Five 2009 Torch Scholarships Awarded
The Torch Awards celebration on November 19, 2009 also included the 8th annual presentation of Torch Scholarships. Scholarships in the amount of $1,000.00 each were presented to (pictured from left to right) Thomas Vinton of Decatur Heritage Christian Academy, Elizabeth Hurren of Brooks High School, Bryant Cooper of Marion County High School, Samantha Bowles of Wilson High School, and Drew McDonald of Randolph School. Their winning essays can be read below.
The scholarships were sponsored by AEgis Technologies Group, Inc., the Fraternal Order of Eagles - Auxiliary #3263, the Greater Huntsville Rotary Foundation, Jerry Damson, Inc., SAIC, and Torch Technologies, Inc.
Samantha Bowles, Wilson High School
Just Another Gray Area
Without business ethics in our states and cities, our nation will crumble. The whole reason our country is in the biggest recession since the Great Depression is because of the lack of ethics in the business community. Ethics should be a black and white issue. However, in today’s society, we are living in a gray area. Although gray areas may be legal, they can make it very easy to cross over the line.
In the business community, a handshake or one’s word meant something in the past. Today, however, there has to be legal documentation to insure that one will stick to his or her word. It should come as no surprise that people believe that you cannot trust anyone anymore, and that it is every man for himself. In some instances, this is true. Furthermore, it shows that there is a lack of faith in companies where there is a history of dishonesty towards employees and stockholders. When there is dishonesty or poor workmanship on a project, one may receive business from a new customer once. However, there is almost a full guarantee that those same customers will not return as repeat business.
The lack of ethics in the business world seemed to come to light with the fall of Enron, WorldCom, and HealthSouth. Their creative accounting processes led to the downfall of their companies and resulted in some of America’s largest bankruptcies. Their dishonesty devastated their stockholders and shocked the world. When these events struck the nation, the citizens of our states and communities started to realize the importance of ethics. Upon realizing this, universities set up requirements for business majors to take a business ethics course as part of their core classes.
Ethics are based on three main principles: integrity, honesty, and civility. Honesty in the community and in businesses can determine whether one’s company will make it or not. If one plans on being in business for the long run, one must apply these good ethical practices to his or her company. Only when this is done, can one maintain a good company standing with other businesses and customers. The answer to achieving good ethics may lie in the principle of accountability. By keeping one’s fellow workers accountable, our nation can rewrite our ethical story.
Bryant Cooper, Marion County High School
Webster's dictionary defines ethics as a set of moral principles. These moral principles define who you are. Ethics are an important part of one's life. Whether in business, government, or the community, ethics play a major role in defining your character and your impact on others.
First, ethics play a major role in business. To become a successful business person, one must have a set of moral principles that can help guide him along the road to success. This road is not one that is straight and smooth but curvy and bumpy. When someone has ethics, it makes for an easy journey down this road. It is important to have a set of moral principles because it guides you in your everyday business practices and decisions by building trust with others. One prime example of a business where ethics was nonexistent was Enron. Enron was a major energy company that filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Enron has since become a popular symbol of corporate fraud and corruption. After Enron and many other major businesses failed, reformers called for measures to further prevent future discord. One act that was conceived to help prevent future problems was the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This act created a new agency that was put in charge of overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms. Overall, ethics mixed with sound business practices can set the foundation for a successful business.
Second, ethics also play a major role in government. When government officials run our country, he represents the people who elected them. A government leader who is unselfish and has the best interest of the people in mind usually is the most desired leader. Unselfishness is a moral principle that makes up one’s ethical background. If our government was one with a majority of ethical government officials, it would be one that would represent the people’s needs and wants the best.
Finally, ethics also play a significant role in the community. When one is ethical he tends to think of others first. Ethical people in a community try their hardest to make that community one that is desirable and an overall better place. Guin, Alabama’s motto is a “Community of Good Living”, and this represents the people’s desire to improve the overall quality of life in the community. This is achieved through citizens’ honest and unselfish commitment to improve the schools, organizations, and the overall town itself.
Thus, ethics play a big role in the lives of people today. Whether it is in business, government, or the community, ethics play a significant role in defining your character and your impact on others.
Elizabeth Hurren, Brooks High School
Strong ethical values have become a highly sought after quality in business men and women. Trust must be earned from coworkers, employers, customers, and fellow citizens in the community. The possession of strong values that include integrity, honesty, and civility help strengthen relationships and trust between businesses and members of the community.
Integrity is simply a standard of values that one holds true to self. Richard C. Edgley gave an experience of a test of his integrity: “While he was in an airport on a business trip with many wealthy men, the group passed a newspaper stand. One of the men inserted a quarter into the machine and began passing out newspapers to the others. When he handed Edgley a copy, Edgley put a quarter in the machine and said ‘For 25 cents, I can maintain my integrity.’” This example of integrity shows a firm adherence to a personal code of conduct. A person who possesses such integrity will stand out in the business world and reap his or her deserving rewards.
