AutoZone’s Stock Essay

AutoZone’s shareholders had enjoyed strong price appreciation since 1997, with an average annual return of 11.5%. Over the previous five years, AutoZone’s stock price has increased dramatically. On February 1. 2012 the stock price was $348 compared to the $125 on February 1. 2007. The strong price appreciation resulted from several occurrences; some of them are U.S. economy recession and share repurchase program. Auto-part business was somewhat counter-cyclical. Company’s growth and stock price were directly related to the economy and number of miles a vehicle had been driven. As the age of car increased, more repairs were required. Because of these reasons, AutoZone’s stock price was significantly improving from 2008. AutoZone’s financial statements reflect the stock price performance. Net sales have increased for 30.85% from 2007 to 2011. Cost of sales also increased during that period, but at lower rate of 27.30%, what helped in additional improv ement of gross profit. AutoZone’s increasing operating profit indicates the efficiency and profitability of the company. Further, the increase of operating profit led to the slight increase of operating margin, from 17.10% in 2007 to 18.52% in 2011. One financial measure that is strongly related to the stock price performance is EPS. EPS, a key driver of stock price, have been increasing at an extremely high rate. From 2007 to 2011, basic EPS have increased for 131%, and diluted EPS have increased for 128%. Another important financial measure is PEG ratio. PEG ratio is been constantly decreasing, which is a good sign for the company and investors. Decrease of PEG ratio signals a greater value for AutoZone’s company, because its investors are going to pay less for each unit of earnings growth. How does a stock repurchase work? Why would a company use this tactic? What impact does it have on: EPS? ROIC? Stock repurchase is one of the methods of returning cash back to its investors. A company buys back its own shares either from marketplace or from their own shareholders who want to sell their shares. Buying a shares back, company is reducing the number of shares outstanding, increasing the shareholders’ value and raising the price of the stock. Company can also use this method to: prevent a hostile takeover cover up poor performance create more attractive financial ratios signal the market that the company is strong create tax efficient way to return investors’ money The biggest impact of share repurchasing program is evident in EPS of the company. EPS is calculated as Net Income divided by the average outstanding shares. Since buying back its own shares is reducing the number of shares outstanding, it automatically increases the EPS. In 2007, AutoZone’s Net Income was $595,672 and the number of shares outstanding was 69,844. This resulted in $8.53 EPS. If we suppose that the income is going to stay the same, but the number of shares outstanding is going to decrease for 5,000, then we get a higher EPS of $9.19. This is how a share repurchase work. It reduces the number of shares outstanding, resulting in improved EPS. Share repurchase also affect the ROIC, which is one of the best metrics to evaluate corporates performance. ROIC eliminates much of the non-economic accounting noise and impacts of financial leverage. AutoZone’s management was very focused on this measurement, because ROIC was a primary way to measure value creation fo r the company’s capital providers. On the balance sheet, a share repurchase will reduce a company’s cash holdings, and therefore reducing the total assets and total shareholders’ equity. As a result, ROIC will improve subsequent to a share repurchase. It is noticeable that the growth was accelerated from 2008, when the economy recession occurred. Together with share repurchase program, this two effect had a large impact on creating a desirable ROIC. Taken all of these into account, AutoZone’s ROIC is indicating that the company offers a strong returns for its investors. How much of AutoZone’s stock price performance should we attribute to the share repurchase program? Share repurchase program is strongly related to the increase of AutoZone’s stock price. Share repurchase program, as mentioned above, reduces the number of shares outstanding, and therefore, creates a strong EPS and increases the price of the stock. EPS is one of the most important measures that investors look at because EPS measures company’s performance. In 2007, AutoZone had 69,844 shares outstanding, while in 2011 the number of shares was reduced to 43,603. This led to an increase of 128% in EPS, from $8.53 in 2007, to $19.47 in 2011. Next, the stock price increased from $120 to $298 in the same time period. Given the same capital value for AutoZone Company, more shares outstanding will result in lower share price, while reduced number of shares outstanding will impact the price of a share to grow. Q#4. Assume that AutoZone is planning to stop its share repurchase program. What would be the best alternative use of those cash flows? Why? If we assume that AutoZone is going to quit its share repurchase program, the best alternative to use the cash flows would be to expand its business,  either by opening a new stores or by acquisition. The first proposition considers opening a new stores in domestic and foreign markets. The expansion is necessary to override the competition and to keep its position of leading retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. Leading retailer position in the U.S. gives AutoZone more motivation to expand overseas. AutoZone already owns some stores outside the U.S., in Puerto Rico and Mexico. Those stores have been operating successfully, giving a company more reasons to continue with its overseas investments. Next AutoZone’s target is Brazilian market. Company’s plan is to expand there over the next several years. Overseas investments can be very profitable for AutoZone, but they also bear a lot of risk. All investments should be developed very carefully, with a high level of cautions and with expertise person for targeted markets in their management. The second proposition is growth by acquisition. U.S. market became oversaturated with auto part stores in the last couple of years. Even though AutoZone’s management was not seeing any signs of oversaturation at that time, that doesn’t mean that they will not see it in the near future. I believe there are still some free attractive locations in the U.S., but at some point, most of the good locations will be covered by the auto parts retail stores, and the remaining locations would not be a profitable investment. Another reason for acquisition is that such stores would be profitable much more quickly than it would be opening of a new stores. The return time for AutoZone would be shorten. So far, AutoZone has acquired over 800 stores from competitors.   What should Johnson do about his holdings of AutoZone shares? Johnson had one of his largest holdings in AutoZone’s company. The fact that Johnson was concerned about is that Lampert, AutoZone’s main shareholder, was rapidly liquidating his stake in the company. Johnson was concerned about the future performance of the stock price. He was not sure what the Lampert’s reason for liquidating his stake was. This can also have a negative influence on other investors. Lumpert’s liquidation is not necessarily a bad sign. The reason for his liquidation might be the need for funds or some other personal reasons. I believe that Johnson should keep his  holdings in AutoZone’s company. AutoZone’s financial measures indicates that the company is been constantly improving. The most important measures for investors, EPS, ROIC and stock price, are been increasing at a desirable rates. AutoZone’s investors have been enjoying strong price appreciation, and I believe they will enjoy it also in the future. Lumpert’s liquidation should not affect the share repurchase program. Company should continue with its share repurchase program even after Lampert liquidates all his stake. There is no signs in financial statements that the company is going to have a decrease in the stock price. AutoZone has created a desirable value for the company over the long time period and I believe in the continuing future growth of this company.

