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Contracting an Information Services Agency to Develop, Implement and Maintain a Records Management Program

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Why Build a Records Management Program
Changes in federal laws concerning the retention of business records has put a spotlight on the need for developing policies to manage this area of an enterprise. The increase in litigation has also contributed to this need. Many companies rely on sparsely formed records policies and loose delegation of records responsibilities to a variety of staff members. This methodology often proves to be faulty because job descriptions are not revised to include records management duties and so employees can easily deny accountability when problems arise. When faced with litigation and compliance with federal regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a company’s failure to have staff dedicated to managing its records can lead to serious legal troubles.
A records information management program will rectify problems posed by litigation and non-compliance with federal and local laws regarding records retention. Developing an in-house records management program will involve recruitment and training and the added expense of dealing with turnover rates. Contracting a company that specializes in records management design, development, and implementation will lower costs, save time, and insure the availability of trained professionals to maintain company records...
Changes in federal laws concerning the retention of business records has put a spotlight on the need for developing policies to manage this area of an enterprise. The increase in litigation has also contributed to this need. Many companies rely on sparsely formed records policies and loose delegation of records responsibilities to a variety of staff members. This methodology often proves to be faulty because job descriptions are not revised to include records management duties and so employees can easily deny accountability when problems arise. When faced with litigation and compliance with federal regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a company’s failure to have staff dedicated to managing its records can lead to serious legal troubles.
A records information management program will rectify problems posed by litigation and non-compliance with federal and local laws regarding records retention. Developing an in-house records management program will involve recruitment and training and the added expense of dealing with turnover rates. Contracting a company that specializes in records management design, development, and implementation will lower costs, save time, and insure the availability of trained professionals to maintain company records...
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Grant Writing
Proposal-Hue Magazine: The Magazine for Real Women of Color
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2008, positive images of women of color continue to be illusive in the media. Hue Magazine is a new publication that will respond to this imbalance in the representation of thousands of minority women. We are requesting $500,000 in start-up capital from the New York Angels to launch the publication.
Hue will address the concerns of lower to middle income minority women seeking their own images and information about money, family, education, fashion and beauty that fits within the parameters of their lifestyles. The magazine’s office is located in New York City and will be run by the founder, three equity partners, and supporting staff. The magazine is in early production. We are currently recruiting freelance writers and "real women" models for the January 2009 launch.
We hope to meet the following objectives with this publication:
a. To present positive images of women of color.
b. To provide women of color resources on issues that directly impact their lives.
c. To inform women of color about domestic and global issues that affect their communities.
The funds requested will augment previously secured funds for the development, production, and national distribution of the magazine. Future funding has been committed by long-term investment partners. Hue Magazine is also in the process of negotiating reoccurring advertising contracts with major corporations and retailers, which will sustain our product past the projected five year start-up period...
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White Paper
When All the Women Are Gone: Ending Violence against Women One Man at a Time
INTRODUCTION
During the global recession of the last two years, much has been said about the new position of women in the workforce. In the United States, in particular, women now represent half of the workforce as men have lost their jobs in record numbers. What has not been discussed in great depth is the increase in violence against women in households where women are now the breadwinners. In patriarchal societies, men walk around with a sense of privilege and entitlement that is largely defined by their ability to control women emotionally, financially, as well as physically. Violence against women, the extreme of which is femicide, represents man’s ultimate control over woman.
Women make significant contributions to the economic security of the global community. And all women are at constant risk of encountering violence from men in and outside of their families. If violence that escalates to murder continues to destroy the lives of women, every member of society will ultimately be affected. What will become of the global community when all of the women are gone? The answer: we must never allow this to occur...
During the global recession of the last two years, much has been said about the new position of women in the workforce. In the United States, in particular, women now represent half of the workforce as men have lost their jobs in record numbers. What has not been discussed in great depth is the increase in violence against women in households where women are now the breadwinners. In patriarchal societies, men walk around with a sense of privilege and entitlement that is largely defined by their ability to control women emotionally, financially, as well as physically. Violence against women, the extreme of which is femicide, represents man’s ultimate control over woman.
