Marketing plan Essay

Kraft Food (Nabisco) has been working since the year 1898. For about 109 years, they have increase through natural growth, mergers and obtainments. This positive fact permits Nabisco to be the chief of the snack maker. Being the main snack maker has permit Nabisco to introduce a diverse selection of foods. However, Nabisco has been indisposed to adjust to the current market trends. The company had an idea to concentrate on creating and producing new versions of the existing products to make them more convenient for the consumers. However, Nabisco was overpassing that other companies were doing the same thing; they were creating similar products that were cheaper and healthier for consumers. Lately, Nabisco understood and found out about this trend so they began creating healthier foods such as low carb foods, 100-calorie snack packs and low fat foods. By creating and producing these new products, Nabisco has a greater opportunity to be the consumers option one and be the number one company for those people who wants to start a healthy life style. The new Fat Free Chips Ahoy that Kraft (Nabisco) will be presenting to the society next year will be setting Nabisco as a company that is ready to support those that have decide to have a healthy eating life style. Nabisco is expecting that the new Fat Free Chips Ahoy turn into the number one fat free snacks on the market. Nabisco also expects to increase and expand to other fat free products like Chips Ahoy ice cream, Chips Ahoy piecrust and snack size packages of Fat Free Chips Ahoy for vending machines. 2. Company description In 1903, James L. Kraft from Ontario, Canada, created a cheese-delivery business in Chicago. This business was named â€Å"Kraft†, it was producing cheese as well as distributing it, and with the past of the years the company expands in a big way. Karft-Phenix became a subsidiary of the National Dairy Product Corp in 1930 and in 1923 it was founded by Thomas H. Mclnnerney. Initially the firm was planned to execute in the fragmented United States ice cream industry but later it change idea and expanded into a full range of dairy products. This business expanded its brand internationally in more than 155 countries. It is consider the largest food company in the United States and in the number two position worldwide, behind Nestlà © S.A. The firm has two primary operating units–Kraft Foods North America and Kraft Foods International and its brands are divided into five main sectors: snacks, beverages, cheese, grocery and convenient meals. Seven through eleven of Kraft’s brands bring in more than $1 billion in revenues each year. â€Å"The company is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Its European headquarters is in Glattpark, Opfikon, Switzerland. Kraft is an independent public company, it is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and became a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average on September 22, 2008, replacing the American International Group† (www.wikipedia.com). Kraft Food Inc., was concentrating in producing new versions of the existing products to make them more accessible to the consumers. However, they were overpassing the fact that others companies were creating similar products that were healthier and cheaper. Lately, Kraft realized this problem and began creating healthier foods such as low carb foods, 100- calories snack packs (fat free Chips Ahoy) and low-fat foods. The new Fat Free Chips Ahoy that Nabisco, a sister brand of Kraft Food Inc., will be introducing next year will concrete Kraft as a company that is well disposed to support those that have embrace that healthy eating life style. Nabisco (Kraft) is hopping that the new Fat Free Chips Ahoy will be the best and leading fat free snack on the market. 3. Strategic Focus and Plan Kraft food Inc., do business according to seven important strategies: 1) build superior customer brand value, 2) build supper demand through superior customer collaboration, 3) transform the portfolio, 4) expand global scale, 5) drive out cost and assets, 6) strengthen employee and organizational excellence; 7) and act responsibility (www.kraftfoodscompany.com). 1. Build superior brand value: consist in improving the Company’s products, using more value-added packaging, and develop innovative new products and managing price gaps effectively. 2. Build shopper demand through superior customer collaboration: recognizes the importance of the Company’s retail partners in fulfilling its vision. The Company and the customer works together in order to better understand the customer behavior in their stores, to develop in-store programs that can increase the shopper demand and decrease costs through more efficient store delivery systems. 3. Transform the portfolio: The Company is expanding the shift in its portfolio toward business through investment, innovation, acquisition and divestiture (whether global, regional or local) to offer the Company a sustainable competitive advantage, and will better enable its management to focus on opportunities that meet consumer needs and create long-term value of the Company. 4. Expand the Company’s global scale: they focused on increasing its growth prospects in key developing markets that offer the greatest growth potential. In addition, the Company is expanding its marketing and infrastructure investments in large, growing markets, such as Brazil, Mexico, China and Russia. 5. Drive out costs and assets: Contains the Company’s announced three- year restructuring program, with the objectives of realigning and decreasing its cost structure and optimizing capacity utilization. 6. Strengthen employee and organizational excellence: reflects the need to develop organizational capabilities and support employees in meeting the Company’s business challenges, wherever they work. 7. Act responsibly: As the Company struggle for sustainable growth, its seeks business success in ways that honor legal and legal standards and that it also respect people, communities and the natural environment. This strategy involves a commitment to a strong obedience and integrity programs and sound corporate governance, as well as a number of health and wellness initiatives, such as enrich nutrition labeling. Mission: The mission of Kraft Food is to assist people around the world to eat and live better (GLP). They have the idea to meet the consumers’ in order to found out their needs, so they can make the food healthier, easier and more enjoyable part of life. They want their consumers to consider them as their first snack food choice. They carefully let the consumers to know how they keep in their mind their wants and needs in order to create the products that will fix to their health conscious lifestyles. Vision: Their vision is to inform the world, customers, employees, consumers and communities where they sell and make their products. They stated the importance of health and wellness, but they also incorporate all the ways people can eat and live better, such as the comfort of a microwave meal, the enjoyment of a snack and the safety and value of their products. Goals: To introduce the Fat Free Chips Ahoy in January of 2012. To win new customers who are trying to take care of their weight by decreasing their fat intake. To make Chips Ahoy one of the leading fat free snacks on the market

The new blue music: Changes in rhythm & blues Essay

ContemporaryR&B Introduction                   Music has been one of many sources of entertainment globally. Contemporary R&B is one of the many music genres found globally. This type of music brings together elements of the old rhythm and blues, hip hop, pop, soul and funk. Contemporary R&B has a cultured record creation style, drum machine as well as smooth and a luxurious style of vocal understanding. Contemporary R&B commonly referred by many as Rhythm and Blues is my preferred type of music,                   especially the one created by African-American artists. This music genre has a unique quality of its own. The emergence of the music was due to the need to identify the music differently from the other types of R&B that were originally there before the coming of contemporary R&B. Coming of Contemporary R&B resulted in combination or pulling together all other forms of music such as hip-hop, blues, pop, soul and funk and coming up with the new form of R&B. There is an increasing in the influence of this type of music. Our future generations should continue to listen and appreciate contemporary R&B music (Ripani, 2006).                   Since the introduction of this type of music (contemporary R&B) in 1980’s in disco scenes, the music has continued to flow as well as the older music that had merged to make the genre. Various artists have contributed to the development of this type of music. For example, Michael Jackson brought this music into the conventional music culture. The coming up of contemporary R&B gave its larger audience that before. The merge between hip hop and R&B brought music into a higher level in terms of appreciation by people. Since the turn of 21st century, hip hop also gained popularity as part of contemporary R&B, as the earliest form of R&B had gained in 1990’s. Through the incorporation with other types of music, the music was becoming more appealing and cool to the rhythm and blues followers as well as hip hop audiences. The use effects such as Autotune together with computerized synths have given R&B a more futuristic feel whilst still trying to include many of the genre’s general themes such as relationship and love. The advancements of the genre’s production and instrumentation have stimulated the success of artists such as Frank Ocean, Miguel and Janelle Monae among many others (Ripani, 2006). References Ripani, R. J. (2006).  The new blue music: Changes in rhythm & blues, 1950-1999. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.Hoffmann, F., Carlin, R., & Zak, A. J. (2005).  Rhythm & Blues, Rap, and Hip-Hop. New York: Infobase Pub. Source document

Management in health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management in health care - Essay Example This report shocked health care experts and many organizational leaders are evaluating their health care delivery systems (Thweatt & Kleiner 2007). There is a call to health care experts to apply professional management approaches in health care provision. This paper covers the issue of management in healthcare. It highlights the role and importance of management in healthcare. It will give an insight on how to practice management and the problems that may be encountered in health care management. The research will look at two approaches, the scientific management approach and human relation management approach. It will show how each of the approaches is applied in running an organization. The research will also show how the two approaches are jointly applied in running an organization. A critical analysis of the two methods will show the similarities and differences between the two approaches of management. Drawing from an example of an institution that has applied a combination of the two approaches in management, we shall see if the approach is successful or not. The paper will conduct further analysis to show the implications of applying the two management approaches to health care service delivery. The analysis will focus on the people who work in health care service delivery organizations. This will help in finding out how these management approaches affect them in terms of problems they may face, benefits if any and possible suggestions on how to improve the strategies used to better suit the workers. The paper will also highlight the implications of the research to students who study public health. The primary role of management is to formulate policies, organize, plan, control and direct the resources of an organization so as to achieve the objectives of the policy. Management is defined as how an organization coordinates and organizes its activities in accordance to policies set so as to achieve the defined objectives of the

