Cities, States, and Businesses Lead the Way to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Although the United States signed the original Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. Congress never ratified the agreement so the protocol has never been legally binding on the United States. The administration of President George W. Bush argued that there was no scientific consensus on global warming and that the costs of reducing greenhouse gases were simply too high. However, many state and local governments felt they had waited long enough for change at the federal level. In 2005, mayors from 141 cities and both major political parties gathered in San Francisco to organize their own efforts to reduce the causes and consequences of global warming. Their goal was to reduce greenhouse emissions in their own cities by the same 7 percent that the United States had agreed to in the Kyoto Protocol.

As of 2014, a total of 1,060 out of 1,139 mayors of U.S. cities had signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Among the reasons the mayors cited for supporting this agreement were concerns in their communities over increasing droughts, reduced supplies of fresh water due to melting glaciers, and rising sea levels in coastal cities. “The United States inevitably will have to join this effort,” Seattle mayor Greg Nickels said. “Ultimately we will make it impossible for the federal government to say no. They will see that it can be done without huge economic disruption and that there’s support throughout the country to do this.”

Similar actions are being taken at the state level. In 2005, then-governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger stated at a press conference, “The debate is over . . . and we know the time for action is now.” In 2006, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the California Global Warming Solutions Act. The goal of the act was to bring California into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol by 2020, an effort that would require a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases for a state that, if a country, would be the tenth largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world. At the signing ceremony, the governor stated, “I say unquestionably it is good for businesses.” Indeed, a cost analysis by the California Air Resources Board in 2008 indicated that the law would add $27 billion to the economy of the state and add 100,000 jobs.

The California effort is gaining popularity around the country. In the northeastern United States, for example, nine states have joined together collectively to form the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to control regional production of greenhouse gases. A similar group emerged in western North America when seven western states and four Canadian provinces joined together in 2007 to form the Western Climate Initiative. For both groups, the goal was to to regulate greenhouse emissions. By 2014, northeastern group continued to work together while the western group had a reduced membership that included only California and the four Canadian provinces.

A number of large businesses are also joining in efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. General Electric, for example, announced in 2014 that it had reduced its greenhouse emissions by 34 percent since 2004. In addition, the company has invested $12 billion for research and development of technologies that can reduce greenhouse gases and is planning to invest a total of $25 billion by 2020. In 2011, General Electric announced that its technology generated more than $100 billion in revenues, which confirmed that creating technology that would reduce greenhouse emissions was a profitable thing to do.

In 2013, the New York Times reported that a growing number of companies including Microsoft, ExxonMobil, and Google have developed long-term financial plans that include the cost of producing greenhouse gases. These companies recognize that the scientific evidence of human-caused global climate change continues to grow and that they will increasingly need to factor the costs of emissions into their budgets. Those companies that include plans to accommodate and reduce these costs are likely to profit from such planning.

From these stories, it is clear that progress on reducing greenhouse gases that cause global warming does not have to wait for national and international agreements to take effect. The public overwhelmingly understands that Earth is warming, states and cities are pushing forward with solutions that save money, and large corporations understand that reducing emissions can reduce costs and improve profits over the long term. In short, curbing greenhouse gases and global warming is not only good for humans and the environment, it can be good for business as well.

Critical Thinking Questions

1.What data might city mayors use to support their assertion that humans are causing global warming?

2.Why is it more effective for states and provinces to create regional partnerships to combat global warming rather than doing so alone?

Assume today is March 16, 2016. Natasha Kingery is 30 years old and has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. She is currently employed as a Tier 2 field service representative for a telephony corporation located in Seattle, Washington, and earns $38,000 a year that she anticipates will grow at 3% per year. Natasha hopes to retire at age 65 and has just begun to think about the future.

Natasha has $75,000 that she recently inherited from her aunt. She invested this money in 30-year Treasury Bonds. She is considering whether she should further her education and would use her inheritance to pay for it.*

She has investigated a couple of options and is asking for your help as a financial planning intern to determine the financial consequences associated with each option. Natasha has already been accepted to both of these programs, and could start either one soon.

One alternative that Natasha is considering is attaining a certification in network design. This certification would automatically promote her to a Tier 3 field service representative in her company. The base salary for a Tier 3 representative is $10,000 more than what she currently earns and she anticipates that this salary differential will grow at a rate of 3% a year as long as she keeps working. The certification program requires the completion of 20 Web-based courses and a score of 80% or better on an exam at the end of the course work. She has learned that the average amount of time necessary to finish the program is one year. The total cost of the program is $5000, due when she enrolls in the program. Because she will do all the work for the certification on her own time, Natasha does not expect to lose any income during the certification.

