The Problem of Grade Inflation

The Problem of Grade Inflation Grade Inflation: Is A the new C? Quinn, my 9-year-old stepson played on a little league baseball team. He attended most of the practices and played in all the games. I asked one day who won the game today? He looked to his father for the answer. I asked, doesnt he know if his team won? It seems that this little league bent the rules of baseball. Well, they didnt just bend the rules they made up their own rules making sure all the players played, no one struck out, five runs and the other team was up you get my drift. Then to top it off they held a party at the end of the season where everyone received a trophy. I was frankly appalled. Being rewarded just for participation. The prevalence of grade inflation is effecting students, professors and institutions. Students are receiving higher grades than earned. A has become the new C. If our educational system is failing to grade appropriately for attainment of knowledge that students supposedly are there to gain, then what does it all mean? It would seem suitable to compare it to giving every person on a sport team a trophy just for participating. It is a deceptive practice and ethically wrong to give a grade when it truly is not achieved no matter what the reason. The purpose of this argument on grade inflation is to convince students, professors, parents and institutions that the practice of grade inflation must stop. Everyone is affected by the strength or weakness and by the fairness or unjust attributes of our educational system. Grade Inflation has many repercussions. Students receiving higher grades make it difficult to discern the average student from the above average student from the exceptional student. Problem Analysis In my research, I have found educators agreeing that grade inflation is a problem. Over the past decades claims of grade inflation in American higher education have been ubiquitous, with ample evidence documenting its prevalence and severity (Arnold 2004; Summary Weber 2012; Carter Lara, 2016, p. 346). As stated by Rojstaczer 2003, The data indicate that not only is C an endangered species but that B, once the most popular grade at universities and colleges, has been supplanted by the former symbol of perfection, the A (p. A21) It is important to note the causes of grade inflation in the first place. As stated by Rojstaczer and Healy (2010), Faculty attitudes about teaching and grading underwent a profound shift that coincided with the Vietnam War (see graph below). Many professors, certainly not all or even a majority, became convinced that grades were not a useful tool for motivation, were not a valid means of evaluation and created a harmful authoritarian environment for learning. Added to this shift was a real-life exigency. In the 1960s, full-time male college students were exempt from the military draft. If a male college student flunked out, chances were that he would end up as a soldier in the Vietnam War, a highly unpopular conflict on a deadly battlefield. Partly in response to changing attitudes about the nature of teaching and partly to ensure that male students maintained their full-time status, grades rose rapidly. Then there seemed to be a lull in grade inflation until the 1980s when grades b egan to rise again. A new ethos had developed among college leaders. Students were no longer thought of as acolytes searching for knowledge. Instead they were customers (Rojstaczer Healy, 2010). Â   Note. Reprinted from Grade Inflation at American Colleges Universities, by Rojstaczer, S. Two of the more frequently cited sources of grade inflation are faculty status and faculty evaluations Hall (2011 p.146). Professors at some institutions are dependent on good evaluations from students. If the evaluations are not favorable and grades are low, then the teacher becomes suspect. Simply stated, the higher the course grade, the happier the student, and the higher the ratings on the faculty evaluations completed by those students Hall (2011). Motivating the student becomes an issue when the common grade is A. I found support that it becomes extremely difficult for professors to grade honestly because it can be viewed as a sign of poor quality education by the professor, his ratings go down and consequently enrollment in the institutions in future years will suffer. In an article by Stroebe (2016), he discusses grading leniency encouraged by universities. Evidence is presented that the positive association between student grades and their evaluation of teaching reflects a bias rather than teaching effectiveness (p. 800). This cyclic process has only resulted in more problems. Poor student performance in subsequent courses tend to become apparent. Stroebe, a professor in the department of social and organizational psychology, University of Groningen, the Netherlands deliberates the notion that grading leniency or grade inflation is likely to demotivate