OCR Text |
Show HERALD DAILY Sunday. December 9, 2007 C9 live and work like your mother is watching had the great honor several ago of being inductI months ed into my high-scho- Hall ol of Fame at St. Paul Central in St. Paul, Minn. Previous include Charles Schulz, hon-ore- es creator of the Peanuts cartoon strip; Richard Schulze, founder and chairman of Best Buy; and Pave Winfield, a member of Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. About 500 selected students were invited to the auditorium for the ceremony and to hear a few remarks from this year's recipients. I shared four ideas with students, the first three being: 1) Believe in yourself even when no one eke does. 2) Dont quit. 3) There is no "I" in team. I want to touch here on my . fourth point: Act like your mother is watching. Let me tell you a true story about Professor Bonk, who taught chemistry at Duke University. One year, three chemistry students were all earning a solid "A" going into the final exam. The weekend before finals they decided to go to another school to party with some friends. They didn't " make it back to Duke until early Monday morning, in no ! shape to take the test. They explained to Professor Bonk that they had been away for the weekend and had planned to come back in time to study, but they had a flat tire on the way back and didn't Rebrand Continued from CIO Armour's canned meats didnt really match with Dial Soap. Duncan Hines baking mixes wasn't a natural fit for Procter & Gamble Co. "A company like P&G, which owns a bazillion brands, didn't have time to baby-sino time or energy to take care of all these little brands," said "They (Pinnacle) adopt orphan brands that have not really fallen on hard times, but have been eclipsed by newer brands." Pinnacle takes the latent equity in the label and makes it relevant to customers today, said Andy Reichgut, the company's vice president of marketing. since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. ' You dont suppose she took it, do you?" Brian said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an just to be sure." So he wrote: "Dear Mom: I'm not saying that you 'did take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner. Love, Brian." Several days later, Brian back from received an his mother that read: "Dear Son: I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Jennifer, I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Jennifer. But the fact remains that if Jennifer were sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the ladle by now. Love, Mom." Mackay's Moral: Never lie to your mother or anyone else. Our mission statement at MackayMitchell Envelope Co. is: "To be in business forever." What does that mean? It stands for no hidden liabilities; no cutting corners; no small print under the small print; no red flags. We in the business community need to set a good example for our young people. Surveys show that a disturbing number of students cite recent corporate and political scandals to justify their dishonesty. It's critical to use good judgPositive ment so that you arent hauled up before a court. And I'm talkhave a spare, so they didnt get ing about the court of public back to campus in time. opinion as much as any court of Professor Bonk agreed to let law. If you dont use good judgthem make up the final on the ment, you're already judged especially in business. following day. What a relief! A mother was invited for They studied all night. When dinner at her son Brian's apartthey arrived for the exam, Professor Bonk placed them in ment. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't separate rooms, handed each of them a test booklet and told help but notice how beautiful Brian's roommate, Jennifer, them to begin. was. They saw the first question Brian's mom had long suswas simple, worth 5 points. Piece of cake! Then they pected a relationship between turned to question two, worth Brian and Jennifer. Over the course of the evening, while 95 points: "Which tirer Unfortunately, the business watching the two interact, she community does not get stellar started to wonder if there was grades for ethics the past few more between them than met the eye. years. Too many companies have tried to fool the public Reading his mom's thoughts, Ethics and integrity must Brian volunteered, "I know be the cornerstone of your what you must be thinking, but I assure you Jennifer and I are existence. If you want your employees to tell the truth, a just roommates." About a week later, Jennifer company better start by being came to Brian saying, "Ever truthful with its employees. r Harvey Mackay Struggles the label. Pinnacle acquired it in 2004 from the bankrupt Aurora Foods, which had purchased Lender's from Kellogg Co. in 1999. O'Brien said the company wants to emphasize its history, too. Polish immigrant Harry Lender opened a bagel shop in 1927 in West Haven, Conn., and takes credit for introduc Chatzky Continued from CIO crime rates, as well as walking the neighborhood during the day and after dark. It also means looking at things like the age of the property (an older building can mean more repairs), and