tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63292583830947072692024-03-05T17:14:41.232-08:00SabrinaLandSabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-17021213886414850962012-04-23T13:55:00.006-07:002012-04-23T13:55:48.812-07:00RS: The last one<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">Are
you impressed with the work you have done? What was really great? What could
have been better? How do you plan to retain all of this wonderful information
you have learned? How do you plan to be a genius?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></strong></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">Wow,
its already the end of the semester? How did this happen? How is it that im
actually graduating college next spring? Time has deffinetly been flying over
the past few years, and I even with all the stress and worries, I’d go back and
slow down time just to experience it all over again. Eveyone always says
college is the best time of your life, cherish it. But I’ve been preoccupied
with learning and getting to class and going to work and finding an internship
and making sure I don’t fail out of school for the past four years. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">When
it comes to macroeconomics, im totally impresed with the work I’ve done. When I
saw micro and macro economics listed as required courses for a finance major, I
thought, great, just another class to try to understand and retain only 0.05%
of it. But I’ve actually learned so much, probably more than I wanted to, but
definetly learned. The best part about this class has to be Professor Engel’s
teaching method. He never made it feel like learning, and actually knew how to
get and hold onto our attention during class. If he saw us getting annoyed he
changed the subject for a few minutes or made us do something interactive with
eachother. I don’t think anythign could have been better. I mean, come on. For a
macroeconomics class? This one was pretty much on the dot. I never dreaded the
class even though it started later than I would like (5 pm to 6:15 pm Mondays
and Wednesdays), and that’s a pretty big deal. If I, Asma Sabrina Vohra, the
greatest complainer on earth, don’t have something to complain about, then you’ve
done a good job!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">Retaining
the information learned in both macro and micro shouldn’t be difficult. i don’t
think I could forget it even if I tried, with all the memorization done to get
good grades on the in class tests, and the hard work and effort it took to
actually find some of the answers in the text book, I don’t think this
information will be leaving me any time soon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">How
do I plan to be a genius? Well, the very first blog post was about the article “how
to be a genius”, where I came to the realization that its not about being born “smart”,
but training your brain on a regular basis, making time for studying, and putting
in 100% effort daily is the key to being the best student I can be. And also,
to never think I have the answers to everything.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">It’s
been great, Russ.</span> </span></span></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-25306851002118605622012-04-16T20:09:00.000-07:002012-04-16T20:09:21.789-07:00RS Interview Project Reflection<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This blog post is a reflection of my post on the Interview
Project.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When we were first told about this project, I did an
internal groan. C’mon Engel, are you really going to make me ask people
questions about economics? But as we discussed the assignment further, I got a
bit more into it. I realized this was more of a survey than an economics test I
was to proctor to two other innocent, unassuming individuals, and myself. The questions
were actually really interesting and I was starting to get really interested in
what the others answers might be. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I answered the questions myself, it wasn’t too much of
a big deal. I mean, this information was nothing new to me obviously, so it was
more of a reflection on how I really felt. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When I asked these
questions first to Tony, a 56 year old piano teacher, I was really excited. I’ve
known Tony for a year now, he’s a member at the gym where I work, and we always
have interesting conversations on history, econ, politics, etc. From what I have
taken in from him, he’s super intelligent and knows a lot more than he lets on since
most of the time he covers up his intelligence with jokes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew his answers wouldn’t be anything close
to “predictable” and that’s why I chose him. The most interesting thing he
talked about was the Gas Crisis of <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1974, when there was an oil/gas “shortage”,
making gas prices sky rocket, and causing long lines at the gas station and the
act of getting gas to be more of a times event then something you did casually.
He told me specifically to write shortage in quotations because he says there wasn’t
a shortage at all, but just a myth of it to increase spending on gasoline. He
told me of how during this crisis, his older brother would give him a five
dollar bill, and tell him he could take the car out only if he filled up the
tank first. With a five dollar bill. Some crisis, huh? If I could fill up my
tank for five dollars during this economy, I wouldn’t mind standing in line for
2 hours in my free time! <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">My second interviewee was a friend’s grandmother, Joanie. A former
school teacher, I thought she would have lots of insight into the years where
neither I nor my parents were even in existence yet. The most interesting thing
she said was how minimum wage was one dollar an hour during the time she got
her first job. I can’t even imagine working 8 hours a day and getting less than
8 dollars of a paycheck after taxes. It’s funny how inflation hits us,
especially with gas prices. Joanie paid less than twenty cents a gallon! That
sounds amazing because I’m comparing it to the over four dollar a gallon price
that I’m paying now! Although, I’m sure that price was considered expensive
back then too, especially while making one dollar an hour. I also found it
interesting how within her 72 years of life, her first memory of economics affecting
her life was quite recently, within the past 10 years of the war in the Middle
East. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-33588507749625730012012-04-13T20:50:00.003-07:002012-04-13T21:10:18.773-07:00RS Interview Project<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><u>Interview Project</u></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><u>Participants:</u> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Asma V. : 21 year old college student</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Tony D. : 56 year old piano teacher</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Joanie A. : 72 year old retiree</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>In
your lifetime, what city that you are familiar with has changed the most (both
positive and negative)?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma V. :</i></b> In my lifetime the city
that has changed the most would be my home town, Bridgeport, CT. Over the
years, things have gone both ways. I remember when downtown Bridgeport was a
place where you could do great shopping, and then all of a sudden the big mall was
gone and downtown turned into a place that you wouldn’t dare go. But now a
days, downtown Bridgeport has turned into a cultural and arts center, there are
many small shops opening up, and a lot more people venture into downtown
instead of staying away from it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D.</i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bridgeport, CT – there is higher crime, a
collapsing infrastructure, and corrupt politics<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A.</i></b> Bridgeport, CT,
which was a major industrial city for most of the last century and was where my
family from both sides moved to live and work, has become the place where no
one wants to be…no jobs, no industry, high taxes, bad schools, slums and for
the most part, corrupt politicians running the city.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>In
your opinion, what president had the biggest positive impact on the economy?
Why?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V</i></b>. From what I can
remember, the time of President Clinton was very economically positive.
Everything was just in the right place. It was during the 90’s that my family
was doing so well that we were able to move out of our two bedroom apartment in
the ghetto of Bridgeport to our current home in the north end of the city. I
remember family vacations and road trips during the summer. Everything was
priced just right and there was no reason to worry about the cost of something.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>Franklin D.
