MUSIC DISCCUSION MORALITY PLAYS THEN AND NOW Term Paper

MUSIC DISCCUSION MORALITY PLAYS THEN AND NOW - Term Paper Example It resulted to the death of the Groom and Leonardo, the Bride’s Lover, who killed each other. Another play is the Tooth of Crime written by Harold Pinter in 1972. It features a ritual battle-to-the-death between what seems to be rock stars but in reality could be professional hit menor cowboys. Modern-day morality stories are still popular with movie-goers and as entertainment for today’s society. For me, they are still popular because of the moral lessons they convey. As human beings, we normally want to learn from the stories we read and movies we watch. Besides, we can recommend the younger generations to watch such plays as long as they are morally-guided. Another reason is that morality stories are usually based on true-to-life situations so we can really learn from them. Although there may be fictional characterizations, still the lessons are not as different as in everyday

Will Tesla Motors Succeed In China (it is a research paper) Essay

Will Tesla Motors Succeed In China (it is a research paper) - Essay Example (Glancey, 2013) The early history of the motor vehicle can be put into several eras based on the means of engine propulsion. Recent eras are however grouped depending on trends in size, utility preference and exterior styling. The first steam-powered vehicle was developed in 1672 by Ferdinand Verbiest as a gift to the Chinese Emperor. It was however too small to carry around a driver but it still considered as the first steam powered automobile. Large enough steam powered vehicles that were able to carry a driver were developed much later on in the 18th Century (Glancey, 2013). Josef Bozek developed an oil-fired steam automobile in 1815. In 1838, Walter Hancock came up with a four-sitter steam phaeton. A Canadian named Henry Seth Taylor tested his four wheeled steam buggy in Quebec in 1867 (Eckermann, 2001). Anyos Jedilk developed a crude version of an electric car in 1828 by creating a small model car that was powered by a newly developed electric motor. An American named Thomas Davenport installed his direct current electric motor in a model motor vehicle that operated on an electrified track. These Electric cars were hugely popular towards the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century due to their comfort levels, and operational ease. However improvements of the internal combustion engines like the internal electric starter as well as a superior range when compared to the electrical engines greatly eroded their advantage. Mass production of these gasoline powered vehicles by Ford Motor company also greatly reduced their costs coupled with an improved petroleum infrastructure. (Glancey, 2013) The modern era here is used to refer to two the previous two decades and their improvements in motor vehicle designs and safety standards. There are key technical and design concepts that set apart antiques from modern motor vehicles. The modern car era has seen increased use of platform

Media Role In Mitigating The Philippine Population Problem Politics Essay

Media Role In Mitigating The Philippine Population Problem Politics Essay In a country where the Catholic Churchs position is taken as a major factor in policy decision making, population control legislation has progressed ever so slowly. Progress that managed to be made, suffer from public acceptance and its proponents in government widely seen as practically committing political suicide. But there is a silent majority that sees the myriad of problems that this unabated rise in population brings: poverty, unemployment, lack of education, crime realities they are already experiencing in their daily lives, a reality that they hope the government would address through effective population control policies. If the Churchs position cannot be swayed, is media doing its role in educating and information dissemination? Is it being an agenda setter or acting as an effective check and balance, or is it also being caught in countrys intricate web of politics and power relations? In order for me to begin to analyze this problem, I found it necessary to acknowledge and establish that there is first and foremost, a population problem in the Philippines. I also need to establish that although there are possible solutions to this situation, the Catholic Churchs position on the use of artificial family planning methods is what makes the national government seemingly impotent in implementing an effective population control policy. To open my analysis, I refer to the studies made by Alejandro Herrin and Ernesto Pernia which states that the Philippines current levels of fertility and population growth stunts the countrys economy. I chose to rely on their findings and figures as their intensive study on this issue is fairly recent (being published in 2003), and from that period up to the present, no major change has occurred as far the countrys population control policies are concerned. In fact, the issue of population control is currently being deliberated in Philipp ine Congress, with the Philippine legislature currently trying to pass the Reproductive Health Care and Population Development Bill (Senate Bill 3122 and House Bill 5043), its proponents hoping that this would address the countrys population woes. As expected, the proposed bill is currently facing stiff opposition from the Catholic Church  [1]  as well as from various pro-life groups.  [2]   Alejandro Herrin and Ernesto Pernia in the aforementioned 2003 study concluded that feeble economic growth and transformation, exacerbated by rapid population growth, have been responsible for the Philippines poor performance in human resource development and employment over the past two to three decades.  [3]  The authors argue that the countrys slow economic growth has generated only meager resources for investment in health, nutrition and education, and that these are not enough to meet the demands brought about by high fertility.  [4]  The countrys slow economic growth for example, results in limited job opportunities, and this, coupled with a steadily growing labor force feeds into the countrys growing problem of unemployment and income inequality, which in turn, coupled with the rise in population density in urban areas, worsen problems of crime  [5]  as well as becoming a factor that contribute to the cultivation of a culture of corruption.  [6]  Corruption, in turn, worsens the already weighty problem of poverty  [7]  and inequality, completing the vicious cycle that seemingly keeps the country in a destitute trap. Herrin and Pernia further stress that not only is there a need to seriously address the population problem, but that there is also a need to address this problem while attending to the structural weakness in the economy at the same time. They recommend that in order to remedy this situation, a strong population policy must be made an integral part of the countrys development strategy,  [8]  and proposes a policy framework based on decomposition of future population growth in terms of its main sources namely unwanted fertility, the preference for a large family size and population momentum.  [9]   It should therefore be noted that although Herrin and Pernia acknowledges the population problem, the current rates of population growth and fertility are not the problems per se; it is seen more as a factor that compounds the current economic situation which, in turn, keeps the national government from taking advantage of the possible dividends that the maturation of this population could bring. This level of population growth and fertility might be advantageous for a country that is in a stage of development where it has the necessary resources to harness this demographic dividend, but in the Philippine setting, these growths are seen more as a liability than an asset. We do add to the labor force annually, but because of limited resources, there are not enough employment opportunities locally to accommodate most of these new entrants in the labor force, and this keeps unemployment and underemployment rates high.  [10]  The fact that a substantial percentage of employed workers in the country are laborers or unskilled workers is also a cause of concern.  [11]  Parts of the labor force that do manage to find employment outside the country on the other hand, settle for blue-collar work, or accept high-risk jobs.  [12]  One might argue that the country is in fact already reaping some form of demographic dividend through labor-migration, but looking at the countrys most recent population pyramids (1990-2005)  [13]  , one could also argue that the possible economic gains from labor-migration only went into the acquisition of resources for the care of the bigger population of children health care, daily needs (food etc.), education, chil d care (nannies). Cost of caring for the elderly and debt repayment incurred before going abroad,eats up into this supposed economic gain as well. Not much goes into investment or savings that can be translated into capital that could fuel much needed growth.  [14]   The Catholic Church Opposition Simply looking at one study alone (Herrin and Pernia), one can easily see that the Philippines indeed has a population problem, or at least a realization that unabated growth in population rate and fertility rates may be linked to various societal dilemmas the country is currently experiencing, such as: rising poverty, inequality, unemployment and slow economic growth. So why is it that there is this opposition by the Catholic Church to mitigate this problem, and concomitantly, why is it that the Catholic Churchs position on this issue is regarded with such weight? The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, with around 80% of its population being Catholics. The Filipinos values, morals, much of the norms and beliefs in the Philippines have been shaped by more than 300 years of being subject to Christian indoctrination under Spanish rule. Just like any other religion in the world, the Catholic Church upholds particular values and mores that are not subject to change or even reconsideration values based on sex and marriage are one of those. Sex before marriage and living together before marriage are deemed morally wrong; sex within marriage on the other hand is considered a gift, that is meant to unite the couple and presupposes the creation of life.  [15]  The Church has always stood firm on their stand with regards to artificial methods of contraception for married couples, stressing that controlling ones sexual urges is a personal responsibility, and that the couple has the right to choose and decide their family size again gui ded by their responsibility, as parents, to provide for their children; abortion is especially frowned upon. Just how strong is religion in upholding these beliefs? If the study done by Evelyn Lehrer entitled Religious Affiliation and its Relation to the Economic and Demographic Decisions People Make, were to be our basis for analysis, we would infer that religion indeed have a huge influence on the people that practice them. Lehrer states that people tend to take into account religion in whatever interrelated decisions they make over their life cycle (emphasis added), further stressing that for behaviors that pertain to married couple households as opposed to individuals, religion matters because it is a complimentary trait within marriage, affecting many activities that husband and wife engage in together.  [16]   Herrin practically echoes Lehrers argument in his assessment of the Philippine setting by stating that perhaps the single most important factor influencing population policy making [in the Philippines] since its formulation in 1969, and may partly explain its ever shifting focus, is the persistent and consistent opposition of the Catholic Church hierarchy to the government population policy of reducing population growth as well as its promotion of artificial family planning methods.  [17]  Historically speaking, it is alleged that it was the Marcos administrations intention to promote family planning in the country that actually stimulated Philippine Catholicism to strengthen the commitment of the faithful to the Catholic hierarchys view on the subject.  [18]  From that period on, the Catholic Church in the Philippines has continued to adapt a hard stance on these issues, even if other predominantly Catholic countries around the world (and even some of the predominantly Musli m countries in Southeast Asia who tend to have stricter religious beliefs) have long accepted artificial contraception as well as their governments population control policies. The Catholic Church in fact was instrumental in deleting a provision on population control in the Philippine Constitution when it was amended in 1987, following the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos; I dont believe they will change their position any time soon and put back something in the Philippine Constitution that they fought hard to take out. If any institution wants to change the current accepted beliefs with regard to starting a family, deciding to have or not to have a child, and how many children to have, one should always take into consideration the Catholic Churchs position (in fact, Catholic values in general), and work through the Catholic way of thinking and belief systems. This is exactly what former Department of Health Secretary Juan Flavier did in the mid 90s. Flavier, being a devout Catholic himself (though he did advocate artificial birth control methods), did not go on record as claiming to be against the Churchs position, but just went on and did his job as Health Secretary and pushed for an effective family planning campaign,  [19]  which was having substantial results until his success as Department Secretary propelled him to the Philippine senate where he served two terms. This then leaves us with the second part of the question; why is it that the Catholic Churchs position on this issue is regarded with such weight? I believe McQuillan has given us an idea of why this is the situation in the Philippines, when he stated that religious values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are likely to play a critical role in shaping demographic behavior à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦when churches are able to build a network of religious institutions that play a formative role in the lives of members and to exercise influence over civil institutions in society as well (emphasis added).  [20]  Lehrer further adds that this is not only true on the issue of fertility as McQuillan argues, but that it also extends to other demographic and economic outcomes.  [21]  I believe both Lehrer and McQuillan are on spot, at least in the case of the Philippines, as history does back up this argument. Aside from the fact that the Catholic Chuch do play a huge role in shaping Filipino beliefs through educat ion (Catholic schools) and through regular sermons delivered during mass (weekly Church service), the Catholic Church also holds sway (at least morally as spiritual advisors) over the countrys leaders who happen to be predominantly Catholics  [22]  . The Catholic Church also plays an active role in politics as watchdog and critic the Catholic Church was at the forefront of the two People Power revolutions, the first toppled the Marcos dictatorship, and the second removed Erap Estrada in office on charges of corruption and for moral grounds.  [23]  Another political role of the Church is as kingmaker. Proof to this is the number of visitors the Cardinal gets during election period, all hoping to get the Catholic Churchs highly regarded endorsement. In fact, this vote-courting practice even extends to other Christian denominations in the country that have similar; if not more rigid; position on abortion, birth control and family planning. Any actor in Philippine politics woul d definitely think twice about advocating these population control measures and going against the strongly held beliefs of the Church,  [24]  as doing so would be tantamount to committing political suicide. Government Action and Inaction Aniceto Orbeta in an ADB discussion paper points out that the Philippines has been credited as one of the earliest adopters of a strong population program in Asia, [yet] today it still has not resolved the population problem, while her late adopting neighbors have successfully addressed the problem and [have since] turned to face other problems.  [25]  Given the above mentioned constraints presented by the Catholic Church, and a society that largely adheres to Catholic values, what has government managed to accomplish as regards family planning and population control? Then President Ferdinand Marcos was one of the 17 heads of states that signed the UN Declaration of Population on December 1967. The UN declaration in essence emphasized that the population problem must be recognized as a principal element in long-range national planning if governments are to achieve their economic goals and fulfill the aspirations of their people.  [26]  With this idea in mind, the government then embarked on studies in order to come up with policies and programs to address concerns about the negative implication of rapid population growth on the attainment of social and economic objectives.  [27]  Studies at that time point out that free exercise of fertility decisions of couples is not consistent with the common good, government therefore saw the need to intervene in fertility decisions as a matter of policy family planning was deemed the necessary intervention.  [28]   The Catholic Church would have been outraged at that time, but policy statements during that period reassured the Church that whatever population program would be adopted, government would see to it that the religious beliefs and values of individuals would be respected.  [29]  The Catholic Church was apparently lulled into a false sense of security, trusting government to keep its word only to find out that it has been working to legalize contraceptive sterilization, which the Church was strongly opposed to. In a 1973 pastoral letter, the Church allayed fears that the government is following the patterns of adoption of artificial contraceptive methods from less radical methods to more radical sterilization and even abortion.  [30]   Marcos, in the early years of his dictatorship embarked on massive infrastructure and development programs; that period also saw rapid industrialization and urbanization. Because of this and because of concerns that high population growth rate would undermine the governments economic development efforts; population control policies; as evidenced by various studies, policies, decrees and executive orders at that time; became a major area of concern. Testament to this was the fact that the role of the government in population would even be enshrined in the 1973 Constitution. It shall be the responsibility of the State to achieve and maintain population levels conducive to the national welfare. (Article XV, Section 10).  [31]   Looking at the list of population control and family planning policies of the Marcos regime in Herrins paper,  [32]  I cannot help but notice that at that period, the government was only looking at the negative aspects of population and fertility growths,  [33]  and consequently was only focused on curbing these unwanted growths to achieve their envisioned positive economic gains. Policies aimed at developing and harnessing positive consequence of population growth (demographic dividend), such as populations positive effect on production, technical progress and innovation  [34]  were apparently not taken into consideration (at least not in the policy documents highlighted in Herrins work). Had the government considered the positive aspects of population growth back then, who knows what programs and policies might have been instituted and pursued to take advantage of this demographic dividend. Again, I point to how government at that time approached the problem of growing unemployment after the late 70s oil crisis, where the government as a response to the problem decided to pursue overseas migration as a temporary stop-gap measure labor-migration have since become an institution in Philippine society, and is now viewed as probably one of the major sectors that is keeping Philippine economy afloat.  [35]   Whether population growth decline in the early 80s was due to the governments adoption and implementation of an effective family planning program; or if it was mainly an effect of progress, moving from an agricultural to industrialized modes of production; or of urbanization; or possibly because more women started to enter the workforce, translating into smaller and smaller family size;  [36]  or whether it is an effect of all these factors working in unison, I have yet to see a study on. But assuming that the decline did results from a conglomeration of these factors, it would be safe to say that the governments policy responses to the problem of growing population and fertility rates were effective and timely. But now, we can only speculate what the effects of those programs would have been to Philippine society and economy had those population control policies not been discontinued. In 1986, Ferdinand Marcos was ousted through the EDSA People Power Revolution (a movement which I pointed out earlier as having the backing of the Catholic Church), and since that time, the countrys population control program went to a screeching halt. A year after Marcos was ousted, the provision on governments role in population control in the 1973 Philippine Constitution was scrapped, and the Constitution (1987 Constitution) that replaced it now carries the Catholic Churchs pro-life, pro-choice position.  [37]  Herrin emphasized this fact when he stated that while there was a strong fertility reduction objective during the Marcos era, there was none during the Aquino administration (emphasis added).  [38]  Family planning, from being seen as an effective means to reduce fertility and population growth became a mere health intervention, one with possible fertility consequences. The administrations after that tried to come up with proposals to curb population growth and high fertility rates but they have always encountered stiff opposition from the Church and from pro-life organizations.  [39]  The Fidel Ramos administration tried to revive fertility reduction policies through the family planning program by incorporating it under the umbrella of Reproductive Health  [40]  under the Department of Health. Despite scrutiny by the Catholic Church, it was able to progress, until its main proponent, charismatic Health Secretary Juan Flavier, won a seat in the Philippine senate. Then President Joseph Estrada also called for an aggressive family planning program to reduce fertility in its PPMP Directional Plan 2001-2004  [41]  , but this program never saw fruition, as Estrada was ousted in another Catholic Church-backed People Power Revolution. Finally, we have the current administrations, policy statement (or non-statement) on family planning  [42]  and Herrin tells us that in essence it says that family planning is primarily a health intervention and as a means to help couples achieve their fertility preference, a statement that does not imply a goal of reducing fertility and population growth rates.  [43]  The current proposed bills from the Senate and the House of Representatives seem to show promise but these bills are currently being opposed by the Catholic Church and Church-backed pro-life and pro-choice groups.  [44]   Government if it has the will, can always implement population control or population management policies if it wanted to (even with Church opposition as evidenced with the Flavier program), but there is also this problem of the length of time leaders stay in office, and since the department heads are coterminous with the President that appointed them, family planning and population control policies tend to have short life spans as well there just doesnt seem to be any way to achieve a continuous program for population control in the Philippines. Currently, the countrys population growth rate  [45]  and fertility rate  [46]  are declining despite the lack of a solid government family planning or population control program.  [47]  This decline could primarily be a direct result of the factors outlined by Debraj Ray in his book:  [48]  urbanization  [49]  , the rise in share of womens share in the labor force  [50]  and information being more and more accessible to people even in the rural areas through media,  [51]  through formal education channels and through NGOs who are working to uplift the lives of people in the countryside. But policy makers in the country still insist on the adoption of a comprehensive population control and management program that would further reduce these rates to levels that are at least similar to those of the Philippines Asian neighbors; levels that they believe would be more conducive to the attainment of the countrys MDGs.  [52]   I argue that though legislation may indeed contribute a whole lot as far as institution of radical measures to meet the desired levels of fertility and population growth, the mechanism to institute such change even without legislation is already in existence and simply needs to be tapped. I believe that the key to this problem lies in making the necessary information  [53]  available to society in order to effect the necessary changes. Herrin and Pernia for example point us to problems that had to do with misconceptions about contraceptives that are available to the public. Such mis-information includes supposed side effects and other health-related issues that artificial contraceptives might have  [54]  . Sex education is also one aspect of family planning and population control that doesnt need to wait for passing of the current legislation on debate to be implemented and is one area where the Catholic Church is not opposed to.  [55]   The effective utilization of natural birth control methods only require information dissemination  [56]  in order to be practiced by the families that need them to abate unwanted fertility or to achieve their desired family size. A society that is more informed about current and future economic prospects; a society that is informed about the various choices and options they have as far as security in old age welfare, job opportunities and health care would intuitively make more rational decisions as far as fertility is concerned. But I also believe that people tend to be irrational as well, and a lot of that irrationality has something to do with culture, values and beliefs that are deeply ingrained in them again, to change that, information would be the key.  [57]   Medias Overlooked Role in Population Control I want to stress the need to take into consideration the role of information here, as I believe that this is an area that has not been given proper attention in all these debates regarding population control and family planning issues. It may be true that the Catholic Church have some moral sway as far as decisions in forming a family are concerned. The National government believes that to be able to effectively implement population control programs, it needs legislation that would effectively render Catholic Church opposition to contraception and population control moot and academic, but I believe that this not be the case. Through all these, the national government has failed to consider one institution that might be as powerful (or even more powerful) as the Catholic Church in shaping individual decisions that has to do with fertility and size of family mass media. This neglect could be because of the national governments limited perception of media and its possible roles in the implementation of population control programs. Yes, the media has been used before. The Marcos government has used print, radio and television to advance their population control campaign  [58]  , so did former Health Secretary Juan Flavier, all of whom claim to have had positive results.  [59]  But the thing is that these campaigns blatantly urged families to advocate not just the natural family planning methods but the artificial methods as well, which did not sit well with the Catholic Church. Advertising campaigns also require funding as they need to buy much needed airtime (in the

Social Contract Essay -- essays research papers

The Social Contract- Rousseau's principal aim in writing The Social Contract is to determine how freedom may be possible in civil society, and we might do well to pause briefly and understand what he means by "freedom." In the state of nature we enjoy the physical freedom of having no restraints on our behavior. By entering into the social contract, we place restraints on our behavior, which make it possible to live in a community. By giving up our physical freedom, however, we gain the civil freedom of being able to think rationally. We can put a check on our impulses and desires, and thus learn to think morally. The term "morality" only has significance within the confines of civil society, according to Rousseau. Not just freedom, then, but also rationality and morality, are only possible within civil society. And civil society, says Rousseau, is only possible if we agree to the social contract. Thus, we do not only have to thank society for the mutual protection and peace it affords us; we also owe our rationality and morality to civil society. In short, we would not be human if we were not active participants in society. This last step determines the heavily communitarian perspective that Rousseau adopts. If we can only be fully human under the auspices of the social contract, then that contract is more important than the individuals that agree to it. After all,...

