Accounting Fraud at Worldcom

Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise, and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993, LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995, the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture was dominated by a strong chief executive officer (Bernie J. Bernie) Ebbers), who was given virtually unfettered discretion to commit vast amounts of shareholder resources and determine corporate direction without even the slightest scrutiny or meaningful deliberation or analysis by senior management or the board of directors and legal function was less influential and less welcome than in a healthy corporate environment. Top hierarchy granted compensation and bonus beyond the company guidel ines to a select group of individuals based on their loyalty to them.The company’s human resource virtually never objected to such special awards. Inaddition, there was no outlet for employees to express their concerns. The room four improvement and corrective measures was obsolete, the consequence of all these culture irregularities were the factor to the big disaster for the company. According to Ebber, in 1997,†our goal is to be the NO. 1 stock on Wall Street. †Revenue growth was a key to increasing the company’s market value. Ebbers was obsessed with revenue growth and insisted on a 42% E/R ratio.He encouraged managers to push for revenue, even if it meant that long term costs would outweigh the short term gains. As business operations declined post the 1st quarter in 2000, CFO Sullivan used accounting tactics to achieve targeted performance, accounting principles require companies to estimate expected payments from line costs and match them with revenu es in the income statement,. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Sullivan told staff to release accruals which too high compared to the relative cash payments, without considered â€Å"Matching Principe†.Over a 7 quarter period between 1999 and 2000, WorldCom released $3. 3 billion worth of accruals. Sullivan directed the making of accounting entries that had no basis in generally accepted accounting principles in order to create the false appearance that WorldCom had achieved those revenue targets. As an accountant, one should be familiar with the standards and rules of the position, accept personal responsibilities for the foreseeable consequence of actions, and realize the long-term effect of such behavior on the accounting industry and the citizens.At all times, an accountant should conduct themselves with integrity, dignity, and respect for the position held in society. Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have acc used, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law. | As Terance Miethe explains in his book, Whistle blowing at Work, many people see the whistleblower as a â€Å"snitch,† or a â€Å"a lowlife who betrays a sacred trust largely for personal gain. † In the flip side, whistleblowers are seen as â€Å"saviors† who ultimately helped create important changes in organizations.This approach to whistleblowers as guardians of public accountability is often taken by consumer advocates. I would not consider blowing the whistle. I would rather distance myself after informing my immediate supervisor if any wrong practice or misconduct similar to the WorldCom Fraud is happening in my environment. Public confidence in the accounting profession has been changed by corporate scandals, which created a crisis that affected the reputation and credibility of accounting professionals.The unethical decisions made by accountants can prove detrimental to the public who rely on information from the financial statements to make decisions. Users of financial statements rely on the information purported by an enterprise to exhibit certain qualitative characteristics that are both relevant and reliable. The impact of unethical decisions of both corporate leaders and accounting firms involving financial reporting by U. S. orporations has necessitated a new governmental regulation under SOX Act of 2002. President Bush signed this Act into law (Public Law 107-204) on July 30, 2002. The Act resulted in major changes to compliance practices of large U. S. and non-U. S. companies, whose securities are listed or traded on U. S. stock exchanges, requiring executives, boards of directors and external auditors to undertake measures to implement greater accountability, responsibility and transparency of financial reporting. Accounting Fraud at Worldcom Accounting Fraud at WorldCom LDDS began operations in 1984 offering services to local retail and commercial customers in the southern states. It was initially a loss making enterprise, and thus hired Bernie J. (Bernie) Ebbers to run things. It took him less than a year to make the company profitable. By the end of 1993, LDDS was the fourth largest long distance carrier in the United States. After a shareholder vote in May 1995, the company officially came to be known as WorldCom. WorldCom culture was dominated by a strong chief executive officer (Bernie J. Bernie) Ebbers), who was given virtually unfettered discretion to commit vast amounts of shareholder resources and determine corporate direction without even the slightest scrutiny or meaningful deliberation or analysis by senior management or the board of directors and legal function was less influential and less welcome than in a healthy corporate environment. Top hierarchy granted compensation and bonus beyond the company guidel ines to a select group of individuals based on their loyalty to them.The company’s human resource virtually never objected to such special awards. Inaddition, there was no outlet for employees to express their concerns. The room four improvement and corrective measures was obsolete, the consequence of all these culture irregularities were the factor to the big disaster for the company. According to Ebber, in 1997,†our goal is to be the NO. 1 stock on Wall Street. †Revenue growth was a key to increasing the company’s market value. Ebbers was obsessed with revenue growth and insisted on a 42% E/R ratio.He encouraged managers to push for revenue, even if it meant that long term costs would outweigh the short term gains. As business operations declined post the 1st quarter in 2000, CFO Sullivan used accounting tactics to achieve targeted performance, accounting principles require companies to estimate expected payments from line costs and match them with revenu es in the income statement,. Throughout 1999 and 2000, Sullivan told staff to release accruals which too high compared to the relative cash payments, without considered â€Å"Matching Principe†.Over a 7 quarter period between 1999 and 2000, WorldCom released $3. 3 billion worth of accruals. Sullivan directed the making of accounting entries that had no basis in generally accepted accounting principles in order to create the false appearance that WorldCom had achieved those revenue targets. As an accountant, one should be familiar with the standards and rules of the position, accept personal responsibilities for the foreseeable consequence of actions, and realize the long-term effect of such behavior on the accounting industry and the citizens.At all times, an accountant should conduct themselves with integrity, dignity, and respect for the position held in society. Whistleblowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group which they have acc used, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law. | As Terance Miethe explains in his book, Whistle blowing at Work, many people see the whistleblower as a â€Å"snitch,† or a â€Å"a lowlife who betrays a sacred trust largely for personal gain. † In the flip side, whistleblowers are seen as â€Å"saviors† who ultimately helped create important changes in organizations.This approach to whistleblowers as guardians of public accountability is often taken by consumer advocates. I would not consider blowing the whistle. I would rather distance myself after informing my immediate supervisor if any wrong practice or misconduct similar to the WorldCom Fraud is happening in my environment. Public confidence in the accounting profession has been changed by corporate scandals, which created a crisis that affected the reputation and credibility of accounting professionals.The unethical decisions made by accountants can prove detrimental to the public who rely on information from the financial statements to make decisions. Users of financial statements rely on the information purported by an enterprise to exhibit certain qualitative characteristics that are both relevant and reliable. The impact of unethical decisions of both corporate leaders and accounting firms involving financial reporting by U. S. orporations has necessitated a new governmental regulation under SOX Act of 2002. President Bush signed this Act into law (Public Law 107-204) on July 30, 2002. The Act resulted in major changes to compliance practices of large U. S. and non-U. S. companies, whose securities are listed or traded on U. S. stock exchanges, requiring executives, boards of directors and external auditors to undertake measures to implement greater accountability, responsibility and transparency of financial reporting.

Haircuts Case Study Essay

Strategic Business Area to Improve through IT. The most important aspect of the haircutting business model that can be improved in UMUC Haircut situation has to be customers (customer demand). The entire profit model revolves around two truth. The first is that people want to come get haircuts here at UMUC. Second, these customers will be repeat customers at a rate that facilitates profit. In order to meet both of  these goals for profit the use of a comprehensive scheduling tool is needed to both benefit customers and manage employees. A cloud-based open schedule application allows for simple transparency and has a secondary feature of using old scheduling data to form a more profitable business model. Being able to have a constantly evolving schedule provides the perfect amount of flexibility for Myra Morningstar. Specific Solution To best apply information technology to the scheduling problem a robust program will be developed. This programs first major feature is that it will be cloud based. So for a 7 day work week there will be open hourly blocks that can be filled with customer appointments. These blocks are of course able to be filled at the main counter on the central computer in the system but can also be filled via the web. Customers will be able to submit request for blocks which will be approved by management. At the same time, in the same program these blocks will correspond to individual chairs, in the sense that the chair represents an available stylist being able to perform the styling or cut. This program will be real time so that everyone is one the same page. Ultimate control will fall on Myra Morningstar. The program will run through the UMUC Haircut website. IT Infrastructure Requirements Services- Myra and staff will be required to learn and manage this program. Although not overly complicated it will require dedication of use to be successful. It will be tempting to use the paper scheduling method but this will need to be cut out. The initial construction of the program and subsequent upgrades to the program will be the work of a clever programer for hire and should not require constant technical support. Hardware- Any internet connected device will be able to access to the program. It would be a sound investment to have a small command terminal or server inside the store able to handle backing up this data constantly and allows a level of redundancy. (To both handling the data and backing it up) Software- A application will have to be purchased or designed to facilitate this online scheduling. An example of a pre-existing software package would be Appointment-plus, this service already includes customer self-booking. Telecommunications- A high-speed internet connection will be required at all times so that the program can communicate changes back and forth at all times. This need can be handled by fiber-optic or a dsl network from a local provider. Most of the information here will be data. Facilities- The main desk computer station will be the facility for housing the center server. This software, if uniquely designed for UMUC Haircuts will be entirely in-house but if a generic version it is applied it will be managed from that companies facility. How Online Scheduling will Improve the Process. As UMUC Haircut conducts business now there is no single method for managing both employee staffing times and customer appointments. Customers have to come in or use the phone to schedule an appointment or come for a walk in unsure of availability. This new program will allow for the front desk, all the stylist, and customers to access the scheduling tool at all times. This will stream line the process of getting into a chair and cut down on the almost guess method of scheduling employees. Online Scheduling Impact on Generic Strategy. The generic strategy goal that is strived for at every step in this process is Broad Market/High Value-to-Cost Ratio. With an affective online scheduling tool more customers will be able to access appointment opportunities that fit their schedule. This gives them the ability to plan ahead. at the same time the scheduling application also cuts down on the hours that stylist are getting paid even though there are no appointments. Being able to cut down on these wasted hours will make the cost drop which will indirectly rase the Value Ratio. Reaching more people online, at a  cheaper price will be the driving force to adopt an online solution for scheduling. References: Schmidt, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businesscaseanalysis.com/business.html http://www.appointment-plus.com/product/how_it_works.php

