Investment Clubs: Earning While Learning
Peter Singer: Feeding the Hungry
Corrections or additions?
These articles were prepared for the November 29, 2000 edition of
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Get Me to the Church On Line
The must-have list for the modern churches has gone
way beyond hymnals and stained glass. What about a Web presence to
insure effective evangelism and foster community? Or using Power Point
presentations during worship to highlight Biblical text? Could be
a good idea, says Andrew Tatusko, faculty consultant in
instructional
technologies at Seton Hall University.
Tatusko will discuss getting the church on line at a day-long seminar
on Monday, December 4, at 9:30 a.m. at Princeton Theological Seminary’
Erdman Hall. Called “Technology Is Changing Our World (So How
Will It Change Your Church?)” the course is offered by through
the seminary’s Center for Continuing Education to help pastors and
congregation members figure out how tapping information technology
could benefit their church. Cost: $45. Call 609-497-7990.
Tatusko, a computer jock who will be fully ordained as a Presbyterian
minister next spring, plans to discuss both technology and theology.
Establishing a framework for pastors and churchgoers “from which
to explore the relationship between technology and the church on a
much deeper level” is his goal for the day.
The time for churches to wake up and assess the technology is now.
“These shifts that have come as a result of information technology
will eventually affect the church,” Tatusko says. “There’s
a different audience out there that the church is going to have to
be responsive to and that’s the audience of Web surfers and Web
users.”
Tatusko believes recent technical advances will “pull the church
out of seeing itself as local bodies, localized in buildings in a
geographical space and start pulling it into these collaborative
environments.”
Tatusko became interested in studying technology while working in
youth ministry. He was intrigued by the question of why today’s young
people are so different from their parents and began to study
postmodern
culture in an attempt to find the answer. From postmodern culture
to technology was but a short leap. Combining it with religion was
inevitable. “My passion has always been in theology and
theological
studies,” he says.
“A church is a conglomerate of so many different ages and so many
different attitudes towards technology, you have to do it in a very
careful way,” says Tatusko, stressing the value of an organized
approach to adopting technology. “How are you going to do it?
Why are you going to do it? What is your goal?” are questions
he insists be answered by each church body.
“I characterize technology users — the technophile, they just
feel absolutely reliant on technology — the other side of that
is the technophobe, that’s the person who just shuns technology
completely.”
Churches also reflect these styles, he says.
Tatusko’s advice is to stick to the center. “If you’re going to
be a good adopter of technology, you have to be somewhere in the
middle.
You have to split the difference between the technophobe and the
technophile.
You have to use technology but use it critically.”
Tatusko believes a little top-down guidance could help individual
churches making choices about technology. “I think the church
would benefit if everyone were on the same page with the
implementation.”
He envisions Web servers and software for religious education, sermon
preparation, Bible study, and worship installed at the level of the
presbytery or diocese “that all the churches can plug into and
use.”
He also advises systematic assessments to determine if technologies
are delivering the anticipated benefits or just cluttering up
processes.
Implementation at the level of presbyteries and dioceses will make
statistical evaluations of adopted technology easier. “That has
to be an active ongoing process with the adoption of any technology
— assessing the results of the implementation,” Tatusko says.
Tatusko, 26, belongs to the generation that grew up with computers.
He recalls working on an Apple computer in the third grade. His
education
includes a B.A. in religion from Westminster College in New
Wilmington,
Pennsylvania, a master of divinity and a master of theology degree,
both from Princeton Theological Seminary.
His thesis explored how to form a theory of education for young people
who have been immersed in technology since their diaper days. He has
a website with information on the December 4 seminar and his other
interests (pirate.shu.edu/~tatuskan).
Tatusko who lives with his wife, Brenna, and cat, Digit, in
Plainsboro,
has been working with Seton Hall professors since last spring. “I
help faculty to integrate information technology into their
curriculums,”
he says.
His focus is on making content accessible through the use of
educational
tools including synchronous and asynchronous discussion groups,
streaming
media presentations, and putting courses on line. “What role does
technology play for today’s learner? That’s the philosophical
engagement
of my practical duties.”
