THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINEPromotingIndividual

Achievement Vol. 6 Issue 2

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What Is Your Best Fit?

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE November 2012 | 2

Letter from the Editor

Dear Reader,

Thank you for your interest in our magazine!

October, the time of Halloween and Trick or Treating, a time of masks. November is a time of shifting gears from the first half of courses to the latter part as students prepare final projects and prepare for final exams. SIFE is in effect changing its mask and shifting gears as well. It is re-branding to ENACTUS! The name better reflects the initiatives of the SIFE teams around the world, including the Windsor Team; SIFE Windsor is in the process of transitioning to Enactus Windsor over the coming months.

We at the magazine would like to extend our sincerest and warmest thanks Dr. J. Pathak, Associate Professor of Accounting, at the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor. His contribution on the accounting field will greatly help students in making an informed career decision in accounting.

If you are interested in contributing to the magazine, please contact us attheexecutive@sifewindsor.com. Also, if you have any comments on how to improve the magazine, please leave your feedback in the comments section at sifewindsor.com/ex-ecutive or by e-mail.

Sincerely,Jeffrey WayowProject Manager

2012 Publication Staff

Project ManagerJeffrey Wayow

EditorsJaclyn KlapowichJessica KnappRebecca Taylor

Special Guest Writer Dr. Jagdish Pathak

WritersAriel BrothmanVedant PandeyJeffrey WayowBenjamin IannettaBrandon Marentette

Graphic DesignersBrooke LeeShoban Gnanaswaran

TranslatorsDavid DurocherThomas RinshedQin Tu

The Executive Magazine is a venture put forth by SIFE Windsor to help promote individual achievement through entrepre-neurship.

November 2012 | 3

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Inside This Issue

Interview with Dr. Pathak |p. 5Cover Story

By Vedant PandeyInterview with an Accounting Professor from the Odette School of Business

Scarves for the Cure |p. 14Stories from SIFE (Enactus)

By Brandon MarentetteEntrepreneurship in Local Windsor ON High School

Getting in Deep With Student Loans|p. 19Student Life

By Benjamin Iannetta

What’s in a Name?|p. 12Stories from SIFE (Enactus)

By Jeffrey WayowRebranding SIFE to Enactus

Old Habits Die Hard|p. 18Editorial Cartoon

By Brooke Lee

Letter from the Editor |p. 2

Pumpkin Harvest on Campus|p. 19Seasonal

By Ariel BrothmanPumpkin, Pumpkin ... AND MORE PUMPKIN!!

Cover Story

November 2012 | 5

What professional designation are you working towards? CA, CGA or CMA?

If you’re a new accounting student, you better get used to this question. Everyone will be asking you about your future plan. Not that it seems to matter any more with a likely merg-er of the three in the future. But that’s not what this article is about. What if you feel that none of these are a fit for you? You know they have value and they open plenty of doors…but isn’t there anything else out there? The Odette Account-ing Society interviewed Professor Pathak to explore the al-ternatives.

Vedant Pandey: Professor Pathak, could you list some alternative accounting designations apart from CA, CGA or CMA?

Dr. J. Pathak: CGA, CA and CMA are accounting designations but in accounting you don’t necessarily study a lot of auditing. Audit-ing by itself is a profession. So, naturally, it has its own certifica-tion. The Institute of Internal Auditors in the U.S. grants the CIA designation – Certified Internal Auditor, which is exclusive for a form of auditing, called ‘Internal Auditing’.

Written By Vedant Pandey

Interview withDr. Pathak

VP: CAs, CGAs, and to a lesser extent CMAs, already perform auditing roles. What differentiates the CIA designation?

JP: The CIA designation allows you to work anywhere in the world. The CA, CMA, and the CGA designa-tions have their specified jurisdictions for practice. CIA is universal; you can take it anywhere and practice wherever you want. It is a very important opportunity available to accounting students and many of my for-mer students have their CIA. And, more importantly, CIA makes you competent individual for operational, compliance, and internal auditing domain.

VP: What is the process of acquiring the CIA designa-tion?

JP: It is very simple and easy to get. A 4 year degree and 2 years experience are required. If you have a qualified Master degree then you only need 12 months experi-ence. You can write the exam while you are completing your degree. Now you look more attractive to employ-ers and you just require the work experience.

VP: What is the demand in industry for professionals with CIA designations?

JP: Public companies now have to comply with the Sar-banes-Oxley Act or its equivalent. This means that top management of these companies must certifythe reli-ability of their internal controls. So who will do this for the CEOs? They appoint for this work to Certified In-ternal Auditors. This role has become very significant now because of increasing regulations. Almost all of the fortune 500 companies are employing CIAs. Most large corporate houses have a “Chief Audit Officer” re-porting directly to the corporate audit committees.

