business government society 2
Lauren Daley
Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd: “Fight” to Save Whales
The launch of the TV show Whale Wars on Animal Planet spread the issue of Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. Organizations like Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd campaign to protect whales. However, an underlying tension exists between these two major players. Greenpeace is committed to non-violent direct action while the Sea Shepherd has been know to take radical and innovative direct action against the whalers. This difference in opinion is causing turmoil between the two groups and their lack of cooperation is inhibiting the effectiveness of their anti-whaling campaigns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qxdkZGBLKU
Increase Funding for Public Education
The public education system in America is underfunded and this is bound to cause repercussions for future generations and the future of America. Continue reading
A little digging
After searching the library database with key words such as “Japanese Whaling”, “Eco-terrorism” and “Sea Shepherd”, I found two hits for books. The first book was “Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seal” by Paul Watson (President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation group). I found this book first and flipped through it, but it failed to provide much more than a narrative of his early experiences as a conservationist. Although the information is interesting, I do not think it will be much use for my white paper.
Blog Prompt…a visit to the library (post 10/12)
For the next blog, you will be required to take a trip to the library and pick up a book, flip through it, read some of its pages, ect. (There is a floor plan of any floor available at the Reference Desk) There are two options for the blog prompt. Option one is more fun and option two is more useful for your final white paper.
POST IS DUE ASAP (Thursday night, April 12, Friday, April 13 morning).
Option 1:
Look through the books on level one of the library in either the exhibits (new books on display) or in the fiction section near the café seating area. You can pick any book and read through part of it and tell us about it. Why did you pick it? Are there any aspects of it that relate to our class (this could be a stretch, so if not, that’s ok)? What is the storyline? …and so on…and maybe you’ll end up actually reading it. And liking it!
Option 2:
Find the section of books in the stacks that relates to your white paper topic. Flip through a couple books…maybe check one or two out (at the circulation desk). Tell us about the information you learned from any book.
Whole Foods Market
In 1978, John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy borrowed $45,000 to open a natural foods store in Austin, Texas. In 1980, they renamed it Whole Foods Market and it was an immediate success due to the extremely low supply of natural foods stores at that time. Since then, Whole Foods Market employs over 65,000 workers and has opened 310 stores across North America and in the United Kingdom. The executives at Whole Foods Market have established a mission that focuses on Whole Foods-Whole People-Whole Planet. Each of these is believed to play a major role in their success as a company. In addition, the executives have embedded in the company culture the idea that “companies, like individuals, must assume their share of the responsibility as tenants of Planet Earth”. As a profitable, public company, Whole Foods Market is proving that a company can generate returns to its stockholders and act responsibly toward other stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and the community. (Wholefoodsmarket.com)
Blog Awards-Cited Reference Searches
The blog council met late Friday afternoon to discuss the blog awards for this week’s prompt on cited reference searches. Although the blogs this week were not the most exciting to write, some did spark debate such as Alyssa’s stem cell post and Ben’s NBA post.
With prompt in mind, the blog council came up with six awards.
1. Best Use of Sources
2. Best Use of Class Topics
3. Best Use of Media
4. Most tenacious
5. The Luckiest SOB (Most Cited References)
6. Best Post
The winners of Best Use of Sources are Amanda and Derek.
You each found relevant articles and were the most effective at connecting the topics in the articles to topics in your paper.
The winner of Best Use of Class Topics is Jenna.
You looked back through a previous class case, Walmart, and used the case’s references as a starting point to search for more material.
The winner of Best Use of Media is Joey.
We felt you had the most relevant and entertaining media (in your case graph and cartoon)
The winner of Most Tenacious is Lauren M.
We felt you deserved an award for the amount of effort you put into translations.
The winner of The Luckiest SOB (Most Cited References) is Derek.
You found over 10,000 articles…which can be attributed to effective researching and some luck. Anyhow, we felt you too deserved an award.
The winner of BEST Post is Danielle.
