Education is the Key

Arvind Mohanram

13^th December 2010

FD5-Final Examination

Hate crime is rampant in this country. The nature and origin can be due to color, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, religion and background.  Hate crimes incidents springs from poverty mentality. Fear, insecurity and frustration are the primary cause of hate crimes. [Thesis] Educating the youth and public is the key to overcoming these negative attitudes and the first step towards reducing hate crimes [Thesis]

The US has been welcoming people with open arms from all over the world; there has been a recent increase in crimes committed against immigrants.  While the country boasts of safety in terms of quickness of response and tracking criminals with fancy gadgets, life has been tough and unsafe for immigrants in the US following terrorist attack at World Trade Center. International students, the majority from India and China, come to the US Universities seeking quality education that give them a good future and career.  Even after nine years after 9/11 students from Asian countries are at risk just because they have a different accent and skin color.  Thanks to the Bush administration,any Muslim entering the country is a terrorist. Any Indian with turbine and beard is Osama.

Take the case of Nabeel Siddiqui, 24, a computer science major who graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology this summer, suffered brutal neurological injuries and trauma when three juveniles attacked him with a baseball bat on his head at Haxtun Avenue in Orange, NJ, as he got out of his car to deliver a pizza (Melwani). The young man never awoke from the coma; the reason behind the attack is not entirely clear, but the only clue the cops could find was that he was a Muslim from Pakistan.  This is just one of the many incidents and it is appalling to see what International students go through in this country. I could relate pretty well to case of harassment when I first arrived to the US.  The immigration officials at port of entry were at San Francisco and my initial impression was not very good. They were not very friendly and although I had all my documents laid out, they were giving me a hard time. They treated me as if I was a potential criminal in disguise. 

In another incident, the San Francisco Bay area, a 83-year-old Huan Chen was on his way to visit his elderly wife at nursing home, was beaten so severely, that he died from his wounds two months later. The perpetrators ran away from Chen's attack laughing. The attackers were African-American youth. Apparently, it has been found that the two biggest motivators for attacks, according to the report, were race (142 incidents) and sexual orientation (119 incidents). Other biases, in decreasing order, included religion, national origin, political ideology and gender identity (Chansanchai).

In all the cases the attackers could be youth and juvenile living next door.  In a recent study conducted by Dr. Edward Dunbar, a clinical psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, out of 1,459 hate crimes committed in the Los Angeles area in the period 1994 to 1995, fewer than 5% of the offenders were members of organized hate groups (Hate-Crime Today). So, the solution appears to be education and awareness at grass root levels – the schools. One such initiative could be to setup an anti-discriminatory body. The antidiscrimination officials must have access to address hate crimes through monitoring, reporting, and assistance to victims The primary mission of this body would be to spread awareness by working with nonprofit and community foundation towards educating the schools  and communities groups about hate and bias crimes.   Such activities will also assist in reducing the panic and fear of the youth and aid in creating environment that are open to diversity and sustainable community living. For e.g. the Students Civil Rights project was founded by Governor's Task Force in the state of Massachusetts in 1998.The aim of this project is to conducts training classes for teachers and police regarding awareness program and designing school curriculum for hate crime prevention. As the result of the success of these steps, many schools have started the violence prevention program and conducting diversity workshops in their schools. (Strategy)

However, the success in one state may not work at any other states. In addition, not all schools would be open to address this issue because there may not any such incidents occurring in their geographic location. The schools can also argue that the program may not work because there is it is difficult to monitor the activity of the students outside the school.   Also, the incident of abuse and violence by the youth can just be a symptom of deeper issue totally unrelated to hate crimes.

Although these uncertainties exist, there is a dire need to address this issue because of the alarming rise in incidents against discrimination. The hate crime education programs at school level will play an important role in changing the attitude of the younger generation and make this country a safe and secure place to live.

       Works Cited

Chansanchai, Athima. “Bias Crimes Found in All Areas of City.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer 4 May 2006. 5 May 2006 [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/268997_bias04.html?source=mypi].

“Hate Crimes Today: An Age-Old Foe in Modern Dress.” APA Online 1998. 9 Dec. 2004 [http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/hate/#top].

Markham, Lauren. “Hate Crimes Against Asian-Americans in San Francisco”. [http://immigration.change.org/blog/view/hate_crimes_against_asian-americans_in_san_francisco].

Melwani,  Lavina. “Hate Crimes Against Indians, South Asians, Arabs and Muslims are the collateral damage of 9/11.” [http://www.littleindia.com/news/148/ARTICLE/1597/2003-11-05.html].

“Strategy: Educating the Public About Hate Crimes” [http://www.ncpc.org/topics/hate-crime/strategies/strategy-educating-the-public-about-hate-crimes ].

Diplomatic Deceit

Arvind Mohanram

8^th December, 2010

FD4

The first amendment is the fundamental law of constitution of United States that gives an individual the Freedom of Speech.. Other countries across the world envy the so-called freedom and lifestyle provided to the people by the nation. Apparently, all these flowery opinions and believes came to questioning with the dismissal of Professor Ward Churchill by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado in 2007.  The First amendment protects us from government censorship. [Thesis]  The persecution of Ward Churchill is an act of cowardice having political motives and brings to question one of the inalienable rights of the Freedom of Expression; we have as citizens of this country.  [Thesis]

On September 11, 2001, the infallible Super-power became totally vulnerable after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and killing thousands of people.  While the whole world deeply sympathized on the death of innocent lives one person thought otherwise. Enter Professor Ward Churchill of the department of Ethics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor Churchill wrote an essay after this incident titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens,"   The content of essay justified the terrorist incident as a manifestation of the law of sowing and reaping.  In his essay Ward Churchill expressed the US cannot get away clean with anything and everything it does across the world. The incident is an evidence of the rancor and hatred that other countries had towards the US.

