Changes in Public Speaking from Ancient Greece to Modernity Research Paper

Changes in Public Speaking from Ancient Greece to Modernity - Research Paper Example While crowds today may reach into the billions, speakers today are equipped with microphones, television, internet, and radio to reach the people. In Greece, the speaker not only had to have the passion for his subject but also had to have the ability to remember long quotes and ideas and to be able to amplify their voice for a long enough time to get their ideas across. Today, speakers can depend on note cards and prepared speeches, while Greeks had to rely solely on their memories. Today, unlike then, speakers are also not required to write their own speeches, and in fact, may not know the material until they step in front of a microphone. Effective speaking requires that the speaker be clear in what they are saying, and look and act convincingly. Eye movement, gesturing, even the subtle shifts of the person talking are all subject to interpretation by the listeners. While the movement of the speaker has mattered throughout history, it is only contemporarily that it can be shown, again and again, allowing an endless reinterpretation of meaning. Speaking before recording allowed the speaker to speak with passion, and while mistakes were still not desired, they were more forgivable. A grammatical mistake, for example, would be corrected in the speech was actually written down. Today, those same errors are lauded over the speaker and are used as ways to discredit them. Greeks did not permit women to speak publicly, and also had a unique way of stopping people who were not interesting enough. If the speaker lost the attention of the people, they were physically dragged off of the stage by the watchers. Today, we are required to sit politely by and let them finish out their speech or change the channel on the television. Public speaking was one of the most important skills an Athenian had. According to Nancy Harper: For many years, the Athenian could not hire a professional to speak for him in court. Each Athenian jury consisted of several hundred persons, and the citizen, whether the accuser or the accused, had to use his ability as a public speaker to persuade a majority of the jury to believe in his side of the case. Because lawsuits were common in Athens, legal speaking became the central concern of early communication instruction. (Warren 2)

Strategies for People Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategies for People Management - Essay Example There have been numerous research efforts in this area and a lot of organizations are devising strategies aimed at bringing more women into the upper levels of workforce. In its response to the DTI consultation on productivity indicators, the EOC has submitted that, â€Å"The achievement of gender equity is central to the three key elements of economic growth – an increased labour supply; flexibility, so as to be able to adjust to new growth opportunities; and rewarding workers according to their performance and skills.† (http://www.eoc.org.uk). Our main aim in HR terms is the recruitment, retention and development of the very best and creative staff and to provide them high quality support to strengthen our strategy of maintaining the cutting edge of functional ability. The challenge we presently face in HR is to maintain our present staff strength so that we can sustain our present momentum and stay ahead of our competitors. The shortage of skilled workforce is the main problem in UK and within the next years the position is likely to get worse rather than improve. The factors of aging, migration to other jobs, disparity between staff etc are some of the key issues that may serve the create shortage of manpower in our organisation. While we recognise that women constitute a proportionate portion of our research staff , photographers, copy writers, editors etc and do play a key role in delivering our overall strategic aims, their numbers in the middle and senior level executives are much less than their male counterparts. Our strategy, therefore, must reinforce the importance we attach in achieving equality of representation of both genders in the higher echelons of staff structure. Our present strategy is primarily focused on recruitment and retention, reward and recognition, training, learning and development, action to tackle poor performance, review of staffing needs. While our efforts in the area of reward, recognition

Segmental Features Between Arabic And English

