Affirmative Action Essays (1696 words) - Discrimination,

Affirmative Action Affirmative action was established as part of society's efforts to address continuing problems of discrimination; the empirical evidence presented in the preceding chapter indicates that it has had some positive impact on remedying the effects of discrimination. Whether such discrimination lingers today is a central element of an analysis of affirmative action. The conclusion is clear: discrimination and exclusion remain all too common. 4.1. Evidence of Continuing Discrimination There has been undeniable progress in many areas. Nevertheless, the evidence is overwhelming that the problems affirmative action seeks to address -- widespread discrimination and exclusion and their ripple effects -- continue to exist. Minorities and women remain economically disadvantaged: the black unemployment rate remains over twice the white unemployment rate; 97 percent of senior managers in Fortune 1000 corporations are white males; (28) in 1992, 33.3 percent of blacks and 29.3 percent of Hispanics lived in poverty, compared to 11.6 percent of whites. (29) In 1993, Hispanic men were half as likely as white men to be managers or professionals; (30) only 0.4 percent of senior management positions in Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 service industries are Hispanic. (31) Blatant discrimination is a continuing problem in the labor market. Perhaps the most convincing evidence comes from "audit" studies, in which white and minority (or male and female) job seekers are given similar resumes and sent to the same set of firms to apply for a job. These studies often find that employers are less likely to interview or offer a job to minority applicants and to female applicants. (32) Less direct evidence on discrimination comes from comparisons of earnings of blacks and whites, or males and females. (33) Even after adjusting for characteristics that affect earnings (such as years of education and work experience), these studies typically find that blacks and women are paid less than their white male counterparts. The average income for Hispanic women with college degrees is less than the average for white men with high school degrees. (34) Last year alone, the Federal government received over 90,000 complaints of employment discrimination. Moreover 64,423 complaints were filed with state and local Fair Employment Practices Commissions, bringing the total last year to over 154,000. Thousands of other individuals filed complaints alleging racially motivated violence and discrimination in housing, voting, and public accommodations, to name just a few. 4.2 Results from Random Testing The marked differences in economic status between blacks and whites, and between men and women, clearly have social and economic causes in addition to discrimination. One respected method to isolate the prevalence of discrimination is to use random testing, in which individuals compete for the same job, apartment, or other goal. For example, the Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington, Inc., conducted a series of tests between 1990 and 1992. The tests revealed that blacks were treated significantly worse than equally qualified whites 24 percent of the time and Latinos were treated worse than whites 22 percent of the time. Some examples document the disparities: Two pairs of male testers visited the offices of a nationally-franchised employment agency on two different days. The black tester in each pair received no job referrals. In contrast, the white testers who appeared minutes later were interviewed by the agency, coached on interviewing techniques, and referred to and offered jobs as switchboard operators. A black female tester applied for employment at a major hotel chain in Virginia where she was told that she would be called if they wished to pursue her application. Although she never received a call, her equally qualified white counterpart appeared a few minutes later, was told about a vacancy for a front desk clerk, later interviewed, and offered the job. A black male tester asked about an ad for a sales position at a Maryland car dealership. He was told that the way to enter the business would be to start by washing cars. However, his white counterpart, with identical credentials, was immediately interviewed for the sales job. A suburban Maryland company advertised for a typist/receptionist. When a black tester applied for the position, she was interviewed but heard nothing further. When an identically qualified white tester was interviewed, the employer offered her a better position that paid more than the receptionist job and that provided tuition assistance. Follow up calls by the black tester elicited no response eventhough the white tester refused the offer. A GAO audit study uncovered significant discrimination against Hispanic testers. Hispanic testers received 25 percent fewer job interviews, and 34 percent fewer job offers than other testers. In one glaring example of discrimination,