students. He presents that students overestimate the amount they learn based on the grade they receive. Institutions are at fault here as well and may be the one of the biggest proponents to perpetuating the vicious circle. As Hall (2012) explains in her article, institutional interests also tend to have a significant impact on the prevalence of grade inflation in higher education. With more and more cuts to educational funding, many colleges and universities find themselves struggling to balance their budgets. Students who are happy with their grades are students who are much more likely to remain enrolled thereby filling classroom seats and paying tuition fees (p. 147). An issue that has revealed itself in my research is academic entitlement. The attitude of many of the students today is that they have the right since they are the procurers. (Hall, 2012 p.148). Thought provoking questions are asked by researchers as to the reasons of academic entitlement. As Greenberger, Lessard, Chen Farruggia (2008) ask, What are the circumstances that foster the behavior and attitudes of academic self-entitlement: i.e., expectations of high rewards for modest effort, expectations of special consideration and accommodation by teachers when it comes to grades, and impatience and anger when their expectations and perceived needs are not met? (p. 1194). Rebuttal against grade inflation Then there are those with opposing viewpoints that grade inflation is nonexistent. As Kohn (2002) states, Even where grades are higher now as compared with then, that does not constitute proof that they are inflated. The burden rests with critics to demonstrate that those higher grades are undeserved, and one can cite any number of alternative explanations. Maybe students are turning in better assignments. Maybe instructors used to be too stingy with their marks and have become more reasonable. Maybe the concept of assessment itself has evolved, so that today it is more a means for allowing students to demonstrate what they know rather than for sorting them or catching them out (p. B8) My rebuttal is that over the years attitudes have changed not only of the students, the professors and the institutions. Institutions are not just interested in being the best in providing education, they are not interested in the education business, they are interested in the business of education. Simply put how to make the most money. Professors are interested in keeping their jobs by keeping institutions happy with them. If they give poor grades institutions will think that their teaching ability is poor and students, since they are paying for their education, feel entitled to get good grades or they may give their instructor an unfavorable evaluation. My interview was with a young physician who went to undergraduate school in 2001 then on to medical school, a residency program and an internship. She is currently a practicing physician in a large group practice. One of my reasons for the choice of interviewee is that in the line graph illustrated previously she falls in the time when A is the most popular grade given nationwide. I formulated my line of questions only to be side railed by the very first question; When you were in college, were you aware of grade inflation practices? Her answer was no. Well, I continued, there are quite a few articles written about grade inflation and how prevalent it has become. It has been steadily increasing over the last twenty years. Have you notice that your grades were inflated? She indignantly said, absolutely not! I worked my butt off for every grade I got! the conversation continued as I strove to gain some glimmer of grade inflation recognition. Have you noticed any fellow students getting As that did not put in an A effort? The answer was no all the students I was with were hard working and deserved the grades they received. After the unexpected denial or unawareness of grade inflation could my interviewee fit into the category of entitlement? I decided that it was a case of a hard-working student with drive, motivation and determination to receive the grades that she deserved. She grew up in a time of entitlement, and yes, she does exhibit some of those qualities but she works hard to this day. She may have grown up in the age of entitlement but she is a child of achievement. I would know since she is my daughter. Solution Hall (2012), Argues that in the fight against grade inflation what is lacking are the basic principles of instructional design. There is no framework in place in institutions for measures to prevent grade inflating propensities and actions. Anyone who investigates the sources of grade inflation will ultimately find themselves pointed in the direction of the students themselves. The attitude of many of the students today is that they have the right since they are the procurers. (Hall, 2012 p.148) My experience with attending Chamberlain College for Nursing is that the courses