Another option is going back to school for an MBA degree. With an MBA degree, Natasha expects to be promoted to a managerial position in her current firm. The managerial position pays $20,000 a year more than her current position. She expects that this salary differential will also grow at a rate of 3% per year for as long as she keeps working. The evening program, which will take three years to complete, costs $25,000 per year, due at the beginning of each of her three years in school. Because she will attend classes in the evening, Natasha doesn’t expect to lose any income while she is earning her MBA if she chooses to undertake the MBA.

1. Determine the interest rate she is currently earning on her inheritance by going to the U.S. Treasury Department Web site (treasury.gov) and selecting “Data” on the main menu. Then select “Daily Treasury Yiled Curve Rates” under the Interest Rate heading and enter the appropriate year, 2016, and then search down the list for March 16 to obtain the closing yield or interest rate that she is earning. Use this interest rate as the discount rate for the remainder of this problem. --> the identified rate for March 16th on a 30 year bond is 2.73
2. Create a timeline in Excel for her current situation, as well as the certification program and MBA degree options, using the following assumptions:
   • Salaries for the year are paid only once, at the end of the year.
   • The salary increase becomes effective immediately upon graduating from the MBA program or being certified. That is, because the increases become effective immediately but salaries are paid at the end of the year, the first salary increase will be paid exactly one year after graduation or certification.
3. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the certification program. Subtract the cost of the program to get the NPV of undertaking the certification program.
4. Calculate the present value of the salary differential for completing the MBA degree. Calculate the present value of the cost of the MBA program. Based on your calculations, determine the NPV of undertaking the MBA.
5. Based on your answers to Questions 3 and 4, what advice would you give to Natasha? What if the two programs are mutually exclusive? That is, if Natasha undertakes one of the programs there is no further benefit to undertaking the other program. Would your advice be different?

* If Natasha lacked the cash to pay for her tuition upfront, she could borrow the money. More intriguingly, she could sell a fraction of her future earnings, an idea that has received attention from researchers and entrepreneurs; see M. Palacios, Investing in Human Capital: A Capital Markets Approach to Student Funding, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Write a C program called cards.c that simulates some card game logic by comparing the cards from 4 people and determining which person has the best card. The program MUST work as follows:

1. Eachcardmustberepresentedbyexactlytwocharsrepresenting a rank and a suit. The possible rank options are: '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', 'T', 'J', 'Q', 'K', 'A'. The possiblesuit options are: 'H', 'D', 'S', 'C'. So 6H represents the “6 of hearts”, JC represents the “Jack of Clubs” etc...

2. YouMUSTwriteafunctioncalledisValidRank(charc)which determines if the given character is one of the ranks mentioned above. It should return a char with a value of 1 if the character is a valid rank and 0 otherwise. Lowercase letters are not valid.

3. YouMUSTwriteafunctioncalledisValidSuit(charc)whichdeterminesifthegivencharacter is one of the suits mentioned above. It should return a char with a value of 1 if the character is a valid suit and 0 otherwise. Lowercase letters are not valid.

4. You MUST have a function called getTrump() that returns a char. It should prompt the user for a trump suit, which must be 'H', 'D', 'S' or 'C'. It should be robust, in that any invalid input is not accepted. It should only return from the function when a valid suit has been entered, and it must make use of the isValidRank() function. For any invalid entry, an appropriate error message should be given. Blank entries are invalid and so are lowercase letters.

5. The main function should first get the trump suit, by calling the above function. It should then enter an infinite loop to do the following: (1) ask for 4 cards from the user, (2) display the 4 cards entered, (3) determine and display which player wins the round (i.e., which one has the “best” card). These steps will be explained below.

6. Whenenteringthecards...yourcode should be robust and handle any input, just like you did in thegetTrump() function. For each of the 4 cards entered, your code should allow the user to enter two characters and then press enter. If the first character (i.e., the rank) is invalid (use the function you wrote earlier), then an appropriate error message should be displayed and the second character (i.e., the suit) should not be prompted for. If it was valid, then the suit character should be prompted for.