Net Present Value method Essay

1. Net Present Value method is one of the methods used in capital budgeting. The NPV is based on the discontinued cash flow. A company that has a proposal for a new project or an investment uses the NPV method to decide if they should accept it or move on with a different investment. This method provides valuable information to the management about the cash outflows related to the investment and cash inflows from the investment with the consideration of the time value of money. The time value of money has been considered in this method because the money invested today will have a different value in the future. The cost capital is the minimum rate of  return that the proposed investment needs to reach in order to be accepted. When computing the Net Present Value the future cash outflows and inflows are discounted at present value at the rate of the cost of capital. If the required rate of return is lower than the cost of capital, then the company should reject the project and should not engage with it any further. On the other hand, if the required rate of return is even or higher, then the investment will be able to bring the profit that will provide founds to pay liabilities to company’s creditor and shareholders. 2. Under Internal Rate of Return the investment is evaluated based on the expected rate of return. The IRR for a cash flow is an interest rate that results in a NPV equal to zero. In this method the cost of capital is used and also known as hurdle rate. Hurdle rate is the minimum rate that the investment needs to reach in order to be accepted by the management. After computing the IRR, the decision making body compares the IRR results to the cost of capital rate. If the IRR is equal or higher that hurdle rate, the investment can be accepted, if lower – project should be rejected.

How significant a problem is youth offending Essay

How significant a problem is youth offending - Essay Example Their stay in the prison must be utilized to fine-tune their personality, so that upon release, they would find it easy to assimilate into the mainstream of society. The negligent society and adults are responsible for majority of the criminal offenses by young people. Early life experiences have much to do with the criminal leanings of the youngsters. Low achievement in school, family history of problem behavior, and lack of social commitment could be some of the reasons for the youth to get into crimes. Youth offenders should not be treated as the regular criminals. Mercifully, there is a separate youth justice system to look after this aspect, through the intervention of Youth Courts. In his book titled â€Å"Criminology† Tim Newburn, deals extensively on this subject in chapter â€Å"Youth Crime and Youth Justice (p714-741). He highlights the role of the administration, the working of the prisons, police and measurement of youth offending and tries to offer appropriate solutions. No two young offenders are alike and they require varied types of counseling on the basis of their backgrounder information, as to what led them to the path of crime. Society and administration have lots of responsibility in treating and looking after the first time offenders. Youth, besides being combustible, have impressionable minds. Every offender is not a criminal, but has the potentiality to become one, if not guided well in time. What is important is to develop an understanding of the causes of crime. What is the possible solution? Newburn writes, â€Å"†¦imposition of an overreaching aim for youth justice, the creation of the Youth Justice Board to oversee practice, and the establishment of multi-agency Youth Offending Teams to deliver justice†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p.549) are important. The ultimate aim of the reforming agencies is to target the offending behaviour and to address the specific factors linked with offender’s

Information Technology - E-Gov Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Technology - E-Gov Paper - Essay Example B) manages, directs and supervises the data and information, financial management, the administrative procurements, and different managerial and directive rules and strategies. Moreover, it helps to develop administrative management, builds up enhanced performance measures, manages mechanism and eases redundant burdens on the public. The largest constituent of OMB is the four resource management offices; namely, office of information and regulatory affairs, office of federal procurement policy, the office of federal financial management, and office of e-government and information technology. Other wide support offices of OMB are office of general council, office of legislative affairs, the budget review division and legislative reference division. Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) is the subdivision of OBM federal government and it was emerged in response to a legislation called, â€Å"Clinger-Cogen Act of 1944†. This provided a common methodology for information technology acquisition in the United States federal government. It also instructed the federal agencies to develop a master plan for integrating technologies, managing information technology, and measuring and reporting performance. FEA is established so that businesses’ performance could be improved and agencies could implement their core missions in an enhanced manner; FEA helps to achieve these goals. Moreover, through FEA the information and resources are easily shared across federal agencies which not only reduce the costs but citizen services are also enhanced. FEA is built using five different models; performance reference model, business reference model, service component reference model, data reference model, and technical reference model. These models help to develop a common taxonomy and ontology that describes the IT resources elaborately. These models can be enabled using different modeling tools that would help to align the enterprise architecture. Some of the Federal enterprise

Making a decision and a decision tree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Making a decision and a decision tree - Essay Example Jaeger is better off harvesting the grapes immediately. In my opinion, Mr. Jaeger should be guided by the decision tree options, because the calculation of options is viable. This means that the options calculated in the decision tree have a chance of occurring. From the decision tree, it can be seen that the expected monetary values for the two options are very different, a margin that Mr. Jaeger cannot afford to dismiss. However, an analysis of the case indicates that the Riesling is not a large part of the winemaker’s business; therefore, Mr. Jaeger would not be ruined if he takes the gamble and losses. This means that the winemaker has the option of taking the gamble to impress wine connoisseurs, since the presentation of a quality wine would raise the reputation of the winery. After an analysis of the two options open to Mr. Jaeger, it can be concluded that the best decision would be to harvest the grapes immediately. This is because the expected pay off from waiting for the storm is not justified by an accompanied increase in

Term paper 1 for an Academic writing class (Advantages Of Using

1 for an Academic writing class (Advantages Of Using Robots) - Term Paper Example This is a robot that was made in Japan by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. The robot resembles its creator very closely and imitates him in most of the things he does including breathing and nodding his head. The robot has a camera installed in its body that allows its maker to tap into its coverage (Michelini, 2009). Ishiguro can lecture while far from class using the robot. Geminoid HI-1 is wired in such a way that it can exhibit most human attributes such that students and people around it are in a position to relate easily with it. Roboticists move that a robot will need to be made in such a way that people are not uncomfortable working around it or living with it. Discomfort around robots occurs when a robot invokes feelings of walking-dead in people. Robots could be employed in teaching students such programs such as AutoCAD and Photoshop. They would have ease teaching clearly structured programs especially those that are procedural. This is because they use computer controls. Neve rtheless, with increased advancements in robot technology, robots will come to teach more complex programs in the future (Goodrich & Schultz, 2007). Doctors have also benefitted variously from the use of robots. Research has been conducted to program a robot so as to exhibit indicators of ill health and reactions that different medical conditions elicit in the human body. Such robots are wired in such a way that they smell and react in ways that humans do to drugs and other medications. Doctors are using robots to make virtual visits to their patients across long distance. These robots are installed with high technology visuals, cameras and screens that help doctors provide services to their patients in a more personal way. These robots are controlled using wireless technological gadgets. Research has shown that such robots can help protect clinical staff from cross-infection from interaction with patients. Pharmacists are using robotic systems to store and dispense medications in h ospitals (Prassler, 2005). These robots help in preventing errors in medication, difficulties of sorting drugs, prompt the need of stocking drugs and cuts on time and money wastage. In surgery, robots are helping doctors in carrying out complicated surgical procedures on patients. These robots have equipment that capture and transmit information to surgeons. The robots have arms that are controlled by surgeons using computers. Studies have observed that robots have recorded better accuracy and precision than human hands in surgery. This has been attributed to the robots ability to magnify the view of whatever part is being operated on and to the steady movement of robotic arms. These robotic arms can get to areas that human hands can otherwise not reach. It is this combination of steady movement, flexible reach and improved visual ability that enables surgeons to carry out complicated procedures successfully (Rosen et. al., 2011). There are researches being conducted the world over to find out how robots can help in housework. Researchers are looking into issues of how people can live with robots in their homes. They delve into questions of the number of robots that people can relate with at a time. In homes, robots can help in household chores including security, washing and cooking (Siciliano & Khatib, 2008). Recent research shows that countries world over may experience an increase in an

Regulation of Free Speech on Social Media Research Paper

Regulation of Free Speech on Social Media - Research Paper Example As the report declares freedom on one hand should not violate the rights of others on the other hand and be termed as democracy. This implies that there should be regulation of free speech on internet. However, this should not deny people the freedom of speech. This forms this documents base of argument that social media need to be treated as another public forum hence to be regulated accordingly. According to the research findings balancing between the freedom of expression and promoting equal rights for the entire internet users is the key issue here. Democracy should bring equity to all people. This implies that people have their rights of freedom while at the same time they are restricted from violating the rights of others through what they post on internet. This raise a question on how can this equity be realized in the society. The best way to approach this whole issue is amending the existing law so as to define objectionable content. To begin with for the freedom of expression to be criminalized, it might not necessary be that the content is objectionable in the public’s perception. Precisely, it entails strong disagreements on dearly-held practices, habits, values and beliefs that fortification of the freedom of expression tend to matter most. The right to offend, shock and disturb is integral to freedom of expression’s right and not contradictory to it . All the attempts to define objectionable contentshould incorporate the fact that there is a critical difference between what the society consider objectionable, and what is objectionable from a legal perspective.