VP: Are there any other alternative designations that students should consider?

JP: Compliance has also become very important since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Companies are also in need of compliance auditors. Controls, systems and busi-ness processes are executed by computers nowadays. This requires a unique type of auditor. This individual must be competent in auditing as well as information technology. The designation is called CISA – Certified Information Systems Auditor. This is another universal designation. CISA is very useful for double major stu-

dents in business and computer science. The CIA and CISA designations are very prominent among public companies.

VP: Could you provide any examples of potential em-ployers for this field?

JP: CAs and CGAs have the big four public accounting firms. CIAs and CISAs have many potential employ-ers including the big four and outside these, one very notable one is Accenture. Most of the large companies outsource their internal accounting to them. You will be at least equally respected if you work for Accenture then if you worked for one of the big four.

VP: Do you have any advice for our students when con-sidering a designation?

JP: It is important to open your eyes when deciding. Don’t remain focused on only one designation. Not everyone is fit for one designation. You need to assess your strengths and interests. Those who have computer science backgrounds should consider CISA. Even if you would like your CA, it is very appealing to pubic accounting firms if you have passed the exams before applying. If you happen to love audit, but not necessar-ily accounting, then you should definitely consider CIA or CISA.

Professor Pathak is Odette Business School resident expert in financial, systems, fraud and forensic audit-ing. If you would like to learn more about these des-ignations you can explore https://na.theiia.org for CIA or www.isaca.org for CISA. You can also email oas@uwindsor.ca for more information.

Dr. J. Pathak’s teaching interests are in the areas of Audit and Information Technology Auditing.

His areas of research interest include: Strategic & Emerging Technologies in

Accounting, Continuous As-surance, IT Audit, Enterprise Systems Assurance, Fraud &

Forensic, Corporate Governance, and Cost

Optimization.

http://www.uwindsor.ca/odette/accounting-area-faculty

NOT JUST BUSINESS AS USUAL.

ALL SIGNS

POINT TO

ODETTE.

Whatever you want to be, we can help you get there.

Learn more at odette.uwindsor.ca.

I want to takethe family businessto the next level.

I wan

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The change is quite dramatic, though rebranding need not be, i.e. the Starbucks logo, words to no words. Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) is rebranding! They are undergoing a name change from SIFE to Enactus. The name change is intended to better reflect the core competency of the not for profit organization. The change allows the organization to stay current and in the forefront of the minds of the decision makers. The change will further differentiate Enactus from oth-er top their student leadership organizations. It will fur-ther highlight the organization’s commitment to con-tinuing to generate outstanding student leaders, as well as the commitment to community improvement. The projects of the many Enactus (Formally SIFE) teams from around the world will continue to impact their communities, but their new name, Enactus will better reflect the organization’s core competency, IMPACT!Break down the name, Enact and Us. Enact as defined by Webster, 1) to establish…and authoritative act 2) act out <enact a role>; ‘Us’ is and objective case of we. That is, ‘we’ as a global team, Enactus, ‘enact’ in all of our various projects across the globe. The teams make a dif-ference in their communities, they enact a difference in their communities. That is, not only de WE, Enactus Windsor, act as an

upstanding member of the Windsor-Essex community, but they also ACT to make a positive difference in the community! Projects like Computers for Kids, and The Refugee Clinic have less of a focus on entrapaneur-ship and more of a community based focus. Others like YouThrive and CityThrive are more entraneurially based, but the primary focus is still community based. That is, the name change better reflects the focus of the organization, i.e. community impact over entra-paunerail initiatives. Computers for kids helps to keep computers, and the hazardous materials contained there within out of land-fill, recycling; and putting the much needed refurbished electronics into the hands of the underprivileged. The Refugee Clinic, acclimatizing new immigrants to the Canadian legal, employment, and health environments. These progams’ deliverables are much more focused on the community, than an entrapunerial angle. The projects with an enrapanurial focus, i.e. the Thrive Initiate (YouThrive and CityThrive), focused on help-ing small business start ups, with those in high school and those on social assistance, respectively. The focus of the initiatives, is to make entrapanurship a viable op-tion in the community, whereby they become job cre-ators in a city hard hit by the economic downturn.

Stories From SIFE (Enactus)

Written By Jeffery Wayow

What’s in a Name?