Player 1: Enter card rank andRC
Invalid card, please re-enter Player 1: Enter card rank and4F

Invalid card, please re-enter Player 1: Enter card rank and6
Invalid card, please re-enter Player 1: Enter card rank andH

Invalid card, please re-enter Player 1: Enter card rank andJC
Player 2: Enter card rank and6S

Player 3: Enter card rank and

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD) suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD) suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD) suit (e.g., 2S, TC, KD)

is invalid, another error message
should be shown. Either way, the
code should keep prompting until a
valid card is entered before moving on
to get the next player’s card. Here is
an example of what you should do à 5H

If it

Invalid card, please re-enter Player 3: Enter card rank and9d
Invalid card, please re-enter Player 3: Enter card rank and9D

Player 4: Enter card rank and

7. Once4validcardentrieshavebeenentered,the4cardsshouldbedisplayedlikethis:

   JC, 6S, 9D, 5H

8. You must then determine which card wins the round. That is, which player has the best card. To do this, you must follow these rules:

   • A card which is of the trump suit always beats a card that is a non-trump suit.

   • If two cards have the same suit, the one with the higher rank is better. 'A' is the highest

     rank and '2' is the lowest.

   • The card played by player 1 is called the “suit led”. If no other player has a higher ranking card of the same suit as the suit led, and no other player has the trump suit, then player 1 has the best card and wins.

9. Inyourmainfunction,iftherankofthefirst(orany)playerisa'.'character,thentheprogram should quit. The TA’s will need this functionality in order to test your program.

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Name and describe the four types of delivery. Give a comparison between two types (your choice). Of the two Indicate which you think would enable a speaker to be most effective and tell why or why no? State if you feel it is important for a speaker to rehearse the presentation/speech before delivery; if so state why, if not state why not?

In manuscript presentations, speakers read their remarks word for word from a prepared statement. Manuscript speaking is common at annual company meetings, conventions, and press conferences. Unfortunately, few experiences are as boring as the average manuscript presentation. Novice speakers often try to conceal their nervousness at facing a large audience by reading from a script—and turn into lifeless drones when doing so. Because most speakers are not trained at reading aloud, their delivery is halting and jerky. Even worse, a nervous speaker who relies too heavily on a manuscript can make serious mistakes without even knowing it. Management consultant Marilyn Landis describes one

Memorized Presentations

If speaking from a script is bad, trying to memorize that script is even worse. You have probably been subjected to a memorized sales pitch from a telemarketer or door-to-door salesperson. If so, you know that the biggest problem of a memorized presentation—one recited word for word from memory—is that it sounds memorized. Speakers who recite their presentations from memory often fail to incorporate natural nonverbal expressions or demonstrations of emotion in their delivery. As a result, their speeches sound rehearsed to the point of almost being robotic. It might seem that memorizing a presentation would help alleviate your nervousness, but, in fact, memorization almost guarantees that stage fright will become a serious problem. Speakers who devote large amounts of time to simply learning the words of a talk are asking for trouble. During the presentation, they must focus on remembering what comes next instead of getting involved in the meaning of their remarks. It is difficult to recover from forgetting a portion of a memorized speech without the mistake being obvious to the audience.Sometimes it is necessary to memorize parts of a presentation, because referring to notes at a critical moment can diminish your credibility. A salesperson is usually expected to know a product’s major features: how much horsepower it has, how much it costs, or how many copies per minute it delivers. A personnel manager might be expected to know, without referring to a brochure, the value of employee life insurance (if each employee’s benefit is the same) and how much employees contribute to the premium. A coworker would look foolish at a retirement dinner if she said, “Everyone knows about Charlie’s contributions …” and then had to pause to refer to her notes. In such situations, it is recommended to memorize only the essential parts of a presentation

Extemporaneous Presentations

An extemporaneous presentation is planned and rehearsed but not memorized word for word. When you speak extemporaneously, you learn your key points and become familiar with the support you will use to back them up. In other words, you practice the big picture but let the specific words come naturally during your delivery. If you prepare carefully and practice your presentation several times with a friend, a family member, or even a group of coworkers or subordinates, you will have a good chance of delivering an extemporaneous talk that seems spontaneous—and maybe even effortless. Almost every presentation you plan—a sales presentation, a talk at the local high school, a progress report to a management review board, a training lecture, an annual report to employees or the board of directors—should be delivered extemporaneously.

Impromptu Presentations

Sooner or later you will be asked to give an impromptu presentation—an unexpected, off-the-cuff talk. A customer might stop in your office and ask you to describe the new model you will have next spring. At a celebration dinner, you might be asked to “say a few words.” A manager might ask you to “give us some background on the problem” or to “fill us in on your progress.” You may suddenly discover at a weekly meeting that your subordinates are unaware of a process they need to know about to understand the project you are preparing to explain.

Giving an impromptu talk need not be as threatening as it seems. Most of the time, you will be asked to speak about a subject within your expertise—such as a current project, a problem you have solved, or a technical aspect of your training—which means you have thought about the topic before. Another reassuring fact is that most listeners will not expect perfection in unrehearsed remarks.