Getting to Know Portugal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Getting to Know Portugal - Essay Example The other important issue that changes in different countries is the taxation. Different countries tax different amounts for different goods. A person willing to venture into international spheres needs to realize this and thus find out the tax for the country he is going to. Additionally, it is important to note that there are some international rules that govern all countries in the world. A good example is dumping. Dumping is disallowed by international law. Therefore, this law applies to all countries. This paper will go into the details regarding international business particularly in Portugal and how one would conduct international business in the country. Legal System For decades, Portugal has been known to be a bit relaxed as regards their legal system. However, business people coming to Portugal must adhere to the Commercial Code, Competition legislation, Securities Code as well as the /Commercial Companies Code. Therefore, carrying out business in that country may seem to b e easy relative to its more stringent European counterparts. It is important to identify the sources of law in Portugal. The country has both a parliamentary system and constitutional republic (Ibpus.com, 2008). Other than the constitution, the law that regulates trade in Portugal is also found in the ordinary laws that govern the land as enacted by the National Assembly. The country also follows the laws of the land as stipulated by the European Union, of which it is part. The EU became one trade area without internal tariffs. Additionally, it applies common standards to the entire range of commercial life. The unit of currency used in the country is the Euro. It is important that one familiarizes oneself with the law as per the European Union because Portugal too is part of that law. Culture The Portuguese take their culture rather seriously. They speak their language and are very adherent to their particular customs and norms. The Portuguese are a rather laid back people who even when conducting business do it in a very relaxed manner. The country has a very rich history that is the pride of its people. The Portuguese culture is one that embraces its people indiscriminately. When one is in Portugal, one feels a special sense of belonging and thus one has to conform to their ways. However, it leaves room for personal development and preference. It is imperative that the Portuguese build lasting bonds with each other and take their personal time to develop those relationships. The citizens of Portugal may be assumed to have a certain degree of xenophobia. This is in the sense that they only conduct business with those that they know. It is rare for the Portuguese to associate with a stranger even if it is only for professional reasons. For one to successfully conduct business with the Portuguese one must foist take their time to get to know these people and their ways. It is important to note that in Portugal unlike many other countries, business relationship s subsist between people as opposed to companies (Paulo and Bento, 2009). Communication The official languages in the country are Mirandese and Portuguese, although Portuguese dominates (Sitkin, & Bowen, 2013). Most business people in the country speak some bit of English although not fluently. Therefore, language barrier remains a big problem for the conduct of business in Portugal. As a business person with the intention of setting up

Article # 3 (due 9-28) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article # 3 (due 9-28) - Essay Example The financial position of Steward has enabled it to offer a low-cost health insurance option thereby making the services available to many low income earners. The articles states that Stewards business model has been described as ‘Big Med’ by some doctors. This is so because of the firm large-scale, production-line medicine. Various players in the healthcare industry hold the view that Steward want to create a network of high-quality hospitals. The main objective would be making services appealing even to the cost-conscious citizens. Steward is spending millions of dollars in acquiring Mercy and other facilities in order to ensure centralization and standardization. When this is achieved, it aims at providing higher quality and lower costs to consumers. According to the article steward expansion is triggered by the need to introduce new products and services that are accessible to more customers. The main idea is to compete more, based on quality and cost. Healthcare providers are waiting to see how the transaction is going to impact the market. In my view Steward should go ahead and acquire Mercy. This way, there will be increased access to quality health care especially to the Greater Portland

Recession in American economy Essay Example for Free

Recession in American economy Essay The economic meaning of the term recession is, â€Å"A period of economic decline in a Country, characterized by reduced trade and industrial activity, production decline and increased levels of unemployment. It normally lasts between one and two quarters consecutively†, (Tremblay; 2007). In the US, incidences of recession have occurred since 1854. This paper, seeks address the reasons for recession in the US, with reference to the principles of consumer behavior and the firm as a whole. Observers were not expecting an incidence of recession this time round. Most observers have been persuaded to expect moderate economic growth rates in the US, of about 2 to 3 percent and a moderate inflation of around 2 percent (George. S, 2008). This is due to the fact that the US economy has proved to be the most resilient in the world. They however (the observers), have good reasons to back their predictions; 1. They have placed their hopes on relatively stimulative monetary policy to keep consumption and investment spending up and expect the worst of the housing decline to be over. 2. With stock prices making new highs, some point out that presidential and stock market cycles are favorable to higher stock prices since investing during 27 months before a US presidential election has proved in the past to be more Profitable than investing during 21 months after elections. In the October 16th issue of Headwinds, 2007 for the US economy, it is explained that macro-economic conditions make it a matter of months before the US economy and the dollar begun to experience some downward pressure (recession). This is probably the time for this recession. The US is the country with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, with a GDP of $13 trillion . This has however reduced in the recent past. Employment levels have also declined. Production levels have gone down owing to cut-throat competition from emerging world producers like China and other Asian Countries. An attempt by the households to save more from a given income led to the decrease in actual amount they succeeded to save-paradox of thrift, (Lachman, 2008). Different reasons can however be put forward to explain the causes of this recession; 1) The outgoing administration’s short term reaction that they gave the economy before the 2004 and 2006 elections through a combination of large tax cuts and large increase in military spending. This ended up being a waste as billions of dollars were spent on a futile war (Trembley, 2007) 2) Record budgetary and current account deficits have severely neutralized the federal monetary policy attitude, because interest rates cannot be reduced substantially for fear of a collapse of the US dollar from the federal budgetary deficits as they are being reigned on. (Lachman, 2008) 3) With all this taking place at the same time that the construction industry is in disarray and housing prices have tapered off or are declining. Be that as it may, it is important to note that home ownership is more widespread than stock ownership; slightly more than two thirds of Americans own their homes, while less than half own equities. The objective of the households is to maximize utility. By spending more on home ownership than on stocks, utility is attained quickly and it is within the consumers budget space (Ingdahl, 2008). 4) This rules the question of how long the American consumer will keep up the high pace of spending in such a context. During the years of the housing boom, consumer spending was driven by the accumulation of wealth and record consumer indebtedness, most of it in the form of mortgages as the price of houses increased. Now that the reverse is occurring and banks and other loaners are reclaiming property for unpaid debts, a retrenchment in consumer spending cannot be ruled out (Trembley, 2007). 5) Protectionist push from the Democrat controlled congress, risks putting in jeopardy the flow of capital of about $2 billion a day that the US economy is borrowing from abroad (mainly from China and Japan). Trade frictions between the US and China could force banks to raise interest rates and not lower them. In any case, the banks would not lower the interest rates as expected to make up for the housing crisis (Trembley, 2007). 6) Collapse of one and possibly several major financial institutions under the pressure of bad loans and record foreclosures (take possession of somebody’s property usually because they have not paid back an agreed part of the loan). Particularly at risk is the sum $2. 5 trillion mountain debt concentrated in sub primes and loans. One major sub prime lender, (New Century Financial) filed for bankruptcy protection. Others are likely to follow suite because 2007 was the year when a large number of sub prime real estate locus had to be renegotiated at higher interest rates. Foreclosures rate is bound to shoot upwards. This will culminate in the next few years into a financial hurricane (Trembley, 2007). 7) The seventh and final reason is a geopolitical factor. The outgoing US administration has created some tension between the US and some countries in the Middle East. The Middle East, is the world’s largest oil producing region. In the coming years, the world economy will have to adjust to a peak in oil production and higher prices after the current lull. Geoplitical mistakes made by the outgoing administration have turned the richest oil producing region into a hot war zone making the US economic situation disastrous (Lachman,2008). The above listed reasons shed some light on why the US economy could be undergoing some kind of recession. They however do not provide a conclusive explanation or reasons as to why the American economy could be in recession. Unlike other forecasts, one can only tell when recession started and ended after it has ended. The determination of recession is left to the National Bureau of Research (Campbell. R. M Stanley. L. B, 2005). However, it is possible to tell whether or not the economy is in recession by looking at past cases of recession. The great depression was the worst economic slump ever in the U. S history. It began in 1929 and lasted for close to a decade. Just like a recession, many factors led to the great depression; however, the main cause for the great depression was a combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920’s and the extensive stock market speculation that took place during the latter part of the same decade. Money was distributed disparately between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U. S and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The excessive speculation in the late 1920’s kept the stock market artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes, (Gusmorino, 1996). Almost eighty years later, the U. S might be facing the same situation though not as severe as it was then. Wealth disparities are all over the world today. Although the worst cases are not experienced in America, cases of unequal distribution of wealth are still in America. As mentioned earlier, the American household does not invest much on stocks but in acquisition of homes. Speculations in the stock market are relatively high though not as high as it was then. It is not easy to conclude that the American economy is in recession. Whether or not there is a recession, depends on both on actual economic activity and economic analysis in the future. The facts as they are right now, show that the American economy is in recession. REFERENCES. Campbell, R. M. Stanley, L. B. (2005). Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Gusmorino, P. A. (1996). Main causes of the Great Depression. Washington: Planet Press George, S. (2008). The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. Chicago: Public Affairs. Furchgott, D. (2007). The Great Recession of 2008. New York: An over view of the US economy, (22) 9:31-35 Ingdahl, W. (2008). Global Financial Markets Want an Immediate, Bold, and Coordinated Policy Response. New York: London Press Lachman, D. (2008). What can global policymakers learn from the Swedish financial crisis of the early 1990s? Washington: US economic crisis, (31) 11:67-90. Trembley, R. (2007). A Slowdown or a Recession in the U. S. in 2008? Carlifonia: Global financial crisis, (14)6:101-143.

