Texting While Learning?

College Students Multitask During Lectures

College students used their laptops for frequent multitasking during classes, generating, on average, more than 65 new screen windows per lecture, 62% of which were unrelated to the courses they were taking, say James M. Kraushaar and David C. Novak of the University of Vermont. Students who allocate more cognitive resources to bringing up non-course-related material on their computers show lower academic performance. Instant messaging seems "especially virulent" as a distraction, the researchers say.

Source: Examining the Affects of Student Multitasking With Laptops During the Lecture

This is from the Harvard Daily Stat. A fun, free subscription.

This stat interested me because I deal with this in the classroom all of the time. Participants in my courses increasingly have their laptop open and are constantly checking their email and texts. Add this to the drudgery of airline travel - and it discourages me from teaching live. I'd rather not see folks ignoring me. And is it OK for someone to earn CPE credit for doing their normal work on their computer? Yes, their butt is in the seat - but their head is somewhere else.

You've been to a bar with friends and witnessed musicians pouring their heart out to a luke warm response. Everyone is talking and drinking and doing whatever! Is that where live CPE is going?

It is too bad, actually. Because my classes are interactive and folks do learn and experience stuff. I don't do 'straight lecture.' But some boring professor type instructors do - and it almost encourages people to find some other way to entertain themselves to stay awake and in the chair. And if training is just a commodity product that you have to suffer through, why not do your regular job while being there?

I remember one of my first classes for CPAs... a woman actually commented that she was mad at me and would never show up to my courses again because the nature of my class did not allow her to complete her self-study course during my live course. She always earned double credit for a days investment by having her butt in the seat AND completing an self-study quiz at the same time. Wow.

Last year, I was training live in one city for a CPA firm but was broadcast to four other cities. Unfortunately, I could see what the folks in the other locations were doing on a large screen TV. I wish I couldn't see them typing away, sifting through financial statements, having short meetings with each other.

I don't imagine myself as the world's greatest instructor worthy of every second of a students attention in the classroom. But should you earn credit just for showing up? I don't think so.

GAO's High Risk Report

High-Risk Series: An Update. GAO-11-278, February 16.

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-278

Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11278high.pdf

Podcast available - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_46.html

Aftershock

Have you read the book "Aftershock" by David Wiedemer? I scanned it last night and will begin reading it in more detail tonight. But it is such a compelling message - I want to suggest that you read it today. The subtitle of the book is "Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown."

In the book, Wiedemer describes the bubbles we have all experienced - the real estate bubble, the private debt bubble, the stock market bubble and the discretionary spending bubble. Been there, done that painfully. But we aren't done yet, says the author. Next we will experience the dollar bubble and the government debt bubble.

And I see that government debt bubble looming for sure. David Walker wrote a book called "Comeback America" which describes the bloated federal government and our overwhelming debt burden. Last year, I saw him speak on the topic several times. Unless something radical is done soon, it may take our whole economy down with it.

And, I have been doing some research for a book I am writing on fraud and have learned about the many government pensions that are in serious trouble with almost no hope of meeting their obligation.

The picture that Aftershock paints is very dark - but it does make a lot of sense. Part of me just doesn't want to believe it will get as bad as the author predicts - high unemployment, runaway inflation, huge taxes - but the other part of me is worried.

I couldn't put down an article in Vanity Fair about the collapse of the Greek government and subsequent bailout by the European Union. http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds-201010 The Greeks built a financial house of cards on lies. Luckily for them, Germany has the resources to stave off their complete destruction. But who will bail us out? Yes, the feds can bail out a car maker - but who will help us?

The authors of Aftershock go on to suggest a common currency for the whole world. Now we are getting downright biblical!

I suggest you read it. Then you can make your own call.

IFRS vs. GAAP

nternational Financial Reporting Standards are an accepted 'done deal' with large, multinational corporations. And the differences between IFRS and GAAP are significant and worth looking at - even for governments! You know that what happens with accounting in big corporations will impact the government accounting world eventually.

