty members in the Computer Information Systems area.

E-Commerce courses offered at Arizona State: E-Commerce Central
Professor: Anol Bhattacherjee

Class Schedule:
Module 1: The Strategy of E-Commerce
Week 01: Introduction to E-Commerce
Week 02: The New Business Economy
Week 03: Business-to-Consumer E-Commerce
Week 04: Business-to-Business E-Commerce
Week 05: E-Commerce and Competitive Strategy

Module 2: The Technology of E-Commerce
Week 06: Network Infrastructure for E-Commerce
Week 07: Software tools for E-Commerce
Week 08: Security in E-Commerce
Week 09: Electronic Payment Systems

Module 3: Policy Issues in E-Commerce
Week 10: Economic, Legal, and Regulatory Issues
Week 11: Group Case Presentations

EC Resources:
CWorld emmerce
Business Week e.biz
Internet.com
Internet Week (CMP)
EC Technologies
NPR Report on E-Commerce

E-business Curriculum
The ASU MBA Day program incorporates e-business across the curriculum and in diverse formats to 
meet your needs and ultimately the needs of the 21st Century Marketplace. You will find an emphasis 
on e-business from the perspective of the managerial decision-maker as well as "hands-on" training and 
exposure to software. Many of our faculty have training in SAP and JD Edwards Enterprise Resource 
Planning (ERP) Systems and, depending on the specialization you choose, you can expect applications of 
these packages in your ASU MBA courses.

If you know any accounting educators with helpful materials on the web, please ask them to link their materials  in the American Accounting Association's Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE) web site at
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm
Please send these professors email messages today and urge them to share as much as they can with the academy by easily registering their course pages with ACE.

ACE professors selected this week by Debbie Bowling

(This was a good example of having plenty of links to use for this course...Debbie)
Instructor First Name: J. Efrim Boritz
Institution: University of Waterloo
Course Title: Information System Control and Audit
Textbook: Computer Control and Audit Guide
Author(s): J. E. Boritz 

http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/ACCT/courses/acc651

Accounting 502/651
Information System Control and Audit
Course Description
This is an advanced course which presumes that students have adequate prior preparation in computing, 
system analysis and auditing. The course consists of five major parts: PART I deals with risks and related
control issues in organizations with computer-based systems as well as societal risks arising from poorly controlled
information systems. PART II deals with the management and control of computer-based systems. PART III deals 
with the study and evaluation of internal control in computer-based systems. PART IV covers a variety of 
computer-assisted audit techniques. PART V covers a variety of assurance services related to IT. Online Resources
Course Slides

(This site was also in Spanish...Debbie)

Instructor First Name: Enrique Bonson
Institution: University of Huelva (Spain)
Course Title: Management Accounting
Textbook: Management Accounting
Author(s): Atkinson, Banker, Kaplan, Young

http://giaca.uhu.es/giaca/cges.htm

AI in Accounting and Management

 Artificial Intelligence / Emerging Technologies Section. AAA.

 AAAI Special Interest Group on AI in Business IEEE Expert
 International Journal of Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management
 Intelligent Data Analysis - An International Journal
 Journal of Intelligent Systems

And that's the way it was on March 22, 2000 with a little help from my friends.  If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.

In March 2000 Forbes named AccountantsWorld.com as the Best Website on the Web --- http://accountantsworld.com/.

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

March 15, 2000

 Click here to search Bob Jensen's web site if you have key words to enter --- Search Site.
This search engine may get you some hits from other professors at Trinity University included with Bob Jensen's documents, but this may be to your benefit.

Quotes of the Week:  

One of the real problems is that what students want versus what they need differ dramatically. Students want us to make complex material fun, easy, and crystal clear. They want us to teach as if we can pour knowledge into their brains like a stop at a full-service gas pump! But for their own good, they are better off struggling on their own with lots of sweat, stress, ambiguity, competition, and even fear. It's a pity that our brains tend to work better when things learned were not learned easy! Thus we have a conflict between what students want and what they really need. There are no easy shortcuts with or without technology.  One problem with technology is the urge to make learning unambiguous and crystal clear in hypertext and hypermedia routings.  But preparing students for ambiguities of life should entail learning to cope with ambiguities that do not have routing lights.  Students think learning should be on a lighted path when in fact the best learning entails groping in the dark.  Unfortunately students do not usually appreciate this until they graduate and discover that most roads in life are not lighted.
Bob Jensen in a message to George Lan (see below)

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
This was a quotation at the bottom of an email message (that was a tribute to Professor Ijiri) from Patrick Charles that was sent to the CPAS-L list this week.  The source of the quotation was not disclosed.
Patrick Charles [charlesp@MAIL.CWDOM.DM] 

Who's more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?"
From the movie Star Wars 

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it."
William James

"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
W.M. Lewis

An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.
From the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias

"On the other hand, the early worm gets eaten."
Anon

"No man is ever old enough to know better."
Holbrook Jackson, Ladies' Home Journal, January 1950

"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it." 
Blues Brothers

 

From: George Lan, University of Windsor [mailto:glan@SERVER.UWINDSOR.CA] 
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2000 3:27 AM
To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU
Subject: The effectiveness of technology in teaching and learning
Only the last portion of Dr. Lan's message is shown below:

I realise that technology can be an effective aid for good teaching and effective learning on the part of students. However, are there published studies that show that abundant use of innovative technology does increase learning and teaching effectiveness significantly? And can we be somewhat luddites and still do a good job in teaching accounting? At what level of accounting (intro, intermediate, advanced or graduate), would the use of technology be most (or the least) effective? Another workshop participant indicated that some students tend to be more visual in their learning styles but he limits the use of video clips to one minute only per clip because there is some negative perception from students when videos are used profusely.

Also when do you know whether you have reached the "threshold" of being a good teacher of accounting (teaching evaluations are not always good predictors of teaching effectiveness e.g. an accounting teacher who is challenging and tries to elevate the students to their highest intellectual potential may sometimes obtain poorer evaluations than another teacher who is clear, organized and entertaining in class, but the former may be the more effective teacher in the long run )? I am not too sure whether this is relevant to the original objective of the list but I think it could be interesting to discuss the process we go through in learning to become (or try to be) a good accounting professor.
George Lan, University of Windsor

Reply from Bob Jensen
Hi George,

These issues are dealt with somewhat in the papers listed at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/default2.htm
In particular, take a look at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm 

Working Paper 255 above will link you to the Sloan Foundation Experiments on student communication and learning effectiveness. Take particular notice of the University of Illinois Experiments.

Generally, good students will master the material under most any pedagogy as long as they are clear about what they have to learn. They may, however, not learn at the same rates under different pedagogies. Technologies generally increase the rate of learning, but they do not necessarily improve long-term recall of what has been learn.

Pedagogy may have more dramatic impacts on long-term memory than on short term performance across a given semester. These issues are taken up in Working Paper 265 at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/265wp.htm 
One of the real problems is that what students want versus what they need differ dramatically. Students want us to make complex material fun, easy, and crystal clear. They want us to teach as if we can pour knowledge into their brains like a stop at a full-service gas pump! But for their own good, they are better off struggling on their own with lots of sweat, stress, ambiguity, competition, and even fear. It's a pity that our brains tend to work better when things learned were not learned easy! Thus we have a conflict between what students want and what they really need. There are no easy shortcuts with or without technology.  One problem with technology is the urge to make learning unambiguous and crystal clear in hypertext and hypermedia routings.  But preparing students for ambiguities of life should entail learning to cope with ambiguities that do not have routing lights.  Students think learning should be on a lighted path when in fact the best learning entails groping in the dark.  Unfortunately students do not usually appreciate this until they graduate and discover that most roads in life are not lighted.

Formal studies of technology versus traditional courses are almost useless. One problem is that technologies keep changing such that anything discovered a year ago may not apply under new software, new learning materials, new uses of chat rooms, etc. Another problem is the Hawthorne effect problem that tends to bias outcomes in favor of technology applications. Still another problem is that both instructors who use technology and instructors who do not use technology tend to revise, adapt, add to, and otherwise change courses every time the course is taught. Comparing performance over time is very risky even when comparing two or more semesters of traditional courses.  In addition, each class tends to take on a life of its own.  For example, a case that worked wonderfully in one course may fall flat in another course.

There is little doubt that technology probably improves both the effectiveness and efficiency of training (military experiments repeatedly bear this out). This may carry over into education, but with education there are many more variables and much more complex goals in learning and motivation. Results are less clear cut in the education arena. Hence, any published study comparing performance in education should always be viewed with skepticism.  Ramblings of old bookkeeping professors should be viewed with even greater skepticism.

I hope this helps!

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

My  main contribution to readers this week is a paper that Dr. Hubbard and I are sending to the FASB as part of our comment on the FASB's Exposure Draft No. 207-A entitled Accounting for Certain Derivative Instruments and Certain Hedging Activities:  An amendment of FASB Statement No. 133 --- http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/draft/amend133_ED.pdf 

We hope that the FASB will include our proposed calculation corrections in the table on Page 75 of FAS 133 and add our proposed explanation of the yield curve derivations to the FASB's Amendments to FAS 133.

The Hubbard and Jensen paper can be downloaded as follows:

Working Paper 305:  Some Corrections and Explanations of Example 5 in FAS 133
The HTML version is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/133ex05.htm 

The revised spreadsheet is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/133ex05a.xls

If you downloaded a copy of our spreadsheet a few weeks ago, please download a fresh version.  We want to acknowledge the help from two individuals who independently found a calculation error in our first round of calculations.  Thanks go to Peter van Amson from BankWare Inc. and Walter R. Teets from Gonzaga University.

Rather than reply by email to the various response messages to my "Careers Passed Away" document when each message is received, I am adding those messages and my replies at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cpaaway.htm .

There are now nearly 20 responses included in the above documents.  Ebenezer extends his thanks to those of you who took the time and trouble to comment on this complex issue at the crossroads of a profession.

An added attraction is the messaging about the future of double entry bookkeeping and reporting along with a discussion of intangibles and complex contracting.  These are focused around Messages 1, 2, and 3 of Robert Walker along with my replies to his messages.

I have also linked to some facts and pictures from the AICPA Special Committee on Assurance Services.

Jean Heck (Villanova) founded the new Academy of Business Education and organized our first annual meeting in Bermuda, September 22-23.  There is also a new journal with an editorial staff in place.  The ABE website is at http://www.abe.villanova.edu/.

The 2000 Program is now on our web site at http://www.abe.villanova.edu/prog2000.html.

What a great way to kick off a new "academy" of educators devoted to changing times and needs of youth and life-long learners.

Nobody asked for mine!
Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections --- http://www.neurophys.wisc.edu/brain/ 

Synergistic Learning in Biology and Statistics (SLiBS)
Supported by NSF grant # DUE-9554805 http://www.trinity.edu/slibs/index.htm 

Grant Abstract: This curriculum project focuses on six courses: Introductory Anatomy & Physiology, Microanatomy, Developmental Biology, Statistics, Mathematical Modeling, and Mathematics Majors Seminar. The project addresses the dual problems of : 1) encouraging biology students to approach their discipline in terms of quantitative problem solving and ; 2) engaging applied mathematics students in devising and solving mathematical problems which interface with the sciences. The courses selected are populated by a wide range of students: lower division, upper division, science major, and non-science major. Through digital interfaces with microscopes and physiological transducers, the selected biology courses yield large interactive databases which are compliant to statistical analysis. These data bases are incorporated into inquiry-based undergraduate biology laboratory exercises which emphasize statistical methods of analysis. In addition a mathematics mentoring program is being established. The resultant exercises and experiences are being disseminated to a large audience through presentations, the Internet, publications, and commercial distribution. Through this curriculum development project undergraduate students learn why they need numerical data and how to generate the necessary data.

Now we know what keeps Trinity's Bob Blystone and Rick Cooper so busy?

Dear Bob, 
I am trying to learn more about the implications of technological change for education. What sources would you suggest I use to build my understanding? 
Thanks.
XXXXX

Reply from Bob Jensen
Hi XXXXX,

Wow! This is a tall order that depends upon which pair of eyes is of interest in the impact of technology in education. Is it in the eyes of a university president, an instructor, an 18-year old student, a graduate student, or a life-long learner? Is it through the eyes of an advanced nation (Singapore, U.S., Australia) or an underdeveloped country in Africa, Latin America, or wherever?

I guess the best place to start is Educause at http://www.educause.edu/ . There is a Current Issues page at http://www.educause.edu/issues/issues.htm . I like Educause, because at this website there is usually a balanced discussion of both the bright and dark sides of issues.

In particular, look in some of the back issues of Educause Review at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm.html. One issue I particularly recommend is the Jan/Feb 2000 issue. That's where you start! Scan every article such as "Catching the Waves of Change in American Higher Education," by David Ward. But the neatest format is the question/answer format in the "Panel on the Future of Higher Education." I previously reviewed that piece in the February 15 edition my New Bookmarks --- see February 15 and scroll down at  http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm.

I think the next best place to go is the ADEC website at http://www.adec.edu/  (an international consortium of land grant schools). Try various buttons, including the button for "Standards and Plans." For example, this has a button for "Virtual Universities." The links to each university will have many things to say about the future (only beware of that since if those evaluations do not look at the dark side of technology in education).

Prestige universities face a unique set of opportunities and risks. For a review of these issues see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm.

I feel that asynchronous learning is a research field in itself. I suggest that you start with my review paper at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm. In particular, look at the sections on the experiments at the University of Illinois. I just added an update link at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#UpdateSummaryIllinois 

For the dark side, I suggest you look at my itemized listing entitled "Concerns About the Explosion of ALN in Education" in the Table of Contents at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm.

If you ask me for the most important hardware on the horizon, I would say it is hardware for wireless communication. This will implode the global community, especially the many parts of the world where stringing/digging wire is cost prohibitive. Billions of people will face new educational opportunities that otherwise would not arise in the 21st Century.

The most important software will be what is called RDF that in essence will become the DNA tag on every bit of information residing in enormous knowledge bases of the future. You can read more about RDF at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/xmlrdf.htm.

In the short run, we will see rapid changes in university curricula to adjust to powerful student demands for e-Commerce. The AACSB will be running a June 1-3 conference on this in Boston that you may want to attend. There are also new e-Business and e-Commerce sections being formed at the AACSB --- see http://www.aacsb.edu/e-business/index.html. There's also that E&Y conference in May that I suspect you and Jan Williams helped organize. I think that the AACSB conference will take broader look at what colleges of business are doing at the moment. E&Y will probably focus more on what is happening in industry. You may want to check out other AACSB workshops at http://www.aacsb.edu/whatsnew.html.

My bottom line prediction is that education of the future will focus on development and use of knowledge bases. My analogy here is a comparison of a Model T Ford with an F-17 airplane. At age 14, my father could tear apart every component of a Model T, jerry-rig some of the parts in a barn, and have the car up an running in no time. Educators of the past prided themselves on being integrative scholars who could recite the major knowledge of many disciplines and produce a graduate who knew an amazing amount about a lot of things such as history, economics, psychology, literature, music, mathematics, statistics, etc.

When confronted with an F-17, my father would not know where to begin. It takes a huge team of very highly skilled specialists to tackle an F-17, and that team may not be able to fix all of the 50 computers aboard a single aircraft. The knowledge base of virtually every discipline is becoming so immense that how scholars approached issues in the 20th Century will change radically in the 21st Century. Future scholars will not necessarily be narrowly-focused specialists, but they will be adept at using technologies to integrate stored knowledge bases and attempt to creatively add to both the specialized components of knowledge and the integration of knowledge. The goal of education does not change dramatically over time but the process will change radically. Learned teams will replace learned individuals. Learning will take place in real time at any place rather than in discrete time periods in classrooms.

Finally on the wild side we have a book entitled the "Brave New World: the Evolution of Mind in the Twenty-first Century," by Ray Kurzweil --- http://www.kurzweiltech.com/WIRED/. He forecasts that before Year 2050, we will be able to inject nanobots in our blood stream that will contain knowledge bases that attached to parts of our brain. How wonderful it would be if we could inject "The History of the Civil War" with a needle and then know all about this era without having to read or sweat. I will leave it up to you as to how futuristic you want to take this investigation of knowledge in a needle. Shooting up may take on respectability.

There is that nagging issue of what the accounting profession will become.  Issues of auditor and assurance independence are enormous.  But the profession must not follow the way of the railroads who never looked beyond transporting across iron rails.  The railroads viewed  themselves as "rail roads" rather than transportation companies.  They missed their opportunities to expand into airline and communication ventures.  The accounting profession is at a similar juncture.  If public accounting retrenches backwards from its new ventures, it stands the risk of being a system of regulated "rail roads" rather than a relevant and viable profession in the 21st Century.  My latest website on this issue is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cpaaway.htm.

I hope I have been of some help. You have huge burden to bear, and if I can be of further help please let me know.

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

For my friends in the Engineering Department --- Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century
http://www.greatachievements.org/ 

MACROMEDIA SHIPS COURSEBUILDER FOR DREAMWEAVER!
Summary: Purchase CourseBuilder online for $199 at: --- http://store.macromedia.com 

For Richard Reed --- Journey Into Amazonia --- http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazonia/ 

Some references of interest on business and goodwill valuation and accounting:

"Is Business Appraising for You?" by Elizabeth Danziger,  Journal of Accountancy, March 2000, pp. 28-33.  The online version is at http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2000/danziger.htm 

"Tips for the Valuator,"  by Frank C. Evans,  Journal of Accountancy, March 2000, pp. 35-41.  The online version is at http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2000/evans.htm 

FASB Viewpoints document entitled "Why Not Eliminate Goodwill?" --- http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/project/view1199.html 
Trinity University students may access this document at
J:\courses\acct5341\readings\fasb\goodwill.doc 

For business combinations testimony, don't forget that the Chairman of the FASB testified before the Senate Banking Committee --- http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/news/nr3200.html 

Fraud
TO CATCH A THIEF --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2000/hansen.htm 
James D. Hansen and Thomas A. Buckhoff
Since employee fraud is big business, some accountants are finding it useful to be able to spot workers who hide behind a veil of lies to commit fraud. In this article, the authors describe how to conduct interviews designed to ferret out dishonest employees.

For much more on such issues you should visit the home page of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners at http://www.acfe.org/ 

I accidentally hit upon some accounting links of Deborah Garvin and John Simmons (University of Florida) at http://bear.cba.ufl.edu/garvin/acg5816/LINKS.HTM 

In order to tie into the responses below, I will repeat a portion of my March 7 New Bookmarks.  

A Virtual Revolution in Teaching, Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/columns/colone/20000302/t000020766.html 
With colleges running out of classrooms and companies trying to keep down training costs, online education is a concept whose time may have come. But quality control is high on a list of concerns.
By P.J. HUFFSTUTTER, ROBIN FIELDS, Times Staff Writers

Industry sources say professors can get $5,000 to $10,000 merely for lending their names to Web programs. For instructors who actually help develop courses and lecture online, the paycheck can be $100,000 or more a year.
     Although O'Malia was working for University Access, his employers at USC's Marshall School agreed to develop Internet material with a rival of University Access--Caliber Learning Network Inc. of Baltimore.
     Critics at the school cite O'Malia's arrangement as a conflict of interest, but USC officials and O'Malia say both arrangements make the university more of a "catch" as an online partner.
     "No one signs professors to exclusive contracts," said O'Malia, who claims that he has been asked to develop courses by 50 different for-profit, online education ventures. "But that's got to change someday." 

Another question:  Is it worse to be a wall flower who's never invited to dance?

Also see Bob Jensen's summary of what is happening in prestige universities --- 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

The IASC has a new paper on accounting for leases --- http://www.iasc.org.uk/news/cen8_085.htm 

How many of you recall the dark side of Stanford's brainwashing experiments conducted by my friend Phil Zimbardo? Psychologists at Stanford are still working on behavior modification.

I was wondering if this might work for Big 5 auditors trying to be reminded about being independent vis-à-vis their consulting partners. Perhaps we could have them carry a Lynn Turner doll on audit engagements. Lynn is the Chief Accountant of the SEC.

Fiddling With Human Behavior by Lynn Burke 3:00 a.m. 6.Mar.2000 PST PALO ALTO, California ---
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34526,00.html  

B.J. Fogg raises his long arm and thrusts a six-pound infant doll into the air.

"This is a persuasive computer," he says. "It may not look like it, but it is."

Fogg is the director of the Persuasive Technology Laboratory at Stanford University, where academics study technology designed to persuade people to alter their thoughts or behavior.

In the case of this doll, called Baby Think It Over, teen-agers are encouraged to change their attitudes about sex and pregnancy.

The baby is a tech variation on the "carry an egg" pregnancy prevention program once used by teachers to make their young charges think twice before indulging in any hanky panky.

But instead of toting around an egg wrapped in a towel, the student carries a life-like vinyl baby programmed to have a distinct personality and cry at random intervals. The crying can only be stopped when its "parent" inserts a key into the control unit on the doll's back.

And when the experiment is over, a detailed record of the student's performance is printed out, revealing such perceived abuses as neglect and shaking.

Fogg believes this kind of persuasive technology is the wave of the future. And he thinks it can be a little bit scary.

"I believe persuasive computing has significant potentials and pitfalls," Fogg said. "There really is a dark side."

In a one-room laboratory tucked away on the edge of Stanford's expansive campus, he works with students to cook up the darkest technology they can imagine.

Graduate student David Starke, 23, and his classmates have come up with their idea of the perfect persuasive technology -– jealousy.com.

At the fictitious site (which has no relation to the actual www.jealousy.com  Web site), a jealous wife is taunted with provocative phrases like, "Do you know where your husband is?"

From Phil Livingston (President of the Financial Executives Institute) in FEI Express, March 8, 2000

SEC PROPOSES NEW AUDITOR OVERSIGHT The SEC is calling for a new regulatory system for the CPA profession. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and Chief Accountant Lynn Turner recently announced they would like to transfer regulatory authority for how CPAs conduct their audits from the AICPA to a "self-regulatory" organization with more power and authority. According to Turner, the AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee (the group that serves as the profession's oversight board) "has been unable to take timely action due to an inability to protect its files from subpoena, and in numerous financial reporting cases ... it has failed to take any action." For more information, see the Electronic Accountant article at http://www.electronicaccountant.com/news/022200_5.htm. 

Also see http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1999/0799/n_v/NV3.HTM 

From Phil Livingston in FEI Express March 8, 2000

FINANCIAL REPORTING IN THE INTERNET AGE Internet publishing is clearly going to change the form, if not the substance, of financial reporting. The ease and low cost with which information is delivered has already dramatically increased the amount and types of information available to investors. Publishing with web-based tools will enable management teams to more clearly present the information in a structure that highlights the most important content, and allows a user to drill down and analyze where he or she is more interested. Multi-media formats will be employed soon to further enhance communication.

To get a sense of the capabilities enabled by web-based publishing, check out Microsoft's investor relations site, where it posts its annual report. Scott Boggs, corporate controller, is a leader of FEI's Committee on Finance and Information Technology, and Jerry Masters, senior director - planning and reporting, is active in our Committee on Corporate Reporting.

The site broadly employs pivot tables that allow the conversion of the financial statements to other currencies and other GAAPs. You literally can look at its statements in Japanese GAAP or in yen or both at the press of a button. It also lets you view and analyze Microsoft revenues by sales channel and product group in a whole new way. For example, you can look at Windows platform revenue in Asia.

Here's a link to the site - http://www.microsoft.com/msft/ar99/lts.htm. 
Phil Livingston

Note from Jensen
This is made even more interesting by the allegations that Microsoft has been managing its earnings for years by using controversial accounting "cookie jar" practices.  In my July 9, 1999 Edition of New Bookmarks I wrote that Despite the negative assertions of the former Microsoft head of internal audit, Bill Gates denies that his company uses creative "cookie jar" accounting to manage earnings.  See http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1015342,00.html

The SEC investigation into Microsoft's accounting practices is reported at http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,1015335,00.html 

We may be able to get Glen Gray to give his expert opinion, on Microsoft's new way of reporting, in the afternoon workshop scheduled at http://www.ohioima.org/workshop.html 

Dear Bob,

 Your URL http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/1998sp/simmons/case.htm references the URL http://www.fea.com/endsearchvar.html (at the word “mathematics”), and this URL no longer exists.  I would suggest changing the latter to http://www.fea.com/library.htm.

Thanks
Mark B. Garman, President
Financial Engineering Associates, Inc.
2484 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 225
Berkeley, CA 94704-2029
mailto:mark@fea.com   http://www.fea.com/

The new vision and controversial partnerings and business operations of public accounting firms.  Richard Newmark pointed out the following news announcement about Andersen Consulting's recent partnering with Microsoft:

Andersen Consulting and Microsoft Corp. on Monday said they had agreed to a $1 billion pact to form a joint venture and an expansion of their existing relationship to offer companies a range of services an technologies based on the Windows 2000 operating system.

Under the pact, New York-based Andersen and Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft would create the joint venture, called Avanade, to offer Internet-specific and other services based on Windows 2000, the companies said.

The pact also calls for the two to create a new organisation within Andersen Consulting dedicated to designing and building fast and reliable business products, the companies said.

The new venture would target large Fortune 500 companies, new market entrants and Internet start-ups.

Under the deal, Microsoft will contribute $385 million in cash to support Avanade, as well technological development support and other intellectual capital. Andersen Consulting will provide intellectual capital, training, resources, solutions development and other services. 
 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article/0,1087,3_96692_Ext,00.html  

You can read more about such controversies at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cpaaway.htm 

From the Scout Report

SOSIG New Look http://sosig.ac.uk/  Social Science Search Engine http://sosig.ac.uk/harvester.html  US Mirror http://scout18.cs.wisc.edu/sosig_mirror/ 

The Web's premiere Social Science gateway has gotten even better, with a new interface and several other features that help users find quality social science research and education resources, hand-picked and described by librarians and subject specialists. The heart of SOSIG remains its excellent Internet catalog, which includes thousands of online resources, browseable or searchable by subject area. Within each section, resources are organized by subcategory and listed by type. Each section supplies information on its editor and a link to an extremely useful Subject Guide to conducting online research in that field. Visitors can find additional, uncataloged resources, using the Social Science Search Engine, which indexes a database of over 50,000 Social Science Webpages. SOSIG also helps users stay current, not only with their constantly updated list of new additions, but also with a new My Account feature. Integrated with SOSIG's Grapevine (reviewed in the April 7, 1998 _Scout Report for Social Sciences_), My Account lets users customize SOSIG and register for a free weekly email notification of new resources in their area of interest. Note: At time of publication, Scout's US mirror of SOSIG does not yet reflect these changes.

Resources For Methods In Evaluation And Social Research http://members.localnet.com/~shackman/evalwebs.html 

From the Scout Report

Le Bon, Gustave's _The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind_ http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new?id=BonCrow&tag=public& images=images/modeng/B&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&part=0 

The Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia has posted the 1896 classic of social psychology, Gustave LeBon's _The Crowd_. Known for his seminal considerations of crowd psychology and its impact on the French Revolution, LeBon believed in a "crowd mind" that "is not an intellectual or rational entity but a sentimental and emotional one through which irrational ideas spread as if by a process of contagion." (_Encarta Encyclopaedia_) The site offers the entire text with a table of contents linked to each section and chapter.

German regulators take after Big Brother --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,34739,00.html 

Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest Winners ---- http://www.bakeoff.com/ 

Let humans do your searching --- http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34753,00.html 

Danny Sullivan, an Internet consultant who specializes in search engines, recently toured the offices of LookSmart, a Net directory based in San Francisco.

In one section of the office the staff had plastered the walls with testimonials from satisfied customers of LookSmart Live, which offers searches of the Internet by humans instead of machines.  

The LookSmart Live website is at http://live.looksmart.com/lk/ 

Not one single accountant is rated as popular --- http://popular.go.com/ 

Brill's Content is an interesting website that is full of news --- http://www.brillscontent.com/ 
WebMonkey gave this website the Best Web Development Site Award.