Jim and His Father Essay Example for Free

Jim and His Father Essay How would you describe Jim’s self-concept? I noticed that Jim has a negative image about himself. Jim believes that his father has a unrealistic expectation of him. 2) How is self-concept affecting the interaction? Is it helping it? Hindering it? Explain using concepts from the text. Jim having a negative self-concept is really bothering him. While his dad is telling him he isn’t trying hard enough he actually thinks that no matter how hard he does study he still wont do well. 3) Using the process of human perception starting on page 64. Explain the situation from your perspective as a student. Selection-â€Å"We attend to certain stimuli based on a number of factors† (Wood, 2012, p.65). â€Å"We notice things that stand-out, because they are larger, more intense, or more unusual than other phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.65). When I read this and see the video I see that Jim’s father isn’t seeing that Jim is actually trying hard to get good grade, he is just having some hard time..Organization-â€Å"Once we have selected what to notice, we have to make sense of it† (Wood, 2012, p.66). â€Å"Prototypes, personal constructs, stereotypes, and scripts are cognitive schemata that we use to organize our perceptions of people and phenomena† (Wood, 2012, p.66). I seen in the video that Jim knows that he is actually going to need to study a lot harder and more to bring his grade up to make his dad happy. Interpretation-â€Å"Is the subjective process of explaining our perceptions in ways that makes sense to us† (Wood, 2012, p.70). Attribution â€Å"is an explanation of why something happened or why someone acts a certain way† (heider, 1958; Kelley, 1967; Manusov Spitzberg, 2008). I think that Jims father is being hard on Jim because his dad paid for college on his own and it was not hard for him to get good grades. Attributional error-â€Å"Researchers have identified a common error that people make in their attributions† (Wood, 2012, p.71). â€Å"Self-serving bias this is a bias toward ourselves and our interests we tend to avoid taking responsibility for negative actions and failures by attributing them to external, unstable, and specific factors that are beyond personal control† (Wood, 2012, p.71). The  best example I seen in the movie is when Jim states that no matter how hard he does study he will still get bad grades because of how hard his classes actually are. 4) Using the guidelines for improving perception and communication starting on page 79 of the text, provide at least two tips for both Jim and his father on how to handle the situation in an effective way. Make sure to incorporate the text guidelines with proper in-text citations to support your points. Jim’s father 1) Distinguish between facts and interferences-â€Å"A fact is based on observation. An interference involves an interpretation that goes beyond the facts† (Wood, 2012, p. 81). Jims dad assumed that because jim is not making good grades , instead he is goofing off with his friends more. I think instead of yelling at him for goofing off he should ask what he can do to help. 2) Guard against the self-serving bias-â€Å"Because the self-serving bias can distort perceptions, we need to monitor it carefully† (Wood, 2012, p.82). I think that Jims dad needs to stop yelling at him because he is not as good as he is when he was in school. Jim 1) Guard against the fundamental attribution error-â€Å"This occurs when we over estimate the internal causes of others undesirable behavior and underestimate the external causes, and when we underestimate the internal causes of our own failings or bad behaviors and overestimate the external causes† (Wood, 2012, p.82). With Jim’s dad underestimating him it causes Jim to underestimate what he can do. Jim feels like he will never be able to make his dad proud of him. 2) Avoid mind reading-â€Å"Mind reading assuming we understand what another person thinks, feels, or perceives† (Wood, 2012, p.82). Jim knows that his dad is constantly on him about his grades. So when he calls home he knows that his grades are going to come up during the conversation.

Qualities required to be a Competent Change Agent

Qualities required to be a Competent Change Agent Change agents are leaders who cut across the organization and its business units without regard to the traditional hierarchy. Directly or indirectly, they implement new processes, train employees on new procedures, and act as role models to demonstrate new and better ways to work. A Change Agent is the direct liaison between the technical project team members and the end users [Gardner, J. W. (1991)]. The Change Agent understands the new business process being implemented and understands the impact of that process to the business. The role of an change agent is very important in an organization as it is not an easy task to manage a change in an organization. When there is any question arise to change in the organization that means that its need to make a change in a designed and organize fashion. It could be said with the situation of an IT project it has to change the edition of the project and also this edition should be managed properly. A change in the organization or the project could be started within the company or also may be from outside source. [Gardner, J. W. (1994)]. As an example, there is a product which is very popular among the people. But there need a change in the design of this product. [Budd, R. W., Thorp, R. K., Donohew, L. (1997)]. This is the example where there is a change initiate within the company. At this moment the main concern about this product is that how will the company respond to this change. This type of change is managed by the change management within the organization. Im mediate and as well as positive responses to this changes could be possible within the organization. Change agent: A change agent is a person whose presence or thought processes cause a change from the traditional way of handling or thinking about a problem [Jakobson, R. (1990).]. Management consultants are often hired as change agents for corporate organization development retreats. Role of a change agent: There are some roles that could be performed by the change agent. Those roles are as follows: The change agent should develop a definite change goal: By diagnosing, a change agent should find out the real issues in the organization and propose the exact and clear goal. By analyzing he or she will begin the following task: There may be some barrier to get the expected result of the organization and that should be found out. The organization should have ability to make the desired change and this should short out by the change agent. The expected future of the organization.   The real situation of the organization in the running time. The opportunities of the changes that are appear in the organization. There are specific target and dreams of the main stakeholders within the organization. To make a change, the change agent should also find those. There are some values of the organization. The problems and the issues which are presented in the organization.   Every organization have some future strategy that how will they operate the organization in next few years. The change agent should also take those in account. There may be some changes which may be occurred by the external environment there is some impact for this change in the organization and as well as the consumers. By applying those change agent could able to determine that which type of changes are necessary with in the organization. The change agent as a facilitator: The most difficult part of a change agent to make everyone involved in the process of change and make them dedicated to the necessary actions. The change agent should get himself concerned with [Budd, R. W., Thorp, R. K., Donohew, L. (1997)]: Identifying the key stakeholders of the change. Involving these stakeholders in the diagnostic process. This means helping them to achieve consensus on the changes the organisation needs to make. When done in a participative process, this helps create ownership for change. Helping the stakeholders to set clear goals for their change process. Educating these stakeholders about the changes they want to make and helping them to understand how the changes theyve selected will impact on the rest of the organisation. (systems thinking.) Helping the stakeholders to understand how these changes will benefit the company, their division and themselves. This in turn builds commitment to the change. Helping the stakeholders understand the costs of these changes to the company, their division and to themselves personally. the designer Designing a change process that will achieve specific change goals, is a creative process. This involves: Observing all the change tools and interventions that are available. Selecting those specific change tools and discoveries that will help the organization to achieve its change objectives. Creating additional activities and interventions to fill any gaps. Reviewing that each intervention supports every other intervention, and that all interventions support the companys values, strategies and plans. Arranging and integrating these interventions into one simple, seamless, step by step process. Deciding on the roles that need to be played to support the process. The project manager ..Many different roles are required for a change process to work. Often a change agent will play the role of a project manager and co-ordinate the activities of the different role players. Typical roles in a change process include [Jakobson, R. (1990).]: A change steering committee. The CEO of the company. The executive team. Regional coordinators (in large scale changes). External consultants. Internal consultants. Middle managers. Departmental or divisional change agents. Communications coordinators. Change web designers. Marketing professionals. Individuals within the company. The educator Those involved in managing the change, and those who will be affected by the change, often are surprised by their feelings when confronted by change. Resistance, frustration and confusion of common emotions associated by change [David, F. R. (1994)]. To teach the people about what types of changes are expected in the organization is one of the main duty of the change agent. Those tasks are as follows: They need to know that how can those types of emotions could be overcame also they have know the others feelings about this changes. The mental situation people will face when they need to walk under the process of changes. A change should know the way of overcoming the resistance and they should also help others to do that. A change agent should be creative to do his / her duty. They have to make a change process funny and there should be excitement within the changes. A change agent should help others to grow those feelings with them. So that they should not be scared about the change. A change must face the resistance and a change agent needs to overcome those resistances. Tools for making your change process successful. A change agent should have necessary tactics to make a change process successful. The change agent as a marketer: Sometimes they find it out that this change is only beneficial to the company but not for own self to develop his / her career. They think that this type of change is the additional work for them. The change agent who have enough skill to create the belief among the employee that the change is necessary for the organization and also for themselves [David, F. R. (1994)]. The employee of the organization will get the feelings that change is worthwhile and enjoyable for them. They will take the change as the chance to develop their skills and also the opportunities to learn some new skills. This is the option to the employee to grow their visibility in the organization. They will find the change as the experience of adventure where everyone will find out their personal skills. To do this a change agent has to apply some marketing technique within the organization. Those are as follows: [Gardner, J. W. (1991)]: The change agent should make the proper publicity among the employees. There should be an environment of contest within the organization. A change agent should get the help of various media as example theatre.   There should be some prizes based on the theme of change. There should be some reward and honor for those who participate in the process of change. The successful participators will treated as a role character in the organization. Change agent as an Inspiration agent: A change agent should help others to participate in the chage [Hanakawa, S. I. (1996)]: A change agent should help everyone to find out the skills they have in them. Everyone have the dream of the private magnitude. A change agent should help them to get this. A change agent should give courage to everyone to take the risks to make a change. That should be their magical power of making change. A change agent should help individual to get out from the resistance to change and make them successful. Everyones success how much small that may be, should be celebrated. A change agent should encourage others. There may be resistance to changes. A change agent should find out the systems in a creative way.   A change agent should recognize the obstacle that need to change the whole system. A change agent should identify the success and he / she should share with other employee in the organization to encourage them. Qualities required to become a complete change agent: A good agent should have the correct attitude to the resistance. They should have sufficient knowledge to make the changes. The correct approach towards the changes: Its not easy to make change. Its need to have good power of keeping own self patience with the changes. The change process is mix with the emotion of annoying and disappointed. A change agent should be determined to get out from those types of situation. A change agent should be faithful towards the change and they should have positive behavior with the projects. They have the necessary skills and knowledge to take the necessary steps to make a change successful. Mainly the resistance to the change came from the senior management of an organization. They have behaved sensitively to get the support from the senior management. A change agent need to make agreement with everyone in the organization and these types of deals mostly happened with the staffs who are senior in the organization. So a change agent has to behave tactfully with them because if they do not agree with the changes then the project becomes failed. A change agent should have also political knowledge. This is important because a change agent then able to know any types of ongoing circumstances within the organization carefully. Proper awareness about the change: In the sense of the business a change agent must be aware with the current situation of the business and a change agent should have sufficient knowledge in the field of business too. A change agent should have also the managerial skills. Not only this but also a change agent should have knowledge about the economic situation of the organization that means from where those funds come and how it is expend. They should make it sure that there should be minimum expenditure to bring the changes. A change agent should also aware with the consumer of the organization or the business and those who are closely related with the organization externally and the internally too. A good relation with the employee of the organization is necessary to make the changes successfully so, a change agent should make a good understanding with all the employee of the organization. The important skills of a change agent: To handle the situation under the stress a change agent should be expert enough. A change agent must be able to take care of such a condition successfully. A change agent should have good practical skills and they should able to understand the causes of such type of situation. A change agent should know the definite goal of the organization and they will work towards those goals and help everyone to reach that goal effectively. They should able to take all the pressures. They also need to be able to relate to the resistance of others, study it and make necessary changes if found valid. Communication skills are highly relevant in overcoming resistance. They should have also the following qualities: Common sense. And the courage to use it. Credibility and trust the ability to work at all levels in the organisation. Knowledge of change management. The ability to work with teams of people both inside and outside the organisation. This includes the ability to work with people across all departments.   The ability to do very unstructured work. Creativity. The ability to custom design processes to meet the goals of the organisation. Self confidence balanced by humility.   Facilitation skills Design skills. Coaching skills.   A love of innovation and new ways of doing things. A sense of humor and a sense of fun. A spirit of caring. The ability to inspire people. To bring out the magic within every individual and every team How to overcome the resistance as a change agent: To take advantage of resistance, a whole-system view is required as well as an appreciation for the interconnectedness of diverse symptoms and true root-cause problems. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) and the Thinking Processes that are part of the TOC body of knowledge provide just such a view and a set of powerful tools that can be used to not only address resistance but also use it to enhance the solution beyond the original concept. The TOC Thinking Processes are logical thinking and communication tools which, while they can be used in standalone situations, together form a coherent problem-solving and change management process. Their generic purpose is to translate intuition into a format that can be discussed rationally, questioned without offense, and modified to more fully reflect the understanding of a situation. They are used for the construction of solutions to problems as well as to facilitate communication, collaboration, and consensus among those that must be involved in its resolution. Conclusion: Change is much more than simply the vision thing. Implementing change is inter-related to scanning the environment, making an estimate of the situation, determining what direction the organization needs to take, knowing what the culture of the organization is, how to leverage that culture to help with change, and deciding what actions need to be taken to make the change. Effectively implementing change also is directly related to the leadership style of the organizations top leaders. Also, as one move through the decision making process, trying to assess the need for change, make sure you ask the questions about opportunity costs. It is important to assess the costs of change as well as the cost of not changing. A change process is nothing but a condition when its need to solve it. A change may be need because there may be a problem occurred in the organization. A change agent need to aware about the situation and they should help it out to solve the problem. It is their responsibility to make everything in under control in the organization. A successful change agent is he / she who can do it. A change process can be seen as a leaving the present state and entering to a new state through some organized process.