While the essay got unnoticed during 2001, the issue came to light when Prof. Churchill was invited to a lecture in at Hamilton College in New York. One of the student in the college was appalled that his college was bringing in a person who insulted the 9/11 victims, one of whom was his father.  This came to attention of the right wing extremist Bill O- Reilly who interviewed this student.  The people became aware of Ward Churchill and his article after this interview. Subsequently, Hamilton College withdrew the invitation to Prof Churchill.  Subsequently, the governor of Colorado was under pressure and Churchill was asked to resign from the Chair of Ethnic studies at CU. Soon after that, the Board of Regents at CU questioned his “Indianness” and came up with allegations of academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism and research misconduct against Prof Churchill and subsequently terminated him.

Before we examine about the content of the essay that lead to the termination of Churchill, it is worthwhile to take a look at his credentials.  Prof Churchill was a full tenured professor and head of the department of Ethical Studies at University of Colorado. He was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters after giving a lecture about American Indian history He has written over twenty books in addition to a large number of peer reviewed scholarly and popular articles .  He won numerous awards and sat on various panels and advisory boards in different associations and Institutes. He is widely respected by scholars and admired for his contribution to American Indian Studies. Looking at his caliber it would be difficult for anybody to find fault with his academic background and his accomplishments. So, we know that this person knows what he is talking about.

The primary issue that angered many people including Bill O- Reilly was the reference of those victims died in the incident as   “little Eichmanns"(Churchill). If we dive deep into the etymology of this phrase the reference of Churchill does make sense. The term was earlier used by Hannah Arendth, a journalist of the “The New Yorker” when she saw the Eichmann Trial in Israel. Adolf Eichmann was Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi bureaucrat assigned to manage the logistics of mass deportation of people to the Concentration camps. Ardenth was present during the trial of Eichmann and in her article said that, although we would expect Eichmann to be evil, she was surprised to find him bland and benign in the court. She further went on to say that this nature of Eichmann was due to the apparent disparity between self-consciousness and the mindless obedience to authority. This essay spiked the interest of many psychologists including  Stanley Milgram of Yale University  to conduct experiments to test the hypothesis of mindless obedience to authority.  Prof Milgram concluded that “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study” (Milgram). In simple terms, this means that people were willing to inflict pain to others although it was against their consciousness.  Churchill’s statement clarified later that his reference of” little Eichmanns” was directed towards the bankers and stock brokers – not the firefighters, secretaries who died. His delineation of the stock-brokers, bankers was similar to the way the Nazis delineated the Jews. So, the reference of ”little Eichmanns” is apt, and not outrageous.  The defamation of Churchill because of this reference shows that the evaluation has not been objective and clearly misunderstood.

After the Bill O’ Reilly interview the governor of Colorado was under pressure. During the start of this controversy CU defended Ward Churchill citing the First Amendment. However, the media got the upper hand by this time and wanted to purge Churchill for his comments. The Board of Regents had to find another way to terminate Churchill and came up with various allegations none of which has any significance. If we look at the details of the accusation there appears to have little or no compelling evidence. According to Tom Mayers of the department of Sociology at CU Boulder,” the Report of Investigative Committee  convicted him of plagiarism - for a paper he did not sign, claims he did not write and published in a book he did not edit” (Mayer). The events leading to the removal of Churchill shows lack of justice and total disregard of the First Amendment. Like what the UH President David McClain said “"Freedom of inquiry and of expression are what universities are all about, and freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy," (Gima)

Ironically, prior to his persecution, Churchill was honored as a valuable member of the University of Colorado faculty.  He was appointed chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, placed on influential University committees, and given prestigious teaching awards. There appears to be a total disparity and shows the heighted political influence in the decision making process of the evaluation of academic misconduct.

Looking at the way this is handled, one is reminded of various incidents that have been repeated in history. For e.g the execution of Galileo and Socrates couple of hundreds of years ago.  We have all become modern but our thoughts and ideas remain the same – there is no growth. People do not like change. Any person who expresses opinions contrary to that accepted by the public have their wings clipped promptly and is attacked, traumatized and left with humiliation. The First Amendment has become a farce and this event represents the dangerous trend of intolerance across the country.

I completely agree with the words of my classmate Nor Nordin that ” the very basis of a democracy is the freedom of citizens to voice their opinions, so why should it not be allowed for Ward Churchill? His article presents a different picture of the effects of US foreign policy in the world”

In my own observation, I can recall a similar incident of the blatant disregard of  Freedom of Speech in my country, India where a noted Bollywood film star, Sharuk Khan,  was rebuked by the Hindu fanatics group Shiv Sena from for ‘extending an open arm of  friendship’ to the Cricket players from  Pakistan.   Pakistan the country was born after the then Vice President demanded a land for the Muslims from India. So the new country of Pakistan was baptized at the same time that India got freedom from British in 1947.  Since that time there has been constant tension at the borders until today regarding various issues including Kashmir.  India has even fought a war against Pakistan in the 70’s. Although the acrimony appear to die down with the opening up of new railways between the two countries and visiting of the Pakistani Prime Ministers to India, small incidence like these appear to  revive the bitterness inside the people. Following the film stars statement, the activist stormed and protested outside the house of movie star in Mumbai where Bollywood movies are made.  The party demanded his apology and stated that his movie would be banned in the city (Ronamai). 

Although Churchill has clarified his reference on the essay, it must be admitted that that his statement pulled the strings on the emotional cord of the people who lost family members and relatives in the attack. Churchill’s essay was gross and although his intention may be right, an academic professor of high caliber having extensive publication should have exercised more caution before speaking his mind.  I totally agree with Isaiah Lechowit, president of CU's College Republicans, “When he speaks, he's not speaking as Ward Churchill,He's speaking as professor Ward Churchill."( Beaudin). In addition, I like the point that my classmate Suzanne Zablan bought up, “A simple apology could result in more people hearing his true message”.  It would have been appropriate for Churchill to save his career and his job with an apology and get over this controversy.