International & Comparative Employment Relations Essay

International & Comparative Employment Relations - Essay Example As it is a comparative study, the comparison between America and Japan shows them to be on completely different sides in terms of HR systems while the position of Germany is somewhere in the middle. With the socioeconomic situation in focus, the writer concludes that socioeconomic factors become highly important for the proper establishment of an HR control system. Using these measures other HR systems can be brought in line with the socioeconomic situation the company is placed in internationally. The results are based on a literature analysis conducted by the researcher where 12 elements of a socioeconomic system are used to place the three countries on a scale. Within each of the 12 elements, there are four HRM related operands which further define the position of the HR systems in each country. As the countries were placed and ranked according to these operands and elements their relative positions became clear within the social context which is prevalent in the country. While some of these elements showed the researcher that the countries are more or less similar when it comes to approaching Human Resource Management, the majority of the elements i.e. more than 70% showed that there are vast differences between them. In these cases, American and Japanese HRM systems were at opposite ends of the scale and the German system was in the middle. In this manner, Germany is considered the middle ground between the polar opposites of Japan and America. The pattern described above became very strong when factors such as social demographics and principles of management were examined. The writer notes that the Germans have a system of co-determination when it comes to industrial relations and this is supported by the evidence presented by Block (1999) who reports that it is common to see union members on the board of a company in Germany. Similarly, Torrington and Hall (2002) note the importance of HR in America which is supported by the

Effect of Divorce on Children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Effect of Divorce on Children - Research Paper Example Although divorce of parents may have both positive and negative effects on a child, depending on a lot of factors including but not limited to the family's situation prior to divorce, parenting skills of one or both parents, attachment of the child to one or both parents and hostilities at home when both parents are together, it is more often than not that detrimental effects become more dominant. It needs taking note that the different effects of divorce on children has a lot to do with their age during which they had to experience their parents get divorce. Nevertheless, the degree or seriousness of these detrimental effects to a child varies depending on the same factors earlier-mentioned. Parents should take on the responsibility of lessening the adverse effects of divorce on their children considering that it is their failure that caused their children to go through hard times at an early stage in life. 1. To classify children into age groups whereby each age group would best reflect commonalities of those belonging to the same category in relation to how social and family situations affect their well-being and career achievement. 6. ... Parents should take on the responsibility of lessening the adverse effects of divorce on their children considering that it is their failure that caused their children to go through hard times at an early stage in life. PROBLEM STATEMENT What is the worst age for children during which their parents could get divorced Specific Research Questions: 1. Into what age groups can children be classified in studying the effects of divorce on their general well-being and career achievement 2. What are the general effects of divorce on children belonging to different age groups 3. What age group in children suffer the most psychological stress or trauma when their parents get divorced 4. What age group in children is most adversely affected when their parents get divorced in relation to academic achievement 5. What age group in children is most adversely affected when their parents get divorced in relation to professional achievement 6. What measures can we do to lessen the adverse affect of divorce on children belonging to the age group most affected OBJECTIVES 1. To classify children into age groups whereby each age group would best reflect commonalities of those belonging to the same category in relation to how social and family situations affect their well-being and career achievement. 2. To find out the general effects of divorce on children particularly on each age group. 3. To find out which age group in children suffers the most psychological stress or trauma when parents get divorced. 4. To find out which age group in children suffers the worst academic set back as an effect of the parents getting divorced. 5. To find out which age group in children is most adversely affected by their parents getting divorced in relation to their career

Research Methods and Perspectives ( International Relations ) Coursework

Research Methods and Perspectives ( International Relations ) - Coursework Example hers frame their studies on a particular subject like international relations, and thus form an appropriate problem statement and find solutions as part of the research work. The studies of these authors have stressed on the involvement of scientific aspects introduced in the understanding of social sciences in relation to the arguments associated with international relations (Dunne, Kurki & Smith, 2007, p.15). A business research deals with the research studies being associated with the world of business and management in reality. The theories of social sciences are also related to the business research methodologies to a large extent. The methods developed in the research studies reflect the relation that social scientists make use of such methods in deriving the relationships between the realities of the social aspects and the manner in which they might be realized. The role of the researcher is highly significant in this context. Some of the theories being used include the grand theories or middle-range theories where at times the theories might provide with limited research opportunities, in other cases being more elaborate and informative. The relevance of data is essential when hypothesis are formulated for researches. The relations between the theory and research can be derived by the deductive theory and the implications are obtained through the induction theory. The positivism th eory if research encompasses both the deductive and inductive aspects of research. In contrast to this is the interpretivism theory. Other theories include the realism, objectivism and other relative measures (Bryman & Bell, 2007, pp. 4-23). The research process of political science has a major significance in the understanding of international relations that has been reflected through the studies of McNabb. He focused on the different purposes based on which a research study is conducted including the exploration, description and explanation of the concerned topic. The study of

Progress Report for PDR Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Progress Report for PDR - Research Paper Example The project team especially the team responsible for engaging interviews with the stakeholders especially the secretaries and assistants in the faculties do not corporate. This has resulted into getting inaccurate information that is supposed to aid in system development. During our progress we found out from external sources that have successfully carried out the same implementation that the best method of developing a system that will meet the user requirement is by engaging the users from the initial phases of the system development. This will enable the development team to refine the system requirement from the early stages such that the time spend during testing will be reduced. Information about this output can be downloaded from www.suceesssystempro.net. This gives the detailed report on the above methodology and also provide case example that are real. After integrating the new method of user involvement, we realize that there are a lot of disparities in terms of functional and non functional requirement. This is as a result of disparities in the users needs especially the students. We found out that some students and a few staff do not have internet knowledge and therefore the system interface should be made in a way that will not frustrate them (Wiegers 426) The programming team are doing very well so far in coming up with prototypes that are subjected to test by exposing it to students and staff for use. The other sections are progressing well except that more resources need to be pumped into data entry team because we realized that the database that was used previously had a lot of vulnerabilities in terms of data security. As such we had to come up with a new database using mySQL (Bolles, 125) During the past one week we had to make a formal communication to different faculties to corporate with the data collection team that goes round collecting

Global History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global History - Essay Example Commercial expansion meant not only that the land was the only source of living but more people could buy the land to have a status of nobility in the society. It brought a revolution both in political and military meanings. The new wealthy group people had the resources now to get armors and arms and the regiment of 'hoplites' Hoplites completely depended on their powers to act as a disciplined force. It culminated among them the need for unity. They started discussing their problems in public sittings. Such collective agreement was the beginning of polis- the city state. New wealth meant new men so the aristocracy became the victim of the wealthy class. The new men replaced aristocracy, they set a government which less gave honor to traditional values. The tyrants, who replaced the aristocracy, brought peace after the skirmishes, arising because of the pressure on lands. They introduced a system of magistrates and believed in providing justice to the aggrieved. All these internal and of course external influence were the major factors which led to the concept of city state in Greek civilization. Anderson. Perry. Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism. London, Verso, 1974 Roberts. J.M. The History of the World. New York. Viking Penguin Inc. 1983. (2) The other factors were also responsible for the emerging of the city states in Greek The geography of Greek also played an important role in the formation of the city states. The territory of a city state was one of the narrow valleys and it had menial resources to provide for sustenance. The soil of Attica was not very fertile and Athens would have to depend on imported grain Dialect intensified the sense of...Slavery was the part of Greek civilization. Aristotle was of the view that slaves are born slaves because nature did not give them the right of freedom. Slavery was a prevailing fact and it contributed a great deal in the nascent years of Greek city life. Athens was able to produce pottery, wine and olive oil because of slavery. J.M. Roberts points out that slavery was all pervasive and remained a common feature in the Christian world for so long.

Church Construction Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Church Construction Project - Assignment Example The selection of property to accommodate the church must commensurate the number of people in the church and the finance they are capable of raising to buy the church premises. We need a church for 600-700 people. We are located in a busy suburb of a very large city. Ideally, we may settle for a hall that accommodates around a 1000 people. The hall could be located in a commercial area or residential place. The strength is in the cost because it is affordable. It is close to the houses of most members. If we get the complete floor in a commercial complex, we also get privacy. The weaknesses are that we will not have the church hall completely to ourselves. We will have to observe the rules and regulations of the commercial society and restrain the volume of our sound when we sing hymns and choruses. We now meet in a school hall. The hall is huge and is capable of accommodating 1000 members. It admeasures 7,000 square feet. The school building is strong and is capable of bearing the strain of 5,000 people in the entire floor. I am not aware of any pressure point in the school hall. The hall is such that it can bear pressure from all sides. There is no threat to it from human source, that is, it cannot suffer any harm from purely human strength. If pressure points are meant to be columns, beams and floors, the school is a ground plus four floor affair. Its floor space is about 20,000 square feet. So, considering all the floors, the total floor space is 100,000 square feet. The school has columns and beams and appears to be of robust construction. Discover how the last major construction project in your church was financed. How did this project correspond to what you learned It is about five years since our church was established. We have not faced any situation of a major construction project in our church. We have grown numerically and in zeal. We are collecting funds for our own church premises. There is no problem so far as finance is concerned. We have enough money to finance a purchase. There is a steering committee which is involved in searching for the property. At any rate, I attended a different church before five years. This church has a regular church building consisting of the main church hall on the ground floor, and more halls for church programs on the three upper floors. The main church on the ground floor had high ceiling, almost double the size of the halls on the three upper floors. This church was very old. They had broken down the old single floor building some forty years ago and converted it into a building with ground plus the three upper floors. The finance for this building came from donations by the church members and more finance from the diocesan. No loan was taken. Interview a pastor or church staff member that has recently been involved in a major church construction project. Ask him about how closely they followed the safe borrowing limits suggested in this lesson. Record your findings in your notebook. Most churches in my region have a policy to not borrow money from banks or any financial institutions. They search for donations and grants. If they need loan, they may take it from well-known

