Did You Know That to Many, “America” Is Not the Name of Our Nation?

Rio_group_countriesIt’s the name of a whole continent.  Indeed, as with so many minor controversies today, there is a Facebook group for that.

There is a legal angle here, and I am getting to it.  A couple of weeks ago, twenty-five Latin American and Caribbean states met to discuss the formation of a new regional organization.  The idea is not entirely new, as the Rio Group of Latin American and Caribbean states has been around for more than 20 years.  But at this meeting the member states seem to have reached an agreement to form an official alternative to the Organization of American States.

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What Queen Esther Knew

Esther_Mordechai_PurimLast weekend I was reading an article with a the great title, “The Glass Ceiling is Kind of a Bummer”: Women’s Reflections on a Gender Development Course, which talked about how undergraduate women often, even as they are in women’s studies courses, deny the impact that sexism has had or will potentially have on their career. (For more on how to teach around this issues, see an article from the Negotiation Journal I co-authored with Cathy Tinsley, Sandy Cheldelin, and Emily Amantullah last year discussing better ways of teaching gender.) In any case, I read the glass ceiling article right before going to services to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim, and, as I was sitting listening to the story of Purim, it reminded me of a great business book written several years ago by Connie Glaser and Barbara Smalley — What Queen Esther Knew: Business Strategies from a Biblical Sage — and how Queen Esther dealt with her glass ceiling.

The story of Purim, to recap quickly, is a true story from 400 B.C. set in Persia. After King Ahasuerus becomes unhappy with his queen, he launches an empire-wide search to find his new queen. He chooses Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her Uncle Mordechai.

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Proxy Amendments and Short-Term Shareholders

Conference roomFirst, thank you for the invitation to be the March Student Blogger.  I have significant experience in blogs.  But perhaps unfortunately for this blog, that experience is restricted to Nebraska football and Lost blogs.  And I don’t think this is the proper forum for discussions of the Huskers’ 2011 recruiting class or how the Valenzetti Equation may answer all your questions regarding Lost.  However, I am open to requests during my March tenure.

Moving on.

Several blogs on this site have addressed election issues and reform in the judicial and political spheres.   Yet, despite imminent changes with regard to the election of corporate directors, any discussion of corporate election reform has been noticeably absent.  I do not doubt that the rules regarding the election of directors will change significantly this year.

Specifically, on June 10, 2009, the SEC published proposed amendments to the federal proxy rules that would facilitate shareholders’ ability to nominate directors to company boards of directors. Under the current director election rules, shareholders seeking to nominate a competing slate of director candidates have to bear all costs of a proxy campaign.  Yet, all costs for the campaigns of the incumbent board’s nominees are paid for out of corporate funds.  That advantage to the board’s nominees coupled with the significant costs in mounting a proxy contest serve as effective barriers to dissident shareholders seeking to initiate an election contest.

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