Definition Essay - Defining the Word Private -- Definition Essays

Definition Essay – Defining the Word Private As time progresses, so does the English language.   We use many words out of context.   But depending on the person, time, and maybe the location a new meaning may be adopted for any word.   As well as actual definitions of words.   Since 1913, when The Merriam- Webster dictionary was published, the meaning of the word private has changed, but not drastically. Since the earliest publication of the three dictionaries, the use of private and its context has not changed much.   There are not many different ways the word private can be used that would not be different from when the word was first published in dictionaries.   Everyday conversations that include "private" have not evolved into anything major or unfamiliar . There are many similarities in the definitions from the different variations of dictionaries used.   The Merriam-Webster Dictionary published in 1913, The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, and The American Heritage Dictionary all have similar definitions of the word private, but there was one definition that caught my eye due to... Definition Essay - Defining the Word Private -- Definition Essays Definition Essay – Defining the Word Private As time progresses, so does the English language.   We use many words out of context.   But depending on the person, time, and maybe the location a new meaning may be adopted for any word.   As well as actual definitions of words.   Since 1913, when The Merriam- Webster dictionary was published, the meaning of the word private has changed, but not drastically. Since the earliest publication of the three dictionaries, the use of private and its context has not changed much.   There are not many different ways the word private can be used that would not be different from when the word was first published in dictionaries.   Everyday conversations that include "private" have not evolved into anything major or unfamiliar . There are many similarities in the definitions from the different variations of dictionaries used.   The Merriam-Webster Dictionary published in 1913, The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, and The American Heritage Dictionary all have similar definitions of the word private, but there was one definition that caught my eye due to...

piagets early adulthood stage :: essays research papers

Marshall is a twenty-three year old male in the early adulthood stage of development. He has been married for almost a year now and has a 6-month-old child. He and his wife have recently bought their first home. He us almost finished with his bachelor’s degree in banking and finance. He is taking a few classes while also working a high stress full-time job.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as physical development, he is in good health. He may be a few pounds overweight because he has become more sedentary since he has been in school full-time and working full-time. He has no substance problems in fact, he has never smoked a cigarette, drank alcohol, or tried any drugs is his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his cognitive development, he has attended five years of college and will graduate this may with a degree in banking and finance. According to John Holland, Marshall is a person of conventional personality. Holland says that Marshall’s personality type like well-structured tasks and values material possessions and social status, which are traits well suited for his finance career. He seems to be some like the conventional personality but mostly his personality falls more in the enterprising category. He is adventurous, persuasive, and a strong leader. So he is definitely a blend of these two personality types.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In emotional development, Marshall seems to have mastered Erikson’s intimacy versus isolation conflict. He has a healthy marriage, and many other close relationships such as friends, family, and coworkers. Marshall also follows Levinson’s early adulthood stage with dreams for his life. His dreams are mostly individualistic and he sees his wife as a supporter of his goals and a primary caregiver for the children. Marshall’s marriage is considered a traditional marriage according to the text, where his wife does the housework and cares for him and the children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marshall had made the transition to parenthood quite well. He had some maturing to do and realizing that his needs no longer came before someone else’s.

Fairness of the SAT :: Standardized Tests ACT SAT Essays

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was created to test college-bound students on their mathematical and verbal aptitudes and to thus predict their ability to succeed academically in college. In the United States, the SAT is the oldest and most widely used college entrance test. It was first administered in June 1926 to only 8,040 high school students and is now taken by over 2 million students. Over the years, the SAT has become one of the most important tests of a teenager's life for admission to college. The test is administered seven times a year at thousands of testing centers throughout the United States. Most colleges consider the SAT to be a reliable predictor of academic success in college and is therefore used as a critical tool when selecting applicants. However, the question that has to be confronted is whether the test is fair to all students. Educators have been questioning the validity of the SAT to determine college admission or to predict academic success because the test appears to be discriminatory and biased against women, minorities, and the poor (low income). The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which produces and administers the test, claims that the SAT in its current form "is an impartial and objective measure of student ability" (Owen 272). However, critics of the SAT argue "that tests like the SAT measure little more than the absorption of white upper-middle-class culture and penalize the economically disadvantaged" (Owen 10). The statistical reality of SAT scores is that: students who take coaching/prep courses do better than those who are not coached; men do better than women; whites do better than blacks; and the rich do better than the poor. Based upon my research, the SAT appears to be discriminatory against women, minorities, and the poor, and a test this flawed should not be used as a key factor in c ollege admission or as a predictor of academic success. In March 2005, a "new and improved" SAT will be introduced to theoretically eliminate any questions deemed biased and discriminatory. This revised SAT would appear to be a concession to the out-cry of criticism against the current test. However, since the new test will emphasize achievement rather than aptitude, it will once again favor the student who can afford coaching and attends a high school with a superior curriculum, i.e. the rich and white. An "equal opportunity" college entrance examination is virtually impossible because someone will always have/obtain an advantage.