Anti-Intellectualism at College Universities

Education once existed as something very valuable, and something that only the very wealthy obtained. You were considered lucky to have the opportunity of getting an education, and not many took it for granted. Today, nearly everybody receives an education of some degree, and things have definitely changed. Students simply get educations because they are expected to or are required to. As the years have progressed, less and less students actually enjoy their education. You get labeled by many other students as weird or a freak if you enjoy learning. These kinds of ideas have led to and continue to lead to many problems relating to anti-intellectualism. Student’s anti-intellectualism has been increasing throughout the years, especially at college universities. This is a major problem because the trend is spreading around that it isn’t cool to put forth an effort or to enjoy your classes. Many college professors are very concerned that every year students have less and less motivation and are just attending college because they want a high paying salary after college. One English professor from the East coast said â€Å"most students nowadays are reluctant to learn and to think and resent being awakened from their stupor. I shudder when I consider the future of this country† (Trout). It scares a lot of people that this enormous group of unmotivated students is to someday be in charge of the country. The future of American society is at risk because of anti-intellectual ideas that are passed onto students because of the idea of wanting to be â€Å"cool†, students just going to college to make more money later, and university expectations decreasing because money has became the main priority rather than education. Firstly, the understanding of what an intellectual is has to be clear. According to Richard Hofstadter, who is a very famous American historian, he considers an intellectual someone who lives for ideas instead of someone who lives off of ideas. His input is significant because anti-intellectualism is basically his thing, and he was one of the first Americans to write about it. He goes onto say that two basic traits that intellectuals comprise of are playfulness and piety. By playfulness, he is referring to an individual’s curiosity and what makes their mind active. Piety is similar o an individual’s intensity and how passionate they are about their ideas and beliefs. All intellectuals should demonstrate these two traits according to him. (Hofstadter, 259-60) Using this definition, an anti-intellectual would be someone who isn’t curious or serious, so at colleges that would translate to students being uninterested in their classes/education. One important thing to look at is what education was like in the far past. Education was once valued very highly and you were considered lucky to have the opportunity to get an education. Mainly, only the rich and selected children received it. It meant a good future, and most kids took it very seriously. In the beginning of the 19th century, a primary education was the end of schooling for the greater part of students. Towards the 1830s, there started to become a demand for all children to have an opportunity of having an education. The 1870s marked when the United States had started to create education for the general public (Bradbury, 10). Today, education is more valued as something you have to get and something that the majority of people obtain, at least in the United States. As you can see, the opportunities for education have greatly opened up as time has progressed. This changing trend has caused students to take their educations for granted and develop a hatred towards school work. Overall, this growing trend is causing more and more students to avoid thinking for themselves and furthermore avoid having intellectual ideas because learning isn’t cool. Moving onto modern times, a survey taken at UCLA showed that a record high amount of high school students entering college were losing interest in their academic experiences. These same students surveyed also had committed less time to their homework/studying than before and had become bored with the idea of schooling. If students aren’t interested in their education, then why are they going to college? College is designed to be a place to receive a post-education. There are a lot of students who attend college because their parents made them or they think you have to or for the â€Å"fun. † Students who go to college without a desire to learn won’t get anything out of it. These kinds of students have a negative impact on students who actually value their education. They spread anti-intellectual ideas to students and give them the impression that they are unusual for aking pride in their education and cause them to become anti-intellectual because that is clearly the cool thing to do. More and more kids than ever before are arriving at colleges (Trout). This is good in a way because it means that many more people are getting a post-secondary education, but not all students are at college for the right reasons. The kind of students who go to college just to party or for reasons besides obtaining further education spread their anti-intellectual ideas around. Paul M. Levitt, professor at Colorado University, plainly says â€Å"many college kids are a sorry lot. Preoccupied with their hair, their clothes, their cars, they have never developed a critical turn of mind and have no interest in doing so. It does not bode well for higher education that many students entering college do not have anything resembling an intellectual life† (Trout). Students who don’t want a higher education shouldn’t go forth and attempt to get one if they aren’t serious about it. College should be a place that welcomes intellectuals and people who want to think for themselves rather than a place where you have to conform to thinking negatively about your classes. What is to become of our country if our generation all conforms to the same ideas? Professor of English at the University of Virginia, Mark Edmundson, suggests that students try very hard to fit in and not stand apart from others. He further goes onto say that for some reason showing your emotions, doing something different, or doing anything different than the norm will cause you to be disliked (Edmundson, 290). Obviously this is a problem because students have a desire to be â€Å"cool† by being like everyone else. Less and less students want to be different because they don’t want others to look down on them for not being like them. The idea of wanting to be cool has caused less intellectual ideas in a place where they should be booming. Another developing problem with anti-intellectualism at college universities is that kids are going to college solely so that they can make more money after college. Students think just because the majority of students go onto college that they should as well, which makes them anti-intellectual for just following others instead of doing what they wanted to do. About sixty ercent of high school graduates are estimated to go onto college or some form of higher education (Trout). A lot of times students may not even want to go to college, but they feel like if you don’t go to college, you are at a disadvantage. This is partially true because a lot of occupations that a degree is required for offer more money, but a lot of people end up going to college and end up not even using their degree because they find another job they enjoy more. Some people end up getting jobs that make a lot of money anyways though and hate their jobs, so that is hardly an advantage. Not everyone is meant to go to college, but for some reason the idea that you have to go to college to be successful has been portrayed. Also, President Obama has announced that he thinks every American should have at least one year of higher education, but on the contrary, high education experts agree that not everybody succeeds at college or belongs there (Olson). The president shouldn’t be saying things like this because it puts pressure on students to feel like they have to attend college. This has caused more anti-intellectuals who don’t belong at college to go and influence others. The next huge contributing factor to anti-intellectualism developing at universities is the universities themselves. Because of the growing amount of students bringing anti-intellectual ideas to the classrooms, universities have responded by lowering their standards. The reason for this is simply the more students the more money (Trout). Administrators have also been starting to create more interesting classes because of students disinterest in other courses (Bradbury, 14). The administrators are starting to create things to attract anti-intellectuals and are serving them instead of the intellectuals. College universities have become more interested in the money that the individuals bring rather than the individuals educations. Universities are setting up their campuses to be ideal for anti-intellectuals to succeed at. The fact that colleges are conforming to how the students act is a serious problem, and it concerns many experts about what is to happen in our countries future. Colleges have also started introducing a grade inflation to make it easier for students (Trout). College faculties are to blame mostly for that. The most likely reason for grade inflations would be because it keeps more students on campus. Students are earning higher grades for less work, which isn’t how it should be at all. Grade inflation and money are not related at all, so they shouldn’t have effects on each other. If this trend continues, the concept of a college degree is going to be lost because a college degree will become essentially something you can just buy. Something else that should be very alarming to intellectuals is that studies show many teachers are either anti-intellectualist to begin with or their career turns them into one. Studies have proved that the majority of teachers do not even read very much, and if they do it is normally not scholarly. Reading is something that makes individuals think and come up with intellectual ideas and teachers are starting to turn toward students habits of not reading. Further studies show that teachers who start their careers as intellectuals lose their passion over the years. These teachers either find a new job to avoid becoming an anti-intellectual or they continue teaching in a way that is unbeneficial to intellectuals. Also, many teachers do not encourage intellectualism because it teaches their students to question ideas and think things out thoroughly. Teachers see this as a threat to themselves if students start questioning them on their ideas. (Bradbury) If there aren’t any teachers to promote intellectualism, then more and more intellectuals will disappear. College universities are to blame the most for anti-intellectualism growing at their campuses. I say this because they are the ones that are encouraging the conditions by dumbing down their universities for the sake of money. Also, if they kept their standards high, that would mean less anti-intellectuals overall. College should be a place for intellectuals to strive, but universities have made it a place where people who hate it can succeed just the same. Universities ultimately can control their campus and who they let in and as of now, many universities are letting in about anybody who has a high school diploma and money. One of the first reforms that needs to be made at college universities is eliminating student evaluation of teachers. This whole concept of having the students evaluate a teacher’s ability is absurd. Seeing as how students today want a minimum amount of work, they will simply rate teachers who make it easy for them as excellent teachers. In reality, those teachers aren’t helping the students and rather are just obliging to what students want. The teacher then who gives students a lot of work and challenges them gets a worse rating from students. If universities are so interested in how the teacher is doing, I see no problem in the heads of departments just observing the class. They can make their own judgment based off what they saw, and it would most likely take less time than it takes to review all of the student evaluations. Student evaluations end up promoting anti-intellectualism more than it promotes good teaching methods. An alternative opinion to this would be that students are to put at blame because they are after all responsible for their own education. This is a valid argument because nobody can force a student to be an intellectual/anti-intellectual. The student is partially at fault if they attend a college for post education and then don’t even attempt to learn further. The flaw in this opinion is that most students coming into college are around the age of eighteen, so influences and their environment greatly affect them. If students show up to college, and the standards are set high and everybody knows that, then they are probably most likely going to try to put forth the same effort as everyone else. However, if they come to college, and they see students partying all the time because standards are set low, then that makes them want to put forth the minimal effort to get by. Putting forth a minimal effort and not living for anything would be an anti-intellectual lifestyle, which is the environment of many colleges. If our country continues along this path of intellectuals dominating, there will be numerous effects considering what has already happened over the last few decades. In 2002, it was recorded that sixty seven percent of college graduates read books for pleasure, while in 1982 it was eighty two percent. The decline of reading books is related closely to the incline of video games and the internet. The overall effects of anti-intellectualism are affecting more than just college students. Our country has changed a lot in a short period of time. From 1968 to 2000 the sound bites for presidential candidates has been dramatically reduced from 42. 3 seconds down to 7. 8 seconds. The public overall has lost a desire in obtaining knowledge. An example of this would be that twenty percent of Americans believe the Sun revolves around the Earth. (Jacoby) As you can see, our country has a dangerous future if these kinds of standards continue to be acceptable. In summary, the number of anti-intellectual students at colleges has been increasing from year to year. Students need to quit conforming to the ways of other students because they think not caring is the cool thing to do, and more importantly, the colleges need to accept the right kind of students instead of just anyone who has the money for it. The future of American society is at risk because of anti-intellectual ideas that are passed onto students because of the idea of wanting to be â€Å"cool†, students just going to college to make more money later, and university expectations decreasing because money has become the top priority rather than education, and ultimately the universities are required to incorporate intellectual ideas and challenges into their classrooms if anything is to change. If anti-intellectual ideas are continued to be brought to college by students and encouraged by universities, our country has a frightening future.

