...Willful Ignorance” Question: To what extent should football players be held to a higher standard of accountability than the average person? Should criminal acts on the part of player be punished by the NFL as well as by state? If so, what is adequate punishment for a player who violently abuses their mate? Does gender or sexual orientation play a role in your decision? Under what condition is it appropriate for someone to lose access to their profession? Facts -"The league has consistently turned a blind eye to blows sustained by women at the hands of many NFL players over the last two decades" (Benedict, 1). -"The NFL is in dire need of male leadership when it comes to violence against women" (Benedict, 2). -"The sad fact is that the most memorable hit of the 2014 NFL season will end up being one in which a player knocked out a woman in an elevator" (Benedict, 2). -"NFL spokesman Greg Aiello infamously told the Washington Post: "We're not the criminal justice system. We can't cure every ill in society, You know, we're putting on football games. And unless it impacts the business, we have to be very careful about the disciplinary action we take. A player has rights too."" (Benedict, 2). -"The bottom line is that NFL players aren't like men in the general population, especially in the eyes of children. Rather, NFL players are seen as action heroes who epitomize strength, athleticism and toughness. That’s why so many kids emulate them." (Benedict, 2). -"The instinctive...
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...Punishment for Players Athletes are people who are looked up to all across the world. They play sports that many people watch and enjoy. Athletes are role models for many people. Sometimes athletes take actions in their personal life that hurt their team and fans and get away with it because they are famous. Many people have different viewpoints on this discussion. Sometimes some athletes are punished while others who do the same crime are not. All Athletes’ actions off the field should affect their position within a sports team. Athletes represent a team. Their actions off the field may make the team look bad if they do not suspend or drop the player. Also sponsors do not want athletes who commit crimes like domestic violence, assault, and rape represent them and drop the players or the team as a sponsor. Fans may boo the team if they see that punishments did not go through after the player committed these types of crimes crime....
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...with his girlfriend, Ray Rice, lost his temper and proceeded to punch and drag Janay Palmer out of the elevator. His actions not only changed his career, but also shed light onto the personal conduct policy in the NFL. The reputation of the NFL and its members was under a magnifying glass. Commissioner Roger Goodell, especially would face the ultimate challenge. As a result of this incident, the NFL revised its personal conduct policy to a more robust, thorough, and formal. According to the NFL.com, Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "We now have a layered evaluation process to take into account a diversity of expert views. This will better enable us to make appropriate decisions and ensure accountability for everyone involved in the process." Ethics and Crisis Management in Sports On February 15, 2014, both Ray Rice and his fiancé Janay Palmer Rice were arrested in Atlantic City, New Jersey after an altercation had occurred in the Revel Casino. Videos of the incident were released four days later by TMZ. On March 26, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, addresses the media about the incident and said that yes Ray Rice will face disciplinary actions when the investigation was fully complete. On June 16, Ray Rice has his disciplinary hearing with the NFL. On July 24, NFL suspends Ray Rice for 2 games. According to an article on SB Nation, Baltimore Ravens General Manager said, “As a league, we have a conduct policy,” Newsome said. “Being a member of the league, we will follow that...
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...Domestic violence is a behavior that involves physical or mental abuse by a single person. Over the past few months it has became a big issue in the NFL. The NFL (National Football League) has since then revised their domestic abuse policy and promised to strictly enforce the policy. They made the decision to increase penalties on domestic violence offenders under the Personal Conduct Policy for all NFL employees and players. With recent player Ray Rice accused of beating his fiancé months ago, the NFL just recently decided disciplined him due to the video leaking to the media. Since then the NFL as whole has been under review. Players’ accused of domestic violence for the first offense will be suspended for six games, for the second offense...
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...violence off the field making it hard for athletes to differentiate game like situations to real life situations. In both professional and collegiate levels people hear many stories about athletes being involved in sexual abuse, physical abuse, harassment, and other violent cases. If this is something that is continuing, what can the professional and collegiate levels do to educate and help put a stop to athletes being involved with violence and criminal law? Looking at sports we see that there is violence on the field, but this is normal, this does not fall into the category of regular violence, but competitive sports. The definition of violence is the use of excessive physical force, which causes or has obvious potential to cause harm or destruction. We then can break violence down into four different categories. The first type is brutal body contact; this is physical practices common in certain sports and accepted by athletes as part of sport participation. The second type is borderline violence; this is practices that violate rules of the game but are accepted by most players and coaches, like players pushing back getting positioning on a rebound. The third type is quasi-criminal violence that violates the rules of the game; examples of this would be cheap shots, late hits, sucker punches, and things of that nature. The last type of violence would be criminal violence, which is outside of the law and law enforcement prosecute. (McGraw, 2013) In sports there have...