Your impromptu presentations will be most effective if you follow these guidelines.⁴

Read Case Ticketmaster – Making Better Decisions passage below and answer the following questions 1-4 in bold :

Case Study: Ticketmaster
In 2010, Ticketmaster found out the hard way that the entertainment industry is not, in fact, as recession-proof as it was once widely believed to be. The company, which sells tickets for live music, sports, and cultural events, and which represents a significant chunk of parent company’s Live Nation Entertainment’s business, saw a drop in ticket sales that year of a disconcerting 15 percent. Then there was the mounting negative press, including artist boycotts, the vitriol of thousands of vocal customers, and a number of major venues refusing to do business with Ticketmaster.

Yet 2012 has been more friendly to the company—under the leadership of former musician and Stanford MBA- educated CEO Nathan Hubbard, who took over in 2010 when Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter. Third-quarter earnings were strong, with just under $2 billion in revenue, a 10 percent boost from the same period last year, driven largely by Live Nation’s ticketing and sponsorship divisions. Ticketmaster was largely responsible as well, thanks to the sale of 36 million tickets worth $2.1 billion, generating $82.1 million in adjusted operating income, which translates to an increase of 51 percent for the year.
That’s because Hubbard knows how to listen, and read the writing on the wall, “If we don’t disrupt ourselves, someone else will,” he said, “I’m not worried about other ticketing companies. The Googles and Apples of the world are our competition.”

Some of the steps he took to achieve this included to the creation of Live Analytics, a team charged with mining the information (and related opportunities) surrounding 200 million customers and the 26 million monthly site visitors, a gold mine that he thought was being ignored. Moreover Hubbard redirected the company from being an infamously opaque, rigid and inflexible transaction machine for ticket sales to a more transparent, fan-centered e-commerce company, one that listens to the wants and needs of customers and responds accordingly. A few of the new innovations rolled out in recent years to achieve this include an interactive venue map that allows customers to choose their seats (instead of Ticketmaster selecting the “best available”) and the ability to buy tickets on iTunes.

Hubbard eliminated certain highly unpopular service fees, like the $2.50 fee for printing one’s own tickets, which he announced in the inaugural Ticketmaster blog he created.
Much to the delight of event goers—and the simultaneous chagrin of promoters and venue owners, who feared that the move would deter sales—other efforts toward transparency included announcing fees on Ticketmaster’s first transaction- dedicated page, instead of surprising customers with them at the end, while consolidating others. “I had clients say, ‘What are you doing? We’ve been doing it this way for 35 years,’” Hubbard recalled, “I told them, ‘You sound like the record labels.’”

Social media is an integral part of listening, and of course, “sharing.” Ticketmaster alerts on Facebook shows friends of purchasers who is going to what show. An app is in the works that will even show them where their concert going friends will be seated. Not that it’s all roses for Ticketmaster—yet. Growth and change always involve, well, growing pains, and while goodwill for the company is building, it will take some time to shed the unfortunate reputation of being the company that “everyone loves to hate.” Ticketmaster made embarrassing headlines in the first month of 2013 after prematurely announcing the sale of the president’s Inaugural Ball and selling out a day early as a result, disappointing thousands. But as the biggest online seller of tickets for everything from golf tournaments to operas to theater to rock concerts, and with Hubbard’s more customer-friendly focus, Ticketmaster should have plenty of opportunity to repent their mistake

1. Identify the problems that Ticketmaster was facing, using cause and effect analysis. What were the Symptomatic Effects? What were the Underlying Causes?

2. What process(es) did Nathan Hubbard use to Generate Alternatives? What alternatives were available to Mr. Hubbard? What types of Uncertainty did he experience?

3. How did Mr. Hubbard select his most desirable alternative? Describe which type of Decision Making he used, and explain your findings.

4. Were the recent decisions that Mr. Hubbard made effective, according to the concepts in Chapter 7 – Decision Making? Explain your response.

Part 1 (Objective C++ and please have output screenshot)

The purpose of this part of the assignment is to give you practice in creating a class. You will develop a program that creates a class for a book. The main program will simply test this class.

The class will have the following data members:

1. A string for the name of the author
2. A string for the book title
3. A long integer for the ISBN

The class will have the following member functions (details about each one are below:)

1. A default constructor
2. A Print function which prints out all the information about the book.
3. A GetData function which reads information from a file into the data members.
4. A function GetISBN that returns the integer containing the ISBN. (This will be needed in Part 2).

