LINKING HIP-HOP AND VIOLENCE -- Last Wednesday's shooting of rap music pioneer Jam Master Jay of the trio Run-DMC has critics of the genre clamoring about perceived links between the music and violence. But as Nathaniel Thompson, who teaches a class on the history of hip-hop music and its impact on American culture, points out, it's hard for anyone to point fingers when it comes to violence. "There was violence before hip-hop music and people blamed rock-n-roll," says Thompson. "President Bush is getting ready to send an army into Iraq and go to war. Is that because of hip-hop?"
BAD APPLES OR BAD BARREL? -- Over the last year, investors and employees have lost trillions as several Fortune 500 firms were brought down by their own unethical behavior. The scandals have rocked the stock market, which still has yet to recover. On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the Temple Issues Forum Public Debate and Discussion Group will host a discussion to address the following questions: Are the scandals a matter of a few corporate "wrongdoers" stepping out of line? Or, are we looking at forces within and outside of business that tempt decent ordinary people to do the wrong thing? Is the answer more regulation, or should we let the market clean its own house? Temple faculty will be joined by Ted Edwards, founder of IKON--one of the largest office products companies in the U.S., and a former director at Safeguard Scientifics, where he mentored many of its start-up companies; and Doug Henwood, founder and editor of Left Business Observer, which covers economics and politics from a critical perspective, a contributing editor to The Nation, and host of a weekly radio program in New York. The discussion runs from 11:40 a.m.-2:30 p.m., in Gladfelter Hall, Room 13, on 12th and Norris Sts. For more information, contact the Office of News and Media Relations.
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...A LOT EARLIER -- Retailers may have malls looking like winter wonderlands before shoppers have finished their Halloween candy, but a longer shopping season doesn't mean a more lucrative one, says Dick Lancioni, chair of the marketing department at Temple's Fox School of Business and Management. "Consumers have been pulling the economy along since 9-11," states Lancioni, "and retailers are beginning the Christmas shopping season earlier this year to ensure their products will move, even if it is at a slower pace. The biggest risk retailers take is buying too much inventory. By starting the shopping season earlier, retailers are looking to mitigate the post-season bargain basement sales. Hopefully, this will help them break even or even make a slight profit, but not incur huge losses such as last year." However, Lancioni warns that low consumer confidence coupled with recent job losses, an impending war and a sluggish economy may make this retail season fall short of retailers' expectations.
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