Although, from my informal survey (read that as emailing and calling a few buddies) many in the government realm are unaware of the changes the corporate world is undertaking. But, I also know that university accounting students are studying it as if it is the gospel truth.

I am learning it so that I can revise my book Accounting Demystified. And I ran across this PWC document that does a great job describing the change.

http://www.pwc.com/us/en/issues/ifrs-reporting/assets/ifrs-simdif_book-f...

The AICPA, as usual, maintains an air of mystery. it is almost as if they take pills to make them unable to speak plain English. But you might want to look at their site anyway. www.ifrs.com

Wisdom for Parenting or Managing... Whichever is Driving you Batty

The four types of parents:

The authoritative parent

Affectionate and engaged

Sets limits and enforces consequences

Uses reason, logic, and appropriate negotiation

Empowers a child's decision making

His or her child is likely to be:

Happy, responsible and kind

Good a problem solving

Self motivated and confident

Cooperative

An excellent student

A leader

The authoritarian parent

Emotionally aloof

Bossy; likely to say "Because I said so'

Uses physical punishment or verbal insults

Dismisses a child's feelings

His or her child is likely to be:

Moody and anxious

Well behaved

An average to good student

A follower

The permissive parent

Affectionate

Anxious to please, ends every sentence by asking, "OK?"

Indulgent

Can't say no and stick with it

Easily manipulated

His or her child is likely to be:

Demanding and whiney

Easily frustrated

Lacking kindness and empathy

A poor to average student

A follower

The passive parent

Emotionally removed or indifferent

Uninvolved

Abdicates discipline

Inconsistent and unpredictable

His or her child is likely to be:

Clingy and needy

Inappropriate and rude

Likely to get into trouble

A poor student

A follower

I guess the rest of the country is stuck with us Texans... we aren't going anywhere

Yes, we braggy, obnoxious Texans are in hot water. Last year, I saw what felt like dozens of articles praising the Texas economy… Touting us as the healthiest state in the Union. Mmmm Hmmm Marketing spin, lack of transparency, or pitiful research, I can't tell. Now our talk of becoming our own nation has died back down. Thank you!

But in order to get back on track and redeem ourselves, we are having to cut, cut cut

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/state-workers-on-edge-over-possible-layoffs-benefit-1201794.html

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/abcs-of-budget-bill-show-cost-of-proposed-1203231.html

And we are raising our next president here in Texas – our well coiffed governor, Rick Perry. You know how we like to share our governors with the world?!? He will fit right in in Washington – as up until the election, we were doing fine here in Texas (Rick was the incumbent, you see!) Rick Perry is ready – but it appears his wife isn't to happy. This article really made me laugh… Hopefully you don't have to be from Texas to appreciate it.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/somebody-needs-to-goose-anita-perry-to-get-1203160.html

Arizona Selling it's Capital!

Look at this BS idea to ease the State of Arizona's budget woes. I can hardly believe it!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-september-15-2009/arizona-state-ca...

And don't miss this cool website I found today as I write my book on Fraud in Government... The Institute for Truth in Accounting. Be sure to look at the 'reports' section so you can see an analysis of your state's financial condition. Not pretty.

http://www.truthinaccounting.org/

Defining a Performance Measure

Oh, how creative managers can be when asked to report on their performance. Progressive governments do their best to be transparent and tell their citizens what is happening to their money. But sometimes managers put a spin on how well they are performing.

I enjoyed this article as a classic example of a performance measure gone bad:

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/article_fc7911af-83f9-5bc6-9ca...

The Report can be Only as Good as the Audit Itself

Enjoy this excerpt from the self-study course - Audit Reporting: Yellow Book Style available at www.yellowbook-cpe.com

THE REPORT CAN ONLY BE AS GOOD AS THE AUDIT ITSELF

One of the most common reasons that an audit report is so painful to create is that the audit failed. Yes, I am using very strong, emotional language—failure.

