Ethics in Policing

I love how the Ferguson Report was released today- coinciding with a visit from our chief of police! I just made that connection. I bet Dr. Reg planned that....

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/politics/ferguson-justice-report-shocking/

The jokes on the city's email system really got me. Those emails are public! The statement about Obama not lasting long because no Black man holds a job for 4 years" ? Are you kidding me? I am guilty like everyone else of using my work email for personal purposes and vice versa, but to use emails that the public is paying for to promote personal beliefs that are 1- incorrect, 2- abusive in nature, and 3- perpetrating myths about a specific population seems highly unethical.

What do y'all think?

Ethics at the Diversity Conference- Day 2!

It has taken me some time to think about what to say about Day 2. And I think I have it!

A session I attended was a review of research done on how employers make hiring decisions, how diversity plays a part, and what recruitment looks like. It was fascinating data! What stuck out to me was the notion of "fit". Sometimes employers hire people they like, they think they will work well with, they think look good for the company, or they know because of a connection. When they break the news to the other unsuccessful candidates, a reason used often was because they were not a good fit.

I myself have used that. I tried to define and quantify what that means and usually include examples of personality characteristics, skill sets we are in need of, or time commitments when I meet students who have huge credit loads and multiple club and organization responsibilities. In the research, employers were more basing their decision on the fact that they didn't want to hire people culturally different from them. For example, *Abercrombie & Fitch didn't hire a woman and said it was because she wasn't a good fit even though she scored high on the test and had great interview questions. She is suing them because it was later discovered that the hiring manager was told by another supervisor to not hire the woman because she was wearing a hijab, or head scarf, demonstrating her Muslim heritage.

What do y'all think? Should we continue to use the notion of "fit" in our hiring practices?

Ethics @ the Diversity Conference! Day 1

I like how the diversity conference is two days long that overlap with this blog weekly blog assignment! I can blog today for this previous week and tomorrow for the next week. Nice!

Today there was a spoken word poet social activist who ended the conference day with a few poems, questions, and thoughts. I had a chance to talk with him afterwards and one piece of the conversation revolved around the role and responsibility that arises when a high school or middle school student performs spoken word about their lived experience and serious issues arise. Grad student Blanca was there as well and she said she has been working to start a spoken word community in the Reno K-12 schools. She gets push back from teachers who are afraid of what issues may arise and what new information they will know about their students. Teachers are concerned about how to deal with it.  The example of a young girl speaking about her rape was used.

So, what is the ethical decision in this situation?

The three of us agreed that not talking about it and perpetuating a culture of silence does not erase what happened. Bad things happen. Our students deal with heavy sh*t daily. Not talking about doesn't make it go away. Using spoken word as a way to communicate and process those experiences can be cathartic for the student and a creative and safe outlet. K-12 teachers are mandate reporters to begin with, so if a student came to them and shared a horrible trauma with them, they would have to act.

Plus, there is something to be said for being proactive. If we know that in general, spoken word can lead to the sharing of traumatic and abusive experiences, we can prepare for a response that is healing and appropriate.

What do y'all think?

Ethics in Policy Creation

"Kids' Solo Free Time Unleashes "Free-Range" Parenting Debate"

I grew up in Denver and Las Vegas and because my parents worked I was often home by myself. When I was younger, around 3 or 4 years old, my parents would leave me food and strict instructions to not answer the door or phone or touch the stove. By kindergarten I would walk home, retrieve the key from under the mat, and let myself in. As I got older, towards 9a nd 10 years old, I would take the bus by myself places. I would walk to our public library by myself. I don’t believe my parents were willfully neglectful. Rather, someone had to work! And daycare was expensive and they couldn’t see any other options.

As a grown up, and as a parent, would I make those same decisions now with my kids? Heck no! But I also live a very different life than the one my parents did. My struggles are not their struggles. I have a large community of support through friends. We take care of each other and often watch each other’s kids. And we can afford daycare, thought it hurts! I think we make the best decisions we can with what we know and what we have.

The part in the article that really got me was:

"A 10-year-old may be perfectly fine walking alone in one neighborhood, he says, but might not be safe in another with drug dealers on the corner. We hate to say that the people that live in those two communities ought to be treated differently because we would probably get into uncomfortable issues of socioeconomic status and ethnicity," he says. "But that's the reality in our country."

Is it ethical to tell one group of people they are allowed to let their kids play outside without adult supervision while telling a different group they would be penalized and prosecuted for the same actions?  Where our ethics and morals start cross, policies are at conflict and I am not so sure it would be ok to have different rules for different neighborhoods. In particular when due to life circumstances and poverty, the group that would be punished most is the very group that needs the flexibility the most.  

Ethics in Hiring...

The more I learn about the world of collegiate sports, the more I am confused and amazed by how intricate and nuanced it is.  It becomes difficult to not be cynical towards athletics when the news stories most produced center around scandals and student abuse or misconduct. I think it was highly unethical of this *coach to lead the student on, and then have a subordinate rescind his offer. However, I think it is even more unethical that the coach continues to be hired despite his notoriety.

