Japanese Bribe Case Study

THE CASE OF THE JAPANESE BRIBE I. BACKGROUND OF THE CASE 1976: Former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested on charges of taking bribes amounting to $1. 8 Million Dollars from Lockheed Aircraft Company. Tanaka’s secretary and several other government officials were arrested together with former Prime Minister Tanaka. Takeo Miki was ousted from office on suspicion of concealing Tanaka’s dealings with Lockheed Aircraft Company. In Holland, Prince Bernhard resigned from 300 government positions held for allegedly having received $1. Million in bribes from Lockheed Aircraft Company in connection with the purchase of 138 F-104 Starfighter Jets. In Italy, Giovanni Leone, the Italian President in 1970 together with Prime Ministers Aldo Moro and Mariano Rumor were also accused of accepting bribes from Lockheed in connection with the purchase of $100 Million worth of aircraft during the late 1960s. Scandinavia, South Africa, Turkey, Greece and Nigeria were also amon g the 15 countries in which Lockheed admitted to having handed out payments and that at least $202 Million in commissions were made by the company since 1970.Lockheed started using bribes since 1958 in order to outsell Grumman Aircraft, a competitor, for the Japanese Air Force contract. As per his testimony, William Findley of Arthur Young & Co. the auditors for Lockheed, engaged the services of Yoshio Kodama to act as middleman between Lockheed and the Japanese Government in order to secure the government contract for the purchase of military aircrafts. Several bribes were made by the company to ensure the contract in its favour.In 1972, Lockheed rehired Kodama as consultant to sell its aircraft to Japan. Lockheed was in dire need to sell its aircraft owing to a series of financial disasters, cost overruns, pushing the company to the brink of bankruptcy in 1970. A controversial loan guarantee awarded the company amounting to $250 Million helped the aircraft company in averting the bankruptcy. Lockheed President, Mr. Carl Kotchian anxiously anticipated making the sales since the company has not been making its projected sales of aircraft worldwide.Mr. Kotchian believed that Japan is a largely-untapped market and if Lockheed penetrates the Japanese market, the company can generate $400 Million and thus, improve the company’s financial status and ensure the jobs of thousands of the firm’s employees. Kodama eventually succeeded in engineering a contract for Lockheed with the All Nippon Airways, beating McDonnell Douglas, its active competitor. For the sale, Kodama askes and received $9 Million as pay-off money from 1972 to 1975.Allegedly, much of the money went to then Prime Minister Tanaka and other government officials for interceding with All Nippon Airways on behalf of Lockheed Aircraft Company. Mr. Kotchian admitted full knowledge about where the money was going and that he was persuaded by the assurance that in making the payoff, Lockheed was sure to get the contract with All Nippon Airways. Subsequently, Lockheed netted $1. 3 Billion from the contract. Mr.Kotchian defended the payoff as â€Å"in keeping with Japanese business practices†, meaning that I order to do business in Japan, one has to make payoffs, further, Kotchian reiterated that the transaction did not violate any American Laws and that Lockheed needed to adjust to the existing â€Å"functioning systems† in order to be competitive and guarantee the jobs of thousands of its employees, as well as ensure continuing profitability. Otherwise, the company would be bankrupt and thousands will lose their jobs. In August 1975, after investigations conducted by the U. S.Government, Lockheed admitted to making $22 Million in secret payoffs and in subsequent Senate investigations in 1976, the deals were made public, causing Japan to cancel the billion dollar contract with Lockheed. In 1979, Lockheed pleaded guilty to concealing the bribes by writing them o ff as â€Å"marketing costs†. Lockheed was not charged with bribery since the law took effect only in 1978. Mr. Kotchian was not indicted but was forced to resign from his office while in Japan, Kodama was arrested together with Tanaka. II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1. What were the moral and legal implications of the actions of the Lockheed management? . What is the effect of the transaction with respect to fair competition in business? III. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION 1. The need to ensure the profitability of the company. 2. The need to ensure the welfare and well-being of thousands of employees of the company. 3. The ethical and legal standpoint that binds entities in the conduct of their business. IV. ANALYSIS OF THE CASE The case revolves around several issues that confront today’s modern business practice/s; basically, every company aspires to achieve continuing growth and profitability as its major policy.Secondly, the company as an organization is augmented and comp osed by people who are performing each of their respective tasks in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the firm. In the case of Lockheed Aircraft Company, there is a dire need to rebound from near bankruptcy and the means by which it can be achieved is to get hold of the contracts for the company to build and supply aircrafts to their intended buyers. The Japanese market offers a potential target for the aircraft company, much as the other companies are likewise aware of.The airline and aircraft industry is a highly competitive industry. Each company needs to update its existing technology, requiring continuous investments in retooling and research. Such an activity requires continuous flow of funds considering the immense requirement for funding the expenditures. Should the company let up on continually improving its product and technology, the result would be disastrous for the company since competitors could easily overtake the company and its market. All of these predi caments compounded the financial woes of Lockheed Aircraft Company during the 70’s.It is under this duress that management was forced to find a means by which the company can stay afloat, make profit and support its large workforce. The decision to make extraordinary means to ensure sales was at the moment, imperative for management. Using the argument that during those days, a business sub-culture existed in Japan, that is, that the company needed to abide by the â€Å"functioning system† to get the All Nippon Air Contract. In simple terms, payoffs are needed to facilitate the sale of the company’s aircraft to the Japanese airline company.Ethically, a payoff to facilitate a contract at the expense of other competitors deviates from existing moral values that should govern the conduct of business. However, assuming that a system of patronage existed in Japan during the time; such a system constrained the management of Lockheed to use extraordinary means to go th rough channels as conduits to their intended client in order to seal the contract. Prior to investigations conducted and the subsequent admission of the company regarding the payoffs, landing the contract with All NipponAirways, did not only guarantee profits for Lockheed but also, a continuing support for its thousands of employees. V. CONCLUSION Based on the foregoing, it is established that Lockheed acted within the sphere of corporate culture prevalent of the times. From a business man’s point of view, the payoffs could indeed be classified as marketing costs since from the point of view of the company, the money that was used was partly in promotion of its product, by today’s standards. However, the crux of the problem was that those who received the payoffs were government officials who had control of the affairs of their country.As such, these officials were in a position to exert undue influence on the airline company to purchase the aircraft from Lockheed. It is this undue influence that made the act unethical and from a legal standpoint, criminal in nature since, the resulting transaction is now a case of bribery on the part of Lockheed and extortion on the part of the government officials who received the payoff. As for Mr. Kotchian, I believe that as CEO of Lockheed Aircraft Company, he acted in the best interest of the company and for everyone who are immediately involved with the company (employees, technicians, management, etc. As CEO, he is tasked with ensuring a profitable direction for the company and provide a continuing means of livelihood for all those employed by the company. Likewise, it is his duty to ensure the competitiveness of the company. VI. RECOMMENDATION Despite the arguments of utilitarianism in this case, wherein the interest of the majority is deemed primordial over the interests of the few, I/We believe that Mr. Kotchian, in behalf of the management of Lockheed Aircraft Company acted within the bounds of corpor ate culture prevalent of the time.Arguably, using ethics and morality as a gauge, I/We perceive that Lockheed and Mr. Kotchian were guilty of unfair competition as they undermined their competitors through the use undue influence instead of marketing a superior product. Although the immediate results could have benefitted all those concerned within the sphere of the company, the means by which it was achieved were tainted with fraud and the wilful distortion of facts (reporting payoffs as marketing costs), hence, providing the other stakeholders such as its investors and stockholders a false representation of the financial affairs of the company.Although, bribery was not yet classified as corporate crime prior to 1978, the act of Lockheed Aircraft Company and Mr. Kotchian should be regarded as unethical, immoral and illegal; as well as promoting unfair competition with respect to other aircraft manufacturers in the industry. The decision of the Board of Directors to force the resign ation of Mr. Kotchian as CEO of Lockheed Aircraft Company is deemed proper herein and the subsequent arrest of Mr. Kodama and former Prime Minister Tanaka is likewise appropriate under the circumstances.

