Bentley University News

In our digital age, “skimming” has become a growing problem. Skimmers are small devices, installed by criminals on ATM machines, self-serve gas pumps and other devices to steal information from credit, debit or ATM cards.

According to the U.S. Secret Service, thefts from ATM skimmers now total more than $1billion/year. That number is expected to rise. In January 2013, two people were arrested in New Jersey and charged with skimming more than $1 million from ATM machines.

The accounting profession is still suffering from old stereotypes: stagnant and boring number crunching. Mention the word “accountant” and people still picture a worker hunched over a desk, never seeing the light of day. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

On the heels of some pretty big mistakes by some pretty big companies, rules and regulations are constantly changing in all areas of accounting: the fiscal cliff caused unexpected tax law changes; the SEC continually issues guidance for reporting transactions.

As the winter chill sets in, I am warmly recalling a teaching experience I had at Bentley in spring 2012. That’s when I taught the history of sports for the first time.

My students may have been a little jarred by the experience. Initially enthusiastic, these sports-loving undergrads encountered considerably more history, and completed vastly more reading and writing, than any of them anticipated.

All in. That’s how Dave Gulley and I approach the monetary-policy competition of the Fed Challenge. Students train intensively for eight full months, all for a one-day academic competition against some of the best schools in the nation. That level of preparation is necessary to succeed against such stiff competition at the regional and national level.

We live in a society obsessed with copying. From file sharing to Internet memes to playlists of songs created for loved ones, we copy things every day. The pervasiveness of copying in our society has led to strict laws that distinguish acceptable acts of copying and sharing from non-acceptable acts. Laws that police piracy and protect copyright and intellectual property have become so powerful and pervasive that they discipline even our most quotidian behaviors.

You have probably heard the saying: “You know it is going to be a bad day at the office when the camera crew from 60 Minutes pulls into the parking lot ahead of you.” And the management of any organization might rightly worry that they could be the target of a “hatchet job” at the hands of one of the long-serving CBS correspondents.

But what about a case when the TV report is more like an accurate scalpel?

Sometimes good people make bad choices. It’s a part of life because we are human.

Yet, over the past decade, characters doing just that have become the focus of many television dramas. Why are antiheroes as a character archetype so abundant and popular on the small screen?

Freedom. One word suggesting a more just, humane society. Freedom lets us pick our religion, friends, and political leaders without fear of retribution. Freedom allows us to move within and across national borders and to express ourselves freely. Freedom is largely considered the cornerstone for building a successful democratic nation-state.

Today, the question of “freedom” is ever more relevant and multifaceted when seeking to understand the pro-democracy movements in North Africa, a place where I have nurtured a longtime research interest.

Your computer freezes as you check your email before leaving home. You get a flat tire on the day of a big meeting. We’ve all had days when nothing seems to be working right.

In the grander scheme of things, these little things can add up to a really bad day — especially when you know that some of the misfortune could have been avoided: The Post-it to make an appointment for new tires is sitting next to the phone; the message to upgrade software arrived last week.

Identity theft is one of today’s most pervasive and insidious crimes. It can disrupt your life, put you in jail for a crime an identity thief commits in your name, or even mix up the thief’s medical information with your own and mess up your medical care.

The holiday season may be the most wonderful time of the year (as Andy Williams used to sing) but for identity thieves it is even better. The opportunities to steal your identity increase just when many of us are apt to let down our guard.