"He left the Atlanta Falcons midseason with only a note. He pushed Auburn to fire his former boss, Tommy Tuberville, so he could have the job. He left Louisville the first time he was there shortly after making a long-term commitment with a new contract. And, of course, most infamously was Arkansas, where he got into a motorcycle crash with a girlfriend—he is married—who worked in the athletic department. Then he lied about it."

 
Clearly this man is unethical!

And his continued employment only affirms his ability to continue acting this way. He has no incentive to change his behavior. This hiring practice is not limited to athletics. We see it everywhere in education. Bad teachers get moved around. Incompetent staff are promoted or transferred. We shuffle "problem personnel" and lie during reference checks in hopes someone else will pick up our castaways and remove them from our list of problems.  Our continued hiring of people known to be unethical is an unethical process in and of itself.  In hiring this coach, the college knowingly put their students and staff (and future students) at risk of falling prey to unethical behaviors and made everyone an accomplice to this man's misbehavior.

*Did the link above not work? Try:  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2358892-what-its-like-to-have-bobby-petrino-pull-your-offer-48-hours-before-signing-day?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was the first woman in Italy to get a medical degree. Hello feminist! Right off the bat I am aligned with Montessori in believing education is meant for all people, not just boys from “good” families.

The Montessori in its purest form is based upon three tenets:

• Preparing the most natural and life-supporting environments for the child
• Observing the child living freely in this environment
• Continually adapting the environment in order that the child may fulfill his or her greatest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Part of my education philosophy is that everyone can learn with the right support. I am in full agreement with the first belief. I am in agreement with belief number two about 65% of the time. I think there are some students who if left on their own would be observed to aimlessly wander freely forever. I think these students need a little more encouragement if not a swift kick in the bottom to get them moving. That swift kick could be new ideas, a change in their environment, or a little direction.  As for the third belief, I am in agreement a little more but not completely sold. I’d say I’m about 92% in alignment. I think some students need more consistency and continually adapting their environment would do more harm than good.

Overall, my philosophy aligns pretty well with Montessori. I chose her out of the 20 or so presented in class even though there were others who I am more aligned with because of the uniqueness of her mission and how it’s carried out. My family went on the tour at the Montessori school on Zolezzi Lane in Reno when our oldest girl was getting ready for preschool. On one hand we were being told about all of the wonderful research from Montessori, exploring the gardens where the kids grew vegetables and fruits that were used in their meals and snacks, and falling in love with the classrooms and creativity of it all. 

On the other hand we experienced sticker shock at the pricetag such luxury fetches and a little culture shock at the lack of diversity. When we asked about the homogeneity of the school, we were told “Well that is our Reno demographic” with a chuckle and a shrug of shoulders. What we wanted to hear was how they were going to diversify their recruitment efforts and how they introduced a love of learning and respect for other cultures. And there is no bus that goes there; school bus nor public transportation will get you there. And sure, they have French lessons, music lessons, dance lessons, and more all for an additional cost.

Are you kidding me?

Something tells me Maria Montessori’s vision was not education for only the affluent majority who could afford it and get their kids there. So, I am in great alignment with the Montessori philosophy, but conversely I am in great opposition to how it is carried out in Reno.

http://www.montessori.edu/maria.html

The Vatican

Wow. This article was seriously enlightening. I knew the Vatican had a few skeletons, but I had no clue just how deep the deceit ran! To listen to the entire interview, go here or to read a snippet of the interview, check out the text pasted below.  

The quote that stood out the most to me was from the author of the book.

"They abdicated their moral position as the head of the world's largest religion, especially at a time that they continued to make money with the people committing the murder."

- Author Gerald Posner

Posner's book details the secrecy and inner workings of the Vatican Bank. So timely with our class discussions on how religion is the foundation of formal education and schools. The article should make us, as Americans, question our own morals and ethics. We knowingly collaborated with the Vatican as they supported Nazi Germany, laundered money, and shamelessly hid investments. I think some would argue that it was out of necessity we worked with the Vatican and others would say there could have been a different way to still accomplish our goal. At what point does sacrificing our ethics help the greater good? 

The Vatican Bank is "essentially an offshore bank in the middle of a foreign country," says Gerald Posner. Above is an aerial view of St. Peter's basilica in Vatican City.

AFP/AFP/Getty Images

For decades, the Catholic Church has been dogged by scandals involving money. Vatican City — a sovereign state — controls its own finances through the Vatican Bank. It developed as a cross between the Federal Reserve and an offshore bank. In a new history, God's Bankers, Gerald Posner explains that its roots go back to the mid-19th century.

