Thursday, December 26, 2019

Factors Influencing Health Outcomes On Health - 2352 Words

Factors Influencing Health There is overwhelming evidence that race and socioeconomic status play an influential role in determining health outcomes. Detangling of the web of causation can be difficult, as many demographic variables are correlated (e.g. Hispanics and African Americans are disproportionately impoverished). Nonetheless, it is clear on a number of health measures that minorities and the poor face worse results than their counterparts. This is true even after taking into account variances in genetic diseases. African Americans have higher infant mortality and a lower life expectancy than whites of the same economic and educational status (Braveman, Cubbin, Ergerter, Williams, Pamuk, 2010). The poor a lower quality†¦show more content†¦Accessibility to health care is another factor that leads to health inequalities. As mentioned above, the poor are less likely to have access to health care. According to Braveman et al. (2010), there is also a great deal of evid ence that, after accounting for socioeconomic status, minorities receive â€Å"fewer medical procedures and poorer quality medical care than whites†. It also seems that the biggest difference between minorities and whites concerns disease progression, rather than incidence rate (Braveman et. al, 2010). Despite all this, there is reason to believe that health inequalities between racial groups has been decreasing over time. Between 2003 and 2013, the gap in life expectancy between blacks and white decreased 2.3 years (Kochanek, Anderson, Arias, 2015). Unfortunately, some of the decrease may not just be due to gains made by minorities. In a much discussed recent study, it was found that the morbidity and death rate for middle-aged non-Hispanic whites was rising (Case Deaton, 2015). The death rate increase was largely driven by increases in alcohol and drug poisonings, as well as suicides. This result went against historic trends, was not seen in Hispanics and Blacks (both of whom saw a decrease) and was unique amongst the seven industrialized nations studied. In addition, there were declines in self-reported mental and physical health, but increases in psychological

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Death Of Venice By Thomas Mann - 1958 Words

In Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, Tadzio is likened to the sun, and thus represents an illuminating force for knowing what is truly good and just and by consequence represents a â€Å"higher truth.† This quest for knowledge on what is good becomes apparent as Aschenbach becomes more and more infatuated with Tadzio, not in a romantic sense, but rather a sense of seeking what he believes is right, a platonic relationship which ultimately sparks Aschenbach’s demise. Aschenbach’s motives are somewhat muddled as he enters the second half of his life and seeks to find what is true. To do this he decides to take a vacation to Venice where he meets Tadzio. After being a rather stoic and cold person, this all melts away as he basks in Tadzio’s presence†¦show more content†¦For the outside, secondary source for this paper I have chosen Plato’s The Republic, specifically for this paper; Book VI. Written in 380 BCE, the ten books within cover a variety of topics from the nature and definition of justice to the discussion of the higher truth and all that it entails. The work is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of philosophy of all time and perfectly encapsulates the Socratic method of critical thinking and augmentative skills. Plato was the writer of the work but never played a role in it, instead only recording his mentor Socrates. This source was chosen due to its direct discussion concerning the famous â€Å"analogy of the sun.† From 507b-509c, Socrates and Glaucon – Plato’s older brother – discuss finding the truth and how one would go about doing such a thing. To argue this point, Socrates uses the analogy of the â€Å"child of the good† and then later shows that this child is the sun. What he aims for is to show that when light is not cast on something, then one cannot see it but when it is, that is when it becomes illuminated (Plato, 507d) This process can be applie d to many

Monday, December 9, 2019

Internal Audit To Analyze The Business Functions †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Internal Audit To Analyze The Business Functions. Answer: Introduction: Internal Audit Internal audit is an organisations initiative, made up of a number of different strategies and tools that help to monitor and analyze the operations and business functions of itself. This type of audit helps and organisation to understand how well does it fare in meeting certain and specific criteria, both internal as well as the market requirements. In an organisation, internal audit helps maintain many aspects of business departments and activities, including focusing upon the enterprises risk management functions, maintaining regulatory compliances of the company and security processes (Hayes, 2017). The most important aspect of an internal audit is to find the bridges and discrepancies between the initial plan of an operational process and the actual outcome of those processes. This is the most crucial part that the auditors are supposed to do. When any discrepancy is identified and documented, the auditors include these reports and issues in the final reports, that are sent to t he companys leadership who would then be making decisions and decide which processes should be altered