Human Resource Law Essay

This paper will show that this scenario provides a case for gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is illegal under Title VII (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). In addition, this paper will show what legal and ethical issues arise in this case. Furthermore, this paper will show what Bob should do in this case. By using the female employee versus the male employee to serve the customer the company would be in violation of Title VII for gender discrimination. Title VII laws regarding gender cover the full scope of the employment relationship which describes that gender may not be the basis of any decision related to employment unless gender is used as a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). Customer preference is not a legitimate and protected reason to treat otherwise qualified employees differently based on gender. Additionally, allowing the female employee to assist the customer over the male employee would be in violation of the store’s rotation policy. The policy states that each working day, two employees work in the store; one working the front and one working the back. Rotation occurs on a daily basis in order to disperse commissions fairly. Since this is company policy, there is no flexibility to change that policy and to rotation schedule clearly states that it is the male employee’s turn to earn commission. Discrimination based on gender is illegal and not in keeping with good business practices of efficiency, maximizing resources, and avoiding unnecessary liability. Title VII Issues Discrimination comes in all shapes and sizes, and managers have to be careful not to cross the line and do the wrong thing. Companies do not want lawsuits for discrimination or anything else. The store’s best customer, Imelda,  probably did not intend to offend anyone nor did she probably know that she was discriminating against anyone. Many times discrimination is not intended. Customers generally believe they are always right and get what they want. However, in this instance the customer is very wrong. Requesting a female employee over a male employee is a form of discrimination, gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is illegal under Title VII (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). If Bob asks Tom to step aside and allow Mary to assist Imelda with her purchases, he will be â€Å"in violation of Title VII and can be held liable to the employee for gender discrimination. Customer preference is not a legitimate and protected reason to treat otherwise-qualified employees differently based on gender† (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007, p. 283). Legally and ethically, Manager Bob cannot swap employees Tom and Mary simply because Imelda wants it. Choice This is not an easy situation. On one hand, the customer is promising to buy five pairs of shoes if she gets a female employee to help her. This would be a huge purchase for the store, great for the profit margin as well as a large commission for the employee. On the other hand, not providing a female employee may denote a missed sale, Imelda may leave the store. Swapping employees would cheat Tom out of his commission. This would be unethical. Tom deserves his commission; he should not be asked or told to give this up. The Shoe Store has very clear company policies. Company policy does not allow two employees to split the commission (UOPX, 2013, para. 5). As stated previously, having Tom give up his commission would not be fair. Company policy rotates employees to keep commissions as fair and equal as possible (UOPX, 2013, para. 5). Manager Bob will need to explain to Imelda as nicely and calmly as possible that he is very sorry, but cannot provide her with a female employee. Bob should promise Imelda that Tom is a very nice man and that she will be in very capable hands; ensure her that Tom knows shoes and will treat her and her feet right. Bob should smile and guarantee her that she will be happy with the service she receives. Bob should apologize for the problem, explain that he contacted his regional manager to see if he could make an exception to company policy this time and was told no, and explain that the company risks a discrimination lawsuit. Finally, tell Imelda that he understands if she chooses to shop elsewhere today and  apologize again. Bob should not get into an argument with the customer; it is out of the stores control. In any business, a written policy can avoid or prevent lawsuits. The shoe store chain has clearly established that the rotation of two employees daily or weekly will occur in the store to create fairness in commission sales. In addition, if only two employees are present one works in the back of the store and the other works in front, this clearly creates fairness of commissions earned (pay), good business ethics practice. Working in sales requires a lot of personal judgment from a company representative. By its nature, the job relies heavily on social relationships and on persuasion. Sales people also usually work on commission; if they do not make the sale, they lose cash. In the wrong hands, these elements can lead to unethical behavior, causing undue pressure