God's Bankers

A History of Money and Power at the Vatican

by Gerald Posner

Hardcover, 732 pagespurchase

• nonfiction
• history & society
• faith & spirituality
• business & economy

More on this book:

• NPR reviews, interviews and more

"They had 15,000 square miles of what was central Italy with thousands of subjects," Posner tells NPR's Renee Montagne. "They levied taxes and paid for this lavish lifestyle — with 700 servants and a big and growing bureaucracy around them. Then, in 1870, Italy's nationalists have a revolution. They throw the Pope out, they get rid of the papal states. The Vatican goes from being an empire — an earthly empire — to a little postage-stamp size of property called Vatican City."

By World War II, the church had sizable investments and created the Vatican Bank in order to hide its financial dealings with the Nazis from the U.S. and the U.K.

"I was surprised the extent to which the Vatican was deeply embedded with German companies," Posner says. "They bundled together life insurance policies of Jewish refugees who had been sent to Auschwitz and other death camps. They escheated these policies early on — meaning they took the cash value of them."

Later, when the surviving children or grandchildren of the victims tried to collect on the insurance policies, they were refused.

"These insurance companies would refuse to pay out saying: 'Show us a death certificate,' which they knew was impossible," Posner explains. "They would keep the money."

In God's Bankers, Posner sheds light on what he calls "the blood money" that came into the church.

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Interview Highlights

On the Vatican being "equal opportunity profiteers"

It wasn't as though they did business with the Germans because they wanted the Germans to win. They did business with everyone, because they called themselves neutral and decided that somebody would win at the end of the war — and they were going to keep their business connections open to everybody. Then, when they saw the war was going against the Germans, they started to hide the connections. And after the war they said, "We didn't do anything wrong."

On how the Church knew what the Nazis were doing but were "frozen by indecision and fear"

The bank officials and those who ran the bank knew very little because, in part, all they wanted to know was what was happening in terms of the war effort and what was happening in terms of business and profits.

But on the church end, there's no doubt that they had churches, local churches in all of the countries, that were the ground zeros for the killing zones. The local priests who were not in favor of the slaughter still reported back to their bishops what was happening on the ground. That came in daily reports, and they had unfortunately a very clear sense of what was happening early on.

They were just frozen by indecision and fear. They were afraid that if they spoke out, the Nazis might in fact move against Catholics in Germany and even move against the Pope and take him back to Germany as a prisoner. But that fear meant that they abdicated their moral position as the head of the world's largest religion, especially at a time that they continued to make money with the people committing the murder.

On the Vatican being anti-communist and its participation in the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s

One of the reasons the Vatican was frozen in fear against the Nazis and had made their alignment with the Fascists in the first place, was that they feared the Bolsheviks more. When John Paul II came in — the first Polish pope, the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years — and there's still a communist government in Poland ... he formed an alliance with Ronald Reagan. The head of the CIA used to be going over regularly to the Vatican to give him briefings.

On the "cocaine cowboy days" at the Vatican Bank describe a new incident in this book in which Italian intelligence agents, they take $3.5 million in gold ingots from a Swiss bank. They put it into the side panels and a false bottom on an SUV and a priest drives it back into Gdansk from Italy so it can feed the resistance against the communists in Poland. So there was a real alliance between American intelligence, the right wingers and the Vatican on this meeting of minds against communism.

The thing about the Vatican Bank that makes it different in my view is that it's essentially an offshore bank in the middle of a foreign country — so that once that bank was formed, it meant that somebody sitting over in Italy who had a lot of money, all they had to do was find a priest or cleric inside Vatican city to take their money in suitcases of cash across the street — just wait for the red light to turn green — walk it over on a cart, deposit it in the Vatican Bank, and it no longer could be taxed. It no longer could be followed by Italian authorities. It couldn't be followed for a drug investigation.

So what does that result in? It results in the Vatican Bank being one of the top banks in the world for money laundering — a haven often for these business executives involved in scandals in Italy. ... Just in the last decade we learn that the Vatican Bank had an account for Giulio Andreotti, who was the seven-time prime minister of Italy, the most powerful postwar politician in Italian history. He had a secret bank account through which over $50 million passed at a certain time, most of which was doled out for political favors to friends.

That was what the Vatican Bank had come to be, and it's what I call its "cocaine cowboy" days, the equivalent of — I live in Miami, the crazy period here was the 1980s when the cocaine cowboys sort of ran the roost. The Vatican Bank has had its cocaine cowboy days. The real question is now whether the new sheriff has arrived in town. Is that Sheriff Francis, and can he really bring them to heel or not?

On whether Pope Francis has managed to make reforms to the Vatican Bank

I've been impressed by him. He has changed the structure so that it won't have the ability to be at the center of those scandals. And he's brought in some outsiders. They've closed hundreds of accounts that have been open that were tied to people that shouldn't have had them. They are abiding by the rules set by the Europeans for financial transparency because they use the euro. So it's a different era.

What could upend it? He needs to be there long enough that these changes can't be reversed by a new pope who gets in and can be pushed around by the strong dominant bureaucrats.