Roosevelt, because he got the country out of the depression<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b>Ronald Reagan…he
was lucky enough to be governing in the good times<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>What
is your first memory of a major economic event impacting your life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V.</i></b> My first memory of
the economy being bad was during the summer of 2008.This was the summer that my
first semester college tuition was due, and even with all the financial aid I
was getting, we still had a hard time coming up with the money. I even
considered, after my third semester at my school, transferring to a state
school which had a cheaper tuition<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>The Gas Crisis of
1974 when there was an oil/gas “shortage”, making gas prices sky rocket, and
causing long lines at the gas station and the act of getting gas to be more of
a times event then something you did casually. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The war in the Middle East<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
</div>
<span style="color: white;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: white;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>How
do you get economic news? How has this changed over your life</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V.</i></b> I usually get my
economic news from the internet or from hearing about things from my
professors. I never really paid too much attention to economic news until the
past few years, and it’s always been the same way. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>Television news
broadcasts, the internet, the New York Times, and general reading. The only
thing that has changed over time is the internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b>I get it from the newspapers, television
and people smarter than myself and it has not changed much over my life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>What
is your definition of economics (when you hear the word economy or economics
what do you think about)?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V.</i></b> Economics is the
study of the consumption of goods and spending of money. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>The root of the
word “economy” comes from the Greek. It means efficient management of the household
and scarce resources. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">(I swear that was
off the top of his head!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></b>Having a good job and being able to afford
to live well, now and in the future<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>How
do you deal will rising prices e.g. substitute cheaper brand, stop buying? Any
examples?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V</i></b>. To deal with
raising prices, for example gas for the car, I try to use less, and try not to
drive unnecessarily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D.</i></b> Buy store brand
instead of brand name.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A</i></b> Stop buying what is
unnecessary, cheaper brands aren’t always bad, eat out less, don’t waste money
on things you don’t really need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep it
simple<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>What
product or service has most changed over your lifetime?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V</i></b>. The service that
has changed most during my life is the internet. I remember trying to get
online when I was nine or ten, waiting for the AOL dial up to connect, then
having to get off ten minutes later because I was tying up the phone line.
There was never really anything to do online either. I would sign on, check my
email, which was always empty since this was before the time of “spam”, check
to see if any of my friends were online so we could instant message each other,
and then sign off. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D.</i></b> The internet,
telecommunications, electronics<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b>TELEPHONES!!!<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>How
do you handle saving and how has this changed<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V.</i></b> I only work part time
since I am a full time student, so my pay check is pretty measly. But I have
two accounts with my bank, a checking account where I put spending money, and a
savings account, where I deposit a portion of my check into weekly. I used to
keep money at home, but I ended up spending most of it because it was within
arm’s reach. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D.</i></b> I have a savings
account, always have. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b>Don’t save…have
most of the things we saved for when we were young<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>What
was the price of gas when you got your first car?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Asma
V.</i></b> I think gas
prices were around $3.25 or so at that time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>Forty-five cents<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b>If I can remember,
about 19.9 cents per gallon (unbelievable, right?)<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.</span>What
was your wage at your first job?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Asma V.</b> Minimum wage, $8.25<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tony
D. </i></b>Minimum wage,
around $3.50, or $4.00<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joanie
A. </i></b>$1.00 per hour<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: white;">Surveys</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: white;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9lhOlRmQqVe3itAq69CrKW5OhyphenhyphenXK4oPrS7XCT5yhyphenhyphengiuRRvLCKjr8pjtyoknw6WtiJCEyvD7qmpB2d69zLNHN824phOn67qwNNSjmSwpoYNUw2PyXicGMwkNyp7uwLQ4Dc5lG7CXn2ZT/s1600/joanie.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9lhOlRmQqVe3itAq69CrKW5OhyphenhyphenXK4oPrS7XCT5yhyphenhyphengiuRRvLCKjr8pjtyoknw6WtiJCEyvD7qmpB2d69zLNHN824phOn67qwNNSjmSwpoYNUw2PyXicGMwkNyp7uwLQ4Dc5lG7CXn2ZT/s640/joanie.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-25265499095732364502012-04-09T20:37:00.001-07:002012-04-09T20:39:18.255-07:00RS Your Choice: Countrywide<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blog post is in response to
the podcast “A Friday Podcast: A Former Mortgage Exec Speaks Out” published by
Planet Money on March 16, 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Oh, Countrywide Insurance. Its companies
like you that make me afraid of corporate life. Where do I even begin? Not only
is it completely wrong to make sure that a person whom you recruit to work for
you sign onto a questionable mortgage by your company, locking her into a home
for seven years, but to have her complete a survey report about your company
and then completely change it before it reaches the hands of the upper most
crust of Countrywide is just unethical. Why change it? Was it because you didn’t
want anyone to know about how unhappy your employees really were? Or was it
really that you didn’t want word to get out that there was blatant fraud
practiced in many areas of your company? And why set up a “anonymous hotline”
for employees to have a safe place to voice their concerns and then fire them after
they report any misconduct? Just to say you have one? Or is it so that you