One of my favorite postcards is of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And the caption reads, “Nice façade, bad infrastructure.” You must have both substance and style to pull off a good audit report. And the substancecomes directly from the planning and fieldwork of an audit.

A director of a large university audit shop called me a few years ago to ask me to teach his staff how to write. I started inquiring about what was going on. He told me, “Over and over again, we get to the end of the audit, and my team turns in their reports, and I have to direct them to start all over again. They completely miss the boat. They have no idea how to write, and we spend months cleaning up the mess.”

I then asked him how involved he was in the auditing process. He said that he was very busy meeting with the executive board and running the department, so he didn’t get involved in the audit process until the working papers were finished and the report was finished.

My little light bulb went FLASH! I asked him whether he would be open to expanding the length of the training and really fix the problem. He said he would be. And then I asked him if he would sit in on the training. I was very thankful that he said yes. It was one of my most effective gigs ever!

We went all the way back to the beginning of the process: to defining the audit objective. Without a good objective, how in the heck can you conclude? The conclusion is the answer to the objective.

For instance, your objective might be to determine if university faculty is using purchasing/credit cards to pay for allowable items. Your conclusion might be, “Yes, the majority of faculty are using their purchasing/credit cards for allowable items.” And the exceptions you find would possibly show up as findings with resulting recommendations.

But let’s say instead that your objective is a little looser than that. Your objective is to determine if the program is effective. AARGH. No wonder your report stinks. How are you going to conclude on that?

The Worst Audit Ever!

While I was working at the Texas State Auditor’s Office, the GAO came out with its new standards on performance auditing. Up to this point, the SAO had been conducting only financial and compliance audits.

Management was intrigued with the idea of a performance audit and decided to try one. I volunteered to be one of the first to leave the comfort of financial opinion audits and give one of the performance audits a shot.

One of our first opportunities to try a performance audit cropped up at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, our prison and parole system. The department had decided to parole a few guys who had been sitting on death row. (?!WHAT?!?) The legislature called us and asked us to go find out what was happening.

A group of us got in our little cars and headed out toHuntsville.

At the entrance, the executive director kept asking us, “Now what are you doing here?” And we said, “A management control audit.” To which he asked, “What is a management control audit?” And we said, “It examines the five aspects of management control, including safeguarding of assets, information and communication, …” Blah, blah, blah. And he gave us a quizzical look, which we purposely ignored.

Then after a few more minutes of chatting, he asked usagain, and we gave him the same lame response. After the third try, he finally gave up—thank goodness! We didn’t know what the heck we were doing and didn’t want to admit it! Our audit objective was basically, “What’s up?” We left the entrance conference congratulating each other on a job well done.

Because we had no real focus, each of us decided to tackle a different area at the department, which by the way was HUGE! I decided, being a CPA and having a financial background that it must be about the money. So Istarted looking at the budget process. Genius. Another guy decided to look at health care for the inmates. Huh? Another guy decided to look at the littlebusinesses the department created to employ the inmates. Only one gal actually looked at the right thing. She examined the parole process to find out why dangerous criminals had been released.

After spending all summer and part of the fall in Huntsville, we came back to the office in Austin to compile the report. And how do you think that went? We finally published the report around Valentine’s Day of the following year.

Jacque was a very talented report writer, and she was assigned to help us with this project. She had the unenviable task of taking all of the disjointed results we had come up with and tying them up with a neat bow. Our project manager kept telling her, “Come on, Jacque . . . can’t you come up with a thesis or a conclusion or something?” It wasn’t Jacque’s job to do that! Right after the report was issued, she quit, saying something about us auditors driving her completely insane.

Most of the guys who were released were back behind bars after murdering a few more folks.

“What’s up?” is a very wide-open audit objective. How do you tie together all of the disparate results in a cohesive audit conclusion and report? You can’t. No way.

Having been through this experience, I was so happy that the audit director at the university was willing to expand the scope of the training. Because everyone on the staff realized that they were planning the audit at the end of the audit and that their audit objectives were so vaguethat the team was spinning its wheels most of the time. When it came time to conclude, they swam around some more and planned some more. And often foundthat they had to go back and do more fieldwork. What a mess!