Workplace Discrimination and Autism Spectrum Disorders

299 Work 31 (2008) 299–308 IOS Press Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: The National EEOC Americans with Disabilities Act Research project Todd A. Van Wierena , Christine A. Reidb and Brian T. McMahon b,? a b Disability Support Services, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA, USA Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA Abstract.Using the Integrated Mission System of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the employment discrimination experience of Americans with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is documented for Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The researchers examine demographic characteristics of the charging parties; the industry designation, location, and size of employers against whom complaints are ? led; the nature of discrimination (i. e. , type of complaint) alleged to occur; and the legal outcome or resolution of these complaints.Researchers compare and con trast these key dimensions of workplace discrimination involving individuals with ASDs and persons with other physical, sensory, and neurological impairments. Researchers also attempt to discern whether or not the resolutions of the ASD charges can be predicted using the variables available for analysis. The comparative ? ndings of this study indicate that individuals with ASDs were more likely to make charges of discrimination against Retail industry employers. Persons with ASDs were also more likely to make charges of discrimination when they were younger, male, and/or of Native American/Alaskan Native ethnicity.The predictive ? ndings of this study indicate that the odds of ASD charges resulting in meritorious resolution (i. e. , discrimination determined by the EEOC to have occurred) increase when the discrimination was encountered in Service industries and by larger employers. Implications for policy, advocacy and further research efforts are addressed. 1. Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorders The term Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is used to refer collectively to the group of disorders that comprise the ? ve speci? c, but related, conditions within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition, Text Revision [3]. These disorders fall under the formal diagnostic umbrella known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs): (1) Autistic Disorder, (2) Asperger Syndrome, (3) Rett’s Disorder, (4) Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and (5) PDD, ? Address for correspondence: Brian T. McMahon, Department of Rehabilitation Counseling, Virginia Commonwealth Universit, POB 980330, Richmond, VA 23298-0330, USA. Tel. : +1 804 827 0917; Fax: +1 804 828 1321; E-mail: [email  protected] edu. Not Otherwise Speci? ed (NOS). Collectively, they are commonly described as autism.The common, or core, characteristics shared by each of the ? ve PDDs generally include varying degrees of impairment in the triad of: (1) verbal and non-verbal com munication, (2) social interaction, and (3) restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior or interests [2,9,33,37,38]. Aside from this common triad, additional functional limitations that can often be associated with ASDs include: hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, hyperactivity, aggressiveness, self-injurious behavior, motor dysfunctions, arousal/activation issues, cognitive de? iencies (including impairments in abstract thought), and physical/medical features [13, 15,41,51]. Frequently, individuals with ASDs can also have â€Å". . . (1) problems understanding social cues and 1051-9815/08/$17. 00 ? 2008 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved 300 T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA facial expressions, (2) dif? culty expressing emotions in conventionally recognizable ways, (3) in? exibility and discomfort with change, and (4) dif? culty adapting to new tasks and routines† [35, p. 163]. It is im portant to realize that people with ASDs vary cross a wide continuum of intelligence, clinical characteristics and abilities [15,16,38,41]. On one extreme, some individuals with ASDs deal with severe impairments and require intensive life-long support. On the other end of the continuum reside individuals who are sometimes referred to as having â€Å"high-functioning autism,† with relatively slight limitations in daily activities. Predicting life outcomes for the population of individuals with ASDs as a whole (merely based on their carrying an ASD diagnosis) is dif? cult because of the very wide spectrum of cognitive, linguistic, social nd behavioral functioning from person to person [21]. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) simply uses the term autism to refer collectively to the ? ve PDDs included in Autism Spectrum Disorder. It de? nes autism as â€Å"neurological disorder[s] affecting the functioning of the brain; characterized by such symptoms as speech an d language disorders and profound differences in the manner of relating to people, objects, and events. † The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is presently unable to report exactly how many people in the U. S. re diagnosed with ASDs. At the moment, more is known about the number of children with ASDs than adults. However, the CDC estimates that the current prevalence rates for ASDs are between two and six per 1,000 individuals [9]. It is known that the diagnosis of ASDs has increased steadily in recent years [9]. Estimating the change in prevalence over the years is dif? cult to do, as the definitions of and techniques for diagnosing ASDs have broadened. However, the conclusion derived from available evidence is that the current prevalence of ASDs is roughly three to four times higher than it was approximately 30 years ago [14].For instance, in 1994, ASDs were the 10th most common disability among individual s age 6–21 years served by public special education programs. By 2003, ASDs had risen to be the 6th most common disability [9]. The reasons for the apparent increase in ASDs are not exactly clear. It may be that the actual occurrence of ASDs is on the rise. However, a more likely explanation for at least part of the increase is the manner in which professionals have been classifying ASDs in recent years [14]. For example, in 1991 ASDs were added as a special education exceptionality within the US public school system [9].ASDs are known to be more prevalent in males than females, but do not seem to be systematically or conclusively linked to ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, educational level or geographic region [16, 53]. ASDs do tend to occur statistically more often than expected for individuals with certain medical conditions, such as Fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, congenital rubella syndrome, and untreated phenylketonuria [9]. Also, ASDs are thoug ht to occur sometimes in conjunction with harmful substances ingested during pregnancy, such as thalidomide [9]. 2. Background . 1. Employment challenges It is well known that many individuals diagnosed with ASDs face considerable dif? culty in obtaining and maintaining employment [1,5,8,22,35]. A 1998 study estimated that only 18% of adults with ASDs in the U. S. were employed in some type of work [20]. Furthermore, people with ASDs who do obtain work tend to struggle with maintaining employment. Perhaps because of the social, communicative and behavioral de? cits associated with ASDs, issues can frequently arise in the workplace with coworkers, supervisors, customers, or in the performance of duties [26]. . 2. Need for the study Even though it is well understood that individuals with ASDs experience considerable dif? culties in general with obtaining and maintaining employment, very little evidence-based knowledge has been available for understanding the more speci? c issue of wor kplace discrimination and how it may contribute to the group’s overall employment challenges. To date, a contextualized understanding of the workplace discrimination towards workers and applicants with ASDs has been lacking. Such practical insights into workplace issues re important for the community of working adults with ASDs, their advocates, and providers of vocational rehabilitaiton services. The preponderance of today’s ASD research efforts focus on either childhood issues, or on potential medical cures or prevention of ASDs. There is a substantial need for more research to focus on practical adaptation issues for adults with ASDs [6, 36,44,52]. T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA 3. The National EEOC ADA research project Until quite recently, the majority of disability-related orkplace discrimination studies have tended to focus simply on the hiring preferences or attitudes of employers (or hypothetical employers ) toward individuals with disabilities [17,19,46]. Such studies generally could not examine actual occurrences of discrimination, which are behavioral manifestations of negative attitudes. By and large, they could only offer a perceived notion of workplace discrimination, and not an actual description. Furthermore, studies that attempted to examine Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title I cases of private-sector disability-related work discrimination ere limited to assessing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) summary statistics at the allegation-level. Because data were limited, such studies did not provide deeper, more contextual, analyses of the EEOC cases [29]. Past studies did not have access to the cases’ ultimate resolutions, as well as other detailed information related to each case. Focusing on frequency of allegations alone may lead to skewed research conclusions. This is because only an approximate one? fth of all allegations made to the EEOC are ev er found to involve suf? cient evidence that disability-related discrimination conclusively occurred [28].Conversely, in approximately four-? fths of all allegations there is insuf? cient evidence for the EEOC to solidly conclude that discrimination took place. However, through an Interagency Personnel Agreement and a Con? dentiality Agreement involving the EEOC, Virginia Commonwealth University obtained the entire ADA segment of the EEOC’s Integrated Mission System (IMS) database. The IMS contains more than two million allegation records involving allegations of employment discrimination. The VCU subset includes all resolved allegations of discrimination made to the EEOC under Title I of the ADA, from July 7, 1992 (the ? rst date the ADA went into effect) to September 30, 2003. The National EEOC ADA Research Project was then developed to better understand the nature, scope and dynamics of employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the U. S. private-se ctor workplace. A number of studies have already been completed by members of the National EEOC ADA Research Project. Most of the ADA Title I studies completed to date have focused on speci? c disability groups, including: asthma [25], cancer [27], cerebral palsy [23], cumulative trauma disorders [4], deafness and hear- 301 ng impairment [7], diabetes [31], dis? gurement [45], HIV/AIDS [10,11], mental retardation [47], missing limbs [50], multiple sclerosis [42,43,49], speech impairment [34], spinal cord injury [30], traumatic brain injury [32], and visual impairment [48]. 4. The IMS data set Because of the unique level of access now made available to the EEOC’s IMS database, it is possible to examine the following contextual information for each case within the study database: (1) demographic characteristics of the Charging Party (i. e. , individual with the disability); (2) the industry and size of the Responding Party (i. e. employer); (3) the U. S. region from which the a llegation originated, (4) the speci? c type of alleged ADA Title I discriminatory allegation; and (5) the speci? c resolution of the case as determined by the EEOC, or by settlement or mediation between the Charging Party (CP) and Responding Party (RP). In this particular study, the research questions are answered by comparing and contrasting the employment discrimination experience of Americans with ASDs to that of Americans with other known physical, sensory, and neurological impairments. From these data, a â€Å"study dataset† was extracted to include only those ariables related to the research questions and to maximize consistency, parsimony, and con? dentiality (i. e. , to protect the identity of speci? c CPs and RPs). The extraction process was guided by the following considerations. The unit of study is an allegation; it is not an individual CP, nor an individual RP. A single CP may bring more than one allegation. Only unique allegations that do not involve recording e rrors or duplications are included in the study dataset. All identifying information regarding CPs and RPs was purged except variables important for this research.Study data were strictly limited to allegations brought under Title I of the ADA. Allegations brought under other federal employment statutes were not considered. Further, state allegations were also excluded to maintain a consistent de? nition of both disability and discrimination. To maintain consistency in de? nitions and procedures among the study variables, only allegations received, investigated, and closed by the EEOC were included. This required the exclusion of allegations referred by the EEOC to litigation for disposition in civil court, federal or state.Allegations of retaliation were excluded because complaints of this nature do not pertain directly to the existence or consequence of disability. 302 T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA Only allegations that were closed by the EEOC during the study period, de? ned as July 26, 1992 through September 30, 2003 were included in the study dataset. Finally, open allegations (i. e. , still under investigation) were excluded from the study. This exclusion exists to insure that all allegations in the study dataset are â€Å"closed,† and as such are known to be either with Merit (i. . , decided by the EEOC to have reasonable cause for discrimination) or Without Merit (i. e. , decided by the EEOC to have no reasonable cause for discrimination). The resulting study dataset includes 328,738 allegations of employment discrimination under ADA Title I that were received, investigated and closed by the EEOC during the study period. These were divided into groups on the basis of disability status including the following two: 1. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). The primary group of interest for this particular study entails the allegations of discrimination made by individuals who reported having an AS D.The ASD allegations number just 98 (i. e. , 0. 03% of the total number of cases in the study dataset). However, this is the entire population of EEOC-resolved ASD allegations for the study time period. 2. General Disability (GENDIS). The comparison group for this study is a compilation of all allegations made by individuals who reported impairments within the other physical, sensory, or neurological EEOC disability categories (i. e. , allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, back impairment, cancer, cardiovascular impairment, cerebral palsy, chemical sensitivity, cumulative trauma disorder, cystic ? brosis, diabetes, dis? urement, dwar? sm, epilepsy, gastrointestinal impairment, hearing impairment, HIV, kidney impairment, learning disability, mental retardation, missing digits or limbs, multiple sclerosis, nonparalytic orthopedic impairments, â€Å"other† blood disorder, â€Å"other† neurological impairment, â€Å"other† respiratory impairment, paralysis , speech impairment, tuberculosis, and vision impairment). For this particular study, GENDIS excludes ASD cases. The GENDIS allegations for this study number 174,512 (i. e. , 53. 09% of the total number of cases in the study dataset), and are the entire population of such cases resolved by the EEOC uring the study time period. GENDIS was also used as the primary comparison group for a majority of the other National EEOC ADA Research Project studies completed to date that examined various other EEOC disability categories [4,7,10, 23,25,27,30–32,42]. It is important to consider that the individuals who have actually made allegations of discrimination to the EEOC are likely a smaller number than the sum of individuals who have experienced discrimination. It is likely that many instances of disability-related discrimination go unreported to the EEOC. Individuals may not always realize that they have experienced discrimination.Or, they may perhaps be aware of discrimination but do not understand their rights, know how to initiate a complaint, or they are fearful of retaliation. The small number of allegations made by individuals with ASDs (98) could lead one to conclude that workplace discrimination is not a signi? cant problem for these individuals. The under-representation of people with ASDs in the workforce has been previously reported, and it is well known that most discrimination involves currently employed persons. However, many individuals with ASDs may not understand their civil rights or how to exercise them.The underreporting of discrimination would then make this particular study all the more important for individuals with ASDs and their advocates. The small number of ASD allegations also raises a technical concern. For most statistical tests, small Ns increase the risk of type II errors [12,40], or failure to detect actual differences when they exist. Because of the large number of comparisons that were conducted and in order to minimize this ri sk, the ? level was established at a more stringent level; p < 0. 01. 5. Project design and methods 5. 1. Variables The IMS data was transferred to the research team rom the EEOC via zip disk. Data needed to answer the research questions were extracted, coded, re? ned, and formatted in Microsoft Access using the aforementioned criteria. The result was a study-speci? c dataset in which the underlying unit of measurement is the frequency of allegations, a ratio level of measurement. The other variables for this study are detailed in Table 1. 5. 2. Research objectives The ? rst research objective for this study was descriptive in nature and focused on the most prevalent characteristics associated with the ADA Title I discrimination allegations made by individuals with ASD.The second objective was comparative in nature and T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA 303 Table 1 Parameters of Variables CP AGE (ratio measurement) – Years CP GENDER (nominal measurement) – Male – Female CP RACE (nominal measurement) – White – African American – Hispanic/Mexican – Asian – Native American/Alaskan Native – Mixed Ethnicity – Other Ethnicity RP INDUSTRY (nominal measurement) – Agriculture – Construction – Finance, Insurance & Real Estate – Manufacturing – Mining – Public Administration – Retail – Services – Transportation & Utilities – Wholesale – Not Classi? edRP SIZE (interval measurement) – 15–100 employees – 101–200 employees – 201–500 employees – 501 + employees US REGION (nominal measurement) – Northeast – Midwest – South – West – U. S. Territory – Foreign (U. S. businesses operating abroad) ALLEGATIONS (nominal measurement) – Job Obtainment or Membership Issues: * Advertising, Apprent iceship, Exclusion/Segregated Union, Hiring, Prohibited Medical Inquiry, Quali? cations Standards, Referral, Testing, & Training – Job Conditions or Circumstances Issues: * Assignment, Bene? ts, Bene? ts (Insurance), Bene? ts (Pension), Demotion, Discipline, Harassment, Intimidation, Job Classi? ation, Maternity, Promotion, Reasonable Accommodation, Segregated Facilities, Seniority, Tenure, Terms/Conditions, Union Representation, & Wages – Job Maintenance or Preservation: * Constructive Discharge, Discharge, Early Retirement Incentive, Involuntary Retirement, Layoff, Recall, Reinstatement, Severance Pay, & Suspension – Other/Miscellaneous Issues: * Other, Posting Notices, References Unfavorable, & Waiver of ADEA Suit Rights RESOLUTIONS (nominal measurement) – Merit: * Settled with CP Bene? ts, Withdrawn with CP Bene? ts, Successful Conciliation, & Conciliation Failure – Non-Merit: No Cause Finding, Administrative Closure (RP Bankruptcy), Administra tive Closure (CP Missing), Administrative Closure (CP NonResponsive), Administrative Closure (CP Uncooperative), Administrative Closure (Related Litigation), Administrative Closure (Failed Relief), Administrative Closure (Lacks Jurisdiction), & Administrative Closure (CP Withdraws) explored whether or not the characteristics associated with the ASD allegations differ signi? cantly from those of the characteristics associated with GENDIS. The third research objective of this study, predictive in nature, was to explore whether or not the ? al EEOC case resolutions for the ASD allegations could be predicted based upon a function of some of the contextual variables of interest associated with the ASD group. 5. 