could “weed out” the bad apples who are actually concerned. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbu8Et0gMPtPdZY8cinD8snkWdwUyisD6tC4S8Ax6OLfd5MheQKnz1_pJYXKHXu5d4dO79xqQujsiCVJaWxB9rhnRkfOOUAzAcKGzUEHxCjYXrVmbCfbQZbRmaY1GFWavYP0LXpBeex1A/s1600/Unethical-SEO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbu8Et0gMPtPdZY8cinD8snkWdwUyisD6tC4S8Ax6OLfd5MheQKnz1_pJYXKHXu5d4dO79xqQujsiCVJaWxB9rhnRkfOOUAzAcKGzUEHxCjYXrVmbCfbQZbRmaY1GFWavYP0LXpBeex1A/s320/Unethical-SEO.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">First things first, if I was
running a mortgage company I would give my employees the best possible mortgage
agreement with lowest interest rates. They’re going to be working for me, and
they are unhappy at home why would they be happy at the job they moved to that
home to work for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, if I hire
someone to completel a survey, I want to know what the results really are. I
want to know why people feel the way they do and how we can fix it. I want to
know if there is questionable activity happening in my company because my name,
my brand is at stake. And lastly, I would never set up a so called “anonymous
hotline” and take advantage of it. If I was trying to sell my company to a
bigger bank, I would go about it truthfully making sure they knew exactly what they
were getting themselves into, because I would want exactly the same done to me.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgzGX0CKBeI6tYpssrAqW-NDQ7Wi3e7wpder_12PydyCpOggTmGQjR4J1tSRVOJ1AaGdEyfWviTlT1L1N1EEA9hQOjiPW2NYVLlTik_fsgEt9qWQHWldQ4OIqZGN9oPXN5GlRVjwixzM-/s1600/ethics1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEgzGX0CKBeI6tYpssrAqW-NDQ7Wi3e7wpder_12PydyCpOggTmGQjR4J1tSRVOJ1AaGdEyfWviTlT1L1N1EEA9hQOjiPW2NYVLlTik_fsgEt9qWQHWldQ4OIqZGN9oPXN5GlRVjwixzM-/s320/ethics1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Not important enough, i guess.</span> </div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-37401831414414212202012-04-09T19:47:00.001-07:002012-04-09T19:47:21.794-07:00RS: Regulators Mount Up, Part II<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blog post is in response to “The
Warning”, published by PBS. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvXuF9Rq0cPl6v4tu_tKmxa0W_rs2A5QGyG9C6_SRCxFf3cbs5HQicVyMHu9xUQfLVhdTeRZK1OYMsMXOWogOHiRhYbY2viwpdRPxDCwLOW6FoDB3bcy39LnZu4k-QTD2RmH_S0pFITaj/s1600/imagesCANQ6FYZ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkvXuF9Rq0cPl6v4tu_tKmxa0W_rs2A5QGyG9C6_SRCxFf3cbs5HQicVyMHu9xUQfLVhdTeRZK1OYMsMXOWogOHiRhYbY2viwpdRPxDCwLOW6FoDB3bcy39LnZu4k-QTD2RmH_S0pFITaj/s400/imagesCANQ6FYZ.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Let’s set the stage. Someone congress
doesn’t know very well, Brooksly Born, top of her class at Stanford, the first woman president of the Stanford Law Review, top notch lawyer, and chairperson of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, comes and tells them that the over the counter derivatives
they’re letting go unlegislated will cause a horrible financial crisis in the
United States that will affect everyone unless something is done about it. And
what happens? She is dismissed. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUc1-Gd8Pn4TrUVSd-K7FU6wupfafxa6YS9tTfeoZlThsaVP0n3j9NGeMNTKyUDg3sds5oGU2dWCBViOGr22QMASiE-maMdwOr6xhJ09E2TKhSb_YOUCPcBzz9g0HldW6jwigHTB_ngHSo/s1600/questionable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUc1-Gd8Pn4TrUVSd-K7FU6wupfafxa6YS9tTfeoZlThsaVP0n3j9NGeMNTKyUDg3sds5oGU2dWCBViOGr22QMASiE-maMdwOr6xhJ09E2TKhSb_YOUCPcBzz9g0HldW6jwigHTB_ngHSo/s1600/questionable.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Firstly, let me explain what
derivatives are. An over the counter derivative is a bet or swap between
companies and banks as insurance to protect them unforeseen economic calamities.
It’s a safety net for companies invested in the market. But what people did not
know was about the fraud that was going on behind the scenes. Since derivatives
aren’t regulated by the government, all known records of these swaps are
strictly private, allowing banks like the Bankers Trust be basically presented
with money from a contract with Proctor and Gamble. It wasn’t until it was too
late that people were learning that banks were giving derivatives on derivatives
on derivatives. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCy_v874CWVvRz6ZxAKJRp_NpQB8MudvGpTQrAr6yBItDht6hTRPGNJRj0jqL1-bIsa3xVD52LiBQhN0BHF71fnFqxHpnqwRGotZnS5NTs7nXfn-ZeIBpWytccYWeFq1VhS-jdAdo8U9Az/s1600/alan_greenspan_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCy_v874CWVvRz6ZxAKJRp_NpQB8MudvGpTQrAr6yBItDht6hTRPGNJRj0jqL1-bIsa3xVD52LiBQhN0BHF71fnFqxHpnqwRGotZnS5NTs7nXfn-ZeIBpWytccYWeFq1VhS-jdAdo8U9Az/s320/alan_greenspan_poster.jpg" width="239" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not surprised at all that when Brooksly
Born came to congress and told them about her research about over the
counter derivatives and its association with fraud would cause an economic
upheaval, she was denied.. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She went up against Alan Greenspan,
Chairman of the Federal Reserve at that time, who was completely against regulation
of derivatives because it would cause more harm than good. He thought it was
okay for fraud to happen, either at basic levels or higher levels. When a no
body like Born goes up against a prominent member of Washington, paired with
90% of congress not understanding what Born was talking about when it came to
the derivatives, of course they would side with “their guy”. </span></span></div>
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDri-2P9ZWNDMuMU8SPm2qf72WqS8ndSr19aHuI5PIREztl_sPDW9SlrBmuUfHro1rPnOEtcC8-vlIFeW6EUfmTvQ15s_Wr4U0relOxSCpQrV1cZB6AmZjLpr_B50Vd_k78sd2Bfywyfpy/s1600/obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDri-2P9ZWNDMuMU8SPm2qf72WqS8ndSr19aHuI5PIREztl_sPDW9SlrBmuUfHro1rPnOEtcC8-vlIFeW6EUfmTvQ15s_Wr4U0relOxSCpQrV1cZB6AmZjLpr_B50Vd_k78sd2Bfywyfpy/s320/obama.jpg" width="219" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">But no more than six weeks after
Born was dismissed in front of congress does it come out that one of the major
companies, LTCM, a long term capital management company hedge fund based in the
affluent Greenwich, CT, was going down because of the same thing that Born was
lobbying for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But LTCM gets saved by 14 banks
who pledge enough money to keep it afloat in order to save the market. And
finally, the people of congress start to ask questions about Born’s idea, and
start to wonder about whether she really had something going or she just got
lucky. Still, nothing productive was done. And to this day, something that has
proven to be instrumental in the most recent fall of the stock market is still
not taken care of. But President Barack Obama is weighing its pros and con’s.
So hopefully, he’ll prove worthy of my vote.</span> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qP4d5paLECs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-10942779721088620472012-03-19T20:54:00.002-07:002012-03-19T21:11:08.696-07:00RS: Regulators Mount Up<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blog post is my response to “Commanding
Heights, The Battle for the World Economy”, released by PBS. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This documentary was really
interesting, especially when it came up how after World War II, the government
tried to control the prices of all goods, causing huge amounts of inflation in
Germany. When the government ruled price control was taken away, the economy
flourished. According to the video, “overnight the black market disappeared.