Leave your mark (brand?) on things in life --- http://www.branders.com/ 

e-Health (privacy issues are immense) --- http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34861,00.html 
Looks like a job for WebTrust --- http://www.cpawebtrust.org/ 
Also see CPA assurance services of health care at http://www.aicpa.org/assurance/scas/newsvs/health/index.htm 

Chemical and Biological Disarmament http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/disarm.html 

SmartPlanet has over 350 self-study courses in Office, Java, NetWare, Windows, CGI, Notes, Windows NT, FrontPage, Explorer, and other technology subjects. http://www.smartplanet.com/learn.asp 

IBM's CEO warns of societal issues --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34763,00.html 

Internet industry leaders must take responsibility for developing regulations on privacy, security and trade policy, or risk the government doing it for them, IBM's CEO said Monday.

Louis Gerstner also said that while the Internet is "fundamentally re-shaping basic markets," he also predicted new economy euphoria will subside somewhat, and older principles of sound management will reemerge as business priorities.

Tabasco Country Store --- Norwegians can't stomach the stuff --- http://countrystore.tabasco.com/ 

MuseumNetwork.com --- http://www.MuseumNetwork.com/ 

Smithsonian: Kiowa Drawings --- http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/kiowa/kiowa.htm

Hey old timer --- remember when we licked those S&H stamps into books?
S&H Greenpoints , you don't have to lick the glue any more ---  http://www.greenpoints.com/ 

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization (including Virtual Socrates) ---  http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/ 
This is a "Flashy" webstie.

EDS has admitted that a group of con artists got away with "tens of millions of dollars" worth of computer equipment that was supposedly going to be used for a top-secret NATO project. --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003095/2458223/ 

Look for these key items when negotiating a deal with an application service provider --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003096/2453011/ 

For the out of touch generation, Yahoo provides the following:

Letters from Homeroom --- http://www.lettersfromhomeroom.com/ 

This engaging site uses the story of two high school sophomores, Alix and Claire, to address teen issues and concerns. The ups and downs of their friendship are chronicled in 17 notes exchanged during the course of a school year. The letters function as web episodes in a bittersweet serial -- view the mini-movies in streaming-video format, read the text, or listen to the audio. Titles include "Parents Stink," "Girls Fight," and "Too Shy Mama." Visit the locker room to learn more about the leading characters, or share your own experiences.

It sounds to this old timer, that parents and teachers would be better off reading "Tips for Getting Girls Involved," Technology & Learning, March 2000, pp. 34-36.  I cannot find the article online at http://www.techlearning.com/content/magazine/toc.html 
However, the hard copy version (which is sent free to me) provides some realistic tips for turning young girls on to computers, science, math, mentoring with career women, etc.

Also from Yahoo

gladwell.com http://www.gladwell.com/ 

Here's an archive of articles and talk pieces by Malcolm Gladwell, "New Yorker" magazine staff writer and author of "The Tipping Point." In his new book (also excerpted on the site), Gladwell uses examples from contemporary culture to track the phenomenon of the social epidemic -- that mysterious, contagious process by which trends, fads, ideas, attitudes, and behaviors emerge, flourish, and spread. His skilled storytelling -- whether sketching a brilliant neurosurgeon, a poet of advertising copy, the evolution of Big Bird, or the momentum of a low-budget blockbuster -- makes the short takes collected here a pleasure to read.

On-Line Resources from http://www.adec.edu/online-resources.html 

History of how good software evolves --- In this case Adobe Photoshop
http://webreview.com/pub/2000/02/18/feature/index2.html  

Some of you may be interested in this article entitled "Seeking The Deeper Path To E-Success: Companies that use a combination of E-business best practices--and value commitment as much as investment--are realizing returns in terms of more customers, lower costs, and market creation."

The web address (for a short time) is at http://www.informationweek.com/776/transform.htm 

Since these articles soon disappear from sight, it is best to download the article.

Dear Mr. Jensen, I am a student of the austrian university of business & economics and during this semester I am working on a project "Chernoff Faces" for the Department of Information Business. In this context I found out that you have written an article about this topic "Interactive Hypermedia Caricatures: Extensions of Chernoff Faces" in the Working Paper 242 of Trinity University. Unfortunately I cannot get this article anywhere, but would really like to read it. Maybe you can mail me this article or give me a hint where to get it. The database of Trinity University is only accessible from the local workstations. Maybe you can help me out.

With best regards,

Lukas Steiner mailto:h9651026@wu-wien.ac.at  or mailto:lsteine1@medat.jnj.com 

Reply from Bob Jensen
That article is so old that I cannot even find my file on it.  It was written in ToolBook for a presentation at the annual meetings of the American Statistical Association.  I am mailing you Chapter 6 of an earlier application of my professor's (Dr. Chernoff) making of faces to visualize multi-dimensional data.  The chapter appears in my research monograph entitled Phantasmagoric Accounting, Accounting Research Study 14, American Accounting Association ---
 http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/market/studar.htm 

Pro2Net Accounting (formerly AccountingNet) Update http://accounting.pro2net.com  For the Week of March 8, 2000 

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Online Tax Resources Available 
3. Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Are You Overpaying the IRS? 
5. This Week's Hot Talk: Robert Goldfarb, CPA 
6. Survey Results: Which time and billing software package would you recommend? 
7. Our Tip of the Week

The AccountingWEB Friday Wrap-Up Newswire - Issue 33 March 10, 2000 http://www.accountingweb.com 

1. Internet 101 For KPMG Staffers 
2. Andersen To Move Culture From "Partnership" to "Membership" 
3. New Excel Pivot Table Tutorial Now Available 
4. Accounting/Legal Professions Continue Blurring The Lines 
5. Texas CPA Society Adds Online Classifieds 
6. Here's A Question: Would Clients Notice If You Dropped Dead Today? 
7. PWC Wants To Be the Johnny Appleseed of e-Businesses 
8. Implementing Focus Groups on a Budget 
9. AICPA is Seeking Our Help For Performance Measurement Study 
10. Internet Tip: Real-Time Market Research - QuickTake.com

The March 12th edition of the Internet Essentials 2000 Newsletter http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

1. Small Business Security Alert: Not Keeping Up Is Very Costly 
2. Make Your E-mail Really Disappear 
3. Are You Above Average When it Comes to E-mail? 
4. The 1.0 GHz Processors: How Far We've Come in Two Years 
5. E-Stamp.com: Buy Postage Over The Internet 
6. LatinTrade.com: The E-commerce source in Latin America 
7. AnchorDesk: 10 Easy Ways to Save Your Company Money 
8. Wearable Net Devices Seen Changing Human Interaction

AccountingStudents Newsletter: March 8, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Observations of Leadership: What Can be Gained? 
2. A Winning Combination 
3. CPA Exam Tips: I Think I Can! 
4. Survey Results: When will you take the CPA Exam? 
5. Site of the Week: Illinois CPA Society 
6. KPMG Intern Celebration Video 
7. Tip of the Week: Top Three Scholarship Sites

Pro2Net Accounting (formerly AccountingNet) Update http://accounting.pro2net.com For the Week of March 13, 2000 

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Are You in Career Transition? 
3. Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Online Tax Season Resources Available 
5. Feature Articles for Private Accountants 
6. Today's Featured Site
7. Survey Results: Which low-end accounting software product would you recommend? 
8. Our Tip of the Week

Debbie's Corner

Associated Press Texas Wire News
University of Texas cracks down on student music downloads HOUSTON (AP) - The University of Texas at Austin and other schools in the state are cracking down on students who use speedy campus computer networks to download songs from the Internet. Claiming the practice has slowed networks to a crawl at the expense of higher-priority academic uses, school officials have blocked access to www.napster.com, a popular Web site for students looking to download songs in the so-called MP3 format. ``My interest, my responsibility, is making sure that the network infrastructure on the campus operates, and is useful and usable by the 75,000 people that make up this community,'' Bill Bard, director of UT's Office of Telecommunications Services, said in today's edition of the Houston Chronicle. Texas Tech, Texas Christian University, Oregon State, University of California-Berkeley, University of North Dakota and Boston University also have taken steps to hinder access to napster.com. Texas A&M University is considering steps to discourage music downloads, but officials there said they have not begun blocking sites yet. According to the Chronicle, some students have called UT's decision to block napster.com ``Draconian.'' AP-WS-03-09-00 0734EST

The following article was in the Sunday, March 12, 2000 San Antonio Express-News Technology Section

McAfee product shields PCs from hackers
By Craig Crossman

 Did you know that when you access the Internet, your computer could be vulnerable to an outside attack?  And if you are using one of those speedier broadband services such as a cable modem or ADSL, you're even more accessible to evildoers looking for someone's computer to pilfer.

Going online is in many ways synonymous to leaving the front door of your home wide open.  Even worse, it's like leaving your door open when you live in a bad neighborhood.

When you log on to the Internet through an Internet service provider (ISP), your computer is assigned something called an IP address.  In most cases you are assigned a different address each time you long on.

When you're finished, the address goes back into a pool to be used again by another user for their session.  This dynamic allocation helps to keep a provider's overhead costs down since it can serve more subscribers with a small number of those costly IP addresses.

The theory is that most subscribers to an ISP don't all log on at the same time.  Of course, as its subscriber base grows, the ISP needs to obtain a larger pool of addresses.  If it doesn't, you might find it harder to log on during peak usage times.

In some instances, it's desirable to have a fixed IP address, and most ISPs offer this service at a higher cost.  But having a fixed IP address actually makes you a bigger target to hackers because once they find you, you're always there.

Hackers use sophisticated software that checks through a range of IP addresses to see if anyone is using that address at a particular moment in time.  Since cable and ADSL technologies use an "always on" protocol, hackers stand an even greater chance of finding you online than if you have a standard modem connection.

Ways to see if an IP address is in use vary, but basically the method entails the hacker sending your computer a tiny bit of information.  If that data is sent back (one of these methods is called "pinging"), the hacker knows you are online and operational.  Once detected you could be in a lot of cyber-trouble.

A fire wall is a piece of software that literally makes your computer invisible to pinging and other similar detection procedures.  When a piece of data is sent to your IP address, the fire wall software detects it and literally absorbs it rather than letting it bounce back.

With no reflection, the hacker's software gets no acknowledgement and it moves on to the next address for testing.  This explanation is an oversimplification of a highly complex subject.  Because of its complexity, fire walls software could only be put in place by network engineers.  But now McAfee has come up with a fire wall for the rest of us.

The McAfee Personal Firewall doesn't bog its users down with all the technical jargon and cryptic data displays.  Personal Firewall just gets the job done.

For more information, check out McAfee's Web site at

http://www.mcafee.com

If you know any accounting educators with helpful materials on the web, please ask them to link their materials  in the American Accounting Association's Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE) web site at
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm
Please send these professors email messages today and urge them to share as much as they can with the academy by easily registering their course pages with ACE.

ACE professors selected this week by Debbie Bowling

Instructor First Name: Heidemarie Lundblad
Institution: California State University, Northridge

Coursepage Location: http://www.csun.edu/~hfact004/300.html

Accounting 300 Home Page - Spring Semester, 2000

Accounting 300 relies on a number of resources that are only available on the web page. Use either this page or the site index to access these pages. Check them out immediately and download assignments and instructions as required.At times I will update or add new information. Check the News column on the homepage regularly!

I have established separate resource pages for each chapter with links  to examples, readings, practice quizzes, chapter discussion page, etc.

• Practice Quizzes Online: Review the important concepts and techniques contained in each chapter and receive immediate feedback. Access them from the appropriate chapter resource page.
• Go to the Nikolai web site and access a variety of resources (including more quizzes) and solutions.  To access the solutions to all problems in the text book you need a password. I will provide instructions and the password to you shortly.

(This was a great website for the course; did link to other courses offered by Heidemarie Lundblad.

Instructor First Name: Duncan Williamson
Institution: OxBow College

Coursepage Location: http://business.fortunecity.com/discount/29/index.htm

(A lot of information on his web page, but he does have some good information if you can get through it...Debbie)

TaskerQuestion

And that's the way it was on March 15, 2000 with a little help from my friends.  If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.

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

March 7, 2000

Quotes of the Week:  

In times of great change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists. --- Michael Porter (As quoted at the bottom of Ron Tidd's email messages)

"I find that a man is as old as his work. If his work keeps him from moving forward, he will look forward with the work." ---William Ernest Hocking, Wisdom for Our Time

"We are told never to cross a bridge until we come to it, but this world is owned by men who have 'crossed bridges' in their imagination far ahead of the crowd." ---Anon.

"Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may." --- N.B.: This famous aphorism is often misquoted, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." -Plato, Symposium

I receive so many requests for help in finding online education courses and programs that I have created a little web page for this purpose.   I just revised it this morning.  You can find it at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245progs.htm 

I want to thank all of you who responded to my request for the latest thinking on using students as subjects in behavioral research experiments.  The general conclusions are that external validity tends to be low in such studies even though students are commonly employed for convenience and cost reasons.  You can read more about it and read abstracts of some of the most widely cited papers on this topic at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/student1.htm 

I also want to thank those of you who responded to my request for the latest thinking on crossing cultures.  I did in fact receive permission to place Professor Carper's paper in my website.  The paper is entitled "Global Business:  A Cultural Perspective."  My "Introduction" also contains a message from Dr. Carper regarding how you can get an interesting spreadsheet program.  The web link is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cultures/culture.htm 

You can read two messages from Professor Don Clark (Department of History at Trinity University) regarding Dr. Caper's paper above.  The links are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/student1.htm 

The About.com website mentioned below proved to be quite interesting.  The site was also mentioned in Neil Hannon's February 6 Newsletter.  About.com has great links to many things of interest to educators and administrators.  It also has a substantial number of links to distance education courses and degree programs.  My own summary of some of these things is given in my new summary document at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245progs.htm 

Prof. Jensen:

Have you seen this? I found a distance learning web site as part of about.com: http://distancelearn.about.com/education/distancelearn/ 

It has net links, chat rooms, even a starting point for someone writing a paper on the topic of distance learning http://distancelearn.about.com/education/distancelearn/library/weekly/aa021 400a.htm

Spring is slowly coming to the northern Olympic Peninsula. Hope all is sunny & well in San Antonio.

Janet Flatley AVP-Controller 1st Fed S&L Assn Pt Angeles, WA (360) 417-3104

I might add that Pam Silverthorn clued me into a guru named Chris Sherman.  You can read more about him at  http://websearch.about.com/internet/websearch/mpremail.htm 

Summary papers on education topics --- http://www.eriche.org/reports/ 

Celebrating its 28th year, the ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report Series is the most peer-reviewed and widely disseminated monograph series on higher education. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, a sponsored project of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the George Washington University, has prepared the series since 1972. Since 1983, the Series has been published in cooperation with the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Starting in 2000, the series will be published by Jossey-Bass, Inc. in conjunction with ERIC-HE. Every report in each Volume is a definitive review of the literature and institutional practice on a single critical issue. The quality of each report is ensured via the most extensive peer review process of any comparable publication. Reviewers include both scholars and practitioners. These reports average 100 pages; all contain an extensive bibliography and most also include a thorough index.

My lead on this came from the following message regarding a question about a summary of different approaches to teaching:

Try:

1) Active Learning by Bonwell and Eison, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports, #1, 1991, ISBN 1-878380-08-7). (In fact, the entire ASHE-ERIC library is useful- http://www.eriche.org/reports/ 

2) Tools for Teaching by Barbara Davis, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993 (ISBN 1-55542-568-2)

Ronald R. Tidd, Ph.D., CPA http://www.rrtidd.com  
In times of great change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists. -- Michael Porter

A free online book:  Methods in Behavioral Research, Paul C. Cozby --- http://methods.fullerton.edu/ 

This book has sections devoted to online research.  Parts of this book are neat!  It also provides references and links to research resource centers.  One is a link to 20 Science Attitudes --- very nice.

PsychWeb Resources --- http://www.psychwww.com/  (Note that one of the resources is a link to full length classic  psychology books that are now free online.  There is also a free "Find Anything" service.)

Although I arrived late, I sat in on most of Michael Kearl's lecture entitled "Life Everlasting---American style:  The cultural quest to kill death and be divine," given on March 1 on the Trinity University campus.  There was much to ponder in this lecture, including the mentioning of a bumper sticker that reads "THE ONE ENDING UP WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS."  Dr. Kearl and I have a difference of opinion as to what is meant by that bumper sticker.  He concluded that it referred to the materialistic nature of modern society where we are obsessed with possessions.

My take on the bumper sticker is far more cynical and/or humane.  I think it refers to future wars that do not kill people.  We are on the verge of having weapons that will eliminate infantry assaults, armor divisions, fighter planes, bombers, and even the surface fleets.  The U.S. at the moment controls the seas and air, because the other sides do not have equivalent naval and air "toys."  The Gulf War demonstrated the futility of having tanks and infantry.  The reason the allies won so quickly is that only one side had the modern tanks, fighters, and helicopters.  Allies managed to "win" (I use the term loosely) in the Kosovo conflict without a single allied combat casualty or the loss of a pilot.  Once again, only one side had the modern "toys."  Strategies of war will change when both sides inevitably have modern toys of mass destruction.

We already have stockpiles of biological weapons that are too lethal to use in war (e.g., nerve gas that will hang around for days, biological horrors, thermonuclear warheads, the latest laser zappers, etc.) that are too awesome to even consider in any strategy other than as a retaliatory threat.  For example, Iraq had an enormous supply of older-style gas and suspected nuclear capability that it held in check during the Gulf war, presumably in fear of retaliation with awesome allied force "toys" (including the possibility of binary gas in addition to nuclear weapons) aboard nearby ships and submarines.  It is only a matter of time in which high technology toys of warfare will be too awesome to use if they endanger human life.  World War III, IV, and V might be fought harmlessly in outer space, and each time the  "THE SIDE ENDING UP WITH THE MOST TOYS WINS."

Two nagging worries remain!  One is the possibility that weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of an insane leader.  There is little doubt that a Hitler, who was willing to scorch the earth of his own country to deny the victors any spoils of war, would probably have unleashed thermonuclear devices even if subsequent annihilation of his own people would then be inevitable.  It is rumored that Castro requested that Russia nuke major cities in the U.S. if President Kennedy invaded Cuba.  If Castro's alleged request was serious, it would have been an insane request that endangered the life of every Cuban since the name of the game in the height of the cold war was a U.S. strategy of retaliation.  

The other worry is the same thing that worried gunslingers in the old west --- that fear of being bushwhacked by terrorists and mentally ill persons bent on hurting somebody.  While future  "toys" of generals orbit the earth and are used in occasional games of dominance that do not directly endanger lives, human life down on earth might still be threatened by terrorists until modern technologies of surveillance make it impossible for even rats to hide.  Of course people who love freedom are not especially looking forward to having Big Brother watch their every move.  But a very paranoid gunslinging Big Brother will one day win by having the most surveillance toys as well as the most star wars toys.  The philosophical question is whether the fruits of creativity, competition, and self actualization will be lost in the process.  As the saying goes.  "Be careful about what you wish if there is a possibility that your wishes might come true."

I don't think that Dr. Kearl had technology warfare in mind for his talk, but do you suppose that high technology warfare is one other example of "The cultural quest to kill death and be divine?"

For those of you who are using the CapIT and FloorIT hedge accounting cases, I did make some corrections and additions.  In particular, I detected and corrected an error in the last journal entry in Question 19.  The OCI balance should be forwarded until the hedged item (i.e., the $25 million note) expires.  You can find the cases at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/000index.htm 

I found a number of places where students needed extra help.  These are added into the cases as Student 1 Message and Student 2 Message.  The Student 2 Message that I wrote to the entire class reads as follows:

It is easy to become confused about how strike prices relate to interest rates.  Suppose the strike price is 9450 on the CME.  This means that the strike price is 9450 basis points.  This corresponds to a strike rate of 5.50% = (10000-9450)/10000.  Now suppose the LIBOR spot rate on a given day is 4.50% corresponding to 9550 basis points.  This relates to the following difference between spot minus strike:

(9550 Spot - 9450 strike) = +100 basis points = 100/10000 = +1.00% call

(10000 - 9450) - (10000 - 9550) = 9550 - 9450 = 100 basis points = 100/10000 = +1.00% call

(100% - 4.50% spot) - (100% - 5.50% strike) = 5.50% strike  - 4.50% spot)   = +1.00% call

The point I am trying to make is that the intrinsic value of a call option is the strike rate minus the spot rate even though the intrinsic value of a long position is really the spot (sale) value minus the strike (buy) value.  The reason is that rates and values are negatively correlated.

For the put option, the calculations are as follows:

(9450 strike - 9550 spot) = -100 basis points = -100/10000 = -1.00% put

(10000 - 9550) - (10000 - 9450) = 9450 - 9550 = 100 basis points = -100/10000 = -1.00% put

(100% - 4.50% spot) - (100% - 5.50% strike) = 4.50% spot - 5.50% strike)   = -1.00% put

The point I am trying to make is that the intrinsic value of a put option is the spot rate minus the strike rate even though the intrinsic value of a short position is really the strike (sale) value minus the spot (buy) value.  The reason is that rates and values are negatively correlated.

I hope this helps!

Dr J

If you either love or hate FAS 133, this is an important message for you regarding the FASB's proposed amendments to this standard for accounting for derivative financial instruments and hedging activities.  Thanks Rudi.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tim1 [mailto:Tim1@jsx.co.id]  
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 7:37 AM To: Jensen, Robert 
Subject: Amend FAS133 Importance: High

Accounting for Certain Derivative Instruments and Certain Hedging Activities-an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133 (Proposed Statement of Financial Accounting Standards) March 3, 2000 http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/draft/amend133_ED.pdf  (for the PDF version)

 http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/draft/amend133.exe  (for the DOC version)
Rudi Handoko

Added notes from Bob Jensen:
I do not view the above amendments as earth shaking.  Treasury and LIBOR lock hedges (hedges of only the risk free portion but not credit spreads) are now afforded special hedge accounting treatment.  Other amendments deal largely with implementation issues.

Also do not forget that the proposed new FASB standard on adjusting "all" financial instruments to fair value will not affect FAS 133 rules so much as it will affect what derivative financial instruments are eligible for special accounting treatment under FAS 133.  On December 14, 1999 the FASB issued Exposure Draft 204-B entitled Reporting Financial Instruments and Certain Related Assets and Liabilities at Fair Value.  This document can be downloaded from http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/draft/draftpg.html 
(Trinity University students can find the document at J:\courses\acct5341\fasb\pvfvalu1.doc ).

If an item is viewed as a financial instrument rather than inventory, the accounting becomes more complicated under SFAS 115.  Traders in financial instruments adjust such instruments to fair value with all changes in value passing through current earnings.  Business firms who are not deemed to be traders must designate the instrument as either available-for-sale (AFS) or hold-to-maturity (HTM).  A HTM instrument is maintained at original cost.  An AFS financial instrument must be marked-to-market, but the changes in value are held in OCI rather than current earnings until the instrument is actually sold or otherwise expires.   Under international standards, the IASC requires fair value adjustments for most financial instruments.  This has led to strong reaction from businesses around the world, especially banks.  There are now two major working group debates.  In 1999 the Joint Working Group of the Banking Associations sharply rebuffed the IAS 39 fair value accounting in two white papers that can be downloaded from http://www.iasc.org.uk/frame/cen3_112.htm.

• Financial Instruments:  Issues Relating to Banks (strongly argues against required fair value adjustments of financial instruments).  The issue date is August 31, 1999.  
  Trinity University students may view this paper at J:\courses\acct5341\iasc\jwgbaaug.htm.  
  Others may go to the IASC download site at http://www.iasc.org.uk/pix/banksjwg.pdf.
  
  

• Accounting for financial Instruments for Banks (concludes that a modified form of historical cost is optimal for bank accounting).  The issue date is October 4, 1999
  Trinity University students may view this paper at J:\courses\acct5341\iasc\jwgfinal.htm 
  Others may go to the IASC download site at http://www.iasc.org.uk/pix/jwgfinal.pdf.

For more information and many links, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/133glosf.htm 

The Chairman of the FASB testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Business Combinations ---
 http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/news/nr3200.html 

What is worrying Bill Gates more than anything else?
The chief of Finnish cellular phone maker Nokia Corp said on Friday he expects Web-connected mobile phones to outnumber personal computers linked to the Net within three years --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,34718,00.html 

"The future is not PC-centric. It's mobile phone-centric," Nokia chief Jorma Ollila told a seminar on mobile networks and digital home appliances in Tokyo.

Computer Chronicles also featured this prediction in the March 5 PBS broadcast.  One link of interest on wireless technologies and home networks is at http://www.sun.com/consumer-embedded/cover/ces/ 

You can find some great update information on the latest hardware and software technologies at http://www.cmptv.com/computerchronicles/99-00showarchive.html 

Serial E-Authors Make a Killing --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,34499,00.html 

Publishers are paying more than attention to promotion-savvy e-authors who are building readership one chapter at a time. They're paying sizable advances -- especially to authors of fantastic tales.

"It was a tense weekend as the offers came in," said Doug Clegg, a New York City horror writer with nine titles in print and two more on the way. "I had no idea there would be so much interest in sponsoring a serialized novel on the Web."

What came to mind after finding the above article is how serialization might become a form of "education" if lessons are buried in mystery, horror, or other works of fiction. I discuss and illustrate this in somewhat greater detail in my Muppets document, but the idea serialization never dawned on me. See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5341/speakers/muppets.htm.

Perhaps my friends Bill Breit and Ken Elzinga (who are given a tribute in my Muppets document) should consider serializing their next mystery novel that teaches economics.

The report just issued by the University of Illinois contains an excellent bibliography dealing with online education. I am sending this to some of my colleagues who have expressed an interest in online education. Many of the reference can be obtained by clicking on the website.

Bibliography

ADEC Guiding Principles for Distance Learning and Teaching. (1999). American Distance Education Consortium 1999. ( www.adec.edu/papers/distance-teaching_principles.html ).
Norman Meonske [nmeonske@kent.edu] 

From Bob Jensen
I could not get the link given in Norm's message to work.  I did find the link Norm refers to at http://www.adec.edu/online-resources.html.  However, when I moved up to http://www.adec.edu/, I found many more great links in the following categories:

ADEC Consortium of State and Land Grant Schools --- http://www.adec.edu/  http://www.adec.edu/whats-new.html  http://www.adec.edu/in-the-news.html  http://www.adec.edu/about.html  http://deal.unl.edu/adec/  http://www.adec.edu/ideal/ideal.html  http://www.adec.edu/online-resources.html  http://www.adec.edu/courseware.html                              (This is a great link!                              Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm ) http://www.adec.edu/satellite-resources.html  http://www.adec.edu/fed-pgms.html http://www.adec.edu/trends.html  http://www.adec.edu/access-issues.html http://www.adec.edu/standards.html  http://www.adec.edu/international.html  http://www.adec.edu/conf-work.html  http://www.adec.edu/virtual.html http://www.adec.edu/management.html  http://www.adec.edu

Bob:

The University of Illinois issued a report in December of 1999 called The Teaching at an Internet Distance: the Pedagogy of Online Teaching and Learning

I urge you to go to the following web site to view the report in its entirety

http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/report/tid_report.html#summary 

Norman Meonske [nmeonske@kent.edu] 

The following is the major conclusion of the report at http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/tid/report/tid_report.html#summary 

In response to faculty concern about the implementation of technology for teaching, a year-long faculty seminar was convened during the 1998-99 academic year at the University of Illinois. The seminar consisted of 16 members from all three University of Illinois campuses (Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign) and was evenly split, for the sake of scholarly integrity, between "skeptical" and "converted" faculty. The seminar focused almost entirely on pedagogy. It did not evaluate hardware or software, nor did it discuss how to provide access to online courses or how to keep them secure. Rather, the seminar sought to identify what made teaching to be good teaching, whether in the classroom or online. External speakers at the leading edge of this discussion also provided pro and con views.

The seminar concluded that online teaching and learning can be done with high quality if new approaches are employed which compensate for the limitations of technology, and if professors make the effort to create and maintain the human touch of attentiveness to their students. Online courses may be appropriate for both traditional and non-traditional students; they can be used in undergraduate education, continuing education, and in advanced degree programs. The seminar participants thought, however, that it would be inappropriate to provide an entire undergraduate degree program online. Participants concluded that the ongoing physical and even emotional interaction between teacher and students, and among students themselves, was an integral part of a university education.

