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Saturday, March 22, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Wild, Wild Workplace
Society for Human Resource Management
2008 Employment Law and Legislative Conference
Washington, DC
March 10-11, 2008
www.shrm.org
Points of interest:
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues:
* Yes, “he-she,” the f-word and the d-word are derogatory, are still uttered in the workplace, and should not be. “You need to make sure this kind of talk is not tolerated.”
* Knowledge before empathy: If someone is transgendering, or in another situation in which sexual orientation becomes an office issue, address it. Sensitivity training can get creative: one employee’s therapist spoke with the coworkers about what’s going on. Prejudice and bad behavior often is born of simply not knowing.
* One big question that HR managers hear is “what about the restroom?” Which to use depends on the gender the person is now living as.
* Some conversations are inappropriate at work regardless of anyone’s sexual orientation.
* Example of an ill-advised question: “You look pregnant – are you?”
Not All Reform is Good:
* Proposed Federal ADA legislation could expand the definition of “disability” to include getting the flu ... sporting a tattoo ... or buying reading glasses at the drug store. Potential problems: misuse of benefits ... higher health/benefit costs ... and fewer resources for people with true disabilities.
CSI: Workplace Investigations:
* Yes, employers can access employee emails and videotape at-work, but informing employees will discourage undesired behavior to begin with. A plus unless one views work as a game of “gotcha!”
* Avoid perceived bias. Don’t put recruit investigations or key witnesses from the alleged wrongdoer’s sphere of influence. That might discourage reporting naughty boss behavior.
* Ask open-ended questions: “What exactly did you see happen in the parking lot?” vs. “So, how many times did you see him grope her?”
* Privacy rights: Employers can legally access employee emails. But they typically can’t listen in on phone calls or intercept emails before they arrive on company servers without employees’ consent. Or implied consent – meaning, such monitoring is noted in company policy and employees are made aware of the policy.
* Punishing offenders is not enough. Employers are obligated to prevent bad behavior from occurring again.
Startling Statistics:
* Underuse, overuse and misuse of chronic disease-related resources contributes to 100,000 preventable deaths a year and $100 billion extra in health care costs in the U.S. Smarter use could reduce per person health care costs by 30 to 40%.
2008 Employment Law and Legislative Conference
Washington, DC
March 10-11, 2008
www.shrm.org
Points of interest:
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues:
* Yes, “he-she,” the f-word and the d-word are derogatory, are still uttered in the workplace, and should not be. “You need to make sure this kind of talk is not tolerated.”
* Knowledge before empathy: If someone is transgendering, or in another situation in which sexual orientation becomes an office issue, address it. Sensitivity training can get creative: one employee’s therapist spoke with the coworkers about what’s going on. Prejudice and bad behavior often is born of simply not knowing.
* One big question that HR managers hear is “what about the restroom?” Which to use depends on the gender the person is now living as.
* Some conversations are inappropriate at work regardless of anyone’s sexual orientation.
* Example of an ill-advised question: “You look pregnant – are you?”
Not All Reform is Good:
* Proposed Federal ADA legislation could expand the definition of “disability” to include getting the flu ... sporting a tattoo ... or buying reading glasses at the drug store. Potential problems: misuse of benefits ... higher health/benefit costs ... and fewer resources for people with true disabilities.
CSI: Workplace Investigations:
* Yes, employers can access employee emails and videotape at-work, but informing employees will discourage undesired behavior to begin with. A plus unless one views work as a game of “gotcha!”
* Avoid perceived bias. Don’t put recruit investigations or key witnesses from the alleged wrongdoer’s sphere of influence. That might discourage reporting naughty boss behavior.
* Ask open-ended questions: “What exactly did you see happen in the parking lot?” vs. “So, how many times did you see him grope her?”
* Privacy rights: Employers can legally access employee emails. But they typically can’t listen in on phone calls or intercept emails before they arrive on company servers without employees’ consent. Or implied consent – meaning, such monitoring is noted in company policy and employees are made aware of the policy.
* Punishing offenders is not enough. Employers are obligated to prevent bad behavior from occurring again.
Startling Statistics:
* Underuse, overuse and misuse of chronic disease-related resources contributes to 100,000 preventable deaths a year and $100 billion extra in health care costs in the U.S. Smarter use could reduce per person health care costs by 30 to 40%.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Bike On!
National Bike Summit
Washington, DC
March 5, 2008
Consider this:
* 41% of all trips taken in the U.S. are 2 miles or less. These trips are ideal for bicycling – and thus, great opportunities for motorists to try bicycling as an alternative. By the way, most CO2 emissions are expelled during the first 2 minutes of running a car engine.
* Can the U.S. keep pace? The Paris Velis program offers cheap rentals of 20,000 bicycles at 1,450 stations citywide. Join up cost $1.50 day or $43 a year. In London, there’s a $787 million system of 12 “two-wheeler superhighways” connecting residential areas and city centers.