are set up to allow the professors to grade honestly. The grading rubric is beneficial to the student who now knows exactly what is expected of him or her. It makes it a more objective approach to grading. As Kelly (2017) describes, Here are three reasons why I find rubrics truly effective. First, rubrics save time because I can simply look at your rubric and mark off points. Second, rubrics keep me honest, even when Ive had a horrible day . I feel much more objective as I sit before my mountain of papers. More important than these two reasons, however, is that when I have created a rubric beforehand and shown it to my students I get better quality work. They know what I want. They can also see right away where they lost points (p. 1) Benefits I agree with Hall in her analysis of grade inflation. I can see that there are many facets that are all contributing to the problem. Solving one issue will not resolve the problem. Grade Inflating practices are fundamentally wrong. It involves a faculty member to award a grade that is higher than earned. Although it is recognized as being an issue, the inappropriate conduct continues. Hall not only describes the various causes and the rationale why grade inflation continues, but she offers a framework that consists of a different approach to combating the problem with specific objectives, instruction and assessment. It sounds very much like the grading rubric. According to Stevens and Levi (2005), At its most basic, a rubric is a scoring tool that lays out the specific expectations for an assignment. Rubrics divide an assignment into its component parts and provide a detailed description of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable levels of performance for each of those parts (p.3 ) Conclusion In conclusion, with instructors lowering their grading standards, A has become the most ordinary grade on college campuses. Its like buying a dozen eggs with medium, large, extra-large and jumbo all mixed in one carton. With no true evaluation of students performance, you dont know what youre getting. Students have a sense of entitlement that parents and the environment we live in have fostered over time. Students expect an A with minimal effort. This can be demotivating and discouraging for students who truly give it their all. When there are no guidelines or enforced regulation of grades, the grades given in higher education will have less and less meaning. Its time to stop giving trophies just for participation. References Ad Hoc Committee on Grade Inflation. Final Report of the Ad Hoc Committee Task Force on Grade Inflation. American University, Washington, DC. (October, 10th, 2016).http://www.american.edu/facultysenate/upload/Senate-report-on-Grade-Inflation-Final-10-20-16.pdf. Arnold, R. A. (2004). Way That Grades are Set is a Mark Against Professors. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Carter, M. J., Lara, P. Y. (2016). Grade Inflation in Higher Education: Is the End in Sight? Academic Questions, 29(3), 346-353. Doi:10.1007/s12129-016-9569-5 Caruth, D., Caruth, G. (2013, January). Grade Inflation: an issue for higher education. Turkish Journal of Distance Education. v.14, n. 1, p. 102-110. ISSN: ISSN-1302-6488. Fauer, J., Lopez, L. (2009, October). Grade Inflation: too much talk too little action. American Journal of Business Education. v.2, n.7. Greenberger, E., Lessard, J., Chen, C., Farruggia, S. (2008). Self-Entitled college students: contributions of personality, parenting, and motivational factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. (April 4th, 2008), 37:1193-1204. DOI 10.1007/s10964-008-9284-9. Hall, R. A. (2012). A neglected reply to grade inflation in higher education. Global Education Journal, 2012(3), 144-165. Kelly, M. (2017). Creating and Using Rubrics: Make Your Life Easier with Rubrics. About Education. (Updated February 03, 2017). http://712educators.about.com/cs/rubrics/a/rubrics.htm Kohn, A. (2002). The dangerous myth of grade inflation. The Chronicle of Higher Education. November 8th, 2002. 49(11). Rojstaczer S., Healy C. (2016). Where A is ordinary: The evolution of American college and university grading. 1940-2009. Teachers College Record, ID Number: 15928. http://www.tcrecord.org Rojstaczer, S. (2016). Grade Inflation at American Colleges and Universities. www.GradeInflation.com. (March 29, 2016). Rojstaczer, S. (2003). Where all Grades are Above Average. The Washington Post. January 28, 2003. A21. Stevens, D., Levi, A. (2005). Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning. Stylus Publishing, LLC. Sterling, Virginia. Stroebe, W. (2016). Why Good Teaching Evaluations May Reward Bad Teaching. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), p. 800-816. DOI:10.1177/1745691616650284 Summary, R., Weber, W. (2012). Grade Inflation or Productivity Growth? An Analysis of Changing Grade Distributions at a Regional University. Journal of Productivity Analysis 38.95-107.