Because high quality online teaching is time and labor intensive, it is not likely to be the income source envisioned by some administrators. Teaching the same number of students online at the same level of quality as in the classroom requires more time and money.

From our fundamental considerations of pedagogy we have prepared a list of practice-oriented considerations for professors who might be interested in teaching online, and another list for administrators considering expanding online course offerings.

I added the above information to my summary file at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm 

A Virtual Revolution in Teaching, Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2000
http://www.latimes.com/news/columns/colone/20000302/t000020766.html 
With colleges running out of classrooms and companies trying to keep down training costs, online education is a concept whose time may have come. But quality control is high on a list of concerns.
By P.J. HUFFSTUTTER, ROBIN FIELDS, Times Staff Writers

Industry sources say professors can get $5,000 to $10,000 merely for lending their names to Web programs. For instructors who actually help develop courses and lecture online, the paycheck can be $100,000 or more a year.
     Although O'Malia was working for University Access, his employers at USC's Marshall School agreed to develop Internet material with a rival of University Access--Caliber Learning Network Inc. of Baltimore.
     Critics at the school cite O'Malia's arrangement as a conflict of interest, but USC officials and O'Malia say both arrangements make the university more of a "catch" as an online partner.
     "No one signs professors to exclusive contracts," said O'Malia, who claims that he has been asked to develop courses by 50 different for-profit, online education ventures. "But that's got to change someday." 

Another question:  Is it worse to be a wall flower who's never invited to dance?

Also see Bob Jensen's summary of what is happening in prestige universities --- 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

LibraryHQ:  Resources for the Wired Librarian  --- http://www.libraryhq.com/ 

American Society of Women Accountants --- http://www.aswa.org/ 

ASWA was formed in 1938 to increase the opportunities for women in all fields of accounting and finance. The first chapter was chartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Members include partners in national, regional and local CPA firms, financial officers, controllers, academicians, financial analysts and data processing consultants, recent college graduates and women returning to the work force. The majority of our members have attained professional certifications such as CPA, CMA, CIA, and CFP. The mission of ASWA is to enable women in all fields of accounting and finance to achieve their personal, professional and economic potential and to contribute to the future development of the profession.

Grossing Up Reported Revenues
From Internet World News on February 29, 2000

Are accounting authorities trying to derail the Internet speed train? Two tenets of e-commerce accounting have been called into question recently by overseeing bodies intending to stop Internet companies from souping up their books. The latest: indications from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that it is considering a rule that would disallow certain companies from counting the entire sale of a product as revenue. Many e-commerce companies act as brokers -- they don't touch the product -- but still are counting the total product sale as revenue. The SEC calls this "grossing up" revenues, and FASB has indicated it will probably start clamping down on companies that do it.

"Seeing such big revenue numbers can look real good on the surface, and they can definitely help a company out of the starting gate," said Jon Ekoniak, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

So which Internet companies are doing this type of accounting now? Ventro (formerly Chemdex), Priceline, Neoforma, and Sciquest are some of the bigger names.

But some of these companies, such as Ventro, have argued that they take title to their goods, absorb the cost, and take on the risk. The accounting rule is still a bit murky on this. Some analysts feel that because the suppliers handle the refunds and determine the price, and companies like Ventro do not inventory the product, the companies should only count their commission as revenue (like Travelocity, for example). Others, including Priceline, argue that they buy the ticket and pay the refunds, so they should be able to account for the total price of the ticket. But some observers have pointed out that Priceline only buys the ticket once it is sold, so the company never actually takes any risk.

While the debate continues to shape up, some Wall Streeters are getting nervous that this could, at least temporarily, put a wrench in some high-flying stocks. Early this year, the SEC put another obstacle in the road by indicating that it would begin disallowing the use of the pooling-of-interests accounting method in Internet acquisitions. Since pooling is a way to avoid paying, at times, huge taxes, as well as being a more advantageous accounting method for an Internet company's bottom line, investors began to fear the sector would lose some of its fuel (IWN, Feb. 16).

Ekoniak sees the revenue issue also having a potentially negative impact. "Some of the companies could certainly see a short-term sell-off if they are forced to account for only commission on the sale," he said.

Debate Scenarios (Interesting) --- http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/support/Debates/Scenarios.html 

• Hacking into a Computer to get Publicly Available Documentation
• It's not getting better - a case of flaky software
• Big Brother Bart - monitoring
• Couldn't help noticing - looking in someone else's files
• Something's fishy in Lower Tse Tse - do two wrongs make a right?
• Spread the word - Distribution of personal information
• Quid pro quo - making a profit out of an assigned task
• Profit not participation - cultural differences
• We know the score! - The Caltech Scoreboard hack.
• Bound to fail - Software that just will never work
• You're not getting my microcents! - Finding one's own design on someone else's Web page
• Academic Freedom in Virginia at Stake - an ACLU concern
• The Toronto Resolution - what should a code include?
• The Freedom To Use Cryptography
• Control of the Internet - Singapore looks to superhighway
• Politicking on the WWW - using a non-profit organization network
• Just a friendly little virus ... - Is there such a thing?
• Oops! You weren't supposed to know ... - a case of sexual harassment?
• To toad or not to toad ... - Netiquette in a MOO
• Freedom of Home Page Speech ... Can you put anything you like on YOUR home page?
• CEO Blasts Sister Who Asked for Diverse Board - A need for diversity?
• Is this plagiarism?
• Should colleges teach Computer Science students courses on HACKING?
• A shooting at school. Was it his fault?
• Cultural Differences
• To Modify or not to Modify: a Credit Bureau's Question
• Attempted Hacking is not a Crime
• University warns against e-mail sales Tech tackles student scalpers for Sugar Bowl Tickets

You will find much more at this website, especially on topics of ethics.

Online training tutorials from the Land Grant Training Alliance --- http://www.lgta.org/ 
Hosted by North Dakota State University

	Corel WordPerfect 8.0 Corel WordPerfect 8.0 Tables WordPerfect 7.0 WordPerfect 7.0 Merge Word Perfect 6.1 Creating Better Newsletters with WordPerfect 6 WordPerfect 6.1 Merge WordPerfect 6.1 Tables & Graphics Microsoft Word 7.0 Microsoft Word 7.0 Merge Microsoft Word 6.0 Merge	Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Microsoft PowerPoint 7.0 Microsoft Powerpoint 4.0 Corel Presentations 8.0 Corel Presentations 7.0 Lotus Freelance Graphics 96	Microsoft Access 97 Microsoft Excel Lotus 1-2-3 5.0 for Windows Corel Quattro Pro 6.0 Corel Quattro Pro 7.0	E-mail beyond the

Fannie Farmer Cookbook http://www.bartleby.com/87/ 

For a summary of online cooking advice see http://www.cmptv.com/computerchronicles/shows/99-00/1724cooking/1724-summary.html 

The Word Police from The Atlantic Monthly--- http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/wordpolice/ 

The Word Police are looking for a few good people. As a certified Word Police officer, you will be entitled to issue Grammar Citations when you see or hear crimes against the language. To be inducted into the force, you must pass a Word Police Academy exam.

The Word Police Force has many divisions and squads. The current entrance exam is for the Pronoun Patrol. Coming soon: the entrance exam for Who Wants to Marry a Word Police Officer? Just kidding! Next will be the exam for the Number Unit. An officer admitted to any squad or division of the Word Police will earn a certificate from the Word Police Academy and be empowered to issue Grammar Citations. Men and women (we are an equal-opportunity employer) who have already been admitted to the Word Police Force may return to this page regularly to take additional exams and earn certificates for other divisions and squads of the Word Police.

If you are ready to take the current entrance exam, go to http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/wordpolice/ 

University of Kansas Online Enhanced Course Materials --- http://www.ukans.edu/kufacts/acad/online.shtml 
(This website seems to work on a timer before it flips to another site, but you can hit the Back button on your browser to return to the course links.)  

Hi Richard,

A lot depends upon what level of education and discipline you are focusing upon. If you want to take the time, you can find a lot of links in Yahoo at http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Theory_and_Methods/ 

And another huge source is http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Teaching/ 

Another website to get lost in is at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob2.htm  However, you can narrow your search somewhat by clicking on the section entitled "Evaluation and Learning Assessment."

Now that I have supplied enough links to keep you busy for the rest of your life, I had better quit.

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Richard Fern [mailto:accfern@ACS.EKU.EDU]  
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 10:13 AM To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: Compendium of teaching strategies

----Help!!----

Would like anyone's suggestions on locating an existing list (compendium) of teaching strategies that are used in higher education (for example: the case method, business simulations, cooperative learning, etc.). Basically, I'm looking for a summary list of strategies and the pros and cons of each.

Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks.

Richard Fern Eastern Ky. University

That second s seems to be crucial in giving advice to women --- Ask MisSinformation.com
http://missinformation.com/  

Photographs of Finnish Dragonflies --- http://personal.inet.fi/taide/karjalainen/dragonflies.html 
The best thing about the web is that you can become the world's expert about some angel on the head of a pin.

ibooks.com offers deal on digital IT reference books.  E-publisher ibooks.com 
has announced a new service for previewing, purchasing and using online digital reference --- 
http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003025/2454717/ 

Corel will introduce the WordPerfect Office 2000 productivity suite for Linux next month in 12 North American cities.  http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003035/2455295/ 

Choose where you want to live and then make a bid on a house --- http://www.makeanoffer.com/ 
Or put your own house up for bids at http://www.makeanoffer.com/ 

HOME BUYING MADE SIMPLE --- http://client.lycos.com/r.asp?CB&jLALFgXTHkwco951418829 

The Site Analyzer will help you automatically optimize your pages for submission to the search engines, and then the Site Submitter will let you submit your pages to NINE search engines in one shot.

The Site Analyzer will allow you to automatically insert title, META-description and META-keyword tags into your pages. BUT right now if you edit those pages with the Basic Editor from the Angelfire Webshell afterwards, the tags will be removed. (And the search engines will never get to read them.) So if you edit your pages frequently using the Basic Editor, the Site Analyzer may not be very useful to you right now. Pages created with the Advanced Editor, uploaded via FTP or Microsoft FrontPage, or Basic pages that have been converted to Advanced Editor pages will have no problems. We will be correcting this Basic Editor issue shortly.

Find Which Search Engines to Use and Which to Avoid at:  www.searchiq.com

This month we've added a "HotList" of search engines. The HotList is a one page directory of the best search engines and web directories in every category. General search engines, meta search engines, specialty search engines and link guides included.

"What's New"
Yes the wannabe a millionaire craze has hit the search engines too. Can you make money with the "pay-for-use" search engines like iwon and Netflip. (Hint: Don't give up your day job quite yet.)

Check out the reviews including: alphasearch (a search engine directory) and 4anything (a link guide).

Specialty Search Engines and Directories A - Z
Use this directory to find the best search engines for a particular topic whether you want to find MP3 search engines, directories of email addresses for your representatives in Congress, or search directories of colleges, .... Check back regularly because we're constantly adding qualified search resources.

Thanks for Stopping By
SearchIQ continues to grow at 20-25% per month based on word of mouth marketing. Currently we're providing over 300,000 page views per month guiding people to the best search resources on the web.

Charlie Cook [cdc2@ziplink.net] 

Products for protecting your networked computer system --- http://www.softwaremag.com/focusareas/Security.html 

Lycos offers free Net access.  The new 56Kbps dial-up service offers users e-mail, instant messaging and a personal home page --- http://free.lycos.com/ 

Prior to March 15 you can order 500 free hardcopy postcards that promote your website.  See http://lycos.digitalwork.com/ferris 

You can add your own $.02 at Debate America --- http://www.debateamerica.org/

From Network Computing

Which components of Windows 2000 are worth an upgrade now, and which still need to mature? To help us find out, we pitted Windows 2000 against NT 4.0 in a series of tests. Here's a look at the results and our assessment: http://www.networkcomputing.com/1104/1104f1.html?ls=NCJS_NL1 

Bob Jensen is not seeking the $1,000 referral fee.  I really do not know anything about paying friends on the Internet other than what you can read at http://www.paypal.com 

IBM researchers touted a new technology that they say could eventually enable chip makers to place tens of billions of transistors on a single chip --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003015/2453929/ 

France's Rue de Web --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,34664,00.html 

Web firms are mushrooming in backstreet workshops on or near the Rue du Sentier, transforming the forgotten garment district into a buzzword for France's embrace of the new economy.

"Now the lights stay on much longer at night," said Francois Prioux, 24, whose financial information Web site Firstinvest.com moved into the area in central Paris last September.

Inspired by an explosion in French Web interest and soaring share prices for Internet firms on the Paris Bourse, scores of young entrepreneurs are taking over as textile firms hit by Asian competition move to cheaper premises.

From the outside the Sentier district looks trapped in the 19th century, with workers pushing trolleys of brightly colored fabric into the courtyards of crumbling buildings.

Pakistani day laborers hang around on street corners, chatting away in Punjabi while they wait to unload a truck.

Pass through some of the battered doors, though, and you can see the new economy taking the place of the old.

A creaking lift once used to transport bales of cloth takes visitors to the offices of BuyCentral, a Web site that helps shoppers compare prices of goods available on the Web.

The roomy office full of around 20 casually-dressed programmers feels like a college library, but look out of the window and you can see seamstresses bent over sewing machines in the workshops below.

U.S. Cracks Down on Net Betting (even if the website is in Antigua) --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34635,00.html 

The U.S. government's efforts to stem illegal Internet betting activity outside of its borders got a boost on Monday when a federal jury for the first time convicted a man for running an offshore online sports gambling operation.

Jay Cohen, 33, a co-owner of World Sports Exchange based in Antigua, was convicted by a Manhattan federal jury for operating a sports betting business that illegally accepted bets and wagers on sporting events from Americans over the Internet and telephones.

Vote on legislation and monitor the voting records of your representatives --- http://www.usademocracy.com/ 

ABCs of child development --- The Whole Child --- http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/ 

ABCs of motherhood --- http://www.mom.com/ 

Kids with email accounts are (happily) causing new problems for web merchants and bad guys --- http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,34453,00.html 

From Yahoo Online

Eugenics Archive --- http://vector.cshl.org/eugenics/ 

The DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory presents this profound, sometimes shocking look at the early 20th Century American eugenics movement -- an erroneous, "scientific" effort to breed better humans based on Mendelian genetics and social Darwinism. The enthusiastic acceptance of eugenics theory resulted in racist marriage laws, restrictive immigration policies, and legally mandated sterilization of "undesirables." Historical documents and lucid essays suggest parallels with our contemporary, feverishly-hyped genetic industry, recommending caution as we proceed.

Don't forget my related links on this subject at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm#genetics 

If you're a business professional looking for resources to advance your career goals, build new marketing strategies, or improve your business and financial savvy, you should look at this new site:

http://www.phdirect.com/business 

Prentice Hall Direct publishes titles for every aspect of a business environment; be it entrepreneurial, legal, technical, or specific to professions like accountants or lawyers.

There's a free monthly newsletter that will notify you of upcoming releases and special offers. Plus most of the books have sample chapters available to peruse online. Here's the URL for an excerpt from "60 Minute Tax Planner" by Edward A. Lyon, J.D.:

http://www.phdirect.com/search/covers/01309/0130952931/0130952931CH01.html 

Chris Lenois [excerpt@TENAGRA.COM] 

It appears that online taxation and online voting soon be a part of the Internet --- http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34619,00.html 

The Allied Institute of Decision Sciences had to change its name for a somewhat similar reason. It is now the Decision Sciences Institute at http://dsi.gsu.edu/index.html 

Bob

-----Original Message----- 
From: Aaron Konstam [mailto:akonstam@Trinity.edu] 
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 8:09 AM To: tigertalk@Trinity.edu  
Subject: Problems in web filtering.

* OFFICIALS AT BEAVER COLLEGE, tired of being the butt of jokes because of the institution's sexually suggestive name, are thinking about changing it. Because the current name is slang for female genitalia, some alumni and prospective students have had trouble getting access to the college's Web site because their computers' filtering devices prohibit viewing of sites with sexual content. --> SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2000/03/2000030206n.htm 

Online artists (including students) can win a prize --- http://www.sfmoma.org/info/webby_overview.html 

The SFMOMA Webby Prize will award a total of $50,000 to an artist or artists who have exhibited excellence in online art. Artists may enter as an individual or as a collective. Either will be considered as a single entrant hereafter referred to as "artist." Any artist who meets the following guidelines is eligible to enter:

Eligibility:  The SFMOMA Webby Prize will award $50,000 to up to three (1-3) artists who have exhibited excellence in online art. Any artist who meets the following guidelines is eligible:

• The artist has generated a body of work that is experienced online.

• The core focus of the artist's work is experienced online. Installation work will be considered as long as the main experience is online.

• The "body of work" submitted may be a single piece of art but the prize is awarded to the artist not the piece.

E-commerce stuff from Mitchell Levy

Theme: Executive Ability to Morph

* Apr'00 Survey Question ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000  )

* Management Perspective: Executive Ability to Morph by Mitchell Levy

 ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/management.perspective.htm    )

* Sponsors (Spring Comdex ECM Symposium, Convergsoft.com, WorkZ.com)

( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/sponsors.htm )

* Moments in Transition by Ash Vasudevan ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/feature.article.htm )

* Readers Comments ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/readers.comments.htm )

* E-News Sections ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/all-enews.htm )

- E-Strategies (sponsored by ECnow.com) ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/e-strategies.htm )

- E-Products ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/e-products.htm )

- E-Services ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/e-services.htm )

- E-Marketing ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/e-marketing.htm )

- E-Commerce Supply Chain ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/supply.chain.htm )

- Governance & Going Global ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/governance.going.global.htm )

- Partners & Deals ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/partners.deals.htm )

- Movers & Shakers ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000/movers.shakers.htm )

* Becoming a Sponsor ( http://ecmgt.com/sponsor.info.htm )

* Contributing to ECMgt.com ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000 )

* Contacting Us ( http://ecmgt.com/contact.htm )

* Miscellaneous Info ( http://ecmgt.com/Mar2000 )

Will every seventh grader in the State of Maine get a new laptop? 
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34732,00.html   

How does AA.com handle a million visits a week and hpshopping.com
win a 97% customer approval rating? By using BroadVision one-to-one
applications. To learn more, visit http://promo.newmedia.com/cgi-bin1/flo?x=dEhmAoBAEwmhKYug 

E-businesses are exploring the use of finger scanning and other biometric technology to identify users and protect against online fraud. http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003031/2444322/ 

Barry Diller's e-biz do's and don'ts.  The USA Networks chief delivered a how-to of screw-ups and success Wednesday at the Internet & Electronic Commerce show --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0003024/2454462/ 

Double Click turns tail under pressure from the FTC and the media messages that selling cookies is a bad idea.  See http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34734,00.html 

February 2000 should prove to be a month to remember for Internet privacy advocates -- and DoubleClick investors.

It ended with the online ad firm announcing it would suspend plans to tie names to now-anonymous user Web "cookies" until online privacy standards were established.

Pro2Net Accounting (formerly AccountingNet) Update http://accounting.pro2net.com  For the Week of February 29, 2000 

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Online GAAP Now Available 
3. Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Sharpen Your Recruiting Skills 
5. Feature Articles for Private Accountants 
6. Pro2Net's Featured Site 
7. Survey Results: What is your opinion of online CPE? 
8. Our Tip of the Week

The AccountingWEB Friday Wrap-Up Newswire - Issue 32 March 3, 2000 http://www.accountingweb.com 

1. Cap Gemini Merges With Ernst & Young Consulting 
2. PricewaterhouseCoopers Fights Back 
3. In General, Auditors Are Too Lax on Independence Standards 
4. Retirement Plans For The Masses 
5. Who You Gonna Call? Stress Busters! 
6. Follow Washington's Lead and Help Feed The Hungry 
7. Help Craft The Future of the CPA Exam 
8. The IRS Needs a Good Accounting Firm 
9. Stress The Importance of Recordkeeping To Clients 
10. Tips On Working With The Media

The March 4th edition of the Internet Essentials 2000 http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

Special MJSA Expo 2000 Edition Includes: Special e-commerce update Money saving ideas for small businesses Special jewelry Industry Tips

AccountingStudents Newsletter: February 29, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Work Experience Proves Valuable 
2. "Account for Your Future" Scholarship Winners Announced 
3. Nazzi Zola, CPA, on the Language of Business 
4. Survey Results: How often would you participate in a hosted chat session on AccountingStudents? 
5. Site of the Week: American Society of Women Accountants 
6. CPAs Fight Hunger 
7. Tip of the Week: What You Should Know About Not-for-Profit Job Opportunities

I want to thank those of you who tried to help me with last week's  luncheon talk in front of advisors in collegiate study abroad programs. One of the most helpful bits of source material came from William Brent Carper. I changed my intended presentation to include his Exhibit 2 entitled "The Iceberg Model of Culture."

A thought came to mind that study abroad students return home with only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Carper's Exhibit 2. The question to ponder is how to help students learn about what is beneath the surface in terms of culture. For many students, giving students something that is even half way as good as what you discuss in your paper would be wonderful for study abroad students.

One idea is to encourage study abroad advisors to work on more business contacts and learning more about how business cultures work in host countries. By this I mean more than strolling through retail shops of local merchants. One idea is to encourage email contact with potential mentors in national and multinational businesses who have operations in the host countries. There may even be alumni of a college who are or did work in the host country and would be willing to help students cut beneath the tip of the iceberg.

In any case, my audience will learn a bit more about your paper Dr. Carper. Thank you for sharing.

The web link to your paper is now at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/cultures/culture.htm 

Bob (Robert E.) Jensen

Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor of Business

Trinity University, San Antonio, TX 78212
Voice: (210) 999-7347 Fax: (210) 999-8134
Email: rjensen@trinity.edu 
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen 

Bumper sticker seen in Texas by Don Van Eynde
Promote beef --- run over a chicken!

nomeat.com wants to run over chickens, steers, and all other critters that end up on our tables  --- http://www.nomeat.com/ 

Friends ---  forwarded by one of my best friends named Dick Wolff.  Some of these are worth quoting.  Others are just plain dumb --- like the one on bacon bits in the salad of life.

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost." - Charles Caleb Colton

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend." - Albert Camus.

"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen."

"Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life."

"Friendship is one mind in two bodies." - Mencius

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."

"If you should die before me, ask if you could bring a friend." - Stone Temple Pilots

"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay." - Dave Matthews Band

"If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't jump with them, I'd be at the bottom to catch them"

"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say."

"We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere" - Tim McGraw

"My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life." -Lee Iacocca

"Hold a true friend with both your hands." -Nigerian Proverb

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." -unknown

Remotely related to the above quotations about friendship is a website on collective recollections of things past.  It's called Random Access Memory:  An Experiment in Collective Recollection at http://www.randomaccessmemory.org/ 

Some people may want to get their memories stored both to share with others and to record them before losing them.  Some are probably made up, but most memories that I read seem genuine.   Even though many of them are boring, the patterns of recorded memories paint pictures of our lives, loves, friends, teachers, fears, fantasies, and worries.  Many seem to be postscripts to what was probably written decades earlier in high school yearbooks.  This website is a good idea, but the recorded memories leave a lot to be desired.  

This is a backup archive for your personal memories, for recollections important or trivial. After registering you will be able to contribute as many memories as you wish. They will be automatically stored for you by date.

We encourage you to use this site spontaneously. If you suddenly remember the sled you played with as a child, or the sweet, eggy cake your mother fed you dipped in tea, sign in and record the memory at that moment.

RAM takes everyone's memories and allows visitors to browse them, by date, by subject, or by name. If you are shy about your memories, use a pseudonym. As more people use the system we will see what patterns emerge. We can observe what kinds of memories characterize certain years.

Ginger-1977
The words to my grade school song: West Antioch where learning is fun/friendly faces on everyone/helpful teachers, greatest in the land/eager students/a happy band. West Antioch, we'll ever be true/faithful and loyal we'll stand by you/ Wild cats wave the blue and gold/our banner, we behold. -- written by my music teacher, Viola Stoscough (only I don't know how she spelled her last name). I remember singing that song though, and wanting it to be true, even though it wasn't. The band was reluctant, the students unruly, the teachers, young and driven by too much hope and not enough experience.
As written by "Ginger" in Random Access Memory at http://www.randomaccessmemory.org/ 

Puns forwarded by Bob Overn

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentist's Novocain during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."  (Reminds me of a parrot named Chet, the XMAS present joke that I won't repeat here --- but it has something to do with holding Chet over an open fire.)

There was a man who entered a local paper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named "Amal." The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his mom. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds, "But they are twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amal."

These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise the funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, the rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. He asked his mother to go and ask the friars to get out of the business. They ignored her too. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that: Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

Debbie's Corner

Here is a joke from the IWon.com website:

What an interesting class this would be to take from American Military University

CW520 Civil War Medicine
This course has been designed to examine the full range of medical treatment received by the Civil War soldier. Topics discussed include: disease, battle wounds, surgery, anesthesia, hospitals, Ambulance Corps, nurses and the Sanitary Commission. Every attempt will be made to show that casualty and recovery rates had a profound effect on the military prosecution of the war.

American Civil War Research Database
Extensive Relational Database

Dantes Distance Education Programs
Armed Services Non-Traditional and Distance Education Administration

The Peterson Guide to Distance Learning Online
Guide to Distance Learning Program

Freedom Museum
Museum dedicated to remembering the contributions of American fighting men and women

Unconventional Warfare
Specialoperations.com
Extensive UW website managed by an AMU Graduate Student

The following is one of the links I found on the Anderson University website :

Gustav Jeeninga Museum
Established in 1963, the Gustav Jeeninga Museum of Bible and Near Eastern Studies was directed by Dr. Jeeninga until his retirement in 1992.  The holdings of the museum include artifacts from Egypt, Rome, the Middle East and Mesopotamia.  In addition to many authentic pieces, the museum contains replicas of other well-known Near Eastern artifacts, such as the Siloam Inscription (Istanbul), Hammurabi Law Code (Louvre), Shalmanesar Obelisk (British Museum), and the Egyptian goddess Selket (Cairo).

Andrew Jackson University

Earn an affordable, accredited bachelor's or master's degree entirely off-campus working at your own pace!

 Education.

Six off-campus degree programs mirroring traditional liberal arts education.

Also offered:

Undergraduate course offered:

The following is an example of what an interactive course would be:

Link to: Jackson, General Andrew http://www.aju.edu/a_jackson.htm 

If you know any accounting educators with helpful materials on the web, please ask them to link their materials  in the American Accounting Association's Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE) web site at
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm
Please send these professors email messages today and urge them to share as much as they can with the academy by easily registering their course pages with ACE.

ACE professors selected this week by Debbie Bowling

Texas A&M University   http://acct.tamu.edu/loudder/
Dr. Marty Loudder
Associate Professor of Accounting

Course Title: Intermediate Accounting I
Textbook: Intermediate Accounting
Author(s): Kieso and Weygandt

Coursework:

These are a few notations for the students to work with; there are links to spreadsheets, email file, etc.

Course Home Page:

2/22 Important!!! The data table I showed you today must be on the same worksheet as all the cells it uses. In other words, if you have your DCF on a separate worksheet tab, it won't work. Copy the DCF back to the main spreadsheet and do the data table at the bottom.

2/22 This is a screen print of my email file showing all the people I have received DCFs for. If your email does not appear, send me your spreadsheet now! Notice how many failed to follow instructions for the subject line!

2/9 Please bring your ratio diskette to class. We will have some extra time to have more groups present. Also download the new version of the notes on ROIC from the schedule.

2/4 Here are the instructions for the Dell forecast spreadsheet.

2/1 Here is the revised ratio example. It has the formulas in it.

Syllabus -- Spring 2000

This is a hypertext document. If you are reading it online, you can click on blue hyperlinks to jump to other locations in my Website or on the Internet. If you are not familiar with the use of the Internet, arrange to take a short course offered by the CIS, or pick up the appropriate handouts at the Help Desk in the labs.

Other Links

financialweb.com Has stock prices in a table format.

bigcharts.com

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://www.uwm.edu/People/ceil/systems/opening.html

Assessments:

Choose whichever exam you wish to take

Exam 1

Exam 2

Class Presentations

E-commerce

     A Power Point presentation on E-commerce issues.