Need your Yellow Book hours? Www.yellowbook-cpe.com offers a variety of interesting, fun to use self-study courses that can be completed electronically at your convenience. Yellowbook-CPE.com is now NASBA certified.

Health Care San Francisco

Check out this interesting solution to health insurance in San Francisco. I find this very timely as my husband and I were just lamenting the cost and lameness of our family's health insurance yesterday. California... those crazy innovators...

Gavin Newsom

Mayor of San Francisco

Posted: July 13, 2009 11:56 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gavin-newsom/taking-a-bite-out-of-heal_b_231143.html

Taking a Bite Out of Health Care Costs

As Congress debates how to pay for national health care reform, here in California we are showing there are ways to make coverage both universal and affordable.

In San Francisco, we are finding that one of the most effective reforms, and the most affordable by far, is simply using the purchasing and persuasive power of our city to promote the kind of healthy habits that keep residents away from costly medical interventions and prevent chronic diseases.

Many readers already know that the only existing "public option" in America is the Healthy San Francisco program that has already covered 72% of the previously uninsured residents at a dramatically lower cost than private insurance. The data is in -- and the results show that a public option like Healthy San Francisco is more affordable than private insurance.

But in San Francisco we are going far beyond the notion of health care as just a way of treating sickness. We are saving money, and ultimately improving lives, by focusing as much of our attention on how to keep people well as we do on how to treat their illness.

We are implementing cost-effective reforms that will lower the cost of health care, while raising the level of good health, through a series of common sense programs like easier access to fresh and nutritious foods, preventative health care counseling, immunizations and promoting basic exercise. Study after study reach the same conclusion: keeping people healthy saves billions and billions in health care costs. No city in America is doing more to address that simple truth by investing in wellness, from the foods we eat to the simple steps we can take like walking a little more each day.

Last week we took a big step forward when we announced the first-ever comprehensive municipal food policy that encourages San Franciscans to eat healthy, local food. It's a simple goal that can have profound consequences on public health for our city and can bring about dramatic cost savings that are associated with healthier diets.

There was a certain amount of nay saying about our efforts to promote healthy foods. But there was resistance as well when we were the first city in America to ban smoking in the workplace two decades ago and during the numerous other health "firsts" that have made San Francisco a leader in American health policy.

Our Urban-Rural Roundtable just released its final recommendations (PDF) on how San Francisco can create a vibrant regional food production system that supports local growers, promotes local health and as an important added benefit, creates local jobs.

A separate study released last week quantifies a disturbing trend: unhealthy diets cost California upwards of $41 billion a year in health care expenses and loss of productivity. If we don't take proactive steps to reduce this trend, the costs of preventable diseases like Diabetes will skyrocket to almost $53 billion a year by 2011 in this state alone.

In San Francisco, we are trying to prevent this terrible drain on our economy by focusing on healthy lifestyles. In 2006, we launched Shape Up San Francisco, to encourage city residents to be physically active within the constructs of their daily lives. We have built a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and other important stakeholders to develop policy, programs, and research efforts to promote active living. Just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity three days a week reduces the chances of developing Type 2 Diabetes, alleviates stress, and helps prevent heart disease. And the participation of local business underlies the important lesson that healthier residents help promote a stronger economy, because businesses lose fewer days to sick time and employees are more productive.

Beyond incorporating exercise into their daily lives, San Franciscans have a demonstrated desire to eat healthier as well. To this end, we installed salad bars full of locally grown produce in more than two-dozen public schools around the City. I've seen it with my own eyes -- elementary schoolers excited about eating broccoli! We are working to promote more farmers' markets beyond our internationally famous Ferry Building. And we're requiring that city departments and agencies leverage our municipal purchasing power to encourage the consumption of fresh produce and nutritious alternatives whenever possible.

