Author Archives: abfifer

Governor Snyder’s Apologies in the Flint Water Crisis

January 12, 2016 – 8:58 am

Our governor, Rick Snyder, issued what he called an apology a couple weeks ago for what’s known as the “Flint water crisis.” Governor Snyder’s statement, in my humble opinion, didn’t meet the criteria for an effective apology, and the result has been – no surprise – more conflict. So yesterday, he tried again; he’s getting closer, […]

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I’m sorry that this isn’t an apology

December 22, 2015 – 5:59 pm

Mr. Sepp Blatter, former president of the international soccer association FIFA, was found guilty this week of ethical violations by the FIFA ethics committee, and was barred from taking part in any soccer-related activities for the next eight years. He has said he will fight the suspension. He has been under suspicion of ethical violations […]

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A Better Way to Argue

December 21, 2015 – 9:34 am

New research has shown that framing your argument from your opponent’s “moral perspective” is much more likely to be persuasive. Professors Rob Willard, from Stanford, and Matthew Feinberg at University of Toronto, conducted a set of six studies involving over one thousand people, to determine how re-framing based on moral perspective could be persuasive in political […]

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Restorative Justice in GR

December 16, 2015 – 8:02 pm

“Restorative Justice” is a relatively new concept that is fast replacing disciplinary proceedings for students who have conflicts with other students. Our Dispute Resolution Center in Grand Rapids has worked with a couple of area school districts to establish restorative justice programs, with good results. Restorative justice in schools often takes the form of restorative circles. A […]

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Christian Arbitration Critiqued

November 21, 2015 – 8:45 pm

The New York Times published a three-part series earlier this month on arbitration; the third part focused on Christian arbitration (“In Religious Arbitration, Scripture is the Rule of Law”). The authors note that a religious arbitration allows people of the same faith to resolve their dispute based on similar values, achieving not just a settlement, […]

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