Ways to Reduce Your Exposure to BPA

Ways to Reduce Your Exposure to BPA Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical widely used in common plastic products, such as baby bottles, children’s toys, and the linings of most food and beverage cans. Many scientific studies- including the largest study of BPA ever conducted on humans- have found links between BPA and serious health problems, from heart disease, diabetes, and liver abnormalities in adults to developmental problems in the brains and hormonal systems of children. Recent studies have documented negative health consequences, while others find no ill effects. Endocrine disruptors are notoriously difficult to study, as they may be more dangerous at very low doses than at higher doses. Depending on your tolerance for risk, you might want to minimize your exposure to BPA. Given the wide use of BPA in so many products we encounter every day, it is probably impossible to completely eliminate your exposure to this potentially harmful chemical. Still, you can lower your exposure- and your risk of possible health problems associated with BPA- by taking a few simple precautions. In 2007, the Environmental Working Group hired an independent laboratory to conduct an analysis of BPA in many different canned foods and beverages. The study found that the amount of BPA in canned food varies widely. Chicken soup, infant formula, and ravioli had the highest concentrations of BPA, for example, while condensed milk, soda, and canned fruit contained much less of the chemical. Here are a few tips to help you lower your exposure to BPA. Eat Fewer Canned Foods The easiest way to lower your intake of BPA is to stop eating so many foods that come into contact with the chemical. Eat fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, which usually have more nutrients and fewer preservatives than canned foods, and taste better, too. Choose Cardboard and Glass Containers Over Cans Highly acidic foods, such as tomato sauce and canned pasta, leach more BPA from the lining of cans, so it’s best to choose brands that come in glass containers. Soups, juices, and other foods packaged in cardboard cartons made of layers of aluminum and polyethylene plastic (labeled with a number 2 recycling code) are safer than cans with plastic linings containing BPA. Do Not Microwave Polycarbonate Plastic Food Containers Polycarbonate plastic, which is used in packaging for many microwaveable foods, may break down at high temperatures and release BPA. Although manufacturers are not required to say whether a product contains BPA, polycarbonate containers that do are usually marked with a number 7 recycling code on the bottom of the package. Choose Plastic or Glass Bottles for Beverages Canned juice and soda often contain some BPA, especially if they come in cans lined with BPA-laden plastic. Glass or plastic bottles are safer choices. For portable water bottles, glass and stainless steel are best, but most recyclable plastic water bottles do not contain BPA. Plastic bottles with BPA are usually marked with a number 7 recycling code. Turn Down the Heat To avoid BPA in your hot foods and liquids, switch to glass or porcelain containers, or stainless steel containers without plastic liners. Use Baby Bottles That Are BPA-Free As a general rule, hard, clear plastic contains BPA while soft or cloudy plastic does not. Most major manufacturers now offer baby bottles made without BPA. However, a recent study published in the journal Endocrinology evaluated an alternative plastic compound (BPS) used in products labeled as BPA-free, and unfortunately, it also was found to create significant hormonal disruptions in a fish species. Further studies are needed to determine how concerned we should be for the effects on human health. Use Powdered Infant Formula Instead of Pre-mixed Liquid A study by the Environmental Working Group found that liquid formulas contain more BPA than powdered versions. Practice Moderation The fewer canned foods and beverages you consume, the less your exposure to BPA, but you don’t have to cut out canned foods altogether to reduce your exposure and lower your potential health risks. In addition to eating less canned food overall, limit your intake of canned foods that are high in BPA.

Math Problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Math Problems - Speech or Presentation Example Budgeted factory overhead is $400,000 for the current year. Of this amount, $100,000 is fixed. Of the $18,000 of factory overhead assigned to the Northern Cycles, only $13,500 is driven by the special order. $4,500 is a fixed cost. Certain costs can be omitted because the analysis is based upon margin contribution. Under the set structure, 25% of the factory overhead is fixed, which translates to the $4,500 of fixed costs associated with the special order. In this analysis, G&A costs do not even need to be calculated. The 10% markup offered by Mr. Bass does not even cover the special order’s portion of operating fixed costs ($ 4000 - $ 4,500 = ($ 500), much less the order’s share of fixed G&A or variable unit fixed cost allocation. In other words, once we reach the point of determining a loss, there is no need to proceed on to the costs that might be relevant if this special order was not so unreasonable. If the offer is accepted, the opportunity costs are considered as the difference in payments between what would be received from the Bass deal and what would be received on the open market. In this case, the Bass deal returns $ 4,000 above costs, and the open market sales return $ 24,000 above costs. Thus, the opportunity cost of the Bass deal is $ 20,000. It should consider whether it could place a special order of this size with other sources who are willing to pay a higher markup than Bass. It should consider whether the cost of keeping the Bass account is worth the short-term profit loss to the company. If the market is strong, Thousand Island may not be able to afford a customer like Bass. The Entertainment Corporation produces and sells three products. The three products, CDs, DVDs, and videotapes, are sold in a local market and in a regional market. At the end of the first quarter of 2009, the following income statement was prepared: Management has expressed special concern with the regional market because of the

