Police Brutality

Police Brutality Police Brutality Police brutality has been a problem in society ever since we can remember. Even though police brutality is a subject people don't want to talk about, we have to realize that no matter what we do, police brutality, police corruption, racism, and politics are components of police brutality.Police Brutality involves police misuse of physical and mental force such as: the use of physical and deadly force, chronic verbal abuse of citizens including racist and homosexual slurs, and "discriminatory patterns of arrest" (Fighting 2). Each one of these problems is serious and very degrading to the law-abiding citizens.Police misconduct adds to a high percentage of police brutality. Racism, a big part of police misconduct, has become a major problem in the police force. Police officers have a tendency to harass the homeless, young persons, and minorities, among with many other groups of people (Fighting 2). Since the relations of blacks and police has been so horrible, it doesn 't make it any easier to decrease the problems of people being prejudice on the streets of today's United States (Cothran 58).South Australian Police officers wearing duty belt...Such conflicts have significant implications on departmental andadministrative policy procedures. One of the main police abuse problems isphysical brutality. The main goal here should be to get the policedepartments to adopt and enforce a written policy governing the use ofphysical force. The policy should restrict physical force to the narrowestpossible range of specific situations. For example, their should belimitations on the use of hand-to-hand combat, batons, mace, stun guns, andfirearms. However, limiting polices' actions will bring much debate,especially from police officers and administrators themselves. Many feelthat their firepower is already too weak to battle the weapons criminalshave on the streets, and limiting their legality of gun use will not onlyendanger them, but the innocent...

5 Tips for Keeping Your Energy Up During the Week

5 Tips for Keeping Your Energy Up During the Week Joan Burge, workplace expert writing for Office Dynamics, has some tips for those of us who start Mondays full of energy and enthusiasm, but by the end of the week find ourselves fighting distractions and fatigue. How do you keep that energy going through Friday?   1. Develop a Work ScheduleTake a look at the tasks you lined up for the week. Create a simple spreadsheet with time allocated to each responsibility you have. This will ensure that everything is planned out and you won’t end up having little to no energy once Friday arrives.  2. Reassess on Wednesday AfternoonWhat needs to be pushed higher on your list? What can be shifted lower? What can wait until next week or has turned out to be unrealistic? Make sure you’re finishing your top A priority tasks before moving to the Bs.  3. Shake Up Your RoutineTreat yourself to a special meal or a night out with a friend or partner on Wednesday or Thursday; having something to look forward to can perk you up as the w eek draws to a close. Take the opportunity to explore volunteering, or sports, or music hobbies!Don’t go overboard though- feeling exhausted or hungover on Friday will undermine all that thoughtful productivity planning. Planning special activities on Saturdays may also help you feel excited about wrapping up your work week.  4. Get a Good Night’s SleepMaybe what makes Monday feel so full of possibility is how rested you are after the weekend. Get a full night’s sleep mid-week to help you have enough energy to power through.  5. Do Some Self TalkBurge recommends compiling some motivational phrases or slogans on Mondays. Then, check in with those on Wednesday and Thursday. Words of inspiration while you’re in the thick of it might give you that extra push to  end the week on a high note!Finally, talk with your colleagues about their strategies, talk to your supervisor if you’re just finding yourself overloaded, and remember†¦ you’r e only human!

Death Penalty Outline Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Death Penalty Outline - Coursework Example by Sangiorgio will help in understanding how death penalty violates human rights standards, and how numerous states have started shifting away from this sentence. Death penalty is cruel and unfair based on race and ethnicity. Schweizer (2013) argues that capital punishment is unfair especially to the black people who live in the United States. Courts also pronounce this sentence based on the resources and benefits that they get from the plaintiff or the defendant. The article by schweizer (2013) will help in analyzing the cruelty and unfairness of capital punishment. Capital punishment wastes time, energy, and finances. Courts have to spend a lot of time and money while implementing death penalty. These resources would have been used in preventing crimes that are punished through death penalty. McLaughlin (2014) will help the research in understanding how death penalty wastes resources. Capital punishment prevents defendants from enjoying the due process of the law. Since new laws are created every day, defendants should be allowed to benefit from the upcoming laws instead of taking away their lives. An article by Sarver (2013) will help in understanding how death penalty prevents victims from enjoying the due process of

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Philosophy - Essay Example However, if the actions of people are determined, it seems they fail to have free will, therefore, the can never be blamed or failed for their actions. There are five areas of philosophy, which cluster together in standard ways, though they overlap between the areas, even in section in various clusters is rate, and there can experience slight differences in their clusters. This area studies the major philosophers like Aristotle, Descartes, Nietzsche, and Hume, together with the entire periods in philosophy development (Jaspers, 16). This area is divided into various periods such as modern, medieval, 19th century, and 20th century. It tends to comprehend great figures, their influence, and their importance on the contemporary issues. The study includes area such as existentialism, deconstruction, structuralism, phenomenology, critical theory, post-structuralism, and hermeneutics. The principal figures include Badiou, Adorno, Husserl, Hegel, Sartre, and Derrida. This area consists of philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, formal epistemology, and philosophy of mathematics. Some of the areas have their own sub-branches. For instance, the philosophy of mind includes the emotions philosophy, science philosophy, special sciences philosophy, and social science philosophies. The philosophy involves studying the consequence relations and their related notions. Among the logic sub-areas are higher order logic, classical first-order, and the non-classical logics like relevance, many-valued logics, intuitionistic, and modal. This section comprises the aesthetics, ethics, political philosophy, and social areas. The ethics involves the areas of metaethics and ethics. Normative ethics addresses issues of right conduct, while metaethics is concerned with the epistemological and metaphysical commitments of ethical theories or the moral discourse. Studying philosophy is very important. It enables the learners to know how to carry out things