on customers or vendors. Ethical behavior and doing the correct or right thing is at the forefront for salespeople today. Subsequently ethical performance is an individual process and training development related issues are important. Salespeople require guidelines on ethical, equality and discrimination issues. The guidelines should be formulated and clearly communicated to help employees to effectively deal with situations of equal pay, fairness, and or discrimination whenever the need arises. Job performance, employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction will prevail with knowledge and understanding of employment laws (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). What has guided the ethical issues is the set of standards the company has worked out from human reason by which the human actions to switch Mary for Tom is ultimately creating wrong business ethics. Trading assign duties between sales and costs will not mix. The maximum concern for sales cannot go hand-in- with maximum concern for employees. Furthermore, the shoe store business has added structure to the business by creating this policy. If the manager deviates from the established policy, Bob will create unfair treatment or discrimination based on gender, which could result in a lawsuit. After Imelda voiced her request that she wanted a female employee Bob was to enforce the company’s policies to avoid a potential lawsuit. Bob did what was necessary to inform Imelda the company’s polices and have Tom assist her with trying on shoes. Bob knows the company will lose money  because of the sales lost from this one client; however, the ethical issue arises to do what is fair and correct according the shoe store policy. If Bob makes the switch and has Mary assist Imelda instead of Tom, Bob has violated the discrimination law-Title VII (gender) as well has violating the equal pay law (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2007). The decision is allow Tom to assist Imelda and loose the extra sales. In future, the suggestion to Imelda would be to arrive at the store when a female worker is working the floor or to come in the store to see who is working the sales floor without putting the manager in the position to make compromises. Conclusion Discrimination issues can get many companies into trouble. Knowing the law is important for any manager. When questions arise that cannot be answered easily, ask for help. Title VII does not allow discrimination because of gender, meaning a man cannot be treated differently from a female and vice versa. In this case, all must be treated equally. Company policy will not allow Tom and Mary to split the commission and asking Tom to give up his commission would be illegal. Imelda will need to make her own decision whether to shop at the Shoe Store and allow Tom to assist her or leave for another store or until another day. The company must do what is right, what is legal. The store must treats its employees properly and do what is legal and ethical. Whereas Imelda may not be happy, the company cannot do anything that may bring a lawsuit against them. References Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, P. L. (2007). Employment law for business (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. University of Phoenix (UOPX). (2013). Week Three. Retrieved from University of Phoenix,

Homeland Security Essay

1. Who should be responsible for protecting the public from online identity theft? Why? There is no real answer to this question. Except In my opinion the government should be responsible from protecting the public from online identity theft. I say this because there are certain things that should be monitored. Not the social websites or websites you go into and play games. The government should monitor when people go to certain websites such as Bank of America or Wells Fargo. These websites should be monitored (no more such as when you login you can see your username and password no) they should be monitored in a way to where your bank statements can be kept on track from day to day. 2. Should laws be changed to stop it, or should consumers change behavior? Consumers should change their behavior from time to time if needed be. There are laws that have stopped Identity theft. One of which is The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. This law makes it illegal for anyone to distribute or computer code or place it in the stream of commerce. There are many other different laws on Identity theft. Some of which are on a website. 3. What is an appropriate punishment for identity thieves? Considering the expense and problems associated with the crime, it should be addressed as a on less than a felony offense, regardless of the monetary amount of money or goods involved. 4. Given the international nature of the internet, how should foreign identity thieves be handled? There really is no way to handle foreign identity thieves unless they are caught by the police or government first. If by chance they were to be caught, it should be addressed as a felony offense given the fact that they logged into someone’s personal information, which should account on Substantive Due Process. Which is the right to privacy.