enlist the help of a good inspector who will spot any structural problems. If your inspector finds something; you can then weigh often, these your options kinds of issues can be used as bargaining chips to lower the price, but if they're severe, you may want to just move on. I Start small. Lucier suggests a duplex that will alow you the ability to live in one side and rent out the other. Even Kiyosaki, who says he now only buys apartment buildings with more than 300 units, started with a small condo on the island of Maui, Hawaii. "I've ridden the market up and down, and that's how I got smart," he explains. As you gain experience, you can slowly begin to expand your portfolio. I Focus on cash flow. The key to making money off of your investment properties is thinking in terms of cash flow rather than capital gains, says Kiyosaki. I buy a piece of real estate, my first question is what's my cash flow? What's my rental income from the property? A property is only worth its rent." That means adding up your mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance costs and maintenance, and subtracting that figure from what you can reasonably charge for rent. The amount that's left? It's your salary. Increase it by becomif you ing a have the time and skill to fix a leaky faucet. I Jean Chatzky is an editor-at-larg- e at Money Magazine and serves as AOL's official Money Coach. She is the personal finance editor for NBC's "Today Show." o1 ini fc ing the bagel to the American diet. Supermarkets began selling them in 1955. Once limited to Eastern European Jews in large metropolitan cities, the bagel is now a ubiquitous bread product, sold by large chains like Starbucks and Panera Bread, and even bagel chain stores have SIEMENS i'i"1iir rt1 V IdlionlUnfofdHterinjCefrtim INtiUSShittlbbli iKWtag 3J-JO- o rWillmlttdttmi tMmplimwuAry DoctontorkftOOl Prove v kM forwlfj totefvmm ea bA guMHH emerged. t, Eric KasteL an associate pro- fessor at the Culinary Institute of America, said consumers do latch on to the old, and a healthier product would encourage them to return. "In general, the American public is getting more health conscious about everything," he said Pinnacle added whole grain options to Aunt Jemima's frozen breakfast items like pancakes and French toast and a whole wheat flavor to Lender's selection of frozen and refrigerated bagels. It's also moving Duncan Hines to the freezer section for the d baker. Instead of needing an egg and a mixing bowl, brownies go right into the oven. The strategy with Lender's is to promote the bagel as a healthy food that can be eaten at any time during the day, said Ray O'Brien, the label's vice president. He said the brand, now in its 80th year, previously was losing sales, decline. nearly a double-dig- it "What we're trying to do is take the ... Lender's name, and see how we can rekindle it and make it as contemporary and relevant for today," he said. "Something you might have had years ago is still relevant for today." He said sales were about $100 million last year, up 5 percent. Pinnacle is spending about $25 million this year to rebrand Our health care system is a marvel, but for too many, it's broken. Together, we can fix it. Let's talk about how. ?3 . In unmatched. is By all rights, it should also deliver unmatched value. our health care system falters. Quality is uneven. Costs are spiraling out of control, which pushes people out of the system altogether. Meanwhile, we're using Yet, time-starve- resources at a level that is simply unsustainable. The good news is that we can fix this Real To - if we focus on the underlying causes. change make real change, we must give health care consumers the tools they need to make informed decisions and determine the best value for themselves. Think about how you make other important purchase decisions. You compare quality. You consider price. Ultimately, you purchase the service or product that offers the most value Value-driv- We en - the one with the right combination of quality and price. care should be able to make the same kind of value-drive- n decisions about our health care. That's why Regence is committed to equipping our members with f f See more Ideas, take a poll ' and post your thoughts at ReinventHeatthCare.com, GRAND OPENING SALE UltraLux terms of science, technology and medical training, our health care system accurate, fair and information about cost and quality. Our belief is that informed consumers make better decisions. They're more choices that recognize and reward value. In short, we believe that consumers themselves have the power to transform engaged with their physicians. And they make health care. Our job is to provide the tools and help so they can lead the way. 1000 "V" .: f Mark B. Cam President and CEO, Regence QUE'SET S689.00' KING SET $939.00 FUU SET $559.99 TWIN SET $429.00 MATTRESS FACTORY OREM 1032 S. tUto consumers have the power to transform health care. Agree? Disagree? Let us know at ReinventHealthCare.com. Well-inform- ed Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah It an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association r Regence |