Traditional pastoral counseling Essay Example for Free

Traditional pastoral counseling Essay A final area of church support in the secular arena is that of traditional pastoral counseling. This counseling area, usually conducted in private and based in personal trust relationships between the church’s pastor and the congregants, includes ministry for life events. Bereavement counseling, marriage counseling (both pre-marriage counseling and counseling for relationship difficulties), career counseling and one-on-one discussion about difficulties such as substance abuse and physical or mental health are all appropriate and common areas of support for the church pastor. Moore discusses the appropriateness of pastoral counseling in the area of bereavement support. Her justification of the pastor in bereavement support is simple. The clergy holds a distinct advantage over professional health counselors because parishioners are more likely to contact their pastor when faced with bereavement and grieving. Spiritual counseling is part of the clergy’s responsibility to the congregation, for which, there is neither cost nor stigma attached. Moreover the relationship is based on trust. Typically, parishioners do not seek the services of other professionals concerning issues of death, illness and emotional adjustment, if they believe the spiritual counseling they have received has helped them (Moore, 48). In other words, the area of bereavement counseling is an area where the most natural and comfortable place for provision is within the church, with the pastor. African Americans have a unique view of death and dying which makes treatment of these issues within the church, the most central of Black institutions, appropriate. Moore summarizes African-American beliefs and responses to death and bereavement: African-Americans are more accepting and less fearful of death than other American ethnic groups; the view of death is often reflected in African-American visual and musical arts as well as poetry; and the continued exposure of African-Americans to higher death rates, both from natural causes and from violence, significantly strengthens the belief in the afterlife (Moore, 50). The Black church has particular rituals and forms of worship which deal with death and dying, which make the church the best place to deal with grief and bereavement counseling within the community, rather than the formal mental health care system which may be preferred by those who do not belong with a church (Moore, 56). LITERATURE REVIEW CONCLUSION A review of the extant literature on the impact of the Black church on its congregant’s secular lives reveals a range of formal programs, informal processes, traditions and practices, which spring from within the community and come from outside, which are limited to the congregants or offered community-wide, which touch all aspects of the Black church member’s life. Historically, the Black church has been pressed into service as a care provider for a marginalized and underserved population; if the church did not provide medical care, mental health support, economic self-support and learning and literacy programs, no one would. Today, Black churches continue to offer these services, either on their own or through collaboration with public and private foundations, research groups and other helpers. These programs are often more successful than those offered outside the church, because of the perception by church goers that the providers understand their needs and feel an affinity for their history and a sensitivity for their cultural norms. The Black church also serves as an extended family to its members, strengthening the Black community as a whole and offering a shield against the onslaught of historical disadvantages, racism and the problems caused by low socioeconomic status. It serves as an assistant to parents, offering youth programs that range from helping teen parents to helping children get into and attend college. The literature shows that the Black church is, overall, very responsive to the secular needs of its members as well as the spiritual.

Drug Testing is Not a Violation of Individual Rights Essay -- Drugs Ar

Every day companies lose millions of dollars due to employee drug use. Athletes break world records with gargantuan strength, but not on a fair scale. Drugs ruin the lives of users and cause injury to those who must work with users. Detection by officials is necessary to curb this problem. When does the safety for others violate the rights of drug users? Drug testing, whether in the workplace or on the athletic field, is not a violation of civil rights. "In 1988, the National Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that 12 percent of full-time employed Americans between the ages of 20 and 40 used an illicit drug" (Goldburg 62). Twenty percent of the 14.5 million Americans who use drugs are employed. This fact has convinced many that drug testing at the workplace should be mandatory (Goldburg 51). Sixty percent of the major corporations in America require drug testing as a condition of employment (Goldburg 50). Steven Mitchell Sack asserts that "Experts estimate that more than 50 percent of the major corporations in the United States now engage in drug and alcohol screening before hiring new employees; such tests are on the rise, particularly in high technology and security-conscious industries" (41). Because of such frequent testing, the number of applicants who test positive is down to under five percent (Sack 41). Not only do the companies pay the price for drug users, but so does the public. The public pays higher prices due to lost productivity from work-related accidents and job absenteeism caused by drug abuse (Goldburg 51). The average drug user is three times as late as fellow employees and has 2.5 times as many absences (Sack 141). A drug user is five times more likely to file a worker's compensation ... ...earche. July 1991:52. Goldburg, Raymond, ed. Taking Sides. Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin, 1993. Huxford, Andrea. "What You Need to Know About Drug Testing in the Work Place." Netscape. http://www.charm.net/~trade/s/stein/index.html Levy, Leonard W., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. New York: Macmillan, 1992. O'Brien, David. "Rx for Disaster." Sun-Sentinel. 14 July 1991: 52-54. "Policy of Clarkson Construction Company." Pamphlet. No other information given. Preferred Alliance. "The Road to D.O.T Compliance" Netscape. http://www.preferredalliance.com/ Sack, Steven Mitchell. From Hiring to Firing. New York: Legal Strategies, 1995. Wornsnop, Richard L. "Athletes and Drugs." CQ Reasearcher. 26 July 1991: 513-519. Zigarelli, Michael A. Can They Do That? A Guide to Your Rights on the Job. New York: Lexington, 1994