In conclusion, the treatment of Ward Churchill resembles political lynching; the charges are superannuated and aimed at tarnishing the reputation of a respected professor. It is overwhelmingly clear with the Churchill is not guilty of any charges of academic misconduct and is been executed for exercising his Freedom of Speech. It shows a total lack of congruence between what is on book to what actually happens in reality. Prof Ward Churchill’s criticism of US imperialism and its policies should be taken seriously.

Works Cited

Beaudin, Matthew. "Churchill Quits Chairmanship." dailycamera.com 1 Feb. 2005. 10 Apr. 2006 [http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/buffzone_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2448_3513453,00.html].

Churchill, Ward. “Some People Push Back. On the Justice of Roosting Chickens” 11 September 2001. Pockets of Resistance #11 September 2001.

Gima, Craig. "Lawmaker Wants Speaker Blocked." Starbulletin.com 19 Feb. 2005. 19 Feb. 2005 http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/19/news/index3.html.

Mayer, Tom. “The Plaigiarism Charges Against Ward Churchill”[ www.wardchurchill.net/files/mayer_on_plagiarism_charges_0607.pdf].

Milgram, Stanley.  “Obedience to Authority The experiments by Stanley Milgram” [ http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/milgram_obedience_experiment.html].

Nordin, Liza. “Defend Ward Churchill.” Online Posting. 29  Nov. 2010. Laulima discussion. 3 Dec. 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

Ronamai,Raymond.” Shahrukh Khan hits back at Shiv Sena”[ http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2010/shahrukh-shiv-sena-hit-back-030210.html].

Zablan, Suzanne. “Attack Ward Churchill.” Online Posting. 22 November 2010. Laulima Discussion. 29 November 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

Log of Completed Activities

_X__Nov 9t- Intro to Paper #4. Read the Guidelines for Paper #4. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 15M- Complete readings for paper #4. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Nov 22M- Laulima Discussion: Attack Ward Churchill
_X__Nov 29M- Laulima Discussion: Defend Ward Churchill
_X__Dec 3F- RD4 due. [50 pts] Review the Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Dec 6M- RD4 evaluations due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Dec 8W- FD4 due [150 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)

Diplomatic Deceit

The first amendment is the fundamental law of constitution of United States that gives any individual the Freedom of Speech – to express their opinion without any fear. It is the fundamental birthright of any citizen in this country. Other countries across the world envy the so-called freedom and lifestyle provided to the people by the nation. Apparently all these flowery opinions and believes came to questioning with the dismissal of Professor Ward Churchill by the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado in 2007.  The First amendment protects us from government censorship. [Thesis]   The persecution of Ward Churchill is an act of cowardice having political motives and brings to question the fundamental rights we have we as citizens [Thesis]

The Controversy

On September 11 , 2001, the infallible  Super-power became totally vulnerable after the  terrorist attack ramping couple of flights on the World Trade Center and killing thousands of people.  While the whole world deeply sympathized on the death of innocent lives one person thought otherwise. Enter Professor Ward Churchill of the department of Ethics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Professor Churchill wrote an essay after this incident titled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens,"   The content of essay justifies that people killed were not innocent and showed that the terrorist incident as a manifestation of the law of sowing and reaping.  It clearly pointed out how the US cannot getaway clean with anything and everything it does in the world and the incident is a outburst of the rancor that other countries have towards the US. While the essay got unnoticed during 2001 because many people felt it to be true. The issue came to light when Prof. Churchill was invited to a lecture in at Hamilton College in New York. One of the student in the college was appalled that his college was bringing in a person who insulted the 9/11 victims, one of whom was the students father.  This came to attention of the right wing extremist Bill O- Reilly who interviewed this student in his daily show.  Hamilton College withdrew the invitation to Prof Churchill and stirred quite a population. The primary issue that angered many people including Bill O- Reilly was the reference of those victims died in the incident as   “little Eichmanns"(Churchill).  Subsequently, the governor of Colorado was under pressure and Churchill was asked to resign from the Chair of Ethnic studies at CU. The Board of Regents at CU questioned his “Indianness” and came up with allegations of academic dishonesty in the form of plagiarism and research misconduct against Prof Churchill and subsequently terminated him.

Before we examine about the content of the essay responsible for such a huge upraisal and controversy, let’s examine the background of Ward Churchill.  Prof Churchill became full tenured professor at CU department of Ethical Studies. He was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters after giving a lecture about American Indian history He has written over twenty books in addition to a large number of peer reviewed scholarly and popular articles .  He was won numerous awards and sat on various panels and advisory boards in different associations and Institutes. He is widely respected by scholars and admired for his contribution to American Indian Studies. Looking at his caliber it would be difficult for anybody to find fault with his professional carrier.

little Eichmanns

The primary element of the essay was the reference of those killed to those of ‘little Eichmanns’. If we dive deep into the etymology of this phrase the reference of Churchill does make sense. The term was used earlier by the Hannah Arendth a journalist of the “The New Yorker” when she saw the Eichmann Trial in Israel. In the article she said that it would appear that people working under Hitler would also portray some of his evil nature. However, it was surprising to note that they were bland and benign. This character flow rose from the apparent disparity between consciousness and mindless obedience to authority. This essay was of interest to many psychologists such as Stanley Milgram at Yale to conduct experiments to test the hypothesis of mindless obedience to authority.  Prof Milgram concluded that “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study”(Milgram). In simple terms these mean that people were willing to inflict pain to others just by obeying higher orders from their boss although it was against their consciousness.  If this is true, the majority of the population are all ‘little Eichmanns’ and the by Churchill is fully justified in making such a reference. His statement is profound and pertinent to call all the stockbrokers who died during the attack as” little Eichmanns”. This reference implies that also there were other people such as firefighters, secretaries who died, his reference is delineates the stock-brokers, bankers similar to the way the Nazis delineated the Jews. So, the reference of ” little Eichmanns” is apt, and not outrageous. Ignorance by the general population resulted in widespread misinterpretation of this phrase and caused uproar among the public.

