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Stock Options
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Stock Options [Abstract]  
Stock Options
Note 8.                      Stock Options

The Company records compensation expense for stock options based on the estimated fair value of the options on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation model.  The Company uses historical data among other factors to estimate the expected price volatility, the expected option term and the expected forfeiture rate.  The risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the date of grant for the expected term of the option.

In addition to its first stock option plan approved in 1993, the Company has a stock option plan approved in May 2004, amended in June 2008 and again in August 2009 (the "2004 Plan"), for directors and key employees under which 2,500,000 shares of common stock may be issued.  The Company also has a stock option plan approved in July 2010 (the "2010 Plan"), for directors and key employees under which 5,000,000 shares of common stock may be issued.  Unless otherwise stated in the stock option agreement, options are 20% vested on the date of grant, with the balance vesting 20% per year over the next four years, except for directors whose options vest six months from the date of grant.  Options were granted in 2011 from the 2010 Plan at the approximate market value of the stock at date of grant, as defined in the plan.

Pursuant to their respective five-year employment agreements, in March 2010 a total of 890,000 stock options were granted to the three executive officers of the Company.  Twenty percent of the options vested immediately on the date of grant, with the balance of the options to vest in equal annual installments over the next four years on the anniversary date of the original grant.  These options were granted pursuant to the 2004 Plan, are for a period of ten years and are intended as Incentive Stock Options.  To reflect the value of the stock options granted for the employment services provided, the Company is taking a charge to earnings totaling approximately $2,358,000 through March 2014.  For each of the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 this charge was $118,000.