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...Paper: Corporate Responsibility and the NFL MNGT 5000: Management ODC S1 2015, Professor J. W, Webster University Introduction With the recent public backlash over the National Football League’s handling of domestic violence issues with its players, the League’s ethical policies and social responsibility behaviors are being highly scrutinized. It is an example of a highly successful, profitable company that has revealed itself to have a disparity between the social responsibility programs and ethical policies it has in place, and the degree to which it enforces them. Like most companies, is the NFL is at risk of decreasing profit margins in favor of ‘doing the right thing’? This paper will review the recent issues for which the NFL has come under fire, define corporate social responsibility programs, explain what measures the NFL is currently undertaking to rectify its public image problems, and explore the conflict that the National Football League, like any company, may experience with enforcing such measures. Discussion In 2014, NFL player Ray Rice was suspended by the League for two games, a suspension received as the result of the NFL discovering he’d perpetrated an act of domestic violence against his then fiancée, Janay. After the matter had been ‘settled’ by the League, news magazine TMZ obtained a video tape of the actual domestic violence incident from the casino where it took place. The tape clearly showed the football player punching his wife in the face which...
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...Millan Engl-1302 VF1-Composition 2 - Rhetoric 9 December 2014 The Big HIT in the NFL: Head injuries are changing the way the game is played I firmly believe that the future of the NFL and all of its players is in jeopardy of being lost as the American sport as we know it simply due to the fact that too many injuries are occurring in the NFL today than what was happening in the past. Sure past players got hurt, but players now hit ten times harder, play ten times tougher, it’s obvious they are due for a serious injury, it’s just a matter of time and when, surely they make millions each year, but is all that money worth the risk of losing your life or possibly harming it? Imagine this, you’re at your sons final football game as he’s a senior about to graduate, he’s got the crowd rooting for him, he’s the one who snaps the ball, yes the quarterback of the team. The defense is running full force, showing blitz when suddenly “ WHAM!” he takes a huge hit from a defensive player and stays laid out on the floor , suddenly coaches and staff from the team rush to the field while he remains still, the crowd silent , awaiting the outcome . Slowly he gets up with the help of the staff and coaches, he’s then carted to the locker room by team staff where they tell the parents that they are checking him for a concussion because it’s UIL protocol when it comes to hard extensive hits taken by a defenseless player. Not one person who loves football can deny that the big hits and huge plays are...
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...Morgan Gadley 16 September 2014 English 1102 Zhang Marijuana, The Game Changer In Medicine and Society Is marijuana as corrupt as society makes it out to be? Growing up, everyone is told that, “Drugs are bad for you,” time and time again. Now as a kid you don’t really appreciate the reasoning behind it, but you listen to your authority figure heedlessly. I remember being told this my entire life and even to this very day. But as I got older I realized that people would still use the drugs even though it’s unlawful. I could never comprehend why someone would go against the law and endanger their life just to use drugs? But as I got older I began to realize that these people truly didn’t do any harm to the public or to themselves by smoking marijuana. Many doctors and health specialist are advocates for consumers to smoke marijuana just because of its health benefits. Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America other than alcohol and tobacco, but marijuana is the only one that can benefit you the most out of the three. Alcohol and tobacco are drugs that many people have died from and harms the body as time goes by. Other medication that doctors prescribe to their patients is painkillers, and they can really kill you. According to McKnight et al. (2014), “There were 14,800 deaths from opiate overdose in 2008, according to the Center for Disease Control, and none from marijuana” (p. 4). Pain is the anxiety of disease, the symptom that reveals that...
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...Classes are all covered by these scholarships and they don’t have to pay for any of the equipment the sport requires. Even the coaches are willing to cover up their crimes at all costs. The University of Tennessee was settling a lawsuit for 2.48 million dollars and still admits that they did nothing wrong. This lawsuit was over “a hostile sexual environment on campus by not properly investigating and punishing student athletes accused of sexual assault” (Kauffman 1). A lot of money is being spent to cover up these crimes; however, “college athletes are not worth a single cent on the open market, at least until they are eligible for the NBA or NFL draft” (Dirlam 2). If college athletes are not worth any money, then why do we keep letting the schools and the players throw money at their problems so they will disappear. What's not going to disappear is the children that are looking up to these athletes and they need to earn that...
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... and Role Models Since the beginning of time, people have always dreamed of being famous, living lavish lifestyles, or being highly regarded as the best at what they do. Even though these are amazing things to strive for, once it is achieved, people begin to hold you to a higher standard and consider you as a role model. Sports figures and celebrities have often been considered role models for as long as those particular occupations have existed. But before you consider these people role models, it is best to ask the simple question, why? Why would these groups of people be considered role models? Is it because of their job, the money they make, or the fame that they have achieved? It’s probably best to take time and actually define what a real role model is. In short, a role model is a person who has the attributes, values, and behaviors that comes with a particular role. The people that are held in this role are held to a higher standard and are often admired and emulated by others. According to the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry whether good or bad, “Children may try to copy the behavior and appearance of celebrities, such as athletes and entertainers, and characters from books, TV, movies and video games” (“Children and Role Models”, 2011). Due to the fact that these groups of people often do not take this into consideration, it is very easy for our youth to copy how these groups of people behave, in which a lot of cases is negative. Although this is a very large...