3. Analysis Data was analyzed to answer the stated research objectives in three primary ways, using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). First, descriptive statistics were used to detail the ASD and GENDIS allegations and various attributes thereof. Second, comparis ons of the various characteristics of the ASD al- 304 T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA egations vs. the GENDIS allegations were conducted utilizing Fisher’s exact tests, odds ratios, and t-Tests for independent groups. Third, in an effort to discern whether or not the ? nal resolutions for the ASD allegations could be predicted based upon a function of some of the contextual variables of interest associated with the ASD group, multiple logistic regression analysis was used. 6. Findings 6. 1. Descriptive analysis Based upon the descriptive analysis portion of this study (i. e. , Objective One), it could be said that the pro? le for a typical ASD case entails: (a) a CP who s 36 years old, male and White; (b) a RP in the Retail industry that is either on the large end of the size spectrum (i. e. , 501+ employees) or the smaller end of the spectrum (i. e. , 15–100 employees); (c) origination of the allegation in the Sout hern region of the U. S. ; (d) an allegation that involves an issue of job conditions/circumstances or job maintenance/preservation; and (d) a case resolution that is ruled by the EEOC as non-meritorious. See Table 2 for a more detailed account of the descriptive analysis portion of this study. 6. 2. Comparative analysis Relative to GENDIS, the median age for the ASD roup is younger (36 years vs. 44 years), and is statistically signi? cant (t-Test for independent groups, t = ? 8. 385, df = 86. 134, p =< 0. 000). Allegations in the ASD group are over two times more likely to be made by males than were allegations in the GENDIS group (Fisher’s exact test, p =< 0. 000, O. R. = 2. 30). ASD allegations are over seven and half times more likely than GENDIS to involve CPs who are Native American/Alaskan Native (Fisher’s exact test, p = 0. 001, O. R. = 7. 82). And, relative to GENDIS, allegations from the ASD group are two and a half times more likely to be made against RPs in the Retail industries Fisher’s exact test, p =< 0. 000, O. R. , 2. 52). Statistical analyses revealed no signi? cant differences between the ASD group vs. GENDIS in regards to the regions where allegations originate from, the types of ADA Title I allegations ? led with the EEOC, or ultimate case resolutions decided upon by the EEOC. 6. 3. Predictive analysis Forward, stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis was utilized to establish the best set of variables predictive of merit vs. non-merit ASD case resolutions. The selection of the predictor variables in the ? nal model progressed via steps while the different ndependent predictor variables were inserted into or excluded from the model, in an attempt to realize the largest increase in R 2 . This course of action revealed that RP size, CP race (Native American/Alaskan Native), and RP industry (Service) contributed the most to the explanatory power of the model (? 2 = 33. 176, p =< 0. 000, df = 3), explaining approxima tely 35. 4% to 48. 9% of the variance in the merit vs. non-merit resolution status of ASD cases (i. e. , Cox & Snell R 2 = 0. 354, Nagelkerke R 2 = 0. 489). However, the ? nal number of cases (N ) included in this model decreased from 98 to 76, because of missing data in a couple of he model’s independent variables. Therefore, desiring to include as many of the ASD group’s relatively small number of cases as possible in the ? nal model, another logistic regression analysis was completed. This new analysis made use of simultaneous entry of only the two statistically signi? cant predictor variables that had been found in the forward stepwise analysis (i. e. , RP size and CP industry [Service]). Thus, the new model (N = 86, ? 2 = 18. 553, p =< 0. 000, df = 2) consists of only RP size and RP industry (Service), which serve as the independent predictor variables and explain approximately 19. % to 27. 5% of the variance in the merit vs. non-merit resolution status of the ASD cases (i. e. , Cox & Snell R 2 = 0. 194, Nagelkerke R 2 = 0. 275). This same process for determining the best predictor variables for a multiple logistic regression model, while attempting to avoid as many missing data cases as possible, was recently utilized within the ? eld of Rehabilitation research [39]. The results of the ? nal model are detailed in Table 3. It could be said that the odds of an ASD allegation resulting in a meritorious case resolution increase when: (1) the allegation is made against a Service industryRP, and (2) as the size of the RP increases (i. e. , number of employees). It was found that ASD allegations that were made against RPs in the Service industry are approximately seven times more likely than all other industries (considered together) to experience merit resolutions (i. e. , Exp[? ]= 7. 013). In conjunction with this, it was also found that for each one-unit increase in a RP’s size (e. g. , moving from the 15–100 employee category, to the 101-200 employee category, to the 201– T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA 305 Table 2Descriptive Analysis of ASD and GENDIS allegations ASD (F) CP AGE: Age (mean years of age) (72) (26) GENDIS (F) 36 years CP GENDER: – Male – Female % % 44 years 73. 5% 26. 5% (95,282) (79,048) 54. 7% 45. 3% CP RACE: – White (60) 61. 9% (108,803) 63. 1% – African American (14) 14. 4% (35,325) 20. 5% – Hispanic/Mexican (11) 11. 3% (12,535) 7. 3% – Other? (12) 12. 4% (15,718) 9. 1% ? Comprised of EEOC categories: Asian, Native American/Alaskan Native, Mixed Ethnicity & Other Ethnicity RP INDUSTRY: – Agriculture – Construction – Fin. , Ins. , Real Est. – Manufacturing (16) 16. 8% – Mining Public Admin. (8) 8. 2% – Retail (22) 23. 2% – Services (18) 18. 9% – Trans. & Util. (10) 10. 5% – Wholesale – Not Classi? ed (18) 18. 9% Indust ries with less than 5 ASD charges are not reported (32,539) 19. 2% (16,051) (18,129) (49,525) (15,741) 9. 5% 10. 7% 29. 2% 9. 3% (21,472) 12. 7% RP SIZE: – 15–100 employees – 101–200 employees – 201–500 employees – 501 + employees U. S. REGION: – Northeast – Midwest – South – West – U. S. Territory – Foreign (33) (13) (9) (34) 37. 1% 14. 6% 10. 1% 38. 2% (56,161) (20,708) (18,507) (72,297) 33. 5% 12. 4% 11. 0% 43. 1% (7) (24) (47) (20) (0) (0) 7. % 24. 5% 48. 0% 20. 4% 0% 0% (18,667) (52,014) (70,404) (32,782) (641) (4) 10. 7% 29. 8% 40. 3% 18. 8% 0. 4% 0% ALLEGATIONS: – Job Obtainment or Membership – Job Conditions or Circumstances – Job Maintenance or Preservation – Other/Miscellaneous (6) (47) (41) (4) 6. 1% 48. 0% 41. 8% 4. 1% (12,047) (90,162) (68,569) (3,734) 6. 9% 51. 7% 39. 3% 2. 1% RESOLUTIONS: – Merit – Non-Merit (29) (69) 29. 6% 70. 4% (38,3 85) (136,127) 22% 78. 0% 500 employee category, to the 501+ employee category, etc. ) the odds of an ASD allegation being resolved with merit increase by over one and a half times (Exp[? = 1. 836). 7. Discussion 7. 1. Education efforts by the EEOC The EEOC distributes training materials to employees and individuals with disabilities concerning ADA Title I issues. Efforts should be focused on educating Retail and Service industry and larger employers in particular concerning the characteristics of and the unique work-related issues of individuals with ASDs. Furthermore, in attempting to educate individuals with disabilities concerning their rights and options to ? le discrimination allegations, the EEOC should consider including focus on individuals with ASDs in a special ense, given that many of these individuals may not be aware of how to recognize discrimination and/or how to take advantage of the EEOC’s resolution services 306 T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination an d autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA Table 3 Final model for logistic regression analysis of ASD Merit vs. Non-Merit resolutions Predictor ? SE df Wald – RP Industry 1. 948 0. 627 9. 665 (Service vs. all others) – Responding Party Size 0. 608 0. 218 7. 802 (i. e. , # of employees) Constant ?2. 942 0. 731 16. 195 Model Summary: N = 86 df = 2 ?2 = 18. 553 p =< 0. 000 R2 = 0. 94 (Cox & Snell), 0. 275 (Nagelkerke) ? Signi? cant p Exp(? ) 1 0. 002? 7. 013 95% C. I. for Exp(? ) 1. 397–35. 219 1 0. 005? 1. 836 1. 048–3. 216 1 0. 000 0. 053 at . 01 level (as possibly evidenced in the extremely low number of ASD allegations received by the EEOC to date). 7. 2. Training of ASD support personnel It would be important for personnel who support the vocational efforts of individuals with ASDs (e. g. , rehabilitation counselors, supported employment specialists, etc. ) to understand the unique trends of ASD allegations of ADA Title I discrimination. Compared o many o ther disability groups, ASD allegations are more likely to be made by younger individuals and by males. Employers that perhaps require a special degree of attention when considering ASD vocational issues would include Retail and Service industry employers and larger employers. Rehabilitation professionals also need to know that relatively few ADA Title I allegations are made to the EEOC by people with ASDs, compared to other disability groups, which may possibly mean that individuals with ASDs are especially at risk for not advocating for themselves against employment discrimination.Supportive personnel need to understand that a systems/ecological approach is especially needed in assisting individuals with ASDs to obtain and maintain integrated employment in the competitive, private-sector workplace. The supported employment and positive behavioral support models may be particularly valuable here in assisting individuals with ASDs and their work environments to successfully adapt to each other. After all, it is known that individuals with ASDs can achieve employment success and can be highly regarded by their employers if they receive the appropriate vocational supports [18,22,24].Such vocational supports should include sophisticated and independentlytailored assessment (of both the individual and potential work environments), placement, training, and ongoing support. Based upon the extremely low number of ASD allegations made to the EEOC, it might also appear that a major focus in working with individuals with ASDs would be to assist in increasing their self-advocacy skills. Employers engaged with individuals with ASDs (especially those in the Retail and Service industries and larger employers) also require sophisticated and independently-tailored assistance.Efforts directed towards employers should focus, in particular, on attempting to understand and articulate the workplace’s normative behavioral and communicative standards; educating the employer t o understand how individuals with ASDs may have a dif? cult time meeting these normative standards; helping employers to develop positive frames of reference concerning their employees with ASDs, and assisting employers to develop effective, appropriate, and non-discriminatory responses towards their employees with ASDs. 7. 3. Transition planning to adult working age Individuals with ASDs who ? le allegations of ADATitle I discrimination are more likely to be younger, compared to members of many other disability groups. As discussed previously, this may have something to do with ASDs being lifelong developmental disabilities. Thus, individuals with ASDs enter (and/or attempt to enter) into the adult workforce from day-one with their disability. This is different from some other disabilities that may not be acquired by an individual until later in life or after they have been engaged in the workplace for a length of time. Therefore, long-term transition planning for children and/or y oung adults with ASDs hould include the consideration of avenues by which such individuals can obtain introductory work experience (such as part-time jobs, internship/practicum-style experiences, etc. ) prior to the point that they will be expected to move permanently into the adult workforce. T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA Because individuals with ASDs struggle with social perception/interaction and behavior in particular, they may bene? t especially from guided practice and experiences in learning how to appropriately and effectively perceive and respond within work environments. [10] [11] [12] . Conclusion [13] This study revealed unique issues for ASD allegations of ADA Title I discrimination. As a result of this new understanding, some implications and suggestions were offered, aimed at assisting both individuals with ASDs and their work environments to adapt to each other, so as to prevent issues of discrimination. Perhaps one of the most important and obvious issues noted in this study is the extremely low number of ASD allegations received to date by the EEOC. This might signify that individuals with ASDs are not recognizing discrimination and/or are not aware of their rights and options concerning the EEOC.It is recommended that any further research efforts into the topic of ASDs and workplace discrimination begin by exploring this important issue. [14] References [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Autism Europe, Autism and employment, 2003, http://www. autismeurope. org/portal/Portals/0/AE EYPD EMPLOY FINAL ENG. pdf. Autism Society of American, What is autism? , 2006, http:// www. autism-society. org/site/PageServer? pagename= whatisautism. American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (4th ed. , text revision), Washington, D. C. : Author, 2000 A. J. Armstrong, B. T. McMahon, S. L.West and A. Lewis, Workplace discrimination and cumulative trauma disorde rs: the national EEOC ADA research project, Work 25 (2005), 49–56. J. Barnard, V. Harvey, D. Potter and A. Prior, Ignored or ineligible? the reality for adults with autism spectrum disorders, The National Autistic Society Report for Autism Awareness Week, (2001). J. P. Bovee, A right to our own life, our own way, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 15(3) (2000), 250–252. F. G. Bowe, B. T. McMahon, T. Chang and I. Louvi, Workplace discrimination, deafness and hearing impairment: the national EEOC ADA research project, Work 25 (2005), 19–25.L. C. Capo, Autism, employment, and the role of occupational therapy, Work 16(3) (2001), 201–207. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Autism Information Center, 2006, http://www. cdc. gov/ncbddd/dd/ddautism. htm. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] 307 L. Conyers, K. B. Boomer and B. T. McMahon, Workplace discrimination and HIV/AIDS: the national EEOC ADA re search project, Work 25 (2005), 37 -48. L. Conyers, D. Unger and P. D. Rumrill, A comparison of equal employment opportunity commission case resolution patterns of people with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities, Journal ofVocational Rehabilitation 22 (2005), 171–178. D. de Vaus, Analyzing Social Science Data: 50 Key Problems in Data Aalysis, London, SAGE Publications Ltd. , 2002. D. R. Falvo, Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability. Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2005. E. Fombonne, The prevalence of autism, JAMA 283(1) (2003), 87–89. U. Frish, Autism, Scienti? c American 268(6) (1993), 108–114. D. Garcia-Villamisar, D. Ross and P. Wehman, Clinical differential analysis of persons with autism in a work setting: a follow-up study, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 14 (2000), 183–185. W. D.Gouvier, S. Sytsma-Jordan and S. Mayville, Patterns of discrimination in hiring job applicants with disabilities: the role of disab ility type, job complexity, and public contact, Rehabilitation Psychology 48 (2003), 175–181. D. Hagner and B. F. Cooney B. F. , â€Å"I do that for everybody†: supervising employees with autism, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 20(2) (2005), 91–97. B. Hernandez, C. B. Keys and F. E. Balcazar, Disability rights: attitudes of private and public sector representatives, The Journal of Rehabilitation 70(1) (2004), 28–37. P. Howlin and S. Goode, Outcome in adult life for people ith autism and Asperger’s syndrome, in: Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, F. R. Volkmar, ed. , New York, Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 209–241. P. Howlin, S. Goode, J. Hutton and M. Rutter, Adult outcome for children with autism, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 45(2) (2004), 212–229. K. Hurlbutt and L. Chalmbers, Employment and adults with Asperger syndrome, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 19(4) (2004), 215–222. D. Koontz-Lowman, S. L. West and B. T. McMahon, Workplace discrimination and Americans with cerebral palsy: the national EEOC ADA research project. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 171–177. J. Kregel, Why it pays to hire workers with developmental disabilities, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 14(3) (1999), 130–132. A. N. Lewis, B. T. McMahon, S. L. West, A. J. Armstrong and L. Belongia, Workplace discrimination and asthma: the national EEOC ADA research project, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 189–195. L. Mawhood and P. Howlin, The outcome of a supported employment scheme for high-functioning adults with autism or Asperger syndrome, Autism 3 (1999), 229–254. M. A. McKenna, Discriminatory practices allegations underEEOC: an empirical analysis of investigated complaints ? led by those who have cancer (Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland), Dissertation Abstracts Internatio nal 66/05 (2005), 1650. B. T. McMahon and L. R. Shaw, Workplace discrimination and disability, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 137–143. B. T. McMahon, L. R. Shaw and D. Jaet, An empirical analysis: employment and disability from an ADA litigation perspective, NARPPS Journal 10(2) (1995), 3–14. 308 [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] T. A. Van Wieren / Workplace discrimination and autism spectrum disorders: EEOC & ADA B.T. McMahon, L. R. Shaw, S. West and K. Waid-Ebbs, Workplace discrimination and spinal cord injury: the national EEOC ADA research project, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 155–162. B. T. McMahon, S. L. West, M. Mansouri and L. Belongia, Workplace discrimination and diabetes: the EEOC Americans with Disabilities Act research project, Work 25 (2005), 9–18. B. T. McMahon, S. L. West, L. R. Shaw, K. Waid-Ebbs and L. Belongia, Workplace discrimination and traumatic brain injury: the nat ional EEOC ADA research project, Work 25 (2005), 67–75. G. B. Mesibov, V. Shea and L. W.Adams, Understanding Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism, New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001. P. R. Mitchell, B. T. McMahon and D. McKee, Speech impairment and workplace discrimination: the national EEOC ADA research project, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 163–169. E. Muller, A. Schuler, B. A. Burton and G. B. Yates, Meeting the vocational support needs of individuals with Asperger syndrome and other autism spectrum disabilities, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 18 (2003), 163–175. B. S. Myles and R. L. Simpson, Asperger Syndrome: A Guide or Educators and Parents, Austin, TX, Pro-ed, 1998. National Institute of Mental Health, Autism spectrum disorders (pervasive developmental disorders, 2005, http://www. nimh. nih. gov/publicat/autism. cfm. S. Ozonoff, G. Dawson and J. McPartland, A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome & Hig h Functioning Autism, New York, The Guilford Press, 2002. L. J. Phillips and A. K. Stuifbergen, Predicting continued employment in persons with multiple sclerosis, Journal of Rehabilitation 72(1) (2006), 35–43. D. F. Polit, Data Analysis and Statistics for Nursing Research, Stamford, CT, Appleton & Lange, 1996. I.Rapin, Autism, New England Journal of Medicine 337 (1997), 97–104. P. D. Rumrill, R. T. Roessler, B. T. McMahon, and S. M. Fitzgerald, Multiple sclerosis and workplace discrimination: the national EEOC ADA research project, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 179–187. [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] P. D. Rumrill, R. T. Roessler, D. Unger and C. Vierstra, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission case resolution patterns involving people with multiple sclerosis, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 20 (2004), 171–176. J. Schaller and N. K.Yang, Competitive employm ent for people with autism: correlates of successful closure in competitive and supported employment, Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 49(1) (2005), 4–16. A. Tartaglia, B. T. McMahon, S. L. West and L. Belongia, Workplace discrimination and dis? gurement: the national EEOC ADA research project, Work 25 (2005), 57–65. D. D. Unger, Employers’ attitudes toward persons with disabilities in the workforce: myths or realities? Focus On Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities 17(1) (2002), 2–10. D. D. Unger, L. R. Campbell and B. T. McMahon, Workplace discrimination and mental retardation: the national EEOCADA research project, Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 23 (2005), 145–154. D. D. Unger, P. D. Rumrill and M. L. Hennessey, Resolutions of ADA Title I cases involving people who are visually impaired: a comparative analysis, Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (2005), 453–463. D. D. Unger, P. D. Rumrill, R. T. Roessler and R. 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Team Role Paper