— Caroline Calogero
Top Of PageInvestment Clubs: Earning While Learning
If your idea of investing is to focus on short term
gains with a series of buy and sell orders, then the Central Jersey
Model Investment Club (CJMIC) is probably not for you. Frank
Jaryzna,
the presiding partner of this club, explains that the educational
component is what compels people to join: “People who join
investment
clubs are usually more interested in learning and sharing expertise
than in quick profits. An investment club is not a place you go to
make a lot of money.”
But the CJMIC, which generally meets on the first Monday of each month
at the South Brunswick library, is more than just a run-of-the-mill
investment club; rather, it is a “model club.” Although a
model club is much like any other investment club, it differs in two
respects: it follows the National Association of Investors Corporation
(NAIC) principles very closely, and its meetings are open to the
public.
The next meeting of the CJMIC is Monday, December 4, at 7 p.m. at
the South Brunswick Public Library. The member meeting is free and
open to the public. For information, call Jaryzna at 732-274-2089.
The CJMIC attracts three distinct groups of people, says Jaryzna,
each interested in it as an educational medium. One group consists
of people who have never had a chance to observe an investment club
meeting and are curious to find out about what an investment club
does. The next group comprises members of existing clubs who have
run into challenges and come with procedural or substantive questions;
these people usually stay after the meeting to elicit information
from members. The last group is interested in the club’s selections
of stocks. In addition to its standard monthly meetings, the CJMIC
holds quarterly educational meetings where a speaker talks about a
specific aspect of the investment process.
“Most of the people who join investment clubs are new to
investing,”
says Jaryzna. But once they gain experience with the stock selection
process, they also build their own portfolios. Yet in many cases they
also remain with their investment clubs. Jaryzna explains, “You
have other people you are working with and sharing information. It’s
better to have 10 to 15 minds than just one.”
But the CJMIC does not accept just anyone as a member. The selection
process is carefully designed to yield actively-involved members who
share the NAIC’s conservative, long-term investment approach.
“One of the challenges of every investment club is to attract
people who are willing to participate; a club can’t operate unless
everyone is doing their piece,” says Jaryzna. In many investment
clubs, however, people join with no understanding of their obligations
and responsibilities. “Some people think they’re joining a mutual
fund,” he continues. “They don’t do anything.” To have
a club operate effectively and successfully, everyone must do what
is required. Members of the CJMIC must participate in a stock
selection
group (SSG) every three or four months and regularly track one or
two stocks. An SSG may require several hours to complete a stock
evaluation.
Another problem that some clubs face is the factionalism that can
develop when individual investment philosophies clash. To avoid this
problem, the NJMIC’s selection process attempts to draw in people
who share the NAIC’s conservative, long-term approach. This
fundamental
approach to stock analysis involves looking at the company and what
makes it run: sales, earnings, expenses, and management. The intent
is to buy stocks and hold them for a minimum of five years, looking
to double the investment in that time period.
To ensure that members are selected appropriately, a prospective
member
must fulfill the following requirements:
Attend three successive meetings of the NJMIC.Take a class at an area adult school or community collegethat explains the NAIC Stock Selection Guide. Typically the NAICsponsorssix to eight such classes throughout the state, during both the falland spring semesters.Participate in a stock selection group . Two to four clubmembers study a group of stocks, screen them using the NAIC’s50-year-oldanalytical process, choose the strongest stocks, and present theirfindings at a club meeting. Jaryzna says that a thorough companyanalysisis really asking two questions: Is this a good company? Is this agood price?Participate in the SSG’s presentation at the club meeting.The prospective member must get up in front of the group, talk aboutthe analysis, and make recommendations.Prospective members of the CJMIC may also run up against sizelimitations imposed by the club. “Too large is toocumbersome,”says Jaryzna. “Between 15 and 20 members is a good size.”Once the club does vote in a new member, the person buys a singleunit. The unit price is computed by dividing the club’s totalinvestmentby the total number of shares. Although the resulting distributionof shares is uneven, each member still gets a single vote. One caveatexists for this rule, just as a safeguard: if someone