Advanced Critical Writing

The author’s claim about binge drinking is backed up by the literature with findings that British young people are some of the worst perpetrators of binge drinking (Kuntsche, Rehm and Gmel, 2004) and that almost a quarter of British adults are classified as ‘hazardous’ drinkers (NHS, 2011). In a recent presentation to parliament, David Cameron wrote that â€Å"we have to tackle the scourge of violence caused by binge drinking. And we have to do it now.† (Home Office, 2012). Alcohol is undoubtedly a public health issue and is involved in a high number of road traffic accidents and anti-social activities such as assault, as well as being associated with a number of chronic diseases including alcoholic liver disease and a range of cancers (Rehm et al., 2009; Schutze et al., 2011). Furthermore, the economic cost can be devastating with alcohol-related injury costing the National Health Service (NHS) around ?2.7 billion a year, based on 2006 to 2007 figures (NHS , 2011). Therefore, the Government should indeed feel some responsibility to tackle and reduce these figures if at all possible. The author argues that such a strategy as minimum unit pricing for alcohol will be an infringement on the British people, a violation of the free market economy and will cause moderate and responsible drinkers to pay for the â€Å"crimes of a few.† However, the author later contradicts themselves saying that â€Å"boosting the cost [of alcohol] isn’t going to stop me drinking, it’s going to just leave me out of pocket.† Here, the author has gone from the extreme and dramatic to an almost mocking of the proposed policy. It becomes unclear whether the author truly believes that the policy would severely affect the innocent or whether it would simply leave people short of a few pounds at the end of the month. This type of contradictory writing can also been seen elsewhere in the article. For example, the writer opens the article with a murky and sinister scene using evocative words and phrases such as â€Å"swarming†, â€Å"staggering† and †Å"teenagers hunched over a bottle of Frosty Jacks.† This use of language suggests that the author is disgusted and repelled by binge drinkers and the open consumption of cheap alcohol on British streets. However, the author quickly goes on to denounce Government attempts to tackle the problem as a â€Å"crazy idea†, once again sending out a mixed message to the reader. The author also argues against the claim that an increase in prices for drinks with a high alcohol content will put off the type of people who buy such drinks purely to achieve a state of drunkenness, namely individuals suffering from alcoholism. The author asks â€Å"isn’t it their choice to drink alcohol?† and suggests that it is unacceptable to hurt the average person financially by trying to price such individuals out of the alcohol market. This an extremely reductionist viewpoint, meaning that the author of the article is reducing the plight of an alcoholic to the result of just â€Å"their choice† rather than taking into account the plethora of reasons that can lead an individual down the destructive road of alcoholism, such as homelessness, debt or abuse. Such a view-point is potentially damaging as Spanagel (2009) has warned that a reductionist view of the causes of alcoholism can stand in the way of a better understanding of the underlying pathological p rocesses involved in such addictive behaviour. The author goes on to claim that implementation of a ?0.45 minimum unit price for alcohol is the result of the Government’s attempt to try and make revenue from people who can afford a price rise but are just inconvenienced by it. This is an extreme accusation and the author has failed to take into account the evidence that suggests otherwise. Namely that such a policy could have a positive effect on public health and the economy. Using a price-to-consumption model using various data sources and based on 54 population sub-groups classed as harmful, hazardous or moderate drinkers, Purshouse et al. (2010) estimated that a ?0.45 minimum price unit for alcohol would reduce alcohol consumption by 4.5% and avoid 1,970 alcohol-related deaths. A recent systematic review found that a price increase of alcohol by around 10% would lead to a reduction in consumption of alcohol by around 5% (Wagenaar, Tobler and Komro, 2010). Both of these studies have provided strong evidence that a min imum unit pricing strategy with alcohol would be effective in reducing hazardous alcohol consumption. Further strengthening the argument in favour of minimum unit pricing are doubts that other attempts to reduce alcohol consumption will be far from successful. In a recent editorial, McKee (2012) highlighted that the three main â€Å"lines of attack† for tackling hazardous drinking consist of marketing, pricing and availability. Marketing and restrictions on availability are difficult to control, especially due to the lobbying power that many companies within the alcohol industry possess (McKee, 2012), and education-based interventions have been shown to be ineffective (Anderson, Chisholm and Fuhr, 2009) Therefore, pricing appears to be potentially the most effective and most easily manipulated element that the Government can utilise to tackle hazardous drinking. However, in addition to the positive effects that a minimum pricing policy has been predicted to have, there were a lso a number of drawbacks. For example, an increase in type 2 diabetes in young women was predicted due to a loss of the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption and most of the reductions in harm would have been seen in chronic disorders in the over 45s, limiting the positive effect on the health and well-being of younger people (Purshouse et al., 2010). Furthermore, the figures produced by Purshouse et al. (2010) were based on a time period 10 years after policy implementation, suggesting that the benefit of a minimum pricing policy could be a long time coming. These drawbacks could be seen to support the author’s claim that the Government would use a minimum pricing strategy primarily to increase their income, seeing as though implementation of the policy would be limited in its immediate and overall beneficial effects on public health. Furthermore, alternatives to minimum pricing such as increasing tax on alcohol, have also been found to decrease levels of alcohol consumption (Elder et al., 2010). However, the existence of potentially equally as effective strategies for tackling hazardous drinking does not automatically suggest a conspiracy by the Government to reap more revenue through a minimum pricing strategy. The author of the article disagrees with the claim that alcohol fuels crime and with the figure that intoxicated people are involved in causing around 5,000 avoidable crimes every year. However, it is well documented that alcohol is prolifically involved in crime. From 1998 to 1999, 70% of crimes were found to have involved alcohol (Home Office, 2001), with alcohol being a component in up to 70% of all stabbings and beatings, 40% of domestic violence incidents and 50% of child protection cases (Alcohol Concern, 2000). These figures are highly disturbing and the author’s credibility is severely damaged in denying belief in such figures. The author ends the article with a rhetorical question by asking whether we would want â€Å"to live in a free country where people live as their consciences tell them† or whether we want to try and â€Å"control the behaviour of the poor by pricing them out of activities that we disapprove of?† A similar use of rhetoric can be seen throughout the article. For example, the author suggests that the next stage after minimum unit pricing may be an increase in theatre tickets to reduce the number of â€Å"poorer, less educated people who might talk during the show.† This is an example of hyperbole where the author is exaggerating in order to manipulate their audience and create a strong emotional reaction. Through the use of rhetoric, the author will hope to encourage their audience to ‘come round’ to their way of thinking. However, the article would be far more persuasive if the author were to use more facts and empirical evidence to support their view s. In conclusion, the article is well-written in terms of persuasiveness and in using rhetoric to create a strong emotional reaction in the audience. However, the author too often makes statements that contradict current empirical evidence without justification, which damages the credibility of the source. References Alcohol Concern (2000) Britain’s Ruin: Meeting Government Objectives via a National Alcohol Strategy. London, UK: Alcohol Concern. Anderson, P., Chisholm, D. and Fuhr, D.C. (2009) Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of policies and programmes to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. Lancet, 373, pp. 2234-2246. Elder, R.W., Lawrence, B., Ferguson, A., Naimi, T.S., Brewer, R.D., Chattopadhyay, S.K., Toomey, T.L. and Fielding, J.E. (2010) The effectiveness of tax policy interventions for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 38(2), pp. 217-229. Home Office (2012) The Government’s Alcohol Strategy. London, UK: Home Office. Home Office (2001) Fighting Violent Crime Together: An Action Plan. London, UK: Home Office. Kuntsche, E., Rehm, J. and Gmel, G. (2004) Characteristics of binge drinkers in Europe. Social Science and Medicine, 59, pp. 113-127. McKee, M. (2012) Minimum unit pricing for alcohol – the case for action is overwhelming. European Journal of Public Health, 22(4), pp. 451. NHS (2011) Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2011. London, UK: The NHS Information Centre. Purshouse, R.C., Meier, P.S., Brennan, A., Taylor, K.B. and Rafia, R. (2010) Estimated effect of alcohol pricing policies on health and health economic outcomes in England: an epidemiological model. Lancet, 375, pp. 1355-1364. Rehm, J., Mathers, C., Popova, S., Thavorncharoensap, M., Teerawattananon, Y. and Patra, J. (2009) Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. Lancet, 373, pp. 2223-2233. Schutze, M., Boeing, H., Pischon, T. et al. (2011) Alcohol attributable burden of incidence of cancer in eight European countries based on results from prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, 342, d1584. Spanagel, R. (2009) Alcoholism: A systems approach from molecular physiology to addictive behaviour. Physiological Reviews, 89(2), pp. 649-705. Wagenaar, A.C., Tobler, A.L. and Komro, K.A. (2010) Effects of alcohol tax and price policies on morbidity and mortality: a systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 100, pp. 2270-2278. Advanced Critical Writing The author’s claim about binge drinking is backed up by the literature with findings that British young people are some of the worst perpetrators of binge drinking (Kuntsche, Rehm and Gmel, 2004) and that almost a quarter of British adults are classified as ‘hazardous’ drinkers (NHS, 2011). In a recent presentation to parliament, David Cameron wrote that â€Å"we have to tackle the scourge of violence caused by binge drinking. And we have to do it now.† (Home Office, 2012). Alcohol is undoubtedly a public health issue and is involved in a high number of road traffic accidents and anti-social activities such as assault, as well as being associated with a number of chronic diseases including alcoholic liver disease and a range of cancers (Rehm et al., 2009; Schutze et al., 2011). Furthermore, the economic cost can be devastating with alcohol-related injury costing the National Health Service (NHS) around ?2.7 billion a year, based on 2006 to 2007 figures (NHS , 2011). Therefore, the Government should indeed feel some responsibility to tackle and reduce these figures if at all possible. The author argues that such a strategy as minimum unit pricing for alcohol will be an infringement on the British people, a violation of the free market economy and will cause moderate and responsible drinkers to pay for the â€Å"crimes of a few.† However, the author later contradicts themselves saying that â€Å"boosting the cost [of alcohol] isn’t going to stop me drinking, it’s going to just leave me out of pocket.† Here, the author has gone from the extreme and dramatic to an almost mocking of the proposed policy. It becomes unclear whether the author truly believes that the policy would severely affect the innocent or whether it would simply leave people short of a few pounds at the end of the month. This type of contradictory writing can also been seen elsewhere in the article. For example, the writer opens the article with a murky and sinister scene using evocative words and phrases such as â€Å"swarming†, â€Å"staggering† and †Å"teenagers hunched over a bottle of Frosty Jacks.† This use of language suggests that the author is disgusted and repelled by binge drinkers and the open consumption of cheap alcohol on British streets. However, the author quickly goes on to denounce Government attempts to tackle the problem as a â€Å"crazy idea†, once again sending out a mixed message to the reader. The author also argues against the claim that an increase in prices for drinks with a high alcohol content will put off the type of people who buy such drinks purely to achieve a state of drunkenness, namely individuals suffering from alcoholism. The author asks â€Å"isn’t it their choice to drink alcohol?† and suggests that it is unacceptable to hurt the average person financially by trying to price such individuals out of the alcohol market. This an extremely reductionist viewpoint, meaning that the author of the article is reducing the plight of an alcoholic to the result of just â€Å"their choice† rather than taking into account the plethora of reasons that can lead an individual down the destructive road of alcoholism, such as homelessness, debt or abuse. Such a view-point is potentially damaging as Spanagel (2009) has warned that a reductionist view of the causes of alcoholism can stand in the way of a better understanding of the underlying pathological p rocesses involved in such addictive behaviour. The author goes on to claim that implementation of a ?0.45 minimum unit price for alcohol is the result of the Government’s attempt to try and make revenue from people who can afford a price rise but are just inconvenienced by it. This is an extreme accusation and the author has failed to take into account the evidence that suggests otherwise. Namely that such a policy could have a positive effect on public health and the economy. Using a price-to-consumption model using various data sources and based on 54 population sub-groups classed as harmful, hazardous or moderate drinkers, Purshouse et al. (2010) estimated that a ?0.45 minimum price unit for alcohol would reduce alcohol consumption by 4.5% and avoid 1,970 alcohol-related deaths. A recent systematic review found that a price increase of alcohol by around 10% would lead to a reduction in consumption of alcohol by around 5% (Wagenaar, Tobler and Komro, 2010). Both of these studies have provided strong evidence that a min imum unit pricing strategy with alcohol would be effective in reducing hazardous alcohol consumption. Further strengthening the argument in favour of minimum unit pricing are doubts that other attempts to reduce alcohol consumption will be far from successful. In a recent editorial, McKee (2012) highlighted that the three main â€Å"lines of attack† for tackling hazardous drinking consist of marketing, pricing and availability. Marketing and restrictions on availability are difficult to control, especially due to the lobbying power that many companies within the alcohol industry possess (McKee, 2012), and education-based interventions have been shown to be ineffective (Anderson, Chisholm and Fuhr, 2009) Therefore, pricing appears to be potentially the most effective and most easily manipulated element that the Government can utilise to tackle hazardous drinking. However, in addition to the positive effects that a minimum pricing policy has been predicted to have, there were a lso a number of drawbacks. For example, an increase in type 2 diabetes in young women was predicted due to a loss of the health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption and most of the reductions in harm would have been seen in chronic disorders in the over 45s, limiting the positive effect on the health and well-being of younger people (Purshouse et al., 2010). Furthermore, the figures produced by Purshouse et al. (2010) were based on a time period 10 years after policy implementation, suggesting that the benefit of a minimum pricing policy could be a long time coming. These drawbacks could be seen to support the author’s claim that the Government would use a minimum pricing strategy primarily to increase their income, seeing as though implementation of the policy would be limited in its immediate and overall beneficial effects on public health. Furthermore, alternatives to minimum pricing such as increasing tax on alcohol, have also been found to decrease levels of alcohol consumption (Elder et al., 2010). However, the existence of potentially equally as effective strategies for tackling hazardous drinking does not automatically suggest a conspiracy by the Government to reap more revenue through a minimum pricing strategy. The author of the article disagrees with the claim that alcohol fuels crime and with the figure that intoxicated people are involved in causing around 5,000 avoidable crimes every year. However, it is well documented that alcohol is prolifically involved in crime. From 1998 to 1999, 70% of crimes were found to have involved alcohol (Home Office, 2001), with alcohol being a component in up to 70% of all stabbings and beatings, 40% of domestic violence incidents and 50% of child protection cases (Alcohol Concern, 2000). These figures are highly disturbing and the author’s credibility is severely damaged in denying belief in such figures. The author ends the article with a rhetorical question by asking whether we would want â€Å"to live in a free country where people live as their consciences tell them† or whether we want to try and â€Å"control the behaviour of the poor by pricing them out of activities that we disapprove of?† A similar use of rhetoric can be seen throughout the article. For example, the author suggests that the next stage after minimum unit pricing may be an increase in theatre tickets to reduce the number of â€Å"poorer, less educated people who might talk during the show.† This is an example of hyperbole where the author is exaggerating in order to manipulate their audience and create a strong emotional reaction. Through the use of rhetoric, the author will hope to encourage their audience to ‘come round’ to their way of thinking. However, the article would be far more persuasive if the author were to use more facts and empirical evidence to support their view s. In conclusion, the article is well-written in terms of persuasiveness and in using rhetoric to create a strong emotional reaction in the audience. However, the author too often makes statements that contradict current empirical evidence without justification, which damages the credibility of the source. References Alcohol Concern (2000) Britain’s Ruin: Meeting Government Objectives via a National Alcohol Strategy. London, UK: Alcohol Concern. Anderson, P., Chisholm, D. and Fuhr, D.C. (2009) Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of policies and programmes to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. Lancet, 373, pp. 2234-2246. Elder, R.W., Lawrence, B., Ferguson, A., Naimi, T.S., Brewer, R.D., Chattopadhyay, S.K., Toomey, T.L. and Fielding, J.E. (2010) The effectiveness of tax policy interventions for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 38(2), pp. 217-229. Home Office (2012) The Government’s Alcohol Strategy. London, UK: Home Office. Home Office (2001) Fighting Violent Crime Together: An Action Plan. London, UK: Home Office. Kuntsche, E., Rehm, J. and Gmel, G. (2004) Characteristics of binge drinkers in Europe. Social Science and Medicine, 59, pp. 113-127. McKee, M. (2012) Minimum unit pricing for alcohol – the case for action is overwhelming. European Journal of Public Health, 22(4), pp. 451. NHS (2011) Statistics on Alcohol: England, 2011. London, UK: The NHS Information Centre. Purshouse, R.C., Meier, P.S., Brennan, A., Taylor, K.B. and Rafia, R. (2010) Estimated effect of alcohol pricing policies on health and health economic outcomes in England: an epidemiological model. Lancet, 375, pp. 1355-1364. Rehm, J., Mathers, C., Popova, S., Thavorncharoensap, M., Teerawattananon, Y. and Patra, J. (2009) Global burden of disease and injury and economic cost attributable to alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders. Lancet, 373, pp. 2223-2233. Schutze, M., Boeing, H., Pischon, T. et al. (2011) Alcohol attributable burden of incidence of cancer in eight European countries based on results from prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, 342, d1584. Spanagel, R. (2009) Alcoholism: A systems approach from molecular physiology to addictive behaviour. Physiological Reviews, 89(2), pp. 649-705. Wagenaar, A.C., Tobler, A.L. and Komro, K.A. (2010) Effects of alcohol tax and price policies on morbidity and mortality: a systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 100, pp. 2270-2278.