Shared Talking Styles Essay Example for Free

Shared Talking Styles Essay Talking styles plays an important part of the communication in our everyday lives. These styles can both hinder and help communication. It is especially true in close relationships with others. This essay will discuss the article â€Å"Shared Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance† as well as discussing the accuracy of a language style matching program and whether or not the language style matching is a comprehensive way to predict quality in an interpersonal relationship. Therefore, according to the article â€Å"sharing Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance,† â€Å"a subtle, surprisingly ordinary type of playful and teasing lies at the heart of romance. Love flames get fanned when a man and women similarly employ words such as, I, it, but, and under in everyday conversation† (Bower, 2010). These words seem so little however, mean so much when used romantically. Nevertheless, the article also discusses different aspects on how those that truly hate each other can show a high amount of language style. That means those who are fighting tend to talk in similar ways. If two people like and understand each other, they will use similar wording regardless of the different nouns and verbs that they may use to communicate with each other. One way of testing this kind of communication, is a website, which will provide results of language style matching. I took a few emails that my significant other and I shared between each other while he was in Mexico working. From those emails, we only matched at 48 percent. Given the information, I feel that the results were inaccurate. I do believe that this program may present accurate results when there is enough information in the emails or text messages that are input into the program. The emails did not present much information as with our conversation we had on the telephone. I believe that this program can show a lot of good information when there is enough text for the program to do an appropriate result. This kind of can improve the aspect of how people see their relationships. I also believe that the language style matching can be a comprehensive way for the quality of interpersonal relationships to be predicted. This is not something that is needed for relationships to work; however, it is a tool that can help a couple to see at what percentage they are similar in how they speak. This can be a good tool for those that have trouble understanding each other as it will tell them what their language match percentage is. I do not suggest that you should base your relationship on the score; however, this can open each other’s eyes and how they can focus on a better way of and work on their communication style. Interpersonal relationships require a level of understanding. This is especially true in a romantic relationship. Talking styles can also be effected by self-esteem. â€Å"It is desirable to have high self-esteem. However, some individuals have such a high opinion of their self-worth that they believe they are better, more deserving, or more special than others do. An inflated self-image or extremely high self-esteem can negatively affect your friendships, work relationships, and romantic relationships† (Sole, 2011, Sec 3. ). Nevertheless, it does not matter the talking style, the self-esteem can have an adverse effect on the understanding or what you want those around you to understand. This essay discussed factors of talking styles. It described the article â€Å"Shared Talking Styles Herald New and Lasting Romance† as well as discussing accuracy in a language style-matching program. Talking styles are very important aspect in the communication that we use in our lives. Talking styles change the way that our communication is understood.

Traditional Professional Identity Of Nursing Might Be Lost

Traditional Professional Identity Of Nursing Might Be Lost Nurse, a multitask angel, is always caring for the sick, public, patients and their families , helping with the management stuff and assisting other health care providers in order to provide holistic quality care through teamwork and caring service. This eventually brings to confusion and conflicting opinions as the professional identity of nursing become unclear and the blurring of boundaries are existing inadvertently. Barber (2002) commended that the traditional professional identity of nursing might be lost in the context of the expanded role by the nurse. The nurse tends to pass the traditional nursing role to others junior staff or healthcare assistants whenever they extended their scope of practice which usually done by doctors. As many others hospital setting, the problem in my working area are lack of doctors and the nurses appear to be the largest group in the health setting. The article( Star on line) (2010) reported that in Malaysia, the doctor and patient ratio is 1:940 in year 2009 and the nurse patient ratio is 1:645 in year 2009 and 1:375 in year 2010 as reported in The Star on line (2008). Thus, In the context of lacking of doctors, the nurses tend to takeover the expended role voluntarily as they are willing to learn and developing themselves. The expanded role usually performed by the staff in my ward is cannulation, this happened whenever the doctors are busy covering a few wards during night duty. No doubt it actually greatly increased their burdens, but they do have their key role in coordinating patients care and look after them from the organizational turbulence. Rushforth Mc Donald (2004) had done a survey on the expanded role of nurses on procedure such as IV admistration, Cannulation, ECG recording, Defibrillation and Prescibing, they found that on cannulation alone are performed by over 50% of the nurses in the respective area. The female medical ward which has 35 beds is a busy ward and one of the highest admission rate in the hospital, the turnover rate is high as the number of admissions. The bed occupancy rate was xxx% and a total number of xx patients were admitted in 2009. The average length of stay was xx days, the ward has divided into five cubicles and 2 isolation rooms for the patient either receive chemotherapy and cases of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamases ( ESBL). The total number of nurses in my unit are 27 and eight out of them are senior staff nurses. Most of the patient admitted is due to hypertension, diabetes mellitus and anemia and they need the cannulation for the continuation of injection antibiotic, maintenance of fluid to prevent dehydration and blood transfusion purposes. In this paper, I will discuss the crossing boundary in the context of cannulation being done by nurses. Although the senior staffs are given the authority by doctors in performing the cannulation to the patients, sometime they are facing the situation of the role uncertainty and decision making in expending their role. In the United Kingdom, the neonatal nurse are given the title of Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner after completed the course, they are able to perform the duty as the junior doctors competently and efficiently in handling the cases of the high risk infant as described by Dilon George ( 1997). The diabetes specialist nurse provide the need of the patient relating to diet control, self monitoring and treatment as illustrated by Loveman et al ( 2003). Similarly in Malaysia, the diabetes nurse who are educating the diabetes patients and neonatal nurse who are taking care of the newborn infant are not given the title such as nurse practitioner, advanced nurse practitioner and clinical specialist nurse. Those nurses are undergone specialized post basic training and most of them are quite senior but always been referred as neonatal nurse, diabetes nurse, stoma nurse, critical care nurse and so on. Nancarrow (2004) illustrated that increasing in the overlapping of the extended role is result from the growth of the interprofessional practice and training. It happened among nurses and others healthcare providers such as doctors, dietician, pharmacist and physiotherapist which has brings to the establishment of the new nursing roles. However, Cameron (2010) has found that the senior nurses felt empowered in expanding their role and appear to be more acceptable about flexible work and multi-skilling to improve continuity, efficiency and effectiveness of patient care compare to the junior staffs who felt more stressful in the expanded role. As a nurse, I think this is due to the complex situation because of time constrain, lacking resources available nor in the nursing curriculums or workplaces. I am working as a staff nurse in a medical ward and have 18 years of experience. From my experience, I noticed that the senior staff frequently making recommendations regarding patient care and they do influence decision making by providing related information about the patient. This is always happened spontaneously during the interaction in between the nurses and the doctors. In my practice setting, the ward are monopoly by doctors because of they are seen owing full professional status by having exclusive theoretical knowledge which enable them to control over nurses. However, the junior doctors are rotating every three month and they are relied on the senior nurses for guidance on the aspects of ward practice and the details of local protocols. For instance, in the treatment decision, they will seek for the nursing advice about drug dosages if they are unclear. Jones (2007) has described boundaries can be known as Interfaces, clear dividing margins between different ownerships areas or shared areas of contact . The blurring boundaries that commonly happened in my ward is cannulation which is supposed to be performed by doctor but it is done by the senior nurses in the ward. It frequently happened during night duty, usually there are only one specialist on call, one medical official and one junior doctor on call, one senior staff nurse with post basic and two junior staff nurses are on duty. The junior doctor is responsibilities to cover a few medical wards included acute medical ward which has a few ill and ventilated patients. The problem arise whenever the nurses facing difficulties in getting the junior doctors to come to the ward to set cannula resulting the burden has increase to ward staff. The nurse must undertake the cannulation themselves either in providing the continuity of circulatory antibiotic levels or to ensure the maintena nce of adequate fluid status for the patient. However, Tye and Ross (2000) has illustrate that an evaluation done by the key stakeholders within the organization indicates that the extended role of the nurses may culminate in uncertainty, individual variation and a perception of a blurring of role boundaries. Hoder and Schenthal (2007) described that professional boundaries are defined as limit-lines protection in between the nurse and the patient. The demand for professional boundaries has increasing drastically in nursing profession, resulting the limitation must be set to ensure a safe, therapeutic connection among the nurse-client relationship. An essential component of competent and ethical nursing care is required in providing better services and reducing underlying conflict. It is the responsibilities of the nurses to establish and sustain the professional relationship through the guidance of code of ethics and professional standards. Most of the nurses in my ward are facing with the challenges even though they are given the authority in setting the cannula, this is because they have to make difficult decisions and facing uncertainty whenever they are dealing with difficult situation. In minimizing the uncertainty, they are practicing a few routes to ensure the best services are delivered to the client. First, through the documentation of evidence based practice on client preference, the nurse must get the consent or agreement from the client before delivering the services to him/her. Besides that, the NNIA ( National Nursing International Audit) are implemented to ensure the current practice did not increase infection and insertion site phlebitis, the audit is carried out by the nursing team in my practice area every twice yearly. Secondly is the source through SOP( Standard Of Procedure) and protocol or guideline that is easily accessible for nurses as referral when need. The nurses are practicing the proper hand washing technique and performing the procedure under aseptic technique to avoid infection during performing the cannulation for client. From a professional perspective, the Code of Professional Conduct for nurses (1998) states that individual nurses have a responsibilities to keep up with advances in health practice and maintain their competence in nursing knowledge and skills. Aveyard and Sharp (2009) illustrate that by performing the latest evidence based practice is able to protect the healthcare provider from any legal proceedings. The third source is the intuitive knowledge that emerged from the past experience. Benner (1984) has described a nurse must passes through five stages that is from novice to expert. Although the contribution of knowledge has been acknowledge in clinical practice, most of the credibility is subjected to biasness. This is supported by Romyn et al (2003) said that credibility must base on knowledge that used to be critique and scrutinized. In order to perform the task of decision making, Dowding and Thompson (2003) stipulated the nurses must aware that the impact of decision making are influence on nursing outcome and patients experience. Simpson and Courtney (2002) emphasized that the nurses must be able to think critically to provide best care at the same time dealing with the expansion role especially in the current health care system as it appears to be more complex over the last few decades. As suggestion, Rushforth and McDonald (2004) recommended that a sense of balancing and safer policy is needed for the few senior nurses to expand their role without jeopardized to the nursing component. The nurses are fit to practice and accountable for the nursing care they provide. Oermann(2007) suggested that evidence based practice in nursing can be searched in the web sites. By using the available research evidence and clinical expertise, the nurses are able to focus on nursing knowledge in minimizing the role uncertainty and developing a culture of lifelong learning. A emergence training programme for cannulation and re-evaluation on regular interval is needed to ensure the standard is maintained accordingly. However, training alone is inadequate to bring a change in the behavior of the nurses to take on their expanded role in performing the advanced skills. The nurses perception and the support systems are some of the important factors to be address such as opportunity are provided on regular basis in maintaining ones competencies and support from supervisors to facilitate and guide the senior nurses in the overlapping role. Inevitably, there is far-reaching implication pending on how the nurses conduct themselves in their relationships. If the blurring boundaries always happened, the nurses will be confused as it bring into an ethical issue regarding their professional role. Barber (2002) suggested that all practitioners are responsible toward their action and have high awareness of legal implication of practice during performing their overlapping role. However, Molyneux (2001) described that contribution of care from multidiscipline for the same patient through collaboration, knowledge and skills. Caldwell and Atwal (2003) found that different ideologies, unequal power, overlapping role and communication are the difficulties exist within the interprofessional practice. Therefore, a clear flow and structured at several level is needed for the interprofessional team to facilitate and guide their practice effectively. As conclusion, no doubt the nursing blurring boundaries may against the professional rule, but it had bring benefit to patients especially during night time and the treatment are able to carry out on time. Nurses must understand the additional responsibility invariably probably may increase their burden. Therefore, by using evidence-based practice, critical thinking and updating knowledge in lifelong learning, the nurses are able to extend and cross the boundaries safely to meet clients needs.