Segmental Features Between Arabic And English This assignment is a complement to the first assignment titled as comparative and contrastive description of segmental features between the Arabic and English languages. In this assignment, differently, the light will be shed on comparative and contrastive description of suprasegmental features between the above-mentioned languages. Ellery, et al. (1995) indicated that features of spoken languages which are not identified as discrete segments are variously referred as prosodic features, non- segmental features or suprasegmental features (p.327). Ellery, et al. (1995) also stated that prosody refers to prosodic features of speech, namely, tone, stress, intonation and others. Thus, three prosodic features will be discussed to show the similarities and differences between English and Arabic. Besides, the focus will be shifted to identifying the problems the Arab learners often face in learning English in terms of prosody. 1-Arabic 1.1 Syllable Structure Reima (2007) stated that Arabic language has three syllable types. These are summarized as follows: 1- Super heavy syllables CVVC CVCC. The super heavy syllable consists of one consonant immediately followed by one or two vowels and end in one or two consonants as in: 2- Heavy syllables CVC CVV. The heavy syllable consists of one consonant immediately followed by one or two vowels as in: 3- Light syllable: CV. The light syllable consists of a consonant immediately followed by one short vowel as in: Reima (2007) asserted that formation of syllables is regular in the Arabic language. In addition, it is not typical to find any syllable in the Arabic language starts with V or CC. 1.2 Stress According to Reima (2007) Watson (2007) the Arabic language has three word stress levels. These are the primary, secondary and weak levels. Swan Smith (2001), Reima (2007) indicated that stress in the Arabic language is predictable and regular. In other words, one can predict or determine the stress of the Arabic words. Swan Smith (2001) stated that Arab learners face difficulty in predicting stress in the English language, particularly in word stress. The difficulty of grasping word stress in English may result in altering the meaning of the word. For instance, a learner may pronounce the verb (convict) as the noun (convict) where the stress position is completely different. Reima (2007) summarized the Arabic stress as follows: 1- If a word contains one super heavy syllable or more, stress falls on the last super heavy syllable as in: 2- If a word contains heavy and light syllables, stress falls on the heavy syllable before the final syllable (nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ final heavy syllable) as in: 3- If a word contains light syllables, stress falls on the first syllable as in: 4- If a word is a present or a past verb, stress falls on the first syllable as in: 5- If a word is a masculine or feminine Arabic noun, stress falls on the second syllable as in: 1.3 Intonation According to Swan Smith (2001) Arabic and English have closely similar intonation patterns, especially in meaning and contour. Reima (2007) summarized the Arabic stress as follows: 1- In Arabic, falling intonation is used at the end of: Declarative statements: the voice starts on amid pitch, rises slightly on the last stressed syllable and drop to a low pitch at the end as in: In commands as in: In Whà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ questions: voice is high in stressed syllable and falls quickly to mid pitch for the rest of the sentence as in: 2- In Arabic, risingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ falling intonation is normally used at the end of: Yesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ no questions as in: In utterances containing an element of protest or surprise: voice is flat, no rise no fall as in: In vocatives as in: In requests: the voice rises and falls somewhat, with an optional pause as in: 1.4 Rhythm In speech, rhythm has been defined as an effect involving the isochronous recurrence of some type of speech unit (Pike (1945), Abercrombie (1967), Bloch (1950). Dauer (1983) argued that the perception of different types of rhythm has mainly to do with differences in syllable structure, vowel reduction and types of stress. As to Arabic, according to Barkat et al. (1999) Arabic and its various dialects are all stress-timed. Based on the articles I have read, there is a consensus among researchers that Arabic listeners make use of speech rhythm to distinguish between speakers. For instance, Barkat et al. (1999) revealed that speakers of Arabic, due to rhythm, can distinguish between speakers of Arabic from North Africa and speakers living in the Middle East. Many studies have been conducted on Arabic rhythm. One of the important findings is the highness if vocalic intervals in the eastern Arabic dialects such as Palestine than western Arabic dialects such as Tunisia. 2-English 2.1 Syllable Structure According to Deterding poedjosoedarmo (1998) the distinction between light and heavy syllables can be helpful in predicting stress in English. The former contains a diphthong and/or several consonants in the coda while the latter contains a single short vowel. Heavy syllables tend to be stressed and light ones tend not to be stressed. The relationship between syllables and stress is extremely related. Deterding poedjosoedarmo (1998) argued there are not pure rules that help learners accurately predict stress placement in multisyllabic words; however, knowing the syllable structures- heavy and light syllables may solve the problem and prove useful. All in all, understanding stress rules in English entails understanding syllable structures first. English words are different