Health promotion in physical activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health promotion in physical activity - Essay Example This essay "Health promotion in physical activity" outlines how the modern lifestyle affects the level of obesity and the significance of the physical activity for the good health. The World Health Organization in 2004 implemented the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (DPAS) which calls on member states, the private sector and public sector to implement policies that help in reducing and preventing chronic disease. The European Charter on Countering Obesity was also formed by WHO member states in the region on 16 November, 2006. However, even with the combined efforts of states in Europe, obesity is still on a continuous rise with alarming predictions of its prevalence in the future. Policies implemented to curb the pandemic need to focus on making the healthy choices easy, natural and desirable to the target groups. Four main sectors are tasked with the responsibility of incorporating physical activity in the lives of the citizens as much as possible. They are health, transport, urban planning and environment and occupation sectors.The health sector can start by promoting and engaging in inter-sectorial work at all levels, ensuring that health practitioners are motivated to promote physical activity to the public and also to lead by example. The transport sector needs to address the safety needs of cyclists and pedestrians, link with the health sector to harmonize their policies and to communicate the benefits of physically active transport as compared to using cars.

Wind Power as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels Essay

Wind Power as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels - Essay Example The essay "Wind Power as an Alternative to Fossil Fuels" aimed to discuss the environmental advantages of wind power. They include the fact that wind energy production is pollution free, which results in it having no effect on air quality or climate change. Wind energy also produces no particulate emissions that contribute to mercury contamination in lakes and streams. They also conserve water resources by using less water in electricity production, e.g. electricity generation through nuclear power uses 600 more times water than wind power. Wind power can also be beneficial to land preservation because their actual ‘footprint’ is small, which means minimal land is required. Wind farms also reduce the need for mining, which often destroys wildlife and ecosystems. Offshore wind farms also have no environmental effects on the land itself. However, marine life must be considered. It is also safer than other alternative energy sources such as nuclear power, with the Fukushima Nuclear Plant disaster fresh in many people’s minds. Also, the paper dwells upon the economic benefits of wind farms. They include the fact that wind is a native fuel that does not need to be mined or transported, which reduces production costs. Wind power can therefore be produced cheaper. The Wind Industry Group also claims that wind energy creates 30% more jobs than a coal plant and 60% more than a nuclear plant per unit of electricity released. Wind power is also getting cheaper to produce from nearly 30 cents per kWh in the early 1980’s to 3-5 cents per kWh today.