College Enrollment Essay

Income inequality has been increasing for the past 20 years. A substantial part of the increase in income differences can be explained by changes in the return to education. In dollar terms, 1973 college graduates earned 45 percent more than high school graduates; by 1994 they earned 65 percent more, based on real average hourly wages for college and high school graduates (Baumol and Blinder, 1997). The increasing income disparities between groups of differing educational attainment raises concern that access to postsecondary education (PSE) may not be as widespread as desired. President Clinton urged for the goal of universal college access in his 1997 State of the Union address, â€Å"We must make the thirteenth and fourteenth years of education—at least two years of college—just as universal in America by the 21st century as a high school education is today, and we must open the doors of college to all Americans. † Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS) and the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), this study examines access to postsecondary education by individuals in different income and test score groups. While many studies have found a statistically significant effect of income on college enrollment,1 less attention has been paid to the effect of family income after controlling for student achievement. This study specifically addresses this issue. We also explore differences in the decision of whether or not to attend PSE or in the type of PSE attended. We are interested in whether students are substituting less expensive alternatives (such as public or 2-year institutions) for high cost institutions, or whether they are not attending PSE at all. However, we do not examine selectivity of institutions attended. Another goal of this study is to determine which factors, including high school experiences, are especially important in determining college enrollment patterns. Hossler and Maple (1993) find that information on individual background factors allows them to predict, with a high degree of accuracy, which ninth-graders will go to college. The emphasis in our study is on how 1 See, for example, Leslie and Brinkman (1987), Savoca (1990), Schwartz (1986), and Mortenson and Wu (1990). SECTION I. INTRODUCTION 1 MATHTECH, INC. early indicators, such as expectations and course-taking behavior in the eighth grade, are related to college attendance six years later. 2 Last, we explore whether financial aid availability is a critical factor in determining PSE attendance. The combined effects of shifting federal support from grants to loans, and college tuition increasing at a rate faster than inflation are expected to have a large impact on enrollment patterns for low income youth. This report examines knowledge of and attitudes toward financial aid, and the relationship between such factors and PSE attendance. We also examine the effect of financial aid receipt on PSE attendance. In summary, the main research questions addressed in this report are: 1. 2. 3. 4. What percentage of students attend PSE, and what types of PSE do they attend? How are income and test score related to who goes to college? What factors, including high school experiences, are especially important in determining college enrollment patterns? Is financial aid availability a critical factor for determining PSE attendance? The rest of the report proceeds as follows. Section II describes the literature on individual and institutional factors that affect PSE attendance. Section III provides an overview of the data used in this report. It describes the NELS data, the NPSAS data, samples and weights used in the study, and correction of standard errors for sampling techniques. Section IV examines who goes to college. The section highlights the main answers to the first two research questions posed above, in a univariate or multivariate framework. Section V examines factors related to PSE attendance. Section VI explores the importance of financial aid, including knowledge of financial aid, financial aid applications, and the relationship between being offered financial aid and PSE attendance. Last, we include a bibliography of cited references. The executive summary (at the beginning of the report) highlights our findings and provides policy implications. An NCES study, not yet released, has focused on the â€Å"pipeline to higher education† using the NELS data (NCES, 1997). SECTION I. INTRODUCTION 2 2 MATHTECH, INC. One subset of analysis for this study is the group of low income, high test score students. Low income, high test score students may have the potential to benefit greatly from PSE attendance and, therefore, we want to identify factors or constraints, particularly financial ones, that might limit the students’ educational opportunities beyond high school. SECTION I. INTRODUCTION 3 MATHTECH, INC. II. LITERATURE REVIEW Much of the research on college enrollment patterns is founded upon the â€Å"human capital† model Gary Becker advanced. According to this theory, one decides to enroll in college as an investment in future earning power. Individuals calculate the value of attending college by comparing costs (direct and indirect) with expected income gains, and they make the decision that will maximize their utility over the long term. To understand enrollment behavior according to this model, it is necessary to look at such factors as tuition levels, student financial aid, average wages for high school graduates, and the difference in lifetime earnings between high school and college graduates. Economists and others agree, however, that non-monetary factors also play a major part in the college enrollment decision. Sociologists’ models of status attainment have suggested a number of background variables that join with economic factors to influence college plans. These include both personal traits (e. g. , academic ability) and interpersonal factors, such as the level of encouragement a student receives from parents and teachers. Hossler and Maple (1993) suggest that individual decisions on enrollment can be broken down into three stages: predisposition, search, and choice. According to their research, students who will ultimately attend college can be differentiated from those who will not as early as the ninth grade. Within the econometric and sociological models outlined above, the factors affecting enrollment in college can be divided into two general types: those specific to individual students, such as academic achievement and parental education levels, and those specific to educational or vocational alternatives, such as college tuition, financial aid, and unemployment levels. Students’ enrollment decisions can be viewed as jointly determined by their individual characteristics and the institutional or societal conditions that prevail. We first review individual traits that affect college enrollment, and then institutional determinants. SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 MATHTECH, INC. A. INDIVIDUAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT COLLEGE ENROLLMENT Several studies have used data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS72), the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience, Youth Cohort (NLSY), and the High School and Beyond Survey (HSB) to examine the factors affecting college enrollments. Manski and Wise (1983), Rouse (1994), and a number of others have used the variables included in these data sets to estimate multinomial logit models of enrollment decisions. Among the researchers, there seems to be considerable agreement regarding the individual traits that help to determine enrollment. These traits are discussed below. Manski and Wise (1983) presented a key point, namely that the enrollment process begins with the student’s decision to apply to college. This is much more important than the decisions made by college admissions personnel, since most would-be college students are likely to be admitted to some postsecondary institution of average quality. Jackson (1988) reports that in 1972, more than 97 percent of college applicants were admitted to at least one of their top three choices. The factors of greatest interest, then, are those that cause the student to seek to enroll. Both Manski and Wise (1983) and Rouse (1994) find that individual traits such as achievement levels, high school class rank, and parental education levels are of primary importance in determining the likelihood of a student’s applying to college. They state that higher family income levels increase the probability of application as well, but to a lesser extent. Manski and Wise also cite a â€Å" ‘peer’ or high school quality effect,† such that the larger the share of a high school senior’s classmates who attend 4-year schools, the more likely he or she will be to do the same. A recent NCES report (1997) describes the relationship among six risk factors (such as changing schools two or more times) and PSE attendance rates. St. John and Noell (1989) and St. John (1990) draw similar conclusions from the NLS72 and HSB data sets. St. John and Noell state that certain â€Å"social background variables† appear to make college enrollment more likely. These include higher test scores, higher grades, higher SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 5 MATHTECH, INC. maternal education levels,3 and family income, as cited by Manski and Wise and Rouse. Other key variables include participation in an academic track during high school and â€Å"high postsecondary aspirations,† as measured by students’ reporting of the highest level of schooling they expect to achieve. Hossler and Maple (1993) find that parental education levels have a stronger effect on enrollment plans than student ability or income level. Other background factors that researchers have found to be significant include the level of parental encouragement (Hossler, Braxton, and Coopersmith, 1989) and students’ own expectations about the college decision (Borus and Carpenter, 1984). Jackson (1988) concludes that test scores, grades, taking part in a college preparatory program, and attending a school with many college-going peers are the student attributes most important for college enrollment. Kohn, Manski, and Mundel (1976) report that parents’ education level has a positive effect on a student’s likelihood of enrollment, but state that this effect decreases as family income rises. A number of researchers have examined the effects of family income levels on college enrollment. Manski (1992:16) concludes that there are â€Å"persistent patterns of stratification of college enrollments by income. † Both Manski (1992) and Kane (1995) present census data for multi-year periods that show, for ascending income levels, a steadily increasing percentage of 18to 19-year-old dependent family members enrolled in college. Using the same data source, Clotfelter (1991) and Mortenson and Wu (1990) cite positive income effects for the 18- to 24year-old group as well. Hauser (1993) finds large family income effects on college enrollment for White and Hispanic families, but he finds no such effects for Black families. 3 St. John and Noell do not include paternal education levels as a variable in their study. Manski and Wise and Rouse consider maternal and paternal education levels as separate variables, but present their conclusions in terms of parental education levels as a whole. Most of the studies reviewed here do not distinguish between mother’s and father’s education levels. One exception is the study by Kohn, Manski and Mundel (1976). This study estimates a model using subsamples of the SCOPE survey from two different states. While one group shows that the father’s education level has a greater effect on the likelihood of college attendance than does the mother’s, the other group shows the mother’s education level as having a greater effect. SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 MATHTECH, INC. B. INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT COLLEGE ENROLLMENT. In addition to the factors that operate at an individual level, researchers have found a variety of institutional factors, or factors pertaining to educational and vocational alternatives, that affect college enrollment levels. Manski and Wise (1983) include among these factors tuition level, â€Å"quality of school† (as measured by the average combined SAT score of incoming freshmen), and the availability of government and institutional financial aid. Rouse (1994) examines the factor of proximity by estimating changes in enrollments that would result from decreasing the average  distance to the nearest 2-year college. She also considers the effects of tuition levels and financial aid availability, as well unemployment rates, which serve as a measure of competing opportunities available to high school seniors. Tuition levels are another institutional factor with a significant effect on college enrollment. Leslie and Brinkman (1987) review 25 studies on this subject, and find a general consensus that a $100 increase in tuition nationwide, in 1982–1983 academic year dollars, would result in a 6 percent decline in the college participation rate for the 18- to 24-year-old group. Savoca (1990) makes the point that high tuition levels may lessen postsecondary enrollments in the aggregate by discouraging some students from ever applying to college. The effects of tuition levels are moderated in many cases by the effects of financial aid. McPherson and Schapiro (1991) state that the variable of interest should be net cost, or tuition less financial aid. At the initial stages of the enrollment decision, however, students often lack information on their eligibility for financial aid and the amount of aid they would be likely to receive. Researchers have differing views regarding the effects of financial aid on enrollment at different types of institutions. Reyes (1994) finds that increases in financial aid positively affect both 2-year and 4-year college enrollment rates, based on information from the NLSY and HSB. Manski and Wise (1983), using the NLS72, conclude that financial aid affects students’ decisions to attend 2-year institutions, as opposed to not going to college at all. However, this study finds that enrollments at 4-year schools have little sensitivity to the availability of financial aid. Manski and Wise do not consider the effect of financial aid on the student’s choice between a 2-year and a 4-year institution. SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 7 MATHTECH, INC. Other researchers have compared the effects of decreasing tuition with the effects of increasing financial aid. Manski and Wise (1983) find that for those attending 2-year schools, an additional dollar of financial aid would be worth more than a one dollar reduction in tuition. St. John (1990:172) also finds that â€Å"college applicants†¦ [are] more responsive to changes in student aid than to changes in tuition,† except for those in the upper income group. Kane (1995), however, argues that while financial aid increases may be more equitable because they are means tested, they are not as effective as decreases in tuition. This is a consequence of the complexity of the financial aid application process and the unwillingness of low income families to borrow to finance a college education. When studying the effect of tuition and financial aid on PSE enrollment, the group to be especially concerned about is low income students. Leslie