so that the operations of the company can be improved (Pizzini, Lin Ziegenfuss, 2014). What is fraud Although there are varying definitions of the term fraud the most general versions refer to the dishonest activities or ways that are used by people to make personal gains for oneself or a group of people or organisation, while making another person or group incur loss. The term generally encompasses activities such as theft, conspiracy, acts of corruption, extortion, money laundering and embezzlement. The effects of fraud on organisations can be devastating and last for a long period of time, even after the act of fraud has been done (AlzebanGwilliam, 2014). Apart from the apparent financial troubles it causes the company, it can also become the reason for organisations or companies to be shut down. Frauds can come in many forms, some of the most notable ones include, fraud regarding financial statement, misappropriation of assets, larceny and skimming of cash, intellectual property theft, fraud over healthcare services that are to be given to the employees, misusing the assets of t he company, deception of the customers and exploiting them for financial gains by taking advantage of their limited knowledge. Role of IA in an organisation Internal audit department play an important role in a firm as it key element in the accounting system, help to evaluate the works of all department. It can also be descript as a backbone of an organisation accounting where all the crucial business related record is involve. AccordinglyTampubolon (2005) Internal Audit works as extra sights and hearing ensuring policies implementation smoothly and as flawlessly as possible for management. Internal audit also work as enterprise risk management (ERM) by recognizing goal, potential factor element of risks and recline response to counter take the risk appropriately (Ritches Brindley, 2007; Sitkin Amy, 1992). Internal audit played as internal control system and numerical appraisal to ensure accounting system that are appropriate and reliable. At the same time, internal audit acted as preserver that established fund for the constant development and executions of system to prevent the invested fund is being exploited and minimize loss due to negligent (Al-Shammari, 2010). Conducting internal audits of an organisationon a regular basis helps to uncover a number of hidden facts and potential frauds. It also helps to assess a companys controls, the amount of waste it produces and any abusive conduct by the employees that the higher authority is not aware of (Newtonet al., 2015). The frequency of the audits depends upon the department of the company that is to be examined. Some specific departments that manufactures products in large scales require day to day audits to maintain quality of the products, while some other departments are audited annually (Boyle, DeZoortHermanson, 2015). While an external auditor concerns her or himself with the financial risks that are faced by the company, internal auditors take care of a huge array of risks, that encompass a lot of aspects and are directly related to the companys reputation and growth in the market. Internal audits are often the reliable source to find if the companys reputation is being hampered in any wa y; like if the employees are being treated in an unfair manner or safety violations are being documented (Yeeet al., 2017). One of the foremost roles of internal audit is to ensure the risk management processes are effective, efficient, secure and compliant with the laws and regulations, after assessing those risk management procedures of the companies. Internal audit also assesses and risk management culture of a company along with evaluating the same and reporting on its effectiveness; and to find out if the management policies are being implemented efficiently. IA identifies the key activities of the organisation and the relevant risk factors as well as assessing their significance in the operations of the organisation (Lenz,SarensD'Silva, 2014). Risk is often assessed while keeping in mind that market trends and business or economic conditions continuously evolve. Internal auditing techniques have changed from being reactive and control based to become more proactive and risk based in nature. This aspect of internal auditing enables the auditors to predict and anticipate future opportunities and concerns based on the current issues. Internal auditors also are skilled in strategic objectives of the organisation, which enables them to review the operations and report their findings to the higher authority.Every organisationmust adhere to the laws, regulations, ethical guidelines and principles of a country (LenzHahn, 2015). Effectiveness of IA to detect organisational fraud According to Abbott, (2000) IA has been found to reduction in the possibility of companies are facing fraudulent financial reporting by the audit committee. However, the size of the internal audit group will contribute the accuracy like larger firm will need larger group of experience auditor to minimize environmental risk (Goodstein, Gautam Boeker1994; Pearce Zahra, 1992; Pfeffer, 1987). Internal audit influence risk management of organisation potential factor element of risks and recline response to counter take the risk appropriately (Ritches Brindley, 2007; Sitkin Amy, 1992). The relevant experiences of the internal auditor play a part in the effectiveness audit performance as well as accuracy to identify the risks. Internal auditor with more year experiences will make faster and prompt response as compare to those