Fair Value Accounting and the
2008 Financial Crisis
The 2008 Financial Crisis has caused nightmares for people all over the United States. Unemployment rates have risen and money has been lost from what were thought to be good investments. In the midst of what some have said is "the greatest strain on our economy since the Wall Street Crash of 1929," everyone is looking for the cause ("Causes and Effects" par. 1). Humans naturally need to blame something for their troubles, and many have pointed fingers at greed or at credit. However, some economists and bankers are pointing their fingers elsewhere, towards something called fair value accounting, a rule for "measuring companies' assets and liabilities ("FAQs" par. 1)." Could something as simple as an accounting rule really cause a financial crisis? Fair value accounting has had a major impact on our nation's financial troubles. Read More
Kinetics and Pain Relief
Pain relief is important to anyone who has ever experienced a migraine. For these people, the relief can never come fast enough. Hugo J. Maas and his associates knew this, thus they investigated the relationship of absorbance rate and lag time to the onset of pain relief in their study, "Relevance of Absorption Rate and Lag Time to the Onset of Action in Migraine (Maas 139)." Maas's study uses two parameters, absorbance rate and lag time, to analyze several different absorbance constant values and dosages of triptans available to the consumer today. Read More
Profile of "John Doe"
A man is forced to mutilate himself, and "Greed" is written on the floor in his own blood. Yet another person is bound to his bed for a year until he becomes a living corpse - this man is an embodiment of Slothfulness. Finally, the killer himself is killed for his Envy, at the hands of another man's Wrath. These crimes represent only four of seven deadly sins. "Se7en," a New Line Cinema production, portrays the sick serial killer John Doe as an organized, methodical serial killer of unknown origin that rationally chooses his targets, including himself. Read More
Profile and Risk Assessment: Trench Coat Mafia
General strain theory speaks of three types of strain that are a result of negative relationships. One of these types of strain is exposure to negative or noxious stimuli. Eric and Dylan had been surrounded by jocks, squirted with ketchup, and called "fags." On yet another occasion, feces were thrown at them. In one YouTube video, someone who once knew them said, "I kinda know why they did it. Finally someone did something." Bullying, a form of negative stimuli that many kids experience, had an influence on these boys and their reasons for the Columbine massacre. Read More
Analysis of Antacid Tablets
An acid-base titration is a method of neutralizing strong acids. Unbeknownst to many, acid-base titrations occur on a daily basis. Our stomachs use acid to help us digest our food - approximately .155 hydrochloric acid (HCl) with a pH of 2-3. When too much of this acid is formed in the stomach, heartburn and other discomfort occurs. This is when people grab for their antacids; these are bases that neutralize the excess acid in the stomach. Read More
"Doctor, We Need to Talk"
Approximately 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with either hypo or hyperthyroidism ("Statistics About Thyroid Disorders"). To make an already outrageous number even more astounding, an additional 13 million people have no idea that one of these two thyroid conditions could be causing their pain and suffering. These latter undiagnosed patients need to be informed about the types, causes, diagnosis, and treatment of thyroid conditions in order to engage in their legal right... Read More
Say Yes to Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is a form of justice that has been practiced by many cultures at one time or another, even the ancient Jewish culture of the Bible (Consedine 3). In May of 1974, this ancient practice was put to modern use in Ontario, Canada, focusing on the practices of restitution, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Since then, many more countries have begun to implement this justice process that makes offenders take responsibility for their crimes. But has the adoption of this principle worked? Restorative justice has proven to be a success in more ways than one. Read More
Why We Should Stay in Iraq
The United States Army first set foot in Iraq in March of 2003 when President George W. Bush declared war on Iraq for the purpose of protecting our country from enemies overseas. Four years after the invasion, our friends and family members are still stationed in Iraq to tie up loose ends, and in the midst of the good we have done and the goals we have accomplished, some people wish that we'd just go home (Daher, par. 8). Not shockingly, a good number of these people are fellow Americans as six out of ten people in the United States think that the government should bring either all or some of our troops home (Page, par.1). A few of the reasons these people use in favor of leaving Iraq are: the amount of money this war is costing our country, the numbers of both Americans and Iraqis that are being killed, and the apparent lack of progress. However, looking closer into these three arguments, one can see that these reasons are not as solid as they may appear. Read More