Native American and The US government Essay -- essays papers

Native American and The US government The Iroquois Nation was a nation of five tribes, which was comprised of Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Onondagas. These tribes were originally separated, but later brought together by two Indians named Hiawatha and Deganawidah. Hiawatha seemed to be the spokesman while Deganawidah took on the role as a philosopher. These two men formed a nation where some of the ideas are still intact today. One aspect that made them so strong was the way in which they governed themselves. Women in their society were basically in charge, except for the Sachems who were representatives appointed by the heads of the Ohwachiras. When this federal assembly met, the Sachems voted as tribes instead as individuals. This in many ways can be compared to present day government electoral votes. Another aspect I found that created a strong unity was the arrangement of power, which was demonstrated in their seating arrangement. The Mohawks and Senecas sat on one side, while the Oneidas and Cayugas on the other. The two tribes were separated with the Onondagas sitting between them. This arrangement was a lot like present day’s balance of power in the three different branches of the Federal Government. The government of the Iroquois Nation has set themselves apart from almost all other Indians of North America and made it a powerful force in denouncing the Indians as being savages. Today’s Native American has adopted many of the ideas of the Iroquois Nation. Native American history is handed down amongst the tribes through spoken language and rituals. Native American religion is centered on the idea that every day items as well as the nature surrounding them can possess spirit. Euro-Christian’s views are more anonymous as to religion and more scientific concerning their history. Native American’s view of history contains many inconclusive facts when looked at from a European point of view. When you consider their lack of a written language, there are many instances where they do name specific places from which they originate. Unlike the Euro-Christians, these places the Native American’s speak of can be found today. In contrast, Euro-Christian religion/history speaks of the Garden of Eden, but with no specific location as to where the garden can be found. Native American history is interwoven with... ...for what they needed to exist, not to turn a profit and destroy nature (the wilderness). Native Americans thought of gifts as symbolic gestures of friendship and peace at first. They would look at all trade as an exchange of gifts. They would have feasts after trades with the French, for instance to bolster the moral and finalize a deal. Even when the stakes were high and the Europeans knew that it was a gift and not a trade, the natives thought it to be a gift. When the Europeans traded gifts to the Natives for land, the Natives assumed they were trading a gift for the use of land, not knowing that land can be owned. Land was a sacred thing to the Natives and I doubt they would have traded any of it, if they knew the implications of these gifts they were receiving (in trade). The Europeans on the other hand knew that the natives didn’t know what some of these trades meant. A few Europeans tried to explain it to the natives, but to no avail. The Natives didn’t understand to the Europeans delight. They used this against the Natives who couldn’t have known the value of what they were giving up. The Europeans were at fault by knowing these trades to be absurd and unfair.

Ethnic Minorities in America Essay -- Ethnicity Hearing Impaired Paper

Ethnic Minorities in America In the United States the term "minority" often infers membership within an ethnic or cultural minority group. However, this term also encompasses other groups that lack equality, such as women, homosexuals and people with disabilities. By definition, the hearing majority classifies Deaf people as minorities because of their inability to hear. Yet linguists and social scientists argue that the basis of Deaf people's status as a minority group is not one of disability, but as a cultural and linguistic minority (Lane, Hoffmeister and Bahan: 1996: 335-6). In order to assert that Deaf people are a linguistic and cultural minority in America the characteristics of a minority group must first be defined. According to Schaeffer, members of a minority group share the following five characteristics: Members of a minority group experience unequal treatment and have less power over their lives than members of a dominant group. Members of a minority group share physical and cultural characteristics that distinguish them such as skin color or language. Each society has its own arbitrary standard for determining which characteristics are most important in defining dominant and minority groups. Membership in a dominant or majority group is often involuntary Minority group members have a strong sense of group solidarity. Members of a minority group generally marry others from the same group. (Schaffer, 1998: 6) Furthermore, ethnic minorities have other characteristics that set them apart from the majority such as language, national origin and cultural differences. (Schaffer, 1998: 7) Audism is defined as an attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyon... ...ick. The World According to Pat: Reflections of Residential School Days ASLRTC Video Proceedings, TJ Publishers, Silver Spring, MD. Humphrey, Jan and Alcorn, Bob (1995). So You Want To Be An Interpreter: An Introduction to Sign Language Interpreting (2nd Edition) H&H Publishers, Amarillo, TX. Lane, Harlan; Hoffmeister, Rob and Bahan, Ben (1996). A Journey Into the Deaf-World Dawn Sign Press, San Diego, CA. Padden, Carol and Humphries, Tom (1988). Deaf In America: Voices From a Culture Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Schaeffer, Richard T. (1998). Racial and Ethnic Groups (7th Edition) Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. Shelly, Suan and Schneck, Jim (1998). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Sign Language Alpha Books, New York, NY. Wilcox, Sherman (ed) (1989). American Deaf Culture Linstok Press, Burtonsville, MD.

The Problem of Poverty: Welfare in America Essays -- Poverty Essays

The Problem of Poverty: Welfare in America For centuries, nations, cities, and individual families have dealt with the problem of poverty; how to remedy current situations and how to prevent future ones. For most of history, there have been no government controlled poverty assistance programs. The poor simply relied on the goodness of their families or, if they did not have a family, on the generosity of the public at large. In the United States, this situation changed in 1935 with the passage of the Social Security Act. The Social Security Act has seen many successes, but it also faces many critiques of its structure and function. In the past, most governments did little to actively aid their poor population. This duty was understood to fall on the families of the poor individuals, charity groups, and generous individuals. Some governments aided their needy in indirect ways. One of the first government-mediated assistance programs was passed by the English Parliament in 1601 as the Act for the Relief of the Poor. This act s et up local 'parishes' that were responsible for taking care of the poor in their own district. However, the government provided no funds to facilitate this program?the parishes were responsible for levying and collecting taxes to finance their programs. Though it would be considered a very primitive form of welfare by today?s standards, it was a large step toward government-mediated welfare compared to the English system 250 years before that. In 1349, Parliament forbade charity on the grounds that it might encourage laziness. Since then, public attitudes have changed about the responsibility of the citizens and the government to provide for the assistance of the needy. Limited federal assistance was given to war veterans and their families beginning during the Civil War, but large scale assistance to the general needy community was not available for almost 75 more years (Komisar 48). A large contribution toward the assistance of the poor in the United States came during the Progre ssive movement around the turn of the century. Activist groups championed not only workers rights in the form of unions, but also the right of every citizen to have access to decent living conditions (Komisar 67). The Progressive movement slackened during the prosperous ?20s, but the social welfare issue was forcefully placed back into the public con... ...banks could meet the needs of the increased number of people who seek their services. Although it is probably impossible to achieve complete freedom from poverty, society need not sit idly by in the face of such a monumental challenge. Indeed, it is the public duty of each individual to aid in the improvement of the lives of poor persons around the nation and around the world. Large-scale, complex systems such as the one now in place in America, only serve to create an inefficient, costly effort that could be achieved with less manpower and fewer dollars. Government oversight and subsidizing of private contributions toward the elimination of poverty is a far more efficient, adaptive, and economical way of working toward the eradication of the problem of poverty. Bibliography Garfinkel, Irwin. ?Welfare?, World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc., New York, Vol 21, pp. 191-193, Â ©1988. Komisar, Lucy. Down and Out in the USA: A History of Public Welfare. Rev. ed. Watts, Chicago, Â ©1977. Patterson, James. America?s Struggle Against Poverty, 1900-1980., Harvard Press, Boston, Â ©1981. Segalman, Ralph. Poverty in America: The Welfare Dilemma, Greenwood, Los Angeles, Â ©1981