Case study of Jack Welch at General Electric Essay

Case study of Jack Welch at General Electric - Essay Example According to this definition, Welch partly fulfilled the corporate social responsibility. In the Welch era, the General Electric Company fulfilled numerous responsibilities to the society. For instance, the company fulfilled its economic responsibilities by paying taxes worth 5.7 billion US dollars in 2000, and enriching shareholders and pension funds to its employees. In addition, the company enriched its managers, transforming them into multimillionaires. Additionally, the company was involved in sponsorships in 2000 where it established a charitable institution, the GE fund, which completed 40 million US dollars in donations to educational institutions and non-profit organizations in United States. However, General Electric Company under the Welch era can be criticized for its lack of corporate social responsibility. Welch’s leadership was not appeasing to everyone for numerous reasons. He was regarded as a ruthless employment cutter where he laid off a mass of employees during his tenure. Needless to say, he also emphasized on globalization where he transferred labor to low wage countries. This created unemployment within the society and loss of labor within United States. The defective evaluation system and the pollution in the Hudson Rivers also constituted a lack of corporate responsibility to the society. Though no company ever achieves this paragon, General Electric Company should have endeavored to attain it. In order to achieve this, the Welch should have devised a fair evaluation system that would reduce the rate of layoffs in the company and motivate its employees, and device other environment friendly disposal methods that would reduce pollution to the society. The General Electric Company under Welch illustrates a constricted standpoint of corporate social responsibility nearly similar to friedman’s perspective that the only corporate social

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Essay All typical detective stories have features in common. They all contain a detective, also the stories contain a crime and a criminal, also in typical detective stories the criminal usually has a motive. Another detail in a murder story is: the detective always begins an investigation and this leads to the discovery of the criminal.  The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes were set and written in Victorian England by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Hound of the Baskervilles is about a big black vicious hound that is haunting the Baskerville Family and after the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville; the legend of the hound was revived. A man goes to tell Holmes and Watson. Holmes and Watson take up the case. The Speckled Band is about a woman who tells Holmes that her sister has died. The woman thinks its her stepfather, Dr Roylott. She believes that he has killed her for her inheritance  The Man With The Twisted Lip is about a woman who sees her husband in a window of an opium den and goes in to see him but he isnt there. She asks Holmes to investigate.  Sherlock Holmes stories are unusual in that they are not written from the detectives point of view. It is written from Dr Watsons point of view. This means that the reader knows the events as they are happening and doesnt know what the detective is going to do next. This enhances the murder mystery quality because the reader wants to know what happens next and it builds suspense with the reader Typical Sherlock Holmes crime settings are normally dark, damp and gloomy places. These are normally places such as dark alleyways and streets. Also big stately homes made to look like eerie haunted places. Another setting is out on the moors in Hound of the Baskervilles, the moors are foggy and it is usually raining.  The Manor House settings used in the Hound of the Baskervilles and The Speckled Band contain large portraits on the walls of large old rooms. They also contain old wooden doors that creak as they open and the doors lead into large open passageways. A large wall surrounds the whole manor and at the entrance were two large iron gates. This enhances tension because it makes the reader feel the tension that the characters are feeling and it places a picture of the setting in their mind. The moors around the manor house in Hound of the Baskervilles are foggy and mysterious, they are barren and inhospitable. They seem abandoned and lonely. The moors contain dangerous quicksand. This creates tension, by the reader knowing, that something spooky or dangerous is about to happen. The opium den in The Man with the Twisted Lip is dark, dank and smoky. There are bodies spread all over the floor in different positions. The untypical story is the Hound of the Baskervilles because its set out of London, on a moor whereas all of his other stories are set in homes or London. The criminals in Sherlock Holmes are not typical because they have obscure ways of doing things. We know that Dr Roylott has a criminal nature because he is aggressive and shows his strength when he comes to see Holmes. This quote shows Dr Roylott when he bends the poker in Holmes apartment He bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands. This shows his strength and aggressive nature. Another quote that shows how everyone became scared of him, because when ever he went out he either got into brawls or quarrelled with the locals. He became the terror of the village  We doubt Hugh Boone as a criminal because he doesnt really commit a crime, he was a man in lots of debt so he ran away and disguised himself as a beggar and started life again. Which suggests he is a proud man but not a criminal

Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbecks Powerful Style -- Grapes Wrath essa