in terms of the number of syllables. Some contain one, or two. Some may contain three or four. Some examples are provided below: 2.2 Stress Chomsky and Halle (1968) suggested that stress, like the Arabic language within English words is predictable, and several sets of complex rules have been proposed for predicting stress. Stress is very important in English as it is a major feature that distinguishes certain pairs of words. According to Christophersen (1996), English has the following stress rules: The great majority of twoà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ syllable words are stressed on the first syllable, e.g.: A number of words have two different stress patterns according to whether they are verbs or nouns, adjectives or verbs e.g.: Noticeably, nouns and adjectives are stressed on the first syllable while verbs are given stress on the second syllable. According to Deterding poedjosoedarmo (1998) derivational suffixes ca be classified into three types: stress-preserving, stress-attracting and stress-shifting. The first type does not change stress placement in words such as -ful, as in wonder/ wonderful. The second type receives primary stress such as -ee, as in employ/ emplyee. The last type make the stress shift such as -ive, as in reflex/ reflexive. The analysis of suffixation on stress placement is outlined below: When a suffix is added to a word, the new form is stressed on the syllable as was the basic word, e.g.: words ending in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ tion , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ sion , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ic , à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ical, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ity , almost always have primary stress on the syllable preceding the ending , e.g. : If a word ending in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ate or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ment has only two syllables, the stress falls on the last syllable if the word is a verb, but on the first syllable if the word is a noun or an adjective. When stressed , the ending is pronounced [eÉ ªt], [mÉâ„ ¢nt] ; when unstressed, it is pronounced [ t], [mÉâ„ ¢nt], e.g. : If a word ending in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ate, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ment has more than two syllables, the main stress will fall on the third syllable from the end. In verbs, the final syllable is pronounced [eÉ ªt] , [mÉâ„ ¢nt]; in nouns it is pronounced [ t], [mÉâ„ ¢nt] , e.g.: Stress placement is also affected by compounding. When two roots are combined to produce new words, the resulting word is called a compound (Deterding poedjosoedarmo 1998 (p. 100). The rules are summarized below: compound nouns have a primary stress on the first component, e.g.: In compound verbs, the primary stress falls on the second component, e.g.: In the intensiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ reflexive pronouns, the stronger accent falls on the last syllable ,e.g.: Numbers ending in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ teen may receive primary stress on either syllable, e.g.: In words ending in à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ion, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ sive, the stress falls on the last vowel before the ending .e.g.: The majority of English compounds have single stress .e.g.: All compounds with a present participle, as the first element, have a single stress, e.g.: A double stress is used in compounds of two nouns, if the first noun indicates the material of which or with which the second is made, e. g.: A double stress is used in compounds that have two nouns, each noun indicates a distinct characteristic of the same person or thing, e.g. : In most sentences, some words are more important than others and we indicate this by the way we stress or unstress them. The following words are usually unstressed: articles: a, an, the, prepositions such as at etc. personal pronouns such as I etc. possessive adjectives such as my etc. relative pronouns such as who etc. conjunctions such as and etc. The following words are usually stressed: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, demonstrative interrogatives, e.g.: He shall send it to you. She cooks three meals each day. In an hour, he will be ready to send it. This new car is to be barked here. 2.3 Intonation Roach (2001) pointed out that intonation is difficult to define. Generally, intonation is the melody of speech and is to be analyzed in terms of variations of pitch. It is known that intonation can indicate different types of utterances, such as statements, questions, commands, attitudes and emotions of the speaker. Reima (2007) summarized the intonation rules as follows: A) In English, risingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ falling intonation is normally used at the end of: Simple statements of facts (declarative statements), e.g.: Commands: Questions which begin with an interrogative word, i.e., B) In English, rising intonation is normally used in the following