Discrimination in Academia and Affirmative Action

Discrimination in Academia and Affirmative Action Mitch Shea Affirmative Action Principles:  Discrimination in Academia Affirmative Action, as defined by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, is distinguishable as the positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and culture from which they have been historically excluded. [1] Accordingly, the fairness of Affirmative Action principles has repeatedly been called into question, not just within the United States, but global as well. These arguments for and against Affirmative Action and its subsequent principles are in constant debate, both morally and politically. These debates often mirror those of academics, both for and against-those arguing for the need of Affirmative action and its positive effect on social unity and distributive justice, and those arguing upon political principle, often referencing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, quoting Title VI and Title VII. Throughout history, Affirmative Action principles and subsequent political literature and court rulings have been identified as a process or evolution-definitional, in a sense, by local and federal court systems. In less than a decade after the creation and ratification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Supreme Court contributed heavily to the molding of Affirmative Action and its principles [2]. In short, the Supreme Court ruled that all institutions would need to assess or reassess their institutional practice and policies related to the exclusionary practice not necessary to an institutions activities [2]. This ruling gave a definitional meaning to Affirmative Action that had been lacking previously. It gave distinctiveness to the main role and principle behind Affirmative Action that stated the purpose of which was to not necessarily compensate for past occurrences of unjustness, but rather to direct compliance with nondiscrimination as defined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This paper aims to call into question Nebraska Initiative 424 and the possible snowball effects it might have on private and public academic discrimination, both locally and nationally. In the election of 2008, the state of Nebraska voted (58%) to effectively ban Affirmative Action at the state governmental level, prohibiting the state from granting Affirmative Action principles to prohibit the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting [3], [4]. Several arguments in favor of the initiative have been put into place and are ongoing including those identifying the anti-discriminatory laws supposedly favoring racial preferences having the same discrimination-like effects that their very role was designed to incapacitate [5]. Other constituents argued that Affirmative Action principles in the state of Nebraska explicitly understated the states motto: Equality Before the Law. Several more arguments ensued including the undermining of minority achievement, causes a mismatch effect of qualified and underqualified students in higher education, and the lowering of statewide standards in a multitude of private and public settings [5]. When discussing Affirmative Action principles, it is difficult to view the objectivity of the arguments for and against them and the government regulations related to them; however, Affirmative Action principles are existent and have been presented in such a manner that cannot be understated. It is necessary to break stereotypes, providing new opportunities and introductions to undiscovered possibilities for minorities, gives the needed boost for disadvantaged students to succeed as they rightfully should both in education and the workplace, increase and maintain minority enrollment in higher education, and provide cultural diversity that the United States, the Worlds Melting Pot, was built upon. Nebraska Initiative 424 is part of a general push against Affirmative Action. This has been seen in many other states including California, Texas, Washington, and Michigan. In fact, of the 8 states that have set in place amendments similar to that of Nebraska Initiative 424, a total of 29% o f the learning population resides in them [6]. So why should Affirmative Action principles remain in place and be the standard bearer of civil liberties and rights? Affirmative Action promotes equality. It basically states that guidelines and steps must be taken to guarantee equal opportunity in the workplace and in education. Attempting to create an even playing field does not mean that Affirmative Action is anti-white or anti-male. This is a misnomer or misinterpretation of the roles of Affirmative Action. The role that Affirmative Action plays, has played, and should continue to always play is the dismantling of discriminatory practicing through increased representation, improved equality and access, and equal opportunity at every age. Affirmative Action does not pull down, but rather builds up. First, take the impact of the banning of Affirmative Action through amendments like Nebraskas Nebraska Initiative 424. In a 2014 study on the Changes in Levels of Affirmative Action in College Admissions in Response to Statewide Bans and Judicial Rulings by G. Blume and M. Long, it was identified that the decline in affirmative actionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦affects not only students in these states but also those students who live in adjacent states, particularly when the adjacent states lack highly selective colleges [7]. The study analyzed the extent to which universities changed the weight placed directly on the applicant being a minority [7]. The extent to which minorities were affected in terms of acceptance in the banned Affirmative Action states was much more than that in other states (a 23% drop in minority admission v. 1% drop in other states) [7]. The importance of understanding racial diversity falls upon the educational system, but has a fundamental basis in employment as well. This is because workplace behavior has a broader range of perspective viewpoints for analyzing Affirmative Action-related outcomes. F. Kurtulus found that Affirmative Action ban within some states resulted in declines in Asian and Black female and Hispanic male representation (this data was representative of minorities employed in state and local governments) [8]. Although objectively understanding the changes is still vitally important, as it was observed the drastic change in Asian female representation was limited to the first year of implementation due to the small number of Asian females in legislative and governmental roles [8]. The paper summarizes a significant loss in workplace diversity, directly contradicting opposition to Affirmative Action. This data can be expected to be somewhat related to that of which is seen in academia. Secondly, the relevance of racial diversity, or lack thereof, in medical school matriculation should be one of importance to the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The statewide laws banning the consideration of race in postsecondary admissions pose serious obstacles for the medical profession to address the health-care crisis facing the nation [9]. The overall percentage of racial minority representation in the medical field falls below that of what should be expected. Roughly half as many African Americans and Latinos are represented within medicine than should really be. Accordingly, it equates to a 17.2% decline in the first time matriculation of underrepresented student populations in public medical schools [9]. It is feared that the decline in the number of minorities populating medical schools will further exacerbate the already present shortage of physicians, especially in heavily populated minority communities. The answer to which is unclear for states that have effectiv ely banned Affirmative Action principles. The needed compensation for such lack of representation needs to be answered as the physician shortage only increases and underserved communities face the most difficult of challenges. Finally, there is the underlying responsibility for racial disparity, both globally and locally. In universities from states that have adopted Affirmative Action-related bans or amendments with anti-Affirmative Action-related language, sufficient differences in matriculation and enrollment have occurred. Accordingly, K. West-Faulcon writes that racial disparities in admissions rates for universities that have undergone state-litigated anti-Affirmative Action principles changes in admissions, could be deemed unsatisfactory within federal regulation standards and thus be liable in future cases taken up against these universities [10]. This implies possible future avenues that could be reached for universities to bypass state level anti-Affirmative Action laws and regulations [10]. Which in and of itself shows that the evolution of Affirmative Action principles go both ways, but nonetheless are very much still needed in this day and age. References [1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/affirmative-action/ [2] https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/legal-events-timeline.html [3] https://web.archive.org/web/20081107110152/http://www.nebraskacri.org/ballotlanguage.html [4] http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/articles.php?article=I-30 [5] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122445872052148477 [6] https://tcf.org/content/commentary/what-can-we-learn-from-states-that-ban-affirmative-action/ [7] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.3102/0162373713508810 [8] http://gap.hks.harvard.edu/impact-eliminating-affirmative-action-minority-and-female-employment-natural-experiment-approach [9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4454423/ [10] https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/files/101-westfaulcon157upalrev10752009pdf

Essay --

INTRODUCTION Security threats are potential causes of unwanted incident which may result in becoming harmful to the system or organization and assets. The security threats are destruction, modification or unauthorized disclosure of information, destruction or loss of the IT assets, spam and malware. Social networking is a dedicated website or application that enables users to informally communicate with each other by posting, tweet, comment and share. Some example of social networking site is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr and LinkedIn. A social networking is built on trust. It is designed for communication that allows users to directly interact with each others. Social networking helps to form network of associates, friend, relatives and acquaintances. It enables users to share information about daily life and have intimate relation with others. There are huge numbers of users in social media Facebook is the highest popular rate that has 1.15 billion users and half of it access to the Facebook every day. Based on social media today until November 2013, there are more than 10 million applications developed in Facebook. Twitter becomes the second most popular media social which has more than 500 million users and 288 million are active users. There are about 20 million fake accounts in Twitter. This number of social networking users will increase in time. By this huge numbers of users in social media there is high risk for users to expose to the social networking threats. Cybercriminals have become more smart and crafty in manipulating with advance technology. It is abusing the users in social media by breaking the users trust. They take advantage of user relationship to click on malicious link or advertisement to get to the... ...ing and this gives the chances for malicious links and threats to disguise as one of the advertisement based on the user interest. User unknowingly will click on these links that popped up to close it, but some of them will already have the access to the user information. There are also bot accounts that will post their contents to the user’s wall; some even post the contents to the user’s groups and friends when the user click on the link that pique their interest. 2. Mobile platform The increment of mobile phone users also inspires the growth of social media users. The rise of social media is inextricably linked with the revolution in mobile computing, which has spawned a huge industry in mobile application development. Naturally, whether using their own or company-issued mobile devices, the users will download many mobile applications just because they want to.