San Francisco is both a city and a county, with a municipal budget larger than many states. We are using our tremendous purchasing power to build up the market for healthy foods, to make them just as affordable as unhealthy options. We hope other local and state governments follow our lead, just as they have adopted our bold policies on banning plastic bags, or reducing the use of bottled water, or promoting local solar use.

Eating food grown within a 200-mile food shed makes our environment healthier by minimizing the carbon footprint of the meals we eat and makes us healthier because residents are more likely to consume better tasting, fresher options. It also keeps food dollars in the regional economy, a major boon to local farmers. It's a win for everyone involved.

California can no longer afford billions and billions of dollars in health care for Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, and other medical ailments associated with unhealthy diets and inactive lifestyles. Particularly not when there's a way to transition towards a food policy that encourages locally grown, sustainable, nutritious alternatives at no greater cost. We have an abiding belief in my city in the value of preventative health care, as demonstrated by our landmark Healthy San Francisco program. Healthy eating is a critical component of all-around well being, and I'm proud we're taking the first important steps on this critical public health challenge.

Assurance Fatigue

If you ever have the chance to hear or read Professor Urton Anderson's thoughts - you are one blessed auditor. He is the author of "Implementing the Professional Practices Framework" book published by the IIA. If you are following the red book - it is a MUST read document.

The week before Christmas, he donated his time to Austin chapter of the IIA. He is a professor at UT and was on the IIA standards board for years. He knows his stuff.

He shared with us an interesting graphic of three concentric circles. The core was 'controls', the middle circle was 'risk,' and the outer circle contained the word 'governance.' The graphic described the evolution of the internal auditors focus from policing controls, to asking what risks the entity is experiencing, to asking whether the entity has adequate governance or leadership. Makes sense - and I have witnessed the evolution over the past 20 years.

But the graphic begged the question, "What's next?" So, I asked. And Urton said that the next big concern for auditors is overlap. PWC in South Africa developed a way for organizations to catalog their audit coverage. This cataloging shows where the organization is receiving too much audit coverage and where they are bereft of coverage. And it is the first place I have encountered the term, 'assurance fatigue.'

Most large organization have internal and external auditors. In the government environment, you can be audited by the grantor, the cognizant agency, the passthrough entity, the internal auditor, and an independent CPA. As you can imagine, some subject are over-assured and some are ignored completely. If you are a defense contractor, you might add your ISO Auditors and other quality assurance providers. And don't forget IT. I am now experiencing assurance fatigue in my mind.

Here is the link to the PWC report:

http://www.pwc.com/en_ZA/za/assets/pdf/SteeringPoint-KingIII-Combined-Assurance-11.pdf

Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you. Originally posted on January 8th, 2011.

Gerry Rafferty passed away this week. He wrote that Steeler's Wheel song to mock Bob Dylan. He was surprised when it turned out to be a hit. But he was a natural hit maker and had a very unique but pleasant voice. Remember the Baker's Street album? My Dad played that over and over - on cassette - in his Ford Bronco. Ah, the 70s.

I also remember singing that song to my audit brethren during a difficult audit of a university. The University staff was incompetent and they hated us. They gave us every reason to turn tail and leave. But because of our mission, "To make a difference in state government,' we stuck it out. And we were miserable. Miserable.

But the bonds I made with my fellow auditors on that audit are still in place. We didn't turn on each other. We can still reminisce about our experience and with time see it with humor. We even have a bit of nostalgia about it now - like I do for that moment driving to New Orleans with Baker Street playing in my Dad's Bronco.

I tell my students in Basic Audit Skills courses to be very nice to each other. I tell them to look around and make friends, because these are their peeps. Other auditors are the only friends and auditor has. Auditors are shunned or politely tolerated at Christmas parties. Operations staff will rarely be your friend - they can't afford to take the risk and neither can you. I tell new auditors to embrace their situation and try to laugh about it. My granny always said, "Better to laugh about it than to cry."

I assume Gerry Rafferty laughed about his parody of a dominant Bob Dylan all the way to the bank.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.