cases: At the end of yesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ no questions: In requests: C) In utterances containing an element of protest or surprise: 2.3 Rhythm English, with an alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables, is obviously stress-timed. Deterding poedjosoedarmo (1998) stated that rhythm is important in English because many cases of miscommunication can be attributed to failure to interpret familiar words as they are uttered with an unfamiliar rhythm pattern. For example, the speaker may say talking to themselves stressing on talk and them. If a native speaker hears these words, he will misunderstand the words and interpret them as taking to damsels. So, the unexpected rhythm pattern contributed to misunderstanding. As stated above, English words may contain one or more syllables. These words contain syllables (stressed) that are louder, clearer than others (unstressed). Gilbert (1984) believed that the combination of these stressed and unstressed syllables results in the rhythm found in English words. This combination also shows the strength, length and pitch of syllables. Moreover, sentences in English, like words, have r hythm. Dauer, (1993) argued that if one wants to have good sentence rhythm, she/he needs to know how to join syllables together into larger unites besides the clear difference between stressed and unstressed syllables. Problems in learning English in terms of prosody Arab learners find it easy to grasp the predictable word stress in their language; however, they face problems in grasping the unpredictable nature of English word stress. Sentence rhythm is alike in both languages so that Arab learners avoid contracted forms and elision when they read loudly. As a result, heavy staccato rhythm can be found in their reading. Regarding intonation, Swan Smith (2001) found out that Arab learners tend to intone, reducing intonation to a low fall at the ends of phrases and sentences. According to Rababah, (2002) Arab learners face problems that are related to stress, intonation and other features of prosody due to some difference in pronunciation between the two languages. English word pattern with (-ism) suffix receive their stress on the antepenultimate or pre- antepenultimate syllable, but they never receive it on the penultimate or final syllable. Quite contrary to this, in the pronunciation of the Arab learners of English, it is often noticed that stress in such word patterns tend to be consistently shifted to the penultimate (before the final) syllable. According to Ryan Meara (1999) Arab learners confuse English words due to the number of syllables and the shift of stress syllables as in the following example:

A Career as a Pharmacist Essay -- Career Research

The flow of the medical community is dependent on every person employed there. The harmony it creates does not only come from the doctors or nurses, but the janitors, surgeons, receptionists, and even the pharmacists. Each job is necessary in order for the hospitals to function properly; for instance, the doctors diagnose the patient with their illness, prescribe them medication to cure it, and send them to the pharmacist, who then gives them their medication and sends them home. However, some jobs are overlooked more than others and do not receive the proper credit, like the pharmacist. Pharmacists are recognized for dispensing and sorting drugs, but their jobs help educate patients over their prescription and uphold the balance in the medical community. When young adults are challenged to pick a career, particularly in the medical field, most do not think of becoming a pharmacist. This low key career started with apothecaries, people who used botany and chemistry to help cure people. Unfortunately, their practice helped cure little to no patients, but as technology advanced, they abandoned their botany based methods and began to work with physicians. Thus, the pharmacist was created and continues to help heal the sick today. A pharmacist is â€Å"an expert in the use of medicines and drugs† (McAlpine 52) and uses their knowledge to create medications according to the doctors’ instructions. However, the job description of a pharmacist is increasing and it is not uncommon to find a patient directly talking to a pharmacist about their prescription. Pharmacists now inform patients on the proper usage of the medication and its side effects (52). Patients can bypass their physician, if they have any questions or concerns ab ou... .... Works Cited Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. â€Å"Pharmacist.† Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition. 17 Dec. 2009. 21 Nov. 2011. . Carpenter, Rachel. â€Å"Pros and Cons of Being A Pharmacist.† Associated Content by Yahoo. 01 Oct. 2010. 22 Nov. 2011. . Gable, Fred. Opportunities in Pharmacy Careers. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004. (33-41, 63-65). Hart, Alison. â€Å"Top Skills You Need To Be A Pharmacist.† USA Today. 19 Nov. 2002. 21 Nov. 2011. . McAlpine, Margaret. Working in Health Care. Milwaukee: Garth Stevens Publishing, 2005. (52-55). Yuping Yen. Personal Interview. 28 Nov. 2011.