The Powerful Style of The Grapes of Wrath      Ã‚   When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression.   The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives.   When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it.   But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time.   The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.    Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees and the muscled mountains are the world-but not the world apart from man-the world and man-the one inseparable unit man and his environment. Why they should ever have been understood as being separate I do not know."   Steinbeck strove to reconnect them, and it shows in his writing.   Intermixed with the plot are corollary chapters.   The purpose of the corollary chapters is to put the events of the story in perspective to the circumstances of the country, so everyone would be able to understand the context of the book.   The corollary chapters tell little pieces of the "common story", the story held in common. They don't give specifics-they give generalities.   The first chapter gives the background to all of the following events. Every-other chapter gives more background to the story.   Whether a massive draught causes this migration of people from the Midwest, or all the families get told to get off of the land, or all th e migrants are starving; the chapters tell how all of this happened.    Not only does Steinbeck tell his story and put it in perspective, he also gives social commentary.   One might expect this social commentary to be... ...h at the idea of carrying a new life, as well as saving an older life-when aspects of her maternity give life.    The various writing techniques that Steinbeck used in the Grapes of Wrath brought out the message he wanted to get across.   The corollary chapters put the story in perspective, helping the reader understand the context of the events. The two types of social commentary gave each of them added weight.   And finally, the use of repetition gave the whole book a sense of continuity.    Works Cited and Consulted: Noble, Donald R. ed. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, New York, 1993. Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1930. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbeck's Powerful Style -- Grapes Wrath essa The Powerful Style of The Grapes of Wrath      Ã‚   When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, our country was just starting to recover from The Great Depression.   The novel he wrote, though fiction, was not an uncommon tale in many lives.   When this book was first published, the majority of those reading it understood where it was coming from-they had lived it.   But now very few people understand the horrors of what went on in that time.   The style in which Steinbeck chose to write The Grapes of Wrath helps get across the book's message.    Early in the 1930's Steinbeck wrote, "The trees and the muscled mountains are the world-but not the world apart from man-the world and man-the one inseparable unit man and his environment. Why they should ever have been understood as being separate I do not know."   Steinbeck strove to reconnect them, and it shows in his writing.   Intermixed with the plot are corollary chapters.   The purpose of the corollary chapters is to put the events of the story in perspective to the circumstances of the country, so everyone would be able to understand the context of the book.   The corollary chapters tell little pieces of the "common story", the story held in common. They don't give specifics-they give generalities.   The first chapter gives the background to all of the following events. Every-other chapter gives more background to the story.   Whether a massive draught causes this migration of people from the Midwest, or all the families get told to get off of the land, or all th e migrants are starving; the chapters tell how all of this happened.    Not only does Steinbeck tell his story and put it in perspective, he also gives social commentary.   One might expect this social commentary to be... ...h at the idea of carrying a new life, as well as saving an older life-when aspects of her maternity give life.    The various writing techniques that Steinbeck used in the Grapes of Wrath brought out the message he wanted to get across.   The corollary chapters put the story in perspective, helping the reader understand the context of the events. The two types of social commentary gave each of them added weight.   And finally, the use of repetition gave the whole book a sense of continuity.    Works Cited and Consulted: Noble, Donald R. ed. The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism. Troy, New York, 1993. Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994. Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1930. Wyatt, David ed. New Essays on The Grapes of Wrath. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Man as a social being Essay

Man is a social being and can never live a mundane routine always. Man undergoes different swings and moods in his daily life. Hence,the saying â€Å"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy† holds very true. Unlike a computer or any mechanical tool,man gets worn out or gets tired easily.He cannot perform any repeated activity continuously without a break. Let me take an example of a particular student who was a typical bookworm .He was very hardworking and he did studies and nothing else the whole day.Ironically,his marks never used to show the efforts he used to take.The reason for this paradox was that he always kept poring into books. He never used to take even a small interval of rest.This forced his mind to start daydreaming and remain in reveries. This would naturally affect his academic and over all performance in school activities. There is another reason to support this statement. On taking a break from a usual activities,say ,studies would give a pinch to the person. He/she would feel somewhat guilty for wasting his/her time into other activities.This would instigate the person to study harder and go in a faster rate with full concentration in his studies.Thus, even a half an hour break would save hours of time which would just be wasted in reveries . Taking a small interval of break would give a change to the mind .The person would feel refreshed to go back to work in a better mood. A person weared out or in a bad swing would feel joyous and happy if he/she takes a break by doing something interesting or even by taking rest for a while. One could take a break by involving in any sport activity or spend some time with a hobby. Going for sports could be a good time-pass.This will improve one’s health and naturally enrich one’s mind because a sound mind always dwells in a sound body.It would also improve a person’s talent in sports or other co-corricular activities like drawing,music etc.A person could improve himself in an over-all way,not only in work but also in play. Hence ,I strongly believe in this thought provoking phrase for it is not  always just work but also play that would make Jack a boy of brilliance.