Diplomatic Deceit

After the Bill O’ Reilly interview the governor if Colorado was under pressure and initially CU defended Ward Churchill stating the Freedom of Speech given by the First Amendment. However the media got the upper hand by this time and wanted to purge Churchill for his comments. The Board of Regents had to find another way to terminate Churchill and came up with various allegations – none of which has any significance. If we look at the details of the accusation there appears to have little or no compelling evidence. According to Tom Mayers of the department of Sociology at CU Boulder,” the Report of Investigative Committee  convicted him of plagiarism for a paper he did not sign claims  not to have written,  which is published in a book  he did not edit and whose texts clearly  diverges from significant features of  his  published work” (Mayer). Ironically, prior to his persecution, Churchill was honored as a valuable member of the University of Colorado faculty.  He was appointed chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, placed on influential University committees, and given prestigious teaching awards. There is total disparity and this incident shows the heighted political influence in the decision making process of the evaluation of academic misconduct.

The events leading to the removal of Churchill shows lack of justice and total disregard of the First Amendment. Like what the UH President David McClain said “"Freedom of inquiry and of expression are what universities are all about, and freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy," (Gima)

 Looking at this one is reminded of various incidents that have been repeated in history. For e.g the execution of Galileo and Socrates couple of hundreds of years ago.  We have all become modern but our thoughts and ideas remain the same – there is no growth. People do not like change. Any person who expresses opinions contrary to that accepted by the public have their wings clipped promptly and is attacked, traumatized and left with humiliation. The First Amendemnt has become a farce and this event represents the dangerous trend of intolerance across the country.

I completely agree with the words of my classmate Nor Nordin that ” the  very basis of a democracy is the freedom of citizens to voice their opinions, so why should it not be allowed for Ward Churchill? His article presents a different picture of the effects of US foreign policy in the world”

Although Churchill can be defended based on first amendment and he has clarified his reference on the essay, it must be admitted that that his statement pulled the strings on the emotional cord of the people who lost family members and relatives in the attack. Churchill’s essay was gross and although his intention may be right, an academic professor of high caliber having extensive publication and  heavily cited  should have exercised more caution before speaking his mind in that essay. Like what But Isaiah Lechowit, president of CU's College Republicans, said it's not matter of personal free speech."When he speaks, he's not speaking as Ward Churchill," Lechowit said. "He's speaking as professor Ward Churchill."( Beaudin). In addition I like the point that my classmate Suzanne Zablan bought up, ” A simple apology could result in more people hearing his true message”.  It would have been appropriate for Churchill to save his career and his job with an apology and get over this controversy.

Bollywood example

In my own observation, I can recall a similar incident of the blatant disregard of  Freedom of Speech in my country, India where a noted Bollywood film star, Sharuk Khan,  was rebuked by the Hindu fanatics group Shiv Sena from for ‘extending an open arm of  friendship’ to the Cricket players from  Pakistan.   Pakistan the country was born after the then Vice President demanded a land for the Muslims from India. So the new country of Pakistan was baptized at the same time that India got freedom from British in 1947.  Since that time there has been constant tension at the borders until today regarding various issues including Kashmir.  India has even fought a war against Pakistan in the 70’s. Although the acrimony appear to die down with the opening up of new railways between the two countries and visiting of the Pakistani Prime Ministers to India, small incidence like these appear to  revive the bitterness inside the people. Following the filmstars statement, the activist stormed and protested outside the house of movie star in Mumbai where Bollywood movies are made.  The party demanded his apology and stated that his movie would be banned in the city (Ronamai). 

In conclusion, the treatment of Ward Churchill resembles political lynching, the charges are superannuated and aimed at tarnishing the reputation of a respected professor. It is overwhelmingly clear with the Churchill is not guilty of any charges of academic misconduct and is been executed for exercising his Freedom of Speech. It shows a total lack of congruence between what is on book to what actually happens in reality. Prof Ward Churchill’s criticism of US imperialism and its policies should be taken seriously.

Works Cited

Beaudin, Matthew. "Churchill Quits Chairmanship." dailycamera.com 1 Feb. 2005. 10 Apr. 2006 [http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/buffzone_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2448_3513453,00.html.]

Churchill, Ward. “Some People Push Back. On the Justice of Roosting Chickens” 11 September 2001. Pockets of Resistance #11 September 2001.

Gima, Craig. "Lawmaker Wants Speaker Blocked." Starbulletin.com 19 Feb. 2005. 19 Feb. 2005 http://starbulletin.com/2005/02/19/news/index3.html

Mayer, Tom. “The Plaigiarism Charges Against Ward Churchill”. [ www.wardchurchill.net/files/mayer_on_plagiarism_charges_0607.pdf]

Milgram, Stanley.  “Obedience to Authority The experiments by Stanley Milgram” [ http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/milgram_obedience_experiment.html]

Nordin, Liza. “Defend Ward Churchill.” Online Posting. 29  Nov. 2010. Laulima discussion. 3 Dec. 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c].

Ronamai,Raymond.” Shahrukh Khan hits back at Shiv Sena”[ http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/news/2010/shahrukh-shiv-sena-hit-back-030210.html].