Three generation project

Since, my mother and I are also Russian speaking emigrants our moms found each other fairly quickly through mutual English rouses in the local church. We are sharing a very friendly relationship between our families; spending holidays, birthdays and other happy occasions together. My first impression of my subject was that he was extremely shy and unsocial; however, after the ice between us was broken, he opened up to me and we shared a lot of interesting conversations.Needless to say, I am approaching this interview from a biased point of view since I know and like this young man. However, I will try my best to remain objective and critical for the sake of this report. To conduct this interview, I contacted my subject and asked him to meet me at my house. To be completely honest, I had my doubts regarding this interview because I had to be extremely cautious not to make him feel uncomfortable with my questions; however, I feel that my goal of getting to know him a little more person ally and be able to understand his age group was reached.INTERVIEW SUMMERY My subject arrived to our meeting as scheduled, and even surprised me with homemade chocolate cookies. I started our interview by asking him to tell me about himself –his interests, hobbies and etc. Basketball turned out to be his favorite sports activity, which he often shares with his friends. Even though he mentioned suffering from asthma he said that it never stopped him from being active. I asked him about his childhood, and what kind of memories he had from that period of time.He briefly talked about him growing up overseas and his cultural background; telling me about how his life experience, in two different nationalities, had shaped his identity. He remembers his childhood as being as if it was a â€Å"black and white movie†, meaning he didn't have much colorful memories due to their poverty I assumed. As far as adjusting in the United States, my subject said that it wasn't as hard for him as t was for his mother who had to take care of them both.As we moved along through the interview, I felt comfortable enough to ask him more personal questions about his romantic and sexual experience. I asked him to discuss about how puberty affected/or still effecting him, and what emotional or physical changes he went through during those years. I found out that my subject has had sexual intercourse with a girl from his school but they did not continue to develop their relationship. In regard to the physical changes with his body, my subject didn't elaborate too much but mentioned becoming more masculine.As part of the emotional changes during puberty, my subject said he feels that his parents don't understand him and he prefers not share his though or ideas with them to avoid any conflict. DISCUSSION Since I do know this adolescent and familiar with his background, history, and his development up to this point of his life, I feel that there are several important points that must be mentioned. As I brought up earlier, my subject grew up in Russia, raised by his mother and grandmother.His biological father was never around to represent the â€Å"male role† or father figure in the family structure. Shortly after they moved to the States, his mother remarried to a man who become a step father to my subject. According Bellboys (2013) physical developmental milestones for adolescence, my subject appears to be mostly on track. The phase of puberty, which is defined as a period of somatic and hormonal changes by which children become sexually mature, has evidently reached its peak when looking at my subject (238).His voice has definitely deepened (since I knew him when he had the high-pitched voice) and his motor performance is very good being that he plays basketball, and drives a car. Moreover, as the author of the text states, my subject exhibits secondary sexual characteristics, which are the label for the physical changes that accompany puberty alo ng with a growth spurt-?a dramatic increase in height and weight (241). Also, my subject has had sexual intercourse during his brief romantic relationship with a girl from his school; which Belles notes is often an important part of adolescent development (258).In terms of my subject's cognitive and socio-emotional part of the interview and how it relates to the theory-based developmental milestones, I believe hat my subject is at an adequate developmental level. For example, given his thought process, when I asked about a certain hypothetical project and the future, my subject was able to grasp these concepts and answer concretely. Discussing his plans regarding college and his possible career is one example of Jean Pigment's theory of formal operational thinking, regarding his own life. Belles 269) Likewise, my subject's ability to reason about his past and tell me about his experience with relocating to a different country, shows his ability of abstractly expressing his Houghton (Belles 267-8). He shared with me stories about the difficulties his mother went through when they first got the States; for example, my subject had to go with her to several Job interviews as a translator because her English wasn't very good. He said he never complained, but he definitely felt like the roles between them had changed, due to the fact that was often relying on him– instead of the opposite.Piglet's theory on morality, which influenced and was expanded on by Lawrence Goldberg, at the autonomous morality stage, adolescents realize that intentions, not imply outcomes, should serve as the basis for the Judgment of behavior and that it is the