The Wall Street Journal Weekly Quiz
Covering front-page articles from Feb 21 – 25 2005
NOTE: No WSJ on Feb 21 Due to Holiday.
Professor Guide with Summaries
Developed by: Scott R. Homan Ph.D., Purdue University
Questions 1 – 12 from The First Section, Section A
In Tiny Towns, New Call Options Shake Up an Old Phone System
ANNE MARIE SQUEO
February 22, 2005; A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110902655249160243,00.html
Until recently, Westhope, N.D., a windswept town six miles from the Canadian border, had 533 people, one bank, one bar, one gas station -- and one federally subsidized phone service. But seven months ago, Cassidy Sivertson, a 27-year-old who runs a computer business out of his home here, bailed out of the subsidized plan, which was costing him about $165 a month. Instead, he signed up for a new Internet-based service from Vonage Holdings Inc. Now, the subsidy-free Vonage phone service, a high-speed Internet connection and an additional toll-free line cost just $60 a month. Mr. Sivertson's new setup illustrates how competition and technology are threatening a big shake-up in a program that has played a major role in the phone business for nearly a century. Today dubbed the federal Universal Service Fund, the $6.4 billion program assesses all phone customers a monthly surcharge to help cover the higher cost of providing service in thousands of isolated places like Westhope. The overriding goal is to make sure phone service is "universal," so that everyone in the country has access to it -- no matter where they live.
1. The federal Universal Service Fund helps subsidize ______for rural areas.
a. bus transportation
b. train service
c. cable TV service
d. telephone service Correct
2. The Universal Service Fund assesses ______customers a monthly surcharge to help cover the higher cost of providing service in thousands of isolated places.
a. all phone Correct
b. city phone
c. regional commuter
d. interstate toll way
Attention, Shoppers: Bored College Kids Competing in Aisle 6
ANN ZIMMERMAN and LAURA STEVENS
February 23, 2005; A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110911598024661430,00.htm
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- On a snowy Monday night recently, Northern Arizona University freshman Natalie Eickmeyer finished her studying and decided to go out and have some fun. So at 10 o'clock, after scouring a dormitory for participants, she and five friends headed to the Wal-Mart discount center. The students had no intention of shopping. They were going to Wal-Mart to play games. That night, she and her pal Amy Zimmerman, a college junior, decided the group would play "10 in 10." The captains of the two teams each spend 10 minutes putting 10 items in a shopping cart. The carts are turned over to the opposing teams which have to figure out where the items came from and return them to the shelves where they belong. That's no easy feat in a store stocked with more than 100,000 different items. The first team back to the checkout counters with an empty cart is declared the winner. "It's big, it's the only thing open after 9 p.m., and you can get away with more," said Ms. Eickmeyer, explaining why she and her friends regularly use Wal-Mart for various challenges. From scavenger hunts and aisle football to a relay race limbo under the shopping-cart stand, college students around the country -- particularly in rural areas -- have found Wal-Mart's endless aisles and 24-hour operations to be perfect for middle-of-the-night romps.
3. When playing 10 in 10 students
a. spend 10 dollars and then eat 10 food items
b. spend 10 minutes putting 10 items in a shopping cart Correct
c. spend 10 minutes buying and paying for 10 items
d. spend 10 minutes eating 10 items in a shopping cart
4. Northern Arizona University freshman Natalie Eickmeyer often goes to ___ in order to play games at night.
a. the park
b. Target
c. Wal-Mart Correct
d. the ocean beach
Dollar Selloff Sends Shocks Through Markets
CRAIG KARMIN
February 23, 2005; A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110911899649361523,00.html
A sell off of the dollar yesterday, fueled by persistent concerns over the currency's weakness, roiled financial markets world-wide. As the dollar registered its worst daily decline in two months, 1.4% against both the euro and the yen, stock markets in New York, London, Paris and Frankfurt all retreated. Gold and oil prices, which tend to move upward when the dollar is weak, rose sharply. The sell off stemmed from news stories in South Korea that the nation's central bank, which has the world's fourth-largest foreign reserves, at about $200 billion, was planning to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves. "Diversification" has become a buzz word that the currency and stock traders tend to read as "dumping dollars" -- meaning that the Korean central bank would slow its purchases of dollar-denominated securities in favor of higher-yielding assets and other currencies, including the euro. The news from Seoul sparked fears that other Asian central banks could follow suit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.6%, the worst percentage drop in five months. The 174.02-point loss was the index's worst decline in points since May 2003. Gold prices surged $7.40 to $434.50 and oil prices marched back above $51 to $51.15, their highest levels since October.
