Ilm M3.01 Solving Problems and Making Decisions

ILM counsellor Course Shaun Barratt Work based denominationM3. 01 Problem Solving The Joint Service for Disabled Children is a coalition developed by Enfields Childrens trust. It comprises specialist, inclusive, voluntary, health and education operate to stay and promote opportunities for all modify children and their families in Enfield. The make use offulness is at large(p) to either incapacitate children and young people who bedevil signifi sightt spheric delay, autism or behavior affrightening conditions under the age of 18.In my voice as inclusion development manager I am liable for enabling disabled children and young people to access mainstream make outivities of their choice at heart the borough. I provide the resources, staff and training for any universal body change to go set disabled children. This ensures that all disabled children and their families ar maintain to take part in and enjoy local community life, whenever workable using local chil dc argon facilities, leisure and recreational activities.I am excessively part of the management ag sort out tasked with generating new ideas to remedy the lives of disabled children and their families. It is this role that we were acquainted with the following problem Significant numbers of p atomic number 18nts extradite presented to the aid requesting everywhere iniquity foramen (essentially a night away for their child at a recognised rest provider). The apostrophize of oer night niggling breaks (respite) is higher(prenominal)ly significant in the gains overall budget, furthermost in excess of any early(a) service of process we provide, and even a small increase would ensnare a huge strain on resources.Far more than than than equal in force(p) is to build support mechanisms round the child and family in their own homes. This is d wiz by building packages of support which provide short breaks and without the huge cost of outside provider overnights. So in straddle to understand this issue more we first off needed to ascertain what it was about the overnight breaks which were so call downing and perk up if we could find another possible etymon. We decided to utilise our parents forum to generate ideas.Understandably this generated a wide array of reasons for why parents valued over nights so highly, however on that point were significant thread and themes which consistently appeared and by far the most significant was that a high proportion of parents identified the need for a full night quiet, something they are unable to achieve due to being disturbed by their disabled child. In addition when asked about factors which significantly affect their quality of life log Zs passing was one of the most significant factors right crossways the spectrum of need and demographic. on that point is a wealth of evidence to support the opinion that eternal quiescence problems are far higher in the disabled commonwealth than in mai nstream families (Pahl and Quine 2004) The service holds an away day twice a socio-economic class and part of the session was granted to a brain storming session more or less the issue of eternal sleep problems and what we as a service should do to look at them. By involving the team in this process this result ensure that any ideas generated will have team ownership.A number of ideas were put forward, but by consensus there were four areas which were felt were appropriate results to the issue of solicit for increase in over night provision. pic The first option was for the team to think more laterally in enclosures of what we offer to parents. This could be done by gradeing key areas in the day that parents were struggling with and identify additional support during these times. This could be around bed times and open-eyed times etc. nd in turn offering parents more support to recharge batteries through offering additional short breaks (a short break is an activity much( prenominal) as play objects or afterwardward rail groups etc). Another solution would be to analyse what the service is spending in other areas and cut other budgets significantly to fund additional overnights and in a similar vein to task the team with finding more cost effective over night breaks by opening up to tender to find possible other cheaper providers.The final and most frequent idea was to offer some form of sleep counselling to modify parents to gain back control of this part of their lives through behaviour management and support to change their childs sleep habits. A simplistic decision making grids illustrates how this might meet the main areas of need as identified by the parents. Decision making model Criteria Offer more diverse Sleep interpellation Offer change magnitude over make cheaper over night respite chopine night respite options woo ( ( ( effective Parental approval ( ( ( Long term body forthability ( amend sleep ( ( ( opportu nities in short term Improved sleep in the ( massive term Intuitively the sleep hitch program is an appropriate response as it subscribely responds to the parents need for their sleep deprivation to be addressed.Its more sustainable than the others and its focussed on the area identified and not simply decamp fighting and therefore a effectivenessly pro sprightly way of functional which is easier for staff to identify with. Its cost effective with just the initial outlay and staff counselling time. Its solution focussed with clear parameters on intervention times. Parents will hopefully support something which gives them a dogged term solution to their problem and not just a short term solution which is offered by overnights. A potential sleep programme training course was identified which would involve volt members of staff being identified to be trained to become sleep counsellors. They would work directly with the parents and enable the arents to chang e bedtime routines and behaviours in order to improve sleep patterns in the child. Before presenting to the joint service steering group we carried out an SWOT analysis to anticipate issues which may be raised in the presentation. SWOT analysis of sleep program Please picture appendix (1) The use of a SWOT analysis provides a methodical and honest assessment of our work strengths and weaknesses for carrying out a defined sleep program. It will also expose brats which may pose a threat to its sustainability and opportunities afforded by the process. The butt of the analysis is to ascertain whether the sleep program is a executable affordable, sustainable response to the need for a sleep intervention process.Strengths in more accompaniment The major strength of the programme when mental process to its potential is its affordability and sustainability. Even a minor reduction in over nights expenditure will see the program more than pay for itself. The initial outlay of trainin g could be offset against respite savings. The difficulty is that preventative work is difficult to quantify and illustrate as it hasnt happened, but a reduction in the number of looked after children may be used as a key indicator. The program clearly tackles the root micturate of the presenting problem whereas overnights give short term relief to parents the sleep problem itself is still there in the future. on that point is plenty of evidence to suggest that improved sleep is positively match with improved cognitive performance (The national Sleep Foundation 2004) This would also have significant impact on incidences of challenging behaviours, reducing it dramatically (Green et al 2010) and collapse quality of life indexes for parents of disabled children (Prosper, Mard and Beecham 2011), both of which could act as markers for the success of the program. The practical applications of a sleep program can be applied to other complimentary areas of work (Sleep Scotland 2001) such as home care and other counselling conditions. Weaknesses in more detail Identification of our weaknesses needed to be done as constructively as possible with no blame or finger pointing, however several(prenominal) key points emerged The first is can the staff hours be found to sustain a sleep program? How can we illustrate that time played out in the program will in the long term foreshorten hours in other areas. Have the live staff group the essential communication skills to make effective counsellors?As the sleep service trains there will become a need for additional staff time, resources as well as someone to coordinate the service administer the service and manage the new counsellors. A fundamental question is it possible for the recruitment process to reflect the need for new workers to potentially add to the service. commercialize and branding are also time down as the service grows. All these growth factors had to be factored in to produce a long term picture Opport unities in more depth There are opportunities to offer the counselling service to outside agencies with a cost attached. There is no other comparable service within the borough so this is a workable option.This could help in sustaining the service or even to thrive it. The publicity afforded of a proactive response to significant and widespread sleep problems, identified by the parents of Enfield themselves, will help put the service in a positive light. This in turn will help our campaign when decisions on future cuts are made. This is in turn compliments the belong semipolitically for parents to have more control over their lives. Pro active approaches are also always easier to sell to staff by addressing the experience rather than fire fighting the effects. In its favour additional backup streams are operable to those ideas generated and back up by parents and children.More effective use of notes and resources will also supplicant to stakeholders. The positive outcomes of a sleep program such as improved concentration of children resulting in a reduction of incidences of challenging behaviour, and increased educational achievement is going to appeal to a number of retainers, which may influence them to invest. Finally and most importantly, an effective service will put less pressure on other related services resulting in economies for the stakeholders Threats in more depth The current economic climate is going to have a huge guardianship on the success or differently of the project. given up this there is a danger that parents may interpret this as a cost bitter measure around over nights.Parents may still need overnights notwithstanding intervention making it a costly additional service. Research needs to be carried to ensure their isnt a larger service such as MENCAP that can deliver the sleep service more economically. Does the political economic downturn means that projects which offer projected savings are less agreeable than short t erm cuts to services? In order for the service to grow future training opportunities are essential, is this going to be viable when its acknowledged that the first budgets to be reduced are training budgets. Are the funding streams used currently likely to persevere as further cuts are deemed undeniable?Will the outlay of glowing training be viable if staff retention is problematic? Could cooperative efforts for example coordinating approaches with medical interventions i. e. use of melatonin in conjunction with mental interventions be more cost effective? Inter agency working is essential for the sleep program to succeed, is the communication system robust comme il faut for multi agency support? Will cuts mean only front distribution channel services that are statutory in nature be preferent over seemingly peripheral services such as a sleep counselling service? Will elements of the service be put out to tender and is this likely to be picked up in this?Given the threats ou tlined by the swot analysis it is clear that in order to present a convincing case to our steering group it is necessary to present an outline and costing for how the service might develop. The main objective would be could we illustrate the effectiveness of the sleep program as an intervention? Could we illustrate parental satisfactions as a response to sleep issues? hence we identified a diverse number of partners to carry out a pilot project. With it being multi agency the strain on any one service could be portrayed as manageable. The SWOT analysis illustrated that there are major potential benefits to partner agencies so there mesh and investment was essential. We would carry out analysis of the success or otherwise of a sleep clinic with a small number of parents from diverse backgrounds.They would be asked to fill in a number of satisfaction questionnaires prior to and after the intervention. Feedback on behavioural changes from a previously obtained baseline would be obtai ned from partner agencies involved ie schools. We would need to highlight circumstances when the intervention could have most benefit i. e. care plans in child protection cases, tangled issue children or families in other types of crisis. All of these will have great appeal to ranking(prenominal) management teams. After the pilot parents and senior management would be invited to a presentation of the results. An exercise would be given to the parents whereby they become budget holders.They would be given the money that they are entitle to for their children. They would then be given the costs of all services available to them. By this means parents will be able to see for themselves the cost effectiveness of the intervention and the huge costs of over night respite. They would be empowered to know how they could have a substantial package of support around them for the cost of very few overnights. The issue of sleep programs would be shown to be a very cost effective tool in obtai n a good nights sleep. Finally the sleep clinic team would present to all partner agency staff. Cascading of skills would be essential and appeals for constructive critisism of the scheme could be made.Essentially there has to be a selling process and ownership of the service throughout the joint service. If it is then a viable option we would meet with managers to move the project forward Appendix 1 Strengths weaknesses (i) Affordability and sustainability (i) Is there sufficient availability of staff to undertake the (ii) Tackles root cause of presenting problem training (iii) Cognitive improvements as a result of better quality (ii) Staff skilled enough to communicate at the highest aim sleep in order to make venture successful (iv) Improved Staff skills set (iii) Who has time to coordinate project? (v) cascading of skills will appeal to budget holders (iv) Therapeutic change can be time consuming (vi) reduction in aggressive incidences which are as a direct (v) Does rec ruitment reflect the need for these particular result of sleep deprivation skills? (vii) additional resource to offer families in crisis child (vi) Who is going to market and brand the service? protection etc (vii) Need for administrator and stats holder (viii) a new approach to empowering parents to enable them to take control of their own lives opportunities Threats (i) Outsourcing counselling service to other agencies if proved(i) Parents may interpret this as a cost cutting measure around successful over nights (ii) receipt to significant and widespread sleep problems (ii) Parents may still need overnights despite intervention identified by the parents of Enfield themselves making it costly additional service (iii) Above (ii) compliments the move politically for parents (iii) Could a larger formation undercut the sleep service? to have more control over their lives (iv) political economic downturn means (iv) addressing the cause rather than fire fighting the ef fects(1) long term savings options less attractive than short term (v) Additional funding streams are available to those ideas cuts generated and supported by parents and children (2) Training budgets are the first to be cut when money is (vi) More effective of money and resources will appeal to tight threat to future growth stakeholders (3) Service once offered will need to grow to meet need is this Improved concentration of children and young people resulting viable? in a reduction of incidences of challenging behaviour, and (4) Are there more cost effective services already in existence increased educational achievement that that Enfield could tap into instead An effective service will put less pressure on other related services Need for more overnights and better quality of sleep Increase in overnights by moving other budgets Offer diverse options to support parents in coping Support parents in managing their sleep Seek out cheaper respite units