Brand Jordan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Brand Jordan - Essay Example Evidently, the five key attributes to Jordan could be listed as great athlete, ultra-competitive champion, well-known African-American, Handsome guy, and fascinating spokesman (‘Case Study’). The leading attribute will be the one that creates a perceptual label within a person’s mind and drags his attentions on encountering the particular personal brand. The leading attribute behind the Brand Jordan was ‘the greatest basketball player of all time’. 2. Team Jordan candidates and the brand attributes One of the candidates suggested for the Brand Jordan with so much popularity was the eminent soccer player David Beckham. He started his career from becoming a winning soccer player at the age of 14 and later was known for his youth empowerment and training programs. Brand Jordan considered Beckham to sustain the reputation of the brand as his career portrayed numerous achievements, like having a free-kick technique named after him, which could drag the att ention of customers. Besides he has been at his best with the Manchester United. Signing with Beckham would be a good start for entering the world of soccer. However, he was in his mid thirties and would be approaching the end of his career soon. Jamie Foxx was at his all time high popularity in 2006. He was an American Academy Award winning actor and a Grammy Award nominated singer and comedian. His noticeable personal attributes were attractive, athletic African-American, and good fit for the lifestyle products. However, Larry Miller, president of Brand Jordan had a second thought whether signing Foxx in a low-profile endorsement would be profitable or would detract from the brand. Another candidate for the team was a professional golfer from Hawaii, Michelle Wie, a 6-feet woman successfully driving back majority of professional women golfers. Wie had a seemingly limitless potential while commonly comparing with the Tiger Woods and Sorenstam. Wie has been eminent in her career and was an incredible athlete, but that was not all enough to decide that whether golf was the right starting point for the Brand Jordan to reach out to women. Chinese market was an important factor for the expansion of the Brand Jordan, and a best way to promote the brand over the China market was signing Liu Xiang, a 22 years old Chinese athlete who was best known for winning the 110 meters hurdles at his first IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne. His popularity was further increased when he tied the world record of 12.91 seconds of Colin Jackson, a first time achievement of a non-African descent. Another advantage was that this endorsement would diminish the value of rival Reebok’s market. Though the Xiang has been considered the superstar in his home country in whose market the brand had a bright future, which was not all enough to get into a contract with the athlete. A big concern on selecting Xiang was about the Chinese government’s endorsement with him on a cigarette bran d. 3. Importance of celebrity endorsement Obviously, celebrity endorsements have been identified and accepted by the firms as it has direct results that influences the brand the company is trying to send through a person in a way that the customers experience a sense of similarity with the brand. Brand Jordan felt that the celebrity endorsement would be an important factor as the consumers tend more to conceive information from a celebrity whom they know than a person they do not. Besides, the celebrity has the ability to transfer their eminent and

Long Distance Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Long Distance Relationships - Essay Example These days, there are video conferencing capabilities, cell phones, chats and even letters or text messages that aid in keeping long destine relationships in motion. However, they do have their challenges and these shall be seen below. (Voost, 2007) Long distance relationships have numerous complications. The validity of this statement will be examined in the research conducted below. Numerous scholars have examined the reasons long distance relationships or the causative factors. This forms a vital discussion in most long distance relationship debates. Some People decide to choose partners located in a totally different part of the world because they feel that one should not restrict their sample space to their own country. Such people feel that life long partners are hard to find and that it takes a lot of exploration before one can finally find the 'man or woman of their dreams'. Consequently, individuals should examine all the possibilities out there, even if it means surpassing certain geographical boundaries to find that special someone. Persons may choose long distance relationships because they want to focus on the emotional aspect of a relationship rather than the physical. Adherents to this principle believe that long distance relationships do not provide individuals with the choice of having physical intimacy so in order to keep the relationship alive; partners need to connect on a deeper emotional level than they would if they were in proximal relationships. Consequently, partners are required to look for other attractive aspects within their partners other than the physical. Adherents to this belief continue to add that most of the reasons why proximal relationships fail are that partners may be too distracted by physical intimacies that they fail to relate emotionally. The corporate world is becoming increasingly demanding. Most people these days have very little time left for themselves. This means that they have to deny themselves social lives. But because having a partner is important for any person's needs. Then such people end up looking for a long distance partner. They feel that proximal or conventional relationships require too much input in terms of time and they feel that this will prevent them from concentrating on their work. Such people do not feel the need to keep seeing someone on daily basis as this interferes with their daily routine. (Guldner, 2007) Psychologists say that some people have the inability to remain alone. Such people are the victims of a change in circumstance. For example, when one partner receives a job posting in another continent and the other partner chooses to stay in his home country, then the relationship gets transformed from a proximal to along distance one. But because certain individuals may have the fear of looking for another partner or they may have great attachments, then they may decide to maintain a long distance relationship. On the other hand, others are deeply loyal and even if their partners have made the choice to live miles away, they still feel obliged to stay with them through initiating a long distance relationship. Other analysts -who are rather skeptical- say that some individuals choose long distance relationships to hide certain physical defects. They feel that if a person gets the chance of knowing their personality first before seeing their

MOTOROLA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

MOTOROLA - Essay Example Motorola Solutions is now generally accepted as the direct successor of the prior known Motorola, as the structuring lead to Motorola Mobility being spun off. (Boryana Georgieva, 2010) In 2007 when the reorganization took place, business was divided into three operating segments which included Home and Mobility Network, Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Mobile devices. Home and Mobility Network basically included products such as cable set top boxes, broadband cable modem etc; this contributed to almost to almost 32% of Motorola’s net sales in 2008. Enterprise Mobility Solutions deals with wireless broadband systems and it contributed to 27% of net sales. The Mobile devices compete in the wireless handset industry. (Boryana Georgieva, 2010) There are many factors in the external environment that directly as well as indirectly affects Motorola. First let us consider the competitors. Motorola used to own a high share of market in 2007, especially at the time of RAZR. However, th ey were not able to capitalize on the success with one major reason being the amount of competition in the technology market. Motorola faces fierce competition from Nokia, Apple, RIM, Samsung, LG and Mobile Internet Devices. Nokia possesses the highest market share in world right now followed by Samsung. They continue to produce high quality phones in great quantities for the customers. Lately, Apple and RIM have busted into the market with their unique characteristics with iPhone and Blackberry respectively. Because of their innovation, they were able to grab a huge market share and create brand loyalty amongst their customers. Apple were able to target, initially the youth which them spread out to a major chunk of the population, they also brought timely upgrades and additions to their iPhone which the consumers found all the more intriguing. Blackberry on the other hand went for formal and executive prospect, mainly targeting the executives. But due to their Blackberry services, which include Blackberry Messenger etc, they were able to gain high levels of customers throughout the world. (Aaron Christensen, 2009) Motorola has been going down the slope ever since. In fact, firm incurred a loss from cutting operations of $105 million which then resulted in $0.05 per diluted common share. The company which once dominated the mobile market has now been constricted to a lower market share. (Aaron Christensen, 2009) Even though revenues have decreased overtime, however, Motorola still has some strength as well. Motorola Company operates at operational efficiency, meaning their production and assembly line process operates in an efficient manner as to cut unnecessary costs and at the same time utilize maximum resources to maintain quality. Motorola’s products are high quality products, not only because they last a longer period as compared to some other phones, but their functionality is very efficient as well. Motorola has recently started producing the â⠂¬Å"Droid Family† which includes various products including Droid, Droid 2 & Global and Droid R2D2. The droid family was built by placing high value on importance on innovation. Motorola has also started segment targeting for the new Droid2 since consumers in the market place high value on trying out new things that appear onto the market. Now let us also consider some of Motorola’s weaknesses. Motorola management and shareholders are only worried about the sales and revenues, what is lacking is, vision. For any company to succeed in the market, they need to have a vision. For instance Steve Jobbs had a vision to bring innovation to the telecommunication technologies. Currently, Motorola is only concentrating on business and not focusing on the long

Nursing and decision making in mental health nursing Essay

Nursing and decision making in mental health nursing - Essay Example While admitted as a patient in the mental health facility, Jo actually showed signs of improvement in that his emotional state grew more balanced and he showed signs of functioning as an ordinary person even though he was not given any medicine. He also regularly participated in discussions with the professionals and seemed to understand the methods to use so as to restrain his emotions when he experienced stressful occurrences in the outside world. Jo appeared to be on his way to full recovery when he was suddenly visited by two friends the evening after he had returned from his leave. The friends appeared to be in possession of cannabis as well as knives. When some of Jo’s fellow patients, who were in the same room in which Jo sat with his visiting friends, reported this to the nurses that they had heard about a prospective fight, they were removed from the room and Jo’s friends left even without being asked to. Soon after, Jo demanded to be allowed to leave the ward. Against the advice and suggestions of the nurses that he remain, he insisted and was then allowed to leave. Owing to the fact that the member of staff was anxious that Jo would return with weapons to the ward, they asked him to discharge himself before leaving. The authorities also informed the police of the presence of Jo’s friends and the fact that they were in possession of cannabis and knives before they left the ward. A Key Decision within the Case When a nurse is faced with a decision to make between harbouring a potentially destructive client or revealing his or her intentions to law enforcement authorities, the nurse is usually faced with the problem of having to decide whether to protect the other patients and respecting the rights of the patient who is showing the potential for causing harm to himself or others (Antonius, Fuchs, Herbert, Kwon, Fried, Burton, Straka, Levin, Caligor, and Malaspina 2010). In normal circumstances, the nurse would merely discuss the pat ient’s concerns with him or her and then offer advice on how best to tackle feelings of hopelessness and destruction before they could become unmanageable. The nurse will only consider the possibility of letting other people know about the problems of her patient if he or she refuses to take the advice that is being offered (Fiscella 2004). By letting her supervisors or even law enforcement authorities know about a client’s threats to cause harm to others, the nurse is actually violating the patient’s confidentiality (Wolf, Lehman, Quinlin, Rosenszweig, Friede, Zullo and Hoffman 2008). In this case, it can be said that the decision to inform the police of the presence of Jo’s friends and subsequent request to Jo to discharge himself from the ward when he insisted on accompanying his knife and cannabis carrying friends, is the key decision. Even though the Jo was begged to stay in the ward by the nurses, he insisted on going after his friends who had openl y spoken about a fight that was going to happen. The Ethical, Legal, Political and Professional Issues that are Related to this Key Decision Professional: In psychiatric practice, patients can make the choice to refuse treatment even if it may actually improve their lives. This means that Jo was merely exercising his rights by refusing to remain at the ward even when he was asked to remain by nurses who were worried that exposure to reckless characters would merely