5. Gold and oil prices, tend to move ____ when the dollar is weak
a. way down
b. downward
c. upward Correct
d. in circles
6. "Diversification" has become a buzz word that the currency and stock traders tend to read as "dumping ______".
a. dollars Correct
b. yen
c. euro dollars
d. pounds
How Dr. Papadakis Runs a University Like a Company
BERNARD WYSOCKI JR.
February23,2005; A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110912375606461666,00.html
At a Drexel University campus forum last May, professors complained about funding cuts at the library. Rather than apologize for the belt-tightening, President Constantine Papadakis told them he'd prefer to have an all-digital library with no books at all. Some faculty members and students were horrified. An architecture professor said printed books were essential to his field. Another professor compared the Drexel library to that of a community college. "It boggles the mind that someone like a university president could envision a library without books," wrote the student newspaper, the Triangle, in an editorial. In an interview, Dr. Papadakis says he was exaggerating to make a point: Spending too heavily on books, periodicals and the buildings that house them is a waste in the digital era. The spat was nothing new for the 59-year-old Greek immigrant, who revels in making comments designed to shock the status quo as he introduces hard-nosed business practices to one of America's centers of learning. Many universities are grappling with how business-minded they should be. Harvard University's president, Lawrence H. Summers, has clashed with faculty members over his hierarchical management style. The university is also debating whether its money managers should be rewarded with Wall Street-style bonuses. At Columbia University, an aggressive push to collect royalties on university-owned patents has led to legal fights with licensees.
7. Many universities are grappling with how _____ -minded they should be.
a. cheater
b. parent
c. student
d. business Correct
8. Universities are also debating whether money managers should be rewarded with Wall Street-style ______.
a. bonuses Correct
b. office furniture
c. work rules
d. vacations
As Tech Matures, Workers File A Spate of Salary Complaints
PUI-WING TAM and NICK WINGFIELD
February 24, 2005; A1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110920306392762558,00.html
A hallmark of the boom years in high-tech was its work ethic: killer hours, often at modest salaries, without complaint. It was a small price for the excitement and the shot at a bonanza someday. But as high-tech riches have faded, a different attitude toward employers is popping up: Pay me overtime, or I'll sue. Hidetomo Morimoto took a job in 2003 at a tech company that translates English software into Japanese. With the tech bubble already burst, he was grateful for the job, even though it paid just $1,800 a month to start. He soon found himself working 60 hours a week, Mr. Morimoto says, and during crunch times often didn't leave till 1 a.m. Yet he says he never received any overtime pay. In May, after he complained in an Internet posting that some Japanese employers took advantage of their staff's strong work ethic, Mr. Morimoto found himself out of work. Now the 31-year-old is suing his old employer, demanding the overtime pay he says he should have received. The employer, Pacific Software Publishing Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., maintains it wasn't remiss because Mr. Morimoto spent all of his extra hours in the office on personal matters, not work. It is countersuing, alleging defamation. In the past 18 months, labor suits such as this have hit technology outfits ranging from start-ups to established companies. "Wage-and-hour class-action lawsuits have now invaded high-tech in the Valley," says Lynne Hermle, an attorney representing several companies.
9. ______lawsuits have now invaded high-tech.
a. Temporary
b. Bogus
c. Wage-and-hour class-action Correct
d. Civil Rights
10. A hallmark of the boom years in high-tech was its ______.
a. compensation
b. dress code
c. office space
d. work ethic Correct
CEO Bonuses Rose 46.4% At 100 Big Firms in 2004
Median Was $1.14 Million; Some Chiefs Under Fire Also Drew Sizable Extras
By JOANN S. LUBLIN
February25,2005;PageA1
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB110930359024864133,00.html
Bonuses for many chief executive officers surged last year amid rising criticism of what some deem excessive compensation, especially in cases where the bottom line doesn't keep pace. At 100 major U.S. corporations, CEO bonuses rose 46.4% to a median of $1.14 million, the largest percentage gain and highest level in at least five years, according to an exclusive survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in New York. Mercer, which began tracking the latest proxy statements of 100 big companies for The Wall Street Journal in 1999, didn't scrutinize any heads of Wall Street firms, where much higher bonuses are common. The biggest winners include Michael Eisner at Walt Disney Co., where 45% of the shares voted at its 2004 annual meeting opposed his re-election to its board; and John Tyson at Tyson Foods Inc., the target of a recent Securities and Exchange Commission probe into whether the company improperly accounted for perquisites provided to Don Tyson, his father and predecessor.