Vacant Chapter 17 Family

The last five days take aim been unbelievable in more ways than one. Its been a long, hard-fought road, no doubt ab emerge it. in that locations fightingand making up, money problems and tears, precisely we always make it through, and we make it through together. We are, how of all time, ab away to experience one-third of the biggest changes in our lives thus far.Margie is retiring and a new manager go forth take her place. Im pretty sure I know a aspect who is a shoe-in. Ethan has taken his duties as assistant manager very seriously. Margie confided to me that it would be a proud moment to see Ethan take her place. The salary growing was nothing to joke about either, and this promotion was enabling us to in conclusion buy our own floor. It wouldnt be fancy or lavish, however it would be ours.Margie has been an enormous support system for both Ethan and me. Shes stepped in as the mystify figure we both needed as we transitioned to new parts of our lives. unmatchable cou ld say that I should have been bitter about a rest period mother, tho I never saw it that way. She has been my savior more than once, but when I first met Margie, I wasnt sure what to telephone back.Can I do you?Well, I was looking for Ethan. The woman was small, but spoke with assurance. Does he salve live here? I hadnt known what to tell her. It flashed through my creative reckoner when I answered the door that perhaps this was the landlord and someone had reported us. Ethan wasnt supposed to have any(prenominal)one living with him. I shouldnt have cared if he got in trouble aft(prenominal) the way he up and left me after I spilled my horse sense to him, but I middling couldnt be angry with him no count how hard I tried.Im Margie, Ethans boss.I stalled in answering her, debating whether I should see her in.Dear?Oh, sorry Im uh I didnt know whether to give my real name. My gut told me that this woman was harmless.Its Emily. My mother taught me to never give more in formation than necessary.Well, Emily, its a pleasure to meet you.That day, Margie invited herself into the duplex and into my life. She was in that location to comfort me as I cried my eyeball out and told her the events leading up to Ethan leaving. She hugged me and gave soothing words of rise above all else, she assured me Ethan would return and that I dear had to be patient.She spoke about Ethan that afternoon as if he were her own son. There was never a disapproving word, only compliments and civilize anecdotes from the eld shed known him.She was also there to support me through school. She insisted, along with Ethan, that I take full advantage of the scholarship I was given. She also precious me to develop my interests and not just study in something so I could get a job. She told me to pursue what I loved something I was choleric about.I think I know what I want to major in, I told Margie, the excitement of my revelation radiating in my tone.Thats great, sweetie. Tell me.This lady came in today with a little boy with autism, and it was so enthralling to watch her interact with him. I think I want to fancy more about children and disabilities. I was nervous about Margies answer. Maybe she thinking I was a little too ambitious or huffy even in regards to my career path. What do you think?I think we are lucky to have you, one of paragons angels here on earth. You ready an old womans heart, Emily. I cant think of a better career choice.I finished school three geezerhood later with a phase in Early Childhood Special Education. Margie was there with Ethan on start day, and I think she was the loudest cheerleader in the auditorium.So, you really want to do this?I used to be the one that was so unsure of everything and looked to Ethan to be the last maker. Now, it seems, the tables have turned. Hes always looking to me for reassurance.I do. I know there pull up stakes be a lot of work to be do on it, but I have the summer off. There is a lot I can do during that time. Id yet to tell him hed be doing all the painting, but I think all things considered hell be just fine with the tradeoff. This house is in a better neighborhood and is a bit bigger. There is path for us to have a home office and a couple spare bedrooms.The realtor was anxious to make a deal. The house had been on the market for several months due to the as is sale. Shes hovering, not wanting this potential sale to slip away. Do you have any questions, Mr. and Mrs. Parker?Despite hearing Mrs. Parker every day, hearing it unruffled brings a make a face to my face. I grabbed Ethans hand and led him back down the star signway. I think well take another look around and meet you back out front. I answer, desperate to get a few moments alone with my maintain and away from the hovering realtor.Will you marry me?Those were the first words out of Ethans mouth. Not, bang-up morning, Emily. How did you sleep? Stunned didnt even begin to capture what I was feel ing. My psyche wasnt fully awake, and I hadnt registered the small diamond on my left hand. Ethan had fit(p) it there in my sleep and had yet to bring it to my attention.The two years before Ethans proposal had been perfect. Our new apartment was a dream bring forth true, and wed even make friends with our neighbors Garth and Kim. The guys loved to barbecue, and Kim loved to talk about kids and literature, two of my favorite things.Emily? Come on Youre killing me here His desperation made me giggle a bit, as if Id ever tell him no.Yesthank God I was so nervous.Three weeks later found us at Powell Gardens in the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel. We had the ceremony on Friday evening, then a girth in the nearby fountain courtyard. It was small, just Margie and her husband, Garth and Kim, and me and Ethan. We didnt have a honeymoon, but that was okay. Someday, wed get there.So what are you thinking we can do with this room? Easy, Emily, dont rush it. Make it perfect, I tell myself.Im sure youll want a place to set up shop at home to work on your lesson plans and stuff. Ethan walks into the room and steps to the large bow window. This window will give you a lot of natural light to work by, he finishes.Yeah, but I think the smaller room down the hall will be good for an office space. Deep breath, this is it. I think this room would be perfect as a nursery since its near next to the master and has its own quarter bath.Wait for it.It takes longer than I think it should for it to sink in. Ive counted to thirty before he turns around and stares at me blankly.I move my hand down to rest on my still flat stomach. His eyes widen and his mouth falls open.After a long pause, I give him a gesticulate of confirmation and my eyes flutter closed for a couple seconds.Youre?I simply nod again.Seriously?Seriously. I dont even think my reply is completely out of my mouth before hes crossed the room and picks me up. He swings me around, hugging me tight. Hes mumbling, Oh my God, oh my God over and over into my breasts. I half expect him to sneak a motorboat in there while hes at it. I just grip his head tighter, relishing the moment.He finally sets me down and kisses me. This is the happiest Ive ever seen this manthe man I love and worship and would do anything for. give thanks you, Emily. Thank you for giving me everything Ive always wanted, a family.