People stopped hoarding, and goods not seen for 10 years went on sale”. How
great is that? What a huge turnaround from where goods were being traded for cigarettes
and booze to the economy actually making its way back up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Still, even after
seeing Germany’s success, most countries wanted to have the government set up
their economy. And while some flourished, others didn’t. The situation with Germany
after the war is not the only occurrence where the lack of government
involvement helped a diminishing economy. During the 1920’s in the United States,
there was a recession, but the government wasn’t involved and the problem
rectified itself within the year.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Yet, the government still wants to involve itself in the economy even after seeing how it is unecessary. In the past few years, there has been the issue with the government "bailing out" banks which needed assistance. Who knows what would have happened if the banks just went thru the normal life cycle. If they had gone down, who knows where the economy would have been if there wasn't an intervention. Where would we be now? We'll never know. </span><br />
<br />
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</div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-1138950142885488102012-03-15T20:49:00.002-07:002012-03-15T20:50:22.984-07:00RS: Not Everything Sucks<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">This blog post is my response to “<span lang="EN" style="letter-spacing: -0.4pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats”
released by BBC and “</span><span class="notranslate"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Peter Diamandis: Abundance is our future</span>”
released by TED in February 2012</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Turn on the news and 98% of what you see will be negative; tornados,
tsunami's, earthquakes, war, murder, you name it, it will be mentioned. Why has
our society become so negative and cynical? Yes, things are not doing too great
right now, but compare it to what it could be? Compare today to this day 50
years ago and appreciate how far not only the United States, but every other
country, has progressed. </span></span><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">According to Hans Rosling’s video, “200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes”,
two hundred years ago we were all in the same range of poor and low life
expectancy. Slowly but surely, all countries came up and now we all are within
the middle to high range. Instead of focusing on the negatives, why can’t we
think of how far we’ve come? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As stated by Peter Diamandis, “<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Over the last hundred years,</span>
<span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">the average human lifespan has more
than doubled;</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">average per
capita income adjusted for inflation</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">around the world has tripled.</span>
<span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Childhood mortality</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">has come down a factor of 10.</span>
<span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Add to that the cost of food,
electricity,</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">transportation,
communication</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">have dropped
10 to 1,000-fold.</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Steve Pinker
has showed us</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">that, in
fact, we're living during the most peaceful time ever</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">in human history.</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">And Charles Kenny</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">that global literacy has gone from 25
percent to over 80 percent</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">in the last
130 years.</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">We truly are
living in an extraordinary time.</span> <span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">And many people forget this</span>”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6k25hNPjXD_SjTU2p_1IEcbdswxnACkCfDh7JSYP96Te0Nh0AgQEb3X0mw57aB4N2PswSTB4fJgqFl-1MGeO7nV3x18-dSuwzmX2zupA_ISNl3BbAEms8_pGKv-pasi39N8Jm_eeIZ0f/s1600/1224682865ovnDUa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6k25hNPjXD_SjTU2p_1IEcbdswxnACkCfDh7JSYP96Te0Nh0AgQEb3X0mw57aB4N2PswSTB4fJgqFl-1MGeO7nV3x18-dSuwzmX2zupA_ISNl3BbAEms8_pGKv-pasi39N8Jm_eeIZ0f/s320/1224682865ovnDUa.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">He’s totally right. We have made so many progressions, and if you look at statistics, we've got a lot more growing that is happening right as we speak.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"> So why is it
that we are just so focused on what’s NOT going right? Is it just wide spread worldwide
cynicism? How did we become so ungrateful for what we have? Lets not forget
that we are raising children in these “horrible times”. Why don’t we teach the
future leaders of our countries to be thankful, and to see a bigger picture
than our narrow, privileged minds can. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_diamandis_abundance_is_our_future.html" target="_blank">Peter Diamandis: Abundace is our future</a><br />
<br />
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<br />Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-69181399778755848052012-03-08T21:09:00.003-08:002012-03-08T21:10:48.766-08:00RS SPRING BREAK: A Time for Reflection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Have you ever had a professor
who uses drugs, as in illegal illicit drugs, cocaine, mary jane, prescription
pills, etc, when giving examples or teaching a new topic? No? Well neither did I,
until I took Russ Engel’s Microeconomics class during the Fall 2011 semester at
Sacred Heart University. The first time I heard him use examples like that, I almost
thought I was hearing him wrong. But nope! Drugs, how he’s a super jets fan
even though he knows they suck, student’s preferences and current events were
his specialty.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYQu6Se98QX0ywraj382NCFGsFmkEHmxPPBy-6fTG7E2zAnw9mv3NadQ68_Qq0Oq8qa5O9-T14eARCvLkybg-5fYlhyZGhT_y0DzKcVH9TguWXummBdy9yMVNz0i2C3VdovSC3gPdmZTf/s1600/drugs-are-bad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLYQu6Se98QX0ywraj382NCFGsFmkEHmxPPBy-6fTG7E2zAnw9mv3NadQ68_Qq0Oq8qa5O9-T14eARCvLkybg-5fYlhyZGhT_y0DzKcVH9TguWXummBdy9yMVNz0i2C3VdovSC3gPdmZTf/s320/drugs-are-bad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> My strongest memory from my second class with Engel,
Macroeconomics (Yes, second. Who wouldn’t want to take a class with a professor
who teaches and keeps you entertained at the same time?!) is when I walked into
class the very first day and was completely comfortable. I’m a pretty high strung
person, always needing to be on top of things, and when I’m put into a
situation that I have no control over, I tend to be very nervous. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually, I’m anxious because I don’t know what
the professor is going to be like or how hard the subject will be, but actually
feeling comfortable and not stressed out before anything even started is my
first real memory of the class. I can safely say that I’ve never felt like that
before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My strongest memory of an
economic concept is from my first semester with Professor Engel. The concept of
opportunity cost is so ingrained in my mind that no matter where I go it always
comes up. Opportunity cost is what you’re giving up, or the next best
alternative, when you make a choice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also,
I remember how to calculate opportunity cost, and using that information to
define absolute or comparative advantage. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja56RVB2XP5YEvmp6OiEA2zuRmh6mr8T3ICWkX8HQiqdOIWmwCq_Le2nx_7YkflPyXBl4I39UUpABRYDtaTQ-LQOI8lQ-eVev2NCdS2U-oTtTUTZEcFvOR_TEiGN-CtSYwJ54mD4lzlPIT/s1600/antivirus-software-comparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja56RVB2XP5YEvmp6OiEA2zuRmh6mr8T3ICWkX8HQiqdOIWmwCq_Le2nx_7YkflPyXBl4I39UUpABRYDtaTQ-LQOI8lQ-eVev2NCdS2U-oTtTUTZEcFvOR_TEiGN-CtSYwJ54mD4lzlPIT/s320/antivirus-software-comparison.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Professor Engel first
said we would be required to do weekly blog posts based on podcast’s, I did an internal
groan. I thought to myself, “really Russ? You’re going to make us listen to
boring podcasts<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> every</i> week and then
we have to force ourselves to write about them? Your ‘cool factor’ just plummeted.”