Student Life

November 2012 |10THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE

Like many conditional resources, OSAP is initially wonderful, yet completely limited. Students receive

what little money the average-student should meet to scrape by—all while granting the opportunity to re-main payment and interest-free until the completion of post-secondary education is reached. Receiving large sums of money at once is no new ob-stacle to the unemployed in need of financial control. Many will argue that OSAP funding is leaving students with a false sense of security. Thus, rendering students to their own fiscal demise as finals approach and OSAP runs out. The fact still remains that this money is not an earned income; it is merely a student loan granting one with just enough money to attend post-secondary education based on individual financial need. That be-ing said, OSAP is not meant for anything beyond the essentials of the student life. However, we consistently see this reality slip away from us when our 5 to 10 busi-

ness days are reached and our bank accounts yet again skyrocket into the thousands. Our spending habits are becoming more and more dangerous. By overusing this loan for the purchases of non-essential items, students are left with the con-sequence of pursuing additional sources of income—mainly credit. Newfound credit can lead students into a number of dangerous paths when not used with re-straint. The hazard of unpaid bills not only translates to additional charges, but also to one’s credit rating; which in turn, transfers over to a higher future interest rate for any type of credit, i.e. a mortgage or car loan. More commonly, the most dangerous spending hab-its can be attributed to small things, such as eating out or something as simple as a $2 coffee. Based on a study done by the Ontario University Student Alliance (OUSA), OSAP only grants $7.50 a day for food, or $226 per month.

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE November 2012 | 11

Therefore if one purchased $50 of groceries per week plus a daily $1.80 coffee before class, the budget of $226 per month has already been surpassed by $10. Of course this $10 translates into $80 over the course of 2 semesters. Even though this example demonstrates a relatively small additional charge, it represents just one of many additional charges that build up over time. Students who fail to keep tabs on spending often find themselves short of funds by the Christmas holi-days and rack up hundreds of thousands to their line of credit or credit cards by spring. By increasing debt through credit cards and loans, students are literally setting themselves up for financial disaster. How to avoid this mess? Be Responsible! Use OSAP as a temporary mean of income for the bare essentials while putting money aside slowly to pay it off.

November 2012 | 12THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE

Things you might not know that you should

• The Government pays your interest throughout school

• Interest is accrued immediately upon completion of your schooling, regardless of the initial 6 month payment window

• OSAP has a maximum lifetime of 340 weeks of post-secondary study (400 weeks for doctoral students and 520 for students with permanent disabilities) That can mean 6-10 years of payments!

• Ontario student loans have an interest rate of prime + 1%

All Clear for Christmas! Tips to conserve your OSAP

• Use the course reserve rather than buying the book

• Buy used books when no other options exist

• Freeze your left-overs to heat up later rather than letting them go bad

• Eat out as little as humanly possible• Bring your own coffee to school• Pack a lunch or bring snacks• Cut back on entertainment• GET A PART-TIME JOB

“OSAP is like a nice cold beer; it’s good while it lasts, but drink too much and you’ll feel the effects for a loonnngggg time!”

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE September 2012 | 15

Stories from Enactus

News Article: Scarves for the Cure – Sandwich Second-ary School

A local group of entrepreneurial students at Sandwich Secondary School have founded Scarves for the Cure. This organization offers comfort, style and warmth through the sale of wonderful cashmere scarves which illustrate a number of different awareness ribbons, each unique to a particular type of cancer. The overall goal of the group consisting of Mackenzie Kelly, Laura Gram-my, Katricia Crosby, and Jenna Boniferro is to raise awareness on all of the various types of cancer that ex-ist, as well as to do their part in giving back to society in a socially responsible manner. The group started their business as a part of their Youth-rive program, a curriculum implemented in local high schools by Enactus Windsor, formerly known as SIFE Windsor. This wonderful program encourages entre-

preneurial spirit as students are mentored and coached through the highs and lows of starting their own busi-ness. At the end of the term, each student comes away from this experience with a wealth of knowledge and the businesses are evaluated as a part of their overall grade for their class. The WFCU plays an integral role in this project as they fund the students with the $100 capital needed to start their business.The scarves sold by Scarves for the Cure sell for $10 each or 3 for $25. With each sale, twenty percent of the proceeds collected will benefit Canadian Cancer Soci-ety. If interested in purchasing a scarf, you can contact Scarves for the Cure by liking their Facebook page, fol-lowing them on Twitter @Scarves4TheCure or by send-ing an e-mail to scarvesforthecure@gmail.com.