Zablan, Suzanne. “Attack Ward Churchill.” Online Posting. 22 November 2010. Laulima Discussion. 29 November 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/KAP.XLSENG215js.201110/page/580d9883-374c-4194-bb60-e4e1fe68988c]

Keys to Success in life

Dear Class of 2010,

 It is my honor to be invited to talk to you and share my life experiences with you. I want to thank the board members, chairman, and director for inviting me on this beautiful day. Today I have decided to talk with you my thoughts on honesty and ethics. [Thesis] Strong ethics and character are key to leadership, success and fulfillment in life. With this you could have everything, without it you have nothing. [Thesis]

Generation Y, you are the Winning Generation. It is the best time ever to be youngster because you have power in your finger tips and knowledge within a mouse click. This generation believes in giving and cares for the environment. You will not buy cloths produced using child labor. In a recent survey it was found that 61% of youth between 13 to 25 years feel personal responsibility of making difference in the world and 81% had volunteered in the past year (Jayson). While I salute these traits, there is a growing evidence of unethical behavior in the schools and colleges which I don’t understand. It is ironical that same generation that believes in the art of giving is also involved in cheating, malpractice and lying.  In the case conducted among 10,000 students between 1992 to 2002, it was found that cheating increased from 61 % to 74% and number of students admitted to have lied increased from 83 % to 93% in 2002 (2002 Report Card) . I have been there, as I recall my time at middle and high school I have done things which they would call cheating today. During exams the question was multiple choice and we used sign language for right answer. We were group of five so it was easy we were complementing each other so ultimately it was win-win situation. I wouldn’t even for second doubted that this is cheating until I got caught and the cute girl would not talk with me after that. She broke up with me. 

The cause and reasons for lying is often complex and difficult to comprehend. Some of the reasons are –family, their group, circumstance, course work, teachers and competition. Competition within themselves and others has forced kids to resort to unethical behavior.  From poor to rich kids every one cheat. For rich kids are primarily to live up to the expectation of the unrealistically high standard set by their parents. The kids are frustrated and resort to cheating. Indeed, parental expectations were consistently ranked among the top five reasons for lying and cheating in class (Schab).

Another growing reason I can readily identify with is peer group. You are ‘cool’ if you belonged to certain group in class or college. A recent study by UMass interviewing the parents of kids between age group of 11 to 16 showed that  the more social you are the better you are at lying (Amherst).  For the first time it makes you feel guilty, when you do it more often, it becomes normal. There is no feeling associated with it. In the end, one dialog in the famous movie Rainmaker still gives me chills “Every lawyer, at least once in every case, feels himself crossing a line that he doesn't really mean to cross... it just happens... And if you cross it enough times it disappears forever. And then you're nothin but another lawyer joke. Just another shark in the dirty water.” 

In a recent study conducted worldwide looking at moral index of people. They took a  leather purse put $50 equivalent and ‘lost’ 1,100 wallets it in  public places with name, address phone number of the owner. What they found was that interesting. At top of the list were the people in the countries from Norway and Denmark, 100 % of purses were returned. At bottom of the list was Hong Kong and Mexico, only 20% returned the purses. For US the return rate was 67 % (Character Matters).  Honesty is not a personality trait of an individual, but roots go deep to the value system in some nations  What does this nation personify? What do you see in media all the time? Pervasive negativity. If you watch FOX channels Dr House, movies such as Wall Street and video games- all say that it is right to cheat. This is far from truth. If you decide to go to work in any company, unlike what Gordon Gekko in Wall Street would want you to believe, greed is not good. All of you are familiar with the Enron and Water Gates scandal that are real examples of people motivated by greed.

In our day to day lives we  there has been lot of argument regarding white lies. Is it OK to lie if it does no good for you but makes the other person feel better? For e.g. I recall many times when I was six, I would run  up to  my father when he come back from work and ask how was his day was, his reply would always be ‘Awesome!’. It was not until I got older did I realize that sometimes that was not always true. So, in this situation, is it still called a lie? Should I get upset with my parents for lying? What about my colleague, when he asks me how his $3000  bike is, should I be honest and say I don’t like the color?  Tact and diplomacy would help in dealing with such situations. Ultimately, you got to listen to your consciousness to make a decision.

 A survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources interviewing  1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees showed top managers rated Integrity (33%), Interpersonal skills (28%) and Initiative (15%) as top three qualities they look in candidate (Comment). Your boss will not go through pain of hiring a person with mixed character and no one in organization wants to do business with a person who is manipulative and filled with duplicity. I like the way Warren Buffet puts it “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you”.

Recall the men and women you deeply admire, you will find that most of the time they were people of integrity and honesty. We are proud of 28 year old First Lt. Ehren Watada, a HPU graduate, the first person to openly refuse to fight Iraq war during Bush administration, even if it meant termination and jail. (Anonymous).

As my friend Gregory Jenkins nicely puts it “The most compelling reason to be honest at all times is for self-respect. Self-respect affects the way I impact my family, culture, and society as a whole. If I am not honest to others I am not honest to myself. If I am not honest to myself then I am a dishonest part of society and the world.”

Finally, I part with you with  the words of World War II General and President of United States, General Eisenhower

“In order to be a leader, a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”

Works Cited

Amherst, University Of Massachusetts. “UMass Researcher Finds Link Between Lying And Popularity.” 14 December 1999. Science Daily. Webpage. 19 October 2010 [http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/1999/12/991214072623.htm].

Buffett, Warren. “Quotes on INTEGRITY”LeadershipNow.com. n.d. Webpage. 20 October 2010. [http://www.leadershipnow.com/integrityquotes.html].

Comment.“STUDY: Execs cite integrity as most important trait for future leaders: communications skills rank second ”College Sports Information Directors Of America.5 October 2010. Webpage. 20 October 2010. [http://www.cosida.com/news.aspx?id=2913].

Eisenhower, Dwight D. “Leadership Quotations”InspirationalSpark.com n.d.Webpage. 20 October 2010.[http://www.inspirationalspark.com/leadership-quotations.html].

Jayson, Sharon.” Generation Y gets involved.” USA Today. 24 October 2006.Webpage. 19 October 2010. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-23-gen-next-cover_x.htm].

Jenkins, Gregory. Online posting. “KAP ENG-215: Discussion and Private Messages.” 26 October 2010. Laulima. 30 October 2010. [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/].