The Learners and The Lesson

During this class I could notice that the students are able to communicate in an efficient way in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange and interaction of information requested by the teacher. They were able to use and apply the prepositions of place accordingly; however, I believe they should focus more on using the language in other contexts in order to have them practice more and facilitate the recognition of the given structures.Their interaction with the teacher and among each other showed grammar, lexis, and pronunciation mistakes and errors, but this is a crucial part of the learning process, so I believe it is appropriate to their level. CONCLUSION The importance of evaluating the learner's spoken language is greatly high since we need to be aware of their needs in order to plan lessons that truly help our students. We should take into consideration that it is very important to make feel our students comfortable and in a safe environment so they can practice the language without fear and nervousness.Developing productive skills always suppose a challenge for both learners and teachers. If we have a good class atmosphere, students will perform freely and enthusiastically.

Midnight Journal Entry

The Midnight Journal Entry Anne T. Lawrence, San Jose State University On an overcast afternoon in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, March 28, 2003, Richard Okumoto intently studied a set of hard-copy accounting documents called â€Å"adjusting journal entries† spread out on his desk. He had been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a multi-million dollar equipment manufacturer, just a few weeks earlier. Okumoto was in the midst of closing the company’s books for the third quarter of fiscal year 2003, which ended February 28.An experienced executive who had served as CFO for several other technology firms, Okumoto was familiar with the task, which normally would be routine. But this time, he felt that something was seriously amiss. When reviewing the company’s recent results, he had noticed a sharp dip in accrued liabilities between the two quarters ending May 31 (the last quarter of the 2002 fiscal year) and August 31 (the first quarter of the current fiscal year).Now, looking at the detailed journal entries his staff had provided, he noticed that several significant accounting entries had been made around midnight on September 12, 2002. The entries made that September evening had significantly changed the company’s results for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, a few days before they were reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He later recalled: The fact that the time stamps [on the journal entries] were midnight through one o’clock in the morning made me believe they were having difficulties closing the quarter.Not just because of accounting difficulties, but because they were having difficulties finding the right answers. My initial reaction was, even given a difficult quarterly close, if the team was working that late at night, that wasn’t typical. From the pass codes required by the accounting software, Okumoto could see who had made the entries. They inclu ded James Dooley, then the company’s acting chief operating officer and now the CEO, the corporate controller, and several senior members of the finance team. One midnight journal entry in particular drew the new CFO’s attention.The late-night team had wiped out an accrued liability of $977,000 associated with the anticipated cost of retirement and severance benefits to company employees in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. That entry, and several smaller ones, all of which were favorable to net income, had the cumulative effect of permitting the company to report earnings of $0. 01 per share for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, rather than a loss. When he realized that, Okumoto recalled, he felt â€Å"a sinking feeling in my gut. † He asked himself, â€Å"What happened here? At that time of night?All of the changes in a single direction? What’s going on? † He was sure something was not right. RICHARD OKUMOTO Born in 1952, Richard Okumoto was raised wit h his four siblings in a Japanese-American family in a low-income, African-American neighborhood that bordered the Pepper Street Projects of Pasadena, California. He explained how his parents’ experiences had shaped their outlook: My parents grew up during the depression years. Dad farmed with relatives, and Mom grew up tending 3,000 chickens on a three-acre ranch in Gardena, California.Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, my parents were relocated under Executive Order 9066 [under which persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were sent to relocation camps during World War II]. They met and married in a relocation camp. During their incarceration, their families could not make their payments. Dad and his relatives lost their land, and Mom’s parents lost their chicken ranch. After those experiences, my father was committed to having no debt. He built our family home in 1955, with the idea of paying off the loan in eight years.In 1962, Okumotoâ⠂¬â„¢s father, who worked as a gardener, landscaper, and salesman of Japanese mutual funds, was disabled in a serious auto accident. Fortunately, by then, he had almost paid off the loan on their home, so the family was able to survive financially. After the accident, Okumoto’s mother took a job cleaning homes to help support her five children. Okumoto described his relationship with his mother: She and I had an especially close bond. Shortly before my dad’s accident, both her parents had died. I was the one who supported her through a very difficult year.As a result, she always treated me differently from the other kids—almost like an adult. The Okumoto family’s financial situation after the accident was difficult. Okumoto had vivid memories of how they coped: Money was very short. We had to account for every penny. Every week, my mother wrote down in a leather-bound journal everything she earned and everything we spent in the household, down to the penn y. Every week, from the time I was ten years old, she went through that with me. We lived on a cash basis. There was no credit card, no second mortgage.In that situation, budgeting became extremely important. Her comment to me was, â€Å"You can’t