Panera Bread Company Essay

Panera Bread Company is regarded as one of the largest company in the United States that has specialized in the production of breakfast and lunch food for its consumers. Panera Bread Company which was in the years back been referred to as An Bon Pain is reported to be producing products such as baked foods, sandwiches, soups among other food products and beverages. The company is reported to have been founded in the year 1987 by Ken Rosenthan with its headquarters situated in Richmond Missouri in the USA. The company operates in divisions namely; franchise segments; who are licensed to carry out business transactions in the name of the company and retailing operations; which covers over five hundred bakery cafes that are reported to be company owned and over six hundred cafes which are franchised operated in more than thirty five states. In the year 1999 it was expanded into a national restaurant. Panera Bread Company has struggled to survive the growing competition and to effectively utilize its opportunities by utilizing the concept of company analysis which is very critical in modern business world. The aim of Panera Bread Company has always been to become a market leader in production of foods and beverages globally by diversifying and reaching to many new markets. In the year 2005, the company was ranked top forty by the Business Week in the annual list of hot growth companies. By that year its earnings was projected at $ 38 Million with an increase of over 40% in profit. In the year 2007, Zagat rated the company to top the list of Overall Food Facilities and Popularity rankings. Panera Bread Company is further recognized for its involvement in community events such as silent auctions, runs and walks by making donations. SWOT Analysis Modern businesses are faced with changing business environments and Panera Bread Company is not exceptional from facing such changes within their business context. By carrying out SWOT analysis, environment analysis is very decisive to Panera Bread Company and it is usually analyzed in two extents; the external environment and internal environment examination within the business perspective. Research reveals that the analysis of external environment illustrates opportunities and threats that exist in the market for a firm that may be either present or impending. On the other hand, internal environment examination depicts the strengths and weaknesses that the business may face in the market place (Anthony, 1998). Strengths Strength in this context can be identified as that distinctive ability posed by a firm and if the company utilizes such an opportunity it can succeed and can gain competitive advantage, over its rivals in the industry. The most common strength associated with Panera Bread Company is that of being a market leader in the food industry and particularly marketing of bread. Research indicates that Panera Bread Company is better placed than its main rivals in the market in that it has significantly acquired larger market share which is attributed to its diversification to various countries in the world, for example it has opened many subsidiaries in Toronto, Canada. It is also reported that the company has a strong brand name of its products which have significantly aided the company in terms of achieving a larger market share. The other strength that the company has is that of the best marketing channels that have aided marketing of packaging solutions products to a wider range of customers (Kotler, 1996). Weakness Weakness in this context can be referred to as any dimension of a firm that possibly will deter the accomplishment of set objectives by the firm and usually considered to comprise the company’s resources, capabilities and assets that are not fully utilized. From the company’s profile it can be noted that Panera Bread Company has weak policies, procedures and regulations that may deter the attainment of target performance of the company in some target markets. It is also reported that recently, the employees are not motivated to work and there has been complains regarding low pay and poor working conditions among others although such reports have not been proved. The management of the company should therefore look for ways in solving such problems that may affect adversely the performance of the employees and thus the overall performance of the company. Also the culture of Panera Bread Company has been under scrutiny and there has been allegation that the company is producing loaves of bread which are of poor quality, an issue that the management should look at it seriously (Anthony, 1998). Opportunities For companies to achieve the set objectives, they have to identify and devise events or features in the business external environment that will give them an added advantage or chance of performing better than their competitors. Such an event or feature can be referred to as an opportunity because it will create more chances to the company by increasing the current proceeds through acquiring a significant market share. Panera Bread Company has opportunities that if utilized will be of great benefit to the firm because it will lead to exploring and reaching to more new markets. Research indicates that there is greater demand for bread products in Africa