who are newly graduates. With Management Support Internal audits effectiveness in performing its duty cant be alienated from cooperation and support by both the management and stakeholder, mentioned by Ebrahimpour and Lee, 1988; Tugiman (2005) whom had exemplify management support played none omitted role that ascertain the successful internal audit and their support result not just influence the quality of internal audit but also constructive and also pessimistic as well. Research done by Gramling, (1999) that proof with lack management support will result in auditor unable to functions efficiency hence will allow fraud, treacherous of accounting information and transaction. Chain reactions from high pressure apply from the management to diminish the independence of the internal audit department. Internal auditing is comprised of tools and other strategies that help to uncover the potential fraud threats to a company. Internal auditing also helps to identify discrepancies in the organisations operations and financial transactions, to clearly track if any fraudulent activities have been carried out (Parkeret al., 2017). Fraud detection methods need to be adaptive, flexible and has to be continuously evolving, in order to meet the changes of the risk environment. Even though preventive measures for fraud are apparent and easily defined, the detective controls to identify fraudulent activities are not always so easy or identifiable themselves. In most cases, organisations have to be reliant on the employees themselves to report suspicious activities that may stem from internal fraud (Ege2014). Employee feedback is helpful in the notion that many employees often want to share their own information regarding the organizational operations and activities, as well as reports and know ledge regarding illegal activities. There are many methods and ways to use the employees to detect fraud within the organisation. For example: Confirmation of code of conduct: When the employees sign a code of conduct in an organisation which they are obligated to follow and respect, it is their responsibility and duty to report any violations of operational activity and the organisation can ask them to do so (Chenet al., 2016). Whistleblower: A telephone hotline can be used by the organisation so that any employee can report suspicious activities to the higher authority while remaining anonymous. This can also an internet based portal or hotline as well. Exit interviews: Conducting exit interviews of employees who are leaving the company or have been terminated can give important insights and knowledge about fraud activities in an organisation.They can also give ideas and information regarding the environments and conditions that induce fraudulent activities (CostanPopa, 2017). Employee survey: Organisations can conduct regular employee surveys to solicit knowledge from the employees that would be giving ideas about fraud or unethical activities within the organisation. Apart from these methods, organsisations can also conduct surprise internal audits in the areas that are prone to fraud activities. Weakness of Internal Auditing Despite internal audit system being a process and mechanism that helps organisations in many ways, it too has some drawbacks and deficiencies and is not completely perfect in ensuring an organisations absolute transparent transactions and operations (Bhattacharjee,Maletta Moreno, 2015). These weaknesses must be addressed by the business owners if they wish to continue with their operations in the industry. Internal audits can be very broad in their application. This can create a weak internal audit control in the organisation (Everett Tremblay, 2014). Business owners should look into creating an internal audit system that would be addressing specific issuesrelated to the business operations because systems that cover too many functions do not produce maximum benefits for the company. Rather, these controlling systems should have only a few clearly defined policies for each department. By having specific policies for specific issues, the business managers and the employees are provided with the ability to focus upon proper application of the control systems and implementation of the policies. Internal safeguards are also often time consuming (Chambers Odar, 2015). In many cases, the managers and the employees are forced to think up of new and alternative approaches to problems that are faced in the business simply because the originally proposed plans are too time consuming and require s special attention that entails other functions to be delayed. In many cases it has been seen that internal audits fail to detect planned fraudulent activities within the company.In order to conceal inefficiencies and manipulate accounts, the management can play many tricks which are never disclosed and hence the audit accounts fail to show a proper fair view of the transactions of the company. If the information that is delivered from the management itself is false, then the internal audits have no chances of identifying these issues and fraud activities will lead to misleading ideas (Abbottet al., 2016). Background entries are also not absolutely clear to the internal auditors and generate vaguely defined clarifications to the accounts. In many cases internal audit reports and formats are not comprehensible simply because of its technicality. The inability to communicate with the employees, and often the managers as well, about the functions of the audit reports and how to interpret them can lead to serious problems as they