Financial Ratios and Stock Return: Evidence on selected Plantation Companies in Malaysia Essay

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK (UNIMAS) SEMESTER 2 2012/2013 FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS (FEB) EBF 3183 FINANCE SEMINAR (Group ASSIGNMENT) Financial Ratios and Stock Return: Evidence on selected Plantation Companies in Malaysia NAME:VICTORIA AK JUTI 28578 VENOSHNI A/P MANOGARAN 28577 PHUA WEE WEE 27952 TEOH CHIEN NI 28513 LING LING26752 GROUP:1 PROGRAMME:FINANCE Financial Ratio and Stock Return: Evidence on selected Plantation Companies in Malaysia Abstract This paper is to investigate the predictive ability of several financial ratios for stock return in Malaysia specifically in plantation industry. 23 listed plantation companies were analysed for the period from 2008 to 2012. Four of the common financial ratios were take into consideration in this study. These financial ratios include dividend yield (DY), book to market ratio (B/M), earning per share (EPS), and firm size. Pool ordinary least squares regression (OLS) method is adopted to estimate the predictive regression. The descriptive statistics indicate that there is a negative relationship between the dependent variable and the two independent variables include B/M and EPS. In contrast, the firm size and DY is positive correlated with the stock return. In addition, the empirical results indicate that dividend yield is the best predictor on stock return in the context of Malaysia’s plantation sector. Section 1 Introduction Introduction Research on predicting stock returns using various variables such as inflation, accuracy of disclosure of public information, discount rates are widely discussed in past studies. Return is something that investor expects to receive on their original investment in the future. Alternatively, financial ratios have provided investors another method in predicting the stock return. Previously, financial ratios are used to evaluate performance of a company. So far, numerous studies on stock return and financial ratios have conducted based on different sectors over the countries. However, the research on plantation sector is limited. Therefore, our main focus of this research is to determine the connection between financial ratio and stock return in the Malaysia stock market especially in the plantation industry. The reason plantation sector is chosen as our focus in this research is due to the growing of global demand in plantation. Presently, plantation is one of the major contributors in the economy of Malaysia amongst the sectors. In Malaysia, oil palm industry is currently the second largest export revenue earner for Malaysia after the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector. Meanwhile, Malaysia is also known as the world’s top exporter of palm oil which exported to several countries such as China, India, the European Union (EU) and Pakistan. Essentially, plantation sector is expected to rise in the future. In this study, we examine how the stock return can be predicted by using the financial ratio. 23 of plantation listing firms in Bursa Malaysia are selected as our research data. Meanwhile, the period we take into consideration is over the period from 2008 to 2012. The purpose of this research is to determine the predictability of financial ratio to the stock returns specifically in the plantation sector. By this research, we intend to provide an analysis of forecasting stock return using financial ratio. Financial ratios that commonly used to forecast the stock return are the dividend yield (DY), book to market ratio (B/M), and firm size. However, we extend the study by adding another financial ratio in predicting the stock return which is the earning per share. The empirical findings of this study indicate that financial ratios do have the predicting power on stock return in Malaysia’s plantation industry. Meanwhile, the results also show that firm size has the strongest forecasting power amongst the four variables. Therefore, we can conclude that our findings are somehow in line with past studies conducted by Fama and French (1988) which revealed that dividend yield was a good forecasting tool in predicting stock return in China, Canada and U.S stock market. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In section 2, we discussed the previous studies and provide a review of existing literature regarding on predictive ability of financial ratios for stock return. Data and methodology for constructing stock return predictors is discussed in the third section. Section four reveals the empirical findings and lastly followed by conclusion. Objective of study Main: To predict stock return using financial ratios General: To reveal more information regarding financial ratio acts as the predictor of stock return. To investigate how significant is the selected variables in forecasting the stock return. To determine which independent variables has greater predictive power. Significance of study Investing in stock market is risky. Therefore, a predicting tool is important for a wise investor to estimate the appropriate return of an investment. This research is significance in revealing the use of financial ratio as a forecasting tool of stock return. Previously, studies on the determinant of stock return are widely discussed by many of the researchers from all over the world. This study also tends to test whether our empirical results are parallel with previous research. Financial ratio is one of the most common tools that act as a financial analysis to compare the performance between companies or between industries. Currently, financial ratio analysis is not only can be used to evaluate the performance of company but also a predictor tool of the stock return. Financial ratio is computed through the items presented in financial statement of the company. For instance, financial ratio can be divided into several categories such as market debt ratio, liquidity ratio, profitability ratio, investment ratio and others. In addition, this study also acts as guidance and reference for further  research on similar topic. By referring this study, interested investor and researcher can apply different indicator, and other relevant factors to do further research. Theoretical Framework Section 2 Literature Review In this section is described the results of some of the most important researches which conducted in the context of financial ratios and the stock return. The financial ratios as empirical predictors of stock returns in the selected 23 plantations companies listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange during the period 2008 to 2012. For this research, we used stock price as a dependent variable while dividend yields, book market, earning per share and asset size as independent variables. Stock returns, dividend yield (DY), asset size, earning yield (EY) and book-to-market ratio (B/M) have a strong theoretical background based on the predictive models. Some of the studies such as Fama and French (1988), Stattman (1980), Kothari and Shanken (1997) has done research on predictive variables, including, dividend yield, book to market, earning per share and asset size forecast stock return. Hodrick (1992), Fama and French (1988) has been study that DY has the predictive power on stock returns, a s the relationship between DY and return are developed by the appealing patterns. Moreover, DY track variation in return and can predict future return in 36 international markets. To illustrate the predictive power of DY, they introduced an explosive new test to improve the predictive ability of financial ratios especially DY during 55 years. Therefore, DY is regarded as a good predictor of stock returns in China, Canada and U.S stock market. Consequently, the DY as a strong predictor can contribute to stock return predictability. Banze (1981) and Reinganum (1981) found out that relationship between sizes (market value) has a significant effect on stock return. Smaller companies have more return than bigger companies. It is because first, intentional or unintentional errors are less likely to happen because of installing strong internal controlling systems in big companies, consequently audits can rely more on the company internal controlling systems and decrease increasingly the amount of content test. Second, big companies can recruit more accountants with more expertise and  higher education, and more advanced informational systems. According to study done by Fama and French (1988), they presented a firm background for the relationship between market size and stock return. Fama and French using Running single and mul tiple tests, they found a positive relationship between markets size and stock return. In fact, they doubt on beta sensitivity in capital assets pricing model, and generally stock return. Stattman (1980) has done study on indicated the positive relationship between return and the book-to-market ratio (B/M). Considerable evidence they suggested that BM ratios are related to future returns, and denoted the predictive power of B/M ratio on stock returns caused by the relationship between book value and future earnings, and provided evidence that the B/M ratios predict negative expected returns and track variation in return. The results of recent survey confirmed previous results that the BM ratio is positively related to stock returns. According to Hakkio and Rush (1991) have study on the relationship between stock return and earnings per share. They found that the subdivision do not improve the test power. Besides, there exists a non-stationary problem for stock prices and EPS, the non-stationary may lead to the problem of spurious regression for previous studies. Auret and Sinclaire (2006) has been studied the relationship between the ratio of book value to market value (BTM) and stock return in the years 1990 to 2000 in the companies listed in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). In this study is used from the ratio of book value to market value (BTM), price to Earnings (P/E), dividend yield (DY), and firm size as independent and control variables. The results indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between the ratio of book value to market value and stock return. But there is no significant relationship between the ratio of price to earnings and stock returns. According to Kheradyar, Ibrahim and Mat (2011) has been study on investigated the role of financial ratios as empirical predictors of stock returns in the 100 companies listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange during the period 2000 to 2009. In their study is used from the variables of dividend yield (DY), earnings yield (EY) and Book-to-market ratio (BTM) as financial ratios to predict stock returns. To estimate the regression model used from panel data and generalized least squares (GLS) methods. Research findings indicate that there is a significant and positive relationship between financial ratios  and stock return of next year. Also, the results showed that the ratio of book value to market value is superior against dividend yield and earning s yield in explaining stock return of next year. Lau, Lee and Mclnish (2002) has been study on the relationship between stock returns and systematic risk with firm size, the ratio of book value to market value of equity, price to earnings ratio, the ratio of cash flow to price and sale growth in both Malaysia and Singapore. Their studied sample is 82 companies listed in the Singapore Stock Exchange and 163 companies listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange during the period 1988-1996. Results for Singaporean companies are indicating that there is no significant relationship between the ratio of book value to market value (BTM) and earnings to price ratio (E/P) with stock returns. The results for Malaysian companies show that there is significant and positive relationship between the ratio of earnings to price (E/P) and stock returns. But the relationship between the ratio of book value to market value (BTM) and stock returns is not significant. Kothari and Shanken (1997) has been study on the relationship between the ratio of book value to market value and dividend yield with the expected market return. Results have shown that there is a significant and positive relationship between the ratio of book value to market value (BTM) and the dividend yield with market returns of future year. Also, the results indicate the superiority of book value to market value ratio against dividend yield in explaining future market returns. According to study done by Fama and French (1988), Hodrick (1992) and Stambaugh (1999) have shown that the variables of earnings to price ratio, the ratio of dividends to the price and short-term interest rates can better predict stock returns. As a conclusion, financial theories lay great emphasis on the role of risk in stock returns so the relationship between stock returns and financial ratios is because the ratios captured information about the risk. Therefore, these three financial ratios are supported by financial theoretical basis. Section 3 Data and Methodology Data Collection Methods The data collected are mainly from secondary data. The secondary data that used in this paper are included the closing price, dividend yield, book to market, earning per share and asset size of each plantation company from  year 2008 to 2012. These closing prices will be collected from yahoo finance but for the dividend yield, book to market, earning per share and asset size will be collected from data stream. Target Population The secondary data will be used in this paper to test whether dividend yield, book to market, earning per share and asset size forecast stock return or not. Therefore, the 23 stocks listed on Bursa Malaysia will be obtained. They are included: 1ï ¼Å½ UNITED MALACCA 2ï ¼Å½ NPC RESOURCES 3ï ¼Å½ KWANTAS 4ï ¼Å½ SARAWAK OIL PALMS 5ï ¼Å½ TH PLANTATIONS 6ï ¼Å½ TSH RESOURCES 7ï ¼Å½ CEPATWAWASAN GROU 8ï ¼Å½ CHIN TECK PLANTATIONS 9ï ¼Å½ KIM LOONG RESOURCES 10ï ¼Å½ FAR EAST HOLDINGS 11ï ¼Å½ KLUANG RUBBER 12ï ¼Å½ NEGRI SEMBILAN OIL PALMS 13ï ¼Å½ SUNGEI BAGAN RUBBER 14ï ¼Å½ UNICO-DESA PLANTATIONS 15ï ¼Å½ GOLDEN LAND 16ï ¼Å½ RIVERVIEW RUBBER ESTS. 17ï ¼Å½ UNITED PLANTATIONS 18ï ¼Å½ TRADEWINDS PLANTATION 19ï ¼Å½ MHC PLANTATIONS 20ï ¼Å½ IJM PLANTATIONS 21ï ¼Å½ HAP SENG PLTNS.HDG 22ï ¼Å½ CHIN TECK PLANTATIONS 23ï ¼Å½ GENTING PLANTATIONS Data Analysis The collected data were analyzed by using