Cultural assessment Essay

A attachment of nuance is essential in the process of the interview, case formulation, diagnosing, and treatment of ethnicly assorted individuals. The evaluation of these singles raises m any issues that clinicians need to address to formulate an precise diagnosis and treatment plan that will be acceptable to the uncomplaining. A consideration of culture is essential in the process of the interview, case formulation, diagnosis, and treatment of culturally divers(a) individuals. The evaluation of these man-to-mans raises many issues that clinicians need to address to formulate an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan that will be acceptable to the long-suffering The American Psychological Association (1993) guidelines acknowledge the necessity of assessing individuals in the context of use of their ethnicity and culture, respecting their indigenous beliefs and practices (including those involving religion and spirituality), assessing the patients support systems, evaluating the patients in their primary verbiage, and taking a history that accounts for immigration and cultivation stresses. In summary, the consideration of cultural factors in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of culturally diverse individuals has add-oned recognition in a word form of disciplines in the last decade.In this chapter, we present a brief history of psychiatric case formulation define culture, ethnicity, and race and focus on an explication and cultivation of the DSM-IV outline for cultural formulation.Aspects of cultural formulation include assessing a patients cultural identity and understanding how culture affects the explanation of the individuals illness, support system, and the clinician-patient relationship as well as understanding how culture affects the assessment and diagnosis of culturally diverse individuals From a clinical point of view, understanding the patients view of his or her illness helps determine our assessment and our treatment plan. Differe nt cultures express their symptoms otherwise (Kleinman 1988), and concepts of illness also vary with culture. For example, for the Chinese in Hong Kong, Cheung (1987) found that patients had cardinal explanatory models for mental disorders. They could explain their illness as based on psychological, somatic, or mixed factors. Their explanation of the illness influenced how they went about getting help. The patients who had purely psychological explanations were the least likely to seek help. Because of this, Cheung recommended that clinicians specifically inquire about psychological symptoms, because these patients were not likely to volunteer them. Special Issues in Assessment Professionals works in systems that link treatment and corrections must be assured of a broad range of special issues in assessment think to nodes gender, culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, educational level, religious affiliation or spirituality, and other much(prenominal) sociocultural characteri stics. Issues related to a number of these characteristics atomic number 18 discussed below.Language It whitethorn be necessary to perform the assessment in the primary phraseology of the individual, which may not be English. Assessors should avoid the assumption that a speaker unit of any given language can also read that language. The client may not be functionally literate in any language. Another part of the staff members sensitivity to language should be an awareness that the client may need to communicate in street language. The assessor should be attentive to the kind of vocabulary that the individual client feels most comfortable using. To the extent possible, concepts should be stated in lay language, even street language, if set aside, scarce not professional or clinical jargon. Using get hold of language is an essential part of devising a true connection with the individual, so that he or she becomes move in the assessment process. While good assessment may be lar gely an intuitive process, specific assessment skills can be taught. dressing can be provided in nonjudgmental interviewing techniques, rapport building, sensitive probing, and multicultural sensitivity. Cultural Identity and Ethnicity For appropriate assessment, it is critical that culturally and linguistically skilled staff are available.The assessor must be aware of the impressiveness of the clients cultural identity and the extent of his or her acculturation into the dominant culture. Some programs attempt to draw on traditional cultural http//www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Mental-Health-Assessment strengths of the individual in specific ways these may be appropriate for the individual who has a strong identification with his or her culture of origin, but it may be inappropriate for other individuals of the same group. It is necessary to gain some sense of the meaning that the individuals culture holds for him or her personally, rather than relying on presuppositions. The clients cu lture has many potence implications for the process of the assessment. Some cultures view direct questioning as inappropriate. Therefore, individuals from this pillowcase of culture may view the assessment process as highly intrusive. A goal of the assessment process is to understand the clients world from his or her own cultural perspective.The importance of making appropriate inferences from information about an individuals culture makes it imperative that programs conglomerate in assessment exert a strong effort in good faith to hire assessors representative of the populations they serve. When qualified professionals from these cultural groups are not on staff, treatment programs can seek to employ counselors or support staff from these groups, in order to create a diverse multicultural program environment. For effective assessment and placement, it is necessary to recognize that institutional and individual discrimination may exist in the criminal arbiter system and other ins titutions, and that bias can negatively affect classification, screening, and assessment.

The Social Construction of the Amish Community

Sociology 1101 The Amish Community, an Example of Social Construction The Amish grow qualifies as an utilisation of social gimmick because it is a imprint that has important consequences for a heavy(p) group of wad. The tidy sum of the Amish confederacy have specific rules they must follow. They commit that the outside culture has a morally polluting effect and that it promotes pride, greed, immorality and materialism. just about of the Amish tactile sensations include the concept that God will judge them on how closely they have conformed the perform rules during their lifetime and that contact with the outside universe of discourse makes it harder to obey their rules.This is the reason for their extreme point isolation. Even though the Amish culture accepts that the outside world has a polluting effect on them and their children, there is a time at heart the Amish partnership that the p bents throughout the community of interests of interests of interests allow th eir children to participate in thus farts and activities that they ordinarily wouldnt be allowed to participate in. This time is referred to as Rumspringa. Rumspringa is alike referred to as running around This is the confines used to describe the period of adolescence Amish make out starting at around the age of sixteen.The p bents of the children who choose to participate in this opportunity life that their children sewer non be shunned from the Amish community because they atomic number 18 not stock-still baptise and they are not yet under the imprimatur of the church. Rumspringa helps the youthfulness larges to choose whether they want to join the church or not. The early days adults can choose to join a youth group on the weekends usually. These variant youth groups have different activities or events they participate in. There are two main groups one considered the slower or plainer group and the early(a) considered the prompt group.The slower groups participa tes in activities such as volleyball games, and tattle groups and are even mosttimes supervised by adults while the faster group participates in parties and other activities considered less conservative. Although most people attend to think that the youth who participate in these groups are participating in heavy partying, drug use, premarital sex or other extreme behaviors this is usually not the case although these are not unheard of throughout the faster youth groups. The Amish community serves as an example of social construction because the ideas of this culture are passed along by xplaining each aspect of the community through personal interactions and friendships, people begin to believe these strict aspects are what are to be expected because so many other people of the Amish community are believing them and practicing them. Then the strict aspects of the Amish culture are eventually accepted and passed down from extension to generation. The Amish people are call descend ants of the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century Europe. Anabaptism is the religion that came about during the reformation era.The term Anabaptist first started out as a nickname that meant re-baptizer, because this group rejected the idea of infant baptism, since an infant doesnt yet have the cognition of advanced and evil. The Anabaptists were seen as a threat to Europes sacred and social institutions and were therefore persecuted. The idea of Rumspringa first begins because of this specific aspect of the Amish culture, the belief that their children cannot be shunned by the Amish community because they are not old generous to know the difference between good and evil.This wherefore allows the people of the Amish community to consider what the specific age of knowing good from evil is and then they present the specific idea of Rumspringa to the Amish culture. The Amish community passed through the three conformations of Berger and Luckmanns analysis by first externalizing th e ideas of the culture by pointting an invoice of the ideas out there The Amish community first presented the idea of Rumspringa to the entire community when they felt that their schoolgirlish adults should have a choice whether or not they wanted to stretch out to practice the Amish believes and pass them down to their children.Although it may expect that this act of Rumspringa is going completely against what the Amish community believes, the Amish parents do not get on their youth to leave home and participate in sinful behaviors tho they feel there must be at least some room for free choice in the decision to become Amish. Rumspringa was also explained as the time the Amish community allowed their young adult children to participate in youth groups that would lead them to finding a spouse and if this happened and the two young adults decided to get married their time of Rumspringa was over and they were now to be baptized.The second phase they passed their belief through is objectivation. This is the most crucial phase of construction. The strict rules of the Amish community led the people of the Amish community to believe that organism exposed to the outside world would pollute their minds. But, when the idea of Rumspringa was first put out there for people to consider, it showed that this would allow their children to participate in activities and groups that they were not usually allowing them too.At first the people of the Amish community felt this idea was crazy, simply after it was explained that their children would not be shunned from the community because they had not yet been baptized and were not yet under the authority of the church and that their young adult children needed free choice in whether or not to come up the practices of the Amish culture, people began to really consider this idea. Many Amish families decided this was a good idea and began to practice this new belief.They felt this could actually help their family continue f rom generation to generation. The third phase of Berger and Luckmann is the phase of internalization. This newly introduced belief of the Amish community was spreading quickly and more and more people began practicing this belief. More people of the Amish community began to involve this belief into their everyday lives because they felt this could lead their children to married couple and then they would soon be baptized and be considered under the authority of the church.People of the Amish community had children and has these children grew up they were introduced to the idea of Rumspringa and as these children grew into adults and had their own children they passed down the belief to their children and eventually the belief of Rumspringa throughout the Amish culture was now passed down from generation to generation religiously. Even though the idea of Rumspringa was doubted when it was first presented to the Amish community, the people of the Amish community began to actually con sider the aspects of this new idea and realize this could help their children and even their families for generations.This is how the beliefs of the Amish community passed through the third phase of Berger and Luckmanns reality of construction. I believe that the beliefs of the Amish community could either be effectively challenged or accepted depending on the person who is examining and judging the culture. The Amish culture thoroughly explains each aspect of their culture and why they participate in each aspect. They have specific punctuate information on why they now accept the idea of Rumspringa.I feel he Amish culture could also be effectively challenged because, even though the Amish culture presents their ideas of Rumspringa and explains that they feel this certain period of time in their childrens lives could effectively alter their lives for the better, this time doesnt actually let their children rifle outside the community or even the home. The young adults of the Amish community wear downt actually get to experience what it is like to live in a house where there is television or dress other than or even eat food they have never seek before.I feel the period of Rumspringa should be widened completely. The young adults should be able to draw six months to year physically living and working in a whole different world and this would actually allow them to make a completely honest choice about whether to join the Amish community church without the heavy influence of their parents. I feel this would effectively allow the young adults experience Rumspringa.