complain [about what you don’t have] unless you understand what’s happening. † Those were her ground rules. He added this comment about his mother’s values: The ethics of doing the right thing become very important, because that’s really all you have. [My mother] instilled in me at an early age, regardless of what else you do, always take the high road, always do the right thing. That has influenced me throughout my career.After high school, Okumoto attended San Jose State University, where he completed an undergraduate degree in accounting in 1974 and attended the MBA program from1975 to 1978. He soon embarked on a highly successful career in finance. Over the next two-and-a-half decades, he held increasingly responsible roles at a number of high-technology companies in the Silicon Valley, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Novellus Systems, Measurex, Credence Systems, and Photon Dynamics. Okumoto admired a number of managers he had worked for, who had set high professional and ethical standards for him and his co-workers.He felt fortunate to have had three exceptional mentors: Woody Spedden, the CEO of Credence Systems; Jim Hefferman, his boss at Fairchild and later at Measurex; and Don Waite, the CFO at Measurex who later took over that position at Seagate Technologies. â€Å"All three individuals upheld the highest integrity,† Okumoto recalled. â€Å"Aside from the technical training I received from them, I got a strong ethical grounding. They would always tell me to ask myself—what are your obligations to others? † ELECTRO SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIES, INC. Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. ESI), the company that Okumoto joined as CFO in early 2003, was t he second-largest technology company in Oregon, trailing only Tektronix in size. Based in Portland, the company was founded in 1944 as Brown Engineering to make test and measurement equipment. As technology evolved, so did the company’s products. In the 1960s, the firm—by then called ESI—moved into lasers, and later developed applications of laser technology for the emerging semiconductor industry. ESI went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1983. In 2003, ESI’s core business was providing precision production equipment to electronics firms.The company manufactured equipment that was used in the production of a wide range of electronics products, such as computers, cellular phones, home entertainment systems, automotive electronics, electronic games, and personal digital devices. Its products included advanced laser systems, test equipment, and packaging systems, among others. The company’s customers included many leading electronics firms, including AMD, Ericsson, IBM, Samsung, Hitachi, Flextronics, Honeywell, and Lucent. Seventy percent of ESI’s sales were outside the United States, mainly in Asia and Europe.The company owned and operated manufacturing facilities in Portland and Klamath Falls, Oregon, and in Escondido, California, and operated sales offices in many countries. In 2002, it employed 875 people and reported sales revenue of $167 million (down from $472 million the prior year). Like many firms in the electronics industry, ESI was badly battered by the economic downturn that began in 2001. After achieving record sales and income in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2001, the company’s financial results declined precipitously in FY 2002, as shown in Exhibit A.Sales and profits had continued to decline in the first half of FY 2003. Exhibit A: Electro Scientific Industries, Selected Sales and Income Data, 1998-2002 | 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| Net sales| 252,134| 197,118| 299,419| 471,853| 166,545| Net i ncome (loss)| 22,347| 7,528| 40,860| 99,933| (15,961)| Net income (loss) per share| 0. 89| 0. 29| 1. 55| 3. 71| (0. 58)| Data refer to fiscal years ending May 31. All data are given in thousands of dollars, except per share data. Source: ESI 2002 Annual Report. The company noted in its 2002 annual report:In fiscal year 2002, ESI weathered the worst downturn in the electronics industry in over 30 years†¦We are conducting a thorough review of our overall market strategy as well as product line strategies to assure that they will generate significant shareholder returns over the inevitable cycles in our industry. To cut costs, the company initiated a shutdown of its Escondido facility, consolidating its operations in Portland. It divested several underperforming lines of business and sought to invest in areas it saw as promising through partnerships and, potentially, acquisitions.It also informally explored a merger with another firm in southern California. In early 2002, Don VanL uvanee, the company’s long-time CEO, suffered a stroke and was no longer able to serve. The board appointed David Bolender, the former CEO of Protocol Systems and a director since 1988, to step in as acting CEO until it could find a permanent replacement. At that time, the board also elevated James Dooley, who had been serving as the firm’s chief financial officer, to the role of acting chief operating officer to run the company’s day-to-day affairs.In December 2002, the board promoted Dooley to the position of chief executive officer, and Bolender became chairman of the board. (Executives and directors of ESI named in the case, and their positions, are summarized in Exhibit B. ) [Exhibit B should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] CLOSING THE QUARTER Shortly after Dooley became CEO, Okumoto was recruited as chief financial officer. He started work on February 17, 2003. I was excited about the job. I thought it might be my last one in the industr y. The company, management, and employees—all had a long history of stability.To me, it was another walk down the path of hard work, a fresh chance to apply my skills in strategic planning and execution as well as to implement the new Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rules. His first task was to prepare for the FY 2003 third quarter close. In reviewing the company’s books for the past several quarters, he soon noticed a sharp downward spike in the balance of accrued liabilities. He noted that fact for further investigation. In addition to closing the quarter, several other items required Okumoto’s attention.Just one week into his new job, on February 24, he got an email from John (â€Å"Jack†) Isselmann, Jr. , the general counsel, asking him to forward to the manager of the Japanese office, Mike Tetsui, a set of revised work rules (terms of employment) for ESI’s Japanese employees. As a newcomer, Okumoto knew little of the background or why he had been as ked to do this, but complied with the general counsel’s request, sending on to the Japanese office manager the revised work rules. Okumoto received the following reply from Tetsui on March 2: I have read the proposed work rule and found no section of [sic] retirement fund.I do not know what is the intention of removing that section, but it is a huge impact on each employee we have†¦I do not think I can get concents [sic] from [ESI’s Japanese] employees without reasonable change in retirement benefit. Please let me know how you would like me to proceed. Okumoto recalled: My first response was, â€Å"uh-oh. † There was a big disconnect between what I had been told and Mike’s reply. I had assumed that the Japanese had already been informed of the cancellation of their retirement benefits and agreed to the changes. It was clear they had not.In a prior job at Novellus Systems, Okumoto had set up that company’s Japanese operations, and he was aware that Japanese work rules were normally filed with the government. Regulators were very strict about altering any documented benefits. Accordingly, Okumoto believed that ESI was obligated to pay benefits that had been promised to employees, and he told Isselmann this. Okumoto also expressed the opinion that employees, if dissatisfied with the revised rules, could take the matter before the Japanese labor board, and that this would be a â€Å"quantifiable event† that would have to be recorded on the books as a liability.Isselmann responded that he was unfamiliar with Japanese law. On March 4, Okumoto spoke with CEO James Dooley about his concerns that the reversal of benefits for Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese employees might expose ESI to litigation, and this could affect the accounting treatment of the event. Dooley strongly disagreed. Okumoto recalled: He told me that everything had been cleared with everyone. He said there was full information. There was full disclosure. H e emphasized that KPMG [ESI’s external auditor], the company’s own legal staff, and the board had all signed off on it. He said I should â€Å"just get past it. Okumoto was concerned about this conversation, particularly because the CEO seemed so defensive. On March 11, Okumoto met again with Dooley, this time to discuss Okumoto’s upcoming presentation to the audit committee. The new CFO recommended that the company delay announcing its third quarter earnings and restate its first and second quarter earnings to report correctly the $977,000 in liabilities associated with the anticipated cost of retirement benefits for its Asian employees. Okumoto explained his view that not reporting these liabilities had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.At that point, Okumoto recalled, Dooley became visibly upset. The CEO—all six feet-six inches and 280 pounds of him—turned an angry red and told me again to just get past this. That’s when I knew that this was going to be swept under the rug. It was clear I was not part of the club. Then Jim said, â€Å"If I’ve got to reverse this entry, I’ll quit. † THE â€Å"MOFO† MEMORANDUM On March 13, Okumoto attended a meeting of the board of directors’ audit committee. Also present at that meeting, in addition to the audit committee members, were Dooley, Isselmann, and several senior managers.At the meeting, Okumoto recommended that the company’s financial statements for the previous two quarters be restated, and that it hire an independent accounting firm to conduct an audit of the Asian benefits issue. Dooley countered that everyone had been fully informed of the reversal and had â€Å"bought off† on it. The audit committee declined Okumoto’s suggestion that an independent accounting firm be brought in, but it did direct Barry Harmon (formerly ESI’s CFO and a member of the audit committee), Okumoto, and Isselmann to lead an internal investigation into the matter.After the audit committee meeting, Isselmann came into the CFO’s office. Okumoto recalled: He closed the door and just broke down. He told me that after the benefits reversal in September he had asked MoFo [Morrison Foerster, an outside law firm on retainer to ESI] to review its legality. MoFo had advised it was illegal to cancel the retirement benefits without employee consent. He said he had immediately shown the memo to Dooley, who had brow-beat him, intimidated him, and essentially boxed him into a corner. I believed this, because in one meeting I actually saw Jim stand up and tower over Jack, who was only 5 feet-6.I watched Jim almost physically overtake him. Jack was a young guy, pretty inexperienced, and his job at ESI was his first in the industry. On his way out, Isselmann handed Okumoto some documents. From the documents, Okumoto learned that on October 3, 2002, Isselmann had written MoFo, asking for an opinion on wh ether or not it would be legal for the company to terminate the Asian employees’ retirement benefits unilaterally. In his letter, Isselmann had pointed out that the rules had been distributed to employees but had not been submitted to the relevant government agency.On October 7, Toshihiro So, a Japanese labor and employment attorney affiliated with Morrison Foerster, responded to Isselmann’s request. The MoFo memo, now in Okumoto’s hands, read in part: Retirement allowances are not a legal requirement [in Japan]. However, once the company agrees to pay retirement allowances in Rules of Employment (even though they have not been submitted to the relevant government agency), the company is obliged to pay them in accordance with the Rules and cannot remove them at the company’s discretion.According to Japanese case laws, as a general rule, †¦the deprivation of previously acquired rights by newly drawn up or changed work rules are [sic] not permittedâ₠¬ ¦[It] is required that before changing the work rules, the company should hear and consider the opinion of the related employees. Okumoto was shocked. â€Å"This is the smoking gun,† he thought. Investigating further, Okumoto learned that although private employers in Japan were not obligated to pay retirement benefits, doing so was considered a good industry practice, and