and the management of Panera Bread Company should open subsidiaries in some of those countries after carefully analyzing the situational analysis in those potential markets. Since Panera Bread Company is among the market leaders in bakery industry; it is perceived to be having a well developed financial foundation and thus does not face any liquidity or cash flow problems. It is for this reason that the company should explore new markets and can compete across the entire market without fearing that its competitors can outdo them financially. However, before competing Panera Bread Company should carry out cost benefit analysis in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure (Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 1995). Threat In business context, a threat is regarded as an event which if not taken care of it may possibly deter the accomplishment of company’s goals e. g. customers declining income and competition among other events deemed to causing danger to the operations of the business. Panera Bread Company is basically faced with intense rivalry in bread and beverages products since many firms have opted to join the market because it is considered profitable. In fact, in some market segments particularly in Canada there has been a significant drop in terms of the company’s market share because new firms has entered the industry. Globalization concept has brought about new inventions and Panera Bread Company is faced with the task of coping with such innovations, for example the task of training and development programs to educate the employees on new technologies might be costly and difficult to acquire; such as the use of on-line marketing techniques and networking facilities (Anthony, 1998). Competitive Strategy According to research, Panera Bread Company has embarked on identification of markets that bread products and beverages can do best and it is through this that the company has sold a lot in the target areas. This strategy is normally referred to as segmentation; where the company has avoided competing entirely across the entire food industry but instead targeting certain markets i. e. bread and some beverages markets. Market segmentation will be an ideal situation for Panera Bread Company since competing across the entire market is expensive and considered to entail a lot of risks that the firm cannot sustain for example unfair competition by its rivals in the market (Bagley and Savage, 2006). This will involve Panera Bread Company marketing staff subdividing the existing market into different subsets of clientele where each division may be chosen as an intended market to be explored with a different marketing mix strategy. In essence, target marketing strategy will involve market segmentation which Panera Bread Company will have to find it on the acknowledgment that any segment comprises of potential buyers of bread products and beverages with diverse needs and dissimilar buying behavior. After carefully developing and subdividing the entire market to segments or the target markets, Panera Bread Company should then position itself on how to carry out the marketing activities in order to meet the overall objective of the corporation. Under this; positioning will imply to the formation of limits for bread products and beverages in the minds of the intended market in relation to the rivalry faced. Positioning of any firm including Panera Bread Company is very essential since it forms the foundation of all the communication of the company that comprise the following; branding, publicity, advertising and packaging among other strategies. Therefore it will be prudent for Panera Bread Company to create a single unique position which will operate as a guide for marketing communications involved thus will aid in transmission of steady image (Cullen and Parboteeah, 2005). HR and its Importance Since the mission statement of Panera Bread Company is clear, that it aims at being the market leader of producing bread products and some beverages not only locally but globally it should implement its marketing strategies particularly in the identified target markets. Implementation is putting in to action whatever plan or strategy that the management had formulated and therefore human resource is the most crucial asset in this stage. Research indicates that any company must motivate and provide clear direction to its human resource in order to attain its objectives. Therefore, Panera Bread Company should clearly identify the needs of its employees and try to meet them in order to give them an ample opportunity to serve diligently and be dedicated to the company. By offering a competitive package and offering performance contracts to the employees; ensures that they perform to the fullest because they will be highly motivated to work. Good leadership and management skills will be essential to Panera Bread Company’s management staff in order to command respect from the employees (Hilltop and Sparrow, 1994). Recommendations Panera Bread Company should note that nowadays, it is possible to use e-business through the internet for distribution purposes especially when dealing with international businesses. Digital innovations coupled with rapid growth in new technologies are changing the way distribution channels for