would not be possessing adequate knowledge (KnechelSalterio, 2016). For small businesses, managers or owners often do not have any clearly defined policies about the key business processes. Ironically, this is one of the most unused control tools that can manage business operations with the minimal efforts. An effective procedure can help to align the business operations with the objectives of the organisation and thus helping to establish the required operating procedures. A clearly defined business plan and procedure is the key for a proper internal audit. However, in most cases, internal audits fail to correctly process the information of the organisation as the auditors do not have any clear idea about the companys operations or procedures (Hopkin, 2017). If these drawbacks of the internal audit control system can be tackled and overcome, there is a full possibility that businesses and organisations would be able to operate according to the goals of the company and also have a clearer and transparent functionality (Malaescu Sutton, 2014). Data and comparison for organisation with and without IA In recent years there has been significant discussions and debates regarding whether internal audit is in fact beneficial to organisations and if companies which use internal audit processes are more likely to detect incidents of fraudulent activities within the organisation. To determine if IA is indeed helpful to detect fraud, survey data of KPMG Fraud Survey from 2004 that used a unique self-reporting fraud measurement for the first time, which related to misappropriation of assets. The survey gave results that successfully showed that organisations that used internal audits were more likely to detect fraud than those which did not. Furthermore, companies that outsourced their internal audit functions were also less likely to detect any activities that may pertain to being fraudulent in nature (BadaraSaidin, 2013). This gave significant and logical explanation that internal audit actually does add value to the functionalities and operations of the company through better controlling and monitoring procedures within organisations. In 2004, KPMG conducted a huge survey taking data from 491 organisations and compared the data to understand whether internal audit is beneficial for organisations to detect fraud. The survey was based on the hypothesis that organisations with internal audit can detect fraud better than organisations without the same. Moreover, the survey also aimed to give definitive answers regarding whether orgnisations that outsource their internal audit control systems are less likely to detect fraudulent activities than those which conduct the audits from within the organisation. The participants of the survey were the organisations that responded to the fraud survey across Australia and New Zealand. Industries including government organisations had participated in the survey through mails. A median revenue of $180 million and a median employee capacity of 545 showed that these organisations were all economically significant (Coetzee Lubbe, 2014). The organisations were required to fill out a m ailed questionnaire regarding whether they have internal audit or not and the size of the process, as well as the bodies that were responsible for carrying out the audit. Among the organisations, 68 percent had internal audit; 48 percent of them using their own staff for the audit, 27 percent outsourced the process and 25 percent conducted the survey using both the surveys. Almost 44 percent of the respondents had experienced fraud. The survey used a chi-square test to understand the relatedness, or independence, between the organisations with or without internal audit function and the likelihood of the same to report fraud activities in the organisation. The chi-test came out with a value of 26.79 with p0.001. this shows a significant difference in the detection of fraud depending on the existence of internal audit. Internal audit helps organisations to self-report fraud. The size of the organisation is highly correlated to the chances of a fraud and reporting it. The survey clearly showed that organisations with internal audit is more likely to detect and report fraud than those which do not. It was also concluded that insourcing the audit is more effective than absolutely outsourcing the entire process (Christet al., 2015). The fact that this survey was conducted based on self-reported data ensures the gathered information is rich and also shows that the companies which did have an internal audit control process were more likely to participate in the survey, as they can detect the cases better. Analyses on fraud case studies Corporate Scams are one of the biggest organizational troubles, which not only harms the economy of the company but the country as well (Waisman, Ye Zhu, 2015). The cases of the frauds taking place in the organization are often due to the involvement of a number of top employees in the organization. The inability to detect such frauds is often attributed to the auditors, as they are the ones conducting the internal audits in the organization. one of the major issues of concern brought into question is the fact that how these frauds are covered up all these years and fail to show up unless there is whistleblower. The fraud of Toshiba amounting to 1.2 billion USD is greatly harmed the organization and brought it to the verge of bankruptcy but the issue worth contemplating is how it went undetected even after internal audits. The Toshiba fraud brings the auditing company Ernst Young ShinNihon