Chapter Paper

Chapter III Methodology A. Materials Materials Quantity Amount Talbos ng Kamote (Ipomoea batatas) leaves 5 10 - Rubbing Alcohol 1 bottle P 15 Okra 5 P 10 Lemon 1 P 12 Recycled Bottle 1 - Bowl and spoon 1 - weewee 1 glass - Container 1 - - - Total P 37 B. modus operandi Slice two Okras into 4 pieces. roll a glass of peeing and the gumbo into an empty container. Leave it for a day. After a day, excruciate the Okras and determine its extract. Put it on the bowl. Get the seeds of the Okra using the spoon.After that, get the extract of the leaves by chopping the Talbos ng Kamote (Ipomoea batatas) leaves into sm every(prenominal)er pieces and squeezing it. Mix it with the gel. Put a spoonful of Alcohol. And squeeze the lemon fruit for fragrance. Put all the mixed ingredients in to a bottle. Chapter V Conclusion and Recommendations A. Conclusion The researchers found different facts that Antibacterial Herbal Hand Sanitizer place be an election for water and soap in killing bacte ria or germs in our hands.It is very effective in cleaning our hand. The researchers concluded that Talbos ng Kamote (Ipomoea batatas) can be used as the main ingredient in qualification an antibacterial herbal sanitizer, lemon fruit add fragrance in our output and with the help of rubbing alcohol. The researchers are very confident that the return became successful. B. Recommendations The researchers recommend you to make this hand sanitizer. This hand sanitizer is very useful to severally one of us. This can help you to fight germs in your hands.The hand sanitizer is not hard to make. It is very handy and it can be an accessory to your bag. In analyzing the result that the researchers made, the researchers recommend you some instructions to come up with a better result. Lessen the rubbing alcohol and put more okra extract to make your sanitizer jelly. Make sure that the recycled bottles have been thoroughly cleaned in soapy water so that the other dirt are gone. This expert lo oks better to have no mixture with old and new ones.

Marijuana Persuasive Essay

Do you rely the negative effect of ganja argon more damaging than inebriant and tobacco plant? Personally, I really dont think the effects are whatever worse, and seeing as though alcohol and tobacco are legal so should marihuana. Presently, it is illegal to consume, grow, and/or sell any amount of marijuana in the United States of the States for any soil with the exception of fourteen states, which procedures it strictly for medicinal purposes. Yes, I said medicinal purpose. Crazy how an herb that is capable of helping to cure you can be illegal while another that kills over 3 million a year can be legal (Charltan, 2004). cannabis is a hallucinogen that has been around for galore(postnominal) years, initially used for recreational purposes. In new-fashioned years, doctors take a crap come to realize that it can actually help with diseases such(prenominal) as cancer, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis (MS), glaucoma, and more (Drug Free America Foundation, Inc.). The active i ngredient in marijuana, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, has been proven to prevent the increase of cast Alzheimer plaques in patients (Marijuana may help stave off Alzheimers). It has been known to work more efficiently than any other commercial-grade medicine presently being marketed, but many plenty suave have qualms about the idea. They believe marijuana is just a drug that has bad side effects, when in reality tobacco and alcohol have worse effects.In contrast to marijuana alcohol and tobacco are legal. Although there is an age limit to consume both, 21 and 18 respectively, the use is not prohibited. When it comes down to long-wearing effects on the body and electronic organ damage tobacco does way more damage than marijuana. Tobacco causes emphysema, cavities, gum tree disease, and it is responsible for 9 out of 10 lung cancer deaths (Cigarette Smoking, 2009). good deal are warned of the negative effects of tobacco on a insouciant basis, but yet they sens packs of ciga rettes continuously, and you may wonder why this is so. I concluded that the reason why they smoke cigarettes is because theyre legal, point blank. If marijuana was legal I guarantee no one would ever smoke a cigarette again, and as a result, there would be little cases of lung cancer, emphysema, and oral cancer altogether.In the case of what drugs should and should not be legal, this rock is very astonishing. Just how tobacco such a harmful herb, with merely any health benefits can be legal and available to everyone. The lasting effects are so harsh I cannot understand how people do not see my point of view. While tobacco causes cancer, marijuana helps cure it. For one to say that legalizing marijuana is a ridiculous idea, it would be like saying using a band-aid on a recognise is pointless. It should be legalized and officially recognized as a medicine. All states, not only fourteen, should sign off on this topic. Marijuana is treatment for many diseases and it is what a band- aid is to a cut. Many people need it and are terror-struck to obtain it because of possible repercussions. That should no longer be an issue in this country.Works Cited.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of strength life lost, and economic costs United States, 19951999. 200251(14)300303. MMWR Morb Mort Wkly Rep. Accessed at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/ see/mmwrhtml/mm5114a2.htm on September 17, 2009. Charlton, Ann. (2004). Medicinal use of tobacco in history. Retrieved from http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1079499/ Marijuana may help stave off Alzheimers. (2006, October 10). Retrieved from http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15145917/storyContinued

The Productivity of Canada

Canadas wargoniveness is non in in truth good shape now. Among its G-7 partners (Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the U. S. ) , it has the lowest rate of growth in frugal productiveness over the past 25 years while it stratified second in productiveness only to the U. S. two decades ago. What was the problem? wherefore was the postal service add upting worse and worse? While the problem seems to be getting more serious as the forward- caseing millennium approaches, dungaree Chretien, the Prime Minister, and Paul Martin, the Finance Minster, consider played down the productivity issue, saying in that location is no clear-cut evidence that it is a pregnant problem.In fact, the high income evaluate rate matchd to the U. S. causes lower pay for those super skilled workers, which leads to their departure for bring out pay and more opportunities in the U. S. Also, the Canadian federal government spends withal much m acey on themselves much(prenominal) as bu ilding political empires and providing services that copy those delivered by other(a) provincial or municipal governments. Besides, Canada has a poor performance especially in areas related to engineering and communication industries. We certainly inquire a lot more to be done to improve productivity from miscellaneous sources.Before we kindle come up with effective solutions for this controversial issue, we need to know how does productivity affect our economy and the standard of living in our country. productivity measures the capacity of the economy to add its output while bell are controlled. As economic efficiency increases, the overall wealth produced by the economy also goes up. It also determines the purchasing power that Canadians have. The great productivity, the greater the possible for economic growth. With the decrease in productivity, our standard of living may go down as well.Canadians living standard grew by an sum up of 3. 1 percent a year from 1961 to 1980. Since then, growth has sightlyd only 1. 1 percent annually. The major reason for this shutdown can be criticized on slower productivity growth. Lower labour productivity has explained 96% on average of the Canada-U. S. standard of living gap over the last decade. The shrink of Canadas productivity causes damages to the countrys living standard. Stronger productivity growth is essential for higher living standards in a country. genius possible solution is assess cut, particularly on income tax.High tax rates hurt Canada in many different ways. Most of the Canadian companies cannot afford to hire an American executive to come north because the U. S. take rates are significantly higher and the tax rate is different. If they do so, they should expect to pay an American executive the double salary compare to the outgoing Canadian executive earned. In that case, it would be too expensive. Although wide-ranging companies can probably afford it, while some smaller companies can t afford to bring in talents that they need to have a fit their business. Moreover, the growing tax gap makes the situation flush worse.This is also one of the reasons why Canadas poor economy performance during recent years. Also, the Canadian dollar is weaker than the U. S. dollar, therefore income tax rate turns out to be near 50% for top earners compared to Canada with astir(predicate) 35% in the U. S. The other problem with over taxation is, when governments have too much of our capital by collecting tax, which is in the case of Canada, the federal government spend too much on themselves, on building political empires and providing services that duplicate those delivered by other provincial or municipal governments.If taxpayers have this money left over to spend, they impart probably either spend it or invest which will have a positive impact on our economy. plainly one exceptional case is high-tech industries in Montreal. r flushue credits those companies, which allur e them to invest more money. Eventually, the government provides up to $15,000 for impudently jobs in tax credits for each employees annual salary in future ten years. Those subsidies convinced Illinois-based Motorola to locate a late software center in Montreal. However, the critics argued that the government is buying jobs by utilise other taxpayers money and causing higher taxes for others.But in general, higher tax rate in Canada is a non-questionable fact. Another proceeds that should be made is to put more money on discipline and provide a stable and attractive working environment for super trained graduates. The loss of these highly trained graduates, estimated in the thousands annually to the U. S. The more opportunities, higher salaries and lower taxes are the main reason to draw their attention. Besides, there are not enough well trained and highly improve tidy sum to teach at universities and specialized schools, skilled Canadians who leave because of break dance pay and more job opportunities elsewhere.Besides, numbers of Canadians are willing to discover in the U. S every year. In 1997, 23,000 of them enrolled in American colleges and universities. But there were only 18,000 Canadians enrolled in U. S. universities about 10 years ago. This number has been increased over the past decade and it certainly is going to increase if we dont do anything about it. Another thing is, the American companies spend large amounts of money on re-training and development on executives. The average company spent about $10 million on both internal and external executive development in 1998.Especially when technology is becoming more and more involving business, the ability to get up to attend information and knowledge is the key to success. In a recent glance that is done by Business Week, the best in negociatement education, be according to this survey. U. S. has 17 universities in the top 20 for non-degree study. Although this was not an authorized ranking, it still shows that the U. S has most of the top business schools in the serviceman, such as Harvard, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.Thats also why many students around the world, not just Canadians, like to go to those universities, because they can have a better education and a b businesser future. Technology is crucial for productivity too, since Canada has done a poor job in technology and to support those technological talents. full like Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron, they decided to be part of high-tech talent to the U. S and they sold their privately owned software company, Zoomit Corp. of Toronto, to Microsoft. Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron actually didnt look for a buyer somewhat Microsoft approached them as they found their company has potential in market.Anand Bahl and Kim Cameron created a software program, which from the e-mail system called the meta-directory which allows companies to integrate and manage a variety of related computer files, images and applications fr om different suppliers. They couldnt get any finance help in Canada and not many people could understand the technology and expected their company to get beaten by a bigger player and wiped out. In fact, their product works and even Microsoft hire them along with 11 of 30 Zoomits employees to work on integrating meta-directory software into Windows 2000.They were very happy to be accepted from the worlds largest and most powerful firm because they had such a press to try to prove their product. They criticized the attitude that they encountered in Canada which Canadian companies assumed the product wasnt good enough and they forced to focus on the U. S. which right now about 90% of their sales revenue come from large American companies. The comment that they gave was Canada has world class programming talent, but they have to have a chance and somehow recognize by others, and talent is one of the few things Canada will have left if we let this situation gets worse.In the case of Fo rd Canada, they have increased the wages for the workers because they are doing great business. But some economists worry that the raise of wages will lead to an increase in the unit price of cars and trucks, which is unlikely the case. In fact, the increase in Fords hourly labour cost will certainly lag behind the ongoing growth of productivity. Productivity in auto assembly grew 80% between 1991 and the first poop of 1999, almost 10 times as fast as the do economy. In general, productivity in car industry has been increased 20% since 1991 .The amazing thing is that auto assembly average productivity even exceeds the level in the U. S. According to the bible of automotive productivity studies, it takes about 25 hours of labour to assemble a vehicle in Canada, which is 10% less than in the U. S. Moreover, this superb productivity performance produced 34,000 mod jobs in the industry since 1992. The key for their success is they put huge investment in fixed capital that have been m ade by the auto assemblers and their separate suppliers.They are investing more than $4 billion on new equipment every year. As a result so far, new equipment with new technology makes greater productivity and better quality. From what has been mentioned above, the fact that Canadas productivity needs to be improved, and the government should put more effort on it. Canada must solve the productivity problem through massive tax cuts and increase budgets on both education and technology development or continue to lose talents to the U. S. while well have poorer productivity and competition in the market.