tries to dosomething that is not in the best interests of club, the club hasthe option to vote by units.Jaryzna himself got involved with the NAIC almost by happenstance.After graduating from Villanova University in 1966 with a degree inElectrical Engineering, he worked for IBM, primarily in sales ofcomputersto financial institutions. When IBM downsized and Jaryzna retired,he finally had time to pursue his lifelong interest in investing.He happened to attend an NAIC workshop at the South Brunswick AdultSchool and realized the power of the NAIC and its stock selectionprocess. He remembers thinking, “This is exactly what I need toput it all together.” He got more involved at the state andnationallevels of the NAIC and today belongs to two investment clubs.Just as Jaryzna continues to learn himself, he has been instrumentalin the learning of others-both novices and experienced investors-inhis role as presiding partner of the NAIC. The New Jersey ModelInvestmentClub invites the general public to help it fulfill its purpose, asexpressed in the NAIC website: “to learn while earning, and toact as an educational model for people who want to learn howinvestmentclubs operate.”— Michele AlperinTop Of PagePeter Singer: Feeding the HungryB>Peter Singer uses Ivan Boesky as a badexampleof how to choose your priorities. In an essay entitled “TheUltimateChoice,” first printed in “How Are We to Live?” in 1995and included in his just published “Writings on an EthicalLife”(Ecco Press, $27.50), the Princeton professor and controversialethicistrecounts how Boesky got into trouble using inside information forarbitrage.”Why did Boesky do it?” writes Singer. “Why would anyonewho has $150 million, has a respected place in society, and valuesat least the appearance of an ethical life that benefits the communityas a whole, risk his reputation, his wealth, and his freedom by doingsomething that is obviously neither legal nor ethical?”Singer will sign his new book on Tuesday, December 5, at 7 p.m. atMarketFair’s Barnes & Noble. This is a Share our Strength WritersHarvest event organized by novelist Joyce Carol Oates, the nationalchairperson for the anti-hunger charity (see Preview story, page 40).The event is free but donations are requested. Call 609-897-9250.Singer is the controversial and influential Australian ethicist whowas appointed to the bioethics chair at Princeton University in 1999.Known for his strong views on animal liberation, he has raised thehackles of countless groups for his defense of euthanasia for severelydisabled infants, among other issues. Beset with a barrage of protestsbased on out-of-context quotations, published early in his life,Singerand Daniel Halpern of Ecco Press have compiled this anthologyso that his critics can at least have access to a comprehensiveselectionof his work.Some of his writings have nothing to do with abortion, animal rights,or vegetative states; they deal with how much of one’s income shouldbe used to feed the hungry people of the world. An ethical view mightbe to help the hungry, but self interest — such as Boesky’s —might lead someone to feather his nest. “To make an ultimatechoice,”Singer writes, “we must put in question the foundations of ourlives.” Like everyone, Singer says, Boesky faced “an ultimatechoice,” when ethics and self interest were in conflict.Not all ultimate choices involve unethical ways of making large sumsof money. Some choices, Singer says, center on to what extent we livefor others — or for ourselves. “I can see no escape from theconclusion that each one of us with wealth surplus to his or heressentialneeds should be giving most of it to help people suffering frompovertyso dire as to be life threatening,” he wrote in an essay for theNew York Times last year.Citing Conference Board figures that most middle class families cansurvive on $30,000 for necessities, he puts forth the idea that afamily with an income of $50,000 should donate $20,000 to the poor,and one with $100,000 annually should turn over $70,000 to charity.”The formula is simple: whatever money you’re spending onluxuries,not necessities, should be given away,” he writes. (But is savingmoney for retirement or for protection against catastrophic illnessor for the children’s college fund a necessity or a luxury? That ispresumably the subject of another discussion.)Singer ticks off such forbidden luxuries as expensive suits andelaborateadditions to one’s house but looks with particular disdain on diningout expensively, a view sure to alarm restaurateurs. And though one’sfirst impulse is to keep an accusatory watch for Singer at Princeton’sfine dining establishments, in truth he does try to live out his ownideals and reportedly donates a substantial portion of his own incometo feed the hungry.”If 10 percent of the population were to take a consciouslyethicaloutlook on life and act accordingly,” he writes, “theresultingchange would be more significant than any change of government.”— Barbara FoxNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