in question of fraudulent activities. It is the Auditor of a number of companies involved in accounting scandals Japan most notably the Olympus scandal in 2011 ("Key questions in Toshiba scandal still unanswered", 2017). In case of the Toshiba scandal the motive of the executive was not of siphoning off profits from the organization but to hide losses to make the company look good in the eyes of the investors and the stake holders (Suzuki, 2017). The Undetected Fraud: One of the major questions posed by this fraud was the cover-up of the fraud. The reason of the cover-up and the process of the cover up of the fraud are a topic to be concerned. The major strategy of managing the organization among the Japanese is to give more importance to the will of the will of the executives than of the stakeholders. It was not that the people in the organization did not know of the fraud but the Japanese business organization run on as practice known as makoto (Engelberg, 2017). This gives an organization a military like structure and a work environment, which fields the view that the stakeholders should always know that everything is fine in the organization leading to top-down cover-up of the issues in the organization (Engelberg, 2017). The makoto code prohibits the employees from sharing the problems faced by the organization outside the organization (Mcfarlin Sweeny, 2008). The fraud of Olympus was also revealed when an outsider was appointed as the CEO. The organizational structure followed by the Japanese organizations is largely responsible for the cover up of the fraud. Why Internal Audit did not detect Toshiba Fraud The corporate Audit division of the organization conducted the Internal Audit of Toshiba. The Corporate Audit division of the company mainly provided the consultation service to the different organizations of the company. The Internal Audit wing of the organization is not differentiated from the management because of which the auditors too were involved in the hiding of the data of the losses being run by the organization. the internal auditors of the organization usually should not provide consultation services. The internal audit of a company can only be true to its motive if it is allowed to function without any influence, which is not the case with Toshiba (Bhattacharyya, 2017). The lack of independence while conducting internal audits is one of the major causes of the fraud not being detected. The makoto culture prevalent in the organization made the companys Internal Auditors to work in the favor of the organization and make favorable accounts (Kazuo, 2017). The constant effort of the organization to meet the will of the executive of the organization and the Japanese culture of trying to make the company look good in the eyes of the stakeholders is one of the major reasons of the internal audit cover up. Thus, in the case of Toshiba it is not the personal gain and the lack of internal audit facilities causing the total fiasco. The organizational system of Toshiba is responsible for the cover up as it does not allow the Internal Audit to run independently and the accounting rules are bent to fit the executives will. References Abbott, L. J., Daugherty, B., Parker, S., Peters, G. F. (2016). Internal audit quality and financial reporting quality: The joint importance of independence and competence.Journal of Accounting Research,54(1), 3-40. Alzeban, A., Gwilliam, D. (2014). Factors affecting the internal audit effectiveness: A survey of the Saudi public sector.Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation,23(2), 74-86. Badara, M. A. S., Saidin, S. Z. (2013). The relationship between audit experience and internal audit effectiveness in the public sector organizations.International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences,3(3), 329-339. Bhattacharjee, S., Maletta, M. J., Moreno, K. K. (2015). The Role of Account Subjectivity and Risk of Material Misstatement on Auditors' Internal Audit Reliance Judgments.Accounting Horizons,30(2), 225-238. Bhattacharyya, A. (2017).Toshiba - a case of internal audit failure.Business-standard.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017, from https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/toshiba-a-case-of-internal-audit-failure-115080900760_1.html Boyle, D. M., DeZoort, F. T., Hermanson, D. R. (2015). The Effects of Internal Audit Report Type and Reporting Relationship on Internal Auditors' Risk Judgments.Accounting Horizons,29(3), 695-718. Chambers, A. D., Odar, M. (2015). A new vision for internal audit.Managerial Auditing Journal,30(1), 34-55. Chen, Y., Gul, F. A., Truong, C., Veeraraghavan, M. (2016). Auditor client specific knowledge and internal control weakness: Some evidence on the role of auditor tenure and geographic distance.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,12(2), 121-140. Christ, M. H., Masli, A., Sharp, N. Y., Wood, D. A. (2015). Rotational internal audit programs and financial reporting quality: Do compensating controls help?.Accounting, Organizations and Society,44, 37-59. Coetzee, P., Lubbe, D. (2014). Improving the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Risk?Based Internal Audit Engagements.International Journal of Auditing,18(2), 115-125. Costan, L., Popa, S. (2017, May). The Company's Internal Audit Seen as a Piece of a Complex System. InControl Systems and Computer Science (CSCS), 2017 21st International Conference on(pp. 371-374). IEEE. Ege, M. S. (2014). Does internal audit function quality deter management misconduct?.The Accounting Review,90(2), 495-527. Engelberg, K. (2017). Law.emory.edu. Retrieved 25 November 2017, from https://law.emory.edu/ecgar/_documents/volumes/3/3/essays/engelberg.pdf Everett, J., Tremblay, M. S. (2014). Ethics and internal audit: Moral will and moral skill in a heteronomous field.Critical Perspectives on Accounting,25(3), 181-196. Hayes, C. H. (2017). Internal audit as police: perhaps it's time to embrace our image as corporate protectors rather than fighting against it.Internal Auditor,74(3), 68-69. Hopkin, P. (2017).Fundamentals of risk management: understanding, evaluating and implementing effective risk management. Kogan Page Publishers. Kazuo, M. (2017).Toshiba Accounting Scandal Highlights Issues in Corporate Governance.nippon.