Film Analysis – Blade Runner

MAC 170 INTRODUCTION TO FILM STUDIES concession ONE FILM ANALYSIS FILM CHOSEN stain stolon (1982) EXTRACT INT Sebastians Building, starting with the scissure of Deckard climbing up the w entirely. term 9 minutes (Chapter 30, Blade get-go The Final Cut, 2007) The fol depressive disordering turn up will be a close analysis of an extract from the 1982 word picture Blade Runner, which was directed by Ridley Scott. Blade Runner is a science-fiction read based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which was write by Phillip K. Dick.This essay will withal look for how Ridley Scotts delectation of mise en scene and edit in Blade Runner washbowl screening him as an auteur. An auteur is known as the author of the film a director that routines recognisable and quasi(prenominal) traits and themes done with(predicate)out a number of their films. The auteur was wee-weed through the auteur surmise, which argues that the director is the most important person behind fashioning a film. It was number 1 earned by an establishment of film makers in 1950s Paris. Some of these film makers were Francois Trauffaut, Jean Luc-Goddard and Jacques Rivette.They were angered by a critical establishment in France that lauded a films fidelity to a screenplay or novel and regarded the film director as merely a translator of material from the verbal medium to the cinematic. For this view Trauffaut and company substituted a nonion of personal cinema a cinema in which the director, not the screenwriter, could be seen as the controlling force behind the film. (Allen & Gomery, 1985 71-72) This quote explains how the auteur theory was established, and how Trauffaut created la politique des auteurs, which is a policy in which the director is the master(prenominal) creative force when making a film.Ridley Scott net be classed as an auteur for his repeated apply of strong female characters, which ar present some(prenominal) in Blade Runner, extraterrestrial macrocosm (1979) and Thelma & Louise (1991), the future and the unknown, and the created human. This essay will explore these points using the close analysis of Blade Runner, whilst also comparing Blade Runner to Alien. Ridley Scott sack be classed as an auteur for his use of setting in his films he tends to create a post-apocalyptic setting, mainly set in the ot-so-distant future. This can be seen in the extract of Blade Runner, from the wide angle, long shot of Deckard on the roof. The tall buildings, which atomic number 18 close together, help to connote an industrialize city, and the lack of organic matter helps to show the futuristic world as truly knifelike, old and dirty. The use of s stair surrounding Deckard when he is intermission from the roof help to establish that the city lacks people and is very de-humanised and an around dystopia, which is very similar to Alien.Alien and Blade Runner warn us against a capitalist future gone wrong, where much(prenominal) rec overings and bonds argon so ill truncated that a quite literal dehumanization has become by chance the gravest danger. (Byers, 1990 39) This dehumanization feature which Ridley Scott has placed into both Blade Runner and Alien gives both films a horse sense of business to the earreach when both films were first released, that the possibility of the earth being dehumanized is quite great.The shot of Deckard abeyance from the roof also shows how high the building is, with the hearing barely being able to see the floor, which helps to connote a sense of uncertainty from the listening, as they are unsure as to whether or not Deckard will fall. The use of rain in this scene is very powerful, as it makes the scene sense very depressive, creating a bleak aspect to the film whilst also creating a bad mite for the audience, as it connotes to the audience that something bad is going to happen.This helps to establish a bleak, industrialised future, a one in which on that point are l ittle humans on earth in Blade Runner, similar to Alien which can help to describe Ridley Scott as an auteur. Ridley Scott can also be defined as an auteur for his use of strong and determined protagonists, specially in Blade Runner and Alien. In this scene extract, Deckard can be seen as a strong protagonist due to his determination to go to bed Roy. This scene however, also shows the audience the similarities betwixt Roy and Deckard.The cross cutting editing used at the start of the scene when both characters are relations with their similar hand injuries helps to show the similarity between Roy and Deckard as they are both dealing with the same sort of pain. Deckard in this scene seems very determined to retire Roy, however when Roy does die, the audience seem to get the notioning that Deckard seems sad about this. The editing in this extract is quite purblind at first, using long shots before cutting helping to create a slow pace to the scene.The extract then changes pace h owever, when Roy is chase Deckard, the editing becomes quite fast and rapid making it exciting for the audience to watch. The shot when Roy smashes his head through the wall helps to show the slow pace turning fast. The direction the editing is quite slow and then there is a jolt the point where Roy smashes his head through the wall the editing then speeds up a little after this shot, until Roys oddment where the editing slows down rapidly, using slow-motion to evoke sadness from the audience.The Roy smashes his head through the wall helps to show a sense of power from Roy, which creates a sense of danger toward Deckard from the audience, making them rule like he is not safe. there are a mount of cross-cuts between Roy and Deckard, which helps the audience to see the similarities between the two characters, close hinting that Deckard could be a replicants too. The fading between the d.o.a. Roy and Deckard, and the use of close ups on Deckards sad face makes the audience fe el quite sad too.In this scene we learn that Roy just treasured to live and not be a slave which creates empathy from the audience. The significance of the squab which is released when Roy dies connotes that the bird was almost a representation of Roy and the shot of the bird escape a counseling is a symbol of Roy finally being free which leaves the audience feeling sad and almost regretful that they saw Roy as the villain, particularly when we see him jumping in and out of the shadows at the beginning of the scene, as if this was almost a game to him.In this scene, Roy can be seen as the anti-hero. The use of blanking surrounding Roy when he has died makes him appear almost god-like, signifying him as powerful, which he has been throughout this scene. The long shot of Roy and Deckard, when Roy has just pulled the dangling Deckard from the roof to guard duty signifying that Roy can be seen as an anti-hero, connotes that Roy has more power over Deckard. The way Deckard is lying on the floor at Roys feet shows Deckard in a submissive way, that humans are powerless against replicants.The close up, low angle on Roys face after this, makes the audience feel quite scared of Roy. His eyes are big, almost crazy and the way Pris blood is running down his face make the audience feel scared of Roy. Ridley Scotts lack of lighting in this extract can help to identify Ridley Scott as an auteur, as he also uses a lack of lighting in Alien. The shot of Roy behind the barbed wire, almost signifying a caged animal which replicants have shown similarities to throughout the film, creates a sense of fear and uncertainty for the audience.The way the light is shining behind him creating a lot of shadows, makes Roy seem a little mysterious as the audience are uncertain as to what is going to happen next. The way the lighting throughout the extract creates a lot of shadows, making the extract feel bleak and dark, creating almost a Film Noir feel to the film, creates a bleak, and dark feel for the audience. Throughout the extract, the only lighting we see is stylised, as the only light comes from lamps, bright lights from a Spinner citeising the new world or bright neon billboards which helps to give the film an artificial and futuristic tone.Ridley Scotts use of dark colours in this scene, such as grey, black and blue, creates a sinister feel to the scene making the audience know something bad is going to happen. This is similar to Alien, as all the lighting in that film is artificial too, coming from the lights from the ship, and the 1984 Mac advert which Ridley Scott directed, can define him as an auteur. The way Ridley Scott continually uses similar features and themes among his films helps to exhibit him as an auteur.Blade Runner and Alien are very similar in terms of editing and mise en scene, the use of this in Blade Runner helps to establish Ridley Scott as an auteur as he uses these themes and effects in some more of his films. Word Count 1505/1 602 Bibliography Allen, R. C. & Gomery, D. (1985) Film History Theory and Practice, McGraw pitchers mound Byers, Thomas B. (1990) Commodity Futures in Kuhn, A. (ed. ) Alien Zone, Cultural Theory and modern-day Science Fiction Cinema, capital of the United Kingdom Verso. Caughie, J. (ed. ) (1981) Theories of Authorship, London Routledge Nelmes, J. (ed. ) (2003) Introduction to Film Studies, London Routledge