11. At 100 major U.S. corporations, CEO bonuses levels ______
a. rose to the highest Correct
b. fell to the lowest
c. stayed the same
d. were eliminated
12. At the 2004 annual meeting of the Walt Disney Co., 45% voted to ______Michael Eisner’s re-election to its board.
a. oppose Correct
b. support
c. ignore
d. corrupt
Questions 13 – 17 from Marketplace, Section B
India Poaches U.S. Executives For Tech Jobs
JAY SOLOMON
February 22, 2005; B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110901197991960108,00.html
Mr. Bettinger is among a growing number of U.S. and Western executives being poached -- not to mention well-paid -- by Indian technology companies trying to globalize their software and outsourcing businesses. In recent months, Indian businesses have hired dozens of executives from companies including Electronic Data Systems Corp., Deloitte Consulting LLP, McKinsey & Co., Accenture Ltd. and Ernst & Young LLP. Indian software giants and other Indian outsourcing companies are becoming more profitable as demand for their low-cost services increases. Tata Group's Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Technologies Ltd. all have had annual revenue growth of around 50% in recent quarters and are hiring thousands of new workers each quarter. Such growing financial clout is allowing Indian companies to woo Western executives -- especially with higher salaries. "Six or seven figures are often involved, and equity is also in play," says Rohit Ambekar, an Asia-based partner with Morgan Howard Worldwide, a Stamford, Conn., executive search company. Headhunters working for Indian companies say their clients have to pay a premium to attract U.S. talent due to their companies' lower profiles and limited track records. In one recent case, an Indian company offered an American executive a base salary of $350,000 plus a potential bonus of $2 million over two years to join its U.S. operations, according to an executive with knowledge of the deal. The executive's salary at his U.S. company was $300,000 annually plus stock options equal to around $1.2 million over four years.
13. A growing number of U.S. and Western executives are being poached (recruited) by ______trying to globalize businesses.
a. Mexican technology companies
b. California technology companies
c. Indiana technology companies
d. Indian technology companies Correct
Clean Water, No Profit
SARAH ELLISON and ERIC BELLMAN
February 23, 2005; B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110910057933261072,00.html
Greg Allgood has had some difficult jobs in his 19-year career at Procter & Gamble Co.
First, he was tasked with convincing the world that Olestra, P&G's fake fat, was safe to eat at a time when products with this ingredient carried a label warning consumers of gastrointestinal problems. Later, he started flying to developing countries, trying to encourage people to buy packets of water-purifying powder that most couldn't afford. After the December tsunami in southern Asia, Dr. Allgood was in Sri Lanka, working to persuade people like Mohamed Irshad that the powder would transform contaminated well water covered with muddy layers of dirt and debris into something safe to drink. Like plenty of multinationals, the U.S. consumer-products maker rushed to offer aid to tsunami victims, shipping 15 million packets of the water purifier to affected countries and pledging 13 million more if needed. What's different is that the product P&G is airlifting is a commercial bust.
14. The Procter & Gamble Co rushed to offer aid to tsunami victims, shipping 15 million packets of ______to affected countries.
a. Jello
b. soap
c. water purifier Correct
d. Ivory Soap
Wireless's New Hookup
WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
February 24, 2005; B1
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110920408888362616,00.html
Imagine a futuristic home where a special network grants you keyless entry and calls your mobile phone to alert you that a door has been unexpectedly opened. Or a setup that permits you to shut curtains and turn on outside floodlights -- all while you're still at the office. Thanks in part to a whimsically named wireless connection technology called ZigBee, homes, PCs, automobiles, and even certain branches of government may all function very differently in the not-too-distant future. ZigBee is a new networking standard that allows a variety of low-power devices to communicate over an unregulated portion of the radio spectrum. It stands to join a crowded wireless technology field that already includes cell-phones, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and others. But unlike those other standards, ZigBee can run for years on inexpensive batteries, eliminating the need to be plugged into electrical power. Hence, it holds huge promise in such areas as energy conservation, home automation and agriculture.