Systems Related Links

AICPA Top Ten Ten Technologies

AICPA Top Ten Technologies

Video -- An example of streamed video

Accounting Software Packages

Electronic Data Interchange

Premenos Electronic Commerce Resource Guide

Worldlinx Homepage

EDI on the Internet

The Information Systems and Audit Control Association's

Year 2000 Audit Guideline'.

Electronic Commerce

E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce and Electronic Data Interchange

Note from Bob Jensen:  It is my understanding that Ceil is on leave this year.  We wish her good health and look forward to having her active next year on the AECM.

And that's the way it was on March 7, 2000 with a little help from my friends.  If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.

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

February 29, 2000

Quotes of the Week:  

"I really think that our industry as it has been in the past is dead in the future," Porras continued. Professors still may be brilliant lecturers, he quickly added, but they will have to supplement their lectures with instant access to online databases, for example, in order to respond to students' questions.
An address to the Stanford University Faculty Sentate by Jerry Porras, Professor at the Graduate School of Business.  See "Online learning: Ready or not, here it comes," --- http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/report/news/february9/senate-29.html 

Now Columbia is going retail—on the Web. It plans to go beyond the typical "dot.edu" model, free sites listing courses and professors' research interests. Instead, it will offer the expertise of its faculty on a new for-profit site which will be spun off as an independent company. The site will provide free access to educational and research content, say administrators, as well as advanced features that are already available to Columbia students, such as a simulation of the construction and architecture of a French cathedral and interactive 3-D models of organic chemicals. Free pages will feed into profit-generating areas, such as online courses and seminars, and related books and tapes. Columbia executive vice provost Michael Crow imagines "millions of visitors" to the new site, including retirees and students willing to pay to tap into this educational resource. "We can offer the best of what's thought and written and researched," says Ann Kirschner, who heads the project. Columbia also is anxious not be aced out by some of the other for- profit "knowledge sites," such as About.com and Hungry Minds. "If they capture this space," says Crow, "they'll begin to cherry-pick our best faculty."
"New Profits for Professors," February 28, 2000 Edition of Newsweek, Pg. 52 
Universities grapple with new ways to turn ideas into cash
By Thomas Hayden Newsweek, February 28, 2000
 http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/common/archive/archive.htm

"If there's the perception that we might be making money from our efforts, the authority of the university could be diminished," worries Herve Varenne, a cultural anthropology professor at Columbia's education school. Says Kirschner: "We would never compromise the integrity of the university." Whether the new site can add to the growing profits from patents remains to be seen, but one thing is clear. It's going to take the best minds on campus to find a new balance between profit and purity.
"New Profits for Professors," February 28, 2000 Edition of Newsweek, Pg. 52 
Universities grapple with new ways to turn ideas into cash
By Thomas Hayden Newsweek, February 28, 2000
http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/common/archive/archive.htm

For more on the above  issues either scroll down this document or go directly to my new document on the web entitled "Technology Updates:  Paradigm Shifts in Prestige Universities"
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

Addressing the issue of e-commerce classes, Feldberg conceded that demand for these classes far outstrips supply, but he pointed to the craze a decade ago to introduce total quality management courses, and addressed how quickly the interest in that discipline fizzled. "I can get you an e-commerce course tomorrow," said Feldberg, "but it won’t provide you with the fundamental foundation. It’s more important to have it within other courses."
Dean Meyer Feldberg, Columbia University Business School,  http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/botline/dean.htm 

Congratulations to Dr. Heller and his Parker Chapel Choir on Sunday.  The two anthems were exceptional.  It is not customary for the congregation to applaud the offertory anthem, but last Sunday the Choir and student soloist Kel Keating received a resounding applause.  Good work!  I wish more students and faculty had been there to hear it.

Did you know that the AACSB (The International Association for Management Education) has partnered with a venture firm called University Access to bring you a free online journal called Academy Online?  This journal will cover news and features about the latest happenings in corporate business training and higher education degree programs.

You can read more about how to subscribe at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

The Executive Editor, Chuck Hickman, has agreed to make presentations at two of my forthcoming workshops. After being an executive with AACSB for over 20 years, Chuck became the Academic Vice President of University Access. The first workshop where he will make a presentation is at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) workshop on Thursday afternoon, April 27, as posted at http://www.ohioima.org/workshop.html . Details about the programs are not yet available at that web site, but Chuck Hickman will be one of the main presenters along with Glen Gray in the afternoon workshop.

Earn your bachelors or masters degree online from the University of Maryland --- http://www.umuc.edu/mkting/market1.html 

Other links to online distance education programs --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm#programs 

Thanks go to Dr. White, Larry Gindler, and other staff at Trinity University!
I was pleased to learn in a faculty meeting last week that Trinity University is going to install a Blackboard server.  Blackboard commenced as a homegrown shell at Cornell University.  It is now a full-featured commercial education package web server.  You can read more about Blackboard at http://www.blackboard.com/ .  The main advantage of Blackboard over its many competitors is ease of use.  Faculty who have neither the time nor the inclination to obtain technology skills in creating forms for client/server interactions (online examinations, online questionnaires, chat rooms, etc.) where the server reacts to student feedback (e.g., grading and tabulation) will find Blackboard to be the ideal solution.  It has very good password security for controlled entrance to selected course materials, problem solutions, examinations, student papers, chat threads, etc.

There are some drawbacks for faculty who prefer to code their own HTML or faculty who like FrontPage form creation, but in most colleges the number of such faculty is a very small proportion of the total faculty.  In order to obtain ease of use, Blackboard does have a rather rigid structure.  However, faculty users generally rave about Blackboard.  To date over 1,600 colleges have Blackboard servers.  There is one added advantage.  If a faculty member should retire or move to a college that does not have a Blackboard server, it is possible to serve up courses from servers provided by Bb company itself. For example, a religion professor can serve up a religion course on the college Bb server and a course on fly fishing on the Bb commercial server.

If you want to read about some messages sent to me by users of Blackboard and users of competitor shell alternatives, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm.  A shorter paper on the history of course authoring is available at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm.

This is a repeat reminder for any of you who are inclined to provide inputs to our dilemma over conflicting interest rate swap valuation theories.  I received a message from Walter Teets that makes a strong argument for the Teets and Uhl theory.  However, I would still like to have some more inputs into the opposing theories described at
 http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/133ex05d.htm 

Great Literature Online http://underthesun.cc/Classics/ 

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature --- http://www.bartleby.com/cambridge/ 

Financial Shenanigans: How To Detect Accounting Gimmicks and Fraud in Financial Reports
Author: Howard M. Schilit 
Publisher: McGraw-Hill , 1993 (185 pages) ISBN: 0070561311 Price – Approx $23.00 (At Amazon.com it is like $16) 
Paul Dierks, Wake Forest MBA [Paul.Dierks@MBA.WFU.EDU] 

I am privileged to be invited to give a  luncheon talk at a conference of advisors to study abroad programs in U.S. colleges.  This prompted me to seek out a few web sites of interest.  

Category 1
Some links that may be interest to students who study abroad and to their advisors are the following:

• Culture Briefings - Guides to Foreign Customs --- http://www.culturebriefings.com 
• When seeking distance education courses to make up for curriculum problems --- http://www.hungryminds.com/catalog/node/00/00/00/06/40.html 
• Directories of college programs --- http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Higher_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/ 
• Trinity University's Study Abroad Program recommends the following websites:

http:www//studyabroad.com for Study Abroad programs.

http:www//usa.travel.state.gov for State Department travel advisories, travel information, passports, etc.

http:www//ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm US Immigration Service website

http:www//usia.gov US information agency website. Includes information on education and cultural exchanges

• Ken Merwin wrote the following:  

Several years ago I took a course entitled "Cross Cultural Communications" at our local Univ. of Wisconsin - Whitewater campus. One site that I used as part of my project - on the cultures in Kenya, as we were planning our trip to Kenya for that summer - was the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Here is that URL:

http://www.sil.org/ 

This group is very involved in language and culture training for various missionary groups; our family, then working in Kenya as missionaries, received lots of training and support from this organization.

Category 2
When helping international students in the U.S., the following websites are interesting: 

• A helper web site for international students in higher education --- http://www.friendlyjim.com/east.htm  
  The International 50 --- http://www.beloit.edu/~i50/index.html 

I have a new document on the web entitled "Technology Updates:  Paradigm Shifts in Prestige Universities"
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 
This new document is intended to be updated with news of happenings in the "business" of education.  Please send me any news of interest on this topic.  My email address is rjensen@trinity.edu 

Under the section entitled "Paradigm Shifts in Research and Funding of Faculty," I quote the following:

"New Profits for Professors," February 28, 2000 Edition of Newsweek, Pg. 52 
Universities grapple with new ways to turn ideas into cash
By Thomas Hayden Newsweek, February 28, 2000
 http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/common/archive/archive.htm

Nobody ever went into academia to make a fast buck. Professors, especially those in medical- and technology-related fields, typically earn a fraction of what their colleagues in industry do. But suddenly, big money is starting to flow into the ivory tower, as university administrators wake up to the commercial potential of academic research. And the institutions are wrestling with a whole new set of issues. The profits are impressive: the Association of University Technology Managers surveyed 132 universities and found that they earned a combined $576 million from patent royalties in 1998, a number that promises to keep rising dramatically (chart). Schools like Columbia University in New York have aggressively marketed their inventions to corporations, particularly pharmaceutical and high-tech companies.

Now Columbia is going retail—on the Web. It plans to go beyond the typical "dot.edu" model, free sites listing courses and professors' research interests. Instead, it will offer the expertise of its faculty on a new for-profit site which will be spun off as an independent company. The site will provide free access to educational and research content, say administrators, as well as advanced features that are already available to Columbia students, such as a simulation of the construction and architecture of a French cathedral and interactive 3-D models of organic chemicals. Free pages will feed into profit-generating areas, such as online courses and seminars, and related books and tapes. Columbia executive vice provost Michael Crow imagines "millions of visitors" to the new site, including retirees and students willing to pay to tap into this educational resource. "We can offer the best of what's thought and written and researched," says Ann Kirschner, who heads the project. Columbia also is anxious not be aced out by some of the other for- profit "knowledge sites," such as About.com and Hungry Minds. "If they capture this space," says Crow, "they'll begin to cherry-pick our best faculty."

Profits from the sale of patents typically have been divided between the researcher, the department and the university, and Web profits would work the same way, so many faculty members are delighted. But others find the trend worrisome: is a professor who stands to profit from his or her research as credible as one who doesn't? Will universities provide more support to researchers working in profitable fields than to scholars toiling in more musty areas?

"If there's the perception that we might be making money from our efforts, the authority of the university could be diminished," worries Herve Varenne, a cultural anthropology professor at Columbia's education school. Says Kirschner: "We would never compromise the integrity of the university." Whether the new site can add to the growing profits from patents remains to be seen, but one thing is clear. It's going to take the best minds on campus to find a new balance between profit and purity.

Columbia's Cybercash  Revenues From  Patent Royalties                  1998              1999                                                   In Millions Columbia                            $86.0             $95.8  U. of California                     79.8               80.9  Florida State                         46.6               57.3  Yale                                     33.0*             40.7  Stanford                               61.2               40.1 *approximate sources: Columbia, UC-OTT, FSU, Yale, Stanford

Stanford Announces Participation in UNext --- http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/release/990623unext.html 

Stanford University announced Wednesday it is joining with three other universities to participate in UNext.com, an Internet education company developing business education curriculum that will be taught over the Internet.

The participating universities are Stanford, Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics and Political Science. UNext's academic advisory board includes Kenneth J. Arrow, a Nobel Prize winner in economics and an emeritus professor at Stanford.

While Stanford has been approached by many entities seeking partnerships in Internet education, UNext.com understand the interests of the university, said Geoffrey Cox, vice provost and dean for institutional planning, learning technology and extended education.

The courses offered by UNext.com will be targeted primarily through corporations at students overseas, Cox said. They will not compete with Stanford's existing educational opportunities.

"I think everyone expects that education is one of those areas that is going to expand rapidly with new technology," Cox said. "And one of the ways it's going to expand is to allow access to all kinds of people who are very far away from traditional universities or who can't afford the time to come and participate.

"We were impressed with the people from UNext. They seemed to really understand the interests of the university in formulating their whole approach to this sort of thing. They're largely people who've worked in research universities and have a good appreciation for how the faculty care to work.

"In general, this is the kind of new opportunity opening up that we need to begin experimenting with."

In a separate announcement, UNext.com said it will introduce its new business curriculum through an education community called Cardean, whose courses will be based on the latest academic theories and content provided by UNext's university affiliates.

Available initially through corporations, students seeking career growth will be able to take single courses or complete areas of concentration for a certificate degree, UNext.com officials said in a statement. Over time, Cardean will provide core business courses in accounting, finance and marketing.

"The whole idea behind UNext is that anyone who has access to a residential education experience should take it ­ that's always going to preferable," Cox said. "This is aimed at people who are really very far away from a good business education."

Stanford faculty most likely to collaborate initially with UNext are in the School of Engineering in areas that complement a business curriculum, such as Operations Research and Engineering-Economic Systems, Cox said.

"We think it's a very attractive financial arrangement, and a relatively low risk for the university," Cox said.

While Stanford faculty would help develop UNext's curriculum, they would not be interacting with students, Cox said. UNext plans to engage professors from other universities to serve in a support role for students taking the Internet courses, he said.

"Our involvement will be with the upfront creation of the courses ­ the content," Cox said.

UNext expressed interest in Stanford because of the university's engineering offerings and the work the university has already done in distance learning through the Stanford Center for Professional Development, Cox said.

The university will continue to develop distance learning initiatives of its own, he added, noting that the university's relationship with UNext does not prevent it from continuing such efforts or from engaging in partnerships with other universities. At the same time, there is the potential for other schools and departments at Stanford to work with UNext, he said.

You can read more about UNext at "Technology Updates:  Paradigm Shifts in Prestige Universities"
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245prest.htm 

Using technology for teaching French with and without walls at Columbia University ---
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/99/12/ccnmtl.html 

Barbara Szlanic uses her cyber-classroom in creative ways. Students are divided into French "families" that act out scenarios and post and share photos online. "Voila les Mitterands."

The students in Professor Barbara Szlanic's Elementary French I class at Columbia have two classrooms--one meets almost four hours, three times a week, usually in Hamilton Hall, and the other meets every other minute of the day and night--on-line, through an electronic bulletin board. According to Szlanic, the electronic classroom allows supplemental conversation practice through a second, informal classroom, which is helping students overcome first-year language fear. Meanwhile, it allows her to devote every minute of her "real" class-time to teaching new material.

"I think that as students and the world change, teaching technologies must follow suit," said Szlanic. "In my opinion, the marriage of an exciting and enjoyable in-class dynamic with an equally invigorating cyber-classroom offers students a very satisfying and challenging linguistic experience."

Noriiko Haro and Rob Kling from Indiana report on "Students Distress With a Web Based Distance Education Course" --- http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/wp00-01.html  
It is never a fair test until the communication, training, user fears, and technology complications are ironed out:

Many advocates of computer-mediated distance education emphasize its positive aspects and understate the kind of communicative and technical capabilities and work required by students and faculty. This article presents a qualitative case study of a web-based distance education course at a major U.S. university. The case data reveal a topic that is glossed over in much of the distance education literature written for administrators, instructors and prospective students: students' persistent distressing experiences (such as frustration, anxiety and confusion) due to communication breakdowns and technical difficulties. Our intent is that this study will enhance understanding of the instructional design issues, instructor and student preparation, and communication practices that are needed to improve web-based distance education courses.

Sarah Karr says "As Distance Education Comes of Age, the Challenge Is Keeping the Students:  Colleges are using online courses to raise enrollment, but retaining it is another matter," Chronicle of Higher Education, February 11, 2000,
 http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i23/23a00101.htm 

Whether the students who leave distance education do so because of busy schedules or because their teachers are inexperienced in online teaching is becoming a critical question in higher education. As more colleges use distance courses to attract new students, administrators are trying to figure out how to keep those students enrolled.

If distance learning can be used to improve completion rates in courses and academic programs, many more educators may embrace it. But the jury is still out.

No national statistics exist yet about how many students complete distance programs or courses, but anecdotal evidence and studies by individual institutions suggest that course-completion and program-retention rates are generally lower in distance-education courses than in their face-to-face counterparts.

Some administrators and faculty members attribute the lower rates in distance-education courses to demographics, saying that distance-education students are often older, and thus busier, than traditional college students. However, others in academe blame the nature of distance education, arguing that online and television courses will never be able to supply the personal interaction that some students crave.

But gifted instructors can find ways to work around these problems, according to several distance-education professors. Establishing some form of personal contact with students and letting them know what is required in a distance course are both essential. Successful instructors frequently give their often overloaded students some flexibility in assignments and test-taking. Instructors are also optimistic that, as they grow more comfortable teaching online and technologies become more sophisticated, their retention rates will improve.

Although there is significant variation among institutions -- with some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80 percent and others finding that fewer than 50 percent of distance-education students finish their courses -- several administrators concur that course-completion rates are often 10 to 20 percentage points higher in traditional courses than in distance offerings.

Distance-education administrators caution that it is misleading to compare too closely the statistics of different institutions, since they measure retention rates differently. Some institutions, for instance, don't include in their dropout calculations those students who leave classes during "drop/add" periods at the beginning of a semester, while others do.

Many administrators say that it is still too early to compile statistics on the retention of students in degree programs offered through distance technologies. Instead, they focus on individual course-completion rates.

From the Scout Report

Student Advantage: Academic Research Engine http://research.studentadvantage.com/ 

Last week, Student Advantage announced its new academic research engine, developed in partnership with Northern Light (see the September 19, 1997 _Scout Report_). Students can keyword search 25 different subjects either individually or simultaneously. Some features adopted from Northern Light's search engine make Student Advantage likely to reduce, at least, the ratio of student frustration to success when attempting to do Internet research. First, results of an initial search include a sidebar that organizes returns in subject folders allowing users to focus only on those that seem most promising. Second, the "drill and search" feature allows students to then refine their searches within these subject folders. This two-step process mitigates the centrifugal Internet experience most student-researchers encounter. The site also features a listing of online reference sources and a free download of Q-Notes, software for electronic note-taking (for PCs only). (Caveat: Many of the book-length texts listed in results are merely links to Amazon.com, and some of the articles listed are held in Northern Light's fee-based Special Collection.)

Superstar Investor ---  http://www.superstarinvestor.com/ 

Wharton Financial Institutions Center  http://fic.wharton.upenn.edu/fic/wfic/papers/00.html 

Cost-Profit-Volume Analysis --- The Breakeven Calculator --- http://www.cba.uiuc.edu/~jrosa/BreakEven/BreakEven.html 

This is a great website called Internet Essentials by Pam Silverthorn ---  http://www.internetessentials.com/ 

In you want to learn more about life on the Internet, try Yahoo's Internet Life at
 http://www.zdnet.com/yil/content/surfschool/guru/gurutrouble.html 

Guru Library

Searching the Web Online Issues What the Heck Is... Troubleshooting Getting Connected Weird Wild Web Communicating Net Basics

Plagiarism.org --- http://www.plagiarism.org/ 
This website appears to be a success.

The purpose of this service is to ensure that term papers, essays, and manuscripts, which are submitted as a requirement for a university or high school course, are never plagiarized. This means that papers will never again be recirculated or recycled every year, that papers will not be copied from one class and used for a different class, that papers from one university will not find their way to another university course, and that papers acquired from the Internet will NEVER be used to fulfill a course requirement.

An instructor registers his/her class with Plagiarism.org. Each instructor then requests that his/her students upload their term papers or manuscripts to the TurnItIn.com web site.

Each student in the instructor's course accesses the TurnItIn.com web site.

From the web site students can upload their work into our database designed specifically for their particular class. Students can also access information regarding plagiarism and information concerning intellectual property.

Our proprietary technology converts each manuscript into an abstract representation; essentially, we 'finger-print' each paper.

Each term paper submitted for a class requirement is statistically checked against a database of other manuscripts collected from different universities, classes, and from all over the Internet. Only cases of gross plagiarism are flagged. This means that papers using some identical quotes or papers written on similar topics will NEVER be flagged as unoriginal.

A report is then emailed to the instructor detailing the degrees of originality for each paper checked with Plagiarism.org via our iThenticate® technology.

Alternative Perspective:
This one is for Tony Tinker, Paul Williams, and the rest of the active members in the public interest and environmental accounting.  It is a bibliography on Social and Ethical issues compiled by http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/management/apfa/recommended_reading.shtm 

In order to give you a better idea of what an "alternative  perspective" is, we asked the members of our editorial board to suggest  those books and articles that they think are most worth reading but that  are generally not among those that most finance professors have read.  Attached is the list they came up with, grouped in three categories: social  and ethical issues, philosophical and methodological issues, and behavioral  and psychological issues. We hope you find some things here that will give  you ideas for articles of your own.   If you have any additional books or articles that you would like to  recommend to others, please send the bibliographic information along with a  short annotation to mcgoun@bucknell.edu , and we will keep the list updated  on our web site.   
Tony Wingler trwingle@uncg.edu  336-334-3092 fax: 336-334-4141

I am really impressed with the Driving Directions at MapQuest.  I experimented by picking a departure point in the small town of Algona, Iowa.  Then I gave it my old home address in Bangor, Maine.  I received a complete routing, including street turns for a total of 1,684 miles.  The web address is http://www.mapquest.com/.  But I think we will fly.

Social Security News (Newletter)  http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/e-news.html 

Gambling is difficult to ban or control on the Internet.  By way of illustration, see http://www.e-casino.com/.  Wired News wrote the following on February 25, 2000:

A new online casino is the first to use a gold-backed Internet currency that lets gamblers collect winnings instantly. Declan McCullagh reports from Anguilla, British West Indies.

Online Garage Sales or Listings Near Your Home
Mostly these are sites that let you list adds for free to start with and then pay, or they let you find listed garage sales in your area.  Some go beyond garage sale items and list other classified add merchandise like used vehicles.  There are thousands of these sites, so the ones given below are almost random samples.  The most interesting sites do not allow business adds.  The problem is that there are so many such web sites that you can get very frustrated choosing where to list your add or where to find what you want to buy.)

Place a Garage Sale Add --- http://www.ozarksgaragesale.com/ClassifiedAds/AdEntryG.html 

Busy Times --- http://www.busytimes.com/buysell.html 

Online garage sale listings (you can add your own) --- http://www.garagesale.com/  

Virtual Garage Sale --- http://vgs.safeshopper.com/ 

Garage Sale ing --- http://garagesaleing.com/ 

• www.cwgs.com
• www.gna.com/...
• www.albertarose.com
• Garagesalehunter.com
• usedpart.com
• www.woorinet.com/garage
• andysgarage.com
• www.yardsales-usa.com
• garagesales.nearu.com
• win-edge.com/...
• fleasales.com
• netbahm.net
• www.freeyellow.com/...
• www.ten97.com
• www.ejsgaragesale.com
• ozarksgaragesale.com
  

Online Garage Sales Over the Internet (  There are thousands of these sites, so the ones given below are almost random samples.)

Richard Guest --- http://www.rguest.clara.net/ 

e-Arts and Crafts http://www.eacplus.com/ 

This one got a writeup on Page 9 of the February 21 issue of Newsweek.  It is called Half.com --- http://www.half.com/ 

Turn your books, CDs, movies and games into cash. Listing your stuff with Half.com is fast, easy and risk-free! Just enter the item's ISBN (for books) or UPC (for CDs, movies and games)

Most web sites other than porn sites are still losing propositions.  Just having a respected logo does not turn a web site into a profit or a good investment.  For a case in point, the New York Times is now trying to sell investors a stake in its money losing web sites.  You can read about this on Page 52 of the February 21 issue of Newsweek in an article by Allan Sloan entitled "The Gray Lady Goes Dot-Com."  The online version is at http://newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/so/a16332-2000feb13.htm 

SAP flips switch on new ASP venture.  The subsidiary, introduced Thursday at CeBIT, will target small and medium-size businesses with SAP software and services --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0002244/2445618

Hi Bob, haven't traded emails for a while. I see you've been busy as usual with your website!

I been busy too. Still theorizing and writing about webledgers, eliminating redundant data and other topics.

Would love to hear your comments to my ideas, either on http://www.aspnews.com/forum.htm  or alt.accounting (which you can view by the deja search at bottom of my webpage)

Finally, if you're busy at least have a look at this, it will take you 15 seconds -- this is kind of fun, http://www.gldialtone.com/webledger.htm 

Keep up the good work with the site there!

TOdd

* Todd F. Boyle CPA http://www.GLDialtone.com/  
* International Accounting Services LLC tboyle@rosehill.net 
* 9745-128th Av NE, Kirkland WA 98033 (425) 827-3107 
* XML accounting, WebLedgers, ASPs, GL dialtone, whatever it takes

Bob: 
Here's an advanced peek at my new website www.virtualpublishing.net , which soon will have over 50 online tutorials on financial and managerial accounting topics. The tutorials will be included on the Gallery page. You will also notice that I have an online bookstore through an affiliation with varsitybooks.com. I have a few of the bestsellers in the accounting field, and I anticipate having a lot more in the near future. I will be offering space to publishers / authors to provide reviews and chapter outlines, and independent reviews by adopting professors. For the ethicists out there, any revenue generated by my own students goes to fund our student accounting association.

Richard J. Campbell [campbell@URGRGCC.EDU]   http://www.rj-int.com  RJ Interactive

A web searching training course online is noted in Infobits on February 25, 2000

SHORT ONLINE COURSE ON WEB SEARCHING

"So, you're still getting those 1,670,000+ responses to your search queries on the Web, and you're still too busy to do anything about it, like reading the lengthy, and sometimes confusing, 'help' screens to find out how to improve your searching techniques." With "Bare Bones 101: A Basic Tutorial on Searching the Web," users can improve their Web searching with a minimum investment of time and effort. The tutorial was created by Ellen Chamberlain, head librarian at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, for professors and students who just want a quick overview to get them started. Lessons include basic search tips, creating a search strategy, evaluating Web pages, and overviews of several popular search engines.

"Bare Bones 101" is on the Web at http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html 

From the Scout Report --- How to research companies on the Internet http://www.internetlawyer.com/facts/company.html  

Joshua Blackman, editor of _The Internet Lawyer_ newsletter, here reprints a guide from his new book _The Internet Fact Finder for Lawyers_. This index lists online resources that are useful in researching companies on the World Wide Web. Most of the Websites listed are thoughtfully annotated and are arranged into subjects including Phone Books, Public Company Starting Points, Annual Reports, and SEC Filings. This site should well serve those who are looking for the best places on the Internet to find more information on companies.

From the Scout Report --- International Baccalaureate Programme http://bized.ac.uk/international/  

biz/ed, a UK-based Website devoted to economics and business materials for the academic community (reviewed in the September 20, 1996 _Scout Report_), has created this resource guide for international schools. The resources are divided into five sections: Resources and Markets, Business Economics, Macroeconomic Arguments, International Issues, and Development Economics. Each section includes a table of resources that can be found within biz/ed and another of links to other helpful Websites.

From the Scout Report --- mba101.com http://www.mba101.com/ 

Created by MBA students for MBA students, mba101 is a full-service portal designed to help Masters of Business Administration students get an edge on the competition by offering current and breaking information on the business world. Three main sections, Research, Business, and Fun, are all accessible from the main page. The site showcases a full spectrum of MBA culture from hard hitting research to fun IQ tests. mba101 also compiles a large collection of business-related news sources and information about and rankings of business schools. Note: The site is optimized for Internet Explorer, and other browsers may have display problems.

Culture Briefings - Guides to Foreign Customs --- http://www.culturebriefings.com 

This message what submitted by Dr. and Mrs. William Brent Carper (TeamCarp@aucegypt.edu ) on Thursday, February 24, 2000 at 14:00:43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings from Egypt:

We saw this on the web and thought you might like to include this site in your Bookmarks:

The Classical MIDI Archives offer the largest collection of classical music files on the web. Thousands of them. Well organized and nice to look at. If you like classical music, we are sure that you will enjoy this!