since 1981 ESI had offered such a benefit to its employees there.Under the rules of employment established for ESI’s employees in Japan, any employee (except executives) who chose to retire after reaching the voluntary retirement age of 60 would be entitled to a â€Å"retirement allowance† of one month’s pay per year of service—in effect, a one-time severance payment. Workers who were involuntarily terminated and the estates of any workers who died before reaching the age of 60 were also entitled to this benefit. Similar rules were in effect for the company’s workers in Korea and Taiwan. At the time, ESI had 18 employees in Japan, 13 in Korea, and 23 in Taiwan, mostly in sales and customer support roles.On March 14, Okumoto called an â€Å"all hands† meeting to disclose his initial findings and discuss a path forward. Present at the meeting were Dooley, Isselmann, Harmon, and several other senior managers. The CFO asked directly if there had been full disclosure and review of all material facts with respect to the accrual reversal. Dooley confirmed that everything had been disclosed. Okumoto did not mention the MoFo memo, thinking that Dooley’s response indicated that he must have already disclosed it to KPMG and the audit committee. On March 20, Okumoto spoke by telephone with Mike Tetsui.The Japanese manager told the CFO that the employees had not yet been told that their retirement benefits had been terminated, and he—Tetsui—would resign before he would tell them that news, which he expected would be devastating. â₠¬Å"As head of the group,† Tetsui told Okumoto, â€Å"I will fall on my sword. † On March 21, Okumoto met again with Dooley to press him on how the reversal had happened. Dooley was initially â€Å"combative. † As the conversation went on, however, he â€Å"let his guard down† and began talking about what had happened on the night of September 12.As Okumoto recalled the conversation: Jim told me that he had sent a financial packet to the board of directors prior to their meeting on September 13. After he had distributed the packet, but before the meeting, he was contacted by KPMG, who told him there had been an error in the company’s calculations of its overhead costs, so the financial statements distributed to the board were incorrect. ESI’s reportable earnings were suddenly much less than they thought, by as much as a million dollars.Jim said this was particularly important because the company was in informal merger discussions with a compan y in southern California. Then he said, â€Å"No one was helping me, so I had to help myself. † When Jim made that comment, my first thought was, he was looking for revenue. He was hunting for credits. He was looking to manipulate earnings. That was a definite red flag. Okumoto walked out of Dooley’s office stunned. He called his staff together and asked them to assemble any documentation they had on accounting entries on or around September 12.He also began talking with the members of the finance team who had participated in the late-night meeting with Dooley and learned that a number of people on the finance staff had questioned the benefits reversal, but had not brought it forward. This was consistent with a negative tone at the top. I would almost characterize it as bullying. That’s one reason why no one stepped forward. That tone at the top created an environment where people really couldn’t speak out. It’s important to look at the people. Ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s similar to qualitative research. We all do that intuitively.When I looked at the body language of a lot of the people involved—the cost accountants, the financial analysts—it became apparent to me that they were scared. They knew something was wrong, and they wanted to say something, but something held them back. They reminded me of beaten animals. Growing up in the neighborhood I did, I knew what fear looked like. As part of his further investigation, Okumoto independently approached the audit team from KPMG. They told him Dooley had informed them that the company had received a legal opinion that the reversal was appropriate, and they had deemed that information sufficient.Okumoto observed: KPMG was new on the account, which they picked up after the collapse of Arthur Andersen. They didn’t have deep familiarity with it. They did not have all the information. Some of the partners were new. On March 28, a week after he had requested the relevant account ing entries for September 12, his staff finally produced the complete documentation for that date. Now, drilling down into the details, he saw the full scope of the midnight journal entries—and who had made them. WEIGHING THE RISKS Over the weekend, Okumoto considered his next moves. None of the ndividuals and groups from whom he had sought support—the CEO, the general counsel, or the auditors—seemed to share his concern about the seriousness of the issue. The audit committee had shown some interest, but had turned down his recommendation to bring in independent auditors and seemed to believe the matter could be handled internally. Okumoto was losing sleep, worrying constantly about what—if any—additional steps he should take. He had tried to warn the key players. From all, he had received the same message: We don’t see this as a serious problem. Let it go.Okumoto realized the risks of escalating the issue further. He was earning a base sala ry of $250,000, with the possibility of a 100 percent performance bonus. He reflected: I certainly realized the risks. I knew that if I brought this forward, there was a strong likelihood that I would either lose my job, or I would be in an environment where it would be difficult to operate, so I would have to leave. The idea also occurred to him that â€Å"I can leverage this for more money and stock if I look the other way. Plus, I can become invaluable to the company with this dirt.I can immediately become part of the established inside club. † He had also recently signed a contract to purchase a home in the nearby community of Lake Oswego, and wondered how he would make good on that commitment if he lost his job. However, he felt reasonably secure financially. Following the example of his parents, Okumoto had worked hard to avoid debt and to save for adverse times. He reflected: One of the first things I ask friends who are or would like to be CFOs or general managers, wh ere risks such as this can jeopardize