Athlete Altruism

The next time you hear someone talk about self-centered, overpaid professional athletes who don't care about anything but their next paycheck, think of Pat Tillman. While the attack on the World Trade Center deeply touched many people in a variety of ways, Tillman's response was extraordinary. Foregoing a $1 million annual salary as starting safety with the NFL Arizona Cardinals, he joined the US Army where he will earn $17,316. In a move that shocked many fans, he enlisted along with his brother with the intention of joining the elite Army Rangers. Because of his public visibility Tillman's decision was widely publicized, but according to USA Today (June 3, 2002), he is not the only American who appears moved by the events of September 11, 2001. Since then, Peace Corps applications have risen 18%, interest in teaching in inner-city schools has tripled, the Navy and Air Force are finding it easier to keep pilots who often leave for high-paying private sector jobs, and former military pilots are even asking to return.

...................................

Advice for the Ages

On June 23,2002, Ann Landers – an American institution – passed away after a lengthy illness. Using her nationally syndicated advice column which started in 1955, she offered guidance to countless readers over the years. In one of her columns, first published on October 5, 1969, she suggested some interesting-and-still-timely insights on the ways a person can differentiate between right and wrong. Quoting Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick (Florida Times-Union, August 25, 1990), she recommended we carefully consider six questions:

(1) Does the course of action you are planning to follow seem logical and reasonable. Never mind what anyone else has to say. Does it make sense to you? If it does, it is probably right.

(2) Does it pass the test of sportsmanship? In other words, if everyone followed this same course of action, would be results be
beneficial for all?

(3) Where will your plan of action lead? How will it affect others? What will it do to you?

(4) Will you think well of yourself when you look back at what you have done?

(5) Try to separate yourself from the problem. Pretend, for one moment, it is the problem of the person you most admire. Ask yourself how that person would handle it.

(6) Hold up the final decision to the glaring light of publicity. Would you want your family and friends to know what you have done? The decisions we make in the hope that no one will find out are usually wrong.

...................................

A Labor of Love

Sometimes we overlook the extra lengths to which police officers frequently go in the pursuit of doing good for another person. One example of such an officer is Richard Conte, a member of the 13th Precinct in the New York Police Department, who was assigned to the digging and recovery unit that sifted through items found in the rubble of the World Trade Center. According to an article in The Vancouver Sun (November 13, 2001), when he located a key ring with a wedding band on it, he sent it to the city property clerk as required. But then, Conte said, "... it began to bother me knowing it would just be sitting on a shelf." After obtaining permission from his supervisor, he began – on his own time – to track down the owner and return it. Noticing a little bar-coded supermarket tag on the key ring, Conte determined that it belonged to Dennis Cook, 33, an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald who perished when Tower One collapsed on September 11. And when he learned that Cook's father-in-law, Al Palladino, lived near the precinct, he made arrangements to deliver it to him personally. On October 28, 2001, Palladino returned the key ring and wedding band to Cook's widow, Dana. That date held special meaning for the Cook family ... it was to have been Dennis and Dana's sixth wedding anniversary.

...................................

Do As I Say ...

In an address to graduating seniors at New Hampshire's St. Anselm College in May, 2002, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski cautioned his audience this way:

You will be confronted with questions every day that test your morals. Think carefully, and for your sake, do the right thing, not the easy thing.

According to USA Today (June 7, 2002), less than three weeks after making those remarks, Kozlowski was indicted for evading more than $1 million in sales taxes on purchases of artwork by such masters as Monet and Renoir. Kozlowski, who was paid $19 million in cash and about $80 million in Tyco stock over the past three years, was forced to resign.