Microsoft Excel and Eview. Microsoft Excel will be used to calculate the stock returns for each stock for a period of around 5 years which are the year from 2008 to 2012. Besides, pool ordinary least squares regression, descriptive statistic, correlation and Hausman test from Eview will be used to run the result of our research. Dependent variable a. Stock return The total stock return can be gain through the appreciation in the price plus any dividends paid and then divided by the original price of the stock. The dividends can include any of the income sources from a stock. Commonly, it is increase in value. Thus, the first portion of the numerator of the total stock return formula is looks at how much the value has increased (P1 – P0). Then, it needs to remind that the denominator of the formula which is use to calculate a stock’s total return is considered as the original price of the stock which is used due to being the original amount invested. Total stock return calculated as follow: Total stock return = where = Ending stock price (period 1) = Initial stock price D = Dividends Independent variable b. Dividend yield Usually, a financial ratio can be used to show how much a company pays out in dividends each year which is relative to its share price. Therefore, it can be said that the dividend yield is the return on investment for a stock in the absence of any capital gains. Dividend yield is calculated as follows: Dividend yield = Annual dividends per share / Price per share c. Book to market Sometimes, we also use a financial ratio to find the value of a company. It can be found by comparing the book value of a firm to its market value. Book  value can be calculated by looking at the firm’s historical cost or accounting value. On the other hand, market value is determined in the stock market through its market capitalization. Book value is calculated as follows: Book to market = Book value of firm / Market value of firm d. Earnings per share The earnings per share (EPS) can be defined as the portion of a company’s earnings, net of taxes and preferred stock dividends. Usually, all of them are allocated to each share of common stock. EPS is calculated as follows: EPS = Net earnings / Outstanding shares e. Asset size Asset size is defined as the total of the current assets and the non-current assets which is holding by a company. Asset size is calculated as follows: Asset size = total asset Pool OLS regression Stock return = + (dividend yield) + (book to market) + (earning per share) + (asset size) + Pool OLS is to measure whether there is positive or negative relationship between dependent variable (stock return) and independent variable (dividend yield, book to market, earning per share and asset size). R-squared is the total variation dependent Y is explained by the total variation of independent X. F-statistic is to test whether the overall goodness of fit is good or not. The significant level is set at 1%, 5% or 10%. Descriptive Statistic Descriptive statistic is to provide simple summarizes about the sample and the observation that have been made like mean and median. Correlation The correlation is called the correlation coefficient (or â€Å"r†). It ranges from -1.0 to +1.0. If r is close to 0, it means there is no relationship between the variables. If r is positive, it means that as one variable gets larger the other gets larger. If r is negative it means that as one gets larger, the other gets smaller (often called an â€Å"inverse† correlation). Hausman test Hausman test is usually applied to test for fixed versus random effects models. Ho: Cov (ÃŽ »i, xit) = 0 (Random Effect) H1: Cov (ÃŽ »i, xit) ≠  0 (Fixed Effect) If the p-value is lower than 0.01, we reject Ho. This indicated that the fixed effects model is preferred. If p-value greater than 0.01. We do not reject Ho. This means that the random effect is preferred. Random effect model is to utilize in meta-analysis. It is using both study sampling error and variances. The variations between studies are included in the assessment of the uncertainty or confidence interval of the results of a meta-analysis. In addition, random effects model is apply when there is no correlation between the regresses and the individual effects. On the other hand, fixed effect model stipulates the units under analysis such as people in a trial or study in a meta-analysis are the ones of interest. Thus, this model constitutes the entire population of units. The variation between the estimates of effect from each study name as heterogeneity. It does not affect the confidence interval. Besides, this model is applied when there is allow for arbitrary correlation between the regresses and the individual effects. Section 4 Data and Empirical Results Research Findings: Descriptive statistics Variables N Mean Maximum Minimum Standard Deviation Stock Return 115 0.069304 1.170000 -0.600000 0.308345 Dividend yield 115 3.356435 10.31000 0.370000 2.220661 Earnings per share 115 0.345304 1.800000 0.040000 0.300544 Book to market value 115 1.193478 2.950000 0.340000 0.542936 Firm Assets 115 13.64433 15.36144 12.01738 0.816106 From the table above, on average or the mean stock return level for firms is 0.07% with a maximum value of 1.17% from 2008 to 2012. As we can see, average dividend yield for the plantation firms in Malaysia is the highest which mean 3.36% return of plantation firms in Malaysia are generated by dividend yield. Looking for the earnings per share, it shows low earnings  per common share. On average Malaysian plantation firms only make earnings about 0.04% and the highest is 1.8%. This amount of earnings per share is very low compared to the dividend yield. Average book to market value is 1.19% with a maximum value of 2.95%. Firm asset is one of the most important bank specific variables that will affect stock return. Total assets value for Malaysian plantation firms ranges from 12.02% to 15.36%. The range is big and this may due to the sample firms having operated for different lengths of time. Correlation SR DY EPS LSIZE MVB SR 1.000000 DY 0.188256 1.000000 EPS -0.048140 0.084159 1.000000 LSIZE 0.055228 -0.150209 0.239308 1.000000 MVB -0.313238 -0.014558 0.383026 0.509393 1.000000 The stock returns for two variable that is earning per share and market to book value are moving in totally opposite direction linearly. These are because the correlation between stock return and earning per share and also the correlation between stock return and market to book value are negative relationships which are -0.05 and -0.3. On the other hand, the correlation between stock return and total asset and also the correlation between stock return and dividend yield are positively correlated which are 0.05 and 0.19. As a conclusion, based on the result above the dividend yield recorded the strongest correlated to stock return. Pooled Ordinary Least Square Dependent Variable: Stock Return Variables Coefficient Std.Error t-Statistic Probability C -1.424024 0.492529 -2.891247 0.0046 DY 0.031544 0.011973 2.634631 0.0096 EPS 0.044259 0.094578 0.467969 0.6407 LSIZE 0.125167 0.037734 3.317073 0.0012 MVB -0.281240 0.058763 -4.786012 0.0000 R-squared 0.214105 Adjusted R-squared 0.185527 F-statistic 7.491945 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000022 SR= -1.4240 + 0.0315 DY + 0.0443 EPS + 0.1252 LSIZE – 0.2812 MVB where SR = Stock Return DY = Dividend Yield EPS = Earnings Per Share LSIZE =Log Firm Size MVB = Book to Market Value The intercept value of -1.4240 means that if the all independent variable are zero, the stock returns will expected to be -1.4240. the R-squared is 0.2141 means that about 21.4% of the total variation dependent Y is explained by the total variation of independent X. the F-statistic is 0.000022 means that  this regression model is statistically significant at 5% level of significant. Therefore, the overall goodness of fit is good. From this regression, dividend yield and firm size showed positive relationship to stock return as shown by the positive coefficient. Both variables of p-value are significant at 1% of significant level. There is negative relationship between book to market value as shown by negative coefficients and the p-value is significant at 1% of significant level. The relationship between stock return and earning per share is negative and the p-value is not significant at 10% of significant level. Fixed effect model Dependent Variable: Stock return Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Probability C -4.296162 2.324473 -1.848231 0.0679 DY 0.040577 0.020388 1.990207 0.0497 EPS -0.153195 0.222027 -0.689983 0.4920 LSIZE 0.361256 0.168448 2.144618 0.0347 MVB -0.542055 0.096166 -5.636630 0.0000 The table shows the dividend yield, earning per share, firm size and book to market value. The dividend yield, size and book to market value were found be significant, the p-value are 0.0497, 0.0347 and 0.0000 respectively which are significant at 5% of significant level. The earnings per share was found not be significant, since p-value is 0.4920 which is greater than 0.05. Thus, dividend yield, size and book to market value were impact on the stock return of Malaysian plantation sector. Random effect model Dependent Variable: Stock return Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Probability C -1.424024 0.450854 -3.158502 0.0020 DY 0.031544 0.010960 2.878165 0.0048 EPS 0.044259 0.086575 0.511226 0.6102 LSIZE 0.125167 0.034541 3.623689 0.0004 MVB -0.281240 0.053791 -5.228410 0.0000 The table shows the dividend yield, earning per share, firm size and book to market value. The dividend yield, firm size and book to market value were found be significant, the p-value are 0.0048, 0.0004 and 0.0000 respectively which are significant at 5% of significant level. The earnings per share was found not be significant, since p-value is 0.6102 which is greater than 0.05. Hausman test Test Summary Chi-Sq. Statistic Chi-Sq. d.f. Prob. Cross-section random 35.021193 4 0.0000 Hausman test is used to test hypotheses in terms of bias or inconsistency of an estimator. For this specification test, H0 and H1 are: H0: Cov(ÃŽ » , x ) = 0 H1: Cov(ÃŽ » , x ) ≠  0 The result of Hausman Test illustrated the p-value is 0.0000 which is smaller than 0.01. Therefore, it is statistically significant at 1% of significant level. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and concludes that the fixed effect is preferred. Section 5 Summary and Conclusion The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictive ability of the selected financial ratios on stock return in Malaysia specifically in plantation sector over the period from 2008 to 2012. Among the financial ratios, three commonly used financial ratios are included which is the dividend yield, firm size, earning per share (EPS) and book to market ratio. As a result, this study has provided evidence that financial ratios played a significant role in predicting stock return. In addition, the empirical findings also revealed that dividend yield, book to market ratio and firm size have significant relationship on stock return of Malaysia plantation sector among the financial ratios. However, the research finding indicate that the dividend yield has the strongest forecasting ability on stock return and it is in line with the past studies by Fama and French (1988) who found out that there is a strong predictive power of dividend yield on stock return. In summary, this study might not applicable to other region or other industry. Nevertheless, it has provided better information regarding the forecasting power of financial ratio on stock return. Therefore, effort shall be made to explore for further research in order to improve on previous work. References: Abgineh, M. (2013). The Investigation of the Relation between Changes in Financial Ratios with Changes in Stock Returns on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 3(2), 473-479. Aono, K., & Iwaisako, T. (2010). Forecasting Japanese Stock Returns with Financial Ratios and Other Variables. Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, 18, 373–384. Auret. C.J., & Sinclaire R.A. (2006). Book-to-market ratio and returns on the JSE.Investment Analysts Journal, 19, 31-38. Banze, R. (1981). The relationship between return and market value of common stocks. Journal of Financial Economics , 9, 3-18. Emamgholipour, M., Pouraghajan, A., Yadollahzadeh, T., Haghparast, M., & Shirsavar, A. (2013). The Effects of Performance Evaluation Market Ratios on the Stock Return: Evidence from the Tehran Stock Exchange. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, 4 (3), 696-703. Fama, E. F., & French, K. (1988). Dividend yields and expected stock return. Journal of Financial Economics, 22, 3-25. Hodrick, R. (1992). Dividend yields and expected stock returns: alternative procedures for inference and measurement. Review of Financial Studies, 5, 357-386. Hakkio, C. & Rush, M. (1991), Cointegration: how short is the long run?, Journal of International Money and Finance, 10, 571-581. Kheradyar, S., Ibrahim, I., & Mat, N. F. (2011). Stock Return Predictability with Financial Ratios. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 2 (5), 391-396. Kothari, S. P., & Shanken, J. (1997). Book-to-market, dividend yield, and expected market returns: a time series analysis. Journal of Financial Economics, 44, 169–203. Lau, S.T., Lee, T.C. & McInish, T. H. (2002).Stock Returns and Beta, Firms Size, E/P, CF/P, Book to Market, and Sales Growth: Evidence from Singapore and Malaysia. Journal of Multinational Financial Management, 12, 207-222. Lewellen, J. (2002). Predicting Returns with Financial Ratios. MIT Sloan School of Management. Working Paper 4374-02. Lewellen, J. (2004). Predicting Returns with Financial Ratios. Journal of Financial Economics, 74, 209–235. McManus, P.A. (2011). Introduction to regression models for panel data analysis. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~wim/docs/10_7_2011_slides.pdf Reinganum, M.R. (1981). Misspecification of Capital Asset Pricing: Empirical Anomalies based on earning yield and market values. Journal of Financial Economics, 9(1), 19-46. SAS Institute Inc. (2013). The model produce. Hausman specification test. Retrieved from http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/etsug/63348/HTML/default/viewer.htm#etsug_model_sect050.htm. Stambaugh, R. (1999). Predictive regressions. Journal of Financial Economics 54, 375–421. Stattman D. (1980). Book values and stock returns. The Chicago MBA: A Journal of Selected Papers, 4:25-45.