and Brinkman (1987) and Savoca (1990) find that tuition levels affect enrollment decisions for low income students much more than for middle and upper income groups. By the same token, the availability of financial aid is a much more crucial factor for those at lower income levels. Orfield (1992) notes that the maximum Pell grant is less than one-fifth of the tuition at an elite university. Such a gap between aid and costs, he contends, may steer many low income students toward lower cost schools. Hearn’s 1991 study supports this hypothesis. He finds that when academic ability, achievement, and other factors are controlled for, lower income students are especially likely to choose institutions of lower selectivity. Schwartz (1985) finds that low income students are affected differently by publicly provided financial aid and aid supplied by institutions. He states that public grants tend to promote greater equity among income groups in college enrollment. Private grants, however, are often awarded on the basis of academic ability, and they tend to favor students who could afford to go to college without them. Clotfelter (1991) expresses the same concern about the effects of institutional aid. Manski and Wise (1983) note that even public aid is not always awarded where the need is greatest. They state that in 1979, 59 percent of Basic Educational Opportunity Grants were awarded to students who would probably have gone to college in the absence of such aid. Table 1 summarizes the data sources used in the studies mentioned here. SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 MATHTECH, INC. Table 1 MAIN DATA SOURCES FOR WORKS CITED IN LITERATURE REVIEW STUDY Borus, Michael E.and Carpenter, Susan A. , â€Å"Factors Associated with College Attendance of High-School Seniors† (1984) Clotfelter, Charles T. , â€Å"Demand for Undergraduate Education† (1991) Hauser, Robert M. , â€Å"Trends in College Entry among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics† (1993) Hearn, James C. , â€Å"Academic and Nonacademic Influences on the College Destinations of 1980 High School Graduates† (1991) Hossler, Don, Braxton, John and Coopersmith, Georgia, â€Å"Understanding College Choice† (1989). Hossler, Don and Maple, Sue, â€Å"Being Undecided about Postsecondary Education† (1993) Jackson, Gregory A., â€Å"Did College Choice Change during the Seventies? † (1988) Kane, Thomas, â€Å"Rising Public College Tuition and College Entry: How Well Do Public Subsidies Promote Access to College? † (1995) Kohn, Meir G. , Manski, Charles F. , and Mundel, David S. , â€Å"An Empirical Investigation of Factors which Influence College-going Behavior† (1976) Leslie, Larry L. , and Brinkman, Paul T. , â€Å"Student Price Response in Higher Education† (1987) Manski, Charles F. , and Wise, David A. , College Choice in America (1983) Manski, Charles F. , â€Å"Income and Higher Education† (1992) McPherson, Michael S., and Schapiro, Morton Owen, â€Å"Does Student Aid Affect College Enrollment? New Evidence on a Persistent Controversy† (1991) Mortenson, Thomas G. , and Wu, Zhijun, â€Å"High School Graduation and College Participation of Young Adults by Family Income Backgrounds 1970 to 1989† (1990) National Center for Education Statistics. â€Å"Confronting the Odds: Students At Risk and the Pipeline to Higher Education† (1997). MAIN DATA SOURCES 1979 and 1980 National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience, Youth Cohort (NLSY) Review of studies done by others, with data from Current Population Survey (CPS) and High. School and Beyond (HSB) CPS HSB, Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) data Review of studies done by others Cluster sample of 5,000 Indiana ninth graders National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS72), HSB NLSY, HSB, CPS School to College: Opportunities for Postsecondary Education (SCOPE) Survey Meta-analysis of studies done by others NLS72 NLS72, HSB, CPS Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) data, CPS HSB, Current Population Report, CPS NELS SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW. 9 MATHTECH, INC. STUDY Orfield, Gary, â€Å"Money, Equity, and College Access† (1992) Reyes, Suzanne, â€Å"The College Enrollment Decision: The Role of the Guaranteed Student Loan† (1994) Rouse, Cecilia Elena, â€Å"What to Do after High School: The Two-Year versus Four-Year College Enrollment Decision† (1994) St. John, Edward P. , and Noell, Jay, â€Å"The Effects of Student Financial Aid on Access to Higher Education: An Analysis of Progress with Special Consideration of Minority Enrollment† (1989) St. John, Edward P., â€Å"Price Response in Enrollment Decisions: An Analysis of the High School and Beyond Sophomore Cohort† (1990) Savoca, Elizabeth, â€Å"Another Look at the Demand for Higher Education: Measuring the Price Sensitivity of the Decision to Apply to College† (1990) Schwartz, J. Brad, â€Å"Student Financial Aid and the College Enrollment Decision: The Effects of Public and Private Grants and Interest Subsidies† (1985) Schwartz, J. Brad, â€Å"Wealth Neutrality in Higher Education: The Effects of Student Grants† (1986) MAIN DATA SOURCES Review of history of federal student financial aid programs NLSY, HSB NLSY, HSB, CPS. NLS72, HSB HSB NLS72 HSB, CPS HSB, CPS SECTION II. LITERATURE REVIEW 10 MATHTECH, INC. III. DATA A. NELS DATA While a number of studies have used data from the National Longitudinal Survey, Youth Cohort (NLSY), the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS72), and the High School and Beyond Survey (HSB) to examine the factors affecting college enrollments, this work effort is among the first to use NELS to analyze these types of issues. In 1988, NELS initially surveyed over 24,000 public and private school eighth graders throughout the United States. The nationally representative eighth grade cohort was tested in four subjects (mathematics, reading, science, and social studies). Two teachers of each student (representing two of the four subjects) were also surveyed, as was an administrator from each school. On average, each of the 1,052 participating schools was represented by 24 students and five teachers. Parents were also surveyed, providing researchers with detailed information on family background variables. Since 1988, the initial eighth grade cohort has been re-surveyed three times (and has been â€Å"freshened† with new sample members). The first follow-up of NELS (spring, 1990), included the same components as the base year study, with the exception of the parent survey, which was not implemented in the 1990 round. It also included a component on early dropouts (those who left school between the end of eighth grade and the end of 10th grade). The second follow-up (spring, 1992), repeated all components of the first follow-up study and also included a parent questionnaire. However, this time only one teacher of each student (either a mathematics or a science teacher) was asked to complete a teacher questionnaire. High school transcript data were also collected for these students. A subsample of the NELS:88 second follow-up sample was again followed-up in the spring of 1994, when most sample members had been out of high school for 2 years. In all, 14,915 students were surveyed, most through computer-assisted telephone interviewing. Major content areas for the third follow-up questionnaire were: education histories; work experience histories; work-related training; family formation; opinions and other experiences; occurrence or SECTION III. DATA 11 MATHTECH, INC. non-occurrence of significant life events; and income. Data collection for this wave began on February 4, and ended on August 13, 1994. At the time the data were collected, most of the respondents were 2 years out of high school. Table 2 summarizes the components of the different waves of the surveys. Table 2 OVERVIEW OF NELS NELS Components Grades included Cohort Base Year Spring term 1988 grade 8 students: questionnaire, tests questionnaire questionnaire two teachers per student (taken from reading, mathematics, science, or social studies) First Follow-up Spring term 1990 modal grade = sophomore students, dropouts: questionnaire, tests none questionnaire two teachers per student (taken from reading, mathematics, science, or social studies) Second Follow-up Spring term 1992 modal grade = senior students, dropouts: questionnaire, tests, H. S.  transcripts questionnaire questionnaire one teacher per student (taken from mathematics or science). Third Follow-up Spring 1994 H. S. + 2 years all individuals: questionnaire none none none Parents Principals Teachers B. NPSAS DATA Because the NELS database does not contain detailed information on financial aid, the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) database is used to supplement our study with additional financial aid information. This database is used to predict financial aid for the respondents in NELS based on demographic and other characteristics that are available in both databases. NPSAS is constructed specifically to provide information on financing of postsecondary education, so it is a good candidate for this use. This database surveys a nationally representative sample of undergraduate, graduate, and first-professional students attending less than 2-year, 2-year, 4-year, and doctoral granting institutions. Both students who receive and those who do not receive financial aid are surveyed. SECTION III. DATA 12 MATHTECH, INC. The 1993 NPSAS study collected information on more than 78,000 undergraduate and graduate students at about 1,100 institutions. To be eligible, students must have been enrolled between May 1, 1992 and April 30, 1993 at a postsecondary institution in the United States or Puerto Rico. The students had to be enrolled in courses for credit, and in a program of 3 months or longer. Also eligible for inclusion were students who received a bachelor’s degree between July 1, 1992 and June 30, 1993. Students who were enrolled in a GED program or who were also enrolled in high school were not included. C. SAMPLE AND WEIGHTS Of the 14,915 respondents in the third NELS follow-up, 13,120 are represented in all four waves of the NELS data. The remaining 1,795 respondents are either first follow-up â€Å"freshened† students,4 second follow-up freshened students,5 base-year ineligibles,6 or base-year eligible students who declined to participate in one or more of the survey waves, but who did participate in the third survey wave. The breakdown of these 1,795 respondents is as follows: 501 first follow-up freshened students, 102 second follow-up freshened students, 271 base-year ineligibles, and 921 base-year eligibles with missing survey waves. To take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the NELS data and to be consistent across models and issues in the report, we focus our work on the sample of 13,120 respondents represented in all four waves of the NELS data. Consequently, the weight used in our analyses, (â€Å"F3PNLWT†) applies to sample members who completed questionnaires in all four rounds of NELS:88. As a result, the longitudinal analyses that we conduct, and the estimates that are produced in this study can only be used to make projections to the population of spring 1988 eighth graders. In the descriptive tables, all percentages are weighted using F3PNLWT, including the analyses with the high school transcript data. Those who were tenth graders in 1990 but were not in the base-year sampling frame, either because they were not in the country or because they were not in the eighth grade in the spring term of 1988. Those who were 12th graders in 1992 but were not in either the base year or first follow-up sampling frames, either because they were not in the country or because they were not in the eighth (10th) grade in the spring term of 1988 (1990). 6 5 4 Students excluded in 1988 due to linguistic, mental, or physical obstacles to participation. 13 SECTION III. DATA MATHTECH, INC. This sample includes dropouts, since the purpose of this study is to examine the overall question of what characteristics of eighth graders in 1988 are related to PSE attendance. We focus on early indicators, such as educational expectations and course-taking behavior in the eighth grade, and not on the â€Å"pipeline† of high school experiences that a dropout would lack access to. However, the dropouts were not asked the same set of survey questions as the other respondents, and, therefore, some of the analysis does not include dropouts. For each of our tables or figures, we note whether or not the dropouts are included in the analysis. D. CORRECTED STANDARD ERRORS Because NELS data are collected through a multi-stage sampling scheme, calculation of standard errors through standard methods can understate these errors. The sampling technique used in NELS is a selection of schools, and then within schools, a selection of students. With this sampling method, the observations of different students may not be independent from one another. Stataâ„ ¢, the statistical software used for analysis in this report, corrects the standard errors for these sampling techniques. Except for multinomial logit models, for which this correction is not available, survey correction techniques are used, and we note whenever the corrections are not used. However, we have found that such corrections do not have a large effect on our results, and therefore, we present all results with confidence. E. VARIABLE DEFINITIONS. The appendix to this study contains definitions of the key variables used in our analysis. For each key variable, we describe how we constructed the variable and we list the names of the NELS variables used in the construction. SECTION III. DATA 14 MATHTECH, INC. IV. WHO GOES TO COLLEGE? A. WHAT PROPORTION OF STUDENTS ATTEND COLLEGE, AND WHAT TYPE OF COLLEGE DID THEY ATTEND? We begin our analysis by examining the demographics of postsecondary school choice and discussing our main findings regarding college attendance rates and types of postsecondary education (PSE) attended. As shown in Table 3, a majority of 1988 eighth graders attend some type of PSE by 1994. Overall, 62. 7 percent of the respondents attend PSE. (Note that in all of the tables in this report, all percentages are weighted. ) Students are most likely to attend a 4-year public or a less than 4-year public school. Approximately 24 percent of the students attend each of these types of schools. Next most common are 4-year private schools. Just over 11 percent of the respondents attend 4-year private schools. Only 4 percent of the respondents attend less than 4-year private schools. Thirty-seven percent of the respondents do not attend any type of PSE. Women are slightly more likely than men to attend PSE. While 60 percent of men attend PSE, 65 percent of women attend. Women are more likely than men to attend 4-year private schools and less than 4-year private schools. Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics are least likely to attend PSE and Asians and Pacific Islanders are most likely to attend PSE. Hispanics are most likely to attend less than 4year private schools. Students whose parents have higher education levels are much more likely to attend PSE. While only 33 percent of students whose parents have less than a high school education attend PSE, 90 percent of students whose parents have an advanced degree attend PSE. SECTION IV. WHO GOES TO COLLEGE? 15 MATHTECH, INC. Table 3 DEMOGRAPHICS OF POSTSECONDARY SCHOOL CHOICE1 No PSE 4-Year Public 4-Year Private.