Women make significant contributions to the economic security of the global community. And all women are at constant risk of encountering violence from men in and outside of their families. If violence that escalates to murder continues to destroy the lives of women, every member of society will ultimately be affected. What will become of the global community when all of the women are gone? The answer: we must never allow this to occur...
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Television Review
Tell Me You Love Me
We have to acknowledge the elephant first: There are wholly naked people having sex in the new HBO series "Tell Me You Love Me." Of the four couples, three of them have sex often during the hour-long show. Sex is the theme, the pulse, the flesh of this series. It is the lead player. In 2007, Americans continue to have a duplicitous perception of sexuality on display. We want to see it (find out how other people deal with it, compare what we do in bed), but we are ashamed of our desires. This leaves us to be voyeurs, the perfect audience for shows that can be watched in darkened houses behind closed doors.
"Tell Me You Love Me" explores the lives of three couples ranging in age from 20’s to 40’s. The bonus relationship is that of a sixty-something couple married over forty years. Each duo has an active sex life, with the exception of the fortyish husband and wife with young children. The sex is spontaneous, not posed. There are no romantic set ups, breasts stuffed into corsets, or size tens squashed into size six stilettos. What occurs is raw, passionate and believable. In its lead role, sex enters and departs without applause; but its essence never leaves the set...
"Tell Me You Love Me" explores the lives of three couples ranging in age from 20’s to 40’s. The bonus relationship is that of a sixty-something couple married over forty years. Each duo has an active sex life, with the exception of the fortyish husband and wife with young children. The sex is spontaneous, not posed. There are no romantic set ups, breasts stuffed into corsets, or size tens squashed into size six stilettos. What occurs is raw, passionate and believable. In its lead role, sex enters and departs without applause; but its essence never leaves the set...
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Speech Writing
Freedom for Survivors of Domestic Violence
As warriors in the war against domestic violence we have all been privy to stories of survivors. Stories that have driven every social worker, court advocate, shelter worker, and call center volunteer present tonight to fight harder for victims of intimate partner abuse. Stories like that of the Chelsea, Massachusetts woman who was unable to complete college courses because her abusive husband controlled her time and her access to transportation and money. Or the Yemeni-American woman from Chicago who was beaten by her husband during three pregnancies, but was encouraged to be "obedient" by her father. And the military wife from Texas who was choked by her husband, an Iraq War Veteran, on Christmas day.
These women all suffered from on-going abuse. Each of them lacked significant education and were rendered financially dependent by their situations. Equipping survivors of domestic violence with educational opportunities and sources of funding helps them to gain the independence that will lead to the end of their abusive relationships...
These women all suffered from on-going abuse. Each of them lacked significant education and were rendered financially dependent by their situations. Equipping survivors of domestic violence with educational opportunities and sources of funding helps them to gain the independence that will lead to the end of their abusive relationships...
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Feature Article
No Longer the World's Mule
It was the late African American writer Zora Neale Hurston who said, "The black woman is the mule of the world." At the height of her career during the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston wrote about the hard times black women suffered inside and outside of the home. The award-winning author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston experienced firsthand the struggle of being black and female when she was criticized by black, male writers for focusing on women in her writing and when she was grossly undercompensated for her writing efforts. Hurston died destitute at the age of sixty-nine even though she was college educated and successful in her career.
It can be said that the road black women walk in the twenty-first century is much improved. Michelle Obama, the first African American First Lady of the United States of America, is a shining example of just how far black women have come. But is Mrs. Obama the exception or the new rule? Are African American women seizing opportunities to improve their station in life or are they continuing to settle for traveling the rough road that, historically, many black women have had no choice but to follow? Are African American women redefining their position in society from that of the world's mule to the world's new major contributors to the global community...
It can be said that the road black women walk in the twenty-first century is much improved. Michelle Obama, the first African American First Lady of the United States of America, is a shining example of just how far black women have come. But is Mrs. Obama the exception or the new rule? Are African American women seizing opportunities to improve their station in life or are they continuing to settle for traveling the rough road that, historically, many black women have had no choice but to follow? Are African American women redefining their position in society from that of the world's mule to the world's new major contributors to the global community...
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Copyright 2011-2012 Melissa Brown Levine