You must create your program using the following three files:

book.h – used for declaring your class. In this header file, the declarations of the class and its members (both data and functions) will be done without the definitions. The definitions should be done in the book.cpp file.

book.cpp – contains the definitions of the member functions:

1. The default constructor will initialize the author's name to “No name”, the title to "Unknown title", and the ISBN to 0.
2. The Print function will display all of the information about a book in a clear format. This will be a const function because it does not change the data members. For formatting purposes, you may assume that no name will have more than 20 characters and that no book title will have more than 50 characters.
3. The GetData function will have the input file as a parameter, will read information from the file and put appropriate values into the data members. (See below for the format of the data file.)
4. The GetISBN function will simply return the long integer containing the ISBN. It also will be a const function.

Mp8bookDriver.cpp – should contain the main program to test the class.

It should declare two book objects (book1 and book2) using the default constructor. Call the print function for book1 (to show that the default constructor is correct). Open the input file and call the GetData function for book2 and then print its information. Finally, test the GetISBN function for book2 and output the result returned from the function.

Format of Data file
The name of the data file is mp7book.txt
It has data for one book arranged as follows:

• The name is on one line by itself (hint: use getline).
• The title is on a line by itself.
• The ISBN is on the third line.

mp7book.txt

Jane Smith
History Of This World
12349876

Get this part of the program working and save all the files before starting on Part 2. The output should be similar to the following:

Testing the book class by (your name)

The information for book 1 is:
No name Unknown title 0
The information for book 2 is:
Jane Smith History Of The World 12349876
book2 has ISBN 12349876
Press any key to continue

Part 2

Now you will use the book class to create an array of books for a small library. Note that the book.h and book.cpp files should not have to be changed at all - you just have to change the main program in the Mp8bookDriver.cpp file.

There is a new data file, mp7bookarray.txt. It contains the information for the books in the library using the same format as described above for each book. There will be exactly 10 books in the file.

Declare an array of books that could hold 10 book objects. Open the new data file and use a loop to call the GetData function to read the information about the books into the objects in the array. Print out the list of books in the library in a nice format. Notice that the books are arranged in order by ISBN in the data file.

Now imagine customers coming into the library who want to know whether a particular book is in the collection. Each customer knows the ISBN of the book. Open the third data file (mp8bookISBN.txt) which contains ISBN's, read each one, and use a binary search to find out whether the book is in the array. If it is found, print out all the information about the book, if not, print an appropriate message. Then repeat the process for each of the ISBN's until you get to the end of the file.

mp8bookarray.txt

H. M. Deitel
C++ How to Program
130895717
Judy Bishop
Java Gently
201593998
Jeff Salvage
The C++ Coach
201702894
Thomas Wu
Object-Oriented Programming with Java
256254621
Cay Horstmann
Computing Concepts with C++
471164372
Gary Bronson
Program Development and Design
534371302
Joyce Farrell
Object-Oriented Programming
619033614
D. S. Malik
C++ Programming
619062134
James Roberge
Introduction to Programming in C++
669347183
Nell Dale
C++ Plus Data Structures
763714704

mp8bokkISBN.txt
201593998
888899999
763714704
111122222
256254621
130895717
488881111
534371302
619033614

Part I

We’ll use the “Debt and Taxes” tab in the Lab 5 Excel Workbook

The Economic Data Runs from 1946 (1^st year post WW2) to 2016

Note: This issue is tremendously more complicated than the two variables presented here. This is only a partial look at the issue and there is ample room for debate as causes of the issues at hand.

1) Examining the Relationships

              Create and copy in the following Charts

                             1) Line Chart with “Year”, “Top Bracket %”, and “Debt (Relative to 1946)”

                             2) Scatterplot with “Year” and “Top Bracket %,” choose “Show Trendline”

                             3) Scatterplot with “Year” and “National Debt (Trillions),” choose “Show Trendline”

              a) What trends do you see over time?

              b) Do “Top Bracket %” and “National Debt(Trillions)” appear associated?

              c) What might be a possible confounding factor?

2) Running Regressions

              a) Use “Data->Data Analysis->Regression” with “Top Bracket” as the y variable and

“Year” as the x- variable.

What is your model? Slope t-value? F-Value? R squared?

              b) Run a second regression with “National Debt(Trillions)” as the y variable and

                             “Year” as the x-variable.

What is your model? Slope t-value? F-Value? R squared?

c) Run a final regression with “National Debt(Trillions)” as the y variable and

                             “Top Bracket %” as the x-variable

What is your model? Slope t-value? F-Value? R squared?

              d) Based on the R squared from part c) how much of the debts change is due to taxes?

Part II

We will use the “Twins Data” tab in the workbook.