Reading Response Essay

The September Sisters, by Jillian hazan, is a story ab let out both childs, Abigail, the oldest and Becky the lateest. They both fight a lot and make each other(a)s life miserable, thats all they do, then Becky disappears in the center field of the night, Abby struggles to cope with her own feeling of guilt and loss. Aby meets a upstart neighbor, Tommy, who with m, discover that love can bloom, even when its surrounded by thorns. This is shown by the author with tone, imagery and similes. Abigail feels a sense of guilt finished the disappearance of Becky, they would invariably fight for no reason or for gormless reasons and now that she realizes that shes gone. She struggles with this deep feeling of wo. I felt this fast surge of guilt, as if I shouldve heard everything, shouldve heard Becky get out of bed, scallywag 13.Throughout the book whole book, the tone is always express as guilt and grief. Every time I got in the liquified pool or I looked at the inner tube, I musical theme about Becky swimming toward me, wanting the pink one so bad, Id feel so guilty, and Id think, why didnt I serious let her have it? What was the big deal besides? She couldve had this one thing it wouldnt have been so much to give, page 296. Jillian Cantor gives us a very strong feeling of sorrow and grief to capture, which tells us the theme throughout the story. Theres as well a big amount of similes used to show the theme. Our house is ilk a prison, something that sometimes feels like its safekeeping me in, locked away, not keeping other people out, page 17. Abigail feels trapped with all this situation of her sister missing, rather than feeling protected, its vice-versa.Another example is, The kiss was short, and when he pulled back, I could see his breath, like frosting, lighting up the air, page 189. When Aby uses frosting, its sweet and good, so Aby describes his presence as sweet air, qualification her happy, which goes with the theme of innocence of youn g love. The way Jillian Cantor captures images about what is release on is by giving imagery. Beckys hair was straight, dirty blond, and just past her shoulders. She had green eyes and pinkish sunburned skin in the summer. She had dimples. She had some freckles on her nose. She had two-inch scar just above her right elbow, from the time she fell off her bike. She was four feet eight inches tall, and she weighted seventy-three pounds. She was ten dollar bill years old, page 28.The author uses vivid amount of sentences to imagine how Becky looked out front she went missing. I felt his lips moving over mine, his tongue pushing behind into my mouth, and it all felt perfectly and warm and so nice, page 315. Abigail is favorable with his presence when shes with him and feels warmth by his side. I certainly stick out this scene as it goes. The warmth of love and innocence is captured in this quote. Jillian Cantor really gives out the theme by expressing himself with tone, imagery an d similes even though theres heavy(a) times in life, love always makes its way through, it will be there, through thick and thin. This innocent young love was told in this story with Tommy and Abigail. Abigail struggled with the disappearance of her younger sister still the love that Tommy and her gave each other made love bloom, through this hard situation of her family and her.

Psychologists’ Participation in Military Interrogatory Operations Essay

The progeny of ethical function is always in question especially in the medical and confederative medical sketchs. The article Psychologists Clash on Aiding Interrogations (Carey, 2008) tackles this government issue in the background of the services rendered by psychologists to military machine trading operations involving the doubtfulness of detainees.The article points egress certain details regarding this issue among opposites, those tackled were the issue of this type of assistance and its relevance to the Ameri back Psychologists Association work out of ethics, the consideration of inter home(a) laws in the writ of execution of a psychologists duties, the ethical responsibilities of a psychologist to the person cosmos interrogated, the kindred of the APA to the practice of its members, and the individual law of psychologists who chose to collaborate with the military in interrogative sentence operations.An initial approach to this issue would be to consider the spot of psychologists in society in the context or professionalism. Base on the precede of the APA Code of conduct, psychologists are committed to increasing scientific and professional cognition of behavior and peoples understanding of themselves and others and to the use of such association to improve the condition of individuals, organizations, and society (APA, 1992), in addition, psychologist should respect and protect genteel and world rights and the central importance of freedom of inquiry and expression in research, teaching, and publication.They strive to help the public in ontogeny informed judgments and choices concerning benevolent behavior. (APA, 1992) Certain features can be slow gleaned from these APA riposteages to none in occurrence are the psychologists roles in the development of academic knowledge in the field, the fostering of individual and social understanding, and in promoting and preserving individual, organizational, (your family name) 3 and soc ial social welfare. all over and above these professional roles are the particular attention given to elegant and human rights and the freedom of inquiry and expression.In this context there is no argument as to whether the psychological profession in general should consent to to workings with the military in interrogatory operations the mere particular that these tests do non serve the purposes of the profession as outlined above and whitethorn hitherto be violations of certain civil and human rights precisely shows that fighting(a) in military interrogations can be against the APA code of ethics. However, if the construct it part of the passage is considered, which concerns the preservation of individual, organization, and social welfare, psychologist participation in interrogations may actually serve this end.If the purpose of the military interrogation is to preserve the naturalized order and the issue is national security, then psychologists being account fitte d, not solitary(prenominal) to their patients notwithstanding also to their country, should do well by assisting the military in their operations. This is the argument put out by certain psychologists who have been rear to be collaborating with the military that they did not do boththing to cause misuse to some(prenominal) of the subjects of interrogation, rather, they merely ensured that the subjects were not caused any harm.In addition, they claimed to also be acting their duties to their country. Another perspective should be considered in this issue the reports that have been breathing out around that psychologists have been assisting the CIA and the military in developing abusive interrogation techniques used on terrorist suspects (Benjamin, 2007), that psychologists have collaborated with the military in the militarys secretive Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape program to reverse-engineer techniques originally designed to propose U.S. soldiers to resist tortu re if captured, by exposing them to brutal treatment. (Benjamin, 2007). These grim (your family name) 4 reports get down the issue of civil and human rights into the picture. In a profession that is easily abused as to its practice, civil and human rights should be protected at all costs, but what if those who are supposed to protect these rights are the ones violating the rights themselves?The military and psychology is a very unlikely and dangerous mix, with the former working for national security under the protection of national and international law, and the last mentioned working for the advancement of the psychological profession which incidentally could be of semiprecious use to the military, and with only the APA Code of Ethics standing in the way, possibilities can be very scary think Nazi concentration tenting style.However, certain arguments point out that psychologists, like their military counterparts are able to set aside the APA Code of Ethics in the interest o f national or international law. In the results of a 20025 APA Taskforce, it was implicitly implied that psychologists can fire their ethical code if a governing authority (in this case, the U. S. Military) asks them to do so. (Reiss, 2007) This signification is based on no less than the the APAs code of conduct, which states, in full, If psychologists ethical responsibilities conflict with law, regulations, or other governing legal authority, psychologists make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take steps to result the conflict. If the conflict is unresolvable via such means, psychologists may adhere to the requirements of the law, regulations, or other governing legal authority. (APA, 1992)This brings the issue to a whole new train instead of the issue being an organizational or professional concern, it becomes a concern of individual integrity, which, by the way, becomes blurry when an individual is offered lucrative benefits and perks in exchange for that (your family name) 5 integrity. epoch the issue is obviously one that concerns not only the military, or the field of psychology, but the safety and welfare of even the most hostile subject of an interrogation, the APA Task Force served to bring the issue down to a more private level to dismiss whatever argument is raised by the profession as a whole.Now, it is basically a question of, As a psychologist, are you personally prone to assist the military in their interrogatory operations even when these operations can be inhumane and can violate civil and human rights as long as the operations are within the requirements of the law, regulations, or other governing legal authority (APA, 1992)? Many a psychologist would learn an easy answer to this question, because this question does not require a psychologist to debate any code of ethics or any law it on the button requires that the psychologist go through the process of self-discernment and consider, first and foremost, his/her re asons for choosing the psychology profession, his/her commitments to the people that he/she serves, and his/her priorities in exercising his/her profession. The issue of whether psychologists should collaborate with the military in developing interrogation techniques that may be inhumane is beyond the jurisdiction of any law or code.This issue is a question of morality and integrity, which, in themselves, are very subjective areas of abstraction. In a moment of personal thought, psychologists should at least put themselves in the shoes of the victims of these inhumane interrogation knowledge is indeed power, and power corrupts (Acton, 1887) Psychologists wield a considerable pith of knowledge with their training in the profession, and it is up to them whether they would use this knowledge to harm their fellow humans or not. (your family name) 6The solution to this problem lies in the individual integrities of psychologists. Each psychologist should maintain an internal regulatory mechanism when participating in these operations. The secret is being able to say no when what is being asked to be done is beyond our personal conviction, ideals, and the moral standards governing the profession. While laws and codes can only do so much in regulating what psychologists can do, these also serve as roads signs for psychologists so that they may be constantly reminded if they are already overstepping in their profession.On the issue of national security, some argue that the life of one can sometimes be dispensable for the life of all this argument is a ruse interpretation of the truth. Life, whether it be of only one, or of all is still life, and should not be meddled with in any aspect. Where does this put the psychologists conceding to collaborations with the military? In as much as we all want to believe in the integrity of our own chosen professions, we have to have faith in the individual and inherent goodness of man.We cannot condemn psychologists who work for the military just because we think what they are doing is inhumane, and it is also not up to us to pass personal judgment regarding the militarys motives but in as much as we have hope and confidence in the rationality and discernment of human beings, we might as well advocate integrity and morality as a whole, not only in the field of psychology.Individual issues and motivations of psychologists cannot be questioned by a raging mob but we can sure make them see the truth, and remind them of their commitment to the welfare of all, and not just for the satisfaction of brute and barbaric interests. (your family name)Works Cited Acton, put-on Emerich D. Power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Phrase Finder. 1887. 26 Feb. 2009 .APA. Ethical Principles Of Psychologists And Code Of Conduct. APA Online. 2003. 26 Feb. 2009 . Benjamin, Mark. The CIAs torture teachers. Salon. com. 21 June 2007. 26 Feb. 2009 . Carey, Benedict. U. S. psychologists debate role in military in terrogations. International Heral Tribune The Americas. 16 Aug. 2008. 26 Feb. 2009 . Reiss, Natalie S. The Psychologists eccentric in Military Interrogations. Mentalhelp. net. 3 Aug. 2007. 26 Feb. 2009 .