URL: http://www.prs.net/midi.html 

Most cordially, Brent and Betty Carper The American University in Cairo (AUC)

Women of Color Web http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/grhf/WoC/ 

Women Artists: Medieval to Modern http://www.uwrf.edu/history/women.html 

Bob.....forgive the length.... This sounds right up your alley ! I'm putting it on my site!
Roger Dimick, CPA [dimickrl@hal.lamar.edu]

Federal Judicial History Web site 
Location: United States  The Federal Judicial Center announces the launch of its History of the  Federal Judiciary site at http://www.fjc.gov.   The site, part of the Center's Web page, provides a major, previously-unpublished reference source for the history of the federal courts. The Judges section contains the Federal Judges Biographical Database and includes the service record and professional resume of presidentially-appointed judges since 1789. This is the first complete list of such judges, and was compiled from the records of the several government agencies that have held administrative responsibility for the courts. The site allows users to create their own queries about groups of federal judges, including the justices of the Supreme Court. The Courts section of the site contains the legislative histories of courts and circuits within the federal judiciary, as well as lists of chief judges and information on the location of the official records of each court. The section on Landmark Judicial Legislation presents the text of 21 statutes related to the organization and administration of the judiciary. Each act is introduced by a note describing its historical significance.  Other features of the site include the on-line presentation of an exhibit of historic photographs of federal courthouses and a selection of reports on topics related to federal judicial history. The site was prepared by the staff of the Center's Federal Judicial History Office, which welcomes reference questions submitted at the site. The Center, an agency within the judicial branch of government, was created by Congress in 1967 to provide the federal courts continuing education and training, and research on court operations and procedures. One of the Center's statutory mandates is to "conduct, coordinate, and encourage programs relating to the history of the judicial branch of the United States government."   Website website: http://www.fjc.gov 

Mathematics - A Base for Calculus and other mathematics resources online --- http://www.nanana.com/mathcalculus.html 

Resampling Products

Hello Dr Jensen

Here are brief descriptions of five software releases in the area of resampling, permutation and bootstrap methods. Three of these are our own Resampling Stats products, the other two are from Cytel Corp., which specializes in software for exact statistical analysis. Downloadable versions are available at the web sites noted. If you know of other new releases, please let me know and I'll spread the word, either via another email notice or our web page ( http://www.resample.com   ). -- Peter Bruce, Resampling Stats, Inc.

1. RESAMPLING STATS 5.0 (new upgrade), a programming language specifically designed to make resampling quick and easy, now supports vector lengths up to 1,000,000 values and lets you generate random numbers from the POISSON, LOGNORMAL, PARETO, and WEIBULL distributions (in addition to the current UNIFORM, INTEGER, NORMAL and EXPONENTIAL distributions). Windows, Mac, 120 page manual, $259. http://www.resample.com or stats@resample.com  .

2. RESAMPLING STATS FOR EXCEL (new): Highlight the range you want to resample or shuffle, then select "resample" or "shuffle" from the resampling menu. Select the cell(s) that contain the statistic of interest, and the Add-In will repeat whatever resampling, function and formula operations there are in your spreadsheet. For each iteration it will transfer the value(s) in your selected cell(s) to an output sheet, where you can analyze it. Windows, Mac, 100 page manual, $39. http://www.resample.com or stats@resample.com  .

3. RESAMPLING STATS FOR MATLAB (new) is a library of functions that implements RESAMPLING STATS commands such as SAMPLE, SHUFFLE, COUNT, DEDUP, MULTIPLES, RANKS, RECODE, URN. It adds statistical functions such as correlation, regression, and generation of random variables from normal and exponential distributions. Works with Matlab versions 5.0 and higher, on all platforms, 150 page manual, $39. http://www.resample.com or stats@resample.com  .

4. STATXACT 4.0 (new upgrade) adds power and sample size capabilities to this collection of over 80 nonparametric exact (permutation) tests. Exhaustive (full permutation) algorithms are provided, supplemented by Monte-Carlo versions for larger datasets. Windows, 940 page manual on software and methods, $1195. SAS-Proc also available. http://www.cytel.com or sales@cytel.com  .

5. LOGXACT 4.0 (new upgrade) does exact logistic regression. It is useful where standard maximum likelihood methods either yield wrong answers or fail entirely due to sparse or imbalanced datasets. This new release implements algorithms that extend the scope of LogXact to larger datasets. Windows, 333 page manual, $995. http://www.cytel.com or sales@cytel.com  .

Note: Readers of this notice can get a 20% discount off the higher-priced items; just mention the "email newsletter discount."

Pro2Net Accounting Update http://accounting.pro2net.com  For the Week of February 22, 2000  

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Win a Free CPA Review Course 
3. Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Are You in Career Transition? 
5. This Week's Hot Talk Guest 
6. Survey Results: Which not-for-profit software package would you recommend? 
7. Our Tip of the Week

AccountingStudents Newsletter: February 22, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Survey Reveals Public Perception of Women in Leadership 
2. Win a BeckerConviser CPA Review 
3. Survey Results: What area of the accounting industry would you like to work in? 
4. Site of the Week: The New York Times on the Web 
5. In the Forum: How Do I Return to the Accounting Field? 
6. Tip of the Week: Taking the CPA Exam? Little Things Count

The AccountingWEB Friday Wrap-Up Newswire - Issue 31 February 25, 2000 http://www.accountingweb.com 

1. More Online Troubles For H&R Block 
2. Solving Employee Internet Abuse 
3. Steve Jobs Flies High; CPAs Disagree On Bonus Classification 
4. First FAS 133 Compliant System Hits The Market 
5. Top Ten Ways To Protect Your Website -- and Your Clients 
6. Audit Scorecard: Deloitte on Top; PWC, AA and KPMG on a Slide 
7. Teaching The Kids About Money: A Cool Website By E&Y? 
8. California CPA Society Partners With Inc. Magazine 
9. Finally, A Definition of "Valued Added" That Makes Sense! 
10. Software Tip: Uncover The Secrets of Microsoft Office

The February 27th edition of the Internet Essentials 2000 Newsletter --- http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

1. Intranets.com, Your Personal Space for Business 
2. Cybiko.com, The Next Big Thing 
3. Get to Your Favorite Internet Sites Faster 
4. Dow Jones Performance Gap to NASDAQ Widens 
5. Workers Getting Frazzled? Try Some New Perks 
6. Pretty Park Virus (worm) Resurfaces 
7. Office 2000 Service Pack 1 Coming Soon.....But Please Wait 
8. Need Money for Your Business? Check out Business2.0 
9. How Many Hits Can Your Web Site Take Before it Breaks?

From Dick Haar:

A guy walks into a post office one day to see a middle-aged, balding man standing at the counter methodically placing "Love" stamps on bright pink envelopes with hearts all over them. He then takes out a perfume bottle and starts spraying scent all over them.

His curiosity getting the better of him, he goes up to the balding man and asks him what he is doing. The man says, "I'm sending out 1,000 Valentine cards signed, 'Guess who?'"

"But why?" asks the man.

"I'm a divorce lawyer," the man replies.

From Dick Haar --- ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO Interesting Stats.

The average life expectancy in the United States was forty- seven.

Only 14 percent of the homes in the United States had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.

There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the twenty-first most populous state in the Union.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The average wage in the US was twenty-two cents an hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births in the United States took place at home.

Ninety percent of all US physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."

Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee cost fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason, either as travelers or immigrants.

The five leading causes of death in the US were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza, 2. Tuberculosis, 3. Diarrhea, 4. Heart disease, 5. Stroke.

The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet.

Drive-by shootings -- in which teenage boys galloped down the street on horses and started randomly shooting at houses, carriages, or anything else that caught their fancy -- were an ongoing problem in Denver and other cities in the West.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was thirty. The remote desert community was inhabited by only a handful of ranchers and their families.

Plutonium, insulin, and antibiotics hadn't been discovered yet. Scotch tape, crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

One in ten US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Some medical authorities warned that professional seamstresses were apt to become sexually aroused by the steady rhythm, hour after hour, of the sewing machine's foot pedals. They recommended slipping bromide- which was thought to diminish sexual desire-into the women's drinking water.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine.

Punch-card data processing had recently been developed, and early predecessors of the modern computer were used for the first time by the government to help compile the 1900 census.

Eighteen percent of households in the United States had at least one full-time servant or domestic.

There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually.

Debbie's Corner on February 29, 2000
The following paragraphs were written or quoted by Debbie Bowling dbowling@trinity.edu 

The following link was sent to me by Mary Jane Gonzales and I thought that everyone could benefit from this site. You will find seven stretching exercises to do while you're sitting at your desk reading your New Bookmarks for the week!
http://www.accenthealth.com/stories/jun-99/stretch1.html

I found this website in the February 21, 2000 issue of People Magazine:  Quiz Show
Are you a control freak?  Is your boyfriend cheating on you?  Do you like taking quizzes like these?  If so, hop over to the addictive Emode.com for more than 60 choice multiple-choicers.  Created by a Harvard Business School grad, the site offers psychologist-vetted personality tests along with plenty of silliness -- like the celebrity matchmaker that tells you if your dream date is Brad Pitt, Fabio or Danny DeVito.

Here's another one from People Magazine for the February 28, 2000 Issue:

INTERNET MANNERS
Why is it bad to type in all capital letters?  What about all small letters?

Net tradition dictates that all caps denotes shouting: PIPE DOWN!  As for the e.e. cummings mode, it's fine for speed in chat rooms, but ease up on the accelerator for e-mail.

American Graduate School of International Management

(This could be something to look into...Debbie)

Global Management Programs
Global Management in a Digital World: e-Business Strategies for a Global Competitive Advantage
Internet and Electronic Commerce Imperatives
May 1 - 5, 2000 — Glendale, Arizona

Increase your knowledge by a factor of E!

Every once in a generation a technology comes along that is so profound, and so powerful, and so universal that its impact changes everything. Examples are all around us: the printing press, electricity and the incandescent light, the automobile, the telephone and, of course, the PC. It doesn't happen often, but when it does the world is changed forever.

Internet and electronic commerce technologies have emerged as the defining technologies that will determine the success of multinational firms in the 21st century. The premise of this symposium is to provide you with state-of-the-moment education on how you can leverage these technologies for global competitive advantage.

Contact

For further information, contact:

Mr. Martin Diano
Associate Director
Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management
Executive Education Department
15249 N. 59th Avenue Glendale, AZ 85306

Tel.: (602) 978-7217 or 7925
Fax: (602) 439-4851 or (602) 978-0362
E-mail: dianom@t-bird.edu

Here is a good study abroad course! (Debbie)

WB4823 Winterim In Cuba
This is a cross-disciplinary Winterim Seminar to be held in Cuba. This seminar provides students with research opportunities about current key economic indicators, financial services, (non-US) trade and investment incentives, and infrastructure which are available for international commerce in Cuba. Students will be required to assess the current status of Cuba within the prevailing international political and economic system changes following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the capacity of global communication systems, technological innovations in new products, and liberalization of financial markets. The research conducted by the students and faculty will focus on the opportunities and constraints for foreigners, excluding the US, associated with conducting business within Cuba. Planned research and lecture topics include, but are not limited to the following: * Cuban law in relation to foreign investment * Cuban banking and monetary system * Obstacles and opportunities for joint ventures * Problems facing Cuba with respect to the attraction of foreign capital * Opportunities in Cuba's key industries: tourism, pharmaceutical, agriculture * Race relations in Cuba

The following is a good e-commerce course offered:

WB4334 Electronic Commerce
(1.5 hours) This course focuses on global issues of electronic communication and internet business applications. It includes discussion of home page development, design, and strategies for transacting business electronically; internet, intranet, extranet applications; and business models for electronic commerce including implications for advertising and marketing, electronic cash payment options, cross cultural communications issues, legal concerns, and social implications. No prerequisites.

Additional links: (this is just a sampling of what was shown)

Business Information Service
News and Information

FINDING INFORMATION FROM FREE OR LOW COST INTERNET SERVICES SOURCES FOR THE THUNDERBIRD GRADUATES

Once you have graduated from Thunderbird, you no longer have access to the databases located on THOR. The following links provide similar resources for free or low cost. The databases you knew and loved at the IBIC, can be found through these links on the Internet.

COMPANY BACKGROUND INFORMATION, FINANCIALS, AND ANNUAL REPORTS

• To find company webpage addresses, try Companies online or Alta Vista Real Names
• Hoover’s this is the same database as you used as a student
• Kompass this is the same database as you used as a student
• Thomas Register this is the same database as you used as a student
• The Public Register's Annual Report Service or The Annual Reports Library is similar to Disclosure.

And that's the way it was on February 29, 2000 with a little help from my friends.  If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.

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

February 22, 2000

Quotes of the Week:  

Text that I quoted long ago in my Studies in Accounting Research #14, Phantasmagoric Accounting (Sarasota:  American Accounting Association, 1977, pg. 89):

As number assigners we must be stubborn but not necessarily humorless . . . You see, once we give up the silly notion that numbers have the final answers, we can really enjoy ourselves now and then.  
[C. West Churchman, in The Accounting Review, 1971 pg. 35]

A wise thing that I quoted long ago in my Studies in Accounting Research #14, Phantasmagoric Accounting (Sarasota:  American Accounting Association, 1977, pg. 89):  (Something to keep in mind now that we are networking disaggregated databases on the web.)

General observations drawn from particulars are the jewels of knowledge, comprehending great store in a little room.
[John Locke, 17th Century British Philosopher]

Another wise thing that I quoted long ago in my Studies in Accounting Research #14, Phantasmagoric Accounting (Sarasota:  American Accounting Association, 1977, pg. 103):

Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones.  But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.
[Henri Poincare, French Mathematician, La Science et l'Hypothese, 1908]
(I could not help to reverse this thought today by envisioning homes in Chechnya that are now heaps of stone in the midst of a tough Russian winter.)

A poem that I quoted long ago in my Studies in Accounting Research #14, Phantasmagoric Accounting (Sarasota:  American Accounting Association, 1977, pg. 1):

The sunlight in the garden
Hardens and grows cold,
We cannot cage the minute
Within its net of gold,
When all is told
We cannot beg for pardon
[Louis MacNiece, British Poet, The Sunlight in the Garden]
(However, in Parker Chapel last Sunday in wonderful music and the spoken word, Chaplain Dawkins emphasized that even though what's history cannot be changed, we can look to the future and beg for pardon.)

Sixty years ago, Nazi Germany wanted to genetically alter most everything,  Now Germany is afraid to alter almost anything, including insect killing corn --- http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34447,00.html 

German health minister Andrea Fischer, fearing emission of a toxin that could be harmful to insects and plant life, wants to halt the authorization of a genetically modified variety of corn.

The Windsor corn made by the Swiss firm Novartis was expected to be approved Friday by Germany's authority for seed registration, the Robert Koch Institute.

To stop the authorization of Windsor, Fischer on Thursday invoked article 16 of the Deliberate Release directive. The measure allows European Union states to prohibit use of a GM crop variety if there is scientific evidence of risk.

Under European Union law, GM sequences to be placed in crops must first be authorized under the 1990 directive, which is currently being revised and strengthened.

To see more on both sides of this debate, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm#genetics 

A helper web site for international students in higher education --- http://www.friendlyjim.com/east.htm 

Help for college students from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia, Albania, Greece, China, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Spain, Palestine and Italy.

Where can you find a directory to higher education programs online?  Try http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0616/5912084a.htm#wire 

There was an interesting article on distance learning that was posted on the Forbes internet. Though you might want to take a look: --- http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0616/5912084a.htm#wire 
Norman Meonske [nmeonske@kent.edu] 

A tutorial for Microsoft Agent Scripting --- http://www.pilgrimvoices.com/MASH/MASHintro.html  

Use MASH - The Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper to bring your Desktop to Life with Microsoft Agent 3D Animated Characters, Text-to-Speech, and Voice-Activated Commands.  MASH is a program which allows you to easily experiment, compose, and playback complex and entertaining Microsoft Agent scripts - with no programming experience required! Launch Programs, Documents, and more with Voice Recognition or a click of the mouse. Save your presentations in a variety of formats including Executable files, Email Stationery, VBScript/JavaScript HTML for Web Pages, Visual Basic, and VBA for Office 97/2000 Documents. You can download this shareware program at http://www.bellcraft.com/mash.  

Mash is very easy to use. To find out just how easy, check out my interactive demo by clicking on the button below. Please allow a few moments for the tutorial to load.

Please lend Professors Hubbard and Jensen a helping hand.  

Professor Jensen introduced his good friend Professor Hubbard to what is described in our web document as the Teets and Uhl theory of swap valuation. Professor Hubbard introduced Professor Jensen to a tool in MS Excel called "Goal Seek." With this convergence of theory with Excel tools, we think we can now explain to the world how the FASB derived the swap values for Example 5 that are given on Page 75 of FAS 133. The problem, however, is that Professor Hubbard and Professor Jensen do not agree on swap valuation theory. Professor Jensen leans toward what is termed in our web document as Jarrow and Turnbull theory. Professor Hubbard likes the Teets and Uhl theory. Dr. Hubbard buys into the FASB outcomes in Example 5 after correcting for what we view are some minor errors by the FASB in calculating "Accrued Interest." Professor Jensen remains a skeptic.

Among your authors, Carl Hubbard prefers the Teets and Uhl valuation theory;   Bob Jensen clings to the Jarrow and Turnbull theory. Instead of settling this conflict with swords or single-shot pistols at sunrise, we decided to appeal to our friends.

Details of our dispute are given at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/caseans/133ex05d.htm 

Ubiquitous Computing http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,34464,00.html 

At the Invisible Computer conference at the Fashion Institute of Technology on Friday, speakers were talking about pushing the envelope further than the concept of just moving the computer from the office into the living room. They were touting bottles you open to get the weather report, watches that record every physical move you make, and fountains that recite monologues.

"I never wanted my mom to boot up a PC, or learn how to use Internet Explorer. It's irrelevant to her life," said Hiroshi Ishii, director of the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So he created something as familiar to his mom as the bottle of soy sauce she used every day. His glass bottles announce the weather report when they're opened -- a gadget Ishii describes as a place where physical and digital space meet.

Ishii's lab has also adapted the bottles to play music. Users can act as disc jockeys controlling the instruments that are played as different bottles are opened.

Dan O'Sullivan, assistant professor at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications program, presented several of his inventions. One was the Ambigraph, a wristwatch with sensors that record your movements during the day.

Do History --- http://www.dohistory.org/ 

DoHistory invites you to explore the process of piecing together the lives of ordinary people in the past. It is an experimental, interactive case study based on the research that went into the book and film A Midwife's Tale, which were both based upon the remarkable 200 year old diary of midwife/healer Martha Ballard. Although DoHistory is centered on the life of Martha Ballard, you can learn basic skills and techniques for interpreting fragments that survive from any period in history. We hope that many people will be inspired by Martha Ballard's story to do original research on other "ordinary" people from the past.

Where to go in this site if you are interested in:
Martha Ballard, Genealogy, How to Use Primary Sources, Midwifery and Herbal Medicine, Teaching with this Web site, Diaries, Films about the Past.

Protect yourself and your things.

Here is an interesting website to check out. My mother told me about it this afternoon. It is supposed to have sample letters to send to the three major credit bureaus to protect yourself from identity theft. Apparently this is becoming one of the fastest growing crimes in America.

http://www.identitytheft.org/ 

Denise L. Klepac 
Senior Secretary Trinity University Residential Life Office 
715 Stadium Dr. San Antonio, TX 78212 210-999-7219 210-999-7251 (fax) Email: dklepac@trinity.edu 

PBS --- "I Hear America Singing" --- http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas.cgi 

Aaron Konstam wrote the following inside a longer message about Trinity University:

By the way, a list of the 503 highest endowed colleges is in the Feb 18 Chronicle of Higher Education. We (Trinity University in San Antonio) are 74th from the top. Not bad. (considering that Trinity is a small university with about 2,500 students.)

I helped organize two continuing education workshops for the Ohio Council of the Institute of Management Accountants and Kent State University for April 27, 2000.  I will be doing a solo morning workshop featuring a multimedia overview (by leading experts from accounting firms and financial institutions) of FAS 133 and IAS 39 plus a set of cases designed to help participants see realistic examples of both on how to employ derivative financial instruments in managing risk and accounting for hedging transactions.

The afternoon workshop is truly exciting.  I managed to line up two leading-edge speakers who will take up most of the time in that workshop.  The first speaker is Glen Gray.  Glen served on task forces for both the FASB and the IASC on business reporting on the Internet.  He will be discussing the history and future of Internet reporting of business performance.  Glen will be followed by a long-time Program Director, Chuck Hickman, of the AACSB.  Chuck is now the Academic Vice-President of University Access.  University Access partners with some of the world's leading educators to deliver courses and degree programs on the Internet, especially business education programs.  Then I will give a short overview of what I see is happening in course authoring and web delivery software.  Norm Meonske will close out this workshop with  brief  technology demonstrations that have been popular with his students.

The workshop on Thursday, April 27 is announced (without much in the way of detail) at http://www.ohioima.org/workshop.html.  Details will be posted soon to this website.

The workshops are followed by the popular 26th Annual KSU/IMA conference mentioned  at http://www.ohioima.org/mainpage.htm.  This year Norm lined up some outstanding speakers and panelists, including Joan Mckown, Chief Counsel, SEC Enforcement Division and former FASB Chairman Dennis Beresford.  The Conference itself begins on Friday, April 28.

Details are not yet available at those websites for either the workshops or the Conference.  However, these will be posted soon.  I will have another in a long line of birthdays during this conference.  I request that all participants bring big presents.

Free Tax Return Assistance. Filing, and Review?  
Yes says the NY Times at http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/biztech/articles/12tax.html 

A small Texas money management company says it will let anyone prepare and file an income tax return free next year on its Web site, no matter how much the filer makes or how complicated the tax return.

Mark Graham for The New York Times Herb Vest, founder and chief executive of H.D. Vest, outlining his company's new tax strategy yesterday in Dallas. ``Tax return preparation is just an excellent entry into the financial services arena,'' he said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Bill Gates can do his return for free at our site," said Herb Vest, founder and chief executive of H. D. Vest of Dallas. The two titans of the tax business, H.& R. Block and Intuit, offer free tax preparation at their Web sites, but only for people with modest incomes or simple tax returns.

The move by H. D. Vest, whose 8,500 registered representatives prepare tax returns and sell investments like mutual funds, illustrates how the tax preparation and investment advice businesses are merging and how technology is driving down the cost of income tax preparation.

These changes pose challenges to Block, which prepares one of every seven income tax returns and publishes Taxcut software, and to Intuit, the publisher of Turbotax software. But executives of the companies brushed off Vest's plans, saying the brand was barely known and the company lacked the resources to market its free service.

From Vest's perspective, offering free tax return preparation at its Web site, www.hdvest.com, is a low-cost strategy to expand its base of 1.7 million clients. Each tax return represents a chance to solicit a new investment client at a cost of less than $1 each to process the return, Vest said.

The tax software is being supplied by Basic Computer Systems, a small, privately held company in Kaysville, Utah, that sells Taxworks software to income tax preparers.

"Tax return preparation is just an excellent entry into the financial services arena," Vest said. Since its founding in 1983, his firm has specialized in analyzing clients' tax returns as a first step in developing an investment plan.

"Most people do not understand that there is a wealth of information in their tax return that they could use to improve their life and their financial position," he said.

Vest laid out his plans yesterday to 1,500 Vest representatives in Dallas. Several of these representatives said they welcomed the prospect of finding new clients.

"After you do your taxes at the Vest site, you will get a letter asking if you want to have your 1040 analyzed," said Earl Romero, a tax preparer and Vest agent in Manhattan. "That will have the name and telephone of the nearest Vest representative and a picture of him. That's going to bring me new business."

Vest clients contribute about $3 billion annually, or an average of $150 each a month, to their investment accounts, said Roger Ochs, president of Vest.

Vest is pursuing the same strategy as Block and Intuit, though it is coming from the opposite direction. Vest is offering tax services to attract new investment clients while Block and Intuit are offering investment services to their tax clients, a costlier strategy.

 

Statistical data about fraud:

The ACFE's "Report to the Nation" may be a good source: www.acfe.org/newsandfacts/fraudfacts/reporttothenation/ 

You might also be able to dig up some stats at FinCEN, the Treasury Department's "Financial Crimes Enforcement Network." www.treas.gov/fincen/ 

Dennis Schmidt, PhD, CPA 
Professor of Accounting University of Northern Iowa 
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0127 
Phone: (319) 273-2968 Fax: (319) 273-2922 E-Mail: schmidt@uni.edu  Web: http://www.uni.edu/schmidt 

+++++++++++++++++++++++=

For incidents and vulnerability in systems, there is the following:

http://www.cert.org/stats/cert_stats.html 

Hope this helps.

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

From InformationWeek Online on February 16, 2000

SAS Institute Inc. will debut late this month new E-intelligence software, including a clickstream data analysis tool and technology that analyzes data from E-commerce systems for customer profiling and segmentation. The new SAS Solution for E-intelligence suite will be the vendor's first set of products specifically for analyzing E-commerce data.

The flagship of the suite, tentatively called E-Discovery, will provide a means of integrating Web-site data with customer and sales data from sources in a data warehouse for analysis. The system will use SAS's Enterprise Miner data mining technology and data warehouse administration software.

Meanwhile, the new WebHound clickstream data analysis tool will provide reports about the behavior of Web-site visitors. The new IT Service Vision software will collect and analyze data from customers' E-commerce systems and provide IT managers with reports on system usage and future capacity requirements.

The products will be available Feb. 28. E-Discovery will be priced starting at $200,000, while pricing for WebHound and the IT Service Vision will begin at $80,000.

The SAS Institute home page is at http://www.sas.com/ 

If you know any accounting educators with helpful materials on the web, please ask them to link their materials  in the American Accounting Association's Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE) web site at
http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm
Please send these professors email messages today and urge them to share as much as they can with the academy by easily registering their course pages with ACE.

The AAA's Accounting Education News for Winter 2000 reports the following websites to see at http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/aen/winter00/fd02.htm 

There are now more than 200 entries in the AAA’s Accounting Coursepage Exchange (ACE). This is a resource for all accounting educators that grows in value through the participation of our members. If you haven’t visited the ACE site on the AAA webpage, you’ll find it at http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/ace/index.htm . If you are looking for examples, course syllabi, and webpages you’ll find useful examples in the database. If you have a coursepage online, please consider adding it to this searchable collection (there’s an easy online form to fill in).

The Accounting Coursepage Exchange—or ACE Database—is a searchable database designed to make it possible for accounting educators to both share educational materials and find useful ideas to support the development of their accounting courses.

Using the Accounting Coursepage Exchange you can:

Post the coursepage of your accounting or finance class as part of the database Search for colleagues’ accounting and finance coursepages by name, institution, course name, or textbook Search for coursepages by content area and level Search for accounting and finance coursepages according to certain course characteristics such as whether they include cases, group projects, Internet assignments, research, service learning, or oral presentations.

The AAA's Accounting Education News for Winter 2000 reports the following websites to see at http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/aaa/aen/winter00/fd05.htm 

International Accounting Standards Committee Web Site http://www.iasc.org.uk/frame/cen0.htm  The International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) is an independent private-sector body working to achieve uniformity in the accounting principles that are used by businesses and other organizations for financial reporting around the world. Its web site includes a bibliography and information on the committee’s standards, interpretations, projects, publications, and current news.

National Clearinghouse on Academic Advising http://www.ksu.edu/nacada/Clearinghouse/chouse.html  The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) site comprises a collection of resources about the broad range of issues related to advising college students. It includes annotated bibliographies, links, and other resources on a range of academic advising topics including issues in advising, advising special populations, advising for community colleges, ethical concerns in advising, and computer assisted advising.

An Educators’ Guide to Credibility and Web Evaluation http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/wp/credibility/index.html  This site from the University of Illinois College of Education offers an in-depth discussion about the importance of students learning to evaluate resources found while doing research on the Web. It includes a rationale for importance of Web resource evaluation, methods of evaluation of Web-based information, approaches for teaching Web evaluation, and a bibliography of resources and links on related topics.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers to "Audit" the Privacy Controls in the Den of the Fox

One of the most vicious foxes of the hen house is now explaining behavior modification to the hens and chicken meat sellers. The fox den is located at http://www.doubleclick.com/.

