Sunday Morning Feb 3 2013

Three students in the ethics class alerted me that Blackbaord is down. If it is down I cannot send an announcement on it. Clearly no student will be held liable to do something that cannot be done. If BB is down you cannot post, try back a few times, I am sure it will be back up in the next day or two. But don't sweat a deadline of today, if it is up by tomorrow that is fine. No doubt many of you have super bowl party plans later today. 

Thursday January 31 2013

 Your sales and support team forwarded your inquiry to technical support. I wanted to let you know that the display view for all students in the following courses has been corrected:

* Intermed Acct I (T&R) – Course Key: E-TWQN3AFX4Q8AE *

Intermediate Acct I (M&W) – Course Key: E-TWQNPDHRH26E9 *

 Intermediate Acct. II (T&R) – Course Key: E-TWQN4Q2AZAX43

What this means is that your students have a single course listing with an open button (instead of more than one open button leading to CengageNOW). Additionally, any prompt to pay has been removed. You still have a small number of students who have not yet registered–once they register the codes we have provided them, they too will have this corrected view of the courses they are part of. These students still need to register with CengageNOW: E

-TWQNPDHRH26E9 ACCT 3311 MW 800 2451

 Beard,

 Shelia Garza,

 Charles Hill,

 Jeremy Olinick,

 Jenna Salazar,

Stephanie

Thursday January 31 2013

 It's that time of the year again, we need nominations for the Accounting Student of the Year. OUr past winners include Arturo Villareal, Ericka Martinez, and Remi DeLouche.

We are looking for students who not only display academic ability but have been active on campus. The winner will have his or her name inscribed on the plaque and accompany me to the Awards Ceremony at the Oak Hill CC later this semester. Students need to be taking a 4000 level class at this time to be considered.

YOu can obtain a form from your professor or right here at my Office 181 directly behind Cynthia and Renee.

Wednesday January 30 2013

IBM partners with Waterfund to create a new global water index. This wil reflect the actual cost of producing water. Now wter is priced under its cost.

We are studying derivatives in class. Here is another creative used of a derivative. No doubt this will lead to a water futures contract as well as a water ETF. And if IBM is involved you know this is a serious matter.

This is the perfect examplle of why we are studying derivatives, expect more creative uses of these instruments in the future.

Monday January 28 2013

Hi Dr. Elam I wanted to confirm that the e-books for both Acct 3311 ( has been on the site since 1/14) and Acct 3312 are now live on the Office Depot site. If any students need assistance in placing their orders or logging in with the access please refer them to me. I do apologize for any delays this may have caused students. Again I am here to help the students in way I can. I have late hours on Tuesdays from 10-7.  

Best Regards,

Michelle Martin

E-Book Program Coordinator

Texas A&M University-San Antonio

(210)784-2307

mmartin@tamusa.tamus.edu

www.tamusa.tamus.edu

Monday January 28 2013

It is 8:33 AM and I have just concluded reading scanning underlining the Monday WSJ. How many TAMUSA business students did that I wonder?  here are a few things I learned or  caught up on. 

• The US lead from behind strategy continues to embolden terrorists, they studied and had knowledge of the plant from unskilled workers, a bit better intel and they could have blown up the plant. 
• A few years back San Antonio was named one of the fattest cities in America. This makes SA ground zero for diabetes research. More American kids face the risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Observation, where are the plans to use our gym at Brooks to encourage physical fitness/
• Another Armstrong Charity cuts ties to Lance, too bad, Athletes for Hope was organized to convince athletes to work with existing charities rather than start their own. 
• Attitudes harden in Washington with Obama's picks for his Cabinet and posts. The WSJ notes that Treasury Designate Lew came from Citicorp, one of the worst performing banks that Obama says was the problem. 
• L Gordon Crovitz notes that Milton Freidman warned Silicon Valley of getting involved with the government, now the government complains of excessive Silicon Valley lobbying. 
• Will South America ever deliver the living standards of their commodity rich continent to its citizens? Mary O Grady writes an excellent column on South and Central America every monday Today she presents the idea of Direct Distribution Mechanism which would move oil revenue to citizens rather than through the government. This past year to win re election Chavez boosted government spending to 50% of GDP, ouch. 
• Engineers of Victory a book review describes how lesser known figures conquered the logistics of WW II. 
• Taxes matter as the article Mickelson and the Sports Start Tax Migration shows. A significant number of sports starts now reside outside California, I mentioned this last week. 
• France lacks the air and navy support to get its troops to Mali. Observation, the opposition in Mali probably reads the WSJ. 
• Heard on the Street on page C 8 is particularly interesting. It describes how various grades of oil are priced depending on where produced and the logistic difficulty of getting it to market. We are discussing futures and options and their pricing in class, anyone interested?

Every day a student tells me he or she wants to be a CPA. I have designed an intermediate accounting program to get you there, but you have to embrace it, dive into it, and make it your own.