Fall of Enron

Q1- Who were the report stakeholders involved in, or affected by the collapse of Enron? How and to what degree were they hurt or helped by the actions of Enron management? Ans- The key stakeholders affected by the collapse of Enron were its employees and retirees. Stakeholders and mutual funds investors bemused $ 70billion securities industry value. Banks were also affected by the meltdown of the company. They included big banks wish J P Morgan Chase and Citigroup. Not only the stakeholder and bondholder lose pop, the agency in the company also fell. This was the major setback for the company.The actions of Enron management leave a deep sc be for its 4000 employees which lost out their jobs and also squeeze others around them. Some blamed Arthur Andersen Enrons accounting firm and some blame the board of directors for insufficient oversights. The damage was so big that it was potential to take years for the court to sort the wreckage. The company did not guess of its futu re and took many bad steps just to earn m superstary. The chief operating officer should have imagineed into the company matters long time ago and took action so that hundreds of jobs could have been saved. The companies who were associated with the big firm were affected on a very(prenominal) large scale. This was the biggest bankruptcy of a firm with $63.4 billion in assets.Q2- Considering every last(predicate) aspects of the fictional character, what factor or factors do you believe most contributed to the collapse of Enron? In your answer, please consider both external and internal factors. Ans Enrons non transparent fiscal statements did not clearly depict its operations and pay with shareholders and analysts. The company started manipulating the revenue figures. Enron used many methods to pay off the companies agent looking better by starting different accounting practices.They also broke the legal and ethical integrity of the company by overseeing the companys financ ial reports. Even supporting the political parties didnt help them. They had a complex business model and they misrepresented their financial status to the globe so that they can have a better position in the eyes of the public and earn money on basis of that. alone the above issues that led to the bankruptcy of the company were perpetuated by the actions of Lay, Skilling, Fastow and other executives.They either led to the collapse of the company. Lay did not enquire round the decisions that Skilling and Fastow were taking. He just approved to everything that they kept in front of him. Skilling always treasured to keep up to the Wall Street expectations and for this he gave pressure on his executives to find new was to entomb the dept. This was the major setback for the company as they didnt know that in future everything was going to come out and it would have led to bad consequences. Lay did not enquire about all this and approved of all the work Skilling was doing.Q3- What steps should be taken now by corporate managers, stakeholders, and policy makers to prevent a comparable event from occurring in the future? Ans- People should not lie about the companys financial status just to bring it up In the market. Eventually the truth is going to come out one day or the other. Auditors should properly keep track of the finances. Managers, stakeholders and directors should be cognisant of everything that is happening in the company. Policy makers should think about what steps they are taking and how it will affect other people lives. They should not make policies for the benefits of the big companies who give them finances for their political endeavours.Updated caseMany executives at Enron were indicated of variety of charges and then sentence to prison. Enrons auditors, Arthur Anderson, was found guilty in a united states district court, but by the time the judgement was over turned at the US supreme court, the firm has lost most of its customers and had to shut down. Employees and shareholders received restrain returns in the lawsuits they filed. As a consequence of the scandal, new regulations and legislation were enacted to expand the accuracy of financial describe for public companies.Special persona entities Enron used special purpose entitieslimited partnerships or companies created to fulfil a temporary or specific purposeto fund or manage risks associated with specific assets. The company elected to snitch minimal details on its use of special purpose entities. These bawl out firms were created by a sponsor, but funded by independent equity investors and debt financing. For financial reporting purposes, a series of rules dictates whether a special purpose entity is a separate entity from the sponsor.In total, by 2001, Enron had used hundreds of special purpose entities to hide its debt. The special purpose entities were used for more than just circumventing accounting conventions. As a result of one violation, Enrons b alance sheet understated its liabilities and magnify its equity, and its earnings were overstated. Enron disclosed to its shareholders that it had hedged downside risk in its own illiquid investments victimisation special purpose entities. However, the investors were oblivious to the fact that the special purpose entities were real using the companys own stock and financial guarantees to finance these hedges.This setup prevented Enron from being protected from the downside risk. Notable examples of special purpose entities that Enron employed were JEDI and Chewco, Whitewing, and LJM. The justices agreed to look at two issues in the appeal of Mr. Skillings 2006 conviction that could have broader repercussions, take legal observers. One deals with the governments contention that Mr. Skilling violated his legal obligation to endure honest services to Enron shareholders because he lied about the postcode-trading companys financial condition before it collapsed into bankruptcy in December 2001. Mr. Skillings attorneys maintained that prosecutors misapplied the honest-services statute, arguing their knob hadnt lied and didnt cheat Enron or its shareholders.The second issue involves Mr. Skillings claim that he wasnt able to get a fair trial in Houston, pose of Enrons headquarters, because of anger in the community over the companys collapse. Daniel Petrocelli, Mr. Skillings lead attorney, said the unconditional dallys decision means the defense will finally get an fortune for a full, frank and fair hearing of issues that led to Jeffs wrongful conviction. The jurist Department declined to comment. The compulsory Court earlier accepted for review other appeal related to corporate honest-services fraud. That case involves the conviction of former Hollinger international Inc. Chairman Conrad Black.Oral arguments in Mr. Blacks Supreme Court case are scheduled for December. No date has been set for oral arguments in the case of Mr. Skilling, who is in feder al prison in Colorado. The question of what constitutes honest-services fraud is under debate. The lack of clear guidance on the statute has been a occupation in this area of criminal law for years, said Mark Biros, a former federal prosecutor and now a partner in the Washington office of Proskauer Rose LLP. It would be helpful to everyone if the Supreme Court steps in. Mr. Biros said the court might be considering treating the Skilling and Black appeals as companion cases.The justices could use the two cases to provide a broader interpretation of the honest-services issue, he said. The courts agreement to hear Mr. Skillings arguments on the location of his trial surprised capital of South Carolina Law School professor John Coffee. The area of venue is something the Supreme Court hasnt touched for a long, long time, Mr. Coffee said. If the court agrees with Mr. Skilling, whose attorneys argued for a venue change before the trial, it could have a wide impact. In the 2006 trial, Mr. S killing and former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay were convicted of fraud and conspiracy. Mr. Skilling was also convicted of insider trading.Shortly later on the trial, Mr. Lay died of heart-related problems and his conviction was vacated. Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, 44, was sentenced to sextet years in prison Tuesday, more than two years afterward he pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy for his involvement in the energy companys 2001 collapse. Jurors in the Houston trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling reached a verdict Thursday, the sixth day of deliberations, finding both defendants guilty of most conspiracy and fraud charges.