But then I actually listened to the first podcast and it really wasn’t that bad
at all. My favorite blog post would definitely be the first one we were
assigned, the one which involved Katy Perry. Not that the whole podcast that we
had to listen to was directly about her, rather it was more so about how record
label companies aren’t making much money anymore, but the fact that she was
involved got my attention quick. I’m a HUGE Katy Perry fan, and was immediately
interested in hearing more of this podcast and going on to write about it. I
would say that I did the best on this blog post too. I was just really into it
and almost wanted the podcast to go on longer because it was really
interesting, I had never thought about how the record labels must be affected
by the new surge in online music downloading/buying. I would also say this was
my best because it was in the beginning of the semester before everything else
started. Now, between reading a million pages for six classes, homework, exams
and papers, my part time job and my internship, I’m spread pretty thin and can’t
really focus on one thing for too long because there is always something else
that needs to be done!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiorCUhReXXR70PsMeBXIDF-Wh9zpxoACJAW5WV8gWVv_u86VPLi0AfIb13lD_OBuiHbCVA7-gRA8exaz2qmkR7GBnVoT1SCs7i8Vj78U3vkjNjz57eNcbAASWcTBYkGD8qpEs8CcjikpD/s1600/Katy-with-fans-katy-perry-14689640-1000-667.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiorCUhReXXR70PsMeBXIDF-Wh9zpxoACJAW5WV8gWVv_u86VPLi0AfIb13lD_OBuiHbCVA7-gRA8exaz2qmkR7GBnVoT1SCs7i8Vj78U3vkjNjz57eNcbAASWcTBYkGD8qpEs8CcjikpD/s400/Katy-with-fans-katy-perry-14689640-1000-667.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Engel Indoctrination
Program has definitely made me a better person. I learned not to judge a class
by the professor teaching it. When I first met Professor Engel, I thought, woah
he’s cool, this is going to be an easy A, no doubt. But as time progressed, I realized
that there was actually a significant amount of work to be put in. There was no
“easy A”, rather if you worked for your grade, just like in every other class,
you will get exactly what you deserve. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">All in all, it’s been a great
semester and a half. I’m hoping there will be more chances to take another
class with Russ because I actually learn things and remember them after exams,
instead of cramming two nights before and forgetting everything 10 minutes
before the exam starts. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYHwuirYGd48hvv8K9fQxKU_S8i9NtIbeV_Au8zQLNcqUvaRoxBxRzK8dZvdgbWkmQOb0_SOIiAdXTNmV356u5CLJQR3xxch7QErgejvepAVlLT-yNxCdmIOVaJyleMgiEPWiW4JdmJxp/s1600/tumblr_lhgk4e8xvp1qzhcq9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYHwuirYGd48hvv8K9fQxKU_S8i9NtIbeV_Au8zQLNcqUvaRoxBxRzK8dZvdgbWkmQOb0_SOIiAdXTNmV356u5CLJQR3xxch7QErgejvepAVlLT-yNxCdmIOVaJyleMgiEPWiW4JdmJxp/s1600/tumblr_lhgk4e8xvp1qzhcq9.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-47697564111007378212012-02-27T21:00:00.000-08:002012-02-27T21:02:51.436-08:00RS8: GDP<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyz8bAbTPLdHyi20NsJPDu-wH387gmNSleqH-MM0LCzLwPhLBegAXjUktxs6W_k2a5J84qHVU1897YNAJjBMlL-BiVVVypxtRQedAeuujRR-Ccpa2nuQPYzNs0TC9P7jqY_UW0EkDUfzx/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmyz8bAbTPLdHyi20NsJPDu-wH387gmNSleqH-MM0LCzLwPhLBegAXjUktxs6W_k2a5J84qHVU1897YNAJjBMlL-BiVVVypxtRQedAeuujRR-Ccpa2nuQPYzNs0TC9P7jqY_UW0EkDUfzx/s320/Untitled.png" width="273" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blog post is my take on GDP,
with the input of "What is GDP" by Planet Money, published on October
27, 2011 and "Why GDP per capita can start a bar fight”, by Planet Money,
published on January 10, 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I never knew what GDP was. It was
during a class I was required to take last semester, a class which I hated so
much I could never even remember the name of it, that I had first heard of this
term. At first, I thought the professor was saying "GTP", and since I
really didn't know what this meant, i thought to Google it. And obviously,
since I had the wrong letters, Google showed me something totally irrelevant.
It wasn’t until one fine day in my Macroeconomics class that I finally
understood the meaning of the term “GDP”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">GDP, or gross domestic product, </span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">refers to the market value of all officially recognized final goods and
services produced within a country in a given period. According to what I learned
in class, and the video “What is GDP” by Planet Money, I learned that GDP is
the output of all things made in the USA, only counting the final sale of goods
and services to avoid double counting. The example shown in the video of a box
of cornflakes was straight to the point. There are many intermediaries in the
process of creating one box of cornflakes; there’s the farmer who planted and
grew the corn, the transportation authority who transported the corn to the
cornflakes factory, the actual process of making the cereal, and the makers of
the box. Payment for goods and services were made along the way, but the final
sale of the good, when a consumer buys the cereal from the grocery store is
what is counted in the GDP. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to the article “why GDP per capita can start a
bar fight” also by Planet Money. The GDP per capita is sometimes used to
measure a countries standard of living. Some may say that the U.S. has a
preferable economy compared to Europe, and others disagree saying that the per
capita doesn’t measure a person’s happiness. The U.S. may have the higher GDP
rate, but so much is spent in the way of things that don’t make much
difference. As much as 17% of US spending goes into health care yet our country
ranks behind every West European country when it comes to life expectancy. Every
country in Western Europe has less inequality than the United States and get as
much as 4-6 weeks paid time off. They are much happier, and much healthier than
we are. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">So who cares if our GDP is larger than theirs? </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I'm moving to Italy. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1sjcPcQZUIo9h4hl59Oh6KguP2UqAuyoOUTONTPNyxbfZxwK3iewDhq73Z2qwK9u1X1VZ9jffPko7eJqLdJJ2w29nxPZhAcYuOUpHxUMwHpKkbWtoT4rfeJqmGyHs0ui9294j77lUuE_/s1600/venice-italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj1sjcPcQZUIo9h4hl59Oh6KguP2UqAuyoOUTONTPNyxbfZxwK3iewDhq73Z2qwK9u1X1VZ9jffPko7eJqLdJJ2w29nxPZhAcYuOUpHxUMwHpKkbWtoT4rfeJqmGyHs0ui9294j77lUuE_/s320/venice-italy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-22773208277547329942012-02-22T22:25:00.000-08:002012-02-22T22:25:00.167-08:00RS7: If a man speaks in the forest and there are no women around to hear is he still wrong?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">Yes, he is. He opened his mouth. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoguLlkBnlkCPhCKRU-2ZmB38qgPhyphenhyphenCadP2dE0r1-o2iJVP2rCj4F00kAooKInQ0xPlHIkH3HCyNeWRYDx41pcS71M-LWZBCLVhJHqWLqNyUcCdPXW6dbXF7ewl89NoZCe6-a65MGO9lDh/s1600/dep_5127912-Dumb-man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoguLlkBnlkCPhCKRU-2ZmB38qgPhyphenhyphenCadP2dE0r1-o2iJVP2rCj4F00kAooKInQ0xPlHIkH3HCyNeWRYDx41pcS71M-LWZBCLVhJHqWLqNyUcCdPXW6dbXF7ewl89NoZCe6-a65MGO9lDh/s200/dep_5127912-Dumb-man.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And on to the subject of this weeks blog post!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This blog post is my take on "Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity", released by TED in June 2006.</span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I completely agree with everything that Robinson says. He states how as children grow older, adults in their lives, adults whom they trust and think the world of, cause children to go off the path they want to follow, if not consciously then sub concsiously. </div>