Book Report: “Deaf Again” by Mark Drolsbaugh Essay

Deaf Again is the story of Mark Drolsbaugh, and was written to show the world a deaf perspective, of how they live, struggle on a daily basis. Deaf Again is about Mark Drolsbaugh journey from being born hearing, to becoming hard of hearing during the first grade, and the difficulties of being forced into the mainstream and not knowing of the joys of the deaf community and deaf culture until he is in his twenties. Mark starts his story by talking about his mother’s natural birth. He was born in Pennsylvania to his deaf parents Don and Sherry Drolsbaugh. Mark was born able to hear and learned to talk and know a little how to sign because of his parents. This all changed when he was in first grade. Mark began to experience significant hearing loss. His grandparents were informed and Mark was taken to different doctors, audiologists, and speech pathologists to try to fix his deafness. Since Mark was not completely deaf, his grandparents held on tightly to what hearing and speech their grandson had left and to find ways to improve it. All the negativity that Mark dealt with towards being deaf, made him also feel negative towards his deafness. His Grandparents believed the way to improve Mark’s hearing was for him to keep attending school with children who could hear, because if he were to go to a school that would sign and help him accept his deafness it would â€Å"ruin† Mark ’s chance at being able to be â€Å"fixed†. School was difficult for Mark because his classrooms contained more than twenty students and the information he had to learn would only go over his head. Mark would wear hearing aids, and because of this he was also ridiculed and made fun, because he was different. Mark would get into fights and have report cards saying that his behavior could be improved. Mark’s grandparents made a smart move and had Mark transfer to Plymouth Meeting Friends School, PMFS for short. It was a small school with two teachers and eight kids to each classroom. Mark began the third grade at PMFS with welcoming children, making him feel comfortable. Mark not only would have a challenge with his deafness, but religion as well. Mark’s family was Jewish and would have problems when celebrations would come around. To relieve stress from school and his family, Mark would play baseball with the children in his  neighborhood. The problem was not playing baseball, it was his friend Sekou. Sekou was African American; during this era there was extreme racial discrimination. Sekou’s family was proud of their culture, while Mark wished his family had some pride with Mark being deaf. When it was time for Mark to shift to high school, his grandparent had him attend Germantown Friends School. Germantown Friends School was one of the best schools in Philadelphia, but the problem was that the school was much larger and the curriculum was known to be tough. Mark persevered and began attending the high school even though he would be the first student who was deaf at that school. At first the transition was very difficult because of Mark not knowing what was going on in the classroom and for a long time he was unable to catch up until he had an interpreter named Emily come to help. Despite his difficulties connecting to other students, Mark made many friends from joining the baseball team at GFS. Unfortunately, throughout his high school years Mark still felt inferior trying to fit into the hearing world. Mark knew he needed help and depended on his friends when they would go to parties he needed his friends to explain what was going on and as more people joined the conversation it became clear to Mark that it was pointless to ask â€Å"what did they say† etc. there were too many people for him to keep up with. He knew he didn’t belong and even though he tried, he knew people would always view him as different. Soon Mark graduated and he struggled with what he was going to do for the next chapter of his life. He took a job working at a supermarket and was satisfied with just that until a woman named Linda Baine offered him a position at PSD as a dorm supervisor. Working at PSD, Mark began to learn about deaf culture and the deaf community. With the shutting down of the dorms because of the small amount of students living in them, Mark was out of a job. Linda had encouraged him to attend Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf. Soon Mark transferred from Temple University to Gallaudet and moved to the university’s location, Washington D.C. Mark had never really had many friends who were deaf or was a part of deaf culture, but at Gallaudet, all that changed when he met fellow students who were just like him. He learned that he no longer had to try to fit in with the hearing world; he had finally found people who he could communicate fully and have meaningful conversations with people who saw him as their equal. At Gallaudet, Mark  also learned leadership skills and he learned to have the courage to speak up for himself. In hearing schools, Mark was unable to provide any input or offer discussion when it came to group projects because of the language barrier. But now since all his peers know sign language, he is able to express his opinion and lead when it came to schoolwork. It was there where Mark met his future wife, Melanie McPhee. Mark and Melanie would later get married and then graduate and both were successful in obtaining jobs within their community. Mark and Melanie have three kids together that are all hearing. Their children learned ASL as well as spoken language and are thus bilingual. Mark had a main argument throughout the book that he would bring up a lot; to teach deaf children ASL at a very early age. Instead of trying to force deaf children to speak spoken language, to teach them ASL because it is at these early years in a child’s life that language development be implemented in order for the child to not fall behind in school. The problem most parents are doing is not teaching their deaf children any language so when they enter school, they are far behind. Parent who do this are actually causing harm to the children cause now they believe they are not good enough and will live their life less than what they are. I agree with Mark because language is very important because in our society, we are constantly communicating and if a child does not learn this, they suffer greatly mentally and emotionally. Most professionals (and hearing parents of deaf children) see deafness as a disability, something that needs to be cured or fixed. When children see this attitude that their parents are against signing, the child picks that up and feels the same way that it is wrong to be deaf it is wrong to sign, and their self-esteem suffers. The other problem is that most deaf children that are born into hearing families don’t become a part of deaf culture and the deaf community. Mark never felt like he belonged in the hearing world but when he discovered the deaf community and deaf culture, he found the place where he belonged, with people who understood him. It’s important for children and adolescents to have a sense of belonging and that can only be found in the deaf community. A prime example of how the deaf community helps people who are deaf is Mark; his book is evidence that the deaf community helps the deaf find belonging in their community. As Mark Drolsbaugh puts it, the number one challenge was I-S-O-L-A-T-I-O-N. This is his story and how he overcame the obstacles and  became the deaf man he was born to be.