Team Role Paper Learning Team A COM100: Introduction to Communication Jan Bozwell, instructor Team Roles Working in teams can be a tricky task for a good majority of people, but being able to designate roles to each team member can help promote the teams effectiveness, cohesion and advance the project completion. Designating roles for the members of a group can increase effectiveness because it helps cater specific roles to a specific need that supports the team’s collaborative effort. Some roles that help in this effort are the leadership role, the encourager, analyst, and a secretary.Each role has a certain responsibility that can ensure success and effectiveness. The leader is one of the most important roles, the leader helps keep the group on task; he/she maintains the schedule of meetings, and deadlines. The encourager helps guide the discussion to maintain a forward momentum. The analyst is the facts checker; their main responsibility is to make sure that information is correct (Indiana University: Bloomington,  2012). The final role belongs to the secretary, this person’s responsibility is to make sure ideas are recorded and submitted on time.Each designated role plays a major part in the effectiveness of the team’s final project. Effectiveness of a group is paramount in keeping a group on track and maintaining a deadline, but cohesion can be just as important for a team. By assigning roles to individual team members, you’re building cohesion. Individuals possess a variety of strengths and weaknesses which can often complement each other in a team setting. The strengths of one team member may help balance the weaknesses of another. By splitting a project into smaller tasks based on individual strengths, team members are forced to trust and rely on one another to omplete parts of the project. When tasks overlap or are ready to come together, communication between team members helps create unity as the team works toward a comm on goal. Giving roles to members of a team also creates a sense of ownership and pride in the overall project. When individuals are invested in a project, they are naturally drawn closer to others with a similar goal. According to Stahl (2012), â€Å"Working together, each bringing our gifts and not only valuing, but seeking those of others enables us to create the best possible solutions. † (p. 6) When people see the value others are able to provide to the quality of a project, a mutual sense of accomplishment brings them together. Being able to bring team members together on a project they feel pride in, allows for the best possible work to be put forth. But, not only does taking pride help, but effective meetings and an equal share of responsibility helps keep the team on task. Assigning roles and responsibilities in a team is essential for project completion. When a team leader wants to achieve excellence with the group, the selection of tasks will be optimized if they us e all of the member’s experiences and skills.The single most important goal in team success is having effective team meetings. Team meetings create responsibilities for team members so they are up to date on the project deadline. The more communication and the more goal oriented a team is, the better the outcome of the project. Kennedy (2008) says, it is always important to maintain focus and create responsibilities for the task and team. When these responsibilities and roles are established it creates common expectations. A timeline is essential as well, as far as setting date on completing projects and checking in.Successes of projects come with being responsible, and communication within a team. Being able to designate roles can help tremendously, allowing a team to complete their assignment promptly and efficiently. Team members are more engaged when they have a clear outline of the work at hand, and what is expected of them. As well as feeling like they’re part of the finished product, no matter what their role turned out to be. By focusing on individual strengths, sharing the work load and allowing for equal input, you push team cohesion and effectiveness to its limits.References Indiana University: Bloomington. (2012). Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www. teaching. iub. edu/finder/wrapper. php? inc_id=s2_5_group_03_designate. shtml Stahl, M. (2012,  June). Creating Dynamic Teams–The Power of Working Together, Stronger, Bolder!†¦ Dynamics of Critical Care 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia, September 23-25, 2012.. Dynamics, 23(2), 36. Frances Kennedy. (2008). Successful Strategies for Teams. Clemson University. Retrieved from http://www. clemson. edu/OTEI/documents/teamwork-handbook. pdf