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Take for example the story about the little girl who was brought in to see a specialist with her mother because she couldn't sit still. The specialist told the mother that the little girl was a dancer, not sick, and recommended dancing lessons. The little girl grew up to become a dancer for the Royal Ballet, and founded her own dance company and a multi-millionaire. And someone else might have put her on some medication that caused her to "calm down". </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FkAkNoZOFlH6IBRB2hD_ufzSbE5bSFFkHJIxYbaaJB9Sa39PNt2nLXzw_F4JK82es2XduQmuby0ecwH0KlHQcEtrJWTm52SjKL-F0Zsd1tu5jpe9eZt4z7x4OQXe8IglLz_LZaGi8bc8/s1600/pic-young_ballerina_dancing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FkAkNoZOFlH6IBRB2hD_ufzSbE5bSFFkHJIxYbaaJB9Sa39PNt2nLXzw_F4JK82es2XduQmuby0ecwH0KlHQcEtrJWTm52SjKL-F0Zsd1tu5jpe9eZt4z7x4OQXe8IglLz_LZaGi8bc8/s320/pic-young_ballerina_dancing.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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Children these days are up against so much. With constant developments in psychology, children are diagnosed with and are medicated for ADD, ADHD, and many other learning disabilities at such young ages just because they are "different". <br />
<br />
When a child says they want to major in something like music or art, they are turned away from those choices by parents and even educators who tell them they have no future in that field. That it's not as respectable in comparing a Masters in Music to a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. That's not fair at all. Children don't have any other way of knowing things, from learning different things, than from their own family or teachers. They don't know the difference between being a doctor or a dancer. All they know is what they like, what makes them happy. And children know what they want because they are always happy. Maybe we should take a cue from them instead of vice versa. Maybe we should start to follow what makes us happy, instead of what's socially acceptable. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv94btc3Rdg0hT4wlqzS8Q0M0Y1zrjRmEKifOWJtOiMcL8OWgvkkH1om9RPx9pJVGY3y8J4Ll9-qjXS1Y_1df53mvs99ZkeTMpKkd9P3pVvVPGSi5KNsWJJGcQF4g4huJ-s294_u4TYeQW/s1600/quote,be,happy,tg,art,cute,happy-bf0be88ce4eaf5a0d5107ab9478fd41e_h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv94btc3Rdg0hT4wlqzS8Q0M0Y1zrjRmEKifOWJtOiMcL8OWgvkkH1om9RPx9pJVGY3y8J4Ll9-qjXS1Y_1df53mvs99ZkeTMpKkd9P3pVvVPGSi5KNsWJJGcQF4g4huJ-s294_u4TYeQW/s320/quote,be,happy,tg,art,cute,happy-bf0be88ce4eaf5a0d5107ab9478fd41e_h.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-31368425449947182862012-02-07T08:49:00.000-08:002012-02-15T19:06:31.134-08:00RS6: Personality Sorter<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Personality test results</strong>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Ta-dah, your personality type is <b>ISFJ</b>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Introverted</strong> (I) 68% Extraverted (E) 32%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Sensing</strong> (S) 73% Intuitive (N) 27%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Feeling</strong> (F) 90% Thinking (T) 10%</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Judging</strong> (J) 91% Perceiving (P) 9%</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Guardian, Protector (ISFJ):</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">We are lucky that <span style="color: white;"><strong>p</strong><strong>rotectors</strong></span><span style="color: black;"> </span>make up as much as ten percent the population, because their primary interest is in the safety and security of those they care about - their family, their circle of friends, their students, their patients, their boss, their fellow-workers, or their employees. Protectors have an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility in their makeup, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can shield others from the dirt and dangers of the world. Speculating and experimenting do not intrigue Protectors, who prefer to make do with time-honored and time-tested products and procedures rather than change to new. At work Protectors are seldom happy in situations where the rules are constantly changing, or where long-established ways of doing things are not respected. For their part, Protectors value tradition, both in the culture and in their family. Protectors believe deeply in the stability of social ranking conferred by birth, titles, offices, and credentials. And they cherish family history and enjoy caring for family property, from houses to heirlooms.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Wanting to be of service to others, Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden, and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. They are not as outgoing and talkative as the Provider Guardians [ESFJs], and their shyness is often misjudged as stiffness, even coldness, when in truth Protectors are warm-hearted and sympathetic, giving happily of themselves to those in need. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Their reserve ought really to be seen as an expression of their sincerity and seriousness of purpose. The most diligent of all the types, Protectors are willing to work long, hard hours quietly doing all the thankless jobs that others manage to avoid. Protectors are quite happy working alone; in fact, in positions of authority they may try to do everything themselves rather than direct others to get the job done. Thoroughness and frugality are also virtues for them. When Protectors undertake a task, they will complete it if humanly possible. They also know better than any other type the value of a dollar, and they abhor the squandering or misuse of money. To save, to put something aside against an unpredictable future, to prepare for emergencies-these are actions near and dear to the Protector's heart. For all these reasons, Protectors are frequently overworked, just as they are frequently misunderstood and undervalued. Their contributions, and also their economies, are often taken for granted, and they rarely get the gratitude they deserve.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GjrVZx5UBNb_1A2w1OgjivWWDoCTQZbmu3PKu0BfKdvtUf4OPpuXk32W44hQ3EcbagxP5LmeUMvzSWNq0L_pLjRX7bpBB4GP3H8oGjlL6WzCbiEBc_wIHIGa-mHcVA1sIz95PYUVuh53/s1600/angel17_000_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7GjrVZx5UBNb_1A2w1OgjivWWDoCTQZbmu3PKu0BfKdvtUf4OPpuXk32W44hQ3EcbagxP5LmeUMvzSWNq0L_pLjRX7bpBB4GP3H8oGjlL6WzCbiEBc_wIHIGa-mHcVA1sIz95PYUVuh53/s320/angel17_000_thumb.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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<br />Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-90698988012259586032012-02-02T20:48:00.000-08:002012-02-02T20:49:09.384-08:00RS5: Inside the Meltdown<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This blogpost is my take on "Inside the Meltdown", released by PBC On February 17, 2009. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDnSfXe180fBLs21DG641h9kD4YAIff0VYwlSRA-040zDwcJDzqoz14iBWIlzz8H-EFZv7p8Imi4wRw9MkTgwyTFGbz84or0CcJskUBE0mmmix_gKT6c6ImN1_zEHo6xK62OqaVqzsUuI/s1600/imagesCAU363Q9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDDnSfXe180fBLs21DG641h9kD4YAIff0VYwlSRA-040zDwcJDzqoz14iBWIlzz8H-EFZv7p8Imi4wRw9MkTgwyTFGbz84or0CcJskUBE0mmmix_gKT6c6ImN1_zEHo6xK62OqaVqzsUuI/s320/imagesCAU363Q9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As a