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017, from https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a04802/ Key questions in Toshiba scandal still unanswered. (2017).Aljazeera.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017, from https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/10/key-questions-toshiba-scandal-unanswered-151011075457531.html Knechel, W. R., Salterio, S. E. (2016).Auditing: Assurance and risk. Taylor Francis. Lenz, R., Hahn, U. (2015). A synthesis of empirical internal audit effectiveness literature pointing to new research opportunities.Managerial Auditing Journal,30(1), 5-33. Lenz, R., Sarens, G., D'Silva, K. (2014). Probing the discriminatory power of characteristics of internal audit functions: sorting the wheat from the chaff.International Journal of Auditing,18(2), 126-138. Malaescu, I., Sutton, S. G. (2014). The reliance of external auditors on internal audit's use of continuous audit.Journal of Information Systems,29(1), 95-114. Mcfarlin, D., Sweeny, P. (2008).International Management 2008 Edition: Strategic Opportunities And Cultural Challenges(pp. 119-120). Wiley. Newton, N. J., Persellin, J. S., Wang, D., Wilkins, M. S. (2015). Internal control opinion shopping and audit market competition.The Accounting Review,91(2), 603-623. Parker, R. J., Dao, M., Huang, H. W., Yan, Y. C. (2017). Disclosing material weakness in internal controls: Does the gender of audit committee members matter?.Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting Economics,24(3-4), 407-420. Pizzini, M., Lin, S., Ziegenfuss, D. E. (2014). The impact of internal audit function quality and contribution on audit delay.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,34(1), 25-58. Suzuki, D. (2017). ACCOUNTING FRAUD AND ACCOUNTING STANDARDS: THE CASE OF TOSHIBAS FRAUDULENT ACCOUNTING. . Waisman, M., Ye, P., Zhu, Y. (2015). The effect of political uncertainty on the cost of corporate debt.Journal of Financial Stability,16, 106-117. Yee, C. S., Sujan, A., James, K., Leung, J. K. (2017). Perceptions of Singaporean internal audit customers regarding the role and effectiveness of internal audit.Asian Journal of Business and Accounting,1(2), 147-174.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Of Mice And Men Essays (489 words) - English-language Films, Films

Of Mice And Men George was in a state of shock after he had shot Lennie. All of the workers were suspicious of George and they were all talking about the incident when George went back home. Curley was very angry and he was looking to cause trouble as usual. Curley came up with a preposterous idea that George had planned to kill Lennie. He told all the workers that George was to have Lennie do all the work and then George would rake in all the pay. He said that Lennie didn't like it anymore and he threatened to tell on George. Curley said that George was just looking for a reason to shoot his friend. After George had told everyone of George's plan they were going to confront George. When they did, George threw a punch at Curley and a fight broke out between George and most of the workers. George got thrown to the ground and that's when Slim stepped in. Slim threatened to hurt every one of them if they didn't go away. The next day when George had awakened from his bloody beating, Slim had told George that Curley's father had canned the both of them. Slim and George were trying to figure out what they were going to do. George remembered that he told the old couple that he would take the farm. When he told Slim about the idea of the farm, Slim agreed and they tried to come up with the money. Between George, Slim, and Candy, they only had 500 dollars, which included what they had already sent to the old couple. They thought and thought of an idea to get another 100 dollars, but there was no possible way they could. They had all packed up and they were ready to be on their way. They began to walk out into the forest and to see what new obstacles they would have to overcome. George and Slim heard hooves off in the distance. All of the sudden they saw two men on horses in the distance. One of the men was white and the other was black. When they got near, George and Slim realized that it was Candy and Crooks! When they got off the horses, Crooks took out 100 dollars and handed it to George. They all were jumping and yelling with happiness. George looked up and yelled ?we finally did it, we finally did!? They made camp and the next day George mailed off the letter with the rest of the money. With the four men on horses they were on their way to their new life. They reached the farm a few days later to greet the old couple. They looked around and the place needed a fixing up, but to them the place was a dream farm. They realized that they had overcome their challenges and they were ready to start a new beginning.