Doesnt fit her ( wrote it in the other instruction box) Assignment - 1

Doesnt fit her ( wrote it in the other instruction box) - Assignment Example Consequently, the church cannot significantly influence or prevent the state from continuing its policies, statutes, and laws (Stearns, 2011). Likewise, the secularism concept correctly affirms all religions have the same or equal level in society. One religious group should not be above or superior to another religious group. For example, the Buddhism religion should be superior to the Christian religion. Likewise, the Islam religion must not be superior to the Christian religion (Stearns, 2011). Further, James Wood rightfully uses the Atheist example to prove Christianity can be reconciled with secularism. The atheist (secular) questions the theory of the big_bang explosion concept, creating the possibility of Christianity’s creation concept within a secular environment. The explosion concept disavows God’s creating the universe. By questioning the concept of the Big Bang theory, it is like a Democrat Party person questioning whether he or she is truly a Democrat. In another article, James Wood correctly explains the issue of secularism to Gopnik. The discussion focused on current day society (The New Yorker, 2014). Gopnik’s growing up years includes having a secular family. Gopnik grew up in a deeply religious environment. Wood grew up in a Christian family environment. Both Gopnik and Wood accept the Atheism concept. Atheism disavows the presence of a God who created the universe. Both Wood and Gopnik espouse the unbridled democratic exercise of different religious beliefs and the same beliefs’ related experiences, indicating Christianity concepts can thrive well in a secular atheist environment. Furthermore, Christianity rightfully dictates that religious leaders can advice the people on how to act or not act on certain political issues. The Christian religious leaders may lead the people to rally against the passage of certain laws that run against certain religious teachings. Such teachings

