There is no outside reading for this particular discussion assignment. Write a 400-500 WORD response to
the discussion topic, and post your response to the discussion board. Your response should take one of the
following forms:
1) an exploration of the suggested discussion question included in this assignment,
2) an examination of a separate issue that interests you from this week’s topic, OR
3) a response to another student’s posting from this week.
Regardless of what you choose to write about, be sure to support your position with specific examples. If
you choose to write on a topic that another student has already written on, say something new about the
subject. If you agree with another student, provide additional reasons to support your position. If you
disagree with another student, be respectful in your response, and be clear about why you disagree. You
may complete this assignment either as one long posting or as several shorter postings.
SUGGESTED DISCUSSION QUESTION:
Upon offering shares or stocks for purchase, a company must submit a prospectus to the Security and
Exchange Commission (SEC) for review. The prospectus contains information such as the company’s
mission, services, and who its executives are (along with their biographies). This prospectus is available to
any and every prospective investor prior to buying shares in the company or enterprise.
Now imagine that sometime after posting its prospectus, a particular company decides to invest in an area
that is not pertinent to its own territory. Let’s suppose that General Electric (GE), which produces light bulbs
and kitchen devices among other products, decides to purchase stock in a cable television channel that
broadcasts adult entertainment films. GE buys the stock and makes a sizeable profit from the dividends that
the stock produces.
Now the question is, do you think that investors and GE employees have the right to know what GE invests in or do you think that as long as GE shows profits (i.e., investors receive dividends and employees stay employed) investors and employees shouldn’t be concerned with where the money comes from, as long the source is legal? Use specific examples in your answer.
A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES:

• I don’t make detailed grading comments on discussion assignments, but I am happy to discuss grades
  with students individually.
• While I don’t respond to every discussion board posting, I do read them all carefully. I will enter the
  discussion with comments and suggestions (either on the board or by email) as it seems appropriate, and I
  encourage students to respond to my postings.
• Be respectful of other members of the class. You are free to disagree with anything posted on the discussion board—in fact, I encourage debate. If you do disagree with something that’s been posted,
  however, be polite in your response. While I don’t anticipate any problems in this area, I do reserve the right to lower the grade of any student who does not show respect for the other members of the class. Also, if you feel that another student has posted something inappropriate on the discussion board, please contact me rather than addressing your complaint about the discussion board.