Lickona, Thomas. “Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgement, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues” Original edition. New York: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, 2004,14-15.

Rainmaker.Dir. Coppola, Francis. Perf.Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight. Paramount Pictures, 1997. DVD.

“Record Number of Applicants Are Reported by the Top Colleges," New York Times, 18 February 1996.

Schab, Fred.  "Schooling Without Learning: Thirty Years of Cheating in High School," Adolescence 26, no.104 (Winter 1991: 840).

“Soldier Ready To Face Jail For Refusing. Deployment. Lieutenant Says ‘We Were all Deceived’ ”. 7 June 2006. KITV.COM. 20 October 2010. [http://www.kitv.com/news/9338465/detail.html].

Wall Street. Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Sean Young.  20th  Century Fox. 1987. DVD.

Log of Completed Activities

_L_Oct 13W- Intro to Paper #3. Read the Guidelines for Paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X_Oct 18M- Complete readings for paper #3 for paper #3. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X_Oct 22F- Laulima Discussion #1
_X_Oct 26t- Laulima Discussion #2
_X_Nov 1M- RD3 due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X_Nov 5F- RD3 evaluations due [50 pts] Review the guidelines. (No confirmation required.)
_X_Nov 8M- FD3 due [125 pts] Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)

Keys to success in life

Arvind Mohanram

1 November 2010

RD3

Dear Class of 2010,

 It is my honor to be invited to talk to you and share my life experiences with you. I want to thank the board members, chairman, and director for inviting me on this beautiful day. Today I have decided to talk with you my thoughts on honesty and ethics. [Thesis] High ethics are high character are key to leadership, success and fulfillment in life. With this you could have everything, without it you have nothing. [Thesis]

Generation Y, you are the Winning Generation. It is the best time ever to be youngster because you have power in your finger tips and knowledge within a mouse click. This generation believes in giving and cares for the environment. Social consciousness is high. You will not buy cloths produced using child labor. You like to ‘save the juice when not in use’, recycle and reuse.  In a recent survey it was found that 61% of youth between 13 to 25 years feel personal responsibility of making difference in the world and 81% had volunteered in the past year (Jayson). While I salute these traits, there is a growing evidence of unethical behavior in the schools and colleges which I don’t get it. It is ironical that same generation that believes in the art of giving is also involved in cheating, malpractice and lying.  In the case conducted among 10,000 students between 1992 to 2002, it was found that cheating increased from 61 % to 74% and number of students admitted to have lied increased from 83 % to 93% in 2002 (2002 Report Card) . I have been there, as I recall my time at middle and high school I have done things which they would call cheating today. During exams the question was multiple choice and we used sign language for right answer. We were group of five so it was easy we were complementing each other so ultimately it was win-win situation. I wouldn’t even for second doubted that this is cheating until I got caught and the cute girl would not talk with me after that. I had to break up with her. 

The cause and reasons for lying is often complex and difficult to comprehend. Some of the many reasons that can be traced back to the environment that kids are – the family, the group, the circumstance, course work, teachers and competition. Competition within themselves and others has forced kids to resort to unethical behavior.  Jon S Katzman the president of Prince Jon S. Katzman, president of Princeton Review, says that "ten years ago students were stressed because they wanted to be the winner. Now they are stressed because they don't want to be the loser” (New York Times)

From poor to rich kids every one cheat. For rich kids are primarily to live up to the expectation of the unrealistically high standard set by their parents.. The kids are frustrated and resort to cheating. Indeed parental expectations were consistently ranked among the top five reasons for lying and cheating in class (Schab). Another growing reason I can readily identify with is peer group. You are ‘cool’ if you belonged to certain group in class or college. A recent study by UMass interviewing the parents of kids between age group of 11 to 16 showed that t the more social you are the better you are at lying. (Amherst). Even worse, studies have shown that lying shows loyalty to ‘primary group’. There is support when the kids cheat to assure them it is OK.

Another reason the kids are not directly responsible are the curriculum set by the schools and colleges. The demanding work load and too much emphasis on ‘right’ answer kill the creativity of the individual. When they realize there is no room for more option or their words, they are not involved in the process of learning and hence resort to cheating.  For the first time it makes you feel guilty, when you do it more often, it becomes normal. There is no feeling associated with it. In the end one dialog in the famous movie Rainmaker still gives me chills “Every lawyer, at least once in every case, feels himself crossing a line that he doesn't really mean to cross... it just happens... And if you cross it enough times it disappears forever. And then you're nothin but another lawyer joke. Just another shark in the dirty water.” 

 In a recent study conducted world wide looking at moral index of people. What they did was take a nice leather purse put in $50 equivalent and ‘lost’1,100 wallets it in a public place with name, address phone number of the owner. What they found was that interesting. At top of the list were the people in the countries from Norway and Denmark, 100% of purses were returned. At bottom of the list was Hong Kong and Mexico, only 20% returned the purse to the owner. For US the return rate was 67 %( Character Matters). Honesty is not a personality trait of a individual, but roots go deep to the value system that these nations personify.  What does this nation personify? What do you see in television, media all the time? Pervasive negativity.  Why does CNN show Tiger Woods cheating 24 by 7 when it first made news? Because, bad news sells, good news does not. How about TV serials promoting unethical behavior such as FOX channels Dr House, movies such as Wall Street and video games- all say that it is OK to cheat. This is far from truth. If you decide to go to work in any company, unlike what Gordon Gekko in Wall Street would want you to believe, Greed is not good .All of you are familiar with the Enron and Water Gates scandal that are real examples of people motivated by greed.