Strategies for managing symbiotic resource interdependencies Research Paper

Strategies for managing symbiotic resource interdependencies - Research Paper Example Insiders rule the first 18 months and Outsiders from then. It looked like Insiders are used primarily to alleviate and uphold the obtained company, so that its important arrangement is not lost, and then Outsiders are used for major inter-organizational alteration (Agwin, 2004). Duncan & Maureen (2009) add that extensive efforts are made to encourage trust between the two organizations and change enterprises begin to switch towards the boundary. This is where Outsiders are then engaged as they are more responsive to the dynamic features of the two developing unions. Audia (2006) shows that when two associations take part in continuing financial exchange, they can be thought to be in direct contact. Consequently, both traders and consumers get direct contact with instruments producers. Traders and consumers are tied to instruments manufacturers by a symbiotic relationship since their disparities supplement each other according to Ecologists. The transfer of information across organiza tional boundaries is the by-product of these financial relations. As Duncan & Maureen (2009) affirm, symbiotic acquisitions have great tactical interdependence, as worth is generated by high levels of independence and inter organizational synergies since its arrangement is highly valued. Moreover, the urge to achieve synergies through conveying capabilities entails high levels of interdependence and high levels of change. Advantages of Symbiotic Resource Interdependencies Symbiotic relationship is deemed as a prospective vehicle for pursuing diverse intentions that would be hard to realize through internal solutions. Particularly, it has been established that they have normally been used... The development and success of any industrial action or a business is frequently bound by few natural resources on which firms rely, in addition to limited space for operation. Moreover, most companies are faced with problems of monopoly and unsafe competition. Symbiotic resource interdependencies encompass joint resource management by varied firms in geographic closeness to attain ecological and economic advantages. These advantages might include decreases in operational costs and releases, more safe access to raw materials and fundamental utilities, and augmented durability of the resource base. Symbiotic resource interdependencies present various benefits to firms and industries. This includes ecological advantages due to decreases in resource exploitation, economic benefits resulting from cuts in the costs of resource production, inputs and waste disposal and from creation of extra income owing to higher value of by-product and waste streams. There are also business advantages du e to enhanced associations with external parties, and growth of new products and their markets. In addition, there are social advantages by creating new employment and raising the eminence of existing employments, and by creating a cleaner, secure, natural and working condition. Despite these advantages, there are some limitations to formation of these relationships. These are majorly presented by uncertainties of merging, management problems and fast technological alteration.

7 Foster homes in 14 years for lexi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

7 Foster homes in 14 years for lexi - Essay Example Jude is a mother who is used to controlling the lives of her children and taking Lexi under her wing. This makes it impossible to control the effect she has on her twins. She tries to follow her dreams by making Zach to accompany Mia to college for protection. Mia’s friendship with Lexi is as a result of her loneliness and shyness from the world. Lexi is a girl who never experienced motherly love due to her drug addict mother who finally overdose leaving her with her aunt Eva. Her mother kept her in and out of foster homes which leaves her with low self-esteem, and the drive to do the right thing for the protection of those she cares about. The drug problem of Lexi’s mother robs her the chance of a family security, warm and wellbeing which she finds in the small town with her aunt Eva. This leads to her open welcoming into her life Zach and Mia when they show her empathy despite everyone else dismissing her. This is further shown by her taking responsibility for the accident and her reunion with her past fears. She easily becomes friends with Mia for her longing for family. Mia brings this feeling to her and her mother has no choice but to keep her close for the sake of her shy daughter. Loyalty, love and friendship which is challenged during the accident at Night Road results into the people involved to struggle with pain, feeling of guilt and loss many years later. It brings out Lexi’s maturity from a young teenager into a mature woman with a glimpse of the

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Assignment Example why? A television commercial in Japan will be extremely successful when it features a husband surprising his wife with a box of chocolate candies in her dressing room. This is because the roles during valentine are reversed, and the society expects the wife to be the one presenting the husband with a gift. In addition, Japanese women believe that store bought chocolate candies is not a sincere gift of love. Thus, the public’s attention will be shifted towards the television program airing the program (Rogers, 149). Suppose your dean of admissions is considering surveying high school seniors about their perceptions of your school to design better informational brochures for them. What are the advantages or disadvantages of doing (a) telephone interviews or (b) an internet survey on seniors requesting information about the school? The advantages of using telephone interviews and internet surveys is that they get to reach those students who could not be physically reached. In addition, it is cheaper and saves on time to the dean of admission. Conversely, the disadvantages of using telephone and internet survey by the dean is that telephone interviews are limited, and senior students will not be able to explain in details their choices. Internet surveys will waste time because the students might not be found online to participate on the survey (Rogers, 99). Suppose Fisher-Price wants to run a simple experiment to evaluate a proposed Chatte Telephone design. It has two different groups of children on which to run its experiment for one week each. The first group has the old toy telephone, whereas the second group is exposed to the newly designed pull toy with wheels, a noisemaker, and bobbing eyes. The dependent variable is the average number of minutes during the two hour play period that one of the children is playing with the toy, and the results

How an experience of attending a concert may be affected by your Essay

How an experience of attending a concert may be affected by your expectations of it - Essay Example The mass media with the aid of different technologies often provide the viewers or the audiences with synthetic realities like animations, fast as well as slow motions, computer simulations and zooms. The broadcasts in the televisions deliver a clear view of any events or actions rather than experiencing the real event. The different effects of mass media include the deliverance of valuable information as well as news to the people, informing the public about various government programs along with policies, entertaining people and promoting various trades and industries through advertisements (Marikkar, â€Å"An Introduction to Mass Media and Their Effects and Roles in Society†). Thus, it can be stated that the mass media imposes crucial impact upon the individuals and the society at large. Thesis Statement In this discussion, a critical examination about the way an experience of attending a concert may get affected due to the prior expectations in comparison to the experience of the same event in a mediated form will be taken into concern. Moreover, a detailed analysis of both the types of experiences of the event in terms of various relevant conceptions and theories will also be portrayed in the discussion. Discussion It has been observed that the notion of synthetic experience or a mediated type of experience is qualitatively different from a real experience. The aspect of real experience principally originates within the natural sensory envelope of a person i.e. constant vision sounds among others which arises from the events occurring at their own paces in real time within the reach of the sensory capabilities of a person. Conversely, the facet of synthetic experience arises from the conceptions which do not possibly originate within the natural sensory envelope of an individual. During the years of twentieth century, the public has known to become quite familiar with an informative environment which is based upon real experiences blended with unrea l or synthetic experiences. The motion pictures usually provide synthetic experiences to the people and they self-consciously attend them as a recreational event. In this regard, both real as well as synthetic events are gradually presented to the audiences of mass media and hence every individual experiences the mixture of both the events. Through the expansion of mass media, synthetic events have increasingly become more persistent in comparison to real events in modern life in the form of synthetic experiences. The mass media has been successful in attracting the attention of a huge number of people and it has been recognized in this context that much of the current day experiences are entirely different from the experiences prior to the years of twentieth century (Funkhouser & Shaw, â€Å"How Synthetic Experience Shapes Social Reality†). However, there exist both synthetic as well as real experiences with regard to attending a particular concert. The

Industry Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Industry Analysis - Essay Example and retail companies from the US, such as The Cheesecake Factory, Cold Stone Creamery, and WokNRoll so it is clear that Kuwait accepts US retail experiences with open arms. A one area lacking in the Kuwaiti food industry is a specialty grocery sector. The good news for Whole Foods is that the food labeling standards are more relaxed in Kuwait than in the US. Moreover, many cultural events in Kuwait involve food at any social occasion, and this could be the reason obesity is increasing rapidly in the country. Introducing Whole Foods in their diet will minimize fast foods that lead to obesity. In Kuwait, cupcakes are sugary foodstuffs that most young adults make, sell, and start a business from, which contributes to the high obesity in Kuwait. People of Kuwait treasure good health that is why they seek solutions like therapists and exercise to avert the obesity conditions. This will offer the organic food a chance in the market since it is inherently healthy without obesity effects. Globalization is taking place in many different areas; the growth and spread of information media are seen to be part of the culture of globalization. Despite the growth of globalization, the Kuwaiti national identity remains

Fraud in the AIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fraud in the AIS - Essay Example The risks and threats are clearly seen in the case of WorldCom (Beltran, 2002). WorldCom was a telecommunication company founded in the year 1983. The company became so successful to the point where its stock price went up the peak, making the CEO, Bernard Ebbers, one of the richest men in the United States. The company continued with its expansion strategies by acquiring more companies. It was seen as one of the success stories in the business world in the 1990s (Fernando, 2009). In the year 2002, the company announced that it had used an improper accounting method that resulted to an overstatement in earnings in 2001and during the first quarter of the year 2002 by more than $3.8 billion. As a result, in 2002 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was the largest filing in the history of the United States. It has $41 billion debt load and $107 billion in assets, making the bankruptcy even larger than that of Enron Corporation. The company had to lay off about a fifth of its employees in an effort to stay in business. Investigations showed that the accounting maneuver was exposed by the internal auditor in WorldCom. One of the main discoveries was on the company’s revenue expenditure that had been treated as capital expenditure. It resulted to an overstatement of the profits by $3.8 billion. As a result, the company’s external auditors, Arthur Andersen LLP released a statement stating that it acted according to the professional standards and that the internal audit could not be relied on in relations to the accounting manipulations. Arthur Anderson had acted in collusion with top management at WorldCom to falsify the company’s profits with the aim of increasing its stocks. The company’s audit committee, in turn, replaced Arthur Andersen LLP with KPMG to further investigate the matter.  