manner in which an adolescent reasons about a moral dilemma that determines moral maturity (Belles 271). I think my subject exhibits high moral values when he talks about his family, in particular what drawn my attention was his step father, with whom he does not share a very close relationship, but has a lot of respect for him for caring for his mom.Following Piglet's formal operation theory, David Liked conducted a study where he determined that children that make the transition onto teenage years become more socially conscious- exhibiting Adolescent Egocentrics (272). I have to say that I didn't spot any sighs of that behavior in my subject; in fact, he barely revealed any self-conscious thoughts regarding his looks or actions throughout the years of our friendly relationship. However, when I first met this young men, he seemed very unsocial and didn't really talk to anybody, and when he was approached by someone he showed some distress.At that point I would probably mark him as a social sensitive adolescent going through storm and stress phase (266). Although, the author in our text also describes those teens as more apt to make risky and dangerous decisions, it was not at all the case with my subject (273). Continuing with the socio-emotional development, one of the things that was pointed out in our interview is that my subject has a difficultly expressing his thoughts to his family due to the lack of understanding from their part.According to Judith Harrier's peer group colonization theory, immigrant adolescents have disagreements with their parents that may go beyond the reasonable arguing and involve fundamental differences in world views (Belles 288). This situation, in my opinion, leads toward the process of separations between him and his parents. As Belles states, â€Å"As teenagers push for freedom, they are given more decision making opportunities and establish a new, more equal, adult-like relationship† (287).Correspondingly to a research conducted by psychologists, Synthetically and Larson, my subject loves his family very much and enjoys spending time with them; however, he clearly says that when taken as whole, frustrating emotions outweigh the happy ones when living with them (286). I can defiantly relate to that idea! Focusing n the social aspect of devel oping, a big potential pubertal problem is popularity. From the interview and from my knowledge of him, my subject has increasingly less issues with peer pressure and finding an identity. He speaks of feeling comfortable as been part of a group of his choice.Supporting this finding, Beelike notes that social standing is very important at this age because it affects ten's academic/social paths, while being isolated from a crowd can lead to depression (278). Consequently, my subject is a good student, and surrounds himself with a small group (known as liqueur) that shares the same academic interests as him (Belles 289). By doing that I think he is reducing the risk of getting into trouble, because â€Å"†¦ Children who are not succeeding with the mainstreams kids gravitate toward antisocial groups of friends, who then give each other reinforcement for doing dangerous things†( 279).In addition, as Beelike (2013) mentions, school environment has a great impact on adolescent' s development because the academic and social growth is reliant on the ability of schools to fit their programs to the adolescent's state of mind (284). Thus, for y subject experience in high school, he says that the content of the material being passed on is k, but the way they've been passing it is boring. Also, he notes that his school does not have any after school program accept of tutoring. So what usually teens are doing after school is over?Mostly sitting in groups next to the school– smoking and engaging in other unhealthy and unappreciated activities, he says. Interpreting the author position in this matter, one can see that the need for youth development programs for after school period of the day is essential for keeping the adolescents out of the streets where they usually get into trouble (283). Consequently, those teens might get involved in bad crowds- which usually are groups with a main goal of performing antisocial acts (Belles 291).Lastly, CONCLUSION In co nclusion, I appreciated this project to a great extent due to its real and open minded nature. It is one thing to read about developmental theories, but it is a unique experience to explore those theories in real life and see how they play out. Also, this project was very beneficial for me because it helped understand better one of my close friends whom I like very much as a person. Conducting this interview and the following report helped me gain a better understanding of where this person is coming from and what has led him to his current state of development.With that said, I personally do not think he represent the majority of the adolescence group. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that he have always been almost too mature for his age; never got into any serious troubles, treated his parents with respect as if he was an adult and dealt with very serious life changes in a calm way. Needless to say, that my teen age years were completely different. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Transcript): P hysical Marina You've: Do you play any sports? Subject: Yes. MY: Which ones? S: basketball. MY: In general, do you like to spend time outside? S: Yes, sometimes.MY: Doing what? S: Playing basketball, walking around with friends. MY: Do you work out, or do you Just play sports to keep in shape? S: I Just play sports to keep in shape. MY: Do you drive a car? S: yes. MY: What type of car is this? S: 2011 Ionians Ultimate MY: do you have any health conditions? S: Yes, I have asthma MY: Do take any medications currently? And do you feel that your condition is stopping you from doing stuff? S: Yes, I'm using alabaster. And I never thought of it as something that stops me in life. I mean, I know I'm not able to run tracks but I never intended to do it either.Cognitive MY: How would you say that you do in school, in general? Is it good, average or poorly? S: Good, school is really easy for me. MY: What are your favorite subjects? S: I think Math is k, but I don't really have a favorite subj ect. MY: How long did it take you to learn and speak English? S: At first I thought I will never be able to communicate with others in English although the school material was fairly easy for me because I could read & write utter that I spoke. I think, it took me about 6-7 months before I started talking to people.MY: In general, how would you describe your experience of moving to the States? Was it difficult to adjust? S: It was somewhat difficult, but it seems to me like a bad dream now. At first, my mom and I we didn't know anyone here and felt very nervous about everything, even going to the store was a big death. Currently, after several years have passed, we feel it is our home and this is where we belong. MY: When you have a big assignment or a big project to do, how do you usually approach it? Do you wait until the last second or you rather get it done as soon as possible?S: I usually Just like to do everything in order and gather all the information that I need, and then pu t it all together in my project. MY: would you describe yourself as pretty organized in general? S: Yes. MY: Have thought about your future? What you're going to do right after high school – and then even further from there? S: Yes, I have thought about my future and in particular I'm thinking about going to college. I would like to become an engineer one day. Social/Emotional MY: Do you like school? S: Its k I guess, I can't say I hate it. MY: What would u do differently in your school?S: I would probably make classes less conventional because it get pretty boring after doing that for so many years. MY: Do you get along with your peers? S: Mostly yes. My: Do you feel popular in your school? S: I think I'm popular among my friends, all the others don't bother me. MY: Do you have a girlfriend? S: No, not right now MY: So you had one before right? S: Yes, I had this girl from our school MY: Didn't work out? S: No, we are Just different MY: Do you get along with your mom and you step father? S: Most of the time yes, but sometimes she will get on my nerves and she won't give up.My step dad is fine I guess, we aren't very close but we don't fight either. I usually don't share with them any personal information because I know they won't understand me, I guess because they grew up in different circumstances than I did. MY: Do you have any brothers or sisters? S: Yes, I have a 3 year old brother. MY: Do you feel different now that are not the only child in the family? S: Yes, he gets all the attention from every body, but that's understandable because he is small child. MY: Do you miss your grandmother? I know she is still in Russia.S: Yes I do, I wish she could be here with us. I know she is struggling with money and I'm planning to get a Job this summer so I can send her money. MY: Do you feel that your parents trust you enough to let you live your own life? Or are they worried and strict? S: I guess they do trust me to a certain point, but they would ask lik e a million questions whenever I leave the house or come back. We talked about me going to college and living on campus, I think they are k with that. Reference Belles, Janet. Experiencing the lifespan (3rd De. ). New York: Worth (2013).

Strategic Management Case Study Module 7

Strategic Management Module 7 Case Study Daryl L. Young Thomas Edison State College Strategic Management Module 7 Case Study Housing Bubble and Its Burst Case Study Question 1: Explain the cause of the housing bubble and its burst in the mid-2000s. To what extent is this problem the result of ethical failure? Housing Bubble No single cause can fully explain the crisis but, in my opinion, the two major bases were legislation that promoted homeownership and subprime mortgages. To fully understand the environment that spawned the housing bubble, we’ll have to travel back to the 1930s, when the country was in the midst of the Great Depression.During this time frame, homeownership represented only about 40 percent of the U. S. households (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, Strickland, 2012, p. c-423). Following severe mortgage market disruptions, widespread foreclosures, and sinking homeownership rates, the government created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae, the Federa l Home Loan Bank (FHLB), and several decades later Freddie Mac to help promote secure and sustainable homeownership for future generation of Americans (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. 