Congratulations Danielle! We felt your blog on Stakeholder Pressure was well researched, well written and deserved the title of best post.
Whale Wars
I wasn’t really sure what to write about for my first argument for the white paper, but I was browsing the channels and came across the show Whale Wars on Animal Planet. I’ve watched a couple episodes with my sister so I know the background of the show. Basically a conservation organization called the Sea Shepherd travels by boat to the Antarctic waters in search of the Japanese whaling fleet. Their goal is to disrupt the Japanese whaling fleet so that their whaling efforts are hindered to the point where they must return home.
Western Africa
Growing up, my mother has taken me with her on business trips around the world, but one place I have never been and would love to visit is Africa. I have studied Africa in school and heard stories from friends about how different it is from the US. Some people already talked about South Africa and I would love to go there some day, especially because of all the history associated with it. Ghana is another country in Africa that I would love to visit someday. One of my friends studied abroad there and looking through her pictures and talking about her experiences really made me want to travel there. I actually do not know much about Ghana except that it is located on the western coast of Africa and it was controlled by the British until the late 1950s. It was also named the Gold Coast by the Europeans due to its gold resources and more recently it is known to be part of the Ivory Coast.
How Private are your records?
Charlotte King
Private Practice is a TV show spin-off of the popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. The show follows the lives of doctors at Oceanside Health & Wellness Group in Los Angeles, CA. Charlotte King is the Chief of Staff at St. Ambrose Hospital which is adjacent to Oceanside Health & Wellness Group. The doctors face many ethical dilemmas associated with their patients, but Charlotte is forced to make many tough decisions on behalf of the hospital.
Subpar…
After reading the prompt, one glaring incident of sexism stands out from high school. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area where it is not uncommon to see two men kissing on the street and a black lady holding hands with an Asian man. Tourists and out-of-towners definitely take note, but for residents, it is normal. San Francisco is notoriously liberal in its views on social policies and therefore, most people who live in the area are liberal thinkers particularly on social issues. This is why the incident of sexism stands out to me. I believe sexism is still a pertinent issue in the Bay Area where other issues facing the nation seem to make huge progress.
I just picked up the game of golf last year, but many of my friends in high school were on the mens’ and womens’ golf teams. I attended public high school and my government teacher was the coach for both teams. While we were discussing the womens rights movement, he told us why the boys and girls teams have different home courses. Both teams play at courses in the same town, but the boys’ course is within walking distance of our school while the girls’ course takes about 15 minutes to drive to. The boys’ course, (Hillsborough country club…no website only phone number) is situated in a quiet, residential area while the girls’ course (Crystal Springs) is next to a freeway and at high altitude where the weather is much more windy and foggy. My teacher (the coach) asked the Hillsborough club to allow the girls team to practice and play at their course. The response he got from the club was, “If you want the boys’ team to continue playing here, you won’t ask that question again”.
Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND)
After reading the Shell case and learning more about the Nigerian government and people, I decided to look for an individual whose mission is to make an impact on Nigerian society. Hafsat Abiola’s determination to help Nigerian women become leaders and decision makers within Nigeria’s society caught my eye.
How toxic is your nail polish?
Polished nails are a popular touch to any girl’s look. But how much do we really know about nail polish? The smell alone makes many people nauseous. OPI is a brand many of us have seen on store shelves at beauty shops, drug stores and nail salons. It is considered a quality nail polish for a reasonable price. But is it worth the toxins?
OPI is the largest manufacturer of nail polish in the world. They sell nail polish around the world and the chemicals in nail polish differ in each country. In 2006, OPI nail polish was ranked as one of the most toxic cosmetic products on the EWG’s Skin Deep database (of more than 14,000 cosmetic products). They were criticized for selling nail polish in the US with much higher levels of toxic chemicals than what they sell in Europe. The EU laws are much stricter than the US laws which are administered by the Food and Drug Administration. Continue reading
S Corps, C Corps or B Corps?
