Whistle Blower

So a few days ago I had the honor to attend a speech given by Cynthia Cooper. Don't know who she is? Well, she is the "whistle blower" in the Worldcom case. Listening to such a speaker is very empowering. I mean, we all know these public figures (?) exists, but when they are standing live in front of you, they are real in flesh and blood. It's no longer like the 10 o'clock news. So she told the story of how it happened and how things progressed and I only wish I am more knowledgeable in the field to be able to fully understand the story. It's not easy when I am only, well, one week into the field -- one week since I started my intro accounting class. Oh boy, I sure hope I can pass it.

Interestingly enough, I read about a list of female "whistle blowers" in my text a couple of days before I attended Cynthia Cooper's speech. Which made me wonder: (bear with me that I am brand spanking new in this field) was the text only listing the female whistle blowers, or are whistle blowers predominantely female? And if it is the latter, why? Is it because (a) female are more communicative or (b) when all is said and done (sorry, you all feminists out there), we have something to fall back on?

Take one of the executives for example, when the scandal was exposed, it turned out that he had his resignation letter all written up before the fraud started. Why didn't he turn it in? His wife just had a miscarriage and he was the breadwinner of the household. He could not afford to lose his job at the time. Of course once the ball got rolling, there was no stopping.

As a Chinese saying goes, "Behind every successful man, there is a good woman." Applying to our modern society, I think that should be modified to, "Behind every successful person, there's a good partner." According to a Newsweek article, most men still prefers to be the primary breadwinner and most women doesn't. Perhaps, at the end of day, us females are the ones that have the luxury to "do the right thing."