Antigone society

In, being self-centered about Ideas frequently affects peoples' judgement Sophocles raises this Issue in his play Antigone. He believes that listening to the wise benefits your judgement, but the result of refusing to listen leads to tragic outcomes. Sophocles uses Ate to develop the characters' Inability to take In others' perspectlve_ Sophocles first addresses the tragic results of not listening through Anugone's refusal to take advice. In Sophocles's prologue, Ismene states â€Å"[Shel has no strength† for burying Polynlces against the states' jurisdiction, while Antigone pronounces thatIsmene â€Å"use[s] that excuse† to avoid trouble (Sophocles 76-83}. Even though Ismene says she doesnt have the strength to go against the state, she really means that she doesnt have the willpower to choose between the Gods' and Creon's law because defying either law will result In punishment. Even though Ismene Is belng cautious ot her choices, Antigone believes Ismene is toolish t or not siding with her. Antigone chose to believe herselt without thinking about Ismene's point ot view. In result, Antigone ends up putting herselt between both the laws ot the lands and the God's law, which results in her entombment.In addition to Antigone putting off her sisters' point of view, Sophocles uses Antigones inability to take others perspective into consideration. During CreonS and Antigone's argument. Creon expresses his opinion of Polynices betrayal of the city by saying. â€Å"The good dont want to share honors with the bad† (Sophocles 534-6). Antigone retaliates by mentioning, Mho knows that is considered righteous below . . I cannot share their hate, only their love† (Sophocles 536-8). Creon's belief that Polynices shouldnt be honored in burial conflict with Antigones', in which Polynices deserves burial to honor the Gods' laviAntigone doesn't realize Creon's point of view, standing up for the city, and goes with her own belief without taking Creons' into account. Despite standing up for herself, Antigone's failure to acknowledge Creon's perspective causes her demise Even after being locked away behind a boulder, Sophocles proves Antigone's disastrous consequences when Antigone, â€Å"[hangs herself] by the neck, fastened by a noose of fine linen† (Sophocles 1226-7)_ Antigone, trapped In a cave due her actions, hung herself so she wouldn't die at the hand of Creon. Anugone's refusal to listen to others'Ideas, such as creons, lead her to trouble and death, supporung Sophocles's maln point that tragic consequences come from refusing to listen. Antigone's refusal to take advice results In her unfortunate demise. In addltlon to Antigone's downfall due to blind recklessness, Sophocles uses Creon to display how tragic consequences develop trom not listening. During the first scene ot Antigone, the Guard explains to Creon that he â€Å"[wlshesl to tell [Creon his time, Creon's reaction is that, â€Å"[The Guard] is trying to t alk around the problem. † (Sophocles 245).The guard is cautious of explaining the bad news, trying to void blame, while Creon assumes the guard is guilty due to him talking around the problem. Creon's lack of the guard's point of view causes him to blame the innocent, which later causes Haemon commit suicide because Creon punishes his love. Even though Sophocles uses Creon's actions to show tragic outcomes, he also uses Creon's frustration to demonstrate his inability to look at other peoples' perspective. During a dialogue between Creon and the Guard, the guards asks, â€Å"May I say something, or should I Just turn and go? (Sophocles 325) Creon, agitated due to the breaking of his aw, exclaims, miou have annoyed me Just by saying that† (Sophocles 326). Creon's frustration towards someone breaking his law resulted in him not fully understanding that the guard didn't want to bother the king while he was mad.. The guard was nervous to explain his point of view to Creon d ue to his recklessness after Antigone defied his law. In result to the guards inability to explain his perspective, Creon becomes even more agitated and promises to kill him if he doesn't find out who touched the body.Sophocles ends his play by showing the reader Creon's destroyed life after not taking advice through others' perspective. Creon's son guided the sword, leaned on it and thrust it into his ribs.. † while Haemon â€Å". Creon's wife † struck herself in the heart with her own hand. † (Sophocles 1240-1; 1321) Creon's wife and son both killed themselves due to his refusal to listen to others advice. If Creon had only listen to others and used their perspective as well, his family wouldn't have taken their own lives. Creon's self centered ways of not taking advice destroyed his family.Even though Creon is used to show that consequences develop through not taking advice, Sophocles also uses Creon's and Haemon's stubbornness to demonstrate the tragic result of not listening. Sophocles provides an argument between Creon and Haemon in which Haemon retaliates to Creon's saying, â€Å"At our age, taught reason by a man so young† by declaring â€Å"Taught nothing that is not Just! If I am young, I do not need more time to study what's right† (Sophocles 738-40). Creon believes that Haemon is too young to be credible and taken seriously because of his age.Haemon however, considers himself credible due to the fact that Creon is making horrible decisions . Creon, not yet knowing that his decisions are tragic, and Haemon, not knowing that his dad doesnt see what's going on, end up fighting. Because Haemon's nd Creon's stubbornness get in the way of them seeing each others point of view, Haemon runs away and ends up committing suicide. After discussing credibility and getting nowhere, the father and son discuss the distinction between what the â€Å"fellow- citizens deny' and â€Å"[how the city shouldn't] tell [Creon] how [he] ou ght to rule it† (Sophocles 745-6).Haemon brings up the issue of the citizens siding with Antigone to bury Polynices body. They believe Polynices should obtain a proper burial no matter what even if he betrayed the city or not. Creon argues that the citizens of Thebes shouldn't be telling the king how to rule the city. Creon believes that the king should uphold all the power and not give the citizens a choice. Creon and Haemon argue for two different sides of the law neither, which adds even more tension and perspective. After all of this arguing between Haemon and his father, Haemon â€Å". thrusts a sword] into his ribs† and Creon loses everyone who he cared about (Sophocles 1241). Haemon killed himself due to the lack of support he was shown by his father. Creon's inability to listen to Haemon's point of view cause his own son to kill himself. By not listening to each other, both Haemon and Creon suffer from onsequences with one of them dying and the other one having to go through life without anyone who cares for him. Creon and Haemon suffered because they both lacked the capability to express other ideas than their own.As a different way to express his theme, Sophocles uses Ismene's and Antigone's discussion to prove not taking helpful advice can ruin a relationship. After learning Antigone was caught, Ismene admits, â€Å"l did the deed if she consents, and I will take and bear the charge† (Sophocles 552-3). Antigone answered with, â€Å"But Justice will not allow this to you, since neither did you want nor did I share it. (Sophocles 554-5). Ismene, caring for her only family member left, tries to save her sister from death with the cost of hers.But Antigone doesn't allow Ismene to do this and convinces Creon that she definitely broke the burial law. This causes Antigone to be doomed by the law of the land, resulting in her death. After having her sister announced guilty, Ismene asks, â€Å"But now-what can I do to help you now' (Sop hocles 568). Antigone replies by telling her, â€Å"Save yourself. I do not grudge you your escape† (Sophocles 569). Ismene gives her last efforts to comfort Antigone through her time of need, but Antigone rejects Ismene's offer and declares she wants nothing.Antigone didn't listen to her sister, overcome with pride for burying the body, and Just gave up her only way to live. By letting her pride take place of her mind, Antigone gives up her life because she didn't listen to Ismene's offer. Due to Antigone's actions, she â€Å"[hangs herself by a noose]† and Ismene disappeared, never being mentioned again (Sophocles 1227). Ismene, not wanted by her sister in anyway, disappears from the play to never be spoken of again. Antigone however, suffers from not letting her sister take the blame and finally commits suicide to end the pain.Antigone would not be dead if she let her sister take the blame, but due to her inability to listen to good advice, she ends up dying. In the end, both Ismene and Antigone suffer due to Antigone's rejection of advice. Sophocles demonstrated listening to others' advice and the consequences of not throughout the play. From being stubborn and not taking beneficial advice to not opening your mind to another persons' point of view. Sophocles wrote Antigone with many lessons for our current society. His most important lesson being that listening to good counsel benefits you now but also in the future.