their careers, is: Are you financially secure enough to make good decisions?Because if you aren’t, I can count on the fact that you will make bad decisions when times of adversity hit. We all talk about the value of making good decisions, but as we all know, life creeps in. There are economic commitments, family commitments, and people are sometimes moved to do the wrong thing. As the old adage goes, hire your sales people so they are hungry enough to get the deal done. Hire your finance people so they are not hungry enough to do the wrong thing. He added: Fortunately, I was financially in a position where I could afford to leave if t came to that. I was single, so I figured the only person I had to protect was myself. He also had a network of friends in the area he felt he could turn to for support. I had a number of friends in the Portland area, having worked there earlier. My prior company had a division of about 1000 employees in the area. Of these, 500 had worked directly for me. It might have been a false sense of security, but I felt I had a pretty good infrastructure of people that I knew. By this time, Okumoto was also becoming concerned about his personal safety.Several times, he received anonymous messages on his home answering machine. At the time, he was living temporarily in corporate housing while he shopped for a home, and he felt he was particularly visible there. But, he added that he was not easily intimidated. I felt that I could take care of myself. I had faced a lot worse threats than this one. As a teenager, I was robbed at gunpoint. I was stabbed in the back and left for dead. I was beaten so badly that my eyes were swollen shut. I grew up around a lot of physical violence. Although Okumoto saw risks in taking action, he also saw risks in inaction.He commented: I was concerned about my own legal liability if I did not take action. From the point of view of the DOJ [Department of Justice] and SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission], if you don’t fix the problem, you become the problem. I had potential legal risk. As Okumoto pondered the risks of both action and inaction, he reflected on the board of directors and what kind of response he might expect if he approached them directly. (See Exhibit C for a list of members of the board. ) [Exhibit C should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] Dooley was the only insider on the board.There were some old timers on the board—like Barry Harmon, who had earlier been CFO at ESI. But there were also a fair number of independents. Even though I was new at the company, I had a prior relationship with two of the directors. Jerry Taylor, the former CFO at Applied Materials, was a member of the audit committee. Jerry and I had worked together 25 years earlier at Fairchild. So, I had a long-standing relationship with him. Jon Tompkins, the former CEO of KLA-Tencor, was also on the board. I had known Jon from T encor days, where he had interviewed me for the CFO position.As he contemplated his next move, Okumoto thought back to an experience earlier in his career. As he told the story: I had been in a situation before where I hadn’t spoken up. I had been a CFO for another public company. I was in a situation in which I had questions on some of the accounting. But it was close enough, and I was concerned that I didn’t have enough evidence to support my reservations. I had only been with the company three months. Within four months, we had a major revenue shortfall. At that time, I made the decision not to try to cover up the revenue shortfall.But, because we had not called it to the attention of analysts earlier, we lost the confidence of the Street. At that point, the CEO and I both resigned. I made a decision then that if I ever again saw something that was close, I would act much faster. He also thought about his mother’s admonition always to do the right thing, and the advice of his mentors, who had counseled him always to ask the question—what are your obligations to others? Exhibit B: Executives and Directors of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. Named in the Case and Their Positions (Listed in Order of Mention)Richard OkumotoChief Financial Officer (CFO) James T. â€Å"Jim† DooleyActing Chief Operating Officer (COO), early 2002 – December 2002 Chief Executive Officer (CEO), December 2002 – Don VanLuvaneeFormer CEO David F. BolenderActing CEO, early 2002 – December 2002 Chairman of the Board, December 2002 – John â€Å"Jack† Isselmann, Jr. General Counsel Mike TetsuiManager, Japanese Office Barry L. Harmon Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Director and Member of the Audit Committee Gerald F. â€Å"Jerry† TaylorDirector and Member of the Audit Committee Jon D. TompkinsDirectorExhibit C: Members of the Board of Directors, ESI Inc. , March 2003 David F. Bolender, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board and CEO (retired), Protocol Systems, Inc. ; President of Pacific Power and Light Co. (retired) James T. Dooley, Chief Executive Officer Barry L. Harmon (member of the Audit Committee) Senior Vice President (retired), Avocet Corp. ; formerly, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ESI Keith L. Thomson Vice President (retired), Intel Corp. ; Chair of the Board of Trustees, University of Oregon Foundation Jon D. TompkinsCEO and Chairman of the Board (retired), KLA-Tencor Corp. ; President and CEO of Spectra-Physics (retired) Vernon B. Ryles, Jr. President and CEO (retired), Poppers Supply Co. Gerald F. Taylor (member of the Audit Committee) Chief Financial Officer (retired), Applied Materials W. Arthur Porter (Chairman of the Audit Committee) Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma Larry L. Hansen Executive Vice President (retired), Tylan General, Inc. —————————— ————– [ 2 ]. Copyright  © 2012 by the Case Research Journal and Anne T. Lawrence.The author developed this case to provide a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. An earlier version of this case was presented at NACRA’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, October 2011. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Richard Okumoto and the thoughtful comments of the editor, Deborah Ettington, and three anonymous reviewers. [ 3 ]. In 2002, average annual salaries for ESI employees were $68,000 in Japan, $27,000 in Korea, and $38,000 in Taiwan (in U. S. dollars).

