Posted on 03/11/2005 1:10:15 PM PST by atomic_dog
Students urged to stand up against corporate violations
By VICTORIA MANLEY
Herald Staff Writer
Facing more than 200 students in CSU-Monterey Bay's University Center, Leon Panetta on Thursday voiced urgency and outrage over the deep-pocketed influence on policymakers.
"I don't sense the outrage of what we're seeing in corporate America, or even in the media," s aid Panetta, co-director of CSUMB's Panetta Institute for Public Policy and a panelist in a discussion on professional ethics presented by CSUMB's School of Business.
"Money is speaking a great deal these days in terms of policy," he said. "If people remain quiet,... then nothing is going to change."
Other panelists included the Rev. Robert Drinan, a former U.S. congressman and a law professor at Georgetown University; Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero; and Jim Bracher, founder of the Bracher Center for Integrity in Leadership.
The foursome urged students to organize and stand against corporate scandals and crimes against humanity.
"I meet a lot of people who are outraged, but are they organized?" asked Drinan, a Jesuit priest known for his strong and outspoken beliefs on human rights issues.
"The voice of students are very compelling," Drinan told the group. "You can never know what the power of voice is going to do."
Though organized by the business school, the discussion at times took a poignantly political turn. Panetta, Drinan and Caballero -- all well-known Democrats -- didn't hesitate to criticize the leadership in state and federal government.
When Matt Goodlaw, a senior majoring in social and behavioral science, asked how government could better support global corporate social responsibility, Caballero told him that government needs to better "invest in human capital."
"There's a fundamental injustice in our understanding of what we need to do," she said. To start, "it's critically important that we listen" and return to values such as honesty, selflessness and respect.
"If we start getting back to those values and if we live them," she said, "young people will start respecting us for using them."
Maybe there isn't much of any. We live in a corporate, commercial culture. We mock it, we groan about some of the details, but we seem, on the whole, to really like it.
While they're at it, why don't we get a list of the political affiliations of ALL the CORPORATIONEY types!
Wow...he wasn't that upset when all those American corporations were buying their way into the Lincoln Bedroom.
It's probably important that student voices be heard. Students know everything. As these people age, they will get dumber and dumber, just as the rest of us have. There's a short period in life around age 20 when you know everything, and it's all downhill from there. |
LOL - priceless.
OK, so when are they going to start shouting against the evil corporate influence possessed by, say, a fellow named Soros?
CSUMB isn't even like a *real* university. LOL It's Leon Panetta's little pet project, consisting of about 10 buildings on the old Fort Ord. We were just stationed there until last May. Thank goodness we left that moonbat area! Ugh!
Monterey. Beautiful. Serene. Magnificent coastline. Great cars and car shows.
Monterey: so expensive people will drive from Watsonville to work there....because they can't afford to live there. Tiny houses go for multiple hundreds of thousands. Others stand empty, as they are only in use by their foreign or absent owners a few weeks per year.
Monterey: the very essence of capitalism and monied interests.
A bunch of well to do, ultra-liberal, white folk who want to "pull up the drawbridge". I can't wait to move back to San Jose. By and large they're just as liberal there but capitalism is still the order of the day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.