The fox is the giant web advertising firm known as DoubleClick.  Without a hen's knowledge, DoubleClick used the hen's innocent little cookies to possibly track the hen's every move on the Internet. Then it sold this information about each hen to supermarkets, KFC, and the like.  Now under heavy fire from the press and legislators, DoubleClick has given the hen a website that explains how it is trying not to ruffle her feathers quite so much.  DoubleClick's PrivacyChoices website is at http://www.privacychoices.org/.  

On February 14, the following is reported by Internet World News:

DoubleClick also said it will hire a chief privacy officer and will create a privacy board to advise the company. It also has contracted for PricewaterhouseCoopers to do audits that will demonstrate whether the company is adhering to its policies. DoubleClick said further it will require each site for which it sells ads to have "a clear and effective privacy policy."

DoubleClick president Kevin Ryan said in a hour-long press conference Monday that the company could not dictate what the policies must be for client sites, but he said any sites that collect personally identifiable information through registration or other procedures must give consumers a chance to opt out of targeted advertising.

Prior to Nov. 23, DoubleClick attached cookies to the browsers of Web surfers to keep profiles of their online behavior that could be used to serve ads targeted to their interests. Information like name and address was not included in the profile. Following the close of the Abacus deal, DoubleClick amended its policy to allow personal identification to be included in the profile, so it could be matched with offline catalog transactions for purposes of fine-tuning DoubleClick's ad-targeting mechanism.

Ryan said DoubleClick has not yet sold any advertising that would take advantage of the new targeting capabilities. But he said DoubleClick was pressing ahead, and that is why it is important that sites give consumers a chance to opt out when they are about to divulge personal information.

He said the company prefers the opt-out method to the opt-in method preferred by privacy advocates, because it believes opt out has been an effective standard in the direct-mail business.
IWNews [IWNews@iwnews.iw.com] 

Somehow I think that we will somehow still end up in some company's chicken soup.

A Bit of Recent History
On February 8, 2000 I wrote the following in my New Bookmarks at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm 

Web Privacy Warning --- DoubleClick, Inc. is an advertising outfit that is starting a very dangerous trend.  A warning to this effect has appeared at least twice from the Technology Section columnist Hiawatha Bray in the San Antonio Express-News.  The latest warning is on Page 5J on February 6, 2000.  The title of the article is "DoubleClick Inc. has created a cookie monster."  You can read about how web vendors place "cookies" on your machine in my Technology Glossary at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/245glosf.htm#Cookies1.

What is frightening about DoubleClick is that this company is defying public opinion by activating monster software to track online surfing activities of millions of web users.  DoubleClick then sells your privacy information to its own customers.

There are some ways suggested by Hiawatha Bray to fight back.  One is the $15 Cookie Pal software that lets you block either all cookies (your web browser can also be set up to do this) or cookies from a selected list of bad guys like DoubleClick.  Blocking all cookies sounds like a good idea, but if you configure your web browser to block all cookies you will soon tire of the interruptions in the flow of your web surfing.  Besides, some cookies are a good thing.  I like not having to re-enter all my purchase order information every time I make a purchase from my favorite web vendors.  You can download Cookie Pal from Kookaburra Software at http://www.kburra.com/limit.html .

Another option is the $20 somewhat more sophisticated option (relative to Cookie Pal) from InterMute that blocks advertisements, animations, and music triggered by cookies that you choose to zap.  Go to http://www.intermute.com/ 

Netscape commenced cookies as a very good idea.  Ethical merchants on the web are using cookies in the way that they were intended for the convenience of the web user like you and me.  DoubleClick and the other bad guys are poisoning the cookies.

The Virtual Smithsonian --- http://2k.si.edu/ 

The Cultivated Gardener --- http://www.cultivatedgardener.com/ 

Update on Activities Based Costing

Dear Professor Jensen,

There is an interesting website about ABC and EVA that named: Activity-Based Costing (ABC) Economic Value Added Internet Website GuideWritten by Narcyz Roztocki (http://www.newpaltz.edu/~roztockn/)  at http://www.pitt.edu/~roztocki/abc/abc.htm 

Regards,

Rudi Handoko
Tim1 [Tim1@jsx.co.id] 

Note from Jensen:  I added a new ABC costing section in my Bookmarks at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob1.htm#ABC

The GE Financial Network --- http://www.gefn.com/ 
Insurance, investments, loans, extended warranties, auto clubs, etc.

Used vehicles --- http://www.imotors.com/ 
You specify what you want (make, mileage, etc.) and iMotors.com finds you cars to choose from.

The tobacco industry's dark side --- http://thetruth.com/cover1/flash/index.html 

Black Expressions for black authors, performers, etc. --- http://www.blackexpressions.com/ 

Accompanied by a 40-foot laptop and actor Patrick Stewart, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates officially rolled out Windows 2000 --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0002171/2440562/ 

Art, history, boats in bottles --- this is an interesting  web site http://www.advance.com.ar/usuarios/raff/eddys.html 

If you like the music snippets on NPR radio, you can listen to the entire pieces at http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/ 

Crumpled Papers --- http://crumpledpapers.com/welcome.html 

"So what is this site about and what am I going to get out of it?" you ask, as you meander in. In all honesty, I have no clue myself. This site is mostly about me (the site owner) wanting to play on the net and further my design skills (completely selfish reasoning in the beginning). It all started while begging (ok . . . sucking up) to all my web design and writing buddies, while coercing them to be involved with promises of less "Hey, check this one out" links, in their mailboxes. (a good ploy, all considering). What it has become is an exploration into the crumpled papers creativity in all our lives.

Hi Ray, Barry, and others who are stirred by the mere mention of Finney and Miller,

Herb also played clarinet in a dance band long before he was in the pits (in A.J. Foyt's pit crew as I remember). I suspect he was living out an accountant's fantasy in those days at Indy. I want to emphasize that it was Millers (plural). Lenore played a huge role in the authoring of the Finney and Miller texts long after the elderly Dr. Finney was out of the picture.

These were great books. However, what made them even better was the caring that Herb and Lenore had for users of their texts. They would be wakened on occasion around 2:00 a.m. by students debating how to solve an end-of-chapter problem. Herb, in his calm and caring demeanor, or Lenore, in her no-nonsense directness, would stay on the phone helping callers until 4:00 a.m. if necessary.

Herb also traveled widely to help instructors develop accounting courses. He's been on virtually every campus in the U.S.

I first met Herb in 1964 when he was a visiting professor at Stanford University. Of course his home base for many years was Michigan State University. Herb and Lenore were two of the main reasons I took my first real academic job at Michigan State. Herb and Lenore both grew up in Iowa --- which makes them extra special.

Herb was President of the American Accounting Association on the AAA's Golden Anniversary. This was the only year that The Accounting Review was published with a gold-colored covers. As I recall, that was also the year the AAA decided to hire Paul Gerhardt as its first Executive Director, move to Sarasota, and purchase the building that still serves as the AAA headquarters.

The Millers are still alive and well in Athens, Georgia. Herb joined his long-time friend James Don Edwards on the faculty of the University of Georgia. The Millers don't venture out much as of late but, thanks to an invitation from Denny Beresford, I had the honor of having dinner with them last year in Athens.

Herb and Lenore are two old timers who, along with James Don and Clara, remain living pillars upon which our accounting higher education is built. I might add that under their leadership, MSU produced some of our most prized accounting professors and administrators (Bob May, Bill Kinney, Jim McKeown, Barry Cushing, Gene Comiskey, Cliff Brown, Roger Hermanson, Ron Copeland, Connie Konstans, Pat McKenzie, and a long listing of other very well-known names too long to list here.)

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Castaldi, Ray [mailto:rcastaldi@TOWSON.EDU]  
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 9:58 AM 
To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: Re: Finney & Miller

Bob, I remember using all three of the Finney and Miller series texts, for Principles, Intermediate and Advanced...actually met Herb Miller at a professional meeting a long time ago..as I remember, he used to like to race cars at Indy, but I guess he's too old for that now...I wonder how many "Finney & Miller-ites" are out there on AECM???

For men and women who want to be part of grass roots politics, see http://www.grassroots.com/ 

Hi Kathy,

There are various ways to put Excel files on the web. The first way is to simply link to an xls file on the server. The user then gets a message to either download or save the file to run in Excel. Another way is to use an FTP transfer. In both instances, the user must have spreadsheet software that will read an xls file (usually MS Excel itself). There are also spreadsheet software virus risks unless you really trust those of us who send xls file in VB code on the networks. Bear in mind, however, that computer viruses are like human viruses. There can be innocent carriers who are not even aware that they are spreading a virus.

Another way is to "Publish" the xls file as a htm file that uses DHTML for computations rather than VB code. The Excel file then reads in Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher without having to open the file up in spreadsheet software. This is an advantage, especially in this era of virus risks in opening up downloaded xls files using VB code. Opening up an htm file scripted in DHTML is much less risky. The downside of an htm Excel file is that only users who have installed MS Office 2000 can read the file. It takes MS Office 2000 as well as Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. To my knowledge, Netscape browsers cannot read these htm files.

Another advantage of the DHTML version of an Excel file is that your spreadsheet can be embedded in a larger HTML document. There are other good news and bad news aspects of the htm versions. You can see some tutorials about publishing Excel files as DHTML files at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/dhtml/excel01.htm 

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Kathy Moore [mailto:kmoore@avc.edu]  
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2000 4:27 PM 
To: rjensen@trinity.edu Subject: Re: New Tutorial Materials for Example 2 of FAS 133

Hi Bob - I really appreciate all the great info you provide on the AECM list. Would you pleast tell me how you're able to have EXCEL workbooks display on the WWW? Do you FTP the workbook up to the site? I notice your link requires saving or opening an EXCEL file, which requires the viewer to have EXCEL. Do you know how to present it as a web "page" so viewers without EXCEL can still see the sheets and the formulas, etc. I would appreciate any info or direction to a source to learn how to do this. Thanks very much? Kathy Moore Business and Computer Studies Division Antelope Valley College

To contact teachers who have online Accounting courses at California Community Colleges, click on the following link to our California Virtual Campus catalog of distance learning courses - http://pdc.cvc.edu/catalog/  -- then select BUSINESS courses , then select INTERNET/ONLINE option , and you will get a fairly good list of Accounting courses with an email link to the teachers with experience. This sort of catalog is available for many states and regions. I teach Computerized Accounting online using Peachtree and QuickBooks Pro - students do very well in these courses and have much more interaction with me and other students and lots of support and collaborative learning. Good luck with your new course. 
Kathy Moore [kmoore@AVC.EDU] 
Business and Computer Studies Division 
Antelope Valley College

You can break your neck trying to jump in the pool!
From Internet World News on February 16, 2000 --- IWNews [IWNews@iwnews.iw.com] 

In a sign that the lucrative days when Internet companies can do acquisitions with a pooling-of-interests accounting method may be coming to an end, MP3.com said Wednesday that it was scrapping its acquisition of SeeUthere.com. Instead, MP3, a music site, said it will be the lead investor in a $30 million cash investment in the Web-based, event-management company. In December, MP3 announced that it would buy SeeUthere for $150.2 million in stock under the pooling-of-interests accounting method, a type of accounting that allows a company to purchase another company with stock without having to include the goodwill for tax purposes, but rather discounting it against the company's bottom line.

But the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking more carefully at this method, because this type of accounting has allowed Internet companies to avoid paying taxes on that goodwill. And considering that the value of many Internet companies is primarily goodwill (the value that doesn't include the actual hard assets and startup capital), it has meant a significant loss of tax dollars.

"It used to mean a minimal percent difference [on taxes]; now it's thousands of percent," said Nitsan Hargil, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers. Hargil calculated that almost all of the $150 million value of SeeUthere was goodwill (backing out the small seed capital that he estimates was less than $5 million). As such, under the pooling method MP3 would not have had to pay taxes on the roughly $145 million goodwill gain on the acquisition. "I'm sure that you'll find very few Internet acquisitions from pooling of interests going forward," Hargil said.

The SEC can stop a merger, but in this case, analysts believe MP3 accountants dumped it in anticipation that the SEC would do it anyway. Because the alternative, the purchase accounting method, would have dragged down earnings -- some say up to five years -- MP3 decided to scrap the acquisition. In fact, it was written into the acquisition contract that MP3 could cancel the deal if pooling of interest wasn't used.

But MP3 isn't totally backing off. It is leading a $30 million cash investment into SeeUthere, which analysts believe will cost the company around $15 million in cash. "It works out to be basically the same," said Hargil. "MP3 gets to be on the board, they will be the company's largest customer, and they'll have a lot of control." But it won't get the roughly $145 million in tax-free value from goodwill.

"We're disappointed that we were unable to complete the merger, but continue to be excited about the prospects of combining forces with SeeUthere.com," Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3.com, said in statement.

Investors also were excited that MP3 was entering the $3 billion market for online ticketing as the stock spiked upon the acquisition news in December. Shares fell back 6 percent Wednesday to close at $24.09. "Investors saw the positive, and now they have to discount some of it out," said Hargil.

For the latest on FASB struggles with pooling, see http://www.thedailydeal.com/topstories/A15880-2000Feb10.html or http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=12796&d=101 

Education Administration Salaries --- Forwarded by Aaron Konstam

Chronicle of Higher Education, Monday, February 14, 2000

College Administrators' Salaries Climbed 5% This Year, Survey Finds

By KIT LIVELY

The median salary of college administrators this academic year is 5 percent higher than last year's, an increase of nearly twice the rate of inflation and the largest increase in nine years, according to an annual survey by the College and University Personnel Association.

This year's survey marks the sixth consecutive year that administrators' raises have outpaced inflation. The Consumer Price Index measured inflation at 2.7 percent in 1999 and 1.6 percent in 1998. The median salary increase reported by CUPA for 1998-99 was 4.5 percent. In 1997-98, it was 4.6 percent.

Kirk D. Beyer, director of human resources at Gustavus Adolphus College and chairman of a committee that advised CUPA on the survey, attributed the six years of beating inflation in part to a low unemployment rate. When unemployment is at 4.2 percent, as it was in September 1999, Mr. Beyer said, colleges and businesses do what it takes to attract and keep good people.

He also said the increases make up for lean years when raises for college administrators fell below high rates of inflation. Mr. Beyer has worked with CUPA's salary survey since 1987.

Finally, he said that median increases were closer to the national average of 3.9 percent for all kinds of jobs once doctoral institutions, with their 5.4-percent increase, are excluded. The median increases for other types of institutions:

* 4.1 percent for baccalaureate colleges. * 4 percent for comprehensive universities. * 3.7 percent for two-year colleges and other institutions, including system offices and specialized institutions.

The survey measures median salaries for 174 administrative jobs. This year, 1,433 institutions responded to the survey. ge] [ The largest increase, 5.8 percent, was for executive positions, which includes presidents of systems and single institutions. That increase was up from 3.9 percent in 1998-99. Nearly as large was the 5.6-percent increase for academic positions, such as provosts, deans, and librarians. That group had reported an increase of 4.5 percent the previous year.

The smallest increases were for jobs in external affairs and student services. Both reported salary rises of 4 percent, down from last year, when the increase for external-affairs jobs was 4.5 percent, and that for student-services positions was 4.1 percent.

Copies of the survey can be ordered on CUPA's World Wide Web site at http://www.cupa.org/Hrpubs/newbooks.htm  or by calling (202) 429-0311, ext. 2. Each CUPA member may request a free copy. Additional copies are $85 for CUPA members who participated in the survey and $140 for members who did not. The cost is $185 for nonmember participants, and $310 for nonmembers who did not participate.

From Phil Livingson, President of the Financial Executives Institute (FEI)
Since Phil is nearly seven feet tall and wears a Super Bowl ring, we listen when he speaks.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS  (The Quiet Period)
I recently found some interesting data on dealing with analysts' estimates; thought you might find them useful, too. According to a 1998 NIRI survey, 71% of responding companies were prepared to express a general level of comfort with a range of earnings estimates. Moreover, 86% of respondents reviewed and commented on draft analyst reports, and 79% reviewed their projections and models. In addition, three-quarters of respondents imposed a "quiet period," limiting communications with analysts before the announcement of earnings. The average quiet period was 21.8 days. I always struggled with the proper amount of guidance and the correct length of the quiet period. Hope you find this data of some help.

SENATE HEARINGS ON FASB BUSINESS COMBINATIONS PROJECT 
Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), chairman of the Banking Committee, has called a hearing for March 2 to discuss the FASB's proposal to eliminate pooling accounting for business combinations. FASB Chairman Ed Jenkins is expected to testify. This development illustrates the intense opinions held on this important matter. Sen. Gramm's press release cites the same feelings I expressed early in this debate by stating that he hasn't heard the rationale for the project or the need for rules changes.

But I believe the Board has gone out of its way to give the logic behind the project. FASB staffers Todd Johnson and Kim Petrone wrote an extensive piece on the background reasoning for the Board's position. In addition, Ed Jenkins personally addresses this exact subject frequently in his many public speeches and town meetings.

Further, the diversity of opinions in the comment letters and public hearings illustrates the difficulty of the issue and the lack of clear consensus either for or against pooling. See the review of our testimony below. The fact that these hearings are to be held is a major disappointment, but not a surprise. The Senate should keep its nose out of accounting standard-setting unless due process has broken down or the minds and ears of the standard-setters are closed. This clearly isn't the case currently, and I look forward to Ed Jenkins' testimony and attempts to have the process play out over the next year without political pressure brought to bear for the wrong reason. Left to debate the tough issues within the process we have, I'm confident the FASB (in conjunction with the SEC) will reach an acceptable answer.

FASB ISSUES REPORT ON WEB REPORTING OF CORPORATE FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Topics addressed include notable practices in company web sites, a working group's study of annual report and investor relations activities, the role of outsiders, and legal and other issues. Here's the link: http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/brrppg.html .

SEC CHAIRMAN LEVITT ON THE CAPITAL MARKETS SEC 
Chairman Arthur Levitt gave a major speech last week on the state of our stock market. In general, he's urging caution and good fundamental analysis on the part of investors. Here's a link to the text of the speech, "Investing With Your Eyes Open": http://www.sec.gov/news/speeches/spch345.htm .

CASE STUDIES ON MANAGING THE VALUE OF INTANGIBLES 
Financial reporting in the Industrial Age was a bricks-and-mortar affair, based on valuing assets like plants, equipment and property. That was then. Today it's knowledge assets like R&D, software, human capital, etc. that produce wealth. In a research study sponsored by FERF, leading companies discuss strategies for managing and measuring intangibles. The first three case studies (Apple Computer, Corning, Sun Microsystems) are available online at: http://www.ferf.org/download/value.pdf  OR http://www.ferf.org/cur_projects.html .

Hi Doug,

I do not have a quick and easy solution for finding distance education graduate accounting programs. I do have commentary on distance education programs in business and accounting at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q1.htm#programs 

I hope this helps in some way.

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Doug Redden [mailto:Doug_Redden@rossinc.com]  
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 4:15 PM 
To: rjensen@trinity.edu Subject: Graduate Accounting courses

Prof. Jensen -

Are you aware of any graduate-level accounting courses available via distance? Thanks.

Doug Redden 770-351-9600 x3445 404-257-0434 fax doug.redden@rossinc.com 

Low cost or free health insurance for kids --- http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/ 

Go to the movies RKO style --- http://www.rko.com/ 

But for the history and "noir alley" of Hollywood try http://www.noiralley.com/ 
(If for nothing else, take a look at the great opening black and white picture.)

Do you really want to clone your beloved Fido --- http://www.savingsandclone.com/ 

Women helping women cope and enjoy more in life --- http://www.alight.com/alight/ 

If you're a size 16 trying to fit into a size 6 world, welcome home. We've created alight.com to meet your needs and desires. And though we're still a work in progress, we believe our community offers something different from other sites. Why? Because we're shaping our information to fit you-not the other way around. So do let us know what you love-and what you want. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Oprah Goes On-Line --- http://www.oprahgoesonline.com/ 

Hi Bob

Below is a description of the January-February 2000 (8-1) issue of On the Horizon, which is available at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/online/html/8/1/ 

Please forward this announcement to colleagues who can benefit from a print and Web-based periodical that focuses on signals of change on the horizon that can affect educational organizations.

If your organization does not have an online subscription to OTH (see http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/institutions.asp ), you may obtain a trial subscription to OTH Online by completing the form at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/subscribe.asp 

Jim

James L. Morrison morrison@unc.edu  
Professor of Educational Leadership CB 3500 Peabody Hall Editor, 
On the Horizon UNC-Chapel Hill http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon  
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3500 
Editor, The Technology Source Voice: 919 962-2517 http://horizon.unc.edu/ 
TS Fax: 919 962-1693

IN THIS ISSUE:

An End to Student Segregation: No More Separation Between Distance Learning and Regular Courses Murray Turoff, Professor of Computer and Information Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Murray Turoff issues a challenge to distance educators: "It is time to admit that stand-alone distance learning programs are unnecessary and should be eliminated." A committed advocate of new technology, Turoff does not oppose distance learning techniques; rather, he argues for integrating distance learning strategies with traditional instructional methods. Drawing on his experience at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Turoff describes ways instructors can incorporate asynchronous group communications to change the nature of regular classes, generating 100% participation outside of class lecture hours and ensuring thoughtful in-class contributions by students. Even more intriguing, Turoff describes the transformation in online learning that might be wrought by these radical changes in perspective.

TRENDS AND EVENTS ENVIRONMENTAL

Linking the Community and the University Frances Lynn, Director, Environmental Resource Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Within the field of contemporary pedagogy, practical education that serves the community has become an increasingly urgent priority. While the United States has a rich history of university-farmer collaborations through cooperative extension, linkages with other community groups and a focus on participatory research are more recent developments. Frances Lynn describes her efforts with the Environmental Resource Program at the University of North Carolina, which has successfully connected students and local grass-roots organizations in working together for the environment for fifteen years.

POLITICAL

Student Outcomes and State Policy in Public Higher Education Michael Bastedo, Stanford University School of Education

Michael Bastedo notes that as public funding for higher education has increased, the public's demand for a return on its investment has increased accordingly. Public colleges and universities must remain openly accountable for the performance and achievement of their students. Increasingly, trustees for public colleges and universities see their role as an activist one on behalf of society, believing that shifts in institutional policy can and should reflect public needs and interests. Although the actions of activist trustees have often been decried within higher education, their policies may have resonated with the public at large. Bastedo analyzes the causes and effects of this shift in the focus of public higher education.

In Memoriam: Laurence R. Marcus Edward H. White, Chair, Educational Leadership Department, Rowan University

Ted White salutes the memory of Laurence Marcus, On the Horizon's late political editor. White remembers Marcus's legacy with respect not only to our journal, but also the institutions, students, and causes he served.

COMMENTARY

A Comment on the Interview with UNC President Molly Broad William W. Van Alstyne, William R. and Thomas C. Perkins Professor, Duke University School of Law

William Van Alstyne takes issue with UNC President Molly Broad's implication that academic freedom is so well-protected by the courts that tenure is no longer necessary. Though acknowledging President Broad's sincerity in her statements, Van Alstyne cites several court rulings suggesting that academic freedom will remain in question as long as the practice of tenuring faculty is jeopardized. For readers intrigued by Laurence R. Marcus's analysis of related issues in "Implications of the Attack on Tenure" (OTH 7.1)--or for those who missed it--Van Alstyne's article adds another dimension to this critical discussion.

To Get to the Future, You Have to Start in the Present Jonathan Fife, Virginia Tech

Jonathan Fife expresses concern that technological visionaries sometimes fail to examine what needs to be done in the present to get us to the future they predict. Fife identifies lessons that educators need to learn about what specifically needs to be done now to overcome resistance to the changes needed to make the education system more effective. Above all, he advocates scholarship that will "link . . . ideas about the future to the specific root causes and solutions to be found in the present."

Headline on Page A1 of The Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2000:
"Web Site that Unites Blacks is Big Ambition of Henry Louis Gates:  But Hrudles for Africana.com Are Big Too, Including Rivals, Size of Audience"  --- http://www.africana.com/ 

Despite the anxiety expressed by President Clinton and others about a "digital divide," there is no lack of Web sites vying for the sort of preeminence among African-Americans that iVillage.com has among women. Earlier this month, BET Holdings Inc., owner of Black Entertainment Television, launched BET.com in a $35 million partnership with Microsoft Corp., USA Networks Inc., News Corp. and a unit of Liberty Media Corp. Black-Voices.com, owned by Tribune Co., says it is about to get $25 million from several investors. Other sites are staked by America Online Inc. and the Internet division of Cox Communications Inc.

"Everybody in the space is getting additional funding," says Scott Mills, chief operating officer of BET.com, which plans to spend as much as $10 million on marketing this year. "The next 18 months will see a shakeout. How many of the sites are going to be large, successful, viable? Three, at best."

Audience Size

One problem they face is that blacks with Internet access are even more of a minority than they are in the population as a whole. Media Metrix Inc., a firm that estimates Internet use, says only one black-aimed site is large enough to register in its sampling: BlackVoices.com (www.blackvoices.com), with about 150,000 visitors a month. By contrast, iVillage.com has 4.8 million. Mr. Mills thinks a black Web site would need at least a million visitors a month to generate enough advertising and e-commerce to turn a profit. There are about 35 million blacks in the U.S.

Still, the proportion of black households online is expected to jump to 33% this year, from 23%. And Africana.com does occupy a unique niche. While other sites offer a dollop of black history, it isn't their calling-card. BlackVoices.com is known for chat groups and job referrals. Another site, NetNoir.com (www.netnoir.com), 20%-owned by America Online, relies on celebrity interviews. But Africana.com's educational menu ranges from lesson plans for teachers to entries from Prof. Gates's CD-ROM encyclopedia, Encarta Africana (read The Wall Street Journal's review of the encyclopedia, Oct. 29, 1999).

Visitors to the site can read African news and listen to 80 radio stations from as far afield as Benin and Morocco. The site's editor-in-chief, Philippe Wamba, grew up in Tanzania, and its president, Darrol Roberts, is from Antigua. Coming later this year: auctions, job services and interviews by Prof. Gates and Harvard philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah with other black intellectuals.

Y2G.com (www.y2g.com), a black Web site funded by Fubu The Collection, a sportswear company, recently rated Africana.com as the second-best Afrocentric site, behind Black-Voices.com. But the question is whether its intellectual heft and international tinge can lure advertisers and "eyeballs," or whether it will turn into the equivalent of public television -- without the subsidy. Like public TV, Africana.com doesn't accept regular ads, only paid "sponsorships."

The AccountingWEB Friday Wrap-Up Newswire - Issue 30 February 18, 2000 http://www.accountingweb.com 

1. PWC Will Likely Split Into Three Units 
2. Accounting Irregularities and Fraud 
3. Writing Winning Sales Proposals 
4. ABA Still Struggling With Legal/Accounting Partnerships 
5. Financial Services Advisor Resource Bonanza Week 
6. FASB Struggles To Solve Pooling-of-Interests Question 
7. Tips to Avoid the Pitfalls of Website Development 
8. Financial Implications of Divorce - Internet Style 
9. Jazz Up Your PowerPoint Presentations Now! 
10. A Software Tip Each Day

AccountingStudents Newsletter: February 15, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Interview Preparation: Three Simple Steps 
2. Job Seekers: Don't Leave Your References to Chance 
3. Survey Results: Are you interested in working in the Dot-com industry? 
4. Site of the Week: Oregon Society of CPAs 
5. Tip of the Week: Understanding the Reference Check 
6. Win a BeckerConviser CPA Review 
7. Share Your Experience

February 18th Internet Essentials 2000 Newsletter http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

1. Special WJAR Channel 10 Tax Edition 
2. Before you Begin.... Prepare 
3. The Software Tax Package Leader 
4. Professional Tax Preparation for Free? Yes! 
5. Tax Sites; Download forms, State Tax information 
6. Tax Preparation: Use Your PC or Go to the CPA? 
7. Warning: H&R Block Online Site Closed for Security Repairs

The leading software provider of tax preparation material is TurboTax.  TurboTax is a package that is very easy to use and very complete.  The software guides you through a series of interview-like questions.  As you fill in the boxes with information, TurboTax automatically places the information in the correct spot on the form.  TurboTax is also available online.   The online version allows you to complete your tax return up to the point of either printing or filing online before you have to pay for the program.  Using this method, you could use TurboTax to check the accuracy of your return if you either had it prepared by another person or completed it yourself.  Find frequently asked TurboTax questions here.