Macro-Economic Convergence. Property sector growth in Prague Essay

Macro-Economic Convergence. Property sector growth in Prague - Essay Example 63). The substance of this study is based on the premise that real estate development as an aspect of economic growth depends significantly on the nature and direction of financial development. This study will seek to demonstrate that seasons of favourable financial developments have tended to correspond to with seasons of a rise in the values of residential properties in the country. The study will also seek to illustrate the fact that inflationary pressure and other financial forces on the market have a tremendous effect on the level of economic development as represented in the value of property prices in the country. The study will use illustration of the performance of property values in the country within the period of ten years. Basically, this study will be qualitative in approach. It will combine the methods of extended literature and case study approach to determine the insights of the study with particular reference on the impact of financial developments on economic growt h in the Czech Republic. Reliable and resourceful information on the financial trends in the Czech Republic will be matched to the nature of real estate development in order to establish the kind of associations between the two (Haber, North & Weingast, 2007). In order to enrich the authenticity of the study, it will be appropriate to use the most recent information for the study. Case analyses will be conducted to determine the manner in, which the financial trends in the Czech Republic impact on the aspect of economic growth (Liebscher, 2006). The trends of the values on the property markets suggest that macro-economic forces at play in the country have some significant impacts on the property development in the country. Furthermore, the study will incorporate the views of analysts in order to establish the nature of relationships that operate between the two realities. There is a sense in which the dynamics of economic growth and the trends in the interest rates affect the level of property development in the Czech Republic (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). Generally, the study will seek to demonstrate the fact that the nature of growth and the levels of stability of the markets determine economic processes. Past and recent case analyses, economic development studies, media reports and other multiple sources have shown compelling proof of a boom in the residential property sector in the space of time of a decade in Czech Republic (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). Various explanations from different sources have offered a range of explanations behind this development. In the opinion of analysts and industry experts, the phenomenal growth of the residential property sub-sector has impacted significantly on the property values in the country. The various sources are in concurrence with the fact that Prague remains the focal point of residential property development in the country. Few studies have attempted to determine the exact impact of the phenomenal growth in the resid ential property sub-sector on the value of properties in Prague (Ranciere & Loayza, 2005). However, a review of select cases indicates a consistent growth in the value of residential property prices over the past five years. Analyses of various cases have shown up to 500 percent increase in the value of residential properties in a span of a few years (Florio, 2011, p. 78). Whereas some analysts predict a consistent pattern of value increment in Prague’s property sector, others remain pessimistic expressing fears and doubts over the sustainability of the current value growth rates. Those who project a decline in the value

Motivation Plan. About my mentor Essay Example for Free

Motivation Plan. About my mentor Essay Tangie Stevenson works for Medicredit Corporation, which is a Management and Recovery Agency, better known as The Outsource Group. This agency is a third party collection agency which a third-party collection agency is as agency that was not a party to the original contract between a creditor first-party and a debtor second-party. In most cases, a third-party collection agency is used once internal first-party collection efforts have been considered unsuccessful. First-party collection agency usually lasts for a period of months before the debt is turned over to a third-party collection agency. A creditor assigns accounts to a third-party collection agency for a fee. The fee differs depending on a wide variety of factors ranging from the collection agency that the creditor chooses to work with, to the number and type of accounts that will be submitted on a routine basis. The fee can be as simple as a flat fee per account submitted or a performance percentage fee on each amount that is collected. In some cases, it may be a combination of both. It is dependent upon the relationship that is agreed upon. As a collections manager Tangie oversee’s all activities related to the company’s credit and collections. She is responsible for formulating, implementing, and maintaining credit and collections policies, monitoring collections and past due accounts, reporting on the activities of the accounts receivable department, and ensuring timely collection of customer accounts receivables. She also provides training, direction, and evaluation of credit and collections employees. In addition to overseeing the collection department staff, she tracks customer feedback through the review of incoming letters, emails, and phone calls and the analytical data collected through outside reporting agencies. She also identifies errors or glitches in collection procedures and recommends solutions to increase collections on delinquent accounts while ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. The Plan I have established a plan to keep the employees in Tangie’s department motivated and satisfied. Keeping employees motivated and satisfied are important elements of not only getting the most out of your employees, but also in retaining your best employees. The best employees are always in high demand, and will change companies if they are not kept motivated and satisfied at work. It doesn’t matter what you build, invent or sell; your organization can’t move forward without people. CEOs, company founders and managers the world over know that keeping the teams beneath them moving forward together in harmony means the difference between winning and dying. The plan that can be applied to Tangie’s department that would increase the motivation, satisfaction and performance would be to first, have the team members build ownership among themselves. They must feel as if they own the place and not just work here. Once of the principles of self-managed teams is to organize around a whole service or product. One way to inspire this feeling is to have each of the members become familiar with what the other members are doing, allowing them to bring their ideas for improvement to the table and have input in the entire process. If the roles are too specialized, have each of the members of the team exchange responsibilities often. This all makes them feel like â€Å"it’s mine†, and most people, when it’s theirs, really don’t want to fail. Next, you must trust the employees to leave their comfort zones. This means to allow them to do more than one specific task, it will allow them to grow and become more confident in their abilities while making them feel more valuable to the organization. Even though as a manager it may feel like allowing individuals to try new things presents a risk to productivity or places workers outside of their established place, it heads off other issues. The bigger risk is having people get burnt out or bored. Then, is to keep the team informed; business leaders have a clearer perspective on the bigger picture than their employees do. It’s really important to tell subordinates what’s going on. What a manager may take for common knowledge about how things are going or what challenges are down the road, employees should be informed of. Spreading the intel lets everyone in on the lay of the land and at the same time strengthens the feeling among workers that they are an important asset to the organization. Then, is the fact that your employees are adults so treat them as such. This is also important when it comes to motivation and satisfaction in the organization. Employees need to be dealt with in a respectable manner. In any organization there is going to be bad news. It could have to do with the individual or the company as a whole but just remember to treat employees accordingly. As a manager, if you choose to keep people in the dark about trying times or issues, the fallout could be more serious than the issue itself. When people are left out, they tend to make things up. An important part of the plan is to remember that money matters, but not as much as you think. Compensation packages are a big deal when employees are hired, but once hired the motivation tends to go downhill. The motivation then comes from things like the challenge of the work, the purpose of the work, the opportunity to learn, and the opportunity to contribute. Last, is to reward and recognize employees if they’ve done something truly outstanding. Instead of telling others that your employees are doing such a great job, take the time to bring a specific person into your office or write an email or note along with that person’s paycheck to let him know that his work is truly outstanding. Rewarding them with small gifts like tickets to a movie, a gift certificate to a grocery store or even highly wish for tickets to a sports game is a good reward. Reward employees with time off, you will be astounded to see how quickly your employees get to work when you offer to let them leave a little early or if you give them the option of coming to work a little late the next day. Reference Forbes. (2013). 7 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy (And Working Really Hard). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/09/08/7-ways-to-keep-your-employees-happy-and-working-really-hard/