1) Single Variable

              a) Create a Scatterplot of “Wins” and “Runs” (You might need to rescale the axis for each)

              b) Run a Regression with “Wins” as y and “Runs” as x

c) What is your model? Slope t-value? F-Value? R squared?

2) Multivariable

              a) Traditional Stats

                             Run a regression with “Wins” as the y variable and both “Batting Average” and “ERA”

as the two x variables

What is your model? Slope t-values? F-Value? R squared?

              b) Moneyball Stats

                             Run a regression with “Wins” as the y variable and “OPS” and “WHIP” as the x variables

What is your model? Slope t-value? F-Value? R squared?

3) Of the 3 options which model do you feel works the best? Explain.

In April 1993, Dr. Nancy Olivieri, head of the hemoglobinopathy program at the Hospital for Sick Children (HSC), the teaching hospital for the University of Toronto in Canada, signed an agreement with the Canadian drug company Apotex to undertake clinical trials on a drug called deferiprone (referred to as L1 during the study). The drug was designed to help children with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that can cause the fatal buildup of iron in the blood. The agreement that Olivieri signed with Apotex included a clause (later referred to as a “gag clause”) that specifically prevented the unauthorized release of any findings in the trial for a period of three years: As you now [sic], paragraph 7 of the LA-02 Contract provides that all information whether written or not, obtained or generated by you during the term of the LA-02 Contract and for a period of three years thereafter, shall be and remain secret and confidential and shall not be disclosed in any manner to any third party except with the prior written consent of Apotex. Please be aware that Apotex will take all possible steps to ensure that these obligations of confidentiality are met and will vigorously pursue all legal remedies in the event that there is any breach of these obligations. The existence of this clause was to prove significant to the relationship between Olivieri and Apotex. After reporting some initial positive findings in the trial in April 1995, Olivieri reported in December 1996 that long-term use of the drug appeared to result in the toxic buildup of iron in the liver of a large number of her pediatric patients—a condition known as hepatic fibrosis. When she reported the findings to Apotex, the company determined that her interpretation of the data was incorrect. Olivieri then contacted the hospital’s Research Ethics Board (REB), which instructed her to change the consent form for participation in the trial to ensure that patients were made aware of the risks of long-term use of the drug. After copying Apotex on the revised form, the company notified Olivieri that the Toronto trials were being terminated effective immediately and that she was being removed as chair of the steering committee of the global trial that included patients in Philadelphia and Italy. When Olivieri notified Apotex that she and her research partners, including Dr. Gary Brittenham of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, were planning to publish their findings in the August 1998

issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Apotex Vice President Michael Spino threatened legal action for breaching the confidentiality clause in her agreement with the company. Olivieri then asked the HSC administration for legal support in her forthcoming battle with Apotex. The administrators declined. She then approached the University of Toronto, where the dean of the Faculty of Medicine declined to get involved on the grounds that her contract with Apotex had been signed without university oversight and that the university would never have agreed to the confidentiality clause in the first place. Olivieri forged ahead with the publication despite this [lack of support] and instantly became celebrated as a courageous whistle-blower in the face of corporate greed. The situation was further clouded by reports that the University of Toronto and HSC were, at the time, in the process of negotiating a $20 million donation from Bernard Sherman, the CEO and founder of Apotex. The bitter relationship with her employers was to continue for several years, during which time she was referred to the Canadian College of Physicians and Surgeons for research misconduct and dismissed from her post at HSC, only to be reinstated following the aggressive support of several of her academic colleagues, including Dr. Brenda Gallie of the Division of Immunology and Cancer at HSC, who led a petition drive that succeeded in garnering 140 signatures in support of a formal enquiry into Dr. Olivieri’s case. That enquiry was undertaken by both the Canadian College of Physicians and Surgeons, which found her conduct to be “exemplary,” and by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, whose 540-page report concluded that Dr. Olivieri’s academic freedom had been violated when Apotex stopped the trials and threatened legal action against her. The two-and-a-half-year battle ended in January 1999 when an agreement was brokered between the university, HSC, and Olivieri thanks to the efforts of two world-renowned experts in blood disorders—Dr. David Nathan of Harvard and Dr. David Weatherall of Oxford who intervened on the basis of the international importance of Dr. Olivieri’s research. Working with the president of the University of Toronto, Robert Pritchard, and lawyers for both parties, a compromise settlement was reached that reinstated Olivieri as head of the hemoglobinopathy program at HSC, covered her legal expenses up to $150,000, and withdrew all letters and written complaints about her from her employment file. As part of the agreement, a joint working group appointed by the University of Toronto and the university’s Faculty Association was chartered with the task of making “recommendations on changes to university policies on the dissemination of research publications and conflict of interest and the relationship of these issues to academic freedom.”