From Yahoo

Way Too Personal --- http://www.waytoopersonal.com/ 

Welcome to the dark underbelly of Internet dating. The site's author, a single woman who spent most of her time in front of a computer, decided one day to post her own personal ad online. The responses were good, bad, and ugly -- and what began as a handful of emails among friends turned into this web site. Stop by for a large collection of "un-edited (but occasionally censored) responses" organized by theme ("repeat offenders," "scary people," "Just plain ick," and so on.) Warning, content contained here is not for everyone. View at your own discretion. And if you're thinking of plunging in, the site does include a handful of solid advice. Good luck!

Debbie's Corner Part 1 --- Random Hits

This is the second edition of New Bookmarks reserved for messages from my secretary, Debbie Bowling.

One of my own web pages; my brother lives in Los Angeles and I like to see what's up with earthquakes for the day: Recent Earthquakes --- http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

Albertson College of Idaho --- Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History --- http://www.acofi.edu/museum 

Albion College --- http://www.taxsites.com/
   tax site that looked interesting

Alfred University Honors Program Humor --- http://www.alfred.edu/academics/html/honors_humor.html 
(just a taste of what is there)

The "official" Alfred University Honors Program Entrance Exam (not)

Time Limit:  3 weeks  

Part I --- Multiple Choice.

Part II (but only if you're really a smarty)

Part III:  For the very very advanced applicant:

Contests
Over the years we've had many "contests."  The first, "excuses for late papers," came about when a student told me her paper would be late because "an iron fell on my head and I was too dizzy to write."  I was pretty sure honors students could come up with something better.  The winners follow:

Excuses for Late Papers

Honors Program Bumper Stickers

The best application essay not submitted to the Alfred University Honors Program

Why Chocolate is Better Than Sex

Unusual French, Spanish & Latin Phrases

"How Things Change With Time." (The idea was to create a list of reasons for the mass extinctions of dinosaurs:  it begins seriously, sort of, then gets silly.)

Dr. Jensen, thought you would be interested in this special offer. Debbie

-----Original Message----- 
From: TipWorld [mailto:tips@tipworld.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 6:43 PM 
To: tipworld20@listproc.pcworld.com  
Subject: Tiny Camera Only $79.99! Color, Sound + $20 Bonus!

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR TIPWORLD SUBSCRIBERS!

Announcing the most advanced color video camera system ever from the leader in wireless video technology -- X10.com!

If you only buy one camera this year - this MUST be it! The All NEW Wireless XCam2 Only $79.99 -- BUT that's not all! ORDER NOW and you'll also get a FREE $20 Gift Certificate! You heard right -- a complete wireless color video and audio broadcast system for under 80 bucks, PLUS a $20 Bonus! Tremendous Value! XCam2 is our newest and BEST color video camera yet -- packed with features like a built-in microphone and 2.4GHz transmitter! Get it all -- everything you need to wirelessly broadcast color video and sound -- PLUS a $20 Bonus! Wow! Enjoy an instant live video feed to any TV -- up to 100 feet away! Order your XCam2 NOW and get your FREE Bonus X10.com $20 Gift Certificate!

Broadcast Color Video To Any TV! http://www.x10.com/xcamnewpcw.htm 

Debbie's Corner Part 2 --- Selected Accounting Educator Web Materials

For, Friday, February 18, 2000

TABLE OF SCHOOLS ALONG WITH PROFESSORS' HOME PAGES

Southwest Missouri State University
http://courses.smsu.edu/kwb237f/

Humboldt State University
http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1/courseware/index.html

Southwest Missouri State University
http://courses.smsu.edu/kwb237f/

Kenneth W. Brown - Professor of Accounting

Links to his Courses for Spring 2000 were Power Point course outlines.  This gave the basic points to each course offered.

• Students, head to the 10-Point page for Dr. Brown's Student Exercise in Local Government Financial Assessment.  The following is an excerpt of the link for the area on Dr. Brown's home page.

Ten-Point Test of Financial Condition

Dr. Kenneth W. Brown, Ph.D., CPA, CGFM
Associate Professor, School of Accountancy
Southwest Missouri State University
December 1997

Overview: This document contains an assignment whereby governmental finance students may analyze the financial condition of a city, county, or school district.  A companion document contains comparative ratios by which a student may complete the test.  All the student needs before beginning the test is to obtain an annual financial statement for the local government organization the student wishes to analyze.

The Ten-Point Test of Financial Condition was developed by Dr. Kenneth Brown in 1993 as an easy-to-use technique for the assessment of cities, counties, or school districts. The test is used widely by finance officers and investment analysts across the nation. This version of the Test is provided for use by college students in governmental accounting and finance courses. The Ten-Point Test is outlined on the pages that follow.

This looked liked an in-depth document to with problems, comparisons, definitions of comparative ratios talked about in the test, along with a worksheet to go along with the 10-point test.

• Stop by the Douglas County, Missouri page to download some of Brown's reference works on the history of his birthplace county, Douglas County, MO.  A gallery of old photos is included as well
  

Nice link for information on Douglas County, Missouri. I think the 10-point test was one of the strongest points on his page. The Power Point Outline was fine if you did not want an in-depth explanation of the course.

Humboldt State University
http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1/courseware/index.html

Instructor  Name: Peter Kenyon

This site is primarily for Humboldt State students, although others are welcome to use it.

Courseware for Spring 2000
Revised: 01-13-00
BA 252 - Management Accounting

• Class --- http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1/courseware/252/index.html 
• Computer Lab --- http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1/courseware/252/labs.html 

Some of the links do not work at this time.

BA 452 - Cost Accounting, Planning & Control
Some of the links are under construction but for the most part work very well

• Class --- http://www.humboldt.edu/~pbk1/courseware/452/index.html

Good helper links A - Z listing (and includes: Accountant Joke Page )
The accountant joke page is a really good joke link, but the other alphabetical listing is for the serious business class.

Yahoo Finance to check financial markets

And that's the way it was on February 23, 2000 with a little help from my friends.  If you are an accounting practitioner or educator, please do not forget to scan http://www.accountingeducation.com/.

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

February 15, 2000

Quotes of the Week:  

Live out of your imagination, not your history." ---Stephen Covey

"Information Superhighway is really an acronym for 'Interactive Network For Organizing, Retrieving, Manipulating, Accessing And Transferring Information On National Systems, Unleashing Practically Every Rebellious Human Intelligence, Gratifying Hackers, Wiseacres, And Yahoos'." --- Keven Kwaku  (This quote preceded the Yahoo attack last week!)

If you are part of the Trinity University community, I hope we will see you in Parker Chapel on some Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and at other Chapel events.  The talented Chapel Music Director, Dr. David Heller, brings us music of inspiration.  He will be performing a recital on February 20 in Parker Chapel at 5:00 p.m.

Chaplain Dawkins brings us sermons that are a bit long-winded, but what a treasure his messages are becoming in the lives of Erika and me.  He dips into a deep well of human interest tales.  Chaplain Dawkins is a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech.  While working as a young engineer, he received a momentous calling to serve God.  Soon thereafter he was ordained at Princeton University.

Things I like best about "Ed" are his enthusiasm, energy, sense of humor, unwillingness to guild a lily, desire to bring technology to Parker Chapel, and a deep desire to be your friend as well as your Chaplain.  However, there is a dark side.  Rumor has it that he's a one-man ramblin' wrecking crew on the squash court.  

Please join me in welcoming (interim) Chaplain Dawkins, his lovely wife Jane, and their two little Dawkins' dickins  (young girls) into the Trinity University community.  Even though they may only be with us for a short time, they add a badly needed and rewarding dimension to our wonderful community.

I have always been a big fan of NewMedia.  I especially rely upon NewMedia to keep me up to date with respect to multimedia hardware and software news and product comparisons --- http://www.newmedia.com/ 

Dear Dr. Jensen:

NewMedia is back. It's on the Internet. And it's daily.

Whew! Ever since we stopped publishing NewMedia late last fall, we've been hustling to remake our monthly magazine into a daily information service for professionals on the cutting edge of Internet business, design, and technology.

We started with the best of the old NewMedia--our great authors, editors, illustrators, and subject matter. We added new staff, new writers, and new capabilities to cover the Internet's innovations daily. And we developed a brand-new Web site that makes extensive use of DHTML and Flash to give you a radically new kind of reading experience on the Web.

Moreover, if you register and use newmedia.com on a regular basis, the site will begin to customize its content offerings for you. The more you use newmedia.com, the better it will get at providing information specifically suited to your professional information needs.

WHAT YOU'LL GET WHEN YOU VISIT NEWMEDIA.COM:

-> Original news and feature articles by industry experts and NewMedia staff.

-> Flash walkthroughs of the best-designed sites on the Net.

-> Profiles of the people and companies who are shaking up the worlds of Internet business, design, and technology.

-> The NewMedia 500, a comprehensive index of the Internet's most influential companies, and the NewMedia Invision Awards, the world's best Net projects.

-> Scott Kim's puzzles, our weekly cartoon, plus other goodies and tidbits you won't find elsewhere.

By way of example, consider the news item below:

Netscape founder and super-entrepreneur Jim Clark's newest new thing is the recent startup Shutterfly, an online photo printing service for digital photographers. Will it click with consumers? 

I found the Shutterfly web site at http://www.shutterfly.com/ 

And did you know about EDGE?

Life on the Edge delivery makes it cost-effective to deliver high-quality streaming media over the Internet. How? Instead of using data communication networks, edge delivery uses storage devices to store and serve the same content locally.

After you register for the free news from NewMedia, pay particular attention to Tech Briefs.

Thanks to Bob Blystone for this tip.
Microsoft Corporation and eCollege.com are collaborating to offer free (NOTE: connect time charges may apply for your internet connection) courses to faculty and staff in higher education. These courses will focus on using information technology in general, and Microsoft products in particular, to improve teaching and learning. The first of these online courses will be "Presentation Technology: Teaching and Learning with PowerPoint 2000". The first offering of this online course will begin on February 15th, 2000. More detailed information on the course, registration information, and technical requirements, can be found at http://microsoft.ecollege.com/  in the Microsoft Faculty Center.

Welcome to the Microsoft Faculty Center, powered by the eCollege.com course delivery system. This Center is intended to help you, the faculty and instructional staff of educational institutions around the world, build rich and dynamic learning environments which will empower individuals at all stages of their lives and careers, enable access to lifelong learning, and to help us build a connected learning community.

Our inaugural activity at the Microsoft Faculty Center is to provide online Microsoft Office 2000 productivity courses for faculty members, powered by the new eCollege System 4.0. Our first online course, starting February 15th, 2000, and running until February 29th, 2000, will focus on using Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 effectively to improve teaching and learning. 

Inaugural Course

With PowerPoint 2000, you and your students can make learning more dynamic by creating presentations of classroom materials and projects. You can use graphics, text, movies, sounds, and the Internet to share information on any topic. Using PowerPoint 2000 templates, you can quickly and easily create presentations for many purposes, including lectures, research reports, meeting handouts and agendas, speaker introductions, and flyers. Learn more or register now.

About the Technology

We are pleased that eCollege.com is providing the technology to power the Microsoft Faculty Center website and the online courses. eCollege.com's Web-based course delivery systems are designed to promote the richest human interaction possible in the online environment, including the best communications tools available, while remaining totally Web-based and demanding nothing more from students than a Web browser and a 28.8 modem connection. eCollege.com's eTeaching Solutions^sm include eToolKit^sm, eCompanion^sm, and eCourse^sm and we invite you to view a demo or sign up for a free trial.

Hi Ron,

I always respect your opinions and technology skills. However, I think that in recent years, some administrators in top universities have become more focused upon markets than cost and efficiency. Initially, some administrators thought that the only things that justified investing in educational technologies were cost savings and efficiency. Now justifications are changing to outreach and effectiveness.

Some leading administrators are taking a more long-term view (often more long-term than faculty members delivering the courses). The long-term view looks at changing life-styles, changing technology skills of our young, trends in serious corporate competition with traditional institutions of higher education, and the sad way we previously tried to motivate and engage adults in life-long learning.

Remember that the first airplane only flew a few feet in a pasture. Railroad CEOs shrugged their shoulders and concluded that early airlines would never seriously compete for passengers or freight. Airlines would never be cost effective. Early pilots took risks and often crash landed. Now look at the worldwide jet fleets of FedEx, UPS, and the passenger airline companies. There were even some military generals in WW I who considered the future of airplanes in combat to be almost nil. After the Gulf War and Bosnia, generals are now seriously beginning to think that the future of armored ground vehicles and infantry in combat may be almost nil except in guerilla skirmishes that are more like rat extermination than war. Tanks, like battleships, are dead ducks in the sights of the newest laser weapons. Even our Allied Force tanks might have been afraid to come out of their holes if Iraq had possessed modern laser weapons.

Our new life styles demand speed in wars, food, automobiles, airplanes, and most everything else. There will also be greatly increased demand for ease of access and speed in learning and education.

I am just getting into the changed (albeit in some cases the Luddite) views of top university administrators. I strongly urge all educators to take a serious look at what top administrators have to say in the special "Then, Now, and Tomorrow" edition of Educause Review, January/February 2000. The online version is at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm.html . That entire issue seriously weighs good (access, speed, and effectiveness) against the bad (security, cost, property right fights, burn out, physical isolation, failed reward structures, and uncertainty over the dividing lines between education and training).  See below.

One thing is certain, corporations like eCollege, UNext, Pensare, University Access, CyberClass, and others are putting jet engines on our pasture airplanes. But there is a great shortage of trained pilots in these early transition stages. Only the naive think they are technologically savvy if they can run PowerPoint throttle without knowing how to use the other cockpit instruments. See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm 

A recent article called "The Effects of Electronic Classrooms on Learning English Composition" demonstrates how vital it is to train instructors (pilots?) in the use of the technology if the technology is to be more effective than traditional low-tech pedagogy.  This article by Beth MacNeil Stinson and Kenneth Claus of Florida International University appears in the February 2000 issue of T.H.E. Journal, 98-103.  The online version is at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A2656.cfm.  We are also seeing differences in culture on this issue.  The Chinese purportedly place more emphasis on teacher training in technology before employing those technologies.  You can read more about this at http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A2655.cfm.

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ron [mailto:rrtidd@MTU.EDU]  
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2000 8:39 AM 
To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: Re: Help

Robert,

With all due respect, my perception is that the Information Superhighway is littered with the wreckage of what some naive, cost-focused administrator/educator THOUGHT was the right technology. Only time and the marketplace will provide the necessary test of eCollege's ability to help institutions effectively and efficiently fulfill their missions.

Based on the initial commentary, I don't think that some pittance of compensation and ill-defined property rights is going to motivate very many educators to participate. Except at the margin.

The last thing education needs is more marginal applications of technology in an attempt to enhance learning outcomes and the risk of these economies of scale is that more marginal learning can know be distributed to a larger, global audience.

Notwithstanding my passion for technology mediated education, I find little comfort in that.

Ron Tidd

PANEL ON THE FUTURE
OF
AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

FROM:
EDUCAUSE REVIEW
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2000
  http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm.html

1.    How will information technology affect the future of higher education?

Barry Munitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust:
Information technology will profoundly influence both the content and the delivery system for traditional colleges and universities.  The challenge to translate the content -- that mountain of data arriving so rapidly -- into accurate and useful information and then into knowledge and wisdom will test everyone's talent and energy.  We will also have to rethink the delivery system  -- the way in which we teach and people learn -- and reexamine the balance between classroom instruction and distance learning.

David Ward, Chancellor and Andrew H. Clark Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Information technology will present the possibility of greater "customization" of courses and programs, combined with enhanced flexibility of delivery.  The communication of research is likely to be more varied, with formal publication playing a less significant role while the current improvements in access to research findings and library collections are like to accelerate.

Molly Broad, President, University of North Carolina:
The tremendous pace of technological change has made it imperative that individuals continuously upgrade their knowledge and skills.  To stay competitive, one has to stay current.  As a result, lifelong learning will be the dominant paradigm for higher education in the twenty-first century.  Information technology is driving an increasing emphasis on establishing and maintaining effective learning relationships with students throughout their lives.  It is also likely to be the primary vehicle by which we accomplish those goals.

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, President, Mayville State and Valley City State Universities:
The focus of higher learning will shift from institutions to individuals, a change as fundamental as the seventeenth-century legitimization of the scientific method and the nineteenth-century enactment of the Morrill Act and applied learning.  The "knowledge age" requires constant, individualized learning, and information technologies support such learning.  Learning resources for all ages, stages, learning styles, learner locations, and schedules will allow learning to become intrinsic to living.  The question is how higher education institutions will adapt.

Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California:
Basically information technology will be an add-on, not a replacement.

Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University:
In the past ten years, information technology has moved from being primarily a research tool to being a central part of the institutional fabric.  The Web now touches all of the critical processes of teaching, research, and administration, and I can't imagine higher education without such technology.  As video, audio, and data transmission converge and become more universally available, technology will have far-reaching implications for the way we learn.

2.    Are for-profit educational institutions a threat to higher education as we know it?

Barry Munitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust:
If the implications is that suddenly the new proprietary and profit-seeking institutions will replace our traditional colleges and universities, absolutely not.  If the question really asks whether or not our traditional academic institutions will have to adjust dramatically to the challenges posed by these newer entities, and whether for the first time there will be genuine profit-side competition for what our colleges and universities do and how they do it, then absolutely yes.

David Ward, Chancellor and Andrew H. Clark Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Since higher education comprises so many different niches in its relationships to students and to other more direct kinds of knowledge transfer, the threat, challenge, or opportunity of competition will vary greatly.  Most for-profits are currently serving a new clientele or one different from that served by major residential universities, but the increased customization of their mode of delivery will greatly influence how we teach and learn.

Molly Broad, President, University of North Carolina:
Before we can identify for-profit institutions as a threat to "higher education as we know it," we have to define that phrase.  What is higher education as we know it?  Trade schools?  Community colleges?  Liberal arts institutions?  Research universities?  If we view the emerging for-profit institutions in the context of the tremendous diversity in American higher education, we see that one's perspective on their potential impact depends on the market niche, academic mission, and student population in question.

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, President, Mayville State and Valley City State Universities:
An institution, existing or new, that offers quality, convenience, and relevance presents a serious challenge to those that do not.  For-profit institutions that sell convenience over quality will not last long.  Others will succeed, perhaps at the expense of a few traditional institutions, and will constitute a well-recognized type, alongside public and private.  If your institution believes that "market-driven" cannot include "quality" be definition, I would love to count you among my competitors.

Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California:
For-profit institutions are a new source of competition and will be a "threat" only if higher education does not respond aggressively.

Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University:
No.  But for-profit educational institutions will provide a healthy challenge to traditional higher education, especially in the areas of distance and continuing education and in popular fields such as business administration.  The course offerings coming from the for-profit sector are less likely to be offered with full-time faculty and library support, making it difficult for traditional institutions to be financially competitive.  But I am confident that we will, in the end, be competitive.

3.    Can higher education afford to continue to operate in its current form?

Barry Munitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust:
Affordability literally concerns whether the resources will be available at our colleges and universities and whether students will be able to pay for them.   Affordability metaphorically implies whether traditional institutions will be able to survive and prosper without fundamental restructuring.  Most quality colleges and universities will likely continue to thrive, but many others either will completely restructure or will disappear.  Even those that remain at the top will look and work quite differently in the near future.

David Ward, Chancellor and Andrew H. Clark Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Just as our current form was created in response to changes at the turn of the nineteenth century, we are now adapting to equally demanding changes at the end of the present century.  The real issue is whether our adaptations are adequate and responsive.

Molly Broad, President, University of North Carolina:
The ever-increasing interconnectedness we are experiencing has profound implications for all educational institutions.  It is already redefining the teaching and learning process throughout the educational spectrum.  It is also redefining how institutions interact with their students as well as what students expect of those interactions.  Given the diverse range of higher education institutions, some will be affected by these changes more than others, but information technology will leave its mark on them all.

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, President, Mayville State and Valley City State Universities:
No.  Elite universities, community colleges, and institutions in states with more demand from young people than campuses can accommodate are more protected than the rest.  Others must dramatically improve services, cut costs, and increase revenues.  Distance delivery may satisfy some of the burgeoning market for lifelong and workforce learning but will not adequately meet the needs of younger students.   Convenient instruction with adequate face-to-face interaction will be the best option for learning.  The clamor over distance learning must not eclipse the search for models of affordable, technology-enriched on-campus instruction.

Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California:
Mostly, "yes."

 Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University:
Universities must continue to push quality, effectiveness, and efficiency.   We will need to be responsive to market demands of our resident students, but also increasingly to those who need continuing and distance education.  Technology will be a fundamental part of this future.

4.    How can the burgeoning global demand for higher education best be addressed?

Barry Munitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust:
With the same miraculous variety of type and quality that has driven American higher education for the past several hundred years.  We will require dramatic choice between institutions that are very different but equally effective in their own chosen area of responsibility.  Obviously, advances in electronic communication will profoundly alter how we reach outlying areas in all countries, and with national boundaries breaking down in every social function, nationalistic or chauvinistic protection will give way to global networks.

David Ward, Chancellor and Andrew H. Clark Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
Higher education is likely to become more differentiated by mission and clientele over the next decade, and the ability of individual institutions to partner with both similar and different institutions in this emerging array of educational providers will determine our global engagements.

Molly Broad, President, University of North Carolina:
There is no single answer.  We have to think in terms of multiple paths to help students achieve a variety of higher education goals.  The emergence of new providers, both public and private, may provide one avenue.  The advent of technology-mediated learning is probably another.  In both cases, established higher education institutions will have to work with each other and with for-profit institutions to develop a framework for ensuring educational quality, wherever and however learning opportunities are delivered.

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, President, Mayville State and Valley City State Universities:

Develop mechanisms that allow the closest approximation to a free market for learning, supplemented by programs to reach the disadvantaged.  For a free market that would effectively match needs with appropriate providers, we must have understandable, published indicators of quality, content, and value.  International distance delivery must not become "the answer."  Partnerships between established, quality institutions and emerging institutions in underdeveloped countries should be supported.

Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California:
By increasing the capacity to offer service.

Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University:
I believe that programs like Penn State's "World Campus," which will operate on a self-support basis, represent the most promising approach to global demand for educational programs.  We had nearly 1,000 enrollments in our first year of operation.  We are already enrolling students from many foreign countries.   And while there will likely be a growing number of providers, many will fail.   At the same time, I anticipate more partnerships.

5.    What is the biggest threat that higher education is facing?

Barry Munitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, J. Paul Getty Trust:
With boundaries breaking down and with educational consumers beginning to challenge traditional academic institutions in the same way that they confronted U.S. automobile manufacturers and the health-care organizations, the biggest concern is the willingness and the pace of our most prestigious institutions as they react to the changes.  The threat is that other institutions will emerge to meet the public's expectations, but I believe -- without hesitation -- that our strongest colleges will demonstrate the skill, the strength, and the courage to adjust.

David Ward, Chancellor and Andrew H. Clark Professor of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison:
We face two major threats: the inability to recognize where in the new emerging array of providers any given type of institution fits, and the lack of experimental initiatives to cope with the uncertainty of future conditions.

Molly Broad, President, University of North Carolina:
Not maintaining a strategic perspective broad enough to encompass the constantly shifting context.  Our attention can easily be captured by day-to-day issues, leaving us unable to anticipate the next wave of change just over the horizon.   Higher education institutions must view themselves within a rapidly evolving global context in which technology continuously redefines the rules.  However, our historic commitment to broad, open dialogue, both within and between institutions, provides us with a unique capacity to address this challenge successfully.

Ellen-Earle Chaffee, President, Mayville State and Valley City State Universities:
The enemy is us.  We lack the systems flexibility, the financial resources, the market-driven orientation, and the will to address current conditions quickly.  Traditional institutions tend to be preoccupied by demands for growth, extremely scarce resources, or their own prestige.  Many define quality by inputs and processes more often than results, so they discredit legitimate innovation and underestimate its potential.  Polemics substitute for debate.  Opportunities for win-win collaborations between institutions go unnoticed.  Our incentive systems are upside-down.

Clark Kerr, President Emeritus, University of California:
The lack of adequate resources.

Graham B. Spanier, President, Pennsylvania State University:
The biggest threat is complacency -- the sense that the global changes that affect most other institutions won't greatly affect higher education.   Complacency will lull faculty and administrators into overlooking new opportunities to accomplish their missions.

Administrators responsible for the security of servers co-opted by DDoS attacks have a problem that goes beyond being duped: poor Web security and potential liability ---  http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0002111/2436607/ 

In the cat-and-mouse game of enterprise security, Linux's open-source roots keep IT managers worried -- and hackers guessing. --- http://www.pcweek.com/a/pcwt0002112/2430772/ 

Keep up with those Harvard buz words.  The following is from the Scout Report:

HBS Working Knowledge_ http://hbsworkingknowledge.hbs.edu/ 

The Harvard Business School's _Working Knowledge_ is a "collection of cutting-edge management information created to help you stay at the forefront of today's fast-changing business environment." Articles written by professors and students of HBS are featured, along with writing from business scholars who are not affiliated with the school. Topics, including Business History, Finance and Investment, and Nonprofits and Social Enterprise, are listed down the right side of the site and contain timely articles, book reviews, and Website recommendations.

Also from the Scout Report

TaxIssue.com http://www.taxissue.com/ 

Created by Athmatic Media, TaxIssue.com provides a plentitude of free tax information. The Resources section includes filing information, tax statistics, and both federal and state tax forms. Several utilities allow users to search tax codes, tax cases, and revenue procedures as well as estimate their tax refunds and view interest rate data. Interested users may also subscribe to the TaxIssue.com newsletter.

From "Habit:  Subtle Technology Barrier and Tool" by Judith Boettcher in Syllabus, February 2000, pg. 38.  This edition of Syllabus is not yet online, but eventually it will be posted at http://www.syllabus.com/ 

One of my favorite quotes is from Robert W. Lucky, a telecommunications visionary at Bellcore, who said, "It is easy to predict the future;  what is hard is predicting what people will do with the technology."  We should know that we cannot mandate or predict how folks will actually use IT support and tools.  People's use of technology has a way of providing continuing surprises."

Now that we have succeeded in placing technology in the hands of a large percentage of faculty and students, I think it may be time for some disciplined patience in letting the process of implementation and reinvention work.

Encyclopedia of Law and Economics http://encyclo.findlaw.com/index.html 

ODLIS: Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science http://www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu/library/odlis.html 

Don't forget Jensen's technology glossary and links to hundreds of other glossaries at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245gloss.htm 

Analyze Sales Data with Excel Pivot Tables  
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=11088&d=101 

Also remember the pivot tables for Budgeting andManagerial Accounting ---
 http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=9748&d=47 

Help stop educational cheating --- http://www.nocheating.org/ 

Welcome to the Educational Testing Service/The Advertising Council campaign to discourage academic cheating. Several months ago ETS entered into a partnership with the Ad Council to develop a national campaign to increase awareness about the prevalence of academic cheating and to spark a national discussion of this serious issue.

In both our schools and workplaces, cheating undermines integrity and fairness at all levels. In fact, studies show that up to 92% of high school students say that cheating is "commonplace." Cheating is a barrier to learning that can lead to weak performance in many areas of life.

The ultimate goals of this campaign are to persuade children not to cheat and to not accept cheating among their friends. ETS and the Ad Council hope to reach students ages 10 - 14 through a series of national public service announcements for TV, print and radio. The campaign slogan is "Cheating is a Personal Foul." Each ad conveys the message that doing what's right brings a feeling of pride and a sense of accomplishment.

We are confident that this campaign will have a powerful, measurable, and long-term beneficial impact on our children, our nation's educational system and society as a whole.

Radio Wall Street (Investing, Finance) --- http://www.radiowallstreet.com/ 

Hi Rudi,

I know Ira Kawaller. He sits on the Derivatives Implementation Group (DIG).  I included him in a conference that I chaired in NYC. You can hear some audio clips of his presentation at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rjensen/000overview/mp3/133summ.htm 

I was not aware that Ira's company had put up the helpful materials at http://www.kawaller.com/articles.htm. I appreciate that you called my attention to the above articles.