Steven Spielberg, film analysis

Steven Spielberg, film analysis Steven Spielberg is a film director who has had a long career of about four decades. He has given the film industry some of the best films of many themes and genres. However, his filming style conveys his absolute regard towards action and adventure. His career gives us films that consist of action and adventure in different plots and a variety of stories. His concept of adventure films were archetypes of the blockbuster filmmaking in modern Hollywood. His essence of adventure has made him one of the most influential directors in the film industry. In the years of his career, he has won many awards and made his way towards fame and success. His most famous films that became record breaking are Jaws, E.T and Jurassic Park. Each of these was made under his original filmmaking style which portrayed action and adventure. They are known to be the best films in the history of cinema and were the highest grossing films of that time. The themes of these films revolved around science fiction but were directed using the best techniques to display pure action (Jackson 234). However, Steven Spielberg has achieved much of his success not only through his filming style and techniques, but his themes. Many recurring themes have been observed in his films. The theme in most of his films talks about ordinary people who discover extraordinary beings or circumstances. At many times during his interviews, Spielberg has admitted his imagination and interest that goes beyond the ordinary means of life. He says that his belief in the extra terrestrial surroundings is shown in the themes of the films he make. His films have been influenced by his fathers interests that he adopted while he was a child. His father was a science fiction fan and thus Spielberg was inspired by the concepts. He said he felt like an alien throughout his childhood and that is how the interest of talking and filming about aliens came to his career. This genuine interest was portrayed through his unique style of directing his films with action and adventure surrounding the plot. As he focused on the lives of the ordinary people, majority of his films displayed the family theme. His family themes were enlightened with the sense of faith and wonder. This is shown in his works such as E.T and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. These themes have been displayed using the specific technique of using low height camera tracking shots that eventually became Spielbergs trademark. He has used this technique in films that include children, for which it looks apparent, and also for films such as The Terminal, Saving Private Ryan and Munich. This kind of a shot is utilized very evidently in his films especially in Jaws where the low angle is used to show someone swimming (Gordon 93). More towards the family theme, parent child relationships are most persistently shown in Spielbergs films. His family theme focuses on ordinary family people, tension in relationships between parent and child, the entering of children in old age, and ignorance of parents etc. In his film Hook, the father is depicted as a workaholic parent with no time for his children, and throughout the film he strives to regain the respect and love of his children. The absence of the childs father in E.T is another example of this theme. In fact, it is evident that this theme is most closest to Spielbergs life since he belonged to a broken family where his parents were divorced. Throughout his childhood, he was deeply affected by the divorce and felt the absence of his father greatly. However, through the theme he has earned his place as the most influential director of all time (Edge 102). Spielberg has used these themes to apply his techniques of using the camera. These ordinary people and sentimental topics have been iced with adventurous scenes and plots. Action has also been his style for long until he turned 40 and decided not to do action movies anymore. His major career breakthrough was because of his action movies and touchy themes. He has continues to inspire and impress his fans. Sharks, dinosaurs and aliens have been some of the best pictured films including science fiction, action, adventure and a family theme. His films depict his imagination and life as a child with his father and later the absence of his father. Some of the technical details added to his films are the camera shots he chooses. Many of them have become his trademark and notable in his most famous films. He uses the camera to display his best shots. His over the shoulder shots, track in shots and sideways tracking shots are used more often. He has a specific style of shooting action and adventure. Graphics and sound effects are used side by side to complement his themes. His films also include violence as part of the action involved. He creates unthinkable climax scenes for the films using visual effects for example groundbreaking in A.I Artificial Intelligence (Morris 67). In E.T, the story revolves around a child who befriends an alien. The child in the film does not have a father and he is a lonely child. His innocence turned into maturity is shown in the film. The alien he befriends has been left out from a UFO that landed on the ground. The camera shots and visual effects have been used to show the UFO landing on the ground. Furthermore, the adventurous story of the boy and the alien comes to the point where the boy has to save the alien from people trying to catch him for other purposes. The story shows how the child protects and sends back the alien to his planet. The film is about scientific fiction yet it became one of the highest grossing films. When it is about Spielbergs concept of action and adventure, Jaws is the best film one could think of. It was shot using many perspectives but Spielberg managed to successfully create a masterpiece. The film was inspired by the bestselling novel of the same name. The story revolves around a roaring shark and scenes underwater. The exceptions in the film are that related to the family theme. Brody in the film is a family committed man. The main focus of the film remains to be the shark and the adventurous journey of the beachgoers to whom the man-eating shark attacks. Jurassic park is also a science fiction film which features dinosaurs. Spielberg has presented the theme with extraordinary filming techniques and shots. The storyline and the adventure of the journey, the surrounding and the imagination are outstanding. Spielberg has been able to successfully use graphics and visual effects to show the thriller on screen. It is the best example of Spielbergs style of direction and action. Spielberg has given his best through his films. He has proved to be one of the best directors in the history of cinema. His imagination, interests and thoughts have been accumulated together in various films. They have won the hearts of many and received praise worldwide. He has also been the winner of many awards for his films. His movies showed new style of action and adventure where there are twists and turns, relationships, extra terrestrial life, and many other effects that appeal to the viewer. Spielberg has reached new heights in his career because of his talent and ability to depict the fictitious stories into touchy sentimental stories maintaining the level of action and adventure. Work Cited Gordon Andrew. Empire of Dreams: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg. USA: Rowman Littlefield, 2008 Jackson Kathi. Steven Spielberg: A Biography. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 16 Edge Laura. Steven Spielberg: Director of Blockbuster Films. USA: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2008 Morris Nigel. The Cinema of Steven Spielberg: Empire of Light. India: Wallflower Press, 2007

Chances of Winning the Lottery

Chances of Winning the Lottery Introduction Ive already won a hundred dollars in the state lottery, and hardly anyone wins that much twice. So, Im not likely to win that much again. This statement has been said by numerous people who has played the lottery and those who continues to play the lottery seeking a chance to become an instant winner for money that on just dreams about on a daily basis. To break it down, the chances of winning thee Lotto jackpot are roughly 1 in 3.5 million, or that the overall chances of winning any prize in the Lotto games are about 1 in 20. So why do people all over the world play the Lotto? When it comes to the Lotto it comes down to luck, it is nice when a person wins money playing the Lottery and the ore a person plays the better the odds for them, so technically there is a chance to win money twice buy playing the Lottery. In 2014 people in 44 states spent about 70 billion dollars playing the Lotto, so it is safe to say that someone within those 44 states hit some type of Lotto money twice no matter how small or large the amount was. In March 2014, The Palm Beach Post newspaper revealed that serial Florida jackpot winners, many of them store owners or operators, defied incredible odds to claim thousands of dollars in winnings. The most prolific winners cashed in tickets worth $600 or more every 11 days. [March 2017, Jeffrey Stinson]. Just from this statement alone we can pretty much say that there is a good chance to win some type of Lotto money twice especially if you are a serial Lotto player like the people in Florida. Four people who won two or more lotteries. Steven Ontell (right) of New Jersey; Melvyn Wilson, a four-time winner in Virginia; Connie Cottingham, who won twice in Indiana; and Delma Kinney, who won $1 million twice in Georgia. None of them won nearly as much as Joan Ginther, who won $5.4 million, $2 million, $3 million and $10 million in Texas. [ 2014, Peter Mucha Philly.com]. There are many stories about how many people have won the Lotto twice and more. It makes you wonder how is this happening when there are people how has played the Lotto all their life and has not won at all. If a person has won a hundred dollars in the state Lottery after reading about the people in this paper who has won big money twice, I think the odds are good for a person to win the state Lotto for a hundred dollars a second time. Lottery history is full of mind-boggling examples of winners winning again. Thats one reason the Texas Lottery never investigated Joan Ginther, who won $5.4 million in a 1993 Lotto Texas drawing and then hit it big in three scratch-off games, $2 million in Holiday Millionaire in 2006, $3 million in Millions Millions in 2008, and $10 million in $140,000,000 Extreme Payoff in 2010. Still, the $20.4 million she won tops not only cases involving seemingly normal players, it even beats examples involving crooks or master mathematicians. An MIT group, for example, mined the Massachusetts lottery for seven years, and reportedly won $3.5 million. [ 2014, Peter Mucha Philly.com]. This kind of make you wonder if a person can be this lucky, or is there so type of criminal activity that happen, and at the end of the day is the Lottery crooked. The evidence clearly proves that people can and will continue to win the Lotto multiple times throughout the United States. Questions will continue to rise are people just that lucky, is there Lotto scams through the States and why is playing the Lottery so addictive to so many people. No matter what there will always be a difference in opinion when it comes to this topic between the so, called experts. Conclusion The question at the end of the day will continue to be argued even though there seems to be overwhelming proof that a person can win the Lotto multiple times in ones life. There are some people in the world that could care less about the argument or debate but for the millions or even billions of people who plays the Lotto on a daily basis trying to become rich quick by either scratching or playing different numbers will continue to play. So, to the person who won a hundred dollars in the State Lottery, and hardly thinks anyone wins that much twice, and thinks he/she will not win that much again. Please read the stories of people who have broken all the odds win it comes to the Lotto. References www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/1/ www.lottonumbers.com/lotto-odds-calculator.asp www.philly.com//lottery/multiple_winners_in_lottery_history.html Some Lottery Retailers Beat the Odds and Cost States (January 27, 2015 By Jeffrey Stinson)

Lithium Essays -- Chemistry Medical Chemical Papers

Lithium Though the drug lithium is used for a number of disorders ranging from acute depression to eating and personality disorders (Paykel, 1992), it's primary use is for bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression. Patients with bipolar disorder "between two poles: depression and its opposite, mania" (Kalat,2004), often with periods of normal behavior in between (Jamison,1993). In addition, the patient is also prone to "mixed episodes" in which symptoms of both mania and depression are present. Intensity of these episodes can range from mild to dangerous, as in the case of a manic depressive mother who severed the arms of her 10 month old daughter (Associated Press, 2005). Despite its genetic origin (Kalat. 2004; Jamison, 1993; DBSA, 2005), the onset of symptoms and behavior is rather late, averaging 18 years of age (Jamison, 1993). There are two types of manic episodes: manic and hypomanic. The DSM describes a manic episode as "a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood," (Jamison, 1993). Symptoms include inflated self esteem, a reduced need for sleep, increased talkativeness and sociability, flight of ideas, distractibility, an increase in goal directed activities (such as work, school or sex), and an excessive involvement in pleasurable activities (PsychologyNet, 2003). The occurrence of these symptoms must not be able be confused with a mixed state (see description below), must impair the individual's ability to function normally, and cannot be explained by the effects of a substance (i.e. alcohol, hallucinogenics) or a medical condition (i.e. hyperthyroidism) in order for the episode to be considered "manic.... ..." The Icarus Project. Retrieved February 28, 2005 from the World Wide Web: http://theicarusproject.net/community/viewtopic.php?t=1187 CONCLUSION Lithium, or, more commonly, Lithium Salt, is an element used to treat bipolar disorder in humans. Bipolar disorder consists of severe highs and lows of mood, ranging from deep depression to extreme mania. The cycling of the disorder depends on the person, but it can vary from many shifts within one day (rapid cycling) to extended periods of each. Lithium is indicated primarily for patients who are not rapid cycling. Like many other medications, the exact effects of Lithium are unknown. Psychiatrists and Chemists have isolated many of the physiological and behavioral changes that occur after the administration of Lithium, and yet the exact cause of its therapeutic effect is not fully understood.