The Causes and Effects of Divorce Essay -- cause/effect essay

From past to present people all over the world have determined to live together, or â€Å"get married†. Marriage can be a beautiful thing, but some couples are unable to maintain their relationship, because they choose divorce as a solution to cope with the problems between husband and wife. Furthermore divorce is definitely on a rise. The effects of divorce can be detrimental to a family, but the causes of divorce can be just as bad. In this essay we will cover one of the main causes of divorce and one of the main effects. One of the main causes that marriages are not lasting is the change in the roles of woman today. Prior to the 1980’s it was the man’s responsibility to earn money and financially provide for his family, whereas the woman only took did house work and looked after the ch...

Estrangement in Joseph Conrads Amy Foster and in Rebecca Wests The Re

Estrangement in Joseph Conrad's Amy Foster and in Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier The concept of male estrangement in an alien environment is portrayed in both Joseph Conrad’s short story, Amy Foster, as well as in Rebecca West’s book, The Return of the Soldier. First, there are adverse reactions to the male protagonists’ placement in their environments. The reactions vary between the protagonists and the people they come into contact with. Second, there are similarities and differences between the way the two authors chose to explore the situations presented. Third, both protagonists handle their estrangement differently. It is hard to behave appropriately when you are among peculiar customs. It seems ironic that in both instances, the protagonist has reached the alien environment from violent circumstances. In Amy Foster, the main character, Yanko Goorall, falls victim to a shipwreck, leaving him stranded in a mysterious land. For instance, Conrad writes: â€Å"†¦he was a castaway†¦washed ashore here in a storm. And for him†¦England was an undiscovered country† (Conrad 140). Upon arrival, he was desperate and in need of shelter and sustenance, causing him to appear as though he was behaving erratically. â€Å"The driver of Mr. Bradley’s milk-cart made no secret of it that he had lashed with his whip at a hairy sort of gipsy fellow who, jumping at a turn of the road†¦made a snatch at the pony’s bridle† (Conrad 145). This is justified by the narrator who claims: â€Å"Maybe that in his desperate endeavours to get help, and in his need to get in touch with some one, the poor devil had tried to stop the cart† (Con rad 145). Although Yanko had appeared to be behaving oddly, his behaviors were also responded to in a rather harsh f... ... from his present life, back to a time when he was safe and happy. In conclusion, the idea of male estrangement in an alien environment is examined in both Joseph Conrad’s fabulous short story, Amy Foster, as well as in Rebecca West’s sad tale, The Return of the Soldier. First, various reactions occur. There are the reactions to the protagonists as well as the reactions of the protagonists. Second, the authors chose to explore different situations. Despite this fact, there are a few similarities in both situations. Third, each protagonist explores his situation differently. One runs from his past, his eyes gleaming with a brighter future. The other openly embraces his past, while rejecting his present life and hoping for a second chance. There is no easy way of going about it, and it is interesting how similar yet different both of these adventures are.

The Character of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire :: A Streetcar Named Desire Essays

The Character of Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Blanche, Stella's older sister, until recently a high school English teacher in Laurel, Mississippi. She arrives in New Orleans a loquacious, witty, arrogant, fragile, and ultimately crumbling figure. Blanche once was married to and passionately in love with a tortured young man. He killed himself after she discovered his homosexuality, and she has suffered from guilt and regret ever since. Blanche watched parents and relatives, all the old guard, die off, and then had to endure foreclosure on the family estate. Cracking under the strain, or perhaps yielding to urges so long suppressed that they now could no longer be contained, Blanche engages in a series of sexual escapades that trigger an expulsion from her community. In New Orleans she puts on the airs of a woman who has never known indignity, but Stanley sees through her. Her past catches up with her and destroys her relationship with Mitch. Stanley, as she fears he might, destroys what's left of her. At the end of the play she is led away to an insane asylum. This is indeed the story of what happened to Blanche in the play but what flaws in her own character were to blame for her subsequent tragedy. Blanche is by far the most complex character of the play. An intelligent and sensitive woman who values literature and the creativity of the human imagination, she is also emotionally traumatised and repressed. This gives license for her own imagination to become a haven for her pain. One senses that Blanches own view of her real self as opposed to her ideal self has been increasingly blurred over the years until it is sometimes difficult for her to tell the difference. It is a challenge to find the key to Blanche's melancholy but perhaps the roots of her trauma lie in her early marriage. She was haunted by her inability to help or understand her young, troubled husband and that she has tortured herself for it ever since. Her drive to lose herself in the "kindness of strangers" might also be understood from th is period in that her sense of confidence in her own feminine attraction was shaken by the knowledge of her husband's homosexuality and she is driven to use her sexual charms to attract men over and over. Yet, beneath all this, there is a desire to find a companion, to find fulfilment in love.