Living In A Multicultural Society Essay

Today it is not unusual to see people of all different races, ethnic backgrounds or cultural groups living in one society. Our society is formed of a mix of different people and sometimes it is not easy to define ones self. Since we live in a society that is influenced by many social aspects expressing ones personal identity may be a hard task. Aspects of society that make it hard to identify ones self include a persons sexual orientation, their ethnicity and their lifestyles. In society there are many labels that are put on people because of their sexual orientation. For years people have been taught that the correct way to live is to be in a heterosexual marriage. Andrew Sullivan states in his article What Are Homosexuals For? that â€Å"Heterosexual marriage is perceived as the primary emotional goal for your peers; and yet you know this cannot be your fate† (Sullivan 351). By stating this Sullivan makes it apparent that being a homosexual presents a challenge for the individual because he or she is considered different then others because of his or her sexual orientation. Sullivan also inquires the idea that without homosexuals in today’s society there are some things that would never be made sense of or even acknowledge. Sexual orentation may not be accepted by many in society, but it is a growing idea that people are becoming more adapt to because it is being exposed more and more in society. Another problematic area to identifying ones self is their ethnicity. Society sometimes does not make it easy to express yourself if you are not white. What I mean by this is that sometimes because you’re of a different race other then white like Spanish or African-American there may be disadvantages for you in society. For instance, I have a friend named Pedro and because Spanish is the only language he knows fluently before taking regular English courses in college he must first take and pass English as a second language. Language barriers are a part of everyday life for minorities. Not only does this mean that they will have to learn our English language it also means that they must find a way to hold on to their personal cultural backgrounds. A persons lifestyle can influence their role in society not only does it define who they are but it may present obstacles when trying to be accepted  in society. Zora Hurston lived in an all black society and was conditioned to their way of life and knew no other. Hurston states, â€Å"White people differed from colored people to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there† (Hurston 385). It was not until Hurston left her society that she realized that her lifestyle was much different then others. She expected that people of different cultures or who grew up in other areas had the same mind set as her, she found this not true. Despite the fact that she was colored there were many things that differed between her and society as whole. It was not just the color of her skin. A multicultural society presents obstacles to all humans, every person tries to find out who they are and where they stand in the world. Homosexual, heterosexual, Spanish, English, black or white it does not matter where you come from or what you look like there are always social changes, stereotypes, ethnicity differences and cultural differences, it’s just a way of life. Works Cited Huston. Zora Neale. â€Å"How It Feels to Be Colored Me.† The Presence of Others. Ed. Andrea A Linsford and John J. Rusziewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 384-88. Sullivan, Andrew. â€Å"What Are Homosexuals For?† The Presence of Others. Ed. Andrea A. Linsford and John J. Rusziewicz. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 350-59.

Changing Views on Homosexuality

If you live in a metropolitan city like Atlanta, as I do, you may notice that the gay culture is mixed in with the rest of the multi-cultural happenings of the city. Having a large gay community is just another unique feature to Atlanta, GA. Although other cities may not have as large a grouping, the gay community is growing across the states. Men and women are feeling more open to express their homosexual lifestyle and this is in part due to the changing views of sexual behavior and homosexuality. Homosexual behavior is defined as sexual behavior with a member of one’s own sex (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). Prior to the 1970s, homosexuality was considered to be a diagnosable psychiatric disorder and was listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Homosexuality was viewed almost as a disease that people needed to be cured of. Research revealed that homosexual men and women did not differ in psychological adjustment from heterosexual men and women (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). There has been the debate of whether a person is born gay or if homosexuality is a learned behavior. In my opinion, I believe that a person is born gay and does not chose or learn this sexual behavior from others. I’ve witnessed a relative grow up and noticed behavior as child that suggested he may be gay. As an adult, he informed the family that he is in fact gay. This came as a shock to no one and when asked when he knew he was gay, he stated that he knew all along. It is thought that if people no longer viewed homosexuality as a behavior that people chose to partake in, that less emphasis would be placed on trying to â€Å"cure† homosexuality. Dr. Glenn Wilson and Dr. Qazi Rahman, authors of the book Born Gay, state that there is no single gay gene, but genes do contribute and consider the effect of sex hormones to which fetuses are exposed in the womb (Ahuja, 2005). Wilson and Rahman feel that sexual orientation is fixed at birth and that any evidence-based scientist would agree (Ahuja, 2005). With more people understanding that sexual orientation is innate rather than learned, viewpoints on homosexuality are shifting. Our society is slowly becoming more accepting and placing less of a stigma on homosexual behavior. In the past there were no rights for gays wanting to marry, but now gays in Massachusetts can legally marry. In Vermont and other parts of the world, gay men and women now have the right to enter into legal partnerships that give them some of the same protections and responsibilities of marriage (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). Past opinion polls have resulted in some Americans saying that gays cannot be considered good role models for children (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). Some people have thought that a child’s sexual orientation could be affected if the child had gay or lesbian parents. Research on child adjustment in homosexual households provided results that did not differ from children raised by heterosexual parents (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). Dr. Ellen C. Perrin feels that children raised by gay or lesbian couples do just as well as children raised as by heterosexual couples. â€Å"In some ways children of same-sex parents actually may have advantages over other family structures†, says Perrin (Chang, 2005). Studies conducted on homosexual couples show that lesbian couples share household responsibilities equally and that children adjust better when there is an equal division of labor (Chang, 2005). Raising healthy, well-adjusted children and understanding that homosexuality is an innate behavior are just two examples of why attitudes towards homosexuality are changing. Although there is still room for improvement in terms of accepting gay culture, strides are being made compared to earlier attitudes. To me the most significant change is understanding that homosexuality is not a disorder, it represents a person’s sexual orientation. References http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20051012/study-same-sex-parents-raise-well-adjusted-kids

Budget Stimulation Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Budget Stimulation Project - Research Paper Example The result of which was to bring to light the inhumane conditions within the prison, leading to the American public questioning their continued support of the South Vietnamese Government. Senator Harkin married his wife Ruth Raduenz in 1968 and they have two daughters and three grandchildren1 Congressman Harkin began his service as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives in 1974. Then years later, Congressman Harkin became Senator Harkin and has the distinction of being the first Senator elected to a fifth term in Iowa. One of his more interesting and innovating achievements is the creation of a ’mobile office’ which is run from a van from which he travels through 99 counties each year to bring his congressional services to his constituents. One of his first achievements was through Senator Ted Kennedy who approached Senator Harkin to draft a bill in relationship to the rights of those with physical and mental challenges. Because Senator Harkin’s brother, Frank, had been deaf from birth, Senator Harkin was tapped as being sensitive to the needs and issues faced by those with physical and mental challenges, and the result was The Americans with Disabilities Act. This legislation revolutionized the accessibility afforded to those with challenges through requirements for public buildings and requirements for public transportation and employment accommodations.2 Congressional Interests The types of concerns that Senator Harkin has supported have been to endorse the needs and address the concerns of the American public. Senator Harkin has been active in promoting health and health care initiatives, his belief system centered on a concept he terms ’well-care’, which he believes is in contrast to the current system which treats people after they become sick. In addressing health throughout one’s life, the prevention of a great many health problems could be avoided, not only saving lives, but saving money in the costs of treatments. He has worked to increase the budgets for research on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, along with working to reverse the position that President Bush held on embryonic stem-cell research. Education has been another great concern for Senator Harkin as he has â€Å"worked to reduce class size, give students better computer and internet access, expand school counseling and safety programs and inprove teacher training†.3 Additionally, Senator Harkin has had interests in agricultural issues, promoting efficiency in energy use and conservation for continued agricultural benefit. Senator Harkin is considered a moderate and has served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, with serving as Member Ex Officio for the subcommittees on Children and Families; Employment and Work Safety; and Retirement and Aging. He has served on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, with membership on the sub committees on Hunger, Nutrition, and Family Farms; Production, Income Protection, and Price Support; and Rural Revitalization. He has also served on Senate Committee on Appropriations, with membership