high school senior, I did not really understand much about this thing they
called “a recession” in the news. I knew about the stock market crash in 1929
and the Great Depression of the 30’s and how it impacted this country from
countless lessons in history class throughout the years, but no way could
something like that be happening in 2008. But it was true, the stock market was
crashing again, and the economy was going down, and the country was in economic
turmoil. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">According to the video, the whole
thing started from a rumor that Bear Sterns didn’t have enough money and was
going to go bankrupt. Upon investigation, Bear Sterns had proved that they did
have enough money, but it didn’t matter now, because the story was out. People
started to sell they’re Bear Sterns stocks, and according to credit default
contracts, every other big company was connected to Bear Sterns. IF Bear sterns
went down, every other financial company was going to go down with it. So in
attempts to restore the balance, the government gave money to J.P.Morgan Bank,
who in turn lent that money to Bear Sterns. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Another company, Lehman brothers,
along with Fannie May and Freddie Mac, was giving housing loans out to
unqualified buyers. When the buyers couldn’t pay their mortgages, the banks
took the houses back, as an attempt to gain their money back. But because of
the slow economy, no one was able to afford to buy a home, and so Lehman
Brothers started to lose their capital. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Its just such a surprise for me that
a rumor could start something so severe. In this world where everyone knows
that liars and schemers are at large always, how can we let a rumor take down
our entire economy so low that the government had to step in because the nation
was in danger of losing its economy! Once the government s involved, nothing
stays as a private business. The banks all became part of the government,
having to follow the rules and regulations the government puts on them instead
of running their businesses as they please. How can one rumor put a country like
the United States go into economic crisis? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’m not sure how I feel about the
government being a part in this either. I understand that they had to step in
to help Bear Sterns because of its connection to the rest of Wall Street, but
did it really have to be so involved in other companies? What if they had just
sat back and allowed what was happening to happen and see where it took us. But
there would have been backlash anyways, no matter what choice the government
made. The economy is slowly making its way up, maybe this was the right choice
to make, for the government to step in and buy stocks to help even out the
scales.</span></span> </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iZunMPWcOLY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-63054861526486892272012-02-02T20:38:00.000-08:002012-02-02T20:38:31.567-08:00RS4: moneymoneymoney<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This blogpost is my take on “The Friday Podcast: A Former Lobbyist
Tells All”, published by Planet Money on January 27, 2012. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The main point of this podcast was that Jimmy Williams, a
former member of the National Associations of Realtors and former lobbyist, is
trying to take the money out of politics. For example, when someone is running
for senate or congress or especially for president, a great deal of money is
spent in regards to their campaign. It was just announced today actually, that
Donald Trump, a well-known American businessman billionaire, will be endorsing nominee
Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential race. Obviously, Trump’s endorsement comes
with his money, and along with all of his other endorsers, how much money does someone
running for office really need? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
Especially in this economy, where there is still a high rate of unemployment
and a lot of people who are struggling after the stock market crash of 2008,
how is the general public supposed to feel about all this money going into
something so trivial as endorsements for someone wanting to be president? All it
really should be about it what everyone’s ideas, opinions, and plans for the
future of the county are. Not fliers, television commercials, press
conferences, etc. Focus on the important things; like unemployment rates,
health insurance, the public school system, national debt, poverty levels and
crime rates. In the end, the hundreds of thousands of dollars you spend in
fliers, signs and billboards are only going to be thrown away. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvJo4ne1W_Kx20jnEySKO_0UMNETklHCqq06VmzPK6W8DCHTC6DwGiqUkKxPh0evdUB7q8LFxrz-CEkQn43VY5I1gEWqn7U9i5cnDj9DG3P4Hile9QWViBTBFLkTiW2h5X9d8lw7sykBB/s1600/Romney-Unemployed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvJo4ne1W_Kx20jnEySKO_0UMNETklHCqq06VmzPK6W8DCHTC6DwGiqUkKxPh0evdUB7q8LFxrz-CEkQn43VY5I1gEWqn7U9i5cnDj9DG3P4Hile9QWViBTBFLkTiW2h5X9d8lw7sykBB/s400/Romney-Unemployed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-10672419203664904912012-02-02T12:46:00.000-08:002012-02-02T20:49:53.562-08:00RS3: My Learning Style<div style="border: currentColor;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>The results of Sabrina's learning inventory are:</strong> </span></span></div>
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<b></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Visual/Nonverbal 23 Visual/Verbal 30 Auditory 34 Kinesthetic 21 </span></div>
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<b></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div style="border: currentColor;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Your primary learning style is:</b> </span></span></div>
<div style="border: currentColor;">
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>The Auditory/ Verbal Learning Style </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img height="1" src="http://www.metamath.com/cgi-bin/pixel.gif" vspace="6" width="1" /> You learn best when information is presented auditory in an oral language format. In a classroom setting, you benefit from listening to lecture and participating in group discussions. You also benefit from obtaining information from audio tape. When trying to remember something, you can often "hear" the way someone told you the information, or the way you previously repeated it out loud. You learn best when interacting with others in a listening/speaking exchange . </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pzD0dLn6Qqivdub2xgW1FycyDwZSR0MfTNjU3NVrS03TNR3ylJJndzgc-FyqVIdZ2jWC17InqYg6LvmzEkp2hu-fzY7weY9t3QfKUrhadlnqeKopbhqZuPf1TG_yctrUDXxaNf3wfEwY/s1600/learning_pyramid_EN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pzD0dLn6Qqivdub2xgW1FycyDwZSR0MfTNjU3NVrS03TNR3ylJJndzgc-FyqVIdZ2jWC17InqYg6LvmzEkp2hu-fzY7weY9t3QfKUrhadlnqeKopbhqZuPf1TG_yctrUDXxaNf3wfEwY/s400/learning_pyramid_EN.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><img height="1" src="http://www.metamath.com/cgi-bin/pixel.gif" vspace="10" width="1" /></span>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-72557219046291102842012-01-28T20:48:00.000-08:002012-02-02T20:52:02.572-08:00RS2: "Last Friday Night" i spent time with my "California Gurls" watching "E.T" and discussing the "Firework" of our "Teenage Dream"<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">This Blogpost is my take on "<em>Katy Perry's Perfect Game</em>" by Planet Money, published on January 20, 2012.