1. Was it ethical for Apotex to include a three-year gag clause in the agreement with Dr. Olivieri?

2. Even though Dr. Olivieri later admitted that she should never have signed the agreement with Apotex that included a confidentiality clause, does the fact that she did sign it have any bearing on her actions here? Why or why not?

3. Was Olivieri’s decision to publish her findings about the trial an example of universalism or utilitarianism? Explain your answer.

4. If we identify the key players in this case as Dr. Olivieri, Apotex, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the University of Toronto, what are the conflicts of interest between them all?

5. What do you think would have happened if Dr. Olivieri’s fellow academics had not supported her in her fight?

6. How could this situation have been handled differently to avoid such a lengthy and bitter battle?

Jack, Jills and the Buffalo Bills

Before the 2014 season, Cailin Ferrari had conflicting thoughts about continuing her dream of being a member of the Buffalo Jills, (the Buffalo Bill’s cheerleading team) or to seek employment elsewhere. For the past 48 years, the Jills were an important part of the Bills organization, entertaining fans both on and off the playing field. However, after some careful research, the Jills found themselves wondering if they should continue to entertain fans under tense circumstances.

Buffalo Jills

Established in 1967, the Jills began as a permanent replacement for the cheerleaders from Buffalo State College who previously cheered from the Buffalo Bills sidelines. The Jills cheerleaders recognized for their high spirit, dedication, and humanitarian nature, had become a favorite for the city of Buffalo. After 42 seasons of entertaining Bills fans, the Jills established the Buffalo Jills Alumni Association.

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills, located in Buffalo NY, is currently owned by Terrence and Kim Pegula. In 2016, Forbes reported the team value at one billion, five-hundred million dollars (see exhibit 1). New Era Field, formally Rich Stadium and later Ralph Stadium, has been the home for the Buffalo Bills since 1973. The stadium has a capacity seating for 71,870 Bills fans. NEF is currently within the top 15 in capacity in the National Football League.

Exhibit 1: Bills Value Breakdown

Legal Issues

In April 2014, five former Bills cheerleaders sued the team over a pay system that had them working hundreds of hours for free at games and at mandatory public appearances. Soon after, management suspended the dance team.

The class action lawsuit claimed the Jills cheerleaders were paid below minimum wage and were required to attend unpaid events. The former cheerleaders also alleged that the Jills were wrongly classified as independent contractors and were subjected to policies that violate the state's $8 per hour minimum wage law and other workplace rules (Rodak, 2014). The Jills were not paid for games or practices and had to make 20 to 35 community and charity events each season.

The Jills stated that at some of these sponsored events, they were made to feel uncomfortable by male attendees. They were forced to adhere to strict dress codes and behavioral guidelines set by the team. According to the Jills, the Buffalo Bills controlled everything from their physical appearance to music selection (Garcia, 2016). The Bills organization claimed the Jills were not traditional employees but independent contractors.

In a 1995 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board, the Jills were classified as non-exempt employees. A former employee of Cumulus Broadcasting Co. (formally Citadel Broadcasting Co), named Stephanie E. Mateczun, managed the Jills. The contracts gave Citadel/Cumulus the exclusive rights to run the Jills, and required each member of the cheerleading squad to sign independent contractor agreements that the Jills would not be paid for working Bills games (Davis, 2017).

National Football Association

Currently, only six teams in the National Football Association (NFL) do not have a cheerleading team, either by personal choice or in the Jills case, suspension: Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, New York Giant, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears.

The NFL has remained quiet with this issue. Rodger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL stated, he had no knowledge of the Jills’ selection, training, compensation and/or pay practices. According to the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association), the NFL protects its players but has no mention of its cheerleader teams. As reported by the NFLPA website, the National Football League Players Association:

Represents all players in matters about wages, hours and working conditions.

Protects their rights as professional football players

Assures that all the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement are met.

Decision

New York State Supreme Court Justice Mark A. Montour decided the cheerleaders' 2005 agreement they signed were unenforceable, and that the plaintiffs were non-exempt employees and they were misclassified as independent contractors.

In response to the lawsuit, the Cheerleaders' Fair Pay Act would force team owners to treat the Jills as employees rather than independent contractors. The change would mean teams like the Buffalo Bills would have to comply with much stricter New York labor laws when it comes to cheerleaders' wages and workplace protections. Was the contract negotiable between both parties? Was the contract by the Jills signed under duress? What employment laws did the Buffalo Bills violate? Should the NFL create a regulated pay scale for all NFL cheerleaders?