My students are currently looking for project topics. I think that there are some potential topics in the above readings.

Thanks,

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tim1 [mailto:Tim1@jsx.co.id]  
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 4:16 AM 
To: Jensen, Robert 
Subject: Derivatives Articles Importance: High

Dear Prof. Jensen:

There are interesting articles about interest rate, currency, and general market derivatives in PDF files at http://www.kawaller.com/articles.htm  The above address is the homepage of Kawaller & Company LLC, a company that founded by Ira Kawaller (member of DIG).

Regards,RUDI HANDOKO

History of Black Farming and Farmers (A PBS Special) --- Yahoo states the following:

Homecoming http://www.pbs.org/homecoming/ 

"Sometimes I am haunted by memories of red clay and dirt" is the evocative subtitle of this latest PBS site, companion to Charlene Gilbert's documentary film chronicling the life and times of African-American farmers from the Civil War to the present. A timeline covers over 100 years of black agrarian history and loss of land. Video diaries and text submissions tell the stories of farm families and urban African-Americans who have chosen to return to their rural roots. Online excerpts include Toni Morrison reading from "Beloved" and playwright August Wilson speaking about loss of homeland.

Center for the Study of Rural America ---  http://www.kc.frb.org/RuralCenter/RuralMain.htm 

Gateway to African-American History http://www.usia.gov/usa/blackhis/ 

Also from Yahoo:

FNwire http://www.fnwire.com/ 

The masthead reads, "Fast. Free. False." They forgot to mention funny. This satirical newswire focuses on business and technology, and parodies media coverage of the fabulous Internet future. Features and briefs by pseudonymous journalists provide irreverent, punning commentary on daily fluff from the press. Savor the words of "e.e. commerce: Poet Laureate of the Internet," and don't miss groundbreaking charts like "AOL v. Good Cholesterol" -- offering hilarious new insight on the Net economy.

SavingForCollege.com http://www.savingforcollege.com/ 

The aspiring Tom Cat who comes home from that dreaded "Oh No!" visit to the vet is relegated to becoming merely a "consultant."  If you want to be a consultant, my advice is to forget the trip to the vet's surgery lab and go directly to http://www.freeagent.com/ 

I question therapy online web sites and personality classifiers, but if you feel the need to see where you fit in, you might want to visit http://www.emode.com/ 

Where can you get free clip art?  I don't keep a huge listing of websites.  Instead, I go to Yahoo, click on "Advanced Search" and then enter the phrase "free clip art" in the Advanced Search website of Yahoo.

Advice from Jensen:  Avoid clip art and animations unless they serve some purpose.  Web users on modems waste enough time just downloading the text.  If you do use these things on selected documents, try to avoid these things on your main (default, index) web page.  Try to make your main page download fast.  As I mentioned last time, I really hate those commercial web sites (e.g., Arthur Andersen) that hit you with time- wasting animation and tiresome audio every time you enter the first page.

Evolution of Alphabets (history, archaeology, anthropology, linguistics) --- http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rfradkin/ 

State Department: Perspectives on Race Relations in the United States http://www.usia.gov/usa/race/ 

We got several helpful replies from the outside world to my appeal to help Phil Cooley find free quarterly return data for stock indexes: S&P 500, Russell 2000, EAFE, NASDAQ, etc.  Internally our new Computer Science colleague, Jeffrey Oldham, from Stanford University helped us find the following links:

http://www.vanguard.com/ 

http://www.standardandpoors.com/ 

Phil,

One of our accounting faculty forwarded to me an email request from Robert Jensen stating that you are looking for stock market indexes.

I have been using commercial sources for my investment management consulting. A good one is from Frontier Analytics who have a product called FACTMASTER. It has a very large number of indexes including all of the ones mentioned in the email. Its main purpose is to provide data for style analysis of funds. I also know that the Dimension Fund (who work with Fama) provides their clients with a lot of these indexes. I'm not on their client list.

The Factmaster has a commercial price of $396.00 per year with quarterly updates. I believe the data is monthly. We think it is a bargain at that price. I don't know if they will provide a university discount. About the only thing it doesn't have is the S&P Industry Indexes which we have to treasure hunt around S&P every year. Those cost from $500-$800 a year depending on who you get in touch with because they really don't want to make it a product.

You can contact Frontier Analytics at:  Frontier Analytics, Inc. 8910 University Center Lane, Suite 700 San Diego, CA 92122 858-552-1268 Technical/Sales Support (That is a new area code. They used to be 619 area code.)

Jean is happy. He is keeping busy (swamped) with all of the submissions to his various enterprises.

Take care,
David Nawrocki [david.nawrocki@villanova.edu] 

Technology Glossary (includes English and Spanish choices):

You may want to add this link to your collection of technical dictionaries:
http://eubd1.ugr.es/tony/risweb.isa 
Here you may find a dictionary of library and information terminology.

Thanks
Tony Lozano [alozano@ugr.es]

Kids' science projects and resources --- http://www.nanana.com/scienceprojects.html  

From InformationWeek Daily February 10, 2000

The Chase Manhattan Corp. and Deloitte Consulting revealed plans Wednesday to form a new procurement company that will help major companies streamline indirect spending.

According to Chase and Deloitte, the as-yet unnamed venture will automate and coordinate order delivery, invoice reconciliation, and payment settlement. It will also reduce a company's costs by coordinating payments with service delivery and contractual payment discounts.

Procurement software provider Intelisys Electronic Commerce Inc., which provides online procurement applications to Chase, will supply software and create online marketplaces for the new company.

The venture, which is expected to launch in the second quarter, will use open technology standards that will be interoperable with major procurement and enterprise resource planning systems, says Doug McCracken, managing director at Deloitte Consulting: "We can work with a company's existing procurement processes or create an entirely new one for them."

Politics --- where the issues and candidates are highlighted http://www.electionsearch2000.org/ 

I do not care for coffee.  But if coffee is your thing, you may want to visit http://www.coffeekid.com/main.html 

Software wars rage on --- Windows 2000 vs. the world, Timpanogas vs. Novell. John Taschek wonders when all the battles will be over http://www.pcweek.com/b/pcwt0002046/2426902/ 

Web traffic and user pattern data --- CyberAtlas http://cyberatlas.internet.com/ 

The Amish supposedly do not like to be photographed.  But there is an Amish Odyssey photograph page at http://amishphoto.com/ 

The works of women photographers --- http://www.photobetty.com/ 

CollegeDepot.com at http://www.collegedepot.com/ 

CollegeDepot.com helps you "survive college in style" by providing convenient online shopping for all your college needs. From alarm clocks to new and used textbooks to pepper sprays, you'll find a variety of products at reasonable prices. CollegeDepot.com throws in some extras like checklists for going to college or moving into an apartment, a slew of articles about college and the necessary transitions, and much more. Despite some navigation and design problems, the site is fun and worth a visit.
 http://www.accountingstudents.com/news/sow/index.asp  

Essentials of Music - from Bach to Wagner --- http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/ 

Greetings, Bob!

I would greatly appreciate your taking a moment to visit News Page 2000 at http://www.newspage2000.com, and if you like what you see, to link to it somewhere on your Web site.

I am also offering a free news ticker you can install on your site. To see the ticker and get the code to copy-and-paste into your own site, go to http://www.newspage2000.com/freeticker.html .

This is the only email you will get from me.

Thanks you.
Gene Schwimmer News Page 2000 http://www.newspage2000.com 

Cancerpage.com (health, news) --- http://www.cancerpage.com/ 

Bob,

In reading your latest bookmarks last night, I noticed your kind comments about several web sites, including the IASC and SEC. I agree that those are two excellent sites, with lots of good information and a user friendly design. Another very useful site is the FASB's. I had nothing to do with its introduction or design, but I find it incredibly helpful in staying up to date on my former associates.  

One site that should be of great interest to accountants is the AICPA's. However, I've found it to be the poorest designed site that I try to visit regularly. It's hard to navigate and it has an almost useless search feature. Late last week I tried to find something that the AICPA had supposedly issued based on an article in the Wall Street Journal. After spending quite a bit of time to no avail, I gave up and emailed a friend on the AICPA staff. It turned out that the item in question hadn't actually been issued yet. More importantly, I learned that the AICPA web site is considered "under construction" and no repairs or improvements are being made until a complete redo is complete. (I didn't find out when this is scheduled to finish.) I hope that the new design will allow accountants to get information from the Institute in a more effective and efficient way.

On a related note, one of the great things about the SEC web site is their regular posting of speeches by the Commissioners and staff. Lynn Turner, in particular, has posted a number of excellent speeches in the past two months. These are a great way for professors to keep up to date on the very large number of current accounting developments. For example, recent speeches have covered the income smoothing controversy, internationalization of accounting, several specific accounting topics such as business combinations, and independence. On the latter topic, last week a speech by Lynn was posted titled "Shifting Paradigms in Self-Regulation". It is a terrific analysis of the many independence matters facing the accounting firms and the SEC. It should be required reading for all accounting professors and for 4th and 5th year accounting students.

Keep up the good work.

Dennis Beresford [dberesfo@terry.uga.edu] 

Denny gave me permission to quote the above message.  When Denny speaks we listen as accountants and accounting educators.  The FASB website is indeed a very good website at http://www.rutgers.edu/Accounting/raw/fasb/ 

Hi Allison,

I don't think there is any ideal model or even a great program to try to emulate at this point.

Keep in mind that the auto repair shop with the best equipment is not necessarily the best place to take your automobile. On the other hand, the shop with the best mechanics may not be able to fix a newer car that is almost as computerized as an F17 (which has over 50 computers on board). The best old mechanic is at a loss without modern diagnostic computers and specialized mechanics. For example, some large dealerships cannot afford to keep a "dashboard mechanic" (who knows how to deal with computers under the dash) on full time. As a result, various dealers outsource dashboard work to a mechanic who serves more than one dealer.  These mechanics may earn over $100 per hour.

The best of both worlds is to have the latest technology and the best mechanics. Similarly, in accounting education we would like the latest hardware/software (e.g., SAP, Oracle databases, servers that can serve up synchronized interactive multimedia courses around the world, etc.). But the best hardware and software are wasted on faculty who either cannot or have no incentives to become as modern as their new tools.

I do see rapid curriculum revision for eCommerce. In some cases there are entirely new concentrations in eCommerce (e.g., at TCU), new elective courses (e.g., UC Berkeley), and new partnerings between universities and corporations (e.g., Duke, Columbia, Stanford, etc.) The speed at which new courses and programs are popping up in virtually every business school is astonishing. However, the reasons are quite simple. Students are demanding it to a point where a program that is behind in eCommerce will lose enrollments. Students are interested in eCommerce for many reasons. Probably the most important reason is that a background in eCommerce greatly improves their career opportunities.  One place to start for curriculum ideas in eCommerce is at http://www.ebuzz.org/ebuz-html/frame_efiles.htm .  The TCU web site is at http://www.neeley.tcu.edu/academic/bba.htm.

The highest technology curricula are rich in AIS courses (e.g., Southern California, Michigan State, and Arizona State). Some programs are deeply immersed in ERP/Accounting programs --- see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245glosap.htm  . But having a high tech AIS program is no assurance that faculty in other areas of the curriculum are not riding in horse and buggies to classrooms and devoting 90% of their courses to textbook chapters.

It does not help much to contact employers regarding curriculum revisions. Employers typically want everything and only on occasion provide realistic priorities. The Ernst & Young curriculum in Assurance Services (at Notre Dame and the University of Virginia) is quite innovative if you are looking for ideas. However, in states like Texas, that curriculum will not meet requirements to sit for the CPA examination (in my opinion). Still, these are very innovative programs that come close to meeting requirements to take the CPA examination. Take a look at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm#ErnstandYoung 

Please let us know if you find some great answers to your question.

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Allison Ambrose [mailto:aambrose@SAUNIX.SAU.EDU]  
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 2:57 PM To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: technological curricula

Hi all, here is a loaded question---what would a technologically up-to-date accounting curriculum look like today? I will leave it at that. 
Allison

In reply to Beverly's recent question about Australian Universities, there were a number of helpful replies.  One in particular contains some links that may be of general interest.

There is a publication on Australian universities which might help. It is called the Good Universities Guide to Australian Universities and is published each year. A search using NorthernLight.com returned the following URL which might be helpful, http://www.bookworm.com.au/pm001787.htm .

AltaVista Australian search returned: http://www.ashmill.com.au/about.htm  [fhe URL was down when I tried]

Excite.com.au returned: http://www.thegoodguides.com.au/about.cfm  [This links to the actual guide, however, you must join to access the information].

Yahoo.com.au search returned: http://www.thegoodguides.com.au/about.cfm 

You might also want to check out the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs which is the Federal government body responsible for Higher Education. Its main page on Universities can be found at http://www.detya.gov.au/highered/unis.htm . Also check out http://www.detya.gov.au/highered/index1.htm , particularly the publications section.

You might also find this resource helpful: http://www.mc.com.au/unihome.html 

Hope all this helps with the Australian aspect.
Andrew Priest [a.priest@cowan.edu.au] 

Hi Andrew,

I cannot help you with your Stanford status symbol question. I do suspect, however, that we will see other prestige universities being googled. However, you may be interested in the following commentary about Google.

In my New Bookmarks on April 2, 1999 a philosophy professor (Curtis Brown) stated the following in http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book99q2.htm  (I might note that I could not get your link to work this morning, whereas his link to Google still works):

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Chances are many of you know about this already, but I thought I’d mention that the search engine I now go to first for most purposes is Google ( http://www.google.com/  ). This search engine rates a site higher the more links there are to it from other highly rated sites. Don’t know exactly how they manage that, but in my experience the results are remarkable—if I’m looking for one particular site, it’s usually the number one-ranked result.

I suppose it wouldn’t be so effective for very new or very esoteric sites that no one (yet) knows about. But for sites that have been around long enough for word to get out, it’s very effective. It may not find things that Alta Vista or HotBot or whatever wouldn’t find, but it does a much better job of putting what I’m looking for at the top of the list. The web site describes it as a "Beta" version, but it looks ready for prime time to me.

(example: type "thomas" into Google and the number one result is the library of congress site with information about the US Congress. This site isn’t in the top 50 results for HotBot, Alta Vista, or Lycos (though it is #1 on HotBot’s top ten most visited sites for that search string). Similarly, a search for "Phil Gramm" on Google turned up his Senate homepage as the number one link. This wasn’t in the top 20 on HotBot or Alta Vista; a subpage of his Senate site was around number 10 on Lycos.)

Another nice feature of Google is that they cache the pages: if your search results include a broken link, you can still bring up Google’s cached copy of the page to see what used to be there. The cached pages are text only, but they use the URL for the original page as the base for relative links so that if images are still there they will load properly.
Curtis

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Cheers as they say Down Under,

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

-----Original Message----- 
From: Andrew Priest [mailto:a.priest@COWAN.EDU.AU] 
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 11:01 AM 
To: AECM@VAX.LOYOLA.EDU 
Subject: Google and Stanford

Hi All ... something to ponder ....

Google Search engine has a specialty search for Stanford University at http://www.google.com/stanford/. Is this some new university status symbol? Or a real useful search tool? I am a little confused. :-)

Cheers 
Andrew

Hello Dr. Jensen,

I was surfing through your website earlier today and I came upon the page giving a brief tutorial in the usage of WS_FTP at the address http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/ideasftp.htm .

I think you and your customers will be interested in learning more about the most powerful FTP client available for Windows 9x/NT, the award winning FTP Voyager. This FTP client has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. FTP Voyager lets you update a Web site with a single click, transfer files directly between FTP servers, and resume interrupted downloads.

FTP Voyager is a perfect tool for Web developers or anyone that moves files on the Internet. FTP Voyager is available for evaluation and can be downloaded for free from RhinoSoft.com.

The interface of FTP Voyager has the simplicity to allow beginners to use it with ease while including advanced features for the experienced FTP user. We are confident that you and your customers will find this rare combination of simplicity for novice users and advanced features for the experts a combination that no other FTP client on the market can compare to.

The free download of FTP Voyager can be found at http://www.rhinosoft.com/ftpvoyager.exe . I would also be more than happy to send a FREE registration ID to you which will allow you to fully use FTP Voyager. Just reply to this e-mail with your name and e-mail address and I will make sure that an ID is sent to you immediately.

If you believe that your customers would find this product a useful addition to their Internet experience, we encourage you to include an FTP Voyager tutorial ( http://www.rhinosoft.com/uploading  ) or a link to our home ( http://www.rhinosoft.com ) on your website to inform your customers about the most powerful FTP client available, FTP Voyager.

Thank you for your time and we hope you enjoy using FTP Voyager!

Douglas J. Papenthien - Software Developer Rhino Software, Inc. - Creators of FTP Voyager, InterQuick, and FtpTree ActiveX http://www.rhinosoft.com http://www.ftpvoyager.com  - PC Magazine's Best Internet Utility for 1999 http://www.interquick.com  Voice: +1(262) 593-2751 FAX: +1(262) 593-2753

Search Engines Update!

Stop by to find the latest search engine resources and news at www.searchiq.com 

In this month's "What's New" Get the low down on the "human assisted" searches provided by sites like WebHelp and LookSmart. (Hint: You're better off using one of the top rated meta search engines listed at Searchiq.com)

Check out the review of the Karnak Library. (Digs deeper over time than any other search tool if you've got plenty of time.)

New Features For those people who would like to avoid dealing with the data dumps that search engines provide, we've added a new section of Link Guides. These are "best of the web" links selected by editors and individuals. Depending on a users searching proficiency, these link guides can be a great place to start exploring the web or a particular topic (see the topic link guides.)

As always, SearchIQ provides candid reviews of which search and meta search engines to use and which to avoid. Read the reviews, try out the search tools and find what you are looking for faster with SearchIQ. If you're looking for a particular subject check out the comprehensive directory of specialty search engines and directories.

Don't forget to bookmark SearchIQ.com, so you can check back regularly for information on new search engines, meta search engines, search engine reviews, specialty search engines and search tips and link guides.

Sincerely,
Charlie Cook SearchIQ.com

Who is really the jerk concealed behind dark glasses?  Is it Brian or Bob?

Hi Brian,

I must admit that I did not entirely review your teen web site. I did see some things that seemed to glamorize what I view as demeaning to young teens. I would hope that we would all strive to instill higher values and aspirations in our youth. Perhaps you do so in your own way by communicating with them in a way that will attract their attention at http://www.fashionteen.com/ 

Although I still have my own opinions about some of the items in your web site, I will give your equal time in the next edition of my New Bookmarks. Maybe I am just getting old and set in my ways.  But advice to teens who do not have boyfriends illustrates why I think this website's advice is demeaning."

Number 2 (Appropriately numbered in Bob Jensen's Opinion)
Free to make out with a stranger - I don't necessarily condone this behavior, but when it comes to going out, meeting new people, and who knows what else, single is best. You are available to make meeting new (male) friends your priority. Let's face it, it's hard to be a flirt with your boyfriends arm around your waist.

Number 7 (Nothing but crap.)
When you date someone, ultimately you have to meet his family. I know my family and believe me, one is enough! I have enough time trying to sort out what's going on in my house without having to know how cousin Ralph's girlfriend got pregnant while he was at camp, and having his brother make kissing noises over the phone when I call.

Number 9 (Do teens really need advice that the only cool guys are gay?)
Guys are work. The only ones that come packaged well with the right clothes, hair and attitude are gay and that is a whole different set of problems you aren't ready for. When you are single you don't have to think about ways to get your guy to stop wearing Airwalks to dinner. You don't have to train him to remember things like Valentine's Day and your birthday, and you don't have to tell him to use his spoon when he eats his soup.

I think the sick web site makes my point for me with or without the dark glasses.  If your desire is make teenagers more like the cast of characters in daytime soap operas on television, then you probably are doing a good job.  But for those of us who think that life is more than flirting and toying with relationships, your advice to teenagers is a menace to youth at the most vulnerable points in their lives.

Bob Jensen

-----Original Message----- 
From: Brian Rusch [mailto:crush@fashionTeen.com]  
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 1:31 AM 
To: rjensen@trinity.edu  
Subject: Dark colored glasses

Professor Jensen,

I would like to thank you so much for taking the time to review our web site and then include it on your page of bookmarks. While I am sure that it was not your intention, the traffic generated by your little remark was substantial enough in the morning hours to register on our database. I am sorry you did not take more interest in our site, but rest assured that the irony in this situation did not go unnoticed. It amazes me that you had the time to thoroughly analyze the site for its value as a marketing and promotional tool that perfectly caters to its intended demographic. Its a shame that with all the time you spent going through the site, you were not able to include your constructive criticisms as to why the fashion and celebrity photography was not on par with the level of photography included on your web site.

As a person matures, they tend to see things in a completely different light than when he was younger. You might almost compare the wisdom maturity offers as a pair of dark glasses. What a shame that so many of us as we mature, forget to occasionally remove our dark glasses, so that we might once in awhile don the rose-colored glasses of our youth. Maybe forgetting to remove these dark glasses is a contributing factor as to why most truly innovative ideas are occurring outside of academia.

Please feel free to include this letter (or as I imagine more likely) a portion thereof in the next edition of your amusing little page. Also feel free to continue providing a link to fashionTeen. While being interviewed for a front page story in the Wall Street Journal today, I mentioned your comment about eating "them". Do not worry, I would not dream of not crediting the author. I told the reporter, Kemba Durham, how she could contact you so that she might get an exact quote.

Thanks again for your contribution!

Sincerely,
Brian Rusch Creative Director
fashionTeen.com crush online publications http://www.fashionteen.com  
p.o. box 1414 hollywood ca 90078 email crush@fashionteen.com  

From Web Monkey Front Door on February 10, 2000 --- http://www.netsubstance.com/ 

TODAY'S MONKEY BITE ... As the Internet industry continues to boom, sprouting cute little startups on the side of the highway like weeds, we're suffering a major shortage of unique names. Finding just the right company or product name is difficult enough, but couple that with the headache of coming up with a catchy and available URL, and you're looking at logging some long hours at the whiteboard. Luckily, Paul Ford came up with the Brand Name Generating Device. Just plug in the words you'd like to include (you can't go wrong with "cyber" and "inter"!), modify the vowel and suffix percentages, and let 'er rip. The CGI script will spit out weird, nonsensical — but unique! — names, free of charge. So far we've come up with "wyberex," "internetera," and a possible portal name, "myber."

Hello Dr. Jensen:

My name is Brenda Mullins. I am the Directory Manager for EduWiz.com. I was very impressed with your site. I would like to exchange URLs.

The Education Wizard - EduWiz.com

URL:  http://www.eduwiz.com 

Description: The Education Wizard - EduWiz.com is an education based searchable directory for college and university educators and students.

If you have a moment, drop by and add your URL: http://www.eduwiz.com . This is a free service. I think your site would make a nice addition to EduWiz.com.

Thank you for your time,
Brenda Mullins Directory Manager

Pro2Net Accounting (formerly AccountingNet) Update http://accounting.pro2net.com  
For the Week of February 7, 2000 :

1. This Week's Accounting-Specific Headlines 
2. Online GAAP Searchable by Keyword 
3 . Feature Articles for Public Accountants 
4. Sharpen Your Recruiting Skills 
5. This Week's Hot Talk Guest 
6. Survey Results: Who publishes the best GAAP guide? 
7. Our Tip of the Week

AccountingStudents Newsletter: February 8, 2000 http://www.accountingstudents.com 

1. Tara Sims on the Not-for-Profit World 
2. Managing Stress in the Workplace 
3. Get the News Professionals Use 
4. Survey Results: What do you use the Internet for? 
5. Internship Question of the Week 
6. Tip of the Week: What to do once you get the job 
7. Site of the Week: CollegeDepot.com 
8. In the Forum

The AccountingWEB Friday Wrap-Up Newswire - Issue 29 February 11, 2000 http://www.accountingweb.com 

1. IRS Target Audit Areas: What Are They? 
2. CCH Debuts Online Tax Preparation For $7.50 
3. Statistics on the "Vampires of the Bottom Line" 
4. New York Wants Martha Stewart To Pay Up 
5. H&R Block Website Shuts Down Temporarily - But Not Because of Hackers 
6. Andersen Consulting Takes Stake In Dot Com Companies 
7. "Train To Retain" Means More Than Just an Educational Path 
8. Auditing: Cash Cow or K-Mart Special? 
9. Tips To Consider When Selling To Female Owned Businesses 
10. Windows Tip: A Shortcut to Shortcuts

February 13th Internet Essentials 2000 --- http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html 

1. Hand-helds and Cell Phones on the Company Network? 
2. Auditor Independence Called to Question at Cisco Systems 
3. PriceWaterhouseCoopers Details 5 Steps to Prevent Denial of Service Attacks 
4. Bargains Galore at Unclaimed Baggage.com 
5. Small Business on the Net Expanding Rapidly 
6. Double Your Stock Portfolio? 
7. RSA Plans to Thwart Web Attacks with Puzzles

From Debbie Bowling

Thought you would like this quote from the www.quoteland.com  website:

"There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence." -Jeremy S. Anderson <../author/13.html>

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?" -Anon. <../author/1.html>

"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside." -Robert X Cringely <../author/113.html>

"Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window." -Steve Wozniak <../author/490.html>

Texas Bumper Stickers:  Erika and I drove to Laredo last week.  These are a few of the most memorable bumper stickers along the way.  They were mostly on parked pickup trucks or motor homes.  A few were for sale in restaurants and gas stations.

i souport publik edekashun

My kid can beat up your honor student

Will Rogers must've never met a lawyer.

Beautify Texas. Put a Yankee on a bus to Chicago.

Lotteries:  A tax on people bad at math!

U.S. Congress Motto:  If it ain't busted, Fix it 'till it is!

DAM : Mothers Against Dyslexia

Veni, Vidi, Velcro --- I came, I saw, I stuck!

Eschew obfuscation

Don't Tailgate Me. I flick boogers and pee in a coffee can.  (that pickup also had an Aggies bumper sticker)

Driver carries only $20 worth of ammunition.

My family's tree is straight and narrow.  (What this really means is that the tree has no branches ---  Like the Texan who changed husbands three times but never changed her in-laws.)

Grow your own dope, plant a man.

Jesus loves you! He's unique.

Forwarded by Dick Wolff --- Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.

A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon. "How do you know what to say?" he asked. "Why, God tells me." "Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?" 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
A father took his 5-year-old son to several baseball games where The Star-Spangled Banner was sung before the start of each game. Then the father and son attended a church on a Sunday shortly before Independence Day. The congregation sang The Star-Spangled Banner, and after everyone sat down, the little boy suddenly yelled out, "PLAY BALL!!!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
A 6-year-old was overheard reciting the Lord's Prayer at a church service: "And forgive us our trash passes as we forgive those who passed trash against us." 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
After a church service on Sunday Morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, "Mom, I've decided to become a minister when I grow up." "That's okay with us, but what made you decide that?" "Well," said the little boy, "I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit and listen." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
A Sunday School teacher challenged her children to take some time on Sunday afternoon to write a letter to God. They were to bring their letter back the following Sunday. One little boy wrote, "Dear God, We had a good time at church today. Wish you could have been there." 
******************************************************************** 
What does the word Bible mean? 
A father was approached by his small son, who told him proudly, "I know what the word Bible means!"

His father smiled and replied, "What do you mean, you know what the word Bible means?"

The son replied, "I do know!"

"Okay," said his father. "So, Son, what does it mean?" "That's easy, Daddy. It stands for Basic Information Before Leaving Earth."

Debbie's Corner

This is the first edittion of New Bookmarks that will feature "Debbie's Corner." Debbie Bowling is my secretary. I put her on a job to find interesting things at university web sites around the world. She will report back each week on what she considers her best finds of the week. If they have links, she will go to the painstaking trouble of repairing broken links. This week's find (with a lot of broken links that she corrected) is from Abilene Christian University --- links that are "Fun, Useful, Interesting, and Odd."

Dr. Jensen

As I was browsing through Abilene Christian University's web page, I came across these links that I thought you might be interested in...a lot of fun sites to include in your Bookmarks of the week page!

Debbie