By: Brandon Marentette

Scarves for the Cure

October 2012 | 14THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE

Editorial Cartoon

“Old Habits Die Hard”Illustration by Brooke Lee

Seasonal

Pumpkin Harvest on Campus

What was the last thing you cooked? Was it chicken? Soup? Lasagna? Or maybe you don’t cook that much – oatmeal or even toast might be more your speed. And that’s okay – many students don’t learn how to cook un-til they’re off campus, and even then, they don’t know where to look for recipes! I know that I didn’t start cooking until my first year on my own, and even so, my first chili resulted in more chili on the floor than in my stomach. Since then, I’ve come a long way – and you can too! With cooking, it’s important to just go for it. You’ll learn from your mistakes!

That being said, I find that the vegetables associated with autumn are highly unexplored by the student pop-ulace, as I have seldom seen students use veggies like pumpkin or squash in their cooking. Since Halloween is over and no one knows what to do with all the pump-kins that are lying around, I decided to try a few recipes that are pretty easy to cook (that or I just watched my friend cook it…but shh…)

For starters!

PUMPKIN SOUP

Pumpkin soup is like peanut butter; some prefer it creamy, some prefer it chunky. It tastes delicious either way, and it’s a great starter that will hold you over for the main course!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

1 tablespoon butter1 finely chopped onion2 cloves crushed garlic1 pound pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes3 cups chicken stock1 tbsp tomato paste1 tbsp grated parmesan cheeseSalt and pepper to taste

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE November 2012 | 17

Written by:Ariel Brothman

THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE November 2012 | 18

Written by Rebecca Taylor

HOW TO DO IT:Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring.Add pumpkin and cook for 3 minutes until lightly soft-ened.

Add stock and paste and stir to mix. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer, and cover. Cook 20 min-utes, until pumpkin is very tender.

Transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth. (If you don’t have a blender, like many students I know, a masher will do!)

Add cheese, salt, and pepper; mix and serve warm.

Now, for the main course!

CHICKEN PELAU

This is Trinidad & Tobago’s national dish. It can be sea-soned according to one’s own preferences easily, but the essential ingredient is the caramelized chicken! A sweet recipe that can be made spicy, super sweet, or super salty with just a minor change in ingredients, this dish is sure to please anyone!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

MARINADE:Salt

Pepper4 sprigs of fresh thyme4 stalks of freshly chopped chives3 cloves crushed garlic

4 pieces of chicken1 tbsp brown sugar2 tbsp vegetable oil2 cups water2 cups brown rice1 small to medium sized pumpkin2 Peppers (colour of your choice)1 cup chopped onion1 cup chopped carrot1 can coconut milk1 hot green pepper (recommended)HOW TO DO IT:

You’ll have to start this recipe one day in advance. Put the marinade together, and place the chicken in. Mari-nate in the refrigerator over night.

The next day, put the oil in a sauce pan large enough to hold all ingredients. Heat the oil, and add the brown sugar. Caramelize until it’s dark and syrupy in texture.

As the brown sugar is caramelizing, start to cook the rice in a separate pot, and parboil it.

Take out the chicken and place in the pan. Cook until browned on both/all sides. Stir in some water and cook for another 20 minutes.

Add the vegetables, the coconut milk, the rice, and the rest of the water to the large pan. Cover the saucepan and cook until the rice is done, about 30 minutes. Try and evaporate most of the liquid.

Pair with a bottle of pumpkin ale and enjoy!

November 2012 | 19THEEXECUTIVEMAGAZINE

Time for dessert!

And we’ve come to our last recipe…you think I’m go-ing to go with the classic pumpkin pie, right? Well…I’m going to bend the rules for this one, after I saw my friend make some adorable pumpkin cookies. Make them using a classic sugar cookie recipe and some can-dy from Bulk Barn!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

COOKIE DOUGH1 cup butter, softened1 cup sugar2 eggs1 ½ tsp vanilla2 ½ cup flour1 tsp baking powder½ tsp salt (optional)Orange food colouring

PUMPKIN-ISH GARNISHGreen colour-coated chocolates, about the size of a nickel, broken into halvesChocolate chips

HOW TO DO IT:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, flour, bak-ing power, sugar and salt. Roll out flat (about half a cen-timeter,) and cut into shapes (pumpkin-shaped ones, if you have them!)

Place the chocolate chips into the facial expression of your choice on cookies. Put a green-coated chocolate on the top for a stem.

Bake for 6-8 minutes.

And there you have a full three-course meal in the theme of pumpkins. Although Halloween is over, it still fits the theme of autumn. Not that it needs to be au-tumn to enjoy the cookies – those can be enjoyed any-time – but the rest are a special treat not to be missed out on when pumpkins are in season. Hopefully you will enjoy these dishes as much as I do!