“This world of ours… must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

“Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” ― Aristotle

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS
(notes provided by the erudite Mary Hodson)

There will be no meeting on Thanksgiving.

Late fruit orders will be accepted prior to Thanksgiving.  Robb said all he wants for Christmas is to get orders before Monday, 11/23/15.

Our holiday pot luck will be held on December 17 at the home of Jennifer Shelby.  Hold on to your hats!

 

PROGRAM

Mary introduced Dr. Jennifer Robbennolt, the Alice Curtis Campbell Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology with the University of Illinois College of Law.   Jennifer, a Montana native, was number one in her Law class at the University of Nebraska where she also earned a MA and PhD in Social Psychology.    At the University of Illinois, she has co-taught classes with Tom Ulen.

Jennifer’s special areas of focus are behavioral ethics in the practice of law, decision making of lawyers, judges and jurors, negotiations and the role of apologies in negotiations.

We tend to blame ethical lapses on “a few bad apples”, but psychology is more complicated than that, according to Dr. Robbennolt.  Various aspects of psychology make us all more vulnerable than we realize.   We all have ethical blind spots.  We tend to think of ourselves as more fair and ethical than others.   The term for this phenomenon is “ego centrism”.   We also have a positive view of our own abilities and contributions.    We don’t usually recognize that we conflate what is fair with what is in our own interest.    This is true of lawyers, too, once they have clients.     If we think that we are fair and unbiased, we aren’t going to worry too much that our decisions are fair.  If we are overconfident, we are also likely to overreach.

Jennifer also pointed out that we are not very good at predicting our own future responses because we don’t plan for the degree and duration of an emotional reaction.  When we think ahead, we think of our ideal self, but in the moment we respond to pressure and may respond less than truthfully.  She also talked about “ethical fading”.  When we are making decisions, the possible ethical outcomes often fade in the background.  Why don’t we recognize them?  We have mechanisms to reconcile our behavior with our positive views of ourselves.   We “forget” what we did.   And we make less ethical decisions when we are tired.

So, what to do?   Make decisions when you are not tired.   Be aware of ethical pressures and think ahead of consequences.  Be specific in anticipating behavior.  Anticipate the pressures and how you are going to handle them.   Afterwards, ask yourself, “What are the questions that I don’t want to answer and how can I do so without lying?”

 

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Nov 26th Dec 3rd Dec 10th Dec 17th
Introductions No Neal Chamberlain Paul Conforti Molly Delaney
Invocation Meeting Dave Krchak Bob La Charite BJ Lytle
Greeters on Neal Chamberlain Paul Conforti Molly Delaney
Turkey Mary Hodson Phillip Holthaus Larry Johnson
Song Leader Day Diana Dummitt Bruce Hatfield Darrell Hoemann
Notetaker Lintner Conforti Chamberlain

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE

November 26th – Thanksgiving, no meeting

December 3rd – Danda Beard and David Thiel, WILL

December 10th – Pat Connolly, Urbana Police Chief, will discuss targeted deterrence strategies as they relate to the shootings in Urbana-Champaign

December 17th – TBD

December 24th – Christmas Eve, no meeting

December 31st – New Year’s Eve, no meeting

January 7th – Randy Hauser, Horticulture and Natural Areas Supervisor, Champaign Park District, will discuss Spring garden planning

January 14th – Andrew Ferguson, son of Robin Ferguson, will speak about his experience as an RYE in Poland

January 21st – TBD

January 28th – TBD

February 4th – Dr. Matthew Winters, Associate Professor of Political Science, UIUC, will present What Works in International Development: The Latest Evidence

February 11th – TBD

February 18th – Ray Cunningham will discuss North Korea