Parenting Today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Parenting Today - Essay Example Cognitive-behavioral therapy can help children improve their behavioral problems associated with poverty. Family education and support can help parents of poor children get child development education and use it to improve psychological development of children. If I would have to design an intervention method, I would focus on meeting children’s mental and physical health needs because it would help them become healthy and productive citizens in future. Some key ingredients to effective co-parenting include cooperation with the other parent, being honest to the other parent, showing self accountability, allowing children to benefit from the other parent, and taking mutual decisions is favor of children (Carter, 2009). Family rituals and routines are important because they are related to the well-being of family cultures and make children keep the foundations of their family cultures intact. The family rituals that I remember from my childhood include celebration of birthdays, celebrations of achievements, and respect for elders and

Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in Second Graders Essay Example for Free

Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in Second Graders Essay This paper is geared toward promoting education of healthy eating habits of second grade students. According to Blais and Hayes, â€Å"Healthy People 2010 define Health Promotion as individual and community activities to promote healthful lifestyles. These healthful lifestyles include the improvement of nutrition in America† (p.120). The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), an organization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has provided the necessary tools to help guide and promote healthy eating habits through conducting research and evidence based analysis in nutrition. USDA Food Guidance System known as MyPlate, MyPyramid, or the Food Guide Pyramid are used to educate the public and offer information on the recommended nutritional guides on weight management, caloric intake, physical activity, and health tips for specific ages and health conditions. The Dietary Guidelines of Americans 2010 have set guidelines used to promote healthy eating to the American people of all cultures, traditions and socioeconomic background. These guidelines encourage the consumption of nutritional foods, which include fresh vegetable and fruit, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, a variety of protein rich foods, which include lean meats, seafood, nuts and legumes (p.46). The emphasis of these principles will be used towards the promotion of health through the development, implementation and evaluation of a teaching plan on healthy eating habits to second graders, between the ages of 7-9 in a their classroom setting using the MyPlate educational teaching tools. Assessment of Learning Needs The second grade learning group consisted of fourteen children ages 7-9. An interactive class activity was presented using different items which  consisted of each food group using the MyPlate teaching concept. The children were asked to identify the food item they preferred unhealthy versus the healthy choice. The children’s knowledge on making healthy food choices was assessed at this time. It was assessed that 72% of the children preferred the food item that was unhealthy, while 28% made healthier selections. Although some of the children made healthy choices the majority of the group made unhealthy food selections. Prior to presenting the teaching plan the teacher reviewed the material to assure it would be understood by the second graders. Their developmental level was confirmed to be within the second grader learning ability in communication and understanding. None of the children required special learning needs. Two of the children wore corrective lenses, which did not inhibit their ability to participate in the activity. Cultural consideration was assessed by asking the children their race and the different kinds of food that is cooked at home. Two children were multicultural of Hispanic origin and specific food items commonly eaten at home were placed into its specific food group. The second graders first language was English. None of the children expressed specific spiritual practices as pertaining to eating habits or customs. The second graders preferred an interactive learning style which included: demonstration, answering and asking questions, and coloring activity. The second graders were enthusiastic and expressed eagerness to learn and share the information with their parents. The overall health status of the second graders was good. There were a few that expressed having allergies or respiratory problems. Learner Objectives The learning objectives for the promotion of healthy eating plan are as follows: A. Affective Domain: The students are willing to actively participate by listening and responding to the instructor’s presentation on healthy eating habits and engage in group activity. B. Cognitive Domain: Each student will be able to choose three healthy food items specific for each of the five food groups and describe three ways healthy eating nourishes the body and benefits of staying physically active. C. Psychomotor Domain: The students will select and identify the food item that is more beneficial for their health with given activity. Teaching Plan The teaching plan to be implemented includes the following presentation, which incorporates the current lunch menu offered to the students in school: A. MyPlate five food group and drink option was presented and the students are asked to choose which food item is eaten daily unhealthy versus healthy items included: 1. Fruit group: Selection of fresh fruit (banana, apple, orange strawberries, etc.) or a fruit cup 2. Grain group: Selection of French fries, potato chips, baked potato or wheat or white bread sandwich 3. Vegetable group: Selection of fresh carrots, salad, celery or canned carrots, corn 4. Protein group: Selection of fried chicken nuggets or baked chicken nuggets, burger or subway sandwich 5. Dairy group: Selection of whole milk or low fat milk, cheese or yogurt 6. Drinks: Water, Capri Sun or Juice box Each individual student will be encouraged to participate and other specific items not listed will be placed in the classified food group in order to address all individual needs. B. MyPlate nutritional guidelines reviewed with the students and open questions answered. 1. The School Day just got Healthier article discussion of the 10 tips for Nutrition Education Series includes awareness of healthier school meals for children, inclusion of more fruits and vegetables daily, along with whole-grain rich foods. The offering of a variety of low fat and fat free milk, reducing saturated fats and salt, increase in water intake. Meeting caloric needs through portion sizes, development of wellness programs, making better food choices and resources available to parents. 2. Emphasis on each food group with interactive group participation to name at least three healthy food items of choice 3. Name how healthy eating benefits the brain, heart and digestion, along with getting at least 60 minutes of exercise daily. C. Students will identify or select the healthier food items offered introduced at the beginning of presentation. 1. Choose MyPlate coloring activity will allow for a visual picture to reinforce the five food groups in a simple manner. 2. Draw three healthy food items on their MyPlate activity sheet. 3. Reinforce healthy eating habits with a take home pamphlet for the parents that describe 10 tips for healthy snacking. Evaluation of Teaching and Learning Evaluation of teaching and learning strategies were accurate, clear and appropriate for the second grade students. The teaching plan was simple and interactive to meet each individual learning need. The health promotion plan and activity outlined can be followed to teach other second grade students the importance of healthy eating habits using the free resources and information available on the website Choosemyplate.gov MyPlate Kid’s Place. The evaluation of learner objectives was measured by having the students re-evaluate their previous food item choice and compare it to the healthier food item. The scores were significantly higher were 92% the students identified and selected healthier food items listed. Open class discussion was used to determine if the teaching strategies used were appropriate for the students. The students expressed understanding and enjoying the class, the activities used and having a parent teaching the class. Positive feedback was given by the teacher present and students. The students were comfortable in their classroom setting, which is the appropriate environment for learning. The health promotion event was successful and effective in educating second grade students on healthy eating habits. The students expressed eagerness to share the resource pamphlet with their parents. The information shared would have been more effective and beneficial if the second graders parents were present, but studies show that second graders are influential in assisting parents make healthy eating choices for them with the information they learn. References Blais, K. K., Hayes, J. S. (2011). Professional nursing practice: concepts and perspectives (6th ed.), New Jersey: Pearson U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010 Jacksonville University College of Health Sciences (2012). School of nursing mission. Retrieved March 25, 2014 from http://www.ju.edu/COHS/Pages/School-of-Nursing-Mission.aspx Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 2014. Retrieved from http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf U.S. Department of Agriculture. ChooseMyPlate.gov Website. Washington, DC. Color Sheet. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids/downloads/ColoringSheet.pdf U.S. Department of Agriculture. ChooseMyPlate.gov Website. Washington, DC. School Day Just Got Healthier. Retrieved April 18, 2014 from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/foodgroups/downloads/TenTips/DGTipsheet21SchoolDayJustGotHealthier.pdf

Nikki Giovani Comparing Poems Essay Example for Free

Nikki Giovani Comparing Poems Essay Nikki Giovanni uses good choice of words and figurative language to put the reader in a vivid world. She uses vivid verbs, personification, and other elements to really give the right picture in your mind. Her method works because the readers get hooked onto the poem and want to read it. One of my favorite poems is â€Å"poetry.† Poetry is a poem about poets using poetry to express themselves and not to impress anybody. She uses metaphors to show what poetry is, she says â€Å"A poem is pure energy. † These types of metaphors help the reader picture what the poems trying to say. She also uses personification to also have a better understanding. Another one of Nikki Giovanni’s poems is â€Å"women.† I think that this poem talks about a woman who has been rejected. She uses metaphors to express how she feels. She says â€Å"I am glass† to say she is transparent. Nikki Giovanni uses metaphors and simile in both poems. She uses these so that readers will understand the poem better. This is a good way to get readers interested. She also uses other elements like repetition to emphasize it like when she repeats â€Å"I am glass I am glass.† In the poems â€Å"women† and â€Å"poetry† by Nikki Giovanni she uses different elements to express what she is trying to express. We talked about two metaphor and simile. The way she uses the different elements really goes along with the poems. It goes really well because it gives the readers pictures of what the poet is trying to express. This is why Nikki Giovanni’s method works good in poetry.