From Strategy to Business Essay

Strategy scholars have used the notion of the Business Model to refer to the ‘logic of the firm’ e how it operates and creates value for its stakeholders. On the surface, this notion appears to be similar to that of strategy. We present a conceptual framework to separate and relate the concepts of strategy and business model: a business model, we argue, is a reflection of the firm’s realized strategy. We find that in simple competitive situations there is a one-to-one mapping between strategy and business model, which makes it difficult to separate the two notions. We show that the concepts of strategy and business model differ when there are important contingencies on which a well-designed strategy must be based. Our framework also delivers a clear distinction between strategy and tactics, made possible because strategy and business model are different constructs. Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The ï ¬ eld of strategy has evolved substantially in the past twenty-ï ¬ ve years. Firms have learned to analyze their competitive environment, deï ¬ ne their position, develop competitive and corporate advantages, and understand better how to sustain advantage in the face of competitive challenges and threats. Different approaches – including industrial organization theory, the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities and game theory – have helped academicians and practitioners understand the dynamics of competition and develop recommendations about how ï ¬ rms should deï ¬ ne their competitive and corporate strategies. But drivers such as globalization, deregulation and technological change (to mention only a few) are profoundly changing the competitive game. Scholars and practitioners agree that the fastest growing ï ¬ rms in this new environment appear to be those that have taken advantage of  these structural changes to innovate in their business models so they can compete ‘differently’. IBM’s Global CEO Studies for 2006 and 2008, for example, show that top management in a broad range of industries are actively seeking guidance on how to innovate in their business models to improve their ability to both create and capture value.1 In addition to the business model innovation drivers noted above, much recent interest has come from two other environmental shifts. Advances in ICT have been a major force behind the recent 0024-6301/$ – see front matter.interest in business model innovation. Many e-businesses are based on new business models e Shafer, Smith and Linder ï ¬ nd that eight of the twelve recent business model deï ¬ nitions they present relate to e-business.2 New strategies for the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ in emerging markets have also steered researchers and practitioners towards the systematic study of business models. Academicians working in this area agree that ï ¬ rms need to develop novel business models to be effective in such speciï ¬ c and challenging environments (see work by Thompson and MacMillan, as well as by Yunus et al. in this issue), and socially motivated enterprises constitute a second important source of recent business model innovations. Advances in ICT and the demands of socially motivated enterprises constitute important sources of recent business model innovations. While it has become uncontroversial to argue that managers must have a good understanding of how business models work if their organizations are to thrive, the academic community has only offered early insights on the issue to date, and there is (as yet) no agreement as to the distinctive features of superior business models. We believe this is partly because of a lack of a clear distinction between the notions of strategy, business models and tactics, and the purpose of this article is to contribute to this literature by presenting an integrative framework to distinguish and relate these three concepts. Put succinctly:  Business Model refers to the logic of the ï ¬ rm, the way it operates and how it creates value for its stakeholders; and  Strategy refers to the choice of business model through which the ï ¬ rm will compete in the marketplace; while  Tactics refers to the residual choices open to a ï ¬ rm by virtue of the business model it chooses to employ. To integrate these three concepts, we introduce a generic two-stage competitive process framework, as depicted in Figure 1. In the ï ¬ rst stage, ï ¬ rms choose a ‘logic of value creation and value capture’ (i.e., choose their business model), and in the second, make tactical choices guided by their goals (which, in most cases, entail some form of stakeholder value maximization). Figure 1 thus presents our organizing framework: the object of strategy is the choice of business model, and the business model employed determines the tactics available to the ï ¬ rm to compete against, or cooperate with, other ï ¬ rms in the marketplace. The article is organized as follows. In the next section we deï ¬ ne and discuss the notion of business models and present a tool to represent them, while the following section