companies and Panera Bread Company is able to use such hi-tech communication channels to monitor progresses in the market places not only in USA but globally. The company should further utilize modern entry market modes which such as Foreign direct Investments and licensing in order to build long-term markets in its target markets. It will be possible to also adopt joint ventures which will make possible for Panera Bread Company to gather enough market information quickly and familiarize itself with the laws, regulations and needs of the customers in the target market (Grant, 2005). Conclusion Panera Bread Company is among the current market leaders in the food industry and therefore stands a better chance of attaining a significant market share as a result of the brand name of its bread products and beverages that are regarded to be of high quality. Every business including Panera Bread Company is faced with challenges and it has to fully adhere to market regulations in order to avoid unfair competition. The concept of globalization cannot be written off either since many firms including Panera Bread Company has diversified to various markets and there are threats and opportunities associated with such globalization. Therefore the company should formulate strategies that are considered global in nature in order to meet the current expectations of the customers in the target customers. Such strategies like build, harvest or divest should be considered by the Panera Bread Company when assessing the performance of its products in its target markets. Management functions of planning, directing, leading and controlling should be adhered to by the management of Panera Bread Company in order to significantly improve the operations of the company by achieving the required targets (Kotler, 1996)

How the Meanings of Words Change

Stick around long enough and youll notice that language changes—whether you like it or not. Consider this recent report from columnist Martha Gill on the redefinition of the word literally: Its happened. Literally the most misused word in the language has officially changed definition. Now as well as meaning in a literal manner or sense; exactly: the driver took it literally when asked to go straight over the traffic circle, various dictionaries have added its other more recent usage. As Google puts it, literally can be used to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling. . . .Literally, you see, in its development from knock-kneed, single-purpose utterance, to swan-like dual-purpose term, has reached that awkward stage. It is neither one nor the other, and it cant do anything right.(Martha Gill, Have We Literally Broken the English Language? The Guardian [UK], August 13, 2013) Changes in word meanings (a process called semantic shift) happen for various reasons and in various ways. Four common types of change are broadening, narrowing, amelioration, and pejoration. (For more detailed discussions of these processes, click on the highlighted terms.) BroadeningAlso known as generalization or extension, broadening is the process by which a words meaning becomes more inclusive than an earlier meaning. In Old English, for instance, the word dog referred to just one particular breed, and thing meant a public assembly. In contemporary English, of course, dog can refer to many different breeds, and thing can refer to, well, anything.NarrowingThe opposite of broadening is narrowing (also called specialization or restriction), a type of semantic change in which a words meaning becomes less inclusive. For example, in Middle English, deer could refer to any animal, and girl could mean a young person of either sex. Today, those words have more specific meanings.AmeliorationAmelioration refers to the upgrading or rise in status of a words meaning. For example, meticulous once meant fearful or timid, and sensitive meant simply capable of using ones senses.PejorationMore common than amelioration is the downgrading or depreciation of a words me aning, a process called pejoration. The adjective silly, for instance, once meant blessed or innocent, officious meant hard working, and aggravate meant to increase the weight of something. Whats worth keeping in mind is that meanings dont change over night. Different meanings  of the same word often overlap, and new meanings can co-exist with older meanings for centuries. In linguistic terms, polysemy is the rule, not the exception. Words are by nature incurably fuzzy, says linguist Jean Aitchison in the book Language Change: Progress Or Decay. In  recent years, the adverb literally has become exceptionally fuzzy. In fact, it has slipped into the rare category of Janus words, joining terms like sanction, bolt, and fix that contain opposite or contradictory meanings. Martha Gill concludes that theres not much we can do about literally. The awkward stage that its going through may last for quite some time. It is a moot word, she says. We just have to leave it up in its bedroom for a while until it grows up a bit. More About Language Change The Endless Decline of the English LanguageThe Great Vowel ShiftInconceivable!: 5 Words That May Not Mean What You Think They MeanKey Dates in the History of the English LanguageSix Common Myths About LanguageSemantic Change and the Etymological Fallacy