Uses of Religion in Advertising

Uses of Religion in Advertising The way the message is presented, both pictorially and verbally, has a significant effect on the processing of the advertisement. However, it is acknowledged that attitude depend not only on the physical stimuli but also on the stimulis relation to the surrounding field and a whole range of factors within the individual, including the cultural background, experience, personality/cognitive style, values, expectations, and the context in which something is perceived (De Mooij, 2009; Usunier Lee, 2005). Due to this, its widely agreed that when an audience encounters an advertisement, the reaction to it depends on the meaning they assign to it, which in turn depends on characteristics of both the advertisement and the members of the audience (Veloutsou Ahmed, 2006). Advertisers need to understand their audience before encoding messages so that they are credible and generate positive responses. Otherwise the perception may be negative, disbelief or rejection. To ensure that a stimulus produces favorable response, advertisers have to analyze where attitudes stem from and what influences attitude. Positive attitude could result in positive response to a particular advertising stimulus and positive attitude toward the advertisement. This positive attitude could influence purchase intentions (Severn et al., 1990) and even lead to the audiences brand choice without examination of beliefs on specific attributes, because it allows for the retrieval of an overall evaluation with minimal processing (Dotson and Hyatt, 2000). Evidence suggests that advertisements are processed subjectively by individuals, on the basis of the group membership (Leach Liu, 1998). Cultural groups differ in their values, attitudes and prejudices they possess, and thus each group will read the advertisement distinctly and develop its own shared reactions, interpretations and meanings of the advertisement (Leach Liu, 1998). In a cognitively diverse world, a message that is sent is not necessarily the message that is received. Advertising could be more effective when it provides information and uses language that is consistent with the preferences of the audience, because customized advertisements may be more successful than generic one-size-fits-all (LaBarbera, 1998). Values guide and determine attitudes and behavior, which are the core of culture. Advertising reflects and influences cultural values. Therefore, advertising appeals that depict value orientations consistent with the intended audience is likely to be more persuasive than advertisements that depict inconsistent value (Leach Liu, 1998), a fact that advertisers should take into account when creating their messages. Advertisers use cues, such as culturally similar actors, shared cultural symbols and preferred language to produce the intended meaning, in the hope that the cues will be decoded by the audience (Veloutsou Ahmed, 2006). In the following sections the role of religion, as a factor that influences both the advertisement execution and attitude formation will be reviewed. Religion and Advertising Religion as an institution significantly influence on peoples attitudes, values and behaviors (Arnould, Price, Zikhan, 2004) at both the individual and societal levels. According to Peterson and Roy (1985), religion provides a source of meaning and purpose for people; it makes life understandable and interpretable. Religion fosters established practices and provides a series of tools and techniques for social behavior (Hawkins et al.,1980; Schiffman and Kanuk, 1991) therefore, religion and its associated values and practices often play a pivotal role in influencing peoples everyday life. This role is activated and executed through rituals and symbols. Rituals and symbols are focal elements in transferring religious courses and meanings to people which consequently shapes their values, beliefs, and behaviors. Religious self-identity, formed as a result of the internalization of the role expectations offered by the religion, suggests the potential influence of religiosity on ones beha vior and consequently what is considered right or wrong in that perspective (Vitell et. al, 2005). Moral values of right and wrong define what is allowed and forbidden for marketing and consumption and how this marketing strategy should take place. Hirschman (1983) points out that religious denominational affiliation may be viewed as cognitive systems. A cognitive system is a set of beliefs, values, expectations and behaviors that are shared by members of a group (Berger, 1961; Gurvitch, 1971; Merton, 1937). This perspective suggests that members of a particular religion may possess common cognitive systems, which may influence that groups behaviour (Hirschman, 1983). In a series of studies, Hirschman (1981, 1982, 1983) found that religious affiliation had an influence on novelty seeking, information search and a number of consumption processes such as choice of entertainment, transportation and family pets. Hirschman (1983) concluded that few other variables have exhibited the range and depth of explanatory power offered by religious affiliation (Esso Dibb, 2004). Even though attitudes and behaviors are directly influenced by at least religion-rooted aspects of culture, religions impact on consumption-related behaviour have been only very modestly studied in the marketing literature (Mokhlis, 2009). According to Hirschman (1983) there are three possible reasons for this shortfall. The first reason for the slow development of literature in this area is the possibility that consumer researchers are unaware of the possible links between religion and consumption patterns. The second reason is a perceived prejudice against religion within the research community; once being a taboo subject and too sensitive to be submitted for investigation (i.e. the potential for inadvertent offence and the legal protection afforded freedom of religion). Finally, she claims that religion is everywhere in our life and therefore may have been overlooked by researchers as an obvious variable for investigation in the field. Although Hirschman made this assertion some y ears ago, it is still true today. To date, few studies have investigated religion as a predictor of attitudes toward advertisement. Existing studies on advertising and religion mainly examined the influence of religion on attitude toward advertising of controversial products (De Run, Butt, Fam, Jong, 2010; Fam Grohs, 2007; Fam Waller, 2003; Fam, Waller, Erdogan, 2004; Michell Al-Mossawi, 1995). However, a review of the pertinent literature showed that most of these studies observed this influence from the point of marketing communications. Examining whether religion and intensity of religious belief has an effect on the attitudes towards the advertising of controversial products, Fam, et al. (2004) found a significant difference between the four controversial product groups (gender/sex related products, social/political groups, health and care products, and addictive products) and the four religious groups (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and non-religious believers). Their results revealed that Muslims found the advertising of gender/sex related products, social/political groups, and health and care products most offensive relative to the other three religions. In addition, the religiously devout respondents were more likely to find advertising of gender/sex related products, health and care products, and addictive products more offensive than the less devout followers (Fam, et al., 2004). Second area of research in the field of advertising and religion has primarily focused on the presence of religious values in advertisements(Al-Olayan Karande, 2000; Kalliny, 2008). For example, in a cross cultural content analysis of magazine advertisements in the U.S. and Arab countries, Al-Olayan and Karande (2000) found that in Arab advertisements women tended to be portrayed in advertisements in which their presence was related to the advertised product. This was indicated to be in compliance with accepted Muslim religious tenants (Henley Jr, Philhours, Ranganathan, Bush, 2009). In another research to investigate the impact of religious differences on advertising execution in Arab world Kalliny (2008) found that there were major differences among the Arab countries where Egypt and Lebanon were found to depict women who are dressed less modestly than Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Developing alongside the literature focusing on the two above-mentioned of the research area is another cluster of studies that explores the consumers reactions to ads containing religious cues or symbols (Dotson Hyatt, 2000; Henley Jr, et al., 2009; Lumpkins, 2007; Taylor, Halstead, Haynes, 2010). These studies tried to shed the light on the advertisement processing through measuring  Taylor and his colleagues research examined consumer reactions to the use of a Christian religious symbol (the Christian fish symbol: Ichthus) in advertising by running two experiments. Their controversial findings revealed that consumers have varied reactions to Christian messages in the secular marketplace and that responses depend on their religiosity levels. The results of their follow-up field experiment with adult consumers indicated a significant Christian symbol by evangelical religiosity interaction on perceived quality and purchase intentions such that the Christian symbol enhanced consum er evaluations and the effects were stronger as evangelical religiosity increased. They have also found that consumer source perceptions of the marketer in terms of attitude similarity, trustworthiness, expertise, and skepticism mediated these interaction effects. But their second study which was a lab experiment conducted with young adults revealed an unusual backlash effect of the Christian symbol on purchase intentions for some consumers and contrasting mediation results (Taylor, et al., 2010). In another study to investigate consumers responses to ads with religious cues Henley et. al (2009) examined the effects of Christian cues or symbols on relevant and irrelevant symbol product ad evaluations. The study indicates that religiosity of the respondent has a significant moderating impact on the evaluation of an ad (Aad, Ab, and PI) that has a relevant Christian symbol Moreover, and possibly most significantly, the interaction effect between relevancy and  religiosity indicate that this interplay combines to significantly affect the diagnostic efficacy of the ad including attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intentions for higher religiosity respondents under relevant conditions (Henley Jr, et al., 2009). The finding of this research corroborates Dotson and Hyatts (2000) findings. Dotson and Hyatt (2000) specifically studied the use of religious symbols as peripheral cues in advertising in a replication of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). In ads for pet health insurance, the authors manipulated argument strength and the presence or absence of the Christian cross as a peripheral cue. Product category involvement and level of religious dogmatism were found to be related to attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention, however, not in the expected directions. Low involvement subjects who were high in religious dogmatism had a less favorable attitude toward the brand and lower purchase intention when exposed to ads containing the cross. High involvement subjects who were also highly dogmatic had more favorable feelings toward the product when the cross was present in the ads. ELM suggests that the low involvement subjects would have responded more favorably  to the cue (Dotson Hyatt, 2000). P 2 Existing studies of advertising suggest that cultural values either influence the production and execution of advertising or are reflected in the content itself (Chang, et al., 2009). religious rooted aspect of culture directly or indirectly influence attitudes and behavior Islamic values and Advertising Rice/almousavi/lughmani/karandi/olayyen/malezi/keenan ramazan/ Muslims consider Islam to be a complete way of life (Kavoossi 2000, Lawrence 1998). Indeed, one of the characteristics that distinguish Muslims from followers of some other faiths is that the influence of religion is very clear in every aspect of the Muslims life (Rice Al-Mossawi, 2002). The Sharia is a comprehensive code governing the duties, morals and behavior of all Muslims, individually, and collectively in all areas of life, including marketing and commerce (Luqmani, Yavas and Quraeshi, 1987). It completely describes the values that Muslims should hold, such as truth, justice, honesty, social obligations, collective responsibility and the roles of men and women (Al-Olayan Karande, 2000). It is beyond the scope and scale of this study to discuss the whole characteristics of Islamic values. But we refer to some of which implies more attention in advertising industry. According to Islamic social philosophy all spiritual, social, political, and economic spheres of life form an indivisible unity that must be thoroughly imbued with Islamic values. This principle informs such concepts as Islamic law and the Islamic state and accounts for Islams strong emphasis on social life and social duties (Fam, et al., 2004). The Islamic law, Sharia, which sets all that one should do, derives from four main resources of Islamic teaching. These resources are Koran (Muslims holy book which is Gods wording), Sunnah (the divinely inspired conduct of the Prophet Mohammad), Aghl (reasoning), and Ijma (consensus of opinion) (Coulson, 1964, p. 55-59).