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...can be found on CNN’s website. The article was written by Jane K. Stover. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and the Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. In this article, Jane Stover highlights domestic violence and the lack of consequences for those who commit the crimes. She explicitly references the domestic dispute that took place between Ray Rice and then fiancé’ Janay Rice in February of 2014. She mentions is this article that what Janay Rice suffered is not extraordinary but rather ordinary here in the US. This story is delivered in two methods, both audio and a written article. In the audio portion of the story, anchor Jane Stover interviews another anchor, Christi Paul, who is a domestic abuse survivor. She shares her story and her logic behind the big question of why do women stay? I chose this article because it hit very close to home. Although thankfully I have never been a victim of domestic violence personally, I have witnessed it firsthand. What we have here are the chilling facts about how domestic abuse is viewed here in the US and it close to nothing consequences. I do not believe there was a specific target audience, only because the nature of...
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...dangerous drugs and practice outside of their scope of practice. The topic the researcher has chosen is how to reduce drug trafficking in the United States. The author will focus on how drug dealers need to get harsher sentences then they do know and this may help reduce drug trafficking in the United States. The examiner has also determined that harsher sentencing is important factor in controlling to get the most serious drugs off the streets, for example, LSD, Heroin, and Cocaine. The researcher will conduct their analysis on harsher sentences for drug possessors, those who obtain dangerous drugs, and law enforcement agents who are charged with drug trafficking. Should those who possessed drugs or those who obtain illegal drugs and those who are involved bringing it across ours borders spend more time in prison then those who commit rape or rob a bank? America needs to impose tougher sentencing on those who chose to break the law and this will help reduce drug trafficking in America. Research done will show why they need to impose harsher sentencing for those chose to break the law and here what the author has found. In examining drug trafficking, the researcher found that those who possess it get harsher sentences then those who commit rape. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) it depends on how much cocaine or marijuana or other substances they have on...
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...Race and Ethnicity Should racial profiling be a legitimate law-enforcement policy in some areas? Should Affirmative Action for state university enrollment be continued? Should the primary method of public school funding--property taxes in individual school districts--be amended to create more fairness in schools? Should high-school history classes and social-studies curriculum be changed to reflect diversity and multicultural perspectives? Should Christmas, Easter, and other religious observances be considered national holidays? If a university offers "African-American Studies" or "Black Studies" as courses, should it also offer "European-American Studies" or "White Studies"? How do certain television programs perpetuate racial or ethnic stereotypes? Should Columbus Day be discontinued in favor of a new post-colonial perspective? Should schools only purchase textbooks that offer revised or alternative histories of historical events? What should be done about racial disparities in the sentencing of criminals? Should the American government pay reparations and return land to Native Americans? Should hate groups have the right to distribute literature on university campuses? If research shows that certain racial or ethnic groups receive poorer medical care on average, how should this problem be corrected? Should governmental organizations have staffs that accurately reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender balance in society? Gender and Sexuality What should be...
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...Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…6 Definition of Ethics Business Ethics and Individual Ethics: Is There a Difference?…………………….…..7 Virtue Ethics…………………………………………………………………………............9 Practical Wisdom……………………………………………………………….14 Eudaimonia……………………………………………………………………...15 Kantian Ethics……………………………………………………………………16 Ethical Egoism…………………………………………………………………………….....18 Consequentialist Ethics.……………………………………………………………………..21 Chapter Two: Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction 27 Corporate Social Responsibility 27 Summary 34 Chapter Three: The National Football League’s Blackout Policy is Unethical Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…35 The History of the NFL Blackout Policy: The Legal Test…………………………………..37 The Economic Test: Do Blackouts Have a Positive Economic Benefit?...............................39 The Philanthropic Test……………………………………………………………………….43 The Ethics Test………………………………………………………………………………47 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..51 Chapter Four: Effective Communication Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….....50 Effective Communication Defined………………………………………………………..…50 This Student’s Display of Effective Communication…………………………………….....51 Written Communication……………………………………………………………….…51 Verbal Communication……………………………………………………………….…53 Electronic Communication……………………………………………………………....53 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..61 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………62 References……………………………………………………………………………………...
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...Elements of an Essay/Research Paper Writing Process The series of steps that most writers follow in producing a piece of writing. The five major stages in the writing process are finding a topic and generating ideas (discovering), focusing on a main or controlling idea and mapping out an approach (organizing), preparing a rough draft (drafting), reworking and improving the draft (revising), and proofreading and correcting errors. Discovering – The first stage in the writing process. It may include finding a topic, exploring the topic, determining purpose and audience, probing ideas, doing reading and research, planing and organizing material. Discovery usually involves writing and is aided considerably by putting preliminary thought and plans in writing. Organizing – The sequence in which the information or ideas in an essay are presented. Drafting – The stage in the writing process during which the writer puts ideas into complete sentences, connects them, and organizes them into a meaningful sequence. Revising – The stage in the writing process during which the author makes changes in focus, organization, development, style, and mechanics to make the writing more effective. Editing – The last stage in the writing process during which the writer focuses on the details of mechanics and correctness. Discovering Audience – The readers for whom a piece of writing is intended. Many essays are aimed at a general audience, but a writer can focus on a specific group of readers...
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