Questions to Answer.

1. What employment laws (if any) did the Buffalo bills violate? Please explain your answer thoroughly in either scenario?

2. Do you think the ruling was fair? Was there any ethical concerns in the case? Discuss your view point.

3. Discuss the social responsbility (if any) for the NFL and the Buffalo Bills.

4. Should the NFL creat a regulated pay scale for all NFL Cheerleaders? Or a union for the cheerleading team? Why or why not?

5. Was the contract negotiable between both parties?

Note: This problem is for the 2019 tax year.

Alice J. and Bruce M. Byrd are married taxpayers who file a joint return. Their Social Security numbers are 123-45-6784 and 111-11-1113, respectively. Alice's birthday is September 21, 1972, and Bruce's is June 27, 1971. They live at 473 Revere Avenue, Lowell, MA 01850. Alice is the office manager for Lowell Dental Clinic, 433 Broad Street, Lowell, MA 01850 (Employer Identification Number 98-7654321). Bruce is the manager of a Super Burgers fast-food outlet owned and operated by Plymouth Corporation, 1247 Central Avenue, Hauppauge, NY 11788 (Employer Identification Number 11-1111111).

The following information is shown on their Wage and Tax Statements (Form W–2) for 2019.

The Byrds provide over half of the support of their two children, Cynthia (born January 25, 1995, Social Security number 123-45-6788) and John (born February 7, 1999, Social Security number 123-45-6780). Both children are full-time students and live with the Byrds except when they are away at college. Cynthia earned $6,200 from a summer internship in 2019, and John earned $3,800 from a part-time job.

During 2019, the Byrds provided 60% of the total support of Bruce's widower father, Sam Byrd (born March 6, 1943, Social Security number 123-45-6787). Sam lived alone and covered the rest of his support with his Social Security benefits. Sam died in November, and Bruce, the beneficiary of a policy on Sam's life, received life insurance proceeds of $1,600,000 on December 28.

The Byrds had the following expenses relating to their personal residence during 2019:

The Byrds had the following medical expenses for 2019:

The medical expenses for Sam represent most of the 60% that Bruce contributed toward his father's support.

Other relevant information follows:

• When they filed their 2018 state return in 2019, the Byrds paid additional state income tax of $900.
• During 2019, Alice and Bruce attended a dinner dance sponsored by the Lowell Police Disability Association (a qualified charitable organization). The Byrds paid $300 for the tickets. The cost of comparable entertainment would normally be $50.
• The Byrds contributed $5,000 to Lowell Presbyterian Church and gave used clothing (cost of $1,200 and fair market value of $350) to the Salvation Army. All donations are supported by receipts, and the clothing is in very good condition.
• Via a crowdfunding site (gofundme.com), Alice and Bruce made a gift to a needy family who lost their home in a fire ($400). In addition, they made several cash gifts to homeless individuals downtown (estimated to be $65).
• In 2019, the Byrds received interest income of $2,750, which was reported on a Form 1099–INT from Second National Bank, 125 Oak Street, Lowell, MA 01850 (Employer Identification Number 98-7654322).
• The home mortgage interest was reported on Form 1098 by Lowell Commercial Bank, P.O. Box 1000, Lowell, MA 01850 (Employer Identification Number 98-7654323). The mortgage (outstanding balance of $425,000 as of January 1, 2019) was taken out by the Byrds on May 1, 2015.
• Alice's employer requires that all employees wear uniforms to work. During 2019, Alice spent $850 on new uniforms and $566 on laundry charges.
• Bruce paid $400 for an annual subscription to the Journal of Franchise Management and $741 for annual membership dues to his professional association.
• Neither Alice's nor Bruce's employer reimburses for employee expenses.
• The Byrds do not keep the receipts for the sales taxes they paid and had no major purchases subject to sales tax.
• This year the Byrds gave each of their children $2,000, which was then deposited into their Roth IRAs.
• Alice and Bruce paid no estimated Federal income tax, and they did not engage in any virtual currency transactions during the year. Neither Alice nor Bruce wants to designate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

Required:

Compute net tax payable or refund due for Alice and Bruce Byrd for 2019. If they have overpaid, they want the amount to be refunded to them.

• Make realistic assumptions about any missing data.
• If an amount box does not require an entry or the answer is zero, enter "0".
• Enter all amounts as positive numbers.
• It may be necessary to complete the tax schedules before completing Form 1040.
• When computing the tax liability, do not round your immediate calculations. If required, round your final answers to the nearest dollar.