(Al-Olayan Karande, 2000). Islam has not addressed many of modern phenomena such as marketing and advertising explicitly, but its comprehensive value system explicates should and shouldnt which consequently influences advertising content, execution and evaluation. In an attempt to relate basic Islamic values to advertising implications Rice and Al-Mousavi (2002) elucidated these values and their advertising implication. Some of these values which Muslims should follow are truth, honesty, politeness and social and collective obligations and responsibilities. Muslims should keep away from falsehood and deception everywhere in general and in trade and financial dealings with others in specific. They could not tell a lie and should avoid exaggeration. This suggests that advertisers should strive for excellence as an end in itself, in addition to communicating truthfully about products and services (Rice Al-Mossawi, 2002).Therefore Muslims process exaggerated messages in advertising as lie which intends to mislead them. Muslim activities are categorized as lawful (halal) and prohibited (haram) (Rice and Al-Mousavi, 2002) which constitute a system of values for assessing others speaking and behavior as well. Eating pork ,carrion, and carnivorous animals , gambling, drinking alcohol, nudity and idol worship (statutes inclusive) are prohibited (Chachu a, Kucharski, Luba, Ma achowska, Martinovski). Advertisements which portray some of these prohibited elements make people feel offended or be perceived as offensive. advertisement that ignore these implications will not be effective and have the adverse affect on the sale (Michell and Al-Mossawi, 1995). Regarding the globalized hegemonic content and form of advertisements which was somehow contrasting with Islamic values, Muslims tend to the negative evaluation of advertising. Research in Saudi Arabia has shown that over 70% of Muslim respondents think that advertising is a threat to culture of Islam (Al-Makaty et al., 1996). (Keenan Shoreh, 2000). In a global survey of attitudes towards advertising in 22 countries, conducted by the International Advertising Association in 1993,results indicated that: Egypt was the only market where respondents were consistently anti-advertising (Wentz, 1993, p 1, cited at Keenan Shoreh, 2000). Keenan and Shoreh (2000) conducted a research which shows that Muslims think that advertisements present western values and ignore Arab history and customs. Their investigation into the Egyptian main media (Al-Ahram) content in the period of 1975 to 1995 revealed that around 50 percent of items focusing on advertising had a negative, anti- advertising tone (Keenan Shoreh, 2000). According to Fam et.al (2004), Muslims found the advertising of gender/sex related products, social/political groups, and health and care products most offensive relative to the other three religions. Moreover, the religiously devout respondents were more likely to find advertising of gender/sex related products, health and care products, and addictive products more offensive than the less devout follower. (Fam, et.al, 2004). To overcome this shortfall, in addititon to further consideration of Islamic values, some advertisers utilized Islamic elements to produce a favorable feeling among Muslims. For example some advertisement utilized Quranic words to enhance the influence of the ad and make it more appealing to Muslim consumers. Examples are the words Bismillah (in the name  of God; a phrase used by Muslims before beginning any action) or Allahu akbar (literally, God is greater)(Rice Al-Mossawi, 2002). Luqmani et al. (1989) provide an example of a manufacturer of water pumps that uses a verse from the Quran in advertising: We made every living thing from water. In another example a distributor of Royal Regina honey capsules in Saudi Arabia successfully ran a contest that included a question on how many times bees are mentioned in the Quran, along with questions and information about the product (Luqmani, Yavas, Quraeshi, 1993). His work gives an evidence of the influence of Islam in advertising Authors also have reckoned that the most important Muslims religion characteristic is that the influence of religion is very clear in every aspect of live. This influence is fortified in some special time like Ramadan; the fasting month of Muslims. The month of Ramadan is the holiest time of the year in Islam. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the frameworks of Muslim life, along with faith in one God, prayer from the Koran five times daily, charity for those in need, and making the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. It entails a list of prohibitions between the hours  of sunrise and sunset. Beyond the fasting that is central to Ramadan, the entire month is a period of increased spirituality and religious contemplation for Muslims. As a result , this empowered spirituality affects the whole sphere of Muslims life including their consuming behavior and marketing communication. Keenan and Yeni (2003) compared ads run during Ramadan and those run during a non-Ramadan period in Egypt. Findings s how fewer ads during Ramadan, more emphasis on charity messages during Ramadan, and more conservatively dressed characters in ads during Ramadan. According to Keenan and Yeni (2003) advertisers intentionally tone down the way they present women in their commercials. This might be interpreted as a form of respect for the Islamic principles and values of Ramadan (Keenan Yeni, 2003). Representation of Hijab in advertisements In the symbolic space of communication, identities have to be constructed through language and pictures and cultural symbols of identity such as the hijab take on enormous significance (cf.Dholakia and Zwick, 2001; Schau and Gilly, 2003). Relogious symbols, notabely, take on a sacredness that gives them a very strong presence and power in many peoples daily lives. The wearing of religious dress and symbols is an important expression of an individuals religious identity. It may reflect the wearers understanding of the requirements prescribed in their tradition or their belief that wearing this form of dress or these symbols as a mark of their religious commitment helps to enhance their spiritual life. It may also reflect a desire publicly to affirm the identity to which these are linked. This interpretation and affiliation might emerge in information processing among Muslims when they encounter a message carrying this religious symbol. Hijab as a symbolic expression of Muslims clearly symbolizes a womans religious affiliation; it also shapes Muslim womens independent identities standards (Macdonaldi, 2006). Hijab , further to religious identification, functions to perform a behavior check, resist sexual objectification, afford more respect, preserve intimate relationships, and provide freedom (Anderson, 2007). According to Bullock (2000) Muslim women in west who cover their head, see hijab as a way of projecting a Muslim identity and refuting an imitation of the west. Frances controversial new law banning the overt display of religious symbols in school, directed at the wearing of the hijab, brings to the forefront the enormous contemporary significance of the veil as a historically and culturally constructed symbol of female Islamic identity (Zwick Chelariu, 2006). Westerners often regard the hijab as a symbol of backward cultural and gender politics and even fundamentalist extremism (Brenner, 1996)(Zwick Chelariu, 2006), but the practice of hijab among Muslim women is based on religious doctrine. Islam stresses that women should dress modestly and encourages women not to show too much of their bodies in public. Surat Al-Noor-Aih-31 in The Koran, the Muslims holy book addressed the issue of womens modesty by stating: And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what ordinarily appear thereof that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers (kaliny, 2008). Scholars have interpreted this Koran passage differently, but most scholars take this message to mean that women may show only their hands and face to men outside of their immediate family (Rice Al-Mossawi, 2002). The guidelines provided in the Koran might not be strictly followed in the contemporary Muslim countries. A range of practices exists among Muslims regarding the times and places -ranging from prayer only to all the time that women are expected to be veiled. This different perception influenced advertising industry among Muslims world. While in Saudi Arabia and Iran it is forbidden to show other than the above-mentioned body parts, in Dubai in United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt, the most liberal outdoor advertising is presented in the European version (Karande and Kiran, 2000). In a content analysis of pan-Arab, Egyptian, Lebanese and Emirati magazine advertisements, Al- Olayan and Karande (2000) found that in 83 percent of Arabic advertisements showing women, they were wearing long clothing, compared to 29 per cent in US advertisements. Furthermore ,Arabic advertisements show women in advertisement if their presence relates directly to the product and if they are appropriately dressed, that is, wearing long dresses and a head covering that does not expose any hair (Al-Makaty et al. 1996). Luqmani et al. (1989) describe how, in Saudi Arabia, advertisers of cosmetics refrain from picturing sensous females. Instead, in typical advertisements (an example is the Dove cleansing bar), a pleasant-looking woman appears in a robe and headdress with only her face showing. In Malaysia, Islam also exerts great influence on advertising regulation. The Islamic principle of covering the aurat (i.e., private body parts) for women and the prohibition of using women as sex symbols in advertising are strictly enforced (Wah, 2006). For instance, the Malaysian advertising code stipulates that female models portrayed in advertising must be fully clothed up to the neckline. The length of the skirt should be below the knees. The arms may be exposed up to the edge of the shoulder without exposing the underarms (Advertising Code forTelevision and Radio, 1990).