“How rare a gem, how precious a jewel is the man or woman in whom there is neither guile nor deception nor falsehood.” This quote by Gordon B. Hinckley satisfactorily describes an honest man or woman. A person without honesty cannot be trusted in the business world, despite whatever great talents he or she might possess. Relationships will become taut and strained if workers resort to dishonesty. Friendships are formed and more work is accomplished when businesspeople are honest with their fellow beings.
Civility comes as a result of mutual honesty, integrity, and trust between citizens in their communities. Civility to others is an expression of courteous works or deeds. Being kind to others calms aroused feelings and leads to new acquaintances. Everyone desires to be spoken to and treated kindly. Let us all be examples of civil acts.
These ethical values, or moral principles of right and good lead to successful businesses and positive feelings between people in communities. If each of us can exemplify our ability to maintain integrity, to be honest, and to show civility to others, then others will follow in our footsteps.
Drew McDonald, Randolph School
Honor and Ethics
Ethics play a large role in any and all person-to-person transactions, tangible or not. An effective marketplace requires integrity, honesty, and civility from both supplier and consumer. Without any of the three from either side, the system itself becomes less efficient and more frustrating, because for any consumer, the inability to trust automatically is discomforting, and for any business owner, the need to convince someone that they are trustworthy is simply obnoxious.
This break-down of human relations transcribes into many various situations that have a distinct presence in high-school life. For instance, all students at Randolph School are under the school’s Honor Code, which basically disqualifies any student guilty of cheating, plagiarizing, or lying. While punishments for violations of the Honor Code are severe for the perpetrator, worse are the damages his or her actions do to the credibility of the student body as a whole. Teachers become less trusting, and students as a group feel the need to reconstruct their good, reliable standing. It is a recovery that, just as in a recovering marketplace, requires peer-to-peer accountability and offers the encouragement of honesty in one through the integrity of another.
This principle is the basis for both the Honor Code and consumer-supplier relationships. To remain trustworthy and reliable as their respective groups, students and suppliers must hold themselves and each other absolutely accountable and discourage any contraband activity on sight, keeping in mind that a single error damages the group in its entirety.
Civility in person-to-person interaction is of utmost importance, not so much in efficiency or effectiveness, but in personality and social sentiment. The best experience a consumer can have is one that is effective in action, truthful in price, and, most importantly, enjoyable in service. The businesses that make a customer feel appreciated and satisfy their needs are the businesses that will see those customers again. It’s that plain and simple. While integrity and honesty say that the most successful groups of businesses will be the ones that hold themselves accountable, common sense says that the most civil and friendly within that group will be the one that shines.
The principles of integrity, honesty, and civility can guide marketplaces, businesses, and employees to success in their respective areas of expertise. But above all, these same principles can guide each and every one of us through successful, lifelong relationships with each other.
Thomas Vinton, Decatur Heritage Christian Academy
Unethical Behavior Hurts Our Community and America
Recently I watched the movie “Fun with Dick and Jane”. The movie was about how Globodyne Corporation failed its employees, customers and stockholders through corporate fraud. After watching the movie, I realized the terrible consequences of unethical corporate behavior. The plot of the movie was based on what happened in real life to the employees and shareholders of Enron, Arthur Anderson, Worldcom, and Healthsouth Corporations.
Enron and their financial auditor Arthur Anderson conspired to alter financial records and deceive everyone by reporting false earning statements. This resulted in the shutdown of Enron. Arthur Anderson still exists as a company but their reputation and overall business volume has declined. Worldcom falsely accounted for over three billion dollars in expenses and filed for bankruptcy. This resulted in a workforce reduction – thousands of employees lost their jobs. Healthsouth Corporation overstated their earnings, paid large executive bonuses and ended up crippling their company.
In all of the cases stated above, corporate greed and a total lack of ethical business behavior were the root cause. Unethical behavior leads to layoffs, business failures, stock market declines, destroyed 401K plans and devalued employee pensions. This financial loss leads to an overall decline in the lifestyle of local communities. Less money is spent and business declines in the community. This results in community businesses laying off employees or having to completely shut down. Also, the community tax base shrinks resulting in fewer people working, which equals less taxes being paid. This tax decline leads to state and local government cut backs. There is less money for schools, road maintenance or construction and other government programs. The housing market also suffers because people will not have the money to buy or build homes. The end result is that unethical business behavior hurts our communities and country.
Ethical behavior builds strong communities. Businesses led by honest, responsible leaders build confidence. Customer confidence is the primary result of ethical business behavior. When the customer has confidence in a business, they will invest money into the company’s stock and into the company’s products. As more people invest in businesses, the businesses have more cause to hire new workers. This leads to other stores succeeding because people have money to buy their products. The tax base increases, this funds education and government programs. Ethical business behavior builds a strong community, while unethical business behavior tears the community and our country apart.