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I was part of a group of students that went to the Freedom Fitness Center [Manassas, Virginia]. We were split up into several groups. One group was participants, another was observers, and another was surveyors. I was part of the surveyors group.  Each person contributed toward the questions for the survey. We were to ask people certain questions and they all had to be exactly the same. The selection of respondents was completely random.  Each person went around the large facility asking the same 9 questions. I was able to survey three men and three women. I did not try to do this on purpose. I did not notice it at the time either. I was trying to get anyone to respond to the survey. Read more…

Friday Night Lights written by H. G. Bissinger is about a relatively small town and its great fascination with high school football. The book raises questions about the role of sports within education. Bissinger uses several examples within the book to show negative and positive role sports have had within the academic community. The positive impact sports have had will be seen in Brian Chavez example. The negative impact of sports will focus on the financing for education versus athletics, and actions involving apathetic athletes and the administration. Read more…

Six-Player basketball is a game that was played almost exclusively in the state of Iowa.  Six-player basketball developed in an era that considered women weaker.  The era also maintained that women should be well mannered in both dress and actions.  The sport-rivaled boy’s basketball both in popularity with fans and revenues it created.  Until its complete demise in 1993, Six-Player basketball was part of Iowa’s State identity.  Though the courts concluded that Six-player basketball stereotyped and discriminated against women, its demise was not a positive development because of the loss of the Iowan State identity, the players and revenues of the sport. Read more…

Last Thursday (3 May 2007), Queen Elizabeth II of England visited Jamestown, Virginia, as part of America’s 400th anniversary commemoration of this site, England’s first established colony in the New World (1607). The settlers found friendly indigenous people—-misnamed “Indians”—-who welcomed the new opportunities for trade. In 1619, a Dutch trading ship brought 20 persons abducted from Africa in exchange for goods, thus beginning the institution of slavery in North America. In her speech last week, Queen Elizabeth noted that, “[In] those early years in Jamestown . . . three great civilizations came together for the first time—-Western European, Native American, and African . . . .”  These three civilizations were also in the process of converging in South and Central America and the Caribbean.[1] Read more…

What is Enron?

Enron is the company that altered international finance forever. The company shook the corporate world. This company became the catalyst for many changes in federal and international law as well as other policies dealing with corporate accounting practices. Inquiries surrounding the rise and fall of Enron emerged because of the shifty techniques used to deceive investors and corporate watchdogs. How did this corporation pull the wool over so many people’s eyes? This essay will briefly describe the rise, fall, and international aftermath of the Enron Corporation.

Before delving into the gruesome details, let us go over the details of the Enron Corporation. In 1985 the Northern Natural Gas Company, became what will be known as the core of the Enron Corporation when the company purchased the smaller Houston Natural Gas Company. With the latest acquisition, Enron was formed. The new formed company originally dealt in the transmission and distribution of gas and electricity in the United States. In later years leading up to ultimate demise, the company dealt with multiple of other companies such as water sector, broadband, plastics, and steel. The company also became one of the world’s largest energy companies. Enron became the seventh largest corporation in the United States which interestingly enough also became the largest business scandal in United States’ history. At its epitome, its profits were $101 billion and employed over 20,000 individuals. The question arises, were these claims actual profits? This is where the accounting practices and techniques used by Enron come into question. Read more…