5).A Subprime Mortgage is a type of mortgage that is normally made out to borrowers with lower credit ratings; a conventional mortgage is not offered because the lender views the borrower as having a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan; lending institutions often charge interest on subprime mortgages at a rate that is higher in order to compensate themselves for carrying more risk, as defined by Investopedia. com, 2013. In 1994, subprime mortgages represented approximately 6 percent of total mortgage loans originated but by 2005 the percentage grew to 37. (Thomson et al. , 2012). Private firms like Countrywide, and others, issued more than 84 percent of the subprime mortgages in 2006 (Swift, 2011). Fast-forward to the 2000s and the effect s of federal legislation over 60 years increased homeownership to nearly 70 percent (Thomson et al. , 2012) coupled with an explosion of subprime mortgages, and appreciation of homes values resulted in the housing bubble. Housing Bubble Burst As there are several factors that created the bubble, there are just as many that were responsible for its burst.The most significant factors were the repeal of a major component of the Glass-Steagall Act and a weakened housing market. First, lets look at the Glass-Steagall Act. One of the components in the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated investment (brokerage) and commercial banking activities (investopedia. com, 2009). The clause stipulated that banks would be allowed to take deposits and make loans, brokers would be allowed to underwrite and sell securities, but no firm would be allowed to do both due to the conflicts of interest and risks to insured deposits (Rickards, 2012). In 1999, President Bill Clinton and Republicans led by Sen.P hil Gramm repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act, removing barriers that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination, at the behest of big banks (Rickards, 2012). Secondly, the U. S. economy began to weaken, with declining demand for housing, which caused home prices to plummet and appreciation in home prices came to an end, and in most cases reversing (Thompson et al. , 2012). Homeowners, investors, and financial institutions did not have enough capital supporting their investments to absorb the resulting losses (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. ). Homeowners were faced with foreclosure when they lost income during the economy slowdown or seen their payment on Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) rise to a point of unaffordability (Thompson et al. , 2012). In 2008, credit markets froze. Our nation's financial system – which had outgrown and outmaneuvered a regulatory framework largely designed in the 1930s †“ was driven to the brink of collapse. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, families lost their homes, and small businesses shut down (Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market, A Report to Congress, 2011, P. 5). Countrywides’ RoleCase Study Question 2: Evaluate Countrywide’s role in the subprime mortgage debacle. Was the company’s conduct unethical or illegal? Countrywide’s Role From 2005 to 2007, Countrywide was the leading subprime lender in the country issuing $97. 2 billion in subprime mortgages (Bloomberg Business Week, 2009) but only led in market share by 2 percent. The bottom 16 subprime mortgage-issuing firms accounted for $363. 5 billion in mortgages (reference chart 1). Countrywide was responsible for 10 percent of a $1 trillion problem. Conduct Unethical or Illegal Countrywide practices were illegal.Countrywide was charged with predatory lending practices (Thompson et al. , 2012) and later reached a multi-state settlement for $8. 68 billion (Huffman, 2008). â€Å" Countrywide’s lending practices turned the American dream into a nightmare fore tens of thousands of families by putting them into loans they couldn’t understand and ultimately couldn’t afford,† said Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. , a co-leader of the negotiations for the states (Huffman, 2008). Countrywide settlement became the largest predatory lending settlement in history, dwarfing the nationwide $484 million settlement (Huffman, 2008).Case Study Question 3: Using this case as an example, who benefits and who gets hurt when a company engages in unethical or socially irresponsible behavior? In the long-term, no one benefits from this behavior. In this case study, the companies, shareholders, consumers, and global economy all suffered from the irresponsible behavior of many in the financial sector. Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost more than a quarter of their net worth (Wikipedia. org, 2013). T otal retirement assets dropped by 22 percent, from $10. 3 trillion in 2006 to $8 trillion in mid-2008 (Wikipedia. org, 2013).As with most unethical or irresponsible corporate behavior there are no long-term winners. References Denning, S. (2001). Lest We Forget: Why We Had a Financial Crisis. Forbes. Retrieve from: http://www. forbes. com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/22/5086/ Huffman, M. (2008). Countrywide Settles Predatory Lending Charges for $8. 68 Billion. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from: http://www. consumeraffairs. com/news04/2008/10/ countrywide_settlement. html Investopedia. (2013). Definition of Housing Bubble. Retrieved from: http://www. investopedia. com/terms/h/housing_bubble. asp#axzz2NRrhirhT Rickards, J. (2012).Repeal of Glass-Steagall Caused the Financial Crisis. Economic Intelligence. Retrieved from: http://www. usnews. com/opinion/blogs/economic- intelligence/2012/08/27/repeal-of-glass-steagall-caused-the-financial-crisis The Department of the Treasury. (2011). Refo rming America’s Housing Finance Markets, A Report to Congress. Retrieved from: http://www. treasury. gov/initiatives/Documents/ Reforming%20America's%20Housing%20Finance%20Market. pdf Thompson, A. , Peteraf, M. , Gamble, J. , Strickland III, A. (2012). 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