There are certain invisible laws like gravity that is key principles in life; one of them is high ethics and high character. Wherever you go, whatever you do your employer will value honesty above anything else. A survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources interviewing  1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees showed top managers rated Integrity (33%), Interpersonal skills (28%) and Initiative (15%) as top three qualities they look in candidate (Comment). Please note there, intelligence did not feature in any of their requirements. Because you will be tested all the time with problems and challenges you face. Problems are signs of life. As Steven Covey says everyone can manage when the sun is shining, your true inner core is shown only during crisis or under stress. Your boss will not go through pain of hiring a person with mixed character and no one in organization wants to do business with a person who is manipulative and filled with duplicity. I like the way Warren Buffet puts it “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you”.

Recall the men and women you deeply admire, you will find that most of the time they were people of integrity and honesty. We are proud of 28 year old First Lt. Ehren Watada, a HPU graduate, the first person to openly refuse to fight Iraq war during Bush administration, even if it meant termination and jail. (Anonymous). Another example is golfer Brian Davis who displayed impeccable character when he accidentally committed brushed a reed on his backswing that even cameras could not detect He lost the first place in the tournament because he confessed his mistake (Dixon).  As Emerson said, “Guard your integrity as a sacred thing. Nothing is at last sacred by the integrity of your own mind.” (Emerson). It is difficult to keep your word, it is choosing between microwave thinking and delaying gratification. But I promise you long term fulfillment and greatness if you keep integrity and high character to guide you through your decision making process.

As my friend Gregory Jenkins nicely puts it “The most compelling reason to be honest at all times is for self-respect. Self-respect affects the way I impact my family, culture, and society as a whole. If I am not honest to others I am not honest to myself. If I am not honest to myself then I am a dishonest part of society and the world.”

Finally I part with you in the words of World War II General and President of United States, General Eisenhower

“In order to be a leader, a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”

Works Cited

Amherst, University Of Massachusetts . “UMass Researcher Finds Link Between Lying And Popularity.” 14 December 1999. Science Daily. Webpage. 19 October 2010 [http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/1999/12/991214072623.htm].

Buffett, Warren. “Quotes on INTEGRITY”LeadershipNow.com. n.d. Webpage. 20 October 2010. [http://www.leadershipnow.com/integrityquotes.html].

Comment.“STUDY: Execs cite integrity as most important trait for future leaders: communications skills rank second ”College Sports Information Directors Of America.5 October 2010. Webpage. 20 October 2010. [http://www.cosida.com/news.aspx?id=2913].

Dixon, Peter. “Brian Davis's honesty costs him $1 million win” The Sunday Times. 19 April 2010. Webpage. 20 October 2010 [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article7101963.ece].

Emerson, Raph W. “Ralph Waldo Emerson Quotes”Brainy Quote n.d.Webpage. 20 October 2010. [http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/r/ralphwaldo108805.html].

Eisenhower, Dwight D. “Leadership Quotations”InspirationalSpark.com n.d.Webpage. 20 October 2010.[http://www.inspirationalspark.com/leadership-quotations.html]

Jayson, Sharon.” Generation Y gets involved.” USA Today. 24 October 2006.Webpage. 19 October 2010. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-23-gen-next-cover_x.htm].

Lickona, Thomas. “Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgement, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues” Original edition. New York:Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, 2004,14-15.

Rainmaker.Dir. Coppola, Francis. Perf.Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight. Paramount Pictures, 1997. DVD

“Record Number of Applicants Are Reported by the Top Colleges," New York

Times, 18 February 1996.

Schab, Fred.  "Schooling Without Learning: Thirty Years of Cheating in High School," Adolescence 26, no.104 (Winter 1991): 840).

“Soldier Ready To Face Jail For Refusing. Deployment. Lieutenant Says’We Were all Deceived’ ”. 7 June 2006. KITV.COM. 20 October 2010. [http://www.kitv.com/news/9338465/detail.html].

Wall Street. Dir. Oliver Stone. Perf. Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, Martin Sheen, Sean Young.  20^th  Century Fox. 1987. DVD

Positive influence of advertisement in our society

Arvind Mohanram

10 October, 2010

FD2

Advertising confronts us all the time in whatever we do and wherever we are – even in outer space. They seem to be like ‘invisible’ zombies following us wherever we go and affecting us constantly. We appear to be influenced by advertisement. Ads are informative. They are the best barometer to judge the nature of the society and keep us up to date with the changing trends. [Thesis] Commercials provide general awareness and valuable information about the goods and services available to the consumer. Ads are powerful means of communication during crisis and aid in solving social issues. They are the quickest means of communication between the government and the common people. Commercials are influential tools if used properly, have been proven to have a positive impact on our society [Thesis].  

The ‘Million’ ad created by Droga 5 is a proven example of positive impact of advertisement on the society. The ad I saw yesterday, shows how the New York City department of education decided to raise awareness of importance of school to the children to give away free cellphones to the school kids in New York. The school kids earn points towards free minutes, text messaging, movie tickets, music download and discount at partner stores based on their academic performance at school. This includes being regular, participation in class, completing assignments, tests and grades. Kids seem to love using their cellphone to do homework and interviews with the parents and school principals showing marked increase in the performance of kids in attendance, improving grades and increased class participation. The ad says that the concept the ‘Million motivation campaign’ was an instant success and was widely acclaimed as a revolutionary idea. This statement falls under the logical fallacy, Sweeping Generalization. Although the system appeared to work in one city, it remains unclear if will work or be implemented throughout the country. Calling it ‘revolutionary’ or ‘instant’ success is misleading.

However, it is interesting to see the cell phone becomes an education tool with web access at school through this commercial. So powerful was the impact that Droga 5, the ad agency that developed this campaign was awarded the Titanium Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2008. This is one of the best proven examples of commercial in motivating the youth and changing the lives of kids across the country. Thus, commercials do not have a negative impact on our lives, they have the ability to contribute to the betterment of the society.