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWOiQW_PZhv78oNNi49IIBB_LfPJ5S9392sr4e73l9WUuA1R97PQs5_An0dKNJqHzfXcO1RIit07OlEoNgsUDk_rTn6xw2I90KKy9gwiUKqxqv_p0pW2HwgPFWRXuSX5wCffpRUXf0ESX/s1600/imagesCAOK9A8N.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWOiQW_PZhv78oNNi49IIBB_LfPJ5S9392sr4e73l9WUuA1R97PQs5_An0dKNJqHzfXcO1RIit07OlEoNgsUDk_rTn6xw2I90KKy9gwiUKqxqv_p0pW2HwgPFWRXuSX5wCffpRUXf0ESX/s400/imagesCAOK9A8N.jpg" width="311" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The main point of this podcast was that these days, in a world of the internet, record labels make almost no profit on their big time artists. Katy Perry is a very popular artist who has had five songs off the same album to hit number one on the charts, second only to the great Michael Jackson. If rough calculations where close to the approximate profit Perry’s album has grossed, the label should have made a forty four million dollar profit. But after all the money was properly split up to the singer, songwriters, producers, radio stations and other marketing tactics, the record label makes mere pennies compared to what the artist makes in other revenue, like her sold out tour, apparel, appearance fees, so on and so forth.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In all honestly, I really don’t think this is such a big deal. Katy Perry is the singer/songwriter/performer. Without Katy, there wouldn’t be that eight million dollars in profit the company makes, even though it’s seen as “pennies”. It’s not as if she is taking all the profit to herself, the money that the record label is investing into her is their job, and they are getting paid for it. Yes, without the label she probably would not have the fame she has, it takes a great deal of connections and investment dollars to get to where she is, but nonetheless, she is the talent, and without the talent, all you’ve got is a record label with no records to sell.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Times have changed, and unfortunately, because of the change from actual CD’s being sold at record stores to individual songs being purchased from an online vendor who takes a portion of the profit, the label loses a lot of its revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to equal out this great loss, record labels are now locking artists into a “360 contract”, where the label is promised a certain percent of all of the artist’s earnings. I feel this is very greedy, but I guess I can’t blame the labels because they are just trying to make as much profit as anyone else would try to make in their situation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for Perry, she hasn’t signed a “360 contract”, and to that I say good for her. I'm sure she's very happy with her decision.</span></span> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkOvPJhEcMjIpmScLvxBe_EInuDvFNGvqNvrY2pLqIoEafV38uJoZLaTCryS5VRmaUVgIaUElJ1XeAM6Oz5RWl5k9QWI3xQbvMPA3zpJkzlhWlr6QfL4cShSrxqRUAXYBIKB_GYApN5F9/s1600/Katy-Perry-Last-Friday-Night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlkOvPJhEcMjIpmScLvxBe_EInuDvFNGvqNvrY2pLqIoEafV38uJoZLaTCryS5VRmaUVgIaUElJ1XeAM6Oz5RWl5k9QWI3xQbvMPA3zpJkzlhWlr6QfL4cShSrxqRUAXYBIKB_GYApN5F9/s320/Katy-Perry-Last-Friday-Night.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElIIE3G8t68" target="_blank">KATY PERRY MASHUP <3</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/20/145466007/katy-perrys-perfect-game" target="_blank">Planet Money: Katy Perry's Perfect Game</a></div>
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</div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329258383094707269.post-77389181226928117842012-01-22T19:22:00.000-08:002012-01-22T19:22:46.024-08:00RS1 HOW TO BE A GENIUS<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This blog post is my take on the article “How to Be a Genius” by David Dobbs. This article appeared in the September 2006 edition of the New Scientist. At first, I was very skeptical reading this. The first thought that ran through my head was “Great, another obviously gifted person telling us average people that the way to get to their level is by practicing”. I had already come to the conclusion, after a whole life time of being an average B student, that there was no way I could go any higher than that; that I had plateaued at being a B student and always will be. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But then I read the article in its entirety, and soon enough I started to doubt my previous misconceptions about my intelligence and my assumptions that intelligence was genetic, that some people were just born lucky and had all the brains. The main point of this article is that “genius” doesn’t mean that someone is born with such amazing talent. Genius is created by hard work and dedication. To get somewhere, you have to put in the extra time and effort, more so than what the general population puts in. The general population, as in me, and my B average effort. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The author claims that the two things that are more important than innate talent are a good, supportive environment and dedication. My parents were always very supportive of my studies, and were always there to help in any way they could. Granted, they both grew up in India, and learned reading, writing and arithmetic in a different way, making it more difficult for them to help, but they did the best they could with what we had. So I guess that fault goes on me, and my dedication. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a very dedicated and hardworking person. I put my all into anything that comes my way. But hard work itself is very overwhelming. If you don’t see any positives from the hard work you’re putting in, it could burn you out and discourage you. I am a little bit of both. I put my all into everything, even in the face of failure. But after a few failed attempts, my positivity will be turned into negativity and will be accompanied by discouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, the feeling or goal of wanting to do well comes with anxiety and stress of whether or not you can really achieve the grade you want. Stress can make it harder to focus on something, making it harder to complete or even begin in some cases. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This article is very well written and very eye opening. I always have such a hard time reading articles or text books because of the way they are written, but the author did such a great job of keeping the reader entertained. I was able to thoroughly enjoy it, and the message it gives.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I always thought that some people were just born smarter than others. And I had come to accept that I very obviously wasn’t one of them. I get over whelmed very easily and I stress out like I get paid to do so. But no matter how much effort I was putting into my studies, I still wasn’t excelling as much as I wanted to. I was still unhappy with my grades. I had just come to accept that this was the best that I was going to get, and I was okay with that. But after reading this article, and seeing through a different point of view, I realize that I have essentially taken the “easy way out”. Because I didn’t think I had the capability of being as smart as others, I probably didn’t push myself as hard as I could have to achieve my goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Sabrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431012994264580537noreply@blogger.com0