considers the stage two ‘choice’ in our framework, presenting and discussing the notion of tactics in relation to that of business model. The following section then moves back to examine the ï ¬ rst e strategy e stage, after which we revisit our process framework to integrate the three notions. We discuss the connection between strategy and business model, arguing that both notions can be clearly separated. A detailed example is developed in the following stage, followed by some concluding remarks. Business models Although the expression ‘business model’ has gained in prominence only in the last decade, the term has been part of the business jargon for a long time, its origins going back to the writings of Peter Drucker. Although (as Markides points out) there is no widely accepted deï ¬ nition, Magretta deï ¬ nes business models as ‘stories that explain how enterprises work’, and follows Drucker in deï ¬ ning ‘a good business model’ as the one that provides answers to the following questions: ‘Who is the customer and what does the costumer value?’ and ‘What is the underlying economic logic that explains how we can deliver value to customers at an appropriate cost?’ While not formal, her implicit idea is that a business model is about how an organization earns money by addressing these two fundamental issues e how it identiï ¬ es and creates value for customers, and how it captures some of this value as its proï ¬ t in the process. Amit and Zott’s deï ¬ nition, in contrast, is less broad (as it focuses on e-businesses) but more precise. Reviewing the contributions of several theories – including virtual markets, Schumpeterian innovation, value chain analysis, the resource-based view of the ï ¬ rm, dynamic capabilities,  transaction cost economics and strategic networks – they point out that each contributes elements to the notion, but that none, by itself, explains business models completely. They analyze a sample of U.S. and European e-business models to highlight the drivers of value creation, and present the following integrative deï ¬ nition: ‘A business model depicts the content, structure, and governance of transactions designed so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities.’ The content of a transaction refers to the goods or information exchanged, as well as to resources and capabilities required; the structure refers to the parties that participate, their links, and the way they choose to operate, and governance refers to the way ï ¬â€šows of information, resources and goods are controlled by the relevant parties, the legal form of organization, and the incentives to the participants.5 In this issue, they build on this deï ¬ nition to propose an ‘activity system perspective’ for the design of business models, arguing that activity systems capture the essence of business models and proposing two sets of aspects for designers to consider: design elements (content, structure and governance) that describe the activity system’s architecture, and design themes (novelty, lock-in, complementarities, and efï ¬ ciency) that describe its sources of value creation. The common thread across all of these approximations to the notion of busin ess model is well captured by BadenFuller, MacMillan, Demil and Lecocq in their deï ¬ nition ‘the logic of the ï ¬ rm, the way it operates and how it creates value for its stakeholders’, and we adopt their deï ¬ nition as the starting point for our argument. To make progress toward understanding business models, we ï ¬ nd it helpful to use the analogy of a machine e by which we mean a mechanical device that transmits energy to perform tasks. (Of course, real organizations are different from machines in many important respects, but the comparison is helpful, especially to our thinking in contrasting the notions of strategy and business models.) Any given machine has a particular logic of operation (the way the different components are assembled and relate to one another), and operates in a particular way to create value for its user. To be more concrete, different automobile designs have different speciï ¬ c logics of operation – conventional engines operate quite differently from hybrids, and  standard transmissions from automatics – and create different value for their ‘stakeholders,’ the drivers. Some may prefer a small car that allows them to navigate congested city streets easily, while others may prefer a large SUV with a powerful engine to enjoy the countryside to the fullest. Automobiles are made of parts – wheels, engines, seats, electronics, windshields, and the like. To assess how well a particular automobile works – or to create a new one one must consider its components and how they relate to one another, just as, to better understand business models, one needs to understand their component parts and their relationships. (We return to this analogy during the paper: readers will gain more value from it if they understand the design and building of the car as representing strategy; the car itself as the business model; and the driving of the car as the available set of tactics.)

