Professor Elam

Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M

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  • Professor Elam

    SA Express news Endorses Mayor’s Suggestion of Ethics Czar (Auditor)

    Weekend January 27 2013

    The SA Express News has abandoned all semblance of journalistic fourth rail integrity regarding our Mayor. Indeed the paper reads more like the Mayor Castro Fan Club. Governonr Perry is continually under fire for his security expenses. I have yet to see a word on the Security Expenses for our globe trotting Mayor. But I digress. 

    Today the SA Express News  endorses the idea of an Ethics Auditor, an idea Castro proposesd last week. I visited the idea in an earlier post.  In their own words, an ethics auditor will make sure such officials do know when such conflicts occur. 

    Now what is wrong with this picture?  Here is where critical thinking comes in. 

    1. Ethics should not arise externally to city officials, they should know first hand how to behave. This would result from explicit on line training as well as discussion groups using real world cases involving ethics. The rules need to be laid down prior to potentail violations not after. 

    2. This is classic big governent lock the gate after the cows are out thinking. Handily the paper excuses Mayor Castro from any oversight responsbilibity. He was there on throughout this entire DiGiovanni Affair, and he is a lawyer. Where is the Mayor's responsibility to set the tone at the top? And what about our $355,000 City Manager, does that kind of money not buy some oversight?

    3. Just wondering, does the Express News have an Ethics Auditor?  I bet not. But since we are spending other people's money it's a great idea for the City. By the way the City already has both an Ethics review Board and an comprehensive Internal Audit Department. Why not use existing resources?

    4. The revolving door of City Council Members doing business with various City entities should already be verbotten. Again, where was the Mayor on this one, no doubt in London or making promoting pre Kindergarten education for 4 year olds. 

    The media should fill a vital role of questioning all hte actions of elected officials and holding them accountable. In this instance the Paper has given the Mayor a free pass. And of course the Paper never really took a osition on whether the  DiGiovanni admonishment was appropriate. 

  • Professor Elam

    Persistence

    Friday Jan 25 2013

    Robin Wong suggests the key to success is persistence.

     

    The honest truth is, there is no shortcut. You cannot bypass the steps of going through all the failures, or shooting all the ordinary photographs, until you finally be able to achieve something beyond the normal photographs. I still find most of my photographs looking rather similar to what anyone else can find on the web when you just google street photography. I think it is the ultimate desire for any photographer to be known for his distinctive style in whatever he shoots, and it surely takes a lot of time for that to develop. No matter how many workshops you attend, no matter how much books you have read, you will not go much further, unless you put in more time shooting and actually making photographs happen. I know, because I have shot so much crap, and you can still find my digital junk photos all published here (proudly) over the course of many years in my archives. Some photographers would cringe when they think of their earlier work, but I do not care. I admitted I was not that great as a photographer, there still is a lot to learn and explore, and my progress throughout the years was well documented. Only through all those crap shots, failures after failures I began to evolve and grow. Into what? Well I am not too sure myself, lets hope we all have the chance to find out.

    One of my Dad's favorite movies was Spencer Tracy portraying Thomas Edison.

    After trying 500 different things for an element to a light bulb, his assistant said

    We have tried 500 things and we know no more than when we started

    Edison replies

    No we know 500 things that will not work…..

  • Professor Elam

    Bruce Howard on Non Verbal Communication

    Friday January 25 2013

    TAMUSA Student Alesha Heineman Provided us with a great summary of Bruce Howard's presentation yesterday.

    Nonverbal Communication
    Notes from Mr. Howard’s lecture
    ·
    P1240011

    55% of communication is indicated through body language!
    · Make a positive first impression. Dress for success!
    ·

    5 Different types of nonverbal communication

    1. Repetition-
    Example) Nodding your head up and down instead of saying yes.

    2. Contradiction-
    Example) Frowning while greeting someone.

    3. Substitution-
    Example) Smiling that you are excited instead of saying it.

    4. Complimenting-
    Example) Patting someone on the back instead of saying, “Great job!”

    5. Accenting-
    Example) Telling someone “No!” and pounding on the table at the same time.
    ·

    Posture is important! Whether you are standing, sitting, walking, etc.
    ·

    Be aware of gestures that you use while talking to someone.
    ·

    Make eye contact but don’t stare down the person. Focus on their head.
    · Watch out for spacing.

    Don’t get too close.
    · A handshake should consist of three shakes.
    ·

    Your voice is a nonverbal communication. It is about the timing, pace, tone and direction.
    ·

    Don’t use “ummmm”, “aaahhh” or “like” while speaking.
    ·

    Prepare before an interview in order to be confident.
    · You should treat an interview like a test, study beforehand!

