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Show " w SUSC HAS ITS OWN NATIONAL CHAMP, FLIPPING SWITCHES AND KENT JOHNSON. track star Jolene Fisher runs marathon races the way she wins them. Last years NA1A national champ and last weeks St. George marathon victor doesnt just think of running, though. SEE PAGE 13. KBRE radio news director Kent Johnson is the man who wakes you up every morning, sort of. An SUSC student, Johnson loves his job because it never gets dull tlmres always something interesting T-bir- d going on. SEE PAGE 3. THE STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS OF SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE CEDAR CITY, UTAH Graduate level program result of unique state law BY KON KONTOGIANNIS An unusual state law is one of the reasons SUSC now has a graduate level accounting program, according to David Rees, an instructor for the program. Rees said the program resulted from legislative pressure. Utah is one of three states in the nation that does require an equivalent of a masters degree in order to become a certified public accountant (CPA). According to job surveys, accounting is one of a number of jobs increasing in demand. This phenomenon will add substance to the masters program offered here at SUSC, he said. There are three different ways that a student can enter the masters program, Rees said. The easiest way is to be an accounting major in an undergraduate program. Then, if in the senior year the Marty of the nations top executives are accountants, David Rees says. student decides he wants to enter the masters program, he may do so. It is very likely that the student will only require three quarters to complete the program. Another route to take, for a student who has graduated in business, is to take one quarters worth of courses which will prepare him for the program, and take the required 46 hours to obtain a masters degree in accounting. This means that the student requires four quarters to obtain the masters degree, assuming that 12 hours of classes, which is sufficient for graduate work, will be taken each quarter, said Rees. The time will come (probably in three years) when the math, physics, theatre arts and students with other majors who decide they want a masters degree in accounting will be able to accomplish this goal, said Rees. Such students will be required to take a years worth of what is called business survey work intensive courses to build up their business background. In the second year they will be permitted to enter the graduate program, he said. These days, according to Rees, when one looks at the top business executives, one sees that the majority of them came through the accounting route. This has not always been the case. Accounting classes are not as difficult as classes which offer abstract concepts, like calculus, but they do require a lot of hours of devotion. If a student has the aptitude for accounting and is prepared to devote the time required, then that student has great potential for doing well in the program, he said. Because the masters of accountancy program is in its first quarter of existence, there are very few students enrolled currently as few as four. But there have been numerous inquiries and next years program enrollment is expected to reach a dozen students, according to business department sources. There are basically three types of classes offered in SUSCs masters program: an undergraduate auditing class, an advanced auditing class, and an advanced class. The basic undergraduate auditing class teaches the student how to evaluate internal control and procedures that one must go through to verify that the accounts are correct. In the advanced auditing class the student will be exposed to three topics. One of those topics involves statistical applications to auditing. The second class teaches auditing of electronic data processing and the third topic will cover taxations for states and trusts. Rees received his undergraduate degree in finance from Brigham Young University, with a minor in accounting. Rees likes the opportunity given to him at SUSC, where he will play a major role in getting the masters program started. He will also have the chance to interact with students, which is important in the learning process, he said. |