What are S Corps, C Corps and B Corps? I asked myself this when reading a blog on the Stanford Social Innovation Review webpage. Eric Friedenwald-Fishman talks about his experience as an entrepreneur, sitting down with his lawyer and business partners to choose a corporate structure. They were deciding between S Corp and C Corp, but he wondered why it really mattered?
Small business owners evaluate and weigh the benefits and costs of forming either an S corp or C corp. The C corp is more standard as it allows for separate taxable entities, meaning taxes are first paid at the corporate level and then at the individual level. There are also no ownership restrictions. The S corp is a bit different because it has pass-through tax entities, which means the profits or losses incurred by the company are passed through the business and reported on the owners’ personal tax returns. It also requires that there can be no more than one hundred shareholders and they must be US citizens. S corp comes with special tax privileges, however, C corp is better for a small business that is expecting to grow or expand because it offers greater flexibility.
The introduction of B corp as a possibility for small businesses is relatively new. The first state to adopt benefit corporation laws was Maryland in April 2010 and since then, six other states have joined and four states have pending legislation. The idea behind B corp is that businesses are powerful and they should use their power and control to solve social and environmental problems. The responsibility of companies is to maximize shareholder returns and this is done by minimizing the consideration for employees, the environment and communities. B corp legislation seeks to change the structure of businesses and give them the opportunity to help society and the economy.
Like S corp and C corp, B corp has some requirements. The first requirement of B corp is purpose. Businesses should have a positive material impact on society. The second requirement is accountability. B corp businesses should consider financial implications as well as non-financial implications when making decisions. Lastly, B corp businesses must give fair returns to shareholders and allow for open disclosure and transparency. Supporters believe these requirements will promote a healthier workforce and community, create more stability in the community and create an avenue for long-term competition.
The logical question for businesses is to ask why choose to form a B corp rather than S corp or C corp if it just has more requirements. There are numerous benefits to becoming a B corp and one highlight is differentiating your brand. Labeling your business as a B corp creates a better reputation among consumers and the public. B corp is a new concept, so the media has been giving B corp businesses more attention. There are also service partnerships available to B corp businesses such as discounts on service sites like Salesforce.com, which can help small businesses save money. This new structure for business is also receiving increased interest from investors. With this in mind, do you think B corp legislation will pass in all 50 states? Currently, there are approximately 500 businesses with B corp certification. Will more businesses see this as an advantageous structure for their company?
Blogging in Education
Teachers are introducing students to blogging as early as elementary school. Some educators who advocate for blogging as a learning tool suggest that it motivates students to want to write. At an early age, students feel less pressure in blogging and it is an outlet for brainstorming ideas before writing a formal paper. In addition, students take their blogging assignments more seriously. They are more apt to use correct grammar and express their ideas in a logical way because they know that other people are going to read and assess their writing style and ideas.
At a later stage in education, blogging presents an outlet to collaborate with others about new ideas. Students are able to both give and receive feedback on their writing and ideas. This presents students with the opportunity to gain the opinions of others and focus their thoughts before engaging in a formal writing assignment. It also gives the writer new knowledge about the aspects of their writing that may be unclear to the reader and ideas that could be explained in a different way.
Blogging is also helpful for students to practice expressing their ideas through writing. We are all accustomed to voicing our opinions in class. Blogging forces us to articulate our ideas in a new way and back up our arguments with solid evidence. Another aspect of blogging is knowing your audience. Audience awareness is an important aspect of writing and blogs allow students to experiment and learn about the appropriate writing style for different audiences.
The lack of confidentiality in blogging may cause students to hold back their opinions. Students may fear criticism from classmates or other outside people. It may also cause tension instead of collaboration if students begin competing for blog posts. Some educators have also stayed away from blogging in a classroom setting because they feel students are less likely to use proper grammar and punctuation and this may cause poor writing habits. Although these concerns about blogging in education may be true for some students, I believe the positive aspects of blogging far outweigh the negatives. Blogging is new to education and as it matures, I believe we will see it more and more from educators and students.
business government society 2 