Apart from raising awareness the commercials become important during crises, holocaust and times of calamity as the recent Haiti earthquake. Without advertising there would have been a huge disconnect between those willing to give and those in need. Over 2 billion dollars were raised by various charitable organizations due to advertising and media campaigns. The media popularized the charitable nonprofit organizations in our local area and grocery stores such as Safeway where people were asked to give away the change of their purchase towards Haiti relief. This made it easier for anyone interested to contribute; even a small amount for a good cause. 

In India, every year, the government advertises in radio, TV and newspaper to get their children Polio vaccination if they are between zero to five years. The success rate (defined as number of children vaccinated) has been over 80 % (anonymous). Again, without commercials, this would not have been possible. Thus, advertising played a crucial role in the success of Pulse Polio campaign.   

Another outstanding advertisement that calls for ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ comes from manufacturer of beauty soap, Dove. The ad I saw on YouTube last week, is a parody and called ‘Evolution’. It shows a contemporary women walking in the studios and sitting in front of giant lights for makeup. The ad shows only her face and the millions of changes that take place in fast forward – how makeup changes the face to become attractive. In the next shot Photoshop is used on the photo of the face, editing her blemishes, lifting her chin, making her face more symmetrical - giving the final touch to a gorgeous and extremely attractive face. This final face of the women ends up on the giant billboard of the streets people walk by. The commercial ends with the words ‘No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted’. There is a link to the website that calls people to be part of Dove movement to improve self-esteem and promotes beauty as source of confidence – not anxiety. This ad shows anybody on the street can be a super model with professional help - you don’t have to look attractive. While there are tons of commercials that we watch every day that promote skin deep beauty using celebrities and super models, this one stands out in promoting character traits such as self-esteem. This is a great example of a brand that educates its audience of the myth of ‘beauty’ and importance given everywhere around the world. This ad although informative, tries to identify with the audience by showing a person on the street in the makeup room, so the logical fallacy here is Plain Folk Fallacy. Another logical fallacy is Ad Misericordiam Argument because it is appealing to the emotions of the people to look beyond skin deep beauty prevalent in our culture.

A recent finding by (Kotwal, Gupta and Devi)  studied the buying pattern of 100 adolescent teenage girls. 70 % of the interviewed girls responded that TV ads helped them to make better buying decision on the type of brand to choose and educate them with variety of choices available. Our classmate Nor Nordin corroborates this finding, she says “In a free market economy like the USA, the foundation of the economy is based on competition and freedom of choice…ultimately, the consumer benefits because they have the power to decide which product or services they want at the price they want to pay.” I completely agree with her statement that advertising gives us a power of choice. Thus, ads are helpful to improve the knowledge base and give us a variety of choices available in the market place

While the above two commercials are great examples of positive impacts of ads, the negative impact is obvious. Advertising create a subconscious desire through repetition. First the ads tell us what we want. Then it sows the seeds of need in our minds. This subliminal seeds germinates into a desire. The desire drives us to buy. This is powerful concept and to consider the fact that commercials have hypnotized us is scary. But this is true. How often do we realize that a product did not work to our satisfaction? The gullibility factor is more in children than adults. Some of the parents are much at anguish, unable to afford the Xbox or Nintendo, while the children are left unhappy. Thus, advertisements appear to cause a negative atmosphere and disturbance in the family. In addition, it has been found that kids that grow up watching TV have very short attention span when they become adults. The continuous bombardment of ads makes it difficult for children to focus for a long duration in class or doing homework and they tend to give up easily.

My friend Scott Cohen brings up yet another interesting point on negative impact on advertisement. He says that ads deplete the natural resources by creating waste in this statement “ .. are the waste they are producing in desperate attempt to deliver the information of production to the consumer. The wastes are for instance: Flyers; billboard; money spent on producing television and radio commercial; and junk mail. Those methods took chunks out of natural resource to get information to the consumer”. I support his argument and from the economic point of view it is clear that ads increase consumption, which in turn causes increase in demand and production. The production increase means more raw material consumption. Since the sources of all our raw materials are our environment, advertising adversely impacts the environment we live and breathe.

In conclusion, advertisements are crucial and necessary during time of crisis and calamity to spread awareness. Commercials do not have negative impact on our lives; they are the key for spreading the word on socially important issues such as education, smoking and drugs. They promote competitiveness in industry; give details regarding the availability of product, quality of the product; about how the product works; and what people think about it. Consequently, ads provide valuable information to make a decision. While the vast majority of beauty ads such as Cover Girl, L'Oréal highlighting the importance of physical attractiveness, there are other campaigns (e.g. Dove ‘Evolution’) that are honest and address the critical issue of pervasive skin deep culture. The ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ clearly wins over the Brittney Spears syndrome.

Works Cited

Cohen, Scott. “Yes, Ads Have Negative Impact!”. Online Posting.  24 Sep. 2010. Laulima Discussion. 03 Oct 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/].

Kotwal, Nidhi, Gupta Neelima, and Devi Arjee. "Impact of TV Advertisements on Buying Pattern of Adolescent Girls." J. Soc. Sci 16.1 (2008): 51-55.

Nordin, Nor. “No, Ads don't have a negative impact!” Online Posting.  22 Sep. 2010. Laulima Discussion. 03 Oct 2010 [https://laulima.hawaii.edu/].

”82 p.c. children administered polio drops in State.”. 7 Jan 2008. The Hindu. 3 Oct. 2010 [http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/07/stories/2008010767400300.htm].

Log of Completed Activities

_X_Sep 17F- Intro to Paper #2. Read the Guidelines for Paper #2. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X_Sep 20M- Complete readings for paper #2. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Sep 24F- Laulima Discussion: Ad Pros and Cons
_X_Sep 28t- Laulima Discussion: Logical Fallacies Exercise
_X__Oct 4M – RD2 due [50 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X__Oct 8F- RD2 evaluations due [50 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required.)
_X_Oct 12t- FD2 due [125 pts]. Review the guidelines. (Confirmation reply required