  • Professor Elam

    Letters to the Editor

    Wednesday Jan 23 2013

     Letters to the Editor of the SA Express News have two individuals that  are unhappy with the outcome of the DiGiovanni ethics question.

    Deputy City Manager DIGionanni  helped create Centro a public private partnership to revitalize downtown.

    He was on a panel to recommend firms involved in the largest construction contract in SA History, re doing the Convention Center.

    The recommendation was for Zachary to received part of the contract.

    Zachary himself is the vice chairman of the Centro Partnership.

    DiGiovanni is now the CEO of Centro, a position he openly sought. He did ask for an ethics ruling after the fact. In a recent post I disagreed with  the Mayor that the city needs and Ethics Czar. Rather everyone should receive ethics training. The City already has an Internal Audit Function which can serve in this fashion.

    Today the paper ran two letters to the editor quite unhappy with the outcome, What do you think?

     

     

  • Professor Elam

    More study tips from our friends at Gleim

    Wednesday  January 23 2013

    We have a Gleim student rep on campus, she  is

    Ericka M Barrientos <erickam.barrientos@jaguar.tamu.edu>

    Gleim has begun their own free series of You Tube Videos. Go to this link, again this is free.

    http://www.youtube.com/user/GleimAccounting

    So far they cover the CPA exam, the Registered Tax Preparer exam,and some ideas on how to sudy acconting. Again we are tyring to provide you with multiple sources of information to further your accounitng studies.

  • Professor Elam

    Accessing Cengage Now – No Additional Fees Necessary

    Wednesday January 23 2013

     An alert student asks about the message that she should send more money to Cengage for continued access to Cengage Now.

    The simple short answer is NO, you have paid all you need to apy with your tuiltion. The access I gave you  is what is usually a free look period. But since at TAMUSA you paid for this already, we will issue you another key code which will give you continued access to cnegage now. I am just receiving these and will post them class by class on BB, thanks for the inquiry.

  • Professor Elam

    Another Opinion on Lance

    Wed Januayr 23 2013

    Kathleen Parker  believes Lance has fallen far enough. As she puts it

    Armstrong, though he accepted Oprah’s invitation, declined our kind invitation to fall to his knees. Nor did he ask for pity — or offer excuses or names. He refused to play snitch and, apparently, has no well-crafted strategy for redemption. He’s simply saying he did it.

    Perhaps it is a mistake to judge a person’s sincerity by affect. We all grieve in different ways; perhaps, too, we experience guilt and shame in our own way.

    Stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, his Olympic medal, ousted by the foundation he created and facing multiple lawsuits, Armstrong has fallen just about as far as one can. It seems enough.

    That's Kathleen's opinion but I doubt that is the opinion of the former friends adn media outlets he sued, and recovered monetary judgements. He sits atop a fortune of millions of dollars accumulated in via fraud.I was of the opinion at the time that coming back in 2009 was a huge mistake, Had he stayed out of the spotlight, he might have avoided scrutiny, but his ego did not let that happen. 

    i suspec that Lance will spend a good deal of time as a professional legal defendant in the future. 

     

     

  • Professor Elam

    Bruce Howard Speaks Thursday Noon

    Thursday January 24 2013

     Room 168, Small Auditorium 12:00 Noon

     Bruce Howard is the Operations Manger at FHK LLC. He will speak on

    the Importance of Non Verbal Communication

    The presentation and answers are expected to last one hour. Bruce is a member of our Business Advisory Board. Every time he has come to campus he has been most popular with my students they engage him for the entire class. I am hoping to make this a regular feature of our campus so please tell your students about it. He regularly visits Central Texas Universities and is a popular speaker at all of them. He also worked for several years in the UTSA Career Services Dept.

    WE can only increase the number of speakers on campus by having high attendance. Please plan to make this meeting.

  • Professor Elam

    Printing E Books

    Tuedsay Jan 22 2013 12 11 PM CST

    I have received several reports that students are still not able to print via office depot, Michelle is working on this and sends this message, recall that we are using the derivatives text today and for thenext few days to so that should help

    Dennis Elam

     

    I am sorry Dr. Elam I am inquiring from Office Depot again why it is not yet posted on the site. I have told me that it will be posted by today. In the meantime students can print from the e-book in CourseSmart as well. They will click on the printer icon and can print 10 pages at a time.

     

    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

  • Professor Elam

    Boost Your Productivity with Mindfulness

    Tuesday January 22 2013

     Here are five ideas on improving your producitivity.

    This author agrees with Salman Kahn that multi tasking does not work.