Child Abuse and Porn essays

Child Abuse and Porn essays Child sexual abuse can be defined as any form of sexual activity with a child. It may include showing a child pornographic materials, placing the childs hand on another persons genitals, touching a childs genitals and to the more extreme form of penetration. (Kali Munro) It is essential to understand what child abuse through pornography is, what it can do to a child and why this kind of abuse continues. Someone who knows what pornography can do to a child is a thirty-one year old, mother of two named Bonnie. Bonnie spoke to the Attorney Generals Commission on Pornography about her experience with pornography and child abuse. Both of Bonnies husbands were into pornography and abused her and her two daughters, Michelle and Debbie. The account of the abuse that took place between Bonnies second husband, Paul and her daughters are as follows: He seemed to enjoy showing them pornographic material. The girls remember specifically a time when Paul showed them a picture of a naked lady dressed in the bottom of a leopard skin outfit and holding a whip. He asked them what they thought of it. Both children said they were disgusted at viewing the picture. My daughters told me . . . that Paul asked them if they wanted to be photographed like the girls in the magazines. The girls also told me that Paul sometimes played a game with them in which their feet were tied up tightly with a rope. The molestations included bad touching and exhibitionism by Paul . . . . If I ever questioned either her (Michelle) or Paul about what was the matter, Michelle would look scared at Paul and say, Nothings wrong, Mommy. After I left Paul, Michelle told me why she never said what was wrong. If she had told, Paul threatened to put her in a large garbage bag and dump her in a lake. Even after I filed for divorce and Paul was put on probat ion, the damage ha...

Profile of the 2003 War in Iraq

Profile of the 2003 War in Iraq Saddam Hussein led a brutal dictatorship of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. In 1990, he invaded and occupied the nation of Kuwait for six months until being expelled by an international coalition. For the next several years Hussein showed varying degrees of contempt for the international terms agreed to at the end of the war, namely a no-fly zone over much of the country, international inspections of suspected arms sites, and sanctions. In 2003, an American-led coalition invaded Iraq and overthrew Husseins government. Building the Coalition President Bush put forward some rationales for invading Iraq. These included: violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, atrocities committed by Hussein against his people, and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) which posed an immediate threat to the U.S. and the world. The U.S. claimed to have intelligence which proved the existence of the WMD and asked the U.N. Security Council to authorize an attack. The council did not. Instead, the U.S. and the United Kingdom enlisted 29 other countries in a coalition of the willing to support and carry out the invasion launched in March 2003. Post-Invasion Troubles Although the initial phase of the war went as planned (the Iraqi government fell in a matter of days), the occupation and the rebuilding has proven quite difficult. The United Nations held elections leading to a new constitution and government. But violent efforts by insurgents has led the country to civil war, destabilized the new government, made Iraq a hotbed for terrorist recruitment, and dramatically raised the cost of the war. No substantial stockpiles of WMD were found in Iraq, which damaged the credibility of the U.S., tarnished the reputation of American leaders, and undermined the rationale for the war. Divisions Within Iraq Understanding the various groups and loyalties inside Iraq is difficult. Religious fault lines between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are explored here. Although religion is a dominant force in the Iraq conflict, secular influences, including Saddam Husseins Baath Party, must also be considered to understand Iraq better. The BBC offers a guide to the armed groups operating inside Iraq. Cost of The Iraq War More than 3,600 American troops have been killed in the Iraq War and over 26,000 wounded. Nearly 300 troops from other allied forces have been killed. Sources say more than 50,000 Iraqi insurgents have been killed in the war and estimates of Iraqi civilians dead range from 50,000 to 600,000. The United States has spent over $600 billion on the war and may ultimately spend a trillion or more dollars. The National Priorities Project set up this online counter to track the moment-by-moment cost of the war. Foreign Policy Implications The war in Iraq and its fallout have been at the center of U.S. foreign policy since the overt march to war began in 2002. The war and surrounding issues (like Iran) occupy the attention of nearly all those in leadership at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon. And the war has fueled anti-American sentiment around the world, making global diplomacy all the more difficult. Our relations with almost every country in the world are in some form colored by the war. Foreign Policy Political Casualties In the United States (and among leading allies) the steep cost and on-going nature of the Iraq War have caused considerable damage to top political leaders and political movements. These include former Secretary of State Colin Powell, President George Bush, Senator John McCain, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and others.

HR & Development Essay (Unit III) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HR & Development (Unit III) - Essay Example ppropriate guideline for an effective brainstorming process includes making a clear and simple introduction of the idea or problem that needs to be brainstormed (Rothwell & Kazanas 1999). Introduction of the problem creates an avenue for conducting a thorough review on the rules governing the entire brainstorming process. This means that each participant gets an equal chance of presenting his or her idea. In other terms, the process should be welcoming to everyone by avoiding commenting during the proceeding of the brainstorming process. It thus discourages any evaluation hence allows room for duplicate ideas. The next step should be communicated after members contributions. That is, explaining what is required to be done then offer all the members of the group or team some private time to think over the brainstormed question or problem (Sharma, 2008). Finally, open the discussion for the member of that group to devise and come up with a suitable solution. In an on job scenario, the brainstorming process would be applied in solving leadership wrangle within the organization. The companys management team would come up with diverse ideas concerning the problem facing the management and tries to come with a suitable solution. That is, in matters concerning the top most position in the management hierarchy all the concern parties should contribute their points of view on regard to the qualities that need to be consider while selecting the suitable person for the post (Sinha and Sinha 2009). Another common problem that arises in an on the job situation is the issue on the process of performance appraisal. For instance, it requires a team or panel to determine or decides suitable criteria to be adapted while appraising the employees. In other terms, they devise and determine the demerit on which an employee should be accorded or subjected to any form of appraisal or appreciation for high performance (Dubrin, 2009). Group work and teamwork has a disadvantage of