* More people are considering bicycling as transportation with gas approaching $4 a gallon, traffic congestion, pollution, and growing awareness about climate change. We’re a car-driven society: in the 1950s, drivers traveled 600 billion milles; 50 years later, the U.S. hit the 3 trillion mile mark. That’s a 5-fold increase – escalation that’s not sustainable.
* Only 9% of bicyclists stop regularly at stop signs. Then again, only 20% of motorists – in powerful vehicles! – stop regularly at stop signs. (per Scott Bricker, City of Portland).
Getting More People to Ride:
Dan Bower shared learning lessons from Portland’s super-successful effort to increase ridership:
* Every time you build something, tell people about it.
* Find out the perceptual and physical barriers to riding, and address them.
* As part of Portland’s SmartTrips program, 20,000 households were approached at a time with promotional mailings and visits by volunteers on bike delivering personalizated transportation information.
* The program distributes 400,000 bike maps a year.
* An employer program includes bike route mapping.
* Give out free stuff – that has a purpose. Like Portland’s bandanna imprinted with bike maps, leg bands, coupons and bike event listings.
* Make sure the city transit department includes bike commuting info.
* Offer free bike clinics and group rides year-round. Their popular ones include a pub crawl for baked goods (says Bower: “these rides are seriously slow”), Midnight Mystery Ride, World naked Bike Ride (participation in that one has increased 50% each year).
* These moves create “a bike culture.” In Portland, even business folks who don’t bike like to be part of something perceived so good for health, the environment, and the city. Some have asked for bike racks to replace parking spots in front of their stores.
* Where’s the money come from? Get business sponsors, grants, government support. Be sure to measure and promote results of each component of your bicycling promotion effort.
Bicycling Resources:
Adventure Cycling’s Cyclist’s Yellow Pages Online - great resource!
AdventureCycling.org
National Center for Biking and Walking
bikewalk.org
Federal Highway Admin. Bicycle Program
safety.FHWA.dot.gov
League of American Bicyclsts
bikeleague.org
Taking back roads for pedestrians and bikers:
ThunderheadAlliance.org
Trail info
Trails.com
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Back to Nature
In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet
Prior to Yellowstone being designated America’s first national park, preservation-minded folks successfully lobbied for converting an age-old hunting ground of kings into the world’s first nature preserve in 1861. The Forest of Fontainebleau’s 19th century tourist draw included artists from within and beyond France. Finding it the perfect setting for open air, or plein-air, painting, many stayed. Those engaged in the new art of photography embraced the wealth of subjects on scales grand and small. The flora and fauna inspired some to cross genres, which typically involved quite an investment in tools and materials. New growth took root in the forest – specifically, the Barbizon School.
The enchanting pictorial journey highlights painters Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Théodore Rousseau, and photographer Eugène Cuvelier. In this dense forest, Claude Monet is outclassed; in other landscapes he would achieve global name-brand fame for his impressionist reveries.
Some beautiful glimpses of work by Jean-François Millet can be seen in this forest. Look for The Shepherdess, Millet’s pastel and black conté crayon study on paper that magically reveals the artist’s process of composing elements and colors.
But within the lush confines of the Forest of Fontainebeau, take the opportunity to discover the lesser-knowns. Particularly, Millet’s friend, Charles-Emile Jacque.
Jacque (1813-1894) had a humble start as an engraver’s apprentice, honing his dry point skills while rendering maps. Next, on to military service, where he sketched and eventually worked to catch the eye of tastemakers in Paris. He worked on woodcut illustrations for Shakespearean texts in London before coming home to France, where he developed a passion for rural landscapes.
Jacque’s exquisite sensitivity enlivens his depictions of daily life of farmers, shepherds, and their animals. These gentle, pastoral scenes are outshouted by larger, more dramatically rendered pieces from more famous peers. But Jacque humbly offers most precious gems – look at the texture and heft of his sheep, and even more impressively, their expressions.
This unsung master’s The Old Forest and The Departure of the Flock are two of the most affecting works of the 100-plus in this show. I left with the image pleasurably seated on my mind of a sheep, neck turned, gazing back – as if the gentle creature sensed being watched by a person who appreciated the animals as sentient, living beings instead of commodities for profit.
In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet
National Gallery of Art
Pennsylvania Ave. and 3rd St. NW, on the National Mall in D.C.
202.737.4215
nga.gov
March 2 through June 8, 2008
Organized by the National Gallery of Art, and Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts, which will present the exhibition July 13 through October 19.
Shown:
The Old Forest, 1860-70 by Charles Émile Jacque. Oil on wax-lined canvas, Brooklyn Museum
The Shepherdess, c. 1869 by Charles Émile Jacque. Pastel on brown wove paper. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Dyke, 1996
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