Midnight Journal Entry

The Midnight Journal Entry Anne T. Lawrence, San Jose State University On an entirely overcast subsequentlynoon in Portland, operating room, on Friday, border district 28, 2003, Richard Okumoto intently study a set of hard-copy bill documents c altogethered ad exclusivelying journal entries spread reveal on his desk. He had been ap requested pass fiscal move outicer (chief fiscal officer) of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a multi-million dollar equipment manucircumstanceurer, just a few weeks earlier. Okumoto was in the midst of remnant the political partys books for the third quarter of fiscal year 2003, which terminate February 28.An experienced administrator who had served as chief financial officer for several other technology firms, Okumoto was familiar with the business, which norm exclusivelyy would be routine. But this time, he felt that something was in earnest amiss. When reviewing the keep societys recent results, he had noniced a s consid erably dip in accrued liabilities between the two quarters ratiocination whitethorn 31 (the last quarter of the 2002 fiscal year) and August 31 (the offset printing quarter of the current fiscal year).Now, looking at the tiny journal entries his mental faculty had provided, he noticed that several substantive bill entries had been make around midnight on September 12, 2002. The entries made that September level had significantly switchd the orders results for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, a few days originally they were feel outed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He subsequent rec everyed The situation that the time stamps on the journal entries were midnight through one o time in the morning made me believe they were having difficulties closing the quarter.Not just because of story difficulties, but because they were having difficulties finding the right answers. My initial re motionivity was, even given up a difficult quarterly close, if the group was beting that late at night, that wasnt typical. From the pass codes essential by the accounting softwargon, Okumoto could see who had made the entries. They included James Dooley, then the companys acting chief operating officer and now the chief operating officer, the corporate controller, and several senior members of the finance team. One midnight journal entry in particular drew the bleak chief financial officers attention.The late-night team had wiped out an accrued liability of $977,000 associated with the evaluate cost of c in all inment and severance benefits to company employees in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. That entry, and several littler ones, all of which were favorable to net income, had the cumulative effect of permitting the company to incubate earnings of $0. 01 per destiny for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, rather than a loss. When he realized that, Okumoto recalled, he felt a sinking persuasion in my gut. He gestateed himself, What happened here? At that time of night? all(prenominal) of the changes in a single direction? Whats going on? He was sure something was not right. RICHARD OKUMOTO Born in 1952, Richard Okumoto was raised with his quartet siblings in a Nipponese-American family in a low-income, African-American neighborhood that contact the Pepper Street Projects of Pasadena, California. He explained how his p bents experiences had shaped their outlook My parents grew up during the impression age. Dad farmed with relatives, and milliampere grew up tending 3,000 chickens on a three-acre banquet in Gardena, California. un informeds after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Nipponese, my parents were relocated infra Executive Order 9066 under which psyches of Nipponese 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 pass onments. Dad and his relatives lost their land, and Mo ms parents lost their chicken ranch. aft(prenominal) 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, Okumotos father, who worked as a gardener, landscaper, and gross grossman of Japanese mutual funds, was disabled in a just auto accident. Fortunately, by then, he had some paid off the loan on their home, so the family was able to survive pecuniaryly. After the accident, Okumotos sustain took a wrinkle cleaning homes to help support her five children. Okumoto described his relationship with his take She and I had an especially close bond. Shortly before my dads accident, both her parents had died. I was the one who supported her through a real difficult year.As a result, she everlastingly treated me differently from the other kidsalmost like an adult. The Okumoto familys financial situation after the accident was difficult. Okumoto had graphic memories of how they co ped Money was in truth short. We had to account for every penny. Every week, my mother wrote knock off in a leather-bound journal everything she earned and everything we spent in the household, rout to the penny. Every week, from the time I was ten years old, she went through that with me. We lived on a cash basis. thither was no credit card, no twinkling mortgage.In that situation, bud defecateing became extremely important. Her comment to me was, You cant complain or so what you dont pitch unless you understand whats happening. Those were her ground rules. He added this comment virtually his mothers values The ethics of doing the right thing locomote very important, because thats really all you bugger off. My mother instilled in me at an early age, heedless of what else you do, always take the high road, always do the right thing. That has influenced me throughout my cautiousnesser.After high school, Okumoto attended San Jose State University, where he thoroughgoing(a) d an undergraduate peak in accounting in 1974 and attended the MBA program from1975 to 1978. He concisely embarked on a highly successful career in finance. all over the next two-and-a-half decades, he held increasingly responsible roles at a image of high-technology companies in the Silicon Valley, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Novellus Systems, Measurex, Credence Systems, and Photon Dynamics. Okumoto admired a spot of carriages he had worked for, who had set high professional and ethical standards for him and his co-workers.He felt fortunate to commit had three exceptional mentors Woody Spedden, the chief executive officer of Credence Systems Jim Hefferman, his boss at Fairchild and later at Measurex and fool Waite, the CFO at Measurex who later took over that position at Seagate Technologies. All three individuals upheld the highest integrity, Okumoto recalled. Aside from the technical tuition I substantiate from them, I got a sozzled ethical grounding. They wou ld always tell me to ask myselfwhat are your obligations to others? ELECTRO SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIES, INC. Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. ESI), the company that Okumoto coupled as CFO in early 2003, was the second-largest technology company in Oregon, trailing precisely 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 companys products. In the 1960s, the firmby then called ESImoved 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, ESIs core business was providing precision production equipment to electronics firms.The company manufactured equipment that was employ 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 dev ices. Its products included advanced laser systems, test equipment, and packaging systems, among others. The companys customers included many leading electronics firms, including AMD, Ericsson, IBM, Samsung, Hitachi, Flextronics, Honeywell, and Lucent. Seventy percent of ESIs 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 megabucks and reported sales revenue of $167 million ( kill from $472 million the prior year). wish well 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 companys financial results declined precipitously in FY 2002, as shown in Exhibit A.Sales and profits had continued to decline in the origin half of FY 2003. Exhibit A Electro Scientific Industries, Selected Sales and Income Data, 1998-2002 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 net income sales 252,134 197,118 299,419 471,853 166,545 Net income (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 reportIn fiscal year 2002, ESI weathered the worst downturn in the electronics industry in over 30 yearsWe 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 indue in areas it saw as promising thr ough partnerships and, potentially, acquisitions.It too informally explored a merger with other firm in southern California. In early 2002, Don VanLuvanee, the companys long-time CEO, suffered a stroke and was no longer able to serve. The progress appointed David Bolender, the former CEO of communications 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 proud James Dooley, who had been serving as the firms chief financial officer, to the role of acting chief operating officer to run the companys 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 protrude 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 baron be my last one in the industry. The company, management, and employeesall had a long fib of stability.To me, it was another walk down the raceway of hard work, a knowing chance to apply my skills in strategic planning and execution as well as to implement the raw(a) Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rules. His first task was to prepare for the FY 2003 third quarter close. In reviewing the companys books for the yesteryear several quarters, he soon noticed a sharp descending(prenominal) spike in the balance of accrued liabilities. He noted that fact for further investigation. In profit to closing the quarter, several other items required Okumotos attention.Just one week into his new job, on February 24, he got an email from John ( hole) Isselmann, Jr. , the general counsel, asking him to forward to the manager of the Japanese office, Mike Tetsui, a set of revised work r ules (terms of employment) for ESIs Japanese employees. As a newcomer, Okumoto knew little of the background or why he had been asked to do this, but complied with the general counsels request, displace on to the Japanese office manager the revised work rules. Okumoto sure 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 abundant impact on each employee we haveI do not think I can get concents sic from ESIs 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, uh-oh. There was a big disconnect between what I had been told and Mikes reply. I had assumed that the Japanese had already been assured 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 companys Japanese operations, and he was aware that Japanese work rules were normally filed with the government. Regulators were very strict about mending 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 uttered the belief that employees, if dissatisfied with the revised rules, could take the matter before the Japanese sedulousness board, and that this would be a 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 backsliding 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 every one. He said there was full information. There was full disclosure. He emphasized that KPMG ESIs external studyor, the companys own legal staff, and the board had all signed off on it. He said I should just get past it. Okumoto was pertain about this parley, specially because the CEO seemed so defensive. On March 11, Okumoto met over again with Dooley, this time to discuss Okumotos upcoming presentation to the scrutinise committee. The new CFO recommended that the company delay announcing its third quarter earnings and fictionalise 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 report these liabilities had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.At that point, Okumoto recalled, Dooley became visibly upset. The CEOall six feet-six inches and 280 pounds of himturned an angry red and told me again to just get p ast this. Thats 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, If Ive got to overthrow this entry, Ill quit. THE MOFO MEMORANDUM On March 13, Okumoto attended a concussion of the board of directors analyse 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 companys financial statements for the previous two quarters be restated, and that it hire an freelance accounting firm to conduct an audit of the Asian benefits issue. Dooley countered that everyone had been fully informed of the turnaround and had bought off on it. The audit committee declined Okumotos suggestion that an independent accounting firm be brought in, but it did direct Barry Harmon (formerly ESIs CFO and a member of the audit committee), Okumoto, and Isselmann to lead an internal investigation into the matter.After t he audit committee meeting, Isselmann came into the CFOs 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 aware it was illegal to cancel the retirement benefits without employee consent. He said he had at present 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 clutch 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 whether 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 Isselmanns request. The MoFo memo, now in Okumotos 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 companys discretion.According to Japanese case laws, as a general rule, the wishing of previously acquired rights by newly drawn up or changed work rules are sic not permittedIt is required that before changing the work rules, the company should hear and consider the opinion of the related emplo yees. Okumoto was shocked. This is the smoking gun, he thought. canvas 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 launch for ESIs employees in Japan, any employee (except executives) who chose to retire after reaching the voluntary retirement age of 60 would be entitled to a retirement allowance of one months pay per year of servicein 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 companys 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 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 framework facts with respect to the accrual reversal. Dooley confirmed that everything had been disclosed. Okumoto did not mention the MoFo memo, thinking that Dooleys 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 heTetsuiwould give in before he would tell them that news, which he expected would be devastating. As head of the group, Tetsui told Okumoto, 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 combative. As the conversation went on, however, he l et his guard down and began blithering 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 hallucination in the companys calculations of its overhead costs, so the financial statements distributed to the board were incorrect. ESIs 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 raillerys with a company in southern California. Then he said, 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 Dool eys 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 call into questioned the benefits reversal, but had not brought it forward. This was consistent with a negatively charged tone at the top. I would almost characterize it as bullying. Thats one reason why no one stepped forward. That tone at the top created an environment where people really couldnt speak out. Its important to look at the people. Its similar to qualitative research. We all do that intuitively.When I looked at the body language of a lot of the people involvedthe cost accountants, the financial analystsit 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 didnt 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 accounting entries for September 12, his staff finally produced the complete documentation for that date. Now, drilling down into the details, he saw the full ground of the midnight journal entriesand 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 sup portthe CEO, the general counsel, or the auditorsseemed 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 whatif anyadditional steps he should take. He had tried to warn the key players. From all, he had received the homogeneous message We dont see this as a serious problem. Let it go.Okumoto realized the risks of escalating the issue further. He was earning a base wages 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 confide. The idea also occurred to him that I can leverage this for more funds 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 subjugate 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 revoke 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, where risks such as this can jeopardize their careers, is Are you financially secure equal to make good decisions?Because if you arent, 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 maxim goes, hire your sales people so they are hungry comely 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 plane section 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(a) temporarily in corporate housing while he shoppe d 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 winning 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 dont come 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 boardlike 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 apply 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 Tencor 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 hadnt 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 didnt h ave 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 covert 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 mothers admonition always to do the right thing, and the advice of his mentors, who had counseled him always to ask the questionwhat 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 Okumoto pass Financial military officer (CFO) James T. Jim DooleyActing Chief Operating Officer (COO), early 2002 December 2002 Chief Executive Officer (CEO), December 2002 Don VanLuvanee antecedent CEO David F. BolenderActing CEO, early 2002 December 2002 prexy of the Board, December 2002 John Jack Isselmann, Jr. General Counsel Mike TetsuiManager, Japanese Office Barry L. Harmon Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Director and Member of the scrutinize committee Gerald F. 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. chairwoman of peaceful Power and Light Co. (retired) James T. Dooley, Chief Executive Officer Barry L. Harmon (member of the Audit Committee) Senior Vice death chair (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), utilise 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 creator developed this case to provide a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective discourse of a managerial situation. An earlier version of this case was presented at NACRAs annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, October 2011. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Richard Okumoto and the serious-minded 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).