Midland Energy Resources, Cost of Capital

Midland Energy Resources, Cost of Capital The case is about how Janet Mortensen, senior vice president of project finance for Midland Energy Resources, prepare her annual cost of capital estimates for midland and each of its three divisions for her company. Midland was a global energy company with operations in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), refining and marketing(R&M), and petrochemicals. Estimates of cost of capital prepared by Mortensen were used in many analyses within Midland, including asset appraisals for both capital budgeting and financial accounting, performance assessments.Since her calculations had been widely applied in various areas and became influential, she was considering appending a sort of user’s guide to the 2007 set of calculations for reference to different applications. Mortensen used WACC formula to estimate cost of capital, compute the cost of debt by adding a premium over US Treasury securities of a similar maturity, and calculate the cost of equity by using the CAPM formula. After reviewing the case and tables given, we calculated the company’s composite WACC and WACCs for each division respectively. The company’s composite WACC is 8. 19%. The inputs we used are spread to treasury of 1. 2%, debt ratio of 42. 2%, Treasury bond yields of 4. 98% at a 30-year maturity, the 2006 tax rate of 39%, beta of 1. 25, and EMRP of 5%. However, we do not think that EMRP given in the case is appropriate. Instead, we recommend 3. 3%, which is the most recent EMRP estimate according the survey results in the Exhibit 6. Midland cannot use the same WACC for all divisions. It has three different divisions with different risk or Beta, which is given in Exhibit 5. If midland uses same WACC for all division it can accept risky investment or some time it may mislead by giving up profitable investment.It should use corporate WACC only for corporate level decision. WACC for E&P and R&M is calculated by using cost of debt by adding risk free rate plus spread to TB. From the Exhibit 5, weights for debt and Equity are calculated. WACC of E&P is 8. 82 and R&F is 9. 83. Both WACC are different to each other because they have different risk level, leverage and credit rating. Calculation Part: WACC (E&P):=rd(D/V)(1-t)+re(E/V)=6. 58*0. 2847(1-0. 39)+10. 73*0. 7153=8. 8178 rd=rf+spread =4. 98+1. 6=6. 58, re=rf+B(EMRP)=4. 98+1. 15*5=10. 73 D/E=0. 398 or V-E/E=0. 398 or E/V=0. 7153D/V=1-E/V=1-0. 7153=0. 2847 WACC (R&M)=rd(D/V)(1-t)+re(E/V)=6. 78*0. 1687(1-0. 39)+10. 98*0. 8313=9. 8253 rd= rf+spread =4. 98+1. 8=6. 78re= rf+B(EMRP)=4. 98+1. 2*5=10. 98 D/E=0. 203orV-E/E=0. 203orE/V=0. 8313, D/V=1-E/V=1-0. 8313=0. 1687 For Petrochemical division, since we don’t have sufficient information of that division. We cannot compute our Beta so that we cannot get an exact number of WACC for the division. If the managers want to have a rough estimate, they can use the overall Beta as an average for three divisions and c alculate the Beta for Petrochemical division. Then they can get the WACC.

Instilling Safety Awareness in Children

Name : Lim Xiao Pei Class : 4S1 IC No. : 971022-08-5976 Topic : Instilling Safety Awareness In Children Theme : Social Issues Children are innocent. They don’t have a clear idea of what a bad person might look like. They probably think someone with a moustache and ugly or evil facial expression is a bad person. The children do not think that women and kind-looking elderly men may be the bad person. The best people to teach children about personal safety are their parents.In view of the mounting number of crimes involving young children,parents must think about how they can protect their children from the danger that lurk around them. First of all,children need to know about their neighbours and living area. Parents should tell their children where they can visit when parents are not around. It will be great if boundaries are set outlining the areas that they can go to. If your children are invited by friends and neighbours to areas beyond the set boundaries,tell them that they should first check with you before venturing out.Then,remind your child to look out for the strangers hanging around frequently. Teach them to be aware of people who go round chatting up little kids or strangers cruising the neighbourhood. Parents must make sure that their children are aware of safety measures to take with regards to strangers,before allowing them to venture out on their own. Children should be told that if they feel uncomfortable when a stranger approaches them,they should run away without any hesitation. They should also be taught to say â€Å"No† and to shout for help when necessary.Parents should also be cautious in allowing their children to go out by themselves to meet friends at public places. Though it may be tiresome,parents should accompany their children if they need to wait for their friends. If possible,parents can pick up their friends and send them to their destination too. Furthermore,parents must always be sure where their children at all ti mes. They should make sure that their children do not accept any gifts or invitations from any strangers. Besides,parents must realize that potential dangers involving child abuse and sexual assault lurk in places where children spend most of their time.Thus,parents should teach their children the ways to protect themselves. If possible,parents can send their children to learn martial arts too. Parents must be approachable to their children. When a child confesses to wrongdoing,find out the facts of the case before punishing them. Do not forget to give them a chance to explain and see how you can help them to solve the problem. If parents are unapproachable to children,they will bias to strangers who treat them very nice. The time has came for the community to work together to prevent crimes in our neighbourhood.Creating a safe neighbourhood is everyone’s responsibility. When we help to keep all the children safe,we are protecting our own family too. *This is very important a s children are still young and cannot detect the approaching of danger. For example,the six-year-old child,William Yau Zhen Zhong was left with his siblings,Eric and Cindy in his parents’ car as they went to a shop. He apparently got out of the car to look for his parents when Cindy started crying. He was reported missing after that. Nine days later,his body was found in a river.